The Politics Thread

[janea4old]

Elon Musk via video at "AfD" (neo-Nazi) campaign rally in Germany
(January 25, 2025)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/25/elon-musk-makes-surprise-appearance-at-afd-event-in-eastern-germany

“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” Musk said.
Musk spoke in favour of voting for the far-right party. “I’m very excited for the AfD, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany fight for a great future for Germany,” he told onlookers.

Edited January 25 by janea4old

[I Am A Swede]

This makes a cold chill run down my back, and brings out horrible images.....

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Edited January 25 by I Am A Swede

[janea4old]

Trump created a new agency "DOGE" (Department of Government Efficiency) and put Musk in charge.
The idea of a nazi in charge of Government Efficiency...

[Contessa Donatella]

And, we really don't want those trains running on time. 

[I Am A Swede]

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[Maxim]

This is just so triggering.  

[janea4old]

This is all intentionally designed to be triggering.

It's very difficult for me to stay aware of what's happening,
and yet not be overwhelmed with how terrifying it all is.

I mean, if you're *not* terrified, you're not paying attention.  This stuff is real.
But if you *are* terrified, then it's easy to become frozen in fear.
And they want us to freeze up, curl up, and die, that's their goal.

So yeah.  It's absolutely vital to attend to one's own mental, emotional, and physical health.
Turn off the news when needed.
Find something uplifting or silly when needed.
Cuddle with your dog or cat, or visit a friend who has a dog or cat.

Edited January 25 by janea4old

[janea4old]

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[Khan]

ICAM.

I realize that I sound worse than a broken record, but it's the truth: this is not the first time that our republic has encountered an existential crisis, or that our citizens have had to live under an oppressive administration.  We've been down these roads before; and by the grace of our Creator, we always made it through.

We just have to remember that we're not in this alone; that, for every nation that is in lock step with Trump, there is another nation that has and will resist him and others like him; and who will be there for us, if and when we need them.

This country will come to its' senses someday.  We have before, and we will again.

[janea4old]

Hegseth also has horrid beliefs:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/24/trump-pete-hegseth-extremism

In a series of newly unearthed podcasts, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, appears to endorse the theocratic and authoritarian doctrine of “sphere sovereignty”, a worldview derived from the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR) and espoused by churches aligned with far-right Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.

In the recordings, Hegseth rails against “cultural Marxism”, feminism, “critical race theory”, and even democracy itself, which he says “our founders blatantly rejected as being completely dangerous”.

For much of the over five hours of recordings, which were published over February and March 2024, Hegseth also castigates public schools, which he characterizes as implementing an “egalitarian, dystopian LGBT nightmare”, and which the podcast host Joshua Haymes describes as “one of Satan’s greatest tools for excising Christ from not just our classrooms but our country”.

Elsewhere in the recordings, Hegseth expresses agreement with the principle of sphere sovereignty, which, in CR doctrine, envisions a subordination of “civil government” to Old Testament law, capital punishment for infringements of that law such as homosexuality, and rigidly patriarchal families and churches.

(that's just part of the article)

[Contessa Donatella]

https://x.com/TrivWorks/status/1882985768886607997

Donald Trump’s a felon, Bill Cosby’s a predator, Bruce Jenner’s Caitlyn Jenner, Ricky Schroder & Chachi are anti-vax and the Menendez brothers are getting out while Jennifer Love Hewitt’s saving the republic with Richard Marx

The 80s didn’t turn out at all like we expected…

[Khan]

Have you ever noticed how FIXATED the far-right and so-called "Christian evangelists" are on punishing gay and transgender people?  Obviously, many are deathly afraid of them and lash out against them, because they're actually in the closet.  But I'd love to know when and where in the history of people-kind did we decide we MUST extinguish homosexuality, especially when there has never been even one gay or transgender person who has made it their mission to convert heterosexuals against their will? 

I get why Christian evangelists are intolerant of anyone who is not Christian; that boils down to thousands of years of indoctrination.  And I get why they're intolerant of anyone who is not white; THAT is because brown and black people pose an existential threat to their way of life. 

But gay and transgender people don't want to eradicate heterosexuality from existence.  All they want is to live their own lives in peace, for God's sake.  Why is that so [!@#$%^&*] hard for the far-right to cope with!

Anyways.  Thank you, @janea4old, for linking us to that article.

Edited January 26 by Khan

[I Am A Swede]

It's baffling, isn't it? But, and correct me if I'm wrong since the bible isn't exactly my area of expertise, isn't there something in there about it being an abomination to lay with a man the same way as you do with a woman? That's the only reason I can think of.

It doesn't really explain the almost pathological hatred for LGBTQ that these people exhibit though.

[janea4old]

Clarification: This post is my personal speculation about the MOTIVES of one of the executive orders.  What is behind this?

The whole "birthright" executive order is Trump wanting to rescind the right of children born in the USA to be US citizens, if their parents weren't citizens
(big oversimplification of what the order says, but I'm not posting about the details here).

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that if you were born in the USA, you're a citizen (and it says a lot more than that). 
This has been in place since 1868.  YES 1868.

So people are saying the executive order is unconstitutional and cannot be implemented, because it violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

However, my point is this: 
The original focus of the Fourteenth Amendment 
was to give citizenship to newly-freed enslaved persons.
From the details within the amendment -- laws regarding the birthrights of children of immigrants came to be.

 In my personal opinion (SPECULATION ONLY), I think this is intended as a psychological attack on the Fourteenth Amendment,
(with some fanatics wanting to overturn the Fourteenth Amendment, and others trying to undermine its influence).

I speculate that the whole faction behind this nonsense ultimately wants to undo Reconstruction.  I mean they can't legally, but they certainly want to undermine it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

There are also clauses in the Fourteen Amendment regarding indigenous tribes, and that's very complicated because some members of some Tribes regarded themselves as citizens of their own tribal nation and didn't want to lose that, and there are tons of essays and discussions that are beyond my skill to understand in full.   But I think the gist of it is that Native Americans are citizens of the USA because they were born here (well obviously since it was their land first, but anyhow). Legally they can be citizens if they want, but there are all sorts of tribal treaty issues that make the clauses in the Amendment difficult to understand.
I'm not even going to pretend that I follow all the legal nuances on that.

So first of all, (my speculation), I think the Project 2025 people want to unfree slaves, and uncitizen Native Americans, AND deny citizenship to immigrants. 
They can't do all that, but they want to.

Perhaps their next goal (they wish! ) ... would be to deny women the right to vote?  I mean ... it's all part of the same pattern.  But that's not in the Fourteenth Amendment, so different topic.

Edited January 26 by janea4old

[Contessa Donatella]

Things just keep getting worse ... and it's so frightening.