TikTok is back in the App Store
theverge.com
theverge.com
>I’m surprised but not shocked by this. But I’d sure like to see what exactly that letter says. The PAFACA Act — the law that bans TikTok in the US now that the deadline has passed for ByteDance to sell it to a US company — hasn’t changed or been rescinded, and the current delay in enforcement has no basis in law.
From this post: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/02/13/apple-google-ti...
No basis in law hyperlinks to this post: https://daringfireball.net/2025/01/npr_trump_tiktok
This is a slow-motion disaster but too many people are complacent because they think it's not going to affect them. No matter your political leanings we cannot allow a constitutional crisis to go unchecked. Things that we take for granted dissolve rapidly if institutions start grabbing power without consequences.
It's insane that Congress isn't stepping-up here.
And a few other things, that's just a prominent example.
Congress is pretty much ignoring this. Both parties.
I'm afraid everyone has lost the plot at this point though.
Alcoholic (speaking of Russian stereotypes!) wife-abuser as defense minister? Rubber-stamped! RFK as health minister? Rubber-stamped! Glory to the union!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_U...
If you read the source: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/
On the "legislative" side:
> All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
> Congress shall have Power To ... declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
Meanwhile on the "executive" side:
> He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
To me, this is pretty clear, at least about things like war and treaties and land acquisition. But it's easy to come up with a ton of examples from all parties that seem to violate these very basic rules.
What I would read as very fundamental "violations" of the document are often upheld by courts as being in agreement with it.
So, to answer your question, yes, they just sit back and chill with a 76% disapproval rating, but it took 119 congresses to get there. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx
Judges are acting to stay executive orders, but judicial processes are deliberately slow and the current administration seated several current Supreme Court judges.
Civil disobedience and mass unrest seems inevitable when the rule of law and balance of powers is systemically undermined.
Yet initially the two current leaders of the Democratic Party seemed determined to broadcast their own weakness. Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries spent last week at a donor retreat with billionaire tech leaders, only to emerge whining, ‘What leverage do we have? They control the House, the Senate, and the presidency.’… Jeffries’s conflation of “leverage” with “holding a majority in a chamber” is jaw-dropping. Power—the ability to change the behavior of another—comes from information, charisma, law, attention, procedure, expertise, and the ability to convene and organize. … What could they have done? Here are four suggestions: First, vigorous procedural delay….. Second, convene and spotlight. They should not see their power just through the lens of how it has traditionally been used. Congressional Democratic leadership should also make full use of their own convening power, holding hearings taking testimony from fired and pressured employees…. Congressional Democrats can also do more on basic legal protection of the institution. The people’s house is under attack, and they should be wielding law like swords to defend it. While Democratic state attorneys general have been filing lawsuit after lawsuit, congressional leadership—whose own power as the lawmaking arm of the American public is being decimated—should understand they also need to play a key role in making sure lawsuits are brought to block the destruction. Whatever their legal abilities, they are all astute fundraisers, and can play matchmaker between constituents, possible plaintiffs, lawyers, and donors to make sure that effective and well-resourced lawsuits are brought to stop the illegal power plays….. Finally, they can go on offense, forcing Trump and Republicans to either help Americans, or clearly demonstrate that they don’t want to. That means being willing to work with Republicans—if they can get laws passed that make people’s lives better, and not focus on Democratic Party branding.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-musk-democr...
Okay, so Congress could pass a resolution saying they consider the dissolution of USAID a violation of the law… but the silence speaks for itself. The law is not what is written, the law is what we do and what we tolerate.
Really just the wild stuff that Elon and Trump post to their social media is terrifyingly unhinged. I feel most people get the sane-washed version via the media but it's genuinely mind boggling to read their directly published public comments about stuff.
Direct quote for the record:
> USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America
It's like watching one of those hydraulic press videos - the slow build up of the squeeze has been happening for awhile, we've finally arrived at the point where the pressure is really deforming stuff. But it was predictable for a long time.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
[0] https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collect...
this is not a debate about just what the intelligence community can and cannot do, or what level of enforcement and in what communities is appropriate for a given law. it is a point blank statement "i am the president, and you (tiktok) and you (google, apple) can ignore the law", made in public, without any possible national security justification (whatever level of BS that might normally come with).
Edit: you all are out here downvoting provable facts.
