#civic involvement

[tomorrowusa]

Right now is the time to get involved in the defeat of America's most dangerous enemy since the Cold War.

The traditional election season, starting on Labor Day, is a thing of the distant political past. And considering the magnitude of the threat to democracy, even waiting for the end of the primary season may be too late.

The worst president in our history is, arguably, stronger within the leadership ranks of the Republican Party than he has ever been. He is now the most dangerous presidential candidate in U.S. history. As a consequence, the great question before the rest of us is whether enough of us are ready to do whatever is necessary to defeat this threat as we have all those that have come before. Sadly, there is reason to believe that this time we may not meet the challenge. Right now, Donald Trump is one of two people who could be our next president. The race, at the moment, between him and President Joe Biden, is too close to call.

The people with their heads up their ass over Biden's age are either hypocrites or dissemblers. On Inauguration Day 2025, Donald Trump will be 95.66% of Joe Biden's age. And Trump will also be older in January of 2025 than Biden was upon assuming office in 2021. Biden may have a lifelong stutter but he is still grounded in reality in a way the narcissistic nepo baby Donald Trump never was.

Joe Biden by any objective metric has been one of the most successful presidents in modern U.S. history. He has led the creation of more major legislative initiatives benefiting the American people than any president in 60 years. He oversaw the creation of more than 14 million jobs during his first three years in office. He has brought down inflation and reduced the prices of vital medicines to affordable levels. He has restored American leadership worldwide, expanded our vital alliances like NATO, and stood up to our enemies. All presidents face challenges and make missteps. But it is hard to deny that in the wake of the U.S. economic recovery, the passage of the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPs and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the expansion of NATO, and the creation of new Indo-Pacific alliances, Biden’s record is formidable. That a president with this record is in a horse race with a candidate who is a menace to the country, who led an insurrection, who is a pathological liar whom courts have found to be a fraud and a rapist, and who has no real ideas, no credible policy proposals, no record of actually ever achieving anything for the American people is chilling.

In normal times, over 40% of US voters would NOT pick a notorious sex offender for president. But these are not normal times.

You would have thought that the sight of mobs carrying Trump flags and weapons and chanting for the death of Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, would have been alarm enough. You would have thought the same of Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, in which he confessed his impulse to abuse women. You would have thought the two dozen women who accused him of abuse would have had that effect. Even if none of those things were quite warning enough, you would have thought the findings in the E. Jean Carroll case would have been enough. After all, respected federal judge Lew Kaplan wrote, “The fact that Mr. Trump sexually abused—indeed, raped—Ms. Carroll has been conclusively established and is binding in this case.” It should have been enough. But so far, it has not been.

And who would have thought that the party of Ronald Reagan is now led by a stooge of the Evil Empire?

You would have thought that Trump reaching out on national television to our Russian adversaries for aid during the 2016 campaign would have been enough. You would have thought the conclusive findings of every major U.S. intelligence agency that Russia sought to aid Trump’s campaign would have been enough. You would have thought that Robert Mueller’s finding 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by Trump would have been enough. You would have thought Trump kowtowing to Vladimir Putin and taking his word over that of our intelligence and law enforcement communities would have been enough. You would have thought his illegally withholding aid to Ukraine to seek dirt on Joe Biden would have been enough. You would have thought his impeachment for that would have been enough.

Are you willing to spend more time and money than in previous election cycles to end a major threat to Western democracy and to undermine homegrown fascism for at least the rest of this decade?

So, ask yourself, is that enough to make you do more than you have done? Is that enough to commit for the next 10 months to do more than you have ever done during an election year? To give more? To canvas more? To spread the word more? To help get voters to the polls? To ensure every member of your family, your friends, your co-workers do the same? The stakes are too high to do less than everything you can.

I rarely quote Margaret Thatcher and would probably disagree with at least 90% of her views. But she did know something about winning elections and combating the USSR. If she was good for just one thing, it's for this observation in a speech made in her retirement.

[N]o battles are ever finally won; you have to go on winning them by example and by being prepared to defend your way of life against those who would attack it.

If we learn just one thing from the Trump threat, it's that we can never rest on our past laurels. A slacker democracy is one which will not outlast a determined demagogue.

Civic involvement by pro-democracy citizens is absolutely necessary to maintain freedom.

[everydaydeeds]

Day 3284 - I want to be informed and involved in my local government, but I sure do not have the time to site through 4 hours of council meeting every other week. Also, it’s usually boring. But I am making myself a commitment to read the agendas beforehand and skim the notes afterward.

