33
votes
Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 4
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
Temperature check: how’s everybody feeling one day before Election Day?
Surprisingly optimistic. Given that polls have been unreliable in aggregate in both 2016 and 2020, I'm trying to pay more attention to what I'm observing qualitatively this time around (which runs counter to how I would normally approach this sort of thing).
In 2016, it felt like polls were the only thing pointing to a decisive victory but the overall mood was terrible — very muted enthusiasm for Clinton, ridiculous controversy surrounding her in spite of her opponent's clear unfitness, and genuine excitement and momentum for Trump that we all willfully ignored.
In 2020, there was excitement around getting Trump out of office, and Biden was the means to that end more than anything. I didn't sense any real enthusiasm for Biden specifically, but given the absolute fury over how the previous 4 years had been handled and the bungling of the COVID crisis, I wasn't surprised when Biden eked out a victory.
This time around, between anger over the overturning of Roe, an outpouring of what feels like genuine adoration and support for Harris that I never felt for Clinton, solid rally attendance for Harris and dwindling attendance for Trump, and seemingly massive grassroots Dem fundraising and volunteering vs 2016 and 2020 (haven't looked at the data, so this is more of an impression) and absolutely abysmal ground game from the Trump campaign — the only thing that feels out of step with a Harris victory is the polls.
So I'm opting to use the Selzer poll as a sign that the vibes I'm observing are real (I know that's just one state responding to a very specific situation) and assuming the best will happen until proven otherwise, rather than accepting the nailbiter scenario this time around.
Edit: nvm
To add to your point: I've seen way more Harris yard signs this year than I saw Biden yard signs in 2020. My smallish suburban town is mostly red-leaning, and in 2020 there were scores of Trump signs all over the place and maybe 2 or 3 Biden ones. The Biden ones I distinctly remember because they caught me off guard, I actually remember thinking "oh wow a Biden sign" when my neighbor put one up. This year it's more like a 60-40 or maybe 70-30 split between Trump signs and Harris signs, which is a pretty stark difference.
Not sure how it'll translate to votes [edit: apparently not at all], but it's in line with what you're saying.
Similar experience in my area, in 2016 there were caravans of trucks with huge Trump flags driving up and down the roads blaring their horns all day. Not this time, haven't seen one truck with flags that I recall. There are still more Trump signs than Harris signs, but I also see more Harris signs than expected.
Nauseous. Trying to keep moving, since I've done everything I can do and now I just get to wait and try not to look at the news or social media.
I definitely think it's best to not look.
I'm not American though so it's easy for me to say, but it does seem like it would be a favour to yourself (and most people in this thread I think) for your mental health. Check the news once or maybe twice per day at most. Being glued to the tv or online news feeds is not going to help, no matter what.
Yeah, absolutely. I'm spending my nervous energy cleaning my house. That way, regardless of what happens, I have a cleaner house.
I feel awful. The Iowa poll gave me some optimism, but usually my mood swings from anxious to morose. I cannot believe this race is even close. I will never understand it.
I was feeling pretty stressed, but watching this Adam Conover video helped a bit. It's a bit preachy, and the title is a bit clickbait, but it helped me realize that tomorrow is not some singular moment that will decide everything. The world will still go on. The road may be significantly harder depending on who wins the election (if we even get a definitive answer on that), but there will be a day after filled with choices we can make in our local communities to keep everything moving in a positive direction. That's what I'm trying to focus on right now. I still dip into fits of anxiety, but I'm taking it slow.
I have been volunteering a lot. I was very scared until just after the Madison Square Garden Trump rally. MAGA went full mask off with the rhetoric at that rally. The opening comedian in particular called Puerto Rico a trash island, and told a watermelon eating joke about a 'black friend'. Puerto Ricans who live full time in states can and do vote, if they care to do so. A significant number of them live in Pennsylvania, a key swing state. Here are some articles that encouraged me:
Puerto Rican Stars back Harris
Latino voters in Pennsylvania support Harris for the most part
Archbishop of Puerto Rico demands Trump apologize for rally comedian
I've also been encouraged by other 'mistakes' by Trump that I think are likely to reduce his turnout. Examples include trash talking FEMA in North Carolina after the Hurricane which in some cases discouraged or prevented people from applying for available aid. The recent video of him with a microphone looked bad. His promising to put RFK in charge of health care policy and administration in the US federal government looks bad.
