#but if you refuse to realize trump should not be supported i don't know what to say to you anymore

[eowyntheavenger]

No, left-of-center US tumblr user who refuses to vote blue in the presidential election and spreads posts about how "voting doesn't work" or how you'll only vote third party... I don't think you're a Russian bot. I think you're a useful idiot.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a useful idiot is a person who can be manipulated or exploited to advance someone else's cause or political agenda. And if you're part of the left and you're refusing to vote blue in the presidential election, then you're being manipulated to serve Trump's, Putin's and Netanyahu's agendas.

Let me explain. First, I hate to break it to you, but the US has a two party system, and as much as I despise it, I know it's not going away before the 2024 election. Either the Democrats win or the Republicans win. That's just how it works. Vote for whoever you want in the primaries, but when it's time to vote in the presidential election, vote blue—if you don't, it's a win for the Republicans, who want to turn the country into a christofascist dictatorship full of concentration camps.

Secondly, you need to understand that anyone telling you not to vote blue is trying to suppress your vote. Trump supporters obviously want Trump to win, but their strategy isn't to convince the left to vote for him. They know that won't work. What they are trying to do is to discourage you from voting for Democrats. They can do this by making you feel too hopeless to vote. They can also do this by making you decide that Biden has done too many unforgivable things for you to vote for him. And Biden has done many unforgivable things, like help arm Israel—but you need to realize that Trump winning a second term would be a hundred times worse for Palestine.

Third, you should think about the fact that there are right-wing foreign leaders—notably Putin and Netanyahu—who want Trump to win. This is where the bots and the propaganda come in. You may not be a bot, but there are bots churning out propaganda to try to influence you, whether they're controlled by Trump donors or by foreign actors.

Don't be a useful idiot.

[acourtofthought]

E/riels holding onto the “he wouldn’t consider Gwyn a friend” line is almost laughably stupid considering he wouldn’t call Elain a friend either. He literally says in his chapter that they do not speak to each other (how tf do you build a friendship or a relationship like that??). All they’ve done for a whole year is exchange glances and brush fingers lol

I very much doubt either of them will care about the other getting it on with someone else at this point.

You know what would have made for an interesting E/riel setup and what I think would be the best way to go about a rejected bond in this situation? If we saw Elain trying to get to know Lucien because he was her mate and Azriel silently longed for her. Where every moment Elain spent interacting with Lucien, figuring she should give this mating bond thing a try, Az's heart was breaking because he himself wanted the chance to make her happy regardless of her having a bond with Lucien. Where the reader could see that Lucien, despite being her mate, wasn't going to be the right male for her. Where his beliefs didn't align with her and where he was more concerned with himself than what she needed while Az stood there in the background being the support system she deserved, all the while she was missing out on him because she was convinced that the mating bond trumped all. Yet when it came time for her book, she finally realized Az was the one for her, had always been the one for her, bond or no bond. But that's not how SJM wrote things. Instead we have Elain refusing to get to know Lucien, which in an SJM book means there's some bigger emotion to go along with that. It's never so simple as "I don't like him" but usually something layered and complicated like "my feelings for him scare me so I'm going to run away". We have Lucien as the one who is silently waiting in the background, longing for Elain while still trying to do what is best for her though she's currently got her eyes turned in a different direction. Where the author has been steadily building the case for WHY Lucien is her perfect match, like his avoidance of violence (when cruelty bothers her), his being Heir to Day when she need sunshine, his ease while in nature which rivals hers. And we have Az acting out in problematic ways. Not caring if Graysen is killed, not being at all concerned about ripping apart the peace in their world, claiming Lucien isn't good enough, avoiding Elain because it bothers HIM rather than it being because it's what is right for her. I really do think SJM could have pulled off E/riel and an Elucien rejected mating bond had she set up the characters differently but with the way things are written, it really is easy to let go of any E/riel setup because Az is like a loose canon right now when it comes to her (not appealing in a MMC) and the most they had done for a year (before that near kiss) is glances and lingering touches. If SJM could undo Feye's engagement to someone she thought she loved in ACOMAF, then stepping back on E/riel in the next book is nothing in comparison.

[hoodievixen]

So my grandmother is toxic af. I've told my mom (her mother) this time and time again, but refuses to do anything about it. Mainly this is a big dump of how crazy this old lady is.