A lot of people don't get fined for jaywalking and it's not a big deal because it's understood that it's a lot of work to actually cite all of them everywhere, so the difference between the normal level of not enforcing everything and intentionally not enforcing isn't 0 vs 100.
This is passing a law that John Smith should go to jail and then deciding you don't actually want to send him to jail. Why did you bother passing the law if you didn't care. Trump literally started all this TikTok banning stuff and now is against it, but isn't actually repealing the law. Congress seems to have just given up too. It's fully lawless.
Maybe something good will come out of this like Europe finally waking up, even now in 2025 here on HN I got attacked for warmongering if I dare say that we should increase defense (literally in our case) budgets.
Elephant in the porcelaine shop will make a room for new products for sure but thats not the most important thing that happens.
I'm noting that there is a qualititive difference in Trump's behavior with respect to this law compared with ... well, anything anyone has been comparing it to.
Along that axis, you are certainly right that it is basically the same as the president unilaterally choosing to exempt a specific multibillion dollar company controlled by a powerful foreign adversary from laws passed by congress with the intent of shoring up national security.
This insight is well received by me and I'm sure others.
Most people don't:
* think it will impact them.
* have any idea what to do about it when the most powerful
person in the country can do literally whatever they want
with little to no pushback."President is the main person end has exceptional power". That's the mental model for most people. There is no any internal conflict with law violation and any space for reflection what's wrong with it.
They could start with:
1) Peaceful protest, and
2) Boycotting anything related to Musk, Trump and anyone that bends a knee. (When that's literally impossible, as in "I have to buy food somewhere", pick the least bad)
Simple, but inconvenient. Better to make excuses and hope someone else fixes the problem at no cost to me.
I don't have the energy or time to join protests. I donate substantially enough that it's noticeable in my finances to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, Fair Fight, and a handful of others. Tell me I'm not doing enough, that's fair. Tell me I'm doing nothing, and that's a little insulting.
No feedback loop here guys, seriously.
I mean. This weird-ass country is already like that, despite the states themselves making zero sense. It'll just get worse.
An arbitrarily enforced law throws that out the window. You're incentivized to cozy up to each administration and hope they don't turn on you, be it Republicans or Democrats.
I feel like this is a huge risk for Apple. The president can change his mind, you can have a new president, Congress or the supreme court could decide they actually wanted that law enforced.
Also, If it comes out that sensitive data was exfiltrated from the US via tiktok, or whatever natsec concern saw it banned realizes, then Apple's position is suddenly even worse because the president can say "Apples clearly breaking the law! Lets throw the book at them".
I don't understand the risk/reward calculations Apple did that came up with this decision.
I personally was asked to help a young girl who would cry all day because she lost the app and it was her salvation due to her unique circumstance.
Was interesting for me to learn after asking some middle/high schoolers how important the app is for them emotionally/personally/culturally/etc.
Maybe we need to create "Methadone apps" to help people slowly get off the Pavlovian dopamine machine?
Ever dealth with proper addict? They live in their own world where all is good, normal and justified. Similar here. In addicts communities, 'normal' bar is set very low but from inside its day as usual.
Now I dont claim there can be no good happening, ie those 'special circumstances' really sound like it, but it would sound way better if some proper child psychologist was there, instead of anonymous communities who may (eventually will like elsewhere) turn toxic and beyond, with consequences.
Ultimately Congress can impeach and convict Trump and Vance if their shenanigans go too far for even their tastes, but I doubt that will ever happen. (And even then, we'll get Mike Johnson as president, which is not really an improvement.)
1. This whole situation with Trump flouting every Congress-passed law under the sun becomes understood by the general public as what it is: a coup.
2. There is massive (and effective) backlash, in whatever form that may be.
3. Now the next administration wants 100% justice for everyone who aided and abetted in the coup, no exceptions whatsoever. Apple, Google, Oracle, and Akamai will be asked to pay the fines they owe even if it threatens their existence.
It is astounding that Apple is just fine with this kind of tail risk for... no gain at all? Apple stock should have nosedived after the decision to re-allow TikTok downloads. It makes them liable for something like $5k per download.
The 3 branches balancing each other is the reason why the US has worked relatively well as a democracy for 250 years.
Congress banned TikTok.
