#by the time i get out of bed trump is going to be president again. just fucking kill me now.

[wilwheaton]

For some odd reason, moderator Jake Tapper told Trump in the beginning that he didn't need to answer the questions and that he could use the time however he wanted. Trump ran with that, essentially giving a rally speech whenever he had the floor and was unresponsive to the vast majority of the questions. He made faces and insulted Biden to his face, at one point calling him a criminal and a Manchurian candidate. If anyone had said 10 years ago that this would happen at a presidential debate they would have been laughed out of the room. After the debate when most of the country had turned off cable news or gone to bed, CNN aired its fact check. [...] Even had Joe Biden been at the top of his game, he would not have been able to parry all those lies and he shouldn't have been put in the role of being Donald Trump's fact checker. His choice was to either ignore the lies and let them stand so he could use his time to make his own case or spend the entire debate correcting the record. It was not a fair fight. It's obvious that Biden's terrible performance has caused panic among Democrats and liberal pundits and analysts. The calls for him to withdraw are loud and meaningful and it's going to be a very rough period in this campaign whatever happens. For me, this isn't really a question. As long as Donald Trump is on the ballot, I will vote for the Democratic nominee. If it's Biden or someone else, the calculation remains the same. Nothing is worse than another Trump administration and I suspect that at the end of the day Democratic voters will agree with that. So it's still a matter of those undecided voters in swing states, just like it was on Thursday morning.

CNN's debate was no fair fight

CNN, yet again, gave Trump a national stage to vomit an endless stream of unchecked lies, and today, CNN is telling itself and anyone who will listen that the network and its moderators did a great job. That’s just plainly false, and America is paying the price for their failure.

That doesn’t let Biden off the hook. Biden had a terrible night. He was so bad, it’s allowed the political press to completely ignore not just how much Trump lied, but what he lied about: January 6, all his indictments, his Covid response, and on and on. President Biden was a disaster, and his campaign should be at DefCon 1 to try and repair all the damage. I am terrified that his awful performance will obscure his surprisingly good record and leadership in the post-insurrection era, and give the political press an excuse to run with “Biden is old” in the face of Trump’s endless lies, his felony convictions, his pending trials, and all of his criminality. Someone at Salon said that Trump didn’t win, but Biden absolutely lost. I can’t argue with that, even if the facts are all on Biden’s side.

I’ve seen President Biden on TV today, and even last night after the debate, where he didn’t come across as an ancient dude who needs a walker on his way to some Matlock reruns. He looks and sounds like the SOTU Biden we all expected would show up last night. I have no idea why he was so awful for 99% of the debate (the campaign says he has a cold), and I have no idea why the guy who is showing up to speak to supporters today, and who delivered the SOTU didn’t show up last night to save America from Trump, again.

But we have to live with this reality now, and I hope like hell that the Biden campaign, the candidate, and the entire Democratic party apparatus scrambles like fucking crazy to get all hands on deck to fix this, and remind voters that

This isn’t about BIden vs. Trump. This is about America vs. Project 2025.

There will be no second debate where Biden can try to salvage something out of the wreckage of this one. Trump has everything to lose and nothing to gain. Trump will crow about how he won, and declare he has no reason to debate again, and he’s right. Biden had one shot and he absolutely blew it. The moderators did not help, but the campaign had to have known they wouldn’t, and it sure looks like they didn’t prepare Biden for what we all knew was coming. I don’t know how those same people stop the bleeding, and if they can’t, America and the world are in real, real trouble.

But we all have to remember that we have a choice to make in just a few months. Right now, and probably on election day, the choice is between Joe Biden and Democracy, or Donald Trump and Fascism. It’s stark, it’s clear, it’s binary, and I can not believe that it is even a question. I just hope that there are enough voters out there who will understand that we do have a choice. The options suck, but we do have a choice.

Please choose Democracy. Please choose America. Please choose the future world our children will inherit from us.

[politicalprof]

On the election:

Thoughts? Sure. Lots of them:

--I have said from the beginning that this is a turnout election. Get me 2016 levels of turnout and Trump could well win. Get me 2020 levels of turnout and Harris would probably win. 2024's turnout is much closer to 2016 than 2020, so the electorate was whiter, more male, and older in 2024 than 2020. The people Harris needed to vote, didn't. Thus Trump won all or most of the swing states, and won the popular vote -- the first Republican to do so since 2004. (This is why I was a not a poll watcher: percentages in a poll do not translate directly into actual voting; in a turnout election actual voting is what matters.)

--I used to ask my classes, "will we have a Black president or a female president first? (Yes, I acknowledged the obvious "Black female" hole in that question.) The Black question was answered in 2008; we now have a further answer in that a candidate of the nature of Donald Trump has beaten two immensely qualified female candidates, one white and one woman of color -- both in low turnout elections. Apparently, America really, really, doesn't want a female president.

--Dobbs didn't matter, at least not as predicted. Women didn't "vote Harris" despite all claims they would do so, at least not at the predicted rates.

--Demography is not destiny. The Latino vote has moved toward Trump in three successive elections. I'd guess this is *because* of his anti-immigrant stances, not despite them: pulling up the ladder after you "make it" is an old part of American political life.

--[edit/added]: it's a global "throw the bums out" cycle. People are pissed for lots of reasons, and fairly or not, the "in power" people are feeling the pain. Such is the nature of political timing.

--The urban/rural split is a hell of a thing in American politics, and it's only going to get more intense over time as rural areas continue to empty but still get two Senators forever and ever and ever.

--There are a LOT of people who don't think of politics in either ideological or governance terms. They're not interested in whether a candidate means what he says or is capable of achieving the ends being promised. Rather, politics for these people is *entertainment.* What matters is the show. The "right" people need to be publicly valorized; the "wrong" people need to be attacked, humiliated, and hounded out of the public square. It's bread and circuses. As long as the entertainment continues they'll put up with the regime whatever it is doing to them in the background.

--Donald Trump remains the greatest politician in American history at dominating the news cycle, and thus feeding the entertainment machine. Every crazy, cruel, cantankerous thing he says gets re-amplified over and over again, driving everything else out of the political ecosystem. It's evil. But it's genius.

