#vote like you have all the power because you do

[jazeswhbhaven]

Wrath Fueled By Victory | Satan Victory Card React | Spoilers

ITS BEEN A LONG TIME COMIN' I'm very sorry for the wait ya'll I was suppose to post this literally like before January was over and it's now nearly mid-February 💀

Ya'll know the drill, since this is a NP card, heavily summarized, a few screenshots, the usual.

Though I will tell you...this card was a MAJOR turn around from his Torture card in terms of pacing, writing, his personality shining through and through. And that date story???

Satan wants me to marry him I guess.

Butttt let's get this show on the road~

Summary

So it seems Satan is upset today because the Explosive Sphere event (wth lmaooo) has had so many victories by Gehenna that they are removing it. Like, no one else gets a chance to win because it's biased toward long-range snipers. (okay yah I guess I get that)

And surprise, surprise we get a cameo from the big granddaddy himself, Solomon! It appears that this card starts with a blast from the past, and Solomon's influence is seen in real time. Like he literally just whispers to Satan and he calms down just like that. Levi is even like >:( sit next to me and being semi-clingy and I'm just here like??? Damn that personality didn't transfer over to MC at all sorry 😭

The narration even pointed out that it wasn't that Solomon used overt logic or strength, he was simply just present, had a nice voice, and was just himself. Literally he's just that guy.

It's official, the Calvary Battles replaced the Exploding Sphere event, we're now in the future and things are underway and Satan is hyping up his men to win. Violence is allowed, so it sounds like the devils from each country are just gonna beat each other's asses until someone passes out essentially.

And the story reflects back to Luci's victory card, which honestly that shit was wild as it is. But it's nice to know that these themed cards are connected and therefore...canon lol (at least for whatever's happening, I imagine this is MC's everyday life and how it would be realistically during their time in Hell aside from the things happening in the main story)

It begins, each country planning out their battle strategies! As we see what Gehenna is up to, basically using 6 devils together in an "iron maiden" like formation with bombs attached to themselves (wild...) we have Hades (who sent Foras to spy on the Gehenna devils...) and they are using the 9 Apostles that will come out from 9 coffins, Levi will be wearing rings (sounds similar to the infinity gauntlet lmao who is he thanos?) to show his bond with them so they can work with Hades.

And not only that ya'll, a fly was spying on Hades...and we go over to Abyssos and they plan on hiring Abaddon devils from the Red Light District as mercenaries! (Nabe's idea btw, Stolas apparently just wanted to shoot everyone too the little angry birb) And then, while folks in Abyssos were placing their votes for a bet...there's this one devil that's confident that Abyssos will lose? Turns out....he's a spy for Tartaros 😭 (this is so wild ya'll)

I want to add that Tartaros had a transforming fortrace and they didn't even have plans for a stage 3 and Mammon was like "Ah pay the devil who suggested stage 3 and we'll get right to it" MAMMON PL SSSSSSSS what do you mean you didn't have more than two stages helpppppp.

And now, we're also looking into Paradise Lost, Gamigin wants to participate so badly to show that healer's aren't weak, even offering to turn into a complete dragon or to lend Lucifer his powers? (I bet he can do that tbh) and this entire display of the other nobles treating Gamigin softly about it, has Luci convinced to join in the battles (seems like he was going to not participate just out of choice, since I mean he won the horse races and got his prize already)

Then we get a visitor??? ZAGAN THE BABES <3 He shows up to Paradise Lost to ask the nobles to not participate this time around, only because he's worried that some devil's may actually die this time because MC is the prize. He doesn't want Satan most of all to get hurt, and it really shows us more of Zagan's personality. He went there of his own accord, is worried about his King and others, and is asking for standby help to prevent a possibly tragedy. Love him.

I'll be very brief about the battle, Satan won lmao. And it wasn't like the other's didn't try it's just...even with all the spying and cheating, Satan still came out on top and he did it so flawlessly too.

