Shit that Pissed me Off – 12/9

Mall of America Hires a Black Santa Claus and Racists Lose their Shit

For four days, US Army Veteran Larry Jefferson was the official Santa Claus at the Mall of America.  He was also black.  The result was a whole lot of black kids got to sit on the lap of a Santa who looked like them.  Sounds awful.

It sure was to these racists who believe that white characters should stay white no matter how mythological those figures might be.

A black santa is as outrageous as a female President!

The racists spouting their hatred for the concept of a Santa that wasn’t pasty white got so out of hand, the Star Tribune had to shut down comments on the article.

Now I will admit that the legends that gave rise to Santa Claus would certainly suggest a white Santa Claus is more accurate than – say – a white Jesus.  However, it would seem to me that if we can embrace the idea of Billy Bob Thornton as (a drunk) Santa Claus, the idea of a black Santa shouldn’t result in anyone – what’s the phrase I’m looking for – giving a shit.

So in the giving spirit of the season, let’s give ourselves some time to reflect that a black Santa Claus is a good thing.  And remember that every time someone uses the term alt-right, what they really mean is “racist doucebag.”

Speaking of Alt-Right, How about This Asshole Who Called out a Trans Student on Stage?

Milo Yiannopoulos, whose name is a pain to spell and is so much of a creepy fuck that I’m not even going to try, was invited to speak at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  He’s well known as an outspoken racist and anti-GLBTQ crusader.  As you might expect, a lot of students were upset he was coming.

Free speech is a tricky thing.  I mean, does the guy have a right to say what he says?

Unfortunately, yes.  Should he be given a paid platform to say these things?

I don’t think he should.  I think he should be swept out the door with the other insects we don’t want to kill but also don’t want in our homes.  But I understand that Universities have a responsibility to expose students to all perspectives.

Now I will argue that if they want to expose kids to thinking from the right, people like Condoleeza Rice might represent a better option than Milo Yo-yoasaurus. I don’t agree with her on a lot of things but she’s not a racist.

In any case, Milo Yog-Sothoth was given the platform to speak and he was a racist and homophobic fuck, which shouldn’t have surprised anyone.  However, he went so far as to show a picture of a trans student and use her dead name.

That, my friends, is bordering on a violent act.  The trans community already faces challenges that are unparalleled.  What Yorkshire Puddingpolos did to this student is unconscionable.

Fortunately, Yip-yip dogapus doesn’t have a conscience.  So he’ll keep saying this shit.  And people will keep paying him to say it.  In the name of “fairness.”

Crazy Ass Dude Almost Shoots up a Pizza Joint Because of a Conspiracy Theory

In an act that isn’t being labelled terrorism because the perpetrator was white and nobody ended up being killed, a dude walked into a pizzeria in Washington D.C. to “investigate” a bullshit conspiracy theory that the restaurant was a front for a child prostitution ring run by the Clintons.

That’s fucked up.  Even more fucked up, the son of incoming National Security Advisor Lt. General Michel Flynn tweeted his support for the conspiracy theory (but just barely avoided tweeting support for the gunman).  Essentially he said, “until you prove the theory is false, we will keep talking about it.”

Even former President George W Bush doesn’t understand your logic.

The problem with conspiracy theories is you can’t prove them false. The people who believe them will constantly find new reasons to support the idea it is a conspiracy and all your proof to the contrary is just more evidence of a cover up.

In the meantime, it is doing real and demonstrable harm to actual human beings and to an actual business.  If Donald Trump gave two shits about anyone but himself, he would use Twitter to debunk this kind of nonsense rather than using it to whine about how Saturday Night Live is making fun of him.

Business Pre-Emptively Sues State Over Being Forced to Video Same-Sex Marriages

Carl and Angel Larson, who are “good Christians,” are concerned their wedding video business might be sullied should they be forced by anti-discrimination laws to video a same sex couple getting married.

So concerned are they that their religious right to discriminate might be infringed, they are suing the state of Minnesota to ensure they don’t find themselves in that situation.  The lawsuit, in effect, says that anti-discrimination laws are unconstitutional.

Look, given that our President-elected by Russia is likely to appoint justices friendly to this kind of religious freedom bullshit, it is probably best for same-sex couples to stay away from businesses like this one because the resulting lawsuit might have extremely dubious consequences.  But what do you do when the businesses pre-emptively go to court?

And I’m left to wonder, is this what Jesus meant when he said “turn the other cheek?”  I mean, these people aren’t being asked to shoot pornography.  They are being asked shoot video featuring a couple of guys (or girls) who love each other getting married while surrounded by their friends and family.  Kinky.

Oh wait – they aren’t being asked to do that. Yet. They just don’t want anyone to ask them because if they say no, they are going to look like assholes.

Too late.

North Carolina GOP lost the Governor’s Office So They are Going to Hamstring the New Governor

Sore losers like the North Carolina Assembly are quite possibly worse than sore winners (Donald Trump).  In this case, the NC Assembly is so upset the people of their state elected a Democrat to the Governor’s mansion, they called an emergency special session to limit his powers.

Of course, they claim they were going to do that anyway. They just feel they need to do it faster because of who the people elected.

The legislation was passed to limit appointments made by the Governor and to also create road blocks between plaintiffs and the State Supreme Court are so blatantly partisan, the lawmakers passing them should be embarrassed.  Elections have consequences.  Parties lose.

Well…maybe parties lose in the United States.

The Democrats are already well aware of this fact.

When a party loses, the worst thing they can do is this kind of scorched earth legislation.  Their own constituents should be telling them to stop being assholes and accept that a Democratic governor should be able to do the same fucking stuff a Republican governor was able to do.

I try to convince myself that the Republican party wants what is best for people and they just disagree with me on ideology.  When they engage in this kind of sore loser bullshit, however, it is hard for me to think of their party as anything but a party unwilling to share power with anyone.