#Sadly not just a Republican Party

[crookedfandomquill]

This is very situational, and sadly may not be realistic for everyone, but I need y’all to understand that a very important part of political activism is fucking talking to your conservative or moderate friends and family.

My dad voted for Trump in 2016. He’s a middle class white evangelical from Arkansas. He raised me with conservative Christian values, just like his parents raised him. When he voted Trump, he was holding his nose, but he didn’t feel too bad about it, and went on to vote red down the ticket in the 2018 midterms, as well.

But I started college in 2017. Higher education and independence changed everything for me, and I went home over holidays and summers with fire in my belly and a thousand arguments ready at the drop of a hat, to my father’s dismay.

I remember crying in my room after emotional, intense arguments with him. I told him over and over that I felt betrayed by his choice to vote for a man who admitted to sexually assaulting women, who built his platform on dehumanizing immigrants and the disabled, who spread overtly-racist rhetoric, who flouted the values of kindness and self-discipline that I’d been raised on. And my dad always had some justification about the “greater good”: fighting against abortion, bolstering the economy, getting other Christian politicians into office.

But over time, as we grew further apart and I lost my will to discuss anything with him at all, he softened. He started asking me why I thought the way I did about the things we disagreed about. He would listen to my answers without interruption, and mull them over afterward instead of expressing his own opinion. And all the while, he watched the Trump presidency become cruel and absurd and devastating.

The first time he openly expressed regret to me, I had come home for a weekend after Kavanaugh was confirmed to SCOTUS. My dad realized he had helped elect a man who preyed on women… and that man had opened the door to more predators. I can’t tell you what it felt like for him to admit that he’d made a mistake, not just in voting for Trump but in defending him for so long. We kept arguing, but it was more debating than fighting. I knew he was capable of seeing my side of things, even if it took a while, and he knew I wasn’t just a sensitive college student with shallow new ideas about the world.

And then 2020 hit. Specifically, George Floyd was murdered, and the events that followed played out on the national stage. My dad was incredibly shaken by it. He asked me if I had any books from college about racial issues. I loaned him The New Jim Crow, one of the required readings for my Race and the Law class. Then I gave him Just Mercy. Then he watched the documentary 13th. Then he joined a racial harmony group he learned about through one of the few Black families at our church and insisted our whole family come. He held up signs at a protest against Confederate monuments in our conservative southern town. In three years, he went from defending Trump’s comments about “Black-on-Black crime” to publicly advocating for racial justice and opposing the death penalty.

We went together to vote in the 2020 primaries. I couldn’t help asking who he’d voted for; I didn’t even know if he’d asked for the Republican or Democratic ticket. He admitted he’d voted for Bernie. fucking. Sanders, then made me promise not to tell my grandma he’d voted liberal. When the election rolled around in November, he voted Biden. I’m sure he held his nose to do it, just like he held his nose voting in 2016. But I know he doesn’t regret it.

I am, of course, unbelievably lucky to have a parent who loved me enough, and was empathetic enough, to choose his relationship with me over his strongly-held opinions. He kept searching for truth because, as much as he’ll deny it, he’s a very smart and curious person. No degree of intelligence or curiosity makes you immune to propaganda, especially if you were raised not to question the party line. It’s easy to dismiss our conservative, conspiracy-pilled loved ones as stupid, hypocritical, and cruel. Sometimes they are. But sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes they will bend to keep their relationships from breaking. Sometimes, if they can be made to understand that their beliefs and actions are harming someone they love, they will make concessions. And sometimes they just need one person in their life to put a foot down, to be vulnerable and assertive and argumentative, to bring the impact of their politics close to home.

As the most important election of our lifetimes approaches, do not put peace over progress. If you have someone like my dad, someone who is good-willed and smart and loves you more than their own opinions, tell them how you feel. Tell them what their choices will mean for you, for your friends, for your community. Tell them what they could lose: your trust, your affection, your respect. Don’t avoid conflict if it could be productive. Because my conflict with my dad didn’t just win him over–it won over my moderate mom and one of my conservative brothers. And it put us in community with other like-minded people and led my parents to a healthier and kinder faith.

All of this to say, there is hope in conflict. There is hope in our relationships with people who think differently from us. There is hope in exposing your fear and anger and pain to people you love. And hope is a form of activism.

[noir-fem]

we need to be scared of project 2025, like, seriously fucking scared. and we need to vote these Christofacists out of office.

"How seriously should we take “Project 2025”? Isn’t this all just the abstract raging of feverish minds? Just empty threats far removed from any chance of implementation? Mostly just a messaging effort intended to placate and mobilize a frenzied base? If only.

'Project 2025' is evidence that the American Right has concrete plans and a detailed strategy of how to take over and transform American government into a machine that serves only two purposes: Autocratic revenge against the “woke” enemy – and the imposition of a reactionary vision for society against the will of the majority."

[olderthannetfic]

At the time of writing this, Audrey R. has already resigned from running for OTW board, and the way people have acted about her candidacy the past few days has been disturbing, but also sadly unsurprising. Please, to anyone who may read this- I know those immediate gut reactions of shock, horror, disgust, I personally find that I can't stand Republicans and conservatives, I generally hate their views and what they stand for.

But please, don't just blindly spread misinformation and fear. I know there's little nuance to be found on tumblr, but people were misrepresenting her and her policies and unnecessarily riled each other up to the point where people took it upon themselves to go after her and her employer under false beliefs.

She's a Republican, yes. But how many people have taken the time to actually look her up? She's run as an independent before, her policies aren't the conservative bs people are making it out to be, and quite frankly, in her district, there is no realistic chance for a Democrat or an independent candidate to win elections.

In one of her Q&As, she had this to say:

"One of the most important things I learned on the campaign trail was this: it does not matter how loud your voice is if you don’t have a seat at the table. My advice to #EOTWR is recruit and/or run so they can get a seat, and find ways to involve the people currently in the positions to make change."

Combining her locale, statements, and platform, she's at worst a centrist who's running with the Republicans for a chance to win and actually try to change things within the system in which she's contained.

There's no evidence of her being pro-censorship. There are legitimate concerns about the effects of social media, screens, and the internet on youths, especially because they're so relatively recent in our history. People saw her party, her organization, other people's reactions, and assumed the worst.

If people actually did research and came to their own conclusions or simply decided that a republican affiliation in and of itself was an automatic deal breaker, I completely understand that. I personally wouldn't have voted for her either way. It's understandable that candidates will be discussed and criticised, but don't make things up to make her worse than she actually is.

