Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The revolution will be supervised.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

We still have time to mess this up!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Good News from the Sports World

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Good News from the Sports World

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… She is just the fourth woman in the award’s 66-year history to win it unaccompanied, a feat that is both a remarkable athletic achievement and a reflection of entrenched gender biases. Rapinoe challenged perceptions of her, of female athletes, of all women. She led her teammates, three months before their tentpole tournament, to sue the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay; to declare in advance that they would not visit the White House when they won the Cup; to score 13 goals in a group-stage match against Thailand, without apology.

As for The Pose? “It was kind of like a ‘F— you,’ but with a big smile and a s— eating grin,” Rapinoe says. “You are not going to steal any of our joy.”

Yes, the U.S. women have been here before. But the ’19ers were more dominant than the team that won four years ago—they never trailed in France; they scored a record 26 goals—and they were even bolder than the ’99ers who collectively captured SI’s year-end award two decades ago. Julie Foudy, co-captain of that team, asked her old cohort Mia Hamm about the equal-pay lawsuit, “Do you think we would’ve done this?” And Foudy says they concluded, “We probably would have said, Let’s plant that flag after we’ve won. We had been socialized not to stir the pot. Which I love about Rapinoe, this freedom to speak her mind in a way we didn’t feel we had.”…

In the months since: Michelle Obama recruited Rapinoe to join in a voter-participation initiative. Gloria Steinem, the original feminist icon, thanked Rapinoe for carrying her torch. A high school girls’ soccer team in Burlington, Vt., staged its own campaign in support of equal pay, and an 11-year-old boy in Geneva, Ill., went viral for his pink-haired Halloween costume, each inspired by Rapinoe. She has been invited to Washington by New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; talked politics on Meet the Press, Pod Save America and CNN; and turned into a coveted endorsement for the 2020 election. No, she’s not running for office anytime soon. “I don’t have plans for policies and how to implement them,” she says. “I’ll just be the jabber.” (The White House did reach out privately to the team about a visit, a U.S. Soccer rep confirms. Rapinoe says she heard about the outreach on the plane ride home from France, from USSF president Carlos Cordeiro. He suggested a visit to both the White House and Capitol Hill; Rapinoe and another player reiterated they didn’t want to meet with Trump. Rapinoe would like to visit Congress with her team, but she doesn’t think U.S. Soccer is willing to organize a trip that skips the White House, with the World Cup coming to the U.S. in 2026. The team rep says ’26 “has absolutely zero bearing” on the issue.)…

Bonus points: This will make the #MAGAts lose what little chill they might’ve had.


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Also good — if more ambiguous — news:


Reader Interactions

65Comments

  2. 2.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    Time magazine announces its Person of the Year, tomorrow.

     

    Should come down to Nancy Smash or the Whistleblower

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    Told Trump to fuck off, led her team to World Cup victory, fought for equal pay AND demonstrated how to be a good ally:


    She’s the real deal.

  4. 4.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    Golden Globe Nominations

     

    Best Motion Picture – Drama

    • 1917
    • The Irishman
    • Joker
    • Marriage Story
    • The Two Popes

    Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

    • Dolemite Is My Name
    • Jojo Rabbit
    • Knives Out
    • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
    • Rocketman

     

    The are found here (list)

  8. 8.

    Procopius

    What’s the thing she’s holding in the cover picture? Looks like a double-bitted axe, but the blades look to short and too thick. Almost looks like a sledge hammer.

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: The first thing I wrote was that she is amazing, then I changed it to “amazing speech”. I posted and then saw your comment.  All I can say is WOW.  She is most definitely someone we need right now.

    Can someone please explain the significance of what she is wearing in the sportsperson of the year photo?

  12. 12.

    MomSense

    Who the fork is the guy they keep bringing on Morning Ho?  He looks like Pee Wee Herman’s evil twin who is an obnoxious pundit.

