America - The Official Thread

[McLaren]

I can't believe that flag burning was actually ALLOWED... Why would that be a constitutional right? Why would a government allow people to disrespect their nation's flag? Seems strange to me.

Because symbolic speech is still protected under our First Amendment right & the flag is considered a piece of symbolic speech.

Texas v. Johnson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Famine]

The only weird thing is that this piece of Epstein-distraction theatre is being conducted by a guy who plasters everything not golden with the stars and bars, breaking just about every bit of flag code going. Including defacing it:

Well that and that his best friend, Jeffrey Epstein, was a child sex trafficker and they remained friends until Epstein and child sex trafficking girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked a child masseuse from his own resort to Epstein's child sex island, which he visited several times while they were still best buds.

 

[Fezzik]

I can't believe that flag burning was actually ALLOWED... Why would that be a constitutional right? Why would a government allow people to disrespect their nation's flag? Seems strange to me.

Why so strange? It's not illegal to burn your own (Australian) flag.

 

[EngieDiesel]

Why so strange? It's not illegal to burn your own flag.

In fact it's actually one of the recommended ways to dispose of a flag that's too damaged or faded to display anymore, because simply throwing it in the trash is considered much more disrespectful.

 

[GlamFM]

I can't believe that flag burning was actually ALLOWED... Why would that be a constitutional right? Why would a government allow people to disrespect their nation's flag? Seems strange to me.

I think showing respect to a flag is a ridiculous concept and the way Americans feel about their flag really shows how misguided their patriotism is sometimes.
I’d love to hear your take on Colin Kaepernick.

Stuff like this is why America was such an easy target and why it’s on the fast track to full blown autocracy right now.

 

[Blitz24]

I think showing respect to a flag is a ridiculous concept and the way Americans feel about their flag really shows how misguided their patriotism is sometimes.
I’d love to hear your take on Colin Kaepernick.

Stuff like this is why your country was such an easy target and why it’s on the fast track to full blown autocracy right now.

Australia is also on that path?

 

[GlamFM]

Australia is also on that path?

Edit: I wrongly assumed I was talking to an American. My bad.

 

[Famine]

I don’t know a thing about Australian politics. It doesn’t make the world news like America does.
Only thing I know is that if you parachute out of a plane and land in Australia a kangaroo will already be waiting for you and punch you in the face.

You said "Stuff like this is why your country was such an easy target and why it’s on the fast track to full blown autocracy right now." to an Australian, hence the question.

 

[GlamFM]

You said "Stuff like this is why your country was such an easy target and why it’s on the fast track to full blown autocracy right now." to an Australian, hence the question.

Ah. My bad.

 

[Danoff]

I can't believe that flag burning was actually ALLOWED... Why would that be a constitutional right? Why would a government allow people to disrespect their nation's flag? Seems strange to me.

As others have explained, burning the flag is actually the approved disposal of it. Burning the flag is also one of the most important types of speech, as a massive part of the reason for freedom of speech is to speak out against the government (the founders of this country really hated the idea of a powerful government), and burning the flag is one of the most clear expressions of that speech.

This is the second time Trump has issued an Executive Order directly in defiance of the bill of rights. Trump issuing an EO banning flag burning is honestly more disrespectful to the constitution and the US than actual flag burning.

Edit: The correct course of action for this is that the supreme court just considers the EO unconstitutional and unenforceable. But the disrespect for the constitution by the presidency remains regardless.

 

[Zero2Oblivion]

Since returning to office Trump has invested over $100million in bonds.

Trump goes on $100 million bond-buying spree: Here’s what it could signal about future interest rates

Trump’s bond-buying strategy could be a mix of tax savings and potential profit-taking.

fortune.com

Bonds increase in value when the interest rate falls...

Trump has also been pressuring the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, and is now trying to remove one of the Federal Reserve officials, with the thought being he'd replace the official with someone favourable to lowering interest rates.

Donald Trump orders removal of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook

Cook says the US president "has no authority to do so" in defiance of Trump's escalatory move against the central bank.

www.bbc.com

Americans, this is what happens when you elect a crook to be your president.

 

[Liquid]

I know it is beyond absurd to even ask but how is a sitting President allowed or able to purchase bonds? Or any type of security? It's an obvious and immediate conflict of interest.

