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

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.

There's a real chance that Roe v. Wade and the ACA will be killed in the next year, even without too many shenanigans, so...
Not even talking about a "theoretical" fascist Trump state here. Lots of bad stuff has been happening and will keep happening.

I think it's fine to be vigilant about potential abuses of power, but the thread Alfred posted is right: the "flood the zone with noise" strategy is deliberate; it is meant to exhaust and distract.

Count on it, every day from now on will bring a new outrage du jour. There is a set of repetitive rhetorical motions that we tend to go through. If we have to go through those repetitive motions every goddamn time, that can take away from the energy and focus required to actually defeat and eradicate this kind of politics.

To put it in Gen X terms,

https://media.giphy.com/media/lk0TFUdop2JTW/giphy-facebook_s.jpg

While that is absolutely a part of what Trump is doing, I think it's a huge mistake to write it all off as "just noise".

i think we're all worried

I don't think we disagree, jon. Part of the point of noise is that it ISN'T all "just noise."

The point of noise is that you don't know which specific outrage to pay attention to, so we do the same freakout over each outrage.

i don't disagree with the idea in that thread (that the goal is to confuse/delegitimize the process rather than actually _do_ the things), but the kinds of things we're talking about _have already happened_ at the state level in this county. we have an existence proof that it works. and it seems naive to dismiss the possibility that bill bar might give it a go nationally. and if he does, well, i haven't see a ton of evidence that federal institutions are any more robust than state ones over the past few years.

probably it will be fine.

There’s a certain level of acquiescence by the losing side - the way Gore ultimately folded in 2000 to maintain the integrity of the government. Even if Democrats gave in, hard to see 60mn+ people who voted out of hatred of Trump rolling with it.

Get a load of this fucking asshole (a writer for the Intercept, of course):

Lots of polling shows that Democrats are less likely to vote if they believe Trump is just going to steal the election. Trump's people have no doubt seen that polling too, which might be motivating Trump to be so honest about stealing the election. Win-win, so to speak.

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) September 24, 2020

RTed here:

There is not a shred of polling I've seen supporting this, and I see *a lot* of polling https://t.co/6UFRTLgiQf

— Alex Clearfield (@AlexClearfield) September 24, 2020

that's idiotic, if anything it seems to be motivating them to turn out in numbers that would make it incredibly difficult for him to steal

The point of noise is that you don't know which specific outrage to pay attention to, so we do the same freakout over each outrage.

Absolutely. I just think the "we'll see what happens" response to a question about peaceful handover of power is high on the level of "freakout worthy". It seems some on this thread disagree with that, which surprises me. That's all.

Once again I agree with milo! Finish your drinks

“He says the people swallow Clorox and we hear about it for the rest of our lives but he’s trying to have the constitution of the United States swallow Clorox.” @SpeakerPelosi on @realDonaldTrump refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power following the Nov. 3 election. pic.twitter.com/ecp3yIPjVJ

— Vladimir Duthiers (@vladduthiersCBS) September 24, 2020

If there was ever material for one of these thread titles it's "He's trying to have the Constitution of the United States swallow Clorox."

It's a little flabbergasting to me that people ever thought "law and order" applied to people with power.

That’s good for you. Some of the rest of us aspire to achieve greater justice in this country instead of winning at cynicism

I mean if you genuinely take that stance I wonder why you would ever support any politician of any stripe?

I don't!

Also, achieving greater justice in this country comes from creating the conditions for ideas of justice to flourish, not electing some asshole who has degrees from Harvard.

In this way, it is you who are actually cynical.

Sigh.