Now Trump assures companies they can violate the law without consequences.
Rules for thee, not for Trumps friends / Chinese companies.
A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now.
We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!
Jan 19, 2025
with elon controlling x, he needs a social media platform under his control. the best he can possibly do is to create that US sovereign wealth fund and use it to control tiktok.
https://circle.tufts.edu/2024-election#youth-vote-+4-for-har...
He might also be intentionally lying to create the impression of support, but he has publicly stated:
> I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points … Republicans are always 30 points down in youth. I don’t know why. But we ended up finishing. There was one poll that showed us down about 30. We were 35 or 36 points up with young people. So I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart, I’ll be honest.
TikTok showed a message thanking Trump when restoring service to US users, and users have been commenting on certain topics getting much fewer recommendations by the algorithm since then.
I don’t think there’s any real ideology or principle at play. He’s happy to sell out the US if he gets to do it.
His first term time and again on some topics he talks big, like repealing Obamacare, china tariffs… and walks away after some small action.
If banning TikTok made him look good in the eyes of most people, TikTok would be banned the first day he was in office. And that might still happen.
Trump: Hold my beer!
The sooner people stop talking about it as if the US is still only "sliding down the path", and start publicly admitting the reality that they now live in a single-party dictatorship á la Russia and China where the rules are whatever the leader says they are, the better.
I know this isn't easy as it takes time to change decades of reinforcement of the tribal ingroup/outgroup neural pathways where "Russia and China" were seen as contrasts to the US. But y'all can do it. Start by uttering the words out loud to yourself. Break through that first "denial" stage of grief.
The foundation of democracy is term limits and fair elections as means of non-violent change of power. Within the terms, people can elect all sorts of monsters - the key point is that there's a certain end to that, as long as the foundations are upheld and next term new people can come and take over the mess. Unlike Russia, there's no long history of massive election fraud.
And that is not broken yet, as long as Democrats don't mess it up too bad and cease to be (turning it into one-party system and then autocracy).
Remember, headlines are fighting for views. It is natural that they spread "we're all fucked real real bad" vibes, as they capture attention really well, but also have this side effect of spreading panic. That's not to say I'm happy about the way things are (things are bad), but that it's not as bad as you say it is - so far.
Either way, Hungary and US are certainly different enough so even similar things could work out differently in the end.
This mindset is one of the reasons why the US are sliding into authoritarianism and repeating mistakes that were made by many other countries in the last century or so. No, the US are not exceptional and there is nothing unique about American people that makes them intrinsically democratic. You should in fact get yourself familiar with Orban’s Hungary because your future is likely to be quite similar. Also, Mussolini and Putin.
Sadly, I have a non-pleasure of being quite familiar with what happened in Russia in the last few decades. And despite my limited knowledge of the US' political system (that I'm still learning about - it's not a small topic) one thing that I'm very certain that some things that worked in Russia are simply impossible in the US, at least in the way they happened. Let me show you:
Putin formed a new KGB (FSB), taking over a decade to slowly grant it more and more powers. He also suppressed the independent media, events including literal police raids of the major television company. He grew the low-level bureaucracy (which seems to be exact opposite of what's happening in the US) and because election process in Russia de facto relies on poorly paid government-ran school teachers (afraid of doing anything to not get fired) he got control of the elections. He also used similar principles to put a lot of pressure on the judicial system. Then he grew the police force (all under Federal government control - different design than US) and took his time training them in extreme brutality (including literal torture). He also took full control of both houses of the Federal Assembly to legislate for him, replaced elections for state-level governors with his own assignments, and did a lot to expand Presidential powers even further. And only then, when he was sure he can contain almost anything, he pulled out an illegal (for some reason he did not follow the legal process but rather made a mockery of it) Constitutional amendment to grant himself his current term.
All that said, I hope you can see what I mean when I say that US' situation is somewhat different and things that worked in Russia aren't perfectly applicable. If Trump wants to make himself an American Tsar, he needs to figure his own way to do so, for most Putin's recipes simply won't work for him because all the preconditions are different.
I suspect (though, of course, I cannot be sure of it) that Hungary also has a lot of its own nuances. At the very least, Orban is not a President and is operating in a whole different political system.
