Well shit, that was a absolute banger of an article. Thanks for posting it!

Thanks. Good catch! I’ll add them to the post.

Exactly. Everything this administration does is also a meme to appear strong. I don’t think we should accept the story they’re selling or declare victories for them they haven’t won.

I think even their legislative control is far weaker than many realize. Yes, the Republicans are cowardly, traitorous fucks who’ve abdicated their responsibilities. But they’re also not really passing legislation. The majority of their policies have come through ephemeral executive orders because they couldn’t pass them. They haven’t really tried because it would expose that weakness and their most important priority is appearing strong. They would if they could. Repealing law is difficult, reversing executive orders is just a signature.

I think you might be letting ICE off the hook here though. It’s not just their activity in Minnesota that’s the problem. It’s all of it, isn’t it?

It’s dumb to pretend there’s no continuum of autocratic control. Russia and China don’t have legislative disputes over funding shit. They don’t fail to indict their enemies. They don’t fail to convict anyone. They don’t have stories published in the media that are critical of Dear Leader.

Total autocracies have complete control over the executive, legislature, courts, police, military, and media. The US is quickly moving in the wrong direction along that path, but it’s bananas to say they’re “already there.”

You think things in the US, China, Russia, and Iran are exactly the same?

Thanks!

Source? Took a quick look and couldn’t find this anywhere.

Why wouldn’t you just use mbin?

What an awesome illustration

They’d at least be limited by having to hide the fact that they’re ignoring the deal. And they realistically wouldn’t be able to hide much from US intelligence. I can’t imagine avoiding international outrage being a huge motivator for them at this point but they probably don’t want the US and Europe being even more motivated to destroy the Russian economy or increasing military support for Ukraine.

https://archive.is/jJV81

President Shades Strikes Back.