#no matter how asinine or hypocritical it may be

[realitista]

It may be a cult, but we should know what they want.

Conservatism (big C) has always had one goal and little c general conservatism is a myth. Conservatism has the singular goal of maintaining an aristocracy that inherits political power and pushing others down to create an under class. In support of that is a morality based on a person’s inherent status as good or bad - not actions. Of course the thing that determines if someone is good or bad is whether they inhabit the aristocracy.

Another way, Conservatives - those who wish to maintain a class system - assign moral value to people and not actions. Those not in the aristocracy are immoral and deserve punishment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4CI2vk3ugk

https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/agre/conservatism.html

Part of this is posted a lot: https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288 I like the concept of Conservatism vs. anything else.

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A Bush speech writer takes the assertion for granted: It's all about the upper class vs. democracy. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/why-do-democracies-fail/530949/ “Democracy fails when the Elites are overly shorn of power.”

Read here: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/conservatism/ and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism#History and see that all of the major thought leaders in Conservatism have always opposed one specific change (democracy at the expense of aristocratic power). At some point non-Conservative intellectuals and/or lying Conservatives tried to apply the arguments of conservatism to generalized “change.”

The philosophic definition of something shouldn't be created by only adherents, but also critics, - and the Stanford page (despite taking pains to justify small c conservatism) includes criticisms - so we can conclude generalized conservatism (small c) is a myth at best and a Trojan Horse at worst.

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Incase you don’t want to read the David Frum piece here is a highlight that democracy only exists at the leisure of the elite represented by Conservatism.

>The most crucial variable predicting the success of a democratic transition is the self-confidence of the incumbent elites. If they feel able to compete under democratic conditions, they will accept democracy. If they do not, they will not.

And the single thing that most accurately predicts elite self-confidence, as Ziblatt marshals powerful statistical and electoral evidence to argue, is the ability to build an effective, competitive conservative political party before the transition to democracy occurs.

Conservatism, manifest as a political party is simply the effort of the Elites to maintain their privileged status. One prior attempt at rebuttal blocked me when we got to: why is it that specifically Conservative parties align with the interests of the Elite?

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There is a key difference between conservatives and others that is often overlooked. For liberals, actions are good, bad, moral, etc and people are judged based on their actions. For Conservatives, people are good, bad, moral, etc and the status of the person is what dictates how an action is viewed.

In the world view of the actual Conservative leadership - those with true wealth or political power - , the aristocracy is moral by definition and the working class is immoral by definition and deserving of punishment for that immorality. This is where the laws don't apply trope comes from or all you’ll often see “rules for thee and not for me.” The aristocracy doesn't need laws since they are inherently moral. Consider the divinely ordained king: he can do no wrong because he is king, because he is king at God’s behest. The anti-poor aristocratic elite still feel that way.

This is also why people can be wealthy and looked down on: if Bill Gates tries to help the poor or improve worker rights too much he is working against the aristocracy.

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If we extend analysis to the voter base: conservative voters view other conservative voters as moral and good by the state of being labeled conservative because they adhere to status morality and social classes. It's the ultimate virtue signaling. They signal to each other that they are inherently moral. It’s why voter base conservatives think “so what” whenever any of these assholes do nasty anti democratic things. It’s why Christians seem to ignore Christ.

While a liberal would see a fair or moral or immoral action and judge the person undertaking the action, a conservative sees a fair or good person and applies the fair status to the action. To the conservative, a conservative who did something illegal or something that would be bad on the part of someone else - must have been doing good. Simply because they can’t do bad.

To them Donald Trump is inherently a good person as a member of the aristocracy. The conservative isn’t lying or being a hypocrite or even being "unfair" because - and this is key - for conservatives past actions have no bearing on current actions and current actions have no bearing on future actions so long as the aristocracy is being protected. Lindsey Graham is "good" so he says to delay SCOTUS confirmations that is good. When he says to move forward: that is good.

To reiterate: All that matters to conservatives is the intrinsic moral state of the actor (and the intrinsic moral state that matters is being part of the aristocracy). Obama was intrinsically immoral and therefore any action on his part was “bad.” Going further - Trump, or the media rebranding we call Mitt Romney, or Moscow Mitch are all intrinsically moral and therefore they can’t do “bad” things. The one bad thing they can do is betray the class system.

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The consequences of the central goal of conservatism and the corresponding actor state morality are the simple political goals to do nothing when problems arise and to dismantle labor & consumer protections. The non-aristocratic are immoral, inherently deserve punishment, and certainly don’t deserve help. They *want* the working class to get fucked by global warming. They *want* people to die from COVID19. Etc.

Montage of McConnell laughing at suffering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTqMGDocbVM&ab_channel=HuffPost

OH LOOK, months after I first wrote this it turns out to be validated by conservatives themselves: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/16/trump-appointee-demanded-herd-immunity-strategy-446408

Why do the conservative voters seem to vote against their own interest? Why does /selfawarewolves and /leopardsatemyface happen? They simply think they are higher on the social ladder than they really are and want to punish those below them for the immorality.

Absolutely everything Conservatives say and do makes sense when applying the above. This is powerful because you can now predict with good specificity what a conservative political actor will do.

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We still need to address more familiar definitions of conservatism (small c) which are a weird mash-up including personal responsibility and incremental change. Neither of those makes sense applied to policy issues. The only opposed change that really matters is the destruction of the aristocracy in favor of democracy. For some reason the arguments were white washed into a general “opposition to change.”

* This year a few women can vote, next year a few more, until in 100 years all women can vote?

