Toppling that one isn’t going to be as rewarding as watching other monuments to dictators get torn down. Instead of the satisfactory “clunk” of a ton of metal we’ll just get the “pfft” of value brand gold spray paint and McDonald’s wrappers turned into paper mache. Probably some pilfered state secrets, nuclear codes, and love letters to Jeff in there as well.

69 420 Hail Satin

We’re not even close to being on the same side. You are correct, minors do go to doctors for healthcare that includes reproductive check-ups and wellness; that is normal. That you’ll excuse state sanctioned genital inspections as another checkbox the doctor marks off is the problem. The only time a person’s bodily autonomy becomes a matter of public concern is if that person has contracted a communicable disease (measles, covid, Ebola) and has unknowingly spread it, and even then it’s not important who that person is, only that an otherwise anonymous patient has it and here’s who might have been exposed. The state does not need to know who’s got what in their underwear, much less have anyone, medical professional or otherwise, examine their genitals, their blood, or their DNA to make sure it pleases the state, or anyone else.

Read my final statement. I don’t particularly give a fuck “who” is doing it or their qualifications because the “why” is the problem. What kind of equipment is in someone’s underwear is not the concern of a school district, a nosy neighbor, a state, or a god. It’s the business of the person wearing the undies, the doctor they go to for health concerns about those parts, and the partner they engage in consensual relationships with. Even parents and caretakers don’t have a say in those parts, only the obligation to provide hygiene and medical treatment if the individual is unable to provide that themselves.

God is a notorious egomaniac who’s committed multiple genocides, glassed middle eastern cities, knocked up a teenager who was someone else’s fiancé, sent his goons to threaten her fiancé to accept his cucking, then dipped on child support and let his kid get torture-killed. Hate to say it, Lindsay is correct; Trump is a very God-like man.

Well… actually…

It’s cool, just blame your actions on Biden and MAGA will nod in agreement.

You don’t have to convince me, I’ve been armed for 30yrs. No armed militia is going to match the US military if the regime decides to unleash that on it’s own population, but matching what the right has been building for decades is going to require continued effort to deconstruct liberal/democrat ideas about the purpose of guns/militas and community defense. I think we’ve got momentum on that, we just can’t forget that the gun laws currently in place will perpetually abused to disarm us while go unenforced against their own.

Some of us are, when we can. Black Panther inspired open carry groups reemerged in Philly, but just like in California in the 80s, once 2A embracing black people start carrying legally, the powers that be change the rules.

During the height of BLM we had a crew that legally carried during our nightly marches around town and during rallies because the counter-protestors showed up in droves dressed like Gravy Seals. Cops hounded us repeatedly despite consistent proof we within our rights; their team brandished and popped off “oops my safety was off” shots without consequences. I think the only reason they didn’t rewrite the rules is because I live in a red state with incredibly lax firearms laws and there’s no way to target one political group without hitting everyone, yet.

And then there’s the problem of liberalism and Democrats. They’ve made gun control a hardline stance for years, and while there is a gun violence problem in the US, they’ve vilified the idea of “gun”, their supporters cling to notions that any form of militia-style open carry or organization is inherently violent, and have crafted legislation that makes it easy for corrupt and biased law enforcement and courts to turn against their political enemies while ignoring their own team.

I get that going out to a protest, parade, or rally and seeing someone carry even if you know they’re there to support your cause can be nerve wracking because you never know if they take firearms ownership seriously or just bought it last week and have no idea what they’re doing. It has been nice to see the rise of leftist, queer, and women’s training groups rise, we’re just really behind the curve when it comes to matching the far right when it comes to projecting the image. And that’s what 90% of it is, not that it’s a threat or promise of violence, it’s just a reminder that if they want to come in with bluster and a threat of violence it can and will be matched in defense of our own.

I haven’t lost hope for humanity, I have just accepted that my optimism will inevitably result in disappointment. That doesn’t mean give up the fight or wallow in sorrow, it’s just know your limitations and every once in a while push your limits and see if you were correct. You might succeed, you might die. India achieved independence but it also knew exactly when and where to push for it. The British Empire was in no position to keep an iron grip on its holdings after WWII, and the people of India knew it. They pressed their advantage and won their independence, but it didn’t change the attitude of the English at large towards their former colony. England is still a hotbed of nationalism, racism, and white supremacy dealing with their own legacy of imperialism and hate at home just the same as the US is with their version. India itself struggles with nationalism, religious bigotry, and the legacy of a caste system that predates western domination. Israel is the greatest example of a people who are the descendants of those who were once nearly ground out of existence by hate adopting the tactics of their victimizers and becoming something to rival that but justifying it through their ancestor’s victimization, religious validation, and “never again”. The US was founded with imperfections but built a system where imperfections could be addressed as times/public opinion changed, and slowly but surely it has made progress even if it was painful and still imperfect. But centuries of that progress have been rolled back and ignored in under a decade. It’s not hopeless, but it is the reality we live in.

