#WHAT IS LITERALLY THE POINT OF ELECTED OFFICIALS

[inkskinned]

"don't make it political!" .... what proportion of death and suffering must occur before politics are involved. if this isn't political, what is even the point of any politics, ever. of democracy. the words are "by the people for the people." if i am going to be left alone by my elected representatives to "figure it out" - to undergo damage, hardship, fear. what the fuck did i elect them for. what was their job. the entire point is that they handle this shit. this is why we were supposed to be electing leaders.

poverty is political. misogyny is political. gun control is political. climate change is political. how much aid a community gets is political. what the fuck are you talking about. it's been political this whole fucking time.

[gayvampyr]

leftist: kamala said she would continue aiding israel and allow the “war” (genocide) in gaza to continue. she also promised to be harsher on border policing and immigration, and to make the american military the most lethal globally to further american influence and imperialism. these are all things she admitted and made key parts of her campaign

online liberals: so you wanted trump to win? you’re a russian bot aren’t you. this is a psyop. election interference. you’re puritanical . [slur]

[soon-palestine]

Hostages tortured to death. Parents executed in front of their children. Doctors beaten. Babies murdered. Sexual assault weaponised. No, not Hamas crimes. This is part of an ever-growing list of documented atrocities committed by Israel in the five months since 7 October – quite separate from the carpet bombing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and a famine induced by Israel’s obstruction of aid. And yet while the western establishment media has been chock full of the most lurid allegations of savagery directed against Hamas, sometimes with little or no supporting evidence, Israeli atrocities are excused or quickly forgotten. Accusations against Hamas are endlessly reheated to paint a picture of a supremely dangerous and bestial militant group, in turn rationalising the slaughter and starvation of Gaza’s population to “eradicate” it as a terrorist organisation. But equally barbarous atrocities committed by Israel – not in the heat of battle, but in cold blood – are treated as unfortunate, isolated incidents that cannot be connected, that paint no picture, that reveal nothing of import about the military that carried them out. If Hamas’ crimes were so savage and sadistic they still need to be reported months after they took place, why does the establishment media never feel the need to express equal horror and indignation at equivalent or worse acts of cruelty and sadism being inflicted by Israel on Gaza – not five months ago, but right now? Israel's torture of doctors, its sexual assaults of Palestinian women, it's leaving premature babies to die after its forces stormed a hospital. Where is the outrage? This is part of a pattern of behaviour by the western media that leads to only one possible deduction: Israel’s five-month-long attack on Gaza is not being reported. Rather, it is being selectively narrated – and for the most obscene of purposes. Through consistent and glaring failures in their coverage, establishment media – including supposedly liberal outlets, from the BBC and CNN to the Guardian and New York Times – have smoothed the way for Israel to carry out mass slaughter in Gaza, what the World Court has assessed as plausibly a genocide. The role of the media has not been to keep us, their audiences, informed about one of the greatest crimes in living memory. It has been to buy time for US President Joe Biden to keep arming his most useful of client states in the oil-rich Middle East, and to do so without damaging his prospects for re-election in November’s US presidential vote. If Russian President Vladimir Putin was a madman and a barbarous war criminal for invading Ukraine, as every western media outlet agrees, what does that make Israeli officials, when every one of them supports far worse atrocities in Gaza, directed overwhelmingly at civilians? And more to the point, what does that make Biden and the US political class for materially backing Israel to the hilt: sending bombs, vetoing demands for a ceasefire at the United Nations, and freezing desperately needed aid? Worrying about the optics, the president expresses his discomfort, but he carries on helping Israel regardless. While western politicians and commentators worry about some imaginary existential threat those brief events of five months ago pose to the nuclear-armed state of Israel, Israel is quite literally wiping Gaza off the map day by day, quite undisturbed.

[anexperimentallife]

Project 2025 would ban anything the far right considers pornography. The far right considers anything queer-positive to be pornography, and they WILL encode that into law if given just a TINY bit more power.

Have queer fanfic (or trad published literature) or pics of your transition, or of two men kissing, saved to your hard drive? If the GOP get their way, you'd be guilty of possession of pornography. Did you share any of it? You'd be guilty of distribution of pornography. Have a sweet coming of age story with a queer protagonist? That'd be child pornography.

Even now, states are trying to make it a crime to be openly queer in public (by, among other things, classifying dressing as the "wrong gender" anyplace kids might see as a sex crime against children). Oh, and Florida tried (and thankfully failed) to impose the death penalty for the above.

This is just one example of the horrors awaiting us if the project comes to fruition.

And the far right is already screaming that any adult who mentions around kids that queer people exist is "grooming" children. Wear your Pride shirt past a playground? You're now a child groomer. Think they won't put that into law if allowed? You're naive.

The GOP currently controls the Supreme Court (which is how they overturned Roe v. Wade) and has a majority in one branch of congress. Imagine what will happen nationwide with the GOP controlling every branch of government, including supermajoroties in both houses of Congress.

Oh, and top GOP officials have also announced their desire to NUKE Gaza, so don't come at me with, "but I can't vote blue because Biden..." Or tell me how you think Gaza would somehow be better off with Trump and the GOP.

In France, the left and center joined together--even though they disagree vehemently on many issues (get two leftists together and they'll have three positions on any issue)--to stop the far right from totally taking over, because the one thing they ALL agree on is that fascists dictatorships are BAD.

Much the same with the UK finally kicking out their own neo-fascist party, the Torries, to install 400 Labour MPs. Not everyone loves Labour's policies, but virtually everyone with a brain cell recognizes that the Torries are fascists, and that FASCISM BAD.

"Every election, they tell us this is the most important election if our lives!" Yeah, because each election over the past several decades has been more important than the one before, until we are now at a tipping point between remaining a fucked up oligarchy with SOME resemblance to freedom, and an outright neo-fascist military dictatorship.

Trump has literally stated publicly his intent to criminalize dissent, use US armed forces against protesters (Kent State, but multiply it by thousands), purge all agencies and stuff them with those personally loyal to him, and use the DOJ to go after anyone he perceives as a threat to his political power, among other things.

And remember the things he did in office, like pulling the teeth of federal workplace protections for queer folks (which Biden reatored).

