#like yeah. we need the majority in the house and senate for sure. but president wise? you cant convince me there is a 'less' evil option

[dreamteamemojis]

.

[mythica-ithaca]

im so sorry but i cant stand the 'vote blue no matter who' crowd like yall are the reason why we are in this mess in the first place. pushing unpopular centrist genocide supporting candidates and then acting shocked that they lose and blaming liberals not voting. when republicans would NEVER push a candidate as far left as biden and hillary are right and thats why they keep winning.

and acting like committing genocide being a red line to not vote for someone is a bad thing be so fucking serious. y'all would vote for someone who supported the holocaust in the 40s as long as they called themselves a democrat while doing it.

the fucking tactic of vote for our guy because the other guy is ~worse~ instead of giving people something to actually care about ISNT WORKING OU T SO WELL HUH who would have thought

genuinely that is why bernie made it so far in 2016. because he made people hope that things could even start to change. and unfortunately trump also did that for his base. and even more unfortunately. the dnc saw that and stomped it out. and then THEY lost.

fear mongering fascism to people watching protesters against genocide getting beaten by cops under the administration youre pushing isn't exactly that convincing. sorry

like yeah. we need the majority in the house and senate for sure. but president wise? you cant convince me there is a 'less' evil option. like how dare you even insinuate that after all that has been done in these past nine months.

tbh i think its the fucking sugar coating that really pisses me off more than anything like. you do not have to make biden out to be a good man in any way just to make trump seem like a bad one. thats already established. youre voting for evil. either way. just accept it. there is no 'less'. trying to absolve yourself from that is what pisses me off. and 'voting blue no matter who' is what got us all here in the first place. convincing ourselves that there is a less evil in every situation.

[blizzardfluffykpop]

You guys know that's not just what the bill is about right? While, yes it bans tiktok effective immediately if the bill passes- which it is nowhere near the banning of tiktok yet. (Thankfully). The RESTRICT act is gonna fuck every social media platform.

You know guys know this is more than just about banning TikTok right? It's not called the banning TikTok bill it's called the RESTRICT act. It's to restrict communication. Although, it is nowhere near passing. This is going to fuck every social media platform.

You remember the bill they passed after 9/11 the Patriot Act, well imagine that for the internet. It's not about banning TikTok it's about controlling the media (so we can't see what's going on in real time), so we the people cannot have contact with one another. It's about restricting our communication so we cannot ban together. They realized when (majority of kpop fans) band together to make sure no one showed up on Juneteenth in Tulsa to Trump's rally, that the ants were outsmarting the grasshoppers.

Because when people ban together- and realize we're the ones in control- the government gets scared. And they grasp at every last straw, doing anything in their power to make sure we can't do anything to them.

Let me draw back to the second point that it's nowhere near the banning. For a federal bill, it has to go through the initial committee talks, which we are currently in. Then, it has to pass the house with a majority vote 218/435 If it makes it past the house, it has to go through the senate a 51/100 majority to pass. Then if Biden decides he likes everything in the bill, (he can veto parts of it and send it back), he can pass it. But lets say the 'blue' president vetoes it. Well, then it goes back to both the house & senate. Where if they are successful, 356/535 people need to vote to override the veto. Of course, after that there is many ways to overthrow both of them if Biden decides to veto. How it's looking it does not look like Biden will pass it. And getting a 2/3 majority will be difficult so we have hope.

Please don't worry too much. Don't let the anxiety eat you alive over it. We have power to call our representatives and talk about the RESTRICT act and tell them if they don't vote the way we want. We will vote their opponent in. That terrifies them, and the next best thing to do is vote. If we all turn out and vote them out, we will be okay. Yes, it's kind of powerless, but it's the best we can do at the moment. If we protest, we get felonies, you can't vote if you have a felony. Do not protest this, that's exactly what they want. Please do your best to stay calm about this.

Lastly, my last point; how it's going to fuck every social media platform. First, they are going after TikTok because it's ran by China (it's actually ran majorly on American soil). But because of how the bill is worded it can take down every social media because it's meant to restrict the people from talking. If they decide tomorrow, (after the bill is passed) they don't like Facebook, they can shut it down. With no prior warning. Anyone with more than 1 million followers is not allowed/shut down. They've known for a long time that each social media owns your data. After all, they were lobbied and bought by Meta, they know on a basis level how it all works. They're not concerned about that; they're concerned that they don't own and access your data at all times.

Say if you continue to use TikTok after the ban, your VPN fails one time, they'll send police to your house and charge you with a crime. I don't know how extensive they're going to go because I don't feel like reading 52 pages worth a bill. But just know if they can they'll have you in jail faster than you can 'fuck'.

Do you remember watching Incognito movie? Or reading 1984? Yeah, if this passes, they'll know when you access social media. They'll know everything; from what you post to what you like. It's terrifying but it's a reality we must realize before we let it dream of passing the House of Representatives.

Anyways, I really wish not to invoke fear with all I've talked about. Because we have a long way to go before it needs to be worried about worse. It has to pass 2 groups of people and the democrat president to make it into law. While it is not out of the realm of possibility, it is not certain. Please do not lose hope.

Yes, it may be a useless social media platform to some. But it's where a majority of the American public gets their news. It's unbiased, it's live, it's everywhere. It's the eyes of the people, and if we lose it, we lose more than we are capable of losing.

There is a vast more I can talk about on this whole thing. But I agree with everything OP talked about. They brought up some amazing points. But I wanted to draw all of our attention to the real antithesis of our problems. Please, do not worry, do not panic, it'll be okay. And if not now, maybe in the future. Do not lose hope, we the people still hold a great power over these representatives, let's use it. Let's call them, visit their houses, annoy the hell out of them until they decide it's no longer worth it.

Raise hell my friends, make them regret introducing this bill to the House.

i think any conversation regarding banning tiktok that insists tiktok is actually a force for good misses the point

it doesn't matter if tiktok is the next library of alexandria or if it sucks shit, the problem is that the US government shouldn't have the authority to limit americans' access to the internet so dramatically. the problem is other social media corporations lobbying to ban their opponents. the problem is pretending data harvesting is just fine as long as we're the ones doing it, diverting attention away from how companies like facebook have already harvest and sold way more data than tiktok could ever dream of collecting for the chinese government.

[marvelsmostwanted]

Hey American voters! 🇺🇸

Guess what?!!

🚨 It’s time to start worrying about the 2022 and 2024 elections. 🚨

(Yeah. We really gotta do this. It's... not looking great.)

Long story short:

Republicans have been working hard since the 2020 election to enact voter suppression laws, overturn election results, and set themselves up to steal the 2024 presidential election if necessary.

You’ve probably heard about the Georgia voter suppression law. But did you know that “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theorist Republicans are running to be election officials like Secretary of State in several swing states, setting themselves up to overturn future elections? They are dismantling democracy before our eyes.

So what’s the worst case scenario?

...Well, let’s start with the realistic scenario.

Republicans are likely to take back the House in 2022. They are possibly capable of doing it through gerrymandering alone. Is it possible for Democrats to keep the House? Yes, but it will take a huge effort.

Republicans could also win back the Senate since it's currently 50-50 and Democrats only have a narrow majority because we won the presidency.

Even if Republicans only win back the House, the Biden administration would legislatively accomplish very little from 2022-2024. Republicans would have the power to impeach Biden for no reason and cause another constitutional crisis, enable gerrymandering and voter suppression laws, and block any Democratic priorities from becoming law (gun control, climate change, and healthcare are just a few things that would be off the table entirely).

Then comes 2024.

Donald Trump is the most likely Republican candidate to run and win in 2024. In a recent poll (May 2021), 66% of Republicans indicated that they would vote for Trump again.

Yes, Trump can run even if he’s indicted on criminal charges. He can run even if he’s in prison!

Remember, although Biden won by 7 million votes, it was really a difference of about 44,000 votes in three swing states that prevented Trump from winning the Electoral College and becoming president again. That is a frighteningly small margin.

Even if the candidate isn’t Trump, this is still going to be a close election. 85% of Republicans say they would vote for a Trump-aligned candidate (same poll as above).

If Republicans win back or maintain control of Congress in 2024, this could set up an even more dangerous scenario:

The House has the power to choose the president if Congress does not award 270 electoral votes to either candidate.

How could that happen? Well, those "Stop the Steal" Republican election officials in swing states could refuse to certify the election, claiming fraud, and a close election could end up with neither candidate getting enough electoral votes. House Republicans could literally choose the next president without any input from voters and effectively end American democracy as we know it.

Because you know that Republicans will never let go of that power once they have it.

This is not far-fetched.

This is a realistic, highly likely scenario that will happen if we don’t do something to prevent it. Journalists and election experts are trying to sound the alarm, and we should listen:

New York Times - How Republicans Could Steal the 2024 Election

Washington Post - American democracy is in even worse shape than you think

Pod Save America - Stop the 2024 Steal (Discussion at 29:00)

LA Times - Trump’s allies are prepping to steal 2024 election

The only way to prevent this from becoming reality is to fight like hell against it. And I know we just did that in 2018 and 2020. But this fight isn't over until we restore and protect our democracy.

This isn’t about how much you like Biden & Harris, or even if you’re a Democrat in general. It’s about saving democracy in America.

What can we do about it?

Unfortunately, it’s going to be an uphill battle. But if we all engage in this fight, then we can make a difference.

TLDR, we need to raise awareness about the threat to democracy, encourage Democrats to end the filibuster and pass H.R.1 immediately, and organize, organize, organize to get voters back out there in 2022 and 2024.

Specific ways to help & additional resources below the cut.

How to help:

National Level:

*High priority: Call your Democratic Senator(s) right now and tell them to pass H.R.1, the For the People Act, with urgency.

*High priority: Call your Democratic Senator(s) right now and tell them that you are strongly in favor of ending the filibuster (Especially if your Senator is Manchin or Sinema.)

Call your Democratic Senator(s) and tell them to vote for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Call your Republican Senator(s) and tell them you are in favor of all of the above, especially if you live in a swing state.

