Schrödinger's 8 Ball

We have a case of schrodinger's aid trucks too: Gaza has enough aid, according to israel: https://aijac.org.au/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-aid-into-gaza/ "fact sheet"
But also there's not enough aid because Israel put a ban on it for 12 weeks to stop hamas getting it, but there would be aid if only the aid workers agreed to only distribute in the south of Gaza at four set sites protected by Israeli military. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/11/nx-s1-5395011/israel-new-gaza-aid-plan-us

Umberto Eco (a survivor of Mussolini’s actual regime) identified this as one of the core traits of Ur-Fascism. Specifically, #8…
The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies.… However, the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.
You will note that Republicans check literally every single box of Umberto Eco’s list.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism
- That was my same thought. The enemy is too strong but also too weak?
- I am always glad when people share this because whenever I bring it up IRL it seems like nobody else has read it.
  
  I think of this every time I see some egregiously fascist behavior on display in the Trump admin getting defended by people who think the left is overreacting. I wish more people knew about this and understood that it's not some left wing looney saying it, it's a guy who lived through it and can identify it for what it truly is.
  
  We are outnumbered, as usual.

This is actually how Russians do their propaganda. NATO is weak but also the greatest threat to our nation. Sending Abrams to Ukraine is pointless as they are useless tanks and Ukraine has already lost, but also sending Abrams is crossing a line and a declaration of war.
Gee, wonder where Trump learned it from?
- the followers [of fascism] must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak. Fascist governments are condemned to lose wars because they are constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy.
  -- Umberto Eco, Ur-Fascism https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism
  
  The loser's flag, the confederate's is flown today in my neighborhood, and they are determined to make us all losers.
- Gee, wonder where Trump learned it from?
  It's Fascism 101.
- Zelenskyy is simultaneously a puppet of The West™ and a wizard mind controlling EU and US
- You don’t need to learn it from anywhere. Look at the stereotype of cats who love affection when they want it even if you’re busy but who get mad when you initiate when all they’re doing is lying there. All these people have really “done” is not grow out of being whiny, bitch-ass toddlers. They’re just deeply insecure, immature assholes with zero compassion or self-awareness.
  
  While simultaneously having compassion and empathy for billionaire fascist. lol.
  
  You just described my ex. I’ve never known a cat to be that shitty to me though.
- LOL like Russia isn't depicted the same way by our propaganda? GTFOH...
  
  Sorry, no Orcs allowed, you'll have to leave.
- The greatest threat to a nation being weak technically isnt a contradiction. If all your enemies are weak, even the most powerful is weak
- And how NATO does propaganda against both Russia and China.
  
  Oh? Can you give an example? Because I've mostly seen official channels take Russia very seriously

Schrödinger’s Election: it’s rigged unless we win.
- It was rigged but ALSO we won.
- https://www.npr.org/2016/11/27/503506026/trump-makes-unfounded-claim-that-millions-voted-illegally-for-clinton

I just commented to get rid of the 88 count. Smash the fash.

If you're a trans American upset that you can't be part of the US military in 2025, what the fuck are you even doing?

Schrodinger's energy crisis:
We need to sell public lands for oil extraction since we have an energy crisis!
We need to cancel wind energy and solar facility construction!

Schrodinger's immigrant: they're both lazy moochers and taking all our jobs.
- Schrodinger's immigrant for the Trump era: they're all criminals and have no criminal records... clearly because they're such good criminals.

True story. Back in 2008 there were two op-ed pieces on the smae page of the Murdoch owned New York Post.
One said that voting for Obama was a waste of time, because he was a centrist neoliberal who'd only serve up milder versions of GOP programs, so you'd be better off with an actual Republican.
The other screamed that he was a radical Socialist who would destroy America.
Same newspaper, same page, no irony
- Isn’t this what the opinion page is for?
  
  Not only is it what Op Eds are for, it's also extremely common practice to have two contrasting views on the same page to give voice to a variety of different opinions.
  Complaining about two Op Eds on the same page with different opinions is like complaining that a dictionary has two definitions of two different words on the same page.
- Brace yourself for all the “gotcha!” comments from enlightened centrists that don’t understand the core concept of controlled opposition or propaganda.
  
  People nitpicking on the internet?
  Un-possible!
- Are you unfamiliar with the concept of an Op Ed?
  
  So, you read what I wrote and concluded that in life I'd only seen one Op-Ed page?
  You funny, in a sad way.

Classic fascist doublethink. Straight out of the book. The enemy is both strong/dangerous enough to be a serious threat, but the fascist is still somehow very superior to them. 🤷

Schrodinger's racism: All non-whites must be deported, but South-African white people must be brought over, granted asylum and protection from "genocide".
I am white, so there's no confusion. And no, I'm not saying they don't deserve help, as the situation in South Africa is pretty bad for them - it's really just the double standard.

Is Doublethink a more adequate term?
- Yes. And no.
- Yes

Schrodinger's tariffs: they're great, except when they hurt my small business.
- That's just basic cruelty. "Hurting other people is great"

Schrödingers free speech: You can tweet everything unless it's against Muskrats opinion.

Schrödinger’s Democracy: We The People, unless I disagree with those people.
- It's "We, the people", not "Them there people"! /s

Schrodinger's Canada: we don't need anything from them, but we'd love to own them anyway.

