chapotraphouse

https://fxtwitter.com/itsluckypurr/status/1850267719628697905

https://x.com/Liv_Agar/status/1850375879005999596

Please do it Mr President. Imagine how high the tariffs have to be. Close to like 50-80% maybe? On all imports. That'll cut purchasing power so much.

And how effective will the tariff collection be compared to income tax? All the income tax workers will have to be transferred to customs. If the efficiency isn't similar, then US Dollar might have issues.

And it is much easier as of right now to evade customs and tarrifs than income taxes. You can undervalue very easily.

And with exports of China shrinking because of tariffs they'll be forced to increase domestic demand.

Trump really hates Amerikkka.

Cw: y'all pretty much know by this point that I view god as an inevterate enemy who must be destroyed, i hate tableknockers, i hate wizards, i hate false truthsayers and all that shit. I'm not any nicer to religion or magicians in this rant than I am anywhere else.

Note: this is very much a rant. I'm trying to work through what the fuck is wrong with Democrats and how we keep ending up at the same point but worse every four years, why they can't acknowledge what's happening, why they can't learn or grow, and why they cannot take effective political action, ever, unless it's something evil;

In this election, and pretty much every election in my lifetime, voting has been a means of reinforcing group identity and asserting what you believe and what you value.

It's a magical ritual of personal and national renewal that re-connects you to the Good People and the magical true America. 

When the libs are saying, pleading, threatening, shitting themselves that you must vote for genocide they're making a profound ideological statement. A spiritual statement. They're stating what they believe to be the will of a divine figure. Democracy, which they view as a divine process or divine figure, demands the sacrifice of two million people. To be a Good Person you must join in the ritual slaughter of those people. You must hold the knife and you must believe that you are doing the Right Thing as you plunge it in to the chest of the sacrificial victim. 

That is what Democracy demands. That is what Democracy must be given. That is what you must do to be a Good Person and be On The Right Side of History.

There's no material politics here. Democrats aren't a political party. They're a cult of the American Civic Religion. This is their key festival where they renew the strength of their god through a collective act of asserting their group membership and belief.

The ballot is a sacrificial item. The Democrats make marks on their ballot to sanctify the candidates, to unveil and confirm their holiness. They do this to make their candidates Good People who will enact the proper rights and forms to uphold Democracy and stave off the end of the world for another four years.

None of this is about paper ballots or polling places or policy or material politics. When Libs are shitting themselves screaming or begging that you need to vote what they're saying is that you need to participate in the sacrifice. You need to hold the knife. You need to spill the blood so Democracy will be able to hold off the end of the world for another four years. You need to accept that for Democracy to receive the divine strength and power it requires then any sacrifice it demands must be given, any number of people must be butchered.

This is basal fascism, moderated by American liberal cosmology. The nation must be reknewed through the ritual destruction of a minority group that unites the volk. The killing will re-invigorate the nation and make it unified and spiritually strong. Every hand must touch the knife so that all members of the volk will be magically linked together.

Even they know it's not about policy or law anymore. 

Voting for their spiritual leader, their divine figure that embodies and represents Democracy, is not a political action as we'd understand it but a statement of faith and a magical action that re-connects them to their nation and their god.

This is why they won't act. This is why they won't organize. This is why all of ther political actions have the form of religious processions - they get their T-shirts and signs, they go to the sacred protesting space, they make the correct speeches, and then they go home full of joy that they have performed the correct ritual to bring about Democracy.

As long as they continue to adhere to this cult and this magical fascistic belief system they have no revolutionary potential. They have no value as allies. They will always fight, violently, to bring any uprising or political action or disruption back in to the framework of their religious festivals and magical rituals. They will always fight against heretics and blasphemers that they believe upset or threaten the cosmic magical cycle of re-birth and renewal of Democracy.

This is not a metaphor. Democrats are a theofascist religious movement. They have a veneer of liberal secularism but that only barely conceals the religious nature of their beliefs and the magical purpose of their actions.

Refusal to participate in their cult rituals and submit to the will of their divine Democracy is a completely separate matter from actually completing and submitting a ballot in the real, material world. Dems don't give a shit about the political process. They don't believe in it anymore, if they ever did. 

These arguments with them, it's not about policy or realpolitik. It's trying to break through their religious delusion and engage with them on material terms and thats why it mostly completely fails. They do not live in or experience consensus reality.

I don't even know where I'm going with this, except that this goes far beyond electoralism in material reality for Dems. As a matter of political outcomes in material reality voting is largely purposeless. Public opinion does not influence government policy. The us political system is not meaningfully democratic.

