#Trump might not be able to vote for himself

[shmreduplication]

Crazy how felons can lose the right to vote but still run for president

To be clear: they should have the right to vote and the right to run for president

[thebestusernamepossible]

Now that Trump is official a convicted felon, is he still the republican candidate??? Like SURLEY he can’t run?? Like felons can’t even VOTE in most places

[aloeverawrites]

If you’re not voting blue because of Palestine tell Biden that.

They need to know that while they still have the power to do better, it will be too late for Palestine after the election.

[potofsoup]

Happy July 4th, everyone, and good luck to the UK voters out there!

Wow it's Year 11 of doing these!! Here's the AO3 link to the past 10 years, and here's the tumblr link.

Reminder that this is a long game -- some of the judges making decisions were appointed back in the 80s. Many of the cases that were decided this round were from Trump's term. So it's going to take long-term, consistent voting over a decade to start tipping things in the other direction. (Which I talked about in 2018 re: Trump shenanigans and 2022 re: Dobbs).

A lot has been done by the Biden administration (I'm assuming most folks have seen this post by boreal-sea with their very helpful sources), and much of that will be overturned by Trump, especially if he gets the Senate, and especially now that he would have a blank check for anything "official". So let's make sure that doesn't happen.

And even if Trump does get elected, your decisions down-ballot might effect control of the House or Senate, or might make it easier to vote next time, plus the whole plethora of state and local issues. It's Republican state attorney generals who are challenging climate regulations, for example.

Plus, when you really get down to it, only one of the candidates plans on pardoning himself and all his friends if he wins, and attacking the government if he loses. Maybe that guy shouldn't be the President.

If you're new to voting, remember to check voter registration deadlines! I'm a permanent vote-by-mail voter and it's so nice. :)

Transcript under the readmore

Page 1: Sam and Bucky meet up with Steve for a picnic. Steve: Thought you guys were still in Sudan? Bucky: I’m forcing Sam to take a break.

Sam collapses onto the picnic blanket. Sam: Oof, it just never stops, does it? Steve: Nope.

Bucky hands Sam an orange popsicle. Bucky: Eat and relax for a bit, Sam. Sam: Thanks.

Page 2: Bucky asks Steve: How are things state-side? Steve responds: HORRIBLE. Bucky: I thought you’ve been tentatively hopeful about what Biden has been able to achieve? Steve: I was! Student loans, child care, climate regulations, infrastructure, labor, trans rights … he’s quietly done a lot through regulatory improvements and congress bills. But now all people will talk about is how he’s OLD. And then there’s the Supreme Court’s decisions … Chevron and immunity… Steve puts his head in his hands, while Sam and Bucky look on with some concern.

Page 3: Bucky hands Steve a blue/raspberry popsicle: Steve, take a deep breath, and a popsicle. Sam: Sounds like we missed a lot. What’s going on? How bad is it? Steve: Pretty bad. The Supreme Court has made some decisions that give the Court and the President A LOT of discretionary power. Sam: Yikes, that doesn’t sound good. Steve: Well, the Chevron thing means that judges with life-term appointments can override policies made by government agencies. And now it’ll be harder to hold a President accountable because he will have immunity for any “official” actions.

Page 4: Sam: So if the President tries to, say, overturn a democratic election result, he’ll be allowed to as long as it’s in his job description? Steve: I don’t think threatening state electors is “official” business, but that will be decided by federal judges. Who get their jobs by approval from both the President and the Senate. Bucky: Yeesh. No wonder you’re stressed. Any good news? Steve: Well, thanks the Biden and the razor-thin Senate majority, the newer bills don’t rely on the Chevron deference. Still not great but not catastrophic. Sam, squirting ketchup on his hot dog: So what I’m hearing is that it’s now more important than ever to have a President and a Senate who you can trust to appoint fair judges, pass bills, and not commit crimes.

Page 5: Steve: Plus all of the state level offices, now that more and more deciding power has been thrown back to the states — abortion, LGBTQ rights, voting access… Bucky: Hey, at least this is a big election year so we can actually do something! Steve, with his arms crossed, looking surly: Except that all people want to talk about is how Biden is “too old” and “not doing enough,” as if that is on par with Trump’s desire to dismantle basic rights! As if the candidate who doesn’t embody ALL their ideals is not worth voting for! Bucky interrupts with a smart and a loud “PFFT.”

Page 6: Bucky: Um, Steve. YOU were like that in 1940. Sam, nudging Bucky: “Oh, this I gotta hear. Spill, Barnes.” In sepia, Steve is pacing around their apartment while Bucky is sitting and reading a newspaper. Steve: I can’t believe he’s running for a 3rd term! we need a fresh candidate to vote for! This is hardly a choice at all! AND he refuses to engage in Europe! All of Europe under fascist control and we’re just twiddling our thumbs? He’s letting millions die through his inaction! Bucky: Most people don’t want another war, Steve. If he came out for it, he would lose. Steve, indignant: But Buck, it’s your Polish relative who are in danger! Bucky, closing his newspaper and looking at Steve: Yeah, and between FDR and Willkes, I trust FDR to help if he could.

Page 7: Steve, in sepia, looking away: Should he be encouraged to do more? Maybe I should vote for Browder. The Communists have historically be Anti-Fascist.

Sam interrupts off-screen: Waitaminute! STEVE was going to PROTEST-VOTE? Steve: We were in a Blue State, Sam! Sam: But what about the down ballot races?! Steve: RELAX, I did my due diligence down-ballot. I wanted a senate that’s more progressive than the President.Voted LaGuardia for Mayor, too. Steve hesitates: Then, when I got to the President… I realized that the Best case scenario would be that my vote did nothing, versus if it actually spoiled the election. And when I asked myself who I could trust to work with my Senator… well, FDR had a good record with Labor. (sepia shot of young Steve voting) Bucky interrupts: Hold on, Steve.

Page 8: Bucky, eating a cookie, arching an eyebrow: You didn’t vote for Browder? Why didn’t you tell me? Steve: And have you say “I told you so” for the next century? Bucky: Heh.

