Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Socchan: "What's your band name (real or imaginary)? My current imaginary band name is the Cautionary Accidentals."
Deeky's and my imaginary band is called Bad Hombre and the Nasty Woman. Obvs.
TV Corner: This Is Us
I finally saw this week's episode of This Is Us last night, and omgggg that was a doozy. What a truly amazing show. I don't want to say anything about the most recent episode here, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so instead I'll just leave this tweet from Milo Ventimiglia (who plays Jack) here:
Just in case you need a note after tonight's episode of #ThisIsUs. #PapaPearsonLovesYou. Tonight 9/8c on @nbc. MV pic.twitter.com/y8FwTGMlLS
— Milo Ventimiglia (@MiloVentimiglia) February 21, 2017
[Image in tweet is of Ventimiglia holding up a handwritten note reading: "Dear Sir/Madam: Please excuse _________ from work/school today, Wednesday. Last night was a very emotional episode of This Is Us. Thank you, Papa Pearson."]
Question: Do you think the show writers actually think Toby is a good boyfriend? Or do you think they are consciously writing a Nice GuyTM? Because whoa is he a textbook case of a Nice GuyTM, with all his manipulations of Kate.
Have at it in comments!
"Well, that's a nice thing to be known for. That's really nice."
This is just a really terrific interview with Keanu Reeves, who is one of my favorites. And it does not contain any discussion at all of electoral politics or our shitbird of a president, which made it an even bigger pleasure to read!
So, if you like Keanu Reeves, or even if you don't but would like to read about something else besides Donald Trump, you may enjoy it, too!
Note: There are spoilers for John Wick in it, if you haven't seen it yet but intend to see it.
What He Meant Was "Militarized"
As I mentioned earlier, this morning Donald Trump referred to his administration's deportatation enforcement as a "military operation."
"We're getting really bad dudes out of this country. And it's a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country," he said.
Later in the day, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said the complete opposite.
BREAKING: US Homeland Security Secretary Kelly vows `no mass deportations,' no use of US military in immigration enforcement.
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 23, 2017
Naturally, during today's White House Press Briefing, Sean Spicer was asked about the contradiction, and his answer was typically absurd and mendacious:
Sean Spicer explains Trump's use of the term "military operation" to describe deportations https://t.co/TF5wH3jD92 https://t.co/YoIFVjSZEF
— CNN (@CNN) February 23, 2017
REPORTER: The president said today that the deportations taking place under his watch are a military operation; Secretary Kelly said the military won't be involved in deportations. Did the president misspeak?Yikes.
SPICER: Yeah, so, I'll take the latter first: The president was using that as an adjective—it's happening with precision. And in a manner in which it's being done very, very clearly. I think we made it clear in the past, and Secretary Kelly reiterated it, what kind of operation this was. But the president was clearly describing the manner in which this was being done. And so, just to be clear on his use of that phrase— And I think the way it's being done, by all accounts, is being done with very much, very, a high degree of precision and in a flawless manner in terms of making sure that the orders are carried out and it's done in a very streamlined and efficient manner.
So, this is bullshit. That's clearly (to use one of Spicer's favorite words) not at all what Trump was saying. He literally said "it's a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country."
That is: The undocumented immigrants who have come to the U.S. are such dangerous people that it has obliged us to use military strength to remove them.
Which becomes even more clear in his statement immediately thereafter: "You see what's happening at the border. When you see gang violence that you've read about like never before, and all of the things, much of that is people who are here illegally. And they're rough, and they're tough, but they're not tough like our people, so we're getting them out."
Trump was clearly not talking about military precision. He was talking about heightened aggression, which is why his immigration memos included "the hiring of an additional 10,000 ICE agents [and the] expansion of detention facilities."
The word for which Trump was searching was militarized, which is exactly what it happening, irrespective of whether the actual U.S. military is employed in deportations.
And that is very troubling indeed.
Stopppppppppp. Just Stop.
[Content Note: Bigotry; privilege; rape culture.]
The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof is 'splaining at us again: "Trump Voters Are Not the Enemy."
Tolerance is a liberal value; name-calling isn't. This raises knotty questions about tolerating intolerance, but is it really necessary to start with a blanket judgment writing off 46 percent of voters?Deep breath.
...Go ahead and denounce Trump's lies and bigotry. Stand firm against his disastrous policies. But please don't practice his trick of "otherizing" people into stick-figure caricatures, slurring vast groups as hopeless bigots. We're all complicated, and stereotypes are not helpful — including when they're of Trump supporters.
