Before this morning, my first mass-culture association with the word “awful” was a kind of milkshake called the AWFUL AWFUL, which originated in the mid-20th Century. It was primarily promoted by the Rhode island-based Newport Creamery (and later adopted by Friendly’s).
But that’s out the window now (too unhealthy) and the new AWFUL, according to the N.Y Times‘ Clyde McGrady, is a rightwing hate term that refers to ardent, combative, ultra-progressive leftie Karens.
AWFUL is an acronym for Affluent White Female Urban Liberal. Except the late Renee Good, apparently an AWFUL figurehead, wasn’t affluent — just a struggling, Honda-owning middle-class woman with a kid and a wife.
But without agreeing with the idea behind the term (hate grenades aren’t good for anyone), I get what it’s about. AWFULs are shrieking elitist wokeys, the righties are saying. They aren’t just pushing back in force against the Minnesota ICE bullies (which I agree with and totally support), but are also strongly in favor of AOC or Kamala Harris running for the White House in ’28.
HE is for any sensible centrist liberal of any gender who can beat JD Vance, but an AOC/Kamala candidacy will never, ever happen. It woudld be a flat-out calamity iF either of them got nominated. Both women seem like the epitome of AWFUL, and that would totally kill the Democratic cause. The Dems need to run a sensible, decent, democracy-loving, non-authoritarian normie like Gavin Newsom…please.
