#that will not affect the voters you don’t have yet

[isthisjackie]

On another, less angry note, the democrats in my state have started running ads that are very similar to like traditional conservative/republican ads and I fuck with it SO much. Like I totally believe it has made a difference in how things went in the fall for us with the special election we had for recreational marijuana and reproductive health care. Truly amazing

[votevotevotevotevote]

Why young people need to vote

By request, here's the text from the screenshot I shared previously. Still a good thing to show to every young person you know!

Why things won't truly change until young people vote like old people:

The government is, to put in bluntly, anti-youth — the needs and desires of young people are given the lowest priority. Social security is considered an untouchable “third rail” for politicians, yet those same politicians pay little price for ignoring climate change or paying nothing but lip service to confronting it. The US does little to address soaring education and housing costs, which disproportionately affect young people, despite being willing to spend nearly a trillion dollars annually on its military. In a particularly egregious affront, the country runs huge budget deficits — thereby offloading part of the cost of running the government onto future generations — while subsidizing fossil fuels, which means that young people are being forced to pay for their own destruction.

The reason behind all of this is simple: Old people vote at much higher rates than young people, so elected officials are incentivized to fight for them. Politicians do more to address energy prices than the future of the planet because slightly higher gas prices cause them to be punished at the polls, and young people aren’t there to back them up with their own votes.

The good news, of course, is that this can change. The beauty of democracy is that we get to choose who’s in the government, and young people exist in large enough numbers to be the driving force behind that decision. Millennials and Generation Z combine for (depending on the specific definition of the millennial generation you use) about 45% of eligible voters, but low voting rates mean that we don’t get much of a seat at the table in determining public policy. Younger generations can make up 45% of the electorate by voting at the same rates as older generations, but that’s not all — if young people can get each other to vote at higher rates than old people, we can make up a majority of the electorate and thus gain a controlling stake in the government, forcing it to finally work for us.

Tired of being screwed over by your own government? Angry at being forced to pay for your own destruction? Register to vote, and get all of your friends to do so as well. Let’s beat the boomers at their own game.

Note that (if you live in a state other than North Dakota) you have to register to vote before actually voting, and most states have registration deadlines that fall before election day — some as soon as October 6 or 7. Check your state’s deadline here, and make sure to register in time!

(source: outvote-the-boomers.blogspot.com)

[nonbinarytoast]

I try not to post too much political stuff on this page but I needed to share this.

My mom teaches third grade. Because the school system in America is shit, most of them still don’t know how to add two single digit numbers, something that’s required in first grade but that first grade couldn’t teach them because they were all hyper active maniacs.

One of my mom’s standards in history that she has to teach is all the different countries and immigration from one country to another. Today she asked her class what an immigrant was.

They responded with “well ___ says that immigrants are invading our country” “___ wants to stop the spread of immigrants” “___ said that immigrants eat dogs”

Not a single one knew what an immigrant was, but they all thought it was bad. If so many people were making commercials talking about stopping them then they had to be bad, right?

My mom told them what an immigrant was. “Someone who goes to another country to practice free speech or religious freedoms”

“What’s free speech?” It’s when you can say what your opinion is. Some countries put you in jail for that. “What’s freedom of religion?” So you can practice your own faith. Some countries don’t let you go to the church you want to. “Why are we trying to stop them from coming here?” That’s a question for the politicians. “Wait, so I’m an immigrant?” Yes, since you moved here from Canada, you are an immigrant. “My grandpas an immigrant?!” “My mom is an immigrant?!” “My great grandma is an immigrant?!”

You get the idea.

Not a single one of these children knew what an immigrant was. All they knew, or thought they knew, was that we needed to keep them out because they were bad people.

Politicians making commercials doesn’t just affect voters or people trying to watch football. Kids see it. Little kids who don’t know anything yet. And in seeing it they subconsciously think that even the people they love the most are the people they think they know are bad.

I don’t know what the moral of this story is. But please, please for the love of whatever god or gods you believe in know that this is wrong. That soon you might have to immigrate to escape the US. And know that it’s because of the politicians who lie and cheat their way into office because people don’t know what they’re really voting for.

[qqueenofhades]

I don’t know if this is just because I’ve curated my feeds to show me this, but I actually have a sliver of hope that we may stay blue because of all the kids who will be voting age in 2024 being FIRED TF UP against all the human rights violations the republicans are passing/want to pass into law and like. I don’t want the kids to save us. They shouldn’t frickin have to. But if republicans keep being such raging assholes, if they can hold onto that anger until 2024… they just frickin might. I’m genuinely terrified what will happen if they DO NOT, but I have seen so many late-teens-early-20s kids getting out and voting in local elections and doing other things* that helps that I really, really hope they bring that energy to the 2024 election even if our choices are “old white guy who is Actually Doing Okay (could be better but not Genuinely Evil)” and “Orange Incoherent Criminal” or “ Literal Fascist Wannabe Dictator that everyone else actually hates”

(Also, do I wish we had a better option than Biden? Sure. But he’s not doing nearly as bad as a lot of people INCLUDING DEMS want us to believe. Like no maybe he’s not MANY things, but what he is doing is pretty darn good and big and it’s not actual genocide so like. Can we all suck it up ONE MORE TIME PLEASE???)

(*the biggest energy I saw was with the Tennessee Three and I’m like PLEASE BRING THAT ENERGY TO THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION I AM BEGGING YOU)

I mean... like I keep saying, the Republicans aren't trying so hard to outlaw voting because they truly think their policies are popular and people legitimately want to vote for them. They have lost the popular vote in every presidential election except one (2004) since the start of this century, and yet in that time, we have still had 12 years of GOP presidents, because the Electoral College sucks anti-democratic donkey dick so hard.

Likewise, yes: if we get our act together and vote in equal or higher numbers than 2020 and 2022, we will probably-to-definitely win. A turnout of just 27% of Gen Z voters stopped the Red Wave in 2022, so if yknow, a few more of them would do so in 2024, that would be nice. Republican policies are toxically unpopular with young people, but these are often also those most susceptible to "evil Democrats/both sides bad" anti-voting propaganda, so it's not always clear how this adds up to extra points for Team Blue.

Anyway, at this point, it's still too early to know what the hell will happen between now and November 2024, how Felonies Georg's charges numbering possibly in the literal hundreds will affect the race, or any of that. As ever, however, we do know that the crazies WILL vote en masse, like they always do, and it is up to us to do our part.

[shady-swan-jones]

A Good Wife No More - a captain swan Modern AU

Ao3, Wattpad

Summary: Killian hasn't seen Emma since law school, when she broke his heart and left to marry another man. Now she's asking for a chance in practising law, when all her wants is to know why she left then.

a Good Wife inspired modern AU

(1/5)

The soft morning light from his office window dances against her hair, tenderly casting her profile in a warm glow, as the rays finally settle on her hand.

Correction, his haunted mind unhelpfully supplies. Her ringed hand.

-

When asked about his biggest regret by prying colleagues at happy hour, usually trying to fish sex-stories-gone-wrong from him, Killian always says Tink. An affair with a perky paralegal inadvertently resulting in his firing makes for a convincing tale of failure.

Yet no amount of work-related downfalls, as savage as they may be, can compare to the real thing. In a surprising turn of events, his biggest regret is a captivating mix of nerves and fearlessness.

And she’s sitting right in front of him. Emma

-/-

“Killian, stop! I’m going. It’s my decision and it’s final.” 

Emma is shivering under her worn out red leather jacket. He doesn’t have a mind to appreciate the sight though, not with her casually mentioning she’s abandoning her career. Abandoning it before it even has a chance to start and following her prick of a boyfriend to Chicago right after graduation. 

She’s leaving.

“Love, deny it all you want, but you’re an open book to me. Neal’s forcing you to follow him in his ridiculous quest to be the Wolf of Wall Street. You love the law. You’ve had a taste of it here. I have seen your eyes sparkle when you’re facing me in mock trials. You’re passionate. You’re bloody brilliant!”

He paused his desperate, last-chance speech to look her in the eye. His voice caught in his throat. 

“Don’t abandon this, Swan.”

Don’t abandon me.

-/-

The next time he saw her was through a screen. She was standing tall, offering her support to people who didn’t deserve it. Robert Gold’s half-assed apology to his voters, essentially for having no soul and dignity,  captured everyone’s attention in the office.

Emma captured his.

She was behind her father-in-law, as beautiful as he’d often dreamed, even though no amount of makeup could hide the pair of shining, red-rimmed eyes.

-/-

“I knew you’d find me, Swan.”

“Shut up, Jones.” 

The roll of her eyes is another thing he missed about her.

“That’s Jones Esq to you, darling,” he supplies playfully, and fixes a smile on his face. 

She doesn’t need to know how fast his heart is beating. How the gold tresses framing her face, make his fingers itch to tuck a lock behind her ear or how the sight of her, after all these years, is an image that will be permanently stitched on his brain. 

But, she’s in his law firm after all. Which brings up the obvious question.

“What are you doing in my conference room? Not that I’m complaining to see an old friend,” the word friend bitter on his tongue as he forces it out, “but-”

“I’m here for the job, Jones.” 

He goes to protest but she cuts him off expertly, “not for the pleasure of your company.” 

Killian pouts and prays to an invisible god it affects her just a tad. 

“Let’s get this over with so we can go to the part where you hire me, and I get an office. With a view.” 

-/-

She won’t get an office, of course. First-year associates get a legal pad and a box of pens with the firm’s initials. His initials among them.

