That Video

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

Last night Donald Trump posted a video promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. The end of the video depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.

When asked why Trump felt the need to share this video, his mouthpiece Karoline Leavitt wrote, "Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public." Hours later the video was deleted.

In the midst of Black History Month, the American president decided to share a glaringly racist trope with his over 11 million online followers.

I hope this was a sign of desperation. That as his poll numbers decline and the midterms loom, Trump aimed to inspire his base with a gift of overt racism.

Next he'll be offering up a night with Melania in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Park It

Image:  Facebook

National parks offer some fee-free days, and the Trump administration has tweaked the schedule for next year. No longer can you get in free on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

Gee, what could those two holidays have in common?

But rejoice, for one of the new additions to the fee-free calendar is June 14, Flag Day, which also happens to be Donald Trump's birthday. What a coincidence.

I suggest you and your friends visit your nearest national park on that day, wave the flag, and play rousing birthday games like pin the tail on the narcissist and Simon Says Impeach.

And He's Off

Image:  Facebook

The murder by an Afghan of a member of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., has freed Donald Trump to launch into xenophobic overdrive.

In other words, he got an early Christmas present.

"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States," Trump posted late on Thanksgiving, a holiday that celebrates immigration.

Our leading nativist also said the government would deport any foreign national who's "non-compatible with Western Civilization." Trump himself isn't compatible with any form of civilization. Letting him define Western civilization is like handing the job to a combination of Al Capone and Liberace.

His jingoistic hysterics are meant to feed his base, in the hope that while they froth and seethe they won't notice how prices continue to rise. Trump's approval ratings have cratered to a record low. His frenzied bigotry will likely boost his numbers.

For a while. Until Christmas shoppers realize that their budget can no longer stretch to a Marvel Spider-Man VenomVersus Spider-Man Liquid Shifter Action Figure with Accessories.

Virginia Stew

Image by Kjrstie from Pixabay

Virginia has never elected a woman governor. That changes on Tuesday.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger is facing off against Republican Winsome Earle-Sears for the Old Dominion State's top job. Spanberger is white, Earle-Sears is Black. Spanberger is a former CIA officer, Earle-Sears a former Marine, so both are made of steel and apple pie.

And in the case of Earle-Sears, bile. As the Marines famously planted the flag on Iwo Jima, she's infamously planting hers in a toilet.

She stands outside school board meetings to fuss over which bathrooms transgender students use. Her campaign ads, like Donald Trump's last year, characterize her opponent as "being for they/them." Earle-Sears and the Virginia Republicans have pounded on this "issue," obviously mistaking trans kids for the Viet Cong.

Spanberger leads in the polls, but we know how potent the culture wars can be. On the other hand, how many transphobic Trump fans will be willing to vote for a Black woman? This Virginia race is quite a study in the impacts of transphobia, racism, and sexism.

It's hard to keep track of who should be hating whom. I bet even the bigots are getting confused.

The "Kids" Got Caught

Image:  Facebook

You've probably heard by now about the exposed Young Republican group chat that revealed them all to be the love children of Adolph Hitler and Witchiepoo.

If you haven't heard, know that Politico obtained over seven months of Telegram messages among Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona, and Vermont. And while we're all aware that Donald Trump has degraded political discourse, the comments from these wannabe future leaders of the GOP lower the bar to below ground.

They called Black people monkeys and "the watermelon people." They disparaged Jews, and referred to rape as "epic." They tossed around epithets like "faggot," "retarded," and n-word variations.

One charmer, alluding to an upcoming vote on whether he should become chair of the Young Republican National Federation, declared, "Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber."

Ah, the innocence of youth.

Amidst the fallout from the bombshell Politico report, JD Vance pooh-poohed the outrage. The racist and anti-Semitic and homophobic comments, the joshing about gas chambers and slavery and rape—it was all just "stupid" jokes made by "kids."

Actually, of the 11 chat participants, eight ranged in age from 24 to 35. Barely out of diapers.

These GOP activists were not just hateful, crude, and entitled, but also stupid to have created such a record. If this is the cream of the Republican crop, I don't even want to think about the dregs.

Really, Zip

 

This Week's Quote

Image by Мирас Толеуханов from Pixabay

Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.

Darren Beattie, just appointed to a top State Department job

Source:  CNN

Hoop and Hate

Image:  Facebook

If the New York Liberty win today's Game 4 of the WNBA finals, they'll capture the franchise's first league title, overcoming a resilient Minnesota Lynx team, the defensive player of the year . . . and homophobic death threats.

I don't think Vegas oddsmakers figured in the latter.

After Game 1 of the series, Marta Xargay, wife of Liberty superstar Breanna Stewart, received anti-gay death threats via email. The couple alerted the league, and the NYPD is investigating.

Minnesota beat New York in Game 1, in part because Stewart blew a free throw at the end of regulation, which makes me suspect the email is more likely to have come from Montauk than Minnetonka.

Social media abuse against WNBA players, much of it racial, rose this season. "Why is this happening? Because we are the most inclusive league in all of professional sports and I can say that with confidence. But there’s no place for hate," said Stewart.

Apparently receiving death threats against your family can focus a person, as Stewart had a monster Game 2. But as motivators go, that one purely sucks.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.

Wait, I want to know: Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?

Michelle Obama

Source:  TIME