I feel like you’ve mentioned going; do you have any feelings on the guy who owns Coachella being an anti-gay, anti-climate change piece of shit? Hope you’re well and you had a banging new year.

Yeah, I’m done with Coachella. Not because of Phil Fucking Anschutz, though. I’m done because the law of diminishing returns started setting in the year that it became two weekends instead of one, and I know that it won’t ever get any better than Arcade Fire at the Outdoor Stage in 2005 or Daft Punk at the Sahara Tent in 2006. Coachella isn’t that festival anymore, and I’m not that person anymore. That shit was a decade ago, and things change.

Still, you should go if it’s that time in your life, and regardless of what you think of Coachella, it’s a bit silly to suddenly act all woke because you learned that AEG belongs to a rich white bigoted asshole. Phil Anschutz deserves every last inch of bad press he gets, but let’s not kid ourselves. The world is run by rich white bigoted assholes — especially now, and especially the entertainment world. If we started boycotting everything owned by rich white bigoted assholes, we literally wouldn’t have toilet paper to wipe our asses, so don’t let the bastards ruin your good time.

Has Trump surprised you at all thus far? Deporting criminals, refusing a salary, backtracking on the Obama care repeal. All good things thus far. Have you decided to hate him no matter what he does?

I hate Trump for the grotesque monster that he is. I never expected him to actually do half the stupid shit he promised to all the hateful mouth-breathers who voted for him, but don’t start cutting him slack just because he hasn’t set the building on fire.

Refusing a salary is just a Presidential-level humblebrag. (Notice that he’s not donating it to charity.) He isn’t backtracking on Obamacare as much as he’s just handing off the repeal to a Republican controlled legislature, and referring to undocumented immigrants as criminals to be deported is a page right out of Hitler’s book.

And of course, let’s not forget that he just appointed a white nationalist as his senior advisor and a sycophantic twerp as his chief of staff. No, none of this has been a surprise. This isn’t goodness or restraint. All we’re witnessing is the bluster and bravado of the campaign morphing into a machiavellian exercise in conniving and self-aggrandizement.

I was one of those Jill Stein voters. I hated Hillary. I hated the DNC for their betrayal. I hated that Native American protesters were being brutalized over oil while we all stared at our television screens and laughed at Trump. I hated that the corporate media ignored John Podesta’s back-handed scheming. I was starting to see the Democratic party as the death of populism.

But I’ve been doing some reflecting over the past couple of days. I really wanted to believe that half the country had reasons besides racism to vote for Trump – that the kind of economic pain that establishment politics inflicted on rural Americans would make them choose anyone but a Clinton. I wanted to believe this because I know two Trump voters who are very important to me – my parents.

For twenty-three years, I’ve given my parents the benefit of the doubt. I tried to be understanding when my mother would say “people just want to be with their own kind.” I struggled for words when they told me that Muslims are inherently hateful whereas Christians are inherently loving. I even held my tongue when father told me that slavery wasn’t always bad. In spite of all of this, I really wanted to believe that I was raised my good people. I wasn’t. My parents are white nationalists.

Looking into the abyss that is now our world’s future, I realize I had it all wrong. The real problem isn’t the DNC or the corporate media or the Clintons or even third parties. The real problem is that people like my parents still define our culture. I don’t know what to do with all of my confusion and anger. All I know is that I don’t want to go home for Thanksgiving and I want Hillary back.

Yeah, go fuck yourself.

Before the election, I said that people like you were worse than Trump voters, because you knew better. I meant it then. I mean it now. You knew better, and yet you still threw away your vote on an unqualified, symbolic candidate. Now look what you’ve done.

You are worse than everyone who stayed home on election day. You are worse than the uneducated white men in swing states who tipped the electoral college. You are worse than your parents.

You are the actual worst.

People have lives and jobs and families. Your underground resistance movement is fucking cringeworthy and a massive waste of time.

Why can’t you accept this as a victory for the anti-establishment? I realise you’re too far into it now to turn back but you really are looking at Trump’s win the wrong way.

If you think this is a victory for the anti-establishment, then you don’t understand how the system is built. Trump is a racist, misogynistic, hyper-privileged white male billionaire-by-birth — he is the living embodiment of the establishment.

We all have lives and jobs and families, many of which are now in peril because this grotesque monster conned his way into the highest office in the land. If you think it’s a waste of time to resist his rise to power, then by all means, return to your knitting and try not to cringe yourself to death, because the rest of us have our lives and families and jobs to protect.

(And for those of you who don’t have such shitty attitudes, stay tuned. I’m doing my best to organize something very real.)

Your support of imperialism is very much in bad faith. I’m sorry, but you’ve lost another reader.

You’re such a child. Read this amazing post by Lazenby on Hillary Clinton, the Presidency, and progressive pragmatism. Maybe you’ll grow up a little.

I know you’re super busy, and while we are a secret treasure, we aren’t your priority. But…Forums?

Also, You should have a go fund me or patreon.