State Level:

*High priority: Find out who is running for state legislature and other positions that have control over elections, such as Secretary of State. Donate or volunteer for their campaigns. Spread the word amongst your family and friends and make sure they know who to vote for and the date of the election.

If no one is running against the Republican, consider running! I’m not joking. Or if you know someone who is qualified and/or interested in running, encourage them to do so.

Local Level:

*High priority: Same as on the state level: Find out who is running and support the person who is supporting democracy. Local election officials can have a huge impact, especially in swing states and counties. Spread the word about this candidate, the election date, registering to vote, where to vote, etc.

Again, if no one is running, consider running! Incumbents often stay in power because they are unchallenged. And a local position is a great way to get involved in politics and help your community.

Additional ways to help:

Make sure you are registered to vote.

Check in with 3 friends/family members and help them register to vote if they are not already.

Send reminders to friends/family to vote on Election Day - not just in November, but for special elections, local elections, etc.

Volunteer with a group specifically working to help progressives win elections: SwingLeft, EMILY’s List, etc.

Donate to the candidates you support early and often! One of the reasons Democratic House candidates struggled in 2020 was that a lot of money came in at the last minute. Donating early and/or on a monthly basis ensures that they have the funds to run a long, successful campaign.

More Info & Resources:

Read: Washington Post - American democracy is in even worse shape than you think

Excerpt/TLDR: "The radicalization of the Republican Party has outpaced what even most critical observers imagined,” Georgetown University historian Thomas Zimmer told me. “We need to grapple with what that should mean for our expectations going forward and start thinking about real worst-case scenarios." - Perry Bacon Jr.

Read: New York Times - How Republicans Could Steal the 2024 Election

“It occurred to me,” [Erica Newland, counsel for Protect Democracy] told her colleagues then, “as I dug into the rules and watched what happened, that if the current Republican Party controls both Houses of Congress on Jan. 6, 2025, there’s no way if a Democrat is legitimately elected they will get certified as the president-elect.”

Listen: Pod Save America - Stop the 2024 Steal (29:00-36:27 covers the bulk of it, and they go on for about another 10 minutes after that)

Excerpt: "If you just watch what's happening... it is a very clear indication of a minority party that knows it has no path to majority status rigging elections at every level to set the stage for minority rule in this country. (...) People are not alarmed enough about [this]. The great asymmetry in American politics is that Republicans view power as an end in itself, and Democrats view power as a means to an end. Republicans are using the power they have to put in place laws that allow them to hold onto political power. (...) We need to raise the alarm. There are disturbing signs of complacency in our party." - Dan Pfeiffer

Register or check voter registration: Vote.org

Support H.R.1: VoteSaveAmerica.com/ForThePeople

[uboat53]

You know, with the results still being counted it's impossible to know for sure who will control the House or the Senate in two months, but one thing we do know for sure is that they will not feature the large Republican majorities that had been predicted before the election and I think that that should be credited in large part to President Biden, though not for the reasons that he would probably like. You see, it's because he's thoroughly uninspiring.

What do I mean by that? Look, I'm old enough to have voted in every Presidential election since 2004 and to remember elections all the way back to 1996 and one thing that has been fairly consistent in all of them is that the core supporters of the President have been genuinely inspired by them. I don't mean that in the sense of "yeah, he's a cool guy", I mean that in the sense of "I trust this person and think that they're going to make the world better". This was true of Trump, Obama, Bush Jr., and Clinton.

But it's not true of Biden. His core supporters, women, minorities, and young people, don't idolize him. In fact, to some degree they don't even fully trust him. To a much larger degree than any other President in my lifetime, Biden's core supporters do not believe that he alone will fix their problems.

And I remember this problem! I was one of those young people who powered Obama's win in 2008. My friends were enamored with him; several who hadn't really had any interest in voting deliberately got involved in 2008 just to vote for him. But in 2010, when he wasn't on the ballot, they didn't show up. The same thing happened more or less in 2014, to Trump in 2018, to Bush in 2006, and to Clinton in 1994 (1998 and 2002 were weird years with some unusual events going on).

Gen-Z and younger Millennials (those aged 18-29) just did what my generation did not and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Biden doesn't inspire the same kind of adulation and even hero-worship that previous Presidents have. Young people may be among his core supporters but they don't trust that he and he alone will solve all of their problems, especially not after the Dobbs ruling and his inability to stop so many states from instituting harsh abortion bans. And, because Biden didn't or couldn't inspire them to trust that he would do everything for them, they turned out to vote because they felt that they had to do it themselves.

I think it's also important to recognize how rare this kind of youth engagement is. Going back in the data to the early 1970s when 18-20 year olds were first allowed to vote, 2022 has the second highest youth participation rate for a midterm election, second only to 2018. That said, the key battleground states saw even higher youth participation, on par with 2018. In other words, the young people are turning out to vote in even greater numbers when it matters most.

Personally, I think it's great. As an elder/geriatric Millennial, I remember how quickly Obama was kneecapped in his first term because those who had voted for him didn't keep turning out when it was needed. Seeing the younger generation overcome that today is fantastic and I hope it leads to a civically involved generation that keeps this kind of engagement up for their whole lives. Honestly the largest problem with American democracy these days is the amount of people who are unengaged and if a new generation can breathe new life into it I'll celebrate that!

So congratulations to Gen-Z and the younger Millennials for avoiding the trap that my generation fell into. May you continue to choose competent but uninspiring leaders in the future and keep for yourselves the task of preserving democracy.

[qqueenofhades]

Trump's SCOTUS pick scares the ever loving shit out of me. I'm trying not to have a full blown panic attack actually.

Sigh. I know.

I’m not going to say that picking someone literally, un-exaggeratedly out of The Handmaid’s Tale for SCOTUS, especially to replace someone like RBG, isn’t mother fucking terrifying. It is.  Especially since Mitch McConnell is trying to set her final confirmation vote for October 29, literally five days before the election. Yes indeed, that would be a third Supreme Court seat filled by an impeached president who lost the popular vote by three million votes, (possibly) confirmed by Republican enablers (some of whom are absolutely going to lose their seats in this election) who represent a sizeably smaller fraction of the US population than their Democratic counterparts, in a display of outright, staggering, truly breathtaking hypocrisy about the protocol of election-year vacancies on SCOTUS, which they themselves shouted about to no end with Merrick Garland in 2016. This is how tyranny by minority rule works, and... yeah. It’s bad. It’s awful. When is this going to end.

That said, however: we do not yet exist in this theoretical grimdark future where some dystopian 6-3 (or even 7-2) conservative SCOTUS strips us of our rights at every turn, with no recourse except for us to sit passively and take it, and there are a lot of things that we ourselves can do between now and then to make sure that it never happens. First off, House Democrats have proposed a bill to introduce 18-year term limits for SCOTUS justices, rather than it being an automatic lifetime appointment. This would also give every president the ability to appoint two justices per four-year term. Because SCOTUS has become such an instrument of partisan warfare, and because the obvious implications of having a partisan head of state pick the senior federal judges for a lifetime is part of what has fucked us up now, this would be a GREAT improvement. House Dems can’t make it into law right now, because Democrats do not hold a majority in both chambers of Congress and they do not hold the presidency. You know how this COULD be passed? If Joe Biden was elected with a blue House and Senate. That way, even if God forbid the GOP horror show snuck Coney Barrett onto the bench just before the election, this could be fixed.

Here’s another way to think about it. I myself have a HUGE problem with catastrophizing: a bad thing happens, and then it seems like an inevitable chain of nonstop bad things until everything gets irredeemably, unfixably even worse. This year, obviously, has not done much to help that, because yes, the bad things keep coming. But they’re still individual events and have not yet crystallized into some unbreakable, unavoidable future. History is made up of thousands of millions of choices, accidents, unforeseen developments, total random bullshit, and much more, as much or more as it is made up by the macro-scale actions of oligarchs. Obviously, globalization and capitalism have made us all more connected to each other, and thus changes to the system can ripple more broadly, but they are not the only people who make history. If there’s one thing I can tell you as a historian, it’s this: the future is just history that hasn’t been made yet, and it is subject to the exact same unpredictable bullshit that has constituted history throughout, well, history. Nothing is unavoidable and we have never existed in a world where we can’t do anything at all. Also, authoritarian regimes (especially those imposed without the consent of the people -- willing subjection to authoritarianism is one thing, but the other, yeah) have a relatively short shelf life, historically speaking. That won’t help all of us who could be hurt right now (though we can STILL fight back and speak up and help our neighbors), but it’s the truth. Authoritarian rule (especially when it’s not balanced by economic security, which sure as hell isn’t happening right now) can last for a while, sure. But it is always its own worst enemy, and it will always be ended. How that ends is a choice we can make.

This isn’t the “get out on the streets and Start The Glorious Revolution!!!” nonsense that the armchair internet leftists, none of whom are actually starting a glorious revolution or doing anything except bitching on Twitter about how Biden and Trump are alike, are fond of. This is an active choice to realize that there are always things you can do, that there are things you can do right now, and one of them, most obviously, is voting. This mess was all completely goddamn avoidable if people had voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. But well, they didn’t, and we get one last shot to fix this by democratic process. Trump is already openly setting up to contest the election results/try to invalidate them/throw out ballots. This is all old-school fascism. This is what is happening. He is counting on another razor-thin margin of votes that he can then contest in his hand-picked SCOTUS; he wants another Bush v. Gore very, very badly. The only way to blow away any legitimacy for anything like this is to vote in such overwhelming numbers that there’s no question of Biden’s victory, no need to wait for mail-in ballots (another reason the GOP has been trying so hard to destroy the post office) or anything else. At heart, Trump is a coward. He’s also an egomaniac. If it comes to stepping aside peacefully or being dragged out of the White House by the FBI for everyone to laugh at for the rest of time, hmm, I doubt he’s going to go for that. (And if he does, well, I will also savor the sight of him in handcuffs for all eternity.) However, that doesn’t mean the GOP machine won’t TRY, because Trump is not just Trump, but is his entire miserable cabal of enablers. I have written my fingers raw about how badly people need to vote. This is literally your last chance to do it.