And the way he grabbed MC as his prize and whisked them away? I love it when it does that. So cocky, so....him. Phewww

So I'mma just say rn, I needed one of Beleth's cigarette's after reading the smut with Satan. Like ya'll we got backshots, for whatever reason MC was describing being fucked like a bitch in heat, but whatever I might as well be cause I'm a sucker for backshots and that's something Satan should like too because it gives him good range to smack that ass.

Also, so commanding, being mad about MC being so cute, saying that he's in charge so there's no reason MC should be ordering him around. MC gave him head, he was throatfucking, and because he had consumed devil's blood beforehand it seems that made him harder, bigger (more swollen), and just more unhinged and hornier than usual.

Bonus: they came at the same time, after ya know he made them cum like 9 times before that

And one thing Satan is always gonna do? Put MC to sleep. Which happened, he was being cute at the end, and MC just passes out. All of this in an alleyway mind you...Satan freaky asf fucking outside with the possibility of getting caught.

Screenshots!!

Okay Levi didn't let me down, he always got something to say...but this time??? All he's doing is affirming my ship delusions again

And damn Grandpa Solo....okay

He really said "make sure you get that ready for me" meaning....your hole MC...he's got a lot of time to make up since the horse racing event

AYO??????

Masked men are my kink so, Amy and I bout to fuck na s t y yyyyyyyy (though this seems dangerous and he can't see out of the damn thing lmao)

lemme suck them titties

Mammon out here got a damn transformer and bringing it to the fight I'm done lmaooooooo

Oh??? But they say he can't turn back into his devil self if he transforms....but me being me....

i'm down for full dragon Gamigin let's go

this sums up how I felt about this particular thing

Someone get this man some oranges to help him calm down lmaooo

Aight PB stop fueling me with arsenal...good arsenal at that because word on the street is....i might have written a little something something during my away time....

He is so boyfriend, I'm crying like??? This face???

"It's starting to hurt..." and he was referring to his dick....my gawd let me grind on it and make it hurt morrrrreeeeeeeeeeee

IDK IM FEELING SO MUCH EMOTION RN

*also to note this position he's sitting in for this card was my favorite and he kept his shoes on idk I was feeling things*

Date Story and Chat Summary!

I think it's funny that Satan pretty much just says outloud that he had good sex with MC and everyone is like :O and MC is like 🙃🙃🙃💀😭 and I'm over here like??? Okay, now I do understand not wanting your business out there, but???? Lol

Paimon thing: He likes shy ppl and certified hoes who open their legs too, so basically ya'll you're his type no matter what I guess💀

So the date ends up being that he takes MC to his private motorcyle repair shop! He's being so domestic and soft here you almost forget he gets angry and prefers to fuck roughly lmao

But also, a big thing we learn is Satan's love language of physical touch. He doesn't say things with words, it's all actions, so you could even say that Acts of Service, is also another love language for him! He really is very affectionate, and I love that so much about him.

But the main point being that he treated this date like how any regular degular human boyfriend would, and I think...that's really what sets him apart from the other devils! He has that sense of "normal humanity" to him when he feels like it and it brings you back to a sense of comfort. Now, I have yet to observe this behavior from the other devils, as I feel it's touch and go from what we get per story, BUT yes...

Btw it seems that Satan really likes bringing up how good the sex is, because he was doing that in the chats and even had a point in time where he was like "yeah it's big again, I'm going to you now." Like my guy literally was like

my dick hard so, i'mma bout to come fuck you <3

While also texting on his bike at that...like? lmao

Fun fact: During the hell events, the seraphim and the angels used to come down to try and take advantage of that but they pretty much got beaten up and when Luci started participating they pretty much stopped showing up altogether

Also, it seems Levi really was upset about losing twice 💀 but strangely enough, Satan doesn't think he's the petty type (I beg to differ, maybe not petty towards you Satan). And he thinks he's a real man even though others call him feminine. This is interesting to bring up though because I'm like...huh yeah Levi's a pretty boy, that's his thing, though I don't think it's a hinderance to anything. that attitude sure fucking is though.

