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batboyblog · 2 years

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Governors 2022: You'd Better Vote!

A few days ago I made and blazed a post on important US Senate races but also coming up on November 8th there are equally (if not more) important races for Governor across the country. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe V Wade its thrown abortion rights to the states. Who you vote for in this election will determine what abortion rights look like in your state, will they be protected? or will abortion be banned? up to the voters this election. Democratic Governors in red states have served as the thin blue line protecting the right to choice, vetoing radical anti-abortion laws and refusing to enforce antiquated 19th century anti-abortion laws.

Republican Governors however have declared open season on trans students in sports the families of trans children health care for trans kids trans healthcare for poor adults drag queens LGBT books the use of pronouns any conversation of race in school we can go on but it's clear that Republican state governments in 2022 have declared war on Queer people and Queer life, Trans people in particular and trans children most of all.

Finally many of the Republican candidates in 2022 are election deniers, they do not believe Joe Biden legally won the 2020 election and have made it clear that if they're in charge come 2024 they won't allow their states votes to be counted for any one but Donald Trump. How we vote in 2022 decides if we have a free and fair democratic election for President in 2024. So PLEASE look at this close Governor's elections, if you live in these states VOTE VOTE VOTE. But more than vote, volunteer your time, even if you don't live in this states you can call or text voters for a campaign. If you have even one dollar to spare for these campaigns give it to the candidate you like best. A lot of them also have merch stores you can buy stuff if you'd rather.

Arizona

Katie Hobbs (flip)

Arizona Security of State Katie Hobbs is running to replace term-limited Republican Governor Doug Ducey. As Security of State in charge of Arizona's elections Hobbs was in the center of the 2020 "stop the steal" conspiracy theory. In the face of death threats, doxxing of her home address and children's phone numbers, and armed protests in front of her home Hobbs did her job and made sure all of Arizona's votes were counted. Before becoming Security of State Hobbs was a social worker, a State Senator and Leader of the State Senate's Democrats. In the State House she helped push through medicaid expansion making Arizona one of the few Republican controlled states to do so. Republicans have nominated former news caster, Kari Lake for governor. Lake rose to prominence by being a vocal supporter of election conspiracy theories. Lake has called for Hobbs to be jailed for her role in the election as Arizona Security of State. She called for the Arizona election results to be decertified even after Biden took office, and for Trump to be re-instated as President. She declared she would not have certified the 2020 election result if she'd been governor at the time, bring what she'd do in 2024 as governor into question. Lake also called abortion "ultimate sin" and wants it banned in all cases, she wants to ban trans people from using the bathroom that conforms with their gender rather than assigned sex at birth, she declared she wouldn't follow/enforce federal gun laws, she wants to use Arizona state resources to deport undocumented people without federal government involvement, and to use Arizona tax payer dollars to finish Trump's wall. Also Lake has been vocal about Covid-19 conspiracies, supporting fake treatments, being against vaccine or mask mandates and being proudly not vaccinated herself. Lake would ban abortion, deport people illegally, victimize trans people, and can't be trusted with elections or public health, Katie Hobbs is 100% pro-choice, has already protected our democracy and isn't a bully, the choice is clear.

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Florida

Charlie Crist (flip)

Congressman and former Governor Charlie Crist is running to unseat one term Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Crist served as Governor of Florida as a Republican from 2007 till 2011. When Crist decided to run for the US Senate in 2010 as a Republican. However hardcore Republicans were outraged at him for his support of environmental policies, his appointing of a black Justice to the state Supreme Court, his expressing a willingness to give President Obama "a shot", and his support of Obama's 2009 Recovery Act. Republicans backed Marco Rubio. Crist ran any ways as an Independent but due to vote splitting Rubio won with 48% of the vote. Crist endorsed Obama's re-election in 2012 and became a Democrat. He ran for Governor as a Democrat in 2014 and lost by 1%. In 2016 Crist ran for Congress becoming the first Democrat to represent St. Petersburg Florida in 62 years. While in Congress Crist has supported bills to legalize Marijuana, and introduced a bill to make it illegal to fire or not hire federal employees for using cannabis. Crist has also supported a federal assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. Crist has centered standing up for LGBT rights and Abortion rights as main issues in his 2022 campaign for Governor. Current Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is running for a second term after a narrow, 0.4% win in 2018. DeSantis has made an all out assault on the rights of LGBT people and reproductive rights the center of his re-election campaign. On June 1st 2021 DeSantis signed a law banning trans girls from participating and competing in middle-school and high-school girls' and college women's sports. He supported and signed the Florida "Don't Say Gay" bill banning any conversion of LGBT issues in younger grades. The Don't Say Gay bill has inspired a wave of banning LGBT related books from school and public libraries around America. DeSantis' Department of Health is in the process of banning transitioning, both medical AND social transitioning for minors in the state. DeSantis' Department of Health has already banned Florida Medicaid from covering medical transition/trans health care in the state. DeSantis is also 100% against abortion and is currently fighting in court to ban it totally in the state. He also took the extraordinary step of firing the elected Democratic State Attorney for Tampa for saying he would not enforce not yet passed laws against trans medical treatment for minors, as well as abortion. Florida in 2022 is the front line of LGBT rights and trans rights most of all. If DeSantis wins he'll try to ride bullying queer people, queer kids, to the White House. If you're queer, if you have any LGBT loved ones, if you care about LGBT rights, dig deep give Charlie Crist a dollar, if you're in Florida please do whatever you can to stop DeSantis.

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Georgia

Stacey Abrams (flip)

Former Georgia State House Minority Leader and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams is running to unseat one term Republican Governor Brian Kemp. A rematch of their painfully close 2018 election face off in which it is widely believed Kemp used his then office of Security of State to weight the odds against Abrams. Kemp closed over 200 polling places in poor and minority areas thought to be strong for Abrams causing longer lines and longer trips to a polling place for her voters. He also purged over 600K voters from the voting rolls and slowed down processing of new voter registration. After her painful 2018 defeat Abrams launched Fair Fight Action. Fair Fight works to register people to vote, to fight unfair voting laws in court, and to boost turn out. It's understood Abrams tireless organizing in Georgia was key to Joe Biden's narrow 2020 win in the state and as well as the Senate run-off wins of Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock that gave Democrats control of the Senate. Expanding Medicaid is one of Abrams top goals for her governorship as Georgia is one of the last states to have not expanded coverage. If elected Abrams will not only be Georgia's first black governor, she'll be the first black woman governor in America. Since taking office Kemp has kept up his voter suppressing ways, signing laws that limit absentee voting, giving the Republican controlled legislature the right to overrule and replace local elected elections officials, and making it a crime to give food and even water to people waiting in line to vote. Kemp also banned mask mandates during Covid even banning local governments in Georgia from enacting them. He lifted the stay at home order in early 2020 against the advice of the CDC and again overruling Democratic mayors in his state. The result was Georgia having some of the worst Covid numbers of 2020. Georgia doesn't need more election suppression, support Abrams.

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Kansas

Laura Kelly (re-elect)

Governor Laura Kelly was elected in an upset win in 2018 and is running for her second term in office. Before 2018 Kansas suffered 8 years under Republican Governor Sam Brownback and the "Kansas experiment". Under Governor Brownback taxes on the wealthy and corporations were slashed in some of the biggest tax cuts in American history. The result was an implosion of the state budget and deep cuts in all services and the near collapse of Kansas' education system. Governor Kelly campaigned to reverse the effects of the "Kansas experiment" and drew wide support even from Republicans alarmed by the effects of Republican tax policy. In office Governor Kelly worked to push through Medicaid expansion through the Republican controlled legislature. Thanks to Kelly over 100,000 Kansans got health coverage through Medicaid. Kelly has managed to fully fund Kansas' schools and balance Kansas' budget. Her first official act in office was to sign an order protecting LGBT state workers from discrimination, something Governor Brownback had eliminated in 2015. Governor Kelly was a leading figure in the campaign to protect abortion rights in Kansas through the ballot referendum and she opposes any new restrictions on abortion. Republicans have nominated Kansas' Attorney General Derek Schmidt to try to unseat Governor Kelly. Schmidt has been Kansas' Attorney General since 2011. During the Obama Administration Schmidt sued the Obama EPA to try to block regulation of oil and gas companies, green house gases, and to block Obama's clean power plan. Schmidt sued the Obama Administration to try to overturn Obamacare, and also DACA. Schmidt even took part in an official Kansas government panel which heard "evidence" that President Obama was not an American citizen and shouldn't be allowed on the ballot in Kansas in 2012. In 2020 Schmidt joined other Republican AGs to sue to try to overturn the results of the Presidential election. Since Biden has taken office Schmidt has sued the Biden Administration over its climate change policies. Governor Kelly has been a common sense problem solver and the line of protection for LGBT people and abortion rights in Kansas, Kansas needs a second term of her, not another Republican.

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Maine

Janet Mills (re-elect)

Governor Janet Mills was elected in 2018 and is running for her second term in office. Mills is the first woman governor in Maine and was also the first woman Attorney General of the state. On her first day in office Mills signed Medicaid expansion into law. The Medicaid expansion had been passed by citizen vote on a ballot measure but vetoed by the Republican governor. This brought health coverage to 90,000 low income Mainers. Mills has pushed for aggressive climate action putting forward a plan to make the state carbon-neutral by 2045. In 2022 the Maine climate council reported the state had over shot its goals. Mills stand on climate change lead to her being invited to address the United Nations on the topic in 2019. A life long feminist, a co-founder of the Maine Women's Lobby Mills has pledged to veto any restriction on abortion and voiced support for changing the state's constitution to protect abortion rights. Mills also declared she would work to make sure it was safe for people from outside of Maine to come to the state seeking an abortion that might be illegal in their home state. Republicans have nominated former Governor Paul LePage to try to unseat Mills. LePage was governor from 2011 to 2019 winning two elections with split voting. LePage earned national attention for his regularly inflammatory and often racist comments such as declaring "New York Drug Dealers" were coming to Maine to sell drugs and "impregnate a young, white girl before they leave" and "black people come up the highway and they kill Mainers". When a Democratic state rep called him a racist LePage called him in the middle of the night and left a voice message in which he called the state rep a "little son of a bitch" and a "cocksucker" repeatedly, later LePage challenged the rep to a dual. When Maine voters passed ballot measures to expand Medicaid and legalize marijuana LePage vetoed the bills that would implement the will of the voters. He also vetoed a bill that would have banned conversion "therapy" for Minors, Governor Mills signed the bill a year later. LePage cut and restricted welfare in Maine resulting in the state leading the nation in food insecure children by 2018. Maine need a climate change world leader as governor not a racist.

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Nevada

Steve Sisolak (re-elect)

Governor Steve Sisolak was first elected in 2018 and is running for his second term in office. Since taking office Sisolak has focused on climate change and protecting Nevada's fragile ecosystem. He appointed the first climate czar for the Governor's office in the history of the state. Under his leadership Nevada has become a world leader in solar power. Governor Sisolak set a goal of 50% of Nevada's power from renewables by 2030 and the state is on track to meet those goals. Sisolak stood up for Nevada's election integrity in the face of 2020 election conspiracies that heavily focused on the state. Since Roe V Wade was overturned Sisolak has spoken out in support of abortion rights. Sisolak worked to repel the state's anti-abortion law before Roe was struck down thus protecting abortion rights in the state now. Republicans have nominated Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo to try to unseat Governor Sisolak. Lombardo is against most if not all gun control measures. He worked to eliminate Clark County's (Las Vegas) gun registry even after the 2017 mass shooting, the deadliest in American history with 57 deaths. Lombardo also supports people being able to 3D print their own "ghost guns". Lombardo wants to get rid of Nevada's long standing system of universal mail in ballots and make it harder for people to vote. Lombardo bluntly declares himself "pro-life". Nevada can keep moving forward and be a climate leader or go backward and make it harder to vote.

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Pennsylvania

Josh Shapiro (hold)

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running to replace term-limited Democratic Governor Tom Wolf. Shapiro has been Attorney General since 2017. During his term in office Shapiro was a consistent opponent of the Trump administration. Shapiro sued the Trump administration over it's travel ban and also sued the Trump administration over its plan to allow employers to not cover birth control in their health insurance plans. Shapiro pushed the federal government to ban the blue prints for 3D printed guns. He supported the legalization of marijuana in 2019, but despite support from Governor Wolf and other leading Democrats is still being blocked by Republicans in the state legislature. Shapiro conducted a extensive investigation into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. Shapiro's report uncovered over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse by over 300 priests and an extensive cover up by Church leadership. Republicans Nominated state Senator Doug Mastriano to face off with Shapiro in November. Mastriano is seen as a leading figure on the Christian Nationalist right who has worrying ties to far-right organizations and terrorist groups. Mastriano is known to have organized bus rides for Trump supporters to come to DC on January 6th. Mastriano and his wife were shown in video has being present when barricade around the US Capitol was breached and they can be seen passing beyond the barricade. It is unclear if Mastriano himself entered the Capitol building during the riot. Mastriano has refused to cooperate with the Congressional investigation into January 6th or with the FBI criminal investigation. Mastriano's campaigned paid to have Gab, the racist far-right alternative to Twitter, make it so all new Gab users automatically fallowed Mastriano's account. Gab CEO Andrew Torba declared that electing Mastriano was his number one goal for the 2022 election. Torba also declared he had a personal policy that he didn't "conduct interviews with reporters who aren't Christian" and that he knew "Doug has a very similar media strategy where he does not do interviews with these people." Attorney General Shapiro is Jewish. It appears that members of Mastriano's security detail were also members of the far-right extremist militia group the Oath Keepers. Mastriano supporters at a public event he attended carried flags for another far-right militia, the Three Percenters. Both groups were involved in the January 6th rioting. Mastriano is a dangerous far-right anti-democracy candidate who was involved in the January 6th riot and hangs out with right wing terrorist groups, don't let him in office.

