Attorney General Todd Blanche has declined to pledge DOJ’s independence from the White House and would not rule out similar suits in other states

Donald Trump says he ordered the Department of Justice to sue the state of Alaska in an effort to block the results of a U.S. Senate election from being certified, unless the incumbent Republican wins.

Government attorneys filed a lawsuit Friday arguing that the presence of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot would confuse voters who support the sitting senator, Daniel S. Sullivan, in the unusual matchup of two candidates with the same name up against a Democratic candidate.

“I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters Friday. “They have two Dan Sullivans.”

Trump’s admission of an extraordinary intervention in the nation’s elections follows the president’s threats to overhaul election administration and assert federal control before critical midterm elections with the balance of power in Congress, and fate of his final years in office, at stake.

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[–] 2 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Let's reread what they said:

It was just disappointing to know all those "Tree of liberty needs to be watered" folk were the real bootlickers all along.

That reads to me as: "The people who quote that line turned out to be the ones who support fascism." In other words, "The don't tread on me people turned out to enjoy being treaded on/treading on others."

Maybe you read it differently, but if my reading is correct, then I'd say the other commenter wasn't lying. Calling that "assuming everyone who thinks a state monopoly on violence is bad" is... a take...

Community is pretty much all I've got, ...

Okay. That's a privilege. If you think everyone in this country has that opportunity, you're assuming everyone is in a similar situation as your own, which is ignorant.

Do you think a trans person in Alabama could build community solidarity by an act of willpower alone? Or a gay man in Nebraska, or a lesbian woman in Utah, or a Latino person in Mississippi?

I'm assuming from your words that your neighbors are mostly anti-maga. Do you really think that's the norm everywhere in this country? Because if it was, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.

And by the way, are you assuming that the other commenter is a cishetero white man? Because if literally anyone else were to get out while they could, would you still be so opposed to it? I didn't see anything in their comment that indicates one way or another.

their attitude and the criticism coming down from such a privileged position got to me.

Let's look at the rest of their comment:

I knew they wouldn't do shit after J6.

Obviously talking about the government here, who failed to prosecute the leaders of that insurrection.

Glad I got out of the US

I would be too.

so I don't have to deal with that theocratic shit hole Reich that's embedding itself into government

They ain't wrong.

What about this sounds condescending to you?

You literally said there was no virtue, bravery, or solidarity in staying behind and doing so changed nothing, wish I could quote.

Doing so literally changes nothing, ergo there is no virtue or bravery in it, only stupidity (if it's done by choice when there's an alternative option, at least).

You might be able to argue that there can be solidarity in that, but it's the solidarity of crabs in the steamer. There's no shame in climbing overboard, but there is shame in dragging someone back down when they're trying to climb out. Not sure how you don't see that.

The tendency for anyone with the resources to do so to put the Rational Self Interest we're conditioned for above the needs of the many really doesn't help. They're in a much better position to help than I am and chose not to.

The cost of a plane ticket is not enough to fix this mess. Just because they got outta here doesn't mean they could have done anything to help even if they had stayed.

Not exactly operating from a position of power.

None of us are, dude. That's why some of us leave.

I've turned down opportunities for myself because of the position it would leave my community in more than once, it's what makes me a part of it and what lets me feel like a good person.

Would you do the same if 90% of your community were malicious, ignorant magas?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 hour ago (1 child)

    My brother in Christ, you're ignoring pretty much all of what I already made my best effort to communicate and this doesn't feel productive or fun. If you're going to rehash the original comment, maybe quote the whole thing instead of just the lines that, out of context, support the point you want to make. I'm here for a conversation, but you're treating it more like a contest and that just makes me want to forfeit. Calling community a privilege "is... a take...". I'm a fuckin bigshot in mine because I have this phone and a car to sleep in. It's the one thing available to literally everyone that can't be bought, sold or taken away and is maintained exclusively through participation. Fuck your fixation on identity too, you have no idea who I am or where I'm coming from or what life is like for the constructs you prop up so glibly to make your point. Community is absolutely available to every one of those people and exactly how they survive those environments. You can find it in a prison and I have. You can find it in a concentration camp and I will. I guarantee I have a much closer relationship with the human beings behind the shallow strawmen you present here than you do and that the kind of "support" you're offering would piss them off. Community is about shared purpose and meeting needs, not performative politics. Ignorance is entirely forgiveable, most things are. Just have to be genuine, well intentioned, and in this together. If you want to see what that's like, try leaving home without your wallet for a while.

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  • [–] 1 point 23 minutes ago

    you're ignoring pretty much all of what I already made my best effort to communicate and this doesn't feel productive or fun.

    I literally addressed every point you made; meanwhile you ignore everything I said and merely go on the attack, and you accuse me of arguing in bad faith?

    Literally everyone who has responded to you has told you that you clearly misread the original comment, and you refuse to concede that maybe you were mistaken from the start?

    I don't know why you were expecting this to be "fun" though, did you think we're here to entertain you?

    If you're going to rehash the original comment, maybe quote the whole thing instead of just the lines that, out of context, support the point you want to make.

    I quoted the entire comment. You read it wrong from the start and you won't just admit that.

    I'm here for a conversation, but you're treating it more like a contest

    Am I? I don't think I am, but you're the one framing it as "forfeit" so apparently you're viewing it that way...

    Calling community a privilege "is... a take..."

    It is a privilege. Not everyone has that. If you can't even grasp that other people's lived realities may be different from your own, then you have as little empathy as a republican.

    Fuck your fixation on identity too,

    I'm not fixated on identity, you're just making assumptions about the other commenter and I called you out on it.

    you have no idea who I am or where I'm coming from or what life is like for the constructs you prop up so glibly to make your point

    I never claimed to know anything about you other than what you've volunteered. I'm not the one making assumptions about you.

    Also, what do you mean by "constructs"? I asked you if you're against various kinds of vulnerable minorities leaving the country if they can, or if it's only because you're assuming details about the other commenter that you're so against them leaving.

    While you're dodging the question, and referring to those minorities as "constructs," you accuse me of "propping them up" and claim I don't know what life is like for them? You seem to be the one devoid of empathy here.

    Community is absolutely available to every one of those people and exactly how they survive those environments.

    You don't know what life is like for queer people living in right-wing areas, and it shows.

    guarantee I have a much closer relationship with the human beings behind the shallow strawmen you present here

    What fucking strawman am I presenting? You have a close relationship with the people in your community, sure, I never denied that. But where you err is in assuming every town in america is exactly the same as yours and trying to generalize your experience to encompass everyone else whom you don't even know. That is lacking empathy.

    than you do and that the kind of "support" you're offering would piss them off.

    First of all, you don't know a thing about me or the support I offer or to whom. Second of all, you're talking about "them" as if "they" are some a abstract category, that happen to also be a monolith whom you can personally speak for. That's only more evidence that you lack empathy, and you're the one using "them" as a prop.

    All I asked you is if you would feel the same way about someone leaving the country if you knew they were a vulnerable minority (which, by the way, you still haven't answered), and how you expect people who are vulnerable minorities to build solidarity when they're isolated in communities that don't support them (which again, you refuse to address and simply assert that it isn't a real problem and I somehow just made it up?).

    Community is about shared purpose and meeting needs, not performative politics.

    So being queer in a right-wing area where everyone wants you dead is "performative politics" to you?

    In this entire thread, you're the only one being performative. All I've said is to have some freaking empathy for others, and you refuse to understand or even acknowledge that some people's circumstances could differ from your own.

    And also, I might add, you tend to assume that whoever you're arguing with is some caricature of some privileged, out-of-touch, ignoramus, without ever inquiring about the details of who they actually are. Makes me strongly feel this might be projection on your part.

    If you want to see what that's like, try leaving home without your wallet for a while.

    I've been homeless, jackass. Don't preach to me about what it's like to struggle.

    Not sure why you're making this about me, though. I sure as hell wasn't making this about me. I simply came to bat for the commenter you initially replied to, because I saw that you were treating them unfairly. Everyone else here sees it too. Other than that, I've got no horse in this race.

    You know though, at first I thought you were serious and could actually be reasoned with, or might be worth the time. But now I see you're just a troll. So I'm done wasting my time on you.

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