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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 25 days

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Vote Blue

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 25, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 26, 2024

The Democratic National Convention buoyed the Democrats. Thirty-four million dollars worth of donations came into ActBlue on the night of Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech. That money added to the other donations pouring in to make a record-breaking total of $540 million since July 22, when Harris’s campaign launched.

Analyzing voter registrations in Michigan, pollster Tom Bonier found an immediate increase in young women registering to vote in the week of July 21, and his models suggest a 20-point Democratic advantage among those new registrants. FiveThirtyEight shows Harris up 2.7 points over Trump in the national polling average, a six-point improvement from Biden’s last day as a candidate. Across the country, the campaign has 400,000 volunteers.

Harris and Minnesota governor Tim Walz will cross southern Georgia by bus next week to build on the momentum of the convention, working with the 35,000 volunteers, 174 staffers, and 24 campaign offices across the state.

Trump and the MAGA Republicans have not taken the Democrats’ momentum quietly. Trump has been frantically posting.

On Thursday morning he assured readers on his social media channel that “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” although he has boasted about ending the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that protected women’s access to abortion and suggested that women who obtain abortions should be punished. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times wrote that his posts “were too ridiculous even for Trump,” and she wondered if his account had been hacked by Iranians.

Then Trump went to Montezuma Pass, Arizona, to praise a section of border wall constructed there. A Border Patrol union leader called it the “Trump Wall,” and Isaac Arnsdorf, Marianne LeVine and Erin Patrick O'Connor of the Washington Post wrote that Trump’s visit was designed to recapture the storyline of this presidential race from Harris. But it turned out that the section he visited was actually built under President Barack Obama. The nearby Trump portion was unfinished and cost at least $35 million per mile. As president, the reporters note, “Trump spent more than $11 billion to finish more than 450 miles of wall along the almost 2,000-mile southern border, one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in history.”

Harris’s acceptance speech had Trump apparently beside himself. During her 38-minute speech he posted 59 times on his social media platform, saying, among other things, “WHERE’S HUNTER?” referring to President Joe Biden’s son. After the speech ended, he called in to the Fox News Channel to rant, in what Dowd called a “scream-of-consciousness,” in which he insisted he is “doing very well in the polls,” until host Bret Baier cut him off. So he turned to right-wing media outlet Newsmax, where he continued his diatribe.

That night, apparently increasingly concerned about his chances of election, Trump—or his team, because it didn’t really sound like him—reached out on social media to Georgia governor Brian Kemp, whom he has lambasted since 2021 for refusing to help him steal the 2020 election. As recently as August 3, Trump went after Kemp, but on Thursday he thanked the governor “for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country. I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo commented: “Nothing tells you Trump is in full panic more than seeing him crawl back to nemesis Brian Kemp begging for help in Georgia.” “Kemp wanted a public groveling,” Ron Filipkowski wrote, “and that’s what Trump did tonight.”

It wasn’t just Trump who was concerned about the Democratic National Convention. A number of prominent Republicans who will be voting for Harris spoke there, providing a permission structure for other Republicans to shift their support to Harris and Walz. But that message did not make it through to viewers of the Fox News Channel. Media Matters, which monitors right-wing media, reported that the Fox News Channel did not air any of the Republicans’ DNC speeches.

In the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan complained that Democrats “stole traditional Republican themes (faith, patriotism) and claimed them as their own”—as if somehow Democrats shouldn’t be able to claim either faith or patriotism—and worried that Trump “is famously off his game.” His “old insult shtick isn’t working,” and when he tries to read from a teleprompter, “he talks like a tranquilized robot.” Because he has insulted everything, when he now disparages something, she wrote, “it seems part of his act.”

Recognizing the momentum of the Harris-Walz campaign, the Trump-Vance campaign on Saturday sent out a memo predicting a post-convention bump for Harris-Walz but promising the bump would be temporary. It also did not mention that Trump and Vance did not get the normal post-convention bounce after their 2024 convention in July.

Friday brought more bad news for the Trump campaign when twelve Republican lawyers who served in the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush wrote an open letter endorsing Harris because they believe Trump is a threat to American democracy and the rule of law. They continued: "[W]e urge all patriotic Republicans, former Republicans, conservative and center-right citizens, and independent voters to place love of country above party and ideology and join us in supporting Kamala Harris."

They join conservative jurist J. Michael Luttig, who endorsed Harris on Wednesday and wrote: “In voting for Vice President Harris, I assume that her public policy views are vastly different from my own, but I am indifferent in this election on any issues other than America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, as I believe all Americans should be.”

Also on Friday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was running for president as an Independent, suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump. He joined Trump onstage in Glendale, Arizona, to the music of the Foo Fighters, who made it clear the campaign did not ask permission to use the song, they would not have allowed it, and that they will donate all royalties from its use by Trump’s campaign to the Harris-Walz campaign.

It is not clear that Kennedy’s endorsement will help Trump much. He was polling at under 5%, and his numbers were dropping. Kennedy also is a poor candidate to help Trump combat the “weird” label the Democrats have attached to his campaign. His odd past includes recent stories that he claimed in court to suffer from a worm in his brain and that he dumped a dead bear cub in New York’s Central Park and tried to make it look as if a bike had hit it. Josh Marshall added that the endorsement also “puts a spotlight on the fact that [Trump’s] desperate and trying basically anything now to shake up the race.”

Five of Kennedy’s siblings called the endorsement “a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.” Quoting President John F. Kennedy, his grandson Jack Schlossberg endorsed Harris on stage at the DNC.

Trump seemed thrilled with the endorsement, though. On Saturday he shared a post calling himself and Kennedy “the Strongest anti-establishment ticket in American History.” But, of course, Kennedy is not on the ticket. J.D. Vance is.

Vance’s dismal rollout has not gotten better. He appears to have taken on the task of actually campaigning for the ticket, but he is enormously inexperienced, and it’s not going terribly well. An awkward visit to a donut shop in Georgia where Vance ordered “whatever makes sense” has become a viral TikTok meme. An AP_NORC poll has Vance at –17 (27% favorable versus 44% unfavorable); Walz is +11 (36 to 25).

Finally, in a post on his social media site tonight, Trump appears to be hinting that he will pull out of the planned debate between him and Vice President Harris scheduled for September 10. “I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning,” he wrote, “and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?... Stay tuned!!!”

One other item came from Trump this week, but it got little oxygen with everything else that was going on. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have been teasing a “big announcement” this month related to cryptocurrency and decentralized finance, or DeFi. On Thursday, Trump announced a new cryptocurrency project called “The DeFiant Ones” and linked to a Telegram channel set up on August 6, the same day Eric posted that such a project was in the works.

Telegram is a social media app launched by Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov, and it is the main communications tool in Russia. Durov was arrested today in France on charges that Telegram has been used for money laundering and other crimes.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #election 2024 #Kamala Harris #Democratic Convention #volunteers #grass roots organizations

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justinspoliticalcorner · 1 month

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Igor Bobic and Liz Skalka at HuffPost:

Former President Donald Trump spoke for over an hour in a rambling press conference on Thursday, making dozens of false and outrageous claims in an effort to wrest the spotlight away from Vice President Kamala Harris’ surging 2024 presidential campaign. Addressing reporters at his ritzy Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, the GOP presidential nominee insisted his campaign was the one drawing large, enthusiastic crowds on the campaign trail — even though Harris’ rallies attracted tens of thousands this week — and claimed that the vice president wasn’t “smart enough” to take questions from the media as he was doing. “She’s not smart enough to do a news conference,” Trump said.

Trump also claimed he was willing to do three debates with Harris: Sept. 4 with Fox News, Sept. 10 with ABC News, and Sept. 25 with NBC News (the announcement required a clarification from Trump’s campaign regarding the host networks). Both campaigns had agreed to the Sept. 10 debate when President Joe Biden was still the presumptive nominee, but Trump canceled when Harris replaced Biden. Harris’ campaign hasn’t said whether it’s agreed to all three dates.

Harris, meanwhile, hasn’t done a sit-down with reporters since Biden exited the race and endorsed her for the nomination. But she’s marginally improved on Biden’s position in the polls, and Democrats, at least, appear enthused to have a candidate besides the president. “The honeymoon period is gonna end,” Trump said of Harris’ standing in the race. “She’s got a little period, the convention is coming up [...] Everything she’s touched has turned bad.” It was the first time Trump took questions from reporters since Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday. Trump called both Harris and Walz too liberal and dangerous to run the country.

“She picked a radical left man,” Trump said. “He’s got things done that he’s … he has positions that are just not, it’s not even possible to believe that they exist. He’s going for things that nobody’s ever even heard of, heavy into the transgender world, heavy into lots of different worlds having to do with safety. He doesn’t want to have borders. He doesn’t want to have walls. He doesn’t want to have any form of safety for our country.” Trump said he wouldn’t change anything about his campaign or attacks now that he’s running against Harris. “I haven’t recalibrated strategy at all. It’s the same policies — open borders and crime. I think she’s worse than Biden,” he said.

During his press conference, which ran just short of 90 minutes, Trump compared the crowd size at the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, to the audience for Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech on the National Mall, where about 260,000 people showed up. “Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me,” he said. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people, if not, we had more. And they said he had a million people, but I had 25,000 people.” Trump also falsely claimed that “nobody died” during the attack on the Capitol by hundreds of his supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 election he had lost. At least seven people died in connection to the riot, including several Trump supporters.

