#but that’s not gonna IMPROVE with another Trump presidency

[sophies-junkyard]

Change is incremental, but something CHANGED today. You weren’t sure about voting for Biden? You don’t have to anymore! And now is the time to RALLY. The world is fucked up, but letting Trump win will not lead to the political revolution we’re waiting for. Wake up.

Im gonna vote for Kamala Harris in November because I don’t want a wannabe dictator running our country. Simple as that.

[englandsgirl18181234]

I'd say sorry for the sudden political spam but I'm really not. We finally have a good option and we need to grab it with both hands and run with it as far as we fucking can. So here's some facts that people seem to be ignoring when they say you shouldn't vote for Harris.

Harris was not a fucking cop, she was a district attorney and attorney general. Stop fucking saying otherwise, it's misinformation and you need to understand that.

Harris is documentedly pro LGBTQ+. When she was elected Attorney General, she co-sponsored legislation to ban the gay and trans panic defense which passed. She also officiated the first same-sex wedding in California after Section 8 was overturned 20 years ago.

In her entire time as District Attorney she never sought the death penalty. She also created the San Francisco Reentry Division, with the first of its kind reentry program Back On Track for first-time nonviolent offenders. 200 people graduated from it with less than 10 percent going on to commit another crime, compared to the 53 percent of California drug offenders that would do so in less than 2 years after release.

When she was elected to Attorney General of California, she introduced the Homeowner Bill of Rights, considered one of the strongest protections nationwide against aggressive foreclosure tactics.

In 2015, Harris's California Department of Justice became the first statewide agency in the US to require all of its police officers to wear body cameras.

So to reiterate:

Fucking vote for Harris.

Voting third party right now is not the fucking way. All it's gonna do is split the fucking votes that we need to keep Trump out of office. None of the third party candidates have the numbers to actually beat Trump. It's not going to fucking happen, stop saying it will because you're lying to yourself and others.

Not voting at all is even fucking worse than voting third party and you're an idiot if you think otherwise. Not voting isn't a fucking protest like some idiots are spouting. It's not making a fucking point. It is giving the fuck up and being a coward about it. It is actively choosing to not make things better when you have the fucking chance and I am disgusted that people actually think it's a good idea when we are on the verge of a second term for a literal traitor and convicted felon that actively thinks disabled and LGBTQ people should die.

Someone is still going to be President. Full stop, that is how elections fucking work. THERE IS STILL GOING TO BE A PRESIDENT. There is still going to be a president whether you vote or not. And our only real options right now are Harris or Trump. So use your fucking vote to make things better in the only way we can right now.

Yeah, there are things Harris needs to change and things she isn't on the right side on. But Trump is worse in every possible fucking way. So we need to lock this down and push for improvement, not decide shit is hopeless and fucking give the bad guy the win now that we finally have a fucking shot!

You didn't want to vote for Biden? Great, you're not! Now take the fucking miracle that just dropped into our fucking laps and run with it!

[itsnothingofinterest]

I’m not gonna lie. I feel pretty sick after seeing the election results. I’m not even American but I’ve always known the ramifications of Trump being in office even outside of his country. If this really isn’t a red mirage, and it’s sadly looking like it’s not, so many people in & outside the US are now in danger that it makes me feel like I’ll throw up.

Women.

Queer people.

Pretty much any racial minority in America.

The environment and effectively the world itself.

Of course we can’t forget Ukraine and Palestine; Putin will soon be allied with the strongest military in the world and getting israel to agree to a ceasefire is looking like a pipe dream. I’ve no doubt the situation in Gaza will get much worse in fact.

Oh and don’t get me started on how he’ll impact the Supreme Court that’ll ingrain all of this for long past his presidency and likely make it much more difficult to get another democrat in office again.

And still more groups he can hurt & areas of life he can screw over for everyone that I don't have it in me to remember right now.

I know defeatism and doomerism doesn’t help, perhaps I'm even being selfish ranting out stuff no one needs to hear right now like this; but as a non-American I’m already feeling pretty powerless. With a red mirage looking unlikely, it feels like our only hope is that Trump’s still too incompetent to be as intentionally bad as he wants to be. A pale silver lining to put bluntly.

…Fuck, it’s like all that stress from 2016 to 2020 is back in full, and it makes me realize just how much we took Biden and Harris for granted. These past 4 years of small improvements & things looking up were honestly nice. I’m going to miss them.

[strawberryamanita]

Y'all I'm sorry but this is making me freak the fuck out

I know this is gonna probably cause people to call me a terrible person, but I'm just gonna risk it anyhow because this is getting really scary.

If you are a USAmerican,

Please vote for Biden this year.

I am 1000% aware that the genocide in Gaza is being perpetuated by Biden's administration. It's not good at all. I don't like the guy either, and like every President the US has ever had, he will burn in Hell, guaranteed.

But if we don't vote, then Trump is gonna win. This sounds rhetorical, but I ask genuinely: do you think Trump is gonna stop the genocide?

Has Trump ever shown that he cares about a single human being besides himself? The level of misanthropy that idiot is on is remarkable. I personally cannot see him slowing the flow of genocide in any direction; if anything, he might redouble the effort.

I think it was Warren who is tryna warn people that if Trump gets elected again, he'll never leave. I think back to a time during his first term where he said there might one day be a "forever President", and that makes me sick to my fucking stomach. That's not a presidency, that's a monarchy or a dictatorship. That would be the de-facto end of having a say in who's in control until he finally fucking dies -- and not even then, because then the mantle will be passed down to one of his children.

I know the US shouldn't exist in the first place. I am 100% aware of that. They say that empires fall after 250 years, and the US is gonna be 248 years old in July. But unfortunately, it exists right now, and it's full of people who will not survive another four years of Trump.

Again -- I will say it as many times as I need to -- I don't like Biden. I don't like him. He's done some beneficial things, but using his executive powers to speed up a genocide tips the scale completely over back towards hating him.

But Biden will step down when his term is done. I know the bar is in the fucking Mariana Trench, but for the love of God I do not wanna be under Trump for even a minute more. I hate Biden, but I hate Trump more, and that is fueling me, personally, to show up to vote.

