#anti democrats

[ultraericthered]

I've been very familiar with Wicked for several years now. I read the novel that the musical was based on (which mostly kind of sucked), knew the story of the musical, and have listened to the soundtrack. But it alway sat just okay with me. In particular, the character of Elphaba Thropp, I felt, was a very interesting concept - what if the Wicked Witch of the West was a layered, sympathetic, relatable person whose whole deal was so much more complex than simply being "wicked" for no reason, and that popular image of her as the cruel, nasty, fearsome hag we're all familar with was a myth based in a propagandized narrative spun to turn people against her? With Glinda the Good Witch, the Wizard of Oz, and the land of Oz itself all being deeper and darker than they appeared at a glance? That is fantastic on an imagination level, though it took the musical to fully realize the idea, and we got a great take on the Oz lore and great iteration of the Wicked Witch as a result. But I still didn't feel Elphie was anything too much greater than the character who sourced her (Margaret Hamilton's Witch in particular is a great villain on her own merits), and she sort of started a trend in both parodies and legit works of going for the lazy "they're not truly evil, they're just misunderstood!" villain revisionism, particularly when coupled with the equally lazy "and the people you thought were good guys were actually the real villains!" Count Dracula, Captain Hook, Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, the Grinch, Carmen Sandiego, Lex Luthor, Light/Kira and even other lesser villains like the fucking Beanstalk Giant got this treatment over time. It's like Wicked made what was done as a joke with the Big Bad Wolf way back when acceptable to play straight, so it was a sore spot on Elphaba's legacy for me.

But let me tell you...watching Wicked Part 1 in theaters in the year 2024 the other day made something go off in my head. Elphaba's story through just Act 1 alone struck a chord with me that it hadn't before, to the point where I had to hold back tears towards the very end. Suddenly not only was all the political commentary in the story so much clearer and more relevant than it had ever been, but I got Elphie's character arc and a core piece of it that ties directly into that political commentary after it had gone over my head for years.

SPOILERS FOR WICKED PART ONE WILL FOLLOW

So the part of Elphaba's story that got me was her "relationship" with the Wizard of Oz. How she lived her life since childhood idolizing this man, absolutely loving the idea of the Wizard, being thankful to him for every blessing she and the land of Oz had, and dreaming of a day where she'd one day meet him, be apprenticed by him, and become like family with him because if he, the Great and Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself, could accept her, then the entire rest of Oz would have no choice but to accept her too. She'd finally have the mass acceptance, validation, and care from others she'd always yearned for. And yeah, that has to do with her self worth issues and yearning to belong somewhere with someone, and I always got that well before seeing the movie. Struggling with your self esteem and feeling ostracized from the world around you due to having been born different from others with whom you share that world was always the relatable aspect for Elphie for me, 'cause I've been there.

But the stuff with the Wizard once she's actually met him took on a whole new meaning for me now. It's been said ad nauseum now that the idea of some carnival barker huckster fraudster simpleton being put into a position of political power and leadership despite having no actual power and next to no merits to him all while others around him with their own sinister agendas look to curry favor with him in order to use him to their advantage and reap benefits from his position, and these people creating a scapegoat out of whoever can serve as a "common enemy" to unite people in fear, anger, hatred, grievance, prejudice and opposition to, is more timely, hard-hitting and realistic now than ever before, drawing parallel to the rise of our incoming First Felon President and the MAGA nightmare we cannot seem to awaken from. All of it said, all of it true. However, it cuts way deeper for me. In my scenario, the Wizard of Oz isn't the Felon, as I never had any faith or loving for that man and all he did was exceed my reservations about him. The Wizard of Oz is my country, the (former) United States of America itself. Just like Elphaba in Emerald City, on the days following November 5 2024, I had to look at something I'd been taught was Great And Wonderful since childhood, something I'd loved and gone on believing truly was Great And Wonderful for years, and reckon with the harsh truth that I'd learned about, loved, and had wanted to serve something that never actually existed. And the fault doesn't lie with the Founding Fathers and the fundamental creed that America was built upon, which is as Great And Wonderful now as it was all those centuries ago. The fault is with the sad reality that, due to people, ideas, beliefs, systems, institutions, traditional practices, holes and vices in government, and the corrosion of democracy, the nation we've had since the founding, the nation I've lived in from the day I was born, has constantly failed to live up to its own core ideals. People in power still can and do take away "certain inallieable rights" that all humans are born with from the humans born with them, all citizens are not treated with equality, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is continously impeded, we are not "indivisible" no matter how fragile the states hold together, there is not "liberty and justice for all", there exists a certain class of people who are, in fact, above the law, the three branches of governments seldom function the way they were made to, and the melting pot isn't "melting" people the right way as much since we've become more exclusionary than inclusive. As with the Wizard and the Grimmerie, this country is run by weak, stupid, mediocre men who are either unable to read the Constitution, or they can but just do not feel inclined to actually follow and respect it in letter and spirit. The only truly good, fair and just thing for a long while was the "self-governing" nature of the populace's participation in democracy and the self-corrections that would be made from it... but that ended up exploited in order to become the very thing that sealed its damnation. My nation was never evil, but at the same time, it has never been great, as it's so often failed to do good. It's a nation of moral goodness in perpetual bondage by the not-so-good that wants to exploit all the good it's capable of for them and their interests alone. "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave?" Sure, but only because the Free and the Brave who've lived here are all far better than it deserves.

