People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows -- US Politics September 2020

“Lived” but I did love it.

xxpost Very good thread, thank you Alfred

It’s not that I think Trump can get away with not accepting the results, it’s that he felt comfortable enough to voice that in the first place that should concern us.

he feels comfortable saying a lot of shit

he felt comfortable enough to voice that

The fact that Trump works hard even to appear comfortable in his own skin tells us that he will never willingly or consciously tip people off how he afraid he feels about being turned out of office and the possible consequences of that. I don't think Biden will encourage the Justice Dept. to go after him on criminal charges, but I'm completely in the dark about whether Biden would do the 'full pardon' thing in order to calm down the White Militia/Q-Anon die-hards in the hope they won't kill a hundred or so innocent people.

I think Biden would go after him

in order to calm down the White Militia/Q-Anon die-hards in the hope they won't kill a hundred or so innocent people.

I think enough people in Biden's orbit (and possible White House) are fully aware those people are trolls and cowards that'll shit the bed before even getting to that stage.

I think on principle Biden should go after him otherwise the rule of law is further weakened. Is it already inevitable that somebody more organised is going to come along and try to repeat what t has been doing but in a more organised, effective way. Unless the loopholes that have been exploited are patched up or removed.

America is broken and needs to heal itself before doing anything else. I'm getting tired of hearing references to a return to American leadership. The civil rights problems that are being highlighted now have been constant subtexts for decades even centuries.
But even supposedly liberal media uses that as an idea of a norm that needs to be returned to.
We've just spent nearly 4 years showing how problematic that can be and it seems the rest of the world is feeling the effect of that too.

Hoping for a less chaotic future.

Me too

Thanks for that thread, Alfred. I may sleep better tonight!

My pleasure. Here, in easier reading form: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1308851838406610945.html

Biden would do the 'full pardon' thing in order to calm down the White Militia/Q-Anon die-hards in the hope they won't kill a hundred or so innocent people.

biden should channel president grant and stamp these fuckers out of existence

"everybody's pal" has literally always been his brand

yeah he’s more likely to emulate president grant by getting pulled over while drunk driving a horse and buggy

Biden doesn't drink

The peaceful transfer of power is enshrined in our Constitution and fundamental to the survival of our Republic. America’s leaders swear an oath to the Constitution. We will uphold that oath.

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) September 24, 2020

Oh thank god, I was worried there for a second.

lol

Life comes at you... in approximately six hours. pic.twitter.com/xPmaIVyaRb

— Craig Harrington (@Craigipedia) September 23, 2020

i feel like he’s been signaling/saying this shit for years now but i’m gonna trust that everyone’s having doomsday scenarios for good reasons

Would feel a lot better about it if even one fucking single Republican rebuked him for it

I respect people who believe something like that can't happen because "reason" "institutions" etc. but am hoping we can all agree that charges of hysteria or alarmism in the other direction are completely inappropriate right now and need to stop.

Yesterday’s executive order is some petty bullshit

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping/

Would feel a lot better about it if even one fucking single Republican rebuked him for it

― error prone wolf syndicate (Hadrian VIII)

did Darth Vader's daughter just do so?

the inherent and equal dignity of every person as an individual

You exist in a bubble, there is no such thing as society, all of us are born equal against the backdrop of a perfect, inviolate tabula rasa. These aren't mere objectives: they have already been successfully implemented by the US of A on a global scale.

xp yeah ok she did...it would be great to see someone in a more visible leadership role esp. in the senate step forward and make some effort to tamp this idea down among their consituents

Materials from Sandia National Laboratories, also a Federal entity, for non-minority males stated that an emphasis on “rationality over emotionality” was a characteristic of “white males,”

A Smithsonian Institution museum graphic recently claimed that concepts like “objective, rational linear thinking,” ...are not values that unite Americans of all races but are instead “aspects and assumptions of whiteness.”

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9jEezORjto_9ALhI0ToJTI1XrSQ=/1400x1400/filters:format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/15787297/nimoy-spock.0.1462602991.jpg

A Smithsonian Institution museum graphic recently claimed that concepts like “objective, rational linear thinking,” ...are not values that unite Americans of all races but are instead “aspects and assumptions of whiteness.”

Tbf this kind of discourse is extremely unhelpful and has often been used by racists and/or sexists to justify their views. No wonder it's quoted here – it's among the easiest, most unifying targets of all.

“Civilization’s going to pieces,” broke out Tom violently. “I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard?”