Their military excuse is actually that a person who switches gender can’t be honest and committed, which is just as crazy, it still has that view that people “choose” to be trans and by choosing to be trans they should a lack of commitment to their birth gender i guess??
- You swore an oath when you signed that birth certificate! "I swear to uphold my assigned gender and to maintain my proper genital configuration until death!" It's right there on the document, you can't fool us with this whole "I was literally minutes old, I didn't sign anything! That's not even a thing!" That's just what a Communist oath breaker would say!
- That's why I'm appalled this is even a discussion, they aren't even pretending to have a valid military or medical excuse, they just jumped straight to "Group is bad because I don't like them."
  
  I lived through post 9/11 bullshit and how they wanted to ban Muslims from the military, all the open racism and rhetoric. Same shit different day and target, it’s a right wing pattern they always follow

To be fair, they have a problem with trans women in women's sports. They don't have a problem with trans men in men's sports because they can't imagine a situation where a trans man could possibly compete with "real" men.
It goes along with their idea that women are weak, so women are weak athletes and women's sports teams are weak. If you accept that, it's not a big stretch to think that someone who has gone through puberty as a male will have an automatic huge advantage in every women's sport because their body has male characteristics.
On the other hand to them, the military is the ultimate in manly activities. Anybody other than a pure, manly man will be at a disadvantage in anything military. That includes trans men, trans women and regular women. Right now the focus is on trans people, but I'm sure they'll want to kick women out of the military too eventually.
So, if you accept that logic, it makes sense that trans women are too weak for the military, but too strong for women's sports. There's no contradiction there.
- There are fewer trans atheists in college sports than there are kids with measles in Texas. Guess which one they want people to focus on.
  Also, what the fuck ever happened to "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? You cannot tell me in good faith that the
  <gasp>
  'trans threat*' is so great a crisis of inequity and unfairness that the right wing really gives a damn about that.
  *sarcasm, people.
- It also goes along with their mentality that trans men are simply poor, defenseless women who have been brainwashed into wanting to become strong, powerful men. And also how trans women must be mentally ill. Because how could anyone not want to be a man? Women who want to be men are understandable but misguided, and men who want to be women are sick and to be both pitied and hated - but especially hated.
- To be fair
  Who are you being fair to?
  
  Not to any particular person, just fair to the truth of the situation. You know, not whacking at straw men.

Err does anyone on the right actually think we have secure borders?
Like wasn't "securing the borders" part of Trump's pitch? As in "there's an invasion taking place and we need to secure the borders"?
The trans one is spot on though
- Err does anyone on the right actually think we have secure borders?
  Yes, Trump and his administration keep saying this.
  https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/promises-made-promises-kept-border-security-achieved-in-fewer-than-100-days/
  "The Invasion of our Country is OVER." https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114088564162922800
  https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/04/28/100-days-most-secure-border-american-history
  
  That just supports what I said?
- the rest of the world thinks it's terribly hilarious. and now they're picking a fight with canada? lmao that's a hell of a wall to build to keep out a teaspoon of fent.
  and there's no point in asking the "right" in the usa any questions any more, because they can't be trusted to answer you in good faith. they're lost, and it's just a matter of time before america realizes they're really just on the brink of a war with themselves.
  
  It's telling that Trump never brings up the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma. They're the one's directly responsible for over prescribing opioids and causing the fentanyl crisis in the first place. The court system has let them completely off the hook.
- I'm not sure the trans one is contradictory in the conservative mindset. Trans women are too "manly", trans men are too "effeminate" according to them.
  
  Yeah it's not perfect but they definitely think trans women are too weak for the military, too

doublespeak fr

This is a mixed metaphor. Women are kept out of frontline combat much like they’re sidelined to the WNBA: segregated under the guise of inclusion.

Now that we're solidly in the era of alternative facts, all that seems to register is what a politician says in the moment. It's really depressing to watch both political parties and 99% of voters just shrug their shoulders and go along with the utter stupidity of our political culture, even in full knowledge of its deleterious effects on their own lives.

schrodinger: jeez cmon guys all i did was kill a cat (maybe)

It's being reliant on medication - that's a problem for any combat role
Like if you are 100% reliant on Adderall in order to function, you cannot be in a combat role.
- funny how the ban isn't about medication but gender instead. weird how things just coincidentally happen
- The problem is that it's a blanket ban (plus retroactive firing) of all trans people serving in the military, not just an asterisk on serving combat roles.
  
  For non combat roles the exclusion of Trans people is due to military leadership largely hating trans people
- Also, not all trans people take meds or surgically transition. Can confirm.
- Yeah, those fascists totally care about the medical aspect and not the fact that they're trans. Right... /s
- Tell that to the Trans solder that had to return early from a Deployment to get kicked out for doing his job while politically inconvienent.
- While I’m very angry at the prejudice within the army, this does seem like an interesting aspect to it I hadn’t heard of before.
  But yeah, as someone else said, it sounds like it was not just to combat roles.
  
  Yeah for non combat roles excluding trans people is most likely just due to most of the military leadership hating trans people

watching trump squirm about how all these Mexican gangs got up to Canada.

Schrödingers president. He's a senile moron who shits himself and can't form coherent sentences, but he's also an evil mastermind that is masterfully installing a fascist regime right under our noses!
/s