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qqueenofhades · 8 months

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Do you think Biden's age is an overblown issue? It does to me because like, believe or not, we do intact have a system to take care of this, and all the times we've had to use if before have worked

If Biden dies, Harris takes over

If Biden deteriorates to the point of being unable to perform his duties (personally I consider this unlikely but I digress), Harris invokes the 25th

If Biden feels he can no longer perform his duties he steps down and let's Harris take over

Which is more than I can say for trump or the lunatic he'll choose for a vp

And that last point about Biden stepping down is important, Biden's sharper than people give him credit for, I do think he intends to serve a full term if reelected, but I do think he's also considered the possibility of being reelected, serving a year or two in that term, and then stepping down and letting Harris take over

Of course the thing with Harris is people right now are transparently trying to do to her what they did to Hillary leading up to 2016, and infuriatingly, people either don't see it or they're falling for it again!

It's the most fucking overblown thing ever, and represents the usual insane double standard. The media mentions Biden's age ALL THE TIME, and yet doesn't mention that Trump is just three years younger at 77, demonstrably in far worse physical shape, and clearly on the express train to senility. Whereas Biden is fit, active, bikes, works out, and otherwise is fine. Is he old? Yes. Who cares? He knows how to do the job and he is certainly a hell of a lot healthier than say, Mitch McConnell (81), who has openly frozen up on TV twice and plainly is not well. If it was Biden doing that ONCE, let alone twice, the media would be howling nonstop bloody murder. McConnell? Eh. Footnote.

Also, a lot of the scaremongering about Biden's age is directly related to scaremongering about Harris. If you vote for him and then he doesn't finish his term for whatever reason, A WOMAN OF COLOR WILL BECOME PRESIDENT AND BE IN CHARGE OF THIS COUNTRY!!!! That is the underlying message. Of course there is a system that handles it if the president, God forbid, should happen to die in office. But Oh Noes It's Scary Female Brown Kamala. Do you want to risk your vote for Biden knowing that ____SHEEEEE_____ might end up finishing his term in some capacity!?!?! She is scary! And brown! And female! And brown!!! We can't let her be in charge!!!

Anyway, yeah. It's total BS, and the fact that the media is fanning it as hard as they can means that they can't think of any way to attack Biden on substantive policy or any other legitimate grounds. So they'll just go after the age thing nonstop, and cross their fingers that it works. Which if it did, would mean ending democracy for realsies this time, but as long as they make money, who cares!

#short-wooloo #ask #politics for ts

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toubledrouble · 4 months

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More pjo/hoo headcanons

Apollo kids exclusively work out with musics as a cabin, but they always argue about the playlist that should be chosen. Will uses councillor privilege to force them to pick country.

The Athena cabin has a projector for sure

Also, they have youtube premium because of lofi music

Apollo kids have been banned from using guns in training with others (they recreated the ten duel commandments from Hamilton and actually ended up shooting without missing the target. Now, they can only shoot on regular targets, not living ones)

Hephaestus and Athena kids are a living proof of the "an architect's dream is an engineer's nightmare" thing

There is definitely an Athena kid out there that hates math with a burning passion. Their mom isn't very happy about that.

Despite their rivalry, many Apollo kids have Ares cabin bffs - after all, they spend lots of time in the infirmary

Ares kids usually have a great relationship with their father - he is surprisingly encouraging and supportive

Will can definitely ride a horse and you can't convince me otherwise

Also. His mom has a yellow pickup truck with tons of stickers and a guitar on the backseat

Sally refused to use the subway ever since Percy was born (you know how the underground always smells like monsters and that's why Grover didn't notice the chimera? That was exactly why)

Percy used to cry in the seafood section of stores, especially if it had anything living there

Athena kids can achieve Eminem speed during debate, I will not elaborate any further

Oh also. They're not straight As kids, or at least not all of them, especially the older ones. I mean, the school system vs learning disorders? There's no way they're winning that fight entirely. They probably have the subjects they like and ace, and then the subject that are just there, and since they're not failing, they don't really care (yes this is about me getting a C from physics again, I hate physics)

Annabeth loves the "further is for physical distance, farther for metaphorical and father for emotional" tumblr post

Hera's cabin has a family portrait of the olympians, it's quite a bittersweet sight

Let Demeter kids have a scythe as their weapon of choice pls

Athena kids make so many lame nerd puns. Occasionally, a Hephaestus kid or a secret nerd will laugh.

Athena kids are definitely the type to fight the teacher about their grade. They will gather evidence that their answer is technically correct and either impress or annoy the teacher so much they will actually change their grade

All Athena kids have a resting bitch face (just like Hermes kids have a face that says they're troublemakers)

Hermes kids are naturally skilled at orientation on a map and in terrain

Hephaestus and Hermes cabin have once held a lock-picking competition (based on speed but also the amount of damage caused)

Every single person in the Athena cabin has seen both Dead Poets Society and School of Rock (and loved it)

For an absolutely nonexistent reason I think the Aphrodite cabin has some pro tip for washing blood out of clothes and stuff

Very stereotypical of me but in the Ares cabin, the strongest is the leader and their word is law, if you disagree, you gotta participate in a one on one fight of choice (it doesn't matter that much if you win, at least you still prove your bravery and the courage to stand up for what you believe in). Meanwhile, the Athena cabin votes on everything. And yes, they are proud of it. And yes, they have senate level debates where everyone uses whatever dirt they have on the others to win (because they probably know too much gossip without even really intending to) sometimes. Only sometimes.

Also. They have ostrakism which is basically a thing where you break a pot/vase/something, each person gets a piece and carves on the name of someone who is endangering democracy in their option. The person with the most votes gets chased out I think. Athena kids have changed up that part, they simply ban that person from voting for 6 months.

Athena kids with learning disorders. That's all I want to say.

Mentioning my previous 'Athena cabin has a Pallas cat' headcanon

Also Athena kids are the people who will point out historical stuff behind the names of places or companies (example: my country has a shopping centre called palladium, i instill the lore of the original palladium on anyone unfortunate enough to be there with me)

Apollo kids personalise their instruments - stickers, paint, carved initials, cool straps and other accessories, you name it!

They also have a whole row of those instrument hangers, yk what i mean?

#athena kids #children of athena #athena cabin #apollo cabin #apollo kids #pjo hcs #pjo hc #pjo headcanon #pjo hoo toa #pjo

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drunkenskunk · 2 months

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So, despite knowing that it's probably futile, I called the office of my senator once again, in the vain hope that the staffer I talked to will pass on the message and get her to see reason in regards to KOSA.

Trouble is: how? Catherine Cortez-Masto is a cosponsor of the bill. I couldn't appeal to her sense of morality, as she's a politician; she had her ethics surgically removed before coming into office. I couldn't appeal to the stated goal of the bill, protecting kids, because if she had spoken to a single cybersecurity professional, she would know that the bill is dangerous to kids, adults, and anyone wanting to use the internet. I couldn't appeal to the Constitution, because if she actually gave a shit about the US Constitution or the Bill of Rights, she would already know its a blatant, flagrant violation of both the 1st and 4th amendments, and be trying to kill the bill, not cosponsor it. And I probably couldn't appeal to the fact that the bill was dreamed up by the same republican think-tank that dreamed up Project 2025, the plan to turn what little remains of our democracy into a theocratic dictatorship run by evangelical christians; she probably believes she's wealthy and influential enough that it will insulate her from the worst effects, assuming she isn't already in on it anyway.

It was a puzzler. And then I had an idea. This is what I said:

"Do you know who Steve Sisolak is? You do? Good. Do you want to know why he's the former Nevada state governor, and not the current one? It's because Sisolak was, without exaggeration, the most unpopular politician I've ever come across. No one liked him. Democrats hated him, republicans REALLY hated him, libertarians hated him, and even people like me, who have never felt represented by any of the major political parties in the state but still vote in every single election because we consider it our civic duty as American citizens, didn't like him either. I can't think of a single person who ever had anything positive to say about his tenure as governor, and as a result? The voter base in Nevada was willing to do anything and vote for anyone just to get him out of office.

