#aoc trump react

[girlcrushart]

Yesterday was a big day on the socials, with my twitter feed flooded with amazing clips from the DNC—which kicked things off with a bang, and was exciting and inspiring. A four minute standing ovation for Biden, Hillary's speech, AOC's speech... some powerful guest speakers and a few new ads that are gonna make an impact... that was 90% of my feed. The other 10% was Swifties reacting to Trump's ridiculous AI Swiftie post—god I hope she nails him for that where it hurts, oh and Chappell Roan. Chappell went on tiktok yesterday to beg her fans to settle down and leave her the fuck alone. And god I hope it works. I hope that people realize that if you're an actual fan—if you truly claim to love this person—then the least you can do is honour their simple wishes. It drives me so crazy when people think they're owed something from celebrities. Chappell Roan makes amazing music and shares it with us. What an special gift! And sometimes she performs it for us and invites us to participate, even! And if that's all she wants to share then shouldn't we be grateful for that?! Or maybe if you're a big fan you can, I dunno, make a celebratory poster to declare your fandom and leave her the fuck alone? That's my advice. I LOVE her music. It makes me happy. It enhances my life. And if the best way to thank her for that is to focus on the art she makes and enjoy it and leave her be, then that's what I will do and true fans should follow suit. Today's girlcrushart guardian is Chappell Roan.

[cleoselene]

btw I am watching the brogressive side of the left. they treated Kamala like absolute garbage in 2020 and I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. But AOC being the only bitch in the House that I respect (tm New York) and the way they've largely reacted so far has been kind of awesome

I think people need to give people a chance to show who they are NOW, too. in 2020 my top pick was Gillibrand, who got railroaded by brogressives for being CORRECT that Al Franken (8 credible accusers!!) didn't belong in the Senate. Then my next choice was Kamala, and leftists were WRETCHED to her. Your usual parade of people who get all their political knowledge from their pals social media posts and don't pay actual close attention to news and current events as a whole. Then my next choice was Warren, who got treated like garbage for the sin of not immediately capitulated to Bernie Sanders. And I'll never forgive or forget how Hillary "I was right about everything I warned y'all about re: Trump" Clinton was treated by the so-called progressive side. Not even touching on how Joe "Most effective and consequential POTUS since LBJ" Biden was treated because this post mostly about wariness at how leftists treat women candidates. Which is historically Bad. But you gotta give people a chance. Biden was like... my 14th out of 17th choice in 2020 (mostly because i felt the field was great, Bloomberg and Yang notwithstanding) and he ended up being SO GOOD at President.

In hindsight, especially given how much as someone on Medicare/SSDI in the bottom quintile has seen real actual life improvements under Biden, I should have given him more of a chance then. I was enthusiastically for him once it became clear he was the nominee, but he absolutely exceeded my expectations, and it is my hope that Kamala, who I already have high expectations from, will also exceed them. She has been learning the job under Joe Biden, after all. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does.

[racefortheironthrone]

How do you feel about electing the house every four years (presidential years) instead of two?

It is true that the United States is one of the only countries in the world with midterm elections. My understanding is that political scientists really go back and forth about whether this is a good thing - while midterm elections allow for the country to react to the policies enacted in the first two years of the most recently elected government and their outcomes, turnout tends to be significantly lower, which limits the extent to which we're really talking about a new expression of the will of the people.

Moreover, it's my understanding that political scientists worry about whether midterm elections increase the possibility of gridlock due to the tendency for the governing party to lose seats to the minority party - creating more periods of divided government. However, I think it's up in the air whether this tends to shift policy to the left or the right:

2006 saw a massive reaction to the War in Iraq, Bush's handling of Katrina, and Republican sleeze in Congress, shifting control of Congress back to the Democrats for the first time since the Gingrich revolution of the 90s.

2010 saw the Tea Party wave, which led to a persistent shift to the right both in Congress and on the state level. Although the Tea Party's fiscal policies haven't really caught on due to their negative economic effects and political popularity, their destabilizing influence on the Republican establishment certainly has persisted - opening the way for the Trump Republicans and a shift to culture war politics.

2018 saw a massive reaction to the Trump scandals and the Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, breaking the Republican control of government won in the 2016 elections as well as the first major shift to Democrats at the state level since 2010. It also showed a significant shift to the left within the Democratic Party with the election of AOC and the Squad - the first breakthrough for the progressive movement's efforts to challenge establishment Democrats.

Without midterm elections, things would be very different: although Bush being able to muddle through 2006 wouldn't really have changed things because of the way the financial crisis wrecked the Republicans in 2008, the butterflying away of the Tea Party wave would really have changed U.S politics profoundly. The Tea Party wave was unusually significant because of the way it coincided with the 2010 Census and the long-term impact it had on state government - we're only starting to get back some areas that went deep red, and even now huge swathe of the country are dominated by ALEC - so avoiding that shift would really transform U.S politics, especially on social policy.

