Shakesville

Today in Rape Culture

[Content Note: Sexual harassment and assault.]

On Monday, I wrote about Chef Mario Batali "stepping away" from his businesses after allegations of sexual harassment. On Tuesday, I mentioned in comments that New York restaurateur Ken Friedman had also been accused of sexual harassment.

At the Cut, Lisa Ryan reports that Friedman reportedly had a private area at one of his restaurants, known as "the rape room," where Batali allegedly assaulted multiple women, including an unconscious woman.

The Spotted Pig, located in Manhattan's West Village [and co-owned by Friedman], was a regular late-night spot for Batali, who stepped down Monday from his food empire amid sexual-misconduct allegations. Like other VIP guests, after the restaurant's dining room closed at night, Batali would frequently hang out on the third floor — an invitation-only space that employees and industry insiders claim has been nicknamed the "rape room."

According to the Times, Friedman made it clear that regular restaurant rules do not apply on the third floor, and guests frequently groped female employees there. The restaurant's employees claim they frequently witnessed Batali's sexual aggression in the private space — and that Friedman knew it was going on.

...A former server told the Times about Batali, "We called him the Red Menace." She continued, "He tried to touch my breasts and told me that they were beautiful. He wanted to wrestle. As I was serving drinks to his table, he told me I should sit on his friend's face."

Batali told the Times in a Tuesday email, "Though I don't remember these specific accounts, there is no question I have behaved terribly."

Female employees were served up as bait by one predator for his fellow predators. This is absolutely sickening — and it's emblematic of why, as Rebecca Traister observed in a terrific piece, "This Moment Isn't (Just) About Sex. It's Really About Work."

This is about whether women have the basic fucking right to make a living — and to get to and from work — without being harassed and assaulted as the cost of our survival.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt coming in from the yard, which is covered in a thin layer of snow

Snow dog in the (very little bit of) snow.
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 328

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 (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) 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: Doug Jones Won! and Republicans Attack Team Mueller as Corrupted by Bias.

Andy Towle at Towleroad: Trump: I Knew Roy Moore Would Lose. "Given his need to think he's right about everything, it's not surprising that Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that he knew Roy Moore would lose the special Senate election in Alabama, despite recording robocalls and campaigning for the vanquished child molester. Tweeted Trump: 'The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!'" Oh my god. Shut up, Trump. JUST SHUT UP.

Shane Savitsky at Axios: Omarosa Out at White House. "The White House stated this morning that Omarosa Manigault resigned as the Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison effective January 20, per the AP. Manigault originally rose to public prominence as a contestant on [Donald] Trump's former reality show The Apprentice."

The White House says she resigned, but:

Sources say General Kelly did the firing and Omarosa is alleged to have acted very vulgar and cursed a lot and said she helped elect President Trump. The word is a General Kelly had it and got rid of her.
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) December 13, 2017

Definitely not that Trump ordered Kelly to fire the nearest Black woman in retribution for Black women delivering the Alabama Senate race to Jones last night because Trump is literally the human form of the conservative id, then? https://t.co/T7HIzPYJlm
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 13, 2017

[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] The Editorial Board at USA Today: Will Trump's Lows Ever Hit Rock Bottom?

With his latest tweet, clearly implying that a United States senator would trade sexual favors for campaign cash, [Donald] Trump has shown he is not fit for office. Rock bottom is no impediment for a president who can always find room for a new low.

...And as is the case with all of Trump's digital provocations, the president's words were deliberate. He pours the gasoline of sexist language and lights the match gleefully knowing how it will burst into flame in a country reeling from the #MeToo moment.

A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.

This isn't about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the basic decency of each man was never in doubt.

Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand, is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.

They go a little easy on Bush here, in my opinion: I definitely doubted Bush's basic decency more than once during his presidency, like when he lied us into a war that killed or displaced more than a million Iraqis or tasked his Justice Department with finding a legal defense of torture or outed a spy for political retribution. But the fact that Trump is deserving of condemnation in comparison even to the president who did those things, well, that's notable. And reverberatingly terrible.

* * *

Amanda Michelle Gomez at ThinkProgress: Obamacare Enrollment Is Winding Down. How Successful Was Trump's Sabotage? "In fact, not only did the Trump administration scale back the advertisement budget, officials barely advertised open enrollment by word of mouth — which is free. There were a couple of tweets from agency accounts. But the president, the man with the largest bully pulpit, was largely mute on Obamacare open enrollment, unless he was badmouthing it. While the Trump administration took a backseat, other organizations — with significantly less money and manpower — looked to fill the void. Groups like Get Covered and the Indivisble ACA Signup Project formed. President Barack Obama, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials Andy Slavitt and Lori Lodes, and even late night host Jimmy Kimmel plugged HealthCare.gov."

