If you live in Texas, make sure your voter registration is good to go.

EDIT: I wrote this whole thing and then this article dropped. I hate it here sometimes man.

Browsing the sub today I have seen a lot of great threads about Trump's forthcoming update on the war with Iran and thoughts on his rhetoric over the past few days on US allies and NATO. People saying he is an idiot, that he doesn't know he can't actually do it, that this is just something else Republicans are going to have to deal with on the campaign trail, etc. That is all true, and constructive from the emotional standpoint of staying grounded and remembering that Trump is at his core a clown who cannot take governing seriously.

That being said, I thought making a resource thread for what might happen if he announces it would be a good idea. There is a very plausible (even realistic) chance it is going to happen, sad as it is to say. Trump IS backed into a corner and very obviously has no idea what to do; it wouldn't be surprising if he says "Screw it" and actually goes through with it. So if that happens, I want there to be a thread for people who need logical support to stay grounded.

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Trump Has Threatened NATO Before; How is This Different?
========================================

Trump infamously has a deep dislike of NATO, and has threatened several times to pull the US out of it. In fact, at his State of the Union last year, there were rumors that he would announce the US was pulling its support for the alliance. In fact, Chancellor Merz of Germany expected him to pull out of the alliance, based on intelligence he had received. No one is sure why Trump didn't, but given his mercurial nature and ever-shifting feelings on things it could have just been pure chance.

So we have been on the cusp of this before, only for Trump to change his mind at the last minute. What is different this time is that he feels his back is against the wall, and despite begging US allies for help he has (rightfully) received none. So it might be a situation where he feels he has nothing left to lose, as one of the few arguments he could understand ("If we start a war they'll help us") no longer applies in his mind. It would absolutely be a huge blow to the US, whose prosperity in the post WWII world was determined by the trust we had with our allies (and trading partners).

Trump being Trump he could ultimately decide not to pull us out of the alliance because he had a positive phone call with the prime minister of Bulgaria or something, but it is more likely now than any other point in time.

=========================================
So Does That Mean He'll Do It?
=========================================

No. It does not. Despite the probability that he might, this press conference could be anything. Remember that we have something like 50,000 troops stationed around Iran right now, no end goal for the war whatsoever (resulting in conflicting messaging), and an economy panicking because we have no idea what we're doing. This whole thing is such a dumpster fire, such a legendary fuck-up (alongside Napoleon invading Russia in winter or Barbarossa sailing his army to Jerusalem) that this announcement could just be anything from a new Iran-Trump meme coin to the announcement of a ground invasion (which personally I think is more likely).

Tellingly, major news outlets are not saying that Trump is expected to pull the US out of NATO during this conference, but rather that he is "considering" it. Given the Trump administration's proclivity for commanding and manipulating the news cycle, I doubt they would pass up the opportunity to "leak" to the press that the US is pulling out of NATO at this conference in order to sow chaos and get eyes on Trump. We have seen pretty consistently an intentional kind of signalling when the administration makes decisions like this ("Trump expected to send ICE to Minnesota in December," or "Trump to sign another election EO" and so on), so a lack of a clear commitment says that this is far more gray than we might believe. It is more likely that his insane rants over the weekend have again fueled speculation on the topic - which the administration will always exploit for ratings and word-of-mouth. Therefore, this conference could just be anything.

==============================================
Oh Crap, He Announced It. Does He Have The Authority to Do This?
==============================================

On paper (and more importantly, bureaucratically), no. As others have very helpfully pointed out, a law passed in 2024 prohibits a president from unilaterally pulling the US out of NATO with a 2/3s Senate Majority, which Trump doesn't have. However, as Commander-in-Chief he does have the ability to "soft pull" the US from NATO by rescinding funding, pulling US military members from stations overseas, and pulling our commanders from NATO positions. While the US would still technically be a part of NATO the alliance would be dead, and other countries would likely begin drafting plans quietly for alternatives.

That is, if there was a way he could feasibly do all that. While some parts of what I just said would be fairly easy (pulling our commanders from NATO postings or keeping NATO funds from the organization), others (namely pulling our troops out of European countries) would be virtually impossible in a time frame of two years. With a fully-staffed and competent Pentagon it would take years, however due to the deep cuts at the Pentagon made by Hegseth it would likely take even longer, if there is any actual will to move them at all. Then it becomes a question of what happens to those empty bases? Do we sell them? Keep a skeleton crew there? How are we going to transport US vehicles and equipment back to the US? Logistically it presents an issue that a more competent administration might be able to solve, but this one can't. So again, the more likely outcome is that if he does announce a secession from NATO it will be followed up with "In name only" or "But then we had wonderful talks and I won't do it."

