The Rude Pundit: The Assholery Is the Point

[Nevilledog]

https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-assholery-is-point.html


In his brilliant 2018 essay about the dark heart of Trumpism, "The Cruelty Is the Point," Adam Serwer asserted that "This isn’t incoherent. It reflects a clear principle: Only the [former] president and his allies, his supporters, and their anointed are entitled to the rights and protections of the law, and if necessary, immunity from it." The book version expands the idea of that cruelty into policy, the legal system, and more, very clearly laying out the savage vision of America's slide into authoritarianism. It's all chilling and frighteningly prescient-feeling.

There is another layer to this, though, one that is less invested in any principles or coherent ideology or, indeed, reality itself. In the post-Trump (for now) era, Republicans feel liberated to just be total assholes, reason be damned. The only guiding idea, if there is one, is doing shit that pisses off their imagined enemies. Yes, you can say it's an assertion for power for power's sake, but much of it is ludicrous, so insultingly dumb, that it really appears to be mostly being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.

Take, for instance, House Republicans changing the rules so that smoking is now allowed on the House side of the Capitol. Members could smoke in their offices, but that wasn't assholish enough, so now fuckpigs like Tom Cole of Oklahoma can cocksuck on a stogie in the House Rules Committee room, with the stench permeating large areas of the House of Representatives. The rule first changed to ban smoking in all but personal offices in 2007, when Democrats took the House, but even squishy toy Paul Ryan and human chimney John Boehner didn't change it again. The Senate doesn't allow smoking at all. Republicans are literally endangering people around them with secondhand smoke (honestly, I don't give a fuck if it murders the GOP smokers) for something that gets Tucker Carlson all hard and throbbing since he really sets the GOP agenda these days.

And let's see how quickly they end up putting back the metal detectors, which the GOP also had removed from the House.

Everywhere you look, you see Republicans just doing asshole things. Some of them are incoherently dumb, as if they read a post on Truth Toilet or Twitter and decided the way to get the likes and thumbs up and hearts is to do it. In Arkansas, new governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (forgot that happened, didn't you?) has issued an executive order banning the use of "Latinx" from official communications and documents. And it's not enough that they are doing the asshole move. They have to go all Joe McCarthy on everything. Part of the executive order is this: "All state offices, departments, and agencies shall submit a written report to the Governor detailing the findings of their review regarding the current use of the terms 'Latinx,' 'latinx,' 'Latinxs,' or 'latinxs.'" Why? Why the hell would that matter? The change in language (or, you know, "censorship&quot will happen regardless of how it was used in the past. It's pure intimidation; it's putting any state employees on notice. It's assholishness, through and through.

*snip*

[underpants]

1. almost metaphysically assholish

I haven’t read his rudeness in a while. This wasn’t very rude. Gotta say.

He nailed it though. When I heard about the smoking thing this morning I actually laughed and shook my head. The bold manly assholes have seemed to overridden the Bible thumpers. Thumpers are backing out of the limelight - they got Roe.
He’s right it’s all for media consumption. Mainly to avoid being primaried by an even bigger asshole.

[The Magistrate]

2. The Man Is Shocked Enough He Barely Cussed, Ma'am

I am impressed.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

3. Own The Libs. Even if it kills you.

I’ll send flowers to Asshole Tom Cole when the surgeons take half his tongue and a third of his jaw.

[czarjak]

4. Pomposity's persistence perplexes.