There are a couple of things I want to tell you about today, and give you some encouragement with.
This is not the end. This is a beginning. And we’ve been fighting for a long time. We’ll keep doing that.
But if you’re weary, if you’re sad, take time for you. Take time to be weary. Take time to feel whatever you feel.
So my main point today is that self-care is not different than world care.
A lot of people get angry right away and wanna fight right away, and that’s good, we need those people. Some people feel crushed under the weight of it all and they feel afraid and they feel sad and maybe you feel all of those things. But allowing yourself to feel does not detract from changing the world for the better.
Regardless of what happens next, you are allowed to feel whatever there is to feel! And feeling it does not take away from your activism or your ability to change things.
Feeling what you feel actually is essential in being able to move on, motivate, and activate. Give yourself space over these few days. Give yourself time. While you’re doing whatever you’re doing: volunteering or jumping in or making videos, posting things online … while you’re doing those things don’t shy away from how complicated your feelings are and how complicated your feelings are allowed to be.
BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW BILL CLINTON MOUTHES “THAT’S MY GIRL” CAN WE FUCKING TALK ABOUT THAT.
Listen, I voted for her, but in my heart I don’t know that I’ve had many moments of truly liking or admiring her. But this moment? This poise? This complete self-control (in a situation where sexist men would expect her to be falling apart)? I have never been prouder or more admiring of someone. I agree, Bill. That’s our girl.
by Tom Ley on The Concourse, shared by Tom Ley to Deadspin
There really aren’t any words I can put here that will enhance your enjoyment of the video above, because it’s just that fucking good. So let’s hit the GIFs:
Because, like I suspect a great many people, I couldn’t get to sleep tonight.
1. Well, I certainly missed that turn of events, didn’t I? To be fair to myself, pretty much everyone missed it — apparently even Trump’s pollsters thought he was going down in defeat last night — but I’m not responsible for other people, I’m responsible for me, and, well: Missed that one totally. I never thought Trump would win the election. I was wrong. He won it. My being wrong is on me.
Would he have won it with a different opponent? Would he have won it if the Supreme Court hadn’t gutted the Voters Right Act? Would he have won it if a significant number of people hadn’t voted for third party candidates? Or if James Comey hasn’t done his little email stunt in the last couple of weeks? These are interesting questions that don’t change the fact that in this reality, Donald Trump is the president-elect. The woulda, shoulda, coulda of things is irrelevant to that.
2. With that said, it is of note that the polling for this election cycle was essentially disastrously wrong, and — again to be fair — it was pretty much only Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight who warned people that if it was wrong, that the predictions for the race would fail in basically the manner that they did. Silver and his site predicted the outcome incorrectly just like everyone else, but he gets credit for saying “if I’m wrong, this is how that’s going to work” and as far as I can see pretty much nailing that. So, yay, Nate Silver? I would have rather it gone the other way and we all had a post-election laugh at his over-cautiousness. But it didn’t, and once again Silver is the smartest dude in the room, for what it’s worth.
Be that as it may, there is clearly something systematically wrong with how polling is being done. If poll after poll had Clinton leading in states she went on to lose, and often leading by more than a margin of error, then something’s going on. I don’t mean in a conspiratorial, “the polls are being manipulated, man!” sort of way. Again, it’s something systematic in how the polls are conducted and who they are reaching (and probably also something to do with this particular election cycle in itself). How does that get fixed? I’m sure someone will tell us. Maybe Nate Silver.
Much of my confidence about this year’s election was rooted in the polling, which had been reasonably accurate for the last few election cycles (both presidential and congressional), and like I said, while I own my own mis-estimation and being wrong, it’s also a fact that I was wrong along with a whole lot of people, including people for whom polling is their actual job. It’s a discomfiting place to be.
3. It will be no surprise to anyone I’m unhappy with the result of this election. Donald Trump was manifestly the worst presidential candidate in living memory, an ignorant, sex-assaulting vindictive bigot, enamored of strongmen and contemptuous of the law, consorting with white nationalists and hucksters — and now he’s president-elect, which is appalling and very sad for the nation. I don’t see much good coming out of this, either in the immediate or long-term, not in the least because if he does any of the things he promises to do, his impact will be ruinous to the nation. Add to the fact that he’s the GOP candidate, and the GOP now will have the White House, Congress and will appoint the next Supreme Court justice, and, well. There aren’t any grownups in the GOP anymore, and we’re going to find out what that means for all of us.
Here are some of the things it could mean: A conservative Supreme Court for decades, backtracking on climate change, the repeal of Roe v. Wade, curtailment of free speech, loss of medical insurance to millions, tax policy that advantages the wealthy and adds trillions to the national debt, punitive racial policies, the return of torture as a part of the military toolbox, and a president who uses the apparatus of the US to go after his personal enemies. And these are only the things Trump has said he’s ready to do — we don’t know what else he will do when he’s literally the most powerful man on the planet, with a compliant legislature and judiciary.
The GOP conceit is that somehow they will be able to control Trump, which is a theory that’s worked so well up to now. More realistically, I think the best that can be hoped for is that Trump simply becomes apathetic and bored and leaves actual governance to others, i.e., the Dubya maneuver. This didn’t work particularly well then, but it might be marginally better than the alternative. But no matter what, I don’t have much optimism for the next four years.
4. I’m a well-off straight white man, which means of all the segments of the population, the Trump years will likely punish me the least — I may have to adjust my investments so I don’t lose tons of money when the stock market tumbles (or just be willing to ride it out, just like in 2008), but otherwise, in the short-term at least, I’m likely to be fine. I can’t say the same for my friends and loved ones who are women or minorities or LGTBQ or who struggle financially to make ends meet, or some combination of all of those. I wish I could say to them that it’ll be fine and that they’ll be able to ride out the next four (or, God forbid, eight) years, but I can’t. Trump, himself racist and sexist, brought a bunch of racists and sexists and homophobes to the dance, and now he’s obliged to dance with them. Things could get pretty ugly for everyone who isn’t a well-off straight white man. Things are likely to get ugly.
A lot of my friends are scared of Trump’s America, in other words, and they should be. As Maya Angelou once said, when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Donald Trump has shown us over and over again who he is; the worst of his supporters — the ones who will now feel like they have free rein to indulge their various bigotries — have shown us who they are, too. And while not every Trump voter is among the worst of people, they share the responsibility of having made anyone who isn’t straight, and white, and male, and well-off, less secure, less safe, and more frightened. That’s what they bought for us when they pulled the lever for Trump.
5. And we have to face up to fact that it was white people who brought Trump to us — Trump got the majority of white men and white women who voted. We can parse out why that was (and we can talk about how the minority vote was suppressed), but at the end of the day, the fact remains: Trump will be in power because white people wanted him there.
If Trump’s administration indulges in the racism, sexism and religious and other bigotries that Trump and his people have already promised to engage in, we can assume it’s because his voters are just fine with that racism, sexism and religious and other bigotries — even if they claim to have voted for him for other reasons entirely. After all, Trump didn’t hide these things about himself, or try to sneak these plans in by a side door. They were in full view this entire time. If you vote for a bigot who has bigoted plans, you need to be aware of what that says about you, and your complicity in those plans.
I voted against Trump — voted against him twice, in fact, since I also voted against him in the primary — and I voted against him in no small part because I found his bigotry shameful, and still do. I am proud that he did not get my vote; I’m as proud of that vote as any I’ve offered up. And as an American, I have no plans to take his bigotry lying down. I hope you won’t, either.
6. That said, it might be a little much to ask people to stand and fight today. It was a long night, and a depressing night, for a lot of us. Take a day. Or two. Or a week. Or however much the time you need for yourself to get your head around this thing.
But at the end of that time, I hope you come back to us. Looking at the numbers as they stand right now, Trump won by just about 300,000 votes Clinton got at least 100,000 more votes than Trump out of about 120 million individual votes cast. There’s a lot of us who will stand with you, when you’re ready to stand again with us. There’s work to be done over the next four years and beyond. We need to get to it.
Ok Folks, listen up. The electoral college doesn’t vote officially until December 19th. It is extremely rare and almost unheard of for them to vote against the majority of their district BUT IT CAN HAPPEN. The Electoral College was made for exactly this purpose!
Remember, prior to December 19th, we have:
Court Case against Trump University Court Case Against Trump for accusations for rape and sexual assault
If we pull together, we can swing this. We will have to be tireless. We will have to be unyielding. We will have to write, call, and march on every swing state that can have their electoral vote differently. We have to make our voices heard. Hillary WON the popular vote which means more of America wants her to be President than Trump. There is precedence for this to happen. There is cause. There is hope. With no state law against Pennsylvania voting against their popular vote, that’s 20 to go to Hillary. If Florida or any three other states swing, SHE WINS.
If we get them to vote different, we don’t have to worry about Trump or Pence because Hillary will have won. Until she hands over the nomination, she is still saying she is waiting for the official electoral votes to be made.
We can do this. We can win. LET’S SPREAD THIS LIKE WILD FIRE ON HERE AND FACEBOOK!
