Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Let there be snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Bark louder, little dog.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Proud to Be A Democrat / Inclusion Matters

Inclusion Matters

by | 86 Comments

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I follow what is going on tiktok a lot for a number of reasons. For one, there is just some really funny stuff out there. Second, I like to keep up with the kids, because one of my biggest fears is not being irrelevant, because I don’t care what people think of me, but not being able to understand what is going on around me. Because of this, I follow a wide variety of accounts regarding all sorts of topics, and this came across my feed today:

Not something I would have thought about, ever, but something that is very real for large portion of the American population.

Reader Interactions

86Comments

  1. 1.

    quakerinabasement

    This is just one small example of why I follow this blog daily. You built a wonderful community, John, and your open-mindedness is among your traits that make it possible. Thanks.

  2. 2.

    craigie

    That’s pretty cool. Also, who knew there could be TikToks not created by screaming teenagers?

  3. 3.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I’ve heard him use the word “tribes” in that context before. One more thing that he’s serious about, one more quiet revolution.

    His manner is so understated that I think a lot of pundits are going to take a while to realize how consequential and revolutionary this administration is going to be. If they ever do.

  4. 4.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    I remember that when I was in the White House talking with him, I asked him how he got to be the way he was. He said, “What do you mean?” I said, “Well, here you are, calling senators, twisting their arms, threatening them, cajoling them, trying to line up votes when your own record on civil rights was not a good one before you became Vice President. So what accounted for the change?”

    He thought for a moment and wrinkled his brow and then said, “Well, I’ll answer that by quoting a good friend of yours and you will recognize the quote instantly. ‘Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.'”

  5. 5.

    guachi

    The America Rescue Plan Act has piles of cash for Tribes. Democrats made sure not to leave the most forgotten minority behind.

    And your post reminded me that one reason I supported Clinton way back in ’92 was during the South Dakota primary, the fourth that year, Clinton gave a coherent and knowledgeable response to a question about Native Americans. I was impressed.

  8. 8.

    planetjanet

    I am also seeing that in Virginia Native Americans have a much higher percentage of the population vaccinated right now, which is wonderful to see.  About 22% versus 13% for White Virginians.  I was assuming there was a proactive program pushing for equity.​

  9. 9.

    TaMara (HFG)

    That was amazing. I actually heard Biden say territories and tribes – mostly caught my attention because I thought, “yes, those areas have been hit so hard by covid” but didn’t realize it was a BFBD (Big, Fucking, Biden Deal).

    He just quietly rocks the job every day…

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    Very cool. I’ve been in a semi-euphoric state all day today after listening to Biden last night.

  12. 12.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @guachi:

    The America Rescue Plan Act has piles of cash for Tribes. Democrats made sure not to leave the most forgotten minority behind.

    This is so important for a variety of reasons. Native Americans have often been forgotten about in policy. Native Americans were also instrumental in helping Dems win in AZ

  13. 13.

    Mary G

    “Joe Biden Is a Transformational President”

    Somehow low-key Joe Biden gets yawns when he promotes progressive policies that would generate howls if promoted by a President Sanders or a President Warren.

    This moment is like 1981, the dawn of the Reagan Revolution, except in reverse. It’s not just that government is heading in a new direction, it’s that the whole paradigm of the role of government in American life is shifting. Biden is not causing these tectonic plates to shift, but he is riding them.

    and

    It was assumed, even only a decade ago, that the Fed could not just print money with abandon. It was assumed that the government could not rack up huge debt without spurring inflation and crippling debt payment costs. Both of these concerns have been thrown out the window by large numbers of thinkers. We’ve seen years of high debt and loose monetary policy, but inflation has not come.

    So the restraints have been cast aside. We are now experiencing monetary and fiscal policies that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. This is like the moment when the G.O.P. abandoned fiscal conservatism for the go-go excitement of supply-side economics — which eventually devolved into mindless tax cuts for the rich.

    The role of government is being redefined. There is now an assumption that government should step in to reduce economic insecurity and inequality. Even Republicans like Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney, for example, are cooking up a plan to actively boost wages for American workers.

    I had to use a free click to read it, because I did not believe that David Brooks could write this and the NYT publish it. I’m sure some of it is designed to appease subscribers who aren’t happy about Brooks’ taking money and not disclosing, but still. It must be a big bandwagon if David has climbed aboard.

  14. 14.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Native Americans were also instrumental in helping Dems win in AZ

      Yes! My Democratic friend in AZ mentioned this to me, with gratitude and pride.

    Bless the current Administration for their policies of inclusion and equity. Our country will be the better for it.

  15. 15.

