you know that's right

[kthomaslumen]

The battle of winter fell flat

Setting aside several good points made last night, and without diving into the implications for the remainder of the season, the actual Battle of Winterfell was DEEPLY unsatisfying.

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[needsmoresarcasm]

Today is Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. Fred Korematsu is relevant today for so many reasons: the importance of protest in the protection of civil liberties, the dangers of relying solely on the judiciary, the very real - and embarrassing - Supreme Court precedent still on the books, the misuse of power of an executive driven by xenophobia, and so much more. And lots has been and will be written about all of this in ways much more articulate, informed, and thoughtful than I could. But Fred Korematsu’s story, and the story of Japanese internment, is not just a story for me, it’s family history. And so, I feel compelled to share some of that.

I took multiple Asian American studies courses in undergrad, and many of them taught the same thing: that much of Japanese American internment was being lost to history, as those who were interned died without documenting their experience. Japanese Americans wanted to get on with their lives after internment and did not want to revisit it. While this is certainly true in a general sense, it never rang true to me. 

Enter grandma. My grandma is a nisei, a second generation Japanese American. She is a ninety-year-old woman and also one of the most unabashedly outspoken people I know. She never shied away from bringing up internment; sometimes to tell harmless anecdotes of her life, and sometimes to make a pointed argument about equality or justice to my brother and me. So when I had a class assignment to interview someone about an Asian American issue, I knew exactly who I would interview.

And so I interviewed my grandma, or rather, she talked at me, for hours. About what she did for fun when she was in camp, about how her family felt about the government’s “loyalty questionnaire,” about where she went after being interned, about basically anything she remembered. To be honest, I’m sure I should have internalized more and documented more from that conversation, but one thing I do remember is how much she mentioned the kindness of others. Through every piece of her story, she seemed to remember some anecdote of a non-Japanese American who showed kindness: her classmates in school who comforted her; her school principal who made a point to support the Japanese American students over the PA system; her neighbors who agreed to take care of her possessions, and so on. These stories were all on the top of her mind, integral to her story. Sixty-five years after-the-fact, she remembered these people and wanted to share these stories. It was important to her that I understood her gratitude towards these people.

And so, back to today, I’m trying to remember two things. First, kindness to individuals will be remembered. And I’m good at being loud, and active, and critical, but I’m not always great at going out of my way to be kind. So I need to work on reaching out and showing kindness and compassion to vulnerable individuals on a personal level. And second, that my grandma may remember the kindness of other, but she also remembers all the injustices of being displaced and having her life upended; all the personal kindness in the world didn’t stop her from being interned. There is no activism/kindness dichotomy. So, grandma, I’m gonna try to be someone you would remember, but I’m also gonna try to prevent there from being any occasion to remember.

[needsmoresarcasm]

I still have no answers today. But I know there is one question that I’m just not interested in. I have no current desire to figure out who or what is to blame for the election result. That ground will be covered. And the answer will be important, but right now, blaming the media, or the Republican leadership, or black turnout, or Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, or third parties, or the electoral college, or the FBI, or rural voters, or political apathy, or restrictive voting laws seems a bit fruitless. Everyone is pointing at trees, but we’re still in the middle of the forest. Let’s get some distance.

And, as I think about my own next steps, I know the two questions I am interested in. Who are we as a country? And what goal should be pursued?

When it comes down to it, nearly 50% of voters picked Donald Trump for President. That in itself is a referendum about who we are as a country. And my gut reaction is to let that be the end of the conversation. I’d like to be able to dismiss that 50% as racists and idiots and be done with it. But, those people carried the election, and so in large, they are the country. It’s important to figure out who they actually are, beyond their complicity with and endorsement of racism, sexism, and xenophobia. There is more there, and though I have no particular interest in humanizing the Trump voter, I do want to understand this country, my country.

And, then, there’s the very real, actionable concern of what happens next? Is the goal to elect a Democratic Congress and a Democrat for President? Or is the goal to attempt to unify this country’s increasingly sharp divide? The former is pragmatic. Fill the government with people that represent me. That’s the basic tenant of democracy, right? Just turn out more minorities and young people in the next elections; they’re the future of this country anyway. The Trump coalition will eventually lose to demographic change. The latter is idealistic. Reach out to try to alter American culture. Try to make people better. Consider how we might need to make structural changes to our institutions to better educate and inform. Spend a lot of time and energy having conversations that maybe do nothing in the end. Bluntly, if I want to be effective, should I be reaching out to the Trump voter? (And do I do it because it’s a means to an end or because it’s an end in and of itself?)

These goals are not mutually exclusive, and indeed electing Democrats will require unification and vice versa. But, it seems to me that choosing pragmatism or idealism is necessary to actual begin action. So that’s where I’m at now.

[heygeek]

I agree that there’s too much noise in the data right now, but I also don’t want the blame-assignment to be pushed off indefinitely, which most parties involved have a stake in. The media, liberals, and conservatives: none of them really want to peel back the layers because it’s not good for any of them. So, yes, not today. Not this week. But not never, which I’m afraid will happen if it doesn’t happen soon. 

(Also, a point of clarification: of the voting-eligible population, 26.4% voted for Trump, 26.5% voted for Hillary (I think. I saw the stat earlier but can’t find it again, but it was ~46% that didn’t vote at all). So I know 50% seems like a daunting thing to reckon with, and 1-in-4 is still shit, but I think the real issue might be how many people are uninvolved in something that has such a direct impact on their lives.)

