It's all pure chaos out here

This blog is a total chaotic mess of sociopolitical stuff, occasional fandom stuff, and whatever else in-between. TERFs, SWERFs, and generally unpleasant people - DNI. He/them, AMAB, bi. PFP is a screenshot from one of z_Ke's Deltarune animations.

[suakkomarigamichibitarulumity]

Long story short, in the past, uh... Month or so? Anyway, recently I’ve been binge-watching the original Sailor Moon anime series, aaaaand by the time I finished Season 3/S/Infinity Arc, cue these two living in my head rent-free, and I nabbed several screenies of these two, both from the original series and the reboot (though the reboot screenies are fairly underused here by comparison) all for use in a low-effort meme.

[gummybearattacktheworldofdespair]

[darkwarlock707]

For those who thought that this was Nintendo baiting people into posting videos for them to take down, (as I initially did, admittedly), it’s actually people posting pictures of YouTube takedown notices. Nintendo didn’t bait anyone...They walked into a metaphorical garden rake.

[heroineimages]

Okay, that's funny.

[thedailyelm]

“I think it’s absolutely imperative that Democrats hire a press secretary who holds daily briefings.” Said rodlinafelter on a 141k Threads post last week.

I think that’s a great idea.

Which is why, when they had the Daily Blueprint, I posted about it every single day.

The Daily Blueprint was a daily show from the DNC, 7 minutes of the top news stories from the Democrats. Half of it explained things Republicans were destroying that we needed to know about, and the other half made us aware of ways we were succeeding.

It included things like when and where you could watch a hearing and interviews with members of the Democratic party, both elected and not.

It was hosted by DNC Deputy Communications Director, Hannah Muldavin, and it ran for 104 days, the last day being November 12.

And then it stopped.

Why?

See the first sentence of this essay.

Even while this daily briefing was happening. Even as I posted it and analyzed it every single day, posts demanding a daily briefing were still going viral.

Could the DNC have posted it on more platforms? Yes. They absolutely could have.

But would that have mattered?

People say the same about Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries all the time, but his weekly briefings were not only live on YouTube, but also on IG.

Did that make a difference?

No, it didn’t.

Posts like that were STILL going viral.

This is why I can’t take anyone seriously who says Dems need to post more or better or differently.

What they’re already doing isn’t being acknowledged at all.

I have a weekly series called “You’re Being Lied To” where I highlight two Dems who posted something engaging about the work they’re doing, the fight their bringing to it and the noise their making.

These stories are things THEY posted. They are not things that were hidden or that I found by doing heavy amounts of research. I found them by scrolling my feed on IG.

There’s this expectation that if it doesn’t organically come to you, it’s not good enough, and doesn’t exist at all.

Okay, so how do you expect that to change?

How is a member of Congress or the DNC expected to get YOUR attention?

There is this pervading idea that it’s THEIR fault. That if it’s not handed directly to every single person on social media on a silver platter then the politician or organization is doing something wrong.

But it’s hard to make that a priority when it doesn’t seem to make a difference.

Would more people have watched The Daily Blueprint if it wasn’t just posted on YouTube and Substack?

If it had been clipped up on YouTube shorts, as well as IG and Tiktok?

Sure. Yeah, more people would have seen it.

But what would those comments have looked like?

I bet you anything, even on those videos themselves, they would have said that same sentence from the start of this essay. And I know this because they did, and those are the same comments I got when I posted about the Blueprint myself.

It’s hard to think people actually want better comms when they refuse to highlight the comms actually happening.

It’s hard to believe it would make any difference at all.

Look, could Democrats be doing better, yeah sure, always, there’s always room for improvement.

But the companies are mostly run by Republicans, and so are most publications, and the ones that aren’t are run by the consultant class who are really angry no one wants to listen to them anymore.

And remember, these stories are supposed to come from journalists and creators, that’s how we’ve always learned what’s happening.

So if they’re not posting it…

Literally everything is making it as easy as possible for you to give Democrats as little credit as possible every single step of the way.

Which means, it’s on you to put a little effort in. If a Dem posts something that impresses you, don’t wait for it to be picked up. YOU can be the person who spreads it and gives it the attention it deserves. You can’t wait till a journalist acknowledges it exists.

THIS is how we beat Republicans. Cause THIS is where they are making the most inroads. They know they can’t get your vote but they can stop you and others from voting all together and from believing in Democrats at all.