    Nora

    I really think it’s Biden’s delivery that makes him both so powerful and so underestimated.  He’s not flashy, he’s not dramatic, he just talks like an ordinary person and so people assume he’s not saying anything spectacular, even when he is.  Play to your strengths, Joe!

  16. 16.

    randy khan

    The big tell on how the Biden Administration was going to approach Tribes and Native peoples was appointing Haaland for Interior.  She would not have said yes if she thought she wasn’t going to get to do important things.

    BTW, Tribes get $20 billion of the $350 billion for states and localities, which is a big chunk of money in proportion to the Native population in the U.S.

  17. 17.

    cain

    I’ve caught the mention of Tribes quite a bit and it gladdens my heart. They are truly indeed almost a prisoner in this country – forgotten always and left to fend for themselves for the most part.

  18. 18.

    sdhays

    I picked up on this right after the election, everything coming out of the transition mentioned tribes in the same breath as states and local governments, and I didn’t think I had ever heard of tribes talked as equal government bodies in that way before. It was rather thrilling.

  20. 20.

    Redshift

    I’m tuned into it because Ms. Redshift has done some work with Native American tribes. Where other presidents used phrases like “all fifty states,” Biden routinely says “states, territories, and tribal governments.” It’s pretty awesome.

  22. 22.

    Roger Moore

    I think of this as a left wing dog whistle.  The people who are listening will hear it, and the people who aren’t will completely miss it.

  23. 23.

    Dan B

    Thanks John!

    This is very timely.  We’re going to dinner with great friends.  When he was working at the incredibly sadistic BIA her father initiated and followed through on Indian Sovereignty and then came up with “gaming” as a means of funding.  There are many Indian men in their 30’s named Sherman, what they thought her father’s name was.  It was Sherwood but no one is complaining.

    They’ll be glad to hear this about Biden.  I am also.

    Thanks so much for this post!

  24. 24.

    Dan B

    @Dan B: The story I remember about Sherwood was he found the law library in the basement at BIA was a place he could go to get away from the horrors and insults being visited upon the tribes by BIA staff.  His research showed the leverage of the treaties.  He developed a group that got victories for sovereignty in the courts.

  25. 25.

    Mike in Oly

    Living in an area where the tribes fought long and hard for respect, recognition and a place at the table, this is a BFD. There is so much more work to do in rectifying the issues around natives peoples. Simple recognition of them as equal partners is a great start.

  26. 26.

    Sure Lurkalot

    I am impressed by the ease of his thoughtfulness. Inclusiveness seems to be part of his very being. It’s not forced or phony, he projects comfort and compassion. I envy these qualities.

  27. 27.

    Brachiator

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    I’ve heard him use the word “tribes” in that context before. One more thing that he’s serious about, one more quiet revolution.

    At first I don’t think I really paid attention to it, but later on I appreciated the simple kindness and respect in these words of inclusion.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    So a white man orders tribes around to make vaccines available to everyone and y’all think that’s a positive.  SMH.

    In related news

    NASA is naming the rocks and soil on Mars in the Navajo language

  29. 29.

    sdhays

    @Roger Moore: I think it’s more than that. Just having the government talk about tribes in the same breath as local and state governments raises their profile so much. I expect most people don’t really have any idea what legal position tribes have in this country (and that’s by design), so just mentioning them alongside state and local governments is an education in itself, even if people don’t really notice it.

    Tribes being a part of the national governance framework is being normalized with the greater public.

  33. 33.

    Starfish

    The Chickasaw Nation is now offering COVID-19 vaccines at no cost to all Oklahoma residents. There are no tribal citizenship or employee requirements. Schedule your appointment online at https://t.co/KimM6TST6B
    — The Chickasaw Nation (@ChickasawNation) March 12, 2021

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    @sdhays:

    I think it’s more than that.

    It’s certainly more than just a dog whistle, but the very understated way he’s doing it is an important part of the process.  The people who are listening most carefully get the message that he’s working to raise the profile and importance of tribal governments, while the people who don’t like that are unlikely to notice.  The thing you don’t see is the usual suspects whining about how he’s treating tribal governments as the equals of the states and territories.  That’s important, because that last thing he wants in a case like this is right wing backlash.

  38. 38.

    James E Powell

    @Roger Moore:

    I think of this as a left wing dog whistle.  The people who are listening will hear it, and the people who aren’t will completely miss it.

    Are you including the teams of right-wing lunatics who pore over Biden’s every word in search of something to be outraged about? They are legion!

  39. 39.

    frosty

    I’ve been on a listserve from EPA for years. They’ve always mentioned “states and tribes” in their announcements. I thought this was normal for Federal agencies. Agreed that Biden is making it a new thing for politicians.

  41. 41.

