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The Embodiment of America (thelemmy.club)
submitted 4 months ago by [M] to c/usa@lemmy.ml
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[–] 49 points 4 months ago (2 children)

That's some beautifully written words. Gonna save that for later.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago*

    One of the very best eviscerations I’ve ever seen. And just what we needed, since Taibbi went to pasture, fumbling the torch of the great Hunter Thompson.

    Send this Oliver cat some love. Saw this a month ago and checked his Substack. Not a lot of action. He’s clearly got the goods to do some verbal wrecking of the 1% and the capitalist ghouls.

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    • [–] 39 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Everyone should dodge the draft. I'd rather go to prison than serve

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    • [–] 36 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    Honestly the draft dodging is the only thing I give him credit for and that's just because it was an imperialist war.

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  • [–] 22 points 4 months ago

    It's the one thing I won't criticize about him, even if he did it for purely selfish self-serving reasons. I won't give him credit for it either but I'll never criticize someone for not joining the US military

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  • [–] 20 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    I agree, but he didn't get out of it because of any moral objection to the war itself, he used his privilege to to get himself out of something he didn't want to do while other people who equally didn't want to go were shipped off to the meat grinder against their will. Not saying he should have gone, but we're not talking about a conscientious objector here.

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  • [–] 18 points 4 months ago*

    Nah, that's privileged bone spurs. Fuck that.

    At least when my father did it he pulled an Alice's Restaurant, which was likely very true for him, claiming everyone would be the enemy if he was forced to go. This was before AR was a folk legend btw, it just so happened that he was one of many who made that approach, it may have been common knowledge at the time.

    Anyway that fascist clown deserves no credit for anything. Fuck everything he's done, fuck him entirely.

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah, that part didn't sit well with me either. How does refusing to throw away your life for a nation state's interest and to being instrumentalized to harm and kill others constitute cowardice?

    Starting a war when you yourself dodged the draft is definitely evidence of hypocrisy, moral bankruptcy and just pathetic.

    But people refusing to be pawns in some belligerent leaders wargame is far from cowardice.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Well, he didn’t do it for any lofty ideals like that I’m sure

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago*

    Sure, he just wanted to save his skin (Which is not cowardly either, in my opinion).

    However, the OP said "the cowardice of a draft dodger" which reads like a generalized statement. Also all other listed groups are reprehensible, putting draft dodgers in there is just weird.

    Edit: I'm cool with bar stool drunks as long as they don't spew evil bullshit, to be clear

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    • [+] 34 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
    [deleted]
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    [–] 15 points 4 months ago

    'stupidity passed off as common sense' this has plagued me my whole life.

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    [–] 15 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    the cowardice of a draft dodger

    Literally the only good thing this man has ever done with his life is to duck out of the Vietnam War.

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  • [+] -6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    He also legalized hemp, enacted project warp speed, banned bump stocks, rescheduled cannabis, stopped production of the penny, and opened the door to researching and possible legalization of psychedelics. But that's kinda the whole list. Granted some of those were through extra-legal means, and some were reversed by his own judges.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    For every one of those things mentioned, his only motivation were to benefit him, which also happened to be seen as a boon to society.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    Sure.

    He's a monster with deplorable policies and beliefs, a blight on humanity, and deserving of some brutal comeuppance, but that doesn't mean he's done nothing of benefit. Denying that vile people don't occasionally do something right is a great way to grow calloused against humanity in general which will make it difficult to form actual genuine connections with others--something that's necessary if we're gonna build a better world from this.

    I personally try not to deny reality when having discussions with others.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    While I agree entirely, I stand by my assessment of that malignant narcissist. He has never expressed true empathy or caring for anyone but himself, his family and his devotees. Nothing he's ever done was motivated by anything other than how it benefits him. Not a single act.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    No need to use medicalized language, you can say asshole. Lots of people are diagnosed as narcissists without doing or wanting to do any of the disgusting shit he did and does. We need to avoid stigmatizing people for their mental conditions, it's the actions that count and plenty of people act monstrously because of systemic reasons rather than brain chemistry or whatever.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I upvoted this comment then went out to pull weeds from my retaining wall, considering it much of the time. IThe vast majority of clinical narcissists are rooted in social conditioning, comparatively few medical. There's no reason to hold any sort of empathy or extra consideration for these people. Call them out. Especially the narcissist rapist in chief.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I'm close friends with a woman with NPD and she's nothing like that. Whether we're born or conditioned to be narcissists the word is still heavily misused and I'm troubled by this kind of assertion because (again) they're more likely to be victims than abusers.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    Idk about the valiance of a bunch of those. A couple - banning bump stocks, rescheduling cannabis, psychedelics - were on rails from prior admins. I really don't know about Project Warp Speed, given how he immediately tore the wiring of the program out in his second term. I guess I'll spot you the penny.

    If I was going to point to anything during his time in office, it was the Afghanistan withdrawal. Except that... glances at the half dozen other wars he started... idk if that gets to count on the balance.

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    • [–] 9 points 4 months ago

    Unfortunately he is actually president.

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    [–] 8 points 4 months ago

    And now also the Antichrist!

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    [–] 3 points 4 months ago*

    Why you gotta be mean to me?

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    [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    Garbage in, garbage out.

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    [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    Chomo Caligula

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    [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    Holy shit that was beautiful.

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    [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Maybe your America.

    I actually do what I can to take care of my neighbors, and I don't vote Democrat or Republican.

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    [–] 1 point 4 months ago*

    oh my god trump is a tulpa and this is why he won't fucking die!

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