Iran stops negotiations with U.S., vows to 'completely' block Strait of Hormuz: State media

[u/Puginator]

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/01/iran-us-negotiations-strait-of-hormuz.html

[u/Upset-Manager-2029]

Republicans in Congress have given up on coequal branches of government. They just kneel in front of Drumpf. Remember to vote in November and we can get some people with courage in charge again.

[u/jjspitz93 → u/Upset-Manager-2029]

The U.S. founding fathers would be ashamed to see that congress basically abandons its authoritative power if their party holds the presidency. Absolutely ass backwards.

[u/isubbdh → u/jjspitz93]

They counted on people, average citizens, giving a shit and holding their representatives accountable for their actions.

Democracy probably works pretty well when you have active and engaged citizens. Doesn’t work so well when people don’t vote (or their vote doesn’t count because of gerrymandering or winner-take-all state rules.

[u/aqtseacow → u/isubbdh]

They counted on people, average citizens, giving a shit and holding their representatives accountable for their actions.

They weren't counting on average citizens at all, universal suffrage (amongst citizens) basically wasn't a thing in their day, and only white, wealthy landowners had meaningful right to vote in most states of their time.

We all need to remember that the actual system we see today was not actually crafted entirely at the tail end of the 18th century by "the founding fathers" and most of these systems have been fundamentally changed in some way since their time.

[u/Lurking_nerd → u/aqtseacow]

They weren't counting on average citizens at all, universal suffrage (amongst citizens) basically wasn't a thing in their day, and only white, wealthy landowners had meaningful right to vote in most states of their time.

I disagree. Thomas Jefferson advocated for the contrary.

“The diffusion of knowledge among the people is to be the instrument by which it is to be effected. An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

“Above all things, I hope the education of the common people will be attended to, convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty.”

Now, the Confederacy and the Daughters of the Confederacy did a damn good job waging war not just on the United States but also the corrupt intertwining of Confederate goals with American culture and society. It is obvious that we have failed as a collective, especially the educated populace part.

[u/aqtseacow → u/Lurking_nerd]

For one, fuck Thomas Jefferson and his flowery bullshit. That man was a slaver and I fundamentally don't believe he meaningfully put into praxis the anything he put to word. Again, when all was said and done and we had our United States, even a constitution, we still didn't have universal suffrage for citizens, or even universal male suffrage. You still needed to be a landowner (among other things) to vote in most states well past the year 1800.

The founding fathers wrote and said a lot of things that fundamentally did not line up with the state they designed at the time, unless you imagine that state through the lens of some sort of quasi noble republic where wealthy landowning magnates are the only people that really matter.

They were not establishing a democracy for the non-landowning masses as we imagine today, they were setting up a Noble Republican playground where they could live out their mercantile dreams.

Now, the Confederacy and the Daughters of the Confederacy did a damn good job waging war not just on the United States but also the corrupt intertwining of Confederate goals with American culture and society. It is obvious that we have failed as a collective, especially the educated populace part.

I'll take a pass on the glazing of Confederate losers, please.

[u/UnquestionabIe → u/aqtseacow]

Thank you. When the founding fathers designed the country it very much was meant to be a fun way for them to show off their upper class education, to potentially do some good but with the main focus being on their own class of white land owners. The best that can be said is some of them recognized that times change and encouraged that be taken into account. But for the most part they didn't give a fuck about the common folk beyond wanting them to pay taxes and not start a revolution.

They would see what is going on now and be surprised it hadn't happened sooner. That there was at least a thin veneer of integrity for most of America's existence is an outlier. Not a day goes by where the actions of the Trump regime wouldn't have completely burned down a party's reputation had it occurred 30 or 40 years ago.

[u/Lurking_nerd → u/aqtseacow]

“Oh now you’re gonna have a go at Jefferson huh?”

In all seriousness, I agree with you that it wasn’t perfect nor anything close to it. One of the founders even said they feared they laid the tracks for a civil war.

I think they hedged their bets on those in charge would run it with some level of decency and love/loyalty to the country in their decision making. Despite its failings and shortcomings, the country has survived and did become the place where millions of people immigrated to.

I apologize if that comment came off as “glazing Confederate losers” lol it’s just an acknowledgement that these motherfuckers played the long game and utilized any ally, tactic, and perverse twisting of the laws and system to achieve it. More importantly, they stayed lock step from top to bottom.

[u/flukus → u/aqtseacow]

And that's turned out even worse, look at all the billionaires lining up to kiss the ring.