Now I didn't really pay attention to pretty much anyone or anything else until I was eighteen. This being due to me being a child, as well as shoty mental health. This is when I realized just how crazy most of my mom's siblings are. And by crazy I mean dumb, and of course it all comes front he source of it all, my grandmother.

We sorta ignored what we could, and avoided more. This was because my grandpa wasn't doing well. Most of my life he had been in and out of hospitals due to COPD he developed from smoking. We weren't sure when the last time you were going to see him was. I don't remember the occasion, but the last time I saw him was at my cousin's house. It was my siblings and parents playing card games with him. Sure I didn't play the game but I was there talking with him.

He passed away January 2020. He was ready to go. And should have taken grandma with him. Covid then shut everything down a few months later, and she was alone, which just added to the insanity.

I would love to skip to the whole Scamdrew incident, but first I would like to bring you to June of that year. In one week was both my grandparents anniversary, and father's day, both which would be tough for my grandmother who had recently lost her husband of over 50 years.

My mom found a cabin all with in a.ciuple hour drive forher siblings, and booked it for a week, being the master mind behind the whole vacation. Everyone was to be careful of Covid before coming, to be safe. Instead my mom's elder sister decided to fly down the Houston the week before to visit her daughter. (During a large spike of cases in said city) The aunt claimed to be safe she wouldn't come to the cabin though I'm pretty sure my mom told her how dumb she was. This aunt will become a huge problem later. Still all her kids are adults and could have come in their own, none did, not even for a day.

My family however was sure to be there. My brother's work was being audited so he needed to leave on Monday to deal with that, but he and his girlfriend were there Saturday and Sunday. My sister worked as a CNA and was required to work that weekend in the hospital, but she came out in Monday with plans to spend rest of the week there. Monday itself was my birthday. Not a huge milestone brithday or anything, but I would have enjoyed doing something with my friends. We also made plans for that day, baking cupbakes before going, and buy water balloons for a water balloon fight.

I don't know the details of exactly what happened, as I hate people and am an introvert, so I was taking a nap. I was awoken by my crying mother telling me to get my things because we were leaving.

"I feel like I don't belong in this family" my mom cried down to her family.

"You don't belong anywhere!" my grandmother, her own mother responded.

Obviously we left. I learned the fight had started because my mom spoke against what her siblings were saying, that they didn't get all the Black-Lives matter movements that had been happening resently. (My relatives are conservative, and some are even Trump supporters) They can't accept any other oppinion than their own, and one of my aunts can't take a single piece of criticism without crying and throwing a fit.

I told my mom to cut her out of her life then and there. I wrote what happened from my point of view, encouraging her to not try. Our family did so much for her, yet she was never greatful, showing obvious favoritism toward my mom's other siblings. I don't think my grandmother ever apologized, they talked about it, but she never apologized. Seeing how it's 2023, and I'm writting this more happened.

I don't exactly remeber when it started, but it's time for the Scamdrew incident. My grandma started online dating, though she was not ready for it. I don't think it had even been an entire year since grandpa passed away. Anyways she started talking to this guy Andrew. We let her do her thing. I didn't really know much about this until one night my parents were trying to find any information about this guy. I decided, to join in, finding it to be a fun thing to do. We could onky find an Indeed page for the guy, a sketchy Indeed page.

I just stayed out of this, having long since grown done with my grandmother, and not wanting to deal with her. But they had an intervention, telling he rjt might be a scam. Grandma said she was prepaired to move out to an entirely different state to be with him leaving behind her kids. She continued to keep this mentality as more evidence polled up to prove he was a scam. Even her bank told her it was a scam. It took her some of her kids to stop talking to her to give him an ultimatum that did not get fulfill to stop talking to the guy. Though I think she would if she wouldn't get scolded by her kids again.

Now my grandmother has always been religious. My grandfather had gone to school to become part of the clergy, obviously didn't happen. Still they went to curch every Sunday, celebrated the holy days, and prayed. I decided I was agnostic as a fresan in highschool, so sorta just ignore all her Christian stuff, she had plenty of other people to talk to about that stuff.

