#need new blood in Congress

[lesbiangummybearmafia]

Ok so 1953 was 70 years ago... 2053 is only 29 years away. This is my point the conservatives and Republicans in this country want to drag us all back 70 years ago if they had their way. I chose 1953 out of thin air, but pretty much any year of 50s. Because white men controlled everything back then. It's the 21st century for fuck sake, we're closer to 2053 now, are we all going to sit idly by allow them to this? Y'all realize we could easily vote all those old white bastards out of congress if enough got up off our butts and actually went out and voted, no matter what it takes. The only reason they stay in Congress and everywhere else is because more old conservatives and Republicans get out and vote. And I get those fuckers make impossible in alot of places to vote if we aren't one of them. But we gotta be fuck you, we're stronger, smarter, better, younger, more determined to have a better future. So we're not going to let their bullshit trickery and straight up cheating stop us from voting we'll get it done. Even just to piss those motherfuckers off. Vote for people of color, lgbtqia+ candidates, trans candidates, vote for not Republicans or Democratic candidates (if they get enough votes they'll win), vote for candidates that are younger then 50!! Just fucking vote, because even if think it does nothing, if dislike/hate conservatives/republican/fascist politicians voting against them will piss them the fuck off, prove them wrong about all of us, make them look stupid (which is always fun) and hopefully save our democracy. Because those motherfuckers are chipping away at it, it now huge fucking pieces their taking off not little pebbles. Just look at all laws they've passed at the state level to restrict our civil liberties, control free speech by banning books, passing laws to control women's reproductive rights, first the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade now having state after state passing insane laws banning abortions. In every case is a clear indication how much conservatives man don't care about women or our lives. Then the onslaught of laws targeting the trans community, limiting their access to health care they need and unleashing a wave of transphobic all over ourcountry. Also laws targeting the lgbtqia+ community, banning drag shows, that in theit history never hurt anyone. There a celebration.

We the people, remember there are way more of us then any political party, any amount of politicians, no matter how much powerful they think they are. We our number them! We are louder, we are angry, we are feed up, we are tried of the lies, we are tried of all the bullshit, we done being told what America should be like. Because that definition doesn't work anymore, we're gonna give America a new definition for right now! For the 21st century, for 2023 because we're not going the fuck backwards no fucking more. The only direction is forward, into the future, we want to know what America can be in 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now. That is not some conservative, Republican, fascist, authoritarian old white man wet dream!!! Nope, not happening not on our watch assholes!

We will not go gentle into that good night! We will rage, rage against the dying of the light!! In other words will not allow our democracy to be killed by traitors to our country that even now spit fascist ideals in Congress, in Governor offices, state legislators, mayors officials, city councils, school districts. Just look at horrors that been unleashed on Florida because of Ron DeSantis who is without doubt a fascist and an authoritarian!

That why the next elections are so important. Why it's so important to register to vote at

And go out vote or to make it easier if your state allows voting by mail, that what I do. I'm in Arizona, they send me a ballot in mail, I fill it out. I can either mail it or drop it off. It's great!! To see if your state has voting by mail go to.

Some other voting resources:

https://rockthevote.org

https://vote411.org

(Helps if your homeless and want to vote)

(Helps people with disabilities to vote)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Worker misclassification is a competition issue

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/02/upward-redistribution/#bedoya

The brains behind Trump's stolen Supreme Court have detailed plans: they didn't just scheme to pack the court with judges who weren't qualified for – or entitled to – a SCOTUS life-tenure, they also set up a series of cases for that radical court to hear.

Obviously, Dobbs was the big one, but it's only part of a whole procession of trumped-up cases designed to give the court a chance to overturn decades of settled law and create zones of impunity for America's oligarchs and the monopolies that provide them with wealth and power.

One of these cases is Jarkesy, a case designed to allow SCOTUS to euthanize every agency in the US government, stripping them of their powers to fight corporate crime:

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/sec-v-jarkesy-the-threat-to-congressional-and-agency-authority/

The argument goes, "Congress had the power to spell out every possible problem an agency might deal with and to create a list of everything they were allowed to do about these problems. If they didn't, then the agency isn't allowed to act."

This is an Objectively Very Stupid argument, and it takes a heroic act of motivated reasoning to buy it. The whole point of expert agencies is that they're experts and that they might discover new problems in American life, and come up with productive ways of fixing them. If the only way for an agency to address a problem is to wait for Congress to notice it and pass a law about it, then we don't even need agencies – Congress can just be the regulator, as well as the lawmaker.

If there was any doubt that Congress created the agencies as flexible and adaptive hedges against new threats and problems, then the legislative history of the FTC Act should dispel it.

Congress created the FTC through the FTCA because the courts kept misinterpreting its existing antitrust laws, like the Sherman Act. Companies would engage in the most obvious acts of naked, catastrophic fuckery, and judges would say, "Welp, because Congress didn't specifically ban this conduct, I guess it's OK."

So Congress created the FTC with an Act that included a broad authority to investigate and punish "unfair methods of competition." They didn't spell these out – instead, they explicitly said (in Section 5) that it was the FTC's job to determine whether something was unfair, and to act on it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

The job of the FTC is to investigate unfair conduct before it becomes such a problem that Congress takes action, and to head that conduct off so that it never rises to the level of needing Congressional intervention.

Now, it's true that since the Reagan years, the FTC has grown progressively less interested in using this power, but that's broadly true of all of America's corporate watchdogs. But as the public all over the world has grown ever more furious about corporate abuses and oligarchic wealth, governments everywhere have rediscovered their role as a public protector.

In America, the Biden administration altered the course of history with the appointment of new enforcers in the key anti-monopoly agencies: the FTC and the DOJ's antitrust division. But more importantly, the Biden admin created a detailed, technical plan to use every agency's powers to fight monopoly, in a "whole of government" approach:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

Now, this can give rise to seeming redundancies. Take labor issues. The NLRB is a (potentially) powerful regulator that had been in a coma for decades, but has awoken and taken up labor rights with a fervor and cunning that is a delight to behold:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

At the same time, the FTC has also taken up labor rights, using its much broader powers to do things like ban noncompetes nationwide, unshackling workers from bosses who claim the right to veto who else they can work for:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal

But the NLRB doesn't make the FTC redundant, or vice-versa. The NLRB's role is principally reactive, punishing wrongdoing after it occurs. But the FTC has the power to intervene in incipient harms, labor abuses that have not yet risen to the level of NLRB enforcement or new acts of Congress.

This case is made beautifully in Alvaro Bedoya's speech "'Overawed': Worker Misclassification as a Potential Unfair Method of Competition," delivered to the Law Leaders Global Summit in Miami today:

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Overawed-Speech-02-02-2024.pdf

Bedoya describes why the FTC has turned its attention to the problem of "worker misclassification," in which employees are falsely claimed to be contractors, and thus deprived of the rights that workers are entitled to. Worker misclassification is rampant, and it transfers billions from workers to employers every year. As Bedoya says, 10-30% of employers engage in worker misclassification, allowing them to dodge payment for overtime, Social Security, workers' comp, unemployment insurance, healthcare, retirement and even a minimum wage. Each misclassified worker is between $6k-18k poorer thanks to this scam – a typical misclassified worker sees a one third decline in their earning power. And, of course, each misclassified worker's boss is $6k-$18k richer because of this scam.

It's not just wages, it's workplace safety. One of the most dangerous jobs in the country is construction worker, and worker misclassification is rampant in the sector. That means that construction workers are three times more likely than other workers to lack health insurance.

What's more, misclassified workers can't form unions, because their bosses' fiction treats them as independent contractors, not employees, which means that misclassified construction workers can't join trade unions and demand health-care, or safer workplaces.

Contrast this with, say, cops, who have powerful "unions" that afford them gold-plated health care and lavish compensation, even for imaginary ailments like "contact overdoses" from touching fentanyl – a medical impossibility that still entitles our nation's armed bureaucrats to handsome public compensation:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/27/extraordinary-popular-delusions/#onshore-havana-syndrome

Cops have far safer jobs than construction workers, but cops don't get misclassified, so they are able to collect benefits that no other worker – public or private – can hope for.

Not every employer wants to cheat and maim their employees, of course. In Bedoya's speech, he references Sandie Domando, an executive VP at a construction company in Palm Beach Gardens. Domando's company keeps its employees on its books, giving them health-care and other benefits. But when she started bidding against rival firms for jobs funded by the covid stimulus, she couldn't compete – two thirds of those jobs went to other firms that were able to put in cheaper bids. Those bids were cheaper because they were defrauding their workers by misclassifying them. Thus, publicly funded projects were overwhelmingly handed over to fraudulent companies. Fraud becomes a fitness-factor for winning jobs. It's a market for lemons – among employers.

Employee misclassification is a pure transfer from workers to bosses. Bedoya recounts the story of Samuel Talavera, Jr, a short-haul trucker who worked for decades in the Port of Los Angeles. For decades, his job paid well: enough to support his family and even take his kids to Disneyland now and again.

But in 2010, his employer reclassified him as a contractor. They ordered him to buy a new truck – which they financed on a lease-purchase basis – and put him to work for 16 hours stretches in shifts lasting as much as 20 hours per day. Talavera couldn't pick his own hours or pick his routes, but he was still treated as an independent contractor for payroll and labor protection purposes.

This lead to an terrible decline in Talavera's working conditions. He gave up going home between shifts, sleeping in his cab instead. His pay dropped through the floor, thanks to junk-fees that relied on the fiction that he was a contractor. For example, his boss started to charge him rent on the space his truck took up while he was standing by for a job at the port. Other truckers at the port saw paycheck deductions for the toilet-paper in the bathrooms!

Talavera's take-home pay dropped so low that he was bringing home a weekly wage of $112 or $33 (one week, his pay amounted to $0.67). His wife had to work three jobs, and they still had to declare bankruptcy to avoid losing their home. When Talavera's truck needed repairs he couldn't afford, his boss fired him and took back the truck, and Talavera was out the $78,000 he'd paid into it on the lease-purchase plan.

This story – and the many, many others like it from the Port of LA – paint a clear picture of the transfer of wealth from workers to their bosses that comes with worker misclassification. The work that Talavera did in the Port of LA didn't get less valuable when he was misclassified – but the share of that value that Talavera received dropped to as little as $0.67/week.

Worker misclassification is rampant across many sectors, but its handmaiden is technology. The fiction of independence is much easier to maintain when the fine-grained employer-employee control is mediated by an app (think of Uber):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

That's why those scare-stories that AI trucks were going to make truckers obsolete and create an employment crisis were such toxic nonsense. Not only are we unlikely to see self-driving trucks, but the same investors that back AI technology are making bank on companies that practice worker misclassification through the "it's not a crime if we do it with an app" gambit:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no

By focusing our attention on a hypothetical employment crisis that will supposedly be caused by future AI developments, tech investors can distract us from the real employment crisis that's created by app-enabled worker misclassification, which is also the source of much of the capital they're plowing into AI.

That's why the FTC's work on misclassification is so urgent. Misclassification is a scam that hurts workers and creates oligarchic power – and it's also a mass-extinction event for good companies that don't cheat their workers, because those honest companies can't compete.

Worker misclassification is having a long-overdue and much needed moment. The revolutionary overthrow of the rotten old leadership at the Teamsters was caused, in part, by a radical wing that promised to focus the Teamsters' firepower on fighting worker misclassification:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/19/hoffa-jr-defeated/#teamsters-for-a-democratic-union

This has become a focus of labor organizers all around the world, as worker misclassification-via-smartphone has infected labor markets everywhere:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/22/kropotkin-graeber/#an-injury-to-one

Bedoya's speech is a banger, and it reminds us that labor rights and anti-monopoly have always been part of the same project: to rein in corporate power and protect workers from the insatiable greed of the capital class:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/14/aiming-at-dollars/#not-men

[itssideria]

Genuine question, really not sure what to do/who to vote for- uh do you have any suggestions? Protesting yes, but what now- today's like endless bad news

hey, anon.

i'm assuming you're referring to my post on the 'vote blue no matter what' gang — i wrote that in a complete (and justified) fit of anger. i should start by saying i am not american, or palestinian — i am an arab who grew up in an arab country, though, and all of us have long since grown sickened and enraged with american imperialism.

my honest answer? i don't know. i'm not american. i'm not a politician. maybe i'm some horrifically idealistic piece of shit but i just think that brazenly funding a genocide, lying about it, and then bombing the only country that tries to prevent it should earn you the death penalty, but oh well.

@/fairuzfan has posted a lot about this — she's a palestinian in the states. not tagging her bc we aren't mutuals. she has stated that she won't vote in the presidential elections at all, but rather at local levels and congress. one person has stated that they are engaging in activism more than ever, forming communities, movements, working their way up. other people will be voting for a third party candidate they agree with, such as Cornel West or Claudia de la Cruz — you can read up on their stances for yourself, i'm not active in US politics. some will threaten to withhold their vote from Biden, whether they are serious of pretending, as that may scare him into changing his tactics.

none of these are foolproof. most of them prevent nothing. i am aware that for americans this shit feels like life and death — it's what all of you say, every four years.

however, and i cannot state this enough, i am so past the point of caring. my entire region has been fucking devastated by your nation. egypt can't threaten suez access because it'll get invaded. yemen and syria and iraq are dealing with past and current bombing. the entire fucking gulf sucks your country's dick to get oil money to build vanity projects and hire more slave labour. and palestine? palestinian blood will run thick with the weight of the crimes the us committed against them.

for once in their stable, unaffected fucking lives, i want americans to pretend—pretend!—the rest of the world exists. for ONCE, i want americans to say "fuck this, he committed genocide, i will never write his name on my ballot". for ONCE, i want americans to sacrifice something, ANYTHING—you barely live under a democracy as is. poc americans report no improvement under biden compared to trump. white queer people think they'll be protected and so shout at the need to throw the developing world under the bus.

there are no good options. but dear God, just don't put the name of the man funding a genocide on your fucking ballot. it didn't save anyone four years ago. it won't now.

[atheistcartoons]

“Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.”

George Washington in a letter to Edward Newenham, October 20, 1792.

“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.”

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813.

“The civil government functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State.”

James Madison, 1819.

“And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”

James Madison in a letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822.

“Every new and successful example of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance.”

James Madison, 1822.

“When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obligated to call for help of the civil power, it’s a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.”

Benjamin Franklin in a letter to Richard Price, October 9, 1780.

“As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?”

John Adams in a letter to F.A. Van der Kamp, Dec. 27, 1816.

“What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.”

James Madison in “A Memorial and Remonstrance”, 1785.

“Congress has no power to make any religious establishments.”

Roger Sherman, Congress, August 19, 1789.

“We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition. In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast, that a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States.”

George Washington in a letter to the members of the New Church in Baltimore, January 27, 1793.

“This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.”

John Adams.

“Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.”

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814.

“Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.”

James Madison.

“The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.”

James Madison in an 1803 letter.

”I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.”

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799.

“Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.”

Thomas Paine.

“I wish [Christianity] were more productive of good works … I mean real good works … not holy-day keeping, sermon-hearing … or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments despised by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity.”