Kristof is a wealthy, U.S.-born, non-Muslim, straight, white, cis man. The first way he is likely to be directly impacted by Trump's agenda is getting a tax break.
During the election, my next-door neighbors had a Trump sign in their front yard. When the news broke that Trump had openly admitted sexually assaulting women, that sign stayed up. Every time I walked out my front door, I was reminded that my neighbors were okay with a man doing to women something that was one of the worst things that has ever happened to me.
I was also reminded that they were okay with taking away my bodily autonomy. With harming marginalized people because of who they/we are. With supporting law enforcement policies that will get Black and brown and disabled people killed. With open hostility toward immigrants, about which I'm not supposed to care since my immigrant husband is, per their definitions, "one of the good ones."
I'm not "stereotyping" them. I'm judging them based on a choice they made and proudly advertised right on their front fucking lawn.
Where is the compromise with people who believe the things they do? We don't have a difference of opinion on the best way to achieve similar goals. We fundamentally disagree on who counts and who doesn't.
Not viewing them as my enemies is a luxury I simply don't have.
And it's because they view me as their enemy, and always have, even when I didn't regard them in kind.
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 35
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: Trans hatred] Sandhya Somashekhar, Emma Brown, and Moriah Balingit at the Washington Post: Trump Administration Rolls Back Protections for Transgender Students.
The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use public school restrooms that match their gender identity, taking a stand on a contentious issue that has become the central battle over LGBT rights.Which is impossible if those students aren't even allowed to take a piss in a restroom that corresponds with their gender.
Officials with the federal Education and Justice departments notified the U.S. Supreme Court late Wednesday that the administration is ordering the nation's schools to disregard memos the Obama administration issued during the past two years regarding transgender student rights. Those memos said that prohibiting transgender students from using facilities that align with their gender identity violates federal anti-discrimination laws.
...Although it offered no clarity or direction to schools that have transgender students, the letter added that "schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment."
Fuck this entire administration and their vile hatefulness. I categorically refuse to pretend that this is anything but rank hatred. Of children.
* * *
CPAC 2017 is already terrific:
.@KellyannePolls says she finds it hard to call herself a "feminist" because the movement is "anti-male" and pro-abortion. #CPAC2017
— Brenna Williams (@brennawilliams) February 23, 2017
Richard Spencer has arrived at #CPAC2017. No punch attempts so far pic.twitter.com/RorbpwyoCy
— Jack Holmes (@jackholmes0) February 23, 2017
Milo is out of @CPAC, but Scott Walker just made a tut-tutting reference to "angry mobs who stop people from speaking on campus."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) February 23, 2017
* * *
Rachael Bade and John Bresnahan at Politico: GOP to Bury House Resolution on Trump Conflicts. "House Republicans next week plan to derail a Democratic resolution that would have forced disclosure of Donald Trump's potential ties with Russia and any possible business conflicts of interest, according to multiple House sources. Seeking to avoid a full House vote on the so-called 'resolution of inquiry'—a roll call that would be particularly embarrassing and divisive for the right—Republicans will send proposal by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to the House Judiciary Committee for a panel vote on Tuesday, two Democratic sources said. The GOP-controlled committee is expected to kill the resolution."
Utterly appalling. Meanwhile, cue the caterwauling about how Democrats "aren't doing anything," when they are trying desperately, but Republicans keep abusing their majority status to quash any and all attempts at accountability.
Howard Fischer at the Arizona Capitol Times: Arizona Senate Votes to Seize Assets of Those Who Plan, Participate in Protests That Turn Violent. "Claiming people are being paid to riot, Republican state senators voted Wednesday to give police new power to arrest anyone who is involved in a peaceful demonstration that may turn bad—even before anything actually happened. SB1142 expands the state's racketeering laws, now aimed at organized crime, to also include rioting. And it redefines what constitutes rioting to include actions that result in damage to the property of others. But the real heart of the legislation is what Democrats say is the guilt by association—and giving the government the right to criminally prosecute and seize the assets of everyone who planned a protest and everyone who participated. And what's worse, said Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, is that the person who may have broken a window, triggering the claim there was a riot, might actually not be a member of the group but someone from the other side."
There's no way this will pass constitutional muster, so, should this pass, let us hope it gets to the courts before Trump manages to stack them with traitors and vandals.
