This IS Our Country

Just two short days after celebrating our dads and the great jobs that they do, I was surfing the inter webs, getting bombarded with images and audio of the family separation monstrosity that is taking place in border cities. I have come across several SHOUTS of: 

"WTF, this is NOT our country." 

"How can ANYONE think that this is ok?" 

"OMG, these babies."

"What kind of monsters would do something like this?"

Uh, the United States would. Duh. Last month I was watching Anderson Cooper on CNN. Anderson Cooper- yum AND he is super QUICK to call out the outright lies the citizens are being told. And I am thankful. Anyway- I was watching Anderson Cooper and the New York Times columnist Charles Blow was on a panel. What he said that night has stayed with me. When asked about whatever stupid scandal was going on, Mr. Blow simply said "Stop being astonished." Man, if that ain't a message. 

I have wanted to post about the family separation policy of the current administration for a week or so, but I waited until TODAY to post this. Why, you ask? Today is Juneteenth. On this date in 1865, a full 30 months after the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation, the abolition of slavery was announced in the state of Texas. Two and a half years late. Stop being astonished. 

Since the inception of this country people have been brought to this land against their will. The founders of this country came here with NOTHING and stole land and resources from the indigenous people. Stop being astonished. 

Slave owners routinely raped their slaves, spawning offspring that were light enough to work in the house, but not white enough to be allowed to play with their half siblings. Stop being astonished. 

Families were ROUTINELY obliterated at slave auctions, with babies being ripped from the caring arms of their mothers; husbands being taken away from their wives; siblings left crying while they head to plantations in opposite directions. Stop being astonished. 

Slavery. The Trail of Tears. The Internment Camps for Japanese American citizens. The Muslim Ban. The poor response for Hurricane Katrina. The absolutely useless response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Stop.Being.Astonished.

What we are seeing right now has happened before. This administration is participating in tried and true tactics. This approach has been proven effective. The scheme is: once the family dynamic is broken, taking what you want is easy. We all know the ploy. So now, what are you going to do? The time of being astonished is over. The highest levels of our government are committing human rights atrocities... while we sit back in our air conditioned homes talking about "OMG, I cannot believe that they are putting babies in cages." But they are. This IS who we are-- this is who we have been from the very start of our country. Now we have to decide if this is who we will remain.

STOP BEING ASTONISHED.

Election Reflections

Well now. Who would have thought that 2016 would be such a colossal shit show? We should have known that it would be awful when the Almighty came and took Prince, but nooooooo. We decided to press on and last week one more sign of the fucking apocalypse reared its ugly orange head. That's right. These United States of America elected the most unfit, uncouth, ridiculous bastard to be the leader of our country. And honestly, I just want to reach out and slap all the ass backward people who voted for this shit stain. That's right. This liberal is not over the fact that a moron and his cronies are going to be in charge come January. Not over it, ain't going to be over, don't want to be over it. 

One reason I can't get over it is because everyone is now coming out with one of three arguments: 1) not all White people voted for trump (he doesn't deserve capital letters, so he isn't getting any on this blog), 2) for those that did vote for him: "um, I'm not racist, but..." and 3) we all need to come together, love one another and forget what has been said/done for the good of country. 

All y'all muthaf**kas can kiss my ass. Since I have had to hear you "explain" since Wednesday, let me explain why those three sorry ass excuses are weak as hell. Let's go in order, shall we? 1) Yep, I am clear on the fact that not ALL White people voted for Tangerine Dream. I get that, BUT a vast majority of y'all fuckers did. Someone you know did. Someone you are related to did. Someone you talk to on a regular basis, who pretends to be your friend/sister/brother/ally DID vote for him. And you probably knew it was going to happen. And you probably didn't say anything. Listen, I don't deal in "ALL". I know ALL White folks didn't vote for him, just like I know ALL Black folks didn't vote for Hillary. I also know that whenever the subject of the election came up, people knew exactly where I stood, who I was voting for and why... and if they told me that they were voting for Tangerine Dream, I asked them WHY. I am not ashamed to say that I have distanced myself from many acquaintances and I will continue to do so as a direct result of this election. I've deleted some people from social media accounts as a precautionary measure. Not ashamed in the least. My sanity comes before y'all's fucked up feelings any day. 

2) "I did vote for Tangerine Dream, but I'm not racist..." Honestly, I stop listening after you say that you voted for him and my interest in talking to you ever again diminishes greatly. Listen, the majority of folks will show you exactly who they are, especially in times of trouble. Cap'n Cheeto showed us all who he was. He hit the stage running with that anti-Mexican rhetoric and some of y'all ate that shit up. He has routinely talked shit about women-- and that was BEFORE that Access Hollywood tape came out. He straight told y'all that he wants to ban Muslims and make the ones that remain register... like fucking chattel. Over and over again, he more than insinuated that Black folks have been relegated to the ghettos around the country, that we don't receive/take advantage of public education, we are lazy and we can't walk our streets without killing one another (Black folks only... so don't worry poor White people). His outreach to the LGBTQ community has been abysmal and his attack on the media damn near incited riots at his rallies. You saw all of that... and you voted for him anyway. You don't have shit to say to me. I don't want an explanation. You take responsibility for what's about to go down. Let it be known right now: if you voted for Cap'n Cheeto YOU decided that it was in your best interests and you didn't give a fuck what he said about the rest of us because you aren't in any of those groups. You may have a Black friend, sibling or spouse and you chose to fuck us all over. You knew that he was slinging racist/xenophobic/misogynistic thoughts and you voted for him anyway. Do you feel good about that? Of course you do, you inconsiderate bastard. So save the explanation-- your vote did all the necessary talking.

3) "We should all get along. Your candidate lost now let's all get behind Orange Faygo." You can totally miss me which all this bullshit. I know that it sounds good and everything, but that muthaf**ka directly threatens my family's livelihood, so this fall in line, step and fetch routine is not going to happen. One of my best friends is a married lesbian, I am not trying to "fall in line" while marriage equality is reversed. I'm a very pro-choice woman, I will not "fall in line" while Roe v. Wade is reversed. I am Black (and so is my daughter) there is no way I will stand still while Orange Faygo's henchmen try to bring back "stop and frisk" on the national stage. I am ME, there is NO WAY I am going to stand idly by and watch ANY group be maligned because some backwoods rednecks want to go back to 1900 when Blacks were still damn near slaves, women had no rights and White men were the ruling class. Hell no. 

I don't feel bad about my convictions. I will not rest until folks are treated equally. I will continue to be bitter (like I have been). I will not rest until my daughter knows that she should stand up for people, like her parents do. People will know that they have a place in my America. I will stand up as an ally for my LGBTQ friends, my Muslim friends, my Mexican friends, my Black friends, cops, women, liberals AND conservatives. I haven't changed and I will not change... even if we do have a small hand/dick/brain dictator at the helm.

Fed Up Friday - End of April Issue

Hello readers!!

It has been a rough week, so I'm fed up about numerous things. Ready? here we go:

Donald Dick- oops, I mean Donald Trump... he IS a dick. Like a walking penis with a bad toupee. I used to put up with him, his show, and that thing on his head, but after this week all I want to do is slap some Jesus INTO him. Ok, is he kidding? I keep thinking that the American public is getting punked. Are there really people out there that believes what he believes? I mean, I will be the first to say- I think some of y'all out there are more than stupid. Some of the people I see on a regular basis can't walk and chew gum at the same time... I always count on a moron being in my presence. ALWAYS. But really? There are actually people who believe that Barack is not an American citizen-- STILL? Granted, there are some things that are completely ass backward in Illinois, but raise your hand if you think that all the citizens of Illinois would vote an illegal alien into the Senate. I mean, we DID have Roland Burris, but he isn't illegal... just an alien.
Back to the dick... such a waste of time. I have no respect for him, those that support him, or the nonsense that he is perpetuating. Donald Dick, you want a cause? Want something to be mad about? Gas prices have almost hit $5 in Chicago, taxes are out of control and we are involved in a two front war... that should hold his dumb ass over for a while.

Do-gooders: ok- I am not fed up with ALL do gooders. Just a select few. A catastrophe happened in Haiti, celebrities everywhere, people giving money, American Red Cross going to help, pictures of Haitians babies all over every newscast for a month. Catastrophe in Japan, same thing. Fundraisers here in Chicago- everyone wants to help. Out pouring of cash and help was AMAZING. Now picture this: oil spill in the gulf that affects several states, wildlife, economies are further broken, people are suffering. And this: tornadoes rip through sleepy southern towns, people die, economies further busted, babies are orphaned, families are torn apart by death... no celebrities, no fundraisers, no... nothing.
WTF?!?!!? That shit happened.... HERE. Where the fuck is your American pride? I swear if someone else asks me to help some children that do not reside in this country, I am liable to slap them. Dude, has everyone forgotten that America is in the middle of some shit? People don't have jobs; our economy is shitty and now states are experiencing death and destruction at the hands of Mother Nature?!?!?! Someone PLEASE have a fundraiser for the people in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and anywhere else affected by the storms. Please renew my faith in American citizens because some of y'all are SO worried about other countries that you are not seeing the needy in your backyard. Shame on you for that.

Royal Wedding: I can't front- I like the idea of it. Horse drawn carriages, a Prince and a Princess. Big party and everyone looking at me, er, I mean, her! But damn, some of you with these blow by blow tweets and Facebook updates. I was like that little kid on the Shining this morning (redrum, redrum, redrum). Seriously, it is cool that you watched, hell, I saw some pics of David Beckham that made me mad that I wasn't up at 4:00 CST to see him roll up to the church, but wow- I wasn't THAT into it and everyone that was, I gave you the side eye this morning- and just now.

Ohio State football, Jim Tressel and all that: look,y'all WILL stop hating on my coach, my team, my hometown. And I'm not playing. Tressel is a good coach- and before you say something stupid, it is not because he beats michigan every year, because they are so sorry that anyone could do that. Those kids believe what he is selling them. The graduation rate has gone up. When interviewed about the trouble that they have gotten into, more than one athlete has said that they are sorry they disappointed their coach. Haters everywhere are so quick to say that he should be fired. Then guess who else should be fired? Everyone- because regardless of whether or not they have been caught (YET), every coach is guilty of doing some dirt. EVERY one. Pretty little cheerleaders are assigned to athletes, money exchanges hands, special consideration is given in classes. That happens everywhere. Let's not be naive. So how about this... Get a life. Jim Tressel is going to pay his fine, serve his suspension and win some more. If Ohio State was smart, they would have him winning for them. Everyone else needs to shut the hell up (yeah, I am totally looking at you Kirk Herbstreit). If you don't sign Tressel's checks, now is the time for you know your role and pump your brakes. Shut up and let my man work.

Honorable mentions go out to: the assholes standing on the corner during the rainstorm this week- weirdos; the lady with the chinese food on a hot ass train car; my co-worker- even after I totally read you the riot act; people who act like they are your friend- but aren't; and people who act like they don't care in front of others and then try to be all up on you when no one is around... I see you! ;)