"I tell you this, because if Senator Cortez-Masto does not change course, and continues to cosponsor and vote yes on the incredibly unpopular, incredibly dangerous, blatantly unconstitutional KOSA bill, then she will make Steve Sisolak's year, as he will no longer be the most reviled politician in the state of Nevada. If she does not reverse course, she will be committing political suicide on a scale hithertofore unknown to science. If she votes yes, then she might as well pull a Mitch McConnell and announce her retirement right now, because any of her political aspirations for the future, at least among the Nevada voter base, will be dead in the water.

"Now, I don't know how many phone calls you've gotten about KOSA. But I suspect it's not as many as you should. Most people in this state don't have time to call their senators. Most people are working two or three jobs to make ends meet with stagnant wages among the rising cost of living and landlords finding any excuse to increase our rent. Hell, I'm calling you on my lunchbreak right now. But despite all that... people here still find time to vote. And if there is one thing I've learned about voters in this state in the 18 years I've been able to? It's that if you piss us off, the people in this state will absolutely vote entirely out of spite, just to burn everything down. KOSA is so incredibly unpopular among the voter base of this state, that when she's next up for reelection? She will find herself out of a job, mark my words.

"Make sure you tell the Senator that, word for word. And if you can't remember, just play her this phone call that I already know is being recorded."

Will this do any good?

I don't know.

Probably not.

But it made me feel a bit better, at least.

#KOSA #stop kosa #bad internet bills #kosa bill #fuck kosa

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stromuprisahat · 2 months

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What do you think about Aleksander wanting Ravka's love? How does it look like for him etc

You can't keep doing things out off goodness of you heart, while all your credit's constantly overlooked. There should be either visible results or some acknowledgement (preferably both), otherwise your work becomes incredibly draining.

While Aleksander DID have results to show for his lifetimes of work, let's be honest- even Little Palace pales in comparison with constant animosity and servitude. He's fighting windmills and he knows it.

“Fairness!” he laughed. “Still she talks of fairness. What does fairness have to do with any of this? The people curse my name and pray for you, but you’re the one who was ready to abandon them. I’m the one who will give them power over their enemies. I’m the one who will free them from the tyranny of the King.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 21

Btw, interesting choice of words once you realize he's talking from a position of a serf. He's not merely changing one tyrant for another, like Alina answers, considering his stance on servitude, I don't think he'd let it last for long. Sure, you cannot piss off all the nobles and immediately turn everything upside down, unless you want your country to collapse, but while he might not like to give up control to the idea of democracy, I think servitude would be on the top of his list of things to get rid of.

But back to your question:

Sure, he desires love just like an other human being. He WOULD like to be genuinely appreciated (once he'd believe it), but I think he has it in the same category, where ordinary people tend to place sudden inheritance from previously unknown rich relative. Sure, it could happen...

What he wants is peace and Grisha to be viewed as ordinary people. Even Brainwash-Bullshit-Baghra admits it in one of her manipulative lectures:

“My son was not … He began so well. We moved from place to place, we saw the way our people lived, the way they were mistrusted, the lives they were forced to eke out in secrecy and fear. He vowed that we would someday have a safe place, that Grisha power would be something to be valued and coveted, something our country would treasure. We would be Ravkans, not just Grisha. That dream was the seed of the Second Army. ..."

Ruin and Rising- Chapter 10

I don't remember him ever stating anything suggesting fleeing human affection is among his goals- quite contrary- it was his enemies (in the Retcon duology), who claimed it's what he wanted.

All the Darkling ever wanted was to be loved by this country, adored.

Rule of Wolves- Chapter 20- "Genya"

"That’s why the Darkling expanded the Fold, isn’t it?” Nikolai mused. “He was looking for a weapon that would leave no one in doubt of Ravka’s power. He knew if he gave the people victory, they would finally love him. ..."

Rule of Wolves- Chapter 31- Nikolai

Aleksander is too much of a pragmatic realist with too much experience with people. He knows love cannot be forced, and while it might make some things more pleasant, it's not what he requires. He insists on cooperation (See: Alina) and he's too disillusioned with life to even hope for any kind of appreciation.

He'd settle for results.

#reply #Grishaverse #The Darkling #grishanalyticritical #Ravka #The Righteous Gang™#S&B Chapter 21 #R&R Chapter 10 #RoW Chapter 20 #RoW Chapter 31 #books #quotes #Leigh Bardugo #'ALL the Darkling ever wanted was to be loved by his country...'#No #all he ever wanted was not to be viewed as subhuman and the end of wars.

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mswyrr · 6 months

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^^ Well said. I delayed reading it because I didn't want to engage with it for a while - and, once I did, even though Collins had earned so much trust from me with her handling of Katniss and Peeta's disabilities, I was still wary. So I actually highlighted every instance where she wasn't writing him according to ableist tropes.

Yes, at 18 he's been shaped by Capitol indoctrination at school and in his family and in the media. He sees with those lenses. They come easily and automatically to him. But he also connects with people as people and realizes - oh, the District kids are just kids?? And they're being starved and hurt? I know what it's like to go hungry... This is wrong. Why should Lucy Gray have to sing just to get food? I'll get her some, even though I don't have enough.

Over and over - but if you stand up for the wrong people, you will be punished. He tries it; he protects Lucy Gray. And then he pays the price and -- somewhere along the way, he doesn't want to pay anymore. He wants to protect his family and be a winner. And you can't be a winner--comfortable and safe and in control--and stand with someone your society has designated to lose. So he chooses.

It's heartbreaking - and it is, sadly, terrifyingly, the kind of choices the majority of people make - his 18-year-old choices, that is. That moment in his life is the perfect one to write about, because it turns the eye of the story on how young people are shaped - but also, at that young stage, he's closer to the common ordinary people in any corrupt society. He's just trying to survive. It's later that his urge to win motivates him to get worse and worse and worse - no longer wanting to protect his family, in fact tossing Tigris aside, *only* wanting to win. Taking pleasure in driving people into the ground.

It takes decades of choices for him to become that person, though. And it is a creation he makes of himself. The younger person is closer to most people though.

For example, I live in a democracy, thankfully. And yet it is so much driven by what Langston Hughes called "the same old stupid plan / Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak." When I walk into work and I see the cops clearing unhoused people from the only homes and safety they have--a process that we know from studies shortens peoples' lives, hurts them emotionally and physically for no gd reason, just cruelty, just greed--living in an encampment near my work - I don't do anything. I'm afraid to. Sure, I try to donate to people who help and write letters and vote... but I don't resist directly. I'd be punished. So there's a little bit of that 18-year-old kid early in the book who knows right and wrong and yet just wants to be safe in me. And I have to wrestle with it. Because I don't want to ever forget that it's a wrestling match. That's when the perverse incentive structure starts to consume you IMO. And most of us live in societies with perverse incentive structures of some kind. Some lure that is offered to us, of feeling better than, of exploiting others, and some threats of punishment too.

To my mind, it's a good story that can make me think of feeling a pang of shame and sadness and then looking away as the cops clear people and remembering that it's a struggle, that I am not simply on the side of angels, that my society is structured around cruelty and greed and it doesn't have to be. It shouldn't be.

re: the use of trauma. I'm interested to see what Viola Davis does with the role and how Dr Gaul is adjusted in the film script - honestly, her apparent flatness was one of the things in the book I thought could be better? And in film reviews I'm reading it seems like they strengthened her. We'll see. I think she's so good at leaning into why all of this is justified because she truly believes it. And she's looking for future leaders who can truly believe it too. And, as much as she and Highbottom apply pressures to shape this youth--including that hilarious imo scene where Coriolanus naively says "people love children"--by the end Coriolanus is writing her letters and offering himself as someone who will fit that shape in order to get the rewards it offers. There's a subtle shift as that happens that is quite nuanced. And, again, focusing on his youth is so powerful because he's a being in formation, a person being created and creating himself as an adult.