    I vaguely remember he wrote a book that was panned live on Morning Ho by another guest months ago.

  13. 13.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    @Procopius:

     

    texts a photo to Harris, who replies, “You look like a goddam goddess.” Then she puts down the phone and a photographer asks her to pose with a prop sledgehammer, the concept being that she’s smashing the patriarchy. Someone suggests that she roar, too, the way she does after a goal. She dislikes this idea. The face and the sledgehammer, she scoffs, say the same thing.

    “What about a smirk?” she asks. “It’s kind of like a little, F— you, I’m coming.”

  16. 16.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    I thought the end of Megan Rapinoe’s speech was truly inspiring. Best speech I’ve heard from an athlete in ages. She called on all of us to be better, while at the same time showing some humility.

    (video)

    “She’s just a born leader. There are people who just have IT, and she has IT.  Megan Rapinoe, you make us believe.  God bless you, and all your teammates, congratulations!”

    ~ Nicolle Wallace

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I have a problem with the SI website: It’s a blank page. Literally nothing there, no matter how many times I refresh it. I have never had this happen anywhere else but it has been happening there for… 2 months or more. I can’t get the front page and was kinda hoping the article link would bypass the problem. Nope, blank page.

  20. 20.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    @WaterGirl: The sledgehammer in her hands is symbolizing the smashing of patriarchy.

    The gown features Rodin’s sculpture “The Kiss”

     “an image of strength — of opposites coming together to create something solid and whole.”

  21. 21.

    debbie

    @David ??Booooooo?? Koch:
    If there is any justice, it will be the whistleblower.

    From up top:

    Bonus points: This will make the #MAGAts lose what little chill they might’ve had.

    This would be a great Christmas present! The real bonus would be Trump whinily tweeting that he should have been named the sportsMAN of the year.

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl:   Blank page no matter what. It hadn’t even occurred to me to try a different browser. Thanx. I’ll see if chrome (i really dislike chrome) gets it.

    To be sure, this is the ultimate first world problem, one that barely bothers me as I can get my sports news elsewhere, It’s just an every now and again thing when I hear of an article or just wonder if it is still blank for me.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    There are a pair of otters who’ve been frolicking in our little river lagoon the last several days. The dogs first alerted us to their presence in a strange way: they (the dogs) began running back and forth on the screened porch overlooking the river, whining in an anxious/excited tone, but not barking, which is what they usually do when they spot an animal of any sort. I believe it’s because they think the otters are dog mermaids, so they’re reacting to the presence of supernatural creatures.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    OT, but FYI: Google tells me the version of Chrome I upgraded to (Version 78.x) is giving people fits with what it’s doing to the tabs. Hopefully, there will be a fix soon.

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Amir Khalid: Well than I have no idea what the problem is. I know you are shocked, just shocked, to hear that I, a master of all technology no more complicated than a framing hammer would be stumped on this matter.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    I think we know.

    ‘Whose side are you on?’: Police chief rips McConnell, Republicans for opposing ‘boyfriend loophole’ law after shooting death

  43. 43.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    Rapinoe becomes 1st soccer player (man or woman) to be named alone as Sportsperson of the Year

  44. 44.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    TODAY

    @TODAYshow

    ·
    4m

    Congress has reached a landmark agreement on paid paternal leave for federal employees. The measure would give more than two million federal workers 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child.

    Nancy Smash on a roll

  47. 47.

    Kay

    Annie Linskey
    @AnnieLinskey
    NEW from me &
    @mviser
    : Memo from 1990s pollution case shows Elizabeth Warren in action as corporate consultant

    The level of attention and search of publicly accessible documents related to Elizabeth Warren the candidate in 2019 compared to Donald Trump the candidate in 2016 is just amazing.

    Why is it so different? Don’t tell me they “didn’t think he would win”. They don’t think Warren will win either and it’s a LOT less likely she will win since she’s one of 13 instead of one of two.

