Shit that Pissed me Off – 12/11

The Media Manages to Prove that Every Bad Thing Anyone Says About Them is True

In the wake of a shooting spree in San Bernardino, fourteen victims and two suspects lay dead. News agencies were left with one important task: to find a way to convince people to watch their coverage over the coverage on a different network.

When the authorities apparently cleared the apartment where the two shooters lived, reporters stormed the apartment and began sifting through toys in the baby’s room, toiletries in the bathroom, and any other detail they could get their hand on. And then they reported on it under the mistaken impression that people gave a fuck.

“Authorities are unsure why the family chose Crest as their toothpaste but one thing is certain: this reporter is glad he uses Colgate.”

I guess they did it because nobody was going to let them sift through the toiletries of the victims.

Amazingly, this absolutely crazed frenzy managed to achieve what would have seemed to be impossible: It nearly made the reporters look worse than people who had committed mass murder.

Ted Cruz Talks about Climate Change as if he Knows Something About Climate Change

Lest we think that Donald Trump is the only blithering idiot in the Republican field – Ted Cruz went on NPR this week to talk about climate change. Somehow, he managed to say that he respected and loved scientists while completely refusing to accept scientific research.

As he talked about scientific fact, he managed to get nearly every single fact wrong. He insisted that climate change science is simply pushing a liberal agenda and repeated a consistently debunked talking point that scientists in the 80’s were claiming we were facing another ice age.

No, folks, the science community wasn’t actually saying that.

So thanks, Ted Cruz, for reminding us that bullshit flows deep in the Republican field and we should remember that if Trump eventually fades, there are other ignorant yahoos to take his place.

Jerry Falwell Jr. Suggests that Christians Should Arm Themselves to Shoot Muslims

For every gun control proponent who suggests complete disarmament (a policy with which I don’t agree), there are assholes like this on the other side.

Falwell, claims his statement was taken out of context but he literally said:

I’ve always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in

Now to me, his context would suggest that we should shoot Muslims now. He says he is just talking about violent Muslims but he doesn’t really get into how you know the difference between the violent Muslims and all the normal ones. Do you do some sort of eye scan?

It’ll be like “Minority Report!” Except instead of trying to sell you a Lexus, you get shot for being the wrong kind of Muslim!

I know a lot of people who like their guns but the idea that a more heavily armed populace will result in fewer mass shootings simply doesn’t make sense. If you are going to kill a whole bunch of people, you probably don’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether or not they will be armed.

And this philosophy sure doesn’t make sense coming from a guy who runs a university claiming to espouse the values of a dude who encouraged people to turn the other cheek.

Donald Trump Thinks We Should Enact a Ban on Muslims Entering the Country

We all know about this one so forgive me if I don’t provide a link. There are so many things that upset me about this bullshit proposal, it is hard to separate them. But I’ll try.

Less that a week prior to the shooting in San Bernardino, a white Christian killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. A few days prior to that, four white supremacists shot several people at a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis. Yet there was not a moment after each of those shootings where Trump (or anyone else) suggested that we should ban Christians or white supremacists from entering our country. Why do you suppose that is?
A poll shows 57 percent of Americans are opposed to his suggestion. That’s great. Except it should be so much higher than that. Nobody should like Trump’s suggestion. Nobody. It goes against the fundamental principles of our country.
Trump is pissed at members of his own party and is claiming they are taking issue with his suggestion while “the public” hasn’t said anything at all. I’m not sure which public he’s talking about. Is it the public that responded to that poll? Or the public that has been endlessly calling him a dangerous bully on Facebook? Or is it the smaller sub-section of the public that is cheering him at rallies?
I’m sick of people saying Trump is “raising issues that need to be discussed” as if he kick started a dormant debate about immigration when he called Mexicans rapists and thieves. Or as if there is a reasonable conversation to be had about banning members of a religion from entering our country. Trump isn’t raising new issues. He’s raising old issues but he isn’t afraid to take the asshole stance that has been missing from the conversation.
Every time Trump says something outrageous like this, we all talk about him more. Because he may be an unspeakable jackass but at least he’s interesting. We all have to remember that Darth Vader was interesting too.

So, in summary, fuck everything about Donald Trump. To the people who stand with Trump, I say please do your best to encourage him to run as a third-party candidate. His ego is such that it shouldn’t take much work.

And we’ll all be better off in that scenario. Trump supporters can vote for him (although they shouldn’t because he’s an ass), Republican voters can look forward to the 2020 elections when they might not have a bunch of slick, incompetent boobs running for office, and Democratic voters will have four more years where they don’t have to worry about the Supreme Court being stacked with a few more guys like Antonin Scalia.

The Libertarians are kind of fucked, though. Sorry, guys.