#wedge issues

[itsmythang]

Ode to Sean Hannity

by John Cleese

~

Aping urbanity

Oozing with vanity

Plump as a manatee

Faking humanity

Journalistic calamity

Intellectual inanity

Fox Noise insanity

You’re a profanity

Hannity

[itsmythang]

Anybody that has to cheat to win is a sucker....KICKED DOGS HOLLER!!!

Interesting how every time Black political influence grows, suddenly we’re talking about:

“redistricting” “gerrymandering” limiting districts weakening voting protections

But yeah… totally no fear there, right?

The irony is almost impressive: “If your votes don’t matter, we need to redraw the map to stop them from mattering.” If you can win fairly with ideas and policies, why does the map always need to be redesigned when certain communities gain political power?

That’s the part people keep noticing.

And when people bring up the history — from Jim Crow laws to the weakening of parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — somehow the response is always: “Stop talking about it.”

Funny how history only becomes “irrelevant” when it starts connecting to the present. People aren’t imagining patterns. They’re watching them happen in real time.

hy does the map always need to be redesigned when certain communities gain political power? That’s the part people keep noticing. And when people bring up the history — from Jim Crow laws to the weakening of parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — somehow the response is always: “Stop talking about it.” Funny how history only becomes “irrelevant” when it starts connecting to the present. People aren’t imagining patterns. They’re watching them happen in real time.

[itsmythang]

The Trump administration has abruptly ended a Veterans Affairs home loan safety net, causing thousands of veterans to lose their homes or pay a higher mortgage rate: "It hurts paying $3,200 a month."

One of these days, maybe MAGA Republicans will start voting on what their candidates do and quit basing their votes on culture wars and wedge issues. Or is having Brown and Black people hunted down in the streets while their White allies are shot dead for defending their neighbors, friends, coworkers and the Constitution, worth you losing your insurance, your home, your work? Some of you have evenn lost your spouse, your family members and friendships because of the person you've become since you became a hate-filled, lying, cruel

Unfortunately, it appears the majority of veterans are a bunch of f*cking Fox-watchers. They live in a fact-free bubble. Even after the way Republicans treated veterans in his first term. I hope they're satisfied now.

All that hyped up macho bullshit. In reality trump is about as "manly" as a babyAll his performative KKK rallies, where you saw his style as a reaction against political correctness, you embraced his "militant masculinity" that resonated with other men. Now you see what a weakling he's always been, but the trick worked. What this country has lost due to trump is overwhelming at times.

It's the why for me. A con-man who used your fears and racist views to get your vote and like taking candy from a baby, you gave him your vote. So now you can only sit in your regret and watch the dumpster fire that is now America. America is now a bonified shit-hole country.

A felon with multiple baby mommies who are all immigrants. Takes us down further and further every day. MAGAs should start to recognize that trump's reactivity and harsh words are projections of his own internal issues. MAGA you owe your children, grandchildren and the world an apology. You F'd up big time. Trying to put and hold down others in ditches and forgot you'd get mud on you too.

Quit pretending you voted for this obvious fool, thinking he'd fix the economy, no more wars and that BS.

trump has an aura that makes people project their own feelings onto him. Isolationists saw in him a kindred spirit. So did the warmongers. The free-traders, and the protectionists, the Silicon Valley elite and the rural MAGA farmer. And in a schizophrenic way, they were both right and wrong. Because he had no ideology, and in his capricious mood he could do anything.

Now that trump is doing a lot of what he said he'd do, people are apparently upset about that. No, but seriously, everybody was like, "he didn't really mean it" about the crazy stuff they didn't like, and secretly hoping he'd do the crazy stuff they did like.

 The low information swing voters who did not want this only have themselves to blame because trump was talking about retribution, tariffs, and deporting millions during his entire campaign. Project 2025 was published online for anyone to read and had been discussed in the media for at least a year leading up to the election. There are no excuses for the majority of you MAGA voters. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Manhood isn’t measured by power or pride, but by integrity, resilience, and the courage to stand firm in adversity. It’s about owning your struggles, leading with wisdom, and leaving a legacy that speaks louder than words.

[look-something-shiny-redux]

The Irresistible Effectiveness of Wedge Politics

Using divisive issues to win elections might create incremental but meaningful change

Ultimately, wedge politics isn’t about changing people’s minds; it’s about targeting people who have yet to form an opinion on something. "Candidates don’t think they can get you to be pro-choice if you’ve been pro-life your whole life,” D. Sunshine Hillygus, author of the book The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns, said. “What candidates or parties attempt to do is manipulate the salience of a divisive issue as a way to change the likelihood that people will make a decision on the basis of it.” An issue that voters had not really formed an opinion on is suddenly framed in a way that makes it one of the most important topics of an election season.

[evilelitest2]

You know in some of the asks talking about religion and demographic shifts I'm curious how that will play out in future elections. Millennials/gen z tend to be less religious than previous generations, however they are also more diverse, Hispanics are expected to overtake whites and tend to be Catholic, but Islam is also on the rise worldwide so could that become a competing religion here in the us? Or will agnosticism take over? Not to mention the change in priorities voters will have over time

This started as a question about the US but when you brought in Islam, it became a question about the world, which are very different.  Just in the United states, the decline of traditional Christian sects is likely going to lead to an american which is going to be a lot more left wing on social issues in particular.  Since conservatives are consistently willing to vote against their own best issues in order to support certain social policies (these are the so called wedge issues) which are usually based on religious doctrine like Abortion, Gay Rights, marriage ect).  So less religion will likely lead to those issues becoming less and less wedge issues.  Which will then weaken conservatism as a whole.

I don’t know how long this trend will last, there might be another Great Awakening in a few decades, these things come in cycles.  

[jtem]

NOT dividing yourself in the face of an enemy, NOT being unfocused: They aren't unique to the American revolution

If you honestly have to be told this, give it up.  "Revolution" ain't your thing.  You're causing FAR more harm than good (which is to say ZERO good at all).

[popequotes]

We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.

Pope Francis, in an interview published September 19, 2013

[popequotes]

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.

Pope Francis, in an interview published September 19, 2013