The Biggest Scandal of the Second Trump Term Isn’t “Signalgate” | The national-security chat debacle certainly merits attention. But the Trump administration is now blatantly disappearing students and others who are in the country legally.

[u/Murky-Site7468]

https://newrepublic.com/article/193291/trump-disappearing-students-rumeysa-ozturk-rubio-biggest-scandal

[u/bnelson]

In a country that has tolerated injustice throughout its history why does this little extraordinary injustice get people so angry? We have tolerated daily structural violation of peoples rights forever and nothing has happened. I am not being cynical. If provable structural racism won’t spur people into action I doubt larger acts will rate much either. Not enough people understand or even care about inalienable rights. Our people don’t understand how fragile their freedom truly is. It is not hopeless, but it is going to take more. The MAGA voters will have to feel pain and right now the law isn’t touching them so they are fine with all of this. Hell even when this has impacted them recently they don’t care.

[u/Akronite14 → u/bnelson]

MAGA voters will have nothing to do with ending fascism. They are a minority, and the people who sit on the sideline are only moved by the status quo changing. Yes, injustice is common practice in this country across various arenas, but when new forms of injustice crop up, that’s the most likely to move people.

We are our history, we know this isn’t an aberration, but it doesn’t mean people will just sit down and take anything (or at least most people).

[u/bnelson → u/Akronite14]

I agree, I just think a fraction of the stubborn MAGA and independents have to become full opponents of this administration. When clearly wrong and illegal actions poll with a near 50/50 split nothing changes just yet. It has to make Republicans more afraid of (their) electorate than Trump IMO.

(I am glad people are upset and fighting more, but it frustrates me to no end that it is like it is. I have been teaching my kids about this. A good book is “Ordinary Injustice” it lives rent free in my brain on this topic).

[u/thewaffleiscoming → u/bnelson]

It is not hopeless, but it is going to take more.

It is hopeless because you could pick one out of hundreds of illegal shit this regime has done this year, even discounting the previous term, that should have ended him and his cronies but it has not happened. And then it becomes, 'if we didn't protest about that, then why this?'

That passage from "They Thought They Were Free" that gets posted a lot about German descent into fascism is dead on here.

[u/bnelson → u/thewaffleiscoming]

The universe only bends toward justice. It is not a straight path. Never lose your hope. It is what they want. I have my beliefs about why it won’t come to that, but the possibility is certainly real if enough people feel the way you do. As a framework I find “They Thought They Were Free” a little overwrought and misaligned to our current situation. But there are valuable lessons there. I don’t entirely disagree and have taken steps to protect my family (immigration) if the idiocracy wins.

[u/Buck_Thorn → u/bnelson]

So, because we, as a country, have done some wrong in the past, that makes it OK to continue to do wrong? Is that what you're saying?

[u/bnelson → u/Buck_Thorn]

I don’t know why you would draw that conclusion from what I wrote. It is definitely not OK. As a nation, we have struggled to fix serious commonplace injustice that impacts millions of people on a regular basis.

[u/Buck_Thorn → u/bnelson]

why does this little extraordinary injustice get people so angry?

Because of that question.