[hodgehog11]

Historically speaking, the US might even be a larger risk to Australia than China is. The US alliance goes back a long way, and so does the opposition to US influence. Since the Whitlam government, MPs are generally fearful of US retaliation, rendering much of our politics hostage to US influence. Of course, some PMs have openly embraced the US so this feeling isn't universal. But many of our issues are directly tied to the US.

China has been far more beneficial to Australia by comparison, with the downside being the encroaching influence of CCP propaganda. Many of our strengths are tied to our relationships with Southeast Asia.

Paul Keating has famously declared US as an "aggressive ally", "our colonial masters", AUKUS as our "worst international decision", and that "our future is in Southeast Asia". This was under Biden too.

So the situation is much more complicated, and the feelings on the ground right now is that the US are not our friends (of course, the CCP is not great either).

[throwburn202605]

You don't even need to step foot on US soil for the US to be a risk to you

c.f. Kim Dotcom

[cwnyth]

The same Kim Dotcom who was arrested in Germany, extradited from Thailand to Germany, and most recently has been parroting Russian propaganda points about Ukraine? The same one whom the New Zealand legal system has allowed to exhaust every legal avenue and remains free to this day?

There are much better examples to use to showcase the US's extrajudicial/international reach than this guy.

[joe_mamba]

>and most recently has been parroting Russian propaganda points about Ukraine

Yeah but is that a jailable offense though? What about his freedom of speech?

Or should we just lock up everyone who says things we don't like?

[exo762]

Not jailable. But I'm absolutely free to disregard moral agency of mr. Kim Dotcom and stop paying attention to whatever he says or what happens to him as a result of his support for warring Russia.

[joe_mamba]

Would you be OK if everyone else disregarded the laws to see you punished for things not illegal?

[cwnyth]

No one said for the laws to be disregarded!? Why are you lying about what people are saying? Does it feel good to win against your own imagination?

[cwnyth]

Did I say it was a jailable offense? You might want to actually read what people write instead of arguing with your imagination.

[throwburn202605]

Laws are ultimately defined by the boundary and edge cases.

The godly person, doing no wrong, that through unfortunate circumstances, is brought before the court does not advance our understanding of a law.

It's the messiest case, by unscrupulous persons, in unconscionable circumstances that ultimately decide if the execution of that law gives the public more or less rights than on initial interpretation.

[cwnyth]

Yes, but public minds are not made up by edge cases. Surely a better example could be used rather than a divisive criminal.

Also, not sure how anyone except bad actors or sloppy readers could have gotten that I was defending the US here instead of criticizing using Kim Dotcom as an example in characterizing the US's actions.