At the end of the day, the problem is systemic. Every single authority over the US, since even before Washington, has only cared about hurting people of color and churning up the earth to make money. Our taxes could help improve the lives of US civilians, but instead they are funneled into the trillion-dollar War Machine aimed in every direction, including the US itself. The US commonwealth doesn't matter to the US government. We are human livestock who generate revenue; no matter how many changes of hands our money makes for hopes of a better cause inside the US, every last penny will find its way back into the War Machine or under the dirty ass of a billionaire who should be tarred and feathered in oil and their own paper money.

With all that said. There are US citizens who are enthusiastically pro-Biden right now, and siding with them might just keep us from living in Trump Hell all over again. The bigots have gotten too proud around here, and it makes my blood run cold. My mother doesn't show enthusiasm for ANYTHING the way she shows it for her freedom to hate people loudly and proudly. It makes her come ALIVE. And I know I'm not the only one who's been subjected to this kind of horror show for the last 9 years. Every state of mind curated by the US is a cult, and there is no escape outside of moving away.

Please. Vote. For Biden.

[catgirl-kaiju]

y'all realize trump's probably gonna call for a coup again if he loses, right? like, it's looking a lot like he's gonna lose this one too (good). and we know the last time he lost, he called for a coup, and he has managed to escape consequences for it. the only question is: will there be anyone to answer?

probably, yeah. and a lot more than you'd think. while the far-right has been slowly turning sour on trump, they still hold him in very high regard, and many in the conspiracy right still believe he is the rightful president from the 2020 election. while prosecutions and arrests have successfully brought down a few key players in the jan. 6th coup attempt, there has been a marked failure to address many of the root causes of right-wing radicalization.

there has been no attempt to intervene in the stochastic terrorism pipeline, with larger organizations like fox news still going and nazi spaces allowed to exist online, with twitter becoming a large forum for far-right extremists of all stripes. recruitment and agitation are still just as easy as it has been for decades, if not easier.

and we can see that, beyond stochastic terrorism, key factors that increase people's likelihood of entering these pipelines include things like medical bills, debt, poor public infrastructure, limited access to higher education, expensive housing, low wages, and economic inflation. these things have also gone mostly unaddressed. the biden admin could have done so much to improve people's lives in ways that would have steered them away from being filtered into the far-right, and it hasn't done anything of great effect in this regard. instead it's spent so much of its time building the power of the police and the military in a misguided belief that these groups would help prevent another coup, when mostly likely DC police would just let militants into the capital again, and some might even join them. and the shoveling of money into violent imperialist causes that are near universally unpopular also means that we are seeing increased disillusion in the federal government and the electoral process. and, with how effectively the biden and trump adimins have been at suppressing meaningful leftist intervention and recruitment, people are far more likely to become a neonazi than anarchists or communists.

it will almost definitely happen again. the only question is: will they succeed this time?

[dreadfutures]

we are pissing away every chance to combat global warming and direct much needed federal funds to clean water and housing and food security for the most vulnerable in our country

for the fucking military industrial complex and anti Arab racism

I fucking hate this place and every old white guy in politics needs to GTFO. all of them. I would use stronger language except if the government ever links me to this, which could totally happen if the next person in charge decides to crack down on that and spy on employees, i don't want to go to jail lmaooooo

there was so much that got fucked over by trump and the GOP and so much that has been not only reversed but so vastly improved under this administration, such truly truly progressive fucking revolutionary uses of government to make real much needed progress for citizens. and it's all getting fucking pissed away by one stupid man's commitment to Israel. a majority of his own administration is against him on this and he is just torpedoing any chance of reelection, and the first thing Trump's gonna do is a) tell Israel to nuke whoever they want and b) replace the head of every government agency to do with energy, the environment, human support, and infrastructure, with embezzling cronies obsessed with oil and nothing else, just like last time, which fucking. ended up with literally an embezzlement scandal, and huge budget cuts that set back science and welfare decades.

pissed away.

trump is gonna win because no one wants to vote for the CURRENT genocide supporter and when we don't vote for a blue president we don't get a blue president. I so look forward to enjoying the 100fold increase in military spending and the next world war that Trump will start.

every person who will ever run for president is gonna be a murderer and an awful person, you don't get that much money behind you without it. We are always gonna be faced with the "lesser of two evils means you're still voting for evil" argument but genuinely, genuinely, I would still rather have an inch of progress than 4 steps backward.

the world gets better, the world gets less capable of mass awfulness, when we are able to build up structures and maintain them for good. Inch by inch. But the GOP has and will continue to fucking dismantle them and set up and reinforce the structures that allow the military industrial complex and big oil and other evils to thrive, and the more entrenched they are, the less progress the next "lesser of two evils" will be able to make.

I want to wave my wand and give us an entirely new form of government and governmental priorities and the way that government money is spent, but we can't do that before November. this is the awful hellscape we live in and sitting out en masse is an active torpedo.

I wish our primary system wasn't a joke I wish we had actual candidates I wish we had no lobbyists I wish we had no corporate money in politics but that's not the world we live in and it never will be if the GOP gets to have another chance and another chance and another chance and continues to dismantle what little democratic power we have lmaoooo

I hate this place I hate this choice.

can't convince anyone of that and the choice makes me want to throw up anyway. so we're fucked! we're fucked. didn't even get the senator I wanted. fuckers.

[nothorses]

it's worth remembering how bad everyone's mental health got, and how futile it was to improve a lot of those mental health issues, because the Trump presidency was so fucking miserable to live under. there literally was another piece of horrible news every single day, and all the energy and power any activists had was used up just trying to fix a fraction of a fraction of the shit Trump was breaking- and that was so much harder to do then, too, because the people they needed to pressure and work with just didn't give a shit about anything they had to say.

we felt powerless, and hopeless, more and more every day for 4 years. Biden won by such a wide margin in large part because it was the first fucking thing any of us could do about any of it in four whole years. we'd been counting the days until we finally got a chance to throw him out. we didn't give a shit who replaced him, as long as they weren't one of his fucked up little cronies. as long as the nightmare could end.

we had four years of trump. we know what it's gonna look like if he comes into power again. he'll likely be much worse this time, too. activism won't get easier, it'll get harder. people won't get easier to rally, they'll get more disillusioned, hopeless, and fatigued. we know because we already saw it, and that was with a more normal trump than the one running now.