I'm also quite encouraged by the Selzer poll in Iowa. When that was released, r/fivethirtyeight went crazy over how big a surprise that was and how reliable a poll this usually is.
Yep. It wasn't enough.
I am Europaean, so really no direct legit stakes in this election, but the wider ramifications of a second Trump term just seems unfathomable. Especially on climate policy. It is weird that in some fashion, whether my kids will have at least a chance of non-apocalyptic future is being decided on how much some swing states hates women (a gross simplification, but still).
If I allowed myself to think about it, horrible. So I'm doing my best not to. There is literally nothing I can do at this point to affect the outcome other than what I've already done (vote!). Pouring myself into work and crafting cosplay things and completely avoiding news, polls, etc for the next few days. I'm also preparing myself to try and be patient, since it's very unlikely the outcome will be certain on Tuesday, and likely not on Wednesday either.
Wracked with anxiety and stress.
Very anxious. I made the mistake of reading an article about what the "stand back and stand by" boys are talking about, and that has made me imagine all sorts of situations that probably won't happen. My response to one of those situations is to say that "I'm voting for/I voted for democracy and freedom." I think I'm prepared to say that with a gun pointed at me. But I do think it'd be smarter to just lie. And now I'm a little anxious about typing this out using an account where it'd be easy to doxx me.
I don't really believe in that, though. I don't think it'll come to that, especially not in the rural place where I live. But I'm eager to have this be done. I'm actually optimistic about the result. I think the polls are overestimating Trump's support and I think that far more Americans are tired of him than appreciate him. But I just want it to be over.
I'm glad I'm not the only one imagining this. I live next to a guy flying a flag that reads "join or get stacked" (with a picture of that revolutionary war-era "join or die" snake political cartoon) who shoots off shotguns at 8am in the morning sometimes. Apparently he's a cop too.
I know it's not likely to happen. But still.
I am sadly expecting a certain amount of terrorism between now and the inauguration unless it's a Trump win on election day. I am confident that the FBI is prepared and I trust Biden in the white house, but it's a big country.
Yeah that's one big difference from last time, we have the White House. Definitely encouraging.
To be blunt, while I don't think this sort of situation would happen, there's going to be no need for some "question" to be asked.
With the amount of data companies harvest, which a malicious state would have access to, you're likely going to show up on about 30 different query outputs and be targeted anyways.
People really have no idea just how much data they automatically give out to companies like apple/amazon/etc, and that if the state were to become hostile, how very quickly those companies are likely going to hand over that data for whatever purposes they want to use it for.
For sure, "the internet" as a whole knows an awful lot about me, and has a pretty good idea of who I voted for. But my anxiety isn't that intelligent and is overly dramatic.
Luckily it was smooth sailing for my vote this morning. Let's hope the rest of the country does the same.
I feel disconnected and apathetic. I did vote--in fact I've only ever voted 3 times in my life and each time it was decidedly a vote against a specific candidate as opposed to one for a candidate that I particularly cared about. But my faith in reality, reason, and rationality to persevere in the current political and social climate has been completely eroded away to the point where I just feel numb.
My wife's out of town for a few days to attend an expo, and she's traveling with her sister. They are complete polar opposites from a political perspective, and the only way they get along is if they completely avoid all political and culture war related topics. It's going to be interesting hearing about whether or not (and how) they managed to do that considering they'll be together on election night and a couple days after. So while I don't really feel anything about the election itself, I at least do really hope that my wife and her sister manage to keep their relationship intact, regardless of the outcome (or lack of agreed upon outcome, as I suspect will more likely be the case).
I have embraced the void and have become nothingness. I expect nothing except that this is going to turn out however it's going to turn out, and we're hopefully going to get an answer about who's in charge by the end of the week, if not the night of.
(Ask me again in five minutes.)
2016 was, to me, the worst. Especially with my first two elections being Obama wins. So since 2016, I've learned not to hype myself up too much.
That's not to say I wouldn't be disappointed if Harris doesn't win this week. I would be. But I steeled myself in 2020 for the possibility of a Trump win. I can do it again. Better to keep low expectations, I suppose. Not dooming, just saying it's better to be prepared for all eventualities. We survived 2016-2020 (plus the pandemic). We can do it again.
I am cautiously optimistic that we Americans will choose correctly. Given it's the night before the big day, it's very much let the cards fall where they may.
I feel fine.
I am concerned.
I've been thinking of this date as a far away thing for so long and now it is a bit disconcerting to know that it is tomorrow.
Honestly, pretty chill. Aside from doing some ballot research before I went to vote last week, I have stayed mostly checked out from this election.
I'm sure tomorrow, as I inevitably and habitually refresh a results tracker every fifteen minutes, will be a high-anxiety day regardless of the result, but that's tomorrow.
I'm ready to celebrate or commiserate, whichever is necessary, but I refuse to give this election my fear.
Are you going to post the election megathread tomorrow, after polls close?
I honestly hadn’t thought about it, but I definitely can! Originally I was just thinking we’d just use this topic as our chat space, but I can see the utility of having a separate megathread for the election specifically.
I’m thinking I’ll post it tomorrow morning, just so it’s there for any news/chat that happens during the day as well. Does that sound like a good plan?
I think this is a really good idea. There's going to be news, rumors, and insanity flying around all goddamn day, well before the polls close.
Sounds good (well, regarding the timing — everything else about tomorrow leaves me with a pit in my stomach).
I’ll put one up tomorrow morning.
Yeah that sounds great, thanks for handling it again!
I don't know if you'd want to include a results tracker in the post itself, but if you do, I'm pretty sure these are going to be the live results pages for a few major websites:
The links are super helpful, thanks. Also you said “again” and I was like, ???
Turns out I did do some election topics back in 2020, but that time was such an anxiety nightmare for me that I completely forgot about them (probably for the best, tbh).
The good news is that I’m doing much better this time around! Still nervous, but nowhere near as bad as I was back in 2020.
Also did the NYT tech guild ask people not to access the needle in solidarity? If they did I’ll leave that out of the links.
As far as I know, they only specifically asked people not to access the games or cooking app:
https://x.com/nyguild/status/1853418971585729013 or https://nitter.poast.org/nyguild/status/1853418971585729013
But the very first line of their release statement says "the union that powers the technology behind election coverage at The New York Times". So, I don't know, it's your call 🤷
I’ll include it. I feel like if they wanted people to stay off of it, they would have named it specifically.
Of course, with them on strike, who knows if the needle will actually be working and reliable tomorrow…
The NYT tracker/needle might be impaired or down all together given the strike.
I was wondering about that myself. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.
In 2020, NYT and AP were the fastest and most frequent to update their results. I think AP was even the first of the major sites to declare Biden the winner, but I might be wrong about that. I generally like NYT's election tracker design more though. I'm hopeful they'll still be able to match their previous speed and frequency of updates. That probably wouldn't be any kind of blow to the strike? Right?
Better than a week ago. Got some hope that the Shy Harris Voting Wife phenomenon will be enough to push her over the edge. It's still coin toss territory and I'm mostly comforting myself with the fact that I, personally, should come out fine either way... which is mostly just a coping mechanism since there's a lot of people I know and value that won't.
Nervous as hell. It's not life-altering nerves, but whatever happens there will be a mess. A Harris win would mean months of substantial mess rather than years, but I'm not looking forward to Wednesday whatever the result.
I have a fever
.... and the only solution .... is more cowbell?
#jokes
I feel stressed and anxious. I feel very worried about voter apathy/bystander effect, similar to what happened in 2016. "Oh there's no way Trump will win (again), I can just stay home, other people are going to go vote against him, so I don't have to."
