#Some of you need to return to gerrymandering and what the fuck it is

[rotzaprachim]

yeah I feel kinda damn differently about the Democratic rage felt in Wisconsin and such that literally do almost break 50/50 and have the shit gerrymandered out of them and literally millions of Democratic voters than I do about all those fucking posts full of “omg you urban Bay Area city queers need to get your coastal elitism out of here cause there is so much radicalism in rural white Kentucky hashtag real leftists banjo and bluegrasss!!!” Shit gerrymandering alone cannot explain dems pulling all of 27.6% of the vote in West Virginia and similarly across Appalachia and the Mormon belt

[letterboxd]

Quarantine Rentals.

Ten indie films you can rent right now, as recommended by Letterboxd members.

Sure, Scoob!. Yes, Extraction. The Wrong Missy, okay. On the other hand, there are plenty of interesting indie films available for VOD and virtual screenings right now that haven’t necessarily had the benefit of studio backing, big stars, film festivals, red carpets or other ‘normal-circumstances’ coverage to build word-of-mouth.

So, because these are abnormal circumstances, we sent our West Coast editor Dominic Corry on a hunt through your recent reviews to find ten under-seen but enthusiastically received indies that you can rent today.

Thanks to our partnership with JustWatch, you can find availability details on each film’s Letterboxd page—and Dominic has also helpfully provided further links to make it that much easier to support these indie films.

Powerbomb Directed by R. Zachary Shildwachter and B.J. Colangelo

Starring Matt Capiccioni (better known Matt Cross, or M-Dogg 20, or Son of Havoc) as an up-and-coming wrestling star, and Wes Allen as the obsessive fan who kidnaps him, Powerbomb is “The King of Comedy set in the indie wrestling scene, which is a cool fucking concept if nothing else,” according to Dustin Baker. “Luckily, there’s some witty writing and good performances to back up that concept to create something that’s surprisingly a lot of fun.”

Don’t worry if you know nothing about wrestling, writes Justin Nordell: “As someone who has zero reference point for wrestling, this film not only made it accessible but enthralling!”

A guide to where you can watch Powerbomb can be found on the film’s website.

Arkansas Directed by Clark Duke

Quietly ubiquitous comedic actor Clark Duke (Kick-Ass, Hot Tub Time Machine) directed and co-wrote this neo-noir in which he stars alongside such high-profile talent as Vince Vaughn, John Malkovich and Liam Hemsworth. Everyone agrees that the film wears its influences on its sleeve. Chainsaw Massacre “loved nearly every minute of this deliberately paced descendant of Tarantino and the Coen brothers. [But] comparing it to those […] filmmakers does it a disservice though, because, while you can feel their influence, first-time director Clark Duke does have his own distinct style”.

While noting that it marks another interesting performance in Vaughn’s recent emergence as a worthy cinematic lowlife, Tummis would also “like to point out that Liam Hemsworth was great in this”.

Arkansas is available via various digital outlets, as indicated on its official website.

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael Directed by Rob Garver

Before the Letterboxd era, film criticism was a much more exclusive realm, and no one critic loomed larger in that realm than The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael—so iconic that true cineastes of her time referred to her simply by her first name. So it behooves you, good Letterboxd member, to familiarize yourself with this master of the form via this new documentary.

In a review that feels like it could apply to any number of Letterboxd members, kmarus says “From what I’ve encountered of her criticism, Kael and I disagree on a lot of things, but one thing that is readily apparent to anyone who reads her writing is that she genuinely cares about movies”.

Letterboxd’s London correspondent (and professional critic) Ella Kemp felt personally validated watching the film. “It’s magic, she’s magic, this is why we needed her and why we always need movies, and why I want to keep talking about them. It’s nice if you read me, if you like me or if you agree with me—but even if you don’t, I know I’ll be sticking around for a while anyway. I’m nowhere near done yet.”

You can rent the film here.

Slay The Dragon Directed by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance

The insidious and nebulous practice of gerrymandering is the focus of this acclaimed documentary. As member Andrew Chrzanowski ominously intones, the film is “never more timely than right here and right now” and “demands you to watch, so you may witness in a comprehensive and detailed way the metastasis of the most malignant cancer on our democracy: gerrymandered districts and redrawn borders by Republicans, especially after the 2010 elections”.

Guyatthemovies says the film “does a phenomenal job of taking a topic that may seem confusing for most who are not familiar and breaking it down to simplistic terms, explaining the impact of gerrymandering [through] well-known examples” and that “this is a must-watch for anyone concerned about the state of politics today”.

You can support your favorite theater by renting the film here.

Judy & Punch Directed by Mirrah Foulkes

Mia Wasikovska and Damon Herriman, two of the more interesting Australian actors working in film today, and each possessed of a fantastically cinematic face, star in this one-of-a-kind film as a couple operating a marionette show in a town about to bubble over with tension. Like the classic puppet characters that title the film, they come to blows.

The film is the feature-directing debut of Aussie actor and filmmaker Mirrah Foulkes, and Letterboxd member CJ Johnson says she “announces herself as a feature auteur of serious talent and limitless potential with […] a film whose great artfulness is only outdone by its sheer, breath-taking originality”.

Jess V.K. warns us to “go into this film with no expectations, because whatever you were expecting is not what you will see”.

Rent the film here.

On A Magical Night Directed by Christophe Honoré

This French comedy (of sorts) presents a fresh perspective on a very French activity: infidelity. It begins with a woman, Maria (Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Italian-French acting royalty Marcello Mastroanni and Catherine Deneuve) deciding to leave her husband, and taking up residence across the street where she can observe him.

As Allison M. explains, “like a modernized version of A Christmas Carol, spirits living and dead come to haunt Maria to help her make a decision about whether or not she should return to her husband. It is complete with a phantom baby, reference to a past threesome, and kissing cousins”.

The film caused Gmacauley to ruminate: “Have you ever thought to yourself that when you get old you’d like to travel to the past and sleep with your significant other while they’re young again? Well now I have.”