Take back that power. Instead of saying “why don’t I see X, obviously it’s not happening.” Assume it is, find an example for yourself, and spread it.

THAT is how we save and strengthen democracy.

-

You will not be shocked that the comment section will be flooded with angry people, so if you agree with this post, please follow for more nuance, anti-doomerism content and calls to action!

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[fiercelywonderful]

As someone who is intentionally childfree, can childfree people stop being so fucking annoying?? Why are you so doomerist about everything? Why do some of you hate children? It is WEIRD. Your feelings are valid but some thoughts are better kept to yourself. Just because you don’t understand why other people would want children doesn’t mean people like to hear it.

I don’t like childfree people harping on how having children is morally/financially irresponsible because even if sometimes that may be the case, I don’t believe only rich people are ethically allowed to have kids. Parents have it hard enough and for those who already have existing children, they don’t need to hear your complaints. As a childfree auntie who has nieces and nephews she loves, I’m invested in children’s future and I don’t like people telling me the kids are screwed either.

Even for those of us who aren’t having children, I don’t want to hear how all children are doomed because this planet is doomed. Children are signs of hope and resilience. Intentional or not, people have had children between famine and nuclear wars. The human race has faced existential challenges before and we will do it again or literally die trying. If you aren’t interested in having or helping children to have a better future, then at least don’t be part of the problem.

[samiadalwulf]

It is vitally important that you never ever give up

"The chances we stop this are so low"

there's still a chance

"We're already past the point it'll be bad"

Yeah should probably get ready for that. It'll be tough.

"You'll be fighting for the rest of your life"

Yep. But somebody has to.

Stop catastrophizing. Stop romantizing giving up. Stop acting like it'll be better when humans are all dead and so giving up is Actually Good Really. You're just falling for ironic detachment on a social scale.

Care about something, with your whole heart.

[thedailyelm]

How many Democrats do you think are in office across the US?

Apologies in advance for the following word problem

If Democrats are in, conservatively, 40% of elected positions around the country, and there are 519,682 possible seats, there are about 205,063 elected Democrats in the US.

And that doesn’t account for certain nonpartisan positions or appointed positions.

That’s a hell of a lot of elected Dems. It’s not enough, not by a long shot, but it’s a lot.

Which is why it always boggles my mind when I see posts talking about seven members of the Congressional Democratic Caucus as if they are the entire party.

And even if we go with the argument that Congressional Dems ARE the entire party, because the federal seats matter more — which is an argument, it’s not a factual argument, but that’s neither here nor there — we’re at 3% of House Dems, or 2% if we include both legislative bodies.

So either 2% or 7/200k are treated as if they represent all Democrats.

But only when something bad happens.

When something good happens, the people involved in that good thing only represent themselves. Even when the entire party is behind them.

As for Republicans, well there, it seems like people understand the assignment.

There are Republicans that vote with Democrats occasionally, in Thomas Massie’s case, more than occasionally, these days.

But everyone understands that Massie does not speak for the Republican Party. No one praises the Republican Party anytime a Republican, or a few, do something less horrific.

So Republicans are not subjected to the same scrutiny and Dems are only subjected to it in the negative.

No wonder Dems have a low approval rating.

I mean, how could their approval rating ever improve if they are collectively blamed for every single little thing that one person does that a certain portion of people online don’t like?

That’s impossible.

We have a big tent party. That’s just a fact. And that means that there is at least one subsection of the party that each other subsection is not a huge fan of.

So it is, quite literally, impossible for Dems to be the good guys if every subsection uses this logic.

One thing that sets Democrats apart from Republicans right now is that we are not a cult.

We do not have a leader who we listen to without asking questions.

And I think that’s a good thing.

Cause when we start blindly listening to a leader that’s when we stop being Democrats. We stop thinking and feeling and caring about what happens to others and how our actions affect the world and people around us.

But that also means that we’re gonna disagree, passionately. It means that how I see caring about the world and how you see caring about the world might be different.

My nonnegotiable are different from yours because my focus is different from yours.

At this point, ALL Democrats believe that the most important thing we must do is save and strengthen Democracy.

And, right now, that’s enough.

It might not be enough when we’ve had a trifecta for a few years, but it is right now.

It has to be.

