F**king Mondays: The Weekend From Hell

How was your weekend??

Photo by James Lee on Unsplash

While many dread Mondays, for me they are a huge relief. After a weekend trying, and almost always failing, to entertain and look after very small children, I cannot wait to sit down with my coffee and start writing in relative silence. This weekend was a particularly brutal one characterized by non-stop meltdowns, an almost comically bad trip to the local swimming pool, losing my airpods (again), getting hit incredibly hard in the groin by my five year old, being woken up at all hours by both kids, and all the while trying to stay on top of a house that looks more like a nuclear bomb site than a home.

All of this is to say I hope you a) had a better weekend than I did, and b) you’re not too down about it being Monday. Because I can confidently say that it could always be worse! So here’s to “F**king Mondays” and having at least a semi-decent start to the week.

Banter on The Banter

Here was an interesting interaction I had with a critical Banter reader last week on my piece on the Tucker Carlson/Fox/Dominion debacle:

You spend time writing column after column chastising Fox News. How many of your subscribers don’t already know that Fox is a biased right wing outlet? Preach to the choir much. Maybe point out the failings of the establishment left of you want to tell your subscribers something that they don’t know. But you are biased towards the Democratic Party and Washington conventional wisdom.

And my response:

Yes, I am biased towards the Democratic Party. Why? Because they are tethered to reality and not remotely comparable to the GOP. It is the only force stopping America's descent into outright fascism and tyranny, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time complaining about the party's sometimes frustrating internal politics. Furthermore, I don't share your belief that the "establishment left" is a giant failure in need of dramatic reform. I think they are doing quite well given the circumstances.

I was actually very heartened by this interaction given the reader is a Banter Member and supports us while still disagreeing with much of what we say. It is OK to have differing opinions and to try to hash them out when done in good faith. I won’t engage with trolls or ideologues, but if you don’t agree with something I’ve written and want to engage in a meaningful way, I’ll always do my best to respond politely and authentically.

As for the comment, I want to reiterate that I genuinely do agree with the “mainstream” Democratic position on most issues. This isn’t because I’m a shill for the party — it’s because I’m a political moderate and am not embarrassed in the slightest to admit it.

Donald Trump’s war on free speech

#TwitterFiles journalists have spent the past couple of months insisting that the Democrats and Big Tech have been engaged in a North Korean style effort to suppress free speech in America. The evidence? Some interactions between Twitter staff and Democratic politicians on whether certain accounts violated Twitter’s TOS and might be spreading Russian propaganda. Interestingly, it has come to light that a real effort to shut down speech was happening at the same time — but not from Democrats. Reported Rolling Stone over the weekend:

In early 2018, the American national security apparatus was fixated on reports that North Korea was building nuclear weapons that could reach the U.S. or that Russia was plotting chemical weapons assassinations in Europe. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump was busy targeting his idea of an enemy of the state: late night host Jimmy Kimmel. 

The then-president, according to two former Trump administration officials, was so upset by Kimmel’s comedic jabs that he directed his White House staff to call up one of Disney’s top executives in Washington, D.C., to complain and demand action. (ABC, on which Jimmy Kimmel Live! has long aired, is owned by Disney.)

In at least two separate phone calls that occurred around the time Trump was finishing his first year in office, the White House conveyed the severity of his fury with Kimmel to Disney, the ex-officials tell Rolling Stone. Trump’s staff mentioned that the leader of the free world wanted the billion-dollar company to rein in the Trump-trashing ABC host, and that Trump felt that Kimmel had, in the characterization of one former senior administration official, been “very dishonest and doing things that [Trump] would have once sued over.” 

I’m sure Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss are on the case, so stay tuned for another groundbreaking exposé…

What to watch

My wife and I have been watching Frayed on HBO, a British/Australian comedy about a rich London housewife forced to return to her working class hometown in Australia after her husband dies. Set in the 1980’s, the show stars Australian actor and comedian Sarah Kendall, who also wrote the script. It is a poignant, hysterical exploration of small town Australian life that sensitively broaches some very difficult topics. The show works because Kendall never takes herself too seriously and manages to make even the darkest situation so funny you can’t help but laugh out loud. Well worth dedicating an evening to.

Listen to the flipping podcast!

If you haven’t listened to the latest episode of The Banter Roundtable Podcast, do so now! Bob, Justin and I have a great time catching up each week and more and more people are tuning in. It’s the fastest growing feature of The Banter so please don’t miss out (plus it’s free!):

The Banter Roundtable Podcast: American Traitors

Note: Our Members Only podcast “The Emergency Meeting” is a shorter mini podcast for Banter Members investigating more explosive issues (usually using more offensive language…). If you’d like to listen to the latest episode on Biden’s trip to Ukraine and Republicans monumental freakout, you can do so here:

The Emergency Meeting: Biden in Ukraine, Republicans Freak The F**k Out

You can also get a Banter Membership for 60% off giving you access to all premium articles, member chat threads, and The Emergency Meeting Podcast:

That’s it for this week’s edition of “F**king Mondays”. See you back here next week!

Ben