I’ve seen a lot of the-sky-is-falling, we’re-doomed, they-have-the-votes-so-don’t-even-bother handwringing in the last few days. To some degree, yes. We all feel doomed. We have all been asked to find strength to deal with massive and unending waves of terrifying bullshit past anyone’s normal capacity, and we’re tired. We want it to end. But it’s SO CLOSE to ending, if we can all just get out and vote for Joe Biden in massive numbers on November 3 (or if your state has early voting, sooner; BANK YOUR VOTE). That’s such an easy thing to do. Nothing is set in stone. We can still fix things and make it so, you know, we’re not living in a fascist state ruled by Gilead. (And besides, all this Chicken Little rhetoric is super easy for the Russian troll farms to exploit. Don’t listen to it. Shut it down. Reject it.)

They want you to think you’re powerless. You’re not.

They want you to think this will never end. It will. We decide how.

They want you to think this is a foregone conclusion and you should just go back home and let it happen. You don’t have to.

They want you to think your vote doesn’t matter. It does.

They want you to think your rights are gone. They’re not.

They want you to think this future is inevitable.

IT’S NOT.

Hang in there.

Lots of hugs.

[ellynneversweet]

Curious English person here. Is republicanism common in Australia? I'm wondering as it sure doesn't feel common where I live. Especially with Labour desperately trying to prove it can do patriotism in order to make its self electable.

‘Lol what’s a political opinion, sounds wanky’ — old Australian proverb.

This gets long, because I can’t leave well enough alone. Short summary of what you probably wanted to know first, and then some history.

Theoretically, a republic of Australia (especially post-Elizabeth II) is generally understood to have the support of the majority of the population. Our last Prime Minister was and is a vocal supporter of a Republic who led the pro-republic campaign in the 1999 referendum, but didn’t bring it up again in the course of his term, and the Prime Minister before him (same party) re-established knighthoods so he could give Prince Phillip an extra title, so there’s a spectrum. In practice a republic of Australia is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, because it would take a lot of money and work to bring about, and would be largely a symbolic gesture rather than a practical one. Actually getting rid of the royals would require a referendum and constitutional amendment, and that’s not on the political table for a variety of reasons.

The general Australian opinion of the Windsor family can be summed up as follows: the Queen is a nice old grandma (depends how recently she’s been seen with Andrew), and it would be cruel to fire her in her twilight years; Charles is a useless tosser whom no one likes, although his wife is funny (depends on whether there’s a Diana retrospective trending on Netflix); the Cambridges seem stylish and wholesomely functional and are about as interesting as pro tennis players; ten years ago it was a quasi-serious joke that Harry would make a good Governor General, because he knows How To Drink Beer And Talk Shit Like An Australian, but then someone realised we’d have to pay him a bigger salary than the usual parade of retired lawyers and army officers and now it’s not funny. They get crowds when they do a tour, and the unofficial tourism advertising of having some pint-sized royal maul a wallaby at a petting zoo is considered a fair return on the cost of security when they travel here, which is the only time they cost Australia anything.

To give you some more detail:

The first thing that needs to be clarified is that that Parliament and Monarch of the United Kingdom have no official legislative power over the Commonwealth of Australia, and haven’t since 1986. The Monarch of Australia is, technically, legally seperate from the Monarch of Canada, the Monarch of New Zealand, and the Monarch of that other place off the coast of France, although by some weird coincidence all those seperate executive persons reside in the body of some old English woman. That’s bullshit, I hear you say, and, yeah that’s true, but consider this: she doesn’t actually do all those jobs. Functionally, the Head of State of Australia is an entirely different unelected executive, the Govenor General, and the office of the Governor General is careful to preserve their public position of political neutrality and independence.

There’s a bit of history here. The federation do Australia as a country happened in 1901, but between then and roughly 1930 the Colonial Office of the British government had considerable legal sway if they chose to use it, and the GG was appointed on their advice. The Australian National identity of the pre-WWII period was very much that of proud (white) sons of empire etc etc, but in 1930 the Australian Prime Minister insists on ‘advising’ the king on the next GG, and the next year the Statute of Westminster 1931 is passed, which establishes the legislative independence of, among other countries, Australia (but, because Australia is a federation of states, there is still some doubt about who has the power to do what exactly at which level of government).

Onward to 1975 and The Dismissal. Gough Whitlam of the Labor Party is the Prime Minister, and, the left having been out of power for some time, is moving quickly to institute a bunch of social reforms (RIP, sir, thanks for introducing public health care and treating the aboriginal population with a modicum of decency). The right-leaning Liberal party is seething over this, and, because they control the Senate, block supply for expenditure in an attempt to force an election in the House Of Reps. Whitlam counters with an election for the Senate and goes to the Governor General for his approval, because elections are called by the PM with the authorisation of the GG. The GG informs Whitlam that he has been dismissed as the PM, and the GG has invited the leader of the opposition to be acting PM instead. This is TECHNICALLY something the GG can do as the queen’s representative, but it’s against the spirit of democracy. It becomes a huge scandal the periodically bubbles along for years, and the reason this is relevent to the question of republicanism in Australia is the Palace Letters — correspondence between the GG and the Queen/their various offices and staff. The Queen claimed that these letters were private or personal correspondence, and thus not able to be released as a matter of public record, which caused a lot of speculation as to whether Whitlam had been dismissed on the orders of the Queen. This went on for years, and last year they were released. Long story short, the Queen did not explicitly know or authorise the dismissal, but there’s a lot of ‘theoretically, if’ in the letters, and it certainly seems like the Queen and her office were keeping closer tabs on Australian politics than was thought at the time. There’s also a conspiracy theory that the CIA staged the dismissal because Whitlam was making overtures to China, buuuuut if that’s the case then no evidence has come to light. In any case, no one wants that sort of scandal, and there are efforts made to distance the role of the GG from that of the monarch, and both from any practical power.

Onward again to 1986, the Australia Act 1986 is passed in both Australia and the UK, confirming that Australia is legislatively independent from the UK, and that the Queen of Australia is a legally distinct position from the Queen of the UK (see: James VI and I, etc). This is very similar to the 1931 Statute, but clarified that this independence exists on a state level as well as a federal level, in order to prevent states from appealing to the UK to overrule the federal government (as with Western Australia’s attempted succession in 1933).

Onward again and most recently: the 1999 Republic Referendum, aka my earliest political opinion. Labor proposed a referendum in honour of the centenary of federation. The Prime Minister in power was a Liberal (you may remember them as the party who stole the government in the dismissal). There was A LOT of debate over how, in the event of Australia becoming a republic, we would resolve the issue of the powers of the executive. Would we have an American style presidency (the Clinton impeachment was happening around this this time, FYI) or something more like the supposedly-detached monarchy represented by the GG? The proposal that eventually went to the people was a president appointed by the Prime Minister + 2/3rds of both the Senate and the House of Reps, who could be dismissed by the PM. This was a fairly unpopular take for a bunch of different reasons, not least because it managed to give the Head of State an implied mandate without actually being elected, and it was defeated by 54.4%. So, no Republic, and unfortunately, for those of us who do favour revisiting the question, it’s mostly seen as either unimportant or settled, or both. Whomp-whomp.

For my part, if we’re getting a referendum any time soon, I’d prefer it to be on section 44 of the constitution, which bars people with (potential) foreign allegiances from standing for election, which is frankly ridiculous in a country where nearly 30% of the population was born overseas and something like half the population potentially has at least dual citizenship.

[kvetchlandia]

Right Now...

it’s 3:35 AM in Los Angeles, where I live.  I’ve finally dragged myself away from the television screen.  I hate to disrupt everyone’s Tumblric escape valve with a slug of ugly reality, but right now things are looking very bad in the United States.  It appears as though Donald Trump will win re-election, as though the Republicans will retain control of the Senate and as though, while the Democrats will continue to dominate the House of Representatives, they’ll have a significantly smaller majority. 

This sad fact says so many ugly things about the people of the United States that I can’t even begin to enumerate them.   Tens of millions of people voted to return the openly corrupt, manifestly racist, flagrantly misogynistic and pathetically inept Trump as well as his despicable lackeys to office, despite knowing exactly what he is and they are.  In 2016, at least they could claim that they were voting to “drain the swamp” <gag>, to elect an outsider who would shake up the system, or that they were voting to elect a successful businessman to run the US government because that was what the country needed.  Of course that was all bullshit even then, but lack of familiarity could be used as an excuse if one felt like being generous (I sure never did). But no such rationalization now exists.  Trump’s voters know full well that he’s grotesquely corrupt and self-serving; that he openly calls for the removal of multitudes of their rights; that he’s a glaring racist; that he’s openly coddled armed fascist militias; that he’s looted the federal treasury and stuffed his own pockets with the boodle; and that he’s so mishandled the COVID crisis that the United States, with 4% of the world’s population, has suffered 20% of the world’s causalities from this terrible pandemic.  They know he’s a failed businessman who has driven more companies into the ground than most people can count.  They even know he’s looks at them, the members of his cult, with utter disdain.  They don’t care.  What this says about so many of the American people is sad beyond words.

In truth, one of the reasons we see this catastrophe unfolding before our wide-open eyes is because the Democrats, one of the twin parties of the American business class, made certain that their candidate would be a boring, conservative, politics-as-usual hack who stood for nothing, whose nearly half century of political policy decisions in Washington were overwhelmingly backward and who was such a non-entity that he could motivate absolutely no one to vote.  They did this because they determined that he was the candidate to stop Bernie Sanders, and that was all they really cared about.  The Democratic National Committee, dominated by members of the war-mongering Wall St flunky Hillary Clinton’s political clique were not about to let a moderate social democrat be the Democratic Party’s nominee, particularly when they held such a grudge against him from the 2016 campaign.  They determined they’d rather have a second term of the monster Trump than allow a charismatic, principled social democratic Jew be the candidate of their party.  Well, as things stand right now, they might very well have succeeded in giving the presidency to Donald Trump not once, but twice.  Every resident of the US, and all the population of the world will suffer because of that.

What can I say?  World, I wish I could apologize for what the United States has inflicted upon you.  I can’t.  

