uspol, bsky link
Some posts on Bsky starting to call the US government what it is at the moment: a trafficking ring pretending to be a government: https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social/post/3lko3ogcims2e
This framing is powerful for understanding what's happening, what's coming, and how to stop it. Because their theory of power being "Epstein Island, except the federal government" is simultaneously scary as hell and paper-thin brittle.
uspol, bsky link
What we're seeing is a full court press of fascism here in the US, but understanding it through that lens is still missing what's happening. This isn't an organized fascist putsch, it's one haphazardly falling together from parties trading favors with each other and stumbling over each other in the process.
It's a smoke-filled room full of evil people, trading their worst ideas, with the terrible impunity only wealth and sovereignty buys you. In other words: Epstein Island.
uspol, bsky link
Put in that framing, it makes sense to push for a government that tries to act as extrajudicially as possible, seeing people at the border not just as business, but as a business opportunity. For them. To traffick for cash.
Scary as hell, I know. But it also means they need to operate outside of the context of the law for this all to work. Expose these fuckwits to sunlight and they scatter, claiming no sovereign or authority.
We're seeing this with "DOGE", too.
uspol, bsky link
My purpose of sharing this, in any event, is to give framing to the chaos, so we can understand how to live through it.
And I'd say:
1. If you can avoid it, absolutely do not fly into the US. The trafficking bit is only just starting, and it's gonna be bad.
2. Don't underestimate the courts because "lol, nothing matters". Watch how those play out.
3. Expect a lot of scattershot power grabs and factional in-fighting, with opportunity to turn these assholes against each other.
uspol, bsky link
Literally the one saving grace in all of this is these assholes are neither attentive nor detail-oriented. And I won't split hairs, it's going to be pretty fucking bad with just that part.
But it's also incredibly brittle, and I think we have a good chance at seeing this fly apart. The aftermath will take a lot longer, but right now the focus is just getting there.
uspol, bsky link
The thing is, there's a reason why even nominally authoritarian regimes put up even a pretense of lawfulness and legitimacy: it keeps people in line. These fuckwits can't be bothered, and they're trying to speedrun fascism to get us right to what they think are the good parts (for them).
I... okay, I don't want to come out and say that it won't work because I don't have that kind of crystal ball. But history says this does not work out well for the sovereigns when they try this.