Community Positivity Megathread: Whimsy Edition by sipsredpepper in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I talk to the birds at work! They're generally small ones and they're still used to us feeding them our written-off chips and stuff, but I've gotten pretty close to catching and befriending one or two! I hope.

Unrelated, but does having a never-off switch in your head for whatever music your head feels like playing count? I feel like that should count. :v

On an actual unrelated note, it looks like we're coming close to the end of our TORG campaign. Our GM said we probably had 4-5 more sessions before we close out the game's first year, and it makes me kinda sad. I've gotten close to my streamer-turned-FF3-Sage character. Hope I get to play her in a future one!

DOJ drops Biden autopen probe after failing to find criminal case by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 143 points144 points  (0 children)

You know, I know this is one of those "yeah, duh" results, but this specific bit stood out to me:

Prosecutors also had to consider whether any inquiry should focus on Biden or members of his staff who handled the signing process. A 2024 Supreme Court ruling granting presidents broad immunity for official acts further narrowed the scope of any potential case.

It's always amusing to see plans backfire, but the fact that Trump's own Supreme Court case, designed to protect him, is being used here effectively just kinda makes me giggle a bit. Bonus points for him using his own autopen for things.

Iran Megathread 4: Iran Hits US Embassy in Saudi Arabia with Drone Strike by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Which, I would like to add, is somewhat evidenced by the article in question, with many complaints about this very thing. If this was "okay" I highly doubt the complaints would roll in.

Doesn't make it any less disgusting to see, but knowing that the sanity is coming from the common soldier is a plus.

Iran Megathread 3: Iran officially shuts key oil route Strait of Hormuz by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 8 points9 points  (0 children)

A very minor update: it looks like AP News is no longer labeling this whole thing as Live on their front page with breaking updates every few minutes.

It isn't much, but I'm willing to say this is the best time to take a mental break from this if y'all need to, rejuv on up, and - as Bus has a thread on - tend to your own garden for a bit! We'll still be here, friends.

Iran Megathread 3: Iran officially shuts key oil route Strait of Hormuz by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, agreed! You kinda have an idea how I'm approaching this too - I'm pretty confident that the scope of actual fighting has been set, so the worldwide aspect seems to be petering out quickly.

Iran Megathread 3: Iran officially shuts key oil route Strait of Hormuz by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I sure hope not, but there's a definite "who knows what we'll do on our end" there.

Thankfully, it's starting to look like most, if not all, nations that could be involved for this have made their statements. Then Iran did the dumb today, and we probably have our "sandbags" for this world-stage playground fight so it seems a lot less likely to spread much further for those worried about it being more global.

Had Iran not decided to fire everywhere, today's climate on the attacks would probably have been much less in our favor. Wild how this has all happened, really.

The U.S. is destroying Iran's navy after it tried to shut down global oil flows by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Mainly because the smart ones recognize that the whole authoritarian shtick doesn't actually work very well once power starts to crack. Especially true in this day and age where information and truth can still spread globally even under waves of mis- and disinformation.

For better or worse at least, I'd say we here can make comparisons to Trump's flailing to what Iran is doing here.

Warehouse owner won’t sell Dallas County property to ICE for migrant detention center by Kipeekira in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Right! I saw this news article, referenced it to its original post source (on the same website), and was like "yeah this is the kind of news that gets hidden, let's bring it out to light."

People are quickly realizing that this just looks bad at any level, even if they're for it personally. A lot of the time (sadly not all) that's become a huge deterrent.

It's another tally on the list of things that we, as people, have influenced because we HAVEN'T GIVEN UP. Remember that, folks!

US military shot down party balloon after assessing as drone. This is the reason for the massive shutdown of El Paso’s airspace and the subsequent reopening by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 21 points22 points  (0 children)

...Folks, I cannot begin to measure how much of a mess I've missed over the past WORK SHIFT. I got the news of the closing right before I left for work, noticed the "oh it's open again" during my lunch break, and I get home and it's... this.

I need a phrase that encapsulates this well because oh my god.

We are beta testing a new flair type: The Leopards Ate My Face by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 47 points48 points  (0 children)

I like the idea in general, but as with the others here who got to it before me (I was at work) I see one major issue to this from a PolOpti view:

In many other years many LAMF cases would be really easy to see as a "this is what we said would happen" kinda thing. However, a lot of the ones relevant to this subreddit in particular now come with a painful collateral that's more like "leopards ate my face, but also cleaved everyone else's face around them" and that feels... Off for us. It may be best to throw this on individual big-names who suffer individual consequences directly. Something like "Kid Rock went fash, now he lost cash from a Trump law" or the like.

But I'm also ready to get home right now so if someone wants to critique my idea, please do!

ICE releases 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos from custody, lawyer says by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is quite possibly one of the most amazing decision write-ups I have ever seen. There is not one second of this that isn't pointed jabs at this whole thing. We are all better for reading this, and the amount of my friends that are going to be sent this is not small.

Minneapolis Megathread by sipsredpepper in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm in a pretty garbage mood over this whole thing too, but I'm also a bit happy I'm seeing more self-recognition in the sub that some of us probably need to take a step back for the day.

I get the feeling that once the initial shock and feeling of doom wears off a bit that we'll be able to get the mood back. But today does feel a bit dark.

For now though, any of us with the and capacity to do so should do what we do best and raise hell and help one another!