Maybe I’ll wake up in a few hours and find things have improved and that Trump is going down to defeat and taking the criminals in his party and his congressional enablers with him.  Yeah, and maybe the Martians will land in Times Square tomorrow, also, and once they’ve read the headline in the New York Times, immediately take off, not wanting to ask to be taken to our leader.

Fingers totally crossed that when I get out of bed later in the morning, things will have improved.  I’m not holding my breath and I’m not even remotely superstitious.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Grover Cleveland is the only president to be elected to two non-consecutive terms, and that was exceptional because he actually won the popular vote three times: he won in 1884, got screwed by the electoral college in 1888, then won again in 1892. Conversely, his successor/predecessor Benjamin Harrison was NOT popular, and only coasted into the office because his grandfather William Henry Harrison had briefly served in 1841 (shortest presidency in history, only 31 days).

For those of you wondering if the Gonad Lump is gonna try and run for another term in 2024, I don’t see him being more popular this time around. He lost the popular vote twice; George W. Bush is the only president to lose the popular vote and go on to be re-elected, in no small part because his approval rating skyrocketed to 90% after 9/11 and everyone thought the new Iraq war was justified at the time. History remembers him as the warmonger he was (though slightly more favorable in comparison to the Gonad Lump himself). If the Lump runs in 2024, he absolutely will not win the popular vote, though given how Republicans are trying to restrict voting rights, he very well could win the electoral college; he’d be the anti-Cleveland, losing the vote three times in a row.

His ego is torn; on the one hand he doesn’t want to run again because he doesn’t want to lose again, but on the other hand he can’t drop out of the race or else he’ll look like an even bigger loser for giving up. If he doesn’t run, he’ll have to pass the mantle of party leader to someone else, though let’s be honest, whatever stooge runs in his place will basically be running for him anyway. They’ll be running as his successor, framing themselves as a continuation of Trump’s term rather than a term of their own; he’d be president vicariously through them, they’d keep him on as an advisor or Secretary of State. But what Republicans are only just now starting to realize is that he’s a ball and chain weighing the party down; sure his base thinks he’s the most popular human being to ever live (ahead of Jesus and behind Ronald Reagan), but they only represent 30% of he country. He is SUPER unpopular overall, having lost them the House and the presidency and the Senate in quick succession; instead of cutting their losses and running someone new, they’re in denial and insist he actually won and the other side cheated, so they’re changing the rules going forward to give themselves an advantage (“the other side cheated, so we also have to cheat to beat them at their own game”)

It’s pathetic, but it works. What they’re doing is not technically illegal, because the constitution doesn’t actually say elections have to be free and fair. Elections don’t even have to exist; from the Revolution to the Civil War a handful of states never held presidential elections, instead leaving it up to the state legislatures to pick a winner and award electors themselves. Nowadays all 50 states hold elections and award electors based on the popular vote, but Oklahoma recently proposed going back to the old system; they’re very likely going to get rid of elections going forward because they can. That’s inexcusably anti-democratic, it’s morally reprehensible and wrong, but it’s not illegal, so there’s nothing we can do about it because the Supreme Court doesn’t care about morals. Just because something should be a law doesn’t make it a law; the system is FUCKED that way. The constitution technically says that the states may appoint electors however they see fit, so while getting rid of elections would be unpopular and despotic, the only way to stop them from doing so would be to pass a new amendment requiring all states to hold elections. That would require supermajorities in both houses of congress and then majority votes in three-fourths of all the state legislatures. We’re so politically polarized that I don’t think we’ll pass another amendment ever again.

The last real amendment was passed in 1971 (pre-Watergate), the 26th amendment, giving 18 year olds the right to vote; the 27th amendment was technically passed later in 1992, but it was written in 1789, intended to be the 11th amendment, but stuck in limbo because it was originally voted down. It wasn’t until 200 years later that a college student realized it was still a live amendment and could be passed if enough new states joined on (most amendments have clauses saying that if they’re voted down, then they fail, but this one was still technically in play); he wrote and encouraged state politicians to pass it just to see if it could be done. It isn’t even a controversial amendment, it says Congress can’t change their salaries in the middle of the term, they can only go into effect after the next elections.

So yeah. Electoral reform is probably doomed to fail because the Supreme Court will decide that the states can do whatever they want. It’s like how the electoral college is pointless and keeps letting losers win, but just because it’s bad doesn’t mean it’s “illegal.” It should be illegal, but barring an amendment we’re stuck with it. If the For The People Act passes and the 6-3 consecutive SCOTUS let’s it stand, states will one by one stop holding elections to get around it. You can’t reform an election is there’s no election to reform! Republicans will be taking a huge bet though, hoping that their constituents care more about winning than playing fair; it would be wildly unpopular to stop holding elections, but Republican voters would see nothing but the benefits, so they might accept it as a necessary evil, “for the greater good.” They don’t need to vote if their guy is guaranteed to win.

We need to overhaul the country, and if that means pissing off conservatives who are IN THE MINORITY then so be it (more Americans identify as democrats or left-leaning independents than Republicans or right-leaning ones). If that leads to a civil war, then so be it too! We can’t hold ourselves responsible for he behaviors of evil people; we can’t keep appeasing them, we can’t keep letting them threaten to tear the country apart if they don’t get what they want. Democrats don’t get what they want on a regular basis, and they have yet to tear the country apart (if you mention the George Floyd Protests, I need to remind you that the country is still in once piece), so Republicans need to learn to live with being powerless. If they throw a tantrum, it’s not our job to make them feel better. If an abuser threatens to do something drastic if you leave them, it’s not your job to stay. If someone is blackmailing you, you shouldn’t have to comply; they’re gonna be evil either way, you can’t control them, they’re trying to make you think it’s your fault when they do something wrong.

[omfgtrump]

Ready or Not, Here We Come!

With the events of this week so shocking, let’s not forget the greatest criminal act of The Don’s presidency is his perpetuation of a genocide of neglect when it comes to the response to Covid-19. We have now almost 360,000 deaths and in the last 9 days, 2 million new infections (that we know of) have been documented. The vaccine roll out is highly problematic and no matter how diligent Joe Biden and his crew is we are so behind the eight ball they some are now predicting as many as 1 million deaths by the end of May.

So here we have it. The extraordinary climax of the four- year reality show called: “Make America Great Again.”

You must admit it was a whopper. Cast of thousands, great costumes, violence, looting, profanity and in an ironic twist, endless incriminating selfies that will make finding the characters as easy as to find as one, two three. Rumor has it that the trials resulting from these arrests will spawn another “Law and Order” spinoff called: Law and Order: Sedition

With just a dozen more days to go to the end of The Don’s presidency, will there be another surprise episode? There is already talk in the ranks of loyalists about more actions to come before the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20th, so stay tuned.

 I must admit I am hoping the networks will cover the F.B.I.’s midnight raids to the homes of the thugs who violated federal law. And please, pretty- please, make sure when they are arraigned, they are wearing those inspiring Viking costumes.

After weeks of The Don promulgating lies and conspiracies theories about election fraud, his continual unwillingness to concede, his refusal to participate in a peaceful transition of power and his urging of his supporters to show up to Washington D.C.  ready to “have a wild time,” why would anyone be shocked about what happened?

For four years we have heard how shocking The Don’s statements and actions have been.

For four years we have heard how the man was not fit for office.

For four years we have heard how he has defiled and stained the presidency.

For four years we have watched him dismantle the very government he was elected to lead in order to consolidate his power.

For four years he has used his office to profit in direct, in-your-face violations of the Emolument’s Clause.

For four years he has tried to subvert the constitution.

For four years he has embraced White Supremacists and espoused racist ideology.

For four years the Republican party made a bargain with him, placating his every whim, feeding his grandiosity. And for their final act, these traitorous Republicans allowed and supported the lie that the election was a fraud, stoking the flames of his supporters to the point that storming the Capitol to make things right made sense to them!

What was shocking was the ease at which the insurrectionists entered the Capitol. When one of my friends texted me, exhorting me to turn on the news, I must admit, the first thing I did was laugh. Laugh? In hindsight, I think the laughter was born of an inability to deal with the dread I felt, but my first impression was that I was watching a strange Toga party that matched that great scene in “Animal House.” Strange people walking around in costumes, taking selfies with police officers and general mayhem. All that was missing was the conga line!

Given the known threat, it was beyond comprehension that there wasn’t a massive police and National Guard presence to prevent this. It was like the police were standing at the door and asking people: “Do you have a ticket for this event?”

Comparisons by the right wing media to a BLM protest is outrageous but not surprising. It goes without saying, that if this insurrection was populated with blacks, it would have been a bloodbath.

The Don’s aspirations for the presidency started with the racist lie about Barack Obama’s legitimacy and ended with another lie- that the election was stolen, particularly by black people who voted illegitimately in battle ground states- inspiring an insurrection by White Supremacists.

A full accounting of the failure to protect the Capitol will show widespread complicity and collusion up the chain of command, including the Secretary of Defense, who would not order the National Guard to get involved.

Ultimately, when the history books are written, I hope those who are complicit with The Don, are treated with the same critical eye as The Don himself. In my mind, they are the ones truly responsible for what has happened these four years. The Don is just one profoundly disturbed man. He lacks empathy, and is amoral at his core. To be amoral means a complete absence of a conscience: there is just emptiness and a need to fulfill his desires without any concern about the consequences of his actions. His enablers, who at any point, could have stopped him, are immoral men and women who allowed an amoral man free reign. To be immoral is to know the different between right and wrong and decide that supporting what is unconscionable is worth the reward. You need go no further than to sit with the fact that an entire party was silent while The Don and his evil partner in crime, Stephen Miller, separated children from their parents- some never to be reunited.

After the madness of the insurrection, when calm was restored, our elected officials went back to the business of doing their jobs and certified Joe Biden’s election to be the 46th president.

One would assume that after their lives felt threatened and the house of our democracy was invaded on the orders of the president and his henchmen, with the marauders yelling “Hang Pence,” that the Republicans would finally take a stand and separate themselves from him. But still 6 senators and 120 members of the House of Representatives continued to challenge the veracity of the election.