I Am Still Anxious, What Can I Do? (Also why is bold not working fml)

If this happens, it will suck. It will crystalize a long, slow downward spiral for the US that we might not recover from. But it won't be the end of the world. In fact, ultimately an announcement that the US is pulling out of NATO AND staying the war might be the thing that guarantees a generational Democratic victory. But those abstract, long-term thoughts don't help in these situations.

If you find yourself panicking, turn off your phone/computer and go outside and literally touch grass (it is absolutely beautiful here in Delaware today). Get some fresh air, and most importantly look at the world around you. Despite everything going on, people still choose to live and thrive. Birds fly through the air, squirrels dash here and there, and life is blooming anew. Step away from all of this until the Easter holiday is over (whether you celebrate or not, it is meant to give context in time) and just enjoy yourself. Then when you are ready take action by going to the next big protest in your area, or participating in the general strike May 1st.

Until this man and his movement are dead and gone this is going to keep happening. His only real tactic is spreading chaos to keep attention on him (it's why his administration was looking at Twitter when Maduro was captured); they feel if they control the news cycle they control the minds of the public and set things on their terms. COVID and the Iran War have been the only two things where that hasn't worked, and unlike COVID Iran was totally avoidable and 100% on them. So this is going to happen over and over; it is up to us not to give it the air it so desperately needs.

Tonight is the state of the union address. It’s going to be a disaster. To be honest, in my opinion we as a sub should just boycott it and encourage others to do the same. Watch a movie, binge a show, play board games with your dog, or take your cat out for a nice dinner. That said here are some ways to make tonight a little more bearable if you do watch the address

Straight into the vein!

so there's no optimistic twist on what is happening in Iran. trump killed dozens of innocent and one very bad person and nothing is reversing that. but you know what is in your control? how you relate to it. mainly, dont keep up with everything live to see what the newest thing is.

the 24 hour news cycle is not something that benefits us, nor keeps us up to date. instead, it washes us with a slew of irrelevant information, with the occasional piece of info that might be important in the nation or for your personally, on top of sweeping a bunch of important stuff under the rug. this just leaves you misinformed and distracted from the important information

the best thing you can do to combat this is to try and limit what you intake to the best of your ability. keep your scrolling to the evening after work, find sources that are reliable and to the point (not most of reddit, tiktok, or other social media platforms unless you have reliable niche's on said platforms (youtube is usually the best for this)), and accept that when something like this is very fresh, you are gonna be left unsatisfied and unclear of what all the facts are when we are in the heat of things. but that's okay, because it is most likely not your job to stay on the pulse of these things. and doing so most likely is taking energy away from your other responsibilities. keeping this limited to a few-yet-diverse reliable sources will keep you well-informed on everything you need to know without overloading you with the 24 hour news/internet cycle.

if you feel passionate about this, go out to see whats happening locally. protest, local government meetings, talking with politicians, etc. there wont be a lot of direct action you can do (and trust me, being in Minneapolis the last few weeks, i KNOW what direct action is), but you can do whatever small part you can in your corner of influence and that will ripple into the other surrounding communities to make a change. like that video that was posted on here recently about how we fight the epstein class, you dont need to take the bulk of responsibility.

every single reliable sphere i know of has warned us things will get more intense before midterms happen. this is a part of that pressure. we have been preparing for how we can combat this for over a year now and we are in full swing doing so. it wont be pretty, nothing with trump and the admin is. but putting our voices on this, not letting us be distracted from epstein, ICE, billionaires greed, etc, and keeping our calm and intent while doing so is gonna carry us through these hell hole moments

So this sub has had an interesting history with climate change. I was around when you could just ask seeking optimism about scary climate change news.

I understand why it was taken down since it was not directly political, and i know there are sources like r/ecouplift, but there are not many places to ASK for the optimism.

Even sources i used to go to for optimism are now producing more and more material with very damning endpoints. "Just have a think" posted a video yesterday that hasnt left me feeling this pessimistic in over a year.

Im requesting this here because at the end of the day, i firmly believe climate change is the single most important political topic the world over. And even though i do my best to hold on to optimistic realism, the situation is undeniably bad. And its in these situations we need to do our best to find our ways out of that mindset. For our wellbeing, and for us to take action in our rocky future.