[...] Trump gave a head-scratcher of an answer to a question about whether he believed the Federal Drug Administration should restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which survived a right-wing attack before the Supreme Court earlier this year. Some conservatives want the FDA to regulate the pill out of circulation in a future GOP presidential administration. “You could do things that would supplement. Absolutely,” Trump said. “And those things are pretty open and humane.” He added: “But you have to have a vote. The people are going to decide.” Harris’ campaign responded to Trump’s press conference with sarcasm, calling it “very good” and “very normal.” “He hasn’t campaigned all week. He isn’t going to a single swing state this week. But he sure is mad Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are getting big crowds across the battlegrounds,” the campaign said in a press release. “The facts were hard to track and harder to find in Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago meltdown this afternoon.”

DonOld Trump’s chaotic and unhinged presser at Mar-A-Lago yesterday was the same old bullcrap of greatest hits mixed with new lies and delusions, such as falsely stating that he had more crowds than Martin Luther King Jr., baselessly stated that “no one died” on Janauary 6th, 2021, and hinted that he could regulate mifepristone out of existence.

4 more years of DonOld would be embarrassing.

#Donald Trump #Press Conferences #2024 Elections #2024 Presidential Election #Capitol Insurrection #Martin Luther King Jr.#Mifepristone #Tim Walz #Kamala Harris #DonOld Trump

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midnightsslut · 1 month

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Can I ask you what are the specific images of Joe that makes you feel cardigan is about him? I agree with you, but for me it was always a general feeling.

I think the 1 has Matty as a strong candidate as a muse, but I genuinely think it’s so vague that it could be about anyone else, like even Harry. The chosen family could easily be about his one direction days, since he always described them as brothers (I’m not a haylor btw) and didn’t Taylor say back during one of the 1989 secret sessions that Harry even bought a house close to hers? The 1 could’ve been reminiscing of that time

I think Chloe et al. was written after they broke up. It doesn’t have a feeling imho of reminiscing of the past after shit hit the fan, idk it sounds like a prologue to tsmwel in my mind, you know when you’re sad that things didn’t work out before anger kicks in, idk I feel this strong connection with her saying that she changed throughout the years and then saying “normal girls were boring” and him leaving as if saying that she changed and yet he still found her boring and left, idk if I’m making any sense

i agree with you on the general feeling. I’m mostly thinking of ‘living in a gold age, sneak into my bird cage’ (gold and cages), ‘you drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding’ (willow parallel), ‘sequin smile, black lipstick’ (met gala - i generally hate ascribing lyrics to photos because i feel like relationships usually happen in private, but yeah), ‘to kiss in cars and downtown bars was all we needed’ (this is less specific, but it does describe the same timeframe as cruel summer imo). also ‘I knew to love would be to lose my mind’ is soooo 2020 taylor writing about joe.

she did say that about harry; she was describing how i wish you would came about because he would drive past her house every night or something. harry was always the only other real option that made sense to me, mostly because a) the roaring twenties line makes me think they were both in their twenties, and that was the defining early 20s situationship for her, and b) the line in question about the meteor strike makes their relationship sound super intense, way more so than what og 1989 described. it obviously wasn’t jake level, but it was something. the sex was clearly great idk.

that’s interesting about chloe et al. i always see it as fortnight in an alternate universe, but the ‘someone who seemed like he would have bullied you in school’ line def sounds like a post breakup musing lol.

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yourreddancer · 14 days

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HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

August 25, 2024 (Sunday)

Trump and the MAGA Republicans have not taken the Democrats’ momentum quietly. Trump has been frantically posting.

But it turned out that the section he visited was actually built under President Barack Obama. The nearby Trump portion was unfinished and cost at least $35 million per mile. As president, the reporters note, “Trump spent more than $11 billion to finish more than 450 miles of wall along the almost 2,000-mile southern border, one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in history.”

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misfitwashere · 25 days

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August 25, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

AUG 26

Trump and the MAGA Republicans have not taken the Democrats’ momentum quietly. Trump has been frantically posting.

#heather cox richardson #letters from an american

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ledenews · 2 months

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Santorine: Who Really Is the Threat to Democracy?

The real existential threat to democracy is the fact that 15 million Democrats voted in the primary and now their party nominee is being decided by the party elite. You know, the very same Democrats who claim that anyone who is not with them is a “threat to democracy”. Remember, the Nazis did exactly this in the 1930’s when they forcibly took control of Germany. A putsch - a quick and dirty overthrow of a government that tends to be used most often for places that don’t experience a lot of these. The Democrat Party ByLaws and Standing Rules are designed to provide structure and instructions on what to do, but do you think they would be consulted? Not in this case - a relative handful of moneyed donors have decided who the nominee will be, your vote be damned. Remember, 15 million people believed their vote would count. It didn’t. Now a marginally legal putsch has installed a failed socialist as their party’s standard bearer. History will not remember this moment fondly. The Democrats who scream the loudest about Trump being an existential threat to democracy demonstrated that THEY are the true threat, and have deprived millions of their vote, and are in the process of allowing millions of illegals and refugees to sway our elections. Before we consider why the Democrats are propping up a hugely unpopular racist candidate, I think we ought to consider the facts: As a presidential candidate in 2020, she finished dead last, with a handful of delegates, but only if that hand had no fingers (thank you, Bill Maher) She lied openly and regularly about Biden’s cognitive competency, and pushed forth the Left’s propaganda about Biden’s abilities until he demonstrated on national television that not only was he clueless (little change in half a century), but was failing. But you know you just have to believe her now. Kamala Harris, the “Border Czar” that didn’t go to the border for months, and actually encouraged fentanyl and human trafficking across our southern border. Now she’s trying to claim that it “wasn’t her title.” In sports parlance, “Let’s go to the replay.” In her brief stint as an extreme socialist senator, she was involved with 164 pieces of legislation - NONE OF WHICH PASSED - including: A cease-fire plan in Gaza that would do nothing but help the Hamas terrorists. Providing Non-Citizens with free health care, and the “right” to vote. Six months of paid leave after childbirth for both parents, including illegals and refugees, paid for by none other than you and me, a.k.a, the taxpayers. A Medicare for All scheme that was rich by even Bernie Sanders standards. Free college education, paid for by hard-working men and women who had already paid for their formal or trade education. Guaranteed income of $6,000 cash on top of welfare, housing assistance, and food stamps, paid for by taking it from our seniors. These appear to me to be socialist policies, but they have been embraced by Harris and her Democrats. The upcoming Democrat Convention will attempt to redefine her many failures and the failures of the Biden administration. I’ve written in the past about the weaponization of the “abbreviations” - DOJ, CIA, FBI, and courts all over this great land of ours – and questioned how much of a banana republic we have become. I can’t believe this is the best the Democrats can do. Unless there is an ulterior motive. There has been a lot of polling quietly occurring over the past few weeks, and maybe – just maybe – the “Democrat Elite” know something we don’t. Like she has no chance of winning? That an election where the choices are Socialism, or Freedom and the American way will decidedly move forward to protect our liberty? Just remember, those who accuse the other side of being an “Existential threat to our Democracy” are likely guilty of the “crimes” they allege on others. The choice this November cannot be more stark since there are two completely separate and incompatible ideologies. You can vote for the things that made this nation great, or you can vote against them. I know my children and grandchildren can’t afford another four years of the debacle that has brought us record inflation and high prices, and they should not have to endure the diminishing freedoms the Democrats have yoked them with through this administration. You, therefore, have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For the passing of judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. – Romans 2:1 Read the full article

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whereareroo · 7 months

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EVERY VOTE COUNTS

WF THOUGHTS (2/29/24).

Most Americans aren’t political junkies. That’s a good thing. The small political junkie population makes more than enough noise. We don’t need a bigger group.

Most people don’t have enough free time to be a political junkie. Thankfully, you have me. I frequently have time to waste. You’re welcome.

There’s a big difference between Democratic political junkies and Republican political junkies. I’m not talking about policy differences. Depending on their party affiliation, the junkies behave differently.

Democratic political junkies overthink everything. They’re a diverse group, and they debate everything. They see problems everywhere. They air their differences in public. For Democratic political junkies, the sky is constantly falling. At the very last minute, they unify and do the right thing.

Republicans political junkies pick a political argument, or a candidate, and they stick with their decision. They reach a unified position quickly and they don’t deviate from that position. They don’t acknowledge other points of view. They don’t admit any weaknesses in their position. They maintain a strong front no matter what.

The news coverage of any presidential race is dominated by political junkies. The Democratic junkies always broadcast their worries about their policy problems and the potential weaknesses of their candidate. The Republican junkies always broadcast a smooth path to victory for their person. All of the political reporters are political junkies too. The media coverage becomes a bunch of political junkies babbling at each other. The average American voter pays no attention to the coverage. They’re too busy with their lives.

The normal political junkie dynamic is on full display in the current presidential campaign. The Democratic junkies are worried about Biden’s political and personal vulnerabilities. The Republican political junkies see a smooth path to victory for Trump. Please remember that the junkies are a very small percentage of the population and their views do not reflect the views of the average voter.

Based upon the spin from the Republican political junkies, there is a view out there that Trump has no vulnerabilities and that he’ll win in 2024. Obviously, that’s hogwash. Don’t take my word for it. Look at the facts. Trump lost in 2020. To win in 2024, Trump needs the vote of every single Republican who voted for him in 2016. Presidential races are extremely tight, and Trump can’t afford to lose a single Republican vote. So far we’ve had three primaries, and the results indicate that it will be very difficult for Trump to keep the votes that he got in 2016. In Trump’s best primary performance, 30% of the Republican voters didn’t vote for Trump. In the other two recent races, Trump lost 40% of the vote and 43% of the vote. Those are very bad numbers for Trump. A large percentage of Republicans aren’t voting for him. Of course, the Republican political junkies totally ignore this bad news.