--

[7thedisasterdyke]

Kamala has already supported KOSA (Project 2025). She has told us she is going to continue to murder babies and families. She wants to turn Gaza into real estate for white supremacists. She invited right wing goons to speak at the DNC. The Biden admin just funded alt-right chuds in Venezuela to riot because Biden thinks the socialist cheated and thinks Venezuelan Trump won instead. As a queer, indigenous person, I know Kamala will be just as bad as Trump for my rights if not worse because she wants conservatives to vote for her. The Democratic party and AIPAC has ousted progressive dems in their primaries and replaced them with obedient right wing Dems. The Biden admin sends weapons to nazis in Ukraine who killed 14,000 Ukrainians who protested against the Right wing coup that Obama supported a decade ago. Obama is responsible for many innocent deaths (but y'all treat him like a celebrity saint). Obama and Hillary had Gaddafi killed. Libyan had it all. Obama ordered a drone strike on paramedics rescuing people from the wedding he just bombed (they call it the Obama two tap). Anyway, you can keep defending the Dems moving 3 clicks right because it's better than 10 clicks right with Republicans, and saying it's an evil system, but you're helping to enable it. If we get Trump, it's nobody's fault but the Dems. I actually thought Kamala would be better than Biden. I was wrong. I'm not gonna vote for anyone who is responsible for murdering children and selling the rights of marginalized people (including myself) to Republicans. You can say "Oh but she said 'trans rights'" all you want but this is my 4th election and Dems keep supporting transphobic dems and anti-abortion dems and they parade them around like the good guys. The marginalized people you claim to support are all screaming at you to not support these right wing Dems and join them on the left. You don't get to sell them out for your own comfort. Your rights aren't more important than mine and vice versa. We've been asking you to move left with us since at least Obama turned out to have lied about codifying Roe and decided bailing out his bank buddies was more important. But we're watching you move right. We will survive either way but the dems want you to use scare tactics because they want to be the ones at the wheel of the fascist machine. So if you don't like it then don't participate. Don't play their game. They both play for the same team. They want your consent for nuclear war against made up enemies. It's sick. Stop believing their lies and supporting them. Supporting Kamala is the same as supporting Trump. You're just voting for aesthetics. Lots of liberals have already lost their way anyway and say they'd rather be fascists than socialists. Human rights begin on the left and the dems have never been left of center. Ffs liberals pulled out of a pride fest because of Palestinian inclusion. Lots of them already are self admitted zionists. Do you want to belong to a political party that openly supports white Christian supremacy cosplaying as judaism to avoid criticism? The two party system is white supremacy and they are using a black woman to play identity politics with people who only see her as color and refuse to see that she's a tool to them. Anyway there's room at the leftist table. Or you can keep going to the right until you no longer remember what you stood for.

I'm not gonna lie, sending one big chunk of text with no space for me to breathe between paragraphs is tough for me to read, but I'm going to anyway, because I foresee I'm gonna get quite a few of these.

So I'm going to go through this one point at a time:

Support of KOSA: sadly true, but that's an easy thing to change minds on. Not like she's the only one in the senate who wants it passed on either side.

Continue to murder babies and families: I can't tell if you mean the border or Gaza, but in either case, Trump will do many times worse.

Gaza into WS real estate: no she doesn't. She's been more outspoken in favor of an end to the genocide than any other presidential candidate in modern history.

Invited right-wingers into the DNC: first, I don't think she personally invited them. Second, even if she did, she still needs to pull Trump supporters and marginally right-wing independents to vote for her. We want a better society for everyone, after all.

Venezuela: the "socialist" has a proven track record of human rights abuses, and other than that, I don't know enough about the country to speak further on the subject.

Just as bad for queer/indigenous as Trump because she wants the right to vote for her: seriously, this is just point 4 worded differently. The purpose of an election (in the US) is to make yourself palatable to as many people as possible so you can beat the massive core of voters each party has. Also, again, we're trying to make a better society for everyone, right?

Dems/AIPAC ousting progressives in primaries: sure, AIPAC has a large amount of money to outspend progressives, and even still, the only actual "ousting" I've heard of was Cory Bush.

Biden sending weapons to Nazis in Ukraine: ok look, I'm sick of leftists parroting Russian propaganda. The government of Russia is authoritarian and right-wing, Trump idolizes Putin, and Putin has allied himself with Kim Jong-Un, who Trump also loves. Also, a few far-right nationalist groups fighting to maintain their nation (alongside non-far-right troops) is to be expected. And respectfully, I don't care how Obama was involved, because that's irrelevant to Russia literally invading.

Obama having innocents killed: yeah, duh, he was a US president in the US Empire's Military Age. That doesn't mean anything, and Harris was never even part of his administration, so your point is just a complete non sequitur to begin with.

"Defending Dems moving 3 clicks right when it's better than 10 clicks with Repubs": would you rather have the 10 clicks? Like, actually. Democrats are already right-wing. Harris's policies would work to move the country left, actually.

"If we get Trump, it's nobody's fault but the dems": actually, no, it's the fault of people who try to persuade the minority of far-left democrats to not vote for the best possible option.

Dems keep supporting transphobic/anti-abortion dems: yeah, sure, I'll give you that one, because guess what? They're more easily convinced to vote in their trans constituents' best interests regardless. They're more likely to vote to maintain abortion rights because they're more likely to listen to those constituents.

Marginalized people screaming at me to join them on the left: I am on the left. Incredibly far left, in fact. I'm just not stupid enough to think that we have enough people to change things. Want me to vote third party? I think I'd rather go with the safer option for marginalized people and pick someone with any chance of beating Trump.

I'm a sellout: no, I'm really not. I just understand that the system is overwhelmingly rigged against the non-establishment picks.

Dems want to be at the wheel of the fascist machine: better the one who has a chance at turning it around than the one who'll turn up the throttle.

Don't like it, don't participate: this isn't like a boycott. If every left-winger decided not to participate, Trump would almost certainly win by default. We "play their game" because without the game's existence, Trump's devoted followers would have already had every minority expunged from the country.

They both play for the same team: they're not even playing the same game! Trump and his Republican lackeys want to eliminate the concept of voting entirely, wants to end freedoms for all minorities, and wants to establish theocracy. Democrats want to maintain the democratic system, establish more rights for minorities, and make life better for Americans. This is also my answer to "Supporting Kamala is the same as supporting Trump": it's just not true.

Lots of liberals are self-admitted Zionists: believing Jewish people have a right to the chunk of land the Jewish ethnoreligion originated from, in this world with borders, where they can be unequivocally safe from the historic oppression they have faced for the last several thousand years in... is a fairly common sentiment. That is Zionism. There is a difference between believing that, and believing that they should be the only ones living in that specific region that was inhabited when they got there, which is Kahanism. In order to figure out, in a way that makes as many people happy as possible with the outcome, what to do with Israel, we need someone at the helm of the US who is not Kahanist. Trump notably supports Kahanists. Harris, notably, does not. At least not publicly. Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret as a presidential nominee?

The two-party system is WS: YES! It is! But we're not going to beat it from the outside because, and this is important, they have the power to silence us if we get too loud, and they will absolutely use it. The US has the third largest military in the world by active personnel, at 1.3 million. Do you think we would be able to train enough people to beat that? Think we can afford enough fighter planes to defeat 4 of the top 5 air forces in the world? Until the answer to that is yes, I'm going to keep voting in US elections for the lesser of two evils, because I'd rather fight them, than the trigger-happier alternatives.

"You can keep going to the right until you no longer remember what you stood for": also known as "doing anything a different flavor of leftist doesn't like".

I'd like to end this with a series of open questions:

Did you know that, of the third-party candidates for president, only Jill Stein has any chance of winning enough states?

Did you know that she's only ever won Massachusetts?

Did you know that the Claudia de la Cruz can only win by write-in?

Did you know that Cornel West isn't even on enough ballots to win?

I've seen leftists calling for votes for all three.

Final question to everyone voting "third-party or not at all":

Which one of them will beat Harris in every state?