--I have long said that Donald Trump will never pay a meaningful price for his crimes, his corruption, and his cruelty. He will die in a golden bed surrounded by a harem of women and teams of acolytes singing his praises. It's not fair. But it's almost certainly true.

--A brief note on tariffs: when America relied on tariffs, the government was much smaller than it is now (meaning it needed less money to operate), and US economy activity was mostly concentrated in the US (meaning that it was hard for other countries to put retaliatory tariffs on US products). Neither of these things are true today. So, good luck with that.

I'm sure there's more. But that's a start.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hey, you.

If you're American, and you've been having a hard week egg for.. reasons -

I have something to say to the Americans.

Just remember.

They aren't immortal.

Nobility has lied for centuries. They told us they were placed on the throne by God - the rule of the king being the will of the Creator.

The French proved them wrong.

You are young. They are human. They will one day die.

And on the day they die - regardless of if hell is real or not - there will be a movement when they are laying on that death bed. They will feel their live slipping from their grasp.

And they will feel the fear.

The possiblity of eternal consequence.

They will fear what waiting for them on the other side. The one journey they cannot buy their way out of. The moment the bell tolls for thee.

And honestly, the thought brings me peace.

Trumo and Elon AREN'T demons - though it's so easy to think of them as so.

They are evil humans. And all humans die. Trump? He's 80. He's over three times my age. He's older than my grandmother. He eats McDonald's and Diet Coke like no one's business. Knock on wood I'm betting he's got ten years TOPS.

('I'll be the last president' - my ass. If you take a bad fall it's game over dude. You won't release your health records cause you're most likely due for a heart attack soon mfer. Your minions don't like your candy ass Junior enough to have him as a successor and Baron doesn't fucking care so realistically speaking whats your game plan here? 🤨 Elon's kids have too many daddy issues to take your place. You can't even use a sword. Napoleon would slay you where you fucking stand you pansy)

So if you've been struggling this week, I just wanted to remind you.

Black people won our civil rights without the support from the media, without online social networks, without the support from 90% of white people.

70 years ago, around when my grandma was born - I could not sit next a white person in school. If a white man was walking towards me on the street, I'd have to step into the gutter and let him pass. At risk of being actually killed by the whole town if not.

Nowadays in my city I could tell a white guy my age 'Fuck you!!' to your face. Middle finger and all. And they're not gonna put me in jail for it. No stranger is gonna jump in. The whole town isn't gonna care. If anything, people will just record.

That all happened in ONE generation.

So no matter what Trump does.

Remember. He's not immortal. He will die like we all do.

You're young. You'll have the rest of your life to reverse everything he's done.

That's the thing about personality cults. Once the personality is removed, the whole thing falls apart. And the personality in question is once again - an 80 year old who eats Big Macs and wears suits two sizes too large. A man who would probably get genuinely upset if you asked him to recite his 8 times tables.

If Trump dies in the next 10-20 years, before he turns 100, I'll be 35-45. a.k.a - my generation will be entering the older majority. Our generation will be the eldest and the most influencial. What then?

The Trumpettes won't have their leader for their personality cult so they'll have no one - not even their republican parents - to tell them who to think.

We'll be older, wiser. We'll teach our kids the signs. We'll tell them stories what to do, and invest pubic funds to conserve the history of our fight - to never be erased.

If you're scared this week, I understand.

But remember. We've fought harder with less - and we still won.

So keep your head up. Doom is the tool of the enemy. You keep going, you keep living, and you survive to tear down their legacy while the bastard spins in his grave.

Keep going. Keep your angry hearts and clenched fists. Hold on tight to your love and rage. And keep going.

That's what Hobie would want. That's what a Hobie is there to teach us.

Hope this helped someone, anyone, even if it was a little bit. If this helps you get through the day, or the next hour, with the smallest bit of hope - that's all I want.

Thanks for reading this far! Here's Hobie :)

--------------------------------------------------

And bonus:

Ayo I just gotta add this in here -

Word to god, and when I say this I say this with my whole chest -

I'd be DAMNED before I ever say I'm scared of Donald Trump.

First of all, I'm black and poor. There's been a white man wanting me dead since the moment I left my Mama's hoohaa and guess what, I'm still here. That mfer ain't special. Call me when the klansmen come not when done mfers with tiki torches cosplay call of duty.

Cause none of them coming to the hood..tf.. Try that shit in neighborhood with Bloods and Crips.. Y'all not the only ones with automatics and lots of money. It's just the black people with money and automatics keep shit quiet. If these racist mfers had ppl breaking in they house the way Kendrick had mfers breaking in Drake's with choppers they'd be terrified as fuuuckkk

And secondly there's 4chan fellas out there that probably legit jack off to the idea of a black queer trans person crying in fear. And those mfers can kiss my black ass and kick rocks cause I wake up every day smiling. So -

Anyway I'm done lol

I just had to get this out of my system lol. OKAY BYE FOR REAL

[aropride]

ok story before bed time. everyone gather around

you are me at age 13. you are an 8th grader who just realized he likes girls and recently had a gender crisis in the home depot lighting aisle. it is november of 2016, and trump has run for president for the first time. you are watching the map change over your dad's shoulder. you aren't really sure how it works yet but you are seeing a lot of red on there and you are very frightened. you just found out you have free will, like, last year, and you are only beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation- the situation being the united states of america in general- and it already is looking very bad.

when you wake up in the morning your dad tells you trump has won. he's too happy about it. you're skipping breakfast to make the bus in time. the sun's barely risen, btw, but you are 13 so you have little to no autonomy or rights, so you are in the fluorescent-light torment-nexus they call a "middle school" by 7:45am on the dot.

you see your friend as you're walking to your homeroom. he's a fellow gay emo middle schooler, he sucks, and he really likes to guilt-trip you into skipping class to hang out with him by telling you he's going to kill himself if you don't. you have other qualms with him, but this illustrates enough. he says hi, you say hi, there is a sort of thick dread in the air despite barely anyone in the building being old enough to vote and most everyone completely baffled by the concept of the "electoral college."

he asks how you're feeling. you say bad, and he agrees.

he looks you in the eyes and puts both his hands on your shoulders. he says, "don't worry about gay marriage. they can't get rid of it."

you don't say anything; he doesn't give you a chance to.

