Federal agents intimidating a sitting governor is an affront to the United States federal system. Anyone failing to protest this only reveals they have no actual allegiance to federalism and only ever view it as a useful tool to bang on when they are not in power in Washington.
We are in deeply dangerous waters as a country.
sundaeofshock · 2h ago
True. However, I think it’s important to note that the governor refused to be intimidated and continued mocking Trump on social media. I don’t always agree with Newsom’s politics but I sure like the fact that he reuses to bend the knee to Trump.
jaybrendansmith · 2h ago
This is a five-alarm fascism fire. Full stop.
chiengineer · 1h ago
Perfect time to flag every single slightly political thread in the name of "keeping hn clean of politics"
Freedom2 · 1h ago
Plase don't post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News. This has nothing to do with anything specific or interesting about the actual OP. That makes it bad for this site.
(Disclaimer: I'm not a moderator, but it's what we're going to get from them anyway)
Guid_NewGuid · 1h ago
It's funny, when the history of this time is written -- and any student of history knows it will be -- it will seem inconceivable how the frog was boiled.
Having read deeply on the Third Reich what is astounding is how "normal" or "rationalisable" each step appeared to German citizen diarists at the time.
While there's still degrees of democratic collapse between the current US and the Third Reich, and you don't necessarily end up at that extreme every time (Venezuela will suffice), masked men with guns attempting to intimidate opposition candidates is fairly far past any kind of normal.
What is clear to me is how unfit this site's guidelines are for the current historical moment. We're told to calmly accept that we should remain intellectually curious and assume good faith. That is no longer sufficient, and it is clear to me this normalising of fascists as people with legitimate concerns about migration, kitty litter in bathrooms, egg prices, whatever else, plays to the interest of the funders of this site. The Thiels, Yarvins and assorted silicon valley dark enlightenment figures will be pleased that this site is now rampant with people giving their full throated support to these attacks on US democracy and institutions.
So I'm no longer prepared to assume good faith. If you're arguing in favour, mitigating, or otherwise rationalising now you're beyond the pale. Many people died the last time this kind of thing was ascendant in Europe, it behooves us to give it no quarter.
sundaeofshock · 32m ago
I wish I had said all this.
A comment I made earlier in this conversation has been downvoted a few times. People are choosing sides and using their votes in attempt to silence voices that question the Trump regime. Fortunately, I have plenty of karma to burn.
exabrial · 1h ago
The pettiness of all of this is so stupid. This is tax dollars being incinerated.
dyauspitr · 1h ago
Every one of the democrats needs to be doing what Newsom is doing. He seems to be the only one with any balls.
filoeleven · 3h ago
How do we know for sure? Did they have badges uncovered for once?
Federal agents intimidating a sitting governor is an affront to the United States federal system. Anyone failing to protest this only reveals they have no actual allegiance to federalism and only ever view it as a useful tool to bang on when they are not in power in Washington.
We are in deeply dangerous waters as a country.
(Disclaimer: I'm not a moderator, but it's what we're going to get from them anyway)
Having read deeply on the Third Reich what is astounding is how "normal" or "rationalisable" each step appeared to German citizen diarists at the time.
While there's still degrees of democratic collapse between the current US and the Third Reich, and you don't necessarily end up at that extreme every time (Venezuela will suffice), masked men with guns attempting to intimidate opposition candidates is fairly far past any kind of normal.
What is clear to me is how unfit this site's guidelines are for the current historical moment. We're told to calmly accept that we should remain intellectually curious and assume good faith. That is no longer sufficient, and it is clear to me this normalising of fascists as people with legitimate concerns about migration, kitty litter in bathrooms, egg prices, whatever else, plays to the interest of the funders of this site. The Thiels, Yarvins and assorted silicon valley dark enlightenment figures will be pleased that this site is now rampant with people giving their full throated support to these attacks on US democracy and institutions.
So I'm no longer prepared to assume good faith. If you're arguing in favour, mitigating, or otherwise rationalising now you're beyond the pale. Many people died the last time this kind of thing was ascendant in Europe, it behooves us to give it no quarter.
A comment I made earlier in this conversation has been downvoted a few times. People are choosing sides and using their votes in attempt to silence voices that question the Trump regime. Fortunately, I have plenty of karma to burn.