Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

@Ereiam
I think Elon being the sole member is what will kill DOGE.

If anyone says taking a stance against nazis is terrorism, that person is probably a nazi.

I would be mildly insulted if someone tried to tell me otherwise.
@CaptainXtra
Maybe even her.

Relevant.

@Dustcan
So hes retarded? Just like his teachers and dad have confirmed before multiple times. Sad to see nothing changes.

Okay so I figured out why I was having a hard time finding a straight answer as to the outcome of the trade dispute with Colombia. The press (namely the New York Times) is hailing it as Trump getting Colombia to back down, when in actuality it’s Trump that backed down from Colombia’s threats, but getting a small consolation prize from them in the process. That consolation prize is what the press is holding up as the win.

As Indian-American journalist Shiv Ramdas posted on Bsky: “this is gonna be the way things work over the next few years- the admin getting like 1% of what it wants and losing almost every negotiation while the lapdog press spins every loss as a huge historic win, it’s literally the modi model”

@BlitztheDragon
As long as the admin as a whole gets only 1 percent done of their whole agenda, I’d say we’ve averted the most of the crisis.

Also, I’m still lost about the Colombia thing. Did they accept the deported immigrants, but the tariffs are staying?

From what little I could find out it sounds like Colombia is paying for the return trip sending the migrants back to us, and Trump meekly agreeing with President Petro’s call for the need for “better transit” whatever that means. In exchange, Colombia didn’t slap tariffs on us, and I don’t think Trump is tariffing them.

ETA: Someone correct me if I’m wrong about the migrants part, as that’s the outcome I’m haziest on.

Last time Trump did this he successfully fucked a whole bunch of building renovations and rebuilds.

One of the clinics I used to work for was just 1 month from opening, drywall going up in our new building and we had teams ready to finish the electrical and network, painters were scheduled for after the drywall was supposed to be done, another contractor was waiting to lay floors, and the clinicians and therapists were getting ready to move in and set up therapy spaces and furniture and stuff like that. It was a refurbished car dealership, so there were 3 stores - us, an ophthalmologist, and a hair salon - and all of us were working nights trying to get the building ready for a grand opening in 3 months.

Drywall was finally going up, three day estimate for finishing, and ICE showed up.

This was in monkey butt nowhere - a suburb of the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

No one had ever seen ICE before.

All but two of the drywall contractors were US citizens. The 2 immigrant workers had green cards and all their paperwork was up to date. And at least two thirds of the people working on the stores were owners of the stores, or people who’d be renting once the spaces were done like me.

ICE fucking rounded up EVERYONE and all of us had to prove that we were citizens.

I had a passport in my tool kit and was wearing my old Baby Bell hard hat, so they didn’t do anything more than glance at me. Same for the electrician. They paid more attention to the branded hard hats and tools than they did our paperwork. Being white men undoubtedly helped.

Everyone else? Even if they had Real IDs or actual (not kidding) birth certificates on them showing they were US citizens? In the van. From all three stores including the ophthalmologist’s shop.

Including four clinicians who’d taken time off from work to measure their new offices for furniture.

So, like 24 people. 3 vans and one SUV. All of them had green cards or Real IDs or - in the case of many of the drywallers, actual US birth certificates. ICE didn’t care. Everyone in the van, except for me and the other white guy working with wires, because for some reason passports and being white magically worked when Real IDs and birth certificates did not.

Two hours all of them except for the drywallers were back. Minus cab fair, of course, but they were back.

The drywallers, including the actual literal American citizens, were gone for 2 days. Then ICE released them. All of them. Because none of them were in the country illegally.

The guy who owned the drywall company said he couldn’t afford any more nights at the ICE. He said he’d been hauled in four times already. He was born in the US, in Minnesota, to American parents. He had his birth certificate on him. He had a Real ID. But the ICE didn’t care.

He said that ICE was just trying to scare everyone. And as long as they were released within 48 hours, no harm no foul.

So we had to find someone new to do the drywall, and ended up having to do most of it by ourselves. The whole opening for the entire building - all three stores - was delayed by a half year because there was no one available to do dry wall in the whole area, because ICE was doing its job so well.

The punchline? Some of the people who had been detailed, like everyone who worked in the hair shop, had been issued summons to appear in court to be … processed? Yelled at for holding a paint brush?

Failure to do so would have been a criminal offense. Some of the people from the hair shop said they showed up as ordered, and waited in the courtroom for an hour. Finally the judge asked them why they were there. They showed the summons from ICE, and the judge just swore about ‘fucking ICE’ and told them to leave. ICE didn’t even show up to the hearing.

So - they delayed 3 stores’ grand openings by six months, detained some US citizens who’d presented proof of citizenship, and then made them go to court to be ignored. And basically put at least one drywall contractor out of business in the process.

And zero illegal immigrants were found.

Apparently they do that a lot. Round people up, issue a summons, then let them go.

Apparently they’re doing it again. According to rumors, focusing on non-white people taking their kids to hospitals, for some reason.

Should illegal immigrants be arrested? Yes.

Should illegal immigrants who have broken laws in the US be prosecuted and deported? Of course. Don’t be stupid. They’re criminals and should be treated as such.

But the ICE should fucking respect legal immigrants and actual US citizens, especially when people present citizenship documents like Real IDs and birth certificates, or valid green cards.