And then we reach "Defying Gravity." I always linked the title of this song to Elphaba taking flight on her broomstick. But only now do I grasp the full meaning of that title, and the weight the term holds in its proper context. Elphaba is making a choice to defy Oz. To rebel against a corrupt system by a corrupt government that is corrupting the land and harming vulnerable others. She makes this choice even when what she's rebelling against holds the advantage in all power sans magical and possesses the resources and means to turn the ignorant masses against her and ensure they remain on their side. From the offset, she is very unlikely to prevail. That's why it's like struggling against a greater force that is trying to push you down and can normally easily do so - a force like gravity. And yet Elphie fights. She defies. She does so even if it means she has to make herself look like a villain, reasoning that even if her enemy is great and powerful, and the odds of defeating it seem impossible, it's not more powerful than her skills, her gifts, her convictions and her willpower. And so long as she has those, it can and will never bring her down.

I'd say the lesson here is "domestic terrorism in defiance of your government is good, actually", but it's a little bit more complicated.

So yeah, Wicked Part 1 is a masterpiece and Elphaba Thropp is an inspiration. If what she does is "wicked", then let us all aspire to be as wicked as her as the fight to rejuvinate the soul of our decayed republic and lay claim to a better future for all people in it goes on.

[ultraericthered]

Not just failed - betrayed.

[mugiwara-lucy]

With Kamala/Walz going up DAILY, I've seen more people talking about voting third party/Jill Stein (EW) and I believe the above screencaps from @three--rings can explain WHY Third Party votes NEVER work NOR is this the election to screw around in.

Everyone....like she says above.....PLEASE LEARN FROM HISTORY!!!

(Because if Trump gets in, he's NEVER LEAVING).

[mysharona1987]

[ultraericthered]

We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die

How shit is looking in America right now:

[read-marx-and-lenin]

[trumpledhearts]

[nuadaargetlamh]

One is a convicted criminal that wants to:

Institute a dictatorship “on day one only” (with majority support from his party!)

Give a greenlight to Project 2025

Use a weakened Schedule F to install THOUSANDS of cronies

Institute military tribunals for his political enemies (and allies!)

Gun down “enemies from within”

Support Russia in wiping Ukraine off the map

Use the combo of the removal of the Chevron deference/the Supreme Court allowing people to openly bribe them/Schedule F to extend the far-right’s reach into every government agency and deregulate everything to the benefit of his rich capitalist buddies

Has gotten total immunity for “official acts” (what counts as “official”? Whatever his Schedule F appointed judges choose of course.)

Already took away so many freedoms from racial minorities/queer people/women/anyone-that-isn’t-a-rich-white-man that it would take ages to list them all in this post

and so so so so SO MUCH MORE.

The other is a typical neoliberal politician.

Remember also, you’re not just choosing a president, you’re choosing their cabinet, potential Supreme Court justices, federal employees as well. With the above listed ALONE, Trump would do so much more damage than just what he can do himself. That’s not including everything else his Federalist Society Supreme Court would and have given him on a silver platter. Supreme Court Justices are for LIFE, and we’ve already seen the potentially irreparable damage this far-right activist court has done to the fabric of democracy.

Project 2025 really deserves a part to itself just to list some of what it includes: complete abortion/contraceptive ban (no exceptions), destroying worker’s unions and protections, remove Social Security/Medicare/Affordable Care Act, end civil rights protections in government, ban teaching the history of slavery, remove climate protections while gutting the EPA, end equal marriage and enforce the “traditional family ideal”, use the military to gun down protests, mass deportation of legal immigrants (especially Muslims), ending birthright citizenship, pack the lower courts, and plenty more. The far-right wasn’t able to take full advantage of Trump’s presidency the first time since it was so unexpected. They’re preparing so that they won’t make the same mistake again. THERE ARE OVER 900 PAGES OF POLICIES AND PLANS THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY WILL IMPLEMENT IF THEY WIN. READ IT. Anyone that says they won’t is either a liar or already drank the Kool-Aid. Isn’t it interesting that every politician that supports it, including his vice president, wants Trump to win?

