It’s no secret that politics and the health of the United States has been on my mind these past few months, and now we’re a mere two days away from Election Day. I hope that this is the most important election of my life, because I don’t want to imagine another presidency worse than this past four-year ordeal. For those who have already voted, either by mail or through early in-person voting, I hope you remained safe. While I am deeply horrified at the idea of Trump getting another term, I respect the exercise of democracy as long as all who are rightfully eligible are afforded the same opportunity.
Please bear with me as I express my strong beliefs about this election.
Long-time readers may know that while I could touch on a lot of related topics in years previous, my specific political beliefs were rarely ever front and center on Ogiue Maniax. However, the 2016 election changed something in me, as I came to feel that my distanced academic outlook did not do enough. While I still believe in robust dialogue aimed at finding common ground, I’m much more aware of the fact that right-wing extremism is a dangerous part of the current landscape, whether that’s attempting to recruit kids through video games, voter suppression, or outright violence. I changed my policy of allowing any and all relevant comments to a blog post because there’s a difference between disagreement and merely wearing a facade of civil discourse as a means to push ridiculous ideas. I recently deleted a comment that started with the notion that “wokeness” is ruining anime because it’s an extension of a general right-wing corrosion of Youtube as a whole.
As for Trump himself, I’m going to say straight-up that he needs to be stopped if the United States is to survive, literally. We cannot take even more negligence and death rates when it comes to COVID-19. We cannot take a man who purposely sabotages the US Postal Service in the age of a pandemic and in an election year. We cannot take a man who will sell out the US to the highest bidder, a man who abandons allies to the slaughter and allows bounties on American soldiers. We cannot take a man who thinks climate change is fake yet also believes windmills cause cancer. The Paris Climate Accord is crucial to the well-being of not just the US but the entire planet, and if the country does not rescind our withdrawal, we are headed straight for catastrophe upon catastrophe. Most importantly, we cannot take more damage from the Republican Party, which has enabled this would-be dictator to escape responsibility just because they use him as a battering ram to get more federal judges into the system, including three Supreme Court justices.
To all readers in the US, if you see voter intimidation at your polling place, contact the Election Protection Hotline.
And now, back to Ogiue Maniax proper.
Thank you to this month’s Patreon sponsors.
General:
Johnny Trovato
Ko Ransom
Diogo Prado
Alex
Dsy
Sue Hopkins fans:
Serxeid
Hato Kenjirou fans:
Elizabeth
Yajima Mirei fans:
Machi-Kurada
Blog highlights from October:
Smash Bros. and the Concept of Restrictive Consequences
A thorough look at how the notion of constant freedom plays heavily into competitive Smash Bros., and how it contrasts with the ability to be “very wrong” in other fighting games.
Manga Made for Theater: Maku Musubi
A recent manga series focused on a school drama club that has a nice theme of finding a new creative direction after the loss of a dream.
Dick Dastardly’s Gun Kata: Appare-Ranman!
Last season’s transcontinental racing anime is not quite what I expected.
Hashikko Ensemble
Chapter 33 starts a battle of the bands at the high school culture festival! Lots of great side characters return for this one.
Patreon-Sponsored
Anime Faces: VTuber vs. Horror Games
Thinking about how the limitations of virtual youtubers actually enhances the horror-game-streaming experience for viewers.
Apartment 507
Love Live! Nijigasaki’s Yu Takasaki is the Perfect Audience Character
The new anime pulls off transforming the mobile game’s player character into a fleshed out individual.
Closing
Vote if you can, stay safe no matter what, and I’ll see you on the other side.
