What is pulling America Apart?

[Ana the Ist]

Wouldn’t letting people live the lives that they wish to live be part of that?

Absolutely.

Like, say, if a person one always knew as “Robert” took to wearing bikinis and asked people to begin to call them “Michele”…that ought to be respected, right?

No. Robert can do as he wishes, but nobody has to "respect" his decisions. Just as many here don't respect people who don't believe in evolution or think people should "save themselves for marriage"...there's absolutely no reason why Robert should be immune to any criticism for his choices.

I'd even go as far as to say that if Robert suddenly wants to talk to children about sexuality...people should probably keep Robert as far from their children as possible.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The problem is people's understanding of the term "enter"

Illegally cross the US border.

Those that have entered illegally (not through a port of entry, but perhaps crossed the border somewhere else) how did this administration facilitate that????

Often by picking them up at the border in vans and buses.

Now that international travel has picked up, since Covid is no longer impacting travel, this has picked up significantly.
I have found a report about overstayers from air and sea travel and that was 850K in 2022. But that report doesn't include overstayers from land travel a.k.a. Northern and Southern border crossings. But already, as you can see, it is a pretty significant number.

Well it's not the 9 million who crossed the border illegally....so I say we tackle the bigger issue first.

Border control do reject many people's request for asylum.

Not really. One doesn't even have to explain they have an understanding of what asylum is or what qualifies as a reason. If they show up with children, it's even easier.

In many instances though, the border control aren't qualified and don't have authority to properly assess, these cases go to the courts. But none of this has anything to do with a border wall.

I have to wonder if that's true. It seems likely they hear the same stories over and over so often they can probably tell which ones are nonsense.

Asylum seekers enter legally via official ports of entry.

How many do you think entered legally via ports of entry vs those who entered illegally by crossing the border?

 

[timothyu]

What is pulling America Apart?​

Biggest influence is the media. Before they took sides and became political televangelists it was simply a matter of reporting the W5 and leaving it up to the people to decide for themselves. And at the time there was no internet where the minority sound as if they are the majority.

 

[stevil]

Illegally cross the US border.

Be interesting to know how statistics are done for illegally crossing the border.
I guess the authorities catch some and so they can count them. But those that enter and don't get caught, how are they counted?

Your 9 million figure over 3 years, is that an estimate of illegal border crossings, or does that also include overstayers and asylum seekers?
Do you have a source reference?

Often by picking them up at the border in vans and buses.

As far as I know, De Santis was bussing immigrants around, I've not heard about the Federal Democrat run organisations picking up illegal border crosses and bringing them into the country via buses. That would be odd. What is your source on this?

Well it's not the 9 million who crossed the border illegally....so I say we tackle the bigger issue first.

That was just one year, and didn't count for land crossing at the border. But 850K per year is not insignificant, when compared to your 3 million per year figure.

Not really. One doesn't even have to explain they have an understanding of what asylum is or what qualifies as a reason. If they show up with children, it's even easier.

OK, I have a challenge for you. Leave your passport and identitiy details at home. Drive across the Southern border at a port of entry, turn around and try to drive back in. See what happens.

I have to wonder if that's true. It seems likely they hear the same stories over and over so often they can probably tell which ones are nonsense.

Do you think there is no need for courts?

How many do you think entered legally via ports of entry vs those who entered illegally by crossing the border?

I don't know what the numbers are for illegal crossings, I don't even know how they would manage to accurately count those.

 

[Bradskii]

Christians need to run for political office from the level of dog catcher all the way to president all over the nation like right now.....

Don't worry. They already did. Apart from a couple of Muslims, 2 Buddhists and a handfull of Jews and 'unknowns,' the vast majority of Congress is...Christian.

If you were suggesting that the country was in a mess and looked to Congress as an example of what is wrong, and then looked for some commonality they all had that might explain it, then the one that would jump and hit you right between the eyes is...they are all Christian. You already have what you want. And you say that the place is a mess.

Go joint the dots, Danny. Or Annie. Whoever I am talking to.

 

[public hermit]

This is one of those views that I always thought amusing. If your car breaks down...most people realize they need a mechanic and can't fix it themselves. A/C not working? Gotta call a repairman. Got some weird tumor sticking out the side of your neck? Gotta see a specialist....

Running a nation of 330 million? Easy peasy...I could do it better than the idiots doing it now.

False analogy. Politicians are not specialists or experts. They're citizens like you or I. In other words, any idiot can be one. That should be abundantly clear at this point given the last few years. The fact is, we could have higher quality representation than we do if we, as citizens, insisted on it.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Be interesting to know how statistics are done for illegally crossing the border.

Let's see...usually they come from CBP/DHS. First they count all the people apprehended illegally crossing. Then they count all the people either observed illegally entering (either on camera, or by footprints, etc) then there's the estimated number that illegally entered without detection (math done using other data I'm sure) which from what I've heard tends to be an underestimate.

Add those three numbers up and you get 9 million in 3 years under Biden. The last number is only an estimated 1.5 million so even if you don't want to count it for some reason it's still a staggeringly high number.

I guess the authorities catch some and so they can count them. But those that enter and don't get caught, how are they counted?

See above.

Your 9 million figure over 3 years, is that an estimate of illegal border crossings,

Yes.

or does that also include overstayers

No.

and asylum seekers?

Nearly everyone illegally crossing is claiming asylum.

Do you have a source reference?

9 Million Illegal Border Crossings Later, the Biden Administration Finally Acknowledges a Wall is Necessary, Says FAIR

/PRNewswire/ -- More than two and half years and some 9 million illegal entries later, the Biden administration is now acknowledging that we have a very...

www.prnewswire.com

He does a pretty good job explaining it. He's talking about the 6 million apprehended though, not the 3 million that got away or are part of the group of unknown illegals who got away.

It's a disgrace, it's as if this administration is deliberately murdering the middle class.

As far as I know, De Santis was bussing immigrants around, I've not heard about the Federal Democrat run organisations picking up illegal border crosses and bringing them into the country via buses. That would be odd. What is your source on this?

See above. Also, see the news...

Redirect Notice

You'll notice the description of illegals crossing at the border and being picked up and transported to stations by border patrol vehicles. If you want to believe they are moving those numbers in truck cabs....fine. Buses are run by private contractors making money hand over fist of the US taxpayers taking these illegals to the cities of their choice. Many now choose NY or Chicago because of the accommodations that are made for them there....on the taxpayer dime. It's all explained rather well in the video above.

It's ironic how little the border wall would have cost compared to what democrats have spent already. It literally would have paid for itself if it kept out just 1% of traffic. The elderly and the handicapped aren't climbing it....that's for sure.

That was just one year, and didn't count for land crossing at the border. But 850K per year is not insignificant, when compared to your 3 million per year figure.

It's not insignificant...I agree, but it is the lesser of two problems. The solution obviously, is to remove Biden....who has prevented ICE from doing their jobs and rounding up these illegals for deportation. Any democrats also unwilling to put an end to this should be unelectable.

OK, I have a challenge for you. Leave your passport and identitiy details at home. Drive across the Southern border at a port of entry, turn around and try to drive back in. See what happens.

What in the world is that supposed to prove?

Do you think there is no need for courts?

In most of these cases, absolutely.

For starters, asylum was created for people fleeing war.

It was later expanded to include things like political or religious persecution at the hands of a government.

Things like poverty or domestic violence aren't considered valid reasons for asylum. Since the reasons for seeking asylum by 90+% of asylees are not valid...they should be deported immediately at the border.

I don't know what the numbers are for illegal crossings, I don't even know how they would manage to accurately count those.

Fortunately I answered that for you in this post.

 

[Ana the Ist]

False analogy. Politicians are not specialists or experts.

Many of them are legal experts...or at least have experience in governance. This article claims 95% have a bachelor's at least....and there's multiple doctorates in there.

Opinion | 95 Percent of Representatives Have a Degree. Look Where That’s Got Us. (Published 2020)

All these credentials haven’t led to better results.

www.nytimes.com

I will concede though that a minority are in fact, regular schlubs with little education beyond the average person.

They're citizens like you or I. In other words, any idiot can be one.

Any idiot can be one...but the idea that such an idiot will do well at the job is about the same as any idiot learning to be an electrician from watching YouTube videos.

There's a similar phenomenon with police as well, and I suspect it has something to do with a resentment of authority and the public nature of those jobs.

That should beould be abundantly clear at this point given the last few years.

Why? Because the current president struggles to finish a sentence?

That just tells me he doesn't really make any decisions. Someone else does....and he rubber stamps them.

If you're wondering how someone finds themselves in such a situation, it's rather easy. If you're thoroughly corrupt and at any moment the FBI could expose your crimes....you'll be a good boy and do what you're told.

The fact is, we could have higher quality representation than we do if we, as citizens, insisted on it.

We, as citizens, demand simple explanations for complex problems and want quick solutions instead of steady incremental progress over the long term. We don't forgive any mistakes, so no politicians ever admit to making them. We don't really want to understand how anything works...we want to imagine ourselves and everyone else as generally good and moral people. We don't merely want to be lied to...we demand it, or we won't elect that person.

Consider, for example, the current support for the Palestinians on the left. Where did it come from? For years now, we've sold weapons and aircraft and bombs to the Saudis which they've used to mass murder innocent Libyan (or is it Yemens?) we've supported terrorists in Syria so they can kill other terrorists and then we support new terrorists to kill the original terrorists we supported. We've helped people who are ethnically Arab kill other ethnic Arabs by the millions....not a peep out of the left. Not a complaint about war crimes. They didn't even complain when we supplied nazis in the Ukraine with cluster bombs...a war crime.

Now, the idiot might say that we shouldn't do these things....after all, these Arabs did nothing to us. What would that change? Well, the Saudis would buy those aircraft and bombs from China...and then they'd be killing the same people they are now. The only difference is our relationship with the Saudis would weaken, and the Chinese relationship with the Saudis would be stronger....and our gas prices (along with the prices of everything else) would increase.

I can't tell you why the left suddenly claims to care about the deaths of a particular group of Arabs and not others....perhaps they're entirely ignorant of how the world works. Perhaps it bothers them when Israelis kill Arabs and it doesn't when Arabs kill Arabs because they're deeply antisemitic. Who knows?

All I know for certain is the average idiot isn't likely to do better than the idiots currently in office who actually understand these issues to some degree.

I think it more likely they'll have more luck as their own mechanic or plumber or electrician.

 

[RoBo1988]

The fact is, we could have higher quality representation than we do if we, as citizens, insisted on it.

The "higher quality" people do not pursue it. For example: Indiana's Mitch Daniels. Once a POTUS hopeful, he and his wife had personal issues in the past. Knowing he would be shredded by the press, he and his family said no.

 

[Bradskii]

Freemasons pretending to be Christians. The tie that binds is Freemasonry.

I didn't even have to put a heads up for an incoming No True Scotsman fallacy in my last post. We could all see it coming...

 

[stevil]

Nearly everyone illegally crossing is claiming asylum.

Nonsense.

Asylum seekers is a legal process. Nothing illegal about it.

 

[timothyu]

People, but more so government, seem to forget that it is government that is supposed to be completely open and subject to investigation by the people, NOT the other way around.

 

[rturner76]

What rights do you think the Patriot Act sidesteps?

The right to privacy and due process

Citation?

"As initially mentioned, there are three overlying undemocratic aspects of the Patriot Act: torturing suspects, indefinite holding of suspects, and spying on citizens. "

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1878&context=honors

I thought Obama closed down Gitmo and now we outsource our torture of terrorists to foreign nations?

I believe that......We never stopped our torture programs like this one:

"The waterboarding technique was physically harmful, inducing convulsions and vomiting. Abu Zubaydah, for example, became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth."4 Internal CIA records describe the waterboarding of Khalid Shaykh Mohammad as evolving into a "series of near drownings."

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf

They do need a warrant to do a lot of things

But not to "detain" suspected terrorists while not allowing them legal representation. People who are "arrested" in a police station have the right to a phone call, and a lawyer, and they can't be held in custody for more than 24 hours without being charged with a crime. "Detainees" have none of these rights. No phone call, no lawyer, and they may be "detained" and possibly tortured for literally an undetermined amount of time, so years and years. During that time, detainees' businesses go under, their families get displaced, the families have no way to contact a detainee nor may a detainee contact their family. Lives are shattered for years and often actual charges are never brought. No compensation nor apology.

The Patriot Act has been challenged in court, on several occasions, and has withstood those challenges every time if I'm not mistaken.

Oh, that's right, you think the US courts actually provide justice.

Realistically, the intrusive data collection you're talking about is already done rather extensively by companies like Google and Apple and then sold to all sorts of interested parties...like the federal government.

Right, they outsource the labor and violate our right by proxy.

Well again, he can't really do that

If he has enough followers, who knows what he can get away with? He got away with inciting a crowd to forcefully occupy our nation's capital, forcing elected members of our government to sit under guard in their offices. What will he do when he actually has presidential powers? Can you say "executive order."

he simply prioritized the enforcement of existing laws. This was challenged in court by Democrats and he lost and had to stop the deportations.

Nd when he's back he will again prioitize kidz in kennels. No humanity whatsoever. Who will he get to mow his lawn then? A union member?

After he was denied adequate funding for Infrastructure along the southern border....Trump tried to declare a national emergency and allocate military funding for the border infrastructure. This too was challenged in court (by Democrats) and he lost that legal battle as well.

One word.....tunnels. The wall is a joke.

So I'm being serious when I say that I think you're vastly overestimating what Trump is capable of pulling off even with a Republican majority in both houses.

Who knows what he can pull off with sheeple like your ilk?

I think that despite it ultimately failing...his attempts to open dialogue with N Korea was a good idea.

Opening dialouge is great. I actually think it was one of his greatest achievements. However praising the work the dictator is doing by enslaving and assassinating his own countrymen is a bit out of bounds if you are representing democracy and working for a free world.

Lol what is it about this statement you find so troubling?

Actually, the specific word-for-word statement is not so troubling as his preference for praising dictators rather than democratically elected leaders of the free world.

That statement lacks context. Do you have a link that provides some context?

List of journalists killed in Russia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"The dangers to journalists in Russia have been known since the early 1990s but concern over the number of unsolved killings soared after Anna Politkovskaya's murder in Moscow on 7 October 2006. While international monitors mentioned a dozen deaths, some sources within Russia talked of over two hundred fatalities"

I'm well aware of Putin’s methods.

Then you know e has free journalists assassinated correct? Please continue to justify Trump's praise of this man's tactics. Do you believe in the freedom of the press or not?

Again....what specifically is it about this statement that bothers you?

It's not the words of the statement, it is the support of the totalitarian tactics. How do you not see that?

The funny thing about these statements is how insincere and interchangeable they look when you put them one right after the other

I think he is sincere in almost nothing except praising dictators and seeking power. Question: Do you support totalitarian governments, torture of citizens, and indeterminate numbers of years of being a "detainee?" If not, please stop defending this man, what he says, and his tactics. Otherwise people will begin to associate your opinions with those that the sheeple of the United States blindly swallow, being fed by a man with his name plastered on the side of his helicopter who lives on a golf course (illegally). Anonymously of course.

I don't agree that N Korea is an economically strong developing nation.

Do you agree that people who don't support the current dictator can be forced into slave labor camps or be outright assassinated? If not, you agree that Donald Trump is praising the wrong people. It's one thing to say "I am working with this man in order to make this a more peaceful planet." It's another to say paraphrasing "this guy is doing a great job and we're great friends."

You didn't cite any policies.

It's not specific laws I am siting but the support of totalitarian government which he attempted to implement here by putting pressure on the members of the Electoral College to vote contrary to the results of their local elections and also pressuring the Vice President to not ratify the results of a legal election when he lost. These are the tactics of a want-to-be dictator and he clearly supports dictatorship.

I think what happens in N Korea is awful. I think the possibility of ending it lies in disrupting their economic ties to China....and that's not something easily done. It's certainly not going to happen by standing there and insulting both leaders of both nations.

Maybe not but is stating how much you admire their leadership going to help spread free elections (ie democracy)?

Does this sort of statement trouble you as much?

It troubles me when anybody downplays genocide. I don't know anything about that specific topic or war but in general, I am against genocide for sure whether it is a Democrat or a Republican who seems to support it.

 

[rturner76]

Nonsense.

Asylum seekers is a legal process. Nothing illegal about it.

And I believe the admin does research where you lived, what specifically was (is) the threat you are under.

 

[rturner76]

No, that's not how it works. NSA's different systems record everything (within technological capabilities). If you wait on a key word to be spoken before you start recording, you've missed it. And it's not as though the bad guys are going to say anything obvious.

It's always recording data. Calls, texts, emails, chat rooms, forums (like this one). Anything on the commercial www is game. They don't start listening live until a keyword is triggered.

There's just too much data for aimless browsing

That's why they don't start listening or reading until a keyword or phrase is triggered.

No. As I said, a query that will result in personal identification of "US persons" must be warranted by a federal judge before that query can be ru

Check again, it happens all the time "warrant after the fact" is just one easy way to get around that. Our right to privacy in electronic communication is a thing of the past.

 

[timothyu]

This article is a perfect example of how we are being 'spied' upon without warrant compliments of a trend started with the first Patriot Act. What started as surveillance is now being used by entities bent upon controlling narratives by way of disinformation departments, the new witch-hunts/inquisitions of the 21st century

Moderna is spying on you

New documents reveal its attempts to control the vaccine debate

unherd.com

 

[Ana the Ist]

The right to privacy and due process

Well due process is definitely a right.

"As initially mentioned, there are three overlying undemocratic aspects of the Patriot Act: torturing suspects, indefinite holding of suspects, and spying on citizens. "

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1878&context=honors

Your link doesn't work.

I believe that......We never stopped our torture programs like this one:

I wouldn't know without firsthand knowledge.

"The waterboarding technique was physically harmful, inducing convulsions and vomiting. Abu Zubaydah, for example, became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth."4 Internal CIA records describe the waterboarding of Khalid Shaykh Mohammad as evolving into a "series of near drownings."

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf

Again, link doesn't work.

But not to "detain" suspected terrorists while not allowing them legal representation.

These are prisoners at Guantanamo Bay if I'm not mistaken. These aren't criminal jails or criminal courts....these are considered prisoners of war.

People who are "arrested" in a police station have the right to a phone call, and a lawyer, and they can't be held in custody for more than 24 hours without being charged with a crime. "Detainees" have none of these rights. No phone call, no lawyer, and they may be "detained" and possibly tortured for literally an undetermined amount of time, so years and years.

See above.

Oh, that's right, you think the US courts actually provide justice.

For the most part...yes. I tend to find that extreme critics of the US justice system don't typically have a justice system they would prefer.

Right, they outsource the labor and violate our right by proxy.

What's our right here? I'm not a terrorist.

If he has enough followers, who knows what he can get away with?

Winning an election would be my guess.

I don't see much point in speculation. There was speculation of nuclear war last time he ran. I think fears about Trump crowning himself dictator are no less silly.

He got away with inciting a crowd to forcefully occupy our nation's capital,

If they could prosecute him for incitement, they would. Given that they aren't...that should tell you something.

forcing elected members of our government to sit under guard in their offices.

He didn't force anyone to do that. In fact, we found out later a lot of people lied about that.

What will he do when he actually has presidential powers? Can you say "executive order."

Illegal executive orders can be challenged.

Besides, we already have a president who is trying to openly discriminate against people like me for being white men....in business loans, college acceptance, job opportunities, etc. I made a thread about it.

Besides, the American people are destroying people's lives for stating an opinion they disagree with on Twitter....demanding those people lose their jobs. The American people burned down and looted more small businesses out of existence than I can count.

Seems a little foolish to fear what might happen given what is already happening.

Nd when he's back he will again prioitize kidz in kennels. No humanity whatsoever. Who will he get to mow his lawn then? A union member?

Lol let's not pretend that you care about kids in cages...

1. There's a record number of kids in cages under Biden....more than all the kids under Trump and Obama combined.
2. The Biden administration has handed these children over to human smuggling cartels operating in the US.
3. The NYT did an expose on the explosion of child labor in the US under Biden because of this...yet I bet you don't hear about any employers getting arrested for child labor.


The best description of Biden's immigration policy is modern day slavery. The best thing that could happen to these children is getting deported.

One word.....tunnels. The wall is a joke.

Why would the cartels waste any tunnels on migrants? Why risk losing the ability to smuggle drugs into the US by sending thousands of people through the tunnels?

They can just drop those people over the border and they're in.

Who knows what he can pull off with sheeple like your ilk?

Other than the fantasy scenarios you're imagining....there's literally nothing you've listed that isn't already happening or worse under Biden.

Opening dialouge is great. I actually think it was one of his greatest achievements.

Cool we agree.

Actually, the specific word-for-word statement is not so troubling

Ok.

Please continue to justify Trump's praise of this man's tactics. Do you believe in the freedom of the press or not?

Are we talking about the press that squashed legitimate stories about laptops thanks to help from the Biden campaign?

It's not the words of the statement

Then what's the problem?

Biden literally exused genocide in China as a "cultural norm".

You're reading into Trump’s statements looking for things that aren't even said...

And you ignore the current president literally excusing genocide as a "cultural norm".

Question: Do you support totalitarian governments, torture of citizens, and indeterminate numbers of years of being a "detainee?"

What does this have to do with anything? The Patriot Act happened under Bush, the torture and drone striking of terrorists happened under Bush and Obama.

Trump ended a war.

Biden now has us funding 2 new wars.

If not, please stop defending this man, what he says, and his tactics.

You said, in this very post...you don't have any problems with his exact words.

Therefore, I don't have to defend his words. If you want to make some goofy, paranoid interpretation of his words...that's on you.

Otherwise people will begin to associate your opinions with those that the sheeple of the United States blindly swallow

Sheeple? Didn't you spend 4 years swallowing every line of nonsense that BLM spewed while they raked in millions of donations and never helped a single black person? Didn't you defend the fact that they did billions of dollars of damage to black communities that will last for years?

Not sure you're in any position to call anyone sheeple.

Do you agree that people who don't support the current dictator can be forced into slave labor camps or be outright assassinated?

In N Korea or China?

It's one thing to say "I am working with this man in order to make this a more peaceful planet."

Who said that?

It's not specific laws I am siting

*citing

but the support of totalitarian government which he attempted to implement here

He seems to have believed he was cheated out of an election win. Given the coordination of the FBI, social media, conventional media, and the Biden campaign....it's an understandable belief.

That's not the same as "trying set up a dictatorship".

Maybe not but is stating how much you admire their leadership going to help spread free elections (ie democracy)?

By weakening their ties to China. N Korea has no economy, and relies entirely upon China for everything. They spend everything on their military because they still believe they're at war with the US and if they were to significantly cut spending on their military, they could grow a real economy, and this would weaken China's hold on them.

