But you can be mad and still love someone.
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The United States is a failed nation and according to its own libertarian principles, should be cut off from stronger nations and allowed to die naturally.
Too early to tell, like the fucking post WWII Nazis, the Orange MAGA Turds continue to lurk around out there and they can still inflict a lot of damage by simply opening their f’n mouths.
This article is almost a year old, but it’s still very relevant:
We will never fucking trust you again
The therapist analogy is a good one. Elsewhere I saw someone talking about your ex being a week sober. Same idea. This is going to take way more than one election to set right.
The therapist analogy is a good one.
No, it’s not. It’s more like a bad boss died and was being replaced with an entirely new competent boss.
What if we cup the balls?
Another mistake I won’t repeat
As an American, I don’t feel right asking for forgiveness just yet. We’ve won a major battle but I worry people will take the midterm victory as a conclusion to the MAGA era and disengage, allowing it to take hold again. We’ve got a lot more work to do before we earn any sense of redemption.
The „checks and balances“ need reforming to actually resist capitulation to the executive branch. Most monarchs throughout history have had less power than Trump has been granted.
IMHO as an outsider, repealing Citizens United would be a step in the right direction, as would enforcing the requirement for Congress to declare war, not the President. In fact, generally curtailing presidential powers would be beneficial IMO.
I’m curious what others, especially Americans, would suggest.
curtailing presidential powers would be beneficial IMO.
In normal times, congress would limit the president’s powers, but the republican congress decided to let Trump have his way, with disastrous results.
Yup. We can’t repeat the arrogant mistakes of James Carville.
As a Canadian, nah. America’s basically manic/unstable. You voted in Biden after the first Trump shitshow, and then went back to Trump. There’s absolutely no guarantee that America won’t just elect Donald Trump Junior to be dictator in a future election cycle.
Even more, many dems are quietly supporting the general moves of the government, in regards to tariffs etc. They just wanted the verbiage to be a bit nicer, as America went about fucking over their allies.
Our leaders will likely bend over at some point, because that’s what politicians seem to do. But for the rest of us, I hope we continue avoiding America, and continue pushing for separating our economies / cultures / critical industries. Only way I’d be enticed to consider moving closer to how ties were before, would be if we see America do what a “Leader” of the “Free world” should do: allow your war criminals to be tried in the international criminal court for their crimes against humanity etc.
Don’t impeach. Send Hegseth to the Hague, then we’ll talk.
many dems are quietly supporting the general moves of the government, in regards to tariffs etc.
You have no proof that Democrats ever supported tariffs. And Canada wouldn’t last 10 years without US allied protection. A few western Canadian provinces were thinking of joining the US, so you’re completely off-base.
Heghserh to the Hague would be one required step amongst thousands. At this point the USA will have to do much, MUCH more to become an acceptable neighbor
Amongst those steps
Official apologies for wanting to take over Canada, including the insults, threats, and acts of subterfuge (hello Alberta)
Sending both heghseth and trump to the Hague
Confiscatng all the money and assets the trump family gathered and stole during trumps presidency
A full reversal of prettt much every law trump added to the books during his tenancy
A reversal of all presidential pardons, put all those criminals back in jail
Official corruption investigationa on every level of government, jailing everyone involved
Official corruption and bribery investigations for all large companies that have worked with the US government, jailing all CEOs who bribed US government officials
Complete revision of how elections work
The only outlier may be reverting the pardons, as I am not sure there is a legal vehicle for that. One could be constructed, but it is part of a larger conversation about the intention of the checks and balances between the three branches and how that has been eroded.
Investigating those pardoned for other crimes, however, should be easily available and pursued steadfastly. I do worry about the broad terms of some pardons that may have included language such as ‘any and all’, and even ‘future’. Abominable.
Congress and a future president could push back on the power of the pardon. Just prosecute them anyway, and say ‘the constitution doesn’t allow the president to pardon future crimes.’
Honestly, the supreme Court doesn’t have enforcement power. They can be ignored. I’ve seen an op ed calling on Congress to repeal marbury vrs madison. They gave themselves that power, it can be revoked by the body that actually represents the people of the country.
Hi neighbor! The manic political temperament here is exhausting!
About the tariffs…It is an oversimplification to say that “Dems support the tariffs”. It is incredibly more complex than that and deserves more context. August 2026 was the *first *time Dems voted bipartisan for a “broad” tariff, however it was still narrow in scope. It was packaged as a national defense and geopolitical foreign policy bill.
