Here is some stuff in the news today...
Donald Trump went on an incredible tweetstorm this morning (even by his standards) and I am very excited about his cool new strategy of hastening the implosion of the Republican Party! 6:05am: "Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty." 7:00am: "It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to." (SHACKLES?! JFC.) 7:15am: "With the exception of cheating Bernie out of the nom the Dems have always proven to be far more loyal to each other than the Republicans!" 7:48am: "Disloyal R's are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary. They come at you from all sides. They don’t know how to win - I will teach them!" 9:52am: "The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks!" Wowwwwww.
[Content Note: Extreme weather; displacement; death; police killing] "The death toll from Hurricane Matthew in the United States climbed again on Tuesday as officials warned of a continuing threat from floodwaters still rising in several areas of North Carolina. Overnight, four more people were reported killed in the state, Governor Pat McCrory announced at a morning briefing, bringing the tally in North Carolina to 14. One victim was shot dead late on Monday after a 'confrontation' involving a state trooper and two deputies assisting with rescue efforts, McCrory said. Details of the incident, which took place during a 'high water situation,' were still being investigated. The three others killed were motorists, one by a falling tree and two found in submerged vehicles. Hurricane Matthew, which has killed at least 1,000 people in Haiti, has now accounted for at least 33 deaths in the US, including 12 in Florida, three each in South Carolina and Georgia, and one in Virginia."
Another must-read piece from Newsweek's Kurt Eichenwald: "Dear Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, I Am Not Sidney Blumenthal."
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton had the largest rally of her campaign (so far) in Ohio. Low enthusiasm etc!
[CN: Racism; carcerality] Fucking hell: "Nearly 90% of New Jersey children tried as adults since 2011 were black or Latino."
[CN: Misogyny] Republican Illinois Senator Mark Kirk described the presidency as "kind of the national father," which is an extraordinary thing for a sitting U.S. Senator to say. No less a Senator who is running against a woman, speaking about a presidential candidate who is also running against a woman.
Aww! "Pluto gets a buddy: A new dwarf planet is discovered in our solar system."
What have you been reading?
In the News
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Happy National Coming Out Day!
Today is the 29th (!) annual National Coming Out Day! Twenty-nine years ago today, half a million people marched on Washington for LGBT equality and Coming Out Day was born.
A lot has changed since then. And a lot hasn't. But what has changed, and what will change, is due to the brave men, women, and genderqueer folks who come out because they expect more than a closet. As long as we live in a deeply heterocentrist culture that privileges straightness, coming out will remain a radical act—and anyone who comes out is an activist and an advocate, sheerly by virtue of their public existence, because straight/cis people who know out members of the queer community are exponentially more likely to be political allies.
The privileging of straightness also means that coming out is not a single day in a life, but a never-ending process of assessing one's safety and balancing it against the need for disclosure. Coming out to family, coming out to old friends, coming out to new friends, coming out at school, coming out at every new job... A series of comings out necessitated by a culture that reflexively assigns straightness until an individual demands to be recognized otherwise, a culture that arbitrarily and unnecessarily attaches meaning, and difference, to sexual orientation.
There yet remain many places in the world, including lots of parts of the US, in which queer people do not feel safe coming out. As we mark Coming Out Day in this space, let us remember those people who have not come out for reasons of personal safety, or religious oppression, or out of a profound fear of familial or community rejection.
And let us celebrate coming out, and the people who build spaces where coming out and being out is safe.
I invite you to share your coming out stories here, as a road-map to the people who are beginning that journey, and an invitation to the party that awaits them when they arrive.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Sexual assault; dysfunctional/harmful family dynamics.]
"My father is a well-educated, loving man who would do anything for his family, except maybe look beyond what is staring us in the face as a nation: that women don't matter as much as men."—Dr. Jennifer Conti, in a difficult but important piece about an exchange with her father, regarding his support for Donald Trump.
This will probably be painfully familiar to a lot of women. (And undoubtedly some men, too.) If it resonates, you have my empathy. If it resonates, you are not alone.
Principles!
[Content Note: Sexual assault.]