This kind of comment is why there will never again be reconciliation. It’s not just leadership that’s a bunch of weirdos, it’s their supporters and defenders that find ways to excuse, justify, and normalize the weirdness with “well, technically it’s late teens getting genital inspections”. Hebephilia is still just as creepy as pedophilia and citizens excusing it is just as creepy as elected officials regulating genital confirmation inspections. You do realize this has nothing to do with personal health, it’s not an annual reproductive wellness, or STI prevention/treatment, or even “turn your head and cough” to make sure physical activity isn’t going to aggravate an injury. It’s the state saying “show someone your penis or vagina so they can make sure it’s a penis of vagina and report back to us”.

The goddamn team doctor for the US Women’s Gymnastics Olympic team is one of the most prolific child sex abusers to use their position of trust to gain access. Highly respected, highly public, and doctor to some of the most famous and elite athletes in the world and he did it for decades. You think they’re going to throughly vet Dr. McFeely when Nowhere Middle School needs a crotch inspector and Bumfuck City, Red State has only one physician in the county?

4chan-esque edgelord before that existed. Almost exclusively wore a faded Rush t-shirt and black sweatpants and generic white sneakers, He had no tribe- in band but this was when American Pie was a new release and he constantly talked about “one time at band camp”, chess club but not skilled and a sore loser, kinda in to punk/metal/goth but he was the kind of guy that would call the cops if he showed up to party and there was weed/booze. And he wasn’t even some moral Xtian kid, just kind of a douche. I don’t remember what sparked the situation, but I remember him leaping onto a table during lunch and yelling at someone “I will destroy you” then laughing like Emperor Palpatine.

Second hand tale from a buddy who played D&D- he showed up wanting to roleplay as some 1000 year old elf girl whose brother had usurped her kingdom and had written a backstory that included him starting level 1 with some godtier magic katana, that looked like the katana he showed up strapped to his back with irl, and of course the character sketch looked like she was 13. I have no reason to doubt the validity of that.

Called in several bomb threats during our final week of senior year.

It’s been disappointing to watch a lot of the bands I enjoyed in my youth age into boomer-minded “better back in my day”, “I speak my mind so fuck your feelings”, contrarians who are so stuck in trying to maintain their status they’ll hitch their wagon to MAGA then try to explain how they’re still trying to fight the system. It’s not just bands either. I have ditched a lot of my friends from that era who went from anarchist to libertarian once they bought houses, started families, and found careers. They’re the epitome of “I got mine so fuck you”, they’re not pro-Trump the person but like his policies so they’ll compromise their integrity to support him knowing full well what a POS he is while deluding themselves that they can have their cake and eat it too.

Dickey is the former singer for 90s ska band Mighty Mighty Bosstones and was Jimmy Kimmel’s band leader until he went full MAGA over Covid. His band kicked him out and the punk scene disowned him so he went and formed a new group with all the other aging “punks” who have decided Trumpism is the “real rebellion” and have been 86’d from their bands. It’s the saddest, sorriest bunch of middle aged losers that might have figured out the music and the fashion but never actually got the message.

Kevin Sorbo, Dean Cain, Chris Pratt, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Woody Allen, Gina Carano, Dickey Barrett, the MyPillow Guy, Shamwow Guy, Gwen Stafani, and a half dozen country music artists who all look and sound vaguely the same are hoping theirs are in the mail.

U.S. authorities are actively covering up the crimes

They’re not even covering them up. Like so much of Trump’s criminal past he’s flagrantly showcasing his criminality and the fact that our justice system is so corrupt people with his wealth and power can do what they want and get away with it. It’s his “shoot someone on 5th avenue” moment.

the current regime remains in office despite its obvious criminality and is not forced to resign through mass civil disobedience.

Mass civil disobedience is a failed effort in the US because the people in power have been striving make sure there’s never another movement like Civil Rights or Women’s Suffrage that can threaten their power. The wealth gap between the average citizen between the power holders and the is so vast 99% of us could spend a year not working and they’d still be some of the richest people in the world. Meanwhile, we’d destroy our lives. Add to that, around 30% of our population is all in on this. They’re not going to attempt to stymie the system. They’ll continue to purchase and invest, they’ll support their camp’s businesses and buy our foreclosing homes as an investment property while we peacefully practice “disobedience” and they’ll continue to occasionally drop by a protest to gun a few down or run a few over and see if they can’t get a pardon for it.