I don't care if you don't like Biden or Harris. Neither do I. But the alternative is Trump, and anyone telling you not to vote in 2024, or to vote third party, is rooting for Trump, and for Project 2025. Anyone telling you not to vote does not give one single solitary flying fuck about vulnerable populations in the US or anywhere else in the world.

"You're just being an alarmist!" Right. Like I was being alarmist when I predicted the failed Jan 6 coup attempt. Like I was being alarmist when I said the GOP would try to use control over SCOTUS to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Fucking vote.

[satanfemme]

literally insane to me how "project 2025" is already in progress, under a dem president. and biden's intent on not doing anything. even within his official statements he's like "don't worry I'm not gonna do anything :-)". liberals have been fearmongering about project 2025 for months, liberals are still fearmongering about it, but the fact of the matter is unless someone steps up and does something more drastic, project 2025 is Going To Happen whether trump is president or not. because it's literally already happening. the US has been fascist since its conception, and yesterday the supreme court made it more blatant by giving presidents the power of kings. like we need to wake up and Do Something beyond echoing "dems good, republicans bad". whatever remote truth that used to have is beyond cooked at this point. the supreme court ruled that presidents can do whatever the fuck they want without consequences and our currently elected dem president's response was "don't worry I'm not gonna do anything. business as usual". our currently elected dem president who's killed 100,000+ people in an ongoing genocide he's orchestrating. like what else is there to say. this country is an evil evil joke.

[silvermoon424]

LITERALLY THIS DRIVES ME FUCKING INSANE!!! Most of the culture-war bullshit right-wingers cry about only happens online. They let shitposters and outrage accounts dictate their entire worldview. Like they're not even chronically online, they have a terminal case and will die if they don't touch grass.

Like some random, completely obscure leftie will make a TikTok being like "honestly I think that you should be allowed to kill a baby up until 1 month after birth bc they're not even sentient," which is obviously an insane take but nowhere near mainstream and certainly not a Democratic Party policy. And also the TikTok itself gets 30 likes and everyone in the comments is dunking on OP.

And then Libs of TikTok will find it and make a tweet like "this is what the Democrats want. They keep lying to us and saying that post-birth abortion isn't real but it is! Disgusting freaks. Remember this when it's time to vote." And then her thousands of dumbass fans will spread it like wildfire, leading it to be featured on The Daily Wire, which then leads to it being featured on Fox News, and so on. And then the narrative they're pushing is suddenly "Democrats want to murder your babies!!!!!" Except "Democrats" really just means "this one insane person on TikTok."

Meanwhile elected Republican officials will literally just repeat Nazi talking points but apparently it's not a big deal, stop being so sensitive!

[avaantares]

USAmericans: If you want to save your democracy, participate in it.

I've heard from people both IRL and online who feel helpless and overwhelmed in the face of SO MUCH awful news -- from the hostile fascist takeover of our government to the dissolution of our foreign aid agencies to the establishment of "detainment camps" (we all know what they really are) both inside and outside U.S. borders.

It's easy to feel hopeless and overwhelmed when there's so much to take in. In fact, that's exactly what the perpetrators of this crisis want you to feel. They want to flood the opposition to the point that we stop fighting back.

But here's the thing: We still have elected officials in Washington, and midterm elections loom on the horizon. Midterms can (and often do) switch which party holds the majority of seats in Congress. Even if your elected officials are Republicans, they can't alienate their entire constituency if they want to keep their jobs. The more dissenting voices they hear from their home districts, the more motivated they will be to listen.

If you want Elon Musk to keep his paws off your Social Security number, or if you want the USAID office reinstated, or if you oppose racist policies being enacted or prison camps being built or literal war crimes being committed (as Trump has proposed), contact your representatives now. Don't put it off, don't feel intimidated. Add one more tally mark to the "opposed" column in their offices.

How to make your voice heard in four easy steps:

Go to this site: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/

Put in your home address (or an address near where you stay, if you do not have a home address) to access a list of your elected officials ranging from the President all the way down to city offices.

Expand the "Federal" tab. Find your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative. Their phone numbers should be listed under their names. (If it is not listed, you can Google their name and "office phone number" and it should turn up. It will have a 202 area code.)

Call each of their offices. Calling is more effective than emailing. If you are unable to call, you can email, or you can call and email, but if you're going to pick just one, calling has MUCH more impact.

Note: If you call during office hours, you will likely speak to a staff member who will take your name and address or email and ask what issue you would like to comment on. If you call after hours, you can just leave a voicemail. If you hate speaking to strangers on the phone, write down a couple of sentences about your chosen issue in advance, call after hours, and read your statement to the voicemail. It takes less than a minute.

Sample Scripts:

It doesn't have to be complicated! You can just say something simple like this:

Hi, my name is [name] and I live in [city/state]. I am calling to state my opposition to [whatever outlandish thing Trump just proposed]. I would like [elected official] to take steps to oppose this in Congress. Thank you.

Or you can go into more detail about a specific issue:

Hello, my name is [name] and I live in [city/state]. I am calling to express my concern about the unlawful seizure of personal taxpayer information by the DOGE. Elon Musk has no legal right to access the sensitive personal and financial data of millions of Americans, and I am very concerned that my Social Security and bank account numbers are now in the hands of a group with no government oversight. This is a clear violation of our privacy, and the potential for abuse of this information is high. I am asking [elected official] to protect [his/her] constituents by enacting legislation to restrict the DOGE, and working to restore the authorized, Congressionally-funded departments that Elon Musk has taken over or shut down. Thank you.

Additional tips:

Be polite. Yes, everything the Trump administration does makes us want to swear a blue streak, but the person taking your call or listening to your message is a low-level staffer or intern, and they didn't make the policies you hate. They are responsible for recording and collating the data about calls received, however, so don't give them any reason to omit yours.

Be brief. Your goal is to add one more tally mark to the list of "constituents who oppose Elon Musk having their personal bank account numbers," not to write a persuasive essay explaining what identity theft is and why this is a problem.

You can call more than once. Don't spam a bunch of calls about the same issue, but just because you called this week about the DOGE doesn't mean you can't call next week about illegal ICE raids, or the week after that about the Department of Education being dissolved, or the week after that about the detainment camps. If another issue comes up that concerns you (and let's face it -- it will), call and leave another message! Keep their phones ringing.

