The Pride Flag- It's Not Just A Rohrschach Test, It's Also An Asshole Test

It just proves that folks like Ben Shapiro and Tim Pool are (surprise!) horrible, awful human beings

Biegler, you remind me of every REMF I ever met in a combat zone. You want a guaranteed result with zero risk, and your ass covered if the shit hits the fan. But that's not how it works in the real world. So please shut the fuck up and let me work here.”

Greg Iles, Third Degree

Take a long at the flag at the top of this post. Does it offend you? Gross you out? Make you want to lose your breakfast?

Or does it make you proud? Make you feel as if you have a place in America?

Whatever your reaction may be, we should keep one thing in mind: It’s a symbol, and any response it engenders is the responsibility of the individual who beholds it. No symbol comes bundled with an emotion or a reaction; it’s a thing, a sign- a piece of cloth or a collection of pixels. It has only as much meaning as an individual or a group of people choose to invest in that symbol.

And yet judging by the reaction of some Conservative homophobes to seeing the Pride flag at the White House, you’d think the Marines had planted it at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima while wearing feather boas and pink jack straps.

While this only confirms what is already widely known- that Ben Shapiro is indeed a profoundly shitty excuse for a human being- it also ensures that the only way the Right-wing Outrage Machine works is- surprise!- by generating outrage. And most of the time, that outrage is a lot of sound and fury, which, in the end, signifies nothing of any meaning or significance.

Yes, Ben Shapiro and the rest of the screaming American Taliban ninnies are pissing into the prevailing wind. Ultimately, they’ll end up wet, embarrassed, and smelling pretty damned awful. And Shapiro will have to explain to his kids why he’s such a gawdawful hateful dickweed.

Good luck with that, eh?? Some things are beyond explanation.

DOES the Pride flag divide the US? Sure, if you’re one of the homophobes who take offense over it. Tim Pool says that most Americans oppose it and yet provides no evidence to back up that assertion. I’d wager that most Americans either support or are indifferent to it, just as they are with LGBTQ rights. They don’t oppose the Pride flag or LGBTQ rights; it’s haters and bigots like Pool who are the ones getting their panties twisted.

Even though this issue leaves no one poorer (save for bigots and haters like themselves), the Conservative (lack of) intelligentsia will still address it. Why? Because they’re convinced of their self-importance and they think their opinions matter, when in fact, they only confirm the realities that they’re massive, clueless assholes.

This weekend, Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool, and other top minds of the internet went absolutely ballistic over the Pride flag being displayed at the White House. Was anyone surprised by this? No. Of course not. It's kind of their whole deal. Someone does something to support or acknowledge any group of people other than cishet white men and they immediately go for their smelling salts.

However, we're still going to address it, because what I do think is interesting is the way they are twisting themselves into knots in order to present this as anything but what it is — hate. They want so desperately to have a very rational reason for why they are freaking out over the Pride flag other than the fact that they simply hate LGBTQ+ people and don't want to be reminded of the fact that they exist.

For his part, Ben Shapiro claimed that the flag was illegitimately displayed because "American soldiers" didn't fight or die for it and because it is not the official flag of a government.

Yeah, pearl-clutching seems to be a cottage industry among these idjits. Without being able to monetize their manufactured outrage, they might have to find a real job…and man, would THAT ever suck, eh?

Never mind that many Americans fought, bled, and died for this flag…or at least for its ideals- among them love, acceptance, tolerance, and inclusion. They fought people who shared intolerant, exclusionary ideologies with people like Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool, and Charlie Kirk, whose lives will evidently be irreparably harmed if the LGBTQ community is allowed to exist.

And so the argument continues to be made that those somehow offended by the Pride flag aren’t hate-filled, homophobic bigots. Nah, they’re just ordinary Americans trying to do the right thing without having the Gay Agenda shoved down their throats.

"It might seem like just a tasteless violation of flag etiquette here, but the message [from] the Biden administration is clear: This ideology runs America. It’s the new state religion," [Washington Examiner Deputy Editor Kaylee McGhee White] explained. "And a lot of Americans see this and are offended by it, not because they oppose equal rights, not because they oppose, you know 'love who you love.' It’s because they see this flag and they see the destruction of women’s sports and women’s private spaces, the indoctrination of their children, the politicization of the medical community."

Sure, except for how none of those things would be an issue if they were not, indeed, hateful bigots.

