I love this:
“If you’re a woman, your life is political whether you like it or not.” https://t.co/K6LrhgLI9A
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 6, 2019
I don’t know if the GOP will recover from the wave of activism from women they have unleashed. I know we still have a lot of work with older white women, but I gotta tell you, all the women I know are MOTIVATED AS FUCK to beat Trump and Republicans from now until forever.
Anecdotally, I have signed up to be a County Captain for the WVCantWait campaign to elect Stephen Smith. Governor. I have spent the last week getting acquainted with the other volunteers across the state, reading and interacting on the FB page, reading the literature, etc. At any rate, EVERY SINGLE VOLUNTEER I have interacted with is a woman. And they are all motivated and ready to kick ass, and committed and passionate and helpful. I know that it is probably inevitable that I will be a county captain for six months before I am replaced by a woman who would do a better job than me. It’s kind of awesome, actually- women and teachers are going to drag this god damned state and country into the future and I wouldn’t want to get in their way.
The Dangerman
For those curious what a 7.1 earthquake at a Brit Floyd show is like (the timing relative to the song is basically perfect), well, here it is. Last night, I said people down front went a little bonkers, but this video shows why with all the lights and rigging above them (all things considered, being under the rigging MIGHT be the safest place in the house given the reinforcements).
Wild ride. Back to bed. Oh, like sleep was happening last night…..
Raven
My wife is part of a large group of pissed off local women!
Scuffletuffle
I only wish I could convince my co-workers of what Kamala said. All still determinedly apolitical, in spite of everything that has gone down so far. Sigh….
smintheus
Last week I mentioned here that a new Trump appointed judge in PA, Chad Kenney, had refused to issue an injunction against a pair of anti-abortion “counselors” who for years have harassed, threatened, and even attacked workers and patrons of an Allentown women’s center. The abuse was so bad the center moved out of the city to a suburban location but the harassment continues. So I decided to add the info to the judge’s wikipedia page. Almost immediately two douchbros showed up to delete the info, repeatedly, insisting that it had to remain deleted until I could persuade these self-appointed arbiters personally to allow it. Their argument? That they could not see the significance of the ruling.
…said every misogynistic prick ever.
MattF
Every woman knows the secret: that a middle-aged, non-beautiful woman is invisible. It’s frustrating, because it means their anger is invisible, but OTOH– it means that the opposition won’t notice before it’s too late. Or, tbh, ever.
Ruckus
John, you are a smart man. Women give birth. That’s a tough gig, that is. Most men would wilt into pools of flop sweat at the level of discomfort and pain – and they will do this willingly and often more than once. Also they put up with men – us. Respect? Not sure but that may not be the total price. Nor should it be.
H.E.Wolf
As they used to say in my college years, this is true.
John, thank you for being one of the men who is working alongside the multitudes of women in this effort.
Anyone who is not yet volunteering, it’s a good time to follow John’s lead.
I’d love to see a post sometime for folks to list what their volunteer efforts are….
namekarB
I have a dream . . . where governments are lead by women and national disagreements are settled without sending our children off to wage war in a foreign country
Josie
As an older woman and a retired librarian (teacher), I appreciate the kind words and the activism, John. You are a jewel among men.
gammyjill
I have been incredibly impressed with the House freshman class. Even though the AOC’s of the class get most of the publicity, there are very smart, and well-spoiken, and tough women who ask the right questions and who are getting very involved with the House process. Particularly good are Mikie Sherrel, Sharise Davids, Lauren Underwood, Katie Hill, Elisa Slotkin, and Abigail Spamberger. And those are just a few, and the men in the class seem just as outstanding.
May they serve a long, long time and help get us out of this mess.
karensky
?? And thanks for what you are doing in WV.
Brachiator
Very cool to hear. Another sign that the midterms energy is a sustained desire for positive change.
Ann
Great post, John. Thanks.
