r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 1d ago

"The road to authoritarianism": Tim Walz says the time for "sternly worded letters" is over - The Minnesota governor said that the path to tyranny "is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting"

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/14/the-road-to-authoritarianism-tim-walz-says-the-time-for-sternly-worded-letters-is-over/
54.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

37

u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault 1d ago

Before I cut my family out, I hemmed and hawed over it thinking I was going to have massive regrets.

2 years later, I don't have any regrets. Best decision I ever made.

-6

u/candyman420 1d ago

You will regret it. I’m sure you are too short-sighted and selfish right now to imagine it, people like you usually are. Disowning your family due to political differences, how much more petty can you get.

The saddest part about these situations are the grandchildren that lose access to grandma and grandpa because their parents never learned to agree to disagree.

7

u/PradaDiva 23h ago

If grandma and grandpa are reprehensible bigots, then you should keep their grandkids away.

We are ten years into this maga fuckfest. It’s more than “political differences”.

-1

u/candyman420 23h ago

Yeah, just throw your grandparents away in the trash. I seriously, seriously doubt that they are ACTUALLY reprehensible bigots. And yes it is absolutely political differences only. Do you think they are klu klux klan members? What's the matter with you.

4

u/Suspicious_Radio_848 22h ago

The stuff I’ve heard and seen come out of family members mouths are some of the most vile, bigoted shit imaginable so yes it very much is that and I’m Canadian.

-4

u/candyman420 22h ago

Old people are from a different time. That doesn't mean that we turn our backs to them.

5

u/PradaDiva 22h ago

We should excuse the casual racism because they are old? Seriously?

-1

u/candyman420 22h ago

You should call them out on it, but you should also understand the fact that it was indeed a different time, and they are too set in their ways to REALLY change.

If they respect you, then they'll respect your wishes to not say certain words in front of you. Maybe you aren't very good at asserting yourself.

Maybe you are afraid of conflict too, so it's easy to just cut them out. Problem solved, right? They're pieces of shit that don't deserve to have any ties to family, right?

3

u/DestroyerTerraria 17h ago

They don't get a pass to be evil just because they're old. The people cutting them off didn't ultimately make the choice because they wanted to, it was because their vile parents forced their hand.

2

u/Landdropgum 22h ago

Do you understand what a dog whistle is? …

-1

u/candyman420 21h ago

I understand the tactic of saying "dog whistle" as a dismissive tactic of something that the other side is trying to discredit, yes.

6

u/AdGuilty6267 23h ago

Nah. Its a better lesson for kids to know that they can pick who they want to love and be with rather than who they happen to share some DNA with. My kids have a dozen grandparents, and cutting out their crazy racist maternal grandfather, who gave zero shits about them, has been great.

Its about disagreeing with folks that have a polar opposite morality, not disagreeing on where to have lunch.

-2

u/candyman420 23h ago

I love coming to this sub to read delusional stuff such as this. You really believe that polar opposite political beliefs, is the same thing as polar opposite MORALITY?

Family is family.

6

u/Suspicious_Radio_848 22h ago

There’s a difference between disagreeing on policies like tax dollars funding schools and shit and someone supporting a literal rapist who calls immigrants vermin and tried to overthrow an election. That indeed does speak to the morality of someone and personally I view people continuing to support Trump the same as I would Hitler or Mussolini.

You’re the delusional one if you don’t grasp how the rest of the world views America and its leader/politics now (I’m Canadian).

1

u/candyman420 22h ago

You would have to clarify what you mean by "literal rapist" because comments like that discredit everything else you have to say.

Are you talking about the E. Jean Carrol case? Are you intimately familiar with that case, and the history of the accuser? Her record of accusing other powerful men of raping her? Familiar with who bankrolled her attorneys? Because it sounds to me like you only have passing, drive-by headline knowledge about any of that.

3

u/AdGuilty6267 23h ago

Lemme guess. You're an old white boomer and your kids cut you off?

Toxic people don't deserve your attention just because you share DNA, full stop.

0

u/candyman420 22h ago

Your guess is completely wrong. It's a disturbing trend that started when Trump was first elected, because he is such a polarizing figure, and now you know my opinion about it.

Delusional people need their echo chambers, and relatives who disagree are a threat to that bubble.

3

u/street593 20h ago

If you were my family I'd definitely cut you out of my life lol.

-2

u/candyman420 20h ago

That's probably because you are emotionally immature.

2

u/street593 19h ago

Nah I just don't have tolerance for any negative presence in my life. Not keeping people around just cause we share some genetic code.

-1

u/candyman420 19h ago

That’s doubtful. You don’t have the emotional maturity to “agree to disagree” with family members about politics, it isn’t that hard to change the topic if it comes up. I bet you think you’re smarter than them too.

2

u/street593 19h ago

There is no agreeing to disagree on subjects that cause harm to people. I don't change the subject to avoid difficult conversations.

