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United States44398 Posts
On August 11 2026 15:18 RvB wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 04:46 KwarK wrote:On August 11 2026 03:31 RvB wrote:On August 11 2026 02:50 KwarK wrote:On August 11 2026 02:16 RvB wrote:On August 11 2026 01:54 KwarK wrote:On August 10 2026 23:12 oBlade wrote:On August 10 2026 22:34 Billyboy wrote:On August 10 2026 18:58 oBlade wrote:On August 10 2026 09:10 Billyboy wrote:
I wonder if Republicans are getting tired of winning so hard yet,
[quote]
Imagine still believing that Trump was the better choice. Has anyone ever lost a way harder that they started and had every advantage? It’s actually wild. Oh wow well if Tehran is "demanding" it that's pretty bad since if Tehran demands something everyone just has to do it, I mean it's Tehran after all. And when their demands aren't met, what exactly will happen? I would presume the US will keep spending bombs and interceptors plus the billions on force posturing they are unwilling to use until the economic and political pressure is too much for Donnie and he capitulates and declares victory. And mush brains like you will cheer for him. Your guess? You just told me Iran is demanding the US end its attacks on Iran, and that if the US doesn't, then the US will use bombs on Iran. That's definitionally what would happen. I already got that part. Iran has nothing attached to these demands? "Meet our demands by... never... or else we will do... nothing." What remaining card are they going to play and why were they so generous as to not play it in the last 6 months? Firstly, you don’t believe in Iran. Your stance is that the old nation no longer exists post regime change. Secondly, the closed strait is a slow escalating burn. They don’t need a new card, the closure does nothing for a while due to the large stockpiles but as those stockpiles are eroded the releases slow and the damage escalates. The assertion that pressure won’t increase is nonsense, it’s constantly increasing. More time also gives markets more time to adjust. The oil price is not consistent with a slow escalating burn. From the start of the war until the second half of May the price was consistently close to 100 dollars a barrel. It has not breached 90 dollars since even though inventories are much lower right now. Look at the US SPR graph if you want to see why it went down in May. The price goes up when releases slow and goes down when they increase. If we imagine a scenario where each week 2% of whatever remains is released then we would see what you expect, a slow rise. But that’s not how the releases have been done. My argument was that the pressure increases over time as stocks are drawn down, not necessarily the price. Let's say tomorrow Trump went crazy and decided to sell from the SPR to any buyer for $50/barrel. The price would sharply drop but the pressure would sharply increase as the timeline on the impending emergency changed. You can't equate oil price to pressure 1:1. Take a look at how large oil markets are and compare it to the strategic reserves. They're not nearly enough to cause price movements like that for any significant amount of time. It helps at the margin and can prevent large price spikes. An increase in production by other producers and a very large reduction in demand are much bigger factors. I suggest you do exactly that. We're talking about a net deficit of about 13m barrel/day through Hormuz after pipelines. And we're talking about stockpiles of over 2,000m barrels. China alone has 1,400m barrels. Once you add marginal production onlined/upscaled after the price hikes the stockpiles are more than sufficient for the time period you're saying they wouldn't be. Weird that you would ask me to take a look at the numbers when they so utterly disprove your point. That's almost all China. They've released 150 million barrels. The IEA has released 420 million barrels since March. That's around 4.75 million barrels a day in total. That's still a large gap left. I've looked at the SPR graph as you suggested and it's basically a straight line down. You're going to have to explain how the releases started in March, prices only went down in the second half of May, and they're not approaching earlier price levels when stocks are much lower and the release of barrels from the reserves is nearing its end.
The US didn’t do SPR releases in March.
No releases March.
21m barrels April.
43m barrels May.
That’s why I’m telling you to look at the data instead of just assuming it was even releases starting with the start of the war.
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On August 11 2026 04:55 Gorsameth wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 04:46 Billyboy wrote:On August 11 2026 04:30 Gorsameth wrote:On August 11 2026 04:23 dyhb wrote:On August 11 2026 04:13 Gorsameth wrote:On August 11 2026 04:08 dyhb wrote:On August 11 2026 03:55 Gorsameth wrote:On August 11 2026 02:51 dyhb wrote:Interesting development in the road up to the upcoming Israeli elections and US midterm elections: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected President Trump’s plan to establish permanent peace in Gaza, a rare public break with the U.S. leader, who just weeks ago hailed “a historic agreement” to disarm Hamas.
