this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2025
727 points (99.2% liked)

politics

19916 readers
3211 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

Democrats Stansbury and Raskin introduced the “Nobody Elected Elon Musk Act,” which targets Elon Musk’s dismantling of federal services through the DOGE cost-cutting scheme.

It seeks personal liability for Musk, amid lawsuits and concerns over sensitive data access.

The proposal aims to protect taxpayers and critical federal operations against unauthorized actions.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] frezik@midwest.social -1 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Months ago, everyone would have unequivocally said Trump was Hitler. Maybe these metaphors are bullshit, and we should interpret conditions without them.

[–] Alteon@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Mate, metaphors like this help understand the gravity of the situation to help us see WHY certain actions are bad. From an uneducated standpoint, DOGE might not seem so bad unless you understand that Hitler rose to power on such things:

  • The dismantling of bureaucratic checks
  • The centralization of power
  • The targeting of political opposition
  • The use of propaganda to justify reforms

These metaphors aren't bullshit....they are just getting more accurate.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 4 hours ago

If we keep changing who The Hitler is in the metaphor, how useful is that to understand the situation?

Trump isn't as young as Hitler was, but they need him as the charismatic front. Musk is relatively young and wields power like Hitler, but he wouldn't have enough support on his own.

[–] WhoLooksHere@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Okay,

They're still fascist as fuck.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 0 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] WhoLooksHere@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

So what's your point then. That the may be fascist but the Hitler comparisons are a line to far for you?

[–] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

That the metaphor isn't helpful to understanding if you keep changing who the Hitler is.

There are many examples of fascism out there, and they don't all follow the same script as what happened in Germany.

[–] WhoLooksHere@lemmy.world 0 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

That's not what a metaphor is?

It's an analogy, not a script. Of course it's not a perfect fit. Metaphors never do. And of course it changes and life itself changes.

Your getting mad about a metaphor when you should be getting mad about facsim itself. Getting mad at nothing is just distraction.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm not mad, I'm pointing out that the strategy is flawed. I want that strategy to be as strong as possible. Quibbling about the definition of metaphor and analogy doesn't help anything.

[–] WhoLooksHere@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

And quibilling about how accurate a metaphor is at any given time is just as useful?

Let me try this.

It doesn't matter if the metaphor doesn't stay consistent or whatever.

Because anyone who would be swayed by a metaphor like that is already swayed. It's time to get in the streets.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yes? It affects our understanding of the situation.

[–] WhoLooksHere@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

We're past the time of understanding the situation is my point. It's time to riot.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

That sounds like a great plan to Wild E Coyote directly into a wall.

[–] WhoLooksHere@lemmy.world 1 points 35 minutes ago

Anyone who can look at the news and not understand never will.