By David Futrelle
John McCain announces that he’s now a “no” vote on the Graham-Cassidy anti-healthcare bill, and gets hailed as a “hero,” proving that the standards for “heroism” amongst Republican senators is pretty damn low. But if McCain is your senator, you should probably call to thank him for this minimal act of human decency.
Meanwhile, millions of Puerto Ricans remain in dire straights, without power and water — and, sadly, without much media coverage. And Mexico City continues to dig out from last week’s earthquake.
Here’s Johnny:
I cannot in good conscience vote for Graham-Cassidy. A bill impacting so many lives deserves a bipartisan approach. https://t.co/2sDjhw6Era pic.twitter.com/30OWezQpLg
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/BenjySarlin/status/911307015703670784
https://twitter.com/ChrisWarcraft/status/911306765559402497
https://twitter.com/maxsparber/status/911301004511072256
Don't let McCain's pledge stop you from calling Murkowski and Collins. Call right now.
Murkowski: (202) 224-6665
Collins: (202) 224-2523— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) September 22, 2017
(Note: Murkowski’s people say they welcome calls from out of state. Hint hint.)
BREAKING: Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she's `leaning against' latest GOP health care bill, cites major concerns.
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 22, 2017
McCain says he's a no on #GrahamCassidy. This isn't a reason to let up—the bill isn't dead yet. Keep calling! ☎️ 1-866-665-4470 #KillTheBill pic.twitter.com/htEJSRBcT9
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproforall) September 22, 2017
And now to Puerto Rico, a place the media seems to have largely forgotten:
Puerto Rico's population is larger that WY, VT, ND + AK combined. and it's entirely without power.
Donate + HELP: https://t.co/RnR5rH1Sy4
— . (@MarisaKabas) September 22, 2017
Puerto Rico:
Yet another reason that Puerto Rico's massive power outages are a huge crisis: https://t.co/zfYn2qpOi0 pic.twitter.com/juKS49WWMq
— brad plumer (@bradplumer) September 22, 2017
Puerto Rico's power outage could be a death sentence for many https://t.co/9ccQ1XC9li pic.twitter.com/6ZdHGjzJF7
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) September 22, 2017
More options here if you want to help Puerto Rico (or the other islands in the Caribbean that have been hit hard by Irma and Maria).
Here’s what it looks like in Mexico City today:
WATCH: Drone footage of Mexico City after another deadly earthquake caused destruction in the region earlier this week. pic.twitter.com/DoekMFVY2b
— PBS News (@NewsHour) September 22, 2017
In other news:
Yiannopoulos’ Planned ‘Free Speech Week’ Appears To Implode Spectacularly https://t.co/CXCvlZRMau
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) September 22, 2017
Leftists didn’t kill it; it was killed by the sheer incopetence of Milo ‘n’ pals, who failed to fill out the paperwork to reserve rooms or even contact some of the touted speakers to tell them they’d been invited. It’s almost as if they never intended the event to happen in the first place.
https://twitter.com/Kherman112/status/911285209777160192
In “bad but completely expected news.”
BREAKING: @usedgov just rescinded the 2011 #TitleIX guidance that explains schools' obligations to survivors of sexual violence. #StopBetsy pic.twitter.com/AD8Xezq22q
— National Women's Law Center (@nwlc) September 22, 2017
More bullshit poop crap:
Small government? BS
Abusing taxpayer money used to be a firing offense. Not in Trump era. https://t.co/IYXv5mQE8c
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) September 21, 2017
Appears in this video that Erdogan security forces once again assaulted American protesters. If so, his thugs must be detained immediately. https://t.co/uB5JSnM8P3
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/MuslimIQ/status/910284960610836480
Wait, what? @seanspicer threatens to report @mikeallen to the "appropriate authorities" for, uh, texting him? https://t.co/BdSGyeFOsb pic.twitter.com/KEyroQZKSd
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) September 21, 2017
And here, we have video of Trump saying that Melania “really wanted to be here”…while she’s standing next to him. (h/t @MaverickofKain) pic.twitter.com/rvQCUo4RYB
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) September 21, 2017
Whoever designed this floor is evil. THATS A FLAT CARPET. pic.twitter.com/RGENHZJN81
— Muselk (@muselk) September 21, 2017
Kitties!
💓💓Aww so cute #RedPanda 😍🤓😁💓 pic.twitter.com/qKhHcCMHmQ
— т є ʀ є 🐼 (@beatshoney) September 12, 2017
how am I supposed to study when my hedgehog just sits there waiting for me to give him attention pic.twitter.com/dEtD4cDOmu
— mal (@lebaneseplease) September 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/BBAnimals/status/910987122018062338
Ok, technically none of those were kitties.
