Tag: politics

primarybufferpanel:

anaisnein:

naturallyselectedbyaccident:

anaisnein:

the blue wave story: reasons to celebrate

the NYT 2018 midterms morning-after narrative, with all the chin-stroking about mixed results and the bland end of the Dems driving the successes, seems really wrong to me and frankly kind of enraging. obviously there were disappointments but, net-net, this is not a morning for wailing and gnashing of teeth. I compulsively wasted hours and hours of my life following this shit last night, so I’m just going to lay out some of the story points supporting a more robust and optimistic narrative real quick

  • the objective was always to take the House; the Senate was always an almost hopeless moonshot
  • we did take the House, decisively
  • the things that follow from that are now going to be realized. it means not only more robust Trump oversight, the tax return subpoenas and protection for the Mueller investigation and so on, but also much needed brakes on the runaway GOP legislative agenda. the Republicans are not going to get to try to repeal ACA again, or kill Social Security, or defund Planned Parenthood, or have their way with the 2020 census or the budget. those things are all huge
  • the >9% popular-vote D advantage is comparable to or bigger than past midterm “wave” elections, including 1994’s Tea Party wave. that’s literally how we fucking took the House despite 1. the disastrous 2010 census gerrymandering and resulting structural 5- to 7-point GOP advantage and 2. the more recent horrifying surge of strongman fascism. excuse me but we 110% fucking deserve wave status
  • got a bunch of governorship wins that really fucking matter! Scott Walker, don’t let the door hit you on your way out of Wisconsin! welcome home, Michigan! fuck you and the horse you rode in on, Kris Kobach!
  • what’s not the matter with Kansas, multiple excellent results there with both Laura Kelly and Sharice Davids winning upsets. possibly they’ve finally put it together that austerity is terrible and are positioning themselves to start fixing the damage. good going, Kansas
  • this whole weird line that it was moderate Dems that drove all the key successes and dynamic progressives only ever have any chance in the very bluest coastalest elitest cityest races is bullshit. I can’t believe the NYT can say that with a straight face. Sharice Davids is NOT your bland straight white guy DINO, and Kansas is, um, not the Bronx? Pennsylvania is literally going to have a DSA caucus? Beto O’Rourke lost what was, come on, a moonshot race by a high-suspense hair, he clearly has cemented his rising-star status and generated real excitement and momentum
  • meanwhile DINO “moderate” poster children Heitkamp and Donnelly lost us two (2) Senate seats. wtf with this narrative?
  • several of the highest profile GOP wins were in states with especially flagrant and egregious voter suppression. we’re all looking at you, Georgia, North Dakota, TEXAS whose Senate race was still close as hell. this is one of the things a Democratic House is well positioned to make a goddamn fuss about.
  • also Michigan and uh I think another state passed anti-gerrymandering ballot initiatives and, may I goddamn repeat, official face of ‘voter suppression is actually good’ Kris Kobach is out on his ass. plus, granted Florida is a trainwreck by a hundred thousand or so people again, they’ve also just reenfranchised 1.4 million ex-felons, so that may be goddamn changing in future
  • Virginia is a blue state now btw
  • New York internal state shit here but the state senate has finally thrown off its shackles so maybe we can actually get some good goddamn legislation passed, seriously if you don’t live here you have no idea the bullshit that’s been going on in Albany thanks to so-called moderates

is everything in the garden lovely? hell to the fuck no, shit sucks in abundance out there, but we knew that! that’s not the surprising bit!

give hardworking blues the credit they deserve 2k18

On the progressive side, I would also note that Stacey Abrams (who hasn’t conceded yet but I’m not holding my breath on this) came the closest to flipping the Georgia’s governor’s mansion since the 90s when middle of the road democrats since 2002 have lost from between 5 to 20 percent. Good lefty Abrams got within 2 percent (and outperformed Clinton in total number of votes received in Georgia…IN A MIDTERM YEAR). The Southeast did tend to go less blue than might have been hoped, but the Midwest made up for that and the vote totals show the progressives can get out to vote.

This despite entire blue districts in GA getting allocated non-working voting machines and being no joke completely shafted for voting, BY THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE WHOSE LITERAL JOB WAS RUNNING GA STATE ELECTIONS. It’s not a disgrace, doing this well in the face of not only a legit mixed af Southeastern state constituency but also flagrant bald-faced cheating.

wait wait wait wait

How can running elections possibly be the job of somebody who has such an immediate and vested interest in the outcome?!

‘Murica.

elecmon:

dovahfem:

snugglebunchesofeyes:

rhiannonfrater:

sapphicshimmers:

weabooweedwitch:

cjameswrite:

sapphicshimmers:

marycp2011:

habeascorphish:

dovahfem:

dovahfem:

Donald Trump sending thousands of troops to the border isn’t just ridiculous, it’s horrifying. What exactly does he plan to do with all those troops? He just recently said he is prepared to gun down people who throw rocks… it gives you a clue doesn’t it?

I’m genuinely worried that these people are going to get hurt, I don’t trust  Donald Trump and I’m worried as to why we are comfortable with sending thousands of troops to greet families and children with guns… horrifying.

it’s also a massive breach in military deployment protocol, specifically the Posse Comitatus act and Article 10 of the United States Code. Donald Trump is breaking the fucking law 

HE’S GONNA HAVE TROOPS GUN DOWN & MURDER WOMEN & CHILDREN.

I’m hoping that none of them get an itchy trigger finger as another commenter pointed out, but there is no other reason for them to be there and he’s talking about shooting people who throw rocks and it just sounds like an excuse to open fire. Let’s pray that nothing violent takes place against those people.

And they will all say “I was just following orders”

He wants to send more troops to the Mexican border than are currently deployed in Afghanistan just an fyi

We can afford all these troops at the border but not 15 dollars minimum wage, free college, or Medicare for all.

I live on the Border. It’s peaceful, beautiful, and very nice overall.

He’s just afraid of brown people. Even women and children.

and we still have sent no aid to Puerto Rico, alright

I saw someone in the tags say this is fearmongering but there’s fearmongering, and then there’s actual fear. All of the comments on this post are reactions of genuine, sincere concern for the people at the border. Nobody is trying to fearmonger.

WE ARE ACTUALLY AFRAID.

Just to provide some context here since I haven’t seen a single soul talk about the Caravan online, I only know about it due to the controversy caused by several local Spanish news stations that decided to air coverage despite many stations in Mexico forbidding it;

There are currently thousands of people migrating in a Caravan up to the Mexican border. They are escaping poverty, and violence amongst other things from their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. They’re hoping to find a better life or apply for Asylum. 

They’ve been walking for nearly a full month now having started October 12th of this year (2018 time stamp for anyone seeing this in the future.)

[Pictured above is the Caravan as it reached the Suchiate river at the border between Guatemala and Mexico]

[Pictured above is the first wave of the Caravan reaching the Tijuana border -not apart of the massive wave that was seen at the river.]

[Pictured above are several caravan men who decided to jump into the river when the crowds on the bridge got too dense when it was decided that only Women and Children could pass, most were fathers, brothers, and sons who didn’t wish to be separated. Many mothers with small children were also lowered down into the rafts to avoid the crowd that was stuck on the bridge for 24+ hours.]

The Donald Trump political campaign put out an ad that was as dehumanizing as you could imagine towards the immigrants, who again, at this point are largely unarmed women and children who are trying to escape the violence in their home countries.

The ad was so bad that even Fox News decided to pull it and denounce it entirely.

Donald Trump has deployed 1,000 troops to the border in anticipation for the Caravans arrival. Promising to more than double the number to about 5,000 troops lasting until about December 15th, 2018. 

[Pictured above are children waiting in line for their turn on playground equipment.]

[Pictured above is what sleep and rest has typically looked like for them, many only having a backpack or so left of their personal belongings to take with them.]

[Pictured above is man holding up a sign that reads, “Thank-you Mexico for opening up your hearts.” After the bridge and border were opened.]