Have a good night, and stay whelmed.

[that-was-a-bit-stupid-of-you]

I don't understand, what's going on with Taylor and Matt trash being a couple? Could you explain to me?

nothing is really going on at the moment tbh, cuz they broke up a pretty long while ago, but the issue is the album (if that's what you're referring to) and taylor swift herself.

[will add sources and more stuff when I find the links and if I realise I missed something out, cuz this is a general thing based off of memory]

Context: dating history

Basically she and matty had been friends for a few years (there are rumors of them hooking up ig in 1989 era maybe, but I don't really care enough to believe shit like that). Apparently he had also been pining for her (according to stuff he said in interviews and tweets) for years, but again, you can still chalk it up to rumors if you wanna.

The thing is that post her breakup with joe alwyn, she started dating him (in like april I think) [there had been dating rumors of them since 2014 tho, and again in March 2023] and the fandom kinda got divided.

Here is the link to their entire timeline

Context: what matty healy did

Matty healy (you prolly know this) is basically racist, sexist, antisemitic, homophobic and God knows what else I have missed out or not been aware of. He did shit like doing the nazi gesture on stage, mocking asian accents, tastelessly making fun of ice spice on her race and bodyshaming her, laughing and basically confirming that he watches violent rape porn of black women on a site that is known to be highly problematic and force their actors (gender neutral) to do things they dont consent to (there was also an actress who was assaulted or something but im not informed on it). Even when he was called out on stuff like this, he accused people (who were poc, btw) of overreacting.

Context: taylor and activism

Taylor had also, in the past (lover era, and miss Americana the doc) had talked about how she had been too quiet about political issues and politics itself for too long, that she understands her influence and power in society, and that she "needs to be on the right side of history" and even specifics such as that she thinks it's spineless to go on stage and say "happy pride month" and not acknowledge the political oppression that queers in USA were facing (something about a bill or the republican party idk man I'm not american, i dont remember but i did research when i watched the doc tho). She has claimed she was gonna be clear about where she stands (many republicans had considered her to be one, and many thought she's conservative or something, but she was always quiet about it, until the lover era). However, she just stopped that activism after the lover era, and went back to being quiet on where she stands (I've seen many swifties refer to the lover era as the activism era) and hasn't spoken about anything substantial really. She did some things like post a black square with 13 hearts during blm, and stuff that every celeb who wasn't openly a pos did, but that's kinda it. Even as a self proclaimed feminist, she didn't speak up on issues such as roe v wade, or about an issue regarding drag queens despite having them in yntcd, or talking about trans/queer rights until she was in a blue state (im not an American, I just like to keep up a little with stuff in usa cuz it's always up in my face sadly, and thus i cant be specific, but anyways, correct me if I'm wrong, or if I missed something).

So even after saying she'll be vocal, she was just... not. And that's basically her on politics or giving a shit about minority communities.

Context: Fandom's reaction

Swifties were extremely disappointed that taylor CHOSE to associate with a man like this, and there were fans calling her out, and she received backlash, too.

Most of these swifties were poc (myself included) and they felt hurt that an artist that they not just supported and developed such a deep connection with, but also financially supported for years, would have such disregard for them. Not just was she dating him, but she kept saying things such as "I have never been happier in all aspects of my life" or saying "I love you" or "uk who you are" in romantic songs on the tour, which was just adding insult to injury. She also did a collab with ice spice (which was completely out of nowhere, and the collab itself seemed badly made and rushed), which fans and others speculated to be a pr cover up for the fact that matty healy had mocked her (many ppl also believed that it was too quick for it to be a pr cover tho).

Now, in the fandom, when poc swifties were calling her out on dating mh, (mostly) white swifties started harassing poc swifties for doing so, or saying that they are hindering with her happiness or some bs about it being "just a fling" (again, myself included). They said it's the same as seeing a friend get out of a long-term relationship and make bad dating choices, and poc swifties should let it go (as if taylor is our close personal friend). In a mostly white fandom, poc swifties felt alienated and sidelined.

Ofc, taylor never addressed any of this backlash, and after she broke up with him, there were articles saying that sources say (which mostly means her pr team atp) that her breakup had nothing to do with his controversies or behavior.

The album release (lyrics, references and reaction)

Now, with the release of ttpd, contrary to what most of the fandom believed, most of the songs on both the albums are believed to be (and heavily hinted on) about matty healy. These include 4 songs- "ttpd", "but daddy I love him", "I can fix him (no really I can)", and "guilty as sin?"

Ttpd, the title track, talks about mh being "a tattooed golden retriever" (wtf) and about him love-bombing her, and her pining after him, thinking about marriage and shit. But daddy I love him and I can fix him, are basically that no one supported her dating decision and she's claiming that she loves him oh so goddamn much, but more importantly, her talking about her fans' reactions. Specifically, describing her poc fans to be "vipers" and "judgemental creeps" who hate her and them being hurt as "bitching and moaning", and basically took the side of the (white) fans who defended her, indirectly. She described his racist bs as "crazy" and said shit like she could "handle a dangerous man." She also has another song, "Guilty as sin?" and while I genuinely don't give a fuck about what she chooses to do in her private life, unless it is problematic, it is about her fantasizing about being with that racist man while being in a long term relationship with joe alwyn. She sings about how she wants him and wants to be with him... in multiple ways, iykyk. Again, out of context, I love this song so much, but that doesn't erase the context, right?

She also has a song "I hate it here" where she says the following lines:

"My friends used to play a game where

We would pick a decade

We wished we could live in instead of this

I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid"

And while there are many reasons why this line by itself is racist (romantisization of a time that was extremely shitty to many communities, most of which she is not a part of, showing herself to be "oh look I'm so woke I still remember the bad things even when I romanticize bad eras in history" which is something you expect from an ignorant white high schooler maybe, not a 34 y/o billionaire who claims to be well-read, etc.) but taylor swift herself saying these is adding insult to injury cuz she has shown time and time again she has no problem with racism (she kept quiet when antonia gentry, a black actress, received hate and racist threats by swifties because of a line BY NETFLIX that taylor didn't like, and she shouldn't ofc, but it wasn't the actress' fault), or associating herself with them (matty healy, for example). It is hypocritical to write something like that after writing an album about pining after a man and his "dangerousness," which is just bigotry. Way to romanticise racism, sexism, and antisemitism, taylor.

Even now, after listening to the album, she clearly doesn't like mh anymore, NOT because of his actions, but because he broke her heart, showing that she still enables and is okay with everything he did.

And that's kind of it (ig) about her and matty healy. I'm not really sure exactly which part you wanted to know, so this is just a gist of it all. Hope it helps :)

[ceilidhtransing]

I see people saying “a vote for a third party isn't a vote for Trump, no matter how much you try to tell me it is” and while this statement makes sense from one perspective, it also sadly just misunderstands the material reality of politics.

If we're talking about voting purely as something that affects the moral tally of your individual heart, then yes, a vote for the Greens or whatever isn't morally equivalent to a vote for Trump. If the way you think about this is in terms of getting to the pearly gates and being asked “and did you always vote for the purest and most morally clean person?” then yes, a Green vote is not the same as having to say “actually I voted for Trump”.