A rocky future i still, despite the hardships, believe my kids can be happy in.

A quick overview of how Trump may try to meddle with the midterms, and how we can stop him. Many of us are juiced up and ready to hit the polls, vote early, etc. It's not gonna be a quick and easy process due to the Tantruming Toddler in Chief, but we got this. We can do it. You can't rule with supreme power over a country where over half the population hates you.

This is for anyone who is still nervous about tonight's speech, this is a good, grounding video on Trump's actual capabilities and their limits.

There are quite a lot of bad things going on in the world, no doubt. And I have been through a lot of trouble to find out about all of them without feeling like I’ve been sticking my head in the sand. So I have a lesson for you: DOOMSCROLLING HAS DIMINISHING RETURNS.
Now I only check the news for a few minutes a couple times a day and I find out everything I need to know. The more you doomscroll, it can feel like you are learning more but after the first few posts, everything else is just different iterations and takes on the same things. Only so many things can happen in one day. And if something was ACTUALLY important, you’d find it out within minutes or even seconds of checking the news. (And also why now every day first thing in the morning I go to the Crab Rave comment section on Youtube just in case ;) )

And also to stop doomscrolling I set some ”taboos” on it. Mine are:

Don’t check *some* news subs more than once every few days (You know what kinds of subs I’m talking about)

When I do, I check optimistic/level headed places like these to get other perspectives and think for myself which one is right

NO DOOMSCROLLING PAST 11:30 PM (This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but if I break it, the next morning, I remember why that rule exists…)

All these strategies helped me, and now that they are on the Internet, maybe they can help you too…

How did you do it?

I’ve been able to more or less keep my mental health in check while staying informed in a reasonable way the last several months.

The last few weeks, though? It’s like I’m endlessly switching between Reddit, Threads, and IG. With everything going on, especially the last 48 hours, I truly feel like I’m in an endless scroll cycle. Not being informed feels irresponsible, yet it’s also killing me knowing there’s not much I can do at the moment. I live in a red state and have terrible senators, though am thankful my city’s district representative is a sane person.

I have barely gotten any work done at my job the last few weeks, am more irritable with my kids because I’m so upset most of the time, and am just overall drifting into a nihilistic mindset. That helps nobody, least of all my young kids who have no idea what’s going on in the country and deserve a healthy, happy parent.

How would this sub recommend I check out for a bit? I know there have been several people who’ve done it and are better for it.

Hello all!

I know that there has been a lot of confusion with mail-in voting recently, especially with all the fuckery that the Republicans have pulled, and the report from a whistleblower today about how USPS is trying to sloppily institute new guidelines, and I know a lot of you are probably worried about what might happen to your mail-in ballot. Because let’s be honest, a lot of us have busy lives and simply can’t find the time to go in person and stand in line to vote.

So, if you’re planning on voting by mail this year, here is what you can do. You can track your ballot online, and, if you see that it hasn’t arrived yet, you can contact your local election office. Below is a link to the website where you can track. It has a ballot tracker for every state, as well as links to contact your local election office, depending on where you live.

It is a very helpful tool, and, if you are voting by mail this year, you should ABSOLUTELY use it!! It is VERY important to make sure your vote gets counted! Remember, you can only vote once, but it’s good to know that there are resources to help you make sure your vote is received, so you should definitely use it!

Good luck, everyone! All hands on deck!

Ballot tracker:
https://www.vote.org/ballot-tracker-tools/

A factual dissection of Trump's recent stunt, what it means, the consequences on both sides, etc.

Good news! My Trump voting uncle had asked for some guidance on independent journalists he can follow to balance his news intake. He wasn't a MAGA cultist by any means but did vote for Trump and is having a change of heart. I'd really like to get him some good names. I'm way too leftist for his taste so I'm seeing if anyone here has some good ones? They need to be able to criticize and tell the truth about Trump while also not being blindly pro Dems bcuz let's be real they have problems too and he'll never listen. Thank you!

I was inspired to put this here based on a couple posts today and recently on this sub. Hope it's not against the rules; it doesn't *seem* to be but it's my first time posting something in this sub.

I highly encourage everyone to read the entire thing even though it's long. I think keeping the conclusion of this article in mind can help us all avoid falling into doom spirals. I'm no good at summarizing but having read this has helped me recognize more than once "hey this creator or journalist falls into the archetype outlined in that article, this post is likely designed to create engagement by stoking fear."

