Question of the Day

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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Suggested by Shaker CJ: "What one thing about any fictional world would you most like to know? Although I'm not sure I could pick just one..."

Is Huell still sitting in that room?

image of Huell (Lavell Crawford) sitting in a hotel room by himself

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The Monday Blogaround

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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This blogaround brought to you by olive oil.

Recommended Reading:

Andrea Grimes: [Content Note: Rape culture] To the Men Who Are Not Responsible for My Problem

Sarah Kendzior: Voter ID Laws, Hackers, Gerrymandering — Just How Much Can a Democracy Take?

Samuel James: [CN: Racism; police misconduct] No, We Aren't the Same; Change Starts with an Acceptance of Truth

Anne Branigin: [CN: Racism; appropriation] Today in White Nonsense: Florida Woman Claims She's 'Transracial,' Identifies as Filipino

Kristen V. Brown: Lyme Disease Is Slowly Spreading Across the US East Coast

Princess Weekes: Apparently Mel Gibson Is "Family Friendly" Again? How Did We Let This Happen?

Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!

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Don Jr.'s Supercool Correspondence with Wikileaks

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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Julia Ioffe at the Atlantic: The Secret Correspondence Between Donald Trump Jr. and Wikileaks.

The messages, obtained by The Atlantic, were also turned over by Trump Jr.'s lawyers to congressional investigators. They are part of a long—and largely one-sided—correspondence between Wikileaks and the president's son that continued until at least July 2017.

The messages show Wikileaks, a radical transparency organization that the American intelligence community believes was chosen by the Russian government to disseminate the information it had hacked, actively soliciting Trump Jr.'s cooperation.

Wikileaks made a series of increasingly bold requests, including asking for Trump's tax returns, urging the Trump campaign on Election Day to reject the results of the election as rigged, and requesting that the president-elect tell Australia to appoint Julian Assange ambassador to the United States.

...Though Trump Jr. mostly ignored the frequent messages from Wikileaks, he at times appears to have acted on its requests. ...At no point during the 10-month correspondence does Trump, Jr. rebuff Wikileaks, which had published stolen documents and was already observed to be releasing information that benefited Russian interests.
Everything documented here is incredible, but I think my favorite part is Wikileaks trying to convince Don Jr. to allow Wikileaks to publish Donald Trump's tax returns, because "it will dramatically improve the perception of our impartiality. That means that the vast amount of stuff that we are publishing on Clinton will have much higher impact, because it won't be perceived as coming from a 'pro-Trump' 'pro-Russia' source."

It's so brazen. Just breathtakingly brazen.


I'm certainly not surprised by any of the disclosures here; that the Trump campaign was coordinating with Wikileaks was pretty evident, even with just a cursory comparison of their respective Twitter accounts at the time. But it's solid corroboration.

This presidency is illegitimate. Here is yet more proof.

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Another Roy More Victim Comes Forward

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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[Content Note: Sexual assault.]

Earlier today, another woman came forward to tell her story of being assaulted by Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. The details are harrowing. He warned her: "You are a child. I am the District Attorney of Etowah County If you tell anyone about this, no one will believe you."

He preyed on her because she was a child.

Now some Republicans are finally starting to back away from Moore. But not so much to stand with his victims or to condemn him as to distance themselves.


How much credit do any of them believe they deserve when their president is a confessed serial sex predator?

Roy Moore is garbage. His whole party is garbage. Dangerous, despicable garbage.

Not a single Republican leader should be the slightest bit surprised that their party attracts sex abusers when a central plank of their platform is forcing women et. al. to do with their bodies a thing they do not want to do.

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Louis CK Is a Liar

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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[Content Note: Rape culture.]

One of the first high-profile friends of Louis CK's to make any kind of public statement about his serial sex abuse is Marc Maron, a comedian and podcaster. Under the generous headline "Marc Maron Reckons With Louis C.K.'s Misconduct," the New York Times' Dave Itzkoff, who's carving out a great White Man Redemption Story niche for himself, reports:

Mr. Maron, a friend and colleague of Louis C.K.'s, said on his podcast that he was aware of at least one of the incidents detailed in the Times report. But when Mr. Maron asked if it was true, he said Louis C.K. had denied it.

"Sadly, I knew what most people knew," Mr. Maron said. "There was a story, out there, I guess going back several years. That there were unnamed people in the story. It took place in a hotel room in Aspen. It was always out there, but then it would pick up momentum at different times."

Describing his conversations with Louis C.K., Mr. Maron said: "I would say, 'This story about you forcing these women to watch you jerk off — what is that? Is that true?' He goes, 'No, it's not true. It's not real. It's a rumor.'"

"And I would say, 'Well, are you going to address it somehow, to handle it, to get out from under it, whenever it shows up?'" Mr. Maron continued. "He goes, 'No, I can't. I can't do that. It'll give it life. It'll give it air.' And that — that was the conversation. The other incidents, how would everybody know about that?"

..."I want to believe women, but in this particular instance, there was no one named in that story," he said. "There was no place for women to go tell this story. There was no women attached to it. I didn't know their names until Friday. So I believed my friend."
Whoops.

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Daily Dose of Cute

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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image of Sophie the Torbie Cat lying on her back beside me on the couch, stretching out her front leg while I rub her belly
Wee Sophs enjoys a good belleh rub.

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

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We Resist: Day 298

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

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 in the news today:

Earlier today by me: The Latest on Roy Moore, GOP Senate Candidate and Sex Predator.

[Content Note: Sexual assault; covers this entire section]

There are a number of new stories breaking regarding powerful men and sexual assault allegations. I am not excerpting any of them here; please take care to read them as you are able. Note that there are descriptions of sexual assault at links.

Ryan Parker at the Hollywood Reporter: George Takei Accused of Sexually Assaulting Former Model in 1981.

Jada Yuan at Vulture: L.A. Writer Says Richard Dreyfuss Sexually Harassed and Exposed Himself to Her in the 1980s.

Lisa Ryan at the Cut: Celebrity Hotel Owner André Balazs Accused of Groping Multiple Women.

Tim Molloy at the Wrap: Three More Women Accuse Atomic Blonde Producer David Guillod of Rape.

Mo Ryan at Variety: Supergirl, Arrow Producer Suspended Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations by Warner Bros.

Marlow Stern at the Daily Beast: Brand New Frontman Jesse Lacey Confesses to Serial Sexual Misconduct.

Jessica Testa, Tyler Kingkade, and Jay Edidin at BuzzFeed: The Dark Side of DC Comics: An Editor Rose Through the Ranks Even After Being Accused of Sexual Harassment.

Gwilym Mumford at the Guardian: Danish Authorities Investigating Claims of Sexual Abuse at Lars Von Trier's Studio Zentropa.

And on a related note:


* * *

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Andreo Calonzo and Jennifer Jacobs at Bloomberg: Trump Bonds with Duterte over Their Dislike of Obama, Avoids Human Rights. That is quite a headline.


[Previously: Trump and Duterte: A Match Made in Authoritarian Hell.]

Scott Neuman at NPR: Trump Caught Off-Guard by 'ASEAN-Way Handshake'. Ridiculous. But as we know, presidents who are unsophisticated and unworldly always look ridiculous on the global stage. There is a reason that President Obama never did, and it's because he was a resident and student of the world.

Meanwhile, back at home...

Juliet Eilperin and Amy Goldstein at the Washington Post: Trump Picks Alex Azar to Lead the Health and Human Services Department. "Trump has tapped Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive and a top health official during the George W. Bush administration, to lead the Health and Human Services Department. The decision to enlist the 50-year-old Azar — who served as president of Lilly USA, the biggest affiliate of Eli Lilly and Co., before stepping down in January to work as a health-care consultant — represents a pragmatic pick." Drain that swamp, yo!

Doina Chiacu at Reuters: Trump Urges Lawmakers to End Health Mandate, Cut Top Tax Rate. "Trump on Monday pushed lawmakers debating tax reform proposals in the Republican-controlled Congress to end the Obamacare individual mandate and cut the top income tax rate to 35 percent. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were debating their respective plans this week before heading home for the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday. Republicans are aiming to achieve a significant overhaul of the U.S. tax code and hand Trump his first major legislative victory. The two chambers hope to resolve their differences in time to enact the legislation by the end of the year." I hope they continue to fail. Big league.

* * *

[CN: White supremacy; eliminationism; Islamophobia; anti-Semitism] Matthew Taylor at the Guardian: 'White Europe': 60,000 Nationalists March on Poland's Independence Day. "Tens of thousands of nationalist demonstrators marched through Warsaw at the weekend to mark Poland's independence day, throwing red-smoke bombs and carrying banners with slogans such as 'white Europe of brotherly nations.' Police estimated 60,000 people took part in Saturday's event, in what experts say was one of the biggest gathering of far-right activists in Europe in recent years. Demonstrators with faces covered chanted 'Pure Poland, white Poland!' and 'Refugees get out!'. A banner hung over a bridge that read: 'Pray for Islamic Holocaust.' ...Some participants marched under the slogan 'We Want God!', words from an old Polish religious song that the US president, Donald Trump, quoted during a visit to Warsaw earlier this year."

[CN: Same as previous item] Rick Noack at the Washington Post: How Poland Became a Breeding Ground for Europe's Far Right. "Saturday's march was not organized or officially promoted by the governing right-wing Law and Justice party. Yet, despite the extremist slogans and posters, officials refrained from condemning the march, and even voiced public support: In a statement on Monday, Poland's Foreign Ministry defended the march as a largely patriotic event and 'a great celebration of Poles,' although the ministry condemned racist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic remarks. The interior minister had previously called the rally 'a beautiful sight.'"

* * *


[CN: White supremacy; anti-Blackness] Douglas Jacobs at the New York Times: We're Sick of Racism, Literally. "More than 700 studies on the link between discrimination and health have been published since 2000. This body of work establishes a connection between discrimination and physical and mental well-being. With all of these effects, it is no wonder that more than 100,000 black people die prematurely each year. ...[W]e know that racism doesn't have to be experienced in person to affect our health — taking it in the form of news coverage is likely to have similar effects. After all, studies have shown that when television viewers observe scenes depicting racism, their blood pressure remains elevated long after the scenes are over. That means it's reasonable to believe that every time we see a TV news segment or even get a notification on our phones about an event, statement, or policy that we believe represents discrimination, our bodies pay the price."


* * *

Alex Lockie at Business Insider: The U.S.'s Most Secretive Intelligence Agency Was Embarrassingly Robbed and Mocked by Hackers. "The National Security Agency, the U.S.'s largest and most secretive intelligence agency, has been deeply infiltrated by anonymous hackers, as detailed in a New York Times exposé published Sunday. The NSA, which compiles massive troves of data on US citizens and organizes cyberoffensives against the U.S.'s enemies, was deeply compromised by a group known as the Shadow Brokers, which has made headlines in the past year in connection to the breach, whose source remains unclear. The group now posts cryptic, mocking messages pointed toward the NSA as it sells the cyberweapons, created at huge cost to US taxpayers, to any and all buyers, including US adversaries like North Korea and Russia. 'It's a disaster on multiple levels,' Jake Williams, a cybersecurity expert who formerly worked on the NSA's hacking group, told The Times."

Meg Kelly at the Washington Post: All the Known Times the Trump Campaign Met with Russians. Spoiler Alert: It's a lot!


Kevin Maurer and Spencer Ackerman at the Daily Beast: Green Beret Discovered SEALs' Illicit Cash — Then He Was Killed. "Melgar, a staff sergeant in the Army's 3rd Special Forces Group, was specifically selected for an intelligence operation in the West African nation of Mali. He was well respected by the American Embassy staff and the partner forces there, a former U.S. Africa Command official said. But shortly before he died, Melgar told his wife that he had a bad feeling about two of his partners in that effort, both of whom were members of SEAL Team Six. ...Now those two Navy SEALs are under investigation for killing Melgar — an investigation, first reported by The New York Times, sending shockwaves throughout the special-operations community. Military experts were hard-pressed to think of another case where elite U.S. troops turned on one another." Fucking hell.


[CN: Climate change; video may autoplay at link] Andrew Griffin at the Independent: 15,000 Scientists Give Catastrophic Warning about the Fate of the World in New 'Letter to Humanity'. "A new, dire 'warning to humanity' about the dangers to all of us has been written by 15,000 scientists from around the world. ...If the world doesn't act soon, there be catastrophic biodiversity loss and untold amounts of human misery, they warn. ...'Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory, and time is running out,' the letter warns. 'We must recognize, in our day-to-day lives and in our governing institutions, that Earth with all its life is our only home.'"

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?

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"I got lost in other people's needs."

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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[Content Note: Reproductive coercion; stigma.]

In September, I mentioned sociologist Orna Donath's new book Regretting Motherhood, about Donath's five-year study of 23 women, all of whom regretted having children.

Donath has written a piece for the latest issue of Bust, which I highly recommend. It's so good, and she discusses the subject with such compassion and sensitivity.

As you know, I am a firm believer in making space for women to tell these stories without judgment or stigma, because I believe it's only within a context of hearing all kinds of stories about parenting that the next generation can make fully informed decisions on whether to parent themselves.

Writes Donath:

In the end, the aim of my research is not to shed light on the dark side of motherhood—I'm not trying to gather evidence to say "You see? There are negative sides to motherhood!" Instead, my goal is to question the systems of power that present women with only one possibility: that those who do not become mothers will surely regret it, while those who do never, ever will.

As a woman, as a daughter, as an aunt to three nieces, and as a feminist, I believe that all options should be equally available, and equally acceptable, to ensure that women are the only owners of our bodies, our lives, and our decisions.

It is society's responsibility to face up to the consequences of pressuring women into motherhood, and to look into the eyes of this regret, just as we were looked in the eyes and promised that motherhood is for the best for all of us. Being able to imagine more than one kind of future for ourselves might give us more room to consider our options and our capabilities, giving us the strength to undermine social pressure and, as a result, to reduce suffering and take better care of all women and children.

Regretting motherhood will not disappear if we deny its existence. For the sake of children and women, we should continue to talk about it.
Yes.

[Related Reading: I Cannot Truly Want What I Am Told I Must Have.]

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When I Was 16

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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[Content Note: Rape culture; description of sexual assault.]

While Roy Moore continues to defend himself, and is defended by others, on the basis that "dating" teenagers is no big deal, another woman has come forward alleging that former president George H.W. Bush grabbed her ass during a photo op, when she was 16 years old.

Says Roslyn Corrigan, bluntly: "I don't know, maybe it never really hit people that I was a child at the time and that goes beyond a guy being inappropriate in the workplace to a peer or somebody in his age range. I was a child."

She was a child.

We were all children, those of us who remember 16 as an age where things happened.

Sixteen was, for me, the year in which I learned that lots of men who, given any kind of power over me, would use it to sexually harass and/or assault me.

Three things stand out very clearly in my mind. They were not the first incidents of sexual harassment and/or assault I'd experienced, and they were not the last. But they comprise a series of formative events, at an age at which girls are often thought not to be children anymore.

The Politician.

I was invited to a luncheon by some local civic group, chosen as part of a group of students being honored for our community spirit or some bullshit. I can't even recall what the group was, or what the recognition was. All that remains is the memory that the luncheon was held in an event hall at a local park, and that each student was seated at a different table with members of the civic group.

I was seated at a table with all men. (It may have been a men's group.) One of the men at my table was a local politician. He was in his 50s. He had a booming voice and an imposing figure. He wore a brown blazer.

The entree was beef stroganoff. He asked me before my meal arrived, leaning in so close that I could feel his hot breath on my cheek, "Do you enjoy beef stroking off?"

I remember my face flushing with embarrassment. I remember feeling scared. I remember telling myself surely I'd misheard him.

When our meals arrived, he leaned in again. "How are you enjoying that beef stroking off? I like a good beef stroking off myself."

I ate in silence. My knee bobbed up and down anxiously.

After our plates had been taken away, he leaned in once more. "Did you like that meat in your mouth?"

I couldn't even look at him. I stared down at my hands.

I was a child.


The Teacher.

The junior drama teacher at the high school had a reputation as a "flirt." That's what adults said about him. What my teenage female peers said about him was that he was a "creep."

Girls in the upper classes dutifully warned freshman girls not to get trapped with him alone, in his office or backstage.

"He doesn't touch you," they told me, and I would tell girls in turn. "He just kisses you."

One night, after the Variety Show, when two of my friends and I had performed a medley of 60s songs in beehive wigs and white knee boots, we came offstage and he corralled us to "congratulate" us. Each in turn, before we even had a chance to register what was happening, he grabbed us by the shoulders and planted an open-mouth kiss on our lips.

His hands wandered, ever so briefly as he did it. It was fast; we were shaken. His mustache smelled like an old sandwich. He smiled at us — not a sinister smile at all, but a friendly one.

Like it was the most normal thing in the world for a teacher to try to French his students.

I was a child.


The Medical Assistant.

I grew up in a small town in Indiana that didn't have its own hospital. When I was around 11, we finally got our own permanent clinic, but it was small and didn't have much in the way of diagnostic equipment.

One day a week, or a month, or whatever, a portable MRI would arrive at the clinic, and everyone who needed a non-emergency MRI, and hadn't already traveled to a nearby facility with a permanent machine, would show up to get their scans.

I don't remember why I needed an MRI. Maybe it was because age 16 was when I started getting stomach pains that wouldn't go away, and yet seemed to have no discernible cause.

The medical assistant who was working the machine that day was a young man. He walked me out of the clinic into the mobile unit, and told me to lie down. I was wearing a turquoise cotton turtleneck. It was my favorite. It was the last time I wore it.

While I was lying down, he commented on the size and shape of my breasts. He touched them. He told me he couldn't believe I was only 16.

I was a child.

* * *

This is what I learned: That sexual abusers are the most selfish fucks on the planet.

They will steal anything and everything from you: Pride on a day when you are supposed to be honored; happiness on a day when you are meant to be happy; your good memories of days that are meant to make good memories; your trust; your sense of self; any semblance of safety.

Your childhood.

These three incidents are not the worst things that have happened to me. They're not even the worst cases of sexual harassment and/or assault that have happened to me.

But I don't engage in abuse ranking. They're still bad. It's all bad.

That is a line from the second season of Tig Notaro's One Mississippi. Kate, her producer played by her real-life wife Stephanie Allynne, is discounting incidents that happened to her as a child because they aren't as bad as what happened to Tig. "It's all bad," says Tig.

It's all bad.

And I was a child.

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The Latest on Roy Moore, GOP Senate Candidate and Sex Predator

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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[Content Note: Rape culture; child abuse.]

Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has long been known to be an aggressive bigot, was recently revealed to have a history of preying on and assaulting young girls, which he calls "dating young ladies."

Naturally, plenty members of his despicable party have been defending him, or couching their criticisms in the gross, victim-disbeliving caveat "if the allegations are true."


Moore has responded to the Washington Post's reporting by threatening to sue the paper and by appearing on Sean Hannity's show, where he shrugged off the accusations of being a serial predator by saying: "I don't remember dating any girl without the permission of her mother."

Moore is so deep in his own abusive garbage that he doesn't realize that makes the case against him. People who date age-appropriate partners don't need their mothers' permission.

Meanwhile, Moore is fundraising off the allegations, and Breitbart News has sent two reporters to Alabama with the mission "to discredit the Washington Post's reporting on Roy Moore's alleged sexual misconduct with teenagers."

He has slipped somewhat in the polls ahead of the December 12 election, but his supporters are largely standing by him.
Outside the local convenience store, a woman who gave her name as Carol said she has known Moore her whole life and called him a good man. Carol doesn't believe Moore's accusers, but she said even if the allegations are true, "there's a thing called grace — God's grace," noting that the allegations are decades old.

Inside the store, a man who declined to give his name said, "This is Republican town, man. (Moore) could have killed Obama, and we wouldn't care."
I'll bet.

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Open Thread

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, November 13, 2017
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image of a purple sofa

Hosted by a purple sofa. Have a seat and chat.

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The Virtual Pub Is Open

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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image of a pub Photoshopped to be named 'The Beloved Community Pub'
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]

Belly up to the bar,
and be in this space together.

(And please don't forget to tip your bartender!)

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The Friday Blogaround

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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This blogaround brought to you by baked potatoes.

Recommended Reading:

Jim Wright: Veteran's Day 2017

George Dvorsky: 'Harmless' Radioactive Cloud Drifts Over Europe Following Mysterious Nuclear Accident

Violet Blue: [Content Note: Rape culture; revenge porn] The Naked Truth About Facebook's Revenge Porn Tool

Casey Newton: [CN: White supremacy; abuse] Twitter's Verification Program Was a Mess from the Start

Teresa Jusino: [CN: Homophobic abuse; sexual harassment] Ellen Page Sheds Light on the Homophobic Side of Hollywood Harassment and Assault

Ragen Chastain: A Resort Just for Fat People

Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!

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Shaker Gourmet

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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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!

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Louis CK Begins His Redemption Crusade

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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[Content Note: Sex abuse; emotional manipulation.]

Yesterday, I noted: "Louis CK is a confident and sophisticated predator. And he is banking on a redemption arc, to allow him to keep doing it. Don't give it to him. Draw the line here, or he'll hurt more women."

And so it begins.


This afternoon, Louis CK issued the following statement, which is both dishonest and deeply self-serving, but naturally is being received as heroic in its courageous truth-telling:
I want to address the stories told to The New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.

These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was O.K. because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn't a question. It's a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly. I have been remorseful of my actions. And I've tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I'm aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position. I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn't want to hear it. I didn't think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it. There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with. I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.

The hardest regret to live with is what you've done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. I'd be remiss to exclude the hurt that I've brought on people who I work with and have worked with who's [sic] professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You, Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I've brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie. and every other entity that has bet on me through the years. I've brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen. Thank you for reading.
Fuck you, Louie.


Imagine being the kind of person who sexually assaults women and then writes a statement saying those women "admired" you. Not once, but four times.

I had a few further thoughts about Louis CK's statement:


The immediate (and entirely expected) pushback I got, in addition to the usual "Louis CK is a hero and you're a dumb bitch!" variety, was questions about what he could have done that would have been acceptable, productive, satisfying, helpful.


What I believe is that Louis CK has abused far more women than we know. What I believe is that he is concealing those additional crimes, in part behind his statement of "confession." What I don't believe is that he is sorry. Or that he has any intention of stopping.

I hope I'm wrong. I fear that I'm not.

I take up space in solidarity with his victims, known and unknown.

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Daily Dose of Cute

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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image of Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt lying on the couch on her back beside Iain, with Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat curled up between Zelda's back feet
The duo collectively known at Shakes Manor as Mazelda.

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Open Wide...
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We Resist: Day 295

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

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 in the news today:

Earlier today by me: Deplorables Defend Accused Rapist.

Oliver Holmes and Tom Phillips at the Guardian: Trump Attacks Countries 'Cheating' America at APEC Summit.
Donald Trump has abruptly ended the diplomatic streak he displayed on his 12-day tour of Asia by launching a tirade against "violations, cheating or economic aggression" in the region, just hours after heaping lavish praise on China.

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Friday, the US president's words had the tone of a fierce reprimand. The speech was clearly, sometimes explicitly, focused on China and other countries he blamed for predatory economic policies, accusing them of having "stripped" jobs, factories, and industries out of the United States.

"We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not tolerate them," he said, with audio speakers in the large hall crackling as Trump raised his voice at times.

...Trump addressed a largely mute and visibly stunned audience that included ministers from countries he accused of not "playing by the rules" as the US opened its economy with few conditions. "But while we lowered market barriers, other countries didn't open their markets to us," he said.

The US leader then went off-script to confront a man who was speaking audibly during the address and suggested he may be from a country that was cheating America.

"Funny, they must be from one of the beneficiaries," Trump said, laughing. "What country to do you come from, sir?" he added rhetorically.
An international humiliation. Again.

Heather Timmons at Quartz: Beijing Is Playing Trump "Like a Fiddle," an Ex-Ambassador to China Says. "Xi is an authoritarian leader who has brutally cracked down on political opposition and on citizens who question his policies, while attacking US interests. Past US presidents, both Democrat and Republican, have taken advantage of state visits to urge the Communist Party to stop stifling religious and political freedom. But Trump has not mentioned human rights once during his visit. ...The fact that Trump didn't mention human rights is only half of the problem, said Sophie Richardson, the China Director of Human Rights Watch. 'The other half of the problem is this grotesque adulation of Xi Jinping and the total failure to acknowledge that this is an authoritarian regime,' she said."

* * *

Carol E. Lee and Julia Ainsley at NBC News: Mueller Probing Possible Deal Between Turks, Flynn During Presidential Transition.
Federal investigators are examining whether former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn met with senior Turkish officials just weeks before [Donald] Trump's inauguration about a potential quid pro quo in which Flynn would be paid to carry out directives from Ankara secretly while in the White House, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation.

...Four people familiar with the investigation said Mueller is looking into whether Flynn discussed in the late December meeting orchestrating the return to Turkey of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Erdogan who lives in the U.S. Additionally, three people familiar with the probe said investigators are examining whether Flynn and other participants discussed a way to free a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, who is jailed in the U.S. Zarrab is facing federal charges that he helped Iran skirt U.S. sanctions.

...It is unclear how Flynn, as national security adviser, could have successfully carried out either alleged request. But any deal in which a government official would be bribed to secretly act on behalf of a foreign government could potentially constitute multiple federal crimes.

Investigators also are looking into what possible role Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn, may have played in any such efforts. The younger Flynn worked closely with his father at his lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group.
Holy shit.

Sam Thielman at TPM: Mueller Probe Interviews Stephen Miller. "Robert Mueller's probe into suspected collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government has interviewed top Trump aide Stephen Miller, according to multiple reports. ...Sources tell CNN that 'Miller's role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey' was among the topics discussed. Miller helped Trump draft a memo describing the reasons Comey should be fired. ...The letter Miller helped Trump write was several pages long and included more reasons to dismiss Comey, including the fact that Comey would not say publicly that his investigation of Trump's campaign was not focused on Trump himself, according to the Washington Post."

[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] Brian Ross, Rhonda Schwartz, and Matthew Mosk at ABC News: Trump Adviser Claims He Lied to FBI out of Loyalty to Trump. "George Papadopoulos, the Trump foreign policy aide who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, initially misled agents out of what he claimed was loyalty to [Donald] Trump, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. ...After the plea agreement was made public last month, Trump sought to distance himself from Papadopoulos, tweeting that 'few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar.'" One-way loyalty with Trump. Always.

Marc Bennetts at the Guardian: Russia Plans Retaliation Against US Media as Row over RT Escalates. "Russia's parliament has begun drafting tit-for-tat measures that would place severe restrictions on some US media outlets operating in the country, in a move that looks likely to plunge US-Russia relations to a new low. The announcement on Friday came shortly after the Kremlin-funded international news channel RT said it had been ordered by the US Department of Justice to register as a 'foreign agent' by Monday or have its bank accounts frozen. Russian president Vladimir Putin had previously warned that Russia would take retaliatory steps if RT, formerly known as Russia Today, was targeted by US authorities. ...'What the US authorities are doing today is an infringement of fundamental civil rights, of freedom of speech,' said [Russian parliamentary speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin]." The chutzpah!

* * *

Ana Campoy at Quartz: Most Puerto Ricans Have Water Now, But They're Afraid of Drinking It. "The share of Puerto Ricans with running potable water surpassed 85% on Nov. 8 for the first time since hurricane Maria hit the island seven weeks previously. But in some areas, most people still don't have running water, and for those who do it's not clear whether it's safe to drink. One such place is the mountain municipality of Utuado — ironically, the site of two major reservoirs. Only around one third of its roughly 30,000 inhabitants have running water, and many are still drinking only bottled water, or using filters or chlorine tablets to disinfect the water from the faucets. 'I don't recommend drinking tap water at all,' says Daniel González, a local resident. Running water returned to his home a week ago, but it's still coming out brown, he says."

Oliver Milman at the Guardian: Puerto Ricans Face Rain and Floods in Wrecked Homes Still Without Roofs. "Of all the basic necessities still missing for Puerto Ricans more than a month after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, one is almost immediately obvious: the lack of shelter. In neighborhoods across Puerto Rico, particularly outside the capital San Juan, many residents with damaged roofs have struggled to get even the most threadbare of defenses against the elements. ...FEMA said it has provided 65,000 tarpaulins to local authorities to distribute and has 100,000 more in a warehouse. Samaritan's Purse, an NGO, said it has given out 42,000 covers. But many people still are without any shelter over their heads."

Nidhi Prakash at BuzzFeed: Millions of Puerto Ricans Just Lost Power Again After a Line Repaired by Whitefish Energy Failed. "A major Puerto Rican power line repaired by the tiny Montana company Whitefish Energy failed Thursday morning, plunging almost all of the island, including parts of San Juan and other major cities, back into darkness. Just 18% of Puerto Rico now has power, according to the island's energy utility, down from 43% before the line failed on Thursday, wiping out a quarter of Puerto Rico's power generation."

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Alex Sosnowski at AccuWeather: Caribbean Storm to Eye Puerto Rico Amid Setback with Power Outages in San Juan. "A large area of downpours and locally gusty thunderstorms will continue to affect part of the Caribbean, included Puerto Rico, into next week. ...'Available observations around the island did not reveal any severe thunderstorms with high winds in Puerto Rico on Thursday,' according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller. [But] 'Given the delicate state of repair and lingering damage outside of the capital city of San Juan, it may not take much weather for possible setbacks to restoration efforts,' Miller said."

Laila Kearney, Nick Brown, and Hugh Bronstein at Reuters: In Puerto Rico, a Sinkhole of Rebuilding Struggles. "Along a stretch of highway in suburban Bayamon, Puerto Rico, construction workers tried desperately to make progress repairing a 100-foot-long sinkhole before the clouds rolled in. Previous rains had suspended work, as workers watched earth fall back into the hole. 'It has not wanted to stop raining' since Hurricane Maria, said Carlos Rivera, a 26-year-old contract worker at the site last month. ...Fixing just this one sinkhole required maneuvering a set of vexing logistical and financial hurdles that reveal why rebuilding this isolated island will take so much more time and work than in any storm-ravaged region of the mainland United States. The hole is only one of 3,500 reported incidents of hurricane damage to Puerto Rico-owned roadways, with repair costs estimated at $250 million."

* * *

[CN: Genocide] Multiple Signatories at the Guardian: The Rohingya Are Facing Genocide: We Cannot Be Bystanders. "Over the past two months, more than 600,000 Rohingya people have been driven from their homes, had their land destroyed, and endured torture and rape while searching for safety. ...The Rohingya are often described as among the most persecuted people on earth. They are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, and despite having lived in Myanmar's Rakhine state for centuries, they're refused citizenship. For years, their movement has been restricted, and they have been denied access to education, health care, and other basic services. ...Since 25 August, almost half the Rohingya population in Myanmar has been driven out [under the guise of fighting terrorism]. ...The international response to the Rohingya crisis has fallen far short of what's needed. The UN appeal is still underfunded, and world leaders have not put sufficient political pressure on the government."

Navine Murshid at the Washington Post: Why Is Burma Driving out the Rohingya — and Not Its Other Despised Minorities? "Why is Burma attacking only the Rohingya? As the Burmese military drives out upward of 600,000 Rohingya in what one United Nations official called 'a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,' most media analyses correctly highlight ethno-religious discrimination and economic motives. But that leaves us with the question: Why only the Rohingya? Burma, also known as Myanmar, has other hated ethnic groups. Since the country first gained independence from the British in 1948, its government has been fighting the Karen, the Karenni, the Kachin, the Shan, and the Mon. Those ethnic groups have had armed militias for decades. The Rohingya only recently spawned a small armed group — and most Rohingya disapprove of their methods. So why are the Rohingya being so brutally singled out? The answer lies in Burma's peculiarly stratified hierarchy of citizenship."

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Edith M. Lederer at the Associated Press/TIME: The U.N. Security Council 'Strongly Condemns' Crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. "The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a statement Monday strongly condemning the violence that has caused more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee from Myanmar to Bangladesh, a significant step that still fell short of a stronger resolution that Western nations wanted but China opposed. The presidential statement calls on Myanmar's government 'to ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State' and take immediate steps to respect human rights. It expresses 'grave concern' at reports of human rights violations in Rakhine by Myanmar's security forces against the Rohingya. These include 'the systematic use of force and intimidation, killing of men, women and children, sexual violence and … the destruction and burning of homes and property,' it says."

Bluntly, the Trump administration is not doing enough.

* * *


Yashar Ali at the Huffington Post: Trump Thinks Scientology Should Have Tax Exemption Revoked, Longtime Aide Says. "Donald Trump believes the Church of Scientology should have its tax exemption revoked, a longtime family aide and current top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development told an actress and producer in May. In an unsolicited Twitter message, Lynne Patton, who has worked for the Trump family since 2009, told actress Leah Remini of Trump's position and said she would interface with the IRS directly to seek more information in an effort to initiate revocation. Remini sent HuffPost copies of Patton's messages and has declined to comment further. It's not clear if Patton ever communicated with the IRS. But if Trump did express an opinion on the church and Patton did contact the IRS about it, as her message suggests, that would be a highly inappropriate level of interference with the IRS by the administration, one expert said."

Alex Isenstadt at Politico: Romney Moves Toward Senate Bid. "The Senate might seem like an unexpected landing place for the 70-year-old former Massachusetts governor and two-time presidential candidate. Yet those who've spoken with Romney in recent days are convinced he's prepared to jump in. After falling short in his quest for the White House and then being passed over by [Donald] Trump for secretary of state, friends say Romney still has unquenched political ambitions." And he probably thinks the time is right, since people now think even George W. Bush looks pretty good by comparison to Trump. But never forget that Mitt Romney thinks people aren't entitled to food.

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?

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Veterans' Day

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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image of three US veterans: a Latina woman, a Latino man, and a black man

Today is Veterans' Day in the US. (Technically, it's tomorrow, but it's being recognized today this year.)

