I woke up to the news that this president was tweeting about EASY D, and I immediately thought, “Why is he tweeting about easy dick?” No one seemed able to tell me, and I couldn’t find it on the Google. Finally, I saw the tweet, and even after reading it several times, my brow remained furrowed. It was mixed in with a rant about Nordstrom and his daughter*, but it didn’t seem to be directly related. It said, “Big increase in traffic into our country from certain areas, while our people are far more vulnerable, as we wait for what should be EASY D!” What. I mean, what. I’ve gotten used to having to decipher what this president is saying, but this was beyond my ken. I know it’s related to his court case and the Muslim ban, but EASY D? WHAT THE HELL.
Twitter was having a field day with it, of course, and I got in on the fun myself. I mean, it’s sex. How can I not get my digs in? One of the tweets that people seemed to like was this one:
The one thing we can all agree on is that “D” is dick, right?
— Minna Hong (@asiangrrlMN) February 8, 2017
It’s not deep or particularly witty, but it gets to the heart of the bewilderment over the tweet. Everyone knows that getting the D is slang for a woman getting fucked. Is it possible that this president didn’t know that? With this president, anything is possible. I can’t begin to presume what he does and doesn’t know.
Then, several people pointed out that there’s an Urban Dictionary explanation for Easy D because of course there is. There are a few, actually, but the one that people seemed to think he was referring to was, “A girl that is very easy to get with and has Double Ds”. That made even less sense to me! Was this president really comparing the banning of Muslims with easily fucking a buxom lass? I was incredulous because it seemed even beneath him to–oh hell. What am I saying? It’s not beneath him at all. This is a man who bragged about grabbing women by the pussy and that if you’re a star, you can do whatever you want. He has no filter and no self-awareness. He also has no idea that there are some things you shouldn’t say out loud because he’s never had anyone say no to him.
It’s important to laugh during these dark times, but I also think it’s important to pay attention to what he’s saying and not just the clownish way he’s saying it. During his campaign, the media treated him as a side show freak, pointing and laughing at the bizarre things that spurted from his mouth. They didn’t take him seriously, and that’s partly why he was able to get away with the outrageous things he said. While the media (and, admittedly, many liberals) were laughing at him, his supporters were lapping up his words, thrilled that someone was saying what they felt. I heard, “Clinton was treated like a legitimate candidate for president, and Trump was not.” I think this is correct, and it’s continuing now.
There are some who believe this president spouts all the shit he does as a canny way to hide his despicable actions. If we spend all our time hooting over his tweets, we may not notice all the EOs he’s been signing left and right, and the fact that he still has business ties that a president shouldn’t. I’m not sure if he’s smart enough to make such a plan or disciplined enough to carry it out. My belief is that he just does whatever he wants whenever he wants without thinking about the consequences. I will concede that it’s possible his survival instinct is what makes him constantly spew shit because his whole life has revolved around him getting ahead the best he can. He has proven himself to be a master manipulator, but I really don’t think it’s conscious.
Before I continue, perhaps the funniest tweet I saw about the EASY D:
Easy D – Straight Outta Competence
— Tristan the Blerd (@versbrown) February 8, 2017
There were several people making the Easy D/Easy E comparison, but this was my favorite.
OT: This president is mentally unwell. I know there are some liberals who will be pissed at me because somehow, my pointing that out is an aspersion on mentally ill people. I don’t know how this transitive property works, but I’ve seen it too many times on social media to believe it won’t happen. Any time a shooting spree happens, they hurry to declare that mentally ill people are more often the victims of violence than the perpetrators, which is true, but irrelevant. To me, glossing over the fact that someone who commits a heinous act is mentally ill is doing a disservice to the discussion in general, and I’m saying this as someone who’s suffered chronic and debilitating depression all my life. Anyway, whenever I read about this president or what he’s tweeted, or listen to him speak,** I can’t help but notice that there’s something seriously wrong with him. It’s pretty well accepted that he’s a raging narcissist. You don’t have to be a psychologist to see that, although I do have the agreement of my psychologist mother, so I feel confident in that assessment. I don’t want to make any other official diagnoses, but I do feel comfortable in saying that he has the disposition of a spoiled two-year-old with no concept of delayed gratification.
Back to the puzzling tweet at the beginning of this post. Normally, I can untangle what the president is saying, though it may take me several reads, but this one just escaped me. If he wasn’t using the Urban Dictionary definition of Easy D, then what the hell was he trying to say? One of my tweeples, @sovereignann, suggested ‘decision’, which makes the most sense, I think. Does it really matter? No, but my brain demands order, which is folly with this president. My goal is to try not to be distracted by all the bizarre things he says and also not to let the Republicans off the hook for their craven behavior, too.
Betsy DeVos was up for Secretary of Education, and she was clearly not qualified. There was an uproar as she was moved out of committee–by the way, my senator, Al Franken, was brutal on her. My advice to anyone appearing before Al Franken–do your homework because he will damn well do his–and set for the vote in the Senate. All the Democrats were committed to voting against her. There are 48 of them, so they needed three Republicans to deny her the position. Tons of people called, emailed, and wrote letters to their senators, voicing their outrage at her nomination. It got so voluminous, some Republican senators refused to answer their phones any longer (looking at you, Senator Toomey). A few days before the vote, two senators, Sen. Collins from Maine and Sen. Murkowski from Alaska (both women) announced they’d changed their minds and would vote against DeVos. Jubilation arose among the liberals, and we had hope that we just might win this one. We just needed one more vote, and efforts were redoubled. The Senate Democrats held the floor all night long before the vote to voice their objections to DeVos.
It was all for naught. The rest of the Republicans, all males, voted for DeVos, and the vice president cast the tie-breaking vote in her favor. My tweet when I found out:
The darker side of me says the two Republicans who flipped on DeVos did it because they knew this would be the result.
— Minna Hong (@asiangrrlMN) February 7, 2017
I thought I was being too cynical and conspiracy-minded, but I had several people tweeting me in agreement. They reminded me that both the gentlewomen were on the committee and could have stopped DeVos before it even came to a vote, which makes their change of heart seem even more cold-blooded. The Republicans were feeling the heat on this pick, and I think what happened was the gentlewomen from Maine and Alaska changed their vote so they could have the appearance of being reasonable while knowing that their male counterparts would stand firm. The end would be a tie, and the vice president would step in and save the day. My darker theory is that the Republicans in general agreed to have two of their members ‘flip’ so they can put to rest the idea that they are the opposition party. In other words, it was all for show.
The only good news to come out of this is that so many people rose up as one to make their voices heard. If they hadn’t, I doubt any of the Republicans would have blinked twice before voting for DeVos. By the way, they’ve received a shit-ton of money from DeVos and her family. Is that the reason they voted for her? I don’t doubt it was a factor. I know it’s hard to feel as if your voice matters or speaking up makes a difference. I feel that way myself most of the time, which is why I don’t always do the activist things I know I should do. My brain says, “Why bother when the result is a loss, anyway?” The important thing to remember is that we need to make things as difficult as possible, otherwise they will steamroll right over us before we know it. The only thing Republicans care about is power and their positions. If we can make them fear for the latter, we might be able to move them.
I also want you to remember that there are elections every year and not to take the non-presidential election years off as we Democrats tend to do. In addition, let’s focus on getting these jackasses out of office, which means putting aside our differences and uniting as one. This isn’t our strong point, but we can’t afford to be ideologues right now. We need to focus on the common good, and if we do that, we might be able to stop the Titanic from sinking. Maybe.
So, let’s continue to laugh at this president, especially since it bothers him so much, but we also need to not be fooled by the smokescreen and mirrors. Let’s be the biggest thorn in this president’s side he’s ever felt–it’s the least we can do for our country.
*They no longer carry her clothing, and he tweeted his indignation about it. No, really. The fucking president of the United States spent his morning yelling at a department store. Really.
**Which I do as little as possible because there is something about the way he speaks that is seriously disturbing to my brain. He cannot form a coherent sentence, and my editor brain nearly has a breakdown when his world salad is poured upon it. It’s hard to explain, but a physical pressure pushes down on my brain when I listen to him talk. It happened with Sarah Palin to a lesser extent, but this is much worse.