#this election was actually

[captainjonnitkessler]

You know I used to think "tumblr's absolute refusal to actually engage with the Trolley Problem in favor of insisting that there must be a third, morally pure option that doesn't require them to make a hard decision and anyone who asks them to make a binary choice is just a short-sighted idiot is really fucking annoying, but I guess it's not actually doing any harm".

Anyway that was before we asked tumblr at large to decide between "guy aiding a genocide but making progress elsewhere" and "guy who would actively and enthusiastically participate in a genocide and would also make everything else much, much worse for everyone elsewhere" and the response was that there must be a third, morally pure option that doesn't require them to make a hard decision and that anyone who asks them to make a binary choice is a short-sighted idiot.

#there is not a third option. it is either trump OR biden #and one of those will be much MUCH worse for palestine #i'm really really sorry that these are the options. i wish they weren't. #but WHAT third option are you trying to take here? what on earth is your proposed outcome #that will actually make things better for palestine? #because letting trump win the election is NOT going to help them #i'm sorry but you need to set aside your feelings and take the option that will lead to less harm to palestine in the long run #you talk such a big game about how people need to be willing to make sacrifices to help palestine #but you yourself aren't even willing to hold your nose and vote to stop things from getting worse? #or did you think 'sacrifice' only meant not getting mcdonalds for a few months? #us politics

[exemplarybehaviour]

I keep seeing people say things like this: "You know what does matter to the politicians, even more than us voting for them? When we DON’T vote for them."

No, absolutely not. This is not how the US electoral system works. Under the current system, only votes cast matter. Only people who are going to vote matter to campaign strategists.

The last election, less than 20% of my district voted. The 80+% of the people who abstained? Their opinions on the results don't matter. The system does not take them into account. They gave up their right to have a say. Some strategists for future elections might look at the numbers and say: wow, why didn't those people vote, and can we GET them to vote? But ultimately, the system is designed so that if only one person votes, that person gets to decide the winning candidate. You get the representatives voted on by whoever shows up to the poll.

If a candidate thinks you cannot be swayed to vote (because, for example, you've joined a weird anti-voting movement), then ther campaign is not going to cater to you. Their strategists won't care about you. Someone in the next cycle might try for your vote, but you are giving up your right to have a voice for this cycle.... and voters with a history of voting are more promising targets for any campaign strategies.

(Your actual vote is a secret, but they DO monitor that you have voted. This will affect how much annoying campaigning materials you will get, because they do target active voters.)

Also, "if I don't vote, that will make a point!" is just a stupid take in general. If you don't vote in November, and then Trump wins, what have you really done? Do you think the Biden admin will care, as they're leaving office? Do you think the Trump admin will care, as they enter office? Republicans want fewer people to vote! Your abstention will be nothing but a footnote in history about how Trump won.

#'is this vote shaming?' this is a made up and useless term #voting is your RIGHT which i encourage you to USE. i will never encourage you to give up your rights. #i would yell at you to vote even in a less important election #i yell at coworkers and friends every november!! #(actually i just write up a voting guide for our area. but same mood) #greatest hits

[decolonize-the-left]

Democrats as a party are never ever going to recover from this.

#itd be one thing if biden was actually your only option but MOST PEOPLE not voting for biden have stated explicitly they're voting 3rd party #which makes 3rd parties an actual viable option this year and people who have been claiming to be liberal or progressive just...dont care??? #to consider that they should NOT vote for someone comitting genocide if they dont have to????? like??? #we see this is a PREFERENCE for you now and theres no backtracking that #Democrats #2024 elections #joe biden #jasmine sherman #usa politics

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

it is. so weird to me that I'm having to say this again after a real-life cartoon supervillian already once ran for president on a platform of hatred & fascism and won, but.

it's November, please fucking vote

#not a shitpost #serious post #this election cycle will DETERMINE what legislation gets passed #it will DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF ABORTION RIGHTS AND GAY MARRIAGE AND OTHER LGBTQ+ PROTECTIONS #the supreme court plans to destroy as much progress as possible and that means we have to rely on congress to protect those rights #which they can only do if the Dems control the senate and the house #we are in FULL BLOWN DAMAGE CONTROL MODE here #especially because it is still somehow perfectly possible and actually probable #that the festering pile of garbage in human form who recently tried to overthrow the government will end up back on the ballot in 2024 #we still haven't recovered from 4 years of trump and if we don't show up at the polls it is perfectly possible we will get another 4 years #vote this november to protect basic human rights #and vote in november 2024 so we don't have to survive another 4 years under trump #because many of us--the most vulnerable of us--won't survive. and many many more will suffer #vote to protect yourself and your neighbors. vote to protect those who most need protection. #vote because it is the right thing to do #vote out of kindness #and vote out of spite--because billionaires are spending insane amounts of money to prevent you from voting #so tell them to get fucked and vote anyway #do it out of spite and do it out of heart and do it out of rage and do it out of love #show up #us politics

[fremedon]

I'm not making this a reblog because there have been a lot of posts this applies to and I'm sure there will be more.

