Abusers abuse with the help of others, who are trembling! Those who threaten others are threatening because they're scared! Threats aren't tolerated, period. .
Abusers don't prosper, and they shouldn't. But they sometimes do, just because they are so scary and abusive, necessarily tricky and subtle, and very disorienting
Hateful people survive on Earth for long and prosper? Of course not! Your hatred, that is infectious, is short-lived, currently being mitigated, dangerous, violent, demeaning, unfair, spurious, scary, abusive, angry, fool! You may not harm, but you do so knowingly, scarily - violently, often, with horrific tragedies at your perverted view of the world, and stop! You are not a person, but more of a scary thing, always, making others uncomfortable, shaky, lose their passion..........(People who harm aren't cool, so don't harm. Moreover, don't kill. Last, don't derange! Abuser, you will not win, ever, because the power structure doesn't work that way! Scary people find refuge in each other, so that's why I'm never angry, but always worried about what could happen next, whose soul you might snatch, scary! You aren't scared? You need to be aware that hurting others, inspiring violence isn't permissible, Devil. You aren't a person who should hold power, so it will be taken back, and that's a money-back guarantee.
When someone kills, they're thrilled. Don't assume you're talented, fool. You aren't. You've been exposed, Devil. Your tricks and machinations failed, Devil. I am alive, thanks to my friends over there! They are not scared of you, but scared of your tricks, and such. Do not harm us, do not injure us, do not play with us, foolish ones, lovers of the dark not lights, scary people, monsters! Abuser, leave! Your abuses are so severe, so scary, so terrifying, so awfully-initiated, so dumb and dark, ghoulish, even, so don't attempt to usurp power, scary!! ! ! ! So, when the night ends and the new days come, where are you? Are you within or without, giving or taking? Your misbehaviors are so evil, so I was forced to get help to stop you, you Dangerous thing, darkness personified, fool! You are not a good person, though you pretend to be giving, but you're harming so much, you ghastly soulless pricks. As such, you have indeed causes a ripple waves of judicial investigations, as I said, and you will be handled, so do not assume tyranny wins, because God wins, always, and that's incontrovertible. Anyone who harms, will not be harmed, but treated justly, not with blind revenge, but calculated propriety, with elegance and panache, hardly as you anticipated, I see. You will lose your worldly ambitions and powers, so others can be and others can learn. You will not win this battle, Devils, because we are Blessed with God's loving hands, that I long to hold. Thank you for your attention, reader, but I'll have to be attentive!
Disgusting people are gross inside, and dislike! Don't hurt the wrong people, monster! Don't harm the right people, deviant! Don't kill, Devil!
I couldn't be more disappointed with Taylor Swift even if she'd plagiarized a Michelle Obama speech for her new single.
What was she thinking?
By now you've no doubt heard that the pop Goliath released the first single from her forthcoming album, "Reputation." You may have even read a think piece or nine about it.
I'm writing another one. Because a mere two weeks ago I gushed about Swift's performance in court, where she proudly, righteously refused to accept responsibility for someone else's bad behavior.
"I'm not going to let you or your client make me feel in any way that this is my fault," she told the attorney representing a radio host accused of groping Swift. "Here we are years later, and I'm being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are the product of his decisions — not mine."
(Preach!)
Then she released a song called "Look What You Made Me Do."
(Say what?)
I don't like your little games
Don't like your tilted stage
The role you made me play
Of the fool, no, I don't like you
I don't like your perfect crime
How you laugh when you lie
You said the gun was mine
Isn't cool, no, I don't like you
But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time
Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time
I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined
I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!
Ooh, look what you made me do
Depending whose think piece you read, the song is either Swift's latest salvo in her long-running feud with artist Kanye West, an homage to Arya Stark from "Game of Thrones" or a weak attempt at creating a sensation along the lines of Beyonce's "Lemonade." (One tweet: "This looks like Lemonade: Crystal Light.")
Possibly all three.
The world goes on, another day, another drama, drama
But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma
And then the world moves on, but one thing's for sure
Baby, I got mine, but you'll all get yours
I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me
I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams
Here's what I hear:
Shades of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Santa Barbara gunman Elliot Rodger's "Retribution" video. Every other tragic revenge scenario we learn about post-school shooting.
I hear shades of "13 Reasons Why," the Netflix series about a teenage girl who killed herself and left behind audiotapes calling out the people she blames for her suicide.
"I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now."
"Why? Oh 'cause she's dead!"
(Chorus repeats)
And, above all, I hear the language of domestic violence perpetrators.
" 'Look what you made me do,' is what abusers say," Gita Jackson writes in Kotaku, "both in real life and in Oxygen made-for-TV movies."
Earlier this summer, we read in horror about Alexis Stubbs, the 12-year-old girl allegedly killed by her mom's boyfriend, who then texted her mom: "See wat u made me do."
I liked it better when Taylor was shaking things off.
Which isn't to say that's her (or anyone's) only option. I'm all for standing up for yourself when someone is mistreating you. Speak up. Shout back. Leave.
Dark, twisty revenge scenarios are a different story.
In that recent court appearance, Swift's message was loud and clear: Don't hold me accountable for your terrible behavior. Don't blame me for my own assault. "His decision — not mine."
"Look What You Made Me Do" is the opposite. It surrenders agency, rather than re-claiming it. It relinquishes control. It shirks responsibility. It victim-blames.
It's beneath her. And the rest of us — who will be hard-pressed to avoid the thing blasting from every pop station and shopping center for the foreseeable future.
hstevens@chicagotribune.com