I mean, yeah. They’ll turn it into shit.

Thanks for clarifying that, I misunderstood. Given what you said, it sounds like somebody needs the book thrown at them.

The election is RIGGED. Votes are being STOLEN from PROUD AMERICANS. You go to the poles and they throw away YOUR vote. But not when your vote is for BIDEN, no. The IMMIGRANTS are voting illegally and he counts their votes. But not for hardworking AMERICANS. And NOBODY stopped him. We WON’T let that happen again! HILLARY stole the vote! GO OUT THERE. COUNT THE VOTES. THE TRUTH WILL WIN.

I saw that one too. Even if the media reports on it truthfully with headlines that don’t ragebait readers by withholding the fact that it was a R stealing R test ballots, MAGAots are just going to cherry pick “R ballot stolen” and raise their pitchforks.

Objectivity and truth doesn’t matter to the Qult of bigots, unfortunately.

A rescheduled court date, probably :/

Bad people don’t deserve bad things. That eye-for-an-eye mentality makes the whole world blind.

That being said, living in a society means existing within an implicit social contract. If someone choose to not uphold their end, it’s reasonable that they should lose the benefits that come with it until they agree to and make meaningful effort demonstrating that they wish to follow through if given another chance (rehabilitation).

That’s not to say that convicted individuals should be given the privileges to walk freely among society, though. For most people, there should be options for rehabilitation away from the general public, like how Norway does it. Throw in reparations for the wronged parties, and we have a humane approach as an option to carry out justice.

As it stands today, I agree with the other guy, though. The current system is not justice; it’s punishment. Is it a practical way to isolate irredeemable people like rapists and murderers? Sure. But it’s also used as a sledgehammer for dealing with everyone, nonviolent offenders included. It’s also needlessly cruel and exploitative, putting profits above humane treatment.

The sad truth is that the Trumpettes are going to see “man stole republican ballot”, stop reading further, and raise their burning crosses pitchforks.

What a wonderful time to be alive…

Mental illness treatment and rehabilitation is the path forward, but it’s not a one-size-fits all solution. I was more direct about this in my other comments: What do you do with people who don’t want help and actively refuse to be rehabilitated?

Practically speaking:

You can’t reintegrate them into society as they are.
You can’t ship them off to an island in the southern hemisphere and wash your hands of them.

Morally speaking:

You can’t execute them.
You can’t lock them up.
You can’t treat them against their will.

What now?

————————

The American prison industrial complex is a privatized slavery-for-profit feedback loop, yes. It’s an atrocity that needs to be dismantled and replaced with a justice system with rehabilitation and reparation as its core tenets. But, the inevitable truth is that either prisons must exist in some form as the lesser of many evils, or you voluntarily choose to repeat the atrocities of our past.

I’m not arguing against treating and rehabiliting people who have made mistakes. I’m arguing that championing it as the solution to prisons is either an overly-optimistic pipedream, or a hypocritical display of indifference to the idea of involiable bodily autonomy.

Rehabilitation and mental health care are only effective when the individual is receptive to it. This guy is brainwashed, but let’s imagine that’s just the tip of the iceberg: what if it’s just a symptom of a greater issue like psychopathy, and he just doesn’t want to be rehabilitated.

What, then? Let him have the chance to convince others going through their own rehabilitation to join the q-ult? Keep dragging him to appointments where he does nothing but reinforce his own delusions of grandeur? Forcefully sedate him? Put him in a straightjacket and padded cell, causing maddening isolation? Give him a fucking lobotomy against his will?

The world isn’t sunshine and rainbows. Prison is a shit option, but it’s a hell of a lot better than being rehabilitated by firing squad or 1940s quack medical procedures.

I never said that was moral either. I hold the stance that, despite the utter lack of most freedoms, at least you get to maintain some semblance of bodily autonomy while in prison.

On the other hand, forced institutionalization with involuntarily sedation and/or medication is directly violating bodily autonomy. We don’t need to return to the days of deciding to “fix” people without their permission like we used to with transorbital lobotomies.

I also despise the prison industrial complex and prefer rehabilitation over punishment, but there’s a point where losses need to be cut.

He doesn’t seem remorseful, and he’s not going to seek help when he believes he is justified in beating an elderly man with a hammer. At that point, what options are left? it’s immoral to involuntarily institutionalize and forcibly medicate individuals, and even if it wasn’t, that’s a slippery slope you don’t want to go down.

If dairy and beef cows produce significant quantities of greenhouse gas, and the rich also produce significant quantities of greenhouse gas, does that make them edible too?

A “deal” suggests there’s some sort of consideration for both parties. If the options presented can be boiled down to “give up your land” or “be shelled until we take it from you,” that’s not a deal—it’s a threat.

Furthermore, you’re asserting that at least a regional subset of Ukrainians are fascists (“nazis”). That’s not a very nuanced stance, and those claims are not authoritative on their own, nor have they come with proof, let alone proof from an unbiased source.

The United States is fucked up and run by the rich and corporations, that much is obvious to anyone who didn’t buy into the “American Dream” lies they try to feed us. But, that’s irrelvant to the discussion about Ukraine’s existence as a country independent from Russia.

Last I checked, Russia invaded Ukraine and started this whole ordeal. Why should Ukraine be obligated to roll over like a dog, hand over their land and autonomy, and thank their attackers for not subjugating them further? Aren’t you against colonialism?

I really should’ve started breeding face-eating leopards. If Trump wins, the demand is going to eclipse the supply for a good few years.

“Liberated regions”
“No NATO”
“What hated nazis they are in east and Odessa”
“Russia is only side in this war that has ever offered reasonable peace”

How many rubles are they paying you to write this? If it’s more than zero, they’re overpaying. Nothing says subtle social media propaganda campaign like using Russian talking points.

Trump doesn’t want peace. He’s a narcissistic wannabe oligarch who licks the boots and sucks the toes of people he perceives as powerful.

Whatever momentary “peace” comes out of his hypothetical second term is a consequence of dropping any and all support for Ukraine and backing away from defense treaties. He can and will give a plausibly-deniable green light for Russia to do whatever they see fit to “end” the war and annex neighboring countries. That’s not peace—that’s the setup for decades of violent revolutions with even more violent responses.

Russia is only side in this war that has ever offered reasonable peace.

Right, so: if I mugged someone and stabbed them, then offered to not stab them again if they let me keep their wallet and threw in their car keys as well, that’s peace?

Trump may win election because he is more progressive on Ukraine.

More “progressive” by… giving Putin what he asks for?

If Trump wins, Ukraine can both say goodbye to any support from the US and watch as Trump lifts sanctions against Russia and turns a blind eye to any arms manufacturers that want to make a quick buck by selling to both sides.

This is refreshingly wholesome for political news. No bullshit or partisan politics here, just people being human and enjoying some entertainment.

Nah, just a guy that read the entire comment tree.

While I agree with you that there’s a very very high likelihood of the conversation being recorded in some form or another and likely through a side channel, I feel that your “my sweet child… do you not think the NSA can break encryption” comment to be both condescending to the person you replied to, and hypocritical to the comment I replied to.

Neither you nor I are cryptographers. We can’t attest to the security or lack thereof of published cryptographic algorithms.