#Trump’s foul behavior

[schraubd]

The Tennessee Three: Whataboutism as Fascism Apologia

You've no doubt heard at this point about "the Tennessee Three", three Democratic members of the Tennessee State House facing an expulsion vote for their role in a protest against gun violence that occurred on the state legislative floor. Expulsion is a rarely-invoked procedure in Tennessee, typically reserved for obvious cases of criminality of misconduct (e.g., a bribery scandal) in cases that garner bipartisan support. To use it to kick out minority party members for a raucous protest the majority found embarrassing is a huge overreach, an exploitation of the GOP's supermajority status to further undermine basic democratic principles.

I wanted to flag a particular comparison Tennessee Republicans are using to justify their conduct -- comparing the protest to the attempted insurrection on January 6:

House Speaker Cameron Sexton compared the incident to Jan. 6: "What they did today was equivalent, at least equivalent, maybe worse depending on how you look at it, to doing an insurrection in the State Capitol," he said.

Sexton also noted that Jones and Johnson had previously been "very vocal about Jan. 6 and Washington, D.C., about what that was."

There was, of course, no insurrection here: the protest had no ambitions of overthrowing the government. But there's something revealing about this rhetorical move that I think typifies the way conservatives are normalizing and justifying fascist behavior.

Even now, many Republicans are kind of willing to concede that there was something ... untoward about January 6, and the broader campaign of election denial that spawned it. "Kind of" because they face tremendous pressure to outright endorse it, as Sexton's "maybe worse" aside makes clear. But to the extent they to recognize that there's something wrong with what happened on January 6, what they want to do is present things like January 6 as an ordinary sort of ugliness, the sort of foul or misconduct one can see from all parts of the political spectrum. Yes, maybe the January 6 thing went a bit too far. But it's not distinctive; this is a problem one can see across the aisle too. Look at Black Lives Matter protests -- why aren't they being treated like the insurrectionists? Maybe Trump shouldn't have denied the election, but is it really any different from Al Gore demanding a recount in 2000? Trump stole classified documents; well, what about her emails? Whatabout, whatabout, whatabout.

By transferring these egregious examples of anti-democratic thuggery into the realm of "normal" politics, Republicans justify treating them via the "normal" (partisan) political process. Sure it might be a bit distasteful, and more than a little opportunistic, but hey, that's politics. There's nothing exceptional here that demands standing on a broader principle. Everything blurs into an indistinguishable mush of "sometimes politics gets ugly." And in that universe, well, it's just realistic that Republicans probably won't pay much attention to their "normal" nips that might cross the line. Cynicism styles itself as realism, but it's really just cowardice.

None of this is to say that straightforward political thuggery isn't sufficient explanation for why Tennessee Republicans are acting the way they are. But there is a broader justificatory narrative being crafted here. The Tennessee Three isn't just about state and national Republicans being contemptuous of democratic norms (though it's certainly about that too). It's yet another effort to pull the extreme conservative threats to basic rule of law principles out of the realm of "extreme" and blur them into the normal hurly-burly of every day politics. Exploiting the media's instinct to "both sides" everything, the GOP will just troll all the way down

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/Z25W97O

[thatstormygeek]

This kind of stuff is why I generally feel like my reality is slightly shifted from that of mainstream reality.

The warnings point to the new risks for Republicans in running against a Democrat who would become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win the White House. Trump, in particular, has a history of racist and misogynistic attacks that could turn off key groups of swing voters, including suburban women, as well as voters of color and younger people Trump’s campaign has been courting. The admonitions came after some members and Trump allies began to cast Harris, a former district attorney, attorney general and senator, as a “DEI” hire — a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

"has a history" of things that "could turn off key" voters. The way real awfulness in speech and behavior is talked about like it's just...a game. As if those are fouls of some sort that are in the past and don't matter if the player can keep from doing it again? And only temporarily, even. Nobody is suggesting an actual change - just a shift in tone.

And I'm just sitting here, staring at that "could," wondering how anyone wouldn't be repulsed by racism and sexism even as I know a disturbing percentage of people revel in bigotry. And so many just want to be told the lies they want to hear, not caring that the promises are empty.

That's my secret, Cap. It's always been real to me.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * *

Rick Wilson :: [@TheRickWilson]

Trump's loathing for an injured war hero speaks more volumes about his low, repulsive character than almost any of the other stories of his public or private behavior. I've read damn near every account of his degenerate, foul life, and this one still shocks.

[kmp78]

“his lack of etiquette doesn't equate him not caring about his country…” You mean having good ethics, personal values and being free of prejudice and misogyny isn’t necessary to be a trustworthy and fair bipartisan leader and a role model for leaders of the rest of the world?. DT absolutely cares nothing about his country but what the country can do for his wallet and media ratings.

“I witnessed all the good he did….” What “good” did you see exactly? Please specify based on reality, not Trump sponsored news outlets.

…”the media lied about him cause there are dozens other things they accused him of that he didn't do.”AND DOZENS OF HORRENDOUS, ILLEGAL, FOUL or UNETHICAL THINGS HE DID DO!

“how he went against the deep state”WTF “deep state” are you referencing here ? He did nothing but make shit up and keep repeating it so ignorant fools, blatant gun-toting blowhard rednecks and the meek and unthinking followers would believe his baseless propaganda. His accusations have never been proven to be true and there was certainly no election conspiracy which has been proven over and over again. He has lied and stolen from his own country by devaluing his income and properties, cheating on and withholding his taxes. (proven fact for which he will face legal charges)

“and the big heads and exposed many many shady stuff. “ Like who would that be and specifically what “shady stuff “ did he uncover? The people he fired, and that was many, were people HE hired and surrounded himself with to do his bidding.

And of course, don’t even mention how many thousands of lives could have been saved if DT had acted swiftly and responsibly in the face of a world health crisis. Instead of causing the loss of thousands upon thousands of lives, “ Trump suppressed scientific data, delayed testing, (arrogantly) mocked and blocked mask-wearing, and convened mass (political) gatherings where social distancing was impossible. Despite the mounting threats of COVID-19 and global warming, he pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord. He installed industry insiders in regulatory posts tasked with protecting Americans from environmental and occupational hazards; their regulatory rollbacks resulted in 22,000 excess deaths from such hazards in 2019 alone. He pushed through a $1.9 trillion tax cut for the wealthy, creating a budget hole that he then used to justify cutting food and housing assistance for the needy. He tried, but failed, to repeal the ACA, then bent every effort to undermine it, pushing up the number of uninsured Americans by 2.3 million.”- Source: Scientific American (An apolitical long-standing well known scientific journal based on facts not propaganda and political rhetoric).

And the man cannot put together a full sentence in his native language! Smfh; but he doesn’t even know to be embarrassed. Great “presidential” material.

So Trump loving Anon, if you really do aspire to be any sort of politician, learn to gather brilliant minds to fill in what you do not know and not yes you to death, not bumbling fools and assorted ill qualified relatives to cow tow to your manipulative strategies for personal gain. Vet your news sources and advisors throughly, check your facts, learn behavioral cues to spot liars and fakes, think before you speak and make sure you surround yourselves with those successfully experienced in leading and governing, not in failed business or reality TV.

Trump used the extremely strong retard gene among the Republicans and the rest is infamous history. 💯

The level of brainwashing was not far off from what went on in Germany 100 years ago - and as we saw during the Congress debacle, the end results might have easily led to a similar outcome. 👀

[the-firebird69]

Kerrigan Kills Mengsk and Leaves Jim on Korhal (Starcraft 2 Ending | Asc...

And my dad made those noises before he passed away and Stan is an idiot and thinks that he can sit here and just collect stuff by threatening one person. I will be happy to see you go and your ridiculous **** you're torturing me and it's not necessary because it doesn't work your way it's additional to the already ridiculous behavior that you're exhibiting. Every time I turn around I see the goofballs and you screwing around with me like I'm Garth and I have different defenses but he's going after you now and he should what you did was ridiculous you don't have the savvy or the technology or the ability to deal with the creatures and all and I noticed that you're dumb about it and even I charge up for Christ sake and other people and you do too. I don't care they know why 'cause you're a convoluted **** and you don't understand what you're doing I'm gonna take that $50 extra you're billing me i'm gonna jam it up your **** dead dairy air everyday until you **** go away. I did it to this stupid **** Jimmy what's his name this stupid **** moron at castle was threatening to raise my rent the whole time and I just left because he allowed me to and he died and his forces are going to be ruined soon just like you because you're such a cheap little **** I can't believe any of you none of you can understand this and it's been explained every single stupid day that's a name it's like I'm the one in the situation dumb **** i'm gonna sacrifice myself to force myself to do the job more you're insane and you're stupid that's ridiculous but it looks like Lily is gonna kill you in the future she's going to **** kill you and you deserve to die and you need to and you're gonna die until that day you know why because people like you stand are **** idiots what you're doing is stupid as **** you you may as well have nothing to do with me and you would survive better I don't know what the **** do you think math is but something for people to look at this is great too this is great look how you die this is the math on that you can zap these creatures you are so **** wrong about what you're doing here you **** invalid little **** **** **** with your **** **** **** brain moron people can take advantage of people who have messed up brains and you have a messed up brain and people gonna take from you because you're gonna slow slithering **** you zapping a creature that absorbs energy from the electrical impulses and from the host she'll be restored in a few minutes afterwards because you're a stupid person you're a dumb **** loser and you don't know what it works like and the proof is right there in your own death it is poetic justice the same with Trump and the Sigourney Weaver who killed themselves she burns herself she went back she doesn't know about because she's stupid like you you can't figure out the first or the last thing the empire does you're walking around like little kids jumping up and down if I drop 1 peanut keep in mind I'm dropping those peanuts on purpose you foul piece of crap

Zues

Hera

We hear it and don't believe it no it's true you are the dumbest **** we've ever seen in our lives it's been explained a million times stop that zapping them stan they're getting energized do you think it does something to them or something who the **** knows you're an idiot it's hilarious but all your people keep getting killed and then you do it yourself proving that you're just stupid and he's been saying it too he's trying to go out to eat with Ken and you're driving and you couldn't figure it practically how to get there out or how to order it's like having a baby along and you're this gross frigging pig I'm tired of people who are so dumb they just sit there threatening our son it is it's very low and it's gonna stop so I see what he means he's very dumb will just continue it and this is proof.

