Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War; terrorism] "President Barack Obama announced on Monday the biggest expansion of U.S. ground troops in Syria since the civil war there began, saying he would dispatch 250 special forces soldiers to help local militia to build on successes against Islamic State. The new deployment increases U.S. forces in Syria six-fold to about 300. While the total U.S. ground force is still small by comparison to other American deployments, defense experts said it could help shift the momentum in Syria by giving more Syrian fighters on the ground access to U.S. close air support. Obama said the move followed victories that clawed back territory from Islamic State. 'Given the success, I've approved the deployment of up to 250 additional U.S. personnel in Syria, including special forces, to keep up this momentum,' Obama said in a speech in the German city of Hanover, the last stop on a foreign tour that has taken him to Saudi Arabia and Britain. 'They're not going to be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces as they continue to drive ISIL back,' he added, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh."
[CN: Police misconduct; misogynoir; drowning] "Police in Florida's Pinellas County faced tremendous criticism and allegations of racist inaction this week after releasing video that seemingly showed officers standing by as three Black teenage girls drowned after driving a car into a pond. ...According to the Miami Herald, the three girls allegedly stole a car from a Walmart parking lot the night of March 30. Deputies from the sheriff's office chased the girls, despite what the Herald described as 'county sheriff's rules [that] forbid deputies from chasing stolen vehicles.' Ashaunti Butler, 15, Dominique Battle, 16, and Laniya Miller, 15, accidentally drove into a 15-foot-deep pond and ultimately drowned. The sheriff's office released several hours of dashboard camera footage to news outlets on Monday (April 18). It immediately provoked criticism. ...Today (April 22), the sheriff's department released more dashcam footage that it says is proof of officers' rescue attempt. ...'We are posting this clip with the hope that the false narrative being spread about this incident stops,' reads their statement." *side-eye*
[CN: War on agency] In good news (for now): "The Florida Supreme Court suspended the state law that forces people to wait 24 hours before terminating a pregnancy until the court decides whether to hear a lawsuit claiming the measure is unconstitutional, reported the Associated Press. The court's 5-2 decision Friday was made two months after a state appeals court's ruling allowed the Republican-backed law to go into effect. ...The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida filed a lawsuit to overturn the law on behalf of a Gainesville clinic. The group claims the waiting period is causing unnecessary hardship for people seeking abortion care and that the Florida Constitution protects private medical decisions. Nancy Abudu, legal director of the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement that the organization is pleased that the court agreed that pregnant people should not be subjected to the law while there is an ongoing legal challenge. 'Forcing women seeking an abortion to make multiple visits that are medically unnecessary especially burdens poor and working women, and is potentially dangerous,' Abudu said."
I've got a couple of new pieces up today at BNR about stuff in the news today: 1. A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll has found that Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead (61%!) among millennial voters moving into the general election. 2. [CN: Misogyny] The Economist is the latest publication to write (and promote) a sexist piece of dreck about Clinton.
Good luck with that: "Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio have agreed to coordinate in future primary contests in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald J. Trump the Republican presidential nomination, with each candidate standing aside in certain states amid growing concerns that Mr. Trump cannot otherwise be stopped." I really don't GAF about this, because as much as I dislike Trump, I dislike those two just as much.
[CN: Homophobia] Speaking of Trump being terrible: "Donald Trump Thinks Choosing Anti-LGBT Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin as Running Mate Is 'Great Advice'." Of course he does. "Yes, the Mary Fallin who blasted the Supreme Court's ruling allowing gay couples to marry in her state, and in 2013 denied spousal benefits for National Guardsmen and women, regardless of whether they are in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships, so as to avoid having to comply with Hagel's order to provide benefits to same-sex couples. In 2004 she voted to amend Oklahoma's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. Fallin also signed a bill into law saying 'no licensed, ordained, or authorized official of a religious organization can be required to solemnize or recognize a marriage that violates that official's conscience or religious belief.'"
[CN: Racism] Jim Webb continues to be the fucking worst: "One would think we could celebrate the recognition that Harriet Tubman will be given on future $20 bills without demeaning former president Andrew Jackson as a 'monster,' as a recent Huffington Post headline did. And summarizing his legendary tenure as being 'known primarily for a brutal genocidal campaign against native Americans,' as reported in The Post, offers an indication of how far political correctness has invaded our educational system and skewed our national consciousness. This dismissive characterization of one of our great presidents is not occurring in a vacuum. Any white person whose ancestral relations trace to the American South now risks being characterized as having roots based on bigotry and undeserved privilege." IS THIS GUY EVEN SERIOUS?!