* This year a few kids can stop working in mines, next year a few more...

* We should test the waters of COVID relief by sending a 1200 dollar check to 500 families. If that goes well we’ll do 1500 families next month.

* But it’s all in when they want to separate migrant families to punish them. It’s all in when they want to invade the Middle East for literal generations.

The incremental change argument is asinine. It’s propaganda to avoid concessions to labor.

The personal responsibility argument falls apart with the whole "keep government out of my medicare thing." Personal responsibility just means “I deserve free things, but people more poor than me don't."

Look: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yTwpBLzxe4U

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And for good measure I found video and sources interesting on an overlapping topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vymeTZkiKD0

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Some links incase anyone doubts that the contemporary American voter base was purposefully machined and manipulated into its mangle of abortion, guns, war, and “fiscal responsibility.” What does fiscal responsibility even mean? Who describes themselves as fiscally irresponsible?

Here is Atwater talking behind the scenes. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/news/2013/03/27/58058/the-religious-right-wasnt-created-to-battle-abortion/

a little academic abstract to lend weight to conservatives at the time not caring about abortion. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-policy-history/article/abs/gops-abortion-strategy-why-prochoice-republicans-became-prolife-in-the-1970s/C7EC0E0C0F5FF1F4488AA47C787DEC01

They were casting about for something to rile a voter base up and abortion didn't do it. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/02/05/race-not-abortion-was-founding-issue-religious-right/A5rnmClvuAU7EaThaNLAnK/story.html

The role religion played entwined with institutionalized racism. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisladd/2017/03/27/pastors-not-politicians-turned-dixie-republican/?sh=31e33816695f

https://www.salon.com/2019/07/01/the-long-southern-strategy-how-southern-white-women-drove-the-gop-to-donald-trum/

Likely the best:

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133

I'll leave it at that. Anyone who can read these and come away doubting the architecting of the contemporary American Conservative voter base is a lost cause (like the Confederacy).

Via Gray Idolon on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/kxtuwh/its_no_longer_a_political_party_its_a_cult_former/gjci4ua/?context=5

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #4 Thoughts

 The very, very, very end of Spider-Geddon and...a surprisingly great issue!

Covering this comic is very strange for me because I’m coming at it from two places mentally speaking.

Firstly I’m jumping into the fourth and final tie in issue to an event comic having not read the prior three issues.

Secondly I’m jumping into Spider-Gwen, a series I abandoned long ago, back in volume 2 issue #10 to be precise, which was published over 2 years before this issue was. It also had an entirely different writer/artist team back then.

Frankly I picked this up purely because I knew Mayday and some RYV characters were going to be in it. In that regard the issue was rather pointless, they cameo and do little else.

However I’m actually glad I bothered with the comic all the same. I was expecting this to be fluff and filler at best. An insufferable worshipping of Gwen Stacy, as so many comics (including Spider-Gwen itself) was when Spider-Gwen got big back in 2014-2016.

To my delight that wasn’t the case.

I admit to being rather lost with some plot points such as Gwen having a symbiote (this was brought up in Spider-Geddon #2 but it was unexplained there too) and how exactly Gwen can transverse dimensions.

However the rest of the issue was mostly good. Now I read Secret Wars: Spider-Verse, Web Warriors and Spider-Geddon #0-5 but I didn’t read any other Spider-Gwen or Ghost Spider issues so to me Gwen’s sense of loss over Noir and Spidey-UK felt rather unearned and cheap. It wasn’t that I didn’t think she’s be upset over losing a comrade but the deep sense of loss and words towards little habits within their respective relationships didn’t ring true to me. However that may have come up in issues I didn’t read so I’m willing to be corrected on that.

But based upon my reading Gwen feeling as sad as she did was a bit of a stretch. I also felt the milking of Spidey-UK’s death from a reader point of view was questionable because...did anyone honestly love that character? Spider-Man Noir I can understand, he has a fanbase (and this issue hammered home how asinine a decision it was to kill him back at the start of this event) but Billy Braddock? Who cares really? He was used for some cheap pathos in Web Warriors and that was about it. Now that being said I did love the idea behind him being buried in Lady Spider’s dimension as she was English (although if memory serves that was never confirmed outright, she may have simply lived in 1800s New York). I did wonder where the Hell Lady Spider was throughout this event though.

The addressing of Noir’s death though was much more necessary and as stupid as it was to kill him I do give Marvel credit for having an issue which addresses that. His fans deserved at least that much, particularly I think the Noir/Felicia shippers who are undoubtedly out there. I also very much appreciated how May, MJ and Felicia had different reactions to his death respectively.

Another great thing was that the general addressing of grief, sadness and death in the issue felt respectful. It felt real even though as I said the specifics of Gwen’s relationship with Noir and Spidey-UK didn’t quite ring true. It’s like it would’ve been perfect dialogue and execution if used for another character’s death.  A small detail I especially  liked in this regard was Gwen’s drumming as a coping mechanism. One of my major complaints in Latour’s issues was how Gwen’s hobbies and passions were underused and underdeveloped. She was a drummer but that didn’t factor that much into the stories I read. So to see McGuire embrace that is as welcome as Miles’ artistic talents in ITSV.

Now I admit, those of you who recall my thoughts on Latour’s Spider-Gwen book might be calling me a hypocrite here. Because another of my frequent complaints was how doom and gloom and glum Gwen typically was in that series from the outset, yet here I’m praising that.

