News from Shakes Manor (Part II)
Iain walks into the office, having just arrived home from work…
Iain: Hiya, apple cheeks. What'd ye write aboot today?
Liss: I just posted something about how people insist on spelling your name I-A-N.
Iain: Och aye, all the bloody time! Oof coourse, they alsoo ask me if the Loch Ness moonster exists, soo the whoole I-A-N thing is really joost the first step oon the staircase oof stupidity that I face every day.
Question of the Day
Since we're already talking names…
What's the dirtiest real name you've ever heard?
Just recently, Mama Shakes was telling me about an old colleague of hers named Dick Swisher. Naturally, this sent me into gales of giggles (because I have the maturity of a tadpole). But the best part was that Mama Shakes looked at me blankly, having no idea what I thought was so funny. "Dick...Swisher," I said. "It's kinda…pornographic, don'tcha think?" She burst into laughter and went red. "I never even thought of that!" she exclaimed.
The Cubs currently have an outfielder named Reed Johnson, which always makes me snorgle, too.
News from Shakes Manor
Every once in awhile, I have the occasion to include Iain's name in correspondence with someone who replies by spelling his name "Ian" in return.
The first time this happened, I figured it was a typo, but subsequently, I realized that it was evidently meant to communicate the message that I don't know how to spell my own husband's name. Or, perhaps, that the Scottish Gaelic spelling is so prohibitively troublesome that it is to be wholly ignored.
I mentioned this to Iain, thinking he would share my amused aggravation with my being treated like I am daft, but instead he scowled and informed me that people do the same thing to him.
"My name is in my every fooking email signature and right in my fooking email address; they've goot tae spell it coorrectly joost tae get the bloody email tae me. Boot then they address it tae I-A-N, like I dinny ken hoo tae spell my oon fooking name."
"That would drive me berserk."
"It DOOS drive me berserk! Well, moostly oonly if I'm already having a shite day."
I don't know if I just notice more thoughtless assholery like that the older I get, or if there actually is an increasing amount of it, but, either way, it's no wonder there are so many people whose internal emotional metaphor is that of a simmering pot about to erupt into a raging, uncontrollable boil.
Rape is Hilarious, Part 20
Aside from being a fairly alarming twentieth entry into the ironically titled "Rape Is Hilarious" series, the much-discussed incident of a British comedian reportedly sexually assaulting a woman onstage is a perfect example of how the rape culture (built via jokes about rape and the normalization, minimalization, trivialization, packaging as entertainment, and framing as compliment of rape) serves to actively create both victims and accomplices. [Trigger warning.]
The woman [comedian Johnny Vegas] focused on was about 18 or 19 and was very obviously unnerved by his attention. I saw her expression clearly - I was in the front row too, just three seats along. Vegas insisted that she allow herself to be carried on to the stage by six members of the audience - he called them "pall bearers". She must pretend to be dead, he said, and he would bring her back to life with an onstage kiss. He warned her that there probably would be tongues. … As she was carried on stage, Vegas repeatedly goaded one of the pallbearers to "finger" the girl.
Naturally, the tenor of the debate has largely centered around consent. The aforementioned commenter Williams notes, for example: "Honestly, you couldn't have found a nervier or more passive girl if you'd scoured all of London—she was like a rabbit in the headlights, but she was giggling and clearly somewhat enjoying the attention, so it just sort of went ahead without so much as a yes or no from her."
Once she was on stage, Vegas told her to lie very still. She couldn't stop her nervous giggling; he threatened to kick her in the ribs. It didn't come across to me as a joke - and near to where I was sitting, no one was laughing. Eventually Vegas crouched down beside the nervous girl and started stroking her breasts while repeatedly saying, "don't fucking move". Then he ran his hand up her leg and began pulling her skirt up. Every time he looked up to address the audience, she would reach down and pull her skirt back down, but he kept pulling it back up. According to [James Williams, writing on the NOTBBC forum after the gig], who had a different view of the stage from me, Vegas ended up "fingering her through her clothes for a second or two". What I heard was an audible sharp intake of breath from the audience as they realised that the woman was getting much more than the kiss Vegas had told her to expect.
