Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Be a wild strawberry.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

The revolution will be supervised.

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Petty moves from a petty man.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

So many bastards, so little time.

You are here: Home / Justice / LGBTQ Rights / Gay Rights are Human Rights / Bad Performance Art

Bad Performance Art

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This clown apparently thinks if he is hungry, people will stop loving each other enough to want to get married:

It seems like things may have reached a whole new level of crazy in Utah.

Trestin Meacham, a 35-year-old Utah man, is allegedly refusing to eat anything until the state nullifies its recent decision to allow same-sex couples to get married.

At the time the above video was released, Meacham had reportedly gone 12 days without food — surviving only on water and an occasional vitamin — and has lost 25 pounds.

“I cannot stand by and do nothing while this evil takes root in my home,” the 35-year-old reportedly wrote on his blog. “Some things in life are worth sacrificing one’s health and even life if necessary. I am but a man, and do not have the money and power to make any noticeable influence in our corrupt system. Nevertheless, I can do something that people in power cannot ignore.”

Meacham claims he will fast until Utah decides to nullify the court’s decision — nullification being a theory that the states have authority in all matters, not the federal government. It is a theory that has reportedly been used previously in an attempt to prevent integration in the public school system in the 1950s.

Knock yourself out, jackass. Have your friends and family join in.

Reader Interactions

204Comments

  1. 1.

    coin operated

    Queue up a Darwin Award in 3…2…1…

    He won’t get the top prize, but this Don Quixote stunt is worth a special mention, isn’t it?

  3. 3.

    Botsplainer

    Utahns hate criminals and hate gays.

    That’s a lot of hate to generate, even for a Utahn.

  5. 5.

    Big R

    “I cannot stand by and do nothing while this evil takes root in my home,”

    Pretty sure that’s exactly what a hunger strike is.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    At the time the above video was released, Meacham had reportedly gone 12 days without food — surviving only on water and an occasional vitamin — and has lost 25 pounds.

    The Hate Diet.

    And since he’s a wingnut, better than even chance he’s lying.

  10. 10.

    Big R

    @MikeJ: “Queue” would be appropriate, albeit less common. As in to place it into the production queue. May be an off-label use of the word, but it’s hardly worthy of a peremptory prescriptive strike.

    ETA: Geeno beats me to the punch thanks to conciseness.

  11. 11.

    MBunge

    Eh. At least this guy is actually living, or dying, by his principles. You can deal with people who believe the worst things in the world as long as they sincerely believe them. It’s the ones who mouth a bunch of stuff they don’t really believe that cause most of the trouble.

    Mike

  12. 12.

    Baud

    Cue vs. queue
    A cue is (1) a signal prompting an event or action, especially in a performance; and (2) the long stick used to strike the cue ball in billiards and pool. The word also works as a verb meaning give a cue. A queue is (1) a line of people waiting for something, and (2) a hair braid worn down the back of the neck. As a verb, queue means get in line or place in line. Both these homophones are often used with up—cue up meaning prepare [something] to start on cue, and queue up meaning get in line.

  13. 13.

    Big R

    @Baud: Prescriptivism in grammar is the last refuge of scoundrels. If Samuel Johnson didn’t say that, he should have.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    I dunno, it sounds to me like this guy needs to be taken to the ER on a mental health hold. You’re so worked up about other people getting married that you decide to starve yourself to death? Really?

  15. 15.

    J

    Brilliant! In the unlikely event that he goes through with it, the homosexualists will have blood on their hands (or something)!

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Let this vile shitstain starve.

    When he finally croaks, the world will be a better place.

  22. 22.

    beltane

    I think what’s really bothering this fellow is that Obama is denying him his constitutional right to his own reality TV show. It’s one thing to experience such oppressive oppression in North Korea, but in the Land of the Free it’s totally unacceptable.

  23. 23.

    Yatsuno

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    When he finally croaks, the world will be a better place

    It’ll never get that far. At some point he will go unconscious and then he’ll be hospitalised. They will pump him full of liquid nutrition then transit him to solids. And if necessary, force feed him.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @MikeJ:

    The dumbass players of World of Warcraft think it’s “que”. I kid you not. They can’t grasp “queue” as “to wait in line”, or the extra letters offend their texting senses, or something. “I’m in the dungeon que” is often seen in chat. Que?

    Of course, World of Warcraft chat is a Grammar Nazi’s dream of text in need of correction. “Ur” for “Your” and “You’re”, of course.

  29. 29.

    kc

    @BGinCHI:

    I’d stand in line to force feed that motherfucker

    Well, of course you WOULD want to ram your gay agenda down his throat.

  32. 32.

    sophronia

    What on earth is wrong with people who think this way? How can you be so filled with hate that you believe other people’s marriages are worth killing yourself over?

    I blame his pastor and religious affiliation. Hope they’re happy.

  33. 33.