The Republican political junkies also ignore other news that is terrible for Trump. In a recent national poll, 20% of historic Republican voters said they will not vote for Trump under any circumstances. If that happens, Trump can’t win. At exit polls after the recent South Carolina primary, where Trump only received only 60% of the vote even though it’s “Trump Country,” 33% of the voters said that they would be “dissatisfied” if Trump is the Republican candidate. That’s an indicator that many former Trump voters might stay home in 2024. If 10% of Trump’s previous supporters simply stay home, Trump will lose.

Biden, on the other hand, has recorded great numbers in the two primaries where his name was on the ballot. In one he received 96% of the Democratic vote and in the other he received 82% of the Democratic vote. He even received 64%, as a write-in candidate, in a state where he didn’t campaign and wasn’t listed on the ballot. Trump hasn’t achieved such big numbers anywhere. Despite Biden’s strong numbers, the Democratic political junkies continue to talk about his weaknesses.

Please avoid the talk from political junkies. It’s a distraction. It’s misleading. What should the average American believe right now? The news reports aren’t recognizing Biden’s strength. Also, the news reports are not recognizing Trump’s weaknesses.

Once again, the 2024 election will be decided by a razor-thin margin. Most voters won’t start paying attention until September or October. As I’ve told you before, the choice in this race is clear. This is not an election to focus on policy issues. One candidate wants to dismantle democracy in America. The other candidate wants to defend democracy in America. That’s the only issue. Don’t believe the news reports. Don’t believe the polls. Elections are won at the ballot box. We need to make sure that every eligible American votes, and that they vote to preserve democracy in America. Start planning your vote now, and help others to plan their vote too. I continue to have confidence in the American people.

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polss · 2 years

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What Dems would run for President if Biden did not and who would have a good shot? (Part two)

continuing our list.

Amy Klobuchar, 62 - Sigh...I don’t want to write this. I LIKE Amy Klobuchar. She is hard working, sincere, and personable with the public. She is EVERYTHING you could want in an elected official (although she is rumoured to be quite mean to her staff). But just like Mayor Pete, the primaries in 2020 revealed a political roadblock in her past that she just cannot clear on her own that will prevent her from securing black support. And given the new primary schedule, she is cooked. Her only hope to the presidency is if someone tabs her for VP to curry the female vote. Black primary voters will vote for VP Klobuchar because she’d be likely to win, but they aren’t going to vote for Senator Klobuchar. “No”

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, 53 - Whitmer has deep ties to President Biden. One of Biden’s four candidates for VP, she allegedly removed herself from the running and pushed Biden to chose a black candidate (Harris or Susan Rice.) effectively over the most politically deserving candidate, Warren. Biden pushed Whitmer into a DNC vice chair position. She has a fair amount of support in the party, but she still represents a branch of the Obama Tree and the DNC has a big chunk of aging Hillary supporters who could turn on her for someone like Mayor Pete who will gladly kiss the Clinton ring. Her political capital is at an all time high as Michigan voters pushed back hard against the extremist wing of the GOP. But was that mostly her influence? I think it is unlikely. I don’t know that she has the speaking skills or the empathy to really carry the party... The DNC ranks is littered with candidates who lacked the skillset to make the jump to presidential status. She is hot today. Whether it is all her or not, Michigan now seems once again firmly Democratic. But is she as good of a candidate as she appears? Yes and no. She isn’t perfect. She made a big deal about everyone wearing masks in Michigan during Covid only to be caught on film at a gathering without a facial covering. There is a stink of “run of the mill politician” to her... I think she is better than Hillary as a national candidate though. She would win Hillary’s 2016 map plus Michigan and Pennsylvania... That is almost 270 electoral votes... Does she have the speech giving ability to capture a state like Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina where they may be a little more sexist to win the race? I think she looks great on paper, but less so when you look at the maps...But to me it matters more on her positions. If I ran her campaign I would copy most of Bernie’s platforms and maybe even Yang’s freedom dividend and I would go hard after Bernie Bros. Bernie Bros are largely “Never Hillary” Obama voters... But that is kind of a condemnation of her as a candidate today. I think if left to her own devices, she is a pretty Joe Biden-esque conservative (with a lower case c) Democratic candidate. ie. No liberals love Biden’s policies, but Biden has support in the right states to beat Trump. It is POSSIBLE she does as well. She certainly deserves consideration. especially if she knew she wasn’t likely to be VP and pushed the black candidate narrative to give her a stronger position with black voters in the future. If she did, she is definitely worth considering. Possibly to Unlikely depending on her platforms.

Governor Gavin Newsom, 57 - Handsome and charismatic California Governor who makes coastal liberals swoon and moderates and independents cringe. At the right age to look Presidential and to feel he deserves it as much as anyone. Newsom is out of Nancy Pelosi territory, the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California and likely shares the same big donors and a similar political worldview. None of this sound good to anyone from a swing state. Additionally, he was another COVID mask pusher who was caught maskless and actually faced a recall election challenge over it. He is another candidate who “talks the talk” but doesn’t necessarily “walk the walk”. That kind of stuff eats blue politicians alive in red leaning states. He picks fights to get his name into the papers. He is the liberal version of Ron DeSantis, but as with all liberals, he is simply not as competent in his strategies. Would he duplicate Hillary’s 2016 map? Yes. Would he win Michigan? Based on Whitmer’s work? Yes. Would he win Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, or North Carolina? That is a LOT harder to see happening. Those states to my point of view are somewhat conservative leaning. I can totally see him entering an open race as the front runner and harnessing overwhelming money to win New Hampshire, Nevada, and Michigan and almost split the vote in Georgia and South Carolina...but the national election.....I think that is tough for him. I think 90% chance he loses. I could see him getting “Hillaried” --- only winning actively blue states. It would be FAR far better for the DNC if he ends up a “Joe Biden/Al Gore-type” VP in 2024 who eventually becomes president after shaking his overly toxic regional tendencies. Possible.

Tulsi Gabbard, 41 - If any Yang Gangers or Bernie Bros think they had it hard, just think about what Tulsi went through in 2020... She had epic moments the few times she made debates only to see Google make her non-searchable apparently at the personal request of Hillary Clinton. Clinton was miffed that Gabbard did not endorse her in 2016 and it very much seems like Clinton set about calling in every favor she could to ensure Gabbard would not be the country’s first female president. They screwed her every moment of the way. Even after she earned delegates they didn’t invite her to the Democratic National Convention. I mean, how petty can you be? They made her life a nightmare and because of the tough minded military vet she is, she fought them every step of the way, which probably didn’t help her experience. But I have to tell you there WAS a LOT to like about Tulsi Gabbard, even though she has issues that a lot of Dems could not support. She has a legacy issue about gay marriage that suggests a level of bias against gay people that is honestly appears petty and is quite ugly. Sadly it was her Dad’s signature issue, so it appears something she can’t shake. She does look like a supermodel, but that wasn’t her appeal. She is generally smart and former military. Her signature issue was being against involvement in the middle east as it was a drain on resources that didn’t improve anyone’s lives. She failed in 2020 because she never was able to tie those wars to being a drain on the economy. She also shot well from the hip, once famously tweeting to Trump, "Hey @realdonaldtrump: being Saudi Arabia's bitch is not "America First," If she captured the Democratic nomination she would absolutely win the election on the strength of her appeal to independents and the military., but... like Yang she is livid with DNC insiders and has likewise salted the earth on her way out the door. Unlike Yang she has done it in a very permanent way talking a job at Fox News, becoming somewhat tolerant of Trump, and endorsing crazy ass GOP election deniers. Sadly the DNC appears to have run off a very strong, but flawed candidate at the behest of Hillary Clinton and turned her into a full on crazy ass Fox News hosting Republican with all of the Hillary Klan’s shenanigans. It is not lost on me and shouldn’t be on you that this “Feminist Icon” Hillary Clinton tore down another woman because that woman wouldn’t kiss Hillary’s ring. Sad. Really Pathetic. How small of a person do you have to be to sabotage a peer? Yet another reason to abandon fizzling embers of the Hillary element of the DNC at a gas station somewhere in Iowa. Anything Hillary touches ends in defeat, and Hillary has definitely left her indelible mark on Tulsi, who appears to have committed political suicide as a Democrat. Sadly that makes Tulsi a “No”.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, 56 - Tammy Duckworth kicks ass but has a huge problem ---her place of birth. But she is awesome.... I know most don’t like talking about physical features, but they DO matter in elections. She has a wonderful warm smile that voters would love and a resume they would love even more. She is another veteran who does her political job competently. There are no pathways for her as a citizen born in another country (Thailand), just as there were not for Arnold Schwarzenegger. If that hurdle went away though....I think the existence of Tammy Duckworth is the EXACT reason I would push the Hawaii primary to the very front of the list. Duckworth isn’t showy but she is beloved by Democrats who know of her. Making her a frontrunner in a political race for even a moment via advantageous scheduling would likely be all it would take for her to be a viable contender. Duckworth is the kind of democratic candidate who doesn’t turn off Democratic voters and she will bring in additional military voters. Additionally, being from Chicago she is likely to be very strong in the rust belt, the very thing that made Joe Biden’s run to victory so overwhemingly likely. The current primary schedule is likely to block her from earning the nomination, but If that too was addressed, she would likely dominate in the general election. Sadly those are a ton of hurdles. Such a bummer. “No”.

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worldofwardcraft · 2 years

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Republican albatross.

November 14, 2022

When Donald Trump plowed through a contingent of lightweight contenders to seize the GOP nomination back in 2016 and then went on to get elected president (thanks to Vlad Putin), the Republican base decided he was some sort of political mastermind. And that his candidate endorsements should be obeyed without question, no matter how unqualified, untested and unglued those candidates might be.