[CN: War on agency] Amy Littlefield at Rewire: Merger Could Make Catholic Health Giant 'Too Big to Fail,' Threatening Reproductive Health.

Two Catholic hospital giants are considering merging to create the largest hospital operator in the United States, granting unrivaled power to a system that would restrict access to reproductive health care.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the merger of Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health would create "an entity of unprecedented reach, with 191 hospitals in 27 states and annual revenue of $44.8 billion."

The article omits any mention of the threat to reproductive health care posed by the merger. But reproductive health advocates expressed grave concerns about the consolidation of power by an entity that restricts access to such care on religious grounds.

"These systems will have even greater financial and political clout and it will become more and more difficult for people to suggest that denying women reproductive health care is not appropriate," Lois Uttley, director of MergerWatch, told Rewire.

Catholic hospitals, which account for one in six acute-care beds nationwide, follow directives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which restrict access to gender-affirming care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, and end-of-life options. As these health systems expand their clout, the Trump administration and the U.S. Supreme Court have moved to give them broad new leeway to restrict reproductive health access for patients and workers.

This is big news, and big trouble for pro-choice patients and any patient with a transgressive body. Fuck.

[CN: War on agency] Casey Quinlan at ThinkProgress: Parental Notification Laws Delay Minors' Access to Abortion Care, Study Finds. "Parental notification laws requiring parents to be involved in a minor's decision to get an abortion result in delayed abortion care and a decrease in abortions for minors, according to a new study [published in the Journal of Adolescent Health]. These laws do not increase certainty in a minor's decision to get an abortion or help improve parental support. ...In fact, after implementation of the parental notification requirement, the proportion of abortions that happened in the second trimester went from 23 percent to 26 percent among minors."

Authoritarianism Watch. https://t.co/sr16XmHMmE
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

[CN: White supremacy] Akilah Johnson at the Boston Globe: Boston. Racism. Image. Reality. "A national survey commissioned by the Globe this fall found that among eight major cities, black people ranked Boston as least welcoming to people of color. More than half — 54 percent — rated Boston as unwelcoming. ...Here in Boston, a city known as a liberal bastion, we have deluded ourselves into believing we've made more progress than we have. ...The median net worth of non-immigrant African-American households in the Boston area is just $8, the lowest in a five-city study of wealth disparities. It's hard to ignore the dramatic contrast to the $247,500 net worth for white households in the Boston area."

[CN: Climate change; hurricane] Damian Carrington at the Guardian: Global Warming Made Hurricane Harvey Deadly Rains Three Times More Likely, Research Reveals. "Hurricane Harvey's unprecedented deluge, which caused catastrophic flooding in Houston in August, was made three times more likely by climate change, new research has found. Such a downpour was a very rare event, scientists said, but global warming meant it was 15% more intense. The storm left 80 people dead and 800,000 in need of assistance. The scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) initiative usually publish their assessments of the role of climate change in extreme weather events around the world as soon as possible. However, in this case they waited for the work to be confirmed by peer review because of the current US government's opposition to strong action on climate change."

[CN: Police brutality] Alfonso Serrano at Colorlines: Police Shootings Are a Bigger Problem Than Previously Thought. "The report [by Vice], 'Shot By Cops and Forgotten,' looked at the 50 largest police departments based on full-time employees, which covered about 148,000 staffers who serve 54 million Americans. ...The report also found that the number of unarmed people shot by police is undercounted, and that American police shoot people at more than twice the rate calculated in previous analyses."

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

The What Happened Book Club

image of Hillary Clinton's book 'What Happened' sitting on my dining room table, with my Hillary action figure standing on top of the book, her arms raised over her head

This is the ninth installment of the What Happened Book Club, where we are doing a chapter a week.

That pace will hopefully allow people who need time to procure the book a better chance to catch up, and let us deal with the book in manageable pieces: I figured we will have a lot to talk about, and one thread for the entire book would quickly get overwhelming.

So! Let us continue our discussion with Chapter Nine: Change Makers.

* * *

This was a very fascinating chapter to read, because it really gets to the heart of what I said about a zillion times during the last election (and in its aftermath): The differences among the left were largely those of process, not policy.

That is, we mostly share the same policy goals, but have disagreement on the best way to get there.

I've written so many words on this subject already, most recently here, so I will spare you another endless essay on the subject of effective incremental progressivism. Suffice it to say, this is one of the reasons I was and continue to be a Hillary Clinton supporter.