Okay, yes. You guys actually are my priority, but it’s not evident at the moment, because I’m super busy writing all sorts of stuff for magazines and blogs in advance of the book release. (Don’t think I’ve forgotten you.)

Also, yes. I still might want to do some kind of forum thing, but more than that, I’ve never really had a professional designer build me a really hot shit version of the dearcoquette.com website, and I would love for that to be my next big project after the book. (A forum of some kind would probably be folded into that redesign.)

I was able to cobble together this (pretty decent) website solution after getting kicked off of Tumblr, but it was only meant to be temporary. Naturally, a year has already flown by, and what was meant to be a quick fix has turned semi-permanent. I don’t want that. I want a hot shit website.

Now, the problem is that doing it right costs actual money. Quite a bit of money. Money I don’t have. (Contrary to what some of you think, I am not a rich girl.) In fact, just yesterday I had to pony up a bunch of cash I wasn’t planning on spending to keep the site running smoothly, because my traffic continues to grow and grow. I know that’s a good problem to have, but the money part is still a problem.

I’ve looked into Patreon as a potential crowdfunding source, and it looked cool enough for me not to dismiss it outright. What do you guys think? If I put together some kind of campaign to raise enough money to build dearcoquette.com into a really kick-ass website, would you be willing to donate? I dunno. It feels weird to even ask, but it’s not like I’d just be pocketing the money. We’d all get to benefit from it.

So, yeah. Hit up the comments section and tell me what you think. I’ll be super curious to hear your thoughts.

If you take Trump out of the equation, are you still backing Hillary 100%? Is it a case of choosing the (far) lesser of two evils?

Hillary Clinton is a brilliant, honorable, and dedicated public servant who is more qualified to be President of the United States than any candidate in my lifetime. Fuck this “lesser of two evils” bullshit. This election is a clear case of choosing between a benevolent good and a malevolent evil.

Is Hillary perfect? Hell no. She’s got some major faults, but go ahead and cast those stones, because she’s also an undeniable badass who will get more shit done than any president since her husband. Good shit. The kind of shit that will actually improve the day-to-day lives of people like you and me. If she gets two terms, she’ll have the chance to nominate as many as four Supreme Court Justices. Fucking four. That alone is enough to steer this country in a progressive direction for the next half century, and Hillary has the chops to get her nominees confirmed.

I want to bitch-slap all the lingering Bernie Bros and Jill Stein Pollyannas who are either so latently misogynistic or waifishly leftist that they are incapable of recognizing how good they’ve got it with a candidate like Hillary. I want to scream at them to get their heads out of their asses and/or the fucking clouds. They can bitch and moan and hate the system all they want, but the system ain’t going anywhere, and when it comes time to work the system on our behalf, Hillary is who we want running shit.

And no, I refuse to take Trump out of the equation. We don’t get the luxury of doing that anymore. He is a brutal fucking reality, and he is dangerous. That spray-tanned megalomaniac will absolutely win the Presidency if you all don’t show up and vote. It really will happen, and how dare any of you let it when we’ve got such an amazing woman to rally behind.

Hillary Clinton is an ideal Democratic candidate and exactly what our country needs. I back her 100% with a huge fucking grin. I am as excited to vote for Hillary as I am filled with loathing for anyone who would vote for Donald Trump. I want her to win so badly that it makes my fucking teeth itch, and it scares the hell out of me to think that she might not.

It should scare the hell out of you too.

I’m sure you get this one all the time, but if you put Dear Coquette (or even just your Best Ofs) between hard covers I would buy the shit out of it many times over. You’re the best.

So yeah, last month I announced on Twitter that a Dear Coquette book is finally happening, and if you’ve already pre-ordered your copy, thank you so, so much!

If you haven’t yet, please, please, please order it now. Order two. Hell, order ten. You’d be doing me a huge favor, because pre-orders are a super important part of the book’s eventual success.

As for the book itself, I’m in the final phase of the editing process, which means that now is the perfect time to open up the floor to any and all recommendations. If you have an all-time super-duper favorite Dear Coquette post that absolutely must be included in the book, use the comment section and let me know.

After all, this book is for you guys. I want you to love it!

Do you give a single fuck about trans women, or do you pretty much only care about cis women? Oh wait, let me guess, you’re an “ally” because you don’t go out murdering us and we should be grateful for that.

Some of the bravest women I’ve ever had the honor to know are trans, and one of the few times in my life I’ve ever thrown a punch was in their defense as they were being physically harassed by a transphobic piece of shit.

As for being an “ally,” I’ve never really liked that term, especially in the context of trans/cis feminism, because even though it’s meant to be supportive, it still has the effect of othering trans women.

Now, if something that I’ve said (or haven’t said) has led you to the conclusion that I don’t give a fuck about trans women (or trans men), then by all means, light me up.

I understand that your indignation isn’t really about me, but you did choose to direct it at me, so if there’s a specific conversation you’d like us to have, please let me know. I’m totally open to it.