That’s true, of course — I completely agree with you. It’s just that, with all the news from the US that I read every day, I’ve unfortunately become quite pessimistic.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things will turn out alright after all.

I don’t think this would poses much of a additional threat, as the US legal system already appears to operate largely arbitrarily.

I think it’s highly likely that Trump will pursue, deport, or detain other genuine political opponents who are US citizens on the basis of their heritage anyway. Therefore, I assume that this will be a thing regardless. The only difference with Musk would be that even the super-rich would no longer be safe - but hey, I’m sure that the courts will continue to make exceptions for people with deep pockets anyway.

In Germany, pretty much all established parties and even Organizations like the churches do this – without taking the opinion of the population into account in the slightest.

I really wonder what leverage Israel has to achieve this. Instead of decisively condemning all the war crimes, violations of international law, cold-blooded murder, and systematic genocide in light of Germany’s past, our politicians even invoke our “historical responsibility” while aiding and abetting these unspeakable crimes. I simply cannot explain how this is possible, even with arguments that would be remotely plausible, especially since the International Criminal Court has long issued arrest warrants against several members of the Israeli government, which are binding in Germany.

It is a declaration of moral bankruptcy that extends across virtually the entire political system and even into civil organizations.

Only fitting for the guy - everything he does is based on a lie.

It was a 5-4 decision. Thomas agreed with the majority, or rather, his vote constituted the necessary majority.

With this decision the Supreme Court overruled the Florida Supreme Court and effectively stopped the recount of votes, resulting in George W. Bush winning Florida’s electoral votes and thus the presidency. Here you can find a summary.

Whether Al Gore would actually have won with the recount is impossible to say with absolute certainty in retrospect, since the votes were not recounted. However, it was a neck-and-neck race, and numerous indicators suggested that Gore would have won - it was considered likely at the time. And that is precisely why it is scandalous imo that the Supreme Court prevented a manual recount, as this would have made it easy to verify the will of the Florida citizens without any disadvantages.

Overall, I think it’s fair to say that many aspects of this election were rather flimsy.

If you’re interested in the somewhat strange events surrounding this election, you can find the complete documentary “Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election” here. This documentary is a bit sensationalist in places, but it does highlight some of the rather undemocratic methods that were used.

Hope that’s what you were looking for.

Not so fun fact: Even back then, a certain Clarence Thomas was involved in the Supreme Court decision that prevented a recount of votes in Florida (source), which would likely have resulted in Al Gore’s election victory. And: Also even back then, this Supreme Justice was associated with a certain billionaire named Harlan Crow who supported him with various favors - he continues to do so to this day.

The Republicans control both houses of Congress. But the usual rules don’t seem to apply anymore. Isn’t Trump currently starting a war without the approval of Congress?

That would be desirable, of course, but I wouldn’t count on it.

German here: The overwhelming majority of politicians in my home country are also doing everything they can not only to silence voices denouncing the genocide of the Palestinians, but also to actively support these crimes against humanity, among other things by supplying weapons - all this while invoking “our historical responsibility.” This seems almost worse to me, especially because I am convinced that the majority of the population firmly rejects this and wants the opposite course - namely, to hold these monsters in Israel accountable for their crimes.

I am truly ashamed to be German, and I think many of my compatriots feel the same way when they read the daily horror stories from Gaza and have to admit that we are actually promoting this barbarism on the part of Israel. It’s enough to make you cry.

Yes, it still amounts to billions in additional tax revenue, which is of course paid for by US citizens rather than the manufacturing countries – but this sum is probably already reserved for the planned tax cuts for the super-rich.

The plan is presumably to finance Trump’s private army through additional cuts in healthcare, environmental protection, education, and all other areas that are counterproductive to fascism.

I’m not a US citizen, but I think this country is screwed.

It’s clear that ICE is morally bankrupt, but I thought that its restructuring into a secret police force would be financed by these absurd import tariffs, which are so broad in scope that they are basically tantamount to a massive VAT increase.