There's a *reason* why Collins opens the book with this quote:

“I thought of the promise of virtues which he had displayed on the opening of his existence, and the subsequent blight of all kindly feeling by the loathing and scorn which his protectors had manifested towards him.” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818

Though, again, the major shift of Part 3 for me is that he begins to take an active part in forming himself and he is fashioning himself to be a winner, to fit what he believes Dr Gaul and the authorities at the military school want, hoping and fearing that he won't be able to do it so well and desperately happy when the chance at rewards for doing so is still open to him. IMO Part 3 and the Epilogue aren't the end of his journey, they're the death of other possibilities and the birth of who he's choosing to become. And even he can't fully imagine where that will go as the decades pass and the choices mount up.

That is not the kind of quote you use to begin a story about someone who was born evil to begin with. The book takes 528 pages even though it's only about a few months in one 18-year-old's life precisely because it's a carefully drawn and teased out character journey, a corruption arc. As reviewer David Ehrlich put it in his review of the movie:

is Coriolanus embracing his nature or defiling it?

It's supposed to be a question, not a foregone conclusion. And I think the weight of the text itself leans in favor of "defiling" as the answer. Though it can be interpreted multiple ways (as it should be). I think the movie only lines we have from Lucy Gray in the trailer hold true: "there’s a natural goodness born into us all.” But, in one way or another, it doesn’t just stay that way, it’s a struggle. “It’s our life’s work to stay on the right side of that line [between good and evil].”

It’s a little on the nose with the themes, but I’m cool with them having her be so clear about it since apparently it’s not clear in the book I guess????

#replies #thg meta #my meta #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #long post

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meshlasolus · 1 year

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Come What May

Episode 2/?

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Padawan!Reader (little one)

Warnings: marital problems lol… mentions of ptsd and passed events which are triggering (order 66)

A/n: Man, this is really short and i beg your guys’ forgiveness, but I’m working really hard right now to have my company be in a parade, and things are rlly crazy rn so pls be patient I promise I’m writing whenever I can!

The night surrounded you as you quietly ran through the streets, being ever so careful not to let yourselves be seen by the troopers that were stationed at every corner. Mos Eisley had always been nearly lawless, but now there were also ominous guards that would not even let the kinder folk live peacefully. The entire galaxy was now being run with such tight precision that there was no room for mistakes. The empire had not the slightest guilt over any of it, and how could they? Palpatine, a man you once trusted and fought for, a man whom you once defended with your life because you believed in the ideals of the republic, in democracy, he now ruled with tyranny and thoughtless violence, a Sith Lord that was beyond saving. An unredeemable soul that shall always be tarnished.

When you finally reached your small dwelling in the corner of town, Obi-Wan grabbed his saber from his belt and entered first, letting you follow closely behind at a safe distance. His protectiveness over your being was always evident, but especially now that he thought you could possible be in danger.

He had not yet explained himself for the short reasoning he gave you back at the bar, only that you needed to stay silent and follow him with haste.

Your home hadn’t yet been invaded, but as you quickly packed away all the necessities for the journey out of here, you couldn’t help but wonder if they were closing in, or if you’d have to fight them in any way. Surely a few troopers wouldn’t be hard to face down, especially since they weren’t as well bread or perfectly trained as the clones were.

As soon as you had everything you would need, Obi was again the first to step out the door, his head practically on a swivel in order to make sure that the two of you would remain hidden, and safe.

Your Eopie had been in peaceful slumber for the time being, as he never was usually required to walk this late into the evening. That would soon be changing.

“Obi, you know I trust you, but I need to know what’s going on,” you looked at him sternly, hiking a leg up and over the animal before he did the same. He huffed out a breath and looked over at you, trying to remain calm. His stress was more than evident on his worn out features.

“As soon as we reach Anchor-head, I promise,” he nodded assuringly, and the only thing you could do in response was sigh and face forward. If there was one thing you’d learned repeatedly from years in the past, it was that you lacked control over yourself in the eye of uncertainty. He knew that, but he also knew ignorance was bliss, and he didn’t want you panicking, not when you already had so much to think about. “Hold tight, little one.”

He gave a small kick to the side of the Eopie, and the animal trotted out of his stall quickly and into the night.

You both had been riding for hours by the time the lights of the small town were in sight. You’d nearly fallen asleep on your husband’s shoulder, if not for the constant shift of your body caused by the walking Eopie beneath you.

You felt more relaxed now, away from what Obi would only have defined as certain danger. You’d come to terms about year ago with the fact that you would never live a normal citizen life. You’d never get to know the feeling of living without constantly looking over your shoulder, and feeling the need to still carry your saber everywhere you went.

It was endlessly tiring, but you had to accept it. If you didn’t, you still be in a never-ending cycle of worry, doubt, and sadness over how things turned out.

You wish everyday that you might have left with Obi-Wan when he gave you a chance, that you might have been able to avoid everything that happened to your family. To Anakin and to Padme, to the Jedi order, and to the Republic as a whole. You often wonder if Anakin had left the order if things would have turned out differently. Surely he would still be alive, and so would his darling wife the Senator. They would still be residing possibly on Naboo, raising Luke and Leia like they should have been able to from the beginning.

You’d never forgive yourself for everything that happened, because you felt that you were partially to blame. You were too worried about your relationship with Obi-Wan to even see what Anakin had been going through, your best friend, fighting the dark side until it finally took him over completely.

You snapped out of your thoughts when Obi pulled the reigns on the animal, bringing it to a halt as you reached to edge of town.

“We’ll stay here for the night, but then we must keep moving,” he helped you dismount, bringing the sack of belongings with him after he hitched your Eopie to a water trough post.

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” You were relentless, he knew it all too well, and yet? He didn’t want you to be burdened with this untimely information. You’d just gotten settled into your new life and already it was falling apart again. He needed to ease your mind, though he knew telling you would probably rile you up instead, you needed to know. “You can’t just rip me out of work and tell me we’re being hunted, Obi. You have to give me some context here.”

He took your hand and stopped walking, turning to look at you sincerely. You couldn’t stand to see him so upset, but you couldn’t stand it even more when you didn’t know why he was upset.

“The troopers landed this morning, and as far as I know, they had orders to search the town. Someone in Mos Eisley tipped them off that two former Jedi were hiding out in the city,” he saw your eyes change immediately, and and much as hated to see the fear, he understood that you wanted to be aware of what was really going on. “As far as I know, you and I are the only Jedi finding solace on all of Tatooine.”

You realized you probably should have waited until you were not out in the open or exposed to ask this of him, because now you felt as though you were being watched from every angle of this space. You were now completely paranoid about every nook and crevice that someone may be looking from. The force did a great many things for you, but without time to meditate, you often were not calm in times like this. Your hands shook, and you had to close your eyes for a moment and breathe deeply to even begin taking steps with Obi towards the Inn.

It was small, it was cozy, and it felt much safer than the darkness of the town streets. Checking in was easy, considering the troopers hadn’t quite reached the town yet. You doubted they ever would, it was too low profile to even be considered by Imperial forces. They would soon probably spread throughout Mos Espa, maybe even Bestine, but you felt as though you could be safe here, at least for the night.

When you’d gotten to the room, Obi tossed you the small sack of things, allowing you to retrieve what you needed before settling in for bed. He should have known you wouldn’t be able to sleep well, but he wanted to hope for the best.

“What are we gonna do?” You began, sitting up on your elbow and facing him with a distraught look in your eye. He tried to caress the side of your face to relax you, but it did little to help. “Seriously, we have no where to go. We can’t leave Tatooine as long as Luke is here, and we can’t be in a place where we might get recognized.”

Obi thought for a moment before telling you. He’d been thinking about this on the entirety of the ride here. He wanted to be able to ease you into it, but you obviously weren’t one for subtlety, and he wasn’t one to keep you waiting for an answer.

“I’ve heard of some abandoned caverns on the edge of the Jundland mountains. They’re livable, but no ones claimed them,” He began, looking down at your arm as he glided over the smooth skin. He wanted to avoid your eyes as he told you this next part, as he knew it was a sure way to make you feel uncertain, but it had to be done. “We can get new jobs that are closer, but we’ll have to change our names. I’ll have to get a job that doesn’t require Identification. If they scan me and I come up in the system, we’re both in trouble.”