I think the distinction is this. Latour came out the gate defining Gwen as grieving and guilt ridden, reeling from a tragedy that happened an undisclosed amount of time ago (but still making with the yuks and gags). Not only was this tonal whiplash but it also was a shitty way to set up a new ongoing series. It began world building for Gwen in media-res of extenuating circumstances and circumstances which were incredibly derivative of Peter Parker.

Where McGuire succeeds in this issue is by having not only a distinctly different tragedy but also the benefit of this occurring both after Gwen’s world has been built up and in the aftermath of a huge event. It’s totally realistic and earned that there would be a mourning for fallen warriors after a war. It’d be disrespectful for that not to be the case; in fact it’s kind of disrespectful that that mourning happens in a tie-in issue not the main book!

By having this issue actually deal with the aftermath it re-contextualizes the prior issues of the event. Spider-Geddon as a whole was definitely a bloated poorly written inconsistent mess. But this issue as a coda treats it with the weight the main book never had. There is an emotional realism to the story even though we are dealing with something as wacky as inter-dimensional travel and totem vampires.

This emotional realism is pulled off so well you even feel a little something for Karn’s death, you even feel bad he died alone and so violently even though again, no one is a fan of that character. No one gives a shit about him.

Part of this realism comes from McGuire from this one issue apparently being an inherently better writer than Latour ever was, at least for Spider-Gwen. Latour in all this works I’ve read emphasises style, and wants you to ‘watch’ the story unfold rather than feel like you are right there with the characters. You can ‘see’ Spider-gwen is upset but McGuire takes you inside her head and writes her grief from the inside out. Latour might’ve used internal narration but he rarely pulled this off, probably because he was too busy making a clown show on the side with stupid ass Spider-Ham cameos, wacky humour about the Bodega Bandit or building up Evil Daredevil instead of you know, the ACTUAL main character.

His Spider-Gwen work felt a lot like watching things sort of just happened rather than experiencing things unfolding like in this issue.

What further enhances this story is the deliberate or accidental metatext behind the story. No I am not talking about how Stan Lee had recently died when the issue came out, though that did make me tear up thinking about it.

Gwen has been rebranded Ghost Spider (though her recap page doesn’t quite admit that weirdly) and this is an issue about Gwen dealing with ghosts, dealing with death, spreading the grim news as a reluctant messenger of death. That angle just works in this issue and if embraced would work brilliantly as a new element to the character to latch onto. In no small part because, as the issue itself acknowledges, Gwen Stacy’s legacy is inherently linked to death.

That might be admittedly a radical departure from the punk rock youth vibe the series began with, but not only was that rather squandered by Latour (with bullshit like Hipster Electro and Hipster Kraven the Hunter, go fuck yourself seriously!) but at the end of the day that vibe is perhaps rather...shallow...for an ongoing character...??????

Other elements of the issue I liked was the artwork. It’s not much like what Rodriguez was going, which was I admit very distinct and gave Spider-Gwen’s series a unique identity. But this art is still lovely and works very well for the subject matter. What is particularly nice was the different period outfits Gwen adopted as she made her travels through the multiverse. Also, though this isn’t strictly ‘art’ per se, the word balloons at Karn’s funeral have a cool moment where everyone speaks a salute to Karn and the combined word balloons look like a spider. That was just a cool touch.

My final note is that McGuire has one of the best Peter Parker moments I’ve seen in a long time, and considering the quality of Spencer’s run that is not damning with faint praise (as it would’ve been just over a year ago). In the scene Spider-Gwen and 616 Peter discuss Gwen needing some time off and Gwen asks if that is selfish. On the one hand this is a little bit derivative of Peter Parker, King of Guilt and Responsibility. On the other hand I guess most heroes would ask this of themselves. Peter Parker surprisingly gives a very mature answer.

Now this answer is very much in character and logical for Peter, but it’s also something too often writers neglect in favour of writing Peter in a repetitive manner that renders him a caricature. Peter acknowledges it is selfish but that that is not wrong, He says the world will always need saving but the heroes get to pick their battles and have to sometimes rest, that indeed they deserve it.

Though a mere moment in a story not about him McGuire writes a Peter Parker who truly feels like a mature adult, that feels like the Peter who is truly the sum of his experiences.

Were this teenage or college aged Peter he wouldn’t have been likely to say that. If it was friggin Slott’s Peter Parker definitely not (even though he’d have still gone to play with Miles in the park rather than do his actual job). But a Peter Parker who’s insanely experienced and knows his limits? Yes absolutely he’d know he’s entitled to down time and more importantly needs it. It’s demonstrative of how guilt is present in his character and yet is not the defining trait. Responsibility is, and there is a responsibility to himself. Spidey-UK even echoes such a sentiment earlier in the story.

So with all that said I must admit this issue was a tremendous triumph from where I’m standing, I’d recommend you read it and would go so far as to call it the best issue of Spider-Gwen I’ve ever read sans her debut.

Does it change my feelings for Spider-Geddon as a whole?

No, it still sucked and was still pointless beyond resurrecting MC2 Peter (which in my book makes it worth it, sorry Spidey Noir fans, I’m sure he’ll be back eventually) but this last issue took it out on an unquestionable high note.

[literaryspinster]

Forever Yours, Iris West

For those of you faithfully following Heart In A Cage, I have not forgotten that story and will have an update soon. 