When I said that "similar things could work out different" I was not arguing about or suggesting any course of action or inaction. I've merely stated that we shouldn't think it's all over because some things, events and personalities have some resemblance to other and those others ended badly. This is really complex systems we're talking about, and all the context matters. US still has some safeties left.
It’s not quite what I meant and I was not careful enough when I wrote, sorry. I meant that recent Hungarian history is actually quite similar to what a happening in the US, all things considered, despite some differences.
> one thing that I'm very certain that some things that worked in Russia are simply impossible in the US, at least in the way they happened.
Sure, there are some differences in the details, and I hope the US can still change path. Completely curtailing freedom of the press, for example, would be significantly more difficult than in Russia, and thus is not the path of least resistance (though they have powerful propaganda outlets, an the oligarchy that is forming could make this happen quicker than we think). You make very good points.
> All that said, I hope you can see what I mean when I say that US' situation is somewhat different and things that worked in Russia aren't perfectly applicable.
Indeed. I just think we disagree on the extent of the similarities.
> When I said that "similar things could work out different" I was not arguing about or suggesting any course of action or inaction. I've merely stated that we shouldn't think it's all over because some things, events and personalities have some resemblance to other and those others ended badly.
Fair enough.
> US still has some safeties left.
Indeed, and I hope it won’t go that way. Still, many of these safeties were broken (like he whole legislative branch being made useless and the judiciary being rapidly captured) and the whole political system is in crisis with no end in sight. I am not too optimistic.
There are lots of ways to tilt an election without breaking existing laws, especially if you have all 3 branches of government and an execute that'll selectively enforce laws and out in the open go after political opponents.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5124328-trump-ad...
> Some of the first actions from the new leadership at the FBI and DOJ have targeted those who worked on President Trump’s two criminal prosecutions as well as agents and lawyers involved in charging the 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, who have since been pardoned by the president.
Not even "just" political enemies: also people just doing their job, should that happen to go against the interests of the new regime.
Still agree with your point that panic doesn't help, and I love that you insist on it. Not even worrying helps! And especially when things are kinda bad people need to find their strength, and each other.
Sweet summer child. Let me unfold a very precise prediction:
* By the end of 2nd-3rd year. Trump/congress/republican party would propose an amendment that president could rule two consecutive terms. It would be accepted.
* Trump would be elected to the next term.
* By the end of 6th-7th year there would be proposal to extend presidency to three terms.
* Rinse and repeat.
If you think it's unreal I have very bad news for you: how often it happens in real world.
The problem is in getting 2/3 of the state legislatures to ratify it. I don't see how that could reasonably happen.
Many other countries have constitutions that can be changed directly by their central/federal government. We don't have that. It's a lot harder to amend the US constitution.
I disagree with this. What spooks me out about headlines in Germany is how relatively silent they are about this. I'd say there is WAY more money in oligarchy than there is in all the media in the world selling every single paper and ad, every day. Because in the end, it will include that profit, too.
But I still agree that it's never over, but not because there is a hope that some other group might do something, but because tens and hundreds of millions of people can actually do a lot, if they do something.
The USA has itself basically downgraded from "friend and ally" to "necessary partner", still better than Russia or China, but we are not done yet ;)
"single-party dictatorship" in the US? You need to read your comment again as this is just beyond hysterical.
You're telling everyone here that the Democratic Party currently has now ceased to exist and there is no opposition against the current administration.
Absurd thing to say, are you really this unfamiliar with other countries, such as Russia? Never heard of Navalny? Don't know that he was an opposition leader? Or that Russia is indeed a single-party dictatorship?
> "single-party dictatorship" IN the US?
The parent comment believes that the US is in a so-called "single-party dictatorship" which really is just absolutely false.
Russia having an opposition party doesn't make it less of a single-party dictatorship. Same goes for the US.
Both house and senate representatives made up of republican or democrat parties (not just ONE single party) were elected in November 2024 and that election had multiple parties involved and the ones before it with congress still here afterwards.
Yet you comparing that process being equal or even worse than Russia or China and what they have in their countries is just nonsense.
What's clear here is that I don't think you know what a "single-party dictatorship" really is when you posted that comment and just only speaking in complete hysteria.
Again, the exact same can be said for Russia. All of your arguments can be applied to claim Russia is not a one-party dictatorship. Following your exact line of reasoning, either both are, or neither are.