Not to mention, if you care about Palestine (like I do, a lot), Trump would be MUCH WORSE for Palestine than the other candidate, supporting Bibi going “from the river to the sea” and already cut off millions in aid to Palestine in 2018 (which Dems reversed!). If you support a free Palestine and don’t vote blue, you have categorically hurt them more than if you did. Even Palestinians themselves want the Democrat candidate over Trump. There is no quick and bloodless peace deal that both Palestine and Israel would ever agree to. The road to an end of the Palestine-Israel conflict is going to be long and difficult, probably decades of dedicated de-radicalization in both states, and will involve far more than one person’s decisions in the end. Unless Trump takes power, and avoids all that by sending enough bombs to turn the Gaza Strip into dust.

There are a few reasons you would choose to vote third party in a FPTP system (support ranked choice voting btw) or not vote “in protest” while ignoring all the state and local elections that affect your area more than the president. Either you’re privileged enough to not be affected by what Trump would bring, you’re ignorant of the consequences, or you care more about doing nothing perfectly rather than doing something, anything that isn’t 100% ideologically “pure” to fight against the far-right fascist movement.

Am I a democratic socialist? Yes. Am I a realist? Also yes. In every single down-ballot race, and through my activism, I will fight for the rights of the oppressed and working-class. But the Presidency isn’t fucking winnable right now, and probably won’t be for decades. Pro-corporatist/anti-worker sentiment is baked into the fucking bones of this country and its people. A majority of eligible voters wouldn’t vote for Bernie, and he’s barely center-left. Voting for anything other than one of the two big parties is a useless feel-good gesture at the moment. Or you’re a dumbass accelerationist, and if you are, honestly go fuck yourself.

Let’s say you want a socialist revolution, full-tilt government takeover. I want that too, in my wildest dreams! We’re on the same page there. So how are you going to do it. How? HOW? What pro-worker activist groups are you working with? Are you encouraging your workplace to form a union? Volunteering for/donating to your local farmers’ co-op? Canvassing for pro-worker legislation? Hell, even something as small as distributing free copies of high-school/college textbooks, so that those of poorer means have a better chance at affording advanced education? Are you doing anything to help? Any praxis at all, rather than typing wishful thoughts of revolution alongside insults to people who aren’t as “correct” as you on the internet?

Every voter that still supports Trump is energized by every cruelty he enacts, while millions of Democrats and third-partyists care more about purity tests and manifesting socialist revolution tulpas than avoiding a fascist dictatorship.

Have a brain, touch grass, and vote blue all the way down that fucking ballot.

[ultraericthered]

OK, I intend to be more rational than the other unhinged person who reblogged this from you. I wish to point out that while most of what you say here is truthful, reasonable and agreeable, you tripped up at one very crucial part near the end…

I say all this in a round-a-bout way to say. You think the right isn't safe because you've been told that. Consider for a moment, not being a conservative, but just talking to some with an open mind now that you are realizing that they have been right that the left is actually anti-american.

It is here in this paragraph that you unintentionally do a good deal of damage to the “both sides have their extremes that we should reject and look for compromise in the middle” argument you were so effectively making. Because you let a bias slip. First by saying those who lean left “think the right isn’t safe because you’ve been told that.” Just…no. We’ve been shown that. We’ve seen it. We’ve heard it. We’ve felt and experienced it. Our opposition to the morally rotten and corrupt, proudly ignorant, cruel, bigoted, fascistic, fanatical, hypocritical, cowardly, lawless, self-victimizing, civil liberty-denying, diversity-hating, power-hungry, bloodthirsty, ally-alienating, evil-appeasing, pro-authoritarian theocratic autocracy and anti-democratic modern American right-wing is based on what they tell us about themselves, in word and deed, on a regular basis. It’s not just because some biased, more virtuous-than-thou leftists told us to think of the right as being all that: if we only had their words and judgment to go by, we’d likely tune them out and go about treating the right as being mostly other people with political differences and disagreements who are nonetheless normal and still worth associating with. But that’s not what the modern right and the MAGA cult movement and party representing it has proven to be. They are instead radical, hostile, dangerous, seditious towards our country’s government, an existential threat to every fundamental thing the nation stands for and has always stood for, and most unforgivable to all of the remaining OG normie conservatives and Republican voters to whom principles, moral character, and devotion to country over party still matter, they’ve sold their souls and betrayed every core tenant of conservative ideology as it used to be commonly defined and understood. All conservative values, everything they ever purported to believe in and champion, they never truly did. It’s all about gaining and wielding power for them, and it always was.