Benjamin Franklin in Works, Vol. VII, p. 75.

[razorroy]

Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump

Tax plan Trump and Harris have competing tax plans. Both nominees' plans would have to be passed by Congress, which has the power of the purse. Here's what Harris has proposed so far:

Harris says she'd provide bigger tax benefits for families but would offset the costs by raising corporate taxes, while Trump has said he'd extend the tax cuts enacted in 2017.

Under Harris' tax plan, according to an analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, 95% of Americans would see lower taxes, and higher earners would pay more taxes. The top 0.1% — whose annual average income exceeds $14 million — would pay about $167,000 more in taxes.

Harris wants to eliminate federal taxes on tips, which Trump first proposed.

She also says she wants to provide a financial cushion for small businesses with a tenfold increase in the startup expense deduction — lifting it from $5,000 to $50,000. New businesses wouldn't need to claim the deduction in their first year, when many take losses and would not be able to use it. Instead, they'd be able to wait until they're profitable and use the deduction at that time. Businesses would also be able to take part of the deduction in one year and save the rest for future years.

Child tax credit

After Trump's running mate JD Vance pitched boosting the child tax credit to $5,000, up from the current top tax break of $2,000, Harris one-upped Vance's number, suggesting a child tax credit of $6,000, although this would be for the parents of newborns.

Harris also suggests a return to the pandemic-era expansion of the child tax credit, up to $3,600 for young children. She hasn't released income eligibility thresholds, but it's likely that it would phase out for those at higher income levels.

Earlier this year, Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would have increased the child tax credit.

Housing shortage Harris says she'd address the nation's housing shortage with several initiatives. She promises to build 3 million affordable new homes and rentals by the end of her first term, offering tax breaks to builders who construct homes for first-time home buyers. She's also proposing a $40 billion fund to help local governments find solutions to the low housing stock.

And she wants to provide Americans who have paid their rent on time for two years with up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more support for first-generation homeowners.

Inflation

Inflation has cooled nearly to pre-pandemic levels — it's now at 2.9% — but prices have risen nearly 21% since the beginning of the pandemic. A recent survey found two-thirds of middle-income families said they're falling behind their cost of living

Harris is trying to address the effects of inflation on lower- and middle-class Americans, an approach used by the Biden administration. She blames price gouging by food suppliers and grocery chains for high prices at the store and pledges to take on corporations with the first federal law against price gouging. Economists have expressed doubts about the efficacy of such a law because they say that the reasons for food inflation are complex.

She also wants to lower prescription drug costs, which has been a focus for the Biden administration. Last month, the White House announced Medicare reached agreements with drug manufacturers for lower prices for 10 drugs that treat a range of ailments, from heart failure and blood clots to diabetes, resulting in savings for patients of 38% to 79%, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It was Harris who cast the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which granted Medicare the drug negotiating authority.

Immigration

Harris has not yet issued an immigration policy platform. At campaign events, Harris has mostly brought up the bipartisan border security deal that collapsed in Congress earlier this year after Trump urged GOP lawmakers to reject it. Harris has promised to revive the bill and accused Trump of scuttling it for political reasons.

The legislation would have enacted permanent restrictions on asylum, given the president the power to quickly deport migrants when border crossings soar and boosted the ranks of border agents, deportation officers, immigration judges and asylum adjudicators. It would also have expanded legal immigration, allocating 50,000 new immigrant visas annually for five years.

While the bipartisan border deal did not include a legalization program for undocumented immigrants — a longtime Democratic priority in immigration negotiations — Harris has expressed support for an "earned" path to citizenship for this population on the campaign trail.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris' campaign manager, signaled to CBS News that Harris would likely continue a June order by Mr. Biden that has severely curtailed access to the U.S. asylum system. It's a move officials credit for a four-year-low in illegal border crossings.

Harris' campaign has tried to distance her from the more liberal immigration positions she espoused when she was a presidential candidate in 2020. Those prior positions included an openness to decriminalizing the act of crossing the border without authorization and overhauling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Abortion Harris and Trump have opposing views on abortion access, an issue that could be a crucial motivator for voters in November.

Both Trump and Harris have highlighted the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and the role that the three justices appointed by Trump played in that landmark decision, albeit for different reasons: Trump has touted his nomination of three of the five justices who voted to overturn Roe, while Harris has criticized her opponent for specifically selecting justices who would dismantle the constitutional right to abortion. Since the high court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, nearly one-third of states have near-total bans on the procedure in place, while access to abortion is severely restricted in a handful of others.

Harris has made abortion rights a focal point of her campaign and lambasted "Trump abortion bans" on the trail.

In her speech at the Democratic National Convention accepting the party's presidential nominee, the vice president pledged to sign into law legislation that restores the federal right to abortion — if such a bill is passed by Congress.

IVF Access to in vitro fertilization services became a campaign issue after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos created during the IVF process could be considered children. The decision threatened the availability of IVF services in Alabama and thrust access to fertility treatments into the national conversation, including among the presidential candidates.

Harris has repeatedly said she supports the right of women to make their own decisions about their bodies and family-planning, and told the crowd at the DNC that since Roe's reversal, she has heard stories of couples who have had their IVF treatments cut off.

The vice president said in a video shared to social media that Trump "is literally the architect of this entire crisis," and said the Alabama ruling is a "direct result" of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe.

Climate Harris has not outlined her climate policy yet, but she is expected to continue to pursue the goals of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which funded energy and climate projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

As vice president, Harris advocates moving the country toward a "clean energy economy" while not completely backing away from oil and gas, which is a major industry in battleground states like Pennsylvania. The Keystone State is one of the top natural gas producers in the country.

In an interview with CNN, Harris said that as president, she wouldn't ban fracking — a technique for extracting natural gas from shale — a departure from a statement she made in 2019 that she'd support a fracking ban. Citing the creation of 300,000 clean energy jobs during the Biden administration, she told CNN that her experience as vice president shows "we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking."

A Harris campaign spokesperson said 300,000 clean energy jobs were created under the Biden-Harris administration in both 2021 and 2022.

The Democratic Party platform says it will increase protections against drilling and mining in the Arctic, although U.S. oil production has hit record highs during Mr. Biden's presidency. Mr. Biden approved almost 50% more gas and oil leases during his time in office than Trump did during his first three years in office.

Trump has vowed to undo what he calls Biden's "electric vehicle mandate" on Day One in office. A spokesperson for Harris' campaign told Axios Harris doesn't support an electric vehicle mandate. The Biden administration has not issued a mandate, but it has introduced incentives to encourage Americans to buy EVs and set a target that half of all new vehicle sales be zero emissions by 2030.

Guns

President Biden in 2022 signed the most significant update to gun safety law in almost three decades in the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and New York. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act augmented background checks for gun buyers under 21, provided billions for mental health services and closed the so-called "boyfriend loophole" to prevent convicted domestic abusers from purchasing a firearm for five years. It also clarified the definition of gun dealers — 26 GOP-led states are suing to block this provision. The measure also creates penalties for straw purchases and gun trafficking. In 2023, Mr. Biden announced the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to be overseen by Harris.

Before she became the nominee, Harris visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the site of the 2018 mass shooting that left 17 dead, where she called on states to pass "red flag" laws, which allow courts to seize guns from those deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Twenty-one states have enacted red flag laws, but many do not enforce them. She also announced federal funding and resources aimed at providing training and technical assistance to help states with their red flag programs. In 2024, the Justice Department announced the creation of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center, dedicated to training and technical assistance to support states and localities in implementing their red flag programs.

At her speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris only made passing reference to gun violence. "In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake," she said. "The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship."

Education

As a senator, Harris backed a bill that would have provided tuition-free college for most families.

The Democratic Party's platform also calls for free college tuition for all. This is not an idea Harris has been discussing on the campaign trail.

Israel and Gaza Both Harris and Trump have, at times, been critical of Israel's handling of its war against Hamas in Gaza. But neither has threatened to pull support for the ally.

Harris has called the bloodshed in Gaza "devastating," but vowed there would be no change in policy toward Israel.

She has pushed for a cease-fire deal that would release the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

She backs a two-state solution.

Ukraine and Russia

Harris pledged in her DNC address that she "will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies."

Harris accused Russia of committing "crimes against humanity" in Ukraine a year after the war began.

The Biden administration has spearheaded a number of aid packages for Ukraine, including weapons, and worked with allies to sanction Russia for its invasion. Still, the administration's response — especially early on in the war — has been criticized as slow-moving, and more recently, Republican opposition in Congress further slowed aid to Ukraine.

China Harris has offered few details about how her China policy would differ from Mr. Biden's. In her Democratic National Convention speech, Harris said "America — not China — wins the competition for the 21st century."

She told "Face the Nation" in September 2023 that the U.S.-China economic relationship is "not about decoupling, it is about de-risking."

Harris briefly met Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2022 in Bangkok amid friction between the two countries. The vice president said she stressed the need to "maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries."

She has condemned China's aggression in the South China Sea, accusing it of "undermining key elements of the international rules-based order" and coercing and intimidating its neighbors.

Harris has also reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan.

In the Senate, Harris cosponsored the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. Trump signed both into law.

Iran nuclear deal It's unclear whether Harris would seek to renegotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran if she wins the election. During the 2020 campaign, Harris, who was running in a crowded Democratic presidential primary, told the Council on Foreign Relations that she would seek to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, "so long as Iran also returned to verifiable compliance."

The Harris campaign has a lot to comb through for her vision for America over the next 4 years!

Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump can ace a tremendously hard cognitive test and cheat like no one has ever seen before at golf.

He has also been known to throw temper tantrums that rival a three year old that can result in ketchup bottles being thrown at walls. Trump loves McDonald's, sex with women other than Mrs. Trump. Believes in conspiracy theories. Enjoys wearing extremely tight polo shirts that show off his tremendously large man boobs.

Trump lost all four hundred million of his trust fund from his daddy and will lose all of your money to lawyer fees if you simply make a donation to his fake "Save America" scam.

[porterdavis]

I'm getting sick to my stomach

The realization that Trump may win in November is starting to hit me like a physical force -- icy fingers squeezing my bowels. I ask myself how anyone could voluntarily subject themselves to a minimum of four more years of that leering, sneering, unrepentant criminal taking over their country and their TV screens.

I don't care if Joe Biden needs to have his peas mashed before he eats them or if he has to ask twice to hear something. He is a good man, an honest man with empathy and compassion who has accomplished near-miracles with the slenderest of majorities in Congress. He is surrounded by competent people. No scandals, no arrests. Compare and contrast with TFG and his coterie of criminals.

It hurts my heart to think that the American experiment -- that all men are free and equal under the law, is coming to an end, but as the history major in me knows, all empires die. Civilizations collapse. Once a certain level of prosperity has been achieved and mere survival ceases to be a concern, people start to worry about who might come and take their livelihood away. Fear of 'the other' creeps in, a fear manipulated by despots and dictators for time immemorial.

That scourge has now invaded the US. Every single American who isn't Black or Native is from immigrants, and yet new immigrants are seen as a threat to be met with brutality and hatred. The notion of equality of men has been modified, and the equality of women has been purposefully rejected.

Inequality of wealth and opportunity has increased to the point where the gap between wealth and poverty is so vast that the middle class can no longer provide a bridge between them. When the center cannot hold, the gyre collapses.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. [...] The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

"The Second Coming" - William Butler Yeats 1919

[deadpresidents]

"Thank you Mr. President" Jackie Kennedy's letter to LBJ less than 24 hours after burying JFK

When Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President on board Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, Jackie Kennedy was standing next to him, her pink Chanel dress, white gloves, and bare legs smeared with the blood and brain matter of her assassinated husband.  Traumatized and almost certainly in shock, Jackie wanted to support the new President and new First Lady as power was officially transferred in the same solemn ceremony that has always marked such an occasion in American History.  As the Presidential airplane left Dallas and returned to the nation's capital, Jackie sat in the back of the plane with the coffin containing her husband's body.

Despite her deep personal loss, her traumatic experience, and her obvious physical exhaustion, Jackie threw herself into planning President Kennedy's funeral as soon as she returned to Washington, D.C.  Jackie was sensitive to the needs of the country and protective of her husband's legacy.  When she arrived at the White House, she requested information about the exact specifications of Abraham Lincoln's funeral after he was assassinated in 1865.  Even though it was the middle of the night, Kennedy staffers went to the National Archives and the Library of Congress to research the Lincoln funeral and Jackie helped make plans for the pageantry that would commence over the next few days.  With a few minor exceptions, JFK's funeral was nearly an exact replica of Lincoln's funeral almost 100 years earlier.  The effect was monumental.  Kennedy's funeral will always be remembered as a dignified, iconic moment in our nation's history.

As Jackie Kennedy prepared to bury the 35th President, Lyndon Johnson consumed himself with becoming the 36th President, continuing Kennedy's work and leading the nation through the darkness of the assassination and its aftermath.  When Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base on the night of November 22nd, the Secret Service urged now-President Johnson to take a helicopter directly to the White House.  Johnson immediately vetoed the move as he thought it would disrespectful for him to land on the South Lawn of the White House (as Presidents regularly do) while Kennedy's family still lived in the building.  When LBJ arrived at the White House via motorcade to begin his work that night, the new President went directly to an office in the Old Executive Office Building rather than working out of the Oval Office.

Over the next few weeks, President Johnson extended many kindnesses to Jackie Kennedy.  LBJ and Jackie had always had an extremely close relationship, and Johnson never forgot how kind Jackie had been when LBJ was Vice President -- a depressing time for Johnson due to his lack of power and influence.  During his Vice Presidency, Johnson had experienced many problems with members of Kennedy's Administration, but was always treated very well by President and Mrs. Kennedy. 

The Kennedys had two young children who had just lost their father, and the first thing that LBJ did as President was write two letters to President Kennedy's children to read when they were old enough to understand them.  When JFK was elected President, the Kennedys hoped that their daughter Caroline would be able to attend a normal school with children her age.  When it became apparent that the logistics wouldn't allow that, a room was prepared at the White House for Caroline's teacher to hold class daily.  When JFK was assassinated, LBJ insisted that Caroline's class continue using the White House for classes as long as Jackie wished.  In fact, LBJ urged Jackie to continue living in the White House throughout the entirety of his term.  Jackie moved out within a few weeks, but she appreciated President Johnson's offer.

What Jackie Kennedy most appreciated, however, was President Johnson's presence at John F. Kennedy's funeral.  On November 25, 1963, the entire nation stopped and world leaders gathered in Washington to bury the slain President (one place that the nation didn't stop was Dallas, where JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed as he was being transferred to another police facility).  Kennedy's funeral was historic and emotional.  The enduring image is of John F. Kennedy, Jr. -- celebrating his 3rd birthday on that very day -- stepping forward to salute as father's flag-draped casket passed by.

