#need dem good opinions

[thevioletcaptain]

[cowboyhorsegirl]

i hate this stupid fucking country so much and our stupid fucking lack of HSR

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kamala Harris herself has now borrowed Walz’s lingo and is also calling her opponents “weird”, while Walz is all over our television screens, bolstering the vice-president’s candidacy and playing “attack dog” against the Trump/Vance Republican ticket. I’ll be honest: last month, I would have struggled to pick Walz out of a lineup. This month? I’m Walz-pilled. I have watched dozens of his interviews and clips. And I’m far from alone. He has an army of new fans across the liberal-left: from former Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign co-chair Nina Turner, to one-time Democratic congressman Beto O’Rourke, to gun-control activist David Hogg. “In less than 6 days, I went from not knowing who Tim Walz is,” joked writer Travis Helwig on X, “to deep down believing that if he doesn’t get the VP nod I will storm the capitol.” According to Bloomberg, the Harris campaign has narrowed down its “top tier” of potential running mates to three “white guy” candidates: Walz (hurrah!), plus the Arizona senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. Both Kelly and Shapiro have their strengths – and both represent must-win states for the Dems. Allow me, however, to make the clear case for Walz. First, there’s his personality. The 60-year-old governor would bring energy, humor and some much-needed bite to the Democratic presidential ticket. There’s a reason why his videos have been going viral in recent days. Tim Kaine he ain’t. Pick the charismatic and eloquent Walz and you have America’s Fun Uncle ready to go. Then, there’s his résumé. A popular midwest governor from a rural town. A 24-year veteran of the army national guard. A high school teacher who coached the football team to its first state championship. It’s almost too perfect! Finally, there’s his governing record. You will struggle to find a Democratic governor who has achieved more than Walz in the space of a single legislative session. Not Shapiro. Not JB Pritzker of Illinois. Not even Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. [...] Think about it. Democrats can have Tim Walz on the ticket, who called the anti-war, pro-Palestinian ‘uncommitted’ movement “civically engaged” and praised them for “asking for a change in course” and “for more pressure to be put on” the White House, or they can have Josh Shapiro, who called for a crackdown on anti-war, pro-Palestinian college protesters and even compared them to the KKK. They can have Walz on the ticket, who has reportedly “emerged among labor unions as a popular pick” after signing “into law a series of measures viewed as pro-worker” including banning non-compete agreements and expanding protections for Amazon warehouse workers, or they can have Mark Kelly, who opposed the pro-labor Pro Act in the Senate (but has since touted support for it). They can have Walz, who guaranteed students in Minnesota not just free breakfasts but free lunches, or Shapiro, who has courted controversy in Pennsylvania with his support for school vouchers. They can have Walz, who calls his Republican opponents “weird” and extreme, or Kelly, who calls his Republican opponents “good people” who are “working really hard”. This isn’t rocket science. Walz is the obvious choice. Not only is he the ideal “white guy” running mate for Harris, against both Trump and Vance, but he is already doing the job on television and online, lambasting Vance in particular over IVF treatment and insisting he mind his “own damn business”.

Zeteo News founder Mehdi Hasan for The Guardian on why picking Tim Walz as Kamala Harris's running mate is the best option (07.29.2024).

Zeteo News founder Mehdi Hasan wrote in The Guardian why Tim Walz should be Kamala Harris’s running mate. Hasan’s opinion piece is worth reading.

[spacelazarwolf]

i looked up the current candidates for the 2024 presidential election in the usa and it is. really fucking bleak.

democrats:

joe biden - current president. doing...ok. he's pro trans rights and has been doing some good stuff to fight climate change, but he's like a hundred years old and

robert f kennedy jr - seems to have decent opinions on a lot of policy, but thinks that chemicals in the water are making kids transgender and has suggested that covid is a conspiracy by ashkenazi jews and chinese people

marianne williamson - anti vaxxer apparently, also i guess thinks love is the only thing that will defeat trump

republicans:

ryan binkley - conservative pastor that thinks marriage is "between one man and one woman", anti choice, wants to Build A Wall

doug burgum - republican governor that has actively passed anti trans legislation, anti regulation (unless what you're regulating is trans people ig????)

chris christie - is apparently opposed to bans on gender affirming care, but vetoed a bill allowing trans people to change their gender marker, anti choice

ron desantis - i feel like i don't need to explain

larry elder - denies systemic racism and wants police to be harder on crime, anti crt and dei, pretty solidly anti trans

nikki haley - anti choice, extremely anti trans, anti immigrant, supports israel while also having an evangelical pastor who has a history of antisemitism and racism and queerphobia open for one of her events

will hurd - doesn't seem too horrendous, not noticeably anti trans, but supports 15 week abortion ban

asa hutchinson - great value brand trump

perry johnson - was republican candidate for governor of michigan but was disqualified due to fraudulent ballot signatures

mike pence - yeah

vivek ramaswamy - "anti wokeism", would pass a law requiring teachers to disclose to parents if they found out their kid is trans, supports bans on gender affirming care, wants to end sanctuary cities and address mental health through "faith based approaches", hedge fund bro

tim scott - said that america is not a racist country and the biggest problem facing black people is "fatherlessness incentivized by welfare", opposes same sex marriage and gender affirming care and thinks democrats are using school to "indoctrinate children"

corey stapleton - montana secretary of state, couldn't find much abt him

donald trump - donald trump

independent

cornel west (green party) - seems really cool actually but two party system will fuck him over

i hate the two party system so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also congrats to the dems for yet another milquetoast kennedy, and congrats to the republicans for having the most racially diverse list of racist and transphobic candidates!!!

