The Sorensen Monologues
If the media covered climate change the way it covers Hillary’s email
As many have noted, not one question about climate change was asked by the moderators of the recent presidential debates, despite our passing a major climate milestone in September.
A fairly astonishing study of network news broadcasts in 2016 showed no (!) climate change coverage — and relatively little policy coverage, for that matter — yet ample reporting on Hillary Clinton’s email.
You know what’s “extremely careless” (to borrow a phrase from James Comey)? Ignoring the most important issue in the world.
No comparison
Ever since the first debate between Hillary and Trump, many have remarked on the “ugliness” of this election season. It sounds so nice and bipartisan to call them both clowns and loftily pronounce yourself to be above the fray, but this is flagrant false equivalence. You don’t have to agree with Hillary on everything to see that, relative to Trump, she’s been a model candidate.
It’s worth noting that throughout history, people have said women can’t be president because they are too emotional, but Hillary has admirably demonstrated how a female candidate can have much greater self-control than her male opponent.
Cartoon: Kiss and Yell
A few relevant articles in case you missed them: One of the women alleging sexual misconduct by Trump is now fleeing the country out of concerns for her safety. Lou Dobbs retweeted the home address and phone number of accuser Jessica Leeds, which was dug up by a conservative website. Trump spokeswoman AJ Delgado said “any reasonable woman would have come forward” with the accusations earlier. Delgado also claimed to be offended by the allegations, invoking some bizarre feminist reasoning from another planet:
“As a woman, I’m livid having read this. Not only are these accusations simply not credible but it’s disgusting that the New York Times is trivializing sexual assault this way. I take great offense at that, as a woman.”
Trump himself called NY Times reporter Megan Twohey “a disgusting human being” for even reporting on the accusations. A Wall Street Journal reporter tweeted that a Trump crowd in NC chanted “Lock her up!” in reference to the accusers.
In light of all this, I recommend this Vox article: “Trump is giving us a master class in why #WomenDontReport”
Trump’s Tremendous Stamina
If this comic sinks a little low, blame it on Trump. Between his blatantly sexist remark that Hillary didn’t look presidential because she lacked “stamina,” and the fact that I, as a freelance cartoonist, probably pay way more in income taxes than he does, I wasn’t in the mood to pull any punches.
The bright side of a Trump presidency
Largely lost in the recent media frenzy over Hillary’s pneumonia was this little reminder of actual policy from Mike Pence, speaking at the Values Voters Summit:
“I want to live to see the day that we put the sanctity of life back at the center of American law, and we send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history, where it belongs.”
Pence vowed to uphold the Hyde Amendment, and added:
“The days of public funding for Planned Parenthood are over when the Trump-Pence administration arrives in Washington, DC,” he said.
It would be nice if we could talk about the millions of low-income women who will be denied access to life-saving health care instead of endlessly babbling about campaign gaffes and frivolous horse-race nonsense. Texas women, especially, have been through enough. Did you know this year’s Democratic platform includes a historic call to repeal the Hyde Amendment? Can we at least try to ground the conversation in the real-world impact on actual human beings?
Hillary eruption
Even if we learned that Hillary could totally shred on guitar, it seems the media would find a way to turn it into a scandal. A few months ago, Vox reported on a study showing that Clinton had received the most negative coverage and the least positive coverage of any candidate. Recently, the normally-staid Washington Post ran an incredulous editorial about the conspiracy-theory-level reporting on the emails. While I certainly don’t believe Clinton should be immune from criticism or examination of her record, the fact that she and Trump have been rendered more or less equivalent is an utter indictment of the way these elections are covered.
The University of Chicago guide to free speech
The University of Chicago recently sent a letter to incoming students that bluntly laid out the school’s stance on freedom of expression. This NY Times article gives more background, but unfortunately suffers from a dopey headline that uses “political correctness” as though it were an unbiased term. This commentary on the issue is also well worth reading.
Students, like anyone else, can take things too far, but the whole concept of “trigger warnings” has now been picked up and blown out of proportion by conservatives. In the age of Trump and Black Lives Matter and campus protests by minority students, this letter is tone deaf and inappropriate. It’s largely name-calling and buzzwords with an attempt at plausible deniability.
Some will claim I’m arguing that students should be shielded from points of view they may disagree with. I have not said that at all. I do think that when a university brings in, say, a known internet harasser who uses his public profile to intimidate and abuse women online, students have the right to protest the legitimacy being granted by the university. If anything, the letter suggests that the leaders of U. Chicago are trying to make a “safe space” for themselves so they can frame criticism they don’t want to hear as anti-free speech.
Update: Some important background info for people who mistakenly think this whole issue is about “silencing offensive speech”: “What University Of Chicago Students Think Of Their School’s Campaign Against ‘Safe Spaces’“
Reader mail on right-wing “political correctness”
I appreciated this note from reader Alex, in response to my recent comic on the concept of political correctness:
I’ve been reading your comic for years and I loved your latest one on right wing political correctness—something that seems to get completely ignored!
I’ve made a list of right wing political correctness in the States I thought you’d enjoy:
You cannot critique:
Military
Police officers (particularly policeMEN), firefighters (particularly fireMEN)
America
Americanism
Patriotism/Nationalism/Fourth of July
Christians
Christian Holidays (and you must say Merry Christmas/Happy Easter)
White victims of crime/trauma
Football
Eating meat
GunsYou cannot use:
[The terms] heteronormative, internalized misogyny, implicit bias/racism, white privilege, racist (must say racial bias), sexist
Data, science, statistics that contradicts “feelings” (of white people that is)
Words to describe terrorists other than Islamic extremist .You cannot talk about:
Drug addicts as victims rather than criminals
Reasons why someone might get an abortion
Birth control
Criminals as people
Terrorists as people
Cycles of poverty
Terrorism committed by white people
Excitement about “first woman” or “first X”