SiubhanDuinne
@gammyjill:
Yep. And add Katie Porter and Lucy McBath to the list.
immanentize
John, I saw in the news that your current Governor was very sad sad sad that his billionaire buddy died flying off the island he owns. Does he tweet condolences when miners die of black lung?
Yutsano
@namekarB: The ghosts of Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Benazir Bhutto on line two for you sir.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
We have to be. They threaten our survival. More than methaphorically.
debbie
@MattF:
Puts me in mind of this from a couple of weeks ago. It’s already too late for them. Whether or not we win, they know we are here. Trump may call himself a counterpuncher, but we actually are.
Fleeting Expletive
Kamala is so very quotable. I caught her at some event where she was asked about marijuana legalization, she finally said something like, marijuana makes people feel better and brings much joy. Then she said, ” We can all use more joy.” I’ve been wanting to have a tee shirt made with that quote, her campaign logo, and a little mj leaf. So far what I’ve seen of her site and campaign swag, her graphics designer needs a serious upgrade to the merch–her colors seemed dull to me, like browns and grays and yellows. It’s been a while since I looked but found no tees/stickers/etc. that I liked.
cain
It’s pretty much women even at all the Close the Camp rallies here in Portland. Generally old white women leading the charge.. and they are fucking angry. Hell one of them kept blowing a conch like it was a goddam war. :D It’s amazing. You hardly see any men, of any age unfortunately. Hell I seem to have been of the few people of dark skin. I was happy to see other Indians there. Usually I’m the only one. My brethren doesn’t really get much into causes.
donnah
My sister-in-law and my cousin’s wife are both beautiful women; blonde hair, blue eyed, trim, athletic, and very engaging. I’m average in looks, so I’ve always been kind of awestruck by them. But I’ve seen, just within family interactions, that they get special treatment. It’s subtle and it’s weird, but I’ve noticed it.
Most recently, the cousin’s wife, who could have easily been a model, came to a family event and got a lot of attention because she’s doing a dietary cleanse. Other family members were quick to carry in her packages, offer her a seat at the table, ask about her day and bring her water to drink. When I came in, I propped open the door myself and lugged in the food for everyone else, no offers of help. And I’m a fairly nice person! ;-)
Women have to fight for stature in this world. There are shortcuts, like looks, but in the end we all still have certain boundaries and hurdles. I’m at the age where there are no fucks to give, and I do what I want to the best of my abilities. I speak out, I go to rallies, I volunteer, I donate.
No one’s holding the door for us. We have to push it open ourselves.
Plato
BR
@smintheus:
I just read your edit / comment argument with them. I think you can win the edit battle if you just use quotes straight from the sources to assemble the text, because they can’t easily argue against that…
ET
I just spent a few entertaining min on the Twitter Machine looking at the #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories
He may be ruining the country but Twitter can be savage toward him.
Plato
BR
@BR:
Also, make the edit about his party affiliation separately, because it’s hard to argue that should be reverted.
James E Powell
The women I know were all pretty motivated in 2016. Their intensity is way up, but I’m not sure if their numbers are too.
What we need is a change in how white women with no college vote. That’s the same demographic that gave Bush Jr a second term, presumably because he was Our Young Churchill keeping everyone safe. They went for Trump for reasons that I suppose would both baffle and infuriate me if I knew what they were. How do we convince white women with no college that voting D will make their lives better?
EthylEster
I’ll state my corollary to Kamala Harris’s remark.
The mission of every woman (and they don’t get to decide whether or not to accept it) is to go through their lives trying figure out which guys are the rapists and which are not. There is no equivalent challenge for men.
Betty Cracker
I watch a fair amount of British television, and it occurs to me the Brits were way ahead of we Americans in producing content with older, non-model-perfect women in leading roles — and not as some powerful man’s wife or mother but as powerful individuals in their own right. I wonder if that’s in part because they’ve had a queen as their national figurehead for as long as anyone can remember?
namekarB
@Yutsano:
You overlooked Margaret Thatcher. But in all cases the opposition country was lead by men. Name a war between two states both led by women.
Balls in your court Sir.