Trump's "complete and total" endorsement may be a valuable commodity during a primary contest when mostly MAGAs turn out to vote. But if the recent midterms have shown us anything, it's that Trump is a decided millstone around the necks of Republicans running in a general election. Nowhere was this fact more glaringly evident than in the races for governor that occurred last week.

In Pennsylvania, for example, Republicans put forward Trump imitator and state Senator Doug Mastriano, an election denier (he repeatedly claimed the Dems stole the 2020 election), insurrection participant (he was actually photographed near where the January 6 violence was taking place) and loud-mouthed Christian nationalist (he once supported a bill to mandate teaching the Bible in public schools). Fortunately for the Keystone State, this loony Trump-wannabe was soundly thumped by his Democratic opponent.

Meanwhile in Arizona, the Trump-backed nominee for governor, former TV news anchor Kari Lake, a crazed election conspiracist (she even claimed the primary she won was rigged), lost to former state secretary Katie Hobbs. And in New York, the GOP's gubernatorial nominee was US congressman Lee Zeldin, who voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Which naturally endeared him to the pathological ex-president. Wrote Trump, "He will be a GREAT Governor of New York." New York's voters decided otherwise.

Other loser candidates for governor — all endorsed by Trump — included Geoff Diehl (Massachusetts), Dan Cox (Maryland), Tudor Dixon (Michigan), Tim Michels (Wisconsin), Darren Bailey (Illinois), and Mark Ronchetti (New Mexico). Overall, Trump made more than 300 endorsements, mainly for candidates in safe Republican seats who were expected to win. But, as Susan Glasser observed in The New Yorker,

In seeking to play the role of Republican kingmaker this year, Trump succeeded in proving that the country did not want more outsider, extremist candidates in his own image. His tainted brand was magic to the Republican base, and proved to be toxic to everyone else.

Typically, Trump is reported to be "blaming everyone except himself" over last week's results, still insisting he's "a Stable Genius." But as one GOP insider told Faux News, “If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now: We have a Trump problem.”

#Midterm Elections #Republican Candidates #ettd #gubernatorial races

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 27 days

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Steve Brodner

* * * *

DEMOCRACY KNOWS NO PARTY

TCinLA

Aug 23, 2024

“Democracy knows no party … it separates us from tyranny.” - Adam Kinzinger

“We have so much more in common than our differences." - Kamala Harris

Truly, my friends, wee are living in a time none of us have ever seen before; we are in the midst of a revolution unlike any ever seen in the history of democracy anywhere.

Thirty-one days ago, I was doing my best to turn in an Oscar-worth performance of Act As If. Seeing what was happening over the previous month, I was having a hard time believing we would defeat Trump. I even asked my British editor if my British publisher would help their leading author to relocate out of this country.

I argued against making a change in candidate because I had lived through the last time a president withdrew from a re-election campaign, and I had seen the Democratic Party tear itself apart, leaving victory to the candidate whose time in office set us on the largely-downward course we have been on for the past 56 years. I didn’t see how we could avoid that.

And then the presidential withdrawal came. I sat here thinking “What do we do now?”

And 30 minutes later Joe Biden announced his support for Kamala Harris to succeed him as the nominee.

And the world changed.

I’d supported Kamala in 2020, and I hoped that 2024 would be her time, as that year hadn’t, but I didn’t have anything but hope at that point.

In 48 hours, Kamala had gained the near-universal support of party leaders. Amazing!

Do you realize it’s only been less than three weeks since you didn’t know who Tim Walz was?

The Harris-Walz campaign has raised $500 million in less than 30 days, Reuters reported last Tuesday. The campaign previously said it took in $310 million in July, including $200 million in the first week after she entered the race following President Joe Biden’s July 21 withdrawal. And the campaign thinks they can make it $600 million before the end of August.

House Democrats are also raking in money, bringing their cash on hand to nearly $92 million after they took in close to $17.6 million in July.

Meanwhile, Trump raised $47.5 million in July, while spending $24.3 million and bringing his cash-on-hand total to $151.3 million, while Harris reported close to $220 million on hand.

All of this was inconceivable 32 days ago.

On Tuesday night, I wasn’t going to watch the state roll call, one of the great Cheesy Events of American politics, but while I was fast-forwarding through it, the DVR stopped and it came on. I watched for a minute and then hit rewind and watched the whole thing. Was it cheesy? Yes, but this time it was also educational.

The thing that occurred to me while watching was how much the Democratic Party has changed in the 21st century. By estimate, 50% of the delegates at the 2024 convention are black or Hispanic. The comparison is particularly stark when looking at the Republican convention, where white people overwhelmingly dominated.

It’s a look I like.

Tuesday night, Barack Obama said, “As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for – a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other. A restoration of what Lincoln called, on the eve of civil war, “our bonds of affection.” An America that taps what he called “the better angels of our nature.” That’s what this election is about. And I believe that’s why, if we each do our part over the next 77 days – if we knock on doors and make phone calls and talk to our friends and listen to our neighbors – if we work like we’ve never worked before – we will elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States, and Tim Walz as the next Vice President of the United States. We’ll elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful, forward-looking America we believe in. And together, we too will build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal and more free.”

Watching these past four days, seeing the Democratic Party I’ve always hoped to see appear before my eyes, I really believe it’s true.

Yes, we can.

Someone posted this in a Substack discussion page a few days ago:

AMERICAN GREATNESS

American greatness isn’t something you can buy.

Something you can demand.

Or that one man can give you.

American greatness is earned.

It doesn’t look a certain way.

Or worship in a certain church.

Greatness is in all of us.

In every American heart.

It’s always been here.

Through the work and pain and struggle.

To earn the gift so many died for.

American greatness is the gift we all share.

Greatness is in all of us.

You don’t need someone to make you great.

You’re an American.

Greatness was in you all along.

“We are the heirs to the greatest democracy, in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done.

“Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth.

“The privilege and pride of being an American.”

[TCinLA]

#TCinLA #democracy #Democracy Knows no Party #political #Democratic Convention #election 2024

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qqueenofhades · 5 years

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Re: the post you reblogged about Bush. I'm 21 and tbh feel like I can only vote for Bernie, can you explain if/why I shouldn't? Thanks and sorry if this is dumb or anything.

Oh boy. Okay, I’ll do my best here. Note that a) this will get long, and b) I’m old, Tired, and I‘m pretty sure my brain tried to kill me last night. Since by nature I am sure I will say something Controversial ™, if anyone reads this and feels a deep urge to inform me that I am Wrong, just… mark it down as me being Wrong and move on with your life. But also, really, you should read this and hopefully think about it. Because while I’m glad you asked this question, it feels like there’s a lot in your cohort who won’t, and that worries me. A lot.

First, not to sound utterly old-woman-in-a-rocking-chair ancient, people who came of age/are only old enough to have Obama be the first president that they really remember have no idea how good they had it. The world was falling the fuck apart in 2008 (not coincidentally, after 8 years of Bush). We came within a flicker of the permanent collapse of the global economy. The War on Terror was in full roar, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their height, we had Dick Cheney as the cartoon supervillain before we had any of Trump’s cohort, and this was before Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden had exposed the extent of NSA/CIA intelligence-gathering/American excesses or there was any kind of public debate around the fact that we were all surveilled all the time. And the fact that a brown guy named Barack Hussein Obama was elected in this climate seems, and still seems tbh, kind of amazing. And Obama was certainly not a Perfect President ™. He had to scale back a lot of planned initiatives, he is notorious for expanding the drone strike/extrajudicial assassination program, he still subscribed to the overall principles of neoliberalism and American exceptionalism, etc etc. There is valid criticism to be made as to how the hopey-changey optimistic rhetoric stacked up against the hard realities of political office. And yet…. at this point, given what we’re seeing from the White House on a daily basis, the depth of the parallel universe/double standards is absurd.

Because here’s the thing. Obama, his entire family, and his entire administration had to be personally/ethically flawless the whole time (and they managed that – not one scandal or arrest in eight years, against the legions of Trumpistas now being convicted) because of the absolute frothing depths of Republican hatred, racial conspiracy theories, and obstruction against him. (Remember Merrick Garland and how Mitch McConnell got away with that, and now we have Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? Because I remember that). If Obama had pulled one-tenth of the shit, one-twentieth of the shit that the Trump administration does every day, he would be gone. It also meant that people who only remember Obama think he was typical for an American president, and he wasn’t. Since about… Jimmy Carter, and definitely since Ronald Reagan, the American people have gone for the Trump model a lot more than the Obama model. Whatever your opinion on his politics or character, Obama was a constitutional law professor, a community activist, a neighborhood organizer and brilliant Ivy League intellectual who used to randomly lie awake at night thinking about income inequality. Americans don’t value intellectualism in their politicians; they just don’t. They don’t like thinking that “the elites” are smarter than them. They like the folksy populist who seems fun to have a beer with, and Reagan/Bush Senior/Clinton/Bush Junior sold this persona as hard as they possibly could. As noted in said post, Bush Junior (or Shrub as the late, great Molly Ivins memorably dubbed him) was Trump Lite but from a long-established political family who could operate like an outwardly civilized human.

