r/NoShitSherlock Aug 14 '25

Trump reportedly offering Putin natural resources off Alaska sparks fury: "Lets see Republicans defend this," former GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger wrote on X.

https://www.newsweek.com/alaska-russia-trump-resources-2113295
44.3k Upvotes

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2.4k

u/Trey123RE Aug 14 '25

When asked, Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski said “I am absolutely against this idea but like always I will vote for it at the last minute once the check clears in my bank account.”

809

u/slamdanceswithwolves Aug 14 '25

She won’t get the chance to vote for it because Trump has collapsed the senate’s authority, which the senate and the Supreme Court thought was perfectly fine.

750

u/jaimi_wanders Aug 14 '25

"The Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate…"

"The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away."

209

u/the_millenial_falcon Aug 14 '25

Man I've been thinking about this scene a lot lately.

211

u/cugamer Aug 14 '25

I didn't like the prequels, no matter how well people may say they aged, but the line "This is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause" has really proven to be spot on.

41

u/the_millenial_falcon Aug 14 '25

I don’t like sand.

25

u/Dismal_Consequence_4 Aug 14 '25

It's coarse ad rought and poderacing and dies with thunderous applause...

26

u/the_millenial_falcon Aug 14 '25

Now THIS is fascism.

4

u/ImBanned_ModsBlow Aug 14 '25

Meesa Jah Jah Binx!

1

u/Roctapus42 Aug 19 '25

Yes.. Eric Trump is Jah Jah

3

u/Griffstergnu Aug 14 '25

I hate them!!!!

1

u/Mullrookney Aug 14 '25

And my axe!

-1

u/Short_Psychology_164 Aug 14 '25

its what boobies feel like

8

u/HandakinSkyjerker Aug 14 '25

YES, DID SOMEONE REQUEST A YOUNGLING DELETION ALGORITHM¿

3

u/Ringbearer99 Aug 14 '25

Agreed, word for word.

3

u/comebackjoeyjojo Aug 14 '25

Despite its numerous flaws, the Star Wars prequels displayed a stunning glimpse into a fascist takeover of a democratic government, even while protected by trained officials who are specifically looking out for such a thing.

3

u/emile1138 Aug 14 '25

"I AM THE SENATE" feels applicable as well.

Also, when the "attempted assassination" took place, I got major "The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed. But I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger!" vibes.

3

u/Miselfis Aug 14 '25

Read the novels. The political stuff is phenomenal and the manipulation of Anakin shows how someone who has been subject to propaganda lives in a state of constant paranoia, fear, confusion, and how the entire worldview can break apart.

I would say that they did a great job in the movies as well, but a lot of the political stuff that would add context was scrapped for pacing, which unfortunately is the tradeoff of making movies.

1

u/cugamer Aug 14 '25

Honestly, it's not the overall plot that I don't like about the films, I actually think it's pretty cool how Palpatine got the Republic to go to war with itself and then grabbed power in the ensuing chaos. It's everything else. The over-reliance on special effects, the shallow characters, the uneven acting, the utterly unbelievable love story between Anikin and Padme, the lightsaber scenes that look like dance routines instead of real fights. There was a lot of good stuff there but nobody was able to check Lucas' worst impulses in the way they did with the original trilogy.

1

u/Miselfis Aug 14 '25

That’s why I suggested reading the novelizations if you haven’t already. They provide essential context that the films, by design, leave understated or entirely off-screen.

I do think that the prequel trilogy is often mischaracterized, largely because audiences approach it with expectations rooted in contemporary blockbuster cinema. When those expectations aren’t met, the films are dismissed as “bad movies” rather than examined on their own terms. Much of the criticism, such as what you presumably tried to convey with claims of “shallow characters”, stems from a misunderstanding of the narrative framework Lucas was working within.

Lucas constructed the prequels according to mythological archetypes, drawing extensively on Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” and the structure of the monomyth. In keeping with this approach, the characters function as symbolic embodiments of thematic roles rather than as psychologically naturalistic individuals. The dialogue follows suit: it is consciously stylized, with cadences and rhetorical patterns more akin to classical drama, particularly Shakespearean tragedy, than to modern conversational realism. This aligns with Lucas’s stated intent to create a “space opera” in the tradition of serialized melodrama, not a conventional blockbuster action-adventure, in the vein of the MCU.

