As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
What Is This All About? (I Have a Guess!)
I've got a new piece up at Shareblue about something curious I noticed in the polling during the general election:
One of the curious things about this historic election is that pollsters have all but abandoned questioning whether the nation is "ready" for a woman president.There is, as always, more at the link!
The question has long been a staple of polls measuring national political attitudes: "Gallup have carried out similar polls at periodic intervals since 1937, when only one-third of those polled said they would back a female candidate."
But there has not been a polling question during the general election assessing readiness, even as we come ever closer to the possibility.
...The decision to stop asking the question seems less like a celebration that the nation has passed a crucial threshold and instead like further erasure of the sexism directed at Clinton and promulgated by her opponent.
Clinton is making history, and it is frustrating how many of our institutions seem invested in concealing the contours of the seismic history she is making.
It's really strange to me that they've stopped asking, and it's also strange to me that I'm the only one covering the election who seems to have noticed!
Oh Snap!
President Obama appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's show last night and participated in one of Kimmel's long-running sketches: Mean Tweets, in which the guest reads mean tweets people have written about them.
And I guess I don't need to tell you it was awesome.
President Obama appears onscreen, sitting and facing the camera, reading the tweets off of a mobile phone in his hand.Yesssssss, Mr. President! TELL HIM!
"Barack Obama is the Nickelback of presidents." [laughter] "Obama couldn't negotiate getting a Whopper without pickles." [laughter] @woodstockdave. Thanks, Dave. "I bet Obama likes mustard on his hotdogs because he's gross." [laughter] @duckpunks. "Just found out my daugther shares a birthday with Obama PUKE." [laughter] In caps. @momof4munchkins. "Barack Obama dances like how his jeans look." [laughter] You know, this jeans thing. This is so old. [laughter] This was years ago. Come on.
"My mom bought new conditioner and it sucks it isn't even conditioning my hair I blame Obama." [laughter] "Barack Obama...bro, do you even lift?!" [laughter] Well, I lifted the ban on Cuban cigars. That's worth something. [laughter and applause] "Barack Obama is the shark—" chuckle "Barack Obama is the sharknado of presidents. Loud, stupid, and over-hyped!" [laughter] Hashtag Sharknado 4. [laughter]
"President Obama will do down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States!" Exclamation point. @realDonaldTrump. [laughter] Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president. [laughter, cheers, and applause]
Obama drops the phone.
The Walking Thread
[Content Note: Spoilers are lurching around undeadly herein. Descriptions of violence.]
This is the last Walking Thread I will ever write.
I have been covering The Walking Dead for almost exactly five years. I have made no secret of the fact that I have long been hate-watching the show, doing recaps in which I buried serious deconstruction of systemic oppressions in between all-caps sarcasm.
There have been times when I have come extremely close to throwing in the towel, but it was often the times when the show got darkest that people reached out the most plaintively to tell me how much they valued my recaps.
But I am drawing a line here. I cannot watch nor write about The Walking Dead any longer.
Last night, I watched Sunday's Season 7 premiere. By the halfway point, I felt utterly nauseated. It wasn't by the gratuitously graphic depictions of violence, which are, frankly, nothing new for the show. It was by the fact that I was being obliged to watch torture, ostensibly being carried out by Negan—a character so cartoonishly villainous that he became transparent enough through which I could see his creators.
The writers of the show are Negan. The big bad. The worst of them all.
[CN: Spoilers; violence] Deep in her review of the episode, The Daily Beast's Melissa Leon notes: "At San Diego Comic-Con this year, visitors to the show's booth posed with lifelike replicas of Negan's kneeling, would-be victims. Its cross-brand Twitter emoji on premiere night was Negan's bat. The show has gleefully done everything it can to amplify this experience."
I didn't know that when I watched the episode. I only read it afterwards; after I had already come away from the episode seeing straight through Negan's sadistic glee to the writers' room. It merely confirmed what I'd already felt.
And then I read that the episode director Greg Nicotero said on a phone call with reporters, in defense of the graphic violence: "In this instance, we felt it was important to launch us into this season to show the extent of what Negan is capable of doing because that drives so much of where the series is going from here on. It's graphic and horrible."
Not what Negan is capable of doing. What the show creators are capable of doing to their audience.
I'm not going to hang around for it.
I'm not going to watch a show that has seeks to do to its audience the very thing it is supposedly condemning. And nothing could have made more plain the increasingly malicious instinct of the creators than forcing us to watch a horrendously gruesome death of a character they were widely criticized for saving in the most manipulative way last season. Instead of making amends for shitty writing, they doubled-down and rubbed our faces in his torturous death.
That's not even about a TV show anymore. That's about human beings making a decision that is just unkind to other human beings, many of whom have long supported them.
