[Content Note: Attempted assault; disablist language.]
So, a few days ago, a woman named Alison Michelle Ernst threw a shoe at Hillary Clinton while she was giving a speech in Las Vegas. The shoe missed; Hillary was fine; she made a joke about it; Ernst was arrested and questioned and freed after being given a misdemeanor disorderly conduct summons.
Reasonable people might be concerned for Clinton's safety, given that Ernst managed to slip past security (including Clinton's Secret Service protection detail), despite the fact that she wasn't a credentialed conference attendee, wasn't wearing a conference ID badge, and wasn't asked to present the badge to gain entry to Clinton's speech, as all attendees were ostensibly required to do.
But the conservative "shoe truthers" are not reasonable people. And so their primary concern is accusing Clinton of staging the incident and criticizing her reflexive reaction:
Some conservative media figures are openly wondering if Hillary Clinton staged an incident during a speech in Las Vegas on Thursday in which a woman in the audience threw a shoe at her.
...A blog post published Monday at the website of Fox News commentator Bernard Goldberg speculated that Clinton probably "calculated it beforehand," as is "almost always true" with things that happen to her.
"So it would not be stretching logic to suppose that Hillary arranged to have the shoe thrown at her," wrote Arthur Louis at Goldberg's site. "Remembering the Bush incident [when an Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at President George W. Bush], she may have calculated that this would make her seem presidential. This would explain why Ms. Ernst was not pounded to a pulp by Hillary's bodyguards, and why she seems on the verge of getting off scot free. Don't be too surprised, the next time you visit Phoenix, if you see her sitting at a table in a downtown Hillary for President store front, stuffing and sealing envelopes."
On Monday, Rush Limbaugh entertained the same idea, telling radio listeners he "can totally relate" to those who believe that "everything the Clintons do is staged or choreographed." Asked about it by a listener, he emphasized that he hadn't studied the incident and isn't too concerned about it, but said people have told him Clinton's reaction "wasn't natural."
"I'm sorry, I'm ill-equipped to comment," Limbaugh said, adding: "Maybe it's because, in my subconscious, I think it was staged, or set up, or whatever. ... I don't know why anybody would be throwing a shoe at Hillary unless -- maybe it's an attempt to make the Benghazi people look like nuts and lunatics and wackos."
Somehow, I don't think Clinton is worried about convincing her supporters that "the Benghazi people" are not serious people who act in good faith.
Other conservatives steered clear of trutherism but slammed the "liberal media" for obscuring George W. Bush's superiority in the art of shoe-dodging.
"What one clearly sees in this video is that Hillary Clinton makes no effort whatsoever to actually 'dodge' the shoe," wrote Sonny Bunch at the Washington Free Beacon. "Rather, she flinches after it has gone whizzing by her head. A far more accurate headline would’ve been 'Hillary Clinton Luckily Unharmed by Her Slow Reflexes.' Typical liberal media, covering up the truth for their favored candidates. ... Whereas Hillary reacts well after the danger has passed, George W. Bush preemptively sees danger coming and positions himself to avoid it."
National Review's Jonah Goldberg favorably cited Bunch's piece and found a way to make his point with a Benghazi reference.
"I don't expect reporters to say 'Hillary Clinton instinctively cowered from shoe like it was the unavoidable truth about Benghazi.' But, as the guy who was hit by a Ford pickup truck told the police, that was no Dodge," he wrote.
Embarrassing stuff.
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Two days ago, it was 70 degrees here. Beautiful and sunny and springy. This morning, I woke up to this shit:
Fuck this fuckwinter! I'm over it!
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Suggested by Shaker Doctor_Tinycat: "What was your favorite cartoon as a child? What cartoons do you like as an adult?"
(Naturally: "I never watched/don't like cartoons" is a perfectly cromulent answer.)
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From the White House's Photo Galleries: President Barack Obama holds the hand of Lincoln Rose Pierce Smith, the daughter of former Deputy Press Secretary Jamie Smith, in the Oval Office, April 4, 2014. Watching from the other side of the Resolute Desk are Sage and Elsa Smith. [Official White House Photo by Pete Souza]
Have I mentioned once or a million times that I will never, ever, get tired of looking at pictures of President Obama interacting with kids? I will never, ever, get tired of looking at pictures of President Obama interacting with kids.
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[Content Note: Military aggression.]
The thing I keep thinking about this escalating tension with Russia is that it's another major reason that I do not want a Republican taking the White House in 2016:
A Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, U.S. military officials said Monday.