Dear god, someone tell me what to do
Find out the swing vote state’s Electoral College Representatives and phone, mail, email, share, and march on their offices. We have just over a month to get this together. If the Electoral College decides to change their votes for Hillary on December 19th, we will have Hillary as our President. The reason why so many people aren’t talking about this is because it’s very rare for the Electoral College to vote differently than the districts. Some states even have laws preventing that, such as Ohio and North Carolina. But, Pennsylvania does NOT have that law. Florida is tricky, but it can be done. NH is also another one that can swing it as well. If we get just a few of them to switch, we will have won.
Please do something about this and don’t just give up. sincerely, the whole world
Goddamn. Count me in.
Good. Let’s fucking do this.
I want you all to reblog this and tag the most famous pro-black feminist and social justice blogs so it can get notes i want you to call all your democrat friends and tell them about this i aant you to share this on facebook walls dont let it be just a post!!!
I did a quick search to see what I could find out about any chance of this type of electoral turnaround and I haven’t found anything yet. If you have info or a link, please message me or reblog with a comment!
Even without an electoral turnaround, Trump can still be found guilty of fraud, or impeached after getting elected. The game is not over and this is no f*cking game.
I keep seeing that fucking meme with Jackie O, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Obama and Melania’s naked body.
Fuck outta here with that misogynistic shit
I’m pretty damn sure Michelle Obama would not want her image to be used against another woman like that.
If you wanna drag Melania, drag her for being a terrible human being for her rape victim blaming rhetoric, for plagarizing Michelle Obama, for enabling DT and their children’s xenophobia when she is technically an undocumented immigrant. You got hella shit to drag her for. Her fucking nudes are not one of them
please look out for your disabled friends please please please i’m barely seeing any posts about them but a trump presidency is so fucking harmful to those who don’t conform to society’s ideals of ‘able-bodied’ and for all those who rely upon healthcare and please please PLEASE, in all your posts about people who are going to suffer under this presidency (hint: everyone), just please be aware of them
Under a Trump presidency, millions of disabled Americans could lose their access to medical care, life saving medication, the benefits they use to afford food, and the programs that provide them with shelter. Please keep disabled Americans in your hearts and minds. Please don’t forget about us.
as someone who is literally unable to live independently because of my disability, hey. maybe think of us. thank you.
A lot of us are unable to go to protests and be visible in that way. Please don’t forget about us.
we need to protect trans women. especially trans women of color and disabled trans women. they are at such a high risk of being harmed, we need to keep our trans sisters safe from transmisogyny.
please reblog this!!! idc if it doesnt fit ur blog type, its important!
Friendly reminder that there isn’t a single federal-level trans protection policy that doesn’t come from the Executive Branch, meaning that what few protections do exist will disappear with a stroke of Trump’s pen, and Pence has ALREADY confirmed that it’s top of the list.
The mayors of New York and Los Angeles are not planning to back down to Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant crusade. Both say their cities will continue to require judge’s orders to hold undocumented immigrants in jail, rather than doing so just because Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks:
"We are not going to sacrifice a half million people who live among us, who are part of our community," de Blasio said, referring to an estimate of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in New York. "We are not going to tear families apart."
De Blasio said Trump's threat to withhold funds from sanctuary cities was "dangerous," but it was too soon to tell whether the president-elect intended to follow through on all his proposals.
In Los Angeles:
"We comply with federal immigration agencies, but insist that detainer requests be handled constitutionally," Connie Llanos, the [mayor’s] spokeswoman, said in an email.
"It is Mayor Garcetti's sincere hope that no president would violate those principles, the very foundation of our nation, by taking punitive action on cities that are simply protecting the well being of residents."
A lot of people are going to need to stand up to a lot of bullying if this country is going to remain a functioning constitutional democracy.
you come to me…. on the day of my daughters wedding…. and you ask me for a favour
I just have to keep reblogging things that make me smile or startle me into a laugh. Because I still feel on the verge of tears and I need the distraction.
The birds they sang at the break of day Start again I heard them say Don’t dwell on what has passed away or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will be fought again The holy dove She will be caught again bought and sold and bought again the dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in.
We asked for signs the signs were sent: the birth betrayed the marriage spent Yeah the widowhood of every government – signs for all to see.
I can’t run no more with that lawless crowd while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud. But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up a thundercloud and they’re going to hear from me.
Ring the bells that still can ring …
You can add up the parts but you won’t have the sum You can strike up the march, there is no drum Every heart, every heart to love will come but like a refugee.
