safety pins

December 9, 2016

Hey, we’ve made it to the first day of the second month since the last American election. As we step through the Trump looking glass, reality continues to shift – certainly to the right, but mostly to the bizarre.

The new real world unfolds as scrolling cyber sentence fragments and photoshopped effigies offer only absurdity. Human thought, now reduced to meme, seems to accept fake news as the interesting narrative.

And why not? The fake news on my Facebook feed just offered both proof that Hillary is the leader of an alien invasion and suggested that hot chicks, in my neighborhood, were eager to talk with me.

Why, in my advanced years, I would want to talk with a bunch of anonymous hot chicks is beyond me. But, that Hillary alien invader story seems oddly compelling. I suspect the Trump effect has turned my brain to mush.

While the republic still stands, it babbles incoherently.

But, enough about our mental health, let’s talk about safety pins…

One positive response to that event last month is the “You are safe with me” safety pin meme. (Like I said, we now think in meme. Sigh.) The meme has grown into something of a movement with people conspicuously wearing pins to symbolize everything from protest to the Trump take over to actual real world support for the marginalized. Like most progressive movements, the Safety Pin thing is a loosely defined sign of solidarity.

To quote a #SafetyPin tweet, “My #SafetyPin shows I will protect those who feel in danger bc of gender, sexuality, race, disability, religion, etc. You are safe with me”

This movement, of course, has created reactions from both sides of the political playpen. The mainstream media have (disingenuously) asked, “Isn’t this just white guilt – an empty gesture?” The Trump trolls, of course, label it as scandalous disrespect for the Donald.

We need to recognize that both the media and the Trump assholes react the same to change. They both fear change and will act defensively when they encounter it. Both these group can’t stand it when shit happen without their permission. The media criticize because they want the attention themselves. The Trump asses attack because, well, they are asses.

Publicly labeling oneself as the “other” is risky and hardly empty. (Writing criticism of stuff you don’t understand is empty.) And we all have the right to peacefully protest any way we choose – respect is earned not assumed.

But be very careful out there. The Donald has given the trolls permission to come out and play. They will read the safety pin as a target. If something happens, chances are the press won’t notice – they’ll be too busy talking about themselves.

That’s all I got today. Take care of yourselves and each other,
osv