Trump supporters, how do you square this?

[thedukeofearl]

I agree with you for the most part but see Ukraine as an issue that must be gotten right and Trump is on the wrong side of it. We have wasted billions of dollars since WW2 because of Russia. In the long run beating them into a different type of government will be to our great benefit.

Ukraine is a stepping-stone for Putin, the Eastern European countries on the Russian Border are targeted

Putin's Ego is monstrous and he is borderline insane, IMHO

 

[thedukeofearl]

This whole "he's not a career politician" bullshit is so stupid (Was he not the President for 4 years???). If a person is a terrible human being, they're a terrible human being. He's been a terrible business person his whole life and and a worse moral character. Oh, but he's Christian...he's as Christian as the Sun is purple. He's a pathetic leader who never takes responsibility for anything, lies constantly, never pays for what he owes and for some reason so many of his followers thing he's the next Jesus Christ. Man, you people are so exhausting.

 

[thedukeofearl]

I don't think comparing Trump to prior fascist dictators convinces any trump supporter to move away from him. We are so desensitized by Godwin's Law: for the last 2 decades, we have fairly consistently heard Bush, Obama, and Trump all compared to Hitler. Further, we envision Nazi Germany as this monstrosity that could never happen again, the German citizens as either horrifically racist or inconceivably gullible. We are not like that.

Guess what? Neither were those Germans prior to being led to that state by a charismatic leader who preached nationalism, grievance, and a common enemy they could focus their hatred upon. I really do NOT think we will become Nazi Germany, I think we have enough guard rails in place and a strong enough counter-balance to Trump's fascist tendencies, and overall most people in this country have it pretty good (much of the grievance is contrived).

But it is hard to not think of the Kristallnacht when Trump starts hammering his mass deportation plan. There are already paramilitary organizations (analogs to the SA, or "brown shirts") working throughout our country to locate illegal immigrants. In a recent speech, Trump said something to the effect of...we have people ready to take care of these immigrants, and they will be allowed to do so (paraphrased). It was not clear if he was talking about US Law Enforcement, Military, or something else, but it certainly could have been taken as a call to arms for these militias (much like his "stand back and stand by" was in 2016).

I am sure this seems hyperbolic to anyone who supports Trump, and I hope it is truly hyperbole. But it is hard to not see parallels.

 

[thedukeofearl]

Whats wrong with Twitter? It's the one place that shows both sides. You think CNN or Fox News would be better? How about Facebook where Zuck openly admitted the government persuaded them to suppress info?

Twitter is owned by Musk

And is his political tool

 

[thedukeofearl]

Both sides? So there's no algorithm steering you in the direction of extremism because that's what generates clicks and thus ad money?

CNN and Fox are in fact no better. There are many websites that are better though, and here is a great resource for helping identifying bias.

Snopes is also a good one

Snopes.com

The definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.

www.snopes.com

 

[thedukeofearl]

No. Our military is bigger, more well-trained, more well-equipped, and has exponentially farther reach and logistics than the rest of the worlds' militaries combined. Like it or not, there's one thing our country knows better than anything else, and that's how to go to war and how to blow up persons, places, and things. Russia and all their supposed might as the 2nd most powerful military in the world can't even take over a section of land in Ukraine the size of like 20 counties in Iowa reliably. Like all their conventional weapons and forces, their nuclear arsenal is also in a state of disrepair and dysfunction. This war in Ukraine has shown that without a doubt there isn't a force on this planet even close to being able to do anything more than a proverbial mosquito bite if they squared off with us. We have 11 full strength aircraft carrier strike groups all over the globe, each with a full complement of destroyers and missile cruisers keeping watch. Not to mention submarines and every other base scattered from here to infinity. Seriously, google "world militaries compared" to see stats on our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines and look at the equipment, ships, and planes. Any of our 4 branches individually towers over the next largest full militaries.

And let's say someone tried it made an actual dent in our military, what the f*ck are they going to do when they get here to take over?

Name another country on Earth that has 350,000,000 people spread over 3.8 million square miles owning 433,000,000 firearms. Did you see how riled up our populace got after 9/11? There's a really, REALLY good reason we've never been attacked by anything other than religious extremist wackos since 1941. One bomb dropped by Russia/China within our borders would be the end of both of those coutries immediately. Nukes or no nukes. My money after seeing Russia's fake news military is on no nukes.

One thing is for sure, for all our faults we are rabidly patriotic and when some outsider f*cks with any of us we get really goddamn angry, our differences (temprarily) get put aside, and entire countries start getting rearranged.

It might not be that way for the rest of time, but as long as we and our next few generations are alive it will be.

Yeah, any country attempting to invade America doesn't just have the Military to be concerned about

American citizens might have more AK-47s and such weapons than many foreign militaries

 

[thedukeofearl]

It's so funny how you completely forgot the last umpteen times our military tried to invade another country. Do you think someone in Russia at some point typed up your exact post about us trying to kick Afghanistan's ass?

The issue with Mexico is how fast a nuke would hit us from right next door compared to across the world. It would give us no time to retaliate. If what you are saying is true, why did we make such a big deal of Russia bringing missiles to Cuba? If Russia decides ending civilization is the better option than losing, our military won't stop it buddy. All we can do is kill them too.

Afghanistan hasn't been controlled/conquered since Genghis Khan

The terrain and fanatical religions folk like the Taliban are serious obstacles

 

[thedukeofearl]

Damn. Wish I could post a couple of emojis.

Windows 11​

1. Access the emoji keyboard by pressing Windows key+. (period).
2. In the window that opens, click the
   
   icon at the top of the window. You may also click the arrow to the right of the Emoji section header.

 

[CP87]

I'm not surprised to read something like this. It was a pretty long article I tried to read while my kid is subbed out of a soccer game. I didn't see where it got into the specifics of exactly what was updated. Was it in there and I missed it?

“The previous revision of DoDD 5240.01 was issued on March 22, 2019,” Sue Gough, spokesperson for the Department of Defense, told us in an email. “Reissuing 5240.01 was part of normal business of the Department to periodically update guidance and policy.”

The procedure for reissuing policies like this involves five stages of development and review and takes at least six months, according to department instructions.

“The release was in no way timed in relation to the election or any other event,” Gough said.

Furthermore, the portion of the revised policy that’s the focus of most social media posts isn’t anything new.

Posts on this issue typically cite a paragraph specifying one of the situations in which the secretary of defense may approve a request for help from state or local law enforcement agencies.

The paragraph says the secretary may approve requests for (emphasis is ours): “Assistance in responding with assets with potential for lethality, or any situation in which it is reasonably foreseeable that providing the requested assistance may involve the use of force that is likely to result in lethal force, including death or serious bodily injury. It also includes all support to civilian law enforcement officials in situations where a confrontation between civilian law enforcement and civilian individuals or groups is reasonably anticipated. Such use of force must be in accordance with DoDD 5210.56, potentially as further restricted based on the specifics of the requested support.”

The phrases “potential for lethality” and “lethal force” are often emphasized in social media posts.

While that language is new to DoDD 5240.01, “it does not represent any change to DoD’s policy regarding the use of lethal force, which is addressed in DoDD 5210.56, ‘Arming and the Use of Force,'” Gough said. “The revised 5240.01 simply describes how this long-standing policy applies to the DoD intelligence community.”

 

[CP87]

This just isn't cool, and it is straight out of an authoritarian's playbook:

x.com

x.com