[nothorses]

May I ask why you think Biden stepping down and Kamala being the candidate to be 'good news'? I'm still voting for whoever the Democratic candidate is ofc, but I worry this move threw away the average swingvoter who may have been swayed towards voting blue. I don't see how anyone who may have been okay voting for Biden by virtue of him being an old white dude is gonna be as nice towards a brown woman. I mean, people were too sexist for Hillary, the most milquetoast white woman imaginable. I'd really like to hear your perspective.

Biden has been polling like shit for months, and basically fucking everyone has been calling for him to step out of the race for a while now. It's been the opinion of political experts that he doesn't have much of a shot in this election for a variety of reasons. The vast majority of his own base is incredibly dissatisfied with his stance on Palestine (an understatement), and numbers have been reflecting that he was going to be running against some truly miserable odds because of that.

It is genuinely the best option for him to step out of the race. Literally just about anyone else has a much better shot at winning than Biden did. Kamala included! There was a press conference a while back where someone actually asked him if he'd step down if Kamala polled better, and he said he wouldn't. Which is extremely worrying, because it demonstrates that he may have been prioritizing his own personal ego over the importance of keeping Republicans out of office this election.

I don't like Biden, and I really didn't like his odds in this race. Nobody else did, either. The fact that Obama came out and said Biden needs to step down is indication enough that this happened because the situation is really that dire; you have to remember that Democrats are all about Doing Things By The Book, especially in the last 8-ish years when it's been useful for them to be Rule Followers in contrast to the tantrum-throwing chaos machines that Republicans have been. If there was even a sliver of hope for Biden to stay in the race after being chosen in the sad sham that the primaries were this election cycle, they would have kept pushing just to stay within the bounds of convention.

I was ready to push for Biden regardless, because keeping Republicans out of office is priority #1. But I've been saying for a while now that he needs to drop out (just... not on Tumblr, where the dominant conversation is "does voting for a flawed political pawn make you personally responsible for everything they ever do, or should we abstain and let the fascists hijack our government and kickstart several new genocides for the sake of personal moral purity" and I don't think that kind of nuance would be well-received).

I use my grandparents as a litmus test in a lot of this stuff, because they are very much the Typical Liberal Democrats, and their opinions on these things tend to fall in line with the majority of voting Democrats. They absolutely loved Biden in 2020, long before he was chosen as the candidate. They don't anymore. Seeing them lose any and all enthusiasm for voting for this corpse of a man was evidence enough to me that we needed someone else. Ideally someone people can get excited about, because I think folks have mostly lost the perspective we had in 2020 when Trump's nightmarish presidency was fresh in everyone's minds, and served as motivation enough to get to the fucking polls- regardless of who the Dem pick actually was.

From what I understand, Kamala is actually polling better than anyone else right now. I have my fears about voters' racism and misogyny too, but if she's doing well in the polls, I wonder if maybe there's some other factors counteracting that. She's also got name recognition, and the general impression of Being Qualified (because she's been VP already, like Biden was), and Being Likeable (because she comes with the general positive associations of the largely successful Biden presidency, without any baggage of perceived responsibility that Biden himself carries- like Biden did with Obama). She's been flying under the radar while still reaping the benefits of positive associations, and people know who she is. That feels like a good combination, but I don't know enough, and I haven't read enough into it to make any decently educated guesses.

That said, I don't really know as much about who the other potential candidates might be, either. I've heard Pete Buttigieg's name tossed around, but nobody liked his ass back in 2020 and idk if that's actually changed at all. I just know that every politically-knowledgeable/politically-active leftist whose opinion I've heard on the topic has been citing Biden dropping out as the literal only hope for a non-Republican to win this election, and I'm really fucking excited to see that come to fruition. I just hope the Dems pick someone who really does have a good shot.

As a sidenote, I also really hope this marks a shift in how they make decisions, too. It's become increasingly obvious how out-of-touch Democrats are with their voters, and Biden 2024 was just the latest and greatest indicator of exactly how bad that's gotten. The fact that the party has been able to make such an unconventional decision in response to what their voters actually want gives me a little bit of hope that we might be able to influence more change with them going forward than we have been.

[phoenixyfriend]

I feel like I need to look at a lot more analyses of the recent Chuck Schumer speech.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Israel to hold new elections, saying he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., strongly criticized Netanyahu in a 40-minute speech Thursday morning on the Senate floor. Schumer said the prime minister has put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.” “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” Schumer said. The high-level warning comes as an increasing number of Democrats have pushed back against Israel and as President Joe Biden has stepped up public pressure on Netanyahu’s government [...]. Schumer has so far positioned himself as a strong ally of the Israeli government [...].

There are... I want to say four? possible interpretations, generally:

A moral shift in response to circumstance: The situation in Gaza has escalated to such a point that he feels morally obligated to change his rhetoric, whether for Palestinians' sakes or Israeli's own sakes.

A moral shift in response to persuasion: Fellow Democrats and Independents have successfully begun to convince him that a change in rhetoric is needed.

A pragmatic shift in response to constituents: Voters from New York State have been blowing up his phones to argue him into putting conditions on aid to Israel, and he felt this was a good 'middle ground' to appeal to them without losing his pro-Israeli base.

A pragmatic shift in response to national trends: Continued protest votes like Michigan are starting to worry him and fellow 'traditional' Dems.