    Ascap_scab

    Who knew TicTok was more than underage girls dancing to hip hop? Idk, this blog and Twitter already eat up too much of my time. I really can’t do MySpace or AOL.

  42. 42.

    Punchy

    I just heard that this country doesnt suffer from racist thoughts, but diabetes.  Thats right: poorly controlled diabetes causes a Tourettes-like outbursts of “fuckin N-clangs”.  Of course it must.

    I wish I was joking.

  44. 44.

    Subsole

    @Mary G: If DFB is climbing aboard any sensible idea, it is because he is trying to drown the stink of his deeply held and cherished beliefs in a perfume of apparent sensibility.

    ETA: consult your local Driftglass for details – and access to the Library of Alexandria’s Receipts wing.

  45. 45.

    James E Powell

    @Subsole:

    If DFB is climbing aboard any sensible idea, it is because he is trying to drown the stink of his deeply held and cherished beliefs in a perfume of apparent sensibility.

    Yeah, I thought about it for a minute and decided I still want Brooks cleaning the latrines in the FEMA camps set up to re-educate anyone who worked for Trump.

  46. 46.

    Mike E

    This was the first election cycle in which I could actually afford to donate and when I saw Four Directions organizing to get their people to the polls I did not hesitate to give. When my relief check hits (after I buy a new sofa) they’ll be getting some more turkee from me.

  47. 47.

    Amir Khalid

    @Subsole:

    Speaking of Former Guy’s rage-tweets, has Twitter made any public statement about him using proxies to circumvent their permanent suspension and get on Twitter?

  48. 48.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @raven: ‘fraid some of us are white…. can’t be helped (unless you’re Rachel Dolezal, which I am not).

    anyhow, in order to lower the level of this discourse, I’d just like to comment that when I’m watching Chinese movies, occasionally an actor walks on stage and I go, wait, what is a Native American doing in a Chinese movie?

    And then of course it dawns on me:  Bering Strait.  China of course has far more ethnic diversity that Japan or Korea and unsurprisingly some of the actors from Siberia are going to look what we think of as Native American.

    other than that, just piling on:  love the liberal dog whistles instead of the other kind.

  49. 49.

    CaseyL

    Going from TFG (or TFFG, for That F*cking Former Guy) to Biden is, honestly, like Dorothy opening her B&W door onto technicolor Oz.

    I think, just with what he’s already accomplished, Biden will be a transformational President. If he can also get HR 1 passed, limiting the GQP’s ability to sabotage elections, so he and the Democrats can stay in office and in the majority over the next few cycles… I can’t even imagine.

  54. 54.

    trollhattan

    @randy khan:

    Yes! Haaland may be transformational in the office and her appointment surely means Handsome Joe takes tribal issues to heart.

    But hey, that Zinke feller was the bomb too, amirite?

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    @CaseyL:

    IIUC because he’s had no pressers and hasn’t nominated eleventy hundred judges Joe is yesterday’s news.

    Slacker

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Punchy:

    I just heard that this country doesnt suffer from racist thoughts, but diabetes.  Thats right: poorly controlled diabetes causes a Tourettes-like outbursts of “fuckin N-clangs”.  Of course it must.

    is that the Papa John guy? Or John Cornyn?

    Trip Gabriel @tripgabriel
    @SenRonJohnson on the 1/6 rioters: “I knew those were people that loved this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law.” Really? 140 officers injured, 1 dead.

    More Ron Johnson, after saying he wasn’t afraid of the 1/6 largely white mob: “Had the tables been turned, and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matters and antifa protestors, I might have been a little concerned.”

  57. 57.

    Starfish

    @Ken: I think they said everyone. They also said tribal members and employees who are not in Oklahoma. There was also mention of the Chocktaw opening up vaccination to people in that thread.

  59. 59.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Yes, this is yet another big fucking deal.  Three cheers for Old Handsome Joe Biden, the President of all of us.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Or John Cornyn?

    Trip Gabriel @tripgabriel
    @SenRonJohnson

    Well that was a straight up brain fart, but I think understandable. They each got half a brain from Abbie Normal.

  66. 66.

    TS (the original)

    Speaking of white privilege

    The alleged Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes is pregnant, according to a new court filing, potentially delaying her trial by several weeks.
    Lawyers for Holmes asked the judge on 2 March to delay the start of jury selection to 31 August, after her due date.
    “The parties have met and conferred, and both parties agree that, in light of this development, it is not feasible to begin the trial on July 13, 2021, as currently scheduled,” said the filing.

    Never heard of a trial being delayed because the defendant is pregnant.

  67. 67.

    jonas

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​
     

    JFC, first that state senator in AZ basically saying out loud the other day that “not everyone should be voting” and now Johnson admitting that he’s down with white militant protestors, but not scary black ones. They’re not even pretending not to be full-on racist shitheels anymore. In fact, they seem to be prouder than ever to let their (Confederate) freak flags fly.