The plan calls for the militant group to lay down arms in tandem with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, which the Israeli leader said Sunday couldn’t happen until Hamas was fully disarmed.
Netanyahu’s decision, spelled out in a government meeting and video statement, risks angering Trump, with whom he has had fractious relations behind the scenes for months. The collapse of the peace process in Gaza would rob Trump of what his administration has described as a major foreign-policy achievement of his second term at the same time as the president is embroiled in the Iran war.
Netanyahu, who has come under pressure from the Trump administration to agree to the deal to disarm Hamas, also faces uphill elections in the fall and his hard-right coalition partners have vociferously objected to the terms of the agreement. “Israel rejects the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarmament of Hamas, I mean heavy weapons, less heavy weapons, light weapons, all the weapons,” Netanyahu said at the opening of an Israeli cabinet meeting, using an abbreviation for the Israeli military. WSJWithdrawal prior to disarmament appears to be the sticking point. Netanyahu has sabotaged or rejected every single peace negotiation in the region. It is as interesting a development as the sun rising tomorrow. The break with Trump is interesting to me at this juncture. Trump's more popular than Netanyahu in Israel, and Netanyahu is facing an election in two and a half months. Netanyahu has broken repeatedly with Trump during this Iran war when Netanyahu repeatedly sabotaged the peace (surrender) deals that Trump's team negotiated by continuing attacks on Hezbollah. Trump having angry calls with Netanyahu has been in the news several times already. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-confirms-he-called-netanyahu-crazy-phone-call-2026-06-03/This example was last month, it is not new. Netanyahu has Trump by the balls, the exact reasoning you can argue over. Whether its Epstein tapes from him being a Mossad asset or just the US Jewish lobby but until Trump announces the US is leaving Israel to sort it themselves I'm not buying any 'rift'. I regarded all the stupid Trump promising that Israel will do something relating to Hezbollah in Lebanon as Trump stupidity. He's negotiating on behalf of the US relating to Iran. I'm talking about the Gaza peace deal, not angry phone calls. They can have as supplicating relationship or angry relationship or whatever, but I figured on more playing nice on Gaza-US-Israel for the sake of his electoral chances. Which aren't great so far as I am reading. Netanyahu's re-election is tied to his ability to keep the country at war and appease the hardliners by committing genocide and establishing greater Israel. Peace is the greatest threat to Netanyahu, not whether or not he sucked Trumps dick recently. Winning would be the best for him. The rest is your angry fantasy. If Israel could defeat Hezbollah, have them completely removed from Lebanon, normalize relations and move their army completely out of Lebanon. That would be a huge victory for Netanyahu. That the people of Israel are blood thirsty group and only genocide will satisfy them, is hateful nonsense. I said hardliners, not all jews. And I can say that because it literally happened and is still happening in Gaza. And you can add the long history of illegal Israel settlements claiming land from Palestinians that continues to this day. Certain groups within Israel absolute are bloodthirsty genocidal maniacs. The facts are there, the UN human rights council agrees with me. Show nested quote +A new report alleges that Israeli authorities and security forces have "deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children", and that the killings continued even after last October's ceasefire in Gaza.
The commission says it has reasonable grounds to conclude that those acts "form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children". www.bbc.com
Well, it would make sense for Israel's government to pursue a strategy of targeting Palestinian children since 64 % of their citizens have been successfully convinced by incessant propaganda that there are no innocents in Gaza:
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-poll-62-of-israelis-say-there-are-no-innocent-people-in-gaza
Of course, it's not just them, as I like to remind people, our resident pretend centrist argued vehemently that IDF killing a 8 and 11 year old boys while they were gathering firewood was perfectly justified.
Israel is pursuing genocidal, or at the very least policy of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and it has overwhelming support of it's citizens for it:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-05-28/ty-article-magazine/.premium/yes-to-transfer-82-of-jewish-israelis-back-expelling-gazans/00000197-12a4-df22-a9d7-9ef6af930000
As well as support for razing villages in Lebanon and killing negotiators and heads of state in Iran.
Nethyanahu will ensure to continue pursuing these expansionist and openly genocidal policies as long as he is in power, and he believes the best way to stay in power is to pursue them.
He is also a very smart political operator, and I think he can see that Trump is losing support left and right, so he feels emboldened to openly go against him.
Then again, we've all seen this song and dance before, "Trump is angry at Bibi and he yelled at him on the phone" so Trump can signal strength to his more anti-semitic part of his base.