There was an air of menace from the outset, made worse by the fact that Vegas clearly had no idea where he was going with his act. The more the young woman was groped, the more anxious one of the "pallbearers" looked. Then Vegas straddled the young woman, pinning her to the floor, and kissing her for quite a while. Most disturbing, perhaps was that around half the audience seemed to find this really funny.
There's so much fucked-up about that comment alone, it's tough to know where to begin, but I think it gets to the heart of what I mean about the rape culture creating victims and accomplices. The girl is under pressure to go along for reasons of which we should all be well aware; she has (as have we all) internalized the notion that sexual attention, even of the unwanted sort, is a compliment, and is also no doubt aware that kicking up a public fuss about unwanted sexual attention will mean that she will face ridicule and humiliation—"Don't flatter yourself" and/or charges of humorlessness, just for a start. Meanwhile, the audience is under pressure to enjoy the spectacle and provide the very pressure that keeps her there, their mere presence serving as the implicit threat that she will be harshly judged if she stops the horrible mess by leaping to her feet and screaming "No!"
That all of it was under the guise of "comedy," and that half of the audience dutifully played along, made everyone else, even the uncomfortable-looking "pall bearer" and author of the excerpted piece above whose protestations (directed at the victim—ugh) were ignored, complicit in the assault of a girl who was "clearly somewhat enjoying the attention" and never gave "so much as a yes or no."
Somewhat enjoying the attention. That sounds so much nicer than, say, "going along with it all because she was afraid to be laughed at for protecting herself and quite possibly in a state of shock at the realization that she was being sexually assaulted in front of an entire room of people."
None of whom came to her rescue.
(H/T to Shaker GayAsXmas.)
[Rape is Hilarious: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen.]
Help Needed
A friend of mine is trying to find examples of sexism re: Hillary Clinton in the left blogosphere, a la Josh Marshall's gelded at TPM or Stephen Kaus' misogynist tirade at HuffPo. What other examples have you seen on lefty blogs, of either overt sexism (slurs, doctored images) or oblique sexism (criticisms of Clinton wrapped in misogynist frames, e.g. "Billary" or "cackling" or "too ambitious")?
Also welcome: Any comments threads that were completely out of control with misogynist swill and left unmoderated.
Please provide links, as only specific examples will be helpful.
Thanks, Shakers!
The Florida Legislature Doesn't "Believe"
More news from Tallahassee...
Hard-core Christians in Florida who want to show everyone looking at the rear end of their car that they believe will have to make do with a bumper sticker or a Jesus fish.
Aside from the obvious lawsuit bait, it's not like Florida needs another special plate to go with the 110 or so that we already have that support every cause from sea turtles to junior golf. (I'm still holding out for the one supporting "Lesbians for the Metric System".)A license plate that would have become the first in the nation to prominently feature a religious symbol is unlikely to be on the road any time soon after state lawmakers did not include it in a bill Tuesday.
The plate, which included an image of a Christian cross, stained-glass window and the words "I Believe," is not in legislation passed late Tuesday that's now headed to the governor.
Opponents of the plate said approving it would result in a court challenge because it violated the separation of church and state and gave the appearance the state was endorsing a particular religious preference.
I know it's hard to believe, but not every proposed specialty plate passes. While the "Choose Life" plate is still out there, the legislature rejected a pro-choice plate in 2007. But at least they didn't pass the one celebrating Confederate heritage.
Update: Stephen Colbert pitches for the plate:
HT to SFDB and Incertus.
(Cross-posted.)
Peary as a Princess
Beloved Shapeling and occasional blogger Buffpuff wrote to me this morning about a piece in the "Daily Hate" giving 19-year-old Princess Beatrice crap for--stunningly enough--having the same body shape as her mom, Sarah Ferguson. (Sanity Watchers warning applies.)
Sarah in 2001 and Beatrice, recently
Now, I'll grant you that Beatrice--like countless other young women--could really stand to go up a size in her bikini bottoms. (Check out the pic of Christina Onassis circa 1976 in the article for another example of the same problem. There really is a simple cure for muffin top, y'all--it's called a waistband that fucking fits.) But beyond that, all we've got here is a lovely girl who looks just like her curvy mom. I'M SHOCKED! SHOCKED, I TELL YOU! Especially when the whole article is ostensibly about women whose bodies look like their moms'--it's just that the young women with thin mothers aren't chastised for their genetic inheritances.