In terms of Pragmatism v. Idealism (see, I’m relating to you in your field of work, it’s called making human connections, and I’ve read that it’s important), I’m not sure it has to be either/or.

I think Pragmatism should win out in the short term, but the work also has to start on long term Idealism now.

The Senate in 2018 will likely be a bloodbath for Democrats thanks to the number of seats they have to defend vs Republicans. But if Trump’s policies are as immediately disastrous as they have the potential to be, in theory you could see a liberal backlash, just like you saw a conservative backlash in 2010 over Obamacare. So it’s definitely possible, but gerrymandering also makes the House an uphill battle. So, again, it seems like turnout and engaging people is the real issue? 

Which, I guess makes me think (I’m changing my mind on the fly stream of consciousness! woo!) that actually the two approaches might not be that different? Pragmatically you need to engage people to vote for Dems in the short term to check Trump. Idealism-wise, you probably need to engage all sides (and those who are currently sitting it out) into working on structural reform.

And HOO BOY do I have ideas on structural reform. Most require Constitutional amendments though, which is tricky. But I think there’s an NRA-/Grover Norquist-style approach to raising money and basically holding people to pledges to vote for changes, and if they don’t do it, you wipe them out with a primary challenge. And that probably has to be a bi-partisan approach. You can have our money, I don’t care if you want to ban guns or ban abortion, just vote for these structural changes?

IDK IDK I have thoughts. I might think all of this is wrong tomorrow. But I’m definitely thinking about the long term stuff.

So. Anywho. Hi.

[supermoosethings]

best marauder’s cposplay I have ever seen *^* 

[laurakvstheworld]

holy shit remus

[heygeek]

WOW 3/4 WOULD BANG HELLO JAMES HELLO SIRIUS. SERIOUSLY THO HELLO JAMES. /o\ 

[shorelle]

here we are now, with the falling sky and the rain      we’re awakening ♪

one of the scenes I would really love to see (as I’m sure many people have thought of!) is Rey experiencing her first rainfall ☺ also because “Awakening” has become one of my theme songs for TFA and all the new kids, there’s something about it which is very beautiful and fits so well thematically ;;

AND BONUS PIC: Finn + Rey (+ Poe’s jacket of a thousand uses (〃▽〃) )

[heygeek]

#SOMEWHERE POE IS DRENCHED

[awesome-picz]

Cats With Their Cute Mini-Mes

[heygeek]

Am I the only one whose very first thought was this: 

:D /o\

[hsytles]

surrender!

[heygeek]

As Louis gets Liam to surrender, a familiar facial expression appears 

[dyke2watchout4-deactivated20260]

whenever i want to put a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in one of my posts i google “shrug emoji” and copy and paste it and i think the reality behind this process kind of undermines the whole blasé, “lmao, who cares? not me” feel i’m trying to add to these posts by adding my little ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ guy in the first place

[heygeek]

which is why I made it a shortcut on my phone :D 

&sh converts into this shrug emoji, resolving this google process I too once did \o/

[exgynocraticgrrl-archive-deacti]

Malcolm X (May 5, 1962)

 in Los Angeles

[thissbrowngrl]

Relevant !!

[heygeek]

I know I’m wildly missing the point (I’m not actually, but I have nothing to add), but am I the only one who noticed that very last line? Did the Dixie Chicks quote Malcolm X in Sin Wagon? /o\

[heygeek]

Happy (early) Birthday theboycanthelpit :D

[waywaw]

I want all the media to put their hands up and swear something this election season.

[fawnbabe-deactivated20190422]

idk but the idea of dating seems so exhausting to me, i personally don’t feel like i’m the type to get to know new people and open up to them only to drop it  again after a while and start over new, i really just want to have someone that stays my partner in crime for the rest of my life

[tastefullyoffensive]

(photo via devvy_downer)

[alohamaura]

Look at his eyes. He looks like he just realised what a problem he has.

[cptnoblivious]

Haha that last comment got me

[heygeek]

nope, that look is “oh shit they found the preciouses” as he scrambles to come up with something. “um... it was dog. bad dog. should be punished. with cone again maybe”

[tyleroakley]

[pbh3]

Punctuation marks the internet sorely needs.

[schmittastisch]

I love the Hemi-Demi-Semi Colon

[kidwithgoggles]

Anybody want to make a font?

[v-xv-mcmxcix]

I actually read that in his voice omg

[heygeek]

listen, elle_Oki and I already came up with Sarcasm Tags* very similar to this, so step off :P

------ *Sarcasm Tags: {oh yes, I’m sooo looking forward to seeing that with you}

[4gifs]

[liftedandgiftedd]

yo dude in the back hellllaaa reached out like it was nothing to grab that shit

[heygeek]

\o/

when you're in the shower and a drop of water from your hair is rolling down your forehead and you can feel that it's headed toward your eye, so you tilt your head so it goes towards the bridge of your nose, then tilt quickly back so it doesn't go all the way over to your other eye

[heygeek]

I've been lugging around all these deliveries, my left bicep is gonna be HUGE. And what's the jerk-off muscle *flexes wrist*? That's gonna be great too. Shit, I probably shouldn't have said 'jerk-off muscle'? Shit, I probably shouldn't have said 'shit'. Oh, god damn it. Uh. Don't report me?

the greatest delivery girl EVER