That is more of a millionaire problem. A billionaire can afford to fly the specialists and the materials in from Europe.

I guess my point was just because they tell you that you are going to get your ass kicked for committing war crimes does not mean they are not blatantly lying about it and that the US armed forcers would disobey illegal orders in a real, live situation.

I’m just saying that you did a good job of summarizing that:

• young people in general feel disenfranchised, young white people as well, but the Dem party only focuses on culture war issues, so they are explicitly not fighting for you or even trying to represent you if you are poor and white
• that does not mean All Lives Matter wasn’t just a cynical attempt to muddy the waters around the police regularly murdering black people

It’s only bigotry if it’s cishetwhitemen doing it, otherwise it’s just sparkling discrimination.

I’m not in the trenches of this particular culture war, so I don’t know shit, but I really do wonder why not phrase it as “people who want to be better allies” instead of targeting a single racial group and sexual orientation. Would feel more inclusive.

Thanks for typing this up so I didn’t have to.

I still usually call my doctor for OTC stuff, and if my doctor says I need it, insurance gets to pay for it. Going to the doctor usually saves me money. And if I schedule it during a workday, it’s not my time going either but my employer’s, if it even needs more than a phone consult.

Yeah but it would smoosh into such a limp dick, no way to get an accurate grip.

Oh, that’s the point, in an Orbánesque society, some protests are allowed. A very often used playbook is to create an issue that his base can rabidly frothe about, most people don’t give a shit about, but it hurts a small minority of people enough that they will be very loud about being on the opposite side.

For Hungary, it was academic freedom for a university teaching mostly social sciences. Most people never even heard of it and had no opinion when laws were made to make its position untenable and basically destroy it. But the people immediately close to the issue were protesting like hell! They were out in orderly groups, with loudspeakers and signs on the streets of Budapest, week after week.

Orbán was very happy about this. Hungarian state media was frothing about how this university was destroying the fabric of society, so his base was rabidly against it. The people close to the issue were loudly trying to save it, but they were a minority. And you had a situation where there were weekly protests for half a year, representing a clear minority opinion, basically defanging all other protests for any other issue, while people got jaded into an opinion that protests don’t mean anything.

Orbán was not in the country even for most of this, that’s how much he cared.

Now imagine the same with Trump deciding to repeal the ADA. Most people don’t care about people with disabilities enough, but just enough people will be marching around the country to keep it in the news cycle constantly. All the while his supporters will be out in counterprotests dwarfing the others. And all the while if the economy tanks and there was real discontent, and there was space for real protests, you’d be called a Nazi and a Republican if you didn’t join in the existing “movement” headed by the Dems and didn’t abide by the “civil and high road” ways of protesting. Most people won’t even join your protest because they are tired of protests and protesters, and it will never work anyway, see all those other protests?

Sorry for the rant, I am really jaded by all this, and it just seemed so obvious years ago that the US was going down a Hungary path, and it’s just a boring dystopia from now on going forward. It doesn’t look like the people getting shot by the National Guard for protesting, it looks like you can do anything, you will always stay a minority, and decency dies a death of thousand cuts.

They talked about people like Hugh Thompson Jr. and the severe back pain he sustained from lugging around those massive balls.

Did they talk about that absolutely nobody from the My Lai massacre - the example you brought up - saw any real consequences, with only one guy - who killed 22 - serving 3.5 years before Nixon got him out?

Or that the highest ranking surviving Nazi, who had a real say in German leadership during the war, was Hitler’s trusted advisor and unrepentant, unwavering follower, even after the war, got off with 10 years since the US and the UK committed similar war crimes as he did, so they didn’t sentence him for that?

Or the Hague invasion act and US war crimes that precipitated it? Or the US war crimes since?

I think those guys will be just fine saying “I was just following the orders of the magnificent Cheeto”.

Oh, you will get protests, even organized by Democrats! That’s the point, they will never be effective, but they will siphon off the willpower to actually start up meaningful protests to the point when the real shit goes down, protests won’t mean anything any more!

And if you organize a protest yourself? The Dems will come to support you, coopting the whole thing, and making sure it all stays civil and respectful while the police tear gas your ass!

I am not saying give up. There is light at the end of the tunnel. At least that’s how it feels right now in Hungary. But the tunnel is long and fucking dark, and you have just taken the first steps in, and Trump is going to try to make sure you can’t back out. And our way through was sending our corporatists masquerading as leftists to the garbage dump of history, as it should be.