“The bigger her victory (knock on wood) the less likely we are to have to spin our wheels every two or four years trying to stave off a fascist takeover. The clearer his defeat, the likelier his GOP accomplices are to melt away, and (thus) the likelier he is to rot in a prison cell without much fanfare. Failure to reform at that point would make the GOP a rump party, much less menacing than it is today. More Republicans will become Democrats, and I suspect we’ll see less drift to the GOP, as Trump gives way to weirder right-wing sexual moralists. A reformed GOP would probably be harder to beat, but less of an existential threat to freedom and democracy. That would be good! The country will be in big trouble if Trump wins, but it won’t be safe if Trump loses by a paper-thin margin. Earlier this week, while gaming on Twitch with Tim Walz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained why progressives should dread another inside-straight Trump presidency. “I do not wanna do four more years of resistance nonsense under Donald Trump, okay? Like, good God. Do we remember what it was like waking up every day and there was some shit going on?””

— Run Up The Score - by Brian Beutler - Off Message (via wilwheaton)

[thoughtshobbiesdaydreams]

Kamala ran a bad campaign; blame HER

I don't know if trump is gonna win. It doesn't look good, but maybe it's gonna be better as ballots continue to be counted. I hate donald trump. Ever since I learned who he was, I've hated him. He's everything I despise in a human being, he's among the worst human beings in existence; he's evil, selfish, corrupt, arrogant, entitled, immature, racist, bigoted, a rapist, a pedophile, a fascist, a Nazi... in HIS words, he's admitted to all of those things in one place or another. I hate him, he's dangerous, he's unfit, the people who SUPPORT him are unfit... Which is why it was so important that whoever ran against him ran a good campaign. Spoke out in a way to energize people to vote for him or her, spoke out in a way to EARN our votes:

raise minimum wage

vow to go after abuses of power, not after the poor desperately trying to get by

speak out about what "Defund the Police" means, and talk about how you want to fund projects that will help US citizens; talk about how much police leaches tax dollars away from every other service; talk about how dangerous cops are because of how they abuse power, ie qualified immunity (breaking the law due to ignorance, or feigned ignorance) and civil forfeiture (stealing)

speak out against Israel's genocide of Palestinians

just actually show us you care about helping US citizens, not just yourself, that you want to use power to help US citizens, for instance, talk about how you will use your powers to pardon countless people in jail for crimes they obviously didn't commit, or for breaking laws that are unjust

talk about how the Supreme Court is deeply corrupt AND YOU PLAN TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

We all wanted trump to lose, we wanted whoever was trump's opponent to FIGHT to beat him. We gave Kamala the blueprint in how to earn our votes, we BEGGED her to use it. And she didn't. She was lazy, power-hungry, selfish... she wanted power only for herself. She decided she would rather lose than win by promising improvements she had no intention of fighting for. She decided to try to win by trying to steal voters away from trump rather than appealing to the vast majority of the country -

(literally every poll that pits "liberal" policies against "conservative" has liberal policies being overwhelmingly more popular. Kamala decided to back Biden instead; Biden, the "civil trump" who continues to enable Israel's genocide while saying "hey... okay, here's more weapons, but THIS TIME don't murder journalists, children, civilians, THIS TIME don't use human shields, THIS TIME don't use dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners", who continues trump's border policies, who continues to hold up the deeply corrupt Supreme Court as an institute worthy of respect, who tells us that "violence isn't the answer" only when it's peaceful protesters speaking out against genocide, or police violence, or the Supreme Court, but doesn't say a fucking PEEP when the police murder people, or the Supreme Court enacts harmful policies; he, and Kamala, only think it's "violence" when it makes those in power uncomfortable, not when it's harmful and damaging to those not in politics, those who don't have politicians in their pockets.)

then she crowed about how many Republican politicians supported her over trump, pieces of shit like Dick Cheney, as if earning Dick Cheney's vote was something worth celebrating! It's not over yet, maybe there's a path to trump losing, but right now? I'm fucking angry at Kamala for trying to win on vibes, for being lazy and complacent, for not actively trying to win by appealing to the vast majority of Americans, by vowing to be a President for US citizens instead of corporations... but no, she thought continuing to do things as they'd always been done would be enough. And if not... she doesn't fucking care. SHE will be just fine. So I DO NOT want to fucking hear people complaining about how those of us who BEGGED Kamala to adopt popular policies, who BEGGED Kamala to fight for those who need help, who BEGGED Kamala to fight to beat trump, are the problem. We desperately wanted trump to lose, and we were very vocal about how we feared Kamala's approach wouldn't beat him, and we very vocally spoke about how she COULD beat him... she ignored us, and now we're fucking angry. Not happy, not self-satisfied, fucking ANGRY. Because we saw this coming and desperately tried to prevent it. Don't be mad at us for wanting Kamala to win, and being angry at her for ignoring our pleas; it's Kamala's fault. SHE chose not to earn enough votes, SHE decided peeling off a few Republican voters would be enough, SHE decided she didn't need to appeal to the majority of Americans with popular policies. I'm so fucking tired of these "vote Blue no matter who" people for telling us to fuck off while we told her she should try to earn votes, and who are now angry at us because they pretend that we are happy to be proven right. We didn't want her to lose; if we did, then why did we loudly and frequently give her advice about how she could easily earn votes and energize voters? It's not OUR fault that, when we begged her to try to win the election, she ignored us.

Remember how she said she'd put a "Republican" in her cabinet??? Remember how she prioritized having the "Most lethal fighting force in the world"??? Maybe her priorities are absolutely FUCKED and her loss is HER fault???

[lastsonlost]

Don't kill the messenger!

Facts:

"I put out the [Contract With Black America]. Both parties contacted me.

Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan,” rapper says."

Ice Cube has clarified his role in helping to develop the Trump administration’s proposed “Platinum Plan” for the black community after a White House advisor thanked the rapper for “his willingness to step up and work with” President Trump.