Steve, with hand on his chin: What’s weird was that, despite everything, I still felt HORRIBLE when I ticked that box. Sam: Sounds like you built up the meaning of that vote far too much in your head. Logically, we know that a single box can’t represent all of the complexity of a whole system, but the desperately WANT it to. Just look at how people have built up so much around the term “Zionis” that it’s made productive conversations difficult.

Page 9: Sam and Steve speak in the background while Bucky reaches into the cooler and pulls out a box. Steve: Sigh. And that’s something that goes beyond the election. Sam: Which is why we need to vote, AND do other things. Bucky, looking at Steve and Sam: Like how Steve works to push organizations on the local level? Or like all the work you do as Captain America? Sam: Exactly. Vote AND.

Sam looks at Bucky fondly: Like how you vote AND make me and Steve take breaks. Bucky, looking stern because he can’t handle compliments: Shush, Sam.

Bucky holds up a cake that has the number “107” on it: It’s time for cake. Happy Birthday, Steve.

[porcupine-girl]

Here is something to remember as we watch Trump kick off the insanity with his ridiculous cabinet picks:

He’s not a dictator yet.

Some things - even some illegal things, now that anything he does “officially” isn’t illegal - will be a lot harder for him to do than others.

Blackmailing a foreign leader? Easy for him to do all by himself. Selling classified documents to our enemies? Unfortunately, easy for him to do by himself.

But some things require the cooperation of large chunks of the government. Not just on paper, in a way he can ignore, but in the fact that it will take hundreds to thousands of people to pull it off and any bit of government interrupting that process may stop it entirely. And yes, he controls a larger swath of that than last time, but he doesn’t control the whole thing yet.

These cabinet picks? If we can convince just a handful of the people who occasionally scraped together enough spine to stand up to him last time to vote against them, they’re toast. I’m literally planning on sending letters - not emails, USPS letters - to Sens. Collins, Murkowski, and Romney * begging them to do the right thing. Collins and Murkowski have already publicly doubted these cabinet picks. I doubt they’ll all three veto every bad pick, but if all three of them vote against even one, that’s damage reduced.

This DOGE thing? This CNN article points out that it’s likely to get bogged down by FACA, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which in his last term stopped his plan to set up a committee to “investigate voter fraud.”

How did it stop him? Not by telling him he can’t do it, and then him listening and obeying. They stopped him by tying the whole thing up in the courts until he got bored and dropped it. He might own SCOTUS, but he doesn’t own the entire federal court system yet.

And he had a short attention span and doesn’t actually give a shit about anything. Do you think he actually cares about reducing government waste? Of course not, he just wants lower taxes and fewer regulations for himself and his buddies. If it doesn’t look like DOGE is going to get him that quickly enough, he’ll lose interest.

I’m not saying the system is functional enough to stop everything he wants to do. It wasn’t last time, and it’s less so this time.

But when you start to spiral into despair, remember that the system is big enough and lumbering enough to slow him down. To get in his way. Not every time, but sometimes. He will NOT be able to pull off every single thing he or Project 2025 claims he’ll do. We don’t know yet which things he will or won’t manage, and yes, he might make some of the worst things happen.

But he’s not a dictator yet, he doesn’t have total control yet. The more cooperation from others it takes to pull something off, the less likely he is to manage it. He will fail sometimes.

* I knew Romney was retiring but I thought his term wasn’t quite up yet. But no, he’ll be gone.

[pudding-parade]

Sorry, but I have to get political on all your asses, at least those of you who live in the US. It will be a one-time thing on this subject, the only thing that I will say here about the election before it happens. And yeah, I'm going to say this on a blog devoted to a stupid video game. Why? Because I know that I have younger American people who follow me here, and if y'all are like some of the younger people I've talked to in real life and online in other venues, I have concerns. So I'm going to say all this as an old-ass, progressive American. Because if I can wake up one apathetic mind out there, it will be worth it. And if you're pissed at me for making a single political post at this important juncture, then fuck off and unfollow me or send me nasty messages or whatever you want to do. I don't care. And I'm not cutting this, either.

My dear followers: Donald Trump cannot -- CANNOT -- become president again.

Late last night, Trump posted on his Truth Social account a video containing language and images reminiscent of the World War era. It was about his fantasies of what America would be like, should he win the general election in about five months. It contained suspicious imagery and phrases like "creating a unified Reich." Does that sort of language sound familiar? Especially when combined with his rhetoric about immigrants being "vermin" that "poison the blood of our country?" Ring any bells? I'm sure it does for any German folks who might read this.

Trump's post was only taken down about 12 hours later, after backlash over it, and then Trump claimed that a "low level staffer" posted it, not him. Which is either a lie OR he was lying when he said previously that only he and his campaign's communications director have or will ever have access to that account. If you want more info about this, here's a short video from Jesse Dollemore, an independent commentator:

This election isn't about liberal/progressive vs. conservative. It truly doesn't matter what your personal ideology is because this election is about saving democracy. This is about preserving your freedoms, because we won't be able to do anything about any other issue, whatever our individual ideologies and pet issues are, if our basic freedoms upon which this country was founded -- freedom of speech and to protest, freedom of (and from) religion, freedom of the press -- are chipped away until they are gone. Because that's what autocrats do. They want freedom only for themselves, and Donald Trump and his cronies and hangers-on are all autocrat wannabes.

And if you -- Yes, you, even if you're sitting in the middle of blood-red state -- don't vote for Joe Biden, you will be doing your part to hand the autocrats what they want, because a non-vote or a vote for anyone other than Biden is in fact a vote for Trump and autocracy. Similarly, you must also vote for Democrats for all other positions, local, state, and federal so that America's overt flirtation with autocracy that's been going on since at least the 1990s might finally end once and for all.

Yes, yes, I know: "But Genocide Joe!" Think about it: Do you seriously think that Trump, who licks Netanyahu's asshole because he sees him as the kind of "strong man" that Trump wants to be, is going to help Gaza? Or that he'll go against Putin and continue aid to Ukraine? Because if you think that he will do either of those things, I have several bridges I'd like to sell you. No, Trump is going to "put America first." He says it all the time, and what he means by that is that he will do nothing except whatever it takes to keep himself and his cronies in power while also isolating America by severing ties to our allies. Gaza will be given to Netanyahu just as Ukraine will be given to Putin, should Trump win, and he won't give a shit. In the end, Biden (and Harris, should she have to take over) will listen and help Gaza, maybe not as much as we'd like because the Middle East situation is complicated and there are no simple solutions, but a Biden-led government will certainly help more than another Trumpian government would. And Biden will definitely continue to aid Ukraine, because that situation isn't complicated at all.

