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Greenwater Services will get the job done. (thelemmy.club)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/politicalmemes@lemmy.world
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[–] 56 points 2 months ago (19 children)

It’s really astonishing that this particular scam is the one stirring up US citizens, even though the matter is absolutely negligible compared to all the unbelievable corruption of this regime. Well, apparently they need something concrete—symbols, in other words—that offend their national pride in order to grasp just how criminal their government is.

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  • [–] 52 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (7 children)

    I think the media latches onto simple corruption cases like this because they're easy for people to grasp.

    "Trump overpays donor to do subpar job on major national monument, ruining it" is a simple quid pro quo with visible (and ironically metaphorical) results.

    It's a little harder to talk about all his insider trading schemes, Melania movie $40M kickback, crypto rugpulls, campaign finance violations, etc. Because those have more plausible deniability and the results don't have immediate and observable effects - often just pay for play schemes between him & corporations which are less concrete.

    People can either delude themselves into thinking it's legitimate because they don't understand financial stuff/how things typically worked before being massively corrupt, or because it's initially just Trump making money (usually illegally) which is something they expect him to do and the illegality is difficult to explain or not very hard-hitting.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    I think the media latches onto simple corruption cases like this because they’re easy for people to grasp.

    Or because they don't matter. It's millions while the war is costing billions.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

    Well that's a bit of a false equivalency. Yes the war is costing billions in tax payer money and innocent lives, which is bad, but that isn't corruption. That's just a warmongering administration getting into and losing unnecessary wars.

    All these random, relatively small, examples of corruption are sometimes uses of taxpayer money like in this case, but that isn't the problem - if the pool needed to be resurfaced then that is a legitimate government expense. It wasn't necessary, but that'd just be waste if we stopped there. The actual problem is the corruption - the facilitation of funding to the Trump campaign and Trump family, illegally, through pay for play schemes.

    Both things matter, and obviously the war matters more as it has cost innocent lives, they are not the same type of thing though.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Right. However if newspapers would start investigating the war expenses, don't you think they would find billions wasted in corruption?

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago*

    I think they are investigating that though, right? It's just a different sort of story, requiring more reporting investment and more specialized reporters. I've seen lots of reporting on the war over the past months (humanitarian, economic, military, etc. etc.)

    Obviously though most of that reporting is institutionalist, serves western interests, etc. I just don't expect different from the corporate press

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago*

    so like, remember how every time the military gets audited they fail the audit? if a company in the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) fails their audit, they get kicked out of the MIC and can't do business with the gubmint but the military itself misplaces billions of dollars every year (mostly bribes being paid and not being properly accounted for. just write them down, military dudes) and whoopsie poopsie, failed audit whatcha gonna do we got nukes.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago* (7 children)

    Is it stirring us up?

    Or just making better memes than the war crimes, fascism and child rape?

    It's a nice change to mock him for something that is only a huge waste of time and money but doesn't destroy all America's credibility and world standing, hasn't even irreparably harmed a natural habitat, and hasn't killed anyone.

    You can even listen to the Trump supporters on this topic because although they sound stupid they don't horrify you.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (6 children)

    What makes you think this wouldn’t undermine the credibility of the U.S.? It’s just as undignified as a cage fight in front of the White House. But hey, I can put your mind at ease—there’s no credibility left to undermine anyway, since the U.S. has already lost it all.

    To the rest of the world, however, this has more to do with the fact that U.S. citizens are unable to remove from office a president who is not only incredibly corrupt but who also uses the state apparatus to make the unspeakable crimes he and his billionaire friends commit possible in the first place.

    U.S. citizens may be willing to accept it when their leaders rape children and commit the most horrific war crimes. The rest of the world will not put up with it.

    In the long run, this will lead to the downfall of the U.S. If you need an example of this, just look at what has become of Russia after the oligarchs took complete control - btw, this was made possible with the support of the U.S. (Clinton had even sent campaign experts at the time to help Yeltsin stay in power).

    The citizens of the remaining democratic nations do not want this, and that is why they particularly despise the U.S. citizens for the fact that they stand by and just watch even in the face of these inconceivable atrocities.

    It shows all too clearly that even functioning democracies are not immune to the concentrated monstrosity that the U.S. represents with its inhumane capitalism.

    This is what this regime has achieved, and one almost has to be grateful to it for that: It has exposed the U.S. for what this country has been for decades.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 child)

    It certainly deserves ridicule but it's a different level of credibility from defaulting on promised funding for vital projects around the world. It's also Trump-specific.

    Unlike later democracies, the US Constitution has no provision for deposing a President by the public, only impeachment by Congress. And it enshrines gerrymandering, which is how we got a Republican majority in Congress. Which is (with extra evil shenanigans) how we got hard-right maggots as 6/9 of the Supreme Court. So you are correct, we citizens who oppose him and them cannot get rid of him unless we wrest the majority in Congress. Which ain't gonna be easy, see gerrymandering above. Surprisingly, the few who have tried assassination have been disappointed he wasn't as far right as they wanted. It doesn't mean everyone is "willing to accept it when their leaders rape children and commit the most horrific war crimes." If you're advocating that I purchase a weapon, abandon my responsibilities here, travel 3,000 miles and attempt to assassinate him, may I point out that there's nothing to that method which requires citizenship and you are equally likely to succeed as I?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    I argue that U.S. citizens should paralyze the country with a general strike until the regime steps down and major reforms are implemented. Otherwise, nothing at all will change.

    But yes, I’ve heard all this so many times before. Including the excuses as to why a general strike supposedly isn’t possible.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago*

    US citizens aren't doing enough, but we aren't entirely just watching, thousands of people have been imprisoned for things like lighting a trashcan on fire during a protest, or charged with terrorism for breaking some windows, numerous well known activists have been killed or went missing since 2020. For it's entire history the US government and vigilantes with their backing have been murdering political opponents and subverting and co-opting political organizations, and our media landscape and political knowledge for many people has been completely distorted by propaganda. There are many despicable and racist people in the US, but many of us are doing the best we know how, and most don't have the opportunity to stand up and pushback in a sincere way without losing our job, and therefore healthcare and home.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    The rest of the world will not put up with it.

    really? put up or shut up. get over here and fix it then

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    I haven't bought a single U.S. product since early 2025, and I no longer use any U.S. services as long as possible—which required me to go to great lengths to make many changes.

    That's probably more than most Americans have done to oppose their government.

    No one but themselves can change it. But they don't, precisely because of that attitude.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    You aren't wrong, Rude. But it's a feature of all people, not just Statesians. If there isn't something to unite them (usually a symbol, a cause, an enemy, whatever) they can't get anything done. And the entire world (specifically Russia, China, India, the EU, and the Murdochs so technically the British Commonwealth) have been working in intelligence and propaganda to drive deep, practicably insurmountable divisions in the US populace. Like what the fuck was all that tan suit bullshit other than retrenching racism? Shit like that.

    i get kind of fed up with the whole "burn down the entire government" bullshit that comes out because the current government is using structures with the potential to do a lot of good to do a lot of harm. like the us army corp of engineers can and has been used as a rapid response unit for natural disasters like floods and fires. put up a usable (not great or terribly long term, but usable) bridge and road in an afternoon to evacuate a stranded community. shit like that what never gets advertised or in the press, but when pops was in the army, that's what he did. if we're going to decimate the gubmint, prune out the bad shit but leave the good, right? keep the grant programs what give money to the soup kitchens at least.

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