“Leaders gonna lead, haters gonna hate. Thank you for leading!,” Trump senior advisor Katrina Pierson tweeted at Ice Cube Tuesday; in the hours following Pierson’s tweet, Ice Cube had been criticized on social media for going from N.W.A to MAGA.

According to the rapper’s rep, Ice Cube

the Trump and Biden campaigns in recent weeks to discuss an “agenda for black Americans” and support for his Contract With Black America (CWBA), which “strikes at the heart of racism and presents a blueprint to achieve racial economic justice.”

“The problems facing America are too deep and wide to simply reform one area or another,” the contract said. “Long-lasting solutions demand a comprehensive thorough ‘rethink’ of America so that each new approach in each area supports the success of the others. This Contract with Black America will provide conceptual approaches in several areas.” The contract goes on to detail 13 different areas of improvement, including bank lending, prison reform, police reform and the elimination of all confederate monuments.

Ice Cube similarly posted a video on Twitter on August 22nd where he asked of both parties, “What’s in it for us?” “What’s in it for the black community besides the same old thing we’ve been getting from these parties,” Ice Cube asked. “I didn’t hear anybody mention a Contract With Black America, and I don’t know why because it’s one of the most comprehensive reform documents that have come out in a long time that can really address the problem.”

After being contacted by both parties, the Democrats said they’d touch base on the CWBA after Election Day,

while the president’s administration reached Ice Cube and absorbed some of the CWBA into the White House’s “Platinum Plan,” with Pierson then thanking the rapper for his assistance.

Trump’s “Platinum Plan” promises to “increase access to capital in black communities by almost $500 billion” by creating 500,000 black-owned businesses and 3 million new jobs for the black community, as well as “access to better education and job training.” The Platinum Plan also pledges to strengthen Trump’s immigration and policing policies in order to protect jobs and communities.

Ice Cube explained further in a follow-up tweet following the uproar, “Facts: I put out the CWBA. Both parties contacted me.

DEMOCRATS SAID THIS 👆

Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA.”

The rapper added in response to a fan who expressed his displeasure with Ice Cube “working with the Darkside”:

-‐----------------------------------------------

So I get why people are pissed at Ice cube. I don't like it but I get it.

However I don't get how he gets all this backlash and yet the Democrats who told him to wait received no backlash.

If the democrats would've stepped up when he proposed the (Contract with black America) he would be trying to work with them.

Also why wouldn't the democrats jump behind Ice cube's plan?

It seems like a no brainer.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

13 Keys to the White House: 2024 prediction (as of August 15, 2021)

Midterm gains: false, the Republicans are going to sweep the House

No primary challenge: probably true, no Democrat with a future would dare to challenge Biden or Harris

Incumbent seeking re-election: probably true, Biden has indicated he's going to run again even though he'll be 82 at the time

No third party: too soon to tell, we won't know how the Libertarians/Greens fare until 2023 at the earliest

Strong short-term economy: too soon to tell, who knows if we'll be in recession in 2024?

Strong long/term economy: probably false, inflation is rising and Republicans are threatening to let us default on our national debt, so things are looking bad going forward

Major policy change: false, Biden hasn't done shit, and if he doesn't do shit NOW he won't be able to do shit after the Republican dominated midterms

No social unrest: too soon to tell, it will depend on how bad things get between now and 2024

No scandal: too soon to tell, all eyes are on Biden, but there's no telling what he'll do

No foreign/military failure: FALSE, Afghanistan is going down in flames, tens or hundreds of thousands of civilians are going to die when the Taliban takes over, it'll be the worst humanitarian crisis in the planet

Foreign/military success: probably false, withdrawing from Afghanistan was supposed to be a huge success, but the last 20 years have been pointless.

Charismatic incumbent: false, Biden wasn't charismatic in 2020, he's not gonna magically gain 20 or 30 percent more approval going into 2024

Uncharismatic challenger: true, none of the Republican challengers resonate with anyone outside their base, Trump or DeSantis or Cruz or Cotton or anyone else

Democrats need 8 true to hold power

Republicans need 6 false to retake power

1 is definitely true

2 are probably true

4 are too soon to tell

2 are probably false

4 are definitely false

Republicans are almost certainly going to win in 2024 unless Biden pulls a rabbit out of his ass and magically reverses course in the next 15 months; things are in flux now, but come November 2022 they will be set in stone.

Key 1 is a lost cause because of partisan gerrymandering; the Republicans will take the House by force, though they'll likely lose the nationwide popular vote

Key 2 is probably safe because it would require a challenger to get 33% of the vote, and I just don't see that happening against a sitting president

Key 3 is true as of right now, but could easily flip false for any number of reasons. Biden ran on the unspoken promise that he was a transitional president and would step down in 2024, but Kamala Harris isn't more popular than he is (in fact, she's less popular), so the Democrats have painted themselves into a corner; either it's an old old old man or Hillary Clinton 2.0

Key 4 is beyond Biden's control; over the last century, third party candidates have gained traction about every 10 years, once every 2 or 3 election cycles. They did well in 1968, 1980, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2016, so 2024 is up in the air.

Key 5 could go either way, I don't know enough about economics to make any informed predictions

Key 6 is more nuanced; the creator of the 13 Keys defines it as "real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms." The economy grew under Obama's second term, and tanked under Trump's first, so the average of the last two terms is either zero net growth or very slight shrinkage. If Biden can grow the economy at all, even a little, this key could flip in his favor. If he continues to do nothing, he's as good as gone.

Key 7 is a nonstarter; W turned the US into a police state, Obama slightly improved healthcare, Trump changed taxes from the ground up (and dismantled liberal democracy through a rigged judiciary and disintegration of federal authority over the states), but Biden and the Democrats have pretty much wasted the last 8 months, accomplishing zero of their campaign promises. They passed a neutered stimulus package, and might pass a neutered infrastructure deal, both of which gave major concessions to the Republicans even though they supported neither. Biden is Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush rolled into one.