“Why would I have to change my name? I won’t come up in the system, I’ve been registered as dead for over a year.”

“My love you have to trust me,” he took both your hands in his, squeezing them tightly to convey his calming presence to you. You let his force signature wash over you for the first time that night, and all at once you were feeling better. “If there’s any chance that they suspected your survival, or even got ahold of the security holograms in the temple, you could be in danger.”

Your life had once again been turned on its axis, and there was no breech in sight. You could only hope that after all of this, you could somehow make it out with minimal scratches, either metaphorically or physically, you didn’t know. Truth be told, you’d considered asking Obi if he at some point would ever say ‘kriff it’ and leave this planet to go somewhere else. To live life on the run and have exciting adventures again, to break rules and single handedly take down the empire. You knew it wasn’t possible, though. You’d both sworn to Master Yoda that Luke would be looked after, and if you broke that promise you’d feel like a failure as a Jedi. You already felt like a pretender to your old title, seeing as though you never took your trials, and never reached knight-hood. It was a damn shame, too. You would have been one hell of a Jedi Knight.

“We also have to make some adjustments in the things that we would normally do,” He said it like he was walking on eggshells, and truthfully he was. His words were probably about to drive you close to insanity if not all the way there. You sensed in him the lack of strength to continue, but urged him on with a look, anticipant of what was to come, and how bad it was truly going to be. “I know this seems overkill, but I feel it’s important. Anything that connected us to the order needs to go. Our sabers, our robes, your braid.”

You scoffed, shaking your head. Since when did Obi-Wan run away and hide, since when did he back down from a fight, and since when did he ever loose sight of who he was and what has become him? He was a Jedi Master if there ever was one, and he was good at it. His ridiculous notions were driving you to think he was the crazy one.

“Next you’ll say we have to cut ourselves off from the force, no meditations, no training…” your face instantly fell from the annoyed joking expression it held. He looked at you with sympathy after those words and you knew what it meant. Oh, how it terrified you. “You can’t be serious. Obi, we’re Jedi, it’s what we do. If we stop now in the midst of all of this then they win, we can’t let that happen.”

“If it means we survive, then it might-“

“No. Stop this,” you sat all the way up, using all the self control you had in yourself to keep from raising your voice at this late hour, knowing there were probably other patrons deeply sleeping by now. “Killing the Jedi is what they want. If we allow ourselves to be cut off from everything we’ve ever known, then we might as well be dead.”

Your anger was well noted to him, but he did not say another word about it, instead, he simply closed his eyes and let himself breathe for a moment. Like it or not, he was bound to you by the force, a bond so strong it was rarely seen in this galaxy. A true dyad, and though he wanted to keep you safe by any means necessary, he knew that by cutting yourselves off would probably put a large strain on your connection. He didn’t know yet if he was really willing to risk that.

When he didn’t give you any response, you turned over on your side, facing away from him, and tugging the sheets up over your shoulder.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow, but I don’t wanna think about it anymore.”

He understood your anger, and your aggression, though not completely barred towards him, he could see why you acted in such a harsh manner. He only wanted the best for you, he’d proven that time and again, but the methods of his madness by now were getting out of hand, and you feared you might have to step in.

Tags:

@cool-h-posts @honestlywtfisgoingon @fandomstanner24 @elvenrin @b0xerdancer @theatrelove3000 @graciexmarvel @heyitsaloy @1deadpool26 @justanothersadperson93 @zanzann @the-nerd-dimension

#obi wan kenobi #obi wan star wars #obi wan and anakin #obi wan x reader #obi wan kenobi x padawan!reader #obi wan kenobi smut #obi wan kenobi x reader

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fuckyeah-bears · 4 months

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Rant Warning

So because of unfounded claims of hamas conspirators being in the UN or the UNRWA, countries have decided to pull out of funding necessary and human-rights aid? Am I understanding that right?

Even though these powerful countries have more than enough resources to check this? Even if it was the case, that’s not an excuse to deny emergency care!

These big countries (mine included unfortunately) that are actively assisting a genocide, are refusing to give aid to those who need it and have been found in a court of law to need it.They’re not even pretending anymore.

Of course there are always exceptions, but the people, expert and regular, actively supporting Palestine are condemning Hamas too. We do not support what they did on October 7, but we can see how decades of oppression and violence creates groups like Hamas, and how something was going to happen eventually. Recognising that does not make us anti Semitic. Also, and here’s the big one : one group does not justify a genocide. It does not justify bombing hospitals and refusing aid.

The excuse of Hamas is ridiculous. Is what Hamas is doing morally right? No! But Israel doesn’t care about Hamas, that’s just what they’re using to try and excuse it. They have quite literally said again and again, on record that this about killing Palestinians. Yet, somehow people are still believing they’re in the right? I don’t get it! How can any human ever think genocide is a reasonable action?

Supporting Palestine is not being anti-Jew or wanting all Israeli dead. Aside from extremists that hijack protests, no pro-Palestine person has ever advocated for anything like that. If we did we’d be hypocrites! You cannot support Isreal without actively supporting genocide.

‘But they have a right!’ - To commit genocide? Really? You really believe there exists a reason to excuse genocide?

‘But Hamas!’ - so a group created because of the oppression by Israel, did things that Israel have done justifies the bombing of a thousands? If it’s about releasing Palestinians from the rule of Hamas, why kill the people who need help? Why does one group justify a genocide?

I genuinely don’t understand. What kind of world do we live in where basic human empathy and basic ideas like ‘killing people is bad’ are dismissed? All the beauty in the world and we stain it.

yep. The western imperialist racist colonizing world is, once again, throwing all their weight behind their genocidal settler colonialism project actively aiding in the genocide of indigenous peoples, all while ignoring the majority of their citizens who actively oppose this genocide. Once again displaying that these western countries are neither democracies nor “civilized” but rather racist colonial regimes, built and sustained through genocide and greed, bent on subjugating the rest of the world (and their own citizens).

Not a single western leader has an ounce of humanity in their soul. May they all burn in the deepest pits of hell and whatever is left of their pitiful shriveled souls suffer all of the pain and misery they have inflicted on Palestinians for all of eternity. May they never experience a single moments peace in the rest of their miserable evil lives

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

#I can’t even respond to this fully #I’m too disgusted #Not surprised but just utterly sickened and disgusted #And beyond ashamed to be a citizen of one of these countries #May every single Zionist politician rot #Ask

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ballroomfitz · 10 days

Text

Build Me Up Buttercup- A Fallout New Vegas One-Shot

Dr. Alex Richards/Male Courier 6

On a quiet night at Camp Forlorn Hope, Dean joins Dr. Alex Richards for a cigarette

Camp Forlorn Hope was quiet for once that night (or as quiet as anywhere in the Mojave could get) and Dean couldn’t sleep. Boone was sleeping for once, and Dean couldn’t shake the paranoia that came without at least one of them having their guard up. He could stand to be more trusting, he supposed, but then again, the last time he relied on the kindness of strangers, it got him a bullet in the brain.

He wandered lethargically through the camp, whistling a song from long before the war he’d caught on some morning radio show or another.

“What’re you doing up so late, handsome?”

Dean turned around. Dr. Richards was sitting on a rough wooden plank, his face lit only by a lit cigarette. Dean shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Tell me about it.”

Dean sat down. “Spare a cig?”

Richards handed Dean a cigarette. “C’mere.” He carefully leaned in, with a lit cigarette in his mouth, and touched the tip of his cigarette to Dean’s. Dean closed his eyes, trying to take a moment

Richards pulled back and laughed. “Chrisssakes, are you wearing cologne?”

Dean laughed, a little embarrassed. “Found some herbs growing by the highway on my way from Primm. Keep ‘em in my coat pocket.”

“Unbelievable,” Richards shook his head with a smile. “Well, just wait it out. Believe me, you spend enough time out here, vanity goes out the window fast.”

“Guess so,” said Dean. “But I gotta hold on to the little things, just so I don’t lose myself.”

