burning teslas owned by random people when it seems it would be easier to burn this fucking nazi asshole?

Because simply in practical terms, it’s the other way around. There’s a Tesla right next door, but only one Musk somewhere, probably not where you are. And mostly, one has personal bodyguards, while the others just sit on the road.

Same here. My max is about 5.5’’ and 160g. Otherwise I feel it’s too hard to carry and handle, or even just hold. I also want to be able to reach the opposing screen corner with my thumb.

Wouldn’t it be reasonable if another administration get in power and then need to purge all these positions of pro trump people?

Oh no! You have a great point for horror fans there.

I’d even say, it probably is somewhat necessary in order to resume administration. What a beautiful, postfactual dilemma:

The Reps fear an ideological, systemic witch hunt, which they use as an excuse to replace government workers. The new workers are ideologically aligned with the Reps, encouraged to assist the dismantling of non-Rep institutions and carry out the King’s will above and beyond the law.

Now when votes swing the other way, the new administration kind of has to revert some of this damage to assume functioning.

Which is where the circle closes; the prophecy fulfills itself. Now the Reps have evidence for their previously baseless claims. The whole system is locked in a back-and-forth mud wrestling of replacing workers based on ideology.

That really is a stark contrast. What do the apologetics say about this?

Oops, thanks. Meant Transnistria (to which the answer would be Putin, although I guess you would not have asked if I had not made that mistake). Sometimes, the letters in the middle of a word do seem to matter.

Very nice, exactly the signal The Free World needs now. Now, that the previous leader vanished in a puff of Kreml propaganda.

It’s now more than ever at stake wether Ukraine can fend off the invasion (the outcome of which is another signal to autocrats eyeing future invasions, for example Taiwan, Transnistria*). It’s a question.

One answer, one possible scenario is that each individual EU country feels overwhelmed to shoulder the additional burden. Or that the Union cannot muster enough support to replace the U.S. This scenario can be self-reinforcing. If it seems likely that the combined response would still be insufficient, a plausible outcome is everybody holding back, which already would favor the Russian aggression.

So this is why I want to highlight how much good news this is, because it’s exactly the opposite kind of example. Literally stepping up.

*) Transnistria: Edited thanks to a comment, original wrongly said ‘Tasmania’.

Germany could always turn on them when the time is right.

That’s too close to history to be an accident. I take the whole 2nd paragraph as satire, which I like.

That is, wow. I guess it’s true, but ATM it feels too high to be real. Like I also heard about two states having closer to 20% voter turnout. Which surely are outliers (and WTF is wrong with people to not vote with so much at stake), but still 84% is very high.

Sooo I just make a comment on social media stating my opinion asking for other opinions … Alright I found something more useful: https://www.wahlen.info/bundestagswahl/wahlbeteiligung/

It seems conservative Bavaria was pulling the turnout train.

And further proof he’s the much better diplomat/politician than those who exclude him.

Wtf. How I hate muzzle velocity politics. Put those guys in camps, they are a threat to public safety.

Not sure how 0.00006 helmets per capita is the better figure, but there you go.

Yes, I mean, for Germany, being the 3rd largest economy in the world (only surpassed by the USA and China), it would be a real shame if they were not among the topmost supporters in total. Here, it makes much more sense to use per capita numbers, relate to GDP or whatever. Compared to it’s economic potential, Germany is merely #15 in supporting Ukraine with Denmark, Finland, and the Baltics doing at least twice as much.

If you deem the bit about the 0…6 helmets per capita to be false, what’s the correct take?

Remember how it took like two days to overturn 70 years of precedence of “no weapons delivery into crisis regions”?

Oh, thanks. Yeah, now I remember making that jump, too, although it took me more than two days. Wild times.

Hofreiter (Greens) put it quite well … something like … not our ideals have changed, but the world has changed, brutally so.

I think you did well in dialing back my comment and adding more context, although I still think there was truth in it.

Truly a shame, but does not lead to your conclusion. If you cannot get the irony about you publicly complaining that you cannot publicly complain much like in Russia, then I’m afraid I cannot help you further.

We either stop them and oppose their military spending

You notice that’s a luxury exclusive to one side in that conflict? This freedom of speech, even forming a vocal political opposition. There have been people trying to do exactly that in Russia, but they all have died, vanished or gone silent.

