Shit that Pissed me Off – 2/9/18
White House Defends Senior Official Who is a Serial Abuser
I know the headline would make you think that I’m talking about our President but I think that it is important to note he is a sexual predator. While he may also be physically abusive, I think the odds of that are slim because it would require him to engage in strenuous physical activity.
No – that is not a dig on his weight. I’m just saying that I think he’s lazy.
However, this week it came to light that White House staff Secretary Rob Porter physically abused both of his ex-wives.
Now I now the narrative is to say “look – we all know that when a woman accuses a Democrat of being physically or sexually abusive, it has to be the truth. But this is a Republican and members of the Republican party are only accused of such activities as part of a massive plot perpetuated by the liberal media.”
Did you know if you type Liberal Media Plot into a Google Search, you get a ton of pictures of Rush Limbaugh?
That is certainly the narrative the White House seems to favor as they rally behind Porter and say he’s very good at his job and they didn’t know his home life included regular assault and battery.
At least not before last fall. They knew last fall. So maybe they were surprised then. But they aren’t surprised now.
Look, I don’t know that every transgression one commits in life should necessarily prevent one from holding a job. Using marijuana, for instance, should not result in being raped by cops (see below). But being someone who regularly beats women? I don’t think you should be able to work in the White House.
And I definitely don’t think the White House should be defending your sorry ass.
Trump Corner: Trump Wants a Grand Military Parade
I was feeling pretty good about the lack of a Trump corner last week. Then we get this tidbit of news. Apparently, Trump really liked the two hour Bastille day parade in France so he wanted a military parade of his own.
Now as much as I try to avoid Godwinning Trump’s Presidency, guess who really liked grand military parades?
Nazi reenactors!
That’s right – fascists. All of them. Fascists love grand military parades because it makes them look strong and in control.
Speculation is that this talk of military parades and the fact our President is starting to look more and more like a fascist is a smokescreen to distract us from something else. If anything, we are probably being distracted from the fact our Ego-in-Chief has presided over the two largest drops in the stock market in the last week and he hasn’t taken credit for it.
I thought Trump liked taking credit for the biggest things that happen while he’s President. He should be puffing up his chest and bragging because he did this.
I mean, he didn’t. The Presidency has almost zero effect on the stock market and it is unlikely that anything Trump did or did not do contributed to the crash adjustment this week.
But isn’t it interesting that he’d be more than willing to take credit if the market had gone up over 1000 points?
What I’m trying to say is this military parade crap is not distracting me from everything else in the shitshow that is the current Presidency. It is a piece of an incredibly large puzzle and when you put the puzzle together, it will be a dumpster fire.
Gloria Copeland Says you don’t Need a Flu Shot if You Have Jesus
Copeland who, among other things, advises Donald Trump from time to time, has told her far too massive flock that they needn’t worry about a flu season if they have Jesus. She tells her followers that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the flu. I’m not sure which gospel she took that from.
I’m going to guess whichever one is the prosperity gospel
Doesn’t matter, though. She doesn’t care if what she says is scientifically (or even Biblically) accurate. She cares about convincing her flock to send her more money. And one way to get more money out of your flock it to tell them they don’t need to save that money for a flu vaccine (which is basically free). They can send it to her instead.
Because Jesus inoculated them! And Gloria Copland told them that Jesus inoculated them! And that ought to be worth a few bucks, right?
Two Cops Rape an Eighteen Year Old Girl and The Law is Designed to Protect Them
This article is infuriating for several reasons. It shows how the law is currently set up to protect police officers who have sex with someone in their custody. While there is a massive power imbalance that would suggest most anyone involved in such an exchange was coerced, most states have no laws to protect victims of this kind of assault.
All the cops need to do is claim it was consensual.
If you read further into the article, you get to the point where defense attorneys are putting the victim on trial for enjoying (consensual) sex and for not having her facts perfectly correct between multiple depositions.
I mean sure – she went to the hospital immediately to report the rape but she must be lying because the narrative in this country is that every rape/abuse victim is lying. These poor cops were just duped by her feminine wiles into thinking that if they had sex with her (which they don’t deny because there’s DNA evidence) in exchange for choosing not to charge her (because she was in possession of marijuana), she wouldn’t report them for rape!
We all feel sorry for these rapist assholes who are trying to pretend that they didn’t repeatedly terrorize and rape an eighteen year old, right?
To everyone who complains about the shift in culture we are having where we believe the fucking victim I say, do you think most rape accusations are true or fake? Because if you think they are true, we need to start acting like it. If you think they are mostly fake, you need to start understanding that your fantasy version of reality is based on TV cop dramas where every rape victim is lying.
It makes for decent TV (actually it doesn’t). But that shit is fiction.
Meme that Pissed me Off
I think it has been fairly well established that I think Donald Trump is a terrible President, a terrible husband, and a terrible person. So it gives me no pleasure to defend the man and yet this week’s meme that pissed me off forces me to do just that.
This tweet above is a fabrication. Trump never said this. As far as we all know, he never thought this. So as soon as everyone started sharing the meme on Monday afternoon, all the Trump faithful could rightly claim “fake news.”
Actually, no. This isn’t “fake news” because even the shittiest partisan web site was able to determine this tweet was a “satire.”
Problem is, Trump is such an asshole, this looks like something he would say. It also looks like something he would deny he ever said even though there was evidence to the contrary.
Except when someone creates a Tweet that looks real, Trump and his minions can fairly claim any tweet that is actually real is, in fact, a hoax. How can you tell the difference? They look the same.
So my request is this: Let’s make fun of Trump for the bullshit he actually does. Because that’s bad enough, isn’t it?
The halftime show was fine. Justin Timberlake put on a decent show and while I wasn’t nuts that he basically just sang harmony to a backing track, it’s fine. I’m not going to object to a Prince memorial because honestly – that wasn’t for Prince. It was for his fans. Prince is gone and whether he would have approved of the tribute or not, it ain’t gonna bring him back so whatever.
But as the article I linked to points out, Timberlake was part of the infamous “nipplegate” halftime show with Janet Jackson. And he headlined the halftime show.
Jackson has faced blowback from that show ever since.
When you read about the politicians who expressed what they now admit to be fake outrage over the whole thing, you realize that the whole controversy needed to be surrounded by some air quotes because in a world where families gather to watch “Game of Thrones,” one breast with a nipple shield really doesn’t feel all that scandalous.
So Justin Timberlake played the halftime show. And Janet Jackson is still remembered for exposing (part of) her breast.
And if you don’t think that has anything to do with the fact Jackson is a black woman and Timberlake is a white man, you aren’t paying attention.
Grail Diary 