“Why, no,” I answered, rather surprised by his tone.

“Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be — will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.”

Except that's the exact opposite of 'objective, rational linear thinking'?

making a claim of logical, rational thinking that is really just self justifying ideological b.s. is a characteristic of being in power

I don't think I've ever seen an executive order that so utterly misunderstands the thing it's condemning as this: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping. As I often do during this administration, I'm left wondering if they are a stupid as they seem, or they're just chaos monkeys trying to appeal to their really dumb base.

Trump at the court as crowd chants “vote him out” — it’s rare for this President to see his opposition this up-close and in-person pic.twitter.com/VEVkRHOkjM

— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) September 24, 2020

As I often do during this administration, I'm left wondering if they are a stupid as they seem, or they're just chaos monkeys trying to appeal to their really dumb base.

Stephen Miller's an awful irredeemable racist but he's also dumber than a doorbell

making a claim of logical, rational thinking that is really just self justifying ideological b.s. is a characteristic of being in power

Of course, but denying yourself the ability to reason by way of automatic contrast is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot. Why would you want to internalize the binary oppositions set up by your oppressors? 'You say x therefore I say not-x' is an understandable but often problematic discursive strategy.

at least my doorbell makes a pretty sound

xpost Oh I know. I'm just pointing out that the misuse of logic is a protection-of-power device rather than a biological aspect of the Caucasian brain

Agreed!

at least my doorbell makes a pretty sound

Tina Tina Cheneuse hooked you up

THe book Superior by Angela Saini was pretty great on the history of the science of race and its recent reemergence. Was published this summer and i caught the launch on Zoom. Thought i really illuminating.
Science of race tends to be pretty racist.

I mention this a lot but the mail-in voter fraud "concerns," like just about everything the republicans complain about, are projection. like, there actually are guys going around and trashing people's absentee and mail-in ballots, they're just republicans https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/746800630/north-carolina-gop-operative-faces-new-felony-charges-that-allege-ballot-fraud

(which suggests the plan of "do fraud again, and then say we were right to be concerned about fraud, because fraud happened again"

There was an excellent piece in The Guardian a couple of years ago devoted to explaining precisely why so-called 'race science' is heinous bullshit:

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/02/the-unwelcome-revival-of-race-science

We had a bit of a row about it at the time as some ILXors felt that the scientific method is unhelpful in the struggle against racism. I, for one, deem it essential, but it's only one weapon among many, ineffective when deployed alone.

2xp

I'm thinking of voting in person now, early. ok, you don't like mail in ballots, well here, here's one on election night, you fuck.

My pleasure. Here, in easier reading form: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1308851838406610945.html🕸

If I already requested a mail-in ballot, can I vote early in-person instead?

Might as well do both just in case. It's what the POTUS recommended, after all.

This person has not been paying attention to the successes of the Wisconsin Republican Party for the past decade.
― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, September 24, 2020

That's one state.

If I already requested a mail-in ballot, can I vote early in-person instead?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, September 24, 2020 11:37 AM bookmarkflaglink

depends on your state. in mine you can, they just spoil your mailed ballot.

I respect people who believe something like that can't happen because "reason" "institutions" etc. but am hoping we can all agree that charges of hysteria or alarmism in the other direction are completely inappropriate right now and need to stop.

This is worth calling out again and is totally otm. I don't think it's necessarily intended by most of the regular denizens of these threads, but I think it's completely understandable and logical for people to be alarmed and terrified by the complete abdication of the rule of law by the GOP. While it's helpful to point to reasonable articles and remind the room about why doomsday, worst case scenarios are unlikely, simply shushing people as "alarmist" or "hysterical" comes across sometimes, probably unintentionally, as, "shush now, let the grown ups talk".

And, yeah, reminding us of the failsafes are fine and all, but you'll have to excuse some of us for doubting those when so many norms and failsafes have already been ignored or proven wholly inadequate to face up to this current menace.

If I already requested a mail-in ballot, can I vote early in-person instead?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, September 24, 2020 11:37 AM bookmarkflaglink

depends on your state. in mine you can, they just spoil your mailed ballot.

― LaRusso Auto (Neanderthal),

This. Although I received a ballot in August for our local primaries, the library had no line, so I voted in person.

And, yeah, reminding us of the failsafes are fine and all, but you'll have to excuse some of us for doubting those when so many norms and failsafes have already been ignored or proven wholly inadequate to face up to this current menace.

Yep, I don't get the sense that the Checks & Balances Stress Test™ was passed at all.