The Republican Party definitely has them:
Top Republican Paul Ryan deserted Donald Trump on Monday after an aggressive debate attack against Hillary Clinton failed to quell mounting disgust over his attitude toward women.Winning above all. Do whatever you need to do to retain a majority, even if that means continuing to publicly support a man who has admitted sexually assaulting women.
The speaker of the House told congressional colleagues on a conference call that he would no longer defend Trump or campaign with him. He urged them "to do what's best for you" to save the party's majority and avoid giving Hillary Clinton a blank check in the White House, though stressed he was not yet formally unendorsing the party's official nominee.
Trump immediately fired back at Ryan on Twitter. "Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee," wrote Trump in a blast at the House speaker with whom he has long had a rocky relationship.And, I shit you not, I actually saw with my own eyes a CNN segment yesterday in which the panel actually gave credit to Trump for not calling Ryan "a loser" in this tweet.
CNN panel literally giving Trump credit for not calling Paul Ryan a loser on Twitter today. The lowest of low bars.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) October 10, 2016
Meanwhile, on the same call, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus described continued party support for Trump thus:
How @Reince described RNC-Trump relationship on RNC call:
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) October 10, 2016
"very much involved"
"full coordination"
"fully engaged"
"together at all levels"
This is how the Republican Party leadership feels about their nominee who has admitted sexually assaulting women.
Which says an awful lot about how they feel about women, too.
She Hates the Press
It must be true that Hillary Clinton hates the press, because the press keeps telling me it is. And I believe them! Why would they have any reason to tell me something untrue about her? They're OBJECTIVE. Look it up.
Here is photographic proof of how much Clinton hates the press, taken on her campaign plane while she was taking questions from her traveling press immediately following the debate on Sunday night:
History's Greatest Monster 4eva.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Dreadful Invalid: "Which feminist music artists do you recommend?"
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
[Content Note: There are some flickery lights in this video.]
Rick Astley: "Together Forever"
The Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by humming.
Recommended Reading:
Alyxandra: [Content Note: Extreme weather; displacement; death] Hurricane Matthew: Nearly 900 Dead in Haiti with Count Still Rising
Monica: [CN: Sexual violence; transphobia] Transphobic Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is the GOP
Leslie: [CN: Slavery; sexual violence; racism; misogyny] The Birth of a Nation Is an Epic Fail
Jenn: [CN: Racism; misogyny] Pro-Trump Group Shares Super Racist Anti-Asian Meme
Teddy: Texas Defense of Omnibus Anti-Abortion Law Could Cost State Millions
Kath: [CN: Misogyny; exploitation] People Die from Exposure: Pay Me!
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Let's Just Think About This for a Minute
[Content Note: Misogyny; sexual assault; violent incitement; bullying.]
One of the (many) consequences of the routine dehumanization of Hillary Clinton—whether treating her like garbage or treating her like a superhero—is that we tend to lose sight of the fact that, in every situation, she is still a human being. A woman. Who carries with her all the baggage of being a woman in a deeply misogynist culture.
Which includes having had scary interactions with intimidating men.
I don't have to guess at that: She spoke about one of those interactions in her Humans of New York profile.
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.She noted about this experience that she "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."
That is an experience she carried with her into last night's debate. One of, quite certainly, many experiences just like it.
She walked onto the stage last night to face man who we'd all just learned had confessed, twice, to sexually assaulting women. Who had bragged about it. A man who has on two occasions implicitly called for her assassination. A man who has presided over rallies at which people are screaming about her: Hang the bitch; kill her; cunt.
She had to face him. She had, to finish this test, confront him about his abuse of women, which every woman knows is a dangerous proposition. She had to stand on that stage, in front of millions of viewers, locked in a battle with a man who was pacing like a caged beast with a rageful expression, telling her he'd throw her in prison if he could, and stalking her around the stage to intimidate her with his physical presence.
Of which she was keenly aware.
Hillary Clinton just came to the back of the plane and talked to reporters post debate pic.twitter.com/rHEllvHWEi
— Josh Haskell (@joshbhaskell) October 10, 2016
Relevant transcript, starting at 0:42: A female reporter asks Clinton if she was aware of Trump behind right behind her during the debate, to which Clinton responds, with a sardonic smile: "I could tell, yes. [laughs] It was a very small space, and I tried to give him space; when he was talking to people, I would go back and lean up against my stool, but, he was very present."Clinton is a tough broad. She has an abundance of moxie, gumption, and fortitude. She clearly neither scares nor discourages easily.
