#but poc in congress and the senate now

[iliasaid]

The timeline has split, im so heartbroken for my little sister who has to grow up in a post roe world, Sick that so many people didn't show up to vote. despite the years of horrific headlines, anti lgbtq policies, reproductive Healthcare gutted, they don't care.

Because they don't want a woman in charge.

So we elected a rapist, felon, p3do, who shat on his own followers and spewed racism about poc people. Now, we have a full republican senate, house, and congress.

they don't want another election, that's why this one was so important. we're in a dictatorship now. He told his voters, that they needed to vote one more time, and incited violence against his political opponents.

This will be a police state, contraception, ivf, and the education system dismantled.

I grew up in a baptist household, hearing Christian nationalism rhetoric, that no fault divorce and marital rape aren't legitimate, that women shouldn't vote, that the "liberal war" on the church made us, an all white congregation, the most oppressed group in America.

Cognitive Dissonance is REAL, and it's deep in all the little red counties that decided the swing states. People aren't effected by these policies, therefore they don't matter. It doesn't matter until it's

their daughter being sexually assaulted

their wife miscarrying and having to flee the state to receive Healthcare

their gas prices and grocery costs.

we couldve done it. I hate it here

get an IUD, it'll last the whole presidency.

[fenharel-enaste]

Stressed about Spanish elections here

✨Politics below✨

Well today we have the national elections for both congress and senate in Spain and I'm scared.

We have two big parties, one of them always wins the elections, one left wing (PSOE) and one right wing (PP). But during the last decade none of them are getting enough votes to govern alone. They have to reach agreements and "ally" with other smaller parties and govern together.

Okay so in this elections is very likely PP wins, mostly because it's campaign has been basically spreading lies about leftist parties that people who don't check the facts will believe. This is awful but it's even worse now that they'll probably have to ally with this far far right party (Vox) who are openly fascists and want to take away all the progress we've made for women, poc, lgbtq+ community and other marginalized groups.

So yeah this is probably what's going to happen tonight and I'll be crying for the next four years, tysm for coming to my TED talk.

[boreal-sea]

2016 too, like i was 17 that year and couldn't vote and i remember screaming on here about the importance of voting for clinton, for the supreme court as one of the main reasons, because the fact that trump got to appoint 3 justices is why that court is getting away with all this shit now. i remember getting into so many arguments with white leftists about how much harm trump would be for me, as a queer person of color, and not being able to get through to them.

i know it's starting to change among young people, but i'm pretty sure white people still vote majority for republicans. that's what's been so upsetting for me. the constant demeaning of people who try to explain the system by white people (who may not believe in voting dem) while their older family members likely vote republican. all this talk about how black people always show up, complaining about other poc not showing up, when..... if more white people all showed up and voted for democrats, we'd be in a very different position. and it's really frustrating to see a lot of these people instead on here whining about not voting and essentially relying on poc (and the suburban wine mom liberals they scoff at) to show up in large blocks and pull left. and if we aren't enough they dig their feet in even further and complain about this country doing shitty things as if they don't have an opportunity to stop republicans and continue to waste it

(i'm not saying dems are perfect or always do the right thing but our majority in the senate could've been expanded and we could've kept the house and done a lot more. the reason "biden can't do anything" for some of these issues is because we don't have the support of congress, which we might, if they get over themselves and vote)

Biden has done so much good, and people are just blind to it for some reason. It's really frustrating.

And yeah unfortunately, white people do tend to vote Republican, which, as a white person, I absolutely hate.

If it weren't for voter suppression, Democrats would win basically every election. Republicans have outright admitted this. They have admitted they have to gerrymander voting districts, they have to remove polling locations, they have to institute draconian ID laws etc.

So the most powerful thing a white person who actually cares about this can do during an election year is volunteer. Volunteer to get people to the polls. Volunteer to be a poll watcher or poll worker so it's not Republicans doing it, because they purposely do it to scare away minority voters.

But instead, they want to dream of a glorious revolution that will never happen, whine that they have to participate in society, and then they'll scream in horror if Trump is elected and act like there's nothing they could have done to prevent it, that they were completely powerless, and nothing they could have done would have mattered.

[radicalurbanista]

there is one possible good outcome of this year that I’ve been thinking about a lot

It requires a lot of action before and after the election and a focused political strategy for the next few election cycles. It will have to meet certain conditions at critical times, but if it does, it could mean the end of the republican party the passage of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, and a labor party. Basically, it depends on splitting the Democratic party after ensuring Democrat control of Congress and the White House, DSA expansion, and eliminating the electoral college.

1) Circa the 2020 election

Biden wins the electoral college

This is almost completely dependent on white moderates in swing states voting for Biden and on massive protests during what will likely be a highly contested legal battle for the presidency. The protests are to show leaders that we reject any legitimacy of another trump term. Protests against trump will face even more violence at the hands of police and their conspiring with white nationalists. There is still the possibility of a coup. But voting alone will not ensure trump’s removal from office, everyone needs to be out in the streets and organizing strikes and protests. It will be a lot easier than stopping trump after he’s secured a second term. If this fails, protesting conditions will become even more hostile, and Americans will see no relief from the economic depression or pandemic. The U.S. may end as a dictatorship, but I have no idea when.

Democrats take majority control of the senate

This is essential as well. There are many senate seats this year where Republicans could be replaced by Dems. Here is a more thorough guide on who could be unseated. This will help with passing bills that Dems agree on. The more the better. Without this, splitting the party won’t be possible yet.

Democrats expand control of the House

This will make splitting the Dem party easier.

DSA (Democratic Socialists) expand control at the local and state level

The emergence of DSA to a national party requires many more wins at the local level. This will give them the chance to become the left-wing national party. 50% of Democrat voters support socialism, and that’s pre-pandemic and pre-depression. It is these voters who will be attracted to the DSA as they grow.

Democrats expand control in state legislatures

Once the census results are in and states have to redistrict, Democrat-controlled state legislatures will likely produce less gerrymandered conservative districts. This will secure more representational elections for the next decade.

2) Before the 2022 election

Eliminate the electoral college

This is another very difficult part. Conservative Dems (like Biden) oppose eliminating the electoral college. His current views may not matter once the DNC tells him to do otherwise. It will likely be moderate and left Dems who push this agenda forward, as it is within the best interest of the Dem party to make the popular vote chose the presidency. National support for it may also be higher than ever after the election, meaning more pressure on Dems to act while they can. If the electoral college is eliminated, Republicans will lose their chance at winning the presidency again, meaning trump 2024 won’t be possible

Begin major canvassing for M4A, GND, police defunding, and abolishing ICE

Once Dems control Congress and the White House, the left can be more on the political offense rather than defense. The DNC opposes Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, but support for them will only likely increase as more people die from COVID-19, suffer under medical debt, face record breaking unemployment and evictions, and climate crises continue to destroy areas. These bills are popular, and the DSA supports them, which will give them leverage in winning more elections and even in poaching Democrat representatives like Bernie and AOC. Support for abolishing ICE and the police are only likely to grow thanks to continued BLM organizing.