He selfishly thinks of her tracing his name with her fingers while she works.

-/-

Killian Jones doesn’t hire people on the spot. So he makes a great show of listening to all her reasons why she will be a valuable asset to his team. As though he hadn’t made up his mind the moment he saw her sitting nervously on the chair, touching the stem of her wrist tattoo.

He doesn’t need to hear why he should give her the job. Every scandal in the world couldn’t tarnish the image he has of her from their earlier days in college. “You bested me, Swan,” was his graceful admit of defeat when the professor paired them opposing each other for the mock trial. He’d lost the case to her, but it hadn’t felt like a loss at all. 

He knows she has fought for everything she has in life -from the orphanage to Columbia Law School-, and this will be no different. Opposing counsel doesn’t stand a chance. Yet, he lets her speak, passionately and -dare he hope- a little flustered.

They avoid, masterfully, any heavy topics that could lead this reunion to rocky paths. They don’t talk about Gold or Neal but there is  a brief mention of Henry, where he enjoys Emma’s genuine smile. Her first one this morning.  

He tells himself he has all the time in the world now to learn her again. She’s here. 

As Emma stands to leave, never one for pleasantries despite the political chaos she lives in, he braces himself and stops her. The flicker of hope in his heart matches the one in her eyes.

“Emma,” he breathes. “You should know, not a day went by that I didn’t think of you.”

She pauses. Her hand settles the loose strand of hair he had itched to touch, as her diamond ring catches the light painfully.  

“Good.”

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

You normally understand my anger so I am gonna vent a moment.

My friends are pissed at me because I berated them for not voting when every single one of them had the time and resources to and are deeply affected by how this presidential outcome goes.

"people lifes have to come first before we think about the world right now esp when it comes to the election like the slogan its your right to vote its cool if u dont wanna" - Quote from my friend that couldn't be more untrue. I fear none of them have a brain cell to rub together to form a thought. No reason the majority of them are majoring in art and yet are somehow failing some of their classes cause they clearly don't understand subtext, nuance, or any form of understanding. I know I am being very harsh, but they do not understand the severity of their actions.

The vote count will take a few days, but I do know if Trump wins, I am going to abandon my friendship with those folks. They are showing that they don't care about others and their community of Queer and POC folks. Probably gonna do it anyway cause a lot of their excuse was "We are all just starting adulthood🥰 please be easy" when we are all almost 2 years out from high school and the majority could have still voted in high school.

They can't "uwu I am just a little guy" their way out of this. They aren't even showing self-preservation at this point. Apparently ignoring the sharks will make them go away in their mind.

I get this sentiment so much.

I’ve also been holding a lot of disdain to third party voters in America recently. Because all voting third party does in America is make themselves feel better, honestly. A vote not for Kamala Harris in this election is a vote for trump, and I think people don’t understand the repercussions this will have *across the world*.

Third party voting itself isn’t inherently evil. It happens a lot in the UK, and it’s a good thing it happens. It puts a lot of pressure on the main parties to get their shit together. HOWEVER, even this year, everyone was saying not to vote third party because no one wanted the fucking Tories again. And the best way to ensure we don’t get Tories is to ensure we got Labour. And Kier Starmer can suck a fat cock, but he’s better than Kemi ‘I think people aren’t having kids bc we’re too generous with maternity leave’ Badenoch.

And studying politics at a time like this is STRESSFUL bro because I see people saying shit all the time about how impactful voting third party is, and I am screaming at the screen because the impact it has is making you feel like a moral and good person for ensuring a trump win. Same goes for non-voters. Like this election, the emphasis shouldn’t be on ‘oh but voting Kamala makes me feel like a bad person’, it should be ‘hey so if Trump is elected people will fucking die and I can put my personal feelings aside to ensure that doesn’t happen’

But no

Everyone is just fucked.

[theflixdiary]

Barbie (2023) directed by Greta Gerwig

age rating: 13+ genre: comedy, fantasy duration: 1h 54m country: United States language: English screenplay: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach

major cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell

plot summary : Barbie (Margot Robbie) is the iconic doll who lives in Barbieland, a seemingly perfect world filled with other Barbies in every possible role. however, when she begins to feel out of place, questioning her purpose and her identity, she embarks on an unexpected journey to the real world with Ken (Ryan Gosling). there, she discovers the complexities of humanity, relationships, and society, learning that being "just Barbie" might mean more than she ever imagined.

as someone who grew up with the classic Barbie animated movies — you know, the ones with glittering costumes and accessories, magical unicorns, flying fairies, and the charm of fairytale adventures — this latest Barbie movie was a bit of a shocker. yep, you read that right! this new Barbie world isn’t the sparkly adventure playground I remember from childhood. instead of glittering rainbows and talking animals, we get something… way different. there's no Prince Charming, no musical numbers (except that one long-ass dance segment performed by the Kens), and certainly no enchanted forests. I mean, I get that it’s 2020s and they’re going for a more “modern” take, but it feels like they stripped out the fairytale magic and replaced it with social commentary. let’s talk about the look of the film for a sec. the colours are, well, intense. think pink, bright pink that is not even neon, and every shade in between. it’s almost like they dialled up the saturation to max! watching it in the dark was borderline painful, like Barbie’s dream house exploded into a highlighter factory. honestly, if you’re sensitive to bright colours, take my advice and pack a pair of sunglasses. my millennial eyes weren’t ready for this! then there’s the whole feminism angle. now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for girl power, but there’s something about the way it’s handled here that left me feeling… off. it’s like the movie tried a bit too hard to push a point, but in a way that felt forced rather than inspiring. there’s this almost unsettling undertone in the message that’s hard to pinpoint — maybe it's the irony of Barbie being a feminist icon or just the way they tried to walk the line between fun and deep. the movie seemed stuck between wanting to be both a fun flick and a profound social statement, and I’m not sure it hit the mark in either direction. also, those who have watched this movie, did you notice the scene with Ruth and Barbie near the end? I couldn’t help but feel like it was directly inspired by the Harry Potter scene where Harry and Dumbledore walk together after Harry “dies.” it’s almost too similar! I get that they were aiming for a touching moment, but a bit more originality wouldn’t hurt, right? would I watch it again? probably not. don’t get me wrong, it was interesting for what it was, and Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling did a great job bringing their roles to life with flair and humour. but for someone who loves the magical Barbie movies of old, this one just didn’t quite hit the spot. bring back the sparkling unicorns, please!

p/s: in the lights of recent major event, I have a theory that this movie probably has influenced the outcome. and if it's true, I actually am not surprised that this movie influenced the voters' perspective. despite all the rights and movements they've been fighting for, most of them are not ready yet. I don't know, maybe they just want it stays in the movies only, but not in real life? nevertheless, for those who might be affected by the Trump policy, please stay safe and know that you are loved by so many! they are so many people behind you!

poster & stills credit: IMDb edited using canva

[actuallyava]

Villainy Day One:

Some may say I’m irrrational

But I beg to differ

Many may think of me like a rumbling volcano, just waiting for the right conditions in order to explode

But I beg to differ

A few think that I’m crazy.

Completely off my rocker and should be placed in a hospital.

That one… I don’t necessarily disagree with, but I would still beg to differ

I would label myself… as kind

Sweet

Loving

Give you the shirt off my back in order for you to feel warm (physically, emotionally, mentally…)

But I’m at my wits end

It’s funny. I also related to the characters that are out of their mind… the ones who heard multiple voices, blew up hospitals, had every trauma known to man

And there is a single trauma that I don’t have, but I understand them nonetheless

Villains are singular creatures, single party voters who don’t care about anything else that maybe on the ballot, or in this world.

People who only require one thing.

Harley Quinn- Unwavering love and affection

Jinx- Loyalty and compassion

That girl from the MindF*** series- Revenge

Joker- Well… he really was just crazy, but you get my point!

Every single one of them, and most villains that move throughout their stories only wanted one thing.

They craved it.

Yet for some odd reason, people just continued to play with their emotions, mingle with their feelings, making bad on the ONLY thing they wanted.

I’m not saying their actions are justified… but come on.

It’s not a laundry list of items, just…

One.

Singular.

Thing.

I have always wanted someone who wants me. Who would fight tooth and nail for me. Who would go even up against me for my heart. Who wouldn’t leave.

And for many years I thought I had that.

But like most villains… people just continue to not care.

They play with my emotions

Smile in my face

Make blanked promises all while just trying to get something

In many people’s eyes, I’ve always been lucky.

I was the girl that people ran to in order to be fixed, to have support for whatever they’re going through…

And they never stayed once they got it.

They always leave. They always take.

And I have to pick up the pieces. I have to figure out what went wrong. I have to apologize and cry and miss and feel like I’m the burden.

Which leads to now.

The last time.

The final straw that broke the camel’s- or whatever creature you can think of- back

I have placed all my eggs in a singular basket

And overnight, the person I handed that basket to has flipped it upside down. Breaking every option that I had.

And I… am stuck.

The final person who I thought I could trust…

Left yet again.

So now, there is no basket

There are no eggs

There is no heart to capture and beat and feast upon with the very people who they ran from before

It is simply gone.

Now I must be on my own.

And I will move as such

I’m not sorry for my dismissive attitude. I am not sorry for the anger and sadness that rests on my face. I’m not sorry for the rage that maybe displayed on later terms

Maybe that’s wrong. Maybe that’s not right. Maybe that’s the irrational and hazardous thing to do in a life when you need others

But I’m the villian

What do you expect?

