Hosted by the Headless Horseman.
Question of the Day
In honor of Tyren Scott: If you had the opportunity to ask President Obama one question, what would it be?
I would ask him why the hell he wasn't pushing for federal marriage equality, like, yesterday. And when he started giving me some bullshit political response that made my cheeks burn in fury, I would say, "Just kidding. My real question is: May I speak to Secretary Clinton?"
(Which, btw, is not a reflection on him personally. It's a reflection on the nature of the particular office he holds. I don't believe anyone would give me a straight answer from that chair, including Clinton, if she were there. In that hypothetical, I'd probably ask for Helen Thomas or something, lol.)
Good Question, Kid
I love this little guy:
When Obama called on [9-year-old fourth-grader Tyren Scott of Paulina, La., whose mother had gotten tickets to the town hall meeting for them] to ask the last question of the day, the boy's question temporarily silenced the crowd:Given that he was talking to a 9-year-old kid who feels upset by seeing his president hated, I think Obama gave him pretty much the right answer, too.
"Why do people hate you and they're supposed to love you and God is love?"
Obama handled the question deftly. "Well, first of all, I did get elected President, and not everybody hates me," he told Tyren. "If you're watching TV lately, everyone seems mad all the time. Some of it's just what's called politics. One party wins, the other party feels it needs to poke you to keep you on your toes. You shouldn't take it too seriously. People are worried about their own lives, losing jobs, health care, homes, and feeling frustrated. When you're President of the United States you've got to deal with all of that."
Gambit asked Tyren what he thought of Obama's answer. "It made me feel good about what he said," Tyren told us. "And he gave me the right answer."
The people who need to understand the effect that their very public vitriol, dripping in racism and thinly veiled threats of violence, is having on children, especially children of color, will not heed the inherent message in a child nervously asking why the president is hated. They will, instead, almost certainly endeavor to demonize the child as a plant and a tool of the hated president, because they are shameless cretins.
[H/T to Shaker Anitanola.]
Looks Like the '50s Are Back
The Republicans are on a witch-hunt and a justice of the peace in Louisiana is refusing to issue marriage licenses to straight interracial couples:
A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.Did I just read, in the year two thousand and nine A.D., a white man saying that he has "piles" of black friends who he generously allows to use his bathroom instead of sending them out in the backyard like a dog? And that's his defense that he's not racist?! For the love of Maude.
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."
Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.Well, he's got a point there. I mean, last I checked, the furthest a biracial child could go in America was president.
Okay, in all seriousness, I don't want to ignore or minimize the reality that many bi- or multi-racial people face, uneasily straddling a sometimes-hostile border between two communities, or more. But here's the thing: What creates that tension isn't love and connection between two people of different races, but racism, which might rightly be described as an absence of love, an absence of connection.
In other words, Bardwell isn't fixing a problem by refusing to marry interracial couples; he's contributing to that problem. He's entrenching it.
And then there's this: It's none of his goddamned business. Lots of things can make childhood difficult, and it's neither the right nor the responsibility of a justice of the peace to decide which people should be granted marriage licenses on the basis of his personal assessments about their visible traits he arbitrarily associates with potential difficulties. He's also assuming that every couple will have children, which, suffice it to say, is a bad assumption.
Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.Bardwell says he "didn't tell this couple they couldn't get married. I just told them I wouldn't do it."
..."It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. "The Supreme Court ruled as far back as 1963 that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."
The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."
Asshole.
[H/Ts to Shakers P and MaryL.]
Today in Tales from the Douchoisie
by Shaker C.L. Minou, who lives in a Great American Metropolis where she codes, blogs, and occasionally knits while dodging her cats and plotting the downfall of the kyriarchy.
Hello, Ducks! Can you guess what Google Reader threw up in my lap today? Did you guess Tucker Max? I didn't, which I guess is what makes it sexy...or something; I'm not up on my fratire. But let's check in, courtesy of The Frisky...
Oh, what? The fratire thing?
The Frisky: Gawker deemed you a “ham-fisted frat s***.” The feminist bloggers hate you. You’ve been called a “professional sexist,” “anti-feminist,” and a “promoter of rape culture.” The New York Times labeled your prose “fratire.”Yes, the brave new world of Two and a Half Men, Maxim, and Ketel One ads:
TM: Hold on now. The New York Times was not insulting me when they called my writing “fratire.” In fact, they said I invented a new literary genre, one that defines a whole new generation of writers and readers. How is that an insult?