This is so lovely and so moving: Harris Wofford, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, special assistant for civil rights to President John F. Kennedy, and adviser to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has penned a piece about finding love for the second time in his life. After being married for 48 years to his wife Clare, who died in 1996, he is now about to wed his partner of 15 years, Matthew. "We were both about to turn 70 when she died. I assumed that I was too old to seek or expect another romance. But five years later, standing on a beach in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., I sensed a creative hour and did not want to miss it. ...For a long time, I did not suspect that idea and fate might meet in my lifetime to produce same-sex marriage equality. ...At age 90, I am lucky to be in an era where the Supreme Court has strengthened what President Obama calls 'the dignity of marriage' by recognizing that matrimony is not based on anyone's sexual nature, choices or dreams. It is based on love. All this is on my mind as Matthew and I prepare for our marriage ceremony."
And finally! "Last Wednesday, a couple of local surfers on a beach in Costa Rica were about to catch waves when they saw an odd-looking lump in the water in the mouth of a small river nearby. Mauricio Camareno and his friends approached the object and saw that it was a stranded baby pilot whale crying for help. ...They stayed with her for more than 6 hours keeping her afloat so she could breathe, pouring water on the whale to protect her from heat. When she got her strength back, the men guided her into deeper waters and she swam off on her own, presumably to look for her lost family." ♥
In the News
And It's Still Not Enough
[Content Note: Racism; police brutality.]
The city of Cleveland will, contingent on approval from a Cuyahoga County Probate Court judge, pay $6 million to Tamir Rice's family to settle their federal lawsuit after the boy was killed by a police officer in November 2014:
The settlement, announced Monday, does not resolve all of the lingering legal issues surrounding the 12-year-old's killing. However, it is a sign that both the city and the boy's family did not want to endure what could be tension-filled litigation process that could last years.Mychal Denzel Smith once wrote: "Justice for Renisha would have looked like Michael Brown being able to attend college. Justice for Trayvon would have looked like Renisha McBride getting the help she needed the night of her accident. Justice for Oscar Grant would have looked like Trayvon Martin making it home to finish watching the NBA All-Star game, Skittles and iced tea in tow. And so on, and so on. Justice should be the affirmation of our existence."
The settlement was revealed via a court filing from U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who presided over settlement talks.
Tamir Rice's estate will receive $5.5 million, Samaria Rice, the boy's mother, and his sister Tajai Rice will each receive $250,000. Neither the city nor the officers or dispatchers involved will admit to any wrongdoing. The city will pay $3 million this year and $3 million in 2017.
...Attorneys representing the Rice family say that while the settlement is "historic in financial terms, no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a life."
The statement continues, "in a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back. His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled."
Real justice will be no more death.
This payment, though well deserved and then some, will not give justice to Tamir Rice's family. Justice would be his never having been killed, and never having had to live under the threat of such a possibility, in the first place.
But since basic decency doesn't seem to be enough motivation for cities across the nation to take the necessary steps to ensure there is no more death, perhaps the specter of having to pay out millions of dollars for each death will.
Promise?
This is the best campaign promise Donald Trump has ever made:
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said if he loses the Republican nomination, people shouldn't expect him to stick around in the public eye.Byeeeeeeeeeee!
..."I'm not sure you're ever going to see me there. I don't think I'm going to lose, but if I do, I don't think you're ever going to see me again, folks. I think I'll go to Turnberry and play golf or something."
Naturally, this was accompanied by more of his baby-man tantruming about how politics is hard: "They fight like hell for six months, and they're saying horrible things, the worst things you can imagine." Boo-hoo. Says the man who, just on Friday, said Clinton is "the worst possible representative a woman can have and that "the only thing she's got going is the women card," in one fell swoop demeaning Clinton and her female supporters.
(And doing so without a trace of irony that his campaign of explicit misogyny designed to appeal to sexist men means if there's anyone playing a gender card in this primary, it's him.)
Honestly, I don't even know how much Trump even wants to be president anymore. He's so brittle and so insecure, and the rough and tumble of presidential campaigning is clearly taking its toll on him. I bet at this point there's nothing he'd love more than an excuse to go away to "play golf or something."
