A Liberal Lives In Wisconsin

     Barack Obama has one of the most impressive environmental legacies of any president, especially regarding the ocean. On March 30th, 2009, he signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, which designated 1.2 million acres of new wilderness protected area. Its more significant legacy was creating the National Landscape Conservation System. Before this, the wilderness system was up to the will of each president, having no congressional authorization.      Obama protected more wilderness area than any president in American history, including Theodore Roosevelt. Much of this was in the form of marine reserves, including the first in the Atlantic Ocean and an area in Hawaii three times the size of Texas. In 2010, his Justice Department pursued criminal charges related to the BP oil spill and later secured the largest corporate settlement in American history. In 2011, he signed the Shark Conservation Act, which closed loopholes allowing the transshipment o...

       Joe Biden can use flags to fight gun violence. With a string of mass shootings in Georgia, Colorado, and Virginia, 20 people were left dead over just the course of a week. Every time a shooting occurs, the flags are lowered to half-staff via presidential (usually alongside gubernatorial) proclamation. Instead of just lowering the flags for a day or a week, why not lower them for a day for every person killed in a mass shooting? But the flags would never be flown regularly!!! That's precisely the point. The United States has more mass shootings than the rest of the developed world combined, and this simple use of executive power can serve as a constant, stark reminder for people on both sides of the aisle concerning the gravity of gun violence.      This is just one action. Aside from supporting the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and a Federal Assault Weapons Ban, as he already has, Biden could establish a White House Interagency Task Force on ...

     The fact that Republicans think old, straight white men and token blonde white women are part of a sustainable business plan and that the only reason they could be losing is mass, coordinated fraud is absolute lunacy. Doug Ducey, the elderly, white CEO of Coldstone Creamery-turned governor, and a plethora of state-level believers in conspiracy theories lost big in Arizona in 2020.         Arizona is not what it once was. Aside from being home to a large number of Native Americans, it is also home to a massive number of Hispanic immigrants and eventual citizens. Arizona is experiencing a boom in urban areas like Phoenix and Tucson, areas Democrats have done very well in, and Arizona is an economy driven by small business.      Additionally, California is experiencing an exodus that is sending residents to neighboring states like Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, all of which are increasingly Democratic. The AZGOP has gone with th...

       Tom Morello has a history of owning conservatives apparently new to the fact that Rage Against The Machine is a liberal band. When Morello was mockingly accused of white privilege by one Twitter user, the Kenyan-Irish musician replied, simply, "I'm not white." When one user claimed Morello was a musician who thought he knew politics, Morello pointed out that he has a political science major from Harvard.       Morello's most famous jab was toward Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee and House Speaker who expressed his love for Rage Against The Machine. Morello replied by writing an op-ed in which he expressed that he found Ryan's opinion ironic considering, "You are the machine we have been raging against."

       Another interesting week for Marjorie Taylor-Greene, to say the least. Honestly, Georgia, is this what you send you politicians to Washington for? While trying to hold up another vote by presenting a motion to adjourn, a motion that failed with a bipartisan vote, Greene called Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, an Italian Jew, "Representative Mussolini," a reference to the fascist Italian dictator and ally of Hitler, responsible for killing 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. This racist remark may have been a mistake, because ignorance seems to be a trait of Taylor-Greene's.      During CPAC the same week, she called Guam a "foreign land" in a speech and suggested citizens of Guam do not deserve stimulus money. Guam has been a U.S. territory since 1899, after its capture during the Spanish-American War. The island is an important military base, its citizens are U.S. citizens, and they have a delegate in the House of Representative...

     Voters overwhelmingly supported the legalization of marijuana in the 2020 election referendum. Voters support abolishing the death penalty and implementing other necessary criminal justice reform.      Voters, increasingly of color, have experienced voter suppression, police and corporate profiling, and discrimination.      The LGBT2SQIA+ community, which encompasses five percent of the population, is overwhelmingly for Democrats.      In recent decades, Arizona's cities of Tucson, Yuma, Flagstaff, and Phoenix have been propelled by small businesses who do not benefit from corporate tax cuts.      Arizonans have been affected by gun violence, climate change, poverty, healthcare and education issues, environmental issues, and issues of Native American sovereignty.      Isn't it odd that most Arizonans no longer buy the inflated argument of the "threat" posed by illegal immigration and "violatio...