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in.
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in. That’s how the light gets in. That’s how the light gets in.
– Leonard Cohen
I was just thinking today how perfect this song is for how things stand right now in my country. How utterly, agonizingly perfect.
The return of Stephen Colbert at his very best and most biting?
This monologue, from the start of last night's Late Show on CBS, is a keeper. Colbert forensically unpicked the news that you've been too tired or too overwhelmed to process yourself. It was, in total, a brutal takedown of Donald Trump's first day in Washington, DC, and a warning cry for what lies ahead.
Colbert lambasted Trump's potential picks for Cabinet posts, and his impersonation of Sarah Palin's folksy word salad was especially savage. "That's right: Trump's plan to drain the swamp of corruption means bringing back Giuliani, Christie, Gingrich, and Palin," he said. "It makes sense: They're exactly what I'd expect to find at the bottom of a drained swamp."
Most disturbing of all, at the end of a long, excoriating monologue, Colbert revisited a PBS Frontline interview with Trump's black-outreach director Omarosa Manigault, in which she warned that "every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It's everyone who's ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, whoever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe."
"All hail our glorious leader! Giant hands! You've got giant hands! You're going to be great!" Colbert exclaimed, before adding," …is what a pussy would say."
Two months ago, I was trying to grab some tampons at a 7/11-type store in Wisconsin. I was zoning out over my choices when I noticed another person in the aisle with me.
She was wearing a hijab, and was probably in her twenties or so.
We were the only people in the store except for the white guy behind the counter.
And then another dude walked in, a beardy, white 40-something.
I was ready to buy my shit and leave but i just stood there, watching that old dude.
The midwest is such a shitshow i swear to god and I just couldn’t leave until that girl left too. I don’t know these men. I wasn’t going to leave the only other woman there, alone at night, with those two white men. Especially not a woman in a hijab.
I loitered and waited til she got her shit and left. I wandered to the front so I could watch her drive away.
I think in the next 4 years or more, if you haven’t already, you better start watching. Don’t leave people alone. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t assume anyone is safe. Don’t believe you’re being paranoid. It’s our duty to watch.
“Now we want to be clear, there’s no confirmed connection between the recent spike in hate crimes and the presidential election-”
lies.
“We can’t tell anything till a scientist that looks at the same data we are says a thing officially. Still waiting for them to confirm if water is wet. Stay tuned”
Steve: so, what even is your moral paradigm, anyway?
Nat: Kill those who deserve death. Save those who deserve life. Call Clint when I get confused about the ones in the middle.
Veteran
walks the streets on any other day. They might be disabled. They might
be struggling with severe PTSD that leaves them unable to function in
society. They struggle to find jobs that will accept them, either
because of their disabilities or their MOS doesn’t transition well into
civilian life. They struggle for compensation from the VA since the
military conveniently forgets to write down whatever thing they’re
responsible for. They lose jobs. They lose their homes. They’re mocked
for being sick, mocked for being disabled, mocked for being homeless and
“crazy”. They don’t want much. They’re not asking for parades and pats
on the back. They want their lives back. Just… to live. To have a warm
bed to call their own. To afford food every month, to pay their bills
on time. They want adequate and regular mental healthcare that helps
them cope with the damage their minds have endured. They want healthcare
that has rules set in place to help the veterans over whatever money
the government wants to save.
Oh, but today.
Today is supposed to be our magical day.
Maybe that struggling veteran gets a pat on the back. “Thank you for
your service” they might hear a stranger say. Maybe it feels good to be
noticed in a positive way, maybe it just makes them feel even more
isolated and ignored because they know it’s only for one day. Maybe that
free meal at some restaurant might be nice. Little banners here and
there, signs put up in shop windows even though a struggling veteran is
politely asked to leave the rest of the year.
This one day
doesn’t mean shit to them. It might feel nice, but what that veteran
needs above all else is to feel like people give a shit the rest of the
time. For their healthcare to be improved. For their VA compensation to
be enough to keep them fed and clothed. For mental healthcare to be a
priority.
Instead trillions of dollars we don’t have are put into
more and more wars. Trillions of dollars are spent sending young
soldiers into the battlefield only to bring them back home and toss them
out on the street just as broken.
“Respect and support the
troops!” cry the politicians who happily throw our money towards bigger
and better weapons while slashing the budget to care for the broken
soldiers THEY created.
I don’t hate Veteran’s Day.
I just wish it actually meant something.
——-
((Disclaimer: I’m a disabled veteran so any hate mail you’re about to send based on me being a “clueless civilian SJW” will be laughed off))