This passage spoke powerfully to me:

I had been raised to believe in the power of reason, evidence, argument, and in the centrality of fairness and equality. As a campus liberal in the foment of the sixties, I took "consciousness raising" seriously. But talking about fairness alone wouldn't get a ramp built for this girl's wheelchair at the local public school. Raising public awareness would be necessary but not sufficient for changing school policies and hiring and training new staff to give students with disabilities and equal education. Instead of waiting for a revolution, the kind of change this girl needed was more likely to look like the sociologist Max Weber's description of politics: "a strong and slow boring of hard boards." I felt ready to do it.

That is very similar to how I feel about politics — and I say that as someone who is on the awareness-raising side of it. My job is to create the need and the space for politicians to do the right thing, and then advocate for them to do it. Neither of us can achieve progress without the other.

I love that Hillary quoted that Weber line, too. I still remember the first time I read that, in a Sociology 101 class my freshman year at university. I thought: Okay, yes, this makes sense, and it is both warning and directive, and I take both.

Republicans Attack Team Mueller as Corrupted by Bias

[Content Note: Disablist language.]

Republicans are slavering at an opportunity to try to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, because his investigators are human beings, some of whom have a very common opinion of Donald Trump:

Two FBI officials who would later be assigned to the special counsel's investigation into Donald Trump's presidential campaign described him as an "idiot" and "loathsome human" in a series of text messages last year, according to copies released on Tuesday.

One said in an election night text that the prospect of a Trump victory was "terrifying."

Peter Strzok, an FBI counterintelligence agent, was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller's team earlier this year following the discovery of text messages exchanged with Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer.

Hundreds of the messages, which surfaced in a justice department investigation of the FBI's inquiry into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, were provided to congressional committees.

The existence of the text messages, disclosed in news reports earlier this month, provided a line of attack for Trump, who used the revelation to disparage FBI leadership as politically tainted. Republicans have also seized on the exchange to suggest the Mueller team is biased against Trump.

The issue is likely to be a focus of a congressional hearing on Wednesday involving deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel in May and oversees his team's work.

...The texts seen by the AP began mid-2015, soon after the FBI launched its email server investigation, and continued over the next year and a half as the presidential race was in full swing.

At the New York Times, Nicholas Fandos notes: "Democrats say the pattern is becoming clear: As Mr. Mueller moves closer to Mr. Trump's inner circle, Republicans try to discredit federal law enforcement and undercut the eventual findings of the special counsel. The Republican effort may also be intended to blunt the political repercussions should Mr. Mueller be fired, Democrats say."

That is exactly right. Congressional Republicans know damn well that any investigator in the federal government has his or her own political opinions and that we trust them to do their jobs as objectively as is humanly possible anyway. Federal investigators vote. They have views on policy and politicians.

And, sometimes, their opinions about politicians they're investigating are shaped by what they learn through the investigative process, as opposed to their opinions shaping the investigative process.

Simply having an opinion about Trump — no less one that has been expressed by members of his own cabinet — is not evidence of bias. If Republicans want the public to believe that Mueller's team is intractably corrupted by bias, they need to find and disclose evidence of how negative opinions of Trump actually influenced the direction of the investigation. Otherwise, it's just an accusation that presumes an unsubstantiated conclusion.

They're hoping the hint of bias is enough. And among their base, many of whom substitute accusations for facts about their ideological opponents all the time, it may be.

But for the rest of us, it's just another transparent attempt to protect the indefensible Trump from accountability. So they can pass a tax cut. And whatever other legislative acts of destruction they've got in their pockets.

Doug Jones Won!

In a remarkable result last night, Democrat Doug Jones bested Republican Roy Moore in the Alabama special election to fill Jeff Sessions' vacated seat. It was a close one — so close, in fact, that Moore is threatened to demand a recount before the results are certified. So it's not officially over yet, but: Doug Jones won.

In his speech, Doug Jones wishes his wife a happy 25th anniversary and thanks Black and Latinx voters and wishes Jewish voters a happy Hanukkah and calls for the funding of CHIP and says he campaigned on decency and now all the tears of joy and relief are slipping from my eyes.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 13, 2017

Doug Jones, and the Democratic voters of Alabama, defeated a bigot predator who was the candidate of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Specifically, the Black voters of Alabama defeated him.

Some exit poll numbers https://t.co/Vk1E2Qq5y7 pic.twitter.com/RdyvobaDYu
— Mark Berman (@markberman) December 13, 2017

If you can't see the images embedded in the tweet, one graphic shows that 26% of overall voters were Black, and 66% of overall voters were white, with 67% of white voters going for Moore and Black voters overwhelmingly going for Jones at 96%. The second graphic breaks it down by gender: 72% of white men and 63% of white women supported Moore, while 93% of Black men and 98% of Black women supported Jones.