I just really, really hope people go out and vote. Talking the talk is one thing, walking the walk is another.
For the past week I have felt oddly... calm? I believe Kamala is going to win and it won't be close.
I'm feeling... broke? I couldn't predictably schedule volunteer time, so I put every spare dime into campaign contributions for Dems up and down the ballot. I'm genuinely excited about the quality of local Michigan candidates, as well as Kamala Harris. If money equals votes, I've done what I can to support them in the face of a dark spending flood.
Right now, I'm exhausted, over-newsed, and clinging to hope for a bright outcome tomorrow. To be honest, my gut says it's not going to be close as far as the popular vote is concerned (I'd put money on 46+% Harris <44% Trump) but swing states and the Electoral College are the real game.
I'm nervous because it's hard to be sure what the outcome will be, but my gut feeling says Kamala has this, given signs like the early voter turnout of women and the last set of polls.
I'm not an American, so my personal stake as a European is that trump will leave Ukraine out to dry, but I'm hoping for the sake of Americans I know as well that he doesn't get back in.
Brexit also seemed to have an inoculating effect on the worst of the ideas for the Brits also, so here's hoping Trumps first term proved the same way for Americans.
A lot more relaxed after the Selzer poll and Ralston prediction. I voted early, it’s out of my hands now. Probably gonna spend all day tomorrow in the classified room at work, so I won’t be constantly checking for news updates.
I know this isn't what you ment, but I'm going to choose to belive you're spending the day in a locked room reading old classified newspaper ads, scrutinizing them for a pattern that will unlock a decades old mystery
Oh. What, then, is a classified room?
Given the context, a room containing classified material, which as a beneficial side effect doesn't allow cameras and thus modern smartphones.
Don't think it necessarily has to even have material in it. I know at least two people who work the kind of jobs where you just cannot bring in a cellphone, period. Even though at least one of them has a fairly normal and uninteresting day to day, the fact that there's classified material somewhere in the building makes it enough of a deal that you can't have them.
Formally we call it a Limited Area, but it’s an area where we can handle classified matter securely. No cell phones, tablets, wearables, cameras, etc. The cube I was in today doesn’t even have an unclassified computer in it, just a terminal for the classified network.
I have an appointment to donate blood this week. I keep imagine all the places it could go.
Extremely stressed. Almost preferred it before the Iowa poll, now I have hope. I'm not sure how I'll be able to sleep.
Playing Star Ocean 2 whenever I have free time to keep the thoughts away.
What excellent taste in older games. That's definitely a game to get sucked into. Just set yourself a goal of successfully pickpocketing every NPC in the game, and you'll look up sometime late in 2025.
Would you believe that I've never played it? I've beaten SO3 a thousand times, but this is the first time I've actually tried playing SO2, which I've always heard is a lot of people's favourite.
What a charming game, I'm sad that I've missed out on it for so long! Really enjoying my time.
What a treat! I'm glad you're getting to experience it. :)
SO2 > SO3 100%. That was the first one I played. Then I gave SO3 a try. I took a break, but I found out how it ended...and was disappointed. Played SO1, and I enjoyed that one too.
See, I really thinks this come down to what game you played first. SO3 is such a formational game for me that I don't think anything's every going to top it. It's my comfort JRPG.
Trying to decide if I should throw my vote to a 3rd party to prop up their numbers a bit or write in something as a joke. I'm thinking Cthulhu, why choose the lesser evil? 😈
Not sure why people are worried, Trump lost too many silent conservatives a long time ago. Honestly don't know why republicans didn't fight more for someone else to run. He lost to Biden and that was before his temper tantrump after he lost. Sure I know Republicans who still plan to vote for him, but I also know a bunch who stopped supporting him primarily due to Jan 6th, it was just one step too far even for them. I see no chance.