[sa7abnews]

Arizona's Kari Lake tears into Kamala Harris on the border: 'The only Walz she supports is her VP pick'

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/09/arizonas-kari-lake-tears-into-kamala-harris-on-the-border-the-only-walz-she-supports-is-her-vp-pick/

Arizona's Kari Lake tears into Kamala Harris on the border: 'The only Walz she supports is her VP pick'

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Arizona U.S. Senate Republican nominee Kari Lake spoke out Thursday on the dangers she said the Democratic presidential ticket presents for her state, particularly in terms of border security.Lake, speaking at a campaign event with several families affected by border violence and smuggling, also spoke to Fox News Digital after the event concluded.Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ scheduled rally on Friday in Glendale, Lake said the Democratic presidential nominee will again come to Arizona without stopping at the southern border.Lake criticized Harris’ proverbial role as the “border czar,” and praised the “build the wall” policies of Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.”Apparently the only Walz [Harris] supports is her VP pick…” Lake quipped, in reference to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.JD VANCE RIPS HARRIS’ LATEST WORD SALAD: ‘SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POWER OF DIPLOMACY’In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lake invited Harris to go to the border after her rally, adding that “people don’t like her here.””We’re living in the nightmare [Harris, President Biden and U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego] created,” she said.Lake said her Democratic opponent Gallego, who is vying to succeed retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., has “rubber stamped” Biden-Harris border agenda items.Lake added that Harris, Walz and Gallego represent the “three musketeers of nightmarish policy.”In that regard, Lake dismissed claims Republicans are not united behind her after she narrowly lost her previous state gubernatorial bid to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.She noted that Karrin Taylor Robson — with whom she had a contentious 2022 gubernatorial primary — endorsed her, while also pointing out the prevalence of everyday-American Democrats who have voiced support for her bid.9/11 TERRORIST FEARS TRUMP WILL GET ELECTED AND EXECUTE HIMAt the event, held at a Maricopa County Republican Party office in Chandler, Lake was flanked by U.S. Reps. Eli Crane and Andy Biggs, as well as the families affected by the open border.Among those in attendance were parents who lost children to the fentanyl crisis, as well as a local resident and former Democratic voter, Jade Gillon, who said, as an African American, she supports Trump because life was better under his administration, regardless of race.Lake invited Gillon to the podium to offer remarks in which she contrasted her life under Trump versus Biden.”I’m working six days this week,” Gillon said, going on to suggest Democrats engage in fearmongering against Trump. “I’m doing worse under this administration than Donald Trump’s administration — yet I’m told to be afraid of a man who made my life better? Make it make sense.”CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPDuring his remarks, Crane criticized the media for failing to report on concerns about Biden’s acuity, while claiming Walz’ controversy over his true military record is “pretty standard in D.C.””I think one of the things I’m most concerned about when I look at Kamala and her VP choice is how cozy they are with socialism,” Crane added.”Some of the things that they’ve said about socialism and how it’s next to, or liken it to being a good neighbor, if that’s what you guys want. If that’s what the American people want, we can continue to ride this pain train.”In response, Gallego For Arizona campaign spokesperson Hannah Goss countered the Democrat is a Marine combat vet who indeed believes in border security and has fought to hire more border agents while in Congress.”[Gallego has fought to] fix our broken asylum system, crack down on fentanyl trafficking, and invest in proven technology — all to increase our border security,” Goss said.”Meanwhile, Kari Lake is a power-hungry liar who will do or say anything to gain power, even if it means launching desperate, false attacks on Ruben’s record.”CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThursday’s event also highlighted the coalition “Democrats & Former Democrats for Kari Lake & America First” following Harris’ campaign’s announcement of “Republicans for Harris.” Gallego similarly launched “Republicans and Independents for Ruben” in the key swing state. Gallego notably also voted with the otherwise Republican majority on the “Laken Riley Act.”Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.Fox News’ Jamie Vera and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

[accardi1921]

Please don’t publish this as i try my best to not get political on here but to add to your voting post, while there are still questions, of course, there are two other things that happened in 2020 that conservatives forget to address while getting bogged down by the fraud concerns. There’s always some fraud (in LA if you vote in person they just ask your name and address and usher you in, it’s crazy) but they didn’t even need it to be widespread enough to affect the outcome when what they did was pick a few key swing states (like PA) and changed the voting laws illegally (without legislature approval, they did it by executive order) to “allow” for universal mail in voting, extended voting, late counting of ballots received after the date, etc. Especially universal “everyone gets mailed a ballot” style mail in voting benefits dems because statistically dems live in cities so it’s easy to go door to door, ask the person (who maybe wouldn’t have voted at all otherwise) if they mailed their ballot, show them how to fill in one bubble and sign it and then take it for them to the Dropbox - this happens like crazy in big cities, I was shocked. You get a ton of ballots in apartment buildings like that, while conservatives usually live more rurally so it’s not as feasible to mount that kind of operation. Also in PA for example, they illegally changed the voting laws to allow this, people sued because there was no legislature approval, the judge said before the election they couldn’t do anything because nothing bad had happened yet, then after the election when a lawsuit was filed again the judge threw it out because the election already happened and “what could we do about it now?” It’s all bs, but couple the last-minute changes in voting procedures in swing states with just how many people voted against trump and not necessarily for Biden, I’m not convinced they’d even have needed widespread fraud to pull it off. I’m more worried about the voting machine company guy who was arrested a few days ago for sending the data to China. Anyways. Sorry to blow up your inbox, I do try to avoid politics for obvious reasons but this is one thing that I think could actually help conservatives, if we’d not just focus on fraud and instead divert some energy to pressuring local and state reps to return voting to pre 2020 procedures. No no-excuse voting by mail, voter ID, one Election Day not an election month that we have in LA, no unattended drop boxes, etc. Hope you have a great Saturday! One month to the primaries! I’m hoping like crazy Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano get the governorships in AZ and PA. Desantis needs a couple more bold conservatives to help him blaze the trail.

California is a lost cause & I've lived here 32 years. Two seconds after the polls close, they call it for the Demorats! Lived her long enough to expect it & one of many reasons we are leaving come retirement. Voting has become such a shambles & we know who to thank for that. None of this would be happening if there wasn't something to hide. The Demorats(who really aren't,more like Marxists)hate Trump because he's not from their wheelhouse. He doesn't need lobbiests money & he's not a career politician like many on both sides. I agree,no early voting, and California is notorious for it. Trumps won the primary already, in my opinion. De Santis made a tactical error. He should have focused on Gov of Florida as he was voted in,supported Trump & and went for 2028 presidential nomination. The voting machines are compromised, and as we saw in Arizona, nothing was done about it. We all know Kari Lake won that election in a landslide. If it comes down to stealing the vote again,we need another 1776! It may be violent because the colonists learned very quickly that unless that happened,nothing was going to change. One thing I always remember, the second largest army in this country, are American gun owners.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The oligarchs' Supreme Court

Here’s something weird: in the wake of Roe v Wade in the 1970s, the Southern Baptist Convention repeatedly passed resolutions affirming the right to abortion and rejecting government interference in the decision to bear a child to term:

https://text.npr.org/734303135

Back then, white evangelicals were deeply suspicious of people who opposed abortion. Getting too worked up about the issue was a sign of crypto-papacy, and back then, white evangelicals hated Catholics:

https://doctorow.medium.com/schizmogenesis-755bbb6a8515

The weirdest thing about this is that today, white evangelicals will vote for anyone who promise to end abortion — even a philandering, foul-mouthed, unprincipled habitual liar and likely atheist. They are single-issue voters — whose single issue is something that, in living memory, they actually opposed.

They’ll vote for politicians like Scott Dejarlais, the GOP congressghoul from Tennessee who was re-elected three times. Dejarlais, an MD, impregnated one of his patients, then coerced her into getting an abortion. He also coerced his ex-wife into getting two abortions. But he reliably voted to ban abortion:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/16/congressman-who-advised-ex-wife-to-seek-abortion-votes-for-late-term-abortion-ban/

Dejarlais “received a 100% score by the National Right to Life Committee.”

If you’ve seen the polling on abortion, you know that these single-issue voters are in a tiny and generally unimportant minority. Americans overwhelmingly support the right to get an abortion. And yet, here we are. Obviously, America is a nation founded on antimajoritarian principles, whose Constitution is designed to let rural, southern gentry steer the nation, but is it really that antimajoritarian?

Not really. The GOP is a coalition of single-issue voters, and substantial numbers of the GOP base are actually pretty cool with abortion — they’re pursuing other single issues, and they’re willing to give up abortion in exchange for progress on their pet issues.

Another critical bloc in the GOP coalition is people with low-tax brain-worms, including many self-described “libertarians,” who will vote for unlimited authoritarianism and state intrusion into the most private realm of (other) people’s lives, provided that they save at least 25 cents on their tax bill as a result:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jubilance/#tolerable-racism

These two blocs, along with racists, homophobes and transphobes, provide the bulk for the master strategists of the GOP, people who aren’t merely elitists, but actual elites. By definition, elite politics can’t win majorities on its own, because elites are always in the minority — that’s what “elite” means.

The cruelty isn’t the point. The cruelty is a means to an end. The cruelty is how you mobilize useful idiots to turn out to the polls and vote for the vast expansion of the wealth of a tiny number of people. The cruelty is how you get the turkeys to vote for Christmas:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/09/turkeys-voting-for-christmas/#culture-wars

An oft-repeated truism about abortion restrictions is that they don’t affect wealthy people who can afford to miss work and travel out of state. Some argue with this, pointing out that being merely wealthy won’t save you if you need an emergency D&C after a miscarriage, say.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/24/texas-abortion-costs/

That’s true as far as it goes, but there’s a group of people for whom this is much less true: the ultra-rich, the 1% and (especially) the 0.1%. These are people whose wealth allows them to bend reality — to charter private jets, or to have private doctors fly to them on private jets. People who have their names on hospital wings.