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On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side.
It's been like this for years now.
I really don't mind if people don't engage me or even my political perspectives. But holy hell, this is worse than it was with me and people like JonnyB or JimmiC.
FWIW Kwark, I read Gangsters of Capitalism. Not my favorite (I could see why you would think that), but it must have sounded familiar for you. I do recommend everyone read it.
I'm curious what you thought I'd get out of it and even more curious what you got out of it? Don't get me wrong though, I'm content for you to ignore me and discussing the book you recommended.
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On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side.
I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics.
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On August 11 2026 21:02 LightSpectra wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side. I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics.
This might be what you tell yourself, but it isn't true.
Besides frequently literally requesting/pining for their opinions, and celebrating them sharing them, the incessant engagement does far more to propagate their nonsense than ignoring them and figuring out how to discuss US politics among yourselves (without those you all deem unworthy). That's not my opinion. Those are facts.
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Addendum to my previous comment: I don't want this website to become a fascist circlejerk, and I also don't want people here thinking GH represents actual leftism.
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On August 11 2026 21:02 LightSpectra wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side. I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics.
Some of my favorite posters are these who every now and then parachute in to proclaim how stupid the whole thread is because people engage with each other, and yes, engage with people like oBlade.
I really don't get what these folks think we are doing here, it's basically an very low stakes debate club.
I personally decided to never engage oBlade again, at least not until he answers a very simple question which to me is completely disqualifying from participating in a politics debate club, but I don't mind when other people call out and meticulously disassemble his weak ass reasoning and trolling attempts, sometimes I'll read it, sometimes I'll skip it.
Thinking that anyone here is in the business of changing minds shows clear lack of understanding on how internet works.
The value I extract from this is being more informed, hearing and engaging with opinions different then my own and killing boredom, and that should be enough.
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On August 11 2026 21:55 LightSpectra wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 21:36 GreenHorizons wrote:On August 11 2026 21:02 LightSpectra wrote:On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side. I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics. This might be what you tell yourself, but it isn't true. Besides frequently literally requesting/pining for their opinions, and celebrating them sharing them, the incessant engagement does far more to propagate their nonsense than ignoring them and figuring out how to discuss US politics among yourselves (without those you all deem unworthy). That's not my opinion. Those are facts. Addendum to my previous comment: I don't want this website to become a fascist circlejerk, and I also don't want people here thinking GH represents actual leftism.
I readily tell people I don't represent "actual leftism" whatever the hell that is lol. I'm a revolutionary socialist, but as I've said, probably "gold league". So I mostly try to just remind people what the "pros" say in various forms.
You're literally doing a lot more to make this place a fascist circlejerk than Introvert is.
You're not even pretending to try to present your counter arguments to oBlade types in ways that would actually appeal to the kind of person that would ever be swayed by an echo chamber of oBlade types.
This idea you have of the purpose your posting here serves is demonstrably delusional.
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Yes, we know your ideal version of this thread is one where the far-right posters share their insane lies about immigrants, trans people, etc., and then you pop in and say "Just a reminder, Democrats bad 👍" and that'll achieve socialism.
I'll no longer respond to you because you've repeatedly demonstrated you can't or refuse to act in good faith whenever anyone spends more than two replies probing your beliefs.
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I enjoy that GH jumps between how everyone needs to be better. And shit talking the people he’s currently mad at.
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On August 11 2026 22:11 LightSpectra wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 22:03 GreenHorizons wrote:On August 11 2026 21:55 LightSpectra wrote:On August 11 2026 21:36 GreenHorizons wrote:On August 11 2026 21:02 LightSpectra wrote:On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side. I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics. This might be what you tell yourself, but it isn't true. Besides frequently literally requesting/pining for their opinions, and celebrating them sharing them, the incessant engagement does far more to propagate their nonsense than ignoring them and figuring out how to discuss US politics among yourselves (without those you all deem unworthy). That's not my opinion. Those are facts. Addendum to my previous comment: I don't want this website to become a fascist circlejerk, and I also don't want people here thinking GH represents actual leftism. I readily tell people I don't represent "actual leftism" whatever the hell that is lol. I'm a revolutionary socialist, but as I've said, probably "gold league". So I mostly try to just remind people what the "pros" say in various forms. You're literally doing a lot more to make this place a fascist circlejerk than Introvert is. You're not even pretending to try to present your counter arguments to oBlade types in ways that would actually appeal to the kind of person that would ever be swayed by an echo chamber of oBlade types. This idea you have of the purpose your posting here serves is demonstrably delusional. Yes, we know your ideal version of this thread is one where the far-right posters share their insane lies about immigrants, trans people, etc., and then you pop in and say "Just a reminder, Democrats bad 👍" and that'll achieve socialism. I'll no longer respond to you because you've repeatedly demonstrated you can't or refuse to act in good faith whenever anyone spends more than two replies probing your beliefs.