Thor Freya

Olympus

good

Hera

[reasoningdaily]

It has been one week since CNN’s town hall with Donald Trump — and the fierce fallout stemming from the event is still reverberating.

While accepting the prestigious Columbia Journalism Award and serving as the school’s 2023 commencement speaker, Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday became the first network anchor to publicly voice dissent with management over the town hall, which has spawned a storm of fierce backlash.

Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, disclosed that she had met with CNN boss Chris Licht this week and that the two “had a very robust exchange of views” about the matter. She said that Licht “welcomed that exchange of views,” but stood by his decision to hold the town hall. Licht told staffers the morning after the event that he believed it was worthwhile because it woke people up to the stakes of the 2024 election.

After hearing out Licht, Amanpour told the Columbia Journalism School graduates that she had not been moved.

“I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in that particular format,” the veteran anchor said, contending that the American people had demonstrated with their votes in the last three elections that they are well aware of his behavior.

“I would have dropped the mic at ‘nasty person,’ but then that’s me,” Amanpour candidly added, recounting the moment when Trump lashed out at moderator Kaitlan Collins for asking a question that he did not like.

Inside CNN, Amanpour is far from alone in her views. In private, the town hall has been widely criticized by employees at all levels across the organization. Some of these employees believe that Trump wasn’t worthy of a town hall platform after leading the insurrection on the US Capitol and continuing to spew dangerous lies about the 2020 election. Others believe that it was a worthy endeavor to confront him, but that the event was poorly executed.

Ahead of Amanpour’s address, Licht sent a note to the network’s global workforce of more than 4,000 employees, praising the anchor for the “rare and exceptional honor” and encouraging them to tune in. A CNN spokesperson said Licht was aware she planned to address the town hall in her speech.

During the address, Amanpour acknowledged that the press still has not quite figured out how to grapple with Trump, who has abused media platforms to spread dangerous disinformation far and wide, often overwhelming fact-checkers who have struggled to keep up with his rapid-fire stream of lies and falsehoods.

“Maybe we should revert back to the newspaper editors and TV chiefs of the 1950s, who in the end refused to allow McCarthyism onto their pages,” Amanpour suggested. “Unless his foul lies, his witch hunts and his rants reached the basic evidence level required in a court of law. His influence gradually decreased with all but his fervent colleagues and cults.”

“So maybe less is more,” she suggested. “Maybe live is not always right.”

“Some of the very best and even most fiery, compelling interviews are, in fact, taped and they are edited, not to change the context or the content or the truth or the intent, but to edit for filibuster and a stream of disinformation,” Amanpour added.

The award-winning anchor also described the raucous town hall audience — which cheered Trump on as he mocked sexual abuse claims — as part of the problem. It was CNN’s venue, she contended, and should not have allowed for the jeering and cheering.

Licht conceded to her “the execution” of the town hall “was lacking a little,” she said, and he assured her that “we will not witness that same appalling behavior in future town halls.”

Amanpour defended CNN as an institution and implored people to give the news organization another chance, even as she acknowledged it “doesn’t mean we always get everything right.”

“I can only hope that your trust in us might have been shaken, but not shattered,” she said. “That you believe we can survive and rebuild that trust.”

Amanpour also spoke about her decades-long career and how it had informed her belief that journalists must provide the public clear-eyed coverage. She noted, for example, that newsrooms recognize Ukraine “is the victim of a Russian imperialist illegal aggression,” instead of giving false equivalency to each country’s claims.

“Be truthful, but not neutral,” Amanpour urged. “Bothsidesism is not always objectivity. It does not get you to the truth. Drawing false moral or factual equivalence is neither objective or truthful. Objectivity is our golden rule and it is in weighing all the sides and hearing all the evidence, but not rushing to equate them when there is no equating.”

“There is a 100% connection,” she said, “between a robust, independent, free and fair press and a functioning democracy and the advance of human rights and justice.”

Amanpour said the angry debates over Covid-19 vaccines and the 2020 election results are proof that Americans now have difficulty believing basic facts. She indicated that it is the job of the press to cut through the noise, counter disinformation, and summon the public back to reality.

“I refuse any more to say or to concede that we live in a post-truth world because that is lazy and it is ultimately a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Amanpour said. “We need to seek to provide and defend the truth.”

[uwuwriting]

Having a girl with an aesthetic w/ Shinsou, Aizawa and Bakugou

Request: Shinsou with an e-girl gf, Aizawa with a dark academia wife and Bakugou with an angelcore or cottagecore girl, please and thank you. - anonymous.

Yall, dark academia is my best friends’ and mine aesthetic and its so pleazing. Like god damn. Angelcore is amazing so soft and uwu. Do I even have to say anything fir e-girls? No, I would just do them an injustice. Love ya and sorry for the inactivity. 

masterlist 

rules

warnings: none I think. 

Shinsou Hitoshi 

-Yall match. 

-Like he wears dark brooding colors, mainly shades of purple to match his hair and maybe some greens while you on the other hand always have a black and red combo or some sort of stripped item of clothing. 

-You share beanies. 

-It has become an unspoken rule that you two will always go for beanie shopping every october. 

-Your style kinda changes according to the month. 

-Like during september you wearing mainly greys to match your sour mood bc school, during october since its spooky season you wear oranges and purples matching your boyfriend perfectly while January and December are red months. 

-Those are his favorite. 

-Red brings out the color of your lips making you look even more fearsome and badass, turning him on in the process. 

-Yes I said it, Shinsou will beg for red lipstick. 

-He’s semi worried for your hair. 

-You keep changing it and he doesn’t mind when you cut it, oh no he finds your bangs or pixie cut adorable. 

-He is worried when you change colors like you chnage clothes. 

-He liked all your phases. 

-The skank stripe and half-half ones  being his favorites but he will ask you to tone it down a bit give your hair some time to rest and regain their strength. 

-Yall paint your nails. 

-You will spend endless hours in his room just painting each others nails and doing face masks. 

-It brings out his edgy lord side, the nail polish. 

-As if the dark circles and that constant ominous look on his face doesn’t do it. 

-But you love it. 

-He looks so content when you two are just sitting there listening to trash rap songs and taking care of each other. 

-He loves it when you wear skirts with thigh highs. 

-Actually you can’t wear those anymore bc once he sees you you can’t really walk anywhere afterwards....

-He is all about your chains and chokers. 

-Like give him some he is jealous. 

-Baby really be thriving while dawning those fake silver chains. 

-If you are interested in more intracate make up he loves being your test subject and just lets you transform his face into whatever deity you want. 

-Tends to scroll through your tik tok because its full of witch toks and very very interesting cosplays and makeup stuff. 

-Somehow he found himself into anti trump tik tok and he cant get out..... then his fyp shifted to draco tok and he just gave up. 

- “Are you cheating on me with Draco Malfoy?”

- “Baby-”

- “Because I don’t blame you.” 

-Deadass has a whole folder on his laptop with couples outfits he wants to recreate at some point. 

-He’s just so wholesome. 

Aizawa Shouta 

-He really can’t understand how he managed to get such a fashion icon of a wife. 

-I mean have you seen the way this man dresses? 

-Head empty just Aizawa with pink sweatpants.

-Yeah so he really doesn’t get it how he managed that but he isn’t complaining. 

-I mean have you seen the dark academia aesthitic. 

-It gives Maraurders vibes and we stan. 

-He loves it when you wear long coats and those scarfs.

-They make you look like such a lady and so sophisticated and he lives for it. 

-He really likes the plaid skirts and pants, makes him think that he is living with an English lady or maybe a philosophy teacher. 

-Have I mentioned how much he adores your vintage book obsession?

-Going to old bookstores together and just browsing through the poetry books or the fantsy novels has become one of his favorite past times. 

-He tries to somewhat keep up with you but he struggles. 

-He really has no fashion sense but he wants to try for you. 

- “Honey you don’t have to dress up for me! I love you just the way you are.” 

-He loves you so much like omggggg!!!!

-Anyways. 

-Rainy days have become book dates where you just snuggle up together on the couch in a large fluffy brown blanket and you both have a book in your hands reading away. 

-He loves the little expressions you make when you are reading something interesting or staright up crazy. 

-He bought you your very own round -Harry-Potter-style glasses for your birthday. 

-You had been going on and on for some months now about how you wanted to go and buy a pair but you never got around to it. 

-Being a teacher at UA and a hero is kinda hard and a busy job so we get you. 

-You were so excited when he gave them to you. 

-Um for Halloween you two went as James Potter and Sirius Black. 

-He has the hair, okay maybe he is lacking that care free and cocky attitude but visually he does a good job.

-Seeing him in that suit oh boy. 

-Really your realationship is just full of Harry Potter references since you are kinda obsessed with that Era, especially the Marauders. 

-Hizashi is lowkey jealous because he could never get AIzawa to dress nicely. 

-You are special though!!

-You are the wife

-He does what you tell him to in reality. 

-He’s kinda wrapped around your finger. 

Bakugou Katsuki

-He gets flustered so easily.

-Like your aesthetic is so soft and angelic and compared to him people think you have a corruption kink. 

-He kinda feels bad bc when you dress like something god sent it because painfully clear how opposites you are. 

-He sees his rough edges and rude behavior more than usual and he may become self concious. 

-You will have to reassure him and remind him that this is a facade and that he knows your true evil nature. 

-You are a true menace.

-ANyone trying to fuck with your friends or your boyfriend? 

-They are getting round house kicked and yeeted out a window. 

-Back to your aesthetic. 