       New Mexico is the state with the highest proportion of Native American residents, and it is increasingly turning blue. In Wisconsin, Native reservations have support for Democrats on par with so-called "hippy havens" like California and Illinois. Why could this be?      A good example would be when cocky, preppy teenage Trump supporters attending a Catholic school in Kentucky attacked a Native American elder in Washington, D.C. While involved in a conflict regarding abortion, the elder tried to intervene to ease tensions. In response, the teen verbally assailed the elder and told him to, "Go back where he came from." As a man who fought encroachments on Native American rights and a man who experienced separation from his tribe in an attempt to cleanse his heritage, it was devastating.      The teen later tried to play victim, claiming he was doing nothing wrong and he doesn't tolerate racism. That may be because no person of color...

       On March 23rd, 2010, Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. Although its name has become unpopular, its individual provisions remain supported by a majority of Americans. This act, by imposing a tax on the top one percent of Americans, banned insurance companies from discriminating based on preexisting conditions, mandated health insurance coverage, reduced premiums paid by the majority of American citizens, and improved the quality of healthcare. The number of Americans who had access to health insurance increased by almost 25 million, roughly halving the U.S. uninsured population. The bill managed to do so while reducing the deficit. The largest overhaul of Medicare and Medicaid in over half a century, this landmark bill is seen as Obama's signature domestic policy achievement.

       On March 22nd, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, effectively ending federal prohibition on April 7th of that year. In the midst of the Great Depression, Roosevelt made a famous statement at its signing: "I think now would be a good time for a beer." As such, the day is now celebrated as National Beer Day. Nullified was the Volstead Act, which banned liquor in 1919 and led to a surge in black market crime and related violence.

       Sweden is notable as the home country of Greta Thunberg, a young hero who brought climate action to the attention of the masses and spurred the first real legislation and company moves to fight the insidious threat resulting from centuries of pollution.      The Scandinavian country has pledged to run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. What is truly exciting is that words that were once empty promises are not only likely to be true in this case, but perhaps manifest said truth much sooner.       Its 2030 target of 50% was reached in 2018, and, at the current rate, Sweden will surpass its renewable energy target before 2040. This is incredible news for the planet, and it shows nations like China and the United States that real climate action is possible.

     The United States is going through one of the most challenging periods in its history. Political division devolving into cult worship permeates society and prevents it from addressing the worsening climate crisis, racial injustice, the deadliest event in American history, and the related economic downturn.      Donald Trump was never in it for Americans. He ran solely to promote his businesses. He lied more than any president, passed a tax cut for the rich, and then played golf for nearly a quarter of his presidency. He committed crime after crime, and he tried to overturn democracy itself to preserve his power. Apparently, FOX News likes that.      Donald Trump, the day he took office, filed immediately for reelection. Joe Biden has not, and FOX News criticized him for it. Why? Trump and Biden are three years apart in age: Biden can run and win in 2024 and serve until 2029. Age cannot be the answer. Trump focused his first year on takin...

     QAnon, nobody is going to give you any credibility when your so-called inauguration of Trump as the 19th president doesn't occur on March 20th.      Mitch McConnell, nobody is going to buy your economic argument against Democrats when your "concerns," ones you know to be false, don't materialize.      Birthers, you don't matter anymore. Barack Obama served two full terms and the primary source of your theory's promulgation has been evicted and banned from social media.      Republicans trying to restrict minorities from voting, we are going to expose and halt your every effort and take steps to prevent these Jim Crow laws. We are going to render the electoral college null and void, and you are going to have to get a real platform instead of cheating if you want to win an election.       FOX, the era of COVID, a recession, and reckonings on social justice made people of common sense realize how insignifi...

     Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20th, in spite of what most FOX viewers believe. FOX has never done a good job focusing on facts, especially when a Democrat is in office. Trump and his goons have been convicted of or are facing a slew of criminal and civil charges and suits while every Republican in Congress votes against helping the people who put them there. What did FOX talk about? Joe Biden wore a Rolex watch to his inauguration and rides a Peloton (at least, unlike Trump, he exercises). Neither is obscenely expensive, especially when compared to Trump's golden showers (his literal tower of gold, not what he paid Stormy Daniels to keep secret). They also mentioned his stutter: we know he has had a stutter since age 10, but that does not define him.      Such was the case with Obama. Melania was in a sex tape, but Michelle showing her arms was immoral. Melania was an illegal immigrant, but Obama's birth certificate was fake because of the color...

