Doctor
George Takei 
🏳️🌈🖖🏽I spent my childhood inside of American concentration camps. I know one when I see one. And that is what ICE is building.
Glyph
M Schommer
ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES@musevg @glyph @georgetakei @petrillic
obama is arguing for effective action against fascists
how do you read that as bowing to fascists?
@benroyce @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic personally I would not read this as either “bowing” or “effective advice” but rather offering the same terrible analysis that has lead to a steeply declining popularity of the democratic party. what makes it ironic here is that the putative advice here is that you shouldn’t use mean language to criticize the right; one such “scold” might be to accurately call their concentration camps “concentration camps” for example
@glyph @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic
well said and agreed
i read it as obama asking for no infighting, because the problem with the left is we shoot at each other and we don't shoot at the right
but perhaps i read that wrong and obama is asking people not to scold the right, which is indeed terrible advice
by the same token, nobody fucking cares about the democratic party. we just take it over with real leftists. in such a way, the entire topic of "the democratic party" is a red herring
@benroyce @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic this is not even necessarily to throw Obama under the bus specifically. For full context, the clip that CNN is citing here is about 2 minutes from a BTC interview that Obama gave which touched on a lot of things. The way he's arguing for compassion and grace on the level of individual discussions is… fine. Perhaps not where the emphasis should be at this particular moment but he didn't really *put* the emphasis there, he just talked about it a little bit
@benroyce @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic the broader point is that the turbo-centrists at CNN, along with the broader media establishment, are desperate to craft a "everyone has to tack to the center" or "progressives are unelectable" argument, constantly doing horse-race "democrats in disarray" stories that serve power and prevent any real political change. so they cherry pick this one quote and put it in the chyron. false equivalence masquerading as nuance, constantly, even now
@glyph @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic
oh yeah zero argument
obama is a centrist from another time saying shit out of touch where people are today, and fuck CNN regardless of anything else
but we're now far away from my point above
obama is not fucking bowing to fascists
you don't have to support obama to have a problem with stupid deranged shit
su_liam@benroyce @glyph @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic The way Obama meant it, and the way the NYPost was inevitably going to spin it are likely two very different things, and Obama is a very smart man who should know who he’s being interviewed by.
@su_liam @glyph @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic
i have absolute zero idea of the context
i don't have cable, i haven't seen CNN in years
i'm just going off of what was posted above, and the guy who implied obama was bowing to fascists
they might be reading nypost
or hell maybe they're just trolling and i'm a victim of someone forgetting the (/s)
🤷
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic he was being interviewed by Brian Tyler Cohen, a progressive youtuber. cnn and the ny post are selectively clipping the interview to create bad-faith discourse. I have plenty of criticism for obama but this isn’t particularly his fault
@glyph @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic is acyn or takei doing that? Is the still inaccurate or acyn's text summary inaccurate?
I only see o'leary and mcgowan
I don't know what you're talking about but I have no doubt that shit is going on
Same as it's always been
Advice: avoid cnn and the nypost
It's a cesspool
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic just to clarify what is happening here:
Takei is quoting Acyn, who is posting about an exchange on a panel show on CNN where Leigh McGowan and Kevin O'Leary are having an exchange. They are talking about concentration camps. Takei's commentary is on point.
The broader context of the show is that the panel is reacting to Obama's comments on a podcast, specifically BTC (Brian Tyler Cohen)'s podcast, from which they'd just played a clip.
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic The chyron is the text at the bottom of the screen in the clip. The purpose of this text is to let viewers who may be tuning in mid-broadcast or following the show in a noisy airport or whatever. CNN's editorial choice in this moment where they're talking about the grave dangers of concentration camps in the US, is to instead summarize what's happening as a discussion of Obama's scolding of progressives about scolding people too much
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic Neither Takei nor Acyn is referencing the chyron, which is banal and stupid; *my* comment about the chyron was to indicate that this is emblematic of the poor strategic choices that the democratic party is making and the media's complicity in sabotaging progressive views by reframing every political debate to be about language use and progressive overreaction rather than substantive policy
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic the full show's transcript is here https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnap/date/2026-02-16/segment/01
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic the actual podcast interview they're discussing is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI-hgSE5QIw
Barack Obama BREAKS SILENCE on Trump's ape video, Bad Bunny, and 2028 election
@benroyce @su_liam @musevg @georgetakei @petrillic hate to spread confusion or disinfo so glad to clear all that up 👍🏻
Världens bästa Kille™@glyph @petrillic @benroyce @georgetakei @musevg regardless of what you think about Obama’s politics: The man knows how to sell.