These are the faces of the people Donald Trump is sending thousands of troops over to shoot down because he sees them as a threat.

Pray for the Caravans safe travels.

multiplegenredisorder:

wildcardarcana:

stolenswingset:

donoteattheyellowsnow:

1999 – The Simpsons predicts everything that happens in the world

The messed up part is that this, along with the Trump presidency, were predicted as jokes. These were seen as things so ridiculous that not only could they not actually happen, the idea of them was funny. So every time a Simpsons prediction comes true, the Simpsons wasn’t really trying to predict the future, they were making a cynical joke because they thought the real future would be better than it actually is. We’re living in the timeline where all the Simpsons’ worst assumptions about the world were 100% right.

The Darkest Timeline

fullhalalalchemist:

For everyone saying “ I vote for individuals not for parties…” this year, checks and balances are on the ballot. You are voting for a caucus majority.

Your vote is a strategic one. Use it to select the person who was the strongest chance of kicking a GOP member out, which is always going to be a Dem.

cricketcat9:

valeria2067:

Just woke up from a hyper-realistic, terrifying dream in which the Orange Abomination actually HAD started a nuclear war – but with agreements to only bomb the coasts.

And his mindless followers even here in Florida cheered and hooted “Bomb the Coasts!” and “No More Coastal Elites!”

And I was separated from my mom and daughter, trying to contact them before the power and the cell service went out.

I HATE THIS.

Orange Abomination starting a nuclear war is my ongoing nightmare. 

I was born four years after the WWII ended. I heard anough accounts from my parents and relatives and read enough books about the pre-war Poland to know that everyone was hoping, against all evidence, that “Hitler will not start anything”, “we signed this pact, it will protect us”, or, even in Poland: “he’s a strong man, and that’s what Europe needs at this point”, ““he has good ideas”, etc., etc. Today I hear about “checks and balances”, “patriot men and women in congress”, after hearing in 2016 “he’s a joke” and “he’ll never get elected”.

VOTE TOMORROW!!!

A RESOLUTION

brehaaorgana:

brehaaorgana:

image

please read the philadelphia city council’s resolution about gritty

this is the greatest thing i’ve read all week. quoting just one part is basically impossible because it’s all gold.

WHEREAS, A man who inked Gritty’s face onto his leg captured the feelings of countless
Philadelphians: “At first, I was disgusted. I was like, what the hell is this? Why did you do this?
Why is this a thing? It was like an hour after that I fell in love with him”;

only one council member opposed, stating “he ugly.”

A RESOLUTION

atrperro:

nakedsilver:

habemus-sea:

nakedsilver:

nakedsilver:

Latinoamérica de mi corazón, cuándo vas a ser la tierra con la que sueña tu gente?

if you’re brazilian and LGBT i can help you move to Argentina. its not the best, but its what i can do

everyone share this around for brazilian lgbt people who want to become a refugee in argentina. tell them to contact me (love#3592 on discord) if they need more information.

relacionesinternacionales@lgbt.org.ar 011-4338-4900 int.8106 ó 0800-999-3722

Mandar un mail a: defensoria@lgbt.org.ar

O buscanos en FB y TW: @defensorialgbt

TO MOVE TO ARGENTINA SAY A MEMBER OF ZONA LA PLATA SENT YOU THIS INFO TO BECOME A REFUGEE

Heey, this is sweet, but you don’t need to become a refugee to live legally in Argentina if you’re Brazilian! It’s the easiest country to move to for Brazilians and the whole process to obtain a DNI (the Argentinian national identity) takes 90 days and you get a 2 year visa, which you can later turn into a permanent residency visa without much trouble. It’s very affordable, we don’t even need to translate the documents thanks to a bilateral agreement and you don’t have to prove you have a job lined up for you or anything. Unless Brazil leaves the Mercosur, there’s no need to go so far as to ask for refuge if you choose Argentina as your destination.

thank you so much for your addition! reblog this please

if you plan to do this, id suggest you do it as quickly as possible, because its been said bolsonaro wants to leave mercosur