But for religiously active Democrats, especially the dedicated fanatics, electoral politics and specifically the ritual act of voting is the center of the moral and magical universe. It is the key magical act that staves off the destruction of the world every four years.

That's how we can be trapped in this absurd contradiction. Voting doesn't matter because it won't change policy, but voting is the most critical thing in American politics because if we cannot break Democrats free from their religious delusion we cannot trust them to organize, we cannot educate them, we cannot make them act effectively and strategically in material reality. If they're ever going to be useful, or even just stop being actively harmful, their religious delusion of politics as magical ritual must be broken. To do that their faith in voting, their religious faith in voting as a magical ritual of spiritual renewal of the nation, must be attacked and broken.

We must kill their god or we're all utterly fucked.

But that's why these arguments with them always turn circular. They're not asking for participation in Democrat mass politics to bring about specific policy. They're demanding participation in the ritual act. They're demanding we perform our ritual role within the American Civic Religion. We hear a demand for political action, but that's not what they're asking. That's not the language they speak. They're not materialists. Their world is a phantasmagoria of ghosts and demons and vast cosmic spiritual forces. The Democrats cannot fail, only be failed, because the Democrats are high priests and wizards tasked with enacting the will of God as part of a manichean struggle against cosmic evil. If the Democrats, who are holy and have been annointed through the holy process of democracy, fail it is because the people, the nation, has sinned, are unclean, are ritually impure, did not take the proper actions to convey spiritual power to the priestly class.

That's why they blame us and not Hilldawg, Obama, Biden, Harris. Their leaders failed because we withheld the spiritual power they needed to enact the will of god. We sinned against Democracy, we blasphemed, we were impure, and as a result Democracy was not able to perform its spiritual role and properly hold back the end of the world. We, not as actual people who exist in a material world, but as a hated class of blasphemers and evil magicians, corrupted the rituals and our taint sickened the spirt of the nation and the great god Democracy, thus all evils are our fault, or the fault of minorities, or whoever else they perceive as being outside their religion of Good People.

That's why reality never matters. It doesn't matter that Nader wasn't a spoiler in 2000, or that the GOP interfered in the elections, or that whether Bush won or not the scotus handed him the presidency in a judicial coup. What mattered is Nader, and the Green party as a demon of spiritual disease and impurity, sickened the nation, the volk, and rendered the rituals of the Good People impotent and powerless. Gore didn't lose because he was a boring loser who ran a bad campaign, he lost because Greens pissed in the holy water and shat on the offering table.

Likewise, it doesn't matter, it never matters, that Obama refused to wield power and enact policy. Obama was annointed. The seal of holiness was on him. Whatever he did, not matter how frustrating, was the Divine Will. 

Hilldawg? She's a world historical event. Light itself! One of their high priestesses, an old woman dying of cancer, flat out refused to take pragmatic political action and resign because she believed holy Democracy wanted her to pass her Priestly role to Hillary, who would in turn bequeath it on another holy person. There was no question that Hillary, one of the most deeply loathed politicians in America, the butcher of Libya, an incredibly polarizing figure on the best of days, might lose. Hillary was annointed. This was the will of Democracy. 

And when she ate shit against an actual carnival barker and reality tv clown it was again blamed on outsiders spiritually contaminating the nation, interupting the ritual, pissing in the holy water. Bernie Bros who hated the Good People did it. Russia whispered magic spells in the ears of Good People and twisted them against Light Herself. 

It doesn't matter that a material analysis shows these things are not true, that Bernie supports voted for Hillary more reliably than Obama supporters did (or vice verse? I can't remember it's been so long.) Or that Russia's paltry campaign advertisement spending had no effect on America's already staggeringly racist, hateful, right wing electorate. The process is magical, so the causes of the failure must be magical.

We saw the same thing four years ago with brandon when everyone did actually hold their nose and vote for the lesser evil and vote for trump. We're seeing the same thing where opposition to Harris is not being attributed to material realities like actual fucking genocide but to the impeity and impurity of bad people. Misogyny, misogynoir, childishness, ignorance, foolishness, stubborness. Anything, anything, but acknowledging that being berated to vote for genocide, to put your signature on it, is demoralizing, alienating, that it's horrifying to be asked to do that and horrifying to see the fervour in the eyes of the people making the demand. They cannot see their actions as the horrific actions of fascist murderers because they are Good People. They are the ones who understand the will of god, who perform the correct rituals, who reliably and joyfully grant their spiritual power to Democracy. We can "push her left" or "hold her accountable" at some vague point in the future. After tjhe election. After she has been filled with divine power and completed her ascendence from the role of candidate to the holy role of President. After her magical role is complete, after the ritual is complete, it will be possible to criticize her without polluting her spiritual power, polluting the power of the nation, robbing Democracy of the pure and holy power it requires to push back the end of the world.