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Texas

Beto O'Rourke (flip)

Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke is running to unseat 2 term Republican Governor Greg Abbott. O'Rourke represented El Paso Texas in Congress from 2013 till 2019. O'Rourke won his first election to Congress in an upset primary win. His campaign centered on his support for LGBT rights and drug liberalization two issues that would remain major themes for O'Rourke in future campaigns. While in Congress O'Rourke was a social supporter of LGBT rights, abortion rights, and gun control, taking part in a sit in with Congressman John Lewis inside the House chamber to try to force the then Republican controlled house to vote on gun control. In 2018 O'Rourke left the house to run for the US Senate in an effort to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. Many thought O'Rourke's campaign was a hopeless long shot but in the end it was a photo finish with Cruz 50.9% to O'Rourke's 48.3%. While he didn't win O'Rourke netted more votes then any Democrat in Texas history and energized long hopeless Texas Democrats. O'Rourke has run an aggressive no holds barred campaign, centering upholding LGBT rights, abortion rights, and even directly confronting Governor Abbott to his face over the failed response to the Uvalde shooting. Gregg Abbott has been governor of Texas since 2015. Abbott's reaction to mass shooting events in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 has been to uniformly reject tighter gun laws and call for prayer. Abbott was quick to endorse a false narrative of police heroism in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting in line with his "back the blue" ideology. After the 2021 ice storm left most of Texas without power in the record cold Abbott still refuses to consider integrating the state's power grid into one of the two national grids for ideological reasons. Abbott has been aggressively anti-abortion his whole career. Texas' aggressive anti-abortion bill is what lead to the Supreme Court case overturning Roe. Under the law not only is abortion illegal it empowers random citizens to sue those who get or those who preform an abortion. Abbott has also targeted the trans community. in 2022 Abbott ordered the state child welfare agency to treat gender affirming treatment of trans children as child abuse and investigate parents of trans children, which is happening now. Greg Abbott thinks he can bully trans kids and ultra ban abortion his way to re-election, Texas can prove it doesn't want a bully and wants someone to keep the lights on this winter.

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Wisconsin

Tony Evers (re-elect)

Governor Tony Evers was first elected in 2018 and is running for his second term in office. Before becoming governor Evers was Wisconsin's statewide Superintendent. In his role as head of schools in the state Evers focused on expanding mental health excess for students. He regularly clashed with Republican Governor Scott Walker, who he beat in the 2018 election, over the school system's budget. Since becoming Governor Evers has championed Wisconsin's school passing the first budget increase in years, moving the state from 18th to 8th in the nation, and overseeing the first increase in spending on special ed in decades. Evers has also focused on rebuilding and repairing Wisconsin's crumbling roads and bridges after years of Republican neglect. One of Evers first actions as Governor was to withdraw Wisconsin from a Republican lead law suit against Obamacare. Evers supports expanding Medicaid in the state but has been blocked so far by a Republican legislature. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe Governor Evers joined Wisconsin's Attorney General in suing to try to stop the state's antiquated 1849 anti-abortion law from coming into effect. Evers has stated if the law does come into effect he will pardon any doctor convicted under it. Republicans have nominated perennial failed candidate and businessman Tim Michels to try to unseat Governor Evers. Michels has declared on abortion "The 1849 law is an exact mirror of my position, and my position is an exact mirror of the 1849 law,". Michels stated he believes marriage is "between one man and one woman". Michels also supports plans to make voting harder in Wisconsin and would not commit to certifying the 2024 Presidential election results if Trump doesn't win the state. Wisconsin can pick a common sense Democrat who will protect the right to choose and our elections, or a candidate that wants to use 19th century laws against peoples bodies and won't protect our elections, choice is clear.

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Thank you SO much for reading all this! To keep an already very long post to a readable length I had to make some choices about which races to cover, so please check out Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Tim Walz (Minnesota), Michelle Lujan Grisham (New Mexico) and Tina Kotek (Oregon) They need your support and your votes as well.

If you don't live in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin or New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio (Senate list) Please look up your state/local Democratic Party I GUARANTEE there is an important winnable election going on in your state right now that needs your attention, your vote for sure, but also your volunteer hours, and your money if you got ANY to spare even a dollar is worth giving to a winnable race and a good candidate.

Trust me when I say if you feel hopeless, upset, frustrated, feel like you're going crazy, volunteering, going out for a lovely walk knocking on doors and talking to real people is the best best best therapy there is, every time I feel 1,000 better and I'm NOT a social butterfly.

If you care about LGBT rights, you care about trans people, this is the election to vote and get involved, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott both think abusing trans people, particularly trans children, is their road to re-election and if they win it'll only spread and get much much worse. If you're Queer, or you care about LGBT people vote hard, and talk to everyone, have that hard awkward conversation with a family member about what voting Republican really means, talk till they understand guys. This is also true on Abortion Republicans everywhere are running on extreme total bans, we're talking pregnant teenage, pregnant 10 year old, rape and abuse victims being forced to carry their rapist baby to term when they're physically too young to give birth even close to safely.

finally thank you to @dduane one of my favorite childhood authors (I fangirled hard) and everyone else for helping my Senate post go viral, I hope this one does as well

VOTE NOVEMBER 8TH!

#election #vote #voting #LGBT #LGBT rights #trans #trans rights #abortion #politics #Texas #Florida #Georgia #Pennsylvania #Arizona #Democrats #don't say gay #Ron DeSantis #Greg Abbott #beto o'rourke

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mariacallous · 6 months

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Tech entrepreneur Vassil Terziev, a political novice, came out first with 34 per cent of the vote in Sofia’s mayoral election on Sunday, according to preliminary results, and is now favourite to win the upcoming run-off contest.

“I’d like to thank all of those who voted for a different future. For a city where there are not second-class citizens and no second-class neighbourhoods,” Terziev wrote on Facebook on Sunday evening.

Terziev, nominated by We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria alongside grassroots organisations turned parties Save Sofia and Team of Sofia, will face Vanya Grigorova, who was nominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Levitsata! (The Left!) party, in the November 5 run-off.

Terziev’s victory could likely lead to significant political changes after nearly two decades of compromised governance by the GERB party in the capital.

The run-off will be an ideological clash between the Euro-Atlantic profile of Terziev and the euroscepticism of Grigorova, who has criticised sanctions against Russia and Bulgaria’s cut-off from Gazprom, while building the image of a candidate who supports workers’ rights and fights for equality.

“We are the only ones who can stand up against the power of money and bring the city back to the people,” Grigorova said in a video statement on Facebook on Sunday as election day was coming to an end.

Behind second-placed Grigorova was former journalist-turned-politician Anton Hekimyan of GERB in third.

Third place was a disappointing result for GERB, which has run the capital since 2005, first through Boyko Borissov, who later became prime minister, and then through four-time mayor Yordanka Fandakova. However, the party’s rule has left a legacy of problematic infrastructure, pollution and increasing opposition.

In other preliminary results from local elections on Sunday, GERB was leading in Plovdiv and Burgas.

But in Varna, the biggest city on the Black Sea coast, opposition candidate Blagomir Kotsev unexpectedly came second, just five per cent behind two-time mayor Ivan Portnih, who has been hit by various allegations of wrongdoing. Portnih’s result at the ballot box fell from 63 per cent of the vote in 2015 to 26 per cent on Sunday.

The elections were preceded by numerous suspicions that the voting process might be manipulated by one of the rival political forces involved.

On Friday, the Central Election Committee banned the use of voting machines, which in recent elections have been used alongside traditional paper ballot voting, mainly on the initiative of We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria.

The use of voting machines, in which a candidate is selected on a touchscreen and then a ballot is printed out, was seen as an alternative after a high incidence of fraud allegations and a staggering number of ballots being deemed invalid – over 660,000 in the previous mayoral elections in 2019, won by GERB’s Fandakova.

Prime Minister Nickolay Denkov of We Continue the Change criticised the decision to ban the machines, calling it unlawful.

The Central Election Committee acted after a complaint that a member of the government was spotted inspecting the machines and could have compromised their functionality was filed to the committee by the There’s Such a People party.

There’s Such a People was part of the 2021-22 reformist government coalition only to quit the cabinet and move into GERB’s sphere of influence, leading to the ousting of the then government.

On Saturday at noon, there were protests in several cities, including Sofia, against the committee’s decision.

We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, alongside local media, also reported that there were insufficient quantities of paper ballots at some polling stations. The Central Election Committee confirmed the problems but claimed that the voting process has not been affected anywhere.

“Let’s not focus on the troubles and let the people vote calmly,” said Central Election Committee director Kameliya Neykova.

The local polls were the seventh major election in Bulgaria in recent years. There were five general elections and one presidential election during the political stalemate in the country from 2021-23, which ended with the current ruling coalition stepping down from power in June.

Who is Vassil Terziev, Sofia’s mayoral hopeful?

Terziev was born in Sofia in 1978. In 2002, along with several associates, he started a successful software company, Telerik.

In 2014, Telerik was sold to a US company for $262.5 million. Terziev continued to invest in start-ups through the venture capital fund Eleven Ventures.

The beginning of his campaign for the mayoralty was marred by a focus on his family’s connections to the repressive State Security apparatus under Bulgaria’s Communist regime.

In contrast to his background, Terziev has demonstrated strong pro-EU and pro-West leanings.

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therealabbyham · 3 years

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Racism in modern media.

A lot of controversy over the depiction of people of color (POC) in modern media has arisen. With both the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements that have happened in the last year, both new and old shows and movies have been brought forward as examples of what is not okay. Now, with some research, I'd like to go through these examples and go through what has made them controversial.

"Stock characters and slapstick tropes have always existed in theatre, from Shakespearean comedies to even something as seemingly benign as the Disney Channel show “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” (remember Esteban?). But ethnic stock characters have been tricky to write in an increasingly politically correct 21st century, despite their appearances in such Broadway classics as “West Side Story” and “The King and I." (The Muse at Dreyfoos)

”Song of the South (Disney film) - By far one of the most controversial and well-known instances of controversy. So much so that Disney never sold the movie on DVD and will not be putting it on Disney plus. Disney's most recent effort to erase the racism from their history (also see: the crows in Dumbo and the original draft of Fantasia), was to go farther in changing Splash Mountain. Originally they had gotten rid of the characters on the ride (who were all characters from the movie), now, however, they are changing the ride altogether, changing it into a Princess and the Frog-inspired ride. "Song of the South’s African American characters are treated warmly, particularly Uncle Remus, who is Johnny’s best friend and confidant, a charismatic storyteller, and, most importantly, the film’s conduit to the animated world of Br’er Rabbit... The problem isn’t necessarily what Song of the South depicts, but what it chooses not to depict. Although Harris’ Uncle Remus stories were set in Georgia after the Civil War, the film adaptation never makes it clear when the story is taking place... If you’re not a scholar or an Uncle Remus expert, it’s very easy to assume that the film is set before the Civil War, and that Remus and Aunt Tempy (Hattie McDaniel) are slaves — and that they are completely fine with that." (Quotes from Screencrush) "By stripping out any concrete details of time and place, Disney essentially turned the plantation system into a ludicrous utopia where blacks and whites live in harmony — a harmony where the only thing that’s clear is that the blacks are inferior and servile to the whites, but are content to work the fields anyway." "Several of Remus’ stories are about Br’er Rabbit wanting to run away from his problems; the moral, inevitably, is that you can’t avoid trouble and there’s no place like home. These lessons are particularly important to Johnny because he doesn’t like life on the plantation initially and wants to run away to live with his father in Atlanta. But when coupled with the African American characters’ oddly cheerful attitude about their social status, the movie seems to be arguing on behalf of complacency. Don’t leave the plantation, don’t try to better yourself. Just go with the flow."

Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway show) - The show is about a young girl named Millie who moved from a small town to NYC, and the show is known for having "the subplot and the peddling of outdated Chinese stereotypes". (A lot of this will be in quotes from the previous link). Although "the play is set in the 1920s... the script was written in 2000, based on source material from the 1967 film of the same name" On Playbill, another study is done, "As much as the 2002 Tony-winning Best Musical is a love story about making it in the big city, the show’s major subplot centers on “white slavery.”" An argument could be made that “To actually have real Chinese guys singing and speaking in their own language and meaning it, and to link their immigrant story to the same story as Millie ... and come to America because of the American Dream, all these people who come to New York to reinvent themselves and be modern—I think is exactly what the Chinese guys are all about." (This is irrelevant if the characters are not played by someone who's Chinese). With accurate casting then it might be "another opportunity to cast shade on racist attitudes and assumptions about us [the Chinese] and what we know and how smart we are and what we’re capable of..." However it still "can be racist if you do it racist. This show can be done racist but it doesn’t have to and actually, it can actually be anti-racist." Personally, I think if the line you walk is so fine and covered in eggshells, it may not be worth it (but of course, it's an opinion, even if it's widely accepted). Even Ashley Park, who wanted to be Millie, thought “It’s one of the characters that I’ve loved, always, but I always figured I’d never play it just because of the race stuff that’s in [the show].” because she's Korean-American.

Emily in Paris (Netflix show) - Speaking of Ashley Parks, let's talk about Emily in Paris, one of Netflix's most controversial and most hated shows. To put it simply, the show (which I have not seen) is about an American girl who moves to Paris. Yep. That simple. In a video by Friendly Space Ninja (who's French), he says "I've been insulted by this show, more than once... Emily in Paris has a huge racism problem... and it also comes up as arrogant." He goes on to say, "When people say Emily in Paris portrays French culture in a very insulting way, they're not exaggerating." "The French in this show think Americans are the greatest and they aspire to be more like them and as a French person myself... Yeah no that's not accurate." "During the entire show, Emily tries to teach the French that doing things the American way is the right way." (I highly recommend watching this video if you don't mind the swear words, it has good points, that's why I'm just using quotes). "Emily in Paris only has two characters of color... these two characters of color are made of degrading cliches..." "All of the racist things [Mindy, a POC character,] says were written by a white writer." "The other non-white character is this guy... He's one of Emily's co-workers and he's gay... and I had to read he was gay online... and his entire point of existence in this show is to be the most stereotypical gay man the writers could come up with... all he does is stand in the background and act sassy... The writers are so dismissive with him I'm pretty sure the only reason they made him black is so they could kill two birds with one stone." "Emily in Paris has two actors of color and both of them feel like an afterthought." My thoughts: Don't watch this show. It has a season two coming out, don't watch it, even if you want to see how bad it is. There will be someone online who will tell you why it's bad and you'll save time reading or watching their review instead of giving Netflix a reason for a season three.

Anyways, those are just a few (obvious) examples of how racism isn't okay, even if it isn't inherently meant to be racist. Song of the South was meant to be a heart-warming movie full of stories about morals, but it's been banned and basically erased from Disney history because it comes off as being pro-slave. Millie was meant to be a commentary on Asain stereotypes while lifting up Asain actors so they were given more opportunities, yet most schools have banned it. And Emily in Paris, despite its connections that got it nominated for awards, was such a dumpster fire, a good review is near impossible to find.