On the other hand, without the ability to challenge Trump through Democratic control of Congress, U.S policy during the COVID crisis might have been much worse and Trump would definitely have been emboldened to accelerate his campaign of corrupting the Federal government to benefit his personal interests and attack his personal and political enemies. Who knows what would have happened on January 6th if Trump had had two more years of a completely free hand. But then again, if there's no Tea Party wave, does Trump still win in 2016?

So I'm ultimately unsure as to whether midterms are a good thing and it's so momentous a change that I'm a little hesitant to recommend it.

[theyoungturks]

Bodycam Footage of Attack on Nancy Pelosi's Husband Released | AOC Reacts To Republican Saying She Should "Educate Herself" | Another One of Trump's "Deep State" Theories Totally Debunked | Tucker Carlson: We Need To Invade Canada 230127__TA by The Young Turks

[wilwheaton]

an apology I don’t expect you to read

I'm going to put the important bit at the top, without context, so if that's all you see before you tl;dr, at least you'll see it:

Without meaning to, without realizing it, I haven't given the next generation after mine the respect it deserves. I've behaved exactly the way the Boomers were with me: like my experience is the only one that's valid. And that's not helpful, if I hope to share whatever my experience is.

So if you're one of the younger-than-me people who's felt disrespected by me, and to those who I have treated like their experiences aren't valid: I am sincerely sorry.

I'm sorry. I talk to my generation in a way I shouldn't talk to yours. Some of you have been trying to tell me that, and I haven't been able to hear you. That's entirely on me, and I'm very sorry for treating you EXACTLY the way shitty middle-aged dickheads treated me when I was around your age.

Thanks for listening.

 Okay, if you want all the long-winded context, read on.

All day, I've been having this slow, dawning, realization about how to talk to and listen to teenagers and twentysomethings who are politically and intellectually aware and engaged.

I have a reflexive tendency to imagine the anonymous person who posted that thing at me as someone from my own peer group, because we all unconsciously identify people that way online, unless we explicitly have a reason not to.

So, without realizing it, I have been responding to young, politically-active people as if they are my peer group: forty-somethings who have the same amount of life experience I have. As a result, I've just been a shitty middle-aged guy to well-meaning kids, and when I was a kid, I *hated* that.

In fact, I vowed as a twenty-something that when I was older, I would take kids seriously, which I think means at least hearing them out, rather than just shutting them down because they're young.

I've been trying, and I thought I was nailing it. But I realized today that, for years, when I've had rare occasion to interact with someone who is, to me, a kid, I've been talking to, say, 18 year-old me, or 23 year-old, me, and so on. What I _should_ have been doing is listening to 18 year-old _whoever that person is_, and allowing them to be heard on their own terms, as their own people, and not as a reflection of who I was, or who my peers were, at their stage of life.

So I'm going to talk to a person my age very differently than I'm going to talk to a younger person, since the person my age has the same life experience and same life-shaping events I had. So I just don't have any patience for someone who is in their 40s and is STILL going on about The Greens.

It's like, listen, you fortysomething, when I was a kid, I thought the Greens were great, and I supported them, too. I don't know how they are in the rest of the world, but at the presidential level in America all they do is help Republicans by taking votes away from Democrats. And Republicans (and their ideological allies in Russia, China, Saudi Arabia) start grooming kids when they are teens to believe that "the lesser of two evils is still evil". I know this because they did it to me and my generation (OUR GENERATION), too. I (WE)know this from personal experience in 2000, so even though a lot of Green positions appeal to me, I won't support them at the presidential level. But I come to thsi conclusion this based on 30 years of political experience. And I know it is condescending to say "when you're older you'll understand", so please know I hear it when I say that you're going to grow out of this and realize the Democrats, as imperfect as they are, aren't your enemy. I know this because I and millions of others in my generation went through this same transformation. It's why the Democratic Party has moved so far to the Left, so that candidates like AOC and The Squad are on their way to changing things in the House.

I know that is probably TOTALLY condescending, and likely turned off everyone I was hoping to apologize to. Good thing I already did that.

Look. I don't know how to say it any other way. Greens hurt America at the presidential level. Always have, always will.

I've gotten sidetracked. Let me try to come back around:

In some of these asks, I don't regret the argument I've made, but deeply regret the _way_ I made it. I've ended up being a condescending, impatient, tone-deaf ass to a lot of kids, when they absolutely did not deserve to be treated that way.

I hated it when adults treated me that way. I hated being dismissed and unheard when I felt strongly about something. I felt like my ideas deserved to at least be heard. Even though I now know those adults were (fairly) reacting to my lack of life experience, they could have expressed that better, in a more compassionate and empathetic way.

The reality is, we aren't going to be listened to very much when we're young, because we simply do not have the life experience to make huge decisions. But that doesn't mean our feelings are, by default, invalid.

I vowed to not treat kids the way adults treated me, so when I interact with these young men and women, I reflexively talk to whoever I was at their age, saying the things and hearing the things that he would have said and heard.

That's like ... oh, I don't know, a 50 year-old in 1988 trying to convince 14 year-old me of anything. Or a 48 year-old in 1993, lecturing 23 year-old me, who is REALLY smart and has A LOT figured out, like he's an idiot who has no agency or valid opinions.

The thing I needed to do, so I could fulfill the vow I made when I was young, is to give young people the _respect_ they deserve. I need to recognize that, though their experience is limited compared to mine, that doesn't mean their experience is invalid or wrong. The thing I need to do is to actually listen to what someone is saying, and recognize that, because of our relative ages, we may be speaking the same language but not communicating. And because I have more experience, it's incumbent upon _me_, not them, to bridge that gap.

Without meaning to, without realizing it, I haven't given the next generation after mine the respect it deserves. I've behaved exactly the way the Boomers were with me: like my experience is the only one that's valid. And that's not helpful, if I hope to share whatever my experience is.

So if you're one of the younger-than-me people who's felt disrespected by me, and to those who I have treated like their experiences aren't valid: I am sincerely sorry.

I have been nothing more than a cranky old man to any kid who shows up on my internet lawn, and I just want you to know that (as of about two hours ago) I'm aware of it, I'm sorry for being rude.

Even if I don't agree with you on something, even if I don't think that something REALLY important to you isn't as important as that thing is going to seem in 20 years, WHAT I THINK DOES NOT MATTER, because I'm halfway through my ride on this planet, and you're all just beginning. I fully believe that if the generation ahead of us had listened to us, we would all be better off. I know that a lot of you feel that way about me and other Xers, and you're totally right to feel that way. We're borrowing your planet, now, and we're doing our best (at least I am) to give you a better culture than the Boomers gave us. And I STILL know that it isn't enough, because it wasn't enough for me when I was in my twenties. (I will gently tell you that when we're in our twenties, a lot of what we want will eventually be tempered with age, and you'll be like, "I can't believe I fought so hard for that thing," but that doesn't mean the fight, and the experience of the fight, isn't worth it.)

I had a whole thing here to wrap this up that ultimately ended up being about me and my feelings. I deleted it because what I really just want to say is: I'm sorry. I talk to my generation in a way I shouldn't talk to yours. Some of you have been trying to tell me that, and I haven't been able to hear you. That's entirely on me, and I'm very sorry for treating you EXACTLY the way shitty middle-aged dickheads treated me when I was around your age.

This has been, honestly, a huge revelation to me about who I am in this moment, and who I wanted to be at this point. It makes me reconsider and just ... rethink, I guess? a lot of things. I'm going to grow from this, and I want to end by saying thank you to those of you who tried to communicate to me with kindness. I didn't hear you directly or explicitly, but I think I eventually got there.

So, sidebar you can ignore because it's at the end: Politically, I have a ton of experience. I've spent my life in it, more years than a lot of the people who drag me have been alive. I don't take that personally, because I know how kids are, and I know how kids view adults (and vice/versa). Politically, especially at this specific moment, I don't have a lot of patience for anyone who isn't willing to do the ONE thing that can end Trump: vote for Biden, and vote for Democrats all the way down. I get it. I get that you want someone to win your heart, but if you don't vote with your head, there will not be another election in your lifetime that matters. When Democracy in America is not at stake, I will 100% listen to all of your arguments and all of your reasons you hated voting for Biden, and what we can all do together to make your world better and more fair. But I promise you. I beg you to hear me: the ONLY way we stop Trump and his Fascists is to elect Biden in a LANDSLIDE. Anything less and you're going to spend the best years of your life in an autocracy.

[memories-are-mine]

What I Think all our Fave Hatchetfield Characters Voted Like

Me and @a-very-starkid-musical are scared about the election so we’re coping by deciding how our faves and,,,not-so-faves would vote in 2020 while im running on an hour of sleep and a couple cups of coffee 

Tom Houston: He either didn’t vote or voted for Tr*mp in 2016, but now he’s surrounded by educated, liberal people like Becky and Lex, so he is voting for Joe Biden babyyy!! He also likes Joe Biden’s policies

Becky Barnes: HARDCORE Hillary stan in 2016, voted for Elizabeth Warren in the primary and is, of course, settling for Biden. Bean and I also agreed she works the polls.

Lex Foster: Also Biden, but she’s not happy about it. She’s a hardcore Bernie and AOC stan and voted for him in the primary. She was crushed he didn’t win but she likes her basic human rights, so Biden it is

Ethan Green: He doesn’t know much about politics, but he reacts with visceral rage every time Trump comes onscreen. He and Lex were both too young to vote in 2016 but Tr*mp’s comments about women pissed him off to no end, and he’s been itching to vote for anyone but Tr*mp in 2020. He also thinks Tr*mp did a bad job in home alone 2

Paul Matthews: Biden Biden Biden. He can’t stand hearing Tr*mp talk. He votes every election and keeps his “I Voted” Stickers on the inside of one of his work binders because he likes them.

Emma Perkins: Emma usually votes third party, when she votes at all. A lot of the time she doesn’t care enough to vote. But, she begrudgingly voted for Biden. Very begrudgingly. 

Linda Monroe: Tr*mp. We already knew. 

Frank Pricely: Also Tr*mp, for the “economy.” Also bought into the propaganda that Biden’s a socialist and won’t listen to Lex when tries to tell him that’s wrong. 

Wiley: Idk how polling works in alternate dimensions but Wiley was a Tr*mpie 

Henry Hidgens: He didn’t vote. Don’t come for us. 

Also sidenote, I know this is a really stressful time for a lot of us!! i, personally, haven’t slept in like 2 days, so if anyone needs someone to talk to i’m here!! 

[creeping-shadow-heralds-storms]

After Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC as we so fondly call her, shared a video on Instagram Live recounting the unbelievable events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol Building, she unsurprisingly got a huge amount of backlash from the GOP. As AOC shared her terrifying experience at the Capitol, many GOP leaders and supporters alike have decided to disregard her terror and instead focus on the semantics of if she was actually in the Capitol Building.

However, AOC’s exact whereabouts aren’t what is important in her retelling of that fateful day at the Capitol. Whether or not AOC was actually in the Capitol Building isn’t as important as the fact that she was indeed in danger. She also never claims to have been in the Capitol dome — she just shares that she was frightened and in danger. So, where exactly was she?

AOC was not in the Capitol dome part of the building, but she was on Capitol grounds.

As AOC recounted the traumatic experience on Instagram Live this past Monday, Feb. 1, she shared that she began the day in her office. Her office is located in the Cannon House Building, which is accessible by tunnel from the Capitol Building, so it’s not very far at all. As per reports, the rioters placed pipe bombs in various locations on the Capitol grounds, so no building was safe.

As AOC hid in her office, she heard loud knocks at the door, with no voice announcing who they were. Based on what she saw going on outside and the threats she’s received on social media, AOC believed the knocks on her door were rioters coming to get her. Not only that, but when they forcefully entered her office, all she heard were men’s voices asking, “Where is she?”

AOC decided to share what her experience was at the Capitol to call attention to abusive behavior.

The reason AOC decided to share her story of Jan. 6 at the Capitol was because of the shared trauma that many people experienced, and how many Republican party leaders are trying to minimize this trauma. She recognized that GOP members are using terminology like “Move on,” “It’s not a big deal,” and “We should just forget what happened.” This terminology is similar to that used to diminish the experience of sexual assault survivors.

Because of this link to sexual assault, AOC revealed for the first time that she was also a sexual assault survivor. Not only does this trauma link the perpetrators to post-traumatic gaslighting and other forms of abuse, [Republicans are complicit in this] but it also shows how trauma compounds onto itself. Past traumas can make new ones feel more imminent and more intense for survivors, so AOC’s experience at the Capitol can hopefully teach us how important accountability is for survivors going forward.

GOP members tried to discredit AOC by claiming she was not in the Capitol Building.

Because of the point that AOC was making in her Instagram Live video, it’s truly ironic the way that many GOP members and right-leaning news outlets have reacted to her vulnerability. Instead of understanding her perspective, they decided to try to discredit her by saying that AOC was not in the Capitol Building. Rep. Nancy Mace tweeted that, “My office is 2 doors down. Insurrectionists never stormed our hallway.”

.@AOC made clear she didn’t know who was at her door. Breathless attempts by media to fan fictitious news flames are dangerous.

My office is 2 doors down. Insurrectionists never stormed our hallway. Egregious doesn’t even begin to cover it. Is there nothing MSM won’t politicize? pic.twitter.com/Tl1GiPSOft

— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) February 2, 2021

However, a Twitter user, CheckItOut, was quick to reply that, “As I recall from your words that day, you nearly s--t your pants, so lets [sic] not play down the threat of terror that day.” 

In addition, from AOC’s recount of her day at the Capitol Building, she thought her office was being stormed by the mob, but it did turn out to be a (somewhat hostile-seeming) Capitol police officer. AOC has also been quick to clap back.

This is the latest manipulative take on the right.

They are manipulating the fact that most people don’t know the layout the Capitol complex.

We were all on the Capitol complex - the attack wasn’t just on the dome.

The bombs Trump supporters planted surrounded our offices too. pic.twitter.com/jI18e0XRrd

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 3, 2021

AOC reiterates that just because they were not in the Capitol dome part of the Capitol does not mean she was not on Capitol grounds and that she was not in danger. And AOC goes as far to say that, “It is also very damning and revealing that the GOP is now digging both heels in a discrediting campaign,” which only further proves her point. Until inciters of trauma hold their own accountability, it will be very challenging for all of us to move forward.

[authenticsleeping]

Not that it matters or anything but i was going to follow AOC on IG and i saw one of the people who followed her was JC,,, would love to see her angry haters react to that. If people can point out her boy follows trump, why not point out she follows AOC? ( y’know one of the most left leaning politicians out there rn)

Here it is directly from JC’s profile

[queernuck]

In your defense, I understand why that "bully biden" meme came off as kind of serious. The mainstream American left indulged in a lot of really bad ideas over the trump years and definitely wasted too much energy on electoral politics. I don't think that situation is going to change anytime soon imo.

i reacted as i did because of exactly that, the idea coming from some who are hesitant supporters of politicians like AOC who love the SQUAD aesthetic but when it comes down to even the midl proposals they make abandon it p quickly

the idea of pushing Biden to the left is bad because he has almost no incentive to actually do it. ostensibly, you would say “hey, go left or we’ll not vote for you next time” but American Dems are so locked into Vote Blue No Matter Who in every situation that like, there’s no way that’s gonna happen

we have no way of holding Biden accountable now that he’s President-Elect, really, while attempts to get legislation passed to argue that he needs to get reelected will have to go through a bunch of Republicans so he has every reason to compromise lol

[dunnystuff]

Sent: Monday, June 07, 2021 2:31 PM

Subject: Rich's Blog

Hi to all -

Pride Flag

This symbol of gay pride has now been elevated to a status near to that of the US flag. Since this is gay pride month, that rainbow flag is being displayed at many of our embassies. That includes the Embassy at The Vatican. Somehow, I don't see this as improving our relations with the seat of the Catholic Church. American Catholics have reacted rather badly to this display. However, no such display is being done, to my knowledge, in Muslim nations. The Muslims tend to be violent about homosexuals.

AOC

This genius has found a solution to the crime problems, exploding in our cities all over the land. It is so simple, it is a wonder that intelligent people never thought of it ! Just stop building jails. No jails, no prisoners, and therefore, no crime. Wow !

Facebook

They have extended their ban on Trump until at least January 7, 2023. Actual criminals and hate groups are okay, however. Even state sponsored ones.

Kylee McLaugh

This young lady was captain of the volleyball team, and also a dedicated Christian. The University of Oklahoma banned her from the team, and demanded she take 'diversity' training (i.e. re-education camps), because of her views. She is suing the school for civil rights violations - specifically free speech. Also for persecuting her because of her beliefs. Could get interesting.

Rhode Island

Nicole Solas, a parent of a kindergarten student, asked the school to explain exactly what they were teaching their children about race and gender issues. Rumors were not encouraging to parents like her. Seems all this gender ID stuff and white hatred was all the rage in the school system. The school was evasive and vague, and would not tell her what they were teaching her children. So, she filed a FOIA request to find out. The school fought this, claiming she was trying to 'intimidate' the school. This has now grown to 200 requests, and the school will have to be forthcoming about the curriculum. Then they can deal with all those angry parents. Lawfare at work.

Mark Cuban

This billionaire owns the Dallas Mavericks, among other things. He stopped playing the National Anthem before games a few months back, so as not to offend the snowflakes. People did notice, and complained. There was no notice or announcement of this change, and that also offended people. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick actually did something. He suggested that Mark sell the team - there were plenty of patriots who would buy it from him, and continue to play our anthem. He also offered up to the state government 'The Star Spangled Banner Act', which denies any state funding for any team that does not play the anthem. Mark resumed playing the National Anthem soon afterwards.

Dr. Fauci

The more we see of his emails, the more guilty he looks. He at first gave stats that were more or less accurate on the progress of this virus, then changed his mind, and gave 'misleading' information. The actual death rate is about .04%, at the worst of the pandemic, a year ago. Fauci then compared it to a bad flu season. Then he used other math to make things seem a lot worse.

Remember that we are now in Phase 3 of the 'solution' to this virus? Phase 5 is when the Covid Cops go door to door and force everyone to take the shot.

If it was true that nearly 600,000 people in the US have died from Covid, then we should expect a spike in the death rates for the nation. Guess what, boys and girls - the death rate for last year was about 2.5 million for all causes. Virtually identical to the previous several years. What changed was the reported cause of death. Flu and other respiratory causes fell by more than 90%, being replaced by Covid. And, Covid was listed for things like auto accidents, gunshot deaths, and many other causes. Guess the Covid Cops didn't think to create false 'fake deaths', like all those fake votes.

Make-a-Wish

This foundation was set up to provide special care and services for children with terminal conditions. Their former CEO has pleaded guilty to fraud and embezzlement. Seems Jennifer Woodley gave herself fake bonus payments, fake pay raises, totaling about $41,000 and spent $23,000 on company credit cards for her personal use.

But, she cut a deal, to avoid the three ten year sentences that her crimes deserved. Instead, she will have to return the money, pay a fine, and serve five years probation. If she is a good girl, and does all that, then her criminal record will be expunged at the end. Pretty sweet deal.

Calvin Coolidge

Silent Cal was never regarded as one of our best presidents. But, he is underrated. He was perhaps the last to try to limit the office to what the Constitution designed, rather than expanding it to an imperial presidency. Congress was always trying to make the states into vassals of the federal government, rather than as free and independent units of a collective government. He was disliked by congress for his many vetoes of their pet projects. For example, he refused to allow the creation of many 'agencies' to 'regulate' things. He said, correctly, that the 'government did not have the authority to create bureaucratic agencies infused with legislative authority and lacking oversight.' He opposed bailouts, or even aid in local emergencies, as this would tend to addict those areas of the country or economy to government subsidies, rather than to solutions to their problems. Furthermore, such actions would make other Americans pay for those problems.

Can you imagine that happening today? We could do well with another Silent Cal.

[ill-will-editions]

QUARANTINE LETTER #2

A second letter in our quarantine series, penned in response to “Destitution, interrupted.”    

****

INTERRUPTION, SUSPENDED

Dear friends,

I thank you for your reflections on the ongoing pandemic. To respond to your question: Did anything really change? What is the nature of this suspension introduced by the COVID-19? Today is January 93rd, Year 0. The weather reminds me of Spring, there are bees and butterflies, birds, people are outside wandering on the sides of streets, construction workers are still hard at work fixing roads, building new condos, though now more than ever it is unclear who will afford to live in them, and whether they won’t just sit empty for the next 2 to 3 years. Despite the circumstances at hand it is not uncommon to glimpse the sense of relief in the expressions of many of the youth running through the neighborhood with their friends laughing, talking, freed from the burdens of school. How now more than ever such displays of levity seem banished from the world for good. By nightfall the sense of living in total darkness will again prevail, surely, just as before.

Even if in all the political scenarios we’d imagined for ourselves going into 2020 – the elections, the possibility of a wave of revolt beginning to sweep across North America once again, the certainty that some kind of disaster would surely happen, even if we’d never once considered the possibility of a pandemic, we can’t say that we were completely unprepared for something like this to happen. Or, we’re completely unprepared for the situation, but our reflexes have proved adaptable. Some of our friends have gone full prepper – inevitable, really. It’s similar to the surprise we felt after Trump got elected. Our lesson is the same – we continue to find ourselves in situations that are not of our choosing or liking. We are called to respond, which does not mean reacting. This does not mean that we shouldn’t prepare, but that we must bear in mind that, “a force can, through acting, increase another that is acting in the opposite direction” (Benjamin); in other words, we cannot count on the outputs of invariant procedures anymore, including our own. We have to be water.

From my perspective, the virus makes clear two political limits we have continually run into, which some of us wrote about in 2019: firstly, that the democratic party will try to co-opt any popular revolutionary movement (AOC and all manner of politicians endorsing rent suspensions, or UBI etc.); and secondly, that our political ambitions will become essentially no different than providing for people’s basic needs in the face of a situation in which hundreds of thousands of people in this country are going to be left to die at the hands of failing state institutions. In this way, I don’t know that the virus frees us from any traps we were in before.

“Successful revolts do not only undermine existing powers, they also allow their participants a capacity to participate more fully in the world”, you wrote in “Destitution, Interrupted.” I’m wondering what implications this has for the virus. To me it seems like an attempt to set up an analogy between the effects of the contagion of revolt and those of the contagion of the virus. So when you say we are living in a ‘half-destitution’ I wonder if this formulation is the result of an inconsistency between 2 different conceptions of ‘destitution’ : 1. destitution as a natural tendency inherent within constituted powers (and in this sense comparable to crisis tendencies in capital) and 2. a destituent power as the form class war takes when it takes aim at an entire civilization. The latter implies a renewed capacity to act, while this is not the case in the former. There’s been so many takes about the virus – is it humans, or is it capitalism, etc. If neither of these alternatives seem to me satisfactory, this is because the virus shows that neither humans nor capitalism are truly sovereign in this situation. The virus has constructed its own temporality, which immobilizes everything. As our friend the biologist said, only the virus was capable of extending beyond what the insurrections proved incapable of doing, and actually shutting down the economy. 

Our age is significant because the conditions that make life on earth possible are being called into question. That our species evolved within a certain temperature range is significant. That we have reduced the world to a single desert has made us susceptible to the predation of a monstrous entanglement, and that is significant. Confronted with the disaster unfolding both at a planetary scale (the climate catastrophe) and at micro-biological level (the invisible itself), everything we leverage in this situation will be tragic from the outset, incommensurate to the suffering that will follow. This is significant. In a way, we perform our own ban, our own suspension when we conceive of life in the moment of revolt as interruption or suspension of capital or normality (which is death-as-life). In other words, if we think that what happens in revolt is a more authentic experience, that leaves us unprepared for making sense of tragedies like the one we’re in, and this will surely blind us. The fact that there is not enough infrastructure in this country to care for all the people that need it is significant. This is a fissure we cannot cover over with weak conceptions of happiness, or hopes of “participating more fully”. 