But she basically threw herself into religion. She claimed everything wa sin gods plan, and that even the scam guy was he soulmate from God. My mom pointed out my grandmother hadn't ever believed in predestination before, and called bs on it. Still she started pushing her religion down other people's throats. My uncle, her son, was going through a messy devorce at the time and told his now ex-wife that she needed to find God when picking up my cousin one time. For Christmas she gave Al of her children a holt water holder (?) and a crusifix. Grandchildren got a tacky nick-nack that basically boiled down to "Your grandma loves, and so dose God."

She likes to demand to go out with her grandkids for dinner or lunch at times. I usually am able to not go, but there are times I can't. My parents were on vacation at the time so I was home alone, and I worked weekends, so she knew I was available. I was prepaired for whatever was to come, just grin and bare it. She recommended I join a church to find friends, and that I'd find peace when I get closer to God. I just nodded and said nothing (I haven't gone to church since I was 7 and was a perfectly fine person without it) This also came after getting a letter in the mail saying she put me down as someone to pray for for her church's eadte prayer. Like she has some weird obsession with me, that I need help. I think it's from when my mental health was terrible in HS. But I'm better now, and one of her more well adjusted grandkids. I give it another two years before my cousin gets pregnant from her boyfriend.

More recently she told one of her neices that all she needed to do was find God. This neice has a drug addiction and tried committing suicide. My grandmother was claiming to get better she just needed to find God.

Back to her "love life", she met two guys in person. One was a guy who lived in the same building as her. The other went to the same church as her. There wa some weekend where she stayed over at one guys house, hated it and couldn't even stay the fill weekend. The next the other guy came to stay with her at her apertment, hated it. The next she was moving in with the first guy. Not to mention she never really like either of these guys yet brought them to famoly things. These guys have been to my house and I will never seen them again. When my uncle (recently decor e and in his own relationship drama) asked her about looking for more options, going to more places, she said "I am looking for more options" as she continues to bounce between the same two guys.

Recently, to keep her busy, they started up doing weekly family dinners. Due to driving distance and it being done on Tuesday, usually it is just my parents, uncle, and grandmother. If it's at my parents house, of course I'm there, cause I live there and like to eat dinner. Just in the last week she had met up with two of my aunts, the ones wrre still speaking two, and appeariently said they don't see her enough, claiming she gonna move to come live closer to my mom and uncle. Plz no

This was not even a month after she announced that she changed in her will that the medical power of attorney was changed from my eldest aunt (the one we don't speak to anymore) and my mom to my crybaby aunt and my other aunt as back up. She said it is because my mother is too emotional, which isnt exactly wrong, but also not right. However the aunt given this power can not make a decision for shit.

This came up because with in the last six months my grandmother lost both a sister and her mother. There's been a heafty a mount of drama from all that, mainly from my mom's relatives due to most of them needing the inheritency money. My mom and all her siblings are all well off, so we aren't much in the drama, just get to hear about it. Basically my grandmother is looking down on her nieces/nephews and siblings(?) about only crying about the money they'll get.

On one of the doomed lunches I had gone in with her she brought up how her sister's jewelery was now being decided up amongst first the siblings and then the nieces and nephews. There were documents emailed with pics of the jewelry and you wrre to let the executor of the will know what you'd like. She expressed her concern that if some arent claimed they wrre just going to be pawned off. Now she had already asked for the pieces she liked, so I offered the idea of reaching out to her nephew (the will executor) and say once everyone has gone through and gotten what they wanted that she'd like the rest.

Next I hear about this it had somehow turned into her wanting it all.

For her mother I am less aware of what all she got, however I knew she got some jewelry and walkers. All of which she sold for money, probably also her sister's jewelery. She was looking down on others for doing such, yet she goes and dose it herself.

Now this is sorta not picky, but there was family dinner just earlier this week, and she just can't let the spot light be taken off of her. Fist she reads letters from state government officials about my great grandma's death, due to the fact she worked in the governor's mansion for many years. Then needed to read out every detail about her mother's money though none of us would be getting anything, just her. She continued to go on about a vacation she wanted to take, which is all fine and well.

But this week my aunt (the only one I like) came over for dinner. Next week I start school were I'm going to get a technical degree in Baking. Everyone knows this, but not many of them know the details. I brought out my schedule just to go over classes, which seem like fun. One of these classes is cake decorating, obviously.

My grandmother than needed to proclaim she taken "that" class, and proceeded to go off on all the cakes she's made. One of which is that barbie doll cake dress kids make on tik tok. Which like if she was doing it to relate to me in someway of continue the conversation would have been fine but no she was returning it to herself.

