Sometimes the world can seem so dark.
Between despicable acts of terror like the one in Manchester, despicable acts of fake terror created by the Trump administration like the ones in Bowling Green, Sweden, and Atlanta, and a Republican Congress seeking to take healthcare away from 23 million Americans while simultaneously giving enormous tax cuts to the wealthy, the world can seem like a dark place.
In these times, we need to look for the light. Even when it’s a little silly, possibly trite, and fairly ineffectual.
Here’s some light from this week:
Ben and Jerry’s has announced it won’t serve “same scoop” orders in Australia in protest of Australia’s Marriage Act, which doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages.
“We are banning two scoops of the same flavor and encouraging our fans to contact their MPs to tell them that the time has come — make same sex marriage legal!”
Clever and daring, Ben and Jerry’s.
Michael Jordan once said that Republicans buy shoes, too, indicating his purposeful, financially driven, apolitical stance.
Ben and Jerry’s has a different approach to politics. They stand on the side of decency and righteousness, and I suspect that they will be rewarded for it in the long run.
Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and exceptionally wealthy neurosurgeon, said that poverty is a “state of mind.”
Dictionary.com, who along with Merriam-Webster has been like word-nerd superheroes ever since Trump took office, trolling his administration every time they poorly define or attempt to redefine a term, swept in with this tweet:
Fox News host and Donald Trump propagandist Sean Hannity, who has been promoting a heinous and false conspiratorial account of the slaying of a former Democratic National Committee staffer, began to lose advertisers yesterday in response to his ridiculous and offensive claims.
Even Fox New staffers have expressed disdain and discomfort over Hannity’s conspiracy theory.
Perhaps he’ll go the way of Bill O’Reilly…
Then there was this photo of the Trump family and the Pope.
It’s often said that a picture is worth 1,000 words, and this picture says at least that. The facial expression. The subtle distance between the Pope and Trump. I know it doesn’t change anything in terms of policy or politics, but for a man who is obsessed with appearance and pomp, these little moments of embarrassment and resistance begin to add up.
Well played, your Excellency.
Speaking of appearances, I’ll end with this:
Regardless of your feelings about Melania Trump, you have to love the public embarrassment that she bestowed upon her husband after slapping his hand away upon arriving in Saudia Arabia and then executing a similar move one day later in Rome.
Anytime Trump’s brand or image is tarnished, I rejoice.
Until I can cast another vote in favor of his opponent, I will continue to call my Representatives and Senators, support my friends who feel forgotten or attacked by this administration, attend rallies and protests, and take great pleasure in these little moments of resistance, whatever the source.
