• acargitz@lemmy.ca
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    7 hours ago

    I dunno Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter, seem to have been personally good people. That’s two recent US presidents. Then I guess I would add some super low hanging fruit like Nelson Mandela, Frederick the Great, John II Komnenos, any of the Five Good Emperors, Cyrus the Great, Ashoka, and one could keep going.

    To all those pestering me about how US presidents presided over criminal imperialist policies, here is my answer from down belo:

    OP talked about “glaring character defects”.

    These are policy failures and state crimes, arguably attributed to the American state as a whole, and the long term US imperialist policies, rather to the singular person of the president.

    You might have noticed that I added Frederick the Great in the list, which tells you exactly what my understanding of the challenge was.

    I’m not here to defend US imperialism, don’t @ me.

      • Zerush@lemmy.ml
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        8 hours ago

        Without the US, the world would be much more peaceful today, most of the current wars and terrorisms are caused by US interventions, directly and indirectly.

      • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        That is an incredible list. Did a find for a few things I personally knew about and have always been disappointed in Obama for… and sure enough found them. First one I searched, was extending the Bush tax cuts on the rich. I remember Bill O’Reilly saying “Oh, if I have to pay taxes, I’m going to have to fire people, and that’s on Obama, so tax cuts means less jobs!” (so glad Bill got canned) and Obama just fucking caved like a spineless coward.

    • Packet@lemmy.ml
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      8 hours ago

      Obama?? Obama??? The Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya Obama? You must be joking, right?

      • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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        8 hours ago

        OP talked about “glaring character defects”.

        These are policy failures and state crimes, arguably attributed to the American state as a whole, and the long term US imperialist policies, rather to the singular person of the president.

        You might have noticed that I added Frederick the Great in the list, which tells you exactly what my understanding of the challenge was.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      8 hours ago

      Carter supported Pol Pot and Obama was a monster to people in the Middle East, neither can be considered to be “good people.”

    • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee
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      8 hours ago

      Obama lied to the left to gain power, that’s enough to disqualify him right there.

      Also Washington was the greatest president in our history because he willingly let go of his power. He could have been a king but he chose to step down instead to set future precedent.

      • Wilco@lemm.ee
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        8 hours ago

        Yes! Buying dentures made from slave teeth is overshadowed by the fact this man did what very few would have done by setting power aside.

        Would we get labeled by history as evil because we might have bought a product from China made in a work camp?

        • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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          7 hours ago

          Washington was the richest man in the US at the time, and had the most to gain from indigenous eviction. The Iroquios named him “the town destroyer”, for burning down dozens of their cities. He also owned slaves and supported the institution just like most presidents after him (I think 10 presidents in a row were southern slave-holders like himself).

          And also, its the US, not China, that has slave labor camps. Just because an anti-semitic evangelical christian (adrian zenz) who works for the US government claims that China has forced labor, doesn’t make it so. These claims have been debunked over and over.

          • Wilco@lemm.ee
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            4 hours ago

            No, China has forced labor camps.

            The US has prison work camps, but most prisoners don’t have to work if they dont want to, it isn’t forced.

          • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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            7 hours ago

            And also, its the US, not China, that has slave labor camps. Just because an anti-semitic evangelical christian (adrian zenz) who works for the US government claims that China has forced labor, doesn’t make it so. These claims have been debunked over and over.

            China has forced labour, according the the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences: https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/51/26

            • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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              6 hours ago

              I looked that doc, and they source debunked Zenz reports, and WUC. So nothing new.

              • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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                6 hours ago

                If the UN fucking rapporteur deems it reliable enough, and if the UN HRC hasn’t found reason to retract this report, then I have zero reason to believe some internet rando that it has been debunked. For all I know, your one liner responses are no different from pro-Zionist hasbara casting doubt on UN reports on Palestine.

                • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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                  6 hours ago

                  Someone should tell that UN reporter to stop using anti-semitic US state department sources then.

                  Some sources debunking this are

                  For all I know, your one liner responses are no different from pro-Zionist hasbara casting doubt on UN reports on Palestine.

