That’s the most 1980s/1990s coded right wing “you’ll never take my automatic rifles, ATF pig motherfuckers!” guy I’ve seen outside of historical footage in at least two decades

I thought all those guys went extinct after the FBI kinda just said “fuck it, let’s just arrest and harass Muslims” after 9/11

Glad(?) to see they live on

Yeah, well, unfortunately for the US population (and world… since people use the products worldwide) if the Nazi-asses say it just barely in a slightly ordering or angry tone, Apple and Google (and everyone else) will immediately drop on their knees and start sucking toe.

This is sort of ironically one of the few areas that private corporations, if they found an ounce of value in doing so, could stand up to the might of the US Gov. In most cases the government (of any country, really) can simply legally steamroll any non-cooperative private corporations. Pass a few laws if they deem it necessary, but Trump seems to be more on a vibes-based EO signing spree. So there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t just sign a napkin and hand it to Tim Apple saying “I order you to listen to KASH FUCKING DUMBASS “ONE BILLION DONKEYS” Patel”

Google will 100% fold immediately. I thought they did years ago, but might be misremembering. Pretty sure they actively aid the FBI when they “request” assistance unlocking devices. Apple, at least publicly, still refuses to help. I think now they even claim they can’t help at all even if they wanted to (which is the ideal standard, imo. Don’t even let the corpos have the ability to implement backdoors)

Apple might make a show of it. I only say this because they do sort of sell their products with the tagline of “we keep your shit secure. See, look, we even tell the US Gov to fuck off regarding “terrorism” suspects’ devices!”

I have basically no faith in their withstanding any actual amount of pushback though and without the backing of Google, MS, Meta, etc. to include any corporation that handles private, encrypted messaging of any sort… they will ultimately fail no matter if they resist or not. As a US corporation they are beholden by the laws of the US and, again, Kash “Donkeys in the Walls!” Patel strikes me as a “man” with so many chips on his shoulders that… well, I don’t know the metaphor there. He’s a very stupid person and also immoral, evil, however you wanna characterize him. So, he’d absolutely strong arm if necessary. Normally something I’d support from the gov (arresting corpo scum), but of course they’d only do so to advance the worst policies ever.

Am I missing it or does the quote NOT mention the most important thing. You know… Mission accomplished? (Edit: They quote from him. The implication is he’s still alive and well. Not sure why that was not explicitly stated in such an article… but whatever)

Speaking fully generically about a wide, wide range of things: If you’re gonna do something, do it right. If you got like a 1cm diameter hole in drywall that needs repaired, you don’t just throw a bucket of drywall “mud” at the wall and hope it fills in properly. No, you get your mud, you get your tools, putty knives and such, you get in there and do the job right. You make sure that hole is plugged and it’ll never come loose or be an otherwise weak spot in the wall. Otherwise, don’t bother! It just makes the job harder for the next guy!

No, trust me, I get it.

Maybe I am doing some sort of circular cope or something myself. I have spent a lot of time (too much…) considering how much I should “care” that liberals only care about the dogshit when their face is rubbed in it. When the dog has actually been shitting all over the carpet for years and they never cared.

Part of me thinks “Finally! Welcome!” But then I see they have no actual push back. They just want the spectacle, I suppose, of pointing out the obvious. Then I go “Ok, well, that’s still better… than not? I guess?”

Either way it feels incredibly shitty because no one with any amount of institutional power seems to care about the rhetoric at the core of the movement. I am absolutely fine and happy if they call out Nazis doing hate symbology in public… with the condition that they recognize those symbols are directly tied back to the laws they want to pass (and have passed).

Some libs “get it” to an extent. Many still seem incredibly shortsighted and only focused on Trump. He seems to be self-aware of this (maybe giving him too much credit though) and that’s why he leans into the third term thing repeatedly. Give them a spectacle and something to obsess over… something that isn’t analyze any of his executive orders, stated goals, laws he wants, etc. Not a unique analysis there either by me.

Honestly all feels a bit “lib-bait”

They keep talking about third term which drives libs crazy (just wait till the libs figure out there are worse people than Trump…). We only even have limits for presidents because the same libs, right wingers, whined and pissed themselves after the country elected the least-shitty president 4 times. If the president is good… who cares. Let them stay 50 years. I don’t understand the term limit shit. If they think it means the next republican won’t be a Nazi … bad news, guys! The democrats and republicans are both Nazi parties! “Oops! All Nazi!”

And as far as the salute goes. Yes, doing a Nazi salute is (obviously, no shit) bad.

Giving Nazi speeches, believing in their hearts Nazi/fascist rhetoric, passing Nazi laws, etc. is the actual problem though. And they’ve been pretty openly doing this for years, decades even. It just seems, no other word I can think of, “liberal” to focus on the unavoidable aesthetic and ignore the fundamental, meaningful day to day stuff.