Besides, the exact event this article is discussing has the ruling party completely ignoring decisions by congress, meaning there isn't even the veneer of it mattering in the first place.
False. The US is not the exact same as Russia or China's dictatorial regimes.
Russia actually jails their opposition to maintain complete "single-party" power in their elections; making it close to impossible for a different party to think about winning. This sort of thing doesn't come close to happening in the US under any ruling party. Even you bringing in China doesn't even begin to compare and such a comparison to the US and believing the US is equivalent or worse than both Russia or China's form of government is just laughable.
> Besides, the exact event this article is discussing has the ruling party completely ignoring decisions by congress, meaning there isn't even the veneer of it mattering in the first place.
Once again, your original claim comparing the US to actual "single-party dictatorships" and concluding that it is one, is false by the actual definition of the term: [0] or even the one you probably got confused on which is the 'Dominant-party system' which fits Russia [1] and is also still a "single-party dictatorship":
"A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, *all opposition parties* are either outlawed or enjoy limited and controlled participation in elections."
In 2025, The United States does not fit in with either of those systems and isn't even close to a "single-party dictatorship" as you keep falsely claiming it to be.
There’s opposition everywhere, including places with single party rule.
They have no ability to oppose anything.
It's not like they were ever looking to pass giant infrastructure bills. Everything else e.g. border security can be done through Executive Order.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-budget-resolu...
In December 1917, Russia had just had such an election.
In May 1924, Italy had just had such an election.
In June 1946, Czechoslovakia had just had such an election.
And almost immediately afterwards, each became a single-party dictatorship.
As someone that was a child when transition back to democacry came to be, it is really surprising how quickly people forget history.
Are all senate and house congressmen/women of only just one single party and no other, currently elected into congress right now?
Did congress also just cease to exist "immediately afterwards"?
Seriously, comparisons like this are really just completely something of delusion and comparing the US in 2025 to Nazi Germany in 1933 is a tired stretch worthy of just dismissing altogether to be honest.
Come on.
If you are interested in a working democracy it would be wise to not dismiss these concerns out of hand just because they draw comparisons to historical regimes where authoritarian overreach ended democracies. The comparison might be wrong, yet the concerns are real.
Sure the USA is still a two party system right now, but unless something completely drastic happens between now and four years from now, I fully expect Trump to say "the Constitution says a POTUS can only serve two consecutive terms", and he won't leave office and the GOP will be completely fine with that.
>The original GOP...
Is not the current party in power. Hence why you're making that distinction - the party of 10 years ago doesn't matter anymore, it's irrelevant. If you believe that Trump getting a deadly heart attack tomorrow would bring the coup to a sudden end, I've got bad news for you.
Of course, if the GOP retains control, we can't really say much either way, unless there is strong, incontrovertible evidence of enough voter suppression or fraud that would swing the election.
So we'll see. I'm not ready to give up on the US just yet, for all its faults.
Last time between moderate old school Republicans, business interest and the bureaucracy, they were able to keep Trump in check. But it is different this time.
Trump is no normal Republican and neither are his flunkies in Congress. I’ve seriously been looking at retiring to Costa Rica or Panama City. It’s stable. It’s relatively easy to become a permanent resident and buy into their health care system.
There are some good people who leave out there. But it's feeling like the world is becoming more and more uniform with this bizarre political worship and cult of personality all centered on America.
Go to some bars or even random discord servers and you'll quickly find that it's not Russians trying to proselytize everyone with their political beliefs. They're actual people.
And I'm not only talking about the right wing stuff that Russia does promote. There are bizarre political brainworms leaking out of America in many political directions.
A bit like the guy that “always seems to run into dysfunctional teams”, that should give food for thought.
We are at a third scenario, the second law of thermodynamics, everything goes to shit over time including teams and countries.
When that happens it’s usually time to leave. It often happens when the company is acquired like the US has been bought by President Musk with his useful idiot puppet.
I’m 50 and I’ve never seen anyone - Republican or Democrat - try to wreck the US either domestically or internationally like President Musk has.
Don’t get me wrong, even at retirement I would be hedging my bets and should be able to keep my by then paid off condo in the US and rent in another country and go back and forth.
I fully plan to learn more than the little Spanish I know if I move.
