Megan Mulls It Over

+JMJ

“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.”

-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

A Note About Pronouns: In this post, as I have done consistently throughout the course of this blog, I will use pronouns in a way that corresponds with biological and ontological realities, even though this violates standards of political correctness. I will, however, in order to avoid confusion, use the term “trans woman” for a man who identifies/lives as a woman. But even though this will make for some clunky reading, I will use the term in quotes so that my readers will not think I have forgotten that “trans women” are men.

Ever since I got a smartphone (i.e., drank the proverbial Kool-Aid) last February, my blogging rate has been on the decline. And then COVID-19 stormed in like a Chinese-American tank, and that complicated things even further. But at long last, here I am, to bring you news from the dark and fascinating world that is Chelsea Manning’s life.

Because evidently it’s going to take more than a global pandemic to derail my blog’s role as The Chelsea Manning Show.

Some of you may recall my March 18, 2019 post, “The Only Privilege Here is Executive Privilege,” about Manning’s first return to jail, which had occurred 10 days prior. He ended up being released on May 9, 2019, when the grand jury he had been imprisoned under expired, only to be put back a week later for refusing to testify in front of a different grand jury.

Because even after the military has dishonorably discharged you for tattling about some harmless war high jinks where a good time was had by all who mattered, it still has its honor to protect.

And imprisoning you in a way that appears to give you full control over your own release date is a great way to do that. As this article from The Intercept explains, grand jury resisters haven’t really been charged with anything. They’re basically in a timeout on steroids that can be ended if they decide to talk.

And of course talking means trusting that the government won’t say “Immunity schmunity!” when your testimony ends up incriminating you.

In mid-March of this year, Manning was released for real (for now anyway) a day after being hospitalized for a suicide attempt. According to this BBC article, he was due to appear in court the day after the release order was issued, “but the judge ruled that it was no longer necessary for her to testify.”

So in other words, the government decided that although this had been fun, they didn’t really want Manning dying on their watch.

“But Megan, why would the government care if Manning had died?” That is a great question. After all, as far as I know, the only news sources who really raised a stink about his being back in jail were a few alternative outlets on the Left (The Intercept chief among them in my view), some hard-Left Marxist sites, Ron Paul, and, to a lesser extent, yours truly.

But you might have noticed that some Republicans have recently decided that they love Julian Assange because he’s fallen on hard times with the Democrats. So if Republicans are now friends with someone who’s linked to Manning, aren’t they kinda friends with Manning? That might be a stretch, but consider this: if they’re no longer mad at the man who published the stuff that Manning leaked, how much longer can they be mad at Manning for leaking it?

Whoa, that’s pretty sunshine and rainbows for an eternal pessimist like me. I can assure you that I am as surprised as you are.

After his most recent release from lockup, Manning flew under the radar for a little over a month, re-emerging on Twitter on April 21, in full pandemic getup. The photo, taken in Brooklyn, shows Manning with his friend “Janus Rose,” who, spoiler alert, is also a dude who wants you to call him a lady. They are, in Manning’s words, “collecting and distributing PPE to some of those most in need.”

So unless Manning has gone establishment on us, I’m certain that among “those most in need” were more than a few non-white men who are putting a spin on the world’s oldest profession. Because “trans women of color” who engage in sex work are at the top of the oppression pyramid. And this is all thanks to the fact that the civil rights train hasn’t been on the track for a long time.

It starts out focused on the struggles of black men. And even the more radical elements have a certain respectability about them. Look at the vintage Black Panthers. They were very snappy dressers.

Then, due to Comrade Angela Davis and others, the train moves on to the struggles of black women. Here it starts to careen out of control, and sparks appear on the track. Because black feminists are feeling the burden of life’s big questions, such as “Who should we hate more? White women because they’re white or black men because they’re men?” And “Should we have a bunch of babies to stick it to the white supremacists? Or should we abort a bunch of babies to prove our independence?”

And notably, the train decides at some point in this phase that guns are mean. “What? Not Angela Davis!” I know what you’re thinking – “ANGELA DAVIS thinks guns are mean?” So she says. But I was as shocked and horrified as you when I first found out.

Because until then, despite all of my differences with Comrade Davis, I always had in my head, “If you’re stranded in Wokeville when the grid goes down, just find Angela Davis and beg her to let you bunk with her. ‘Cuz ya know she’s packin.’ ” But then I happened upon this 2014 interview with the Los Angeles Times in which she states, “I am totally in favor of gun control, of removing guns not only from civilians but also from police.” (In case you’re wondering, it appears that she doesn’t address the issue of how to remove guns without using guns.)

