The orange dipshit is just masks off. The real harm is has been done under the current liberal administration. The rest of the world already has no expectations for conservatives but now liberals too.
Yes, exactly. The fascist Republican project could never have achieved this success without an opposition party that’s been relentlessly incompetent at best, and actively compliant at worst. The ideology of modern Democrats as an organization has been an import contributor to this collapse. Without a revolution within the party, we will never pull out of the death spiral by just swinging back to Democrats. We have tried that several times for decades. It would require one or both parties getting a fundamental realignment, or some equally dramatic third party insurgency. All of that is extremely unlikely. In the mean time, you and I will be poorer, sicker, less free, and subject to more violence.
I think you’re neglecting the Manifest Destiny period of westward expansion, and you’re limiting your consideration to the paradigm of colonial empire. The American empire is different, it’s a neo-colonial empire.
I’m a rank amateur but in my limited understanding of history it seems similar to the ancient Persian empire: basically a system of client states each with a permitted level of autonomy within a framework of tribute/favorable trade relations. Enforced with a network of garrisons.
When the CIA backs a coup and installs a friendly government that signs a defense pact, and makes it easy for American capital to thrive, what would you call that state other than a client state?
That’s just my understanding as a lay person though, how do you understand it?
I’m also an amateur and don’t have much more frame of reference then college history and quick internet searches that validated with what I remember professors lecturing.
The westward expansion should count as imperialism. The territories were meant to be integrated parts of the nation and not independent vassal states.
The US was Neo-colonial without being an empire. Which is a pretty jerk move when you realize that meant a groups of people had to agree in unison to use soft-power to oppress countries over decades.
America historically avoided the empire classification because of the division of power prevented there being a single supreme power. The erosion of the separate powers providing the checks and balances is what is sliding the US into empire by definition.
Sometimes I wonder if George Lucas had been a better writer how things might have been different.
Maybe if he had done a better job, perhaps it would have done nothing because some dumb movie plot doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things… or maybe it would have help to shift our culture just a bit more in the right direction… The prequel trilogy was meant to basically mirror the fall of the Weimar Republic to the 3rd Reich. You can’t tell me the “Execute Order 66” montage was not inspired by old “shlankily klankily’s” Night of Long Knives.
By the time he was making the prequels, George was basically God to anyone in his orbit. He no longer had anyone there to tell him “no” anymore, nor his awesome wife to save him in the editing bay, so we ended up with Jar Jar and…
It might sound silly at first, but Gore only lost by the tiniest of margins (and a garbage conservative Supreme Court decision). If even only a few minds had been changed, maybe there would have been no 9/11, no “war on terror” with Iraq and Afghanistan, no Patriot Act, and maybe real mitigations on climate change could have been instituted.
One of my favorite comedians said “The Star Wars prequels were great ideas… executed poorly… but the sequels were poor ideas… executed greatly.”
In 2011 Obama announce changes to the CAFE standards to raise the average efficiency of every manufactures annual vehicle sales to 50mpg by 2025. Actual average efficiency (thanks in part to Trump trying to dismantle literally everything Obama touched, including even his bad policies) as of late 2024 is a bit over 27mpg. There’s been so many opportunities where things could have been better by now if policies that almost got passed or were passed and repealed instead were passed
9/11 was happening . It was driven by the happenings in Afghanistan not the us. Basically the northern alliance was gaining ground hard and consistent against the tailiban.
Ahmad Massoud would have been assassinated regardless . September 9th was the day the taliban won. It just took 2 decades of hindsight to see that.
You are mistaken, you are witnessing the fall of the US republic. At the same time you are seeing the rise of an empire.
Jeez, even resignation is grandiose for Americans.
I mean it’s true. It’ll be an empire because we have a ton of firepower and aggression. It’ll just be an evil empire.
Sorry world. I didn’t vote for the orange dipshit and his enablers.
The orange dipshit is just masks off. The real harm is has been done under the current liberal administration. The rest of the world already has no expectations for conservatives but now liberals too.