[whentherewerebicycles]

it is a really gorgeous morning out—crisp and sunny and totally clear—and that feels weird when everything online is so, so dark. but also I am weirdly grateful for the beautiful day and for my baby, who is as usual delighted to be alive and is currently in his crib having an animated little conversation with himself and trying to grab his toes. I think what was hardest about those first four years, especially the first couple years, was swimming every day in the horrible toxic sludge of darkness and anger and betrayal and despair. I can’t go back there. I can’t live in that perpetually heightened state of constant doomscrolling and emotional spiraling. I don’t want or plan to disconnect/disengage but I know I will have to find ways to find balance. bad things are going to happen. people whose hearts are rotten through with hate will exult publicly and shamelessly in the suffering they cause. my baby will grow up in a world that feels darker and more uncertain than the one I grew up in. but I just can’t do the thing where I wake up every single morning and let the full grief and horror of it flood my body. I am sure this means that I have a weak character or I am avoiding the reckoning or I am so insulated by privilege I can afford to turn the noise off for a bit. that is what it is. but I just gotta like. I gotta figure out how to still feel happy that it’s a beautiful day out and my baby is chatting joyfully to himself about how nice it is to be a warm cozy little baby in a warm cozy little bed.

[jenthebug]

Yeah I’m totally not napping.

I got like an hour of sleep.

Now I’m adding to cart and watching Little Bro’s car videos.

I’m really proud of the work that Little Bro does on his cars. It’s a good outlet for him. I’m not so stoked about his driving, that shit’s dangerous. I mean, I drive faster than I should sometimes, but he drives faster than he should at all times on city streets because racecar. I just hope I never “see him at work.” (see that a car registered to him has been horrifically wrecked, since PD puts the license and registration info of all cars involved in the same call notes we use)

I considered studying, but it’s 4:00am. Nobody’s doing shit. I’ll study when we get busier, around 6:00 when I have my coffee. And of course later today.

[badolmen]

It’s actually kinda insane how inescapable the war machine is. My uncle helped build blackhawks for Sikorsky. My little brother worked at a machining factory that makes the firing pins for almost every major arms manufacturer in the country. GE and BAE have career fair booths for hiring the computer science majors who will write code for their missiles and drones. ROTC has teenagers LARPing as soldiers. This shouldn’t be fucking normal.

[homoeroticgrappling]

Seen more than one person not know who they are, so here's a little bit of info about The Righteous! Currently they're made up of 3 people, Vincent is the leader, Dutch is his enforcer, and they recruited Stu Grayson after convincing him to abandon the Dark Order (which happened on ROH this year) and along with the Kingdom have been brought into AEW after working on ROH

(Stu, former Dark Order, then Dutch, then Vincent)

Vincent used to be part of the Kingdom, but he turned on Matt Taven and they feuded, which is when he formed the Righteous. Basically these guys have previous issues with Roddy's new besties the Kingdom, and also apparently have taken issue with Better Than You Bay Bay, so who knows maybe fighting the Righteous will be the thing to unite Roddy/the Kingdom and Adam Cole & MJF, enemy's enemy is my friend style

[vintageseawitch]

"voting doesn't do anything"

"if voting actually did something, they would make it illegal"

"none of the politicians are on my side"

look... maybe some of this seems true. the issue is, why all the gerrymandering? why all the election interference? why make it so hard for people to vote? those who make it to office have the most votes because people went out & voted.

the recent primary in my state is completed & the results came in showing the majority of people who voted were over the age of 50 meanwhile millennial & gen z barely made 30% of their age demographic each. idk if this is anecdotal; maybe younger folks vote more in other areas... HOWEVER. if so many young people are choosing to not vote & allowing old people to make choices for all of us, THEN NO WONDER WE'RE STUCK WITH SHIT POLITICIANS. "voting doesn't do anything" BULLSHIT. if you think your voices aren't being heard but you're not even using it, THEN YOU CAN'T CLAIM VOTING DOESN'T WORK. it feels like such a copout. voting at our local level is extremely important & i wish people wouldn't take it for granted.

please vote as often as you can.

[bodaciousspaghettimonster]

leave the girl alone

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

BY QUIANYA ENGE

This month, thousands of Carbondale residents took to the polls to determine the way forward for our city — myself included. Civic engagement has long been incredibly important to me. I live to serve my community, with the belief that the people closest to the problem are closest to the solution, but furthest from the resources and power to advance change.

While I cast my vote with pride, I was also reminded that in spite of my service and commitment to my community, my name could never appear on that ballot, simply because of my past. In Illinois, people with criminal records are prohibited from running for local office, representing the community at their school district or local library and serving on a number of boards and commissions throughout the state.

I serve on the Carbondale United executive board, am an Illinois state-certified community health worker, chair the NAACP Carbondale branch’s criminal justice committee, am on the board development committee of the neighborhood co-op and am a doctoral candidate and former instructor mentoring young minds on and off campus. But because of a past conviction, the law prevents me from local civic leadership and community service.

