TURNING PAGES

robertreich:

It’s as if they didn’t learn a thing from the 2012 elections. Republicans are on the same suicide mission as before - - trying to block immigration reform (if they can’t scuttle it in the Senate, they’re ready to in the House), roll back the clock on abortion rights (they’re pushing federal and state legislation to ban abortions in the first 22 weeks), and stop gay marriage wherever possible. 

As almost everyone knows by now, this puts them the wrong side of history. America is becoming more ethnically diverse, women are gaining economic and political power, and young people are more socially libertarian than ever before.

Why can’t Republicans learn? 

It’s no answer to say their “base” — ever older, whiter, more rural and male — won’t budge. The Democratic Party of the 1990s simply ignored its old base and became New Democrats, spearheading a North American Free Trade Act (to the chagrin of organized labor), performance standards in classrooms (resisted by teachers’ unions) and welfare reform and crime control (upsetting traditional liberals). 

The real answer is the Republican base is far more entrenched, institutionally, than was the old Democratic base. And its power is concentrated in certain states — most of the old Confederacy plus Arizona, Alaska, Indiana, and Wisconsin — which together exert more of a choke-hold on the Republican national party machinery than the old Democrats, spread widely but thinly over many states, exerted on the Democratic Party. 

These Republican states are more homogenous and conspicuously less like the rest of America than the urbanized regions of the country that are growing more rapidly. Senators and representatives from these states naturally reflect the dominant views of their constituents — on immigration, abortion, and gay marriage, as well as guns, marijuana, race, and dozens of other salient issues. But these views are increasingly out of step with where most of the nation is heading. 

This state-centered, relatively homogenous GOP structure effectively prevents the Party from changing its stripes. Despite all the post-election rhetoric about the necessity for change emanating from GOP leaders who aspire to the national stage, the national stage isn’t really what the GOP is most interested in or attuned to. It’s directed inward rather than outward, to its state constituents rather than to the nation. 

This structure also blocks any would-be “New Republicans” such as Chris Christie from gaining the kind of power inside the party that a New Democrat like Bill Clinton received in 1992. The only way they’d be able to attract a following inside the Party would be to commit themselves to policies they’d have to abandon immediately upon getting nominated, as Mitt Romney did with disastrous results. 

It’s true that by 1992 Democrats were far more desperate to win the presidency — having been in the wilderness for twelve years — than today’s GOP appears to be. Nonetheless it’s doubtful the GOP will be willing to eschew its old base even if it loses the presidency again in 2016, because without its collection of relatively homogenous states, there just isn’t much of a GOP. 

The greater likelihood is a steady eclipse of the Republican Party at the national level, even as it becomes more entrenched in particular states. Those states can be expected to become regressive islands of backwardness within a nation growing steadily more progressive. 

The GOP’s national role will be primarily negative  — seeking to block, delay, and filibuster measures that will eventually become the law of the land in any event, while simultaneously preaching “states’ rights” and praying for conservative majorities on the Supreme Court. 

In other words, more of the same. 

jazzypom:

iwantarockrightnow:

jazzypom:

I swear, I’ve been listening to this song for the past two days- and nothing but this song for the past two days. To the point where I’m thinking, “Oh okay, leather trousers might be a cool superhero suit to have- uh Jazz, no. No.” 

Yeezus is Kanye West’s Molotov cocktail of an album; he’s hurled it in the music midst of 2013, and the reactions are amazingly extreme. Everyone has their own view about the album and the subjects expressed within - although half of  those I’ve spoken to have admitted  that they haven’t listened to it - just read what some reviews said and went on from there. Then you have the few who are like, “It’s horrible for a rap album,” and I go, *screws face* because it’s not. Not really. Not really a rap album, that is. Then you have older heads really unable to make heads or tales of the album- but I get it. Kanye West is a middle class black kid who got exposed to all sorts of music growing up, and this album is a capsule of his life’s ear- from stirring seventies funk to  Jerome from Martin Lawrence. I was surprised at the ache of nostalgia I felt on listening to it. 

Read More

I really appreciate this fleshed-out review of Yeezus. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I don’t outright love it and I don’t hate it. I think I need to give it some more time. It’s definitely not “bubblegum” though.

Not going to lie, the first time I heard Yeezus I was like, “WTF, Kanye?! Son, just really?” But, Yeezus help me (lol),  I couldn’t stop listening to it, and I appreciate it more on every listen. Like his comment on how society sees the interracial relationship he’s in (they see a black man with a white woman/ at the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong). West’s persona in this album seems to be angry black male, but every time you think you have him pegged, he changes.

Read More

aliasvaughn:

fitzisgold-win:

bronzekat:

highlyscandalised:

colbertaust:

I’m waiting…crickets anyone…??

Adds MORE crickets to this post because…..

how about a tumbleweed lol

Awkward silence.

aliasvaughn:

fitzisgold-win:

bronzekat:

highlyscandalised:

colbertaust:

I’m waiting…crickets anyone…??

Adds MORE crickets to this post because…..

how about a tumbleweed lol

Awkward silence.

howtobeterrell:

• If she goes against the christian ethos (infidelity) she must be punished (every film he has made lol)
• If she goes against traditional modes of sexuality she is raped (Spike Lee, She’s Gotta Have it) 
• If she positions herself near the black man she must struggle by his side silently, or is the reason for that struggle (Doughboy and his mother) there’s a reason why its not called Boyz and Girlz in the Hood. (John Singleton, Boyz N the Hood) 
• Her loneliness  (need for revenge) is the reason black men kill each other (Menace II Society, Hughes Bros.) 
• Black Girls as the bearers of Dangerous Secrets (Eve’s Bayou, Kasi Lemmons) 

watchcolortv:

Network:  BBC One
Time slot:  We watch online

Review Wriiten by:  Redorkulous

Recap / Review:  In a word.  Epic.  King Edward IV of England, from the House of York, who’s crown still hangs in the balance, depending on the outcome of the war, married Lady Elizabeth Grey, who’s family once supported the House of Lancaster.  Romance.  Politics.  Treachery.  We have been enraptured with this series, foaming at the mouth for the next episode.

Costumes.  Scenery.  Props.  They all blended perfectly with memorable characters, twisting plots, and a well-developed story.  The pacing was fast, which was unexpected, but much appreciated.  Plus, we love a good villain, and so far… there’s two.  James Frain (The Tudors) as Lord Warwick, and Duchess Cecily, the mother of King Edward IV.

And our favorite character from the Pilot was Jacquetta, Lady Rivers, played by Janet McTeer.  As Elizabeth’s mother, Jacquetta carefully guides her family through the politics of the crown.  We also like that she’s a self-proclaimed sorceress.  Historical drama with an element of sci-fi-fantasy.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

dettylover:

marfmellow:

my mom would yell at us and then ask

did I stutter?

and one day I was feelin’ bold - so I said yes, you did stutter

and her response was

THEN YOU HEARD ME TWICE

You were BOLD then because I wouldn’t have dared…

itsawond3rful-life:

sincerely-harry:

my baby brother was really upset so

he was crying

until he realized he was taking selfies on my laptop

Best post on tumblr omg

basedempoweredethnicwoman:

myurlhasbeencompromised:

cheftier:

metallikato:

nuggles:

when you find a shirt you really like and wear it a couple times and it starts doing

the thing

These are called pills. You can remove them with a shaving razor. Be gentle with delicate fabrics!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS A++ INFORMATION TUMBLR USER METALLIKATO

MY LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED

My husband told me about this method before it works.