Watch it here; and also seek out Nicolas Bedos’ marital fantasy romp, La Belle Époque.

The Assistant Directed by Kitty Green

This austere take on the #MeToo era stars Ozark breakout Julia Garner as a bottom-rung assistant to a never-seen, New York-based film producer clearly modeled on Harvey Weinstein. Through one long workday, we are witness to the manipulative practices that enable such a figure, without ever landing on a single incident that she can cite as tangible proof of his behavior, which helps detail the impossibility of her—and countless others’—situation.

While the film’s understated style has thrown some viewers off, that’s entirely the point according to Ryne Walley, who says it “aims true with unwavering confidence. The calculated pace and concise nature of The Assistant hides very little, echoing the countless cases of abuse and depravity that’ve been disclosed… an agonizingly taut feat of filmmaking… Your heart sinks with each passing hour”.

“So quietly powerful, this is a female film through and through. Gut wrenching in the simplest way,” writes Letterboxd member Katie.

Ella Kemp interviewed Green about The Assistant for Letterboxd. The film’s official website lists various VOD options.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century Directed by Justin Pemberton

French economist Thomas Piketty’s 2013 book about income equality forms the basis of this documentary, which takes on a new pertinence in the coronavirus era.

“It’s a sobering trip,” says Joey Jepson. “As if Covid-19 wasn’t enough to send you into a deep depression, Capital in the Twenty-First Century presents a thesis that seems to indicate that if we don’t course correct, we will see a further divide and evaporation of the middle-class.”

Michael agrees: “Very clearly and lucidly explains why we’re fucked if we don’t start regulating capital.” Eep.

Rent the film here.

Spaceship Earth Directed by Matt Wolf

The 1991 biosphere experiment—in which a group of people sealed themselves off from the world (hey!) to investigate human self-sustainability—is the subject of this documentary, which, like Capital in the Twenty-First Century, also hits a little different in the current moment.

Kellyabailey is on board: “I’m fuckin inspired, man. I wanna see what I’m capable of and finally start that commune I’ve been dreaming up.”

Smooz was impressed with how the film didn’t make fun of its subjects: “It’s rare for a documentarian […] dealing with kooks to produce a movie with any sort of empathy. This movie takes the kooks involved in one of the kookiest, most ridiculed projects in recent decades and honestly shows their successes, visionary moments, shortcomings, and failures while resisting the urge to dunk on them and give them swirlies.”

Letterboxd editor-in-chief Gemma Gracewood spoke to Wolf about his film—and what movies he’d choose to take with into a biosphere—in this interview. Rent the movie here.

Aren’t You Happy Directed by Susanne Heinrich

Those in the mood for something different might do well to check out this aesthetically bold German film—think Wes Anderson meets The Love Witch meets the movie Robert De Niro takes Cybill Shepherd to see on their ‘date’ in Taxi Driver—following a young woman named Mädchen (Marie Rathscheck) through various strange encounters.

Arvid Schmiedehausen says it “might be the most artistic film I have ever watched. It is highly ambitious in its attempts to deconstruct society and western values through fourteen episodes, with each being a persiflage on one unique aspect of it”. [We had to look up “persiflage” too.]

Ian A. Chapman writes that “not in anyway adhering to convention, Aren’t You Happy melancholically meanders through rendezvous allowing time for delicious dialogue. Visually pleasing, the colour choices neatly frame the scenes and set the tones allowing for a shorthand into the vibe”.

Rent the movie here.

Related content

Our list of art house films screening online now.

[quakerjoe]

Only Honest People Will Get Why I Will NOT Vote for Biden.

Currently, I cannot, in good conscience, vote for Joe.

Clearly, the Dems hate Sanders more than trump. They're already lining up Biden's loss and gearing up to blame Sanders' supporters and the election hasn't even happened yet.

Unlike other Dems/Indies, I REMEMBER how shitty Biden has been, his policies that were horrible, and how in danger SS & Medicare/Medicaid are. The thing is, being a sexual predator should NOT be considered a presidential trait, yet here we are. 

You need to make a moral choice here. You're either supporting #MeToo and survivors of rape and sexual assault OR you support Biden. You CAN NOT DO BOTH. If you do, you're a fucking hypocrite and I'd better not hear anyone piss and moan about Kavenaugh, Cosby, Weinstein or anyone else! 

I've gone rounds with people on this, but how easily we forget in this country. How easily we ignore sexual assault. How easily we forget that Al Franken had HIS career burned for less. We've seen VIDEOS of Biden acting like "Uncle Ernie" from "Tommy" around young women, smelling their hair and touching them and making them uncomfortable AND getting complaints about it. What's been done about it? Fuck-all NOTHING in true American fashion. All of it gets ignored and swept under a rug. 

I've been hoping that someone, ANYONE, would say something to move me or inspire me to swallow my morals and disregard my principles enough to suppress my gag reflex long enough to vote for Biden. Instead of hearing from a Thomas Paine, it's all been rhetoric about how I'd be supporting trump if I don't, and we all know that's BS. I voted for HRC because I was voting AGAINST trump, NOT for her. How'd that go, kids?

The closest people came was to point out that the next POTUS will probably be replacing RBG when she retires or, heaven forbid, pass away. However, given how disenfranchised voters are, given all the gerrymandering, given how Sanders was the MOST popular candidate and his run "mysteriously" tanked after the other pretenders dropped down to their knees to kiss and suck Biden in all sorts of places, nobody's asked for audits on the voting process, and considering that "Mayor Pete" has his name on the voting machines, that's all like making love under a tree at high noon- shady as fuck.

I'm 50 and I've got to tell you, this primary was the most uninspired crap I've ever experienced in the election process. It was a shit-show before it began. What did we learn from 2016? NADA.

It appears that the USA literally ENJOYS living in decadent poverty. They prefer guns over the safety of their children. They prefer living in fear of going bankrupt or destitute if they're hospitalized. They prefer trump! Dems/Indies simply have ZERO capacity for actually pulling themselves together to fight him.