Fuck that.
This is me checking out. Later, Grimes Gang.
An Observation
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Over the past few days, I've seen a lot of white dude pundits start bravely (ahem) making the case that Hillary Clinton isn't winning because Donald Trump is an unprecedentedly awful candidate, but because she's a great candidate.
In many of these tales, I see them saying it's the "untold story" of this election, or some variation thereof.
Well.
At least one lady said this almost fully one year ago: "The one glaring exception [to all of the other candidates in this election who are running for head of government but not head of state] is Hillary Clinton, whose extraordinary competence in diplomacy only highlights the deficiency in the other candidates. By virtue of having been First Lady, a senator, and Secretary of State, she is already a statesperson. It usually takes being president to elevate someone to that status (e.g. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton), but she's already achieved it. She's frankly overqualified for the position. Which underscores just what it really takes for a woman to even be considered for the presidency. To be fucking overqualified for arguably the most demanding job on the planet."
Some of us have been noticing for quite some time that, should Clinton win, it's because she's an extraordinary candidate.
But I guess it's not as notable if we didn't spend the last 18 months trying to tear her down, only to now "discover" that she's brilliant. If you thought she was brilliant the whole time, you're just a lousy shill.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Ruby: "What are your favorite YouTube channels? Can be sociopolitical content you like, or entertaining channels you like to follow. (Since YT has a lot of awesome content, like Feminist Frequency, but is also a minefield of awful, it might be nice to have some vetted recommendations.)"
The Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by garlic naan.
Recommended Reading:
Ally: [Content Note: Sexual assault; intimidation] Trump Says He'll Sue Accusers in Speech About First 100 Days in Office
Sean: [CN: Bullying] NY Times Prints Complete List of Trump's Twitter Insults
Digby: [CN: Misogyny] The Long Arduous Path to the Presidency
Mustang Bobby: [CN: Bigotry] Back to When?
Keith: [CN: Racism; violence] Emmett Till Memorial Sign Riddled with Bullets
Casey: [CN: Carcerality; death penalty] She watched her husband get sentenced to death. Now she's becoming a lawyer to save him and others.
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Today in Rape Culture and Also the Presidential Campaign
[Content Note: Sexual assault; rape culture. Video may autoplay at link.]
Another woman, Jessica Drake, has reported that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her. Drake said that, about a decade ago, Trump grabbed and kissed her without her consent and offered her money to accompany him to his hotel room and have sex with him.
Drake is a performer in adult films. Which does not, has not, and will never mean that a woman yields her right of consent.
But naturally, that is not what Trump thinks, who said of Drake today: "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before."
Straight out of the rape apologia playbook. Again.
I don't even know what I can say at this point that I now haven't already said a dozen times. I repudiate Trump and everything for which he stands; and I take up space in solidarity with the women who are coming forward with their stories.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
Today, Hillary Clinton is campaigning in New Hampshire with Senator Elizabeth Warren and New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan, who is running for Senate, and Warren absolutely let Donald Trump have it.
Elizabeth Warren to Trump: "We nasty women are going to march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever!” pic.twitter.com/epCA13EZfo
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) October 24, 2016
And Donald Trump disrespects—aggressively disrespects—more than half the human beings in this country. He thinks that because he has money, that he can call women "fat pigs" and "bimbos." He thinks because he is a celebrity, that he can rate women's bodies from one to ten. He thinks that because he has a mouthful of Tic Tacs, that he can force himself on any woman within groping distance.AMAZING!
Well, I got news for you, Donald Trump! Women have had it with guys like you! And nasty women have really had it with guys like you! Yeah.
Get this, Donald: Nasty women are tough. Nasty women are smart. And nasty women vote!
And on November 8th, we nasty women are gonna march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever! Yup!
And let me also comment once again on the sartorial commentary of the Democratic candidate, Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton. She is wearing blue. While Warren is wearing red. While Hassan is wearing purple.
I see what you did there, ladies! A+
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
RIP Tom Hayden. "Tom Hayden, the preeminent 1960s radical who roused a generation of alienated young Americans, became a symbol of militancy by leading riotous protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and added Hollywood glamour to his mystique with an activist partnership and marriage to film star Jane Fonda, died Oct. 23 in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 76." Truly an end of an era. My condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and fans.
Katie Klabusich was kind enough to have me on her show again, and you can listen to it here!
[Content Note: Hacking; sexual assault; misogyny] This is a really fascinating read: "Inside the Strange, Paranoid World of Julian Assange." Another case of "this is a guy who clearly has a problem with women, which is why you maybe should have never turned him into a hero in the first place," but don't mind Cassandra!
