you know how i bug you to register to vote and then vote and it’s really super-annoying? well the republican party platform is rolling out and it includes a 100% ban on abortions and revocation of same-sex marriage and no background check for guns and oh yes also conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people so yeah me bugging you is not going to change sorry not sorry please register to vote and then vote?
They’re also trying to bar women from combat positions (again), ban pornography, stop cohabitation of unmarried couples, and give federal parks back to the states because that obviously won’t result in 80% of them being completely destroyed for profit.
Oh, and then there’s this (from the Times article):
The
platform demands that lawmakers use religion as a guide when
legislating, stipulating “that man-made law must be consistent with
God-given, natural rights.”It
also encourages the teaching of the Bible in public schools because,
the amendment said, a good understanding of its contents is
“indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry.”Bear in mind, this isn’t Trump’s platform. It’s the WHOLE FUCKING PARTY. So remember: It still is not enough to vote for President and wash your hands of everything else. Know what’s going to be on your ballot, and vote in EVERY race. Get these fuckers out of office before they make their shitty platform federal law.
https://vote.usa.gov/
https://vote.usa.gov/
https://vote.usa.gov/I’m all for replacing our corrupt system, but in the meantime, please vote.
Unless your revolution is going to come before November, this election will have immediate material consequences for LGBT+ people, people of colour, women, Muslims, Jewish people, people capable of pregnancy, the poor and the disabled.
Every marginalized group risks more under Republican rule, and by and large, we cannot leave. Not just that, but as bad as Democrats can be, Republicans are even more pro-war and pro-torture, and the choices of US leadership have a massive global effect.
Please, practice harm reduction. Ideological purity doesn’t mean shit compared to the immediate harm you can prevent with the simple act of voting.
Tag: american politics
GOP Platform Proposes To Get Rid Of National Parks And National Forests
By Jenny Rowland / Think Progress 7/15
The Republican platform committee met this week to draft the document
that defines the party’s official principles and policies. Along with
provisions on pornography and LGBT “conversion therapy” is an amendment calling for the indiscriminate and immediate disposal of national public lands.The inclusion of this provision in the Republican Party’s platform
reflects the growing influence of and ideological alliance between
several anti-park members
of the GOP and anti-government extremists, led by Cliven Bundy, who
dispute the federal government’s authority over national public lands.“Congress shall immediately pass universal legislation providing a
timely and orderly mechanism requiring the federal government to convey
certain federally controlled public lands to the states,” reads the
adopted language. “We call upon all national and state leaders and
representatives to exert their utmost power and influence to urge the
transfer of those lands identified.”The provision calls for an immediate full-scale disposal of “certain”
public lands, without defining which lands it would apply to, leaving
national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and national forests
apparently up for grabs and vulnerable to development, privatization,
or transfer to state ownership.You do realize that “certain” federally controlled public lands would also include Native American reservations. Here’s an excerpt from the Department of the Interior about this:
In the United States there are three types of reserved federal lands: military, public, and Indian. A federal Indian reservation is an area of land reserved for a tribe or tribes under treaty or other agreement with the United States, executive order, or federal statute or administrative action as permanent tribal homelands, and where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe.
Approximately 56.2 million acres are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals. There are approximately 326 Indian land areas in the U.S. administered as federal Indian reservations (i.e., reservations, pueblos, rancherias, missions, villages, communities, etc.). The largest is the 16 million-acre Navajo Nation Reservation located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The smallest is a 1.32-acre parcel in California where the Pit River Tribe’s cemetery is located. Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1,000 acres.
Some reservations are the remnants of a tribe’s original land base. Others were created by the federal government for the resettling of Indian people forcibly relocated from their homelands. Not every federally recognized tribe has a reservation. Federal Indian reservations are generally exempt from state jurisdiction, including taxation, except when Congress specifically authorizes such jurisdiction.
It’s all well and good to claim that the GOP are trying to destroy the environment. But they are also after the few lands left in control of the Native American peoples. This would give them the authority to put oil pipelines through sacred tribal sites and continue the systematic desecration of the native cultures. And we KNOW this is what they want to do. And not just in the midwest, all over the country through a bunch of different reservations. Have some links about that (x, x, x)
This isn’t just about the environment. This is racism and greed and the continued destruction of the native peoples’ lives and cultures.
Look at me. Look me in the eye. On November the 8th, 2016, one of two things will happen: Hillary Clinton will become president, or Donald Trump will become president. These are the only two possibilities. The superdelegates aren’t going to switch. An indictment isn’t coming. There is no third possibility. There is no space between the spaces where you can hide. Every vote for Donald Trump requires two Hilary Clinton votes to overcome. A Hillary Clinton vote can only be overcome by two Donald Trump votes. If you stay home, a Donald Trump vote doubles its power. This is the real, actual reality of the situation. There is not one other option.
And there’s no ctrl-alt-del for the election. Read up on 2000 if you doubt this.
And to those of us who supported Bernie, he WANTS you to vote for Hillary. If you believe in him and his mission you will follow his advice. He knows that writing his name in, or voting for anyone else besides Clinton, is effectively voting for Trump.
Refusing to vote for Hillary is a vote for Trump, no matter how much you scream and say how it’s not. And if you’re standing by to do nothing in regards to taking down Trump, then you ARE grouped along with the rest of the people in this country that ruin things for everybody else.
No, seriously, go read about the presidential election in 2000.
If you weren’t old enough to remember and/or understand the ramifications of the 2000 election, I WILL TELL YOU.
Do not let Trump win. Please. I beg you. I went to grad school with people who voted for Nader in 2000 and my FB feed is full of them begging others not to make the same mistake they did. Bernie has his priorities straight, and the priority is stopping Trump.
And if that doesn’t do it for you, this is the Republican platform 2016. It calls for:
- Conversion therapy for queer kids. Let me repeat that. CONVERSION THERAPY FOR QUEER KIDS. Some members of the RNC even wanted to endorse it more explicitly than they did.
- Zealous opposition to same-sex marriage. Here’s the quote:
- Reversing the Obama administration’s order to grant trans students access to restrooms, locker rooms, etc. The Republicans feel that such things should be based on biological gender, not gender identity.
- Treating internet porn as “a public health crisis.” Quote: “Pornography, with his harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the life of millions. We encourage states to continue to fight this public menace and pledge our commitment to children’s safety and wellbeing[.]”
- Gender discrimination. To quote Time magazine: “[T]he platform committee voted against including the word “gender” in a list of types of discrimination that should be opposed.
On Tuesday, one member described the attempt to add that word to a list including qualities like race, sex and creed as a “sneak attack.”
- Repeal of the Johnson Amendment. The Johnson Amendment currently prevents churches and other tax-exempt organizations from organizing politically, endorsing political candidates, etc. Repealing it would throw separation of church and state out the window…not to mention that it would give evangelical churches and televangelist organizations much more power, driving the country further to the right.
If you vote for Trump, these are some of the planks of the platform you’re voting for.
Samantha Bee
explains why the outcome of the Brexit referendum makes it even more important
to reject Trump his racist sentiments in November
In the November election in the USA, vote for your Senator & Congressperson. It’s more important than who is President.
Hey, so, more important than who you’re voting for as President of the United States in the general election: vote down your ticket. Meaning, vote for your Senator, your Congressperson, and your local state & county representatives. This is actually FAR MORE IMPORTANT than the President. While most of us are gerrymandered to all hell (maryland absolutely is x_X) we still need to try.
Here’s the deal: the reason Obama hasn’t gotten much done in the past 8 years is because we’ve had a Republican majority in the House & Senate, & they’re a bunch of whiny babies who block every SINGLE piece of legislation Obama proposes, regardless of how beneficial it is for everyone. So, let me break it down for you:
1. Regardless of if Hilary or Bernie is the democratic nominee, if there’s a Republican majority in Congress, *it won’t matter*. No legislation will get passed, we’ll still be stuck with them refusing to nominate a new Supreme Court Justice, we’ll be stuck with a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense. We NEED a Democratic majority, even a tiny majority, to get anything done.
2. If, gods forbid, Trump is elected, a Democratic congress will be able to mitigate a large amount of the damage he will inevitably try to do. He wants to build a wall around Mexico? Well, he won’t get to do that if Congress tells him to fuck off and they won’t give him the funding. He wants to deport all Muslims? Congress says no, fuck you Trump. We inevitably find that he’s a tax-dodging cheating bastard? Congress goes “lol hey time for impeachment proceedings!” If we have a Republican congress, enough Republican reps are actually on Trump’s side that he WILL get his stupid way.
3. If you’re a socialist / communist and you hate Hilary Clinton a lot, and the REASON you hate her is because you feel that honestly she’s more of a Centrist / 80’s era Republican than she is any sort of leftist or democrat, again, remember that a Democratic Congress will be able to shut down any of her more idiotic Republican-esque legislation. Worried about her entangling us in more goddamn wars? Elect Congressional representatives who will vote against that, and they will keep her on a leash. THAT IS WHAT CONGRESS IS FOR. With a Republican congress, however, you’ll see all the things you hate about Clinton getting through as she ~compromises and negotiates~ with them. With a Democratic Congress, she’ll ~compromise and negotiate~ with THOSE people instead, and thus her legislation will HAVE to become more left-leaning.
So, EVEN IF YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN… if you are a Republican who (rightly!) is terrified of a Trump presidency, PLEASE bite the bullet vote for Democratic delegates in the House and Senate. You know as well as we do (perhaps better, even) that a Trump presidency with a Republican majority will be far, far, far more disastrous than a Clinton presidency with a Democratic majority. If you’re that concerned about it, then get your act together as a party and in 4 years field someone who isn’t a raging lunatic.
If you are a socialist who balks at voting for Clinton, AT LEAST vote in democratic (or hell, socialist! green party! COMMUNIST) representatives for Congress.
Basically, vote for more than the people everyone knows.
Find out who in your area votes for what you want and then vote them in.
You may have to choose the *gasp* LESSER EVIL (and everyone else in the world knows that Americans think themselves too pure and good for that) but fucking well bite the bullet, and woman-up.
(Because, frankly, getting to swan off proclaiming your “principles” over “getting shit done” is such a guy thing to do. Therefore: woman-up.)
If more people vote down the ticket, if more people vote in mid-terms then, you know what?
Sanders wins.
Because his campaign wasn’t just about trying to be president, it was also about motivating young progressives to actually get involved in their country.
[Image Description – A series of tweets by rawhead.bloodybones @so_treu that read:
Notice how quick the Orlando shooting turned into a referendum on gun control rather than one on anti-LGBT legislation sweeping the U.S.
Notice how this instance of anti-LGBT violence is being used to bolster the state security apparatus rather than challenge it.
Notice how queer death is used to bolster the imperialist “war on terror” & legitimize state sanctioned racial profiling.
Which is what the terrorist watch list mostly is.
Notice how no one wants to put the shooting in the context of anti-LGBT, antiblack, anti-immigrant transmisogynistic violence.
Notice how much easier it is for us to discuss “islamist violence” than any of these other violences.
Notice how they never use the word “terrorism” when it’s queer POC dying.
Notice how the shooting is being used as an excuse to further militarize queer and POC spaces.
Notice the ties between rising nativism/nationalism and the death rates of the ones excluded in order to “make america great again”]
And now we’ve got states like Mississippi trying to pass more anti-gay/discriminatory laws. Right after the Orlando massacre. What the FUCK is wrong with people.
“Are you really going to vote for Clinton just because she isn’t Trump?”
Yes? I would literally elect Chef Boyardee because he isn’t Trump.
My dear Americans:
When we here in Canada had our last election, we made a massive effort to vote strategically. There were even groups here who (since we don’t elect our PM directly but rather elect a ruling party) were literally going around making sure everyone knew who in their voting area was most likely to beat the Conservative candidate so that we WOULD NOT GET HARPER.
At the time I explained at length to many people how at that point, @tkingfisher‘s beagle Gir would make a better PM than Harper. Then I paused and thought, “hey, she lost a dog … relatively recently? In the last year? Was that the beagle? I can’t remember. … anyway it doesn’t matter, because her beagle would make a better PM than Harper even if said beagle were dead.”
You, my dear Americans, are now in this same position. Gir, all by himself with no advisors, would still make a better President than that POS, even if he were dead (the beagle, not that jerk; I am not sure that life or lack thereof would make much difference to that jerk’s presidency).
You are not voting for anyone at this point. You are voting against Trump.
Do not be a fucking moron and end up with Trump because you didn’t vote against him. Because Gir, even if dead, would make a better president. Do not mistake politics for a lifelong statement on your values. You will not benefit anyone or make any kind of statement by doing something that makes that piece of crap more likely to get elected, and every vote not cast for his best competition (that is, the person most likely to beat him, whoever they are!) is something that makes his election more likely.
Do not do this, my darling Americans.
Ideals are great. But so is long-term strategic thinking, and all of you young Americans reading me have many many years left of voting and doing your best to bring change and improvement to your country … unless you are foolish enough to let that jerk win.
In which case we all lose.
So please don’t be fucking stupid. Whoever the not-Trump nominee is, vote for them. Even if you don’t like them. Because you are not voting for whoever that is; you are voting against That Jerk.
Okay? Okay.
^^^^^ SERIOUSLY
I’ve hear some people (relatively well-educated people, too) say that they’d vote Trump over Hillary because they actually think she’d be worse.
Let me explain something, hun. Clinton might not be the world’s most model candidate, but she has decades of policy experience and is intelligent and educated. Her main problems are some unfortunate past decisions (which any politician of her tenure will have), and that she seems to lack some charisma.
El Trumpador, on the other hand, is a deeply unsuccessful and dishonest businessman who makes lewd comments about women– including his own daughters– and is overtly racist. Are you fucking kidding me? The man can’t even handle a hotel chain; how the hell do you expect him to handle the most overpowered country on the planet? Would you be able to sleep at night if you knew that if something happened, that bleached baboon’s ass would the the one in the situation room? That’s not to mention the bigotry! Please take the election seriously.@ people who think Hillary is somehow worse than Trump: stop being deluded. Hillary may be not the ideal presidential candidate and she may touch all of your alarm buttons but /please/, if you can’t see the difference between her and the orange creep, I don’t have a lot to say to you. Vote strategically. If Bernie doesn’t become the democratic candidate, please use your common sense and vote for Hillary. Voting for Hillary =/ compromising your progressive beliefs. It means saving your country from the disaster that would be president Trump.
I repeat for those of you in the back: I am seriously considering getting myself and my family out of the country if Trump wins, because we have members of the family I genuinely do not believe would be safe with him making decisions for this nation. Please – vote against him. I’m begging you.
now that donald trump is the actual GOP nominee this is your reminder that voting for a Democrat You Hate is still a useful harm reduction procedure that will cancel out a vote for Trump. please practice harm reduction. please, even more importantly in small/red states, vote all the way down in your local races where the margins of victory can be 100 votes or 10 votes, so your state legislature/governor/etc will be strong, if/when everything on the national level goes to hell
believe what you want about your vote not having the intended or ideal level of power, believe what you want about the electoral college or the modern role of voting in a democratic society, believe what you want about american centrism or flawed systems, but don’t let anyone tell you there’s “no difference” in the general election, please don’t let anyone tell you voting does nothing. your vote CAN and WILL protect vulnerable people and help you stand in for people whose votes are being taken away by a gutted VRA and gerrymandering
please. please vote tuesday november 8th. please.
Of course you don’t. Free college might hinder the school-to-prison pipeline your prison owning donors depend on
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
welp;
Actual quote, in context:
“I believe that we should make community college free. We should have debt-free college if you got to a public college or university. You should not have to borrow a dime to pay tuition… I disagree with free college for everybody. I don’t think taxpayers should be paying to send Donald Trump’s kids to college.“
Don’t spread misinformation just to fit a narrative, Clinton is advocating for there to be a cap on who gets free college so that the government doesn’t have to subsidize the education of people with enough disposable income to pay for it themselves. The plan she’s proposing would have a better chance of being passed, is more cost-effective, and still opens up higher education to low-income individuals who previously couldn’t afford it.
Fact checking is a beautiful thing.
Meg's Mumbles 