 

[Darla Starch]

As others have explained, burning the flag is actually the approved disposal of it. Burning the flag is also one of the most important types of speech, as a massive part of the reason for freedom of speech is to speak out against the government (the founders of this country really hated the idea of a powerful government), and burning the flag is one of the most clear expressions of that speech.

This is the second time Trump has issued an Executive Order directly in defiance of the bill of rights. Trump issuing an EO banning flag burning is honestly more disrespectful to the constitution and the US than actual flag burning.

Edit: The correct course of action for this is that the supreme court just considers the EO unconstitutional and unenforceable. But the disrespect for the constitution by the presidency remains regardless.

I know it is beyond absurd to even ask but how is a sitting President allowed or able to purchase bonds? Or any type of security? It's an obvious and immediate conflict of interest.

tbf donny has been using the Constiution as TP all term so it tracks 😔

 

[Zero2Oblivion]

I know it is beyond absurd to even ask but how is a sitting President allowed or able to purchase bonds? Or any type of security? It's an obvious and immediate conflict of interest.

It's allowed because they (Presidents) use a trust to handle everything. They basically give the trust a lump sum of money and tell them to make whatever investments they feel would be prudent to increasing their wealth.

The trust is supposed to make decisions without influence of the president, so he can't tell them to invest in X company and then manipulate world events to make that investment favorable.

That is constitutionally sound. What isn't sound though is trying to manipulate the national interest rate to increase the value of those bonds. Of course, Trump is trying to lower the interest rate for the benefit of the average American citizen... And not for the benefit of his cronies who also may have purchased bonds.

*Worth noting as well that previous Presidents setup a blind trust, meaning they have no visibility on what the trust is investing in at all. Trump's trust isn't blind, so he knows exactly which companies need to benefit under his presidency for his wealth to grow.

 

[Def-Infinity]

It was quite a broad brush to be painting Americans with to begin with.

Spoiler: Unpacking things...

I'm black and part of the LGBT. I have more 'respect' for my state than the country as a whole, and even that relationship is strenuous at best. The same forces that made me who I am were not nearly as kind to my family. Many of the people I grew up with in my neighborhood ended up in jail, or with a criminal record. Even my childhood best friend got in trouble with the law, and he was telling me about how half of his friends are in jail and the only way he can contact them is through an app. Hell, someone I went to college with sells drugs on the corner now.

While I was being underpaid at my non-profit job, I ended up at some black entrepreneur event in Manhattan, where I saw the same man that condemned those I grew up with on the news, bumbling his way through on a speech promoting black capitalism. That man was Eric Adams. I didn't sit there feeling proud that I was the one who 'made' it. It was a reality check about luck and opportunity. The place I was at didn't hire me, I guess because I wasn't already a senior developer, and a potential Trump presidency while in a black-owned startup is just bad news.

Just getting through college alone was difficult. But so was getting there -- got to some selective High School in Manhattan, ended up in an enrichment program based in Columbia University, had to take Saturday classes and stayed on campus for a month every summer, extracurriculars on Sundays... I'd go to school and be called an 'Oreo'. Mostly non-black folk gave me trouble for either being too black or not black enough.

God forbid I be unhappy about any of it. The Sandy Hook school shooting was very recent at the time, and any man too quiet was a target.

Even before that, my father was someone who was trying to have a stable life before the 2008 recession hit and he lost his job, as much as I love him, he was a man of many vices, drugs and alcohol. He got kicked out of public housing, and for me, it meant there was a custody battle on the way, one that lasted from the start of middle school to the end of high school. We got lucky that my grandmother was a respected elder of our church, and was able to live in the parsonage until he got back on his feet. We had to pay it back mostly with labor for the church.

It kept me and only some of my closest friends temporarily out of the streets, whether you hate the institution or not. Nowadays only the rodent-infested building remains, since we never managed to get enough money to pay for repairs post-Hurricane Sandy. The pastor that worked there also did some volunteer IT work at the local community center. He couldn't make a living traveling in and out of NY and had to return back to NJ with his wife.