[calummss]

Kai Anderson Headcanon: being his girlfriend ‘sent by god’ and slowly manipulating him

masterlist

you joined the cult shortly after you met kai at a coffee shop

he came to you hoping he could pitch his ideas to help him be elected

he was instantly attracted to you and didn’t feel the normal kind of resentment he had for women

you gave him your phone number and went on a few dates before kai opened up to you about starting a cult (very indirectly but you caught on)

you were fascinated by this and asked him to show you (stroked his ego real good)

you saw the meetings and kai even got you a custom clown costume you could wear to watch the killings

when you witnessed your first murder and told him it was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen, kai could’ve gotten down on one knee that second

proposing to you in a clown costume, covered in blood with a dead body next to you? you couldn’t have been more perfect to him

so when you officially join the ‘cult’ you realised that in order to further gain kai’s trust, you had to earn it. do something really fucked up as you saw him kill immediate members that had been with him for a long time

so you started to brief him on stuff he should do in order to get elected; lied about gary being a spy and pretend to drink a small dose of cyanide to prove your loyalty to him (it was baby power) not tasty but it worked

kai once again stared at you with heart eyes

winter could tell what you were doing but it didn’t matter anymore

you blindsided kai to the point you could make any claim and he’d believe you; you could tell him to kill x person and he would. bc you would’ve died for him

he thinks it was the greatest act of loyalty he’s ever been shown

slowly you start to lead the cult through your puppet, kai. he’s unaware of it like a cute dog

but some can sense it. but they don’t get far cause you have them killed

kai treats you like royaly and every every birthday he kills the amount of the people that age you turn. reminding you of when you first fell in love

and when kai shaved his head he looked sexier than ever. you give him head, fuck him in every corner of the house and provide evidence for a bug device. manipulation through sex—a womens best weapon

all in all kai worships you, not realising what’s happening bc his delusions comfort him by saying that you were sent by god himself

bonus: he loves fucking you with you on top. it reinforces the sent-by-god belief when he looks up at you. bouncing on his cock. he could literally just think about it and come

[possiblyunhinged]

In the past year, especially with the recent elections across Europe and in the US, it’s become blazingly clear that regardless of your political leanings, everyone is fucking fed up to the nines. You can see it in our attitudes towards traditional media and government. Sure, we land on different conclusions about what might get us out of this mess, but the reality is—it’s not in our hands. It probably never has been.

The Luigi Mangione situation has truly blown my head off my shoulders—the sheer arrogance and disconnect from normal people that traditional media and government officials have shown. Take the Mayor of New York, for instance. Sweet Jesus. He’s like a character from a shit pantomime. Whether you’re on the left or the right, he’s the villain of the piece. People are done. And let’s be real, it’s only going to get worse—because I’m a positive princess like that.

Trump isn’t going to magically make prices drop; he’s literally said as much. I can’t fathom a single politician who could genuinely make a difference when the CEOs already hold all the power. Musk and his ilk were invited to the table long ago, and let’s not forget the donors—pouring huge amounts of money into all political parties. It’s a silent agreement: their influence comes first, their profits are prioritised, and the rest of us are left to scrape by.

What gets me is how people still talk about “the rich” like it’s actors and musicians pulling the strings. Sure, they’re rolling in it, and the entertainment industry has plenty of rot, but compared to the wealth of CEOs? Negligible. The real bastards are the ones we couldn’t even name. The ones cutting corners, exploiting workers, and choking the planet with plastic while pocketing the profits.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry puts on this Truman Show pantomime—a performance of accountability so we can cheer and boo. Every public takedown, every cancellation, every PR scandal—it’s all theatre designed to make us believe the system works. And while we’re caught up in the spectacle, what the fuck are the people at the top of the means of production doing? Bumping up their profit margins and giving themselves bonuses.

These people live without consequences. And when the internet (rightly or wrongfully) memed the murder of a CEO, they responded with Gotham-level theatrics to reassure their donors that they’ll always protect their own. They even tried to pin terrorism charges on a man whose frustrations most normal people can empathise with.

Why is it that those in power are never arsed about creating a spectacle of a CEO in handcuffs, dragged out for decades of exploitation? Because the system doesn’t just protect them—it is them.

At this point, the only thing these people are achieving is making everyone angrier. And the politicians we like? They’re the ones who seem to reflect the nonstop screaming going on in our heads. The incompetence, the lack of solutions, the sheer disregard for normal lives—it’s all making tensions worse. And it’s going to blow up in their faces. (Not literally—calm down, loves.)

I know I sound like David Icke, okay? But sincerely, I’m fed up and I would love nothing more than a shred of accountability for billionaires—and for politicians and journalists alike to do their fucking jobs.

It’s embarrassing.

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

After the responses to this election (both before and after the inauguration), I finally made the decision to officially move right (I was "Center-Right" before - I had my "they can't all be bad" rose-tinted glasses on). The left's biggest talking point is how everyone wants them dead and that they must protect themselves from anything they can misidentify as a threat, but it was their threats of violence towards their own family and friends who voted differently (and those who didn't even vote at all) that finally got to me (their abhorrent and creepy treatment of children was/is a huge tipping point as well). They'll say shit like everyone they don't like needs to be isolated, beaten, raped, or straight up killed and then are confused as to why they lost or why the younger generations and minority groups are moving away. I'm almost twenty-two, and it's insane how stupid they think we all are.

I understand why people say that leftism is a mental illness, but I think there's a more literal reality to that. They're all very paranoid, irrational, angry, and depressed, but suggesting they do anything to change that (taking care of themselves or taking responsibility for any of their actions, for instance) gets them to deflect and blame anyone but themselves for how every individual leftists and their party as a whole ended up.

The only thing the left is good at is making less people leftists.

This is the one of the most common things you hear from people who left the Democrats in the last election. Almost word for word. Millions of normal, non-political people all had the same experiences and all came to the same conclusions.