The "Blue Wave" from last midterm? What did that yield? Nothing, really. They took the House. Yay. Without the Senate, they can achieve fuck-all nothing. This brings me back to RBG. Do ANY of you think for an instant that Joe will make a good choice to replace her? First off, it will NEVER be a Progressive or even Left-of-Center. Why? Because unless McConnell's shitcanned, it'll be just like when Obama was in office. Every nomination will be DENIED. This means, of course, that Biden, who is scarily ALL too eager to "work" with the GOP and the racists like he did in the past, won’t step up to compromise but will HAND more power to the GOP while the Dems get nothing in return. This GOP does NOT, repeat, NOT COMPROMISE. So RBG's replacement will HAVE to be some sweet GOP darlin' and the only 'win' from that will be if ol' Joe nominated that person and I'll tell you this- Under Biden, that replacement for RGB will tip things enough to that any jackwagon can own guns without ANY checks AND you can kiss Roe v. Wade "CHEERIO!".

Under Biden, you LOST M4A. That's no longer an option for at least 4 years. GONE. Post-epidemic, thousands will be tits-up BROKE not to mention destitute and homeless.

Under Biden, be sure to give the Green New Deal a friendly pat on the back before it rides out into the sunset because it is GONE! Done with! Paris Accord restoration or not, it won't be enough. You KNOW THIS.

I'm no Thomas Paine, but in this case, give us Sanders and a Progressive Congress or you're literally going to give us ALL death. This is not a complicated thing. History clearly has taught us NOTHING and the US runs a serious, existential risk of collapsing like the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the USSR and of course Napoleon's and Hitler's Europe.

We're proud, and don't even know why nor do we have a reason to be.

We've become a 2nd World Nation- We've got the money and tech of a 1st world nation with the mentality and morality of a 3rd world nation.

Essentially, the only way we're going to learn, apparently (and it breaks my heart to have to say or admit this) may actually be letting trump finish burning it down. THEN, MAYBE, the Left will quit fucking around, rise up and actually DO something instead of letting the lunatics run the asylum~!

[foxjevilwild]

Someone asked me this on another platform after I posted the RBG news and I’m not an expert but I’m posting it here because it might be useful to others:

The court will consist of 6 conservative justices, and 3 liberal justices, if Trump nominates and confirms a replacement. The appointments are not supposed to be partisan, but in practice they are often so, and Trump's short list is nothing but partisans like Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz.

So, there are short term and long term consequences.

In the short term, if they appoint a justice before the election - things like the election interference cases being put forth to Federal Judges about Dejoy and the mail can be fast-tracked to the new Supreme Court and swept away or legitimized. The Tax-Returns case can be ruled in his favor. The lawsuits against the Hysterecto-Nazi at the migrant camps can be waived away... 

If the election itself is contested, as it was in 2000, a 6-3 court will likely favor the party over the actual law and legitimize a win, even if it isn't actually legitimate. 

If Trump actually loses with all of this chicanery now possible, or if he even decides to nominate someone after the election (using the seat as bait to drive turnout from Republicans) - a lot of what he does or is currently being litigated can be swept away during his lame duck period. 6-3 or even 5-4 can legitimize anything the party wants to push through - it'd require 2 dissenters in the 'ranks' to actually stop their agenda every time assuming whatever case opposes it even gets to the Supreme Court.

If Trump loses in that second hypothetical and is - optimistically, I admit - brought to trial for the many laws he’s broken both as a private citizen and as the President -- if he gets it before the court he’s chosen 1/3rd of, there’s nothing in the structure of American government or the Constitution that says we can ignore their ruling because he got to put them in the seats - so they can easily rule in his favor for whatever manufactured justification appears to them to allow Trump off without giving Biden a precedent to use in office...especially if it means their own impeachments are less likely to pass the hurdle they create in the future of the Biden administration.

In the long term, a 6-3 court means that votes will sway partisan on wedge issues, like abortion - 4th amendment cases regarding civil forfeiture - any law that the republican party does not agree with can be litigated and put before the court to be declared unconstitutional, creating a sort of anti-liberal hatchet they can use to chop off laws that don't agree with their agendas and this will be the status quo for around 30 years. It's going to effect 2 generations of case law.

You can argue that 3 of the six conservative justices aren't as partisan as other appointees - but with a need for 2 to always compromise for a liberal stance to actually win in a ruling...even if they swing or dissent the majority of the agenda will pass 6-3 or 5-4 now, and has the potential for rapid dismantling of liberal laws and protections: those pesky things like voting rights, abortion, freedom of protest, etc. in a worst case scenario.

Coupled with a Republican Senate and a compromised Justice Department, it's also basically a potential if not already enacted coup.

In the hyperbolic, but possible (and in my belief happening): Trump could cancel (or more likely cheat as he’s already doing) the election, justify it with a legal ruling he has Barr hand down as a memo from the justice department or some form of executive order, then when he's rightly sued by some of the states pull it before the court and get them to legitimize Barr's memo or the XO and create precedent. With a 'legal' ruling it makes the lines a lot more muddy for those who would oppose something more obvious or blatant - the veneer of legitimacy means even something like the military rejecting him for being unelected becomes less likely - if other institutions back him then it starts to feel like they should too...

You have a situation where the President already controls or at least exerts extreme influence over the Executive (including the Justice Dept., the DHS and HHS - every regulatory body like the CDC, FDA, FCC, the USPS, etc. which they've been installing cronies at for the last 3.5 years most of which are in ‘Acting’ roles bypassing even Senate confirmations), the Senate itself, and now the Supreme Court - the latter two with majorities that will almost always be locked into partisan votes.

 Only Congress remains and without support from the other branches, beyond the limited power of the purse, they are toothless - they can't pass legislation or create new laws without the Senate and the Senate can simply decide not to even vote on bills that they don't want to be seen opposing like the Coronavirus Stimulus.