And what of the right- wing media? Was this a bridge too far? (I know silly question.)

And what of Republicans in general? A snap YouGov poll found that 45 percent of Republicans approved of the storming of the Capitol.

New conspiracies spawned. If you look really carefully you can see that the majority of people in this rally were really ANTIFA. And for that matter, why stop at that? Maybe the rioters were BLM people wearing whiteface?

Our loveable and long lost hockey mom, Sarah Palin, even weighed in.

“To any insincere, fake DC ‘patriots’ used as PLANTS — you will be found out.”

We always knew that Mrs., “I can see Russia from my house,” isn’t the brightest, but shit she sure knows a plant when she sees one. When asked about what kind of plants were there, she responded: “You know, the usual ones. “The usual ones,” responded the reporter? “Yeah, those.” “Can you name one, asked the reporter?” I don’t know, umm, plants, a stupid plant, like Daisies. Now get out of my way. I need to text my kid who is ransacking Nancy Commie Pelosi’s desk as we speak. Want to see a selfie of him with one of the police offers who gave him the keys to Nancy’s office. God, I wish I could have been there.”

Which way do we go, America? Your guess is as good as mine.

Below some scenes from the insurrection.

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[rjzimmerman]

It’s almost reached the point at which none of us should waste energy or anger when we are confronted with another in a long assault line of lies, hypocrisy and evasion from the republican party and its elected politicians. Instead, we should ignore them, as difficult as that may be, and just pursue what needs to be pursued, which is to reduce their political power and eventually watch the party self-destruct. (Side note: both parties may self-destruct. The Dems are strong right now because they are the anti-party, versus a party that has an integrated, wholesome, bold, creative platform designed to satisfy its various bases.)

Yeah, I’m bothered about the Supreme Court process, but are any of us in a position to change what is bound to happen? We can yell, protest, march, carry signs, sign petitions, make indignant phone calls, but will any of those actions stop mcconnell and his allies from doing what they’re going to do?

It’s possible, if not probable, that at the senate republican caucus this morning, mcconnell shared with his members that the obvious is too obvious: the republican party will lose the presidency and its majority position in the senate. As a consequence, in order to satisfy its insatiable base and mega jillionaire donors, they have to proceed with packing the court with a conservative. They know that there will be consequences once the new senate convenes and the new president is sworn in, but those consequences will be far less severe than appearing to abandon the republican base in the middle of a divisive electionis, particularly the socially and culturally conservative voters and back water inhabitants. Hence, proceed full steam ahead with the Supreme Court appointment.

Then don’t forget these facts. Justice Thomas is 72, Justice Alito is 70 and Chief Justice Roberts has had health issues that have not been publicly addressed. (He has suffered two or maybe three seizures.) Will they survive until the next president is around, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tried to do? Dunno, but odds are one of those may leave us before 2024. Can they do serious damage between now and then? Yes, but the way Chief Justice Roberts is working the court politically, it may not be as horrible as we think.

Instead of vitriol and anger, spend the energy on the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her courage and her leadership on the issue of gender equality. And wonder how in the world she became friends with deceased Justice Scalia and went to the opera with that pretender?

Short excerpt from this Daily Kos essay:

Traitors. Hypocrites. Cowards. Liars.  Today’s Republican members of the House and Senate sure are a motley assortment of the unprincipled, the craven, and the corrupt.

So the dishonorable Mitt Romney returns, Chuck Grassley reveals himself (again) to be a coward with no principles, Cory Gardner apparently decides to act out of spite because his seat is lost, and Leningrad Lindsey perhaps not surprisingly again reveals what a lying, pathetic hypocrite he is while no doubt counting on his visible role in all this to boost conservative support and turnout in his tight campaign race.

Barring some currently unforeseen procedural tool that Democrats can somehow conjure up, and despite what will undoubtedly be passionate and vocal and strong opposition, It now looks like an impeached, treasonous, compromised Russian asset -- or, at a minimum, useful idiot -- will have appointed one-third of the Court before Election Day, with one of those seats having been stolen, another being filled by a guy who was credibly accused of sexual assault and who, evidence strongly suggests, perjured himself during different appearances before the Senate, and the third being rammed down our throats at record speed, directly contradicting the laughable, made-up rule Republicans invented 4 years ago to suit their court packing purposes.

If this does indeed come to pass, the Republican Party will have succeeded again at trashing one of our institutions, after having already succeeded in ruining the Senate, corrupting the Department of Justice, destroying the brand and credibility of what had been the world’s most respected public health agency in the CDC, and generally making a mockery of  competent, functional governance.

To begin the long process of restoring legitimacy to these institutions, and to the functioning of our democracy, in the event of Biden victory and a takeover of the Senate, Democrats must add seats to the Court at the barest of minimums, and get rid of the filibuster (or, at a bare minimum, make it much, much harder to use and abuse)

[redbeardace]

The Equality Act

What is the Equality Act? 

If you’ve paid attention to politics (in the US) over the past few weeks, the Equality Act has been name-checked quite frequently.  It was listed as a Day One priority of virtually every major Democratic presidential candidate at a recent town hall.  It was brought up in response to a recent pair of Supreme Court employment discrimination cases, one involving a gay man, the other involving a trans woman, both of whom were fired after coming out.  But what is it?

The Equality Act is an update to a number of federal anti-discrimination laws, primarily the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  This act explicitly provides anti-discrimination protection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.  You can read the full text of it here, but if you don’t feel like it, the basic summary is that it’s mostly a Find-And-Replace job, substituting “sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity)” for the word “sex” in existing anti-discrimination laws.

Why is the Equality Act important?

Right now, across the entire US, it is illegal for someone to be fired due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.  In many states, there is a specific state law prohibiting this form of discrimination.  However, in the rest of the states, where there isn’t an explicitly state law, it’s prohibited because of an interpretation of the word “sex” in existing anti-discrimination laws.

These existing laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.  For a plain, simple example, that means that you can’t reject a qualified candidate for a job, simply because she’s a woman.  Sex cannot be the deciding factor.

And that’s where the interpretation comes in.  Over the years, guidance of federal agencies and findings in court cases have held that this protection on the basis of sex extends to sexual orientation and gender identity.  Let me tell a quick pair of stories to illustrate:

1:  You have a hardworking, recently promoted employee named Alex.  One Monday morning, Alex comes into the office, sporting a shiny new ring.  Intrigued, you ask about it.  “I got married to Elizabeth on Saturday!”, comes the excited reply.  You congratulate Alex and wish him a happy life.

2. You have a hardworking, recently promoted employee named Alex.  One Monday morning, Alex comes into the office, sporting a shiny new ring.  Intrigued, you ask about it.  “I got married to Elizabeth on Saturday!”, comes the excited reply.  You fire Alex and throw the contents of her desk on the street.

In this scenario, the only difference between Alex and Alex is their sex.  Their sexual orientation is effectively irrelevant.  You fired Alexandra for doing something you would have been fine with Alexander doing, therefore you have illegally discriminated against Alexandra on the basis of sex.

Or so says the interpretation.

The thing about an interpretation of this kind is that it’s fragile.  It’s great when you have LGBTQ-friendly people at the wheel.  But all it takes is one fascist dictator wannabe to tell the federal agencies to change their mind.  All it takes is five people in black robes with a lean to the right to say “Nah, I think it means this”. 

And that’s where we are today.

The court cases heard last month will be decided next June, and there is a very real possibility that the Supreme Court will reject the interpretation that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected on the basis of sex.  If that happens, it will immediately become legal to fire people or refuse housing or kick someone off a bus for being gay or being trans in more than half of the states in this country.

So that’s bad.

The Equality Act, by explicitly including protection for sexual orientation and gender identity, will make it clear that kind of discrimination is illegal.  It won’t be open to interpretation, and will be far more resistant to the direction of the wind in DC.

What else should I know about the Equality Act?

It explicitly provides protection for intersex people.  When I did a survey of state-level anti-discrimination laws earlier this year, I found that intersex people were largely ignored.  That leaves them in legal limbo land where maybe they’re protected and maybe not.  The Equality Act includes “sex characteristics, including intersex traits” under the definition of “sex”, and would thereby unambiguously include that in all of the protections provided.  However, while the Equality Act is a step in the right direction, but it does not address specific intersex issues.

It covers the “perception or belief, even if inaccurate” case, which plugs some potential loopholes in protection.

It is worded vaguely enough to protect agender and non-binary people, but it does not explicitly mention them.

Unfortunately, sexual orientation is defined as a specific, enumerated list:  “homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality”.  Asexual and pansexual, etc., are not included.  This is a common failure of many anti-discrimination laws.  I doubt it’s born of malice.  Instead, it’s a combination of ignorance and inertia.  So many existing laws define it this way, it’s easy to copy and paste without thinking.  I prefer the language in New York City’s ordinance:  “A continuum of sexual orientation exists and includes, but is not limited to, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality and pansexuality.”

There is no mention of romantic or affectional orientation in the Equality Act.  This strikes me as a huge hole.  Not only does this mean it completely leave out protection for aromantic people, it opens a loophole for discrimination based on romantic orientation of all types.

Nothing in the Equality Act tries to fix unnecessarily gendered language that exists in the law.  That would be a far more involved undertaking.

So where does the Equality Act stand?

The Equality Act has been passed in the House of Representatives, where it was a priority of the Democratic majority there.  After passage, it was sent to the Senate, where it will die, because the Republican majority there wants nothing to do with it.  And the President wouldn’t have signed it anyway.  There is no chance in hell that it will be passed before 2021, and even that would require Democrats holding the House, taking the Senate, and getting the White House.

So, you see, that’s a bit of a problem.  The Supreme Court’s ruling on these cases will come out in June 2020...

What you can do about it!

Register to vote NOW if you’re eligible and haven’t already.  Go.  NOW.  I’ll wait.

VOTE.

