this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023
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No Stupid Questions

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All the ingredients are there and it won't take much to put it all together.

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[–] hedgehogging_the_bed@lemmy.world 60 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, somehow all my gun-owning friends get all awkward and quiet when I ask them how it's gonna feel to shoot at the 18yo army recruits and national guard when they finally "come for their guns." I haven't even gotten to ask what anti-drone measures they have.

Not one of them is ready for the realities of a shooting war with the American Military.

[–] PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee 32 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

I haven't even gotten to ask what anti-drone measures they have.

The answer will be "none" because unless they're ex-military, their entire contribution to any militia is usually "gun".

Most of them wouldn't pass fitness requirements nor take orders. Few of them have other skills such as first aid, communication tech or drone piloting.

Even when contributing their gun, you can't assume they know how to safely and usefully handle a weapon, or that they're mentally fit for combat, because none of that is a requirement for buying a gun.

It's a hero fantasy they've literally never thought critically about, but it's supposed to make all the mass shootings worth it.

[–] EatYouWell@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

And most will shit themselves and run when bullets start flying.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

I'm afraid you're the one living the fantasy. Of course many of these idiots are exactly as you say. But have you been around such people?

Or are you basing your opinion on the pictures we see on the internet? The pictures thrown out there and made popular because of how foolish they make these people seem?

I'm begging you all, please don't be so dismissive and naive.

I get off-topic for this post towards the end, fit better in the original reply:

Y'all, please, we gotta stop pretending these guys are fat losers.

Right after 01/06 I was at a gun show and bought an old army canteen off a guy. 35-40, fit, military demeanor, all that. As I was walking off, another guy saw something that clued him in that the vendor was an Oath Keeper and they had a low-key chat. He talked about their preparations! Fucking terrorist.

My neighbor is still flying his Trump flag high. Proper flagpole, well lit, all that. Young man, fit, ex-military demeanor. I refuse to speak to him, and never will. No one else has an issue with this! They are meek and complicit.

His next-door neighbor was a former friend of mine. Again, 37 and fit as hell, but not military. First night I met him he told us his brothers were at 01/06. I gave the FBI what I knew, which wasn't much. This guy is a smart, reasonable man, and while not a supporter, still will not disavow Trump.

I'm 52, fairly fit, well-armed and practiced. I shoot every weekend at my camp for fun. Shotguns, various pistols and rifles, I shoot it all. I'm no expert, but I can shoot better than your average bear. If it came down to brass tacks, and we were equally armed, I seriously doubt I could prevail against any of those 3 men.

For the love of god, please get armed, learn safety and practice. FFS, the GOP front-runner is speaking more and more radically. He just called me "vermin" that must be eradicated. He's speaking of "internal enemies". He means you. And it's not just his usual inane rhetoric, look up Project 2025. It a fleshed-out plan to take over the executive branch and impose their will.

What the fuck will it take to get libs off their ass and prepare?! Harsh words and votes are not gonna suffice if Trump gets back in. I fully expect my neighbors to come knocking once Brown Shirts are authorized. Committee of Public Safety anyone?

"Look man, we understand you don't agree, and that's all good, but we gotta take your guns for your own safety. Trust us, you'll be OK, just hand 'em over."

Your country and your very life may be on the line soon. And yes, fighting back may mean your personal extinction. But that was in the cards anyway.

[–] PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Pro-gun propaganda masqurading as life advice.

You openly admit that idiots and fascists have been armed, that you wouldn't win a fight against any of them even with your guns, and that an armed population has done absolutely nothing to stop a fascist running for president.

Yet rather than fixing any of that, your solution is "everybody buy more guns even though it doesn't work and funds fascists by proxy".

[–] Machinist@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As best I can figure, the majority on the left are completely unaware of how dangerous things have gotten over the last few years. Unless you're living in it, most people see it as histrionics.

