As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
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.
We Resist: Day 22
One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
* * *
Here are some things I've read today:
[Content Note (next two paragraphs): Hostility for marginalized people] Adam Cancryn at Politico: Senate Confirms Obamacare Opponent Price to Lead Health Department. "The Senate early Friday morning installed Rep. Tom Price as the nation's top health care official, putting him in charge of HHS and Republicans' effort to make good on their pledge to repeal and replace the sweeping Affordable Care Act. Price's confirmation came by a slim 52-47 margin, ending weeks of partisan rancor marked by ethics allegations, boycotts, and sharp breaks with Senate tradition and decorum. The seven-term congressman maintained full Republican support throughout the process, ensuring his path to HHS secretary was never in real danger. No Democrats voted for him."
Not only did the Democrats not vote for him; they delayed the final vote for nearly 30 hours. And deservedly so: Price has not only been the subject of multiple ethical complaints surrounding insider trading, but he is an aggressive opponent of the Affordable Care Act; he does not support women's healthcare access; he does not support trans people's healthcare access; and, basically, he just fundamentally disagrees with the idea that people have a right to healthcare. Devastating.
Nominating people like Price is partly why PPP's new national poll has found that 46 percent of respondents are in favor of impeaching Trump, just three weeks into his administration: "Voters don't like the people Trump has surrounded himself with. Betsy DeVos may have been confirmed this week, but she made a horrible impression on the public. Only 27% of voters see her positively to 49% with a negative opinion of her. ...Other people close to Trump have come off poorly as well: Steve Bannon has a 22/45 favorability rating, Kellyanne Conway's is 34/47, and Sean Spicer's is 32/41."
* * *
Alex Isenstadt, Kenneth P. Vogel, and Josh Dawsey at Politico: Trump Vexed by Challenges, Scale of Government. Another way of saying that is: Trump is catastrophically unqualified and has no fucking clue what he's doing. Maybe it was a bad idea to elect someone with not a single day of government experience.
Being president is harder than Donald Trump thought, according to aides and allies who say that he's growing increasingly frustrated with the challenges of running the massive federal bureaucracy.There's a lot about how angry and frustrated he is, and it's like welcome to the club, asshole. Except he was the one who wanted the job and claimed he was ready to do it—and do it better than anyone else ever had or could. We're just along for his disastrous ride.
In interviews, nearly two dozen people who've spent time with Trump in the three weeks since his inauguration said that his mood has careened between surprise and anger as he's faced the predictable realities of governing, from congressional delays over his cabinet nominations and legal fights holding up his aggressive initiatives to staff in-fighting and leaks.
The administration's rocky opening days have been a setback for a president who, as a billionaire businessman, sold himself to voters as being uniquely qualified to fix what ailed the nation. ...Trump often asks simple questions about policies, proposals, and personnel.
[CN: Abuse] This passage from the same piece is utterly disgusting (as is the way it's so casually thrown in): "Trump aides joke that they wish their boss would spend more time at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where they say the president appears more relaxed and at ease. He dispensed hugs and kisses to female guests attending a Red Cross ball at the estate last week." As I said on Twitter: "Note the way this is framed in the story: Trump is increasingly frustrated. He blows off steam by playing golf and 'dispensing kisses.' Serial abusers often deal with pressure/anxiety by engaging in abuse. Knowing Trump's history with women, this is very concerning to me."
On a related note: Trump's handshake with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe today was distressing. He held the PM's hand far too long, jerking him toward him, just like he did to Neil Gorsuch during the SCOTUS nomination announcement. It is also a feature of serial abusers of women that they have no respect for men's bodies/consent either. It just manifests differently.
* * *
Brian Feldman at New York Magazine: Government Cybersecurity and Transparency Is Already a Mess.
The White House's top cybersecurity employee, Cory Louie, was reportedly forced to resign this week, according to The Atlantic's Steve Clemons, as part of the Trump administration's purge of Obama hires. Louie, who served as the White House's chief information security officer, was the guy in charge of making sure that the president and his advisers don't get hacked.But her emails, etc.
...Trump reportedly still has not parted with his old, unsecured Android phone, despite being issued a new phone by the Secret Service.
...Republican politicians are using an encrypted-messaging app called Confide to share confidential missives. Axios's sources described the app's Snapchat-like, vanishing-messages feature, and the inability to easily take screenshots, as part of the near-leakproof appeal. Messages can only be read piecemeal by tracing them with your finger.
