It is amazing how a single presidential election can take a world superpower from “relatively stable” to “significantly unstable” in a couple of months.
I don’t think it was a single presidential election that did this, the Republican party has been working towards this at least since they ran Goldwater on an anti-civil rights and anti-new deal platform in 1964. Democracy is a pain in the ass for bigots and oligarchs, so the Republican party united them in opposition against it and now their very long game is paying off. Nixon being pardoned for Watergate, Reagan getting zero blame for Iran Contra, the Supreme Court stealing the 2000 election, Bush lying about WMDs to start a bullshit war to win reelection, McConnell refusing to accept Obama’s judicial nominees - all of these attacks on anything that would hold them accountable for their theft of public resources and violence against marginalized people brought us to this point. Trump is just the worst symptom of a disease that’s been festering for decades.
Oh sure, I totally agree with all that. The instability has been looming for some time; I’ve been alive for most of the points you make. Still, relative stability has held on until Jan 21, 2025.
Are you from the USA? Because that’s an extremely concise, cogent, accurate post and I see them so seldom from fellow USA -ians
Born and raised in a rural area of it where redneck assholes bullied me for being a neurodiverse little weirdo, but my parents were super supportive and let me keep to myself (well, after their well meaning efforts to push me into a few extra curriculars went badly for everyone) and just spend hours and hours at my local library where I read every history and sci fi book I could get my hands on. The librarians noticed and recommended more books, showed me how to request things from big city libraries that had way better collections, and let me know that some libraries even carried cassettes, which let me get into punk and folk and alternative music that really opened my eyes to what the world could be outside of my small little town.
So, yeah, anytime I manage to say something cogent or insightful or funny or good in whatever way thank librarians authors musicians and parents who support and protect their kids (even when those kids embarrass them in front of the neighbors by, like, driving the station wagon into the hedges because I was distracted thinking about what a Joe Strummer character would do in the Star Wars expanded universe).
I’m so glad you had supportive parents!
I was also born and bred rural. I credit my mother for insisting I learn to read early, and look up definitions and how to spell words - before internet.
ETA: better than driving the car into the ditch fiddling with the radio. ;)
lol amazingly, there are well-thought and educated individuals who persist (and resist!) in the US
There are dozens of us!
Probably thousands or millions. We just tend not to be loud.
This is really really significant, especially with the other news of arresting Judge Hannah Dugan for opposing an ICE kidnapping in her courtroom. The legal system is forcing them to at least slow their destructive policy implementation and they don’t like that.
But also, this is too little too late. Many students have already fled, and those that haven’t will never trust the government again. If you directly threaten someone’s livelihood to the point that they start making international travel plans to get away from you, simply going “oops my bad” isn’t enough to restore their trust.
It will likely have a chilling effect for this entire generation of students.
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Or did they? One never knows . . .
