The veil is getting thin, but my patience is thinner
I need these spirits to step up and properly haunt a few people
Hi!
Thanks for opening this email / reading this post.
Donald Trump held a Klan meeting at Madison Square Garden last night that was so disgusting and hateful that the New York Times used the word “racist” in a headline to describe it. From the article:
A comic kicked off the rally by dismissing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” then mocked Hispanics as failing to use birth control, Jews as cheap and Palestinians as rock-throwers, and called out a Black man in the audience with a reference to watermelon.
These are the kind of sentiments you’d usually only hear from wet brains with a Keno addiction. Like, I’m shocked. They should have chained the doors shut and made MSG into an insane asylum. Sorry Knicks.
It really shows just how cheap words have become. You can suggest violence against multiple groups of people, denigrate entire nations, and vomit verbal slurry at every stop and be regarded as a truth-teller. But this isn’t simply a Republican machination. From the sentiment that a keffiyeh-wearing college kid is as dangerous as an army with a nuclear bomb, or that a pop singer has the same influence as Jeff Bezos, Americans have spent the past two decades unlearning the importance of literacy. I keep waiting for the tide to turn back around, for people to have some pride and decency, to find God and read a fucking book.
I don’t really know what I’m trying to say other than, I’m sad and I think Americans are better than what’s happening. And even though our institutions leave me utterly hopeless, I know and love so many bright, beautiful, kind Americans that I can’t give up and become as cynical as the hideous losers trying to run this country. So make sure to vote, because that’s like, the one lever we’re still allowed to pull, and keep being loud and smart to spite the bad guys.
And a few links to start the week:
I’m glad there’s been billions of dollars invested into something that at its best, equates to being a terrible employee, and at its worst, kills people.
Apple is finally letting us live out our “Carrie Bradshaw with a colorful Mac” dreams.
The enemy of my enemies is my friend. Lina Khan, you are my BFFL.
The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is giving me just enough dopamine to deal with the next week.
Tunes to start the week with:
There’s a new Soccer Mommy album out, which is great because I love her and think she is criminally underrated. If you’re a Boygenius/Phoebe Bridgers type, this record will be extremely your shit.
In more shocking music news, the recent Halsey release is very good (?!?) in a Liz Phair-type way. Whoever built her a time machine to early 90’s Chicago: thank you, this album rocks.
xx