accidentally posted this in world news before bcs i forgot about the no internal US news rule by accident

  • 3volver@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    “challenging representative democracy”

    What he means is, they’re challenging this fucked system that doesn’t represent people equally. 2 senators per state, gerrymandering, and the electoral college. This guy is a fascist himself, and that’s why he immediately calls his opposition fascist. Imagine calling people who want a ceasefire fascist? That is something Joseph Goebbels would have said I bet. We don’t have a representative democracy.

  • Veraxus@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    This is your daily reminder that the Democratic party is right wing and are just as ignorant of the mere definition of “leftist” as the Republican fascists are.

  • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today
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    7 months ago

    I can’t wait to vote him out of office. He has done little for the state and district, and clearly doesn’t give a shit.

    I like how he said intimidation is the tactic they’re using (while calling them fascists) and in the same breath says the protesters should be arrested. He’s literally complaining about fascism while supporting it himself.

    • Manos@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Arresting people who break the law is not fascism. Do you not think it should be illegal to totally disrupt government assemblies and college campuses? Or do you only think it’s ok when you agree with it? What if all these protests were anti-abortion protests, would you still be OK with them setting up shanty towns on campuses and disrupting classes?

      Lefties are getting as bad as Republicans with diluting language.

  • Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    Congressman Adam Smith says ‘totalitarian’ protesters are ‘trying to silence anyone who dares to disagree with them’

    Says the man wanting to lock people up.

    “Intimidation is the tactic,”[…] “Intimidation and an effort to silence opposition”

    Is this man so comically evil he’s trying to be the Spanish Inquisition?

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I was outraged by the headline, but he said protestors should be arrested in the context of protesting outside of someone’s home. While I don’t think I agree with that, I can at least understand why he would feel that constitutes intimidation.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        protestors should be arrested in the context of protesting outside of someone’s home

        Being a public elected figure typically means dealing with constituents, even when you don’t want to. That’s the nature of the job.

        If you don’t want folks on the sidewalk waving signs that call you a murderer, maybe stop advancing policies that kill tens of thousands of people.

        • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I don’t think congressman Smith’s kids should have to come home from school to see “baby killer” written in red paint on their garage door. Other than that, I already said I don’t agree protesting outside of a public figure’s house should result in an arrest.

          It’s possible to understand why someone holds a position they do while disagreeing with it. It’s pretty foundational for a healthy democracy.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I don’t think anyone should come home to find their houses obliterated by an airstrike or a sniper waiting to shoot them through the head.

            Smith does, as he continues to finance the extermination and eradication of Palestinians in Gaza.

            If his kids are confronted with their father’s complicity in war crimes, they need to talk to him about it and pull him away from this atrocious policy.

            I wouldn’t want to see “Baby Killer” signs outside my house either, but if my parents were killing babies I certainly would want to know.

          • prole@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            Maybe his kids should be aware of their father’s support for genocide.

            Not saying this is you necessarily, but I find it curious that so many people are much more concerned about non-violent acts of property destruction during protests of genocide, than the actual genocide itself.

            Call me crazy, but I’m more concerned for the kids in Palestine being needlessly slaughtered because their school was (intentionally) bombed by the IDF, or because they threw rocks at soldiers, than the kids of a US congressman having to face the ugly truth about their father.

            Apparently that’s a controversial take.

            • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I’m much more concerned with the genocide than property damage, but I also don’t think the solution to the problem is more traumatized kids. I don’t know how old they are but if they’re young enough they’re absolutely unequipped to understand the issue or to put pressure on their father. This is a tough one because I feel like I’m getting too far in the “think of the children” lane which is typically just used to shut down dissent. I will say that the obvious solution for congressman Smith is to stop enabling Israel’s actions and leave it at that.

      • Omega@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Aren’t there harassment laws that should already cover this? Protesting outside of a business should be fine. But protesting outside of living areas feels like targeted harassment.

        • VaultBoyNewVegas@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I disagree. That’s like going after journalists/reporters because the huddled outside a senators house because he/she caught in a scandal. Because it’s a group, you could argue that’s intimidation too except that they’re asking questions in the public interest. Protesters whether you agree with them or not believe they’re acting in the public interest too and are trying to change things for the better.

        • prole@sh.itjust.works
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          7 months ago

          Maybe outside the living area of regular citizens, but if you’re a public servant, then you answer to the public.

          If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the fire.

      • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldM
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        7 months ago

        Yeah his whole tirade is ludicrous and he sounds like an absolute asshat, but someone reportedly vandalized his home, and that’s crossing a very big line. He should shut the hell up about whatever he thinks “leftwing fascism” is, and they should stop vandalizing people’s homes.