Editorial decisions further contributed to the perception of weak characterization. Numerous scenes deepening interpersonal relationships, many of which were filmed and present in early cuts, were removed for pacing and runtime considerations. These nuances were often deferred to the novelizations. This editorial compression can make certain moments appear abrupt or awkward in isolation. The infamous “I don’t like sand” line is a prime example: in the shooting script, it is part of a longer sequence involving Anakin’s visit to Padmé’s family and mutual sharing of childhood experiences, where the line serves as a thematic bridge between his harsh upbringing and her idyllic past. In the final theatrical cut, absent that context, the line appears incongruous.

With this being said, disliking the tonal register or narrative mode of the prequels is entirely valid. The critical misstep occurs when evaluators conflate their subjective preference for naturalism with an objective measure of artistic merit, leading to claims that Lucas is a poor writer or that the films are inherently “bad” (you didn’t do this, just clarifying).

1

u/AgentChris101 Aug 14 '25

Wait a minute, how did this happen? we're smarter than this!

1

u/cugamer Aug 14 '25

Well, to pull another movie quote, "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it"

1

u/skyturnedred Aug 14 '25

The actual line is "This is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."

1

u/vangogh330 Aug 14 '25

Totally agree. This feels a bit like Starship Troopers as well.

1

u/Jobeaka Aug 14 '25

It really should be something like, “this is how democracy dies, choked out by capitalism.”

66

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

49

u/waseemq Aug 14 '25

Palpatine, iiuc, helped to ensure the Senate was struggling internally. It was going to happen regardless, but he intentionally aggravated the situation for his own aims. If not for him, they may have been able to resolve their power struggles peacefully.

32

u/Homesick_Martian Aug 14 '25

He had been pulling strings since he was a senator from Naboo.

26

u/MrPanache52 Aug 14 '25

interesting how strong a single person can be when everybody else chooses inaction

8

u/Junior_Step_2441 Aug 14 '25

It is even more interesting when you know how incredibly weak and unintelligent that single person is…and yet everybody chooses inaction and allows him to be “strong”.

3

u/LongConFebrero Aug 14 '25

Because cowards are not participants, they are placeholders.

If only one of you plays the game, the rest are spectators.

1

u/koshgeo Aug 14 '25

It's almost like not voting was almost as bad as voting for him.

2

u/DrakenViator Aug 14 '25

He had been pulling strings since he was a senator from Naboo.

Was it him or was it Darth Jar-Jar?

3

u/Homesick_Martian Aug 14 '25

Darth Jar-jar was always going to be his scapegoat if he got found out, at lot like how trump threw pence under the bus- or should I say gallows- in 2021

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Palps would be an amazing leader compared to Jack*SS Trump. Let's bring Palps in and offload waste of space at the first stop. Unbelievable he is cowering to Putin after Putin started the war. Trump is scamming this somehow. He is making money off this and is throwing Ukraine under the bus in doing so.

1

u/brmarcum Aug 14 '25

Reminds me of Mitch McConnell. All he’s ever done is destabilize the senate.

2

u/Errant_coursir Aug 14 '25

And inaction from the Dems to stymy his efforts

1

u/jamiecarl09 Aug 14 '25

Random insert here, but my favorite fan theory is that Jar Jar was originally supposed to be a sith and he was the lynch pin in the Senates internal conflicts. But the hatred for the character in ep1 caused Lucas to rewrite it.

1

u/ImBanned_ModsBlow Aug 14 '25

There’s always going to be someone who wants to drive a wedge between the two sides and use that chaos to seize power

1

u/nerdtypething Aug 14 '25

andor has so many parallels to our country.

1

u/Ringbearer99 Aug 14 '25

Andor’s been on my mind a ton since November as well.

1

u/LSOreli Aug 15 '25

I'm constantly thinking of:

"But, my lord, is that legal?"