The fact that no one has yet arrested Trump shows what a farce the US legal system is – it has absolutely nothing to do with justice or fairness, but rather facilitates organized crime on a massive scale.

They won’t be able to afford advertising if they have as many customers as turned up for this ridiculous birthday parade. Unless Putin and people like that become customers again.

If not, the US president will be their only advertising medium - that guy won’t stoop too low.

Yep, just made up quotes and made up history to fit his narrative:

Or to put it another way: large numbers of Congress are just as interested as Israel in diverting attention from their own crimes and are unscrupulous enough to wage war to achieve this.

That doesn’t surprise me, because Drump’s absurd import tariffs are interpreted by numerous economists as a sign that the US is actually bankrupt.

Judging by its national debt and weak economy, the US would probably have been bankrupt years ago if the dollar weren’t a reserve currency. That’s precisely why it’s so absurd.

The so-called Mar-a-Lago Accord, which is anything but an agreement, seems to me to be a desperate attempt at blackmail, playing off the (conventional) military power of the United States against the rest of the world - as far as I know, most economists consider this to be completely bonkers.

I, on the other hand, think that this serves two main purposes: to maintain the illusion among the US population that the US is still the superpower it was in the 1980s (it is not), and to personally enrich the US president and his partners.

I completely agree with you, although things like cyber warfare also play a significant role here, in which the Chinese are on a par with the US.

Nevertheless, I think all this is pointless, because in my opinion, wars of invasion are only possible against countries that do not possess nuclear weapons – if this were not the case, a country like North Korea would no longer exist. So you are right in a way – but not because there is no military superpower comparable to the US, but because nuclear weapons exist, which makes conventional military superiority superfluous. That was simply not the case in the Second World War.

As I said, I think the Chinese have recognized this, which is why they are investing their money much more wisely. Also, as I said, we are talking about inconceivable amounts of money - such amounts that you could easily pay for decent social security for every US citizen, as is the case in virtually every Western country besides the US. That seems much more sensible to me.

All true, but in a world where nuclear weapons exist, I think all of that is only of secondary importance. I believe that in a world where even 100 million fighter jets can be destroyed by a drone, the absurdly high military spending of the US is absolutely counterproductive. I mean, what the US spends on this every year exceeds the GDP of medium-sized countries many times over - that’s plenty money that is lacking in many important areas and could be invested much more sensibly.

In my opinion, the Chinese have recognized this and therefore do not want to be an unnecessarily expensive, apparent military power, even if they could afford it.

In short, I think it’s a mistake to invest in conventional weapons instead of in your own people and infrastructure, because possessing nuclear weapons is already enough of a deterrent. I mean, if you wanted to, you could destroy the entire world with them - and that is true for decades now – no one wants that, even if you have state-of-the-art aircraft carriers.

Edit: When the Nazis were defeated, nuclear weapons did not yet exist, which is why this discussion seems rather hypothetical to me - I think today the effect would be the end of humanity because fascists would be willing to accept that. Instead, it seems all the more important to me that democratic countries try to prevent fascist movements from within.

Ahh, that makes sense. Thx.

What about China?

It’s not as if the US won World War II on its own. That may be what they teach in your schools, but in fact, the losses suffered by your former ally, the USSR, were many times higher.

Of course, it’s possible that Trump will come to an arrangement with Russia, especially because he obviously has the same interests as Putin - but the fact is that China is the new world’s super power.

Feel free to dismiss that as my opinion, but it’s actually true. The US may still be the strongest military power, but economically it has been overtaken by China. That’s why Trump’s import tariffs have little effect on the Chinese - it’s a power game in which the US is coming up short.

Edit: Sorry, I just reread my comment and realized how arrogant and patronizing it is. I’ll leave it up anyway. Please overlook the arrogance and just consider the statement - sorry!