Tag: Culture

Trump in 2016: Us Against Them. Trump in 2020: Us Against Us.

Trish
Thanks to Janine Robinson for sharing their work on Unsplash.

It took almost four years but here we are.

Trump used to rally his base with innuendo about shadowy others who threatened America: Mexicans are rapists and members of obscure, violent gangs. A Muslim travel ban would keep out terrorists. Orphaning the children of parents fleeing Central America by locking them away and concealing them from their families would ensure that only Americans would receive benefits from paying taxes.

Where we are now was a gradual and incremental shift but it’s easy enough to look back and see it coming. After all, Trump made his mark on the political scene by questioning Pres. Obama’s legitimacy and refusing to acknowledge that Obama was born in Hawaii, not Kenya.

We know the cascading inflection points ever since. Good people on both sides. Pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio before he could be sentenced for what the U.S. Dept. of Justice called “sadistic punishments” of Latino inmates. Trying to shut down the NFL because Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in response to police killings of Black people. Calling Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas. Labeling a free press the enemy of the people. Saying the members of “The Squad,” four Democratic congresswomen, should go back to their countries although all but one were born in America. Calling Jews who vote for Democrats “disloyal.” Retweeting white supremacists. The list is endless and neither of us has that much time.

Now, as Poltico’s Michael Kruse, Renuka Rayasam, and Myah Ward note, Trump is no longer talking about us versus them. He’s ginning up the base by making it us against us. […]

Why Are Guns So Far Being Held Blameless in Parkland Teen Suicides?

Trish

Guns continue to get off the hook in the deaths of two teens who attended Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Even though drug overdose is the method used in 70 percent of potential suicides, it’s only responsible for about 12 percent of the deaths. Guns are far, far more effective. Of the comparatively smaller 6 percent of people who attempt suicide by using a gun, they find “success” about 82 percent of the time. That makes guns responsible for more than half of our country’s suicides.

The role of guns, and access to them, has so far been ignored in the stories about the two teens at Stoneman Douglas. I have yet to find one that asks, let alone answers, the question of where the guns used by the teens came from. But states with the most guns have the most youth suicides.
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Melania’s Blood Red Xmas Trees Earning Hilarious Tweets

Trish

If you thought last year’s White House Xmas decorations were bizarre, take a look at the 2018 version. This photo was posted on Twitter by CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.

The trees are as red as the MAGA hat atop Trump’s farthest right supporters, as red as any communist in Putin’s Red Square, as red as the blood on Trump’s hands for selling more arms to the Saudis to use on the masses they are starving in Yemen.

But the comments on the trees are helping us look on the lighter side, starting with this PhotoShop effort from @chatelainedc:

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Do You Have Your Three Orange Outfits Lined Up?

Trish

Today is #WearOrange Day, but according to Every Town for Gun Safety, if you already missed wearing the color associated with staying safe in the great outdoors during hunting season, you can try again Saturday and Sunday.

There are also Wear Orange events across the country to try to reverse the tide of American gun proliferation. They will call for gun regulations to help decrease the uncontrolled gun violence our country has experienced since stand your ground, open carry, and other gun lobby-written laws have been rubber-stamped by pro-NRA legislators. Search for a Wear Orange event near you.

Can’t attend an event but still want to show your support? You can upload a photo of yourself wearing orange and apply a shareable social media-friendly frame to help get the word out.

Jimmy Fallon Says We Can’t Go Back

Trish

Jimmy Fallon has been criticized for failing to call out Trump and for having him as a guest during the campaign, helping him prove that Trump hair is actually hair. But now Fallon has taken a stand, and made a statement that turned “was just disgusting” into a trending topic on Twitter.

Jason Isbell Feels Your Pain

Trish

Jason Isbell is arguably one of the best things Alabama gave this country, with his extraordinary catalog of music dating back to his days with the Drive-By Truckers. And don’t even get us started on his live shows. Let’s just say if he’s playing near you, buy a damn ticket.

This new song, from an upcoming album with his old band, The 400 Unit, urges us to take the high road in our thoughts and as we #resist. Whether it was inspired by former First Lady Michelle Obama’s declaration that, “When they go low, we go high,” isn’t stated but we’re thinking yep.

Anonymous Isn’t April Foolin’ About War on Trump

Trish

The hacking group Anonymous is again threatening to make life harder on Donald Trump. Having already published his social security and cell phone numbers, along with the names of family members and other “private” information, they are now seeking more. They want their followers to hack The Donald on April 1, aka April Fool’s Day.

We’d feel worse about this than we do if the man himself hadn’t already pulled a similar stunt by reading Sen. Lindsay Graham’s phone number during one of Trump’s campaign speeches. That led to a hilarious video from Graham. We’ll see how Trump reacts when he’s on the receiving end of this behavior.

Here’s one more Anonymous video explaining why the group is going after Trump.

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Hank Green Says It’s Not OK for the Mainstream Media to Snipe at YouTube Stars

Trish
Bethany Mota's post-interview selfie
Bethany Mota’s post-interview selfie

If you missed it in the post-game coverage of the recent State of the Union speech, Pres. Obama broke new ground beyond perfecting presidential ad libs. He also agreed to one-on-one interviews with three YouTube stars, and one of them, Hank Green, isn’t happy with the way the “legacy” press corps treated the endeavor. Green’s article, posted on Medium, is titled “Holy Shit, I Interviewed the President.” It might have been better named, “Holy Shit, the Mainstream Media is Killing Democracy.”

Green: How does a democracy function with no credible system for informing its citizens?

CNN intro’d and outro’d every segment with Glozell [Green] in a bathtub full of cereal, as did ABC’s morning show…Even new media companies like Vice were dismissive:

“Think of it as a teeny-bopper AMA…The interviewers will be GloZell Green, who’s perhaps best known for sitting in a tub full of cereal; a 19-year-old who gives beauty advice named Bethany Mota; and Hank Green, a notorious YouTube ranter whose brother wrote The Fault in Our Stars.”

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