Second Class

Today the United States made approximately 52% of the population second class citizens. In doing so, it removed any doubt as to whether or not the US is a first world nation. Any nation that is so corrupt as to allow the system designed to keep different branches of the government both separate and in check to rot away completely is a failed state.

Overturning Roe isn’t just about the overweening hatred of women and pregnant people that is foundational to the Republican/Fundamentalist/Catholic/White Supremacist/Billionaire/Toxic Cis Hetero-normative hegemony in this nation. It’s about fear and control. It is not and has never been about the unborn. If it was, prenatal care would be both funded and required, and people who neglected pregnant people’s healthcare would actually suffer consequences. But they don’t.

There is no pro in the “pro-life” movement. The anti-choice movement was created as a political movement to unite historically opposed allies so Republicans could get elected. That’s it. That’s the “pro-life” movement. It’s a con, and a very successful one.

If you think you’re virtuous because you’re screaming at people going in and out of Planned Parenthood, the vast majority of whom are receiving basic medical care regardless of sex or gender, you’re just being a judgmental asshole. If you think it’s acceptable to tell people that “women just shouldn’t be able to kill babies” then you don’t understand science, and you’re still an asshole. If you think someone who has been raped should be required to carry their rapist’s potential offspring to term, you’re certainly not getting your advice on morality from Jesus, and you’re an asshole.

The truth is, abortion is not mentioned in the Christian Bible. Other faiths, such as Judaism and Islam, actually value the lives of their adherents and consider abortion to be necessary medical care to save the lives of the already born. You know, those of us in whom society has already invested. In other words, the lives of actual people.

But here in the United States a small group of very wealthy, very white nominally Christian people have hoodwinked many of you and outright fucked the rest of us. They play on your fears. They turn your basest instincts about in-groups, out-groups, skin color, and sex, into weapons and then use them against you. Really, to a large extent this isn’t even about Democrats or Republicans, this is about Oligarchs. Because at the end of the day, if you have a uterus and you’re rich, you’ll be able to get necessary medical care, like an abortion, no matter what.

It’s the ordinary people, the rest of us, that will suffer, as we do now. We suffer in a failed nation with no nationalized health care; institutionalized racism and sexism; homophobia and transphobia; ableism and systemic and cultural indifference to the disabled; and with a huge part of the population that genuinely believes that it is really OK to hate loudly and proudly. We suffer with the largest incarcerated population in the “civilized” world, and we have an epidemic of gun violence unlike any other country on earth.

Roe is the first, but it won’t be the last. While we’re all angry now, let us make today important not because of what we lost, but because of what we begin. Let today be the day that historians recognize as the beginning of the revolution. Oligarchs, we are coming for you. Everyone else needs to get on the correct side of history, or else fall with the Oligarchs. They are going to wish we only had torches and pitchforks.

RIP Mrs. Geoffrey Michael

Management regrets to inform you of the death of Mrs. Geoffrey Michael.  Mrs. Michael died the way that she lived, which is to say, not at all.  Mrs. Geoffrey Michael, just like Mrs. Kelly Hopkins, was a figment of the fevered imaginings of the patriarchy and men threatened by equality of the sexes.

Ms. Kelly Hopkins, we are happy to report, is still alive and well and still a feminist progressive working for a more just society for all. Except for those who would disregard her humanity. Those folks can go straight to hell with all the rest of the Trump voters.

For those of you who are humor impaired, the part about taking his first name is a joke.

Management would further like to note that all mail sent to the Hopkins-Michael household addressed to either the late/non-extant Mrs. Michael or Mrs. Hopkins will be immediately recycled without opening.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

Management

If you need clarification, just ask

In this day and age of food allergies and intolerances, you’d think that being a vegetarian would be pretty straightforward.  Apparently, it’s still not.  I’ve been a vegetarian for 25 years now and I still get people who are completely confused by what it means or who make assumptions about what I eat or don’t eat.  Some of this is cultural, some of this is just dumb, and some of this is people who just aren’t thinking.

So, for those of you who are so inclined, I’ve written up a handy reference chart.  Keep it where you keep the lists you consult when you’re trying to figure out what to make for the kosher vegan with the nut allergy when he comes over to visit.  It’ll make life easier, I promise.

Continue reading “If you need clarification, just ask”

MEMO

July 14, 2013

TO: The State of Florida

FROM: Common Sense

RE: Last Night’s Court Decision

Please remedy the error in last night’s court decision.  If the unfortunate laws cited in the case are not overturned forthwith, please refer to the the following remedy.

CC: Texas State Legislature, re: The Bill That Shall Not Be Named

 

Come on. We’re better than this.

Honestly, I wish I knew why some people have such a problem with anyone different than them.  American culture is one of the most heterogenous imaginable.  And yet there are still so many people afraid of “them”, whether it be gays, foreigners, or in this case, Muslims.

A U.S. Army veteran, who served in Iraq and is still in the Army Reserve, was apparently attacked by his fare last week.  And the guy was screaming about terrorists and the Boston bombing and whatnot.

You know, from a certain point of view, the group that has created the overwhelming majority of the problems I have had in my life is angry, bigoted white meathead rednecks.  Does that mean we should start profiling white rednecks?  Or start reporting “suspicious” white rednecks to the police? Does that mean all white rednecks are the same?  No, they aren’t.  It’s absurd.  And so is blaming all 1 billion plus Muslims for the acts of a small minority.  It’s not like Christians have been free of committing horrific violence in the name of their religious views.  So get over yourselves, people.  Try learning a little, opening your mind, maybe cracking open a book or two.  And for God’s sake, turn off the TV and the talk radio.  It’s only making things worse.

-Geoff