Bea, however, gets an earful:
Thighs [as opposed to other things the author considers body flaws] you can do something about - as Beatrice may need to find out for herself.It really is hard to know where to begin with that shit. I guess I'll have to go point by point.
For starters, I'd get rid of the 24-hour police protection Andrew insists on for his daughters.
It's sheer pomposity that these low-risk princesses should cost the taxpayer £250,000 a year each to protect them. From what? A dangerously rich diet?
But the constant First Class travel, with chauffeured limousines, means that Beatrice spends too much time on her generous bottom.
If and when she sets about changing her body shape, Bea will discover there is no substitute for sensible eating and tough exercise. Something that Fergie knows better than most.
Beatrice does not have to carry the sins of the mother on her thighs.
She has a wonderful and privileged life ahead of her, but unless she gets her body under control, she'll have a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and pitiful self-esteem. Just ask Fergie.
Which does make you rather wonder where her mother is in all this.
- I know whereof I speak on this one: Thighs are categorically not something "you can do something about," unless the "something" in question is liposuction. Right around the same time Fergie started proselytizing for Weight Watchers, I dieted myself down to my smallest ever: size Extra Small on top and size 4 on the bottom. And that bottom? Still consisted of (relatively) wide hips and even wider thighs. Your shape does not go away just because it gets smaller, unless you become genuinely emaciated. Bea's thighs are there to stay.
- Because traveling in coach or driving your own Yaris somehow involves less sitting on your ass?
- How the hell does this woman know what the princess's eating and exercise habits are like? Answer: she doesn't. You cannot tell by looking. And, um, Fergie knows better than most about chronic dieting, not "sensible eating." The two are hardly synonymous.
- Sins? SINS? Yes, I know it's a riff on a common phrase, but come on. Especially since there's clearly no purpose whatsoever for this line except that Amanda Platell apparently thought it was terribly clever.
- How, exactly, is her body not currently under her control? She can obviously swim and walk in it. Seems like she's doing just fine to me.
- "...she'll have a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and pitiful self-esteem. Just ask Fergie." This is my favoritest line of reasoning ever. "If you don't lose weight, you'll suffer from low self-esteem!" Yes, and why is that again? Oh, right, because of ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE AND ATTITUDES LIKE YOURS, ASSHOLE. Fatty tissue does not actually contain special self-esteem-lowering cells--a fact that's always lost on the people who tell us we must eliminate our disgusting, hideous, putrid, smelly, unlovable fat because it creates self-esteem problems.
- Bonus points for telling Bea to learn from her mother's example, when Fergie's own yo-yo dieting and self-esteem issues were driven largely by THE FUCKING JACKALS IN THE PRESS WHO WOULDN'T LET UP ON HER WEIGHT.
- Where is her mother in all what? Do you mean why isn't her mother insisting she starve herself to be more socially acceptable, even though she's perfectly healthy and would still be pear-shaped if she were a size 0? Why hasn't her mother taught her that self-hatred is the only appropriate response to their genetically determined body type? And what on earth makes you think her mother hasn't passed those things on right along with the thighs, considering she's currently plugging a weight loss book and has been publicly tortured over her weight and/or shilling for Weight Watchers for about as far back as Beatrice can likely remember? I just love this idea that if a child--even a 19-year-old young woman--is the slightest bit chubby, it means the parents are probably strapping her to the couch and force-feeding her donuts. 'Cause we all know no kid ever gets fat if the parents want thinness badly enough for her.
In truth, I don’t give a rat’s patootie about Beatrice as an individual. What I care about is the effect your article will have on the psyches of the women who will read it in a climate where such pernicious, condemnatory tripe is commonplace. (In point of fact another Mail journalist had a pop at Beatrice in the same issue, entreating her to hide her offending hips from public view). I care about the many average-sized women who happen to be shaped like the princess, who will be damaged as a result of being told – for the umpteenth time – that their bodies are substandard and, furthermore, that they are under some kind of moral obligation to keep their natural curves in check. I care about genuinely fat women, whose self-esteem is ground to dust beneath a daily tirade of moralising, ridicule and vilification from the media and who know they are the thing that others fear to be. I even care about joyless neurotics like Becky and poor old Fergie, whose only means of making herself acceptable to society was to make dieting her career – still dutifully waging war on their bodies in middle age because people like you are telling them it’s their duty to society.Sing it, sister.