It is so clear to me that we have – despite all of this – the chance to reintroduce something like a global proletarian movement. The common ground is there, especially after 2019, but it needs to be distilled into forms that will enable us to truly be resilient in the face of these disasters, and not crumble when the economy does (though this is inevitable given our dependency). This means developing the capacity to coordinate resources trans-regionally, organizing people reliably at a large scale without this ever taking the form of a hegemonic or sovereign power. It is so clear that information is the most valuable thing amidst this crisis, that being a reliable source of information is one of the main tasks our movements will face in the future. This new episteme of information has so far remained neglected. Beyond that, we will continue just as before: trying to effectively produce the things we need outside of the economy while in turn impairing the latter severely, preparing ourselves to catch those who wander away from this world, as so many will have nowhere else to turn. Local struggles will certainly encounter limits in upturning a global problem. Yet they gesture towards each other, this is unmistakable. Their rhythms synchronize, bursting into chorus ever more often. This is why coordination at an international level is key to our moment.

And yet as real as this chance to stop the devastation of the planet and build a more free world feels from inside quarantine, at other times it seems like every other missed opportunity – a mirage. Dreadful panic sets in, the frozen sun goes down. Fear, uncertainty, loss; we live in the darkest of times. Our task is still to introduce a real state of emergency. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

 „Ich weiß,/ ihr berührt euch so selig, weil die Liebkosung verhält,/ weil die Stelle nicht schwindet, die ihr, Zärtliche,/ zudeckt; weil ihr darunter das reine/ Dauern verspürt“

[I know/ you touch so blissfully because the caress preserves,/ because the place you cover so tenderly/does not vanish; because underneath it/ you feel pure duration]

-Rilke

 -Orion

Atlanta, April 02, 2020

[serafines]

my facebook rant

There are SO many memes and comments about Kamala Harris at the debate and the way she just kept reacting.  Good for her.  I am glad she didn't try to hide her reactions.  Why?

Because women are sick to death of being dismissed.  We are tired of being talked over, talked down to, treated like we are not important, or that our opinions are irrelevant.  You cannot treat us however you like and expect us to take it anymore.  Just because we remind you of your mother, or your sister, or your friend, or the girl who you think agreed to have sex with you in high school, it doesn't mean we like the way you speak to us.  It doesn't mean we enjoy being treated this way. Had any, ANY woman in America acted the way that Trump acts, or even worse, Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearings, she would be banned from politics because she was "too emotional".  Posts speaking hoping for a poor outcome in the President's recent health crisis have been banned on FB and Twitter.  Fine.  BUT where the hell was that concern when horrific posts were being made about AOC or any of the women of Congress?  A group of terrorists just plotted to kidnap and murder a sitting female governor!  Where is your outrage??  Stop being hypocritical.  We see you.  We will remember. So often in the face of taunting or even violence, in trying to illicit sympathy comes the comment of "well, what if that were your daughter?"  Or she is someone's daughter (or sister, or mother, or wife, or whatever).   NO.  She is someone.  She is a person in her own right.  She is enough.  She is a human being.  Why do you have to be cajoled to be sympathetic for the suffering of another human being? Furthermore (while I am ranting), I am sick of seeing commercials for erectile dysfunction pills.  Heaven forbid a man cannot have sex.  He can just order pills to make it all better without having a probe shoved where the sun don't shine, without seeing a doctor in some cases.  (I am not trying to belittle the problem, only point out the wild inconsistency here)   Most women are forced to beg and plead and cajole doctors to listen to them when they are in pain.  Or having genuinely debilitating menstrual cycles.  Or when they want to get their tubes tied.  We are just told it is part of being a woman, or we are too young, or we need to lose weight.  If you think I am exaggerating, ask some of your women friends.  Ask how often their concerns are ignored.  Ask if they were refused reproductive care.  Do you have the guts? Decisions about health care should be between a patient and their doctor.  NO ONE ELSE should be a part of that conversation.  Not insurance companies, and sure as hell not the government.   .... finally, for anyone who wonders where this outburst comes from, I am just tired of holding my tongue in the face of the current hellscape that is America.  Plain and simple.  I pray my children will find a world someday that is a little better, or at least habitable.

[feelingbluepolitics]

It's unlikely AOC, as brilliant as she is, can resuscitate Bernie's campaign from flat-lining a second time.

Warren, a well-regarded Democrat who, as a "compromise" candidate, could have given the progressives much of what they aimed for without scaring off moderates willing to risk trusting Warren's judgement, brilliance, and energy, (compared to Biden's dementia), is out.

As AOC says, "a win is a win." It looks like we are set to try "winning" with the wildly unexciting Biden. We'll just have to hope Biden doesn't speak up for his one-sided deals buddy, Mitch McConnell, or actually consider a Republicon running mate, or otherwise turn off the Democratic vote right after he becomes the party-straddling "Democratic" nominee.

By the time we get through months of enduring two addled old men, trump and Biden, threatening to beat each other up, we'll have to see which side musters the higher turnout in November.