"i ran into the senate at subway yesterday and i asked them. and they said trump can't repeal gay marriage."

you do not know much about the government. you are not quite sure what a senator is. however, you know there are one hundred of them. you also know that the only subway in your little corner of maine is very small- there's, like, three booths to sit in. only a few people can even get in line to order at a time. you were born recently but you are able to draw some conclusions here:

1) there is absolutely no way that subway could fit 100 people inside of it at all,

2) there is no reason that the entire senate would be in a little town in maine the night after the election,

and 3) this guy is making shit up again, more than anyone's ever made shit up in their life.

you say, "okay. that's good." you are aware that gay marriage is not the only thing to be worried about, here. you are aware that this guy lies recreationally and it is not worth arguing the matter.

"isn't that great?" he asks. it is not great.

you go to homeroom and you do not stand for the pledge of allegiance (you never stand for it again). you go to pre-algebra. you listen to my chemical romance instead of paying attention. you go to english class, you go to study hall, you go to lunch. you go to social studies and your teacher lets you and your other gay friend (who doesn't suck and in fact you have crush-adjacent feelings for them) sit out in the hall to talk about the election, because you asked nicely. they do not try to tell you that they ran into the entire senate at subway.

you think about this interaction several times a month through the next two election seasons. you are a 21 year old man and you are still thinking about this. you are still imagining ways the entire senate could cram themselves into this tiny subway. you regularly share this story with new friends because you just cannot stop fucking thinking about it. he ran into the entire senate at a tiny little subway in maine at 7 in the morning. and they said gay rights were safe forever.

[hero-israel]

Looks like the Pro Palestine movement shat the bed completely. There's definitely been a vibe shift ever since they turned on Black people. The DNC protests were a bust. And Palestinians tried to raise a big stink over not getting a speaking spot at the DNC and the vast majority of people were like, "Lol you called the nominee 'Killer Kamala' and her boss 'Genocide Joe', what did you expect?" Now "Muslim Women for Harris" gave her their endorsement because they've finally realized they have no leveraging power over the Democrats and decided maybe they should do something to prevent Trump from returning to office.

Free Palestine isn't attracting the same large crowds anymore. The college protests are a few dozen people. Not to say these lingering ones aren't dangerous (they're probably even more dangerous than the bigger crowds at the encampments last semester) but they're just not attracting the same energy they used to.

It's going to be very interesting to see how the leftists who went full Jew-hater and jumped on the Free Palestine bandwagon react to the engine running out of gas. Do they think they can just go back to trying to cancel each other over microaggressions after spewing Nazi shit for the past 10 months? Do they think they can quietly delete their 10/7 tweets and people are just going to forget? I want to know if it's sunk in for them that they have completely destroyed credibility in mainstream leftism. Because I know I'm never trusting any activist movement again unless they can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're normal about Jews.

I know there will be no apologies, no self-reflection, no accountability from these people. I expect nothing but a bunch of gaslighting. People who pretended they didn't pass around lists of "Zionists", pretending they didn't romanticize self-immolation, pretending they weren't regurgitating slurs from David Duke. No, they'll all pretend they were totally calling out the antisemitism this whole time, for real. They totally weren't an active member in an Arab/white supremacist death cult.

Going forward, it's like how whenever you meet someone with a certain vibe, you ask them who they voted for in 2016/2020? Whenever I meet someone who's a self-proclaimed "activist", it's gonna like, "What were you posting about on 10/7?"

Oh I loovvvveee it. They came crawling right back. This should only be a lesson to the campus crowd about how politics works past the rhyming chant stage, maybe a few will even learn it.

[jazzcathaven]

NO SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVILS MUSK TRUMP MCCONNELL

“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.” --Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Kentucky's Mitch McConnell started the betrayal of the USA.

It never ceases to amaze me that good Kentucky folks voted again and again and again for Mitch McConnell.

For too long corrupt politicians have been selling the USA to China and Saudi Arabia and Russia. McConnell has been central to that betrayal of the United States of America.

I’m an Abraham Lincoln Republican. He signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing the slaves.

I’m a Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democrat. He signed the Social Security Act in 1935, giving the struggling hard working class the only retirement we'll ever have.

If Musk and Trump take away Social Security there will be blood in the streets and in high places.

I’m a Benjamin Franklin Independent. The eccentric genius who more than anyone birthed the United States of America and the sacred documents,

The Declaration of Independence

The Constitution

The Bill of Rights

on which we barely, hopefully still stand.

But more than anything I'm a Kentucky farm boy. The only government for me is the government of individual responsibility and helping my neighbors.

I don't like governments. But I'm not naive. We live in a political world. So I stay tuned. I get involved. I speak out. I take action.

I’ve never liked corrupt politics which is why I’ve always been an avid student of politics and a political activist. 31 years ago I wrote "I Will Not Bow Down" and "Tapping My Own Phone" and "Never Give Up" (with His Holiness The Dalai Lama). Democrat Bill Clinton was President then.

I despise politics, but I believe in the ideals on which the United States of America was birthed. I believe in freedom and equality and justice for ALL people. Shootfire, I rewrote The Declaration of Independence so it would include EVERYONE, not just white male property owners.

The United States of America is going the way all other Empires have gone, downhill fast, overthrown from within. But we still have time, even while falling, before we totally fall apart, to change the path we’re on and live up to the ideals the principles inherent and established in the documents on which we birthed ourselves.

Donald Trump was in bed with the Russians before he ran for President the first time. He and Elon Musk are power hungry bat shit crazy and they must be stopped! Mitch McConnell, nobody feels sorry for you. You started this shit. Add Rush Limbaugh, another little fascist, and you've got The Four Horsemen of The American Apocalypse.

Is it too late? Have Elon Musk and Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell and their billionaire cronies and cult followers already sold the USA completely to China and Russia and Saudi Arabia? Probably. But I know this: No matter what corrupt politicians do I will continue to respect, honor and adhere to the ideals the principles on which our country was born and the possibility and hope of living up to those ideals, those principles on which we still, barely, hopefully stand.

And one more thing: I support and thank our Allies!!

Ron Whitehead, U.S. National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate

Photo by Jinn Bug.

