June 2011
28 posts
“Portland Oregon. The city of roses. Stumptown. The whitest major metropolitan area in the United States. Though you’re best not to mention that to the locals. These honkeys be trippin’. ”
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“…we have the ability when we recognize that something is wrong to change it. And that’s that we did in this country, we changed it. We no longer have slavery, and that’s a good thing.”
—
Michelle Bachmann, proving that she is in fact, progressive. Gee, thanks for clearing that up Michelle. Did you arrive at that yourself, or was it your crack political strategy team?
Her idiocy is unbounded in a way that defies the laws of nature so egregiously, she must shit Higgs Bosons like CERN on a plasma laxative.
In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Bachmann incorrectly asserts - amongst other things - that John Quincy Adams was a founding father. (He was a child at the time)
She’s only doing as she asserts: when she’s factually wrong, she changes it (it, in this case, being the definition of “facts.”) But let’s make no mistake about it - she’s not an idiot, she is calculated in her appeal towards those who feel the modern world is passing them by. She is - as are her potential voters - revelatory in her ignorance. The modern world opens up a whole universe of facts and knowledge to those who understand how to use it, and those who don’t - well, it’s better to denigrate facts and knowledge and embrace ignorance than to feel personally irrelevant.
Better than facts, knowledge and the modern world change than to admit that the modern world has no place for you. Granted one could work hard to adapt to the modern world, but when the modern world moves so quickly, that feels almost impossible. So they - and she - fight back the only way they know how: by attacking that which makes them feel uncomfortable as wrong.
She’s not an idiot, she just knows her voting demo - and it’s not the people who know how or care to fact check a statement on Politifact. It’s the people who are scared of change when that change makes them vestiges of a world that no longer exists. And that voting bloc is much larger than the bloc that will fact check her purposefully ignorant statements.
(via spytap)
You Guys, I Don't Think I'm A Nerd Anymore
Quick digression: If you google “Miss America, Nerd” google will suggest “Miss America Nude”.
Required reading:
Patton Oswalt’s take on nerd culture
A brief glance at any number of tweets/blogs discussing the nerdity/lack thereof of the newly crowned Miss USA.
Here’s a list of things that, growing up, I thought were incredibly special, important and unique:
Bill Cosby’s Himself
Weird Al Yankovic Originals
The Animaniacs
Soul Coughing
Douglas Adams
Archie Comics
So, I self identified as a nerd* for a long time, but if the internet taught me anything it’s that for anything that I thought was special, important and that only I knew about, there is an entire community of people that know more about it and think it’s special-er.
So I suppose the identification came from feelings of alienation and awkwardness, which, upon reflection, EVERYBODY feels; especially when you’re 11-15 years old. I reckon all the hubbub about Miss America identifying as a “history geek” and whether or not someone physically attractive (and who thinks beauty pageants are not a complete waste of time) can join our once exclusive group of outcasts and weirdos. But the fact of the matter is, now the pop culture gems that we used to think were so special are out in the open and we no longer have to define our personalities by the passion with which we strive to find once rare pop culture artifacts.
This is not a call to “take back” the word, but more that it’s time to recognize that the word now means the same thing as “twilight teen” or “soccer mom”. Lets face it…we’re now a demographic. Getting upset that someone else is trying to join our little group is like Chuck D bitching about the rapping granny.
So…at this point I’m saying it loud. You guys, I’m not a nerd anymore. There’s plenty of other things I have to feel awkward about besides my love of obscure pop culture.
*geek, dork, dweeb, poindexter, goober, goofball, weirdo, psycho, techie, twerp, schlemiel, etc.
Play
“Oh good lord.”
—Things you don’t want to hear your chiropractor say.