Democratic Town Hall Wrap-Up

[Content Note: Misogyny; war on agency.]

Last night, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders appeared at a town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper in New Hampshire. Video, which autoplays, and a complete transcript of the event are available here.

For the most part, it went exactly as one would expect. They both went through their usual talking points. Each gave a strong performance. There's no question that there is a huge divide between how this country would be governed if either Sanders or Clinton won versus how it would be governed if any of the Republican candidates won.

Each of them had a bad moment, in my opinion. Clinton gave a bad answer on speaking fees from Goldman Sachs:

Cooper: One of the things that Sen. Sanders points to and a lot of your critics point to is you made three speeches for Goldman Sachs. You were paid $675,000 for three speeches. Was that a mistake? I mean was that a bad error in judgment?

Clinton: Look. I made speeches to lots of groups. I told them what I thought. I answered questions.

Cooper: But did you have to be paid $675,000?

Clinton: Well, I don't know. That's what they offered, so... (LAUGHTER) You know every secretary of State that I know has done that.

Cooper: But...they're not running for an office...

Clinton: Well, I didn't know...

Cooper: ...have known.

Clinton: To be honest I wasn't -- I wasn't committed to running. I didn't know whether I would or not.

Cooper: You didn't think you were going to run for president again?

Clinton: I didn't. You know when I was secretary of State several times I said you know I think I'm done. And you know, so many people came to me, started talking to me.

The circumstances, the concerns I had about the Republicans taking back the White House, because I think they wrecked what we achieved in the 1990s with 23 million new jobs and incomes going up for everybody. I did not want to see that happen again. I want to defend President Obama's accomplishments and the progress we've made. I want to go further.

So yes, I was convinced. But you know anybody who knows me who thinks that they can influence me, name anything they've influenced me on. Just name one thing. I'm out here every day saying I'm going to shut them down, I'm going after them. I'm going to jail them if they should be jailed. I'm going to break them up.

I mean they're not giving me very much money now. I can tell you that much. (LAUGHTER) Fine with me. I'm proud to have 90 percent of my donations from small donors and 60 percent, the highest ever, from women, which I'm really, really proud of.

I don't think the answer is terrible in its entirety, because it is true that merely saying "you took that money!" if there's no evidence of influence as a result of it is a pretty weak criticism.

But I also think there were better immediate responses than joking about that's what was offered. Like, off the top of my head: "I know, that sounds like an absurd amount of money to most working Americans. But I'll tell you what, I felt comfortable taking those speaking fees, because, whether I decided to run for president again, or if I'd decided to pursue changes I think this country needs in the private sector, I knew I was going to be, at least in part, personally funding that pursuit. It turns out they put money in my pocket to fight them. I don't feel bad about that!"

(A less charitable, ahem, response she could have offered is: "Anderson, with the women's pay gap being a major issue in the US right now, do you really think it's appropriate to audit what a woman earns on national television?")

Sanders, meanwhile, gave a truly shitty answer to a question about whether he's the underdog in New Hampshire, despite being from neighboring state Vermont:

Of course we're an underdog. We are taking on the most powerful political organization in the country. And that's, you know, the Clinton organization. Secretary Clinton obviously ran here in 2008 and she won. Her husband ran here several times before that. So this is her fourth campaign in that family here in New Hampshire.

Her fourth campaign in that family. Wow.

Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton. I really shouldn't need to explain why this shit is misogynistic dreck.

Further, "the Clinton organization" is not, in fact, "the most powerful political organization in the country." Not by a long shot. The Clinton family is not even the most powerful political family in the country.

And this sort of hyperbole plays directly into the decades-old rightwing narratives about which I've been writing the past couple of days.

Sanders isn't a fool: He knows that. And he keeps saying stuff like this, trading on the decades-long campaign to monsterize Hillary Clinton, while simultaneously claiming to not be running a negative campaign. Which is really beginning to piss me off.

The best part of the evening, for me, came down to one little turn of phrase, care of Clinton, during a response to a question about whether she would have litmus tests for Supreme Court justices:

We've got to make sure to preserve Roe v. Wade, not let it be nibbled away or repealed.

This is the first time I have heard a presidential candidate talk about Roe like it's not an on-off abortion access switch.

That shouldn't be remarkable, but goddamn it is.

During the same answer, Clinton also noted:

We have to preserve marriage equality. We have to go further to end discrimination against the LGBT community.

This is also one of the very few times I have heard a presidential candidate not talk about legal same-sex marriage as the end-all be-all of queer rights.

Of course, the other times I've heard it, it's been Hillary Clinton, too.

For the record, Bernie Sanders did not talk about reproductive choice or queer rights at all. And, as I have said many times now, when your platform is centered on economic justice, not talking about abortion access, which is the key indicator of financial security for many members of a group of people that constitutes more than half the population, and not talking about eradicating housing and employment discrimination, which are also crucial to financial security, is a big problem.

Breaking up the banks and campaign finance reform and free college are important, but they will not solve anti-choice laws that render Roe an empty statute. They won't solve legal discrimination on the basis of one's sexual orientation or gender that can mean the difference between having an income and a roof over your head and not having these basic necessities.

Woe to anyone who tries to come at me with the argument that Sanders focuses on "big picture" issues, and tries to tell me that reproductive justice and housing for more than half the population isn't big picture.

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Photo of the Day

[Content Note: Islamophobia.]

Photo from White House photographer Pete Souza's Instagram: "President Obama greets members of the audience after he delivered remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque."

Naturally, Republican candidates are going apeshit about President Obama visiting a mosque, proving the point of why his visit was so necessary.

His remarks at the mosque were extraordinary, and the full transcript of his address has been made available by the White House. I really encourage you to read the whole thing in full, because it's a terrific address, but here's just a small excerpt:

So the first thing I want to say is two words that Muslim Americans don't hear often enough—and that is, thank you. Thank you for serving your community. Thank you for lifting up the lives of your neighbors, and for helping keep us strong and united as one American family. We are grateful for that.

Now, this brings me to the other reason I wanted to come here today. I know that in Muslim communities across our country, this is a time of concern and, frankly, a time of some fear. Like all Americans, you're worried about the threat of terrorism. But on top of that, as Muslim Americans, you also have another concern—and that is your entire community so often is targeted or blamed for the violent acts of the very few.

...No surprise, then, that threats and harassment of Muslim Americans have surged. Here at this mosque, twice last year, threats were made against your children. Around the country, women wearing the hijab—just like Sabah—have been targeted. We've seen children bullied. We've seen mosques vandalized. Sikh Americans and others who are perceived to be Muslims have been targeted, as well.

I just had a chance to meet with some extraordinary Muslim Americans from across the country who are doing all sorts of work. ...And you couldn't help but be inspired, hearing about the extraordinary work that they're doing. But you also could not help but be heartbroken to hear their worries and their anxieties.

Some of them are parents, and they talked about how their children were asking, are we going to be forced out of the country, or, are we going to be rounded up? Why do people treat us like that? Conversations that you shouldn't have to have with children—not in this country. Not at this moment.

And that's an anxiety echoed in letters I get from Muslim Americans around the country. I've had people write to me and say, I feel like I'm a second-class citizen. I've had mothers write and say, "my heart cries every night," thinking about how her daughter might be treated at school. A girl from Ohio, 13 years old, told me, "I'm scared." A girl from Texas signed her letter "a confused 14-year-old trying to find her place in the world."

These are children just like mine. And the notion that they would be filled with doubt and questioning their places in this great country of ours at a time when they've got enough to worry about—it's hard being a teenager already—that's not who we are.

We're one American family. And when any part of our family starts to feel separate or second-class or targeted, it tears at the very fabric of our nation.

It's a challenge to our values—and that means we have much work to do. We've got to tackle this head on. We have to be honest and clear about it. And we have to speak out. This is a moment when, as Americans, we have to truly listen to each other and learn from each other.

...Islam has always been part of America. Starting in colonial times, many of the slaves brought here from Africa were Muslim. And even in their bondage, some kept their faith alive. A few even won their freedom and became known to many Americans. And when enshrining the freedom of religion in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, our Founders meant what they said when they said it applied to all religions.

