Politics

Politically, I’m very liberal — about as far left as one can go without sliding into Libertarianism.

Harris 2024

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I didn’t think Biden needed to drop out. I still believe that he was fine; he’s been making verbal gaffes his entire career, has been open about dealing with a stutter, and has admitted to having an extremely unfortunate off night in a debate against someone extremely difficult to debate because of the “Gish gallop” technique that Trump habitually uses of overwhelming his opponent with a torrent of bullshit so that it’s incredibly difficult to counter because there’s simply so much that’s false. I’m pretty convinced that Biden is the victim of a coordinated media campaign pushing the “he’s too old” narrative (while notably ignoring all the cognitive red flags that Trump displays in addition to the impending fascist dictatorship he promises), because the major media outlets are owned and controlled by a small group of wealthy white men who saw their positions of power threatened by the policies that Biden has implemented and planned to continue implementing.

That said:

I hope that Biden’s endorsement is heeded, that the initial endorsements from other big party names are also heeded, and that Harris gets the nomination. She hasn’t been quite as visible, and has certainly had her share of detractors, but she’s been the other half of the Biden/Harris administration for the past three and a half years, and it would be foolish to believe her voice hasn’t been part of it all. I’ve seen lots of people floating Buttigieg for VP, and I have no immediate issue with that (and do like the optics of putting up a ticket of a woman of color and a gay man).

I believe that Harris can win. But more importantly, I believe that we need to believe that Harris can win, and we need to do so vocally, because the more people say “she can’t win”, the more less informed people will see that and assume that it’s true because people who they see as more informed (which they must be, because they’re saying something) are saying so, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I think she’s a good candidate. I think she’d be good in office. I’d love to see her voted in, rather than (as one theory espoused) gaining the office because Biden can’t fulfill a term. And there’s simply no question that she’d be better than the alternative.
And this doesn’t mean don’t talk about those areas where she could be better. Yes, to many, her policing and prosecutorial background is a strike against her (though it’s worth noting that given that the opponent is a career criminal, maybe her experience, even if you’re not fond of it, might actually come in handy). Part of our job is to make our concerns known in the hopes of influencing those we elect. Many of Biden’s positions have grown and evolved over time, in large part because of the pressure he got from those in the party and those of his constituents who were further to the left than he started.

So I’m not saying don’t voice concerns. I’m saying along with your concerns, recognize that she (or, really, should she not get the nomination, whoever does, as virtually anyone the Dems nominate will be a better choice than Trump) is the best option, and the only option that doesn’t contribute to installing a fascist dictatorship, and give her your support. (Or, if you really can’t stomach that, at least don’t pop off with saying she “can’t” win; she absolutely can. If the left was half as good at supporting their candidates, even with flaws, as the right is, instead of tearing them down for not being paragons of perfection, we’d be in far better shape now than we are.)

Also, keep in mind that many of the people who were against Biden will also be against Harris, some for similar reasons (assuming she’ll continue the direction Biden was going), some for reasons specific to her (chiefly, of course, that she’s a woman of color). So when you start seeing all the anti-Harris links pop up, think long and hard about who is posting them, what the sources are, and why maybe you shouldn’t take them at face value. Because this is still going to be a battle.

But it’s a battle we can win.

Harris can win.

Thoughts on July Fourth

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This is not a day I currently celebrate; my current Facebook cover photo pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject.

White text on a black background quoting the final line of Justice Sotomayor’s dissent in Trump v. United States: ‘With fear for our democracy, I dissent.’ The final two words are in red.

Don’t fall for the propaganda and disinformation campaigns (Biden’s age is just this cycle’s “but her emails”, the headlines about his health are the same as were run about Hilary’s health back then, he has no intention of stepping down, it would just cause chaos and problems if he did, and a vote for Biden is also a vote for Harris if that’s who you’d prefer).

In your local elections, vote third party all you like (and push for ranked choice voting so there’s a better chance of your candidates winning), but on the national stage, please, I’m begging — put pragmatism and the health of our country over pure idealism. While a multiparty system would be better, we only have that in theory, and the reality is that there are only two candidates who can actually win. A third-party vote may arguably be a vote against Trump, but it’s not a vote for Biden and — however little you may think of Biden — getting him into office is the best (and quite likely only) chance there is of you being able to support your third party candidates at any level in the future.

Remember that voting for either candidate isn’t just about the individual person, but also all the people they bring with them as part of their administration. Biden is imperfect, but has done a lot of good under very trying circumstances, and is surrounded by people who support him and help him work towards a better country. Trump and his cronies are focused on nothing less than the dismantling of our democracy and the installation of a fascist dictatorship. (And they’re not even trying to hide it anymore.)

It’s also about correcting the direction of the SCOTUS. Trump was able to grab control of the Supreme Court by appointing three justices during his first term and there’s a reasonable chance that more vacancies will open over the next presidential term. We’re seeing now how much those appointments can affect things long after the president who made the appointment has left office. If Biden (or Harris) is in office when the next openings come up, we have a chance at reclaiming some amount of sanity for that branch of the government.

And when it’s time — vote. Too many people are convinced that voting doesn’t matter, when we’ve seen time and time again how slight swings one way or another can make huge differences. If those of us left of the Republican party (whether just a little left or way the hell out there) were even remotely as good at mobilizing, showing up, and voting as the Republicans are, instead of throwing fits that we don’t have the ideologically perfect candidate and staying home and pouting or giving a “protest vote”, we’d be in far better shape. We might even have an ideological center that’s closer to the center, instead of a left-wing party that’s in line with other nations’ right-wing parties, and a right-wing party that’s determined to out-Hitler Hitler.

Don’t like Biden? That’s fine. You don’t have to like him. But please recognize that with a Biden administration, you’ll have the freedom to make your complaints known, and hopefully affect the system and make change. That won’t be an option if Trump wins again. If nothing else, vote for the party you’ll have a better chance fighting against.

And maybe eventually this will feel like a holiday worth celebrating once more.

These Are Facts

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From Solarbird’s latest Fascism Watch (see the original post for more details and links to sources):

I want to present a list of items which are very well documented facts, but would’ve been absolutely, patently insane 10 years ago. I mean, the kind of rantings that got you thrown out of every conversation and mocked for years afterwards – and which are all now verified as true.

[…]

  • The Republican House is a tool of Russian intelligence, routinely using disinformation from Russian intelligence services, and either not caring whether the disinformation was true or not or knowing it was using disinformation and using it anyway, in conjunction with the Russians.

    […]

    The ‘Russia hoax’ was never, ever a hoax.

  • Trumpist allies within in the FBI and US intelligence services have similarly shown willingness to either take money from Russian agents or suppress information about Russian intelligence disinformation, particularly when doing so benefits the Republican party.

  • CPAC – the Conservative Political Action Conference, where insurrectionist leader and former President Trump spoke on Satuday – is a Nazi forum that welcomes Nazis. This isn’t an allegation anymore, there were literal Nazis openly welcomed on the floor and throughout the event.

    Some of these fascists overtly called for the end of democracy at this event and its replacement by a theocratic government. […]

  • Said former president and insurrectionist is running for president and thus far easily winning the Republican nomination. Amongst other actions, he’s promising to be a dictator on day one, and he and his allies are planning to use Red-state militaries against Blue states and to build a mass system of concentration camps. […]

  • Where Republicans have power now, they are trying to overturn marriage equality as a stepping stone to making LGBT people illegal again, arresting women for miscarriages, banning trans people and health care for trans people, banning books at scale and criminalising librarians who try to run underground book sharing programmes with laws which carry felony sentences, appointing terrorists to library oversight committees, introducing bills to criminalise sexting between adults, pledging ‘holy war’ against women pop stars.

    Oh yes, and doing everything they can to stop people from voting.

    And they will do all of this – every single bit of it – nationally, if they can.

Year 50 Day 158

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Me sitting in a hospital waiting room, masked, and with an IV line on my right forearm. I have bags under my eyes and look exhausted.

Day 158: All is fine now, but the day started with a late-night/early morning trip to the ER due to localized pain on my left side. The doctor thought perhaps kidney stones, but after bloodwork, peeing in a cup, and a CAT scan (my first…now there’s a milestone for you), I came back medically “unremarkable”. Apparently it was just severe gas. The photo was taken about 4:30 am, after four hours there, and an hour before we finally got to leave with a prescription for some medication. Today is completely blown for anything other than lying around in a sleepy, cranky daze.

Year 50 Day 93

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Me standing in front of a wall; on a shelf mounted on the wall is a Lego pirate ship, shark, and small desert island with a castaway.

Day 93: We have a silly Lego nautical theme above our fireplace. On this side is a Lego pirate ship sailing through shark-infested waters by a small desert island with a castaway in his shack. We’ve decided that he was more interested in protecting his treasure chest than being rescued.