-Whenever he seas something pastel or colorful he wants to immediately buy it. 

-Especially pastel stuff.

-Pastel is your whole thing. 

-Pastel pinks, blues, purples, and greens. 

-He will buy anything, from a headband to a purse to a very very cute plaid skirt. 

-Kirishima and Denki are always so confused when he comes back to the common room with a few bags from womens’ clothing stores. 

-He never answers their questions of course. 

-He likes watching you make mood boards and create matching outfits. 

-Trying clothes in fornt of him is a must, a small fashion show taking place in your room every Friday night. 

-He likes to believe that you truly are an angel. 

-Your aesthetic is a combination of angelcore and cottage core so your room is split into two sides.

-One side full of plants while the other had pastel mood boards. 

-So pleasing. 

-You tried to shift him into your aesthetic once. 

-AND IT WAS ATRAUMATIZING EXPERIENCE.

-He looked so good in white and soft yellow but his mood was so so foul.

 -He had made you agree to never a) bring this up and b) try this again. 

-You have taken some photos though so not eveyrthing was lost. 

-You will never tell him that you have evidence of his cottage core moment. 

TAG TEAM AY:

@iwaqchan​ @the-arcana-fan-fic​ @angelwritings​ @axerrri​ @reinyrei​ @dnarez-mangetsu​ @bemorefiction​

[shoichee]

Phantom Thieves of Hearts in KNB

Persona 5 x Kuroko no Basket crossover

[knb x s/o reader]

Headcanons on how KNB characters find out you were a member of the Phantom Thieves + what they do afterwards

Warning: very very brief mention of harassment/assault | mild spoilers up to Haru/mild insinuations of Akechi | mild spoilers of KNB’s “Last Game” movie

Part 2 is here! Part 3 is here!

Kuroko Tetsuya

you two started dating for a while, but recently, Kuroko began to notice out how you always seem to weasel your way out of group hangouts or turn down after school dates with him or just altogether disappeared without a trace/word

“Um, do you want to eat together at Maji Burger after school today?”

“Wahhh! I’m so sorry, Tetsu!” you hugged your boyfriend with regret before declining. “I already have plans today…”

or that one time when school ended and right when he turned to ask you if you wanted to walk home together, you were just… gone

you were becoming a Kuroko and he was worried

he tried to ask you about your behaviors but you always brushed him off or deflected the subject elsewhere

while he figured that he should wait before you were ready to tell him, he grew antsier as you grew busier and busier and had no time left for the two of you to hang out beyond just class

one day he decided to follow you using his lack of presence and unknowingly walked into the metaverse along with you

but he then sees your attire changed,

then some other people in costumes,

and weird monsters—

he was just standing behind a pillar the entire time and was waiting for the perfect time to go and confront you when you and the strange group encountered a hostile group of shadows and started battling like pros

his eyes were on you the entire time like: 👁🕳👁

you were so graceful, yet so fierce, and so badass—

after the whole battle, he sneaked up to you and tapped your shoulder for you to whirl around in complete shock

the other PT members were just as baffled about where he came from

Ryuji: “Quick, he’s an effin’ enemy shadow!”

Ann: “Ugh, Ryuji! Be quiet!”

Futaba: “Stuuuuupid, if he was a shadow I would’ve already alerted everyone.”

after Kuroko explains how he came over because he was worried about you as your boyfriend, everyone was gushing (Ryuji was salty that he doesn’t have a girlfriend still, and Yusuke was elated to have found his next art models)

after being sworn to secrecy and lowkey threatened by Haru and Makoto, Kuroko supports you from the shadows (ha ha, get it?)

he asks Riko to teach him how to do massages so he can massage your sore muscles after a rough metaverse run

it gives him more excuses to be with you and touch you and pamper you to his heart’s content

he may or may not have used massage times as an excuse to cuddle and smooch your neck and back

he sometimes asks you what his own “heart” looks like, and you assure him that he doesn’t have a palace because he’s the purest being ever

he pays more attention to the news regarding the PT and gets really worried when even the politicians get involved (you had to reassure him constantly)

he vibes super well with Joker because they’re the silent protagonists™️ with a sassy streak sometimes

he definitely bullies Ryuji, I can feel it

you actually teach him some of your own signature moves to help Kuroko develop new trump cards in future games (especially against Touou Academy)

he teaches you how to diminish your presence to sneak up on shadows even better than Joker’s ambushing

Kiyoshi Teppei 

this sweet man is so attentive to you and your needs, even if you didn’t ask anything of him

so when you came to watch the game between Seirin and Kirisaki Daiichi, you were livid

he did not deserve this

even if you hated to watch the game, you stayed until the end, and after, you rushed to the lockers to check up on him

“Teppei! You idiot!” you were already tearing up. “You’re okay, right?”

you were holding his limbs and checking out all the wounds he was sporting

even when your boyfriend assured you, it went in one ear out the other

you were boiling in anger

he pinched your cheek

“I’m okay, (y/n).”

you grumbled and hesitatingly dropped the subject but that didn’t mean you wanted to drop the matter entirely

especially since you had the power to change other people’s hearts and their actions

but you didn’t want to bring it up to your PT members, since at first seemed more of a personal problem within the basketball matches rather than a widespread societal problem

that is, until Ryuji brought up that their own school’s basketball team got extremely roughed up and injured a couple weeks ago, but there were finally news of it coming out because the school tried to keep it quiet (but several students finally leaked the news out)

you then tentatively brought up about Seirin’s recent match

all of you guys did further research on the Kirisaki Daiichi basketball team’s history and you all found out how every basketball team they went against had their aces severely injured or taken out

time to change some hearts

mainly, the Kirisaki Daiichi starter players

luckily for you, Riko ordered Teppei to stay home for at least a few days to rest up before coming back to school, so you were free to do some thievery

you still visited Teppei’s home once or twice and brought snacks and balms (his grandparents love you)

so off the Phantom Thieves went, and you guys all went to work changing five hearts back to back

holy shit, their shadows in Mementos were just as brutal, all of them having their own special foul play or bad attitudes in some type of way even in combat (Yamazaki was the one who didn’t use foul play, but he had brute strength)

the PT succeeded in changing their hearts but got dark bruises and deep cuts in exchange

you in particular had it the worst

you took it upon yourself to play decoy/bait for all the shadows’s battles separately to let the other members finish it all of with All-Out-Attacks for each of them

you chuckled to yourself at how deja vu it all was to you, and you now kinda see what Teppei was talking about when he was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his friends

Haru was trying to wrap bandages on your forearms and lower biceps while Ann was applying alcohol to cuts on your legs and a few on your face

when you were treated, you were mostly fine, save for a few blue bruises peeking through everywhere and the abundance of white wraps around your limbs and a bandage or two plastered across your cheek

Joker ordered you to stay home for the next week, and you were fine with it; it would be way too suspicious to show up to school looking completely beaten up

so you were just chilling on the couch, flinching every now and then when your skin brushes over the fabric a little too fast or when your wounds touch anything, to be honest

meanwhile, Teppei was still at home recovering, but he pushed himself to at least be able to go to school starting the next day

day 2 crawled by, and now you’re really feeling the injuries now; everything was beyond sore and that didn’t even account for the natural exhaustion your body felt from coming back after a metaverse trip

in other words, you got double whammied and your body ached to move

you weren’t immobilized but you really preferred to sleep it off all day

you knew that at this time, Teppei would probably push himself to go to school today to see you, so you sighed before you reached for your phone

you texted Riko to tell Teppei that you had gotten sick IF he asked about you; you didn’t want to text Teppei directly because you knew he would immediately come over to your house and then see you in your state, but not letting anyone know where you were would send your poor boyfriend in a panic

you also didn’t want him to worry about you when he had his own body to worry about first

second day passed by without much incident surprisingly, and so you decided to check your phone to see a text from Riko from earlier:

I told Teppei not to bother you or visit you because you needed to recover without any distractions, and him coming over or texting you would just make you not get the rest you needed. Hope you get better soon!

Riko, the MVP

today’s the third day, and your wounds were still so obvious; Joker was right, you were gonna need at least a week

but being absent for a week was also suspicious in itself for student attendance

you heard a distinct knock knock on your house door and you knew you couldn’t avoid Teppei any longer

you shuffled yourself to the door, muttering a few curses of pain here and there before you quietly clicked the door open

when Teppei saw you littered in injuries, he was at first shocked, then confused, then heartbroken that you hid this all from him, and then furious

“Who did this to you?”

“I—uhhhhhhhhh—”

“... Why’d you hide this from me?”

he pushed the door further and let himself in, ignoring your weak protests

he gently scoops you up, gives you a forehead kiss, and walks you over to your room to gently place you on the edge of the bed; he settles himself on the floor beneath you

he looks up at you imploringly to tell him, his arms reaching up with his abnormally large hands to cup your cheeks, thumbing the bandaid on your cheek

“Please… tell me.”

he never uses pleas in these sorts of contexts because he’d feel like he would be pressuring/coercing you into doing something you weren’t comfortable with, but when he did, you knew he was serious, and your resolve easily crumbled

so you spent the rest of the day telling about your double life as the Phantom Thief while he hugged you from behind with his chin on your head

when you finished explaining the basic concepts and the steps to change a heart, Teppei grew silent until he said:

“You still haven’t told me where you got the bruises from.”

“Huh? Didn’t I just tell you that we have to literally battle shadow monsters to change people’s hearts?”

Teppei hums but he taps on the bandaid on your cheek

“You sound like you’ve been doing this for a while, yet this is the first time where you went absent from school, let alone sustain injuries to this degree.”

Shit, you were going to leave out stuff regarding the Kirisaki Daiichi, but sometimes, you forget that Teppei is actually quite sharp despite his oblivious demeanor

so you shyly confessed the rest of the events you hid from him, afraid of how he’ll react once he hears what they did in combat

“I see…” he trailed off, and you held your breath

“And from what you said, they’ll change?...”

you nodded and said, “They won’t be terrorizing any more basketball teams with their dirty plays.”