That church tried renting out the building to other churches and programs. The AIDs Center of Queen's County once serviced the homeless there, but eventually left, either because they had made it a maintenance nightmare or they had no more use for that site. The clergy and congregation were dying. No more Sunday potlucks. No more summer camp. Much of the youth had been hounded so much by their parents to come out decent that they sought out marijuana and alcohol to escape them.

Now a new church is trying to obtain the building, attempting to kick my father out of the parsonage, as if he hasn't been maintaining the building long after the church has ceased operating.

His father was a WWII vet. He didn't get his GI Bill and ended up living in public housing, the same one I live in now where the police budget is 5x higher than the entire program and the buildings unmaintainable. My grandfather passed away while living in a trailer near a cotton field. away from the rest of the family. I only got to meet him once, and he was already blind in one eye by then. He was a truck driver after the war. He carried a knife on him all the time.

And I can't mention this to any employer. Its unprofessional.

Just as our country tries to kill DEI... I should just shut up and work harder.

I'd have many reasons to burn the flag as an American.

 

[TexRex]

I can't believe that flag burning was actually ALLOWED... Why would that be a constitutional right? Why would a government allow people to disrespect their nation's flag? Seems strange to me.

Conservatives Stop Crying Like A Little Bitch About Every Little Thing That Doesn't Reasonably Affect You Challenge, failed.

 

[Random 79]

Conservatives Stop Crying Like A Little Bitch About Every Little Thing That Doesn't Reasonably Affect You Challenge, failed.

You are formally invited to join the We Saw Something That We Misunderstood And Jumped On It A Little Too Quickly club.

We have t-shirts 😀

P.s. He's Australian and was asking a genuine question

 

[MatskiMonk]

He's Australian and was asking a genuine question

It doesn't really matter though, does it? Does being from Australia make it okay to incarcerate someone for a year for burning a bit of privately owned cloth, on private land? I'd suggest it doesn't.

 

[TexRex]

You are formally invited to join the We Saw Something That We Misunderstood And Jumped On It A Little Too Quickly club.

Have you recently sustained a blow to the head? What do you think I misunderstood and jumped on a little too quickly?

P.s. He's Australian and was asking a genuine question

That it was sincere doesn't magically make it less stupid and pathetic.

Why should a government punish any expressive act which doesn't represent legitimate harm?

 

[Random 79]

It doesn't really matter though, does it? Does being from Australia make it okay to incarcerate someone for a year for burning a bit of privately owned cloth, on private land? I'd suggest it doesn't.

Good grief...

Of course not, and as far as I can tell no-one here has even suggested that it is OK to jail people for it.

 

[TexRex]

Of course not, and as far as I can tell no-one here has even suggested that it is OK to jail people for it.

What, uh...what do you think it means for a government to not "allow people to disrespect their nation's flag"?

 

[05XR8]

Buggin’.

Judge temporarily blocks Abrego Garcia's deportation

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is taken into custody in Baltimore as his lawyers say he may be sent to Uganda.

www.bbc.com

A federal judge temporarily blocked the US government from deporting Kilmar Ábrego García to another country, after immigration officers took him into custody at a check-in this morning.

US authorities told Mr Ábrego García he may be deported to Uganda, following his refusal to accept a plea deal, his lawyers say.

At Tuesday's hearing, US District Judge Paula Xinis said she was barring the government from deporting Mr Ábrego García until she could hold a hearing on the matter.

She also raised questions about the government's intention to deport him to Uganda.

She said the US failed to demonstrate that Mr Ábrego García would not face harm if deported to Uganda.

The judge also expressed concerns that the government would send him to a country where he had no connections, should he not plead guilty to criminal charges.

"It is in my view plain that you can't do that," Judge Xinis said. "You can't condition the relinquishment of constitutional rights in that regard."

"You'd never get a knowing and voluntary guilty plea out of anyone if you do that," she said.

Two existing court orders bar the government from deporting him from the continental US until Wednesday afternoon.

"My understanding is that removal is not imminent," government attorney Drew Ensign told Judge Xinis. He noted that "third country removal takes some time".

Judge Xinis told Mr Ensign that the Trump administration was "absolutely forbidden" to remove Mr Ábrego García while those orders were in effect.

 

[Random 79]

What, uh...what do you think it means for a government to not "allow people to disrespect their nation's flag"?