This is what you call a massive cultural shift. And it's glorious to see.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lisa Needham at Daily Kos:

In the last three weeks, Donald Trump has wreaked havoc on the American constitutional order. His actions have encroached on Congress' domain, and his administration is ignoring court orders. When the executive branch usurps the powers of the other two branches, that violates the separation of powers and creates the most stark constitutional crisis imaginable.   So why won’t anyone say it? Neither the mainstream media nor Democratic elected officials seem capable of calling this what it is. Instead, we have the surreal occurrence of media outlets accurately describing how the administration’s actions violate the Constitution, followed by vague hand-waving about how maybe that means a constitutional crisis will happen at some as-yet-undefined point in the future.  Take NBC News’ coverage of the Federal Emergency Management Agency continuing to freeze funding despite not one but two court orders telling them to knock it off. By any measure, the executive branch just straight-up ignoring the authority of the judicial branch is an actual factual constitutional crisis. 

But NBC twists itself in knots, framing the issue as one about federal employees being caught between Trump’s demands and court orders, saying those officials are “at the ground level of a potential constitutional crisis in which Trump is claiming expansive powers that test traditional limits on the president’s authority and could circumscribe the roles of Congress and the courts.” Besides the clunky hedging—what does it mean to be on the ground level of a potential crisis? Do crises have floors to ascend?—this is a wildly odd framing. It puts the onus for the crisis on the people carrying out Trump’s orders rather than Trump himself. It also frames Trump as chafing against some vague “traditional limits” because the piece is unwilling to speak plainly.  Other outlets hedge by misstating what is happening. On Wednesday, the Washington Post talked about the consequences of Trump ignoring court orders but framed that as something that is not yet occurring: “Should the Trump administration begin openly defying court orders, the country could be barreling toward a constitutional crisis, legal experts warn.”

The administration is already openly defying court orders. A court literally already said so, with John J. McConnell Jr., a federal judge in Rhode Island, ruling that the administration ignored his previous order and continued to freeze some federal funding.  Yes, other presidents have slow-walked implementations of court orders and have publicly complained about rulings, but that’s not what is going on here.  Imagine President Joe Biden, who routinely got kicked in the teeth by conservative courts, asserting that courts can’t tell him what to do and threatening the judges themselves.  That’s what Trump did on Tuesday, complaining that “it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, ‘We don’t want you to do that.’ So maybe we have to look at the judges. ‘Cause I think that’s a very serious violation.”  That’s been JD Vance’s stance for a while now, even before joining the Trump ticket. He believes the real constitutional crisis is when the Supreme Court steps in and tells the president he can’t do something. After Trump suffered a spate of adverse rulings, Vance took to X to gripe that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”  That’s a true statement in that it would be an overreach for the judicial branch to limit the executive branch’s legitimate authority. The issue here is that Trump and Vance don’t believe there are any limits on their authority and that only they define what is “legitimate.” They are so committed to that view that they won’t even respect court rulings that only temporarily pause their efforts while cases proceed.  [...] It all feels reminiscent of Trump’s first term, when the media went to comical lengths to avoid saying Trump was lying. Instead, we got things like ���demonstrable falsehoods” and “over-broad boasts.” That persistent failure to grapple with the fact the president outright lied thousands of times, to call it what it was, is what got us here today.  The constitutional crisis we’re facing isn’t just about Trump running roughshod over separation of powers. It’s also about the fact that the courts lack adequate enforcement mechanisms when the president refuses to follow the law. 

America is in a Trump/Musk-fueled constitutional crisis.

See Also:

The Guardian: Trump’s illegitimate power grab brings US closer to dictatorship

[the-daily-bugle-official-blog]

President James Buchanan Barnes has been re-elected as President of the United States, to almost universal joy by the American people. Barnes is a much beloved figure in the public perception and our most popular president ever, according to polls having a staggering 79% of the population on his side. However some have cause for doubt about his leadership, especially due to his nebulous past as the assassin the Winter Soldier. The White House PR firm have regularly reached out to us to demand we stop calling him that, but the people deserve to know THE TRUTH.

President Barnes, as everyone knows, was born in 1917. Is a man with potentially outdated views and knowledge really the one we want running our nation? The people trusted him the last few years and he has pulled through, but how long can we put our blind faith in a man who is older than television itself to decide the needs of our nation today? In an exclusive interview with the president he outlined his main goals as being healthcare, climate change and the economy.

"I want to make sure everyone has access to quality, affordable healthcare, no matter how much money they make or where they live...[Climate change] is a crisis that affects us all, and we need to take bold steps to reduce our carbon emissions, invest in clean energy, and protect our natural resources...to strengthen our economy and give Americans a fair shot at success" - President Barnes

Noble goals to be sure, but will he be able to pull them off? We will simply have to wait.

Barnes also has a history of resorting to violence, being responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy in the 60s, and of Howard and Maria Stark in the 90s. There seems no end to the 'problematic' past of our dear president, the actions the media has swept under the rug to defend him. Well NOT HERE! Here at the Daily Bugle we strive to deliver the truth the they don't want you to know, which is why we have expanded our services beyond print media to the internet. To join our daily newsletter comment underneath one of our posts to be added to the list. Be sure to comment your thoughts about President Barnes below, or leave an anonymous submission to get potentially featured in a later news story.

– J Jonah Jameson

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Editor's note: Despite what Mr Jameson believes, President Barnes is not part of some dark conspiracy. He is very open about his past as the Winter Soldier, especially since literally dozens of reputable sources have confirmed he was under mind control by the Nazi group HYDRA, and has since been freed. He has made great strides and proved himself a worthy President. Otherwise he wouldn't be in the White House again. He has noble goals and the means to do them. Case and point, the people love him and he has shown time and time again to be an honorable man. Congratulations to President Barnes, and good luck. You're going to need it - J.E. - Lead editor

@official-buckybarnes

[iwritethingssometimes]

I'm seeing some posting about a feeling of fishiness about the recently completed US Election.

In the attempt to do something more productive than my last post, I'm gonna do an adhoc examination of how feasible I think a "rigged election" actually is, looking at a few methods that could have been used. So, to start with, what is the actual evidence here?

Most of it is... honestly vibes based, which I get, but don't put a lot of stock in, There was a lot of energy around the Harris campaign, and she had some good polls, but Donald Trump has proved nothing else in the past fucking decade, its that the polls literally do not matter for him, and he can outperform them by a hundred miles.

But. There's also some numbers.

None of this has been verified yet, and I want to make that clear, but this year has largely reported record turnout in a ton of states, especially the swing states, and yet, so far.

