Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Everybody saw this coming.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: It’s Always About Human Dignity

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: It’s Always About Human Dignity

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Lest we forget.

Apart from SLDE (Same Lies, Different Era), what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

84Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    I can remember when the big bathroom issue was how the Equal Rights Amendment was going to make it illegal to have separate men’s and women’s bathrooms. The right wing really is obsessed about it.

  3. 3.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Since this is an open thread, if you’re in Madison on Saturday, I’ll be giving a reading at Michelangelo’s at 1 pm as part of the program for WisCon, the feminist SFF con.

  4. 4.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    According to my twitter feed Trump made his much vaunted $1million donation to a veterans charity YESTERDAY in direct contradiction of his campaign manager’s assertions that he had made it months ago. All this was because he was being hounded by a reporter about it.

  5. 5.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Roger Moore:

    . The right wing really is obsessed about it.

    Slut shamers and shit shamers.

    It must be very embarrassing to be an American abroad these days.

  6. 6.

    slag

    @Roger Moore: Let’s be honest. The real issue here is public bathroom design. Public bathrooms, as frequently implemented, are so uncivilized they drive people mad.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    @Roger Moore

    The right wing really is obsessed about it.

    There’s a privy chamber gibe in there somewhere, but coffee not yet brewed for the day much less consumed to lift the veil of being logy.

  8. 8.

    FlipYrWhig

    @slag: But there was the additional weirdness about swimming pools and water fountains too. Mid-century racists had some whole paranoia about Negroes near water.

  9. 9.

    A Ghost To Most

    @srv:
    Baud is the ghost candidate. All the dead people will be voting for him. I expect Baud will do well in Chicago.

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne

    I managed to get today’s baby shower gift completed during my lunch hour — phew! I couldn’t give hand-knitted gifts to all of the other first babies and fail to produce for this one.

  13. 13.

    scav

    @schrodinger’s cat: That one was rather fun in unexpected directions. Been meaning to ask, noticed in passing the BBC has a Bollywood podcast, is any good , too weedy / radio-y or will it help understand things any better? Although, maybe what I rather enjoy is that undercurrent of being utterly lost. Hard to tell.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    @srv: The system is rigged against virtual candidates.

    You can vote online for The Voice and for the All-Star game, but not for president of our so-called “democracy.”

  15. 15.

    Schlemazel Khan

    I wish I knew I had guts enough to do what John Lewis did 55 years ago. He was literally putting his life on the line when it would have been so easy to just go along. I have done a few things in my life that were risky but nothing where the chance of being lynched was so close. That takes real courage.

  16. 16.

    Gimlet

    May 24, 2016 by Admin

    Today the conservative group American Crossroads, launched by Karl Rove, announced that it is endorsing Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District Democratic primary. Crossroads’ President and CEO Steven Law had this to say about the organization’s rare decision to endorse in a contested primary:

    “Congresswoman and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has played a critical role over the past several years in the massive Republican gains we have achieved at the state level, in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in the U.S. Senate.

    “Wasserman Schultz’s leadership has also been a catalyst for the emerging civil war in the Democratic Party this year, ensuring that their nominating process will drag on far longer than that of Republicans.

    “Voters of the 23rd District of Florida should know – American Crossroads stands with Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in her primary against ultra-liberal outsider Tim Canova, and they should too.”

  18. 18.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @FlipYrWhig:
    back in the 40’s the resort they were staying at would not let Groucho’s kids swim in the pool. He asked the manager “Since the kids are only half Jewish is it OK if they only go in up to their knees?”

    I read about a town, I think it was in Maryland, where Blacks were allowed to use the pool on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays the pools was drained and cleaned and was whites only Thursday-Saturday. That is so weird to me, I don’t understand what the thinking is that somehow you could catch color.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    @slag:
    I think the real issue is that we are still obsessed with body issues in general and bathroom issues specifically. There’s no reason other than people being childish about it for this to be an issue at all. When I was in college, the house/dorm where I lived for most of my time had unisex bathrooms and showers. The bathrooms each had two toilet stalls with a shared sink, and the showers had two shower stalls. The only problem I remember with the toilets was one guy who didn’t believe he needed to close the outer door when he was peeing, and even the showers were manageable with a bit of common courtesy. It’s just people having potty issues that makes this any kind of question.