It just seems to me to set this unobtainable standard of “Oh, now they’re Nazis!” It doesn’t really matter if Trump walks in wearing a literal SS uniform. The right is just gonna say “Oh, but…!” “Wow, I can’t believe you think…” and liberals will back off every time they are presented with any way out, even the most obviously ridiculous path out. They’ll take it. Look to how they refuse to call the Elon one (which was 0% chance NOT a Nazi salute) what it is. Because he gave them a path out of it. Another day to cope and pretend it isn’t already here… and has been for a long time.

If they’re waiting to see the skulls on the caps, well, maybe that day never arrives. My point is: that doesn’t fucking matter. The SS would still be one of the most evil groups in history even if they wore rainbow sweatsuits all the time. Yeah, the skull is a bit “on the fucking nose” but their actions and their rhetoric was evil. The caps are a symbol of that. The salute is a symbol. That symbol can be there or not and it doesn’t matter.

I feel like I’m repeating myself a bunch, but just trying to make it clear. Hate symbols are bad because of what they are symbolic of. Not just because “oh no! Evil thing!” I kinda thought this was obvious, but the way lib brains work… makes me wonder.

(And even while I write this I also think “Holy fuck… they’re just doing the goddamn thing.” So, I’m not placing myself as immune. I do try to “check” myself sometimes though. Bannon endorses murdering trans people and kicking out immigrants… yeah, of course he’s a Nazi. This shouldn’t be shocking to me or anyone else)

That can all be true, and I don’t really disagree, and yet…

Well let me just state some “facts” for no particular reason

A ton of US citizens rely on programs they’re proposing cutting (not talking about the military. Yes people rely on that but… 🤷‍♂️. Give them cash to not work. I don’t care). Imagine this purely fictional world where millions of people potentially are teetering… then shoved. They know who did it. Elon, Thiel, Trump, etc. I would think “being alive” would be a large part of this world they want… alive to “enjoy” it. Hard to do if… well… free country. Free speech. I’m so free to say the thing…

Absolutely not gonna happen

Although if reporters aren’t asking “Do you mean THE MILITARY MILITARY or all the other shit?” then they’re failing to do their jobs.

8% reduction in soldiers, arms production, etc.

Or that remains the same- and 8% of VA doctors, etc. are fired.

Defense budget doesn’t include the VA, btw, but we all know it’s suddenly going to. Magically.

But, you know, Inshallah he does manage to cut the DoD. I doubt it! Highly! But hey… ok…

I actually proposed this plan (definitely not uniquely but whatever- still counts!) for the last… decade now. Just cut the budget repeatedly for two decades and it will starve the MIC (in theory) and does so in a controlled wind down from the insanity since WWII.

Of course “my plan” also called for diverting those resources immediately, plus adding on top, to expanding Medicare to everyone. Of course cuts are not required in order to fund Medicare, but if thr Nazi ass dems insist then, hey, cut the DoD in half, push the money to healthcare! Blammo!

It’s honestly hilarious (in the fucked up shit way of course) that people are against this or making it $30, $50… who knows? What if, and let me assure you this is a CRAZY idea… but what if… workers received 100% of the value they produce and through a contract negotiated amongst their coworkers they can choose to scrape some of that 100% to reinvest in this company. Or would this be a cooperative of workers? Kinda like it is now. Actually EXACTLY like it is now. Except, there’s one or only a few people missing from the equation. Hmm. Ah yes, the investors/owners/executives. You know. The ones who PRODUCE FUCKING NOTHING YET SUCK ALL THE SURPLUS VALUE FROM THOSE WHO DO? Those people. Just yoink their stolen property and capital, give it to those who produce, and, like I said, I dunno, crazy ideas, let them figure it out. Or, more crazy ideas, perhaps some amount of the value is scraped “without consent” necessarily and goes into a giant pool of funds. Some massive reserve… perhaps headed by a federal agency of some sort. Hmm, who knows, maybe a federal reserve we could call it. And this centralized federal pool collector distributes the funds in a way as to invest… but it’s the workers investing in what benefits the workers, the vast majority of people in the country (or world) and not just little grifts and schemes to enrich those formerly capitalists who are now forcefully part of what they fear most… the proletariat.

I dunno, crazy fucking ideas though. Probably best to just remain completely atomized and cope by telling myself my boss stealing 9/10 of the value I create is fine because some other schlub gets 9.5/10 of his stolen and boy boy… man what an idiot! Glad I’m smart and aren’t being fucked over only a tiny amount less!

Zoomers gonna zoom

E: Apparently zoomers can’t take a joke. Get over yourselves nerds