But down here in the real world where voting isn't about maintaining your own personal sense of having a Morally Untarnished Heart but about, you know, real material consequences, a vote for a third party is functionally, if not morally, equivalent to a vote for Trump. You might not be voting for Trump but you are voting in a way that only makes it harder for the only candidate that has an actual chance in hell of beating Trump to win. There is no world in which that does not simply help Trump. You are splitting the anti-Trump vote and making it easier for him to win because that is how this voting system unfortunately works. Frankly, you may as well be voting for Trump.

“But my vote isn't an endorsement of Trump! It's an endorsement of the exact opposite values of Trump!” Yes, but again, this terrible first-past-the-post voting system does not produce “the average of all the values that people voted for”. Any votes that don't go towards the winner are wasted votes. And the winner, especially if that winner is Trump, will not care that you voted Green. They will govern just the same, and your voice will carry no weight at all electorally.

“Stop blaming people who vote third party for all the terrible things Republicans decide to do! Those things aren't my fault; I didn't vote for them.” There is a certain value to the argument “it's not my fault for voting third party; it's the Democrats' fault for not putting up a candidate I could vote for”. But this slightly falls apart when it comes to the people who have already decided they will always vote third party, regardless of how perfect a candidate the Democrats run, so this whole “it's the Democrats' job to convince me” is purely theoretical. And I too hate the way our society often defaults to blaming leftists for whatever the right does, as if leftists are the only ones with political agency and the right can never be held accountable for anything. But when leftists had an opportunity to prevent the right from doing something evil and they chose their own moral purity over an imperfect choice that would nevertheless have prevented some harm, then no, I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to place some of the blame on those people.

US presidential elections hang on relatively tiny numbers of people in only a few crucial swing states. And because 132,476 people in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin decided to vote Green rather than Democrat in 2016, abortion is illegal in 13 states. That's less than 0.04% of the US population. Even margins that small matter. And no, those people didn't vote “against abortion”, but their failure to tactically unite behind the candidate who would have protected reproductive rights and who had a chance of actually winning directly led to the victory of the anti-abortion candidate. I'm sure all the people who now can't access abortion (ironically, none of whom lives in MI, PA or WI) are really glad that those people voted with their hearts rather than strategically. Votes have consequences, and things do change (for the worse, as well as for the better), much as some people like to harp on about how “nothing ever changes” and “your vote doesn't matter”.

“But why are you blaming those people? What about the people who actually voted Republican? Or the people who didn't vote at all?” Well, first off, this post is about third-party voting, not Republican voters or non-voters. But I do feel there is more ground to be gained by talking about the consequences of third-party voting than by discussing the others. Many Republican voters are essentially unreachable; they're not remotely progressive, so trying to convince them that they should be voting Democrat is mostly like talking to a brick wall. And non-voters are the people who didn't show up anyway; arguably they should have shown up, but they didn't. But third-party voters got involved, made sure they were registered to vote, got all the way to the voting booth, and then decided to vote not in the way that would defend at least some progressive values, but in the way that would only make it harder to beat the ultra-regressive candidate. There's an understanding that a lot of third-party voters are on the right side, they're just not making the right strategic decision, which is why so much more progressive energy gets put towards trying to convince e.g. Green voters than towards trying to convince people who aren't even remotely on our side to begin with.

“But both major candidates are agents of capital who will ultimately work for the continuation of the American empire. I'm voting for the benefit of the world, not just for the benefit of a few people in the US.” I'm not going to argue with you over that first sentence, because yes, you are correct. Both Democrats and Republicans ultimately support capitalism and both Democratic and Republican presidents have been responsible for some absolutely heinous crimes of US foreign and military policy. But as a non-American, the idea that voting in a way that makes it easier for Trump to win rather than uniting behind the person who might actually beat him - who is still flawed, but orders of magnitude better than him - is in some way liberatory to the rest of the world is just... what??? Do you not hear the people who are screaming “please stop the guy who's basically in favour of Putin annihilating Ukraine and endangering the rest of Central and Eastern Europe”? The people who are screaming “please stop the guy who seems like he just can't wait to drop nukes somewhere”? The people who are screaming “please stop the guy whose victory will only embolden the far right in our own countries and make it harder for us to beat them here”? Non-Americans are, by and large, not saying “ah yes, we are grateful that you chose moral purity rather than supporting one of the two capitalist candidates who will continue US imperialism”; we are screaming “PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T LET TRUMP GET ELECTED; THIS WILL MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE FOR ALL OF US”. Your Green vote does not help the world right now. Please get behind the person who isn't a massive, immediate, almost unprecedented threat to everything we hold dear, and then we can fight for a better world together.

[their-name-is-fake]

I’ve seen an interesting argument pop up that Stien voters cost Harris the election. This isn’t true

Sadly, even if the stein voters had voted for Kamala she would have lost these swing states because the margins were too big. Whether you like it or not she lost due to a mix of a bad campaign, red pill ideology on the rise, racism’s and Trump being able (and willing) to leverage Kamala’s short comings in a way actually beneficial to him.

This isn’t a Green Party problem, this is a US problem, and y’all have to start acting like if you want to have a chance of winning in4 years and it starts by actually listening to what is coming out of peoples mouths and mobilizing NOW. Not just every 2 years but literally right now. Put pressure on dems to vote progressive, to actually codeify things when they have power, to deal with the racism and sexism that is on the rise and the causes behind it instead of just writing these people off.

Listen to minorities even ones who don’t agree with you and figure out where the dems are losing them, work to abolish the electoral college and NO MATTER WHAT don’t clock out just cuz ur candidate won. That’s how you lose the ones on the fence

But for now, kick your wounds, cry your tears, then reach out to people who mobilize and I don’t mean this in a ‘on I reblogged something that’s enough’ I’m so serious.

If you take ANYTHING from me, someone who has been watching these patterns play out all over the world for a while, it is that if you don’t put the pressure on their necks constantly they will not actually do anything. Because, and I know this won’t be nice to hear, but dems and republicans are the same in that they care about their OWN power and their OWN comfort. Not yours. So, if we can get them to understand their comfort will not come without ours, they will get off their asses and do something

Also free Palestine! Free Congo! Free Sudan! And free Tigray! Because America, at the end of the day, is a villain in so many peoples histories and present days.

And yall better be ready to march for as long as it takes until democracy isn’t threatened every couple of years (because that’s not normal)

[mariacallous]

The list of Wisconsin Republicans endorsing the Democratic presidential ticket in November has added three high-profile names: Longtime conservative commentator Charlie Sykes, former lawmaker and judge David Deininger and onetime state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz.

The three went public just before the weekend in a Zoom call with reporters to declare their support for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, and their opposition to the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

“It is a uniquely dangerous moment, and it’s a moment for us to set aside our differences,” said Sykes, explaining why supporting Harris was “not a difficult choice for me” even though he said he’s likely to disagree with many of the policies on her agenda.

“That’s not the point,” he said of those policy differences. “The point is this choice that America has to make — what kind of country we want to be.”

In backing Harris, the three added to the Democratic campaign’s concerted appeal across party and ideological lines to people who view Trump as a distinct, existential threat. All three declared that under Trump the Republican party has evolved far from the party with which they historically have aligned themselves.

“Unless or until the Trump era ends, that party will not regain its footing, and I think defeating him this year is a way to make sure the Republican Party can rebuild and get back to what has always been the party of Lincoln,” Deininger said.