Chapter 3: The First Day Of School

On the first day of senior year, I put on my new green sweater and tweed mini skirt, and I braid my long black hair to the side so it hangs over my shoulder, This is my last first day of school before college, so I need to make it a good one, whether Scott keeps ghosting me or not. I can understand Scott avoiding Linda the last three weeks of summer, but me? I wasn’t the one who broke up with him, yet he hasn’t answered my texts with anything more than vague, one word responses. And of course it’s at the back of my mind that we’re co editors of the student newspaper together, but I’ve never had a problem separating the personal from the professional when it comes to Scott. 

When we’re in the newsroom together our number one focus is always getting the next big scoop.This will be fine, I may not have Linda, I may not even have Scott, but at least I can’t call myself friendless. Me and Cynthia have three classes together this year. Cynthia is Felicity’s cousin through marriage, although I’m not sure who in their families is married to whom.  She said she’d meet me out front so we could walk in together, just in case Felicity tries to corner me again. 

She’s been doing that ever since she started going out with Barry Allen, and I still don’t really get why. I haven’t had those feelings for Barry in years. I’m not even sure why I ever did in the first place except for maybe the fact that he has pretty eyes, and is smarter than most guys at school. But he’s still goofy, and never really says the right thing and is completely oblivious to the fact that Felicity and I aren’t friends until I have to remind him for the 300th time.

Me and Wally pile into the car so I can drive him to his school before I drive myself to mine. It’s Linda’s car, she asked me to take care of it while she’s gone because that’s just the kind of damn good friend she is. I’m reminded of just how much I’m going to miss her yet again as I turn the key in the ignition and hear it roar to life.

“So, do you think Linda’s going to visit for Christmas?” Wally asks faux-casually as we pull out of the driveway and start down the street, the stereo playing some punk band he loves. 

“Oh my God,” I roll my eyes and smile at him. “You aren’t even subtle Wally, you know she’s too old for you right?”

“She’s only six years older, Priyanka Chopra is ten years older than Nick Jonas.”

“Since when are you so into celeb couples?” I ask, and he stays quiet. “Please don’t tell me you Googled that so you could find out if you and Linda have a chance.”

“No,” he says unconvincingly, and I shake my head as he turns up the music.

We pull up to the front of his school, and there is a girl with sandy brown hair and blue eyes standing facing the street while a horde of overexcited tweens rush around behind her. She waves as I pull up and Wally waves back. 

“Who’s that,” I ask, trying not to tease. I’ve gotten enough sisterly teasing out of my system for the morning, although I’m still curious.

“Oh, that’s Jesse,” he says. “She’s just a friend,” he adds quickly as if he’s reading my mind. 

“Have a good first day all right sis, try to meet some people.”

“I have to say I’m feeling a little dragged over here, shouldn’t I be telling you that?”

He smiles and gives me a little goodbye wave. He’s such a twerp, but I wave back.

“I love you,” I say.

“love you, too,” He says before walking off with Jesse. And I’ve always liked that about Wally, no matter how much of a brat he can be sometimes, he’s never embarrassed to say it back. 

I get to school half an hour early. Although I start to wish I would have stopped for coffee first when I realize how packed the front lawn is with students, hugging each other hello after their summers apart, telling vacation stories back and forth, flipping through Instagram photos.

Was it always like this before Linda left?

I start making my way through to the double doors in front. I don’t keep my head down, it isn’t my style, but I hope no one tries to accost me for a summer break recap that I couldn’t possibly make interesting for them. I spent most of it either hanging out with my baby brother or another couple. Deep down I know how sad that is, that Wally’s right and I need to meet people. And I used to love having lots of friends, places to go on Saturdays, but then… 

I don’t know, being little miss social butterfly again feels besides the point. Popularity just isn’t as important as anyone thinks it is. It can’t make you happy when you’re already so sad.

Speak of the Devil, I stop short when I see her there, in front of the double doors like she was planning this. She looks great as usual, her perfectly tousled blonde hair down from its signature ponytail, her horn rimmed glasses sitting on her nose like they’re meant to make her look more approachable, but are doing about as good a job as they did on Rachel Leigh Cook in She’s All That. Jesus Christ I should have went through the back. 

I turn on one heel and try to redirect before she sees me.

“Iris, hey!” she says, and I squeeze my eyes shut and curse under my breath at her fake-cheery voice. She saw me. 

I turn back around and fake a smile, feeling a bit like a hypocrite.“Felicity,” I walk up to her like I have weights in my shoes. “How was your summer?”

“Awesome,” She says, nearly exploding like she’s been holding her breath until she could tell me. “Coding camp in Tokyo was wonderful. You so should have come. I mean I know coding’s not really your thing.”

“It’s not not my thing, just kind of focused on journalism right now.”

“That’s great, and it’s so cool that you’re into old fashioned things but do you really think a newspaper reporter is a solid career path?”

“Gee, I don’t know Felicity, maybe I’ll call you from my cardboard box in ten years and let you know,” 

I start for the entry bar, but I’m told to stop by the only voice I want to hear as little as Felicity’s”

“Iris, Felicity, what’s up?” Barry says cheerfully. He always says my name first when I’m standing next to Felicity and I don’t get why. He’s so weird in every possible way and I wish Cynthia would come rescue me. already.

Barry slinks his arm around Felicity and gives me a friendly nod. “How was your summer?”

The dreaded question, I reply with a simple, noncommittal, “cool”My hand is still on the entry bar of the door.

“Just cool, no details?” Barry says.

“Nope, not a one.”

“There probably just aren’t a lot of summer internship programs or camps for journalism anymore,” Felicity says in such a way that Barry can’t detect how bitchy she’s being. Not like he’d defend me anyway, and honestly, why should he? I’m not his girl.