    Glocksman

    @Baud:

    Could very well be, but if he really lost 25 pounds in 12 days he’s either telling the truth or was grossly obese and is merely protesting by eating healthier.

  35. 35.

    Mike in NC

    Meacham had reportedly gone 12 days without food — surviving only on water and an occasional vitamin — and has lost 25 pounds.

    Try the lead pill, Meach. It’s faster.

  37. 37.

    Ash Can

    Awesome. How many times have we joked here that Obama should get up in front of the microphones and make a statement against the consumption of Drano? This clown is taking the initiative and doing it himself, after a fashion. I’m sure Yutsy’s right and he’ll get nowhere near offing himself, but it’s a step in the right direction.

  42. 42.

    RobertB

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    re: Dumbass WoW players. My old guild’s members got ‘queue’ right, more often than not. Pronunciation of the word ‘melee’, and the proper way to say ‘GIF’, now that was a different story.

  45. 45.

    Mandalay

    @sophronia:

    How can you be so filled with hate that you believe other people’s marriages are worth killing yourself over?

    On his web site he claims that this is nothing to do with hate….

    In so doing, Article 1 Section 8 and the 10th Amendment of the U.S Constitution were violated. Even worse a law voted on by a strong majority of the people of Utah was rescinded, thus robbing the people of their voice in government. And if this law remains, the natural rights of free speech and religious freedom, vouched safe by the first Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, will be violated. This has nothing to do with hatred of a group of people. I have friends and relatives who practice a homosexual lifestyle and I treat them with the same respect and kindness that I would anyone. This is about religious freedom, and an out of control federal government.

    I don’t understand his position at all. It’s not even wrong, or stupid. It’s just meaningless. He appears to believe that a majority view should trump the law, and it’s worth dying over.

  46. 46.

    Amir Khalid

    There must already be Utah pols working to draft laws to nullify the federal court decision that made same-sex marriage possible in the state. Why is this fool starving himself? Why not wait for that process?

  47. 47.

    Baud

    @Mandalay:

    I have friends and relatives who practice a homosexual lifestyle

    and one of these days they’ll get it right. /MarxBrothers

  49. 49.

    Fester Addams

    Well, if he really wants to get our attention he’ll need to feed himself to 120 hungry dogs…

  50. 50.

    cmorenc

    I think we can all admire Trestin Meacham’s sacrificial devotion to principle even though we sharply disagree with it, and um…wish him success indefinitely continuing his hunger strike. Indefinitely long success with that continuing part.

  51. 51.

    scav

    @Mandalay: “I’m condemning you to an eternity of hell and a life of unremitting social hatred because of love and in the name of Freedom!”. Typical. At least his neuron is unlikely to be further harmed by current purported starvation.

  52. 52.

    maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor

    @Amir Khalid: Did you read the quote posted by Mandalay just above? I think we can assume “logic” is nowhere to be found in his tool belt.

  53. 53.

    Aji

    @Amir Khalid: As I said above to Mike in NC about his suggestion that the guy take the lead pill, ’cause it’s faster:

    He can’t get the benefits of attention-whoring if he does it your way.

    Let’s be clear what this is really all about. In fact, ten bucks says the little twerp already has someone trying to shop his “story” for a “reality” show so he can be the next Duck Dynasty Dude.

  55. 55.

    cmorenc

    I think we can all admire Trestin Meacham’s sacrificial devotion to principle even though we sharply disagree with it, and um…wish him success indefinitely continuing his hunger strike.

    That’s a more polite way to say “knock yourself out Trestin”.

  57. 57.

    Cassidy

    @Mnemosyne: Those people are mentally ill, they cannot help themselves. I do agree that conservatism is a mental illness, though, but one of their choosing.

  58. 58.

    Yatsuno

    @Amir Khalid: Because gays are marrying right now. And even if the state passes a law rescinding equal marriage, if it also tries to declare the marriages null and void the couples will sue for that restoration and get it. That takes months. But he needs them to stop NAOW!! so he throws what is essentially a temper tantrum.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cassidy:

    I’m pretty sure that deciding to starve yourself to death over gay marriage takes you over the line from “garden-variety asshole conservative” to “mentally ill.”

  62. 62.

    shortstop

    @Mandalay: You apparently do not follow shifting anti-marriage equality memes as closely as many of us do. Right now the song goes like this:

    1. LGBT “civil rights” cannot coexist with religious freedom.
    2. If Christians’ right to discriminate against gay people is compromised, the first amendment is being pooped upon.
    3. The majority viewpoint should always prevail in questions of the minority’s civil rights. “Activist judges” overcame that majority view in California, other states and now in Utah.
    4. No, it’s not the same thing as racial civil rights. People can’t help being black, but they can sure help their degraded perverse sexual behaviors of choice. Only immutable characteristics should be protected by law against discrimination. Oops, except for religious belief.
    5. What do you mean I would have been one of these people in the background a generation ago?