And this seems to be unfortunately not new for you, as I see older posts express this “anti-anti Trump” mindset where you argue that masses of your fellow Americans found in Trump nothing worth loathing, fearing, and despising until the media “told them all” that he was a bigoted fascist. That the “Orange Man Bad” hysteria is worth mocking regardless of how well-founded it turned out to be, and even the old talking point that Trump did not attempt a coup on the government and incite a mob to violently riot at the capitol in his name all so that he could cling to power rather than concede an election he LOST and allow the will of the people to rule and the fair democratic results to be certified…just because he randomly threw out the word “peacefully” in his speech and later told the rioting cultists to stop and go home hours after when any responsible, well meaning leader would have done so. For Heaven’s sake, you said:

stop telling people he started this - there is more and more evidence that everything was started by ANTIFA anyway.

Reality: there was no such evidence. It’s literally a conspiracy theory to shirk the blame off of who it plainly belongs on.

Nah, we don’t despise Trump because we were told that Orange Man Bad. We despise Trump because we can and always could see clearly that Orange Man Bad. These days, read any of his Truth Social posts and pretend that you had absolutely no knowledge of who this person was, let alone he was a former president and what political party he belonged to. His words are just the incoherent, reality-denying, immature, undignified, vile and even dangerous words of an absolute psychopath.

And last because you say “you are realizing that they have been right that the left is actually anti-american.” As though the left was and is the ONLY side of our political atmosphere that’s anti-American. As though an extreme plurality on the left and the extreme majority on the right weren’t both equally anti-American. As though the far left and far right weren’t two sides of the same damn horseshoe. And even by generalizing it as “the left” being the anti-American side of the equation, you disservice the entire compromise argument, for that’s literally how we got to both sides being so staunch in their set ways and so divided with each other so as to be uncompromising in the first place - why would anyone want to seek compromise with a side that was entirely anti-American, meaning they’re the “bad side” and thus everyone on it is bad by association and so YOUR side must then be the “good side” by default? That’s the sort of thinking held by people on both sides that led us here, and the sort of thinking you’re pushing now.

Leaning towards being conservative is not a bad thing and you absolutely do not have to convert to liberalism or “progressive” leftism. But if you truly do love this country, and if you truly value actual conservatism and what it was meant to foster in our constitutional republic, including compromise, then you take a principled stand for those things against the far right and the far left alike, and especially against the likes of Donald Trump, the current GOP MAGA cult that literally worships him as their false idol, and all that they stand for and plan to wreak upon this nation’s future. In a year like this and an election cycle like this, it is more important than ever. And even if you feel you can’t or won’t, there are millions more of us who will. But the invitation to join those millions shall remain extended, for any time you might choose…

"The Left is no longer safe, and the Right never was."

I see this sentiment often from progressive Jews (so most of us in some way). Let me be very clear. The left was never safe either.

Do you think that so many people were radicalized overnight? That on the early morning of October 7, leftists across the West opened their phones and in that moment became antisemites, able to fall for the clearest of propaganda and simultaneously cheer on and deny Jewish suffering?

The left was always capable of this. They only began to clearly enunciate how bloodthirsty and how fundamentalist they were out loud when the right minority was targeted. Their exception, so they can still enjoy the luxury of ganging up on an 'underdog' usually reserved for the right.

October 7th could have been last January 7th. It could have been in 2018. It could have been in 2006 if social media algorithms were as developed, and would have had the same response.

The left has never been safe. They've just been easier to ignore.

[ultraericthered]

Another Star Wars meme, now that the USA's a Nazi country.

[1solone]

Trump’s niece just nailed it!

[mugiwara-lucy]

The MAIN reason I’m voting AGAINST Trump is because this guy is a legitimate THREAT to America. What do I mean? Let’s not forget he STOLE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE:

What the fuck was he going to do with those? And when you couple the fact that he kisses ass to DICTATORS:

He is NOT someone we can afford to let back into the White House.

For the sake of us NOT becoming a dictatorship, please let’s all vote blue down the board.

SO MUCH that the votes won’t be taken to the Supreme Court because they will fuck us all over for him.

[arkvark2]

another Jussie Smollet

One would think by now they would have learned...but clearly it's not the case.

[mysharona1987]

[grimlocksword]

Democrat Writer SHOCKED To Discover THEY ARE THE BAD GUYS, Dems FINALLY ...