Key 8 could very well lead us into another 2020 situation; not only have zero communities defunded the police, many of them have actually INCREASED funding. Republicans continue to dismantle our democracy by passing voter suppression laws, and are going to gerrymander their House into an unbreakable conservative majority despite only making up about 40-45% of the population. I expect to see major protests against Republican legislatures across the country, which will be quelled by both state and federal forces because Democrats never support active protests, only passive peaceful ones (ones that fail, but look polite on TV)

Key 9 could be real or invented; no matter what Biden does, whether he's squeaky clean or rotten to the core, the Republicans are going to impeach him in 2023. Hell, they'll almost certainly run in 2022 on the platform of "we will impeach Biden if we win." He'll be acquitted of course, but Republicans will control the narrative and gain popular support going into 2024. They might wait to impeach him until the election starts, or impeach him and hold a long protracted trial throughout the primaries and well past the national conventions. If they win the House, they'll almost certainly win the Senate too, which means they have all the power, even if they can't remove him.

Key 10 is a lost cause; there's no coming back from this, Afghanistan is an absolute failure, full stop.

Key 11 is very closely tied to key 10, so I don't see it flipping true because Biden doesn't really have any other major foreign policy objectives within his grasp.

Key 12 is a doubly lost cause because both Biden and his chosen successor are terrible candidates. Biden was picked by the establishment as a milquetoast "civility" candidate in opposition to Trump's extremism, and Harris is so unpopular she dropped out of the presidential race due to lack of enthusiasm before a single vote was cast. Biden was the lesser of two evils, and Harris is a lying centrist cop pretending to be a progressive. As I said in Key 3, the Democrats painted themselves into a corner; Biden/Harris is Carter/Mondale all over again.

Key 13 is safe now and forever because no candidate will ever have national appeal again. The creator of the 13 Keys gave examples like Lincoln, the Roosevelts, and Kennedy, as well as controversial picks like Reagan and Obama in 2008 (though not in 2012). Love them or hate them, these candidates resonated with the entire country in their day, but America has become too polarized for a member of one party to gain support from the other.

This is a disaster waiting to happen. It's unfolding before our eyes in slow motion, and we're unable to stop it. I feel trapped all the time, trapped in the world, trapped in the system, no agency,m, no control, no hope. I don't know what to do, because the powers that be are FUCKING EVERYTHING UP ROYALLY! This party is a laughingstock, and the alternatives are either pure evil or insignificant; I'd be a Green if they stood a snowball's chance in hell, but they don't, not even in a single district, neither federal nor state.

The system has to collapse in my lifetime, it's not tenable as is.

[weirdmixofweirdness]

Future Me Letter Response

So last year, I decided to go on the site Future Me and make a letter to my future self. Well, I received it today and I decided I’d respond to it here.

Here’s the letter (Please note, some names will be removed for the sake of privacy):

Dear FutureMe, Hey, Wren. Do you still go by Wren? If not, that's okay. I'd rather we not keep a name if we're uncomfortable with it (not that I am right now, but I guess I don't know if I end up feeling that way.). I'm in a weird place right now. In case you don't remember, Unus Annus was deleted yesterday and it feels weird not to have it on my YouTube feed anymore. For the past year, it's been such a constant of chaos and existential dread, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Do you still have the UA notes in your Google Docs? If so, do you still look back on it every now and then (when you're not busy with classwork. Oh, who am I kidding? You're still on the internet and procrastinating most of the time.)? Also, have you made that YouTube channel? Recently, I've started to come up with UA-esque ideas for my own channel. I hope I actually act on that. If you haven't, it's okay. There's always next year. How's the family doing? Ever since Aunt Mom died, things have felt good between Uncle Dad and me. He calls every now and then to check on me. It's so sweet! (Hopefully, nothing happened to him and I didn't just make my future self cry. If I did, I'm so sorry!) Are you still close with Aunt L? We went out for lunch at J&P's yesterday (in her new car) and had a great time. Hopefully, when you're reading this, Little Miss Rona is gone and you and her are able to go on your monthly dinners (if nothing happened to her, which I hope nothing did). Have you discovered more about your identity? Right now, I identify as a grayasexual lesbian aromantic homoalterous demigirl (boy, that's a mouthful!). That could always change, though. However I choose to identify in the future, just know that you are valid, no matter what anyone says. Have you written more of your stories lately? Right now, I'm on (yet another) hiatus. I'm hoping to improve on the speed and quality of my writing. Hopefully, I actually have (at least a little bit). Is @lildevyl still on Tumblr and writing? She's such a sweet person! So many bad things are happening to her right now that she doesn't deserve. If she's still there, send a message to her after you read this letter. Let her know how much you care for and appreciate her. You'll really make her day. Now, to the big questions for 2021. First of all, how is Biden doing as President? Are things getting better? More importantly, did Trump have to get escorted out of the White House by security? If he did, was it hilarious? I bet it was! I hope that guy was treated exactly how he treated the country: with no respect whatsoever. Anyway, rant over. Okay, here's my second big question: how's drinking? I don't think I'm gonna be a big drinker. In fact, I know I'm not gonna be a big drinker (unless you drink that alcoholic iced tea.). How was your first drink? What was your first drink? Where did you have your first drink? Okay, I'm done asking drinking questions. You're probably tired of that. How is my cosplay thing going? I've been telling myself that I'm gonna be doing some once I have enough money to buy stuff for it. The ones I'm the most excited to do are Mayor Damien and Actor Mark. Have you been able to do those? If so, know that I'm internally screaming just imagining it. Okay, I think that's all I've wanted to ask. The only thing I have left to say is this: you're an amazing person with so much to give. Please be kinder to and more patient with yourself. Change doesn't come instantly. Just keep moving to the best of your ability and know that there are so many people who believe in you (and this is coming from yourself, so you can't deny it!). And as Mark said on that UA livestream, be sure to try and spend every second doing stuff that makes you happy, whether it be working on a story or just relaxing and watching YouTube videos. I guess what I'm trying to say is take care of and believe in yourself. I wish nothing but the best for future me in all that I do.