It's so disheartening but predictable for you to lash out at strawmen like this instead of actually being able to process and respond to a factual critique.
I know other people can see it, but it's hard for them to speak up a la Milgram and Asch
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On August 11 2026 21:55 Jankisa wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 21:02 LightSpectra wrote:On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side. I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics. Some of my favorite posters are these who every now and then parachute in to proclaim how stupid the whole thread is because people engage with each other, and yes, engage with people like oBlade. I really don't get what these folks think we are doing here, it's basically an very low stakes debate club. I personally decided to never engage oBlade again, at least not until he answers a very simple question which to me is completely disqualifying from participating in a politics debate club, but I don't mind when other people call out and meticulously disassemble his weak ass reasoning and trolling attempts, sometimes I'll read it, sometimes I'll skip it. Thinking that anyone here is in the business of changing minds shows clear lack of understanding on how internet works. The value I extract from this is being more informed, hearing and engaging with opinions different then my own and killing boredom, and that should be enough.
Im just constantly amazed you guys have energy and time to do this every day for years and years. And for a low stakes debate space, posters here get heated a lot and there's a lot of ad hominem attacks and name calling.
Anyway, sorry for bothering you, gl hf
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On August 11 2026 17:40 Jankisa wrote:
Of course, it's not just them, as I like to remind people, our resident pretend centrist argued vehemently that IDF killing a 8 and 11 year old boys while they were gathering firewood was perfectly justified. I'll remind people that you just chose to blindly trust one account over another. Naturally, you tried to shift the question of trust in conflicting accounts to debating a different, extreme stance. If you had more courage in your own arguments, you wouldn't have to misrepresent opposing arguments.
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Someone using the phrase "change one's mind" without reference to any specific proposition is just talking about Tribes. That's not interesting.
Here's a specific proposition. The background is the governor of Minnesota, who claimed his state was invaded by the federal government, and was touted as the next "aw shucks" vice president, pardoned an immigrant sex offender for state crimes to try and shield him from federal deportation. Which failed as DHS deported him to Laos.
The man came to the US as a refugee and then abused a girl for 2 years starting when she was 10. For which he was convicted which terminated his legal status and he got a final order of deportation in 2006.
Walz went in front of cameras and pontificated "Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?" perhaps not understanding the difference between two years and a day, or out of an overabundance of compassion for child abusing refugees. Or perhaps after 20 years it's just water under the bridge.
So my personal opinion is even thinking that, yet alone actually issuing the pardon and going on TV to defend it, and him, is disqualifyingly insane behavior.
I am certainly open minded and always willing to listen to new evidence. So for example I could be wrong about that, or I could be wrong about supporting single payer healthcare, or I could be wrong about civil asset forfeiture being tyranny. I'm listening but get better ideas.
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Two questions:
1) do you have a source for any of that better than Alpha News that "reports news with poor sourcing, such as using a Facebook page as a primary source"?
2) adjudicated rapist Donald Trump pardoned several sex offenders, e.g. Andrew Taake ("has not exhibited an ounce of remorse for his actions, nor accepted responsibility—going so far as to deny responsibility even after his guilty plea" of "sending explicit photos and messages to someone who he thought was a 15-year-old girl"). Is that also "disqualifyingly insane behavior"?