[CN: Nativism] Betsy Woodruff at The Daily Beast: Undocumented Woman with a Brain Tumor Locked up by ICE. "Earlier this month, according to her lawyers, Sara's head started hurting. And on Feb. 10, at the detention center, she collapsed. The detention center staff had her hospitalized at Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson, Texas. And there, according to her lawyers, doctors concluded she had a brain tumor. ...As of press time, she can't talk to her lawyers or family. Sara's lawyers...said they've also been blocked from speaking to her on the phone because of ICE rules limiting communication with hospitalized detainees—despite what they believe is a situation of medical urgency."
Despicable. And why was Sara detained? Because she's an asylum-seeker who missed a deadline to file her paperwork.
Meanwhile, at TPM, Esme Cribb reports: Trump Says His Admin's Deportation Enforcement Is a 'Military Operation'. "'All of a sudden for the first time we're getting gang members out, we're getting drug lords out, we're getting really bad dudes out of this country,' Trump said during a listening session with manufacturing CEOs. 'And it's a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country.'" THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
Tara Palmeri at Politico: How Trump's Campaign Staffers Tried to Keep Him off Twitter. "The key to keeping Trump's Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up—and make sure it made its way to Trump's desk. ...One Trump associate said it's important to show Trump deference and offer him praise and respect, as that will lead him to more often listen. And if Trump becomes obsessed with a grudge, aides need to try and change the subject, friends say. Leaving him alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House."
This is terrifying when one contemplates what Trump will be like in a crisis, when there is no time to soothe his ego to deliver advice on issues of far greater importance than his Twitter usage.
[CN: Islamophobia] Rumana Ahmed at The Atlantic: I Was a Muslim in Trump's White House. "I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman—I was the only hijabi in the West Wing—and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included. Like most of my fellow American Muslims, I spent much of 2016 watching with consternation as Donald Trump vilified our community. Despite this—or because of it—I thought I should try to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration, in order to give the new president and his aides, a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America's Muslim citizens. I lasted eight days."
Andy Towle at Towleroad: Voters Trust the Media and Courts over Trump by a Wide Margin. "American voters today give President Donald Trump a negative 38–55 percent job approval rating, his worst net score since he took office... 'President Donald Trump's popularity is sinking like a rock,' said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. 'He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, level headedness and the ability to unite. And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows.'" Also: A majority of people say Trump is an embarrassment. Correct.
Christopher Matthews at Axios: Mnuchin's Ambitious 3% Growth Plan. "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is hard at work on the Trump Administration's tax plan, which he says could come by August, according to interviews Thursday with the Wall Street Journal and CNBC. Mnuchin says that tax reform, along with other Trump policies, can move the U.S. back to its postwar average of sustained 3% growth. But given a slower-growing population and recent weak productivity growth, economists are skeptical that such a goal is realistic." I am no economist, but I am also skeptical, since I've spent the last 30 years of my life watching trickle-down economics not working!
Margaret Hartmann at New York Magazine: Secretary of State Tillerson Looks to Media to Get President's Attention. "Tillerson is looking for a way to signal to both staffers and foreign governments that the State Department's influence isn't waning. Politico reports that he's asked aides to draft a paper explaining ways that he can increase his access to reporters and boost his media presence." There's only room for ONE EGO in the Trump administration, sir! And it isn't yours.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton held a townhall event yesterday, and it didn't go so well. A woman whose husband is dying yelled at him and demanded to know what kind of health insurance he has (for which we pay), and he got owned by a 7-year-old. How Cotton and his colleagues can listen to people plead with them to do the right thing and just continue to shit all over us is beyond me. They have no empathy, and no decency.
[CN: Anti-Semitism; terrorism] The Anti-Defamation League received a bomb threat yesterday. And Trump stayed silent on one of the nation's most prominent Jewish organizations being terrorized.
[CN: Police misconduct; racism] Matt Hamilton, Kate Mather, Melissa Etehad, and Frank Shyong at the L.A. Times: 300 Protest in Anaheim After Videos Show Off-Duty LAPD Officer Firing Gun in Dispute with Teens. "Many of the protesters were young people who had seen the video on their social media feeds and wanted to do something. Jocelyne Gutierrez, 21, and her friend Karla Zuniga, 20, decided to join the protest at around 9 p.m. Gutierrez said she saw herself in the boy in the video. 'It could have been me, my friend or someone from my family,' she said." If you have not seen the video, you can view it here. Wilfred Chan at Fusion has more on the incident and the boy who was nearly shot.
It's appalling to me that anyone could look at that video and think, "Yeah, that's how I want cops to behave."
Police violence like this did not start with the election of Donald Trump, but it's only going to get even worse under his "law and order" regime.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Dump Trump with Integrity: Part Two
[Content Note: Disablism; appearance and name mockery.]
