It’s truly a testament to what an utter failure Donald Trump is that he’s still talking about the election and giving election-like rallies 100 days into his new job. If you didn’t catch his performance on Saturday night, he rehashed classics from the campaign trail like the lie about how he was going to repeal and replace Obamacare (he tried that, it failed miserably) and his terrific children’s story about how immigrants are literally snakes that will kill you. He made a lot of blustery promises he cannot possibly keep (like before) just days after telling Reuters that he was surprised at how much work being President is.
Let’s just be as plain as possible: Donald Trump isn’t going to save your job. Donald Trump won’t fix your healthcare. Donald Trump isn’t going to make America great. Donald Trump, and his rotten coterie of doofuses, billionaires, and white supremacists are simply running this country into the ground, actively stealing from the poor, and fucking every other human being they can along the way. If you live in Harrisburg (or anywhere else for that matter) and you’re still eating this up, you must love the taste of shit.
Speaking of shit, we wrote about how the “OK” hand sign was becoming an alt-right (and white power) calling card. Now see this Independent article about sad man rape-apologist / #PizzaGate enthusiast Mike Cernovich and Bernie-bro astroturfer Cassandra Fairbanks (who works for actual Russian fake-news factory Sputnik News) flashing it at the White House. Whatever it’s supposed to mean, with people like these two throwing it any chance they get, it definitely stands for at least one thing at the moment: being remarkably uncool.
Bonus: I missed this elaborate breakdown of the #PizzaGate origin story when it was first published but it’s still fucking amazing.
Elsewhere
In happier news (?), The New York Times has written on the broken concept of rating things in a binary yes/no, like/dislike, hot/not fashion. Referencing the excellent essay by Alicia Eler and Eve Peyser in The New Inquiry on “the tinderization of feeling,” Tom Vanderbilt opines that we should perhaps pause and think a bit more about this snap judgment world we’re making for ourselves (quick someone tell Malcolm Gladwell). I would go a little further, however. When it comes to art or human beings, rating systems should be the last thing on our minds. How someone — or something — makes you feel shouldn’t be as easily calculable as a number. And if it is… maybe there’s a bigger problem to address.
By now you’ve probably read lots of things about the disastrous Fyre Festival — Ja Rule’s luxury music event on a private island that ended up more like Lord of the Flies — but there’s one piece you should definitely devote your time to. Chloe Gordon’s recounting of her employment with the team putting the event together will have you — in equal parts — laughing hysterically and marveling at the sheer level of incompetence displayed by the promoters (tech bros with a history, by the way). There’s not a lot to smile about lately, but the idea of rich kids lured by Bella Hadid and Ja Rule to an exclusive festival only to find that no one really gave a shit about them at all is some kind of special symmetry.
@FyreFraud Here's the dinner they fed us tonight. Literally slices of bread, cheese, and salad with no dressing. #fyrefraud#fyrefestival#dumpsterfyrepic.twitter.com/NmNXakSFlq
— Tr3vor (@trev4president) April 28, 2017
❤️... pic.twitter.com/5XqHXBGIn9
— Bella Hadid (@bellahadid) April 29, 2017
Shifting gears: two design stories worth checking out, both from It's Nice That. The first is about the reissue of the EPA’s graphics standards manual from 1977. I thought I would be bored after the NASA reissue and stunning NYC subway guidelines... but this is so gorgeous I don’t think I can say no. Also, it’s probably a good time to be reminded of the fact that the EPA has been around for a long time and they actually serve a critical role in shaping US policy and protecting human beings in this country.
The second piece is a wonderful interview with Hay Design’s Clara von Zweigbergk on her art direction for the Danish furniture and accessories-maker. Not only is Hay doing some of the most creative and playful work in home design right now, but von Zweigbergk’s direction of the brand’s look and feel — from the photography and typography, to the actual staging itself — is second to none. A fascinating look at an often overlooked craft.
Finally
I love when The New Yorker shares something from its backlog, and this morning thanks to a Naomi Fry tweet (hat tip), I discovered this most excellent piece by Lillian Ross about the lives of private school teens from the Upper East Side entitled “The Shit-Kickers of Madison Avenue.” It’s from 1995, so the cultural references are choice in every possible way. From a bubble and a time-warp. Very illuminating.
“Cool,” the angelic-looking one with the flu says. “Cool shit-kickers.”