Sykes has opposed Trump since before he first won the Republican nomination for president in 2016. He’s one of the founders of The Bulwark, a digital publication established in 2019 by anti-Trump conservatives.

Schultz left the state Senate midway through Scott Walker’s tenure as Wisconsin governor after voting against two of Walker’s signature pieces of legislation — a bill that stripped public employees of most of their union rights and another loosening mining regulations.

Deininger was among the former judges who served on the Government Accountability Board — a nonpartisan agency that for a few years served as Wisconsin’s elections and ethics watchdog.

After the board investigated Walker’s campaign for coordinating spending with outside groups in the 2012 recall election — at the time a violation of Wisconsin law — Republicans in the Legislature abolished the independent board in 2015 and changed the state’s campaign finance laws to permit coordination.

“When I was on the Government Accountability Board, our primary function was to protect and preserve the integrity of Wisconsin government and our elections,” Deininger said. “That’s the kind of leadership we need at the federal level, and sadly, it’s the opposite of what we saw from Donald Trump.”

Deininger didn’t equivocate in his criticism of the former president.

“Trump has lied repeatedly to the American public about just about everything, but probably the worst of all is his lies about the outcome and integrity of our elections,” he said, recalling that on Jan. 6, 2021, “Trump encouraged a violent mob to attack the Capitol to overturn the 2020 election.”

“The reality is a second Trump term would be far worse and far more dangerous,” he added.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Deininger also asserted that the president has unique responsibility for overseeing national security — and that he was “dismayed at some of the public comments, publicly reported comments, that former President Trump has made about veterans and military service.”

Schultz emphasized his belief in a bipartisan approach to governing and his faith that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, would govern in a bipartisan manner. In contrast, he pointed to the destruction brought by Hurricane Helene to the American Southeast and lies spread by the GOP standard bearers in the storm’s aftermath.

Schultz also drew a contrast between Trump’s evocation of “a dystopian future” and “a candidate seeking the highest office in the land talking about the need to come together, joyfully, working on the problems that all of us face” — Harris.

“I myself want to cast my lot with those folks who are [optimistic about] our future, not who are hung up on some sort of Mad Max scene that they see as a future for our country,” Schultz said.

While echoing some of the same criticisms of Trump, Sykes focused on the party that once served as the political homeland for all three Wisconsin Republicans on the press call.

“I have been surprised and disillusioned by watching how many conservatives have gone along with Donald Trump — his lies, his insults, his kowtowing to dictators, his willingness to violate the law,” Sykes said. “One after another, Republicans have decided that winning or staying in power is more important than standing up for these values that used to be, I think, fundamental.”

He also noted the number of staff and appointees  from Trump’s four years in the White House “who are now saying that he is not fit to be returned to office,” including his former vice president, his former defense secretary and his former national security advisor. “There’s no historical parallel for this,” Sykes said.

Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, and former U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the Janesville Republican who served in Congress for two decades, have both publicly stated Trump should not be reelected but have declined to endorse  Harris.

Sykes professed his respect for them, but also said leaving the presidential line on the ballot empty or writing in a name — George Washington, Edmund Burke or Ronald Reagan — wasn’t a sufficient response, since it won’t prevent Trump from being reelected.

“The only two candidates who have a chance to win this election are Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” Sykes said. “And by voting for Kamala Harris, I think that we draw the line and say that Donald Trump should never be allowed anywhere near power again.”

[after-the-end-times]

THE HOPE OF IT ALL

G 💙 750 words 💙 '92 US Election 💙 on AO3

💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙

As the 1992 election results started to roll in, The Party were glued to the tv in Steve and Eddie's apartment.

It had been a long time since they'd had a Democrat come this close to winning the Presidency. They all lived for too long under Reagan and then George H W Bush and now they were all watching to see if Bill Clinton could keep Bush from getting a second term.

"Do we really think he's gonna-"

"Shhhh!," Dustin cuts Robin off, "What did I say about jinxing this! No. Predicting!"

Robin mimed zipping her lips closed while she pulled her foot onto the couch. She gave a quick kick that sent him flailing onto the floor.

"Hey! I'm trying to win you an election here and that's how you act! Hmph! And not even a thank you for my effort!"

Robin pointed at her zipped together lips and shrugged faux sadly.

"Ok!," Steve stood up, stopping the inevitable slap fight, "I'm making more popcorn. Who needs another pop?"

Everyone raised their hands as Steve stepped gingerly through and around everyone sprawled on the living room floor. Eddie met his eyes and got up to follow him into the kitchen.

While they hoped it'd be a shut out (Clinton's popularity amongst both Dems and some Republicans was pretty high) they wouldn't know for sure until all the polls closed and the numbers came in.

And until then, they tried not to let the worry gnaw through their stomachs.

They were silent as Steve unwrapped bags of popcorn to put in the microwave and Eddie grabbed cans from the fridge.

Eddie lined the pops up on the bar top between the kitchen and living room and spoke through the opening, "Hey Will, can you hand these out?"

He waited to see Will and El standing to grab them before he turned back to Steve. He stepped up to Steve's back and wrapped his arms around him.

"Don't tell Dustin I said so," he said lowly against Steve's shoulder, "but Clinton's gonna win."

He drags his mouth along Steve's shoulder and mutters into hair, "He's gotta win. We can't do four more years of Bush. Four more years of him not caring about people, our friends, dying."

Steve emptied the last popcorn bag into a bowl and turned in Eddie's arms and hugged him close.

"We're not jinxing," he whispered back, "we're hoping. How can we get change without hope?"

They held each other a few more minutes until Robin came in. She passed the bowls of popcorn across the counter to Lucas and turned back to Steve and Eddie.

She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the ceiling above their heads, "We're gonna get this. It's gonna happen. And things are gonna get better. They have to. I just can't get this churning dread out of my stomach. Cause what if-"

Before she could put that thought out there, they pulled her into their hug and held her tight. She knew that no matter what happened, they'd have each other, but it was still terrifying. That what-if.

With one last deep breath and hard look between the three, they smoothed their expressions to hide their anxiety and rejoined the kids.

Except. It was finally 8:30 and hope was on the rise. As were the shouts and, yes, predictions getting yelled around the living room.

Because the midwest was going blue. State by state: Michigan, Ohio, and then their new home, Illinois. Blue!

Even southern states were going blue, which none of them could believe. First Georgia and then Tennessee!

Some states were still going to Bush, of course. Big ones like Florida and Texas.

Steve handed $5 over to Eddie when their home state of Indiana stayed red.

But then at 9.30, the tentative hope everyone held tightly to their chests exploded into cheers and whoops when California and Pennsylvania went to Clinton.

"WE WON!", the kids screamed while they jumped up and down.

Steve and Eddie kissed hard and pulled each other into a tight hug.

Robin jumped on top of them from the couch, "I told you! I told you we'd win! Ha!"

The phone on the wall immediately started ringing. Steve pulled away and pushed his way through the wall of bodies to reach it.

Through the space between the kids' heads, Eddie saw Steve answer the phone grinning so hard his eyes did that scrunchy thing he loved so much.

In the instant, he was filled with so much love.

For Steve.

For his friends, here and gone.

