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#31
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by Oexmelin - January 15, 2026, 09:30:46 PMI fear "lawful duties" are getting awfully capacious in the US, and may continue to grow in scope.
The peaceful protest you revere were conducted by people who walked side by side, and fought alongside, with people who got shot, beaten, spat on, arrested, tortured, by servants of the state performing their lawful duties. I am not sure your current stance would have led you walking side by side with your heroes.
The peaceful protest you revere were conducted by people who walked side by side, and fought alongside, with people who got shot, beaten, spat on, arrested, tortured, by servants of the state performing their lawful duties. I am not sure your current stance would have led you walking side by side with your heroes.
#32
Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...
Last post by Razgovory - January 15, 2026, 09:27:59 PMQuote from: crazy canuck on January 15, 2026, 01:44:09 PMI am not going to engage in the Charlie Kirk style of debate, where an outrageous claim is made without any support, and then the person making the claim says, "prove me wrong".Well nobody did that, so I don't know what the point of this is. Last year I mentioned that the people who are the best educated and the most intelligent are also the least open to changing their mind. Because they are the most sophisticated thinkers, they are best equipped to dismiss new facts. I think you have done admirably in demonstrating this. You took two lines, that summed up arguments the author appeared to be dismissing, and claimed that since they weren't true, you didn't have to engage with any of it. It's a very impressive act of avoiding the author's actual conclusion.
I provided a link to the stats from your government.
#33
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by Admiral Yi - January 15, 2026, 09:24:33 PMI have no desire to delegitimize all protests. I revere classical nonviolent protests such as Gandhi and MLK.
I have a great deal of contempt for demonstrations that try to impose a minority's will on a democratic majority. I have even more contempt for protests that hurl abuse at servants of the state performing lawful duties. Like the people who spit on soldiers returning from Vietnam. Like people arrested for DUI screaming at cops about their dick size. That's coward's courage, cosplaying at picking a fight with people you know can't fight back.
If you think those protests will positively impact the midterms, knock yourself out. I think they are counter productive.
I have a great deal of contempt for demonstrations that try to impose a minority's will on a democratic majority. I have even more contempt for protests that hurl abuse at servants of the state performing lawful duties. Like the people who spit on soldiers returning from Vietnam. Like people arrested for DUI screaming at cops about their dick size. That's coward's courage, cosplaying at picking a fight with people you know can't fight back.
If you think those protests will positively impact the midterms, knock yourself out. I think they are counter productive.
#34
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by Oexmelin - January 15, 2026, 09:24:01 PMThis has indeed given me hope.
But I have remained worried, as we have seen such protests before, and they tend to lose steam. Plus, I have witnessed many commentators and colleagues sigh yet another sigh of relief (good old "this is proof this isn't us"), which I fear may again lead to premature demobilization (and pinning their hopes on the electoral process).
But I have remained worried, as we have seen such protests before, and they tend to lose steam. Plus, I have witnessed many commentators and colleagues sigh yet another sigh of relief (good old "this is proof this isn't us"), which I fear may again lead to premature demobilization (and pinning their hopes on the electoral process).
#35
Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...
Last post by Razgovory - January 15, 2026, 09:13:52 PMI think that would be covered in Muslims.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250722/t006a-eng.htm
In 2024
920 anti-Jewish incidents.
229 anti-Muslim incidents.
658 over Sexual orientation.
Incidents over race in 2024
873 anti-Black That's the highest one.
321 anti-South Asian
Only 59 against First Nations. I'm surprised by that.
So, Muslims + South Asians is still fewer than Jews... Now I can't tell if "Indians" are in fact hated more, but the people who don't care for Jews are certainly more active about it. Or is the national statistical office a part of the Alt-Right now?
#36
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by The Minsky Moment - January 15, 2026, 09:07:18 PMWell Americans haven't done the nationwide mass protest game at the level of the top Euro contenders. But Minnesotans have stepped up big time with grass roots mobilization on the street level. The people have taken control of the narrative.
#37
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by Jacob - January 15, 2026, 09:03:05 PMAgreed completely Oex. As usual.
#38
Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...
Last post by Oexmelin - January 15, 2026, 08:54:17 PMAn astonishing proportion of the American electorate remains depoliticized. Nothing the Democrats have done so far convinces me they have taken the midterms seriously. People need to bypass that party, and organize locally.
#39
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by Oexmelin - January 15, 2026, 08:49:56 PMIt's quite possible that these institutions hold. My point is always that these institutions do not exist in a vacuum, removed from civil society. It will be easier for them to hold if people know that someone out there finds something abhorrent. Institutions normalize: that's what they do, and it's frighteningly easy to get carried by the stream of the routine. They are also slow. It's part of the design: slowness allows for input. It's part of the problem: slowness allows them to be bypassed by fascists, who all celebrate swiftness.
In these circumstances, cowardice is easier when you feel you are alone. Resisting authoritarian impulse within institutions is easier when you know you have people who feel like you do, or whose passion, and slogans, and dedication, can also help you shape your own idea about the right and the wrong, not just the legal and the illegal.
ICE is beyond saving: that institution is much too steeped into authoritarianism. But there will be a time when the army may be asked to fire on a crowd, or to invade Denmark; a time when judges will be told the desired outcome of a trial; a moment when a Member of Congress will be offered a bribe, or cowed into silence or compliance. That time is upon us.
This is why I am concerned when people attempt to delegitimize protests, in the hope that normalcy will prevail on its own, or that they frighten the good people. Waiting for institutions to save you while they are being actively subverted leaves you defenceless when the outcome isn't what you were hoping for - because they you are left with a perverted doubt that, maybe, there's a legitimate reason why it didn't work. The Biden mandate should have imparted that lesson, more than once.
In these circumstances, cowardice is easier when you feel you are alone. Resisting authoritarian impulse within institutions is easier when you know you have people who feel like you do, or whose passion, and slogans, and dedication, can also help you shape your own idea about the right and the wrong, not just the legal and the illegal.
ICE is beyond saving: that institution is much too steeped into authoritarianism. But there will be a time when the army may be asked to fire on a crowd, or to invade Denmark; a time when judges will be told the desired outcome of a trial; a moment when a Member of Congress will be offered a bribe, or cowed into silence or compliance. That time is upon us.
This is why I am concerned when people attempt to delegitimize protests, in the hope that normalcy will prevail on its own, or that they frighten the good people. Waiting for institutions to save you while they are being actively subverted leaves you defenceless when the outcome isn't what you were hoping for - because they you are left with a perverted doubt that, maybe, there's a legitimate reason why it didn't work. The Biden mandate should have imparted that lesson, more than once.
#40
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by crazy canuck - January 15, 2026, 08:45:22 PMQuote from: Jacob on January 15, 2026, 08:29:43 PMI still allow myself to hope that the American institutions Admiral Yi mention will save the US from a compete descent into fascism, though I'm absolutely fine demonstrations and other manifestations of "people power".
The American institution he mentioned is the courts. You have hope about the courts that Trump has infiltrated with his appointments?
You are more than just a glass half full kind of guy