[CN: Climate change] Damn: "Levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have surged past an important threshold and may not dip below it for 'many generations.' The 400 parts per million benchmark was broken globally for the first time in recorded history in 2015. But according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2016 will likely be the first full year to exceed the mark. The high levels can be partly attributed to a strong El Niño event."
Ugh. "AT&T;/Time Warner deal could be approved without any FCC merger review."
[CN: Guns; racism] The Mothers of the Movement continue to campaign with and for Hillary Clinton, making their case for why they hope people will vote—and vote for her.
Donald Trump's strategy of trying to depress enthusiasm among Clinton supporters by dragging the campaign down in the dirt has wildly backfired: "The key finding in the new ABC News tracking poll, which finds Clinton leading among likely voters nationally by 50-38, is that affirmative support for Clinton among her supporters, as opposed to a motivator only rooted in dislike for the other side, is growing. As ABC's polling memo notes, the percentage of Clinton supporters who say their vote will be for her [as opposed to against Trump] is at a new high." And it's increased 16 points since early September.
LOVE: "That look when you cap off a day on the trail by watching the Cubs cement their trip to the World Series."
Awwwww: "Grandma Gets Emotional When Family Surprises Her with Puppy." The puppy she always wanted!
What have you been reading?
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Quote of the Day
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) October 22, 2016
Image Description: Photo of Tim Kaine in front of a U.S. flag, wearing a Hillary pin, smiling. Text added to the photo by me reads: "I'm so proud to be a strong man supporting a strong woman who will be the next president of the United States."
Kaine said these words during a huge rally in Philly that he attended with Hillary Clinton in front of a huge crowd over the weekend.
This Is Disgusting
[Content Note: Violent imagery.]
Donald Trump held a rally in Virginia Beach over the weekend, and, along with the usual vile chants toward Hillary Clinton, there was a disgusting display of violent imagery toward her on display.
Spotted at Trump VA Beach rally - bullseye with Clinton's face on it pic.twitter.com/GFJzdm0Mcl
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 22, 2016
[Tweet includes image of Trump supporter holding up Trump sign with Clinton's face in a target.]
Spotted at Donald Trump's rally in Virginia Beach: Hillary Clinton's head on a stake. pic.twitter.com/iqnya3NeuF
— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) October 22, 2016
[Tweet includes image of a Trump supporter holding up an effigy on Clinton's head on a stake.]
VA Beach [📷 @evanvucci] pic.twitter.com/SDwbkqYRbZ
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) October 23, 2016
[Tweet includes image of a Trump supporter holding up a poster with Clinton's face in a target.]
This is absolutely despicable. Trump clearly did not invent vicious hatred toward Clinton, but he has inflamed it and he has exploited it and he tolerates it.
This man has to be rejected with a massive landslide and his campaign of white nationalist and misogynist hatred forcefully repudiated by voters.
Think About What This Says About Her
I've got a new piece at Shareblue about what it says about Hillary Clinton that she's dedicated so much of her life and career advocating for children:
Hillary Clinton often says that she has spent her life advocating for children, women, and families. She has — but rarely do we consider what this says about her.As always, there's more at the link!
And, more specifically, how it crushes so many pernicious narratives about her.
Does someone who is, as she is so frequently said to be, ruthlessly ambitious, who will stop at nothing to seize ever more power, dedicate her life to children, who cannot vote? Who cannot give her money? Who have no cultural power to grant to her?
Part of the reason that there are so few politicians who center their work around children is for this very reason. Children are a special interest group with nothing immediate to offer in exchange for advocacy on their behalf.
When children are invoked in political discourse, it is rarely as their own rights-bearing citizens with diverse needs, but generally as dehumanized political justification for harming a marginalized population from whom they need to be "saved" or "protected." Pro-choice activists, LGBTx people, atheists, etc.
They are often rhetorical tools to most politicians, rather than a demographic in need of passionate advocates.
But not to Hillary Clinton.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Travis: "Flowers in the Window"
This week's TMNS has been brought to you by Scottish bands.
The Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by hazelnuts.
Recommended Reading:
Angry Asian Man: Help Defend Asian American Voting Rights on Election Day
Sasha: Clinton Drops Another Trump Burn After Night of Jokes
Jorge: Hillary Went Out and Partied with Latinx Voters After Crushing Trump in Vegas Debate
Keith: [CN: Sexual violence] Jurors Pose for Photos with Derrick Rose Following Conclusion of Rape Trial
Andy: [CN: Transphobia] Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Rebrands Anti-LGBT Bathroom Bill as 'Women's Privacy Act'
Charline: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Talks Empowerment Through Cosmetics as Face of a New Makeup Campaign
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Back |
