Stupid- the gift that keeps on giving...and giving...and giving....
"President Biden was asked if Trump supported an erection...." Don't we all?
Unhappiness is everywhere; just beyond the door; or stupidity, which is worse.
Virginia Woolf, A Writer's Diary
One of the great things about being on nine different social media platforms is that I get nine times the stupid thrown at me. It’s astonishing; there are days when I feel like I’m a charter member of Facepalm Nation.
Good Lord, y’all; how do these intellectual lightweights get through their days? How do they manage simple tasks like tying their shoelaces? Putting cream in their coffee? Using a television remote control? Can they be trusted to separate lights from darks before they do laundry? Do they know the difference between a basketball and a football?
And then there’s Elon Musk's discoursing on what can only be described as something akin to phrenology. It’s light-years beyond absurd and shows that being the world’s richest man doesn’t necessarily dovetail with being the world’s most brilliant.
If memory serves, Abraham Lincoln once said it’s better to be thought a fool than to go on Twitter/X and remove any lingering doubt. But since Musk owns Twitter/X, he’s free to let his freak flag fly as he chooses, yeah? What else can one say about a “brilliant businessman” who paid $44 BILLION for Twitter, proceeded to destroy the platform before rebranding it as “X” (what does that even mean?), and then grinding the value down to around $12.5 billion?
And why do the words “circling the drain” continue to bounce around my brainpan like a pinball machine?
And then we have those Americans (and I’m afraid I have to use “Americans” loosely) convinced that God “ordained” Donald Trump to lead this country into a brighter future…or into a metaphorical wood chipper.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m willing to grant people the right to hold what opinions they will…but I have only one question for these folks: “What the fuck is wrong with all y’all?”
How could 72 million people be stupid enough to vote for Orange Jesus in 2020? Were they not paying attention? Or did they not care enough about anything he said or did to evaluate him critically?
This time around, he’s making noises about becoming an actual, honest-to-God dictator, and there are plans in the works to make that happen if he’s elected.
Or perhaps they’re thinking that because they support Trump, all of the bad things will only happen to those who vote for Joe Biden (Surely the leopards won’t eat MY face??)
How ‘bout y’all NOT find out too late that the leopards will surely eat YOUR face along with everyone else’s??
And don’t call me Shirley….
Of course, if Trump wins, the GOP will gut as much of America’s public education systems as they possibly can. Republicans know that an edumicated AmeriKKKa is an America far more likely to vote for Democrats. AmeriKKKans with a high school edumication (and yes, I’m generalizing) tend to be far more susceptible to propaganda efforts and far less likely to think critically.
And, let’s face it, when it comes to Trump supporters, this country isn’t exactly sending their best. If you listen to interviews with people who attend Trump rallies, they’re not the cream of the intellectual crop. It’s no exaggeration to say that no one attends a Trump rally to present their Ph.D. dissertation.
‘Course, even worse than this is the current reality that, as a country, we’re so numb to mass shootings that a school shooting barely registers. On the first school day of 2024, a 17-year-old boy killed one and wounded about a half-dozen before taking his own life in Perry, IA.
It barely roused Right-wing AmeriKKKa from their slumber. Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foes © were laying low, but they were ready just in case any Congresscritter got out of line and started calling for common sense gun control.
The news was reported dispassionately, no outrage was evident anywhere, and America went on about its business with the equivalent of a collective yawn. And so the new year started- literally- with a bang. Yet another school shooting that barely created a blip on our radar. Congress barely took notice, perhaps because the gun lobby and the NRA incentivize Congressional Republicans to do nothing… so they keep their heads down and do precisely that- not a goddamn thing.
It’s not as if anyone in Congress or the NRA is having to bury loved ones lost to gun violence, eh?
No other civilized country tolerates or would even consider tolerating this madness. And yet here we are, losing upwards of 30,000 people per year to gun violence, much of it preventable.
WTF is wrong with us?
I’m not sure I could do that question justice in 1500 words or so. Not when Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foes © are intractably convinced that an armed society is a polite society. In truth, an armed society is a scared shitless society. What purpose is served when a “patriot” walks into a coffee shop with an AR-15 slung over his shoulder? Who is he protecting himself from? Is he so worried that the barista won’t remember that he ordered OAT milk with his latte and not DAIRY?
Or that someone will butt in line in front of him? Seriously, you need a weapon of war to enforce order? Wottamensch….
How can we not be scared shitless when another “patriot” (White, BTW) can walk into Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport with an AR-15 and be perfectly within his rights…because Georgia law allows him to do so?
(Here’s today’s extra credit question: How long do you think a Black man would survive in the same scenario before airport police thoroughly perforated him as a public safety threat? Don’t forget to show your work, ‘kay?)
There are many things this country does well. Unfortunately, embracing and protecting reality isn’t on that list. Reality, truth, and facts aren’t things that can’t be massaged or created to dovetail with a preferred narrative. Reality, truth, and facts are sometimes unpleasant and inconvenient, but that doesn’t mean those things are there to be manipulated so they can be made more pleasant and convenient.
No one truly succeeds when they live in a fantasy world of their own creation. Sometimes you have to run towards the unpleasantness and beat back the bullshit to get to where you genuinely want to be. Sometimes you have to wade through swamps and bogs and unimaginable piles of shit to reach that brass ring.
It’s like an old football coach once told me- it ain’t fun, and it’s not always pleasant, but sometimes you gotta do what needs to be done. I have no idea how that pertained to playing quarterback, but he thought he was imparting some ancient secret to me, so I played along. And I went out and probably got sacked 23 times the following Friday.
Even if you’re not trying to reach the top, whatever your goal may be, it won’t be a straight line. You have to face the world as it is. No demonizing Liberals, Democrats, Blacks, Jews, Muslims, atheists, transgender people, the LGBTQ community, Packers fans, or others you don’t like. Deal with it.
People who don’t think, believe, live, and/or love as you do aren’t the enemy, and they have every right to exist in the same America you do. There’s plenty of room and resources here for all of us. Muhammad the neurosurgeon isn’t going to take your job. Nor are the others who come to America looking for a better life for themselves and their family.
How about we try to celebrate what we have in common…instead of focusing on what might be used to tear us apart? We can all do better…and yes, I include myself in that observation, but I do have one simple request that would go a long way toward demonstrating good faith:
Can y’all lose the stupid f*****g red hats? You might as well be wearing sandwich boards screaming, “WHY, YES, I AM AN ASSHOLE!! ASK ME HOW YOU, TOO, CAN BECOME AN ASSHOLE!!”
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