I think that this isn't exactly a new genre...unless you think that the needs, feelings, and emotions of young white dudes has been an underserved artistic destination for these last, um, 2,000 years.
Sigh. On y va...
The Frisky: Are you a “misogynist”?You know? He's not a misogynist. Just a narcissist living in his own, private world where women flock to him to give him blowjobs, sexy girls (the only real girls: see Amanda Hess' brilliant "Anatomy of a Tucker Max Joke") never think he's being insulting to him, and "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell" is...
TM: Complete bulls**t. A misogynist is someone who hates women. I love women. Everything I do is to impress women. Without women, I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Plus, half my fans are women. The people who call me misogynist are the ones who haven’t read or engaged my writing, and are just looking for a bogeyman to attack.
The Frisky: In your stories, women throw themselves at you. How many women have you slept with, and what advice do you give men on women?
TM: I have no idea how many women I’ve slept with. Probably more than 300, probably less than 600? I don’t keep count, because that would be super creepy.
Some women absolutely do throw themselves at me. I think part of it is that there are always some women that are into rich, famous, and powerful men. Then there is the artist aspect. Half my fans are women, and they are fans because they love my writing. There is the masculine thing; I am one of the few people in media who is unapologetically masculine, and that’s very attractive to some women.
...an awesome and groundbreaking movie, and great art always finds its way.Box Office total, after two weeks: $960,425.
But wait! Ol' Tuck has an excuse for that!
It may not hit at the theater, but it will hit on DVD, and hit big.Yeah, you and Joe Francis, amigo. Funny the company you keep.
[Cross-posted.]
Piss Off, Cigna
Normally, this pristine flipping of the bird is reserved for the Senate's resident cranky piss-ant, James Inhofe. Cigna, however, has surpassed all necessary requirements to earn the privilege of receiving the mighty bird.
In December of 2007, I posted about Cigna's refusal to cover Nataline Sarkisyan's life-saving liver transplant. After finally caving to intense pressure, they reversed their decision and agreed to cover the transplant. Their decision came too late, as Nataline died in the interm, while they were no doubt discussing how the coverage would impact their bottom line for the quarter.
Eight months later, Nataline's mother, Hilda, went with a bunch of supporters to Cigna's headquarters in Philadelphia to demand an apology from them for killing her daughter (video below the fold). In addition to not getting anything substantial from the PR hack sent to deal with the crowd, several Cigna employees heckled Hilda, with one of them even flipping her the bird. So, what I get out of this is that Cigna reserves the right to be a "death panel" and kill your child by denying coverage, with the added bonus of telling you to fuck off if you happen to visit their headquarters.
It's too bad for Cigna, an entity consumed by its desire for profits, that the Sarkisyans will be able to sue them over the emotional distress for the treatment they received that day in Philly:
"You guys killed my daughter," the diminutive San Fernando Valley real estate agent declared at the lobby security desk. "I want an apology."I can't think of any jury that would find in favor of Cigna in this case. And boy oh boy, how happy are they going to be with that handful of employees that will cost them all of that settlement money? Wouldn't it be a pity if those employees' jobs suddenly got eliminated and *gasp* they didn't have an insurance plan to fall back on?
What she got was something quite different.
Cigna employees, looking down into the atrium lobby from a balcony above, began heckling her, she said, with one of them giving her "the finger." [...]
U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess said the Sarkisyans could pursue damages for any emotional distress caused by the Philadelphia incident.
So, to Cigna and its heckling asshat employees I offer a clear and unequivocal: PISS OFF.
Oh, and Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are out there, PISS OFF TO YOU TOO!
[H/T to Shaker Tracee]
Quote of the Day
"I want to send our conferees to the table with the most muscle for America's middle class. This is about going into that room and coming out with the best coverage and the lowest cost for America's working families. I believe that that is best achieved by going to the table with the public option."—Speaker Nancy Pelosi, fiercely defending House Democrats' plan to fight for the public option when House and Senate healthcare reform bills have to get reconciled before being sent to the president.
GOP: Still Not Done Turning Their Party Into a Joke
I have it on good authority they're actually going to try to reanimate Senator Joseph McCarthy in Dr. Cheney's Undisclosed Lair on Halloween Night, and then this great idea will really have the iconic champion it deserves:
Republican members of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus said the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) have tried to plant "spies" within key national-security committees in order to shape legislative policy.I guess they haven't heard: It's much worse than you even imagine, Patriots, because our president—that's right, the President of the United States of America—is a Muslim!
