Wednesday, January 03, 2018

Our Lonely War On Pronouns Has a New General


As you probably know, we here at the DGBG Productions (driftglass blog, The Professional Left Podcast, etc.) have been waging a long, lonely war against the promiscuous use "we", "us", "The American people", "The Congress", "Washington D.C." and any other language deployed by the media and by Republican politicians in the service of pretending that somehow everyone and all institutions are collectively and equally culpable for explicitly Republican cowardice, Republican barbarity, Republican racism and Republican sedition.

Or that, conversely, the energetic and resolution opposition to explicitly Republican cowardice, Republican barbarity, Republican racism and Republican sedition is something that "we" are all in together.  That, for example. stripping tens of millions of Americans of their health care in order to pay for tax cuts for plutocrats with something up with which "the American people" would not put.

No, no and no.

Because other than geographically, there is no such critter as "the American people".

This is the unhappy truth which the Beltway media damn well knows (not my graphic) --


-- but would rather pull its own head off rather than speak aloud.

There are the cow-dumb, often-racist authoritarian 30-35% who voted for Dubya twice, who voted for Trump and would vote for him again and are tickled to death at the thought of burning our democracy to the ground for Jebus or Freedumb or whatever.  These assholes are called Republicans.  (Judges will also accept "reprogrammable meatbags" and "The Tribe That Rubs Shit In Their Hair".)

But they are not "Trumpers", just as there is no such thing as "Trumpism".  There is only Republicanism, with or without the bark on, and there are only Republicans, either out-and-proud in their paranoia and rage, or faking civility for the cameras. Not "Trump fans". Certainly not "Christians".  Not "independents" or "Constitutional Conservatives" or "Originalists" or "Tea Partiers" or whatever the fuck they'll call themselves the next time they try to duck out on taking responsibility for the disasters they have plunged us all into this time.  They are Republicans -- a cultural dead-loss, floating face-down in the shallow, debased end of our democracy's gene pool.

Then there are those of us on the Left who almost always give our hearts and cast our ballots for the Democrats.  A raucous bunch who sometimes act against their own interest because Purity, but who are generally ambling along in more-or-less the right direction.  And who, for the last few decades, have spent too little time on the important work of dragging the country forward because we have been forced to spend waaaay too much time cleaning up after one Republican catastrophe after another.

And, finally, there are the timorous residents of Centerville (pop. uncertain) who are too lazy or naive or terrified of the moral consequences to pick a fucking side in any fight.  For them, Both Sides are always to blame for everything.  For them, David Brooks is a golden god, and Matthew Dowd is his prophet.

Well, yesterday our grassroots Mo' Labels Movement --

Our big mistake as a country is not that we haven't tried to build a future that we could all live in, together, regardless of how much of a dumbfuck you are.  Our mistake was not tattooing "I voted for Bush twice because I'm a moron.  Then I went berserk with hatred for Obama for eight years because I'm a racist.  And I then voted for Trump because I'm a racist and a moron [ed. and a misogynist]." on their foreheads and making them wear it for the rest of their days.  
-- added another warrior to its ranks.

Here is Mr. Ezra Klein cruelly abusing a helpless pronoun:

And here is Ms. Joy Ann Reid setting him straight:
And here I am, smiling :-)

Behold, a Tip Jar!


8 comments:

dinthebeast said...

I REALLY LIKE Joy Ann Reid a WHOLE LOT.

-Doug in Oakland

janet said...

Whenever someone uses that "we" business w/me I
always say the same thing: (smiling sweetly) "Are you speaking French?" (and then when they look bemused) "What's with the "we"?" Then I tuck my chin and look over the top rim of my glasses at them, hard. :)

trgahan said...

I was catching up on Majority 54 podcast's this morning and listened to an Arizonian, Live-Long-Republic-Operative-Now-Independent, Never Trumper, Cattle Queen having significant pronoun trouble when describing the problems along the U.S. border.

The pronoun trouble was especially glaring since he said his specific problems all started when Homeland Security was formed by that incompetent Federal Government out east...the one all the way over there....so far that this Active Republican Party Member didn't seem to know who was president then or who got the bill passed in congress. Therefore, of course EVERYONE was responsible!




freshsideofhell said...

Ditto to all the above.

tony in san diego said...

I have been suggesting that instead of referring to him by name, every reference to him should be as: the Republican President.

Fran / Blue Gal said...

I like Tony's idea.

And I would make two edits to this post, darlin'

A link to my "Don't you dare call it Trumpism" post

and

"a racist and a moron and a misogynist." Because they are. xoxo

Robt said...

Not just Pronouns.
everyday common nouns, verbs and adverbs too.

Sensing a writers restraint which wrestles with the overloading, having to breath the same raunchy aura of air that emits into the public breathing space
from those who smear shit in their hair. When not even a case of Frebreeze could ease the caustic gagging.
Involuntary gagging like,
" Not "Trump fans". Certainly not "Christians". Not "independents" or "Constitutional Conservatives" or "Originalists" or "Tea Partiers" or whatever the,,,,--- fuck ---,,,, they'll call themselves the next time they try to duck out on taking responsibility for the disasters they have plunged us all into this time."

Not that Disney would rate this adults only.

The use of Fuck or even "the hell" they call themselves is sort of a Noun-verb, wouldn't you say?
Appropriate, indicative and descriptive indeed.


Some day when I grow up, I want to be able to restrain myself just like you.

I could only begin to know the grilling and trashing you would be acosted with as an appointee to a life time federal appeals court (judgeship) because you are a pal of someone and watched every episode of Law and Order.

Your blogging will be your denial to the bench. Preventing you from confirmation.

Cinesias said...

Tony:

Yes. Good Call.

Will do.