This isn’t even taking into consideration the propaganda networks - the ‘legitimate’ ones like Fox News and OANN, or the vast botnet controlled by Russians, US Intel Agencies, and Corporations sewing chaotic falsehoods to drown the truth in bullshit while they spin the actions of the President as acceptable or even righteous even as the death-toll mounts after he purposefully withheld PPE from states or intercepted shipments to stockpile and sell back to his Russian friends and the Chinese companies that funnel money to his election campaign.

An Executive to enact his policy via memo or executive order or just directly like the faceless feds in Portland, a Senate to strike down opposing motions and laws from the democratic congress (or simply not vote on them), and a Court to legitimize any action they decide to take that gets contested by the states or other parties who have to push it through a long, protracted court battle to be taken before the highest court, which can then be expected to rule in favor of the President's party - even in the cases a lone conservative Justice decides the constitution means more than the party. A vast network of lies and misinformation to create public sentiment and justify every injustice they enact and soothe the moderates while they work-up the selfish and sociopathic base that loves them. They get to rule like fascists with the illusion of institutional, democratic supports - it's basically Russia.

In a few years when more Congressional seats are up for election, they can finish the synch they’ll set in motion this year: they’ll gerrymander the 2020 census that's already ongoing (who's going to actually enact oversight of the redrawing of districts or the count itself? if it's contested the 6-3 court will throw it to the Republican's favor) and rig or simply throw elections for their party and legitimize them to take Congress too and start passing laws - even unconstitutional ones. If the laws start to come before the court, say by liberal states or by other parties contesting their constitutionality, the court gets to rubber stamp them as legitimate and proper and constitutional, likely in a 5-4 ruling where one conservative justice just had to write the dissenting opinion and ‘keep his legacy intact'...

It will just ramp up in speed from there, but will maintain this smoke-screen that it's the same Congress, the same Court, the same White House, even when he wins an illegal 3rd term, a 4th term, when they appoint his son without an election, etc. Soon to appoint the next Justice, a 7-2 court. An 8-1 court. a 9-0 court another proud Conservative...eventually consolidating power in a unitary executive, keeping the other branches as ornamental drooping, vestigial limbs on the corpse of the American Experiment - and the evil Democratic opposition party that exists only in name and will never hold a majority again.

The only way out would be for states to stop recognizing the federal government, a total collapse of the system...

This is a potential end-state for American democracy. I'm fucking terrified.

[terencehawkins]

STONE COMMUTATION, PORTLAND: THINGS ARE GOING WEIMAR

The recent commutation of Roger Stones’ s sentence triggered the usual fruitless speculation about the “strategy” behind it. Generally, the current incumbent of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is no more capable of thinking beyond today than an Adderall-crazed lab rat desperate for another food pellet. But there is something behind this, and it’s not what the commentariat generally thinks.

LOYALTY? HA!

The immediate, and most obvious, explanation for this politically risky move was that Trump was paying back his loyal consigliere for years of service and, more importantly, keeping his pie-hole shut. Nonsense. On the first point, Trump is famously incapable of loyalty, gratitude, or any other emotion that doesn’t result in cash or an erection. As to the second, Paul Manafort was similarly laconic, yet remains in Federal custody, albeit now on home release.

Hmm. Why the distiction?

THE DIRTY TRICKSTER

Roger Stone has built his latter-day career as a self-professed “dirty trickster.” One stops for a moment to ask why he says so out loud—do spies put “spy” on their business cards?

But leave that aside. Let’s turn for a moment to Stone’s arc. He started out in politics as a Nixon campaign intern—he famously has Tricky Dick tattooed on his back, which no doubt would have proven a point of interest, if not a spooge target, in the showers had he actually begun his sentence—where he carried out some amusing low-grade antics in Nixon’s service. He parlayed that into a career as a K Street lobbyist in the 80’s, where his partner was—what? Paul Manafort. Despite the appeal of these nesting Ukrainian dolls, let’s take a look at the irrelevant, albeit extremely entertaining, interruption in his political career.

in 1996, Stone was a consultant with GOP Senator Robert Dole’s Presidential campaign. That hit a tabloid wall when it was discovered that Stone and his second wife had taken out space in a swingers’ magazine looking for an “exceptional well hung in shape men” for threesomes.

To be clear, Stone was advertising for men to fuck his wife while he watched. While Trump’s GOP may be cool with that, Dole’s wasn’t. Despite frantic deployment of the Trumpian tactic of blame-shifting—Stone claimed that the usual “disgruntled employee” with a “drug problem” had somehow coopered all this up—-his conservative political career appeared to be done. (He finally admitted the truth in 2008.)

Despite his ouster from mainstream politics, Stone’s public malice continued unabated. For example, he organized the celebrated Brooks Brothers Riot that disprupted the 2000 Florida recounts; has been accused of forging the 2004 Killian Memos that called into question W’s military service but, when proved fake, ended Dan Rather’s career; and was involved in the prostitution scandal that ended the political life of New York Governor Elliot Spitzer. And all the while cultivating a public persona as Best Dressed Man of 1939.

GET ME ROGER STONE

Stone’s bizarre and squalid career was famously documented in a 2016 Netflix film, “Get Me Roger Stone.” The burden of the title was, in part, that Stone wanted to be the guy you called when things were totally sideways and the only way out was to stick some dead male escorts in your opponent’s bed. A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for, right?

And that—in part, maybe—is what the commutation signifies. Or so argued GMRS producer Dylan Blank in a recent NYT op-ed.

See, even though he rages and kicks at his campaign staff like Henry VIII in a neurosyphilis seizure, whatever rational part is left of Trump’s brain recognizes that he is in very deep electoral shit. Which shit exposes him not only to the ultimate narcissistic injury of a landslide loss, but worse, the existential threat of post-Presidential prosecution for himself and his family. He just can’t afford to lose. Thus he reasons that in order to prevail in this battle of all against all, he needs the help of the dirtiest dirty trickster he can get—Roger Stone.

