Erik Haugen @ech@qoto.org

@freemo I like that silver lining: no matter who wins, you can say at least <X> isn't president.

@freemo @cobratbq "the 2 dominate parties have been replaced 8 times" – sure, but it was pretty much always 2 parties.

Is anyone arguing that it always and forever must be the two parties we have currently?

I think the claim usually made is that structurally the only stable thing is 2 main parties, and they'll morph as needed to always be ~half the country. There can be (*very* temporary) disruptions like a third party that e.g. replaces one of the others, or a party can change wildly (like Dems mid-1900s) etc.

@timorl @ABScientist @freemo I kinda doubt moving the embassy around is a top priority for very many people living in Gaza right now.

@crazyeddie @edgeofeurope @UlrikNyman @randahl @NMBA I don't think that's the vibe here; I think the point is just Europe should step up and handle its own security/etc; they can do it easily if they just, you know, do it.

I disagree with Randahl on almost everything, but not this! In fact, like everyone agrees with this, I think – it's one of Trump's main foreign policy pushes, from what I can tell, even.

@malwaretech FWIW this is I think one of Trumps main foreign policy goals: the good guys in Europe can easily take care of their own security if they step up and do it.

@QasimRashid FWIW even Trump agrees with you!

@gwynnion Trump didn't close borders (except during Covid) remove all immigrants (or even more immigrants than Obama), tariff to the moon, create jobs only for men, force women to submit to men in any particular respect, etc in his first term, so it's odd to suspect he'll do any of those things in his second term if he gets one.

@JoshuaHolland I doubt someone clueless enough to not understand how tariffs hurt consumers is going to be moved by this argument.

But probably best to focus on his first term; unlike in 2016, we can actually see with some degree of confidence what he'll do if elected again. I think it's uncontroversial to say that from a trade perspective at least it wasn't /that/ bad?

@freemo @louis Louis, it's part of his charm. If typos bother you subscribe to someone else 😂

@freemo The Ayatollah is more than happy to pay this price, never forget that.

@hazz223 @hacks4pancakes well, his last term coincided with a brief pause in the world's descent into Iran/Russia madness, although I admit that could just be a coincidence.

@paulisci depending on where that old man from the 40s lived, he might have a point.

Dresden in 1945: https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2009/11/dresden-bombing-gettyimages-514700324.jpg

Dresden in 1895:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/trialsanderrors/3428963226

@EvilBunnyPottymouth I feel like a lot of this kind of thing is going to fall flat: he didn't really do this in his first term, did he? Why do people seem to think his second term would be so much different/worse than his first? You need pretty good evidence to make that claim, I think.

@esther@strangeobject.space I feel seen.

@jaycee @esther@strangeobject.space Pretty sure Esther wasn't doing that.

@mike @llewelly not just any 10-eyed angel, it is specifically a Seraph, so this would be perfect.

@anandamide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpcTJW4ur54 is a very slightly more hopeful take on the same set of issues.

@randahl @signaleleven I have no idea how much research Musk has done about rent control. For all I know his opinions are based merely on general awareness of problems associated with price controls.

My vague take on him is that he forms really strong opinions based on nontrivial-but-maybe-not-robust-enough research, but I don't know for sure, of course.