So I took a look at the Donald Trump Pepe blog today, for the first time in a long time, and the memes on display there seem to be getting darker and cruder and more violent as election day draws closer.
It’s not as if the blog — a storehouse of sorts for, well, Donald Trump Pepe memes — had been lacking in crudeness before. Donald Trump meme-makers, after all, are the sort of people who think that it’s just plain hilarious to joke about throwing enemies out of helicopters and gassing the 7-year-old daughter of a writer they don’t like in a Nazi death camp.
But the newest memes are, if anything, worse — more graphic, more personal, more threatening than even the Holocaust memes that have been a staple of Trump’s volunteer mememakers for the last year. The newer memes, which seem more openly sadistic than those from months past, show Hillary being raped, being led to the guillotine, killing herself with a gunshot to the head.
There’s blood. And diarrhea. Lots of diarrhea.
Here’s a sampling from the memes posted recently on the Pepe Trump blog; I’ve censored the most graphic parts, but, seriously, if your day is going well and you want to keep it that way, you may want to stop reading here.
If not, let’s start with the murder-themed memes.
While their fellow Trump fans chant “lock her up” at Trump’s rallies, the mememakers fantasize about Hillary’s execution at the hands of a triumphant Trump.
Others fantasize about alternate ways she could be killed.
There are memes in which Pepe goads Hillary into killing herself.
And others (too violent to post here) imagining the same fate for Hillary’s “shills.”
There are numerous animated gifs depicting The Donald violently raping Hillary. Here’s a censored, non-animated version of one of them.
And then there are the scatological memes. This is the most presentable one of the bunch.
I guess the, er, joke here is that evil SJW Hillary fans are always complaining about racism. How a frog pooping on a poster for Hillary is supposed to relate to this I have no idea.
Another even more crudely scatological meme depicts a nude Hillary lying on the floor shitting herself while watching Trump’s victory on TV. I’m not going to post that one here, but if you have the stomach for it, take a look at it on the Trump Pepe blog.
And there’s a weirdly elaborate meme depicting Clinton diving into a big pit of money a la Scrooge McDuck, only to find that most of the money has been replaced with shit by a sneaky Trump fan.
After all these, it’s almost a relief to find a meme featuring a Pepe who’s merely peeing.
I mean, sure, “globalism” is a dogwhistle for “the Jews,” but at least there’s no blood or poo.
@Rugbyyogi
As I’ve said before, and undoubtedly will again:
Which party is the one making sure that many immigrants have no legal protections in the workplace, so that employers can underpay them even more than they do citizens and undercut everybody’s ability to make a living? Which party supports ‘right to work’ legislation and fights unions tooth and nail? Which party is keeping the minimum wage low and ensuring that some fields pay even less than that? And, final question, which party do these jackasses vote for EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ELECTION?
OK, I lied, that wasn’t the final question. The final question is:
Given all of the above, given that they’re keeping my wages down too, and also actively calling for my death, why the hell should I, or any decent person, have even the slightest bit of either empathy or sympathy for either their condition or the short-sighted, malevolent bullshit that motivates them?
@rugbyyogi
I think it’s more than a bit unreasonable to ask people to empathize with Trump supporters, especially of those who are directly affected by their hatred. I think if you truly care for them you should always challenge their ideas.
@ rugbyyogi;
I’m not sure what “writing them off” would look like. Trumpf’s supporters aren’t going to go away, I’m not seeing any real hope of convincing them that everything they think they know about life is just flat wrong, either. They’re armed with a very large voting bloc, and at least in my state, they’ve used it for years to stack the legislative and executive branches of government with elitist, deceitful fundamentalists, to the degree that the schools LITERALLY don’t have enough money to finish the SCHOOL YEAR, and let kids go early for summer. Many (very many… really, VERY MANY) of them are armed with military caliber firearms, they are practiced with them, and their reason for doing so is, they claim to be menaced by people who look exactly like my child and my grandchildren. I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but these people are my enemies. I don’t have a debatable relationship with this. Down to the most “soap-opera-ish, housewife-ish, not-really-that-way-at-all-ish one of them, they’ve made it clear that when it comes to othering, and when we get to building detention camps, THEY WILL BE ON THE SIDE OF MY JAILERS.