For Wayne, who he needed to call if that wasn't him on the phone already.

And even, honestly, surprisingly for all his fellow citizens who came together to bring them this hope and possibility of a better future.

~fin~

[konzenkoryuu]

Just heard that Biden stepped down. No idea who the next candidate is. But even before knowing, I’m still planning to vote blue. Why? Because this election is, sadly, Republican vs Democrat. And the Republicans have shown they want to take away my life and safety. The safety of millions of women and lgbt+ people. I will never vote for a party that wants to take away my rights.

[ghostowlattic]

"No Food has entered"

Oh my, why would food do such a thing? How could food do it anyhow? Strange.

It would seem kind of important, unless this is pure propaganda, to add that our country's current admin. and Israel are the ones blocking food and aid. to purposely starve 400,000 + people. And to mention also that Biden/Harris/Blinken personally signed off on attacking aid trucks and ambulances.

Aid trucks and ambulances.

It's absurdist, agonizing really, reading western headlines as they constantly try to twist reality daily. When you watch the events yourself or see them live streamed online, only to see headlines moments later which purposely misinform, it becomes even more clear how much the western media keeps people in a manipulated bubble. Which was clear anyhow but it sure does become more apparent when you really see it in action working overtime.

I'm sad and somewhat surprised to watch the 'left', Dems mostly, of the USA be so quiet. People who seemed good at picking apart those police shooting articles saying, 'a police officer was holding a gun today when 3 of the bullets inside it killed a teen'. You know, where it's obvious they write anything to distort responsibility or even blame the victim? Now headline after headline is the same about our actions in the world and there is so much---silence!? Is the manipulation just working really well, or people are ignoring it for the election? Why does the Democrat's morality always seems to stop at the border? I certainly can't expect much humanity from Republicans.

I was always deeply hurt learning about the holocaust. I was a rather weird kid who studied all of those things very early on, including Cambodia, Pol Pot, Vietnam, more recent world history in general than my classes ever approached. Call me crazy but, I thought the lesson was that we could never let that happen again to anyone. To PEOPLE. To ANYONE.

Now it feels like we could be shoving people into gas chambers, we're already starving them and burning them alive, and it's like hey, isn't this great we just can't let this happen to Jewish people again? I'm like what the living fuck, this isn't what I signed up for. No one should be treated this way, nobody.

How can people here defend women's rights -- then be quiet about your nation helping to starve half a million women and children to death? No conflict there?

Is this what Trump did to us, is this our national soul now even for those who oppose him? Saying nothing while burning people alive in hospital beds!?

Trump is obviously a walking piece of living excrement and certainly isn't better in any regard, but anyone able to stay silent or not criticize your own nation and party as 100 thousand people are murdered in your name, as entire populations are being purposely starved, if it's just because they think it might spoil the election and it's 'not the time', how are they possibly a better human than he is?

Harris has now fully committed herself to this horror sadly, she said there was not single mistake made, and that she would have done NOTHING differently this year. Nothing. She added she will put NO RESTRICTIONS on Israel. Affirming she far right of Richard Nixon of all people, who you can see on historic videos warning people why we should never ever write Israel a blank check or they will bomb everyone in the region. It's truly weird to listen to Dick fucking Nixon explain why you need peace and love in the world more than the current Democrat running in 2024, things are probably a bit out of hand.

So what would be much for Americans? Democrats for that matter, it's not like I can expect Republicans to grow a heart if they ever had any, but everyone else? Because it's feeling like there is no limit. Officially it's over 41,000 but we know the number is more likely over 100k.

There are now over one million people displaced in a week. Is that not too much??

Then there is Aaron Bushnell, a 25 yo US serviceman who set himself aflame this year, burned himself alive saying it doesn't even compare to what Palestinians are going through, and notice how few Americans seem to give a shit or notice? Democrats seemed awfully offended by Trumps treatment of the military and yet our own soldiers set themselves on FIRE? Killing themselves in protest and, nothing?

400,000 in Gaza with no food since October 1. Are we going to just sit and wait for them to starve? This isn't a natural disaster. Civilians, women, children killed in mass numbers and this is still the good side of the country? How can anyone discuss something as important as abortion and women's rights while starving and bombing women and children in great numbers and not find that a bit...conflicting?

It was so soulless to see this morning, after watching the IDF burn people alive as it happened this week -- that Sky News had the gal to use those VERY images, those of burning people alive in hospital beds, with a story instead about Iran's missile attack, that killed no one, from a week earlier. Knowing people will likely conclude the terrible things they are seeing were not done by the IDF and the West, but Iran. Over and over straight up propaganda.

History will remember this. And since those involved are having such a 'great' time live streaming their own atrocities on social media, it's making it the most documented genocide in history and will be watched in detail for generations to come. It's insane to watch people openly discuss they want genocide and be very honest about it, to live stream theirselves killing people and to see them play in children's clothes after murdering them and just look at how passive Americans are. As the news is full of strange headlines like the one above..where FOOD magically keeps itself out of places with no reason or logic, starvation, bombings, displaced people, by....this mysterious nobody! Manipulation... the loss of active verbs will astound you.

I mean, I really do not have love for Nazis and bigots, I dislike seeing any sort of hate and fascism in fury. So, how could I not find it equally unnerving to see a huge group of American Israeli supporters this week carrying flags with stars of David, singing the melody of Hey Jude to 'No more Gaza', and laughing and chanting for the death of 2 million human beings? How is this morally different? Are people really so absurd that if the very same forms of hatred return but it's a diff symbol or reversed it's just unnoticed? Defended even? Are people really just led by some weird guilt so the holocaust was a get-one-free holocaust card for one specific group of people, instead of lesson to defend human life and dignity for everyone???

It makes me wonder, what was our entire culture about? Movies, art, lessons, all the supposed morals and novels from war and fiction and our own history? What was all these decades of artists, shows, film makers, going on and on about humanist topics worth? Streaming years worth of documentaries online about humanity, history, society - only to sit as it happens all over again? How can American liberals watch Republicans lie and say crazy things like immigrants will eat your pets, and laugh at it, and say damn we're not that stupid - but then Israel tells the world Palestinians and Syrians and Lebanese and pretty much every Arab in the world sleeps with a missile under their bed and you're like shit well here's billions of dollars and weapons go end them all? How can you not recognize the same techniques or just really so equally racist? What was the point of culture and movies or documentaries, even Star Wars -- any of these moralistic stories, if you all just sit here and let it happen again without saying a word? Does it have to come dressed in the same attire for you to recognize it?

I don't use FB a ton lately but I will post this here. I don't even try to share overly or get too personal online but with this, I feel it's not good for my soul to not say something more. Fuck Trump forever and I hope he loses or better yet dissolves into a pile of goo, but how can anyone else actually sit at ease or stay silent when this this current admin is fully supporting this and signing off to attack aid workers? If fascism is bad...isn't fkn' genocide?? Are you really ok if its not inside America?? Really? Even good ole American dad Tim Walz says he supports this mass death, so there's your cuddly football coach for you.

I cannot in good faith back my government's actions or those supporting this. This is beyond atrocious and I only can wish people can find their true hearts.

I get that human beings just aren't there yet, we are pretty much just mostly hairless apes fresh off the plains. I try not to be very misanthropic because I don't expect too much from people in the first place. I think there is an endless amount of love and beauty in people.