[oh-my-damn]

i feel like people should stop looking to celebs for political advice. theyre entertainers. and will i completely support palestine, its not chris' job to educate, its his job to entertain and act and make money. of course, him not publicly supporting palestine is sad, but so many a-listers are losing jobs because of supporting palestine, and while that's wrong... it doesnt change the fact that its happeneing. also meeting the president, no matter who is it, is just a really cool thing to say that you did so i get why he would want to meet the president. he cant exactly spit on his shoes or steal his shoelaces, can he?

You do realize that Chris Evans has a political platform called ASP that he uses to "educate" and that is why he met the President, right?

He put himself in the middle of it all. Stop defending him to people who think he's full of shit. He's married to someone who looks like a minor and who has clear racist behavior in her past and now he's shaking hands with an admitted zionist while simultaneously not having said a word about Palestine other than doing a zoom on his POLITICAL platform about the "Israel-Hamas War".

He made his bed, it's time to fucking lie in it. I can absolutely judge him and call him out for behavior he willingly did. He didn't have to go into politicis or rant about Trump or start a political site but guess what? HE DID. So anything he is or isn't saying or talking about is DELIBERATE.

He has been dead silent all year when it comes to womens rights, lgbtq rights and now the genocide in Gaza. And what's one of the first things he does to "relaunch" his site? Shake hands with the President who has proudly stated that he is a zionist and will support Israel no matter what.

And let me remind you: he didn't shake hands with Donald Trump when he launched the site. He said in an interview he wasnt upset that Trump refused to talk to him.

It says everything you need to know. Stop defending a 42 year old man as if he is not aware of his actions and the consequences of them. Get a grip.

He is not who you imagine in your head. He has shown time and again who he is. Please start believing him.

I am so sick of people excusing his behavior, the excuses are fucking infinite, yall will let him get away with anything just because you want a chance to fuck him, I guess.

[achaiapelides]

What is going on today?

First, we get a sad KitTy letter (Kitty content! yay! 10/10)

Then Americans elect Trump president (again? wasn't one time enough? now poor Melania has to be first lady again! 0/10)

Apparently, Quatar decides against democracy? (Why? Idk... but go off, I guess...)

Then, America elects their first trans-woman into Congress. (10/10 Slay Queen!)

Then, some politicians in my country (Germany) demand new elections. (0/10 NOT the time, Friedrich and Markus! at least let us have a day to process the US-election!)

Then our finance minister joins those demands. (0/10, Christian apparently isn't aware that he is part of the government he's criticising...)

And then our chancellor snapped and threw the finance minister and his party out of the government (5/10 Finally Olaf! Was that smart, though? Little Christian is sad now...)

So now we probably have new elections in spring, and until then, a social-democratic and green government...

What a day...

Anything else, or can I go to bed now without missing any major political events?

Good thing I had my politics lecture today in the morning, or my professor would have spent the whole lecture talking about all of that... I fear for next week...

[pop-punklouis]

I live in a deep blue place but my family is in Ohio. I went to visit them over the summer and it became…immediately clear to me how this was gonna go down. Again. I drove home and climbed in my bed for three days straight. So yeah, I’m angry and sad tonight, but I feel like I did the bulk of my mourning back in July.

Over the next few months I was chastised by friends and colleagues for being pessimistic when I would dump a cold bucket of reality on their heads whenever they would start going on about how there was “absolutely no way he was going to win again.” Most of them have never been to a place like Ohio. They have no fucking clue what it’s like to not live in a big cozy liberal bubble.

I hope they get it now. But I’ve never wanted to say “I told you so” less than I want to say it right now. I’d give anything to be going into work tomorrow to eat a big ole slice of humble pie.

Anyway. Sending big hugs to you Hope.

i just think the democratic party consistently underestimates how strong trump’s pull is when it comes to republicans and his supporters. and unfortunately, republicans go out and vote. they rally. they don’t focus on single-issue voting. they don’t splice each other up and point fingers like we do. and i’m not saying that to place blame on democrats or liberals or anything like that. i’m just saying that to try and map out how this continues to happen. and how unsurprising it is even though it’s devastating and horrifying.

after 2020, the maga camp fueled themselves with as much hatred and spite they could muster and they let it fester for four years all so they could come back and do this. i just wish the democratic party had a better gameplan for that. i wish biden had dropped out sooner. i wish and hope so many things could’ve been different. i assumed trump was going to be a strong candidate due to living in red areas (unbelievable i know), and i think the harris campaign did some impressive stuff with the three months she had. i think it’s difficult to have done better than they did with the time they had. but it was an uphill battle, and unfortunately it just proves how much america hates women and how stupid people are for believing “oh things were cheaper when trump was president so basically that means if he’s president again it’ll be the same” and i genuinely believe so many casual voters who did end up voting for him landed in that camp which is just. mind boggling to me because that’s not how our governments work. that’s not how any of this works. but that’s how it turned out.

it’s just so disappointing and fills me with so much anger. we failed so many tonight. we really did.

[onbearfeet]

Like a hole in my head: An antidote to panic

So I've been thinking about everyone's reactions to Trump getting shot at, and especially the doomer "Oh, it's so joever" shit. And I think the most useful observation I can make is that the problem we're facing isn't the certainty of a bad future--it's the lack of any certainty at all. We don't know what's going to happen. None of us CAN know.

And we are not coping well.

Humans HATE uncertainty. We have all kinds of cognitive shortcuts and biases to protect us from having to sit with uncertainty, so when it's genuinely unavoidable, we kind of lose our little monkey minds.

But lucky for you, I am an expert on uncertainty. I've had to be, because I have a hole in my head.

The details aren't terribly important, but the short version is: due to a hilarious fuckup in an otherwise lifesaving experimental surgery I received as a tiny premature infant, I have a skull that is about 85% bone, 13% plastic, and 2% fuckall. The hole has skin and hair over it, so it's not visible, but anyone running their fingers over that part of my scalp will find their fingertips dipping into a dent that's about the right size for me to have been whacked in the head with a golf ball. The hole itself is either dime-sized or quarter-sized, depending on the X-ray you prefer.

The technical term for my condition is "stable", which means it's not changing. Stable is not healthy or safe, merely consistent. And my point of stability is that I'm basically fine ... right up until something bonks me on the head just right. Like, say, a cupboard door. Or an elbow. Or a book falling off a shelf. In that case, I might die before I hit the floor, on account of the whole "no brain armor in that spot" situation.

