CHICAGOCINEMA.NET

SMOOTH OUT:

A slang term in vogue among teenagers in Southeastern Wisconsin (particularly those classified/marginalized under the social category/epithet “Burnout” or “Stoner”) during the Mid-1970s to Early-1980s.

Used as a non-authoritarian substitute for CALM DOWN and/or BE QUIET.

“Everybody SMOOTH OUT! The cops are outside!!!”

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SMOOTH OUT. That’s right

There’s been much talk in the BLAHBLAHSPHERE lately about the fact that telling someone who is angry/excited/freaking out to “calm down” has exactly the opposite effect (especially if it’s being done by someone trying to silence/marginalize/gaslight an abuse survivor, woman, POC, LGBTQ individual, or any other marginalized person or group).

And rightfully so. CALM DOWN has been used as a cudgel by autocrats and fascists for centuries as a way to suppress dissent and silence abuse survivors.

So we need a word that says:

I UNDERSTAND YOUR ANGER AND YOUR DISTRUST OF AUTHORITY FIGURES AND RESPECT YOU AS AN AUTONOMOUS HUMAN BEING AND BELIEVE YOUR EXCITEMENT/GRIEVANCES/CONCERNS ARE GENUINE

BUT WE ALL NEED TO RELAX AND FIGURE OUT A WAY TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM AND/OR ADDRESS THIS EMERGENCY!!!

THEREFORE, whenever I think/feel/perceive an individual/group/entity is panicking, being a Drama Queen, focusing on the wrong problem, or their current input is not being helpful in some crucial way….

I will ask them to PLEASE (“please” is implicit in the expression but it always helps to include it when using this phrase)

Smooth Out.

“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem…!”

John McClane

“You’ve got a full-time job taking care of yourself!”

John Corcoran

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It’s not just the Trumpers and low-info dolts who are the cultists.

EVERYBODY in America has been brainwashed in one way or another.

Programmed with bad ideas and bogus thought systems that cloud our sense of reality.

ESPECIALLY the “smart” and/or well-educated people who call themselves Progressives/Liberals/Leftists.

They laugh at all those funny dumb poor people and how their cherished delusions cause them to fall prey to hucksters and grifters and to not see reality.

But their thinking is just as clouded by delusions and insane fantasies- just of a different sort.

Like a rich cocaine addict laughing at a poor crack head.

Yeah, you may APPEAR to have it together because your clothes are nice and your teeth aren’t falling out.

But you’re ingesting the same poison as they are (just in a different & less concentrated form) and your life has spun out of control just as much as theirs.

And you’ll both be dead soon if you don’t stop.

The Reason Trump Says Crazy Stupid Shit:

Other than the fact he IS a crazy stupid shit, is tactical.

Notice how all the 24/7 channels and TV pundits are “debating” the benefits of Huffing Lysol or a Clorox Enema instead of discussing the fact that

HE’S STEALING PPE AND OTHER LIFE SAVING SUPPLIES FROM AMERICAN CITIZENS TO GIVE TO HIS CRONIES TO SELL AT HUGE PROFIT

AND HOARDING THEM TO USE AS EXTORTION LEVERAGE AGAINST GOVERNORS.

And how all the “OH, so smart and well-educated” progressives/liberals/leftists on Twitter, Facebook, and Instafuckingeverywhere are TOTALLY taking the bait and wasting time spinning their wheels over it and trying to outdo each other with clever jokes.

So PLEASE resist the temptation to waste time making snarky jokes about how dumb he is (you KNOW I’m including myself in this) or debating other moot points and concentrate on the real issues as you interact with people.