    There are all kinds of subthemes and supporting points, such as Christian business owners being “deprived of their livelihoods” and “forced out of business” if they have to follow their states’ laws re public accommodation. But this is the gist of it.

    This kind of shit, by the way, is why we laughed when you assured us a few months back that if a religious person “sincerely believes” that being gay is a sin, it’s okay for that person to discriminate.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cassidy:

    ETA: I realize that the line between “devoutly religious” and “mentally ill” is sometimes so thin as to be transparent, but I’m pretty sure this guy has crossed it. The sad part is that, like the delusional woman who testified to the Georgia legislature that the CIA had implanted a chip in her head, this guy is going to be celebrated as a conservative hero rather than getting the mental health care he obviously desperately needs.

  65. 65.

    p.a.

    @Mnemosyne: yep. Or maybe the dumbass should just, like, move? Maybe to North Carolina to help the Klingon-American work for the Constitution Party.

  66. 66.

    Ben Franklin

    The overturning of Prop 8 in Ca. (funded largely by the Mormon Bund) was the final straw. Martyrs are always welcome.

  68. 68.

    Cassidy

    @Mnemosyne: I’m not that charitable. There are people who have real needs, real people with mental health issues that need treatment. Living a life of hatred doesn’t push you up the que in my opinion.

  69. 69.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @shortstop:

    There are all kinds of subthemes and supporting points, such as Christian business owners being “deprived of their livelihoods” and “forced out of business” if they have to follow their states’ laws re public accommodation. But this is the gist of it.

    Sort of like Rand Paul whining that enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act is more tyrannical than shipping Jews east for “resettlement”.

  70. 70.

    srv

    I propose a democratic alternative to cleek’s law:

    Whatever causes the most wingnuts to starve themselves, updated daily.

  71. 71.

    coin operated

    @Mnemosyne:
    And all this time I’ve been thinking that “garden-variety asshole conservative” and “mentally ill’ were synonymous.

  77. 77.

    Jewish Steel

    I’m holding my breath until Bush/Cheney turn themselves in in The Hague.

    Quid pro quo, hayterz.

  79. 79.

    Shortstop

    @dmsilev: Yes, but they take food away from deserving wingnut grannies to do it, so it’s double heinousness on Obama’s part.

  80. 80.

    Mandalay

    @Cassidy: I see where you are coming from, but I think the man really is mentally ill. These are his words:

    After explaining the situation to my family, I have decided to pursue the following course of action. After my dinner tonight, I will begin a fast which will not end until all counties in Utah stop issuing marriage licenses and performing marriages for same sex couples. Due to the rogue judge refusing to issue a stay, this will likely take several days.

    I cannot stand by and do nothing while this evil takes root in my home. Some things in life are worth sacrificing one’s heath and even life if necessary. I am but a man, and do not have the money and power to make any noticeable influence in our corrupt system. Never the less, I can do something that people in power cannot ignore.

    I do not expect anyone to join me in a fast which has no end in sight, but if you wish to join me in a limited fast it would be a big help.

    The guys is nuts. The fact that he has a family makes him contemptible, but the real issue is that he is so misguided that he needs help.

  81. 81.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Cue up: To set up to start on cue (or position a cue ball)

    Queue up: To line something up in a queue, as in a machine

    Q up: To equip with exploding pens and other gadgets

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    @Mnemosyne:

    I realize that the line between “devoutly religious” and “mentally ill” is sometimes so thin as to be transparent, but I’m pretty sure this guy has crossed it. The sad part is that, like the delusional woman who testified to the Georgia legislature that the CIA had implanted a chip in her head, this guy is going to be celebrated as a conservative hero rather than getting the mental health care he obviously desperately needs

    .

    Yes.

    And your comment (sans religion, unless it’s guns are religion) applies to George Zimmerman too. I’m not sure he’s mentally ill, but he’s seriously troubled and needs help.

    That goes for Glenn Beck too. (Although he’s making buck off the crazy ugliness.)

    Quite the daisy chain, once you begin …

  88. 88.

    The Pale Scot

    @Mnemosyne:

    You’re so worked up about other people getting married that you decide to starve yourself to death? Really?

    SHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh…………..

    No Really……… SSSHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh……. keep em coming!

  89. 89.

    Cassidy

    @Cacti: Some fresh baked bread, a fragrant jasmine rice, maybe a fresh meat pie of some sort.

    @Mandalay: That’s all well and good. I see nothing different from any other garden variety RWNJ religious zealot; at least he’s shown some balls and going through with it. Then again, he also knows a point will be reached where he’s forced to take sustenance.

  91. 91.

    ruemara

    Oh well, sucks to be him. I will eat tonight’s low car quesadillas in unsympathy and joyous celebration of HAPPY QUEER WEDDINGS.

  92. 92.

    Mandalay

    @shortstop:

    You apparently do not follow shifting anti-marriage equality memes as closely as many of us do

    I bet I do. And you managed to read a gazillion things into my post, and Meacham’s comments, that weren’t there.