Police forces in the Civil Rights era were brutal- fire hoses, batons, dogs, but modern cops and ICE are lethal and immune to repercussions. Their ranks are filled with fascist zealots who stormed our Capitol building and even after their coup failed they were rewarded for their effort.

Liberalism and Democrats shoulder some of the burden of this. For decades the Civil Rights movement has been framed as “if enough people remains peaceful in the face of violence, the state will eventually feel bad enough to change”. It’s conveniently covered up that all of our progressive movements weren’t above meeting violence with violence or occasionally threw the first punch. Now it’s much more difficult because our enemy didn’t forget and we live in a surveillance state that’s staffed with street executioners and a justice system that takes threats to capital and property very seriously.

Unless our rebuke is backed by people with access to power, like governors or even mayors of large cities, if we choose the more aggressive approach we’re marching out like John Brown. We’re lone wolves or a small cell that might take out a few of theirs but the people we get are as powerless as we are and easily replaceable. Even people like Brian Thompson and Charlie Kirk were replaced in days and the system absorbed the loss.

This regime and its network of oligarchs behind it are the reason why the most serious crimes, including those committed by Epstein’s accomplices, go unpunished.

The French Revolution is one of the few historical moments where the have nots actually managed to get their hands on the haves with masses, determination, and a willingness for violence. Technology, police, and surveillance have made this something we can’t accomplish. Even for all of our guns, they have more. The Whiskey Rebellion happened just after the founding of the US, when both sides were using the same level of tech, and the Feds showed the 2A is just a feel good clause, no well regulated militia is going to pose a threat to the state and it’s benefactors. I’d also point out that what came after the French Revolution wasn’t as great as they’d hoped and it took a while for the nation to get to the democracy it is to day, one where protest and civil disobedience does have a voice and can get a bit violent at times but doesn’t result in mass casualties.

We gave up on Epstein not out of apathy or acceptance. We’ve known for a long time the truly powerful have a different justice system than the rest of us. We still do. Every week there’s another pro-MAGA politician, pastor, or supporter popped for less egregious sex crimes that doesn’t get a free pass because they’re not important enough to get a free pass. The fight for the files has itself almost become a distraction. Our system is broken by design, and the longer the people who think releasing them unredacted will change anything keep fighting for that, the more they’re not paying attention to the last vestiges of democracy being erased- districts being redrawn, executive orders as legislation, courts ruling by party principle Constitution be damned, daily acts of racial/orientation/gender violence that happen with no legal consequences, the plan to rig the elections to the point voting becomes a charade. They need to see justice, it’s that none of our systems will see to it and they’re flaunting that. Issue an arrest warrant for Trump and who’s going to execute it?

Even if someone was willing to try, could they actually physically remove him from office? His loyalists would swarm the jail like they did the Capitol to get him back if you managed too, but i suspect his deputized forces and military supporters would have the White House locked down before you could even get to him. At best it would be the line in the sand, the point we’re all forced to black and white anccept our democracy is dead and we have a fascist dictator. Democrats and their liberal/centrist supporters know this, they just don’t want to have to accept how we remove dictators when democracy fails.

Civil disobedience is great if you have a functioning democracy where elected officials fear public opinion and feel compelled to listen. When you have fascism and oligarchs it’s theater that keeps the masses peacefully occupied until you get around to grinding them out as well.

His supporters and his opponents both have zero doubt of what’s in those files even if we haven’t seen it all. They don’t care and will continue to fight for the regime’s goal because currently, they’re winning. It’s like slavery, the people who fought to preserve it weren’t so ignorant they actually believed the enslaved were inferior or sub-humans, they knew they were humans owning humans because it was convenient, everything else was excuses to normalize it. They fought to the death to maintain their privilege when told “your privilege is removed”, and the people who forced that change fought to the death to see it happen. A century and a half later and we’re up against the same mentality, except this time we have no leaders willing to call it and accept “shit, this is going to get messy”.

Kid Rock’s invite was “lost in the mail”.

Trysexual, the people who’ll do anything once.

Red state cities are almost inevitably the thorn in the side of the state because they are the last bastion of blue. I live in a blue city in a very, very red state. If we have a protest or rally the haters will drive across the state to harass us. Our cops already hate us. The state targets our mayor and city council with gross overreach to force Republican values that the city is using its capacity to prevent from being forced on the citizens that shouldn’t have to live with them. Cities are also often more diverse. They will absolutely put this money into red states because it’ll help fuel the suppression of opposition.