                  Also notably, it’s the WUC (a far right org that again your reporter cited) that supports Israel.

                  • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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                    3 hours ago

                    Are you joking? You must be joking, right?

                    Diplomats from 30 Muslim countries visited China’s Xinjiang region

                    A delegation of envoys and senior diplomats is not a fact finding mission. It is wining and dining and saying nice things. Give me a break.

                    US State Department accusation of China ‘genocide’ relied on data abuse and baseless claims by far-right ideologue

                    I’m supposed to discount the UN Special Rapporteur because I’m supposed to believe the ramblings of the website of a RT contributor? Do you have any Breitbart sources too?

                    The Xinjiang Genocide Allegations Are Unjustified

                    Opinion pieces are what we call “debunking” now?

                    Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act Builds on Work of NED Grantees

                    The US funding something via a quasi-independent organization (that Trump is defunding) is proof of the US funding something. It is not proof that the allegations are wrong, that’s just a version of the ad-hominem fallacy. During the Cold War, in Greece any remotely credible link to the USSR was used to crack down on trade unions, political organizations etc. Same thing happened during the Grande Noirceur in Quebec with the “padlock law”. Sumud in Canada has recently been banned as a terrorist front for having “links” with Palestinian resistance. The pattern here is common: instead of addressing what is being said, there is an attack on “the links” of the one saying the thing. It’s a cowardly, lazy and fallacious arguing tactic that I reject on its face.

                    [Xinjiang Vocational Education and Training Centers] prolewiki Xinjiang_Vocational_Education_and_Training_Centers

                    “Prolewiki”? Give me a break. What’s next, the conservapedia or the uncyclopedia?

                    Some Youtube video

                    Awesome bro.

                    [US-Funded Uyghur Activists Train as Soldiers of Empire] Consortium News

                    Some people of ethnic group X did something (according to random internet sources). Ergo… nothing bad can possibly be happening to ethnic group X?

                    A Reddit AMA Claiming To Be A Uyghur Quickly Exposes A CIA Asset Slandering China

                    Reddit drama disproves Uighur genocide. We’re being super serious here.

                    Also notably, it’s the WUC (a far right org that again your reporter cited) that supports Israel.

                    “My reporter” makes it sound like some journalist. We are talking about the UN Special Rapporteur of the UN HRC. What the WUC is is besides the point. It might be Elon Musk’s cat for all I care. What they say is what is important. And I am willing to assume that the UN Special Rapporteur did his fucking job and did more than just say “hey some randos are saying XYZ”. Same level of trust as I accord to Francesca Albanese.

                    Some links removed because the instance wouldn’t let me post them. Must be a CIA plot or some shit.

        • pebbles@sh.itjust.works
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          7 hours ago

          Fr, like look into the companies that get you your fruits and vegetables. You can’t escape unethical consumption.

    • jacksilver@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      I mean we absolutely could call out their flaws too, someone with that much power/responsibility is going to do abhorrent things (drone strikes with Obama being an easy one to bring up). Just like the four on Mount Rushmore these things aren’t what we typically call out because they either were “of the times” or not on the same scale as their accomplishments.

      • Stern@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        They called Obama the Deporter in Chief. Trump wishes he could get a nickname like that. Carter himself was a nice guy but his below average presidency led to Reagan.

      • bane_killgrind@slrpnk.net
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        6 hours ago

        The drone strikes thing is a bad example. If he didn’t touch it, individual combat units could use drones with impunity. He required drone strikes to be approved by his office.

        Tell me if you had the choice between sending in boots to kill a guy, or drone strike, would you really ever risk your guys getting shot?

        He added red tape, the minimum thing he could do. I’ll agree with criticism that he did the bare minimum, but all these comments about this frame it like he was horny for drones. That’s reductive and misleading.

        • jacksilver@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          Your comment is exactly the point I was trying to make. The world is complex and imperfect, so anyone with the power/responsibility of a president is going to do controversial things.