Or, most likely, some combination thereof.

Ethically, I hope it's one of the first two, and the Schumer has realized how ethically barren Israel's government currently is.

...in terms of 'can we actually affect things,' though? I hope this is a pragmatic shift. We cannot predict how individual Senators will change up their morals and philosophy, but if this change is in response to pressure from voters, then that means we can push them farther left.

Anyway.

Call your reps. Here's some suggestions on what to say.

EDIT: To clarify, I am not saying that Schumer is concerned about his own reelection. He is old and he isn't up for reelection until 2029, so it's even odds if he'll even run again. However, as the Senate Majority Leader, he is at least in theory required to take his party's opinions into account, and to worry about what is going to happen to the executive branch in November. Whether or not Schumer has any real power come 2025 is very heavily dependent on who the president is, and he is very aware of that.

He may also be worried about his actions causing backlash against Gillibrand (NY's junior senator).

[forsetti]

On Political Responsibilities: Put Up Or Shut The Fuck Up

As easily predictable as “The sun will set in the West,” a whole lot of Democrats are ONCE AGAIN falling for Republican propaganda and scurrying around like frightened little bunnies. This time it is about “Biden’s age.”

They should realize this is nothing more than a Republican ploy to sow discord among Dems and tamp down voter enthusiasm. This means either they are not very bright and their political hot takes should be completely ignored or they do realize but play along and parrot right-wing talking points either for attention or money, which really means they should be completely ignored.

Is President Biden old? Yes. Does it matter? As long as he has been and continues to do a good job pushing progressive policies it shouldn’t. When my maternal grandfather passed away at 91, he was still physically active, mentally sound, and able to do intricate, complex tasks. Because Pres. Biden had one bad debate (which is, no pun intended, debatable,) that doesn’t/shouldn’t mean a damn thing unless you are a frightened little bunny.

The right has been pushing, “Biden is too old,” since the 2020 election. They’ve also been pushing, “Biden is the head of a complex, international crime family who uses the Deep State and Dept. of Justice to do his bidding.” If you don’t see the logical problems between these two views, you are part of the problem and really shouldn’t be throwing out your political opinions like they are pearls of wisdom from on high.

Of course, it hasn’t only been the right pushing the “Biden is too old,” claim. The Far Left, especially the white far left, have been doing the same because they are still upset about Biden, with the help of black voters, kicking Bernie Sanders’ ass in the South Carolina primary and going on to curb stomp him on Super Tuesday. It doesn’t matter that Sanders is a year older than Pres. Biden to the far left. All that matters is doing damage to the person who beat their candidate of choice.* (*see also Hillary Clinton and the 2016 election.)

The media loves the “Biden is too old,” nonsense because it allows them to attack the president while hiding behind, “many people from both parties say….” However, the real reason they love it and push it nonstop is because it generates views/clicks which sells ads which generates profits. Any political race, especially one with national implications that is one-sided doesn’t get eyeballs on screens. If Pres. Biden was leading by 10 points, which in any sane country he would be, the race is all but over and no one is going to tune into media outlets for their “analysis” of the race. Any for-profit enterprise that relies on viewers HAS TO HAVE a horse race. The owners of these companies know this. The programmers know this. The hosts know this. The guests know this. It seems the only people who don’t know this are the frightened little bunnies on the left who flee to their holes any time someone in the media says something they don’t like or fear might be true.

All you have to do is look at the number of media outlets and talking heads who have pushed the idea that Biden needs to step aside because he “looked bad on television one time,” but not a single one of them has demanded the same of Trump for any of the legitimate bullshit he’s done. Just his role on Jan 6th should make him a toxic candidate, let alone his being found guilty of sexual assault, 34 felony convictions of fraud, and taking, lying about, and refusing to return highly classified documents after leaving the White House. Any one of these actions should be a reason to question and demand he step down as a candidate. Yet, NOT ONCE, has this happened in the media. That’s because they NEED Trump for horse races because it brings in money.

Just look at the post-debate analysis from the media who were intently focused on Biden’s speech patterns, how he looked, and how he sounded (all optics,) while completely ignoring what he said and the massive totality of Trump’s lies (all factual things.)

All of this “Optics Police” analysis has given rise to the whole “Biden needs to step aside,” idiot hot take.

When someone in the media says something like, “Pres. Biden needs to step aside,” a whole lot of Dems clutch their pearls with both hands and run to their fainting couch as fast as they can while screaming, “Pres. Biden needs to step aside!” because they are frightened little bunnies who have a compulsive need to parrot anything negative about their party and candidates, regardless of the source.

They are so afraid of losing elections that they do everything in their power to make sure elections are lost.

Let’s talk about the idea of Pres. Biden stepping aside. It is a remarkably stupid idea from remarkably stupid people. There is a reason the right has been pushing “Biden is too old,” “Biden is a criminal,” and “Biden cheated to win in 2016.” It is the very same reason Trump asked Zelensky to just lie about Biden being under investigation in Ukraine in 2016. Biden is the NUMBER ONE THREAT to Trump getting reelected. If the right believes Pres. Biden is the biggest threat to Trump, why in the fuck would replacing him on the ticket be the smart move? It wouldn’t.

I’ve read all the reasons for why Biden should step aside. They are all devoid of any logic, a basic understanding of U.S. elections, or American political history.

The latest reason for him to step aside is by comparing him to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and using her death and subsequent appointment of a right-wing hack, Amy Coney Barrett, to the Supreme Court. The same people on the left demanding Pres. Biden step aside are the same ones who blamed RBG for allowing Trump to appoint another conservative justice to SCOTUS.

