Clinton's story will be familiar to many women, maybe especially (although certainly not exclusively) women of a certain age. The precise details may be different—the setting; the nature of the harassment—but the feeling, that creeping urge of guardedness as a mechanism of self-protection, reverberates through our very cells. A familiar tune, played in a different key.
Even women who lead private professional lives are subjected to intense public scrutiny from men: Strangers barking at us to smile, commenting on our bodies in complimentary or critical ways, offering unsolicited advice about what we should eat, or shouldn't eat, or should be doing, or shouldn't. To be a woman is to be a public object.
And to be an ambitious woman is to be a threat. To be seen, by many men, as taking up space where a man should be. A man who is more deserving, merely by virtue of his manhood.
A woman who aspires to be manager at her fast-food job can run up against exactly these sort of resentments, as can a woman who petitions for an executive position at a Fortune 500 firm. These might be the same woman, at different points in her life—just like a college student taking an admissions exam and a woman who has just made history as the first female presidential nominee of a major party.
If I really have to pick just one, however, I'd probably choose Phone a Friend, not because of what I wrote, but because the comments in that post will forever encapsulate for me what I love best about this community. ♥
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Here are a couple of links of interest from the news today:
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] This is a real paragraph in a New York Times article on President Obama and climate change: "But while climate change has played to Mr. Obama's highest ideals—critics would call them messianic impulses—it has also exposed his weaknesses, namely an inability to forge consensus, even within his own party, on a problem that demands a bipartisan response." JFC. This President has done everything he can with an obstructionist Congress, and used his executive orders as judiciously and thoughtfully as possible, to address climate change. And this is the write-up he gets in the paper of record.
[CN: Misogyny; abuse] This widely shared tweet is doing my head in: "Wasn't a fan of Hillary. Didn't vote for her in the primaries. But you know what? Never seen someone handle abuse so stoically. Has my vote." I mean, yay for another Clinton supporter and everything, but HOLY SHIT the idea that a woman's most admirable quality is her ability to stoically handle abuse. Yikes.
RIP Lady Chablis. "The Lady Chablis, one of the most remembered characters from both John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Clint Eastwood's film of the book, has died. A longtime performer at Savannah's Club One, many referred to Chablis simply as 'The Doll.' ...She has long been a giver to the community. Throughout the 2000's, she worked closely on various campaigns for the American Diabetes Association, donating thousands of dollars raised by her performances to the cause. She was the headlining entertainer for Savannah Pride's inaugural celebration, and hosted their Miss Gay Pride Pageant. She would go on to perform, donate and contribute to many LGBT charities throughout her career." My condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and fans.
In case you can't view the rest of the text on Facebook, here's the whole thing:
"I was taking a law school admissions test in a big classroom at Harvard. My friend and I were some of the only women in the room. I was feeling nervous. I was a senior in college. I wasn't sure how well I'd do. And while we're waiting for the exam to start, a group of men began to yell things like: 'You don't need to be here.' And 'There's plenty else you can do.' It turned into a real 'pile on.' One of them even said: 'If you take my spot, I'll get drafted, and I'll go to Vietnam, and I'll die.' And they weren't kidding around. It was intense. It got very personal. But I couldn't respond. I couldn't afford to get distracted because I didn't want to mess up the test. So I just kept looking down, hoping that the proctor would walk in the room. I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional. But I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions. And that's a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don't want to seem 'walled off.' And sometimes I think I come across more in the 'walled off' arena. And if I create that perception, then I take responsibility. I don't view myself as cold or unemotional. And neither do my friends. And neither does my family. But if that sometimes is the perception I create, then I can't blame people for thinking that."
Hey, remember when Hillary Clinton told FBI investigators that Colin Powell had recommended private email to her, and Powell accused "her people" of "trying to pin it on me," and essentially (if not directly) called Clinton a liar?
Whooooooooooooooops!
The full back and forth between Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell is here. And wow. pic.twitter.com/jHKpEbTS8W
In the in January 2009 email exchange, Clinton asks the former secretary of state about restrictions in using a Blackberry, and Powell responded with how he used a land line to get around State Department rules.
"I didn't have a Blackberry," Powell said in the email. "What I did was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient). So I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department servers. I even used it to do business with some foreign leaders and some of the senior folks in the Department on their personal email accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels."
The emails were released by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Cummings said he procured the documents through a procedure that allows members of the committee to obtain federal records.
...Cummings, of the House committee, said the email exchange shows Powell advised Clinton on how to use private email as secretary of state, and proves Clinton wasn't the only person in that position to do so.
...Powell said in an email Wednesday night that he had no comment on the email exchange.
I'll bet.
I wonder if the media will ever notice that every time some dude accuses Hillary Clinton of lying, it turns out that he's the liar? All signs point to "no."
This is Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson being asked this morning about Aleppo, "Syria's commercial capital before the civil war began more than five years ago [and currently] the scene of what one rebel fighter is calling a 'great epic battle' as rebel groups have launched a major offensive against government positions," and having not the shadow of a clue:
Just to be clear: I have no problem with Stein participating in the protest. Good for her! But spraypainting "I approve this message" on a bulldozer isn't going to convince me she's presidential material.
* * *
Whooooopsy! Conservative Independent candidate Evan McMullin (remember him?) (I wouldn't blame you if you didn't!) "intended the vice presidential candidate listed on his applications for state ballots to be only a placeholder, but the states say the name will appear on the ballot in November."
In all nine states where he has officially qualified to appear on the presidential ballot, McMullin has listed a "Nathan Johnson" as his vice presidential nominee. McMullin's campaign won't provide any more information about Johnson — including which of the thousands of people named Nathan Johnson the campaign is referring to — saying he is only a placeholder until McMullin names an actual running mate.