Counter Republican campaigns at the state and local levels

Republicans are unified, backed by money, and think long-term, but this election is different because their only platform is supporting trump. Should they lose the White House and Congress, and lose the electoral college, they will have to create a whole new base and platform goals to win a national election ever again. Local organizers will have to counter republican strategies at the local and state levels in hopes of killing the party. Republicans might be able to find a way to attract half of the voter base again, but they might also be clinging too tightly to racism, which, although strong, is no longer enough to win the presidency through popular vote. They could also lose southern state control as cities like Atlanta and Houston grow and their voters flip the state blue.

3) Circa the 2024 election

Enter the DSA into national elections

If the electoral college is gone and the DSA was won more local and state seats in 2020 and 2022, the DSA has a chance to enter national elections. As a popular left-wing party and with the decline of the republican party, the DSA can now attract left-wing previously “captured” by Dems. They may likely not win the presidency, but the DSA will force Dems to be the nation’s right-wing party and become the left-wing party in doing so. Formerly republican voters will likely switch to Dems as the Democratic party becomes more conservative and if republicans no longer have a chance at winning national elections.

Center campaigns around major bills not yet passed (M4A, GND, police defunding, and/or abolishing ICE)

This keeps important issues relevant and keeps Dems on the defense as to why they won’t pass the bills.

4) After

Continue building revolutionary potential now that the two national parties are welfare capitalism/socialism-lite and neoliberalism.

The DSA will likely capture much of the working-class vote, Millennials and Gen Z, and POC. If republicans are still around, their goal will be to find a new way to split the working class vote, likely requiring collaborating with Dems. However, their old strategy of splitting by rural/urban may no longer work. Businesses will do everything they can to stop a party from representing workers: it’s why the parties realigned after the New Deal.

This is all possible and will offer actual harm reduction to the working class for the first time since the 70s. None of it will be possible without massive organizing and protest efforts on the ground. None of it will be possible without strong interracial ties and community building. Voting is essential, but it’s the bare minimum and inadequate alone. During this period, BLM and new leftist movements could grow, we could see a militant left party to further curb U.S. domestic authoritarianism. We could see national policy that interferes less in the Global South. We would likely see increased protections for workers, a redistribution of wealth, and new public infrastructure. We could even see the end of the U.S. by the close of the decade, or at least how it would finally happen.

I’m happy to explain any point further, but I thought I’d put my degree to use and share a possible political strategy for the next decade that could use protest and direct action with electoral politics to end U.S. dominance and global capitalism while making the conditions for final stages of revolution less hostile. The next decade will be turbulent regardless, but would this ^^^ is the best way for that turbulence to lead to liberation.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 10, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

A poll today by the Associated Press (AP) and the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) shows that President Joe Biden’s administration is gaining positive traction. Sixty-three percent of Americans approve of how he is handling his job as president. Seventy-one percent approve of how he is handling the coronavirus pandemic; 62% percent approve of how he is handling health care. Fifty-seven percent approve of how he is handling the economy; 54% approve of how he is handling foreign affairs.

Fifty-four percent of Americans think the country is going in the right direction. This is the highest number since 2017, but it is split by party: 84% of Democrats like the country’s direction, while only 20% of Republicans do.

Biden’s weak spots are in immigration, where 43% approve and 54% disapprove, and gun policy, where 48% approve and 49% disapprove.

And yet, Biden’s people have been working to address the influx of migrant children; White House Secretary Jen Psaki noted last week that “At the end of March, there were more than 5,000 children in Customs and Border Protection Patrol stations. Today, that number is approximately 600…. The amount of time children spend in CBP facilities is down by 75 percent — from 131 hours at the end of March to under 30 hours now.”

The administration has backed that short-term work with a long-term initiative. Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris met virtually with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the leader of the left of center populist nationalist coalition party MORENA, to talk about finding ways to promote economic development to address the root causes prompting the flight of refugees from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and southern Mexico. They also talked about working together to protect human rights and dismantle the criminal networks that smuggle migrants. She will travel to Guatemala and Mexico in June, where she will meet with their leaders.

Disapproval of Biden’s gun policies might well reflect a desire for a stronger stance. In April, a Morning Consult/Politico poll showed that 64% of registered voters supported stricter gun control laws. We have had an average of ten mass shootings a week in 2021, 194 in all. (A mass shooting is one in which four people are killed or wounded.)

This week, Biden will be meeting with bipartisan groups of leaders, including Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to begin to hammer out an infrastructure measure based on his American Jobs Plan. He will also meet with Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who have proposed their own $568 billion proposal without corporate tax hikes.

As the good news from the administration is starting to filter into the media, bad news from the Trump wing of the Republican Party is also starting to get traction. On Saturday, we learned that at retreats in March and April, staff for the National Republican Congressional Committee refused to tell lawmakers how badly Trump is polling in core battleground districts, where 54% see Biden favorably while only 41% still favor Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan are all more popular in those districts than the former president.

Indeed, it is more than a little odd that party leaders are bending over backward to tie their party to a former president who, after all, never broke 50% favorability ratings—the first time in polling history that had happened—and who lost both the White House and Congress.

Another set of data from Catalist, a voter database company in Washington, D.C., shows that the 2020 election was the most diverse ever, with Latino and Asian voters turning out in bigger numbers than ever before. Black voting increased substantially, while Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters had a decisive increase in turnout. The electorate was 72% white, down 2% from 2016 and 5% from 2008. Thirty-nine percent of Biden-Harris voters were people of color (61% were white); only 15% of Trump-Pence voters were POC (85% were white).

This demographic trend is behind the new voter suppression bills in Republican states. But the racial breakdown of the 2020 vote is not the only problem for the current Republican Party. The biggest turnout gains in 2020 were among young voters, 18 to 40 years old, who now make up 31% of voters, while those over 55 have dropped to only 44% of the electorate. Younger voters skew heavily toward the Democrats. Also notable was that women break heavily toward Democrats by a 10 point gap—79% of women of color support Democrats; 58% of white women voted for Biden-Harris—and women make up 54% of the electorate overall.

News out of the private “recount” in Arizona by Cyber Ninjas, a company without experience in election recounts and whose owner has already gone on record as believing that rigged voting machines in Arizona cost Trump victory, continues to be embarrassing as well. Although the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which has a Republican majority, said the count was fair and opposed a recount, sixteen Republicans in the state senate voted to give the ballots for Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, to the company for a private recount. The count has been plagued by conspiracy theories—one observer claimed they are examining the ballots for signs of bamboo in the paper to show that tens of thousands of ballots were flown in from Asia—and it turned out that one of the people recounting the ballots had been at the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Now the “recount” is running so far behind it appears it won’t be done until August, rather than May 14 as the company promised.

State senator Paul Boyer, who voted for the “audit,” told New York Times reporter Michael Wines: “It makes us look like idiots…. Looking back, I didn’t think it would be this ridiculous. It’s embarrassing to be a state senator at this point.”

