It isn’t up to us to win

I first became politically active when the Oregon Citizens’ Alliance put a citizen’s initiative on the ballot to declare in law that “homosexuality” was “abnormal, wrong, unnatural, and perverse”. Measure 9 was itself an abomination, one that treated anti-discrimination laws as if they were discrimination against bigots, which was somehow supposed to be an unconscionable thing, what with how unfair that would be to the bigots.

Measure 9 lost. The OCA (which then featured Scott Lively as its highly visible 2nd in command) lost. But that doesn’t mean that queers “won”. We spent money and energy and made ourselves visible, made ourselves targets, so we could be attacked intensely for an election season in the hopes that sacrifice would make us safer after the election season. That isn’t victory. Honestly, it was a lot like being in abusive relationship, something I knew a lot about, and provoking abuse as the “walking on eggshells” phase of the relationship grated horribly on one’s nerves. Sometimes one’s fears of what abuse comes next are worse than the actual abuse when it occurs. I had to reasonably fear being killed by my abusive partner, but as it turns out, I was never murdered.

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More Voting Deadline Information, Courtesy of Snopes

Exactly what it says. I chose Snopes because they have additional information (as limited and vague as it may be, it’s hard to be more precise) with links to separate articles with the details of the aspect of voting, requesting an absentee ballot, or other issues that concerns you most.

Please, click this link and do everything you can to make sure you’re prepared.

 

 

A Member of the Public

So, RawStory, right? But that’s where I saw yet another discussion of insiders being shocked that they’re not getting the information they need to keep themselves healthy and/or to do their jobs (from the context it’s not clear which, if not both, is being lamented). In this particular case, however, it’s a high-level staffer or official of the Leopards Eating Faces Party who is shocked, SHOCKED that they are being treated like a commoner, with crucial information being withheld and no way to determine which of the contradictory stories appearing in the press are the lies and which are to be believed. The original reporting was from Politico, and I quote from them despite the hat tip from Raw Story:

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The Leopards Eating Faces Journalism Society Is Forshook

So there’s a metaphor with which I hope most people will be familiar: the Leopards Eating Faces Party. The basic idea is that a bunch of leopards, who are, naturally, in favor of jumping up to clamp their jaws on human faces and thrash around until they rip a fair bit of human flesh free for eating, form a political party. The leopards also want power and lots of it. They wander around showing off their sleek pelts and seductively asking people, “Wouldn’t you actually enjoy it if I ate the face of that person over there that you hate? Well, I could do that if only there were no animal catchers to stop me. Unfortunately, this world has animal catchers, so you’ll have to vote me and my fellow leopards into power. Then we can do away with all our opposition & go eat that person’s face for you.” Surprisingly enough, some people vote for the LEFP.

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FUCKING ASSHAT HAS COVID-19

Yep, the October Surprise has already happened before large hunks of the country were even able to finish October 1st.

Technically though, we should add some clarity: we only know Trump has been exposed to coronavirus. No news has yet been released as of 1:30am EST / 10:30pm PST about the President’s symptoms (or lack thereof), but the president’s Twitter account did announce that he and Melania had both tested positive and were entering quarantine. Apparently the white house has also known for days that Hope Hicks tested positive and after she was positive was traveling and interacting with Trump, White House staff, and the White House Press Corps. There is as yet no guarantee that Biden was not directly or indirectly exposed, so watch for updates on that front.

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BLM and the state of the USA’s constitutional protections in Utah

Portland has been my focus, because I was on the ground there (I am now away from the city for a week, but I’ll be back). But Portland isn’t the only place where Black lives don’t matter nearly enough, and it’s certainly not the only place where Black Lives Matter is getting into some good trouble:

Black Lives Matter protesters in Salt Lake City have been accused of splashing paint on a road and smashing the windows of the district attorney’s building at a July protest — and now, the charges they face carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Madalena McNeil, the woman who committed the crime of – get this – buying red paint at a store that was later sloshed on a street by a completely different person, is now facing life in prison.

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