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On August 11 2026 22:34 PoulsenB wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2026 21:55 Jankisa wrote:On August 11 2026 21:02 LightSpectra wrote:On August 11 2026 14:25 PoulsenB wrote:
GH has a point, this thread is at least 50% just people writing essays at oBlade, as if anything they write could change his opinion or make him admit he's in the wrong; conversely, nothing oBlade writes can change the mind of the people writing at him, it all just devolves into pages of shouting matches in which none of the participants is really listening to the other side. I'm tired of explaining this over and over again, but nobody is expecting oBlade or Introvert etc. to change their minds. I only post in this thread to prevent it from becoming a fascist circlejerk to radicalize people who don't pay attention to politics. Some of my favorite posters are these who every now and then parachute in to proclaim how stupid the whole thread is because people engage with each other, and yes, engage with people like oBlade. I really don't get what these folks think we are doing here, it's basically an very low stakes debate club. I personally decided to never engage oBlade again, at least not until he answers a very simple question which to me is completely disqualifying from participating in a politics debate club, but I don't mind when other people call out and meticulously disassemble his weak ass reasoning and trolling attempts, sometimes I'll read it, sometimes I'll skip it. Thinking that anyone here is in the business of changing minds shows clear lack of understanding on how internet works. The value I extract from this is being more informed, hearing and engaging with opinions different then my own and killing boredom, and that should be enough. Im just constantly amazed you guys have energy and time to do this every day for years and years. And for a low stakes debate space, posters here get heated a lot and there's a lot of ad hominem attacks and name calling. Anyway, sorry for bothering you, gl hf
I don't know, it's kind of a "calling a spade a spade" situation to me. When righties cheer for ICE, blowing up kids or starting wars, well, it's very hard for me not to call them fascists.
When someone like GH ranks Democratic party as his #1 target above actual fascists and consistently sides with Russia and China above his own country, it's hard for me not to call him a tankie.
It doesn't mean that I hate them or am even angry at them as people, I think they are victims of circumstance and propaganda, and while I don't think I have the ability to change their mind, I do hope that they do some day.
As far as energy goes, I find it strangely relaxing.
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On August 12 2026 00:16 LightSpectra wrote:Two questions: 1) do you have a source for any of that better than Alpha News that "reports news with poor sourcing, such as using a Facebook page as a primary source"?
The article linked the original complaint.
It linked the application for clemency.
And it linked the DHS.
It never linked Facebook.
Here's a wall of more reporting you could have found by googling the case instead of just googling the website to be told what to think about its bias profile:
+ Show Spoiler +
On August 12 2026 00:16 LightSpectra wrote:2) adjudicated rapist Donald Trump pardoned several sex offenders, e.g. Andrew Taake ("has not exhibited an ounce of remorse for his actions, nor accepted responsibility—going so far as to deny responsibility even after his guilty plea" of "sending explicit photos and messages to someone who he thought was a 15-year-old girl"). Is that also "disqualifyingly insane behavior"?
You might have discovered thermonuclear dishonesty. Share the other several examples, because that's not what was pardoned there. Andrew Taake still a convicted child sex predator. 30 seconds spent on your own article would tell you.
Walz pardoned the actual child abuse conviction.
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Alright, so here's the part oBlade was omitting:
On June 10, the Board of Pardons — consisting of Walz, Ellison and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson — voted to purge Vang’s felony sexual assault conviction. The deciding factor was a letter from Vang’s victim saying she forgave him and supported his pardon.
“What happened to me was wrong, but I have had many years to think about this,” the victim’s letter read. “I have made my peace with it. I forgive him. That was a long time ago.”
“He is not the same person now. I have seen how he has changed,” the letter went on. “I believe he is sorry for what he did. I want his family to stay together here. His children need their father. He and his wife have built a life. I believe that he has learned and grown since the abuse and that the family has suffered enough. Please grant this pardon. That is my wish.”
Vang, now 42, addressed the board before the vote and expressed remorse for his actions.
“What I did was wrong. It was a serious crime. She was a child,” he said. “I took something from her that she cannot get back. From my heart, I am very sorry to the victim, sorry to other people who I hurt by these actions.“
Vang said he grew up without his father, who died in Thailand when he was 6 years old. He said he was in special education all his years in school. When he was arrested, he said he blamed his culture for the offense, “but that was a lie.”
“There’s no culture that makes what I did acceptable,” he said.
Vang’s lawyer, Winona Yang, told the board that he completed treatment afterward and never reoffended.
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-pardon-tou-lue-vang-laos-dhs-deport-gov-tim-walz/601864048
The perpetrator a) already served his time, b) was explicitly verbally remorseful, and most importantly, c) the victim spoke up in favor of his pardon after verbally forgiving him.
Does that make what Walz did right? Honestly, I don't know. I can't say with certainty I'd have done the same thing in his position, but it's easy to see how someone with a deep Christian faith that believes people are capable of changing after their time served would do so.