The number of votes seems much lower this year.

Not republican votes, not democrat votes, all votes. Hell, third party voting collapsed this year--whatever else you take from this election, this was not a case of the left splitting the vote.

Now, it's true that the vote count hasn't been completed, and it's possible that the numbers will make more sense once that's done. It's also true that the states didn't have quite the same turn-out as last year... but it was only a percentage point or two lower.

Add that to the frequent postings about people having their ballots rejected for... questionable reasons, and.

Well. It starts going from a "the moon is fake!" conspiracy to "Epstein had sex slaves" conspiracy.

But, okay, is it even possible for Trump to have faked the vote like this? People talked about it, but it was mostly in terms of legal challenges trying to overturn a Harris victory, or pulling in the supreme court to decide narrow districts. This, by all accounts, seems to be a straight forward Trump sweep.

So if there is shenanigans afoot, how could he have done it?

There's three feasible(ish) pathways, in my opinion:

Voter suppression and manipulation pre-ballot: Yeah this happened. It's also irrelevant to any possibility that the vote counts were tampered with. Look, this election was flooded with misinformation, legal suits, court cases, and election officials doing everything in their power to fuck with people's right to vote. It was filled with ballot boxes being lit on fire. Elon Musk did a fucking paid vote scheme! Of course there was voter suppression! But there always is, and although it was worse this year than many others, it wouldn't cause any numerical mismatch between turn out and votes, and there's not much that can be done now for this election. Even if someone voted because Musk slipped them $100, no court will ever be able to prove they didn't just happen upon $100 bucks and then voted for Trump.

Voting machines were manipulated: A few hours ago I would have said this was practically impossible, but apparently a bunch of election officials and cyber-security experts were sounding the alarm about this a few months ago, so, uh. That being said, I've seen people claiming that Starlink or whatever hacked voting machines, and no. No, Starlink did not hack voting machines. No one "hacked" voting machines. They weren't connected to the internet, or any wireless communication systems, because anyone with any degree of cybersecurity knowledge will tell you that's how you create an insecure system. Now, it's not impossible, technically speaking, than Elon Musk or fucking Russia managed to hire engineers and somehow bribe enough officals to get access to the machines and install hardware that would allow external access, but in that case we live in a Bond movie and somehow have bigger problems. So, if the voting machines themselves were compromised in any technological way, it would have required direct, physical access, which should be basically impossible, unless...

Ballot officials fucked with the vote This is the one I think is plausible. Basically, in this case, what could have happened is that various election officials at different levels of the process more or less lied about the vote count. This could have happened in a lot of different ways--they could have found reasons to reject mail-in ballots, which several states attempted to make legal, they could have found reasons to reject in-person ballots, which several states attempted to make legal. They could have, if the corruption ran deep enough to make this feasible, just... not counted or reported votes that swung for Harris. They could have, if the election machines work similar to the ones up here in BC, seen the results from the machines, then called the central election office over the phone--because remember, the ballot boxes should not be connected to anything. I don't know. There's a lot of options, and it varies from state to state, because remember, each state runs their own elections, and has their own rules and procedures.

So yeah, three explanations, only one of which is really plausible.

Now, I want to be clear, I don't think this election was fraudulent. Not yet, at least, I need to see actual evidence, or this is nothing more than a theory, but I also want to be clear.

...3 makes sense.

3 would explain why urban areas seemed to be underrepresented in this election, while rural areas surged. 3 would explain a discrepancy between voter turn out and votes counted. 3 would fit the strategy Trump and MAGA loyalists have been describing for the last four years, of infiltrating the election machinery and manipulating it to their own ends.

So I'm not saying it's likely that Trump fucked with the vote, not without evidence. Not yet.

But I will say this looks a hell of a lot more plausible than any claims made in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

[tarre-was-right]

ROUND ONE: MATCH-UP TWO (CORRECTED VERSION)

Remember, this is NOT about who would win in a fight. This is about who makes the best leader for Mandalore as a whole.

Explanation post

Seeding

Propaganda below the cut! You can submit more on this post and I will reblog it back to here!

KORKIE KRYZE

Anon: props for Korkie! We don't know enough to say that he'd be bad at the job like some people! He probably learned some of both what to do and what not to do from his aunts which gives him a leg up in the actual ruling part of things!

@spacetime1969: The kid's got that mandokar spirit. A little more practice in leadership and he could really shape up into someone great.

Anon: Korkie Kryze would be Satine's heir (if we assume she's a monarch rather than an elected official), he was raised to have a position in government, he helped end the career of a corrupt government official, he took classes under Jedi padawan Ahsoka Tano. Additional propaganda: He's my special little guy.

Anon: Korkie has been training basically his whole life to lead Mandalore, has seen first hand the struggles that Satine’s Mandalore had, he also knows what went wrong with the more traditional rulers of Mandalore, so he is perfectly poised to compromise the pacifist ideals of the New Mandalorians and the traditional values of the other citizens of Mandalore.

Anon: For Korkie propaganda: he was literally raised for the role; he showed himself to be a good leader and concerned with his people well-being; he actively works for and fights for his people when we see him; also he's loyal and smart which is always a bonus.

SABINE WREN

Anon: Girlie is the eldest daughter of House Wren, with ties to House Viszla— and therefore has a claim to the heritage of Tarre himself. With the smarts and training her position gave her, she has always put her family and Mandalore first. She made a mistake as a child, and it has been one she has been making strides to set right since such time. She recovered the Darksaber that Maul stole, and began resistance to the imperial threat, battled and fought honorably for her people and family. Respecting both New Mandos pacificism and not discounting their efforts of resistance as well as paying homage to her warrior heritage, she was further trained by the Jedi Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano to meter her flaws. When she first had the sword, she acknowledged she was too young to lead, and gave up her sword to her elder. Now older, and hopefully wiser, the last standing heiress of clan Wren absolutely has it in her to lead Mandalore in a new era.

@spacetime1969: She's arguably one of the only two people on this list who actually won the darksaber in a proper duel (Not when she reclaimed it from Maul, but when she fought Saxon for it). Not really the point of the poll I know, but it could help her get political support. She rallied her clan and their allies into a rebellion against the Empire. She was the one who legitimized Bo-Katan's rule as Mand'alor by giving her the darksaber. She has experience leading from her time in the rebellion.