Richards looked out at the sky, thick with smog. “I used to wear cologne. Real stuff, from the bottle. I used to get my suits tailored. Used to go out dancing, even.”

“You still dance?”

“Maybe when the war’s over, honey.”

“I’ve heard Cali’s good for that,” said Dean. “Dancing.”

Richards smirked. “God, has the cruising dried up around here. No pun intended.”

“Do you have anyone waiting for you back home?” said Dean.

Richards smiled bitterly. “I did. He used to write every week. Silly little love notes I’d hide in my cot to look at when I got lonely. After a few months, though, they dried up,” Richards flicked some ash off his cigarette. “I like to think he’s moved on, for his sake. How about you, handsome?”

“I could never hold on to anyone for long,” said Dean. “Boyfriends, girlfriends- somehow we always seemed to drift apart once the novelty wore off,” Dean paused. “But it gets lonely out here, don’t it?”

“You have no idea,” sighed Richards.

“Heard through the grapevine the NCR isn’t the most accommodating,” said Dean. “For boys like us.”

“You heard right, more or less. Though it depends where they stick you. Out here? Not a chance.”

“Don’t your superiors mind?” said Dean. “Let’s call a spade a spade, you’re not exactly discreet.”

“What are they going to do?” said Richards. “Discharge their only halfway competent medic? Maybe if I stop being useful.”

“You ever wish you’d stay behind?”

Richards stopped and blew out a puff of smoke. “I won’t put on some kind of show of self-sacrifice for you,” said Richards. “Every goddamn day. I thought I was here to serve my country. To defend glorious democracy. What a joke, what a sick fucking joke. But if it wasn’t me, it’d have to be someone else. And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

Richards took a drag of his cigarette and closed his eyes. “But I try not to dwell on it. Sounds awful, but they all melt together at a certain point. But God, some things . . . Two years ago, I had to amputate the leg of this kid, Christ, he couldn’t’ve been a day older than nineteen. I had to use the last of the morphine to knock him out, he wouldn’t stop bawling,” Richards sighed. “And they posted him up in the watchtower, figured he was still good for something if he could hold a gun. I told them they’d be crazy not to send him home, they said he wasn’t on the front lines so he’d be fine,” Richards kept his gunpowder green eyes fixed on the horizon. “They killed him, they killed that kid. They told his girlfriend and his parents that he’d died in combat, they let them imagine he’d gone down in some big heroic stand. Kid died for nothing, he got shot by a Legion sniper before he even had the chance to see him,” Richards rubbed his temples. “God. Yeah, I do, I do wish I’d stayed behind.”

Dean leaned over to touch Richards’ hand. Richards looked at him and took a long drag of what was left of his cigarette, before he flicked the butt on the ground. Richards grabbed the back of Dean’s head and pulled him in hard for a kiss. Dean leaned forward hungrily, feeling his rough, stubbly chin, keeping an iron grip on the neck of Richards’ shirt. Richards slowly pulled away and gently ran his calloused thumb along Dean’s cheek. “In another life, buttercup. In another life.”

#my stuff #my writing #fanfic #fallout #fallout new vegas #fallout fanfic #fnv courier #fnv #fnv fanfic #Alex richards #fnv Alex richards #fnv dr richards

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my-writings-and-musings · 1 year

Text

We have our conclusion! Through the power of democracy we have arrived on IDW Swerve x Reader, heavy on the fluff! This was incredibly fun to do, I'm a bit of a data nerd so having numbers to go with ideas just makes me happy, you know? Also we had a pretty good mix getting here!

Without further ado, here's the fic!

No one who hadn't seen it would have ever believed you, but you'd learned from firsthand experience the secret Cybertronians were most desperate to protect; they were utterly adorable when they got sleepy.

Between the yawns and the clumsy rubs of their optics, the towering species somehow managed to shed every bit of their renowned intimidation when they felt the urge to recharge, and after countless late night escapades and sleepovers you'd gathered enough data to confirm the phenomenon applied to every single bot. Some were a bit more precious than others when the weight of exhaustion pulled on their heavy optics, but you'd decided the cutest among them had to be the mech you enjoyed hanging out with the most, and tonight he was in rare form.

Swerve had made himself into a partial blanket fort for the two of you atop his berth, settling you into his lap after draping himself with some of the many sheets he'd piled into a makeshift nest for maximum comfort whilst movie marathoning. After several hours of binging and snacking you were admittedly a little worn down, but the bot at your back was obviously struggling to keep his optics open. You could feel him sagging forward an additional inch every so often, and the occasional glance upwards revealed his visor dimming whilst his reactions to the story grew increasingly subdued. After taking a while to see if he would speak up (and appreciating the cuteness) you decided to give him an easy out.

"Swerve?" you said when an especially quiet moment in the film gave you a chance to pause it on the wall sized monitor, pocketing your remote and leaning forward so you could look backwards and upwards more easily.

The barkeep startled a little at the query, then blinked in confusion as he looked down at his lap. All of his usual smooth sass was nonexistent as he visibly wrangled with his exhausted processor to produce a single syllable; "Huh?"

"It's okay if we call it a night, we can finish the movie tomorrow." you offered helpfully, certain now that his shift at the bar must have taken far more out of him than it usually did. To your slight surprise, he gave his helm a shake and quickly plastered on an upbeat smile, holding you a little closer in a manner that was more protective than possessive.

"What? Don't be silly, I've got at least..." he trailed off in thought, something that looked quite difficult for him with so little energy to spare. "Two... Three more whole movies in me! Not tired at all..."

You'd never heard a more obvious lie in all of your life, and your heart felt a twinge of pain at his desperate bid to ignore his own needs for your benefit. It was hardly out of habit for him, but it always made you sad to think how he didn't believe you stuck around because you liked him, and that he was allowed to have his own needs and wants. Putting a hand over one of his, you spoke plainly to try and cut through the lie. "You look exhausted."

"Hey, this is just my face, nothing I can do about that!" Swerve countered quickly, fake smile growing ever less convincing. "Besides, you know me! I've stayed up way later than this, and we don't get to hang out that much as of late, so-"

You realized there was simply no way to get him to acknowledge his needs, so you changed strategy on the fly, knowing there was one easy way to get him to turn in. "What if I'm tired?"

That did the trick straight away.

"Oh, well uh... In that case, you should get some sleep." he agreed with a nod. When his shoulders slumped and he made to rise from the berth, you realized he was once again failing to realize you intended to spend the night, despite that always being your preference. "I can take you back to your room-"

"Can't I stay the night?" you asked quickly, smiling in affectionate exasperation at his inability to realize you enjoyed spending time with him. The question perked him up right away, and a genuinely happy smile cut right through the fog of his exhaustion.

"Sure, if you want!" he agreed straight away, trying and failing to untangle himself from the blankets as the temptation of sleep made movement increasingly more difficult. "Let me just get the screen powered down, then we can get comfy."

"I've got it, you go ahead and settle in." you assured him as you pulled out your remote, giving him the opportunity to rest at long last while you shut down the movie and the projector. Despite his weariness, you felt him perking up at your back, the fact that you were spending the night making him happier than any amount of words could ever convey. Still, he couldn't stop himself from yawning the second you turned back to the screen.

"Just going to rest my helm here..." he said with a bit of a slur, lying back when you left his lap and settling somewhat heavily on the nest of blankets. In what couldn't have been more than an instant the sound of gentle ventilations met your ears, and you chuckled softly as the screen offlined and the room went dark. Turning to see him already deeply powered down on his side, you felt your heart warm with affection. All of the stress of the day had evaporated from his frame, and he looked utterly adorable amongst the messy nest of blankets.

"Goodnight, Swerve." you whispered before tugging a blanket across his square frame, getting him as covered as you could before cuddling up against his chassis. Laying a pillow on his arm and pressing your back to his front, you let the soft hum of his spark lull you to sleep, and you didn't miss the smile that spread across his peaceful face as he subconsciously pulled you closer.