Hence the commutation. Trump needs Stone’s help.

But is that all?

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: THE PROUD BOYS

Trump’s reliance on this Homburged freak may be based on something else as well. Since 2016 Stone has cultivated an association with the Proud Boys, a ”Western Chauvinist”—i.e, white nationalist Islamophobe fascist—network of street fighters founded by Gavin McInnes, who in a move whose reasons defy inquiry, sought to refute claims of homophobia by sticking a dildo up his ass in a TV interview. (Click here for images you will not be able to unsee.) The Boys’ initiation includes getting the shit beaten out of them while reciting pop culture trivia and taking a pledge to limit masturbation to once a month—particularly burdensome in view of the rudimentary social lives of most alt.right bros. In addition to these entertainments, the Proud Boys have engaged in a lengthy campaign of public violence and intimidation, including an appearance with their fellow very fine people at Charlottesville in 2017.

Stone’s engagement with the Boys is not merely casual. He is, in fact, an affiliate member, having sworn the Boys’ oath not to apologize for creating modern civilization. (I am not making this up.) In return for the sheen of “respectability” Stone has lent them, the Boys have served as bodyguards, escorting him to and from his frequent judicial hearings and proclaiming his innocence from the courthouse steps. In chorus.

Is it a coincidence that Trump sprang a right wing thug with a following of street-fighting fascists? Incidentally, note the fellow on Stone’s left, in the buttoned-up polo? That black-and-gold shirt is the PB’s unofficial uniform.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

So let’s see. We’ve ruled out gratitude or loyalty as motives for the commutation. What does Trump need from Roger Stone that he can’t get someplace else? His expertise in the political black arts doesn’t pass muster—he’s not the only asshole in Washington, or these days, nor even the biggest. And let’s not forget that Trump is more than willing to recruit aid from shithole countries happy to remake America in their own image. So no, there’s nothing about Stone’s skill set that makes him indispensable. So what does he bring to the table that Trump wants?

Just this weekend, Trump tipped his hand. Deploying masked, anonymous federal troops in unmarked vans to Portland, with the blessing of his lovable roly-poly Interior Minister Barr—who’d previously okayed the use of tear gas against peaceful protesters so Trump could waddle across the street for a photo op— was the warmup for his election day ace in the hole: full on street violence. Weimar style.

Voter suppression has been the centerpiece of GOP election strategy for decades. It’s unavoidable—as "The Wire’s Baltimore mayoral candidate Tommy Carcetti noted, his hopes were slim because “I wake up white in a city that ain’t.” A party of old white men in an increasingly brown country faces an obvious, existential challenge. One it will ultimately lose, of course, but until then, it can eke out a few more good cycles, with their resultant Federalist Society judges, regulatory rollbacks, and hedge funder tax cuts. But only by making damn sure that minorities don’t vote. Especially in swing states.

Previously, the GOP had played what now seems like softball—gerrymandering, closing polling stations in minority districts, sowing confusion as to the election date. But that won’t work this time. Trump’s response to plague and racial crisis and his plummeting polls has thus far been to flounder and howl like a manatee chopped up in the prop. But in the clutch, unconstrained by any respect for norms, terrified by the prospect of post-presidential prosecution, he’s going to toss the GOP playbook and move with the Nazi.

The Brownshirts, or SA, were Hitler’s paramilitary before his 1933 seizure of power. They were beerhall bullies whose job was “security,” ostensibly protected the Nazi leadership at their public events, in reality intimidating its leftist opponents. It played a critical role in the elections of 1928, 1930, and 1932, showing up at the polls to fight Communist supporters and blocking access to voters in left-leaning districts. And of course, after Hitler was securely Fuhrer, they were the principal executors of the Kristallnacht pogrom.

So here’s what’s going to happen. On Election Day, in urban polling places in swing states, Proud Boys are going to show up as “pollwatchers.” And as soon as black and brown people start showing up in numbers, they’re going to start kicking ass. It doesn’t have to happen a lot. It doesn’t have to happen everywhere. But it will do a lot of damage to turnout. And the thing about Election Day is that it’s just one day, and no do-overs, full stop. So whatever damage is done can’t be undone, ever. So a second term secured by street violence can be reversed only by impeachment. And we know how that went.

Think it can’t happen? See below. Especially the last line: “You still think you can control them?”

[jeffosta]

The Oscars Need to Take a Stand: No More Category Fraud

I’ve been a longtime fan of the Oscars, I usually defend it and I actually do think it historically represents the year. What, you think we were so great in April of 1969 that 2001: A Space Odyssey or Midnight Cowboy had a chance at Best Picture? During Vietnam and Nixon? No, OLIVER! was going to win because we were delusional, escapist, loved singing the whites of songs, and the only thing we knew about the future was short form writing would include excessive use of exclamation points.

This year’s list of nominees has received lots of attention for pointing out two recurring flaws in the Academy: sexism and racism. Those are heavy burdens for the Academy to apparently not bear at all. For more on those, scroll to the bottom of this post or go on Twitter.

Let me look at a different flaw, one that is now systemic through all of awards season and needs to be stopped: Category Fraud.

Category Fraud is the gerrymandering of awards season. Voters don’t choose you, you choose voters. Well, at least producers can choose the competition for their stars. Most category fraud in the Emmys deals with Drama vs Comedy and Limited Series vs. recurring. With the Oscars, it has been happening in the supporting actor/actress categories. Studios decide they want their second stars to compete in a category where they trounce actual supporting roles in screen time and star power. I mean, who are you going to vote for, some shlub who nailed a few scenes, or rising A-List star Alicia Vikander who had 59 1/2 MINUTES OF SCREEN TIME in The Danish Girl? She’s in half the movie. That’s about how long the Little Mermaid is on screen in the goddamn Little Mermaid. Also, Alicia was so good that year, she should have been up for supporting for Ex Machina and lead for The Danish Girl, and fuck it, maybe she deserved two Oscar wins in the same year she was so good.