  69. 69.

    CaseyL

    @trollhattan: I see the MSM in much the same metaphorical way as I see the GQP:  Dead things, still moving and talking and causing pain, but dead inside.   Like a cancer, they need to be cut out of the body politic if our country is to survive.

  70. 70.

    opiejeanne

    @Dan B: mr opiejeanne witnessed the terrible way BIA agents treated the tribes. He needed to meet with tribal leaders for a road project that crossed their property, and the BIA sent an asshole to the meeting and it. was. really. bad.  Dave was still really angry when he got home, just fuming about how this idiot talked to them and about them.

    I’ve only seen him really angry 3 times in the 53 years I’ve known him, and this was one of them.

  71. 71.

    Tata

    @RSA: Lubalin seems like a truly gifted musician and producer, with a keen eye for comic potential. I watch his TikToks over and over and howl.

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Subsole:

    I think it’s a sportsball announcer who dropped a racial slur right into a hot mic, then blamed their low blood-sugar…

    Sweet Jesus. This is why they kneel, indeed.

  77. 77.

    karen marie

    @Mary G:

    Even Republicans like Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney, for example, are cooking up a plan to actively boost wages for American workers.

    Rank bullshit.

  78. 78.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    I noticed that last night too but wasn’t sure if it was something new.  Hope it continues.

  79. 79.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: ​
     
    You know, that could be intentional. See, the Republicans always knew you had to say things matter-of-factly, knowing you’d have dozens of others saying the same things matter-of-factly, and you make the message seem normal… or at least, normal enough to journalists, that consumers of their reporting will shrug and say “I guess that’s normal in Washington, then.”

    Thing is, progressive folks have a lot of matter-of-factness on our side, because we want good things. (Yeah, we all have our flaws, not saying we’re all perfect – just, our political goals are stuff like “let’s make everyone’s lives decent, at the lowest cost to others.”

    So, he may have grokked that and might be playing that card… shifting the Overton window with more force than “we can’t *all* be crazy!!!” Republicans could, because it’s all positive stuff, and when you throw the cray-cray at the obvious sanity, they kind of mutually expose each other.

  81. 81.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Subsole: Well, I can’t defend the slur, but I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so I know better than anyone that fatigue impairs your inner censor (aka: politeness and maturity).

    I grew up hearing the n-word all the time… so much so that, I confess, it annoys the heck out of me that it doesn’t seem right to use it to refer to itself – e.g. “the word (actual n-word) is far more offensive in America than some non-Americans would understand”.  Thing is, I learned it was a bad word as a kid, and I was going to be a good kid, so it’s not hard to avoid it.

    But if I’m tired, and talking for a while, having to try to fill in the silence, to the point that my brain goes on a bit of automatic, I could easily call someone I consider to be a pathetic wimp a “pussy”, and then immediately apologize, sorry, believe it or not, when I was a child, I thought it meant pussy-CAT, really, and so I still slip up sometimes.

    I’m not saying be entirely and immediately forgiving; and I’m definitely never suggesting *forgetting*. But consider that a person asking forgiveness, because low blood sugar put them off their game, might be implicitly acknowledging that it would be unforgivable if they’d been at the top of their game.

  82. 82.

    Dan B

    @opiejeanne: Our friends reacted to the native peoples’ reaction to Joe’s words as no big deal.  What our dearest friend’s father accomplished was no big deal.  It’s what people do.  It’s what people like her father did.

    I’m very glad to have confirmation that BIA staff were / are monsters.

  84. 84.

    Procopius

    Well, I voted for him reluctantly and skeptically, so I’m more than happy that he’s bringing me around. I hate the foreign policy team he brought in, but he’s recruiting some wonderful people for domestic programs. It seems clear to me that he does not want to return to the JCPOA, because demanding Iran return to the table without removing sanctions is not going to work. I haven’t heard if he’s ordered the Navy to discontinue their blockade of Yemen. Appointing Merrick Garland Attorney General is almost enough by itself. I still dislike and distrust Kamala Harris and Neera Tanden, but his appointment of Deb Haalend to Interior is great. The fact that most of the money in the American Rescue Act is going to families, and lower income families at that came as a complete surprise to me. Wonderful. If he decides he wants to run again in 2024, it will be the first time I’ve had a chance to actually vote for a presidential candidate I actually wanted to be President since John F. Kennedy (I was too young to vote for Eisenhower).

  86. 86.

    Ken

    @Central Planning: Maybe they do, but don’t feel the need to blame it on their blood sugar?  “Oh, yeah, rescued those kids from the burning building. Sorry, my blood sugar was low.”

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