Back then, Muslims were often called Mahometans. And Thomas Jefferson explained that the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom he wrote was designed to protect all faiths—and I'm quoting Thomas Jefferson now—"the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan."

...By the way, Thomas Jefferson's opponents tried to stir things up by suggesting he was a Muslim—so I was not the first— (applause) No, it's true, it's true. Look it up. (laughter) I'm in good company. (laughter)

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Misogyny and Mythmaking

[Content Note: Misogyny.]

I am very excited that Blue Nation Review has published a piece I wrote on Hillary Clinton and the decades of misogyny to which she has been subjected, and how that informs our reflexive opinions of her today: "I Am a Hillary Clinton Supporter Who Has Not Always Been One."

I have spent an enormous amount of time with Hillary Clinton, although I have never spoken to her. I have read transcripts of her speeches, her policy proposals, her State Department emails. I have watched countless hours of interviews, debates, addresses, testimony before Congress. I have scrolled though thousands of wire photos, spoken to people who have worked with and for her, read her autobiography, listened to her fans and her critics.

And what I have discovered is a person whom I like very much.

...It has taken me years to find the real Hillary Clinton behind a brick wall of impenetrable misogyny.

And this is the reality with which we all need to reckon: A brick wall is infinitely more difficult to shatter than a glass ceiling.

Head on over to read the rest.

My thanks to the BNR team for featuring my work and for generally being awesome.

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Open Thread

Hosted by a yo-yo.

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Question of the Day

Suggested by Shaker Heather T.: "What wall would you like to be the fly on?"

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The Wednesday Blogaround

This blogaround brought to you by egg bagels.

Recommended Reading:

Linze: [Content Note: Misogyny; rape culture] Pro-Rape 'Men's Rights' Group Plans Saturday Rally in Chicago

Sikivu: [CN: Racism; misogyny] #AtheismSoWhite: Atheists of Color Rock Social Justice

Jack: [CN: Misogyny; violence; the author of this piece describes his own physique in a way that may feel invisibilizing to some women] When I Quit Cutting My Hair, I Learned How Men Treat Women on American Roads

Keith: Embracing New Ways to Celebrate Black History Month

Ragen: [CN: Fat hatred; hostility to consent] Val Chmerkovskiy Sued for Fat Shaming a Little Girl

Michael: New York Times' Film Critic Manohla Dargis Coins "DuVernay Test" for Race in Film

Cat: [CN: Fat hatred] On Fat in 2015: The Year That Was

Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!

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And Another One Bites the Dust

Oh noooooooooooooo! Sweater vest supermodel Rick Santorum is dropping out of the presidential race, too! RAND PAUL AND RICK SANTORUM IN ONE DAY?!

Welp, Santorum, see you again in 2020, by which time your party might have derailed so spectacularly that you finally look like a reasonable candidate!

What a terrifying thought.

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Ethel Waters: "Am I Blue"

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Shaker Gourmet

Whatcha been cooking up in your kitchen lately, Shakers?

Share your favorite recipes, solicit good recipes, share recipes you've recently tried, want to try, are trying to perfect, whatever! Whether they're your own creation, or something you found elsewhere, share away.

Also welcome: Recipes you've seen recently that you'd love to try, but haven't yet!

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Daily Dose of Cute

Sophie is decidedly unthrilled to have
Dudley's big stinky feet in her face.
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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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Class warfare] How outrageous has wealth inequality truly become? So outrageous that a "note from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts" includes this comment on corporate profit margins: "We are always wary of guiding for mean reversion. But, if we are wrong and high margins manage to endure for the next few years (particularly when global demand growth is below trend), there are broader questions to be asked about the efficacy of capitalism." Holy shit. The Bloomberg article ends thus: "Needless to say, it's not every day you see a major investment bank say it might have to start asking broader questions about capitalism itself."

[CN: Discussion of racism] This piece by Erin Aubry Kaplan for Salon is extraordinary and I beg you to read every word of it: "Obama as folk hero: To be what he's trying to be—black, idealistic, and president—is nothing less than superhuman."

[CN: Descriptions of bullying; assault; rape] And this piece by Melissa Harris-Perry, "Of Teachers and Students," is also an absolute must-read: "I had little time to fret because moments later a dozen of my students came tumbling into the lobby, barely able to contain their enthusiasm, literally bursting at the seams with stories of what they had seen and experienced in their caucus locations. I don't know if he was there to kill me. I know they were there to save me. It was seeing my students out of the corner of my eye that broke the trance of survivor submission into which I'd slipped earlier. As he'd invaded my space with angry, incoherent cruelty, I heard a voice in my head roar, 'Not in front of my students!' I did not think, 'No! Get away from me!' I thought, 'Not in front of my students!'"

[CN: Racism; misogyny; violence; war on agency] Tina Vasquez has a conversation with Virginia Espino and Renee Tajima-Peña, who made the film No Más Bebés, about women, primarily Spanish-speaking immigrants, who were coerced into signing papers "consenting to" sterilization at the Los Angeles County General Hospital in the 1970s. "The way they told their stories in the 2000s was the same way they told it in the 1970s, based on court records. They didn't stray from their original memories. They still remembered the details 40 years later."

RIP Alyce Dixon: "The oldest female Veteran, the high-spirted, fun-loving, amazing local celebrity, Ms. Alyce Dixon, died peacefully in her sleep at the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center's Community Living Center. She was 108 years old. ...Ms. Dixon was born in 1907, when an American's average life expectancy was only 47 years. She was born Alice Ellis in Boston. At the age of 16, she changed the spelling of her name to Alyce after seeing a picture show starring actress Alyce Mills. She lived life on her own terms from that day forward. She was married for a time, but divorced her husband over an $18 grocery bill. He found out she was sending money home to her family and put her on a strict allowance. This didn't sit well for the independent young woman. 'I found myself a job, an apartment and a roommate. I didn't need him or his money,' she said. She later joined the military in 1943. She was among one of the first African-American women in the Army. As a member of the Women's Army Corps, she was stationed in England and France where she played an important role in the postal service as part of the 6888th Battalion." You can read more about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion here.

[CN: Birtherism] The Illinois Board of Elections has ruled that Senator Ted Cruz meets the criteria for being on the state's ballot and is indeed "a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth." Maybe now we can put to rest this entire racist garbage argument and start talking about how Cruz should be considered ineligible for the presidency by voters because he is an ignorant jackass.

In other presidential news: Senator Marco Rubio is a plagiarist who stole part of his speech from President Obama. Who's the maker and who's the taker now, pal?

"David Beckham bought hot drinks for a paramedic and her patient after he spotted them waiting for an ambulance in the cold. Cycle response paramedic Catherine Maynard was helping an elderly man, who had fallen in central London. Ms Maynard said the former England captain greeted them, got in his car and returned 10 minutes later with cups of tea and coffee." This guy.

Headline of the Day: "Daddy longlegs discovered with 99-million-year erection." Better see a doctor about that!

"Scientists have discovered what causes Resting Bitch Face: One particular emotion was responsible for the jump: 'The big change in percentage came from 'contempt,'' [behavioral researcher Abbe Macbeth] said." I keep telling y'all: I'm not offended; I'm contemptuous!

And finally! "Furbonacci Sequence Proves That Cats Are Purrfect." LOL.

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Quote of the Day

"He exceeded expectations. I mean, look at some of the other candidates. Look at the money they spent. They got 3,000 votes. He didn't spend any money and got 12."—Troy Bishop, one of the 12 people who voted for Republican presidential candidate and real person Jim Gilmore in the Iowa caucuses.

Fair point!

[H/T to Eastsidekate.]

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Expectations of the Monster

[Content Note: Misogyny.]

Yesterday, I tweeted a great observation Eastsidekate made in an email to me, and now I also want to share it here, with her permission:

I was thinking about this last night, when NPR was interviewing a young woman (early 20s) who just felt like there was something vaguely untrustworthy about Clinton that she couldn't quite put her finger on. As some of y'all have mentioned, Republicans have been waging a campaign to discredit her since when, 1991? Twenty-five-year-olds have literally never lived in a time where there weren't whispers (or nationally televised shouts) about Hillary Clinton's evil schemes. Clinton has said just as much in response to questions about her unpopularity with young people. And yet the same media who unquestionably repeated the Republicans' lie for the past 25 years (and is totally in the bag for Clinton, natch) acts like the smear campaign has been a non-factor.

Also yesterday, I watched CNN's Wolf Blitzer grilling Hillary Clinton about why she wasn't more popular with young people in Iowa, in a tone that suggested she had spectacularly lost, rather than achieved a historic win. Clinton responded with her usual diplomatic competence, saying that she has to do a better job of reaching out to young people and communicate who she is to them.

There are several reasons why Clinton isn't more popular with young people, but chiefly is the reason that Kate elucidates: "Twenty-five-year-olds have literally never lived in a time where there weren't whispers (or nationally televised shouts) about Hillary Clinton's evil schemes." Whispers and shouts generated and/or amplified by a complicit media.

A media that not only fails to address explicit and implicit misogyny being used against her, but routinely engages in it. A media in which Clinton's "likability" is endlessly discussed. A media in which Clinton is casually referred to as "Godzillary" and "a Lovecraftian monster, the Cthulhu of American politics." Is depicted with devil horns. Is portrayed as a towering man-crushing monster. Is constantly subjected by news agecies to Remember Your Place pictures. Who "must be stopped."

A media that likes to pretend, as Aphra Behn has pointed out, that Hillary Clinton doesn't care about the Citizens United decision, because she loves Big Money so much, while eliding that the name of the group was originally Citizens United Not Timid (C.U.N.T.) and was seeking to air a hit piece called Hillary: The Movie. [NOTE: I was incorrect about this. These were two separate groups. Nonetheless, there was indeed a group with a slur as its acronym formed with the objective of smearing Clinton.]

This is, of course, but the merest tip of the colossal iceberg of misogyny I've documented in this space over the years, much of it care of the mainstream media.

The filter through which we view Hillary Clinton is so warped, so profoundly compromised, that even I—a feminist political writer who documents and deconstructs the misogyny used against her—have been utterly taken aback by the cavernous discrepancy in who she actually is and my expectations of who she is. Both when I saw her in person, and when I read her State Department emails.

Expectations that have been shaped by the media that cover her. Coverage infused with misogyny.

And then that same media create an illusion that they are objective by pretending that that misogyny doesn't exist at all, and that they are certainly not a part of transmitting it.

This morning, Scott Madin emailed me the link to a piece at the Washington Post by Dana Milbank, which couldn't be a more perfect, terrible example: "Cut Clinton Some Slack."

Milbank begins by documenting how the coverage of Clinton's win in Iowa was reported as though she had not won, and compares it to coverage of other (male) winners. And then he writes:

Why the disparate treatment? Some see sexism, which is difficult to prove. But there does seem to be a long-running game in which Clinton can never quite meet the expectations set for her, even if her actual achievements are considerable.

"Some see sexism." Mostly uncharitable feminists with long memories who recall that, in 2009, Dana Milbank was busily chortling about how then-Secretary of State should drink a brew called "Mad Bitch Beer."

He and his colleagues write the rules and serve as referees for that "long-running game" of misogynist double-standards of which he speaks, and then he has the audacity to pretend that it's "difficult to prove" that it's sexism.

Difficult to admit, maybe.

And his prescription is that we should "cut Clinton some slack." Dana Milbank, what Clinton doesn't need is "slack," as though she is incapable of being held to the same standards as men. What she needs is justice.

What she needs, what we all need, is for the media to stop engaging in rank misogyny and then pretending like it's something else. Like it could ever be anything else.

Of course it is misogyny. Of course it is. Misogyny is the first tool in the box for which people reach when they want to destroy a woman.

And the media's destructive instinct is all part of the vast rightwing conspiracy Clinton herself identified and has long been sneeringly derided for calling out.

At The Daily Banter, Chez Pazienza wrote about the caricature we have come to regard as the authentic Hillary Clinton:

Hillary Clinton's reputation is largely the result of a quarter century of visceral GOP hatred.

With the exception of maybe Barack Obama, whom they've irrationally loathed with the fire of a thousands suns, it's tough to name anyone conservatives have more vigorously derided throughout the years than Hillary Clinton.

...[Hillary] has always been cast as an arrogant bitch, a soulless bête noire, an irredeemably corrupt and fundamentally dishonest political hustler. From the very beginning of her time in the national political limelight, she was vilified for refusing to simply sit back and be an ornament on the White House Christmas tree, as she was apparently supposed to.

...She's a lying liar and a cheating cheat. She's a political Cthulu who drives men to madness by sheer force of her inhuman will and absolute malevolence. This is the caricature version of Hillary Clinton the right has carefully cultivated and hammered into the national consciousness for decades now. And if you're a liberal who believes these things about Clinton — if you see her as anything other than a liberal Democrat who's guilty of nothing more than being a politician with faults and with a plethora of enemies like every other on this planet, including Bernie Sanders — you've proven that the protracted smear campaign against this woman has worked. You prove that the GOP won a long time ago.

There are reasons you may choose not to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but one would hope they're policy issues rather than problems with her personality — because the "personality" that's been sold to the American electorate is largely manufactured, and not by Clinton herself (another facet of the smear: that she’s a phony). The reality is that Clinton was one of the most liberal members of the Senate during her time there, ranking within ten points of progressive messiah Bernie Sanders and her history as a crusader for progressive causes is precisely what so motivated the GOP to destroy her in the first place.

This decades-long, relentless campaign to create a supervillain, led by the GOP and abetted by the media, is so insidious and ubiquitous that we don't even see it. We are merely left, at best, with a vague sense that there's something about Hillary Clinton we just can't trust.

The bitterest irony is that actually seeing Hillary Clinton, watching her in a live interview or a debate, where she isn't so easily turned into a funhouse mirror image of herself through selective editing and suggestive voiceover, can be jarring to people primed to expect to see The Monster.

And they reach for the explanation with which the villanizers have preemptively provided them: She's a fake. She can't be trusted. She's a cynical opportunist.

If you tune in with expectations of The Monster, and instead find a reasonably pleasant politician who is advocating policy more progressive than you'd anticipated, the ready-made resolution for this shocking discordance is that it's evidence of Hillary's cunning villainy.

That must be the explanation. Because the alternative, that Clinton has been demonized so thoroughly with heinous misogyny that her authentic humanity is truly unrecognizable, is unfathomably cruel.

Reading her emails, one of the things that became apparent is that this is not a person who is running for president in service to ego and unfettered ambition. This is a person who is running for president because she genuinely cares about people.

Which could not diverge more dramatically from the popular narratives about her.

There are good faith debates to be had about whether the policies she's pursued actually helped or harmed people. There are certainly policies she championed that she has stated she now regrets, because they clearly did not help people. Even she acknowledges good intentions don't axiomatically translate into good policy.

But this overarching narrative about her, that she is just this callous opportunist with a sociopathic drive to be president, sheerly for the sake of being president, is so fundamentally at odds with everything revealed in those emails. And by many accounts of people who meet her, like this one.

Not only do we have to ignore the neat misogynist framing of that description of her in order to accept it, but we have to ignore an abundance of accessible evidence that it's simply not true.

Over a decade of writing in this space, I have not been a reflexive defender (or supporter) of Hillary Clinton the politician. I have made criticisms of her campaigning and her policy. I expect to continue to make them, because I have significant points of disagreement with some of her positions and because she fucks up.

I have, however, I will openly admit, become a reflexive defender (and supporter) of Hillary Clinton the person. Certainly, it is partly out of self-interest, because I am myself demeaned and caricatured by misogyny, and because I want to see more female representation in politics and don't want enormous hurdles standing in their way.

But mostly it is because it profoundly grieves me to see the way she is treated.

