The cat is sick. The cat is dangerously close to being OUR cat again, but we don’t really know. We’re dealing with entities as fickle as cats and cat owners, so who REALLY knows. Our hearts shift and stretch and ache, but at least we’re now in regular connection with the Other Woman (who, in all fairness, raised Not Our Cat from an adorable hand-full of fluff kitten to the contrarian but adorable and Loving gigantic beest cat that he is today) – and it’s just a shame that this has been necessitated by said gigantic beest cat being sick.
For a couple of days we were really worried as he slunk and hid (he has never really run away from us before, and he has helped us discover new nooks and crannies in our home) and he’s been acting off ever since coming back in from the storms on Sunday. He’s lethargic, hasn’t been eating much, hasn’t been drinking at all, isn’t grooming and is generally not showing the joy at little things like belly rubs and that one toy he likes.
Today there’s a lot more energy, the same amount of energy he showed off last night – the energy involved in no longer hiding, but following us around, meowing because he wants to go OUT.
OUT he says!
Kristen has finally negotiated a vet visit, so IN is where he stays until he can be packed into a little cat van and taken there. I see a immediate future of continued cat angst coupled with a terrifying vet visit of poking, proddings and alien humans. I see the long game here : we’re going to be the decided Bad Cop in this situation and Prince is going to want NOTHING more to do with us even once he’s better.
And so we were up ALL last night – but I don’t have as good an excuse. Kristen’s decidedly the Cat Mom and the beest knows well to whine to her as I’ll sleep through his mewlings, play through his miaowings, ignore his head butts and generally remain psychologically impervious to his begging. Kristen, on the other hand, was aware of every complaint and was up and down with him all night. I on the other hand just squirreled away on stupid Facebook memes and the hate that they show….I despise that such things keep me up.
Last night it was a stupid cartoon posted by someone on my feed – a stupid cartoon with something about a progressive being unable to decide which big red button they wanted to push, the choices being “The NFL shouldn’t punish athletes for exercising their free speech” and “ABC should punish Roseanne for her tweets”.
There’s no good response. I’ve seen plenty of people equating these two things as “free speech” issues, one that uppity liberals defend and one that uppity liberals decry and though I grasp their argument, it’s such a surfacial reading of the facts, I just don’t grasp how people are flashing their ignorance that way.
Yes – it’s two very rich people using their extended reach of celebrity to send a message to the masses. Yes, they both received retaliation from their employers – and yes, both received a lot of public hate and support for their outspokenness, but …
Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the anthem. He didn’t attack someone, he didn’t insult someone – he protested (and many would say insulted) the institutions of America through silence and a position of subservience. You’ll note that protest – even against the nation – is something inherent in the Constitution – and frankly inherent in the birth of our nation.
Some people have gone so far as to say it was a racist sentiment because they believe Black Lives Matter is anti-white. I’d encourage them to do a little more research on that subject so they don’t come across as ignorant about a movement they’ve obviously never rubbed elbows with. He’s stated it’s about calling attention to how blacks are brutalized by police, and to remind America that in most instances minorities are still very much second-class citizens.
The NFL discussed lots of ways of dealing with him, and when they parted ways through Kaepernick terminating his contract, no-one rehired him. Plenty of reasons why that might be, but I think it’s completely safe to say that if all other things are equal, gigantic corporations would prefer a non-controversial employee.
Roseanne Barr took aim at a specific woman and fired some pretty specifically disgusting racist language at her. She insulted someone directly. And even SHE knows it’s wrong – first stating it was under the influence of drugs (Ambien specifically – I don’t really consider that a defense – my impression is that with the lowered-inhibitions of drunk / high / inebriated / impaired social interaction you’re frankly just more likely to say what you REALLY think) and then she offered the “excuse” that “I thought she [Valerie Jarrett] was white, she looks like my family!” (what the FUCK kind of response is THAT?!?!? “I called him the n word but I figured it was cool cause he’s white”) and now she’s apologizing profusely, to her network, to her co-workers, and “everyone involved”.
I personally believe in second chances for mistakes, learning from consequences, I think redemption is just great – but a) as above, I don’t believe she didn’t think it, I think she made the mistake of showing what she thought b) it doesn’t matter what I think – I’m not her employer. See above – all things being equal, I think gigantic corporations would prefer a non-controversial employee.
So – in my opinion yeah, they are pretty similar situations in structure – but in spirit and start, these are two very, very, very different things. One is a considered social protest and the other a moment of stupidity by someone who has a record of such moments that insulted someone very specific in a very specifically offensive way.
I think it’s horrible that we Live in a world right now where you can be damned by an off-hand recorded comment, an ill-thought-out social media post… even worse that such things could potentially be started by a lie or a hack and that that will be believed and your protestations of innocence are not. Though the court of law still holds to “innocent until proven guilty” the court of opinion is instant and vicious, nigh irreversible and unforgiving and holds the exact opposite axiom.
And yet all of the above, that’s not what kept me up last night. It was the realization that all of the above hadn’t even been addressed by this stupid cartoon. No, the stupid cartoon shows the picture of the two hot button topics, the hesitating finger and the caption “progressives”. So yeah… don’t bother with the issues, just use it as an opportunity for a cheap and generalized shot across the bow of your chosen demon.
Mindless reposts. They keep on giving. And keep me awake at night. Feh.
(I also am amazed that this individual has excitedly got an article on their wall about how Fox had picked up Roseanne “just like I said they would!”, apparently not reading the rest of the satirical article [the SECOND LINE of the article] about how “the network of bigots comes to the rescue“… truly, how could I expect a more nuanced reaction from someone who just… doesn’t… read…)