We live in the deep south in what used to be an island of relative progressiveness. I have acquaintances that joined the three percenters, know former military spouting Q shit. Lost the only man I ever called brother to the insanity. Things have CHANGED in the last few years.

Our friend circle has shrunk and we no longer talk to our neighbors.

We're moving to the northeast this summer. There's a very real chance that it won't be safe for us here much longer.

Like you, we're armed and also realize that it likely won't be enough.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme. The smart Jews with means got the fuck out of Germany before things popped off. We can't afford to leave the country but hopefully we'll land somewhere safer.

Hope nothing happens and all the worry has been for nothing. I really want to be wrong.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The left is clueless. I was there not long ago!

They think with enough "gotchas!" and revelations of hypocrisy they can win hearts and minds. Nah. We're miles past that. Miles past logic, truth and talking rationally.

Things have indeed changed radically. My guess is that many liberals are missing it because they're in their own little political bubble. Imagine trying to convince someone from Washington State or San Francisco how crazy it's become.

Anyway, I don't have the money to run, and don't wish to. I'll stay and fight for America if it comes to that. I'm middle-aged, and have had a full life, so that's not bravado speaking.

[–] Machinist@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have a wife, daughter, and son. My daughter is queer. My son is a teen. There isn't a future here for them. My daughter, especially, will be in danger.

I've had to cut all contact with my family.

We've been saving since 2020.

If it was just me, I'd stay.

I pass as a bearded white guy good ol boy. The shit I hear. These people aren't coming back. Even if nothing happens with the next election, I don't know how they rejoin reality.

I don't know what happens to this country. I kind of hope there is a bloodless balkanization.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Man, this hit home for me. I'm a queer woman and I know my dad worries about me tremendously. I don't really have anything to add to the conversation, just wanted to comment. Hopefully things won't get too bad...

[–] Machinist@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

For your old man's sake, have a plan. Have a go-bag, include SS card and birth certificate. Try and keep your vehicle 3/4 full. Chances are, you will have time to run to a safe state on one of the coasts. Pre-plan two routes, one for back roads and the other for highways and interstates, print it out. If you can, keep a minimum of $500 on hand and more like $1-2k.

I strongly recommend a handgun, take it to the range and practice enough to be proficient loading and shooting at 7 yards. A single woman is usually welcomed at ranges. Just don't talk politics and if anyone asks, you've got a bad ex-husband. The more straight you appear, the easier it will be.

Sorry for the unsolicited advice/novel. Stay safe.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Haha, no worries. I appreciate it, stranger. Thankfully, I currently reside in California and I have Canadian citizenship to fall back on, so I'm not too worried if shit does manage to hit the fan that hard.

[–] Machinist@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Dang, you're in about as good a place as you can be then.

I hope I'm just an alarmist old fart. If so, my family ends up with a better life anyhow.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

In Project 2025's manifesto, Severino, who is the Heritage Foundation's vice-president on domestic policy, writes that the Food and Drug Administration is "ethically and legally obliged to revisit and withdraw its initial approval" of mifepristone and misoprostol.[21] He also recommends that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "update its public messaging about the unsurpassed effectiveness of modern fertility awareness-based methods" of contraception.[21] Severino says that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should require that "every state report exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother's state of residence, and by what method."[21]

Fucking hell. They are honestly trying to say that pulling out a few times a month is more effective than the morning after pill? Or are they implying that abortion only exists as a measure of birth control, and want to bog down whatever they can’t stop with bureaucratic busywork.

And that’s just abortion. I’m still reading the Wikipedia page and came across plenty of vile unamerican shit in the alphabetically-sorted “Overview” section before abortion.

I swear the writing on the wall is perfectly fucking clear and if Trump wins in November because of a few hundered well-intentioned but fucking deluded far-leftists voting for spoiler candidates, again…I don’t know. What the fuck. Go to another country? Looks like America is just the beginning. Half of Europe and a fair bit of the UK is going down the same far right rabbit hole. Pretty soon gonna be left with just “authoritarian shithole countries” or “original shithole countries”.