Fair question: Depends on the government, anywhere from a frown and a slap on the wrist to public execution, with jail time being somewhere in between.

Just to be clear I'm not suggesting for a second that any of those are OK, but it is some of the things that some governments might do.

For what it's worth I think burning your country's flag is a valid expression of protest whether it's allowed or not, and Trump is a **** for trying to jail people for it.

 

[TexRex]

I mean...okay, I guess. Now, let's circle back around since this was apparently missed.

You are formally invited to join the We Saw Something That We Misunderstood And Jumped On It A Little Too Quickly club.

Have you recently sustained a blow to the head? What do you think I misunderstood and jumped on a little too quickly?

P.s. He's Australian and was asking a genuine question

That it was sincere doesn't magically make it less stupid and pathetic.

Why should a government punish any expressive act which doesn't represent legitimate harm?

 

[Random 79]

I mean...okay, I guess. Now, let's circle back around since this was apparently missed.

Have you recently sustained a blow to the head? What do you think I misunderstood and jumped on a little too quickly?

That it was sincere doesn't magically make it less stupid and pathetic.

Why should a government punish any expressive act which doesn't represent legitimate harm?

Cheers 🙂

As to your first question, yes I did and it was administered by Famine... and in hindsight I probably deserved it...

Second question, it seemed to me that you mistook ScottPuss20 for a conservative American and thought he was arguing in favour of the government jailing people for burning a flag. I based that on the fact that you mentioned Conservatives, which I think in that context is an American thing, but if all that is wrong then of course I apologise.

Third question - which I think I've already answered pretty conclusively - it shouldn't.

 

[TexRex]

Second question, it seemed to me that you mistook ScottPuss20 for a conservative American and thought he was arguing in favour of the government jailing people for burning a flag. I based that on the fact that you mentioned Conservatives, which I think in that context is an American thing, but if all that is wrong then of course I apologise.

You're mistaken. I can read, and in fact I did read the discussion that took place after the post which I quoted, including the bit about one individual incorrectly assuming that the other was American. I'm likely to miss chunks of discussion in threads as I visit them at varying frequencies but I'm not in the habit of skipping over responses to a particular post that I intend to respond to, if only because others' responses may include all points I would want to make.

...

Anyway, this EO isn't anything. The Fake Bake pedo bitch wasn't even reading from it when announcing a year of incarceration for offenders because the EO includes no such provision. Both the EO and the Fake Bake pedo bitch's announcement regarding it are shiny objects to delight the retarded base and an attempt to distract from other things, the pedo connection with Jeffrey Epstein included. Flag desecration has long been a bug bear for conservatives (certainly but not exclusively the American variety)...provided it's a particular favored flag as other disfavored articles aren't given the same consideration. They're pathetic crybitches, you see.

 

[Random 79]

You're mistaken. I can read, and in fact I did read the discussion that took place after the post which I quoted, including the bit about one individual incorrectly assuming that the other was American. I'm likely to miss chunks of discussion in threads as I visit them at varying frequencies but I'm not in the habit of skipping over responses to a particular post that I intend to respond to, if only because others' responses may include all points I would want to make.

...

Anyway, this EO isn't anything. The Fake Bake pedo bitch wasn't even reading from it when announcing a year of incarceration for offenders because the EO includes no such provision. Both the EO and the Fake Bake pedo bitch's announcement regarding it are shiny objects to delight the retarded base and an attempt to distract from other things, the pedo connection with Jeffrey Epstein included. Flag desecration has long been a bug bear for conservatives (certainly but not exclusively the American variety)...provided it's a particular favored flag as other disfavored articles aren't given the same consideration. They're pathetic crybitches, you see.

All good, I'm not going to argue any of that

 

[05XR8]

Thank you for moving my post. My refresh must have been the one buggin'. 👍

 

[ScottPuss20]

Conservatives Stop Crying Like A Little Bitch About Every Little Thing That Doesn't Reasonably Affect You Challenge, failed.

I wasn't crying like a little bitch. I was just confused and wanted clarification on the matter. You attack me as though I'm trolling but I'm absolutely not. Thankfully, not everyone jumps onto my back at a moment's notice and is actually able to see that I'm asking a sincere question. I don't understand why you can't.

 

[Def-Infinity]

You've got to be kidding me