I don't talk much, never really have. She came over to visit after I had surgery where the anesthetic was still wearing off which basically got rid of my anxiety and she claimed that it wad the most she had ever heard me talk. Yet I'm over here talking to one person about something I'm excited about, and she needs to take that away, to bring the attention back in herself.

I know she never had the chance to grow up, and learn how to be a person by herself. She graduated highschool, got married, and had a child. She as never her own person. But that shouldn't be my problem. I don't want to put up with this shit.

[eidetic187]

.

[lowkeyorloki]

hello it’s BC anon I feel less confident about my Jane theory today but also I sort of feel like you’re trying to throw me off which makes me more confident about the theory🤨 so essentially I Do Not Know! I would give more evidence to support it but I feel like cass really just gave the best evidence there is and said it all like there’s really nothing else I could possibly say??? But anyway I will say this since Loki is obviously gonna be Going Through It and because fatherhood is a big part of the chapter I think those two will connect. Seeing Jane (someone Loki loves) getting pregnant so soon after Loki gets his heart broken will HURT and I feel like it’ll add to his inner turmoil bc obviously he wants so support thor and Jane he loves them and he’s so happy for them but it’s gonna make him think about kids w y/n and that’s gonna eat him up inside and he’s gonna feel like he’s not being happy enough for his family and that’s gonna eat him up inside. Anyway maybe Jane is not pregnant also I realize now I thought both y/n and Jane were pregnant so maybe I need to psychoanalyze myself I really hope I’m not projecting or something bc I am literally 21 years old so I better not secretly want to be pregnant or something

LMAO this is pemdas you know. The confidence and the confusion cancel out and you're just left with a blank space (mind?). But you are SO right that Cass gave the best piece of evidence like. I'll torture Loki and y/n all day every day in ANY of my fics but I will not put Narvi through it!! I will do the opposite. I will give him the bestest life I can 🥺

I LOVE all the points you make especially the one about Loki feeling like he isn't happy enough for his family. I think I've briefly mentioned that before but it's definitely explored in the Loki chapter. It's hard for Loki because he loves Narvi so much, but until y/n came along, he didn't have any close relationships outside his immediate family. Of course he's going to feel unfulfilled to some degree - which makes him feel bad because what father thinks that? Loki has to work on understanding it's okay to want and pursue things for himself even though he is a father. He's allowed to have his own thing (no matter what that is). I think y/n citing Loki's smaller amount of time spent with Narvi might have (unintentionally) validated this idea that Narvi trumps all. Which, to be clear, is true - Narvi IS Loki's #1 priority, as any child should be. But that frame of thinking doesn't have to be around the clock. It isn't Narvi or adult relationships outside of the family unit, it's the question of how to make those two things work together. I think these are situations Loki hasn't had time to think about for a plethora of reasons.

And do not worry BC anon I am also 21 (barely I turned 21 not even three months ago) and I can semi confidently say you probably don't secretly want to pregnant. I also had to sit down and ask myself that when I started this story at 19 years old and plotted it out bc I was like. Why am I focusing on this as someone who NEVER wants kids of her own and also has historically refused to write anything regarding pregnancy. Is this my brain telling me I want this???? I especially worried about it because I had to do a lot of research on pregnancy for the y/n reveal just to be sure I was alluding to things that could or couldn't point to her being pregnant. That late night research resulted in like two pregnancy dreams for me and I HATED it but I was so scared it meant something. I mean, it did mean something: it meant I was doing my research way too close to bedtime lmao. But yeah I wouldn't worry too much... you're just picking up on the clues I left that could very well mean your theory is correct ;)

[rwood2477]

President Trump said:

"Let's blow up the white house!" Oh wait, that was Madonna.

President Trump said:

"Lock a 10 year old in a cage with child molesters." Oh wait, that was Peter Fonda about Barren Trump.

President Trump said:

"We need another John Wilks Booth!" Oh wait, that was Johnny Depp

President Trump said:

"I fantasize about standing over Donald Trump Jr.'s dead body!" Oh wait, that was Tom Arnold

President Trump:

*Holds up a bloody, decapitated head* oh wait, that was Kathy Griffith

President Trump:

*Shoots a likeness of Snoop Dog in a music video, has him in a body bag on his album cover* Oh wait, that was Snoop Dog about Trump

President Trump said:

"I'd like to take Biden behind a barn to beat him." Oh wait, that was Joe Biden about Trump

President Trump said:

"I dream of punching him in the face." Oh wait, that was Corey Booker, US Senator

President Trump said:

"Harass the staff and supporters in public and refuse to serve them."

Oh wait, that was Maxine Waters, congresswoman

But according to the left wing media/DNC talking points, it's Trump with the hateful rhetoric... all in the name of TOLERANCE...

Then!!... Trump said...

everyone should take note of that, on both levels, that they’re not going to let up, and they should not, and we should not." (Note those last 7 words!)

Ooh my bad... that was Ms. Kamala Harris herself!!

Maybe it was when he said...

"I just don't even know why there aren't uprisings all over the country. And maybe there will be, when people realize that this is a policy that they defend."

Oh wait.... that was Pelosi - when she wants to push a policy or agenda...

Sooo... what DID President Trump say about unrest and unlawful destructive protest??

‘We condemn one the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence’

President Trump 👆🏻

‘I condemn ALL white supremacy’ ‘I have ALWAYS denounced any form of that!’

President Trump 👆🏻

‘Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the kkk, new nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans!’

President Trump 👆🏻

‘We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.

We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. ‘

Note..... key words... ‘PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD’

Yep... President Trump 👆🏻

.... But it is the Democrats and those seeking self gain that say they are all about peace and coming together, right? 🤔

Stop believing main stream media and stop spewing off from emotions and research- seek facts and truth! You have heard the saying right...’The Truth will set you free!’ Stop being chained down by hate!!!

[galvanizedfriend]

I didn't know you were from Brazil! I've never been, I don't speak Portuguese and I won't pretend to know much about the politics and culture but I've met some wonderful Brazilians and I'm sure the country is great. That being said I know enough to agree that Bolsonaro is a (probably indirect but sill) consequence of Trump but much worse in many ways. I'm sorry that you have such a terrible person representing and governing your country. Of course a Biden win would not be a magical solution

but the blatant assaults on democratic institutions and processes, the constant lying about anything and everything really needs to stop and not just for the sake of the US, many other places are affected too. I guess we just have to hope for the best although to be honest I'm pretty disappointed that this wasn't more of a landslide for Biden. The amount of people that still support Trump is baffling to me. But take care of yourself too and thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. All the best!

I am, anon! 😊 Born and raised. Honestly, the country is ridiculously beautiful and blessed in many ways, but I have kind of lost my faith in human kind, so. lol

I watched a video of this gentleman whose name I do not recall speaking to MSNBC earlier today, it went viral on twitter, you might have seen it. Basically he said that Trump (like Bolsonaro) are not the problem, they are a manifestation of the ugliness of our society. What men like Trump and Bolsonaro stand for, the things they say, the things they support, the things they allow, can only exist in a society that is an exact mirror of that, and until we're ready to face the fact these issues go much deeper than our representatives, and that to change that, we need to change ourselves, then we're never gonna fix it. Like, when is enough going to be enough? Where to a draw a line? 

It was a powerful speech and a punch to the guts and it's a sad thought, but I tend to agree with him. What I've seen in my country over the last 4 years and what people allow to happen these days, what they're not embarrassed to admit and support anymore... It just made me realize that we have failed as a society. Like you said, even if Biden wins, the sheer numbers Trump managed to pull together these elections is significant. This is a guy who refused to condemn white supremacists who were literally killing people. A guy who hasn't paid his taxes as the president of the US. Someone who instituted a system to separate children from their parents and LOST some of them. It's just ugly to think people would still support him after all that. It's scary.

But I agree with you all the way, anon. Biden needs to win for more than just what he may or may not do. It's a statement this world really needs right now, and I know it will mean a lot to my country in particular because of how much this dumbass sitting in presidency molds himself to Trump's image. You'd be surprised by how DESPERATE Bolsonaro's supporters are on twitter, claiming fraud left and right, and begging the president to not accept the results, like that will make a difference. So already we know it will have a huge impact.

