Has he considered restoring funding to USAID? That might legit qualify.

"They say, ‘Evil prevails when good men fail to act.’ What they ought to say is, ‘Evil prevails.’

Bleak quote from Lord of War that has stuck with me. Reminds me of Sophie Scholl.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_arms_sales_to_Taiwan

The US has been arming Taiwan for decades. Why would that be necessary if the US considered Taiwan to be part of China? You’re confusing diplomacy for policy.

Really curious what this means for Taiwan. Their sovereignty depends on US support, but with Trump at the helm, we’re just as likely to cut a deal with Xi and stay home when the fighting starts.

I wonder if Taiwan is mulling over a peaceful reunification with China as a result of this mess. Their independence depends in large part on US support, but with Trump at the helm they’re likely to face extortion when they need it most.

There’s a simple way for the Republicans in Congress to reassure critics that this is not a dictatorship: define it. Make a list of things that would obviously not be okay. If the rest of us are right about Trump, he’ll cross those lines sooner or later. Then there will be no more denying it.

Wouldn’t this have had value as a bargaining chip in peace talks? The fact that they’re saying this now suggests that they’re about to pressure Ukraine into a truly shitty deal.

Harris’s approach presumably would have been a continuation of Biden’s, waging an economic war of attrition against Russia for as long as Ukraine was willing to hold their ground. The whole endgame here, under the Biden/Harris strategy, was going to come down to which side blinked first. Putin must have gambled that he’d win if Trump won, which is exactly what’s playing out now. If Harris won, it’d be a continued stalemate, which of course benefits the western coalition - not Russia.

I’m more moderate and have always respected AOC, but thought she was too extreme to make a good president. I genuinely believe that the president should be someone who wants to build coalitions and steer the country towards a better future without allowing it to fracture. I still believe that, but I recognize now that my way of thinking can’t win elections in this modern era of politics. Now is the time for a firebrand - someone who would rather lose than compromise. I would still be worried about civil war if AOC became president, but I’m already worried about that now, so no point in holding it against her.

El Salvador has apparently offered to imprison US citizens for a fee. Trump previously explored using Guantanamo Bay as an offshore concentration camp to avoid expenses such as pediatric care and education for undocumented children. This sounds like the same sort of things, but for citizens.

Fair enough. I agree that we all need to do more, but I think that’s going to look different for everyone. For someone like me, it means getting off the Internet and actually showing up - not blowing up a federal building or whatever “much more” implies.

You’ve convinced me. I was planning to start attending my local town meetings and lend my support to the few outnumbered progressives there, but instead I think I’ll just hoard canned goods and hunker down.

Polled a few of my friends and 100% relate to this meme, so I sort of doubt it.

So two wrongs make a right I guess? Why shouldn’t we be holding all these people accountable?

Right on. AI feels like a looming paradigm shift in our field that we can either scoff at for its flaws or start learning how to exploit for our benefit. As long as it ends up boosting productivity it’s probably something we’re going to have to learn to work with for job security.

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the unconditional support that the US has shown to Israel during this crisis. I understand why we must stand with our friends and allies. I understand that Israel has immense strategic value as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in the Middle East. I understand our desire to support democracies in the region. I understand that they have a right to defend their people. I understand that our support is necessary to keep things from cascading further out of hand. But what I don’t understand is how we can provide all this support and still have no leverage to ease the suffering of innocent Palestinians. Are we even capable of applying diplomatic pressure on Israel, or has our support become something more akin to an entitlement?

It’s certainly possible that Meta has a plan to destroy the fediverse with Threads, but I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility that they’re just doing this because they can. If their plan was to take over the fediverse from within, and that plan hinged on instances not defederating out of caution, then it’s off to a poor start. I might just be totally naive but this feels more like them testing the water by opening their doors to the fediverse - I don’t know if they know what happens next.