That is what the left needs to learn. And scolding, generally, isn’t the way. Hopes and dreams and agency and dignity are.
@thelovebing @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
i personally believe we need to ramp up the scolding of MAGA
not taking a strong stand against MAGA dampens all enthusiasm on the left
however, the infighting, the scolding within the left out of toxic idealism definitely needs to end
@benroyce @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
The way I see it rethoric is a tool. Tools should be chosen and used according to strategy.
"Taking a strong stance" isn't synonomous with calling people assholes. I'm not saying you shouldn't think they're assholes (obviously they are), but saying it isn't necessarily the best way to win. King, Gandhi, Mandela didn't. And their stances were pretty strong, don't you think?
@benroyce @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
I'm not sure, but I think warmness and humor and joie de vivre is the way forward. Tha art of communication is not to say what you want people to think, but to get them to say it themselves. And honestly, if someone shows up with hope and fairness and such, people will see the difference.
If you want asshats to look bad, give people something to compare them to.
@thelovebing @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
you have a pop culture impression of these leaders
the british engaged with the "nonviolent" gandhi because violence from others was waiting. they didn't want to deal with the violent option. dealing with gandhi made the colonizer look magnanimous, and the violent option faded from memory. but it was there
if there was no violent option waiting, gandhi would not have succeeded
likewise, there's no MLK without Malcolm X
and they knew:
@thelovebing @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
if you think you are going to face fascists and sing kumbaya and that is going to succeed you are a fool
they'll just machine gun you while laughing
unless
there's someone like me waiting in the wings to put fear in the fascist's hearts. then they will listen to you. *only* because they otherwise have to listen to me
in this way, you will succeed with your approach
but do not lie to yourself that your attitude alone succeeds in life
@thelovebing @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
on the flip side, i understand the success of this good cop/ bad cop method
so my point to you is not to shut you up. if i exist alone, then it will be very grim and there will be much suffering and success would be in doubt
so i need you as an option much as you need me
continue in your kumbaya singing approach
i won't scorn you
i need you, the pleasant face
but, again, do not lie to yourself that you don't need me
be smart about this
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK@benroyce @thelovebing @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
I'm British Asian, my mums side of the family are Tamil Indians from Malaysia and I can confirm with Mohandas Gandhi this was exactly what happened.
There was also a significant portion of Indians who were prepared to align with the Axis (Germans and Japanese), so the British accepting Gandhi's demands helped combat this problem, but without that threat of violence (during an actual full on global war) he might not have had as much immediate success.
Also the fiasco of losing Singapore/Malaya to the Japanese and the British literally running away is a big factor in the further collapse of the Empire in SE Asia..
@benroyce @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
You'll missing the point.
Think Zelenskij. He gets it. Warm. Humorous. Very serious, of course, and angry. But friendly. Likeable. Principled. Dignified.
Popular.
And in the end the most popular guy/idea usually wins.
@benroyce @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
And yes, against overwhelming odds the popular guy may still lose. Of course.
But the unpopular guy is certain to do it.
This is not rocket science.
@thelovebing @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
ok but i'm not zelensky
i'm a hothead loudmouth
do you see some sort of political future for me? that's very flattering but i don't think so
so i will continue to call morons, morons
frankly, i have nothing but withering disgust for "polite society"
"polite society" will let a malicious lie pass if said serenely. and clutch their pearls if someone says "fuck"
fuck that fucking nightmare existence of fakery
@benroyce @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
You are still missing the point, I'm guessing because you're too angry to be smart. Or maybe too interested in being right to get it right.
And that is, I believe, the exact reason progressives don't progress so well.
Gotta have a strategy. Gotta combine (and this is where so, so many fail) bone hard principles with pragmatism.
It's not easy.