And then, this morning, the Washington Post dropped a long, investigative story by reporters Emma Brown, Aaron C. Davis, Jon Swaine, and Josh Dawsey revealing that the arguments former president Trump has grabbed to “prove” the election was stolen from him were part of a long conspiracy theory hatched in 2018 by Russell J. Ramsland, Jr., “a Republican businessman who has sold everything from Tex-Mex food in London to a wellness technology that beams light into the human bloodstream.” The story follows how Ramsland’s theories, which were debunked as “bat-s**t insane” by White House lawyers, got pumped into the media by Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, among others, and how Trump came to embrace them.

While Republican leaders are still standing behind those theories, and the former president, opponents of the party’s direction are pushing back not just against Trump but also against those leaders supporting him. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) tweeted this morning: “A few days before Jan 6, our GOP members had a conference call. I told Kevin [McCarthy] that his words and our party’s actions would lead to violence on January 6th. Kevin dismissively responded with ‘ok Adam, operator next question.’ And we got violence.”

Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) has narrated a video distributed by the Republican Accountability Project recalling the violence of January 6, blaming Trump for spreading lies about the election, and reminding viewers that more than 60 lawsuits disproved his claims that the election was stolen. The video says “we are the party of Lincoln. We are not the party of QAnon” (showing an image of Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” who wore a horned headdress during the Capitol insurrection) “or white supremacy” (showing an image of Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson). “We cannot embrace insurrection” (showing a picture of Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene). “President Trump provoked an attack on the United States Capitol which resulted in five people dying. That is a person who does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.” The video features an image of McCarthy standing with Trump. Cheney made it clear she was not about to shut up.

This afternoon, McCarthy released a statement calling for Cheney’s ouster as conference chair, featuring the line: “[u]nlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.” (References to George Orwell, who famously wrote about how fascists used language to rewrite history, were all over Twitter.) McCarthy and other Trump loyalists have suggested that Cheney needs to go because she keeps talking about the past, but Allan Smith of NBC News points out that Trump himself seems to be the one who cannot stop talking about the past.

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[starrtoon]

Now that the MAGA party is over and Democrats control both the Congress and the Senate, a new age of enlightenment will begin in the US! No more letting religion dictating how to act but now science and facts. And to top it all off, Biden said he would give $2,000 to every American if the people of Georgia elected those 2 Senators over there and they did! So we'll all receive a free $2,000 check in the mail soon! Enjoy the rule of the only party that cares for the people.

Get off my blog, bruh

I'm not even a Trump supporter but I sure do NOT like the democrats/left at all.

If the left cared about people and loved science and facts then they'd be against abortion 😃 abortion literally ends the life of an innocent human being.

Not to mention the left hates the guts of POC who are trump supporters, they don't truly care about any POC unless they fit their standards.

[socialistexan]

At this point, Bernie is too old to run for a first term in 2024, so I figure with his campaign ending today we might as well start looking to the next election now. We move forward.

Potential 2024 progressive Presidential candidates:

Nina Turner

I just can't think of a better person more well set up to succeed Bernie than Nina, and this time they can't call her a racist that hates black people. Or at least they will but it won't land. She's got the cred and experience, she's shown she can fight, progressives like her, she's been with Bernie every step of the way. It just makes sense. She's also elevated her profile during this campaign, being more front and center.

If anyone can directly take the reigns of what Bernie built and reenergize the grassroots donor base, it's Nina Turner.

Pramila Jayapal

Not sure how well known she is outside progressive political circles, but I absolutely adore her. She's got just about everything you'd want from a progressive candidate. Early Bernie supporter and disavowing of corporate money, sponsor of M4A in the House, ticks most if not all policy boxes, was an advocate outside the state aparatus. She may not be a demsoc (not many self-avowed socialists unless AOC or Nina Turner runs), but I think she's got what it takes.

Ro Khanna

Has sort of supplanted Keith Ellison as Bernie's sort of more estsblished liaison in the House. Again, has deep ties to the last campaign, is well known and liked in among the base. It'll be very interesting to see what he does going forward. He's definitely taken on the M4A and anti-war mantles, let's see where that leads. I have him front of mind though.

Chuy Garcia

Long-time Bernie ally, and has connections to the Illinois machine which could potentially bring on Obama-wing people. A campaign that brings together Bernie-Obama is possibly unstoppable.

It would be cool, but probably not:

AOC: Just barely old enough to run (turns 35 in 2024), but I have a feeling she'll want to wait juuuust a little longer. Or she could capitalize on her star status, assuming her momentum hasn't been blunted. 2022 will answer a lot. 6 years in office is a short stay for a Presidential candidate

Rashida Tlaib: Same as AOC, with a slightly lower profile

Barbara Lee: probably the most underappreciated progressive of our time. She's falls into the Bernie/Biden trap of "too old" and we already know women and poc are held to a different standard on that

Keith Ellison: The domestic violence accusation basically takes him off the table.

Ilhan Omar: *sigh* Not eligible

Katie Hill: Now that would be a hell of a comeback.

Russ Feingold: Speaking of comebacks. Why not follow up a lefty Jewish Senator with another lefty Jewish Senator.

The Liz Warren "progressive" candidates:

Julian Castro: Julian I am begging you to please just run for Governor or Senator. Texas needs you more, especially when it comes to flipping our state level offices

Ayanna Pressley: She broke from the Squad in this last cycle, seems like she's in position to take Warren's Senate seat when it opens up (I can't imagine Warren stays in it past another term). Still one to watch

Katie Porter: If there's another Liz Warren out there, it's Katie Porter. Which isn't a bad thing in Congress, we need more people like that there, but there's more progressive options for President

[twink-senpai]

I know you're upset about the possibility of Bernie not being on the ballot.

Did you know that you can still turn in an incomplete ballot? You could skip over the president section and fill out the rest. Like the sections for Senate, Congress, and local candidates and measures that will directly affect you and your community.

I know you feel like the whole ballot seems pointless now. But here's something very important to remember:

THE GOP DOES NOT WANT YOU TO VOTE.

THEY GO TO AMAZING LENGTHS TO KEEP PEOPLE ON THE LEFT (mostly poc) FROM VOTING.

WHY WOULD THEY CARE SO MUCH IF YOUR VOTE DIDN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

[danwhobrowses]

America, We Need to Talk

For some reason in these past years the concept of ‘Reason’ and ‘Sense’ has departed your country, I’ve hissed, I’ve simmered, I’ve hit my head against the wall hoping that in the end IN THE END the collective mass of the American People will open their eyes, stop making excuses and realise that for 4 years, America has not become ‘Great Again’ I’ve resisted the urge to unload many a time, but news that Donald Trump is to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize is just too much, because this is literal horseshit. For some part it feels like they’re only trying it just so Republicans can force a rhetoric as if Trump did a better job than Obama - who won in 2009 for easing religious tensions, preventing Nuclear Weapons distribution and profiting, working towards fixing climate change and assisting with the UN - as people die of COVID, cities burn and violence against peaceful protests continue to ravage your country.

