I find it amusing that Franco ran with the promise of "justice for those with clean hands," and then immediately enacted the Law of Political Responsibilities to institutionalize the summary execution of tens of thousands of his political opponents.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by a hollow promise from Franco at this point.

As an outsider, the extent and depth of the contradictions are really fascinating, OTOH repeated to the point that nothing surprises anyone anymore.

I keep thinking what's the psychology behind this that makes it work and if they are mostly in on the act or if they really rely on many "useful idiots" like their political opponents keep suggesting.

The discussion around useful idiots became concerning for me as I'm learning to respect people even in the most "don't look up"-like situations, trying to understand their individual motives without judging them. The main problem in political discussions, I figured, is the fact that we have 2-3 groups we try to fit people into.

Wow, I made that digress quickly :)

Because they used millions of dollars of American citizens’ tax revenue to make a meaningless edgelord gesture, amongst a myriad of other reasons why it’s a bizarre and childish thing to do. Stopping there because this isn’t Reddit

Ah, but who's "they"? Names of departments are determined by Congress, and Congress has not renamed the DoD. The executive branch does not normally determine the names of its own departments. If you imagine the American government to be a single coherent entity, one might say "they have full naming rights", but it isn't, and in this case, the part doing the rename isn't the part that properly has the power to do so!

no they don't. "department of war" is a "secondary title" of the DoD.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...

only congress can change the name.

> why. unlike with the gulf of mexico, in this case they have full naming rights.

They actually don't. The official name is still the Department of Defense and only Congress can approve a real name change.

The Trump Executive Order just gives the department permission to use the Department of War name without actually changing the name of the department from the Department of Defense.

That said, despite being anti-Trump I'm fine with calling it the Department of War, it seems a lot more honest.

No, the President does not have “full naming rights” over entities defined and named in statute law. The President is bound to faithfully execute that law, but to change it (even if that change is merely to the name of a department or title of an officer specified within it) requires a bill to that effect to be passed by a majority of each house of Congress, which the President may then sign into law, effecting the change.

It’s fine that a secondary consequence is them showing their foolish hand; I’ll give you that, but this not normal and should not just be absorbed as though it’s normal and that’s just what we call it now

Genuinely surprised they didn't try to get away with department of peace.

???