#black lives matter #stop asain hate #song of the south #disney #thoroughly modern millie #broadway #ashley park #emily in paris #netflix

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eelhound · 3 years

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"But when you’re on the [political] left, it’s important to get used to not winning, because it’s going to be the default state of things. This is for a very obvious reason: the powerful are powerful, and the powerless are powerless. The richest man in the world is a difficult person to beat. We will probably try and fail many times before we succeed.

In case you’re tempted to think of losing a union vote the way Amazon would like you to think of it — as the 'genuine' expression of the 'will' of the workforce — remember what the actual situation here is. The average fulfillment center worker probably hasn’t heard much about unions, and let’s assume they begin undecided. Amazon then deluges them with propaganda, saying that union dues will eat up their paycheck (false, union workers actually earn more money) and the union will 'get in the way' of relations between them and management (in fact, having a union is like having a burly best friend who can take on bullies for you). Working in an Amazon warehouse means doing exhausting nonstop labor with barely enough time to go to the bathroom. When they do go to the bathroom, there will be signs in it telling them lies about unions. Amazon quickly punishes or fires any of their fellow workers if they try to talk about unionizing — the company is even willing to falsely accuse union organizers of harassment. Amazon does this even though it’s against the law, because they have one objective: to stop a union from forming, by whatever means necessary.

Union organizers in this kind of circumstance face an almost impossible task. When are they supposed to talk to workers to counter the company’s propaganda? How can they recruit people who fear being fired if they’re known as pro-union? The reason not many workers are in unions today is not that being in a union is bad for workers but that employers are incredibly powerful and have honed the means of thwarting campaigns. They hire 'union avoidance' law firms who specialize in helping them make sure any vote goes their way.

It’s going to take changes in the law to make this easier, which is why so many who are pro-labor are aggressively pushing Democrats to pass the 'PRO Act,' which would penalize companies that violate workers’ organizing rights and make it more difficult for them to spread anti-union propaganda. It is unsurprising that the National Retail Federation thinks it is 'the worst bill in Congress' and Republican officials are desperately rallying to oppose it. If it becomes law, the playing field won’t be leveled, exactly, but it will be a little less tilted toward employers. It will be a small victory, which will have to be followed by a lot of hard work to try to build union power.

Small victories are the kind we most often get. Some on the left decry 'incrementalism,' but sadly, progress tends to be slow and come in dribs and drabs and sometimes you just get completely screwed and have to figure out what to do next. It is important to see left successes and failures in the context of a long historic struggle. That struggle is more urgent than ever now, thanks to climate change and nuclear weaponry, but it will not be over soon even if we achieve zero emissions and permanent global peace.

Both times Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic nomination, I was devastated, but then I reminded myself how incredibly significant it was that a democratic socialist had even come close to winning the nomination. Now we are seeing that the left has actually succeeded in changing the national political agenda for the better — the Wall Street Journal observes that Joe Biden appears to be rejecting some of the conservative economic tendencies of the Obama administration and that economic austerity has fallen out of fashion. This is in part because leftists have done a good job making their arguments and organizing people. It’s a small victory, but we shouldn’t discount it, because even small victories are the result of tireless labor by activists. Heck, the whole reason Amazon pays a $15 an hour starting wage — which it cited as a reason workers didn’t need a union — is that they were pressured by the enormously successful nationwide Fight For 15 movement.

The company raised the wage 'to quiet critics.' Well, as the critics, we need to make sure we’re not quieted, that we redouble our efforts and get even noisier. After the Bessemer loss, we cannot get despondent. We need to remember that labor activists for centuries have persevered in spite of more aggressive and violent repression than we see today."

- Nathan J. Robinson, from "Being on the Left Involves Losing a Lot." Current Affairs, 10 April 2021.

#nathan j. robinson #quote #quotations #labor rights #amazon union #democratic socialism #labor unions #work #bessemer #activism #economics #capitalism

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milkboydotnet · 4 years

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lumpen/proletariat

"The lumpen/proletariat cannot be defined as simply the poorest of the poor, or the ever-unemployed. Nor can it be pictured simply as career criminals and beggars, as many believe. Although these categories often find themselves within the lumpen. It is identified by its central characteristic: as a ‘partial-class’ or ‘non-class’ of peoples who have voluntarily or involuntarily left the ‘regular’ classes of economic production and distribution. Who are ‘unplugged’ if you will from regular class society. Of those declassed fragments or strata fallen out of the class structure, who are then forced to find a living from parasitism or outlaw activities." J. Sakai, The Dangerous Class and Revolutionary Theory and Mao Z’s Revolutionary Laboratory & the Lumpen/Proletariat: Thoughts on the Making of the Lumpen/Proletariat" Out of this enduring culture and criminalization of the zone, lumpen/proletarians are constantly being made in larger and larger numbers even in the most technologically advanced and affluent nations of imperialist ‘civilization.’ Of all the classes of capitalist society, if is the lumpen/proletariat that has the most outdated theory attached to it. Just scraps of theory, really. Still pictured by many socialists as a small and marginal maybe-or maybe-not 'class,’ wretched and largely unimportant to revolutionarv change. But today the lumpen have become major players in the political crises of both left and right. This is something that has to be picked up, no matter how white-hot to the touch." J. Sakai, The Dangerous Class and Revolutionary Theory and Mao Z’s Revolutionary Laboratory & the Lumpen/Proletariat: Thoughts on the Making of the Lumpen/Proletariat "Technological development creates a large middle class, and the number of workers increases also. The workers are paid a good deal and get many comforts. But the ruling class is still only interested in itself. They might make certain compromises and give a little—as a matter of fact, the ruling circle has even developed something of a social structure or welfare state to keep the opposition down—but as technology develops, the need for workers decreases. It has been estimated that ten years from now only a small percentage of the present workforce will be necessary to run the industries. Then what will happen to your worker who is now making four dollars an hour? The working class will be narrowed down, the class of unemployables will grow because it will take more and more skills to operate those machines and fewer people. And as these people become unemployables, they will become more and more alienated; even socialist compromises will not be enough. You will then find an integration between the black unemployable and the white racist hard hat who is not regularly employed and mad at the blacks who he thinks threaten his job. We hope that he will join forces with those people who are already unemployable, but whether he does or not, his material existence will have changed. The proletarian will become the lumpen proletarian. It is this future change—the increase of the lumpen proletariat and the decrease of the proletariat—which makes us say that the lumpen proletariat is the majority and carries the revolutionary banner." Huey P. Newton, Intercommunalism (1974)

"Who will build on an ideal that begins with force? The vanguard party is now nation-wide. But vanguard parties cannot build revolutions alone. Nor can a vanguard party expect full party-line agreement before it moves in the direc-tion of the people. Revolution is illegal. It's against the law. It's prohibited. It will not be allowed. It is clear that the revolutionary is a lawless man. The outlaw and the lumpen will make the revolution. The people, the workers, will adopt it. This must be the new order of things, after the fact of the modern industrial fascist state." George Jackson, Blood In My Eye

"You might note that Marx perceived the lumpen (our class) to be an unreliable and reactionary class (although many stout and sincere revolutionaries may be found within it). This is due to the values we’ve internalized from our roles of functioning outside of and many times against the laboring classes. Ours are the values of illegitimate capitalism, and deep down our tendencies – if we don’t strive against them unceasingly – will be to fall back into the unprincipled and predatory tendencies of anti-working class and anti-social behaviors and values.In process of mobilizing the social forces for revolution in China, Mao first systematically analyzed each of the Chinese social classes, their relations to the productive forces, and their inherent class tendencies – pro- and counter-revolutionary – and thereby determined who were allies and enemies of the Chinese revolution. He recognized that those classes whose own class interests would be benefited by changes developed along the revolutionary road would support revolution only up to the point that the struggle served and furthered their class interests, e.g. the national bourgeoisie would support China’s anti-imperialist national liberation struggle so to defeat imperialist domination, and in its place rise to the top as the national ruling class. The national bourgeoisie opposed being subordinated to outside imperialist countries and their Chinese Comprador bourgeoisie puppets. So he accurately perceived that the national bourgeoisie will support the revolution up to the point that it serves to defeat imperialist and comprador rule; however, the national bourgeoisie will jump ship, and indeed struggle desperately against the revolution (even to the extent of going over to the imperialist camp) at the point when the revolution seeks to effectively put the working masses in power as the new ruling class instead of them. This is in fact what happened throughout the Third World during the various national liberation struggles that swept the globe from the 1950’s through 1970’s, and is why most of them became only nominally independent yet remained still economically owned, exploited, and dominated by the West." Defying the Tomb: Selected Prison Writings and Art of Kevin Rashid Johnson

#lumpen/proletariat #lumpenproletariat #lumpen #lumpen-proletariat #quote #kevin rashid johnson #huey p. newton #george jackson #j. sakai #maoism #marxism-leninism-maoism #communism #revolution

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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America, We Need to Talk

For some reason in these past years the concept of ‘Reason’ and ‘Sense’ has departed your country, I’ve hissed, I’ve simmered, I’ve hit my head against the wall hoping that in the end IN THE END the collective mass of the American People will open their eyes, stop making excuses and realise that for 4 years, America has not become ‘Great Again’ I’ve resisted the urge to unload many a time, but news that Donald Trump is to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize is just too much, because this is literal horseshit. For some part it feels like they’re only trying it just so Republicans can force a rhetoric as if Trump did a better job than Obama - who won in 2009 for easing religious tensions, preventing Nuclear Weapons distribution and profiting, working towards fixing climate change and assisting with the UN - as people die of COVID, cities burn and violence against peaceful protests continue to ravage your country.

I have to say that again, Ravage, because I feel as though some people are blind to the matter at hand. Donald Trump will say something and his cult of followers will believe it, when someone disagrees and presents evidence it’s deemed irrelevant or forged, if a Democrat says something on the contrary they need a full powerpoint presentation to prove it, somehow this mentality has poisoned the American society when the louder people will say something in confidence only for the rest of the world to read and think it’s one of the dumbest shit they’ve ever read. This isn’t just coming from a Brit, this is coming from family in Chicago, a co-worker who moved out of America and worked in the army, Italians, Greeks and someone who was in Hong Kong during the riots. The people who believe in Democracy, Majority Vote, Free Healthcare, Fair Wage, Equal Rights AND international peace that doesn’t look towards World War Fucking Three look at your country in shame because the state of your leadership and how it’s been allowed to continue with ridiculously boneheaded and stubborn reluctance to see the truth. So let’s start with the boiling point shall we, a Nobel Peace Prize Nomination? Have you learned anything from the last year? Or has the far-right got the prize so by the balls that this nomination is used as a cheap add-on to coincidentally peacock the Trump administration in its build to an election. The nomination to Trump has been cited to be in favour of the following things; Israel-UAE relations (aka ‘Saving the Middle East), Serbia-Kosovo deal (aka ‘Saving the ‘Middle East’’), Inter-Korea relations and likely the support of Jerusalem and Hong Kong, and in face value that may sway the common person who knows nothing about these deals. But a simple amount of research cuts most of these at the legs. Let’s talk Serbia and Kosovo, since it’ll directly involve Israel, relations were tense but they have not been at war, they are peacefully not talking to each other. The media will have you think that Peace has been brokered by Trump only in this but in reality Serbia still refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence, the tensions are still there you can just travel there now. This is an agreement that’s been build up since the economic and trade agreement in 2013. If that year isn’t surprising you that is 3 years before Trump was elected, when Barrack Obama was in office - Republican Public Enemy Hillary Clinton was at the forefront of that when she was Secretary of State. So no, Trump hasn’t saved the Middle East by this deal, mainly because Kosovo and Serbia are in Europe, they have been part of the EU for quite some time and the deal is already jeopardized since Serbia won’t build an embassy in Jerusalem if Israel recognize Kosovo as independent - which was part of the original deal. Also for all the Republicans’ use of ‘fear by Communism’ to slander their opponents they sure love to rub shoulders with countries also rubbing shoulders with Russia and China. So this segues into Israel-UAE, the Arab Nations have mainly been reluctant to recognize Israel as independent. On the 13th August a deal was struck called the Abraham agreement establishing Diplomatic Relations. Except, this was in the making since 2012 and only delayed to help progress Israeli-Palestine conflicts (which Trump’s actions with Israel led to Palestine cutting ties with the administration and his ‘Peace Plan’ falling apart 3 years after announcing it). UAE and Israel had been in conversation before Trump was signed in, but only made headway when the FDD - already funded by the UAE - took over. For 3 years USA did little for the relations, UAE and Israel doing it themselves, it’s only now do the US mediate a peace agreement, which meant that Trump didn’t really do much in terms of convincing both sides, he just made sure things didn’t get out of hand - which was never close to happening since there is little tensions. It was Kushner who requested the meeting and Mossad also had a huge part in it. Also I want to add that the US are only buddied with these two out of fear of Iran - you know, that country that Trump almost goaded into war in January after bombings and the death Assassination of General Soleimani who helped the US in the wake of 9/11 track and hunt down the Taliban, as well as fighting ISIS, how peaceful was that? The Middle East is still in Civil and Proxy Wars, no saving has been done there, the US just were there for Israel and UAE to confess that they’re friends. Which leads me to Korea. The Olympics helped more than Trump did, a shared effort where both countries had to travel and accommodate each other. Tensions may’ve eased in 2016 but they were far from resolved and in 2020 not much is better. Korea still antagonize one another and the North still antagonizes the US, any ‘peace’ the Trump Administration will claim to towards Korea faded quickly. And finally, Hong Kong, the US may be supportive and rightly so but this is again fear of Communism, it should’ve happened sooner but the US was hoping for that big and meaty trade deal with China. And this isn’t months I’m talking about it’s years, the proposal first took place after the Umbrella Movement...in 2014, it was annually brought up in Congress but postponed until the Senate decided to. And after Trump signed it he said he might veto it in favour of the China trade deal

“We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I'm also standing with President Xi: he's a friend of mine." - Donald Trump, November 2019