OK, so let’s turn this argument on its head, shall we? What’s so wrong with love, acceptance, tolerance, and inclusion being the new “ideology” that “runs” America? What’s so awful about it being the “new state religion?” What is so nasty/wrong/horrible about treating all people with the respect and dignity all human beings deserve?

(And why is the concern always about having something shoved down one’s throat? Hmm….)

If you have to think about that for more than a nanosecond, I’ll answer that for you: NOTHING is wrong with any of that. Ms. McGhee White seems to believe that good, God-fearing White Conservative Christian heterosexuals have the God-given right to treat the LGBTQ community as “less than.”

I would only ask her where Jesus Christ ever taught that it was acceptable to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. What in His teachings gives Christians a free pass to treat them as “less than” and unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven?

These drudges must also understand that America (and Christianity) is NOT on their side. Not by a long shot.

The vast, vast majority of Americans support LGBTQ+ rights — which, frankly, is exactly why people like Pool and Shapiro are trying to pretend that this is about something other than opposing LGBTQ+ rights, somehow. The first part is just ridiculous and insulting. Someone, I forget who, was also on the "it's divisive!" trip last night over the fact that a cereal mascot posed with a trans woman on the Tony's red carpet.

I am so terribly sick of hearing this. It absolutely wounds me to think that Tim Pool thinks that the thing that is dividing us is a Pride flag on the White House. In my heart of hearts, I just want him to know that there is no flag on earth that could change how I feel about him — and not just because he seems like he might smell like soup and Axe Body Spray.

Because whether or not there is a damn Pride flag on the White house is incidental to the fact that he and those who listen to him suck — and there are just so, so many reasons besides this to hate them.

What they mean when they say this is that they do not like being reminded that they are not the center of the universe. They wouldn't feel upset about all the divisiveness if it were a Confederate flag or an NRA flag or a Trump flag or something we don't care much for. They wouldn't feel upset if it were the Ten Commandments. It's not "divisiveness" they're upset about. What they're upset about is the fact that things like Pride flags and Pride month remind them that they are not the only people in this country.

These people want to believe that America is theirs, that God gifted it to White Conservative Christian heterosexuals only- all others need not apply. Therefore it’s up to them how the spoils of living in America are doled out.

Since in their mind, they and ONLY they are the REAL Americans; they are the only ones deserving of the benefits that accrue to those who make America what it is- White Conservative Christian heterosexuals. Everyone else can fight for whatever crumbs may hit the floor.

Every time the Right talks about "divisiveness," that is what they are talking about. They want to pretend that they live in a country full of only people just like them, who share their terrible beliefs and ideas. They want other kinds of people to hide and make themselves small so that they are better able to live this fiction. They don't want to be "woke," they don't want to be made aware of other people and their lives and struggles. They want to keep their horse blinders on and for everyone to graciously assist them in creating a world in which they always feel centered and special.

It sounds dramatic, but the more you look at the things that appeal to them, the more it becomes clear that this is true. They like being called Real Americans, they like being told they are the "silent majority," they like being told that the Second Amendment exists so that they can overthrow the government and that making America great again means keeping them at the top of the social hierarchy.

But as long as they oppose inclusiveness, all they're going to get is divisiveness. That's just math.

You and I look at Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” as a dystopian tale of what can happen if Church and State are allowed to intermingle. People like Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool, and Charlie Kirk see it as a blueprint for creating the sort of utopian society that will see them and theirs elevated to their rightful place as leaders and owners of what’s a corrupt and self-absorbed society.

Or perhaps Shapiro, Pool, Kirk, and others like them could spend less time worrying about what others are doing with their lives and more time focusing on getting their own house in order. Because how do the Pride flag or ANYTHING about the LGBTQ community negatively impact their existence?

I’ll save you the brain cells- nothing about the Pride flag or anything the LGBTQ community does degrades anyone’s experience if they’re not LGBTQ. All you have to do is ignore the festivities and go on your merry way.

Oh, and before you ask why there’s no Straight Pride Month, stop and consider what a phenomenally gawdawful stupid question that is…because EVERY month is Straight Pride Month. If you’re straight, do you have to worry about possibly losing your job because you’re gay?

Do you have to face being discriminated against in housing, hiring, or other decisions because of your sexuality?

Have you been attacked for being heterosexual and holding hands with your significant other in a public space?

If you’ve answered “no” to any of those questions, please STFU and don’t let the door hit you in the backside on your way out. And stop worrying about things that have no impact on the quality of your life, ‘kay??