Across the state, 1.2 million adults have conviction records. That is over one million Illinoisans who have served their time, paid all fines and fees related to their conviction, and are permanently barred from serving their communities. Further, we know that because of the racism that undergirds our economic, political and social systems, Black and Brown communities are disproportionately impacted by the legal system, and are therefore being shut out from these positions at higher rates. 35% of the 1.2 million adults with records are Black, two and a half times higher than the state’s Black population.

These barriers are an affront to voting rights, and at the end of the day, they are detrimental to communities themselves. Civic engagement lowers recidivism rates. When people are civically engaged, they become more invested in the long-term health, safety and stability of their community. Ensuring successful reentry for formerly incarcerated people means ensuring they are resourced with the tools to thrive independently and contribute to the community.

Our Constitution is clear that punishments and penalties for crimes should neither be cruel nor excessive. And yet, millions of people across the state — people who pay taxes, who vote, who contribute to their communities — are denied the full opportunity to improve their neighborhoods long after they’ve completed their sentence. An entire population is being denied full citizenship — and few even notice.

Directly impacted people across the state, including here in Carbondale, are pushing for commonsense legislation that would eliminate these lifelong barriers and ensure all citizens are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to serve their communities. Right now, the Illinois State Legislature is considering House Bill 2824/Senate Bill 2347, The Promoting Involvement & Empowerment Through Civic Engagement (PIECE) Act, which would allow people with felony convictions to hold local elected office and serve on key state boards and commissions. The legislation would also create common sense limits for those who have violated the election code or committed official misconduct, and it will require someone seeking appointment to a board or commission to disclose a conviction related to that board or commission’s work.

On Election Night, one of my dear partners in this work suggested I put my name in the running for a future race. Women — especially Black women — are shut out from elected office for so many reasons, and it was heartbreaking to have to tell her that I couldn’t, in spite of my motivation and ability to serve the community. Even though this issue impacts so many across the state, few people have any idea that these archaic laws still exist.

Solutions to the most difficult issues plaguing our neighborhoods are going to be best developed by those who are closest to the pain. When we bar an entire population of people from contributing to these solutions, we’re not only denying them basic civil rights; we’re harming the larger community.

[almost-correct-quotes]

yeah i mean china definitely isn't perfect and it has its problems especially with- *a right-winger starts talking* have i mentioned how much i love the chinese communist party

[tomorrowusa]

Today is Super Tuesday. It's more than just presidential primaries.

Last night Rachel Maddow spotlighted some of the wack Republican candidates and wove them together to describe how bizarrely extremist the GOP has become. This is NOT your grandmother's Republican Party which gave us sane people like Gerald Ford or George Pataki.

If you are not taking the threat seriously then you just haven't been paying attention.

Ms. Maddow goes on to say that it's up to us to stop a MAGA Republican takeover of the US. We cannot rely on some legal gimmick to stop Trump.

In the words of civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson: "Nobody will save us from us but us."

[worldwatcher3072]

Promoting Civic Engagement: Top Civics Courses to Boost Your Knowledge and Participation

iCivics: iCivics is a nonprofit organization founded by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that provides free, online civics education resources for K-12 students, including interactive games, lesson plans, and teacher resources.

Harvard's Justice and Civics course: Harvard's Justice and Civics course is a free, online course that explores the role of civic engagement and the justice system in promoting social change. The course is open to anyone and includes video lectures, readings, and quizzes.

The Democracy Project: The Democracy Project is a series of free online courses offered by the University of California, Irvine, that cover a range of topics related to democracy, including political theory, constitutional law, and public policy.

The Civic Engagement Initiative: The Civic Engagement Initiative is a program offered by the Center for Civic Education that provides professional development opportunities for teachers to help them integrate civic education into their curricula. The program includes online courses, webinars, and workshops.

Youth in Front: Youth in Front is a program offered by the Youth Activism Project that provides online courses and training programs for young people who are interested in activism and civic engagement. The program includes training on how to organize campaigns, engage with elected officials, and advocate for change.

By promoting these and other civics courses, we can help to foster a more engaged and informed citizenry, better equipped to participate in the democratic process and make a positive impact on our communities and society as a whole.

[glj2025]

Should Christians Be Involved in Politics, and Is the USA a Christian Nation?

Written by Junior A. Goizueta Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are my own and do not represent any organization or group. This article examines the topic logically, based on personal insights and research, rather than advocating a specific position. The intersection of faith and politics has long been a point of contemplation for Christians. In a nation as religiously diverse as…

[carlthemuse]

The Internal Struggle: How American Politics is Becoming its Own Enemy

[delicatelysublimeforester]

🌲 National Forest Week is Here! 🌲

🌲 National Forest Week is Here! 🌲 September 22-28, 2024 🎉 Join the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas for a week of celebration and action! This year’s theme, “Two-Eyed Seeing: Welcoming All Knowledge to Sustain Our Forests,” emphasizes the importance of integrating both Indigenous and Western knowledge for effective forest stewardship. 🌳🧠 🚩 Kick off the week with our Flag Raising…