this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/28102

US military leaders previously warned Trump that they were 'not ready' to respond to Iran's anticipated retaliation and required additional time to prepare


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[–] goferking0@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

We have vastly different ideas on optics, especially since they did not actually pull ice out and people that care about optics wouldn't be floating canceling elections.

[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 1 points 12 hours ago

They wouldn't be talking openly about cancelling elections, but they'd certainly be discussing it internally. And you'll notice that the rest of the administration isn't talking openly about it. Trump is, because he's a raging ball of id who's too stupid to keep his mouth shut. Important distinction there.

And remember, we're talking about optics, which means whether or not they actually pulled ICE out of Minnesota is irrelevant. What matters is that they felt the need to say they're pulling out. Why would they, if they didn't care about what people think?

Don't ever get drawn into the trap of thinking that authoritarians don't need to care about public opinion. All governments ultimately exist by the consent of the governed. Democracy just turns that process into a formalized and largely bloodless one. There is no amount of tyranny that can keep a government in power if a sufficiently large portion of the populace doesn't want them in power.

And Trump's regime has not even achieved tyranny yet. They're working on it, very hard and at a terrifying pace. But they can only get there if people let them.