The defining characteristic of these people is impunity, the power to do as they like without consequence, to bypass the rules, laws and challenges of the rest of us. These are the people building luxury bunkers in New Zealand and whose only concern about civilizational collapse is the logistics of coercing their private goons in the Great After:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/23/tech-industry-wealth-futurism-transhumanism-singularity

Dobbs, the case that overturned Roe v Wade, was decided by an illegitimate court whose appointees were nominated and confirmed by politicians who lost the popular election. The illegitimate Supremes are the apex of a vast cohort of federal judges who were likewise appointed by politicians who lost the popular vote:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/02/minoritarian-third-supreme-court/

These judges have emitted a steady stream of unhinged and cruel decisions on culture-war issues, and these have real, human consequences. But it’s a mistake to assume that the reason that billionaires put so much energy into getting these judges appointed was to strike down New York’s concealed carry law. That was — again — a means to an end, a way to get turkeys to vote for Christmas (there are a lot of musket-fucking single-issue ammosexual voters who will vote for anyone who makes it easier to get guns).

The reasons so much money was poured into the elections that resulted in these judges��� lifetime appointments to the federal bench were economic, not cultural. These are judges who will reliably rule in corporations’ favor, whether they have maimed their workers, poisoned our planet, price-gouged the public, or killed us with unsafe products. They will wave through mergers that the FTC or DOJ have blocked. They will make extremely rich people much richer.

These judges will put Black and poor people in jail, sure — and that will make the Christmas-voting turkeys happy. But just as importantly, they’ll let millionaires escape consequences, no matter how heinous their crimes.

Whether it’s getting drunk and mowing down four people:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/affluenza-case-ethan-couch-who-killed-4-in-dui-wreck-set-for-release/

Or raping a teenager:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/04/us/brock-turner-rape-victim-chanel-miller-book-emily-doe/index.html

Or hell, raping a baby:

https://time.com/43626/wealthy-child-rapist-jail-delaware/

The cruelty isn’t the point, power is: the power to use other people in cruel ways, to be sure, but also the power to float above other people’s pain, sorrow and concern. The rich dream of a world where “personal responsibility” is code for “total lack of empathy.”

Subverting the legislature and the judiciary is an iterative process: first you buy some politicians who pass favorable laws and appoint favorable judges; then those judges rule in your favor when those laws are called into question. That makes you richer, which lets you buy more politicians, who pass more laws and appoint more judges.

As Bill Clinton — who used his strong majority in both chambers of Congress to get NAFTA passed, smashing unions, but not to turn the right to an abortion into a federal law — liked to remind us: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

The stupid economy just keeps getting stupider. The rich have gotten so much richer and each surging transfer of wealth from our teeming millions to their board-room handful has been attended by more political power for America’s oligarchs.

The iterative buy-laws-buy-judges-buy-judgements process crossed an important threshold in 2010, when ultrawealthy backers secured their Citizens United SCOTUS decision, which freed them up to make unlimited, secret campaign contributions to politicians who would make them richer and thus able to buy more politicians.

Citizens United was key to the election of the politicians who gave us the illegitimate Supreme Court who, in turn, gave us the Dobbs decision and despite the prominence of Dobbs in our national discourse (and its importance to pregnant people and the children they are forced to bear), there’s plenty that SCOTUS is doing that is equally terrifying. The Supreme Court of Oligarchs is primarily concerned with elite impunity and power, not cruelty — the cruelty is merely the means, power is the end.

One extremely relatable way of understanding elite impunity is the tax evasion of the ultra-rich. A year ago, Propublica began reporting on the IRS Files, leaks detailing the tax strategies of the 0.1%.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/guillotines-and-taxes/#carried-interest

The oligarchs whose finances were thus exposed are all heavy political spenders. Unsurprisingly, they lobbied hard for tax breaks in the Trump tax bill, and received incredibly specific tax loopholes that applied to just one or two very rich donors. Bechtel spent $1m getting one such loophole, and netted $111m in return — a shrewd investment indeed:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the-canada-variant/#shitty-man-of-history-theory

The most revolting GOP politicians — the ones who are forever in the news for their authoritarianism and bigotry — have been showered with money by billionaires, including self-styled “progressives.” These billionaires are the true single-issue voters, because their single issue is themselves:

https://observer.com/2021/02/elon-musk-spacex-gave-119k-to-republicans-who-opposed-biden-win-after-capitol-riot/

Many of these high-rolling donors got rich by being born rich, and boy do they hate inheritance tax. They argue that the ability to steer our whole society — to steer our ecosystem off a planetary cliff — should be allocated on the basis of whether you emerged from a very lucky orifice:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/19/dynastic-wealth/#caste

The tax-evasion tactics that Propublica documented over the past year are eye-glazingly complex, and if you do manage to figure out how they work, you realize that they are idiots’ fictions. That’s true for Peter Theil’s $5 billion tax-free ROTH:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/26/wax-rothful/#thiels-gambit

And for the Real Estate Investment trusts that have “hollowed out” hotels and smashed their unions:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/01/reit-modernization-act/#reit-makes-might

For the sports teams whose billionaire owners pay no tax on a torrent of money, even as their players cough up their share:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#economic-substance-doctrine

Or whose hobbies — playing with the horsey set, say, or “ranches” — can yield hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of tax avoidance.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/08/required-ish-reading/#hobby-lobby-ists

In fact, there are ten major tactics that American oligarchs use to escape the taxes that everyone else has to pay, allowing them to retain more cash that they can use to buy more impunity, provided that they keep up the culture-war side-hustles that get useful idiots out to the polls.

https://www.propublica.org/article/billionaires-tax-avoidance-techniques-irs-files

The Ultra Wealth Effect (borrowing against vast asset wealth) https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

Peter Thiel’s $5 Billion IRA https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tech-mogul-peter-thiel-turned-a-retirement-account-for-the-middle-class-into-a-5-billion-dollar-tax-free-piggy-bank

Turning High-Tax-Rate Trading into Low-Tax-Rate Income https://www.propublica.org/article/jeff-yass-susquehanna-tiktok-tax-avoidance

The Magic of Sports Ownership: Make Money While (Legally) Reporting Losses https://www.propublica.org/article/the-billionaire-playbook-how-sports-owners-use-their-teams-to-avoid-millions-in-taxes

Build, Drill and Save: The Real Estate and Oil Businesses Can Both Be Tax Havens https://www.propublica.org/article/these-real-estate-and-oil-tycoons-used-paper-losses-to-avoid-paying-taxes-for-years

Even a Billionaire’s Hobbies Can Pay Off at Tax Time https://www.propublica.org/article/when-youre-a-billionaire-your-hobbies-can-slash-your-tax-bill

Think Your Taxes are Too High? Change the Tax Laws ttps://www.propublica.org/article/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut

Why Tech Billionaires Pay Less Than Hedge-Fund Managers https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed/

Brother, Can You Spare a Stimulus Check? https://www.propublica.org/article/these-billionaires-received-taxpayer-funded-stimulus-checks-during-the-pandemic

Trust This: How Wealthy Families Pass Billions to Heirs While Avoiding Taxes https://www.propublica.org/article/more-than-half-of-americas-100-richest-people-exploit-special-trusts-to-avoid-estate-taxes

It’s sometimes said that GOP politicians fear their base, but it’s truer to say that their fear their bases. They understand that the culture-war cruelty is the key to keeping the billionaire money-taps flowing, and vice versa. Politicians who lose elections also lose their dark money.

Dem politicians, on the other hand, are not afraid of their base. They understand that having an openly anti-democratic, racist, homophobic, misogynist christofascist opposition means that they can rely on voters turning out for them no matter what:

https://www.levernews.com/it-is-time-for-dems-to-fear-their-own-voters/

It’s why they’ll go with their donors to back anti-abortion politicians in primary races, even as they’re publicly vowing to protect abortion rights:

https://www.newsweek.com/nancy-pelosi-supports-anti-abortion-candidate-despite-roe-v-wade-outcry-1708557

We have to realize that the culture war is downstream from oligarchs’ bid for wealth, which they can turn into power, which they can turn into impunity. Lots of oligarchs are bigots of one stripe or another, but even when they aren’t, they are still pro-bigotry, because bigotry is how they secure power.

[Image ID: A flaming dumpster set in a hellscape excerpted from Bosch's 'Garden of Earthly Delights,' filled with bewigged judges in robes, all pointing angry fingers.]

[allinmycorner]

It was Michael Buble week on Dancing With the Stars! He opened the show with a performance of "Sway" and then also sang "Higher" while Derek, his fiancée Hayley and the pros danced to the song about halfway through the show. He also joined the judging panel, so all the scores were out of 50 this week.

(I lost points on my DWTS fantasy game as I predicted a couple would dance to "Just Haven't Met You Yet." No one danced to it. What gives, show?)

Anyway, did Michael Buble bring our contestants luck or not? Let's find out!

Jessie and Alan: Apparently Jessie's fans have been telling her she's been dancing the salsa on TikTok for years so she hoped she would easily pick up the song. She still struggled but I thought her salsa to "Come Dance With Me" was one of her best. The judges kinda agreed but unfortunately the voters didn't. Jessie at least saw a silver lining in her elimination - she could take her children trick or treating on Halloween. And I think she can hold her head high. She was the Prom Queen and went out on a good routine.