     Hi, Mikey. The dead-eyed, Christian, suburban, lawyer grandpa from Indiana who never smiles and refers to his wife as "Ma" is an obvious choice to host a podcast, right? The difference between Barack Obama, who recently started a podcast with Bruce Springsteen, and Mike Pence is that Barack Obama has a pleasant voice, an actual voice in politics, and can't possibly be a racist. He was the most admired man even when your boss was president, Mikey, and he may be the most admired man of the century. He is in a good position to host a podcast.      You, on the other hand, proclaim to share the good news of conservatism. There isn't much. When your boss sent a mob to execute you like a filthy animal, he caused a rift in the Republican Party that cost it millions of supporters. Either you have to stick with Trump in 2022 and 2024 and lose moderate Republicans, or you have to dump him and lose his ugly, racist base. That isn't to say you aren't busying yourse...

       Since January 1st, 2021, four nations-- Thailand, South Korea, Argentina, and, now, Australia-- have legalized abortion. This makes 2021 the most productive year since 1986 in terms of securing abortion rights, and, with numerous other nations proposing legalization, it could be the most consequential since North Korea became the first nation to legalize abortion in 1950.       Abortion was gradually legalized in various Australian states beginning in 1998. In March 2021, South Australia became the last state in the nation to pass a bill legalizing abortion. State limits range from 16 weeks in the Northern Territory to 22 weeks in Queensland and no limits in the ACT. Support for abortion in Australia has continued to climb.      This comes in the wake of unconstitutional efforts by state-level Republicans to ban or otherwise restrict women's right to choose in the United States.

       Prominent musical act Linkin Park has had a good few weeks on YouTube. Gaining an average of more than a million subscribers annually and nearing 10 billion views, they have seen two of their songs, "In The End" and "Numb," surpass a billion views in recent years, with others, like "Castle Of Glass," "What I've Done," and "New Divide," expected to do the same.      While they were already doing well, they have more than quintupled their views in recent weeks, gaining more than 600 million in 30 days. They have been climbing the ranks and are currently the 101st-most subscribed musical artists, 115th in the United States, 200th in video views, 285th in subscribers, and 1,096th total. This applies to all of the more than 10 million YouTube channels of every type.      Their channel is now ranked "A-," and it could earn an "A" ranking by the end of the year if this pace continues. It brings in up to $35 milli...

       Nobody is surprised. Their pride wounded at the federal level, state GOP lawmakers are introducing ridiculous and damaging laws. From secession in Texas to punishing abortion by the death penalty in, well, Texas, many of these laws have no chance.      However, those not embraced solely by fringe Republicans, mostly involving discrimination and not death, are passing and being introduced by the hundreds. In Iowa, Georgia, Oklahoma, Montana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and other states, lawmakers are pushing two main sets of laws.       Some that have already been signed involve oppressing transgender people. From banning trans women and children from playing sports to banning insurance support for transgender people and making it a felony to support transgender people, these laws are reminiscent of the Jim Crow era. They, unfortunately, are not the only ones.      Republicans are already signing bills to req...

       Donald Trump doubled his hotel room rates for QAnon supporters, the ones who comprise a large fraction of his base and the ones he repeatedly refused to condemn even after they stormed the Capitol, an insurrection Trump was acquitted for.       His hotel in Washington, D.C., has been relatively dead since his loss; its founder is no longer in the White House. However, on the week of March 4th, not traditionally a touristy date and not one in which any nearby hotels significantly changed their rates in any way, Trump's rates doubled.      Why March 4th? That was the date that presidents were historically inaugurated on (until Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated on January 20th, 1937, for his second term). QAnon crazies claimed Trump would be inaugurated the 19th president of a new nation on March 4th. Supporters showed up in droves, and, obviously, no such inauguration took place.       QAnon now claims t...

