By Dustin Rowles | Politics | September 18, 2017 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | September 18, 2017 |
Last night, Sean Spicer made a surprise appearance at the Emmy Awards, and my reaction was probably in line with most watching it: A split second of surprise, a couple of seconds of, “What? Is Sean Spicer conceding that he lied like a motherfucker all through his tenure as Press Secretary,” and then thereafter, a “fuck you” began to brew in my lower abdomen, and it got bigger and bigger and bigger, and sometime after the first commercial break, it came bellowing out.
Fuck You, Sean Spicer (and the Emmys for hosting him). I mean, I get it: It’s an easy laugh, and it’s sure to be one of those moments that everyone talks about the next morning, but the show wasn’t short on those moments last night (not because of Colbert who, God bless him, was fine, but fine in a way that people’s mothers would appreciate), but because of a lot of great speeches and actual brilliant displays of diversity, displays of diversity that stand in direct opposition to everything that Sean Spicer represented as Press Secretary for a racist, homophobic, transphobic hobgoblin.
The moment of shock was fleeting, and it came at a cost, namely the normalization of lies. Sean Spicer stood behind that podium for six goddamn months and lied his goddamn ass off to the American people, and at one point even suggested that the actions of Assad were worse than those of Hitler. What was his punishment? He got to schmooze with celebrities:
Stomach churning. For months #SeanSpicer lied to our faces over & over, now here he is soaking up adulation post #Emmys. Pics @chrissgardner pic.twitter.com/IHHiGsrc1t
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 18, 2017
Well @seanspicer is a giant d-bag! Glad @realDonaldTrump fired him! pic.twitter.com/WEZJ2kRP8P
— Deplorables4Trump (@lbrot1) September 18, 2017
In other words, there are no consequences to serving a sociopath, and this may be the message that anyone else considering working for Trump might get: Sure, I may have to sell my soul to the devil, but afterwards, Alec Baldwin will pose for a picture with me! Sean Spicer is just another reality star who embarrassed himself on television day after day after day, and now he gets to be the Kato Kaelin of the Trump Administration, a fun novelty.
And I hear, like, three of you in the back saying, “Oh come on! Lighten up Francis! It was just a joke,” and that’s my point, man! Sean Spicer — who tried to sell the travel ban, who pushed the repeal of health care for millions, who lied about Michael Flynn and Sally Yates, and who protected the President from his own lies, big and small, day after day after day — is now a cute punchline.
And now the media gets to debate whether the Emmys rehabbed Sean Spicer’s image.
Sean Spicer's image rehab tour: Did the #Emmys help him? Hurt him? Is he "in on the joke?" https://t.co/wlMpc9rFCQ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 18, 2017
Fuck that.
Let's not let people like Spicer and Mooch become Cute Things. They were lying mouthpieces, utter disgraces. They should be shunned forever.
— Joe Berkowitz (@JoeBerkowitz) September 18, 2017
Fuck off, Sean. You sold your soul to a bigoted, sexist, corrupt con man and now it's supposed to be cute? https://t.co/o1u5yjYrmN
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) September 18, 2017
.@seanspicer can normalize himself in good fun, but he still passionately advocated against human rights, health care, & American values
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) September 18, 2017
Y'all want Hillary Clinton to sail off to the fucking Grey Havens but Sean "Shit Goebbels" Spicer gets to go to the Emmys? Fuck. That. Shit.
— Amelia Mangan (@AmeliaMangan) September 18, 2017
Sean Spicer gets a recovery tour after lying to the public for months but the first woman nominee is supposed to go into hiding
— JeremyConstantinople (@smartflexin) September 18, 2017
Fuck sexism
This isn't okay. It's not a redemption arc. This is a grown man who chose loyalty to a sociopath instead of the country. Fuck him forever. pic.twitter.com/JBrCiZM85J
— Guy Endore-Kaiser (@GuyEndoreKaiser) September 18, 2017
Amazing the rehabilitation of Sean spicer, a congenital liar, who will never admit to his lies. NOT FUNNY!
— KSK(africa) (@lawalazu) September 18, 2017