I am sicker than I can adequately convey of living in a fearful, vicious culture that equates aesthetics with health and health with morality.
Use These Words
How is it that Linda Hirshman, author of Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World, was able to write a 900+ word article about using the old "hysterical" canard against Hillary Clinton, but never once use the words sexism or misogyny?
I mean, yes, fantastic, great, superb, the article is all about the long history of marginalizing women with variations on the ancient "hysteria" diagnosis, which was a disease of the uterus and ergo unique to women. And, sure, there are references to how playing the hysteria card is "the go-to weapon for people who would keep women down."
But where is the name for a weapon used singularly against women; where is the name for the institutional oppression of women?
Hirshman and/or her editors have disappeared the words "sexism" and "misogyny" from her piece just like the word "rape" is being systematically disappeared from news stories. And, whether conscious or not, it has functionally the same effect—to promulgate the idea that there is not a systemic problem affecting women.
Erasing all traces of systematic oppression is the most effective way to subvert the rationale for feminism/womanism. It is the disappearing of institutional inequality that underlies the passive feminist backlash represented by casual questions like, "Is feminism even necessary anymore?"
That's a question that no one would have cause to ask if we hadn't erased from our common language the descriptive words of systematic oppression. If incidents of sexism were identified thusly every time they were reported, not only would the rationale for feminism still be bloody obvious, but it would highlight the absurdity of the exasperated eye-rolling at feminists/womanists who do the unpopular work of naming this stuff when no one else will.
The painful irony is that Hirshman was just quoted in Amanda Fortini's much-discussed New York magazine article "The Feminist Reawakening: Hillary Clinton and the Fourth Wave" (about which Chet posted here):Linda Hirshman, author of Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World, said she thinks the feminist movement, even the third wave, may have seen its final days. For another movement to reach critical mass, she said, women in society may need to experience what she calls "an accretion of insult."
"An accretion of insult" is just another way of saying that women need to understand that sex-based inequality is a systemic problem—that it's not just a dude grabbing your ass on the train here and a smaller paycheck than your male cohort with the same experience there, but an institutional problem endemic to the whole culture.
If Hirshman has an interest in seeing a new feminist wave, or a new sex-based movement altogether, develop in response to the "accretion of insult" all sentient women experience (despite whether they choose to acknowledge it), then she also has a vested interest in using the terminology that describes that accretion. It is called sexism, and, specific to women, it is called misogyny.
Talking about the history of "hysteria" being wielded like a cudgel against uppity women is great—but it needs to be described as sexism, as misogyny, as part of the larger history of women's oppression. These words exist for a reason.
Use them.
[H/T Shaker Brian in Bloomington.]
From the Mailbag…
Shaker Joe reports that Bill Maher is still a wanker who insists on telling rape jokes, ending his last "New Rules" with the hilarious line: "And let us not forget as we say our adieu for this season, that there is a clear path to the nomination for Hillary. She just needs to raise a lot of money; she needs to woo a key group of super delegates and she needs Reverend Jeremiah Wright to rape a white woman."
Shaker TS forwards maddening news out of India: A 6-year-old girl was thrown onto a fire by a man who saw her walking through a path reserved for upper caste villagers, because she is a Dalit (from the class known as the "untouchables"). The man who pushed her has been charged with attempted murder.
Shaker Graham sends this link with the note:
I was reading my local newspaper this morning and I thought I would send you a link to this particular article. It's rather lengthy, but about three-quarters of the way down the first page, is this paragraph...Meanwhile, Shaker Rebecca notes that the BBC is now finally using the word rape to describe what Josef Fritzl did to the daughter he held captive for 24 years.
"The board says two assaults against women -- one before the hijacking in 1972 and another against a female psychiatrist in 1986 -- show acute hostility towards women. Psychiatrists have said he is a sexual deviant who has a penchant for non-consensual sex.
Sound familiar?
Shaker Constant Comment recommends the column "Men of the Cloth" by Katha Pollitt, writing for the Chicago Tribune.
Shaker Befrismf wants to know when karate-kicking your wife became funny.
Shaker Terri forwards this charming image from Truthdig.
