“THE SOFTNESS OF MOONLIGHT, THE STRENGTH OF THE SUN” at the first national march on washington for lesbian and gay rights, photographed by larry butler, october 1979
I don’t even live in Texas but honestly we need politicians like Beto
What’s so great about Beto?
Doesn’t take any PAC money or big donor money period. Left or right. Won’t be beholden to big money interests.
Already pledged to support Bernie’s Medicare for All bill should he win
Legalization of Marijuana, expunging records of nonviolent drug offenders.
He wouldn’t have voted for Kavanaugh, and he would have voted for the Violence Against Women reauthorization.
Expanding of LGBTQ rights.
Public works projects like extending broadband access to rural areas and funding for the rail project between Dallas-SA-Austin-Houston.
Bringing back and protecting the voting rights act.
Increasing money for the VA.
Finding healthy solutions to immigration and the boarder, just like his home town El Paso a boarder town that’s one of the safest cities in the country
Prison reform, ending for profit prisons.
If people under age 35 show up to the polls, Beto can win. There are enough young voters to get rid of Ted Cruz, who is a truly terrible person.
Vote in Texas!!!
honestly, you had me at “isn’t ted cruz”. cruz was the primary motive force behind a government shutdown over his alleged fears that the ACA would bankrupt the country. he has since supported, with no hesitation, proposed plans that would cost well over twice as much, but were proposed by Trump. if he genuinely believed that the expense of the ACA was a catastrophe that could wreck the country, i could see it as potentially at least internally consistent to shut things down, cost millions of dollars, and cause a lot of hungry people to suddenly stop getting fed, because it was that important. but he clearly didn’t, or he wouldn’t have happily supported dramatically more expensive things without any observable complaint.
he talks as though he has an ethical position, sometimes, but continued observation over time reveals otherwise.
I CANNOT WAIT TO SHOW UP AT THE POLLS IN A FEW DAYS AND VOTE FOR MY BOI BETOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dr. Willie Parker, who is trained as a gynecologist and OBGYN, is a hero for the pro-choice movement because he’s honest about the undiscussed aspects of getting (or not getting) an abortion. Watch how he gives a consultation.
That last statement about regret is so important, because so many people don’t understand what it is or what causes it. Anti-choicers exploit this by manipulating pregnant people and creating doubt, which only increases the likelihood of regret, no matter what decision the pregnant person makes. You know what is best for you, even if it takes some time to figure it out.
“the post reformation, postindustrial solution is the nuclear family, which I’ve attacked at times in the past. It is not a traditional social unit. It’s less than 250 years old. This is the man, the wife and the two children. The traditional social unit is a very large extended family of cousins, sisters, brothers in laws, children, elders. This nuclear family thing is part of the root of our problem. It is an engine for the production of neurotic dysfunctional people.”
A story that the Jews tell each other is that when the slaves were fleeing Egypt they came to the edge of the Red Sea and thought: well, fuck, this is it. Water in front of them and enemies behind. They had escaped, sure, but all this meant was that they were going to die free instead of in chains. A meaningful distinction in an abstract sense, but the Jews are a practical people, and mostly what they were concerned with in that moment was: they would be equally dead either way.
A man stepped out from the group. He stepped into the water. He said: mi chamocha ba’eilim adonai? Who is like you Adonai, among the gods who are worshipped? He sang that verse over and over again. He sang it as he waded into the sea. He gave his body over to his faith as he walked. There was nowhere to go but forward. If he was going to die, he figured, and be equally dead either way, he was not going to die in slavery and he was not going to die at the hands of the Egyptians, either. He was going to die walking and singing, believing, trying to find progress in the chaos, in the waves.
In the story, the water laps first at his feet, then his knees, his thighs, his ribs, his neck, finally flowing into his mouth as he sings and sings and sings. The words get choked, mispronounced: the hard cha of mi chamocha becomes mi kamoka, strangled but still certain.
In the story, this man is why the people get their miracle, the waters parting to let them cross through on dry land. It is an act of divine intervention, but it only comes because someone is willing to put his life on the line to make it happen. I keep thinking about him this week, that apocryphal man and how it is a story we make sure to keep telling each other: when there is water in front of you and enemies behind, you do not wait for your god, or a sign. You trust in something larger than yourself and open your mouth to sing about it. You put your feet on the ground and walk forward.
His name was Nahshon ben Aminadav. Descended directly from Judah, he fathered a line of kings. We tell his story to remind ourselves that God does not act in isolation. Humans are not just participants in holy work – we are vital to its success.
the traditional account from the midrash and the talmud actually drives the message in more firmly, with moses praying for nachshon not to drown, and g-d instructing him to instead take action to save nachshon’s life and the lives of all the hebrews. from chabad.org:
When Israel stood facing the Sea of Reeds, and the command was given to move forward, each of the tribes hesitated, saying, “We do not want to be the first to jump into the sea.”
Nachshon saw what was happening—and jumped into the sea.
At that moment Moses was standing and praying. G‑d said to him, “My beloved ones are drowning in the stormy seas, and you are standing and praying?”
Moses replied, “Master of the world, what am I to do?”
Said G‑d, “You lift your staff and spread your hand over the seas, which will split, and Israel will come into the sea upon dry land.”
And so it was. Following Nachshon’s lead, the Israelites entered the sea and were saved.
i’ve never heard a version of this story where nachshon is the one who sang mi chamocha. traditionally, mi chamocha came to be when miriam led the hebrew women in song in celebration after crossing the sea of reeds. interesting to learn about other variations!
if you are a man who had sex with a woman, and she became pregnant, and decided to abort, she does not “owe” you any say in the decision. all you did was bust a 10 second nut and suddenly you get a decisive say in whether or not she goes through 9 months of insanity and a painful expensive labour cause YOU want the kid? fuck off. your role in the creation of that fetus is minimal at best. if you really, genuinely wanted a child with her, you would have PLANNED for the conception of a child with that woman BEFORE y’all fucked. stop giving me that shit about “both of them created it together so they get equal say in the matter!” NO a man ejaculated and THAT’S IT, everything else regarding conception is on the woman’s body, she gets the final say in whether or not she’ll carry to term, NOT you. go adopt one of the 250,000 children in foster care waiting for someone to love them if you want a kid that fucking badly.
all pro lifers can fuck off my post please I still stand by this 100%
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