Dear Americans

[sabotabby]

I am so fucking sorry about your country. Dear Americans with uteruses, I'm thinking of you and raging for you.

The social contract, such that it ever was anything more than a myth, is broken. The sooner ordinary people realize that their minority of shrivelled old masters have never considered themselves bound by it, the better. The sooner ordinary people realize that this means they are not bound to it either, the better.

These so-called justices should never get to know a moment of peace now. If they are going to invade your ovaries and your privacy, all freedom-loving people should ensure that they do not have a private life. They have addresses, which you can find circulating around Twitter. These places should be considered public campsites and gender neutral washrooms. They go to restaurants, but they have lost the privilege to dine in silence, and their meals should not be spit free. They should be harassed and harangued like a terrified teenager trying to get reproductive health care at a Planned Parenthood. They should not be able to sleep in their beds at night with the vuvuzelas and the sound systems and the screaming.

Dear Americans I do not recommend sending bodily fluids through the mail but a tampon dipped in food colouring will probably have the desired emotional impact. If you find a politician that is particularly interested in the contents of your reproductive organs, why not show them?

These wizened old men are cowards. Violence may not be required. They are scared if you yell at them in public. This is something Democrats are afraid to do. Democrats still think that civility exists. Dear Americans, it does not. The time for being civil is long passed, if it ever existed. 

Dear Canadians, I see you looking smug. You can cut it out right now. Indigenous women are still routinely sterilized against their will and their babies abducted. Black people still face higher maternal mortality. Abortion is impossible in large parts of the Maritimes and the North, even though it's in theory legal. The Tories, should they come to power, will be emboldened by the atrocity to the south. Do not make the mistake of believing they're beholden to consensus reality. They are not. They are every bit as vicious as American Republicans and if we don't stop them at the ballot box, we will have to stop them in far less convenient ways.

We can fight these monsters and win but the gloves need to come off.

Comments

[smittenbyu]

yes!! And a lot of parts around the world are swinging right. I would be very careful no matter where one lives to snicker at the US news and not take things for granted.

[sabotabby]

Yep. Our fascists are very emboldened by the fact that they held our capital city hostage and won all of their demands save one.

[smhwpf]

Hear, hear.

I only hope this galvanises people and leads to one almighty backlash, electoral and otherwise.

[sabotabby]

I don't know what will galvanize people at this point.

[marahmarie]

Exactly. I'm to the point I don't think the actual Second Coming would have the intended effect.

[sabotabby]

Nah, Tucker Carlson would be shitting on Jesus on FOX News because he's a communist and one of those scary brown people.

[marahmarie]

"Fake news, false flag Jesus arrives to save Mexican invaders and self-aborting women, and he took my UV ball tanner away!"

[brittdreams]

Unfortunately, voting isn't going to do as much as people might hope since the evangelical Right has spent the last 20 years deliberately undermining voting rights and the power of minoritized folks votes through a vicious combo of gerrymandering, early voting restrictions, voter ID laws, and more.

[sabotabby]

Yeah. America hasn't been a democracy in—well, ever, really.

[brittdreams]

Pretty much. At the country's founding, I wasn't even 3/5ths of a person.

[marahmarie]

Yep. Waiting on voting to solve problems is like waiting on Santa Claus at this point.

[brittdreams]

Especially given all the efforts to curtail voting rights and access. And also because elected Democrats continue to throw up their hands and act like they can't do anything!

Lose the wedge issues = lose the funding

[marahmarie]

If they did something people would stop donating to them and funding them (or so they fear).

So they can't, or won't, do anything, and my money's on they never will.

Re: Lose the wedge issues = lose the funding

[brittdreams]

It's unfortunate how invested people are in keeping their own power, to the detriment of everything and everyone else.

Re: Lose the wedge issues = lose the funding

[marahmarie]

I tend to think good old simple greed plays a part, too. I'm disgusted by all of it.

I want a third party, a more capitalist socialism option like you see in some European countries, on the table. Like Bernie, but better.

Re: Lose the wedge issues = lose the funding

[brittdreams]

At this point, I want at least four parties so we can have a coalition government. Of course I also want to abolish the Senate, expand the number of seats in the House, and do something about the Supreme Court.

Re: Lose the wedge issues = lose the funding

[marahmarie]

Hear, hear...and the Electoral College!

Re: Lose the wedge issues = lose the funding

[brittdreams]

Oh yea, that's gotta go too!

[smilingslightly]

This is about the most heartening thing I've seen all day. Thank you.

[sabotabby]

Oh no, it's terrifying when I'm heartening.

[franklanguage]

Here in the States, it's ridiculously difficult to get people to vote; most people seem to think voting really doesn't matter. It's as though people are saying, "But what can I do?" and you say, "Vote! Get out and vote!" and they say, "But what can I do?"

From today's New York Times: In New York, Anti-Abortion Centers Outnumber Abortion Clinics

[sabotabby]

See, for those places, it's pretty easy to deal with. Neighbours can be informed via flyer drops and posters, which are easy to do, and you don't have to wait every four years to do it. Also, they tend to have locks, so if a little raccoon were to somehow accidentally get ahold of glue and spill it in the lock somehow, that fake clinic would be difficult to use until they were able to get it open. Raccoons are notoriously clever and can cause a fair amount of problems if they repeat that activity.

People who don't vote, though, are often quite correct. Does a New Yorker's vote matter? Not really. There are only two parties and one of them won't ever get elected in New York. A Georgia or Texas voter is a different story. Your vote doesn't count for much regardless, as evidenced by the fact that the Dems are in power and said they didn't want abortion banned, but it counts less or more depending on geography.

[franklanguage]

In NYC, we've had Republicans who have threatened the status quo; most notably recently, it was our two-term mayor Rudy "Freedom Is About Authority" Giuliani, who ran on the Republican ticket.

[broken_record]

There are probably going to be a lot of abandoned babies showing up on their doorsteps.

[sabotabby]

And worse.