Reps. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), citing the book Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America, called for the House sergeant at arms to investigate whether CAIR had been successful in placing interns on key panels. The lawmakers are specifically focused on the House Homeland Security Committee, Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee.
"If an organization is connected to or supports terrorists [and] is running influence operations or planting spies in key national security-related offices, I think this needs to be made known," said Broun, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee. "So I join my colleagues here today in calling for action."
Oh, pardon me. I mean a half-breed muslin. STILL!
My friend Steve points out that the book serving as source material for this reengineered Red Menace witch-hunt was published by none other than WorldNetDaily, the sterling hotbed of journalistic integrity that considers Chuck Norris a brilliant political commentator. He adds:
As for "infiltration" of CAIR, the man who pretended to be a Muslim and an intern apparently took as many documents from the organization as he could during his time there, and discovered that the lobbying group intends to do "ordinary lobbying work on Capitol Hill." When Myrick, Shadegg, Broun, and Franks released an internal CAIR "strategy" document yesterday, they unveiled "a fairly straight forward public relations and lobbying strategy."BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA! This Neo-McCarthyist bullshit is as pathetic as it is laughable. But it's also potentially dangerous; this is exactly the sort of poisonous soil in which national panics have taken root before, and many people's lives were ruined in the process. I can only hope the rest of the Republicans in Congress are decent enough to dismiss their colleagues' fearmongering for the balderdash it is, and, if Republican decency is once again in short supply, that Speaker Nancy Pelosi stomps on this dreck like a diseased bug.
The GOP loves to say it's the party of ideas, but they're not good ideas. In fact, they're not even new ideas. This came straight from the 1950's in a rickety-ass time machine fueled by pure liquid bigotry.
And once again I ask: Who says Republicans aren't good conservationists? They recycle more useless shit than anyone else I know.
Super Secret Lesbian Message as Deciphered by a Dudebro
by Shaker BHAstronomer, who skates with Assassination City Derby in Mesquite, Texas, and sometimes codes to keep the wheels on her feet.
Whip It is a fun movie about all women being themselves, not what society tries to program them to be. However, Jeremy Clyman sees beyond its veneer, as he helpfully explains in his column, "Lesbian Fantasy, Disguised," published in repeat offender Psychology Today. His hypothesis is that in addition to the empowering message the movie "purports" to offer all women, it's also "a secret communication to closeted lesbians living in hostile places in which the closet is the only safe place to be."
I know what you're thinking. I, as a heterosexual man, am incapable of watching an exclusively female story without conflating its straightforward coming-of-age purpose with some sort of secret, subversive sexual agenda. Why can't I just appreciate this movie as the female version of adolescent identity growth and discovery? Why force meaning in-between the lines and covertly degrade this story as only interesting if satisfying some half-cocked interpretation? Well, my way means the movie is even more important and interesting, so if you're a feminist film critic you can just relax.Oh. Okay then.
But let me back up for a moment and note that yeah, the movie does work as a metaphor for being empowered as a lesbian woman, or a trans woman, or a woman of color, or any other member of a marginalized female demographic. All of which the author conveniently ignores since they aren't TEH SEXY! And, worse yet, the "cues" he uses to unearth the lesbian themes are so not unique to lesbianism that he ends up reinforcing all the tired feminist = dyke narratives we're all painfully familiar with.
He assumes that heterosexual women are passive objects, so then of course a movie about kickass women who do their own thing (and men are just tangential, not essential) is going to be for lesbians. The FAIL of his Very Serious and Knows What's Really Going On article is rooted in his blindness of his male privilege. I feel bad for any of his future patients until he gets that fixed.
Let's begin with the massive fail so we can get it over sooner.
There isn't a serious male character to be seen.OH NOES! A film about a woman, for women, directed by a woman! It's not like there have been a whole history of movies (like all of them) that lack serious female characters. Clearly, it's a secret lesbian conspiracy. Can anyone give this guy directions on how to pull his head out of his ass?
it still works on this level, and by functioning on this level it is serving a social purpose above and beyond the gender equality comment that women can make films tooAnd what great social purpose would that be? Continuing to center lesbian and bisexual women's sexuality around the male gaze? Oh and "women can make films too"? Gee, my little lady brain never realized that. If only there were actually women in Hollywood fighting to write and direct their own films. Oh wait, there are.
