Now What?

Civics on the Rocks

Mack, Steve, and Anne hold a group therapy session after the election. Seriously, we recorded this two days after getting the news and the discussion runs the gamut of emotions. Mostly angry. There’s a lot of cussing. Nobody stayed on topic very well. Also, a dog was in the room with us and that got picked up by the mic. This isn’t our finest work. Feel free to skip this one and meet us back in the new year. Happy holidays. Be excellent to one another.

References

Some crazy-ass people burning ballots:

Boyette, Chris and Almasy, Steve. “Police are searching for a man they say set three fires at ballot drop boxes: Here’s what we know about the suspect.” Updated October 31, 2024. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/us/ballot-box-fires-suspect-what-we-know/index.html

Russia calling in bomb threats:

FBI. “FBI Statement on Bomb Threats to Polling Locations.” November 5, 2024. https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-bomb-threats-to-polling-locations

Kamala Harris’ concession speech:

Time Staff. “Read Vice President Kamala Harris’ Full Concession Speech.” Updated Novemeber 7, 2024. Time. https://time.com/7173617/kamala-harris-concession-speech-full-transcript/

About the polls before the election:

Croucher, Shane. “Were 2024 Election Polls Wrong? Pollsters Give Verdicts.” Updated November 8, 2024. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/were-2024-election-polls-wrong-pollsters-give-verdicts-1982170

On brand for Trump:

Hubbard, Kaia. “Trump says ‘whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them’ at Wisconsin rally.” Updated October 31, 2024. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-protecting-women-whether-they-like-it-or-not-wisconsin/

Trump mouthpieces:

Laws, Jasmine. “Fox News Host Says Wife Voting for Harris is the Same Thing as Having an Affair.” Updated November 1, 2024. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-host-says-wife-voting-harris-same-thing-affair-1977971

Yep, one of Trump’s campaign managers was a woman:

Miller, Zeke; Price, Michelle L.; and Colvin, Jill. “Trump names campaign manager Susie Wiles as next White House Chief of staff.” November 7, 2024. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-names-campaign-manager-susie-wiles-as-next-white-house-chief-of-staff

Exit poll data trends:

Montanaro, Domenico; Moore, Elena; McMillan, Nick; Hanzhang Jin, Connie; and Wood, Daniel. “In this election, demographics did not determine how people voted.” November 22, 2024. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/11/22/nx-s1-5199119/2024-election-exit-polls-demographics-black-latino-voters

Perceptions of economy:

Brenan, Megan. “Economy Most Important Issue to 2024 Presidential Vote.” October 9, 2024. https://news.gallup.com/poll/651719/economy-important-issue-2024-presidential-vote.aspx

The economy:

Bureau of Economic Analysis. “Gross Domestic Product, Third Quarter 2024 (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits (Preliminary).” November 27, 2024. BEA.gov. https://www.bea.gov/news/2024/gross-domestic-product-third-quarter-2024-second-estimate-and-corporate-profits

When Trump talks about immigrants to the United States:

Vega, Cecilia. “Trump’s mass deportation plan for undocumented immigrants could cost billions a year.” October 27, 2024. 60 Minutes. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-mass-deportation-plan-cost-consequences-60-minutes-transcript/

The most up-to-date numbers of voter turnout we could find before posting this episode:

Beaumont, Thomas; Sweedler, Maya; Kaufmann, Parker; and Lodhi, Humera. “Trump won about 2.5M more votes this year than he did in 2020: This is where he did it.” Updated November 26, 2024. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-swing-states-votes-79f4495b4a0d2039a0a92b5dbdceb7aa

No, the difference in number of voters does not mean there was voter fraud, on either side:

Czopeck, Madison. “Fact check: Trump’s 2024 win doesn’t prove claims that the 2020 election was stolen.” November 7, 2024. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-check-trumps-2024-win-doesnt-prove-claims-that-the-2020-election-was-stolen

The turnout, specifically, for younger men:

Anderson, Estelle. “CIRCLE releases preliminary findings about youth voting patterns in 2024 election.” November 20, 2024. The Tufts Daily. https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/11/circle-releases-preliminary-findings-about-youth-voting-patterns-in-2024-election

A story about San Antonio’s ongoing stance as a sanctuary city:

Drusch, Andrea. “Scarred by ‘sanctuary city’ law, San Antonio wants local police excluded from new border bills.” November 9, 2023. San Antonio Report. https://sanantonioreport.org/san-antonio-senate-bill-4-immigration-enforcement/