By the way, the grand opening was grand, thank you for asking. There was a band and food and beers and games for kids, and the Chamber Of Commerce and the Mayor came and cut a ribbon and everything.

Jesus Christ, stories like these need to be collected and published far and wide.

There is nothing keeping us safe about any of this. It’s purely white supremacist domestic terror in the service of a new Jim Crow.

And now Dr. Phil himself is riding along for a televised ICE raid in Chicago.

@Ciaran
Fuck, man, that’s terrifying, especially those here on work permits.

@Ciaran
This was never about illegal immigrants, was it?

@BlitztheDragon
I pray it backfires and the world sees how fucked up this whole situation is.

@Meanlucario
Took ya long enough to realize this has never been about illegal immigrants, but better late than never. It’s about white fragility and this whole bs about us being “replaced”. The right has been caught up in anti-immigrant fearmongering for decades now.

Also, I’m praying for the same thing. The solution to illegal immigration is to stop making it so damn hard to immigrate legally. It can cost a lot and take a decade or more. Processing centers are grossly understaffed.

Ian Daskin has released what appears to be the final Alt-Right Playbook: The South Bank of the Rubicon

He asks his viewers a simple question: At what point have we as a country “crossed the Rubicon” in the fall of democracy? You can argue it’s already been crossed, but he wants to know what will be the point that you personally get up and act against it?

Most of the “2A” rightwingers seem to be letting it happen. And why wouldn’t they? They’re getting the regime that they secretly wanted all along. Most disagreements with Trump to them are style over substance. They’ll bring the extralegal terror in cooperation with Trump’s regime. Those pardoned Jan 6ers will form the core of this new wave of militia activity.

As for me it’s hard to say. I’m not a fighter. I’m terrified of what will happen to my job, my parents, my siblings if I act. I an NOT made for prison even absent Trump’s rise.

I guess my “Rubicon” in this new world will be one of two things. First, if I lose my job due to the coming economic downturn. It took me two years of temping to get this job, which I actually enjoy. If I’m put out of work again after all this struggle, that’ll be my incentive to take it to the streets. I think that’s what it’ll be for a lot of others.

The second Rubicon to be crossed will be if/when my transgender girlfriend, my non-binary sibling, or anyone else in my close-knit circle of trans and NB friends and family are directly threatened by the regime.

I’m disabled, so going out and acting isn’t something I’m all that able to do. So what I’m doing is keeping up with the news and sending support to as many marginalized people as I can. And working on my anti-fascist story.

It may be small, but it’s not nothing! Act in the ways that you can ::3

A good point. A comfort of mine I’m working through during this time is the Hearts of Iron 4 mod I’m helping with. It’s a submod for the massive alternate history overhaul The New Order: Last Days of Europe. Set in 1962 in a world where the Axis won WW2. The United States is in a three-way Cold War with Germany and Japan.

Our team is completely redoing and overhauling the lore and gameplay for the United States, and it’s shaping up to be an excellent educational tool for 20th Century America, especially the lesser known parts as well as how American fascism developed. At the heart of it though is the message “even in the darkest of timelines, a better world is possible.”

@BlitztheDragon
i already don’t think i’d be able to fight.
my anxiety already kicks my ass. the best i would do is get out.

@BlitztheDragon
That’s a very comforting message for me. Thank you for sharing 😸

Cuz we’re not supposed to be on this timeline. I’m of the opinion that there was a lot of interference and Harris should have won. So it’s up to us to be here for each other and help one another, and get back to a good timeline.

There is, however, an argument to be made that all this hate would have still been there had the election not been interfered with. That’s why I’m open to better times coming after this is over, and why post-WWII Germany and all Germany did to quash nazi movements is the prize I’m eyeing. Holding onto hope and what if.

@BlitztheDragon
The second would be mine. Would need to find people to join, though.

That reminds me of another thing: this is a great time to work on creative projects! Creativity is good for mental health, and we’re definitely going to need that boost.

It’s like inviting legal action against the Trump administration, Tom Homan, and ICE. They are clearly opening themselves up to potential lawsuits with their actions, but I do not see that happening anytime soon even with the ACLU.

@Background Pony #43CB
Everything they’re doing is inviting legal challenges. Almost all of it. They’re supposed to have the best lawyers in the land working for them, but half the executive orders look like they were written by children, and don’t follow even the most basic legal frameworks. Some of it even looks like it was written by AI that’s no smarter than the stuff generating buzz feed articles. I’ll try to find a link, but just read the “Gulf Of America” executive order.

Most of it is just smoke and mirrors and TV fluff. Aside from the tariffs and pardons, the vast majority of it is complete bullshit that is being thrown out as soon as it hits a court, and isn’t doing anything except waste money and tie up the courts with insane nonsense. If it wasn’t the White House doing it, they’d have been hit with a cease and desist, and a fat bill for wasting the court’s time, by now.

Makes me wonder what, if anything, is really going on.

Apparently ICE has quotas.

So yeah that’s nice. Among other things they are incentivized to just grab randos and let the courts figure out the rest.

–

In other news, all democrat senators except Fetterman have sponsored a resolution condemning the pardoning of the J6ers.

I repeat, all democrat senators have sponsored a resolution condemning the pardoning of the J6ers.

@Dustcan
It’s a start. Lets hope they follow through just as strongly.