The point is: when you think Obama was relatively normal (which, again, he wasn’t, for any number of reasons) and not the outlier in a much larger pattern of catastrophic damage that has been accelerated since, again, the 1980s (oh Ronnie Raygun, how you lastingly fucked us!), you miss the overall context in which this, and which Trump, happened. Like most left-wingers, I don’t agree with Obama’s recent and baffling decision to insert himself into the 2020 race and warn the Democratic candidates against being too progressive or whatever he was on about. I think he was giving into the same fear that appears to be motivating the remaining chunk of Joe Biden’s support: that middle/working-class white America won’t go for anything too wild or that might sniff of Socialism, and that Uncle Joe, recalled fondly as said folksy populist and the internet’s favorite meme grandfather from his time as VP, could pick up the votes that went to Trump last time. And that by nature, no one else can.

The underlying belief is that these white voters just can’t support anything too “un-American,” and that by pushing too hard left, Democratic candidates risk handing Trump a second term. Again: I don’t agree and I think he was mistaken in saying it. But I also can’t say that Obama of all people doesn’t know exactly the strength of the political machine operating against the Democratic Party and the progressive agenda as a whole, because he ran headfirst into it for eight years. The fact that he managed to pass any of his legislative agenda, usually before the Tea Party became a thing in 2010, is because Democrats controlled the House and Senate for the first two years of his first term. He was not perfect, but it was clear that he really did care (just look up the pictures of him with kids). He installed smart, efficient, and scandal-free people to do jobs they were qualified for. He gave us Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to join RBG on the Supreme Court. All of this seems… like a dream.

That said: here we are in a place where Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are the front-runners for the Democratic nomination (and apparently Pete Buttigieg is getting some airplay as a dark horse candidate, which… whatever). The appeal of Biden is discussed above, and he sure as hell is not my favored candidate (frankly, I wish he’d just quit). But Sanders and Warren are 85% - 95% similar in their policy platforms. The fact that Michael “50 Billion Dollar Fortune” Bloomberg started rattling his chains about running for president is because either a Sanders or Warren presidency terrifies the outrageously exploitative billionaire capitalist oligarchy that runs this country and has been allowed to proceed essentially however the fuck they like since… you guessed it, the 1980s, the era of voodoo economics, deregulation, and the free market above all. Warren just happens to be ten years younger than Sanders and female, and Sanders’ age is not insignificant. He’s 80 years old and just had a heart attack, and there’s still a year to go to the election. It’s also more than a little eye-rolling to describe him as the only progressive candidate in the race, when he’s an old white man (however much we like and approve of his policy positions). And here’s the thing, which I think is a big part of the reason why this polarized ideological purity internet leftist culture mistrusts Warren:

She may have changed her mind on things in the past.

Scary, right? I sound like I’m being facetious, but I’m not. An argument I had to read with my own two eyes on this godforsaken hellsite was that since Warren became a Democrat around the time Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, she sekritly hated gay people and might still be a corporate sellout, so on and etcetera. (And don’t even get me STARTED on the fact that DADT, coming a few years after the height of the AIDS crisis which was considered God’s Judgment of the Icky Gays, was the best Clinton could realistically hope to achieve, but this smacks of White Gay Syndrome anyway and that is a whole other kettle of fish.) Bernie has always demonstrably been a democratic socialist, and: good for him. I’m serious. But because there’s the chance that Warren might not have thought exactly as she does now at any point in her life, the hysterical and paranoid left-wing elements don’t trust that she might not still secretly do so. (Zomgz!) It’s the same element that’s feeding cancel culture and “wokeness.” Nobody can be allowed to have shifted or grown in their opinions or, like a functional, thoughtful, non-insane adult, changed their beliefs when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary. To the ideological hordes, any hint of uncertainty or past failure to completely toe the line is tantamount to heresy. Any evidence of any other belief except The Correct One means that this person is functionally as bad as Trump. And frankly, it’s only the Sanders supporters who, just as in 2016, are threatening to withhold their vote in the general election if their preferred candidate doesn’t win the primary, and indeed seem weirdly proud about it.

OK, boomer Bernie or Buster.

Here’s the thing, the thing, the thing: there is never going to be an American president free of the deeply toxic elements of American ideology. There just won’t be. This country has been built how it has for 250 years, and it’s not gonna change. You are never going to have, at least not in the current system, some dream candidate who gets up there and parrots the left-wing talking points and attacks American imperialism, exceptionalism, ravaging global capitalism, military and oil addiction, etc. They want to be elected as leader of a country that has deeply internalized and taken these things to heart for its entire existence, and most of them believe it to some degree themselves. So this groupthink white liberal mentality where the only acceptable candidate is this Perfect Non-Problematic robot who has only ever had one belief their entire lives and has never ever wavered in their devotion to doctrine has really gotten bad. The Democratic Party would be considered… maybe center/mild left in most other developed countries. It’s not even really left-wing by general standards, and Sanders and Warren are the only two candidates for the nomination who are even willing to go there and explicitly put out policy proposals that challenge the systematic structure of power, oppression, and exploitation of the late-stage capitalist 21st century. Warren has the billionaires fussed, and instead of backing down, she’s doubling down. That’s part of why they’re so scared of her. (And also misogyny, because the world is depressing like that.) She is going head-on after picking a fight with some of the worst people on the planet, who are actively killing the rest of us, and I don’t know about you, but I like that.

Of course: none of this will mean squat if she (or the eventual Democratic winner, who I will vote for regardless of who it is, but as you can probably tell, she’s my ride or die) don’t a) win the White House and then do as they promised on the campaign trail, and b) don’t have a Democratic House and Senate willing to have a backbone and pass the laws. Even Nancy Pelosi, much as she’s otherwise a badass, held off on opening a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump for months out of fear it would benefit him, until the Ukraine thing fell into everyone’s laps. The Democrats are really horrible at sticking together and voting the party line the way Republicans do consistently, because Democrats are big-tent people who like to think of themselves as accepting and tolerant of other views and unwilling to force their members’ hands. The Republicans have no such qualms (and indeed, judging by their enabling of Trump, have no qualms at all).

The modern American Republican party has become a vehicle for no-holds-barred power for rich white men at the expense of absolutely everything and everyone else, and if your rationale is that you can’t vote for the person opposing Donald Goddamn Trump is that you’re just not vibing with them on the language of that one policy proposal… well, I’m glad that you, White Middle Class Liberal, feel relatively safe that the consequences of that decision won’t affect you personally. Even if we’re due to be out of the Paris Climate Accords one day after the 2020 election, and the issue of climate change now has the most visibility it’s ever had after years of big-business, Republican-led efforts to deny and discredit the science, hey, Secret Corporate Shill, am I right? Can’t trust ‘er. Let’s go have a craft beer.

As has been said before: vote as far left as you want in the primary. Vote your ideology, vote whatever candidate you want, because the only way to make actual, real-world change is to do that. The huge, embedded, all-consuming and horrible system in which we operate is not just going to suddenly be run by fairy dust and happy thoughts overnight. Select candidates that reflect your values exactly, be as picky and ideologically militant as you want. That’s the time to do that! Then when it comes to the general election:

America is a two-party system. It sucks, but that’s the case. Third-party votes, or refraining from voting because “it doesn’t matter” are functionally useless at best and actively harmful at worst.

Either the Democratic candidate or Donald Trump will win the 2020 election.

There is absolutely no length that the Republican/GOP machine, and its malevolent allies elsewhere, will not go to in order to secure a Trump victory. None.

Any talk whatsoever about “progressive values” or any kind of liberal activism, coupled with a course of action that increases the possibility of a Trump victory, is hypocritical at best and actively malicious at worst.

This is why I found the Democratic response to Obama’s “don’t go too wild” comments interesting. Bernie doubled down on the fact that his plans have widespread public support, and he’s right. (Frankly, the fact that Sanders and Warren are polling at the top, and the fact that they’re politicians and would not be crafting these campaign messages if they didn’t know that they were being positively received, says plenty on its own). Warren cleverly highlighted and praised Obama’s accomplishments in office (i.e. the Affordable Care Act) and didn’t say squat about whether she agreed or disagreed with him, then went right back to campaigning about why billionaires suck. And some guy named Julian Castro basically blew Obama off and claimed that “any Democrat” could beat Trump in 2020, just by nature of existing and being non-insane.

This is very dangerous! Do not be Julian Castro!

As I said in my tags on the Bush post: everyone assumed that sensible people would vote for Kerry in 2004. Guess what happened? Yeah, he got Swift Boated. The race between Obama and McCain in 2008, even after those said nightmare years of Bush, was very close until the global crash broke it open in Obama’s favor, and Sarah Palin was an actual disqualifier for a politician being brazenly incompetent and unprepared. (Then again, she was a woman from a remote backwater state, not a billionaire businessman.) In 2012, we thought Corporate MormonBot Mitt Fuggin’ Romney was somehow the worst and most dangerous candidate the Republicans could offer. In 2016, up until Election Day itself, everyone assumed that HRC was a badly flawed candidate but would win anyway. And… we saw how that worked out. Complacency is literally deadly.

I was born when Reagan was still president. I’m just old enough to remember the efforts to impeach Clinton over forcing an intern to give him a BJ in the Oval Office (This led by the same Republicans making Donald Trump into a darling of the evangelical Christian right wing.) I’m definitely old enough to remember 9/11 and how America lost its mind after that, and I remember the Bush years. And, obviously, the contrast with Obama, the swing back toward Trump, and everything that has happened since. We can’t afford to do this again. We’re hanging by a thread as it is, and not just America, but the entire planet.

So yes. By all means, vote for Sanders in the primary. Then when November 3, 2020 rolls around, if you care about literally any of this at all, hold your nose if necessary and vote straight-ticket Democrat, from the president, to the House and Senate, to the state and local offices. I cannot put it more strongly than that.