In short, this game is a metaphor for sex.HUH?! What the hell!? He does know that there's more to sex than penetration, right?
The protagonist, Bliss (Page), behaves in the way that a lesbian might behave before she knows she's a lesbian.Really? How might that be different from any not-lesbian teenage girl? And how the hell does the gender of people you're attracted to determine how you behave?
We meet her just as she's playfully dying her hair blue for a beauty pageant.And this has any bearing on her sexuality how?
Her inexplicably love for roller derby is incited by the image of three women pushing each other on rollerblades.He uses the word "inexplicable" for pretty much anything that doesn't fit in the traditional insecure masculinity/stereotypical femininity. I don't think that word means what he thinks it means. And that women could find fun and entertainment in being physical and rough? Oh, my delicate sensibilities, perish the thought.
She dumps her boyfriend with suspicious ease and celerity.Women can dump their boyfriends and not be emotional wrecks, begging to be taken back? Women can decide to move on, and then actually move on? Sounds like women are no different than men when it comes to relationships. Who'd have thought of that?
She's an adolescent who likes to be different, is experimental and puts a boyfriend second to roller derby.This is so made of fail, I've lost my grasp on the English language. 'Cause men are SOOO the center of non-lesbian women's lives, and if women can prioritize their own lives and interests above their man, then clearly they're lesbians. LOGIC FAIL!
A character named "Jaba the Slut" is definitely a lesbian. She winks at girls and offers them drinks and come-on lines. This is never made explicit, which signals to the audience that lesbianism is both present and not really present.'Cause oh noes, women can't have a fluid sexuality wherein they're playful and funny, especially not derby girls. And of course her name's going to be "Jaba the Slut" cause it's common-to-idiots knowledge that only ugly fat women are lesbians cause they can't get a man. Yet didn't our plucky hero just dump a boyfriend? LOGIC FAIL 2.0!
men are metaphorically castrated while, simultaneously, lesbian sexuality is empowered.Wow, I didn't realize that there was a scene where some guy got his metaphorical balls cut off. Talk about a bad framing of the issue. He takes it as a zero-sum game, when in fact when everybody's empowered, everybody's better off.
heterosexual castration takes place either through humor or implicit feminization of male characters.There's more to masculinity than being a macho, insecure asshole. Clearly, this guys needs a clue. Or a metric fuckton of clues.
Although dad flirts with mom he clearly loves sports and beer more than sex. This is made conscious with a scene in which Bliss encounters her father's van in an abandoned, moonlit parking lot. All signs point to raunchy sex until she realizes that he's just watching the Texas Long Horns.'Cause oh noes, a funny scene in a movie about women directed by a woman! And there are a lot of stereotypical macho insecure asshole guys who prioritize sports over sex with their spouse. Nothing new here, other than a clever framing to set up a joke. 'Cause women don't have senses of humor; it was clearly put there to emasculate him! Ugh, Freud would be so happy right now.
The boyfriend may be straight in the same way the Beatles were harmlessly straight, but his long hair, fondness for wrestling and effeminate smile, at the very least, sucks the testosterone out of the room.Wow...really? I thought wrestling was supposed to be a macho sport and only tough guys did it. Clearly this guy is so stuck in his stereotypes and his complete lack of perspective and his mountainous male privilege that a straight guy couldn't possibly have a sweet smile, enjoy playing sports and like his hair long. 'Cause that's a guy who's too comfortable with who he is, he's clearly not insecure enough to be a Real ManTM.
The coach inexplicable wears tight jean shorts and inexplicably loves roller derby. He writes play books, pushes them in practice and cheerleads them during games.Inexplicable = maybe just cause he likes it, and people as individuals don't have to explain their reasons to Mr. Too-Privileged-to-Get-That-He's-Not-Qualified-to-Do-This-Analysis. And *gasp* he's doing coaching things, 'cause he's their coach! He's supposed to treat them like crap cause that's what Real MenTM do. I don't think I can roll my eyes hard enough.
Then there is "Hot Tub" Johnny Rocket, the announcer. He is the epitome of over-sexualized, aggressive machismo. Lesbians fearing rejection hate what he epitomizes, and he is predictably and harshly torn down. He is laughed off when he wants to join the ladies in the hot tub; his appeals to the audience for dates seem unsuccessful, at best. The last name "Rocket" makes it more than obvious that he represents a penis, an impotent one.'Cause treating assholes like the assholes they are is just a rejection of the Uberpenis and thus a celebration of lesbianism. Not a bunch of women *gasp* assuming they're real human beings with just as much right to demand respect as men are.
