Since November 8th, 2016, a lot of millennials have thought, “It’s official. Politics can’t get any crazier.” Well, fam, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. Tons of messed up shit has happened this year. Hell, quite a bit has happened this week. Here are the 5 WTF Moments from this week.
1. Alabama's election night (Tuesday)
It was a shocking upset on Tuesday night when Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in Alabama’s special election for the Senate. Roy Moore was looking like he’d easily win the Republican-held seat until mid-November, when allegations arose that Moore sexually harassed and/or assaulted teenage girls when he was in his thirties. The youngest person was fourteen at the time. Big age difference there, buddy. The crazy thing was, a bunch of people in Alabama said they would still vote for him! Or should I say, white people. This video though:
Because on Election Night, when Jones was declared the winner by less than a 2% margin, guess who voted for him? Roughly 96% of black people, and 98% of black women at that. On behalf of sane people everywhere, I thank the black women of Alabama for saying, “We won’t have a child predator in the Senate.” As of Friday, Moore has still not conceded and wants a recount.
2. FCC Repeals Net Neutrality (Thursday)
Per Save the Internet, net neutrality is “the basic principle that prohibits internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from speeding up, slowing down or blocking any content, applications or websites you want to use.” In 2015 during the Obama era, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that kept the internet free and open, treating it as a basic utility like your water or gas. But on Thursday, they repealed the net neutrality rules and faced incredible criticism. Let me be clear: internet providers can charge you for using certain sites, they can regulate high-quality service, and they can block content. The Republicans that voted for the bill say this will encourage healthy competition among internet providers and give customers better service with more options.
3. Kentucky Lawmaker Commits Suicide (Wednesday)
Representative Dan Johnson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on Wednesday. This was two days after the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting published allegations that Johnson molested a high school girl when she was 17 and he was 53. Hours before he shot himself, he left a disturbing Facebook status:
A day after his death, his wife issued a statement saying she would run for his seat in the upcoming election. "Dan is gone but the story of his life is far from over," Rebecca Johnson said in a statement Thursday to multiple news outlets. "These high-tech lynchings based on lies and half-truths can't be allowed to win the day. I've been fighting behind my husband for 30 years and his fight will go on."
4. Farenthold and Kihuen won’t seek reelection (Thursday/ Saturday)
Representatives Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) and Ruben Kihuen (D-Nevada) both decided this week that they will not run for reelection after claims of sexual misconduct and harrassment. Farenthold apparently said of one female aide that he had wet dreams about her and that she could wear shirts that showed her nipples anytime she wanted. Michael Rekola, his communications director in 2015, told CNN recently that Farenthold would make sexually explicit jokes, once saying, “Better have your fiancée blow you before she walks down the aisle – it will be the last time.”
Kihuen, whose own party asked for his resignation, behaved questionably. The Nevada Independent reported Saturday that a 24-year-old woman who worked with Kihuen this fall said he "made unwanted overtures and asked overly personal questions,” asking if she lived alone, and “offering to help her move up in her career — something she interpreted as a possible suggestion for sexual favors."
5. Trump administration bans CDC from using 7 words (Thursday)
You heard right. The Trump Team had a meeting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday and gave them a list of banned words. Are we in 1984? Pretty sure that is censorship of some sort. The forbidden terms are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” Some replacement words were offered but others were not. Clearly, this is political bullshit—I suppose they will be forced to use “child” instead of "fetus", even though they’re not the same. And what will they use for “transgender” or “diversity”? The Trump Admin is trying to erase identities and ideas. When you try to stifle science, you are doing a disservice to your people. Now kindly get off your pedestals and into the garbage where you belong.
Basically, you should gather from this week that humans are terrible. We should just elect puppies and kittens to run our government. They won’t sexually harass you or take away your internet.
