US Politics, May 2023: May 1 never happened

that DeSantis clip… whew. If he wasn’t such a fascist I’d feel some sense of pity.

With no votes to spare, Minnesota Democrats have implemented vast new social programs, enacted protections for groups threatened by far-right states and the Supreme Court, strengthened unions, poured money into schools, replaced infrastructure, and fed every Minnesota child.

— Will Stancil (@whstancil) May 23, 2023

meanwhile, here in Texas things seems to be going in the opposite direction

Texas GOP legislature voted last night to give Republican secretary of state power to take over elections in state’s largest blue county, Houston’s Harris County, & abolish election administrator position there. This is incredibly undemocratic power grab https://t.co/dgZAsQeBhx

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) May 23, 2023

^^^Is that a novelty gavel, just a trick of perspective, or is he really tiny?

re: My earlier question of why New York Democrats suck, I read (I think on Twitter) the hypothesis that purple state Democrats, or at least Dems with only a small majority, feel pressure to deliver on their campaign promises while they are in power, while states where Dems seem to have a permanent lock like NY (or, I would argue, my former state of Maryland) the elected Dems only care about jockeying for personal power/seniority within the party apparatus, and actually *doing things* is not a priority since they'll get elected anyway. There's also the fact that if you are in a city or state where only people with a "D" next to their name win, that willattract people to run for office who in any other state/city would run as Republicans (Eric freaking Adams).

^^^Is that a novelty gavel, just a trick of perspective, or is he really tiny?

I mean have you seen the size of american flags flying over car dealerships in texas...?

new york dems with minnesota dems
a supermajority with a 1 vote majority https://t.co/uJ9PTAse5y pic.twitter.com/sm7amwNw6D

— pudding person (@JUNlPER) May 22, 2023

IL has a supermajority and doesn't seem to be spinning its wheels, afaict.

fucking. hell.

Boebert: I actually have a fun little story, my staff is probably going to talk to me about this later. I left a prescription at a pharmacy once… pic.twitter.com/6p1g25cpYk

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 23, 2023

What the fuck hahaha

Well it was a fun story

I'll bet Kaydon feels really special now.

Have none of these people ever heard of condoms

nah, they cover your tattoos

rofl

Actual Ron Desantis merchandise. His campaign is gonna flame out so fucking hard he should be sued for electoral fraud pic.twitter.com/QGb8p3vxgt

— Max Propayne III (@Jags24Asare) May 23, 2023

Has there ever been a time in history when "Make America Florida" would have been an appealing slogan? Does Florida know what most of the country thinks of it?

3 stars

Make America Lorida?

Gunlordia

"We'll drag you down with us!"

https://i.imgur.com/32c4TBG.jpg

That's being generous

arguably 1 1/2 stars

lol xpost

Amazing

I'm pretty sure we do, tipsy.

7lorida

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H29HI-atDj4

this campaign is off to a smashing beginning, now he needs to come up with a cruel nickname for trump and we're off to the races

There is a Lorida, Florida:
https://floridahistoryblog.com/lorida-florida-origins-of-a-cracker-town/

A friend’s effort.

https://i.imgur.com/yB0YyvA.jpg

Remove the right testicle and they’d have a winner

meanwhile in that other great state

BREAKING: Texas AG Ken Paxton calls on the TX Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after he presided over the House while highly intoxicated. pic.twitter.com/1jFoyi0JEx

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 23, 2023

The intoxication in question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6VuQsKihWk

i thought the F in florida in that was a gun at first, not the state outline

xp looks like he had a texas-sized vodka tonic to go with that texas-sized gavel

not the point, but re: that texas ag, i don't think spies usually try to control land

it’s drummed up cold war racism, obv.

Holy shit the Musk/DeSantis thing is being moderated by David Sacks?

I don't even know what Chinese spies controlling Texas land refers to, that's some conspiracy you don't know about unless you hit the right rallies I guess. Chinese energy firms buying up land in West Texas probably.

xp Yeah Florida just passed laws against Chinese citizens owning property there (ACLU has filed suit)... TX doesn't want to be left behind in the Ugly American competition

right, but spies? if they're spies they're not very good spies. the attorney general knows about them and is mentioning them in press releases.

There has been some reports of Chinese gov't police stations quietly opening around the country (mostly to harass Chinese citizens living in the US), but I don't know if that's what he's referring to

It’s all the kids with TikTok on their phones

right, but spies? if they're spies they're not very good spies. the attorney general knows about them and is mentioning them in press releases.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Tuesday, May 23, 2023 4:04 PM

They're buying up land to "build energy making facilities" but really they will have spying stations there. [Eddie Murphy head tap GIF]

Kayode Ewumi head tap GIF

OK, I am shockingly old ...

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/23/florida-school-inaugural-poem-ban-00098492

A more thorough story: https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article275671496.html

I read (is that still legal?) that something like just 11 individual parents have been responsible for the majority of books being flagged/pulled/banned.

All's it takes in Florida is one complaint; and, yes, it's a First Amendment violation.