VerifiedSource

Totally. What where even those flame throwers everywhere?

Worst Star Trek movie so far.

Trump has delivered a ceasefire that was always clamored for.

Trump actually delivered a ceasefire.

Agreed. I highly recommend choosing a different instance for your account.

The mods on [email protected] and other communities routinely ban posters that don’t violate the rules, just because they don’t like their political opinion.

See [email protected] for some discussion around mods‘ abuse of power.

I doubt there’s a plan behind this.

Social media wasn’t the primary driver behind the Arab spring. The economic issues were the trigger. People couldn’t afford to buy food. Lack of food will topple any government. Media control only gets one so far.

On the Internet the dominant websites can change quickly. Being banned from Twitter enabled Trump‘s Truth Social. Buying Twitter gave Elon Musk a giant soap box. However new soapboxes are constructed all the time and some succeed.

Asset doesn’t mean Russia has full power over them, only that they’re acting to their advantage

I also think this is some crypto bro shenanigans. Ulbricht might even have billions in Bitcoin stashed away somewhere for a juicy payback.

Sometimes a voting population needs to be protected from the consequences of their vote

Who should have the power to make that decision?

Do you want a benevolent king at the top that can dissolve parliament, dismiss government, call for new elections, make parties illegal, and censor the press?

Or maybe have something like an electoral college?

Or the army coups, if things get too far?

The ultimate check on power is the people. A general strike, large scale protests, and occupation of public buildings can topple a government. Institutions from military, police, local government, government agencies, and so on value their positions and won’t go down with a sinking ship.

Hold your ponies. The US is very much still a democracy, if a flawed one in many ways. The US has always been a country run by the wealthy elites, as are most countries in the world.

Buying politicians works, especially in the US, regardless of party. Democrats and Republicans are both the parties of big business and capital interests.

Besides laws around spending money for political purposes, the media landscape has revolutionized over the last 20 years. The role social media has played in Trump‘s ascendancy can’t be overstated. Trump spent less than Kamala Harris in this election and still won, because of his exceptional way to use media to his advantage.