In the first public account of the incident, the officials said the Russian Fencer made 12 passes, and flew within 1,000 yards of the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, at about 500 feet above sea level.
The U.S. warship issued several radio queries and warnings using international emergency circuits, but the Russian aircraft did not respond.
"This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
The fighter appeared to be unarmed and never was in danger of coming in contact with the ship, said the officials. The passes, which occurred in the early evening there, ended without incident.
...A U.S. military official also said that a Russian Navy ship, a frigate, has been shadowing the U.S. warship, remaining within visual distance but not close enough to be unsafe. The official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
I mean, I'm not a huge fan of Democrats' foreign policy, either, but I can't even begin to imagine a Republican president leading on this issue.
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[Content Note: War on agency; anti-choice terrorism.]
The indispensable Robin Marty: "America's Abortion-Free Zone Grows."
Please read the whole thing, but I just want to highlight this incredible passage:
Closing abortion clinics has become a primary goal for anti-abortion activists, who have used bills requiring expensive clinic renovations or medically unnecessary transfer agreements to force clinics that can't meet to shut their doors. The reasoning is simple: If abortion can't be outlawed, closing off clinics is the next best thing.
The gambit has been highly successful: between 2010 and 2013, one in 10 clinics closed across the country—and that was before Texas's HB 2 began to go into effect, which will close another 20. For states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Wisconsin, the only thing standing between losing most or all of their clinics are court orders blocking bills from being enforced.
Ten percent of the nation's abortion clinics have closed in four years, and we are
still not having a serious, meaningful, loud, public conversation about the increasing restriction to abortion access.
Ten percent of the nation's abortion clinics have closed in four years, and our ostensibly pro-choice president doesn't think that's worthy of a dedicated national address.
"We don't have to see a Roe v. Wade overturned in the Supreme Court to end it. … We want to. But if we chip away and chip away, we'll find out that Roe really has no impact. And that's what we are doing."—Rev. Pat Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition,
2011.
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Dudley the Greyhound lays sprawled out across the ottoman and half the loveseat, looking at me. He has one ear flipped forward, and one flipped backwards, looking very silly, as usual.
"Dudley," I say, "do you have ears?" He looks at me. "Do you have cute ears?" He looks at me. "Do you have silly ears?" He looks at me, then dramatically flops over to one side and licks his lips sleepily.
This dog. LOL.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
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[Content Note: Fat hatred.]
The great fat activist Marilyn Wann once said: "The only thing that anyone can diagnose, with any certainty, by looking at a fat person, is their own level of stereotype and prejudice toward fat people."
I love that quote. For a lot of reasons.
Once of them is because it has helped me understand as a fat person at whom someone is looking, their discernible prejudice toward fat people is their problem, not mine.
There was a time when I was looked at, when I could sense that palpable prejudice, and I would shrink into myself. And now, I don't. I stand my ground, and I look back.
Recently, a friend of a friend was telling me a terrific (not terrific) story about how gross fat people are. Like most stories of this nature, the anonymous fat strangers that were the source of his ire seemed predominantly guilty of taking up space. In public. Where his delicate eyes were forced to behold them.
He was telling the story in that way of a perfectly rehearsed anecdote; it was a story he had told a lot, so often that it did not occur to him that he was telling it to a fat person, who was looking back, meeting his story with an expression he was not used to seeing.
Sometimes, when this happens, when a thin person realizes that they've just disgorged a bunch of rank fat hatred right into my fat face, they apologize. Often in a way that exacerbates the offense. But mostly, they try to convince me that they're not talking about me. That those other fat people were gross in a way that I'm not.
They attempt to turn me into an Exceptional Fatty, in order to absolve themselves of their own fat hatred.
Often, they try to accomplish this by saying, "I don't mean someone who's your size. I mean way fatter." As if that makes it okay. As if I am not very fat.
The friend of a friend didn't even bother trying to use words to convey this idea. When he caught my level, uncompromising gaze, he simply used a gesture. The International Sign for Fat People: Arms out in front of his belly in a big circle, cheeks puffed out, rocking side-to-side.
From that, that absurd gesture that many children learn in Christmas pageant choreography for songs about Santa Claus, I was meant to understand he meant someone really fat. As if that made it okay. As if I am not really fat.
He went on with his story. I maintained my steady gaze. Eventually, he finished his story.
"That sounds terrible for you," I told him.
I looked back at the person looking at me. And I knew his prejudice toward fat people. Toward me. And I didn't shrink.
I took up space.
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[Content Note: Class warfare.]
"The Federal Reserve, increasingly optimistic about the economy, is dialing back its stimulus efforts. ...The official line is clear: The worst is over, and recovery has given way to expansion. But that's not the whole story. Economic gains so far have mostly benefited those at the top of the income and wealth ladder. Worse, future growth is likely to be lopsided, because the foundation for broad prosperity is arguably the weakest it has been since World War II."—The New York Times editors, in a piece aptly headlined: "Recovery for Whom?"
It is a strong and necessary piece—although it focuses on generational disparities to the exclusion of other imbalances, including the gendered pay gap and the racial wealth gap, as but two examples.
These structural social imbalances not mentioned in the piece are absolutely on-topic for this thread.
I really appreciate that they pointed out the fallacy of the education-will-solve everything trope: "[T]hose in the 25-to-34 age group are the best educated cohort in American history, with more than a third having a bachelor's degree or higher. Education is important. But clearly, education alone does not create jobs and opportunities that lead to prosperity. For that, a fair and functional economy is needed—one in which the government plays a robust role, alongside consumers and businesses, to promote full employment and to ensure a just distribution of gains."
Yes. Yes.
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Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Terrorism; injury and death; (cropped) graphic image at link] Jeff Bauman, the man featured in an iconic photograph taken in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, who later helped identify the suspects, writes an important piece about being the subject of that photograph one year after the attack.
[CN: Fire; destruction; death] Wildfires raging in Chile have killed at least 16 people, and many more people have been displaced: "Strong winds [coming off the Pacific] have fanned the flames, making it difficult for firefighters to stop the blaze from spreading to over 2,000 acres. The fire has so far consumed 500 homes, and displaced at least 10,000 people. To curb looting, the Chilean government has called in police from all over the country. Officials are also drawing up a plan to evacuate a nearby prison that is in danger of being swallowed by the flames." This, just a little over a week after Chile suffered a major earthquake that caused a tsunami. If and when I can find recommendations to orgs providing aid, I will share them. Please feel welcome and encouraged to leave links to aid sites in comments.
[CN: Terrorism; death] There was a major terrorist attack on a Nigerian bus station this morning during rush hour: "The blast ripped a hole 1.2 metres (4ft) deep in the ground of Nyanya motor park, about 10 miles from the city centre, and destroyed more than 30 vehicles, causing secondary explosions as their fuel tanks ignited and burned. There was no official comment or immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, though bus stations are a favoured target of Nigeria's Islamist militants." Many people have been killed and injured; the number of fatalities is not yet known.
[CN: Class warfare] Paul Krugman: "Three Expensive Milliseconds." On our infrastructure priorities, and what they say about our people priorities.
Here's a shocker: "Former watchdogs accuse Christie of interfering with state ethics agency." I find it hard to believe that nice man who didn't know anything about that terrible lane closure scandal would interfere with his state ethics agency. Liberal media conspiracy!
[CN: Racism; Christian supremacy] The ACLU is urging President Obama to "step in [and] make the FBI stand down and to ensure that his administration does not issue racial profiling guidance that permits bias-based policing. As a coalition of 225 groups from across America's civil rights and minority communities have urged, the guidance must: prohibit profiling based religion, national origin, or sexual orientation; close the loopholes for the border and national security; apply to state and local law enforcement agencies who work in partnership with the federal government or receive federal funding; cover surveillance activities; and contain enforceable standards. If these crucial changes are not made, the civil rights legacy of President Obama and Attorney General Holder will be forever marred by discrimination."
[CN: Misogyny] What is Jerry "women aren't funny" Lewis even talking about? "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong. And they're funny—I mean you got some very, very funny people that do beautiful work—but I have a problem with the lady up there that's going to give birth to a child—which is a miracle." This is being reported as Lewis "clarifying" his earlier comments, but I guess I don't have the right gleep-glorp plugged into my processing center to filter this word garbage as a clarification.
Do you want to know how to see tonight's total lunar eclipse? Well, here you go!
Here is a nice story about a woman named Desiree Christian who runs a small animal rescue for unwanted guinea pigs, rabbits, and hedgehogs: "I love each and every piggy and bunny like it's my own pet. Plus, how could you not enjoy seeing those cute faces every morning?" Love.
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The Republican Party is launching an initiative to court female voters:
Signaling that the Republican Party is getting serious about wooing women, the Washington Post reported Monday that the Republican National Committee is planning to recruit an army of volunteers who will court young female voters in Democratic-leaning suburban areas.
The co-chair of the RNC, Sharon Day, is slated to launch the "14 in '14" program Monday in West Virginia, according to the Post, aiming to "sign up women who will commit 30 minutes per week in the 14 weeks before the election, making calls, recruiting other women, identifying voters and getting people to the polls."
..."Women are a very important part of the electorate and the RNC is very serious about engaging," Day told the Post. "The Democrats have relied on desperate attacks and we are going to aggressively work to correct the record and build relationships with women voters."
You know, there is a
truthful way to undermine Democrats with women, which is to point out that nationally-elected Democrats have done very little to try to defend choice or address the onslaught of legislative restrictions to abortion access on the state level. But the GOP can't take that position—given that they're the ones trying to restrict access.
See also: Little meaningful movement on the pay gap; economic policy that entrenches poverty which disproportionately affects women and children; cuts to social programs on which women and children are disproportionately dependent; immigration policy that tears apart families and fails to address violence against female immigrants; etc.
On all of which GOP policy is
even worse.
So they're going to have to resort to lies and obfuscation, because actually caring about women's lives and crafting effective social policy isn't an option they're willing to consider.
As it would cost them the rest of their bigoted base.
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[Content Note: Guns; violence; antisemitism; white supremacy; eliminationism.]
Yesterday, in Overland Park, Kansas, a 73-year-old white man killed two people at a Jewish community center, then got in his car and drove to a Jewish retirement community, and killed one more. He shot at two more people, but missed them. The man was then taken into custody, and there were reports that he shouted antisemitic phrases, which, at the time, police would neither confirm nor deny.
Tonight is the first night of Passover.
Today, we have more information on the shooter and the shooting:
After officers arrested Frazier Glenn Cross — an Aurora, Mo., man better known as F. Glenn Miller — Sunday afternoon, authorities said he went on a rant inside the patrol car. Though Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass wouldn't say what Cross hollered, a television crew captured him on video while he was handcuffed in the back of the car.
"Heil Hitler," Miller yelled out, and then he bobbed his head up and down.
Four hours after the shooting rampage was first reported, Douglass said in a news conference that it was too early to know definitively what the shooter's motives were, but added: "We are investigating this as a hate crime."
During the police chief's press conference yesterday afternoon, he said the killer used a shotgun, and may have also used a handgun and an assault rifle.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, "Frazier Glenn Cross" is an alias of Frazier Glenn Miller, a "longtime anti-Semite" who has spent most of his life in the white supremacist movement.
Miller is the former "grand dragon" of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which he founded and ran in the 1980s before being sued by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for operating an illegal paramilitary organization and using intimidation tactics against African Americans.
After subsequently forming another Klan group, the White Patriot Party, he was found in criminal contempt and sentenced to six months in prison for violating the court settlement. He went underground while his conviction was under appeal but was caught by the FBI with a weapons cache in Missouri. He served three years in federal prison after being indicted on weapons charges and for plotting robberies and the assassination of SPLC founder Morris Dees. As part of a plea bargain, Miller testified against other Klan leaders in a 1988 sedition trial.
Miller is a raging anti-Semite who has posted more than 12,000 times on Vanguard News Network (VNN), whose slogan is "No Jews, Just Right." VNN founder Alex Linder has openly advocated "exterminating" Jews since December 2009. Miller, a close partner to Linder, has called Jews "swarthy, hairy, bow-legged, beady-eyed, parasitic midgets." Miller is also one of VNN's largest donors and he printed and distributed thousands of copies of VNN's newsletter, The Aryan Alternative.
This man is a terrorist. And there is no fucking way he should have had access to guns.
I am so desperately sorry for the families, friends, neighbors, colleagues/classmates of the people who were killed. Two of the victims were grandfather and grandson. My condolences to the Jewish people in the community in which this happened. And to every Jewish person who is feeling the reverberating threat of this heinous act, you have my sympathy, my support, and my profound anger.
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I feel like there are a lot of issues of privilege around phone communication that don't get explored very often, so here's a thread in which we can talk about our experiences.
Because I have extra-sibilant (hissy) S'es, the most frequent phone miscommunication I have is that people think I'm saying my name is "Martha." It happens so frequently, I should probably just change my name to Martha at this point.
Do you have any repeat phone miscommunications, based on your name or your street name or something else being commonly misheard?
Have you ever had a hilarious and/or embarrassing phone miscommunication when, for instance, you thought you were speaking to someone other than to whom you were actually speaking?
Have you ever had an upsetting experience of being misgendered, or having someone presume something about your race based on your voice or name, or had someone be rude because you speak with an accent?
If you use a nontraditional phone device, have you encountered any kinds of problems of access?
Discuss.
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