    Haters gonnna hate…

  93. 93.

    Felanius Kootea

    @shortstop: Wait, he ran for state senate in Utah and was an active contributor to the “don’t tread on me” blog?

    I smell a Tea Party political career about to be rebooted.

  96. 96.

    max

    @Mnemosyne: ETA: I realize that the line between “devoutly religious” and “mentally ill” is sometimes so thin as to be transparent, but I’m pretty sure this guy has crossed it. The sad part is that, like the delusional woman who testified to the Georgia legislature that the CIA had implanted a chip in her head, this guy is going to be celebrated as a conservative hero rather than getting the mental health care he obviously desperately needs.

    Not seeing it. When he gets down to anorexic weight levels (at which point he’ll be unconscious and easier to handle), that’s when you call in the nice men with the ambulance and the white jacket.

    Until then he’s a toddler holding his breath until he turns blue, and a New Year’s Crash Diet advertised as a Political Statement is probably bogus but nowhere near a sure sign of mental illness. (Otherwise they’d have had to cart off every Iraq War or Occupy protester that came along – not that folks like this guy wouldn’t love to do so.)

    @coin operated: Queue up a Darwin Award in 3…2…1…

    He’s got a long trip over hill and through dale before he gets anywhere near competing with the Polish guy that cut his own head with a chainsaw to prove how manly he was.

    max
    [‘Offhand, it occurs to me to hope that Cole doesn’t own a chainsaw.’]

  98. 98.

    Gex

    Two ways it gets better for us: people change their minds or they die. I think he’s choosing poorly, but it is the reason that things have moved so quickly on this issue, so whatevs.

  99. 99.

    Elizabelle

    @Mandalay:

    Mandalay, here on this blog, let’s not be calling each other haters.

    Please?

    Because that’s ugly. You can disagree more civilly than that.

  102. 102.

    GregB

    Is this the appropriate response from people who feel that they are having things constantly shoved down their throats?

  103. 103.

    Mandalay

    @Cassidy:

    That’s all well and good. I see nothing different from any other garden variety RWNJ religious zealot; at least he’s shown some balls and going through with it.

    But he is not showing balls. He is irrational. Even if you adopt a devil’s advocate position, his arguments just do not make sense.

  106. 106.

    shortstop

    @Felanius Kootea: Note that he raised a whopping $420 dollars, $320 of it from himself.

    Stay tuned for his post-starvation second run at public office. He’ll have a little more name recognition this time.

  107. 107.

    WereBear

    Sounds like a problem which will solve itself.

    But truly, mental health issues. Perhaps this is the act of desperation that will get him professional help… better than jumping off a bridge.

  108. 108.

    Mandalay

    @Elizabelle:

    Mandalay, here on this blog, let’s not be calling each other haters. Please? Because that’s ugly. You can disagree more civilly than that.

    I responded in kind. Follow the thread back.

    Incidentally, there are a lot of hate messages on this thread. I guess you don’t see them.

  110. 110.

    Cassidy

    @Mandalay: Okay. You want to understand, coddle, whatever. Your prerogative. I don’t really care how they choose to off themselves or how they justify it.

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    @Mandalay:

    Yeah, I do sometimes read a thread from bottom up. And skim.

    I’m serious about not calling each other “hater” though. Or racist. Most of the time it’s just an honest disagreement, or clumsily worded comment.

    People throw out the words “hater” and “racist” constantly in trolling on other blogs. It’s labeling people to shut down a discussion.

  113. 113.

    Mandalay

    @max:

    When he gets down to anorexic weight levels (at which point he’ll be unconscious and easier to handle), that’s when you call in the nice men with the ambulance and the white jacket.

    About a year ago in Sweden they found a man who had been trapped in his car, and had lived off nothing but snow for two months. Meacham can survive on water and vitamin pills for a long while.

  115. 115.

    Shortstop

    @Mandalay: Pointing out that you recently defended gay-bashing if it’s religiously motivated is “hating”?

    See points 1 and 2 above.

  116. 116.

    kindness

    John, John, John. Pulling stuff from HuffPo now? I expect more of you than I do of myself. Sure, I go over there and muck about from time to time. Usually when I’m really bored and have read the usual sites. But you John? I am sad.

  123. 123.

    Elizabelle

    @kindness:

    Yeah, I wish we did more linking from real newspapers than poutrage aggregators. Which is a lot of blogs raison d’etre.

    It gets so old.

    It’s not like there isn’t provable news out there.

  126. 126.

    Gex

    @Mnemosyne: From the facebook page it doesn’t seem like any of the people closest to him have a problem with it. I wonder if the state can do something protect him even if his family disagrees with the state.

  127. 127.

    max

    @Mandalay: About a year ago in Sweden they found a man who had been trapped in his car, and had lived off nothing but snow for two months. Meacham can survive on water and vitamin pills for a long while.