This is great, if your top concern is intra-government messages being hacked by nefarious third parties. If your top concern, on the other hand, is government transparency, well: Confide is not an approved communication method for conducting official government business, meaning that anyone using it to do so is violating the public-records guidelines.
* * *
[CN (next two paragraphs): White supremacy; nativism] Tina Vasquez at Rewire: Have Trump's Mass Deportations Begun? Immigration Arrests Reported Around the Country. "Multiple accounts of immigration arrests have been reported in California, North Carolina, and Texas, among other states, according to numerous sources. Advocates working to confirm the identities of those detained say the suspected raids mark the beginning of Trump's mass deportation efforts."
Samantha Schmidt at the Washington Post: Fear Spreads in L.A. After Immigration Raid; Officials Say Arrests Are 'Routine'. "Immigrant advocate groups claim that more than 100 people had been taken into custody by federal immigration officials in Southern California Thursday, indicating a 'coordinated sweep' in arrests and heightening fears that Donald Trump's promise to crackdown on deportations had begun to take effect. Police and immigration officials denied the 'raids' and disputed the claim that the arrests were part of a more stringent approach, saying any detentions were simply part of 'routine' enforcement activities. ...'We know the daily patterns of people being picked up and taken,' Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, said in an interview with The Washington Post. 'There's a natural flow of enforcement that happens every day. But this was not normal.'"
[CN: White supremacy] Sam Levin at the Guardian: FBI Terrorism Taskforce Investigating Standing Rock Activists. "The FBI is investigating political activists campaigning against the Dakota Access pipeline, diverting agents charged with preventing terrorist attacks to instead focus their attention on indigenous activists and environmentalists. The Guardian has established that multiple officers within the FBI's joint terrorism taskforce have attempted to contact at least three people tied to the Standing Rock 'water protector' movement in North Dakota. The purpose of the officers' inquiries into Standing Rock, and scope of the task force's work, remains unknown. Agency officials declined to comment."
So, not only is the Trump administration refusing to focus on white supremacist terrorism; they're redicting counterterrorism units to focus on Native American activists. FUCK THAT.
Gordon G. Chang at The Daily Beast: China Hangs Tough. Trump Folds. China Ups the Ante. "On Thursday night, President Trump told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that he accepted the 'One China' policy. The acknowledgement, made during a phone conversation, appears to be a capitulation to Beijing's demands." Appears to be is doing a lot of work there. We'll see.
Yessenia Funes at Colorlines: Trump Named as Defendant in Landmark Federal Climate Suit. "The 21 youth plaintiffs who are currently suing the federal government for denying their constitutional rights to life, liberty and property by ignoring and exacerbating climate change have updated their lawsuit. President Donald Trump is now the latest defendant in the case Juliana et al. v United States et al. as of a court filing today (February 9)."
[CN: Homophobia] John Wright at Towleroad: Texas Bill Would Allow 'Ex-Gay' Therapists, Others Who Harm LGBT People to Keep Licenses. "Texas Republican lawmakers have introduced a sweeping anti-LGBT 'religious freedom' bill that could allow 'ex-gay' therapists to keep their licenses even if the dangerous, discredited practice is banned by the state. Senate Bill 651, filed last week by three Republican legislators, would prohibit state agencies that are responsible for regulating more than 65 licensed occupations from taking action against those who choose not to comply with professional standards due to religious objections."
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Here Is a Very Nice Thing
i'll just leave this where you kids can find it...@IfHillaryHad pic.twitter.com/JDwXaRZ0f3
— Celey Schumer (@CeleySchumer) February 10, 2017
[There are two screen caps in the tweet. The first is a widely-shared tweet reading: "Hillary Clinton should have used some of her leftover campaign cash to buy 30 seconds where she just says 'Still worried about my emails?'" The second is what appears to be a Facebook status referencing the tweet reading: "Hillary Clinton used her 'leftover campaign cash' to make sure her campaign staff had health insurance through the end of the year even after their jobs ended, because that's who Hillary Clinton is."]
Sniffle.
For the record, that Clinton did indeed provide health insurance for her staff has been publicly (and privately) confirmed by a number of her staff. (Example.)
Please Support Shakesville
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More Leaking from Trump Administration Asserts Flynn Discussed Sanctions with Russia
Despite previous denials from the Trump administration, nine anonymous "current and former U.S. officials" have told the Washington Post that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country's ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office."
For some time now, the administration, including Flynn himself, has been denying that Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. As recently as two days ago, Flynn twice said during an interview he had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak.
But yesterday: "Flynn, through his spokesman, backed away from the denial. The spokesman said Flynn 'indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up.'"