Our so-called governor shipping off immigrants to other states:

Strickler, Laura and Martinez, Didi. “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vows to keep busing migrants north. One problem: Not enough migrants.” August 14, 2024. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/texas-gov-greg-abbott-vows-keep-busing-migrants-north-one-problem-not-rcna166412

A slightly more objective view than Anne’s of the Texas Republican Party’s reaction to COVID-19:

Platoff, Emma. “A singular figure in Texas’ coronavirus response, Gov. Greg Abbott leads a state headed in an alarming direction.” July 11, 2020. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/11/texas-greg-abbott-coronavirus-response/

Judge Wolff’s legacy:

San Antonio Report Staff. “On the eve of his retirement, a look back at Nelson Wolff’s half century of public service.” December 29, 2022. San Antonio Report. https://sanantonioreport.org/nelson-wolff-retirement-half-century-public-service/

IN 2026, EVERY HOUSE SEAT AND ONE-THIRD OF SENATE SEATS ARE UP FOR ELECTION:

USA.gov. “Congressional elections and midterm elections.” Updated August 21, 2024. https://www.usa.gov/midterm-elections

Since our recording, the chair of the Texas Democratic Party has indeed stepped down:

Scherer, Jasper. “Texas Democratic Party chair steps down after dismal election performance.” November 8, 2024. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/08/texas-democrat-party-resigns-gilberto-hinojosa/

Legal groups you can support:

American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/

NAACP: https://naacp.org/

Western Environmental Law Center: https://westernlaw.org/

A little about sheriffs working with ICE during Trump's first term:

Cenziper, Debbie; Muller, Madson; Beals, Monique; Holland, Rebecca; and Ba Tran, Andrew. “Under Trump, ICE aggressively recruited sheriffs as partners to question and detain undocumented immigrants.” November 23, 2021. The Washinton Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2021/trump-ice-sheriffs-immigrants-287g/

One hate crime the day after the election:

Jimenez, Kayla; Carless, Will; Limehouse, Jonathan; Bischoff, Laura A.; and Benjamin II, Terry. “Black college students nationwide targeted in racist texts; investigations underway.” Updated November 9, 2024. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/07/racist-plantation-text-message/76112532007/

Learn about violence perpetrated against trans people:

“Specifically, Black transgender women, who face multiple layers of violence due to their gender identity, gender, and race, comprise 61% of all victims of fatal violence against transgender and gender-expansive people.”

Human Rights Campaign. “The Epidemic of Violence Against the Transgender and Gender-Expansive Community in the U.S.: The 2024 Report.” https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2024

Learn about VPNs:

Stobing, Chris. “Why You Need a VPN, and How to Choose the Right One.” Updated October 25, 2024. PC Mag. https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one

DuckDuckGo is a search engine:

https://duckduckgo.com/

If you don’t know what a brownshirt is:

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “SA: Nazi organization.” Updated November 19, 2024. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/SA-Nazi-organization

“Rule of law” is an abstracted concept in some ways:

World Justice Project. “What is the Rule of Law?” https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/overview/what-rule-law

A little more complicated than fight or flight:

Guy-Evans, Olivia. “Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn: How We Respond to Threats.” Updated on November 9, 2023. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/fight-flight-freeze-fawn.html

A little bit about stress and the care response:

McGonigal, Kelly. “How to make stress your friend.” June 2013. TEDGlobal. https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

A little about Portugal’s immigration laws:

Makan, Ajay. “How Portugal Quietly Became a Migration Hub.” May 21, 2022. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/21/portugal-europe-migration-undocumented-work-residency-citizenship-south-asia/

If, like Anne, this is the first time you’ve witnessed a beveled vs. chamfered corners discussion:

Atlantic Stainless. “Bevel vs. Chamfer Edges: Differences and Applications Explored.” January 21, 2024. https://www.atlanticstainless.com/news/bevel-vs-chamfer-edges-differences-applications/

Monongalia County:

https://www.monongaliacounty.gov/

Monongahela River:

https://www.visitmountaineercountry.com/monongahela-river/

Satisfactory:

https://www.satisfactorygame.com/

The Menswear Guy

On X (née Twitter): DerekGuy@dieworkware

Or if you would prefer to never use X (née Twitter) again, he’s on Instagram: Derek Guy@die_workwear

The book is better:

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2006).

And Serenity is a reference to the name of the ship in Firefly, a space western that lasted exactly one season. But you already knew that.