Ohio Mom
@immanentize: I saw that in the paper this morning and found the billionaire’s biography very curious.
The article said he started as a third generation coal miner and “worked his way up.” To being a billionaire? How is that possible? There is a step or two missing in this narration. What is the secret of going from blue collar to billionaire in this day and age?
Then again, I am very used to the Cincinnati Enquirer leaving me befuddled. It’s not much of a newspaper,
Gammyjill
@SiubhanDuinne: yup. I couldn’t list them all but those two are definitely fabulous.
Steve in the ATL
@immanentize: funny, I just finished a John Grisham novel on that very subject (“Gray Mountain”), the opener up this thread. Was offended when the villain law firm was based on Lexington, but was ok when Grisham clarified that it was KY not VA. The novel touches on all the complex political issues we discuss here frequently which lead red staters to vote against their own interests.
Reminded me of reading “The Buffalo Creek Disaster” in law school, about a slurry dam in W by god V breaching and flooding and killing.
Baud
Is that quote from Kamala? I thought she was quoting something in the article.
Mayim
@Josie:
It’s stereotyping horrendously, but this also appears to be fairly true: if you need something done, get a group of knitters or librarians to do it. Teachers and nurses aren’t far behind, either, in efficiency, from what I’be seen.
Yeah, all are primarily women…. educated, capable, and rarely paid what their labor is worth.
rikyrah
Meena Harris (@meenaharris) Tweeted:
“The fight of black women has always been grounded in faith & belief in what’s possible…
It’s why Sojourner spoke
Why Mae flew
Why Rosa & Claudette sat
Why Maya wrote
Why Fannie organized
Why Shirley ran
And why I stand here as a candidate for President”
@KamalaHarris @Essence https://t.co/CkLOCquZfL https://twitter.com/meenaharris/status/1147588625959227393?s=17
smintheus
@BR: I think they’re Republican trolls who will never concede the point. They spend a lot of time creating new pages for every one of Trump’s appointees. Their justifications for immediate/total deletions is the same litany of excuses I’ve seen from other WP Republican trolls…for ex. one who spent years deleting every single bit of unflattering info about the FL Attorney General Pam Bondi. The only way to circumvent these kinds of partisan obstructionists is if another person steps in to shame them. Once they claim “consensus” for themselves, they’ve set themselves up to be outvoted.
rikyrah
Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) Tweeted:
Sometimes people say, “Kamala, talk to me about Black people’s issues.” And I’ll smile and say, you know — let’s talk about the economy. Let’s talk about health care. Let’s talk about the racial wealth gap. Let’s talk about national security. #EssenceFest https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1147582990874288133?s=17
rikyrah
@ET:
That is a hilarious ? ? hashtag
schrodingers_cat
I hate to burst your bubble guys but there are as many shitty women as there are men. Most just don’t get an opportunity to display those lack of scruples on a massive scale like the man child in the WH. That’s all. And I say this as a woman.
smintheus
@BR: I did make that edit separately, but they deleted anyway…after first moving the info to a less prominent location and then trying to find a reason why it shouldn’t matter at all. I’m virtually certain they’re partisan trolls.
Sloane Ranger
@Betty Cracker: We have a tradition of strong female leaders beginning with Boudicca and including Elizabeth I and Victoria (The reality may be otherwise but this is the story we tell ourselves). Plus never underestimate the influence the traditional British Nanny has had on her charges!
rikyrah
Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) Tweeted:
NEW: @JoeBiden just told an audience in South Carolina that he regrets his recent remarks about working with segregationists.
He then apologized for the remarks.
Audience gave him a big applause. https://twitter.com/KaivanShroff/status/1147584961182085121?s=17
schrodingers_cat
@cain: Your kin (and mine)* are busy being Twitter warriors for the Orange junta in India.
* Most of the flying monkeys on Indian Twitter spreading genocidal memes about Muslims and liberals etc are Brahmin men (and women). How do I know? Their handles or descriptions read TamBram forever and such. They make MAGA Twitter trolls seem benign in comparison.