“That’s a relief,” he sighed. “Although…

I don’t like the idea of you being hurt by their hands.”

“Glad to know our feelings are mutual,” you dryly replied.

he gave a hearty laugh for the first time that day

“I guess so.”

first operation of business once you mostly recovered was to tell the PT that your boyfriend knew and how he came to know about them; everyone took it rather well once you explained yourself and trusted you to keep Teppei in check

thankfully, you don’t get those awful wounds again, but once in a while, when you do come in with a nasty bruise or two, Teppei comes into your house with takeout food and applies a bunch of ice packs for you

Aomine Daiki

you were really good at sports

like... really good at it

sometimes during PE, you would do random trickshots with the ball in the respective sport for the day, or you would do a rather skillful maneuvering to dodge incoming balls from other players, and Aomine LOVED watching his little significant other wiping the floor with your classmates

he, being way too excited at the possibility that you might actually be a challenge for him, challenged you to a one-on-one in basketball

on the street court, you moved as if you were one with the ball, guiding its course as you ducked under his protruding arm, sidestep him as you predicted his change of pace, doing really elaborate spins as you avoided him with ease

were you striking flamboyant poses every time you made a hoop??

he obviously won, but you gave him way too much trouble for someone who he hardly ever saw play basketball

“hey, were you secretly practicing basketball for years and you just never told me?”

you just shrugged and said that you sometimes played for fun with your relatives, but even Aomine, who’s a general idiot, didn’t 100% buy that reasoning 

he first thought you were just a Kise 2.0 who had the natural talent to copy and learn from people really fast… but the more he thought about it, the more it didn’t make any sense

where the fuck would you copy a spin-duck-juke-flip combo move? those movements were nowhere close to the orthodox forms of any sport

one day, while he was still thinking about you on the rooftop, he called Momoi

“Oi, Satsuki, research up my (y/n), yeah?”

after being startled out of her wits that he directly asked her for a favor, she went right to work, closely examining you during PE for the next few days

meanwhile, Aomine has just been poking and prodding about where you learned those moves (spoiler alert: he was clinging onto you and draping his lanky arms all over you to get you to fess up)

Momoi’s results: you were extremely agile and nimble like Aomine but you had a huge streak in creativity and craftiness, especially when outsmarting your “opponent”

you were pretty good at balancing your phantom thief life, love life, and school life (you always finished up homework during school, Aomine always naps up the rooftop in the evening and you had the free time to leave for your PT time)

however, when Aomine started getting clingier because he was so damn curious about you, you were no longer able to slip away and use the excuse of “I have a particular schedule and curfew because of my family” because he’d insist he’ll walk you

you then had the idea to let him walk you to your house first, then wait until he leaves, and then go meet up with the PT gang

it worked for a couple weeks, but the added physical work of walking to your home, and waiting for him to leave, and then you dashing to the hideout to make it on time really leaves you beyond exhausted especially after you go on dungeon grinds

in other words, you started sleeping in class a lot and slept on Aomine during lunchtime at the rooftop (which he at first did NOT complain)

he only really started being suspicious when you out-slept him; he’d always wake up in the evenings just to see you still snoozing

you overslept one evening and when you straightened yourself awake and checked your time, you visibly paled and in a panic, grabbed your bag and booked it without a goodbye

you forgot about a confused Aomine who was right next to you

as you dashed to your destination, he was right behind you, worried about what exactly happened that got you so distressed

you headed to a particular coffee shop in Yongen-Jaya (don’t worry, Touou Academy is located in Tokyo as well), and when you sharply rounded a corner, you activated the metaverse app, accidentally sucking in a trailing Aomine

“Wow,” Aomine whistled, after recovering from his shock from seeing you in a more extravagant/raunchier attire. “Babe, you look great.”

you inwardly sighed

out of all things, the first thing on his mind was how you looked, and definitely not the fact that the atmosphere was all distorted

“Daiki, sit tight… I’ll be back.” you pushed a protesting bluehead out of the metaverse before you turned to your PT friends who were watching the ordeal silently

“This looks like deja vu, doesn’t it Mona.”

“Ugh, I still haven’t forgotten what you did, Ryuji.”

“Lady Ann, I would never handle you like that—”

“Liar.”

you all did business as usual, and you asked Joker if you could at least explain to your boyfriend the basic going-ons; he nodded

the next day after the information sunk into Aomine’s dense head, he still wanted to see you in your phantom thief outfit (you smacked his arm)

still, it finally explained why you were unbelievably nimble

from now on, every free time you had together, he drags you to the court to play one-on-one’s; he might even practice and pick up some of your own moves to use in his games

when you’re exhausted (quite often), he always offers up his shoulder for you to sleep on, or even better, lets you sit between his legs as you lean against his chest, cradled between his arms

after Aomine dumps off his old porn mags to Ryuji, they suddenly become best friends JWBWITBWJ jk, but in all honesty, Aomine was surprised to see Ryuji expressing the same level of passion (about track) like Aomine does for basketball (apparently Yusuke’s passion for art flies over Aomine’s head because “I don’t get it, they’re just scribbles”)

you guys may or may not teach each other different parkour moves, just for fun

Midorima Shintarou

when you first met him, he found it super odd that you didn’t find his obsession with oha asa off-putting at all

sure, you raised a brow when you first found out, but you never really joked about it nor did you seem to care right after

“Is that your lucky charm today, Midorima?” indicating to his ziplock of herbs

“Yes.” he adjusted his frames “Today is an average day for cancers like me, nanodayo”

“Okay”

“Okay?” he thought, caught off guard not only at the fact that you were the first person to bring up that it was a lucky item in a conversation, but you being so casually accepting as well

usually people ask him the more logical question what the hell he was holding rather than if what he had was a lucky item

he chastised himself for overthinking, he probably had a particular reputation and thought rumors spread to most people about his oddities, and that you weren’t an exception

in truth, you saw way more concerning things than some green haired boy holding a phone book around

in other words, the only way to really make you shook is to just pull out something scarier than all those shadows from the metaverse

besides, Joker has a few weird inventory items of his own: moonlight carrots, random accessories and weird trinkets as weapons and gears… you name it, he’s got it all

honestly, Midorima just reminded you of Joker in terms of both of them having the weirdest items but then turning out to be unexpectedly useful sometimes, and you’re just really amused

Midorima would probably start crushing on you once he was panicking because he thought he was careless when losing his lucky item (in reality: Takao decided to fuck around with him), and after you noticed his visible distress, you offered your dried squid (which you coincidentally packed for lunch today as a snack)

you heard him mumbling about where the squid was and so you handed him your package and asked him if this was the lucky item for today

once he quickly nodded, you tossed it him and said that it was his to take

Midorima was sputtering, oh no

he’s fallen and he can’t get up

after beating the ever living shit out of Takao, he’d reluctantly confess that he’s “interested” in you; Takao got the memo and cackled

next few weeks pass by with you two making small talk before class and during breaks, with a snickering Takao always nearby

Takao, being wingman, invites you to watch a Shutoku home game (cue Midorima staring daggers)

so you showed up, and boy you were SHOOK

no shadow would ever be able to do some accurate shots and aiming like that

so it kind of became a ritual of yours to go to the home games whenever you can (if PT activities didn’t interfere), plus you’d figure Joker would do something similar to learn skills useful for the PT

so you decided to observe the team (mainly Midorima) and maybe watch their moves to see if you can apply them to battle

oh, why is he so good-looking even when he’s especially sweaty and—

Midorima will never admit it, but he always looks for your face when he walks into the court before he relaxes 

“Shin-chan, looking for your lover?”

“Shut up, Takao.” 

but his blushing gives him away so badly and Takao keeps busting out laughs, holding his stomach

your presence kinda became Midorima’s new lucky charm for the games

and you two got closer now that you had new topics to talk about (basketball and other hobbies)

it was only until Midorima asked about what you did in your free time that you stopped and just went silent, caught off guard that he was interested in your life beyond school

“Uhhhhhhh…” you couldn’t tell him you steal hearts on the downlow

“I just… do a lot of volunteering”

“Is that so, nanodayo.” he didn’t deliver it as a question, as he narrowed his eye at your reaction (where you were generally normally collected)

one day after school, when Midorima went to go look for you, he found you with Joker

and you looked very close with him

jealousy as green as his moppy hair reared its ugly head and he didn’t know whether to approach you or leave you be… until Takao pushed him from behind

“O-oi!”

“Ah, Midorima! There you are! I was waiting for you!” you called him over, while Joker was silently assessing the green-haired man from the glint of his frames

he awkwardly headed over to you, and you introduced Midorima and Joker together and you told Mido that Joker was a really good friend and coworker

“You work, nanodayo?”

wait wait wait shit that was a bad slipup—

“(y/n) works with me sometimes on several odd jobs around Tokyo—”

“A-and I volunteer afterwards!...”

Joker gives you a look of exasperation and “you suck ass at lying, holy crap”

you wanted to slowly introduce your crush to your PT friends, so you did, every week, you’d ask each one/two to come to Shutoku where you’d introduce them to Midorima

Midorima is secretly happy that you’re opening up about your personal life to him, although he constantly gets a naggy feeling that something wasn’t right, especially when your “friends” kept acting weird sometimes when he asked the specific questions of:

“Do you guys always hang out?”

“Where do you guys even meet up if I never saw (l/n) with you anywhere near Shutoku?”

“How’d you guys meet?”