Hahaha BOOM
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link.]
Over the weekend, on ABC's This Week, conservative billionaire and one-half of the Koch Brothers Charles Koch said that "it's possible" Hillary Clinton would be a superior president than the triad of bozos left in the Republican clown car.
"It's possible," Koch said, but didn't say whether he could see himself supporting Clinton in the 2016 cycle.Hillary Clinton's response to this news was, of course, perfect. She dryly tweeted: "Not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote."
"We would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way," he said.
Heh heh heh.
It's hilarious that there are people who wonder if she's up to fighting the Republican machine in the general election.
Man, she's ready.
She's spent the last four decades getting ready like whoa.
What Is Sanders Even Doing? Part One Million.
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
After Bernie Sanders lost the New York primary by a significant margin, he took some time away from campaigning to rest up in Vermont, and there was hope, including among many of his reasonable supporters, that once the reality of the impossible math set in, he would return to the campaign trail with an eye toward facilitating unity.
Unfortunately, that has not happened.
Thursday, April 21: "Bernie Sanders Renews Attacks on Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania."
Is Bernie backing down after the drubbing he got in New York?This, despite the fact that Sanders himself once identified going after Clinton's speeches is a personal attack and "the sort of character assault he has long opposed."
Not so much.
Two days after he lost the New York primary to Hillary Clinton, a feisty Bernie Sanders showed up in Pennsylvania and renewed his now-familiar attacks on the Democratic front-runner.
Mr. Sanders told an audience in Reading, Pa., that Mrs. Clinton is benefiting from super PACs raising millions of dollars from Wall Street firms and "special interests." In a mocking tone, he took aim at her for delivering paid speeches to Wall Street at $225,000 a pop in some cases.
And he called on her to release the speech transcripts, sarcastically saying that she should be eager to let the public read texts so eloquent that they commanded such high fees.
"Now, I kind of think if you're going to get $225,000 for a speech, it must be a brilliant, insightful, world-shattering speech, don't you think?" Mr. Sanders said. "It must be a speech that would probably solve all of the crises facing our planet and then some. And it was probably written in Shakespearean prose. And I think a speech of that extraordinary magnitude should be shared with the American people."
Friday, April 22: Sanders says "the degree to which he'd campaign for Hillary if she's the nominee depends on her platform." Thus setting himself up to take credit for any of Clinton's existing ideas and policies that conform to his ideals.
Saturday, April 23: "Sanders says he has lost primaries to Clinton because 'poor people don't vote'." Now, there is truth in the assertion that poor people vote at lower rates, for a variety of reasons (including actual voter disenfranchisement), but the fact is that, where they are voting, Sanders is still losing.
Sunday, April 24: "Sanders: Democratic Party hasn't been fair to me."
"Do you think this process has been fair to you? The Democratic nomination process?" moderator Chuck Todd asked the Vermont senator in an interview filmed Saturday in Baltimore and aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."Except for, you know, how he's totally complaining.
"Yes and no," Sanders said, going on to criticize the role of the media for neglecting to focus on "real issues facing America." The media, he said, emphasizes "political gossip" rather than "issues that affect working people."
"So it sounds like the party, though, you feel like's been fair to you?" Todd asked Sanders.
"No," Sanders responded. "I think we have— look, we're taking on the establishment. That's pretty clear."
Pointing to the Democratic debate schedule, of which three of the first four took place on weekend nights, Sanders said they were "scheduled — pretty clearly, to my mind, at a time when there would be minimal viewing audience— et cetera, et cetera."
"But you know, that's the way it is. We knew we were taking on the establishment," he said. "And here we are. So [I'm] not complaining."
During the same interview, he reiterated his point that Clinton will have to "convince" his supporters that she "stands up for the needs of the middle class and working families," and also took a few more shots at the Democratic Party: "The function of the Democratic Party cannot just be to go to wealthy people and raise money. It's got to be meeting with ordinary people, hearing what's on their mind and prepare to take on the powerful special interest, who today control this country legislatively, economically and media-wise."
Sure. Except, I just want to point out that while Sanders was having a massive rally in New York City during which one of his surrogates called the party "corporate Democratic whores," Clinton was meeting with people at a small ice cream shop owned by a man who was once imprisoned and turned to entrepreneurship when he couldn't get hired after serving his time. And then she mentioned him and his circumstances in her victory speech.
