It is my fervent hope we will remember this one as fitting more into the ‘second time as farce’ category.
… also, I actually really laughed at that. I’ve been seeing a _lot_ of well done satire on this thing. But this really is an _odd_ head space to be, I’ve been finding…
That’s to say: yes, I think the stakes really are high, here. And a lot of the times when they are, I find laughter has this gallows quality. As in: you laugh as hard as you ever have, but you’re also laughing because it’s that or scream…
But this isn’t just that. It’s a horror… And it’s at once, genuinely absurd. Obviously, I guess, it helps that this week especially, some hope has been restored that the end of this won’t inevitably be some grinding disaster.
I keep hearing Americans in embarrassment and in regret say that this is such a stain on their civilisation. But listen: _lots_ of nations have had to deal with similar figures, under, I think, similar pressures. Reject him, walk away from this edge, even tentatively, and I think you still have something to be proud of. It’s not some damned consolation prize, not some ‘most improved’ award…
It’s more: faced temptation. Looked into hell. Said no thanks. I for one still think you’ve done pretty okay, if you just get that _last_ bit right.
The nightmare where you get caught by the monster and made to dance a jig in your own inside-out skin until your legs break is probably worse at the time than the nightmare where the monster doesn’t catch you and you hide, sobbing, while the monster eats your friends, which is probably worse in the long run. Both nightmares are terrifying and you won’t find me insisting that one horror is worse than the other.
Donald Trump is the first nightmare, Theresa May is the second. We’re not paying nearly enough attention to the horrible shit May is actually making happen right now. She is entirely against free speech (in its proper sense) and entirely in favour of mass surveillance.
I’m not pretending that the UK has much influence on the world stage. But our leaders can be relied upon to say and do the most stupid, harmful things possible. Trump could learn a lot about pushing an evil agenda from the way we do politics here. It’s fortunate, I guess, that Trump is incapable of learning,
It is my fervent hope we will remember this one as fitting more into the ‘second time as farce’ category.
… also, I actually really laughed at that. I’ve been seeing a _lot_ of well done satire on this thing. But this really is an _odd_ head space to be, I’ve been finding…
That’s to say: yes, I think the stakes really are high, here. And a lot of the times when they are, I find laughter has this gallows quality. As in: you laugh as hard as you ever have, but you’re also laughing because it’s that or scream…
But this isn’t just that. It’s a horror… And it’s at once, genuinely absurd. Obviously, I guess, it helps that this week especially, some hope has been restored that the end of this won’t inevitably be some grinding disaster.
I keep hearing Americans in embarrassment and in regret say that this is such a stain on their civilisation. But listen: _lots_ of nations have had to deal with similar figures, under, I think, similar pressures. Reject him, walk away from this edge, even tentatively, and I think you still have something to be proud of. It’s not some damned consolation prize, not some ‘most improved’ award…
It’s more: faced temptation. Looked into hell. Said no thanks. I for one still think you’ve done pretty okay, if you just get that _last_ bit right.
The nightmare where you get caught by the monster and made to dance a jig in your own inside-out skin until your legs break is probably worse at the time than the nightmare where the monster doesn’t catch you and you hide, sobbing, while the monster eats your friends, which is probably worse in the long run. Both nightmares are terrifying and you won’t find me insisting that one horror is worse than the other.
Donald Trump is the first nightmare, Theresa May is the second. We’re not paying nearly enough attention to the horrible shit May is actually making happen right now. She is entirely against free speech (in its proper sense) and entirely in favour of mass surveillance.
I’m not pretending that the UK has much influence on the world stage. But our leaders can be relied upon to say and do the most stupid, harmful things possible. Trump could learn a lot about pushing an evil agenda from the way we do politics here. It’s fortunate, I guess, that Trump is incapable of learning,
Zo, dr Freud, it’z Mic envy now, Hmm? Zat’z a beet ov a fleep-floop, yah?