And vote for the Democrat where applicable.  Republicans are actively opposed to this issue.  You have seen what happens when Republicans have control over the government and it is up to you to make sure that doesn’t happen again.  Yeah, sure, Democrats aren’t perfect, but they’re a hell of a lot better than this fascist clown show and homophobic sidekick we have now, so vote Democrat and then keep the pressure on to force them to get better.  (And while you’re at it, push them for Ranked Choice Voting so we can maybe get rid of the two party stranglehold...)

Find out about your local anti-discrimination laws.  Local anti-discrimination laws won’t be overturned by the court decision in these cases.  So, if your state or city does not already have LGBTQ protections in its anti-discrimination laws (or doesn’t even have any anti-discrimination laws at all) band together and make noise.  Get them to pass one.

Tell everyone you can about this.  Be loud.  Silence will let them get away with it.

Fight back.  If it all goes to hell in your state next June, boycott any business that fires someone for being trans, picket any apartment complex who evicts a gay couple.  Broadcast their bigotry, shame them publicly.  Make noise.

Reach out to your lawmakers and tell them that you support the Equality Act and think it needs to be improved and passed.  And “improved” is key.  Since it hasn’t passed yet, there’s still time to make it better.  So tell them they need to make it better.  (At the same time, don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.  As it stands today, it’s a vast improvement over existing law, so work to get the Equality Act passed, even if they don’t fix it.)

But Wait...  There’s More!

Another interesting (and unexpected) side story related to this which came up after I’d written most of this post is that ratification of the ERA is now within reach, thanks to Virginia going fully blue.  While it’s very likely that VA will vote to ratify in one of their first actions in January, there’s some haziness about whether or not it will count.  That means it will be a fascinating backdrop for the presidential election, with one side fully supporting ratification, maybe even with a woman carrying the flag for the second time in a row, and the other side being forced to explain why they don’t think women are equal, while they run a disgusting misogynist and/or someone who refuses to even eat with women.  Popcorn time!

But...  What’s the ERA, you ask?  That’s a fair question, because it hasn’t been talked about much since it was killed by a pack of anti-feminists back in the 70s.  It’s the Equal Rights Amendment, a constitutional amendment that reads “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

The haziness surrounding ratification is twofold:  First, the original congressional language had a deadline, which has long since passed.  Second, some states which ratified it early on have since rescinded their ratification.  Proponents of ratification will note that the original deadline was extended once, and can be extended again, if needed, and beyond that, a deadline may not even be valid.  As for rescinding the ratification, it’s not clear whether or not a state can even do that.  At any rate, it’s bound to head to court and make a lot of noise along the way.

As you may have noticed, the language is very similar to the vague meaning of “sex” that the Equality Act is trying to fix.  Will the ERA protect gender identity and sexual orientation?  That’s unclear.  It’s open to the same interpretation and court opinions that come up in the Civil Rights Act.  In fact, the Supreme Court decision in those cases I mentioned above, whichever way it goes, will probably be the precedent at work, should the ERA actually get ratified and take effect.

So you know what that means, right?  

Once the ERA is ratified, we're going to need the ERA 2 to explicitly include what the original ERA leaves out.

We have a lot of work to do.  Time to get busy.

[lynxmuse]

All throughout this crazy year, I have been inviting people to vote.  There are stark reminders every day of the difference between bad or absent or incompetent or self-serving “leadership”, and what’s possible under competent leaders.  And so today I’d like to extend a special invitation to those who say “My vote doesn’t matter” with these responses…

My vote doesn’t matter; TLDR version:  In short, this question:  if your vote doesn’t matter, then why are they doing all they can to violate your right to vote, both in ability and in its impact?  Whether it be by closing polling places, or implementing unnecessary and onerous voting ID and registration issues, or making information difficult to discover, or participating in extreme gerrymandering, or linking voting rights to the paying of fines and fees, or attacking mail in voting, or creating a false panic about fraud, or simply to engage in behavior that is designed to put you off voting, there is so a lot being done to decrease voter turnout. And they cement it in place by fostering that very feeling you have, that feeling that your vote doesn’t matter.  They want you to think it doesn’t matter, that it’s too hard, that you’re better off staying home and just not vote.  Because they know that the less people vote, the easier it is for them to influence the outcome.  The more people they can get to tune out, and the more roadblocks they can throw in the way, the greater the impact of their fervent base upon which they can count on to show up while at the same time making it easy for their base to vote.  Which, in turn, makes it easy to gain the power.  By doing all this they get to break the system and choose their electorate, not, as it should be, the other way around.  To that, I say no.  Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter: I’m just one person:  Well, yes, that is true, you are just one person.  And so am I.  And so are they.  And so is everyone else.  And that’s just it… keep adding all the “one persons” and in no time you’ve got a serious mass of people.  Again, it’s falling into their wishes, that many people feel insignificant and so they don’t vote, which suddenly becomes a mass of people that aren’t voting.  But just as the single sheet of paper does not weigh much, yet a case of paper weighs a whole lot, there is power in numbers. Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; I’m just one person, part 2:  In addition to the above, there are dozens and dozens of recent elections where the margin of victory was decidedly small, as in the in the single digit percentages small.  The last USA presidential election itself was decided by .09% of all votes cast.  And given only 55% of people cast ballots, there were plenty of “doesn’t matters” who could have mattered and made a difference. Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; I’m in a place that always votes X anyway:  Well, maybe that’s the case for certain races, but it’s not likely the case for all races, especially as we drill down to the local level.  And every single race is important – most of what affects your day-to-day life isn’t what the President or Prime-Minister does, it’s what happens on your local council. Or at the county level.  Or what the local attorney general does.  Or, moving up, what happens at your State/Province level.  And even at Federal level if you live in the USA, there are three different races going on at the same time (senate/house/president) and your vote can be highly influential in one of those arenas even if the other two are ‘locked up’.  Plus, again, even in ‘sure bet’ races, when all the “don’t matters” choose to vote and make their voices known, surprises can happen. Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; They don’t cater to my needs or listen to my wants: So, here’s the thing about campaigns – they are just like sports.  There are plays and strategies that are known to work that have been honed through repetition and countless games.  And the winning play is to focus on those you know will show up at the polls.  If the candidates are not listening to your requests, it may be because they have little incentive to do so.  (This happened to one of the major candidates during the recent primary – they made their bid on enticing young voters who did not show up to vote, which, unfortunately, reinforced the status quo of only listening to those who are the most likely to show up at the polls.)  It may seem like a chicken and egg problem, but if you want them to listen you need to show that you are part of the game.  You need to vote and to let them see that you vote. Once you’re on the field, you have leverage.  Once in the game, you have their ear.  Then you can direct things in the direction you want.  That’s what voting is for:  to have a voice.  Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; It’s all rigged anyway:  For one, I’ll point to the above and say again that in the myriad of races there are some where rigging is not possible, or at least more difficult, and your vote can very much swing things.  For two, one of the reasons that they can rig things is explicitly because people tune out and not vote, which grants them the reins to game the system and control things like districting (leading to extreme gerrymandering) or to engage in corruption with no one watching or pushing back.  For three, even when things have been massaged and suppressed people showing up in big numbers can overrun the rigging and put in place candidates who can undo the mess.  Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; They’re all jerks or crooks anyway:  This is one of the “funny” things about how things shake out.  If no one cares to watch the henhouse, then the foxes move in and take all the positions of power.  Moreover, if everyone says only jerks or crooks take the job, then the only people who choose to go there are either already jerks/crooks or are willing to be such.  It’s drifted to this point.  It can be pushed back.  Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; They’re all jerks anyway, part 2:  Plus, consider that being a jerk is actually an explicit part their strategy to stay in abusive power by getting you to not vote.  They want you to think all politicians operate like them such that you get so disgusted with the whole process that you tune out.  Again, so much the better for them because they know with less turnout they can win and therefore continue their crooked and corrupt and crook ways.  Attention and sunlight kills all that.  Please vote.

My vote doesn’t matter; It’s too hard and confusing and I can’t spare the time and energy to do and really it’s simply easier for me to think I don’t matter:  Yeah, it is easier to think that, isn’t it?  They’ve put so much friction in the way that why bother, it’s just too much to deal with on top of everything else we’ve got to do. To that, two things.  The first is that, fortunately, there are dozens of resources out there to take the confusion and the “hard” out of the way. In the USA, there’s vote.org to check your registration, there’s the aptly named YouTube series titled “How To Vote In Every State”, there’s Ballotpedia.org that provides in-depth overviews about races in your area (choose “What’s On My Ballot” from the sidebar).  Or Google your city name + Sample Ballot.  All sorts of places to give you the skinny on what’s at stake, and how to ensure your voice is heard.  

The second brings us back full circle to that first TLDR point, which is that the hardness and confusion and disgust is very much a part of their strategy.  To summarize this post here:

https://elfwreck.tumblr.com/post/626732289397833729/lynati-tzikeh-daltongraham-toddreu

Voting originally belonged to a very small class of voters (primarily white male landowners) and they have fought like hell to keep it from being extended to anyone else.  Every time voting gets subjected to a constitutional test and a new group gets the voice to vote, this small class has worked tirelessly to make it difficult for that new group to actually exercise that right.  

Forget voting as our “duty.”  Think of voting as “how can I annoy those jerks?” and keep at the front of your mind those jerks are hoping you won’t show up to do it. And that they’ll outright lie and work to suppress the vote through false narratives, closing polling places, futzing up the mail, all the way down to literally removing people’s names improperly from voting records (as just came to light in GA).  

So don’t just vote to Make a Better City/State/Province/Country.  Vote to make those asses scared of you.  

Please vote. 

(And please remember that if you plan to vote absentee or by mail, please request your ballot now, do the research while it’s on its way to you, and complete and send it out (or drop it off to an approved location) as soon as you can.)

[qqueenofhades]

I was already distressed about the political and social situation in the US, and then this happens. Are there any examples of societies that fought back against fascism and won, without civil or international war breaking out? Surely there must be some success stories in history. How did other societies overcome fascism, are there lessons to be applied to our current situation? Please tell me we're not doomed, because I have no hope for the future.

Sigh.

Okay.

