I still see that button (in the mobile version, anyway).

What’s more alarming is that I’ve run across several things akin to toilet seats (things you probably buy like once every 20 years) that have defaulted to the ‘Subscribe and save’ option. I don’t know if this something the seller does or if AI is flagging things for them, but it’s insidious.

If you’re not paying attention, you can wind up an accidental collector of toilet seats.

Ah, but you see, cancer is all natural.

Oh, you can get one picture.

One.

I could give you diarrhoea, or sepsis, or tetanus, your choice! I’m flexible and I don’t judge. I just love being inside you!

Sambo’s managed to barely survive until 2020.

I completely agree. A couple of his books are okay, but most are long-winded, self-indulgent tosh that would have been far better if written by practically anyone else. Half the time, you can skip entire chapters and miss nothing, because he seems to think describing every minute aspect of every minor character’s life equals character development. Five pages cataloguing all the canned goods in Jimmy’s grandmother’s pantry, all the steps of her apple pie recipe, where she learnt it, how she decides which milk to buy, why the grocer moved the milk from aisle 5 to aisle 2, etc, etc, etc – none of it matters and it’s a slog to read.

It’s like he thinks more words equals a better novel. He is a better writer than a director, though.

Is this what I think it is? Or is it an eyepatch?

The GOP has spent decades and billions of dollars making sure most Americans have grown up not knowing how any of this works.

Everything is gonna come tumbling down very soon. Brace, y’all.

She drank the kool-aid.

This is what you get when you recruit ‘regular’ people into your fascist movement – they buy the bullshit that you’re ’for the people’ and ‘want to make things better for everyone’.

You get people who don’t know those are lies to appease the masses, and think you actually are for those things.

She really doesn’t understand what her party is for, and instead takes it for its facade. And she doesn’t understand this means she’s a circus clown.

Vote in the midterms and FUCKING VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES.

Whether you like it or not, FPTP makes 3rd parties mathematically unviable in general elections.

If you want to move the Democrat party leftward (which is, politically, the only option now), the only way to do that is to vote for progressives in the primaries. They do exist. Research them in your state, lobby and volunteer for them, and get them in the primaries. Then show up for them.

If we’d been doing this instead of protest voting in the generals or abstaining, we wouldn’t be having to cope with a weakened and corporate Dem party. Shockingly, you actually do have the power to move things if you get involved.

Same. I haven’t seen him in much (Umbrella Academy most recently), but he seems to be a decent actor. Nothing to get excited about, but not a bad actor by any stretch. He’s better than average, imo. I don’t understand the hate.

Looking at his profile, I didn’t even know there was a Flatliners remake. Gonna have to go watch that now.

Those arms are clearly useless for anything but hugs.

Actual gestapo.

If you think you’re safe because you’re not currently being targeted, you’re wrong. The circle always expands until they eventually target everyone.

Their speed-running the 4th reich, and that’s not hyperbole.

So we’re gonna start actively prosecuting thought crime now. Cool cool.

Yes, this new wealth is imaginary – and it’s vitally important we don’t recognise this.

Sorry for throwing a lot at you.

The bottom line is that the US is an oligarchy, and has just handed the keys to actual, real fascists. The ways we can oppose them have been radically reduced. The first step is to learn what’s happening and what it means.

I get it, you’re fine. It’s overwhelming. But the old rules do not apply, and that’s important to recognise.

e: we are heading over a very specific and predictable bridge, from which there are almost no off-ramps and which is beginning to collapse behind us.

War would be great for most of those top 2,000, because they’re heavily invested in defence contractors. They care far less about elections than the cash cow a large war would be. (eta: ask any financial advisor – if you have the money, invest in defence contractors.)

Also, the really big dogs – like Musk, Thiel, etc – are so unfathomably rich, elections are just silly things the plebs do. Peter Thiel literally hand-selected J D Vance as Vice President, and Musk literally bought and created a whole new division of government with oversight powers over many established ones. They can buy top offices as high as the vice presidency, in broad daylight.

I don’t know how much more clear this can be.

If the rabble’s opinion becomes too inconvenient, they’ll stop asking. The economy is tanking regardless (eta which is another good reason to start a large war).

e: and, obviously, if we try turning our swords against them, they’d be stupid not to use those resources to redirect our swords at each other. Our only way out is to refuse to fight for them.

Oh course he’s not in charge, and he’s showing signs of not being able to survive this term. Without his carnival barking (or even with it, as he deteriorates), they’ll have a harder time surfing his populism. Most of their other figureheads don’t have the sway to carry the movement.

There’s precedent for suspending the elections. As their support bottoms out (and it’s headed for that), why would they cross their fingers and hope their election rigging will work when they have the nuclear option? That’s why they’re warmongering harder the more the polls drop. They will not give up this power, and if that means suspending elections, they’ll will.

No, obviously.

I’m going to tell people to do more than just vote, and to not think voting alone is adequate.

It’s not a hard concept. We are fighting honest to goodness, full-blown fascism now. No joke, no hyperbole. Of course you should still vote, but you also need to know that voting is no longer enough. It was always the bare minimum, and now we need to do more than that, because they will not give up power to the vote.

That glass plate lifts right out, fyi.