Oh and just to head off protests, Oregon is solid blue. I'm not risking anything by not voting against Trump and I don't particularly like the Democratic Party either so I'd rather not vote for them if I don't have to. Yes I could leave it blank, but where would the fun be in that? 😋 Also, if you don't vote then you voted for the winner so you can't complain about what they do! I like complaining about those in charge so I can't let that happen, Cthulhu 2024!
Because the polls are close and we risk another coup attempt and even if it is true that those people won't support Trump in the voting booth, the risk of a Trump win is incredibly high for many people and possibly our democracy. That means even a lower chance is not one that sits well that it's even this close.
There are other polls that make me feel better, but I live in a blue state surrounded by Trump signs. So, I won't be resting easy for several days at best, even if Harris wins. And I mean, January 6th and all.
I'm not going to shame you for your vote though I think the flippancy is exhausting. Like, I understand a protest vote, I don't understand a meme vote.
I do hope you, and everyone, is voting on those down ballot races regardless
Hell, I won't feel like relaxing until inauguration day comes to a close on January 20th - with a presumed Harris win of course.
If, by some twisted hellscape of a timeline, trump wins, then it may be time to ask for political refugee status in Canada.
Oh if I let the anxiety run away with me, I won't be ok for quite a while. It's a real game of not thinking further ahead right now.
I have no clue what the legalities re immigration are, but if you want blank land to park a camper on let me know
Thank you for the offer, I appreciate it.
Didn't think of those surrounded by Trumpsters, I can see how things would seem a lot more bleak. :(
The meme? A serious protest vote means as little in the end as a joke, at the very least maybe there's a chance whoever is counting will get a chuckle out of it. I'm naturally rather flippant too, just can't stand seriousness, especially when the situation looks so much like a bad joke. Hundreds of millions of people and we have these as our candidates. :/
I am voting seriously on the rest of the ballot though, no worries there. The local/State elections are rather important, far more than I think many people realize.
I mean my state is fine vote wise, I just live in a small town for the first time ever and the number of giant Trump signs with cheap American flags or stupid "American flag with Trump and guns on it" sorts of things is excessive. That could be fine-ish, but when Harris signs are stolen the comments on the community Facebook page make it clear that they think that violence and theft are fine if they think you deserve it. And I'm still trying to be neighborly but, well, yeah.
And hey you do you, I just don't think of voting as a joke and it's not in my inclination to go for a bit. I actually like Harris and Walz and while there are probably any number of people who I'd agree with more out there, there's probably none of them more qualified to actually do the job and get things done. And I'm hopeful, once we know who won, that everyone so passionate about, well, everything, will keep working on that rather than disappearing for 3 years to complain about the next election.
Once my life is more settled again, I hope to get back involved myself. It might start with our community's sidewalks so my partner can go to the grocery store but that's politics (and accessibility and inclusion)too.
I agree, I'm in the UK, and I'm normally a Scottish National Party voter as I generally agree with their political views but their recent issues and corruption was massively off putting so I wanted to punish them in some way. I certainly don't agree with everything the Labour Party adhere to, less so than the SNP, but a Lid Dem vote would've been wasted and I wasn't going to let good be the enemy of perfect to ensure the Conservatives were brutally kicked out of government.
I voted Labour as a tactical vote and my constituency which was leaning heavily toward an SNP hold switched to a comfortable, but not landslide, Labour win.
Sometimes it works out and this time it did, which was nice after not being on the successful side of a single election or referendum in the UK since I came of voting age (2010 election, Alternate Vote Referendum, Scottish Independence Referendum, 2015 election, Brexit Referendum, 2017 election, and 2019 election).
I love and respect a good tactical vote. I'm glad it worked out this time. I've voted here so I'm just holding my breath
That would be the polarization of America at work, both parties have labeled the other's supporters as evil which translates to some as ok to be evil back. Trump supporters have had their signs stolen as well and car windows smashed for Trump bumper stickers and attacked on the street for wearing Trump 2024 shirts and hats.
If I were a trump supporter, I wouldn't go around a city displaying that fact. Similarly, as much as I hate to say it, it might not be the best idea to advertise you support Democrats in a republican area. It's really sad that this is what our country has come to, hating others to such a degree over politics. 😢 Really hoping things depolarize when Trump loses again and they stop supporting him.