Which, by the way, was indicative of their campaigning styles leading up to the primary: "She campaigned tirelessly in the streets of the Big Apple. She danced the merengue in a Latino neighbourhood in Washington Heights and devoured an ice-cream concoction called 'Victory Mac Daddy' at an ice-cream parlour in the East Village. Meanwhile Mr Sanders stuck to holding large rallies in Prospect Park and Washington Square Park, attracting tens of thousands of mostly young people."
Sanders groused—and not for the first time—that the Democratic Party isn't reaching out to ordinary people and listening to them, even as he holds massive rallies and generally eschews intimate events, while his opponent, who he is constantly attacking for being elitist, is spending enormous amounts of time in smaller venues, meeting people one-on-one and listening to them.
Just look at her Flickr photostream: Sure, you'll see pictures of her at rallies, but you'll also see tons of pictures of her meeting with people in small groups, sitting with them, listening to them. Pictures like this one:
(Photo: Barbara Kinney for Hillary for America)
I love that picture. And there are a million more just like it.
I'm not saying Bernie Sanders has to campaign that way. Campaign however you want, Bernie Sanders! You do you! I'm just saying that I'm tired as all hell of his just constantly saying shit that criticizes the Democratic Party and/or Hillary Clinton for not doing things that she is already doing.
It's just the most mendacious kind of politicking, and I just seriously question what he is trying to accomplish, if it's not what it looks like, which is destroying the entire Democratic Party, by trying to make Hillary Clinton out to be a monster who is failing utterly to do anything right, when she's literally doing the very things he's saying no one is doing.
Which is to say nothing of his repeated complaints that she lacks in her platform things that are definitely there.
I don't know what it's going to take for him to knock off this destructive nonsense, but tomorrow is another multi-state primary day, with another huge one in Pennsylvania, where she's leading by double digits. If losing even more doesn't make him stop, I honestly cannot imagine what will.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Prince: "Cream"
There's video of me at 17 dancing to "Cream" in my parents' basement, but I'll honor Prince's feelings about YouTube by leaving it in a box. You'll just have to trust me that it's very cool and not at all embarrassing and that my enthusiasm for "Cream" was at an appropriate level.
The Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by doggy ears.
Recommended Reading:
Tressie: There Are Thieves in the Temple Tonight
Jennifer: Broadway's The Color Purple Cast Performed a Beautiful Tribute to Prince
Alex: [Content Note: Transphobia; Islamophobia; police abuse] Transgender Muslims in America Fight Bigotry on Two Fronts
Katie: [CN: Disablism; discussion of depression and anxiety; moving GIFs at link] The Process of Getting Better Can Really Suck
Andrew and Christopher: [CN: Rape apologia; sexual assault] Donald Trump Blamed the Victim in Mike Tyson's Rape Case
Al (via Scan): [CN: White and male privilege] "Beautiful Losers"
THV: Out of Costume, He's a Total Rake
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Daily Dose of Cute
Today is Dudley's 6th adoptiversary! I can't believe it's already been six years. In honor of the day he came to live with us, here's one of my favorite videos, shot last summer, of Dudley playing his favorite game: "Chase me!" Actually, it's a variation on "chase me!"—because he's so fast, no human can really chase him very effectively, so it's basically a game of "I will run really fast, then pause near you, wait for you to take a few steps toward me while we both pretend you might be able to catch me, and then I will run really fast again."
The video goes into slow-motion for one of his runs, so you can get a better look at the greyhound double-suspension gallop. While most dogs are suspended above ground at least once per stride at a full gallop, sighthounds are suspended above ground twice in each stride—once in the tucked position, at which point their back feet nearly reach past their front shoulders (!), and once in the fully extended position, at which point the curve of their spines actually reverses (!).
Dudley isn't going full speed here, so it's not as dramatic as it looks at top speed, but it's still pretty damn amazing. Greyhounds are so strong and so flexible, and watching him run is truly one of the great joys of my life.
Video Description: Dudley the Greyhound runs around from one side of the yard to the other, and pauses near a young redwood tree (underneath which he's dug a hole), then waits for me to take several steps toward him before leaping away and running to the other side of the yard again. This happens several times, Zelly the Black and Tan Mutt standing on a stone patio near me, watching, until he is finally out of gas, and I walk up and pet his adorable little wedgy head.I love this guy so much. I can't even remember life without him anymore.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
Today is Earth Day. Happy Earth Day, Earth! Sorry we treat you like crap!
