mikeysbride

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Imagine telling your cult who were groomed to hate EV vehicles, Green New Deal, green energy, and regurgitate 'government should not be picking winners and losers', that they should buy a $120,000 Tesla so the world's most selfish man does not get his ego hurt.

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So. Much. This. 💯👏🏾👏🏾

#Caucacity

Trump was the biggest birther. How do people forget that?

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maybe if that united healthcare shooter knocks out 33 more CEOs he'll be up to 34 felonies and he can run for president...

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Election 2024: The Aftermath

Last week was hard. It has taken me this long to be able to fully formulate my thoughts on how the election for President of United States ended. It did not end as the majority of the people that I know would have liked. It was Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump — literally good versus evil, authoritarianism versus democracy, humanity versus inhumanity. As a prosecutor, Kamala Harris made a career of putting men like Donald Trump in jail. And yet, evil won… Or so it would seem.

It was a devastating blow to democracy. Now, twice in my daughters’ young lives, they have had to witness their country choose the most mediocre of men over a woman of merit who is far more qualified — first, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and now Kamala Harris in 2024. As teenagers, they are now more engaged and aware of what is happening and what all this means. We have all shed many tears and had to regroup.

It has to be said that I’m not wholly convinced Trump actually won. After all, he said months ago that he didn’t need people to vote because he had all the votes he needed, plenty of votes. WTAF was that supposed to mean? Not only that, but after record turnout and new registrations, there were somehow fewer votes? There have been reports of votes that weren’t counted as well. And we are supposed to believe that someone so vile swept every one of the swing states? Let’s also not forget the unfounded bomb threats called in to many democratic-leaning voting precincts. The math isn’t mathing. I feel that Donald Trump stole this election the way he claimed that Joe Biden did in 2020. The difference is that Joe Biden did no such thing and also that, unlike Trump, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are decent humans who will not encourage an insurrection to dispute the election results. That is exactly what he was counting on. Now he and his dictator friends like Putin have the U.S. exactly where they want us, in danger of losing the very freedoms we are supposed to stand for.

So much was on the line in this election. Reproductive rights for women, protection for the gay and trans community, immigration, and income tax and cost of living relief for middle class families are all up for grabs now. If Trump did not orchestrate all this and did actually win, it’s perhaps an even scarier scenario. That means that our country really is filled with people who chose a conman, felon, rapist, liar, and racist over a woman - yet again - who has more than enough experience in all three branches of government to lead this country and to do so with compassion and grace. Frankly, it’s damn embarrassing to be an American right now. The rest of the world has to be looking at us as if we have lost our collective minds, and who can blame them? We had the opportunity to move forward in a big way and then threw it all away.

Once again, the U.S. has shown that women (and especially Black women) are held to a higher standard to the point that she can be an ideal candidate and still fall short to patriarchy, misogyny, and racism even when running against the poorest excuse for a human we’ve seen in quite some time. But he’s a man. A rich white man. And somehow in this country that still carries more weight than being even the most capable woman of any race. That’s a hard pill to swallow, especially for someone like me who is a Black woman raising her daughters to be strong and to believe they can do anything they put their minds to. Can they? I absolutely still believe they can, but recent history shows that being the President may not be included in that dream. There should be a disclaimer that says results may vary.

In the coming weeks, months, and even years, there will be much said about where the Harris campaign went wrong and what she should’ve done differently. But if we are honest, we have to acknowledge that all of that speculation is bullshit. Truth be told, she ran a flawless campaign. It was perfectly executed from start to finish, and she had so much momentum behind her. There were people voting for her who had never voted for a Democrat before. Even longtime Republican leaders were rallying behind her. I have no time or energy for talking heads who want to lay blame as to where she fell short. She did not. It wasn’t the campaign that missed the mark. The bottom line is that this country’s history of racism and misogyny is still alive and well, and until that is dealt with, this is where we will be.

Still, none of this means it’s time to give up the fight for justice. No, instead it means that we have to rail even harder against the forces that would conspire to bring us down. To be silent is to be compliant. We will not go quietly. I have to believe that there’s still enough genuinely good-hearted people in the world that when we join forces good will overcome evil. To live without hope is to not live at all. We must keep fighting for what is right, fighting for our rights, and fighting against all odds because none of us are free until all of us are free.

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So much this. 🎯

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This live Teddy Swims concert video is 🔥🔥🔥 - took me right back to seeing him last year but from the comfort of my recliner. Made my day! Pretty sure I’ll be watching this again and again. 🤩🎶💃🏽

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Why do conservatives complain about the price of gas and groceries?

If you don't like the price of gas and groceries, just stop buying gas and groceries.

What's that? That's horrible advice?

Well, that's the exact advice you've been giving to other struggling people since the beginning of time. You've been nonchalantly defending the free market whenever it was harmful to others. You convinced yourself that those who are struggling deserve it until you became one. Then, you suddenly decided that it must be some deep state conspiracy instead of accepting that what's happening to you is exactly what you dismissed when it was happening to others.

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I think most Americans would agree

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the world is heartbreaking every day and the world is beautiful every day and we have to pay attention to both

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Sacrifice Tomorrow, Rinse and Repeat

Months ago, I said I hoped Alec Benjamin and twenty one pilots would both tour, so we could see them. And welp, that’s exactly what they did. What I didn’t have on my Bingo card was that they’d both be here within days of each other with a Herbie Hancock appearance thrown in (in) between just to spice things up even more. You can read all about the pilots and Herbie in my previous blog posts, but last night was all about Alec.

I don’t think functioning on minimal sleep for a week all for the love of music is exactly what Alec Benjamin was going for when he wrote “Sacrifice Tomorrow,” but we have indeed sacrificed many tomorrows this past week, being out way past our bedtime at these shows and then having work and school the next day. Are we doing this right?

Alec is everything I thought he’d be and maybe even more. I’m a witness that he’s just as adorable in real life as you’d expect, not to mention funny. And that voice. I have been blown away by the sweetness of his voice since I first heard him. That, coupled with the clever lyrics he writes, sucked me in from the start. Now 30, he hasn’t lost his signature sound one bit…although I might have struggled to hear it at times because of the crowd singing along so loudly. While I would’ve preferred to hear more of him than them, you’ve gotta appreciate the passion. This was a sold out show, and it was clear that everyone there loves him, likely for the same reasons I do.

This will sound strange coming from me, but I am actually looking forward to having a little break in concert action. We don’t have another show planned for a little while, and I can use a reset. I turn 50 in two days, and my body is like, “Remember sleep? Let’s do that again.” Mmm, sleep… It always seems to happen this way, though. There will be a break in the action, and then all the shows happen at once. The same thing happened last October and again in May.

To close, I just wanna give props to the staff at HOB Orlando. I’ve been there several times over the last few months, and each time they’ve been top notch. In particular, last night we needed their assistance at one point, and they really stepped up. The lack of reserved seating downstairs will forever be my least favorite thing about the venue, but I keep going back, and that’s due in no small part to the rockstar staff they have working there. And despite the large crowd and general admission setup, we were actually able to more or less get the spot that I like, the one I discovered a few weeks ago at Allen Stone - no small feat, considering how long the line was to go inside. Thankfully, most of those people were more concerned with cramming in close to the stage than hanging out in my preferred spot, so it worked out. Great job, HOB. Keep being awesome.