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Daily Bafflements

• Over at Current Affairs, Baffler columnist Amber A’Lee Frost takes on the necessity of political vulgarity—or, more bluntly, “rudeness.” One needn’t look further than Donald Trump and the rise of the “anti-cuckservative” movement to see its efficacy today.

Trump’s vulgarity is appealing precisely because it exposes political truths. As others have noted, Trump’s policies (wildly inconsistent though they may be) are actually no more extreme than those of other Republicans; Trump is just willing to strip away the pretense. Other candidates may say “national security is a fundamental priority,” whereas Trump will opt for “ban all the Muslims.” The latter is far less diplomatic, but in practice the two candidates fundamentally mean the same thing. We should prefer the honest boor, as polite euphemism is constantly used to mask atrocities.

• An anonymous former Facebook staffer illustrates some of the lesser-known horrors that befell the company’s news “curators.” 

What I found the most destructive was how the team treated women: contrary to what Sheryl Sandberg preaches in her Lean In movement, women on the team are rarely encouraged to speak up.

So much for pseudo-feminist corporate doublespeak.

• For a publisher whose media empire is built around unpaid labor, Arianna Huffington sure is quick to recommend SoulCycle and expensive granola as sleeping aids, even to the plebes.