“How long have you been friends?”

oh no, this was gonna go south for you fast

thankfully, your friends were decent actors (Ann, not you) 

Midorima really vibes with Yusuke’s wavelength, and Yusuke praises Midorima for “his expression of art through the use of his lucky charms”

Midorima feels weirdly happy that someone for the first time is unabashedly praising him about his superstitions LMAO

anywho, so you and Midorima were kind of in the “more than friends” situation as time went on, but he was still frustrated that he wasn’t exactly “close” to you emotionally; he knew you were hiding something from him

one day, you stopped coming to his games for 4 consecutive games

Midorima is kind of dying

he’s dying and really scared that you’re not into him or he did something wrong, but he’d rather die than ever admit it

one day you approached him really nervously, and ask him to come with you to an area in Shibuya aND HE THINKS YOU’RE GONNA BREAK UP WITH HIM EVEN THOUGH YOU GUYS AREN’T EVEN OFFICIAL

you start apologizing at the fact that you couldn’t come to his games and Midorima insisted it wasn’t a problem (yes it was, he was so stressed)

actually, for the past few weeks you were hoping your PT gang would approve Midorima and later on you hoped to tell him about your thievery with your friends’ approvals

you bring him to your PT gang and from there all of you explained what you all did, confessed what you all were hiding, etc. (they trusted him as per your begging and pleas)

you told Midorima that you couldn’t make his games recently because of those PT activities

he thought you all just lost it and he thought you were mixed up with some crackhead junkies and tried to pull your arm to leave ASAP

but Joker just gives a smirk before he activated the metanav and sucked everyone in

Midorima’s reaction is like Makoto’s when she first witnessed the metaverse

after the whole ordeal and him digesting the information, from that point on, he gives you small lucky items/charms and makes you take them along in your inventories “just in case” but we all know it’s because he’s worried for your safety

oh and you officially became a couple ( ˘ ³˘)♥

bonus: you pester Midorima to teach you how to “shoot” more accurately/farther to help with your PT battles especially in throwing projectiles like *model* daggers and shurikens

he gets along best with Yusuke and Makoto

Akashi Seijuro

so in this au, the PT gang more or less goes to Rakuzan with you or at least goes to a school near yours in Kyoto

this headcanon also takes place shortly after “Last Game,” so his “Oreshi” side reigns

so since the o.g. PT originated in a Kyoto school (in this AU, rather than Shujin Academy), Akashi, as student council president, had more or less heard it from the principal to be wary of this similar “prank” with other kids, and to give harsher discipline if anyone was caught doing so

honestly Akashi thought these people were really over-reacting to mere rumors, but he’ll do what he’s gotta do to maintain order at school

nothing escapes this guy’s eye, literally

he noticed how you’re paying more attention to any nearby conversations that mention the key phrase, “phantom thieves”

“Darling, is something the matter?”

“Oh, sorry, I was just curious in what they were saying,” you said, tugging his hand with yours as you walked on ahead

you weren’t lying at the moment, his eye didn’t see any signs that you often did when you do lie

you knew being a phantom thief while dating THE Akashi Seijuro was a suicide mission but you literally prayed to fucking Igor that your acting skills were sufficient enough in getting past his radar (you asked Joker to help you with this; never ask Ann for acting tips)

Joker suggested for you to try to give half truths, and when you give whole truths, to make them vague and casual enough

for the next month, it was all fine, Akashi hadn’t suspect a thing and things were going uphill for the phantom thieves as well

your group was getting coverage from even the big news channels

but if something grows popular, there’s bound to be gossip, malicious slander, and lies

Akashi was just getting overwhelmed by requests from administration and faculty to try to control the students’ enthusiasm for the PT and deter their efforts in openly showing support

of course, you help him with his paperwork often 

you’re just reading all these papers and you’re trying to stifle your laughs

“What’s so funny, love?” he teased, eyes narrowing affectionately at you

“They’re just really ridiculous.” you were honestly dying at the fact that some kids think the PT members were super spy agents from abroad sent to undermine society

and he had to admit, they were, and he responded with a light chuckle of his own

the next day, while you two were cooped up in the student council room to sort through papers, a female student timidly walked into the room and asked for help specifically from Akashi

a PE teacher was allegedly touching female students, and she happened to be one of the victims; none of the adults took her seriously so she hoped Akashi would appeal to them

you were next to him, gritting your teeth and digging your nails into your palms as you were hearing this scared girl being forced to turn to another peer because she couldn’t get help from any adults around

Akashi vows to make her request his top priority and you swore you found another reason to love this redhead of yours

as soon as the student left, Akashi squeezed your shoulder to comfort you and you put your own hand over his, squeezing it back

“Don’t worry. Leave it to me, my love.”

you smiled, although in your head, you’re planning to tell this to the PT to settle this in a different manner

mission success, you changed the heart of the teacher and news spread like wildfire in Rakuzan once he confessed and turned himself in

everyone hailed Akashi as a hero, since the female student thought he must’ve did something

Akashi might’ve talked to some other teachers to convince them to speak out the other day, but he didn’t do anything to warrant such a drastic change in the perpetrator’s behavior

he frowned; you were the only one with him at the time the student asked for help

as more news of PT pop up, this incident was too convenient to call it a coincidence 

it’s time that the two you had a talk

as he walked briskly around campus, trying to look for you, he noticed you and the PT gang together; he’s seen them around with you for the longest time and knew they were your friends, and none of them raised any alarms in his head… until now

“Hey, (y/n), are you sure it was okay to change his heart right after you heard that student’s request?”

“Yusuke, I… know it’d look really conspicuous considering the surge in news coverage,” you started. “But the point of us starting this thing was to help others in need! If we’re just waiting around to keep a low cover just for our own convenience, then what’s the point of being Phantom Thieves?”

Akashi stopped in his place, amazed at your resolve

“... Shall we finish the rest of the Memento requests?” a deep voice rang out, belonging to a certain ravenette, Joker

everyone nods, a unanimous decision 

the metanav activates, and Akashi immediately noticed the change in atmosphere 

he tried to escape it but once it activated, it already pulled him in

the PT members don’t notice him and they walked a few meters ahead onto the tracks, until Futaba cried out that there was a strong shadow

“Guys, careful! Powerful shadow detected right at the entrance of Mementos!”

“Bwah?—that’s impossible!” Morgana hopped to try to look at Futaba’s screen

as everyone runs back to the location, you gasped

“A-Akashi?”

no… there were two Akashi’s, one of them the real person, and the other his shadow

Akashi looks completely lost; it was like facing his “other” dominant self again except it wasn’t in his mind

it was real

“I thought we decided to become one again,” Akashi calmly spoke to his other self

“We have… but a part of you is hesitant to accept the new side that embodies both sides of the same coin that is you.”

“Isn’t that your significant other, (y/n)?” Makoto whispered, and you could only nod as your throat became dry

“Shouldn’t we help him?—” Haru started

“No,” you quietly whispered

it was something he needed to confront alone

Joker nods in understanding as everyone continued to watch, ready to jump in to help in case something goes awry

“You’re still afraid,” his shadow continued. “You still feel the guilt from how you treated others when you were me.”

Akashi said nothing, not denying a single thing the shadow said

“You’re correct, and while I am still wary of you,” he began. “I’m no longer alone. I have friends and a special someone to protect, and they would do the same for me.”

“What if you end up hurting them again? Maybe you’ll hurt your precious lover,” his shadow taunted

“Then they can deal with me however they see fit,” Akashi spoke with resolve. “Until then, I will be someone who will carry himself with dignity and share kindness with others like a true king.”

long story short, Akashi became a persona user after the iconic “I am thou, thou art I” monologue

Akashi took the pain of attaining the persona like a badass with such calmness; the only indication that gave away the fact that he was in pain was that he collapsed onto a knee and winced as he held his head with one hand, the other hand on the floor to stabilize himself

his mask would be like an extravagant masquerade ball mask, with three long, pointy feathers attached to the right side of the mask to give Akashi the silhouette that he’s wearing a tiny crown on the side of his head

Akashi’s attire would definitely have a blazer cape and a simple earring similar to Howl’s from Howl’s Moving Castle; lots of mahogany/burgundy/scarlet + browns color schemes

imagine after an All-Out-Attack, Akashi’s finishing screen says “My Orders Are Absolute” as you hear his voice say “Lower your head” over that

at first, Morgana suggested the codename as “King,” and while it would make sense, Makoto was already “Queen” and you rejected that idea on the spot for obvious reasons

Yusuke was very occupied gushing dramatically over Akashi’s PT outfit and how the colors just worked so well together with his hair too, and he suggested the name “Crimson” or “Scarlet”

it stuck (you can choose which you like better)

while Akashi isn’t an official member of the PT, he’s informed just as much as the official members, and he goes when he feels like the mission is a bit more dangerous than usual in order to protect you ｡•́‿•̀｡

he and Makoto would get along well since they’re both student council presidents and both love to strategize

however, Akashi is different; while Makoto analyzes shadow weaknesses, moves, and potential item drops, he provides position strategies since he noticed everyone just kind of stands adjacent to each other and directly in front of the enemy shadows

he likes to apply basketball systems of defense/offense depending on the situation of ambush to fully utilize each member’s abilities (like how he does with Rakuzan’s team)

once Joker introduces Akashi to Akechi and Hifumi, he’s over the moon

Akechi and Akashi are so similar in wit and personality (Bokushi side though, not as much the current Akashi) that Joker thinks he made the mistake of introducing two formidable figures together

he’s very impressed with Hifumi, and although he’ll still win the shogi matches against her, he acknowledges her as the best challenge he’s had since a long time 

you were kinda jealous that he was spending a lot of time with Hifumi playing back-to-back matches but he made it up to you with cuddles

you and Akashi are the power couple™️

imagine yours and Akashi’s showtime together !!

End Note: howdy there! if you would like to see more persona 5/knb crossover headcanons, just submit over names of other knb characters you would like to see this particular headcanon for hehe

[thatfunkyopossum]

Uhhh so I’m just gonna slap a life update under the cut for anyone who’s curious? Also bc this is my blog and I want to be able to vent wherever the hell i feel like. it’ll be messy.

Alrighty so first things first: My mom is in the hospital with some pretty severe cancer. Hospitalized for several months straight severe. It’s happening because of the treatment from her breast cancer several years ago. I’m fine with this. She’s abusive and is completely fine with how she’s treated me since I came out as trans. I know that she’s fine with it because we’ve talked about it and she said as much.