Hope to see you again in 2022, Wren Wesley

My response

Past Me,

Hello from the future. To start off, no, we chose not to keep the name Wren. After a while, we ended up feeling like it didn’t fit us. Now, we go by either Tori or Arden. We have decided that we want to make Arden our middle name. Mae is too feminine, and Arden seems like a name that fits us. Yes, I remember Unus Annus being deleted. How could I forget? As you said, it impacted us so much. In fact, we set up an anniversary project for it on the internet. Unfortunately, mental health stuff got in the way and we had to postpone it to next year. Hopefully, I’ll be talking about it in my letter response in 2022. As for the notes, yes, we kept them. No, we haven’t looked at them every day. We’ve been so swept up in TikTok, Tumblr, and YouTube (as well as school stuff, of course) that we haven’t really looked at it for a while. Regardless, I still have it in my Google Docs and will be looking at it again sometime either today or this week, since you reminded me. Unfortunately, we haven’t made that channel yet. We got kinda sidetracked with life and, again, mental health. As you said, there’s always next year, so I’ll try as hard as I can to make that happen. Family relations hasn’t been too good recently. A few days ago, I started a temporary college leave and am living with Aunt L until Fall 2022. Uncle Dad isn’t too happy about it. He feels as we’re abandoning him. However, you know as well as I do that we need a break from that environment. We don’t feel like we can truly be ourselves with him. From this, we’ve discovered that we have troubles with communication. We’re looking to get therapy for it very soon. For now, we’re settling into Aunt L’s house. The room she gave us is nice. We even have a TV to play our Switch on (yes, we got a switch this year. Aunt L gave it to us as a birthday present). I guess that answered your questions about our relationship with her. And yes, we are once again doing our monthly outings with her. Our identity has changed somewhat drastically since you wrote this letter. As of 2021, you will start identifying as an Agender/Neutrois, Libramasculine, Aromantic, Panqueerplatonic, Aegobisexual. Yep, it’s even more of a mouthful now. However, we’re much happier with our identity now. Yes, we have some moments of doubt, but everyone has those moments. we haven’t written many stories lately. In fact, we accidentally deleted our writing blog, so now we’re mainly writing on AO3 (when we do write). However, we have so many ideas for new stories and hopefully they’ll be written by the time I respond to the next letter. We also discovered that the speed of our writing doesn’t really matter. Write on your own time (although you do still need to push yourself to write every now and then). Yes, Dev is still on Tumblr. We haven’t talked much this year, unfortunately. I’m hoping to improve on that from now on. I don’t want her to end up another person that I fall out of contact with due to my lack of socialness. (Dev, since I tagged you in this, just know how much I appreciate you. I’m gonna try to show that appreciation more this coming year, because you deserve all of it. You are such an amazing and talented person who I have the amazing pleasure of knowing.). Biden has been...meh. I mean, I feel less constantly stressed than when Trump was in office. However, there has been a shortage of a lot of things recently. Whether that’s him or a side effect of Covid, I don’t know. But, yeah, it’s a pretty meh presidency so far. And no, Trump didn’t have to get escorted out. However, Trump supporters did storm the Capital in January, so yeah...As for drinking, it’s not all that, just like we expected. Other adults hyped it up way too much. My first drink was this random, small bottle of wine at Uncle Dad’s house. It was terrible! The cosplay thing is moving very slowly, but we’ve done more. We haven’t dressed as Damien or Actor yet (sorry, you have to hold your excitement for a while). Still, we dressed as Chase and made 2 cosplays out of our DA OC, Nora Ables. It’s not much, but it’s still progress. Well, that’s all the answers I got. Thanks for the encouragement. You didn’t know, but I needed that so much right now. Anyway, I guess I’ll write another letter and make this a tradition. So, see you next year,

Tori Arden/WeirdMix

[toongrrl-blog]

Bridget Jones: In Company with Beckys and Karens

We can start with unpacking your luggage Bridget, you are gonna need the help but pull your weight into it. 

Hi Bridget, looking good as always. Long time, huh? I guess it has been awkward after I have given your husband Mark a beat down and sent roses to his first ex-wife and your ex supervisor Perpetua. I think it’s time we talk. I understand life hasn’t been easy for you: your mother is nutty and a misogynistic racist, your father is friends with pervs and found it astounding you had a real boyfriend (Colin Jones won’t escape my ire), your friends are trash frankly especially the smug marrieds, you are insecure over a body that actually isn’t really a outlier to the dominant white patriarchal standard of cis female beauty (by the way, have you heard butt implants exist now?), your jerk husband is very negging and in the original novel he “compliments” you by pulling “Not like other girls” on you and all your other boyfriends see you as a piece of ass and don’t respect you, your uncle gropes your ass for how long and his wife pesters you about your body and past singleness. 

But let’s be real Bridget: those wilderness years where you feared becoming a sad spinster were endured in a spacious apartment where your bedroom was separate from the kitchen AND the living room without a roommate (hope I get this lucky), you haven’t wanted for nothing growing up in a affluent and safe town in a single-income family (your dad was also a accountant), you were given blonde hair and blue eyes (traits that have been considered desirable for multiple millenniums), your body was always curvier than you’d like but you had no problem finding a lot of clothes in your size and didn’t have a doctor fat shame you (now smoking and drinking...), I learned from Jameela Jamil that actually Britain of your teens and twenties was a racist time, you got to go to college (granted it was in the University of Wales, which wasn’t “prestigious” enough for Daniel Cleaver) and you got a stable office job at a publishing company that you often fudged (most WOC can’t fuck up like you and thrive in this culture), and you never been in most situations where you didn’t have to look in the media or in the room and find yourself out of place. 

Well now it’s 2020, have you heard of Black Lives Matter? This shitstorm of a year has been forcing us to confront issues regarding the patriarchy, capitalism, white supremacy, putting people of privilege to question their own involvement in prejudice, and a highly militarized law enforcement. Has Mark spoke of this to you? I haven’t heard a peep from you and Helen Fielding. I must say, I was glad not to hear either you or Helen say anything transphobic (fuck off JK Rowling). I think you heard of these memes going around called “the Karen” and “the Becky”, you must be wondering what the difference between the two are and was at a loss to counsel your smug married friends or your racist ass mother crying over being called Karens. Here is the trouble, I think you are likely a Becky and have the potential to turn into a Karen, after all you dream of weaponizing your mother’s embarrassing casual racism and thin privilege against Perpetua and Mark Darcy, and you dabbled in the White Savior trope for a hot minute in Thailand (oh and playing an idealized Ivanka Trump to your mother in the 3rd film?). Also let’s face it, you are compared to every confident, capable woman in your universe (surprise they are all bitches) or the non-Anglo British or non-British conquests of Daniel or Mark’s ex wife. 

