Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed • Hacker News Board

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#161

Post by amazingman » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC

camillomiller wrote: post #16

spiderfarmer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you, after all you've seen, think the people currently in power in the USA are capable of making reasonable decisions? Vote these people out please.

I fear that with this people in power we are past that already. We'll see soon, I suppose. Trump and his goons will not leave power through elections.

Which has been obvious since 2015. 11 years later and many of us still can't even convince our own family members that Trump and Trumpism are appreciably different than "the left".

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#162

Post by motiw » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #27

This whole situation made me realize that the mechanism for holding presidents accountable for campaign promises really doesn’t exist. None of this is what people voted for, and is almost directly the opposite. That isn’t a new thing, of course, but this seems like a pretty huge turnaround from what the campaign was about. This seems like a fundamental problem with the system to me. If you can’t count on the candidat…

Maybe the solution is a referendum that would allow forcing elections at any moment

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#163

Post by nebula8804 » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:02 PM UTC

thunky wrote: post #129

keiferski wrote: post #27

This whole situation made me realize that the mechanism for holding presidents accountable for campaign promises really doesn’t exist. None of this is what people voted for, and is almost directly the opposite. That isn’t a new thing, of course, but this seems like a pretty huge turnaround from what the campaign was about. This seems like a fundamental problem with the system to me. If you can’t count on the candidat…

> If you can’t count on the candidate to at least attempt sticking to campaign promises, then the entire process is irrational. And then people wonder why the voter participation rate is so low.

Correct me if im wrong but didn't Trump bring out a large swath of non-voters during his runs?

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#164

Post by yubblegum » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:15 PM UTC

ethbr1 wrote: post #153

ikr678 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This used to be the job of the third estate, but traditional media has all been captured and the algorithms have done the rest, drowning us in a sea of content.

> but traditional media has all been captured and the algorithms have done the rest We should be explicit about what happened: Google and Facebook skimmed off most of advertising revenue that previously supported journalism. Then neither originated new news in quantity or quality to replace what they ate. Revenues (from ads) without costs (of paying journalists) = their profits. Now, we have orders of magnitude less…

Sorry, have to call b.s. on lack of funds. Our media are owned by a very few, a handful, of corporations. And this happened before Google even existed. It happened in the 90s.

> business model

I don't know, is this willful ignorance? Press is political ...

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#165

Post by yubblegum » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:16 PM UTC

What the Zionist have have been doing in Iran is criminal, plain and simple. Bad news for "Israel", what goes around comes around. And even more ominous for "Israel", God Shall not be Mocked. Some seem to never learn.

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#166

Post by ryandrake » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:18 PM UTC

thisisit wrote: post #156

keiferski wrote: post #27

This whole situation made me realize that the mechanism for holding presidents accountable for campaign promises really doesn’t exist. None of this is what people voted for, and is almost directly the opposite. That isn’t a new thing, of course, but this seems like a pretty huge turnaround from what the campaign was about. This seems like a fundamental problem with the system to me. If you can’t count on the candidat…

Trump has always been incoherent. On one hand he had "No new wars", he also was pretty clear on his disdain for Middle Eastern countries - the ones not giving him millions in bribes. People knew that he was incoherent and inconsistent. He proved that during his first Presidency. So, I don't think it is a case of "not what people voted for". People are getting exactly what they voted for - chaos and incoherence. As yo…

> And courts have declared that President actions are always justified.

To be more specific, the SCOTUS has only declared one particular President's actions as always justified. I would be willing to bet any amount of money that they suddenly reverse this opinion as soon as someone from the other team becomes president.

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#167

Post by Server6 » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #27

This whole situation made me realize that the mechanism for holding presidents accountable for campaign promises really doesn’t exist. None of this is what people voted for, and is almost directly the opposite. That isn’t a new thing, of course, but this seems like a pretty huge turnaround from what the campaign was about. This seems like a fundamental problem with the system to me. If you can’t count on the candidat…

Unfortunately this is exactly what people voted for. Did you not listen to Trump during the campaign? He promised chaos, revenge, racism, and incoherent nonsense. We're getting exactly that 10x.

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#168

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

entropyneur wrote: post #59

Neil44 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty big assumption you're making, that you know what people voted for.

It may indeed be the case that the candidate promised one thing and the voters acting irrationally (or correctly assuming he's a liar) voted with an expectation of him doing the exact opposite. The GP, however didn't say anything about voting. He was talking specifically about the mismatch between campaign promises and actions taken once in office.

[deleted]

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#169

Post by ryandrake » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:25 PM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #140

applfanboysbgon wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they will still support him. Republicans dying of COVID would still deny its existence on their deathbed, so you can be sure there is no consequence that is too far for them. Farmers bankrupted and people who lost jobs because of Trump's policies continue to support him. Inflation is bad when Democrats do it, but it is fine if Republicans do it, as with all things, because that is how their hierarchy works. Thei…

As much as I tried to discount sweeping accusations made against voters, increasingly I am beginning to think that a lot of those who support this administration really want to see a "whiter" and more Christian U.S. It's getting harder for me to deny. If there are single-issue voters supporting this admin, I suspect for many that issue is not "stay out of foreign wars" but something closer to going back to some mythi…

> It's getting harder for me to deny.

Congrats on letting it finally sink in, but I honestly don't understand how this fact wasn't clearly evident from even his first term. His base absolutely eats up any rhetoric around making the country 1. more white and 2. more christian. You don't even really have to be listening for subtle dogwhistles anymore. They're saying these things openly now.

Re: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran's oil depots bombed

#170

Post by SauciestGNU » Mon, Mar 09, 2026, 4:27 PM UTC

lwansbrough wrote: post #37

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even duplicitous because that implies some sort of benevolent facade. It's outright evil.

Israel does employ a facade of a liberal democracy that aligns itself to some extent with Western culture. Though this is very much in decline and I think, generally, sentiment on Israel has shifted quite dramatically in the West in recent years.

Israel perhaps used to project that sort of facade. With Bibi and the authoritarian ultranationalists in government, combined with the lack of a written constitution restraining power and protecting rights (for whatever that would be worth), I think that facade is forever gone. Israel is descending into an expansionist theocratic ethnostate and rapidly illiberalizing. Just look at the recent criminalization of women praying at a certain holy site.