So, I hear some of you femifarts, queerbaits, gender-benders, fat chicks, and various other dinguses are all excited about that GOP Goat running for president. Well, let me tell you something as a long-time Republican voter: Ain't no way I'm voting for that fucking goat.
I don't care if he (or SHE, ladies) promises to 86 taxes altogether, turn Social Security into the Defense Department's piggy bank, appoint Chuck Norris the Secretary of Asskicking, and make Whitesnake vinyls the national currency. I don't care if my stepmom Cheryl promises to tell me where she hid my Best of Chico and the Man videos; I don't care if my ex-wife/fiancée Tammy promises to let me wear my favorite Hooters cap to our next wedding; I don't care if my brother Buck promises to give me back my copy of Guns & Ammo with that awesome Ted Nugent (NUGE!) interview in it. I still ain't voting for that fucking goat.
Because goats are assholes, man.
I know all you animal-loving hippies are already fixing to whine about how goats are awesome and shit, but hear me out! Here is my evidence:
1. This one time, a goat ate my entire stash of weed.
2. This other time, when I took my niece Sierra to a petting zoo, I saw a goat eating another goat's poop right as it was falling out of the other goat's butt. For serious. And when I reported that nasty business to the petting zookeeper by pointing and shrieking, "GOAT EAT GOAT POOP," he was all, "Oh, yeah—they do that all the time." Hell no. And don't even get me started on how creepy their little round turd-pellets are. P.S. The gumballs at petting zoos are actually goat food.
3. Another time, I was totally minding my own business in this field of goats, and one of them goddamn goats kicked the shit out of my shin, man.
4. One time, I caught a goat trying to hump one of the pink flamingo statues in my Aunt Trudie's front yard.
5. Oh, also—a goat ate my entire stash of weed. Again. Yeah, a totally different goat, man. That shit happened to me TWICE.
6. "Goats Head Soup" by the Stones. 'Nuff said.
7. Another time, a goat stepped on my laser disc copy of Universal Solider and broke the fuck out of it.
8. I barfed after eating goat stew at an Indian restaurant. (What—you think I never eat anything besides mac and cheese with hotdogs chunks in it? Just because that's my favorite meal doesn't mean I never try anything else! I'm married not dead, or whatever.)
9. I barfed after eating chèvre. That is the last time I use anything but American cheese to make Mac-n-Dogz.
10. Baby goats are called "kids." How fucked up is that? They're trying to be humans, straight scoop. You have no idea what they're capable of if we make one of them president.
11. One time at the beach, this goat totally kicked me in the nuts.
12. I once saw this documentary about mountain goats, and those fuckers can run straight up a cliff, man. I don't trust anything with less than six legs that can run straight up a cliff. That shit ain't natural.
13. This guy.
14. A goat ate my entire stash of weed. Twice. I know I mentioned it, but it bears repeating.
15. Goats live in herds called a "gnarl." Each gnarl elects a queen to oversee all goat business. A new queen is elected exactly three days after the death of her predecessor. That is some gnarly shit, and no I am not trying to be funny.
16. Like, half of my friends, when you ask them what animal they'd choose if they could be a human-animal hybrid, pick a goat. That's fucked-up, man. I don't know what right-minded dude would choose anything but a wolf, which gives me the suspicions that goats have the power of hypnosis, apart from all their other evil.
17. They're always judging you.
Welp, that's probably enough evidence for now. But I got a lot more where that came from, if you're still not convinced that goats are assholes. If the GOP really does run that goat in 2012, it'll be the first time I'm glad all you dumbasses are voting for Al Nader or whatever.
Pornstache: Out.
[Editor's Note: Although Shakesville disagrees with the GOP Goat on virtually every plank of its party's platform and respects Butch Pornstache's personal experience, Shakesville recognizes that goats are not a monolith and is officially pro-goat, generally speaking.]
Why I'll Never Vote for That Fucking Goat by Butch Pornstache
One for the Ladies
Liss just pointed out a piece on HuffPo that asks a totally cromulent question: "What the Fuck is a Mom Cave?" (Technically, it asks "What the F*ck is a Mom Cave?", but I've never been hot on cryptoquips.)
According to credible sources USA Today and the Daily News the mom cave lives:
A mom cave is the place where the woman who nurtures everyone goes to nurture herself, said Elaine Griffin, New York City interior designer and author of "Design Rules: The Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator." She coined the term mom cave with HomeGoods. (It's really a woman cave but mom cave sounded better, she said.)
