JEFF PEARLMAN

JEFF PEARLMAN

Maybe being an asshole nation isn’t the best idea

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I’m a fan of empathy.

Call me a fool, but when I see a homeless guy asking for money outside a service station, I feel genuinely awful for him. Do I give money? Almost never. Do I offer to buy food or a coffee? Often. But even when I don’t, I feel like shit seeing a person struggling as such. And, to be clear, I’m not bragging, or trying to look good. I mean, what type of person doesn’t at least have some sadness upon witnessing struggle? What type of person doesn’t hurt?

Answer: Many of us.

In case you’ve missed this (and, somehow, people seem to be missing this) our dickhead president with his dickheaded approach to immigration and his vile, xenophobic, dickheaded viewpoints on the world, is now leading a government that operates by separating illegal immigrants from their children. Yes, we. no longer just detain immigrants. We actually rip kids from their parents. Oh, and even more remarkable—we’ve lost a ton of them. Here, read this.

Or, from Huffington Post, this …

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And here’s the worst part: Nobody seems to give a shit. Do you know about this? How about you? And you? Ask your mom and dad. Your sister? Do they know? I mean, they know LeBron is playing his butt off for the Cave. They know about the recent royal wedding. They know Arrested Development is returning. But do they know about the way we treat people who—almost always—are trying to escape torture, murder, threats to their families? And, if they do know, are they concerned? (A recent poll showed the majority of evangelical Christians support Trump’s efforts)

I have never been more ashamed to be an American.

I have never been more ashamed of a president.