Ha ha ha, democracy, sure.

As an extra security measure, I’m hearing that all attendees will be required to wear badges with their photographs. Attendees will not be required to remove their hoods before having their images taken.

I’m pretty sure that Melania doesn’t issue statements at all. She just licenses her likeness to the campaign for use in specific instances.

I can confidently say that every single corporate initiative like this always eventually reveals itself as just a feel-good public relations veneer designed to dress up business as usual. Even if some of the individuals working on these things believe they are accomplishing something, the organization never, ever really means it. Purely capitalist systems simply cannot and will never be able to organize meaningfully around goals that require long-term planning. Those systems are fundamentally oriented toward goals that span quarters, maybe occasionally years, but nothing longer. The only chance society has for meaningfully planning around climate issues is through government. Until people assert themselves (via governments) as a check on those corporate systems, we will continue to suffer through an ever-degenerating dystopia dressed up by glossy corporate lies like the ones Nike marketed for years.

Boycotts are speech. Calling for boycotts is speech. I’ve been told by every corporate leader and the Supreme Court that spending money is a form of speech. I would think that a free speech advocate would appreciate these things. Of course, like all outspoken libertarians, Musk’s positions are not well considered, consistent, nor actually libertarian when it doesn’t suit his own business or ideological* interests. This dude sucks at everything he does and his success perfectly demonstrates the fallacy of meritocracy in this society.

• usually racist

I really enjoyed ‘Gladiator’. Don’t really need a sequel so I’ll skip it and this trailer. Maybe I’ll go watch ‘Gladiator’. It’s been a while since I saw it.

I am as enthusiastic about replacing Biden as the nominee as anyone for so many reasons. But could the press devote just a portion of the attention currently covering the ‘oh look, Joe farted!’ beat to dissecting the pathologically misleading, violent and un-American rhetoric broadcasting at full volume from nearly every Republican party orifice every day? Like, the stakes are really high here. If not for the sake of our democracy, then just cover their fascism from a pure self-preservation point of view. And when I say ‘self preservation’, I don’t just mean preserving their press careers (which are absolutely in danger if authoritarian fascists take full control). I’m talking about preserving their very lives since reporters tend to be pretty big targets for violence in fascist states. Wake up, this isn’t just some horse race media cycle bullshit people.

Remember that these despots’ views are really unpopular. That’s why the constantly feel the need to lie to and misdirect their supporters. It’s also why their success depends on their ability to undermine the notion of popular democracy. Their biggest enemy is an aware populace. We should never let them get away with it. Expose them, confront them, shame them, and do it over and over until they crawl back into their holes. Fascists deserve no refuge or respite.

I’d love to confront an otherwise normal, conventionally Republican voter who is planning to vote for this shit. I’m sure some of my coworkers or neighbors or acquaintances fall into this category. However, I see no outward projection about their support of this garbage. I assume that they must be ashamed to advertise what garbage views they have or at the very least have no confidence that they could defend such positions when confronted. Again, I’m just assuming their presence in my immediate social vicinity given all the polling. I of course can see the nut job on the corner with adrenachrome signs, but that asshole isn’t representative of most Republicans. Fucking cowards, the lot of them. Ignorant, self-hating cowards.

That’s one of the things that really gets me about all this. This didn’t happen suddenly, but there has never been any actual effort by the opposition party to counter it. They never address the trend in any organized way, and never really raise awareness of it. The closest they get is to fundraise off the threats, but it never translates into action or progress. If anything, they organize to ostracize the few members of their party that do speak forcefully about it.

I have confidence in the ability of someone like trump to surround himself with exactly the type of people who would gladly take such leaps.

Fuck this guy. The country and freedom are more important than his ego and hubris. A real leader would work to facilitate onboarding a capable candidate so we can avoid devolving into a christo-fascist hellscape.