Indeed, Why Not? Makes Good Sense To Me!

AOC 2028: Because Why The Hell Not? by Oliver Willis

I think Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should run for president in 2028. Honestly, it is hard to look at the turnout for her “Fight Oligarchy” tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders and the extremely slick videos her campaign is pushing out and come away thinking she isn’t running. This doesn’t feel like someone merely running for another term in Congress or even as a challenger for Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat. This feels like something more on the level of the 2007-2008 Obama campaign, or even Barry Goldwater’s 1964 crusade.

Personally, I think Ocasio-Cortez should run because the Democratic Party and America overall needs it to happen. Right now, under Donald Trump we are in the vice grips of a racist, authoritarian cult. But Trump didn’t come out of nowhere. Trump’s actions are built on decades of conservative groundwork, from the aforementioned Goldwater campaign to the Reagan presidency, to the Bush presidency, and yes – including the Romney and McCain campaigns. All of it.

In response to this multi-decade assault facilitated via operations like Fox News, Democrats have been tepid at best. The party simply does not know how to fight, and it constantly promotes from the ranks of the “don’t fight” caucus. Just a few weeks ago, still coasting from his attachment to Bill Clinton in a campaign that was conducted nearly four decades ago, James Carville told Democrats to lie down and play dead in a New York Times op-ed. Carville’s world view is not an outlier. Democrats have been playing dead for most of my adult life and I’m just a few years short of fifty.

Coming off of the Clinton 2016 and Harris 2024 losses, the party needs a come to Jesus moment, a full-throated fight to determine what, if anything, it stands for and how it intends to conduct itself in the future. The recent DNC chair race solved none of this, because DNC chair is not an ideological position – it’s all about basic party function. The ideology of the party is still determined by leaders like Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Right now that ideology is – to be blunt – weak shit.

Ocasio-Cortez is a progressive and to be sure that is why I like her, but what I like about her even more is that she isn’t afraid of it. I’m tired of liberalism that is afraid to say what it is out loud, or that insists that every celebration of liberal ideology has to be balanced by some mealy-mouthed statement acknowledging the purported legitimacy of the conservative world view. It isn’t legitimate and more Democrats need to act that way.

The arguments against Ocasio-Cortez running for president don’t feel very compelling to me.

She’s a woman. This is the weakest counterargument and the most un-American. America is all about doing the big thing that hasn’t been done before and fighting for it. Simply because two women lost the election after getting the nomination, we’re just supposed to stop? If, after a robust primary process the voters within the Democratic Party decide that a woman is the best person to do the job, then she deserves the nomination – but we can’t simply let misogyny win out again because we are unwilling to fight.

She’s a progressive/socialist. The Democratic Party has been nominating centrists for decades. If political ideology was all about matching the candidate to the country, we would be discussing the easy presidential wins from former Presidents Gore, Kerry, Clinton, and Harris. Democrats should pick the best candidate who appeals to the world they believe in – because that kind of pure belief is far better than playing fantasy campaign manager, selecting a nominee based on what you think is most acceptable to some mythical middle America voter.

She needs more experience. This is a really ridiculous one. Back in 2007 when Obama was first debating entering the race, I prayed he would do it because I fear what the Senate does to the mind of a human being. Look at Kerry and his Republican counterpart in terminal Senate brain, John McCain. I look at the Senate as a zombie that sucks the charisma out of people and turns them into near-automatons spouting nonsense about an amendment they offered in committee and other things normal people don’t understand.

Ocasio-Cortez understands the inner workings of the government far more than the average person. Several years of getting stifled by the Senate won’t change that. Similarly, I don’t see the logic in letting her linger in the House, even if she eventually ends up in a senior leadership position like Speaker.

To use a sports analogy, in the past NFL teams would draft a quarterback and let them sit on the sidelines, purportedly learning the ropes from a veteran signal caller. But in the modern NFL, a guy is drafted and immediately thrown into the deep end to see if they can sink or swim. To be certain, many times that leads to a spectacular bust – or, like in the case of my favorite team the Washington Commanders – a rookie takes you to within one game of the Super Bowl in his first year.

Both Obama and Trump jumped into their races when they had grassroots momentum. They both beat back the establishment candidate (Clinton for Obama, Jeb! for Trump). The rallies, along with years of well received rhetoric and attacks from the right-wing machine say to me that Ocasio-Cortez has that “juice” and it would be a shame to let it wither.

I’m not arguing that she would win the nomination or even the general election. Who even knows if we can have free and fair elections anymore? But the fact that this cornerstone of American democracy is even in question at this point sort of makes the case that the same old, same old cannot continue to be the answer.