    Yeah, I saw that. People lose weight (sometimes lots of weight) for lots of reasons, and they usually survive. (There’s a risk that developing seriously unbalanced electrolytes will induce a heart attack, if I remember my symptomology correctly but that’s rare.)

    max
    [‘The guy isn’t going to die. He’s throwing a tantrum.’]

  128. 128.

    Brian R.

    It is a theory that has reportedly been used previously in an attempt to prevent integration in the public school system in the 1950s.

    What the fuck is up with that sentence?

    Yes, nullification was “reportedly” used to oppose desegregation in the 1950s if you listen to those scurrilous rumor-mongers known as “historians,” “legal experts,” “the Supreme Court,” and a long-dead tribe known as “journalists.”

  131. 131.

    catclub

    @Mnemosyne: But if John Brown had gone on a hunger strike for slaves, I think the response by slaveowners would be similar to the general response here: Idiot, pointless. It gives me some understanding that Gandhi’s actions were not universally respected.

    Only time will really tell.

  136. 136.

    Helen

    All you need to do is go to his Facebook page to figure out where he is coming from. He is not “mentally ill” He is a hater and is looking for some serious publicity and grift. Full Metal Wingnut.

  137. 137.

    Mnemosyne

    @catclub:

    It’s not the action itself, it’s the meaning of the action. John Brown going on a hunger strike for abolitionism probably would have been silly and meaningless, because he himself was not a slave. (Frederick Douglass, former slave, going on a hunger strike against slavery would be a different story.) Gandhi going on a hunger strike for an issue that directly affected him personally — the independence of India — is completely different, because it was an issue that directly affected him personally. Prisoners who go on hunger strikes are also doing it for rational reasons, because they’re trying to change their own situation.

    Does gay marriage personally affect this guy? No. Does the legalization of gay marriage change in his day-to-day life? Not at all. That’s what makes his tactic crazy.

  138. 138.

    Mandalay

    @shortstop:

    Sure. Your contributions throughout this whole thread are pretty gobsmacking, but your comment #82 really ramps up the yuck.

    THAT is your evidence for “gay-bashing”? Digging up a post from a completely unrelated thread from eleven months ago that has absolutely nothing to do with “gay bashing”?

    You are a fucking wierdo jackass, and pretty creepy one at that. Stalk people on your days off?

  139. 139.

    shortstop

    @Mandalay: Silly, I “dug it up” (which took 30 seconds) because you asked me to. And I’m not seeing a self-defense in your response; it’d be kind of hard to come up with one for your performance in that epic thread. But it’s true that almost a year has gone by. Perhaps you’ve evolved enough since then that you no longer think “sincerely religious” people get a pass for hating on the gheys. It’s a fast-moving civil rights movement, after all, and thank dog for that.

  140. 140.

    Mnemosyne

    @Helen:

    Note that I’m not saying, Oh, he’s mentally ill, he should get a free pass. I’m saying he’s mentally ill and needs hospitalization, plus people should probably stop taking direction from someone who’s delusional enough to decide to starve himself to death over gay marriage.

  141. 141.

    The Pale Scot

    @Mnemosyne:

    Why stop a schizophrenic from jumping off a bridge? Why stop a bipolar person from shooting themselves?

    I ask myselves this question all the time.

  143. 143.

    Aji

    @The Pale Scot:

    Why stop a schizophrenic from jumping off a bridge? Why stop a bipolar person from shooting themselves?

    I ask myselves this question all the time.

    I see what you did there.

  145. 145.

    Helen

    @Mnemosyne: But that’s my point. He is not

    delusional enough to decide to starve himself to death over gay marriage.

    He is full of shit.

  146. 146.

    Mandalay

    @Cassidy:

    Okay. You want to understand, coddle, whatever. Your prerogative. I don’t really care how they choose to off themselves or how they justify it.

    It’s not a matter of coddling, or caring on a personal level. Suppose he starved himself for an even more ridiculous cause. Say (to pick an absurd example) that he decided to starve himself until the federal tax deduction on mortgages was withdrawn (or increased).

    In that scenario wouldn’t you agree that he was mentally ill and needed help? Or would you just let him die?

  148. 148.

    vhh

    I just hope this kind of protest catches on big time in right wing circles and reduces the surplus wingnut population.

  150. 150.

    shortstop

    @Keith G: Water, coffee and club soda, but I gotta say that the Canadian Club, Seagram’s and peppermint schnapps explain so much about the wingnut world.

  151. 151.

    Elizabelle

    @Keith G:

    Oh. I know just what you’re talking about, without checking the link.

    And do we have a thread full of Smoking Loon swillers?

    Really?

    At least Tanqueray’s in our court.

  152. 152.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Okay, so does this mean that eating shows support of the whole militant gay agenda or just gay marriage?