Idk I'm just fucking ranting at this point. I want to believe something other than that they're all completely fucking evil and either sadists or cowards.

That's the real issue this time," he said. "Beating Nixon. It's hard to even guess how much damage those bastards will do if they get in for another four years."

The argument was familiar, I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame, but "regrettably necessary" holding actions? And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?

Now with another one of these big bogus showdowns looming down on us, I can already pick up the stench of another bummer. I understand, along with a lot of other people, that the big thing this year is Beating Nixon. But that was also the big thing, as I recall, twelve years ago in 1960 – and as far as I can tell, we've gone from bad to worse to rotten since then, and the outlook is for more of the same.

—Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72

When will we move on?

Disclaimer since based on my last comment i know the accusation is coming: i voted for claudia already. I think socialists should vote for Claudia if shes available.

I just also think voting is not the ultimate expression of politics and doesnt mean that much. The "its an endorsement" thing is true, but one extra endorsement does not equal one extra dead Palestinian. Thats just magical thinking. (Also, ive tried telling people the endorsement thing because its what changed my mind about lesser evilism, it doesnt work.)

And the idea that every Kamala voter is horrific evil when many are scared, propagandized, gaslit marginalized people doing what they think they need to do to not die is misguided. You guys claim to be the ultimate propaganda understanders but dont seem to understand its power. Are people still responsible for their actions? Sure. Does a vote of all things matter as an action all that much? Lmao fuck no. Its basically pointless.

Like ive actually talked to liberals about their vote. I didnt even have to touch grass to it! Where their coming from is wrong and ive told them that, but ive seen the effect the lesser evilism propaganda has on their mind. they are not coming from a place of evil with their choice Hating, "not forgiving", or throwing in the pit (as ive seriosly seen suggested) the 10s of millions of people who will vote Kamala in November is simply not practical. You cant hate humanity to that extent and organize. And you definitly cant desire to kill that many people lmao.

Also, most of you are ex liberals. Meaning most of you have endorsed war crimes with a vote. Probably worth keeping in mind.

linked article is what has convinced me he's got it in the bag. the wapo/nyt libs are exactly as insufferable as they were in 2016 and the results will the identical. he'll win for all the same reasons he did the first time and libs, having learned absolutely nothing, will make all the same complaints and tear their hair out trying to figure out what happened. watching the most performatively irritating people on earth eat crow is going to be absolutely

and i don't even have to feel bad about laughing because kamala's policies are literally identical to trumps, so its not even like theres gonna be additional palestinians/trans people/women who are suffering because of it

Death to America

Obviously I’m not a fan of Dawkins. I haven’t read any of his work, but from the various clips and quotes of his I’ve seen over the years he strikes me as an incurious bigot with a blinkered worldview. But I have no reason to doubt that he is a smart man.

So it’s very funny to see him realize that he’s debating a genuinely delusional person, as Peterson makes some bizarre epistemological argument that dragons are literally real because we use the concept of predator as a shorthand for animals that kill other animals. Except Peterson seems to expand the definition of predator to “anything that can kill a person” when he argues that fire is a predator.

Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi is an honest and frank man who fought the Zionists everywhere and warned the people against them. He was not afraid of the Zionists and he is a hero, despite the distortion of his image in the Arab countries, especially the Arabian Gulf, and calling him an infidel so that his people would rise up against him. Yes, the sheikhs of the Gulf issued a fatwa that he was an infidel for the sake of money. They are the dogs of the rulers, and we and most of the Arab peoples do not recognize that they are sheikhs. They are a disgrace to us. Muammar Gaddafi, who fought the American government and its unjust policies everywhere.

Muammar Gaddafi, who supported the resistance anywhere in the world and was always warning against the Zionists and the Zionist project, whether in the world or the Arab countries, and fought most of the Arab countries because they support the Zionist project in the Arab region, especially in the Gulf, they have been America's dogs for a long time, and Muammar Gaddafi described them and said about them dogs and they are truly dogs.

One of the great positions of the hero Muammar Gaddafi is that he supported the Palestinian resistance, whether in weapons or money. Did you know that the main weapon that is with the resistance in Gaza is the Libyan Kalashnikov and most of the RPGs that are with the resistance are from Libya and also the great financial support. We in Palestine and especially Gaza love Gaddafi very much. He lived a hero and died a hero, although his image was distorted by the Zionists when he died and they said that he was hiding in the sewers. This was not true, but he was fighting and I think everyone knows this and they know how heroes are distorted by the Zionists. Finally, I pray for mercy for him and for every hero like him

Have a rotten day indeed

Mashallah Lebanon has made us the most perfect condiment ever made. I am eating it with BBQ chips rn for the most intense vegan snack on the Earth.