It wasn’t RBG’s responsibility to prevent Trump from appointing a conservative justice. That responsibility was on Democratic voters in 2016 and they failed to live up to it. Don’t blame RBG for Amy Coney Barrett. Blame everyone on the left who decided to sit out the 2016 election or who voted third-party. They are the reason Trump was in a position to appoint three Supreme Court justices. While RBG was working hard to protect progressive ideals and rights, the people bitching about her not retiring were not doing a damn thing to help her.

It’s not like the far left wasn’t warned about the potential damage a Trump presidency would have, especially with regard to SCOTUS. They were, vehemently. Their response to being warned about what could/would happen to the Supreme Court if Trump won was, “Go fuck yourself. How dare you use the threat of years of progressive policies and rights being taken away to get my vote.”

These were the same people who now are screaming about how horrible the Supreme Court is hurting years of progressive policies and rights being taken away and blaming anybody and everybody other than themselves. They are the ones blaming Pres. Biden for not protecting Roe (something he has/had no way of doing.) They are the ones blaming RBG for not retiring (something that would not have made a difference because, even if she was replaced with another liberal justice, the Court would still be 5-4 in favor of conservatives and there was a good chance her replacement would not have been given a hearing and her seat left open ala Merrick Garland.)

The reason we have a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court is too many people on the left thought it was a good idea to not vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. That’s it. Full...fucking...stop.

Many of the same people on the left who didn’t take the makeup of the Supreme Court seriously in 2016 are the very same people now demanding Pres. Biden step aside. Sorry, we are in this mess largely because of the horrible ideas and actions of these people. Why on earth should they be taken seriously now? They shouldn’t.

There is no “magic bullet,” to prevent Trump from being reelected. There isn’t some magical candidate out there, waiting in the wings for Pres. Biden to step aside so they can swoop in and save the day. There is Pres. Biden and VP Harris. That is it. It doesn’t matter if that is who you want. It doesn’t matter if you are upset about this or that policy or action. It doesn’t matter if Pres. Biden is 81, 61, or 91. What matters is winning the 2024 presidential election. That’s it. If/when that happens, then you can bitch and whine about not getting your dragon-unicorn hybrid in the exact color you want.

Do your fucking civic duty and vote for the candidate who will do the most good, the least harm to the people and policies you love. In the upcoming election, that choice will be, whether you like it or not, and you don’t fucking have to like it, is between Pres. Biden and Donald Trump. Either put up and do the right thing or shut the fuck up, now and forever about the state of politics in America.

A couple of days ago, Charlie Pierce from “Esquire,” tweeted this gem from Tbogg (one of my favorite old-timey bloggers.) It perfectly sums up exactly how a lot of people on the left view voting and my response to them.

"Every year in Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land all of the sprites and elves and woodland creatures gather together to pick the Rainbow Sunshine Queen. Everyone is there: the Lollipop Guild... ...the Star-Twinkle Toddlers, the Sparkly Unicorns, the Cookie Baking Apple-cheeked Grandmothers, the Fluffy Bunny Bund, the Rumbly-Tumbly Pupperoos, the Snowflake Princesses, the Baby Duckies All-In-A-Row, the Laughing Babies, and the Dykes on Bikes. Afterward, they spend the rest of the night dancing and singing and waving glow sticks until dawn when they tumble sleepy-eyed into beds made of the purest and whitest goose down where they dream of angels and clouds of spun sugar. You don’t live there. Grow the fuck up.” -TBogg

[emloafs]

ep by ep thoughts (ck s6ep5)

my live thoughts from watching part one of cobra kai season 6. this ep is where shit got real in my opinion. spoilers below!!!!!

Ep5:

Stop manipulating tory, kreese!!!!!! She deserves friends!!!!!!! Get out of her head!!!!!!!

Im so uncomfortable

AISHA MENTION??? HOLY SHIT HELL YEAH

Dem didn’t tell Eli he got into MIT :(((( Dads stop fighting pls 

Oh tory really needs this tournament doesn’t she

I hate the power couples going head to head im over it like genuinely I am also over Daniel and Johnny bickering but its fine

Tbh not enough Miguel storyline so far I miss my baby

MIGGY GOT DEFERRED NOOOOOOO

WHAT THHE FUCK TORYS MOM 

OH IM NOT FUCKING OKAY

Peyton lists acting just brought tears to me eyes I feel sick fuck the writers 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck the writers

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK the writers

Im so fucking heartbroken

Peyton list’s acting is so impressive

I hope that when everyone realizes the SHIT that tory is going through they realize their petty karate bullshit is STUPID

Tory flashback has me sobbing fr

“I am your partner” actual line from Daniel to Johnny

Tory is either not showing up or she’s murdering whoever stands in her way

I am afraid she may go back to kreese because she’s hurting

Kiaz fight choreo is VERYY good

TORY NOOOO my baby

Robby need a win tbh but Miguel is crying  so what am I supposed to do with that

Oh im sick to my stomach about samtory fight

Genuinely no more notes because im speechless

This is Peytons season.

Everyone else go home. She’s acting circles around you. 