The talks were part of a series of contacts between Flynn and Kislyak that began before the Nov. 8 election and continued during the transition, officials said. In a recent interview, Kislyak confirmed that he had communicated with Flynn by text message, by phone and in person, but declined to say whether they had discussed sanctions.Even taken at face value, this story is deeply alarming, as it suggests that Trump's National Security Advisor has indeed engaged in the borderline treasonous behavior of which he's been suspected.
The emerging details contradict public statements by incoming senior administration officials including Mike Pence, then the vice president-elect. They acknowledged only a handful of text messages and calls exchanged between Flynn and Kislyak late last year and denied that either ever raised the subject of sanctions.
"They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia," Pence said in an interview with CBS News last month, noting that he had spoken with Flynn about the matter. Pence also made a more sweeping assertion, saying there had been no contact between members of Trump's team and Russia during the campaign. To suggest otherwise, he said, "is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy."
Neither of those assertions is consistent with the fuller account of Flynn's contacts with Kislyak provided by officials who had access to reports from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies that routinely monitor the communications of Russian diplomats. Nine current and former officials, who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the calls, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
All of those officials said Flynn's references to the election-related sanctions were explicit. Two of those officials went further, saying that Flynn urged Russia not to overreact to the penalties being imposed by President Barack Obama, making clear that the two sides would be in position to review the matter after Trump was sworn in as president.
"Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time," said a former official.
But I have a strong instinct that this story isn't quite as straightforward as it seems. I don't think "concerned officials leak on Flynn" is the whole story, especially not when those officials are taking pains to indicate "there was no quid pro quo and that there has been no finding inside the government that Flynn did anything illegal."
Flynn is one of a number of current and former Trump staffers with ties to and/or affinity for Russia, including the president himself, which has created some pressure on the administration to prove that its members aren't compromised. It's tough to prove something that isn't true, however. So these "leaks," widely presumed to be care of officials hostile to the Trump administration, may actually be coming from the administration, to sacrifice Flynn in a bid to create the illusion of concern about treasonous collusion with Russia.
Or maybe there's something else going on altogether. I'm not certain what more is behind this story, if anything, but I do feel itchy that there's more to it than immediately meets the eye.
Maybe I'm wrong. But here are some questions I have, for which there are no readily available answers:
1. The New York Times reports "there are transcripts of the calls, which is why federal officials were 'surprised' by Team Trump's denials." If that is the case, why did Pence publicly say that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak? Did he not have knowledge of or access to that transcript? If not, why? Is that merely an indication that Pence is on the outs with Bannon? Pence is a lot of things, including a liar, but he is not stupid and he is not careless. I'm very perplexed by why he would publicly say something so easily refuted by a transcript. It doesn't fit with what I know of how Pence operates.
2. Who are these officials? There's been a huge purge. The White House is half empty. Most Cabinet offices aren't staffed. Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants. Is it really safe to assume that the officials are not acting in service to a major media manipulation being orchestrated by the White House? The one place this administration has a level of sophistication is media manipulation. I wouldn't give them credit for orchestration in many areas, but they are very motivated to fuck with the media. And, if these officials aren't trustworthy, a massive discreditation of the media could be as simple as "leaking" the transcript in short order, which turns out not to include what the anonymous officials said it did.
3. Could it be possible that Pence was actually telling the truth when he said Flynn and Kislyak "did not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia"? Is it possible that these nine anonymous officials (who all have access to a classified transcript? which the WaPo apparently did not see?) are administration operatives playing some kind of long game that isn't clear yet? For the media, which Trump and Bannon describe as "the opposition," to get a story this big utterly wrong would certainly help their campaign to discredit the media.
4. Why are officials reporting that Flynn did something that seems to be a clear violation of the Logan Act, but also insisting that he's been found to have done nothing illegal?
There may be valid answers to all of these questions. But, as of this writing, they are not apparent.
9th Circuit Court Rules Unanimously Against Trump's Muslim Ban
This is very good news indeed:
A federal appeals panel has maintained the freeze on President Trump's controversial immigration order, meaning previously barred refugees and citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries can continue entering the United States.Trump is not going to let this go—not his disgusting ban and not his hostility toward the courts, who are providing the only checks and balances against him at the moment, since Congress is being run by vandals.
In a unanimous 29-page opinion, three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit flatly rejected the government's argument that suspension of the order should be lifted immediately for national security reasons, and they forcefully asserted their ability to serve as a check on the president's power.
The judges wrote that any suggestion that they could not "runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy."
...Trump reacted angrily on Twitter, posting just minutes after the ruling, "SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!" He later said to reporters that the judges had made "a political decision."
"We have a situation where the security of our country is at stake, and it's a very, very serious situation, so we look forward, as I just said, to seeing them in court," he said.
Yesterday, at his swearing-in, the new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions felt obliged to comment on the immigration ban: "We need a lawful system of immigration. One that serves the interest of the people of the United States. That's not wrong, that's not immoral, that's not indecent." It is all of those things, and our AG doth preemptively protest too much.
So they aren't done taking this to court. But, for now, it's some relief.
3-0
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 10, 2017
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker ivyceltress: "What is the geekiest thing you own?"
I own a lot of geeky shit, lol, but probably the geekiest is my Darth Vader edition Atari 2600. Which, yes, still works.
Name It
Protip: When writing about Trump and you're about to type "law and order," replace that with "white supremacist." That is the accurate term.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 9, 2017
This is good advice for reading corporate media about the Trump administration, too. Whenever you see "law and order," whether it's referring to the president or his policies, just substitute "white supremacist."
I guarantee you it will be correct, every time.
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!
Donald Trump: You Do Not Have My Consent to Use Me to Justify Your White Supremacist Policies
[Content Note: White supremacy; nativism; abuse; hostility to consent.]
Donald Trump is an abuser.
This is not speculation: It is a fact supported by what we are witnessing, by the reported experiences of people who have interpersonal and/or business relationships with him, and by his own words.
As is the habit of people who are abusive in the way Trump is, he routinely justifies his abuse by asserting that it is necessary in order to "protect" people. That is also a feature of authoritarianism, and it has long been a strategy used by the Republican Party to justify all manner of harm.
Today, Trump signed a trio of executive orders, the contents of which were not immediately released.
"I'm signing three executive actions today designed to restore safety in America," Trump announced from the Oval Office as he swore in Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying the first would "break the back of the criminal cartels that have spread across our nation and are destroying the blood of our youth."Even without the specific text of these orders, we can reasonably conclude, based on Trump's previous and constant assertions of what he believes constitutes "restoring safety in America," that they have been designed to primarily and disproportionately target Latinx immigrants and Black communities.
The others, according to Trump, create a task force on reducing violent crime and instruct Sessions to implement a plan to stop crime against law enforcement officers.
"A new era of justice begins and it begins right now," Trump said.
They are part of a comprehensive agenda of white supremacy, which includes (but is not limited to) his Muslim ban, defended on the basis that it is necessary to keep Americans safe; his elevation of Jeff Sessions to U.S. Attorney General, whose support for eroding Black voting rights is defended on the basis that it is necessary to protect Americans from voter fraud; the White House statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day which failed to mention Jews, defended on the basis that it was somehow meant to be more inclusive.
Every act, incident, and policy of white supremacy is rationalized and defended on the contemptible premise that it is necessary in order to "keep America safe."
And every time, buried within that protective language is the implication that "America" is (straight, cis, able-bodied) white people—and every American who deviates from that highly privileged class is someone from whom White America needs to be protected.
I am a white American, and thus I am one of the people being invoked as needing "protection" from Black people, from Latinx immigrants, from Muslims. (Even as I am simultaneously an "enemy" or "hater" per Trump himself, as one of his critics.) He uses me, over and over, to justify this abuse. And he does so without my consent.
Donald Trump: Stop using me. You do not have my permission to say I need your "protection." And you do not have my consent to use me to conceal that your "protective" measures are just rank white supremacy.
I will not silently abide my life being co-opted by a vicious coward who refuses to be honest about his sinister objectives.
It pisses me off to be treated like a rhetorical human shield by a vile despot, but, more importantly, I resist this strategy with rageful fervor because I want there to be no question whether I agree that I am in need of "protection" from people of color, immigrants, and/or refugees.
I do not agree.
This middle-aged, straight-married, middle-class, suburban white woman—despite the fact that, on paper, I seem precisely the type of person Trump asserts to be protecting—does not not take up space in solidarity with white supremacy and the mendacious narratives conjured to defend it.
I take up space in solidarity with the people from whom Trump says he's "protecting" me—because they are the ones in need of protection.
From him.
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.
We Resist: Day 21
One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
* * *
Here are some things I've read today:
Charlie Savage and Jonathan Weisman in the New York Times: Trump Assails Senator Who Divulged that Gorsuch Called Attacks on Judiciary 'Demoralizing'. "It was a bit of a kiss-and-tell moment when Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, told reporters that Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, had called Mr. Trump's attacks on the judiciary 'demoralizing' and 'disheartening.' The account was readily confirmed on the record by a White House adviser, Ron Bonjean, working to advance the Gorsuch confirmation. But that wasn't enough to stop the president from going after Mr. Bluementhal."