Chris Hayes: Biden is leaving a ‘disgraceful legacy’ on Gaza
Rush by west to back Israel erodes developing countries’ support for Ukraine
Yes, exactly. The fascist Republican project could never have achieved this success without an opposition party that’s been relentlessly incompetent at best, and actively compliant at worst. The ideology of modern Democrats as an organization has been an import contributor to this collapse. Without a revolution within the party, we will never pull out of the death spiral by just swinging back to Democrats. We have tried that several times for decades. It would require one or both parties getting a fundamental realignment, or some equally dramatic third party insurgency. All of that is extremely unlikely. In the mean time, you and I will be poorer, sicker, less free, and subject to more violence.
Still a pale imitation of the British, they had a real empire. America had Puerto Rico and Guam .
I think you’re neglecting the Manifest Destiny period of westward expansion, and you’re limiting your consideration to the paradigm of colonial empire. The American empire is different, it’s a neo-colonial empire.
I’m a rank amateur but in my limited understanding of history it seems similar to the ancient Persian empire: basically a system of client states each with a permitted level of autonomy within a framework of tribute/favorable trade relations. Enforced with a network of garrisons.
When the CIA backs a coup and installs a friendly government that signs a defense pact, and makes it easy for American capital to thrive, what would you call that state other than a client state?
That’s just my understanding as a lay person though, how do you understand it?
I’m also an amateur and don’t have much more frame of reference then college history and quick internet searches that validated with what I remember professors lecturing.
The westward expansion should count as imperialism. The territories were meant to be integrated parts of the nation and not independent vassal states.
The US was Neo-colonial without being an empire. Which is a pretty jerk move when you realize that meant a groups of people had to agree in unison to use soft-power to oppress countries over decades.
America historically avoided the empire classification because of the division of power prevented there being a single supreme power. The erosion of the separate powers providing the checks and balances is what is sliding the US into empire by definition.
This is how liberty dies. With thunderous applaus.
Sometimes I wonder if George Lucas had been a better writer how things might have been different.
Maybe if he had done a better job, perhaps it would have done nothing because some dumb movie plot doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things… or maybe it would have help to shift our culture just a bit more in the right direction… The prequel trilogy was meant to basically mirror the fall of the Weimar Republic to the 3rd Reich. You can’t tell me the “Execute Order 66” montage was not inspired by old “shlankily klankily’s” Night of Long Knives.
By the time he was making the prequels, George was basically God to anyone in his orbit. He no longer had anyone there to tell him “no” anymore, nor his awesome wife to save him in the editing bay, so we ended up with Jar Jar and…
It might sound silly at first, but Gore only lost by the tiniest of margins (and a garbage conservative Supreme Court decision). If even only a few minds had been changed, maybe there would have been no 9/11, no “war on terror” with Iraq and Afghanistan, no Patriot Act, and maybe real mitigations on climate change could have been instituted.
One of my favorite comedians said “The Star Wars prequels were great ideas… executed poorly… but the sequels were poor ideas… executed greatly.”
In 2011 Obama announce changes to the CAFE standards to raise the average efficiency of every manufactures annual vehicle sales to 50mpg by 2025. Actual average efficiency (thanks in part to Trump trying to dismantle literally everything Obama touched, including even his bad policies) as of late 2024 is a bit over 27mpg. There’s been so many opportunities where things could have been better by now if policies that almost got passed or were passed and repealed instead were passed
9/11 had nothing to do with GWB and everything with the US has already done to that point. Clinton’s policies that lead to the death of 500,000 children in Iraq for example
The smallest alterations can change the world.
If the bullet had been an inch to the right we wouldn’t be about to give the reins of our nation to an anti-democratic felon rapist.
9/11 was happening . It was driven by the happenings in Afghanistan not the us. Basically the northern alliance was gaining ground hard and consistent against the tailiban.
Ahmad Massoud would have been assassinated regardless . September 9th was the day the taliban won. It just took 2 decades of hindsight to see that.
Oh fuck! You might be right 😯