Tonight is another good reminder that Black Southern Democrats are the heart of this party, and should be represented in key national leadership positions.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 13, 2017

As I have written before: That Black women should be leading the Democratic Party and shaping its future shouldn't be a controversial suggestion. No other group who has been so reliably right as a voting bloc would be questioned as having earned leadership and influence. Again: Black Democratic women have demonstrated that they make good political choices. For a very long time.

I am keen to see them lead. And I am keen to see the Democratic Party better serve their Black constituency. I believe strongly that Black leadership in the party is the only way that will happen.

I also hope that the Democratic Party and left-leaning voters all across this nation are keeping their focus on Republican voter suppression efforts, and not getting overconfident because of this win. The story that isn't being told about this special election is that the Republican Party didn't kick its voter suppression effort into high gear, because Roy Moore wasn't worth exposing their new sinister, undemocratic tricks before 2018.

They'll slink away from this one, and then whip out the shock and awe during the midterms. That's seemingly the plan, anyway — which is why we have to be extremely vigilant, expect the worst, and work hard to prevent it.

Okay. Anyway!

Congratulations to Doug Jones and all of his supporters in Alabama! YOU DID IT!

As for Donald Trump, Roy Moore, and their deplorable supporters everywhere, I will let Adam Scott (who played Ben Wyatt on Parks & Rec) have the final word:

You lost. Now go eat a fart. https://t.co/C4DA14Q8un
— Adam Scott (@mradamscott) December 13, 2017

Open Thread

image of a red couch

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

Question of the Day

Suggested by Shaker Sue Kerr: Have you ever visited Pittsburgh?

I have! And I like it very much! Yinz have yourselves a very nice town there.

Alabama Senate Special Election Open Thread

I have no idea how this thing is going to go tonight, including how late it's going to go, which depends a lot on how close it is. Or not close.

There isn't much left to say. It's all just crossed fingers at this point. But just in case anyone needs it, here's a thread for discussion, as I know lots of us will be biting our fingernails as we watch the results come in.

Tax Cuts Will Solve Everything Because MAGIC!

That's the Republican argument, anyway — even though we all know damn well the only problem that tax cuts are meant to solve is putting even more money in the pockets of the already-wealthy investor class and corporate owners.

To that point, the Republican Party is doubling down during reconciliation:

Congressional Republicans are in advanced talks to lower the top tax rate for individuals from 39.6 percent to 37 percent as they finalize a massive $1.5 trillion tax package, said three people familiar with the negotiations.

The move follows complaints from wealthy taxpayers in New York and elsewhere that their taxes could go up under the legislation because of other changes it makes to the code.

The change, if finalized, would amount to a major tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. And it would be certain to spark a furious response from Democrats who are unanimously opposed to the legislation which they already have been casting as a giveaway to corporations and the rich.

...Lawmakers are also settling on a corporate rate of 21 percent, higher than the 20 percent corporate rate passed by each chamber, but still a massive decrease from the current 35 percent corporate rate.

Meanwhile, at least one corporate executive is making clear this isn't what he wants. (And why would he? Smart execs know destroying the economy isn't good for business.) Amna Nawaz and Alyssa Lapertosa at ABC report: [Content Note: Video may autoplay at link.]

Todd Carmichael is one of the few chief executives in America to publicly condemn Republicans' plans to slash the corporate tax rate and rewrite the tax code.

Why bash a plan that would be a boon for his shareholders? Carmichael says he's willing to declare what other executives won't: the bill may be good for his business, but it's bad for the country.

And to be even more accurate: The bill may be temporarily good for his business, but anything that is bad for the country won't be good for business forever. It's a short-term gain, at best, at the expense of long-term corporate health.

Carmichael's biggest concern over the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" is that it's giving a large tax break to corporations at a time when they don't necessarily need it. Drawing on comparisons from the way his grandparents stockpiled goods during The Great Depression, he explains why he believes giving a tax break to corporations now is bad.

"A stimulus package is like a bunker," he said. "It's the soups and crackers and all those things that are in your basement in case something goes wrong. The fact that we're eating that for dinner is dangerous. Because in years we might need it. And it won't be there."

Yup.

Shaker Thumbs

Shaker Thumbs is your opportunity to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a product or service you have used and that you'd recommend to other Shakers or warn them away from.

Today I'm giving thumbs-up to two products that were recently mentioned by Shakers in response to Shaker Nitro_Mom's Question of the Day about favorite gadgets: Shaker hopefulnebula told us about the DoohicKey multitool, and Shaker DesertRose told us about the resqme seatbelt cutter and window glass breaker car escape multitool.

