“No plan survives first contact” - Helmuth

Elsewhere on Lemmy today;

Germany warns Russia may be preparing attack on NATO

Both of these cannot be true.

Elsewhere on Lemmy today;

Russia has depleted its tank stocks: the industry is not covering combat losses

Both of these cannot be true.

Maybe it’s time for the rest of the world to realize it’s not “just trump” but the USA as a whole is very racist, stupid and backwards country.

We knew.

Sadly true. We actively searched for alternatives when we realised other channels were getting too manipulative and full of hate. Those who stayed haven’t even realised it.

Isolationism and tribalism.

Make your people believe the rest of the world are against them and they’ll look to you for leadership. It’s not just the US - Europe and the UK have also had a rise in jingoism, fuelled by inflated reports of immigrants.

Democracy isn’t about getting your own way.

True democracy (Direct Democracy) can’t happen - you’d need to vote in every single decision. Without everyone’s decision, nothing could get done. It’s bad enough for a family of four to agree what movie to watch, let alone a whole country. It would be democratic if most people watched what they wanted, but the logistics for a country ain’t gonna work.

That’s why most Western countries in the world have Representative Democracy - we elect people to do that stuff on our behalf, and are aware of affecting factors. And by and large, it works. Sure, there are always failings and scandals and someone can point these out, because human beings like to cheat and have their own agendas, and of course, power corrupts. Sadly, there is no form of government that is safe from subversion.

If you don’t like a decision, vote for a representative that you think will do more of what you want. Or form an effective protest.

I’m certain it’s not - but it doesn’t matter. Trump has proved that he is beyond the law in every way.

Clinton got impeached for lying and it ruined his credibility. Trump lies all the time and gets re-elected, but has no credibility to ruin.

Then I’d have someone else accusing me of ripping off this guy.

You should do this for other countries too. America isn’t the only country with an idealised view of what other people think of them.

Nor the television (Scottish). Nor the radio (Canadian and Italian).

They’re being shaken down. Same as Mark Zuckerberg being summoned to a meeting with Trump and the next day paying $1m to the same fund.

I’m betting these meetings went something like, “You don’t want a president as an enemy, do you? Cough up.”

And don’t think of it as a tax on the rich - it’s not going towards the benefit of the American people. It’s extortion.

I’m going to need a really, /really/ small violin.