#politics for ts #long post #anonymous #ask

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kenkamishiro · 4 years

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20210218 Jack Jeanne Creator Interview with Famitsu - Interview #1 with Ishida Sui

The Jack Jeanne staff (Ishida Sui, Towada Shin, Kosemura Akira, Seishiro) were interviewed by Famitsu, a Japanese gaming magazine for Jack Jeanne’s release. Someone was kind enough to let me read it, so I’ll be translating the 4 interviews. The interview with Ishida I’ll do a full TL, and the other three I may do more of a summary since I’ve been busy lately.

Ishida Sui

Creator / Character Designer / Script Supervisor

Mangaka. From Fukuoka Prefecture. Creator of “Tokyo Ghoul” and “Tokyo Ghoul:re.” 2021 marks his 10th anniversary in the art industry.

Characters that were created based on the idea of “personifying plays”

Please share with us how you honestly felt when you received the commission request for this work.

That it seemed kind of questionable but interesting nonetheless. “If others can do it, I can too,” I thought.

How did fans react after Jack Jeanne was announced?

I still get letters from the readers of Tokyo Ghoul to this day, but some of them would bring up Jack Jeanne, or mention that they like a character and are interested in them even before the game’s release, so it makes me happy seeing that reception.

Please share with us your thoughts about being in charge of the character design.

It was a good learning experience because it was something I’d never done while working on my manga, trying to finalize the 6-member cast of the protagonist and the main characters, and then completely focusing on them as an elite squad. I tend to make too many characters, so...

When coming up with a character, how do you develop their image?

Previously, I decided it based on the character’s name and face. But with Jack Jeanne, it was a trial-and-error process. At first, I envisioned each character as a personification of a play - for example, Fumi was modelled off of “Salome”, Yonaga off of “Shintokumaru”, Shirota from one of Yamamoto Shūgorō’s works... I dropped the idea after that...and that’s how they were developed. They were created in a peculiar way this time.

Which character did you have the easiest time drawing, and on the flipside, which character did you find yourself struggling to draw?

Kai was the very first character I created, followed by Fumi. Those two I was able to draw relatively quickly. I wouldn’t really call this a struggle, but Suzu, the one with the red hair, wasn’t part of the main cast of six at first. Ootori, the blond character with the prickly personality, was actually part of the main cast at first, but since I wanted a simple-minded character, Suzu ended up being promoted.

I’m sure you consider every character your favourite, but if you had to pick only one character, who would it be?

Probably the main character Kisa. She embodies everything I think of in a shoujo manga protagonist, and I’m very fond of her. But I really do love all the characters. They each have their own appeal, so I can’t settle on just one.

Was there anything you had to constantly keep in mind when designing the characters for Jack Jeanne?

Broccoli specially requested that I give every character a strong colour palette. It’s because if I’m left to my vices, I end up using only subdued tones...I also constantly kept in my mind that I was making them look good-looking as boys.

You were also responsible for the event illustrations in the game. Could you give more details about them, and any difficulties that you faced?

For the event illustrations, I had to be aware of what scene would best match the script. Towada-san also specified where the illustrations should be inserted, but if there was a better scene before or after it, I gave priority to it instead. The hardest part...was drawing them all by myself. There ended up being more than 160 illustrations.

I heard it was you who requested Touyama Maki to design the chibi characters. Please share with us the appeal of the chibi characters drawn by Touyama-san, as well as your thoughts when you saw the chibi characters in the game.

Touyama-san’s appeal...is that their art is great! The deformed characters are perfectly balanced and outstandingly stable. I’m also a fan of their art and I like their life-proportion-size characters. It’s really cute seeing them move their tiny limbs around on the game screen.

Despite his humble abilities as an amateur lyricist, he oversaw every song with a burning passion that was second to none.

You supervised the game and the script, but what was the most memorable part of working on this game for you?

For starters, I vividly recall talking with Towada-san all the time. It was common for us to spend 10 hours a day talking to one another, several times a week.

How did production handled between the two of you for the script proceed?

I come up with the general outline. I’d talk about the overall flow and the key developments during the meetings, and Towada-san would take that and organize it, adding descriptions and colour to the details. It would have been impossible to create Jack Jeanne without her.

You wrote the lyrics to all the songs, including the opening song “Jack & Jeanne Of Quartz.” Please share with us how you came to be in charge of the lyrics.

Originally, there were several candidates, and there was even one person that I thought, “This person might be the one.” But I realized that it would take an enormous amount of time to share the understanding of my work to them, so I decided to give it a try, thinking that even an amateur would be the best for the job as long as they were passionate.

How did you come up with the lyrics?

I’m embarrassed to say this since I’m a complete amateur, but I tried my best to associate it with the feelings and information related to the subject, and whether it sounded good when sung...at any rate, I did my absolute best.

Are there any verses in the lyrics that you’d like people to pay special attention to, or any phrases that you really liked?

Avu-chan from Ziyoou-vachi (a 4-member rock band) is a friend of mine, but when I met up with her, I had her look at the lyrics, and the part she liked I also ended up liking. It’s the phrase “charcoal night grey” in the opening song. I also like the last two lines of the ending song because they represent the entirety of the game.

What was the most memorable interaction you had with the composer Kosemura-san?

He was professional in that every time, he exceed my expectations in what I wanted conveyed. We also spent about a week together (?) during the recording boot camp for the demo songs, and the time I spent sitting next to him and listening to the same songs was surreal. I couldn’t believe the person sitting next to me wrote the songs that I listened to as a student.

I want readers to like Kisa. A cover illustration filled with strong emotions.

On October 9, 2020 on Twitter, you tweeted, “Makin’ games is hard.” What was it you found difficult?

I was given a lot of decision-making authority as a producer, but since I’m a company outsider, I had a hard time making decisions without seeing the actual situation or making choices in areas where I had no insight. It was a tweet vexed from my inability to understand due to lack of experience. I wish I had more power...

What do you want people to pay attention to when they play the demo version?

I’d like people to pay attention to the fact that the art and script were created by very few people (almost two people), much like an indie game. Something like, “Ishida really drew all these characters!” or “Towada-san really wrote all the script!”...there is more to come in the full version.

You drew the cover illustration for this issue of the magazine, but I’d like to hear more details regarding this.

I drew it while reflecting on how lucky I was, like, “I’m really drawing for the magazine I’ve read since I was a kid...!?” I drew both male and female forms for Kisa, in the hopes that people would come to love the main character.

Please leave a message to your fans and readers who are eagerly awaiting the release of this game.

I made it so that players of all ages and genders can enjoy the game. There is a lot more in store besides just the illustrations. I hope you will play it!

#Jack Jeanne #Ishida Sui #translations #the others i will get to next week

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antoine-roquentin · 3 years

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It is a measure of Krugman’s increasing despair that by 2013 his jaundiced view of American class society converged with his worries about the intellectual framing of economics. As Republican and Democratic centrists struggled to fashion a bipartisan majority around a programme to slash the deficit, it dawned on Krugman that the entirety of what he had once confidently described as ‘responsible’ economic policy was shot through with class interest. Talk of fiscal sustainability wasn’t just bad economics; it was, Krugman now believed, class war by stealth. In End This Depression Now (2012), Krugman broke one of the taboos that separate mainstream New Keynesians from their left-wing heterodox counterparts. He invoked the Polish economist Michał Kalecki, whose work is commonly cited as having bridged Keynesianism and Marxism. In 1943, in wartime exile in Oxford, Kalecki had explained why delivering stabilisation policy in a sustained way, as Keynes envisioned, might not be possible in a class-divided society. At the depths of the crisis, Keynesians would be summoned by the powers that be to do the minimum that was necessary, but as soon as the worst had passed, well before the economy reached full employment, the same policies would be anathematised as undermining ‘confidence’. The balance of what was ‘sensible’ would be set by the interests of the wealthiest and most secure. Their principal concern wasn’t full employment, but profit, which dictated stimulus in a slump and restraint whenever profits were squeezed by increased wages in a tightening labour market. Five years before Samuelson, in his classic textbook of 1948, laid out his vision of the complementarity of macroeconomic management and market-based microeconomics, Kalecki had already shown why it would end in failure.

As Krugman remarked, when he first read Kalecki’s essay he ‘thought it was over the top. Kalecki was, after all, a declared Marxist ... But, if you haven’t been radicalised by recent events, you haven’t been paying attention; and policy discourse since 2008 has run exactly along the lines Kalecki predicted.’ After a short burst of emergency Keynesianism, by 2010 deficits not unemployment were the problem. And any effort to push for better conditions was immediately countered with the insistence that it would induce ‘economic policy uncertainty’ and hold the economy back. It wasn’t unemployed Americans, Krugman raged, but imaginary ‘confidence fairies’ that were dictating policy.

Krugman reassured himself by adding that Kalecki was far more of a Keynesian than he was a Marxist, but quibbles aside, Krugman’s own transformation could hardly be denied. The members of the American left he had savaged in the 1990s were now his friends. He was talking about power in the starkest terms. But the question was unavoidable: once you lost your faith in the state as a tool of reformist intervention, once you truly reckoned with the omnipresence of class power, what choices remained but fatalism or a demand for a revolutionary politics? Between those alternatives, respectively unappetising and unrealistic, there was perhaps a third option. America had, after all, been here before. FDR’s New Deal too had been hemmed in. It had delivered far less than promised, until the floodgates were finally opened by the Second World War. The Great Depression, Krugman wrote, ‘ended largely thanks to a guy named Adolf Hitler. He created a human catastrophe, which also led to a lot of government spending.’ ‘Economics,’ he wrote in another essay, ‘is not a morality play. It’s not a happy story in which virtue is rewarded and vice punished.’