The real problem with this is that i’m now living with my dad alone because my sister moved out earlier this year. Its just the two of us, four dogs, and two cats. This is a problem because my dad has no healthy ways to deal with his stress and frustration so he takes it out on me. His toxic behaviors that have been harming me my entire life have only gotten worse. He refuses to acknowledge that anything he’s ever done has been wrong, and I mean it when I say he’d do anything to help me be better short of ever changing his behavior.

For example, i told him that when he referred to the house and dishes as belonging to him (for example, saying things like “stop leaving my dishes in your room” referring to the dishes i’ve eaten on in my room. Like, the communal dishes the whole family uses? and has for my entire life?) made me feel like a guest in my own home and like i had no claim to anything he told me i was delusional, that he wouldn’t stop talking like that, and that if I wanted any claim on anything in this house that he expects me to maintain I’d have to start paying to live here. I can’t do that, because I’ve only recently gotten a job (i’ve been trying to avoid it because I don’t want to get sick and hurt my friends) and I have to save up so i can either A) get myself the fuck out of here & transition or B) pay for a school program myself that in two years or so could help me get a decently stable and well paying job.

Also, on the topic of paying rent, both of my parents have completely refused to negotiate with me. I asked them to let me move into my sister’s vacated room (it gets more sunlight, is bigger, and overall would be genuinely much better for my emotional health) and I was informed that I’d need to pay them $300 a month to do that. Mind you, my sister only had to pay a percentage of her paycheck up to $300 a month. My parents would accept her maximum as my absolute minimum. So i’m making do with my cramped space.

Its been 2 years since I came out as trans to my parents. The only person in my family to wholeheartedly embrace me aside from my sister is my grandfather who lives 3 hours away. My dad can’t even consistently call me by my name, still calls me “girl”, and acts like he found out a few weeks ago and its still new. He introduces me to strangers as his daughter and by my deadname. He’s a trump supporting capitalist evangelical christian (both parents are) and has been drinking the voter fraud koolaid and doesn’t wear a mask at his job sites.

Every interaction I have with him has me on edge and nervous. I can’t be my own self in the place where i live, and i’m not even allowed the illusion of thinking that this is actually my own home. Even when he’s gone for days at a time I can’t relax because I have four severely neglected hunting dogs that I cannot help and I can’t take care of to monitor and try and control. I have to keep them quiet because if they start barking at the landlord’s dogs (who are allowed to run around outside off lead) the landlords get angry at us. They’re not leash trained, so I physically cannot walk any of them. Karley was abandoned by my middle sister, and is now basically my responsibility.

Tucker, Karley’s son, was left here by my oldest sister who couldn’t take him with her immediately when she moved away. Both of them are purebred german shorthaired pointers because my dad wanted hunting dogs and then never trained them. They’re never taken on walks. Finley is a miniature poodle who belongs to my mom. She was too lazy to play with him with a laser pointer, so yeah. Zeke is an old standard poodle who is dying and my family will not put down even though he seems absolutely miserable. I cannot care for these dogs. I never asked for them to be my responsibility, but I’m the only one who actually cares about their well being except i can’t help them. I don’t know what to do. Finley’s so smart and I can’t do anything to stimulate his brain. Karley and Tucker are so energetic and I don’t have the space or stamina to exercise them, and I can’t teach them to walk on leads because they’re too hyper but they’re too hyper because they’re never walked and they’re never walked because they don’t know how to walk on leads and i can’t do anything about it. Zeke is in pain and there’s nothing I can do about it!

There’s nothing I can do to help them and because they’re all under stimulated and not trained (my family HAS ACTIVELY REFUSED TO TRAIN THEM SAYING IT CANT BE DONE) they destroy my belongings and what few things I have to my own self and I’m told its my fault when they do. They’ve made this house filthy and foul smelling and theres nothing I can do about it.

I’m trapped here and i’m suffocating and I can’t even assert who I am without risking my shelter.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Now begins the lame duck pardon party.

Every outgoing president issues tons of pardons in their final weeks in office to tie up any loose threads and appease their supporters.  I for one think the president shouldn’t have the power to unilaterally overrule a duly adjudicated criminal conviction, as it spits in the face of the rule of law.  Especially under an administration as corrupt as this one, the pardon is a blank check for the president’s allies to commit any federal crime they want for any reason with no fear of prosecution.

Trump pardoned Flynn who admitted he lied to the FBI, he already pardoned Roger Stone, he’s probably going to pardon Paul Manafort, possibly Michael Cohen (Cohen jumped off the Trump Train and became a registered Democrat, but he’s a bloodsucking lawyer first and foremost, so he’ll jump right back on it if the gettin’s good enough).  There have been too many names, big and small, that have been charged for breaking the law to protect Trump, and like good little mobsters the ones who didn’t squeal will be hailed as heroes by conservatives everywhere.  “Congratulations, you got away with it scot free!”

The most telling thing will be when Trump begins pardoning people who haven’ yet been convicted of anything.  When Richard Nixon resigned, Ford pardoned him before he could face justice; his pardon was purposefully broad, covering any and all crimes that Nixon may or may not have committed or witnessed throughout his entire tenure in office.  It was a pre-emptive pardon, meant to stop the judicial process before it even started, and Trump will almost certainly reward his biggest cronies with these sweeping pardons; he might do it now, or he might wait until January 19th so they can go carte blanche for two months.  He is printing literal “Get Out of Jail Free” cards.  How far back will the pardons go?  Nixon’s covered just his presidency from January 20, 1969 to August 9, 1974, so will Trump’s pardons range from January 2017?  A lot of crimes were committed by his campaign, so 2016?  2015?  He and his goons have been grifting for decades, and the only limit to his pardon power is that he can’t undo impeachment, but considering he was acquitted it is irrelevant anyway.  I expect some of his closest advisors, attorneys, and cabinet members will be pardoned for crimes going back well into the 1970s an 80s, crimes the media doesn’t even know about, many crimes for which the statue of limitations had already expired, but Trump will want to cover his bases anyway.

And the big question is whether or not Trump will try to pardon himself.  The constitution doesn’t say he can’t, but it’s never been tested before.  I have no idea what the Supreme Court would have to say about a self-pardon; it is an open secret in politics that the president is effectively above the law, but it’s not on any books so everyone can still pretend like laws matter and crimes will be punished.  But if Trump pardons himself, and it is allowed, it will establish this as lasting legal precedent, meaning that every future President will be handed a blank check to commit any crimes he wants with ZERO repercussion.  Their popularity would probably tank if they did something egregious, or it might fuel their base and make them more popular than ever, but however the public responds, they will be sitting pretty knowing that they’re untouchable.  They can lie and cheat and steal and do things much worse than Trump already has, free in the knowledge that no prosecution can ever be laid against them.  If there was ever even a question of the legality of a president’s actions, they could pardon themselves and make it disappear.  They could assassinate political opponents, they could throw dissidents in prison without trial, they could cancel elections and throw away the constitution entirely because they can pardon themselves faster than the House could impeach and the Senate could convict.

Trump absolutely will try to pardon himself, though I don’t think he expects it to be successful.  No, I think his endgame is just to drag out the process so long that the statue of limitations will expire while his self pardon is still being appealed.  Say he committed a crime in 2016 and it has a 5 year statute; if he pardons himself and fights in the courts until 2022, the statue will expire and the pardon will be irrelevant, whether the court upholds it or not.  He just wants to obstruct, to slow things down, cause as much gridlock as humanly possible so that he can coast to freedom on a raft of bloated bureaucracy.  He expects the self pardon to fail, but he expects it to take so long to decide that it won’t matter.

The only saving grace is that he will still be culpable for state crimes.  Of course, any red state governors will pardon him at his request, but he made the mistake of doing all his business in Deep Blue New York.  Cuomo is gonna fry his ass.  Trump and McConnell have been pushing through literal hundreds of Trump-friendly judges to stack the courts in his favor, so the Biden administration will have its work cut out for them, but there are enough prosecutors in enough independent jurisdictions without conflicted judges to see the entire Trump Crime Family face decades of jail time.  Now, I don’t expect them to serve any considerable length, maybe a few months in minimum security before being released to house arrest and then paroled for “good behavior,” and I know that no matter what happens Trump will claim victory (he’ll either be found not guilty, or he’ll cry foul and appeal to a higher court he helped staff to get himself off), but Thank God for the 10th Amendment.  States ave considerable power over the feds, a right which conservatives have been fighting for for centuries, and now it’ll come back to bite them in the ass when the other side decides to start using it.  “Wait, we thought only we were allowed to do whatever we wanted...  You can’t do that yourself, that’s not fair to us!”

Trump may try to call Double Jeopardy; pardon himself for federal crimes then claim that he can no longer be charged for state crimes, but I don’t think it will hold up in New York.  SCOTUS is another matter; with 6-3, I’m sure they’ll find a way to protect their Golden Goose.

The entire system needs to be burned to the ground.  The constitution is broken, we need a frame-off restoration, a whole new document from the ground up.  It’ll never happen, but a Constitutional Convention would do wonders for this country; other countries rewrite their constitutions all the time, but America’s amendment process is completely nonfunctional by design.  We need big change, and that’s gonna require some very reluctant old Liberals to shift further left and actually balance the out of control right.

[massielandnetwork]

Important Economic Trends During Anarchy

2021 – Let the Games Begin

14. A Christian Secession – Poetic Justice equals Reality Checks

News broke this week that the General Counsel of Coca-Cola resigned abruptly last week over his aggressive championing of the Critical Race Theory. I guess the fizz went out of Coke and they decided they did not want to “Go Woke and Go Broke”. Poetic Justice?

