I… look, I’m just as overwhelmed and wild-eyed as anyone, gang. Thank goodness for What the Fuck Just Happened Today?, at least, because as one might expect from a DDoS on American democracy, there is just A Lot.
- First things first, here is a thing that will just make you feel better. I haven’t seen Stranger Things yet, but I absolutely loved cast member David K. Harbour’s impassioned speech at this weekend’s SAG awards. It will make you feel good about art and resistance, which goodness knows we all need.
- For the Huffington Post, Thenmozhi Soundararajan writes about why international intersectionality matters in “I’m a Proud Dalit-American and This Is Why I Marched.”
- Spend some time with PEN America’s “Surviving Autocracy: Lessons From Russian Writers.” See also, from the Washington Post, “In Venezuela, we couldn’t stop Chávez. Don’t make the same mistakes we did.”
- Some good, if not terribly reassuring, Twitter threads:
- Duke professor Gabriel Rosenberg on the emotional motivations of Trump supporters. “They see Trump as instrument of punishment, less against refugees, but against the left.”
- Author Alexandra Erin on what’s needed to tip things into impeachment territory. “The CIA hasn’t had to *live* anywhere they staged a coup before.”
- The popular Twitter account @RoguePotusStaff is mostly likely fake, based on linguistic tics that seem to indicate Russian-speaking authors (“vakay,” “-esk,” “muzzie Canucks”).
- From David Frum at the Atlantic (whose new terrifying cover story I’ve only just begun to read), “Advice for Those Weighing Jobs in the Trump Administration” has the most killer knockout final punch you could ask for. Further proof of this, from the New York Times: shot, “Bannon Is Given Security Role Usually Held for Generals“; chaser, “President Bannon.”
Stay brave, friends.
Statue of Liberty cartoon originally found at Desert Island Comics; I had no luck with reverse image searches, but if anyone can identify the original artist (Mary?), please let me know so I can properly credit. Read “The New Colossus” and the story behind the Emma Lazarus poem here.