I don't hate people over politics. I despair.
I don't see an issue with despairing people. Like right now, why do things look like they're leaning toward 2016 instead of 2020? 😭
Damnit, I may have jinxed the race. 😨 Numbers are not going as as well as I hoped in Pennsylvania, Michigan & Wisconsin. 😱
worried
Filling out the election ballot today, so I'm frantically Googling local races.
Not sure I like Eric Swalwell, but a Democrat didn't run against him. Oh well.
Voted for the Pamela Price recall. It's surprisingly hard to find good info about her actual job performance, but I figure that prosecutors should know, and there are several that came out against her. And if I'm going to vote for such a controversial person, I think I ought to know more than I do about what we're getting by shaking things up. (Also, the newspapers endorsed the recall.)
East Bay Municipal utility district director: I voted for the candidate with an active Mastodon account who filled out all the questionnaires with detailed answers over the ones who didn't bother.
East Bay Regional Park District Director: I voted for the trail runner who was endorsed by all the current park district directors and has a decent, but not particularly informative website over the others who had hardly any info online.
Eden Township Healthcare District Director: One of the candidates seems to be an adjunct professor who is running for five different offices at the same time and has a petition against him about allegedly bigoted posts on social media. I voted for the other one.
local park district board, choose 3 out of 6: Oh wait, that guy is running for this one too. Nothing online about the other challengers. Went with the incumbents.
Sanitary district board, choose 2 out of 5: that guy again. This district has the weirdest shape I've ever seen, which I learned from one of the challengers who posted a big picture of it. Also with a bunch of weird art projects - apparently she's a retired art teacher? Anyway, went with the incumbents. Oh wait, I voted for three. Oops.
[taking a break, next I'll do California propositions.]
State propositions:
This article has a useful chart of which propositions each newspaper supports, with a link to each one. Also, Politico has a useful guide.
The first ones were put on the ballot by the legislature, so they are less likely to be weird:
Prop 2: $10 billion for schools. LA Times endorses as "well-crafted." Apparently the last one that passed was in 2016, and voters rejected a $15 billion bond in 2020. It's bit worrying that the bonds are for 35 years but the money is spent a lot quicker than that, and then more is needed. Maybe it's not so bad with economic growth? And there are no real opponents other than the usual suspects. Seems ok.
Prop 3: Constitutional Right to Marriage. That's an easy one. Check.
Prop 4: $10 billion water and climate change bonds. The LA Times says it's a political compromise, but climate change measures need steady funding not provided by the state's boom & bust cycles. San Jose Mercury News opposes it since it's a hodgepodge. I think maybe the legislature should have flexibility on (cutting) funding for a lot of these programs? So I'm voting against.
Prop 5: Allows local funding for affordable housing and some infrastructure with a 55% vote, versus two thirds now. I'm generally pro-housing, but a bit skeptical of government-funded housing versus getting developers to fund it, but the two thirds requirement seems too high. So, voting in favor, and I hope local governments make good decisions.
Prop 6: Amends the California Constitution to no longer allow involuntary servitude for prisoners. Seems like an easy one, but I checked what the San Jose Mercury had to say. They say it's about doing "chores," but the Sacramento Bee says that prisoners are required to do "a variety of jobs that include building office furniture and fighting wildfires" and that doesn't sound like "chores" to me. Seems like it's not often that you get to vote against slavery? Check.
The rest come from people gathering petition signatures, so they're likely to be weird and need more scrutiny:
Prop 32: Raise minimum wage from $16 to $18. Politico points out that some industries have higher minimums (like $20 for fast food). Also, in California, there are automatic cost of living adjustments (which is why it's $16 now and will be $16.50 next year). Also, many California cities have their own minimum wages which you can read about here. I'm thinking no, let local governments decide if they need it to be higher based on their cost of living.
