It's really getting a little scary here with protestors randomly being arrested on college campuses. What's worse, now we have AI it could be weaponized to find dissenters online. So next time I say Donald Trump is a twat who knows nothing about the economy I can be flagged for a future arrest. Also with Musk having all the government data... You know that's for blackmail purposes. When other countries have gone authoritarian one of the things they do is throw endless lawsuits at people who opposed them. One of the favourites is frivolous unpaid taxes. Musk with everyone's tax data can just trump up charges using fake or deliberately misleading data. Doesn't matter if no chance of succeeding, you bury protestors with lawsuits.
You know, I grew up in the 60s and we had that much US cultural hegemony with TV series, Vietnam, the space programme and much more that I thought we were part of the US until I was around 8 or 9. Sure, all the TV stories were Disneyfied, the baddies wore black hats, the hero was always American and the Romans/Germans/Villans always spoke with an upper-class English accent, but even as I got older, more cynical, more leftist I still believed the US were our friends and that it was that shining city on the hill. Indeed, there is statue of Columbus in Liverpool commemorating the founding of America that 'Made Liverpool'. Yeah, I know it made it as a slaving port, but skipping past that, I always remember the Beatles talking about what it meant for four working-class, post-war lads from a grimy port in grey Britain to realise the dream of making it big in the US, particularly New York. That's shattered now. I know I've always opposed most republicans (though my dad, more left than I ever was, was a big admirer of Eisenhower), but for Christ's sake, what's happening now is not American: basically a crime syndicate has taken over, but not by stealth - they said what they were going to do and the electorate voted him in with a far, far bigger majority than he got in 2016. I pity you mate, and I pity us all. I just hope Canada stays free so that all those with talent who love democracy and freedom in the US can move there and leave the rest to the hillbillies and rednecks who truly want this nadir. Stay strong. Endure.
There seemed to be a suggestion over here that Trump was reining Musk in a bit after his tiff with Rubio in the cabinet meeting, but now I see they've joined forces again to attack yet another supposed ally in Poland.
Musk's attack today on Mark Kelly (I met him in Pontefract some years ago) was just vile. To call this man a traitor... well, shades of Trump, whose 'bone-spurs' helped him evade the draught for Vietnam, attacking John McCain for being a coward. I despair. We're through the looking glass and living in the Upside-Down World.
I think we're roughly the same age, but I was never caught up in that "we love America" thing. Yeah, we were inundated with US media, but I never felt it related to me, and contemporary US shows seemed as much as an alternative universe as westerns. From the wholesome pap of "I Love Lucy" to the scary counter-culture of "Easy Rider", none of it spoke of the real world to me. They had no bearing on my reality and I never had any desire to live there, or even visit.
I mean, America always seemed to me to have a Abit of anglophilia about it. Everyone is always excited to meet someone English and America always talks about the UK being oldest closest ally, etc. Right now with an autocratic leader in charge that is no longer true. The only friend of an autocrat is himself and anyone that might keep him in power. If Farage were leading Britain right now, Britain and US would be as chummy as ever. As long as Britain is democratic and Trump is in charge, Britain should view everything US with steep distrust. I think most Americans still have a rosy view of Britain though. It's funny though, I've faced much more positive discrimination than negative discrimination here because of my nationality. That might change in the near future though. Starmer did a good early job keeping Trump calm on UK... It won't last though.
I'm still laughing about Trump saying it is illegal to boycott Tesla. That's quite impossible to enforce Donnie.and good luck even with your cronies in the judicial department prosecuting anyone for boycotting Tesla.
The Orange Rapist saying the boycott is illegal is the same Orange Rapist that called for a boycott of Bud Light because an advert featured a transgender person. And this: https://www.axios.com/2021/04/04/trump-calls-for-boycott-of-more-companies-over-georgia-voting-law The absolute definition of MAGA is its total lack of self-awareness and hypocrisy. There was a ****wit from Fox last night patronising the governer of Ontario that he should be honoured that the US wants to annex them. But here is the nub, the cornerstone of project 2025, and what Bannon has been saying out loud for a decade now - democracy is now under threat. They've been saying this stuff for a long time now, saying that the Republic was NOT founded on democracy (I think Tom Paine may beg to differ, and the checks and balances in the Constitution are inherently there to both support democracy and curtail a tyranny by the majority.
