As the polls begin to narrow, and as evidence that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is buying up media puff pieces mounts, things are getting a little strained. We all know we should hold our breath and count to ten, bite our tongues and turn the other cheek.
We know better than to voice our frustration. It’s wasted energy; energy that we’ll need in the run up to the November election. But it boils up anyway, in those black moments of doubt when clarity gleams like polished crystal.
It Better Not Be The Devil We Know
A Trump win is not out of the question. We know this deep down.
Aw, hell.
Isn’t this what profanity was invented for? The stubbed toe, the missed opportunity, the toaster that won’t toast, or the kettle that won’t pour?
If it’s good enough for those things, then why not use it for the other thing? Why not let one fly as you realize that Plato was right; we’re sailing the seven seas in a ship of fools and the Wizard of Id himself is about to take the helm?
Can’t we just swear a little bit?
Big Bang Theory star and former Star Trek brat-pack alumni Wil Wheaton certainly seems to think so.
Earlier today he tweeted:
https://twitter.com/wilw/status/776518096165023744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Despicable Meme
The “deplorable” line was an obvious nod of solidarity towards Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of the word earlier this week. You know, the one that upset the sensibilities of bigots who prefer to be the ones doing the name calling.
It didn’t come from nowhere though. This was no sudden outburst of Hollywood hate speech levied at the teenage intern who forget to get Wheaton his coffee. Oh no, Wheaton was provoked.
Paranoia regarding the fictional liberal media bias, that good old wingnut belief that refuses to die, was on full force earlier this week as Donald Trump Jr. whined about how badly the media was treating his father.
Speaking to Philadelphia-based conservative talk radio host Chris Stigall on Wednesday Trump Jr. said:
“The media has been her number one surrogate in this. Without the media, this wouldn’t even be a contest. But the media has built her up. They’ve let her slide on every indiscrepancy[sic], on every lie, on every DNC game trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the thing,”
Such a comment flies in the face of the very real media hostility that Clinton has faced which has ranged from a pathological obsession with her emails, empty threats from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and, at times, a healthy dose of 1970s-style sexism.
How we’ve all missed that.
And Now For something Completely Unacceptable
However, it was junior’s follow-up comments that sparked the real controversy. Staying on script about how unfair the media was being to his loudmouth and bigoted daddy, he added:
“I mean, if Republicans were doing that, they’d be warming up the gas chamber right now. It’s a very different system.”
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that Trump Jr. just casually trivialized the Holocaust. How could you even make that connection?
What’s wrong with you?
According to mini-Trump, his comments had nothing to do with the Holocaust whatsoever. He was referring to capital punishment, a line so painfully transparent that only a complete idiot would buy into it.
That’s when NBC political reporter Benjy Sarlin decided to step in and clear the whole thing up for us:
Trump Jr. clarifies "gas chamber" remark was not about Holocaust. Grotesque, but explanation is plausible enough. https://t.co/RvAZZnrrx5
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 15, 2016
Plausible? Are you fucking kidding me?
Forget for a second that the Trumps are already on thin ice thanks to their hiring of anti-Semite and former head of the Breitbart News Network, Steve Bannon.
Let’s set aside the fact that Papa-Trump has previously sent out overtly anti-Semitic tweets himself. Or that he refused to denounce Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, or that allegations of racism have been levied at him pretty much during his entire career.
We can forget those things as long as we remember the most important stuff.
Gas chambers were used by Nazis in the Holocaust to murder 6 million Jews during World War II.
That means that now, tomorrow, and possibly for the rest of human memory, metaphors about gas chambers will always, always be about the Holocaust.
And to those who think differently, I hope they too get a mighty fine ‘fuck you’ from a celebrity too.
Watch Jennifer Lawrence flip Trump the bird and tell him to go fuck himself on British TV.
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