John Wagner at the Washington Post: Trump Attacks McCain for Questioning Success of Deadly Yemen Raid. "Trump lashed out at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday, saying that the senator's negative assessment of a deadly raid in Yemen last month 'emboldens the enemy!' ...'Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media,' Trump said in a series of tweets Thursday morning. 'Only emboldens the enemy! He's been losing so long he doesn't know how to win anymore. Our hero Ryan died on a winning mission ... not a 'failure,'' Trump tweeted."
So: Trump has moved from trying to publicly discredit members of the judiciary to trying to publicly discredit members of the Senate. This is unprecedented, contemptible, and very alarming.
Trump has tweeted on 3 topics this morning: Blumenthal on Gorsuch, Chris Cuomo interviewing Blumenthal, the Yemen raid. He lied about all 3.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 9, 2017
Meanwhile, Kellyanne Conway went on Fox News to say: "Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would tell you...I'm going to give it a free commercial here, go buy it today." As Larry Noble noted: "Appears Kellyanne Conway may have just violated ban on Federal employee using public office for endorsement of product. 5 CFR 2635.702." This, too, is unprecedented, contemptible, and very alarming.
[Content Note: Islamophobia; terrorism] Leah McElrath, citing reporting by Rukmini Callimachi, a leading journalistic voice on Islamic extremism, reports that ISIS refers to Trump's Muslim ban as "the Blessed Ban," because "ISIS sees this as *their* doing. They succeeded in scaring the daylight out of America" and believe it's proof "their terror tactic worked. They frightened the most powerful man in the world."
[CN: Nativism] Nigel Duara at the LA Times: Longtime Phoenix Resident in U.S. Illegally Detained in Early Display of Trump Executive Order's Reach. "A Phoenix woman in the country illegally who was considered a low priority for deportation by the Obama administration has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigrant advocates say her detention reflects the severity of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, 36, had lived in the country since she was 14. ...A mother of two, she continued to live in Arizona and checked in with ICE every six months. On her scheduled meeting Wednesday morning, she arrived at the ICE field office in Phoenix surrounded by supporters. An immigration attorney later told the crowd outside that Garcia de Rayos had been arrested."
Ed Pilkington at the Guardian: Proposed Trump Executive Order Would Allow U.S. Firms to Sell 'Conflict Minerals'. "A draft executive order, composed last week and obtained by the Guardian, proposes a two-year suspension of a portion of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms that requires US firms to carry out due diligence to ensure that the products they sell include no minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or neighbouring countries. The regulation was widely applauded as a mainstay of attempts to cut the umbilical chord between big business and violent warlords who have spread unrest throughout the Congo and caused the deaths of more than five million people since the 1990s."
Jacob Sullum at Reason: Trump Does Not Know What Civil Forfeiture Is, But He Likes It. "Trump's knee-jerk support for civil asset forfeiture is troubling, especially in light of a growing bipartisan consensus that the practice should be reformed or abolished because it hurts innocent property owners and warps law enforcement priorities. Worse, the White House transcript of the president's remarks about forfeiture shows he literally does not know what he is talking about, which suggests this 'law and order' president is happy to go along with whatever cops want, even if he has no idea what it is."
Olivia Nuzzi at New York Magazine: Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus Want You to Know They Are Friends. I'm sure they do. But the only part of this profile of two white supremacist authoritarians in which I'm interested is this: "Bannon dismissed the entire theory as a manifestation of media myopia and incuriosity. 'The opposition party'—meaning the press, not the Democrats—'has to have …' He paused. 'Since they're too dumb and too lazy to actually do any work, um — am I over my skis here right now?' he asked Priebus. 'No, no,' Priebus laughed." Being interviewed for a personal profile, they are complaining about the press. They're like trolls who shout about being censored in comments sections, thus proving they are not being censored. Except, you know, much more dangerous, since they are running the country and trying to discredit the press so they can't be held accountable.
Lissandra Villa at BuzzFeed: Senators Are Pissed Their Constituents Can't Get Through as Phone Calls Flood the Senate. Well, some Republican Senators. So, you know, keep calling.
[CN: Misogyny; video may autoplay at link] Andrew Kaczynski at CNN: Sen. Lindsey Graham: Silencing Sen. Elizabeth Warren 'Was Long Overdue'. Ah, THERE'S the Lindsey Graham I knew and loathed all those years.