The sanctions focused on penalizing Russia and Iran, which will permit tariffs to be imposed on Russia’s top 5 purchasers of oil and gas. Yes it does affect other countries, however It has carved out provisions for European allies. The waiver that gives Trump the authority to not impose sanctions on Russia will be removed. This will be Wyden’s second task when he is re-appointed to chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Removing that waiver was the intention Congress voted for to jam up Russia’s financial war capabilities. This will also give Congress back its constitutional power to manage international commerce and national security.
The same month, August 2026, Trump unilaterally enacted the 50% tariffs on Canada. Sorey about that! It was an executive decision under a tariff act from the 1930’s. Democrats in both the House and Senate crafted fast tracked legislation to overturn it. Dems were able to pull 10 R’s to oppose it, but neither passed on razor thin margins. There was 1 DINO that voted in support. He is Republican, has a history of being actively involved in Republican politics, votes in line with R’s and did not seek reelection.
Dems platformed and now have the legislative power to roll back the broad sweeping indiscriminate tariffs. House Dem Leader Hakeem Jeffries (presumed Speaker of the House) has coordinated “First 100 Hours” Legislative Blitz and Congress plans to prioritize Canada. 🇨🇦 Keep an eye out for the BAD DEAL Act in a few months. It intends to repeal the tariffs on Canadian goods and force the Treasury Dept to refund the millions collected by it. This is Wyden’s first priority.
It’s worth mentioning, there are multiple billion dollar refunds actively being litigated in the federal judicial system. Courts are ruling in favor of the refunds and have successfully returned $100 billion and estimated to be $170b but more may come down the pipeline, that’s just what has been settled and active now. It is the largest trade tariff related refund in US history.
I was just reading about all this stuff and your comment caught my eye so, yeah, context. Far from functional but we are trying to right this ship. Carry on with any & all contempt, we have earned it.
O, Canada. Please hold, your call is important to us!
Yeah, we’ll wait and see. But as your previous-worst Republican president that we thought you couldn’t go any lower from once said, “fool me once, shame on you… fool me… uh… um… you can’t get fooled again?”
Send Hegseth to the Hague, then we’ll talk.
The US would have to join the ICC first. That’s one massive stain on the US in itself.
There’s an international criminal court that 125 nations are a party to, but the US decides “nah” and so Americans can’t be tried there and effectively have immunity for any international crimes they commit.
Don’t impeach. Send Hegseth to the Hague,
We would have to impeach him before doing that anyway.
Send Hegseth to Tehran please, we will feed him ghormesabzi and recite poetry over tea.
I don’t blame them not trusting the US government. Just wish I didn’t get blamed for my asshole government and countrymen. I get it’s the hazard of a collective association, but it sucks to be lumped in with people I despise and have fought to prevent.
As an Iranian I know this feeling. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t; it’s always too little, too late. You just gotta keep going, don’t lose track of what’s right.
Agreed. That’s excellent advice. I try to be a good representative of my people and to act as a counterbalance where I can. As much as I’m capable anyways. Lol
Sorry my country attacked yours. It’s embarrassing and infuriating to me and many others here. I have some Kurdish family friends from Iran, one hasn’t lived there in a long time but her sister still lives there iirc. I hope you and your family are all safe. I loved your country when I got to visit. It is filled with wonderful and warm people.
Oh, you visited Iran? That’s amazing. I wish more people were able to travel to Iran, or dared I suppose. There’s so much to see in terms of varied culture, history and nature.
All Iranians know that most Americans oppose war, and we hold no grudge against you. It’s not on you to apologize, but thank you for doing so all the same. Being a good example for others is the best thing any of us can hope to be.
I did get to visit, albeit all too briefly. Would love to get more time there. I lived in Jordan for a time and was lucky enough to visit Iran and many other countries in the middle east during more peaceful times. There is so much in that area that’s been destroyed through war that just breaks my heart. I miss wandering the souks and the visiting we did with the people.
This, rightfully, should be the United States’ eternal shame.
Nobody should ever, ever let us live this down, no matter how much time passes or how good our behavior on it’s face may seem.
The genocide of native americans and slavery of black people are the unchallenged, most shameful acts of the US. Nothing will ever top that. I hate to break it to you: the treatment and negative opinions of canadians by US policies is a footnote compared to chattel slavery and genocide—neither of which targeted white Canadians. Do not ever let yourself again believe otherwise.
I didn’t say it was the only thing we have to be ashamed of. The rest of the world shouldn’t let us forget our flirtation with fascism.
I’m not convinced y’all won’t swing just as hard to the right in a couple elections
Neither am I. Seems the electorate have the collective memory of a goldfish. If the Democrats operate by their usual playbook and simply do nothing, then the absolute best we can hope for is barely squeaking out a win in 2028, which will be meaningless if nothing significant is accomplished with enough time for people to feel it’s effects. Republicans love to take control just before things start to get better, so it’s important to make sure people feel those effects well before the next election cycle so that not only do Dems have something to point to and say “look, we made things better!” but also the hopefully incoming democrat administration will be able to continue the good work and actually improve on it.
If the Democrats fuck this up like they are planning to, it will be in 2028.
sure seems like it’s going to happen. and when it does, we will deserve to be shamed for it
It’s the most likely outcome.
Given a lot of stuff from the past no one seems to care about, I seriously doubt that will happen.
As a sikh seeing canada praise is so funny to me because all I see are racist comments from Canadians going “poopjeet” all day on social media
I’m sorry for my fellow Canadians. Unfortunately it seems to be a pattern in colonial nations to hate on the new guys. My ethnic ancestors were bullied and discriminated against when they first arrived here, too, but now we’ve apparently been here “long enough” to be acceptable to the bigots among us.
This is white infighting. Remember that both canada and the US are both white colonialist entities that never said sorry for their white colonialism
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Also every platforms bans sht, you can’t even make a comment on tiktok saying just “jew” without autoremoval, but nothing to stop indian racism, terms like poopjeet which would never be anyones name can just be spammed all day.
I’m sorry, but we’ve been the crazy ex for minimum two decades. One could argue further back, but I set the start of our public decline at W. Before that, whatever issues we had internally, we at least still looked like we could walk and chew gum at the same time. Go team, we’re fucking failures.
Before W it was Reagan, before Reagan it was Nixon, before Nixon it was the Business Plot, before the Business Plot it was the Pinkertons, before the Pinkertons it was the literal cessation and subsequen war over slavery, before the Civil War it was the 3/5th Compromise, before that it was the first slaves brought to the Americas, before that it was Columbus being so monsteously awful by early 1500s standards that he was stripped of all of his titles by the spanish monarchy. We’ve always had crazy fucking racism embedded in the bones of our culture.
We don’t deserve the forgiveness of the geopolotical community until we hold the people in power accountable, if ever.
You literally forgot the war of 1812.
Lol, nope. You people have done the absolute bare minimum in one isolated case and a significant chunk of America didn’t even do that.
And let’s be serious, it’s not because you want us to be allies and friends again. It’s because you’re dissatisfied with fucking gas prices which are up because of a war YOU started.
We had decades of partnership and we Canadians stuck by you through thick and thin. We fought and died alongside you in Afghanistan, Italy, Normandy and battlefields around the world. We gave you our natural resources and our money. And then YOU destroyed that in a couple of years. We even gave you a second chance after the first disastrous Trump presidency. And you spat in our faces.
The only way we get to be friends again is after a VERY long and VERY sustained pattern of decent behavior on your part.
Until then fuck all the way off.
We hated you before Trump, we’re going to hate you after him.
I’m getting really tired of hate.
I’m a Floridian whose blood pressure dropped significantly after our midterm elections. The hate is literally harming my body. I know it’s not done and this is the first step out of many before we can be considered somewhat decent but I feel a little bit better about where America is as a country. But I don’t want you guys to let up on yet. Make it hard on us and make us learn a lesson. The hate sucks but it’s a motivator and a driver and we need some tough love right now. Don’t let up on us.
Tough love is when you persost in loving someone despite the difficulties in doing so. What people call “tough love” these days is just abrasiveness disguised as care, and that shift was caused by narcissistic sociopaths who characterize the harm they do to others as for their own good.
Thanks for the correction on terminology. I’ll try to keep that in mind.
I really enjoy your framing of “tough love” versus the generally accepted definition. I do see room for both definitions, but ideally only if the no-nonsense approach to feedback for a loved one is underscored in the way you mention.
I feel this way as an American. Average libs are thrilled that our team won but I’m here still worried we’re trapped on the one way ratchet towards Idiocracy
It’s okay to celebrate a victory today, but we have so much work to do. The hateful people are still here, and discontent over gas prices doesn’t necessarily mean that voters have turned away from the same dangerous ideas that got us here in the first place. This could be a very temporary recovery.
I’m concerned that a large portion may have chosen rightly, but for wrong reasons, and could just as easily be swayed back again.
It’s never too late to turn things around. You are not alone. Millions of other Americans want the same. We’re rooting for you guys, but you have to do the work.
“I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum
A great way to put actual words to people just saying “racism” as an explanation. They are not wrong, he enables people to say and do things that used to get them beat up or kicked out of an establishment. We have normalized some awful shit.
I used to summarize this as “he’s the asshole candidate; he’s got the asshole vote locked up,” but this puts it much better.
Thank you for this quote and for providing the source. It’s very well put.
Thank you.
Russian bots is why really.
That only works on people who have those feelings already
Russian bots didn’t go out and put their ballots in. Americans did.
No amount of someone telling me to hate minorities would make me vote against them, it would just make me more pissed at the disgusting people saying those things.
Trump may have Russian backing, but he also has American backing. Lots of corporations hurried to support him. The voters are also all American. This is the fault of America.
Even if you wanna blame propaganda, FOX news has a far wider reach and influence over the American electorate than facebook posts ever could.
Even then, you can only blame it so much. Propaganda does not reprogram people like they’re machines. There is no wizard waving a wand to make your uncle racist. Propaganda gives people the encouragement/excuse to do and say what they already wanted to do and say. It works on people who are already predisposed to reactionary thinking.
There is a Japanese saying that is something like “A thousand years of good reputation is lost in a single hour.”
Trump and those that propped him up has burned through the single most valuable resource the US had. Trust.
Why did you trust us? We do this shit all the time and always have.
It was more that there is an understanding that the US is allowed to be an empire with benefits kind of trust. The US is the world police that protects those that give them good trade terms and exploits those that don’t for their own gain. Countries/people turn a blind eye to the US coup-ing a smaller country provided they are a part of the benefits. The US could have 4% of the population but use 25% of the materials and 33% of the energy provided that structure holds. It is seen as a better standing than the alternative. We call ourselves allies, others call us a part of the racket.
Then Trump started turning on the allies and the whole agreement started to burn.
I have said it for a while, Trump seems to be acting in a degrowth manner. I don’t think it is because he is a genius but because he is an idiot.
Yeah, we had a lot of what is termed “soft power” in that it’s the ability to negotiate and have market strength to make it worth it. This entire regime doesn’t realize that and squandered decades of it in a single year when he thought he had full control.
Neoliberalism gone bad or mad.
Never.
Slop.
Neoliberalism was always going to lead this, the entire “harm reduction” thinking and voting just means it gets worse and worse.
Trump seems to be acting in a degrowth manner. I don’t think it is because he is a genius but because he is an idiot.
You’re not wrong, but even that’s too generous, IMO. Every time I ask myself, “If Putin could install a puppet American president, what would he have that president do?” I am reminded of how neatly everything Trump has done on the world stage supports exactly that.
We may never know the whole truth about President Krasnov, but we know enough: it’s not all just idiocy. It’s overwhelming venality and corruption, pee tapes, and a daddy who didn’t love him enough turned into authoritarian worship too.
That is a fair take. Whoever whispers in the ear of Trump is the one in power. That is not just hyperbole, there are many stories of people in the White house, literally locking others out of the oval office so they can talk to Trump and have him declare things to the public hours later. He is the puppet in chief.
‘The most uneducated buffoon in history stands at a podium, bloated with self-importance, lips pursed like a carnival barker ready to sell turd milk to the unsuspecting. He grins a grotesque smirk stretched across his face as he scrawls his name onto a hollow decree, a sham celebration of the dismantling of knowledge itself. The Department of Education falls, not with a bang, but with wheezing verbs, suffocated under the weight of his own staggering ignorance. Surrounding him are the usual suspects: cowards in expensive suits, servile sycophants clapping like trained seals, and racist opportunistic ghouls picking clean the bones of democracy. Liars, fools, and thieves all parasites fattening themselves on the hardships of the many. They stand in rigid formation, dead-eyed and soulless, their allegiance sworn not to country, not to principle, but to power, and the dark, festering rot that clings to it. And there he is the convicted wrong, the living embodiment of septic tank spew, his voice a noxious fog of grift and grievance. He lectures the world on right and wrong, irony clawing at the walls, desperate to escape the grotesque theatre of his moral void. The stomach turns, the air curdles, and for a moment, history itself recoils watching, in horror, as the great American experiment teeters on the precipice, led by a man who couldn’t spell “precipice” if his life depended on it.’
The US has historically been pretty good to their allies. It was a good deal. Be part of their economic empire, you get democracy, free markets, and protection.
The US has not hurt its allies in this way before, not that I can think of. It’s been a bully for as long as it has been able, but it also knew who its friends were.
Eh… We fucked over the Kurds several times after they courageously fought beside us.
We manipulated them/strong armed them into it
We trusted the institutions and distress in place that are supposed to prevent corruption, tyranny, and fascism.
“I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum
A thousand years of good reputation
LOL
Soft power is a helluva drug.
Turns out programs like USAID went a long way.
America, you have yet to do anything about the core problems that we already didn’t Iike about you, this can all change in 2 - 6 years, until we see drematic reformation of your executive and congressional branches, no dice.
The judicial branch played no small part in enabling our fuckery.