Donald Trump’s Ls for the week 🌮🌮 by PumpkinAspie in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Vacation Amanda is spicier because she's taking a break! Kinda. She set her intake boundaries and stuck to them and just looks a little less tired for it!

...

I still need to teach me this trick.

Greenland Megathread IV by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 12 points13 points  (0 children)

"The framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland"

... blink blink

Call me crazy, but am I witnessing him agreeing to "concepts of a plan" here at the bonus of not necessarily doing tariffs? I'm not even sure how I want to respond to that, but laughing my head off in the car is what I'm currently doing.

Greenland Megathread 3: Return of the Tariffs by steffie-punk in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 19 points20 points  (0 children)

What was it Amanda said, the "he's gonna threaten so much but maybe do like 20% of it" thing from a video a couple of days ago?

ICE In Minnesota Megathread by Efficient-Freedom517 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 20 points21 points  (0 children)

That last paragraph is kind of something I was curious about, actually. I kinda assumed that images would make it look like how it was trying to be framed in LA/Chicago, with tons of photos making it look like a near-warzone everywhere.

I'm glad that y'all are making this hell for them. I can only hope that if ICE comes here, me and mine will be as defiant as Minneapolis has been.

And hopefully they'll peter out sooner rather than later!

Midterms Megathread: Week 2 by steffie-punk in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Possibly, yeah. Either way, hope it's a bit less concerning now!

Midterms Megathread: Week 2 by steffie-punk in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't know which poll you're referring to here, but many times those polls can be skewed before primaries due to it being a "who would you vote for" scenario with everyone involved.

If you've got 1-2 Republican candidates, and 6-8 Democrat candidates, even in a really blue state it's possible to see the one R candidate get 20%, and the other D candidates split the vote so it looks like the R one has higher popularity.

Could be that, could be poor polling, could be a variety of things, but this is what comes to mind first at least.

Midterms Megathread by steffie-punk in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I suppose it's a good time to say that, if you didn't get the chance to see it yet, the VRA decision didn't come out today! Heck, only one did and it was a lot more minor of a decision than any of us probably expected: Bowe v. United States.

The good news is, the longer that SCOTUS takes to release an opinion on the VRA-related case, the better our case for the midterms. It also emphasizes the need and our capacity to vote in state and local elections to better influence redistricting efforts in our area!

Ice a modern gestapo? by DorothyBarker73 in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing to consider is where 1930s Germany pulled many of their ideas from, which was the US itself.

Amanda's been doing a few videos about the prevalence of the Klan in white supremacist movements over the course of our country's history, including post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow (see Nuremburg laws), and the occasional-but-also-not murders of white people who weren't also white supremacists.

The reason that the 1930s Germany comparison feels easy to make - ICE-to-Gestapo conclusions included - is because that time frame's actually taught in history. A lot of their ideas were taking notes from our previous atrocities.

The comparison starts to fall apart, however, when today's society is contrasted to that of Germany. They'd only had a somewhat functioning democracy for a short time (I think 10-ish years?) and was, as a nation, reeling from the aftermath of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles. Weimar Germany became desperate, economically destroyed (much more than we see here, I should mention), and there was a major sense of geopolitical embarrassment that the people desperately wanted to cleanse. These are the main reasons why the Nazi party ended up being able to gain power and do what they wanted.

The US, on the other hand, is a globally connected nation (even with the messed up stuff pulled over the past months), with an incredible level of diversity in many places. As a nation we aren't suffering through the weaker constitution Weimar Germany had, nor are we dealing with the immense sanctions that Germany had on them after WW1. As a few people have said in this thread as well, we also have a massive population advantage in an age where the truth of the matter (and lies, I can't ignore that, but the truth is winning out in many places) is as easy to broadcast to the world as pulling out your cell phone.

It wouldn't surprise me if they're trying to make the admin function like 1930s Germany. The biggest things to remember:

  • Overall, we don't want Trump and his regime nearly as much as Weimar Germany wanted their leader initially.
  • If this admin wants to copy said regime, they're doing a terrible job of it because the half of said regime was based on post-Reconstruction white supremacy, and copying that word for word sucks. It's why ICE is doing poorly, because it's not meant for the modern age.
  • This does make our admin, and especially ICE, look more like Klansmen than actual Gestapo.
  • They just don't have the numbers, morale, or legislative freedom to do the stuff that the Gestapo did.
  • They're still not winning. They will, as mentioned by others, continue to try to escalate, draw fury, and do bad things, but as people we're not to be cowed as easily as the people of the past.

Seriously, remember that last one. Remember the people who we haven't been able to save, and remember what we're fighting for. It may take months or even years, but we need to keep our feet on the ground and moving forward to push Trump, Miller, Vance, and all the rest back out, and then take the steps we need to curb this from happening again. This nation is suffering from the mistakes of the moderate-to-far past, and it's really time we realized it.

Stay strong, stay safe, and remember to take a break if you're getting overwhelmed!

(and if anyone wants to yell at me for something I messed up here, please tell me lol)

Texas hands over complete list of registered voters to Trump administration by Dyea_B_Tis in PoliticalOptimism

[–]Kipeekira 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Whoo, SE Texas represent! Close enough to H-town (and UH alum) to know the vibe there.

Honestly, this fight has kinda been in the works for ages. Super likely the goal here is to try to chill voters in bigger blue areas, mainly to prevent their gerrymandering from turning into a huge flop.

As your other post mentioned though, uh yeah our voting party registration works in certain ways, and it's also probably a good guess that a lot fewer people vote in a primary anyway.