Arlene
@Smintheus Where in the Lehigh Valley is the women’s center? Fortunately, the Lehigh Valley has Susan Wild as our congressional representative. She ran a great campaign last time. I’m not hearing any Republicans of consequence running against her this time. Last time, Marty Nothstein, Olympic gold medalist, had a big name but not much of a record. The RNC stopped funding him in September of 2016. Let’s hope for a repeat.
I’m in full agreement with John. I came of age in the 70’s and these Alabama and Georgia laws are horrid. We’re not going back. I personally would love a woman to beat Trump again and sent him off to jail along with his kids.
Frankensteinbeck
@namekarB:
Rani Lakshmi Bai and Queen Victoria. The difficulty was only finding women rulers who interacted at all at the same time. Queens in history are as violent as kings.
smintheus
@Ohio Mom: It’s never been much of a fish wrap either.
Chyron HR
@Plato:
Wow, even the most demented “progressives” on my twitter feed have finally stopped justifying their 2016 votes (or lack thereof) by sneeringly declaring that, “things weren’t so great when Obama was in charge, either”.
MomSense
@Betty Cracker:
I think it’s because they have such a supportive culture for the arts. There are so many public schools that specialize in theater, music, and arts. The training is rigorous. They respect the arts. They invest in the arts. I think with that comes an appreciation of arts as more than commercial. And with so many theaters and publicly funded film and tv projects, the emphasis is not just on financial success. The studio system here is so male and money dominated that I think that system distorts the way women are written and portrayed.
JPL
Gotta say that I’m tired of busing as being the new email, but the republicans are thrilled that the media is playing along. I’m a Harris supporter and I think the message is old.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Media will be sad.
Frankensteinbeck
@Chyron HR:
Really? Because the ones I know are still convinced the ACA was a giveaway to the insurance companies and made everything worse.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: I watching Case Histories on Amazon Prime, since I downloaded the latest Kate Atkinson book. Just wanted to refresh my memory on all the other characters.
smintheus
@Arlene: It used to be downtown Allentown, Broad St. I think. They got so worried about these anti-abortion whackos that they uprooted and moved to Northampton County. So, poor women without cars now have a hard time even getting to them.
I’m relieved that Wild cleaned Nothstein’s clock. I canvassed for her in ATown. He was a tax cheat among other things. I wish however that Wild would take a more aggressive public posture on controversial issues, especially on Trump’s crimes.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
Guess he finally realized his quip that’s kamala’s criticism of him was a low blow because she was friends with Beau wasn’t getting traction.
The Dangerman
Raven, if you are around, your question from downstairs:
No, but I wasn’t looking THAT closely. A LOT of BF and PF shirts. Guy in front of me was sporting Metallica (got lost maybe, but Metallica and PF do share SOME similarities, if not decibel levels). Didn’t see any of your Brother’s band shirts, however.
I might check out BF once more before this tour is over; like your Brother’s band, they also covered Fearless, which is a favorite (and it was a little hard to enjoy last nights show as everyone was waiting for The Big One, me included).
Arlene
@Smintheus: Broad St. is downtown Bethlehem. Broad St. in Allentown is in the West End. For some reason, I think it was on Union Blvd. at one point.
I would like to see Wild go after Trump but I get it she’s a freshman rep. from a purple district. My husband always says of Trump no US bank would loan him in money which explains all the Russian investment. I still think in the end it will be revealed he was money laundering for the Russians. I’mrecently retired so I’m going to be working for Wild and whoever the Dems nominate.
RAVEN
@The Dangerman: Yea, he just asked so who knows!
smintheus
@Plato: You have to be older than 50 to remember a Washington that was not wholly consumed in partisan trench warfare. And if you’re older than 70, you remember the McCarthy era vividly.
smintheus
@Arlene: I’m sorry, you’re right, it was on Union.
Elizabelle
Great post. I believe that the librarians and teachers and all manner of smart women, and men who love and respect women, are going to help save us.
