Most of us didn’t expect this to be anything but stopping the slide into the abyss.
Don’t kid yourself.
I don’t think any of us are naive, or so idealistic that they can’t see what’s happening around them. Today was simply about giving us time to have a Plan B.
And we’ve achieved that. Control of the House by the Dems is a big deal, or COULD be a big deal. Some of the people who have been elected today – Halland, Davids, Omar and Ocasio-Cortez, for example, though there are many examples – are canaries in the coal mine for some of the fossils in Congress, or they should be, if Pelosi wants to fucking listen to what people are telling her and the other Dems.
So now we have time. What next?
You don’t have to know right this second, but tomorrow, when you wake up and shit still stinks, what’s our Plan B? What do we do tomorrow?
Congratulations. We’ve hit a mile marker on the marathon.
Tomorrow, we wake up, and we keep going.
We said the exact same thing in 2016. What did we get in return?
– Muslim Immigration and Travel Ban
– War on Immigrants
– War on Sexual Abuse Survivors, Women’s Health, and Reproductive Health Rights
– War on LGBTQ+
– War on Healthcare
– A massive infidelity scandal
– The degradation of American values (just look at how conveniently lawmakers threw basic human decency out of the window in the Kavanaugh confirmation!)
– Mass shooting on a synagogue
– Mass shooting in Parkland
– Mass shooting in a yoga studio
– Vehicular murder in Charlottesville
– Fire bombing of mosques and synagogues
– Vandalism in many religious and societal institutions
– Bombs being sent in the mail
– A strengthened NRA
– Fox News still going strong
– A WORSENING racist cops crisis
– Permit Patty, Cornerstone Candice, BBQ Becky, and an increasing number of open racists
When will it stop? When we become desensitized? When all of this becomes normal? Because we’ve basically made that choice this time the same way we did last year…
Cool, so, what’s your plan? Is your plan to just say ‘look at everything we’ve lost’? Because a) that’s not a plan and b) you think any of us have forgotten any of the above and c) that’s not a plan?
If you want to make a post saying ‘all is lost,’ or whatever the point of this was, you’re always free to make your own post. Sometimes it’s really okay to let someone say ‘this is a marathon, get up tomorrow and get to work’.
Because here’s the thing: we did get to work, and it mattered. Voter turnout was historic. We saw the House shift control, which gives subpoena power to Democrats, and takes vital House leadership positions away from Trump’s yes-men. That matters. What else did we see? The first two NA women, the first two Muslim women, the first Palestinian-American, the first Somali-American, the first, the first, the first: we, as leftists, got to work, and it made a fucking difference. A rank-and-file Democrat was unseated during the primaries, and then the challenger was elected in the general election, and if the calcified creatures of perpetual compromise in charge of the vaguely left-leaning part of this two-party mess are paying any attention, they’re on notice. (I do not expect them to be paying attention.)
I mean if you just want to wring you hands and despair, there’s room for that, but for fuck’s sake, don’t come in here and suck the air out of a me saying ‘it’s okay, we made a difference, we can keep going, don’t give up, we got what we really expected out of this, and that’s okay.’
Anyway, for everyone else: the work you put in made a difference. Thanks for helping stave off the apocalypse for people like my family.
(Also, idk about y’all, but this was NOT my message after 2016. That was the most emotionally crushing election I ever lived through, and I voted in 2000.)
ALSO:
Imagine you are halfway up a cliff.
Below you is a spiky pit full of poisonous snakes.
You’re slipping.
Someone throws you a rope. (They do not swear on the grave of your father to not kill you until you’ve reached the top.)
This is great, except that the rope is strong enough to support your weight–not to climb.
Would you rather fall, or hang on the rope in one spot until you’ve gotten enough strength back to keep climbing???
I don’t know about you, but this should be a pretty obvious fucking metaphor, and I would rather take the fucking rope, thank you.
Staying where we are is still better than where we could have gone.
Fucking thank you.
… Also we HAVEN’T stayed where we were, Dems won control of the fucking House and ousted a bunch of rep governors. What kind of cracked walnut doesn’t understand how big of a victory that is?? How fucking DARE anyone compare this to 2016??? That rhetoric smells as bad as Russian troll shit.
And things like Governor’s races MATTER. Remember that time the Governor of Michigan overthrew the elected government of Flint specifically so he could POISON everyone at great expense, then blocked all attempts to help them for over a year and they still don’t have safe water because the Republicans refuse to pay to fix things they break?
That guy just got voted the hell out.
Are you seriously arguing that having a Governor who won’t literally poison children for fun is better than having a Governor who WON’T do that and might actually fix things? Because those two things look wildly different to me!
Is the battle over? NO. We are going to have to keep fighting tooth and nail over the next couple of years, but IT IS PROGRESS.
Mitch McConnel promised out right to steal everybody’s health care if they won the election. Winning the House STOPS that. I literally become HOMELESS and die if the promised cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (Medicaid cpvers part of my Medicare premium) go through. A whole lot of people die if they repeal the ACA and the protections for pre-existing conditions go through. That won’t happen because we took the House.
If y’all came out in 2016, we wouldn’t be where we are now. Those of us who had the most to lose if basic civil rights were repealed begged you all to vote Democrat to stop this from happening.
Now we have to all pull together to fight our way back up to where we were two years ago.
Mourn if you have to, but Do Not Give the Fuck Up! That’s what they want you to do. They want you to lie down so they can rollover you! Fuck that!
We fight! We have each other’s backs! We leave no one behind this time! we keep the fuck going because they alternative is neo-feudal facist dystopia and people likee me rounded up into camps to die and I’m not going without a damned fight!
SCOTT WALKER IS OUT IN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN HAS A DEM GOVERNOR WOOOO
THIS. IS. JUST.
I’M SO HAPPY RN.
Not only THAT, he lost to the state superintendent of the SCHOOL SYSTEM
My dad, a teacher who was born and raised in WI, hates Scott Walker with a flaming intensity, and he has been following this one closely.
I got a text at like 11:50 PM last night that just said “THAT ASSHOLE IN WI LOST FINALLY”
Hilariously he lost by such a slim margin he could have demanded a recount had he not passed a law denying recountsbecause he didn’t like it when people demanded recounts against him.
This is actually what you should say to an ICE agent who has come to your house looking for an undocumented immigrant.
Specifically, do not open the door; tell them to slide their warrant under the door. Read it carefully and check to see if it’s a JUDICIAL warrant, which will have specific information like the time and location where they’re allowed to search, and a specific description of who or what they’re allowed to search for. ICE practically *never* have this; they’ll have an ADMINISTRATIVE warrant, which is just their orders from their boss telling them to arrest a particular person. It does not give them the right to enter your house.
ICE *can* enter your house if they have probable cause, such as if they see the person they’re looking for through a window or door (which is why you don’t open the door). Other forms of probable cause include kids telling agents that they were born outside of the US. Agents will trick people into chatting with them, especially kids who serve as translators for their parents, asking things like “What part of Mexico are you from?” Staying silent keeps the onus on them to prove in court later that they had evidence someone isn’t here legally.
It’s important to remember that for now, at least, every person ICE wants to deport has to go before a judge, and ICE has to provide evidence that they know this person is undocumented and that they were arrested without violating the 4th amendment (against unreasonable search and seizure). We know that cops lie and that judges usually side with them, but agents would rather go for a sure bet from a targeted raid than risk wasting their time and energy on arrests that could be thrown out. Knowing your rights and being prepared makes you a more difficult target.
“I do not consent to entry without a warrant.”
(This information comes from notes I took at a workshop on being an immigration ally. Learn more at welcomingamerica.org)
ACTUALLY, ICE will wave around anything and call it a warrant and unless you’re a lawyer chances are you won’t be able to tell, so call a lawyer. ICE often comes in civilian vehicles and clothes, will often conceal their badges from you and will even lie about who they are, and they’ve been known to work with police. You shouldn’t open the door. Call your lawyer, a volunteer lawyer group that assists immigrants or a response network* first. Never say anything that might reveal you’re an immigrant at all to any cop, not even if you are arrested for something else. Call your lawyer and let them deal with it.
ICE presentara cualquier cosa y la llamara un warrant, y aunque usted sea un abogado, probablemente no sabra la diferencia, asi que llame a su abogado. ICE muy seguido se presenta en ropa y autos civiles sin marcas, obscuren sus placas y pueden hasta mentir aceca de quienes son, aveces hasta trabajan con policia local para hacer arrestos de immigracion. No habra la puerta. Llame a su abogado, un grupo de abogados voluntarios que asistan a immigrantes o un grupo de respuesta* primero. Nunca diga nada que revele que es usted un immigrante a ningun policia, ni siquiera si usted esta ciendo arrestado por ortra razon. Llame a su abogado y dejen que ellos lideen con ICE.
Here is what a Judicial warrant looks like:
Asi es como se ve un warrant judicial:
This what an immigration warrant looks like:
Asi se ve un warrant de immigracion:
If the warrant looks like this, you don’t have to let them in. Either way, call your lawyer and if you see ICE or suspect you see them, call someone who responds to ICE raids.
Si el warrant se ve como este, usted no tiene que dejarlos entrar. En qualquier caso, llame a su abogado y si ve a ICE o sospecha que los ve llame a alguen que responda a raids de ICE.
*Response networks. Research online if there’s a network of people in your area who respond to ICE raids, you can also ask at local temples or churches if they know of one. These are people whom you call on the phone, they give you brief instructions and send respondents to your location to assist you, serve as witnesses and document what happens so you can use that information to your defense.
*Grupos de respuesta. Busque en linea si hai un grupo de gente en su area que responda a raids de ICE, tambien puede preguntar en tempos o iglecias locales si conocen de uno. Estas son personas que usted llama en el telephono, le dan instuciones breves y llaman socorristas a su locacion a asistirle, servir como testigos y documentar lo que suseda para que usted pueda usar esa informacion en su defensa.
As an atheist, putting my hand on the Bible and saying an oath before testifying to a court is less likely to get me to tell the truth than a pinkey promise
When my parents were fighting for custody, I was old enough to have a say, so they put me under oath to assure I was being honest with my feelings. Using my best serious face, knowing what was coming, when offered the bible to swear on, I requested to swear on the secretary’s hole punch, “because it’s far more honest. It says it’s going to punch a hole, and it does, best God I’ve seen today.” My mom buried her face in her hands, my dad sighed and rubbed his forehead. The judge almost choked on his water before telling the bailiff “find this young lady a hole punch!”
San Jose councilman
Lan Diep sworn into office with his Captain America Shield
In which the spouse and I both realize we’re vindictive southern belles.
Oh I do this all the time in academia.
“we’ve met” is, as stated, usually acknowledgement of a one-sided grudge. The aggressor isn’t actually very likely to dignify this with a response stronger than the kind of willful amnesia that leaves god and everyone wondering what she’s playing at and what the victim did to deserve it.
“we’re acquainted”, on the other hand, means that these two Southern Ladies know each other for three generations and actively maintain open hostilities along multiple vectors. There is about to be blood shed in this O’Charleys at 2pm on a Sunday. The actual victim of gossip will be whoever did that introduction, because everyone knows that Mary and Louise have hated each other since 1951, and how did that person not know? You fool.
PLEASE check your ballot was counted if these apply to you, and everyone PLEASE share this information! We have til 5pm tomorrow (presumably EST), November 8, 2018!
wupacing 