Shit that Pissed me Off – 10/26
Someone Destroyed Donald Trump’s Star on the Walk of Fame
I’m probably just including this story because given how many words I have devoted to my distaste for Donald Trump, I want it to be known that at least one dude dislikes him more than me.
But seriously, asshole, vandalism isn’t the answer. It makes people who support Trump look more reasonable than those of us who know he’s a bigoted, misogynistic, narcissist, who would probably be the worst President in the history of our country. Which is saying a lot since Buchanan set the bar pretty low, not even George W. Bush was able to limbo under it.
No joke – I Googled “George Bush Limbo” and I found this!
I’ve read people likening it to the destruction of statues of Lenin or Hussein but the thing is: Trump hasn’t been elected yet. And hopefully he’s not going to be. Does it make sense that we should destroy a statue of John McCain simply because we don’t like his stance on using the Senate to blockade the Supreme Court?
Or destroy a statue of George W. Bush because he was a terrible President?
I don’t think there is justification for this kind of behavior. If you think it would be wrong for someone to destroy something that says Hillary Clinton (or Gary Johnson or Jill Stein), it is just as wrong to destroy something that says Donald Trump.
If you’ve got a problem with Trump, how about you work your ass off to make sure he doesn’t get elected?
It Takes Over a Year for a Serial Rapist to be Charged Because His Friends are Horrible
This article was in the Star Tribune and it talks about a brutal rape committed by an asshole who clearly had way too much experience with brutal rape. His victim did everything she was supposed to do and he still wasn’t charged.
Why?
Because his friends called her up and asked her misleading questions and then provided the recording to police as “proof” that she was lying about the attack.
It took over a year to get this asshole charged because even though there were a ton of other women with similar stories, none of them wanted to come forward.
Given what his friends did to protect him, is it any wonder?
For those out there who seem to dismiss victims of sexual assault and ask questions like “why didn’t they tell anyone – I would have told someone,” this is exactly why. We live in a culture that consistently looks for reasons to disbelieve and shame rape victims.
I understand we don’t want to send innocent people to jail. But stories like this suggest we don’t want to send anyone to jail. Especially not serial rapists.
Unless they are a black and/or a drug addict.
Speaking of Refusing to Charge Assholes, How About the Douchebag Who Was Groping Women on a Plane?
See, when guys get taught they can get away with stuff, they don’t have a lot of incentive to stop, now, do they?
In this case, a dude sexually assaulted several women on a plane and when they reported it, they were told the case either had to be handled by the FBI (because it happened in flight) or by police in another jurisdiction because the assault took place before the plane took off.
So basically, these women did exactly what they should have done, which is clearly communicate this guy didn’t have a right to access their bodies, and the authorities threw up their hands and shrugged.
I wonder where they are getting their inspiration?
They also told the victims that it “wasn’t the crime of the century.”
Which is another way of saying “deal with it, ladies, the world is built for this way and if you complain, you are just overly sensitive.”
I will note that both this guy and the rapist in the previous article were white. Interesting.
And once again we are reminded that even as Americans have managed to soften their hatred for homosexuals, they, perhaps, have just transferred that hatred to the trans community.
In this case, we have several institutions claiming that rules meant to protect trans individuals from discrimination are actually discriminatory because what if they don’t want to provide that kind of care? They shouldn’t be forced to perform medical procedures if they don’t want to.
It’s kind of crazy to think that a doctor would be such a prick about such things. You would think that they would view the needs of their patient as primary to any religious misgivings and that God would be understanding given that whole “judge not lest ye be judged” thing.
It all comes down to this: The vast majority of members of our society don’t understand those who are transgender. They are confused why anyone born with a penis wouldn’t identify as a man and why anyone born with a vagina wouldn’t identify as a woman.
We are used to black and white thinking. When we are told it is more complicated than that, we don’t like it because we don’t like complicated things.
I get it. But disliking complicated things shouldn’t give a doctor legal means to refuse to do their job.
Malhauer Refuge Occupiers Aquitted
So way back in January, a bunch of freedom loving dudes took over the Malhauer Wildlife refuge with guns and stuff. They were eventually captured and tried for conspiring to impede federal workers.
A jury found them not guilty, basically ruling that the workers at the refuge could have totally worked around the armed dudes living in their workplace who refused to leave.
It was, apparently, their choice to stay away from what could have potentially been a volatile situation. The jury concluded, I guess, that even though the armed protesters were anti-government, federal employees had no reason to fear for their lives.
And this is where you’ll be working every day! Even if there are armed civilians sleeping under your desk and pooping in hand dug latrines!
I guess they were supposed to go to work so they could be impeded from doing their job by listening to interminable lectures about how they were everything that was wrong with America. Or something.
Look, I’m all for peaceful protests and civil disobedience. What happened at Malhauer was not peaceful. Their intent was to reclaim land and give it back to who they believed owned the land. That isn’t blocking traffic.
Oh and I note that the some of the same people who argue that police have done nothing wrong when they kill unarmed black men are arguing that federal authorities overstepped their bounds when they killed one of the protesters who appeared to be drawing a gun.
He was also white. Interesting.
Senator Makes a Racist Statement about his Opponent
Senator Matt Kirk is running for re-election and he is probably going to lose to Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth is a mixed race candidate who lost both legs in the Iraq war.
Now when I say mixed race, I mean she has a Thai mother and a father who can trace his lineage back to the Revolutionary war. She brought his up and Kirk had a super classy response.
He said “I forgot your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.”
So basically he looked at a woman who presents as Asian and made assumptions about her heritage even though he’s running against her and should know he is wrong.
In fact, he probably did know it was a low blow and he didn’t care. He knew his constituents would only see an Asian woman and assume the rest. It was a cheap shot.
He tweeted an apology, though. So all is forgiven, I guess. Even if it isn’t, it doesn’t look like he’ll be a Senator much longer.
Good.
It’s been a while since I’ve included a song in my weekly post but this song is depressing and let me tell you why: it is basically a rock ballad version of heart and soul. Not the 80’s one hit wonder by T’pau but rather the song many of us know as chopsticks.
No. Not that kind.
What’s next for Train? Are they going to do a rock ballad version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?
Please. No. That was a joke.
And finally, I didn’t write short fiction this week. Rather, I wrote a comedic essay about god and politics. Check it out if you’d like!
Grail Diary 