But if you ever do find that perfectly pure candidate that you feel can vote for without morally compromising yourself--that person with a completely stainless career and no blood on their hands--they will still step into the morass created by all their predecessors. They will have blood on their hands from the moment they take office. The blood comes with the office. There is no way to avoid that.

If they want to not execute the evil and unjust laws which they have just sworn to faithfully execute, they will have the choice of flouting the law or changing it. Both of these are difficult, take time, and cannot be done by one person's fiat.

Laws are made by Congress; changing a law--even the worst one on the books! even that one!--means getting a majority of both houses on board. This is drastically easier if the president's party has a majority in both houses, but still requires coordinating literally hundreds of people to do what you want; if the president's party does not have that trifecta, it may simply be impossible until after the next elections.

Flouting the law--just deciding to ignore it--sets a worrisome precedent: In general, we would like the executive branch to follow the laws of the country! But beyond that, it is also difficult and also requires coordinating with hundreds of other people. The administrative state is designed to run on rails. The administration can hand down guidance on the interpretation of laws--which often as not gets challenged legally and needs to be resolved by the courts, which is a whole other level of complication and, currently, a whole other level of fucked up--but ordering federal agencies to violate the law wholesale is usually going to be a non-starter. Even when the law is bad. Until the law is actually changed, which, see above, sometimes the most that can be done is harm reduction--delay implementation, narrow the scope, tie it up in red tape.

And. Look. I want you to find that perfect candidate. I long for the day that someone can make it all the way into the highest office without ever compromising their morals. But if they do, they will become complicit with all the horrors their predecessors left to us. There is no way to dismantle those horrors without taking on some degree of complicity.

When the machine is covered so thickly with blood, pulling the off switch still gets blood on your hands.

#us politics #if we can hold on to any democratic process in this country #and right now that is a BIG IF #there will be young electeds and activists coming up who might actually get us closer to that off switch #but it's not going to happen if their supporters eat them alive #moral scrupulosity #is going to get us all killed

[labelledamesansraisondetre]

Carlos Sainz for president.

#carlos sainz #dts s2 #formula 1 #for actual US president #somebody get this man a greencard #i volunteer as tribute #us elections #us presidential election #us presidential election 2024

[kittykatninja321]

Can someone tell Democrats that leftists and progressives with moral objections are not a big enough contingent to swing an election and if they were, the way to get groups to vote for you is to offer them things they want rather than lib-scold them about voting on social media

#Also leftists are not the only non-right wingers who hate Biden. So good luck with that 👍🏾 #Like you’re supposed to be sucking up to people it’s an election. Yelling at leftists online is doing nothing and helping no one #Craziest shit is that I’ve seen an actual candidate engage in this kind of behavior before. Like bro the anarchists still aren’t going to #vote for you so now you just look like an asshole in public for no reason 🙈. Don’t know what happened to that guy. Probably lost

[itstimetodrew]

Ohio republicans trying to hold an election they hoped would go unnoticed in order to deny Ohioans simple majority rule (changing it from 50% to 60% majority), only for it to be one of the highest voter turnouts for an August election ever in the state AND the votes against them being 60%+ anyway? Lol. Lmao even.

#politics #literally the only arguments I saw in favor of the issue was 1) people outside Ohio are gonna make our laws #(what the fuck are you talking about) #2) if you don’t pass this then they’re gonna trans your children!! #(ACTUALLY what the fuck are you talking about) #baffling how repubs keep going with the trans angle here where it’s now failed for…3 high profile elections in a row? #I hope they keep doing it though. keep slamming your thick heads into that wall!! ha!!! #this state is still so fucked up but ooooh this victory is sweet

[avesseloflanguage]

i know this is old news but like. it is so fucking insane to me that convicted felons — who can qualify in every other way, citizens who are absolutely affected by elections and politics — are not allowed to vote in the united states. like that alone is fucking crazy. and fucked up and VERY intentional and on track for the usa. but still genuinely crazy to actually think about.

but worse is that donald mother god damn fucking trump can still run for president and could be elected while being a convicted felon. like. bro can't vote for himself i guess. but this guy could still legally become the fucking president. HE CANT LEGALLY VOTE IN ELECTIONS ANYMORE. BECAUSE HE IS A CONVICTED FELON.