‘If it were announced that we faced a threat from space aliens and needed to build up to defend ourselves,’ Krugman said in 2012, ‘we’d have full employment in a year and a half.’ If 21st-century America needed an enemy, China was one candidate. On foreign policy, Krugman is perhaps best described as a left patriot. Where he had once downplayed the impact of Chinese imports on the US economy, he now declared that China’s currency policy was America’s enemy: by manipulating its exchange rate Beijing was dumping exports on America. But to Krugman’s frustration Obama never turned the pivot towards Asia into a concerted economic strategy.

You might argue that in Covid we have found an enemy of precisely the kind Krugman was imagining. As far as Europe is concerned, an alien space invasion isn’t an implausible model for Covid. This novel threat broke down inhibitions in Berlin, and the Eurozone’s response was far more ambitious than it was after 2008. But America isn’t the Eurozone. For all Krugman’s gloom, it didn’t take a new world war to flip the economic policy switch. All it took was an election. Almost immediately after Trump’s victory in November 2016, the fiscal taps were opened. As under Reagan in the 1980s and Bush in the 2000s, all fear of deficits disappeared.

Compelling as Krugman may have found the Kaleckian vision, it does not describe the United States in the 21st century. The balance of class forces Kalecki had assumed in the 1940s no longer exists. In America in 2017 big business did not object to running the economy hot. There was no real threat of wage pressure: a flutter of strikes perhaps, but nothing serious. No chance of inflationary expectations becoming embedded in adjustments to the cost of living. No wage-price spiral. Everything to gain from tax cuts for corporations and the rich. The Kaleckian scenario, from today’s point of view, presumed too much countervailing force from the left and by the same token too many constraints on active economic policy.

Trump opened a new era of voluntarism in economic policy. You really could do what you liked. Neither external threats in the form of bond market vigilantes, nor domestic counterpressure in the form of contending social classes, were any longer effective constraints. American conservatives had never been as keen on the slogan There Is No Alternative as Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel. Under Trump there was simply no limit to the GOP’s opportunism. Typically, the centre and left did more intellectual work to come to terms with the new situation. The IMF’s former chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, had painstakingly demonstrated the sustainability of much higher levels of debt in a world of low interest rates. Meanwhile, Modern Monetary Theory had its moment in the sun. Blending state theories of money, radical Keynesianism of 1940s vintage and inside knowledge of the plumbing of the modern financial markets, MMT argued that debt wasn’t a problem at all. The only limit on an expansionary economic policy should be the inflation rate; otherwise the overriding priority should be full employment.

It’s telling that despite the apparent political affinity between Krugman and the proponents of MMT, its heresies revived his impulse to play policeman. After long and fruitless exchanges, Krugman declared that MMT was either silly or merely old-fashioned Keynesianism warmed over. In 2020 these doctrinal debates were overtaken by the reality of the Covid shock. In March 2020, as more than twenty million Americans lost their jobs in a matter of weeks, Congress united around a gigantic fiscal stimulus. At the Fed, the centrist Republican Jerome Powell embarked on a programme of intervention that dwarfed anything contemplated by Bernanke. And with a Democratic majority in Congress the impetus has carried through to 2021. The mantra on everyone’s lips is a blunt statement of Krugman’s position. Do not repeat the mistakes of the early Obama administration. Go large. If the Republicans have now decided to be fiscal conservatives, ignore them. There has been no opposition from big business. What the Chamber of Commerce did not like was the $15 minimum wage. Once that was dropped, it did not oppose the $1.9 trillion plan; it seems that business fears legislative intervention more than it does Kalecki-style pressure in the labour market.

The Krugmanification of the Democrats wasn’t won without a fight. There are fiscal hawks in Biden’s entourage. At one point he even counted Larry Summers as an adviser. That didn’t last: the empowered left wing of the Dems wouldn’t stand for it. But although he is no longer in the inner circle, Summers hasn’t surrendered. Opposing untargeted stimulus checks, calling for more focus on investment, he recently declared the Biden administration’s fiscal policy the most irresponsible in forty years – the result, he remarked bitterly, of the leverage handed to the left of the Democratic Party by the absolute refusal of the GOP to co-operate.

The first instinct of the wonks inside the Biden administration is to counter Summers’s arguments on his own terms. Their models show, they insist, that the risks of overheating and inflation are slight. What they don’t say is that being credibly committed to running the economy hot is precisely the point. This is what Krugman meant in 1998 when he called on the Bank of Japan to make a credible commitment to irresponsibility. To avoid the risk of a liquidity trap what you want to encourage is precisely a general belief that inflation is set to pick up. In the late 1990s Krugman, like a good New Keynesian, envisioned monetary and fiscal policy as substitutes for each other. In 2021 America is getting a massive dose of both. As the Fed announced in August last year, the plan is to get inflation above 2 per cent and to dry out the labour market. The bond markets may flinch, but if the sell-off gets too bad, the Fed can always buy more bonds.

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popolitiko · 3 years

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For a decade, Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence had surfed the wave of populist-right politics like few other people in America.

Then came Jan. 6.

By DAVID FREEDLANDER - 11/19/2021

Dustin Stockton stood in a throng of thousands of people near the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., nursing an American Spirit cigarette and a Red Bull. He was talking on the phone (“Don’t worry, I’ll send you bodies”) greeting well-wishers (“A great day for patriots and a terrible day for the fake news”) and fretting about a speech to the crowd he hadn’t yet written.

It was November 2020, and even as the Washington Post’s front page had just announced a second surge of the coronavirus, tens of thousands of people were gathered, mostly maskless, swarming downtown D.C. for a “Stop the Steal” rally. Inside the hotel, two blocks from the White House, Alex Jones was riding the elevator with a female companion and a bodyguard. When the elevators stopped on an upper floor, he prohibited anyone else from getting on. “Sorry, really being Covid-cautious!” he said — clearly a joke, since none of them were wearing masks either, and because in fact to do so would make anyone in this crowd seem ludicrous.

“If we let them steal the election from President Trump, we will never get it back!” Stockton told the crowd. “Our freedom is not coming back! We must rise up!”

He talked about the liars and the fake news, and the Big Tech oligarchs who wanted to keep everyone at home on the Internet instead of out here, in the streets. He explained how Trump and the whole MAGA movement was an outgrowth of the tea party revolution from a decade ago. He talked about how they needed to gather offline, just like the original American revolutionaries did. He called on the group to march on the Supreme Court. “Our institutions have been corrupted and weaponized against We the People. And that is what Joe Biden’s agenda is! There is no way that senile old fool beat the hardest working and greatest president ever!”

The Jan. 6 rally was, for them, the culmination of work they had been doing for the past decade — work that long predated the election conspiracy, or QAnon, or Donald Trump’s political career. They surfed the waves of a populist tide that grew larger than anyone imagined, one dedicated to tearing down the establishment of both parties and the government itself, replacing it with a government they saw as closer to the people, closer to God, closer to the Constitution.

For years, Stockton and Lawrence had built a career around that movement — as fundraisers, campaign consultants, rally organizers, schemers; engineering ever-more-outlandish media stunts to serve up to an online audience ever more primed to click on them, raising millions in small-dollar donations that relied on Ethernet connections and outrage, taking advantage of loose electioneering laws to give any kind of advantage to favored candidates. They existed on what seemed like the margins of conservative politics until, suddenly, it wasn’t the margins anymore at all.

They liked stunts that crossed the line between what was aboveboard and what was not. When the Obamacare exchanges launched in 2013, Stockton recruited some of his online followers to swarm the online exchanges, gumming up the works on the first day of the rollout.

To bounce back, at first they tried to rally their energy and run the old playbook. They started a “MAGA Sellout” tour to take down Republicans who had certified Biden’s election or supported Trump’s impeachment; Stockton talked ambitiously about a series of massive cookouts and a “Tea Party 8.0.” But something was also changing for them. Stockton says he now believes that in fact Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president of the United States. It can seem odd, trying to punish politicians who believe the exact same thing they believe, until you remember that this is actually safer ground for them: politics as a prank, eyebrows arched. And besides, what did it matter who was right? If your goal is to remake the Republican Party, tossing out politicians with last names like Cheney and Murkowski and Romney, you take any opportunity you can.

In any event, even that version didn’t work out. They failed to recruit candidates and no one came to the big barbecue. Stockton and Lawrence talk darkly about why they’ve been laying low since then: They say that they are being targeted again, and see a shadowy conspiracy keeping them on the sidelines. They say that they’ve faced face extra scrutiny at the airport when they try to travel, that they have been unable to bank. Worse, Stockton says, somebody — maybe their newsletter platform, maybe their internet service provider — labeled the email list that he spent millions of dollars building and years cultivating a kind of spam, and so his open rate went from 20 or 30 percent to 2 percent. Without being able to reach people, he has no way to raise money. “We tried soft-ask emails, no-ask emails … and nothing is getting through,” he says. “We finally just gave up.”

Broke, unable to afford lawyers, and forced to turn off the hot water in their RV in Nevada to save on money, Lawrence and Stockton are, in a word, furious. They say the money they were owed for the “Stop the Steal” bus tour never came through. Investigative reports from outlets like ProPublica and others have lumped them in with the crowds who stormed the Capitol. Never having been introduced to the top money people, never having been pardoned, never even paid properly and, now, left holding the bag as others led the assault on the Capitol, they are ready to tell what they know. POLITICO has already reported that Stockton talked to the Jan. 6 committee. They no doubt spoke to me for this story, in large part, because they thought they could vindicate themselves.

But they now feel a growing sense of alienation from their own side, as well as from the elites they’ve been fighting for years. Who gets the pardons, who gets the Fox News hits, and who gets to hobnob with the donor class? Not them. “We are just tired of watching people take advantage of other people and then us being forced to bear the consequences of it. There are a lot of grifters in our space, a lot of people who are not acting in good faith, and we know a lot about that, and we are ready to share,” he said.

