Setting the stage for the US/Russia alliance.
I haven’t looked into this particularly deeply, because I really should be accomplishing work tasks, but the way that story intersects with this:
Well, it makes me uncomfortable. We’re on the same side. We’re on the opposing side. We’re just the cannon fodder for the military industrial complex that is enriching itself at the expense of human lives all over the world.
Wait, didn’t we arm the Taliban against Russia?
See, that’s what I thought. It’s very confusing for anyone whose living doesn’t depend on the wholesale slaughter of humans in other places.
No, that was Eastasia. We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.
A follow-up from Masha:
…which is yet another thing that I have been futilely screaming into the void since this began.
Yes, Trump is an incompetent, narcissistic fool, surrounded by toadies, lunatics and vulture capitalists.
But so was pretty much every other high profile autocrat in history; it doesn’t stop them from creating massive damage.
Hitler was an idiot too.
Masha’s Rules for Surviving an Autocracy
- Believe the autocrat.
- Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.
- Institutions will not save you.
- Be outraged.
- Don’t make compromises.
- Remember the future.
Misleading title; they’re discussing the ways in which Trump is likely to neutralise Mueller.
The purge is on; the Trumpists are starting to move openly against the establishment GOP.
As usual, a symbolic, stupid, counterproductive stunt from the Dem establishment:
The new FBI director is a carefully vetted Trump loyalist, you fucking idiots.
Bah.
I’ve been thinking about logistics.
Just how many people would be required to put every major Trump-connected property under 24/7 siege? How many Trump Towers and Mar-a-Lago’s are there?
Just for wild ballpark starter figures: assume we want 10,000 people surrounding the most prominent Trump-linked landmark in each state. So, half a million people.
There are about 320 million Americans, of whom about 120 million are Trumpkins. That leaves 200 million potential protesters to draw on for the half a million required.
500,000/200,000,000 = 0.25%. One in four hundred people.
But that’s just one shift; to keep it up over time you’d need more than that. So maybe four shifts per week. 1%; one in a hundred.
Can that be done?
Are those completely unreliable based-on-air numbers too optimistic or too pessimistic? If so, by how much?
Is one in a hundred impossible or achievable?
No.
Your math is flawed- or at least incomplete.
200 million. Remove the very old and very young. Remove the non-able bodied. Assume that most are employed and want to stay that way- that leaves them with work obligations ~40 hours a week, and you might get some to donate part of one of their days off.
There’s no way.
That old/young factor applies to the Trumpkin side as well.
This is the sort of thing that’s going to require more than a spare time commitment, though. It’s going to cost, and a lot more than just a few hours off work.
The cost of not acting is astronomically higher.
Slightly less ranty detail:
The establishment Dems are continuing to play this as if it were politics as usual.
They know that the new FBI director is compromised, and they think that by doing this they will force him to either move against Kushner or expose himself as bent. They think that this second option will give them some political advantage by making the TrumpGOP look bad.
What they are failing to get is that this is not politics as usual. The GOP base don’t give a fuck, and the Dem base already know that the GOP are crooked. The midterms will be decided by voter suppression, not PR stunts.
All they are doing is offering to grant extra powers to the head of the secret police.
Peaceful revolutions…
It seems worthwhile to compile a list of these and see what they have in common.
These weren’t all long-term successful, but they did the job in the short term. Note that peaceful doesn’t necessarily exclude police-initiated violence or incidental property damage.
Where else?
two thoughts if i can. ( it’s days ago now, i know. )
- i never wanted hilary to be the face of resistance, and i still don’t.
- i don’t believe resistance is the right tactic, and i believe the premise is fundamentally flawed.
what the democratic party - and really everyone - needs is a view beyond turnip and the republicants.
- don’t fight for obamacare, fight for single payer.
- don’t fight for reigning in ice, fight for immigration reform.
- don’t bother convincing people climate change is real, start introducing bills to move us off fossil fuels for good.
turnipism is the act of listening to turnip. he loves every minute the press and the public remains aghast.
the real solution lies far beyond him, and it lies far beyond both the republican the current democratic party.
sanders would have been a start, and obviously clinton would have been better than what we’ve got - but if she’s the nominee next time round, we are all seriously f***ed.