President Obama is in the UK today, and, during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, he urged the UK to remain part of the European Union because "it increases UK power and security to be part of the European Union," while Cameron said "being a member of the EU strengthened Britain's 'special relationship' with the US."
[Content Note: Racism] Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson, an advocate for leaving the EU who is critical of Obama for what he perceives as meddling in UK affairs, "wrote about the decision of the Obama administration to remove a bust of Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. 'Some said it was a snub to Britain. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British empire—of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender,' said Johnson in an article designed to hit back at Obama after the US president waded into the EU referendum debate on Friday." I mean.
[CN: Shooting; death] "Shootings with multiple fatalities were reported along a road in rural Ohio on Friday morning, but details on the number of deaths and the whereabouts of the suspect or suspects weren't immediately clear. The attorney general's office said a dozen Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents had been called to Pike County, an economically struggling area in the Appalachian region some 80 miles east of Cincinnati. Spokesman Dan Tierney says the Pike County Sheriff's Office requested state help at 8:20 a.m. Tierney had no information on whether a suspect was in custody. He also had no confirmation on the number of fatalities. BCI spokeswoman Jill Del Greco said there are multiple crime scenes along the same rural road. Several news outlets reported that at least one shooting was in or near a residence." Obviously, I have no idea what happened, but this sounds like it could be a family shooting at multiple sites of relatives who lived near one another. I hope no one else is harmed. My condolences to the whole community.
[CN: War on agency; racism; classism] "Planned Parenthood (PP) announced on Wednesday (April 20) that the multi-year legislative campaign against the organization is now threatening health care access for 500,000 people. Twenty-four states have moved forward with attempts to cut funding to the provider, which offers birth control, STI screening and abortion care to millions of people around the country. ...We've covered why threats to PP disproportionately impact people of color, but it's also worth noting that many of the pink states in the map above have significant populations of people of color who rely on the threatened services. In fact, the organization says that 29 percent of the people who are at risk of losing access are Latino."
[CN: War on agency; racism] "Dozens of people of color sent a letter to Congress Thursday expressing outrage over the introduction of the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2016 (HR 4924), which they say threatens the future of abortion care and codifies dangerous racist and sexist stereotypes against Asian American and Pacific Islanders, Black people, and Latinas. Introduced by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, the bill seeks to impose criminal penalties on providers who perform abortions knowing that they are sought on the basis of the fetus' race or sex. It also seeks to criminalize anyone who coerces a person into seeking a race- or sex-selective abortion; anyone who raises funds for the procedure; or anyone who transports a woman into the United States or across state lines to obtain the abortion—and imposes a penalty ranging from a fine to a five-year prison term. Cloaked in the language of 'nondiscrimination,' the act would achieve the opposite goal, the letter says, by singling out women of color for additional scrutiny based on, among other things, the 'gross mischaracterization' of Asian-American communities, in particular, as having a preference for male over female children."
[CN: Misogyny] "Turnover was pretty high for the top jobs at North America's largest companies last year, rising to 14.3 percent, the highest in three years. But even with all that new hiring for the job of CEO, women still couldn't get their foot in the door. Of the 87 new CEOs hired at the biggest companies, just one was a woman, according to a report from PwC's Strategy&. That woman was Andrea Greenberg, picked to lead MSG Networks, the new name for Madison Square Garden's businesses. Women's chances of getting one of these top jobs at large American companies is declining—while Greenberg represented 1 percent of all incoming CEOs, women made up 4 percent in 2014 and more than 7 percent in 2012. In fact, 2015 was the worst year for women getting hired as CEO since PwC began tracking figures in 2004."
[CN: Self-harm] Here's something you may have missed in lots of reporting about the increasing suicide rate in the US: "The largest increases in suicide were seen among middle-aged men and women 45 to 64 years old, and girls 10 to 14 years old. ...The suicide rate among women increased more quickly than among men."