[theyoungturks]

Another woman claims Herschel Walker paid for an abortion. The media reacts to Fetterman’s debate. Trump doesn’t invite Desantis to an upcoming Florida rally. The NY Post was hacked and posted a tweet calling to assassinate AOC. Elon Musk looks like he’s buying dying Twitter. We discuss updates to the Marco Rubio canvasser attack. Biden imposes sanctions on Iran. Amazon refers to dogs as “four legged customers” days after one of their drivers was fatally mauled. Matthew Perry apologized to Keanu Reeves. by The Young Turks

[massielandnetwork]

Navigating an Historic Period - Economic Bubble and Anarchy

When Dementia Replaces Meritocracy – Having Patience is Tough

One of my favorite Winston Churchill quotes is “When you are going through Hell, keep going”.  Obviously, there is no benefit to pause and enjoy the pain of being in Hell.  But I think it does help if one can find a little humor amid the chaos and disasters that abound in Hell.  Here are some of my suggestions from the current chaos that is serving to identify those who are insane.

If the newest appointee to the Supreme Court cannot define a “Woman” because she is not a biologist, how can the Woke crowd (DMs) know if they exist or not?

After several years of demanding that there are no men or women but rather gender is fluid, how does the potential repeal of Roe v Wade represent an attack on women?

Did you find it confusing that the same Demented Marxists, a/k/a Democrats (DMs) that spent the last few years arguing the men and women are all the same have now argued the importance of Roe v Wade by shouting that “Men cannot get pregnant”.

And if men cannot get pregnant and repealing Rove v Wade is an attack on women, why are they allowing men who claim to be women in women’s restrooms, sports, and locker rooms?

The answer to all of the above is similar to the never-ending string of consistently wrong decision about everything by the Biden Administration – proof that when you place the mentally ill in leadership positions you have to expect chaos, confusion, and disaster.  A new definition of Hell?  Keep going.

Meanwhile the world teeters on the edge of abject disaster, economically and militarily, fueled by the recognition by despots around the globe that the mentally ill DMs are in charge of the USA.  While we hope that Larry Kudlow is correct and the cavalry is coming in November, we need to pray that we can survive that long.

Some observations about last week that give hope:

In the Ohio primaries, the Republican total vote was double the Democratic total vote.

Trump is 55 – 0 on his endorsements including some who came from behind after Trump endorsed them.  AOC is still looking for her first endorsed candidate to win.

Rich Strike came from the rear of the pack to win the Kentucky Derby by ¾ of a length.  It was a truly remarkable race illustrating the value of persistence. Rich Strike wore RED.

Economic Forces Impacting the Land Market

The stock market is indicating that investors are aware that high energy prices, rampant inflation increasing interest rates, the collapse of the Chinese economy, and a shortage of food as a by product of the Ukrainian War is a toxic mix.  Perhaps those investors calculated the REAL (adjusted for inflation) profits and resulting stock values.

From the expressed opinions of various financial market participants, the debate in the financial markets is whether The Fed will really raise rates as high as they need to raise them in order to gain control of inflation.  Many think The Fed will chicken out, some think the 2022 recession will do the work of the Fed by lowering the rate of inflation without The Fed having to raise rates very high, and others are ready to head for their financial market bomb shelters.

The real estate market segments are each reacting differently.  Industrial is still booming because demand for distribution space is historically high.  But lenders and some investors are becoming cautious about retail and office properties.  The impact on the residential market is distorted by the fact that homebuilders are switching to spec homes so they can have an accurate projection of their cost before they price it for sale.   All reflect the higher mortgage rates that have arrived this year.

The DMs are using the Marxist playbook that always ends in economic disaster.  Please allow me to repeat - the Recession of 2022 has already begun. The only questions remaining are:

(1) how severe, (2) how long, and (3) how it will be turned around.  Economic growth normally requires new leadership in the White House that is pro-growth, but control of Congress will help.

With the Chinese economy melting, the only global economic engine of growth that can pull the globe out of the 2022-24 recession will be the USA.  Hence, recovery of the global economy will have to wait for the USA to have knowledgeable adults in leadership who understand real world economics, so we are looking at 2025 for the global recovery and Biden Stagflation until then. 

A great piece of land remains The Best investment long term, but every portfolio should contain some cash because in this recession “Cash will become King”.  Just like 2022 years ago, those consumed by the world are those that Jesus referred to as “the dead”.  Celebrate thatthis week we began to see some of His handiwork revealed.  Men make plans, but God ALWAYS wins. 

Historically, America has been blessed because of the combination of Christianity, Capitalism, and democracy.  That combination has powered America though some difficult times in the past.  Pray and work for a Revival of Christianity.

Also, please pray:

Now that one has been found Not Guilty by a Judge, for the 597 surviving Americans being held as political prisoners by Biden and the Demented Marxists in hell hole conditions in the DC Gulag.  

For honest elections because without them we are not free.,

For the valiant Ukrainians.

Let’s Go Brandon!

“Therefore Beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation”

(2 Peter 3:14-15)   New Revised Standard Version, Oxford University Press)

Stay healthy,

Ned 

May 10, 2022         

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