So really, this Nobel Peace Prize is the product and efforts of other people that set events in motion that Trump was there just to sign his name on. Meanwhile, in the country he is President of, the COVID Death toll has officially risen to 190 Thousand. 20% of COVID deaths are in the United States. Tear Gas/Pepper Spray - which is a recognized chemical weapon not allowed to be used in warfare - is used by Trump Supporters along with paintballs to attack peaceful protesters and Trump calls that peaceful because ‘Paint is not bullets’ - as someone who has been hit with Paintballs from safe range, they will hurt like a bitch and if you don’t wear protective gear they can do enough harm to crack and sometimes even break bone, the asthmatic co-worker I aforementioned that was in Hong Kong also notes that Tear Gas is awful, it may not kill you but it is far from peaceful. In the same breath Trump refuses to condemn a 16 year old carrying an AR and shooting someone in the head. He has also refused to condemn Epstein’s financier Ghislaine Maxwell and ‘hopes that she’s well’...the sex trafficker, but when you mention late Civil Rights leader John Lewis and his words are ‘can’t say one way or the other...he didn’t come to my inauguration’. This is your leader. The embodiment of the standards the country upholds itself to, it baffles me and many many others that the American People Chose a racist, bigoted, misogynistic, careless, self-important, naive, power-mad, severally-bankrupted, reality tv personality man-child, who is also intending to use US Taxpayers money to cover lawsuit fees against him alongside all his other golf trips. The man literally said that no other president has done more for Black People than he has, this is while he profusely condemned Kaepernick taking a knee to protest Police Brutality against Blacks and POC only for years later the world support it as BLM protests still happen because action has not been taken. We’ll also see what happens on the 14th regarding the Felony Hearing of the officers in Buffalo who pushed over Gugino and gave him a brain injury which he is still rehabilitating from after Trump tried to sell him as an Antifa member. Just in case you’re unaware, antifa stands for anti-fascist but Trump will paint that again in ‘Fear of Communism’. If you actually look up this stuff, the web of Trump’s lies unravel, and yet people just forget about. The man is a pro at gaslighting I’ll give him that, I mean leaking e-mails that condemned Clinton right at election time was some cutthroat stuff, but a man who needs to rely on preying on xenophobia, paranoia, fear, racism and invests mainly on smear tactics and dismantling, is not someone who can lead a country to prosperity, the amount of leeway this man gets from his supporters just hurts my head. So let me ask you America, truly, what is it that you want? Because it can’t be this, can it? Protests, Riots, people refusing to wear a simple face mask to limit the spread of a deadly virus because they think it’s a fake thing that the entire world decided to get in on with WHO just to spite Trump? Teenagers carrying guns? Refugees refused asylum and kept in cages? Do you want to keep spending your savings just to go to the doctors? or do you think that ‘Patriotism’ is blindly defending your country’s flaws and clinging to archaic and outdated thinking because centuries ago your country prospered in it? I’ll tell it to you straight: America is not the greatest country in the world, it hasn’t been for a long time. I don’t know what your history books tell you; that Native Americans were fine with slaughter, that the US won WW2 with the military might they always had, that Vietnam was a moral victory, but the present day should tell you that your country is a mess, and the man who has been at the helm for 4 years will not fix it in another 4. There’s only so much of Obama’s policies he can plagiarize as his own; he has left the UN, left the Paris Agreement for cleaner air and energy and all his original campaign members have been arrested, an alarming amount of people associated with him are facing criminal charges - is that not a red flag? Don’t let your thoughts that as a patriot you have to support your country no matter what, true patriotism is not just the love of your country but the hope and strive to better it because you can love it but accept that it has flaws. I mean even I’ll admit that the UK has a lot of its own shit to deal with, doesn’t mean I hate where I live I just know it can be better. If this were anyone else, hell if this were a Democrat the Republican party would be booking them a flight to the other side of the world with the stuff Trump has done and let to continue on with afterwards, through him you went from the United States to an Absolute State and the rest of the world wonder if this will either lead to World War 3 or a Second American Civil War You don’t have to like Joe Biden, but he clearly looks like the lesser of the two evils here, and at least in 4 years time America under him won’t be on fire. If you still don’t like him someone new could be elected after, but right now you are on a downward spiral and need someone who can put you back into a stable place, that man is not Donald Trump. The man who wants to intercept mail-in voting and outcry its ‘risk’ of tampering when he himself voted by mail is not a truthful leader, the man who tried to cancel the World Health Organization when they simply asked to not call COVID a racist name that incited xenophobia after decrying cancel culture is not a moral leader, and the man who said that COVID would peter out and suggested injecting disinfectant into the lungs to combat it only to now suddenly buy out all the experimental treatment so that they can try and engineer a cure in time for the election campaign, is not a wise leader. All the stuff you see in these coming months is just an attempt to win your vote, for the most part it’ll be Trump stamping his name on something other people worked on for years and claiming that he did all the work. So make sure you actually check the truth of these things, research and fact-check yourself with valid, neutral sources. Take off the blinders, take a breath and actually see the full picture. And please, as well as not letting this man have the Nobel Peace Prize Don’t give this guy have a Second Term

#politics #political rant #let sense prevail for all our peace of mind

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reading-writing-revolution · 3 years

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Heather Cox Richardson:

December 8, 2020 (Tuesday)

Today is the “safe harbor” date by which state presidential votes that have been certified will go forward to Congress, where they must be counted. While Wisconsin’s votes are delayed by a late challenge, Biden has enough votes to win the Electoral College handily even without those ten electoral votes (which he should still win).

And yet, the lawsuits continue. Today the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced he would be filing a lawsuit before the Supreme Court alleging that electors from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin cannot cast votes because their states changed their voting systems to allow mail-in ballots. He alleges that these changes, made to permit voting during a pandemic, skewed the election results.

Paxton’s complaint echoes those of Trump and his allies and has been widely interpreted as Paxton’s attempt to curry favor with the president. Paxton is being investigated by the FBI for using his office to benefit a political donor, and it is possible he hopes that Trump might intercede in his behalf. Experts say this case will go nowhere; Texas has no standing to complain about how other states count their votes.

Michigan’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel, issued a statement about the lawsuit, saying: “The Motion filed by the Texas Attorney General is a publicity stunt, not a serious legal pleading. The erosion of confidence in our democratic system isn’t attributable to the good people of Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia or Pennsylvania but rather to partisan officials, like Mr. Paxton, who place loyalty to a person over loyalty to their country. The Michigan issues raised in this complaint have already been thoroughly litigated and roundly rejected in both state and federal courts– by judges appointed from both political parties. Mr. Paxton’s actions are beneath the dignity of the office of Attorney General and the people of the great state of Texas.”

The Trump efforts continue to lose in court. Today, the Supreme Court rejected a request from Republicans in Pennsylvania to block the certification of the results in that state. The Supreme Court’s decision appeared to be unanimous, and likely signaled that the justices would like to stay away from Trump’s challenges to the election results.

Today, at his “vaccine summit,” Trump claimed credit for the “miracle” of the coronavirus vaccine and suggested that he, rather than the experts, had had a better sense of the timeline for its availability. In his remarks, he quickly veered to the election results, again insisting that he had won the election and urging Republicans at the state level or the Supreme Court to find the “courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right” and to award him a second term.

Meanwhile, the pandemic worsens. The U.S. just recorded a million new infections in five days, and today we marked more than 15 million infections. More than 285,000 of us have died of Covid-19.

There is confusion over the coronavirus vaccine. This morning we learned that the Trump administration is requiring states to share with federal registries the names, birthdates, ethnicities, and addresses of the people they vaccinate against the novel coronavirus. This requirement seems like a federal intrusion into a patient’s right to privacy, and another attempt to force states to gather information on undocumented Americans, which will almost certainly make them afraid to get the vaccine.

There is also a shortage of money for distribution. While the government has poured money into developing a vaccine, Congress has not appropriated any money for getting out the word about the vaccines, hiring people to give them, or making sure people get both of the shots they need. State officials estimate they will need $8.4 billion to distribute the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the economy is sagging and the country is desperate for a coronavirus relief bill. All sides have gritted their teeth and come together behind a $900 billion bill to provide support for the jobless, support hospitals and essential workers, and float loans to small businesses. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is refusing to bring that bill to a vote unless it stops all Covid-19 related lawsuits that allege injury or death because of corporate negligence.

As least he is now willing to talk about a package. This is likely because his control of the Senate could come down to the two runoff elections in Georgia, where voters want a relief package. In Georgia, Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are being challenged by Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Reverend Raphael Warnock. Today Georgia Republicans began the process of restricting mail-in voting and getting rid of drop boxes for ballots. As journalist Ari Berman notes, Georgia Republicans wrote these laws and approved of them until the recent election, when Democrats and Black and Brown citizens began to take advantage of them. Now they are axing the laws that make it easier for people to vote.

The New York Times adds that Georgia’s third-largest county, Cobb County, dominated by Democrats, will have fewer than half of the early voting locations it had for the presidential election available for the Senate runoffs. Janine Eveler, the Cobb County director of elections, blamed the reductions on staffing shortages, but when fair vote groups offered to recruit volunteers, Eveler said there would not be time to train them.

Cooperation is not high on the Republicans’ list these days. Today, the Republicans on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies refused to affirm that the committee should be preparing for Biden’s inauguration. McConnell, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) effectively blocked what is usually a pro-forma vote to recognize the president-elect and to begin work on inauguration events. This feeds the false Republican narrative that Trump might still have a chance to overturn the election, but mostly it’s just another way to gum up the works, making even something like an inauguration, which is supposed to be a celebratory reaffirmation of our democracy, more work for Biden’s team than it ought to be.

Meanwhile, Biden has announced a three-part public strategy to combat the pandemic, pledging to require masks in federal buildings and interstate public transportation, to distribute at least 100 million vaccine shots, and to reopen most schools, all in his first 100 days.

He also continues to build out his cabinet, moving more quickly than his predecessors, at least in part to reassure Americans that he will hit the ground running after a long period when the country has been rudderless. Today Biden announced that he has tapped retired General Lloyd Austin III for Secretary of Defense.

Austin, who is 67, is a 41-year veteran of the army and headed the U.S. Central Command before he retired in 2016. Biden explained that Austin shares his desire to turn the leadership of foreign policy over to diplomats and development experts, using the military only as a last resort. Austin also oversaw the drawdown of 150,000 troops from Iraq, giving him the kind of logistical experience needed to distribute the coronavirus vaccine effectively. If confirmed, Austin will be the nation’s first African-American defense secretary.

But the nomination will require a waiver from both houses of Congress to overrule a law requiring that a military officer be out of the service for seven years before taking the post of defense secretary. This law is designed to emphasize that civilians are in charge of our military. Congress overrode the rule in 2017 for Trump’s first Secretary of Defense James Mattis, but lawmakers made it clear they did not want to make waivers a habit.

Biden has set up an interesting political problem. He is asking Congress to do for him what it did for Trump in 2017. This seems reasonable as a general proposition, but the supremacy of the civilian over the soldier in our government goes all the way back to George Washington. If members refuse either to provide a waiver for Austin or to confirm him, they will be in the position of voting against a highly qualified Black man about to break a barrier. If that occurs, popular anger will likely add momentum to Biden’s next pick, who could well be someone senators like less than they like Austin.

With the pandemic, the failing economy, and the Republicans’ unwillingness to recognize his presidency, Biden is facing an unprecedented crisis. But he definitely knows how Washington works.

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rainystudios · 4 years

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On Voting

While things are still too early to 100% call for who the nominee will be, remember, There are way too many people, often at the bottom of the social food chain that don't have the luxury to not vote and throw pity parties.

No matter how upset I am, this (and all elections) is about saving lives and reversing major damage we can't afford 4 more years of. The most vulnerable minorities are always the most affected (The disabled, POC, Queer & Trans ppl, Immigrants). As one of my friends said, if you feel too mad to vote for yourself in the Nov election vote for someone else who can't. Like POC charged with absurd felonies and trapped in the prison system, and the human beings in border concentration camps who are dying while cameras are off. Someone said voting is like getting on a bus. Even if I can't get directly to my destination I take the one that will take me closest, I don't go in the opposite fucking direction.

I remember last election so many of us told people who said they wouldn't vote, "people will die" but they wouldn't listen because it didn't affect them. 4 years later, hundreds of environmental & animal regulations & protections previously in place are gone, workers' rights & assistance programs are being dismantled, families were ripped apart and deported, the affordable care act keeps getting gutted, the lack of aid for Puerto Rico killed hundreds of people, the lack of assistance with the California fire recovery left people hurting, nazis felt emboldened to march unhindered in Charlottesville and chant 'Jews will not replace us' whilst holding flaming torches, and we have concentration camps and cages children have died in, and he already tried to start a war. Now we're saying it again.

[here’s a comprehensive list of most rollbacks that have occurred: https://civilrights.org/trump-rollbacks/ ]

Help lift up the most vulnerable, more people will die, don't be complicit, we're fucking begging you because we don't have a choice to ignore it.

I think another reason why it's so hard for Democrats to unite historically is because we're the diverse party. We have Women, POC, women who are POC, everyone under the queer spectrum LGBTQIA+, different religions and cultural backgrounds, disabilities, etc. etc. There's so much to do and so much that we're rallying for that it's going to be virtually impossible to find a "perfect" candidate that everyone loves. Which is all the more reason why we do need to unite. We can't afford to let whatever minor differences and hang ups we have clear the way for rhetoric that's sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, and enforcing of church on the state, etc. to waltz through. It's much easier to draw together over what you hate when rhetoric is similar (i.e. people rallying for muslim travel bans, pro gun, anti-choice, and legislation against LGBTQ+ ppl) that what we all have in common. So please do the right thing and vote for whoever is nominated for the Democratic party.

Also don't forget y'all, 2 years ago we got the most women and LGBT people elected at once on record and took back the house! This year we can take back the senate, and more and more each year ppl are supporting progressive ideas and WOC in leadership positions. Don't act like democracy is dead, things are coming up Milhouse if you fucking participate!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

I remember how Bush got elected when I was a kid. The votes were too close and it came down to florida (with their rigged voting machines) People weren't excited for Gore or Kerry and didn’t vote, so instead of getting a guy (both who believed in Climate change 20 years back and human rights) who was remotely decent, we got a huge war, big oil, genocide in the middle east, massive hate crime spikes and widespread propaganda of Islamophobia (the aftermath we STILL see to this day), prison systems grew, the housing market crashed & people died from lack of action in Katrina, and lots more. IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME.

