#1992 elections

[chiefarbitermoon]

How Russia and the West let things get out of hand.

There is clearly a lot to unwrap related to Russia and the West. Should there have been a Russian style "Marshall Plan" when the Iron Curtain cracked? Sure, but I have not seen the following discussed much by either side in this debate. So, let me point out a few things:

1. Germany (or West Germany at the time) did give/loan Russian $3 billion to help them leave East Germany in 1991. Doubt they ever got it back?

2. Bush (41) did not gloat about the Fall-of-the-Wall. Perhaps to his detriment in the '92 election?

3. Most importantly, if the EU wanted to strangle Russia they would have already gotten fuel (gas & oil) from other sources. But they wanted to keep Russia from collapsing and thus going out in to the streets and causing trouble.

[misscromwellsmonocle]

I Want A President (1992) by Zoe Leonard

[anouckin]

On this day in 1992 Bill Clinton was elected! 

[deadpresidents]

Any third-party candidate in a post 1900 presidential contest who could have made a decent or average, if unspectacular, President of the USA?

Former President Theodore Roosevelt was a third-party candidate in 1912 against incumbent Republican President Taft and Democratic nominee (and eventual winner) Woodrow Wilson, so I think he's an obvious pick. Other than that, most of the major third-party candidates wouldn't have been great choices because they were racist protest nominees like Strom Thurmond or George Wallace. Ross Perot doesn't deserve to be compared with Thurmond or Wallace, but I don't think he would have been any good as President. Maybe Robert M. La Follette Sr., who did fairly well as a third-party challenger to President Coolidge and Democratic nominee John W. Davis in 1924?

[dynamoe]

Another Storyline from the Conjectural Technologies Lost Years

Conjectural Technologies pitch themselves hot-shot political consultants with super science-backed election strategies to every candidate. They’re hired by an insane Texas millionaire running third party.

As their methods shockingly boost him into the lead, he reveals himself to be, not a harmless eccentric but an evil lunatic bent on world domination. By Super Tuesday, they mutiny and escape to join Deee-Lite on the MTV Rock the Vote! tour.

→ all 2022 Billy & White

Having just turned 18, 1992 is the first presidential election Billy can vote in. Being a huge dork conscientious citizen, he gets way into researching his civic duty—  delving into election probability and delegate math. He finds loopholes in the system that would guarantee a statewide win. Pete remains apolitical and indifferent until he realizes they can make money off it.

They’re in a battleground state and they’ve got an angle: Technology-driven micro-polling. Computerized strategies. Neuro-Linguistic Programming Robocalls. They pitch themselves as hot-shot consultants: political wunderkind Bill Whalen and Peter Jefferson Kennedy White, “The Facile Masshole” (who might be a Kennedy cousin).

__

Twenty minutes with a round hairbrush and a blow dryer and half a can of ozone-murdering hairspray White had pouffed his hair into a perfect power helmet with side-wings. He spritzed gray toner on the temples and edges to sell “prematurely gray” over “translucent from birth.” He shot finger guns at his reflection, “Mature Credibility!” then immediately undercut it by making a retching noise.White cracked open his make-up Caboodle on the kitchen table and began laying out pots of Ben Nye pancake. “We’re a center-right conservative district remember,” Billy stated, tapping the palette of foundations, “Think ‘Ballet Rose’ not ‘Ebony Rosewood.’” “That’s so cynical, pally.” “No one ever went broke underestimating the bigotry of the American voter," Billy sniped as he stared through a magnifier on a brochure for Harvard, picking out the arrangement of stripes on the school tie. He grabbed the closest match among his 10-ties-for-a-buck thrift store ties, before augmenting the pattern with blue Sharpie.

1992 was a weird election, with the third party candidate throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings. It was also a heavily "youth" oriented election with Bill Clinton playing sax on The Arsenio Hall Show and doing Q&As on MTV about his underwear preference. Clinton was hailed as the first "Boomer" candidate at a time that "Boomer" meant "young" (at least young for a presidential candidate)

The episode could be done "faux documentary style, to make it even closer mirror the '92 Clinton campaign documentary The War Room (previously parodied by Documentary Now! as "The Bunker") "Political" humor bits in VB are usually the worst of the worst, but with the benefit of 30 years of hindsight we could pull this off and make this funny.

If this was a real show, I would hire Dana Carvey to play all political figures in this episode (as he did on his entire SNL tenure), most prominently the Ross Perot-inspired lunatic Texas millionaire candidate. His 1992 impression deserves another airing. (Hell, if I could, I probably would have Dana Carvey play every character in every episode. The dude WAS comedy in the 1990s. He's goddamned Garth from Wayne's World) 

[projectcatzo]

[cleoselene]

Did you know?

Democrats have won the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections going back to 1992? The only time the GOP has won the popular vote in the last 36 years in a presidential election was in 2004, and it was a pretty narrow margin. This was a wartime election and the first election post-9/11. The Democratic candidate was the unfortunately uninspiring John Kerry, who had been lied about. You know how in politics we say someone has been "swiftboated" when a successful lie is told about them? That term originates with the 2004 election because a bunch of people concocted an elaborate lie about John Kerry's military service. He wasn't super inspiring as a candidate, but that was the worst thing he did. He wasn't a bad guy. He was just running in a very gross, jingoistic time after the worst terror attack in American history, and had a bunch of successful lies told about him to the point where a whole word about a specific kind of lie was invented about it. THIS is the only time since 1988 that the Republican party has won the popular vote. George W. Bush did not win the popular vote in 2000. The Supreme Court ordered that votes stop being counted in Florida and handed the victory to Bush.

Donald Trump has never ever won the popular vote. The electoral college handed him the victory in 2016, less than 15,000 votes across three states decided the election. Hillary Clinton in total won about 3.7 million more votes than Donald Trump. Trump HATES hearing this number. He hates even more that Joe Biden got about 7 million more votes. He hates even more that you bring up the fact that he lost his midterm elections for his party in 2018, badly. And that the "Red Wave" in 2022 did not happen because of backlash at his Supreme Court. Or that in 2023 voters continued to reject his Supreme Court at the polls.

He knows, the Republicans know, that if more people vote, they lose. They don't want small d democracy. They want authoritarianism. They want to suppress it.

So when you get cute about not wanting to vote, you're not doing activism. You're surrendering.

[weepingwidar]

Pat Steir (American, 1940) - Elective Affinity Waterfall (1992)

[liberalsarecool]

Top Republicans agree to be Russians.

There is absolutely nothing American about election denial, especially after you keep losing the popular vote 7 out of the last 8 national elections. [1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 20012, 2016, 2020]

[barbielore]

Barbie first explored her political aspirations in 1992, when she ran for President for the first time.

The original Barbie for President gift set came packaged with both a long star-spangled costume dress and a more professional red skirt suit to campaign in.

She was not a candidate in 1996, but since returning to the campaign in 2000, has run in every election since.

In 2000, Barbie again had two outfits: a blue blazer and skirt for the campaign trail, and a purple/pink formal gown, presumably for celebrating her victory. Note that unlike the 1992 Barbie, this Barbie is wearing her campaign outfit and her celebration dress is boxed separately.

2004's candidacy was the first time Barbie wore trousers on the campaign trail, and also had a more feminist-marketed slogan with the new tagline, "Go Vote, Go Run, Go Lead, Go Girl!". This was also the first candidate who came packaged with only one outfit.

Come 2008, Barbie needs a cell phone to help her with her campaigning. She is back to wearing a skirt on the campaign trail, back to having a second outfit for celebrations - this time a tasteful pink number. Barbie's suit is itself spangled now, to add a bit of pizzazz to the electoral race.

2012 Barbie is has elbow length sleeves on her pink blazer, and a little dog in a secret service suit hiding behind her so she's a real frontrunner. This particular doll is advertised as "stands on her own - literally", so you know that Mattel knew that was a little on the nose.

Her 2016 candidacy had another step forward: now Barbie is packaged alongside her Vice President, and is advertised as being on the "first all female ticket". She was released in different variations, so different styled dolls of different appearances would appear as either President or Vice President.

The 2020 election contained a whole campaign team, ranging in formality from presidential candidate in a pink blazer to one of her campaigners in jeans and a t-shirt. You can see as well that Mattel has made use of different body types: one of the dolls is more petite than the others, and one uses the curvy body model.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - May 15, 2023

🐕 - Now It's a Paw-ty

1. World's oldest ever dog celebrates 31st birthday

Bobi was born on 11 May 1992, making him 31 years old, in human years. A big birthday party is planned for Bobi today, according to Guinness World Records.

It will take place at his home in the rural Portuguese village of Conqueiros in Leiria, western Portugal, where he has lived his entire life.

2. The FDA has officially changed its policy to allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that they’ve eased restrictions on blood donations by men who have sex with men in an effort to address blood shortages. The new policy recommends a series of individual risk-based questions that will apply to all donors, regardless of their sexual orientation, sex, or gender. Gay or bisexual men in monogamous relationships will now be permitted to donate blood.

3. Illinois passes bill to ensure community college credits transfer to public universities

The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would help community college students transfer to public universities.

It would ensure that certain classes taken at community colleges could be transferred to any higher education institution in the state. Some schools currently only count community college coursework as elective credits.

4. Brazilian President Lula recognizes 6 new indigenous territories stretching 620,000 hectares, banning mining and restricting farming within them

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has decreed six new indigenous reserves, banning mining and restricting commercial farming there. The lands - including a vast area of Amazon rainforest - cover about 620,000 hectares (1.5m acres).

Indigenous leaders welcomed the move, but said more areas needed protection.

5. More than 1,000 trafficking victims rescued in separate operations in Southeast Asia

More than 1,000 trafficking victims were rescued in separate operations in Southeast Asia over the last week, officials in Indonesia and the Philippines said. 

Indonesian officials said Sunday they freed 20 of their nationals who were trafficked to Myanmar as part of a cyber scam, amid an increase in human trafficking cases in Southeast Asia. Fake recruiters had offered the Indonesians high-paying jobs in Thailand but instead trafficked them to Myawaddy, about 567 kilometers (352 miles) south of Naypyidaw, the capital, to perform cyber scams for crypto websites or apps, said Judha Nugraha, an official in Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

6. A peanut allergy patch is making headway in trials

An experimental “peanut patch” is showing some promise for toddlers who are highly allergic to peanuts. The patch, called Viaskin, was tested on children ages one to three for a late-stage trial, and the results show that the patch helped children whose bodies could not tolerate even a small piece of peanuts safely eat a few.

After one year, two-thirds of the children who used the patch and one-third of the placebo group met the trial’s primary endpoint. The participants with a less sensitive peanut allergy could safely tolerate the peanut protein equivalent of eating three or four peanuts.

7. Critically endangered lemur born at Calgary Zoo

The Calgary Zoo has released pictures of its newest addition, a baby lemur. The zoo says its four-year-old female black-and-white ruffed lemur, Eny, gave birth on April 7. The pup’s father is eight-year-old Menabe. The gender of the pup has not been confirmed but the Calgary Zoo says the pup appears bright-eyed and active and is on the move.

The black-and-white ruffed lemur is registered among the 25 most endangered primates in the world, due mostly to habitat loss and hunting.

----

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog.

SUBCRIBE HERE for more good news in your inbox

[lilacsupernova]

In recent years, I've seen the erasure of lesbian and gay activists. And all the work we did for gay liberation is credited to two people: Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. Even statues are planned to be elected in honor of them in New York. These two are now hailed for having organized the Stonewall Riot and the GLF [Gay Liberation Front] and even the historic gay occupation of Wernstein Hall at New York University in protest against the administration's homophobia. All of this is false. I know, because I and the women and men I worked with were there.

Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson are today widely celebrated as transgender people of color. However, Rivera identified as a transvestite male, not transgender. Malcolm, aka Marsha Johnson, was a self-proclaimed gay man, and drag queen, up until his death in 1992. Johnson deserves to be honored with respect and integrity, not rebranded as a 'trans-woman' postmortem. Johnson was probably transgender, though there was no such terminology at the time. Toward the end of his life he was considering raising funds to go abroad for what was then called a sex change surgery.

Nobody led the Stonewall Riots. It was a spontaneous uprising. Neither Rivera nor Johnson appeared on the scene until the riots were well underway. Neither Johnson nor Rivera attended any of the early meetings of GLF in July 1969. I was one of the founders, along with five other women and 13 men. Ellen Broidy and I were among those who called for the occupation of Wernstein Hall in September 1970. Johnson and Rivera were not present. They joined in after a group of us had already entered the building, and it was after the occupation that I first noticed them at GLF meetings. They were inspired by our Wernstein Hall action to start a new group, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR).

This was important work they did and how they should be remembered. Through STAR, Rivera and Johnson labored on behalf of homeless street queens who, like themselves, often had to support themselves through prostitution, often strove to overcome drug addiction, and often found themselves in trouble with the law. They provided shelter and counseling, and visited those in prison. They were heroes in their own right. But the false legends have been widely promulgated in the international press, and give them credit for the work of hundreds of others, and never ever mention what they actually accomplished. The city of New York has not built any statues to any of us lesbians or any of the gay men who were involved in GLF. Just those two are the heroes. Stormé DeLarverie who is considered responsible for starting the first Stonewall Riot on June 28, 1969, after a crowd reacted when she was arrested by police, was a woman of color and and butch lesbian. She didn't get a statue either.

These smaller fabrications are perhaps not as dangerous as the ones that lead to war. But what is dangerous is that, by depicting one or two chosen individuals as great leaders and expunging the rest of us from public memory, they strip us all of the knowledge that we ordinary human beings have made history and can do so again.

– Martha Shelley (2021), 'An Honest History' in Renate Klein & Susan Hawthorne (eds.) Not Dead Yet: Feminism, Passion and Women's Liberation, pp. 379-80.

[anouckin]

30 years since Bill Clinton won the election! He and Hillary saved the Democratic party. 

[usa2024election]

I hate that in the United States, a third party can rarely if ever win even a down ballot race. The presidency? Third party only came close once in recent time, in 1992. Since then it's been a constant: voting third party in a USA Presidential election is akin to throwing your vote on the trash.

Google Ralph Nader Florida 2000. He and a corrupt SCOTUS decision gave us George W. Bush.

Remember 2016. The people who hate Hillary so much they sacrificed our country to Trump by pissing away protest votes for Jill Stein.

Don't let history repeat. We need to stop Trump. If you're old enough to vote, you're old enough to remember how bad 2017-2021 was. Don't let it happen again.

[bfpnola]

Updated version! ID written by @swosheep (it won't let me tag you oof)

ID 1: All images are of an Instagram post by letstalkpalestine2. The first one is titled "Lets Talk. What is Hamas? Answering the basic questions".

ID 2: the second image is titled "What Are Its Origins?". the body text reads: "Hamas is a Palestinian political party and armed resistance movement based in the besieged Gaza Strip. It emerged in 1987, at the start of the First Intifada, as a reaction to intensifying israeli violence and as a religious alternative to the secular Palestinian parties that dominated the scene at the time. Hamas was originally a branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood but later cut ties with it and became an independent group. In 1992, Hamas formed a military wing called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades to resist the israeli occupation. The Brigades carried out several significant operations against Israel during the Second Intifada, which established Hamas as a leading force in the Palestinian resistance."

ID 3: the third image is titled "Who Are Its Leaders?". The body text reads: "Hamas is composed of a political wing and a military wing. They each perform different functions but operate under the same leadership structure." There is a grid with four sections. The first section is titled "Political Bureau", and reads: "- Headed by Ismail Haniyeh from exile - Sets general policy". The second section is titled: "Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades" and reads: "- Commanded by Marwan Issa and Mohammed Deif - Conducts military operations". The third section is titled: "Shura Council" and reads: "- Led by Saleh al-Arouri in the West Bank and Yahya Sinwar in Gaza - Handles affairs in Gaza, the West Bank, diaspora, and israeli prisons". The fourth section is titled: "Gaza Government" and reads: "- Headed by Prime Minister Issam al-Da'alis - Enacts policies and provides social services to people in Gaza".

ID 4: The fourth image is titled: "What Does Hamas Want?" The body text reads: "Its 2017 charter states that its current political program is to: - Implement the right of return for all Palestinian refugees; - Establish a temporary Palestinian state along the 1967 borders (the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip) and arrange a long-term truce with israel. Hamas considers the establishment of a Palestinian state on the '67 borders as a temporary step. It refuses to recognize israel's legitimacy and advocates for the 'full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.' Hamas's 2017 charter states that its struggle is against the israeli state and the Zionist movement due to their occupation of Palestine, not Jewish people, and criticizes israel for associating its actions with Jewish values. Hamas's stated goals for its current operation are to - Free the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by israel, - End the Gaza blockade, - End the status quo where Israel continues its occupation without cost".

ID 5: the fifth image is titled: "Does Hamas Control Gaza?". The body text reads: "Not really. Hamas administers local affairs, while israel controls much of Gaza from the outside through its blockade. israel forcibly controls: - Airspace, - Sea access, - Movement of all goods and people in and out, - Telecoms networks, - Electromagnetic sphere, - Tax distribution, - Population registry, - Water, - Electricity and fuel. Hamas began governing Gaza in 2007, and has since managed: - Healthcare, - Education, - Infrastructure, - Social welfare, - Law enforcement, - Public employment. Hamas is not a sovereign government. israel's blockade prevents Palestinians from independently exercising sovereignty over Gaza's population, development, and economy."

