volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
It's important to keep in mind that this refund process wouldn't actually be THAT complicated since the US trade commissions already have those procedures on the books.
There are a TON of ways that tariff payments have to be adjusted under normal times, so those procedures are already part of the system. These refunds would simply trigger those.
There are a lot of folks who say the tariffs might be illegal, but it would be too disruptive to rule against them now. They need to know that it wouldn't actually be that disruptive to do the right thing.
I can't read the paywalled article, but your comment gets it backwards.
The argument is that the VRA *requires* racial redistricting, so for the Court to confirm racial redistricting would strengthen the Voting Rights Act, not weaken it.
@LevZadov you have proof that there is widespread election fraud?
You can prove that the folks in Congress weren't actually elected?
Occasionally #Trump comes right out and admits that his handlers aren't giving him the real picture of what's going on.
It's really important to keep that in mind, that the guy is so sheltered from the outside world. as it clarifies the concern about the administration.
Trump isn't really in charge. The people around him use him.
#Trump, on the double tap boat strike:Hegseth said, he did not say that. And I believe him, I wouldn't have wanted that. Not a second strike. The ...
Well... right, because it's not really up to the Supreme Court in the US system. It's up to Congress.
SCOTUS has little real enforcement power by design. They only judge. It's up to the people we elect to Congress to really respond to a misbehaving executive.
Congress can impeach and remove from office, can withhold funds, can generally engage with the executive branch as needed. The Supreme Court is limited to judging cases brought before them.
@LGS the thing is, the Supreme Court hands out public arguments to back its positions, and they're there to be scrutinized.
We don't need to delve into dark conspiracy theories like this. We can read the rulings for ourselves to see if they hold up.
What matters is the argument laid out in the rulings, not the personal backstories of justices.
@Akshay you're missing that so many Republicans DO care about the Rule of Law, but they're too uninformed to know what the law actually says.
So many honestly believe that the president has a legal right to do so many of those things.
@mmasnick.bsky.social meh, I'd say it's not even about censorship and control.
I suspect it's about politics, plain and simple, generating talkingpoints for politicians to squawk about to their base.
Without a push to actually pass anything through the Senate, or even on the floor of the House itself, it's just bluster.
Reps get to crow about trying to protect kids online even if they don't have any expectation of actually making law.
@cbarbermd Don't discount the possibility that he's not trying to hide anything, he's just really that stupid, his brain is so adled with dementia, that he actually doesn't know.
There doesn't need to be a deeper plan than that.
@bettycjung.bsky.social The federal government does consider them to be professional.
It's just that they don't have the same qualifications as PHD level backgrounds.
@billbennett bingo. This exactly.
I remember a study of #Trump voters when he was first elected that found his voters to be a coalition of something like five distinctive groups with dramatically opposite values and expectations. For example, one group wanted freer trade while another group wanted it restricted.
So what you say here nails it: one group of his voters actually think he is really really smart and capable while another group of his voters thinks he's an absolute moron that can be manipulated.
But in the end, yay democracy.
He's a fine representation of the population here. I don't know why we would expect anything better given the level that voters are at.
That's not at all my position.
So when you project that onto me, well, I guess it's something like a mirror for you.
Peace of work indeed.
@jhavok Yeah, and I think if more of us talked about him that way it would really go far to deflate his power.
Yeah, he is just a real estate grifter. He doesn't know how any of this government stuff works, so people around him are using him, the real estate grifter, to promote their own projects.
We should identify him as exactly that level of loser. If we had been talking about him that way for all these years the people around him wouldn't have been able to put him in the position where they could use him like this.
He is just a real estate grifter, and now a felon too I guess. We need to call him out for that.
The thing to remember, and this is a fantastic illustration of it, is that the US administration has no spine or theory of operation. Trump is a moron who does not lead the administration. He doesn't know what he's doing, he just does whatever people tell him to do. We really need to emphasize that. He is a loser and a follower, I know I'm being a little harsh there but but that's what we need to emphasize.
So when it comes to Venezuela, we need to talk more about the motivations? Absolutely! And I highlight the plural there!
There is no one motivation. All of the people in the administration and in popular conservative media spheres have different motivations. They all have different reasons for setting US policy. They all have different motivations, and Trump is so goddamn weak that he doesn't get to set the motivation of the government.
And so it's just a mess. They're going to kill a lot of people, and they can't even say why.
And we kept electing people to Congress who don't care enough to hold them accountable for it. We should stop reelecting those ineffective people.
Siiiiiigh.
@faab64 Oh it's worse than that.
Fascism implies some kind of order, some structure that somebody is in charge of. But that's not what we have here.
This is just a baby throwing tantrums without any understanding, and people around the world reacting to the baby trying to make him shut up.
Not quite.
Closing the airspace isn't a thing. He doesn't have authority to close the airspace. So that's not it.
But he will start murdering people in the sky the same way he has started murdering people in boats. So that's a thing.
Airlines will avoid Venezuela because they don't want Trump to kill their pilots and passengers.
Trump is a maniac. An imbecile who doesn't understand the concept of killing people even as he orders death.
@faab64 Well world leaders have come to understand that by sucking up to this dude they can get money and resources out of him.
@jhavok this is one of those cases where the real world doesn't give any perfect solutions, only trade-offs, yeah people will die, but people will die whatever you choose. It's not like you can wave a magic wand and there won't be death. That is not an option in the real world.
The issue is that a whole lot of people were harmed due to politicians seeming to suggest that they could make a choice that would avoid death, which was always a false promise.
What are a few dead kids? Unfortunate reality. There's no choice to not have death. We need to be adults and recognize that, and tell the politicians who seem to promise that snake oil to buzz off.
Unfortunately, we reelected them. We chose this.
@aaron.rupar there's a simpler explanation though: they don't know what they're talking about in the first place.
It's not that they're lying, it's that they don't know anything. They don't know what's true in the first place, so they can't lie about it.
They're just idiots. That's the simplest explanation. And it's backed up by all sorts of things up to Trump having been convicted of felonies because he was too damn stupid to get his paperwork in order.
@aaron.rupar there's a simpler explanation though: they don't know what they're talking about in the first place.
It's not that they're lying, it's that they don't know anything. They don't know what's true in the first place, so they can't lie about it.
They're just idiots. That's the simplest explanation. And it's backed up by all sorts of things up to Trump having been convicted of felonies because he was too damn stupid to get his paperwork in order.
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
volkris's choices:
