You’re too late

Arizona has certified that Joe Biden won the state. So has Wisconsin. The nasty guy’s lawyers don’t seem to be done. Their arguments aren’t getting any better. Reps. Mike Kelly and SeanParnell tried to get the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to overturn the vote by mail law and invalidate 6.9 million ballots. Lauren Floyd of Daily Kos reported the court said you’re too late. If you really thought the law was unconstitutional you should have filed the suit before mailed-in ballots helped you win your primary. Marissa Higgins of Kos suggests that to become a better ally one should remove ableist language from what they say and write. Ableist language discriminates based on disability. We use it because we’re used to using it.

What can that look like? For example, think about how often you use these words or phrases: crazy, lame, crippled, paralyzed, schizophrenic, bipolar, OCD, obsessive-compulsive, dumb, stupid, blind spot, blind reading, falling on deaf ears, moronic, insane, or psycho. That list is far from exhaustive, too. ... You might be wondering: Well, what can I say instead? Try being more specific. If you say you’re “paralyzed,” for example, you might be referring to a feeling of being trapped, of being afraid, of being stuck, or so on. You can just say you feel stuck. If you feel that someone’s behavior is erratic or difficult to understand, you can simply say that, instead of describing it as psychotic or attributing it to a specific mental health condition. People’s conditions do not make them bad, evil, or a burden.

In another post Higgins took on another language issue. There are a lot of reasons to criticize the nasty guy and I’ve discussed many of them over the last four years. But too many people go the easy route and criticize his weight.

Criticizing someone’s weight is easy. It takes almost no effort or mental gymnastics to pull it off. It’s almost certain to get you some ‘likes’ on Twitter. Why? Because fatphobia is very, very ingrained in our collective understanding of humor. But it doesn’t have to be. A hard, but important, truth: Trump—and anyone else—would not be a better leader (or person) if he were thinner. He would not be a kinder person if he were thinner. He would not make better policy decisions. He would not care more about the American people. You get the idea.

In addition, the nasty guy isn’t going to be reading your tweets. But the real people in your life will. And those are the people your comments will hurt. And that might change how comfortable they feel around you. So call out policies and actions and be clear about it. But leave out the fatphobia.