Trump's orders, officals released water from two California dams(latimes.com)
latimes.com
Trump's orders, officals released water from two California dams
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-01-31/trump-california-dams-opened-up
23 comments
This is going to be hell for the farmers in the region this growing season, not to mention for those buying groceries.
I was just thinking this. The central valley produces something like 25% of the USA's edible food and 40% of it's nuts using maybe 1% of USA's farmland. It only rain like 2 weeks out of the year there. If we don't have a plan in place for the water come growing season, the entire country will see higher prices at the supermarket, not just those in the region.
What will be very interesting to see is how/whether the US institutions will constrain Trump.
Right now, 2 weeks in, he appears to be omnipotent. His word is law. But so much ink was poured to say that the entirety of US political system is constructed to make tyranny impossible - as the US was born as a rejection of the UK monarchy.
So... What's up? Was that all a myth all along? Does Trump have support everywhere, and the people who are supposed to stop him won't? Or is it just early days, and soon he will hit a wall.
Right now, 2 weeks in, he appears to be omnipotent. His word is law. But so much ink was poured to say that the entirety of US political system is constructed to make tyranny impossible - as the US was born as a rejection of the UK monarchy.
So... What's up? Was that all a myth all along? Does Trump have support everywhere, and the people who are supposed to stop him won't? Or is it just early days, and soon he will hit a wall.
It's really hard to fight a tyrant when half of your people cheer for him. Institutions can only go so far.
I guess we're at the mercy of all those naive happy people who allegedly voted D out due to the price of eggs. Sooner or later they'll get angry over the price of eggs ... or maybe they'll never do, and eggs were just a convenient excuse. We'll see.
I guess we're at the mercy of all those naive happy people who allegedly voted D out due to the price of eggs. Sooner or later they'll get angry over the price of eggs ... or maybe they'll never do, and eggs were just a convenient excuse. We'll see.
Communism in Poland fell, ultimately, over meat price increases. None of that freedom of speech nonsense. And it was overthrown by the "proletariat", who was not only the social group keeping them in power all along, but also the social group whose standard of living was catapulted into the 20th century by the very Communists they ousted. Up from, dunno, 17th century serfdom...
> the people who are supposed to stop him won't
i believe we've been watching that intentionally/actively make progress for the last 9+ years
they are currently executing a thoroughly prepared plan and they're moving as fast as possible because the recent election gives new president a LOT of leeway in making dramatic plays
we're watching history. i hope not to suffer too much.
i believe we've been watching that intentionally/actively make progress for the last 9+ years
they are currently executing a thoroughly prepared plan and they're moving as fast as possible because the recent election gives new president a LOT of leeway in making dramatic plays
we're watching history. i hope not to suffer too much.
As congress has become more and more dysfunctional they've given more and more power to other branches. At this point both the supreme court and the president can functionally write laws as well, the checks and balances are very out of whack.
There seems to be a loop hole. He just has to declare a certain thing an emergency and then he can tackle it however he wants. No more checks and balances.
Fine - but that suggests this whole anti-tyranny never worked. All you had to say was the magic word ~abracadabra~ emergency and off you go.
Concerns were raised but ignored when the concept was introduced because WOT or whatever.
But, it is down to social behaviours anyway. The checks and balances mainly makes tyranny harder to enforce, not impossible.
But, it is down to social behaviours anyway. The checks and balances mainly makes tyranny harder to enforce, not impossible.
The magic word gambit works great when the opposition party cowers in abject surrender. Note that Omnipotent Trump is operating in the same system that Democrats claimed made them powerless. Going back to a farcical incident early-on in the Biden admin: Does anyone in the Republican camp gaf about what the parliamentarian thinks?
The current Democratic leadership--if it can be dignified with that term--are incapable and politically incompetent. As long as they remain in control of the opposition party we'll be in for a rough ride.
The current Democratic leadership--if it can be dignified with that term--are incapable and politically incompetent. As long as they remain in control of the opposition party we'll be in for a rough ride.
>So... What's up? Was that all a myth all along?
Yes. As with so many other aspects of American mythology, the premise that the US is immune to tyranny was always self-serving nonsense.
The US was supposed to have numerous safeguards in place to ensure tyranny was impossible:
1) That all politicans would be elite gentry of upstanding moral character, thoroughly vetted by the self-interest of an educated populace. It turns out all of our politicans are venal sociopaths lacking in any moral character but only differing in the brazen scope of their corruption, and the voting public gets their news from TikTok and mostly just votes based on entertainment value. Womp womp.
2) That the government would be composed of three branches, each independent and equal in power, and each of which would keep the others in check, and the aggregation of power by any single branch would be impossible. It turns out party loyalty, ideology and graft transcends those barriers and renders them obsolete. Womp womp.
3) That if all else fails, America's "well-regulated militia" would rise up en masse and water the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants. This safeguard is so important, so existentially vital that any externalities due to gun violence - mass shootings and the like - are considered a cost well worth paying. Turns out the people with the guns voted for the tyrants. Womp womp.
The system created by the founding fathers, assumed by many Americans to have been directly inspired by God and superior to all other forms of government, including all other forms of democracy, has critically failed at all levels to do the one thing is was supposed to do.
Yes. As with so many other aspects of American mythology, the premise that the US is immune to tyranny was always self-serving nonsense.
The US was supposed to have numerous safeguards in place to ensure tyranny was impossible:
1) That all politicans would be elite gentry of upstanding moral character, thoroughly vetted by the self-interest of an educated populace. It turns out all of our politicans are venal sociopaths lacking in any moral character but only differing in the brazen scope of their corruption, and the voting public gets their news from TikTok and mostly just votes based on entertainment value. Womp womp.
2) That the government would be composed of three branches, each independent and equal in power, and each of which would keep the others in check, and the aggregation of power by any single branch would be impossible. It turns out party loyalty, ideology and graft transcends those barriers and renders them obsolete. Womp womp.
3) That if all else fails, America's "well-regulated militia" would rise up en masse and water the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants. This safeguard is so important, so existentially vital that any externalities due to gun violence - mass shootings and the like - are considered a cost well worth paying. Turns out the people with the guns voted for the tyrants. Womp womp.
The system created by the founding fathers, assumed by many Americans to have been directly inspired by God and superior to all other forms of government, including all other forms of democracy, has critically failed at all levels to do the one thing is was supposed to do.
The left's view imbue a lot of assumptions. You realize a lot of people voted for him right? A lot of people voted for him and he is basically just doing what he said would do for the most part. Also, I don't get your implication that he is like a king or dictator. He is constrained by the Constitution. For instance, his desire to remove birth-right citizenship will fail, and I think probably knows that now. Your post seems to imply you have found a way to disprove the very notion of the fundamentals of the U.S. government but I don't see it.
As I understand it, most of what Trump has been doing since he took office is perfectly legal. The problem is that Congress has kept giving more and more power to the President, and Trump is very willing to keep limit testing. For law nerds this will probably be a very interesting four years, as a lot of legal hypotheticals are getting played out.
Related:
Decision to dump water from Tulare County lakes altered after confusing locals
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42894708
Decision to dump water from Tulare County lakes altered after confusing locals
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42894708
I love Chinatown (1974)
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