by Barry Friedman
1) Global Warming Deniers
Aside from everything else--like the end of the planet for one, beach front property in Oklahoma City for another, and climatologists who have to put up with death threats for talking about science for yet another--Denmark powers something like 140% of its energy needs with wind turbines; we charge people who want to get off the electrical grid here.
2) Elected Judiciary
A h/t here to Charlie Pierce, but when judges start making campaign promises, raising money, and flexing about how tough they will be on criminals if elected, Donald Trump is the least of America's worries.
3) 300 Million Guns
I know it's a complex issue--no, it's really not. Fourteen thousand Americans die every year from firearms; 11 people in Japan do ... and they don't have gun shows and Wayne LaPierre. If you don’t think there’s a connection, you’re not thinking. I know, I know--I KNOW-- it's a dangerous world and people die from girls field hockey, too. And, besides, freedom. Blow me.
4) Defenders of the Antebellum South
Knock it off, would you? Nobody from a non-confederate state ever greeted George Bush with a confederate flag as a way of honoring a proud heritage. Actually, nobody ever greeted George Bush with a confederate flag period. (Were you not proud of your heritage in 2006?) I think now, too, of all the proud ex-Nazis who are hurt that people think the swastika had something to do with the Jews.
5) The Duggars
By comparison, the Kardashians are annoying, cynical, self-aggrandizing and inarticulate, but at least they're honest about their annoying, cynical, self-aggrandizing inarticulateness. The Duggars, though, are the worst toxic soup of hypocrisy, sanctimony, culture, and embodiment of irresponsible fucking we have in America.
6) Hunger
Talk about a shanda, we use corn as a gasoline additive for Chrissakes.
7) The Police State
It’s not just TSA, not just the spiked testosterone level in every mall and security cop since 9/11, not just the NSA. Even if you have nothing to hide, they’ll still find it.
8) Papa John's Pizza
Him, his house in Kentucky, his shitty pizza, his smirk, the commercials.
9) Voter Suppression
The GOP had two choices years back: A) Change its policies to make them more palatable to minorities, or B) Make it more difficult for minorities to use the ballot box to express their displeasure at those policies. The party chose B) relentlessly.
10) Income Disparity
Nobody begrudges the owners of Costco their millions, and that's because they treat their workers like workers and not chattel; so it's not class warfare, it’s not a hatred of the rich, it's about fairness and Walmart workers needing SNAP to buy food at--wait for it--Walmart.
Alt) Privatization
Of schools, prisons, whatever else is coming, because nothing improves healthcare, 4th-grade reading scores and prison conditions more than a third-party taking a schmear off the budget before a dime is spent on services.