  155. 155.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne:

    Does gay marriage personally affect this guy? No. Does the legalization of gay marriage change in his day-to-day life? Not at all. That’s what makes his tactic crazy.

    I think a key part of the crazy is that they sincerely do believe that gay marriage will somehow affect them personally by undermining or devaluing their own marriage. The most plausible explanation I have heard for this is that a traditional Western marriage is based around the legal inequality of husband and wife that can’t exist in the same way in a marriage between two people of the same sex. If they see their own marriage as being between two unequal individuals, the existence of marriage between genuine equals might seem like a real threat.

  157. 157.

    scav

    @shortstop: Judging from general levels of obesity, there’s a lot of this homosexualism going around. I’m going to go contribute to the cause by eating cake, sincerely mind, very very very sincerely. With lots of icing.

  158. 158.

    MomSense

    Me thinks this Meacham guy doth protest too much.

    ‘I’m not gay. I’m sooooo not gay I will starve myself to death to prove how not gay I am’

  160. 160.

    feebog

    So I wonder what this guy does for a living? He was wearing a dress shirt and tie in the video clip, so I’m guessing some kind of low level white collar drudge. How long before the hunger strike affects his health to the point he can’t work?

  161. 161.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @Mandalay:

    It’s a pretty standard wingnut line: Anything the government does that they don’t like is, by definition, “government overreach” (synonyms in wingnuttese: “tyranny,” “fascism”) that is somehow depriving them of their rights.

    Hell, I once saw a wingnut argue that since the Congressional candidate he voted for didn’t win, he had “no representation” in the federal government and therefore was illegally being subjected to taxation without representation.

  165. 165.

    kc

    @Roger Moore:

    Yeah, he did post this on his Facebook page:

    This is what happens when Washington decides that a culture and way of life is incompatible with what it decrees. People of faith everywhere need to wake up, what they did to the native Americans, they are now doing to us.

  166. 166.

    Cassidy

    I have settled on Bulliet Bourbon and Bulliet Rye. I intend to try Angels Envy, but I think I’ve found my spirits of choice. Fuck the poll.

    @Mandalay: I’ve got no issue letting someone who uses RW framing to justify their jackassery off themselves. I’ve already said I consider conservatism to be a mental illness. I still don’t give a shit about there feelings. If every single one of them woke up tomorrow, walked outside, and ventilated their skull with their metal teddy bears, I’d start a petition to make that day a national holiday.

  167. 167.

    shortstop

    @Roger Moore: Am sure that’s an underlying belief, but they don’t usually say this out loud, at least not in front of people from outside the tribe. The most popular refrain at this moment is that same-sex marriage harms all of us — all of society — because it deprives children of a) one mother and one father, each of whom contributes unique parenting skills that can never under any circumstances be provided by the opposite sex, and b) two biological parents. You hear B a lot more from LDS folks, who believe that families sealed in the temple stay together for eternity and also tend to place a very high premium on blood relationships.

  170. 170.

    Mandalay

    @feebog:

    How long before the hunger strike affects his health to the point he can’t work?

    That’s a good point. If he has an employer, that employer must have real concerns about keeping him on. Even if they don’t care about him on a personal level, they presumably would face legal liability issues if bad things happen.

  171. 171.

    scav

    @shortstop: Bassett-like might work, but not too Bassett-like as it’s near solid chocolate. Wielding a fork properly might get you past the safety protocalls I installed.

  172. 172.

    rda909

    I will be withholding judgment on this guy until the One True Patriot weighs in. No one knows more about the ins and outs of the U.S. Constitution than Russian resident, by way of China, and supporter of Republican Ron Paul – Edward Snowden. Even though he lied specifically to steal, it was lying for Good, so I know I can trust every word out of his glorious mouth.

  173. 173.

    shortstop

    @scav: In that case, I’m standing on two legs and holding flatware like I’ve always had opposable thumbs. I’m that committed.

  174. 174.

    WereBear

    @Roger Moore: If they see their own marriage as being between two unequal individuals, the existence of marriage between genuine equals might seem like a real threat.

    Excellent point; my wingnut brother got stuck on this. My husband would explain that we are equal partners, and his brain would grind gears and he would exclaim, “But someone has to be the boss!”

  175. 175.

    Gex

    @shortstop: They know their way of life is changing if not disappearing. And they’re blaming it on us. They feel existentially threatened by us.

    ETA: Also I am touched by how many of you are so dedicated to helping us that you are willing to eat. It’s just…sniff…beautiful.

  176. 176.

    Roger Moore

    @Cassidy:
    One problem with the thing is that it only includes the brands big enough to have a substantial drinking population. Maker’s Mark is the only semi-decent bourbon on the list, and there are no single malt scotches. It would be interesting to see if they could put together results for those kinds of things, even if it meant aggregating results for all single malts into a single category. (Maybe it would be interesting to see a comparison of voting patterns by favorite single malt scotch region.) Even more ridiculous is that they seem to have included only wine and liquor, even though Americans consume more alcohol in the form of beer than wine and liquor combined.

  178. 178.

    Anne Laurie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Go down to Queue in lilac time.

    Thank you, thank you, I am SO GLAD that I’m only the second-last person to remember Noyes’ poem!

    I remember it being sung, but I can’t find a clip to verify that…

  182. 182.

    Cassidy

    @Cassidy: And, they obviously don’t watch Bar Rescue. The science of who drinks what, and why, is explained about every other episode.

  183. 183.

    Mnemosyne

    @Helen:

    Let me put it another way: why is it better to treat him as a rational asshole who is making an argument that needs to be refuted than to treat him as an unhospitalized mental patient whose delusions shouldn’t be paid any attention to?

    He is making a crazy, irrational argument. Why do him the courtesy of acting as though he’s rational?

  184. 184.

    Bill Arnold

    @Elizabelle:

    And do we have a thread full of Smoking Loon swillers?

    Ouch. Couple of bottles in our wine rack. Wife and I are both solidly in the upper left.
    The right side of the chart is pretty much unfamiliar. I did buy a bottle of Ketel One for a Halloween 2013 party (along with every other higher-end vodka) and people (some of them known wingnuts) drank it right down.

  185. 185.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mnemosyne:

    He is making a crazy, irrational argument. Why do him the courtesy of acting as though he’s rational?

    Because “Having ideas of which the Powers That Be do not approve makes you insane by definition, and deserving of indefinite detention until you recant such insanity” has a very bad history.

    Meacham wants to starve himself to death for his ‘principles’, the liberal standard is that he’s got that right. He can’t make other people suffer — his kids/wife/employees get to eat — but it is not Tha Gubmint’s right to decide which beliefs are “sane” or “insane”. We can do our best to persuade him to change his mind (or we can point & mock, which might have a stronger effect) but locking people up for Wrongthink is… wrong.

  187. 187.

    Helen

    @Mnemosyne: Because it is neither black or white. He is not delusional, requiring mental health treatment, nor is he rational to be taken seriously and refuted.

    Pointing and laughing may be the best way to go.

    That being said, I am on the fence with the current Bill Nye/Creationist controversy. I don’t know the answer. I do know that for the first 3?? years of his presidency, Obama thought that the bullshit being flung was so irrational that no one would believe it, so he pretty much ignored it. How’d that work out for him?

    On the other hand nothing is going to change the minds of the 27%.

    So, yeah, I dunno.

  189. 189.

    Origuy

    @Roger Moore:

    there are no single malt scotches

    There’s one, Glenlivet, just on the red side of the line. The most common single malt and just about the most accessible to someone who doesn’t like a peaty taste.

    Too bad most of my favorites (Lagavulin, Oban) are Diageo brands. Diageo is still a member of ALEC, last time I checked.

  190. 190.

    muddy

    @Anne Laurie: I think it’s funny that someone above thought his employer would be facing some kind of legal liability for not making him stop his diet. Too lazy too look, laughing too hard.

    It’s New Years, doesn’t everyone say they’re not going to eat as much this time of year? It’s just a matter of degree for this idiot. Do you suppose they will cover the story of how he started eating again in a sneaky way on the news?

  191. 191.

    Mnemosyne

    @Anne Laurie:

    We can do our best to persuade him to change his mind (or we can point & mock, which might have a stronger effect) but locking people up for Wrongthink is… wrong.

    Wow. So if someone believes that their parents have been replaced with identical duplicates, they shouldn’t be taken to a mental hospital because that’s just trying to police their Wrongthink?

    So do you think mental illness exists at all, or is it all just society being mean and putting labels on people who think differently than everyone else?

  192. 192.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @kc: Yes, he is trying to build name recognition for his political career.

    His disqus comment stream is, er, interesting. E.g.:

    I had a very similar experience growing up as you. I hated school. I started hating it when I was still in elementary school and my teachers punished me for making them look stupid. I remember one teacher mocked me when I began doing double digit division in my head. claiming it was impossible. He was not very happy when I did it.

    By the time I was in high school I had completely shut off. Then I started being involved in sports (the one place where excellence was not punished) I did enough to keep my grades up so I would be eligible. I had high hopes for college, but found it to be more of the same and a waste of time and money.

    I was conservative to the core, but distrustful of the GOP. I was a fan of Ross Periot in the 90’s. I’ve noticed the same thing with many of the older conservatives, they tend to be more trusting than us. When I talk politics with older people they seem to be closed of to the
    idea that we have been being mislead for decades, even before they were
    born.

    Like yourself I have no TV just internet. I don’t even have a phone, my time on the inside of the IMC taught me to avoid having a phone.

    And yes Channel One was horrible! a few of my teachers had enough guts to refuse to show that trash, but they were few and far between.