Also: that such a contingent exists seems to be under the radar for our finest white-male-blinders journalamists and pundits. They don’t see it coming either.
Rebecca Traister in NY Mag: Politics Is Changing; Why Aren’t the Pundits Who Cover It? The Donny Deutsch problem in media.
They. don’t. see. it. coming.
That goes for MSNBC too. It’s top heavy with white male mediocrity. Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd. Morning Joe. Put them out to pasture.
Betty Cracker
@JPL: I haven’t seen that series yet. Is it worthwhile? I loved “Happy Valley” and highly recommend it. Raven recently turned me on to “Scott & Bailey.” (Another Sally Wainwright project.)
@MomSense & @Sloane Ranger: Makes sense on both counts!
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
Biden is not going to win the primary. Sorry. He’s not connecting to voters and he doesn’t seem to understand why his previous campaigns flopped.
He should start thinking about which cabinet position he wants in a Warren or Harris administration.
Starfish
@smintheus: Wow, those are some aggressive Republicans reverting your edits. Are those two accounts reverting your things held by the same person?
smintheus
@Starfish: I’ve wondered whether they’re sockpuppets. I think more likely they’re just old buddies with a Federalist Society fetish.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: The episodes are based on her books so after you see the first one you can pick and chose other stories to watch. Amanda Abbington aka Mary Watson is a reoccurring character. Jason Isaacs plays the main character.
I haven’t watched Scott & Bailey so I’ll put that on my list.
MomSense
@Betty Cracker:
I loved Case Histories – watched it when it was on PBS (I think). Anyway Jason Isaacs is one of my favorite actors and this role is a good one for him.
Catherine D.
@Betty Cracker: I think Nicola Walker, Sarah Lancaster, and Olivia Coleman are the outstanding stars of their time. (In no particular order)
Updated to add that I just read Big Sky.
Jay
Well worth reading in full:
https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/politics-is-changing-why-arent-the-pundits-who-cover-it.html
Jay
@Elizabelle:
Great minds think alike,
Betty Cracker
@Catherine D.: Yes, they are all fantastic! Siobhan Finneran too. I can’t wait to see Colman in the next season of The Crown.
Catherine D.
Yes, Siobhan too! And none of them is conventionally pretty, although to me, they’re all gorgeous.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle & @Jay: Excellent column. Traister wrote a searing piece last year (or the year before) pointing out how influential so many of the media pigs outed by the MeToo movement were in covering Clinton’s campaign. It was tragic enough that we had to view her campaign through their distorted lens. It’s unforgivable that it’s happening again.
Betty Cracker
@Catherine D.: Same! They look like actual women you might run into at the supermarket. It’s refreshing!
Zinsky
Trump may be lucky to avoid castration, if most women get their way. Getting thrown out of office after one pathetic term will be the least suffering this pig has ahead of him! Getting de-nutted with a dull butter knife may be part of his forced retirement plan!
wasabi gasp
Pot luck, baby! Johnny Casserole making his move. Cordon bleu mi amour.
rikyrah
???
CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) Tweeted:
The US Department of Agriculture has suspended data collection for its annual Honey Bee Colonies report, citing cost cuts https://t.co/hk4kfdmWtr https://t.co/xHr7a0qBJV https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1147533624859856896?s=17
Chief Oshkosh
@smintheus: Could you provide us with your edits to add back to the Wiki page? Possibly if several of use tag-teamed it, we could simply overwhelm the two narcissists. At least we could make them have to work at being asholes.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I hate these death eaters.
Immanentize
@Steve in the ATL:
I’ve been working hard outside before the skies opened up. I love mowing the lawn just before it rains….
Anyhoo, you did the Buffalo Creek disaster in Civ. Pro. as the semester long problem? Or just read about it somewhere. It is a very cool way to teach a course.
Jay
BTDubs, for those seeing an article about Marina Butina’s handler dying in a helecopter crash, keep in mind, it’s from October 2018, so “somebody” is recycling the article for disinfo ops of some kind.
Recirculating old news for “reasons” is a disinfo tactic.
Always check the dates.
namekarB
@Frankensteinbeck:
You win. But it only proves there is an exception to every rule
Immanentize
@Frankensteinbeck:
I am certain Catherine II was not above vanquishing the odd Queen or two in her expansions.
Steve in the ATL
@Immanentize: read for a class, though I forget which one. Was thinking Torts? It read like the closing argument the lawyer never got to give because the case settled.
Maybe it was Civ Pro—that was a long time ago! You know, like 2-3 years ago because I’m totally not old….
Steve in the ATL
@Immanentize: it was all internal so maybe not relevant here, but I’m pretty sure you don’t get a nickname like “Bloody Mary” without killing a few folks. Or do dead Protestants not count?
Jay
Jay
@Steve in the ATL:
The Marian persecutions entry is “interesting”, as it seems to have been English policy through 4 different regencys, even Liz I.
Immanentize
@Steve in the ATL: oh, Protestants count. But Jews, Turks, Mongols, etc. Do Not.
Steve in the ATL
@Jay: there was a lot of back and forth on religion on those days, obviously starting with Henry VIII (referenced in your blurb) who created the Protestant Church when the pope wouldn’t grant him a divorce. New monarch, new religion, new pogrom. Happened in very catholic France as well, and Catherine de Medici played her usual bloody role.
smintheus
@Chief Oshkosh: Thanks for pitching in. Somebody named “Baghaii” went and intervened already. His/her additions are similar to what I had added, but also included a third case in which Kenney seemed to be pursuing a right-wing agenda in favor of charter schools.
One suggestion I would make is to move forward the info that Kenney served as a GOP state committee member. That was his first public role, even before he was elected sherriff (also as a Republican). The Republican trolls at wikipedia seemed determined to obscure the openly partisan start of his public career, by burying that info in the middle rather than at the start of his pre-judicial career.
Jay
@Steve in the ATL:
Once one creates a religion, one must make/keep it homogenous.
Liz I burned Catholics and Protestants.
Bloody Mary burned Protestants and Catholics.
Because of education, training, lack of texts, local conditions, strife, grievances, popualism, cash flow, it was both easy and common for Middle Management to go off book,
They didn’t have Non Compete Clauses back then,…..
Kathleen
@Ohio Mom: Don’t know what’s worse – Enquirer’s previous straight up fascism/racism or Enquirer’s current incoherent fascism/racism.
Juju
@Elizabelle: they should get rid of Steve Kornacki as well. That man is a waste of space, but at least he doesn’t let the spittle fly or have a desperate combover.
Jay
@Ohio Mom:
There is a lot obscured about his background.
As near as I can infer from Wiki and other sources:
His Grandfather owned, worked in and operated one of the small, private, shaft style coalmines in West Virginia.
As coal mining in West Virginia became more monopolized, his father partnered up to expand, wound up buying out his partner, and passed his partners shares over to Chris who was 21.
Chris dropped out of University and started working in the family mines at 22. 8 years later, he leveraged his holdings into the Cline Group, and used that group to aquire more coal holdings, mostly, low sulphur, undeveloped Illonois coal.
He then used an established Strip Mine Coal Conglomerate to mine the coal, for shares and royalties, then cashed out completely in 2015, switching to metalurgical coal in Nova Scotia and Western Canada in 2016.
Starfish
@smintheus: That got reverted too. There was enough back and forth to report the person for engaging in an edit war, but honestly who wants to take the time to engage with someone who is clearly being a dick before they can report them for being a dick?
smintheus
@Starfish: That guy is quite the piece of work. I noticed that recently he devoted some of his considerable time and energy to adding a WP section on the (absurdly improbable) political aspirations of a former TV reality show model; but he can’t see the significance in this judge’s rulings affecting all those non-models in PA…and I guess his judgment is all important.
susanna
@Betty Cracker: Another good one is “Whitechapel.” Also, “Spiral,” though more French police procedural and graphic with less humor, but v. good series.