I feel like prefacing this with a content note for US news/politics is... sad and unspecific, but it covers all my bases, really. /o\

Today I have been USELESS thanks to the brain-explosion that was 45 announcing he'd like to dismantle US birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Neither his white nationalist leanings nor his complete disregard for the Constitution are a surprise, and legal scholars have been pretty clear on the utter ridiculousness that is the "argument" posed by the "subject to the jurisdiction of" phrasing; the SCOTUS ruling (United States vs. Wong Kim Ark)¹ that upholds today's interpretation of birthright citizenship was made over a century ago. It's also a blatant pre-midterm attempt to drive far-right-leaning and other conservative voters to the polls. Coming on the heels of Pittsburgh², which I have yet to find the words for? For me, at least, it's a notable grossness in a two-year string of trash fires.

It's definitely a sign of our times that the low likelihood of support is no comfort to me. A president with no respect for the law- or anything or anyone else- clearly doesn't care if the means to his ends are legitimate; his public record of No Fucks to Give is, what, 20 years old now?

So I can end on a laugh of sorts, have a link from the New Yorker (via a fb friend): Trump strips citizenship from children of immigrants, thus disqualifying himself from presidency

1. WaPo: Birthright citizenship: A Trump-inspired history lesson on the 14th Amendment
2. WaPo (guest post): Why the Pittsburgh shooter raged about immigration before attacking a synagogue

Making a note of my tiny political behaviors as rydra_wong suggested! Being registered in a blue county in a blue state, and having already submitted my absentee midterm ballot, I tossed a small donation to ActBlue's #GrabYourBallot list a few days back. This one includes Heidi Heitkamp and Beto O'Rourke. Other candidates whose blurbs caught my eye are Kyrsten Sinema (senate race) and Paulette Jordan (governor).

Any particular candidates/races on your radar? I'd appreciate hearing about them if there are; it makes a nice change from my sporadic Twitter- and headline-skimming.

( Dear Washington/right-wing nutjobs: )

... Um. I was considering getting my rant on re: Glee 2x09 (the only catch-up watching I have done this weekend, woe!), but I think that was sufficient irritation for today.

In happier/fannish news, such_heights has started an impromptu happy fanathon! Babble about whatever shiny things you like- thus far, there is Merlin (as in lots of Morgana/Gwen!), Narnia, and *cough* my rather slapdash Saving Face picspam. \o/!

ETA: OH AND. AO3: shiny! :D Somebody keep me off it until I manage to finish writing? *g*

Oh, Texas. Sometimes I don't even know what to say about you. I am having some trouble with this link today, so here are the relevant pieces of information (the topic of discussion was voter identification legislation) in case it doesn't work for you guys.

O RLY:

"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"
-- Texas Representative Betty Brown (R), on Tuesday.

YA RLY:

“Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
-- Brown, to Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramey Ko.

NO WAI:

Her spokesman said that Democrats “want this to just be about race.”

I've spent the last couple of days trying to decide if this is funnier or more insulting. Republican Party, when are you going to realize that minorities do, in fact, exist?

... Anyway! I'm tired of ending things on a depressing note, so have an old favorite of mine for Poetry Month:

( as freedom is a breakfastfood, by e.e. cummings )