I haven't been able to do anything but watch the election results unfold. lol It's looking much better for Biden now, but Trump is acting like the little shit that he is and trying everything to rig the elections. I really, really hope it doesn't happen and it doesn't go to court. I hope some SANE mind in the GOP will rise and put a stop to it because his behavior should not be acceptable. I wish you folks all the best and that things may get sorted out sooner rather than later!

[zigdirty]

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/the-trumperdammerung-is-a-fitting-end-to-2020

Pasting the story by Susan B. Glasser, posted today, below, if you don't want all the ads and page loads on the New Yorker website:

As the awful year of 2020 and the awful tenure of Donald Trump both come to an end, the President has partied with the unmasked in Palm Beach and taken credit for a vaccine against a virus that he once counselled could be beaten with bleach. He has pardoned mercenary child-killers and Paul Manafort. He has golfed. He has raged. He has vetoed the annual defense bill and threatened to shut down the government over the holidays. He has turned against even some of his most loyal henchmen, and some, in turn, have finally flipped on him. “Mr. President . . . STOP THE INSANITY,” the New York Post blared on Monday, after four years of relentless cheerleading.

But, of course, the President did not, and he will not. He continues to refuse to accept his defeat in the election, and just the other day he retweeted a claim that “treason” kept him from winning. Injecting still more political drama into the most ministerial of constitutional processes, Trump and his most fanatical supporters now want Congress to refuse to confirm Joe Biden’s Electoral College win on January 6th—which is both pointless, in that it will not happen, and incredibly destructive. Meanwhile, more than a hundred thousand Americans have died of the coronavirus just since the election, and only two million Americans—not the hundred million he once promised—have so far received the vaccine.

The Trümperdämmerung is finally here, and it is every bit the raging dumpster fire that we, the unlucky audience for this drama, have come to expect. Is there anyone left who is surprised that the President is careening through the last days of his Administration with a reckless disdain that simply has no precedent in American public life? Still, the hardest thing to accept is that 2020 is not merely the year that Donald Trump’s luck ran out but that with it the country’s did, too. Sadly and yet inevitably, this terrible, wretchedly toxic year of pandemic death and economic distress, of partisan hatred and national protest, is the culmination of all that Trump has wrought and all that he is.

Now that 2020 is finally almost over, I find that I don’t want to remember it at all. (Though you should read Lawrence Wright’s definitive account of this Plague Year in this week’s New Yorker.) Perhaps this is simply because Trump has remained so defiantly and obnoxiously unrepentant, continuing his antics all the way to the end. He does not want to let go, to cede the spotlight, to renounce his outsized claim on our collective consciousness. It is my protest, our protest, to want so desperately to do so.

As it is, we are still in 2020, and I can barely summon the concerns and controversies of a year ago, when the most pressing political question in Washington was whether Trump’s former national-security adviser John Bolton would have to testify in the impeachment trial of the President. (Spoiler alert: he didn’t, though he would eventually call Trump unfit for office in a book whose contents he did not share with the United States Senate and the American public when it mattered most.) Now that the election and all the other mayhem associated with it have happened, it’s hard to recall that 2020 began with me wondering whether Biden still had a chance in the upcoming Democratic primaries, and pondering why the promising Presidential campaign of Kamala Harris had flamed out so quickly, before a single vote was cast. This was back when Trumpian outrages seemed less threatening to the literal health of the nation.

How much worse was 2020? Well, NBC’s list of the President’s ten biggest lies in 2019 included Trump perennials like the idea that windmills, because of their noise, “cause cancer,” and “people are flushing toilets ten times, fifteen times,” and the U.S. will “be going to Mars very soon.” All are bad, absurd, and embarrassing coming from a President, but would not even rate in this year’s far deadlier, more consequential tally. Trump was not just a circus this year; he was an actual catastrophe.

Which is why the before times are so hard to conjure now, nine months into the pandemic and nearly two months after an election whose aftermath has challenged the very foundation of American democracy. I can remember, sort of, Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump’s State of the Union speech, and the drama of Mitt Romney becoming the only senator in history to vote to convict an impeached President of his own party. I can recall, sort of, the anxiety that followed the U.S. assassination of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qassem Suleimani, and the drama of Biden’s remarkable comeback in the Democratic Presidential race.

