• DancingBear@midwest.social
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    13 minutes ago

    I hate corruption in all forms, but I love the fact that Israel is freaking the fuck out right now because the Middle East just realized all they have to do is bribe Trump.

    Israeli government is pissed right now, and that’s awesome….

    But also, stop pretending like just about every politician in Washington doesn’t also take legalized bribes

  • Ordinary_Person@lemmy.ca
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    2 hours ago

    All of those January 6th people who were freaking out about losing their country… where are they now? Hmmmm.

    Fucking hypocrites.

    • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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      44 minutes ago

      Yes, I’m sure that the thing that will finally get Jan 6’ers to turn on Trump is checks notes lifting sanctions on Syria.

  • confluence@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    My new conspiracy theory: Vance is a made man for the Technate, and the plan has always been to get him into the Presidency. Trump will be enabled to act as corruptly as he wants, until an impeachment succeeds. Vance will step in and fulfill Thiel’s program. Trump lands softly, and the Matrix is built.

  • Professorozone@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Umm the burden is on the one making the claim. It’s also customary on the net to site the source so… No I didn’t.

  • Kwyjibo1@lemmy.myserv.one
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    10 hours ago

    He did quid pro quo with Ukraine his first term and he got away with it so why not keep doing it.

  • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    13 hours ago

    I find in endlessly funny that we’ve been screaming at the democrats to leverage Israel more to end hostilities in the ME without any real movement from them, but suddenly Trump is willing to say ‘fuck it’ just because the right people happen to be bribing him.

    If the right people keep trump’s palms greased for long enough we might actually end up on the right side of history by accident, and if that’s not comedy I don’t know what is.

    • gradual@lemmings.world
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      3 hours ago

      Someone posted a good picture of the locking mechanism called the “ratchet effect” that democrats/neo-liberals provide for the ruling class.

      Essentially, Republicans get to do whatever they want to enrich our rulers, and democrats are there to stop the workers from reversing any of the gains.

      • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        12 hours ago

        Tell me you don’t know who Ahmed al-Sharaa is without telling me you don’t know who Ahmed al-Sharaa is.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          Ahmed al-Sharaa is the guy whose dogs are massacring Alawites right now, mostly done with that.

          Can I have my A for this answer?

              • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                9 hours ago

                I agree, which is why I find it significant that he split ties from al-Qaeda despite the significant internal pressures not to.

                I guess we’d have to wait longer than a month to see if he makes good on seeking justice for acts of brutality against Alawites, but I don’t think you can say al-Sharaa isn’t a massive step in the right direction and deserving of positive diplomatic response to his reforms.

                Edit: as long as we’re condemning associations with al-Qeada, here’s an interesting related report

  • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    The crowd that went on about a laptop for 5 years suddenly don’t care about The President getting a whole ass jet and tower as a gift. But they aren’t a cult. Only decorum and the law matters when Dems are in power.

  • BeBopALouie@lemmy.ca
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    10 hours ago

    Americans will just get mad post on Reddit and then go back to watching YouTube, Twitch in the hovel of their choice until ice comes for them and they will say no no not me you said it was the “others”. They are not watching the news. Bills to make furries the bad guys. Bills to make 2SLGBTQIA+ bad guys. Starting to grumble(by grumble I mean “we need to outlaw this stuff” talk) about what should and should not be on Twitch and other platforms. Grumbling about gamers and certain games. The list of buried stuff in the bills that are coming out is staggering.

    They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller

    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

    • Bongles@lemm.ee
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      10 hours ago

      What do you propose?

      You’re not going to Luigi the guy, security is far tighter and he’s had a couple “attempts”. Protesting is happening and barely accomplishing anything. The judicial system is doing more than i expected but he’s ignoring it in many cases. Congress WILL NOT impeach him unless there’s a switch in party majorities but that’s a ways off.

      • BeBopALouie@lemmy.ca
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        10 hours ago

        I am not an american. All I know is if citizens just keep doing nothing the us will become just like the fascists in Germany did in WWII. It is up to them to do something or nothing. Time will tell.

      • okgurl@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        I often ask this too non Americans foolishly assume we aren’t doing anything. the problem is that, or system is strategically designed to give us the illusion of a voice. same with the right to bear arms, if the state was ever worried about those arms being aimed at them we wouldn’t have a service amendment.

        there’s nothing really left to do with corruption actually the upper echelon, besides fed posting teir stuff which is unrealistic for many people.

      • MyNamesTotallyRobert@lemmynsfw.com
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        9 hours ago

        I mean, his enablers are just as guilty. The entire christofascist movement would have had a hard time getting anywhere if it weren’t for a few key corporations providing the services and technological development required to enforce or at least facilitate the enforcement of this ideology. I am being intentionally vague here.

        All I know is that I go out of my way to discriminate against and fuck over people who support things that fuck me over.

    • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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      10 hours ago

      First they came for the sanctions against a country on the opposite side of the world 😔

  • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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    9 hours ago

    always has been.

    the al-quaeda turned into what it was because of US money and support.

  • HighFructoseLowStand@lemm.ee
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    15 hours ago

    The really ugly thing here is, al-Sharaa is the best thing to happen to Syria in decades. Most people have been urging recognition of his government and the relaxation of sanctions because he’s about as good we can expect a leader of Syria to be.

    And he is still bribing Trump.

    This isn’t merely corruption. This is the *normalization * of corruption. Even countries that abide by democratic norms and international law are going to need to grease palms to conduct regular diplomatic relations. The EU and UK and Canada might be able to weather his bullshit until he folds like he always does, but developing nations will be stuck trying to bid for American favor.

    Welcome to the Chinese century.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      al-Sharaa is the best thing to happen to Syria in decades

      Could we please stop? He’s a jihadist saying pleasant things to Europeans and Americans with nobody caring whether they are true.

      • HighFructoseLowStand@lemm.ee
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        6 hours ago

        He’s at least trying to put on a facade of meaning them, which is about as good as Syria has had it in my life time.

      • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 hours ago

        The louder the west screams about him being a Jihadist, the more I trust him to do the right thing in Syria

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          The west doesn’t scream. The west condemned Alawites for not liking to be massacred.

          And this is stupid. Inverted signal is the same signal, just inverted. It’s not independence of thought.

          • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            8 hours ago

            The west condemned Alawites for not liking to be massacred

            Hmmm, are you sure about that? I feel like there was a notable party using that event as justification for crossing over the Syrian boarder but maybe that was a fever dream

      • HighFructoseLowStand@lemm.ee
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        11 hours ago

        I’m not. I’m saying this will lead to China becoming the premier world power instead of us.

        Imagine having reading comprehension skills. jfc

      • Wrrzag@lemmy.ml
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        10 hours ago

        I believe they meant that China will become the dominant power after the US finishes torpedoing itself.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        I don’t know if that’s blame, or just acknowledging that USA’s general direction leads to China becoming ‘the’ world power by USA forfeitting their soft power around the world.

      • RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com
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        13 hours ago

        I’m not sure if this is blaming it on China, but acknowledging that China might be picking up after the downfall of the USA.

  • p3n@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    I am not arguing with the obvious corruption, but to provide a counterpoint to the second part of the argument: if we aren’t allowed to make peace with former terrorists, then we can never stop fighting each other, and if we keep fighting each other, then we will keep creating the next generation of terrorists.