Electronic: "Getting Away With It"
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Worst Sitcoms of All Time. Go!
Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.
Quote of the Day
Mitt Romney's secretly recorded comments at a fund-raiser...reveal something vital about Romney, and they disqualify his claim to the presidency.—Jonathan Chait, observing "The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat."
To think of Romney's leaked discourse as a "gaffe" grossly misdescribes its importance...
[T]he video exposes an authentic Romney as a far more sinister character than I had imagined. Here is the sneering plutocrat, fully in thrall to a series of pernicious myths that are at the heart of the [mendacity] that has seized his party. He believes that market incomes in the United States are a perfect reflection of merit. Far from seeing his own privileged upbringing as the private-school educated son of an auto executive-turned-governor as an obvious refutation of that belief, Romney cites his own life, preposterously, as a confirmation of it. ("I have inherited nothing. Everything I earned I earned the old fashioned way.")
...Romney regards ["the looters and moochers"] as something akin to a permanent enemy class—"I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
...Romney's embrace of Paul Ryanism is born of actual contempt for the looters and moochers, a class war on behalf of his own class.
As if a dude with a gold-plated moon mansion featuring a jewel-encrusted car elevator could ever be anything else.
Mitt Romney: Garbage Nightmare
So, the Big Story that broke last night, in case you haven't heard yet, is that Mitt Romney is sooooo terrible! I know, I know—you're thinking: "THAT IS NOT NEWS! There's a 'Mitt Romney is terrible' label with like one million entries in it!" But, seriously, all the previous terribleness is HA HA CHILD'S PLAY compared to the terribleness that is in this video, shot at a private fundraiser at the Boca Raton home of this fucking guy, in which Romney is heard disgorging sneering contempt for the 47% of USians who he claims will never vote for him because they don't pay taxes and "believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right—there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.Okay. Wow. That is some full-tilt fuckery, right there.
And, I mean, the president starts off with a 48, 49—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean, that's what they sell every four years.
And so my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the five to ten percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon, in some cases, emotion—whether they like the guy or not.
Now, there are a lot of people talking about this, and many of them are making excellent points about how Mitt Romney is attacking his own base since most of the people who don't pay taxes in the US live in red states, about how Mitt Romney is wrongity-wrong oh so wrong about how no one who voted/will vote for Obama pays income tax, about how Mitt Romney is unfit to be president of the nation if he holds half of it in utter contempt, about how Mitt Romney probably lost himself the election, about how Mitt Romney is a privileged jerk and a huge d-bag, and about how this election really comes down to a choice between two men with wildly disparate levels of empathy and compassion:
People will be parsing this shit for days, deconstructing in all the ways in which it underscores how terrible Mitt Romney really is.
I just need to make this observation:
MITT ROMNEY THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FOOD. MITT ROMNEY THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FOOD!!! OMFG MITT ROMNEY, CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THINKS HUMAN BEINGS!!! WHO LIVE!!! IN THIS COUNTRY!!! AREN'T ENTITLED TO FOOD!!!
It's unfathomable to me that there are people in this nation who think their fellow citizens (and their own damn selves) aren't entitled to healthcare! And housing! But to assert that BASIC SUSTENANCE isn't a right! That people who are STARVING and seek assistance from their government are ENTITLED ASSHOLES! OH MY GOD!!!
MITT ROMNEY THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FOOD!!!
This would be a good point at which to picture me jumping up and down in my office with my hands in the air screaming: "MITT ROMNEY THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FOOD!!!"
A candidate for the presidency said, on videotape, that citizens of this country who cannot afford food should starve to fucking death because their government doesn't owe them shit!
And his campaign doesn't even dispute the statement! Romney simply said the recorded comments were "not elegantly stated" and were "spoken off the cuff." HA HA WOWEE WOW!!! I would love to hear the elegantly crafted version of PEOPLE AREN'T ENTITLED TO FOOD.
Anyway. There are more clips from that fundraiser being leaked today. This morning: Mitt Romney "calls Middle East peace 'almost unthinkable' and says he would 'kick the ball down the field'."
I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there's just no way.Good fucking lord. And then there's this gem:
...[S]o what you do is, you say, you move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem…and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.