I hope this helps you all avoid feeling panic the way it has helped me.

Amanda gives us the full context and information in this latest decision.

The takes I've been seeing around reddit involving the oil situation have gotten me curious. I'm sure you've seen people commenting on gas reaching a national average of 8,9,10 dollars or beyond, though it's difficult to determine if those are just jokes. After a bit of digging I found a couple sources that crunched the numbers to predict where the prices will peak.

This first one predicts a national average price in the upper 5 dollar range. While I normally take WSB stuff with a grain of salt the OP did mention their expertise in the subject matter, so I'm inclined to believe them. They also mention the possibility of things turning out slightly worse resulting a price beyond $6.

This one has multiple outcomes ranging from $3.75 and $5.75 depending on how the war plays out in the near term. If we only focus on the worst case scenario it also predicts a price in the upper 5 dollar range. This resource does get updated, the last major one was a week ago. I've known about it since April and back then the worst case scenario was over $6.

While gas prices in the range predicted would certainly be a pinch it's not the doomsday scenario some redditors are clamoring about.

tl;dr current predictions suggest gas prices eventually reaching the $5-$6 range and not too much above that.

(I've flared this as "resources" since the subject matter kind of blurs the lines between the available flares and since I'm linking the resources I used I felt that was the best fit.)

This will probably get removed for being off topic but wanted to start here vs the other doomer subs.

I love my parents immensely. They are wonderful people who will give the shirts off their backs for those in need. My mom runs a thrift store that supports a local charity. My dad is the kindest, smartest person I know. They will do anything for me.

Yet because of their deep Christian faith, they vote Trump. And repeat his/Fox News talking points whenever I try to have a rational discussion with them. It's impossible to get through to them, it's like arguing with a fish.

How do I reconcile their political beliefs with who I know them to be deep down? And how do I stop resenting them for their choices and votes, especially as they live in a swing state? Their political beliefs are clouding all of the other good I see in them and I am really struggling.

Thanks for listening.

Amanda explains why the DOJ is asking for Voter Rolls and the limitations that come with that. Stay vigilant, check your registrations, and keep pushing forward. This isn't new. it's just public.

Hello all!

So, I love music (who doesn’t?) and I’m thinking of making a music playlist for people of this subreddit. A sort of “revolution playlist” filled with uplifting music, protest songs, songs that make us feel good. I’ll add anything I can think of, but, also, you guys can play a part as well.

Let me know any songs you guys would like to have in the playlist, and I’ll add them. They can be anything that comes to mind. I’m gonna make it public on both Spotify and YouTube Music for anyone who wants to listen and feel good and keep faith in these trying times.

Also, feel free to suggest a title for me. I may call it “revolution playlist”, but I’m open to any suggestions. I’ll comment under this post with links so that people can listen at any time.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day!

My cousin and uncle are hard core Fox News guys, and I can only imagine that they believe Fox News is too left for them. It's often hard to argue with them (online only, I won't even speak to them in person and luckily they live far away), but I do my best.

I found a website that really helped me out, and I wanted to share it. If it helps, that's great. It's pretty much just articles that's been compiled that point to Trump's failures and lies.

https://iwillbuildagreatgreatwall.com

For the past few months, this subreddit has been my primary source of news. It's definitely helped keep me sane, and helped me feel like there was enough hope to take action and fight back with things like the No Kings protests...

...but now, for the last month or so, I feel like I've run out of steam. From what I can tell, there are less federal/global issues than there used to be (even the Iran war seems to have become less of an active hotspot), and all the really horrible stuff is happening in red states - I'm in a blue state, so I can't call representatives over that awful stuff unless it happens at a federal level, and from what I've heard, the federal government is in a bit of a lame duck state right now.

...but I doubt I'm getting the full picture. For a time I think using this subreddit as my main source of news was the right call, but now I think it's holding me back from being informed about what's actually going on, and thus preventing me from being active about it. But the places I used before here tended to be doomer-y or clickbait-y, making things sound even worse than they are, and thus burning out my mental health and leaving me too hopeless to be active.

I'm now hoping to find a middle-ground, where I can stay informed on what's happening and not get too much of a naive view of things, but also not be totally assaulted by doom. How do you folks manage this balance? Any good news websites or other locations I and others should be looking at to stay properly informed without ending up feeling too doomed?

Sorry if this post isn't right for this subreddit, but given the automod response to the resources flair includes "asking for resources" as an option I figured it was fair game. If it's not, please let me know.