[CN: Death penalty] Breanna Edwards at The Root: Mississippi Considers Firing Squad, Electrocution, and Gas Chamber as Execution Methods. "Mississippi lawmakers are pushing forth a proposal to add firing squad, electrocution, and the gas chamber as methods of execution in case a court blocks the use of the drugs that are used in lethal injections, the Associated Press reports. The bill, Mississippi House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson said, is a response to lawsuits filed by 'liberal, left-wing radicals.' If you couldn't guess, Gipson is a Republican. Anyway, apparently, the bill that proposes the antiquated methods of execution passed in the Mississippi House of Representatives despite opposition Wednesday, and now, the ball is in the court of the Senate."
[CN: Guns] Lois Beckett at the Guardian: Gun Rights Advocates Prepare Push for More Guns in Schools. "'If taxpayer dollars are funding a facility…you should be able to exercise your second amendment right to carry,' [Missouri state legislator Andrew McDaniel] said. ...Last year, gun control advocates defeated legislation in 15 different states that would have allowed more guns into K-12 schools, according to a national group, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. And already this year, the group said, nine states have introduced new legislation."
[CN: Misogyny] Nicole Knight at Rewire: Lawmaker: Pregnant Workers Who Want Accommodations Should Quit. A South Dakota Republican this week offered an unusual solution for workers denied on-the-job pregnancy accommodations: quit. Rep. Wayne H. Steinhauer (R-Minnehaha) was on a panel of state lawmakers, all men, who voted 8 to 3 Monday to shelve a bill requiring reasonable workplace accommodations during and after pregnancy, including frequent or longer breaks, modified work schedules, and private non-bathroom space for breastfeeding. 'It's not prison. You can quit,' Steinhauer, a business owner, said during a Monday hearing of the House Commerce and Energy Committee on the bill, HB 1120. 'You've got a choice every day. You make a choice whether you come to work. And I'm here to tell you, if a person's not allowing you to breastfeed at work or making appropriate accommodations at work, we can pass this law, but you don't want to work for that guy. Get the heck out of there.'"
[CN: White supremacy; anti-Semitism] Morgan Eads at the Lexington Herald Leader: White Nationalists Plan Conference for 'White Working Families' at State Park in Eastern Kentucky. "A white nationalist group plans to instruct participants on proper marching, how to create propaganda, and on being 'a voice for our people' at a conference in April at Jenny Wiley State Park in Floyd County. ...The chairman of the organization, Matthew Heimbach, said Wednesday that the party will join people from the National Socialist Movement and other groups to host the conference. Over 100 people have registered so far. ...The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Traditionalist Worker Party as 'a white nationalist group that advocates for racially pure nations and communities and blames Jews for many of the world's problems.'"
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Today in Our Media Is Hopeless
Trump will love this week's @time cover pic.twitter.com/d3raKGozVJ
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) February 9, 2017
[Image in Tweet is the cover of Time magazine, which features a close-up image of Senator Chuck Schumer's face and text reading: "Do the Democrats matter?"]
Hey, Time—FUCK YOU.
There are about a dozen different reasons I hate this with the fiery passion of ten thousand suns, but the two that are fighting for top of the list at the moment are:
1. "Democrats" does not just refer to elected Democrats. It refers to the millions of rank-and-file party members across the nation. And putting the Senate Democratic Leader's face on the cover doesn't change that. It is colossally irresponsible and callous to ask if any of the millions of human beings who identify as Democrats across this nation "matter."
2. The Trump administration and his abetting conspirators in the Republican Senate and House caucuses are endeavoring in every conceivable way to make sure that Democrats don't matter. That seems a rather more important story to me than asking about the Democrats' inherent relevance.
Our media is fucking hopeless. We have a white supremacist authoritarian in the White House and, instead of reckoning with that in a meaningful way 100% of the damn time, they want to pull shit like this.
We are losing our country, and wide swaths of our garbage press (with a few notable exceptions of responsible journalists doing their damn jobs) is a big part of the reason why.
McConnell Fuels the Resistance
[content note: racism, misogyny]
Remember the plethora of think pieces right after Election 2016, warning us that calling bigots bigots is why Trump won and how we ought to, instead, gaze into Trump supporter navels so we could better understand the economic anxieties of those who would support a misogynistic racist?
Consider Republican Mitch McConnell shushing Senator Elizabeth Warren two days ago, as she attempted to read the words of Coretta Scott King. She was reading these words in opposition to the nomination of Jeff Sessions, a racist whose nomination is celebrated by white supremacist David Duke, as US Attorney General.