I have to say that again, Ravage, because I feel as though some people are blind to the matter at hand. Donald Trump will say something and his cult of followers will believe it, when someone disagrees and presents evidence it’s deemed irrelevant or forged, if a Democrat says something on the contrary they need a full powerpoint presentation to prove it, somehow this mentality has poisoned the American society when the louder people will say something in confidence only for the rest of the world to read and think it’s one of the dumbest shit they’ve ever read. This isn’t just coming from a Brit, this is coming from family in Chicago, a co-worker who moved out of America and worked in the army, Italians, Greeks and someone who was in Hong Kong during the riots. The people who believe in Democracy, Majority Vote, Free Healthcare, Fair Wage, Equal Rights AND international peace that doesn’t look towards World War Fucking Three look at your country in shame because the state of your leadership and how it’s been allowed to continue with ridiculously boneheaded and stubborn reluctance to see the truth. So let’s start with the boiling point shall we, a Nobel Peace Prize Nomination? Have you learned anything from the last year? Or has the far-right got the prize so by the balls that this nomination is used as a cheap add-on to coincidentally peacock the Trump administration in its build to an election. The nomination to Trump has been cited to be in favour of the following things; Israel-UAE relations (aka ‘Saving the Middle East), Serbia-Kosovo deal (aka ‘Saving the ‘Middle East’’), Inter-Korea relations and likely the support of Jerusalem and Hong Kong, and in face value that may sway the common person who knows nothing about these deals. But a simple amount of research cuts most of these at the legs. Let’s talk Serbia and Kosovo, since it’ll directly involve Israel, relations were tense but they have not been at war, they are peacefully not talking to each other. The media will have you think that Peace has been brokered by Trump only in this but in reality Serbia still refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence, the tensions are still there you can just travel there now. This is an agreement that’s been build up since the economic and trade agreement in 2013. If that year isn’t surprising you that is 3 years before Trump was elected, when Barrack Obama was in office - Republican Public Enemy Hillary Clinton was at the forefront of that when she was Secretary of State. So no, Trump hasn’t saved the Middle East by this deal, mainly because Kosovo and Serbia are in Europe, they have been part of the EU for quite some time and the deal is already jeopardized since Serbia won’t build an embassy in Jerusalem if Israel recognize Kosovo as independent - which was part of the original deal. Also for all the Republicans’ use of ‘fear by Communism’ to slander their opponents they sure love to rub shoulders with countries also rubbing shoulders with Russia and China. So this segues into Israel-UAE, the Arab Nations have mainly been reluctant to recognize Israel as independent. On the 13th August a deal was struck called the Abraham agreement establishing Diplomatic Relations. Except, this was in the making since 2012 and only delayed to help progress Israeli-Palestine conflicts (which Trump’s actions with Israel led to Palestine cutting ties with the administration and his ‘Peace Plan’ falling apart 3 years after announcing it). UAE and Israel had been in conversation before Trump was signed in, but only made headway when the FDD - already funded by the UAE - took over. For 3 years USA did little for the relations, UAE and Israel doing it themselves, it’s only now do the US mediate a peace agreement, which meant that Trump didn’t really do much in terms of convincing both sides, he just made sure things didn’t get out of hand - which was never close to happening since there is little tensions. It was Kushner who requested the meeting and Mossad also had a huge part in it. Also I want to add that the US are only buddied with these two out of fear of Iran - you know, that country that Trump almost goaded into war in January after bombings and the death Assassination of General Soleimani who helped the US in the wake of 9/11 track and hunt down the Taliban, as well as fighting ISIS, how peaceful was that? The Middle East is still in Civil and Proxy Wars, no saving has been done there, the US just were there for Israel and UAE to confess that they’re friends. Which leads me to Korea. The Olympics helped more than Trump did, a shared effort where both countries had to travel and accommodate each other. Tensions may’ve eased in 2016 but they were far from resolved and in 2020 not much is better. Korea still antagonize one another and the North still antagonizes the US, any ‘peace’ the Trump Administration will claim to towards Korea faded quickly. And finally, Hong Kong, the US may be supportive and rightly so but this is again fear of Communism, it should’ve happened sooner but the US was hoping for that big and meaty trade deal with China. And this isn’t months I’m talking about it’s years, the proposal first took place after the Umbrella Movement...in 2014, it was annually brought up in Congress but postponed until the Senate decided to. And after Trump signed it he said he might veto it in favour of the China trade deal

“We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I'm also standing with President Xi: he's a friend of mine." - Donald Trump, November 2019

So really, this Nobel Peace Prize is the product and efforts of other people that set events in motion that Trump was there just to sign his name on. Meanwhile, in the country he is President of, the COVID Death toll has officially risen to 190 Thousand. 20% of COVID deaths are in the United States. Tear Gas/Pepper Spray - which is a recognized chemical weapon not allowed to be used in warfare - is used by Trump Supporters along with paintballs to attack peaceful protesters and Trump calls that peaceful because ‘Paint is not bullets’ - as someone who has been hit with Paintballs from safe range, they will hurt like a bitch and if you don’t wear protective gear they can do enough harm to crack and sometimes even break bone, the asthmatic co-worker I aforementioned that was in Hong Kong also notes that Tear Gas is awful, it may not kill you but it is far from peaceful. In the same breath Trump refuses to condemn a 16 year old carrying an AR and shooting someone in the head. He has also refused to condemn Epstein’s financier Ghislaine Maxwell and ‘hopes that she’s well’...the sex trafficker, but when you mention late Civil Rights leader John Lewis and his words are ‘can’t say one way or the other...he didn’t come to my inauguration’. This is your leader. The embodiment of the standards the country upholds itself to, it baffles me and many many others that the American People Chose a racist, bigoted, misogynistic, careless, self-important, naive, power-mad, severally-bankrupted, reality tv personality man-child, who is also intending to use US Taxpayers money to cover lawsuit fees against him alongside all his other golf trips. The man literally said that no other president has done more for Black People than he has, this is while he profusely condemned Kaepernick taking a knee to protest Police Brutality against Blacks and POC only for years later the world support it as BLM protests still happen because action has not been taken. We’ll also see what happens on the 14th regarding the Felony Hearing of the officers in Buffalo who pushed over Gugino and gave him a brain injury which he is still rehabilitating from after Trump tried to sell him as an Antifa member. Just in case you’re unaware, antifa stands for anti-fascist but Trump will paint that again in ‘Fear of Communism’. If you actually look up this stuff, the web of Trump’s lies unravel, and yet people just forget about. The man is a pro at gaslighting I’ll give him that, I mean leaking e-mails that condemned Clinton right at election time was some cutthroat stuff, but a man who needs to rely on preying on xenophobia, paranoia, fear, racism and invests mainly on smear tactics and dismantling, is not someone who can lead a country to prosperity, the amount of leeway this man gets from his supporters just hurts my head. So let me ask you America, truly, what is it that you want? Because it can’t be this, can it? Protests, Riots, people refusing to wear a simple face mask to limit the spread of a deadly virus because they think it’s a fake thing that the entire world decided to get in on with WHO just to spite Trump? Teenagers carrying guns? Refugees refused asylum and kept in cages? Do you want to keep spending your savings just to go to the doctors? or do you think that ‘Patriotism’ is blindly defending your country’s flaws and clinging to archaic and outdated thinking because centuries ago your country prospered in it? I’ll tell it to you straight: America is not the greatest country in the world, it hasn’t been for a long time. I don’t know what your history books tell you; that Native Americans were fine with slaughter, that the US won WW2 with the military might they always had, that Vietnam was a moral victory, but the present day should tell you that your country is a mess, and the man who has been at the helm for 4 years will not fix it in another 4. There’s only so much of Obama’s policies he can plagiarize as his own; he has left the UN, left the Paris Agreement for cleaner air and energy and all his original campaign members have been arrested, an alarming amount of people associated with him are facing criminal charges - is that not a red flag? Don’t let your thoughts that as a patriot you have to support your country no matter what, true patriotism is not just the love of your country but the hope and strive to better it because you can love it but accept that it has flaws. I mean even I’ll admit that the UK has a lot of its own shit to deal with, doesn’t mean I hate where I live I just know it can be better. If this were anyone else, hell if this were a Democrat the Republican party would be booking them a flight to the other side of the world with the stuff Trump has done and let to continue on with afterwards, through him you went from the United States to an Absolute State and the rest of the world wonder if this will either lead to World War 3 or a Second American Civil War You don’t have to like Joe Biden, but he clearly looks like the lesser of the two evils here, and at least in 4 years time America under him won’t be on fire. If you still don’t like him someone new could be elected after, but right now you are on a downward spiral and need someone who can put you back into a stable place, that man is not Donald Trump. The man who wants to intercept mail-in voting and outcry its ‘risk’ of tampering when he himself voted by mail is not a truthful leader, the man who tried to cancel the World Health Organization when they simply asked to not call COVID a racist name that incited xenophobia after decrying cancel culture is not a moral leader, and the man who said that COVID would peter out and suggested injecting disinfectant into the lungs to combat it only to now suddenly buy out all the experimental treatment so that they can try and engineer a cure in time for the election campaign, is not a wise leader. All the stuff you see in these coming months is just an attempt to win your vote, for the most part it’ll be Trump stamping his name on something other people worked on for years and claiming that he did all the work. So make sure you actually check the truth of these things, research and fact-check yourself with valid, neutral sources. Take off the blinders, take a breath and actually see the full picture. And please, as well as not letting this man have the Nobel Peace Prize Don’t give this guy have a Second Term