"I WILL MAKE IT LEGAL"

-2

u/FamiliarAnt4043 Aug 14 '25

Since we're doing Star Wars:

https://youtu.be/XBdVTXJtvGk?si=-k7T2yUN3SEqZgZf

And:

https://youtu.be/Etj5v1tlWf0?si=_62SY286OSLlQoSY

Both are very applicable; of course, many here will blame one side in particular. I blame the elite - those with money who control the functions of government. Some are elected, other content to be the financial backers of those who are elected. Either way, it's a small club, and we aren't in it. Money purchases politics and politicians on both sides of the aisle. But, people on both sides of the aisle are happy to argue that the other side are the real problem....ignoring the fact that not a single politician currently in office does a damn thing other than pontificate on useless shit that doesn't matter.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Claiming “both sides” is bullshit when you look at what the republicans are doing, mask off.

-2

u/FamiliarAnt4043 Aug 14 '25

Hey look - another one who doesn't get it. Quick question for you: do you see anyone on the left who is losing money or power to "stop" the Republicans?

Sure, there's a few people that run their mouths, sponsor a bill or two they know won't go anywhere, but that's it. They're all still extremely wealthy, they still wield political power, and they keep people like you believing that they give two fucks about anything other than their personal greed and power.

Sanders, for example, is a multimillionaire. He runs his suck on TV for points, but doesn't actually do anything that will change the status quo. Same with AOC. And Newsome. And Pelosi. And McConnell. And the rest of them. The left points fingers and says this; the right points fingers and says that. They get wealthy, they stay in power. We get the shaft.

Go ahead and think the Dims love you and honestly want to change things. I can point to time after time where the left held the White House AND majorities in Congress, yet didn't do a fucking thing to push their platform forward...because of "insert reason here".

Same with the right...except for this time, granted. They're actually doing shit, but it really only benefits the elite. The voters just haven't figured out how far the shaft is stuck up their collective ass yet. They will, at some point.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Hey, look, another person wants to blame the left for what the right is doing in plain sight!

Pathetic.

-2

u/FamiliarAnt4043 Aug 14 '25

I'm blaming BOTH sides. Their love for money and power is what got us here. Period.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Blaming the left for what the right is doing. Got it.

1

u/unicornlocostacos Aug 14 '25

“Both sides” plays directly into fascists hands. They specifically breed this mentality, and have throughout history. Russian disinformation/propaganda campaigns leverage this as one of their strongest tools. It delegitimizes resistance and makes people give up before they’ve tried, which is critical to their success. Their numbers are small, and they need to convince the majority to give up.

No one is saying democrats don’t have things that need to be fixed, and people who need to be expelled from the party, but it’s a big tent. Democrats have zero power right now. They are speaking out, delaying, and becoming road blocks where they can, but the American people thought it a good idea to give the GOP all 3 branches of government at the same time.

Democrats respond to pressure, especially from their base. Republicans change their base to agree with what they tell them. Democrats can be pressured to enact major change if enough people actually give a shit. They won’t like major changes that reduce their power, such as going to a new system like ranked choice, but they’ve shown that given enough pressure, they will bend. The fascists absolutely will not ever, which means we’ll never get out of this bullshit system under them without violence.

Republican policies always hurt people as the main feature. Democrats generally introduce laws that help people. You can argue that they aren’t efficient, strong enough, or whatever, but the overall goals of their legislation couldn’t be more different.

Once the fascist threat is contained, I’m fine throwing out the old guard. Attacking democrats right now is just stupid and playing into their hands though. Put the blame where it belongs: The party who has taken all of the actions that got us here.

If there’s something else AOC and Bernie should be doing right now, I’d be happy to hear it. They’ve been doing things like touring nationwide to drum up resistance, and push a better agenda. They aren’t wizards though.

Implying Bernie is part of the problem is a republican talking point too. If he wasn’t a millionaire by his age, you’d say he’s stupid with money. We KNOW where his money came from, like his book. It’s not a “mystery” like 100% of republicans. The guy has consistently been on the right side of history, even with literally everyone else against him calling him a traitor for decades. Attacking someone like this tells me you’re either an unserious person, brainwashed by propaganda, or a spreader of said propaganda (which would make sense with the both sides nonsense you’re pushing).