Some dude tried to merc me over my 7 year old android and that wasn't the worst part. The cops who responded literally searched me, made me explain my tattoos to prove they weren't gang related, told me to stop crying, and told me it was my fault I almost got offed for going to subway. I fucking hate America. The only reason I'll be able to sleep is because I have 120 pounds of "fuck you" guarding me. (I love my pitbull son)

I've gotta work this haloween and would like to make the best of it, mostly what I need is as many misfits songs without swears as possible. I think the rest I've got handled. Most goth is pretty clean and the rest is soundtracks. If you have any suggestions I'd also like some. I've got Monster Mash and Canadian classic C'est L'Halloween down.

How many dead Palestinian kids will it take for you to change your vote?

Soros: You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful pets... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.

Soros: Whatever you want.

Soros: Kiss them on their little heady-bye. You can do anything.

the parantheticals are referencing teacher names to tell which room to go to for that presentation – left in a couple so you could appreciate the very appropriate location for the Law Enforcement presentation

these options leave a lot to be desired and make me wonder how the fuck they recruit for them, because it doesn't seem like there's much effort to get a wide breadth of interests and options.

AND HONORS THE LEGACY OF SOCIALIST YUGOSLAVIA

(Also I guess they still tell jokes)

Enthusiasm can be a productive force for good, but our culture has rapidly become a fan-based landscape that the rest of us are merely living in

Of that hardly-a-hundred schoolkids, office boys and junior librarians, the great majority were actively involved in their pursuit, publishing or contributing to a variety of – for the most part – poorly duplicated fanzines, or else going on to work professionally in the field, such as Kevin O’Neill, Steve Moore, Steve Parkhouse or Jim Baikie, all of whom were downstairs at the Waverley hotel that weekend, keen to elevate the medium that they loved, rather than passively complain about whichever title or creator had particularly let them down that month. Of course, this was the 1960s and the same amateur energy seemed to be everywhere, spawning an underground press, Arts Lab publications and a messy, marvellous array of poetry or music fanzines that were the material fabric of that era’s counterculture; flimsy pamphlets as important and innovative today as they were then, although considerably more expensive, trust me.

Soon thereafter, caught up in the rush of adolescent life, I drifted out of touch with comic books and their attendant fandom, only returning eight years later when I was commencing work as a professional in that fondly remembered field, to find it greatly altered. Bigger, more commercial, and although there were still interesting fanzines and some fine, committed people, I detected the beginnings of a tendency to fetishise a work’s creator rather than simply appreciate the work itself, as if artists and writers were themselves part of the costumed entertainment. Never having sought a pop celebrity relationship with readers, I withdrew by stages from the social side of comics, acquiring my standing as a furious, unfathomable hermit in the process. And when I looked back, after an internet and some few decades, fandom was a very different animal.

An older animal for one thing, with a median age in its late 40s, fed, presumably, by a nostalgia that its energetic predecessor was too young to suffer from. And while the vulgar comic story was originally proffered solely to the working classes, soaring retail prices had precluded any audience save the more affluent; had gentrified a previously bustling and lively cultural slum neighbourhood. This boost in fandom’s age and status possibly explains its current sense of privilege, its tendency to carp and cavil rather than contribute or create. I speak only of comics fandom here, but have gained the impression that this reflexive belligerence – most usually from middle-aged white male conservatives – is now a part of many fan communities. My 14-year-old grandson tells me older Pokémon aficionados can display the same febrile disgruntlement. Is this a case of those unwilling to outgrow childhood enthusiasms, possibly because these anchor them to happier and less complex times, who now feel they should be sole arbiters of their pursuit?

Never imagined fandom being described as being gentrified but here we are.

There are, of course, entirely benign fandoms, networks of cooperative individuals who quite like the same thing, can chat with others sharing the same pastime and, importantly, provide support for one another in difficult times. These healthy subcultures, however, are less likely to impact on society in the same way that the more strident and presumptuous fandoms have managed. Unnervingly rapidly, our culture has become a fan-based landscape that the rest of us are merely living in. Our entertainments may be cancelled prematurely through an adverse fan reaction, and we may endure largely misogynist crusades such as Gamergate or Comicsgate from those who think “gate” means “conspiracy”, and that Nixon’s disgrace was predicated on a plot involving water, but this is hardly the full extent to which fan attitudes have toxified the world surrounding us, most obviously in our politics.