As I am an irrepressible everyday prepper, these both sounded like things I needed. So they are both now on my keychain.

image of the two products on my keychain

I also got an extra resqme tool for Iain (who already has a pocket multitool). In fact, the link above goes to the resqme two-pack that I ordered, FYI. I hope neither of us has any need to use them!

Thanks very much to Nitro_Mom for the question, and to hopefulnebula and DesertRose for their recommendations. ♥

Anyway! Give us your thumbs-up or thumbs-down in comments!

[Just to be abundantly clear, I am not affiliated in any way with DoohicKey nor with resqme, nor am I receiving any form of payment from either of them.]

I Write Letters

[Content Note: Anti-feminism.]

Dear Washington Post:

What are you even doing?

This is an extremely shitty headline, @washingtonpost. pic.twitter.com/ATq4xg47LJ
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

Can you understand, @washingtonpost, how profoundly insulting that is to actual feminists who have been working incredibly hard to fight this administration, and taking all kinds of abuse as a consequence? https://t.co/p5SBBYtDGX
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

The @washingtonpost suggests that Kellyanne Conway saying she's not a feminist (thus prompting dictionary searches of "feminism") is more headline-worthy than all the feminist work done all year. In a year of the Women's March AND Me Too. https://t.co/5hW0vnb1fB
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

Do I really need to point out that privileging the unintentional awareness-raising of feminism by a woman rejecting the label over the intentional, thoughtful, deliberative work of actual proud feminists is itself deeply anti-feminist?

And over a woman's byline, no less.

Gross, WaPo. Gross.

No Love,
Liss

[If you cannot see the embedded screencap of the headline, it reads: "'Feminism' is Merriam-Webster's word of the year, thanks in part to Kellyanne Conway."]

Daily Dose of Cute

This is how Dudley looks at Iain while he's eating a cheese sandwich.
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 327

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 (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) 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: Donald Trump Must Resign and Special Election Today in Alabama.

Erica Werner and Damian Paletta at the Washington Post: Congress Could Finalize Deal to Reconcile House and Senate Tax Bills as Soon as Today, Top Republican Says. "Lawmakers are on the verge of striking a tentative agreement that would reconcile tax bills passed separately by the House and Senate, and an announcement could come later Tuesday or sometime Wednesday, a top Senate Republican said Tuesday. Republican Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 3 Senate Republican, said in an interview that negotiators are reviewing a proposal they received late Monday from House leaders. ...Both bills included as their central feature a massive reduction in the current 35 percent tax rate down to 20 percent. But lawmakers have been discussing pushing it back up as high as 22 percent to free up money for other changes they want to make."

In other words: While everyone has their eyes on Alabama, Republicans will figure out some garbage compromise in order to pass their garbage tax bill which will destroy the nation as we know it.

Erica L. Green at the New York Times: New Higher Education Bill Rolls Back Obama-Era Safeguards. "Congressional Republicans begin work on Tuesday on an extensive rewrite of the law that governs the nation's system of higher education, seeking to dismantle landmark Obama administration regulations designed to protect students from predatory for-profit colleges and to repay the loans of those who earned worthless degrees from scam universities. But in its systematic effort to erase President Barack Obama's fingerprints from higher education, the measure before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce could undermine bedrock elements that have guided university education for decades."

Republicans do not know how to govern. They only know how to destroy. Republicans do not know how to govern. They only know how to destroy. Republicans do not know how to govern. They only know how to destroy. Republicans do not know how to govern. They only...

Mike Allen at Axios: Trump Lawyers Want Second Special Counsel Appointed Now. "Trump's legal team believes Attorney General Jeff Session's Justice Department and the FBI — more than special counsel Robert Mueller himself — are to blame for what they see as a witch hunt. The result: They want an additional special counsel named to investigate the investigators."

Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, and Rosalind S. Helderman at the Washington Post: Inside Trump's Legal Team: Trying to Protect the President from Mueller's 'Killers'.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of a dozen-plus lawyers and investigators have proven stealthy in their wide-ranging Russia probe. They have surprised the White House with one indictment after another, and summoned [Donald] Trump's confidants for lengthy interviews. In the case of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort alone, court filings show, they have collected more than 400,000 documents and 36 electronic devices.

Mueller and his deputies are, in the fearful word of some Trump loyalists, "killers."

Trump's response, by contrast, is being directed by John M. Dowd, the president's personal lawyer retired from a large firm who works essentially as a one-man band, and Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer who works out of a small office in the West Wing basement, near the cafeteria where staffers get lunch.