     Today, President Biden is signing the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which Senator Bernie Sanders is calling "the most important bill for workers in decades." Totaling $1.9 trillion, it gives $1,400 stimulus payments to middle-class and low-income Americans, funds vaccinations and school reopening, pays local and state debts to avoid economic shock, cuts child poverty in half through direct payments, extends SNAP, child care, and unemployment benefits until fall, provides tax relief, gives needed grants to small businesses, and provides aid to agricultural workers and frontline workers of color.      President Biden's first major legislation and first major accomplishment, the bill is expected to help end the COVID pandemic by fall 2021 and restore the economy by summer 2022. It will also lay the groundwork for future economic gains, assisting in the fulfillment of two of Biden's major goals. Biden, Vice President Harris, and their spouses are expec...

       He is facing criminal investigations in Georgia, Washington, D.C., and New York.      He is facing civil suits in Illinois, Washington, D.C., and numerous other states.      Yes, he spoke at CPAC, but he has sent cease-and-desist letters to Republican fundraising groups.      He has begun urging supporters to donate to his PAC.      If he runs in 2024, he will not run for the Republican Party.      If he ran for the Republican Party, moderate elements would never back him.      Either way, he could never get enough votes to defeat Joe Biden in 2024.      That is only possible if he doesn't get convicted of a felony in the next three years.      No, Trump will not win in 2024.      I sincerely hope his supporters get behind him and sink the GOP.

       Marjorie Taylor Greene just seems to be a glutton for controversy. One would think a woman from Georgia with an Adam's apple would keep a lower profile, but not Midge. Aside from her literally dozens of other controversies targeting every minority group on Earth, she now has a new problem to deal with.       She has recently come under fire for social media posts in which she used the r-word. Believe it or not, some parents from the boondocks are defending her. One said, "I go by actions, not words, and she has been nothing but nice to my daughter [with down syndrome]." Is that really what it would take? That is an ugly, antiquated, hurtful word that perpetuates pain and disadvantage for people with differing abilities, one that both parties can agree on fighting against.      Must not be a very good parent, but there were others who abhorred her statement. When one such father brought up the controversy, he was booed by ever...

       R.E.M. is among the most liberal musical artists. Most famous for their song "Losing My Religion," the band is a member of the charity Artists Against Racism and has been active in campaigning for candidates Michael Dukakis and John Kerry. They have also, notably, worked to raise awareness about Aung San Suu Kyi and injustices in Myanmar. Individually, the members have also been active in political and social causes, including PETA, atheism, and HIV awareness.       Recently, their YouTube channel, remhq, hit a million subscribers, a major milestone and one that qualifies content creators for the Golden Play Button. Congrats, R.E.M.!!!

       Last month, CNN destroyed FOX on YouTube and television. This month, it was MSNBC. Rachel Maddow earned the distinction of being the most-watched newscaster on television, with Joe Scarborough taking the prize for morning television. An average 3.6 million viewers made MSNBC not only the most viewed news network, but the most viewed network on all of television.      This was the first time the network achieved this feat and comes after they became the first major television network to hire a black female chief executive. Aside from eliminating the possibility that FOX will be the number one news network for the millionth quarter in a row, it also dispels the myth that the news needs Donald Trump to flourish.      Fuck you, Faux News.

       Linkin Park's album The Hunting Party  was designed to be rebellious. In the less-popular hard rock genre, it charted only at #3 on the Billboard chart after their previous decade of albums all earned the #1 spot. However, it proved remarkably insightful.      Featuring Rakim, Daron Malakian, Page Hamilton, Tom Morello, and others, its 2014 release preceded coronavirus by six years. However, it is about a pandemic and the end of the world. "Rebellion" addresses the discontent of Americans who see themselves as rebels despite paling in comparison to actual freedom fighters in the third world, a lesson the Capitol rioters could stand to learn. "Until It's Gone" is about a virus that kills people and reminds the increasingly-smaller number of survivors what is important in life. "Final Masquerade" is about the end of the world and features frontline medical workers jumping into a pit.      Linkin Park's albums have often address...