Without money to pay attorneys, they say they reached out to the House Jan. 6 committee, and would like to voluntarily testify. “This is our chance to tell our side of the story. We are going to be labeled with the crazies unless we do. We are in no-man’s land right now. The right thinks we are collaborators and the left wants our heads on pikes because we organized rallies in D.C. I don’t know what we do,” Stockton continued. “And so f--- everyone. We are not afraid to tell people what happened. We don’t want to be known as an insurrectionist or any other dumb-f--- influencer on the right who just echoes the same talking points everybody else says.”

Stockton and Lawrence are not, to be clear, brave dissidents coming in from the cold of the right-wing fever swamps. Their own version of their story and their epiphany can seem a little too cute; they’re people who grabbed a tiger’s tail and eventually the tiger bit them. They have political ideas that many readers will find abhorrent. Stockton believes, for example, not only that a well-armed militia is constitutionally enshrined but that it is also necessary for safety, and that trained civilians carrying semi-automatic rifles keep people safer. They filmed a Facebook video of themselves at a gun range with a far-right YouTuber in the days before the riot on the 6th. Stockton uses the word “globalist,” often seen as an antisemitic dog whistle, insisting that it is about open borders and trade and foreign military intervention, and in his defense points to Lawrence’s father’s friendship with Bibi Netanyahu. There is video of Lawrence heckling migrants as they cross the southern border, but they also forcibly remove people who carry Confederate flags to their rallies. Stockton says he wants people to participate in politics, in the legitimate political sphere, and he sees the charge on the Capitol as a violation of that.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/11/19/dustin-stockton-jen-lawrence-trump-profile-522823?utm_source=pocket-newtab

#DAVID FREEDLANDER #Jan. 6

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canyouhearthelight · 4 years

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The Miys, Ch. 118

Winding down to the end of 2020, when there will be an announcement regarding the story. No worries: I’m not stopping at the end of the year!

First, thanks for this chapter go to: @zommbiebro for Jokul, @wildforestferret for Hannah, @baelpenrose for Alistair and being an amazing Beta Reader/writing partner, and @raven-fae for originally giving me the NERVE to start posting this so long ago. I never imagined that a one-off response to a writing prompt would become so much!

Housekeeping stuff: I updated the Master List and the page links over the weekend (whew), and also finished all the chapters that will post through the end of the year! Much excite, so relief.

Rushing between appointments, I was trying to multitask by looking over one of the files for the cooking class volunteers. Quiet beeps in the back of my mind should have reminded me to watch where I was going as I kept setting off proximity warnings in people I nearly ran into. I was so focused on my task that I ignored the mutters around me of how rude I was being, until the alert suddenly started getting louder and louder, practically screaming before I snapped out of my trance and stopped walking.

In front of me was a familiar set of broad shoulders, and just past him was a wall that I nearly ran us both into. “Conor, what are you doing?” I asked, started to see him seemingly just staring at a wall and humming away.

He turned toward me with a grin, dropping a kiss on the top of my head in greeting. “I didn’t realize that was you,” he answered. “I heard someone coming, but figured they would either turn or rather run into me than the wall.”

“And why are you staring at the wall?”

“Wasn’t staring,” he corrected. “I was working on this.” He stepped aside with a flourish, revealing one of the wall-tanks set up throughout the Ark for Else. Soft yellow motes drifted in the tank, evidence of Else’s continued breakneck evolution. However, this tank had something new in it…

“You put snowflakes in there?” I asked, confused.

He ran a hand through his hair and laughed. “When Sam, Derek, and I started putting out the Insert Winter Holiday decorations this week, Else got curious and asked what we were doing. Derek explained - he talks to them better than I do - and they wanted something in their habitat, too, like we have.”

“And you decided on snowflakes?”

“Else picked that, actually. They are very curious about snow, since they developed… well, here, where there is no weather…”

“I guess that is fair.” Suddenly, I felt rude for talking about Else like they weren’t present. I still hadn’t gotten in the habit of speaking directly to them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you…” I cringed a little inside.

Is okay, Else replied. We are not offended. Will we see real snow one day?

I thought about it. “Probably? Von has atmosphere, and the nights are long enough that the temperature probably gets really cold. It may have the right conditions for snow.”

Many humans think snow is beautiful. We would like to see snow.

“You and me both, buddy,” I admitted. “I love it.”

Conor shuddered. “No thank you. You can keep your cold mush.” Checking his databand, he groaned. “I have to get going. See you later, Else.” He dropped another kiss on my head. “I’ll see you at dinner,” he promised.

“No bruises?”

“No bruises.”

I smiled before jumping to check the time myself. “Shit,” I swore softly. “Else, I gotta go, too. I have an appointment five minutes ago.”

Humans can time travel?

“I wish,” I muttered, practically running to get there on time. I prayed that Alistair kept Hannah busy while I raced to our interview.

I showed up breathless and dishevelled, but only ten minutes late. Great first impression you’re giving, I scolded myself as I tried to get my hair somewhat more tidy and catch my breath. Straightening, I scanned my datapad and entered my office.

Hannah was nodding seriously at something Alistair was saying, and all I could do was pray he wasn’t telling her some embarrassing story about me. Both of them looked up as I entered, and Hannah approached me to shake my hand. “Hello, Sophia! Or should I address you as Councillor. I’m not entirely sure…”

“Sophia is fine,” I reassured her. “Did Alistair explain why I asked you to meet with me today?”

She shook her head. “No, we were just talking about Zachary’s work with Councilor Ranganathan.”

“That is part of it,” I agreed. “Zach is one of several people who Pranav is mentoring, hoping to build a pool of candidates to fill his position in the future. I asked you to meet with me to see if you would be interested in doing the same, with me?”

Her eyes widened. “You want me… to learn your job?”

“I assure you, it is much safer than I make it look.” I tried to sound confident, but was already bracing for her to reject the position.

“It’s not that - “ Wait, what? “I just. Do you really think I could?”

“You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you could do it,” I assured her, somewhat dumbfounded. Recovering quickly, I pushed on. “I want to be clear - this is an elected position, so there is no guarantee that you would be my successor. The goal of the mentorship is to help you decide if you even want to do it, at all, along with ensuring that the Ark has the opportunity to choose between people who definitely know how to do the job. And more importantly, want to do the job.”

Alistair picked up from there. “In the Before, if you remember, many elections were decisions based on which candidate would do the least harm, rather than the most good. The Council is trying to change that.”

She nodded in understanding. “So there would be other people you are mentoring?”

So far, so good. “Hopefully three, yes.”

“Will you be working with us at the same time?”

“If all three of you accept, I am hoping to work with each of you one day per week individually, and the rest collectively,” I confirmed. “More specific than that, I will meet with all of you to explain once I know who has accepted. But I wanted to extend the offer in person, so I can answer any questions you may have.”

Hannah nodded again. “Would we be working the same hours you do?”

I was very glad Alistair and I already thought that part through, along with Tyche’s input. “Initially, no. You would only work half of my shift, and what half would be at my discretion. However, this would be considered your job allotment, so you would not have to worry about any schedule conflicts. The only reason I will be deciding which half of my shift you work is because it may change due to Council meetings that you may not be privy to, or if there is nothing beneficial to your learning happening during the other half.”

“Why only half?” She asked.

“Councilors generally work double shifts,” Alistair advised her. When her eyes widened again, he continued, “In my experience, as her assistant, she will never ask you to work as much as she does, but she is very insistent that if she is not working, neither are you.”

I shook my head at him. “What he isn’t explaining is that there are also often large gaps in my day when I have no appointments and no paperwork to go through. So being in the office for sixteen to twenty hours sounds grueling, but I am rarely here the entire time. That’s just the window when people are allowed to set appointments, or when the Council can convene outside of emergencies.”

Her shoulders sagged with relief. “I was honestly about to walk out until you explained that a bit better.”

I leaned over to Alistair and hissed. “People skills!”

“Professionalism…” he murmured back.

Hannah smiled at our antics. “Another question: What exactly do you do?”

I groaned, and Alistair smirked at me. Jokul had been so right on that point that it wasn’t even funny. “Since Zach is shadowing Pranav, I’m going to assume you know how the parts about voting in Council sessions works, right?” She nodded. “Okay, so that’s the big part that most people know about. They vote on an issue, their votes go to their representative Councilor, who votes on their behalf, short version. On a day to day basis, each Councilor is responsible for heading up everything on the Ark in a certain field. For me, that’s any large scale events, staffing, or major adjustments to how people are able to live their day-to-day lives. I have one assistant,” I gestured to Alistair, “and an Administrator, my sister Tyche. She handles all of the small staffing concerns, because she is amazing at it.”

“So… Insert Winter Holiday, the annual Food festival…?”

I nodded. “Along with the gravity changes, the day cycle changes, the proximity alerts, creating and maintaining quiet rooms, finding people to back fill gaps caused by large projects or initiatives, large scale announcements to the ship, et cetera.”

“That’s… a lot…” She bit her bottom lip in concern.

“Really, it’s a handful of major events each year, plus the daily stuff. And I work really closely with the other Councilors, largely because once most projects are past a staffing point, it falls under their jurisdiction to execute.”

Slowly, she nodded. “Okay…” After a moment, she nodded much more firmly. “Okay, I’ll try it.”

One down, two to go, I cheered in my head as I resisted the urge to scream with joy.

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#the miys #found family #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #aliens #original science fiction #science fiction #scifi #apocalypse #learning to live #hfy #earth is space australia #original writing #my writing

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