40 pointsby giuliomagnificoa day ago3 comments
  • spicyusername19 hours ago
    This administration exactly why checks and balances are supposed to exist in the first place.
    • 18 hours ago
      undefined
  • jleyanka day ago
    sigh The US government, at the moment, seems powerless and is being dismembered. It's been replaced by an imperial system that echoes what got the whole thing started.
    • smokeydoe21 hours ago
      I see it being cut up and sold off wholesale.
    • I see just the opposite. This current administration is trying to prevent the kinds of authoritarian excesses and illegal acts that occurred under BHO and JRB from ever happening again.

      Perhaps America will once again be a place with "freedom and justice for all"!

      • acdha21 hours ago
        > This current administration is trying to prevent the kinds of authoritarian excesses and illegal acts that occurred under BHO and JRB from ever happening again.

        It’s telling that you didn’t mention these alleged excesses or explain your argument that concentrating power in the executive while removing safeguards somehow prevents future abuse. Without a coherent argument and supporting evidence, it’s hard to see how this will lead to a useful conversation.

      • jleyank21 hours ago
        Free countries are not ruled by decree.
        • ElectronCharge21 hours ago
          America has a strong executive, as mandated by the Constitution.

          We'll have a much better idea of how things are going by the 2026 midterms. Then our democratic republic can vote accordingly. :-)

          • jleyank21 hours ago
            All levers of the government, as I understand it, are controlled by the President's party. This would seem to suggest that the normal mechanism of passing laws and budgets would be straightforward, eliminating the need to rule by decree. As this does not seem to be happening, it suggests the US government is inoperative with all control ceded legally or otherwise to the executive.

            Hence my decree comment.

            • ElectronCharge21 hours ago
              I'm not sure of your understanding of America's government.

              Conservatives control all three branches of government to an extent. The Senate GOP doesn't have 60 members, so the Dems can block legislation (the GOP hasn't invoked the "nuclear option" that would prevent that). That's why there's a government shutdown, 100% of that is on the Dems.

              The Supreme Court exists only to interpret law in terms of constitutionality. Even with a conservative majority, it shouldn't, and almost certainly won't, violate the Constitution.

              As I said above, events leading up to the midterms, and the midterms themselves, will determine the way forward...quite democratically. :-)

              • j7919 hours ago
                > That's why there's a government shutdown, 100% of that is on the Dems.

                Back in my day, the filibuster existed to encourage compromise. The idea that this is "100%" on the Dems is absolutely ridiculous.

                There's not much I agree with Trump on, but I do agree with what he said back in 2013: "A shutdown means the president is weak."

                Mr. "Art of the Deal" really makes the best deals.

              • greggoB20 hours ago
                > 100% of that is on the Dems

                How do you figure? Or is the presumption that the GOP compromising by not (further) gutting healthcare subsidies just accepted as wishful thinking at this point?

                > almost certainly won't, violate the Constitution

                They arguably already have [0]

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States

          • bitfilped18 hours ago
            If you think we're having elections in 2026 you're wildly out of tough with reality.
      • danielbln21 hours ago
        The fact that these opinions exist in earnest and without a hint of sarcasm is why we shake our heads in disgust and disbelief over the pond here. Good lord.
        • ElectronCharge21 hours ago
          [flagged]
          • maest15 hours ago
            You are woefully misinformed. There are protests initiated by fringe right wingers, but even those fringe right wingers would be approximately centrists in the US. Virtually nobody wants a DJT-like figure in the UK, for many reasons.

            I'd be more critical of the news sources I consumed, if I were you.

          • danielbln20 hours ago
            I still can't fully tell if this is satire or delusion.
            • __s19 hours ago
              If it's satire they've been running the joke for a long time
      • watwut21 hours ago
        America will be autocracy. Current administration is dismantling last protections of democracy. There are people who dont want it to happen and those who want it to happen.
  • nullc18 hours ago
    and 98% support expanding those powers every time 'their team' is in power as if the situation could never change.
    • silexia18 hours ago
      You are exactly right. We all need to realize that the left misused government power against the right just as Trump is now misusing it against the left.

      I hope people retain these opinions of government power when their "side" gets back into power and they use that power to shrink the government so much that this cannot happen again in our lifetimes.

      • lern_too_spel16 hours ago
        > We all need to realize that the left misused government power against the right

        How? The arguments I've heard require both of the following to be true:

        1. Medical misinformation is a cornerstone of political thought in the right instead of non-politically-aligned anti-scientific nonsense.

        2. The government suggesting to media companies that they limit the spread of that misinformation, and those media companies voluntarily implementing systems that do so in order to keep their customers and employees from dying, constitutes government coercion of speech.

        • hhhhjjj13 hours ago
          House arresting the population for a few years and shutdown any discussion... Yea, def not a misuse of power...
          • Moomoomoo3093 hours ago
            You do realize all of those things initially happened before Jan 6th, 2021, when DJT was president? This is the pot calling the kettle black here. As for the free speech chilling, the current administration has targeted people who talk ill of the president, which is a much more direct and egregious chilling effect on speech than what happened during the lockdown. Biden's admin did no such thing. Platforms may have taken down alleged "misinformation" (which they are also doing for the current admin, too!), but the Biden admin didn't target anyone who talked ill of him or his admin. If you have counter examples, feel free to provide them.
          • mindslight10 hours ago
            Neither of those happened. Less than half of states had bona fide stay at home orders with the force of law, and they certainly did not last years.

            (Many states put out "stay at home orders" that in fact were merely strongly worded suggestions when it came to individuals)

        • potato373284214 hours ago
          This is exactly the sort stuff the top level comment was complaining about.

          Regardless of what team you're on if you can't come up with a few things that were done that were bad and a bunch more things that were said and advocated for by politicians that were way worse then you are the problem.