    Weird how they can turn up every court filing with Warren’s name on it as counsel but none with Donald Trump’s name on them as plaintiff, defendant, or bankruptcy petitioner.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    @Betty Cracker: I believe it’s because they think the otters are dog mermaids, so they’re reacting to the presence of supernatural creatures.

    I’ve seen dogs reacting that way to seals, too.  Imagine the dogs thinking “They *look* like dogs, they *act* like dogs, but they sure don’t SMELL like dogs!  Unnatural, indeed!”

  50. 50.

    Anne Laurie

    @Kay:

    It’s Annie Linskey’s job to hate-stalk Warren; she’s been doing it since 2012, when Warren first challenged Scott Brown.  I assume the Washington Post hired her (from the Boston Globe) specifically for her experience at hate-stalking Warren, and hired Matt Viser at the same time, presumably to carry Linskey’s coat.

    Any reporter looking to hate-stalk Trump had to (has to) do it on their own dime, because the people handing out news jobs seem disinclined to ‘challenge’ the Occupant.  IOKIYAR, y’know…

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Someone in media should look into this:

    It’s the search site for Trump’s apprenticeship program. I searched zip codes around here. This is a scam. It’s all low wage jobs and for-profit training sites. Congress allocated hundreds of millions to this. Are these “apprenticeships” getting some kind of federal subsidy? There are real apprenticeships within the zip codes I searched- a lot of them. None of them come up. Ivanka and Betsy DeVos spent millions of dollars on a program where participants would be better off going to an ordinary job search site. The thing reeks of scam.

    Maybe Propublica will do it.

  52. 52.

    Ken

    @debbie:

    the sportsMAN of the year

    I wish SI would rename it to “Athlete of the Year”.  “Sportsperson” is clunky, and also (to me) has a connotation of “because we had to let in the girlz”.

  53. 53.

    Kathleen

    Proud to say I’m fellow alum with Megan. We’re both graduates of University of Portland, a tiny conservative Catholic school hardly anyone has heard of. Of course she graduated long after I did and I enjoyed reading about her exploits in the alumni magazine.

  54. 54.

    Kay

    @Anne Laurie: 

    Thanks. It’s good to know ahead of time. Still, glad to see they can still summon the quality of attention it takes to search federal court filings – they should give it a try with “Trump” and “Trump International” and “Donald Trump” and “Ivanka Trump” and “Jared Kushner” and the tens of other names they used for their various scams and grifts.
    Better late than never!

  58. 58.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: I think they do it because they know that Democrats pay attention to norms and appearances of propriety.  On the other hand, IOKIYAR.  They know Republicans don’t care any more, and Teabaggers just scream Deep State and FYF and scare the reporters or make them feel bad.  “Oh no, he might call my boss’s boss or be mean to me on Twitter, so I better BothSides this paragraph.”

    :-/

    Almost all political reporting in the US has seemingly become the equivalent of obituaries for famous people – they’re written months/years in advance and just slightly tweaked as events happen.  It’s infuriating.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    Nice to see this Olympics ban is a farce.  Well done.  (See Nancy Armour’s opinion piece.)

  61. 61.

    Searcher

    @Procopius: Sledge was what I assumed.  I’m a little curious about the asymmetry, and if I need a sledge that accomplishes whatever the asymmetry on that one does.

    I’m also amused that she is appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated covered wrists to neck, given the covers Sports Illustrated is more famous for, but a quick Googling seems to turn up that, when an athlete is being featured on the cover related to her recent accomplishments, normal attire is the norm, so I guess it’s just my unfamiliarity with the magazine outside of pop culture references.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: Excellent news!  Maybe not at this moment, because it’s giving you fits, but it should be easy enough for them to resolve.  Thanks for the update!

  65. 65.

    Dan B

    It doesn’t seem like a surprise that Rapinoe is the Sportsperson of the Year. She’s been amazing for years.

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