LETS GO ELI but im fucking heartbroken about tory she’s gonna end up with fuckinng kreese again

ELI LOOKING UP TO DEMETRI AND DEMETRI GIVING HIM THE COLD SHOULDER I CAN’T DO THIS I NEED THEM LIKE WATER

Like I won. dem and Eli are both going but at WHAT COST

I feel like sam and robby as captains low key are so fitting because miyagi do started with them

Those headbands are ugly… sorry someone had to say it

Miyagi fought in an international karate tournament? Are we for real? That doesn’t seem like him to meeeee

OH SHIT BARCELONA NOW???????

Demetri put away your shoulders in that slutty gi jesus fucking christ 

Robby man bun returns feels full circle

The venue is smaller than I imagined…..?

Oh shit cobra kai is back baby and they’re hot (not kreese vomit)

USA looks like a bunch of idiots just saying

OH SHIT TORY

I KNEW IT I FUCKING KNEW IT BABYGIRL IK YOURE HURTING

Cobra kai never dies

What a betrayal (that I absolutely saw coming) 

so ive actually died now and i'll be thinking about this for the next 3-5 business days (4 months until pt 2)

seriously someone hold me. i gotta rewatch this to process it all.

[howlingday]

AU idea. Adam instead of being how he is actually wants out of the Fang so he goes to Beacon with Blake and becomes apart of JNPR so it's just JNAPR and his relationships eith the characters are just

Ruby: friends

Weiss: freinmies at first and then good friends

Blake: brother sister relationship

Yang: pun buds/Wingman for Yang to get Blake

Jaune: honestly with Jaune he thinks he is crazy for enrolling without Arua but gains a respect for Jaune

Pyrrha: Rivals

Ren: meditating buddies

Nora: eating buddies

He would also get rid of his Fang mask and train himself to fight blindfolded so if he ever gets blinded temporarily he still can throw dem hands without problems

I do like the premise, and I can see it happen, BUT I also think that a few things should be tweaked so it's not just rewriting Adam as an OC insert.

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

First of all, let's start with WHY Adam would leave the White Fang at all. For this, I suggest the same reason he attacks Beacon with them; Blake. As Blake attempts to leave the White Fang, what if Adam makes it over to where Blake is and demands she explains herself. Blake, steeling herself, tells Adam that she's done with the White Fang going on their murder spree, and if Adam thinks he can change her mind, then he should just kill her right now. Adam decides to humor Blake and leaves the White Fang with her. The two then flee to Beacon, the closest academy, and enroll to become students.

However, due to Adam's much more recognizable appearance, he decides to stay in the shadows of Vale while Blake attends Beacon. Assuming there's a primarily Faunus neighborhood in Vale, I'll assume this is where he's hiding out. But he still needs lien, so he calls on an old friend, a fellow deserter by the name of Tukson, and gets a job stocking books for him while keeping an eye and ear out for Blake.

During the events of the Volume 1 finale, I'd assume Blake runs back to Adam, who welcomes her with open arms, but the tender moment is broken by the arrival of Sun, who tries to convince her that not all humans are bad. Adam is about to argue when Tukson joins in. Adam swallows his pride, and some bile, and keeps his mouth shut, though he does get a kick out of the fact that Blake stood up to a Schnee.

During Volume 2, I can see Adam pitching in to help Team RWBY with their investigation of the White Fang. Adam keeps out of sight of Emerald and Mercury as Tukson is murdered. With nowhere else to hide, he flees for Beacon to warn Blake, where he meets Team RWBY. It's here that I'll discuss what their relationships would be like.

Ruby - I can see Ruby giving Adam a chance since he's a friend of Blake. She also doesn't really understand why there's so much animosity between Adam and Weiss, so she chalks it up to both parties having negative opinions of the other. To Adam, Ruby is just an ignorant child with no understanding of how the real world works.

Weiss - The two have a mutual distaste for one another. Weiss hates Adam because he's responsible for her turbulent home life and how he's suddenly forgiven just because he's "Blake's friend". He despises her because of the horrible atrocities committed by her father. At one point, their argument gets so heated that Adam reveals his scar, leaving Weiss stunned at her legacy branded across his face. This is where I feel like the two could start getting along better with Weiss apologizing for her company maiming him. Adam says it doesn't change all the horrible things that they did, but he does accept her apology, but only her and not the SDC. They're still hostile, but much less so than when they started.

Blake - I feel like Blake is caught between two worlds with her history in the White Fang and her friendships with Teams RWBY and JNPR. This also puts her in a great position to be a mediator between him and them, giving his side of the story to them and their side to him.

Yang - Yang TRIED to be friends for Blake, but the looks Adam gives her are the same she'd gotten from Raven growing up. To her, he sees her as an obstacle to what he wants, which is Blake. Since meeting, Yang's grown less friendly with him, but she can still put on a smile to keep Blake happy. And in her defense, she's not wrong for thinking something that's true.

JNPR - I'll summarize it into one section and say that Adam and Team JNPR are at opposite ends of indifference. Adam sees JNPR as a bunch of humans who will go on to support the SDC and subjugate more Faunus for the kingdoms, but takes Blake's word that they're nothing like that. Jaune doesn't know a thing about Adam or the White Fang, so he just trusts the judgement of his friends. Jaune does get a bit of brownie points when Adam hears that he stood up to Cardin for Velvet. Pyrrha knows about Adam and is especially cautious around the former White Fang member, mostly because he was at a higher rank than Blake, which means he's a lot stronger than her. Adam also knows about Pyrrha and just sees her as someone as bad as Weiss or Ruby; an ignorant human living blissfully unaware of the plights of Faunus around them. Nora and Ren don't really have much of an opinion on Adam, though they understand the danger of having a former White Fang member nearby. Adam doesn't have much to dislike about the two, other than the fact that they're both humans.