       For five years, FOX News was Donald Trump's chief apologist, ignoring or explaining away his every atrocious statement and action. They feed falsehoods to military members and the elderly, using fear to make themselves the number one news network at the cost of minorities. They have since lost the latter distinction.      They continue to lie about and downplay coronavirus, white supremacist terrorism, institutional racism, and other threats that don't make their base look good while playing up threats that are easier for bigots and idiots to digest. Bigots and idiots are the easiest to radicalize. While Trump has been defeated, only dismantling the Faux News machine will help defeat Trumpism, and every post labeled "Faux News" will be dedicated to doing just that.      We will promote CNN and MSNBC and continue giving fencers a peek behind FOX's curtain. 

       Bhutan became famous among climate activists in 2017 when it was revealed that the country, which produces 1.5 million tons of carbon a year, was taking out 6 million tons a year, a net carbon negativity of 4.5 million tons a year.      The country, which uses a Gross National Happiness Index, has announced plans for more progress. They plan to give every farmer free electricity to end reliance on wood-burning stoves, give every resident an electric car, make sure at least 75% of their nation is covered in forest forever, expand sustainable hydroelectric power, and become an exporter of renewable energy to nations like China and India, both of which are neighbors that have a combined 1/3 of the human population.

       Barack Obama is the most admired man in modern history. The ranking has been done since 1946 for both the most admired man and the most admired woman.       Barack Obama was the most admired man from his election in 2008 until 2019. Donald Trump was president in 2017 and 2018, but he did not receive the title until he shared it with Obama in 2019 and won it for himself in 2020. Obama has received it 12 times. He and Dwight D. Eisenhower are currently tied for the most number of times the title was won. However, because Obama is still relatively young and is writing books, starting a foundation, speaking publicly, and working on a production company, and because beloved presidents usually win when they die, Obama will likely be the most admired man in the 21st century.      Michelle Obama, a co-founder of said production company and an author and pop culture figure, has won every year since 2018. Melania Trump did not win once...

       Frances Perkins is among the handful of cabinet picks who deserves to be called the most significant in American history. The first female and possibly the first LGBT2SQIA+ cabinet member, she became the Secretary of Labor on March 4th, 1933, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.      This, as well as her role in putting women to work during the Great Depression and World War II, laid the groundwork for rudimentary female workplace equality. In her position, she also secured an end to child labor, the establishment of a minimum wage, the creation of overtime pay, and the right to collective bargaining.

       John Fetterman is an interesting man in almost every sense of the word. At 6'8", the once-stocky man has lost a considerable amount of weight. Though he looks more like a factory worker or any other sort of blue collar citizen, he is a Harvard graduate who founded a nonprofit before serving as the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2019.      Winner by a single vote, he earned nationwide fame for his efforts to revitalize the town. On his arm are tattoos listing the date of every murder that occurred in Braddock during his time as mayor. Now lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, Fetterman earned fame for his ability to blend humor and facts in opposition to Donald Trump. A self-described progressive, he chose not to live in the official residence of the lieutenant governor (Pennsylvania being the only state to have one) and instead opened it to the public.      Now, he is running for the Senate. All signs point to Pennsyl...

       Donald J. Trump,      On June 1st, 2017, you pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. You said you would represent the "people of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Aside from the obvious fact that the treaty was merely signed in Paris, you were rebuked by not only Pittsburgh, but Erie, Philadelphia, and much of the eastern portion of the state.       Pennsylvania will be carbon neutral by 2050 thanks to state, city, and federal lawmakers. Coal is still dying, but new jobs in renewable energy are building a promising future for Pennsylvania. You threw people under the bus to justify your anti-regulatory stance, and you have paid for it.      Go back to Florida, Donald J. Trump. The "people of Pittsburgh" spoke.

     Donald Trump lied to the Rust Belt, and he lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan in the process. When he was elected, he promised to restore American manufacturing. While economic growth continued in his first two years at a rate similar to that of the Obama administration, it plateaued in 2019, and the coronavirus pandemic cost 600,000 jobs alone.      Pennsylvania, in particular, has seen the impacts of declining American manufacturing. The "Rust Belt" nickname comes from shuttered factories literally turning to rust. Despite saying "Trump digs coal" and walking around a few plants with some signs, Trump did nothing but deliver empty rhetoric.      His rationale for pulling out of the Paris Agreement was that he would represent the people of Pittsburgh. He couldn't even do that.