#POLITICS!

[leupagus]

On Voting in America

So one of the most profound comments on routine chores that I've ever encountered was, hilariously, the Pickle Rick episode of "Rick & Morty," where (after a lot of shenanigans have already ensued) this therapist absolutely lays Rick out:

"I have no doubt that you would be bored senseless by therapy, the same way I'm bored when I brush my teeth and wipe my ass. Because the thing about repairing, maintaining, and cleaning is: it's not an adventure. There's no way to do it so wrong you might die. It's just work. And the bottom line is some people are okay going to work and some people, well, some people would rather die. Each of us gets to choose."

I think about this at least once a week — usually while I'm doing my laundry or sweeping or some other task that needs doing and won't get me anything more than clean clothing or a dog-hair-free floor. There's no Pulitzer for wiping down your microwave or scrubbing your toilet; no one's awarding you for getting all the dishes out of the sink. At best you have the satisfaction of crossing it off your list.

Voting is very much the same (and I'm talking about the US here, as an American). Sure, you sometimes get a sticker; but nobody's going to cheer for you. There's no adventure here, no potential for anything more than crossing something off of a list. It's a chore, something that needs doing in order to repair, maintain, and yes even clean. So I get why people don't like doing it.

And I've decided I don't give a shit.

Do it anyway. Your country takes astonishingly little from you — taxes, the once-in-a-blue-moon jury duty, and a theoretical draft that hasn't been used in over half a century and likely will never be again — but it asks you (asks! not requires! not demands!) to vote once a year. It's not always easy; especially in conservative states, the impediments to vote can be ridiculous. But it is once a year and unlike in our nation's all-too-recent past, you will not die if you do it.

In fact, the worst outcome from voting these days is that the person or issue that you vote for loses — but you won't know if they lose until after the election. Polls are less accurate now, for a whole host of reasons; you cannot know until after the election who or what will win. This makes your vote more valuable than possibly ever before.

Use that power. Not because it's exciting or even rewarding, but because your vote is what keeps our country's metaphorical teeth from falling out and our metaphorical ass from stinking.

Brush, wipe, vote.

[viktor-the-leshen]

[mysharona1987]

[my-midlife-crisis]

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[castielsprostate]

[destielmemenews]

"The Committee said on Tuesday that its newly-published report is the first output from a series of meetings exploring what a united Ireland would mean and examines the current economic relationship between the jurisdictions on the island and the potential of the all-island economy.

The report, the Committee said, goes on to examine the cost of a united Ireland and makes the case for planning and preparation for a united Ireland to begin."

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[madlori]

people think they shouldn't vote as a protest or whatever because they've been raised on boycotts. which do sometimes work.

boycotts deprive the target of money.

not voting does not deprive the government of money.

it does, however, deprive you of power.

it's not like a boycott.

[autumngracy]

My fellow leftists, do NOT give in to defeatism.

Things are already turning around.

[michaelgovehateblog]

Nigel Farage got milkshaked again, what a time to be alive

[leupagus]

Heads up, guys: feel how you like about this election, but if you call Biden senile or make your funny, funny jokes about sundowning, I’m not going to forget that. Or forgive it. Ever.

I watched Alzheimer's wash away the person I loved the most in the whole world, my father who was the kindest and sweetest man both before and during his destruction—because that's what the disease does, it destroys. There's no "battle" or "struggle;" it's simply slow theft of yourself.

When you make light of that—especially when you insist that you're "not" making light of it, that you "really think" ol' Joe is losing it, no really!—you tell me that all you see in my father's death is the chance to mock.

So fine, do that. But not around me.

(made this post over on bluesky first, but it applies here too)

[politijohn]

Source

[motherofplatypus]

This is how many bullets they shot on a fucking kid.

[batboyblog]

President Biden's plan for the first 100 days of his next term:

—Restore Roe v. Wade

—Sign John Lewis Voting Rights Act

—Expand Social Security and Medicare

—End all medical debt

—Raise the minimum wage

—Pass the PRO Act for workers

—Ban assault weapons

—Lead the world on clean energy

—Permanent child tax credit

—$35 insulin cap for all

—Build more housing

—Invest in child care and elder care

you want that? FIGHT! for it, check if you're registered to vote and then find a way to volunteer, everyone can make a difference everyone!

[qqueenofhades]

Honestly, this sounds fucking FANTASTIC to me, and we should do it. Cry harder, Mitch.

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]