China’s Wuhan Virus vaccine reportedly has an effective rate of 40% or less and fewer than one-third of Chinese have had even one shot of that two-shot vaccine. India is suffering an enormous increase in Wuhan Virus infections which multiple “variants” creating havoc. Some analysts are combining those facts and forecasting that China may be in for a Pandemic crisis since those two countries share a common border. Another case of Poetic Justice?

The U. S. Chamber of Commerce is dominated by large U. S. Corporations. Haters of Trump, in the November 2020 election the U. S. Chamber of Commerce backed many Congressional Democrats and Biden. Biden’s $6 Trillion proposed bills mostly wasteful spending unless you are part of the Democratic Party entourage. To pay for these monstrosities, Biden and gang want to raise taxes on …drum roll please …big businesses (and others). Poetic Justice – yessir.

Also, in the tax crosshairs are anyone that owns any asset such as a home, stock, farm, or business. Not only do the Demented Marxists (DM) want to raise capital gains taxes, but the DMs also want to reduce the estate tax exclusion down to $1M per person. That combination will significantly diminish investment activity and reduce future job growth by punishing anyone who works hard, builds a business, and invests their money. Another reality check full of pain.

If Biden and his merry band of DMs succeed in passing these proposals, it will take decades for the U. S. economy to recover AFTER this stupidity is reversed. If it is ever reversed. Marxism or Socialism has NEVER succeeded. Only an idiot would claim China is an economic success because reality is that China is a debt fueled, economic house of cards.

Do not believe the Democratic propaganda machine about Biden’s ratings. The unreported facts are:

1. Biden’s speech before Congress was viewed by so few folks it makes the NBA’s viewership look superb.

2. Senator Tm Scott’s speech was phenomenal and obviously on target because the DM’s went ballistic to the point that Biden was forced to state the next day that Americans are not racist. Meanwhile his administration continues to push the Critical Race Theory (CRT) which says all whites are bad because they are racists.

3. Idaho became the first state to ban CRT from being taught in its schools. At least four more states have followed suit. Where is Virginia’s government on CRT? – Oh, stupid me, we are controlled by DMs.

4. Five white farmers in Wisconsin have filed suit claiming discrimination over Biden’s proposal to forgive the USDA debt of black farmers.

Here are some critical economic events.

1. Due to the stimulus already in the economy, economic growth has surged to a level almost equivalent to where the USA economy was in January of 2020. That is the good news.

2. The bad news is that economic growth is being retarded by those stimulus programs that made unemployment provide folks a higher income than if they were working. So, workers are staying home and enjoying the government/taxpayer money. Pay people NOT to work and they do not work. Somehow the DM’s have a hard time grasping that equation.

3. Because of the shortage of workers, employers are raising wages and offering bonuses. Great for the employees. Also, a source of inflationary pressure.

4. Supply chains are distorted because of perceived shortages which encourages buyers to buy extra to their actual needs which in turn exacerbates the shortage because producers cannot keep up with the surging demand. Think toilet paper a year ago. Computer chips are a recent example. Auto manufacturers are having to shut down plant because why cannot get the computer chips they need.

5. I hope you belly laughed like I did when Biden talked about the government getting into the production of computer chips. The government is doing such a great job with the Postal Service and applying the same techniques to our medical care, solar power that I hope we dodge the bullet of the government fouling up the computer chip industry.

Compared to Trump who actually solved problems rather than just talking about them being problems, the contrast with the politicians in Richmond or DC is stark. DM politicians just want to get paid for talking about a problem, scoring rhetorical points, and have a fund raiser about the problem, but they never solve the problem. The focus is all about money, how much is theirs.

Keep watching the activity about the fraudulent election last November.

a. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the Michigan Secretary of State exceeded her authority when she approved a variety of changes to the state’s election laws. Was the “certified” election in Michigan a fraud? YES.

b. The Arizona legislature authorized recount of 2.1 Million votes in Maricopa County, Arizona is rolling despite the DMs attempt to prevent it.

c. It is fun watching the DMs oppose audits in Wisconsin and Georgia. Odd behavior if there is nothing to hide.

d. Lawsuits have been filed and counter filed by Mike Lindell, Sidney Powell, and Dominion (the voting machine company). Stay tuned, much more to come.

114 days into the DMs’ coup (it is the longest 114 days EVER), here are some quick observations of recent events that will impact our economic future:

1. Financial analysts are beginning to evaluate when The Fed starts reducing their Quantitative Easing (QE). Last week two camps began to evolve – one expecting the reduction in QE to start in June and the other estimating in October of this year. The significance is that a reduction in QE will mean higher interest rates. Higher interest rates mean a slower real estate market and ultimately lower real estate prices.

2. Watch the 10-year Treasury which fluctuated back to 1.70%. Without QE, interest rates would be higher. Various sources estimate that by the end of 2021 the 10-year Treasury will be 2.5% to 3.0% and mortgage rates will increase to 4.0% to 4.5%.

3. The down stock market on Tuesday, May 4, was the result of Janet Yellen commenting that the robust USA economy might cause The Fed to allow interest rates to rise sooner than official Fed statements. The stock market recovered when she “clarified” her statement. BUBBLE ALERT !!!

4. When bubbles burst, shortage becomes surplus overnight.

Unsustainable things continue until that unpredictable moment when they stop. In a financial crisis “Cash is King”. Get prepared.

A great piece of land remains The Best investment long term unless the DMs get us to full-fledged Marxism. Capitalism builds wealth, Marxism/Socialism consumes it in self destruction. Pray for a return to honest elections in the USA. God is in control. Men make plans, but God ALWAYS wins.

“For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish.”

(1 Peter 2:15) New Revised Standard Version, Oxford University Press)

Stay healthy,

Ned

May 5, 2021

Copyright Massie Land Network. All rights Reserved.

[wilwheaton]

"When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said," Trump asked in his tweet. The question smacks of sexism: A grown man chastising women as if he were somehow superior to them, as if they need to be "put in their place." Never mind the foul language he himself has used to describe everything from his political opponents to entire countries. Never mind that most of Trump's accusations against these congresswomen were false. It didn't matter. These women, Trump believed, had misbehaved, and needed to pay the price of public humiliation and contrition. This kind of gaslighting behavior is peak misogyny, and most women are very familiar with it.

Trump and the everlasting problem of men demanding apologies from women

Fuck Trump.

[hirgalin]

Mr Trump Claimed without proof that 2.7 million votes deleted

Mr Trump claimed without proof that 2.7 million votes for him had been “deleted”

📷 HIRGALIN ONLINE MEDIA3 daqiiqo kahor

US election officials have said the 2020 White House vote was the “most secure in American history”, rejecting President Donald Trump’s fraud claims.

📷📷

“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” a committee announced.

They spoke out after Mr Trump claimed without proof that 2.7 million votes for him had been “deleted”

Ref. http://www.BBC.com/ews

The statement came hours after Trump once again cried foul, retweeting a baseless claim that an election equipment maker “deleted” 2.7 million votes for him nationwide.

📷📷

“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” said the statement issued by the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, a public-private umbrella group under the primary federal election security body, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

“While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too,” the statement said.

📷📷

It was signed by the heads of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State – the officials who manage elections at the state level – and by the chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission.

Ref. http://www.aljazeera.com

A look at 5 false or misleading Trump team claims of election fraud

Trump and his campaign have made several misleading claims about voter fraud.

📷📷Disinformation in 2020

Fake news has spread among unsuspectin…Read MoreChristopher Janaro/Shutterstock

In an effort to dispute the results of the election, President Donald Trump, his campaign, and his closest allies have spent the past nine days circulating unfounded allegations of election fraud across the county — echoing sentiments he has expressed in several election cycles including 2016, which he won.

📷📷

“Rigged election!,” Trump tweeted defiantly Thursday morning.

Many of the claims that have appeared on Trump’s Twitter feed, have been presented in court filings, and have circulated widely on cable television and social media outlets – even after they were roundly debunked by both Republican and Democrat state elections officials.

Some claims were merely isolated cases of human error, which were then amplified and mischaracterized as evidence of widespread nefarious behavior.

Want Full story click https://wp.me/pbz91r-dp

[vixlenxe]

The things Violet has been Subjected too

Careful under the cut, it gets nasty quickly.

Right from her birth until now, Violet’s been exposed to all manner of things. All manners of pain. Early in her life, she always acted out, not listening to what the doctors watching over her told her to do, never obeying, never being the good girl from which they expected. To correct this, a form of discipline needed to be put in place, & the Church’s form of discipline throughout the years for their trump cards had never changed, regardless of their age.

It began with ‘little’ things, binding Violet down to a bed with chains & ropes & leaving her there for hours & locking Violet alone in a sensory deprivation chamber, which also resulted in minor drowning at times. These things use against her when she was still a very young child.

Later, when they began to perform their surgeries to change & strengthen her physical form, they first they did was perform an operation to remove her ovaries, to keep her from being able to get pregnant, without any form of anesthesia or numbing. Keeping her awake, fully feeling & having her strapped down & mouth sealed closed to avoid & struggling & screaming. It usually came with two whole teams of buff guards to hold her down as well, before she eventually learned to stop struggling & to be as still as possible. Performing surgeries in these cruel methods so became an incredibly common practice, usually as a form of punishment for Violet acting out, especially after the doctor, Annie Estelle, came to be Violet’s primary caring doctor.

It’s a common belief that Doctor Estelle greatly enjoyed preforming surgeries on Violet while she was consciousness, gaining a sadistic pleasure from seeing the pain the trump card was forced to endure & would do this commonly, even when no punishment was needed to be given.

Later as Violet entered her late teens, new punishments were drawn upon, as Violet seemed to act out more & more. Waterboarding, starvation, oxygen deprivation, sleep deprivation, dunking, shrimp-tie(usually being hung from the ceiling), sound(extremely high volumes, dynamic range, low frequency, high pitched noise, intended to interfere with rest, cognition and concentration), some electro-stock theory(usually a cattle-prod forced against her body while she is pinned down), & needle-point(stabbing the nerves in one’s fingers with large, sharp needles) were used to ‘re-educate’ Violet & curb her rebelling behavior. If a form of torture exists that does not leave lasting physical scars upon the victim, then it was used on Violet. She would also often be put into a Scold’s Bridle if she insulted or spoke poorly about someone on the staff that looked over her.