Anyway, the most obvious example of category fraud this year is in best supporting actor, a category featuring 5 Oscar Winners (Pitt’s for producing) that looks like a movies hall of fame ballot. Most egregious is Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes. The movie is about two Popes. The Netflix description under the title is as follows: “They disagree on almost everything. But to forge a new future for their church, these holy men must face their past.” That’s what the movie is about. It’s about two popes. The lead story is about the meeting of the two popes. The story is about the two of them, their differences, and their inevitable intersection. They share so many scenes together, we’re always aware of where the other character is and what they’re up to... how is one a lead and one piece of supportive encouragement? It’s bullshit.

The second most obvious case of fraud is going to be the category’s winner: Brad Pitt in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, A Night in Ukraine (that’s a theater joke). The movie is about an actor and his stunt double. The actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, is obviously a lead, and in theory the stunt double, Pitt, has the primary function of supporting the actor for whom he doubles. Historically, Tarantino’s films have been able to fudge the lead vs. supporting line- Christoph Waltz has two Oscar wins for movies in which he likely has the most screen time of anyone. However, in ...Hollywood, Brad Pitt has a 30-minute section of the film to himself, plus he orchestrates the entire final act while Leo chills in the pool. He’s a co-lead. Al Pacino should be winning a second Oscar this year because his character supports the lead story line. The main reason the Irishman is so long is because they have to set up how a delivery guy from PA runs into the great Jimmy Hoffa, rises to his become his protege, then... you know. It’s Frank’s (DeNiro’s) story, but how he deals with Hoffa’s input is the movie. Pacino was incredible. That’s an incredible supporting performance.

The Academy won’t complain, however, because they love it. It favors stars. Why have Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio fight for recognition when you can assuredly guarantee them both some much-needed attention. Just look at this category: Hanks, Pacino, Hopkins, Pitt, Pesci. Why wouldn’t the Academy love that? Stars can get a favorability push to win Oscars (Frank Sinatra has an acting Oscar?), but now they’re winning this category in cases when they should be winning in the leading contests. The year after Alicia Vikander’s win, Fences bet that shifting Viola Davis’ star power to the supporting category guaranteed her an Oscar. They were right, and leading actress winner Emma Stone was probably pretty happy about that. This may be too hot of a take, but against La La Land Viola would have taken that category. Also, in Fences, Denzel dies and the movie continues, so his story line can’t be the only essential story line. That isn’t an epilogue that follows his death. It’s a continuation of her story line, which is central to the film’s plot, making her a lead.

What’s especially disappointing is what the supporting category can mean for actors. ‘Above the Title’ stars don’t need an Oscar nom to stay above the title. Think, however, about what a nomination means for rising star Florence Pugh who, fair or not, to some critics and consumers alike has had her rise to fame undeniably legitimized with a nomination. Think about the excitement level of then-up-and-comers like Edward Norton in Primal Fear, Julia Roberts in Steel Mags, Amy Adams in Junebug, Jeff Bridges in The Last Picture Show, Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights, Lucas Hedges, Jonah Hill, Tim Roth, Kate Hudson, Haley Joel Osment, Barkhad Abdi, and how about Viola Davis for Doubt. She went from playing “CIA Chairwoman (uncredited)” in 2005 to Oscar nominee in 2009. What about acting work horses who finally received their first nod after years of good work such as Hal Holbrook, June Squibb, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chazz Palminteri, Naomi Harris, Sally Hawkins, Pete Postlethwaite, and Jackie Earl Haley, a former child star who triumphantly returned to film after decades-long break. These story lines are exciting. Allowing stars to nudge their way into this category risks nudging out the workhorses, the up and comers, the best supporting performances of the year. It’s misleading, disingenuous, and it’s furthering the ongoing, self-inflicted de-legitimization of the sexist and racist Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Sexism- Male directors deliver achievements whereas women directors merely offer a female’s perspective (Joker over Little Women? Get tf out of here).

Racism- Focusing on acting categories, a person of color seemingly can only be nominated if they play a slave, someone who's poor, or work with drugs. There are exception, obviously, but come one. Look at some (most) winners: Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave (but certainly not Us), Octavia Spencer for The Help, Monique for Precious, Halle Berre was poor in Monster’s Ball, Denzel for Training Day and Glory, Sidney Poitier was a poor traveling handyman in Lilies of the Field, Viola Davis was poor in Fences, Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, Regina King in Beale Street, Javier Bardem (drugs), Benicio Del Toro (a cop who stops drugs), Hattie McDaniel, etc.

[houstonlocalus-blog]

Meet the Trans Woman Running for Pete Sessions’ Seat in Congress

The election of Donald Trump has brought out a great many people interested in trying to take the country back from the Republicans starting in the 2018 mid-term elections. They’ll need all the help they can get as here in Texas the Democrats have a rather deplorable history of turning up at the polls when there’s no president on the ballot. One of the hopefuls is Danielle J Pellett, who will be challenging Pete Sessions of Texas’ 32nd District. We sat down with her on opposite sides of the Internet to get to know the woman who would unseat Sessions, who is well-known as a tough opponent.

  Free Press Houston: What made you decide to run for Congress?

Danielle J Pellett: For far too long, I have been standing in a voting booth and my options were simply a Republican or Libertarian. I wondered where the Democrats were running for office. I kept thinking “someone should do something about that.” This past year, I finally decided that I needed to be the person who stood up to do something about it.

  FPH: More specifically, are you opposing Pete Sessions because of anything he specifically stands for or just because of the direction the Republican Party has taken?

Pellett: As a former conservative, I disagree with the direction that their party has taken. Most notably, some of Sessions’ votes betray core conservative Republican values: shutting down the government repeatedly, refusing to get clean water to Flint, and opposing a raise to minimum wage to get families off of food stamps. We should be fiscally responsible and stop subsidizing Big Oil and make Wall Street answer to why we had to bail them out in 2008.

  FPH: You’ve talked about growing up with Republican/Libertarian ideals, and rather than throwing those by the wayside you feel that some aspects of that simply feel more at home in the Democratic Party than in the GOP. What of your original stances do you find mesh the best with the DNC?

Pellett: I believe in a small government, which means not getting involved in family matters like they did with Terri Schaivo, or overturning the fracking ban they did in Denton. When I was young, I was on the Federal free lunch system and at one point we were on food stamps in order to make ends meet. My parents were not lazy, and their hard-working ethic put the lie to the welfare queen narrative. Despite what Paul Ryan says, those meals didn’t leave me with an empty soul. It fed a child and made them able to study and succeed in life.

What feels like a lifetime ago, I wound up not going to OCS [Officer Candidate School] and getting a commission with the Air Force due to the Air Force core value of Integrity first because of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. As I studied the oath of office and realized that to protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, they were some horrific domestic policies that need to change.

We were firing gay military translators as we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, while not putting those wars in the budget and kept asking for “emergency funding” as if it were a surprise that we were still there. We’re supposed to support our troops, but where was the support there?

Finally, I believe in provable facts over political dogma. Pollution is bad, and climate change is real. Drug testing is more expensive to the government than welfare is, and poor people can’t afford drugs. It’s even cheaper to rehabilitate addicts rather than locking them up in jail.

  FPH: You credit Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) with a political awakening in 2001. What about Sen. Sanders’ and your own ideology would be most beneficial to Texans?

Pellett: Bernie Sanders has always been an independent who refuses to be bought out. He likes to tell it as it is, and refuses to let others get away with selling lies such as “Clean Coal” or that massive corporations just like to donate thousands of dollars to candidates and expect nothing in return.

His speech at Liberty University reminds us of our Texas values of working hard and paying our fair share. So when I see the ultra-rich getting away with squirreling away their money in illegal overseas tax shelters, I know that they are not paying their fair share. Instead, they are paying politicians to distract us with these supposed culture wars over abortion, gay marriage, and which bathroom we can pee in.

We used to have our roads and bridges paid for by tax dollars, now you see toll roads being built all over the place. We even have toll roads that are paid off that are still getting government subsidies while the companies that maintain them are collecting toll money.

  FPH: Why do you think so many Representatives end up running unopposed?

Pellett: Just like doing taxes, a lot of things are designed look harder in order to make people feel like they are unable to comprehend or do it. We also have rampant gerrymandering that makes districts nearly impossible to win.

My district right now vaguely looks like a donkey. This was done with regard to the historically low voter turnout in Garland. Due to the tenacity of Victoria Neave and her get-out-the-vote efforts, she won in a district that everyone had assumed was impossible.

  FPH: Texas, particularly Dallas and Houston, is a place where large corporations hold significant sway, and provide a living for many, many people and their families. Is your message in opposition to them, or is there a place where people and corporations come together for the greater good?

Pellett: The economy has been faltering for the past decade. For anyone who has ever played Monopoly, you realize that income inequality will ruin people. Once we have a winner in Monopoly, the game comes to an end. But how does that work in real life?

If a few corporations have all the money and all the resources while the majority of the middle and worker class doesn’t have enough money to make ends meet… then these corporations are now unable to sell their wares to the public. In short, who will be left to buy stuff when everyone is barely scrounging by to have shelter and food?

So what I would say to business interests is this: you have to look at a five-year profit plan rather than just the next quarter. In the short run, shutting down your factories and sending jobs overseas for lower pay seems to do great, but this has happened on a macro scale and has ruined Michigan.

For the greater good, businesses must want to increase their pay to match inflation. Businesses must realize that government should work as a check and balance in order to protect the people. We must remember the lessons from the Deepwater Horizon, West Texas, and the Magnablend plant in Waxahachie that prove we must have and enforce regulations for the safety of the people.

There has to be a balance between helping businesses thrive and making certain that we don’t have poisonous chemicals in our water like they had in Corpus Christi.

  FPH: If you had to pick one issue that was most dire in need of addressing in Texas, what would it be and how would you address it?

Pellett: Education is the linchpin for all of this. We need to teach science without religious bias, we need to teach history without politically-motivated revisionism, and we need to fully explain where babies come from and how to avoid that in order to reduce our teen pregnancy rate.

  FPH: Do you anticipate support from the DNC in your candidacy?

Pellett: I expect that the DNC will support me once I win the primary. I have already reached out to multiple candidate sponsorship programs and political action committees that are dedicated to promoting science and Progressive values that will not cost me my morals and ethics.

There is a way to work from within the system where you can get $27 donations from regular people and you do not have to rely on the backing of the fracking industry in order to compete in a political race.

  FPH: What do you think will be the biggest challenge in your race?

Pellett: I’m up against one of the most powerful people in the Texas Republican Party, who is well known and is instrumental in getting lots of money from wealthy out-of-state donors and from political action committees. In the past two years, Pete Sessions has raised over $2 million. Only 1 percent of that came from small dollar donations, so we know exactly who he answers to.

All I can hope to do is call him out on this while proving that I am the better candidate that understands the values of Texans today and for our next generation.

  FPH: You’re one of a number of trans women nationwide I know are running for office in 2018, including some prominent ones like Brianna Wu. What empowers you the most against the almost-inevitable transphobic backlash?

Pellett: I’m not running because I’m transgender, I’m running because I believe in helping middle and working-class Texans. I just happened to be transgender, and I honestly expect more push back from the fact that I’m an ex-conservative and I know how they think, how they speak, and I know how to destroy their talking points.

  FPH: Being the biased, lamestream media, I probably fucked some of this up, so here’s a small bit where you can say anything you want.

Pellett: My mother, Maria del Rosario, was born with cerebral palsy. It was misdiagnosed as polio when she grew up, and she had the Forrest Gump leg braces and walked with a noticeable limp. She was told all her life that she was an invalid and a cripple, and she couldn’t do the same things that her sisters could.

Naturally, she went ahead and did the thing anyways. She defied my grandfather by walking to Mass every morning before going to Catholic School. She defied my grandfather by going to college and getting a degree in teaching English as a second language to special-needs students.

She defied her family by falling in love with and marrying a gringo, my father David Ellsworth. Her doctor said it would be impossible for her to have a child. I am the product of one stubborn Latina and the man who supported her.

When I started supporting Bernie Sanders at the Texas Democratic Party and wanted to engage in direct democracy through a petition process at the State Convention, everyone told me it was impossible. I defied the naysayers and did three of them.

Meet the Trans Woman Running for Pete Sessions’ Seat in Congress this is a repost

[quakerjoe]

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” 

 When our own government begins to deprive us of LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS, it is time to be rid of said government. The Republican administration, dominating the Executive Branch, BOTH Houses of Congress, and a dangerous leaning in the Judicial Branch, has threatened our RIGHT to LIFE. They're working to ensure that Affordable Health Care is non-existent. They're compromising the institutions protecting us from poisoned waterways and the air we breathe. They're working on destroying our ability to curb WHO has a firearm. Those are CLEAR and PRESENT threats to our LIVES.

They gerrymander our voting districts to keep them in power. They are presently working on legislation to make it illegal to protest and to even have your wealth and possessions confiscated for doing so. They are working to destroy our learning institutions and discredit and control the Free Press. This is a CLEAR and PRESENT threat to our LIBERTY.

By asserting tax breaks on the rich while shifting the tax burdens onto the middle class and poor, preventing legislation for a workable wage, attacking Unions, and allowing “Right to Work” to come into play, they have created a dangerous trend to financial stability for “We the People” and without being able to make livable earnings in a fair and safe work environment, they are presenting a CLEAR and PRESENT threat to our Pursuit of Happiness, Our Liberties, and our LIVES. THEY need US a hell of a lot more than we need THEM. Their party platform states that they have credence for FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, but to whom? To YOU? Oh, HELL NO. They see fiscal responsibility as seeing to it that their donors get a return on their investment, and they do so be ensuring THEM huge tax breaks while sticking YOU with the bill for it. Democrats USED to try and protect us from this, but they have failed us by becoming light weight Republicans and Corporate shills.

While Republicans have become increasingly racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and just about every sort of phobic there can be when it comes to finding some lame-ass excuse to isolate and hate anyone not like themselves, we are plainly no longer the ��Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”. If Conservatives are so goddamn brave, then why are they scared and nervous about anyone not a white “Christian”? Why are these hypocrites so goddamn gun-happy? For a nation that once took pride in being the Melting Pot of the World, making moves to become that “More Perfect Union”, Conservatives are driving everyone towards the edge of a dissolved Union and not bringing us ALL together. They’re unwilling to compromise. They’re not willing to listen. They’re certainly NOT about equality for anyone on ANY level or issue. At this rate, it can only end badly as those nations who once admired us shake their heads in shame, and those who hated us revel in the glory of our downfall. Until Americans ALL embrace reason and evidence, sciences and history, facts and consequences, we’re on a one-way trip to becoming a nation ruled by a handful of the rich and kept in line by the puppets they pay. Our water will be poison, and all we’ll have left to eat will be Soylent Green. Look that up if you’re unfamiliar with it. We’re rapidly approaching the times of Orwell’s “1984”.

So what will we do about it? Having read quite a bit of history, I see two paths directly ahead. The first and least likely is that “We the People” get off our lazy asses, get INFORMED, and ACT. We recall the bad members of Congress, essentially FIRING them, and put in NEW members not willing to destroy the U.S. in any way. Repeal and Replace Congress! Then we do the same with the current Executive Branch, all the way down to the lowest intern in the White House and hold an emergency election of a NEW President and cabinet that are all properly and PUBLICLY VETTED.

Then there’s the most likely path America will take… Fuck-all nothing. “We the People”, for the most part, will sit around and bitch about everything. We’ll stay divided by race. We’ll stay divided by gender. We’ll stay divided by guns. We’ll stay divided by abortion. We’ll stay divided by religion. The Conservatives use these issues as tools to keep the masses from coming together and having the realization that THEY are only serving the rich, and that they’ve been putting the screws to the REST of us this whole time; that THEY are in fact the enemy of the state, not Gays, not Trans, not Blacks or Latinos or Muslims or “Christians” or Atheists. It’s not the everyday Joe, regardless of his or her gender, genetic background or skin tone. It isn’t even the scholars and scientists OR those out there with a 3rd grade reading level who still believes in fairy tales well into their fifties and up. It’s RICH PEOPLE IN SUITS who are the REAL ENEMY.

THIS is the turning point in our nation’s history. Right. Fucking. Now. You may claim to be “Liberal” or “Feminist” or “Humanist” or “Leftist” or even “Green” or “Libertarian”, but unless you’re out there ready to sacrifice it all in order to fight, you’re as good as “Conservative”. You know- those people who hold the rest of humanity back and always end up on the wrong side of history? Conservatives wanted to stay part of Britain. Liberals were the patriots who stood up to King George III and his Parliament. LIBERALS started that fight. What fight DID Conservatives start? That was the Civil War; a fight to keep fellow human beings as SLAVES. Yeah, THEM. Those people who Ben Carson is trying to convince us that were working immigrants brought here under duress in order to find a better life, right?

So what’s to come? I don’t have a lot of faith in our nation anymore. It’s not that I don’t love my country; I do. However, I also firmly believe what Winston Churchill once said about America. He said “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else.” Well, one thing we haven’t openly tried here in the United States is a total dictatorship or oligarchy. We’ve also got people pushing for Theocracy. We were once a Democratic Republic, but even Benjamin Franklin knew how fragile this was. He’s accredited with saying that he presented us with a Republic “for as long as we could keep it”. Well, we’re about to lose it. When you carefully read the opening to the Declaration of Independence, it is clear that it is time to be rid of our current governing body and replace it with one more responsible, more honest, and answers to “We the People” not “We the filthy rich who keep making everyone else more poor”.

http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/document/