If I were Iran, if I were Iran—a crazed fanatic, I'd say let's get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we'll just say, "Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we're going to let off a dirty bomb." I mean this is where we have—where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we really don't have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.So, for the record, Mitt Romney cannot empathize with a single one of the 47% of USians who don't pay income taxes, but he can totes imagine what he'd do if he were "a crazed fanatic" from Iran. PERFECT.
What a neat candidate you've got there, Republicans.
Question of the Day
When was the last time you did something that scared you—something you didn't have to do, but you did it anyway, in spite of your trepidation?
Today in No Shit, Sherlock
Study: Tax Cuts for the Rich Don't Spur Growth.
Cutting taxes for the wealthy does not generate faster economic growth, but may widen the income gap between the rich and the rest, according to a new report.NO FUCKING WAY! Someone get my fat ass to a fainting couch before I fall on my head out of shock.
A study from the Congressional Research Service — the non-partisan research office for Congress — shows that "there is little evidence over the past 65 years that tax cuts for the highest earners are associated with savings, investment or productivity growth."
In fact, the study found that higher tax rates for the wealthy are statistically associated with higher levels of growth.
Full Disclosure: I am not actually shocked.
[H/T to Shaker Brunocerous.]
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: Rape culture.]
Todd Akin's Wife Compares GOP Abandonment to Rape, Tyranny. What a great family! SO GREAT. A great candidate with a great family for a great party.
Fatsronauts 101
Fatsronauts 101 is a series in which I address assumptions and stereotypes about fat people that treat us as a monolith and are used to dehumanize and marginalize us. If there is a stereotype you'd like me to address, email me.
[Content Note: Fat bias; trauma; discussion of disordered eating.]
#11: No one wants to be fat.
This is a subject that's come up a lot in comments here, and has certainly been discussed at other fat acceptance/Health at Every Size blogs—this idea that no one wants to be fat. It's often invoked, understandably, in response to the ubiquitous narratives that fat people could be not-fat if only we really tried, that fatness is the exclusive result of poor choices, and that all fat people need is more shaming! to cure us of our blissful fatitude.
I get why people (especially fat people) say it. But it's not true.
Firstly, there are people who want to be fat as an explicit objective—consciously, because they like the way it looks and/or feels; or subconsciously, often as a response to sexual violence/trauma.
And there are people who want to be fat as a tangential objective—that is, because being fat is part of, for example, maintaining one's health.
Just this weekend, @hamsterRelish tweeted at me: "I find the fat-hating self-righteousness of many people infuriating. No one wants to be fat!"
To which I responded:
@hamsterrelish I want to be fat, since the only alternative to being fat for me is to be unhealthy.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 14, 2012
That is A True Thing. For me to be not-fat would necessitate my ingesting such an extremely low number of calories that my nutritional habits would be classified as an eating disorder. I would be constantly weak and exhausted. My hair would fall out. I would probably stop having periods. My mind wouldn't work properly; I would not be able to write/work. My quality of life would be total shit.
And I would have to sustain that for the rest of my life.
Which wouldn't be very long, since my organs would probably start failing in short order.
That is just my experience. It does not speak to the experiences of people who are fat because they take life-saving medications. It does not speak to the experiences of people who are in recovery from life-threatening disordered eating. It does not speak to the experiences of people with illnesses that cause weight gain and/or make weight loss difficult, whose other option beside fatness is death.
Many of these people might say they don't want to be fat, because we live in a fat-hating culture where this perspective on fatness is radical.
But, in truth, what they probably really want is to not be subjected to the systemic abuses of a fat-hating culture. And the only way most fat people see out of that chronic bullying is to "get thin."
Because we continue to treat "I want to be fat" and "I want to be respected" as mutually exclusive desires.
It doesn't have to be that way.
-------------------------
Previously:
#10: Fat people need you to intervene in their lives.
#9: Fat people don't know how they look.
#8: Fat people don't deserve anything nice.
#7: Fat people are permission slips for thin people to eat what they want.
#6: Any fat person eating a salad or exercising is trying to lose weight.
#5: Fat is axiomatically ugly.
#4: Fat people eat enormous amounts of food.