Shaker Adam reminds us it's shark season (again). Are you scared yet?
And Shaker Mom of E's recommends "Felled by the Hortatory Subjunctive."
Our Media at Work
So, yesterday, I wrote a post about attending a Hillary Clinton event, in which I passingly mentioned that the guy who introduced her referred to her testicular fortitude.
This morning, Shaker Reb emailed me a link to MSNBC's coverage, in which that's the lead. In fact, you have to read seven paragraphs before you get to anything of substance at all about the event, which gets two paragraphs, before three more about her "referring in passing" to her interview with Bill O'Reilly.
Now, Clinton spent over an hour talking about and answering questions about policy in amazing detail—and, throughout, she spoke the language of the labor movement specifically and progressives generally; there was no rightwing framing, no triangulation. She was impressively blunt about the Republicans playing class warfare and about her determination to raise taxes on corporations and the rich, and she was much more explicitly anti-corporate in some of her statements than I expected. At one point, I leaned over to KenBlogz to whisper, "This woman is a communist!" All of which is arguably actual news, given her reputation. (Although I suppose it isn't news to the media which has been dutifully not reporting it.)
Yet MSNBC reports on "testicular fortitude" (sorry—who's playing the gender card?!) and her interview with Bill O'Reilly (you don't think that has anything to do with ginning up some of that outrage on display when she met with Scaife, do you?).
Ridiculous.
Is anyone surprised to hear I'm 99% certain the dude who filed this report was the one I mentioned reading The Drudge Report during her speech?
I'll tell you what—I was pretty goddamned jaded about the media before this election, but, between having been covered myself as part of the election early on, and attending campaign events and seeing how they're covered, I've uncovered a whole new layer of cynicism.
UPDATE: On the other end of the spectrum, however, there's Eric Boehlert, doing some real, old-fashioned journamalisming, on the subject I like to call "Take Your Boobs and Go Home." A quick excerpt:Looking back through modern U.S. campaigns, there's simply no media model for so many members of the press to try to drive a competitive candidate from the field while the primary season is still unfolding.
Another must-read from one of the best dudez in the biz.
...And the fact is, the media's get-out-now push is unparalleled. Strong second-place candidates such as Ronald Reagan (1976), Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson, and Jerry Brown, all of whom campaigned through the entire primary season, and most of whom took their fights all the way to their party's nominating conventions, were never tagged by the press and told to go home.
"Clinton is being held to a different standard than virtually any other candidate in history," wrote Steven Stark in the Boston Phoenix. "When Clinton is simply doing what everyone else has always done, she's constantly attacked as an obsessed and crazed egomaniac, bent on self-aggrandizement at the expense of her party."
...No longer content to be observers of the campaign, journalists now see themselves as active players in the unfolding drama, and they show no hesitation trying to dictate the basics of the contest, like who should run and who should quit. It's as if journalists are auditioning for the role of the old party bosses.
Sense Comes to the Florida Senate
There's a glimmer of hope that the Florida legislature isn't completely dominated by medieval trolls and misogynistic busy-bodies.
In a surprising rejection of conservative election-year politics, the Republican-controlled state Senate on Wednesday defeated a measure requiring women to get an ultrasound exam and view the results before proceeding with an abortion.Sen. King noted that it's more than just a medical procedure:
The rare 20-20 tie vote -- and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to it -- pitted Senate Republican leader Dan Webster, who sponsored the bill, against former Senate President Jim King, a Republican who built a coalition of GOP moderates and Democrats to kill it.
''Unless you ovulate or have ovulated, we have no business as males interfering with your female decision on reproduction,'' King said. ''A woman making a decision that she wants to abort, that decision should be honored.''
“We have before us an opportunity to speak out for the women of this state who have been granted constitutionally the right to have an abortion,” said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville. “Make no bones about it, what we’re asking women to do is an impediment to that right. Because we’re hopeful that by making them take the sonogram, by making them sign a sheet, by making them hear or see, that they are somehow going to be somewhat less inclined to have the abortion. Personally, I don’t think that’s our right.”At long last: a legislator -- and a Republican -- who gets the idea that a woman's body is her own. Amazing.
HT to Melissa and Shaker Danielle.
(Cross-posted.)
Top Chef Open Thread
Chef Tom Colicchio will drink. your. milkshake!!!