[F]emale sexual power takes over. This is most evident in the scene in which Smashley Simpson (Barrymore) wrestles her husband down to the ground from behind before riding him like a bronco. She even motions towards punching him in the balls. This is a rather obvious piece of symbolism about heterosexual power being tamed.'Cause non-lesbian women couldn't possibly be playful and physical with the people they love. Non-lesbian women are pristine wallflowers who wouldn't rough-house or play around or get dirty.
Thus, we have a movie about roller derby but we also have a subtextual discussion about lesbian sexuality in a way that satisfies unmet lesbian needs without explicitly communicating to the public that this is happening.'Cause he's clearly clued into what lesbians see and feel, since he's getting his degree in clinical psychology.
The misery of concealable stigma is addressed, the theme of sexuality is activated and the threat of heterosexual sexuality is diffused.Heterosexuality is not a threat. Privileged heterosexual assholes who marginalize homosexuality are a threat. Bit of a difference. Projecting much?
And, oh yeah, it explains why Barrymore and Page are kissing in magazine shoots.'Cause the co-opting of lesbian sexuality for male titillation couldn't possibly be responsible. Does this guy remember the Madonna/Brittney kiss? Has this guy not been to a party where girls are cajoled into making out by men for their pleasure?
So yeah, derby girl 20, insecure dudebro desperately trying to be relevant 0. Damn good jam. Go support those kickass women near you. Women's Flat Track Derby Association has a list of local leauges in your area. And hell, "Put some skates on. Be your own hero."
Hee Hee
Gallup Poll: Hillary Clinton Now More Popular Than Barack Obama.
So as not to diminish our president while celebrating Clinton's "current favorable rating rank[ing] among her best in the 17 years Gallup has polled Americans about her" (!!!), I want to point out that it's mainly because Republicans are abandoning their support for Obama in droves (whereas they already hated Clinton to begin with). Which, ya know, duh.
But let's also give Clinton her due: She's doing an awesome fucking job.
U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton smiles broadly during a press conference with her British counterpart David Miliband (out of camera range) at No.1 Carlton Gardens in London October 11, 2009. Secretary of State Clinton will also meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the second leg of a five-day European trip. [Via.]
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
And we're back to new strips again...
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Impossibly Beautiful + Assvertising = Megafuckery
Actual Ralph Lauren ads. Care of Photoshop Disasters.
Ralph Lauren has issued a half-assed apology for the advert on the left. The model in the image, Filippa Hamilton, was reportedly fired for being "too fat."
What the Ralph Lauren brand is doing with their Photoshopping is not merely fat-hating and sexist; it's dehumanizing in every sense of the word. The "models" in these ads could not possibly be living human beings.
It's absolutely absurd. And dangerously so.
Impossibly Beautiful: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five.
Assvertising: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One.
You Are NOT Helping
Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time probably knows that I'm not the biggest fan of Michelle Malkin.
Actually, that's an understatement. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I loathe Michelle Malkin. Melissa refers to her as my "arch enemy." You're probably aware that I think she's one of the most poisonous figures on the right, a vicious, cruel person that displays a frightening lack of empathy for anyone who does not conform completely to her world view. This is a person who continually puts people at risk for their lives by publishing their personal information on the internet, indirectly encouraging her many followers, who can display a viciousness that even rivals Malkin's, to harass them. It should be noted that she does this even after moving her own family due to having her personal information posted on the internet. This is a person who wrote a book accusing "liberals" of being "unhinged," and felt this was an appropriate way to criticize another blogger. She and her readers are responsible for more organized attacks filled with hate and death threats (and "liberals" are unhinged?) than any other conservative blogger I can think of. I think Michelle Malkin is a very dangerous person.
And now, thanks to Keith Olbermann, I am put in the position of defending her, and I'm really not happy about it.
On his show this Tuesday, Olbermann apparently felt it was appropriate during his "Worst Person in the World" segment to describe Malkin thusly:That was at 6:47 in the morning. By nighttime, Malkin and the lunatic fringe had decided Carney-Nunez was responsible for the song and whichever plot their fevered little paranoid minds saw behind it. She received death threats and hate-filled voice mails all thanks to the total mindless, morally bankrupt, knee-jerk, fascistic hatred, without which Michelle Malkin would just be a big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it. Ms. Carney-Nunez had nothing to do with the song. By the way, the fringe is out protesting at the school again scaring the kids. You know, exactly the way that psychotic pastor protests at military funerals.
Ahem.
While the behavior of Malkin and her followers is indeed reprehensible, to describe her as a "big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it" is completely unacceptable. It is sexist, it is dehumanizing, which is a central strategy of racism, and it is not helping. It simply adds ammunition to Malkin's arsenal the next time she shrieks about "unhinged" attacks from the left, and Olbermann should know better. Sexism, dehumanization and racism are weapons that we do not use.
I've used words to describe Malkin in the past that I'm not all that proud of, and I have resolved never to do that again. But I'm just some bozo nobody on a blog. Keith Olbermann, for better or for worse, is one of the major media voices of opposition against the frenzied right wing, and sinking to their level is simply unnaceptable.
I would remind Mr. Olbermann that we defend Michelle Malkin against sexist smears not because we support her words, actions or politics, but because that's how feminism works.
Get with the fucking program.
From the Mailbag
I've just gotten so much good stuff lately, and I regret not being able to write a unique post about every one of them. Items that are potentially triggering are prefaced with [TW].
Shaker John emails about "the paranoid speech that Mormon church leader Dallin Oaks gave at Brigham Young University-Idaho yesterday. It is the most scandalous thing I have ever seen." Paranoid and scandalous is right: Oaks is feverishly peddling the "oppressed believer" angle and begins with this alarming opening salvo: "In choosing my subject I have relied on an old military maxim that when there is a battle underway, persons who desire to join the fray should 'march to the sound of the guns.' So it is that I invite you to march with me as I speak about religious freedom under the United States Constitution." Yay for holy wars!
A bunch of Shakers have sent me various links about a new law in Oklahoma going into effect on Nov. 1 "that will collect personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and post them on a public website." The Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging the law, arguing that "it violates the Oklahoma Constitution because it 'covers more than one subject'—a challenge that previously worked to strike down an abortion ultrasound law."
Shaker DreamingCrow emails: "This was discussed in the NYT's Lens Blog. I just found it incredibly moving and wanted to share. I've known these girls and women... Brenda Ann Kenneally captures the absolutely destroying despair of grinding poverty in a way that most people never grasp."
[TW] Shaker Zen sends this heartbreaking, infuriating, and seriously blub-inducing story about a US District Judge dismissing a lawsuit and finding that a hospital was within its rights to force a lesbian to die alone, forbidding her partner from being with her even after her partner was given durable Power of Attorney and a Living Will naming her as legal guardian with authority to make end-of-life decisions. WHY. MARRIAGE. EQUALITY. MATTERS.
A bunch of Shakers have also sent me various links (mostly this NPR piece and this AP story) about an "artificial virginity device" which has sparked controversy in Egypt. I hardly know where to begin with this one, there are so many issues to be teased out. It has the potential to save lives; it certainly entrenches the double-standard that women are expected to be virgins but men aren't; it masks a reality that not all virgins bleed their first time, anyway; it is, like many accoutrements of the patriarchy, simultaneously a coping strategy and a tool of oppression. Very complex issue.
Shaker blueraven95 forwards this piece about "the subtle art of misogyny," or how women are marginalized in the arts.
[TW] Shaker Koach sends this story about police having made an arrest "in a nearly 20-year-old southeast Texas case where an 8-year-old girl was brutally attacked and left for dead in a field, unable to cry out for help because her throat had been slashed." The man who was arrested had been a neighbor of the victim's; the case sounds eerily reminiscent of the story in The Lovely Bones, except that Jennifer Schuett, thankfully, survived.
[TW] Shaker Angelos emails this link about a lip gloss that detects the presence of drugs in a drink. "Sad that this exists, but still, very cool."
Shaker Honora sends this unbelievable article about a Florida Republican who shot "the initials of the Democratic congresswoman he is trying to unseat" into a target "during a weekly GOP meeting held at a gun range." I don't even know where to start parsing everything wrong with that.
[TW} Shaker GadgetMan emails about a new gaymer survey in which you can participate here. People of all sexual orientations are encouraged to participate. (FYI, I took the survey and didn't find any of the questions to be triggering, but some Shakers who are not binary, cis, L or B or G did.)
Shaker The Great Indoors sends a heads-up about The Conservative Bible Project. Oy.