I'm 40 years old, so you might wonder why this hasn't been fixed, but the answer is the look on doctors' faces when the phrase "elective neurosurgery" is uttered.

Anyway.

I've lived my entire life knowing there was a pretty good chance that I'd get out of bed some morning and not make it back to my pillow that night. And at first, that uncertainty was paralyzing. It's hard to see the point of starting college, for example, if you might not live to graduate. Then again, if you think too hard about that, you won't do anything at all, and that's not great either. And this situation is stable, and therefore unlikely to improve! Certainty isn't coming, at least not for me. Not certainty of long life, not certainty of imminent death.

So let me introduce you to the question that enables me to function, the question I ask myself when contemplating any new endeavor more ambitious than cooking something new for dinner.

"Is this worth dying in the middle of?"

It's a hell of a perspective check, and the answer will vary from one person and situation to the next, but it's profoundly useful. I got two college degrees on the belief that education was a noble pursuit in itself, and even a half-finished one would look better in my obituary than the lack. I write books because even an unfinished novel can be good art. I decided a couple of years ago to pursue finding a partner because I think love is worth dying in the middle of. And who knows? I might not die. Imagine that. I might even finish.

When I start, I tell myself: Maybe I'll finish something great. Maybe I'll die in the middle of it. But even if I do, what a thing to have died in the middle of! All I have to do is keep going, and if I don't die first, the thing will be accomplished. And I have a lot of practice at keeping going.

So let me ask you: what can you start (or continue) doing that's worth dying in the middle of? Are you organizing? That's worth dying in the middle of--any amount of organizing is better than none. Working to get out the vote? Win or lose, that work will be a foundation for whatever comes next. Running mutual aid? People need that all the time, no matter who's president.

So you get up in the morning, and you do the work, and you go to bed one day closer to finishing, one more day of not being dead. As the poet says, thus do we refute entropy.

There's a funny thing about life with a hole in my head: it's made me realize that, metaphorically speaking, everyone has one. Oh, maybe your skull is a more standard model than mine, but you're not guaranteed a live bedtime either. You could get hit by a bus today, or a blood vessel in your brain could explode, or you could suddenly discover a new and violent allergy with no epipen in sight.

You live in uncertainty too. You always have. You just don't get a reminder every time you run your fingers through your hair.

So take it from someone who can't forget her constant existential dread even if she wants to: you can do a lot one day at a time, especially if it's worth dying in the middle.

[jack-bytez-genuine-corner]

Long rant about losing faith in humanity under the cut

So I think the thing that really makes this election hurt for me so much is that the RNC has blatantly, patently evil for the 26 years I've been alive. Lied to start two wars for oil. Lied to justify torturing random farmers half way across the world and then tried to justify that after getting called out. Killed privacy via the PATRIOT Act and then siphoned more power to the President for war with less oversight. I still thought the average voter was still good at heart and maybe misled or ignorant of what was happening.

In 08 they hung Obama effigies from trees, made arguments to white wash and justify neo Nazis. Just evil, heinous shit, but I was 10 and kept thinking that it was just a small group of horrible people and everyone was still good at their core. 16 I was more baffled and even more confused cause Trump wasn't even using dog whistles like the racists of old and the misogynists of yesteryear but just BEING racist and sexist and people voted for him. I really just clinged on that maybe most people were so brainwashed by Fox News and so out of touch that they didn't get it. I felt a little sympathy for Trump supporters who died of COVID cause he told them not to mask. A bit of schadenfreude when auto workers who were pro Trump got their factories closed due to the trade war with China over steel, but still I felt a little bad for them... Except for the one lady who said Trump isn't hurting the right people.

In 2020 I thought we had people actually come to their senses. That it wasn't normal for someone to steal 3 SCOTUS seats, get a million people killed needlessly, who spread so much hate and violence and supported an insurrection cause he was too hurt that he lost. For a hot minute I felt like maybe people were looking at real info and learning and voting for what's best for them and their community vs just believing whatever lies Trump says. In 2022 I'm a bit miffed that Republicans narrowly won the house but ya know, that's how the US historically is, incumbents lose seats no matter how good their policies and work are, just look at Obama and the ACA that saved millions of lives and so many Democrats lost their jobs over it.

But in 2024 I'm just certain people aren't good at their core anymore. We're just animals who are innately selfish and greedy. That lots of people are willing to memory hole the million+ killed by COVID and millions more disabled cause it's all about them. That they didn't view the blatant bigotry and racism and sexism as a red line but an acceptable trade in exchange for nice lies about how a single fat con man will make everything better. And I guess I really don't know how to cope with that. I'm extremely pissed at myself for ever believing that people were naturally good, instead you really do have to treat us like animals and lead people by the nose, strongly, just so they can learn basic things, and if it's something they are wrong in it'll be even harder. Like who knows how many people are going to die when Republicans lift restrictions on Israel, back out of weapons for Ukraine, start trying to force family separations and start up concentration camps for brown kids again, how many jobs will be lost and how child starvation will spike again just like it did last time. Like it hurts to even think about.

It's not like people didn't know either, everyone knew, it's been front and center for years and no institution did anything to stop him or Republicans who blatantly broke the law and caused so much damage, and when it came down to the average person millions sat out the election, full well knowing that millions of people in the US and abroad could very well be harmed and killed by Trump and they didn't bother to get out of bed. Even worse, you had people who claim they care about Palestine or claim they care about the economy or about woman vote for a party that clearly doesn't view any minority as people and wants to actively hurt women, hurt Muslims, hurt Palestinians and hurt the poor. I don't even know what else I or anyone else could have done to inform people that this election was literally life or death and not choosing was just as bad as voting to harm millions of people. But instead we're just so selfish and sexist and racist that no amount of blatant, shameless evil was enough to vote for someone who, even flawed, would have caused infinitely less pain and suffering.

I truly just don't know how to cope with it. I don't want to live in a world where I really do just believe that the average stranger is so innately selfish and lazy that they can't even imagine doing the bare minimum, or god forbid, WANTING to harm millions of people. I want to live in one where I'm back at thinking that people, deep down, are good natured even after they've done bad things or have been so brainwashed but this election is just undeniable proof: People only care about what gets them ahead and they don't care who gets hurt as long as they get assurances that it will be them who gets ahead, even if the person giving those assurances is someone they know is a liar. It's just sickening to think about.

