Thoughts Become Things

Kizuna Tallis - an occupant of different fandoms and tastes posting things she likes. Inhabits the light and the dark.

[unsolicited-opinions]

Maine's Senate race is a study in how democracy can fail.

Susan Collins is still the least loyal Republican in the chamber....and still votes with Trump 95% of the time.

This tells you everything about the Senate Republicans - and that Collins, regardless of her performance to the contrary, is neither a moderate nor an independent.

Collins helped put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, which ended federal abortion rights.

Mainers have consistently voted against Trump 3-to-1.

All this set up the Democrats with only one job: run a sane, likeable, independent-minded moderate against her.

Instead, they nominated Platner after somehow failing to vet him at all.

He knew his tattoo was a totenkopf, a Nazi SS insignia, and lied about it. He has massive character failings.

I think Haviv Rettig Gur is right that if Platner's tattoo had been a confederate flag instead of Nazi SS insignia, Democrats would have remembered what they claim to believe in.

But it was just the symbol of a Nazi concentration camp guard, and it was mostly Jews who were upset, so he still gets to be the progressive hero this moment needs.

Platner is currently polling a little better than Collins in Maine, but I haven't been able to take polls seriously since 2016.

I understand why Mainers will likely put Platner in office. I also think that anything that impedes the march of Republican authoritarianism is good.

But holy shit has the bar been lowered in our expectations of US Senators that Democrats who falsely claim to have principles are defending Platner's obviously shitty character.

Whichever way Mainers vote, America loses.

[afurioushawk]

As someone who followed this race since last October, I will have to disagree that if he had a Confederate tattoo that he would've faced more push-back. This guy has just about every single skeleton in his closet. He straight up admitted he signed up for war for the thrill of killing (brown) people and said he loved the idea of desecrating dead bodies and raping men as a show of dominance.

Platner won because Maine is 93% white and the WASPs up there (the same WASPs who've been electing Susan Collins all this time - including Graham Platner) didn't find any of that (along with his troubling history with women) disqualifying. They had two normie options and wanted the walking red flag.

[daily-deliciousness]

Burger bowls with caramelized onion aioli

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

it was never your fault they were abusive to you. it wasn’t because you did something wrong to deserve mistreatment. it was because they were cruel and you were there for them to hurt.

[afurioushawk]

[ignorethisatyourperil]

[abigailspinach]

[libraford]

At this point, I truly think that MAGA are just like... anti-fun.

They don't like our rainbows, they don't like cosplay or costumes, they don't like cultural festivals.

Like... fun for them has very strict rules. Like it can't be too outlandish, it has to be about the country or have religion attached to it somehow, there's an itinerary. Like... the Freedom 250 thing has a baptism pool. The fun has to be a specific way or its out of line.

I'm in a picture with my friends, having fun at a parade in our dance costumes (which no one seems to complain about when they're on a stage) and they're like... "freak show," "lunatics," etc... and its like... yes? And?

Its a parade, youre supposed to provide a spectacle or you end up like the Christmas parade we were too queer to be in. (It was a requirement by the organizers to have the float themed around the birth of christ somehow. It was the saddest parade ever and I dont know why i wanted to be in it so bad.)

I bring my colorful flow props to everything. People spit on me, tell me im going to hell, preach at me while im just vibing. Like they see all the fun im having and have a visceral reaction to it. Like... how dare I make my lifestyle look fun and carefree in front of the impressionable youths? (My lifestyle is fun and carefree! I have a life that I love outside of my sexuality, but I also love being out and queer.)

A comment thats going to stick with me for awhile was 'i don't care if they're gay, but why do they have to be weird?'

And like... i am weird, yeah. For sure! But children's media for most of my young years was about embracing weirdness, so i figured it was okay. Plus, performers are often weird.

Im having fun in a way that doesn't fall into the three acceptable categories of fun: faith, country, or family.

And its like... I wonder if there's a correlation between MAGA and certain rules-based symptoms, you know?

[mariacallous]

[kizunatallis]

They ignored all the women calling him a gross and unwashed looking creep, ignored the racist spews, bragging about desecrating dead enemy combatants corpses, and so fucking much more.

[notafain]

Hopefully he drinks himself to death tonight

[mariacallous]

#the fact this can be about multiple people is depressing

[extasiswings]

I refuse to be gaslit by people who were minimizing and dismissing domestic violence and smearing survivors less than two months ago. The thing is, I could almost believe the prior defenses were sunk cost fallacy in action if not for the fact that they were so fucking GLEEFUL about it. They loved telling women that rape apologia and serial cheating and violence against women were things we just needed to sit down and shut up about and accept as “not a big deal”. They wanted to put women in our “place” and now are stuck because there’s still a line that is a bridge too far (I’m personally shocked after everything else and cynically think this is only being taken so seriously because there’s something even worse they don’t want to come out), so forgive me if I’m not going to accept the “we stand with survivors”/“this is too important to ignore” bullshit platitudes.

[And yes obviously the Nazi tattoo was first and should have been disqualifying on its own but since the gaslighters haven’t conceded that I’m focusing on their about-face on violence against women]

[newsandstuffisee]

[onceuponawhine]

the thing is what collins has going for her in maine is that she is competent at accomplishing things for mainers and is known to voters (and like it or not, it takes years of experience to create a successful track record so candidates may be OLD oh NO). so maybe schumer knew what the fuck he was doing when he recruited a similarly competent woman known to voters without the stink of trump all over her in a state that hates trump right now. perhaps. maybe

[filmphotofranz]

[afurioushawk]

I've been told by my leftist betters that as soon as Palestine is free, it'll be like Trump never happened.

[tahthetrickster]

just so we’re clear if you’ve never actually seen a cybertruck in person and have only seen photos of them i cannot stress enough how much worse they look in real life. like i honestly don’t know how it’s possible. most things look basically the same in pictures and in real life. but as stupid and ugly as cybertrucks look in photos, every person i’ve spoken to who has seen one in real life agrees that they somehow look even worse in person. and i know you’re thinking to yourself “tah they already look so bad in photos, how can they possibly look even worse in person?” I DONT KNOW. the first time i saw one on the road i was on a phone call and i literally cut myself off in the middle of a sentence just to be like “oh my GOD.” just an incredibly, laughably, unbelievably bad vehicle. i’ve never experienced anything like it. they’re just so bad

[mariacallous]

[kizunatallis]

Let's be real here, a lot of "progressives" were setting themselves up for disappointment from the start because of that idiotic assumption, and when he didn't push the magic Marxism button they would never forgive him.

[throathole]

I really love when cats use their front legs to hold something in place while they use their back legs to kick the absolute shit out of it

[throathole]

Destruction. Annihilation, even