And in the end, it's not really about Ukraine and Gaza, though they are of course important. It's about us. Should Trump get into the White House again, he will surround himself with people who want America to be a plutocratic and authoritarian autocracy, very similar to Putin's Russia. This is not hyperbole. This is fact. A vote for Trump -- either actual or de facto by fucking around with not voting or voting for a third party because you think it's a "protest" -- is a vote to end democracy, plain and simple, which might very well mean that you'll never be able to protest again another day.

How bad could Trump be, you ask? Who cares who is president? Well, have a look at Project 2025. It's a 900-page "playbook" for the next "conservative" administration. (In quotes because there is nothing "conservative" about these people, including Trump and his cronies; they are radicals.) It is nothing less than a plan to destroy the federal government, the Constitution, and the freedoms that it enshrines and protects, which means the end of democracy. They published a similar tome before Reagan was elected, and once he was in, Reagan followed through with a lot of it. I have no doubt that Trump would, too, given that his "Agenda 47" platform is basically the same. Here is an article that summarizes Project 2025 and details some of its directives. And here is an article from Time Magazine, of all things, where the writer of it interviewed Trump about his vision for America, should he win. The first line of the article is, "Donald Trump thinks he’s identified a crucial mistake of his first term: He was too nice." You can read the transcripts of the interviews, too, so you can rest assured that the interviewer isn't being hyperbolic.

It ain't good, folks. Part of this extreme-right agenda is ridiculously expanding the power of the executive branch so that it would no longer be checked and balanced by Congress and the Supreme Court, which effectively turns the presidency into a dictatorship. And if Biden does not win, at least some of this bullshit will come to pass, especially because Trump already has the Supreme Court in his pocket. And he'll be able to appoint more young, far-right lunatics to that, too, should he win.

I'll repeat that Trump CANNOT win. I'll be the first to say that, as a pretty extreme (but also pragmatic) progressive, I'm not Biden's biggest fan, for various reasons. He is way farther right than I am, though he has been far more progressive-friendly than I expected and he has gotten some very good things done. But even if he wasn't and hadn't, he will preserve democracy and because of that, I will be voting for him without hesitation. I won't even have to hold my nose. Trump and his cronies in Congress and the Supreme Court will destroy democracy if you -- Yes, YOU! -- let them. And if you let them by deciding not to vote or doing some sort of lame "protest" vote, especially if you live in that handful of states where every presidential vote matters, you will have no one to blame but yourself and others like you. People being apathetic or doing "protest" votes is what got us Trump the first time around.

For fuck's sake, do the right thing.

[erisenyo]

I've been processing and reflecting to try to make sense of things, and it strikes me that Trump won because he:

incited fear

of tangible things

And positioned himself as the solution

He tapped into people's fear of the other (immigrants, trans people, etc) which *feels* immediate as you experience it, and therefore tangible. And maybe more importantly for the swing right we saw compared to 2020, he tapped into fear of economic harm--which people are experiencing today, now, in real ways.

And then he presented himself as the solution, with a few specific consistent talking points that might have been ridiculous and extreme but that people could hold onto. As a result, voting for Trump becomes a direct solution to your immediate fears.

You can counter fear by

alleviating it

explaining why it's unfounded

giving someone something worse to be afraid of

And at least from what I saw from the messaging I received as a swing state voter...Kamala tried to mainly do the latter but with *hypothetical, conceptual fears.*

Loss of rights, decline of the conceptual institutions of democracy--for some people these are immediate. But for most they're intangible, vaguely situated in a future that may never come to pass. Which means they are less acute, less likely to balance out today's active, tangible concerns.

She didn't explain how she would alleviate those immediate fears of the other (I would say her foray into immigration policy was poorly received by all sides, and reinforced Trumps stance). And probably more importantly, she was unable to cogently explain why people's tangible economic fears were unfounded OR how she would solve them. While rhe ad buy format is obvipuslt limited, her economic stance *as communicated* was about how Trump would make it worse (future oriented, hypothetical, non-immediate), not about any tangible solutions and policy she would put into place.

Which means her campaign basically came down to relying on a large, motivated group of anti-Trump voters...and those people were already activated against him. And she wasn't able to present anything to build on that beyond intangible, hypothetical fears and she just...wasn't going to win with that.

So what does that mean? It feels like future policy communications may be more effective focusing on specific policies that appeal regardless of demographic group (free daycare, broad healthcare affordability, education costs) rather than appeals to ideals like rights and freedoms. And that there likely needs to be a shift away from why the opposition is so scary and ridiculous, to why the opposition is *wrong.*

A move toward the tangible, and a reconceptualizing of major goals that *are* more focused around rights and freedoms in terms of the tangible steps to realize them--which will also provide a road map to follow.

(Theres obviously the confounding factor of Kamala being a woman - a lot of people wouldn't necessarily articulate that as a reason not to vote for her, but they'd be the person shaking their head at Trumps rhetoric but just believing he'd be better at managing the country no matter how nasty his language)

[thememoryofthatday]

A few miles from my house, there is a church where I take my daughter to get pumpkins every fall. As an atheist, I normally don't support churches, but this one doesn't bother me. My husband and I call it the gay church because they proudly fly a bunch of LGBTQIA+ flags out front, and their slogan is "A Place Where All Are Welcome." Their pumpkin patch proceeds don't go to missionary work; they go to supporting homeless teens and other actual charitable causes.

When we first moved here, the gay church would host various fundraisers for those charitable causes. One of these events was a family-friendly drag bingo night. Remember not too long ago how there was a big push by conservative groups to ban drag shows all over the USA? The gay church got caught up in that, suddenly becoming a target for far-right protests.

By some weird chance, I didn't drive past the gay church the day it happened. I drive past it most days, so I was surprised the next day when I saw the news. Neo-Nazi groups, including the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and the Aryan Freedom Network came out to protest this tiny little church where we buy our pumpkins. Many of them were armed with assault rifles; some waved Nazi flags and gave Nazi salutes. Counter-protesters stood in front of the church with signs and pride flags, too. Police in riot gear had to keep them apart.