Let’s talk about the traits of a Karen and Becky and how they are related, Bridget.

Karen

Ah the Karen, or as Tv Tropes called her the “Obnoxious Entitled Housewife”. 

Here is a bullet point of traits the Karen possesses according to The Take:

She’s an entitled, middle-aged, upper or middle class, often White woman.

She mistreats those “beneath her” like wait staff and customer service, classism at it’s most in-your-face and irritating.

She follows the rules, except the part about expired coupons.

She sticks to the hierarchy, using it to prop herself up. 

Often passive-aggressive and judgmental.

She puts up the image of the perfect fragile woman, even if she instigated a crime.

Narcissistic behavior. 

She considers herself the policewoman of human behavior.

She often lacks a understanding of different races and classes.

She projects her own misery on those who cannot fight back against her.

She is often a Know Nothing Know It All.

This probably hits home Bridget, they describe your mother, Auntie Una, and smug married friends. When you look at the news from my country, you tell yourself every time they wonder about your marital status or when you will have children, you are likely keeping them from calling the police on a black kid selling cups of water. But Karen is merely the more outwardly mature version of a trope you definitely fit and her name is....

Becky

Hey Bridget, your hair may not be as shiny as you like but according to a White Supremacist structure, you have “good hair”. You dealt with your literal Beckys Bridget (hi book version Rebecca Gillies), but what “Becky” refers to is to a often ditzy, somewhat entitled, young, white woman who lacks real racial understanding. It refers to how our society props up an image of idealized white femininity, sometimes it bleeds into women not considered “ideal” themselves. 

By the way, the redhead featured is Joan Holloway. She isn’t ditzy like a Becky but her Queen Bee behaviors, her reliance on her pretty privilege, lack of racial understanding, and her adherence to femininity and social climbing make her a modern-day Becky Sharp (also an earlier Becky). 

Remember when you contemplated introducing Mark as “a middle-aged prick who was lefty by his cruel raced ex-wife”? Wasn’t that kind of racist of your Bridget? Not so different from your mother? Here are a few traits:

Becky can be oblivious to her surroundings (and the feelings of others less advantaged than she).

She usually gets away with trouble due to her idealized Anglo looks.

Willfully naïve.

Conventionally feminine.

Often spoiled. 

She and her interests are basic and mainstream (sounds like milk tray, Colin Firth binge fests, shopping, numerous garden parties).

She is often cushioned against disappointment (in the 3rd film we were all supposed to be on your side while your bitchy boss fired you for very good reasons).

Unaware of other’s needs because she is so used to things going her way.

Her ignorance can be just as frustrating and harmful as a Karen’s maliciousness.

Becky is given real growth in fiction, to learn to be better. 

The thing is Bridget....where is your character development? It seems you hardly achieve much confidence, intellect, or maturity. In the 3rd film, I was shocked you were in your forties, I thought I was looking at a overgrown teenager. Perhaps you are a victim of Flanderization?

Karen and Becky

Now we look at how bad things could get if you don’t check your privilege soon enough Bridget, yes a lot of Beckys run the risk of becoming Karens. This is Mother-Daughter pair, Nancy (daughter) and Karen (Mother) Wheeler, I put them because of the connection but they don’t fit the stereotype (despite one of them having the name) but they are privileged white women talking about their shared experiences with misogyny. And most Beckys and Karens had to deal with misogyny, both outside and internalized, the issue being they don’t see how other people had to suffer due to prejudice.

Now Bridget, with your mother, you are a Becky while she was always a Karen. That is you are ignorant about your white privilege while your mother runs on casual racism, ignorance, and Tory politics. Ask her or Mark about the race riots, ask her  and Mark about Enoch Powell. And yes Julie Bindel, a fellow compatriot of yours, complained about the Karen label but honestly it’s scary about how some of your peers chortled over racist jokes or your mother’s antics but get up in arms when people of color in service jobs call ya’ll out. But there are some Karen traits you show already, you will weaponize your place in the pecking order to beat down on another woman, like with Perpetua and Mark’s first ex-wife. 

What does this say about you?

I will be the first to admit, I would’ve jumped up and cheered if I woke up in your body. You are conventionally prettier, but lately I recognized my own points and one of them is flair and the ability to read folks. Believe it or not Bridget, you are seen as a role model and a relatable figure to folks (and your last film ran on Millennial bashing, hating on younger women is not a good look). Maybe these Zoomer teens were on to something? Bridge, they will save us, we need to do the work. 

Now maybe you can take a cue from Dr. Rawlings on how to support and critique women Bridget? In the meantime, I think if I run into you, I’ll run if I see your mother. 

Not all is lost, I see you are a reader, maybe put down the self-help books and do some self-improvement by learning how to be a better white ally. I would like to read Hood Feminism (Mikki Kendall is a delight on Twitter). Meanwhile, if you do release a 4th movie in the future: don’t release it during a U.S. election year (I have had enough right wing presidents to last my teens and twenties).  

[remzarci]

You know...from October 31st to November 7th

There was alot of stuff...Anxiety, depression...Fear...

And it mostly stemmed from the fact that 2020 was...2020 and that this Election was gonna be just as 2020 as 2020...if that Makes any amount of sense...

Honestly 2020 had somehow beaten 2016 in being the worst year...And with how chaotic 2020 was it up in the air of how Chaotic this election was gonna be.

And with the Red Mirage clouding our visions with a bleak of Future...I and very many others felt like...this is it...

it wasn’t enough...I voted, you voted...It was over...We give it our best...but it wasn’t enough...

Then Arizona went blue

thing’s looked less bleak...that there was a chance...We could ACTUALLY Hope!

Then Wisconsin and Missouri went BLUE!

At this point Biden only needed Nevada and he’d on 270 on the DOT!

I mean...what else could happen?

...umm...Destiel...happened...

I’m only aware of Supernatural so...the significance is lost on me...but I feel like I kinda HAVE to mention it due to Supernaturals significance to Tumblr...

But this also came with the supposed news of Putin Resigning...

System of a Down announce a new Album

THEN GEORGIA LEANS BLUE ALONG WITH PENNSYLVANIA!

BLUE!!!

AND THEN IT ALL ENDS WITH NEVADA FINALLY FINSIH COUNTING AND PENNSYLVANIA GOING BLUE!! We Did it! We Dumped Trump!!

finally...things look less dire we can breathe...

It was a week of Lows...and some really weird highs...Now our work isn’t done yet. Georgia is gonna have 2 run off elections to decide who gets the two seats one December 1st and another in January. And there’s also the fact that Trump is still president until January 22nd.

ontop of that Biden being president doesn’t mean every single issue that happened these past four years are just gonna go away...We achieved a MAJOR step into improving things here. we cannot fall into a state of complacency...we can relax when we need to but we need to continue to move ahead.

...but in the meantime celebrate how you want...

...Soon enough Trump will be going Bye Bye Bye

[thesunsetpodcast]

Ice Cube has clarified his role in helping to develop the Trump administration’s proposed “Platinum Plan” for the black community after a White House advisor thanked the rapper for “his willingness to step up and work with” President Trump.

“Leaders gonna lead, haters gonna hate. Thank you for leading!,” Trump senior advisor Katrina Pierson tweeted at Ice Cube Tuesday; in the hours following Pierson’s tweet, Ice Cube had been criticized on social media for going from N.W.A to MAGA.

According to the rapper’s rep, Ice Cube offered to meet with both the Trump and Biden campaigns in recent weeks to discuss an “agenda for black Americans” and support for his Contract With Black America (CWBA), which “strikes at the heart of racism and presents a blueprint to achieve racial economic justice.”

“The problems facing America are too deep and wide to simply reform one area or another,” the contract said. “Long-lasting solutions demand a comprehensive thorough ‘rethink’ of America so that each new approach in each area supports the success of the others. This Contract with Black America will provide conceptual approaches in several areas.” The contract goes on to detail 13 different areas of improvement, including bank lending, prison reform, police reform and the elimination of all confederate monuments.

[nikkoliferous]

I am so fucking tired of the “if you don’t vote for the Democrat, regardless of who it is, you’re showing your privilege” nonsense.

Fuck you. Guess what? The majority of people I know who are unwilling to vote for Joe Biden are exactly the kind of people who are most hurt by Trump’s policies. So why are they not #VoteBlueNoMatterWho? Because they were hurt by Obama’s policies too. They were hurt by Bush’s policies. They were hurt by Clinton’s policies. They know that it doesn’t fucking matter who’s sitting in the White House because neither party gives a shit about them.

Every time I hear another chorus of “you’re dumb and a horrible person if you don’t vote for literally anyone who’s not Trump,” I always think of this article from shortly after the 2016 election.

Milwaukee’s lowest-income neighborhoods offer one explanation for the turnout figures. Of the city’s 15 council districts, the decline in turnout from 2012 to 2016 in the five poorest was consistently much greater than the drop seen in more prosperous areas — accounting for half of the overall decline in turnout citywide.

The biggest drop was here in District 15, a stretch of fading wooden homes, sandwich shops and fast-food restaurants that is 84 percent black. In this district, voter turnout declined by 19.5 percent from 2012 figures, according to Neil Albrecht, executive director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission. It is home to some of Milwaukee’s poorest residents and, according to a 2016 documentary, “Milwaukee 53206,” has one of the nation’s highest per-capita incarceration rates.

At Upper Cutz, a bustling barbershop in a green-trimmed wooden house, talk of politics inevitably comes back to one man: Barack Obama. Mr. Obama’s elections infused many here with a feeling of connection to national politics they had never before experienced. But their lives have not gotten appreciably better, and sourness has set in.

“We went to the beach,” said Maanaan Sabir, 38, owner of the Juice Kitchen, a brightly painted shop a few blocks down West North Avenue, using a metaphor to describe the emotion after Mr. Obama’s election. “And then eight years happened.”

All four barbers had voted for Mr. Obama. But only two could muster the enthusiasm to vote this time. And even then, it was a sort of protest. One wrote in Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The other wrote in himself.

“I’m so numb,” said Jahn Toney, 45, who had written in Mr. Sanders. He said no president in his lifetime had done anything to improve the lives of black people, including Mr. Obama, whom he voted for twice. “It’s like I should have known this would happen. We’re worse off than before.”

Y'all wanna keep plugging your ears and covering your eyes and pretending Trump is some kind of anomaly, you do you. But stop fucking gaslighting and punching down at poor people who refuse to bend the knee any longer. It’s both insulting and ineffective. I guarantee you there’s no person out there who’s reading your reprimands and going, “Aw shucks, I wasn’t gonna vote, but now that this stranger on the internet has told me I’m a bad person, I guess I’d better hold my nose and pretend we live in a democracy.” That’s not happening. It’s just not.

And just so everyone knows, we’re still in a primary. You still have a chance to nominate someone who can actually beat Trump. Maybe put your energy into that fight for the time being, hmm?

[rosyr]

'Don't vote for Trump he's literally the worst human being on Earth right now.', 'Stop telling people to vote for the lesser of two evils.' I mean, what would you have us do then, NOT vote?? What other option is there? You can't write in votes, that would just be handing the election to that festering orange pile of shit. So yeah I'm gonna vote for the lesser of two evils because I am NOT gonna sit around for another 4 years of Trump.

i never said dont vote, you can do what you like. but im tired of people like you honestly....who think the us government is actually going to improve in any way based on who we elect as president. newsflash, all presidents are inherently corrupt because of the SYSTEM. under every single presidency, millions of people die as a direct result of united states policy. oppressed people will still be oppressed directly and indirectly by this country until it’s burned to the ground. stop lying to yourself to feel better about it.