#transformers #maccadam #mtmte #more than meets the eye #transformers lost light #lostlight #lost light #idw #tf #ll #human reader #self insert #swerve x reader #swerve #tf imagines #poll fic

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antifainternational · 2 years

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Hi, I'm from Germany and it's bothering me that you're using the three arrows in your avatar. 1933, the german communist party called for a general strike against Hitler and the iron front who used the arrows as their symbol refused to participate, weakening something that could've been a very powerful action of all workers. One of the arrows symbolizes fighting communism, which means that the iron front rather sat and did nothing against fascism instead of working with communist. If you show up with the three arrows at an antifascist protest in germany, you get side eyed, not only by communists but also by anarchists. To us they symbolize being inactive in a time where action would've made a huge difference, and today only the party SPD is using them sometimes when they want to act like they're part of the antifascist movement while they're in reality centrist cowards that have been busy butchering worker's rights for the past 30 years. They're using the arrows specifically to distance themselves from more radical anti-capitalist groups and groups who feel that parlamentarian democracy is not enough and call for a government that makes it possible for everyone to participate way beyond voting. Some of them think talking to nazis is a good strategy. I gather that the symbol is seen differently in America, but for a worldwide antifascist group I feel like you should consider the origins

Ah, it's that time the year again when we get to school folks about the antifascist "three arrows" symbol!

The antifa “three arrows” symbol is one of the most recognizable anti-fascist symbols in the world. It originated with the Iron Front - a militant antifascist organization created in late 1931 in Germany by the Reichsbanner, the socialist SPD, and various labor organizations (Bray, Mark; Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook; pg. 23). The SPD had a lengthy history of hostilities with the KPD, the German communist party at the time, which is probably why some people have misconstrued it as an "anti-communist" symbol.

Mark Bray writes in his book that the “three arrows” symbol was created for the Iron Front by a Russian socialist living in Germany named Sergei Chakhotin. “While walking around town, Chakhotin noticed that someone had drawn a line over a swastika to cover the Nazi logo. This gave him the idea of turning the line into a downward facing arrow. After discussing it with receptive comrades, he turned it into three arrows (Drei Pfeile). In his mind, they stood for ‘unity, activity, discipline,” or the SPD, the unions, and the Reichsbanner. (Ibid, pg. 24). Let’s reiterate that last point for you, Anon: In his mind (the mind of the person that designed the symbol!), they stood for ‘unity, activity, discipline,” or the SPD, the unions, and the Reichsbanner.

Some people (like yourself, Anon, and also Wikipedia) claim that the three arrows symbol is anti-communist, but the person who created the symbol was a socialist who created it for a coalition that included socialists and trade unions and clearly did not conceive of it as an anti-communist symbol. Eighty-six years later and any “anti-communist” or even specifically socialist meaning that may or (more likely) may not have been implied with this symbol has been lost as it’s become as commonplace and recognized an anti-fascist symbol as the “two flags” symbol of Antifaschiste Aktion (which was formed by the KPD in response to the popularity of the Iron Front [Ibid., pg. 25]).

Like we always say, anti-fascism is non-partisan. It’s a big tent where people of all sorts of different political inclinations unite in their mutual opposition to fascism. We don’t believe that the three arrows design ever symbolized anti-anything besides anti-fascism and even if it once did over eighty years ago, we certainly don’t think it does in this century.

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antianakin · 2 years

Text

So I've been thinking about those posts that have gone around protesting the fandom inclination to not like villain redemption arcs because of the puritanical values that go along with believing people don't deserve the "rewards" that come with redemption arcs, usually: love, acceptance, understanding, etc. and the idea that no person deserves to be denied the basic things every human being should be granted.

And, of course, applying that to Anakin.

Because as someone who does not truly LIKE Anakin, I'm usually the first person to not be inclined to forgive Anakin post-child murder, post-genocide, post-betrayal. I'm generally the first one to believe Anakin can't get better once he's chosen to do his worst. I've called him a rabid bear that just needs to be put down for his own sake and everyone else's. There isn't a cure at this point, he can't be saved or redeemed.

Even Luke doesn't really REDEEM Anakin, Anakin's still only doing what he does to save someone he likes. Great, he throws down a regime to save a family member, where have we seen him do that before? Oh right, when he threw down democracy to save his wife and instigated the beginning of the Empire. He didn't destroy the Empire because he wanted to make amends. He didn't kill Palpatine to save the galaxy he'd helped destroy. He didn't do any of it because it was just generally the right thing to do or because he recognized just how much pain he'd caused and was seeking to do better as a person overall. He does it to save ONE PERSON, and we can pretty solidly say, he wouldn't have done it for ANYONE ELSE, probably up to and including Leia.

Which makes me believe that had Anakin miraculously survived killing Palpatine, he wouldn't necessarily be a better person. He wouldn't truly work to make any kind of amends to the galaxy he'd brought so much pain to.

And what kind of amends could he even DO at this point that would make any kind of difference? He's committed like 167 genocides at this point, oppressed an entire galaxy, killed billions of children on a whim, destroyed whole planets. What can he POSSIBLY do to make any real amends for that? What could possibly make up for that in any meaningful way? He can't undo the Jedi genocide and quite honestly no one should ever let him near a Force sensitive person, especially a child, again. He can't undo the three decades of oppression, he can't undo the fact that the Republic that existed has been basically burnt to ash and needs to be rebuilt from scratch and, again, quite honestly, no one should ever let him near politics ever again.

The best thing Anakin Skywalker can do for the galaxy at this point if he manages to survive is just disappear from it. Whether he dies or just walks away and spends the rest of his life meditating on everything he's done wrong and leaving the galaxy he's brought so much pain to well enough alone, I don't care. Luke can go visit him if he wants to, I guess, but no one else should have to deal with him.

I think that's where my biggest grievance lies in any kind of "Vader Lives" AUs, or "Vader changes sides inexplicably post-genocide" AUs. Because generally, now EVERYONE ELSE IN THE GALAXY has to deal with him like he HASN'T committed genocide. Like he HASN'T murdered mountains of children for the sake of selfishness. As if he isn't someone who would happily do so again if it came down to it as we see in ROTJ when he happily brings down another government to save one person. If saving Luke in that moment had required another genocide instead of just killing Palpatine, we all know he'd have done it. He absolutely would've murdered any number of children to save HIS child. Because he hasn't truly changed and his motivations for saving Luke are almost exactly the same as the motivations he had for saving Padme, it's just that the requirements shifted and the galaxy got very lucky that saving Luke ALSO meant taking out the Emperor and Anakin himself.

Why should the galaxy at large be obligated to share it with someone who would have happily killed them all not so long ago, just because Anakin MIGHT one day learn to be a better person? Why are they obligated to just live the rest of their lives hoping he doesn't decide to go ahead and commit his 168th genocide if Luke stubs his toe on the wrong planet? Why is their fear acceptable in favor of Anakin getting a chance to be good?

Once he's decided double genocide is acceptable? Once he spends DECADES oppressing everyone he can find because misery loves company? I don't really see a way out for him that isn't vastly unfair for everyone else.

#anti anakin #anti anakin skywalker #this is probably a wildly controversial opinion #i understand that it's definitely not the jedi philosophy #that they all believed even the worst people COULD choose to be better #however mace windu who is the ultimate jedi also comes to the conclusion that palpatine cannot be left alive #because he was too dangerous to the galaxy at large to do so #obi-wan kills maul because he is too dangerous to the galaxy at large to be left alive #could palpatine and maul have chosen to be better? sure. but they don't.#and it's not worth the damage they'll cause to wait for them to maybe do so #the galaxy does not deserve to have to keep suffering just to spare one person #why would anakin be any different?#why would anyone trust he's actually not going to snap and cause a genocide at the slightest inconvenience ever again?#he was good once and fought for the republic once and still committed multiple genocides #why would ANYONE trust him again?#and would it be the SMART thing to do to trust him to do better than last time?#or is it just naivete #anakin deserved to die because all he did was bring the galaxy pain and suffering #his redemption was not worth the galaxy having to suffer more #needs of the many #are greater than the needs of the anakin #kill him to spare everyone else his presence

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mariacallous · 3 months

Text

Sometimes the most obvious questions are the best. In the case of the Conservatives, the most obvious question is so glaring that one wonders why Tory politicians don’t ask it ten-times a day before breakfast: why don’t they move to the centre?