    The question is, did you have Masters of the Universe toys? lol

    Hmmm…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  193. 193.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mnemosyne:

    So do you think mental illness exists at all, or is it all just society being mean and putting labels on people who think differently than everyone else?

    Of course mental illness exists, but it’s not the government’s job to decide where “political protest” ends and “mental illness” begins.

    At this point, you’re just using your neurotalents to “WIN” the argument you want to have by scoring debate points. If Mnem has the very last comment, be the ‘logic’ within that comment never so twisted, then she gets the trophy! Clap hands, for Mnem who WINS!

  194. 194.

    Mandalay

    @Anne Laurie:

    Of course mental illness exists, but it’s not the government’s job to decide where “political protest” ends and “mental illness” begins.

    Well I have to completely disagree with you there. It definitely is the government’s job to decide whether people are becoming a danger to themselves and/or others. But this is so obvious that I think you must be making a point that I am completely missing.

  195. 195.

    Mandalay

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    Yes, he is trying to build name recognition for his political career.

    That may well be so, but does not mean that he is not mentally ill. It is not as though only one of the two possibilities can be true.

  196. 196.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Mandalay: Time will tell.

    So far, he’s apparently not eating. That’s not necessarily a sign of being mentally ill (even if he is doing it for reasons we disagree with), even if he starves himself to death (which I don’t think he will – but I have no special knowledge).

    Was Brian Willson mentally ill during his protest?

    On September 1, 1987, while engaged in a protest against the shipping of U.S. weapons to Central America in the context of the Contra wars,[2] Willson and other members of a Veterans Peace Action Team blocked railroad tracks at the Concord, California Naval Weapons Station. An approaching train did not stop, and struck the veterans. Willson was hit, ultimately losing both legs below the knee while suffering a severe skull fracture with loss of his right frontal lobe. Subsequently, he discovered that he had been identified for more than a year as an FBI domestic “terrorist” suspect under President Reagan’s anti-terrorist task force provisions and that the train crew that day had been advised not to stop the train.[3] In 1989 a music benefit was held in San Francisco to help raise funds for Willson. Performers who turned out in support were Nick Gravenites with guests Jerry Garcia and Pete Sears, Jackson Browne played a set, and Ed Asner and Wavy Gravy spoke. Mimi Farina and Pete Sears later played a folk set for protesters just outside the barbed wire surrounding the naval base. They built the stage on some old railroad tracks using a generator for power. Their show was filmed by police from a tower just inside the base.

    A person can have seemingly crazy political views without being mentally ill.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  197. 197.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Anne Laurie:

    Uh, it kind of is the government’s job to decide the line between political protest and mental illness.  If this guy was threatening to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, but he said he was doing it to protest gay marriage, are the cops supposed to let him do it because he says he’s killing himself for political reasons.

    At this point, you’re just using your neurotalents to “WIN” the argument you want to have by scoring debate points. If Mnem has the very last comment, be the ‘logic’ within that comment never so twisted, then she gets the trophy! Clap hands, for Mnem who WINS!

    So have John ban me again if the fact that I post here bothers you so much.  

  198. 198.

    SFAW

    As the saying goes: “Think of it as evolution in action.”

    Of course, the cognitive dissonance that asshole might experience as a result of taking part in the evolutionary process might cause his head to a-splode.

    Not saying that’s a bad thing, mind you.

  199. 199.

    eemom

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    No doubt it’s the kiss of death coming from me, but I think you’ve raised a very good question on this thread. Does a seriously mentally ill person deserve to be, um, fed to the dogs, rather than helped, because their delusions take a political form that we hate?

    OTOH, maybe this person IS just a garden variety wingnut and/or attention whore, rather than mentally ill…..but even if that’s true, which no one here can possibly know for sure, doesn’t mean your question deserves to be dismissed.

    And it’s kind of amazing, how sure folks here are that they know which it is. See, e.g., Frist, Bill on Schiavo, Terri, contempt of.

  200. 200.

    YellowJournalism

    I have a long list of conservative pundits and grifters who need to join this man’s hunger strike to show solidarity.

  202. 202.

    Elizabelle

    @eemom:

    Hi eemom. Happy 2014, and best wishes to the Wahoo.

    ETA: I am feeling in solidarity with you tonight, because I just got told to GFY on the next thread. I guess I belong now!

  203. 203.

    slippytoad

    I don’t give this guy a mentally ill pass. He is contemptible. Let him choke on his own bile. He obviously can’t be reasoned with, so let him make an example of himself that hatred really can eat you alive.

    When it gets far enough he will cry uncle all by himself, I bet. No one will have to step in (and I include the possibility here that he is utterly full of it and eating as much as he needs to). I just can’t picture a gigantic asshole like this having real convictions that cost him something. That doesn’t fit the right-winger type.

  204. 204.

    moops

    His former political aspirations would be a clue that this is about publicity and attention more than his deep beliefs or revulsion. It’s a grift and his associates are in on it.

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