I can't disagree with anything you've so eloquently said. I will add to that, though, that there are a lot of very good people in the US, and the future of the country is going to depend on them to continue to make their voices heard.

Right now, it appears that the leader best poised to steer the US out of the dark time they find themselves in right now is Gavin Newsom

Unfortunately, Gavin isn’t enough. The rot is deep, and it requires a rebirth of what it means to be the United States. The good people in the US are the few who’s never really getting traction because the culture is so infected with the neoliberal hyper-individualized capitalist ideology that people view it as a fact of physical reality. There’s no difference between Iran and the US in this sense, both are composed of some good people and the rest deeply and fundamentally having their head in religious ideals of a promised land. It’s just that for most of us in the west, the US have been close to our own values at the surface level, but underneath, there’s an indoctrinated delusion that is now breaking at the seams.

Bloody or not, a revolution may be needed to shake the foundations away from the delusions of old doctrines.

In terms of a national law usurping local authority, perhaps a closer parallel would be the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The slave catchers, however, were private agents of slave owners, not a federal agency.

In the latter sense, a parallel can be seen as an inversion of desegregation laws of civil rights era opposed by state and local governance, especially with the focus of ICE upon schools and public services.

Trump lied again:

Boston theaters are empty for the Melania documentary (— Axios · Jan 29, 2026)
Bizarre ad allegedly pays you to watch Melania Trump's new movie (— UNILAD · Jan 29, 2026)

Well, at least it's not serious in this case. :sweat:
$50 + free ticket to go see the movie? I suppose I might. :)

Honestly, I can't think there is anything interesting about her that would make me want to watch a movie about her.

Definitely the hottest First Lady ever…But I can’t see that being the basis for a whole movie.

the hottest First Lady ever — Mikie

Fueling the idea that House Trump is going to retire to Sochi with an "Adios, suckers":

Opinion | How Trump Has Used the Presidency to Make at Least $1.4 Billion (archive)
^{— The New York Times · Jan 20, 2026}
CNN reporter taken aback by 'staggering' report about Trump's wealth during second term
^{— Robert Davis · Jan 20, 2026 · 4m:27s}

Have you been leafing through those files?

Have you been leafing through those files? — Punshhh

No, I just Googled images

Well, technically playing the market like that is textbook market manipulation at the highest level. It’s obvious he’s been doing it, he even said out loud “I’ve made my friends billions of dollars.”

And as always, the law doesn’t apply to Trump. If anyone else did the same, they would be getting decades in prison.

This is why I say that people should just start breaking the law against the government. Why should the people care about the law if it doesn’t exist and doesn’t lead to consequences? Through a basic Kantian perspective, Trump is universalizing breaking the law.

The people should be able to manipulate the market for their own gain and shoot ICE agents that shouts at people.

If the law doesn’t apply to everyone equally, then the law doesn’t really exist, except as a way for some to have power over others. In those situations, revolution is the only method.

No, I just Googled images

Yes, I thought so. Joking aside, I expect anything salacious will have been redacted. But at least we will have Melania’s movie to watch instead.

Fueling the idea that House Trump is going to retire to Sochi with an "Adios, suckers": — jorndoe

New reporting from the New Yorker sets the profiteering by Trump and his family at over $4 billion

It looks like the Minnesota government is finally cracking down on the shitty behavior of the usual suspects.

https://wgme.com/news/nation-world/police-arrest-26-anti-ice-protesters-for-riotous-conduct-outside-minnesota-hotel-riots-greg-bovino

Meanwhile, Spain moves to legalize the illegals.

“ Madrid points to ‘positive impact’ of migration as it moves to grant 500,000 undocumented people legal status.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/1/28/as-western-powers-crack-down-on-migrants-spain-embraces-500000

We get to watch in real time as a once-powerful empire turns into a commie shithole.

That was also a prominent feature of Orban's election victory in Hungary.

A lot of the other moves used by Orban would not work in the U.S. system because of the Constitutional boundaries in place (so far).

A lot of the other moves used by Orban would not work in the U.S. system because of the Constitutional boundaries in place (so far).

Yes, I hope so, I doubt it would work, but then I’m reminded about what authoritarian leaders do when they can’t get something to work. They just attack their own people and try at get the people to attack each other. Then all the rules can be thrown out of the window.

We get to watch in real time as a once-powerful empire turns into a commie shithole.

It never was Spain that was great, it was Portugal.

Meanwhile, Spain moves to legalize the illegals.

“ Madrid points to ‘positive impact’ of migration as it moves to grant 500,000 undocumented people legal status.” — NOS4A2

We get to watch in real time as a once-powerful empire turns into a commie shithole. — NOS4A2

It never was Spain that was great, it was Portugal. — Punshhh

Relax... leave my country alone.

We don't have law enforcement agencies which shoot people in the streets or folks who jump from the balcony every bloody summer. We are not perfect, but at least we are not like you.

I was just poking the troll. Sorry.

We are not perfect, but at least we are not like you. — javi2541997

Simmer down there Franco, you aren't better than anyone else.

you aren't better than anyone else. — frank

I didn't say that. I'm not like Trump. :smile:

I didn't say that. — javi2541997

That's cool. So you know you aren't better anyone else. Anywhere. Ever.