The opinion polls are predicting a Tory rout on the scale of 1906, 1945 or 1997.

Surely in the interests of preserving the Conservatives as a fighting force the party must compromise to limit its losses to Labour. Here are a couple of compromises that occur to me. They make perfect political sense until you realise that conservatism has been so radicalised that compromise now feels like treason.

First, health. When we remember the suffering of the early 2020s, we will remember covid, of course.

But we will also remember the millions on NHS waiting lists, the elderly left for hours until ambulances arrive, the cancelled operations, the sick who would work if they could be treated but cannot find a doctor, the explosion in mental illness, the needlessly prolonged pain, the needlessly early deaths.

The Conservatives ought to be doing everything they can to improve the health service before polling day – out of a reptile-brain survival instinct if nothing else.

They will not do it because in British conservatism’s ever-diminishing circles health is not a concern.

The dominant Conservative factions want a right-wing policy offer of tax cuts and immigration controls. Not one of the party’s leaders has discussed how the increase in life expectancy means the demands on the NHS of an ever-larger pensioner population make tax cuts unaffordable. Nor have I heard honest discussion of how the need for foreign health and care workers to fill the gaps in provision makes immigration essential.

Rather than face up to the impossibility of Thatcherite economics in the 21st century they prefer to change the conversation and look the other way.

Let me offer a second example, which I think Brits will soon be obsessing about.

After years of delays Brexit Britain is finally imposing border checks on food imports from the European Union. Wholesalers and retailers predict that bureaucratic costs and the need for veterinary and phytosanitary checks will lead to continental producers deciding to sell their goods elsewhere. Price rises and food shortages will follow.

What kind of government in an election year, of all years, wants empty shelves?

A Conservative kind of government appears to be the answer. The sensible move would be for the Conservatives to follow Labour’s policy of striking a deal to stick to EU standards and ease bureaucracy at the border. That would mean the UK following European food regulations, as EU ambassadors have made clear.

But compared to dear food and empty shops, who the hell cares about that?

Tories care. Brexit is their King Charles head, their reason for being, their obsession.

David Frost, who negotiated the UK’s disastrous exit agreement with the EU, wrote an unintentionally revealing paragraph last week which encapsulated the ideological capture of British Conservatism.

“The Conservative Party owns Brexit. Whether ministers like it or not, or maybe even wish it hadn’t happened, it’s the central policy of the Party and the government. They must be prepared to defend and explain it – to show why it’s so important that Britain is a proper democracy once again. For if voters come to believe Brexit is failing, then the Conservative Party will inevitably fail too.”

There you have it. Brexit is the Conservative party and vice versa.

What a distance we have come! In 2016, a mere eight years ago, the Conservative party’s leader and most of its MPs supported the UK’s membership of the European Union. Eurosceptics posed as mild-mannered people. They promised that leaving the EU would not mean leaving the single market .

But then leave won the 2016 Brexit referendum and set us off on a spiral of radicalisation, which was instantly familiar to those of us who grew up on the left.

Here is how it worked on the left in the 20th century. You would be in a meeting where everyone agreed to a leftist policy: say that the government should encourage banks to give micro loans to poor people to keep them out of the hands of loan sharks.

Everything seems fine until an accusatory voice accuses all present of being sellouts because they do not believe in nationalising the banks,

Or today, after the great awokening, an academic department will propose reasonable measures to check that they are not unconsciously discriminating in their application process, only to be told that, if they were truly concerned with justice, they would decolonise the curriculum and purge it of “white” concepts such as truth and objectivity.

The near identical radicalisation of the right has been more serious because the right has real power.

Here is how its spiral into Tory Jacobinism went.

After winning the Brexit referendum in 2016, retaining the UK’s membership of the single market and the customs union suddenly became wholly unacceptable. They had to go.

As the ideological temperature rose, Theresa May’s attempts at compromise became sellouts, judges became enemies of the people, and the only acceptable way to leave became Frost and Johnson’s impoverishing hard Brexit.

We now have a new Tory ideology: “Brexitism.” It is a style of swaggering bravado and a bawling loud-mouthed way of doing business that goes far beyond the UK’s relations with the EU.

The catastrophic premiership of Liz Truss was “Brexitist”. She crashed the economy because she believed she was right to ignore the warnings of the Treasury, Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility.

What true Brexit supporter trusts experts, after all?

Brexit showed that you did not need them. All you needed was the will to impose a radical agenda and then the world would accommodate itself to your desires.

In retrospect, 2016 plays the same role for the radical right of 21th century Britain that 1917 played for the British radical left in the 20th. The fluke communist takeover of Russia in 1917 convinced hundreds of thousands over the decades that revolution could succeed in the UK, even though communism never stood a chance in this country.

The fluke leave win of 2016 has had an equally mystifying effect. Because radical right politics succeeded in one set of circumstances, its supporters assumed they would succeed in all circumstances.

Nowhere in right-wing discourse do you hear suggestions that the Conservative defeat might be softened if the government appealed to the majority of voters. Instead, the right says that the only way to save the right is for the right to move rightwards and become more rightly right wing.

Once again, the parallels with the communist movement to people of my age scream so loudly they are deafening.

To quote the weirdest example. A few weeks ago, an anonymous group of wealthy men calling themselves the Conservative Britain Alliance spent about £40,000 on opinion polling, and gave the results to the Daily Telegraph. They showed the Conservatives were heading for a landslide defeat, as so many polls do.

But the spin put on it by the Conservative Britain Alliance’s frontman Lord Frost (again!) was that the Tories must move to the right to attract Faragist voters, not to try to stem the growth of Labour support.

A further release from the anonymous group of wealthy men added to the impression of a right wing living in the land of make believe.

They produced findings that showed the Conservatives could win if Sunak were replaced by a hypothetical Tory leader. This imaginary figure was a political superhero who would be strong “on crime and migration” (naturally) but also had the superpower to “cut taxes and get NHS waiting lists down” at the same time.

Lower taxes and better public services all at once in a wonderful never never land.

My guess is that it will take three maybe four election defeats to batter the delusions of 2016 out of the Conservative party.

Perhaps no number of defeats will suffice, and Brexitism will be Toryism’s final delirium.

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a-room-of-my-own · 11 months

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During the Arab Spring I was sitting with my family and we had a friend from New Guinea over. He was a black man, Muslim, and I had known him my entire life. He was one of the nicest, most laid back people I've ever been around, polite, good with children. We were watching the news as they covered the unfolding events. We would usually have non-alcoholic drinks whenever he was over because of his religious beliefs, so we were all chitchating and having a drink. And out of the blue, he says, pointing at the tv.

"This will all end up being a big pile of nothing. Africans don't understand democracy".

And I remember thinking that was such a scandalous thing to say, such a racist thing to say, especially coming out of a black Muslim man who was from an African country. And now after a decade, and event after event, I'm starting to understand what he was trying to say, and I wonder what he has experienced in his life for him to say that.

People will claim this as racism, but I don't think these people are more prone to certain behaviours because of their skin color.

I do think that cultural attitudes, especially pertaining as to how violence is an acceptable way to solve conflict, coupled with the eternal victim narrative, gives leeway to this destruction. I used to be very anxious to the rise of far right parties in Europe and now I feel nothing. It is so predictable why it's happening. It's so predictable that when people wake up day after day, going to work their jobs that don't pay that well so they can pay bills, and they see the same types of people burning shit down and destroying their transportation, their businesses, their community services, their homes etc, they will get fed up. And then the commies will cry racism thinking it will solve the issue, and for a time people will be taken aback and prostrate themselves to social justice mafia. And then a time will come when they're so tired of being called racist and islamophpbes for noticing who's always destroying things, and for talking about it, and they will say. Yes. Fine. I guess I am racist then. Because you won't allow me the speak on the obvious. And the animosity will grow, and people will come increasingly fed up with the ones ignoring the core issue and thus the people who do speak about it, who do call a spade a spade, and who belong to once fringe groups and who are obvious authoritarians will be voted into power. Not because they are competent leaders or have solutions, but because they can at least point out the obvious.

