I may not like that President Obama says “folks” all the time in an effort to appeal to the kind of person who thinks he’s a Muslim terrorist trying to steal away their union pension, but man, I sure do love that man’s common sense. If your attentions have been focused elsewhere lately, President Obama called Sandra Fluke, the student who Rush Limbaugh called a “slut” and a “Feminazi” and also told her to post videos of herself having sex during an alleged debate over corporations not providing birth control for religious/moral reasons, to ask if she was okay, and to tell her that defending her opinions concerning her own uterus was a noble thing.

Obama noted that while his personal advice to Sandra Fluke has no place in the public discourse (which was wise, considering that even a fucktard asshole hypocrite liar like Limbaugh has a right to free speech), Fluke’s experience reminded of his daughters, and he called her because “and one of the things I want them to do as they get older is to engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on…I do not want them attacked or called horrible names because they are being good citizens, and I wanted Sandra to know that I thought her parents should be proud of her…we want to send a message to all of our young people that being part of a democracy involves argument and disagreements and debate, and we want you to be engaged, and there’s a way to do it that doesn’t involve you being demeaned and insulted, particularly when you are a private citizen.”

Which is nice. While I certainly don’t agree with every decision of his presidency, I would 100% without hesitation vote for him again, because having a leader who has some sense in his head and shows personal support (instead of a form letter or lackey contact) to someone who is participating in the democratic process is pretty fucking admirable.

Other women in the news:

Keira Knightley is playing Anna Karenina, which is, just, I mean, goddamn it, world. Nowhere does Tolstoy describe Anna as a bony wraith. Tolstoy’s Anna has round shoulders, ample arms, and moves with a formidable grace. Greta Garbo I understand. Keira Knightley I do not. Keira Knightley is very pretty and talented enough and I’m not hating on skinny women, but she’s not Anna Karenina and all the production stills make her look like a lunatic with nice jewelry, and why in the fuck is it so hard to find an actress who might be able to survive a Russian winter (if not a train)? Why does everyone have to look like a Jane Austen consumptive?

I’m pretty sure we all agree that kidnapping, raping, and selling girls into prostitution is a bad thing, correct? Okay, as long as we understand this about each other, I’d like to request that you please stop sending me that KONY 2012 video. I know, okay? I know. I’ve known for years now, because anyone who watched Channel 1 during their high school advisory period knows about the LRA and what it does. I’m not saying you shouldn’t agree that Joseph Kony is a terrible person, and I’m not saying that human rights abuses in Uganda as well as the rest of the world shouldn’t be stopped. I’m also not saying that everyone who posted or shared the video is a moron, either, so if you experienced a moment of pissy indignation at my earlier Facebook post, perhaps you could re-read this sentence. However, I think that in general, the flood of KONY 2012 video links speaks to a frighteningly large number of people whose primary Internet time is spent on Facebook, Pinterest, and not much else in the way of news, research, or global conflict, and that really scares me.