It’s Already the 7th!

Is it wrong that I’m already counting down to October? People, I am so excited by this October’s thingy. I’m hoping we can finish getting the living room back together this weekend. At least as much as possible until we can make some purchases. I think I’m going to let my parents be on the lookout for another glider but meanwhile, I’m going to get a couple of cheap Ikea chairs and use those. Honestly, no wonder people love Ikea. I couldn’t find a chair in the whole of the internet that had arms for around a hundred bucks other than Ikea.

The Butcher’s all “Go thrift store shopping.”

Here’s the deal, Earth. I hate shopping. I just want chairs to magically arrive. I’m sure shopping is more fun when money isn’t a concern. I know it’d be a lot easier if I could just run out and buy a $300 rocking chair.

We also need to see if the curtains can actually go back up or if we’re going to have to replace the curtain rod, which the Butcher assures me is fine, and yet, no matter how many times he puts it in place, still ends up careening out over the couch. And we’re going to need lampshades.

So, basically, even though I was like “We’ll be able to do so many rooms!” I have revised down my goals to 1. Getting the living room back in useable shape. 2. Get the den ceiling done before it falls on its own. 3. De-jungle-fy the yard. 5. Read my books. 6. Write another short story. 7. Revise the story I hate, maybe see if E. will read it. 8. Revise Sue. and I think that should take me through to the end of October.

Argh! Just argh. Well, the Sue revisions will take longer than that, but I’ve got to get started.

Anyway, October sneaks closer.

This morning, the Butcher was all “Where are you going so dressed up?” “To work.” “Oh, your summer Fridays are over. Sucks to be you.”

Alyssa Douglas

Here’s the thing. Yes, she should get a shit-scaring-out-of-her visit from the Secret Service. And if there are legal repercussions she has to face, I will laugh and laugh and laugh. What she tweeted was stupid and evil.

And what they’re doing at Daily Kos is stupid and evil, too. How many times do we have to watch internet shit-storms get completely out of hand before we learn that they’re a terrible idea? I will never forget, nor forgive, how Jesus’ General cost Britney her job because he felt like playing judge, jury, and jailer and hadn’t bothered to discover whether there was any surrounding context. He just brought down his unholy shit-storm and there was no defense against it. There were just too many people who were too angry for him to call it off once it sank in to him how he’d fucked up.

But one of the things that struck me about that incident–and it strikes me about this one–is how easy it is to build a mob against a girl. and how, once the crowd gets revved up about going against a girl, whatever they want to do to her is fine. Whatever happens to her, it’s somehow her own fault. Harass her, harass her family, harass her school, harass her workplace, whatever you want! It’s all cool and fine, because… well… because bitches have to be kept in line.

There will be no defense she can give, no sorry that is enough for her to get her life back. And the truth is that all most folks know is that one thing they saw, nothing about the context. Not that I think the Douglas thing has context, but I DON’T KNOW. And neither do most of us.

I loved Obama’s speech last night. I found it deeply, deeply moving, especially when he quoted Lincoln. And the funny thing is that I think the Daily Kos writer really gets at what was so powerful about it:

But The Choice is also about something far weightier, something far longer-term than our economic prosperity or the American Comeback or of freedoms to love and marry who you want or pursue whatever dreams you have regardless of your background or your fortunes.  It’s something far outside the boundaries of this election alone: it’s a choice between the kind of world in which hope is codified into our laws and values as a nation, and one in which the seeds of division, exclusion, and anger triumph over the greater good—wherein the fabric of society is allowed to erode at the vestigial hands of hate.

I disagree with the part in bold there. I mean, that’s almost hilariously stupid. But ignore it for a second. The point I want to make is that this Kos writer can ask if we want to live in a nation where anger triumphs over the greater good and then turn around and unleash an angry internet horde on everyone who even knows this girl.

So, really, even though it’s framed as “anger” vs. “greater good,” what it means in practice is still that same old change vs. exchange problem. These folks at Kos–as evidenced by their own actions against Douglas–do not want actual change–where you would see a tweet like that, report it to the proper authorities, monitor the authorities to make sure it’s been properly dealt it, and then not indulge in your misogynistic internet blood lust–but want exchange–where liberals get to be terrifyingly angry and folks like Douglas get to be afraid for a while.

I want no part of that.