It hurts my heart—and it angers me—to have uncovered a person who cares, if imperfectly, so deeply about other people and observe the many ways in which she has been turned into a monster. It is intolerable.

And I flatly refuse to abide the rank dehumanization of Hillary Clinton in silence.

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And Then There Were Ten

[Content Note: War on agency.]

TOO BAD SO SAD:

Republican Sen. Rand Paul dropped his 2016 campaign for president Wednesday, eclipsed by other candidates who kept his base of support from growing into a viable force in the crowded 2016 field.

He is now expected to turn his full attention to his Senate re-election campaign in Kentucky. The 52-year-old ophthalmologist is favored to win that race.

"It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House," Paul said in statement.

"The fight is far from over," he said. "I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term."

Awwwwww. And I was really looking forward to hearing more from this pro-freedom anti-choice hero about how my ladybrain isn't sophisticated enough to comprehend why reproductive choice isn't a fundamental component of my liberty.

OH WELL.

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Open Thread

Hosted by a yellow lab. [Image via.]

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Question of the Day

Who is your favorite fictional president?

There have been so many fictional presidents! Martin Sheen and Jimmy Smits in The West Wing, Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact, Geena Davis in Commander in Chief, Alfre Woodard in State of Affairs, Michael Douglas in The American President, Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep, Dennis Haysbert and Cherry Jones in 24, Bill Pullman in Independence Day, Tony Goldwyn in Scandal, Kevin Spacey in House of Cards, Alan Alda in Canadian Bacon, Billy Bob Thornton in Love Actually, Jeff Bridges in The Contender, Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks!, Terry Crews in Idiocracy, Harrison Ford in Air Force One, Dick Cheney in The Bush Administration...

And this is hardly a complete list! So many presidents!

I'm gonna cast my vote for Kevin Kline as President William Harrison Mitchell in Dave.

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Your Best Photograph

If you're a photographer, even if a very amateur one (like myself), and you've got a photo or photos you'd like to share, here's your thread for that!

It doesn't really have to be your best photograph—just one you like!

Please be sure if your photo contains people other than yourself, that you have the explicit consent of the people in the photos before posting them.

* * *

Here's one I took recently that I quite liked of some geese:

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Pet Songs

I'm not the only one who sings to my pets, right? Like, constantly. Made-up songs about how they are adorable, fuzzy, hungry, annoying, need to pee, just did a stinky turd, are yawning a lot, are giving me a particularly cute look, are in my seat. Whatever.

Lots of these songs are one-offs, and some of them stick.

One of the songs I sing to the dogs all the time is "Dudley Is Cuddly and Zelly Is Smelly." It's quite a composition. Watch out, Grammys!

Every time I sing it, however, I feel as though Zelda is looking at me like, "Two-Legs, I know that shit rhymes, but you damn well know that I am the source of 72% of dog snuggles in this house and that greyhound has a mouth that smells like a hot dumpster!"

And I feel a little guilty.

But then I look at Dudley and he's looking at me like, "SONG SONG SONGITY SONG!"

So.

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

[Content Note: There is a strobe light effect in this video.]

Janet Jackson: "Rhythm Nation"
(I know I posted this one not so long ago, but it was stuck in my head, and I love it, so here it is again!)

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YES!

A perfect announcement for Black History Month:

The Smithsonian Institution will open the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Sept. 24 in Washington.

Smithsonian chief spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said Monday that President Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, will lead the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

St. Thomas says a weeklong celebration will follow, including an outdoor festival and a period in which the museum on the National Mall will be open for 24 consecutive hours.

The museum has built a collection of 11 exhibits to trace the history of slavery, segregation, civil rights, and African-Americans' achievements in the arts, entertainment, sports, the military, and the wider culture.

Artifacts on loan from other institutions will also be on display, such as two documents signed by President Abraham Lincoln: the 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Y'all know I can't even talk about the bookends of the two presidents from Illinois being Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama without getting all choked up. I am so glad and so moved that this is going to happen while President Obama is still in office. What a wonderful way to begin wrapping up his presidency. Blub.

[H/T to Elle.]

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