Create accountLogin

Recent searches

No recent searches

Search options

Only available when logged in.
toad.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Mastodon server operated by David Troy, a tech pioneer and investigative journalist addressing threats to democracy. Thoughtful participation and discussion welcome.

Administered by:

Server stats:

359
active users

toad.social: AboutProfiles directoryPrivacy policy

Mastodon: AboutGet the appKeyboard shortcutsView source codev4.3.7

#knight

1 post1 participant0 posts today
Public
Hotspur🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦

"Life is a Struggle (Golden Rider)," Gustav Klimt, 1903.

I won't go on about Klimt, you've heard it before. But this is an interesting canvas; it mixes the "modern" style of Art Nouveau with material that echoes the Pre-Raphaelites and medieval art.

Klimt painted this during a bitter time of life; three paintings he'd been commissioned for by the University of Vienna had been rejected for being "pornographic." Evidently, this was painted to hearten himself as he continued on his artistic journey, despite the critics and naysayers, symbolized by the snake.

There's a mosaic-like quality to this, as there is to some of Klimt's work. And the overall effect is almost jewel-like.

Courage, friends!

From the Menard Art Museum, Komaki, Japan.

An Art Nouveau painting with a mosaic-like quality. A knight in golden armor, with a lance held upright, rides a black horse against a variegated background. The grass is strewn with flowers. Ahead of the horse, a snake's head emerges from the left; the horse seems about to step on it.
#Art#ArtNouveau#GustavKlimt
Continued thread
Public *
Chuck Darwin

Last May, Gerney and Knight sent a 178-page report
to Democratic politicians, operatives and donors
that laid out ways officials in blue states can most aggressively use their powers.

It was modeled after the tactics of red-state Republican governors and attorneys general when Joe Biden was president.

They emphasized that individual governors must avoid agreements with Trump that tie receiving funds for, say, federal disaster relief with complying with his other demands.

Once the precedent is set that states must bow to Trump to receive federal dollars, that will be hard to break.

Knight and Gerney also argue that it’s also critical for blue states to get their houses in order.

It will be easier for Democrats to win in 2026 and 2028 if they can run on not just Trump’s foibles but policy successes in areas they control.

And if more people move to blue states, that’s an electoral boon for Democrats, eventually giving those states more seats in the House of Representatives and votes in the electoral college.

#Gerney #Knight

prospect.org/politics/2024-10-

The American Prospect · Playing HardballRebalancing conflicts over state policy will require that blue states wield power differently.
Public *
Chuck Darwin

Where a better Trump resistance would start

Governors, attorneys general and other state-level Democratic officials have more formal powers than congressional Democrats to restrain Trump,
and can implement alternative policies that will help the party win elections over the long term.

That’s the argument of Democratic strategists Arkadi #Gerney and Sarah #Knight — and they are correct.

Knight and Gerney are among those urging Democratic leaders to take a more confrontational stance against Trump.

But they are focused on the 23 Democratic governors,
22 Democratic state attorneys general
and the 15 states where the party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor’s mansion.

They are excited that Democratic attorneys general are meeting regularly and have joined in numerous lawsuits against the administration,
most notably one that resulted in a ruling invalidating Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship.

They say some governors,
such as Illinois’s JB Pritzker, who recently likened the new administration to the Nazis,
are contesting Trump in the way that is needed.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/20

The Washington Post · Where a better Trump resistance would startBy Perry Bacon Jr.
ExploreLive feeds
About