WE COULD BE HAVING AN OK OR EVEN GREAT TIME BUT Y'ALL PLAYIN'.

A thought: Maybe we'd be where we want to be right now if people hadn't fucked around in the Bush elections and been so luke warm and ‘ho-hum’. That's why we're asking people not to fuck around this time just like we asked last time 4 years ago. We could’ve always been in a better place. We owe it to ourselves, the kids who can’t yet vote, and the people who’ve died in this past administration to pull fucking the brakes so we can start rebuilding.

#journal #human rights #primary #primaries

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thehouseofjohndeaf · 4 years

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How did this happen?

(photo cred)

The global pandemic has shed a light on some misconceptions regarding individualism and anti-authority. The line between anti-authority and anti-science has been blurred during a major public health crisis putting health officials and medical experts in the driver’s seat. This has led to major outcries against stay-at-home advisories, the closing of non-essential businesses, and mask mandates. The groups of people who are against the public health regulations are primarily right-wing, and are viewing these precautions as government overreach, despite the fact that the republicans have current control of the federal government. The current president has found ways to pawn off responsibility to the governors of individual states, and we see the outcry mostly coming from those living in blue states. These are primarily Americans who are part of a spectrum of right leaning politics, and identify as conservative, libertarian, alt-right, and republican. Despite all these identities and beliefs there is also a heavy anti-authoritarian and anti-government overtone to these outcries. How is this? How have right leaning individuals started believing they are the real anti-establishment counterculture, holding a firm belief that the left are the true authoritarians?

First, this starts with one of the biggest misconceptions in America; most people believe the liberals are the left. This is not true. Liberals are the center. The US does not currently have a left-wing party. Instead we have a centrist party that houses both the center and the left, this causes both and left and center to constantly lean further right.

The graph above, from Quartz Media, shows where the 2020 democratic candidates fall on the political spectrum as opposed to the incumbent republican president. The DNC continues to be a right-wing organization while being only slightly left of the republican party. The final two democratic candidates during the 2020 primaries were on opposite sides of the spectrum of the democratic party, a centrist and a leftist. The same thing that happened in 2016. The DNC ultimately gave the nomination to the centrist, because they are a centrist organization.

This next graph shows how the US major party candidates of 2020 compare to political parties in the UK. As we can see, the conservative right-wing of the UK is in line with the sitting republican US president, the centrist liberal democrats of the UK align with the majority of the US democratic candidates, and the UK’s leftist labour party is even further left than the left leaning outliers of the US democrats.

This misconception that the left is liberal in the US has led us to believe that our current definitions of right and left have a chasm of differences between them, when they are in fact all in the same wheelhouse. The republicans appear authoritarian yet successful because they are unapologetically right-wing and will stir the pot and make a lot of noise to get their way, whereas the democrats appear authoritarian yet incompetent because they are centrists who would more often rather keep the peace with a steady-as-she-goes approach than stir up actual progressive change. Democrats will pretend to be leftist, inciting progressive change, all while bombing innocents overseas and allowing their own citizens’ water to be poisoned. Republicans will explain to you why they all deserved it. It’s the same song played on a different instrument.

Since the left are the outliers, they are viewed as radicals whose ideas would never work in the western world. This has gone so far as to target anyone who identifies with politics left of center as the “alt-left”. And yet, every other major western nation has some degree of socialism working for the people in the form of state funded healthcare programs, prison reform, welfare, child tax benefits, pension systems, social housing, and public education. The US even embraces some of these things, we just refuse to call it socialism or fund it properly, we refuse to allow the right and center to be tainted by the left.

It seems a relatively simple explanation for certain groups of people to be outraged by public health officials making drastic changes to our daily lives; the effects on their income, social and mental health, as well as the economy. The question is, how is this viewed as anti-authoritarian if the outcry is both in support of the current political party with the most government control and yet also against government overreach enacted by these same people?

For the older generations and those who consume media in a traditional sense, it appears a healthy diet of Fox News and an overall distrust of the “liberal” or “mainstream” media would lead to mass misinformation and a skewed sense of reality. For the younger generations who grew up on the internet, a diet of reactionary propaganda and alt-right message boards will lead them down a rabbit hole of misinformation. Both have a distrust for “liberal” media and have a skewed concept that the liberal media is a leftist organization with an agenda to dismantle their freedoms. Ultimately, this is one way we may arrive at the concept that liberals, who are really centrists but we think they’re leftists, are trying to implement an authoritarian regime of socialist communism, when in reality the liberals have a more middle-of-the-road approach to reactionary thought, which causes conservatives and other right-wing theorists to distrust any form of organized press while they congregate online and adopt conspiracy theories to help them untie the mental knots they tied for themselves in the first place. Really, the only way for new age conservatives to believe the lies they’re churning out is for there to be some conspiracy at the center, because their views cannot coexist with reality.

But still, how did we get here? How did we brew a force of pro-conservative anti-establishment?

There was a lot of angst in the post-9/11 world for our youth, as a counterculture emerged against the Iraq War and government oversight including the patriot act and the NSA. Anarchist thought gave birth to post-anarchism, as anarchism coexisted in a technologically advanced world. How do we grapple with the concepts of individual freedom and collective living when we’re tethered to companies to provide products that keep us connected and informed? Even prior to this, most anti-authority groups understood liberalism and conservatism to be of the same breed. In 2002 Against Me! released the album Reinventing Axl Rose, Laura Jane Grace sings, “Baby, I’m an anarchist, you’re a spineless liberal…” a song referencing the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle. If one had the misconception that liberalism is leftist, they may interpret this lyric incorrectly. If liberal is left, then liberalism is more attune with socialism, meaning right-wing and libertarian thought would be opposite liberalism, and ultimately one might come to the conclusion that anarchism is more aligned with right leaning politics than left leaning politics. This person would then continue on to believe that the conservatives, the alt-right, libertarians, and republicans were the faces of anti-authority as part of their fringe groups.

It appears that millennials who grew up in a post-punk era, were clinging to the anti-establishment messages of the early 2000s during a Bush presidency. They were eventually thrust into an Obama presidency of “progressive change” as some were just entering high school and beginning to pay attention to the world around them, while others were out on their own for the first time in their lives attending college, and the oldest of the generation were first entering the workforce. This “progressive change” led to a lot of real social changes, what reactionaries call “PC culture”, and what the rest of us just recognize as time moving forward at a steady pace. Nonetheless, the Obama presidency was rather anticlimactic. While the liberals patted themselves on the back and slept peacefully to the social changes, the working poor and minorities saw little-to-no benefit, and the conservatives stewed in their rage as a smug charismatic black man was in charge of their beloved homeland. Eventually, in the height of the Obama years the housing market crash brought libertarians, socialists, and anarchists together in the national movement, Occupy Wall Street.

The problem that eventually erupted was a disdain for liberalism, critically noted as neoliberalism. While the left has been critical of liberalism and conservatism alike, the right used their view of liberalism as a leftist ideology to create a division at a time when everyone was coming together to recognize the stark inequalities of our current capitalist system, famously uniting us all as the 99%. This tactic allowed libertarianism to be recognized as the opposite of authoritarianism, however a right-wing libertarian will likely have complete faith that the free market and corporations will do the most good over the individual workers. We then wind up back at square one, with the corporations as the voices of authority. When we become dependent on their products, or they come to as close to a monopoly as possible, the working class begins to lose their freedoms. During the pandemic we’re witnessing this happen as huge corporations like Walmart and Target are open for business and able to adhere to public health and safety guidelines, whereas small businesses cannot remain open because they don’t have the proper space for social distancing or the funds for the required PPE. The outcries against this have not been against Walmart or Target for hoarding their wealth and becoming some of the only stores able to sell clothes, books, electronics, toys and other nonessentials. The outcry has been against public health officials for putting safety guidelines into practice in response to the virus.

A socialist response to this issue would have been for the government to provide PPE to small businesses so that they may remain open. What we have is a libertarian response of letting the bigger fish eat the smaller fish, and the working class are footing the bill. The current administration has put the majority of the power for economic recovery into the hands of corporations and the wealthiest individuals. This is what is hurting the working class. Yet the outrage has been against the public health officials who have put forth social distancing guidelines, stay-at-home advisories, and mask mandates. None of these things are the reason for the economic turmoil we are experiencing, it’s the current administration's hands-off approach and ignoring small businesses.

The funds for small business loans were given directly to the banks to distribute to their communities. Problems with this tactic were immediately recognizable. The banks were more likely to offer loans to the businesses who already had accounts with them, and were more likely to award loans to a business they felt would easily pay back this loan. Franchises were also recognized as single entities and rather than the corporations bail out their own chains, individual franchise owners were dependent on government funded bank managed loans. This is how the right and center handle social issues, they give money to the already wealthy and ask them to provide a service to those in need, allowing very little relief to reach those who need it most.

So no, being anti-science in the midst of a global pandemic is not rebellion, nor is it remotely anti-authority. It is playing directly into the hands of the elite. If you’re protesting government overreach and the sitting president encourages the protests with messages like “LIBERATE MICHIGAN”, it’s quite obvious the government approves of your actions. If you’re protesting government overreach while wearing merchandise you purchased from the sitting president, and holding signs in support of him, that irony is so palpable, it’s concerning that so many people cannot see it.

#coronavirus

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positivetardis-blog1 · 4 years

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Best Lawyers In Canada In 2019

Wayne Myles

Counsel, Cox & Palmer, St. John's, N.L. Myles' recent claim to fame is that the $3-billion global merger of Barbados-based Columbus International Inc. with England-based Cable & Wireless Communications PLC.. His M&A expertise, combined with his dedicated customer connections, have not only led to the greatest deal in the telecommunications company's history, but revealed that significant international prices are being deftly handled by an Atlantic Canadian law firm. He's also acted as lead counsel and strategic adviser on numerous acquisitions, licensing, and funding of many subsea and terrestrial telecommunications businesses in the international fish processing and marketing industry. Myles also advised on aviation matters, on many domestic and international commercial bankruptcy and restructuring jobs and on power and transport matters. What Republicans needed to say:[An] outstanding attorney with global vision. Huge asset to any trade, go to https://gklaw.ca/.

Pascal Paradis

Executive manager, Lawyers Without Borders Canada, Quebec City, Que. Also back to his second time on the Top 25, Paradis is a unstoppable force and also a fervent advocate for human rights, especially for women and children. As a result of Paradis' initiative, the Quebec bar joined LWBC to behave as international counsel in favour of Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger condemned to prison and flogging for his comments criticizing the regime. Since January 2015, Paradis and LWBC are leading a consortium of Canadian organizations working on a wide-range five-year job to foster justice. They plan to execute means of prevention and reconciliation for women victims of sexual violence and other individuals affected by the Malian armed battle. He also speaks at many international conferences on human rights issues. What voters had to say: He's left a very profitable position in a big national law firm to head LWBC for quite a small paycheque since he followed his heart and his enthusiasm.

Frank Iacobucci

Senior counselor, Torys LLP, Toronto, Ont. This retired justice has set the bar for police treatment of the mentally ill. His 2014 landmark report outlined 84 sound methods of helping prevent shooting of mentally ill people by the Toronto Police. The execution of the report goes a long way toward preventing catastrophic confrontations between police and emotionally disturbed individuals. Some of the recommendations include using body-worn cameras and enhanced use of tasers. The report is a strong message that the status quo is no more okay. As a Torys counselor, Iacobucci is used to advising government and company on important policy and legal matters. What voters had to say: Has anyone actually done more? and Energetic, not ceases.

Pascale Fournier

Professor & study seat, legal pluralism and comparative law, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ont. Fournier has achieved international recognition for her groundbreaking work on gender, religion, and the legislation, using fieldwork interviews with women from various states to emphasize the intricate interplay between religious and secular law. She has received numerous national and global awards and nominations in 2014. Fournier became a fellow of the prestigious International Women's Forum for her job as a pioneer in the legal profession; getting the Canada-Arab Chamber of Commerce Award for academic excellence and contribution to humankind, click to https://immigrationlegalcanada.com/. Fournier represented the University of Ottawa as a successful pioneer at the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference and was unanimously appointed by the National Assembly of Quebec to the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission. What voters had to say: Outstanding mind, according [to] Harvard's Prof. Kennedy.

Justice David Stratas

Judge, Federal Court of Appeal, Ottawa, Ont. Stratas penned possibly the very talked-about choice in the area of employment law this year. It'll affect federally regulated companies and employees for a long time to come. His February Federal Court of Appeal decision in Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada flies in the face of 40 decades of legislation allowing federally regulated employers to dismiss employees without cause. Before the conclusion, the consensus was the workers that are regulated by the Canada Labour Code could only be terminated for just cause. Many federally regulated organizations including banks, telecommunications firms, and transport businesses view the decision that a victory, due to its long-term effects. The court needs to be a tie-breaker with this issue, composed Stratas. As a result of its effect, Joseph Wilson registered for leave to appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada in late March. A choice on leave is impending. What Republicans needed to say: He is the best administrative law jurist of our age. The single one moving deep into philosophy, making sense of it all. Thoughtful, scholarly, practical, and so hard working. With respect to the last, it seems the cases that have a true effect from the Federal Court of Appeal are composed by him. Plain speaking decisions actually hammer the essential points home.

Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling

Defence counsel, Edmonton, Alta. In a rare move, Edney and Whitling have been termed as Best 25 honourees as a group. Both have spent more than a decade recommending for Omar Khadr, nearly universally on a pro bono basis. From Guantanamo Bay to the Supreme Court of Canada (three times), the improbable duo have fought for Khadr to have him released from prison (victory in May), have him treated as a child soldier, and continue to fight for his lawful rights at home and overseas. It's been exactly what the Globe and Mail called waging a war of legal attrition against the authorities, which has always done everything to paint Khadr as a dangerous terrorist who should be kept behind bars. Edney, a former football player who just started practising law in 40, has been the public and media face of the continuing legal conflicts, even taking Khadr into his own home after he had been recently released on bond. Whitling, a Harvard law grad and former SCC clerk, is a far quieter and reserved force behind the scenes. What Republicans needed to say: Dennis has gone over and beyond the call of duty in his defence of Omar Khadr. The nobility of our profession depends on lawyers like Dennis as we're occasionally called upon to defend unpopular entities or people -- but people who are no less deserving of natural justice and procedural fairness. Whitling is an smart and extremely effective advocate who remains out of the limelight. He is a fantastic lawyer. Exceptionally intelligent and excellent to work with, look more ideas to https://canadianimmigrationexperts.ca/.

