cheesecake_llama
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User ID: 1354
cheesecake_llama
4d ago
Does “making themselves part of American politics” mean “engaging in any visible form of political expression whatsoever”?
cheesecake_llama
9d ago
I don’t know how much of this matters coming from a repugnant blue-triber, but this level of nihilistic fatalism deeply saddens me. I have spent much, much more time arguing against the excesses and abuses of “my team” than I have spent opposing yours. The antifa apologetics, calls for violence against Trump and Musk, the Covid-era abuses of institutional power—all of it deeply disgusts me.
But I don’t believe collapse is inevitable. I don’t believe that a national divorce—whatever that might entail—is the way forward. After all, we live in a society whose socio-political dynamics ultimately flow from individual choices. The Constitution will die only if we kill it. This country has survived much worse.
I’m encouraged by more and more blue tribers openly rejecting the poison of identity politics. While TDS definitely was (and is) a real thing, I believe Trump’s enduring electoral successes is resulting in a more moderate, reasonable blue tribe (although there is a long way to go yet). This has been mirrored by what has been, in my opinion, clear excesses on the right—either in MAGA’s jubilant vindictiveness or in the fatalism exhibited by your post. Even though this also concerns me, I believe that this too will eventually temper and mature, but only if we don’t give in to the destructive impulses of the worst on our side nor feed those of the other. The Constitution’s survival depends on citizens demanding its enforcement; tribal coexistence requires rejecting the premise that opponents are inhuman. To paraphrase Madison in Federalist 10: The cure for factionalism is not homogeneity but pluralism managed through structured conflict.
The path forward is neither blind optimism nor radical dissolution but clear-eyed engagement. If the Constitution is “dead,” it is because we’ve ceased resuscitating it—not because it lacks the capacity to endure.
cheesecake_llama
9d ago
What a weird statement to make. Obviously, US deportation logistics are limited by certain legal and ethical boundaries that did not constrain the Nazis at all.
cheesecake_llama
10d ago
What’s the limiting principle here? What principles could Trump violate that would give you pause? Or is your judgment based solely on whether he is, at any given moment, helping the people you like and hurting the people you hate?
cheesecake_llama
10d ago
The relevant question is whether the decision is correct. There is an appeals process to decide that. Disobeying an order because you don’t like it has far more destructive downstream effects.
cheesecake_llama
11d ago
That’s an obvious strawman of Hanania’s argument
cheesecake_llama
13d ago
I don’t see how posting a (imo substantive) criticism of one particular person constitutes “boo outgroup.”
cheesecake_llama
25d ago
This analysis reminds me of how humanities and “soft” sciences often try to use mathematics to dress up arguments that are really nothing more than vibes. Why should judicial impeachments be poisson distributed? Even if they are, how do you infer the correct parameter? Using the small number of known occurrences is going to yield huge variance. I mean just look at the interesting choice of y-axis in the first chart. The numbers of impeachments are so small that you really have to strain yourself to make a coherent argument with any amount of rigor.
cheesecake_llama
1mo ago
I believe that’s the joke.
cheesecake_llama
1mo ago
You guys are whipped up in a frenzy over mere speculation. Is there any actual evidence to suggest corruption here? Trump constantly engages in brazenly corrupt behavior, but all I hear from the acolytes here are apologetics that strain the limits of credulity.
cheesecake_llama
1mo ago
There is nothing “pro constitutional” about attempting to abrogate birthright citizenship via executive order. Whether or not the administration’s interpretation of the 14th amendment—which strains the limits of legal credulity—is actually valid, the idea that the executive can just decide one day that clear Supreme Court precedent actually isn’t binding anymore because “I really don’t like it!” is monarchist, not republican.
cheesecake_llama
2mo ago
I’m not asking if it’s a good idea as a matter of public policy. Just that, as a strictly economic matter, the states would be better off if they didn’t trade with each other according to your thesis.
cheesecake_llama
2mo ago
Why are you in favor of free trade between states? Wouldn’t a state want to keep all the “value” inside its borders?
I think that the shitshow-level of the current administration is appreciably larger than the last, both in frequency and spectacle. Trump administration fuck ups often do have some parallels to fuck ups from previous administrations, but more often than not, the comparisons obscure just how strange some of these people act.
It’s not just the fuck up, but the whole response: total refusal to accept any responsibility, blatant lying about what happened, the defensiveness, which comes off as childish rather than masculine. None of this is surprising, given that Trump filled his administration this time around with sycophants and media personalities. It makes for great TV though.
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