“That’s ridiculous,” Barry says, like he means it. “I mean, I read your articles all the time there’s no way there’s not something out there for you.”

Why does he always insist on complimenting me in front of her? He must know that it pisses her off, unless he really is that dense. I guess book smarts and emotional intelligence are two entirely different things. But I see the way her face changes, how her eyes narrow a bit. She reaches up to play with the collar of his button-down.

“By the way Iris, I’m really sorry you didn’t get an invite to my laser tag party. If I had known you wanted to go I’m sure I could moved some things around and squeezed you in,” Felicity says.

Goddamnit Barry, I think to myself, of course he told her about our asinine conversation the other day. And right now I’m finding it hard to pick who I want to strangle more.

“I never said I wanted to go, I was busy that day anyway.”

“That’s what I told her,” he says, looking a bit embarrassed. “That’s what I told you,” he quickly repeats over to her.

Felicity shrugs, “Heh, must have misheard. In any case it was a blast.”

I finally push the entry bar, ready to make my escape, when finally, by some annoyingly belated miracle, Cynthia shows up.

“What up uglies?” she says, nodding at them as she hangs an arm around me. 

“Hey cuz,” She says to Felicity. “Good to see you’re feeling better after that bug you caught in Tokyo.”

“Bug?” I say, finally curious about the summer vacation Felicity’s been desperate to lord over me.

“Yeah, didn’t your mom tell my mom that you were basically catatonic with plane flu the entire first week and you had to be separated from the other kids and you never got to finish your app or something?” Cynthia continues.

“No, that- none of that happened, I mean it didn’t happen like that,” Felicity babbles anxiously. It must have happened exactly like that, and I feel suddenly redeemed. Thank you Queen Cynthia.

“Hmm,” Cynthia shrugs, “Must have misheard, anywho, catch ya later.”

She hooks arms with me and we finally slam through the door.

“Not a moment too soon,” I say.

“Ignore her, she’s just pissy because you look amazing. I bet she was hoping you’d show up to the first day with a massive zit or a bad haircut or the herps or something.”

“You have a very odd way of lifting my spirits Cynthia.”

“I do my best.”

I nudge her playfully, feeling better. Maybe I don’t have loads of friends, but it’s nice to have one awesome one, even if I had to survive my ill-fated friendship with Felicity to get it. 

The day goes by glacially. It’s still at the back of my mind that it’s the first day of school, but it feels just like any other day, like the work is too easy and the folks in the halls are too gossipy and everything sucks and I want to go home. By the time last period rolls around, I’m relieved, not only because it’s nearing the end of the day, but because my last period is journalism. The student newspaper is my ultimate safe space, even with things being uncomfortable with Scott. 

As always he’s the first one in class, already jotting down something in a notepad. I sit at the same table to show that we’re still cool, but still two chairs away to give him his space.I take out my notebook too, even though I can’t think of any notes to write down when we haven’t even been assigned our beats for the semester. 

I look over at him, and realize he’s looking at me too.“Hey there,” I say with an uncertain voice.

“Hey yourself.” he says back. It’s quiet and nearly awkward as we both think of what to say next. He wore that checkered shirt today, with the sleeves rolled up, and I really hope one day I can look at him without picturing him laying me down on this table. I’d never go there, I’d never do that to Linda, but I can’t always help where my imagination wanders, even when I’m mad at him.

“Look,” he says before I can slip too far into my mind. “I’m sorry I’ve been distant, it’s just, the whole Linda thing and—

“Its okay, really,” I say, and I realize that it is. Maybe it’s just the thrill of being in journalism again, the smell of pulp and toner cartridges and red pens. But I’m finding it hard to stay mad at Scott, even as he still looks like he’s not sure what’s next

 “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Before I can say anything else, the rest of the students and Mr. Bridge start to pour in. I give Scott one last smile before turning my attention to the front of the room. I can tell there’s still tension in the air, and maybe Scott can too, because next thing he leans over to whisper.

“I missed you,” he says, and I whisper that I missed him too.

 The first day of student newspaper is always a little bit uneventful. Nothing has happened yet so there aren’t any scoops to tackle. Mostly we just get reaquainted with each other and get to know the newbies, pitch potential story ideas, and anxiously await our beat assignments.

Scott’s beat this year is the art and drama departments, not his first choice, but one he’ll happily sink his teeth into. My beat is the math and science departments, because of course it is. Mr. Bridge says that I’m too good a writer to not ever leave my comfort zone, and that important things were happening in those departments this year. But all I can imagine is having to cover Felicity’s stupid IT club. 

And I realize I’m thinking about her again when I really don’t want to be. Why does she have to be such a bitch to me all of the time? She wasn’t always. She was a good friend once, and I know that good friend is still in there somewhere. 

I head out to Linda’s loaner car, thinking that aside from gently starting to get things back to normal with Scott, this is already looking to be the quite the sub standard school year. And when I hear that too familiar voice again behind me, that feeling is instantly multiplied.

“Iris, hey Iris,” Barry calls, and I turn to face him but grab for my keys at the same time.

“I really don’t have a lot of time Barry, I have to pick up my brother.”

“I promise I’ll be quick.” He stops in front of me and I decide to hear him out. But he just stands there, looking at me.

“Well, what?” I say, breaking the pause.

“I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I guess I didn’t realize it in the moment but Felicity was being sort of not cool back there, and I just, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to her, I promise.”

“Please don’t” I say, knitting my brow in frustration. “You talking to your girlfriend about me is exactly the problem.”