BUT HE COULD LEGALLY BECOME THE HEAD OF STATE.

#like whatttttt the fuck what the fuck #im celebrating today just like everyone else #hallelujah thank you jesus i am so incredibly grateful that he is guilty and being sentenced #we SHOULD all celebrate this #rich politician actually getting convicted is dope #and the fact that hes the FIRST former president to EVER get convicted of crimes is INSANE #i forget that bc everyone knows about shit like watergate. but like nixon wasnt actually convicted of jack shit. #so this is a big deal and worth celebrating. #but also i canNOT stop thinking about this #this is so incredibly fucked up to me i cannot get past it #politics #donald trump #donald trump conviction #united states #election 2024

[porcelaintoybox23]

In 2020 I was a “vote blue, no matter who” person because Trump was actively making the US worse. It was only for that election as the democrats had at least “we won’t make your lives worse” as a strategy. It is 2024. Life is worse. The “progressive” president is actively funding a genocide, has reneged on several campaign promises, has increased drilling, etc. there’s a whole host of things.

Roe v Wade was gutted, Covid is still a problem, anti queer bills are passing all over the country, cops still suck and Biden has no qualms about it.

The “lesser of two evils” schtick only works if there is a lesser evil and at this point, 100% Hitler vs 99% Hitler is not a significant enough difference.

A line must be drawn somewhere. The dems need to get their shit together and many of you need to seek help. You cannot hand waive a fucking genocide. The shit you claim Trump will do is happening under Biden. Saying a Biden genocide is better than a Trump genocide…fucking deranged. Do you realize how fucking insane you sound.

Biden & the dems are going to fuck themselves over for Israel. They have lied about crimes the IDF has committed. Biden is using OUR money to kill children. You cannot ask people to vote for that. You cannot ask people watching people that look like them and their families to vote for 99% Hitler because 100% Hitler will build a hotel while the former will just leave the land decimated.

Actions have consequences and the dems clearly need some. If Biden loses this year, it is entirely his fault.

Edit: some reblogs proving my point. All I said was you can’t be surprised people aren’t going to vote for Biden. You can’t insult or guilt people who have a right to be pissed. Instead, you fucking weirdos choose to insult me. Ad hominem isn’t an argument and I promise I know how the federal government works, that’s why I’m mad. Biden has power, he’s not a state senator. He has chosen to use that power for literal evil.

Like, am I supposed to change my opinion because you called me weird? I’ll correct one thing. If Biden loses, it will be 98% his fault. The other 2% will be you fucking assholes attacking people with legitimate grievances. Your apathy is disgusting. Something has to give

#uh actually 99% #gunshot #no I am not doing that #shut the fuck uuuuuuup #America #politics #us politics #american politics #election 2024 #democrats #liberals #palestine #Gaza #once again esims #genocide joe #stream hind’s hall #joe biden #Will I probably vote for him? sure #leave other people alone #rant

[fixing-bad-posts]

lord who does roughly end me, lave here, lust, and press sutures to me.

#actually i popped off with this one 👀 #‘lave here‚ lust‚ and press sutures to me’ #and just in case anyone was wondering‚ this was originally a 'boycott the election' post #fixingbadposts #fixing-bad-posts #erasure poetry #poems about love #poems about lust #miscellaneous #suggestive

[shedidntevenswear]

i just think there are so many valid critiques of public figures, especially when it comes to politics/use of platform for important issues, and ALSO that these critiques can live alongside your admiration of their art or their brand or their personality. the internet really wants to act like if a famous person is not 100% ideologically pure leftist and practicing that constantly then you throw the whole celebrity out, but to me i think if you are looking to pop stars and actors for leadership in geopolitics or economic policy then you seriously need a reality check.