I’ve been through... a lot of the stages of grief by now. That is, rageposting on tumblr, venting to my friends via text, drinking, crying while drinking, lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling, feeling the crushing weight of certainty that we’re all screwed and nothing matters, crying while talking to my sister, crying generally, lying in bed some more, and am currently still in bed while writing this, but am struggling to put on my internet historian aunt hat and offer some comfort to the stricken masses.

First off: This is bad. I’m not even going to pretend this isn’t bad. We all knew RBG had cancer again, but it was pretty fixed in our minds that she would somehow manage to hang on until after the election. 45 days before the biggest presidential election of all time, in the middle of this year, when names including Ted “Zodiac Killer” Cruz and Tom “Time for Roe vs. Wade to go, block federal funding from being used to teach about slavery, send in the military to crush the BLM protesters” Cotton have already been floated as some of her possible replacements? With Trump and McConnell determined to work as fast as possible to steal this seat as brazenly as they can, because they are literal fascists who don’t care about their own example (Merrick Garland was nominated in FEBRUARY of an election year and McConnell held it up for being “too close to the election?”)

Ugh. Anyone who doesn’t get that this is bad or acting like people are overreacting doesn’t get what’s at stake. And when, as we’ve said before and are saying again now, the future of everyone who isn’t a white straight rich Republican man in this country depends on an 87-year-old woman with cancer for the fourth time? Something’s wrong here. RBG’s death did not have to leave us in this total existential panic, and oh yeah, maybe this could have ALL BEEN AVOIDED AND WE COULD HAVE ALSO HAD THREE (3) NEW LIBERAL JUSTICES SECURING PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION FOR A GENERATION IF SOME OF YOU HAD JUST FUCKING VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN TWO THOUSAND AND FUCKING SIXTEEN.

(Why yes I am still mad about that, I will be bitter until the end of time that we were consigned to four years and counting of this completely avoidable nightmare because of apathy, misogyny, and Leftist Moral Purity TM, but we’re talking about the future and what can still be done here, not what’s in the past.)

Anyway. Here’s the bright side, which admittedly sucks right now, but it’s been the answer all long:

VOTE.

You have to fucking vote, and you have to fucking vote for Biden/Harris. Everything that we’ve been talking about is no longer a hypothetical; it’s happening right now. This is not just some Awful Worst Case scenario, and it’s not somehow being spouted by privileged white liberals ignoring the struggles of the masses. (Viz: that awful fucking text post with its simpering self-righteousness: “are you punching nazis or just telling oppressed people to vote blue?” I hate that text post with a fiery passion and it’s the exact kind of morally holier than thou leftist propaganda that wouldn’t surprise me if it was generated by a troll farm in Krasnoyarsk.) My dad is disabled and lives on Social Security. Trump’s second-term plan to end the payroll tax takes SSID out by mid-2021, so... I guess that’s my dad fucked then. I’m a gay woman with long-term mental illness, no healthcare, no savings, no current job, and a lot of student debt. My sister has complex health problems and relies intensely on publicly funded healthcare programs. All my family have underlying conditions that would put them at worse risk for COVID (age, asthma, immune issues.) These are just the people IN MY HOUSEHOLD who would be at risk from a second Trump presidency. It says NOTHING about my friends, about all the people far less fortunate than us, and everyone else who IS ALREADY DYING as this nation lurches into full-blown fascism. That is real. It is happening.

Here’s the good news and what you can do:

Democrats are fired up and mad as hell, and they’ve already donated $31 million between the announcement of RBG’s death last night and today, and that number is climbing every second.

You can help by donating to Get Mitch or Die Trying, which splits your donation 13 ways between the Democrats challenging the most vulnerable Republican seats in the Senate. That also has raised EIGHT MILLION BUCKS in the less-than-twenty-four hours.

You can donate RIGHT NOW to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, vote if your state offers early voting, request your mail-in ballot, or hound everyone you know to ensure that they’re registered.

You can call your US Senators (look up who they are for your state, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE REPUBLICAN OR YOU LIVE IN A SWING STATE OR ARE UP FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2020) and phone the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 to voice your insistence that they respect RBG’s last wishes and refuse to vote on any Trump nominee until after January 2021.

The other good-ish news is that I woke up to an email from the Biden campaign this morning about how they’re well aware of this and they’re already on it. BUT WE CANNOT COUNT ON EITHER THEM OR THE SENATE DEMOCRATS TO BE ABLE TO STOP IT. Because Joe Biden is not president and the Senate Democrats do not have a majority, if the Republicans manage to rush a nominee and a vote and all 52 GOP senators vote for that nominee, hey presto, tyranny by majority, a SECOND stolen Supreme Court seat, and a 6-3 hard conservative majority for the next generation. Even if Roberts or Gorsuch sometimes defect on procedural grounds, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer (who is also 82 and thus ALSO might soon be replaceable, thus resulting in an EVEN WORSE ideological swing) would be outnumbered on everything. This is terrible. I’m not even gonna pretend it wouldn’t be.

BUT:

If Joe Biden is elected with a Democratic Senate and House, IT MATTERS. It gets us off the fascism track, it gives us the ability to make progressive law and have it enacted without going to die in Mitch McConnell’s Kill Stack, it gives Biden the executive authority to nominate liberal judges and change Trump’s worst outrages on day 1, it stands as a huge example of a nation managing to reject fascism by democratic process, and while yes, we’d still have a terribly rigged Supreme Court, Democrats would control all the other branches of government and be able to put safeguards in place. The other option is outright fascism and the end of American democracy for good. This may sound alarmist. It’s not. It’s literally what the situation has ended up as, as all of us who were begging people to vote for HRC in 2016 saw coming all along.

So yes. That’s what you need to do, and what WE need to do. We need to make as much goddamn noise as possible, protest, contact elected representatives, make sure everybody pulls their weight and ferociously fights the promised attempt to ram through a new justice before Election Day, all that. But even if that does happen, THEN WE NEED TO FUCKING DONATE, ORGANIZE, AND VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT. ALL OF US. NO EXCUSES. NO MORE TWITTER LEFTIST ECHO CHAMBERS. NO MORE. THEN, EVEN WITH A RIGGED SUPREME COURT, WE WILL ALL BE SAFER ON NOVEMBER 4TH AND CAN TRY TO FIX WHAT’S BROKEN.

The stakes are just too high to do anything else.

May her memory be a blessing, and a revolution.

[docsamurai]

Where I say something nice about the Democratic candidates.

I know my last few posts about politics have been furious and relentlessly negative, so I'm going to try and say at least one nice thing about each person who was running for president, past and present. Keep in mind I'm not going to mention bad things about these people, so yeah I know that guy supported awful things or that other guy has utterly toxic followers. That's not what this is about.

My feelings about Liz are well known so I'll just cry about the fact that we lost yet another absurdly talented female candidate, and one who had the power to fucking atomize a billionaire from 30 feet with only her death glare.

I'll actually start though with the people still in the race.

Bernie Sanders: Dude is a progressive powerhouse and has been consistently on the right side of history for decades. He's got energy, he's got plans, he's got a passionate following of young people who, if their candidate actually wins will almost assuredly lead the charge in a new progressive wave in politics. And I'm sure that many of them will be passionate enough to support progressive candidates and fight for real change even when their guy isn't on the ballot.

Joe Biden: This guy is a charisma powerhouse, and honestly even if he himself may be more moderate, with as charged up as the democratic voters are right now we could practically hand him a gift wrapped congress. It frankly doesn't matter that much if he's moderate if Congress keeps sending him progressive legislation to sign. Do you think he wouldn't jump at the chance to do M4A or climate change initiatives or even a green new deal if we just put a stack of paper on his desk to sign? He'd get to go down in history as one of the greatest presidents ever without having to do any of the hard work. And even if we can't take Congress for him, he *is* actually charismatic enough to negotiate deals across the aisle. I'll frankly take a small amount of progress over literally burning the planet down.

Tulsi Gabbard: Forgot she was still in this didn't you? Well that's the nice thing I'm saying, she's tenacious. If we can just get her to fight for the right things then she can be a real asset...

Alright now the people who have dropped out.

Pete Buttigieg: it's not nothing for someone to be openly gay and to have gotten as far as he did in American politics. Like yeah, he wasn't the guy to win but for a long time he was a frontrunner and whether you agree with him or not, every bit of representation matters.

Michael Bloomberg: (yes I'm going to say something nice about Bloomberg). Disregard his policies and track record for a moment. Also ignore the disastrous consequences of what it would have meant to allow someone to effectively buy the nomination of a major political party. If he *had* secured the nomination this guy had literally billions of his own personal wealth to throw at down ballot races. If he were president he would have wanted a cooperative Congress and he would have thrown as much money as he could at making that a reality. And while that probably wouldn't have addressed some very important issues, he probably would have at least addressed climate change which any reasonable person will agree is an existential threat to all mankind.

Amy Klobuchar: She was basically Hillary but with fewer scandals and meaner. And honestly the meaner part is kinda important in modern politics. We need someone who can basically turn Senate Republicans into scolded children on a daily basis.

Tom Steyer: He's been taking out ad space to tell us to impeach and remove Trump since January of 2017. Yeah, he's another billionaire but he's the only one I've heard openly talking about how billionaires need to be taxed more.

Andrew Yang: Yeah another billionaire but he got us to have a national conversation about UBI and that's not nothing. Plus I'll admit that he was pretty fun in a genuine way.

Corey Booker: look there's a reason a lot of people were talking about him back in 2018 like he was the next Obama. Smart, charismatic, well versed in policy and procedure but willing to break the rules when the rules were blatantly unfair. Also as a side note could you imagine First Lady Rosario Dawson? Could you imagine a White House wedding?! Between brilliant, talented, hilarious, literal film and theater star Rosario Dawson and President Corey Booker? It would be an event filled with actual class and glamor happening in Washington DC that would have nothing to do with politics that would rival a royal wedding for sheer opulence and spectacle.

Julian Castro: he endorsed Warren so he's automatically getting points for me, he was fairly progressive in his own right and as someone with a Latinx heritage it's pretty damn likely that we could at least start to undo some of the damage of the last few years.