What I do know with certainty is that if the perpetrator were a white man and the victim were an undocumented immigrant, he'd still be walking free, whereas she'd be locked indefinitely in an ICE detention camp to be potentially force fed food that's rotten, denied medication, and given drinking water infested with worms.
oBlade will certainly go on to defend his president being a convicted felon and adjudicated sex offender without a single moment of hesitation. He evidently doesn't care that Trump pardoned a child sex offender that's completely unremorseful. He also doesn't care that ICE has sexually abused countless people including children. For him rape is just something to be used against Democrats but ignored, excused, sometimes even celebrated when done by Republicans.
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On August 12 2026 01:10 LightSpectra wrote:Alright, so here's the part oBlade was omitting: Show nested quote +On June 10, the Board of Pardons — consisting of Walz, Ellison and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson — voted to purge Vang’s felony sexual assault conviction. The deciding factor was a letter from Vang’s victim saying she forgave him and supported his pardon.
“What happened to me was wrong, but I have had many years to think about this,” the victim’s letter read. “I have made my peace with it. I forgive him. That was a long time ago.”
“He is not the same person now. I have seen how he has changed,” the letter went on. “I believe he is sorry for what he did. I want his family to stay together here. His children need their father. He and his wife have built a life. I believe that he has learned and grown since the abuse and that the family has suffered enough. Please grant this pardon. That is my wish.”
Vang, now 42, addressed the board before the vote and expressed remorse for his actions.
“What I did was wrong. It was a serious crime. She was a child,” he said. “I took something from her that she cannot get back. From my heart, I am very sorry to the victim, sorry to other people who I hurt by these actions.“
Vang said he grew up without his father, who died in Thailand when he was 6 years old. He said he was in special education all his years in school. When he was arrested, he said he blamed his culture for the offense, “but that was a lie.”
“There’s no culture that makes what I did acceptable,” he said.
Vang’s lawyer, Winona Yang, told the board that he completed treatment afterward and never reoffended. https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-pardon-tou-lue-vang-laos-dhs-deport-gov-tim-walz/601864048The perpetrator a) already served his time, b) was explicitly verbally remorseful, and most importantly, c) the victim spoke up in favor of his pardon after verbally forgiving him. Does that make what Walz did right? Honestly, I don't know. I can't say with certainty I'd have done the same thing in his position, but it's easy to see how someone with a deep Christian faith that believes people are capable of changing after their time served would do so. What I do know with certainty is that if the perpetrator were a white man and the victim were an undocumented immigrant, he'd still be walking free, whereas she'd be locked indefinitely in an ICE detention camp to be potentially force fed food that's rotten, denied medication, and given drinking water infested with worms.
The victim spoke up after the guy who raped her married her older sister.
This is why we don't let Stockholm syndrome victims be judges in their own cases.
Nor do I believe having children of your own should EVER be some kind of mitigating factor that lets you avoid the consequences of child sex crimes. I would actually rather child rapists had no children. Nor do I want them having children to use as legal shields. I certainly didn't mean to cover up evidence, it simply didn't change anything for me although it does for you. I feel no sympathy for the "man."
All in all I'm just good with refugees who think raping a girl and marrying her older sister is a cultural difference (his initial justification to investigators before the real him came out and repented 20 years later) taking refuge elsewhere.
On August 12 2026 01:10 LightSpectra wrote:
oBlade will certainly go on to defend his president being a convicted felon and adjudicated sex offender without a single moment of hesitation. He evidently doesn't care that Trump pardoned a child sex offender that's completely unremorseful.
This troll logic is like saying that pardoning Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing, and pardoning Ted Kaczynski for jaywalking, are the same because in both cases you pardoned a terrorist.
The child sex offense was not pardoned.
"countless"
The first word of the article is "Dozens."
Your article says there's 170 cases of sexual violence over 50 years. The US rape and sexual assault averages around 2 per 1000 annually. For an ICE/CBP of 50,000 people, over 50 years (back when it was INS), you'd expect 5,000 cases lol. Ergo, ICE is far less criminal (as you would expect as sworn federal officers in the line of duty) than the US average, and your neighborhood would be safer if ICE agents immigrated to it. Of course, anyone who breaks that oath and trust should be punished extra hard.
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On August 12 2026 01:10 LightSpectra wrote:
What I do know with certainty is that if the perpetrator were a white man and the victim were an undocumented immigrant, he'd still be walking free If the perpetrator was not an illegal immigrant, he wouldn't have been deported? Yes. He also wouldn't have been given a final order of removal in 2006.
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EPT