But that doesn't mean she is impervious.
She has learned, over a lifetime, as she said in that Humans of New York piece, to conceal what she is feeling: "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.'"
Especially not during a townhall debate where you are expected to be approachable and warm and personable and so very human.
But Clinton has learned that, for women, being human means denying parts of your humanity around dangerous men. And so she faced her opponent, a man who has harmed women and been capricious with her very life, with the obligation to show only the parts of her humanity that she could. Accessible for the audience, but not vulnerable for Trump.
Close off this part, but not that one.
It's an absurd and horrendous ask. And somehow she navigated it. So expertly, in fact, that I've not heard a single pundit—or anyone else, for that matter—even comment on the fact that she had to do it at all. That maybe it was quite unsettling for her to face Donald Trump and all his grotesque misogyny and incitement.
She is formidable as fuck. And she is brave.
And she's done it for so long, so successfully, that hardly anyone even notices how extraordinary it is anymore.
I notice. I see you, Hillary.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
"Poll: After Trump Tape Revelation, Clinton's Lead Up to Double Digits." This is very good news (and also TERRIBLE NEWS that so many people are still supporting Trump), but we still can't get complacent. There's a month to go. And the only way she wins is if we vote for her.
That said, please know if you DO vote for Clinton you are voting for a demon from hell who smells like sulfur. Sounds legit!
This is such a great response from my Shareblue colleague Matthew Chapman to Donald Trump's comment about jailing Clinton: "Aung San Suu Kyi was imprisoned by political opponents, Clinton worked to free her."
"Khizr Khan: Donald Trump 'Is Not Telling the Truth' About Iraq War, Our Son." This guy. I'm so sorry he's obliged to go through this, but damn if I'm not grateful as hell that he keeps speaking his truth.
[Content Note: Sexual assault] Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway did the rounds defending Trump by saying she's been alone with him and he's never assaulted her. Oh great. Give that guy a fucking cookie.
[CN: Video autoplays at link] Speaking of Conway, did you see SNL's digital short about her day off? Pretty funny!
Mike Pence says he never considered leaving the Trump ticket. Which is: 1. Almost certainly a lie; and 2. If it's true, that actually doesn't say much about him, either.
Black Twitter is amazing, part whatever in an eternal series: "#BenAndJerrysNewFlavor Is Trending, and It's Delicious."
"Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2016 Finalists." These are very good! They should all win!
What have you been reading?
Hillary Clinton Writes Historic Op-Ed for LGBT Newspaper
During the 2008 election, Hillary Clinton did an interview with the legendary, 40-year-old Philadelphia Gay News, during which she promised to make global LGBT rights an active "part of American foreign policy," which is a promise she kept.
As Secretary of State, Clinton not only expanded the rights of LGBT State Department employees and approved a crucial change on passport rules for trans people, but also gave a landmark address on global LGBT rights, declaring that "gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights" and introducing "the first U.S. Government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad."
She made a radical promise to PGN during a historic interview in 2008, and then she kept that promise—even if she ended up doing it as Secretary of State rather than as President.
At the end of that interview eight years ago, PGN asked her if she would still speak with them if she became the Democratic nominee, to which Clinton replied: "Absolutely and I'll speak to you as president."
Now she is the Democratic nominee, and she's made good on that promise, too.
In her op-ed for PGN, Clinton addresses the threat to LGBT rights posed by the Trump-Pence ticket, but, even more importantly, lays out her plan to not only protect LGBT rights but expand them:
If I'm fortunate enough to be elected president, I'll protect the progress we've fought so hard to achieve—and I'll keep fighting until every American can live free from discrimination and prejudice.Her proposals also include better data collection to address hate crimes; gun reform; health reform; and HIV/AIDS research. Which still doesn't cover everything in her complete policy fact sheet.