[eroticlizardfiction]

sorry sent that last ask too early & didn’t realize i meant why is voting for biden a bad thing for the mcelroys to do isn’t it the only option now

It's only the only option if you're a "blue no matter who" type which has some inherent problems with it.

Biden is rapist, during the pandemic he still is against universal healthcare and even says if it gets past Congress and Senate he would veto it, he opposes defunding the police, he opposed desegregation and has recently said he doesn't regret that, he had a big part in the crime bill that made mass incarceration of POC worse. He is a far right winger who imo is not much better than Trump. Voting for him is voting for the political scale in America to shift further right than it already is. He has and will cause so much harm to minorities and is so old he would probably die in office.

The two party system is already a broken system but we don't even have a two party system. We have a one party system just with two different colors.

[alightwhendarknessfell]

No no you have every right to rant. We were all warned about this in 2016. Now that RBG is gone, all of women’s reproductive rights are in danger along with LGBTQ’s rights. Everything we’ve worked for and achieved is all gonna go to shit cause all the Republicans are on this bible thumping power trip. Biden may not be the best option but he’s only option to get Trump’s ass out of here.

I really want people to think about that. Talk to your parents/grandparents about what it was like before Roe v. Wade and marriage equality. A lot of people born after Roe have taken the right to an abortion for granted. Thinking that because it is precedent on precedent it can’t be taken away. 

It can, and it will if you do not fight for it. If you do not fight for your rights they will be taken from you. That is especially true for LGBTQ+ people, POC, immigrants, the poor, disabled, AFAB bodies, and religious minorities/secular individuals. 

I was born in 1995. A right to abortion and birth control has always been my reality. My grandmother on the other hand knows what it was like to have to ask your husband for PERMISSION to get birth control. She knew girls who died after trying to give themselves abortions or who had to drop out of school when they got pregnant. When women weren’t seen as equal to men in the eyes of the law. When queer people were denied basic human rights. 

We can’t go back to that. We can’t go back to women (and trans-men/Non-binary individuals) dying or causing permanent damage trying to give themselves an abortion. We can’t let the religious right take away birth control options like IUDs (the most effective method) or ‘morning after’ pills. We can’t let the right to marry who you love been taken. We can’t let employers force their beliefs on their employees or deny them employment because of gender/identity/sexuality/race. We can’t let healthcare be taken from millions of Americans because they have pre-existing conditions. 

While the court may be lost to a 6-3 conservative majority if the Senate moves as fast as they want to with Amy’s confirmation. There ARE things we can do to protect reproductive and queer rights. Even if the SCOTUS overturns those rulings, Congress can enact laws to protect these rights. We don’t need to just vote for Biden, we need to send him to DC WITH a Democratic House and Senate. 

And we need to make sure in 2022 that we KEEP both chambers in the mid-terms. And that we turn as many governor houses and GAs blue as we can. 

[johnnyofnm]

Thoughts on class, race, politics and the #GeorgeFloyd protests

Last night I shared some contradictory messages on IG but I wanted to share some of my own thoughts regarding the protests.

Killer Mike, who I generally tend to align with, urged the people of Atlanta last night to go home and not burn down their own city. He told them that, instead of their demonstrating, they should be making sure they are counted on the census and to exercise their suffrage. And while I generally agree that more PoC should exercise those rights and that they probably shouldn’t burn down their own homes, my only question to Mike is…

Bruh. Who should they feel compelled to vote for if the shit hasn’t worked for them for over 40 years?

This brings me to the message I shared by Dr. Cornel West where he explains that the system has shown itself to be incapable of reforming itself. We’ve had a black President. We’ve had a black attorney general. We’ve had black senators and black congress-people. We’ve had a modicum of black representation in both Democratic and Republican (less so) presidential administrations.

It hasn’t done shit for black people.

The other dimension that I want to talk about is that these demonstrations around the nation are not only about race. It is a rebellion of people who have been abused by the police but also whose voices have fallen silent on the ears of the politicians ostensibly elected to represent them. People whose voices have been ignored not solely because they are black, but because they are poor (who so happen to be disproportionately black) and/or lower working-class and therefore had very little power to fight back within the confines of the law. But now we’re also beginning to see poorer whites and other non-black poor people who have been affected in similar ways joining protests in solidarity too.

People of all races, genders, and creeds, who have all in some way come to understand these unjust dynamics are making themselves be known. They have no trust left that the system can reform itself in terms of providing opportunities for jobs that they can build a livelihood and to ascend the economic ladder. They have no trust left that the crumbling infrastructure in their neighborhoods will ever be improved. They have no trust left in the police, who too often behave as a hostile occupying forces that terrorize poor neighborhoods, and who are rarely ever held to account for their malfeasances.

