I married a Russian bot

I tend to be loud and angry in my political views, I freely admit. My wife, on the other hand, is more subtle and open to exploring other political perspectives, but she is also deeply concerned about the direction the country is taking. She’s been more active in local political organizing than I am (no one wants me in their campaigns, for some reason), and she’s also been quietly working in online communities. She’s far more interested in, and better at, healing the rifts and dispelling the nastiness, so, for instance, she’s been posting in some of the online fora in a positive way. She’s an advocate for Bernie Sanders, but she only says good things about other candidates and does not engage in trying to tear down Warren or even Biden.

I brought her her breakfast this morning, and she was shocked. She could not believe it. She had just been banned from Democratic Underground. She just ignored my lovely breakfast. I think her feelings were hurt.

I couldn’t believe it either. My breakfast was healthy and delicious, and Mary is a gentle vision of sweetness and light online, kind of the opposite of me. I guess DU is committed to fractiousness, though. Either that or they were unable to believe someone who wasn’t cutthroat and vicious was human.

I should have noticed that she said something strange like “doobryuh ootruh” when I brought her plate in, though. She also seems to be drinking a lot of machine oil lately. Should I worry?

Not subtle at all

Here’s a fascinating 18th century political cartoon:

There’s a short essay to go with it.

One could provoke debate about the sexualized imagery throughout the cartoon, the purpose of a racialized America, the ways in which imagery of class, race, and gender intersect, and the place of the “civilized” European versus the “natural” American in the rhetoric of the American Revolution. Does the artist believe Britain holds the moral right; does the cartoon display America’s winning ideology? Which should win, or who shall?

One could. I’m just overwhelmed with the freight of associations here.

Jacob Wohl does it again

Fresh from his expedition to the savage wilderness of Minneapolis, rested from the harrowing experience of faking death threats from gay Hispanic diversity coordinators, Jacob Wohl launched himself fearlessly into his new mission, to defeat the candidacy of Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg by hook or crook.

Far-right activists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman helped coordinate a fake campaign against Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg through a Medium post on Monday that accused the mayor of sexual assault.

The two men used fake social media accounts for a 19-year-old Ferris State University student named Hunter Kelly on Monday without his knowledge or consent to publish a vague post accusing the presidential hopeful of assault this past February.

It’s too bad that Don Knotts died, because he’d be the natural choice to play Wohl as a bumbling villain in the Disneyfied live-action movie of this caper. Their patsy, Kelly Hunter, has since released a statement disavowing the whole mess.

I WAS NOT SEXUALLY ASSAULTED

It’s important for everyone to know that I was not sexually assaulted and would never falsely accuse anyone.

To keep it brief for now- I was approached by a political figure to come to DC to discuss political situations from the standpoint of a gay Republican. When I arrived they discussed Peter Buttigieg and started talking about how they would be working a campaign against him.

I went to bed and woke up to a fake Twitter @RealHunterKelly and an article that I in no way endorsed or wrote.

I have since left and am working on a formal statement to give to everyone including the Buttigieg family.

Thank you for standing behind me and knowing that I would never accept or allow any of this.

You can’t be too bright to be a gay Republican, but even worse is to be the kind of liar who manufactures transparently phony hit pieces like Wohl and Burkman.

Burkman would be played by Tim Conway.

Swept away in a storm of buzzwords!

It’s obvious that the one thing that is keeping Answers in Genesis afloat is that they’ve tapped into the same vein of fear and lunacy that Donald Trump draws strength from — so today Ken Ham posted cartoons to show all the things the rabid right fears most.

It’s a little weird that he’s got “male and female restrooms” whirling around in his imaginary tornado, and it’s a rather incoherent soup of words (is “creation” contributing to the chaos as much as “racism”?), but it’s also revealing. None of those words leave me feeling confused. Apparently, though, poor Ken and his cult-like followers want all the ideas to stop challenging them so he can cuddle up to his biblical anchor.

Health care and colleges — does Canada have to do everything better than us?

I’m thinking it would be to our benefit to secede and join the more liberal country to our north. They really seem to have it together. They also demonstrate that elitism and exclusivity do not make for a better university.

The University of Toronto, rated one of the 25 best institutions of higher education in the world, has around 71,000 undergraduate students and an acceptance rate of 69 per cent.

Higher education is also cheaper in Canada. The average annual undergraduate tuition is $6,838, compared to $9,700 for state public colleges in the U.S. and around $35,000 for private colleges.

Sign me up. I also hear we get poutine and Tim Horton’s when we enlist. I’m willing to learn a little French.

Got any white walkers you need to deal with?

I’m pretty sure these are equivalent to Valerian steel and would be exceptionally effective. Marcus is auctioning off a pair of beautifully wicked handmade knives to benefit our legal fund. I would bid on both if said legal fund hadn’t drained my bank account rather severely already. I’ve always wanted a tactical chef’s knife, just in case.

Get ’em while you can. Marcus has set up a fair system to manage the auction, and you can both help us out and get a totally appropriate weapon out of it.

Contemptible liar

Our president. Our shame.

The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor. They take care of the baby. They wrap the baby beautifully. And then the doctor and mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby

His imaginary scenario is false. Anyone who executes a baby after it is born healthy is a murderer, and would be treated as one. This is a man throwing red meat to a mob of anti-abortion fanatics, feeding their fantasies and giving them justification for violence.

He has been lying nonstop for his entire life, and yet the NY Times still refuses to recognize that simple fact, instead referring to that claim as “an inaccurate refrain”.

Our president is an out-of-control demagogue who whips up his followers into a frenzy with lies. He must be impeached. Now.

Why does Prometheus Books even bother

I occasionally get books sent to me in hopes of a review, I guess, and more often than not they don’t interest me. But I check anyway! This was probably the fastest nope yet; I flipped it over, and the first blurb on the back cover was from…Michael Shermer. On that grounds alone, I’d throw it away, but his blurb was hilarious.

[The] best book I’ve read on [this topic].

The brackets aren’t mine! They actually had to butcher his quote that much to get something they could use!

Then, further down, the Washington Monthly blurbs,

…explaining the now well-documented psychological, biological, and genetic differences between liberals and conservatives with reference to human evolution…

That’s from Chris Mooney, who ought to know better.

Well. All I can say is that my genetics won’t allow me to read this crap, and right now I’m praying for a speciation event.