Eric PuryearPlease don’t confuse what is legal with what is right. There is some overlap, of course, but not as much as one might think. Laws are generally written by the rich and powerful to protect their interests, often at the expense of the poor and weak. Many atrocities are lawful, and many acts of mercy are unlawful. I say this as an attorney.
StephenC@eric I have often said that the difference between #Australia and #Asia is that #corruption in Australia is supported by the law.
Jeramee@StephenC @eric fwiw, I'm in SE Asia's "land of smiles". Corruption is so deep in the culture that even when informed of outright extortion, government officers will go out of their way to avoid holding the criminals to any accountability. They won't even file a report. My wife and I have even caught them in perjury, but the government bends over backwards to protect their own.
Gurtbeef Robe@twitterreject @StephenC @eric Absolutely.
I wrote a report on Watergate in 10th grade. I ended by saying it showed that nobody is above the law in America, but I only understood a fraction of Nixon's crimes back then. Watergate actually proved the opposite and set the precedent for Trump.
The more I learn, the more corruption I see, and the less legitimate of government becomes.
@Jeramee @StephenC @eric I know what you mean but don’t think “less legitimate” is the best description bc it’s still got all the legitimate powers. They may be playing around w/trump & gop but they don’t play games with regular people like us. It’s a corrupt, hypocritical, and massive criminal enterprise that uses whatever means it wants to mold the world for our interests. Any respect for it is simply bc of their power. Simplify that as a substitute for “less legitimate”
@Jeramee @StephenC @eric and sadly, the pardoning of Nixon was what really got the lawlessness going with Presidents where their crimes got progressively worse with each republican elected and now we’ve got an extra 300k dead Americans bc of Covid mishandling, secret documents missing, a failed coup attempt and gop working with our adversaries and it all stems back to that pardon of Nixon