Hall of Douchebags
As I get this blog going, I can't help but try to think of gimmicks and clever ideas that might make more than a few people read it. So I'll just throw them all out there and see what sticks to the wall.
First of all, I apologize to anyone offended by the use of the word "douchebag". I realize it's not entirely pleasant. But I've favored it lately, partly because it has a retro charm, partly because it just feels cathartic to say it, and partly because I giggle everytime Jon Stewart calls Bob Novak a "Douchebag of Liberty". So anyway, sorry, but... well, just get over it.
So my Hall of Douchebags (which I hope someday to have a fancy decorative version of) is in no particular order--there are just too many that you run across on a daily basis, and I didn't start this early enough to get everyone in from the start. So it's an ongoing process of identifying these dicks and doing what little I can to help point out why they're such fuckers.
The lucky first inductee... Trent Lott (Senator from Mississippi). Now I know, not a big risk taken in naming him. But it's fresh in my mind--saw him this evening on Anderson Cooper's show (no, I'm not in love with Anderson Cooper, he just happens to be doing a compelling job of reporting this story). Anderson was asking him the predictable questions about the federal response, was it enough, why wasn't it enough, what could be different. Nothing that really would have gotten a good answer, and frankly I would have thought Anderson wouldn't even bother at this point.
But Douchebag Lott wasn't even smart or decent enough to pretend to care. He had the gall to get pissed at Anderson and the media in general for asking those questions. And then when Anderson pointed out that it's not just the media asking these questions, it's the people in the Superdome and the Convention Center asking where the hell the help is, Lott dug his hole even deeper by saying that this isn't a time to complain. COMPLAIN???? You know what, if I'm left to die in a hellscape by a government that's supposed to protect its citizens, I'm damn well going to complain when that help doesn't come. I think as an American I still have that right (have to check, may have been taken away in the Patriot Act).
He stopped just short of saying something really offensive. Sure, he lost his big expensive house (yes, I'm assuming, but I'm allowed to do that!) in Mississippi, but as my wife said, he knows he has a home in Washington to go to. HE had a shower today. HE had meals today. HE knows where his family is and his possessions are, and he didn't spend the last four days slowly starving and dehydrating to death amid a sea of death and waste. So to even begin to say that people shouldn't be complaining, that it hampers the rescue efforts and that we have to concentrate on what lies ahead, that takes either enormous brass balls, or a complete lack of respect for the people he represents and their neighbors.
Which brings me to the final point here--refreshingly, everyone is starting to bring up the issue of race. Like it was so hard to figure out the first day. Not only do I believe that the urgency of the response was less than it should have been because it's mostly poor, black people, but I also think that there is a complete lack of understanding of the predicament. Those blowhards, Lott included, probably don't even UNDERSTAND that these people COULDN'T evacuate because they don't have cars, they don't have money to travel, they had to wait for their 1st of the month checks. And a good number of the dickheads in question (DW mentioned Rush Limbaugh bloviating about "why didn't these people just leave?") go behind closed doors and ask each other "Why does everyone care so much about a bunch of n***ers?". Sure, I know that's a horrible thing to say or assume, but you know what--that's the country we live in.
People like Trent Lott could give a rat's ass about those people because they don't all vote, and more importantly, they don't contribute to his campaign. He pays lip service to the issue, but all the while can't help but try to make it look like it's partly THEIR fault.
So for those reasons, and for many others which I only partly recall, but am comfortable pinning all over him, Trent Lott becomes member 1 of my Hall of Douchebags.
First of all, I apologize to anyone offended by the use of the word "douchebag". I realize it's not entirely pleasant. But I've favored it lately, partly because it has a retro charm, partly because it just feels cathartic to say it, and partly because I giggle everytime Jon Stewart calls Bob Novak a "Douchebag of Liberty". So anyway, sorry, but... well, just get over it.
So my Hall of Douchebags (which I hope someday to have a fancy decorative version of) is in no particular order--there are just too many that you run across on a daily basis, and I didn't start this early enough to get everyone in from the start. So it's an ongoing process of identifying these dicks and doing what little I can to help point out why they're such fuckers.
The lucky first inductee... Trent Lott (Senator from Mississippi). Now I know, not a big risk taken in naming him. But it's fresh in my mind--saw him this evening on Anderson Cooper's show (no, I'm not in love with Anderson Cooper, he just happens to be doing a compelling job of reporting this story). Anderson was asking him the predictable questions about the federal response, was it enough, why wasn't it enough, what could be different. Nothing that really would have gotten a good answer, and frankly I would have thought Anderson wouldn't even bother at this point.
But Douchebag Lott wasn't even smart or decent enough to pretend to care. He had the gall to get pissed at Anderson and the media in general for asking those questions. And then when Anderson pointed out that it's not just the media asking these questions, it's the people in the Superdome and the Convention Center asking where the hell the help is, Lott dug his hole even deeper by saying that this isn't a time to complain. COMPLAIN???? You know what, if I'm left to die in a hellscape by a government that's supposed to protect its citizens, I'm damn well going to complain when that help doesn't come. I think as an American I still have that right (have to check, may have been taken away in the Patriot Act).
He stopped just short of saying something really offensive. Sure, he lost his big expensive house (yes, I'm assuming, but I'm allowed to do that!) in Mississippi, but as my wife said, he knows he has a home in Washington to go to. HE had a shower today. HE had meals today. HE knows where his family is and his possessions are, and he didn't spend the last four days slowly starving and dehydrating to death amid a sea of death and waste. So to even begin to say that people shouldn't be complaining, that it hampers the rescue efforts and that we have to concentrate on what lies ahead, that takes either enormous brass balls, or a complete lack of respect for the people he represents and their neighbors.
Which brings me to the final point here--refreshingly, everyone is starting to bring up the issue of race. Like it was so hard to figure out the first day. Not only do I believe that the urgency of the response was less than it should have been because it's mostly poor, black people, but I also think that there is a complete lack of understanding of the predicament. Those blowhards, Lott included, probably don't even UNDERSTAND that these people COULDN'T evacuate because they don't have cars, they don't have money to travel, they had to wait for their 1st of the month checks. And a good number of the dickheads in question (DW mentioned Rush Limbaugh bloviating about "why didn't these people just leave?") go behind closed doors and ask each other "Why does everyone care so much about a bunch of n***ers?". Sure, I know that's a horrible thing to say or assume, but you know what--that's the country we live in.
People like Trent Lott could give a rat's ass about those people because they don't all vote, and more importantly, they don't contribute to his campaign. He pays lip service to the issue, but all the while can't help but try to make it look like it's partly THEIR fault.
So for those reasons, and for many others which I only partly recall, but am comfortable pinning all over him, Trent Lott becomes member 1 of my Hall of Douchebags.
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