#election thoughts

[queerunpleasantdanger]

Living is resistance, but it is not enough. Conditions can worse. Do not become quiet.

You do not need to riot. You don't need to take the highway. You don't need to light anything on fire. I'm not telling you not to do those things - I don't feel safe advocating them publicly, but I cannot be made to pretend to oppose such things publicly, I'm telling you that it is not itself the prerequisite to the collective survival of our democracy or minority rights or the prevention of the atrophy of our political consciousness. You may do such things - I cannot stop you! - but they are risks that I am not asking you to take today.

But you do have to protest, to strike, to organize. Drop banners, take over your local party, feed the hungry, speak about injustice, buy food for the people feeding the hungry, be the call for your friend at a protest, provide legal aid both to protestors and to all the other imprisoned, take over a park, hold a teach-in, or a die-in (real power here for pro choice protestors), or a sit-in, make a cacophony of action, collectively try a million things to see what works right now in this moment.

In times such as these, it is more pressing than in better times, specifically because it is quite possible it will become dangerous, because resistance, and a refusal to go quietly, makes the authoritarian's job harder.

Poland reminds us that clawing things back is possible. Do not let your political awareness atrophy - that is where catastrophe lives. As long as we are fighting, we will live. Silence, the slogan goes, is death.

[thesiouxzy]

Fuck Donald Trump! Fuck Elon Musk! Fuck Joe Rogan! Fuck Ted Cruz! Fuck JD Vance! And fuck any bro type males!

They can all burn! 🔥

I LOATHE them! They're disgusting women/LGBTQ haters. They're obsessed with how we live OUR lives & what we do with OUR bodies

"Mind your own damn business!"

Fucking garbage men 🖕🏼

[allthegoodboysgotohell]

I feel so demoralized by everything surrounding this year's election. I wasn't planning to vote, but I feel many people I thought were alongside me don't share the same morals I do. I don't understand how you can see the people of Palestine being annihilated the way they are with the assistance of the American government and be okay with Kamala Harris's nonchalance towards the Palestinian people and their suffering or Donald Trump's fervor for Netanyahu and think either of them is the lesser evil.

Furthermore, I am really alarmed by Democrats jeering and mocking the deaths of Palestinians and platforming the families of Israeli hostages while preventing Palestinian voices from being heard on any level. And people claim Kamala Harris wants a ceasefire. Yet, all of her (and the Democratic Party's actions) indicate she is firmly supportive of Israel and has no remorse for the decimation of Palestine, nor any true intention of preventing further harm.

It's only August and I already feel isolated from people I thought were good, because I find they are not good. I think they are cowardly. I find them repulsive. I don't understand how you can be okay with turning a blind eye to genocide because both parties point the finger at the other and claim the other is worse. They both promise horrifying futures. Two paths, stained by the same blood.

Furthermore, both parties seem set on terrorizing immigrants and inflicting further police violence on the American people. I can't believe (oh, but I can) that we are so complacent that we are willing to accept these as justifiable terms for leadership. Nothing is promised for the improvement of citizens' lives and development, only promises to destroy and oppress some in order to fatten the pockets of others. And those will be oppressed misguidedly believe that in acting in alignment with those who are more fortunate that they will be saved.

What a wretched future that has been laid before us. And I see people I considered intelligent, people I considered kind, people I considered good, people I considered trustworthy buy into these lies knowingly, despite all warnings to the contrary. And I can barely conceal my resentment and disgust for how they allow their cowardice to undercut their morals.

[jajatheunwise]

seeing a lot of heartbreak and outrage happening post-election, and i just needed to write out my thoughts because I've heard too many bad takes pinning blame in the wrong places, even from friends.

tl;dr: Kamala didn't lose because of racism/sexism/pro-palestine voters. she lost because the system she serves - the system that was supposed to serve the people - decided our needs could be ignored, as long as they could keep pretending to be better than Trump. She lost because people paid attention to what she said she would do (for both domestic and foreign policy) and realized there was no lesser evil, only the same evil.

People absolutely have the right to feel like the world is ending. but if you only started feeling that way after the election (or you're blaming pro-Palestine folks for Kamala losing), please reflect on whether your activism is truly for the people or just for YOUR people.

let's look at the facts. 2 million more people voted trump this year compared to when he lost in 2020, but kamala lost 15 million of the people that voted blue in 2020. why?

was it racism/sexism? the people that vote blue are usually not the ones who take issue with a black female president. it's generally republicans who have a problem with that, so kamala wasted her entire campaign trying to pander to conservatives who were going to vote trump anyway. the right wing is growing (especially among young male voters) and that is undeniably scary, but that's not the only reason she lost.

she could have had the easiest win in history. all she had to do was listen to her voters. a majority of voters, especially in swing states, said they'd be more likely to vote for her if she ended the genocide. dems chose AIPAC money instead. and no they weren't "working tirelessly for a ceasefire," previous republican presidents have forced israel to stop its aggressions with a single phone call. if biden/harris gave a shit, they could even end it now, while biden is still president.

even after crossing that giant red line of genocide, she could have promised policies to show she would be significantly different than trump, so we could at least believe a blue vote would reduce harm and protect our most marginalized populations. For most of the election, I believed pretty strongly in voting for her to reduce harm to our most marginalized communities. but then she ignored the demands of her voting base and chose to pander to Trump supporters by being as much like Trump in policy as possible. she promised to be more tough on crime and immigration than trump, to build the world's most lethal military, to give trump supporters a seat at her table. she refused to speak up for trans rights or against fracking. dems refused to codify roe v wade because they wanted to be able to dangle that carrot. essentially, she wanted to do everything trump did, but without being as openly evil about it so they could keep saying trump was worse.

so yeah, that might have lost a lot of people. and while I don't think Trump supporters are above tampering with ballots, I don't think a recount would do shit because this is genuinely how the people voted.

some people have decided to blame palestinians and 3rd party voters for not voting kamala, instead of blaming the democratic party for doing nothing to earn their vote. first off, even all the 3rd party voters combined wouldn't have changed the election results because most people were too disillusioned to vote when both parties ignored their needs so badly. Secondly, to all the people saying that 3rd party voters were privileged to make a performative vote based on our self-righteous morals because it wouldn't affect us: I live in a solid blue state, so no matter how I voted, it would not have affected the election results. So if all our CA votes were purely a way to communicate our values, I'd rather stick to my values. A blue vote would have communicated that Democrats could get away with genocide and still have our popular support. I have no regrets about voting Jill Stein, even knowing that she wouldn't win. I did have some hope because if a 3rd party managed to amass 5% of the popular vote, it would have been eligible to receive public funding and guaranteed ballot access, so in future elections we might not be stuck with 2 genocidal options. I voted out of hope, and it was the only option that had even the slightest chance of resulting in anything good.

and to anyone blaming pro-palestine folx: of course we're not happy about a trump presidency. of course we care about all the marginalized folx he will undoubtedly target, but can you say the same for yourself? can you really say you care for the palestinians when you're walking over their dead bodies to support the people who enabled their genocide, because you're afraid your rights will be endangered? y'all need to understand that regardless of who won, for palestinians, it's the same worst-case scenario with different face paint. we're horrified trump won, but we're also horrified that our only 2 options were both so bad. under biden, we've watched hundreds of thousands be slaughtered with our tax money for over a year while the media silenced their suffering. when people protested and demanded that the administration follow international law, dems at the dnc laughed and plugged their ears and kamala said "if you want trump to win, just say that." How could democrats expect people to fall in line and support her just because trump would supposedly do worse? how were palestinian americans gonna fear trump when they've already been living their worst case scenario for over a year? and now that he's president and your rights are on the line, you expect them to empathize? if you're heartbroken and outraged now, you absolutely have a right to feel that way. but if you only started feeling that way after the election, please take some time to introspect. if you're saying you don't care about Palestine anymore because we let trump win, you never cared about their rights in the first place, only your own.

if anyone is to blame for a trump presidency, it's the democratic party and the 2-party system in general. dems could have won if they did less than the bare minimum and just STOPPED ARMING ISRAEL. kamala assumed the protesters saying "no votes for genocide" were bluffing, that she could scare us with the threat of a trump presidency even though her platform really wasn't that different from his. and why would it need to be, when dems have previously gotten away with the same by just pretending to give a shit? the system doesn't care who is enacting the will of AIPAC and all the corporate sponsors; they use different PR strategies to accomplish the same policies.