So basically in Phase 1, the message to whites is “You don’t have it as bad as the black man.” In Phase 2, the message turns to black men to tell them, “You don’t have it as bad as the black woman.”

And now here we are in Phase 3, where we are all being told that none of us has it as bad as the black man who thinks he’s a black woman.

So in less than a century, we’ve gone from “Don’t let anybody take your manhood!” to “Pay somebody, probably a white man, thousands of dollars for feminizing hormones and a penile inversion. And call anyone who questions this a bigot.”

Needless to say, this is the phase where the train is fully derailed and leaking toxic substances. The kind of substances that are toxic when a train is hemorrhaging them, but perfectly safe when Monsanto is spraying them on the world’s food supply.

And because you gotta find the humor where you can during these dark times, I invite you all to ponder the irony of giving PPE to sex workers and sex workers being fearful of contracting the coronavirus.

“Megan that’s an awful thing to say! Sex workers are people too! Why wouldn’t they be afraid of contracting the coronavirus?” I’m not saying they’re not people, nor that it’s stupid for them to be afraid of contracting the coronavirus.

But I am saying that if you have sex with strangers for a living, the coronavirus should be the least of your worries.

“Of course sex workers are also worried about STIs and being killed by clients! You are so mean, Megan!” I’m not saying they’re not worried about those things. But doesn’t the fact that they are worried about those things illustrate perfectly the stupidity of the “Sex work is real work!” crowd?

And let’s also ponder the concept of a sex worker wearing PPE. Let’s assume he’s wearing the PPE while “working.” Because if he’s not, why bother with it at all? Although, even if he is, why bother with it at all? Because if he is wearing PPE on the job, like many restaurants are doing during this time, he’s going to have to offer a “limited menu” of services. And those services are the type where, it would seem, he would be least in control of the interaction and most vulnerable to being attacked.

“Well, that’s why we need to, like, empower sex workers! They need to be able to have, like, apps and stuff where they can, like, screen their clients! And also free condoms!”

So basically, let’s make an app where potential clients can post their pictures, criminal records and health histories. Because men who seek sexual favors from homeless transsexuals would never post fake pictures or lie about their criminal or health histories. And numerous studies have shown that condoms are 99.9% effective at protecting against strangulation and blunt force trauma. “Yes, exactly!”

While he was taking a break from woke almsgiving, Manning downgraded his identity in his Twitter bio from “trans woman” to “trans femme (she/they).” This appears to confirm my long-time suspicion that a prolonged stint in a women’s prison would be enough to convince him that he’s not actually a woman. Because no man can stand being around that many women for that long.

Even though he may not have been the only man among the prisoners. Which presents its own set of challenges. Because every woke “trans woman” thinks he believes: 1) “Trans women” are women; 2) Incarcerated “trans women” should be housed in female prisons; and 3) A “trans woman” who doesn’t medically transition is just as “valid” as one who does.

But then he ends up in a woke women’s prison and realizes that what he REALLY believes is “Trans women who have had The Surgery and who are my size or smaller should be housed in women’s prisons. And I actually wouldn’t mind if I were the only trans woman allowed in here.”

But, just as I did in “The Only Privilege Here is Executive Privilege,” I will close by reminding my readers that regardless of what history might reveal about his character or motives, Manning will never be the most nefarious actor in this story. That honor will always belong to the U.S. government.

Individuals and groups can do horrible things, but they do not have unlimited resources and do not inspire automatic compliance in the way that the government does. And it is legal to defend yourself against individuals and groups who are threatening your life, liberty or property.

This is why I will always wince when I see someone whining on social media about how such-and-such jurisdiction should have locked down sooner and harder. And while punk-ass spring breakers might be spreading the coronavirus, many who are remaining inside and chiding anyone who dares to walk to the mailbox unmasked are definitely spreading the “Freedom is dangerous” virus.

And the “Freedom is dangerous” virus is striking minds that have already been addled by the “Freedom isn’t free” virus. “Freedom isn’t free” is typically code for some version of “A lotta brave men and women killed a lotta foreigners so you could have your little protest against the war. And a lotta them died when those dirty rotten bastards had the nerve to shoot back. So don’t come at me with your ‘Killing people is mean even if you’re a soldier’ crap!”

But this pandemic has taught me that freedom really isn’t free. And it actually is kinda dangerous. Because no matter what the experts say, life isn’t meant to be lived clad in PPE and 6 feet away from others at all times. At some point, we’re going to have to come out of the bubble and tune out those who think we’re evil for doing so. And that involves risk.

But, on the bright side, you might be able to convince at least some of the naysayers that anyone you might have infected was a terrorist and you were on a top-secret mission to kill them and now Bradley Cooper’s gonna play you on the big screen. #Murica

Verso l’alto,
Megan