“I wasn’t talking about you. You just came up and then the party came up. I didn’t know it was going to be a whole thing.”

“It’s not a whole thing. But is it really so much to ask that you two leave me alone? I mean, Felicity obviously has some issue with me, and maybe it’s not exactly one-sided but I think it would be easier for everyone if you’d just, you know, lay off.”

He sighs, and rubs his forehead before looking at me again. “That’s fair,” he says. “And I really am sorry, again. It’s just—

“What? It’s just what?”

“Nothing, nevermind. Okay, we’ll lay off. Promise.”

“Good.”

“Okay.”

There’s another long pause before I walk around to the driver’s side of my car and duck in. By the time I drive off he’s still standing there, like the conversation isn’t over.

Next Up: Chapter 4, The Sad Girl

[backroombuzz]

Crickets From Democrats and Media About Chicago Gun Violence

Democrats Drag Out Their Soapbox Every Time Some POS White Boy Shoots A Gun, But Blacks and Minorities You Get Crickets From The Hypocrite Left

After another school shooting it's not shocking to read the left tweeting out their typical 'something must be done about guns' diatribe bullshit. What you won't hear from these hypocrite POS's is the least bit of outrage about the mass murder happening in Chicago every single day. For all their liberal gun bluster, Chicago has proven that there is only one solution. To combat senseless gun violence, an armed law abiding citizen is the only way to protect law-abiding citizens from criminals. I doubt that the POS 17-year-old would have walked into Santa Fe High if he knew someone was inside ready to shoot back. For all the leftist talk, the liberal loony toons never propose anything that would actually have stopped the school shootings in Santa Fe, or Parkland, or the Texas Church shooting or....... The sad truth is everything a lefty gun control lover could propose has been done tried by previous Chicago Mayors and that includes their latest Loony Toon Liberal Mayor. Here's a short list of current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's brilliant fails: He’s fired and hired multiple police superintendents He’s tried (unsuccessfully) to eliminate gun stores within city limits He’s tried (unsuccessfully) to keep shooting ranges out of his town. He fought concealed carry He's outlawed citizens wearing bullet proof vests or any gun protection for that matter. He’s tried paying gang bangers with tax dollars in hopes they would stop banging... His mom? In September 2016, Rahm Emanuel announced the city would spend $36 million in youth mentoring efforts, policing strategies and gun legislation as his plan to fight and prevent crime. In 2017 there were 3,566 shootings. Yes that was down from the 4,369 shootings in 2016. Except you would need to overlook the fact that 2017 ranked #2 all time and had almost 600 more shootings than in 2015. So if you want to claim success... Good luck!  Number of REPORTED shootings in Chicago 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2,518 2,186 2,581 2,981 4,369 3,566 Rahm Emanuel's latest scheme to end the shooting gallery is almost as ridiculous as Chicago voters year after year electing yet another corrupt and/or inept Democrat to run America's third largest city. Rahm's big idea to cut down on the approximately 600 homicides committed within the city each year? Punish banks who make loans to weapons manufacturers. But as usual, the Democrats never think their "Big Idea" through. Chicago's financial situation is in shambles, and they are close to $40 Billion dollars in debt. That kind of shortfall equates to 1970's NYC financial ruin level. I'm just spitballing here but I don't think it's a great idea to spit in the face of the only institution that is preventing Chicago from becoming the next Detroit. Crickets Where is all the over the top hyperbole from David Hogg, Rosie, Alyssa Milano, CNN, MSNBC, The Big Three fake News Networks, The DNC, The DCCC, and Democrats in general... Hell, where is Obama speaking out about Chicago gun violence? After-all it's his hometown and home of the future Obama library (LOL Maybe). Where is Joe Biden who claims that 'America has Stormy Daniels (prostituted) the Second Amendment.' Where is Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer spewing their typical 'jump the shark' statements when it comes to Chicagoans having to sleep on the floor to avoid being shot through a window?  They sure spout off every time some retarded POS white boy shoots up a school. Hell, now according to the latest liberal reporting those inbreed morons no longer even need to use an AR-15 to have the left hyperventilate about their so-called "Common sense gun control" i.e. Repealing the Second Amendment. The Santa Fe School shooting introduced America to two new liberal loony toon phrases "AR-15 Like" and the incredibly asinine USA today created phrase ‘less-lethal' than an AR-15. As long as the left can get AR-15 in their gun control story all's good in Liberal La-La-Land. But somehow the Democrats and MSM seem to never address the thousands of shootings taking place each year in dozens of generational run Democratic, gun controlled cities like Chicago, Detroit or Baltimore? Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation but year in and year out the Windy City's streets are basically a shooting gallery that have law-abiding citizens running for their lives. 22 in 2018 The Democrats latest love has been spewing their "22 school shootings in 2018." Yes, it's nothing but BS when you consider the fake news media and the Democrats who thought it up are counting a BB gun incident among those 22 school shootings. But while liberals are using months as their parameter, in Chicago they count their shooting in minutes. To get a sense of how hypocritically sick the left are when spewing their bullshit '22 in 2018.' This list shows the victims of Chicago gun violence covering a 12-day span, let me repeat that A12-DAY SPAN.  