Any level with a low number can be controlled by elites. Debate can be done on forums. Good ideas go up, bad ideas go down in flames.

To add to the other response the leaders of both nationalities were veterans of the Prague Spring. They had no appetite for more violence. Could you truly say the same of the US?

Congratulations on finding a split I missed though.

Sure, for the low price of a lifetime pension I’ll benevolently dismantle the oligarchy; ban guns; make cars luxury items; massively expand mass transit; and bring in universal health and education!

Just ignore the claims that I’ve actually jailed or killed my opposition; held the families of so called “freedom fighters” so they’ll turn themselves and their buddies in; made travel outside your area and healthcare impossible without government approval; and completely changed the history everyone learns.

Okay that’s obviously pretty extreme. Just a reminder that if you’re not careful even well intentioned dictatorships can be very oppressive. And every dictatorship is on a timer to a coup or revolution. And resetting that timer is not pretty. The only way off the treadmill is to have elections again.

Anyone under the delusion that splitting a country can be peaceful should research any split since the idea of nationalism took hold. India and Pakistan are still the odds on favorite to kill us all with a nuclear winter.

Don’t forget that if you say it’s because the minority group votes against you then it’s officially political and not racist. Thanks SCOTUS.

We were never going to do representation by population. We barely got the southern colonies to agree to apportionment with land. (This was the 3/5ths compromise.)

I don’t believe that. Not the same America that elected Obama. I think Trump’s first term convinced people he wouldn’t be that bad compared to a party that tried to do a “Weekend at Bernie’s” with their candidate. This is a different Trump than we had last time. This one is willing to do every word of what he says. And that caught people by surprise.

In this specific case? We’ve spent the last two decades watching overly broad anti terrorism laws get passed under the implicit agreement they wouldn’t be abused. Then comes Trump. Americans have been asleep at the wheel since the 1970’s. That’s part of why right wing rhetoric keeps getting more extreme. They need to keep their voting base engaged. Most people don’t want anything to do with politics. If that doesn’t change then no amount of reform will prevent us from voting ourselves out of a democracy.

Suuure. Temporary. Just like when IT strung that wire across the ceiling…

The US Marshals are actually organized under the DOJ. Meaning they’ll just fire any Marshal that obeys that order.

Nope, news everywhere has been fucking this headline up. SCOTUS defined the government’s duty as requesting his release politely and allowing him back in if El Salvador does release him. The previous ruling would have forced the state department to tell El Salvador they must do it, or else. This is a far lower standard and will not be enough to get him released because the leadership in El Salvador knows Trump doesn’t want the guy to come back.

They put a lot of people in the cells, not just 2 or 3. So they are quite large and still quite crowded.

Oh no you’re reading this wrong. SCOTUS just gave them permission. They said they must “facilitate” and that the lower courts order to “effectuate” was likely an over step.

The payload here is that facilitating means they’ll send an official request that El Salvador will officially deny and then tell everyone they did everything they were ordered to do.

Oh they’re clearly moving to make that outdated. They want to turn any protestor into a terrorist.

That’s part of my point though, he’s going to have the very best and about ten times the people on the job as compared to his security detail back then.

I mean, it takes all kinds right? A desire to go out big can manifest in so many ways and he didn’t go after an A list actor, or a CEO, or any number of other high profile people. There is a reason he decided on Trump, even if his original impetus was suicide.

The sheer amount of money being removed by the 1 percent is regoddamndiculous. It’s something like 45 trillion dollars since wages diverged from productivity in 1975.

It would require Apple to accept a dollar less in profit.

Marketing aside, any normative young person can pass boot camp. (And basic training) The military gets worried when the pass rates for those courses gets low. Versus keeping pass rates low for schools like special squirrel.

It’s hard to say. He’s definitely closer to it than any president since JFK. But security is way better these days. And before the FBI comes knocking on my door, this is just an objective analysis.

We’ve already had a shooter with a near miss. So clearly there’s the will to do this among some segment of the population. Probably a conservative who feels betrayed or person who is truly far left, (not just a progressive).

However, security during the campaign and for JFK was a lot less than it is now. It’s going to be a lot harder to get close enough with a rifle. If you think of a plan the USSS has already thought about it and probably has a counter of some sort.

So while he’s definitely the closest, I don’t think we’ll see another president assassinated unless they do something truly stupid like gut the USSS.