And everytime a Boris Johnson, a Trump, a Meloni, an Orban happens, people will say "how can this be? Must be those racist islamophobes who hate minorities" and they will learn absolutely nothing. And the eternal self-victimizing narrative will deepen.

It's all so obnoxiously predictable.

It’s extremely predictable in the sense that at least in my country, it’s been 20 years that some issues are left to the extreme right to talk about, and it can be things as obvious as everyone has the right to be safe in the public space or religions should be a private matter basically things everybody agree on. The only reason for that is that the left is completely taken by a perverted definition of anti-racism that is basically cultural relativism. When you abandon common sense to the extreme right the problem is it makes their actually extremist solutions suddenly worth discussing which they aren’t.

Then for the people coming from Africa in the Middle East, I think there is a naivety that tends to believe that someone who comes from a very authoritarian country / culture can convert to liberal democracy pretty much overnight. You have a many people coming to Europe and other western countries, who are perfectly capable of wanting to be free individually, and not to suffer from political brutality or corruption, but it doesn’t mean that they agree with the whole package. It’s especially visible as far as women’s rights are concerned ; you can have men who absolutely want to be free but who still want their women to be oppressed and controlled like they are at home.

The influence of religion is also something we could discuss. What we are going through now has happened to North Africa starting in the late 1970s. Intellectuals there have been warning us for years about the terrible influence of Saudi / Gulf extremism that led in their countries to political unrest, riots and even civil war. The Arab Spring is a recent phenomena but yes, in the West everybody thought it would bring modern democracies, but we were only listening to urban, college educated people. The majority wanted more religion, more conservatism, and the diaspora always vote for the extreme right - we saw that in Turkey just recently.

Of course the influence of the west is something that should never be forgotten. At a time our leaders could have supported democrats in the Arab world and in Africa, but between decolonization and the Cold War, they preferred supporting Islamists and tyrants rather than risking seeing countries rich in natural ressources align with the USSR. We’ve been paying for that ever since.

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association-of-freed-people · 2 years

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Coming to terms with the death of democracy is tough for a lot of people. I think too often we ridicule vooters who are clearly desperate to believe in illusions even when they’re a plastic dollar store variety. Once you get past the absurdity of a two-party system; voter fraud is systemic, the rules change on a whim, norms no longer exist and mathematic and statistical impossibilities have become acceptable or unquestionable for those who curate the truth.

I’d like to help people understand that they’re part of the solution in the future when this system inevitably implodes. Do not be disheartened.

I’ve posted links to The Power of the Powerless numerous times over the years. I’ve read it many times over the years. As time passes it’s become increasingly resonant, relevant and relatable to the system of government entrenching itself in the West after the pleb bucking of 2016.

I encourage everyone to read it regardless of their political persuasion. I maintain faith in people. I think there are a lot of young progs who really have no idea what they’re supporting and will feel betrayed when they finally wake to the reality.

If you choose to read it, our Covid experience and the rigid structures of intersectional corporatism will shine through. It will be more familiar to you now than it ever could have been even six or seven years ago.

A short primer from the wiki entry:

A complete pdf copy of the essay may be found in the link.

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 months

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* * * *

Tonight, Senator Angus King (I-ME) spoke on the Senate floor about what U.S. refusal to aid Ukraine would mean.

King harked back to the failure of European allies to stop Hitler when it would have been relatively easy. “Whenever people write to my office” asking why we are supporting Ukraine, he said, “I answer, Google Sudetenland, 1938.” “We could have stopped a murderous dictator who was bent on geographic expansion…at a relatively low cost. The result of not doing so was 55 million deaths.”

The upcoming vote on whether to support “the people of Ukraine as they fight for our values,” King said, “will echo throughout the history of this country and the history of the world for generations…. If we back away, walk away, pull out and leave the Ukrainians without the resources to defend themselves, it will compromise the interests of this country for 50 years. It will be viewed as one of the greatest geopolitical mistakes of the 21st century.”

Abandoning Ukraine would embolden Russian president Vladimir Putin, King said. Putin “told us in 2005 that he felt that the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century was the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He has…pursued the remedy to that catastrophe in his eyes ever since…. In 2008 he gobbled up part of what had been an independent country of Georgia. In 2014…Crimea and eastern Ukraine. [In] 2022, he tried for the rest of Ukraine.”

People say Putin will stop with Ukraine, King said, but “the Finns don't think so. The Swedes don't think so. The Baltic countries don't think so, and the Finns and the Swedes know Russia.”

“Maya Angelou once said if someone tells you who they are, you should believe them,” King said. “Putin has told us who he is. He’s an autocrat. He’s an authoritarian. And he wants to rebuild the Soviet Union. And I believe he wouldn't stop there…. We have to take him at his word…. He despises the west. He thinks NATO is an aggressive alliance, somehow designed to invade or otherwise threaten Russia. NATO doesn't want to invade Russia. NATO wants to keep the lines where they are.” King noted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “the first crossing of a border of this nature since World War II.”

“[W]hat we're looking at here,” King said, “is…the struggle between the idea of democracy and the rule of law and authoritarianism and totalitarianism…. Ukraine is the opening wedge in that…conflict.” Turning away from Ukraine would embolden Putin, King said, but not only Putin. “[I]f we cut and run in Ukraine, that will change Xi Jinping's calculus about Taiwan. He's going to say well, the Americans aren't going to stick. We don't have to worry too much about them helping the Taiwanese defend themselves.”

King, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, identified the centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy and warned what is at stake if the U.S. abandons Ukraine. “Our asymmetric advantage in the world right now is allies,” King said. “China has customers. We have allies…. But our allies are going to say well, wait a minute. You’re with us now but when the going gets tough and you have to maybe have a budget supplemental to stick with us, you're going to walk away. It's going to undermine the confidence of our allies, and in places like Japan and South Korea, they may say we can't count on the Americans to defend us.”

If we abandon Ukraine, he said, we will have destroyed “our ability to negotiate and make deals in the future. Who the heck is going to deal with us if they know we can't be trusted?.... What an…incredible…self-inflicted wound on this country.” King recalled that in the 1780s, France had stood with the fledgling U.S. even as the Revolutionary War dragged on, and noted that “[t]here’s a reasonable chance we wouldn't be the United States of America today, if our ally had walked away…. The whole idea of an alliance is that you can count on somebody when the times are tough. We're sending ammunition. They're sending lives.”

Addressing right-wing talking points about aid to Ukraine, King said that U.S. aid to Ukraine is “one of the best and strongest and most closely accounted for provisions of aid ever” and that “the idea that nobody else is contributing and Europe isn't doing its part is just bunk.” Europe has given far more to Ukraine than the U.S. as a percentage of the wealth each country produces, he said, and other countries have also taken in millions of refugees.

“[D]emocracy matters,” King said. “Values matter. Freedom of expression, the rule of law matter, and that’s what’s at stake…. This is a historic struggle between authoritarianism, arbitrariness, surveillance, and the radical idea that people can govern themselves. That's what this is all about. This is a battle for the soul of our democracy in the world…. It's worth fighting for. And in this case we don't even have to do the fighting. We just have to supply the arms and ammunition.”

“I have a question for my colleagues,” King said. “When the history of this day is written, as it surely will be, do you really want to be recorded as being on the side of Vladimir Putin?... Or on the side of China, as they contemplate the invasion of Taiwan…. [H]istory's going to record this vote as one of the most important votes that any of us have ever made.”

For his part, King said, “I want to stand on the side of resisting authoritarianism, on the side of democracy, on the side of the values that the country has stood for and that people have been fighting for 250 years.”

[LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN :: HEATHER COX RICHARSON]

#Putin #aid to Ukraine #war in Ukraine #history #Angus King #democracy #defense of democracy #authoritarianism #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson

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