this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2026
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[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

Trump cannot invade Greenland without Congressional approval, which he’d never get. He’s a fucking dictator.

Edit: what’s with the downvotes and bitchy comments? You’re all so beyond pointing out the violations of the constitution because we should just expect it now? And if I point it out I’m “naive”? It should never be normal. Go do something more useful and helpful with your time than attacking people that don’t accept these violations. Your attitude is part of the fucking problem.

Edit 2: good to know I’m in good company with Ken Jennings on this defeatist, nihilistic bullshit. https://piefed.world/post/769234

[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The US has been invading countries without a congressional act of war for some time now. Unfortunately the precedent for a lunatic to do this has been paved by four decades of it.

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Yeah. Iraq and Afghanistan did receive congressional approval, though not a declaration of war, as fucked up as those wars were. But, you could argue they did it.

The military swore an oath to the constitution, so this should be grounds for them to disobey.

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It should be, but I don't recall any military in history that actually has disobeyed a fascist dictator in the process of seizing power.

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

In 1974 Portugal, the military removed a fascist dictator and restored democracy. I agree it’s rare though.

[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

That was a military coup in a country that had run its economy into the ground by being a fascist dictatorship for decades, which pissed off the people, including the military, somewhat. When the fascists originally took power, the military had gone along with it.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It was a military coup inside a military coup inside a coup.

The original coup that instated the regime was a revolt led by high officials in the wake of a scandalous counterfeit money scheme. The post WWI military felt their wages shrink in purchasing power and pointed fingers at the very unstable and young republican goverment.

Hence the coup and following fifty years of fascism that by all measures was instated against the military plans. They wanted a military-run country. They apointed a general for president. He appointed a strongman for running the daily affairs. The civilians still got back the true governing and the military were pushed aside.

Come 1974, it was a rebellion of low ranking officers that threw the regime, with a good dose of communist (read popular) insatisfaction into the mix.

To quote the head officer:

"Meus senhores, como todos sabem, há diversas modalidades de Estado. Os estados socialistas, os estados capitalistas e o estado a que chegámos. Ora, nesta noite solene, vamos acabar com o estado a que chegámos!”

Running a state is a job for civilians. Making sure those civilians toe the line is the military to enforce, after the population set it. In 2013 we had the military remembering the then government remembering it was their sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution, which was constantly being ignored by several attempts of law.

[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Grenada, Nicaragua, Iraq, Iraq again, Afghanistan, Benghazi, Syria. There are many many more, these are just off the top of my head.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 21 points 2 months ago

He also can't rename the Kennedy Center, the Department of War, deploy the National Guard against posse comitatus, or invade Venezuela and kidnap their president.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Insisting that the norms and laws protect us, in the context of a regime that pointedly does not give a single fuck about norms and laws, is deeply naive to the point that it borders on willful ignorance.

Don’t get me wrong - I wish it wasn’t the case. But that’s what’s happening nowadays, and to pretend otherwise is nonsensical at this point.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

Waiting and hoping maybe, but insisting?

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip -5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

You’re part of the problem. We need to acknowledge the violations of the constitution if we are going to do something about them. I’m not naive, your “oh well” and condescending attitude towards people who actually would like to do something contributes to the continuation of most Americans doing nothing. You’d have been the German public saying “well Hitler is just gonna keep rounding up Jews at this point, don’t be naive, nothing we can do about it.” Go to hell.

You act this way because it gives you an excuse to do nothing. It’s easier to throw up your hands.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Don’t condescend to me. It’s not “oh well”. It’s pragmatism and acknowledgement of facts that are actually happening and occurring.

I wish that this wasn’t happening the way it is; nonetheless, it is happening. Denying reality is counterproductive. I’m not saying laws are unimportant. I’m saying that laws are being ignored, and to expect the regime to suddenly start abiding by laws is incredibly naive, to the point that it could be described as idiocy.

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

No, I was stating a fact… Trump taking a certain action would be a violation of the words as they are written in the constitution. That’s not denying reality. It’s calling it out. You called even discussing it “naive and willfully ignorant” because we should just expect it now.

I say this “pre-acceptance” of our leaders not following the law, enables them to not follow the law. If they do something like this and we don’t react, they think they can get away with it again. If they feared the population would react with massive protests, they wouldn’t do it. Trump becoming a dictator is dependent on people with attitudes like yours doing nothing.

I’m not pre-accepting. If anything, I’m absolutely irate that fucking nobody with any semblance of official power has done anything seriously meaningful to stymie the regime’s abject idiocy - and I include the jaw-dropping myopic political shitshow that the DNC ran in the 2024 election, as well as Biden’s outright refusal to hold anyone from orangeboi’s first stint accountable in any serious or meaningful way.

Incompetence is the rule of the day, on both sides of our established political spectrum. The only serious difference is that the right wing is gleefully malicious and overtly prejudiced, while the left wing plaintively complains and capitulates while still lining their pockets from largely the same donors that the right wing gets paid by.

[–] then_three_more@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Did you mean he's not a fucking dictator? Because you said he is, so a dictator really wouldn't care what someone else said

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

the downvote upvote culture within this community is stupid as hell. most of these comments getting upvoted are just useless. shit about the Epstein files or calling him a pedophile or whatever. your comment raises an interesting refutable point, and it gets downvoted because you didn't call him Hitler

[–] Hapankaali@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Doesn't the constitution also say something about things like attempting to overthrow the government, assisting foreign military forces in attacking domestic targets and taking bribes from foreign governments?

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] Hapankaali@lemmy.world -2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like violations of the constitution aren't all that consequential then, doesn't it?

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They are. And they should never be accepted.

[–] Hapankaali@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

They perhaps shouldn't, at least not in these cases, but in practice they are either championed or condoned by an overwhelming majority of the population.