A slight political post (you have been warned :-p)

[a_natural_beauty]

I will make this one brief, but I wanted to just say how grateful I am things are looking better than I original thought they would for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz! Regardless of what was going to happen, if Joe would have stayed in the race I would have still voted for him. The views and beliefs I have will always line up with the democratic party. And I liked Joe Biden. But I feel like he did the best job and choice he could have.
And now we hand the torch to Kamala and Tim. Both people I can stand behind and believe in. I'm feeling more of a fighting spirit, more motivated and happier about things. We can't afford anther Trump presidency. Things around the world and the climate are too far gone to go back to what we had. We need to think about each other on this planet earth and our environment as a whole.
If you have different views than me and have seen this post and gaged - don't worry. I don't like to post political stuff too often, but I feel like this has been on my heart strings for a few days now and I wanted to write about it. We can still be friends and have different views, I have always believed in this. I'll respect you and yours and you respect me and mine. Thanks for reading this little power rant and have a good day & weekend wherever you are :-)

Comments

[matt_zimmer]

I love you, Jess.

[matt_zimmer]

Also, when is the next chapter of Promised Memories going on Global Comix?

[a_natural_beauty]

Soo, I'm hoping to try to upload it in the next few days. I've just been sick, I'm going to write a quick post about it in a bit.

[a_natural_beauty]

Hey, love you too! We got this!!

[nanslice]

This is pretty much where I stand as well. I was concerned when Biden dropped the race but I'm feeling a little bit more comfortable now that we're seeing more of Walz (who I'd never heard of because I suck at keeping up with other states' politics.

I'm cautiously optimistic!

[a_natural_beauty]

I've never heard of him either, but I think he was a very safe and so far successful choice for Harris. I'm glad you are, too!

[yourlibrarian]

It has definitely been nice seeing all the excitement for the Democratic ticket 🙂

[a_natural_beauty]

Yes! I couldn't agree more!

[jasonderoga86]

We can still be friends and have different views, I have always believed in this. I'll respect you and yours and you respect me and mine.

And I respect in all ways, views, morals, everything. That's how friendships stay strong, and right now I'm seeing so many others lose their friendships and even suffer the fracturing of their own families because of the abhorrent political climate America is mired in right now. It's like speaking out on ANYTHING can be misconstrued into a political statement, and these political statements are no different from personal attacks against one another. For "the most civilized nation in the world", this is stupid and asinine. Spitting threats of hatred and harm towards each other is how barbarians socialize. But we have barbarians in the Republican brood right now, exacerbated by the constant reminder that America has had enough, and this idea of violence and hatred being how REAL election campaigns are run has been rejected by everyone. Matt Zimmer used to tell me that it all boils down to the fact that Trump and the GOP are basically a wolf with its leg caught in a beartrap that will eventually bleed to death, and as it does, the wolf is flailing and gnashing, lashing out in its death throes. But the wolf will eventually expire regardless of its attempts to keep fighting.

My message for America when this election is over boils down to a single sentence that I saw on a sign that someone held behind Rudy Giuliani after he lost a major defamation case against two election workers whose lives had been marred with daily death threats from "Stop the Steal" wackos Giuliani personally set on them, the verdict setting him on the path to bankruptcy and his assets set to be sold to meet the election workers' victory. That sentence reads:

"Stop hating each other just because you disagree."

Simple logic, simple task. It is NOT that hard to follow this sage wisdom. It's only hard when one MAKES it hard. I'm so glad to have you as friend, Jess, as I am with everyone else here. We see that kindness is not a herculean aspiration. The political climate has been forced into hostility and lies by a group of people who are, quite frankly, plump-TERRIFIED of change. Well, hate to break it them, but they can stop change any more than they can stop the Sun's rise and fall. They will be forced to grapple with change one way or another, because that's how life works.

[a_natural_beauty]

Hey, thank you for all of your kind words and insight! It's always good to hear from you, my friend! :-)

Change is something we need more now than ever. For sure I feel. It's hard for some people, but slowly - if we work together - I think we as a country can do anything. I mean, honestly - what choice do we have?

[einhornmaedchen]

I really like this comment, it is very wise. Well said!

[jasonderoga86]

Hey! Nice to meet you! And thanks for your kind words!

And I also like your profile image! If you can rhyme about your pride, it's ALWAYS a great thing. I've got nothing but pure respect and admiration for the LGBTQIA+ community -- some of the most resilient and powerful people I've ever met. 😇

[einhornmaedchen]

Hello there :)
It's nice to "meet" you here as well - you seem like a very kind and warm-hearted person.
I've got nothing but pure respect and admiration for the LGBTQIA+ community -- some of the most resilient and powerful people I've ever met.
That is such a nice thing to say! Thank you ♥

[jasonderoga86]

And I meant every word of that statement. 😇

After seeing how most of the world has descended into a fog of hatred where the loudest voices are those of divisiveness and an unwillingness to ask the hard questions that NEED to be asked, I'm really disappointed in how "leaders" in seats of power have responded; doing the bare minimum or nothing at all, and then punishing the betrayed and ignored if they "step out of line".

"Accept what you cannot change", they always say. Well, if what you can't change still threatens to change YOU for the worst, how can anybody tell you to "accept" that? There are nations where LGBTQIA+ rights don't exist, and someone comes out as gay, lesbian, or trans, that's a felony punishable by death under a government run by religious bigots. We're telling them to "accept" this because they can't "change" it?

I'm seeing innocent people (my own close friends included) being bullied online by others, and 99.99% of the time the admins of these forums/social media websites side... with the bullies, and even become bullish themselves. All in an attempt to quell the hostilities of people stuck in their digital and metaphysical comfort zones. We're telling the victims to "accept" this because they can't "change" it?

