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@sigmanerd.bsky.social
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Proud New Englander & Québécois J.D. (Not a Lawyer) YIMBY. Soc-Dem. Nerd. Environmentalist. Feminist. Sappho's Deeply Confused Daughter. Democracy's Strongest Soldier. #AbolishTheSenate #AbolishICE 🪼⋆.ೃ࿔*:・ ⚢⋆.˚🪻༘⋆🐦‍⬛ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Lesbian (She/Her) Alias: Aquila
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Gun violence is a threat to freedom and liberty, and gun-owners who believe they have a right to an unregulated gun-industry are not just wrong, but are per-se irresponsible and reveal how unworthy of a weapon they are.

The Post DC v. Heller interpretation of the 2nd amendment is tyrannical.
Imagine hating America so much you think College Football is remotely as important as fighting for justice in a protest. If MAGA was around in the Revolution, America would be a British colony still. They are so embarrassingly lazy and weak-minded.
Every argument that MAGA isn't fascistic or authoritarian I've had boils down to just "Nuh uh". I have literally been presented no counter-argument to the allegation. No explanation of what a fascist is that is so different from MAGA's beliefs.
What bothers me, is them complaining about being called a Nazi, and feeling no discomfort with how much they like fascism.
I'm at the point I think anyone who knows a conservative Congressperson who does this should be naming them and making them actually stand up for their principles or just kowtow to Trump. I'm so tired of the cult of loyalty around him, it's pathetic.
In 2028, should we even have an election, the Democratic President must see to it that the USA join the ICC.
Trump murdering Fishermen is precisely why international politics matter, why we need to be in the ICC. Because America WON'T hold its leaders accountable, we're NOT any better at that than anyone else. At the least, criminals like him should be incapable of foreign travel and be a pariah.
Extrajudicial killings not for immediate self-defense are NEVER justified.
Most of the best complaints about Biden are about things he didn't promise, like related to Israel and Palestine. He delivered on a lot of what he promised and was enormously successful.
Trump lying about a campaign promise, and Biden attempting to, but not fully succeeding in delivering is not the same thing.

Like people complain about student loans, but Biden did more than any President in living memory I know of to help students.
Dad, is that you? Today I learned this account is run by my Father.
Awww such a cute pet giraffe :D
The less we resist, the faster and more cemented his take-over will be.
Dictators are fairly obsessed with worrying about losing power and being toppled. Trump fears what will happen if he's ever held to account. Unless he's truly totally lost his mind entirely, I do think he fears America. That's power we have over him.
Don't just think about what will get a change in policy, but also, what prevents his bad norms from cementing and protects good ones. Think about what influences and weakens, strategically, a tyrant.
Yes, it is hard to convince people. That isn't because protests don't work. It is because many Americans want tyranny. For the rest of us, we need to resist. I'm not sure that we can save America. I'm not sure it'll restore order. But I do think it'll lead to a better result than doing nothing.
Do not comply. Resist. Demand it of your Congresspeople. Democrats should, to the best of their ability, be an absolute stonewall. We should too.

The bigger, more diverse the crowd, sending a message of a different America, breaks his hold on the psyche of America. The idea his power is inevitable.
Because dictators are supposed to be in control with endless support. Challenging that strengthens resisters in our institution and puts doubt in his mind. If it doesn't, he's a fool that is doomed.

None of that is exactly easy to see sometimes. But I can think of no case where appeasement works.
Fascists like Hitler arise when they have no limits, no formal checks on their power nor socio-political checks from the people. While no dictator is good, the harder and stronger, and *Quicker* we respond to the moment, the weaker you make Trump's consolidation of power.
Of course people will insist protests are not effective at swaying public opinion. But that's only half the battle. The other half is sending a message to the tyrant that their are limits to their power. People like Putin stay in power by knowing these limits.
He wants to normalize corruption, like commuting the sentence of George Santos. Don't let him.
He wants to normalize rule by executive fiat. Don't let him.
He wants to normalize military police and the baseless arrest, even deportation of Americans including citizens. Don't let him.
Protests send a signal to autocrats, telling them how far they can reach. Events like protests can shift public perception, and importantly, establish boundaries. As Trump seeks to cement his reign and foist autocracy on the people, the ONLY way to prevent this is to prevent him from cementing it.
In societies with a weak social contract, the state may be failing, and chaos might reign among the people. Because without norms or a social contract *force* is required to rule, to do anything. The social contract smooths things over and lets us get along. This is an important point for protests.
Social contracts are sometimes written like our constitution, but frankly, they ultimately exist in the minds of the people: What do we expect of each other in how we treat one another?

These ideas *matter* in understanding government and even individual action.
But protests have multiple dynamics that make them important. As a Poli Science student, an important concept we learned about is 'norms' and the 'social contract' Norms, are just the ethics commonly expected of people based on precedent. The social contract is the agreement by which society rules.
Yes, in a perfectly democratic society, a protest should result in direct response by the state. However, America in many ways, has never been responsive to the people. It is structurally built to ignore the will of the people to a great degree and has the Republic has been on a downward trend.