It's a natural evolution from man caves, the saying "If mom's not happy, nobody's happy," and the idea that it's OK to have me time, she said. The next logical step was a space for the me time.
"We saw women all over the country beginning to take that space for themselves, whether it was an extra room they could actually dedicate to themselves or just a space they could carve out for themselves," she said.
"It's a space a woman can go to and say, 'All right husband and kids, when this door is closed I'm off duty.' "
It's not simply a room for doing nothing. Unlike men, women relax by doing things, so they need storage and a place to work, Griffin said.I didn't know drinking gin was a "thing" nowadays, but sure, why not? I did, however know that all women are moms, because no doy.
This is where Courtney Cachet's brilliant critique comes in [TW: ableist langauge]:
"Here's what I really don't get. Man Caves, which I have written about a few times, are a total home decor phenomenon. Why? Because they're bad ass. Tricked out media rooms with movie screens, stereo systems, pool tables and lots of liquor and sports. Awesome, right? Mom Caves, by contrast, are not entire rooms, but "nooks" and "little spaces", "even a closet will do nicely" one article on Mom Caves stated! Also, you better like pink, damask and Rococo. Maybe we'll do crafts or think up new Bundt cake recipes in there! Then we'll pipe in some meditation music so we can "chill out" or meditate in our "sanctuary". My sanctuary? Sanctuary?? My husband would be checking me into the psych ward in a hot minute.Fucking right they do. Worse yet, they don't find you and instead find sunblock to apply to their stuffed animals or an entire pile of clean clothes to dress said greasy animals.
What I find particularly irritating is The Man Cave gets entire rooms, entire floors or basements. He gets all the cool gadgetry, and fantasy like decor. Not Woman, but The Mom gets a closet or a nook where she can paint it pink, light scented candles, read Chicken Soup For The Mom's Soul or paint her toenails pink and listen to Yanni. Call me crazy, but I think I'd rather be a dude in this scenario. Wait, what about the single ladies? No cave for you, bitches! First you have to pop out a couple of bambinos and pack on 10 lbs. Only then are you worthy of your own pillow filled room!
The whole notion of this room works much better on paper. I live in a pretty spacious house. I work from home about half the work week. I have tried countless times to hide from my kids and guess what? They always find me. Always!"
What I find works is having my
All I'm saying is that I'm a lady who likes to drink gin and play Xbox. Sometimes this involves feeling like a failure as a parent, and sometimes this means waiting until my daughter's asleep to cull the plastic herd enough to allow me to park my butt on the couch. And during football season, I'm sorry sweetie, but the game is on. Maybe if you're good, we'll skip the Sunday night game in favor of Blue's Clues (especially if the Cowboys are playing).
Despite what this essay implies, my partner and I nurture our asses off like whoa. Yet in contrast to the implications of mom caves, part of this nurturing involves taking time to not care what other people think, even if this means doing the manly work of "doing nothing."
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
[Trigger warning for sexual violence; rape apologia; victim-blaming.]
With depressing regularity, someone writes an article suggesting that women have to be more responsible about their drinking habits in order that they might avoid getting raped. It's exasperating enough when this shit is peddled as unapologetic victim-blaming in garbage rags like the Daily Mail, but when it's concern trolling with a "feminist" label slapped on it, it positively makes my teeth grind. It's just the same old victim-blaming horseshit re-spun with empowerment rhetoric.
To wit: The Frisky's "Girl Talk: Why Being Drunk Is a Feminist Issue," by Kate Torgovnick, who totes isn't a victim-blamer, she swears! It's just that we don't live in an ideal world, so because women "do not have control over what men, drunk or sober, will do when presented with our drunkeness," women should take control over "our side of the equation—how much we drink."
There is a lot wrong with that article (not least of which is the author's confusion about what actually constitutes rape), but I'm not going to waste my time fisking garbage. I'll merely note that the entire premise is fundamentally flawed in the same ways that every other piece in this despicable genre is, in addition to the evident issue that victim-blaming, even if cynically rebranded as "taking control," inexorably shifts responsibility from rapist to victim:
1. Asserting that women can avoid rape via sobriety only makes sense if the victim is drunk in the vast majority of rapes. That is not the case.