And there we have it folks!!! That's pretty much everything in the card I can sum up for. It's quite obvious my score on this card is....

10/10 let's go

I really did enjoy this card way more than Satan's Torture one. Again, it's mostly because it had the same writing format at Levi's Torture card. A bunch of build up, some lore thrown in, some comedy, and then it leads up to the smut and it's pretty much it from there. Not solely focused on the smut only, it was pretty long, and we get to see the nobles and kings interact once again. Now, sadly since this was a true NP card, that means if you didn't get him this time around, you'll have to wait for them to bring it back in the future. Which I would recommend getting this card if you're a Satan fan! The date story was super cute too.

Now...it's on to Mammon's Victory card which from a quick glance, it was much shorter? Man they never do that devil justice when it comes to creating card content from him majority of the time, BUT I'll see ya there <3

[zeppeli-reelstallbun]

poll time! pick my next nanami x reader fic !!

as a way to apologize for the fact that I’ll be dropping off the face of the earth this upcoming week, I thought I’d share a few of the ideas I’ve had so that you can decide which fic comes first! these will all be coming at some point, so I suppose this is an upcoming works update as well :)

requests and asks will also be open during this time, but I probably won’t reply or see them till I’m done academic weaponing!

details + voting under the cut:

omg hey! if you haven't read any of my other stuff (expected as this will be my first jjk post), rest assured that our bbg is in good hands. I know everything there is to know about the power of a rolled long-sleeve dress shirt paired with the ability to cook homemade meals... anyways, these would all be salaryman era because I’m ignoring what happened in shibuya coping. I’m coping.

without further adieu, your choices:

🌷You guys voted for Nanami in the gym concept poll, and I'm a woman of my word: Despite having a certian... distaste for the man, it appears the universe has other plans. You keep crossing paths, frustratingly enough. Sure, the gym membership might have been a company bonus, but did he seriously have to come during your dates and times? [sfw, likely 2/3 parts max if not a super long oneshot]

🌹Coworkers turned friends with benefits turned ‘oh my god no please don’t tell me we’re actually forming a connection, ewwww.’ [Gonna be straight up, you might find it beneficial to keep a spray bottle of holy water on your person at all times while reading this one. Plot? Maybe! I will be absolutely going off the walls feral for this man. I'm talking 'that is the most shameless thing I've read all day,' and 'why does she know that about the human body,' type feral. nsfw. obvi. very likely multi-part]

🌼You’ve been able to see the strange creatures your whole life, but this was the first time you’d seen one like that. Even worse, it seemed to be looming over the one coworker you couldn’t stand. Wait. Did he just look at it too? [sfw 1-2 chapters, maybe 3 if you cross your fingers or beg or something]

🍀He’s just had a horribly unlucky weekend, and because of it, must ask his assistant for the most tedious favor imaginable. What else can he do, though? He needs the help... [kinda forced proximity, sfw, not nessicarily romantic but would definitely be implied, oneshot in the true sense of the word. incredibly funny concept to me, but dry humor most likely]

🌻With tax season just around the corner (riveting concept already, I know, just stick with me) a certain company is looking to outsource a CPA for a month or two. Thankfully, Nanami knows the perfect candidate for the job… he just won’t mention that she’s his girlfriend. No, that would be nepotistic. Besides, surely the two of you could pretend not to know each other for a few months… right? [multipart with smut potential, but not a necessity. much more fluff and humor here as well, and I appreciate not having to write actual coworker romances all the time yk? also, I despise my accounting courses and I have to take at least one more to graduate, ugh. Mad respect to actual CPA's]

MY MASTERLIST   GET TAGGED WHEN IT COMES OUT

[ahaura]

im sure its been said already but as the election draws near more and more liberals will come out of the woodwork to shame people with a conscience to give away their vote to the democrats for free. i'm already seeing posts saying "why aren't people more concerned about a trump presidency?" you want to know why? it's because people already know he's bad. everyone already knows what he is and what he's done and what he'll do. there's nothing to discuss. he's a racist despotic worm of a man. there's nothing else to say.

biden is currently president. the genocide is happening under his watch. he's the one funding isra*l and arming them; he's sidestepped congress more than once to give them weapons. by oct. 27, the biden administration already knew that "Israel was regularly bombing buildings without solid intelligence that they were legitimate military targets." the state department/biden have engaged in atrocity propaganda, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the death toll recorded by the gaza health ministry, and so on. the united states is currently in the process of trying to pin the "war in gaza" on netanyahu (see sen. schumer's speech) after months of backing blatant genocide as a means to act as if they're "doing something" about the genocide (Instead of, say, threatening to cut off all aid to israel with the condition that all hostilities in gaza, the west bank, and occupied jerusalem are halted immediately and permanently, allowing palestinians freedom to travel, allowing aid into gaza, etc etc etc.)

the long and short of it is that liberals view their own lives as being worth more than palestinians'. that's it. they'll vote for another 4 years of the guy ushering in genocide and supporting apartheid + settler colonialism because he isn't outright attacking them (despite various laws and rulings happening both at the supreme court level and at the local level all over the country that will endanger people). they'll settle for the illusion of safety and security and shame anyone with a conscience and accuse them of "supporting the republicans" when in an actual democracy you would be able to use your vote as leverage to extract concessions from those who want to be elected. that's how it's supposed to fucking work.

democrats are not owed people's vote. if biden loses, it will be biden's fault; it will be his campaign's fault; it will be the democrats' fault. trump is bad; the republicans are bad. we already know this. this is not an endorsement of either. but if democrats are too cowardly and feckless and servile to the motivations of the american empire and never do anything for their constituents then why the fuck should anyone vote for them. you want to get mad at someone, why don't you do something useful and stop worrying about team-sports with a purely selfish basis and start hounding the people in power who are supposed to serve you, the voter.

[originalleftist]

Easier said than done.

People have tried blocking Musk and his goons from accessing stuff. They've had mixed success. But then they respond by firing the people in question, and sending armed goons in to back Musk up.

Arrest the Orange One? Okay. What happens if a court or prosecutor issues a warrant for him?

Well, realistically, the Supreme Court immediately rules that a sitting President can't be prosecuted (right now IIRC this is technically only a DOJ policy, but you can count on it becoming legal precedent real fast if anyone tried it). Meanwhile, whoever had the guts to try it would face retaliation, including potential revenge prosecutions and doxxing of themselves and their family (now that Musk has everyone's private information- he literally just doxxed a judge's daughter).

If by some miracle SCOTUS allowed it to go forward- who's going to arrest him? AT MINIMUM it would likely require an armed standoff between US Marshals or whoever they sent and his Secret Service detail, and let's be real, if he was actually detained he/his supporters would order the military and/or his mob to free him.

So, unless a state AG is the bravest fucking person on the planet, and willing to fight a civil war, AND has an army willing to back them up, it's a non-starter.

So how do we stop this?

Honestly, I can see only three ways it happens in the foreseeable future:

He gets us into a major world war which America loses. This was how Hitler was stopped, but in the modern world this involves nukes, a large majority of the human population is dead, and he's out of power because there is no more America, or basically anyone living where it used to be. Obviously not a good outcome.

He loses a civil war or military coup. Also immensely destructive, could involve nukes. A quick military coup MIGHT work, but unless it was just replacing one fascist with another, probably MAGAs would rebel, including potentially state governments. Also, the military does not seem interested in doing this right now (about two thirds of current and former armed services members voted for him).

Economic shutdown of the country via a general strike and other forms of economic warfare. This seems to me to be the only actually remotely viable road forward for removing the regime from power. Non-compliance by officials, especially in Blue states, may limit the damage, but won't remove the regime from power. All efforts should be focused on these things.

I discount removing him via a normal election because who are we kidding, he didn't accept the 2020 results and they'll be way more prepared to overturn any election they lose (or rig it beforehand) next time. However an election they lose and refuse to recognize, or obviously rig, could trigger an uprising, potentially.

"He can't do that!"

"That's illegal!"

"He is violating the constitution!"

Then fucking stop him! Arrest him, throw Musk out, bar them from entering when they try to access shit.

Because guess fucking what, laws only have meaning when they are enforced. They only matter when someone fucking does something about it.

[musical-chick-13]

This is the only thing I'm going to say about the election until it's over:

Anyone who did not vote for Harris or who attempted to dissuade people from voting for Harris, you are indirectly responsible for whatever shit Donald Trump does if he gets elected. That blood is primarily on his hands, yes. But it is also on yours. I hope you can live with that because I sure as hell wouldn't be able to.

[k2ulhu]

hulu was doing live coverage of the election until 2:00am, at which point my power randomly went out and when I reopened the hulu app on my tv the election coverage was replaced with

[dykedvonte]

I think the most baffling thing about the Tulpar as a vessel to me is the fact that the ship really did only have a one way communication system.

I know it was cheap but even the most basic of vessels regarding major transport would have some way, shape or form for outside communication. Not only that but there was absolutely no form of innate emergency signal to show they may have been offline or in trouble despite clearly having a system to dock credits if they went off course. It's another factor that really shows that bad situations are made to get worse by design. One person who is required to relay all information to the crew and make all the choices without feedback. No way to update or call for help in case of a dire situation. No way to inform of inner personal conflicts and acquire procedures accordingly.

It really is like they are all in some sort of fucked up solitary confinement. They have their own world with strict roles that are meaningless in the end, as long as the cargo makes it, it doesn't matter what happens on that ship to the company. They don't want to hear anything and will come to conclusions on what happened based on how much pay they can withhold from the workers. Even what they do send is short, sterile and corporate to the extent it was likely written and sent out with a command by some random unmanned computer in an office.

There's something to be said about how unfair it is to force absolute power and control onto one person when you as an entity could do so much more to offload it but I've said it many times before so I won't again.

[robbiedrancid]

People need to understand stupid and smart can coexist in one person because to ignore that fact is inviting danger into your mindset. “You cant execute on evil youre too dumb” and “You cant be evil you’re too smart” are two sides of the very dangerous coin that keeps the evil people in power.

To execute an evil of such great impact like overthrowing a government, you have to have a brain on your shoulders to know how to do it or know where and how to find the people who could do it for you who also happen to be faithful to your goal.

but to be evil you need to lack the knowledge that can be described as empathy. the capability and skill to be understanding of the lives, emotions, motives and morals of those around you and why those people have all those things.

When these people say “Facts dont care about your feelings��� its very telling, its a very robotic way of thinking, thats unsurprisingly usually shared among computer obsessed techbros.

The phrase “facts don’t care about your feelings” comes from a mindset centred on pure logic. But its a paradox, if you function on pure logic and ignore feelings, emotions, something we experience and is a fact of life for most human beings, then you are operating illogically.

Feelings are, unfortunately, fact. And to ignore them is to throw away a core component of being a person. To deny yourself emotion and to deny empathy to those who are experiencing emotion simply because “””facts dont care about your feelings””” then you’ve lost track of what it means to be human.

You can be as logistical and optimized in your philosophy as you want but if you fail to account for the human experience which comes with flaws and emotions, then all this thinking and calculating and optimizing youve done to create your philosophy is simply white noise to fill your skull.

You are stupid because you are evil and you are evil because you are stupid.

Its like a fucked up ouroboros.

When voting for politicians in the future, (yes there will be a future. because i choose to believe this nightmare will indeed end) examine them, pick them apart and really figure out their motives and if theyre truly in the best interest of the people or if theyre just bullying the villain (minority.) of the week for votes.

[brick-van-dyke]

As the US election closes in and the final states take to the polls, I want to remind people to turn out and protest.

Yep, protest. Strike, disrupt, be out there on the street regardless of who you voted for or who wins. I expect to see you all out there demanding; access to abortion nation wide, protections against discrimination, free universal healthcare, a free Palestine, anti war, prison abolition, to increase the minimum wage, and for a US free of the electoral college and that counts votes as votes.

Yes, you can say "you should vote for Harris" and do so as much as you like, but do not forget the power you have through your own everyday actions away from the polls and that of protesting. Do not use the excuse that your right to vote means it's somehow more foundational or important than the right to protest. You have the ability to create direct action and that is so so important, please don't just expect a rich representative to stick to their promises every time you vote; you have power too, never forget that.

This system will not change until we, the people, make it. There is NO representative that can ever change the system that allowed them in, and likewise; this system will never allow a candidate that would stop it from continuing and/or ensuring its designated purpose of oppression and subjugation. Resist, regardless of the results.

Long live the resistance.

[dittolicous]

i dont care where you live in the usa or w/e... if you dont vote for biden you are throwing away your vote and enabling trump. because *everyone* thinks their vote doesnt matter and piddles around because of that. hell, everyone thinks 'its only me, it wont make a difference' about THOUSANDS of things, like littering, picking seashells, taking stones from rivers, etc. and in all of those situations THEYRE FUCKING WRONG. if anything unites us, its our damn ability to think we alone are the outlier despite everything indicating otherwise.

and miss me with that 'biden is just as bad/is a murderer' shit. 1) cool, and how do you plan to change things in a mr. nazi-dictator trump world? how are you ACTIVELY making a difference? 2) CHANGE IS INCREMENTAL. the reason things suck so much is because the left keeps taking slow change as 'no change' and giving up before we can gain any momentum to make big change!

if you vote in hamas or w/e to protest... you might as well throw dirt at all those suffering innocent people. you arent saving palestine that way. that is not a helpful protest. you'll only enable trump to win by throwing away your vote. it is the one bit of actual power you have, so USE IT RIGHT! stop in-fighting for one moment! look at what is possible to achieve in reality! dreams arent fulfilled overnight!

when you feel like your vote doesnt matter, remember this - you have to try anyways

[sherlock-is-ace]

.

[bunchacrunchcake]

I love this take because it's funny but it's even worse than actively poisoning people. It is lack of understanding that poison exists.

"Hey your investment property, you know the thing that keeps you clothed and fed, it's decaying, which is just a normal thing, it needs some upkeep?"

"Does it cost money?"

"Yes it costs money to fix things."

"Why do I have to fix it? I don't live there, it just makes money."

"it makes money because people pay you to live inside of it. And it's poisoning the people that live inside of it. So if they're dead, then they can't pay you and then you won't have money."

"Well do they know that?"

"Yes they have been asking you for a year to fix this?"

"How much is it to fix?"

"$300-1000 probably, it's unlikely it will cost more than what it brings in in one month. And it's one of ten units on the property. Also if you don't fix it now it will cost more later."

"Can we just tell them we will fix it and then not fix it?"

"We've been doing that."

"Can I just paint over it myself?"

"You already did that."

"We can just sell the property when it gets horrible and buy a new one right?"

"Technically yes, but then eventually every property in the city will be like that and you'll have to fix something."

"But won't all the tenants get used to it?"

"Potentially, but they filed a complaint with the city because we've waited so long we're breaking the law."

"What are the consequences of that?"

"Well it means they can call an inspector in another month."

"I usually pay that guy off "

"And then they can take damages out of the rent."

"How much?"

"About $500 a month."

"Can I threaten to evict them if they do that?"

"Yes, no judge would enforce it because it's an illegal eviction though."

"Okay well I'm going to go paint over it again, tell them they're being difficult, and the only person that has ever complained so much, and if they take money out of the rent to fix it, I guess I'll just threaten to kick them out until they pay and I'll just do that every month until the lease is up."

"Okay sounds good I'll let them know. Also there's a bill coming up in the state house that will create stronger tenant laws and prevent you from threatening tenants like this."

"Okay I will call all of my friends to show up and complain and we'll put together a little campaign contribution for everyone voting on that bill."

So if you've gotten this far, it's less that they actively want to hurt you so much as they are passively consuming you like a product and when you act like a human with needs they get frustrated and just shut it down so they don't have to think.