In silencing her, McConnell issued a patronizing scold: "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." This quickly became a Twitter hashtag #ShePersisted
Now, in an ideal world, a man who lost the popular vote and whose inauguration inspired the largest protest in US history would make a humble offering. Perhaps an, "I see your unrest and I will do what I can to understand it and earn your support."
We are not, obviously, living in that world. Trump is not that person. In light of the reality that neither Trump nor many of his fans are going to be gazing into our navels anytime soon, I will remember that they may have power, but they do not have a mandate.
As they call "SJWs" "snowflakes" while refusing to let a racist white man be called racist because it's indecorous, they are the epitome of hypocrites who demand all the special treatment and empathy while refusing to render any themselves.
But, here's a thing about many people with unexamined privilege:
Bigots in their insular "white-man-only-discourse" bubbles and golden-toileted towers seem to have no idea of the fury they are continually evoking. As I alluded earlier this week about a Tweet of mine that (unexpectedly) went viral, Trump is so proud of his unwillingness to engage in empathy, that he and his team continually lurch into every sore point, every rage-trigger, and every fear of further victimization that many marginalized people have.
The bigots in power may not yet understand "the optics" of what they are doing. I suspect one day that at least some of them might. Even if they don't, or perhaps especially if they don't, we must continue to document, speak out, and resist every indignity, every mistake, and every act of abuse. Let the resistance be viral.
We are here, we are resisting, and this is not done in our name.
Welcome to It
[Content Note: Misogyny; slurs; homophobia; disablism; bigotry; violence.]
This election was a referendum on women.
Ahead of the election, I wrote: "Donald Trump is so explicitly sexist, and Hillary Clinton is so explicitly feminist, that the choice made by the majority of voters will send a very clear message about the value of women in our country. ...The result of this election will say a great deal about how we are valued by our fellow countrypeople (or at least a whole lot of them) and will determine how we are valued by our country."
The confounding result—Clinton with nearly 3 million more votes, but Trump with the presidency—did not result in a clear message. Or, more accurately: It did, but that clear message was swiftly muddled by Trump (and his supporters) claiming a mandate he does not actually have.
In response to his presidency, women by the millions have made noise rejecting his legitimacy and condemning his lack of decency. (Men and genderqueer folks, too. But this post is about women.) Many of these women are longtime activists and advocates and organizers. Many of them are newly activated, seeking ways to be a part of the resistance movement.
As such, they may be encountering for the first time the costs of being a woman with an opinion in public, trying to figure out how to navigate the abuse so sickeningly, tediously familiar to veteran activists.
There are times when some bit of misogyny disgorged at a prominent woman, or women, becomes a rallying cry: We are the binders full of women bearing our woman cards; we are social justice warriors; we are outrage machinists; we are nasty women; we are persistent; we are snowflakes...and winter is coming.
But we are also, individually, in private or the more isolated public of social media, on the street or in any space we assert our humanity: Bitches. Cunts. Whores. Feminazis. Dykes. Fat. Ugly. Unfuckable. Deserving of harm.
Every slur that references any part of your identity. Racist slurs. Disablist slurs. Anti-Semitic slurs. Islamophobic slurs. Nativist slurs.
And, often, slurs or intended insults that don't have anything to do with your identity. One of the favorite "insults" of the alt-right is to tell someone they have Down Syndrome. I have been told this countless times. I'm not insulted by this (although I'm angry about how it demeans people with Down Syndrome); it's simply an inaccurate statement. Just because they hold in contempt people with Down Syndrome doesn't mean I do.
When slurs and insults fail to have their desired effect, then come the threats. Rape threats. Death threats. Admonishments to self-harm. The invocation of genocidal imagery. Eliminationism. Doxxing.
It can be overwhelming, and discouraging, and upsetting, and it can make you feel very much like this isn't worth it.
It's much more difficult to flip into a rallying cry the ad hominems directed at you personally by some rando fuckgoblin, who is not Mitch McConnell—when you're not Elizabeth Warren.
Sometimes women new to public activism find themselves utterly mindfucked by how collective reclaiming of misogyny—"We persist!"—can fill our air with lungs and fuel the fire in our bellies, and how the personal, individual misogyny we must weather can be so very much the opposite. Scary and demoralizing.
I've been doing this for nearly 13 years now, an ancient of the blogosphere, so I get asked quite frequently how to do it. How to navigate that juxtaposition; how to keep going.
The truth is: I don't know what will work for you. But I want to validate what you may already be feeling, or may feel at some point along this journey. And I want to tell you it's okay if it's too much. And urge you to center that self-care is radical resistance against oppressors who want to destroy you.