[fqrcefields]

checkmate!

summary _ , jennifer barkley despises every citizen of pawnee indiana. except for one.

⋆ tags : smut-adjacent? not really sure how to tag this. mature! ⭑ࣶࣸ 

read on ao3.

 ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀────୨ৎ────

From the moment she steps out of the impossibly cheap cab, Jennifer could feel the dullness in the air. Though she appreciates the lack of typical Washington humidity, there’s a replaced sense of total unhealth, of total lack of spirit and verve. As she enters Pawnee City Hall for the first time, it takes all of her might to not turn around and flee. She doesn’t like to use the word poor, but…

Who is she kidding. She loves to use the word. And this town, if one can even call it a town, is dripping in it. 

Jen hates to speak to these people. Anyone dressed in business casual attire is not worthy of her time. So, she finds her way to the competition’s office herself. Her heels stick to the floor with each quick step— she moves far faster than any of the sluggish clerks and absurdly high-ranking city officials that don’t seem to really be doing any work at all. Every door she pulls open is also covered in this same sickening stickiness. Thank God for the invention of handkerchiefs.

“Oh, Jesus.” Jennifer can’t help the words from spewing out when she pulls open the door to the Parks and Recreation offices. It’s just all so… sad. The menial workers don’t react to her entrance, barely do anything at their desk anyway. She scowls at the sight of it, of the aging employees typing with only two fingers at a time and the younger ones who stare at their phones instead of doing anything meaningful. Everything is so slow, nothing like the pace of a D.C. election circuit. A real election, something actually worth Jen’s brain power. But hey, it’s easy work, and she’d be damned not to take it. The moment she and the man-child win this town over, she’ll be off to summer on an island. What island, she could not possibly care less. As long as it’s far away from Pawnee, Indiana.

Not seeing the yapping, overexcitable blonde anywhere, Jennifer’s eyes land instead on a much more pleasant sight. The youngest employee who sits with her feet propped on the desk in front of her, reading a book. She has a jadedness about her, as if in this building filled with people who barely know how to do their job, she is the one that wants to do it the least. While Jennifer would usually find this disinterest so stale, especially on someone of this age, there’s something beneath the sideswept bangs that intrigues her, attracts her.

Jen straightens herself, takes the few steps it takes to make it to the younger woman’s desk, leans over it a bit.

“Excuse me,” She says louder than necessary in the near-silent room. The raven-haired employee does not reply, only sticks up one finger as if to say my book is more important than you, continues reading. Jennifer is… impressed. A smirk rises to her lips at the action, and she waits patiently. Though she’d never accept such a thing in her own office, she appreciates the challenge. At least there’s one other person in this God-forsaken town that’s willing to play chess where the others play checkers.

When her challenger finally finishes her chapter, she sets down her book and raised finger, finally glances up at Jennifer. Her eyes widen for a moment, a minute expression that would barely be caught if it weren’t quite literally Jennifer’s job to catch such a thing. The smirk still evident on her own face, Jen speaks up again.

“I’m here to see Leslie Knope.” She leans over the desk a bit more, wishing she weren’t so damn buttoned up, wishing to see that bewildered expression on the intern’s face again.

“Uhm, yeah.” The other says plainly, her voice shockingly deep, carrying the same indifference that the rest of her does. She then realizes her place, must recognize Jennifer Barkley for who she is, and sits up straight in her chair, feet dropping to the floor. She points to the door at her left. “Her office is in there.”

There’s the blush that Jennifer had been looking for. She pulls back, straightens up, flicks her hair over the shoulder once, twice. She turns on her heels with ever the dramatic flair and walks to where the black-painted nail had directed her. Even though this meeting would be excruciating, at least she’d have this little memory of Knope’s pretty receptionist. Or whatever lousy job title the woman held.

“Hey, aren’t you that lady that called Leslie a dog murderer?” The deep voice calls out again, eliciting a silent laugh from Jennifer. As she enters the next room, she looks back over her shoulder, winks to the girl. Jen hates to wear a smile as she enters this meeting, but the puzzled expression she’d been met with could only bring such a thing.

She exchanges false pleasantries with the overzealous blonde, barely registers a word said. They’re discussing campaign strategies, billboards, yard signs… something like that. Who knows. Jennifer is too busy looking out the door to the desk so perfectly placed in direct view. Well, not exactly direct. She has to arch her back and pretend to be looking away out of boredom, but once she has subtly shifted her chair backwards just enough, her apathetic piece of eyecandy is back in view. She can’t take her eyes off of the woman whose nose is deep into her book. Jennifer finds herself far more interested in finding out the title of the book than she is in Knope’s incessant chattering about candy bars and voting procedures. Once she finds out just what sort of book it is that she likes, Jennifer will buy her an entire library’s worth. It’s not like she’d be taking any away from the avid readers of Pawnee, of which there are none. She’d probably be able to buy out the town’s public library with the money she’s making from the Newport family alone. Maybe she will, if it’ll force that straight line into a smile.

It feels like truly an eternity that Jennifer is sitting in this office, though she doesn’t mind it for the view that she’s given. There does come a time where she actually does need to reciprocate the conversation, to act aghast at the implication that she’s not paying attention, and as painful as it is, she turns her attention away from her new obsession. She continues in witty banter for the rest of their allotted time, outsmarting Leslie’s campaign moves with outrageous ease. Seriously, Jennifer Barkley is good at her job. No wonder she’s paid so much.

When she’s finally allowed escape from this small room that smells so much like the most obnoxious cologne known to man, she takes it. Though she could spend hours wheedling out Leslie’s ideas, spinning them into her own far better planned knock-offs, Jennifer is desperate to leave. She can feel her brain actively slowing down with each second spent in this wretched building. So, with the sweetest possible goodbye she can muster up with those last few remaining cells of energy, she leaves.

But, before she does, she allows herself one more little visit to the desk by the window, to the girl who has reassumed her previously relaxed position, her book now propped open on her lap, her eyes moving far too quickly to actually be reading. Jennifer smiles to herself, appreciates the attempt at disregard for what it is, knows that the blush is threatening the intern’s cheeks again. She can tell that she’s chewing the inside of her cheek, forcing her vision away from Jen, but she doesn’t mind. She’ll get the eye contact she so deeply desires soon enough.