Thank you to all the women and men who have served this country with decency in a military capacity, who have been willing to risk their lives to defend its borders, resources, and people.

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Deplorables Defend Accused Rapist

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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[Content Note: Sexual assault; rape apologia.]

As I have previously noted, the Republican Party does not have a solid history of taking sexual assault seriously, to put it mildly.

There was that time House Republicans tried to redefine rape so that it was only "real" rape if it involved force. Then there was the time that Senate Republicans blocked votes on military sexual assault legislation. There was that other time New York state Republicans blocked a proposal to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. And let's not forget that time when Georgia state Republicans didn't want to consider a proposal on rape kits and accused the Democratic sponsor of "politicizing" the issue to get votes.

There was that time former GOP Senator and two-time presidential candidate Rick Santorum said that pregnant rape victims should make the best out of a bad situation. And that time former GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin argued that pregnancy from rape is really rare, because "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." And that time Akin also accused women of lying about rape. And that time GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said that getting pregnant from rape is god's plan. And all the times Republicans have told women how to avoid getting ourselves raped, as if it's our responsibility to stop rapists rather than predators' responsibility to not rape people.

And then there's the current Republican president, whose opening salvo in his campaign was to call undocumented Mexican immigrants rapists; who compared trade deficits to rape — twice; who is himself a confessed serial sex abuser; and whose Secretary of Education has rewritten campus assault guidlines to favor predators.

This is hardly a comprehensive list. The litany of examples of Republicans blocking legislation that would address sexual assault or support survivors, and of Republicans saying inappropriate things about rape and/or its victims, is interminable. And intolerable.

So it's not exactly shocking that there are Republicans who are going to incredible lengths to defend Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of preying on and assaulting young girls.

Moore's campaign chair Bill Armistead issued a statement of denial, in which he leveraged the culture of silence around sexual assault as "proof" the allegations couldn't be true: "After over 40 years of public service, if any of these allegations were true, they would have been made public long before now. This garbage is the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation."

Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler said in Moore's defense: "Even if you accept the Washington Post's report as being completely true, it's much ado about very little."

Ziegler also offered one of the weirdest defenses: "Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus." I mean, that isn't even close to being right. In any way.

And then there was Paul Reynolds, the Republican National Committeeman from Alabama, who said, "My gosh, it's The Washington Post. If I've got a choice of putting my welfare into the hands of Putin or The Washington Post, Putin wins every time." Uh, okay.

Jonathan Gray, a Republican strategist, said that Alabama Republicans will still vote for Moore if it prevents a Democrat from winning the seat: "I think they'd rather put Satan up there and then get him removed in the next election than lose the chance to correct what they think has been an injustice for eight years."

Even many of the Republicans who didn't outright defend Moore carefully couched their statements with some variation on "if the allegations are true."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, speaking to reporters on Air Force One early Friday morning en route to Vietnam, said, "Like most Americans, the president believes that we cannot allow a mere allegation — in this case, one from many years ago — to destroy a person's life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside."

"The allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore are deeply troubling," National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Cory Gardner said in a statement. "If these allegations are found to be true, Roy Moore must drop out of the Alabama special Senate election."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, leaving the Senate chamber Thursday afternoon, said, "If these allegations are true, Roy Moore should step aside for all the obvious reasons. Very disturbing allegations."

Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who has been critical of Moore, also said Moore should withdraw as the nominee if the allegations are correct. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she was "horrified" by the Washington Post report, adding, "If this is true, he needs to step down immediately."

Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue also said Moore should withdraw if the allegations are true. "I mean, I'm sorry, but this is untenable — if they're true. I have no facts, I just saw the story. But it's very serious." Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said, "If there's a shred of truth to it, then he needs to step aside." Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins agreed: "If there is any truth at all to these horrific allegations, Roy Moore should immediately step aside as a Senate candidate."

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman added, "I think if what we read is true, and people are on the record so I assume it is, then he should step aside."
If it's true that Roy Moore is a rapist in addition to being a racist, Islamophobic, queer-hating, misogynist, anti-choice, Christian supremacist dirtbag, then his fellow Republicans think he should drop out.

Party of moral values, right there.


I CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T.

This entire party. For fuck's sake.

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It Is a Big Deal

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, November 10, 2017
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[Content Note: Rape culture; rape apologia; description of sexual assault.]

Last night, I started seeing a lot of defenses of Louis CK that used the familiar rape apologia strategy of minimizing the acts of sexual abuse he committed against at least five women (and almost certainly more). So I wrote a thread, a very blunt thread, about when that happened to me, which I've briefly mentioned here before.

I've turned that thread into a Moment, for anyone who wants to read it: "On the Gravity of What Louis CK Did, and Why Minimizing It Is Harmful."

This, in case it has not become obvious, is a significant part of why I have been doggedly amplifying the "open secret" about Louis CK for many years.

I know both the trauma of experiencing this sort of sexual abuse, and the inclination of many people to dismiss it as "no big deal."

I take up space in solidarity with the women he harmed. I believed them always, and I hope they are safe after speaking out.

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