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Blog Note
I believe I've mentioned that for the last eight months or so, I've been having recurring bouts of vertigo. I'm having a really bad spell at the moment; I think it's just that working a lot of super long days lately is taking its toll, especially because I suck at self-care. So I'm going to take the afternoon off and try to get some rest.
I'll be back tomorrow morning.
As always, well-wishing is welcome, but no one should feel obliged. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding. ♥
Hillary Sexism Watch, Part Wev in an Endless Series
[Content Note: Misogyny; violent imagery.]
Shaker Liz sent me this NYT piece by Frank Bruni: "Hillary Clinton's Moment." It's basically about how Hillary Clinton is the worst, but, hey, she tries really hard and has moxy. You go, gal! Except she's still very unlikable. OH WELL!
All of it is obviously terrific, but I was particularly fond, ahem, of two passages:
But grit won't be enough.The only way Hillary Clinton has become a legitimate contender for the US presidency is because she had to "pay her dues" for decades. As First Lady of Arkansas, as First Lady of the US, as Senator, as failed presidential candidate, as campaigner for her former rival, as Secretary of State, as diplomat, as presidential candidate once again. It has made her arguably the most qualified candidate in US history.
The surprising, impressive success of Sanders, who had his own key wins on Tuesday, has made that clear. There's an ire and a disgust in the body politic — they fuel his campaign just as they do Donald Trump's — and they're built on a belief that the system is rigged, the status quo is unacceptable and its guardians are untrustworthy.
Clinton is poorly positioned to mollify that rage, and the reason isn't just coziness with Wall Street. It's her familiarity, her celebrity, her crowd. She's political royalty, and she can put the crown deep in a closet; she can renounce it all she wants. There are voters who will still see it there.
And oh, the baggage she carries! Many more Americans have an unfavorable impression of her than a favorable one: In a Quinnipiac University poll from early February, the split was 56 to 39 percent.
She conquers that … how? By introducing herself better to voters? They know her plenty well. By unveiling yet another new image? It's hard to imagine there are any permutations left.
And now the theory is that she's overexposed? Cool.
Bruni says it is "hard to imagine there are any permutations left," which is not only a neat way of implicitly accusing Clinton of inauthenticity and inconsistency, but also a neat way of ignoring that, while there are policy reasons to oppose Clinton, many of the people who oppose her, especially the ones relying on bullshit shorthands like "she's too familiar," aren't opposing her because of policy, but because she's a woman.
A woman with "a crown," as Bruni notes, while failing wholly to even obliquely consider the misogyny in that statement, no less the aggressive misogyny that is wielded against her by voters and the media.
Of course there are no "permutations" left, because Clinton cannot stop being a woman.
Bruni then pivots to Clinton's unlikability, because of course, and how it will make it difficult for her to beat the super likable Donald Trump:
To attain the presidency, a politician needn't be adored — just less loathed than the alternative.Wow.
In that same Quinnipiac poll, Trump's unfavorable to favorable ratio was even worse than Clinton's: 59 to 34 percent. Her supporters and advisers are accordingly crafting a strategy of brutal negativity and relentless attacks, as The Times reported earlier this week. Envisioning that, David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, said that a Clinton bid would be less "hope and change" than "hate and castrate."
Nope, no misogyny there. No trading on antifeminist tropes about feminist women being castrating bitches.
And let us consider what it means that a prominent Democratic strategist describes Clinton (potentially) going after Trump for being an abusive shitlord as "hate and castrate."
Trump has literally advocated war crimes, which is merely the tip of the noxious iceberg that is his eliminationist, marginalizing, hateful rhetoric. That's not hate, but criticizing him for it is? And attempting to strip him of the power he gets from advocating violence and displacement and racism and misogyny is "castrating" him?
Cool calculations, bro.
I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it eleventy million more times in the foreseeable future: That the media's favorite game is destroying Hillary Clinton and their favorite entertainer is Donald Trump is fucking terrifying. Their glib fuckery is going to carry fascism straight into the White House.