If the dictatorship takes over (for example, due to a lack of resistance), you lose these privileges and are then sent to the grinder anyways.

Hah, strong reply. 👍

Them not being involved in the peace talks underlines again how indispensable nuclear weapons are, sadly.

The DSA playing hopscotch with whose ally they are underlines how worthless a shared nuclear umbrella can be.

So a grim lesson for Ukraine, Europe, Taiwan and pretty much any country with any border tensions, or anything another aspiring imperialist might find desireable: Get nukes, own them yourselfes, or risk being thrown aside or being steamrolled. Trump undoing decades of existential anti-proliferation work in mere days.

Finally Ukraine is getting the help they need!

This might actually be the silver lining of it all.

There has been an uncomfortable disparity between words of support and actual support. I heard many times that the ultimate goal the Pentagon wants to achieve is Russia not losing the war. Out of (comprehensible) fear a falling dictator might throw a last Tantrum235. Germany has also been firmly sitting on the brakes from the start. Remember 5000 helmets? And the (for some Ukrainians literally) gut-tearing discussions at each and every step, wether this is Putins red line, or that is Putins red line, wether this or that might escalate the war, all while Putin escalates the war.

Now that the DSA have kissed themselves goodbye, Europe seems to finally realize what’s at stake and oops they can do something about it. So there is hope Germany might get it’s fat ass off the track. There is even talk about Germany taking a leadership role, though given the context, this must be dark humour. Gotta love that.

Fingers crossed Europe unites in action and Ukraine is getting the help they need! Doing otherwise would send a strong signal to the new Imperialists in east and west that you can pick and chew at our borders, be it the Baltics or Greenland.

Why would anybody expect a genocidal empire to stop another genocidal empire? They’re the same thing.

Nations don’t cooperate/conflict over how many similarities they have (although that makes things easier), but over how much their interests are aligned. It is well possible for two genocidal empires to oppose as adversaries, e.g. Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, the latter being proud of stopping the former.

Another example, colonizing empires fighting over their colonies. Neither did so to free the colony of the oppressor, but to become/remain that oppressor. You can imagine these empires as much the same as you like, they can still have conflicting interests (as in who rules the colony, not wether anyone should) resulting in fights up to World Wars.

Ukraine should have allied with palestinians, the global south, and other people resisting invasion and colonization by empire(s).

How would that have helped them, apart from moral feelings? How many tanks, artillery systems, intel or even humanitarian aid would that have provided? Aren’t the proposed countries more receivers of such things than donors?

It’s bitter, but let’s make lemonade. Embrace it as the fuel to drive whatever actions seem necessary and possible to you.

Take care of that light which lets you see how hate is no good, although, maybe you can yield it as a shield to brace the storm head on.

We could get philosophical about who that ‘you’ or ‘your soul’ is, which feels like being destroyed, and wether it really is. On one hand, this entity will still remain. Though not unchanged. But isn’t that a good thing? I prefer being capable of feeling pain, as it sometimes just plainly is a totally appropriate reaction or sensation. I know that feeling of breaking, but on the other hand, if I could not feel that anymore, I surely was already broken. Dull and unmoved. So in a paradoxical sense, it is an affirmation that you are fine, a fine person.

The Iraq embargo, for instance, gave rise to Al Qaeda and the eventual destruction of the World Trade Towers.

This is a racist narrative that relies on the assumption that Arabs have no control over themselves and “they’re all the same”.

Nah. Even if we assume (which we do) that Arabs, like any other group of people, aren’t all the same, and that they do have (partial) control over themselves, like anyone else … the decisions and fates of a sufficiently large number of them can still be influenced by a sufficiently large external influence, such as revoked access to international trade. Sometimes in chaotic ways. Heck, if billboard ads work in influencing people, it seems difficult to believe more intrusive changes to people’s lifes would have no effect.

Since the article already mentions it, for example Germany between the WWs. The height of reparations was helpful for nationalistic and ultimately again militaristic groups in Germany to gain power. Not as an automatism, not as a justification, simply recognizing a statistical causality. Peace isn’t equal peace. What’s a foul peace worth? We need conditions which support a stable and peaceful coexistence, not plant the seeds for the next war.