The easy comparison most people drew as far as Beale’s goofy comic was that one back in the 2000s where future Sean Hannity and G. Gordon Liddy are fighting the evil UN-controlled government of America in the dystopian liberal future of 2020 where–gasp!–hate speech laws have turned conservatives into outlaws! The sheer ridiculousness of it demanded belief in an fact-free world to take it the least bit seriously. This “Alt-Hero” garbage is probably going to be more of the same, where it relies on conspiracy theories about shadowy government cabals who take their queues from Anita Sarkeesian or BLM or some rainbow-haired supervillainess who’s secretly a lizard person or somesuch nonsense and Liefeld Lady has to swoop in to save the rugged gun-toting peaceful alpha males from the assault of violent hippies.
Basically, Ben Garrison if he drew for Image Comics circa 1994.
Mish, David has written about that nasty man before. I remain unsurprised that this pedophile apologist is still touting pedofilia/rape apologia.
I think I’m going to avoid every comment section of every article about Hugh Hefner’s death. You just know we’ll all be expected to pretend he was a great man and not a sexist creep. Pass.
@wwth
I heard voices on the radio today calling him “lonely” despite being surrounded by all the beautiful women and how dare anyone call them objects when he lurved them so much.
Thanks NPR!
@Mish and Peevee
MRAs and their rape/pedophilia fantasies. I think they want to be those rapists in the articles. Calling them fucking scum is too nice.
@WWTH
I will too after reading one that basically said ‘guess what ladies? (he probably meant feminists) men like women; monogamy is against our nature’ The fuck..?
At least there’s one in the Grauniad categorising him correctly as a pimp and quite a few commenters agreeing he was a sleazy exploitative p.o.s. (though also no shortage of shitwits in the BTL comments wittering on about how actually all those “girls” were acting of their own free will and they were exploiting him, reeeeely)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/28/hugh-hefner-pimp-sue-playboy-mansion
Those aren’t entirely inconsistent. He had that particularly patronizing form of ‘help’ where even when he was right about how things could be made better, he felt that he knew best how to go about it and would ignore the people on the ground in the middle of the fight. Not to mention the way he actively helped maintain the foundations of a rather toxic culture, even while he was campaigning against some of the outward results of that same culture.
I mostly mentioned his death because he had a significant effect on the sorts of subcultures we talk about here. Hefner may have tried to show some semblance of class himself, but the doors he helped open provided vaguely respectful cover for a lot of rather ugly concepts that could then move in and set up shop.
I’m not gonna comment on Hugh Hefner aside from that, like all idle rich, his death is not a bad thing.
I saw that Trump waived the Jones Act so other countries could help Puerto Rico. This is something that shouldn’t exist in the first place. I’m glad that Puerto Rico is less likely to descend into apocalypse like the accounts I’m hearing from the folks who live there suggest.
Who cares about Hefner when I just found out Bernie Casey passed away last week!
*sniff* I’ll miss you, U. N. Jefferson. You were the best straight man in zany teen comedies that the 80s ever had!
Addendum: I found an article about a former “girlfriend” of Hefner’s that describes in broad strokes what living with him was like from the book this woman wrote.
There is no reason to mourn Hefner whatsoever.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/holly-madison-burns-it-down?utm_term=.qjDDkGxn3#.nmJV2aYWA
@IgnoreSandra
And all it took to remove a racist Act was shaming another racist until he gave in to public pressure.
@Oogly
It’s not removed. It’s just temporarily waived. It shouldn’t exist, period.
The United States still has multiple colonial possessions, and that needs to end.
Hi everyone!
Currently in recovery and things are going well.
I’d say more but I hate using my phone for this kind of thing.
*Waves*
Hell yes Jesalin! More power to you <3
*waves*
Hi, Jesalin! Continued good wishes!
@Jesalin
Glad to hear you’re doing well! Waves back.
Great news, Jesalin! Glad to hear from you!
Speedy recovery, Jesalin! That’s great news.
Great to hear, Jesalin!
Thank you Mammotheers for introducing me to the Voxman’s latest cry for attention. I needed a pick-me-up after today and watching the internet eviscerate Alt*Hero is just what the doctor ordered.
@Jesalin
http://i.imgur.com/i2twEB3.gif
Great to hear, Jesalin! Good luck on a speedy recovery!
Yay Jesalin!
http://moderncat.com/sites/default/files/images/uploads/Lasers.gif
@ignoresandra
yeah, only temporarily
@Jesalin
Congratulations!
@Jesalin,
This is AWESOME news. So happy to hear from you xoxoxoxox
http://68.media.tumblr.com/5836d1490289c86494f678496081c8d6/tumblr_mwgoj3pzfq1sd45i6o1_400.jpg
@PeeVee, Haise,
I’m not surprised he’s featured on WHTM before; he’s a prize specimen.
Given that most MRAs are racists, it’s interesting watching the mental gymnastics involved in praising Indian men (I have one of those – an Indian man, I mean – so I’m also deeply affronted on a personal level).
Finally, nthing the love for the takedowns of Mr Beale’s comic efforts. It’s been wonderful 😀