Hi, Resisters.
After licking her wounds and laying low, LSR is back, under circumstances none of us wanted.
Big hugs to all. We've been experiencing a ton of emotions. If you are like me, you became numb because the thoughts of all the repercussions were too much to bear. I disassociated in the early hours. The grief was deep; it felt like a death. Here, four months days! later, it's not much easier.
My early hours and days, like many of yours, were filled with despair and denial. "I can’t do it anymore. I can’t write anymore. I can’t be outraged anymore. I want to feel joy and hope. I want everyone to feel safe."
We all felt a bit dumfungled.
This blog is part journal, part news bulletin, part brain purge, so bear with me while I navigate all of it. We have to slog through the darkness, but LSR always brings the hope, and you'll get a dose of that too.
I was stunned on Election Night. My first thought was "I can't do it. I can't do it anymore." Stunned and numbed for three days straight. What happened?
The pundits are all over the place trying to place blame. Harris didn't distance herself from Biden; he should not have run for a second term; he didn't quit early enough; it was too rushed of a campaign; it should have been an open primary; she didn't understand what voters wanted; or as Kimmel (or was it Colbert?) said, she didn't send out just one more text asking for money.
My rational brain wants to make sense of it, but I know there is no reason. Reason literally left the nation. The causes are many and varied, and as much as the pundits want to pick one thing, it’s not that one thing.
It was racism, misogyny, limited knowledge by only watching the propaganda media, fear, hatred, and oh yes, "the economy."
Shit, eggs cost more than two years ago. The only thing to do is to elect a fascist, racist, hate-filled, treasonous, grifting, rapist felon!
I have said many times the Republican party is broken, and that someday something will break it completely and they will have to regroup and be reborn. That's not the truth anymore. Last call, Democrats. It's your turn to regroup. Checks and balances are perilously tipping. It’s a dark future.
What happened?
Many saw him with their own eyes and still chose him, but a great many more ate what Faux News served. They sanitized him for them and frankly, so did the mainstream media. There are many on the right that thrive in the chaos in the cynicism and yes, the meanness. The right is laced with misogyny, homophobia, and racism, and the truth does not matter to them.
All that may have contributed, but the bottom line is simple. The cold hard truth is, more people voted for tRump than voted for Harris. 14,000,000 Biden voters stayed home. We don't even have the statistical superiority this time. He won with a decisive popular vote, and an overwhelming electoral vote. The blame game is useless. We have to face it. This is what America wants; this is what America is. We're stuck with the Shit Sandwich.
This time, there was no violent coup by the Traitor Tot. The coup was done legally and orderly. The majority of voters handed over power to an authoritarian only as America can. Willingly and efficiently.
The good news: we don't have to waste time and resources on court cases and security to the Capitol building this time. The Left certainly isn't going to throw a hissy fit and storm the Capitol with weapons.
We can't write it off to a bunch of cultists who thrive in chaos, hatred, and cynicism this time. It wasn't only those who drank the Kool-aid; it was a whole bunch more who had the Kool-aid splashed on them. Voters were fed what Fox News offered. Even if they knew the truth would it have mattered?
The support for the Shitiot came from all demographics. They wanted something different. And they're getting just that, to quote someone I heard recently, "whether they want it or not."
I wonder how long it will take the Right to realize their mistake. What will it be? The rising prices on produce while crops wilt in the field for lack of harvest labor? Their neighbor's granddaughter who died from sepsis because her doctor was too afraid to care for her while her fetus died inside? Their non-communicative child sitting alone in a corner of a classroom because there are no supports to ensure their education? The burning pile of books outside a shuttered library? The spike in car prices because tariffs aren't actually paid by the country who brings their goods? Just what will be their education? Will it take being raped by the yahoos who are now emboldened?
Have you seen the reports of men yelling "Your body, my choice!" to women across the country? It started with the pond scum Nazi boy Nick Fuentes. He may yet get his comeuppance though. I do not wish violence on him. I just wish him fear.
We are forced again to grapple with the specter of violence from the "law and order" party. Women and LGBTQ folks are terrified. The emboldened ones will be spurred to commit racist violence, too. Sure, the milder ones among them will cry, "We aRen'T all rACisTs!" Yeah, but you aren't anti-racist, are you? You aren't pro-woman, nor anti-patriarchy, nor anti-hate, nor pro-truth. You bought what he is selling, lock, stock, and barrel. Oh, gawd, there's another thing that will be going the wrong way.
I was disgusted at the stock market zooming up 1500 points on the day after the election. Yup, we're in a corporatocracy. And with Musk weaseling his way in to the Presifelon's inner circle, practically melding with him, it's clear.
Oligarchy. It's not just Russia's government anymore.
SLOGGING THROUGH MORE SHIT
It didn't take long for the vermin to start crawling out of their holes. If you have been avoiding news and social media to take care of your mental health, good on you. Read this stuff only if you are ready.
The racist texts.
Get a load of this shit. Black people, including children, in several states received anonymous texts. The texts included their name and knew they were Black. The texts were a variation of this.
Heinous. Shocking. I cannot fathom what the people who received these are going through.
The FBI is looking into the origins, and the platform that was used for the mass texts shut down the anonymous account.
May I point out that we still have a functional FBI? In a couple months, we may not.
The Oklahoma superintendent of schools letter.
And so it starts. See page 319 of Project 2025. This is real, folks, posted to the Oklahoma State Department of Education's website.
Civil servants are shaking.
They barely survived the last term. Thousands may be out of a job or forced to cope with chaos, confusion, and darkness. It's bleak.
This is really distrubing.
Jimmy Kimmel live sent a reporter to the streets of Los Angeles last Wednesday. This. This is what America is made of. I've started it at that spot, but once you watch it, go back to the beginning. It's a moving monologue by Jimmy the night after the election.
BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE VERY DARK SKY
We do have bright sparks! It's hard to grasp them, because they each seem to have caveats. But let's cup the sparks and keep them burning.
It's the first time in history that two Black women will serve in the Senate at the same time.
Congratulations to new "Sister Senators" Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware. They are only the third and fourth black women elected to the Senate.
The first openly trans Member of the House of Representatives was elected.
Welcome to Congress, Rep. Sarah McBride, Democrat from Delaware! She takes over Lisa Blunt Rochester's seat when she vacated it to run for the U.S. Senate.
Blue States are gearing up.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other blue state leaders are getting ready to gird their states' freedoms.
The mid-term elections are just two years away. Thirty-three Senate seats are up for grabs in 2026, as well as all 435 House seats. They work for us, and they should be afraid. Gear up, resisters.
For me, in my little bubble, I'm fairly safe.
Like I said in my letter to the Right, I am a white, financially secure, cisgender, heterosexual, post-menopausal U.S. citizen who resides in California. I am exceedingly privileged to consider myself safe.
California will be again lead the way in progress, but even here the progressive curtain has slipped. For example, California voted down the proposition that would have done away with slave labor.
It isn't about me, though, I know. Just looking for small sparks of light.
It will be chaos.
Yes, this is a positive. Things cannot get accomplished in chaos. It takes a long time for a circus train to turn around, and when the monkeys are driving, it's not an easy task.
He may have loyalists surrounding him, but they won't know anything about governing. The U.S. government is big and unwieldy. They might find it a little tougher than just wishing things so.
True, the guardrails aren't up like they were last term. He won't have "adults in the room" this time. But yanno what? Those guardrails were illusionary even then. "Loyalty" is transient with this person and very much transactional. Like last term, once those "loyalists" do anything off the crumb, they'll be gone, and a new one will take their place.
It's only a matter of time before he crimes again. Unfortunately, because it looks like we have lost the House, this time we won't have the power of impeachment – but we may in 2027. The Department of Justice can regroup on the other side; just four years from now. Hold on to that. And though Jack Smith is winding down his cases, he has asked the court that the election interference case be paused, rather than throwing it out all together. Nice chess move, Jack!
We have the filibuster.
Yes, the shoe is on the other foot. This obstructionist tool, preserved by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va), is now going to be very handy for Dems wanting to thwart bad ideas.
We still have the Constitution.
Though he'll be stacking the Federal judiciary, we can still hold out hope that many of them are reasonable and just. Some of his appointees from last term didn't take his shit. Let us hope that they act as a bit of a guardrail. It takes a long time for things to move through the justice system. We have four years to hold him off, and the mid-term elections are in two short years.
Yes, the dang caveat: the Supreme Court is corrupt. But darn it, my pollyanna heart hopes against hope that they will block him from his worst impulses. Maybe??
We have allies.
We have each other.
We have each other, and we need to be there for each other. Kindness and love is always the way. I truly believe that. It is not to say that anger and outrage doesn't have a place. They do; they will spur us toward action. We need more than outrage eating at us all the time. Anger can move us, but we must not live there.
We mustn't lose our kindness, but we must also not turn back in fear. That is what they are counting on. Let's lean on each other in difficult moments, be kind to everyone, and not lose our true natures.
Take a break once in a while and bask in his love.
We have joy.