I could go on and on...

So, I agree with Killer Mike that people should participate in electoral politics and that they absolutely shouldn’t burn down their own city (for obvious reasons). Granted. I also agree with Dr. West's analysis of WHY people feel abandoned by electoral politics and how an instance of blatant racial injustice caught on camera coupled with a recent economic downturn due to CoVID-19 (topic for another time) might motivate people to start looting and burning shit down. Think about it this way, if people blind to their own privileges, the police, and the politicians show more indignation over the loss of private property than they do your experience in near-inescapable poverty or the killing of people like you, what might seem like a rational thing to do to remind them of your existence?

Hit them in the private property. It’s not that difficult to understand.

[ipictureitsoftandiache]

so like our entire legislative branch was shaped with slavery in mind. like. arguably the purpose of congress is to strengthen slavery bc its a function of both capitalism and white supremacy. but anyways. slavery is written into the constitution. it’s why we have a bicameral system to begin with. slavery is why we have two chambers in congress. we have the senate bc smaller states were like “we should have equal representation regardless of state size every state should have two representatives.” and we have the house of representatives bc bigger states like virginia were like “ok but we are very large and we need representation that’s proportionate to population so we can count slaves as part of the population and get more legislative power.” and the connecticut compromise was where they were like “ok we will have two chambers of congress also slaves are worth 3/5 of a person.” and that was the constitution.

so slavery is really ingrained into our country’s foundation and it’s legislation. it’s written into the constitution! the state as we know it wouldn’t exist without slavery. electoral politics as we know it wouldn’t exist. and not just because of history! obviously that’s important but slavery is still a huge part of elections today! “but slavery was abolished! abraham lincoln made slavery illegal and the south was so mad they started an entire war about it!” they did! and they lost! but slavery is still legal! the thirteenth amendment made slavery illegal except in the case of incarceration. other people have extrapolated on this far better than i ever could but bottom line is incarcerated people are used as slave labor and a disproportionate amount of that labor force is black. black people don’t commit more crimes than white people obviously. but they are subject to both stricter policing as civilians and harsher punishment as felons. and it’s not just bc some judges are racist! the law is written to be racist! possession of crack cocaine carries a significantly longer sentence than possession of powder cocaine. and crack cocaine is cheaper so its overwhelmingly used by low income poc. also three strikes laws! countless black people are imprisoned for nonviolent drug related offenses. the us has brutalized and continues to brutalize black slaves.

so now let’s go back to the electoral process! the house of representatives was created with the express intent of counting black slaves as population without granting them the right to vote. they were bodies. subhuman. more representatives, more power to legislators, and slaves had no say in it. and they still don’t! because the thing is — prisoners still count as residents of their districts. they’re technically constituents. so representatives may “represent” large prison populations, but they’re only voted in by the un-incarcerated residents of their district. because felons can’t vote! in jail and after they’re released! so they count as population for these rich asshole legislators, but obviously these legislators don’t give a fuck about them. and why would they? they’re just bodies! they can’t vote! why would they care if they upset them? what the fuck are they gonna do? they’re slaves! they’re not human! they don’t matter! they’re not a full person! fuck!

so yeah! our government is pretty intricately interwoven with slavery as an institution. you can’t separate the two. they reproduce and strengthen each other. idk nothing about this is new or important or insightful and i know black people have been saying it for years and i promise i heard it just never really clicked you know? anyways voting is dumb and politics suck and our democracy is a sham and i’m tired (but like still vote for sanders i need healthcare) (also this was implied but fuck joe biden)

[whoaimhellatrash]

To help protect the rights of everyone:

The rights of workers, the poor, students, LGBT+, POC, immigrants, women, the millions in incarceration, literally anyone not in the top 1% or the CEO of a major corporation

Please VOTE ON NOV. 6!!!

I'm begging you, if you're of age in the US you NEED to vote. Next to NO ONE in office right now wants to help you, they may say they do but they dont. Vote people in who, even if they aren't perfect and dont match every single one of your ideals, will actually start helping everyone's quality of life!

Resources:

Register to vote

Go over all the candidates

Find where your local voting place is

Check if your state has early voting

If you're not 18 you can still help!!

I know it can feel like you're helpless and at the whim and demand of literally everyone else if you're a minor but your voice can still be heard!

Here's a list of senators and their contact info

Here's a list of congress members and their info

And everyone in the house of representatives

Look up your mayor and other local representatives and organizations, nothing says "I'm extremely passionate about this" more than a hand written letter but even phone calls and emails help. I know sometimes it feels like you're fruitlessly yelling into the void but I promise once we're all yelling, they can't deny us.

No matter who you are or where in this country you're from, YOU can take action. Real human lives are at stake here, especially with the new issues forming on Trans Civil rights. So PLEASE, if not for yourself, for others!

Please reblog this and feel free to add any other resources that may be helpful. You can do something, every voice matters, you matter!

[alarajrogers]

COLLEGE STUDENTS:

When I was in college, I thought, I don't really have the right to vote for Senator here, do I? Because this isn't really where I live.

That, it turns out, is total bullshit. I was registered to vote in Pennsylvania, I was living in Pennsylvania, and I had every right to vote for Senators and Representatives in Pennsylvania because they are federal. US Senators and Representatives affect everyone who lives in the US. If you are a college student in a state where one of these Senators is running, and your home state Senator is not running, register where you are. You have the legal right to vote where you are living even if it's for college, and you have the moral right to vote for US Congress even if you feel "this isn't my home state", because they don;t make legislation for their home state, they make legislation for the entire US.

Also, now that the entire Republican party has gone down the garden path to fascism, you should vote for every position you can, including the ones for the state or city you've only been living in for 2 months, because any Republican in power in any state or city is a direct threat to trans people, women of reproductive age, the entire LGBTQ community, and the entire planet through their opposition to fighting climate change. A lot of them are also threats to all of the children of that state by opposing any sensible gun legislation and by wanting to take from children the right to learn the real history of America. They want to brainwash white children into being racists so that the next generation of POC will be more oppressed than they are now, and most of them are in love with guns.

When I was in college, it was possible to make a reasonable argument that some Republicans were better than their Democratic opponents. It's no longer possible to say that. The Trumpists have forced all the reasonable Republicans out of office (and many unreasonable ones who nonetheless were opposed to fascism; Liz Cheney wasn't on our side in any way other than her opposition to Trump.)

If you are coming from a state where the Senate race is competitive, get an absentee ballot. If you are moving to a state where the Senate race is competitive, register in your new state. And then vote straight ticket Democrat for all federal and high level state positions. If you want to vote a third party, vote that in city positions; third parties can sometimes win city elections, but almost never state and super almost never federal. (If both states in question are safe, pick whichever is most convenient for you. If both states in question are in flux, pick whichever one you think is best for you to vote in. )

Senate 2022: You'd Better Vote!