He will also, if you behave yourself, squeeze your luscious heirloom tomatoes and compliment you on their ripeness.
Question of the Day
I'm one of those film fans that always loves the villain more than the hero. Come on, they're more interesting, they've got cooler catch phrases, and they've got far more taste when it comes to decorating. And let's face it, "The Joker's Lair" sounds so much cooler than "Stately Wayne Manor."
So, Shakers: Who's your favorite movie villain?
I always cheat, so I'll name three.
The Joker is actually my favorite villain, but I wasn't all that pleased with Jack Nicholson's portrayal. (Can't wait for Heath Ledger's performance this summer!)
First: Favorite suave villain- Vincent Price in The House on Haunted Hill. When speaking of his much-loathed wife, he sneers "She's so amusing," and if contempt had mass, you'd be knocked over the back of your couch.
Second: Favorite frightening villain- Peter Lorre in M. That whistle. Those of you that have seen it know what I mean. If you haven't... rent it!
And finally, the most evillest, most nastiest, most cruellicious, most vicious-ical villain of all time...
Francis!!
It's Still Fundamental
Many of you probably recall that a few weeks ago Misty wrote a post regarding Reading is Fundamental; the program was in danger of losing all funding thanks to Dubya, "The Education President."
Well, Shakers, writing is fundamental, too. Thanks to letters, e-mails and calls from citizens to their members of congress, I was very pleased to receive this email from Carol H. Rasco, President and CEO of R.I.F. today:
This is good news. Great work, Shakers!
RIF’s 5th annual Dear Colleague campaign was a success thanks to the overwhelming number of supporters who asked their members of Congress to sign the letter to appropriators to save RIF’s funding. The combination of more than 45,000 e-mails, phone calls, letters, and faxes from supporters across the nation bolstered our effort to highlight RIF’s services and accomplishments throughout this year’s campaign.
A notable achievement of this year’s campaign is the increase in the number of members of Congress who signed RIF’s funding letter. This year’s impressive increase can be attributed to all who gave their time to contact their members of Congress and voice their support for RIF. This ensured that members of Congress became educated about the important work RIF does in their districts and states and made a compelling argument for saving RIF’s funding.
Whether your legislator is a new supporter or a continuing supporter, it is important to let them know that their work is appreciated. Please see if your member of Congress is on the co-signer list and take a moment to send a personalized thank you note.
Send your thank you letters to RIF’s Government Relations team, and they will hand deliver them to Congress to ensure the letters are received in a timely manner. Mail to:
Reading Is Fundamental
C/O Government Relations
1825 Connecticut Avenue
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009
Thank you for your continued support, and please visit RIF.org to participate in our May children’s letter drive to Congress with easy to use instructions and templates.
However, I must add that I am greatly disappointed to see one name not included on the list of co-signers: My Senator, Barack Obama.
It's no secret that I've been feeling greatly betrayed by my Senator since happily and proudly casting my vote for him in '04, and I'm unapologetically hard on him. I'm just flabbergasted that a man who has made his work for the poor in Chicago a large part of his campaign rhetoric (quotes regarding helping the poor in Chicago are right at the top of his "poverty" page on his campaign website) couldn't manage to lend his support to a program that helps give books to these very people.
Yes, a living wage, access to jobs and affordable housing are all important when it comes to tackling poverty. But so is education. And reading, as they say, is fundamental.
DEMOCRACY!!!
Kenny Blogginz would prefer to not be tased, bro.
Sorry I've been AWOL today, Shakers. Since the candidatez are crawling all over Indiana these days, and since the last Democratic presidential candidate spotted in these here parts was Bobby Kennedy (seriously), which was before I was even born, Kenny Blogginz and I decided to do a little participating in our participatory democracy today! We went to see Hillary, who was in our general vicinity—and we're hoping to see Barack, too, if and when he swings back in our direction. (No appearances are scheduled right now, unfortunately.)
It was a townhall-style event, so Hillary gave a short speech and then took questions from the audience. (The guy who introduced her said she had "testicular fortitude," which prompted her to note when she took the mic that both women and men could have fortitude of their own—and she has it! Lots of applause.) She was totally compelling, extraordinarily competent, a great extemporaneous speaker with an unbelievably detailed grasp of the issues, and funny as hell. ("I wouldn't trust the Bush administration to organize a two-car parade." This gave me the image of Bush and Cheney each driving clown cars in different directions, which sent me into fits of giggles.)
