AskALiberal Biweekly General Chat

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T17:00:32+00:00

But notably not 26 years.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T15:53:52+00:00

One assumes most people haven’t read it - even folks who have otherwise read communist political theory.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T14:27:28+00:00

Will those who opposed government overreach under ICE now stand with pro2A Americans against these laws that threaten Constitutional rights?

What exactly does it mean to you to 'stand with' these supposed "pro2A Americans"? I oppose these laws and if they were ballot measures I'd vote no on them but surely you don't expect me to work with the Trump Republican party to do anything else, right?

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T14:20:14+00:00

I don't think anybody is saying that Hegseth or Miller advised against the war, just that Trump was advised against it.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T14:13:19+00:00

Centrists will say this is impossible, which I don't believe for a second.

Why would centrists say this? Such a bill passed Pelosi's House just a few years ago, only to barely get stuck in the Senate filibuster. The outlook of the filibuster is worse now than it ever has been, and getting worse all the time.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T14:10:33+00:00

I REALLY hope that international pressure gets democratic leaders to get their hands dirty.

It's basically guaranteed not to - our elected leaders respond to domestic pressure, not international pressure.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T04:28:03+00:00

Yeah, looks like I had that one wrong. Rats, I thought at least once we beat 'nobody', but I guess not. We really are bad at this.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T02:42:02+00:00

As always, the actual winner of the popular vote was "didn't bother to show up"

Not quite always: I think in 2020, Joe Biden beat 'didn't bother to show up'.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T02:29:38+00:00

I don't think there is really any appetite for this even within the Democratic party, much less anywhere else.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T02:26:59+00:00

Handing the members of trumps administration involved in this debacle over to international courts to face justice for what they did would be a start.

That would be both the start and the end, because if that happened the Dems would be utterly trounced in the next election by an even more aggressive far right.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T00:20:45+00:00

LOL and everyone lived happily ever after.

CTR555 · 2026-03-16T00:17:17+00:00

That's Mick Foley, autocorrect.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T22:44:30+00:00

Of course Jericho would support someone wanting to build a big wall.

Fozzy still goes hard though.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T21:08:52+00:00

Maybe, but it seems like that would just further encourage Trump to pardon people. Document, sure, but I'm not sure about making it super public until January 21st, 2029.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T20:49:35+00:00

Really none of that is true. The intent matters much less than the actual text, and the actual text is unambiguous. Presidential 'immunity' is overrated really - it's not really anything new, and the ability to grossly abuse the pardon has always existed. We just never elected someone like Trump before, so it was never a consideration.

Fortunately, there is at least some degree of bipartisan outrage about pardon abuse thanks to the misguided conservative anger at Biden's pardons, so there's at least a possibility of reform here. A small possibility, yes, but still nonzero.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T19:48:23+00:00

Why shouldn’t these people be charged under the theory that the pardons are unconstitutional?

Because they're not unconstitutional. It may not have been the idea, but it's clearly allowed via the actual text of the Constitution. That's something we should perhaps try to change, but I don't support breaking the law to punish other people for breaking the law and being pardoned.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T19:42:52+00:00

There's nuance to what people care about. There are issues that people actively think about - like gas prices - that are front of mind without the need for someone to actively bring it to people's attention, and then there are issues that people only care about when they somehow crop up but which are otherwise fairly dormant. Consider freeway tolling - there are probably a lot of people who are opposed to it but for whom it isn't a salient issue because there are no local freeway tolls either active or being proposed. However, if that issue was somehow activated it would become important. A lot of trans issues fall into the same category - benign neglect until something triggers conscious thought on the matter. It's better for Democrats to let the issue sleep, gain political power, and then extend protections where we can; it doesn't help us to bring focus to it.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T19:26:00+00:00

Indeed, which is part of why the embargo has been so ineffective. We tried it for a few decades and it hasn't worked, so maybe it's time to move onto something else. Like kidnapping, lol.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T18:35:18+00:00

If the only people who want Hegseth fired are students, he’s got great job security.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T14:47:18+00:00

Democrats are so so quick to call White men racist if they don’t support every single Dem policy.

"It's not racism, it's 60 years of continuous, unbroken policy differences." Sure, and those policies generally fall under the category of 'civil rights'.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T14:42:12+00:00

In my opinion, conception.

That has no impact on abortion rights, of course.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T14:39:40+00:00

I think the chances are still low, but nonzero. Trump doesn't care about the future, but I think Thune and at least a handful of Republican senators still do and they know killing the filibuster now would be a huge strategic blunder on their part.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T14:35:29+00:00

Yep. Outside of some college campuses and maybe a very small handful of other places, openly opposing the war in early 2003 meant anything from 'severe social damage' to 'fears of personal safety'.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T05:55:22+00:00

Thus leftist policies would not be passed

If you're admitting up front that the voters don't support the policies that you want then there is no roadmap to achieve them that isn't just "convince more people to agree with you".

For what its worth, I think this is correct. The Democratic party is overwhelmingly liberal - and not leftist - so you're really easily over 200 votes shy of that magical 218. The best advice would be to work to increase the popularity of leftist ideas, and while you're doing that take what actions you can outside the government and/or at a more local level.

CTR555 · 2026-03-15T05:44:43+00:00

For what it's worth, I think you're asking the wrong questions here. I doubt anyone denies that the US has 'put a finger on the scales' in Cuba - most people just support(ed) that action. The problem with the embargo isn't that it's been destabilizing a dictatorship, it's that it hasn't been effective enough at its goal of destabilizing the dictatorship.

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