#riviter

[skellydoll]

I’m late but happy birth rift apart

[deathandnonexistentialdread]

No please elaborate on how much you've been yearning for Kaito Kid for more than eight years

[vnknowcrow]

How I know I look everytime the topic of "is danse a runaway or replacement" comes up

[kayzeanart]

Guess which bitch finally finished Rift Apart! As my first R&C game (rip never having a console) IT was amazing and I loved every second!

Also I just. I fucking like just how much more fluffier Ratchet was in this game (and just the fur quality in general. It made me so happy!)

Plz don't repost to other socials thanks!

[usafphantom2]

SHINR40 arriving in Portsmouth from Greenville this afternoon! Cool to finally catch the RC-135W Rivet Joint!🇺🇸

@mhtplanes via X

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Why I remain hopeful about 2024

July 11, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

I remain hopeful about Democratic prospects up and down the ballot in 2024—including retaining the presidency under Joe Biden. I explain my reasons, below.

One of the unexpected blessings of writing this daily newsletter is the opportunity to meet with grassroots groups and Democratic candidates running for office. The meetings are almost always Zoom presentations designed to explain and promote the work of grassroots groups and raise money for candidates. On Wednesday, I hosted a fundraiser for Kari Lerner, who is challenging MAGA extremist Byron Donalds in Florida’s 19th congressional district and co-hosted a fundraiser for Blue CD2 New Mexico, a PAC devoted to re-electing Rep. Gabe Vasquez in New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district.

Like you, I have been weighed down by the relentless media attacks on Joe Biden and the “next-shoe-to-drop” statements by an increasingly long line of Democratic officials, pundits, and celebrities. It has been unsettling and dispiriting, even for me.

But after the two meetings today, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was reminded once again of the Democratic Party's secret weapon: the millions of grassroots volunteers who began as members of “the resistance” in 2017 and have matured into a seasoned, professional, battle-tested citizen army ready to defend democracy.

I meet with grassroots groups a few times a week. There are usually a hundred or so volunteers on each call. Multiply those meetings and attendees by thousands of similar groups, and you will be looking at hundreds of thousands (or millions) of motivated volunteers. None of those volunteers were politically engaged before the 2016 election.

The sophistication and planning of the grassroots groups are impressive. They are data-focused, message-centric, and mission-driven. The grassroots groups are why political pollsters repeatedly missed predictions in the 2022 midterms and special elections in 2023 and 2024. As pollsters and pundits scratched their heads trying to figure out why they were wrong, the answer was staring them in the face: The under-appreciated, under-reported, and frequently disrespected grassroots movement.

Professional consultants and advisors often resent and fear grassroots groups because the groups do for free what the consultants and advisors get paid a fortune to do (often not as well as the grassroots groups).

There is nothing like viewing screenfuls of faces of dedicated volunteers who haven’t given up and aren’t buying the B.S. the media is selling. While I am frequently asked to provide inspirational and motivating remarks to the groups, I take inspiration and motivation from them every time I meet with a group.

What is so gratifying and confidence-inspiring is that the volunteers remain focused on the grinding work of neighborhood-level get-out-the-vote efforts despite the firestorm in the media over Joe Biden. Such efforts are the secret sauce and secret weapon of the unexpected Democratic success since 2022.

There is one more aspect to the grassroots movement that must be acknowledged. It is the 90% Rule. Like other constants in nature—the speed of light (c) and the gravitational constant (g)—the 90% Rule applies across all grassroots organizations. The 90% Rule describes the fact that on every call, in every meeting, in every action, women constitute 90% of the grassroots volunteer movement.

Women have been the backbone of “the resistance” and the pro-democracy movement since the Women’s March unleashed their collective power in 2017. And Black women have been at the center of the women’s resistance movement.

The overwhelming presence of women in the grassroots movement gives me great hope. It gives me hope because they understand and live the pain of being demoted to second-class citizens by the Dobbs decision. They are denied basic healthcare because gynecologists and obstetricians are fleeing hostile jurisdictions or refusing to practice their specialty for fear of prosecution or civil penalties. They feel most acutely the pain and trauma of LGBTQ children struggling to navigate an increasingly anti-LGBTQ world. They are the caregivers for elderly parents reliant on Medicare and Social Security to maintain their health and dignity in retirement.

If grassroots groups are the secret weapon of democracy, women are the not-so-secret weapon of grassroots groups. They feel the suffering and pain of our nation in a way that others do not. An attendee at the Blue CD2 New Mexico meeting today posted this saying by Coretta Scott King:

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.

Women in the grassroots movement have become the soul of the nation. While I hope and believe that Democrats will show up in overwhelming numbers in November, women will be motivated more than any other group to protect their liberty, their children, and their parents.

The volunteers on the two calls I attended today aren’t giving up. They continue in their effort to win the 2024 election one voter at a time. They are anxious and worried like the rest of us, but they act while many in the political world dither.

Action is the antidote to anxiety. And action in community is a sacred act that is uplifting and affirming. If you are not a member of a grassroots group, join one ASAP! You will feel more optimistic, and you will increase the chances of Democratic success up and down the ballot in November.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[housefinches]

why is living alone for the first time literally only about finding out what meals freeze well. i spent 17 years of my life never once thinking about freezing a thing and then suddenly

[theminecraftbee]

OH MY GOD QUACKITY IS UP DID HE REALLY PULL THIS OFF IN THE LAST TEN MINUTES OH MY GOD

[theriverbeyond]

watching the monsters crime drama tv show rn... deeply horrifying but im riveted

[demonangelgirl134]

Rusty Fox & Rivit Hamster

meet Rusty and Rivit! The blind inventor and paralyzed pilot.

They're friends and employees with Nugget and Camilla in their spy organization, and the thing is, is that everyone in the organization has some kind of disability or thing that makes them different. one of the purposes of this is to make examples for disabled/different people that if people with those disadvantages can protect the world, then anyone can do anything despite their challenging disabilities and to help them feel better about themselves and be more confident.

Rusty was born 100% blind in both eyes, so he had a lot of trouble doing things by himself and finding his way around, and Rivit was born with a spinal condition that paralyzed his entire lower half and caused him to be forever confined to a wheelchair. Somehow, despite his lack of vision, Rusty became very smart and successfully, by some miracle with the help of his brother and sister, invented high-tech advanced contact lenses that granted him sight, and he met Rivit who had become a successful pilot and engineer, and eventually fell in love got married thanks to their matching will to succeed despite their disability

[micahdotgov]

incredibly huge day for micah i saw the painting from bond and q’s first ever meeting today!!! second picture was taken by my mother while i was staring at it and reciting the scene in my mind and i think i look slightly ominous so i made her send it to me

[sol-draws-sometimes]

In honor of Out of Touch Thursdays, flashbacks to the time I asked my friend if she knew any Hall and Oats songs and then she asked me if they were a one hit wonder—

This is what I get for having a boomer as a dad

[i-put-the-ryan-in-orion]

I found this doodle of a very-not-so-thrilled Rivite being confronted by (confused) pirates lol

[femmeterypolka]

i don’t go to ace attorney but they should add shori matthews to it

[chowtrolls]

Do you remember Daisee much, Dia?

"I remember her more than I've let on. I had to fill the void she left, so I never let anyone know how much her absence hurt. But that's just loss, isn't it?"