My answer to these problems is that these leaders don't approach them from a moral standpoint. They approach them from a cultural or political standpoint. And it has hurt FAR too many people that in many nations there can be no forgiveness for such propaganda. And this is coming from a Cali Black guy who has to be a closeted Christian now because what passes for his faith on a mainstream level worldwide can only be called heresy.

I remember a quote from one of one of my favorite Star Trek films, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It was the first Trek movie my dad ever spoke of on a plane trip when I was 5, think, but I never fully watched it until around 2012. Everything in that film, I see happening today in the world. Culture wars. Literal wars, waged for the stupidest of reasons, and the warring parties politicizing the loss of life like it's a morality test. And worst of all, nations who have spent their entire existence trying to one up each other in some way, who fully believe eternal armed conflict is the only way to come to a conclusion. Well, eternity has no end, so an "armed conflict" on those grounds can't end either -- unless the Earth dies in a nuclear cataclysm. Citizens in every nation know that, but almost all world leaders can't SEE that. But the citizens are being told to "accept" the way of things until a solution presents itself. Well, we are still waiting, but now the planet Earth is dying. And is anyone really listening? Given that people have been sounding the alarm about global warming for half a century now, I think I can comfortably say that the answer, from world leaders' P.O.V., is a resounding "no" or worse, a "so what -- WE DON'T CARE."

We CAN'T accept that. Today's generation of youth can't accept that -- nowadays kids don't even get to grow up since their lives always get snuffed out as early as age four because some bomber pilot made a mistake and dropped a payload of bombs on the wrong "target". I worked at an agency that assists and cares for the developmentally and mentally disabled, many of which are LGBTQIA+; one binary transgender there is a successful businessperson and saw me as one of their best friends after just one year of my employment (we also have the same birthday -- October 31st, Halloween. They are about 8 years older than I am). They even found a way to bring up some good news at the end of every one of our weekly "News Hour" classes; how about that. A binary transgender business expert who also knows where to find heartwarming news stories our American news couldn't care to broadcast, not when there's depressing and fearmongering "breaking news" to force-feed the masses with. Is it any wonder why so many Americans today are so angry they don't even know how to ARGUE properly anymore? I know in my city, arguments almost always end with someone getting perforated by bullets, with the assailant gone hours before the cops get there. Another half year before the criminal is found, and four more months until the criminal is in custody awaiting a trail whose verdict often ends with a massive disappointment for the aggrieved families.

When I was called (actually, I was unanimously picked by our entire counselor staff as I was about to head home for the day -- still humble about it too. I'm good, but THAT good. Alas, they wouldn't let me off the hook... 😅) to represent my position at work in an interview with a few board members from similar agencies from all over California, I asked to make a statement to our board member first. And I told them the real problem, the REAL disability worldwide that threatens so many. It comes down to two things: arrogance and ignorance. Collectively, these two things have been around since the first human could talk. And since then, these two things have always impeded progress in everything: fair wages at a job, racial equality, the acknowledgement of the basic human right to life for women, kids, and especially the LGBTQIA+ community... It's 2024, and humanity STILL can't wrap its head around simple stuff like this. Seriously, we all have to look at ourselves sometime and ask ourselves why this is still the reality.

The only answer I've got is that people MAKE this reality the norm with arrogance and ignorance: prejudice, discrimination, and criminalizing anything they don't have the slightest clue how to solve rationally... because this is the easiest and "instantly gratuitous" way to "solve" a problem. Well, over the decades everybody's seen that this is always a soggy band-aid solution that rolls off the moment someone steps out of bounds. Looking at all the improvements we've made in tech, I've been saying to my other friends, "C'mon, man. We are better than this. Humanity is better than this."

I'll end this admittedly long response with an apology and the reference to Star Trek. Captain James Tiberius Kirk spoke these words at the climax of the film when a peace deal that was lightyears in the making between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire was almost foiled:

"It's about the future, Madame Chancellor. Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history quite yet. Your father called the future - "the undiscovered country". People can be very frightened of change."

The characters then slowly erupted into a standing ovation full of smiles and even a few grumpy-yet-in-full-agreement frowns. I just the world can come to that point sometime soon; no nation can enjoy a "great and glorious future" if there's no planet Earth to enjoy it on. Common sense.

[a_natural_beauty]

Thank you, I appreciate that! I try to be! :-)
I hope you take care of yourself in these scary times.

[einhornmaedchen]

I hope you take care of yourself in these scary times.
I am doing my best :)

[a_natural_beauty]

That's good. *hugs*

[einhornmaedchen]

*hugs back*

[einhornmaedchen]

I like Kamala Harris a lot, from the impression I am getting from her, she seems very capable and definitely a much better choice than Trump, and even than Biden. I'm definitely crossing my fingers that she'll end up winning, as I agree that neither the US nor the world at large can afford another Trump presidency.

[a_natural_beauty]

I agree, too. More and more times I hear her talk and her voice brings me hope in a way I haven't felt since Obama to be honest.
No, he is a threat to not only America but the world.. that's what my gut is telling me.

[einhornmaedchen]

I was so scared and disgusted when I read about him saying that if people voted for him now, they "wouldn't need to vote again in four years". To me, it sounds like a confirmation that he wants to establish a dictatorship and as a German, that's extra frightening to imagine :(

[a_natural_beauty]

Yes, it truly scares me how he thinks and what he plans on doing to our country. He is a terrible person and needs to stay far away from the White house. FAR AWAY. He should be locked up honestly.