Earlier this month, I wrote a piece in which I explained that I don't care what Donald Trump looks like and that I'm not interested in armchair diagnoses of his mental health. Noting that Trump is himself an inveterate bully, I argued: "We must fight in a way that does not simply replicate the very harm we're resisting."
Still, there remains an endless stream of lookism, fat hatred, disablism, and name mockery up and down my social media timelines.
Almost exactly a year ago, before Trump had even won his party's nomination, I wrote a piece about why that's a problem, on several counts:
If you care about not stigmatizing people with mental illness, or not tacitly condoning looks-based bullying, or allowing people to go by whatever name they choose (which has particular importance to trans people), then you will be keen to find other ways to talk about Donald Trump.I then acknowledged that it can be useful—and feels good—to have some creative shorthand to convey just how terrible Trump is, so I provided 50 ways to say that Trump is the fucking worst that don't rely on appearance or name mockery, nor entrench stigma around mental illness.
Which is to say nothing of the fact that calling him crazy, or making fun of his appearance, or mocking his name, doesn't convey even a little how heinous his policies are and what a dangerous person he is.
That's why it's important to say what you mean. If you mean Donald Trump is indecent, say that. If you mean that Donald Trump is a bully, say that. If you mean that Donald Trump is a vainglorious poseur who incessantly disgorges rank bigotry masquerading as policy, then say that.
Since here we are, a year later, and Trump is now the president (shudder) and the shitty language used to talk about him is more prevalent than ever, below are 50 more creative ways to say that Trump is the fucking worst. Please feel welcome to borrow them as needed!
Or, you know, come up with your own. If I can come up with a hundred of them, everyone else should be able to come up with one, and avoid the lazy shorthand of calling him fat, orange, and crazy.
Enjoy!
1. Donald Trump is a diabolical scourge.
2. Donald Trump is a tyrannical goblin with a chronic case of the mouthshits.
3. Donald Trump is a nightmarish creepazoid with infinite apathy for people who aren't just like him.
4. Donald Trump is Russian nesting doll of character defects.
5. Donald Trump is a mendacious gasser.
6. Donald Trump is the unrivaled czar of the deplorables.
7. Donald Trump is the vomitous conductor of a chorus whose only tune is white aggrievement.
8. Donald Trump is a contemptible hope thief.
9. Donald Trump is Putin's favorite dolly.
10. Donald Trump is a despotic blunderbuss.
11. Donald Trump is a vengeful carbuncle who cares about "law" and "order" only insofar as he can wield them to harm marginalized people.
12. Donald Trump is a despicable flim-flam man.
13. Donald Trump is a galactic empathy-free zone.
14. Donald Trump is an insalubrious slop-monger.
15. Donald Trump is a rumbumptious conspiracy cowboy.
16. Donald Trump is a human assembly line of uncapped crap juice.
17. Donald Trump is a white rage wrangler.
18. Donald Trump is a repugnant specimen of predatory putrescence.
19. Donald Trump is a leering clawbaw.
20. Donald Trump is a scummy gremlin whose cup runneth over with rancid hate-bisque.
21. Donald Trump is a vainglorious gold toilet aficionado who believes wealth is an acceptable substitute for decency.
22. Donald Trump is the anthropomorphized sound of stomping.
23. Donald Trump is a mince-talking numpty.
24. Donald Trump is a torpid stooge.
25. Donald Trump is an ambulatory receptacle of humanity's worst instincts.
26. Donald Trump is an inexhaustible ruiner of dreams.
27. Donald Trump is a prodigious connoisseur of white resentment.
28. Donald Trump is an unbridled cad.
29. Donald Trump is a galloping roaster.
30. Donald Trump is an intemperate grumbletonian who thrives on invented negativity.
31. Donald Trump is the living embodiment of a steam engine whose tank has been filled with bile.
32. Donald Trump is a bigotry curator.
33. Donald Trump is a vaccine against citizen indifference.
34. Donald Trump is a picnic basket filled with dogshit sandwiches.
35. Donald Trump is a white supremacy cyclone.
36. Donald Trump is the human equivalent of a dumpster view out your hotel window.
37. Donald Trump is a noisome jackass.
38. Donald Trump is King Crumblebun of the Wilted Glade.
39. Donald Trump is a mighty fart.
40. Donald Trump is a conniving bandit.
41. Donald Trump is a reprehensible lout whose only joy is cruelty.
42. Donald Trump is an empty shell with a façade of intolerable pomposity.
43. Donald Trump is an enormous syringe of poison.
44. Donald Trump is a filthy soul-crusher.
45. Donald Trump is a self-propelling Rube Goldberg machine that always ends in catastrophe.
46. Donald Trump is a policy sewer.
47. Donald Trump is a towering edifice of malevolent rot.
48. Donald Trump is a stupendous shitlord.
49. Donald Trump is a skinbag filled with whiny entitlement and hideous malice.
50. Donald Trump is a breathing portrait of toxic masculinity.
You're welcome.
Freedom Is
Paul Ryan tweeted this on Tuesday:
Freedom is the ability to buy what you want to fit what you need. Obamacare is Washington telling you what to buy regardless of your needs.— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) February 21, 2017
My brief response:
I tried to buy long term disability insurance this year and was denied because I'm judged slightly likely to use it. https://t.co/C1a41Ta6UX— Ana Mardoll (@AnaMardoll) February 22, 2017
This year at my workplace, I tried to opt-in to "extra" insurance that most of my co-workers don't use or buy. A special add-on option for "long-term disability insurance". The idea is that I opt-in for this extra special insurance and I pay the insurance company a little with each paycheck I earn. If anything happens to me and I have to go out on long-term disability leave, the insurance company sends me money; if I'm lucky and don't ever have an accident that sends me out on leave, then all the money I paid to the insurance company is their profit and my loss.
I am, as my economics professor in college described insurance, making a bet that I hope to lose. I'm putting $20 on red for the big pot and praying I don't win because "winning" here means a catastrophic health catastrophe. The money I'd "win" in that event would be a welcome safety net, but I wouldn't be celebrating with champagne truffles.
So I tried to do the Responsible Consumer thing like Paul Ryan wants and exercise my freedom to buy what I wanted to fit what I needed. And you know what happened? I was rejected by the insurance company for my preexisting condition of Scoliosis. They capitalized it in the rejection letter: capital-s Scoliosis. I have a condition that makes it slightly more likely I will need long-term disability insurance, so I can't buy long-term disability insurance because I might use it.
I don't feel very free. I feel hurt and angry and scared and upset and rejected.
My first scoliosis surgery was performed before I was legally old enough to enter the workforce. There has never been a time in which I could have opted into this "long-term disability insurance" early, pre-condition, and kept it through the development of said condition. Not that I suppose this matters, since I'm pretty sure Paul Ryan supports the right of insurance companies to drop patients once they become expensive. That's an odd kind of freedom.
The reality is that I'm not allowed to "buy what I want to fit what I need", and Paul Ryan isn't making steps to enable me to do so. Even if I agree with his definition of freedom—which, for the record, I don't—I'm not free in his vision for America. Not even close.
This Is Very Concerning
Last night, passengers on a domestic flight from San Francisco to New York disembarked, only to be greeted by customs agents demanding to see their "documents."
My flight from SFO to JFK. We were told we couldn't disembark without showing our "documents." pic.twitter.com/9ugQspTqeX
— Anne Garrett (@annediego) February 23, 2017
These are customs agents forcibly checking the ID of every passenger deplaning from Delta flight 1583 tonight at JFK. A domestic flight. pic.twitter.com/fHMgyzCjo5
— Britton Taylor (@brittontaylor) February 23, 2017
can someone on here with more followers than me RT this:
— kitty sparkle pants (@jenannie) February 23, 2017
this is a very close friend of mine. customs checking IDs at JFK, flight fr SFO pic.twitter.com/NpfzjO2t2g
Anne Garrett, who is a video editor for Vice, further commented: "They had to explain what they meant by documents bc everyone was so confused."
This is not normal.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Odalis Aiza: "What is your favorite song, and why?"
It's really hard to pick just one song, but, right now, Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" is stuck in my head, so I'll go with that. It is a perfect song.
It has also been deemed by SCIENCE! to be "the most feel-good song of all time," and Maude knows I can use some feeling good these days. Which is probably why it's constantly stuck in my head!
Thank you, Freddie Mercury! You are keeping me going!
Tweet of the Day
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the...Congress.https://t.co/TEAXDPEPrt
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 22, 2017
Fat Fashion
This is your semi-regular thread in which fat women can share pix, make recommendations for clothes they love, ask questions of other fat women about where to locate certain plus-size items, share info about sales, talk about what jeans cut at what retailer best fits their body shapes, discuss how to accessorize neutral colored suits, share stories of going bare-armed for the first time, brag about a cool fashion moment, whatever.
* * *
My new favorite shirt, care of Torrid:
This isn't an overtly political shirt, but trust that I am wearing it because there are a lot of damn people in this country—including and especially the president—who could use a Schoolhouse Rock! refresher course on how shit works.
Anyway! As always, all subjects related to fat fashion are on topic, but if you want a topic for discussion: Got a favorite political clothing item?
Have at it in comments! Please remember to make fat women of all sizes, especially women who find themselves regularly sizing out of standard plus-size lines, welcome in this conversation, and pass no judgment on fat women who want to and/or feel obliged, for any reason, to conform to beauty standards. And please make sure if you're soliciting advice, you make it clear you're seeking suggestions—and please be considerate not to offer unsolicited advice. Sometimes people just need to complain and want solidarity, not solutions.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by the color blue.
Recommended Reading:
Ijeoma: [Content Note: Harassment; dehumanization] When a Woman Deletes a Man's Comment Online
Kath: [CN: Fat hatred] You Are Not Subtle with Your Hate
Laura: Transition, Tattoos, and Body Ownership
Liv: [CN: Sexual violence; blinking gif at link] Stop Applauding a Rapist for Admitting He Raped Someone
Libby: Facebook Sponsors CPAC, Which Sucks and Is Bad
Keith: [CN: Racism; bullying] Brazilian Soccer Player Targeted with Racist Taunts for Entire Game, Brought to Tears
Kenrya: [CN: Death penalty; racism] SCOTUS Says Racially Biased Testimony Sentenced Black Man to Death
Esme: [CN: Video may autoplay at link] White House Pushes Back on Report That Conway Is 'Sidelined' from TV
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Colonialism; state violence.]
"The camps are not Standing Rock. The rise of the encampments was a profoundly important moment in the history of the Standing Rock Sioux, and for all of us, but that moment is not a place, or a people. That place, and those people, will endure, long after the Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, and Donald Trump have turned to dust. The Standing Rock Sioux have many battles ahead, and they are not done advocating for themselves or their people. Their last stand, and ours, has yet to come. Our people wove dreamcatchers out of razor wire in Standing Rock. They will not be undone today."—Kelly Hayes, in her terrific piece on Standing Rock, which is being raided this afternoon.
I wanted to highlight Kelly's beautiful words about survival, because it is important to recognize the magnitude of this resilient resistance in response to relentless state violence.
That said, I don't want to minimize what's happening at Standing Rock today, which is both cruel and unnecessary. A gross intersection of corporatism and colonialism, as police forcibly remove native people from their land once more.
The resistance is admirable; what obliges it is contemptible. No one would choose being admired for standing up to oppressors over not having oppressors in the first place.
I take up space in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux.
Daily Dose of Cute
Because she loooooooves making trouble!
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 34
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:
Across the nation, Republican members of Congress are holding town halls, to which an unusually large number of people are showing up, because they are concerned about the GOP's promised repeal of the Affordable Care Act and/or the many other issues of concern to lots of citizens these days. So, naturally, Donald Trump had something to say about that.
The so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2017
And, naturally, I had something to say about his having something to say about that.
It's called organization. Your chaotic dumpster fire of an administration should try it sometime. https://t.co/z5vrdKLpUi
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 21, 2017
The GOP spent years sneering at President Obama for being a community organizer. How y'all like organized communities now? Still chuckling?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 21, 2017
And the wonderful Donna Brazile noted, in response to Republicans' bitter complaints and conspiracy-mongering: "Stop calling taxpayers who attend townhall meetings paid agitators. We are citizens who pay the salary of public servants. #Democracy."
Fucking right. Engaged citizens pay the salaries of those dismissing engaged citizens as paid shills. Never forget it.
* * *
[Content Note: Trans hatred; video may autoplay at link] Amanda Terkel at The Huffington Post: White House: States Should Get to Decide Whether to Discriminate Against LGBTQ Students. "White House press secretary Sean Spicer gave a clear indication Tuesday that the new administration will not be a forceful defender of transgender rights, saying President Donald Trump believes that issue should be left up to the states." Translation: The people who are most vulnerable by virtue of where they live are least likely to get the protection they need and deserve.
[CN: Nativism] Mallory Shelbourne at The Hill: DHS Confirms Plan to Send Non-Mexican Migrants to Mexico. "Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials confirmed Tuesday that they are working on a plan to send undocumented immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens, ProPublica reported." Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was supposed to be one of the "good" Trump nominees. Of course, in order to make that argument, one had to ignore his history of atrocious views on human rights. And now here we are.
Meanwhile, per Reuters: "JUST IN: Mexican foreign minister says 'will not accept' new U.S. immigration proposals, speaking ahead of Tillerson, Kelly meeting."