Something more needs to be done, and as Ocasio-Cortez keeps saying “a better world is possible.” So maybe let’s try it. (snip-MORE + photo of the cutest dachshund doggy ever)

Important News-

I was putting together a post on this, then saw tengrain had already done so, so here it is. There is an additional snippet/link from LawDork beneath the MPS window here; I was tossing around which parts to snip for a post when I opened MPS’s page.

SCOTUS Comes For Education

SCOTUS conservatives seem eager to increase parents’ religious rights in public schools by Chris Geidner

Tuesday’s arguments over Montgomery County schools’ story-time sessions included alarming questions about LGBTQ people. Read on Substack

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservatives appeared eager on Tuesday to side with parents wanting to opt their students out of story-time sessions in Montgomery County’s public schools in Maryland that included a handful of books that contain same-sex couples and discussion of what it means to be transgender.

The question brought to the court by the parents’ lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is not whether schools can do so — as many do — but rather whether the First Amendment’s free exercise guarantee constitutionally requires it.

The school district has argued — and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed — that teachers simply reading the books and students being exposed to these ideas do not constitute “coercion” such that parents’ free exercise rights are implicated.

But, in an alarming sign for LGBTQ people, it was clear that at least three of the justices believe that describing queer people accurately — acknowledging their equal existence — amounts to taking sides or trying to “influence” children.

More broadly, and after two-and-a-half hours of arguments at the Supreme Court, it was clear that the argument from the parents — with backing from the Trump administration — is going to prevail. The only real question was how the court will resolve the case. Given the different paths the court can take, though, the answer to that question is important.

It was, however, a lopsided argument that showed how extreme the “religious freedom” arguments have gotten in front of a court that has made clear that it backs religious supremacy over many — if not most — other constitutional rights. (snip-MORE)

Peace & Justice History for 4/23

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april23

Afternoon Snark

I wish I could write stuff this good! Enjoy Larry David’s writing, though. Full story linked in the title; I found the story on today’s The Alt Media’s column. Among others, so go there, too. Maybe someone can get into the full essay on the NYWT, even, because I can’t. Still, this is entertaining in itself!

‘I must say, mein Führer, I’m so thankful I came’: Larry David spoofs Bill Maher’s fawning White House visit with Trump

Essay describes a surprise invitation in 1939 to a previously vocal critic for dinner with the Nazi leader, where ‘suddenly he seemed so human’

Larry David has written a long spoof essay in the New York Times in response to Bill Maher’s recent glowing account of his dinner with President Trump in the White House.

The essay, entitled My Dinner With Adolf, purports to be written by someone who was “a vocal critic of his on the radio from the beginning, pretty much predicting everything he was going to do on the road to dictatorship”. But he agrees to dine with the Führer because he “concluded that hate gets us nowhere. I knew I couldn’t change his views, but we need to talk to the other side”.

The dinner proves an eye-opening success, with the author much tickled by Hitler’s jokes, struck by his warmth and humanity and impressed by his skills as an agony uncle. As he leaves, he tells Hitler he’s pleased he came. “‘Although we disagree on many issues, it doesn’t mean that we have to hate each other.’ And with that, I gave him a Nazi salute and walked out into the night.”

The late-night pundit Bill Maher had dinner with the president on 31 March, and many predicted it would have been a combative meeting. Both men have been frank about this dislike of each other, with Trump calling Maher a “lowlife” and his show “dead”.

But on the 11 April episode of his show, Real Time, Maher described the president as “gracious” and “much more self-aware than he lets on”.

“Everything I’ve ever not liked about him was – I swear to God – absent, at least on this night with this guy,” said Maher. “He mostly steered the conversation to, ‘What do you think about this?’ I know: your mind is blown. So is mine.”

He added: “A crazy person doesn’t live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is fucked up. It’s just not as fucked up as I thought it was.”

In his essay, David closely mirrors Maher’s tone, saying that one of his own jokes “amused him to no end, and I realised I’d never seen him laugh before. Suddenly he seemed so human. Here I was, prepared to meet Hitler, the one I’d seen and heard – the public Hitler. But this private Hitler was a completely different animal. And oddly enough, this one seemed more authentic, like this was the real Hitler. The whole thing had my head spinning.” (snip-MORE)

Original Memes!

The Gays Had the Funniest “Get Me to God’s Country” Memes. Here Are Our Faves

A post made by country singer Morgan Wallen after walking off the SNL stage has become a much-mocked viral sensation.

