Shit that Pissed me Off – 10/6/2017
Sorry I’ve been gone for almost a month. Over the last three weeks, I’ve been out of town for my 50th Birthday (yay me) and playing at a funeral for someone who died much too young (boo the inevitability of death). Thanks for waiting patiently and not filling my e-mail with angry messages.
So anyway – here goes!
It Took Less Than Two Days for Conspiracy Theories To Pop Up About the Las Vegas Shooter
Here’s the dirty little secret about this kind of conspiracy theory: It never seems to happen when the shooter is a person of color. At least nobody seems to spend a lot of time talking about them.
I know someone is going to point out that there are conspiracy theories around 9/11 and the attackers there were (allegedly) people of color. Yeah, but I’m talking about mass shootings.
And the thing that seems to come into play here is that people don’t believe white guys would do this sort of thing. Not unless those white guys are members of the CIA or the FBI or Interpol or whatever the fuck these people think.
When a person of color shot up an Orlando nightclub, nobody started saying that it was a cover up. It was terrorism.
But white guys don’t commit terrorism. They are lone wolves.
Which is bullshit because wolves don’t even have opposable thumbs
So the alternative is to look at an act of senseless violence and think “I understand Islamic extremists. I don’t understand some 64 year old dude shooting up a concert so it must not be that.”
By the way – they don’t understand Islamic extremists either. But that’s for another day.
It is kind of remarkable to me that some of us can’t wrap our heads around a guy shooting up an elementary school but we can totally wrap our heads around the idea that some shadow agency decided to stage the event so they could get gun control legislation passed.
Which they can’t so what the hell is that about anyway?
Thing is, at least some of this is racism. Some of it is our inherent response that we’ve been taught the more pigmentation you have in your skin, the more violent you are.
Conspiracy theories are dumb. One guy shot all those people in Las Vegas and we will probably never know why. But it was one guy. And he was white. Deal with it.
CBS Exec Loses Job Because She Tweets That People Killed in Vegas were Republican Gun Toters
Yes, my friends, I may be a liberal but I’m aware that liberals can be assholes. Also, they can be fucking idiots.
This idiot didn’t think there would be consequences (like losing her job) for posting a rant about how she had no sympathy for “Republican gun toters” killed in the massacre. You know – because all fans of Country music are Republican gun toters.
Some of them were probably Democratic gun toters!
I jest. Because holy shit was that a really dumbass thing to say. I mean even if you believe it (and you shouldn’t), you are working for CBS!
Have you noticed how our asshat President keeps using the media as a punching bag? He does that to throw attention away from the fact he’s a horrible leader and a terrible person. He does it to distract and confuse.
And this lady played right into his hands. She played into the right wing narrative that the media is filled with leftists who aren’t capable of reporting fairly or accurately.
She should have known better.
That leaves aside the fact that she was also being an insensitive shitbag.
NYPD Officers Admit to Sexually Assaulting a Teenaged Girl but They Say She “Liked It”
So two on duty officers took a teenager into custody, handcuffed her, drove a van to Chipotle parking lot, and engaged in sexual acts.
She says it was rape.
They say it was consensual.
And I have to admit that some people are turned on by bondage and might find that particular scenario a real turn-on.
It seems strange to me, however, that the young woman in question would then press charges unless she was – you know – actually raped.
And here’s the problem with rape culture in America: A young woman says she was raped. Her attackers claim she wanted it.
Or maybe she was flirting or maybe she was wearing something slutty or…oooooh
And because there were only three people in the van when it happened, a larger than zero number of people figure that she really did want it. Because there is a larger than zero percent chance that the attackers (and I keep calling them that because I believe the story the victim is telling) are actually telling the truth.
Problem being: the chance isn’t that much greater than zero. It’s like buying a lottery ticket where when you lose, a rapist goes free. And when you buy a lottery ticket, you almost always lose. But hey – you might win. So let’s make sure rapists walk instead of accidentally putting that one guy who is just a creeper into jail.
I don’t want to make light of innocent people going to jail. But the scales are balanced against rape victims like you wouldn’t believe and this story is just one more example of that.
So after a member of the Trump administration said Puerto Rico was a “good news story,” the mayor of San Juan responded by suggesting that, from where she was standing, it wasn’t a good news story at all.
Given she was at the epicenter of the situation, it seems pretty fair.
But Trump can’t take criticism. At all. If you tell the guy he has a piece of lettuce in his teeth, he’d probably go on a twitter rant against the chef who prepared the salad.
“Ritz Carlton chefs don’t wash greens enough. They are too sticky. Sad.”
Instead of being compassionate (something he is incapable of being) Trump railed that she’d been duped into saying things by the Democrats because clearly anyone who dislikes his administration is a tool incapable of thinking for themselves.
He then went on to say she was a poor leader because she wanted help from the Federal government.
But really what he was saying was “don’t say nasty shit about me, bitch. I will rain a Twitter storm down upon you and all my blind followers will do the same.”
I will continue to say this for (I hope only) the next four years: We elected an asshole. Donald Trump is the worst of humanity. He is more concerned about making petty attacks against anyone who says anything negative about him than he is about doing his job.
I think it is more important to him than golf. Which is kind of amazing.
So fuck you, Mr. President. Shut up and help these people. That’s what they need.
Harvey Weinstein is a Sexual Predator
This week, the New York Times reported that legendary producer Harvey Weinstein is a creep who has preyed on numerous women.
I should say he is “allegedly” a creep. Because rape culture tells us these women were probably asking for it. Or just now feel they can gain something from speaking up that has nothing to do with exposing a predator.
The revelation comes on the heels of reports earlier this month that Harry Knowles of Aint-it-Cool-News has serially harassed women. I know Knowles and I know some of the women who claimed he harassed them.
And from what I know of Harry, the stories seem completely legitimate. Which sucks because until these reports came out, I considered him a friend.
So if I’m going to believe the reports against a friend who is involved in the film industry, I’m absolutely certain allegations against Weinstein are true. Just as certain as I was about allegations against Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly.
I’m Bill O’Reilly and I want to harass YOU!
These are all men in positions of power and women around him have been told to stay out of arm’s reach for decades.
Hollywood has always had a problem in the way it portrays and treats women both on and off screen. Weinstein is not an exception to this problem.
It’s about time someone started to say “this needs to stop.” Some people will lose their reputations as a result.
But my feeling is they have always had another reputation. One that was repeated in whispers and in private living rooms. It’s about time those reputations were made public so the next time some guy tries to behave like Weinstein, they get kicked to the curb.
Grail Diary 