* * *
On a side note, I have read so many pieces recently by people who have worked with Hillary Clinton, talking about what a lovely person she is. Three this week alone:
Former Governor of Vermont Madeleine Kunin: "I've known Hillary and worked with her. She can be serious and funny. She inspires fervent camaraderie in her staff. She is the most intelligent woman I have ever met."
Breaking Down Barriers Mother Sybrina Fulton: "It was a very heartfelt meeting. It was supposed to be pretty short in the beginning, but because of the topics and the tragedies and the things that were being discussed, Secretary Clinton wanted to hear more. The meeting was very productive on our end as mothers. But it was also an eye opener for Secretary Clinton, because now, not only did she hear about these tragedies in the news and on social media and from her staffers, she heard first-hand from the mothers. And she's a mother. She's a grandmother. She's a wife. She's a woman. She related to us at a time when nobody else would listen."
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau: "I had the chance to serve in the Obama administration with someone who was far different than the caricature I had helped perpetuate. The most famous woman in the world would walk through the White House with no entourage, casually chatting up junior staffers along the way. She was by far the most prepared, impressive person at every Cabinet meeting. She worked harder and logged more miles than anyone in the administration, including the president. And she'd spend large amounts of time and energy on things that offered no discernible benefit to her political future—saving elephants from ivory poachers, listening to the plight of female coffee farmers in Timor-Leste, defending LGBT rights in places like Uganda. Most of all—and you hear this all the time from people who've worked for her—Hillary Clinton is uncommonly warm and thoughtful. She surprises with birthday cakes. She calls when a grandparent passes away. She once rearranged her entire campaign schedule so a staffer could attend her daughter's preschool graduation. Her husband charms by talking to you; Hillary does it by listening to you—not in a head-nodding, politician way; in a real person way."
I have read pieces like these for years. Long before this election, there were pieces written by folks about how great it was to work with and/or for her at State, and before that in the Senate.
And I'm sure there are people who haven't enjoyed working with her. But there are an incredible number of people who have. And say so. Publicly.
While, on the other hand, there are precious few horror stories of working with someone who's supposed to be History's Greatest Monster.
Members of the media who discuss her "likeability" ad nauseam know that these stories exist as well as I do. If they cared about doing their jobs, they'd explore why it is there exists this vast cavern of "likeability" between the people who work with her and the people with the choice to vote for her.
Of course, that would require some uncomfortable self-reflection, since they're the ones busily creating the caricature of The Monster in the first place.
Poison Kiss: A Paranormal Romance by Ana Mardoll
Hello, Shakers! Some of you may have already seen me promoting the heck out of myself on Twitter, but Liss has pointed out to me that not everyone uses the twitters! So in-case-you-missed-it and if-you're-interested, I have a new book out: Poison Kiss.
I have a long post up with store links and frequently asked questions and content notes all compiled up here on my official author website (which is very nifty and professional and if you subscribe to the site it will let you know when I publish more books!), so I figured I'd take this space to just talk to ya'll like I usually do. Mild spoilers below, but no more so than if you read the book description!
HB2 at SCOTUS Today
[Content Note: War on agency.]
Today, Texas' omnibus abortion bill, HB2, which was signed into law by then-governor Rick Perry on July 18, 2013, following then-state senator Wendy Davis' filibuster, will be considered by the Supreme Court, as they hear arguments in Whole Women's Health vs. Hellerstedt.
Eesha Pandit has written a terrific piece, "The Supreme Court's Massive Abortion Case: Everything You Need to Know about Whole Women's Health vs. Hellerstedt," which I recommend reading it its entirety, but here I'll excerpt her explanation of what's at stake:
Now for the politics: What's at stake when the lawyers stand before our eight Supreme Court Justices this week? Quite simply: The fate of abortion access all over the country, not just in Texas, hangs in the balance.If the law is upheld in Texas, it would restrict abortion access so severely in the state that abortion would be virtually inaccessible for millions and millions of people who need it.
The Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey held that legislators may restrict abortion rights, but not if those restrictions cause women an "undue burden." Thus, the key question in the case is whether the Texas law, with its four core restrictive provisions, is unduly burdensome to someone seeking an abortion.
Before the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who made it clear that he believed Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, many pro-choice advocates worried that this case could serve to bring Roe down altogether, if enough justices decided to use this opportunity to declare that there is, in fact, no constitutional right to an abortion. With Scalia's seat now vacant, that scenario is off the table, since there simply aren't enough votes left on the bench for such a ruling.
Now all anticipation and anxiety shifts toward Justice Anthony Kennedy, the notorious swing vote. If Justice Kennedy voted to uphold HB2, the Court will likely hand over a 4-4 decision. In this scenario, the decision of the lower court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, that HB2 is constitutional, will stand. In that case, the Texas law would be upheld, but only in Texas, establishing the abortion restrictions until the law, or one similar, makes its way to the Court again, after the appointment of a new justice.
In addition to Texas, 23 states have passed laws — called TRAP ("Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers") laws — that regulate abortion providers above and beyond federal law.
I desperately hope that the Supreme Court—by which I mean one man, Justice Kennedy, who holds the fate of millions of women et. al. in his hands—does the right thing and overturns HB2.
And I will say, once again, that I am, and will always be, pro-abortion for any person who wants or needs one. Because abortion is healthcare, and healthcare is a right.
Super Tuesday Wrap-Up
So, the results of Super Tuesday are in, and here's how it all shook out:
On the Democratic side, where the nominee needs 2,383 delegates, Hillary Clinton won seven states and one territory: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and American Samoa, bringing her delegate total (sans superdelegates) to 544.
Bernie Sanders won four states: Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont, bringing his delegate total to 349.
On the Republican side, where the nominee needs 1,237 delegates, Donald Trump won seven states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia, bringing his delegate total to 285.
Ted Cruz won three states: Alaska, Oklahoma, and Texas, bringing his delegate total to 161.
Marco Rubio won one state: Minnesota, bringing his delegate total to 87.
John Kasich and Ben Carson, neither of whom have won any primary contest, have 25 and 8 delegates, respectively.
* * *
I did a little bit of tweeting last night as the returns came in and the candidates gave their speeches. I've Storified those tweets, for anyone who's interested.
A couple pieces of related news:
Bernie Sanders has vowed to stay in the race all the way to the convention. His campaign manager Jeff Weaver said during a CNN interview yesterday: "We're going all the way to the convention. We'll see you in Philadelphia." On the one hand, this is not great news for Clinton, if she is indeed the eventual nominee, because it gives her no downtime before the general election. On the other hand, Sanders staying in the race means that the Democratic contest will continue to feature in the news cycle, which will (marginally, sob) keep the cable news from being All Trump All the Time.
I didn't like it in 2008 when people were trying to push Clinton out of the primary, so I will not replicate that by saying I think Sanders should get out of the primary. That said, I do have serious concerns about his team's strategy [content note: racism]:
Sanders' goal was to emerge from Super Tuesday with a viable comeback path. But it's unclear how he envisions proceeding from here. His team has sketched a strategy that involves running up margins in the predominantly white states that have responded better to his message. He's hoping to rattle off wins in the weeks ahead in friendlier territory — Nebraska, Kansas and Maine, which are next on the calendar.Emphasis mine.
That strategy pisses me off for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I want black voters to help choose the Democratic nominee. Not just because black voters have a right to vote and for their votes to matter, and because it's gross to not prioritize the value of votes from a population most likely to be disenfranchised, but also because I understand how privilege and marginalization work.
Black Democratic voters—specifically black women—who are voting in their own best interests are going to choose a candidate whose policies also benefit me (and anyone else more privileged than they are). However, the reverse is not necessarily true: White Democratic voters, by virtue of our privilege, don't need to (and thus often don't) take into consideration the needs of black citizens.
I am thus very hostile toward the argument that black voters shouldn't be key in helping select the Democratic nominee. Black lives matter and black votes matter.