@thelovebing @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
we did what you said already, and MAGA did not care
in fact, the noble approach you refer to was simply used against us and they advanced anyways
the high road does not work
everyone on the left in the usa now is screaming for a forceful stand, and are disgusted with your approach
sorry, but you're full of shit
and i envy your charmed naive life free of this sort of adversity. cherish it. but don't lecture others from luxury
@benroyce @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
What the fuck are you on about? No, you didn't. Or if you did you did it so damn badly it didn't show across the pond. If you had you wouldn't even be in this situation. The right wing fuck have (in their own way, which can't be our way) for decades. And in that regard we have the exact same situation here. I wrote about it back in 2010, possibly even 2005.
Strategy, or lack thereof, is how we got here.
@thelovebing @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
wow there's a lot of "fuck"s there, VBK
you should learn to take the high road and not give in to your baser instincts. control yourself
I'm guessing because you're too angry to be smart. Or maybe too interested in being right to get it right
🤣 🤣 🤣
@thelovebing @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
got my profile my confused friend
read the quote i have placed there by william blake
"the tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction"
contemplate the wisdom therein
@benroyce @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
Yeah. But tigers are almost extinct.
@benroyce @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
Ok. Good luck to you. I'm sure it'll work out great.
@thelovebing @vfrmedia @glyph @petrillic @georgetakei @musevg
it might not work out great
but i'm going to fight
and i'm not going to fight with one arm tied behind my back
and i'm not going to lie to myself that it's a fight that's won with pleasant fake smiles
Frank Bennett 🇯🇵@musevg @glyph @georgetakei @petrillic In the clips I saw, he seemed to be trying to skate past the coming storm. Recovery from this, er, moment will require trying people for crimes, putting them in jail, and not saying nice things about them. It felt like former President Obama doesn't feel comfortable setting fire to the elite fabric in that way. It felt, I don't know, old school, and personally I don't think you can just go back there.
Lena245@georgetakei Kevin O'Leary is a dick.
decapitae@georgetakei Until the repub' "lawmakers" spend a month in those camps - they are just sitting privileged and insulated in seats meant for those who would do something useful with the time and energy.
disorderlyf@georgetakei lmao, the "but China" argument doesn't work if you're literally doing the exact thing you're bitching about China doing. At least I can make shit up for what they're saying because I don't speak a lick of Mandarin. I can't say the same if La Migra has me in a camp.
Morgan ⚧️@disorderlyf @georgetakei I wish that was true, but 99% of "but China" arguments are things the US is already doing and most of them still work 🙃
@raphaelmorgan @georgetakei I was saying as much? Hell, afaict China is actually improving in some of the areas the "but China" arguments are usually about.
@disorderlyf @georgetakei when I said "I wish that was true" I just meant the idea that the arguments don't work. Because, from what I've seen, they usually do :/
@raphaelmorgan @georgetakei Sorry, I've had a lot of instances of people I agree with getting aggressive and ironically I think it still has me keyed up. I've seen it work, but my success rate has been so low I don't blame people for not bothering.
Mattman79@georgetakei That must have been horrible, especially as a child. I just can't imagine. So sorry you had to go through that.
Cadbury MooseOn April 29, 1945 the U.S. Army demonstrated how to deal with concentration camp guards. The Nuremberg tribunals confirmed the correctness of this process. (If you use the British system, the rope is reusable.)
Someone ought to point this out to DHS and their subordinates.
talia's world@georgetakei wild that people can't see it. , really reminds me of how the USA has been doing this forever but it's explained that it is "never the us" in schools. It took a ethnic studies in class(in collage btw not before) before they even mentioned asian internment or, boarding schools. This in intentional. Anyway this was very well said and much needed
Pinchy63 🇨🇦@georgetakei
Kevin O’Leary?! The shark who literally outsources everything to China? He’s a dickhead.
Kevin O’Leary?! The shark who literally outsources everything to China? He’s a dickhead.
javensbukan@georgetakei Kevin O'Leary is a human garbage pile. I would not be sad if he never came back to Canada ever again.
Gustavo Meneses@georgetakei Although the USA inherited Bible researchers otherwise punishable by death, a Bill of Rights and an amendable Constitution, we are one of the most institutionalized countries in the world.
Kow@georgetakei A quick Google search has answered my question. I will be picking up a book soon!
You’re on all of the good socials - I love it! ❤️🌈
Richard R Lee
kali@georgetakei just to be clear, as a german: the term #concentrationcamp comes from colonialist counter insurgency and describes a place where people of certain target groups are collected (concentrated) in order to separate them from the general public. it has never ever meant anything like 'neutral'. it has always been an authoritarian thing, always.