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thebridgeoflions · 4 years

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Reading Pro-Trump posts so that you don’t have to

Trump supporters who develop reasons see the impeachment process as a political smear campaign against the Trump re-election because of

What they see as Dem Ukraine BS

It’s within the President’s powers, indeed, obligations, to withhold military aid during the change of administration as occurred in the Ukraine.

After more than three years of Dem moaning, groaning, bitching and complaining about hundreds of impeachable offenses- suddenly - the impeachment launches. However it is focused by the Democrats on one incident which exposed that Biden’s son was pulling down a ridiculous salary working for a foreign corporation while Biden was VP.

Hypocritically/politically , the Dems aren’t concerned about undo interference in our 2016 election by the Ukraine through the Biden Connection.

Whereas Republican Paul Manafort is in jail due to a conviction for violating lobbying laws for being a secret lobbyist for the Ukraine through 2016.

What they see as Obvious Partisanship

The Dems alluded to Stygian levels of corruption with the relationship between SCOTUS Kennedy’s son, Justin, and the Deutsch bank loan to Trump (2009) and the Judge’s retirement (2018). Even though the loan [a] occurred over a decade ago BEFORE Trump was in office [b] the loan was guaranteed by a lien on property [c] Justin Kennedy no longer works for the Bank. [d] Incidentally, no one has advanced the slightest shred of evidence to suggest the loan was improper.

If Trump has a hold over either Kennedy, why would he use it to create a vacancy? SCOTUSes are notoriously independent. Why risk that if you have a sure thing? Who in their right mind wouldn’t realize this?

Dem Russia BS

Russia hasn’t been a serious threat to the security of the US since before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Dems blame Russian hackers for having supervillain capabilities leading to HRC’s loss in 2016. Which is ridiculous since [a] no votes were changed and [b] to the Trump voters who don’t and wouldn’t use social it’s weak minded to make election decisions based on social media.

The Dems ignore that the alleged Russian hacking of the DNC server did history’s fastest download long distance over a wide quality of cabling. It is far less likely than that someone with DNC clearance did an at-server download and sent a flashdrive to Assange. Along the “if they truly believed it was the wascally Russkies” the Dems would have had the Obama FBI or NSA do a diagnosis of the server. Instead, the Dems use a private security company and destroy the server WITHOUT being examined by the government.

The allegedly ‘ignorant’ Trump voter is not shocked that the Electoral College decided the 2016 election just as it had the 59 Presidential elections previously. Unlike the allegedly ‘highly educated’ Dem voter.

The Russians didn’t magically influence the Democrats to [a] hamhandedly cheat Bernie out of the nomination [b] nominate HRC who is hated by large segments of the black electorate for 1990s “thug” comments, for establishment of the for-profit prisons and for re-enslavement of blacks through incarcaration, or [c] failure of HRC to go to critical swing states she subsequently lost by small margins.

What they view as issues the Dems won’t discuss

AMERICAN VIOLENCE is linked to a type of person, not the existence of weapons. Otherwise, every army in the world would decimate it’s own people. Neither existing nor new laws will prevent the type of person from acting out.

AR-TYPE WEAPONS: the 1994-2004 Clinton/Dem ban was largely directed at smaller drive-by automotive weaponry. The wholesale incarceration of the brown and black community promoted by the Clintons as well as Dems like Biden, accomplished the decrease in that violence and mass shooting statistics. The GOP/NRA opposed ban that applied to AR-type weapons did not demonstrably reduce the number of mass shootings nor necessarily the number of casualties. The 1980s has plenty of mass shootings using conventional weaponry as did the recent mass shooting at Saugus HS in Santa Clarita.

ARMED CITIZENRY: Liberals look at Hong Kong 2019 and don’t think, “maybe it’s not a good idea to be unarmed and simply to trust a government?” Far Leftists agree with Gun-huggers in this. Centerist Democrats in rural areas with large wild hog, bear, moose agree as well. Anyone who lives in farming areas with miles between farm houses ask, “what government?”

TAXING THE RICH WON’T HELP THE WORKING VOTER: Basically taxing the Rich will make the Federal deficit go down. That doesn’t put money in the workers’ wallets. Without other serious, largely ignored and very difficult changes to the socio-economic landscape, wealth inequality would continue its downward spiral.

Raising the Federal Minimum Wage (outside of Wealthy urban areas) devastates small local businesses to the advantage of the large oligarchical corporations. Even in- large urban areas, raising the Minimum wage will benefit Landlords and Big Box stores the most.

REDUCING GOVERNMENT: Gutting the military budget would put millions out of work who are making (obsolete) armaments. BUT, the voting armament workers do go home at night. Replacing military with Infrastructure work may require a more Gypsy lifestyle, working for smaller companies with less benefits. Part of the appeal of coal (local, long term jobs) over wind (traveling required, once built move on). There’s a perpetual shortage of Construction trade workers outside of the large Urban areas in large measure because of these issues.

(My Venn diagram still overlaps with conservative interests like the outdoors and history. So the Tumblr-bot sends me conservative issues. I consider the reasoned posts which adjusted some of my reflexive positions.)

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misscecil · 5 years

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How To Be A Great Art Ally to your Creative Friends.

Slightly tweaked from my 2015 post How To Be A Great ART ALLY

I’ve been having a lot of heart to hearts lately with my friends who are authors and artists and we’re all saying the same thing: It is getting harder and harder for everyone who isn’t in the top 5% of their industry to get the word out about work they are doing.

Because of the way the industries are now, many artists are not getting the marketing and push that they deserve or need. Much of that promotion and publicity now falls on the artist’s shoulder. Your artist friend may have a good career, but unless they are crazy lucky, or have the “it” thing of the moment, your artist friend is probably really struggling.

“What. But they have so many books out! They are on tour all the time! They are always doing some wacky play!”

Sadly, about 90% of artists are struggling and barely making a living wage. According to the NY Times (1/5/19) The median wage for most authors is $20,300

Most of your creative friends have full-time day jobs on top of their full-time art careers. Or they are taking a lot of side speaking gigs, lecturing or school visits and other supplemental work to add to their income to meet basic needs.

Remember, every new project that they do is like starting from scratch.

For example, many of the people who I know who are not artists see all the stuff that I am doing and think that it’s going so great for me that I don’t need their help to get the word out about my books. But I do. All of your artist friends (even the most famous ones) need your support all the time.

To be a great Art Ally for any of your author/artist friends I’ve drummed up a list of things that you can do. I’ve focused on books, since I’m an author, but I’ve added helpful tips within to give you ideas on how to help your music, performer, filmmaker, comic book, visual artist and indie game maker friends.

1) Pre-order their stuff. Seriously. If your friend has a book (or CD or DVD or indie game or comic book) coming out pre-order it. Pre-orders give the publishing company an indication of interest and can help with print runs. Good pre-orders sometimes help a book because the publishing company may give a book a little push with extra marketing money and publicity based on those numbers.

2) Show up. If your friend has a reading or something, go to it. “But I went to it once for another book!” That’s great! You are a supporter! But, every book is a whole new thing! (Go to their rock show! Play! Art gallery opening! If your friend is in a film/made a film go opening weekend, that’s when the box office counts. Or order it on VOD the week it drops. Or buy the game the week it comes out. You get the idea.)

3) When you are there, buy the book. “But I already pre-ordered it!” Yeah, I know. But buying it at the store or the reading helps the bookstore and the numbers and will help your friend do another reading there the next time. This is especially important if your friend is doing a reading not in their hometown. (If your friend is a musician, buy merch because that might be how they are paying for gas. If your friend is an artist, buy a piece of art because that might equal a bag of groceries.) (comics peeps put your pals book on your pull list) (etc)

3a) “But argh! This is not my kind of book. I don’t read that genre. It’s not for me. I’m not a kid/teen.” Sure, that’s fair. The book might not be for you. But I bet you one million dollars that you know somebody that the book (or other thing) would be perfect for. Maybe a strange aunt? Maybe your weird nephew? Maybe your co-worker? And remember the holidays are always just around the corner! Why not get it signed? Think of it as a back up present. You can give it at a white elephant exchange. If all else fails, get a copy and donate it to your local library or if it’s a kids book, to the school library nearest you.

4) Signal boost their work. While it may look to you like everybody knows about your friend’s book, they probably don’t. Remember that we are all kind of in a bubble when it comes to social media. Authors (and artists of all kinds) are always looking for new readers/audience and you totally have a bunch of friends that your author/artist friend doesn’t know. And those friends might have never heard of your friend’s book, movie, game, music and it might be right up their alley. And those friends have friends that you don’t know. And so on. And so on. So every once in a while, if you like and in a way that you are comfortable with, an easy Art Ally action is to Tweet, Instagram, Pintrest or Facebook (or repost) something about that person’s art thing on the social medias! This signal boosting helps to get new eyeballs on the book (or art thing) that your friend is doing.

5) Review it / Rate it. Perhaps you are on Goodreads? Or perhaps you frequent Amazon or B&N or Powells? If you really are a fan of the book (or art thing), a simple way to help boost your friend’s work is by giving it a star rating or a review. (For musicians you can do this at those places as well. Also you can add their album to your streaming site and rate it! For films rate it on Netflix if it’s there! For games there are places to do this too!)

5a) For books, on Goodreads it’s also helpful if you add it to your to read shelf. It’s both helpful before the book comes out and when the book comes out. So if you haven’t done it already, go to it! Add all your friends books to your to read shelf. It’s not too late!

6) Make sure that it is in your local library branch! Libraries are the biggest purchasers of books! An author wants their book to be read! Libraries help with that! Maybe you are librarian? Or someone super close to you is a librarian? This is where you can really help to get it on the library radar by making sure that it is on the order list for your branch or for your system. Sidenote: Many libraries are too poor to purchase books this is a great place for you to donate that extra book!

7) Consider using it in your class! Many books have reader guides or teacher guides. Are you a teacher? Or is someone super close to you a teacher? If you love the book, Or if not that, you can donate the book to your (or your teacher pal’s) school library or classroom library for students to enjoy.

8) Book Club it. If you have a book club, suggest your group read your friend’s book. Or maybe just have a one-off book club and get a group of your friends together to read your friend’s book. If your friend writes for kids, do a mother/ daughter or father /son book club with a group of people. I’m 100% certain that your author friend would be delighted to come over (or if they live far, Skype) to discuss their book with your book club. (for musicians you could host a living room show at your house)

9) Ask your art pal to come in and speak! Maybe your school or library has a budget to bring in a variety of guest speakers for classrooms or assemblies? Your friend would be perfect for this. If your institution has no budget, you can still ask your friend to come and speak! Lots of authors have sliding scales and can organize a way to sell their own books and that can offset a pro bono visit. Also, it will help them to get new readers. Being an art ally is all about getting new audiences for your arty friends. (Your other artist pals would make great classroom / assembly visitors as well.)

10) Vote and Nominate. It’s possible that there are lists that you can vote on or nominate your friends for that they may be eligible for and deserving. This could be anything from your local publicly voted on thing to a list that is for professionals which you might be. It’s easy for everyone to remember to nominate the big best sellers of the year or the debut books that are getting the big pushes. But there are many midlist books that are wonderful and get lost in that shuffle. Make sure to champion the midlist! They really need help to be seen! (This is the same for all of your artist friends. There is always a thing that is going on where they can use your vote or nomination. You’ve gotten those emails / updates.)

11) Hand sell. Maybe you are a bookseller? Make sure that the book is on the shelf. And then, when and if you love it, hand sell it! You can also help by making sure that the book is still on the shelf once it’s sold. Many stores don’t automatically re-order a book if it doesn’t sell more than a certain amount. If you are not a bookseller, you can still hand sell by just talking up the book to people. (Talk up their music, game, comic, play, and movie.)

11a) If you work in retail anywhere and your pal is a musician and you like their music: Try putting their album on at work! Who knows? Maybe someone will ask you who that swell band is? Your pal may gain a new listener!

12) Be a Microphilanthropist. Support their Patreon/Kickstarter/Go Fund me. It really helps to get that support whether it be a small patreon contribution or a small contribution to getting that dream project done. Support their Indiegogo or Kickstarter or Patreon. For your other artist friends who are making movies, plays, albums, comics, indie video games support their crowdfunding or patreon effort. Really. You can totally afford the $5-10 level (even if you think the project is lame.) for a crowdfunding and $1 for patron. And it will really help them and boost morale.

13) Be a good literary citizen. If you are an author, remember to be a good literary citizen. Promote yourself, but also do stuff for the larger literary community. Participate and include others. There are many things you can do. You can organize events. You can pitch panels. You can show up to things. You can volunteer to be a judge for things or to moderate panels (be a good moderator if you do.) You can write essays about other works. Remember to extend past your own inner circle of friends to include people who you might not know. Being an artist is very hard. There are many ups and downs in a career. At some point everyone goes through a hard time and needs help. Avoid the cool kids table mentality. Be kind. When you are on the top, don’t forget to keep helping your community. Diversify your literary and artistic world. (Other artists, you know what this is in your own field. Art citizens for the win!)

14) Invite your friend over to dinner. Or buy them dinner. Or have a potluck. Everyone could use a good night out with friends and conversation. It’s a spirit booster. No lie.

#art ally

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emblem-333 · 5 years

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William Jennings Bryan and American Socialism

No matter how many times we are confronted with the similarities of history we as human beings do the same exact things our predecessors did. We like to believe we are in uncharted territory, that there is something inherently special about the times we currently live in. Or, that we’re in the “end of history.” In reality, history never ends. Humanity never ceases evolving — or devolving. As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the disgruntled electorate grow angrier at how they’ve become ignored largely by their representatives. The only time we’ve encountered such a scenario in our nation’s history is The Gilded Age when the oligarchs in the country amassed a substantial sum of wealth dwarfing the income of the average American by embarrassing margins. Unlike today where it’s mostly tech giants destroying the country, in the later half of the 1800’s post-Civil War it was the rail roads and Wall St. exercising their respective monopolies to crush the growing force of organized labor.