do people understand how bad the democratic party had to be in order for us to accept the risk of a trump presidency? i remember when trump was elected in 2016. i was working with mostly undocumented students, and i was horrified at the state of the country and scared for our most marginalized communities. Since then, I learned more what the dems have been getting away with, unopposed by liberals because they beat trump and were paying lip service to neoliberal values. biden has kicked out millions more immigrants than trump did. obama started the kids in cages practice, and he launched 10x more drones than bush, with 90% resulting in civilian casualties. I didn't know that shit was going on at the time either, and I know I supported dems in the past. this time, while i'm still terrified and sad, my conscience is clear because the people showed the dems they can't get away with genocide.

I understand people who voted Kamala hoping to reduce harm, especially from people less informed about the dems' atrocities. I was one of them for a while. But I'm having trouble empathizing with the uncritical Kamala supporters who have been harassing people for not supporting their woc girlboss. I know people will unite to resist trump, but if Kamala had won and implemented the same policies Trump would have done, how many of her supporters would have continued to push for change? how many blue MAGA folks would be content with a status quo that allowed for genocide and constant human rights violations and killing the planet, as long as they had a president willing to say "black lives matter" and "love is love" and "climate change is real"?

We all gotta unite to protect our most marginalized now, and while everyone's welcome to join the fight, some of y'all really need to reflect on whether your activism is truly for the people or just for YOUR people. Do you see intersectional activism as a transactional I-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine, or do you recognize that all of our struggles are interconnected and none of us are free until all of us are free? I won't treat you like an enemy and I'm always willing to help people learn, but if your solidarity ain't intersectional, if you don't recognize that it's liberation for all, we don't need you treating us like enemies as soon as you're done fighting for yourself.

[funcoolchickie]

[allthegoodboysgotohell]

Thank you because I feel like I’m going CRAZY. And honestly I feel betrayed by a lot of people I considered trustworthy.

and the fact that even slight criticism of kamala, the public servant we’re expected to elect as the PRESIDENT of our COUNTRY as the PROGRESSIVE option, is seen as immediate unwavering support of trump….. yall cannot actually be this stupid, i don’t want to believe it

[royalrazz37]

I know its late but watching the reaction of the dems to this election loss reminds me of something.

I was on a voter outreach call the Dems held for voters in my area about a year before the election and I asked what the party’s counter to Project 2025 was. The host looked dumb struck. The most gasted of flabber. He said he never heard of it.

Then other voters on the call and in the chat all start chiming in about the different aspects of Project 2025 while the primary host and the guests speakers all had no idea what we were talking about. The dems were woefully unprepared. Hopefully they’ll do better next time.

[monachofworms]

A non exhaustive list of things that will still exist under Trump.

Sunrises

Good coffee

Donuts

Movie nights with friends

Chocolate

Batman/ ur favorite media

The ability to be kind to strangers

The ability for strangers to be kind to you

Brennan Lee mulligan

Dungeons and dragons

Alex Hirsch

Good cows

Funny cats and dogs

The future

Love.

I’m studying history and if there is one thing humans are really good at it’s surviving shitty situations.

Take the small wins and happinesses.

I encourage people to add to the list.

[inkskinned]

"don't make it political!" .... what proportion of death and suffering must occur before politics are involved. if this isn't political, what is even the point of any politics, ever. of democracy. the words are "by the people for the people." if i am going to be left alone by my elected representatives to "figure it out" - to undergo damage, hardship, fear. what the fuck did i elect them for. what was their job. the entire point is that they handle this shit. this is why we were supposed to be electing leaders.

poverty is political. misogyny is political. gun control is political. climate change is political. how much aid a community gets is political. what the fuck are you talking about. it's been political this whole fucking time.

[theunknownpoetssociety]

as an American I’d like to give a formal apology to all non Americans who are being affected by our shit

[thoughtsfromb4]

Why We Speak

To triumph, all the wicked need is our silence as they pursue their tyranny.

For in that silence, we will sadly find that our path lies beside complicity.

True courage stands and speaks its mind; it is undaunted, damn the cost–

It knows the power held in every voice and just how much could still be lost.

This is why, in these times, we must all speak–loud and proud and clear;

Why we must have faith in one another and why we cannot give in to fear.