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Did you see the pictures of him from ComiCon last year? He cosplayed as himself on the Edmund Pettis Bridge by replicating his outfit. He seems like he would be a really fun guy to have dinner with even beyond his achievements.

  25. 25.

    ruemara

    @Mnemosyne: and if anyone missed my shots of Lewis at Comic-Con, I am always ready to share them. He was awesome, as were his collaborators.

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne:

    Yay you! That was a cute pattern, btw.

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I need some recommendations for some Indian movies for my friend who is now in hospice care. She loves to laugh and dance. I would be so grateful for a few recommendations.

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne

    @MomSense:

    The ears are not standing up, but the pattern warns that they probably won’t. I’ll tell the prospective dad that he can put pipe cleaners inside the ears for photography purposes.

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    Also, the first pictures that come up when you Google his name and ComiCon are a bunch of pictures of him talking to kids, who all look really excited to be talking to him.

  36. 36.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Roger Moore:

    think the real issue is that we are still obsessed with body issues in general and bathroom issues specifically.

    See Trump, Donald J. re Hillary Clinton using the restroom and returning late during a debate break.

  39. 39.

    eclare

    @Prescott Cactus: Sweet? You didn’t warn me to bring Kleenex! Read about this on a thread last night, and meant to go back, but lost track. Thank you for reposting.

  41. 41.

    slag

    @Roger Moore: Nope. Uncivilized. Public bathrooms are typically creepy, sanitarily-questionable, and aesthetically displeasing places. There is no room for debate on this topic.

  47. 47.

    slag

    @NotMax: Is that true? My city has no WalMart, so I haven’t been to one in many years. And I don’t remember if I’ve ever been in one of their bathrooms.

  49. 49.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Gimlet: Is this your usual no-URL bullshit, or are you just embarrassed to link to Karl Rove’s site?

  50. 50.

    Trollhattan

    Will need to recalibrate my ’49er Hate-o-Meter.

    The 49ers became the first NFL team to speak out against North Carolina’s controversial bathroom law and followed through with a $75,000 gift by CEO Jed York to an LGBT-rights advocacy group, Equality North Carolina. York and the other NFL owners are in Charlotte, N.C., this week for league meetings that include deciding upcoming Super Bowl sites and expansion of replay review. While Charlotte’s team, the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers, has been mum on the law, which has been criticized for singling out the LGBT community, York and the 49ers were outspoken.

    “Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country,” York said in a statement released by Equality North Carolina. “As an organization that prides ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge Governor Pat McCrory and the leadership of North Carolina’s legislature to repeal this law in the current legislative session.”

    The 49ers are scheduled to play the Panthers in Charlotte on Sept. 18. Matt Hirschy, director of Advancement for Equality North Carolina, said his group does not expect or want the team to boycott the game.

    A couple digits, anyway. They still suck.

  52. 52.

    bemused

    @Prescott Cactus:

    I was surprised to learn recently that Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has a transgender son. I always thought of her as a fairly far right Republican but now she is sticking up for LGBT folks. I do not know how she feels about the bathroom bills.

  55. 55.

    Pogonip

    The India Club of Dayton, Ohio, was always good for dancing fun. I went to every event they were involved in. Did a lot of that dance where everyone sticks one foot out in the middle of the circle.

  57. 57.

    Origuy

    @schrodinger’s cat: I read a book review in BBC History Magazine; you might be interested. India’s War: The Making of Modern South Asia, 1939-1945 by Srinath Raghavan. The review isn’t online yet, it will be at historyextra.com eventually,

  58. 58.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @Iowa Old Lady: Have you ever considered coming up to Mpls for 4th Street? It’s a fantasy convention, but it has a very high population of writers, so the panels tend to focus how to write rather than topics primarily of interest to fans.

    It’s also small enough that it doesn’t trigger my autism as much as most cons, so I’m wondering why I’m trying to invite more people to it.

  59. 59.

    schrodinger's cat

    @MomSense: Hindi movies? With subtitles?
    One recommendation: Queen, its available on Google Play. Kangana Ranaut was awesome.
    Its about Rani (Queen) who is dumped at the altar by her fiance and how she finds herself when she goes to Europe on what was supposed to be a honeymoon trip, alone.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    It’s also small enough that it doesn’t trigger my autism as much as most cons, so I’m wondering why I’m trying to invite more people to it.