[CN: Nativism] Joel Rose, Richard Gonzales, and Linda Smitherman at NPR: Homeland Security Outlines New Rules Tightening Enforcement of Immigration Law. "Immigrant rights advocates say the rules are written so broadly that they make anyone in the country illegally a target for deportation—potentially, as many as eight to 11 million people. 'In my many years of practicing immigration law, I have not seen a mass deportation blueprint like this one,' said Maria Elena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center."
[CN: Self-harm] The BBC: Mexican Man Kills Himself After Being Deported from US. "A Mexican man has apparently taken his own life just half an hour after being deported from the United States. Guadalupe Olivas Valencia, 45, jumped from a bridge at the border after he was deported for the third time. ...Witnesses said Mr. Olivas was shouting that he did not want to return to Mexico and seemed to be in severe distress. ...Mr. Olivas was a native of Sinaloa, one of Mexico's most violent states and the stronghold of the cartel formerly led by jailed drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. Many Mexicans cite high levels of violence as a reason for leaving their homeland for the US." This makes me so fucking angry and so fucking sad. I am truly heartbroken by what my government is doing, has been doing, will be doing even more to undocumented immigrants.
[CN: Racism] Imani Gandy at Rewire: There Is Much for Black People to Fear from Trump's 'Law and Order' Presidency. "Trump doesn't have a clue about what goes on in Black communities. In his view, we are all utterly jobless; going to schools that are ill-equipped to educate us; and walking down so-called inner-city streets dodging bullets, risking a gunshot to the chest with every step that we take. As the self-announced 'least racist person,' Donald Trump finds this state of affairs unacceptable. But Trump doesn't appear to understand what an 'inner city' even constitutes, aside from a place where all Black Americans live in abject poverty. He has no idea of the terror overpolicing can inflict in Black communities—yet he continuously propagates myths about crime to justify that overpolicing."
Ashley Welch at CBS News: Study Sees U.S. Life Expectancy Falling Further Behind Other Countries. "Life expectancy in the United States is already much lower than most other high-income countries and is expected to fall even further behind by 2030, new research published today predicts. ...The United States also lacks universal health coverage available in other high-income countries and has the largest share of unmet health care needs due to financial costs."
[CN: War on agency] Nicole Knight at Rewire: Montana GOP Attacks Roe with Dubious Fetal Viability 'Science'. "GOP-backed legislation in Montana would set fetal viability at 24 weeks of gestation and outlaw abortion care at that point, with no exceptions."
[CN: Homophobia] Michael Fitzgerald at Towleroad: Montana Republicans Kill LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill. "GOP Rep. Greg Hertz said the bill should not come to the floor because the issue is better-handled on the local level and passing a statewide law would be a 'mandate' that could divide some communities."
David Weigel and Robert Costa at The Washington Post: Trump's America Will Be on Vivid Display at Annual Conservative Gathering.
Thousands of activists will arrive in Washington this week for an annual gathering that will vividly display how Trump has pushed the Republican Party and the conservative movement toward an "America first" nationalism that has long existed on the fringes.CPAC begins today and lasts four days. Other speakers include Trump, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, Sean Hannity, Rick Santorum, and Wayne LaPierre. The complete list of speakers can be found at their website. It's quite a line-up.
...Panels scheduled for the four-day [CPAC] conference include how the left does "not support law enforcement"; why the United States can't have the same security standards as heaven ("a gate, a wall, and extreme vetting"); and a discussion of 'fair trade' that will put Breitbart editor Joel Pollak and progressive anchor Ed Schultz, who hosts a show on Russian-owned RT, on the same side.
...This year's CPAC schedule represents a marked shift toward Trump's politics and penchant for showmanship. Nigel Farage, the pro-Brexit politician from Britain who spoke to an emptying room in 2015, will speak the same morning as Trump. Reality TV star Dog the Bounty Hunter will appear with a super PAC trying to draft Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a regular Trump supporter on the cable news circuit, into Wisconsin's 2018 Senate race.
...White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who led Breitbart before joining Trump's team and has been a standard-bearer for conservative populism, will speak Thursday alongside his colleague, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
...And Breitbart, which has been a sponsor of CPAC for years, has more visibility than ever. As Bannon has pointed out to associates, a site that once organized panels titled "The Uninvited" for guests too controversial for CPAC is now shaping the movement's agenda. The annual Breitbart party, usually held at the outlet’s Washington office, has been upgraded to an exclusive cruise along the Potomac River.
...Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally who has given a series of speeches recently on "Trumpism," said he is "impressed that CPAC has very intelligently anticipated the direction that Trump is going to take the country and understood that he'll be the dominant voice on the right for the foreseeable future."
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Are Republican Investigations Hampered By Republican Collaboration?
We're barely into the second month of the Trump regime, and journalists continue to drop bombshells such as the Washington Post's reveal that Michael Flynn discussed dropping sanctions on Russia with their ambassador before the inauguration. On Friday, the New York Times reported that Trump's personal lawyer and other associates, including a Ukrainian politician, had hand-delivered to Flynn their "peace plan," a backdoor method for lifting sanctions against Russia. (As Business Insider reports, the stories about this "peace plan" keep changing.) Also on Friday, members of the Senate intelligence committee had a 3-hour meeting with James Comey, one from which they emerged remarkably tight-lipped. What is going on?
The Republican-controlled Congress, of course, has to power to investigate all of this—the summer email hacks, Flynn's Russia connections, Trump's Russia connections, or anything else it darn well pleases (*cough cough emails*). So what is the GOP response to the mounting impression that, yes, Trump's team had repeated contact with Russian intelligence during the election, as was alleged in the New York Times on February 14?
To put it charitably: not much. In the Senate, there are promises from a handful of Republican Senators that the Intelligence and/or Armed Services Committees will look into this. But any hope of an independent bipartisan investigation seems pretty far away at the moment. And in the House, GOP officials are even less interested in investigation. In fact, as described by NBC News, House intelligence committee chair Devin Nunes has turned his wrath on the leakers, very much following Trump's line that they are the problem.
One part of what's going on is obvious, as Rand Paul admitted the other day: the Republicans are very busy with their plans to roll back the 20th century. Investigating Trump will certainly not make that easier.
But before it goes down the memory hole, let's also remember:
It wasn't just the DNC that was hacked. Way back in July, there was a probe into whether Russian hackers had also penetrated the Democratic Congressional Committee. In December, the New York Times followed up that story with a look at Russian-linked hacks that had been aimed at specific Democratic House candidates…and only Democratic candidates.
After the first political advertisement appeared using the hacked material, Mr. Luján wrote a letter to his Republican counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee urging him to not use this stolen material in the 2016 campaign."The N.R.C.C.'s use of documents stolen by the Russians plays right into the hands of one of the United States' most dangerous adversaries," Mr. Luján's Aug. 29 letter said. "Put simply, if this action continues, the N.R.C.C. will be complicit in aiding the Russian government in its effort to influence American elections."
Ms. Pelosi sent a similar letter in early September to Mr. Ryan. Neither received a response. By October, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a "super PAC" tied to Mr. Ryan, had used the stolen material in another advertisement, attacking Mr. Garcia during the general election in Florida.
Some of the Democrats used that material as well, in their primary races, but it's striking that the hacks were intended to harm members of one party only. And that Ryan had nothing to say about it.
Mitch McConnell in the Senate had something to say about it: don't mention it. The Post reported in December that after leaders of both parties were briefed on suspected Russian meddling in the election, Mitch McConnell opposed any kind of bipartisan announcement, going so far as to threaten Obama with trying to throw the election if he came forward.
So of course Republicans don't want a full investigation that would reveal their own complicity in hushing up the problem. They have other things to do! Jason Chaffetz of the House Ethics Committee has the time to keep persecuting those tied to Hillary Clinton, and to complain about leaks. But not to investigate Russian hacking.
That's the same Jason Chaffetz, by the way, who inappropriately Tweeted about Comey's letter in late October, claiming the case against Clinton had been reopened, and publicly revealing the letter before Democratic leaders even saw it. Yet here he is very worried about people who leak material. (And Sid the Science Kid. And whether or not the National Parks somehow had advance knowledge of Obama's national monuments decisions. And Hillary Clinton!)
At this point, the generous interpretation of GOP stonewalling is that they're merely trying to ram their garbage agenda through Congress. Less charitably, there seems good reason to suspect that many of them don't want their fall 2016 foot-dragging on foreign interference in the election to gain greater scrutiny. It might not have been a criminal act for Mitch McConnell to threaten Obama if he went to the American people with this information, but it was a nakedly cynical, partisan, and anti-democratic one.
And on the House side—were there direct contacts between any House GOP campaigns and Guccifer 2.0?
The longer they wait to investigate the harder it will be. I'm sure they know that perfectly well. They are giving Trump and Co. time to destroy documents and silence witnesses.
But the longer they wait, the more complicit the GOP appear to be. What did Congressional Republicans know about Russian hacking, and when did they know it?
