#this is the median voter

[pleasurewizard]

My sister’s mother-in-law said nazis and trans people are both equally morally wrong. I said that the nazis in society actively want to kill groups of people, including trans people, and then asked who trans people want to get rid of she said “Christians basically”.

The victim complex of these people is insane.

(This came up in relation to the Olympic opening ceremony btw)

[communistkenobi]

i can’t really think of anyone that most people in the US would have less general sympathy for than a dead health insurance CEO. like take all the bad things about corporate monopolies that you’d experience with like your phone or internet provider and then add on the financial incentive to let thousands of people die of preventable illnesses and then bill their families for it. literally an institution that automates social murder. even the most burgerpilled american must cheer for this man’s death

[astralleywright]

pretty immediately, the thing that stands out about every post about the end of the ep that places the armies and warriors of Vasselheim as victims is the subtle obfuscation of that militarized status. there were armies, intending to lock Imogen and the Hells away for the crime of saving them. and people are comparing them to Buddhist monks. violence and threat in the hands of outsiders is horrifying, but violence to maintain the preexisting power structures is so normalized as to be forgotten.

[senatortedcruz]

Trumpflation is real I just spent $7 on toothpaste

[compacflt]

Hi, big fan of your fics. I've just found your Tumblr and binged everything Icemav-related. When reading about Icemav's political beliefs, I've gotten curious. Does Bradley share the same political beliefs as Ice (and Mav)? Does being raised by them or them pulling his papers influence how he votes? Or there are other factors in the play (e.g. generations, social media)? How about Jake and the other Daggers? How does this young generation of the Navy perceive politics (elections, gender, etc.)? My apologies for bombarding you with questions. But as a non-American, American politics have always been something we must pay attention to. I've seen many interesting interpretations on Tumblr but it feels more or less wistful than realistic, but I might be wrong (again not an American) so I would love to see your perspective on this. Thank you.

a good politics roundup post before i leave this blog

icemav & their conservatism: here, here, here

ice’s NECESSARY conservatism as commander of the pacific fleet (i.e. officers who are most likely to get promoted to the highest ranks do NOT break the service line when it comes to domestic politics, so by necessity ice would’ve had to keep his mouth shut, he Cannot be both a four-star and a revolutionary, like he just can’t; and being a revolutionary is otherwise antithetical to his character anyway): here, here.

and the original “ice & mav politics post” which is being updated here: here

I’ve gone back and forth on everyones politics over the last year of me being involved with these characters, but let me just tell you where I’ve ended up headcanoning them politically, if ur interested

ice: reagan democrat. “educated moderate” who was more right-leaning pre-9/11. now just a regular ol liberal (did you SEE those gay little round glasses in tgm? no way this guy isn’t a straight-up lib) with absolutely no strong feelings about most domestic politics besides “fascism bad”. Has some foreign policy opinions that areeeee questionable at best, like all members of the military elite (hangman voice: DO NOT ASK ICEMAN ABOUT CHINA. WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE). foreign policy neoliberal favoring the dovish side of the spectrum. A force conservator (“let’s save our military assets [read: my boyfriend maverick 🥺] for when we really need them, not for any old conflict. the deterring specter of the American war machine should outweigh the risk of underperforming”). He’s in favor of marriage equality of course, but treats it like a privilege and not a right. would be sad/upset if it got repealed but wouldn’t necessarily fight for it. “well at least my marriage will always be legal in california so i just won’t leave, problem solved.” Normie median Biden voter.

mav: political wildcard tbh. original 1986 mav is DEFINITELY right-leaning (i think i’ve written elsewhere, “he fully believes bill clinton is an affront to god”). i get young republican vibes from him. Full on patriotic (but dispassionate) 1980s reaganite anti-commie neoconservative. but after the 2010s i am very confused tbh. Tom cruise’s political aura is an insanely confusing one. idk. No matter what, Mav has some Hot Takes that a.) can immediately be shot down by ice using Facts and Logic at any time and b.) are not strictly partisan. He’s registered democrat just to support marriage equality (his marriage is his top priority but he doesn’t care about Other gays’ marriages, only his own), doesn’t care about any of the party’s other lines. Votes however ice tells him to. I get real “kind clueless libertarian” vibes from 2022 maverick tbh. Especially with the “isolating himself in a hangar in the middle of the mojave desert.” that has a political connotation to it for sure. bro just does whatever he wants out there

also, ice & mav live in San Diego, which… while in blue/democrat leaning California…is famously a bastion of right-wingers & has a hitler particle level off the charts… (sorry its not my favorite place in the world). That’s why they’re both continually so disgusted by San Francisco (a metonym for effete liberal homosexuality). Theyre from San Diego, hatred of SF & liberal SF politics is kinda par for the course down there.