    I love that sentence. If only some of our politicians were as self-aware as you are!

  61. 61.

    PurpleGirl

    @Iowa Old Lady: Wow. That’s great. Wish I could be there. Hope the reading goes well. In my con going days, I never went to a Wiscon. But this weekend I have other plans. Were you ever a member of AWA. (AWA = A Women’s APA; APA = Amateur Press Association,

  63. 63.

    Roger Moore

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    It’s also small enough that it doesn’t trigger my autism as much as most cons, so I’m wondering why I’m trying to invite more people to it.

    Because your generosity exceeds your self interest. Either that or you’re like the rest of us who don’t always think of the big-picture consequences of our actions until it’s too late.

  68. 68.

    Anne Laurie

    @schrodinger’s cat: When I showed him that clip from Haider, the English/linguistics-major Spousal Unit ordered a copy immediately. (Which we haven’t found the time to watch yet… but once we have, I suspect I’ll be ordering the other parts of his ‘Shakespear trilogy’.)

  71. 71.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Anne Laurie: Omkara’s score is awesome too. Vishal Bharadwaj is crazy talented, in addition to being the director, he also composed the musical score and has sung a song each in both Haider and Omkara (Othello). Omkara is set in dusty North Indian plains.

  72. 72.

    PurpleGirl

    @MomSense: This isn’t an Indian movie per se but it has the song and dancing of a Bollywood movie, plus it’s in English. Bride and Prejudice. It’s a riff on Pride and Prejudice. I enjoyed it a lot.

  76. 76.

    Prescott Cactus

    @Miss Bianca:
    @eclare:
    @rikyrah:
    @bemused:

    I get a little extra Ralston I think, because I’m in a neighboring state and his voice carries. . . This tore me apart;

    Life is difficult as it is. But with so much ignorance out there breeding so much fear, so much visceral recoiling from the concept of transgenderism, I fear this will make Maddy’s life that much harder.

    So many people I know and respect spout off about the issue, on social media, even in person, because they don’t know about Maddy. They don’t know the reality. They don’t know, so I cut them slack.

    I had to look to see who Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was. . . MUST expand worldview !

  77. 77.

    Anne Laurie

    @Iowa Old Lady: Yay you!

    Probably my closest brush with public glory was being on a Wiscon panel, some thirty years ago, with Suzette Haden Elgin (Laadan was very chic at the time.) Afterwards she said something nice — unprompted — about my Star Trek fanfic, which in those pre-internet days meant she’d actually gone to some trouble to find out details about a no-name fellow panelist at a hobbyist convention. Ah, the 80s…

  79. 79.

    Anne Laurie

    @FlipYrWhig:

    But there was the additional weirdness about swimming pools and water fountains too. Mid-century racists had some whole paranoia about Negroes near water.

    Uhh… you know there was (is) a subgenre of “jokes” about it being easier to dispose of [offensive-Procyon lotor-human-comparison]s who don’t know how to swim?

    Well, you do now. I’m not gonna google for samples, you’ll just have to use your imagination.

  81. 81.

    agorabum

    @Schlemazel Khan: The first time I recall being turned off by the Sanders campaign was when their supporters started attacking John Lewis, because he endorsed Hillary…good times.
    Also, John Lewis is an American hero and everyone should know more about him.

  82. 82.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    One has to just love “Do you believe this shit?” expression on Lewis’ face.

  84. 84.

    Warren Terra

    One claim i’ve seen made about Jim Crow bathroom rules – one that I’m not completely sure is true, but that if true would be tremendously relevant to the current Loo Patrol enthusiasm on the Right – is that back in the days of Jim Crow public facilities had three lavatories: the Whites-Only Men’s Room; the Whites-Only Ladies’ room; and the Colored lavatory. As in: they weren’t worried about sex segregation at all, so long as the dusky hordes daren’t ablute in their facilities. i’m not sure how this would best be used, but given the desperate imperative the same Southern conservatives have now discovered to segregate restrooms by gender, their previous indifference would be interesting.

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