Charli and Mark: Charli was back on top with her foxtrot to "Fever." Though she struggled to be sensual in rehearsals, she delivered where it mattered and steamed up the dance floor with Mark. She looked like a professional dancer, which could work against her with some fans but I think they won't affect her too much.

Gabby and Val: Val called in some help this week. Jenna came to rehearsals to help Gabby get in touch with her sensual side and to give permission for Gabby to be sexy with Val. It was nice seeing Jenna again and her baby bump! Jenna's lessons seemed to work as Gabby was a bit more relaxed while dancing the rumba to "Home" with Val. But I still want to see a little more heart in her routines. They still feel more technical than emotional.

Heidi and Artem: Heidi's samba to "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio stasera)" was good, though it didn't surpass Wayne's from last time. But she certainly bounced back from being in the bottom two to once again be competition for her daughter. She just needs to hold onto this momentum and hopefully not end up in the bottom two again.

Shangela and Gleb: Shangela continues to make her mark on the ballroom while pulling away from the pack. Her tango to "Hollywood" exuded old Hollywood elegance and style. She is putting in the work to get better and rightfully declared herself the dark horse. And she did that tango with fried chicken tucked into her dress! Impressive.  

Wayne and Witney: Wayne fell from the top of the leaderboard! He was sick during the week - but it was not COVID. Based on what he said, it sounds like exhaustion led him vulnerable to a classic stomach bug. So he and Witney lost valuable rehearsal time. But the fact that even without as much rehearsal time Wayne still ended up in the middle of the leaderboard shows how talented and dedicated he is. His quickstep to "I Get a Kick Out of You" wasn't his best but it was just a blip on his DWTS journey. And fan Michael Buble still gave him a 10 so there's that.

Jordin and Brandon: Jordin and Brandon continue to be a steady couple and their foxtrot to "You Make Me Feel So Young." The story of how Jordin would dance with her grandfather to this song in her kitchen was so sweet and it was clear that emotion propelled her dance. The judges are right that she has some technical things to work on but she could break away from the pack once she improves those.

Daniel and Britt: Daniel bounced back after a not-so-great week with a nice foxtrot to "Feeling Good." Britt decided to share the lyrics with him so he understood the song better and that seemed to help him connect with it. It definitely moved Carrie Ann and she couldn't stop praising him.

Trevor and Emma: Trevor looked absolutely dashing as he danced the foxtrot to "Come Fly With Me." And thankfully he survived a second trip to the bottom two though I don't think he deserved to be there. He keeps getting better and could win it all as the male dark horse. So thank you to the judges for saving him. Again.

Vinny and Koko: Look, I get why Vinny gets votes. He's likeable and he is fun to watch. But I'm starting to reach my point where I don't know if his fun and genuine packages/interviews can outweigh the fact that more talented dancers are landing in the bottom two over him and Koko. His cha-cha to "Save the Last Dance" was good but still worlds away from the other competitors - and not in a good way. As we get closer to the end, I am starting to worry that we may have another Bobby Bones situation on our hand and I'm not sure we can handle another one of those.

So that was Michael Buble night! Next time, it's everyone's second favorite episode after Disney Night - Halloween!

See you then!

[darkwood-sleddog]

You know growing up and starting out in one’s career a lot of emphasis is placed on how you need to dress a certain way to achieve your goals and not show your tattoos, don’t have piercings or alternative hair in any way and yet…speaking as an elected person you can literally wear whatever you want as an elected person. I’m wearing denim wide leg cargo pants and a septum piercing in my office as we speak.

The only people that can stop you are the voters. Like I’m bored of political fashion. Trump could’ve worn a miku binder Jefferson t shirt. Obama could’ve had full tattoo sleeves and it would have zero affect on their politics. I beg you to think about this.

When the highest office in the country can wear whatever the fuck they want we can lighten up on dress norms ffs. Conservatives can cry all they want about the color of one’s suit because they aim to suppress anything other than what they narrowly deem as normal and it’s upsetting to them that voters? They literally don’t care what you wear. At all. All those lies society told you about wearing an uncomfortable suit doesn’t matter at all. Dress codes be fake as hell.

Now personally I think we (elected people) should dress solely like guy fieri but that’s another essay in itself.

[the1918]

where to devote your ‘Give A Fuck’: the friday late edition

Alternatively titled: “For fuck’s sake, ignore the existence of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until further notice”  wait, no “I might let you finally think about Pennsylvania later today, but let’s party in the Southeast and Southwest until at least dinner time.” “The news outlets are telling you it’s close, but it’s not. Joe Biden has [still] won the election, and I would eat Steve Kornacki’s peach if he let me.”  

Thanks for sticking with me (and for the incredible feedback!). I’m gonna try to keep providing you with news about what matters to the outcome of this presidential election until we officially get to 270 and probably a little after. Previous version of this post here.

***

UPDATED 11:30 PM ET 11/6

(Link to original post for updates if this is a reblog)

If you’ve heard nothing but silence from me today (unless you’re following the Give a Fuck spreadsheet), it’s because nothing has changed from last night. Joe Biden has still been elected as the next President of the United States, and you should still be giving Zero Fucks to any of the news coverage if you’re trying to preserve your Mental Health Points™.

Your list of state races to Give a Fuck About is still: ZERO. Here’s why.

Note: Below I am not going to talk much about actual leads and numbers, but you can see them on the Give a Fuck spreadsheet.

Let’s flesh out why you should be reading dirty fanfiction instead of watching the news.

“Has anything changed?” Nothing you need to, well. Give a fuck about. The statuses of each race I discussed last night are basically unchanged.

NEVADA: Biden is winning by +1.7% margin and growing. He will win by 40k-50k votes. If you’ve seen the memes, you know this has been a slow count. I answered an ask about that earlier.

PENNSYLVANIA: When I posted last night, Biden was closing in on Trump’s initial lead as the overwhelmingly Democrat mail-in ballots were being counted, and Trump’s lead was 25k when I went to bed. As of 11:30PM ET on Friday, Biden has taken a commanding and ever-growing lead with almost 30,000 votes ahead of Trump in a +0.4% margin. He will win PA’s 20 electoral votes with a comfortable margin and get pushed over 270, straight into the White House.

GEORGIA: The status here is so unchanged it’s laughable. Biden did overtake Trump’s lead, and he will eventually win this state on a razor thin margin, but only after a recount. No one is waiting on Georgia, though. At this point it’s a moot point to the outcome. 

ARIZONA: Last night I said “who the fuck knows, and I don’t care,” and that’s still my stance on Arizona. The only thing I would change is that “who the fucks knows” would now more accurately be “looks like Trump is shit out of luck,” because there’s only 90k left to count, and Trump can’t even tie Biden’s lead with that unless every Democrat in Phoenix suddenly joined the alt-right on election day.

“If you’re so confident Biden has been elected, then why aren’t news outlets calling it?” The short answer is, “because I’m a Captain America daddy smut blogger and there are no consequences to my actions regarding this matter.” But projections from news networks have very real impacts around the world, so they have to establish certain operating standards prior to election night and they have to stick to it.

What are these standards? For as much as I like my cable news conspiracy theories, it’s important to understand that Rachel Maddow and Cooper Anderson and even their producers are not the ones that get to make the decision to project winners. Those people are all a part of the ‘news desk,’ but it’s a completely separate and sequestered entity at their network (they literally aren’t allowed to talk or hear or even look at news desk) called the ‘decision desk’ that analyzes the raw vote count data and actually determines whether the network is ready to confidently call the race. In all races that are considered competitive, all of these decision desks have a standard margin under which they will not permit themselves to release a projection; at most networks, this margin is 0.5%. Now... this tells you why they haven’t called Pennsylvania (Biden +0.4% and growing) and Arizona (Biden +0.9% and shrinking, but not fast enough to matter), but I am truly lost as to why they haven’t called Nevada with 93% of the vote counted and Biden’s +1.8% and growing lead. Whatever.

“I’m hearing that Trump is filing more than a dozen lawsuits to obstruct the vote count in various states. Should I be worried?”

Absolutely not. You should give negative fucks about Trump’s legal challenges. All of them are frivolous, most of them aren’t even asking for an action that would prevent votes from being counted, and the two that do are weak AF and wouldn’t affect the outcome of the election even if they succeeded. In the words of the Pennsylvania Attorney General earlier today, “There has been a lot of noise, but there has been literally zero impact on the fate of the votes.”

The only challenge Trump has any kind of chance of winning (the legal motion, not the race) that would actually prevent votes from being counted is this one case he has been hounding after in Pennsylvania for almost a month now. He has been trying to keep a particular group of mail-in ballots from being counted, specifically those that were post-marked by election day but arrived later between election day and November 6 (today). The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has already ruled that those votes should be counted, and as of today, Trump has tried on three separate occasions to try and get the US Supreme Court to intervene-- and all three times the Court has declined. The kicker? That group of ballots hasn’t even been counted yet, and Biden is still on track to win Pennsylvania by tens of thousands of votes. Every single one of those ballots could be for Trump and Biden would still win it.

***

That’s it for tonight. I have officially given up on projecting when the news outlets will start to call this thing, but you can keep up with a short and sweet status of the artist formerly known as the Give a Fucks on Give a Fuck spreadsheet, which I update regularly... but seriously, only if you actually have the Mental Health Points™ to dedicate to it. This election is decided, and everything else is just math made unnecessarily sensational. Tomorrow I’ll do a post about some of the incredible other things related to this election that you should absolutely give a fuck about, like the way black voters have turned out to stick a foot up Trump’s racist ass.