Marianne Williamson: Not gonna lie, I'd be mildly terrified of what her presidency would actually look like, but you have to admit that seeing her campaign against Trump in the general would have been absurd and hilarious. Plus, let's face it she *would* hold cleansing rituals to purge the White House of evil and who knows, it might work.

Deval Patrick, Rob Delaney & Michael Bennett: I'm lumping them in together because I have the same thing to say about all 3 of them. They're boring without standout policy proposals. Remember back when we had boring presidents? No you don't because even the most boring President we've had in a generation (Carter) was still going out and building homes for Habitat for Humanity at the age of 90. But I'm just saying, if we get some bland, inoffensive white guy in office it's not the worst thing in the world so long as we can shift Congress to a more progressive stance.

So yeah. That's the takeaway from this. It's ok to be disappointed that your candidate didn't win. It's ok to not be enthusiastic about the choices you're left with. What it's not ok to do is to refuse to vote. We are literally up against a fascist regime who is hell bent on kicking everyone out of the government who doesn't agree with them and removing voting rights altogether.

In 2016 we underestimated how dangerous his administration would be and how many people in America would be fine with a failed Reality Show Dictator in office. Think of all the things he's been able to do in the last 3 years alone and realize that he keeps "joking" about running for a third term.

Put a stop to this. Now. Vote in your primary for your preferred candidate and then regardless of who wins, vote a straight Democratic ticket in November. We won't get another chance at this.

[songtoyou]

Mr. Evans and the Congresswoman - Part 2

Paring: Chris Evans x Politician Reader

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,858

Warnings: Political topics such as Biden, Harris, our current White House occupant and the current administration. 

Description:  It is the week of the DNC and Chris is once again interviewing you for A Starting Point. 

A/N: The DNC inspired me to write a second part for this story.  This is pure fiction as I do not know what Chris believes when it comes to politics and policy issues. This is a complete work of fiction.

I do not permit my work to be to be posted on any other site without my permission.

Note: Updated for grammar and punctuation edits.

"Hi, Congresswoman Y/L/N?" Chris Evans asked with a smile.

He was once again interviewing you for ASP. This time it was during the week of the Democratic National Convention. Chris and Mark had already talked to other politicians such as Senator Cory Booker and Representatives Ro Khanna and Alma Adams. You were the last elected official he was slated to interview to wrap up the DNC week.

Truthfully, Chris was happy to get the chance to talk with you again. Your previous interview for ASP was such a hit that it garnered a lot of attention from fans and the media. However, it was not because you helped bring more legitimacy and attention for ASP, but instead, Chris found himself genuinely admiring you.

"Hi," you said to Chris, giving a small wave through the Zoom screen. "I told you to call me by my first name."

"I know, but I still want to show respect," Chris responded with a teasing smile. Was he mildly flirting with the congresswoman? Yes, but he had no shame in doing so. "How are you? You are looking well."

"I am doing well. Thank you. How about you?"

"Same. Just trying to stay sane through everything. I'm actually currently in London. Working on a project." Chris admitted.

"Uh oh. You better be staying safe and following the right procedures and protocols," you lightly reprimanded him.

"My fans ratted me out. They found where I was just by the hotel door. Can you believe that? That is some FBI-level investigating, right there. I'd be impressed if I weren't also terrified of the lengths some of these fans will go to scout my location," Chris ranted. He did not understand why he was sharing this with you, but a part of him felt comfortable doing so.

"That…is quite impressive, I must say. Creepy. Scary. But impressive. You need to learn how to put in a Zoom background. It would solve all of your problems," you suggested to him.

"I would, but I'm technology deficient. Maybe I should look up some Zoom tutorials on how to do it. Give it a try."

"There is no try…only do," you advised cheekily.

"Now you're quoting Yoda. A woman after my own heart," Chris replied. He knew he needed to refocus. "So, as you can tell, Mark won't be joining us for this interview. I'm going to hit record if that is okay?"

"Okay. I'm ready when you are," you said.

When the record notification appeared on screen, Chris introduced you and immediately went into the first question.

"How do you think the DNC is going so far, particularly how this year is more of a virtual setting rather than in-person due to COVID-19?"

"Despite not having the big in-person celebration/gathering, I think the virtual setting is working very well. Better than I expected, actually. It gives off a more inclusive and intimate vibe to the DNC that we haven't felt before. I like the whole documentary approach and feel to it," you replied honestly.

"Were you excited that Joe Biden chose Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate?" asked Chris.

"Oh my God! I was so happy that Vice President Biden chose Senator Harris as his running mate. Like, my staff and I were beyond ecstatic. There is no one better to be Biden's running mate than Harris. She is amazing. Such an inspiration. I'm not going to lie, but I'm really excited for the debate between her and Pence."

That made Chris laugh. "Yeah, me too. Senator Harris really knows how to pull all the punches. Her nomination as VP has been met with overall positive response. The Trump Administration and Republican pundits appear to have a hard time painting a negative image of Harris. Why do you think Trump and Fox News are struggling to provide a negative image for her?"

"That is an excellent question. The public's overwhelming response to Harris' nomination is because 1.) she is the first black and south Asian woman to be on a major presidential ticket, and 2.) she is likable and charming. She has this exuberant energy that attracts people to her. You know, black and brown women and girls finally have someone that looks like them running for the second-highest office in the land. That is huge!

"I also have to wonder if people have smartened up in the last four years and won't tolerate the…hypocrisy, sexism, and misogyny…in this case misogynoir that is thrown towards Senator Harris from the media, political pundits, social media bots, etc. So, what we are seeing with Trump and Fox News struggling to attack her is because…well…they just aren't smart. All we have seen from Trump in his attacks against her is that she was mean to Kavanaugh when questioning him during his nomination process. But none of what Trump says holds up because we all know that smart, confident women intimidate him," you finished off your point.

"There is also the left…or more of the progressive left who are unhappy with Biden choosing Harris," Chris spoke up and continued, "They say she is a cop and put people away for weed. That she took kids away from parents when the kid didn't show up for school. That Harris is too conservative. What do you say to that?"

"All of that is…you know…. Senator Harris one of the most policy progressive senators we have. Her voting record is more progressive than Bernie Sanders. All people have to do is research her time as a district attorney and Attorney General for California to find out what she actually did concerning policy. But as we both know, people nowadays don't know how to critically think, which scares me. Progressives need to look at the overall big picture. This election in November is crucial. We are in the fight for our democracy, for our country, and for our lives…literally."

"I talk with my brother, Scott, all the time about certain political issues," mentioned Chris. "He is a tad more progressive than I am. I can admit that I tend to be more centrist. The district you represent is a mix of blue and red areas; how do you balance opposing views from your constituents?" 

You took in a deep breath before you answered. That was a loaded question. Representing a district that was not solely red, or blue could be difficult from time to time. You wanted to be respectful of the different viewpoints from constituents, but maintaining a neutral balance was hard and frustrating at times. 

"The majority of Americans are centrist/moderates. You need a balance of both liberal and conservative policies. Bipartisanship is crucially important when developing and passing laws. We are currently seeing an overt of one-sidedness while sabotaging the other side, which is detrimental to our country's growth. It is important to reach across the aisle to talk with those who may have opposing views than you. At the end of the day, people just want to feel that their concerns are heard and valued. We all want to feel that way. So, as an elected official, I make sure to take the time to talk with those in rural areas, along with urban areas, about their issues and concerns," you shared.

"Do you ever get any pushback from Trump supporters in the red areas?" Chris inquired.

"Well, it is important to note that not all residents in rural areas are Trump supporters. They just tend to keep that to themselves. I have actually talked to Trump supporters in blue areas. We can never and should never assume that one area has this type of person and vice versa. I learned that the hard way when I was campaigning for city council early in my career," you revealed to Chris with a small chuckle. "But overall, my constituents will talk with me and have been respectful. Some of the concerns that have been shared with me do fall under the QAnon conspiracy theories, which do disturb me, I'll be honest. Um…when being confronted with someone who has that extreme of ideals, it is important to remain calm and not to come off combative. Meaning that I have to remind myself that I am not quite dealing with a rational person. The only thing that I can do is calmly talk to the person and respond back with facts. Either they listen or brush me off and call me a radical lefty."

"The majority of people are good, like you said," Chris reminded you.

"That's right. It's a good mantra to live by. I think the American people are tired and have been tired for the past four years with this Administration. We need a sense of normalcy and decency. Compassion and empathy, which were two of the big themes during the DNC. This week was a nice reminder that we, as a country, can have that again."

"I agree. Very well said. You always end on a positive. I appreciate that. Thank you, Congresswoman Y/L/N, for taking the time to talk with me. You always provide great insight into the world of politics and your experience as an elected official," said Chris and ended the recording. "That was really great, Y/N. I know Mark, and I really appreciate you taken the time to do these interviews for ASP," Chris added.

"Oh, it is no problem. Like I said before, I like what you both are doing with the site. Are you happy with how everything turned out?" you asked him.

"Yeah… it's…it took a while to just get the website up and running. I know there is still work that needs to be done. Some areas need to be fixed, but with a project like this, we can adjust. There is more room for improvement and growth," Chris communicated to you.

You nodded in agreement. "Politics is a whole different ballgame. Not many people are willing to venture into the field. It can cause a lot of annoyances and headaches. So, hats off to you, my friend," you said, giving Chris a salute.

"Thank you. Well, I better let you go. I know you must have a million things on your plate."

"Ah yes, I have to go and save the United States Postal Service from corruption. Talk to you later, Chris. Take care," you waved goodbye and signed off.

Chris had to admit, he was in awe of you. There was something about you that fascinated him. None of the elected officials he and Mark talked to for ASP had the liveliness you had. You were not jaded or defeated by the system, at least not yet, since you were still considered a junior member of congress. Chris hoped that the energy and enthusiasm you had for politics and helping people would not diminish. When his Uncle Mike was still a congressman, he shared with Chris that D.C. can cause a lot of strain on a person's values and beliefs. "I have seen too many of my colleagues succumb to the pressures of dirty politics," Uncle Mike once said.

Chris just hoped that you would not succumb to those pressures.