Another stirring image from that day was accompanying President Kennedy's funeral cortége.  As Kennedy's casket rested on the exact same caisson that carried Abraham Lincoln's casket, a remarkable procession of some of the most famous, powerful people in the world followed behind it.  Led by Jackie Kennedy and the slain Presidents two brothers, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, scores and scores of political leaders, diplomats, monarchs, and more trailed the casket, marching in complete silence other than the sounds of their feet on the pavement.  Dozens upon dozens of countries were represented -- not just by ambassadors or minor officials, but by Kings, Queens, Emperors, Presidents, and Prime Ministers.  When one looks at the photos, our eyes are immediately drawn to the majestic strength of Jackie Kennedy leading the procession.  If the faces of those behind her are scanned, they reveal legendary leaders such as Charles de Galle, Haile Selassie, U Thant, Golda Meier, King Baudoiun I, Lester Pearson, Willy Brandt, Queen Frederica, Eamon de Valera, Prince Philip, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and scores of other international figures, not to mention the leading Americans, who took to the streets of Washington, D.C. -- on foot -- to honor President Kennedy.

It's often forgotten that Lyndon Johnson was there.  Johnson was such a larger-than-life character and so rarely relegated to the background that it's difficult to imagine a scene where he would not be the major player.  Since President Kennedy had been murdered in broad daylight on the streets of a major American city just three days earlier, the Secret Service -- understandably nervous due to their failure to protect one President that week -- was adamantly opposed to President Johnson's participation.  Johnson overruled the Secret Service concerns and turned down their insistence that he ride in an armor-plated limousine.  For maybe the only time in his life, Lyndon Johnson -- now President of the United States -- went virtually unnoticed to the public.

Yet, one person did notice.  And, on November 26, 1963, despite all that she had been through; despite all that she was feeling; despite all that she had lost; despite the fact that just 24 hours earlier she had buried her husband, the father of her two young children, the 34-year-old widowed former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy sat down in the White House and wrote this letter to the new President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson:

November 26 Tuesday Dear Mr. President, Thank you for walking yesterday - behind Jack.  You did not have to do that - I am sure many people forbid you to take such a risk - but you did it anyway.  Thank you for your letters to my children.  What those letters will mean to them later - you can imagine.  The touching thing is, they have always loved you so much, they were most moved to have a letter from you now. And most of all, Mr. President, thank you for the way you have always treated me - the way you and Lady Bird have always been to me - before, when Jack was alive, and now as President. I think the relationship of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential families could be a rather strained one.  From the history I have been reading ever since I came to the White House, I gather it often was in the past. But you were Jack's right arm - and I always thought the greatest act of a gentleman that I had seen on this earth - was how you - the Majority Leader when he came to the Senate as just another little freshman who looked up to you and took orders from you, could then serve as Vice President to a man who had served under you and been taught by you. But more than that we were friends, all four of us.  All you did for me as a friend and the happy times we had.  I always thought way before the nomination that Lady Bird should be First Lady - but I don't need to tell you here what I think of her qualities - her extraordinary grace of character - her willingness to assume ever burden - She assumed so many for me and I love her very much - and I love your two daughters - Lynda Bird most because I know her the best - and we first met when neither of us could get a seat to hear President Eisenhower's State of the Union message, and someone found us a place on one of the steps on the aisle where we sat together.  If we had known then what our relationship would be now. It was so strange - last night I was wandering through this house.  There in the Treaty Room is your chandelier, and I had framed - the page we all signed - you - Senator Dirksen and Mike Mansfield - underneath I had written "The day the Vice President brought the East Room chandelier back from the Capitol." Then in the library I showed Bobby the Lincoln Record book you gave - you see all you gave - and now you are called on to give so much more. Your office - you are the first President to sit in it as it looks today.  Jack always wanted a red rug - and I had curtains designed for it that I thought were as dignified as they should be for a President's office. Late last night a moving man asked me if I wanted Jack's ship pictures left on the wall for you (They were clearing the office to make room for you) - I said no because I remembered all the fun Jack had those first days hanging pictures of things he loved, setting out his collection of whales teeth etc. But of course they are there only waiting for you to ask for them if the walls look too bare.  I thought you would want to put things from Texas in it - I pictured some gleaming longhorns - I hope you put them somewhere. It mustn't be very much help to you your first day in office - to hear children on the lawn at recess.  It is just one more example of your kindness that you let them stay - I promise - they will soon be gone - Thank you Mr. President Respectfully Jackie

At the LBJ Library on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, there are many displays of priceless, historic artifacts that tell the story of the years of Lyndon Johnson, his service to the United States, and the world that he knew.  As you pass through the exhibits, it's difficult not to be astonished, inspired, and touched by what you see around you during your visit.  Many of the things you'll see there will take your breath away, but nothing leaves an impression on your heart and soul like the seven pieces of paper containing these words in Jackie Kennedy's handwriting -- words that somehow convey strength and fragility, evoke optimism and sadness, and simultaneously project support while demonstrating a sense of loss that very few of us can imagine.  Items like these are the source materials for what history truly is -- a biography of humanity, a story about people.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Space Karen is a monster. They had opportunities to unionize but they succumbed to pressure from Elongated Muskrat and Texas Republicans and now they’ll be living on the production line. How stupid are you to reject unionization? Now they’re slaves like every other non-union employee in the country.

Republicans in red states pass laws called “right to work”, which is more Republican name trickery. “Right to work” laws prevent unions/organized labor. What it literally means is that companies have the right to make YOU work without any benefits, for minimum wage, without any right to protest wage theft or unsafe conditions, no recourse against unfair labor practices, and to put you on “on demand schedules,” The latter means no set regular hours, 9-5 today then 9-9 the day after, then 1-8, or no hours at all for days or weeks until you quit and can’t collect. “On demand scheduling” is abosolutely cruel. You never get to recover properly, you can never make plans outside of work, you can’t attend school or have a second job, and you miss out on all the major life events of your family. This leads to resentment, divorce, and alienated children who feel unloved.

Even blue states have bare minimum labor laws in place to control abuses by employers. Try going to the state for help in a dispute with your boss. Try hiring a lawyer when you’re poor or even if you’re not lawyers don’t want to touch these cases.

We are already a nation of hopeless wage slaves. Biden and the Democrats are making progress in passing laws to protect workers and unions but it will all be swept away if Republicans regain the White House and Congress. Some people won’t learn until they’re chained to a machine in a building with suicide nets outside the windows like in China.

It took almost two hundred years to get unions, workers rights, and work place safety laws put into place. They’ve nearly all been eroded into a forgotten past since Republican Ronald Reagan, and Fox News, was elected in 1980. Nearly all of you reading this don’t even know a time when workers only needed one job to support a home and family, had pensions, and had health insurance that was provided. Now you live with 2-3 jobs, have no health insurance, can’t afford a home (or rent), can’t afford college or even a new car, and make less than your grandparents. The media glosses this over calling the extra jobs “side hustles” and your lack of a career with dignity is because you’re a generation of “self starters.”

You weren’t born to be a wage slave for billionaire oligarchs and the petty tyrants they hire to be middle managers. Spread the word and unionize. Fight for it. People in the 1800’s literally battled armed mercenaries, cops, and the military for the right to union jobs that let them live and earn with dignity. Don’t let their spilled blood and deaths be in vain. The United Auto Workers and other unions tried repeatedly to get Tesla unionized. Unions are out there and willing to help. It only takes a few phone calls to get the ball rolling.

Muskrat promised his workers free frozen yogurt and a roller coaster ride from the parking lot to factory if they voted against unions, I shit you not. He never delivered either. He did spend millions on union avoidance firms to come in and lie and scare workers into voting no. Now they’re treated like cotton plantation slaves and told they will be literally living on a production line.

To put this into the identity politics millennials are drawn to, unions are the only working environment where marginalized people are protected and have recourse against discrimination and mistreatment in the workplace. If you are mistreated you can file a grievance and if the management doesn’t redress the issue then they are taken to contractually mandated arbitration or court with union supplied lawyers. If you have never worked in a union shop you have no idea what it’s like to not be fearful, to have dignity, and to know people are obligated to protect you from management.

It’s the only non-union automaker in the country.

[talesfromthesnogbox]

The Red Room

Summary: Alex finally gets Henry alone to talk in the Red Room. Henry's POV of Red, White & Royal Blue, Chapter Six, pages 129-134.

Rating: M

Word Count: 1,843

AO3 Link

Part 1 | Part 3

Emily Taylor [5:36 P.M.]

Good luck tonight Henry. Sending my love, you’ve got this

Henry smiled at his phone and sent Emily back a heart emoji as he left his room in the residence of the White House. He was invited to stay as a guest for the evening’s gala, and he’d luckily (maybe unluckily) not yet run into Alex.

He entered the ballroom and immediately, Alex was the first person to catch his eye. His breath stuttered as their eyes met, and he briefly considered making a run for it, but he had to stay. As Alex approaches, his heart rate jumps, he can feel the blood rushing to his face, but he’d promised he’d stay, he promised himself he’d talk to Alex.

“All right, photos.” Henry winces at Zahra’s curt introduction.

“Oh.” He forgot, he’d have to pose with Alex, who was mad at him, who looked absolutely delectable in his crisp black suit.

“Hey.” Henry could tell Alex’s smile was put on, and not well. It was the same smile and the same stiff handshake from their first weekend at Kensington Palace. “Cool to see you’re not dead or anything.”

Ouch. “Er.” He definitely deserved that.

“We need to talk.”

Henry was about to agree, when he was whisked away to mingle with the Prime Minister.

Dinner was uneventful, the conversations dull, the food was just fine, the ballroom just a degree too warm to be totally comfortable. But Henry could feel Alex’s eyes boring into him from across the room, which added a whole other level of interest to the night. His ears were heated, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the temperature of the ballroom (it wasn’t), or Alex watching him (it was). He tries not to get jealous when Alex turns to whisper something in Nora’s ear, but then she was heading his way and dear lord, he had not had enough wine for this conversation.

“Henry! So nice to see you again. You left in such a rush after New Years.”

“Ah, yes, sorry. Nice to see you too. I’m afraid I was feeling the alcohol a bit too much that night and decided to retire early. I hear Pez stayed for a pleasant evening though?”

She smiled. “Yeah he did. Hey, you like French pastries, right? The White House just hired this new pastry chef,” Nora grabbed Henry by the elbow and walked towards a table next to an exit. “Try these profiteroles, they’re to die for.”

Henry was about to protest when Alex appeared beside him suddenly. “Hi.”

He knew he was gaping like a fish out of water, but this wasn’t what he quite had in mind for their conversation. He pictured something a little… quieter? More private? He was possibly about to bare his soul to the man he’d been crushing on for years, he wasn’t about to do it in front of the British Parliament and American Congress attendees.

“Sorry to interrupt. Important, um. International. Relations. Stuff.” And suddenly, it was Alex grabbing him by the elbow.

This was not how he pictured this talk going. “Do you mind?”

“Shut your face.” 

Henry grumbles as he’s led by Alex to a room not far from the main ballroom. His security detail he’d come to know as Amy stood outside the door keeping watch, and his stomach sank. It was now or never, this talk was happening, and it wasn’t off to a good start.

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?” Amy asked Alex, giving Henry a pitying look.

“Probably not.” Alex was pissed.

There hadn’t been many moments where Henry was fearful for his life, but today was one of them. Well, okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but he felt two seconds away from throwing up at any given point, and that didn’t feel much better. Seeing how upset Alex was as he lead Henry through the doors into a red room really did make him feel like a complete dick; he was definitely losing a friend tonight, and despite having only really been friends a few months, he considered Alex a good friend. This month apart was really taken a toll on him, and he wishes he’d just been brave enough to extend the olive branch anytime before now.

“What on God’s earth are you doing?” He demands as soon as Alex lets him go.

“Shut up, shut all the way up, oh my God.”

Henry doesn’t even have time to close his mouth before Alex pushes him into the nearest wall and kisses him. 

Shock keeps Henry from moving at all, and for a moment, Alex starts to pull back. But after allowing his brain to reboot, Henry has a moment of realization. He kissed me. HE kissed ME. This was it, best case scenario, he almost felt like pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, but even if he was, he better make it the best damn kiss he’d ever had. Henry moved his hands up Alex’s chest, tangling his fingers in his hair as he tried to pour everything he wanted to say to him into the kiss. If their first kiss felt life-altering, this kiss was shifting the entire universe on its axis. It felt good, it felt right, and maybe Emily had a point about Alex also wanting Henry. But no matter what they both wanted… they weren’t just Alex and Henry. They were FSOTUS and HRH Prince Henry Fox Mountchristen-Windsor.

“Wait.” He broke off reluctantly, and looked up at Alex. Alex looked like he was doing exactly what they were just doing, his hair undone, lips red, eyes wild, and Henry was sure he was in the same state. “Should we—” he didn’t even know how to finish that sentence.

“What?”

Fuck. “I mean, er, should we, I dunno, slow down?” He winced. They just kissed, it wasn’t like he was bare-arsed in the middle of the White House. “Go for dinner first, or—” But really, he’d never done any kind of dating outside of his approved suitresses. He’d never really had an adult relationship to be frank, everything at Eton and Oxford was just sex, and although he knew what he wanted from this arrangement with Alex, he was almost entirely sure he wouldn’t be able to get it.

“We just had dinner.”

Double fuck. “Right. I meant— I just thought—“

“Stop thinking.”

Alex was right. Henry was way overthinking this. Yeah, ideally he wanted to wine and dine Alex, share their hopes and dreams, tease him about his incorrect Star Wars opinions, then kiss him slowly. But he was still a young man in his early twenties who’d been pent up for far too long, and Alex looked like a wet dream. If he couldn’t have it all, well he could still have something. “Yes. Gladly.” 

This time when Alex pushed Henry up against the furniture, he went willingly, propping his bum on a table he knows shouldn’t be sat on. Regardless, he leans back, his head hitting the corner of a picture frame (shit, was that Alexander Hamilton?), and opens his legs for Alex to slot his hips between them. This kiss is still frantic, but so much deeper than the other two he’d shared with Alex; their hands were everywhere, tongues, teeth, it was delicious. Alex pulls away only to drop his lips to Henry’s neck, and a choked groan leaves his throat. His hips cant up into Alex’s, and he’s satisfied to feel Alex’s arousal is as prominent as His own. Alex’s hand cups under his thigh, and Henry is helping him hitch it up around his waist, the heat of Alex’s palm only egging him on further to slot their lips together again in a fervent kiss. 

Of all the ways Henry imagined this conversation going, this was not even on his list of possibilities. Alex was straight. He’d kissed Nora on New Years, he had a dating history that only included women, and yet he’d pulled Henry from a gala specifically to pin him to the wall and have his wicked way with him. Alex had more depth than Henry initially thought he did, or maybe he was doing it to fuck with him…

Henry had time to grind himself against Alex once more before Amy poked her head through the door and yelled “Time’s up!”

“Fuck.” Alex swore, pulling away.

“I’m going to die.” Henry was breathless.

“I’m going to kill you.” Luckily, Alex sounded just as winded.

“Yes, you are.” He gave Alex a once-over, focusing on the finer details from their romp. His buttons had become undone, and his shirt mussed, his eyes glazed over and lips swollen, something that made Henry swell with pride. His hair was a hopeless disaster, and as he scanned back down Alex’s body, he could see the prominent bulge in his pants. He gulped audibly… it didn’t look small. Maybe he wasn’t trying to fuck with Henry, but rather just… fuck him.

“People are going to be coming in here soon.” Henry watched Alex flit around the room, trying to fix it back up. Henry met his eyes as he turned around, and suddenly, he was the subject of Alex’s focus. His own shirt was half unbuttoned, and completely untucked, his hair tangled beyond belief, getting it back into his own signature coif would be nearly impossible. “Fuck, you look—fuck.” 

Alex sounded ruined. It did absolutely nothing to help Henry’s own situation.

God save our gracious Queen, long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen. He hummed.

“What are you doing?” 

Henry looked at him incredulously. “Christ, I’m trying to make it”, he waves his hands in front of his pelvis, “go away.” He watches Alex take a deep breath, and it looks like he’s using every ounce of self-control to not look down at the bulge in Henry’s pants that was not going away!

“Okay, so, yeah. So here’s what we’re gonna do. You are gonna go be, like, five hundred feet away from me for the rest of the night, or else I am going to do something that I will deeply regret in front of a lot of very important people.”

Sensible plan. “All right…” Henry tried to step back, but Alex only pulled him closer.

“And then… I’m not done yet” 

“Of course you’re not.” 

Henry’s breath hitches as Alex draws him in closer by the waist. He was so close once again, just a hair’s breath away, close enough to plant another life-altering kiss on his lips. “And then you are going to come to the East Bedroom on the second floor at eleven o’clock tonight, and I am going to do some very bad things to you, and if you fucking ghost me again, I’m going to get you put on a fucking no-fly list. Got it?”

Send her victorious, happy and glorious, long to reign over us, God save the Queen!

“Perfectly.” 

He was fucked.

[probablyasocialecologist]

When an Iraqi militant group killed three U.S. service members at a base in Jordan over the weekend, the militants were clear about their motives: It was retaliation for American support for Israel. “As we said before, if the U.S. keeps supporting Israel, there will [be] escalations,” a senior official from an alliance of Iraqi militia groups said in claiming responsibility for the attack. “All the U.S. interests in the region are legitimate targets, and we don’t care about U.S. threats to respond.” The statement is not new or surprising. While the need for U.S. troops to be stationed at the Tower 22 military base — a dusty outpost on the Syria–Jordan border — has a dubious, if any, relationship to U.S. national security, the U.S. presence has been very helpful to Israel. The U.S. military in the region serves to deter Iran as well as Israel’s many other enemies. Now, establishing deterrence against Israel’s adversaries is threatening to suck the U.S. back into a broader, open conflict in the Middle East. Take, for example, the recent U.S. attacks against the Houthis in Yemen, which began after the rebels attacked ships in the Red Sea to force an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza. Especially at a time when the U.S. is trying to pivot away from the region, Israel increasingly looks like a liability to U.S. interests in the Middle East. American officials are forced to expend significant economic, political, and military resources to shield Israel’s government from local threats and deflect international outrage over its campaign in Gaza. Israel, it turns out, extracts a tremendous cost from the U.S. — often in treasure but, as the world saw over the weekend in Jordan, sometimes in blood — with few discernable strategic gains for the Americans.

[...]

U.S. military officials periodically criticize the impact of uncritical U.S. support for Israel on American interests in the region, where Israel remains unpopular for its policies against Palestinians. These complaints, even from U.S. military officials, have often been walked back under political pressure. Despite repeated vows by American leaders to reduce the country’s footprint in the Middle East, the U.S.’s commitment to Israel has turned into military involvement across the region. There are strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, aircraft carriers in the eastern Mediterranean to deter Hezbollah in Lebanon, and skirmishes with Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq. The costs for the U.S. from this new era of conflict are rapidly adding up. According to a recent report in Politico, an estimated $1.6 billion has already been spent on unanticipated U.S. military expenses in the region since October 7 — a price tag Pentagon officials say they cannot pay without a new budget from Congress. Global ammunition shortages are also forcing the U.S. to scramble to replenish its depleted supplies at a time when it is also struggling to contain threats in Europe and East Asia. For Israel, however, the U.S.’s presence only fortifies its strategic initiatives. “The Israelis view the American presence in the region as very important, because it creates a backstop for them,” said Parsi. “The U.S. presence gives Israel greater maneuverability to carry out strikes in places like Syria and Lebanon, but also a sense of deterrence against those who would like to retaliate against them, since it may mean that the U.S. is dragged into the conflict as well.”

[andifeelfine]

Bit a of rant here.

The big news today is about the presidential race, but I'm here to tell you that you need to show up to every goddamn election in your district. Make the goddamn effort, I know in a lot of states its becoming harder, but I promise the people on the other side of what you care about will vote. They will vote, and organize their friends to votes, so organize and get your community to vote. Because its not just the presidency that matters to whatever issues you care about the most, its EVERY DOWNBALLOT person. Whoever wins gets to stay in the rat race of politics, they get the seat at the table. The big figures in politics start small somewhere.

Because whatever issue you care about, you need to make it politically safe to run on. And maybe the downballot seats might not have the more national issues listed in their page. But maybe ther'e s a local problem that you need to learn to care about.

Exhibit A: AIPAC outspent Jamaal Bowman (NYC congressman), but also just plain outvoted him. Yeah the districts were redrawn after the census, but overall there is now blood in the water for the other progressive NYC congress reps. Maybe you're critical of you're local politicians for not being vocal on Palestine, but no one is going to stake their seat on a losing issue. The pro-palestine movement could lose congressional support this election if they don't show up and vote

Exhibit B: NYC has a cop as a mayor after the movement for police reform. After months of protesting for police reform back in 2020, Mayor Adams raised police budgets and did his damned best to cut everything else.

I used these two as examples since they are my local politics if you care about progressive politics, you do have to show up and vote. Yes, even the special elections. NY as a state skews liberal, but in 2022 people sat out the election and a number of seats were flipped to republicans.

[sharonisthebettercarter]

I mean, Billy Butcher has been deflecting, especially in season 3. It's a cruel irony because Billy faced violence and abuse since childhood, but it didn't make him more protective of other children nor empathetic of SOME supes, I suppose in some ways he's detached from them, sorta like turdlander, that exposure to violence and malice so early in life... a disturbance to his mind. Sure he shows small tingue of guilt more than creeplander does, but I think there's just too much at stake for billy to risk attachment.. and what has attachment brought him anyway?

he's actually a pretty common statistic for the society we live in. capitalism is... fucking awful~<3

he's ableist racist trash, of course he's not gonna give a shit as long as he chooses to remain ignorant, arrogant, and blame the supers for their blood instead of the fucking entity that made them.

the whole time if people haven't fucking noticed:

for billy it's been, "homelander, homelander, some random supe killing~, but oh homelander~<3!"

BUT FOR EVERYONE ELSE IN THE BOYS, IT'S BEEN:

"VOUGHT. LET'S TAKE DOWN VOUGHT."

it is BILLY that veers them towards the reckless killing and hyperfocuses the operations on homelander. and it shows, exponentially how much of an addiction and obsession (to the detriment of everyone else) he has in season 3, where he's fed up with 'managing' the right way and having to listen to hughie when it comes to holding supes accountable.

people seem to keep forgetting that scene with raynor but she said it perfectly, "you should be terrified of what can happen if you push him too far." but billy does not care *because* he doesn't care about anyone else, he just keeps pushing.

people keep acting like 'homelander must be stopped' and i'm like... 'okay, do you mean the FUTURE version of him that goes berserk???' cause all i see right now is someone who is at the verge and needs *serious help* as well as a self fulfilling fuckin' prophecy being pushed by those around him, *especially* billy.

he is a ticking time bomb, but he hasn't gone off yet. and the fact that people want to fight that with more explosives to 'destroy' the bomb thinking there won't be collateral *instead* of fucking diffusing it i--

homelander more often gets judged for what he *can* do rather than what he *has* done, and that's not to minimize what he has done, that's to say that he's still in a place where he *could* get treatment and maybe get better but most people... do not give a shit because of what he *could* do in the long run, and in all honesty, kinda not really all that fair?

and then the second hughie finds out about neuman? he panics and pins her as a bad guy *because* she is 'the head popper'/a supe

i want to take a second to point out that while i don't think her intentions are necessarily 'good' and that she's getting desperate, we still have no clue as to what the full scope of her own plans actually are.

and watching back the scene where she 'blows up congress', i noticed something, she seemed scared. almost like she was having a panic attack or flashback or some kind of ptsd episode after seeing vogelbaum, which i just would not be surprised had that been the case. but she *looks* like she *lost control* for a moment and then picked it back up after the fact. and homelander points it out, 'you're not his daughter, you're his weapon' and he's right.

i would wager (what am i sayin', pretty fuckin' sure here) that some if not most of her kills (including raynor) were for the most part on orders for stan edgar's plan *before* homelander hijacked the situation. but to put it bluntly, vicky is also stuck in the vought cult and also a major victim of circumstance. she's a brutal assassin too, but that is exactly what the supes are trained to be. because they are vought's new marketed weapons and they are seen as exactly that by the company itself.

stan lied when he claimed they were a pharmaceutical company. they are a weapon's company.

but going back to billy,

as far as guilt goes, of course homelander isn't gonna show any, he has no understanding of what he would even feel guilty for

"Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse."

finally took the time to look up that quote and it's by philip zimbardo.

if we go by this (which i am a firm believer in) and make this our standard for evil in its *purest* form. many characters in the story do this and are capable of it to some degree, and plenty are also not. but~

none moreso than billy.

AND

with exception to homelander.

this means that within context, homelander is the only character that is truly *incapable* of committing *true evil* because he has *no understanding of the moral question*. it's sort of a defaulted thing, but think of it like judging a hippo, a highly aggressive and territorial animal, for killing a person that wandered into it's territory. the hippo is responding within reasonable *nature*, so it hasn't technically committed evil, even if it's caused harm.

it's a fucking hippo, the humans wandered into its territory, it's just gonna do how hippos do! WE are the ones in the wrong here if we refuse to understand that!

likewise, an actually more apt comparison for homelander would be an abused zoo or circus animal, plainly because *he has never once been treated as a human being or been presented with the moral question* and quite the contrary, i actually think vought made an effort to ensure he *didn't* understand these things in any sound capacity to ensure they could maintain control of him, or rather, they deliberately screwed up his ability to analyze things and think critically *as a human being/from a human perspective* because it would be inconvenient for them (also honestly, i feel like if someone took him to a zoo, he'd go berserk and release all the animals--)

and we see this in different instances. of course there are moments where the boi is super mean spirited or bullying someone, but it's not just because he can or wants to, it's because *that's what was done to him and he knows no different*, he lived through nothing but cruelty so that is all he knows and it's his *normal*. couple that with being brought up to believe the beings around him are somehow 'lesser' or that he is 'not one of them' and it causes a whole mess of problems...

billy is the exact opposite of this. he is *fully aware* of the moral question, *fully aware* of what he is capable of and what he does and how it affects other people. *fully aware* of cruelty AND kindness, has experienced both and even given both. hell, he's even fully aware of how to emotionally manipulate people *with* his own emotions and situation and any *guilt* he feels. and i've said it before, and i'll say it again.

HE KNOWS BETTER. he just CHOOSES to do worse. and he even knows *that*. billy is evil and chooses to be while homelander has never had that chance to learn that there's even a difference.

and then billy goes and makes it worse because he also *weaponizes* what he's learned and what he's been through. so you're definitely right about that last bit.

there is too much at stake for him to risk attachment, that's why he also *detaches* himself from people (like ryan) or stabs them in the back to pursue what will inevitably eventually destroy him and everyone else.

if i'm completely honest? i think the self awareness in how evil billy is ends up being part of his game. there is a huge part of him that pushes because he *wants* to lose, the part of him that's *not* evil, feels guilt, and *wants* to stop himself but can't. and that would be the point he turns to outside sources to fulfill that need and self punishment

i think part of why he pursues homelander isn't because *he* wants to stop or destroy homelander, but because he believes homelander may be the only thing that can stop and destroy *him*.

[right-there-ride-on]

Figuring out the Context surrounding Funny Valentine

cw: blood, torture, implied rape, discussion about the Confederacy

I was originally going to make a post about nationalism in SBR but to do that I think I need a better understanding of SBR's antagonist; hence this post.

Let's start with the backstory. It's revealed to us late-game, literally during the narrative climax, as Valentine attempts to find the resolve to overcome Johnny's Infinite Spin. What's the difference between regular resolve and dark determination? umm I'll get back to you on that. Anyway, we are treated to a flashback with young Funny on the day a friend of his father's visits Funny and his mother.

To clarify, the friend's name is Captain Valentine. Which means that after he shares the news of Funny's father's death he ends up marrying Funny's mother and becoming his stepfather and giving Funny the last name Valentine.

I'm posting the whole flashback so you'll have the full context of what I'm talking about.

Chapter 87: Ball Breaker (Part 5)

I wanted to try and find out what war this was, so I did some research.

According to JOJOVELLER: Stands (pg. 294), Funny Valentine is 43 years old. SBR takes place in 1890. 1890 - 43 = 1847. Thus Funny Valentine was born in 1847. (Also, I only realized after doing the math, it's stated that the date on the handkerchief is Funny's birthday and it clearly says 1847. Lol)

Funny is clearly stated to be seven years old in the flashback, meaning that Capt. Valentine's visit takes place in 1854.

Keeping in mind how long it took to travel back then, as well as taking into account that it seems somewhat implied Capt. Valentine waited awhile to bring the handkerchief to the family, either with Funny's father until he died or sometime after his burial, I'm going to suggest the date ranges for the war are between 1847 - 1853.

Furthermore, Capt. Valentine mention he is a member of the calvary, which wasn't officially established until 1861.

However, there were temporary calvary units created during times of need, so I'll be looking at those as well.

On wikipedia, the list of U.S. conflicts during that timeframe include:

Texas-Comanche Wars (1836 - 1875)

Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848)

Cayuse War (1847 - 1855)

Apache Wars (1849-1924)

Navajo Wars (1849 - 1866)

However, the conflict is also explicitly mentioned as ending.

Which is why I'm going to suggest Funny's father did not participate in any of the Native American conflicts. That really only leaves the Mexican-American war. To further support this, wikipedia also states that a calvary was raised to fight as well.

What happened to Funny's father during the Mexican-American war likely fueled his xenophobia.

As for the Valentine himself, we know he also fought in a war and received scars in the shape of the American flag. Counting the ones that seem to be bullet holes (possibly), there's 14 that I counted. Why not 13, for the 13 colonies? Or 13 for the flag he uses in Philidelphia? I'm not sure. The only connection I can make is that June 14th is Flag Day.

Chapter 62: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

It's a bit harder to place what war Valentine fought in. We know he was in San Diego, but there are actually two versions of why he was there.

One is that, while in Congress (after the war) he discovered Joseph of Arimathea's Map of the Corpse Parts in the British Parliament in 1889. Not knowing what it was, he traveled with a Puritan search party to the first cross on the map in San Diego and obtained the Corpse Heart. All in the party but him died, and he testified that they were caught in quicksand.

Chapter 30: Scary Monsters (Part 3)

The second backstory is that Valentine was with a group of soldiers when they came across a Devil's Palm. Once again Valentine was the sole survivor.

Chapter 67: D4C (Part 2)

This second backstory seems to be more in-line with the Valentine seen in Chapter 62, and this backstory better matches Valentine's scars. Although we know D4C allows Valentine to dimension-hop, we also know that only the base universe has the corpse. These two backstories can't exist together. To keep things simple, I'll chalk up the original backstory as early weirdness and continue with the assumption that the second backstory is the one Araki wants us to pay attention to.

First, let's consider the timeline. Assuming that Valentine indeed served in Congress before running for President, we still don't know if he served in the House or Senate, or even what state he would have represented.

A House term is two years.

A Senate term is six years.

I think someone like Valentine would have shot for the longer term limits, so I'm going to assume he ran and won a seat in the Senate, likely several times. Working backwards from 1890:

He won the presidential bid in 1888 and was sworn in in 1889

Six years prior would have been 1882

Let's say he did a term before that as well, which puts us at 1876.

So, we'll say he started his political career in 1876.

This means any wars he participated in would have had to have been before 1876. The war could have been a Native American conflict, which I think is somewhat likely due to Valentine's troop being positioned in San Diego. However, considering Valentine's scars were received from being captured and tortured by the enemy, and given the shape of them, it's fairly likely he received the scars during the Civil War. Keep in mind though that we don't know whether he received the scars or the Corpse Heart first, which would impact the timeline. I'll continue by assuming he received the scars first.

Noticeably, in the Chapter 67 flashback, Valentine isn't a young man but appears to be an adult. The Enrollment Act of 1863 conscripted all men between 20 and 45 to fight for the Union, but we can't base our age estimation entirely on this because Valentine is die-hard patriot and likely would have volunteered as soon as he was eligible.

So let's say he was 17 during the time of that flashback. 1847 + 17 = 1864. That's during the Civil War timeframe (as the Civil War ended in 1866). I feel safe to say that he fought in the Civil War.

There's another piece of evidence to consider as well, which is the uniform. Unfortunately I am not Civil War historian nor someone with a good eye for design, so I cannot say for certain which side his uniform appears to be from. All we can really see is the dark color and two buttons on the cuff. I'm not completely sure on this, but I think the two buttons may have indicated nicer uniforms, which may have indicated Valentine had a somewhat high rank.

Confederate Formal Uniform Example:

Source: File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14782791043).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Union Uniform Example:

Source: File:General Benjamin Butler Brady-Handy.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

And here's a more direct comparison:

Source: Yankees Civil War Uniform (animalia-life.club)

Or for a compressed version: OnlineResize.club. Resize image, Crop pics, Add instagram effect.

Again, I can't say for certain, and the way that the uniform is drawn doesn't make it completely clear. While the shape of the coat appears to generally resemble the Union uniform, to me it appears the hat is closer to the Confederate Kepi. Knowing what state he was from would certainly help; if we extrapolate that his father fought in the Mexican-American war, then possibly we can infer it was a Southern State, but I also am wary about suggesting that because I'm unsure how much political success a former Confederate could have had in a heavily Republican Congress.

I want to emphasize that none this is certain, but based on the information we have these are my best guesses. If you want to take a crack at it, here's wikipedia's comprehensive timeline of U.S. military conflicts. It's entirely possible he fought and was captured by the native people, which would support his placement in San Diego during the time of his enrollment in the army and would have given him a generally stronger position in Congress to base his platform off of (as opposed to if he had been a Confederate). It's also entirely possible he was in the Union and fought to keep the country together, which I see as in line with his ideals of patriotism and authoritarianism. And as discussed above, it's also possible he was part of the Confederacy, then was absorbed into the Union post-Civil war before beginning his political career. I couldn't find the details to support any one of these over the others.

So, based on all the available evidence, my tentative timeline is this:

Valentine volunteers for the army in the Civil War (1864)

Valentine is captured and scarred (?)

Valentine is re-assigned to training post-war in San Diego (between 1866 - 1876)

Valentine makes his congressional run (1876)

Valentine wins Senate re-election (1876)

Valentine runs for presidency and wins (1888)

At some point in the future, maybe I'll write about Valentine and American Nationalism and all those fun things, but for now this was my attempt at figuring out the specifics of Valentine's backstory and the sort of circumstances he sprung from.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[sunnunderthesun]

We need to talk about Sudan and its poetry

Oh, German Hitler

Oh, Italian Mussolini

Your chair will never ever stay again

You are just like

a foreign piaster

with no value in our market

The above excerpt is the English rendition of the song famously sung by the Sudanese singer Aisha Musa Ahmad, during World War Two, to encourage active Sudanese soldiers fighting the Axis alliance in the hope of gaining independence from British rule.

It is only towards the end of the last decade, during the Sudanese revolution, that the Eurocentric mainstream news sources began to shine a light on Sudan’s centuries-old oral tradition of poems, songs, storytelling, and chants which have always been an integral part of the Sudanese people’s peaceful protests against any form of oppression. While the works of notable Sudanese writers like Tayeb Salih and Mahjoub Sharif have brought international recognition for Sudan's written literature since the latter half of the twentieth century, much of the nation's oral poetic battle cry of resistance, strength, and resilience still remains unheard of in most parts of the world.

When asked why the internet hardly has any English-translated Sudanese poems written before the present century, a staff of ArabLit informs me that not many poems from the early or even mid-20th century exist, especially online, as translations from Arabic to English was mainly an academic endeavour until recently.

My search for Sudanese folklore on Google brings up just a handful of websites, books, and social media channels focussing on, mostly, contemporary Sudanese diasporic poems and stories, translated into or written in English, but it’s too challenging to find an English-translated poem by a native Sudanese poet on the search engine’s high-ranking webpages that list “must-read poems” or “great war poems” of this century and earlier.

On some archival websites, fragmentary specimens of Sudanese folklore can be found in a couple of late twentieth-century research papers on Sudan’s oral tradition, the journal called Sudan Notes and Records that was started by the British imperialists in an attempt to gain more control of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and the racist memoir called My Sudan Year in which the cultural anthropologist Ethel Stefana Drower writes, The Sudanese is a rhymester rather than a poet. He makes rhymes and rhythms on every possible occasion, but, like all of Arab blood or partly Arab blood, he is seldom capable of producing lofty lyrical poetry. The boatmen, as they tug together at a rope, or pull their oars through the water, make chanteys, but these are rarely imaginative or poetical in the Western sense of the words.

I learn from a librarian at the Library of Congress that their only available digitalized collection of Sudanese poetry is not translated from Arabic to English. However, they couldn’t clearly tell me the reason behind the dearth of English translations of Sudanese folklore, especially the ones from over a hundred years ago, on the internet.

Efforts of individuals like Dr. James Dickens and the library activist Israa Abbas to preserve and promote recent Sudanese poems and songs, both in English and Arabic, may inspire the mainstream international literary publications, that also happen to be Western-centric, to consider publishing a powerful Sudanese poem or two sometime. Observing the educated masses' continued disregard for the ongoing destruction of lives and invaluable university archives in conflict-ridden Sudan, it’s hard to predict when the internet will show more cultural inclusivity.

[havocdream]

Unheard and Unseen - Ten

Summary: With a message to the people of Thandaria, and a speech to a selected group of congress people, Vintra Selana shows her quality as a Galactic Senator. The Bad Batch prepare for departure, and Hunter makes one last action as Vintra's bodyguard.

Word count: 10.7k

Warnings: Political speeches | Anti-war stances | Very slight descriptions of a weapon | Some explicit descriptions of war violence | Descriptions of human pain

Notes at the end of chapter

Chapter nine -> Sunrays of blood

Masterlist

A world alive

Year 7.556 CRC, sixth month, thirtieth day.  

Official speech of the Senator of Ederon Vintra Selana to the people of the planet Thandaria, Helcander System.   

When an earthquake strikes the earth, nature sends a message of feeling ready for a new cycle. The extensive study of our soil over millennia has allowed us to understand these phenomena as releases of energy, accommodation of resources and, above all, opportunity for life. The movement of energy in our worlds is a reminder that they are alive. And that, therefore, life is possible.   

When an earthquake strikes a civilization, nature sends a message to make us feel inferior to its power. Open ground destroys crops, necessary for life; vulnerable infrastructure threatens safety when the earth on which it stands shakes, and life as we know it disappears, as we must face a different terrain, with cracks in places where a park, a fountain, or a beautiful meadow once stood, where the reflection of sunlight on the green grass provided a warm, homey feeling. I am sure that what you see around right now has been enough to fill your hearts and minds with dread, or to feel abandoned and hopeless to trust again in what the future holds.   

Our worlds are constantly shaken by events that rearrange our foundations, undo our plans and destroy our lives. Whether it is an earthquake, a debt, an illness or the death of someone close to us, we are exposed to this fear on many fronts. Thandaria suffered, for the first time in twenty years, a natural catastrophe of enormous magnitude, which has left the lives of over two hundred million citizens paralyzed in financial, commercial, social and, most importantly, personal sectors. The tally of lives lost is rising every second to numbers never before reached, the infrastructure equivalent to one hundred and thirty million jobs is unrecoverable, and the food of the entire population has been affected by the devastation of major agricultural fields. It is safe to say that the state of Thandaria falls within the definition of crisis, and my administration, in collaboration with the governing offices of the other planets in the Helcander System, will treat it as such.   

On a much smaller scale than your situation, the last month I have been confronted with a type of fear that I thought I had forgotten. Losing one's life has always been one of the greatest fears of living beings. After millennia of existence, death is a natural phenomenon in every race that we still do not know how to master. But, despite always lurking around me, and ultimately being inevitable, I have counted on several teams that have made me feel safe and have protected me from all danger. Whether it be our honorable ederian guards, the competent Coruscant guard, or our brave clone troopers drawn from the very front lines, there has been someone by my side to ensure my protection. Not even in the leanest of times have I been abandoned. 

As someone who has faced crippling darkness and knows how comforting it is to have such protection, it is impossible for me not to understand to a certain degree what you must be feeling right now, citizens of Thandaria. And to you I must make an outrageous request, in this hour of most desperate need. Please trust me. I do not plan to leave you alone, nor to ignore your problems to attend to my own. Let me be the hand that protects you, and gives you back your life, on whatever scale I can. I cannot promise you a cessation of natural disasters, but I can assure you that you will not be left without help when they strike.   

Together with my team, we have passed a planetary bill for the Helcander System, aimed at alleviating the situation in Thandaria. We have suspended private projects in Ederon, Yuren and Vancron to redirect funds to the prompt relief of Thandaria. I urge citizens of neighboring planets to support the fundraising program so that we do not have to turn to the Banking Clan and acquire more debt than this Republic can afford because of the war. I have approached government charities to arrange an urgent donation, and the rest of the local governments in the Helcander System have made it a priority to allocate and distribute homes and jobs to any thandarian who wish to start regaining their lives as soon as possible. Our economic projections give us an estimated three to six years of full recovery.   

Thandaria, I do not wish for us to work to put this tragedy behind us, but to carry it into our future as a reminder of the community we have created in Helcander, and the possibility of a galaxy united and focused on supporting its citizens. May you remember the power of your rulers, and the duty our positions demand in being of service to you. My goal is not only to give you back what you have materially lost, but to show each other that, by surviving the shocks of our worlds, we are able to rise and continue our fights.   

The government of Helcander relies on its citizens, so it is only natural that you rely on it when you need it. And I know I didn't become a senator because I have something special or different from you. Which means that the resilience that lives in me lives in you, too. Neither in the Senate, nor in the broken land of Thandaria, will the forces that attack us be able to bring us down. For alone we have never been, and good has always prevailed.    

I must remind you that the soil of Thandaria has made it known that it is alive, and that more life is possible. Let us bury our dead, offer them respect and memory, and thank them for their brave and high sacrifice, which I hope to repay by protecting the lives they have left behind, or the legacy I will not let be lost. Let us lift and rebuild your fallen world, Thandaria, now stronger than before. Let us acknowledge the helping hands, and not forget what we feel today. For tomorrow it may be someone else, someone who will surely need us.   

For seven years I have worked to make sure that no one in our beloved System is left behind, and that the resources we possess reach everyone. It is time to demonstrate to you and the galaxy that a community that supports each other can overcome every crisis that comes its way, and that everyone's well-being is also our own.   

I conclude by extending my admiration to the people of Thandaria, who, in waiting for help, have not hesitated to help each other to salvage what they can, and have even begun to work on their own recovery with their own hands. I have seen them take care of their children, their orphans, their animals, their plants.... Their elderly, their sick, their wounded. You have embraced the most important thing in your world: yourselves. And amid all this adversity, your messages of support and concern for me after my attack have touched my heart immensely. Your kind heart, which leads you to care about someone else during such a scenario, cannot be overlooked.    

Thandaria, you inspire me. Your generosity is noted, and I will use all the power that resides in me as your senator to ease your pain and fear. And I promise you that together we will overcome this catastrophe.  

It was beginning to get frustrating for Hunter that, despite taking step after step, he was going nowhere. The situation was the same: that was his last day as Vintra Selana's bodyguard. Which would be good, except that the mission didn't feel finished. The Senator of Ederon had just exposed to the press suggestions about the possible orchestrator of her attacks. A spotlight had been shone on Vice Admiral Stass, which, in many cases, would spark a direct war until a head rolled. How could he leave when the worst was just beginning?   

And another question was forming more strongly alongside his growing concern: why did he care so much? Their mission was officially successful, they’d found the person responsible for the senator's attacks and now the rest could be handled by her network. They could stop wasting their time protecting a public figure and get back to their real work. Everything would go back to the way they knew it.   

So why didn't he feel at ease?   

“What are you doing?” the manly, gruff, unmistakable voice of Crosshair caught his attention. He was on his way to rest and had caught him midway through his intense internal debate, in the hallway outside the senator's apartment.    

He had yet to tell his brothers that they’d been relieved of their services with the ederian, and would soon be reassigned back to the front lines, as usual. Partly because Hunter still had trouble with believing that the mission was really over.   

“Do you think our job is done?” asked the defective unit sergeant. Maybe it was a burden he felt being the squad leader, maybe the rest of his brothers believed there was nothing more to do on Coruscant.   

“You mean here? Of course not,” grumbled Crosshair, who pulled out a wooden toothpick and, as he leaned against the wall beside the door, placed it between his teeth. “No, in any case, we've earned a longer stay thanks to recent events... we were facing a shadow before, I'm afraid a Vice Admiral is worse,” commented the younger brother, not being of much help to the elder. Hunter folded his arms and sighed.  

 “Well, you're wrong. The senator has released us from duty, we return to the front tomorrow,” Hunter's words caused Crosshair to stop moving the wooden stick between his teeth, surprised at the news. “According to her, it's her way of paying us back after threatening us,” Hunter positioned himself in front of his brother, attentive to his opinion. Crosshair's right eyebrow was raised, intrigued, for of all the things he expected from Vintra Selana, that wasn't on his list. And he had a very long one already made.   

“If a threat was what it took to get her to get rid of us, we would’ve provoked her from before we landed,” but Hunter denied.   

