I Didn't Say It ...

Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected Democrat mayor of New York City, in his acceptance speech:

“Here we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that [Cankles] has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election. So, if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop [Cankles], it’s how we stop the next one. So, [Cankles] since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up. New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me [Cankles] when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

He has his work cut out for him but he ran a fantastic campaign and got younger people out to vote and riled the party into action.

In a world of Schiff’s and Shumer’s et al, be a Mamdani!

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Michael Che,  actor, writer, and stand-up comic from SNL’s Weekend Update, speaking out against the GOP attacks on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP]:

“This SNAP freeze is really fucked up. And I keep seeing a lotta racist videos celebrating [mostly Black] families not being able to buy groceries … there’s this weird idea that since some people have taken advantage of welfare benefits in the hood, nobody should receive help, at all? This country is built on greedy motherfuckers taking shortcuts and gaming the system to their benefits, but for some reason, when poor people find a way to turn a nickel into a dime, they’re judges more severey, especially Blacks. I know the whole hustle is to hate each other here so we can fight in the comments and up our engagements … but let’s draw thew line at feeding the poor.. I grew up on free cheese and powdered milk and waiting for your friends to leave the store so they [wouldn’t] see me pay with stamps … that shit ain’t as glamorous as it sounds. I promise.”

Bam! The GOP wants y’all to believe that folks on welfare and using SNAP benefits are buying lobster and champagne—though, so what if they are—because the right wants to control and keep down those less fortuante, those in need of assistance, those of color.

Welfare isn’t glamorous but it’s necessary even if some folks abuse the system like, oh I don’t know, those Congressman still collecting a paycheck when they haven’t worked in weeks and weeks … talk about welfare, the House is vacationing on our dime.

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JB Pritzker, Democrat governor of Illinois, speaking at the Illinois Federation of Teachers’ convention:

“[Cankles] and his bootlickers have torn down the US Department of Education from the inside. Books are being banned. History is being erased. Republicans want to take billions away from public schools and pump it into private institutions. They want to punish teachers for telling the truth. I’m sorry to be vulgar, but [Cankles] and his cronies can fuck all the way off.”

I truly believe the GOP would like to keep the rich getting rich, and everyone else, poor and uneducated. I mean, how else can they guarantee themselves a win unless they create an electorate that believes their lies?

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Ruben Gallego, Arizona Democratic Senator, floating the idea to name the new White House ballroom after former President Barack Obama once Cankles is dead, gone, or in prison:

"I think to really mess with him, just name it the Barack Obama Ballroom, and that will take care of half the problem. This is a distraction. First of all, he should not have done that. This is the People's House. Two, where is the president? He's focusing on the ballroom, he's focusing on everything [else], but he's not focused on what's happening right now: inflation's still high, people can't buy what they need to buy, energy's still high ... This is a Marie Antoinette talking about 'Let them eat cake' while Americans are struggling right now. What I would like him to do is focus on this to make sure we can actually get costs down, people can actually make a good standard of living right now and pay what they need to survive instead of focusing on all these little projects."

I think we should keep calling it The Jeffrey Epstein Ballroom while Cankles is in office, but as soon as we take that house back, perhaps the Barack and Michelle Obama Ballroom for The People?

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Billie Eilish, singer, calling out billionaires at the  WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards directly to their faces:

“We're in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than kind of ever, especially in our country. And I'd say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it. Love you all, but there's a few people in here that have a lot more money than me and if you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”

Eilish—who has an estimated net worth of $50 million—put her money where her mouth is by donating$11.5 million, or 23% of her wealth, of the proceeds from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to support organizations fighting for food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution, and combatting the climate crisis.

On the flip side, in 2015, Mark and Priscilla Zuckerberg pledged to give away 99% of their shares in Meta to philanthropy over their lifetimes, and they've given away more than $7B to date; the Zuckerberg’s net worth is $232.1 billion, so they have given away ).03% of their wealth.

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Gio Benitez, ABC correspondent,  on coming out at 24 and healing his inner child:

“You think about all the worries you have growing up. You spend so much time in your head thinking about that. For me, I think it was obviously growing up gay and keeping that a secret. And that was something that I didn’t talk to anyone about really till I was 24 years old. And so I think that you worry, ‘Will that hold me back’? And at the time, the message from society kind of was, ‘yeah it would.’ And there was nobody, I thought, like me at the time on television, so I didn’t have an example to point to. And so this is something of a dream that I always had, but could being myself prevent me from having that dream? And that was a worry that I always had. And so that’s why today I would say chill out. It’s all going to be OK. That person is still inside all of us. We constantly have to talk to that little kid inside because they’re there. They are a part of us. They were there through the most monumental parts of our lives. And they’re still there.”

Talk to that little kid, yes, but talk to real people, too, coming out everywhere you can. It makes the march easier and paves the way for others to follow ….

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