Her horrible treatment by those meant to be her ‘family’ would explain her extreme physical resilience, to both physical blows & magical damage.

Also as a result of this is how she quickly gets attached to others who show even the smallest bit of kindness or interest towards her, as well as how quick she is to return to acting unruly & forward with foul language, once she is out of the Church’s grasp & feels safe once more.

[atheistforhumanity]

An Unstable Leader Marches Toward an Unstable War

Over the past week there has been a quickly escalating tit for tat between the U.S. and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Most notably, Trump made a vastly disproportioned assignation of the IRGC’ s general, Quasim Soleimani. This has had a quick fallout or rising consequences, which Trump is only threatening to meet with stronger retaliation. 

Before I move on, I want to be clear that I believe these actions by Trump are a clear attempt to save himself from being impeached and get re-elected. His hopes are that the impeachment will be put on hold during this crisis, and that he can ride the historical wave that shows Presidents are usually re-elected during times of war. I view this to be a sociopathic course of actions, and exactly the type of behavior we all feared when he became elected. 

Trump’s actions are part of a clear problematic pattern in his life. He shows no ability to think situations through and weigh the consequences of his actions. Always acting on a whim of selfish desire, whether or not it will harm many others. 

Trump claims the killing of Quasim Soleimani was in retribution for the death of a contractor in an attack on an Iraqi base. However, the administration had already carried out five air strikes around Iraq and Syria. This was the catalyst for Iraqi citizens to attack the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. So, something more proportionate was already done about the attack of the Kirkuk Base. 

The first problem with Trump’s decision is that it was not proportional at all, because Quasim Soleimani was similar to a Vice President in America. He had the same level of power and admiration. While I’m not arguing that nothing should be done about the death of one of our citizens, I am pointing out that it is the duty of a world leader to act proportionally and wisely. Death is an unfortunate inevitability for some of those we send or allow to venture into unstable areas of the world. An act of warlike provocation cannot be the answer to every single live lost. It is neither moral nor sustainable. Wise leaders consider the lives on both sides that will have to pay for their personal anger. This action will almost certainly plunge us into a conflict that will cost thousands of lives. 

A relationship that we have been fostering for fifteen years has been spoiled in foul swoop. Iraq suffered our wrath after 9/11, even though their nation had nothing to do with the attack. Now, after fighting along side them against ISIS for years, Trump has completely disregarded Iraq’s sovereignty as a nation. Historically, this is a series moral issue the U.S. We feel free to play war on anyone’s land who is not powerful enough to stand up for themselves. Can you imagine having drones suddenly drop bombs into civilian areas here at home by other countries, and having no warning or permission from our government? This is what the U.S. does constantly. Furthermore, if you look at the map in this article, you’ll see that the road leading from the International Airport is ridiculously close to the Green Zone. The Green Zone is where most of their government officials live and was made by the U.S. to be insulated from war and show of development. The Green Zone went into immediate lockdown, because they were not made aware of the strikes at all.  The Iraqi people are understandably deeply upset and fed up with the profound lack of respect we show our ally. 

Iraq is now voting to remove our troops from their country. This isn’t finalized yet, as the Iraqi government is divided on this action themselves. However, Trump is already threatening powerful sanctions for Iraq if they dare to stand up for themselves against Trump’s grave disrespect. This will mean that Iraq will be seriously weakened in the fight against ISIS and we will lose our coordination with them. 

The common belief is that the U.S. can push this conflict as far as we want because of our military superiority, and that killing an anti-America general must make us safer. It was publicized that Soleimani had plans to attack U.S. targets, but Pompeo refuses to say how imminent those threats actually were or the details involved. So we can’t even confirm that there was a serious imminent threat. Even worse, this airstrike has pushed Iraq toward being an ally of Iran. Iran exerts a large amount of influence in the middle east as it is, but now we are pushing away allies in that area. What Trump should have considered is that Iran’s vow for retaliation will not come in the form of a traditional attack on the U.S., but it will be against one of our many installations around the world. There is a map from 2015 by Politico on the locations of our known military bases and outposts. If this map is anywhere close to accurate you can see there are many small “lily pads” of less than 200 hundred personnel scattered around the world. Many are spread throughout the Middle East and Africa. A couple soldiers were recently killed in Kenya, by extremists. Iran will certainly look to use it’s influence to carry attacks against our smaller installations, and it could be in any of over a hundred locations. This disproportional attack has put all of our people around the world in imminent danger. While Trump has been praising Putin, who made a serious cyberattack against our government, Iran and Russia have been drawing closer in an effort for Iran to better oppose America. 

Trump has been threatening Iran for sometime over their nuclear program. Trump already ruined any leverage we had over Iran to get them to hold off on their nuclear program. Europe attempted to continue the agreement with Iran, but this airstrike has now pushed Iran to accelerate their nuclear program, with the full intention of creating a weapon. After berating Obama’s approach to handling Iran, Trump has failed at every measure to keep the situation under control. Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities definitely does not make America safer. 

If Trump manages to push us into a full scale war, it will likely drop us into a recession as economists have already been worried one may be coming. At a time when economic inequality is a prime issue in the election, can we afford to put millions or billions into a war after already raising the debt by trillions over the next decade. Lastly, Trump promised to end never ending wars, yet that’s exactly what this situation would be. We would be dragged into battling Iran’s influence all over the middle east, while losing the allies we have there, and completely destabilizing the region all over again. This will undoubtedly lead to a resurgence of ISIS and other anti-American extremist groups. Nothing about these actions will make us safer. 

[creepingsharia]

Virginia: Muslim State Senate Candidate Cries 'Islamophobia' When He’s Quoted

Qasim Rashid has for years been a professional liar, a one-man cottage industry of deception and hypocrisy.

Qasim Rashid, an Ahmadi Muslim who is running as a Democrat for the Virginia State Senate, is enraged at the dirty tricks of his opponent, Richard Stuart. “My Republican opponent,” fumed Rashid in a video last week, “is launching anti-Muslim, Islamophobic attacks against me questioning my loyalty to the United States and questioning my ties with terrorism, I mean just the most ridiculous, meritless claims that are imaginable.” What did Stuart do to warrant these charges? Why, the racist, bigoted Islamophobe had the temerity to quote Rashid’s own words.

Rashid, according to WMAL, “posted a screenshot on Twitter of one of the ads paid for by incumbent Richard Stuart’s re-election campaign. It shows a picture of Rashid with a caption ‘QASIM RASHID DOESN’T BELIEVE ISLAMIC TERRORISM EXISTS.’”

Straight out of the Richard Nixon playbook, right? With an unsavory dash of contemporary “Islamophobia.” How low can Stuart go? He is, as far as Qasim Rashid is concerned, a prime example of the anti-Muslim hysteria that has overtaken all too many people in Donald Trump’s America.

But there’s just one catch: Stuart’s claim that Qasim Rashid “doesn’t believe Islamic terrorism exists” is based on the words of none other than the notorious Islamophobe Qasim Rashid. In his own defense, Stuart was able to point to a 2018 tweet in which Rashid declared: “No such thing as Islamic terrorism. Terrorism has no religion.”

Stuart’s campaign manager, Cooper Mohr, accordingly responded to Rashid by compounding his candidate’s dastardliness, and actually had the temerity to claim the defense of the truth: “These ads are based on actual tweets from Rashid and other public statements. We stand by all of our ads and will continue running them.”

[CS: Rashid has tweeted it at least twice, see here]

The truth? What’s that? Brushing aside Mohr’s defense, Rashid said that Stuart was “fear-mongering” about his Islamic faith. To that, Mohr came back with yet more truth: “Mr. Rashid is crying foul to deflect attention from his radical positions,” Mohr wrote. According to WMAL, “Mohr went on to say none of the ads mention Rashid’s religion, and Stuart’s record shows he supports religious liberty.”

Meanwhile, Rashid “said he will not respond to the ads with counter-attacks but will instead focus on the issues.” Yes, of course. Just pay no attention to Rashid’s countercharges that Stuart was engaging in “anti-Muslim, Islamophobic” attacks and leveling “ridiculous, meritless claims.” Rashid said piously that he was not going to respond, and he is obviously credible.

Note also Rashid’s straw man: he charged Stuart with “questioning my loyalty to the United States and questioning my ties with terrorism,” but there is none of that in Stuart’s ad. All it says is that Rashid doesn’t believe that Islamic terrorism exists, which is what the man actually said.

Rashid’s unhinged and disingenuous response to being quoted is not really any surprise. Qasim Rashid has for years been a professional liar, a one-man cottage industry of deception and hypocrisy. He has whitewashed Muhammad’s support for torture and the reality of jihad violence and Sharia oppression; dissembled about the Qur’an’s sanction of deception of unbelievers; lied about the presence of violent passages in the Qur’an; lied about the Qur’an’s sanction of beating disobedient women; lied about the nature of Sharia; called for limitations on the freedom of speech and expression to outlaw behavior and speech some Muslims may find offensive; and lied about Muhammad’s stance toward the persecution of Christians. He has even blamed Christianity for Islam’s death penalty for blasphemy. He has also claimed that “the teachings of Islam could help us prevent more sexual abuse scandals.”

When challenged about the “facts” he has presented, Qasim Rashid (like virtually all other Islamic supremacists) responds with furious ad hominem contempt, but never answers the refutations of his articles on substantive grounds — because, of course, he cannot do so. Just as he has behaved now toward Richard Stuart. It’s characteristic of the dishonesty that has marked Qasim Rashid’s entire public career that he would sling multiple smears at his opponent and then claim he wasn’t going to respond at all.

If Qasim Rashid is elected to the State Senate in the state of Ralph Northam, he will fit right in.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.