ID 6: The sixth image is titled "Does Hamas Represent Palestine?" The body text reads: "Hamas is one of many Palestinian political parties. On the one hand, Hamas was democratically elected by voters in 2006, garnering a plurality of West Bank and Gaza votes (44%) for its social services and resistance efforts. Today. Fatah and Hamas, the two largest parties, are roughly tied, each enjoying the support of a third of the public. On the other hand, many Palestinians strongly criticize Hamas's political wing due to its corruption and repressive policies, and the last elections were in 2006. 43% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza believe that no party represents Palestine. The other polled Palestinians were split between parties, with no clear winner. We have no statistics for Palestinians in the heartland ("israel") or diaspora. However, Hamas is currently the only major group that pursues armed resistance, which is widely supported. So while most Palestinians might not support Hamas as a party, the overwhelming majority support acts of resistance in general, whether by Hamas or others."

ID 7: the seventh image is titled "Is Hamas a Proxy of Iran?". The body text reads: "No. Hamas is an independent group with a political program and military strategy distinct from Iran. Hamas and Iran are strategic allies, meaning that while Iran provides Hamas with significant financial, military, and political support, Hamas does not act or operate on behalf of Iran. It makes decisions based on its own interests, and independently manages relations with countries like Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt. For example: In 2012, Hamas cut ties with Syria because it opposed the Assad regime's violent crackdown on protesters. It took this decision despite angering Iran, a close ally of Assad. Regarding Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, even israeli officials admit there is no evidence that Iran was in any way involved. Iran was actually surprised by it. Hamas independently coordinated and launched the operation to achieve its own goals."

ID 8: The eighth image is titled "Does Hamas Negotiate with Israel?". The body text reads: "Hamas views armed struggle as only one of several tools to end apartheid & occupation, such as diplomacy. In 2006, in an op-ed for The Guardian, Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh revealed that israel refused Hamas's proposal for a truce. In 2008, former Hamas chief Khaled Meshal offered a 10-year truce in exchange for a sovereign Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital." israel rejected the proposal. In 2016, Hamas offered a long-term truce in exchange for simply ending the Gaza Blockade. israel rejected it. In 2018, Haniyeh revived this offer by sending a handwritten letter in Hebrew to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. But israel rejected it again. israel repeatedly rejected Hamas's diplomatic initiatives because israel saw no reason to end the oppressive status quo, which it believed gave it power & privileges over Palestinians with minimal downsides. israel's benefits outweighed the costs. Hamas is trying to change that."

ID 9: the ninth image is titled "Is Hamas Risking Palestinian Lives?". The body text reads: "Westerners often accuse Hamas of risking Palestinian lives by fighting apartheid and thus inviting a deadly israeli crackdown. But the reality is that israel's blockade is slowly killing everyone in Gaza. [quote] 'We have paid a high cost in lives in this conflict. But if that's the price for long-term changes - breaking the siege and obtaining freedom - it's one many of us feel we have no choice but to swallow.' [unquote] -Haytham Besalso, civil engineer from Gaza, 2014. [quote] 'We are bleeding here, anyway [..] The Gaza Blockade crushes any opportunity for peace.' [unquote] -Ismail, anonymous journalist from Gaza, 2021. The argument that Hamas is responsible for israel's killing of Palestinians is malicious. It blames the victims for resisting apartheid and absolves the oppressors of responsibility, treating the mass killing of children as a 'normal' israeli response."

ID 10: the tenth image says: "You don't need to support Hamas as a political party to support Palestine. Most Palestinians don't support it as a party. But Hamas is an effective political player in the struggle against apartheid, oppression, and colonization. It has achieved remarkable success in preventing israeli violence in Jerusalem and freeing Palestinian hostages abducted by israel. Hamas has institutions, ministries, student movements, and women's movements, and employs thousands of doctors, teachers, judges, and aid workers. It is part of the fabric of Palestinian society. So while you don't need to support Hamas to support Palestine, you cannot oppose oppression without supporting the resistance to it. You cannot support freedom while supporting israeli efforts to wipe out those who fight for that freedom, including Hamas, to leave Palestinians defenc Pales". End ID.

the original caption states that @/LetsTalkPalestine2 does not endorse any specific party, including Hamas, and that the last word on the last slide should be *defenseless.

[found-in-retro-game-mags]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

"An attitude, tons of enemies, and a running mate with the mind of a four-year-old. (No, it's not another presidential election.)" (Video Games & Computer Entertainment #47, Dec. 1992)