Congrats, conservatives. You finally found the New World Order you were looking for.

Edit: more…

When discussing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Severino called for the rescinding of regulations "prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, sex characteristics, etc."[38]

Fucking hell. Who was “having anti-discrimination laws” hurting? Any answer to that is patently absurd. The do this just to rub LGBTQ faces in the dirt. Fucking schoolyard bullies. Part of their master plan is to change the rules to make it okay to punch the queer kids.

And you know they are just gonna start there because it’s the most least out-group today. They’ll start rolling back in reverse chronological order. Next it will be the Asians, and then the Italians and Irish won’t be white anymore. Then they’ll just rip off the bandaid on the whole color and race thing. It’s just tricky to do when Italians are still white.

Edit again…

In the foreword of Project 2025's manifesto, Roberts writes,[38]

Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.[21]

Where exactly is this omnipresent transgender kiddy porn? Asking for a friend. I think Mr Robert’s needs to be informed that C:\Pictures isn’t actually on the internet, even if you open it in Internet Explorer. I know, your “nephew” told you that the “C” is for children, the colon is for where you want to put your peen, and the backslash is to indicate transgendered. It’s not true. He played you for the idiot you are.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 9 points 11 months ago (5 children)

What if some subset of the US military were to split off and join a hypothetical rebellion?

[–] chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago

The leadership in place is very adept in the art of maintaining the status quo while eroding the baseline slowly. For there to be any dissent among the military there would have to be a very radical shift that goes against the middle. It isn't about trans rights, or abortion rights, or civil rights. Those, despite what both sides of the media will tell you, are centrist issues. The sides that have a side have already chosen their side and nothing will change that. There is no battle for the current extremes. If there were any sort of "civil war" it would be for issues that are detrimental to the foundation of the country which is constantly shifting based on the will of the leadership. I'm kind of talking in circles now, but the point is that as long as we have a two party system there will always be an enemy and a champion for both sides. It won't be until that is gone that either side will have a reason to act and a way to grab the center. Give us 20 years of partisan leadership and we'll see action. While we swap back and forth every 4-8 years no one bitches for long enough for any significant movement to form, and the military will continue to defend the middle.

[–] hedgehogging_the_bed@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Roughly a quarter of the armed forces is under 25, the largest age group https://www.statista.com/statistics/232711/number-of-active-duty-us-defense-force-personnel-by-age/

So even if there's a split, the front lines will still be mostly people too young to rent a car.

[–] ArumiOrnaught@kbin.social 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Lol yeah, a lot of people don't realize our military is 20 year olds leading 18 year olds.

[–] idiomaddict@feddit.de 6 points 11 months ago

That caused too many emotions for me to process.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Just like nearly every war ever fought ever: the poor young masses sent to their early graves over battles between the old disconnected elite chasing power.

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

Well, as long as there are no cowboys riding warheads...

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

They still need logistics. You could take your rifle but good luck with your tank, fighter jet, helicopter, or ship.

[–] TurnItOff_OnAgain@lemmy.world -2 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I fully believe a good portion of our armed forces would split in half. Then issue would be which half is in charge of all the toys

[–] Montagge@kbin.social 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't know how it is now but when I was in the US Army there was a sizeable chunk of men that were militia members that hated the government but joined the military to get combat training.

[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago

Bear in mind a sizeable chunk of that sizeable chunk were probably being edgy barely-post-teenage shitheads. It's a version of the guy who would have joined but [whatever] and besides, he'd have punched the drill (sergeant/instructor/daddy/etc.) on the first day of training. Some assholes just always have to be different.

[–] Jaysyn@kbin.social 5 points 11 months ago

Looks like you forgot why Trump shuttered Stars & Stripes.

It's not even close, especially among officers.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Security of weapons has been a long going thing and I'm starting to understand why.