By James Factora

If you’re anything like us (gay and deeply unwell), a certain five-word phrase has been echoing in your head since Saturday evening: “Get me to God’s country.” For those of blessed readers who have no idea what we’re talking about, allow us to explain. Country singer Morgan Wallen, who I had never heard of before this weekend, was the most recent musical guest on Saturday Night Live, with recent Oscar winner Mikey Madison serving as the show’s host. He abruptly walked offstage as the show was ending, still fully on camera, then proceeded to post a picture of a jet with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.”

Considering that this guy apparently called his neighbor the N-word in a highly publicized 2021 incident (for which he later apologized), it’s hard to place much stock in Wallen’s judgement about which American geography is holy and which isn’t. (Besides, a certain gay little website is headquartered in New York too, so it’s personal.) Thankfully, the gay internet immediately did what it does best and proceeded to meme the hell out of Wallen’s words. Below, scroll through some of our faves. (snip-I can’t possibly snag all of these! They’re a worthy click. -A)

Mothers For Peace, Earth Day, and More in Peace & Justice History for 4/21

“Why, is it possible the vice president (sic) is a moron?”

Rope-A-Pope by Clay Jones

What did JD do now? Read on Substack

So JD Vance meets the Pope less than 24 hours before he dies. Coincidence? I’m sure it is, but can you imagine all the conspiracy theories if a Democrat had met the Pope within 24 hours of him dying?

Take note of the kind of person JD is. The Pope is dying, but JD still wants his photo-op, which makes sure he’s one of the last people the Pope sees in his life. And forget about Joe Biden declaring Easter Sunday Trans Visibility Day (he didn’t), JD made this request on Easter Sunday.

An archbishop read the Pope’s final Easter homily. The message decried “how much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants.” The address also warned against elected officials who “yield to the logic of fear, which only leads to isolation from others.” I’m sure JD was too obtuse to notice it was about people like him, as the Trump regime continues a war on migrants.

Vance, who’s a new convert to Catholicism, disagreed with the Pope on the treatment of migrants and other teachings of the church, and wanted to lecture the Pope…on Catholicism.

Just a few days ago, Vance criticize the “smug, self-assured bullshit” coming from people like the Pope who were criticizing Trump’s deportation policies.

Vance told the Pope, who was barely able to speak, “I know you’ve not been feeling great, but it’s good to see you in better health,” just a few hours before Pope Francis died. I’m kinda surprised JD didn’t bring him balloons.

Last February, Vance cited a homily Pope Francis gave to an empty St. Peter’s Square in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. Vance’s wife, Usha, had just had their second baby weeks earlier, and the world was shut down. Vance had bought 900 rounds of ammunition from Dick’s Sporting Goods and two bags of rice from Walmart, Vance told those at the prayer breakfastthat the Pope’s words were so meaningful during that time of uncertainty, that he has repeatedly reread the sermon since, which I’m sure with repeated mentions of the rice and ammo.

Talk about not being able to read a room. How did Vance find a way to mention buying 900 rounds of ammo and praise the Pope at the same time?

Why, is it possible the vice president (sic) is a moron?

Creative note: I was awake when I got a news alert that the Pope died. I could have been the first with a Pope cartoon, but I had to get on a train. A few hours later, I was in the terminal at DCA, sitting across from a young lady who wanted to talk about politics and the Pope (she was on our side) when I suddenly got the idea for the cartoon. After the nice lady got on her flight, I started on the cartoon, but didn’t finish it until I was in my hotel in Chicago.

I did not sleep last night, and that’s partly why you’re getting a late and short blog. I’ll give you some Chicago notes tomorrow.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see!)

OK, So.

I’ve been wrestling with whether to post this, or not. I want to always advise of resources for marginalized people to find community. However, these are religious resources. They’re the sort that emphasize inclusion and welcome and community, though, so that wins out, for me. I’m going to post this, hoping that someone will be able to use the information or knows someone else who can. I don’t know if there is an audience here for such things, so this would be the time to comment as to Yea, post these when I see them, or no comments/Nay being there is no one who might use these, and I’ll save the space in future. Thanks for your time! There is no proselytization intended with this post. It’s only to try to reach any- and everyone who is looking for community. These came from my Sojourners magazine. They’re simple resources that one can check out with no obligation or identification.

TRANSforming Church Culture: Becoming Trans Inclusive

Convocation 2025: UNCHARTED

Peace & Justice History for 4/21

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april21

As To The Cats:

Pussy-cat -What are vices? Catching rats And eating mices! by Worriedman

Spike Milligan Read on Substack

I love when the whole poem fits in the title box. I had a different poem I was trying to use but I couldn’t figure out an excerpt that made sense. Go read the whole poem, you’ll see what I mean. Plus, it’s a terrific poem!