If you're an American VERY IMPORTANT! elections are coming up on November 8th. Since the 2020 election the US Senate has been tied at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans with Vice-President Harris casting the tie breaking vote that gives Democrats their majority. Even with such a tight margin Democrats have managed to pass the largest climate action taken by any country so far on earth (yet), lower prescription drug costs, pass the first gun control law since the 1990s , made lynching a federal crime after over 100 years of trying, made Juneteenth a federal holiday, confirmed the first black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, passed a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to rebuild our roads, bridges, transportation, better internet, clean water, and support electric cars, saved the US Post Office, passed a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act which had been in limbo since 2019.

Imagine all that the Democrats in the Senate could get done in the next 2 years with a stable majority? On the Flip side if Republicans net just one seat Mitch McConnell has made it clear there will be no progress if he's majority leader again. There are 35 Senate seats up on November 8th, I'm gonna list out the 9 seats with vulnerable Democrats who need re-electing and seats Democrats can flip to expand their majority. Everyone needs to vote, but voting is the start, the most basic thing you need to do, if you live in any of these states PLEASE sign up to volunteer for these candidates, to go talk to voters, to register new voters, to give rides to the polls etc. If you don't live in any of these states, you can still volunteer to make phone calls or text voters it's easy! if you have money to give please please give money campaigns are so expensive. Finally most of these campaigns have merch shops so if you feed more comfortable buying a shirt or a bag or whatever do that lots of them have cool pro-choice things.

Arizona

Mark Kelly (Re-elect)

Senator Mark Kelly was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full term this year. Kelly is a former astronaut and the husband of gun violence survivor and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords. Kelly is a strong supporter of gun control an issue he's worked on with Giffords as an activist for 10 years before Congress. Republicans have nominated Blake Masters, who worked for one of Trump's top supporters, Peter Thiel, Thiel spent 13 million dollars to get Masters nominated. Masters calls himself a "America First Conservative" and a "hard-core nationalist". Masters has embraced the racist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, supports Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen, is against gay marriage, says gun violence is all the fault of black people, and is against aid to Ukraine. Kelly is a good democrat, Masters is a white nationalist and election denier, we need Kelly back in the Senate, and we need to keep Masters far far away

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Florida

Val Demings (Flip)

Congresswoman Val Demings has represented the city of Orlando in the US House since 2017. Before that she served as Orlando's first woman chief of police. In Congress Demings has used her law enforcement background to lend credibility to gun control and police reform. Demings also served as one of the impeachment managers in Trump's first impeachment trial. If elected Val Demings will be Florida's first woman and first black Senator. Demings is running to unseat Republican Senator Marco Rubio. After running against Trump in the 2016 primaries Rubio became one of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress. Rubio reacted to the Parkland shooting in his state by doubling down on opposing any gun control, Val Demings voted to ban assault rifles. Rubio has also been a cheerleader for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' anti-LGBT/anti-Trans policies that bully queer students in Florida, he doesn't believe in the right to same sex marriage and is for banning books. Rubio also wants a total ban on abortion in all cases, Val Demings has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Florida needs a strong supporter of Gun control, climate action, the right to choose, and LGBT rights in the Senate, Florida needs Demings not Rubio

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Georgia

Raphael Warnock (re-elect)

Senator Raphael Warnock was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full 6 year term this year. Warnock is the first black senator from the State of Georgia and the first Democrat elected in 20 years. Before becoming a senator Warnock was the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's church and a center of the 1960s civil rights movement. Warnock used his position to protest and fight against the death penalty, to expand medicare in Georgia, for gun control, and for voting rights. In the Senate, Senator Warnock has been one of the most outspoken on voting rights pushing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act named after his late friend Georgia Congressman John Lewis. Republicans for nominated former football player, and Trump super fan, Herschel Walker to try to unseat Senator Warnock. Walker vocally supported Trump's election lies, posting many times on social media that Biden did not win the 2020 election. Walker declared this week that climate action was "giving money to trees" and "don't we have enough trees?". Walker believes in a total ban on abortion, and is against LGBT rights. Walker is against gun control and floated the idea of the government monitoring all social media and internet usage by Americans instead of gun control. Walker beat his now ex-wife Cindy Grossman, and threatened her with a gun and knives multiple times, after the divorce Grossman feared Walker would kill her and her boyfriend. Walker also is a dead beat dad who has a number of children out of wedlock that he has no contact with, he has criticized black men many times for being absent fathers. The US Senate doesn't need a man who threatens to shoot women, re-elect Senator Warnock.

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Nevada

Catherine Cortez Masto (re-elect)

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was narrowly elected in 2016 and his running for her second term in the Senate. Senator Cortez Masto is the first women elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first and to date ONLY Latina elected to the US Senate. When she was Nevada's attorney general Cortez Masto sued Bank of America for it's predatory lending practices and won nearly a billion dollars against the bank. As a US Senator Cortez Masto has been a major supporter of clean energy jobs and hopes to turn Nevada into the solar energy capital of America. Republicans have nominated former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt to try to unseat Cortez Masto. Laxalt spent his time as AG (2015-2019) suing the Obama Administration EPA to fight against strong climate regulations. Laxalt opposed a multi-state law suit against ExxonMobil for it's role in downplaying Climate change. Laxalt also sued the Obama administration to stop DACA, filed briefs supporting radical anti-abortion laws from Texas and Mississippi when they went to court, and sued the Obama Department of Labor to stop certain workers being paid over time. After leaving office Laxalt was the Chairman of Trump's 2020 re-election effort in Nevada. As Chairman Laxalt was the leading figure in the election conspiracy in Nevada claiming the election in his state was fraudulent and Biden hadn't really won Nevada. Laxalt has made many false claims of election fraud in Nevada in the 2020 election. Laxalt launched his 2022 campaign for Senate claiming "woke corporations" "academia" and "the radical left" have taken over America. Nevada has to send Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the Senate, back for another term, Laxalt is dangerously unfit.

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New Hampshire

Maggie Hassan (re-elect)

Senator Maggie Hassan was elected in the closest senate race of 2016 and is running for her second term in the senate. Senator Hassan was a key vote to save Obamacare from repel in 2017. During her time in the US Senate Senator Hassan has helped pass bills to more than double the funding to help treat the opioid crisis as well as banning surprise medical billing. Senator Hassan first ran for office 20 years ago as a way to advocate for her son who has Cerebral palsy, she's been a strong advocate for disability rights and special education through out her time in public service. Because New Hampshire has one of the latest primaries (September 13th) we don't know for sure which Republican will be nominated to face her in November. The front runner is a retired general named Don Bolduc. Bolduc's first foray into into politics was spinning and supporting 2020 election denial conspiracy theories, even after the January 6th riot. Bolduc has closely tied himself to Trump. Bolduc called fellow Republican, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu "Chinese Communist sympathizer" and accused him of "supports terrorism" for not being conservative enough and loyal to Trump enough. New Hampshire should send back a Senator who gets things done and not a wing-nut calling people in his own party communists and terrorists.