Laborers were harassed, threatened, beaten by their employer for the mere request of better wages, manageable hours and basic human rights. In the days predating socialism arriving on the shores of the U.S the laborers were labeled as unruly strikers self-centered and uncaring towards the betterment of the country. The elite had their allies in the press smear the name of the poor constantly and populists campaigns seeking to reform a clearly broken system ended up dead on arrival. Even the book ‘The Wizard of Oz’ took pot shots at the farmer, laborers and populism in general. Victor Fleming portrayed the fraudulent utopia of the Emerald City as commentary of the issuing of greenback currency in lieu of Americans using the gold standard. In the middle of the Gilded Age, farmers had taken out loans when greenbacks were accepted currency. When times got rough President Grover Cleveland made greenbacks virtually useless and forced farmers to pay their debts back via the gold standard. This devalued their currency whilst rising up the inflation of the loans they’ve taken out. Greenbacks only have value due to the country agreeing at the time that it is such. The third party known as the “Greenbacks” sought to undo what they deemed to be an injustice towards the agricultural class.

While the Democrats favored the south they hardly were open to drastic change being proposed by the populists. Collective bargaining and making illegal for the government to seize land under “intimate domain” to build more railroads was frowned upon, even something as human as child labor laws were seen as harmful to the stability of the American economy. Never mind the economy seemed to crash nearly every couple of years.

Like it or not, but class warfare usually brings about economic justice for the downtrodden. The idea it doesn’t is a farce perpetrated by those either woefully and genuinely ignorant or wishing to protect their own capital. When the poor and the middle class unite to battle the oppressive elites it’s far more productive than if we fight amongst ourselves. But the below classes need representatives to champion their respective causes and unite the wings. In the days predating effective activism in the United States the best you could hope for is a representative forging his path, climbing the ladder of D.C and acting as your voice. That voice turned out to be former Nebraskan representative William Jennings Bryan. Bolstered by populist James B. Weaver his party fused with the populist democrats and managed to overtake the Bourbon establishment at the convention. Curiously, Bryan’s running mate was a wealthy shipbuilder named Arthur Sewall of Maine. Sewall never served nor had any experience in government. He was picked to possibly finance the underfunded campaign. The propaganda machine of the Republicans working in consort with gold Democrats did more than damage the populist Bryan. Losing, albeit competitively. Thus began Bryan’s reign over the party even though himself wouldn’t be elected to the Oval Office in either of his three attempts.

Perhaps if Bryan had chosen a more experienced candidate as a running mate his chances would’ve been maximized. It’s not like Sewall’s money did anything to assist Bryan. If anything it damaged his standing amongst the populists who were so dissatisfied at his nomination they nominated their own Vice President for the Bryan ticket. Initially, Bryan wanted second-placer Richard Bland Missourian representative as his running mate. However, Bland wished to run for his old congressional seat. Publisher John R. McLean of Cincinnati also was in the running finishing runner-up to Sewall. McLean was a railroad merchant and like Sewall his nomination likely spurs the further left wing of the party as well. Other names tossed around are governor Claude Matthews of Indiana. A moderate populist who broke up some strikes during his brief term. Matthews was lockstep on Bryan on social issues like prohibition of alcohol. Maybe his nomination would work as a mea culpa to the Cleveland delegation? The best option for Bryan was Iowan Governor Horace Boies. A supporter of low tariffs (a forgotten hallmark of Bryan’s candidacy), pro-silver and generally a decent liberal.

Bryan was far and away the most progressive nominee the Democrats — or the Republicans have ever put up. A fiery preacher demanding the direct election of senators, an end to child labor and proponent of Women’s Suffrage. Bryan was no doubt ahead of his time and paid the dear price electorally for it. The public wasn’t willing to jettison the norms to such a degree Bryan was proposing and left him at the altar. Much of his populist ideas were adopted by Theodore Roosevelt forcing Bryan even further to the left. Calling for a Universal Basic Income and local ownership of utilities in future campaigns.

Hindsight is 20/20, but Bryan would’ve been likelier to win if he picked a representative from a crucial swing state to balance the ticket and compromised on some issues, except the free coinage of silver. Though outside of the agricultural states it posed little to no incentive to the industrial workers of Illinois, Ohio, and other states making up the Rust Belt. Bryan likely needed to be more of a hawk on issues such as American Imperialism. In real life he’d support and volunteer himself for service during the Spanish-American War. In his religious eyes Bryan saw his country as liberators to the Cubans from the dreaded imperial Spanish. Bryan could drawback troops after the war was won and leave Cuba to govern itself and our relations with them would have been drastically altered for the better.

After winning Iowa by 942 votes Bryan bested McKinley in the electoral college 225-222. Bryan sweeps the south, excluding West Virginia, and does surprisingly well in the Midwest and west. Losing just Illinois, Wyoming, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. I campaigned as a crusader against tariffs in the heartland and in the industrial areas I promised not to overturn any apple carts by reforming labor laws. I managed to sell myself in moderate states like Iowa by appealing to their needs beyond the issue of silver. For the industrial worker the coinage of silver meant very little to them. What they wanted was basic human rights in the workplace. Bryan was their ally only he couldn’t manage to sell himself to them in real life.

To be fair to Bryan it is unlikely for someone of his caliber to have won given the circumstances. The poor economy and its subsequent blame was placed at the feet of the outgoing Cleveland. Fortunate enough to dodge the recession of 1890 which cost his successor Benjamin Harrison a second term. The Panic of 1893 ensured Cleveland wouldn’t be popular to challenge for a third term. Perhaps if Cleveland won re-election in ‘88 and McKinley succeeded him, imposed the unpopular “McKinley Tariff” designed to protect American goods and encourage the purchase of said goods. In the 1890 midterms Republicans were routed and by ‘92 the House, Senate and Presidency were under Democratic control.

Say this happens in 1894. The McKinley Tariff is vetoed by Cleveland when it was initially proposed in ‘90. President McKinley institutes his plan once he enters the Oval Office. Our allies Great Britain institute retaliatory tariffs against the United States and the recession of ‘93 is McKinley and his party’s baby. This’ll make it easier for the challenger Bryan to win in ‘96.

Chances are, Bryan pushes hard to get the United States out of the darkness of capitalism and into the light of socialism-lite. Bryan believed in a workers' right to unionize. He wouldn’t have used military force to put down strikes. He’d work to end child labor laws, regulate the standard workday to eight hours, and regulate financial sectors and bust up monopolies. Basically, Bryan is a better, though less bombastic Teddy. While Bryan in his old age, no doubt increasingly bitter at his string of his defeats, clutched to his bible during the Monkey Scopes Trial and embraced the KKK, the younger Bryan was more idealistic, pacifist and less set in his ways. In no way could he be mistaken as crusader for the downtrodden non-white people. But neither were the Republicans. Anti-Lynching laws weren’t passed until Calvin Coolidge did so in the late 1920’s. The Republicans dominated the White House in those days losing just four presidential elections between 1860 and 1928.

Not only does the United States image in the long term benefit from Bryan’s pacifist foreign policy — I doubt Hawaii is annexed during his presidency — you also have the Progressive Era arrive sooner with the Democrats leading the charge, the typically conservative party migrates to the more liberal Republicans for solace. The republicans at this time were friendly to big business and were beginning a downward spiral into laissez-faire capitalism. It took the miraculous arrival of Roosevelt to prevent both parties becoming stooges of the railroads and standard oil. Though Wall Street enjoyed preferential treatment because of course.

The electorate would be subjected to a gigantic realignment. The Republicans benefiting from the states ran by financiers, the Democrats still holding the south due to their confederate ties and further west where silver was very popular.

No doubt Bryan was a novice, but he was an effective novice. Despite having no experience in foreign affairs Bryan negotiated 30 peace deals during his stint as Secretary of State and preached neutrality during the run-up to U.S involvement into World War 1.

Bryan changes the makeup of the entire country. His Jacksonian ideals reverse the trajectory of where we were heading, eventually becoming the global powerhouse we are right now. Bryan likely keeps his throne until his death in 1925. So how the United States interacts with the European powers, the rise of the Soviets, among other entanglements is drastically altered. Perhaps Eugene V. Debs stays a Democrat and is a powerful force in Bryan’s administration. Maybe he’s a Supreme Court Judge? The United States potentially could become a proto-Soviet state only without the gulags and constant string of mysteriously disappearing government officials speaking out against those in power.

At the end of Bryan’s life the country he leaves behind is less imperialist, more reliant on agriculture and the wealthiest don’t exercise such power. Perhaps the worst of the Great Depression are avoided even if the Republican Party instantly takes power back after Bryan’s death.

The socialist movement stalled right around 1920. The Progressive Era assuaged many Americans away from the more radical ideology. Instead of the Industrial Revolution you’d have the Proletariat Revolution and it simply never end during Bryan’s reign.

Going further down the pike term limits are introduced after Bryan winning seven of them. So this completely does away with Franklin Roosevelt and puts the New Deal in question. Though the country is still smelling the fumes of Bryan’s presidency somewhat so much of his more ambitious legislation such as government work programs. The National Recovery Administration designed to establish a code of fair competition, to eliminate the cut-throat methods of industry likely isn’t shot down in the case of Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States. The NRA is basically the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with shark teeth for choppers.

Americans missed out on Bryan, but I don’t blame them. Bryan simply couldn’t sell himself to people who weren’t farmers.

Bryan: 225, 7,035,243

McKinley: 222, 6,736,978

Palmer: 0, 132,629

#william jennings bryan #william mckinley #american socialism #socialism #workers’ rights #NRA #Eugene V. Debs #free coinage of silver #alternate history #what if?#campaign trail #campaign trail game

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southeastasianists · 5 years

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The time has come where Philippine Rodrigo Duterte is no longer one of a kind. Last October, Brazil elected its very own populist, misogynist strongman in the form of Jair Bolsanaro.

The similarities could not be more pronounced. Both men ran on the promise of law and order, emerging from contexts plagued by crime and corruption. Both men are practicing penal or “criminal” populism. They are offering simplistic solutions to complex problems of development but what they have undertaken does not solve the issues of poverty, inequality, and corruption within their own countries.

The Philippines’ transition to democracy has left much to be desired. After the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos and the creation of a new constitution in 1987, the Filipino people hoped for a government that was free of corruption. However, the resultant People Power Government was ineffective and mired in scandal. As it stands, the Philippines has the highest level of poverty amongst ASEAN countries as well as the highest level of income inequality between the rich and the poor. This is attributed to widespread political corruption in the Philippines, which is suffocating the most marginalised communities. Before Duterte’s election, the Philippines saw an increase of 300% in serious crime from 2012–2014. In addition, the autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is known for high levels of violent crime, murder, kidnapping and internal conflict. Duterte and other politicians have lobbied on the public’s fear of crime and drugs spreading across the country and into their communities.

Brazil’s transition to democracy has also been rocky. There has been tremendous growth in terms of wealth, but widespread poverty and inequality still plague the country. Brazil has one of the highest levels of urban poverty in Latin America and carries the same of having the highest levels of income inequality in the region. This is also attributed to corruption in government and business, which amount to an elite class of “Brazilianaires”. The well documented “Lavo Jato” anti-corruption campaign shed light on billions of reals in money laundering lining the pockets of politicians. Additionally, a record high 62,000 Brazilians died because of violent crime last year, including well known politician Marielle Franco. Seventeen of Brazil’s major cities are among the most dangerous in the world for violent crime. Undoubtedly, Brazil is becoming more dangerous and past administrations have failed to counter it.

There is no denying that the economic and safety issues of both countries contributed to the rise of these two populist strongmen. Duterte and Bolsonaro harnessed the frustration and fears of their citizens and rode on a wave of criminal populism. Their tough talk and rhetoric resonated with an electorate that was desperate for change.

Born into a political family, Duterte became the mayor of Davao City in 1988. Human rights groups claim his association to the Davao death squad, which targeted drug dealers, petty criminals, and even his political opponents leading to the death of over 1,400 people. Upon his nomination for president in 2015, Duterte emerged as a front runner because of his reputation for being tough on crime. He promised to kill over 100,000 criminals and dump their bodies in Manila Bay. He promised to rid the Philippine government of corruption in 3 months, by any means.

Despite or because of his inflammatory comments, he won the election in a landslide victory. Since Duterte’s election in 2016, over 4,200 people have been killed in anti-drug operations, with an additional 23,000 homicides under investigation. Human rights groups have condemned his actions and believe that the real numbers are much higher. Duterte has compared his war on drugs to Hitler, stating “he massacred 3 million Jews, there are 3 million drug dealers, I’d be happy to kill them.” Duterte extends no sympathy for whomever he labels as “criminal”, seemingly taking pride in their extinction. He now faces an inquiry for crimes against humanity from the international criminal court.

Jair Bolsonaro shares many similarities with Duterte. Bolsonaro has been a politician for over 27 years. He built a reputation as a controversial leader with his tough talk and provocative rhetoric. “A dead son is better than a gay one,” he once said.

As corruption scandals came to light and levels of violence reached new highs, Bolsonaro’s far right approach to these problems distinguished him from other politicians. He quickly became a front runner in the Brazilian election. Brazilians were tired of the scandal plagued Workers Party (PT). When Bolsonaro was pitted against the relatively unknown Fernando Haddad of PT in the presidential run-off, the contest became uncompetitive. Despite his ultra-conservative stances and controversial language, Brazilians were eager for someone to quell years of political instability.

Bolsonaro ran his campaign like Duterte’s. He focused on eliminating the country of corruption and crime. He promised to use the military to eradicate criminals. He wants to loosen gun regulations to allow people to defend themselves. Since his election, videos have emerged of police in Rio piling dead bodies into the back of vehicles. Politicians from Bolsonaro’s party praised the efforts to clean up the streets. He promises to fight violence, with violence.

Bolsonaro and Duterte have similar approaches of “cleaning up” their countries. They promise to do so with an iron fist. Nothing will stand in their way, not even the democratic traditions, norms, or constitutions of their states. They have degraded or threatened to purge their countries of the very institutions that make them a democracy. They are practicing creeping authoritarianism in their grasps of power, reminiscent of the dark days of authoritarian rule in both countries.

Duterte has attacked the press, even going so far as charging and arresting journalists critical of his government. He supports extra-judicial killings. He has declared martial law in parts of his country. He has ordered Congress to impeach a Supreme Court justice for having ideological differences. He has established a political climate of fear and faces limited opposition in congress. Duterte has all but eliminated the checks and balances established in the Philippine constitution. As it stands, there is very little to stop him or to oppose his mandate, and most people are too scared to speak out.