They can't take away our joy unless you let them. We have nature. We have music. We have Art. Free thought. Foreign press. The ACLU. Music. Kitten cuddles. Doggo boops. Ice cream. Those things will not be taken away from us.
No matter what you do, be sure to nourish your body and soul. Eat right, exercise, get enough fluids! Find some joy. Exercise. Dance. Paint. Sew. Plant. Read. Cook. Snuggle. Be in nature. These things will last.
In analyzing the election results, some have said that Democrats will never understand the Right because those on the Left are smug in their moral superiority. Well, what sounds like an insult isn't. Fighting for the rights all people – especially the marginalized – is moral superiority. I make no apologies. Lean in to your morals!
This guy gets it:
@cloud.bastidas this is how I feel.... #trump2024🇺🇸 #trump2024🇺🇸 #trump #voteblue2024💙 #2024 #gaytiktok @Sweeper ♬ 10 minutes, meditation, sleep, mindfulness, night(951759) - Gloveity
WE WILL FIGHT
"Go to the fight, do not wait for the fight to come to you." ⬅️ I thought that was a quote, but couldn't find it. I guess it is LSR's own!
We will march in the Women's March, scheduled for January 18, 2025.
We will not be silent. Cities around the nation will host hundreds of thousands of women again. Gather some sign-making materials. Go dig out your pink pussy hat. Donate if you can to help the vision become reality.
We will put our money where our mouth is.
Boycotts aren't always effective, but the message gets there. Boycott Amazon, WaPo, Tesla, Chick-Fil-A, Starlink, Hobby Lobby, and other business that are at odds with your values. Delete your Twitter. Buy from local small businesses, especially those run by women, black and brown people, and LGBTQ folks.
We will learn how to fight against tyranny.
Learn with Timothy Snyder. Find his book, On Tyranny, or watch his series of videos. I will buy the book for whoever wants it and have it sent. Email me! littlesister.resister @ yahoo
We will act.
There will be an uprising. People are angry. We can join that uprising in whatever form we feel we can. There are tireless activists out there, and organizers. There's a large group of people who are ready to mobilize, and they will guide us in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Each one of us has a talent. We will not sit and moan. We will gather up our energy and act. We will shore up. No one is going to do it for us.
- Maybe it's donating money. The ACLU is a good place to start. They are gearing up for lawsuits. They are good at it.
- Maybe it's organizing.
- Maybe it's joining a protest.
- Maybe it's writing letters to the editor.
- Maybe it's writing to your Members of Congress.
- Maybe it's stocking up on Plan B (four-year shelf life) for those who may need it later.
- Maybe it's making a protest sign for someone else to carry.
- Maybe it's helping the Rainbow Railroad.
- Maybe it's just reaching out and encouraging.
THE READING CORNER
Here are a few things to read as you process this crappy event. I subscribed to The Atlantic, and they offer gift articles. I'm taking advantage of it for you, resisters!
The Guardian's Marina Hyde is brutal to both sides: Democrats and Republicans agree on one thing: any lessons learned from Trump 2.0 will be immediately forgotten
Speaking of The Guardian, it is a pretty good news source. There are no paywalls. If you read, it would be good to throw them a few bucks now and then.
Lastly, from Al Jazeera:
If you have time, read my letter to conservatives. I wrote it to publish on Facebook, but soon realized it would just be more shouting into the wind. But there it is, for you, for what it's worth. It includes a similar letter I wrote in November, 2016, pre-LSR.
Revisiting the Media Bias Chart.
While you are reading, please, choose wisely what media you consume. I try to choose least biased, most reliable, but I don't always get it right. Before you digest something, and definitely before you share something, check for its source. Call out others who share suspect "information." Go here for the interactive website.
Here is a simplified graphic. It's a little hard to see in this form, but it shows you the most unbiased and reliable at the top center. Those are the best sources. Bias is shown on the X-axis, and reliability falls as you go down. It's easier to see on their website.
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| Ad Fontes Media |
MEMES OF JOY, MEMES OF SORROW
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| From my proofreader extraordinaire, Karenone. Lucky gal. |
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| I also saw it as an "Irish Proverb." Where ever it's from, it's a good-un. |
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| David Ramirez |
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| I add this with a caveat. The best way is not to signal but to behave as an ally. Talk is cheap! |
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| Ann Telnaes |
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| *in the world |
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| may I add covered in shit? |
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| Ann Telnaes |
Welp, this is my 263rd post.
I started on January 20, 2017 with this post: "The history of liberty is a history of resistance." - Woodrow Wilson. The resistance continues; our history evolves. And I'm glad to have you in my corner.
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