Also, let’s all take a moment to send the greatest of good vibes out to the election workers in these battleground states. They are paid shit, are working around the clock breaking their backs with moving boxes, getting papercuts, and very eye in the world is on them and pressuring them to work faster when they just want everyone to shut up so they can do their job. True American heroes, in all honesty.

***

(Visit the original version of this post for updates if this is a reblog)

[deja-you]

domestic tranquility

m. de lafayette x reader

summary: a collection of intimate scenes from the L/n Administration, or the ‘what if’ ending to foreign affairs.

word count: 4.3k

author’s note: i hope this makes up for the ending of foreign affairs :) also a special thank you to @astralaffairs​ because she is my inspiration and she took the time to help edit this and i just love her in general

masterlist | foreign affairs

“Lafayette, will you marry me?”

The other line was silent, and you almost thought he had hung up on you.

“Hello?”

“I’m sorry, I must’ve heard you wrong. I could have sworn you just asked me to marry you.”

“I did.”

You could hear him suck in a deep breath. “Chèrie, I don’t understand.”

“Lafayette, I know this is a lot to ask. I’m going to run for president. I’m the perfect candidate, I really am. I’m what America needs right now.”

“Of course you are. Where do I come into this?”

“My staff has run some numbers. I do a lot better in the polls if I’m in a committed relationship. But the problem is, I’m not in a committed relationship.”

“You want to lie to the press and tell them we’re married?”

“I don’t want to lie to them. I’m asking you to marry me. It wouldn’t be a lie.”

“Huh.”

“You can say no. I know this is a lot to ask. It’s crazy, reall—”

“Okay.”

“What?”

“Let’s get married.”

Your jaw hung open. “Just like that, you’re on board?”

“You should be president, chèrie. I want to help you any way I can.”

“Are you sure about this? This isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

“Believe me, I’m taking this very seriously. I’m going to get on the next plane to New York. We’ll talk about this in person.”

You opened your mouth to say something else, but you found yourself at a loss for words. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon,” he repeated. “Let’s get married.”

You were in Iowa.

For some reason you had to come to godforsaken Iowa to become president. You didn’t think about how stupid corn was. You couldn’t think about it, just in case it somehow slipped out and you then alienated all the voters in Iowa. But you really didn’t care.

What you did care about was the sight of your French husband (it still felt strange to call him that) contentedly eating away at a cob of corn. A strange contrast to the sight of him smoking cigarettes and drinking a diabolo menthe at a Parisian café, but he looked just at home at the Iowa State Fair as he did in France.

His eyes lit up when he saw you, and he gestured for you to join him. Pasting on a smile, you made your way over to him and a series of photographers followed after you.

“Chèrie, have you tried this? It is amazing. This is the best corn I have ever had,” he said, waving around the corn on the cob animatedly while he spoke. The photographers were eating it up, and the corn on the cob vendor was smiling proudly.

You were absolutely bewildered by just how magnetizing he was. People loved him just for eating corn. You couldn’t even blame them, because you knew just how infectious his smile was when he was genuinely happy.

This marked your first official outing as a couple on the campaign trail since you had married Lafayette. If you were honest, you had been nervous about the whole ordeal, but the second Lafayette sent you that easygoing look, you relaxed.

When you were close enough, his hand found yours and he was quick to intertwine your fingers together. This was where the real and unreal collided. His genuine smile and unharnessed affection met your faltering remembrance that this wasn’t the loving marriage it looked like. It was serving its purpose at this exact moment.

You counted each time the camera flashed to take a picture of you and Lafayette walking hand in hand. You could see the headlines on tomorrow’s papers, and you could see Lafayette’s grinning face. A political marriage certainly wasn’t traditional or morally acceptable, but there were real issues that needed to be tackled. You had plans to reform the health care system and the economy. If Lafayette helped you achieve a platform where you could really make a difference, who cared if you bent a few social constructs?

Besides, it gave you the opportunity to reconnect with an old… friend.

“You really like corn?” You asked him quietly.

Lafayette sent a disarming smile to the photographers, and leaned in very closer to whisper in your ear, “I can’t stand corn. Get me out of Iowa.”

You didn’t hide your laugh, and the photographers quickly shot a few more photos of the two of you being a cute couple. Lafayette really didn’t like the corn? You had been so convinced his smile was real. You were beginning to think you couldn’t tell the difference between what was fake and what was real.

There was some kind of external force that wanted you and Lafayette to end up together.

You were sure of this, because you had expelled him from your life multiple times by now. The memory of him leaving you on the sidewalk in D.C. felt like it was just yesterday, but now you were back in his arms. And it felt so natural.

So yes, there was something pulling the two of you together. You didn’t want to call it fate. You didn’t really believe in that. It had to be something stronger. There was something tugging at your heart telling you it was choice, but you didn’t want to believe that, either. Your fingers gripped his suit a little tighter in an attempt to ground yourself.

This was good. This was nice, you thought as you swayed back and forth. There were thousands of eyes trained on you, and millions watching you from home on their TVs. The thought that so many people were watching you right now was daunting, but it was nothing that you weren’t used to at this point. You were the Leader of the Free World. The President of the United States.

You could hear a few cameras click, and you flashed a disarming smile in their direction. A well-known singer was crooning out the words to a slow, melodic version of Stand by Me. Your husband squeezed your hip lightly, causing you to look up at him while he absently swayed with you.

He grinned when you met his gaze and softly whispered, “relax a little. This is your moment. Enjoy it. You’ve earned it.”

Your stiff smile melted into a genuine one and you gave him a small nod. He was right, you did deserve this. The road to the White House had been one paved with blood, sweat, and tears, and you still hadn’t stepped foot in the building yet. A few more balls, and then you could finally move into your new home for the next four to eight years. But you had earned it.

The last year and a half had been the craziest 18 months of your life, and you knew it wasn’t about to get easier anytime soon. But this was good. This was nice. You didn’t have to worry about any political opponents or Supreme Court appointments right now. All you had to do was dance leisurely with your attractive husband.

“What are your thoughts on my seeking out a second term?” you asked quietly on the ride back to the White House.

There were a few more balls that you and Lafayette had attended, staying only long enough to share a dance or two with the press before heading to the next event. It had been a non-stop day; the inaugural address in the morning and the inaugural balls in the evening, and everything in between had successfully worn you thin. Lafayette had been at your side all day, and you could tell that he was exhausted as well.

“Ma chèrie, you were just sworn in. How can you already be thinking about re-election?” Lafayette yawned, slumping back against the seat with his bowtie undone and hanging lazily around his neck.

You laughed softly and shook your head from side to side. “It’s you I’m concerned about.”

“Hm?”

You shifted in your seat to look him in the eye. “You agreed to marry me so I could win the Presidency. I told you that we would only have to stay married while I was in the White House. So what are your thoughts on eight years instead of four?”

“Are you kidding me, Y/n?” Lafayette asked incredulously.

You pursed your lips and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“You’re running for a second term. And I’m going to be by your side through it all. That is, if you still want to be President after dealing with Congress for four years.”

This solicited a laugh from you. He paused before he continued. The pause was the space between you and him, between the Earth and the Sun and everything in between. A hesitancy for the desperation of being wanted and the interval for not knowing if that was what he wanted.

“And of course, if you still want me by your side in four years.”

You tilted your head to the side and smiled at him. “Of course I’ll still want you by my side. We made a promise. For better or for worse.”

Lafayette took your hand in his and raised it to his lips. “For better or for worse.”

Somehow you found the time to sit down and watch a movie in the White House movie theater. 

Lafayette chooses some sort of action movie, you can’t even remember the title of the film and you decide that it’s not important.

You’ve invited some close friends to join you for the night. The Hamiltons (of course), your chief of staff, Nathan Hale, and his partner, and a few other White House senior staffers. All people you would trust with your life and your secrets.

You know Alex’s suspected for a while that you and Lafayette got married for political reasons. He’s a real politician, so he’s one of the few who have actually considered that marriage could be an ambitious political move. A heartless speculation, yes, but he isn’t exactly wrong. You consider that he’s mentioned the idea to Eliza, but you’ve given them no confirmation on the subject.

Nathan knows you better than you know yourself after working for you for all these years. And he knows about your history with Lafayette. He may have been the one to plant the idea in your head of calling Lafayette up before you ran for office, but you’ve never officially explained to him the truth about your relationship. You don’t need to.

The point is, most people in this room know both you and Lafayette completely. And you trust everyone in this room completely. Even if they did find out the truth, it wouldn’t matter. You know your secret would be safe. Knowing all this, you begin to wonder who you’re trying to convince that your marriage is real.

It has to be someone. You’re not throwing your arms around his shoulders and pulling him close for your own benefit. Lafayette isn’t getting you a bag of popcorn and placing a kiss to your cheek for any other reason than because he really wants to sell this marriage. 

You have to be putting on this performance for someone, because if not, that would mean you’re shooting Lafayette loving looks for no other reason except for the fact that you want to. And that can’t be right. Quid est veritas?

You’re given relief from the thoughts turning around and around and around in your head when the lights turn down low. You take your seat beside Lafayette (something in you tells you that your place has always been beside him). The movie starts playing and you relax for the first time since before you were sworn in as president (was that nearly a year ago?). 