In good news: "Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia will use his executive power on Friday to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons, circumventing his Republican-run legislature. The action will overturn a Civil War-era provision in the state's Constitution aimed, he said, at disenfranchising African-Americans. The sweeping order, in a swing state that could play a role in deciding the November presidential election, will enable all felons who have served their prison time and finished parole to register to vote. ...'There's no question that we've had a horrible history in voting rights as relates to African-Americans—we should remedy it,' Mr. McAuliffe said Thursday, previewing the announcement he will make on the steps of Virginia's Capitol, just yards from where President Abraham Lincoln once addressed freed slaves. 'We should do it as soon as we possibly can.'"
This is a lovely piece by my BNR colleague and friend JP: "In the crowds standing behind Hillary, I see people who look like me, and I can do so without straining my eyes. That's exciting to me. That's what I want tomorrow's America to look like—a place where, no matter where you come from or who you are, there is a spot for you. At a time where bigotry is on the rise, that's radical. In fact, that's revolutionary."
Team Cruz has produced another garbage advert, this time imagining Hillary Clinton and her team as a bunch of monsters who can't stop Ted Cruz. What a fun dream for him! "Though Cruz's fictional Clinton campaign is worried about facing him in the general election, a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Clinton beating Cruz 46 percent to 44 percent." Ha!
Neat! "The Hubble Space Telescope may be turning 26 years old this weekend, but its vision is still out of this world. Case in point: [a] jaw-dropping view of the Bubble Nebula to celebrate the iconic space observatory's birthday."
And finally! Baby clouded leopards! "'Hand-rearing of these endangered exotic cats is an established practice that's critical for their well-being as cubs and their later participation in the Species Survival Plan program for Clouded Leopards,' said staff biologist Andy Goldfarb. Goldfarb has spent three decades caring for and raising endangered cats, and is known internationally as an expert in raising Clouded Leopards. The cubs each weighed around 13 ounces, or just about three-quarters of a pound, at their first checkup. It's still too early to tell their genders for certain, and they have yet to be named. The zoo will issue a news release and post to its Facebook page when details are available on how the public can help name the cubs."
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!
Ted Cruz: Terribly Transphobic
[Content Note: Transphobia; misgendering; misogyny; rape culture.]
Yesterday I mentioned that Donald Trump had said transgender people should be able to safely use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender: "There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble."
Naturally, this momentary lapse of decency was immediately seized upon by his opponent Ted Cruz, who posted this contemptible shit to his Facebook page:
Video Description: The entire video is in black and white, for maximum menace, with ominous music playing.There are about a hundred different reasons this video is a despicable pile of hot garbage, but here are just ten:
Over footage of a public restroom, text onscreen reads: "Should a grown man pretending to be a woman be allowed to use the women's restroom?"
Over a photo of a blond white little girl, holding her mother's hand, text reads: "The same restroom used by your daughter? Your wife?"
Text onscreen over image of Trump: "Donald Trump thinks so."
Video of Donald Trump saying: "People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate."
Over more footage of a public restroom, text reads: "It's not appropriate. It's not safe. It's PC nonsense that's destroying America."
Over image of Trump, text reads: "Donald Trump won't take on the PC police. He's one of them."
1. Trans women are categorically not "grown men pretending to be women."
2. This is not about "allowing" trans people to use the appropriate bathroom. Trans people already use the appropriate bathroom, as (I can't believe I'm actually writing this) Donald Trump pointed out. It's about DISallowing trans people from using the appropriate bathrooms.
3. The entire video rests on the "trans predator" narrative, which is not only complete bullshit but also conservative projection. There are literally zero examples of transgender women using public restrooms to assault cis women.
4. Even if there were examples of trans women assaulting cis women in public bathrooms, that would still not be justification for enacting legislation that makes all trans women less safe. If the fact that a woman had been sexually assaulted were used as justification for prohibiting access to the entire population to which her assaulter belonged, men could say goodbye to restrooms, college, bars, public transportation, and virtually every other public space.
5. Cruz's video treats women and girls like we are the property of straight men who need to be protected. "Your daughter? Your wife?" He doesn't even make an attempt to include in this appeal the very people whose safety ostensibly needs protecting. We are mere props. Senator Cruz, stop using me.
6. It is both appropriate and safe for trans people to use whatever fucking bathroom they want.
7. Trans people using whatever bathroom they want is not "destroying America."
8. It is also not "PC nonsense." It is hardly "political correctness" to suggest that people should be allowed to use the appropriate bathroom in order to guarantee their safety. It's basic decency.
9. Donald Trump is hardly the goddamn PC police. He's one of the most odious bigots with a massive platform in the entire country.
