@theungamer Politicians are by nature smarmy. It's part of the job description because you have to at least pretend to be all things to all people in order to get elected. 🤪
@laura-f Look, when Gavin was running to be the councilmember for my neighborhood in SF, i didn't even vote for him. I felt he was far too conservative/middle-ish Left, for a district made up of what was at the time, considered to be the most liberal part of the most liberal city in America (Castro/Haight-Ashbury/Inner Mission). Instead, i got involved w the Matt Gonzales campaign. We got this close >!< to electing the 1st Green Party candidate in a major US city. But Newsom won. And even tho it was disappointing, i am ok with it now. Bc, from there, Newsom went on to become Mayor, and then Governor. And now we get to bask in the afterglow every time he drags TX Gov Gregg Assbot and FL Gov Ron DeSadTits across the carpet and into the tar-pit. Hell, i'm not even mad about Gavin's prettyboy looks anymore, at this point we need everything we can get.
I do have to take issue w this statement, my friend:
For 2024, I think that women and people of color will have to stand down or else we risk losing the chance to "right the ship" forever.
Women and People of Color need to STAND UP! not down. These are the hope and the future.
I see Stacy A. and Pete B. on a winning ticket someday
As fascinating as it is to contemplate whether Gavin Newsom might or might not be running for the Presidency, two years from now...
We should all be FAR more concerned about who controls the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, as of January 2023.
How many additional new readings do people here plan to pursue, between now and Election Day?
Agree they will need to step up, but not this time. There's still backlash from Obama happening. 2028 is a completely different story. The only way a woman or PoC might win is if they are fascist, like Ms. Meloni in Italy.
I have a close conservative friend (NOT a MAGAt), and here's what I'm hearing from her and a couple of other people who are in her spheres (none are Qanoners), some of these things are not directly related to what we're saying here, but I want you to understand the mindset that we are up against (and no, these mostly don't make any sense because they are not grounded in reality):
- MAGAts - wealthy ones, including the Hunt family, want to see a Drumpf/Pompeo ticket, failing that they would vote for DeSantis/Haley*
- Time to stop defunding the police and to reinstate harsh sentencing and high bails
- US oligarchs are moving their businesses to TX and FL to "escape liberal persecution" (read: pay less taxes")
- US cities are war zones, mostly because of BLM and Antifa
- Hunter Biden is a Russian asset who should be shot for treason
- Pres. Biden should be impeached for incompetence (I know, not a thing - still just giving a list)
- Pete Buttigieg is smart but not good at his job
- They want to vote for whomever can make them "feel safe again" (read: dictator)
- Russia has not tampered in our political system in any way - it's not like they're still communists
- Despite this, they are mostly pro-Ukraine (at least that's good)
- They really believe our borders are being overrun by violent criminals "because all these other countries are sending us their prisoners from their jails"
- They desire cessation of all immigration as opposed to reform (with no mention of who-all exactly will clean and maintain their many mansions) and agree with the use of any means necessary including violence
- Interestingly, most of them really are pro-choice, but to a person they fail to see that SCOTUS has been irreparably corrupted
- They express disdain for the following RWNJs: L. Graham, K. Noem, McConnell
- They want zero gun control
- Not a lot of evangelical sentiment expressed, but lots of racism
Apologies for length, but given all this I think you can see why I would stick to my guns on this sentiment.
*Reminder that in one of my stronger visions 5 years ago, I saw a woman who I firmly believe is Nikki Haley at the podium on Inauguration day, and she was spouting some really authoritarian stuff, and the people on the Mall were crying and I had an extreme feeling of betrayal. I didn't know what year, though. IMHO for a woman to win the presidency in the near future she'd have to be a RW extremist.
Remember how we thot that there would never be a Black President? Esp w an Islamic-adjacent sounding name? Barack Hussein Obama.
@laura-f not denying that those may be the motives and desires of some people. But they will not succeed. There are far more of us, and besides, their stuff is dumb, it won't last. Just another Justin BeeberCrappyApartmentComplex HaircutStripMallParkingLotBump on our lives. Some day soon, we will look back upon these days- these people, these politicians, ourselves, with such astonishing embarrassment- struggling to answer the obvious question, of just how in the....?
@laura-f most of my family are conservative and many of these views are familiar to me- but I do not fear these folks or recognize that their ideology has any power.
through my journey I have come to adopt and understand that what we envision, what our mind sees and accepts as possible is what transpires… it is for this reason that I tune out the noise and avoid validating the dystopian future many fear.
News on tv may focus on the doom and gloom but it’s not hard to find examples of hope. this week I went to the walker museum to hear a Dakota artist present her work which had to do with generational trauma, healing and preserving the Dakota language for her people. this was a talk for educators and I happened to have been teaching my elementary art students a unit on Native artwork. My students were captivated and engaged by her and her story and Native artists around North America whose artwork deals with healing the generational trauma. A student in my class asked- what can we do to help heal this harm… our young people are ready to live harmoniously and they want to connect and repair bonds.
Our minds are incredibly powerful and what we focus on and share with others matters. I keep Stacy Abrahms in my heart during meditation because I feel her integrity so strongly. DT was a reflection of ourselves and it woke so many people up - the loudest voices are often not the strongest because to trust God and have faith in our highest and truest self does not require tantrum behavior or loud anger.
Time will tell. I am not without hope, far from it, I am just a little more pragmatic. I'm not saying that anyone should dictate terms, I'm saying that the playing field is very much not level and we can't level it right now unless we totally game the system (which is what Rethuglicans have been up to for decades). As much as it would be great not to get down in the mud, we may have to, that is all.
@LalaBella If I'm understanding you correctly, the beliefs harbored by those types of conservatives within your social circles are why you believe only a White man could win in 2024, and no presidential candidates who are Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color and/or women/"feminine-presenting" (which includes Buttigieg, in the eyes of many) would be viable until 2028 at the earliest?
I'd push back and ask: how many of those conservatives whom you've talked with would consider voting for Joe Biden in 2024, let alone Gavin Newsom or Beto O'Rourke or even Jon Tester?
People who oppose all immigration or all/most gun restrictions probably aren't going to vote for ANYBODY with a "D" after their name. EVER AGAIN. But they aren't the majority. Most Americans land at various points along the center of the ideological bell curve.
This is why, as I've said, the immediate future of the House and Senate are what are most crucial, at this juncture in time.
For anyone interested in US politics, I strongly recommend George Lakoff's work on framing issues. He recommends that liberals reframe their political messages. Reframing is a communication technique of shifting thoughts by shifting language.
To me, it unveils a huge mystery. He says that Republicans want a strong, strict, authority figure (usually male) to 1) protect the family in the dangerous world 2) teach children to respect authority.
Conservatives have spent 40 years developing frames for political issues; he maintains that liberals need to do the same.
Apparently, reframing requires a rewiring of the brain.
- Every frame is used, it is realized in the brain by neural circuitry.
- Every time a neural circuit is activated, it is strengthened.
Fox news has this down. Think of the frame “Democrats are socialists.” So when Biden champions bills that redistribute wealth, Republicans lament the move toward socialism. But then, they tell the public that he (Daddy) is bringing home the bacon to their state, not revealing that they voted against the bill.
https://medium.com/@ennuid/george-lakoffs-framing-101-7b88e9c91dac
http://www.clarityphase.com/Framing/Simple%20Framing%20George%20Lakoff.pdf
He has written a number of books:
YES - very much THIS.
Those to the Left need to reframe - go see my post on Great Turning 7 - I posted an excerpt that kind of refers to this.
I can answer your question with a definitive None. You're right - no one with a D or even an I after their name. And even if they have an R, if they are remotely centrist, they will also not vote for them (which is why Liz Cheney lost her primary).
@raincloud Reframing is important. Here's a more direct version of it, that I wrote a few weeks ago:
@autisticanthony thanks for sharing your article. Earlier you asked about postcard campaigns for Congress- you might like this link
@unk-p I see what you did there... "dicktate" indeed. 😂 I loved that in his address to us POTUS Biden called out the GQP members ,named them,who voted against the infrastructure bill then asked for money."I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus" he quipped. Meantime, politics in my sector continue to be a source of "SMH" crazy. Dana Loesch said she didn't care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles" I want control of the Senate" which lines up with McConnell's " it's about the midterms" back in 2020. I have been working hard along with others... to make sure 🌊 we get the info ,get the voters to the polls...for some reason tho.... all the anxiety and stress surrounding upcoming vote just left me one day last week... " it's ok... we've got this" Keep doing what you're doing - it will be ok" came to me as I sat in the garden with coffee having my "daily pep talk "with Creator.🌊❤️🌊
@journeywithme2 Thank you for sharing the positive vibes that came to you while meditating, last week. Just last night, I actually had the opposite sensation from a highly-political dream...although I suspect that may have been a product of my own ongoing anxiety (related to politics) more than anything else, rather than any type of legitimate prescience on my part.
@autisticanthony You are welcome. Anytime I get too overwhelmed I ask for "help" and always, always get it. " They" help me be calm and less anxious too.