Potty Mouths and Shit Sandwiches

Eating a shit sandwich means a variety of things to a variety of people, but in this case, it means when you have to apologize for something disgusting that you’ve said. Roseanne Barr apologized for what she tweeted about Valerie Jarrett and still, she lost not only her own job but the jobs of everyone associated with her new show. Racism is alive and well in this country and apparently, at least some employers aren’t willing to put up with it anymore.

Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump a feckless cunt on her television show and has subsequently apologized for that remark. We’ll see if she loses her job over the comment. But I’ll admit, although I don’t like that term, I’m less bothered by that than the racist comments by Roseanne which made my heart clench when I read them. It would have been nice to consider the source but the words gave me such pause that I couldn’t. I even responded to Roseanne on Twitter, something I typically don’t do. I prefer to let these things stand out for what they are and not add my own perspective into the mix. But it was after I read what she tweeted, and then her subsequent excuse for it, that I responded. Not in the way that Samantha Bee responded to the picture of Ivanka holding her son, but I responded just the same.

We had just been informed about Donald’s choice to separate children from their parents at the border and then tone-deaf Ivanka posted a really cute picture of herself holding her young son. But given the reports of the missing kids, because yes, there are missing children involved here, in my opinion, she shouldn’t have posted it. Ivanka is a pro at fence-sitting, isn’t she? She’s an advisor to her father, yet she doesn’t want to be called on the carpet for anything he does. She wants to be the daughter in that case, not a White House advisor. But then she and her family tend to make it up as they go along.

It’s hard to watch the Trump family remake the country in their image. Along with hearing about separating children, including infants, from their immigrant parents, we also heard that over last few months, Ivanka has also received as many as thirteen trademarks for her company. Again, she’s benefitting financially from her position as White House advisor which is illegal, yet no one seems to be stopping her. It’s like watching someone enter your home, steal you blind, while the police stand outside your home with you, doing nothing to stop the travesty.

It’s reading that the 64 deaths from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico are actually more than 4600. It’s reading that Donald is blaming Democrats for HIS OWN DECISION to separate children from their parents at the border and then losing them all because Democrats don’t support his asinine wall between the US and Mexico. So, Democrats did this. Except that they didn’t. And now I just heard Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologize to the American people and say that eventually, common sense will return to our country, but that in the meantime he’s going to impose tariffs on toilet paper and whiskey (among other things) until said common sense returns to our government.

And this is just from the last few days. The lies from Donald alone are just too much to take any more. There is no possible way to believe anything our so-called president says. Ever. And that’s why people who have a platform to do so are expressing themselves in a way that potentially compromises the discussion. We can agree that in all likelihood, frustration has gotten the better of people like Samantha Bee and others who have spoken out against what passes for policy in Donald’s regime or whatever it is that we’re calling it now. We can understand the outrage and the resulting comments. I do the same thing both here on the blog and on social media. But I wonder if we’re doing what Michelle Obama warned us against, going low instead of going high.

Are we letting our anger affect the discourse in a way that makes discourse impossible? Name calling typically shuts down a conversation, so are we doing that when we call Donald, his family, and his supporters names? I mean, I get it. I really do. My own potty mouth goes into overdrive whenever I hear something Donald has said, so much so that I can’t listen to his voice anymore. I have to turn off the television or switch the channel. In fact, I subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and Gaia in order to switch to something…anything else when I hear or see him. So I completely understand the need to vocalize our frustrations. But are we giving Donald’s supporters too much to work with? Do we really want to make them the victim here when it’s the entire country that will lose if these people remain where they are?

Look. I’m not suggesting that I’ll never again let loose an explicative-filled tirade about these people because I assure you it will happen again today. Several times, if I’m perfectly honest. What’s going on in our country will define us forever if we don’t become the adults in the room. Because it’s clear that Donald isn’t capable of that.

~ Blessed Be