* * *
Next, the Democrats head to Kansas, Louisiana, and Nebraska on March 5 and Maine on March 6.
The Republicans head to Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Maine on March 5 and Puerto Rico on March 6.
Super Tuesday Returns Thread
Instead of a QotD today, I'm just going to open a thread where we can discuss the Super Tuesday returns as they come in, candidate speeches, garbage media coverage, good media coverage, any associated stories regarding voting access or caucus fuckery, etc.
Have at it in comments.
Obstructionists Gotta Obstruct
In contravention of the Constitution, tradition, the public will, and anything resembling decency, the Republicans continue to hold fast in their promise threat to stonewall President Obama's right to nominate a Supreme Court nominee:
There were no signs of a breakthrough as President Obama met Tuesday with Senate Republican leaders pledging to block anyone he nominates to the Supreme Court.Just yesterday, I wrote: "I refuse to indulge the pretense that the Republican Party doesn't support Trump's candidacy. The fuck they don't."
Senate Majority Leader (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) both sat down with the president in the Oval Office.
"They were adamant. They said 'no, we're not going to do this at all,'" Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said after the meeting.
"All we want them to do is to fulfill their constitutional duty, and at this stage, they are deciding not to do that," he added. "They're going to wait and see what President Trump will do, I guess, as far as a nomination."
If the fact that party leaders are allegedly appalled at the prospect of Trump being their nominee and yet continue to obstruct President Obama in anticipation of a Trump presidency doesn't underline what transparent bullshit their supposed horror is, I don't know what the fuck would.
Tough Break for the Bigotry Tornado
[Content Note: Fraud; exploitation.]
Couldn't happen to a nicer crook:
Super Tuesday has gotten off to a not-so-super start for Donald Trump - a state appeals court has given a green light to a lawsuit that charges his Trump University was a fraud.I saw a news item about "Trump University" recently, and it was absolutely appalling. Just a gold-plated pyramid scheme that exploited people without remorse.
In a unanimous ruling, a four judge panel of the state Appellate Division said the state Attorney General's office is "authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud" - despite the bloviating billionaire's claims to the contrary.
...Schneiderman charged Trump University, which operated between 2004 and 2010, was a sham that ripped off its students, beginning with a "free" seminar.
The suit said "although Trump University speakers represented that the three-day seminar would teach students all they needed to know to be successful real estate investors, the instructors at those three-day seminars then engaged in a 'bait and switch,' telling students that they needed to attend yet another seminar for an additional $5,000 in order to learn more about particular lenders."
The AG's suit charged that through "their deceptive and unlawful practices, (Trump and the school) intentionally misled over 5,000 individuals nationwide, including over 600 New Yorkers, into paying as much as $35,000 each to participate in live seminars and mentorship programs with the promise of learning Donald Trump's real estate investing techniques."
It also charged they "repeatedly deceived students into thinking that they were attending a legally chartered 'university'" and "intentionally misrepresented, through advertisements and oral misrepresentations, that prospective students would be taught by successful real estate 'experts' who were 'handpicked' by Mr. Trump when, as alleged by petitioner, not a single instructor was actually handpicked by Mr. Trump.
..."The Attorney General further maintained that the instructors had been inadequately vetted and in fact had little or no experience in real estate investing, instead having prior work experience such as food service management and graphic design," the appeals court noted.
I doubt this is going to have much effect on his campaign; he'll wave it off with one of his "I just whiffed shit" expressions and some argle-bargle about how he wins all his lawsuits because he's a tremendously classy businessman.
But I do hope that some of the people who were taken advantage of by "Trump University" get some well-deserved damages from it.
You First
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
A long while ago now, I changed the bio on my Twitter profile to, simply: "I am the very model of a modern major misandrist." Naturally, this is not because I am a misandrist, but because I am routinely called one by misogynist dudes.
Some time later, I changed by profile pic to an image of me sipping from a mug labeled "Male Tears." I can't even recall now which disgorgement of misogynist dude aggrievement prompted me to take and post the picture—possibly another chapter in the epic uproar over how an all-female Ghostbusters was going to retroactively ruin their childhoods.
Every so often, a new MRA-type discovers my bio and/or profile pic and a new round of dipshits, of the sort that necessitated my sardonic attempts to deal with their incessant harassment in the first place, piles into my TL to shout at me about how I am a man-hating monster.
That happened again today, which is perfectly timely, given that I just posted this piece in the blogaround yesterday.
Here's the deal: I will stop referring to myself as a misandrist when misogynist men stop calling me one in response to my advocating on behalf of my own humanity. And I will stop making jokes about male tears when men stop routinely making women cry with their vile misogyny.
That's a promise.
Ball's in your court, dudes.
Daily Dose of Cute
One of Sophie's favorite ways of entertaining herself is to chase her own feet around one of the legs of a dining room chair.
Video Description: Sophie the Torbie Cat hangs out in a spot of sunshine in the dining room, flopped on her side, chasing her own feet around a chair leg in the dining room. She catches a foot and licks it, then goes back to playing, catching and releasing her back feet over and over. At one point, she's almost upside down, with one foot up high on the chair leg. And then she tires herself out and flops on her side, leaning against the leg.
All tuckered out.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Refugee crisis] "Europe is 'on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis' because of a rapid build-up of migrants on Greece's borders, the UN has warned. 'The crowded conditions are leading to shortages of food, shelter, water, and sanitation,' UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards said. Close to 24,000 migrants in Greece are in need of housing." Fucking hell.
[CN: Refugee crisis; abuse] Reuters details the horrendous conditions in which the refugees in Greece are trying to survive: "Mohammed Asif and his family have no food, no shelter, and no security. 'Home,' for now, is a thin green blanket spread over a piece of plastic on a pavement in a grimy neighborhood of the Greek capital. ...There are no public facilities and soiled nappies are strewn on a sidewalk next to bins brimming with rubbish. A Christian charity distributes biscuits and orange juice, and the occasional local turns up with a saucepan of food. Further down, young mothers with month-old babies sat on the sidewalk. A man held a child aged about 10 in his arms, looking stonily ahead. 'I'll stay here until Macedonia opens its borders,' said Ali Khan Ranjbar, 28, from Ghazni, a city in central Afghanistan and a Hazara like Asif. As of Feb. 20, crossings of Afghans to Macedonia have ceased, with witnesses reporting migrants being forcibly removed from border outposts and sent by buses back to Athens. On Monday Macedonian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants who stormed the border from Greece as a deeply divided Europe traded barbs over how to tackle its biggest humanitarian crisis in decades."
[CN: Domestic violence; austerity] "According to the NNEDV's annual survey of domestic violence service providers, on a given day in 2015, 12,197 victims who sought help had to be turned away. ...Most of the people turned away are seeking shelter: 41 percent of the unmet requests were for emergency shelter, while 22 percent were for transitional housing or some other housing service. Yet 72 programs reduced or eliminated their housing services last year altogether. This left victims exposed and vulnerable to their abusers. ...Beyond cutting programs, many service providers had to eliminate staff. Last year, they laid off 1,235 staff members, or an average of 1.4 people each. That comes on top of 1,392 staff that were cut in 2014. Nearly 80 percent of the staff eliminated last year were in direct service positions, such as case managers, advocates, and shelter staff. These hardships—big cutbacks at providers that leave victims without the help they need—stem from a lack of resources. The most common cause that shelters cited last year for not being able to meet all of the demand, at about a quarter of providers, was a reduction in government funding."
[CN: War on agency] Teddy Wilson has more on the recent report about the dramatic number of abortion clinic closings: "Elizabeth Nash, senior state issues associate at the Guttmacher Institute, told RH Reality Check that numerous clinic closures are due to anti-choice activists pushing state lawmakers to pass measures making it impossible for many clinics to operate. 'Unfortunately the report shows that abortion access is becoming more and more limited and that restrictions do have a direct and negative impact on access,' Nash said. ...These closings disproportionately affect marginalized populations. 'Laws like these impact women across the board, but impact rural women, lower-income women, and women of color in dramatically intensified ways,' [Laura McQuade, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri] said."
[CN: Racism; austerity] This is just devastating: "The Carter G. Woodson Library in Chicago's Washington Heights neighborhood is rooted in history. It was named after the 'Father of Black History' and holds the largest collection of black literature in the entire Midwest. It notably contains the Vivian G. Harsh Collection, named after Chicago's first black librarian, which features slave and genealogy records and original manuscripts from notable black authors. The library is now at risk of closing due to damage to the building after years of not being kept up by the city. ...While the library has been granted nearly $10 million by the state specifically to restore Woodson, nearly $4 million is tied up in the current state budget stalemate between state lawmakers and [Republican] Governor Bruce Rauner."
[CN: Homophobia] Good grief: "Georgia State Senator Greg Kirk has said his anti-gay First Amendment Defense Act is just fine because he's run it past his many, many gay friends. ...'Look, I'm 52 years old. I've grown up with friends who now live a gay lifestyle. But they're still very close friends to me, and I care deeply about them, and I have shared this with some of my friends and asked their viewpoint as well. That's been part of my vetting process.' ...Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Bill Torpy took it on himself to track down these elusive 'gay friends' of Kirk. ...Torpy pushed Kirk on the issue, going so far as to have the Senator give his number to his numerous gay friends. Obviously, nobody called the reporter back because, according to Kirk 'the only one, and there are only three, that I thought would speak with you said no.'"
Whooooooooops! "On Monday, you may have seen what looked like a New York Times article floating around the internet announcing that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren had endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. There's just one problem: Warren hasn't endorsed anyone for president. The article was created using a hoax-website creator called Clone Zone, which lets users create fake webpages and articles that look strikingly similar to popular news sites."
RIP George Kennedy: "George Kennedy, who won a supporting actor Oscar for his role alongside Paul Newman in the beloved film Cool Hand Luke, and was also a fixture of 1970s disaster movies including the Airport franchise and Earthquake, died Sunday in Boise, Idaho. He was 91."
Wow: "Fossils of an ancient creature resembling a shrimp with an armored head contain the oldest and best-preserved nervous system ever found, which could help scientists decipher the evolution of nervous systemsin animals alive today, according to a new study. The remarkable remains belonged to Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis, a crustaceanlike creature that lived 520 million years ago in what is now South China. The fossils revealed a long 'ropelike' central nerve cord that extended throughout the body, with visible clusters of nerve tissue arranged along the cord, like beads strung on a thread. Even individual nerve structures could be detected, the scientists discovered."
[CN: Attempted abduction] GOOD DOG: 16-year-old "Joanna Bojorquez was saved by a dog named Willow when a man stopped and tried to abduct her this past Saturday. ...'I start kicking, trying to move him away from me, and luckily Willow saw that we weren't being friendly and she throws herself on him. He moved out of the way and I ran and we were able to get home safe,' said Joanna."
And finally! BABY RHINO! "The Toronto Zoo would like to announce that Ashakiran, an 11-year-old female Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), gave birth to a male calf on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. The recent birth is very important for Indian Rhinoceros conservation, as the species is currently listed as 'Vulnerable' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and there are only approximately 2,000 left in the wild." That is one cute behbeh!
Dump Trump. With Integrity.
[Content Note: Disablism; appearance and name mockery.]
Looking ahead to the distinct possibility of having to wage a battle to keep Donald Trump out of the White House (although this will be operative for anyone who gets the GOP nomination), I want to talk about the language and strategies that progressives will use to do that.
I have previously written about the importance of not using ableist slurs and instead saying what you mean. (Read that link as background to the rest of this piece.)
There is already an enormous amount of "Donald Trump is crazy," and making fun of his appearance, and [CN: video autoplays at link] care of John Oliver, a campaign to rename Donald Trump as "Drumpf," his family's name before it was changed.
If you care about not stigmatizing people with mental illness, or not tacitly condoning looks-based bullying, or allowing people to go by whatever name they choose (which has particular importance to trans people), then you will be keen to find other ways to talk about Donald Trump.
Which is to say nothing of the fact that calling him crazy, or making fun of his appearance, or mocking his name, doesn't convey even a little how heinous his policies are and what a dangerous person he is.
That's why it's important to say what you mean. If you mean Donald Trump is indecent, say that. If you mean that Donald Trump is a bully, say that. If you mean that Donald Trump is a vainglorious poseur who incessantly disgorges rank bigotry masquerading as policy, then say that.
Using words that have meaning is not only a decent thing to do, to save others from the rhetorical buckshot of ableist and other problematic language, but it addresses in a serious way the reasons why Donald Trump should never, ever, be president.
That said, I am aware of the fact that it can be useful—and feels good—to have some creative shorthand to convey just how terrible Trump is. So, because I am nothing if not generous, here are 50 ways to say that Trump is the fucking worst that don't rely on marginalizing language. Borrow at will!
1. Donald Trump is the unfiltered id of the Republican Party's gross platform.
2. Donald Trump is a nightmare disaster.
3. Donald Trump is a vile scoundrel.
4. Donald Trump is a fascist carnival barker whose entire candidacy is a raging dumpster fire.
5. Donald Trump is a calamitous wreck of undiluted privilege.
6. Donald Trump is a bigotry tornado.
7. Donald Trump is a celebrity chef with nothing but garbage stew on his menu.
8. Donald Trump is a colossal dirtbag.
9. Donald Trump is a harbinger of harm.
10. Donald Trump is a sack of gold-plated prejudice in overpriced shoes.
11. Donald Trump is a shameless purveyor of Social Darwinist trash.
12. Donald Trump is a catastrophic mess whose policies are diarrheic dogshit.
13. Donald Trump is a lie-breathing dragon.
14. Donald Trump is a yuuuuuuuuuuuge jerkbag with an advanced degree in dangerous nincompoopery.
15. Donald Trump is a loathsome zealot with the lingering smell of sulfur where his decency should be.
16. Donald Trump is a full-tilt bad idea machine.
17. Donald Trump is a cataclysmic chauvinist and nationalistic fiend.
18. Donald Trump is a self-aggrandizing creep.
19. Donald Trump is a gargantuan reprobate who surrounds himself with simpering sycophants.
20. Donald Trump is a detestable scapegrace.
21. Donald Trump is a Brobdingnagian bulldozer with zero empathy.
22. Donald Trump is an epically insecure poltroon who masks his insecurity and cowardice with transparent braggadocio.
23. Donald Trump is all circus and no bread.
24. Donald Trump is a human Hell House.
25. Donald Trump is the beating heart of authoritarianism with an artifice of patriotism.
26. Donald Trump is an anthropomorphized foul stench.
27. Donald Trump is a dastardly villain with ruinous machinations.
28. Donald Trump is an apocalyptic rogue.
29. Donald Trump is a shitty scofflaw who relies on his wealth to protect him from consequence.
30. Donald Trump is a collapsed flan filled with arsenic and poop.
31. Donald Trump is a magistrate of miscreancy.
32. Donald Trump is the kind of asshole who relocates the bootstraps factory offshore then scolds the laid-off workers for not having any bootstraps.
33. Donald Trump is a self-polishing turd.
34. Donald Trump is the sickening grimace of a menacing horror.
35. Donald Trump is an antagonistic shit who thrives on waging social affliction.
36. Donald Trump is a nefarious nogoodnik.
37. Donald Trump is exponentially awful.
38. Donald Trump is an anti-vacuum who disgorges a cyclonic cloud of grit and soot every time he opens his filthy mouth.
39. Donald Trump is the personification of dread.
40. Donald Trump is a noxious stain on the underpants of humanity.
41. Donald Trump is a symphony of repugnance played by demons on broken instruments.
42. Donald Trump is an abhorrent spectre of ghastly oppression.
43. Donald Trump is a dude who steps on people's backs and then complains that their bony spines are hurting his delicate feet.
44. Donald Trump is a looming atrocity.
45. Donald Trump is profoundly unpleasant, an understatement as massive as his ego.
46. Donald Trump is a void of joy.
47. Donald Trump is an unrepentant braggart whose favorite boast is how terrible he is.
48. Donald Trump is a human scowl.
49. Donald Trump is a putrid malevolence poised to contaminate the entire country.
50. Donald Trump is the fucking worst.
You're welcome.
LIKE LIKE LIKE
So I'm reading this New York Times piece about Team Clinton's developing plan to defeat Donald Trump in the general election—good preparation should that increasingly likely possibility come to be reality—and I see this:
That strategy is beginning to take shape, with groups that support Mrs. Clinton preparing to script and test ads that would portray Mr. Trump as a misogynist and an enemy to the working class whose brash temper would put the nation and the world in grave danger. The plan is for those themes to be amplified later by two prominent surrogates: To fight Mr. Trump's ability to sway the news cycle, Mr. Clinton would not hold back on the stump, and President Obama has told allies he would gleefully portray Mr. Trump as incapable of handling the duties of the Oval Office.Emphasis mine.
It hadn't yet even occurred to me to contemplate what it will look like when comes the time at which President Obama will be stumping for the Democratic nominee, and I feel really good about the fact that the President will play this role in the campaign.
And that he will do it "gleefully."
I am positively delighted myself just thinking about it.
Super Tuesday
Today is Super Tuesday, in which primary voters will head to the polls in twelve states and one US territory: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia (both Democrats and Republicans); Alaska (Republicans only); and Colorado and American Samoa (Democrats only).
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will be competing for 865 delegates.
Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Ben Carson will be competing for 661 delegates.
Unless something truly wild happens, we're probably going to come out of today with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the clear presumptive nominees for their respective parties. But I'm guessing that Kasich will be the only person to drop out after today.
The closer we get to what looks to be a Clinton-Trump match-up in the general, the more I am worried about the need for the media to get its shit together. If they continue to treat Trump like the most entertaining sideshow and Clinton like history's greatest monster, they're going to usher in genuine fascist leadership in the US because they couldn't bear to do their fucking jobs when it was just too fun to be entertained.
In related news, [content note: violence; racism] here are a couple things that happened at Trump rallies yesterday:
1. Guard Chokeslams Photographer at Trump Rally in Virginia: "A photographer was slammed down on a table by someone who appears to be a security guard during a Donald Trump rally Monday in Virginia. ...The photographer, Time magazine's Christopher Morris, ended up on the ground, kicking out his legs at a man in a gray suit who was trying to hold him. ...A video of the incident posted on Instagram showed the guard clearly grabbing Morris by the neck before slamming him down on a table."
2. Black Students Removed From Trump Rally Over Silent Demonstration: "[T]he Des Moines Register reported that a group of about 30 black Valdosta State University students were ejected from a Trump rally on the Georgia campus, though they weren't being disruptive. ...The Valdosta students say they were standing silently at the top of the bleachers when they were approached by Secret Service agents, who said Trump had asked that they be removed before he took the stage."
The terrifying thing is that these incidents aren't objectionable to Trump supporters. To the contrary, they are all the more reason to like him.
After today, it's very likely that we're going to have to figure out how to defeat Donald Trump. And that's necessarily going to include combatting a national media who are intractably fascinated with him, consequences be damned.
ETA. Right on cue: CBS executive chairman and CEO Les Moonves says that Trump leading the GOP field "may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."
Moonves called the campaign for president a "circus" full of "bomb throwing," and he hopes it continues.Welp.
"Most of the ads are not about issues. They're sort of like the debates," he said.
"Man, who would have expected the ride we're all having right now? ...The money's rolling in and this is fun," he said.
"I've never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going," said Moonves.
Question of the Day
Do you do anything special to mark Leap Year's Day? Do you have any Leap Year Day family traditions? Know anyone who was born on February 29, who does something special on the years when their birth date exists on the calendar? Do you even care or think about Leap Year's Day at all?