Bolsonaro has done or proposes to do similar things. He has attacked journalists and spewed the rhetoric of fake news. He has promised to relinquish control of the police and military, granting them less government oversight in their war on crime. He has appointed military figures to high government posts, including his vice president Antonio Hamilton Mourao, who admits that a “military coup could be a possibility” if crime continues to increase. Bolsonaro has stated that he has no trust in the Brazilian Congress or political system, threatening to shut it down or overthrow it. He has threatened his political rivals with jail. He opposes human rights and is pro-torture. He aligns more closely with military rule than to democratic order.

These two men rose to power as the world undergoes its own political transition. Donald Trump has praised Duterte and overlooks the criticism stemming from human rights organisations around the world. Bolsonaro also has a close relationship with Donald Trump, receiving the ultimate praise; a congratulatory phone call and tweet after his election. These three men have a strongman connection, empowering and emboldening one another’s dismantling of democratic order.

Ultimately, if the United States refuses to speak out against the erosion of democracy in these two countries and the extreme use of force against their own citizens, who will? And will anyone listen?

The main difference between Bolsonaro and Duterte involves the citizens of Brazil. The primary issue facing Bolsonaro, that Duterte does not have, is a large countermovement against him. The country was heavily divided in this election, and it is likely that his polling will look more like Donald Trump’s (40%) than to Duterte (upwards of 80%). He has yet to win over a large part of the country, and with his abrasive rhetoric, he most likely won’t.

This appeal of these strongmen is a part of the growing pains of these young democracies. It is a recognition of the failures of previous governments and demonstrates a need for change.

These men are practicing criminal populism. What they have undertaken does not solve the problems of poverty, inequality, and corruption within their own countries. They are simply lining their streets and favelas with dead bodies. They are fuelling a sense of fear and suppressing their people. Their campaigns hurt their most marginalised and disenfranchised citizens. Crime rates may drop, but extrajudicial murders and homicides will increase, and already have in the Philippines. The favelas may empty, but they will fill again unless the governments tackle the complex problems facing their societies.

Citizens must not turn a blind eye to authoritarians consolidating their power as days go by. Citizens deserve better. Killing is easy, especially if the targets are the marginalised, the poor—those whose lives are often taken for granted by societies willing to turn a blind eye. Many innocent people are suffering and will continue to suffer long after these strongman’s reigns are over.

#Southeast Asia #Philippines #Rodrigo Duterte #Latin America #Jair Bolsonaro #Authoritarianism #Populism #Politics #Democracy

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theliberaltony · 5 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

While all eyes were fixated on the the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report Thursday, the Democratic presidential field continued to plug away, despite roundly criticizing Attorney General William Barr’s press conference and expressing a desire to learn more about redacted portions of the report. As was the case in 2018, Democrats appear to be aware that their strongest pitch to voters is one focused on issues like health care, the economy and immigration — so despite the developments in the investigation, the report continues to play only a peripheral role.

Here’s the weekly candidate roundup:

April 12-18, 2019

Stacey Abrams (D)

The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate said she would make a decision on a potential 2020 Senate run in the next few weeks, but that a decision on a presidential campaign could take longer.

“I do not believe that there is the type of urgency that some seem to believe there is,” Abrams said in an interview with The Root.

She was also critical of the media’s coverage of her 2018 race, refraining from ascribing the issues she saw to “racism,” but saying there was “a very narrow and immature ability to navigate the story of my campaign.”

Joe Biden (D)

Biden eulogized the late South Carolina Democratic Sen. Fritz Hollings on Tuesday, discussing, apparently in reference to Hollings’ one-time pro-segregation views, the ways that “people can change.”

“We can learn from the past and build a better future,” the former vice president added.

President Trump predicted that Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders would be a “finalist” to run against him in next year’s election. “I look forward to facing whoever it may be. May God Rest Their Soul!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.

On Thursday, Biden traveled to Massachusetts where he took part in a rally in support of striking Stop & Shop supermarket workers.

Cory Booker (D)

An analysis by the Associated Press found that Booker and Sen. Kamala Harris have each missed the most Senate votes this year among their colleagues running for president. The pair has missed 16 of the chamber’s 77 votes this session.

The New Jersey senator announced a plan to expand the earned income tax credit during an event in Iowa on Monday, saying that it would boost the economy and benefit more than 150 million people. Booker’s plan pays for the credit by increasing taxes on capital gains.

Booker additionally called for voting rights reforms during a visit to Georgia on Wednesday, including automatic voter registration, making Election Day a national holiday and restoring the Voting Rights Act protections that were overturned by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Pete Buttigieg (D)

Buttigieg officially launched his presidential campaign last weekend with a rally in his native South Bend, Indiana, where he acknowledged — even as his popularity grows — “the audacity of [running for president] as a Midwestern millennial mayor.”

It is “more than a little bold — at age 37 — to seek the highest office in the land,” he said.

The South Bend mayor also encountered some of his campaign’s first hecklers this week, as he was confronted in Iowa by anti-gay protesters, and announced that he and his husband are interested in having a child at some point in the near future.

Julian Castro (D)

The former Housing and Urban Development secretary raised a relatively meager $1.1 million during the year’s first quarter, placing him behind nearly every major candidate in the Democratic field.

The New York Times reported on Castro’s struggle to catch on with voters at this point in the campaign, noting that the candidate himself doesn’t seem bothered by his position in the field.

“People are going to have their moments,” he said. “I would rather have my moment closer to the actual election than right now.”

John Delaney (D)

Delaney and Booker’s campaign were involved in a minor dust-up after a Booker fundraising email earlier this week made reference to “one of the other Democrats in this race… giv[ing] over $11 million of his own money to his campaign,” a fact that can only be attributed to Delaney.

A spokesperson for the former Maryland congressman jabbed back, saying, “If I had Booker’s numbers, I’d go negative too.”

On Tuesday, Delaney announced a plan to create a cabinet level Department of Cybersecurity, noting in a press release, “Currently our cybersecurity efforts are spread across multiple agencies, but by creating a new department we can centralize our mission, focus our goals and efforts, and create accountability.”

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

In visit to Iowa this week, Gabbard touted her experience in the National Guard and said she was disappointed in Trump’s decision to veto a bipartisan congressional resolution calling for an end to U.S. military involvement in Yemen.

The Hawaii congresswoman also criticized Trump in a Fox News appearance, saying that his administration’s efforts to force “regime change” in Venezuela were “directly undermining” its effort to denuclearize North Korea. In the same interview, Gabbard said that it is “impossible for Kim Jong Un to believe [the Trump administration] when they tell him, ‘Don’t worry. Get rid of your nuclear weapons. We’re not going to come after you.'”

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

Gillibrand’s $3 million raised from donors for 2020 during the year’s first quarter placed her last among the group of six U.S. senators running for the presidential nomination; but she also transferred nearly $10 million from her 2018 Senate committee into her 2020 campaign, placing her among the top tier of candidates in cash-on-hand entering the second quarter.

BuzzFeed News reported Monday that the New York senator is endorsing proposals included in a new report that analyzes the racial wealth divide. The proposals include postal banking, government run trust accounts and the formation of a commission to study slavery reparations.

Kamala Harris (D)

Harris admitted that she regrets the support she lent an anti-truancy law while serving as California’s attorney general — specifically the law’s threat to prosecute parents for their children’s absences. The senator noted, however, that her office never jailed a parent for a violation of the law.

Harris released 15 years of tax returns earlier in the week. Harris and her husband, attorney Douglas Emhoff, reported nearly $1.9 million in income in 2018, paying an effective tax rate of 37 percent.

John Hickenlooper (D)

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, Hickenlooper, the state’s former governor, met with survivors as he campaigns on his gun control record, including a ban on high-capacity magazines and private sale background check requirement.

Hickenlooper additionally discussed mental health measures with the group, citing recent suicides by survivors of last year’s shooting at Parkland High School in Florida.

Larry Hogan (R)

Amid speculation that he might run against Trump in the 2020 Republican primary, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is scheduled to be in the New Hampshire next week. Hogan will headline the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics and Eggs” on April 23.

Jay Inslee (D)

In a New York Magazine interview, the Washington governor, who is running a campaign prioritizing climate change, said that any attempt by Trump to run on his environmental record “would not be successful.”

Inslee was also critical of one of his constituents, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering an independent presidential run. Inslee pointed to Schultz’s scant voting history.

“The son of a gun doesn’t even vote,” Inslee said. “You want to be president and you don’t even vote? You know, that’s just for the little people. In Howard’s life, voting is just for the little people. I don’t think his candidacy is going to soar.”

John Kasich (R)

On the heels of former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld’s announcement to officially enter the GOP race, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on CNN that he still hasn’t ruled out his own primary challenge to Trump.

“All of my options remain on the table,” said Kasich, who previously ran for president in 2016. “I don’t wake up every day looking at polls or thinking about me and my political future. I just want to be a good voice.”

Amy Klobuchar (D)

The Minnesota senator made her second trip to Florida as a presidential candidate this week, speaking about health care in Miami and meeting with Democratic leaders from the state House in Tallahassee.

Fox News also announced that Klobuchar will appear on the network for a forum on May 8. The Klobuchar appearance follows a Sanders town hall on Fox News on Monday.

Terry McAuliffe (D)

McAuliffe, the former governor of Virginia, announced on Wednesday evening that he would not run for president, choosing instead to assist Democrats in his home state trying to win back the state’s legislative chambers.

Despite his decision, McAuliffe said he feels he would have been able to beat Trump “like a rented mule,” but that he was concerned about the problems he sees plaguing Virginia — an apparent reference to the blackface scandal and sexual harassment allegation that rocked Democratic leadership earlier this year.

Seth Moulton (D)

Moulton, who was spotted in his Massachusetts hometown this week filming a presidential announcement video, is hiring staff for a potential campaign, Politico reported; he is expected to make a public announcement next week.

Beto O’Rourke (D)

The former congressman continued his breakneck-paced campaign this week, making stops in South Carolina and the Super Tuesday battleground of Virginia.

Like other 2020 Democrats, O’Rourke spent most of the week defending the contents of years of tax returns. One headline emerging from the 10 years of filings that O’Rourke dropped on Monday: He appears to have given the smallest percentage of his family’s income to charity out of the 2020 field ( 0.3 percent in 2017), according to ABC News.

A voter confronted O’Rourke about his stingy charitable donations on the trail Wednesday, and the 2020 hopeful responded by saying:

“I’ve served in public office since 2005. I do my best to contribute to the success of my community, of my state, and now, of my country. There are ways that I do this that are measurable and there are ways that I do this that are immeasurable. There are charities that we donate to that we’ve recorded and itemized, others that we have donated to that we have not.”

Tim Ryan (D)

Ryan took a page out of Elizabeth Warren’s book this week and introduced legislation which would require the Justice Department to create training in a variety of areas for law enforcement officers.

He also took a veiled shot at some of the more progressive Democrats in the 2020 field, telling CNN that he’s “concerned” about a growing socialist wing of the party.

“I’m concerned about it. Because if we are going to de-carbonize the American economy, it’s not going to be some centralized bureaucracy in Washington, DC, that’s going to make it happen,” Ryan said. “It’s going to be part targeted government investments that do need to be robust. But it’s going to be the free market that’s going — at the end of the day — is going to make that happen.”

Bernie Sanders (D)

Bernie Sanders had a big week. Not only did he release years of tax returns, but Sanders also seems to have kick-started another Democratic trend: appearing on Fox News.

According to tax filings released by the campaign, Sanders, who has made a career out of railing against the ultra wealthy, is officially now a millionaire himself.

The runner up for the 2016 Democratic nomination reported an adjusted gross income of nearly $561,293 in 2018, and paid $145,840 in taxes for a 26 percent effective tax rate. And in 2016 and 2017, Sanders reported raking in $1.06 million and $1.13 million in adjusted gross income, respectively, paying a 35 percent and 30 percent effective rate, according to ABC News.

Tax filings aside, Sanders’ Fox News town hall on Monday broke ratings records for the 2020 cycle so far. And it looks like more Democrats are set to follow his lead, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar quickly announcing her own Fox town hall.

Eric Swalwell (D)

Rep. Eric Swalwell held another kick off rally in his hometown of Dublin, California, on Sunday, days after he officially kicked off his campaign a few miles away from last year’s school shooting in Parkland.

Elizabeth Warren (D)

Warren continued her string of major policy proposal announcements, which have defined her campaign and aspects of the entire 2020 Democratic race as of late. She introduced the “Accountable Capitalism Act” this week, a bill that “aims to reverse the harmful trends over the last 30 years,” according to the senator’s website.

Bill Weld (R)

It’s official — Trump won’t run unopposed for reelection in 2020. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld jumped into the race on Monday, becoming the first Republican to challenge a sitting president for the party nomination since Pat Buchanan ran against President George H. W. Bush in 1992.

Weld, who ran for vice president in 2016 on the Libertarian ticket under Gary Johnson, told ABC News that he would’ve been “ashamed of myself if hadn’t raised my hand and said count me in.”

The former two-term governor also said he’ll focus on Republican primaries where independents can vote, while hoping his pitch that the president is ignoring key issues like climate change and the debt will resonate with moderate Republicans.

“The president is just not dealing with serious issues such as global warming and climate change. That’s a real threat to us as a country,” Weld said. “And for the president to just say it’s a hoax, that’s not responsible government.”

Weld spent his first week on the trail campaigning across New Hampshire.

Marianne Williamson (D)

Democratic presidential hopeful and spiritual book author Marianne Williamson participated in her first CNN town hall on Sunday.

On health care, Williamson saidd that her approach as president would be broader than just Medicare for All, according to CNN.

“That will save a lot of money. There’s so much about our diet, our lifestyle and so much about the economic stress that actually causes the very conditions that produce illness. That’s why if we’re going to talk about health in America, we have to talk about the foods, toxins. We have to talk about our environmental policies. We need to go a lot deeper.”

Andrew Yang (D)

Andrew Yang held a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Monday, drawing a “large and diverse crowd,” according to Business Insider.

“The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math,” Yang told the raucous crowd.

The D.C. rally came on the heels of perhaps Yang’s biggest media appearance yet with his CNN town hall on Sunday.

On combating the opioid epidemic, Yang said he supports decriminalizing heroin and other opiates. “We need to decriminalize opiates for personal use,” Yang said. “I’m also for the legalization of cannabis,” he said during Sunday’s town hall.

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