“No, she said she owed us for saving her from the explosive and for discovering Stass,” Crosshair narrowed his eyes at Hunter's hesitant and frustrated look, for he’d been noticing for a while now that something was making him uneasy about the senator. It seemed that the ederian was spending a lot of time in his head, and it was never good when something dwelt too long in the sergeant's mind.   

Hunter was an expert at tracking. His heightened senses made him probably the most lethal soldier in the army. Every living thing emitted electromagnetic waves thanks to its brain activity, which Hunter had been created to be able to detect. And, if combined with body odor and the sounds of breathing or heartbeat, he could decipher the deepest intentions of any enemy that hovered near him long enough.   

If his mind was overly entertained with chasing trails that led him nowhere, it meant they were standing in a wasteland under a moonless night, impossible to distinguish who was watching them from the darkness around them, helpless against the blaster mouths aimed at them. If Vintra Selana was beginning to occupy Hunter's mind too much, it was because she emitted such strong frequencies, but impossible for him to discern or track. And if he didn't end up understanding those frequencies, it was impossible to know if the job was really finished.   

“Well, then why do you seem to doubt it so much? If she says she doesn't need us anymore, then there's no reason for us to still be here,” Crosshair replied, his words sounding logical, entirely coherent. Hunter had no problem with seeing the reason in them. The problem was that he didn't care.   

“Cross, she basically kicked us out because she feels guilty,” he tried to justify. Crosshair shrugged.   

“And she should. I appreciate that her conscience won't leave her alone after what she did, and that she's facing the consequences of her actions,” Crosshair pressed his reasons to ease his brother's discontent, but didn't seem to succeed by the sergeant's even more conflicted look.   

“If guilt’s the reason her decision’s right, then mine should be taken into account as well,” he proposed, and from his look Crosshair understood that that was a revelation just as startling to Hunter as it was to him. What was he talking about? “Look, imagine if the Vice Admiral were us...don't you think the scenario looks like Plan 72?” Crosshair was quick to recognize the pattern: distracting attack, enemy attention focused elsewhere except on the central target. Hunter softened his gaze as an idea crossed his mind. “If in three days a report appeared all over the news that the senator was killed, wouldn't it cross your mind that we could’ve prevented it? We know who’s responsible, we understand his strategy and we create and execute our plans based on that, in our own way,” Crosshair pondered what Hunter was trying to say, unable to ignore the valid point his brother was making. “I don't think I'd be able to explain to Ederon, and the rest of the planets in the Helcander System, why we left after discovering her killer... it’d seem as if we ran away from danger,” the indignation and offense that came from his throat as he uttered those words was enough to convey them to the sniper. Running away was worse than an insult and being linked to that action was worse than a failed mission for the bad batch. “Isn't it supposed to be our fucking job to assure civilians that we're protecting them? If we leave her in the middle of this mess it's almost the same as telling the entire Helcander System to fuck themselves,” and while the sergeant was entitled to ask all those questions, and have his doubts, for Crosshair the scenario looked different. If that was the senator's decision, no tongue in the galaxy could contradict it.    

“You're starting to sound like her,” the platinum-haired clone pointed out, for Hunter's way of speaking was a bit different. Worrying about their role in the Republic or to an entire System wasn’t part of the way they operated and analyzed. They almost never projected their contributions as a squadron to general levels, they always acted for the good of those directly affected on the planet or sector they were sent to. It was as if he now understood that he was fighting for something more, and that protecting Senator Selana was protecting something much bigger than just a Coruscant politician.   

Hunter let out a sharp sigh.   

“I just don't like the idea of being pulled out of a hostile zone, especially when we're the only ones who can get the job done right,” the relaxed shoulders of the clone with the skull tattoo implied surrender. Even if everyone agreed with him, it was of no use if the mission was already over. He was surrendering to the idea of living with that burden, for there was no way to get rid of the uneasiness that leaving left him. It didn't matter if Vintra Selana died in a week or fifty years, Hunter feared that, by leaving, her death would be his responsibility.  

“Hunter, so what do you want to do? The only one who can change things is the senator, and it seems she doesn't intend to... like it or not, our orders are to get the hell out of here,” seeing that his words elicited a defiant look in the sergeant, Crosshair looked at him more seriously. “And this is one of those orders you can't disobey,” he clarified as he tapped the sergeant's chest with his index finger. Hunter drew his lips in a grin.   

“Now you sound like a reg commander,” was the last thing he said as his brother entered the apartment amid annoyed grunts.    

But Hunter recognized the truth in Crosshair’s words, if they were sent to any other planet, their duty was to go to the aid of whoever needed it. Unlike millions of people in the galaxy, Vintra Selana was protected by the Coruscant guard, her few guards, and her huge information network.    

Unfortunately, Hunter would have to live with the guilt. For, without being able to explain why, he knew that without them she wouldn’t survive that bill.  

Vintra had tried to give in to sleep, she believed that the tiredness she felt and the sadness in her chest would slowly guide her into a world of silence and cozy darkness. But her conscience seemed to become her greatest enemy in those moments, and the restlessness of having to take advantage of every possible second to work forced her to get out of her comfortable bed and sacrifice more for the citizens, as if she had them all there in her room and was ashamed to go to rest while many of them were struggling that very night for a place to sleep or a bread for dinner. Who did she think she was to enjoy her privileges when others trusted her to help them?   

In addition, a dread began to replace sleep with anxiety, and it wasn't long before Vintra thought it impossible to try to sleep again. The sergeant's warning a few hours ago, about the possibility that Vice Admiral Stass wasn’t working alone, and the whole strategy of directing her attention to him was only a distraction from the real danger that would strike from behind. And the thought that, when that happened, the sergeant would no longer be with her to protect her.   

She kept telling herself over and over again that just because they were watching Stass didn't mean they had their guard down on the other fronts. After all, there were many more people in the galaxy who wanted to get rid of her, so even if they focused their attention on the Vice Admiral, it didn't mean she was unprotected. If someone else attacked her, they’d be able to foresee it.   

If she repeated it to herself often enough, maybe she’d manage to believe it.   

She read mail after mail and report after report with that same phrase in her head. She drafted letters and responded to reports and those words wouldn’t leave her mind. The night hours were even overshadowed by the presence of the murky mantra that Vintra kept repeating to herself, but until the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the far edges of the planet, she understood that it was in vain. She’d have to live with that fear.   

However, when the shadows of the waning night still reigned in her room, a report digitally stamped with the words “confidential” stopped all the junk gears in her head and left only the vital ones running. It was a message from her network of informants, an urgent one.   

It was written in code, since the galactic network was not necessarily reliable, even on an encrypted computer like hers. The symbols presented in the report were understood only by a small group of people chosen by Vintra Selana, whom they must’ve known personally. It was a system of letters invented by Mavan, which changed with each month and of which only two physical copies were made in the entire galaxy. One was held by Vintra, and the other by Ederon's elite information team.   

What she was about to read was information that no one, not even the Chancellor, knew about.   

Just as she suspected, it was an information update on the unknown outpost discovered on Druad, which followed the report she had received earlier in the week. What she read next alarmed her greatly.  

Her contacts inside the planet tried to assess the location again but suffered the disadvantage that this time there appeared to be people inside, who opened fire and killed several of the scouts. Two managed to escape to report what they discovered and added that the operation they observed involved the possible extraction of thusten through illegal means, possibly related to smuggling. The report concluded with a notification that they had begun identification of those responsible for the operation. Upon completion, Vintra deleted the file.   

It didn’t sound good. Vintra was aware that thusten smuggling existed, but it originated external to the System, for no one was so far-fetched as to risk entering a planet where hostile fire was always raining down. For a criminal, the risks of getting hold of the metal were less if they attacked separatist ships that left the planet with it. So, to know that someone had managed to set up a complete outpost to load thusten and export it by containers of their own, was a sign of something really dirty behind it.    

First, because Druad was always blocked by Separatist and Republic forces around the planet. There were daily negotiations between the two sides to allow specific ships to pass through, so that the opposing side wouldn’t shoot them down. These were mostly civilian supplies, but more than once each side opened fire to send more troops and ammunition to the planet, so the battle of Druad began long before even entering its exosphere. It was impossible to enter the planet undetected. So, it could be two scenarios: One, they were stealing ships to infiltrate. Two, someone was giving them passage.   

Second, there were no reports yet of thusten extraction by the Separatist Systems or the Republic, so they either didn't know or were hiding it. If they didn't know about it, it was a serious case, because it could imply that there were more extraction cases on the planet that no one knew about yet; someone was taking advantage of the fight for the thusten and all the clones and civilians died for a metal that a third party had already taken from there. On the other hand, if they were hiding it, it was a worse case, because it meant that someone was willing to make deals with criminals to use the war, and the murder of millions, as a mere distraction to appropriate the metal. The ceasefire in Druad was more necessary than ever.  

The senator would love to be able to assess the place on her own, but she knew it was impossible. Druad was by far the worst front in the war at the time. Going into that place was insane, and even the clone troopers knew it.    

But that didn't take away from Vintra's need to want to go, as she knew she required more evidence about the planet's scenarios to speak to the Senate about them, as everything was more convincing if they heard it from someone who’d seen it in person. Also, because, as the planet's chief spokesperson, she felt a responsibility for them to see it firsthand. She had to talk to them face to face to hear their needs and fears and be better able to convey them to the Senate. But she couldn't do that, because the journey was increasingly terrifying and unsettling. And impossible to survive. She needed an absurd kind of preparation, a security that not even the clones protecting her those days could provide.    

Or could they?   

“Senator?” the sergeant's voice, accompanied by three knocks on her door, made her jump from her seat. Her room was already bathed in warm rays of light, time had slipped away from her with her mind so focused on the recent news. “The construction crew will begin installing your blinds.”  

It had been a busy day, typical of the last breath of the laboring week. Hundreds of meetings with some of her staff had piled up to attend to the needs of the Helcander System, in addition to reviewing her vote on dozens of other bills that were still pending in the Senate. She spent the entire morning on calls with senators explaining the point of their bills, hoping to convince her to grant them her support.

And while Vintra could do two things at once, on this occasion she seemed distracted from the present. Her gaze fixed elsewhere as she listened to important words from congressmen preoccupied with their own bills. Her heart was restless, as if instead of an organ the only thing inhabiting her was a balloon filled with air that inflated and deflated to replace something real and vital. Her legs and hands moved with a certain desperation, as if she were waiting for something.   

Hunter, of course, didn’t let that attitude pass. He knew the senator was uneasy about something, probably the annoying noise of the construction crew installing the protective curtains from the other side of the glass windows. Perhaps it was the feeling of vertigo she imagined as she watched them dangle from the building on ropes nine floors above the ground. Or maybe it was the nerves of knowing she’d be without her security team that had protected her so well in the past few days.   

Or maybe it was something else, some news from her information network about Druad or Ederon. Hunter reminded himself that Vintra Selana was a Galactic Senator, and he’d seen her deal with more frustrating situations, make decisions that pushed her beyond her own limits. She’d only just learned that the person who had saved her from killing herself was now seeking to take it upon himself to finish what he’d once prevented.   

She must’ve had bigger concerns than dispatching her security team. Perhaps it was he who was projecting his own fears onto the senator's insecure behaviors.   

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve heard your concerns and opinions, rest assured that I’ll keep them in mind whenever I evaluate alternatives so that my bill doesn’t intervene with these disquietudes,” the senator's melodious and gentle voice echoed back into the venue after several minutes, in which different senators laid out all the reasons why they were still withholding their vote regarding the Druad ceasefire bill. Vintra had organized a meeting with thirty representatives, hoping to turn her situation around and regain the twenty votes she’d lost the day before, in addition to those that her opposition had taken advantage of in gaining after the closing of the Senate Building and the postponement of the general assembly.   

In the background, the hammering of metal against metal and the sizzle of welding should’ve made the senator's voice seem drowned out, vulnerable and even at a disadvantage. Instead, she sounded like the lead voice of an aggressive symphony chorus. Rather than sounding uncomfortable from the inconvenient external noise, it was as if the rumbling on the walls gave her words an authoritative and fierce effect. Like thunderclaps of anger venting to the sound of a cruel goddess' voice.   

“I’m aware that Senators Carsen, Liepin, and Farwan have spoken with you as well, about ways in which in exchange for your votes you’d get benefits from the profits of business done with the thusten, as well as royalties for your contribution to the metal industry, which could boost the economy of the Systems you represent, and even secure you all one more term in office among your constituents,” Vintra leaned back on her comfortable gray meeting couch, rested her right arm on the surface of the backrest, and her other hand on her left thigh. In the long black dress, tight to her slender and curvaceous body, she looked elegant and majestic, like the mistress of all opinion and truth when she took that pose. The white, elbow-length sleeves, which opened from her elbows and fell like dancing veils on the skin of her arms to her knees, counterbalanced the touch of the dress with a pure and solemn one, which dominated over all black hidden and conspiratorial intentions with white justice and gentleness.   

“As well as votes for our bills,” added one of the senators at the meeting, whose name Hunter couldn’t remember at all. He was a tarsunt, representing the Suntilla System. Vintra raised an eyebrow and pointed her hand at the senator, as if conceding another point in favor of her opposition.   

“Yes, you’d be very well spoiled in exchange for a mere vote,” she remarked amid faint derisive laughter. “So, in essence, I should offer you something even greater or beneficial to win your support, right?” the senators turned to look at each other, almost with excited and triumphant expressions, as if what they’d waited for months was finally arriving at their doorstep. An offer from Vintra Selana. “I'm not offering you a shit.”   

Almost as if the construction team knew what those words implied, the noise of their work was interrupted at that moment. An eerie silence intruded as the main character in the meeting. Vintra even noticed that she could let it settle on the senators' minds and chests for a moment, so it’d made their postures and countenances uncomfortable. She kept her sly smile, she knew it’d add to the uncertainty of her colleagues, and even provoke annoyance and anger. She needed to unsettle them.   

“Why should I offer you anything in return for your support against a massacre? It seems to me that I’d be spoiling your interests as political leaders, and I’d give the opportunity to my opponents to believe that they can keep offering more and more benefits in exchange for you turning your vote again... I don't have time for these fuck-arounds, dear colleagues,” her smile disappeared, and her cheerful amethyst gaze turned into bloody wine. The nervousness that gnawed at her was replaced by fury, she felt she’d turn into a flame of fire if she didn’t stop, for the idea of having to beg for votes was already beginning to tire and sicken her. Innocents were dying, and those scoundrels were so used to demanding something for themselves that they allowed such barbarities for the sake of making some profit. “Why should you vote for the cease-fire in Druad? I want you to remember your own history, the roots from which your freedom and autonomy as a race comes. Have you not asked yourselves what’s your reason for standing every day in front of all your people? Is there not an ounce of honor towards the sacrifice of thousands of years of evolution and effort with which you want to contribute to history?    