That means working to pass the Equality Act. It would finally provide LGBT people full federal nondiscrimination protections in housing, employment and so much more. I know that differences of opinion on LGBT equality still exist in the hearts of some Americans, but they should not exist under our laws. As president, I'll be your partner in bringing about the vision of the inclusive nation that advocates, activists and allies have been seeking for decades.
…I also believe we must address the ongoing issue of violence against the LGBT community. LGBT people are now more likely than any other group to be the target of a hate crime. America saw the effects of hate in Orlando, with the attack on the Pulse nightclub—the deadliest mass shooting by a single person in our history. The danger is compounded for LGBT people of color, who face intersectional pressures and dangers, particularly transgender people of color. Last year, more than 20 transgender women were killed in America. Recently, three were murdered right here in Philadelphia.
We need to stop the violence and save LGBT lives.
…And as president, I'll keep fighting for LGBT rights, because—as I told the world in one of the most important speeches I gave as Secretary—they are human rights. And I won't quit until all our laws reflect that basic reality.
In 2008, Clinton was the only one to show up. And then she showed up as Secretary of State. And now she is showing up again, just like she said she would, promising to keep showing up if she is elected.
Donald Trump was also offered to write an op-ed for PGN. He declined.
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
"Go out there and get the cheapest shit you can find."
I've got a new piece up at Shareblue about United Steelworkers calling for investigation of steel Trump used in his 2008 Trump International Hotel project in Vegas.
That Trump elected to use Chinese steel for his project is itself a serious concern, particularly from a candidate who promises to "make America great again."There is much more at the link.
Shareblue spoke to Leo Gerard, president of United Steelworkers, North America's largest industrial union, who described Trump's use of Chinese steel as "terrible and hypocritical."
Said Gerard, "It closes the circle on what we already knew about Trump's business practices. He uses cheap, foreign labor to make his apparel, claiming it couldn't be made in America, which is not true. His hotels are furnished — nearly every piece of furniture and décor, right down to the Holy Bible — with items not produced in the USA. He used a series of holding companies to get cheaper steel and aluminum from China. And while he's in Pennsylvania, he says he's going to revitalize the steel industry. Not in the U.S., he's not. Maybe he'll revitalize China's steel industry."
Gerard said he is "outraged — and our members are outraged."
Trump has attempted to deflect responsibility for the use of Chinese materials in multiple construction projects onto his foremen, but, notes Gerard "it was his responsibility to tell contractors not to use those materials. Instead, he told them, 'Go out there and get the cheapest shit you can find.'"
United Steelworkers' concerns took on a new urgency when it was discovered that Ossen Innovation had, in 2014, provided falsified quality certificates for the Waterview Connection roading project in New Zealand.
It's no secret that I grew up in northwest Indiana, which is one of the steel producing centers of the United States. I grew up around steelworkers; I have friends who are steelworkers; I have known people who lost a lot when they were laid off from steel mills in the 1980s.
This is not an abstract issue to me. It's something about which I care deeply. And I think these steelworkers deserve answers to the questions they've raised.
An Observation
[Content Note: Rape culture; description of sexual assault.]
I have had it up to here with this "locker room talk" horseshit in defense of Donald Trump and his boastful admission that he sexually assaults women.
Here's the thing: Locker rooms are themselves the site of many sexual assaults against boys and men (and sometimes girls and women, too), which we frequently conceal and normalize behind the euphemism "hazing." This pretense that locker rooms are safe spaces for men to just banter about sexual aggression with no real consequence is deeply troubling.
This is from a piece I wrote ten years ago: "Badjocks.com reports that the most commonly reported hazing incident among male high school students is sodomy, with penises, fingers, or other objects; usually it's the teammates, but sometimes it's the coaches."
The most commonly reported hazing is sexual assault.
So this "locker room" excuse is masking some extremely ugly stuff, on top of everything else that's wrong with it.
Presidential Debate #2 Wrap-Up
[Content Note: Aggression; bigotry.]
Welp. That was...something.
As always, I live-tweeted the debate, and I have Storified those tweets for anyone who would like to see them.
There were five big takeaways from last night's debate:
1. Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz were terrible moderators. This debate took place mere miles from Ferguson, and there was not a single question about racial justice or criminal justice reform. There were also no questions about abortion or LGBTQ rights, although Hillary Clinton managed to get them into the debate anyway, saying as part of her response to a question about Supreme Court appointees: "I want a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose and stick with marriage equality."