Dowd and Cobb, along with attorney Jay Sekulow, serve not only as Trump's lawyers but also as his strategists, publicists, therapists — and, based on Dowd's claim that he wrote a controversial presidential tweet, ghostwriters.

...Many in the Washington legal community chide them as being indiscreet, error-prone, and outmatched.

That sounds an awful lot like the narrative of the 2016 election: Hillary Clinton and her team were hyper-competent, organized, professional, ethical, and poised to win, while Donald Trump's team was a bunch of inexperienced, incompetent, unethical losers. Which makes me fearful that Trump's got a Plan B to deal with Mueller, just like he had a Plan B to win the election, when fair and square wouldn't do.

I'm the wettest of wet blankets, I know, but overconfidence that Trump will lose is very dangerous. It's frightening how many people stubbornly refuse to learn that lesson. Never underestimate a cheater.

Max Bergmann and Max Boot at the Guardian: Robert Mueller Is Closing In on Trump: Congress Must Protect His Investigation. "We are headed for a collision. Congress needs to act now to protect the Mueller investigation, head off a crisis, and make clear that the president is not above the law. Fortunately, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are currently crafting legislation designed to deter Mueller from being fired. While this legislation is far from a panacea, it will help to tie Trump's hands. But most importantly, it would send a signal to the country that the that the rule of law reigns supreme."

Angie Drobnic Holan at PolitiFact: 2017 Lie of the Year: Russian Election Interference Is a 'Made-Up Story'. "Trump continually asserts that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election is fake news, a hoax or a made-up story, even though there is widespread, bipartisan evidence to the contrary. When the nation's commander-in-chief refuses to acknowledge a threat to U.S. democracy, it makes it all the more difficult to address the problem. For this reason, we name Trump's claim that the Russia interference is a hoax as our Lie of the Year for 2017." Welp.

* * *

[Content Note: Nativism; torture] ADC: Somali Nationals Humiliated and Degraded by ICE.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is extremely troubled by recent direct reports it has received of inhumane and degrading treatment of 92 Somali nationals by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. The treatment occurred aboard a flight departing Louisiana and landing in Senegal. The flight, which left the U.S. on December 7, was intended to land in Somalia, but was grounded in Senegal due to technical issues with the plane. The plane sat on the tarmac for nearly 24 hours, with the passengers not permitted to get off of the plane. Ultimately the flight was diverted back to Miami, Florida, where it landed on late Friday evening. For nearly 46 hours passengers on the plane remained shackled, were not given adequate food or water, and denied access to a working restroom.

With a lack of a working restroom, ADC has received reports of some passengers being forced to relieve themselves in empty bottles, while others urinated on themselves. The air condition on the plane was not working, and the temperature was at an inhumane level. Reports also indicate that that ICE officials and Senegalese security personnel were extremely abusive throughout the entire transport process.

This is absolutely appalling. ICE is out of control. And there is very little hope that they will be held accountable as long as there's a white supremacist nativist sitting in the Oval Office. Seethe.

[CN: Nativism; displacement] Nina Lakhani at the Guardian: This Is What the Hours After Being Deported Look Like. "Luz María Hernández gazes blankly across the shaded courtyard, clutching a cellphone in one hand and a sodden handkerchief in the other. Less than 48 hours ago, Hernández, 45, was deported to Tijuana after 25 years as an undocumented migrant in southern California. Her five children, aged three to 23, were born in California, and they now have to live without their mother. Minutes before being escorted to the border, US immigration agents informed her that she was banned from entering the US for 10 years. Sitting tensely on a patio chair within a gated migrant shelter just a couple of miles from the border, Hernández is dazed, weepy, and tormented about what to do next." Awful. This is unconscionable.

[CN: Nativism; abuse] Tina Vasquez at Rewire: 'I Am Not Hopeful at All': More DACA Recipients Share Their Stories. "Once again, congressional Republicans are playing with the lives of 800,000 young people whose status in this country hangs in the balance. Their status now depends on how skillfully lawmakers can craft legislation that uses them as bargaining chips for tougher immigration laws–including more border wall funding, immigration agents, and increased enforcement of nonviolent 'criminals.' In other words, to save 'DREAMers,' as they've become known, Congress will have to agree to triple down on targeting the undocumented members of DREAMers' mixed-status families." I am so angry about this.

My immigrant family takes up space in solidarity with immigrants to this nation, irrespective of their legal status.

* * *

[CN: Sexual assault and/or harassment. Covers entire section.]

Susan Cornwell at Reuters: U.S. House Democratic Women Seek Probe of Trump Misconduct Accusations. "More than 50 female Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Monday for a congressional investigation into allegations by various women of sexual misconduct against [Donald] Trump, who has denied the accusations. 'We cannot ignore the multitude of women who have come forward with accusations against Mr. Trump,' the lawmakers wrote in their letter, though a formal inquiry was unlikely to result because Republicans control the agenda in Congress."