Still I'm disheartened by my own people on the 'good' side mostly. And with, ignorant celebs like Bill Maher are obviously assholes, most know that I guess, but still. Watching him and other libs saying gay people would be thrown off of a roof by Palestinians, just weeks after I literally watched Israelis blindfold Palestinians and throw them off of a building to their deaths, one after the other, feels like the most demonic gaslighting. Is there some throwing people off of buildings morality system I'm unaware of, or is that generally like, a terrible thing to do? And if being homophobic is a reason for genocide, then what of many of my Texan neighbors, Trump supporters, and the entire USA or half the planet? And I know this is crazy but, I wouldn't want to burn them alive or use white phosphorous on them or starve entire Republican cities to death either. Go figure?

I have friends in Israel and all over that I care for much, I want peace and safety for as many in this world as can be. But there is no way I can defend this, or any apartheid system for that matter.

There is nothing anyone can do that justifies this being done to anyone. Not terrorism, nothing. If you think 'terrorism' justifies collective death punishment and starvation maybe it's time to reconsider if you have a soul.

At very least perhaps we can like, not starve half a million people this month and fight for their dignity. Even just more people saying anything at all.

DIGNITY, something all humans deserve.

Wishing everyone truly a beautiful week and life, and hoping for much better for everyone.

[auburnflight]

A SIMPLE FLOWCHART OF WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CHOOSE TO VOTE (or not vote) IN THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:

A lot of folks (specifically self-identified "progressive" folks!) are talking about not voting here in the US as if it's a form of protest. Here's a graphic to explain why NOT to do that.

Sadly, we are currently living in a broken two-party system, where the only viable winners are going to be from one of two major parties. There has not been a President who is from a party other than Democrat or Republican since 1848, and that will statistically probably not change this year. This means, regardless of your ideals behind why you choose not to vote (I wish we had a better alternative than Biden too), we'll get one of two results. Pick the one that WON'T lead us to getting a dictatorship, because if you don't vote this year and Donald Trump is elected, there probably won't BE any elections to vote in.

*"Left-leaning" is starred because what is considered left in the US is actually closer to the center of the political spectrum. The US is just so right-leaning that anything more centrist feels leftist in comparison.

[dicapiito]

How do you keep your optimism during these difficult times specially on the elections?

Since im pretty sure all americans rather choose the third party rather the only politic party how has good intentions.

Sadly people can't change specialist leftists

Great question!

It’s because how many votes Joe Biden got in 2020. 81 million votes.

Social media and mainstream media makes it seem like a close race but people forget that Trump did cause alot of people to die from Covid. The fact I’m the only person I know that can say that I never experienced losing someone from Covid …is…not good. That’s a LOT of damage that man has done to families and some of these families will bite the bullet and vote Harris to help repair those relationships they lost due to being MAGA

It is a shame about the idiot leftists because they helped fuck 2000 and 2016 but they have become the jokes they were always striving to be. Their nonsense is as annoying as the right and Harris has paid them dust like they always should’ve been treated. More celebs are speaking out against them which is also helpful. They’re so far gone and I think so many more people see that versus 2000 and 2016.

Do I think Harris would get as many as Joe Biden? A possibility since all Trump does is play games with his followers and the non MAGA Republicans are showing up to vote so I’m confident that Harris will win and while panic can happen here and there; Trump is that ex that we all know people need to break up with and 2024 will be just like 2020 and America is over Trump, Vance and the MAGAs.

Oh and I ignore polls and MSM because they clearly want the Trump tax cuts so I’m not going to participate in watching their shit. They normalize Trump way too much so nope. 💙💙

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution

* * * *

We live in a "34-guilty-verdict" universe

June 3, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

Based on emails from worried and confused readers, I start with a few additional reflections on the 34 guilty verdicts against Trump.

We now live in a universe in which the laws of physics are based on 34 guilty verdicts. Within that framework, the only “newsworthy” stories (sadly) are ones that discuss why the guilty verdicts might be overturned on appeal or why they were allegedly secured by illegitimate means. Hence, in the “34-guilty-verdict universe,” we should anticipate (and ignore) the deluge of stories raising doubts about Trump's convictions. Henceforth, such negative stories will always receive preferential treatment in all media outlets. “Trump is guilty” is old news and will not drive the same number of clicks as “Trump might overturn the convictions on appeal.”  Do not confuse the frequency of stories with their merit.

The MAGA propaganda machine was prepared for the guilty verdicts and had a PR offensive at the ready. (It also had PR plans for alternative scenarios, but we don’t live in those alternative universes.) To their credit, the RNC responded quickly with vengeance, cynicism, and an ugliness that surprised everyone. Again, don’t confuse their unbridled hypocrisy with truth. We know from long experience that nearly everything in MAGA daily talking points are lies. So, too, with the MAGA propaganda response to the guilty verdicts.

For example,

Trump allegedly raised $53 million after the guilty verdicts. Don’t believe it. He had billionaire donations sitting in the queue waiting for any outcome—guilty, hung jury, acquittal--so he could make exaggerated claims of an outpouring of support in response to whatever verdict the jury announced.

Guilty verdicts supposedly increased his popularity and support. Don’t believe it. Early polling shows the verdicts had an immediate, negative impact on his support. See The Guardian (“A Reuters poll found one in 10 Republicans are less likely to vote for Trump following the conviction. A Morning Consult poll found 49% of independents and 15% of Republicans think Trump should end his presidential campaign as a result of the conviction.”)

Republican leaders are supposedly rallying to defense. Don’t believe it. Trump is using Mafia-like tactics to enforce loyalty. The truth was revealed when Larry Hogan, GOP candidate for US Senator from Maryland, issued a statement before the verdict saying that “we should respect the verdict.” A key Republican strategist responded, “You just ended your campaign.” On Sunday, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee declined to say whether the RNC will support the Republican nominee in Maryland for US Senate! See Politico, Lara Trump declines to say if RNC will support Larry Hogan after trial comments. (“Lara Trump added. “[Hogan] doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party . . . .”)

Media outlets are peddling and repeating questionable narratives about political motivation for the prosecution. For example, Senator Susan Collins said the verdicts were illegitimate because Alvin Bragg ran for District Attorney on the promise he would indict Trump. Collins’ statement is false, but that mischaracterization of Bragg’s campaign comments has gained widespread currency. See Talking Points Memo, Collins Needs to Retract and Apologize for her Falsehood.

So, relax (a bit). Over the weekend, Republican surrogates were roughed up by interviewers no longer willing to put up with their lies. The GOP surrogates looked silly and stupid. The same will happen with vulnerable Republicans forced to attack true verdicts delivered by honest citizens engaged in a civic duty.

The Biden campaign was slow to leverage the verdicts into a campaign issue. That decision was appropriate and shows a respect for the rule of law and due regard for Joe Biden’s position as the chief law enforcement of officer in the nation. And the American people have already figured out that having a convicted felon for president is not a good thing. Trust most Americans to get it right. That’s all we need for Democrats to win in 2024.

Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter

[qqueenofhades]

I'm waiting for the day people realize many "socialist" endeavors would not, in fact, tank the economy or drive up the deficit. Take housing. Even if the government did something asinine like buy a 100k house for every homeless person--instead of, like, invest in affordable housing or something reasonable--that'd only be around $55 billion dollars spent! Just slash the US military budget from the 800 billion it currently is down to 750 billion and boom! Money! Take it down to 700 billion (1)

2) and you'd pay for free college as well. (For a source on the college claim, see: this forbes article whining about how it'd cost a ~horrifying~ 47 billion for Biden to enact free college for people making less than 125k forbes(.)com/sites/robertberger/2020/09/04/the-surprising-cost-of-bidens-free-college-tuition-plan/?sh=688bf7396f7f ) Tax the wealthy and we'd raise the money for healthcare. We HAVE the money to improve things. We simply choose not to.

Well... yeah. Of course there's money. Of course there is. It's just that the current economic/late-stage capitalist system has decided that it's better off being locked away by a tiny handful of unimaginably greedy billionaires in order to make them even richer, rather than being equitably redistributed to solve social problems. They have also very successfully convinced the public, for upward of 40 years, that it's actually better to let the billionaires keep those fortunes, all taxation and government is evil, it's immoral to want or expect financial help or justice from said government, if you can't work hard enough to make your own money than you have a personally deficient character, structural and systemic racism/discrimination isn't real and doesn't affect wealth distribution, and etc., etc., etc.

Late-stage capitalism depends on enforced scarcity: if you don't have enough, you'll keep working in whatever shitty job you can get. The Republicans have often cited the tired old Reaganite myth about how welfare recipients are just "lazy" and can't be bothered to Pull Themselves Out of Poverty, and besides, the corporate world doesn't want to be deprived of its control over the working population. So of course they resist any efforts to tax or regulate billionaires or corporations, and they engage in (again, sadly very successful) lobbying campaigns to tie this economic libertarianism to social conservatism/conservative populism/outright racial/white supremacist rhetoric. So plenty of working-class white people consistently vote against their own economic interests, because they like racism more than anything else. See the recent attempt to claim that the Ohio train derailment happened because poor, rural white people were "left out/overlooked by the evil Democratic government for being white!!!" Or the narrative, helpfully pushed by the NYT (as usual), that these towns are "forgotten," "left behind," or otherwise "ignored" by an uncaring federal (read: Democratic) government.

Except... the Democrats under Biden have enacted more legislation, tax credits, infrastructure projects, job opportunities, and so forth, in the last two years alone, intended to help the residents of places just like East Palestine, Ohio, than the Republicans have ever done in all their presidential administrations. It's the Republicans who have starved those places of proper funding, safety regulations, material resources, government oversight, and so on, while telling them that Democrats hate them because they're white. The voters of those places have often enthusiastically voted for that message, and then the national GOP apparatus blames.... the Democrats. Because of course they do, even though the Democrats, by any metric, are the party who actually materially tries to help the working class. Racism, Reaganism, and white grievance is a helluva drug.

[agiar2000]

A Radical Proposal

Politics Post:

Warning: Extremism

"Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair." Okay, fine. I now realize that I was not radical enough. Let's take it to the next level. Here is a radical proposal.

There are about two months before Donald Trump takes office. Within that time, Joe Biden has the power to act, and the supreme court has ruled that he has absolute immunity to do anything that falls under his core powers as president, which includes use of the military and control of the executive branch of government.

First step: Officially recognize the truth that the Republican party is a domestic terrorist organization, arrest its leaders, and try them for crimes against humanity.

Next: Employ overwhelming military force to round up all fascists, which includes everyone who voted for or otherwise supports Donald Trump, and allow them to freely choose between a reeducation camp or a firing squad.

With the threat of fascism neutralized first, we can then begin making massive reforms, especially in the area of public education, in order to bring about a more informed and moral electorate, and thus a more informed and moral society, obviating any future measures as difficult as this one.

About the reeducation camps: Everyone is welcome. A comfortable, dignified life meeting all basic needs will be provided. Education will consist of various methods, including so-called "brainwashing" where necessary, as well as traditional lectures and guided research, to instill factual beliefs and pro-social values into all students. Regarding those who are present because they have been deemed to be an existential threat to human civilization, a panel of experts will routinely evaluate each attendee to determine whether they have sufficiently converted into decent human beings worthy of the gift of life and ready to reenter society. Those who have never been deemed enemies of humanity are welcome to attend any courses they wish and to leave whenever they wish.

Now, to address potential concerns: Concern: Wouldn't mass graves be less expensive to build and maintain than reeducation camps? Answer: Yes, but we have a moral responsibility to save as many people as possible. Some people can, indeed, be reached. We must be better than our enemies are. We must strive to maintain the highest moral standards. We must live by compassion and mercy if we are to be worthy of the better world we seek to create.

C: Why the firing squads then? A: Some people, sadly, cannot be reached. You cannot force someone to learn who is unwilling to try.

C: I oppose the death penalty, even for fascists. A: So do I! That is why it is a choice that they can make for themselves. I would prefer that they choose to live and learn.

C: Do you have to call them "camps"? Do you have to call it "brainwashing"? A: I don't believe in mincing words.

C: The sheer magnitude of the infrastructure required for all of these reeducation camps, including staff, supplies, course materials, etc., seems unfeasible. A: This is a very sensible objection. It is especially challenging to accomplish this in only two months. We will just have to get creative and make do with what we have available.

C: This seems somewhat undemocratic. A: The people have democratically elected, by majority vote, to replace democracy with a dictatorship. If we want democracy back, then we will have to change their minds, and the current system is not effective to that end, hence the reeducation camps. We cannot have democracy with a fascist electorate.

C: This seems draconian. A: The paradox of tolerance applies here.

C: Some non-fascists will oppose this, possibly forcefully. A: The reeducation camps will offer helpful courses explaining the necessity of this system, absolutely free of charge, to anyone who needs convincing.

C: So you want to imprison everyone who disagrees with your tactics? A: No, just those who pose a palpable threat to human civilization and only when it is necessary in order to neutralize that threat, and only for as long as it takes to properly educate them.

C: Isn't this a fascist proposal itself? A: No, it is not. This is the method by which we could eliminate fascism. You could make the argument that this proposal is authoritarian, but that is only one element of fascism. The society this proposal could enable is globalist, not nationalist; egalitarian, not elitist; focused on the future, not on historical myths; secular, not religious; favoring labor power over corporate power; affirming, not disdainful, of intellectuals; etc. To adapt a poem, "First they came for the fascists, and I did not speak out because I was not a fascist. Then everyone lived happily ever after. The end."

C: Why single out Republicans? Democrats are just as bad. A: I disagree, and I do not want to get into listing all the ways that Democrats are better than Republicans. Republicans are the worst of the worst, so let's just start with them.

C: Biden would never do this. I do not trust that he would implement this proposal responsibly. A: No, probably not, but he should. This is merely a proposal, not a prediction. If it helps, you can think of it more like a proposal of what someone in Biden's current position, i.e. someone who legally commands absolute power over the USA, ought to do, rather than anything Biden himself might do.

In conclusion: A better world is possible!

P.S. C: Is this a joke? A: I have been thinking about this for a long time, but it has never been more necessary (due to the popular election of a fascist dictatorship) or practical (with the supreme court removing all checks and balances from the president) than it is right now. I know that it will not happen. Interpret this however you want.