#3: Fat people are jolly/mean, and fat people are shy/loud.
#2: I can tell how someone eats all the time, because of how they eat around me.
#1: Everyone who is fat is fat for the same reason.
In The News
[Content note for racism, homophobia, violence, misogyny]
This stuff happened recently.
A group of dildobrains in Kansas has decided not to remove President Obama's name from the ballot come November. They had previously cited racism "questions over his citizenship" as the basis for the move.
This is a real thing in the world: "He will will be dead on arrival when you show up in this drop dead sexy Jane Doe DOA bodybag adult women's costume." WHUT?! Good fucking lord.
This is a surprise (it's not). iTunes might be a bunch of douchebags. They've censored The Vagina Monologues on their service. Also a surprise (it's not), lots of other stuff (porn titles, for example) isn't redacted on the site.
Sad Face: "Children need a father and a mother. I can't think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads." — Rupert Everett
Rebuttal: "Shut up, Rupert Everett." — Deeky
Speaking of the fight against homophobia, here is a site dedicated to the four states (Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington) battling for marriage equality this November.
Mei Xiang, the National Zoo's giant panda, gave birth to her second panda cub Sunday night.
"Ho-ly shit!" Killer Klowns From Outer Space is finally on Blu-Ray.
"Corn Nuts!" Bravo is turning Heathers into a TV series for some reason.
Want to see someone shredding up "Hotel California" on keytar? Of course you do. Why wouldn't you?
More stuff will happen tomorrow.
More on the Boy Scouts Abetting Child Abuse, Which Is So Sad for Them, Obviously
[Content Note: Sexual violence; rape culture.]
Last month, I wrote about the LA Times' review of internal documents from the Boy Scouts of America which "found suspected abusers regularly remained in the organization after officials were first presented with sexual misconduct allegations."
Yesterday, the LA Times published another piece: "Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, files show." The subtitle summarizes: "When volunteers and employees were suspected of sexually abusing children, Boy Scout officials often didn't tell police, files from 1970-91 reveal. In many cases they sought to hide the situation."
There is nothing I can say about this reprehensible contempt for child victims of sexual violence in order to protect predators that I have not said a dozen times before (see also: Catholic Church; Penn State), but I do want to highlight a stunning example, care of Jessica, of how this story is being covered.
Reuters: "Boy Scouts face release of damaging child sex abuse files."
And if the concern for the poor abetters of child sex abuse having to "face" publicized evidence of their failure to protect children from rapists isn't explicit enough in the headline for you, the lede of that story is: "The Boy Scouts of America could face a wave of bad publicity as decades of records of confirmed or alleged child molesters within the U.S. organization are expected to be released in coming weeks."
Oh noes! Not a wave of bad publicity! Oh the humanity!
Gross.
This, too, is what the rape culture looks like: More public concern for blowback on behalf of rape abettors than for victims, because obviously there's nothing worse, ahem, than having your reputation ruined over a little thing like turning your face away from the sexual abuse of children.
Quote of the Day
"I'm glad that the subject [of women's personal vs. professional choices] is coming up again. I remember doing interviews, and people would ask, as if it was a joke, 'So you mean you are a feminist?' As though feminism couldn't be discussed unless we were making fun of it. I don't want to deny my femininity, but would I want to be a stay-at-home mother? No. On the other hand, you should be allowed to do that, as should men, without being sneered at."—Actress Keira Knightley, in the cover story of this month's Vogue.
Have I mentioned I like Keira Knightley once or twice or a million times? I like Keira Knightley.
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by aluminum.
Recommended Reading:
Grace: The Ethics of Writing about Sexual Abuse: Gawker and Cord Jefferson [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of child sexual abuse and rape culture.]
sheridf: Striking Teachers Are Also Parents
Andy: Mitt Romney Thanks Hate Group FRC for 'Leadership', Attacks Gays, Women at Values Voter Summit [Content Note: Homophobia; misogyny.]
Kath: Busting Myths About Fat Bodies [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of body image and responses to fat myths.]
Lucas: Anderson Cooper Segment Featuring Trans Woman Who Says Propecia Made Her Trans "Just Another Case of Sensationalizing an Already Marginalized Population Plain and Simple." [Content Note: Discussion of trans misinformation.]
Autumn: Living on Government Largesse [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of classism and ableism.]
Jennifer: The Argument Against "English Only" in the US
An important follow-up from Adrienne, in case you missed it in the thread of Friday's Blogaround: Paul Frank Powwow Party Update: Am I Dreaming?
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Favorite Sitcoms of All Time. Go!
Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.
Generally Horrible
Mitt Romney, just doing some normal campaign bellowing last Thursday in Virgina. [via]
Here's some of the latest election news! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
McKay Coppins for BuzzFeed—Romney's New Strategy Turns Right: "Mitt Romney's campaign has concluded that the 2012 election will not be decided by elusive, much-targeted undecided voters—but by the motivated partisans of the Republican base. This shifting campaign calculus has produced a split in Romney's message. His talk show interviews and big ad buys continue to offer a straightforward economic focus aimed at traditional undecided voters. But out stumping day to day is a candidate who wants to talk about patriotism and God, and who is increasingly looking to connect with the right's intense, personal dislike for President Barack Obama."
LOL! I love everything about this! (No I don't.) My favorite part is how Romney's strategy is to appeal to the Republican base's unique flavor of Christianity with a campaign of racist hatred! GO TEAM BLOND JESUS!
"Do unto others as an ignorant, fear-motivated, hateful bigot would do unto you, or whatever."—The Apostle James son of Joe the Plumber, I'm sure.
Nick Kristof for the New York Times—The Foreign Relations Fumbler: "Diplomacy is a minefield, and Mitt Romney spent the last week blowing up his foreign policy credentials to be president. He raised doubts about his capacity to deal with global crises, and we were left hoping that if that 3 a.m. call ever went to him, he'd have set up call forwarding." Ha ha that is a very funny way of putting a suuuuuuper terrifying thing!
Also! That reminds me of a story. Back in 2000, when George W. Bush was running for president against then-vice president Al Gore, and the whole country was all, "Whatever, Al Gore! You're boring! We want to have a beer with George Bush!" I kept telling everyone I knew that George W. Bush was very dangerous and would be a foreign policy disaster. I was known to say things like, "George Bush will be the worst president we've ever had! He is terrifying!" And my friends would say, "Shut up, stupid! We're trying to watch Dawson's Creek!" And also: "George W. Bush is too silly to worry about! WE SHOULD HAVE ALL THE BEERS WITH HIM!" And I would say, "He is a teetotaler! ARGH!"
And I think that Mitt Romney benefits from the same indifference to how deliberately cruel he is really willing to be, what a vicious warmonger he will be without compunction, given half an opportunity, what a soulless destroyer of the tattered remnants of our social safety net he'd be, given the chance. Republican candidates love liberal voters thinking they'll just be harmless dopes. See also: Reagan, Ronald.
Mitt Romney will not be a harmless dope if he is elected. Is what I'm saying.
In other news: Shaker Glauke sent along this piece from Think Progress about the absence of discussions of poverty (ahem) in this election: "[O]ne in six Americans are living in poverty—a level the country has only briefly reached twice since 1970. [Yet] poverty remains virtually invisible in the media, particularly when it comes to campaign coverage, according to a new study from Extra!, the magazine published by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting... 'FAIR's study found poverty barely registers as a campaign issue. Just 17 of the 10,489 campaign stories studied (0.2 percent) addressed poverty in a substantive way. Moreover, none of the eight outlets included a substantive discussion of poverty in as much as 1 percent of its campaign stories.'"
Ha ha well sure. It's not like poor people MATTER. Especially not in the age of Citizens United.
And finally: Conservatives are a fucking joke. Yeesh.
Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
Happy 60th Birthday, Mustang Bobby!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuu!
OMG it's your sixtieth birthday; that's amaaaaaaaziiiiiiing!
And you are totes amazing, too!
Happy Birthday, Mustang Bobby!
*mwah*
Mustang Bobby's birthday was actually yesterday, but I saved the celebration (with his permission) for today, since it's a big one! I hope I have the good fortune, good health, and privilege to see 60 and beyond, too. Congrats on this lovely milestone, MB. And many, many more! ♥ ♥ ♥