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Liberty and Justice For All

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With everything going on, and particularly with recent SCOTUS decisions and That Fucking Guy still being, yet again, the GOP’s front runner, I see no particular reason to celebrate where we are as a country right now.

But my hopepunk determination to not just wish that things were better, but to continue to fight to make them so, goddammit, prevails.

We can be better than this. It’s not easy — not now, not in the past, and not anytime soon — but we can keep fighting for ourselves, for each other, and for those who don’t even know we’re fighting for them. (And “fighting” is different for everyone. Pick your battles, and pick battles and methods that work for you.)

The US Capitol under a rainbow, under text that says, ‘I didn’t grow up saying ‘with liberty and justice for all’ every fucking day to accept anything less.’

Original image by TJDPoetry on Instagram.

(I’ve been seeing this image go around Facebook, and really like it, but noticed that the image showed signs of degradation, and was uncredited other than the signature in the image. So I went looking to find a better quality image file and to give a credit link back to the artist.)

Change is Good

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Thanks to the latest horrible thing to fall out of Bill Maher’s mouth, I’ve just added a disclaimer to my On This Day page and to the top of every post that is more than two years old noting that the post may not reflect my current beliefs.

I sincerely believe that learning, growing, examining, and often changing beliefs is an integral part of being a responsible human being. My personal journey socially and politically has been ever leftwards, and there are many posts in the archives that I would not write the same way today, if at all.

Things I know exist in my archives that I would not write today:

  • General mockery of Britney Spears for no real reason other than being a pop queen. (Which, honestly, she’s very good at.)
  • Very suburban-white-background “I listen to all kinds of music except country and rap” sentiments. Lots of at-the-time unexamined racism and classism in those statements, plus they were never really all that true (classic country and “acceptable” rap were always part of my listening habits).
  • Probably a fair amount of other statements with then-unexamined ableism, classism, racism, sexism, homophobic, or transphobic aspects or roots.

I’m sure there is a lot more; those are just the ones that pop into my head because I’ve come across them at one point or another recently while digging into my archives.

I’ve always considered myself to be open-minded and politically liberal, and while that’s true, the older I get, the more I have realized how many ingrained societal biases still exist within that basic framework. Working through those biases, recognizing them, and endeavoring to change them is an ongoing process, and one I hope I never give up on. It’s not always comfortable; it is always necessary.

My local indigenous history

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Reposting for this year’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

According to this map, I (along with many of my Seattle-area friends) live on Duwamish tribal land, part of the Puget Sound Coast Salish tribal group (is that the right term to use?). The closest village was “sawh-WAHWH-weh-wad (‘place of whistling’). Duwamish. On Cedar River about 2 miles above present-day town of Renton. This village was occupied by the riverine Duwamish or doo-AHBSH, after doo (‘inside’) referring to (present-day) Duwamish River, Black River and Cedar River, along all of which this group resided.”

Lushootseed (which has several dialects) was the language spoken in the area.

The land was part of Cession 347, taken by the United States in the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855, ratified and proclaimed in 1859 (19KB .pdf). The signatory for the Duwamish was Chief Si’ahl, namesake of the city of Seattle. For all the land taken by this treaty, the tribes were “paid” $150k (roughly $4.3 million in today’s dollars — or roughly 1.3% of the cost of Avengers: Infinity War), distributed over nineteen years not as direct funds, but “to be applied to the use and benefit” of the tribes as directed by the government.

Despite being the first signatory tribe of the Point Elliott Treaty and having cultural history and stories dating back to the last ice age, the Duwamish Tribe is still not recognized as an indigenous nation by the United States Government.

President Boring

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John Scalzi, in President Boring:

I suspect I will be exasperated with Biden a lot, and remember that I am a well-off cishet white dude who is not, in fact, a radical liberal. However exasperated I will be is a mere fraction of what others, more affected by the nonsense of the last four years, will be feeling. What I’m going to try to remember in those moments is that every step away from the abyss our nation almost toppled into is a good step. Biden will be my president (thank God), but he’s not the president for me. He’s the president for White People Who Still Haven’t Realized How Bad It Just Got, and hopefully through him, things get better for a whole lot of other people. Every day of that will be a victory of sorts.

I’m not as well-off as Scalzi is, and my impression is that I skew a bit left of him. Even with those caveats, he’s spot on here.

Biden wasn’t my first choice. There will be lots of times when I’ll wish he was doing more, or pushing harder. But he’s going to be so much better than what we’ve had and what we would have had if that continued.