The local news reported that the two sides were at odds over "providing a safe place for all" vs. "advocating for children in the community," which is an absurd way of putting it, but sure. What struck me most about the reports, though, was not that they ignored the presence of the Nazi groups or carefully edited their footage to avoid showing any swastikas that were present. It was the non-Nazi protesters who came out to picket the church, themselves representing churches or other religious groups. Those protesters complained about being grouped in with the Nazis, whom they found despicable, and it made me laugh because... I mean, you chose your side of the street, didn't you? You might not be able to control who else was on that side, but you sure as hell had control over whether or not to join them.

That's how I feel about the people who voted for Trump in this election (and the last one, and the one before that). Trump himself has told us that there are very fine people on both sides, and to be honest, I kind of understand that. Everyone wants to think of themselves as a good person; even those who don't think they're particularly good still think they're at least right in their beliefs about the world. Everyone is the protagonist of their own life story, and few ever think of themselves as being on the wrong side of anything.

Maybe most of those Trump voters are very polite. Maybe they love animals and do charitable work and donate to causes that those of us on the political left would happily donate to. Maybe they make the best brownies you've ever had and always tip well. Maybe they're friendly with their neighbors even though their neighbors are immigrants. Maybe they are immigrants themselves.

But whatever else they might be, they picked their side, and it wasn't the side of inclusion or kindness. They crossed the street and stood next to the Nazis.

So to all the very fine people out there who voted for Trump, whether you did it because you sincerely believe that public schools are performing sex-change operations on children or whether you just wanted another fucking tax cut, recognize that you banded together with the worst elements of our society in order to achieve your goal. We on the left get taken to task for lumping you in with Nazis, but you lumped yourself in with them by choice. The Nazis are celebrating right now because of the decision you made. They couldn't have won without you.

Go sit in that for a while.

[justahumblememefarmer]

I do like to think that if Trump loses this election, he's really going to drag Republicans further and further down until they either reject him or die.

He won them the presidency in 2016 and firmly tied Republicans to himself. They refused to keep him in check at all, and anybody who stood against him was either ousted or beat into submission to become another sycophant.

Then he did such a terrible job that in 2020 it inspired record turnout to oust him. Republicans still had the chance to oust him with the second impeachment for the insurrection, but they stood by him.

For the 2024 election, they again had a chance to oust him. Running somebody who already lost the presidency, especially against the same person he lost to last time, is probably not the best formula. He had mounting legal troubles they could've used as an excuse to drop him. When it came to the primaries, it was somewhat in question whether he'd get backed again, but more importantly if he lost the primary, would he run as an independent or as the MAGA party and split the right's vote? We didn't ultimately find that out.

What we're seeing now is that dropping Biden from the ticket and having Trump now be the older candidate is definitely hurting them. There's a lot of frustration with the fact that so many of our politicians are extremely old, so putting in Harris who's (relatively) younger has been a great move.

Now let's say Trump loses this election, what happens to him and the Republicans? He's still facing several legal issues, but honestly with this current Supreme Court, I don't have a lot of faith he'll face many consequences there. But I highly doubt that he will want to give up any power that he currenty has over the party, and desperately wants to have the power of the presidency again. So Republicans are going to have to face the same choice they did for this election.

Continue to follow behind him and run him as the oldest ever presidential candidate who has now lost TWO presidential elections

Oust him as the leader and elect somebody else, potentially risking his base coming after them

In option one, the party likely remains united, however if Trump loses this election, I don't think he will ever be able to win any election again. Running him in 2028 would likely be a third loss for him. And if he keeps running every 4 years, that ticket is just going to get worse and worse.

If they reject him and run somebody else, how will he react? He could tell his base to not vote. He could run independent/third party and split the vote. How much of his base would actually go with him might not be certain, but certainly enough that it could still cost them huge in some major elections.

So I think if Trump loses this, Republicans best option is for him to die. He's never going to give up power voluntarily. He's never going to name a true successor. Him dying while they trot him out as their hero is the only way they can be rid of him without causing a huge party schism or running a failing candidate yet again.

[heathersdesk]

I'm a Mixed Race Woman in Idaho and I'm Calling You Racist for Not Voting for Kamala Harris

It is a fact of life that most people don't actually say what they mean. And I've been struggling for almost 35 years to learn the lesson that this means, unavoidably, that most people don't actually mean what they say. They don't like being confronted on it, and will double down the second you reveal it. So I try—genuinely—not to point this out as often as I see it.

But I have to in this case. No, not have to. I get to. I get to do it in this case because it's racist. And I'm tired of pretending it's not.

I've been watching TFG and Kamala Harris are "basically the same" takes, especially when it comes to Israel, for over a year now. And now that we're less than a week out from Election Day, I'm willing to kick that hornets nest right over a fence with everything I've got.

Because that's not what you believe. Not really. At the core of that argument, you're trying to say two things, not one.

The first is that Donald Trump's only term and Joe Biden's second first term are "basically the same" when it comes to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That's what you mean to say. And if that's what you want to believe, I'm not going to stop you. If you want to compare those two time periods, badly, at the exclusion of all the other history since the 1940s, knock yourself out.

But that comparison (Trump 1 v. Biden 2 1) is a stupid thing to bring up in a discussion about Kamala Harris unless you also mean to say a second thing: that she and Joe Biden are "basically the same." They very much are not, and haven't ever been. And if you are uninformed enough to think that, let's take a tour through some recent history together.

Remember when she humiliated him in the 2020 debates when he bragged about being able to work with anyone, including segregationists, in Congress? And she called him out on national television for opposing school integration because he didn't support busing black kids to white schools?

She looked him and all of America right in the face and said, in accusation to him, "there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me."

She throat punched him in front of God and everyone. Go back and watch it. It was in the second debate of 2020. You can see it in his face that she snatched the air right out of his lungs, and he couldn't do anything to defend himself because he knew he deserved it. That moment was decades in the making and his bill for being a "moderate" came due. It was an incredible thing to witness, and something more moderates need to learn from.

