this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
338 points (95.2% liked)
Political Memes
5483 readers
4381 users here now
Welcome to politcal memes!
These are our rules:
Be civil
Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.
No misinformation
Don’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.
Posts should be memes
Random pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.
No bots, spam or self-promotion
Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Something doesn't have to be illegal to be criminal. Using such a narrow definition serves to privilege those who write laws for their own benefit and is a crime* against those who are brutalized under systems without legal protections.
*This word is being used with the definition of "A serious offense, especially one in violation of morality." This is not referring to any laws nor is it suggesting there should be legal punishment for having bad takes.
we're talking about war crimes not crimes in general. a war criminal is someone who commits war crimes. according to britannica a war crime is a "serious violation of the laws or customs of war as defined by international customary law and international treaties." this has nothing to do with morality it is pure jurisprudence.
They didn't say the presidents were criminals, they said they were war criminals, which does have a specific legal definition based on specific laws. Ones that many world leaders, including us presidents, abuse on a regular basis sure, but whether someone qualifies as a war criminal specifically is very much a legal matter, not just a moral one. That said, you don't have to be an expert to know laws or accuse people of breaking them, you just need to be an expert to navigate the legal system effectively, which in an ideal world is intended to ensure that the laws are upheld fairly. Unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world.