“The danger in the minds and hearts of most white Americans is the loss of their identity. Try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shivering and all the stars aflame. You would be frightened because it is out of the order of nature. Any upheaval in the universe is terrifying because it so profoundly attacks one’s sense of one’s own reality. Well, the black man has functioned in the white man’s world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar, and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations.” — James Baldwin, still depressingly timely (and relevant to the stubborn resistance to women’s equality as well).
““The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make and could just as easily make differently.” If you truly believe that, if you perceive a world that is constructed according to certain assumptions and values, then you see that it can be changed, not least by changing those assumptions and values. …” — Rebecca Solnit
“During harrowing times some people become overwhelmed and even lose hope. It’s not a one-way progress. Almost everyone has their moments. But there’s a particular kind of militant doomerism afoot at the moment. Any discussions of next steps in the battle against Trumpism or the preservation of civic democracy, any suggestions or strategies, are met with a chorus of, “don’t you get how it worked under Hitler and Stalin!!?!” Or “don’t you know rules don’t matter to Donald Trump!?!?!” — Josh Marshall.
““There are rumors that have come up to the Hill of a secretive project within the Department of Defense involving the manipulation of human genetics with what is described as non-human genetic material for the enhancement of human capabilities, hybrids. Are any of you familiar with that? Yes, or no? Are there any accounts of UAPs emerging from or submerging into our waters which could indicate a base or presence between the ocean’s surface?” — Lauren Boebert showing having to fight for re-election hasn’t made her any more interested in serious government work.
“We CAN fight fascists without fisticuffs or violence. Voting, and encouraging other non-chuds to vote, is an important first step,” — a look at how one Maine community drove neo-Nazis out.
“There’s nothing funny about this, given what’s about to happen, but…this is right up there with thinking that Texas Republicans are going to pivot to social democracy. This is like doing construction work for Trump on spec and expecting to get paid.” — Scott Lemieux on the Arab-American Trump supporters who thought he’d rein Israel in.
“The people of God hate (at least) three things, for they are three things that the Lord hates: the trampling of the poor, the killing of the weak, and lies about one another and about the Lord. We can build communities that resist those particular things by the power of the Holy Spirit. Such work has always been necessary. Maybe this will remind people of that fact. ” — I know, not all y’all are Christian, but those are good things to hate.
“There is no such thing as an adult “vaccine skeptic” in the year 2024. For all its factual value as a label, you might just as accurately call R.F.K. Jr. an esquilax. Any reasonable questions that a skeptical, critical-minded person might have about how and whether vaccines work can be answered by more hard, clear evidence than a person could exhaust in a year of nonstop research. To practice skepticism in this case, to approach the science of vaccination with a skeptic’s demands, is to learn that vaccines work, and that vaccination as a practice has done incalculable good for humanity. The idea of a “vaccine skeptic” in 2024 is as nonsensical as the idea of a germ theory skeptic. A molecular biology skeptic. A heliocentricity skeptic. A spherical triangle.”— LGM on the news media pretending RFK has a point.
“Women candidates in general do not appear to suffer any electoral penalty for being women. You can argue that the presidency is different, but the evidence for that assertion consists of two trials that in and of themselves don’t really provide any evidence for that belief. It’s like asserting that flipping a coin twice and having it land on heads both times means that the coin will never come up tails ever again no matter what.”