Most landlords I've met are somewhat dumb, but richer than you and relatively deceptive and brutish. The advantage they have over you is that they've accumulated power, they don't see you as human, and they're willing to cheat and lie

The communists want to take away YOUR MOLD

[rabbithaver]

every so often i will see a post from a leftist on this website that is so egregiously ableist that i remember that like. oh yeah the userbase of leftists on this website is violently anti-disabled people and will jump at any chance to demonize any of us for any reason. i just forget that fact because i'm extremely dedicated to curating my space

i'm paraphrasing here but i saw a post that said, "every time i see an American [disabled person] mention being scared about the election because they're afraid of losing their benefits i have to laugh. anybody who wants blood-soaked money from the US government deserves to starve" which. like. goodness that's a lot to unpack. i think we should burn the whole suitcase instead !

[fingertipsmp3]

This is the spiritual successor to Four Seasons Landscaping. To me.

[mangled-by-disuse]

ngl one of the wild things to me about US politics is like

the election cycle is fucking neverending, yeah? everyone drops everything and starts poll-watching at least a year in advance of the actual election. people get themselves all (understandably) worked up and scared about the incoming president, for months. then they vote, and in november, they all have a horrible panic and crisis and are afraid and cling to everyone for support and yeah, ok, I get it, that's an understandable response to a terrifying outcome.

BUT THEN

SOMEHOW

y'all have to wait two months for it to matter? and then have the whole crisis again?

like i am seeing so many people right now reprising the same emotional crash they had in November, and because it's had a couple of months to settle, it feels like it's almost as intense the second time around?

this is not a dig against Americans I just do not understand why the American political system seems purpose-built to put people through the emotional wringer as thoroughly and protractedly as human possible. it's like it's trying to make everyone depressed and tired and unable to cope and...

...oh.

[gwen-tolios]

Because of this article, I now follow that guy's substack and he's done some great further write-ups.

I'll admit, one of the frustrating things to me is seeing my Senators and Reps not do anything but Jay Kuo says in many ways they can't because Dem are a minority. It's also not the Legislative Branch's power and right to enforce the laws - that's the Judiciary. (Though they could totally start the impeachment process and try to stonewall appointments.) ((This is also why Trump appointed judges are scary.))

You know who has been stepping up? AGs. State Attorney Generals. For most states, AGs are elected officials (Virginia! You get to vote for yours in 2025!) and these are the people who are issuing court orders to get Musk and Trump to stop - halting things like funding freezes or the removal of data.

Kuo breaks down this scenario I'm gleeful about: (edited for length)

...a temporary restraining order issued from federal district Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts. The order blocked the NIH from cutting off research funding, but here’s the twist: The order halts the denial of funding only in the 22 blue states that sued, not in any others. Assuming NIH complies with the order, that means money will flow to the schools and universities in these 22 blue states, while it will remain blocked for most projects in the remaining mostly red states. This distinction will likely add significant pressure on red states to demand their share of the critical funding, too. I imagine the White House is going to be hearing from a lot of red state governors and Congressmembers as funding for key projects at their universities dries up. The Trump Administration is either going to have to back off its threats and rescind the rule (as it did with the OMB financial assistance freeze); support only blue state projects with funds while withholding money from the red states; or defy the court order altogether. The second option would generate howls of protest and cost the White House politically. And the third option would set up a constitutional showdown over facts and law that aren’t strong for the administration. After all, if you’re going to assert the right of the executive branch to impound funds, you might want to pick a battle over something other than a law that Congress passed—and that Trump himself signed—which specifically states that the President cannot change the funding levels.

Yes, please call your Senators and your Reps, but it'd be worth calling your State Attorney General too. They're the ones with the power to stop Trumps EOs.

Quietly losing my mind over the fact that Elon Musk has straight up orchestrated a coup of our executive branch and like....I don't even know what, if any, system we have in place to fix this. Like... He's just taken control of the money and locked out the actual appointed officials. What the fuck.