I'll finish this up by explaining how I think he'd be involved in the White Fang in Vale. I could see him swooping in during the events of Volume 2 and taking back the White Fang after Roman Torchwick is arrested. He'd offer them a place in his new White Fang, promising them a piece of the humans who tricked them into attacking like they did. The White Fang then cheer for Adam as he smiles and looks over Vale, plotting and scheming how best to bring Blake back to his side.

What do you think? Does this sound pretty good?

[itsanidiom]

10 BL Boys I [Strongly Believe Someone Should] Want Carnally

tagged by @negrowhat

As an asexual I am not sure what my having strong opinions on this says about me…ANYWAY These are the BL Boys I see and think to myself...yes someone needs to fuck that man because he deserves to have his dick ridden. LET’S GO!

Chan from KinnPorsche - DADDY CHAN...no further comments...moving on...

Phupha from 1000 Stars - I mean just look at this man, this is more of a Earth Pirapat fan post in general but yeah...

Jang Jaeyoung from Semantic Error - That is a large man…no further comment...

Jack from HIStory 3: Trapped - Love me a soft gangster...gentle choking...yes...

Phaya from The Sign - Another large man...pin him down...that is all...moving on...

Prapai from Love in the Air - From the special he just seems like he has a massive...no further comment...

Payu from Love in the Air - I mean father... I mean daddy...I mean...no comment...

Teena from Playboyy - Dem TIDDIES...moving on...

Seo Jaewon from The Eighth Sense - Honestly, he just seems like he'd treat you well.

Xiao Li Cheng from HIStory 4: Close to You - something something jawline...no further comment...

That is all...tagging anyone who wants to take a good long look at themselves and their carnal desires...

[read-marx-and-lenin]

Who r u voting for?

I've been pretty consistent in saying it doesn't matter who anyone votes for as an individual, the ballot box is not a place of revolutionary activity and we should focus our efforts elsewhere. That said, my state does mail-in ballots, so I still fill them out and send them in since it doesn't take much time or effort for me.

There will likely be four left-wing candidates on the ballot in my state: Jill Stein with the Greens, Cornel West as an independent, Claudia de la Cruz for the PSL, and Rachele Fruit for the SWP.

The SWP are Zionist Trotskyists, so I won't give them the time of day.

I voted PSL in 2016, but since then there's been a lot of shit going on with them and despite the fact that there's a lot of good people working with them and a lot of good local branches, I can't support them on a national level until they get their shit together. Their treatment of women, transgender people, and people of color needs to improve. There was a great article written in 2021 by a Maoist group on the issues within the PSL that I'll link here, and while I don't agree with their conclusion that the PSL is "fundamentally reactionary" and that collaboration with PSL groups is useless, their criticisms are still worth reading.

I voted for Howie Hawkins in 2020, but I've never been a fan of Jill Stein due to her pandering to anti-vaxxers and alt-med types. She's a doctor, she should know better. She's helped push a lot of anti-science misinformation on the left, and while her platform is far better than any of those from the Dems or Republicans, I still can't forgive that. Science-based medicine is one of my sticking points.

So that leaves Cornel West. He's not a communist, and I'm not a fan of his religiosity, but his platform is still solid and I like him the best out of these four candidates. Again, I'm not doing this because I think he can win. The only way he could possibly win is if Harris, Trump, RFK Jr., Jill Stein, and whoever the Libertarian guy is this year all die a week before the election, and even then, it'd probably be a toss-up between him and de la Cruz. My vote for West is purely to signify "hey, there's people here who want what Cornel West is offering". In that sense, I'm treating the presidential election more as an opinion poll than anything else.

[nobrashfestivity]

Hey, as someone with such good taste in art I thought you would be slightly more nuanced in your opinions than to imply that ~50% of the US have extremist views, and everyone should therefore vote dem. I think the majority of the US doesn't agree with the extremist views coming from either the left or right, they probably just want someone capable and sane. The majority of people who vote republican are good people. I don't think this dichotomy helps anyone, politics is obviously much more nuanced than "red team bad". I can tell that you're intelligent enough to not need reminding of all this but please be a bit more respectful and open minded.

I said nothing of 50% or democrats or republicans. A large number of people in this absolutely do have extremist views, however.

Donald Trump will likely be the republican candidate and he is the most destructive person in American history. If you vote for him you are for nazis, book banning, racism, corruption, misogyny, dead school children, theocracy and hatred. There's no nuance needed in that case.

Republicans are not Eisenhower anymore, there's no both sides. Stop embarrassing yourself.

[hidetothink]

is it bad that i as a gay man want trump to win and will be voting for him?

i'm sorry he's just fucking funny. i can't handle 4 more years of biden's ugly boring face.

Uhg, I can't tell if this is a troll, but I also don't care because I know some gay men irl with this opinion so I'll talk to them regardless lol

I dont like Biden or the Dem's at this point. They feel like a hollow, hypocritical party holding my rights hostage for a vote. I'm forced to let them slowly drag a corpse around, doing little to change what I feel needs fixing, because they're the party targeting gays with their policies (no matter how underwhelming). Then you get into modern "progressive" homophobia and it's a wash

BUT to me a Trump vote is a chance for more conservative justices in the Supreme Court, other changes possible through a Trump office regardless, and increasing homophobia of the Red Kind (not to dismiss Blue Flavour) related to the change. Not to mention, the slant of our international policies changing back to Trump standards during a volatile period feels unwise based on what I want to see happen, ideally

None of that changes what bad things (imo) would happen with a Biden presidency. But it's why I'm still uncomfortable with a Trump vote. Personally, I can hope for a return to good gay-rights activism AND political movement in the same direction under a blue president more than a red one, like it or not

But this election is a Cluster Fuck so I'm not side-eyeing anything at this point outside the values leading to whatever vote a person makes

[anthonycrowley]

sorry i cannot believe the fucking nyt is wasting space on this

i’m not advocating for voting third party. vote how you want. if anything, i think in most cases it is useless to vote third party and doing so basically kisses your preferred candidate’s victory goodbye due to math.

however. first of all there are potentially good reasons to vote third party. i have discussed it in the past but i will elaborate. yes - if you live anywhere that’s considered even slightly a swing state it’s probably a bad idea. small margins mean that a candidate that doesn’t really have a snowball’s chance in hell could lose the candidate precious delegates and get the candidate you don’t agree with at all in. that would be bad and is what happened in 2016. that’s one thing the article and i agree with - that would be bad to repeat. but there are also many states that aren’t swing states! i live in one of them. massachusetts is one of the most solidly blue states in the country. i mean…that could change, but if it did, basically i think harris and the democratic party in general have much bigger problems with the country in general. but like, if harris won a smaller margin in this state without losing it? that could send a message. that could send a message in california where democrats also won by a wide margin for the last several elections and where harris is from. like, if you actually like her policies and stances, vote for her. but if you don’t, and you’re pretty sure she’s gonna win, it’s not inherently stupid to vote more strategically imo. i know i’m gonna be labelled as a fucking bot or something, but i really do think it’s pretty milquetoast middle of the road to say ‘i think there are places where voting third party doesn’t actually hurt the top candidate and in those places you can probably protest vote.’

and i mean second and imo more importantly i fucking hate the let’s blame jill stein/third party candidates for the fact hilary lost sentiment that still persists. yeah, the opinion is right that she lost by narrow margins in certain states that she needed to win and in most of those states, if stein’s votes went to her, she would have won. true! yes! but those were clinton’s votes to lose. no one wants to say this! they were her’s to fucking lose! i don’t know why people voted for stein over her. maybe they were sexist. maybe they didn’t like her policies. maybe they didn’t like something she said. but it’s ridiculous to say that voters would rather give their vote to someone who has no chance of winning over clinton and then blame the other candidate when she lost. i just hate the idea that oh well if the third party candidates just made way for the real candidates the real candidates would have a better chance at winning.

like i know politicians think voters are stupid but most of us do actually have a memory span longer than a baby. i’m not happy with harris’ behavior on certain things and i live in a state she will probably win so i am considering not voting for her. if stein were on the ballot, i might vote for her - not because i want her to be president, i absolutely don’t. but she, unlike harris, doesn’t actually have a chance at being president, but a margin here tells harris that left leaning people in massachusetts are not happy with her. if stein isn’t on the ballot? it’s still not automatically going to harris. it might. i might go third party. i might do write in. i might not vote.

idk. i’m just so sick of the you gotta vote how we want 🔪 or else 🔪🔪🔪 sentiment from the dems. i was over it with biden and we as a society have got to get over 2016. she lost. stop trying to lose this one too.

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

They’ve been scared of it for decades but it still isn’t stopping them. The youth vote never worked out for the Dems even when millions of young boomers took to the streets to protest Vietnam, Nixon, and Republikkkan terror at home. Their is no grand coalition of young people, marginalized people, and recent immigrants. Pundits like Van Jones can preach this all he wants in an attempt to make it reality but it’s simply not happening, never has, and likely never will.

The Republikkkans have had great and expanding success with their simple strategy of regional separation. The push the notion that the South is inherently more free, more moral, and more patriotic. Which is bullish-t on every level. They’ve even managed to expand this into the west and mid-west while making inroads into the rural counties of the few blue states left. They keep the people poor and angry and then they make the northern and west coast Dems the villains, the scapegoats just like Hitler did. Everything northern, blue, and urban is evil because propaganda works best when oversimplified to black and white.

The red states are so heavily radicalized that their youth vote red while many of our youth don’t bother to vote. Further the Republikkkans are still drawing deeply from the affluent “Log Cabin Republicans” (LGBT) who prioritize their pocket books and own racism over their very existence. Recent immigrants voting blue hasn’t existed since the mid 1800’s yet the Republikkkans still use it as a talking point. Immigrants nearly always side with the loud mouth autocrats in the GQP because it reminds them of the “strongman” autocrats they left behind. Anyone from a recent immigrant family or community can vouch for this. The only time it’s not true is in blue states where the Dems allow good paying entry level jobs that don’t require mastery of English. Voting Republikkkan makes immigrants feel like super patriots and they think it will help them blend in easier and quicker. Even with the massive rise in anti-Asian and anti-Semitic violence those two groups still vote their pocket books. And for the life of me I’ll never understand why 1/3, and growing, of the Hispanic population votes GQP. Especially in the border states where they are treated the worse. They literally chant “send those sp-cs” back at Trump rallies and other GQP events.

The biggest, and perhaps mortal, mistake the Dems ever made was to shift away from its base of union workers to embrace every group under the sun when all those groups have spotty voting records at best. They don’t vote, don’t vote regularly, and as mentioned often vote GQP. Some may not like that and find it insensitive but it’s a truth that is overlooked by the ultra-liberal, educated elite, and the so called mainstream media. The focus should always have been on expanding union rights since they had excellent Democratic turn out. At the same time attempts should have been made to attract marginalized people. It never should have been one or the other, that was a catastrophic mistake. Biden is the first high level Dem since the 60’s to realize this mistake and is working to bring unions back.