That moment was why I was genuinely shocked that he picked her as his running mate. I still don't believe he wanted to do it. And why I wasn't at all surprised when this was the reporting that was coming out. This example is from 2021.

Joe Biden attempted to prevent Kamala Harris from replacing him, in exactly the way she ended up doing, by giving her absolutely nothing to do as a Vice President. He chose the candidate who was the greatest threat to him as his Vice President so he could bury her. He let people gossip about her and humiliate her without ever coming to her defense in any meaningful way, for years. He gave her stupid and meaningless assignments where she never got to punch at her weight, let alone above it, when she was more than capable of doing that.

People made fun of her for how she sang "The Wheels on the Bus" wrong and her "love" of yellow school buses. They called her cringey. They made fun of her laugh. They made jokes about how they needed to find someone to love them as much as she loves yellow school buses. She doesn't love school buses, idiot! You might as well say that about Ruby Bridges while you're at it.

You did all that without ever questioning whether Joe Biden putting her on school bus duty (do you see the irony now?) was the best use of a former prosecuting attorney's talents and abilities. You've already forgotten that him doing this to her was an ongoing source of conflict between them that was poorly concealed the entire first term of his presidency.

Multiple people in my family say they don't like her because they're picking up on the fact that she has a very controlled, almost artificial demeanor.

Of course she does! Did you ever stop to ask yourself why?

She goes to work every day with a boss she fundamentally doesn't respect on many levels, day in and day out, because that's what it's going to take for her to get the promotion she deserves.

We could've had her instead of him already! Israel's escalation in Palestine could've never happened if she had been president! But we'll never know now, will we? Y'all were too racist to vote for her in 2020 when she was running. You fell for the right wing nonsense that told you to call her a cop, when the exact opposite was true. But y'all don't want to talk about that now, do you. No question mark because it's not a question.

She has to watch an old man do a job she is more than capable of doing, while he's doing it very badly at times, without revealing how frustrated she is. And she had to learn the hard way to be careful who she showed that frustration to because they went directly to the press with it every time.

Could you do that? I've done my own version of that, in a very small way, with a sexist old white man. He was a mediocre veterinarian from Minnesota who loved polka music and pissing me off. I lasted a year. I was losing my mind by the end of it and quit my job when I couldn't take it anymore.

Have you ever had to do cleanup after an old white man who should've retired two decades ago? Because I have. It is some of the most humiliating work you can do. I was helping an ungrateful man make more money than I'll ever see keep his clients, despite being very bad with people, while I was being paid $12 an hour.

It's ridiculous we still make women do this. Have you ever had to do it, at a national level, with cameras pointed at you everywhere you go? No. You haven't. Shut up.

And by the way, it hasn't ended. It's still happening. He still can't get over himself, and neither can his staff. They're going to make podcasts about it one day and y'all are going to see how bad it was for her.

Kamala Harris has not put up with eight years of Joe Biden's inadequacies and petulance for you to say she's exactly like him. That's a deeply uneducated and racist thing for you to say. All it demonstrates is that you didn't see and recognize all of this when it was happening for what it was, either because you couldn't see it or didn't care. You never stopped to examine your own gender and racial biases to understand why you felt that way. A part of you somewhere genuinely believes that this was part of her job, to be a Mammy to Joe Biden, which is why you couldn't see the problem while it was happening. Those were the conditions under which you accepted her becoming Vice President.

You and Drew Barrymore both. Remember that? Drew Barrymore said what the rest of America was thinking, and has been thinking since Kamala Harris became Vice President. And now that she's been Mamala to Biden and to us for eight years, you don't want to promote her? And you want me to believe there's anything other than misogynoir behind that?

Get out of my face with that. Don't you ever say she's "basically the same" as Donald Trump or Joe Biden ever again. It makes you look incredibly ignorant and unkempt, like you've never had anyone who loves you enough to teach you how to act in public.

Kamala Harris is a Black Asian woman from California who grew up in segregation. She is more qualified to be President than Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Joe Biden put together before she even wakes up in the morning. She deserves respect she doesn't get, and will continue not to get even as President, and she's still running anyway with a smile on her face.

Miraculous!

The least you can do is vote for her. But if doing the bare minimum is asking too much of you, you need to sit down and really look at yourself. Why do you let the people around you tell you to hate black women, to mistrust them even as they're actively taking care of you? Why do you feel like that's okay for you to do? And why do you only stop when everyone else collectively changes their mind about that black woman?

Especially y'all who want to constantly call out white cishet nonsense. What good does it do anyone to put your mama and daddy, your grandpa, and your uncle at Thanksgiving on blast for clout if you can't even see the ugly in yourself when it matters?

Fix your face. Do it now. You have until November 5th. Go vote for Kamala Harris.

And quit expecting strangers on the Internet to do the free labor of spoon-feeding you the things you should know already—especially if you were there. Do whatever you have to do to be smarter than that. As always, I suggest reading a book, preferably from your public library.

[kissincutegirls]

I wanted to say something because I have extreme fear about the upcoming election. I know Joe Biden is not the best candidate or the one that a lot of people want, but he has done a lot of very good things in his presidency that have explicity not been covered by media. I urge you to look some of these things up, I also have posts showing this, too. But please, please vote this year, and please consider voting for Joe Biden. You might think if you're not a queer person him being president won't affect you, but it will. Look up Project 2025. Regardless of how much Trump tries to distance himself from this, the Republicans will push this plan as much as they can into reality come 2025 and they likely will be able to thanks to the Supreme courts shit ruling about presidential immunity and granting the executive branch far more power. Your partner needs an abortion? Nope. Your friend, or close one, does sex work or anything deemed sexual by the government to make ends meat? Nope. You, as a wife, want a divorce from your husband? Think again. Legally, your husband gets to make all the decisions. Remember how bad it was when he was elected president in 2016. Don't let it happen again as it will be so much worse for all of us.