Why we must stand firm in the face of hate, even when it feels we must move the heavens;

Remembering, always, the simple, eternal truth that from our lips leap weapons!

--@thoughtsfromb4

[unluckyprime]

PERSISTING IS RESISTANCE ⭐️

[thesiouxzy]

Clearly a lot of men are extremely uncomfortable with the thought of a woman President. F*cking idi0ts! 🤬

Trump, Musk, Rogan, Cruz, Vance and any bro type males can all burn! 🔥

I LOATHE them! 🤮 They're disgusting women/LGBTQ haters. They're obsessed with how we live OUR lives & what we do with OUR bodies

"Mind your own damn business!"

We had a chance to make America kind again with Harris Walz but America blew it! 🫠 They reelected a total POS who is an absolute disgrace & embarrassment. WTF is wrong with some people?! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Not to be like “them” but something isn’t right. I’m no conspiracy theorist but something is definitely fishy! The election numbers don’t add up. How can the map be almost all red & republicans take over the house and senate based on all the hope & hype that was going around? Too many were outspoken against Trump yet he wins the race AND the popular vote? 🤔 No way!

I really hope they dig into this because as we know, Trump cannot be trusted. I definitely wouldn’t put it past him to rig/interfere with an election. Remember, liars & cheaters always accuse others of lying & cheating

Here’s my post on how this mess happened imo:

I saw this posted by someone & it’s true:

"The dumbest people you know are going to be celebrating today. Be prepared" 😑

It never occurs to them at what cost to others did they "win"? This isn't a sports game, this is real people's lives. Rights & freedoms are at stake. So many Americans lack empathy. If it doesn’t affect them or someone they love directly, they don’t care. It’s disgraceful & it’s what’s wrong with this country

I highly recommend staying off the internet, especially social media for the next 48 hours. Put on music that makes you feel good, spend time with someone who makes you happy (human and/or animal), go outside & spend time in nature or get cozy & watch a show/movie that makes you happy

Hang in there! You are not alone in your disappointment 💗

I post the majority of my shower thoughts, political & other on Threads, Tumblr, Insta & FB so if you’re interested, I’m “TheSiouxzy” on all social media. Links:

[biceratops7]

For fucks sake don’t vote 3rd party.

I would LOVE to not have a 2 party system. It’s a cancer on our country and we need to take action to dismantle it, but just pretending like the bad thing already doesn’t exist anymore and making decisions based on that is a TERRIBLE idea. It won’t change shit and it’ll just prevent us from making actual headway. Trump will win if Kamala doesn’t, that’s the system we live in, the notion that that 200 year old monster of a problem is gonna change in 100 days is absolutely absurd. So let’s just establish that before going any further.

I see people all the time saying to vote 3rd party because “Kamala is just as bad as Trump, democrats just wanna LOOK progressive.” (And before that it was Biden but you get my gist.) because of Biden’s deplorable refusal to stop arming Israel. Respectfully, no tf she’s not, even by just a hair. Kamala isn’t the one with a laundry list of straight up legal atrocities she’s publicly planning to commit if she wins. Being genuinely scared of project 2025 and worrying about ourselves because of that isn’t proof that someone calling for a free Palestine is performative. Genuinely, GENUINELY, what the hell do you think is gonna happen to Palestine if Trump wins? Letting our own country possibly be set back several steps and many of our own citizens’ lives be destroyed to “take a stand” for Palestine when it won’t do shit to help them is just as performative. Actually it’s infinitely MORE performative.

[splickedylit]

@ USAmericans that are following me, if you (like me) get anxious you'll somehow have issues with a mail-in or drop-off ballot: I forgot that in a lot of places (here's a site to check!) early in-person voting is an option, so I figured maybe you did too!

Lines are MUCH shorter than election day,

which means it's quick and you have more time to look things up at the voting booth if necessary,

and you have a LOT more ability to find a time that works for you than if you just vote on Nov. 5th (which I would be have been almost completely unable to go out and vote on).

Early voting y'all it kicks ass. A quick google of "early voting (my city/county" immediately brought up the exact address, days and hours of where it was available. Will definitely patronize the fine folks at my local polling center again in four years assuming that. Things go well. And we still have a democracy in four years. OTL

[funcoolchickie]