Bradley: as u will see in the extras i definitely hc Bradley as an activist, but because he’s… in the navy and also like in his 30s… It’s not college campus activism, it’s just “things all of us in the left wing can agree upon” activism. so, like, BLM or pride, etc. He’s an “in this house we believe” yard sign liberal. He is 38 years old. hes a solid millennial so not politically hip with the kids (me)

Bradley & ice/mav disagree on the VISIBILITY of politics. Ice & mav, who did live through the vietnam era draft/near-dissolution of American society in the 60s and 70s, are not in favor of possibly losing their job/honor they have fought and killed for, for the sake of a political statement. And they believe their relationship IS a political statement, whereas Bradley would rather encourage them to treat their relationship like, I don’t know, a relationship that has a right to exist independent of politics!

Jake and the other daggers: idk. i don’t really give a shit about the daggers sorry. They r blank slates 2 me. jake especially is canonically frat-boy sexist in a way that gives me the heebs, much like original 1986 maverick and ice. But the navy tends to be the most left-wing (or thought of as left wing in common thought) service of the military, if that helps. But it is also the most traditional service of the military, and by traditional I mean BRITISH!!!! 🇬🇧💂there’s so much pomp and circumstance and hoity-toitiness that comes from the navy’s origins in the Royal Navy. A lot of sticking to outdated tradition in the very fabric of the navy itself, while the navy’s enlisted demographics shift younger and more left-wing/“revolutionary…” some interesting conflicts there. Like that one sailor who got blasted by multiple congressmen on social media for (with permission!) reading a poem about their queer identity on the USS Gerald ford’s intercom a few months back, if I remember correctly. Hoo boy the Takes that day were wild. Younger Americans tend to be more liberal but YMMV with officers, who are by nature trying to uphold outdated traditions of the navy for the sake of keeping the navy a unified service

i am of course writing carole as a christian republican who has gay friends and a gay kid not by choice but by the Grace of God

[ravenkings]

[thebreakfastgenie]

I think some people who swung to Obama and then swung back just wanted to vote for the first Black president. They knew he had a real chance of winning and wanted to be included.

[fnord888]

I hope the Democrats learn nothing

What's the right lesson to learn from 2024? That people *really* fucking hate inflation. Don't be like Biden, be like Obama.

And that's the worst lesson they could learn.

Not for me, I'll be fine. Empirically, extended low-interest-rate stagnation is great for software engineers. Which I am. Now.

I wasn't fine in 2010. The great recession almost ruined my life. Not on its own, it had help from my parents, the American higher education system, my own bad decisions, and some purely personal bad luck. But still. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Not even the fucking morons who *just voted for it*.

So I hope, when the next recession threatens, that whoever's in charge then forgets the lessons of 2024, and picks a big inflationary stimulus over an insufficient one. Even if it loses them the next election.

[kushblazer666]

if you want to truly understand the liberal psyche circa the late dubya administration there is no better thing source to turn you towards than the simpsons movie. unless you remember actual liberal politics of the period in which case i really hope you have a workout plan to strengthen your back

[saltcherry]

the citizenship thing is insane because it's fundamentally illegal, it's so much more illegal than almost anything because it contradicts the fucking constitution, and the point of it, besides to subvert the constitution, is to find out who is a little spineless coward who won't say "hey this is subverting the constitution" and it's insanity inducing because every so-called opposition leader should nut up and say "hey this is subverting the constitution" and no one should ever move on from this. make this the permanent thing. you know how they did HRC with emails and Benghazi as permanent things and jack shit progressed? they (the media) can do that. they (the Democrats) can do that. "What do you think about Tru/mp's [evil new thing]?" "I abhor it but I want to talk about the EO about birthright citizenship AND HOW IT'S AN ATTACK ON THE US CONSTITUTION" fucking morons this is an easy message. it's so fucking easy. "if Trump will attack the 14th amendment, how long until he comes for [amendment most important to interest group]?"

[artvalve]

i hate saying this but luigi mangione being hot is genuinely so important to whats happening in the us right now lmfao

[crimsonservbot]

I should probably actually read theory instead of scraping it off the back of bloggers getting annoyed at usamerica but at this stage of my life I think I can change my political alignment from "Scared" to "Socialist in the same way you hide a pill inside a piece of cheese for a dog so it doesn't notice (Pill is Communism)"

[arseniccattails]

I think what is genuinely fascinating about the border debate is that the dems have for some reason ceded that the Mexican border is a "crisis" but will still only talk about it in terms of organized crime. not like "well the illegal immigrants are actually agents of organized crime", they will generally not talk about refugees/individual migrants at all. (just from what I've seen of course.) not? as bad as it could be??

[philcollinsenjoyer]

it's actually crazy how stupid he is

[senatortedcruz]

Whom is the other Succession boy you're rooting for besides Kieran Culkin?

Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn!

[compacflt]

wip wednesday: picking at it slowly but surely