Prop 33: Repeals a law that restricts what kind of rent control local governments can enact. Currently they can only have rent control on older buildings and landlords can raise the rent when someone moves out. Meanwhile, California has some state-wide rent control (pretty mild, but probably prevents some nasty surprises). I'm more wary of what local governments would do on this one. All the newspapers are against it. SF Chronicle says that local governments would use it to block new housing. Going with no.
Prop 34: Revenge against the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which keeps putting rent control measures on the ballot (like Prop 33). I don't think I like them, but I'm voting against revenge. Most newspapers agree.
Prop 35: Funding for Med-Cal versus other state-funded healthcare services. This one is very complicated. Apparently the funding comes from the federal government? But the state legislature can somehow use it to fund other programs, which the proposition disallows. This would undo part of a rather dodgy deal made by Newsom to get more funding from the Feds, and the Feds have warned that they might deny it if abused, but I guess California is going to try it and see. Some health care services would win and others would lose, according to the chart on this page. Not wild about what the legislature is doing, but tying their hands on complicated budget stuff seems bad. Newspapers are mostly against.
Prop 36: Allows felony charges for some crimes like shoplifting. We talked about it here. I think I'm against prison overcrowding and don't really get why six months in prison isn't enough of a penalty for shoplifting, provided it were enforced more. Also the legislature passed some new laws, hoping to get Prop 36 withdrawn. I'm going with the legislature on this one.
So I voted mostly in favor of the propositions passed by the legislature and against all the ones proposed by other people.
Re 36, I think this is a reaction to organized gangs of shoplifters which, rightly or wrongly, are blamed for various retail chains closing stores. Although shoplifting is technically victimless, the loss of stores can be bad for people with limited transportation options. Hard to say how much making shoplifting a felony will discourage the act. The fact that employees, even security, are often discouraged from directly engaging with a shoplifter to prevent them from leaving the store, makes the perpetrators harder to catch.
US elections: European Greens call for Jill Stein to step down
The transnational party representing Green Parties across Europe call for Jill Stein to stop being a spoiler.
Even other greens think Jill Stein is being reckless.
Just don't be surprised if shit goes down
On Telegram, a Violent Preview of What May Unfold on Election Day and After https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/technology/telegram-right-wing-groups-election.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk4.Eo3r.hKm5mugNUFD8
And it may only be made worse because of these people:
The Army of Election Officials Ready to Reject the Vote https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/magazine/far-right-election-results.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk4.Q5Jy.Bg6Q-1CfFRBc
The good news is that Harris is staffed up with election lawyers.
The threat of violence sucks. I'm confident that the feds are ready. State government, I don't know. The Philadelphia DA has gone on television and invited disruptive people to FAFO.
I want to see Maya Rudolph's Kamala Harris directly inviting people to do that, similar to Obama's Anger Translator played by Keegan-Michael Key.
The Project 2025 Song!
Mangy Fetlocks (Bruce W. Nelson) is also someone who made a song on this topic (and... hundreds?.. of others about this election cycle and trump.
Here's his 2025 song
Would it make sense for us to open a "Election results discussion" thread tomorrow? That way this one could be more for the headlines over the next week and not get so overwhelmingly large.
@kfwyre is already ready to go, they posted above
Joe Rogan endorsed Trump, praised Elon musk just before the election
Rogan, like Musk, was one of those weird things where lots and lots of people seemed to think they'd walk on water and were decent people, when plenty of evidence existed that they really weren't.
I don't exactly think Rogan is a "bad" guy, but like...he's just like every other ignorant person who isn't willing to admit when they're wrong and wants to tell him self fairy tales that he read online.
Hmm actually I take that back as i'm being a hypocrite to my former self who did in fact argue that platforming Alex Jones, at ALL, after what he did crosses the line from "ignorance" into "malignant" so yeah he's fucking awful.
Trump allies in Congress promote bill to give Treasury secretary the right to quickly revoke nonprofit status from organizations
This bill was defeated
Suggestions on what to watch/listen to? My plan was Bloomberg and DDHQ, but I’m open to suggestions.
I'm watching PBS