I hate this shit, I hate ALL of it. But, in the words of the psalmist, “it is what it fucking is” (maybe that was a paraphrase…).
@rugbyyogi
Here’s the thing–those undocumented immigrants are hired at that factory for one reason: they’ll work for less pay because they have no options. Your friends who resent them for having jobs probably wouldn’t be willing to put in the amount of hard labor they do for the pay they get. It’s absolutely disgusting what employers who take advantage of undocumented immigrant labor do. Trump is one of those disgusting people. He’ll do anything he can to get out of paying people for their labor and he hires undocumented immigrants to do work for him, probably at lower rates. The people who hate the immigrants for taking their jobs are doing it out of racism. They could hate the companies for not hiring them, but those are Valued Citizens(TM) which makes it harder to hate them, so they go with the easy scapegoat of “those other people from that other place.” It’s straight up bigotry no matter how you look at it.
Honestly, people don’t support Trump due to ignorance or poor education. The people I know who support him are middle-class and they’re openly chauvinistic and simply don’t care how his election will affect other people. When I talk to them they don’t even try to defend their positions because they simply don’t care.
@ History;
… or, “th’ LIBRULS gonna take our guns”, or “can’t even put a nativity scene at the courthouse anymore”, or “gotta let [vernacular for transgender] go bathroom with our daughters”, and a whole shitload of other gripes that don’t really affect them in the slightest but which they see as an intrusion on their privilege….
At what point do I no longer feel obligated to excuse people who just plain hate for the sake of just plain hating? Not one f**ing THING has been done TO these people that wasn’t ACTIVELY DONE BY DONALD TRUMP OR BY MEMBERS OF HIS CLASS. But they’re too f**ing self-absorbed to blame some who isn’t OTHER to them.
To quote several people on this site, FUCK THEM!
Honestly, I don’t know how to deal with how shitty the US is these days.
Denial? Denial sorta works. I guess.
A friend on Facebook has just made the observation that this election looks like that two minutes of ‘how we got here’ footage you get at the start of films set after the apocalypse.
It seems to me that the racism has always been there. It’s why the southern strategy has always worked. It’s why people opposed integration even during what was the economic golden age for whites in the 50s and 60s. It’s the rage that’s increased lately. An economically prosperous white person can be racist without the seething rage. When a racist person is having a rough go, that racism comes to the forefront. Having a black president elected just as the economy was collapsing exacerbated this. The threat of a female president adds insult to injury in their minds.
Not saying anything people don’t know, just trying to summarize the conversation in my head.
Ultimately, I’m not inclined to empathize with these people because I believe their preference for white male Christian supremacy existed before they fell on economic hard times and the insecurity just woke the slumbering beast.
I saw a twit that said “watching Trumpf campaign is like watching the highlight film from a demolition derby” 🙂 😉 X)
What WWTH said.
I’ve often used the comparison between prejudice and herpes. It goes closer to dormancy when you’re otherwise healthy and unstressed, but it’s still there. It flares up visibility when you’re run down and unhealthy, but it was always there.
Like herpes, the important thing is to move to a state of mind in which we acknowledge that we have it, and are honest and responsible about our decisions as a result.
yeesh… every time I look at 538, the % has narrowed…. What’s happening???
Scildfreya said
This is aggravating; I’ve heard it, too. I’ve joined the folks who’re staying inside and avoiding contact with these people. I have medical cannabis which I have been leaning heavily on of late for my anxiety, which also makes my pain worse (the anxiety worsens the physical pain, not the cannabis.)
The only use I have for marshmallows is making cereal bars. Hm, wonder if you could make the cereal bars thin enough to use instead of graham crackers?
Many poor whites in the South agree with more left-wing policies, but they vote for right-wing candidates because privilege is so important to them. The psychological effect of privilege, the sense that they’re special and America is special, is more important to them than whether they’re better off economically.
I don’t know but I’m really worried.
@kupo + Eddie
Probably has a lot to do with the trend line. The 538 model assumes that any gain will continue and so currently exaggerates Trump’s chances. For example, Trump has the edge in NC but is still behind in the polls. Exactly how much of the total probability is exaggeration tho, I don’t know…
@kupo
I am getting increasingly worried as well. Then I saw polls with literally less than a thousand likely voters. My what the fishy thing here sense is tingling.
@Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
At least that is a reassuring thought.
@rugbyyogi
Like I said before, I don’t find much sympathy for those who actively go out of their way to harm others and themselves out of pure xenophobia. I might not be on the top of their shitlist by virtue of not being latino, african american, trans, , jewish, muslim, women, non-cis. But I sure as hell don’t believe that they wouldn’t find some reason to nail my Chinese Vietnamese ass on a wall.
@ Oogly
Unfortunately, that’s all they need. Keep safe, my friend
I wonder if it’s because early voters tend to lean Democratic and are no longer included in the polls? I hope that’s the case, anyway.
@Jesalin
I didn’t mean to imply everyone with agoraphobia has a drinking problem; I’m sorry. I certainly had/have one, and I’ve basically locked myself away from the world to try to deal with it. I’ve never had major issues with crowds myself, but different issues have basically left me unable to connect with people. I don’t make friends; I don’t trust anyone fully; I’m super abrasive, often without intention. Being alone is just easier for me. I certainly don’t mean to make light of anyone with actual agoraphobia.
Yeah, I think in fundamental terms we’re basically in agreement. The only disagreement is the last part. I don’t believe much of what they say is RIGHT, but it’s worthwhile to hear it anyway (IF you’re in a position to do so safely) because it helps to figure out anything we can change to minimise impact and improve future choices. I’m a big believer in finding out as much information as possible when it comes to problem solving, even though I know it’s not as simple as A therefore B therefore C therefore racism. I don’t think understanding can cure bigotry, but I do hope that with a better understanding of the contributing factors there can be some improvement, however slight. If none of the factors can be removed without causing equal or greater problems for other people, like if the ‘solution’ to whatever issue is to return to a discriminatory status quo, obviously that’s not a good policy and they don’t deserve consideration at others’ expenses. But if it’s something which affects everybody, like economic depression, or something legitimately disproportionately affecting certain subgroups of supporters, like poverty in rural communities, maybe that’s a thing to work on, not because they deserve sympathy but because it’s an issue.
@The Dread Vampy
Thorough intelligence gathering to facilitate planning is a big part of what Sun Tzu talks abut in The Art of War,
understanding how the minds of bigots work will allow us to in turn learn how to cure them of there bigotry,
they might even join us in our goal of ridding the world of hatred.
@TreePerson
Thing is, bigotry isn’t an illness, and you can’t cure it. The only thing that’ll get bigots to stop is if they want to change, and they don’t. So all that’s left is to go around them as much as possible, and at the same time make it clear on a societal level that they are beyond the pale, to ostracize and mock them, to demonstrate that decent people don’t want them around. And hopefully they’ll either change or shut up, but at least a society like that would generate fewer new ones. All this crap about empathizing with them just empowers them. As long as people keep cutting them slack, they’ll keep using it to make the noose to hang the rest of us with, and claim they’re in the silent majority, and most [white] people really support them, and would say so if it weren’t for ‘political correctness’. And as long as other white people keep cutting them slack, keep blithering about how we need to understand their concerns and empathize with their bigoted rage, they’re right. They are. Because tolerating, empathizing with, encouraging their bigotry, is, guess what, bigotry too. It really is that simple: someone can be on the side of fascists, or someone can be a decent person. There is no legitimate middle ground here.
Trump-ers don’t need anyone to empathize with them or understand their plight (they’re gonna be assholes to all anyway so why bother wasting the time and energy?) what they *need* is a swift kick to their rumps and for everyone to stop excusing or dismissing their nastiness. They’re too busy ranting about their return to greatness (that’s not coming) and making declarations on social media about how much more awful they intend to be if we don’t go along with their demands. “We don’t negotiate with domestic alt right terrorists” is what they need to learn.