You don’t know if it’s because there’s something therapeutic about watching a fictional President having to deal with fictional problems, or if it’s relaxing because Lafayette has pulled you to his side and his hand absently runs through your hair. You decide it’s both.

“Are you tired?” Lafayette whispers in your ear quietly about halfway through the movie.

You are tired, but you insist on whispering back a no. He doesn’t believe you. Lafayette turns his head and presses his forehead against yours. The movie is forgotten in the background, you have his complete attention.

“Close your eyes,” he says softly. “Get some rest. I’ve got you.”

You want to kiss him. You’re so close to him now, all you would have to do is tilt your head just slightly to the right. If you kiss him now, you can say you were just trying to sell the relationship. To the maybe five people in the (dark) room who weren’t even paying attention to you, and even if they were none of them were about to report to the press that they thought your marriage was a sham. It’s not a good excuse, but you’re still considering it.

You don’t consider it any further; you don’t get to. A bit of light comes flooding into the movie theater, and you hear some hushed voices at the entrance.

“Madam President?”

Regretfully, you untangle your limbs from Lafayette’s and sit up. A White House staffer gives you an apologetic look and explains that there’s been a situation. You don’t look back at Lafayette because you know you’d be met with a look of disappointment. Instead, you make a light joke to the audience about never getting a break and they all laugh politely and urge you to go take care of the matter at hand.

You recall the 25th amendment while you’re leaving the theater, and you try to recall what the succession of the presidency really means. What is the Vice President doing tonight? You’re too busy thinking about what it would feel like to have your husband’s arms wrapped around you once more to think about whatever situation had arisen, did that make you unfit for office? Could someone else just take over for one night so you could spend the evening with Lafayette?

“You stayed up?”

You didn’t know what time it was – didn’t need to – but it was late. You had spent the entire day flying back from meetings in Germany, and then more meetings on the plane. You were exhausted, your staff was exhausted, so by the time you got back to the residency you were certain that you were the only one on the planet who was still awake.

“Didn’t want you to be alone.” Lafayette is still awake.

He looks tired, and you know he’s beyond tired. No doubt his schedule has been filled all day, and the both of you have to be up – four hours? That’s hardly enough sleep to function properly. And yet Lafayette has sacrificed his sleep because he didn’t want you to be alone.

Not that you would have been alone. You had planned on entering the residency quietly and sliding into bed beside him after you changed into sweats. You would let his rhythmic breathing lull you to sleep, and you’d hardly feel alone. But you’d be lying if you said his consciousness wasn’t a comforting presence to you.

“How was Germany?” He yawns.

You’re in a hurry to change out of your suit because the soft comforter of the bed is calling your name. You hardly process his words, murmuring some practiced, diplomatic response. He says he wishes he could’ve come with you, and you tell him you understand why he couldn’t this time. Next time, you say.

“You shouldn’t have stayed up for me,” you tell him once you’re comfortably situated in your favorite pair of sweats.

“For you? I was waiting up for the Vice President. Jay and I had a little rendez-vous planned for tonight, you just got back early.” His grin is tired, but there’s still a playful twinkle in his eye.

You sit beside him on the bed, giving him a little shove and rolling your eyes. “If you had said Secretary Hamilton, I might’ve believed you.”

He leans on you slightly, his head resting on top of yours. “Secretary Hamilton?”

“Mmhmm,” you say quietly. “The two of you have far too much chemistry.”

“Ma chèrie.” He lifts his head off yours just enough to turn to face you, and two of his fingers move your head so you’re facing each other. There’s only one bedside lamp turned on right now, and he’s taking this moment to memorize the lines of your face and the exact shade of your eyes. “You know you’re the only one for me.”

You realize you don’t love him in the way you used to. Not in a bad way, you haven’t stopped loving him. It’s just different this time. It’s honest and real, which is a bit ironic, because the foundations of your marriage were anything but truthful.

You’re polite, so your smile often is fake. He’s real. Right in front of you, right beside you. Every night. There’s something about his mercy and selflessness that you are in love with. He’s teaching you what it really means to be human. Even if you didn’t love him for that, you are so covered in him you wouldn’t know what else to be.

Whatever bravery you had stored up for debating political adversaries or promoting your most radical ideas suddenly possessed you, and you felt yourself leaning forward and pressing your lips against his. In the privacy of your shared residency. With no one around to see.

It’s almost like something breaks in him, if just for a moment. Maybe it’s the sleeplessness that’s slowing eroding away at his brain. Maybe he’s like you, and he’s also been wanting this for longer than he’s willing to admit, but he doesn’t hesitate, he just melts into you.

Your head feels foggy, you can’t really think, all you know is that this feels good. It’s the kind of intoxicating feeling that reminds you of the first time you kissed him, but you remind yourself that nothing is like the first time. You don’t love him in the way you used to. It’s different. Better.

“Don’t run for re-election.”

He doesn’t look at you when he speaks. Well, usually he would, but right now he isn’t looking at you. His eyes are memorizing the stitches on your coat, refusing to look at your eyes or your lips or your hands. You recognized the emotions swirling from his heart up to his lips. Shame.

Lafayette had never been anything but supportive when it came to your political career, so hearing him ask you not to run for re-election was a shocker. He loves supporting you. You know it’s out of a place of deep regret and desperation that Lafayette would ever even broach the subject. But he’s desperate now. You can tell.

You take his face in your hands – reaching out for anything good. You’d like to take the moment to just be here with him, but you’ve never been given enough time for that. It hurts him to look at you, but eventually he does.

“What?” You ask him softly. You know you heard him correctly, but you feel the need to prompt him into an explanation.

“I know it’s not my decision. And if you decide that you are going to run for re-election, we’ll put the matter to rest. We can pretend this conversation never happened,” he says sincerely. Lafayette takes a deep breath as if the next part will be difficult for him to articulate. You know that is. “Don’t run for re-election.”

He’s firmer in his request this time. Yes, the shame is still there, but it’s an underlying tone beneath his pure tenderness.

Lafayette’s never asked much from you. When you asked him to marry you, he hardly asked any questions. You know he would do whatever it is you asked of him at any time, so when he asks you not to run for re-election, you already know your answer without him having to explain himself. If this is what he wants, you’ll do it for him.

But you are still the president of the United States. You have a responsibility to your party, the government, and Americans as a whole. After accomplishing all you have in the last four years, it won’t be easy to walk away from the presidency without a reason. No, you don’t deserve a reason from Lafayette – you don’t even need one, if you are being honest – but you can at least pretend to be hesitant when it comes to leaving the Nation’s highest office.

“Why don’t you want me running for re-election?” you ask.

“Because I love you.” He says it like it’s the most simple and straightforward answer he can think of.

You can’t help but smile. “And I love you. But what does that have to do with me not running for re-election?”

“I know you love me. But there’s some part of me that will always think – as long as we’re in the public eye – that you only love me for appearances. That this is only love for the cameras—”

“Laf, it’s not. I promise I love you.”

“I know you do. But I’m always going to wonder. If it’s fake. If it just feels like love because of the atmosphere. For the past four years I’ve had to live with the gnawing fear that you wouldn’t love me outside of the White House. It would kill me if I had to live like this for another four years.”

Your voice is softer when you speak again. “You once told me you’d stay with me if I wanted to run for re-election. You said for better or for worse.”

“I know. That was years ago. That was when I thought you would only stay married to me while we were in the White House. That was when I thought a fake marriage would be enough for me.”

“Laf—”

“Ma chèrie, I want a life with you. One that isn’t just for show. I want to love you because I love you, not because it will help with your polling numbers.” There’s a deliberate determination between his words. He’s nervous. “I love you so much, and I can’t stand the idea of anyone having reason to think it’s anything less than love.”

The Oval Office is golden.

Well, technically, it’s more of a beige with a vibrant blue carpet in the middle of the room displaying the presidential seal. But in the low light of the December afternoon, the room is filled with a golden glow.

You’ve always known you were going to make history, but to actually be history is something altogether new for you. In another month, the drapes in the Oval Office and the furniture would all be replaced with whatever furniture the next president saw fit. It would be too easy for the white house staff to clean out the White House of any trace of you, but maybe if you were lucky you’d be mentioned in a footnote in a textbook somewhere.

It’s not like you are one to make rash choices. The decision of stepping down from office came after long and meticulous thought on the subject. You are more certain that you made the right decision more and more each day, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have your doubts every now and then.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Lafayette knows you better than you know yourself. He can tell by the blank look on your face while you read through a thick file that no, he’s not interrupting anything.

“It’s strange that I can say no,” you sigh softly. “I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t busy. But apparently people don’t care about a lame duck when there’s a shiny new President-Elect.”

He crosses the room and leans against the desk. Lafayette gently tugs your hand up to his lips and presses a delicate kiss against your knuckles. It’s gentle and timid, as if everything about this relationship depends on this small act of affection. You’ve noticed that Lafayette has been more reserved lately, almost like he feels guilty for asking such a heavy favor of you.

“Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite president?” It’s hardly a question and mostly an answer.

You smile, and he can’t help but think about how beautiful you are. He thinks you get more beautiful every day, although he can’t figure out how that’s possible.

“Your favorite? You like me better than President Washington?”

Lafayette hums softly and pulls you out of your seat, lifting you up onto the desk. He stands between your legs, hands resting gently on your hips. His gaze falls from your eyes to your lips, then back up to your eyes, and finally says, “you’re easier on the eyes.”

You laugh – Lafayette swears it’s lyrical – and press a kiss to his cheek. “That’s good to hear. How has the house hunting been going?”