The standing of the two reaches into her purse, the bag that she would never let touch a surface in this building, and produces a business card. She slides it down into the open-faced book on the woman’s lap, laughs softly when it elicits a jump out of her.

“Call me.” She purrs, once she finally has the latter’s attention. She sends another wink her way before finally leaving, feet still fighting un-mopped floor.

And as for April… April watches her leave, jaw hanging open as if she’s just seen a ghost. She feels incredibly dirty for the way that her vision glues to the swinging hips, but the curvature squeezed by pencil skirt begs to be worshipped as it disappears into the hallway.  

__________________________

It doesn’t take many days for Jennifer to grow painfully bored of her hotel room. One can only watch Joan Callamezzo ramble nonsense for so many hours in a day. And though she does not feel like entering into Pawneean society, there must be somewhere where she can get an actual mixed drink instead of another bottle of hotel wine, so she turns to the internet. It comes to no surprise that Pawnee’s nightlife is far from illustrious, and though her only options are clubs of the night and strip varieties, she settles for the former. She doesn’t even want to imagine what beasts will haunt the night scene on a Wednesday night in the middle of nowhere, but she finds out soon enough upon entering the bar whose name she forgets before even reading it.

Jennifer is caught by surprise that the inhabitants she finds aren’t so monstrous, that she can actually stand to look at them. She may find her way to the dance floor eventually, but even still she’d promised herself not to get too messy in her time here. There’s no way she’s embarrassing herself in front of people whose normal is Jennifer’s idea of sloppiness.

She orders whatever stupid gimmick drink is at the top of the list, needing something that will actually ignite her tastebuds no matter the sugar content, and takes a seat at the bar, surveying the room. It’s quite literally the antithesis of a Washington club. Jennifer’s sure the heaviest drug done in this room is tobacco, if these people even have the gall to smoke a cigarette. They’re all so painfully boring, it nearly puts Jennifer to sleep where she sits. Though she’s far from the life of a party, she could stand to loosen her blouse and make out with a girl or two.

Just as she’s slid an unnaturally purple drink, Jennifer locks onto a form at the end of the bar. It would be impossible to ignore, the swooped bangs and striped shirt, jeans that are neither work appropriate nor fit for a club. The hunched posture was what truly gave it away, her aloof attitude would stick her out like a sore thumb in any crowd, at least in Jen’s eyes. She definitely doesn’t want to be picked out of the crowd, probably isn’t seen by anyone other than Jennifer. They’re both here for the same reason, to have a cheap drink and be on their way.

After a few minutes’ worth of staring, Jennifer’s target begins to move. Not toward the exit nor the dance floor, but to the bathroom, where Jennifer eagerly follows suit after throwing back whatever rancid, over-flavored vodka tonic she’d been served. She pushes past the sweaty bodies of dancers that she figured must be from out of town— there’s just no way this many people even exist in the city limits of Pawnee. Jenn huffs and growls at each body that she forces her way past, hating the feeling of dirty hands on such expensive fabric. She holds herself close, rolling her eyes when several people stumble over her feet.

It's with a dramatic sigh that she finally enters the bathroom. Though she doesn’t mean to be, Jennifer will always be keen on the dramatics, on making her emotions well known. Though careerwise it’d be much better for her to keep a sophisticated mysteriousness such as her impervious intern, she finds it much more fun to tell people exactly what she finds annoying about them.

Jennifer primps herself in front of the mirror; makes sure the string of pearls is on straight, lays down her hair so that it stays in its barrel curls. She’s also quite the stickler for appearance, a trait that the rest of Pawnee so seems to lack. While she looks over herself in the glass, a door swings open behind her, and out emerges her raven, who, when her eyes finally lift to find Jennifer standing at the sink, stops in her tracks. It’s an adorable color on her, this shock and awe on a face so fit for lack thereof. Once again that smirk returns to Jennifer, a grin that’s so easily faked yet in this instance could not be more genuine.

“Aren’t you going to wash your hands?” Jennifer asks slyly, firmly patting the sink beside her. The younger complies, Jen watching her through the mirror as she does so. She notes the serious focus that takes the dark features, the control forced over muscles to cease a smile or a reaction of any kind. Jennifer loves it, the resistance, the denial to admit ones feelings. It’s out of her own book. It’s so intoxicating to have a cat to play with instead of yet another mouse.

“You didn’t call me.” Jennifer continues, lower lip protruding into a false pout. “Such a shame. I’ve already gotten so lonely…” She shrugs, pulls lipstick from her purse, begins to apply it liberally. Though the action forces her attention to her own visage, that of the girl beside her is not lost, still in her peripheral.  “At least tell me your name, hm?”

“April.” The shorter replies— though, she may not truly be shorter, it’s only that Jen wears five inch heels where April dons low-top converse. She finally ceases her inattentive hand washing, turns to take a paper towel. When she turns back, however, she is met by a body much closer than it had been, nearly pressing her against the wall. There’s no hiding the rush of blood to her cheeks this time. April must finally face the fact that she is truly, deeply enthralled with this woman. She has been since the first time she’d appeared on the television set spewing that nasty rhetoric about Leslie Knope, her manner of speaking so outwardly charismatic it charmed April right away.

There’s something to be said about charisma and lack thereof attracting each other.

April stutters for a moment, something she’s quite literally never done, brain seeking for something to say along the lines of you’re a dick to my boss, I hate you, but the words never come. Mostly because she doesn’t want to say them. As much as she loves Leslie, how much she wants them to win and for the woman in front of her to stop badgering their campaign on live tv, she is also wholly infatuated with the pantsuits and wicked words.

Jennifer chews her lower lip, which is still curled up into that shit-eating grin, enjoying the mess she’s turned April into far too much. She’d not dare interrupt her babbling nor her bated breathing with words of her own. The ball has now been swung into April’s court, and as greedy  as she feels to lay a kiss on those trembling lips, Jennifer wants to wait to see what her opponent swing back.

Though, instead of witty banter or biting criticism, Jennifer is met with hands on her jaw, lips on her own. She accepts it hungrily, not at all needing even a second to realize what’s happened nor to adjust to the touch. It feels all too natural, and it’s instinct that leads her hands down to slide into the back pockets of April’s jeans, her thumbs into the belt loops. What wretched material, denim. She’d hate the rough feeling on her palms were it not for the soft flesh it covered.