Via The Chicago Tribune May 16th, Wednesday 11:00 AM, May 16 - 27-Year-Old Male READ STORY 11:00 PM, May 16 - 18-Year-Old Male READ STORY 10:07 PM, May 16 - 25-Year-Old Male 9:08 PM, May 16 19-Year-Old Male READ STORY  7:55 PM, May 16 - 46-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:55 PM, May 16 - 53-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:35 PM, May 16 - 25-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:40 PM, May 16 - 36-Year-Old Female READ STORY 3:35 PM, May 16 - 31-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 15th, Tuesday 3:20 PM, May 15 - 20-Year-Old Male 3:20 PM, May 15 - 20-Year-Old Male 7:15 PM, May 15 - 20-Year-Old Male 5:40 PM, May 15 - 19-Year-Old Male 4:30 PM, May 15 - 20-Year-Old Female 9:05 PM, May 15 - 37-Year-Old Male 11:45 PM, May 15 - 30-Year-Old Male 11:54 PM, May 15 - 21-Year-Old Male 11:02 AM, May 15 - 18-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 14th, Monday 5:25 PM, May 14 - 17-Year-Old Male READ STORY 5:25 PM, May 14 - 19-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:05 AM, May 14 - 22-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 13th, Sunday 8:00 PM, May 13 - 24-Year-Old Male 2:35 PM, May 13 - 20-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:30 PM, May 13 - 38-Year-Old Female READ STORY 11:45 AM, May 13 - 27-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:30 AM, May 13 - 23-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 12th, Saturday 12:24 AM, May 12 - 21-Year-Old Male READ STORY 5:46 PM, May 12 - 43-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:10 PM, May 12 - 29-Year-Old Male READ STORY 10:15 AM, May 12 - 15-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:03 PM, May 12 - 15-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:36 PM, May 12 - 34-Year-Old Male READ STORY 5:46 PM, May 12 - 40-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:43 PM, May 12 - 29-Year-Old Male READ STORY 11:35 PM, May 12 - 35-Year-Old Male READ STORY 3:32 AM, May 12 - 39-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:00 AM, May 12 - 27-Year-Old Male READ STORY 1:09 AM, May 12 - Female READ STORY 1:09 AM, May 12 - 41-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:24 AM, May 12 - 28-Year-Old Male May 11th, Friday 10:53 PM, May 11 - 27-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:41 PM, May 11 - 29-Year-Old Male 9:17 PM, May 11 - 18-Year-Old Male 7:45 PM, May 11 - 19-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:30 AM, May 11 - 35-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 10th, Thursday 2:18 PM, May 10 - 17-Year-Old Male READ STORY 11:28 PM, May 10 - 23-Year-Old Male READ STORY 10:56 PM, May 10 - 18-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:35 PM, May 10 - 17-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:35 PM, May 10 - 13-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:00 PM, May 10 - 22-Year-Old Male READ STORY 11:49 AM, May 10 - 24-Year-Old Male READ STORY  May 9th, Wednesday 10:35 PM, May 9 - 18-Year-Old Male READ STORY 10:35 PM, May 9 - 15-Year-Old Male READ STORY  9:49 PM, May 9 - 21-Year-Old Female READ STORY 9:49 PM, May 9 - 26-Year-Old Male READ STORY 4:40 PM, May 9 - 43-Year-Old Male READ STORY 3:30 AM, May 9 - 31-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:40 AM, May 9 - 29-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 8th, Tuesday 10:48 PM, May 8 - 28-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:45 PM, May 8 - 23-Year-Old Female READ STORY 8:45 PM, May 8 - 53-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:34 PM, May 8 - 18-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:34 PM, May 8 - 60-Year-Old Male READ STORY 8:45 PM, May 8 - 20-Year-Old Male READ STORY 8:30 PM, May 8 - 15-Year-Old Female READ STORY 7:20 PM, May 8 - 43-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:20 PM, May 8 - 28-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:20 PM, May 8 - 33-Year-Old Male READ STORY 6:27 PM, May 8 - 16-Year-Old Female READ STORY 5:28 PM, May 8 - 24-Year-Old Male READ STORY 1:58 PM, May 8 - 24-Year-Old Male READ STORY 1:58 PM, May 8 - 27-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:30 AM, May 8 - Male READ STORY May 7th, Monday 9:50 PM, May 7 - 27-Year-Old Male READ STORY 6:15 PM, May 7 - 29-Year-Old Female READ STORY 6:15 PM, May 7 - 26-Year-Old Male READ STORY 4:37 PM, May 7 - 30-Year-Old Male READ STORY 4:04 PM, May 7 - 36-Year-Old Male READ STORY 1:33 AM, May 7 - 26-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 6th, Sunday 2:30 AM, May 6 - 23-Year-Old Male READ STORY 11:20 PM, May 6 - 35-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:28 PM, May 6 - 22-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:00 PM, May 6 - 32-Year-Old Male READ STORY 4:00 AM, May 6 - 33-Year-Old Male READ STORY 4:53 AM, May 6 - Male READ STORY 2:48 AM, May 6 - 28-Year-Old Male READ STORY 3:28 AM, May 6 - Male READ STORY 2:15 AM, May 6 - 29-Year-Old Male READ STORY 1:54 AM, May 6 - 35-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:01 AM, May 6 - 24-Year-Old Male READ STORY 2:01 AM, May 6 - 22-Year-Old Male READ STORY 12:24 AM, May 6 - 29-Year-Old Male READ STORY May 5th, Saturday 7:59 PM, May 5 - 55-Year-Old Female READ STORY 9:21 PM, May 5 - 23-Year-Old Male READ STORY 9:21 PM, May 5 - 12-Year-Old Male READ STORY 7:59 PM, May 5 - 35-Year-Old Female READ STORY 1:56 AM, May 5 - 30-Year-Old Male READ STORY The only gun control that Democrats want is a total repeal of the Second Amendment. Can't wait to hear the left tell us how exactly they will confiscate 350 million guns from 100 million law-abiding citizens, not to mention the criminals. The Democrats keep telling us that if Trump fires Mueller it will create a civil war, just wait till they try to confiscate 350 million guns, they'll see what a real civil war will actually look like. To See Reporting On Chicago Gun Violence Done In Absolute perfection Then You Must Go To HeyJackass.com.  Not only do they have every stat imaginable, you know you're in the presence of greatness when a site unpacks Chicago gun violence stats so well they have this:

I am so friggin envious of HeyJackass.com brilliance LOL. Read the full article

[zenruption]

10 Things I Love About You: Let’s be positive about POTUS for a bit

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

By Brian McKay

It hit me the other day. Hard. This ongoing depression has persisted ever since getting utterly wrecked with vodka and Sparkling Ice until 4am on election night. It’s not going to improve any time soon. We are stuck with an inarticulate Cheeto Puff in the White House for a while.

Ok, so let’s try another route. Some positivity is needed and to this end, it was time to find all the things I love about this fake tanned buffoon. May this be the list that lifts your day, gives you hope and sees that this might be a blessing in disguise.

Mr. President, here are ten things I love about you:

Your Incompetence

Your election brought fears of a movement towards authoritarianism. You can’t even manage your own White House. Heck, you can’t even manage you own mouth. Setting the new standard for the worst President in the history of the country, might be one of the few things you accomplish. Congratulations! That standard has existed for over a century. James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson wish they could hug you right now.

The Unity You Have Created

Yes sir, you have created unity. Bet it feels good to Be the Great Uniter, doesn’t it? Thanks for bringing together everyone that detests you and your policies. It is safe to say that liberals haven’t been this active and united ever. Even independents and some Republicans are uniting with us now. It’s pretty damn cool.

Making a Hot Mess Out of Entire Political Party

You can’t get anything done and they can’t either. It’s just awesome to watch the splintering that is taking place. Republicans are now torn between supporting you, your low approval ratings, getting re-elected and avoiding angry town halls. The party is now shown to have been hijacked by far-right Tea Party candidates. The whole party is now torn between alienating your hard-core supporters or alienating the rest of the country, that sees how bad you suck.

You Have Exposed the Cold and Dark Soul of the Republican Party

Millions losing health care, allowing coal to be dumped in rivers, permitting a pesticide tied to impeded brain development in toddlers, cutting free school lunches, eliminating the National Endowment of the Arts and taking funding from Meals on Wheels. The list of proposals and actions goes on and on. Even the majority of the country wanted us to stay in the Paris Agreement. Add in huge tax cuts for the rich, and any idiot can see what you all stand for. Well… any idiot smarter than a third of this country.

Introducing Cognitive Dissonance

They are fighting it tooth and nail. Some will never let it in but the more you act as a hypocritical buffoon, the closer they get. Yes, it’s hard for people to be wrong in America. Only a presidency that is this big of a disaster has the potential to change some of the devout. Eventually, many of them will realize that they can either hang out with Alex Jones listeners or come have drinks with those of us that are sane (and fun, really fun).

Bringing Out the Best in So Many

Can you believe you are such a great manager that you bring out the absolute best in people? Well you did. As we saw the hatred and racism in this country reaching new heights because you emboldened so many of your followers, the rest of us saw the need for love and acceptance. Hate crimes may be up 80 percent this year, but we are dedicated to fighting for all people. Seeing that racist and hateful part of America so much further exposed also shows us the change we need to foster and we are rising to the challenge.

As a bonus, music has been really good this year. I wrote an earlier article about how music improves during times of social strife. Yep, you brought out the best there as well.

You’ve Set an Example for Future Generations

Yes, you’ve set an amazing example. This example is commonly referred to as, “Don’t do a single thing that dumb ass did.” Our kids are far smarter than we are and have seen the destruction being left behind by the Baby Boomers. After a major financial downturn and watching the accompanying greed and consumerism, they get to see you acting worse than the school yard bully. Kids are concerned about the fate of the planet and your science denial has not escaped them. They will be completely different than you and the Fox News generation. If they have a world left to inherit, they will make it awesome.

You Showed How Much US Leadership Matters in the World

Abdicating our leadership by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement created some of the greatest magazine covers in history. Unfortunately, they showed how the whole world was looking to the US and it wasn’t good. As more Europeans now see us negatively than ever before, we see that once you and your cronies are gone, we need to become moral leaders in the world.

The Myth of the Businessman President is Finally Done

Many of us knew all along that it would never work. We knew that diplomacy, macroeconomics, separation of powers and the different purpose of government from business meant that such a pipe dream would never work. Add in that the people that elected you actually think you’re a great businessman and it dispels the myth even more. Don’t worry. I won’t tell them what a shitty businessperson you have shown yourself to be or your actual rate of return.

2018 and 2020 are Looking Kick Ass Because of You

Please don’t get impeached. I love you Donny. We need you burning things down for a bit. In a way, we earned it. The country got complacent and we let stupid people that believe in globalist conspiracy theories win. This is our big reset.

Keep up the asinine tweets

Don’t stop golfing all the time

Please don’t learn to read the legislation to are promoting

Pound those burgers and pieces of fried chicken

Let the White House stay a disaster

Keep dividing the Republican Party

You’re awesome in getting this country to where we are long overdue. Certainly, you didn’t plan it this way, but you might have been exactly what we needed.  Just keep on keeping on and bringing about the big reset we need.

 Wow. I feel really good now.

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