[metaphoricgibberish]

this isn’t what my account is used for anymore, but back when it was first created (circa 2012, i’m very old and very much a tumblr veteran) it was all it was used for.

don’t feel obligated to read this, it is mostly for myself. maybe you can relate if you’ve had a friend breakup this year.

my best friend and i stopped speaking six months ago, these are all the things i’ve wished i could tell her in that time:

i got a new job!!! finally. i can’t believe i stayed at frog for five years, dude, i’m such an idiot. i get paid a livable wage now, but i still feel like i’m broke all the time. trauma i guess. i work in HR now LOL. HR?! if only they knew all the shit i did when we worked at sbux, what an hr nightmare i was. i really like it, though, if i’m being honest. the work is interesting and my team is all women. they’re so smart and so supportive. i still constantly feel like i’m about to get fired, but that’s probably my abandonment trauma lol.

speaking of, i’ve been back in therapy for almost a year now. colleen is great. she’s old, but she has tattoos and she’s helping me a lot with working through my childhood shit.

i can’t believe trump is president again. i found out on a plane ride to new york and cried the whole flight. i’m so scared, dude.

i haven’t done coke in two months. i hope i’m done for good this time… i hope you’re doing better with it too. maryse told me she would stop too, but then she did it a week later and i was strong enough to go to bed instead of doing it with her. it felt like a breaking point. i’m trying really hard to take care of myself. i don’t want to do that shit anymore. i don’t want to drink as much anymore either. i’m back on a work out schedule and that’s helping a lot. i’m trying not to get too absorbed with that either though. joel is keeping an eye on my eating and making sure i’m not going overboard at the gym, but tbh i feel good. i feel better than i have in a long time.

joel and i got engaged. you would hate the story, you’d think it’s so dumb, but i think it was really sweet. we got engaged in new york. my ring is really pretty. it’s alexandrite. i’d never heard of that stone before, but it’s cool, it’s like a very expensive mood ring lol, it changes color depending on the light. every time i look at my ring i remember what you said. i remember how you told me that you couldn’t believe joel was still with me. i hear those words all the time. they haunt me. you haunt me.

i hope one day you’ll know a love like joel and mine. i hope one day you’ll find someone who will accept and love you for all your faults and despite your past. i know that was so hard for you to believe, that he could love me even though you thought me unloveable. i loved you despite everything, but i know that was never enough. i still love you, but i think toward the end, we were hurting each other more than helping each other. our relationship was toxic from the start, distance and time (and a lot of therapy) has helped me realize that. and it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just you, i think the combination of the two of us was destined for failure. we didn’t know how to love each other the right amount. it was always too much or not enough.

i’m still sorry. for everything. for hurting you. for hurting myself. for being perhaps, a little too insane for the both of us.

i’ll carry our memories in my heart forever, even if it’s a plague, even if it hurts.

[icedhotcocoa]

I’ve been so worried and stressed these past few days. I found out about the attempted Trump assassination when I opened twitter at home after I saw the movie Longlegs. And it sucks cuz I was in a real good mood too. I know a doomer mindset won’t help us in the long run but I can’t help but be worried. I’m of course going to vote but one of my friends can’t vote cuz their mother won’t give them their social security number for them to register.

And with all the doomers, anti voters, and pro Trump ppl I’ve seen online I’m scared that all our voting will be for nothing and that in the end I’ll only have 5 months left to live on planet earth. I was barely able to get out of bed Sunday and two days later I’m STILL terrified. I’m so scared for the future. It’s not like I WANT to vote for Biden. I do not like him, but it’s either him or a full on dictator.

I just want to live a good fulfilling life. I was already going through a lot of stuff in my personal life hoping things will get by and that I’ll come out on the other side but the state the political landscape is like a double wammy to my already bad mental state. And I start college next month and idk how I’m gonna be able to focus on that with all this stuff going on. I know I can’t lose hope especially not now..but I just feel so hopeless and helpless and terrified. And I feel like i won’t be able to go on

hi anon!! i understand everything you're going through. I think we all feel pretty similarly. i'm just a silly teenager on the internet and i don't know jack shit about fuck but i hope some of what i write can make you feel better-- 1. change is, unfortunately, slow. yes, that means that we can't snap our fingers, or shout loud enough, or even assassinate presidents effectively enough that everything will be better and we will immediately halt the worrying descent into global fascism that i fear might be coming--BUT, simultaneously, this is a good thing. you don't have to panic. even if trump wins this election, the world is not ending immediately. policies take time to enact, dictatorship doesn't happen in a day (yes we still have to be vigilant to prevent it, but no one electoral outcome is the be-all-end-all for our future).

2. STOP DOOMSCROLLING!! i know, i know, it's hard. focus on you. spend some time with your friends. you have a finite amount of empathy to give, everyone does, and that's okay. that's why collective action (yes, like voting), is so important: any one single person has very little time or effort to contribute to politics on a global, or even national scale. nobody is expecting anything from you--focus on yourself first

3. this is completely unrelated to politics and more personal but I actually just finished my freshman year of undergrad! it was spectacular! you will have an excellent time, i PROMISE--again, this is my personal experience as an extrovert, but basically all of my other friends loved their first years too. the leap from senior year of HS to first year of college isn't as big as it first seems, you have lots of people to support you and everyone is going through the same exact stuff you are :3 inbox and dms are of course always open

[fantastic-nonsense]

@panacea420 : Porto Rico doesn't want statehood. Why. The people would lose their free money. Yes, they get money they won't vote for statehood . Second Trump trying to clean out Washington is a good thing. Think. A more efficient government. More money to keep in your pocket. Third my biggest hope will be flat rate taxes. Think. If we're supposed to be equal then we should pay a flat tax no deductions. Every person bissness. No give backs. Think. About it billionaires can't use tax breaks. If you make a buck pay a dime. No one gets a break. Were equal under the law. Plus a simple 5% national sales tax. Another way to make corporations pay their fair share. (After they try to say we didn't make a profit or pay their ceos too much. ) think about it?? Also stock options still you have to pay taxes on them as income. Then if the make money on them they pay again. Unlike the current policy. Of only when they cash out . Flat taxes are the only fair taxes I am a liberaltarian. Not a republican. And a registered independent. Why?? Think about this. If a political party thinks you'll vote for them no matter what. Then they will. Not care what you want??? Make each party work for your vote. Just think about that . Used to live in Indiana they didn't have a independent group why?? Again think about it. If both party's are in. Bed with each other?? Dick Chaney was the most hated person by the democrats now he was working with the democrats to keep Trump from winning???? Again think about this please

Sir this is a Wendy's and I have no idea why you put these replies on my post. Anyway, let's get a few things straight:

"Porto Rico doesn't want statehood. Why. The people would lose their free money" Puerto Rico has affirmatively voted for statehood four times over the past decade: in 2012, 2017, 2020, and a week ago, on November 5th, 2024. Yes, the exact significance of various individual referendum results is heavily debated due to a variety of local politics (including referendum boycotts, leadership infighting, and differing status choices), but the point stands: Puerto Rico has voted for statehood several times in the past decade, including a 52.52%–47.48% win in 2020, when Biden won. Hence, why I noted that the Democratic trifecta should have done the correct thing and admitted both PR and DC as states immediately upon taking their seats.

Second Trump trying to clean out Washington is a good thing. Think. A more efficient government. More money to keep in your pocket.

One, this is not what's going to happen. By any objective standards, Trump ran an insanely corrupt, incompetent, and inefficient government during his first term in office. He's a six-time failed businessman and convicted felon who cozied up to corrupt dictators around the world and attempted to run the government like he was Vito Corleone. He was literally impeached for corruption and attempted intimidation of another world leader. He's not interested in "cleaning out" anything, and you're frankly stupid for thinking he is. Why on earth do you trust a corrupt businessman who partied with Jeffery Epstein for years to "clean house"? He is part of the problem you're complaining about.

Two, it's hilarious you think anything Trump does will "put more money in your pocket." He has no interest in helping you. He does not care about you. He will not put money in your pocket. He will not lower your rent or put more groceries in your shopping cart. He's a conman who only cares about himself and enriching his own family and billionaire friends. Or did you forget about how US billionaires got over $1 trillion richer during the four years of Trump's presidency, or how Trump personally reported that his businesses made over $1.6 billion dollars in the same timeframe (largely due to the aforementioned corruption and attempts to curry favor)?

What happened to you in that same time period? Did your wages go up? Did your healthcare get better? Were you finally able to buy a house? No. Because Trump doesn't care about you and your "normal working class person" problems, and never has.

Third my biggest hope will be flat rate taxes. Think. If we're supposed to be equal then we should pay a flat tax no deductions. Every person bissness. No give backs. Think. About it billionaires can't use tax breaks. If you make a buck pay a dime. No one gets a break. Were equal under the law. Plus a simple 5% national sales tax. Another way to make corporations pay their fair share. (After they try to say we didn't make a profit or pay their ceos too much. ) think about it?? Also stock options still you have to pay taxes on them as income. Then if the make money on them they pay again. Unlike the current policy. Of only when they cash out . Flat taxes are the only fair taxes

Flat taxes are regressive. People whose incomes are lower end up paying a larger portion of their income than rich people under that model! They do not create "equality." If you're actually concerned about making sure rich people and corporations "pay their fair share," I am begging you to understand that flat taxes do not accomplish that goal. Rich people WANT you to advocate for flat taxes because it means they end up paying less money. Please go sit in on a Political Economy 101 class, I am begging.

But since I'm nice, I'll give you the short tl;dr on why flat taxes are bullshit and make rich people richer, straight from the IRS:

Take a look at Chart A and Chart C. Look at the actual amount of money that Family A is left with vs. Family C in those two scenarios after you take out taxes. Now compare those numbers to Chart B. You taken a good look at those numbers? Do you understand why flat taxes would be useless at "making billionaires pay their fair share" now, when Family C ends up with $98,000 in Chart A and $80,000 in Chart C vs. the $70,000 they end up with in Chart B (the correct way to tax rich people)?

Finally:

I am a liberaltarian. Not a republican. And a registered independent. Why?? Think about this. If a political party thinks you'll vote for them no matter what. Then they will. Not care what you want??? Make each party work for your vote. Just think about that . Used to live in Indiana they didn't have a independent group why?? Again think about it. If both party's are in. Bed with each other?? Dick Chaney was the most hated person by the democrats now he was working with the democrats to keep Trump from winning???? Again think about this please

I have no idea what you're trying to say here with your rambly little rant except "I hate the system as it stands." Which like. fine. Whatever. so do a lot of us. But this has absolutely nothing to do with anything I actually said and no, actually I don't have to "think about it." I would actually very much like you to shut up and stop rambling incoherently in my replies about something that is wholly irrelevant to the content of my post.

Anyway, this is all to day...sir, this is a Wendys and I am uninterested in you. Go back to high school civics class and come back only when you can actually explain to me, a political staffer, how any level of government (federal, state, or local) actually works on a basic, operational level.

Ok it's been 24 hours and my official post-mortem is literally just "Elizabeth Warren was right: Democrats should have appointed an Attorney General who was committed to prosecuting Trump and everyone who enabled him, cleaned house of Trump's appointees, nuked the filibuster to pass DC and Puerto Rico statehood, and prioritized dealing with corruption"

[the-firebird69]

Yelling and cursing galore as California Democrats gather - Los Angeles Times

And there is a looming date coming up and it is June 4th. You can see in the video with Megadeth symphony of destruction that June 14th and June 4th are both in there yeah you can see the dates somebody put them there and the name of the senator is wrong no that's the senator's name it looks a little odd but he looks very young and Trump is going out there trying to change and he won't and they're going to shoot him as Trump and they're planning to and it's the Mac proper and they're going to try and get my office and to turn them up more not to turn them down our son and daughter know when they turned up the get turned out and are dead. And we need this guy dead he is a damn nuisance. And he's a freaking fairy too. Now this is going to happen and today is June 2nd and after today one day and then he's out however tonight there's some kind of gathering and it's in Los Angeles at the old coliseum and he was tossed out of the ring on June 3rd okay he was tossed out June 2nd that's where he's going and his itinerary is nothing he's having lunch with the vice president and that's it and it's been that way for a while he doesn't do any work just like Trump and he used to and they were hit and now they're dunces. There's a lot of stuff to be said about this but these people are aching for people to get rid of them and they're doing it. So he's going to go to this event it's early evening and there will be a shooting and the shooter is trying to hit him again no he's trying to hit him too but they ducked out for some reason he hit Brad and Becca first. And I guess it's going to make it look like they're shooting them back and if the clothes and they're doing both shootings and the guy makes a mess out of himself who the hell else why. He shows up as Denzel Washington after Denzel Washington is in the movie and he shoots the VP to get a new one and shoots himself almost. So people are wondering why it's a little weird but he's a lunatic. He's going to shoot himself and the girl shot him and granddaughter of trump is mean to our son and he doesn't like her she can't figure it out. But for Christ's sake she shoots him and he's in the movie where he's trying to find this killer and he's in a bed that's after the shooting and you can see his heart wound is bleeding a little and he figures out who it is and it was a surprise to him that it was Trump who was back and this is a while after this presidential fiasco and he can't believe it actually but he goes on and he tries to catch the day.

We need that propane out if it's not out I want Terry C head on a stick before midnight tonight...

We also have several other people here that just need to leave you want to sit here and Yap like you're nobody your little kid like a three year old child I'm going to make a list and get it approved and get you out I'm tired of listening to this dumb s***.

We do have some announcements and we do: there were a lot of deaths here last night yeah from radiation it was about 2.15 RADS by average all night. Out by the shoreline it was 2.25 RADS all night. They were about 150,000 dead from that alone and there was some kind of infight going on people are grabbing you for information and 20,000 more we're out believe it or not it's supper on 200,000. That number is getting low it was at about 2.35 million now it's 2.15 million and you actually are shrinking like you keep seeing you are and the number is quickly approaching where you say it was and it will go buy it and you will have practically nobody here the trumpsters are well on their way to accomplish that task they have lost a lot of people and they're going to lose more there were probably about 100,000 people who were getting sick from 3 or 4 days ago and getting sick from radiation and other and they cannot hold down food they're going to be dying the next few days that would be added to the standard 100,000 a day and we will tell you it's because of an increase in radiation and because a lot of you accumulate radiation and don't dump it mainly the trumpsters yeah they accumulate a lot of and they don't dump it because they're not high enough of a mutant level and they're dying right now there will be only about $330,000 trumpsters here in Charlotte County that is a drastic reduction in their numbers it is going to go down further fairly soon within a couple days and it will be another drop of about 100,000 and that will weaken them severely but that's going to be caused by some very serious infighting here and attempts to kidnap people all over the board they are going to be at each other very hard and we have to intercept this morning was not fun well people all over the county are getting hit they are getting hit with a bunch of different things but mostly they're getting hit with emitters believe it or not it is a big day for a midget and they're not really doing that well we have some other things to report and they're important but we will get to that momentarily right now we're going to print

Thor Freya

I'm glad we started doing this report time and every day because it's extremely valuable and we noticed that a lot of people are catching up and it's giving us that opportunity whereas it would take longer using other methods

Hera

Olympus

[roseylikestoyap]

Exposing things about my mom:

(since today is her birthday and I hate her in general !)

TW: Abuse topics, Christianity topics, homophobia/transphobia, racism, sexism, child labor, toxic household mentions, Trump mentioned, ect.

She constantly interrupts me before I can get one syllable out

She compares my trauma to hers and tries to "one up" me

She just recently said to me "everything you can come up with I've gone through too" when I was trying to share my emotions

She always makes everything and every conversation about herself no matter what

She constantly butts into conversations I'm having with people (random people or my siblings) because she wants to be the center of attention

She acts like a know-it-all because she's been going back to college and studying psychology (she's 50 smth years old ��)

She thinks because she's older than me and my mom I have to listen to her and respect her no matter what

She tries to force Christianity down my throat (she has been doing that since I was like, 5)

She always comments on my appearance (Clothes, makeup, size, ect.)

She always comments on what I eat and how much I eat (she's bigger than I am by a huge amount)

She supports the orange guy who's "president" and actively defends him, trying to justify his actions

She's homophobic/transphobic, racist and sexist

She thinks all witchcraft involves the devil and that anything that doesn't seem 100% Christian is satanic (what did the devil even do bro?? /j)

She abuses our cats

She absues me, verbally, emotionally and physically (24/7 💔)

She goes into my room without ever asking or when I'm asleep and messes with all my stuff

She has literally said to me "if you do that again I will make your life a living hell" with a smile on her face (she was referring to me staying up all night since she had caught me that time)

She acts like a 2 year old (I'm literally 20x more mature than her)

She's the type of person to say "old is gold"

She literally crushes on men like 30 years younger than her that are celebrities (which is pretty weird ngl)

She actively hisses like a cat towards me whenever I talk to her because she saw a post on Facebook saying that "teenagers only come out of their room to eat and hiss at you"

She stereotypes everybody in existence

She thinks I need to ask permission to eat stuff (my own snacks) and to sleep

She expects me to always tell her what I'm doing at all times (I barely ever leave the house so wut is She worried about??)

She neglects me medically + educationally and isolates me

She barely takes me and my siblings anywhere besides the store

She barely let's me step foot outside of our house on my own

She claims "you don't help you don't eat" aka saying that if I don't do 99% of the work in the house I'll go hungry

She says absolutely diabolical stuff towards me

She practically made me the cinderella daughter (where's my happy ending??)

I'm the "family therapist" except it's just her always dumping her crap onto me and never letting me share my feelings

She complains about me being lazy (my depression doesn't help with that factor) when I do more work around here than she does

She claims teenagers and anyone younger can't have anxiety/depression and have no idea what either feels like

She threatened to kick me out of the house at 8 years old because my brother lied to her and told her I was lesbian

She threatened to send me to a mental hospital/a psych ward when I was eight because she found out I was cvtting myself (at the time she knew it terrified me so she did it on purpose as I cried and begged her not to, she never did actually do it though)

She once held me down on my bed when I was around 6 and gave me more than 8 spankings with both her hand and a belt (to this day she claims it was eight spankings only and she recently told me "but it made you clean up your behavior didn't it?" and she laughed)

She treats me like doggy doodoo everyday

(Ignore typos/spelling mistakes/grammar mistakes, idrc about those)