I see everyone else who isn’t alt-right white and male doing a lot of work to adapt and at building – ideally – a better future for not just themselves but everyone…while the alt-righters sit and whine about having to do a damn thing, wanting other people to run a marathon-juggle chainsaws-obediently serve their every whim-respect their author-i-tay-and everything else for them to *possibly* consider allowing them to have rights. While trump-fans have been congratulating themselves on the accomplishments of long-dead white men they fail to notice that IT’S THEIR OWN FAULT they’re in the position they’re in and they continue to make their circumstances worse.
I’m not sure why you don’t think that I’m not challenging them. I do – all the time – I challenge the lies. I challenge the falsehoods and I’ve been actively advocating for Hillary Clinton, for a more tolerant society. When someone says Trump isn’t racist, I don’t let that lie. And I get abuse for it. I get blocked. I get called a traitor, etc. etc. On the other hand after the ‘pussy tapes’ came out one of my high school friends posted an article saying that those of us who are offended by that had no right to our faux outrage. I explained to her that my outrage wasn’t faux and no one had the right to tell me I couldn’t be outraged by someone bragging about sexual assault. She PMd me with an apology and removed the article.
But I can still do that while empathising with a lot of those people and understanding their position and their fears. Some of you can’t even seem to try to understand where I’m coming from and I vote straight D.
If you think there’s no middle ground and that people are irredeemable, that’s just not how I believe the world works. And yes, I do think that people are voting wrongly and supporting people who are fucking them over. I come from a ‘right to work’ state. Which is really just a right to get fucked over by unscrupulous employers.
But most people really don’t understand public policy and don’t understand about how policy impacts on their lives and they never read the fine print. I don’t know how to say that without sounding condescending. But it’s true. What’s also true is that almost everyone who crafts policy really thinks they’re doing things for the better. They convince themselves. I myself have crafted bad policy and I never did it to fuck anyone over – I did it because I was convinced it was for the better, etc etc. So if people are told “this will protect your jobs” while really just making you a wage slave, I’m not gonna blame them for believing it.
But a lot of y’all seem to really think that the people I grew up with all seek to actively harm you. They don’t. They really, really don’t. They probably don’t particularly want to help you, they don’t probably much care about you, but they don’t want to harm you. Are there some who do? Yes, there might be. There are bad people among every group. But I’m hearing at least as much hate for them as I’ve ever heard from them. They are people, too and they’re not all Stormfront reading, racebaiters. They’re not. What they are are people who have been raised in a very conservative, very, very religious culture where there are ‘places’ for people. Women do this. Men do that. Blacks and whites have their place in some of the worst of this theology (though this is not well defined and not universal). They can also see that the ‘establishment’ has been shitting on them for a long time and they’re portrayed in the media as crazy* and violent and stupid and this stereotype is so pervasive that I still encounter it even among other Americans here in the UK. I’ve lived here for 20 years and work in an intellectual field and some Americans from other places still sniff at me (I just avoid them.)
It’s also a culture where challenge is not encouraged. Heck, I’ve been kicked out of vacation Bible school and told I was probably on a path to Hell for questioning. If you don’t have any other place to go, that’s a high price to pay. I always knew that I didn’t need that community, that I wouldn’t be staying there – so I did question. But you know what, if my life took such a turn that I had to go back, they’d take me in.
And it’s also a community where when the KKK wasn’t allowed to demonstrate in the town next door as they did every year on MLK day, they got the papers to march through our town. And you know what my town did? They shut every business, they all stayed indoors. The Klan and their allies couldn’t get a glass of water or a gallon of gas or BBQ sandwich. They didn’t take the bait. They just – as one – turned their back on them. The Klan marched, we couldn’t stop them, but they marched through a ghost town. This happened when I was in college and I desperately wanted to come back and see this. And my mother told me to stay where I was – that I’d missed the point – that no one was gonna even lay eyes on them.
_____
*using this word to describe the way that people have been portrayed in its most ‘ableist’ form.