Karen memes, SweetGreen, Jack Phillips, Trump, and cheesecake
I would like to speak to the manager and request that the coronavirus be fired immediately.
Hey everyone,
Hope you’re all getting by well enough through this difficult time, and finding a way to stay productive and positive during quarantine. If you or your family is struggling right now and there’s anything I can do to help, feel free to reach out (My email: bpolumbo@washingtonexaminer.com).
I’ve been managing by going out for walks every day with my boyfriend. We joke that we’re like Boomers now, who go for “our walk” every day on the same route at the same time. And we also started doing yoga videos at home together, so, um, we might be honorary senior citizens now. So, too, I’ve made use of the extra free time to deep dive into the novels I’m reading, and let myself get immersed into gaming a little bit too.
I want to spend just a moment commenting on the coronavirus lock down more broadly. From Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banning gardening and travel between YOUR OWN HOMES in Michigan to crackdowns on drive-through church services, we need to be extremely wary of those asking us to “temporarily” acquiescence to drastic limitations on our freedom and rights. NJ Gov. Murphy openly admitted he disregarded the Constitution with his state’s crackdown on Churches!
We absolutely must all sacrifice to prevent the spread of the virus and yes, that does mean accepting restrictions to save lives. But we must all the while be vigilant against the other threat posed by totalitarian government, which is almost impossible to beat back once it expands. This is a threat for which there will never be a vaccine.
Until next week.
Meme: The silly PC nonsense about “Karen” being a slur aside, I think the memes — which mock the personality often embodied by middle-aged “can I speak to the manager” moms — are hilarious. (It’s not a “slur” because anyone can be a Karen, it’s a personality, not a demographic).
Food Take: Some of you may remember that I have, in the past, railed against SweetGreen and argued that a salad is not a meal. I must repent. I still don’t really think a salad is a meal but my boyfriend made me try the balsamic chicken salad he gets from SweetGreen, and it was actually kinda good.
P.S. If you’re reading this and aren’t signed up yet, please do sign up below.
Media Corner: I joined BlazeTV’s The News and Why It Matters for a fascinating, in-depth interview on a bunch of recent news stories.
Watch a short clip here. Full episode available here. (My interview starts at around 23:00)
P.S. Doesn’t my home office/studio look great?!?
Articles:
The sad, intolerant legal campaign against Jack Phillips continues
Remember the Christian cake baker? He won at the Supreme Court, but LGBT activists keep harassing him with more frivolous lawsuits. This is not what “tolerance” looks like.
Conservatives must reject Trump’s false claim to ‘total authority’ on coronavirus
The president just made an outrageous claim about the extent of his emergency powers, and it’s clearly contradicted by the Constitution. Conservatives must speak out before this bleeds over into his policymaking.
Massive coronavirus spending lights fuse on national debt bomb
Our deficit-happy response to the crisis is simply setting us up for another crisis down the line.
Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell Jr. launches an assault on press freedom
Falwell, a right-wing evangelical leader and Trump acolyte, has just dangerous, police-state-esque action against journalists who covered him critically. I condemn it and explain here.
Bonus Brad: I’m so lucky I get to quarantine with my amazing boyfriend, who made me cheesecake FROM SCRATCH over the weekend for Easter
Re: Jack Phillips
Alliance Defending Freedom is much more successful at social marketing than it is at litigating. In fact the legal "victories" ADF has accrued owe thanks to ADF's social marketing -- especially at the Supreme Court where the activist justices (as always, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch) have deep empathy for #TheReligiousWhite.
In a bizarro-world maneuver, the High Court ruled that speech that offends fundamentalist/evangelical Christians, desperate to lie to themselves and others, should not be presumed to have First Amendment protection. It matters not that these "inflammatory, hateful" statements are completely true. A trier of fact is a bigot if he deploys the historical record, including judicial precedent, to assert that relying on sincerely held religious beliefs as a justification for discrimination is "patently frivolous."
And it's completely contrary to Americanism's values to offend bigoted conservative Christians by referring to bigoted conservative Christians' myriad efforts to claim they're actually not bigots at all "because the Bible tells me so."