And I will share with you a couple of things that are important for my survival, in case they are helpful to you in finding yours.
1. I Get Discussed in Forums. "I process it by putting it through a meat grinder, turning it into a juicy sausage, and eating it NOM NOM NOM. I process it by letting it be my sustenance. My belly is filled with this fuel, reminder after reminder after tired-ass reminder about why I'm doing what I'm doing."
2. It's Okay to Cry. "I have cried. There are days when I am breathing fire with confident disdain, and there are days when I cry. Sometimes those days are the same day."
3. Ugly Girl: "I want my act of resistance against a world that values women on their beauty not to be to disappear, but to be visible. To myself, most of all. All 'you are ugly' means to me anymore is that I have been seen."
The first piece is about using torment as motivation. That's not always possible, but it's incredibly useful in the moments when it is. The second piece is about the imperatives to "be strong," especially publicly, and about not holding ourselves (or others) to that standard. The third piece is about how I worked through some of the most common insults used against women to make us feel small, and came to a point where they have no effect on me at all anymore.
Those pieces are about navigating shit we get from strangers. And here is one that may be helpful in navigating shit you get from the men in your lives: The Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck.
There's no simple recommendation I can make; certainly no universal one. The pieces I write about the harm that is the cost of this work (and I've written a lot of them over the years) tend to be more about validation and explaining steps I've taken to help me process, in the hope they may be helpful to others.
Lots of women are newly determined to make themselves heard, in a moment in which women are being shamelessly silenced and gaslighted from the highest reaches of their government. This will not be an easy road. And it will not be one on which many women find they can stay, especially if they are at a loss for how to deal with the blowback.
I will do my best to support you in finding ways to persist.
[Please feel welcome and encouraged to share your own experiences and/or resources you've found helpful in comments.]
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Alittletiefling: "What is the coolest/scariest/most interesting encounter you've had with a wild animal (outside a zoo or other manufactured experience)?"
I've also a few interesting experiences with wild animals—seeing a herd of wild mustang, making friends with a possum who learned to hang out on my back porch at dinnertime for a tasty treat, countless funny interactions with curious squirrels—but the best thing I've ever seen in my life has got to be the buffalo who was holding up traffic by taking a nap in the middle of the road at Yellowstone, until some impatient asshole in an RV decided to nudge him with his front bumper. The buffalo got up, turned toward him, and ran head-on into the dude's grill, completely destroying it. Then he snorted and sauntered away.
It was awesome. And everyone in the line of cars on either side applauded wildly for the buffalo.
This Is Real
I felt like I needed to stipulate right in the headline that this is not "fake news," because, well, it may be difficult to believe that this is where we are.
Following Betsy DeVos' confirmation as Secretary of Education, Republican Representative from Kentucky Thomas Massie introduced legislation to abolish the federal Department of Education.
Really.
The legislation, H.R. 899, is one sentence long: "The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018."
Really.
It already has at least seven co-sponsors: Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID).
Really.
In a press release, which you can read in its entirety at Massie's House website, Massie says: "Neither Congress nor the President, through his appointees, has the constitutional authority to dictate how and what our children must learn."
Really.
And: "Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children's intellectual and moral development."
Really.
And: "It is time that we get the feds out of the classroom, and terminate the Department of Education."
Really.
You might imagine that Massie's legislation is some sort of critical commentary on the selection of DeVos, but that would be wrong. Because DeVos almost certainly shares his opinion about the department she was just confirmed to run.
After all, as I have been observing since the day Trump selected her, DeVos' only qualification is her willingness to destroy the Department of Education.
She was chosen specifically to be the perfect partner for Trump, who has said he wants to break up the "government-run education monopoly," and for Pence, who has been destroying public education in Indiana for quite some time, and for Bannon, whose exploitation of ignorance is significantly aided by subverting public education.
The GOP has spent decades shouting at poor and/or marginalized people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and now they want to take away their best opportunity to access a pair of boots.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by unicorns.
Recommended Reading:
Anne: On Being Good
Fannie: [Content Note: Misogyny] Why Women Are (and Should Be) Leading the Resistance
Rafi: [CN: Racist violence; white supremacy] Emmett Till's Family Wants a Fresh Investigation into His Murder After Explosive New Revelations
Vivian: Obama's White House Photographer Is Throwing a Ton of Not-So-Subtle Shade at Trump on Instagram
Solomon: Conserving Chicago's Lungfish Legacy
Adam: A Scary New Kind of Malware Is Invading Banks All Over the World
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