The first step in that would be convincing them that they don't have to fear the US or S Korea.

It troubles me when anybody downplays genocide. I don't know anything about that specific topic or war but in general, I am against genocide for sure whether it is a Democrat or a Republican who seems to support it.

Well aren't you concerned that Biden's excusing of genocide as a cultural norm, his repeated attempts to violate civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, and his endless attempts to remove political opponents through relentless prosecution, the fact that he lost track of 85,000 children while child labor and human smuggling have exploded under his watch, all while he's involved the US in the funding and support two new wars....

Not to mention Biden has almost certainly committed or helped commit a war crime by selling cluster bombs to the Ukraine. Check out our stance on the pipelines before they were blown up...

https://www.cato.org/commentary/washingtons-plans-torpedo-russia-europe-gas-pipeline-will-blow-its-face

The CIA’s New Nord Stream Narrative Is Terrifying

Should we believe American officials who claim they can’t stop Ukraine from reckless escalation?

www.google.com

Seems like even if we weren't involved, we could have prevented it.

Don't these issues cause you to worry about the totalitarian nature of the Biden administration? Doesn't the child labor and medical experimentation on children smack of 3rd world dictator tactics?

 

[RDKirk]

It's always recording data. Calls, texts, emails, chat rooms, forums (like this one). Anything on the commercial www is game. They don't start listening live until a keyword is triggered.

That's why they don't start listening or reading until a keyword or phrase is triggered.

As I said, it goes on more than "keywords." Heck, "keywords" are hardly ever actually spoken; real bad guys aren't that stupid. It goes more on technical parameters surrounding the communication than spoken words. In fact, not all of the communications are even between humans...it includes computer-to-computer communication as well.

And you still don't appreciate the sheer volume of global communications the US is interested in. It varies from drug operations in Guatemala to violent tree huggers in Mindinao to Hamas terrorists in Gaza to Russian military operations in Ukraine. There are billions of communications recorded resulting in thousands of "hits" (communications that meet alert parameters) every day.

 

[timothyu]

Wanna win a war.. go analogue

 

[MrMoe]

What I see pulling American and other western countries apart is the fixation on race and the stupidity surrounding it.

There's 'cultural appropriation'.

Recently an Australian woman opened a sushi restaurant in New York. She received harassment and her restaurant was review bombed with half a star reviews. All this because she was a white woman selling what is a traditionally Japanese food. Fortunately this story has a happy ending as well as a twist.

There's 'anything/anyone I don't like is racist'.

A singer tried to film a music video in a Target without permission and was told they couldn't film there by a Target employee. She called the Target employee racist.

This is a part of bigger problem, which is the coddling of minorities. Like the way the "progressive" left tries to actually protect minorities against words. For example, the word like monkeypox being changed to mpox. No evidence of the word being used in a racist context was shown. Just the potential for racism it seems was enough to get the name changed. There's also college "safe spaces" for people of color only. Not even infants are coddled this much.

If a group of people are constantly told they are oppressed then there are some that will eventually start to believe it, as well as those who will take advantage of it. This is how we get Jussie Smollett, Hasan Minhaj, the singer in the Target story, and all these fake hate crimes. The progressive left has basically turned victimhood into currency.

Of course not all who are a part of these minorities buy into this and thankfully most of the people in these minorities don't buy into this. But there is a significant number of people in these minorities that have bought into the oppression narrative.

This story shocked me. This is how crazy it's gotten.

Skip to 2:02 to hear the story.

Now that's privilege. Having your "allies" come to help you perpetuate your own victim narrative.

For the most part I see it's those on the right calling this stuff out. Those on the moderate left either ignore, defend it or try to downplay it, except when the victimhood narrative is so ridiculous even they have to say something, as in the story above. The only prominent left winger I see calling this stuff out is Bill Maher. Yeah, "wokeness" is a big problem in America.