Oh Hellz Yeah, Hillary should embrace the “Feminist” Label.

As Hillary Clinton starts her run for the White House, some on the Left and in the Center are tut-tutting over whether her endorsements from feminist organizations will “hurt her” during the campaign. After all, lots of Millenials, some Boomers, and ALL the Right Wingnuts dislke the term “feminist”. The Leery Lefties and Simpering Centrists worryworryworry about HRC and her supporters seeming too, well…brash. Forward. Aggressive. Insufficiently deferential. Not “ladylike” enough.

Put another way, they worry that she will act like she has an equal right to run for President. They worry that Hillary will act like women are just as qualified to hold high office as are men. They worry that the dread word “feminist” will doom her campaign, because the notion of gender equality will turn people off.

That’s a steaming load of elephant turds, Gentle Reader. Here’s why:

Number A: Not too long ago, politicos were urged to avoid talking about equality for non-Whites. Civil Rights were a “third rail” in American politics, touch it and watch your bid for office die. So the “mainstream” politicos soft-pedaled the issue, danced around it, vacillated, and as time went on, lost. Because the average American was, as they often are, ahead of the politicians and pundits on the issue. Eventually, candidates who grew a pair and started talking about equality won their races and changed the law of the land to reflect the will of the people and the meaning of the Constitution.

Letter 2: Not too long ago (and in some places, still), politicos were urged to avoid talking about equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people (LGBT) . Gay rights were a “third rail” in American politics, touch it and watch your bid for office die. So the “mainstream” politicos soft-pedaled the issue, danced around it, vacillated, and as time went on, lost their elections. Because the average American was, as they often are, ahead of the politicians and pundits on the issue. Eventually, candidates who grew a pair and started talking about equality have been winning their races and are changing the law of the land to reflect the will of the people and the meaning of the Constitution.

So now it’s Feminism that Nervous Normans and Nellies are scared to embrace. Why yes, they PERSONALLY support equality for women, yesyesyesofcourse THEY do, but others might take offense, so let’s be quiet and timid so as not to offend…F*** THAT F***ING S***. It’s time to recognize that equality for all means just that: for all. People of all colors, all orientations, all genders, and so on. All means all.

Hillary Clinton has already gotten flak for her hairstyles; for her wardrobe; for her age; for just being a woman. She can’t win the votes of the MRAs, the Teabaggers, the woman-haters, the Teabaggers, or the “Republicans”, so why even bother trying? F*** it, she should be what she is and be proud of it.

Since Barack Obama ran for, won, and has been the President, we’ve seen skin color come back up in the national conversation. And we’ve seen some serious progression on the issue, BECAUSE it was right in America’s face: Black Man = President. Only a few eedjits still dare spout their KKK bulls*** in public these days.

If HRC does the same, we can hope for some progress toward equality for women as well. Having feminism in America’s face can only help make that happen.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Lots of Teapublicans Look a Lot like KKK Types.

See that Teapublican? She wants the Black members of Congress lynched. That means she wants them murdered by white vigilantes, like the KKK used to do. She said so, straight up:

Tea Party radio host Andrea Shea King argued recently that Democratic lawmakers — and specifically members of the Congressional Black Caucus — should be put to death by hanging if they boycotted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to Congress

“Obama doesn’t have to run for reelection again, a lot of these guys do,” King said in a clip of her radio show that was published by Right Wing Watch on Monday. “Listen, I would like to think that these guys could pay with their lives, hanging from a noose in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.”

Think she’s an outlier? Think most Teapubbies aren’t racists? Think most “Republicans” aren’t totally down with KKK-style torture and murder of any black person who gets into a position of authority (or acts “uppity”, in Teapublican terms)? Better think again:

And thousands of other examples exist from notable Teapublicans, in office and out. The “Republican” party tacitly encourages their many violent, racist, treasonous, and seditious members by not denouncing them. Indeed, the GOP rarely says anything to discourage such unconstitutional and illegal behavior.

Tells you all you need to know about the once Grand Old Party. They have become the Garroting Old Party, or perhaps the Gibbet Old Party would be more accurate. They are showing their true nature, and it is a vile and revolting vision that is being revealed.

Anybody who votes for a Repub is showing their approval for KKK-style actions and segregation. ANYBODY and everybody who votes Repub is enabling this behavior. Vote for a Teabagger, you vote to support treason and the murdering of black people. Period.

