I’m tired. I’m sick. I’m sick and tired, which means I’m fucking cranky. As such, my normal filters are gone, so I decided this is the perfect time to go on a rant about how people talk about this president–mostly the media, but also people on social media. Look, I know we’re in dark days with this president, but some of the things you’re doing isn’t helping. At all. Let me put them in list form because people love listicles.
- Stop being incredulous about the shit he does. “Can you believe this president _____?!?” Unless the blank is, “Worked at a homeless shelter without cameras around for a day” or some such, yes, I can believe it. We’re only four months in, but he has shown who he is. It irritated me when before he even started, people were like, “Oh, he just said what he said to get elected. He won’t do what he said during the campaign.” Yes, he will! Or something even worse! There is no depth to this man, so what you see is what you get. He’s shown himself to be an ignorant, incurious, idiotic, narcissistic, reckless, and plain old mean-spirited jackass who doesn’t know his asshole from a hole on the ground. He has no filters and no impulse control. Whatever he thinks as it were, he does. Sell out Israel by telling their intel to Russia? Of course. Telling Middle East countries that radical Islam is bad? Why the hell not? There is no more to this president than what he’s shown. Expect the worst.
- Don’t focus on the extraneous shit. This one is hard because all he does is shit. Big, huge piles of it all over the White House. It’s hard to know what’s important and what’s not. But, there are a few easy ones. His appearance. There’s no need to be snarky about it. This includes his weight. It amazes me that liberals who jump on anyone for fat shaming turn around and do the same thing to a conservative. That tells me your social justice politics is more politics than social justice, and I am not here for it. I would say most of his tweets are extraneous, albeit infuriating.
- In a similar vein, leave Melania the fuck alone. I’ve been extremely displeased with liberals calling her a mail-order bride or making fun of her English. When she does something egregious such as plagiarize Michelle Obama’s speech or defends her husband’s outrageous birther bullshit (before the campaign, even), then have at her, but don’t make it personal. Maybe it’s because I’m the child of immigrants myself, obvious immigrants, but I hate when anyone disses immigrants. It’s understandable given the double standard, same as when Ted Cruz was running for president, but it felt slimy to me. Additionally, I don’t give a fuck that Melania had nude photos taken of her, and I side-eyed liberals who denigrated her while scolding others for demeaning sex workers. Don’t do that shit.
- Stop getting mad when people talk about him having mental health issues. I know it’s frustrating beyond belief that the only time we talk about mental health in this country is when someone it’s associated with violence/bad things perpetrated by the person with the mental health issues, but I don’t think the answer to it is to ignore that there are people with mental health issues who do bad things. I once was told in my writing MA program to change the race of my female serial killer protagonist from Asian to white because otherwise that’s all people would focus on. I didn’t because I don’t believe in hiding the dark side–I’m Jungian in that way. We have to face our shadow sides. I’m also for the truth, and no matter how you try to obfuscate or equivocate, this president is not mentally well.
- This is tangential to the president, but he’s the shining example of it. Stop saying America is a meritocracy. It’s never been true, and now the whole world can see it. This man should not be president, and he wouldn’t be if his name wasn’t what it is and if he didn’t have so much goddamn money. It’s a laugh when we tell kids that anyone can be president because it’s fucking not true. I’m not even talking about all the ‘ism’ shit; I’m talking about cold, hard, cash, homey. It takes hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to run for president. We don’t have an official oligarchy, and many people would strenuously deny that we have one, but we do. There are only a very few people who will ever be president, and it’s not based on merit.
- I don’t give a shit about how often this president golfs. In fact, I’d rather he golf than do whatever he considers presidenting to be. This is a weird one because I hate it when the president (any president) gets scrutinized for his vacation days because they’re always on the clock, but it’s different with this president, in part because he’s trying to do business deals at the same time. Plus, the leaks. Oh god. But golfing? HAVE AT IT ALL DAY LONG.
- Call this man and his minions exactly what they are–liars. They lie. All the time. It’s astounding how much they lie, and yet, the media seems oddly reluctant to actually call them lies. I know that’s true in general with the press and Republicans, but they need to knock that shit off.
- Don’t forget to report on the Republican shenanigans. Yes, I know this president is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to clickbait, but don’t forget the fuckery that is happening in Congress as well. This is another gripe that isn’t specific to this president, but happens to be magnified by his utter incompetence–pay more attention to Congress. They’re fuckers, and some of them are even competent. Which makes them dangerous.
- This is for Democrats specifically, especially the ones who are more progressive-than-thou. Fucking vote. But, but, Minna–shut up. Vote. Yes, I know the two-party system is frustrating, and yes, I know it doesn’t seem to matter at times, but come on. What we have now is not the answer to anything. I know there are some people who believe that in order to create a new system, you have to destroy the old, but revolutions are hell, and they don’t always mean a better tomorrow. Millions of people get crushed in the meantime, too, which is not something I can endorse.
- Run for something. I know politics are shitty. I know it’s often the case of the lesser of two evils. However, part of the problem is that people who might actually do some good don’t want to be a part of the shit. Again, I understand that. I don’t know if I could handle it. But, when good people bow out of participating, all we’re left with are shitty people.
- (Yeah, I know I said ten, but fuck it.) Take a break once in a while. Look at cat videos, take a walk, have sex, whatever, but don’t obsesses 24/7. it’s not good for you, and it’s not going to change anything. I started using social media in earnest during the 2008 campaign, which means my Twitter TL and Facebook feed (go, alliteration!) are filled with people who are passionate about politics (more alliteration!). It’s a good thing to care about politics, but I can’t take the constant stream of negativity.
That’s it for now. I’m going to go back to drinking my honey ginger lemon tea and chilling while the world falls apart around me.