Many of us on the left still have bought into endless attacks on unions produced by Republikkkan oligarchs who want every hindrance to profit removed regardless of the human cost. Just like so many bought into the decades of repugnant attacks against Hillary which gave us Trump and MAGA. Nearly all unions are pro-Democrat. The only unions that are pro-Republikkkan are police unions that get everything they want from local Republikkkan officials who need them as foot soldiers. There are still a handful of law enforcement unions, mainly in the north, that are pro-Dem because they realize the value of unions as a whole. Once Repubs have stamped out all the other unions they will weaken and eventually eliminate them as well.

People on our side just don’t recognize what unions do for a free society. Most know the basics of higher wages, sick leave, benefits like over-time, health insurance, protections against unjust/illegal termination, guaranteed raises, vacations (often paid), and the basic human dignity of not having to grovel at the bosses feet. Further, and this is important and overlooked, unions provide work place safety and security for marginalized people. African-Americans, LGBT, immigrants, young, women, old, religious minorities, the handicapped and infirm all have a place where they are safe to work. Most importantly union workers have built in recourses if management becomes hostile or takes unfair or prejudicial action.

Yes all institutions have faults as they are run by people and people are not infallible. But your union dues provide you with shop stewards and if necessary legal representation. You don’t get that anywhere else. No non-union company will protect you if you are discriminated against you. Workers have a contract with their union that is contractually bound to protect them. It doesn’t always work in a very small number of instances where lower level union shop stewards are corrupted by management but 99% of the time it functions as planned and goes on smoothly without us even being aware. Of course when something doesn’t work out the media blows it out of proportion leading us to think every institution is corrupt.

How many workers hate their underpaid jobs where they have no chance of advancement, wage theft, long hours, at will scheduling, abusive bosses, unsafe working conditions, and fear of termination? That’s not how it is when you have a job with a strong union. Again nothing is perfect but union work places are vital to our democracy and the protection of marginalized people who would in millions of cases unable to even find work. That’s something to stop and think about before you go off on an imaginary blue collar white union worker you believe voted for Trump. Remember you are buying into Republikkkan propaganda whenever you disparage unions.

And if you want that youth vote to turn the tide then get off your backsides and start educating the young people in your orbit before Fox News MAGAts radicalize them.

[presidentalpaca]

the trend of people, all along the range of establishment dems to leftists, to call for trump to be replaced are so bizarre to me. like, yeah, i get the sentiment. we hate trump. he's a fascist and a liar and dangerous to democracy and yes, yes, yes agreed. but he is a WEAK candidate for the republican party.

up until this point we've had essentially a race to the bottom. biden should've sweeped trump, as an incumbent who did have some decent policies in motion, but he's a corpse who stans isnotreal and has an increasingly reactionary approach to immigration (this is something we NEED to push kamala on, btw). he also has historically low approval ratings, which has never rlly spelled out good news for incumbents.

well, okay, biden sucks, so trump should we sweeping him. well... sort of. trump, unlike biden, has a strong base of support. he has people who will only vote for him, while biden supporters are essentially just dem party supporters. the thing is though - much of his supporter base historically does not vote consistently. many of them don't believe in organized goverment at all, so they may not vote based on that.

but aside from that element, the bigger focus is the moderates. the people like my personal grandparents. white, wealthy, from the suburbs, lutheran, stans ronald reagan (named their boxer reagan). and trump freaks them out! they want normalcy. they want order. they're plenty racist, but they don't want an insurrection.

moderate voters are the ones you absolutely need to bag, regardless of party, and at the moment the dems (depending on how they move forward) could have a major advantage now that biden's out. they have a cop vs a criminal; a goofy laughbox vs a violent menace; a woman who connects with her stepchildren and seems happy with her husband vs the guy who called his own daughter hot and had the rnc commentators gossiping about his marriage. this is not a reflection of what matters to me personally, but rather of what generally matters to american voters. this dynamic is flimsy, because it takes work to push a narrative, and the dems have roughly a month til their convention, three til election day. they can push kamala and promote enticing policies, as long as they actually push kamala and promote enticing policies.

in addition, trump weirdly had a terrible pick for vp. jd vance is supposed to help trump's ticket appear less establishment, more in connection with the rust belt, but vance has been sucking up to the dems and pushing down his appalachian community for years.

and trump has maxed out on name recognition. it's pretty difficult for someone to not have a decently solid opinion on someone who has already been president for four years. red voters who know they don't like him - primarily moderates - can't really be all that psyched to vote him back into office.

now why, WHY, would we encourage the republican party to swap the trump-vance ticket for someone more competent, not so unruly and impolite? someone who can feign common decency, who can more effectively pretend to be better than they are?

please don't get sucked up in the "no you!" push, because (imo) that's all it is. it's just seeing the dems fuck up, be called out, then seeing the reps do the same thing, and wanting to call it out to get even. i don't think that's the move right now.

i think the move is to take the coconut pill for few months or so, pretend to get along, hope the dems do their part for once, and come jan 21st, we can go full throttle pushing kamala to fix everything.

oh, and vote august 6th!! multiple progressive state reps are up for re-election (shout out cori bush), as well as local reps and ballot measures. november 5th matters, but the next big one is only 2 weeks from today!