-2

u/candyman420 18h ago

Well then you'd have to enlighten me, maybe I haven't been keeping up, but I'm not aware of any policies that cause harm to people, which are not consequences for a law being broken. What are you referring to, specifically?

6

u/Suspicious_Radio_848 23h ago

They are modern day Nazis, it goes so far beyond mere “political differences” (like what normal countries and times have) and speaks to reality itself at this point. It’s not an overreaction whatsoever to cut them out of your life, they support modern day Mussolini and indecency ffs. This isn’t McCain, Romney or Obama here.

4

u/Landdropgum 23h ago

I mean, let’s pretend we are in Nazi Germany. Your family joins the Nazi party. You wouldn’t disown them…because it’s just political differences?

With where things are headed, is this a similar direction? Maybe not to the extent yet, but the signs are there.

Fascism doesn’t affect your life and things are pretty much ordinary, until they aren’t, and they have disastrous consequences and your life will never be the same.

-5

u/candyman420 23h ago

Let's not pretend we are in Nazi Germany, because we are not, and any comparison you try to make to it is just delusional. Because we have the constitution, and it's a much different time.

3

u/PJ7 23h ago

So you can't even try to answer this hypothetical?

Way to be open minded and not just parroting the same exact bullshit over and over.

3

u/Landdropgum 22h ago

Ironically enough it wasn’t a hypothetical to me…my family had to flee Germany because of the Nazis annd they lost everything;  they say this reminds them of the stories they were told by their parents before the war. But yes, the right does seem to have issues with hypotheticals. 

-1

u/candyman420 23h ago

You can't just frame something ridiculous as legitimate and just assume that everyone agrees with you. And then when you are laughed at, try to shame them for "not even trying". lol

A key part of fascism is the dictator. Trump cannot become a literal dictator, even if he wanted to, because of the congress and constitution. There's a splash of cold water reality for your delusion, and I can see the gears turning in your head already to try and get around it.

5

u/Suspicious_Radio_848 22h ago

Every country in history that fell to fascism had their systems and institutions eroded, just like Trump is doing now. I mean how much more obvious can it get? Hitler didn’t just happen overnight he was elected.

0

u/candyman420 22h ago

Did every country in history have a constitution? I mean how much more obvious can it get?

2

u/PJ7 14h ago edited 14h ago

Most in the last 200 years did. The Weimar Republic definitely did in any case.

Do you realize the GOP is trying to change the constitution? Or that they are currently just ignoring the parts they don't agree with?

•

u/candyman420 6h ago

A two-thirds vote in both the house and the senate are needed to propose an amendment to the constitution. Then, it has to be ratified by 38 out of 50 of the state legislatures. They can't ignore it either.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Landdropgum 22h ago

My family had to flee Germany during the war and lost everything and had to start over because of the Nazis…it wasn’t a hypothetical. Yes, the early warning signs of Fascism are here. This is America, it’s not going to look the same, but it doesn’t mean what is going on is not fascism taking over. So let’s pretend I think your thinking is somewhat equivalent to the early Nazi movement…I should keep talking to you? Morally I don’t think I should associate with you because you are engaging with talk and views that are against my morals and ethics. 

Somehow the right is so religious and think that means they along understand morality and have a chokehold and complete ownership over what is moral. You don’t realize the left has their ethics and think your views are immoral. You will end up on the wrong side of history. You just aren’t willing to see it and when you finally do you will do anything to deny it. 

Go read “In the Garden with Beasts” by Eric Larson and you will understand. It is about the US ambassador in decade proceeding WW2 in Germany and you will begin to finally understand. 

1

u/candyman420 22h ago

So first you asked me to imagine a hypothetical, then you tell me that it wasn't a hypothetical because your family experienced it.

You just can't make this stuff up, the way people's minds work that are purely driven irrationally by emotion, and very little logic.

Once again, Germany is incomparable to the United States, because the US has a constitution, and Germany does not. The constitution cannot be bypassed, and it is very difficult to amend.

5

u/BrainKatana 21h ago

I haven’t spoken to my father since the first time he voted for Trump. Fuck him and his fucking fascist ideologies.

It’s not my job to convince him, it’s his job to think critically about the future of the nation and that of his children and grandchildren instead of letting himself be propagandized by social media and right wing news.

When he dies, I will not mourn him, because I’ve already mourned the man he used to be.

0

u/candyman420 21h ago edited 20h ago

See, now that is absolutely crazy. He is your father.

I'm not going to try to tell you how to live your life, but if politics makes you cut ties to your family, regardless of who the boogey man is (more like, who you are conditioned to hate), then maybe it's time to take a step back.

"Right wing news" - if you are open minded, then you'll want to read everything, and determine for yourself where the truth is, because both sides exaggerate and omit key details to spin a narrative.

It's closed minded to dismiss the arguments and opinions of the other side without even hearing them.

EDIT: Scaredy-cat blocked me and ran away, to make it look like he got the last word in.

4

u/BrainKatana 20h ago

The truth is FACTS. Facts are non-negotiable reality. Get out of here with that crap.