And neither the blood from the murdered people of color, nor the ashes from burnt crosses (sometimes with people of color tied to them) will ever wash off the hands of Repub voters.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Teapublicans are ALL Racist, Willfully Ignorant, Lying, Bullying Criminals.

Any dips*** who votes for a Repub supports those despicable actions. Yes. These hateful, stupid, violent, dishonest crooks would not be in office were it not for millions of bigoted, idiotic, abusive, dishonest, thieving asshat Teapubbie voters. So if you are or vote for a “Republican”, welcome to the ranks of the Pond Scum Society.

Doubt it? Five quick examples:
Racism: Airheaded Foxbot (a  redundancy, but, hey,  what the Hell) Kristi Capel recently decried Lady Gaga’s “jigaboo” music. Then claimed she didn’t know what the word meant. Ummm… grew up in Kentucky, won a beauty pageant in Missouri, works in Cleveland, and she doesn’t know from racial slurs? Riiiiiiight. That stench you smell is NOT roses, friends, but rather the dung that fertilizes them. She still has her job, proving that racism is acceptable to Repubs.

Willful Ignorance: Idaho lawmaker doesn’t know how babies are made. Or maybe he’s just even dumber than dumb when it comes to biology. Idaho State Rep. Vito Barbieri asked if swallowing a camera would show what was happening in a uterus. Does he think oral sex causes pregnancy, or that women digest via their vaginas? Either way, he, like “republicans” in general, is far too comfortable knowing nothing. He still has his job, proving that pig-ignorance is lauded by Repubs.

Lying and Bullying: Foxbot Bull Bill O’Reilly, who clearly kissed a lot of the Blarney Stone (underneath, in the dirt, with all the other dung beetles, worms and other s***-eating lowlifes) was trying to avoid answering questions about his, well, lies. He beat on the questioner with his bumbershoot, and then tried to get the person he assaulted charged. He still has HIS job, proving that Repubs love men who lie and commit violent acts against innocent people.

Criminals: America’s favorite bulky bully, Chris Christie (proof that naming somebody after the Savior, even when done twice, cannot make them good Christians) has been called out by a judge for stealing millions of dollars from pensioners. He still has his job, proving that Repubs love love LOVE crooked motherf***ers.

Seriously, can you find a truly decent and honorable Republican anywhere (dead ones don’t count)? This blogger was raised by old-school Eienhower Republicans, and there used to much to admire about the Old Party that was once Grand. Maybe not enough to make the Young and Cranky want to join up, but there were points to respect, others to debate, and generally one could engage in reasonably civil discourse with most Republicans, even during the Vietnam war, Watergate, etc. No longer.

The GOPee has become a completely valueless party, a vast organized crime syndicate, full of idiots, secessionists, traitors, crooks, liars and other people who would, in any just society, be locked up with the keys thrown far away, instead of holding the majority of control in our once-decent nation. The idea that half of all of us share those values makes this writer cringe whenever he goes overseas, because he KNOWs that the people he encounters will be asking about our f***ed-up government, and why the Hell we all let it get like this.

The answer is mystifying to them, and depressing to your humble bloggespondent: our government is the way it is, because voter action (and inaction) has made it so. The American electorate has repeatedly shown its approval for such mendacity, wickedness, cruelty, evil and corruption via the ballot box. So our government, far from being an aberration, is in fact representative of the people. Disgusting but true.

All Teapubusicles are rotten scumballs, each and every one, electors and elected alike. F*** the lot of them sideways, with a rusty file and a sandy lubricant.

But not much better are those manifold people  with principles who idly lie around, doing nothing about it but p*** and moan, when their collective votes could right these cataclysmic wrongs in a few short election cycles.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

ISIS and “Christian” Extremists: Both of them are terrorist organizations.

Both groups want to murder millions of infidels so as to bring about the end of the world. Both groups cherry-pick their respective Scriptures to justify the evil acts they perpetrate upon others. Both are run by malevolent geniuses who are followed by  hateful, gullible, violent f***wits with room-temperature IQs. And both have useful idiots in the media who try to paint them as something other than what they are.

Let’s start with ISIS, (and let’s call them “Daesh”, because it is accurate, and because they hate being called by that name).
Here is an excellent article on them, worth the click. Pretty long piece, so here are a very few snippets:

The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), follows a distinctive variety of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy, and can help the West know its enemy and predict its behavior. Its rise to power is less like the triumph of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (a group whose leaders the Islamic State considers apostates) than like the realization of a dystopian alternate reality in which David Koresh or Jim Jones survived to wield absolute power over not just a few hundred people, but some 8 million.
Following takfiri doctrine, the Islamic State is committed to purifying the world by killing vast numbers of people. The lack of objective reporting from its territory makes the true extent of the slaughter unknowable, but social-media posts from the region suggest that individual executions happen more or less continually, and mass executions every few weeks.

Pretty gruesome, you’ll agree. But not all that different from various “Christian” Millenialist groups (we’ll call them “Teavangelicals”, because it is likewise accurate, and they also hate being called by that name).

Teavangelicals think they should rule the world as a theocracy. Just as Daesh does:

Kingdom Now theology states that althoughSatan has been in control of the world since the Fall, God is looking for people who will help him take back dominion. Those who yield themselves to the authority of God’s apostles and prophets will take control of the kingdoms of this world, being defined as all social institutions, the “kingdom” of education, the “kingdom” of science, the “kingdom” of the arts, etc.

Teavangelicals want to re-enslave people (Women, people of color, etc). Again, Daesh also believes in slavery. Check out this quote from a Fundie:

I’m not going to sugarcoat this article in an attempt not to offend anyone. Feminism is rebellion against God’s AUTHORITY! I don’t know where the term “feminazi” originated, but it accurately describes the Feminist Movement. So many pastors today are afraid to preach against the evils of feminism. The truth needs to be told!
America’s churches, marriages and homes are being destroyed by the vile feminist agenda. Women are now filing for divorce atTWICE the rate of men because of feminism. A godly man is a threat to the feminist’s agenda, because he believes that a woman’s place is still in the home—baking cookies, knitting, and caring for the children (1st Timothy 5:14). Of course, hen pecked husbands and sissies are exempt.

That’s what Teavangelicals say about women. As to POC? Here you go, straight from the horse’s ass mouth:

Collier also said that he and his followers believe that whites are “God’s chosen people.” While he denies that racism is at the heart of the event, he admits that some members and attendees are Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members (but membership in the Klan isn’t a requirement).

And this little bon mot:

WE BELIEVE the White, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and kindred people to be God’s true, literal Children of Israel. Only this race fulfills every detail of Biblical Prophecy and World History concerning Israel and continues in these latter days to be heirs and possessors of the Covenants, Prophecies, Promises and Blessings YHVH God made to Israel. This chosen seedline making up the “Christian Nations” (Gen. 35:11; Isa. 62:2; Acts 11:26) of the earth stands far superior to all other peoples in their call as God’s servant race (Isa. 41:8, 44:21; Luke 1:54). Only these descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel scattered abroad (James 1:1; Deut. 4:27; Jer. 31:10; John 11:52) have carried God’s Word, the Bible, throughout the world (Gen. 28:14; Isa. 43:10-12, 59:21), have used His Laws in the establishment of their civil governments and are the “Christians” opposed by the Satanic Anti-Christ forces of this world who do not recognize the true and living God (John 5:23, 8:19, 16:2-3).

And are Teavangelicals violent like Daesh? Yep. Click here to get acquainted with the many “Christians” who behead, rape, bomb, torture and assassinate anyone their diseased “brains” tell them to. Here and abroad.

This writer certainly has no love for Daesh. They are lunatic mass-murderers, among other disgusting characteristics. We cannot, however, pretend that they are any different than the Teavangelicals. We have at least as big a problem with the supposed “followers” of Rebbe Yeshua bar Joseph as we do with those who pervert the teachings of Mohammed (peace be on him).

Any Christian who wants to pretend otherwise should remember this little quote from their professed Lord and Savior in Matthew 7:

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

All terrorists are evil. All of them, regardless of motivation or religion. Look at them with clear eyes, and you’ll see it.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Hate Equal Rights? Then don’t tax the people you oppress.

Young men of color are not treated equally by cops, but they pay the same taxes as old white farts like this author, who gets very good service from the cops. So we can either treat POC as equal citizens, or cut their taxes (& raise taxes on white folks). Anything else would be unfair and thus, un-American.

LGBT Americans are not treated equally by the courts, but they pay the same taxes as old heterosexual farts like this author, who gets very good service from the courts when he gets married or pays taxes on inheritances. So we can either treat LGBT people as equal citizens, or cut their taxes (& raise taxes on straight folks). Anything else would be unfair and thus, un-American.

Women are not treated equally by courts OR the cops, but they pay the same taxes as old male farts like this author, who gets very good service from the courts and the cops. So we can either treat women as equal citizens, or cut their taxes (& raise taxes on dudes). Anything else would be unfair and thus, un-American.

Taxation without representation was one of the reasons we formed this country in the first place. The ideas that people paying taxes should have some say in how they are taxed, and should receive some benefit from taxation, are fundamental to fairness and justice.

Don’t believe it? Let some fast food joint overcharge you for a cheeseburger, but charge the next customer the correct price. Would you be hacked off? Oh hellz yeah, you’d be all up in that restaurant’s face, demanding a refund and decrying the discriminatory way they treated you.

The government is ripping off millions of taxpayers, and has been doing so for decades. We can either:
*condone this extortion and theft,
*rectify the inequalities, or
*cut taxes on those who are being overcharged (thus raising taxes on the white, straight, male population to balance the budget).

Even if you hate POC, gays, and women, even if you support discriminatory laws against them…or maybe ESPECIALLY if you feel that way, you should be willing to support fairness in our tax code.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

A uniform is just an outfit. It does NOT “deserve respect”.

Individual people EARN respect by their actions, not by the clothes they wear.

This writer has friends who are decorated war heroes (one of them damned near died on Iwo Jima). There are other people in uniform who have committed war crimes. Are they equally deserving of respect? Of course not.

There is a cop of Cranky acquaintance who literally saved a child’s life by shooting a man who had a gun pointed at the kid’s head (no kidding, it really happened. The man’s a legend, and deservedly so). There are other cops who have taken bribes or committed crimes. Are they equally deserving of respect? Oh, Hell, no.

In days of yore, there were people, attired like hippie freaks, who went around helping the poor and feeding the hungry. The Manson “family” dressed the same way. Again: equally deserving of respect? Oh, f***ing HELL, no.

So to all whiny-assed, bullying crybabies among the NYPD who are going “waaah” about not being respected: shut the f***ing f*** up, you f***ing f***wits. There are some damned good cops in that town who have earned respect, and who give respect. Guess what? They will get the respect they deserve.

The bad cops will likewise get the respect THEY deserve. And not one bit more. The fabric that covers our bodies means little when compared to the actions of the humans who are covered by that cloth. A uniform, in and of itself, means exactly nothing.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Attention White People: It is Time to Acknowledge our Ignorance.

Hate to say it, but far too many of us don’t seem to realize how little we know about being a person of color (POC) in America. You can tell it from the things that both well-meaning and malicious people are saying. Here is one example of the latter:

This is from an a**hole cop who is mocking the death of Mr. Garner, a POC who was choked to death by a white policeman in New York.  That is willful, vindictive, hateful ignorance, and it is all too common: here is another example.

This doesn’t mean that all white people are such evil motherf***ers: this writer is fully aware of his ignorance. Just because one has lived and worked among, say, Black and Hispanic friends and co-workers does not mean one fully appreciates their experiences, any more than a father fully understands what a mother goes through when she gives birth to their child.

Participation in an event does not necessarily mean equivalent understanding. Mrs. Blunt and Cranky doesn’t understand what a coronary bypass feels like, any more than your humble correspondent groks her labor pains. Some things you have to feel for yourself to fully grasp.

So here is the challenge to all of us white folks: be aware of our ignorance. It will make us look smarter. And if we listen to our brothers and sisters who are people of color, we might even become smarter.

Can’t hurt, and it just might help.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

“Old Selfish White People”

Gentle Reader, here is a magnificent bit of prose from musician/artist/awesome dude Bob Ray Starker. Read and become enlightened, as did my cranky self:

Okay, I started out today trying to be civil and constructive, but all anyone wants to do is throw mud at each other… so what the hell, let’s get into this…

I am a 50 year old white american straight man and here is what I know for sure: Black people have never messed with me. Gay people have never messed with me. Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, poor people, none of them have ever messed with me. 

Which group of people have repeatedly made my life harder than it had to be for no good reason at all? White people with more money than me. 

They have laid me off, closed companies I worked for, made a lot of money by underpaying me for the work I did in their employ, bought elections when I could only afford to vote in them, and, perhaps most infuriating of all, they have relentlessly messed with my non-white, non-straight, non-wealthy friends. And they continue to do it because their world is ending and they are afraid of losing control as the human race slowly evolves beyond their limited scope of understanding.

So who am I most worried about when I lay in bed awake at night? Old selfish rich white people. All in all, I could have done without them.

Well said by the Saxman. Nailed it to a tree, he did.

All y’all, googlize this fine young man. Read his words, buy his art, attend his shows: but first and foremost, read what he said today. Read, reflect, and act.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Want to change things? Ferguson shows us the way: VOTE, God-F***ing-Dammit.

We won’t get change by rioting. Nor by shooting unarmed citizens. Those are both s***ty ideas. Instead let’s look at one of the first actions taken after the deplorable murder of Mr. Michael Brown: a voter-registration tent.

Yes, that is correct. The majority of Ferguson is black, but due to various disenfranchisement measures, only 12% of that community votes. On the other hand, lots and lots of white people vote, so guess who gets represented in city government? Yep, the people who vote.

That being the case, people are registering black voters (and anyone else too, of course) in order to use the ballot box to change how things are done in that town. If enough of the majority residents of Ferguson turn out and vote, they can get a government that actually represents, you know, the majority of the people. The way democracy is SUPPOSED to work.

The response to these voter registration efforts has been sadly predictable: racist Repubs hate it, and everybody else supports it. Repubs as a rule oppose increasing the voter pool, because they know it doesn’t work for them: higher turnout favors Dems.

We all need to do what people in Ferguson are doing: register to vote, and then vote. Use our power to get the government we want and deserve.

Register. Vote. Every election, every year.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

It’s all good if you are a white, Christian male. Otherwise, you deserve whatever is done to you.

That seems to be how America operates: women, people of color, and non-Christians are pretty much here on sufferance, and any injury done to “those people” is no big deal. But nononono, don’t mess with the right-wing honkey dudes, nononono. They are deserving of doubt’s benefit, due process, tolerance, and understanding, yupyupyup. A short list of examples follows :

Number A: Michael Brown, yet another black man executed without due process by a racist white cop. But let’s not rush to judgment, the white cop deserves a fair trial and all the benefits of our legal system. Pity the black man didn’t get any of those things, but hey, it’s his own fault for picking African-American parents, right?

Letter 2: Let’s just read this headline: “Hedy Epstein, 90-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor, Arrested During Michael Brown Protest”. Yes, you read that correctly. This Jewish female had the nerve to suggest that the Christian male cops were out of line for murdering black citizens, so they grabbed her and threw her a** in jail. No references to the Nazis are allowed, nononono, that might be offensive to the St. Louis police, right?

Thirdly: Don’t  report on the evil being done by white Christian males, or you will be arrested. If you are lucky, that is: they might threaten to kill you, instead, for betraying your fellow male oppressors. Nothing worse than a traitor, amirite?

Fourth: the best way to explain away the heinous actions of White Christian Males is to employ the services of a bunch of smiling white people. Because these sweet young white ladies are just doing their jobs, and it would be ungentlemanly to ask them any uncomfortable questions. And be nice to the clean-cut young white Christian men, too, because, well, you know, white people.

Finally: even if a man is a convicted, registered sex offender, white Christian males can use their discretion to allow him into school buildings and onto a varsity football team, because, hey, the girl shouldn’t have put herself in that position, right? The poor widdle wapist deserves a chance to get his life back. And it is wrong to shame him, because he only did what any other man has a right to do, right? Those women have it coming, acting that way, right?

One might say that this writer and other white men should be  deeply ashamed of many members of our  gender, ethnicity, and faith. One would be right. All that privilege went to their heads and turned into a gargantuan sense of entitlement: to the extent that we see the majority of the world’s population being oppressed and abused by a minority (us).

But hey, next time, pick the right parents and chromosome set before you get born like we did, okey-dokey?  Otherwise, don’t complain about being oppressed, killed, raped and abused, because it’s your own damned fault for not being white, Christian and male. Winners keep, losers weep. Quitcherbitchin, loser scum.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky