Darren Blair

Shop the Insanity

One of the unfortunate realities of trying to sit down and write a column is that I spend a lot of my time trying to *not* turn each week’s installment into an absolutely massive rant about whatever insanity is going on in the world. This is a big part of why I’ve had to bite my tongue on certain topics or consign them to the affiliated YouTube channel I maintain (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsEFbjapoK23Gjukt4hdfrA). I’ve been informed that a number of the people who read this column read it because they are hoping I’ll brighten their day somehow or provide them with information about a topic they previously weren’t aware of. But the trade-off is that there are days where I’m so busy trying to keep from exploding over the nonsense I see in my news feeds that I can’t actually get anything written out.

“How bad can it be?” some of you may be asking? Bad. Very bad. Bad enough that I have to keep a “value size” bottle of antacid next to my computer.

For example, as I write this news is coming out that a college professor has been told by police that for his own safety it would be best if he didn’t return to campus (http://www.king5.com/news/local/olympia/professor-told-hes-not-safe-on-campus-after-college-protests/443098670). Why? He refused to participate in a protest in which white students and employees were “encouraged” to stay away from campus for a day, and so now he’s being targeted. This is nonsense. A protest meant to fight racism by actively engaging in it? And the person who chose to defy the inherent racism is now in danger of some sort? Seriously?

Or there’s the nonsense that just happened in Portland (https://pdx.eater.com/2017/5/22/15677760/portland-kooks-burrito-cultural-appropriation). In an effort to serve the most authentic Mexican food they could, two women went down to Mexico in order to learn the recipes of everyone willing to share with them. In response, an overtly and self-avowed leftist news outlet accused them of “stealing” the recipes from the locals, setting off a wave of harassment as they were singled out for “cultural appropriation” and found their business on a list of supposed offenders. The harassment was so bad they were forced to shut down and scrub their internet presence for their own safety. Apparently the people harassing them never got the memo that this nation is supposed to be a melting pot of cultures.

Then you have Alamo Drafthouse’s decision to do a women-only screening of “Wonder Woman”. So many people on both sides of the “gender” divide ended up having such epic freak-outs that I’m having to link you to BBC News’ coverage so that folks can see something relatively drama-free: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40058986 . This is, mind you, *on top of* the freak-outs from a bit back as to whether or not a real life Wonder Woman would shave her armpits. I *wish* was making that up…

It’s not helping matters any that I’m seeing far too many discussions of these and other topics online being derailed by people who insist on chanting “But Donald Trump is worse!” instead of actually addressing anything.

So yes folks, that’s why some weeks I just want to talk about cheery bits like “penguins in love” or “comic strips I think are worth reading.” It’s because past a certain point, I do indeed have to step back from the negativity and the hideousness of what’s going on at times.