Policies Joe Biden has pushed through in his presidency not covered by media:

https://www.tumblr.com/kissincutegirls/755632005817024512/the-list-of-things-that-bidens-team-has?source=share

Project 2025:

https://www.tumblr.com/kissincutegirls/755954338289106944/project-2025?source=share

Project 2025, abortion:

https://www.tumblr.com/kissincutegirls/755982831171387392?source=share

Project 2025, forced conscription of the poor:

https://www.tumblr.com/kissincutegirls/755954972554870784?source=share

[clemymimi]

Michikatsu Tsugikunis /Kokushibos political beliefs and ideologies

Literally no one asked for this, but since I'm very knowledgeable in the areas of philosophy, ethics, history and politics I thought I might give my two cents about this topic. If politics exhaust you, I ask you not to read this post ♡

The questions that I will try to answer in this post conclude:

- What is michikatsus core ideology?

- what political system nowadays would he most likely prefer?

- what German political party would he most likely vote for?

- would he have voted for Trump or Kamala Harris in the US-election?

Michikatsus core ideology:

Michikatsu is a rather complicated indidvual to fit into a category, he is most notably characterised by his dichotomous personality and as such could really swing in many ways, his thoughts often in conflict. He is a very individualistic person that despises the system yet finds comfort within it at the same time and can never truly escape it. Instead he yearns for an improved version of that system. Michikatsu does not want an emperor. Nor does he wish to follow a daimyo because he wants to be able to decide freely, whom his loyalty will receive. Michikatsu is essentially a tool without direction, a person who does not know how to live for himself and has spent his entire life catering to others yet secretly yearns for nothing more but to finally be his own person. Because of the system he was born into, he has been raised to fear this freedom. It is one of the core reasons for his jealousy towards yoriichi. Because the rules of the world have never applied to yoriichi and yoriichi has always been free to do whatever he wanted. That's all michikatsu had ever desired. He falsely believes that to gain this freedom he needs to become stronger and surpass his brother because he has never learned how to grow as a person and that is the only matter that fundamentally sets yoriichi and him apart within his mind: their strength. At the same time, in his pursuit for freedom, michikatsu ties himself to muzan and an 'improved system' of the system he grew up in to achieve this freedom. I Don't need to tell you how tragic such a fate is.

Let's get more into the philosophical aspects of this however:

Michikatsu believes, just like Thomas hobbes does, that humans are inherently evil. That in their natural condition, they would just all kill each other and are really selfish.

He believes that humans only formed a society for their own benefit.

He thinks humans all mistrust each other and the only art of state he believes can work is the leviathan.

The leviathan is basically a group of people giving up their own rights to one person who then rules over them (this curiously also coincides with michikatsu freely giving up his rights to muzan, doesn't it?)

Michikatsu believes humans stay together out of fear and the leviathan himself can reign the best with fear yet the people must also allow him to reign with fear, yet they could yk throw him from his throne any time

Michikatsu also believes that humans DO have the inherent ability to utilise their rationale and common sense but that they instead choose to adhere to their fears which he views as a weakness.

Let's talk about the Leviathan construct in more detail (and how muzan kibutsujis reign over his demons is the perfect example of this leviathan and also one of the reasons why kokushibo feels so content to serve him)

"A metaphor for the state, the Leviathan is described as an artificial person whose body is made up of all the bodies of its citizens, who are the literal members of the Leviathan's body. The head of the Leviathan is the sovereign. The Leviathan is constructed through contract by people in the state of nature in order to escape the horrors of this natural condition. The power of the Leviathan protects them from the abuses of one another."

For those confused (because I was as well when I first encountered this phrase): this essentially means that the Leviathan is empowered by the people who elect the sovereign to rule over them with terror so that they stick together out of fear. The natural condition describes the "homi homini lupus" line. That man is to man a wolf, aka to be distrusted. Only through fear from outward sources or from the sovereign can the people contained within this political system stay together as a society. Now Try to tell me that that is not exactly what muzan is doing with his demons?

"A multitude of people who together consent to a sovereign authority, established by contract to have absolute power over them all, for the purpose of providing peace and common defense."

this phrase however, offers a new perspective. It states that the people underneath the sovereign chose to give up their rights to them willingly. And is that not exactly what michikatsu did to muzan all those years ago? Muzan OFFERED to turn him into a demon, he did not force him like he did with hakuji. Michikatsu WILLINGLY gave up his freedom and his rights to serve Muzan and this willing capitulation of his sense of self explains WHY kokushibo is so loyal to muzan in the first place. There stands no question that had michikatsu not considered muzan worthy of his loyalty and freedom, he would not have given away himself to the demon king.

Contract

Also called "covenant" or "social contract," contract is the act of giving up certain natural rights and transferring them to someone else, on the condition that everyone else involved in making the contract also simultaneously gives up their rights. People agreeing to the contract retain only those rights over others that they are content for everyone else to retain over them.

This quote is basically just a repition of the previous verdict. And although most of the demons were forced into serving muzan, the people that muzan encountered personally were often given a choice (Tamayo, michikatsu, douma, rui).

What political systems nowadays would he most likely prefer?

With the pre-established notion in mind that Michikatsu believes within the construct of the Leviathan, it would be blasphemous to announce him a fan of democracy. He considers the people of the world far too idiotic to fell decisions over their own life's. Michikatsu would most likely have been a fan of monarchies/dictatorships like Caesars or Napoleon's. He would NOT have been a fan of north Korean current dictatorship. He would have preferred a competent leader to rule the world but within the world today, such a leader is nowhere to be seen. As such Michikatsu would most likely seek out the second best political system: the constitutional monarchy. The system of checks and balances that ensure that none of the political elements would hold too much weight would have been immensely appealing to him. In an ideal world michikatsu would have gladly followed a wise leader, but such a leader does not exist. As such, logically speaking, there would have to be systems in place to steal some of the head of states power away and to keep him in check in case he loses sight of what is best for his people and loses himself to the power hungry notions people in power often fall victim to.

So.. what political system nowadays would michikatsu likely support the most? The answer is the constitutional monarchy within the UK. Michikatsu would find comfort within the notions of a monarch still persisting within the country and he would appreciate the indirect democratic system of the two chambers (house of Lords and house of commons). All in all, he is rather satisfied with an unchanging but solid type of state (and the political system within the UK has not changed over the last 200 years)

What German political party would he most likely vote for?

I have decided to include this section as I think the answer might come off as surprising

The political party (amongst the most prominent one's) in germany that michikatsu would most likely vote for are die Grünen (the green party).

Die grünen party are a left wing party, although they are rather close to the middle left nowadays. Their primary objective to retain the planet would appeal to michikatsu. Michikatsu has always been a person driven by logic. He would consider the conserving of the earth and the tackling of the climate crisis as one of the most pivotal topics in the modern world. After all, If we do not take care of the planet.. well there is no planet left to live on, is there?

One may have assumed Michikatsu would have voted for the CDU, since it is the middle right conservative party in germany, but michikatsu would not have done so. Perhaps once upon a time, when the CDU had still been focused on retaining old values he would have chosen to vote for this party. But as it is today, all the CDU does is criticise the government and they are have been getting rather chummy with the afd, a party that Michikatsu would never be able to vote for (considering the party to be highly illogical, lacking true sustenance and actual political content apart from spreading hate and fear). Additionally, the fdp would also not be a good fit either as the party is far too liberal for michikatsus tastes (although michikatsu would most likely appreciate some measures of freedom from the government, he dislikes the fdps policy against rising taxes for the rich, finding the discrimination disgusting). "Die linken" party would be FAR TOO radical for Michikatsu as well. I do not even need to elaborate on that notion any further I fear pff.

As for the SPD.. michikatsu likes the social aspect of the SPD, that they wish to support the working class and the political system their country is built on. He appreciates consistency and would like that the SPD tries to support every single member within the state. As such it would most likely be his second choice.

Would he have voted for Trump or kamala Harris in the US-election?

The answer to this question is most likely clear by now. Although michikatsu has nothing against a monarchy, or even a dictatorship, he would only ever grant such a form of state to those he perceives worthy of the responsibility to guard an entire nation.

Donald trump is not worthy in his eyes. There is no logic behind his words, only the intention of stirring fear and hate. Donald trump makes not usage of pathos (playing on the listeners emotions) and is barely coherent at times. He is egotistical and incredibly radical and unpredictable.

Michikatsu HATES illogical behaviour, HATES unpredictable people. They are a great source of frustration for him. He also would be against the abortion ban that trump advocates for as he literally could not care less what a woman does with her children. In his opinion it is not his place to demand control over something that has never belonged to him in the first place. He is deeply respectful of women and although he does believe that their bodies cause for there to be a biological difference and a certain aptitude towards occupations (assigned male at birth as fighters, assigned female at birth as a stay-at-home parent) he is more than willing to accept you as who you are as long as you are intelligent and determined. He would have accepted a woman within their ranks during the sengoku period also. He would have needed to be convinced that the woman was competent enough, but as soon as that had been affirmed he would not have batted an eye.

The same goes for males and any other gender. He would have held men and women to the same high standards.

In conclusion:

Michikatsu tsugikuni believes in the Leviathan, as long as the sovereign is competent (like muzan). If there is no fit leader, Michikatsu is more than ready to consider a constitutional monarchy. Michikatsu would have most likely voted for die grünen in germany due to their agenda of tackling climate change and he would have voted for kamala Harris.

[ang3lf4ngz]

Well, things aren't looking good. As much as I'd hope for a turnover, AP has called the race.

But there's a silver lining to all of this; Trump has served 1 term already. This Meaning, in 2028, he will not be able to run again.

I get there are project 2025 concerns, and frankly, I'm afraid of that myself. However, he has distanced himself from it (which could mean one of two things: A, he actually does not fuck with it, or B, suprise attack.) And even though I hate the guy, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. For the Republicans on my feed, I congratulate you on your win.

On the flipside, there are about 18 million democrats who didn't vote. While that might be a show of Harris' character (which I doubt), I have one thing to say to them.

You have failed me. I am a child in the eyes of the law for the next 18 days, and you have failed me. You have failed all of us. I now know I can not trust you. I can not believe in you. I've been mulling this over since I was 14, and now it's been set in stone.

Thank you for your time. We will survive the next 4 years.

God bless America.

[arrenkae]

You know, back in 2016 I was laughing at the idea that Russia was interfering in the US elections

Not because they wouldn't do it. I just didn't think they could. I believed that the image of Russia being this big powerful enemy of the western world with a vast secret network of spies and hackers was just a boogeyman from the cold war era. Russia I knew was weak, cowardly, corrupt and incompetent. They would never be able to successfully and secretly pull off something this big.

Well I fully admit I was wrong. The country might be falling apart, the war is a disaster, but international propaganda? They are REALLY good at this. It's absolutely everywhere, poisoning all sides of the political discourse. And it works. I can't believe it fucking works.

I also thought that calling Trump a fascist who would turn USA into a totalitarian nightmare was just fearmongering. In my eyes, he was just a dumb populist with shitty views, no backbone and no principles who had no idea how to run a country. I thought that his term would be a disaster, but then he'll be voted out and this will be the end of him. Because dumb populism works, but at the end of the day, USA is a democracy. Right?

OH BOY WAS I ALSO WRONG ABOUT THAT

And it's not like my assessment of him was wrong. But the real danger is not Trump himself. This man has IQ and principles of a turnip - but because of that, he is extremely easy to manipulate. The real danger is everyone behind him, those who kept pushing for his presidency over and over, using propaganda to build up his insane cult, because when this absolute dumbfuck is in power, they will be able to do whatever the hell they want. Turn USA into a totalitarian nightmare. Nuke Ukraine and Gaza. Start World War 3.

And Putin is 100% one of those people. I'm so fucking mad right now. HOW is this fucker still alive. How does he keep getting away with everything. He is willing to burn down the whole world for his sick twisted power fantasies and nobody will be able to stand up to him now. Sincerely, fuck all americans who had an opportunity to vote against this but didn't. I wish the rest of us had a say in it.

[cazort]

I've heard a lot of people express frustration that they don't know how to help Harris and the Democrats win this election. They say that everyone they know either already supports Harris, or are Trump supporters who seem impossible to reason with because they don't agree on basic facts.

Here's the thing. You're not going to convince many people by talking to people who are already talking about politics. These people have entrenched views. Don't waste time talking to someone who is vocal about supporting Trump.

But there are A LOT of people out there who are quiet about politics, and don't follow politics much. They might be registered to vote but not always vote. They might be planning to vote, but not have a strong opinion and are just going along with the opinions of the people close to them.

These are the people you need to talk to. Talk to everyone. Ask random people you come into contact with. Reach out to people you haven't talked to in a while, especially people who live in swing states.

Share information with people that will speak to them. If someone is Puerto Rican, ask them if they heard about the insults made to Puerto Rico at Trump's rally in New York and how Trump and Vance didn't really apologize for them. If someone is concerned about the economy or stressed with finances, talk to them about how economists and reputable media like the Wall Street Journal agree that Trump's tariffs will hurt the economy and drive up prices. If talking to people with family in the military, talk about how Trump disrespects people in the military, and how he spoke ill of the two generals he himself appointed. Share John Kelly's remarks about Trump wanting his generals to be more like Hitler's, tell them how you trust Kelley because of his service record, and how that concerns you.

Trump is so unhinged that there is literally something he has already said or done to alienate just about every possible demographic. The only way that his movement is maintaining power is by keeping the people ill-informed. The information isn't reaching people, and Trump has gotten people to distrust even reputable media.

The people who read and trust reputable media have already accessed all this information, and we all already support Harris. We understand that Trump is a threat to our country and democracy and our world. And we understand this regardless of our political views, whether we're liberal, conservative, or anywhere in between.

We need to talk to the other people. We need to talk to those who aren't as engaged, and we need to be like: "Hey, did you hear about this? Did you hear about that?" Use that personal connection. Talk to people who know you to be a reasonable person.

If people are skeptical you can share with them how you check what is sound and what isn't. Show them the website Media Bias / Fact Check and use it to look up specific sites. Be like: "I don't believe everything I see online, but I trust this source." if they ask you how you can know something. Explain which sites you consider biased if they saw something that you think is fake news. Tell them why you don't trust a particular site.

Don't argue with people. If you share a thing, and get pushback, you can use understatement. Don't be like: "You're wrong!" and start arguing. Rather you can be like "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that." and then drop it and move on if the person keeps arguing. You have other people you can talk to, and you might have started the wheels churning in this person's brain.

If people generally agree with you, ask if they are voting and planning to vote for Harris. If you're able to help like by offering a ride to the polls if they need it, or to help watching someone's kid, or anything else that would help them vote, offer it. Ask if they are talking to other people, if they know if people around them are also voting for Harris that they could encourage. Tell them that you think this election really matters, because it does.

We can make a difference by talking to people. Don't believe the polls that say that there are few undecided voters left. The polls often report as few as 1% undecided voters. But here's the thing. In the past week alone, I've heard from Puerto Ricans who said they had been planning to vote for Trump, and then those comments came out, and they changed their minds. You might also convince someone who is not planning on voting to vote for Harris. Or you might convince someone who was planning on voting for Trump to not vote. One of my friends from high school who initially liked Trump and voted for him, has become frustrated with him and this election, recently said he is voting third-party. I've been talking to him about my frustration with Trump for quite some time, and he has agreed with some of what I've said.

Each and every change like this matters. There are a few days left before the election. We can still make a difference. Focus your energy where it matters most, which is talking to people who you know or interact with who respect you, and who are not talking a lot about politics.

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Shooting

About recent news: I'm not going to enjoy the next few news cycles very much? But while this might be problematic short term, I don't think it's going to be the disaster people say it is. At least, not if everyone follows the advice that has been given all along - don't decide your vote doesn't matter, don't decide that third-party protest votes will be your best course of action, just vote and vote blue.

Here's why:

Look, at this point, everyone that's going to vote for Trump is going to vote for Trump no matter what - there is no getting them off that particular Titanic. Marginals? I'm sorry, but Trump does not appeal to marginals. Trump appeals to ... well, MAGA types, and there are a few too many of those. Getting shot at does not make one a viable political candidate, no matter how many people talk conspiracy.

And let's face it - Trump is not going to pull the "Biden conspired to have me killed" card. Not because he doesn't want to (and no one's going to gainsay it because the man who allegedly fired the shots is apparently dead), but because it would probably have that stupid decision the Supreme Court made about what kinds of immunity a president has being relevant sooner than Trump wants it to be. He wants to be able to pick up that tactical nuke that the Supreme Court dropped outside the White House. If anything, if he gets the presidency, he's going to pick it up and use it to round up political enemies "for his own protection" because "he got shot at once, you know". But that entirely relies on his being elected. Which, because of the above, can be stopped by the simple method of a bunch of people actually getting out and voting blue in November.

Plus ... seriously, this is going to eat a couple of news cycles and die no matter how hard Trump tries to capitalise on this. He's currently yelling that America must "stand united" when he's the one who went to such lengths to deepen the divides in the first place, but at the end of the day, it's a piece of news, and most of the news will move on. The ... I don't remember what the American equivalent of GB News is (the one that's worse than Fox), but that one'll run conspiracy theories for as long as it's allowed, and it'll be all over Truth Social and probably Twitter, but news cycles are way different than they were when I was a kid. They blow up fast and blow over faster, and this probably won't be any different.

Basically, I'm not going to panic. I'll keep a half an eye on it, but at the end of the day, news is theatre at this point. It's "what makes good TV" or whatever. It's put together by people who believe (sometimes rightly) that the populace has the collective attention span of concussed goldfish and about as much memory capacity. There's a lot we don't know, and news outlets will spend a fair bit of time analysing what we do know (and why we aren't able to know more, and I'm looking at the ones who apparently killed the alleged shooter, because now we can't ask that individual the kinds of questions that would indicate whether it was politically motivated or it was just like that guy who shot at Reagan to impress Jodie Foster). But after they've wrung out the last bits of information, it's going to fade away no matter what Trump does to keep it alive. And he's basically painted himself into a corner there because he's got that whole "toxic masculinity" thing going on and any attempts to drag out how brave he was in the wake of being shot at after the fact? They're going to look like whining.

But it's going to be a fairly gross week in the news while this gets processed, I'll give you that. I just can't afford to panic until the world proves me wrong about how shit like the news works.

Anyway, life goes on. (I admit to some very uncharitable thoughts about that whole situation in the immediate, though. I generally find it distasteful to wish death on anyone, but I do admit to being uncharitable enough as a person to have a few exceptions, if you see what I mean. But I'm not going to harp on about it at the end of the day because it doesn't help.)