10. This entire ad is so reprehensible it needs to be immediately thrown into a dumpster fire. Treating trans people's identities and safety like a political football is grossly indecent.
A new low, Ted Cruz. A new goddamn low.
UPDATE: And right on cue: "Less than 24 hours after saying transgender individuals should be able to 'use the bathroom they feel is appropriate,' Donald Trump backtracked from that pro-LGBT position. Speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday evening, the Republican presidential frontrunner decided that while he still believes North Carolina's law overturning local anti-discrimination ordinances is 'causing a lot of problems,' he thinks 'local communities and states should make the decision. The federal government should not be involved.' This comes despite the fact that there was never any questions over whether the feds should have a say in the matter."
Welp
[Content Note: Classism; regionalism; misogyny; racism.]
This is a very long article at Vox by Emmett Rensin on "the smug style in American liberalism."
I don't disagree with his premise. In fact, one of the very first pieces I ever wrote in this space, almost twelve years ago (!), made essentially the same case.
Which, actually, underscores my problem with his piece: In all those many words, he fails utterly to mention that this is not a problem of "American liberalism," but a problem of the most visible, loudest, most highly-rewarded liberalism. The liberalism primarily defined and expressed by white men.
Feminist women, especially flyover feminists and/or women of color, have been making this very case for a very long time. It is a regular subject of discussion on Black Twitter. It isn't Latinx activists who are perpetrating this shit. Etc.
Are we not American liberals, too?
To make this a case against "American liberals," without noting there are wide swaths of liberals who actively push back on this smug shit, is disingenuous.
And, further, a failure to acknowledge us only serves to more deeply entrench the problems underwriting this strain of smugness in the first place.
This Was Inevitable
The day after Bernie Sanders called Hillary Clinton unqualified, Donald Trump tweeted: "Bernie Sanders says that Hillary Clinton is unqualified to be president. Based on her decision making ability, I can go along with that!"
So it's no surprise that he's now publicly thanking Sanders for laying the groundwork for this line of attack:
WaPo:Yesterday on Morning Joe, Cokie Roberts correctly noted that these attacks aren't just potentially damaging to Clinton, but "that hurts her and the party. …I think it would be helpful to the Democratic Party if he stopped."
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday offered rare words of praise for one of his Democratic rivals: Sen. Bernie Sanders, who Trump said should keep attacking front-runner Hillary Clinton. "He's been tough on her. In fact, I'd like him to keep going because the longer he goes the more I'm going to like it," Trump told thousands of supporters during a campaign rally here in Harrisburg.Here's the money quote:
Trump lauded Sanders for keeping pressure on Clinton and particularly singled out Sanders's comments attacking Clinton's judgment. He also credited Sanders with being the first to question Clinton's qualifications for office. "So Bernie Sanders, not me, said she is not qualified. So now I'm going to say, 'She's not qualified.' OK?" Trump said.
It sure would. Of course, as I've now noted half a dozen times or more, Sanders is running against the Democratic Party as a Democrat. So I'm not sure he has any interest in helping the Democratic Party.
The thing is, any time one of her opponents makes the "qualifications" case against Clinton, she shines—because she is eminently qualified. Significantly more so than anyone else in the race. So she could, and probably will, emerge just fine.
It's actually more concerning to me that the reverberating effect of attacking the Democratic frontrunner could hurt down ballot candidates, whom Clinton, if elected, will need to enact her agenda.
Sanders needs to stop these attacks moving forward for sure. But part of the problem is that the cat's already out of the bag. He never should have gone there in the first place.
Question of the Day
What's something about you that very few people know, not because it's a secret, but just because it doesn't come up very often?
The first thing that came to mind is that I'm a trichotillomaniac, which is a compulsive hair-puller. Not figuratively, like "Republicans make me want to pull my hair out!" but quite literally. People who suffer from trichotillomania compulsively pull out their scalp hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, etc., generally due to stress, and most (80%) trichotillomaniacs are women or girls.
I have a pretty mild case, and I can generally control myself by sitting on my hands, when I even realize I'm doing it (or someone points it out to me). But there have been times in the past when my anxiety has been so high that I've given myself a small bald spot.
I used to be sort of embarrassed by it, but I outgrew giving any fucks. It's such a ridiculously strange habit that I now find it rather amusing.