All of you here share the same origin: you come from conquered planets. Millennia ago, the Republic fought against your ancestors, seeking expansion and sovereignty over the thousands of planets that were added to the galactic map, and millions of your planet’s resources were appropriated until they disappeared. Wasn't the magalyte a precious stone of Macrasia, valued as the jewel of the gods and whose excavation was forbidden by the ancestral civilization? Eirena, surely you remember that the Republic didn’t care much for the cultural weight of that jewel, now scattered in the galaxy and only accessible to nobles or aristocrats with enough capital to pay for it as an accessory, unable to comprehend what for some was an empyrean gift.   

And maybe the Republic was right, it was just a beautiful and scarce stone, maybe they did them a favor. But what about the xidonite, Lauxander? Three centuries of slavery the arxains suffered at the hands of the nobles of the neighboring planet Nereirea for the precious mineral. Rumor had it that it was the best conductor of heat at the time, and the Republic gladly fought for your people’s freedom in exchange for being granted authority over the xidonite. Didn't they abandon your people halfway through the war, when it was discovered that the ore's lifespan was only three years? It took nearly five hundred years before Arxana, at its moment of extreme crisis, developed a method to extend the effective time of the material and could offer it to the Republic in exchange for on-planet investment.  

I could mention cases about each of your Systems, but I think I’ve managed to remind you of them, haven't I? Now, I must ask you, are we not fortunate that we didn’t live in those times? It’s thanks to those sacrifices that our planets now enjoy excellent exuberance, but there’s such a difference in the conditions of today and before that we seem to have moved away from the true value that the purchase of our planets meant at the time.    

But Druad? Before our eyes we have a similar case. The opposition has been showered with arguments attempting to convince you that the drulium appropriation is in Druad's best interest in terms of its socio-economic growth projections. Based on what I ask? They seemed to be fine without the Republic, and have made it clear that they don't intend to exchange anything but tourist asylum, because... how could they contribute to our great intergalactic network?   

The rulers of Druad were wise to analyze the possibility of becoming involved in a larger machine, for they realized that they’d be a tiny part of an immense whole. As a planet dependent only on its star material, when it was exhausted, they'd be mere puppets of more powerful planets. Were you not excited about what kind of gifts I’d offer you? Were you not already willing to sell your own autonomy to someone who could pay you well? Or worse, would you hesitate to give me your vote if, thanks to my network, I threatened to expose confidential information about your Systems? Or secrets of yours?   

Druad wants no part of this, it’d be their end. And the fact that this Republic, and you Galactic Senators, find the idea that the Separatists want drulium more abhorrent than the fact that we’re murdering millions of innocents in the name of self-defense, is to go back thousands of years in our quest for a just and benevolent democratic system. And to still doubt how to exercise your vote, when you’ve descended from a history like Druad's, is an insult to your ancestors.   

Remember that you haven’t achieved your landscapes of today thanks to the help of the Republic, but despite it. Your riches were drained, who knows if today your worlds would be almost as powerful as Chandrila or Corellia. Or if they'd be home to so much life capable of reproducing several beings fit to become Jedi. And Druad will no longer be, thanks to the destruction the violent response with which we have “protected” their lands. Whether it was the Republic's intention or not, the reality is that, instead of improving the planet, the numbers and reports show only destruction. Isn't it enough? Shouldn't we open a channel of negotiation, for the sake of the druadan?    

We have the evidence that Druad never wanted to be part of our political network, also that the Republic took advantage of the convenient death of the regents, who refused to collaborate, to impose a government alien to the natives of the planet, and on top of that without their consent. All this time, our government has been part of a not even subtle plan to take the drulium from them, we’d continue to support this violation of the law if it weren’t for the Jedi Order discovering a copy of the autonomy treaty, does that tell you nothing of what you refrain from supporting? A foul game has been played under our noses, and I’m not willing to turn my eyes away.   

No, I offer you nothing to make you do the right thing, senators. I remind you of where you come from, and I dare you to turn your eyes with what’s now taking place in front of you.”   

The morale of those present in each hologram fell to the foundations of the crest of corpses upon which they posed. Senator Selana's words had them projected there, with thousands of characters beneath their feet with their gazes set upon them. It was easy to forget a history they were never a part of in the flesh, but it didn't take them long to project a different world against the current landscape when Vintra Selana spoke with that sharp and direct intonation. It was also not hard to see their disadvantage when they saw her with such might, as one of the most powerful politicians in the Republic thanks to her world’s own resources and history, despite also possessing a past of slavery and exploitation.   

Vintra didn’t soften her countenance, and didn’t pretend to regret any words. She looked at those present with disapproval and accusation. And, when she saw in their faces that there was still hesitation, she leaned across the table and displayed a lurid hologram.   

Images of the exact moments when civilians were being hit by Republic missiles, Separatist tanks crushing druadan bodies and animals still alive, children and old people screaming in horror as their bodies were reached by explosion fire. Civilians with skin diseases from the gases and chemicals used to fight the enemy, corpses of malnourished people, animals incinerated and on the verge of collapse from the pain of their mutilated bodies. Screams, tears, blood, organs, vomit, and death. So much death that Vintra made sure that there wouldn’t be a day that the senators present weren’t reminded of such horrors.   

For the first time in his life, Hunter felt an inexplicable sense of defeat. As if after long days of siege, his ammunition had run out, and his brothers defeated. As if he was the only one left, surrounded by a burning field and by an enemy army that ordered him to kneel and raise his hands if he wished to preserve his insignificant life. As if the future outlook was black, far from a life devised long ago, which he faced with his head down and his strength exhausted.   

He could say that he’d seen everything on the front lines, which was no lie. And of course, there were such scenes on every planet to which they were sent. But Druad's case was different for many reasons.   

He hadn’t confessed it to the senator, for he knew that it wasn’t his place to give political opinions openly. Besides, he wasn't sure if a clone should be meddling in issues like Druad's. But it was unavoidable how he felt. He was against military occupation on a planet with no Senate representation and such a high level of hostility that they hadn’t yet been sent to the planet because the Operation Center considered it too unsafe to send such a valuable squadron.   

It wasn’t news to the soldier platoons how aggressive the battlefield was on Druad, and every time one was sent, it was almost like receiving a final death sentence. No squad returned alive, and almost all the ammunition needed elsewhere was sent as a priority to the battalions in Druad. The horrors of those trenches were only told through rumors, based on short transmissions that managed to be sent from the planet, known for not having proper communication channels. The few details of their descriptions, accompanied by the obvious massacre of soldiers who were sent away and never returned, fed the imagination of what was being experienced.    

And, if soldiers trained and willing to die for a Republic were wiped out in that way, he didn’t dare to imagine children, animals or any other being foreign to any kind of war violence, receiving the same fire as they did. It was an act beyond outrageous and monstrous. Senator Selana was absolutely right to demand a ceasefire.  

Contrary to the afterglow of the previous day, the rays of a sun that was already lost behind the most distant buildings in sight painted the sky a tender pink, like faint vestiges of an ancient and past fierce bloodbath. With that scene, which evoked a fading feeling of a great event, Hunter finally received the report of their next mission.   

Kashyyyk, the home planet of the Wookies.   

It almost seemed ironic. At last, they were assigned to a planet they wanted so much to visit, to test their ability of the language of the admirable creatures, to learn their culture and to fight with them against their enemies; but even that wasn’t able to erase from his chest the cold feeling of leaving the senator behind. Hunter knew it was wrong to depart if he wasn't excited to get on the road at once to his next destination. Especially if it was Kashyyyk.   

“Sir?” he was snapped out of his mind by the Coruscant guard in front of him. He’d forgotten the reason he had gone to open the door of the senator's apartment. It was more than obvious that he needed to get some rest at once.   

“Yes, you sure it has the specs I gave you?” he replied after shaking his head and taking the package handed to him by the clone. The latter sneered, indignant that a defective clone would get authoritative with him. Hunter was in no mood to make a scene.   

“Of course I am,” his tone almost drove him out of his mind, but he restrained himself with all his might and just dismissed the soldier so he could go back inside. The senator had just finished letting out a long sigh as she lounged gracelessly on her S-shaped couch. She’d worn her hair down all day, but now it looked tousled and worn, as if from it she drew all the energy to endure hours of meetings without stopping to talk or discuss extensive topics of great importance to an entire population.   

Hunter approached her and noticed her consumed. Her eyelids were throbbing shut from how hard she was pushing herself; her chest was rising with such size in search of air as if she’d just swum miles against an aggressive current, and her pulse was on the verge of a heart attack. He didn't think there was anything more important right now to her safety than her rest, and he had to make sure he left her in good hands, so he had to finally get her to sleep.   

“Senator,” he said after making sure Vintra relaxed to normal pulse and breathing. He spoke softly, as he also didn't want to exalt her now that all her vital signs were beginning to slow down. Vintra slowly opened her eyes, which bore straight into the clone's golden orbs, as if they unconsciously knew the place they wished to land, without needing direction or help.   

Vintra smiled.   

“Ah, yes. Have you received your next mission yet?” she straightened into the seat and settled herself to better address the sergeant, who was positioned standing next to the couch. She noticed he was holding a package, perhaps necessary for his trip to the assigned planet.   

Hunter tensed his jaw, no emotion or relief showing in his expression. “Yes, we'll leave as soon as the boys finish loading their gear,” as those words flooded the air, a fleeting emptiness shot through both of their stomachs, like a spear of ice cutting and piercing. Vintra forced a smile. It didn't take Hunter long to notice it, he was too experienced to notice false expressions. He'd noticed that same grimace on the senator the first time they'd met. Except, this time, there was no rejection.   

“Nice, well...I thank you very much for your services. I know we got off on the wrong foot...and it stayed that way, truth be told, but I'm grateful for your performance, sergeant. For the last time, I'm alive because of you, and that's all that’ll matter when I have to weigh in on you and your squadron,” she spoke, in what Hunter tried to interpret as a farewell.   

He looked at her for a few seconds and contemplated her day-to-day life from now on. Would her guards really be prepared to monitor her safety? How would they know if her food wasn't poisoned? How would they be aware of spy droids? Would she remember the choreographed sniper escape they’d practiced the first night? How well would they check that the filtered air in the apartment was free of toxins?   

He didn't know from where or why such a need to protect her had arisen, but now it seemed to be in control of him. Perhaps he’d been captivated by the way she worked. Ruthless, but on the right side. He still felt repulsed by her threats and dirty plays, but he couldn't deny that it was intriguing to see her wield such power to obtain something that, for him, was ultimately good: Druad's liberation.   

There was something about her and the way she spoke and believed in such absurd ideals that whispered in the farthest part of his brain how important she was to the galaxy. He wished to see more of her, the way she managed to turn her situations around and was interested in the people she represented.   

He remembered that she was still the senator who condemned the use of clones as an army and that probably if she won her bill, she’d proceed to propose the entire dismantling of the military. But now he understood better who she was, and the reasons she might have for advocating such an idea. He still thought war was inevitable and necessary. But not in Druad; and, in those moments, that was what Vintra Selana was trying to accomplish.   

“You know, when you lost Senator Haan's twenty votes, I thought it’d be a more complicated situation for you,” he changed the subject, unwilling to say goodbye to her until the last second when Tech would inform him that everything was ready for their departure. Besides, the senator was still awake, and, at that moment, raising one of her brown eyebrows in some disbelief. “But in one afternoon you got thirty,” he applauded, though it didn't seem that Vintra received it as a compliment.   

“Sergeant, I spent an entire night researching the history of hundreds of planets, looking for those that shared similarities with Druad's case, and on top of that going over hundreds of plenaries and bills from so many senators with malleable character but honorers of their word and good causes.... I needed these votes because I plan to get thirty more tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that until I get to the next plenary with a battalion I feel confident with,” she expounded fervently, incredulous that the sergeant believed she’d gotten all that support by sheer luck. If only it were that simple. “Your brother, Tech, helped me quite a bit. I think I'll miss him the most.”   

It shouldn't surprise him, Tech had been intrigued and admired by the senator all along, unbiased about her and even willing to be of any help he could to her bill. He was glad to hear that she appreciated her brother's efforts, and to know that Tech had been able to accomplish what he’d set out to do. 

However, he was disappointed to hear that, because even though he was the one who’d saved her life, she wouldn’t miss him as much as the one who’d helped her get thirty votes on her bill. It was just natural; he already knew that Vintra Selana put that fight above her own life. But he still couldn't shake the disappointment of the revelation.  

“Hmm, you'll have to rest for that, senator. Your brain holds out to a certain limit, and you've passed it long ago,” the clone suggested in a dragging voice, tired as well, as if trying to pass the feeling on to her. Vintra's eyelids drooped, and he could tell she was having trouble keeping them open. But, even looking like that, she closed her eyes and shook her head decisively.   

“If I could, I would, sergeant. But how can I afford such a luxury? Right now, parents in Druad are finding the corpses of their children. Children of their parents. Entire families are wiped out, legacies lost, and entire ecosystems destroyed. In Thandaria, they’re still digging through the rubble in search of trapped people, without rest and food... I—” 

Vintra opened her eyes and found the clone squatting a few inches away to her left, his gaze below hers, and suggesting truce. It was the last time they’d see each other, so this time he wasn't going to order her anything or let her impose her wishes with threats or idiocy. That's why he was bending down to her height, to ask her for a last requisition. Vintra looked at him in surprise, her heart quickening its pace at finding him so close without having realized he had moved. And the way he looked at her, tired too after all that mission in which he almost gave his life for her, made her feel that they were on the same square of the board.   

It had been a tremendous adventure for both of them.   

“Resting is also taking care of your people,” he spoke in a patient, gentle voice. It was the first time Vintra had heard him in that tone, and it sent a sense of security and care that she soon felt absent. In a couple of hours, she’d lose that forever. “The last thing your security team needs in the middle of an attack is for your body to collapse from exhaustion,” she laughed at the scenario, not taking it seriously. “We've put an incredible amount of effort into protecting you, too much for you to perish due to your lack of cooperation.”   

Vintra couldn't help but chuckle with light laughter, thanks to the tone in which Hunter was chiding her. She found it funny that the sergeant was too tired to invest energy in disdainfully complaining to her about her uncooperativeness. It was their least aggressive argument.   

“You, sergeant, have really taught me that everything can be a safety issue,” her eyes closed heavily, but Vintra forced herself to open them again. “You could make an excellent life insurance salesman,” but she only heard the clone's weary sigh.   

“Do you know how snow wolves hunt?” he asked, in a low tone of voice, just for her to hear, and as if he wanted to be careful not to startle her if she raised it any higher. Vintra looked into each of his honey orbs, then shook her head. “When they find a horde, they keep their distance while they inspect it, looking for any animals weaker than the rest, either by age or physical condition. The horde becomes desperate when the wolves don't leave after a long time, and panic eventually forces it to flee. In the chaos, the wolves have already chosen a target and begin their pursuit. Even if the prey is faster, if it is weakened the wolves must only increase that condition. They take turns leading the charge, bite the prey on their paws, assault and terrify it, they can do it for miles if necessary. The prey, after running and being wounded, unable to stop to regain strength for a moment, becomes so weak that the wolves manage to kill it,” he explained, and his words managed to make Vintra's hair stand on end as she placed her face on that of a helpless animal, and Stass's on that of a huge snow wolf. A lump formed in her throat, which she struggled to swallow in an attempt to push away the discomfort. “Just because others are protecting you, doesn't mean you don't have to do your part. It's your life that's at risk,” he pointed out in rhyme of a phrase she’d said to him the day before about being thankful for her life. Vintra instantly remembered that conversation and her own words. “Right now, you are the ideal prey at the perfect time.”   

Vintra felt in danger at the frightening thought of not having enough energy to run from Stass's clutches. What if having her in veil was also part of his plan?   

“I need you to rest, please,” blurted the soft voice of the sergeant in front of her, who closed his eyes as he blinked, and took a while until he reopened them. Vintra swallowed saliva and furrowed her eyebrows in concern.    

Hunter noticed the fear that invaded her body, as if she didn’t want to enter the uncertainty of the darkness of a deep sleep. He’d seen it on the hostile front, for different reasons. The fear of bodily deceleration after shocking events, of letting one's guard down. Many developed the ability to sleep with one eye open, and others lost their wits completely.   

He had no doubt that Vintra Selana had terrifying dreams, but she had to take the risk to gain some rest. In any case, these were dangers beyond Hunter’s reach. It was up to her to face them alone.   

Vintra sealed her eyelids and sighed heavily. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she allowed her exhaustion to take full control of her body. Hunter felt relieved that she was yielding to his request, and it’d give him some peace of mind to know that, when she woke up without them as bodyguards, she’d at least be lucid enough to face any danger with strength. 

“Very well. I give you my vote,” Vintra's neck lost strength, and the slight nod that almost sent her forward towards the sergeant forced her to stay awake a while longer. Hunter smiled slightly in amusement at the sight of her, and without taking his gaze from her began to open the package he still held in his hands.  

Vintra massaged the back of her neck as she listened to the sound the sergeant made as he opened the package. Her eyes remained closed.   

“I apologize for the delay, we had to order a special one for you,” the sergeant said, which got Vintra's attention and made her open her eyes again. In front of her laid a small sized blaster, barely the length of the clone's hand. Vintra looked at him in surprise, then at the blaster. “There aren't many of this size with enough stun power to be effective, so Tech worked on its modifications. You can easily hide it under your robes. It has no live fire and will only be useful to you if your attacker is within two meters, so you'll only use it when you have no other choice,” he explained, rather patiently and almost kindly.   

The device was a little larger than Vintra's hand, and the grip was slim, so she could cover it with all her fingers. It was silver, and written on one side were his initials. It almost looked like a toy.   

Vintra blinked several times, like mental slaps, to make sure that what she saw wasn’t unreal. That was the first time she’d reach out for a gun in ten years, when her own fingers pulled the trigger of a gun pointed inside her head, which Vice Admiral Stass had deflected just at the last second to manage to save her life.   

“This is the last thing I can offer you as a safety measure, and I really hope you never have to use it,” Hunter said, and pointed to a small switch on the side of the gun, at the top of the handle. “That's the safety, always keep it in that position, unless you must shoo—”   

After noticing Vintra's lower lip tremble, and the corners of her eyes flood with tears, the last thing Hunter thought would happen was for Senator Selana to throw herself at him and wrap him in a disconsolate, trembling embrace. Light sobs burst in his ear as Vintra clung tighter and tighter to him, and it took Hunter a couple of seconds to take in the reaction of the most powerful ederian in the galaxy.   

“Thank you, sergeant,” she said in delicate whispers with moist intonations. He wasn't sure what exactly she was thanking him for, whether for saving her life in the Senate, swallowing her threats, offering her a blaster capable of only stunning... or all together.   

And he recognized the scent of fear she was giving off at that moment, too. The senator had a bold way of trying to regain her honor, as she faced a war without her best shields, something that terrified her, but she’d rather make amends for her abuse of power than watch over her own life. Hunter still saw it as a lousy decision, but he also respected the ederian's intentions.    

And because he couldn't help but feel concern for her, his arms were quick to wrap around her as well in a farewell embrace, which conveyed a sense of protection to Vintra that made her shed more fearful tears of what her future might bring.    

But they both knew one thing, and it was that Vintra Selana wasn’t a woman of weak will or character. They both feared for her life, but even if she was defeated, they knew that she wouldn’t go down without putting up a good fight, and that with her life or her death she’d be sure to raise a wave of resistance and chaos so that the druadan would survive another day. That woman wasn’t easy to bring down.   

“You'll be fine, senator.”    

The Havoc Marauder's hatch closed behind the sergeant of the clone squadron that inhabited it, and the sound of the engine and impulse charge for the jump into hyperspace made their departure from the great planet of Coruscant, Capital of the Galaxy, more real than ever.   

“All set for takeoff.”   

Tech announced from the pilot's seat. He heard him discuss with Wrecker and Crosshair additional configurations for their landing on Kashyyyk, but his voice was drowned out as Hunter advanced into the ship's interior in search of glorious repose. Not only physically, for he was enveloped by a terrible feeling of emptiness that he couldn’t remedy with anything.   

Once in his bunk, despite being in a comfortable and familiar environment for him, it took him a while to follow the invisible trail that would slowly lead him to the bewildering black hole of rest. In his mind, there were more active currents, stinging at the edges of his head with voltages in the form of purple eyes and long dresses. He was too tired to fight his own mind according to the course it wished to take, but there were routes that wouldn't let him sleep either.  

They had spent five days on Coruscant assigned to the care of a senator, and he had to admit that it hadn’t been as he had expected it to be. Of all the things he imagined they’d see as soon as they landed on the capital planet, very few had come true.   

Being in charge of a politician, in the sergeant's head, would’ve meant encountering resistance from her to their security measures, which had happened, but also being dragged to fake public meetings that’d push campaigns for useless bills, long days in which they’d witness injustices in which they’d have no authority to raise their voice, constant meetings full of stupid talk baptized as arguments about war, economy and society. He really expected to encounter every scene that would explain the inequalities and irregularities in the planets to which they were sent.   

On many of them, they had problems completing missions safely because of the lack of supplements for them, for civilians and for native soldiers. In many other cases, the evacuation process was complicated by political issues and many citizens died due to the inefficiency of their government. In others, senators forced workers not to vacate plants even though they were in the field of fire, because of contracts that determined the economy on which thousands depended. And in others, the answers from their representatives never reached the most remote places, as if they weren’t interested in the problems of the most vulnerable.    

Not to mention their own experiences, where requesting equipment or instructions was only a success on planets of high political interest, such as Geonosis or Ryloth. But there were cases where getting the necessary permissions was bogged down in discussions in the Senate war committees, where senators influenced and gave the go-ahead according to particular interest in the bills they were fighting for, or simple revenge against a rival. Actions that citizens without resources paid for to the extent of even costing them their own lives.   

But that wasn’t what had happened when accompanying Senator Selana for so many days. The only thing they had seen her do was work. Meetings in which she discussed real issues in the System she represented, court hearings regarding the violation of a treaty of independence, hours without rest in which she read reports of catastrophes on planets outside her direct jurisdiction, and in which she wrote reports on suggestions for ways to support to provide financial assistance from her office’s reserved funds or to motivate her own System to collaborate with donations.   

Hunter had seen it all firsthand, and still found it hard to believe that Vintra actually worked hard for the welfare and service of the Republic. It implied that what he criticized so much might not be due to the processes in politics, and it made him uncomfortable to think about the alternatives of those responsible for so much injustice.   

What if they were the ones to blame, as the senator criticized so much? The plans they followed, the places they attacked, the orders the rest of the regs obeyed. Or maybe it really was the higher ups in the Republic, people like Vice Admiral Stass or those who had violated the Druad autonomy treaty and killed so many druadan for the thusten.    

If that was the case, he had to admit that the battle arena on Coruscant was terrifying. Distinguishing friend from foe was impossible, relying on contacts and resources, such as the senator's network, were key to survival. Threats were never visible, and a single handshake could seal the fate of thousands and the work of months of a group seeking justice. It wasn’t as simple as shooting the opponent, since on Coruscant they were untouchable. 

Moreover, Hunter would know if the senator's concern for the least heard was only a facade. But it wasn't, for every meeting she approached she did it with her full attention and dedication, and didn't rush anyone else to resolve something that fell within her responsibility. Every aspect of Druad's case was worked on by herself. She was putting her own life on the line to attend to that bill herself.  

It wasn’t what he had expected to find, and he had to admit that perhaps he misjudged her. There was still much to learn about her, and now more than ever he was eager to know why she was so interested in a planet outside her responsibility. Was there something at stake for her, perhaps Druad's favor over free routes for her information network, or to gain power in some way? But if not, why was she doing it? What was so appealing about risking her life and fighting against the current in the galaxy's deadliest snake pit?   

Hunter didn't know if he really wanted to know the answer. He found himself hesitant because it could imply that maybe, at the end of it all, he’d be right all along and she was just a corrupt politician; she had already let him down once, even if the reason they were leaving was precisely because she was trying to right that wrong. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he wanted to be wrong about her either, otherwise he’d be closer to admitting that, maybe, he liked her a little. 

As soon as the Bad Batch made the jump to hyperspace and Coruscant was left a million miles behind him, Hunter couldn't help but think that for all that Vintra Selana was, he was sure that he had never met anyone like her before. 

aaaaand that's it!!! For part one, of course :)

Thank you so much if you've get until here! I really really appreciate the time and effort you put in keeping up with this story. We have finally finished starting our engines. And, same kind of note I wrote in the prelude, I want to update some of the heads up concerning what's coming.

I still have many plots up my sleeve, the darkest ones are still on hold to debut. Some have been mentioned already, and I wanted to drop an easter egg in this one but just couldn't find where. I'm really excited to get there.

Also, there are still some characters that haven't showed up yet, like Vintra's main oppositor: Senator Carsen. Remember the name ;) And there weren't many references to the clone wars in this first part… well, that's gonna change in this second part.

As for the second part, I need to tell you something. First, it's gonna be a little bit larger than the first one, maybe five more chapters. It's an intense drama, I'm trying to make it feel really desperate and that everyone has a hard time, the characters, the readers and, well, me too! The main stage's gonna be the Supreme Court, there are gonna be a lot of antagonists annnnnd Vintra will have to fight with all her might to survive this new challenge.

Now, second, look… I really wanted to finish this first part because I'm about to enter in my work and my personal life a period that needs my entire attention. So, I'm not gonna be able to translate or edit anything properly, or I'm gonna delay so much in updates in the middle of a new part and I don't want that, I prefer to stop here when it has this feeling that a chapter's over, like if a first season is over, and then come back with regular updates and all that. How much? Well, I need two months :S Around the middle of November I promise I'll surprise you with an update and the start of the next part! Also because there's gonna be a timeskip in the story, conveniently of two months as well. So by doing this we'll all feel really the amount of time Vintra's gonna be gone from our lives, and also Hunter!

I also want to focus on reading more fics in this time, especially senator-clone centeres so I'm careful not to write something that's already been thought. If you have some recommendations, please please let me know about them!

With that said, I must thank you again for the support of this story. I'm really happy someone wanted to click on it and keep reading what I had the need to write, and I told myself at the beginning "don't worry if nobody reads, comment or leaves kudos, you're doing it for yourself as well" but I can't deny how excting it is to read your comments and see the number of kudos increasing, or the reblogs in tumblr and likes. The mentions in posts recommending this story and the small interactions with other authors! I'm really grateful for this experience, and I can't wait to come back to this!

Thank you, really, for everything!! And me and Vintra will see you in two months!!

[solrovivrus]

The White House managed to get off its ass and do the bare fucking minimum for once. Now I need to reiterate something that the settlements in the West Bank are completely illegal. They are illegal under international law and nothing the US says or does will change that. Having said that this article states that the Biden Administration has “recognized” the settlements as “inconsistent with international law”(aka illegal). Now this is not necessarily new, the US has stated that the settlements in the West Bank are illegal since 1976, which has fallen under both democratic and republican presidents like Carter/Regan etc. However, the Trump administration changed this to say they no longer viewed the settlements as illegal in fact,

“Under an unrealized Trump peace plan, Israel would have been allowed sovereignty over all existing settlements and permitted to annex up to 30 percent of the West Bank.”

So it’s not so much that the Biden Administration is making a progressive step but rather returning to an established status quo. In fact he states he is going further ahead with his support for a two state “solution”, the merits of which are dubious at best and flat out ignoring the actual help Palestinians need at worst, but has not committed to reversing Trumps plan. This does not necessarily mean he is in favor or supports Trumps plan but it does lead to my main problem with all of this. It’s just lazy, bare minimum horseshit.

There is a lot to discuss about Bidens handling of the war but this whole thing really takes the cake of showing how while Biden does do things that on the surface seem like they could be helpful once you look into them, even a little bit, it just proves how lackluster his whole strategy is.

He claims that the bombings are “indiscriminate” and Israel must protect civilians at all cost, but then bypasses congress to send them more bombs. He claims he wants more aid and humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but vetoes a ceasefire for a third time and brings in another proposal that says a ceasefire will happen when it’s “practical”. It’s the same with this.

Everyday I look at the news, especially with what’s happening in Rafah, hoping that something will happen. Something, anything, to make this any better. To bring an end to the violence and death that has destroyed countless lives and scarred many others. And I read shit like this because it appears to be a silver lining, something good for Palestinians, something that gives them any autonomy and agency during this time. But all I get are basic table crumbs of shit we should’ve been doing from the very start, why is it that only now Biden has called out this very obvious illegal practice? Why didn’t he do that shit before all this carnage? Hell why didn’t he do this shit during his four fucking years as president?

The only thing keeping me from sinking further into rage is the fact that it is a shift. Biden is only doing this because he sees the pushback from protesters and knows that public opinion is turning. Israel’s response has been so overblown that it’s impossible to ignore the amount of injustice, and people are now more than ever seeing its true colors. So this push is small, and it sucks. I am not going to sit thanking them for basic table scraps. The Overton window on Palestine is shifting and we would be fools not to take advantage of it. We must do every single thing within our power to make more progress than ever.

It does not escape me that while Biden has nothing to be thanked for and has blood on his hands, Trumps plan fucking terrifies me. Its one thing to be frustrated by hollow promises, for Biden to expect a thank you for recognizing that the illegal thing is still very much illegal and punishing four people with economic sanctions even though 399 Palestinians have died on the West Bank with over a thousand more injured due to violence. Meaning that those who committed these crimes will most likely never answer for what they did. I hate that these are supposed to placate us, that this somehow makes up for everything. But the idea of Trumps plan, that not only would the recognition that the settlements are illegal not happen but they in fact would be actively supported by our country creates a pit in my stomach. It makes you realize that one small misstep and we could lose more than we have already lost. But I refuse to settle.

I don’t just want to have the settlements recognized as illegal, I want the West Bank and Gaza to have full autonomy over their personhood and over their land. I want justice for those who lost their lives and the lives of their loved ones. We have a duty to these people and to ourselves to never give an inch, to demand better, to demand more. Never settling for complacency. And we must also be strategic. We cannot assume that because things are bad that they cannot get worse. We cannot stoop to petty infighting when people are counting on us for our help and solidarity, doing whatever it takes to make things better for them. We must stand for Palestine liberation, we must never settle for complacency. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.