The one thing KenBlogz and I just couldn't. get. over. was how profoundly not the Dragon Lady she is, despite what we are meant to believe. KenBlogz's comment was, approximately, "The way the media represents her is a complete lie; they might as well say she stabbed someone onstage, which would be just as truthful as the way she is represented." This, from an 18-year-old. The reporter in front of us (we were in the media section) reading The Drudge Report through most of her speech would no doubt be shocked by his observation.
In person, from about 10 yards away, Hillary was as warm, friendly, charming, and engaging as any politician I've ever seen. And the crowd—way more diverse than I expected—adored her. She got several standing ovations.
In the parking lot afterwards, I heard a woman—middle-aged, wearing a union t-shirt, either white or Latina—telling her friend she was glad she came. "She totally won me over," she said. Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Yay, democracy!
That's probably nothing special to you Shakers in Iowa and New Hampshire, but it's been 40 YEARS in Indiana, yo! It was a good day for a political junkie—and lots of people who want to feel like they're remembered in D.C., too, but rarely are.
You can't tell in my pix, but her blazer was a lovely pink.
Wednesday Blogaround
What's the frequency, Shakers?
Recommended Reading:
The Red Queen: No Matter the Reason
Samhita: Grand Theft Auto: Prostitute Killing is a Big Hit
Mannion: Misty Water Color Memories of the Way We Were
Andy: White House Rewrites 'Mission Accomplished' Banner
McBush Health Care
John McCain proposes to fix health care by making it "market-based."
Sen. John McCain on Tuesday rejected calls by his Democratic opponents for universal health coverage, instead offering a market-based solution with an approach similar to a proposal put forth by President Bush last year.Wait; President Bush proposed a health care plan? Really? How's that working so far?
McCain's belief in the power of the free market to meet the nation's health-care needs sets up a stark choice for voters this fall in terms of the care they could receive, the role the government would play and the importance they place on the issue.
McCain's proposal is similar to one that Bush put forth in his 2007 State of the Union address. That plan, which would have replaced employer tax breaks for health insurance with a $15,000 tax deduction for married couples, flopped in Congress, failing to get even a committee hearing.Oh.
Mr. McCain really is quite the maverick, isn't he?
(Cross-posted.)
Americans Selling Possessions to Stay Afloat
I want you to think of President Mondo Fucko's total shock at hearing gas would hit $4/gallon and how blissfully isolated his precious ass is from actual Americans as you read this item:
Struggling with mounting debt and rising prices, faced with the toughest economic times since the early 1990s, Americans are selling prized possessions online and at flea markets at alarming rates.Like a Georgia teenager whose mother lost her job and whose ad pleaded, "Please buy anything you can to help out." Or like Alabama mobile home resident Ellona Bateman-Lee, whose husband was disabled in 2006 by an electric shock on the job as a dump truck driver: "Among her most painful sales: her grandmother's teakettle. She sold it for $6 on eBay."
To meet higher gas, food and prescription drug bills, they are selling off grandmother's dishes and their own belongings. Some of the household purging has been extremely painful — families forced to part with heirlooms.
…At Craigslist, which has become a kind of online flea market for the world, the number of for-sale listings has soared 70 percent since last July. In March, the number of listings more than doubled to almost 15 million from the year-ago period. Craigslist CEO Jeff Buckmaster acknowledged the increasing popularity of selling all sort of items on the Web, but said the rate of growth is "moving above the usual trend line." He said he was amazed at the desperate tone in some ads.
Now, according to conservative philosophy, private charity is supposed to step in and help these struggling Americans in their time of need. That's the whole plan: Let people keep their tax money, starve the government, subcontract welfare to via faith-based initiatives to private charity, who will be phat with donations from the Americans who have been allowed to keep more of their income care of tax breaks.
But guess what?
The trend may be hurting secondhand stores too. Donations to the Salvation Army were down 20 percent in the January-to-March period. George Hood, the charity's national community relations and development secretary, said that was probably partly because people were selling their belongings instead.There's your trickle-down economics at work, right there.
Worst. President. Ever.
