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JR's avatar

Perhaps Tom Cotton and Eric Schmitt could enjoy this delightful essay and contemplate over their Sunday morning coffee after church: Torture or Kill... Kill or Torture? Let's compromise and do Both!!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/podcasts/the-daily/el-salvador-prison-deportations-venezuela.html

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zuludaddy (seem 'on key?')'s avatar

what a fucking uncharming mashup of boats and murder and murdered language

this whole theatre is personally sickening and deeply, deeply alienating

I weep in law of the sea treaty

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fair_n_hite_451's avatar

America - as governed by the GOP - no longer has any claim to supporting Western Values. Zero. Zip. Nada.

They are a Russian-stooge led tinpot dictatorship. That most members of the government either support, fail to recognize, or simply don't care enough to do anything about.

And the part of "Nero" is being played by the MSM.

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Aquaman, Real Estate Investor.'s avatar

Actually, the reason we comply with the International Law of the Sea is that if we don't, we run the risk of Americans getting executed for those crimes by other countries.

I realize not an immediate risk.

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TerseNurse's avatar

getting more immediate every day though...

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SethTriggs's avatar

Well when you work for Blotto von Bismarck, you're going to get this kind of atrocity. It's really important for him to get his killing on so he can feel like a man, and get him some medals like the more accomplished soldiers he routinely smears. Your average "beardo" has done more benefit for the USA than this drunk tank clown.

That he's benefiting from a rightwing media human centipede allows him to apparently escape consequences, and the story keeps changing.

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Parakeetist's avatar

Very true.

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Babe Paley's avatar

One last thought--again, assuming these ARE drug runners. By killing them you do NOTHING about the people at the top. You can't use them to get information about the people at the top. You don't even get the supposed drugs, which might be stamped with "A Pablo Gonzales product, proudly sent from my home at __________, to yours".

All you get are people at the top of the cartel using more extreme measures to get people to run their drugs, and more violence, and more reasons to try to flee that violence so you're not put in a position to either get on a boat that will get blown up or have your family killed.

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SethTriggs's avatar

Well yeah but the objective is to be sadistic and look tough so "nobody will ever mess with me!" It's the conservative way of doing everything. We only do supply-side "solutions" in this shithole country now! 'cause it's most important to kill and indulge in ultraviolence!

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Parakeetist's avatar

Let's help people by opening more clinics, and by finding out why people want to do drugs.

Are they self-medicating?

Did they want to have fun but it went too far?

Find out reasons, and get to work.

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Dave's Not Here's avatar

When you look at the justice system, don't look only at whether a judge or justice was appointed by a D or an R. Look also at how statist they are.

Do they respect rights to the state more than the individual? Almost always, the answer is yes. I don't know how you get around that.

In my experience, courts show deference to three things: Money, power and privilege. The state checks all three boxes and virtually always has built-in advantages.

Trump's people are testing the limits of deference baked into those institutional advantages daily, pushing the boundaries in ways that ultimately endanger everyone's individual rights, especially if you're a Venezuelan boater.

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Martin Williams's avatar

I can’t believe Marcie ended her piece by saying Happy Holidays! What about showing some respect for all those patriots who died fighting the war on Christmas?

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42tontom's avatar

C'mon man! Isn't a Starbucks cup enough for you??

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Daniel's avatar

That isn't me

That isn't me

I ain't no parupapumpum

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Daniel's avatar

"When we came back, they spat in our faces. Called us "Baby Celebrators"."

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Daniel's avatar

The wounded walk our streets, their walking aides very conspicuously coloured.

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clairence's avatar

The battles continue. Yet another war Trump has failed to end.

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TerseNurse's avatar

Wokey McWokeface

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kmblue187's avatar

"Trump has pardoned, commuted nearly 100 people for drug crimes. WaPo Except for the boats he's bombing without evidence. We don't need a declaration of war, Trump says: "We're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be, like, dead, OK?"

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ArgieBargie's avatar

Department of Small Dicks and Illegally Bombing Brown People in Fishing Boats

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Parakeetist's avatar

Sen. Tom Cotton, in his nonsense:

"It doesn't matter" that they were waving their arms around.

Oh yes it does, Senator, it matters very much.

That's the whole point. *Life matters.*

Even if they did something illegal, like sell drugs, you are supposed to stop the boat, read them their rights...

Instead you bombed them.

Human lives are *gone* now.

Who wants that? Not me.

Secretary of Drunkenness Hegseth *watched this go one for 47 minutes.*

Forty.... seven... minutes.

Then he gave the order to fire the missiles.

Stop killing people! This is a war crime!

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Babe Paley's avatar

Just a story here that I've been thinking about. Long ago, I had a guy who was acquainted with a guy who happened to be the biggest drug "kingpin" in the county--my guy didn't actually know this, because it was just a friend of a friend. Anyway, my guy worked on cars. So one time, the kingpin asked my guy to take his truck to the shop, and he'd follow along behind in my guy's car--like, "then you can get a feel for how it handles" and fix it. Sure. So my guy's driving the truck when the police were like, hey--kingpin's truck! And start following him. Kingpin sees the cops and bails. Truck breaks down. My guy gets arrested with a whole bunch of drugs in a duffle in the back.

The point is, even when they were Kingpin's drugs that he ultimately wanted sold, he didn't circle back to help my guy. That's the cost of doing business. So other random drug runners aren't going to be like, hey, let's go help out those guys. It's not like there's a union or something.

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TerseNurse's avatar

they outta unionize...

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Tetman Callis's avatar

I gotta get outta here before I say something I regret. Y'all have a good morning.

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Parakeetist's avatar

Thank you. Be okay.

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Daniel's avatar

"But that is a very long time to happen to coincidentally need to step out and go take a dump!"

Pffft, bucko.

-J. Peterson

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Appalachian in Thailand's avatar

I wonder if FIFA will demand their medal back?

"Thai soldier killed, 8 wounded as Cambodia resumes attacks."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3152249/thai-soldier-killed-8-wounded-as-cambodia-resumes-attacks?tbref=hp

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Parakeetist's avatar

FIFA is supposed to provide referees to watch the game and make rulings when things go wrong.

Instead, they take bribes and hand out stupid trophies and medals so an idiot dictator can feel better.

Meanwhile, people are still killing one another.

Aiiiiiiiieeeee.

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