Shaker Linda sends the link to what has to be the zaniest concert performance I've ever seen. It also sent the cats scurrying around the room hissing at each other, lol.
[TW] Shaker Maria P. forwards more überfail from the Onion's sports section: Miguel Cabrera Hits Dismal .194 in Fight with Wife. Way to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Onion.
Shaker radbean sends a heads-up about a Jewish Women International campaign to help change attitudes about violence against women by asking the media to use the real facts and the right words in reports on domestic violence. They've made it so simple: Please take just a moment to visit the link and add your voice to the chorus.
What the Hell?
Shaker catvoncat
"Surprise!"
(If you've a ridiculous and/or embarrassing photo of yourself from your youth, please send it to shakerwhatthehell_at_yahoo_dot_com. I'll post them up as part of our series called What The Hell? so everyone can laugh
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, Rikibeth, MishaRN, CLD, Cheezwiz, MamaCarrie, Temeraire, somebodyoranother, goldengirl, Liss (again), summerwing, yeomanpip, Susan811, bbl, Deeky (Part II), A Daily Shakesville Fan, Sami_J, liberalandproud Temeraire: Redux, Mama Shakes II, Bonus Deeky, OuyangDan, J.Goff, Iain, Talonas, The Great Indoors, gogo, kiwi_a, em_and_ink, Tik_bev, phdintraining, Deeky Freakhands, busydani, Jenny Anne, rowmyboat, DesertRose, Steve/Pido, Anne Onymous, phredrika, The Last of the Famous International Deekys, Iain, Another Mustang Bobby, mkp-hearts-nyc, Arvan, Norbizness, Electrasteph, SteffaB, molliecat, and Aestas.]
Rape is Hilarious, Part 44
[Trigger warning.]
That John Mayer is a huge asshole is not news. Still, it takes a special kind of huge asshole to give an interview that warrants the title: "John Mayer Threatens to Sodomize Us." Which he actually does. Because he doesn't like the reporter's questions, and complains about it through the entire interview, culminating in this exchange:
What concept [will your next record have]?Charming. Almost as charming as New York publishing the interview, which is nothing but a stream of insults against their reporter, no less under the aforementioned headline, turning Mayer's rape joke into the centerpiece of the interview.
More political things, worldly things.
Such as?
Nothing rhymed with public option.
You don't always have to rhyme, though.
I'm going to forcefully sodomize your editor.
I beg you not to read comments at the link.
[Rape is Hilarious: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty Two, Forty-Three.]
Mary Murphy: Survivor
[Trigger warning.]
Mary Murphy, one of the judges on So You Think You Can Dance and herself a world-renowned ballroom dancer and choreographer, is featured on the cover of US Weekly this week, telling for the first time her story of having survived a marriage in which she was physically, emotionally, and sexually abused:
Mary Murphy opens up for the first time ever about surviving a nine-year abusive relationship, during which she was repeatedly raped and beaten and suffered a miscarriage.Murphy eventually saved up enough money teaching dance to leave and file for divorce.
She tells Us Weekly her ex-husband - whose name is being withheld but who says Murphy's claims are "flat-out lies" - raped her for the first time three months after they wed.
"We'd had another jealous fight, screaming, crashing over furniture, and he said, 'I want to have sex,'" Murphy, 51, tells Us Weekly. "I was like, 'Are you kidding me?! We're fighting here!' He said, 'You're my wife, and you'll do what I tell you!' I pulled out a kitchen knife and screamed, 'You're going to have to stab me, because I'm not having sex with you!' He knocked it out of my hands, held me down and raped me."
Soon, she says, a pattern developed: "A fight, then rape, then presents: a dress, a diamond bracelet, earrings. In the first year or two, I'd fight back, but eventually, I'd just lie there. Get it over with, I thought. It'll be quick anyway."
For years, "I'd have black eyes and bruises," she tells Us Weekly. "But I never called the police or went to the hospital. I didn't want anybody to know."
She says she got pregnant around 1982. "But in my fourth month, I miscarried," she tells Us Weekly. "My husband was disgusted, saying I murdered our baby, because I'd done some light dancing the night before. I was sinking deeper and deeper at that point, just reeling into despair."
Mary's always been one of my favorite things about SYTYCD. I love her infectious joy, her enthusiastic screaming, her loud laugh, her eminent willingness to be overwhelmed and blub when a dancer or performance moves her. Something about her always felt familiar to me, something about the way her joyfulness was never frivolous. And now I know why.