2. Asserting that women can avoid rape via sobriety only makes sense if the vast majority of women who drink are raped as a consequence. That is not the case.
3. Asserting that women can avoid rape via sobriety only makes sense if every rape that happens to a woman who's been drinking is committed by an opportunistic rapist who would not have otherwise raped her. That is not the case.
The ultimate value of this advice to potential rape victims is thus negligible, given that, in practical terms, it boils down to: "If you don't drink, it may or may not protect you from getting raped in some situations."
Very useful. (Nope.)
Supporters of this "don't drink to empower yourself" idea roll their eyes at people like me and demand to know how I can ignore that lots of women are raped after they've been drinking. The thing is, I'm not ignoring that. I know that happens. It has happened to women (and men) I love quite a lot. I'm just not of the opinion that it's good or decent or practical advice to tell people that not drinking will help them avoid rape, when every single person I know who's been raped after drinking has imbibed on other nights and not been raped.
For what is probably the hundredth time: Left to my own devices, I never would have been raped. The rapist was really the key component to the whole thing. I was sober; hardly scantily clad, I was wearing sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt; I was at home; my sexual history was, literally, nonexistent—I was a virgin; I struggled; I said no. There have been times since when I have been walking home, alone, after a few drinks, wearing something that might have shown a bit of leg or cleavage, and I wasn't raped. The difference was not in what I was doing. The difference was the presence of a rapist.
Enough blaming the victim. Enough.
[Via Jill.]
GOP: The FDA is for Suckers
So adding to the List of Things the GOP Hates: food safety regulation. Which makes sense since it's supposed to enhance public welfare and contains the word "regulation". On Tuesday, the House approved budget cuts to the FDA. These cuts affect legislation that was passed back in December (the first food safety overhaul since 1938).
...[T]he agency will not be able to meet many requirements of the new law, including increased inspections of food manufacturing plants, better coordination with state health departments, and developing the capacity to more quickly respond to food-borne illnesses and minimize their impact.That's not all, though! It also will:
[...]
States have had to reduce food safety inspections and enforcement because of budget pressures and have been counting on new funding at the FDA, Saunders said. The FDA routinely contracts with states to perform inspections on its behalf. Virginia conducts about 400 a year under contract to the FDA, in addition to its own inspections, Saunders said.
The proposed budget cuts [will] also hinder the FDA’s ability to increase scrutiny of imported foods, according to food safety advocates. The new law requires the FDA to create a system of third-party certifiers to ensure that food coming into the United States meets the same safety standards as food produced domestically. Without additional funding, the FDA cannot create that system, said Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety programs at the Pew Health Group, part of a coalition of public health advocates and food makers.
“These cuts could seriously harm our ability to protect the food supply,” said Olson, who is hoping the money will be restored by the Senate, which has not proposed its spending plan.
The House subcommittee also proposed a $35 million cut to the Food Safety Inspection Service at the Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry and some egg products.
...[C]ut about $650 million — or 10 percent — from the Women, Infants and Children program that feeds and educates mothers and their children.And you know what? That's not all. You see, the GOP have decided that the the Obama admin's push for healthier school lunches is not okay.
Under the guidelines, schools would have to cut sodium in subsidized meals by more than half, use more whole grains and serve low-fat milk. They also would limit kids to only one cup of starchy vegetables a week, so schools couldn't offer french fries every day.Oh but they didn't cut everything, no. They fully funded a program, the Market Access Program. What is that? Well, it is designed to allow farmers to compete in the global marketplace:
The starchy vegetable proposal has been criticized by conservatives who think it goes too far and members of Congress who represent potato-growers. They say potatoes are a low-cost food that provides fiber and other nutrients.
The program, managed by the Agriculture Department, awards grants to nonprofit organizations, small businesses and large grower cooperatives, such as Sunkist, Welch’s and Blue Diamond, to promote their agricultural goods in foreign markets.Priorities!
Last year, for example, the Cotton Council International, which represents the U.S. cotton industry, received $20.3 million through the program to help fund a popular reality television show in India featuring aspiring fashion designers.
Back the the hatred for regulations for a moment, an amendment was put forth regarding the FDA. Did you know that the Food and Drug Administration uses "soft science"? Who knew! Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT). He knew and decided to enlighten us all:
The most intense reaction was generated by a provision offered by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) that would block the FDA from issuing rules or guidance unless its decisions are based on “hard science” rather than “cost and consumer behavior.” The amendment would prevent the FDA from restricting a substance unless it caused greater harm to health than a product not containing the substance.His rider amendment has to do with the proposed menthol ban in cigarettes and also the widespread use of antibiotics in commercial farming. Where, of course, both industries say "Oh ho, there's no problem here!".
“The FDA is starting to use soft sciences in some considerations in the promulgation of its rules,” said Rehberg, who defined “hard science”, as “perceived as being more scientific, rigorous and accurate” than behavioral and social sciences.
“I hate to try and define the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist, between a sociologist and a geologist, but there is clearly a difference,” he told the committee.
“This subcommittee has begun making some of the tough choices necessary to right the ship,” said Chairman [House Appropriations subcommittee] Jack Kingston.
Good News!
Good news for all you Huckabee Lovers out there in Shakesylvania: Although arch-conservative gay-hating racist misogybag Mike Huckabee has ruled out a run for president in 2012, he's still open to "accepting a spot as vice president on the Republican ticket."
Dipshit of the Day
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R-eprehensible):
Christie has proposed cutting Medicaid eligibility to absurdly low levels: from the current maximum income of $24,645 to $5,317 a year for a family of three. Apparently, the governor believes a family of three making $6,000 a year is simply too rich to receive Medicaid.I simply can't imagine what it must be like to be so lacking in human compassion and decency that you could even suggest something like this.
Monstrous.
(The comments at the linked post are filled with plenty of fat hatred; proceed with caution.)
Number of the Day
7.2%: "No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent."
Meanwhile...
The economic recovery is faltering, and Washington is running out of ways to get it back on track.Spoiler Alert: Austerity doesn't work.
Two bright spots over the past few months — manufacturing and job creation by private companies — both slowed in May, according to new reports Wednesday. The data come amid other reports of falling home prices, declining auto sales, weaker consumer spending and a rising pace of layoffs.
...Just a few months ago, the economy seemed poised to finally strengthen. Business confidence was rising, and extensive government efforts to foster growth were underway. But those hopes are being dashed. Forecasters who once projected economic growth of 3.5 to 4 percent for the year have slashed their estimates with each round of disappointing numbers.
Instead of accelerating, the U.S. economy is puttering along at a growth rate of 2 to 3 percent — barely enough to bring down joblessness slowly, if at all.
Someone in the general vicinity of the White House had better develop an appetite for progressive economic policy—and fast.
Windows 8
Get your sneak peak here: "The fundamental goal with the new operating system, which is being shown for the first time at D9, is to create something that is equally well at home on an 8-inch tablet as it is on a powerful desktop attached to a huge monitor."
I know this is heresy to both Mac purists and PC purists, but I own Mac products and I own Android products and I own Windows products, and I'm glad they all exist in the world, because they keep making each other better.
The Perilous Consequences of Climate Change Denialism
Peter Daou's got a must-read post [TW for reference to sexual violence at the link] rounding up some of the recent sobering assessments of climate change and how denialism about climate change is akin to birtherism—but with more deadly consequences.
Daou also makes a good observation about the politics of climate change, and how the Democrats' unwillingness to challenge denialism head-on is allowing it to proliferate:
What's demoralizing about the entire climate debate is that President Obama and Democratic leaders have squandered a great opportunity to expose the Tea Party's dubious underpinnings. Anti-environmentalism is the GOP's Achilles' heel, since it has no basis in rationality and imperils humanity's future.In this reverberating silence, we witness the endgame of selling out the Democratic Party to the same corporate interests of which the Republican Party has long been a wholly-owned subsidiary: There is no one left to argue that policy changes and cultural shifts should follow in the wake of a catastrophic environmental disaster, because no one wants to hurt the fee-fees of the unethical but deep-pocketed megacorp that caused it.
...Democrats should hammer the GOP on the environment, pounding them on their irresponsibility, accusing them of endangering our children. The Gulf spill should have been a turning point, a powerful revival of the environmental movement. Instead, the White House worked with BP to bury the story, believing it would be a drag on Democrats' electoral prospects. The Gulf calamity wasn't something to run away from but something to use as an example of the recklessness of the right's embrace of ignorance.
Anyway, go read the whole post here.
Question of the Day
Thanks Anyway
President Obama has proclaimed June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.
Look, it's not that I'm ungrateful for the proclamation; it's very nice, and compared to other administrations in the past, it's better than what we've gotten. Some presidents wouldn't even say the word "gay" or consider appointing an LGBT person to a position in their administration. And it's not that I don't welcome the support of political leaders; it's better than the alternative, where presidents openly campaigned for a constitutional amendment to ban us from getting married. And it's not that I mind a nice parade with a lot of nice people having fun. But I don't think I'm alone in saying that rather than having a parade or a week or a month proclaimed as Gay Pride, I'd rather have the basic rights that I'm entitled to, such as marriage, inheritance, adoption, insurance coverage, and all the other things that every citizen takes for granted.The story of America’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community is the story of our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, and our friends and neighbors who continue the task of making our country a more perfect Union. It is a story about the struggle to realize the great American promise that all people can live with dignity and fairness under the law. Each June, we commemorate the courageous individuals who have fought to achieve this promise for LGBT Americans, and we rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Since taking office, my Administration has made significant progress towards achieving equality for LGBT Americans. Last December, I was proud to sign the repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. With this repeal, gay and lesbian Americans will be able to serve openly in our Armed Forces for the first time in our Nation’s history. Our national security will be strengthened and the heroic contributions these Americans make to our military, and have made throughout our history, will be fully recognized.
To quote Benjamin Franklin in 1776, it is "like calling an ox a bull. He's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his."
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
Quote of the Day
"All I can tell you today is what I've learned, what I have discovered as a person in this world, and that is this: You can't do it alone. As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life."—Amy Poehler, during her address to Harvard's Class of '11 grads on Class Day.
You can watch the entire address here. (If anyone can locate a transcript, please leave a link in comments.)
"Because I was afraid of worms, Roxanne! Worms!"
For the first time, scientists have found complex, multi-celled creatures living a mile and more below the planet's surface — raising new possibilities about both the spread of life on Earth and potential subsurface life on other planets and moons.Get a robot with a pickaxe to Mars, STAT! I will not be satisfied until there can be an actual documentary named The Worms from Hell from Mars!
Nicknamed "worms from hell," the nematodes, or roundworms, were found in several gold mines in South Africa, where researchers have also made breakthrough discoveries about deep subterranean single-cell life.
...The research is likely to trigger scientific challenges and cause some controversy because it places far more complex life in an environment where researchers have generally held it should not, or even cannot, exist.
...[One of the lead researchers, Gaetan Borgonie of the University of Ghent in Belgium] said that while nematodes are known to exist on the deep ocean floor, they have generally not been found more than 10 to 20 feet below the surface of the ground or the ocean bed. However, he saw no reason why they wouldn’t be found further down. The nematodes he ultimately discovered live in extremely hot water coming from boreholes fed by rock fissures and pools.
..."What we found shows that harsh conditions do not necessarily exclude complexity," Borgonie said.
[H/T to @peterdaou.]
I Write Letters
Dear Keith Mason,
I understand you & your group, Personhood USA, have the notion to make it so constitutions everywhere give full person-rights to fertilized eggs. Now, I can get behind the idea that "a person's a person, no matter how small". Shout-out to Dr. Seuss, yo! But. Your ideas? Unmitigated horseshit. So before you (and your supporters) go imposing your unscientifically-founded boilerplate into law: I have a few questions for you.
Won't hold my breath,
Me
P.S. I look forward to seeing you be the first one in line, if your laws pass, at the government's new Mandatory Organ Donation & Harvesting Office, since you obviously support such an idea, amirite?
Whoooooooooops
Good news: "The Health and Human Services Department is telling the state of Indiana that its Medicaid plan, which bans funding to Planned Parenthood, is illegal and must be changed. ... The notification comes after Indiana passed a law banning federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and as other states consider similar bans. Indiana can change its plan to conform with federal law, or the state could face penalties."
Well done, Obama administration.
Film Corner!
[Trigger warning for violence and sexual harassment.]
A year ago, I wrote about New Line's "workplace murder comedy" Horrible Bosses, which was billed as the story of "three best friends who, frustrated by their jobs, come to the conclusion the only solution is to kill one another's bosses." Obviously a hilarious premise, because workplace violence (particularly committed by entitled, aggrieved, disgruntled white men) is such an extraordinary absurdity that it's totes appropriate for a punchline.
Well, the garbage film has finally been made and is scheduled for release this summer.
Kevin Spacey is a horrible boss at CubicleCorp who forces his employee Jason Bateman to drink 18-year-old Scotch at 8:15am, because "if you want a promotion, you gotta earn it." Jason Bateman complains about his horrible boss to his friends Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day while they're out drinking. Charlie Day is a dental hygienist working for Jennifer Aniston, DDS, who sexually harasses him at work. Despite the fact that he is evidently distraught by it, his good pal Jason Sudeikis says, "You know, yours doesn't sound all that bad," because women sexually harassing men is totes hilarious. (No, it's not.) Heads up, Disgruntled Emailers!
Jason Sudeikis works for Colin Farrell (oh dear), whose horribleness is meant to be evident in his combover, at the Usedcaraporium, and he is told to "trim the fat" by firing all the fat employees, staring with a woman Colin Farrell refers to as "Large Marge." Jason Sudeikis is scandalized! Well, his character is. Jason Sudeikis the Actor actually requires plethoric fat jokes in any script he accepts. True fact.
Jason Sudeikis says to his BFFs, "You would have to admit our lives would be easier if our bosses weren't alive." So true! Except for how they'd probably just have to get shitty jobs at other garbage companies with other crappy bosses—which is, come to think of it, maybe a better solution to their conundrum than MURDER.
More evidence their bosses are horrible: Kevin Spacey passes Jason Bateman over for a promotion; Colin Farrell is ableist; Jennifer Aniston, DDS, has committed sexual assault against her employee while he was unconscious. The discovery of this impropriety prompts Charlie Day to quit, file a police report, hire an attorney, and start job-hunting. HA HA JUST KIDDING! He yells, "I'm in! Let's kill this bitch!"
The Three Murderteers discuss how best to murder their bosses. They hire Jamie Foxx as their "murder consultant." According to IMDb, his character's name is Motherfucker Jones. Sure. He tells them, "You want to pull off a brilliant murder, then it's gotta look like it's an accident." Solid advice. Classic inside-murderball stuff. This murder consultant is worth every penny already!
Montage of the Three Murderteers being inept at trying to do murders. If you think that Jason Sudeikis is attracted to Jennifer Aniston, DDS, sexual harassment vixen, you're WRONG! Just kidding. You're right. You're totally right.
Other stuff. Bachman Turner Overdrive's "Taking Care of Business." Obviously. Car chase. A car spin-out while everyone inside screams. Don't let anyone tell you that doesn't get funnier the forty-seventh time you've seen it. Cops. Jason Bateman is asked to explain why he was doing 61 in a 25mph zone. "I was drag racing," he says. "In a Prius?" asks Officer Ron "Tater Salad" White. "I don't win a lot," says Jason Bateman.
BAM! Comedy gold.
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
Did I say worst? Whoooooooooooops. I meant most hilarious: Hollywood Hates Conservatives.
For now, I will set aside my continued amazement that, in spite of its being an unceasingly vomitous font of sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ablism, fat hatred, and other sundry bigotries and hostilities, and in spite of the consistent examples that its major players will exchange all decency and conscience for a big paycheck, and in spite of its ubiquitous thinly-veiled version of the conservative veneration of Teh Market, merely substituting ticket-buying filmgoers for marketeers with the same intractable insistence on ignoring the commentary provided by who isn't participating in their rigged game, and in spite of the plethoric evidence that films like Norma Rae* are huge and notable exceptions, not the rule, and for every Norma Rae there are 100 The Hangovers, and for every Matt Damon there are 1,000 Dane Cooks, Hollywood is nonetheless yet regarded as a bastion of liberalism.
And I will merely make the observation that well-known conservatives like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Gary Sinise, Angie Harmon, Tom Selleck, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Drew Carey, and Clint Eastwood, who has actually held office as a Republican, don't seem to have any problem getting work.
Maybe, just maybe, some of the people whom Ben Shapiro interviewed for his book (which sounds great, by the way) are having problems getting work for reasons of talent (or one of the many other fair and unfair reasons actors are passed over), rather than their political views.
And, hey, if acting isn't working out, there's always NRA chief, US Representative, Governor of California, or Most Beloved Conservative President of All Time.
--------------------------
* Hello, that was made when I was five.