Ashley Parker at the Washington Post: Trump Seeks to Dismiss Sexual Harassment Allegations as 'Fake News'. "Trump on Tuesday sought to discredit both the news media and some of the women who have accused him of sexual harassment, calling the allegations against him 'fabricated stories' and 'fake news.' 'Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia — so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met,' Trump wrote in a tweet. 'FAKE NEWS!'"

Judd Legum at ThinkProgress: This Is the List of 'Eyewitnesses' the White House Says Exonerate Trump. "On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders promised that she would produce a list of eyewitnesses to exonerate [Donald] Trump from allegations of sexual harassment and assault. In a statement, the White House said these eyewitnesses 'totally disputed in most cases' the accusations that women have raised against Trump. ...Overall, at least 14 women have publicly accused Trump of sexual assault — with others alleging other forms of sexual harassment and predation. ...Sanders sent the list of supposed eyewitnesses to ThinkProgress late Monday night. It contains the names of three people."

[CN: Descriptions of sexual harassment/assault] Emma Baccellieri at Deadspin: NFL Network Suspends Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor, Heath Evans After Sexual Harassment Lawsuit. "Jami Cantor, who worked as a wardrobe stylist for NFL Network, filed a wrongful termination suit against NFL Enterprises in Los Angeles Superior Court back in October. As first reported by Bloomberg, she described incidents of harassment by the three retired players, as well as Eric Weinberger, a former network executive producer and current president of Bill Simmons Media Group. In the suit, Cantor claims that Faulk groped her breasts and behind and asked 'deeply personal and invasive questions' about her sex life. She said that both Taylor and Weinberger sent her inappropriate pictures, with Taylor additionally sending her a video of him masturbating in the shower. Cantor also noted that Weinberger said on one occasion that she was 'put on earth to pleasure me' and pressed his crotch against her, asking her to touch it. She also described receiving explicit texts from former NFL Network analyst Donovan McNabb, who currently appears on ESPN." Fucking hell. What an absolute nightmare.

In case you missed my post late yesterday: Ryan Lizza Out for 'Improper Sexual Conduct'. "Ryan Lizza is a political reporter for the New Yorker, whose visibility and platform afforded him outsized influence over how the 2016 election was perceived by the electorate. ...'The New Yorker recently learned that Ryan Lizza engaged in what we believe was improper sexual conduct. We have reviewed the matter and, as a result, have severed ties with Lizza. Due to a request for privacy, we are not commenting further.'"

Kaiser at Celebitchy: Alec Baldwin Worries That the #MeToo movement Is 'in Jeopardy of Derailing'. Shut the fuck up, Alec Baldwin. "'People have lost their jobs, their reputations and the legacy of their good/great work. Some have deserved that. Some have not. And all without a single conviction in a courtroom. If Weinstein is not convicted in court, this movement may be in jeopardy of derailing.' ...This is not the moment to argue 'Predators have lost their jobs, their reputations and the legacy of their good/great work' when we're having a national/international conversation about sexual harassment, abuse, rape, and assault. When you feel the urge to say something about an abuser's good work, think about all of the work you never got to see from all of the victims whose LIVES AND CAREERS were forever altered because a predator abused their power." Say it, Kaiser!

Just got an email about John Lithgow's new show. I wonder if one of the stories he tells is about his decision to star in a new movie alongside Mel Gibson. Guess I'll never know, since I ain't going, given his decision to star in a movie alongside Mel Gibson. pic.twitter.com/RqCJAW19VN
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

By way of reminder, Gibson was not only a pariah for his anti-Semitic outbursts. He also pleaded "no contest" to domestic violence charges, was recorded verbally abusing his girlfriend, and sexually harassed a police officer.

People who choose to work with him help rehabilitate his image. And the same will happen to every other powerful man currently being called out for "sexual misconduct" if we are not vigilant.

So shame on John Lithgow (and everyone else in the cast of Daddy's Home 2)for working with Gibson. And, for that matter, with Mark Wahlberg, who has a history of violent racism, and Will Ferrell, who thinks rape is hilarious.

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

Special Election Today in Alabama

[Content Note: Sexual abuse; white supremacy; anti-Semitism.]

Today is the day, at long last, that Alabama voters head to the polls for the special election in which they'll choose a Senator to fill the vacated seat left by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The choice is between Democrat Doug Jones, a career prosecutor who prosecuted two Ku Klux Klan perpetrators of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four Black girls and who also secured an indictment against the Olympic Park Bomber, and Republican Roy Moore, a serial sex abuser and heinous bigot whose closing argument was that he didn't patronize a child brothel in Vietnam and he's got one Jewish attorney.