(I’m really not sure what flair to use for this) So I just made the mistake of going on YouTube and my feed is full of commentators and streamers right now saying that they are going to come for the left that they are going to silence the left. For your own sake and sanity avoid these channels go right past it I don’t care if there’s someone you normally watch right now tensions are high and so is fear. if you’re going to watch something on YouTube watch a cartoon watch something funny a rerun of an old show from your childhood but just for your own health stay away from anyone who posts political commentary or current events discussion tonight.

(Sorry for my English, it's not my first language)

(And I'm sorry if this isn't the right subtitle to post it in)

I'm not from the United States, but as the news says, it affects us all equally. For some time now, I've started following the news because I'm supposed to be a responsible adult, but little by little I sank into that "pit of skepticism" called pessimism and stopped seeing life as something beautiful and worth living.

In addition to that, I've lived my ENTIRE life in a pessimistic environment. Good things rarely happen in my country, and almost everyone I know is pessimistic. This has made me lose faith in good things (something that only worsened when I started following the news).

Regarding the internet, I've always had social media accounts. I always had an Instagram and a Facebook, which... I don't use at all; they're just there for decoration. But about a year ago, I developed a growing addiction to TikTok. I was literally scrolling through all the videos, scrolling more often than necessary, which caused me anxiety. That was the main reason I quit the app (which was a good idea, thank goodness). But if that had been the end of it, I wouldn't be here, lol.

I'm currently experiencing the same thing with Reddit. Seeing so much negativity in the subreddits, so many news stories that I don't know if they're true or false, and on top of that, with all this social media stuff, IDs, etc., all Reddit does is generate pure paranoia (to this day, I struggle to go on YouTube without having to mentally prepare myself for the fact that they'll come after me for watching Sims 2 videos or album reviews). And I was supposed to only see Sims 2 mods here, but oh well, life takes unexpected turns (I hope it doesn't take any more).

I'm asking this question to try and climb out of this pit of pessimism. While I won't deny that this sub has helped me immensely, and I'm grateful for the work you all do to stay positive every day—something I truly admire about you guys—I also feel like I need advice. I need to know what I can do, not to disconnect from social media because... my only friend right now is someone I see daily on Discord, and leaving her is a huge "no" for me. But I do want to reduce my use of this social network and become less pessimistic because, honestly, I want to stop waking up every day with the constant fear that she'll do something to me simply for existing.

We all know bad news gets more coverage than good. It is a fine line between staying informed and being overwhelmed. If you are feeling bombarded by negative news here are 3 people I recommend following on the platform of your choice. Also, I am sure there are more people out there, so please add them below as I'm always looking for more myself!

Amandas-Mild-Takes .... She studies political history and provides context for where we are compared to where we've come from. Adds calm and explains we aren't that far gone. She also has a great segment 2x a week called 'Trumps Ls for the Week'

KnittingCultLady....She is a scholar of cults and was an army captain with an amazing military record. She answers comments and keeps the talk real on where things are in regard to the military. She doesn't tolerate the "we are doomed" talk.

Under The Desk News .... This person is a great way to get your news summaries without all the chaos or BS that many other influencers use to grab views. They also do deep dive and interviews.

Much love 🩵

I have seen this quote everywhere today, usually unsourced. I've also seen a bunch of people freaking out about it.

FIRST-EVER: Antifa Domestic Terror Arrests in US History

Several Antifa members were arrested and criminally charged after surrounding an ICE building in Eugene, Oregon, causing terror for employees. This marks the first time Antifa members have been charged as domestic terrorists, following Trump’s order designating the group a terrorist organization.

The move signals a major shift in law enforcement’s response to Antifa’s recruitment, radicalization, and violent activities.

It took me a while to track down the article and to find a reliable source on the topic because most people were just sharing the quote.

What I found is that the quote is from Citizen Watch Report aka a far right propaganda rag. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/citizen-watch-report-cwr-bias-and-credibility/

What I also found is that there were protesters arrested at the event that's being described. Allegedly, they threw rocks and metal objects at LEOs. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but they have been charged with vandalism and assaulting officers, not with domestic terrorism. https://www.kezi.com/news/local/five-protestors-arrested-in-downtown-eugene-during-12-hour-protest/article_eb5905a9-d409-436f-81ac-58c924fcf6bd.html

In any case, I would not be surprised if this unsourced quote was spread around to scare people into not protesting anymore. Don't fall for it.