But in eight of the nine states, top election officials say McMullin's campaign can't pull Johnson's name off the ballot, and that it's "Nathan Johnson" — not whomever McMullin eventually names as his pick for vice president — that will appear on the ballot.
If McMullin is indeed stuck with Johnson on the ballot, it marks an embarrassing setback for a candidate already struggling with a lack of national name recognition, a small budget, and a late start to his race.
Good luck, Evan McMullin! I'm sure you'll do GREAT!
1. Hillary Clinton doesn't smile enough! Doesn't she know that the primary qualification for being a commander-in-chief is SMILING?!
See?
So get smiling, Hillary! And, while you're at it, shove yourself into a military outfit and do some glad-handing with servicemembers obliged by their service to politely tolerate the ridiculous spectacle of your treating the garb of their life-risking jobs like a fucking costume. THAT'S WHAT A REAL COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF DOES, LADY!
2. Donald Trump loves Vladimir Putin so much. His judgment is clearly the best. And, listen, if you think that his one-sided love affair with Putin is evidence of his cavernous lack of judgment, THE JOKE'S ON YOU, because Trump's willingness to say what no one else will say about Putin's awesomeness is PROOF of how amazing his judgment is. Better than literally everyone else's! IT'S CALLED BEING A LEADER. Look it up.
3. Our national media is garbage.
4. Tim Kaine continues to be very delightful and also makes good and serious points about how Donald Trump is a terrible candidate. I hope he's never sent or received any emails or started a foundation that has saved millions of lives or coughed. Although it probably doesn't matter, because he's a dude.
5. Mike Pence continues to be the absolute fucking worst.
Last night, MSNBC hosted a "Commander-in-Chief Forum," which consisted of Matt Lauer questioning Hillary Clinton for a half hour, then questioning Donald Trump for a half hour, in front of an audience of servicemembers and vets, some of whom also got to ask questions, on the subject of their fitness to serve as commander-in-chief.
I live-tweeted the event and made some additional commentary this morning, and I have Storified those tweets for anyone who would like to read them.
My primary takeaways:
Matt Lauer was unfathomably rude to Hillary Clinton, constantly interrupting her. His half-hour with her looked like an antagonistic debate, while his half-hour with Trump looked like a conversation.
Hillary Clinton sounded like a president. She was prepared and knowledgeable and took seriously the questions that were asked, even when they didn't deserve to be taken seriously (see: emails).
Donald Trump sounded like an asshole. He praised Putin and demeaned Obama, repeating his line about how Putin is a better leader than the President.
I honestly can't imagine what it must feel like for an active servicemember to hear Trump denigrate the current commander-in-chief they serve and praise Vladimir Putin. It is upsetting to me, and I feel like it would be even more viscerally, personally, intimately troubling to me if I were in the military.
(Which is not to suggest every member of the military feels the same, of course.)
I spoke to a number of servicemembers and vets and military spouses who were indeed upset about that last night, and I expressed my sympathies to them, which were and are genuine and profound. I feel terrible that they had to listen to that shit. It isn't right.
Nothing about Trump is right. He is just a deeply indecent person, and he is catastrophically unfit to be the nation's commander-in-chief.
On another note, although the organizers of the event have supposedly been trying to make a commander-in-chief forum happen for some time, I find it interesting that it is only when a woman is, for the first time, a serious contender for the presidency that we have an unprecedented forum in which the candidates are asked to convince us of their fitness to lead the military.
Suggested by Shaker keiraagain: "What are you really good at? (No skill or ability is too small for recognition; self acknowledgement and bragging encouraged.)"
If we could only get the Supreme Court to rule that campaign donations are not only free speech but also ENTHUSIASM, perhaps the media would stop reporting that Hillary continues to suffer from "low enthusiasm" about her candidacy.
"Republicans were more interested in attacking Planned Parenthood and flying the Confederate flag―can't make that stuff up; that's really the truth―than protecting women and babies from this awful virus."—Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, expressing his disgust that Republicans continue to play politics instead of offering a clean bill (sans garbage amendments) on Zika funding.
The Senate passed a $1.1 billion bipartisan compromise to fund Zika efforts ― which was about $800 million short of what Democrats and the White House wanted ― but Republicans in the House objected to the measure. But rather than change the funding or insist on a different response from the administration, Republicans added provisions targeting Planned Parenthood and the Clean Water Act, as well as ones that would make cuts to Obamacare and preserve the right to fly the Confederate flag.
Senate Democrats refused to accept those provisions, and Republicans refused to remove them.
Which, of course, are not equal positions. The Republicans are trying to hold people's health and lives hostage in exchange for provisions that harm people's health and lives in different ways. And the Democrats refused to agree to that. As well they should.
The Dallas Morning News has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president—which is really saying something! "We don't come to this decision easily. This newspaper has not recommended a Democrat for the nation's highest office since before World War II—if you're counting, that's more than 75 years and nearly 20 elections."
Cool headline, Politico! "New trove of Clinton Benghazi emails proves thin." Aww, can you hear their disappointment? If not, maybe the first paragraph will help raise the volume: "A set of about 30 Benghazi-related messages found by the FBI during their investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email system turns out to contain little fodder for critics or supporters of the Democratic presidential nominee."
[Content Note: Violence; death] RIP Darren Seals. The Ferguson activist has been killed at age 29. My condolences to his family, friends, fellow activists, and community.
In some good news: Giant pandas and most humpback whales are no longer considered endangered species. Pandas have been downgraded to "vulnerable," and nine of the 14 humpback whale species have made a full recovery. "Five of the iconic species' populations will remain on the list because of their low numbers and continuing threats." And, of course, further measures are needed not only to help the rest recover, but also prevent loss of the populations which have once again begun to thrive.
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