What I've encountered is more and more Q style thinking these past few years. Sometimes outright support of it. Sometimes even pro-Q demonstrators in the middle of town. The worst part is these people talk about it at their workplaces, they talk about it with their friends, they teach it to their kids and spouse. The whole line of thinking is a mindvirus.
It went from happily being detached from American stuff entirely to random locals saying, "You're American, right? What do you think about (bizarre conspiracy theory originating in the US)? It makes a lot of sense to me and I'm glad (politician) will take care of it. We need a guy like that here." When I ask where they're hearing about this, it's often "This American friend of mine tells me about it and he makes a lot of good points."
And this is just the more extreme kind of thinking that's spread. There are various other americanisms creeping in that I wish I could've escaped forever.
Panama? Did you forget about https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/26/panic-and-defi...?
I'm confused, how does a 10 year time horizon make Panama look more stable w.r.t. Trump's threat? Wouldn't it be worse? If negative impact on Panama is going to unfold, I'd expect it to be more painful over the long term than the short term, not less.
Military is irrelevant here. You don't need boots on the ground to throw a country into chaos. Did Russia and China send soldiers on American soil to make the US as unstable as it is right now (...leading to people's desires to seek a more stable country)?
The concern was regarding stability, healthcare, etc. which means economic and political stability. How stable do you think Panama would be in (say) an economic war with the US that is focused on controlling their canal? What if the US decides to covertly influence their government (or worse)?
But to answer your question directly anyway: for Canada he specifically said "economic force", not military. For Gaza, he said Israel would handle the military aspect and hand it over. For Greenland, the military is already there, but also it's not like they would meet any resistance via combat there. For Panama... it seems unlikely but it's also hard to put anything past him. Not because of his word, but because his actions are just so unpredictable.
Wait a minute. We did this to ourselves. Of course do Russia and China meddle in the USA's infosphere (just like we meddle in their infospheres), but there are always two involved: those meddling and those believing it. I mean, Reptiloids, blood-harvesting, Pizzagate... Seriously, what would China have to put in your china to make you gullible enough to believe that? Yet there are obviously people out there that do believe. It made headlines!
Unlike China or Russia it still matters in the USA what the population believes. Thus we, as members of the general public, regardless of our political leaning, cannot exculpate us from the state of the nation by pointing at some foreign power and say "they made me do it". As an expat I thought, I could keep out of it, but I can't. We have to face up to the fact that all of this is our doing and nobody forced us to do it.
I have no clue what this has to do with the current discussion. Yes, there are two involved. Panamanians could also become similarly involved in any instability the US decides to sow there. How does that imply Panama is going to be stable? Are you under the impression that Panamanians are somehow immune to to this?
This has already happened with lower-stakes stuff, like the tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods that Trump never even put into effect once he announced them but immediately got concessions from Canada and Mexico. Whether or not those concessions are actually useful or will materialize is another matter, but that's almost irrelevant: Trump knows he can push them around now, and pretty easily at that.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-shein...
> But many of those outside the White House looking at the tariffs drama say little was accomplished, arguing that the measures taken by the two U.S. neighbors were already in place or likely could have been achieved without Trump’s ultimatums. Even the financial markets seemed to shrug off the showdown with a modest sell-off on Monday.
Is lack of federal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws a coup too?
but I think people should be focusing on what they can do with it, people put their energy into arguing about it or these semantical distinctions
when the reality is that we will have this supreme court, or its rulings, for the next 50 years at least. like, okay, work with that
you don't love all federal agencies, only some. so instead of lamenting the ones you find beneficial, focus on the ones you hate and Chevron the shit out of them. sure, go ahead and start with obscure regulations that moderately inconvenience you, but go further and get their entire charter declared unconstitutional, shoot, get the interstate commerce clause interpretation adjusted if that's what you feel like. we know what this supreme court is going to do, stop worrying about whether you agree and worry about how you can use it, for example
I don't know why people use their energy any other way, this is the most egalitarian Oligarch-level event in history.
Laws have been shown to now be entirely meaningless, yet you continue to suggest energy should be put into going through the courts.
That's the whole point, this entire action entirely ignores both Congress and SCOTUS, the law doesn't matter.
I was referring to navigating the structure of the country, yourself, not as the president
Not seen any reporting this is the case so we are relying on Trump's Executive Order to the DOJ to not enforce the ruling.
And it's in the context of JD Vance's recent statements that the Supreme Court should have no power to curtail the President's actions.
I read "should" as a mere wish. Now, putting Vance in Pence's place, I don't think he'd have certified that election.
They know a lot of Americans depend on it for both livelihood and entertainment/information. How many people in the general public even want it immediately banned apart from those doing it to score political points?
How does that follow? The law passed in Congress with "broad bipartisan support", including a strict and limited window for an acquirer to be found. That window has closed.
It’s tempting to view this as “support”, but a simpler explanation is that it was just pragmatic to wait one additional day for the incoming administration to carry out enforcement actions.
That one-day delay was neither a miscarriage of justice nor was it a political statement. It was just timing.
Really, we should ask why on earth congress decided that the 19th of January was the deadline.
The Biden administration was specifically looking for ways to keep TikTok running during the last days.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-administrat...
Only 25% of democrats want TikTok banned. The Biden admin didn't want to be blamed for shutting down TikTok.
Huh? No such law has passed congress.
So we have a situation where Trump is ignoring the will of Congress and the Judiciary.
And what the public wants is irrelevant. They elected the Congress who have made a decision on their behalf.
Are even Democrats calling for TikTok to be immediately banned? All this feels so bizarre as how something that absolutely no one in real life wants being heavily pushed for talking points.
The best part is we already tried impeaching him in his first term. As long as at least 1/3rd of Senators support him there is no way to remove him from office.
Well, except a coup maybe. While normal soldiers swear allegiance to the president, officers only swear to protect the constitution. But that seems unlikely.
Jokes aside, I always thought the ban/force-sale was ridiculous short of an actual privacy law that regulates all social media. But, regardless of your stance on that front, one should indeed be worried of the ever-growing power of the executive.
Where is the executive order or written letter from the DOJ saying they have voided schedule I or speed limits?
Failure to enforce due to prioritization is not at all the same thing as the President saying a law no longer exists.
Corrupt intent is the crime. We all know this. It’s embarrassing when someone rediscovers reductionism and pretends to believe it’s a magic argument.
In this case we have the Federal Government simply choosing to ignore the law, period.
Put differently, “The ends justify the means.”
It’s a dangerous bargain, even in the best of times. And what a price we’ve paid in this instance: the rule of law, in exchange for TikTok videos.
I sure hope it was worth it.
I don't really know what to say anymore. Like literally just staring at this comment and realizing how utterly cooked we are as a country.
National security is in the interest of all the Americans
No it isn't (there are plenty of people who'd be better off in a less secure America), and certainly not at any cost.
The app is owned and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Basically the equivalent of a Chinese citizen using a CIA-controlled app to get their news. It's a very bald-faced security threat.
Furthermore, China has explicitly banned any American social media from the Chinese market for years. They know it's dangerous letting foreign nationals control your narrative, probably because they've been exploiting social media for years.
Oh, and there's also the electoral controversy: https://kyivinsider.com/russia-and-china-just-rigged-romania...
It’s not. It’s 60-something percent owned by international foreign investors outside of China. TikTok user data in the USA is held under TikTok USDS and managed mostly by Oracle as far as I know.
We are in a standoff situation where the only smart move is to call China's bluff. It will hurt Apple, it will hurt TikTok users, but it will match China's policy of fighting market infiltration by foreign adversaries. A more functional administration would have this rubberstamped and banned in a week's time, regardless of free speech or 90% of Americans losing their FYP. Just look at how fast the EU and UK acted against Huawei. There is no such thing as a free lunch, in router technology or social media.
Welcome to American politics, you seem to be new here. This is a regular occurrence and always boils down to framing:
[X] Tiktok is making America look bad vis-a-vis Palestine.
[?] China is a domestic security threat and must be stopped.
Congress will happily axe your favorite doomscrolling app if it's framed as an anti-pedophile move or domestic security issue. That hasn't shocked people in decades.
Furthermore I wouldn't say that "half of Americans" necessarily know whats right for them. We are the fattest nation on the planet, voted Donald Trump into office (twice) and are addicted to social media that we know is harmful. Representative democracy is really a dignified way of letting Americans pretend to control the government while not killing themselves with their own legislation. If direct democracy controlled America's foreign policy, the nation would probably have crumbled by now.