2. Donald Trump is a liar who refuses to be accountable for anything he's ever done. He's also deeply hostile to the law, saying that if he were president, Clinton would be in prison, despite the fact that she has broken no laws. Not news, of course, but last night's debate underscored these things once again.
3. Trump is a reprehensible bully who repeatedly interrupted Clinton and also stalked her around the stage in a very unsettling, upsetting way:
[Video Description: Compilation of clips of Trump's attempts to physically intimidate Clinton.]
4. Trump's ego will forever be his undoing. In the closing moments of the debate came the final audience question, from a man who wanted to know, amidst all the mudslinging, could each of the candidates say something they admired about each other. Clinton said she admired Trump's children. And Trump, incredibly, after spending the entire debate (erroneously) asserting that Clinton has never accomplished anything, and after spending months accusing her of "low stamina," fundamentally undermined his case against her by saying: "I will say this about Hillary: She doesn't quit. She doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. I disagree with much of what she's fighting for; I do disagree with her judgment, in many cases. But she does fight hard, and she doesn't quit, and she doesn't give up. And I consider that to be a very good trait."
Very true! Shockingly true! Why would Trump give what amounted to an endorsement of Clinton, no less on one of her key qualities, in the final moments of the debate?! Well, I have some idea about that:
The most amazing thing about Trump's final comment on Hillary is he was trying to flatter himself. He's the one defying calls to quit ATM.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) October 10, 2016
And in his eagerness to highlight that quality, he underscored one of Hillary's strongest qualities & undermined his "stamina" argument.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) October 10, 2016
Once again, he couldn't resist self-aggrandizement and ended up leaving the debate on the note that Hillary is indomitable.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) October 10, 2016
5. Clinton is a rock star. This election is a shitshow. That debate was a shitshow. Because of Trump. The indignity of Clinton having to even share a stage with that nightmare of a human being who is unqualified as he is abusive. And somehow, she managed to once again carry herself with grace, to get through that clusterfucktastrophe of a debate with her typical competence, composure, and dignity.
I'll say once again: Congratulations, Hillary Clinton. You are carrying a lot on your shoulders; being the first woman in the nation's history in this position, being the standard bearer for women and the envoy of millions of people's hopes to stop Trump. That is a hell of a lot of pressure, and, as always, you rose you to the occasion. Wow. And thank you.
Open Thread: Presidential Debate #2
Well, tonight is the night! The second presidential debate between the most qualified presidential candidate in the nation's history and the most unqualified presidential candidate in the nation's history. A history-making candidate and a legendary bigot. The first woman to inhabit this space and the galaxy's biggest misogynist.
IT REMAINS A REAL TOSS-UP!
[Content Note: Sexual assault] Obviously there's been a big game-changer over the past couple of days, with the release of the Trump Tape, in which he brags about sexually assaulting women. I've been doing a lot of tweeting about that since Friday night, and I've Storified all those tweets, if you'd like to read them. There's a fair bit about Mike Pence, too, since the GOP thinks they can get away with just jumping on the Pence train, as if he's not just as bad (and, in some ways, worse) than Donald Trump.
Here's a thing I wrote which you may want to read and share on that subject: "Mike Pence co-sponsored legislation that limited the definition of rape."
Despite calls for Trump to drop out, he is (predictably) remaining defiant:
The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN! #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2016
Tremendous support (except for some Republican "leadership"). Thank you.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2016
This is a thing of beauty. (And I will deeply enjoy this moment, even as I am painfully aware that, with a month left, there is yet still time for things to change.) Undoubtedly, Hillary Clinton's team still has more oppo to release on Trump. She has been spectacular at biding her time, and the strategy has been amazing. The patience! She doesn't just want to defeat Trump; she wants to take down the entire Republican Party.
If you go after Hillary Clinton for three decades, you'd better make damn sure you best her. Because, if not, she'll blow your entire shit up.
Anyway! Here's an open thread to discuss the debate—before, during, and after. I'll just be over here, biting my nails.
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!