        • Soup@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I dunno, I’m with ya but also if you see protesters, who regular citizens with no special power, as totalitarian tyrants wanting to silence you while also demanding they be arrested with your very real closeness to the power that could that then fuckin’ maybe your house should get vandalized. I’d draw the line at hurting an actual person and then urging people away from vandalism since they might hurt someone by accident but stillllll…

          • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            7 months ago

            A politician who fails to represent the public will is not owed peace of mind. They work for us, he can do his damned job for a few minutes.

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    What an absolute dickbag. He even complains about silent protests that are 100% peaceful. Maybe if your stance is so weak that silent protestors are enough to derail your plans, you should rethink your stance. He even downplays children being killed.

    Also, if we are talking about silencing opposite points of views, how many pro-Israel people in the US have been kicked out of school, arrested, vilified in the mainstream press, or fired from their jobs?

    • Saurok@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      We have anti-genocide parties. The problem is not enough Americans are willing to vote for them or organize for them as alternatives to the Democrat and Republican parties. Plus the coffers for the Democrats and Republicans are filled by corporations, so it’s grassroots funding vs multi-billion dollar industry donations and super PACs.

              • _tezz@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Been really unimpressed with them the last several cycles, from my perspective they’re not really ‘viable’ in terms of can we get these people elected to office but you’re entitled to support who you like of course.

          • SquirtleHermit@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            viable /vī′ə-bəl/

            adjective

            Capable of success or continuing effectiveness; practicable:

            synonym: possible.

            • blazera@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Right, theyre capable of being elected if people vote for them. Same as any party.

              • SquirtleHermit@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Oh fantastic! So they are capable of getting enough votes to overcome the two party duopoly created by our first past the post voting system? Wow, that’s amazing! Why have I never heard of them?!

                • blazera@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  candidates dont take votes, voters give votes. any candidate is capable of receiving enough votes to win, it’s up to voters to decide. If you want to get rid of that first past the post voting system, well guess what. That same anti-genocide party also supports ranked choice voting! So if you’re anti-genocide and dont like first past the post voting, why would you decide on the total opposite of that?

  • HuddaBudda@kbin.social
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    7 months ago

    Strange … I don’t remember storming a capital building trying to subvert our democratic process…

    All I suggested is that not everyone in Gaza is Hamas. That 6 year old girls are way to young to understand what a Nazi even is.

    And that Israel’s tactics for a hostage situation is deplorable. Considering they used more Bombs in a week then the USA dropped in Afghanistan in a year.

        • Tryptaminev@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Fun fact. The organization of holocaust survivors, bund of anti fascists in Germany, whose members are mainly Jewish holocaust survivors and their descendants has been targeted by the German government for being “far left extremism.” Because actual holocaust survivors are clearly suspicious for demanding antifascism.

          • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            7 months ago

            I’ve heard that its also including bank account freezes for them as well in some cases, utterly ridiculous behavior by the German government.

            • Tryptaminev@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              Yes they froze the bank account of the Jewish voice for peace in Germany, demanding a full members list including addresses to “identify” the organization. It is a registered organization and as such it is legally represented by its board. Demanding a full member list has no legal reason, but of course the German government loves to make lists of Jews it doesn’t like.

  • ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    7 months ago

    This is the most incoherent thing I’ve ever seen…

    By speaking out, these “totalitarian” protesters are silencing everyone else and challenging representative democracy? And to stop them from silencing others, they must be arrested to prevent them from speaking?

    Dude, this couldn’t have sounded good in your fucking head…

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It’s called doublespeak.

      A guy called Orwell wrote a book about Modern Totalitarianism that includes this (prety good book, recommended read).

      It was supposed to be a work of fiction but apparently a lot of politicians are using it as a roadmap.

      • dev_null@lemmy.ml
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        7 months ago

        He wrote the book under the pseudonym Orwell, but the guy’s name is Blair.

      • prole@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        This is beyond double speak. It doesn’t even need to make sense anymore. As in, like, they don’t even need to form a complete, coherent sentence anymore.

        They don’t need to. They’ve had far more success with the big lie than anyone ever expected, I believe.

        • Tryptaminev@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          double speak and double think didn’t need to make sense. The key to them is accepting directly contradicting statements as equally true as long as the party puts them out. The total ignorance to contradiction is the key.

          • prole@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            Right, but in 1984, there was at least a syntax to it that made sense. Double plus ungood makes sense because “ungood” means “bad” and “double plus” means “extra”, etc. There was a logic to it.

  • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    Pretty standard perspective for a politician that has been in office since the 90s.

    When you really haven’t felt accountability for decades, it probably feels intimidating. He might have to, you know, represent these opinions from his constituents somehow.