Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by jumelles on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @01:34PM (#21128162)

The key here is that the executive branch of the US government doesn't get to do these things in a vacuum - both Congress and the Supreme Court temper its power, and though elections in the US are far from perfect they are still free.

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Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by orthecreedence on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @01:44PM (#21128319)

Elections are free, but the influence money has on our government after elections is where the problem lies. And even the "free elections" portion is being eroded since Citizens United.

I'm not saying China is better, but the fraction of control the average US citizen can exercise over the government in the defined political process is much, much smaller than `1 / 330,000,000`...

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Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by whatitdobooboo on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @01:54PM (#21128482)

Federal elections are not the only things that matter - state and local decisions have an impact. Obviously not perfect - even with the money affecting government we have the ABILITY to change that over some time period, and lobbying in some places can help. I am unsure about what exactly you are complaining about.

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Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by orthecreedence on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @03:04PM (#21129318)

https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-cable...

> I am unsure about what exactly you are complaining about.

I wasn't. I was refuting common propaganda about the wonders of the United States. How can we fix any of our problems if we don't admit to ourselves that they exist?

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Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by whatitdobooboo on Wednesday October 02, 2019 @08:37AM (#21135685)

Fair enough - perhaps I should've simply said that in my opinion, reducing American ability to affect government down to % of population each individual represents isn't the best way to approach our problems

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Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by arcticbull on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @01:54PM (#21128480)

I'm sure your assertion of checks and balances is very helpful for the folks living out their lives in Gitmo with the force feedings and the indefinite detention without due process thanks to a technicality in regards to jurisdiction, as was the parent posts' assertion.

With that in mind, on the balance of it, America is overwhelmingly a rule of law jurisdiction, and the PRC is not. There's definitely magnitudes here.

My point is neither side is all good or all bad, and looking at it that way is harmful to the discourse.

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Re:Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong ... by minikites on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @01:54PM (#21128473)

>though elections in the US are far from perfect they are still free

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/29/voter-suppress...

https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/worst-voter-suppression-w...

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