#yes this is about both taylor swift and beyonce #their praxis can be weak as hell and i can still call them mother! #if you are looking to billionaires to reflect your leftist ideas you are looking in the wrong place and thats kinda on you! #of course we should always be critical and asking for more from public figures #but you could always ya know direct all that energy at people who are actually elected leaders whose job that actually is

[h0nk]

Omg guys can yall believe she won tumblrwoman 2023 ? <3

#vriska #vriska serket #vriskasweep #homestuck #tumblrwoman election 2023 #i keep forgetting her glasses but at this point im too lazy #also at this point im probably gonna end up doing an actual painting of her

[slavhew]

having a normal one about @pinetreevillain's timothy 🥹

#rottmnt #tmnt #rise of the tmnt #donnie #donatello #rottmnt timothy #admin draws #fanart #had so much fun drawing him i love him smmmm #collecting other ppls ocs that i get unreasonably attached to like infinity stones #and special thanks to timtim the 3rd addition to that collection for cracking my artblock severely #i was gonna go for a limited palette on the top pic but then i was like #what if it was all neons and weird shading instead #also the last one was actually the first i drew jgkdsg #i was stuck at an election thing for an Activity and all i had on me was a pen and a crumpled reciept

[archiephd]

So long as the political and economic system remains intact, voter enfranchisement, though perhaps resisted by overt white supremacists, is still welcomed so long as nothing about the overall political arrangement fundamentally changes. The facade of political equality can occur under violent occupation, but liberation cannot be found in the occupier’s ballot box. In the context of settler colonialism voting is the “civic duty” of maintaining our own oppression. It is intrinsically bound to a strategy of extinguishing our cultural identities and autonomy.

[...]

Since we cannot expect those selected to rule in this system to make decisions that benefit our lands and peoples, we have to do it ourselves. Direct action, or the unmediated expression of individual or collective desire, has always been the most effective means by which we change the conditions of our communities. What do we get out of voting that we cannot directly provide for ourselves and our people? What ways can we organize and make decisions that are in harmony with our diverse lifeways? What ways can the immense amount of material resources and energy focused on persuading people to vote be redirected into services and support that we actually need? What ways can we direct our energy, individually and collectively, into efforts that have immediate impact in our lives and the lives of those around us? This is not only a moral but a practical position and so we embrace our contradictions. We’re not rallying for a perfect prescription for “decolonization” or a multitude of Indigenous Nationalisms, but for a great undoing of the settler colonial project that comprises the United States of America so that we may restore healthy and just relations with Mother Earth and all her beings. Our tendency is towards autonomous anti-colonial struggles that intervene and attack the critical infrastructure that the U.S. and its institutions rest on. Interestingly enough, these are the areas of our homelands under greatest threat by resource colonialism. This is where the system is most prone to rupture, it’s the fragility of colonial power. Our enemies are only as powerful as the infrastructure that sustains them. The brutal result of forced assimilation is that we know our enemies better than they know themselves. What strategies and actions can we devise to make it impossible for this system to govern on stolen land? We aren’t advocating for a state-based solution, redwashed European politic, or some other colonial fantasy of “utopia.” In our rejection of the abstraction of settler colonialism, we don’t aim to seize colonial state power but to abolish it. We seek nothing but total liberation.

Voting Is Not Harm Reduction - An Indigenous Perspective

#indigenous action #2024 elections #voting #on one hand i think if one opponent is a mask off fascist white people have an obligation to vote against them As The Least We Can Do #but if that's all we're doing? that and bullying other people who see a futility in participating in a colonial institution of 'democracy'? #sorry but um. shut the fuck up #if we spent half as much energy on direct action to support each other in ways that help people REGARDLESS of who wins what election #as we did on yelling at Other Leftists about voting i think we would get a hell of a lot more actual shit done #and sure as hell help more actual real life people who we claim to be helping by yelling at other people to vote #i'm talking to me here like #our current blue harm reduction candidate actively supporting a genocide should make you feel like maybe this shit doesn't fucking work #because it doesn't <3 #harm reduction as the least we can do needs to be a call to action via vote AND actual action or it's not a call to anything at all #the least we can do needs to be motivating AND convicting #it's the least we can do so fucking do it. it's the least we can do so if that's All you do sit the hell down or stand the fuck up #for people who the status quo serves it needs to be the ballot AND the bullet or our ballot means fuck all for real liberation

[frogayyyy]

find out how you can vote tactically here to get the tories out on the 4th of july

register to vote here by the 18th of june

remember to check you'll have valid photo id, or apply for free voter id here

#this is my star trek contribution to the election #check the tactical vote closer to the actual date #because it might change with polling data! #uk politics #star trek #someone remake this better pls i don't have photoshop