Cause the alternative is a party that doesn’t agree with Democracy, doesn’t care and doesn’t even consider how their actions affect others.

And I think that’s worse every single time.

So can we PLEASE stop blaming all Democrats for the actions of a few?

There are some INCREDIBLE Dems at every level of government across every state and municipality. Instead of holding the entire party accountable for what seven people did, lift up those who are doing the right thing, especially those who don’t get much attention for it.

You are not convincing the Dems to “stick to the status quo” by focusing on supporting the ones who impress you, but you ARE convincing them not to listen to you when there is not a single second they can collectively do one thing right.

It’s in our power to change the Dems approval rating. And if you ever want the kind of progress you dream about, that’s what we have to do.

Follow for more nuance, anti-doomerism content and calls to action!

Turn on my notifications and get a paid subscription to my newsletter so all these stories come right to your inbox!

And join my group Election Day Is Every Tuesday, so you’re informed for every election, cause that’s how we start changing things

[starlight-girl-is-happy]

Crystal Chibiusa with her hair down

[suakkomarigamichibitarulumity]

Same energy:

[thedailyelm]

There was a time that performative action and activism was seen as a negative, but now, if something isn’t performative, it’s like it didn’t happen.

Democrats can’t be fighting back, because if it wasn’t covered by your favorite political creator, it’s obviously not happening.

Considering the consequences to one’s actions is no longer okay. Sure the Member of Congress could go to jail and we’d lose a seat, but that doesn’t matter when them being arrested would be plastered all over social media.

There’s no middle ground anymore. There’s no room for measured approaches or consideration of all the facts.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is literally saying that he isn’t sure the Republican law forcing a special election for a vacant Senate seat doesn’t violate the state constitution.

He told Al Sharpton on Politics Nation a week ago:

[It] says I appoint all state officers when there’s a vacancy. The question is, does that apply to federal offices? Well, before there was ever a law in Kentucky on how this would work, multiple appointments were made by governors, assumingly under that provision.

That’s huge.

That’s Governor Beshear saying he’s going to go toe to toe with Republicans over something that most of us working in political journalism were very much considering settled.

He has a State Assembly and Senate with Republican supermajorities. They can pretty much do whatever they want. And yet, he’s ready to challenge that. He’s publicly and loudly saying he’s ready to challenge that.

And yet. All I see is people complaining that he’s not barging into McConnell’s hospital room demanding a nurse tell him exactly what’s on his chart. (exaggeration, but you get the point.)

It’s like if something isn’t performative enough, the actual action that is happening couldn’t matter less.

And this kind of thinking WILL cost us vital elections.

There is no such thing as the perfect candidate. The only candidate that is perfect to you, the only candidate that could ever say everything you want to hear and nothing you don’t, is literally you.

So barring you running for office, every single politican, yes, including Mayor Mamdani, is going to end up doing something you don’t fully agree with at some point.

It’s not a matter of “if,” it’s a matter of “when.”

So it’s important to take each thing that does go right, and that you do agree with, and celebrate it. If we are just waiting to be let down, that will happen 100% of the time.

Andy Beshear is one of the best Democrats we have — and that’s not even based on his policies, though, as an example he’s loudly pro trans in a state that very much isn’t.

Kentucky is very red, very very red, but even WITH his incredibly progressive policies, he’s still very popular in red Kentucky.

That is not someone we want to oust from office. That is someone we want to be around as long as possible.

People from Kentucky realize that. Most people on social media do not.

And those voices end up drowning out the Kentucky voters who are just begging people to stop treating him like the bad guy.

What he is doing with McConnell’s seat is HUGE. It’s a really big deal to go against a Republican super majority. I wish social media would celebrate it, instead of finding a way it’s not good enough.

This mob mentality isn’t good for anyone. Stop, for just a second, and think about if this is the best way to have an impact.

And if you come to the conclusion that it’s not, please focus on the Midterm, where we DO have a fantastic Dem candidate for McConnell’s seat named Charles Booker. If we put as much focus on him as people are currently putting on ragging on Beshear, he might just flip that seat.

If we keep going down this path, that’s not gonna happen.

So let’s get Booker elected, and celebrate what Beshear is already doing.

Who’s with me?

[thedailyelm]

If Kamala was president do you honestly think Gaza would be in as bad shape as it is now?

Do you honestly think she would be working with Bibi to harm Palestinians further?

Okay fine, for arguments sake, let’s say you’re right.

So how would Palestinians be worse off exactly?

If she would do literally everything Trump is doing now, how would that be worse?

And more importantly, would nothing else matter?

So she’s as bad as Trump on Palestine. How about ICE? Would she have signed a bill to give them $75 billion more in funding?

Would she be opening detention centers all over the country?

Would she be letting agents get away with murdering people?

How about Medicaid and Medicare and ACA?

Would she have signed a bill to cut their funding?

Would the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have disbanded cause they lost all funding?

And elections. Would she be trying to pass a bill to make it harder for people, especially women to vote?

Would she be putting an additional 50% tariff on all goods from Canada for daring to have a wildfire that brought smoke to the US?

Would she have stopped FEMA from helping places recover from natural disasters that didn’t vote for her?

I could keep going and going and going.

If she would have been exactly as bad on Palestine as Trump, then how was it the right thing to help him take office?

Because no matter how bad you think she would have been on Palestine, these things matter too, right?

Healthcare is important, non-state media is important, elections are important, protecting immigrants is important, right?

When I say “vote blue no matter who” this is the only thing I’m talking about. I’m saying these things matter. I’m saying no matter how bad a given Democrat is, they are united against these things, and more.

Isn’t that enough?

Perfection doesn’t exist, but progress does.

Ignoring these things isn’t going to make that progress happen. In fact it’s going to make perfection even further out of reach.

I know this little essay won’t be seen by the people who need to see it most, but I can only hope it makes those who are on the fence, those who thought the logic made sense but didn’t think to hard about it, really think.

We have a chance to begin to heal democracy in November. But that just can’t happen if we won’t settle for anything other than perfection.

Vote for whoever you want in the primary, but in the general, it’s gotta be the Democrat (except in certain circumstances like Nebraska Senator, but if you have one of those, you know who you are.)

Your vote is your voice and that voice is your superpower. Don’t use your voice to say you’re okay with what’s happening now if the alternative isn’t everything you ever hoped and dreamed.

And, if, hopefully when, Dems take back power, they’re gonna have to reverse the damage Republicans created before they can focus on making things better. They’re not gonna make progress at the speed you want, but that doesn’t mean voting for them was the wrong choice.

Please understand that, I BEG you.

[thedailyelm]

Nancy Pelosi was an incredible Speaker.

She didn’t let anything go to the floor unless she knew that she had the votes to pass it. It was masterful.

But you don’t really hear people talk about her when she was minority leader, right?

That’s because she didn’t really have much power.

She didn’t get to choose when something came to the floor.

She couldn’t wait till she had enough votes to kill something the majority wanted to pass. That’s not how it worked.

We don’t know what Hakeem Jeffries will be like as a Speaker.

Maybe you’re right. Maybe he will bring things to the floor he doesn’t have the votes for. Maybe he will work with Republicans on things we really don’t need to work with Republicans on.

But, he learned from Pelosi, so I doubt it.

Right now, he is minority leader.

Speaker Mike Johnson chooses what comes to the floor and what doesn’t. And he definitely didn’t learn from the Nancy Pelosi school of speakership.

Jeffries does his best. And that’s all he can do.

There are several Democrats who vote with Republicans between 10 and 20% of the time, it feels like.

Jeffries could make the most compelling argument in history — I’m sure he and several other members, including whip Katherine Clark have — and it wouldn’t matter.

These reps think they know what is best for them, for getting reelected and for their constituents. And that’s that.

Short of taking a page out of the fascist playbook and literally bribing or threatening them, they’re not budging.

Is that on Jeffries? Is that on Democrats at large?

I certainly don’t think so. And I don’t understand why anyone else does either.

Sometimes it feels like social media reads too many science fiction books.

It’s almost like there’s this assumption that we live in an episode of Black Mirror where as leader of the minority party, Jeffries has a switchboard with the name of each member on it.

He is the only one with access to the switchboard. And it has several buttons. “AIPAC,” “ICE,” “SAVE Act” and he pulls a lever to determine who should support a given Republican bill.

Luckily we don’t live in that made up episode of the Black Mirror. We live in a world where we still have free will and Democrats are not a cult.

And that means that there are a handful of Reps who do not vote like we want them to. And some of those are frustrating, like Adam Gray, who is about to be in a safe Dem district.

And some of those are like Don Davis, who is in a very Trumpy area probably does need to vote these ways to stay in office — and we NEED him to stay in office. (I mean, we need both of them, but, votes like this will no longer help Gray like it might help Davis.)

We are a big tent party. And until the Republican party sorts its shit out, we’re gonna continue to be.

But that’s not Jeffries’ fault.

Jeffries leads 212 separate humans, not 212 homogenous robots.

And given that, it’s INCREDIBLY impressive what he and Whip Clark have been able to do. That on a lot of really big monumental issues they’ve gotten the Goldens and the Jayapals alike to vote in line with each other.

The amount of discharge petitions that have passed the House (most years there are none) and the incredible task forces he’s put together, choosing the perfect members to chair each one, are pretty remarkable.

It’s easy to shit on Jeffries and Democrats at large. It’s the popular thing to do.

It’s harder to praise him for doing everything he has done as minority leader. It’s hard to accept that we are the minority and his ability is incredibly limited.

It’s hard to accept that because we are in the minority the votes of these more moderate Dems are much more visible and infuriating than if we were in a comfortable majority.

It’s frustrating to have to acknowledge that Jeffries has no say as to what comes to the floor or if we have enough Dems to kill something.

But just cause it’s hard doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it anyway.

We HAVE to win in November. And that means that once the primary is over, the Dem who is left standing MUST get elected (except in certain cases where the Independent is more electable, if that’s your district, you already know.)

That means reelecting Don Davis and Adam Gray and Vicente Gonzalez etc. And for the ones that haven’t had their primary yet, voting for the person you want but accepting that if he doesn’t win, you will have to vote for Marie Glusenkamp Perez again in November too.

And it means not blaming Jeffries for any of it.

Jeffries isn’t a fascist and isn’t a cult leader. He and Whip Clark can’t force these members to do anything they don’t want to do. But what they HAVE been able to do deserves support and praise, cause I really don’t know if a different minority leader would have been equally as successful.

Our voices are our superpower, so let’s use them to change the narrative.

Imagine how popular Democrats could be if the focus was on praising them when they did the right thing, not working overtime to seek out things they may have done wrong.

Just some food for thought.

-

You will not be shocked that this won't be very popular, so if you agree with this post, please follow for more nuance, anti-doomerism content and calls to action!

Turn on my notifications and subscribe to this newsletter so these stories come right to your inbox!

And join my group Election Day Is Every Tuesday, so you’re informed for every election, cause that’s how we start changing things

[moringmark]

[moringmark]

[moringmark]

[beardedmrbean]

[toastycyborg]

I scrolled past this without second thought. Paused. Thought, wait, I've never seen a crane on the road. Scrolled back up. No answers. Typed this response, then noticed the book's author. What a whirlwind

[orcboxer]

Basically they bring it in piece by piece and assemble it on-site, using a smaller mobile crane (trucks with crane attachments) and once the crane itself is assembled, the top part can use hydraulics to climb up and down its own mast, so it builds itself taller like this

There is however no explanation for BJ Nomnom

[toastycyborg]

That is genuinely fascinating, thank you!

[niyarest]

[suakkomarigamichibitarulumity]

I swear, I see the "strongly worded letters" buzzword in the comments under a progressive news channel one more time, I am going fucking ballistic and on a lengthy spree of searching fir articles about things Democrats actually did beyond said "letters".

Actually, come to think of it, what is it with progressive news channels and just... Having ungodly amounts of doomers in the comments?

Are we genuinely THAT lazy that we'd rather just keep overdosing on pure nihilism and fatalism instead of at least trying to do SOMETHING? And no, vague calls to "do something now before it's too late" don't count, sorry, Youtube commenter #2345, people need concrete solutions.

Oh? You're going to repeat the "strongly worded letters" buzzword ad nauseam? Catastrophize about all the possible terrible outcomes? Complain about nothing being done while not looking for things you can do? Real nice. Then do so someplace quiet and out of public sight so you don't spread that apathetic energy to others.

I love how the people complaining the most about supposed voter apathy are also the most outspoken fucking doomers. Just love to fucking see it. Totally doesn't make me yell "SHUT UUUUUUUP!" at the top of my lungs after one comment too many, no sirree.

[blackjame]