In reality, though, the year really began for me, for us, in February—on February 24th, to be precise, when Trump tweeted, “The coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.” We already knew that this wasn’t true. I had spent the previous weekend haranguing my visiting parents about the virus and begging them to purchase N95 masks before it was too late. But somehow I did not fully recognize until that moment that Trump was going to approach the biggest public-health emergency of our lifetimes with a strategy of outright denial. The Big Lie of 2020 had begun. So many more followed that it’s hard to remember the breathtaking simplicity of this first untruth, the foundational lie from which so many deadly consequences would flow.

“Just stay calm. It will go away,” Trump said on March 10th, when thirty-one Americans were dead. “It’s going to go away,” he said on August 31st, by which point nearly two hundred thousand had died. “It’s going to disappear,” he said on October 10th. “It is disappearing.” He said that the coronavirus was a Chinese plot and that concern over it was a Democratic hoax, that he knew how to treat it better than the doctors did, that it was just like the flu, and that, if you got it, you would get better, as he eventually did in October. “That’s all I hear about now. . . . covid, covid, covid, covid,” he said before the election. “By the way, on November 4th, you won’t hear about it anymore.” But that wasn’t true, either, and, since then, millions of Americans have been infected with the disease, and December has been by far our deadliest month yet.

To be sure, there are many, many other Trumpisms from 2020 that would have been mind-blowing in another context, in any other year. That’s the thing about historic, world-changing times; so much happens that you can’t remember it all. Still, I am quite certain that, even amid the firehose of 2020 awfulness, the Worst Photo-Op in American History and the Worst Debate in American History and the Worst Case of Sore-Loserism in American History will rate a mention.

Thinking back through the year, I realize, too, that there is much that we will not only forget but may not even believe actually happened. Trump pressing his Attorney General to prosecute his opponent weeks before the election? Trump holding rallies with thousands of unmasked followers during a deadly pandemic, including a superspreader White House event at which he introduced a Supreme Court nominee whom Republican senators hurriedly confirmed just days before Trump was defeated? “Person, woman, man, camera, TV”? “Obamagate,” which was supposedly “the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA”? It’s just all too insane.

When I Googled “craziest shit Trump did in 2020,” a column I wrote in September, on “Twenty Other Disturbing, Awful Things That Trump Has Said This Month,” popped up. Although it was published just a few months ago, I realized that I did not remember many of the examples cited in it—the “super-duper” new “hydrosonic” missile that does not actually exist; Trump’s accusation that Biden got a “big fat shot in the ass” of some unknown drug; Trump’s admission that he was getting his information about the uselessness of mask-wearing from “waiters.” This, as George W. Bush was reported to have said about Trump’s ominous Inaugural Address, was some weird shit indeed.

Remembering all of this is already both hard and painful. There is still much more to learn about the disastrous events of the past four years in Trump’s Washington and on his watch. But I recognize that there are powerful forces—in human nature, in the politics of both the right and the left—that will push us toward forgetting. The urge to move on from Trump is understandable, and potentially very, very dangerous. As of noon on January 20th, no matter what other madness comes between now and then, America will start to move on anyway.

Out of all the books I read this year—and I read many, stuck at home during 2020’s endless quarantine—the one that resonated perhaps the most was “Those Who Forget,” an account by the French-German author Géraldine Schwarz of postwar Europe’s, and her own family’s, not entirely successful effort to reckon with the crimes of the Second World War. It made the very convincing case that, until and unless there is a full accounting for what happened with Donald Trump, 2020 is not over and never will be. I still don’t want to remember, but I know that forgetting is not an option, either.

This has been a terrifying and sobering year, and presidency, to be sure. Sadly the consequences of it won't dissipate any time soon, or possibly at all.

[eowyntheavenger]

was going to vote blue as harm reduction while openly saying i woudln't vote for biden unless he calls for a ceasefire to try to influence his foreign policy. you know, as a threat, to leverage my only power in the scenario to get what i want out of my elected official. but after seeing all of you useless fucking liberals chide people over just THREATENING not to vote for biden, to try to end a fucking GENOCIDE, making endless posts about how you'll vote for whatever genocider the dems elect as long as it doesnt bother your precious domestic policy, i'm actually not going to vote for him now! congratulations, trump is going to win the fucking election because of people like you who are so spineless they don't even realize that committing a widely unpopular genocide is going to lose someone the election no matter how much you finger wag at the voters for being repulsed by it. if you want biden to win, fucking force him to change his foreign policy, nothing else will work.

