#the trump era

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The New York Times just dropped a full-page editorial with one message—"Vote to End the Trump Era."

They're not holding back, laying out exactly how Trump’s attacks on democracy, obsession with power, and disregard for the truth make him unfit to lead. If he's re-elected, they warn, it’s game over for rights, justice, and the environment. America deserves better. Time to make it count.

[link]

[reading-writing-revolution]

(via How to Navigate the Era of Trump - The Atlantic)

Many friends, Eliot A. Cohen has found, are despondent over Trump's victory. "I respect their points of view but have decided to look elsewhere for advice, and so have turned to a different set of friends—those sitting on my bookshelves.

Some of these friends have been with me for more than half a century; and they get wiser and more insightful with age. One of the first I turned to is only slightly older than I am: Motivation and Personality, by the academic psychologist Abraham Maslow. The book has a family history: Maslow summered at a lake in Maine in a cabin near one owned by my grandfather, a self-made shoe-factory owner who came to the United States with only the benefit of a grade-school education.“

From Orwell:

[o-wild-west-wind]

While I’m still a bit bummed that they didn’t go with a more book-aligned POC Fiyero for the Wicked movie, I’ve been thinking (heheh) about how his being white highlights the really interesting foil relationship between him and Glinda (and, in many ways, the audience yourself).

At its core, Wicked is a cautionary tale about propaganda, (literal) scapegoating, and what it means to uphold the status quo. The audience is watching through Glinda’s eyes—it is through her, arguably the most beautifully tragic character of the show, that we learn how lonely life becomes when you forfeit your values in favor of systemic power and likability (“No One Mourns the Wicked” is, in many ways, about HER).

Now, this is where Fiyero’s whiteness can get interesting—if you consider him and Glinda to share roughly equal footing at the beginning in terms of privilege/how much they have to lose (applying our real-world lens of race and power here, where whiteness is the apex), his storyline essentially represents what could have happened if Glinda had made the brave (and arguably wise and loving, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down 👀) choice to go with Elphaba and fight the good fight (this is also why I feel like a queer reading of G&E’s relationship is almost implicit to the story, but I digress).

As the POC/marginalized allegory, Elphaba has much less of a real choice in her curtain-pulled-back turning point. But Fiyero and Glinda—both representing privilege—get to choose. So in Act II, we see the consequences of both the choice to stay (Glinda) and to go (Fiyero). In Fiyero’s case, his ultimate rejection of his own power, privilege, and even beauty leads to immense physical loss—including his own body—but that is then compared to the loss of love, community, and identity that we see Glinda left with by the end. And this brings us to the question that the audience is left grappling with: in an unjust system where loss is inevitable (a.k.a. our own world, as the Wizard himself represents), which of these things are YOU more willing to give up?

It’s important that Glinda is an empathetic character because, in reality, most people are going to be Glindas (obvi this is nuanced among us Elphabas of marginalized identities, but I’d still argue that there’s some level of Glinda in us all)—and it’s important to be rattled by the end of the show when you realize that she is the one who has the sad ending. But it’s also so important that Fiyero is empathetic (which I’m SO glad this movie leaned into)—because he’s ultimately who Glinda—and thus we, as the audience—should have been.

And especially given the state of US politics right now…this is just all more relevant than ever.

[tomorrowusa]

Everywhere I look these days, I see young conservatives believing they should behave like jerks or like the body parts they cover with those red ties. Because they have no frame of reference, no meaningful political experience or memory of politics prior to this shabby era, they think being shabby is normal and smart.

– Veteran conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg commenting on twentysomething conservatives who act and even sometimes dress like Donald Trump. Quoted at The Dispatch. (archived)

The effect Donald Trump has had on conservatives who are too young to remember politically the pre-escalator era is appalling even to a lot of more mature conservatives.

There is now a sizeable and still growing number of MAGA babies who totally equate being an immature asshole with being conservative. And these people will be on the political scene for the next half century.

About the only bright spot is that there's a chance their kids will rebel against them. In 20 to 25 years perhaps we'll hear those offspring retort: "Okay zoomer."

[undercovercannibal]

SUPERNATURAL 12.05 ⛥ The One You've Been Waiting For (originally aired on Nov 10, 2016)

[spookyteeth]

based off of that one picture that i can't find rn

i'm weirdly proud of this

FUCK BOTH OF THESE GUYS BTW. this was just a drawing for me and my friends gc pfp

[evermoredeluxe]

taylor works overtime!

[axolotlbuddy]

Posting X defeating starfish hitler for no reason in particular

[d0gwithabr0kenleg]

me (lying to myself): his skin and hair r totally not too dark or orange, and will look fine when i finish! It's not overdefined!

WHY did i not fix it before i inked 😭😭😭 in my defense? This is literally my 6th acrylic ever

[justafandomgirly]

[marlbles]

trump and biden have that jegulus type dynamic ykwim

[saydesole]

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day ✊🏿

[soyalexnajera]

TikTok? What are you talking about? There is no such TikTok on Ba Sing Se

[rejectingrepublicans]

[remembertheplunge]

You have agency

November 6, 2024 Wednesday 4:40pm

Trump Wins. Ushering in a dark  uncertain time.

After the shock and awe die down, remember, you have agency.

The greatest growth comes through the darkest times. Keep observant and vigilant. Opportunities will come along to be a part of the way out.

In 2017, I had many encounters with the homeless. I would fill reusable Trader Joe bags with food, toiletries and socks and pass them out to homeless people. I thought “just this one person”. I can’t solve all homelessness, but I can have an encounter with this one person. That’s how I used my agency. 

Regarding this new potentially authoritarian Trump era that we are entering, maybe try my method. Just this one thing. Just this one person. Whatever it is that is aimed at the oppression. That’s enough. (Passing out a bag was also a gesture "at" societal oppression that sustains homelessness)

End of my thought above.

[hawaiianshirttaco64]

Alright, I'm kinda fed up with this whole election. Trump, the world is going to end, elon musk, neo nazi, transphoia, homophoia shit that's going on in my feed and countless others.

So, from here on out, by blog will be politics, and other shit like that, free.

Just one last thing that I would like to remind my queer brothers, sisters, and siblings on here.

Generations of our queer community did not fight and die just so we can hide now.

The soldiers of the AIDS crisis did not protest in the morning and die at night just so we can hide ourselves away for the next four years or more, only allowing ourselves to be true under a username.

Queer people did not take beatings and harassment and still be true to themselves for generations just so we will only protest on the tiny screens that consume our lives.

I would rather die like my people before me and not hide my true soul, than be safe, under the name of a person who never existed (deadname)

So queer people of America and the world, take this one phase, and fight so that we will be remembered in history.

Live free or die.