The choice is stark. I can't imagine that anyone who is going to vote remains undecided. At this point, the only thing I have to say is this:

I hope everyone in Alabama who wants to vote today is able to vote. Shame on anyone who engages in voter suppression. Voting is a right — and a hard-won right for many people.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

Unfortunately, there is a lot of Republican fuckery to overcome (if it can be overcome):

Alabama's Secretary of State was an election monitor in Russia, where he deemed their election "free and fair" (it wasn't) and said he'd implement Russian tactics in Alabama https://t.co/6R5j6NAgU3
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 12, 2017

Yes, they shld vote. Unfortunately, it looks like the fix is in. John Merrill SOS of Alabama has overturned a court order to preserve ballots. They are going to cheat. Pls make sure to let everyone know, so we can be ready to fight him and demand an investigation.
— Odette Roulette (@odetteroulette) December 12, 2017

The only possible thing to do right now is overwhelm them. If you're in Alabama, get out there and VOTE!

Donald Trump Must Resign

[Content Note: Misogyny; sex work stigma.]

There are countless reasons that Donald Trump should resign: His serial sex predation, his corruption, his incompetence, his malice, his compulsive lying, his temperament, literally every single thing about him and every decision he's ever made.

Today, he provided yet another reason.

Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2017

Just in case he deletes this mess (in violation of federal records-keeping requirements), it reads: "Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office 'begging' for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!"

This is the President of the United States implying that a female senator offered sex in exchange for campaign donations. https://t.co/JrBVmMO0pt
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

Despite what Trump will claim and what his apologists will disgorge in explanation, Trump is absolutely implying that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, to whom he donated $2,400 in 2010, offered "anything" in exchange for political donations, and he got what he wanted. Wink wink nudge nudge.

Trump is suggesting that a sitting U.S. senator — the junior senator from his home state, who filled Hillary Clinton's seat when she became Secretary of State — is a whore. And he's trading on the stigma associated with sex work to shame her.

A man who talks about women this way isn't fit to be president. We are half the population, and we have the right to be governed by someone who respects us. Donald Trump should resign immediately. https://t.co/JCpVsn3hbP
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

And as my friend Maud once said: "There are times when you must speak, not because you are going to change the other person, but because if you don't speak, they have changed you."
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

Donald Trump must resign immediately. He is undilutedly indecent, and his misogyny makes him unfit to represent the women of this nation. And everyone else.

fem·i·nism

2017 saw both a sustained rise in 'feminism' lookups and a number of event-driven spikes.

'Feminism' is our #WordOfTheYear. https://t.co/CrEhuZe7HB
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 12, 2017

"The word," they explain, "was a top lookup throughout the year, with several spikes that corresponded to various news reports and events." Well, that's one way to put it!

Some of the "news reports and events" they mention having prompted increased searches for definitions of feminism include: The Women's March on Washington; Kellyanne Conway saying she's not a feminist; the show The Handmaid's Tale and the film Wonder Woman; and "the many accounts of sexual assault and harassment in the news."

Excellent choice, Merriam-Webster!

"Feminism" is my word of the year every year.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 12, 2017

Open Thread

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

Question of the Day

When was the last time you sang to yourself, or by yourself? To someone else?

I sing to myself often, and to the dogs and cats constantly, lol. Silly made-up songs during mealtimes or while I'm playing with them or cuddling with them. Most of the time, it's invented tunes, but occasionally I will sing lyrics about them to existing melodies.

Iain and I also sing to each other about the cats and dogs all the time, too.

What do you think of this doooooooooog?

She has silly ears and a wiggly butt!

As Zelda sits in between us, grinning away, because she knows we're singing about her.

The Monday Blogaround

This blogaround brought to you by warm blankets.

Recommended Reading:

Rhett Jones: The Internet Blackout for Net Neutrality Is Coming and You Can Help

Alaa Basatneh: [Content Note: Rape culture; cultural oppression] Why Many Muslim Women Feel They Can't Say #MeToo

Kenrya Rankin: [CN: Misogyny] This Chart Breaks Down How Women Experience Discrimination in America

Julia Serano: [CN: Trans hatred] Transgender Agendas, Social Contagion, Peer Pressure, and Prevalence

Kaitlyn Tiffany: [CN: Misogyny] The 2018 Golden Globes Continue Tradition by Totally Ignoring Female Directors

Marykate Jasper: Kelly Marie Tran, the Daughter of Refugees, Couldn't Help Crying with Joy at the Premiere of The Last Jedi

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