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North Carolina

Cheri Beasley (flip)

Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley is running to fill a Senate seat opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Richard Burr. In 2008 Beasley became the first black women to win a state wide election in North Carolina when she was elected to the Court of Appeals. In 2012 she was appointed to the state Supreme Court and won election in 2014. She was appointed the Chief Justice in 2019 the first black woman to serve as the State's Chief Justice. Beasley lost by less than 500 votes her run for a full term as Chief Justice in 2020. In her time as a public defender and elected Judge and Justice Beasley has stressed fairness and equity. If elected she'd be the first black Senator from North Carolina. She's stressed health care and abortion rights as key issues of her campaign. Republicans have nominated Congressman Ted Budd to try to fill the seat. Congressman Budd is a member of the radical "House Freedom Caucus". He voted to repeal Obamacare in 2017. Budd was also a major support of Trump's attempt to over throw the result of the 2020 election. Congressman Budd voted against certifying the election result on January 6th, even after the capital had been stormed by violent Trump supporters. Budd is Trump's hand picked candidate for the North Carolina Senate seat, Budd only launched his campaign after meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago. North Carolina doesn't need an election denying Trump toady for Senator, send Cheri Beasley to Congress.

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Ohio

Tim Ryan (flip)

Congressman Tim Ryan is running to fill a Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Rob Portman. Congressman Ryan has represented the Youngstown area of Ohio since 2003. In his time in Congress Ryan has been a champion of unions and American workers. His Senate run is focused on protecting American manufacturing jobs and bring well paying union jobs back to the American heart land. Ryan is strongly pro-choice. Republicans have nominated author and venture capitalist JD Vance. Vance is closely tied to Trump money man Peter Thiel as well as Arizona candidate and white nationalist Blake Masters. Vance has publicly said that women should stay in abusive marriages. Vance is against abortion in all cases even rape or health of the mother. Vance has also publicly stated he sees the populist, antisemitic, anti-LGBT dictatorship of Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán as a model for America. Vance talked about how he hopes in a second Trump term to purge all civil servants who don't agree with Trumpism and replace them with "our people". America does not need a pro-fascist who supports wife beating in the Senate, send Tim Ryan to the Senate instead.

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Pennsylvania

John Fetterman (flip)

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is running to fill a seat opened by the retirement of Republican Senator Pat Toomey. First elected Lt Governor in 2018 Fetterman has used his platform to advocate the legalization of marijuana. Fetterman also is a vocal supporter of the LGBT community clashing with the Republican state legislature repeatedly about the display of a pride flag off the balcony of his official office at the state capital. Fetterman is running a campaign that is strongly pro-choice, supportive of criminal justice reform, and calls healthcare a human right. Republicans have nominated Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz. As a reality TV star "physician" Oz was criticized repeatedly for advocating fake cures and dangerous weight loss pills. During the Covid-19 pandemic Oz pushed Trump's favorite fake cure, Hydroxychloroquine, which is not a treatment for Covid. While running for the senate Oz has endorsed banning trans people from sports by law, and that trans youth are based on "false science". Oz is also says he'd vote to repeal Obamacare and strongly supports fracking. Pennsylvania doesn't need a flip flopping TV huckster from New Jersey as its Senator, election Fetterman.

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Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes (flip)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is running to unseat Republican Senator Ron Johnson. Barnes served in the state legislature from 2013 till 2017 before being elected Lt Governor in 2018, he is the first black person to win state wide office in Wisconsin. As Lt Governor Barnes served as the chair of the Climate Task Force putting forward a 55 point plan to combat climate change. Barnes has been a vocal supporter of policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and marijuana legalization. If elected Barnes would be the first black Senator from Wisconsin and one of only two Senators in their 30s. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson has been Wisconsin's Senator since 2010 and is running for his 3rd term in office. In the Senate Johnson was one of Trump's strongest allies. Johnson was one of the main congressional pushers of the 2020 election conspiracy theories to the point his home town paper the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called him a member of the "Sedition Caucus". Johnson also has pushed conspiracy theories that the January 6th riot was the fault of Nancy Pelosi or the FBI, and said he didn't think it was a big deal and felt safe during the attack because they were Trump supporters. Johnson has also pushed Covid misinformation, such as mouthwash as a treatment for Covid-19 or that "thousands" of deaths had been linked to the vaccine. Johnson has blamed mass shootings on a failure to teach "values" and is against gun control. in resent weeks Johnson has floated the idea of privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Protect Social Security, send Barnes to Congress.

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If you're one of the 85 million Americans who live in one of these States please PLEASE PLEASE remember to VOTE November 8th

Everyone remember to VOTE NOVEMBER 8th! vote in EVERY election from School Board on up to Governor and Senate, now more than ever all these elections matter and they matter a lot.

if you have $10, $5, even $1 to spare please please please think about giving it to one of these candidates, Democrats are passing big things and are running against the worst of the worst.

If you live in one of these states please please PLEASE think about giving just one weekend between now and Election Day to talk to voters and help turn out the vote. Even if you don't live in any of these states you can call or text voters in these states and help these campaigns

[smoothserg]

Ga. Sen. Perdue boosts wealth with well-timed stock trades

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the ravages of the novel coronavirus forced millions of people out of work, shuttered businesses and shrank the value of retirement accounts, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged to a three-year low.

But for Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican, the crisis last March signaled something else: a stock buying opportunity.

And for the second time in less than two months, Perdue’s timing was impeccable. He avoided a sharp loss and reaped a stunning gain by selling and then buying the same stock: Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based financial technology company on whose board of directors he once served.

On Jan. 23, as word spread through Congress that the coronavirus posed a major economic and public health threat, Perdue sold off $1 million to $5 million in Cardlytics stock at $86 a share before it plunged, according to congressional disclosures.

Weeks later, in March, after the company’s stock plunged further following an unexpected leadership shakeup and lower-than-forecast earnings, Perdue bought the stock back for $30 a share, investing between $200,000 and $500,000.

Those shares have now quadrupled in value, closing at $121 a share on Tuesday.

The Cardlytics transactions were just a slice of a large number of investment decisions made in the early days of the pandemic by Perdue and other senators. They stirred public outrage after it became clear that some members of Congress had been briefed on the economic and health threat the virus posed. The transactions were mentioned briefly in a story published by the Intercept in May.

Now that Perdue is locked in a pitched battle for reelection in a Jan. 5 runoff, his trades during a public health and economic crisis have become an issue in what already has become a negative, expensive campaign that will determine which party controls the Senate.

There is no evidence that Perdue, who is among the wealthier members of the Senate, acted on information gained as a member of Congress or through his long-standing relationship with company officials. It’s illegal to use nonpublic information gained as a company insider or member of Congress to make investment decisions.

But legal experts say the timing of his sale, the fact that he quickly bought Cardlytics stock back when it had lost two-thirds of its market value and his close ties to company officials all warrant scrutiny.

“This does seem suspicious,” said John C. Coffee Jr., a Columbia University law school professor who specializes in corporate and securities issues. But he added, “You need more than suspicions to convict.”

The Perdue campaign declined a request for an interview with the senator. In a statement, Perdue spokesperson John Burke said the senator had been cleared of wrongdoing but did not provide details.

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