This ask is stupid on many levels — partly because you’re lashing out at me for things I’ve never said, and partly because you contradict yourself.

I have never said that threatening to withhold your vote, while planning to vote blue anyway, was a bad thing to do. I’ve only said that ultimately refusing to vote blue was a bad thing to do. And I have encouraged putting pressure on the Democrats on Palestine and other issues. If you took a look at my blog you’d know that.

You apparently understand what harm reduction means, but then decided to…not do that. What you’re planning to do now is basically cutting off your nose to spite your face. “Trump is going to win the election because of you” — no, if Trump wins it will be because Trump supporters voted for him while people like you sat on their hands.

Another thing you’re getting wrong: I have never finger-wagged at people repulsed by genocide. I am one of the people repulsed by the genocide and Biden’s support to Israel. I also know that if Trump is elected, not only will he make things in Palestine even worse, he will make things so much worse in America that we will all be fighting even harder for our lives rather than being able to spend that energy helping Palestine.

“I want people to put pressure on Biden to fix his foreign policy” and “I will ultimately vote blue in the presidential election” are statements that can and should coexist.

You apparently used to understand what harm reduction meant. I suggest you try to remember.

[josiewe]

Let me begin with saying I didn't vote for President Trump in 2016. So this isnt a political post! But my question as an American, if governor Cuomo paid 20 million for voting machines in 2020, governor Newsom paid 90 million in California, and governor Murphy paid 10 million on new voting machines. And that's only a few to mention. Why did they take my rights away to vote in person???? I know that some political and other officials brag about voting in person and we the people of United States of America are not allowed?? This really feels like I'm not in america! Out of all the years I have voted this is the first time I feel my vote didn't count! Again not a political posts just a feeling of not having a voice! I have always respected everyone no matter what. But when is it enough. We as Americans have been through a lot in 2020. And I guess as Americans are voices don't matter. First time in history for me of voting not a choice to vote in person! Doesn't mean whether you're a democrat, Republican, or any other political party we all have the right to vote in person. First time ever I feel the elections are rigged! No matter who wins not a real election for me and the rest of Americans that we the people have the right to vote in person and the right to know if our vote even counted! Or was changed by other people! But I guess we don't matter for our voices to be heard. Guess this is the continuing of the year 2020! Which I will erase from my mind. Due to I want a do over of this horrible year! I don't want politician's like governors or mayors telling me I cannot open or have to close my business! Or whether I can go to church, a play, a movie, or anything else that I was able to do before 2020! I should be able to go to school. When Anerica be able to return to be able to be free? Are we ever going to be able to be free to speak? Able to go on with our daily activities without a governor or mayor telling us we can't? America wasn't built with all these restrictions!!! I truly believe in people that we respect one another! One of my biggest causes is anti-bullying and all I have seen is people hurting one another and for what? We're all part of one race THE HUMAN RACE! I have experienced racism throughout my life and I refuse to let that define me! I refuse to hate those that have treated me with hatred! I truly believe they're more good people than bad! And I truly believe we live in the greatest country in the world. But you would never know that through all of the garbage we all have been through in 2020! Well I refuse to conform to all of this negative and violence! You all should believe we all have the power to do something about it. But as we have seen even the right to vote in person was stripped away from us! To be honest it amazes me how there were so many politicians and officials stating they were voting in person. Just curious what makes them better than us? Just curious aren't we the Americans suppose to vote these officials and politicians in? Doesn't seem to me that were given that chance in this elections! Again doesn't matter what party you support. They took are rights away! When Dr. Fuaci stated we could vote in person and also the CDC stated this. But no these governors decided they were more intelligent than doctors and CDC . Well I hope they realize what damage they did! Will never trust these governors and mayors who have become dictators! Well I truly hope they will stop all this power trip soon. The American people are tired! I pray for everyone! And think the best of everyone! And I truly believe there is compassion in the American people. I believe in freedom. And importantly I believe in freedom of speech! May everyone have a fabulous night. And believe in one thing we're the greatest country no matter what the media or the news say!!!!! This is the first time in my voting history that I feel my vote didn't count! Being forced to vote by mail. Because of governors writing executive orders to do so. I feel that this election wasn't for the America people to choose

It seems like Tumblr is not letting me finish my post! Welcome to the new world!