His eyes visibly brighten. “I think I’ve found the place.”

“Is that right?”

“Mmhmm. It’s this piece of property in upstate New York. The drive to the city isn’t so far, and the estate. I just know you’re going to love it.”

You could sense the excitement emanating off of him. “Am I?”

Lafayette nods. “Chèrie, you have to see this place. It has a beautiful kitchen for me to cook in. A balcony – I know you love balconies. A few acres so one day our kids—”

“Our kids?”

His eyes widen as he quickly realizes his mistake. “I—well… yeah? I know we haven’t talked about this. I always pictured us with kids, but if that’s not what you want, I can respect that. We don’t need to have kids, I promise that you are already more than enough for me.”

You bring a hand to cup his face, your thumb softly moving across his cheek as you just hold him. “Lafayette, I want a family with you. I want a future with you. I want forever with you. I love you.”

He brings your lips to his, and for the first time, you’re not worried about it being the last time.

I’m just going to add foreign affairs taglist here :)

@fanfic-addict-98 @wordvomit-foryourmind @farihafangirls @actuallyanita @cubedtriangle @katierpblogg @ballerinafairyprincess @dannighost @ateliefloresdaprimavera @lexylovesfandoms @dovesgrangers @a-hopeless-fan @biafbunny @hermionie-is-my-queen @zeelmol @oi-itsemily @itsjube @someinsanefangirl @awkward-walking-potato @lu123sworld @exorcisms-with-elmo @ohsoverykeri-blog @lizzzaaaaaaaaaaa @poetnstuff @nyxie75 @roxanne2020 @luckyfriesss

[weheartchrisevans]

BOSTON — So you're Tim Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina who opposes Roe v. Wade and wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and you get a call from Chris Evans, a Hollywood star and lifelong Democrat who has been blasting President Trump for years. He wants to meet. And film it. And share it on his online platform. Can anybody say "Borat?" “I was very skeptical,” admits Scott. “You can think of the worst-case scenario.”But then Scott heard from other senators. They vouched for Evans, most famous for playing Captain America in a series of films that have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. The actor also got on the phone with Scott’s staff to make a personal appeal.

It worked. Sometime in 2018, Scott met on camera with Evans in the nation’s capital, and their discussion, which ranged from prison reform to student loans, is one of more than 200 interviews with elected officials published on “A Starting Point,” an online platform the actor helped launch in July. Not long after, Evans appeared on Scott’s Instagram Live. They have plans to do more together.

“While he is a liberal, he was looking to have a real dialogue on important issues,” says Scott. “For me, it’s about wanting to have a conversation with an audience that may not be accustomed to hearing from conservatives and Republicans.”

Evans, actor-director Mark Kassen and entrepreneur Joe Kiani launched “A Starting Point” as a response to what they see as a deeply polarized political climate. They wanted to offer a place for information about issues without a partisan spin. To do that, they knew they needed both parties to participate.

Evans, 39, sat on the patio outside his Boston-area home on a recent afternoon talking about the platform. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans and spent some of the interview chasing around his brown rescue dog. Nearly 100 million people didn’t vote in the 2016 general election, Evans says. That’s more than 40 percent of those who were eligible.He believes the root of this disinterest is the nastiness on both sides of the aisle. Many potential voters simply turn off the news, never mind talking about actual policy.“A Starting Point” is meant to offer a digital home for people to hear from elected officials without having the conversation framed by Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow.

“The idea is . . . ‘Listen, you’re in office. I can’t deny the impact you have,’ ” says Evans. “ ‘You can vote on things that affect my life.’ Let this be a landscape of competing ideas, and I’ll sit down with you and I’ll talk with you.”

Or, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has appeared on the site, puts it, “Sometimes, boring is okay. You’re being presented two sides. Everything doesn’t have to be sensational. Sometimes, it can just be good facts.” Evans wasn’t always active in politics. At Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, he focused on theater, not student government. And he moved away from home his senior year, working at a casting agency in New York as he pushed for acting gigs. His uncle, Michael E. Capuano, served as a congressman in Massachusetts for 20 years, but other than volunteering on some of his campaign, Evans wasn’t particularly political.

In recent years, he’s read political philosopher Hannah Arendt and feminist Rebecca Solnit’s “The Mother of All Questions” — ex-girlfriend Jenny Slate gave him the latter — and been increasingly upset by Trump’s policies and behavior. He’s come to believe that he can state his own views without creating a conflict with “A Starting Point.” When he and Scott spoke on Instagram, the president wasn’t mentioned. In contrast, recently Evans and other members of the Avengers cast took part in a virtual fundraiser with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris.

“I don’t want to all of a sudden become a blank slate,” says Evans. “But my biggest issue right now is just getting people to vote. If I start saying, ‘vote Biden; f Trump,’ my base will like that. But they were already voting for Biden.”

(In September, Evans accidentally posted an image of presumably his penis online and, after deleting it, tweeted: “Now the I have your attention . . . Vote Nov. 3rd!!!”)

Evans began to contemplate the idea that became “A Starting Point” in 2017. He heard something reported on the news — he can’t remember exactly what — and decided to search out information on the Internet. Instead of finding concrete answers, Evans fell down the rabbit hole of opinions and conflicting claims. He began talking about this with Kassen, a friend since he directed Evans in 2011’s “Puncture.” What if they got the information directly from elected officials and presented it without a spin? Kassen, in turn, introduced Evans to Kiani, who had made his fortune through a medical technology company he founded and, of the three, was the most politically involved.

Kiani has donated to dozens of Democratic candidates across the country and earlier this year contributed $750,000 to Unite the Country, a super PAC meant to support Joe Biden. But he appreciated the idea of focusing on something larger than a single race or party initiative. He, Kassen and Evans would fund “A Starting Point,” which has about 18 people on staff.

“There’s no longer ABC, NBC and CBS,” Kiani says. “There’s Fox News and MSNBC. What that means is that we are no longer being censored. We’re self-censoring ourselves. And people go to their own echo chamber and they don’t get any wiser. If you allow both parties to speak, for the same amount of time, without goading them to go on into hyperbole, when people look at both sides’ point of view of both topics, we think most of the time they’ll come to a reasonable conclusion.”

“What people do too often is they get in their silos and they only watch and listen and read what they agree with,” says John Kasich, the former Ohio governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate. “If you go to Chris’s website, you can’t bury yourself in your silo. You get to see the other point of view.” As much as some like to blame Trump for all the conflicts in Washington, Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) says he’s watched the tone shifting for decades. He appreciated sitting down with Evans and making regular submissions to “Daily Points,” a place on the platform for commentary no longer than two minutes. During the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Coons recorded a comment on Judge Amy Coney Barrett and the Affordable Care Act.“ ‘A Starting Point’ needs to be a sustained resource,” Coons says. “Chris often talks about it being ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ for adults.”

It’s not by chance that Evans has personally conducted all of the 200-plus interviews on “A Starting Point” during trips to D.C. Celebrities often try to mobilize the public, whether it’s Eva Longoria, Tracee Ellis Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosting the Democratic National Convention or Jon Voight recording video clips to praise Trump. But in this case, Evans is using his status in a different way, to entice even the most hesitant Republican to sit down for an even-toned chat. And he’s willing to pose with anyone, even if it means explaining himself on “The Daily Show” after Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas posted a selfie with Evans. (Two attempts to interview Trump brought no response.) Murkowski remembers when Evans came to Capitol Hill for the first time in 2018. She admits she didn’t actually know who he was — she hadn’t yet seen any Marvel movies. She was in the minority.“We meet interesting and important people but, man, when Captain America was in the Senate, it was all the buzz,” she says. “And people were like, ‘Did you get your picture taken?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I sat down and did the interview.’ ‘You did an interview? How did you get an interview with him?’ ”What impressed Murkowski wasn’t his star power. It was the way Evans conducted the interview.“It was relaxing,” she says. “You didn’t feel like you were in front of a reporter who was just waiting for you to say something you would get caught on later. It was a dialogue . . . and we need more dialogue and less gotcha.”

“Starting Points” offers two-minute answers by elected officials in eight topic areas, including education, the environment and the economy. This is where the interviews Evans conducted can be found. “Daily Points” has featured a steady flow of Republicans and Democrats. A third area, “Counterpoints,” hosts short debates between officials on particular subjects. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, debated mail-in voting with Dusty Johnson, the Republican congressman from South Dakota.

“Most Americans can’t name more than five members of the United States House,” says Johnson. “ ‘A Starting Point’ allows thoughtful members to talk to a broader audience than we would normally have.”

The platform’s social media team pushes out potentially newsworthy clips, whether it’s Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) discussing his meeting with Barrett just before he tested positive for the coronavirus, or Angus King, the independent senator from Maine, criticizing Trump for his comments on a potential peaceful transfer of power after November’s election. Kassen notes that the King clip was viewed more than 175,000 times on “A Starting Point’s” Twitter account, compared with the 10,000 who caught in on CNN’s social media platform.

“Because it’s short-form media, we’re engineered to be social,” says Kassen. “As a result, when something catches hold, it’s passed around our audience pretty well.”

The key is to use modern tools to push out content that’s tonally different from what you might find on modern cable news. Or on social media. Which is what Evans hopes leads to more engagement. He’s particularly proud that more than 10,000 people have registered to vote through “A Starting Point” since it went online.

“If the downstream impact or the byproduct of this site is some sort of unity between the parties, great,” says Evans. “But if nobody’s still voting, it doesn’t work. We need people involved.”