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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Who Love's Ya, Baby?



I live in a small Ohio suburb. We get a monthly Money Saver magazine in the mail with advertisements and coupons for local businesses. I got mine today. Imagine my profound surprise when I found a two page ad from the Trump campaign. I've marveled at the commercials they have been putting up here. It is Ohio, after all. You would expect them to be creating some thoughtful, persuasive ads. Instead we get urgent requests to call an 800 number and press 1 to show our support. I completely expect to hear "At The Airport Marriot! - Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" every time the commercial ends. They're garbage. Honestly. This 'master businessman' only proves his penchant for tacky wordplay and conman ploys.

I suppose I wasn't completely surprised by the first page of the ad. The entire thing was full of verifiable lies about Hillary Clinton's record countered by a laughable list of Trump's 'accomplishments' and a vision for America that would actually fit on a bumper sticker. 





Then I got to page 2 showing some of the 'millions' who support Trump. Just Jesus Christ! The first thing I noticed was that his wife's name was misspelled. Yeah. I'm sure Melanie supports him. That was important, I suppose. Americans need to know that your wife (whatever her name is) supports you. His VP pick Mike Pence supports him, too. Go figure. And the kids - they all got prominent spots in this ad. 

And then you have the rest. Take time with the list of people the Official Trump Campaign told us support him.

  1. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto
  2. Rosie O'Donnell
  3. Rev Run
  4. Russell Simmons
  5. Eva Longoria
  6. Muslims (generally, I suppose)



So sure, this entire 2 page ad is bullshit. Its a nonsensical bit of nothing put together at the last minute by someone who didn't even try. They couldn't find prominent, respectful Americans who supported his candidacy so they gave us people that should support him by default and people who refuse to come out and actually endorse him, regardless of their friendship, like Tom Brady. But it's pretty disgusting that, in attempts to find credibility in the black community or with immigrants or with decent human beings, he would peddle endorsements that have never come and WILL NEVER COME. If I were Rosie O'Donnell, I'd sue. Just sayin' ...


Kiss Kiss ... Mean Progressive




Sunday, September 4, 2016

Dear Media: Rape Is Still A Thing

Indeed


Last summer we were forced to suffer Mika Brzezinski feigning disgust over a Trump rape allegation and that was about the extent to which our network media wanted to cover the story. Of course, Brzezinski's disgust was over the idea of an allegation having been made at all, not at the rape, itself. She pretty much told the whole wide world that Trump was above it and refused to cover it beyond her outrage.

As we roll into the final months of a campaign that has lowered the discourse of our society, maybe forever, we have watched our media spend the last few weeks trying desperately to convince themselves and their audience that Trump isn't a racist. The definition has been rehashed more times than the theory of evolution. Here. Let me help you. TRUMP IS A FUCKING RACIST.

While trying to redefine the word 'racist' you have not informed your audience about the Central Park Five case and his part in it. Most Americans would be absolutely horrified to know that anyone would spend money to put full page ads in 4 New York newspapers calling for the death penalty for five black and Latino teenagers (age 14-16) who, as it turned out, were completely innocent.

But if that isn't recent enough for you - This was actually reported in the 7am hour yesterday, when he was getting ready to pander to a black church and no mention was made of it, thereafter. K? There. Racist defined. Move on.






You have wasted an entire year not exploring the Republican nominee. You have spent MONTHS on supposition about what very well might be a scandal (which has, to date, still failed to be) in emails of Secretary Clinton (heads up - thats her goddamned title - no need to address her with Mrs). You have completely neglected the stories about Trump that are reported and Americans have a right to know before we go to the polls in November. 

You have yet to find the time to go over thousands (THOUSANDS!) of lawsuits filed against Trump and explain to the American people exactly what he has been sued for and what he has been found guilty of in his business dealings while he is on the stump trying to convince America that he gives a single shit about working people. 

You have completely let him get away with not giving us his tax returns but congratulate yourselves for asking his surrogates the question every now and again. It is a tenet of American politics that any nominee give their returns and he gets by with absolutely nonsensical retorts and you just let them go. No candidate would get away with that. If this were Secretary Clinton, every channel would cover that and nothing else 24/7. That's just a fact. And you would have explained ad nauseum exactly WHY it is so important for the voters to see what is in their tax returns. No one has even bothered to ask him, 'Hey ... If you are really being audited, how about you show us a copy of the letter you received from the IRS informing you of the audit?' 

Of the countless things you refuse to cover, the most offensive to me are his rape allegations. Let us not pretend that decorum has kept anyone from talking about such topics, because decorum hasn't been an issue in our media ever since the Clinton #42 years. Trump's divorce papers identified him as a rapist. He was sued in 1997 for sexual harassment and attempted rape. But no one wants to touch it. 

And now, RIGHT NOW Trump is getting ready to go to court for rape of a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD and no one in the media is informing American voters of this fact. I will acknowledge that this case is hard to discuss. After having read the complaint, I am, quite literally, a changed woman. I will never unsee the visual images depicted therein. Because of the detail, however, and the corroborating witness affidavit, the story is one that voters must hear. 

Any thinking person can tell that Donald Trump holds nothing but contempt for women. Likewise, any thinking person would attest that he is, quite obviously, a bully. You need only show his performance in previous debates or one of several hundred tweets that a teenager would be above sending. He has the personality traits of a rapist. But he gets a pass. I sincerely believe his lawsuit-happy ass is getting away with everything because the media is afraid of being sued. Do your jobs or you will end up in a country where freedom of the press really will be in question.

You allowed the term 'legitimate rape' to become part of our lexicon. How about taking a little time exploring 'legitimate rape allegations' so the progress American women have made isn't countered by sending a fucking rapist to the White House. 

Kiss Kiss ... Mean Progressive 





Thursday, September 1, 2016

Dear Media: It's Time For Extreme Vetting


BREAKING NEWS >>> This isn't breaking news.



Media, you have failed us. Again. You have spent 16 months trying to normalize a campaign that is toxic, at best. You have asked yourselves, your pundits and the American people to explore the Trump candidacy to the depths of a puddle after a 5 minute rain. You have made it clear that your only objective is to report on that which creates the best spin and ignore all else. In the case of CNN, you have literally hired Corey Lewandowski, Trumps 'former' campaign manager, and then ask him daily to tell us just what Trump would like us to hear. Is America being punked right now? Is Ashton Kutcher going to pop out one of these mornings from behind Steve Kornacki's big board and tell us all of this was a complete joke? That would be more settling than the place we presently find ourselves.

The spin is the only thing that matters. Why, then, aren't Trumps rape charges tabloidesque enough for you? Are you afraid of him filing a lawsuit? You opened the week telling us about a sexting scandal of the husband of a Clinton staffer but have yet to find the time to tell Americans that the 'man' on the top of the Republican ticket has been accused of rape. Repeatedly.

You keep bringing up the fact that he is polling miserably with college educated voters. Wanna know why? We saw last night's speech in college. In the original German. (see here) We are able to see his campaign for what it is. Is the whole of our media too naive to see what is coming or are you too interested in ad buys to educate those Americans who can't see it coming?

It is (well beyond) time that you do some extreme vetting of your own. Go find footage of Hitlers old speeches. I found them myself but was only able to find them in Neo Nazi youtube channels and I don't want to give them more clicks. Why not do some pieces and explore what history has shown us about demagogues who rise to power. Trump is known to have kept a book of Hitler's speeches at his bedside. Maybe explore that a bit. The comparisions are terrifying. Here are a few hints of the things to look up:

* Promised 'Peace through strength' (Trump said TODAY)
* Condemnation of entire religion.
* Proposal of mass deportation of 'undesirables.'
* Promise to break treaties with foreign nations.
* Assertion that all government is corrupt and only he could be trusted to fix it.
* Promise to rebuild the military to the greatest force in history.
* Use of quick catch phrases to outline policies with little/no detail (read Mein Kampf).
* Called for IDs to distinguish all of a single religion he deemed 'dangerous.'
* Teach nationalism in schools (he said this today - you ALL missed it).
* Condemn the media for lying about the candidate (heads up - some of them were killed).
* His supporters like him because he was 'telling it like it is.'
* Demanded that all of the problems of the country were caused by the outsiders.
* Encouraged beatings of protesters (later murder) who spoke out against him.


This is a quick list off the top of my head. I know many learned people would be able to add to it with ease.

Yes. There is a good reason we shouldn't blindly just toss Hitler/Nazis into a discussion. It distills the conversation for the next time it would be relevant. Thanks to assholes like Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Ben Carson and others on the right, we have had to suffer ridiculous correlations to President Obama and Hitler. Of course, those were exciting to cover SO YOU DID.

It is your job to chronicle what we will leave to history. After having studied the journalists who witnessed and documented the 20th century, take your responsibility more seriously. Read and watch what they left you about the rise of the monstrous leaders who tried to annihilate all that was good in the world. Offer the American people the important comparisons they need to make educated decisions in November.

 Kiss Kiss ... Mean Progressive



For any who missed the Arizona 'immigration' speech last night (8/31/16) where many of the comparisons are drawn: