So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election.
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda agreed. At the same time, many of the countries in Europe are already controlled by far-right regimes, or are just one election away from a conservative-Nazi alliance that will control them. It can happen here, just as there, and vast amounts of money and influence are being applied to make sure it does. Once 1/3 of your population is lost to continuous lying, it's difficult to see how a democracy survives long-term. Or reconstitutes itself, for the Former US.
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@Kierkegaanks @thomholwerda nope. Not even Sherman is enough. The damage is not repairable. Every foreign government has outright said and made clear, even if we somehow replace Twitler with Saint fucking Theresa? Next up will be someone even WORSE. And any agreement imagined is just that: imagined. Anybody can come along and tear it up.
They will never, ever trust the US again, and they shouldn't. But we would appreciate a hand trying and executing the Nazis please.
@rootwyrm @thomholwerda we get along with Germany and Japan
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda The US former allies should stop buying US bonds.
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@Kierkegaanks @thomholwerda (for those not familiar: Takaichi Sanae is an ultra-right extremist opposed to things like same sex marriage, allowing women to keep their surnames after marriage, and Japan's policy of non-aggression. She is for the claims that Japan did nothing wrong in WWII, wants to retract Murayama and Kono, and has done things like denying Japan ever committed war crimes while visiting Yasukuni.)
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@thomholwerda Even if you think it might be done for, we all know that most politicians don't think so.
And I've been voting against this cancer since I turned 18, and I've even attended some (peaceful) protests near me against this regime.
Believe me, I want things to get better for everybody, except for the cancerous traitors. Then again, this had been going on since the 1980s...
Republicans and Democrats are not oppositional forces, so I doubt very much that you voted against the forces that conspired to bring the present moment into focus. 'Now' doesn't happen without Biden giving Palantir and Likud free run of the White House.
Democrats stood down as the Biden Administration laid the fascist architecture that has allowed Trump to do more damage in one year than he ever could have in a consecutive 8. That's no accident.
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@thomholwerda I might answer with a question: Where is βleftβ on the US political map as compared to that of ours?
@ghard @thomholwerda I live here, and I can't seem to find this so-called "left" anywhere. Mamdani, maybe? Isn't he talking rent control and "commie" grocery stores?

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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
Matt Gurney: 'We will never fucking trust you again'
Some blunt talk for our American neighbours at the Halifax International Security Forum.
(www.readtheline.ca)
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@Kierkegaanks @thomholwerda (for those not familiar: Takaichi Sanae is an ultra-right extremist opposed to things like same sex marriage, allowing women to keep their surnames after marriage, and Japan's policy of non-aggression. She is for the claims that Japan did nothing wrong in WWII, wants to retract Murayama and Kono, and has done things like denying Japan ever committed war crimes while visiting Yasukuni.)
@rootwyrm @Kierkegaanks @thomholwerda theoretically, the LDP is a center right party, but looking into their origins might produce some "interesting" results. Like Shinzo Abe's grandfather being responsible for certain things in Manchuria...
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda You might have seen this very solid piece, but just in case you haven't -
Francisca Sinn (@fsinn@mas.to)
Some blunt talk for our American neighbours at the Halifax International Security Forum https://open.substack.com/pub/theline/p/matt-gurney-we-will-never-fucking?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web #Canada #Never51 #ElbowsUp #Trump
mas.to (mas.to)
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda I don't think they grabbed all this power to give it to the dems...jus sayin, they found a winning strategy, purge votes, it's why they are demanding voter roles in blue states...watch , how they miraculously win...they did it in the swing states, no fking way fat donny won all 7 , no way!!
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda I'd be worried about your own country, My Guy. What the corporate elite have done to the US is a trial run for the rest of the world. Huge money shoved Trump into the White House and shielded him from accountability at every turn. There are the same dangerous right wing movements in most countries, just waiting for their moment. They are well funded and relentless.
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda You don't need to go as far as Europe. Just ask Canadians.
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@smutmag Unless Americans tear down their current political system and rebuild it from the ground up to favour pluralism, nothing will change.
@thomholwerda I agree that's what we're going to have to do. And that this also has to be a worldwide movement, because the authoritarian push is happening on a global scale. What I disagree with is the hopelessness and simplicity of the statement. This is going to require steady action for decades, but we will prevail. It's also going to require dismantling the worldwide surveillance state with the tech lords at the helm. It's going to require a worldwide effort to halt Russia. (1/2)
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@thomholwerda I agree that's what we're going to have to do. And that this also has to be a worldwide movement, because the authoritarian push is happening on a global scale. What I disagree with is the hopelessness and simplicity of the statement. This is going to require steady action for decades, but we will prevail. It's also going to require dismantling the worldwide surveillance state with the tech lords at the helm. It's going to require a worldwide effort to halt Russia. (1/2)
@thomholwerda If you think the main problem is Americans are dumb, then you're going to be surprised when authoritarianism reaches your country
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda know that we still love u
And I promise not to be a dick to u when ur conservative base ruins ur country
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda I would like to think that the midterms will make everything better... But the DNC has an unfortunate habit of not pressing hard enough followed by collapsing right before the finish line. Nothing is going to change unless the DNC gets new leadership dedicated to (at a bare minimum) addressing ALL of the bat shit crazy parts of our society.
The GOP is right about one thing: The DNC is soft on crime. They let Trump steal the election in 2024 with barely a word and now they continually refuse to prosecute him even though he's actively committing treason and international war crimes.
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
@thomholwerda too late for that, even if you cut so deep that you would restart in an US 2.0 you can forget to come back (like before), we don't want US leader to lead the world anymore.
Also right now out of US we see you as Ennemy not allie.
So no it will never be like before.
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@thomholwerda If you think the main problem is Americans are dumb, then you're going to be surprised when authoritarianism reaches your country
@smutmag Americans are anything but dumb - we're all the same, after all, on average - but they do operate in deeply dysfunctional systemic, political and media landscapes. Without addressing those, nothing will change (but I don't need to tell you that, obviously).
Authoritarianism did reach The Netherlands two years ago. However, due to our inherently pluriform society, reflected in having like 15-20 political parties in parliament, its reach is systematically stunted. They joined the coalition, yes, but couldn't do anything more than beat their own fists to bloody pulp against the solid, pluriform, deeply compromise-based, unmoving foundations of our democracy. They ran away with their tails between their legs, having accomplished absolutely bloody nothing. Well, except tarnish our reputation, but that's our own damn fault and something we'll have to regain.
Pluriformity is the only way to contain these idiots. They're never going to go away, so the best we can do is contain them. Any democracy with a lack of pluriformity eventually ends up like the US or the UK.
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So many centrists - and even leftists - in the US still seem to believe that all of this will be over after the next election. Setting aside the risk of there not being a next election, even if you people vote in, I don't know, fucking AOC, the damage has been done. The relationship between the US and Europe is done for.
You either cut out the conservative cancer and cauterise the wound, or we will never take the US seriously ever again.
I think a lot of people are hoping that getting decent people in power again will be the first step, making it possible to cut out the cancer and cauterize the wound.
But the last time we had an internal cancer this bad (slavery and Civil War), we lacked the will to excise and cauterize thoroughly enough. The effects are still a problem 160 years later.