They’re both starving for this, tongues dancing for dominance in the other’s mouth, dark red lipstick smudged against skin that hasn’t seen this amount of makeup in quite a while. Jennifer pushes her weight into April with such fervor that she’s forced up onto the sink, the former settling between the latter’s thighs, kissing her until her back hits the cold mirror.

They each elicit soft groans out of the other, that smug smirk ever present on Jennifer’s lips when April gets too loud. Jen’s lips stray downward, down to the strong jaw, trailing her scarlet down onto the clean flesh. Her hands sneak below the woven fabric of April’s sweater, the soft skin rippling in reaction, so cold against Jen’s warm hands that is almost shocks her. Not at all in a bad way, though. It only offers more surface area in need of her kisses, desperate to be warmed by Jen’s coaxing touch.

It's that very thought that forces Jennifer backwards. She stands upright, looks at the mess of her own creation, frowns a genuine frown when April whines from the sudden lack of touch.

“Oh, baby.” Jennifer sighs, pouts more, licks her thumb and lifts it to April’s mouth, which instinctively opens to accept it, yet the thumb swerves to wipe some of the lipstick from her chin. “I’m sorry. But you know I can’t in good conscience fuck the competition. As much as I want to.” Then, she smiles, watching intently how April reacts to this news. The way her brows furrow, her hand lifts and slightly punches the sink below her in anger.

No, Jennifer certainly does not imply to stand by this rule. They’ll find themselves in this club bathroom again quite soon. But she can’t very well allow April her checkmate this early into the game. So she turns on her heels, grabs her purse, leaves with a third (certainly not final) wink over the shoulder.

“I’ll see ya!” She calls, and disappears behind swinging doors. 

[walks-the-ages]

If I didn't mention it, I'll be voting for Jasmine Sherman (they/them) in November, Because they already have Ballot Access in 48 states , as opposed to Jill Stein who currently only has ~23 states with Ballot Access.

EDIT:

Someone has commented to point out that while Jasmine Sherman's website lists out 48 states that they're on the Ballot for, there's no sources given for this information, and right now, while its only wikipedia articles, neither of us can find any ballot access map or list not on their website that confirms that information independantly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot_access_in_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Green_Party_presidential_primaries#Declared_candidates

Jasmine Sherman's own "how to vote for us" section of their website encourages people to use Ballotpedia, they're only listed as being on the ballot for one state , while the Presidential Election 2024 page does not list them at all and neither does their ballot-access tracker at politico:

Jasmine Sherman's website also lists them as being on the ballot under the Unicorn Party.... but I have not seen any list anywhere that list where the Unicorn Party is on the ballot except for their website.

There's also the fact that their website's policy on the Death Penalty not only supports it, but wants it to be either by Morphine Overdose or fucking Firing Squad with only 1 year of appeals??? There's a footnote above it that says their position has changed and they're leaving the original policy up for preservation but like...

.. you can't run for President saying you want the Death Penalty to be done by Firing Squad of all fucking things when people almost universally hate the death penalty (not least of which because it kills so many innocents) and then just leave a note that you changed your mind but not what your new official stance is????

https://jasminesherman.com/death-penalty-policy/ [note at top of Policy page] *Jasmine wishes to inform the readers that this post is being preserved to uphold transparency. While the death penalty contradicts the Green Party’s platform, it would be disingenuous to ignore the evolution of Jasmine’s stance on this matter. Their transition from previous support to a different standpoint is noteworthy, highlighting that a candidate’s position is not solely driven by personal preferences but also reflects the desires of their constituents. [Policy] Purpose: Institute a federal standard for capital punishment. Scope: Encourage states to be more efficient with resources surrounding the enforcement of “Capital Punishment.” Our policy: Capital Punishment – is to be reserved for those convicted of mass killing and serial killer events only. Due process is to take no more than one calendar year. There should be two options available for the execution; morphine overdose or firing squad. All other capital punishment cases will remain as they are or will be subject to incorporation into the Unicorn Party’s “Restorative Justice Treatment Program”. Definitions: Mass Killing Event: A multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered by any means, within one event, and in one or more locations in close proximity. Serial Killing: The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.

So, uhhhhh, yeah. If you want to kill people who are Officially Criminals by Firing Squad I don't really think you can be trusted to be thinking in terms of humane death or punishment. Note how the website does not include what their official new position is at all, when that's literally what the Policy page is for!

If you believe in Restorative Justice and universal healthcare because everyone deserves the right to life .... if you truely believe in that how can you support the Death Penalty at all, let alone by such barbaric methods?

There's also the "Policy" about "Rights of Sentient Beings" that says

"The majority of research does suggest that primarily plant based consumption for humans is ideal. This doesn’t include those with disabilities or health phenomenons we do not understand.

which.... from almost everything I've read out there published by actual medical professionals, unless you're going out of your way to eat very specific things each and every day, you're going to run into nutritional deficiencies and need to take supplements if you're going vegetarian or vegan! In fact, you have to as much as double your iron intake on a plant-based diet because the iron we get from plants isn't as digestible as the one we get from meat. Because. You know. we're literally omnivores for a reason.

SO! After doing some more deep dives into their actual policies (such as they are), and looking deeper into the supposed-ballot access, Jasmine Sherman is not a candidate I will be voting for.

You can advocate for the humane treatment of animals without insisting that all humans except disabled people are perfectly capable of healthily living on a vegan diet, because that's simply not true without supplaments or a vastly increased access to a variety of foods, and if you truly believe in abolishing the criminal-justice system, there's no way in fucking hell you would support the Death Penalty.

Like I said in my longer version of this post (which is still relevant, check out the reblogs), voting third partym eans being adaptable and doing research in pursuit of a Free Palestine , which means, until we can get some independant verification of Jasmine Sherman having ballot access in 48 states, (and an actual proven change on that horrific stance on Capital Punishment!!!!), it is back to Jill Stein for me.

Unlike Jasmine Sherman, Jill Stein actually wants to abolish the Death Pentalty entirely, and has a long list of changes she plans to implement for restorative justice if elected: