As a staunch Republican I have my concerns as well. I see your concern. Our side can have a tendency toward fascism. But it tends to be mostly in the Roman Catholic camp. Unfortunately, this is the camp running our executive and judicial branch. Ironically, you are referring to due process and other safeguards that are the political result of the Reformation and Protestantism. Habeas Corpus, what the founders of America called “that great bulwark and palladium of English liberty,” was also a result of Protestantism. El Salvador is still a Roman Catholic nation. President Trump, God bless him, needs to stop promoting and appointing so many Roman Catholics, and start infusing his administration with Protestants of the stamp that our founders were. There is nothing more dangerous to liberty than Roman Catholicism.
"Conservatives and libertarians on social media appear to have embraced this young leader"
A lot of conservatives sure, but in the libertarian circles I run in they seem to be strongly critical both of Bukele and of Trump's strategy.
Their criticism goes something like this: eliminating crime isn't difficult or a mystery, abject tyranny and authoritarianism can crash the crime rate close to zero. If you take away everyone's liberties there will be no crime. That's not hard. Bukele acting like he's discovered some novel approach is ridiculous. But some things are more important than eliminating crime.
On the deportations of green card holders for protected speech there is quite a bit of criticism as well, along the following lines: the first amendment doesn't establish a right, it recognizes one which already existed. It's a limitation on the power of government, not a grant of that government out of the goodness of their hearts. It applies wherever the state goes. If the Feds don't want to grant permanent residency in the first place they don't have to. If they want to use the law to end those green cards on speech-neutral grounds they can. They just can't cancel the residency because of protected speech. And they certainly can't deny due process as part of it.
There are certain tattoos that mean certain things if you are proudly wearing them. I would imagine that all 85,000 did not have them but it would be interesting to know how many did. There should be some due process but 20 years to get the switch pulled for the chair to light up is a little excessive.
“declaring a state of emergency in 2022, his administration has arrested over 85,000 suspected members of MS-13 and other street gangs. However, many of those imprisoned are likely innocent”
That’s a pretty big assumption. I understand your point. But when things get as bad as they are desperate times lead to desperate measure. This is why when we allow things to go to shit it often ends in a dictatorship. Key is not letting them go to shit. We may be faced someday soon, not unlike England, with either banning Muslims or accepting Muslim rule. I’d rather live under a western dictator than a Muslim one.
I mean, over 85,000 people with no due process? There's no way they were all gang members. But you're right -- we could easily be facing something like this in the US. And judging from how many seem to idolize Bukele, we might almost be ready for it. All a strongman dictator needs is a serious problem -- perceived or real -- to capitalize on to scare us into giving up our rights.
The conundrum is there’s a million plus illegals. How do you give them due process? Not sure they’re even entitled to that when it comes to deportation. You’re either here legally or you’re not. In a perfect world I get it. But we’re far past the point of sanity. The best we can hope for now is no violence. And I know it sounds horrible but maybe we need to suspend some basic rights to fix this. And yes, I’m sure most countries that wound up with dictators had people saying that. But we can’t keep fighting fair against an enemy that doesn’t.
maybe also read about the connections between Bukele’s government and Trump’s cabinet (specifically Howard Lutnick).
https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-el-salvador
As a staunch Republican I have my concerns as well. I see your concern. Our side can have a tendency toward fascism. But it tends to be mostly in the Roman Catholic camp. Unfortunately, this is the camp running our executive and judicial branch. Ironically, you are referring to due process and other safeguards that are the political result of the Reformation and Protestantism. Habeas Corpus, what the founders of America called “that great bulwark and palladium of English liberty,” was also a result of Protestantism. El Salvador is still a Roman Catholic nation. President Trump, God bless him, needs to stop promoting and appointing so many Roman Catholics, and start infusing his administration with Protestants of the stamp that our founders were. There is nothing more dangerous to liberty than Roman Catholicism.
"Conservatives and libertarians on social media appear to have embraced this young leader"
A lot of conservatives sure, but in the libertarian circles I run in they seem to be strongly critical both of Bukele and of Trump's strategy.
Their criticism goes something like this: eliminating crime isn't difficult or a mystery, abject tyranny and authoritarianism can crash the crime rate close to zero. If you take away everyone's liberties there will be no crime. That's not hard. Bukele acting like he's discovered some novel approach is ridiculous. But some things are more important than eliminating crime.
On the deportations of green card holders for protected speech there is quite a bit of criticism as well, along the following lines: the first amendment doesn't establish a right, it recognizes one which already existed. It's a limitation on the power of government, not a grant of that government out of the goodness of their hearts. It applies wherever the state goes. If the Feds don't want to grant permanent residency in the first place they don't have to. If they want to use the law to end those green cards on speech-neutral grounds they can. They just can't cancel the residency because of protected speech. And they certainly can't deny due process as part of it.
There are certain tattoos that mean certain things if you are proudly wearing them. I would imagine that all 85,000 did not have them but it would be interesting to know how many did. There should be some due process but 20 years to get the switch pulled for the chair to light up is a little excessive.
“declaring a state of emergency in 2022, his administration has arrested over 85,000 suspected members of MS-13 and other street gangs. However, many of those imprisoned are likely innocent”
That’s a pretty big assumption. I understand your point. But when things get as bad as they are desperate times lead to desperate measure. This is why when we allow things to go to shit it often ends in a dictatorship. Key is not letting them go to shit. We may be faced someday soon, not unlike England, with either banning Muslims or accepting Muslim rule. I’d rather live under a western dictator than a Muslim one.
I mean, over 85,000 people with no due process? There's no way they were all gang members. But you're right -- we could easily be facing something like this in the US. And judging from how many seem to idolize Bukele, we might almost be ready for it. All a strongman dictator needs is a serious problem -- perceived or real -- to capitalize on to scare us into giving up our rights.
The conundrum is there’s a million plus illegals. How do you give them due process? Not sure they’re even entitled to that when it comes to deportation. You’re either here legally or you’re not. In a perfect world I get it. But we’re far past the point of sanity. The best we can hope for now is no violence. And I know it sounds horrible but maybe we need to suspend some basic rights to fix this. And yes, I’m sure most countries that wound up with dictators had people saying that. But we can’t keep fighting fair against an enemy that doesn’t.