Vice President Harris swears in Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary. "History is being made yet again," Harris said after Haaland took the oath. (WH photo / Peter Velz) pic.twitter.com/70YqbDbFwp
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) March 18, 2021
Bella Abzug (may her shadow never grow less) started wearing a hat as a young lawyer in the 1950s, so that people wouldn’t assume she a secretary. The hats became her trademark, because “When I got to Congress, they made a big thing of it. So I was watching. Did they want me to wear it or not? They didn’t want me to wear it, so I did.”
Nobody is going to mistake Secretary Haaland for any other legislator, either:
… Standing in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to Vice President Kamala Harris to take the oath of office, Ms. Haaland wore a dark jacket over a sky blue, rainbow-trimmed ribbon skirt embroidered with imagery of butterflies, stars and corn; moccasin boots; a turquoise and silver belt and necklace; and dragonfly earrings.
Against the flags and dark wood, the former Democratic congresswoman from New Mexico stood out, her clothes telegraphing a statement of celebration and of self at a ceremonial moment that will be preserved for the record. It was symbolic in more ways than one.
According to an Instagram post from Reecreeations, that company that made the skirt for Ms. Haaland’s swearing-in, the ribbon skirt is a reminder of “matriarchal power”: “Wearing it in this day and age is an act of self empowerment and reclamation of who we are and that gives us the opportunity to proudly make bold statements in front of others who sometimes refuse to see us. It allows us to be our authentic selves unapologetically.”…
Wearing traditional dress has become something of a signature for Ms. Haaland during big public moments. In 2016, she wore a classic Pueblo dress and jewelry to the Democratic National Convention; in 2019, when she was sworn in as one of the first Native American members of Congress, she did the same, including a red woven belt that was more than a century old. And in January, at President Biden’s inauguration, she also wore a ribbon skirt, one in sunshine yellow, with a burgundy top and boots.
As she told Emily’s List on her first day in Congress: “I just felt like I should represent my people. I thought it would just make some folks proud out there.”
Indeed, when Ms. Haaland posted a photo of herself at the inauguration on her Instagram feed (she has 124,000 followers), it was liked more than 45,000 times, with many comments applauding her attire. Not in order to diminish her achievements, the charge often leveled at commentary on a female politician’s wardrobe choices, but to underscore them…
Deb Haaland is putting her Moccasins on, ready to be sworn in by VP Harris! pic.twitter.com/tTsyxTMwlM
— Madam Vice President Harris is GOAT! (@flywithkamala) March 18, 2021
Deb Haaland: America’s first Native cabinet secretary https://t.co/UTMBkELsl3
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 16, 2021
Well-written article, including a tidbit I had not run across earlier:
… Her father, a Norwegian American from Minnesota, served in the Marine Corps for three decades and her mother, a Native woman, was in the Navy. Ms Haaland was born in a small railroad town in Arizona, then bounced from school to school with each new posting her parents received, before they finally settled in New Mexico’s biggest city, Albuquerque…
Norskamerikanere representation! (… doesn’t matter anywhere near as much, of course, especially in a generally matrilineal society. Besides, as my Norwegian-born mother-in-law always said, the truly fierce *successful* Vikings left Norway back in the Middle Ages…)
Open Thread – Volcanic Eruption In Real Time
Starboard Tack
Things look bad for the Bundys. Make ’em pay up, Deb!!!
OzarkHillbilly
Not least because she isn’t a legislator anymore.
Suzanne
Love her, and love this.
Down with strict dress codes for women meant to make us look attractive to white dudes. Up with culturally appropriate dress and saying fuck beauty and professionalism standards.
karen marie
Here’s a very nice article about Agnes Woodward, the seamstress who made Secretary Haaland’s ribbon skirt.
Yutsano
Dem oil barons ain’t gonna like her too much. Not to mention she has some immense power to enact policy to advance the clean power grid/climate change agenda. Move forth in power Madam Secretary!
Ruckus
I am an old white man and you can not appreciate how much I like moments like Deb Haaland’s swearing in. It is far, far past time that the people of this country, all the people of this country, have a chance to serve and actually be proud of this country. Hell it’s way past time for me to be able to say I’m proud of this country. I enlisted in the military during a war, rather than move to another country because I believe in what this country stands for, what it was formed for and I think that it is almost 250 yrs past due that the people that live in this country, are citizens of this country, are the ones that should be running it, not the people that only want it to succeed to make them rich and powerful. It is ours, all of ours and it needs to adjust to that, not us adjusting to whatever the rich and haters want.
rikyrah
???
feebog
Making a prediction right now. The two most influential Cabinet Secretaries will be the two with the smallest margin of votes, Haaland and Becerra. Republicans know they will both be fierce advocates for the poor and disadvantaged, thus the opposition.
rikyrah
Jackie
@Ruckus: BRAVO Ruckus! ??
Yutsano
@feebog: I’m predicting this Cabinet will be the most active Cabinet for the people since FDR. I’m all kinds of here for it!
OzarkHillbilly
Something tells me McConnell has no skin in the game and Kentucky is the one holding the bill.
ETA and that KY voters won’t hold MM responsible but blame Joe instead.
dmsilev
@feebog: For a guy that many reviled as a bleah centrist, Joe Biden sure has assembled quite the team for his Cabinet.
SFBayAreaGal
@Ruckus: I agree whole heartedly with what you said.
I am so proud to be an American and Democrat. I love seeing the changes and diversity that is happening to this country.
raven
Her father also received the Silver Star, that’s no “show-up” badge. He was also a “Mustang”.
Omnes Omnibus
@dmsilev: I remember the term doddering old man being used.
Mike in NC
I’m thrilled about all of the exceptional women in the Biden-Harris administration, because it’s inevitable that the next Republican that lands in the White House will be hiring only white men.
debbie
@Suzanne:
Seconded.
raven
Gin & Tonic
@OzarkHillbilly: Mitch most definitely has no skin in this game.
Geminid
@Ruckus: You have mentioned the possibility of retiring soon. If you do, I hope you find time to write more. You are well educated in life experience, and have a lot to say.
Kristine
@Suzanne: @debbie: Thirded.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@rikyrah: I’ve been noticing for all their “Run the government like business” the Republicans are really crappy at deal making.
gwangung
Apparently, a lot of the mainstream media in Atlanta declined to assign Korean speaking reporters to the shootings, because they were concerned about their “objectivity.”
Far as I’m concerned, they deserve a big fat “F” in how they covered the story, centering the killer, taking his story at face value and not telling the story of the victims until days later.
Suzanne
Ehhhh…. fever, chills, body and headache, injection site soreness. Got it all. Oddly also have a stitch in my side, as if I went running really hard. Which I can assure you, I did not. I think it’s from lying awkwardly on my side while cuddling the Spawn.
Geminid
So the Democratic House Caucus will be down another member, in this case until a June 1 special election for the New Mexico 1st District. The Democratic state central Commitee will select a nominee at a March 30th meeting. Democrats have won this district easily in recent years.
The nominating contest for HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge’s seat will be a hard-fought primary. Cleveland City Council member Shontel Brown has Fudge’s endorsement, I think. Several others are running, including the well-financed Nina Turner. Last summer, Turner made a fiery speech at the launch of the People’s Party. When she heard that Representative Fudge might be moving on, Turner decided to be a Democrat again, at least until the primary.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus:
I said earlier, sorry I didn’t see your reply last night. Yes, I’m excited about the new president!
Another Scott
@Ruckus: +1 I think you’re right.
Relatedly, …
They know what’s at stake. I think our folks do as well. They need to get it passed. Everything else that’s good follows from voting rights.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Suzanne: Feel better soon, and congratulations on priming your antiviral factories!
Cheers,
Scott.
Starboard Tack
@Ruckus:
I’m also an OWG (old white guy) and I agree with you completely. And we don’t deserve any special credit for it.
Ruckus
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Their idea of business is not to provide a reasonable service or product, their idea of business is to make the most profit for the very least effort, because they aren’t capable of anything more or better.
An example would be the shitty pillow fella.
Ruckus
@Starboard Tack:
The only credit the old white guys that have been in power deserve is credit for having fucked it up in the first place.
Joe Biden is the face of OWGs who understand. I wasn’t sure about that until he chose Kamala Harris to be VP. And now he’s going on to prove it.
Starboard Tack
@Ruckus:
ETA:
They’re both shitty.
laura
She is strong. She is invincible. She is woman. President Biden has been assembling a government of capable experienced women and some real good men too. Let their collective wisdom guide us out of these troubled times and let the public see what effective inclusive leadership in action looks like. I’m betting all my chips (I have few chips) that the public will like what it sees.
Also, I, too, crush on Ruckus and would be keen to hear about his exploits both foriegn and domestic – but that could be said of just about every single jackal in the pack if I’m being honest.
Cheryl Rofer
Ugh, I hate this so much.
Deb Haaland’s clothes, for those of us who are neighbors to the Pueblos, obviously indicated her intention to continue the traditions of her people and steward the land responsibly. New York fashion critics would wear the skirt for themselves. Ignorant.
Benw
@Suzanne: hell yea
Villago Delenda Est
Steve Daines, Q-Montana, is probably just beside himself over Haaland’s confirmation.
Pobrecito.
Benw
@Ruckus: word
Gravenstone
@rikyrah: Ya know, seizing those ill gotten gains and using them to purchase additional doses of vaccine would be a just outcome. Bonus points if that vaccine was then sent to countries still trying to bootstrap their own programs.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ruckus: It’s also not to give their employees a reason to be loyal, thus reducing personnel churn and improving their product. It’s a long term thing, and these assholes are addicted to the notion that there is nothing beyond the current fiscal quarter.
currants
@Suzanne:
Agreed.
I lived in AZ (Navajo res) for a short year more than a decade ago. Everyone dressed differently than anyone in MA: Acceptable dress attire was wonderfully more casual than in MA (i.e. a clean shirt with your best bolo tie if you were a guy). For indigenous people, dress attire was their dress attire, and it was always gorgeous. I am so glad she’s carried that with her. Yes, I know she’s right and folks back home will appreciate it, but more than that, it’s consistent/congruous with who she is. I mean–she’s not dropping what she would normally do under similar circumstances back home. And that seems just so GREAT to me.
currants
@Ruckus: Hear, hear!
currants
@Cheryl Rofer:
YES. EXACTLY. I said it very badly–had I seen your comment I’d have cheered (and not written mine!).
Ken
Any congressmen who complain about the way she dressed had better be wearing a linen shirt, vest, neckerchief, knee breeches, calf-length coat, and buckled shoes. None of this modern stuff that’s destroyed the original traditions of Congress.
currants
@Ken: *snicker
Villago Delenda Est
@Ken: And a powdered wig.
Benw
@currants: you said it just fine :)
Martin
VP Harris has a pretty cool job.
TomatoQueen
@Villago Delenda Est: And the fleas thereof
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: I’ve said for over a year that voting rights should be the first law passed by Congress and signed into law by a Democratic President, not just because it’s good for Democrats(it is) but it’s good for democracy and the right thing to do.
JanieM
@gwangung: Funny how only white people, and often only white men, are thought to be capable of “objectivity.”
Assholes.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
Well the current fiscal quarter and their bank account.
Juice Box
Nice aurora borealis going on right now on the Northern Lights cam:
https://explore.org/livecams/zen-den/northern-lights-cam
Geminid
@Geminid: Corrections: Shontel Brown, candidate for Marcia Fudge’s seat, is a member of the Cuyahoga County Council, not the Cleveland City Council. And it is Ohio Representative Joyce Beatty who has endorsed Shontel Brown.
Dan B
@feebog: Mayor Pete sailed through the nomination but I wonder if his influence, and that of Merrick Garland, will also be influential. Pete has good ideas for transportation, which will be key for the new “Bigger and Better” economy and for stalling climate catastrophe, and for addressing racial justice. I don’t know how successful he will be but he seems capable of attracting good people with talent and dreams.
Garland seems like he’ll be cleaning the sewers but that clears the way for solid foundations.
Harland and Becerra seem like they will explode heads. If they score some victories for long term progress that demonstrate their value to the American Dream (Equal Opportunity) they will be more influential. But Pete, the “homosexual” and Preet, the “Latin” are also exploding brains. The Right Wing and crazed Christianist response is screamingly obvious. They’re terrified that their lives have been built on a foundation of lies and mud. Losing meaning is a shock.*
*The cabinet is turning up the voltage just by being who they are. Bring it on. These hateful people are revealed best as they begin to smolder and burn.
CaseyL
I am over the moon to see Secretary Haaland sworn in! Her dress is entirely appropriate, and gorgeous. I look forward very much to her work in Interior. It’s about damned time someone who reveres the land, and the people who lived on it first, was in charge of the agency that deals with both.
TriassicSands
@karen marie:
Woodward’s skirts are really beautiful. Thanks for the link. I went there and followed another link that showed a number of her skirts, some of which are even more beautiful (to my eye) than Haaland’s swearing-in skirt. I look forward to four years of colorful dress on our Secretary of the Interior. May she never appear in high heels.
I assume her skirt will outrage the wingers.
Cheryl Rofer
@currants: I have no problem with what you said. It was the NYT fashion writer who obviously can’t see dress as anything but a glorification of one’s self.
Dan B
@Jackie: Bravo 2!
It boggles my mind when well off white people feel that:
#1. They are superior.
#2. That “minorities” are best avoided.
I’m a minority and have paid a price for that, or rather, the dominant society has extracted a price for my being different. I’ve always felt it was a privilege to be allowed into the confidence of other “minorities”. There have been tensions but there has been far greater expansion of my horizons and simple joy. My memories are sweet and my soul has been expanded.
Why would anyone with one iota of privilege want to miss these experiences?
You put it so well. Thank you!
TriassicSands
I doubt they will ever entertain that possibility.
Dan B
@dmsilev: Joe’s Cabinet doesn’t resemble our neighborhood but boy howdy, it is very close. He just needs some Filipinas, Chinese, and Somali. And I don’t remember if there are Hmong and Vietnamese.
But I’m not keeping track because this government will understand us, and our neighbors, better than any other in history. We need to trumpet their achievements even if they fail to launch us to the stars or to perfection.
Joe’s failed plenty but seems to learn, and get better. Can’t tell you how much my heart swells and tears well up when I let that register.
Character matters? Yes! Yes it does. And he recognizes the hurdles his cabinet has struggled with and overcome. He seems to recognize that America, and humanity, will need the wisdom they’ve acquired to deal with the immense challenges to come.
Yutsano
@Dan B: Save for Merrick Garland, every nominee of a minority* group has had a tough time getting confirmed. The Republicans got one scalp in Neera Tanden but after that no more. I hope President Joe keeps nominating good people of all the hues and types that make up the fabric of this country. We need representation. Of all of us. Not just old white men.
*Mayo Pete being the notable exception, but he just exudes Midwest nice.
Dan B
@gwangung: Just the use of the term “Parlor” is enough to earn the Atlanta media a place in ignominy. It’s a horrible term of judgement of people who they believe to be inferior morality. It’s a mirror into their souls.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah:
Of course! How’s Scott Walker’s Foxconn plant in Wisconsin too?
gwangung
@Dan B: I’ve been reading the stories about those who were killed (DAYS after the event). Breaks my heart.
And they could have had more of this, much earlier, if they have only tapped the expertise available, either on staff, or in the community.
Mary G
This is such a relief. Today is the traditional inauguration day the founders picked. And I have not heard a peep from TFG and the Q crowd all day today. It just seemed to peter out when the arrests started happening.
Alison Rose
@Cheryl Rofer: Not to vehemently defend the NYT writers because………………..nope, but I didn’t read the phrase in that way. By “celebration of self” I took the writer to mean a celebration of Haaland’s identity as a Native woman. Like, “This is who I am, I’m proud of it, and I’m going to literally wear that pride on my body.”
Cheryl Rofer
@Alison Rose: If that’s what she meant, she should have said it. But that’s still inadequate.
The traditional symbols – rainbow, corn, butterfly – are so important in the Pueblo culture that there is no way that what Haaland intended was simply her identity. But the Times writer didn’t bother to learn that.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G:
Eh, that was March 4th.
Yutsano
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Fortunately nothing bad happened that day either. I think the arrests are having an impact on the direct actions right now. But I can guarantee you these fuckers haven’t gone away. They’re just seething on the edges waiting for the next actual call to arms.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G: Weak. Sad. Poop.
Amir Khalid
@Yutsano:
I wonder if their Leader the Former Guy can still command them like he did on 6th January. I think he probably can’t.
Sister Golden Bear
@Ruckus: Bravo 3!
@Dan B:
Yep. My therapist once remarked that pretty much all trans people have low-level PSTD from the ways in which society stigmatizes us for being different. I’m sure that’s true of other minorities as well.
I think you answered your own question: if they’re “superior” they’ve got nothing to learn from those people. Also learning from others might challenge their beliefs that they’re superior — or many of their black-and-white assumptions about the world. Aside from the fear-mongering and using trans people as a wedge issue, a lot of the anti-LGBT stuff seems to driven by people who are scared of having to think outside of their hermetically-sealed little boxes.
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid:
I’d argue this insurrectionist trash are forever members of Dump’s cult. If they try some shit again, I hope the local national guard units are ready to push them off the outside wall they were scaling on the 6th.
“Oh, you didn’t bring proper climbing gear like real rock climbers who aren’t traitorous trash? SAD!”
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
Every day that shitforbrains is not president and good things happen in government he loses a bit of the BS that got him where he wanted. He should be facing a multitude of lawsuits and even possible jail. Some of his supporters will go down with him of course, they really are just as stupid and evil as he is. His health is obviously a thing, his wallet being what it is, his common folk fans being arrested daily, all of this in the long run will work against him. On his side is the performance not news broadcasts of fox and idiots. Not sure that will be enough for him to be anything but the worst president in the nations history.
Ruckus
@Sister Golden Bear:
Thinking outside those little boxes seems to be miles beyond their capabilities. They sure seem to not have any desire to do that, so it’s going to take a lot to see any change in their BS.
Geminid
@Ruckus: Last Sunday’s Washington Post had a good article by former U.S.District attorney Joyce Vance, on the threat trump faces from civil actions. One plaintiff, E. Jean Carroll, is moving closer to a deposition of trump in her defamation lawsuit. Carroll says she plans on being there.
Carroll’s attorney is Robbie Kaplan. Kaplan also represents plaintiffs injured in the automoble assault that took Heather Heyer’s life after the August 2017 Charlottesville rally. They are suing the organizers of the event. While delaying tactics by defendents have put the trial off until this coming September, the action has already put financial pressure on people like Richard Spencer and his Identity Evropa gang. This lawsuit could be a template for actions by the police injured in the January 6 insurrection, against that event’s organizers and instigators.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sister Golden Bear:
I think you just described the GOP mindset.
Dan B
@gwangung: Reminds me of the unheard and intentionally slanted stories about gay people who died of AIDS. Apparently if you are perverted or impure, even by association, you don’t matter, your story and your friends and families’ feelings and your stories will not matter to anyone who “matters”.
It’s a reminder that banishment was the worst punishment you could suffer in antiquity.
Ruckus
@Geminid:
Civil legal actions, governmental legal actions, state tax actions, likely federal tax actions, shitforbrains is pretty deep in it. We know there are a few hundred million coming due from Deutsche Bank soon on a signature loan. And everyone is going to want their hand in the pot before he kicks. And someone is going to have to do an intervention on Jr soon or that lunatic is going to pop, he’s redlined on something and that can’t last long without the fan getting brown.
Couldn’t happen to a better family of morons.
Amir Khalid
@mrmoshpotato:
It won’t be lost on the hundreds of insurrectionists now in big trouble with the law because of him that Lieber Führer hasn’t publicly said one word in their defence, nor lifted a finger to help them, and has given no sign that he ever will. I admit I don’t know if that’s enough to make them realise that supporting him is always going to be a sucker’s bet.
James E Powell
@Geminid:
I really doubt Trump is willing to be deposed. It will be interesting to see what he does to avoid it.
Geminid
@James E Powell: He’ll definitely try to wriggle out of it. Someone who has practiced law could say what the costs would be. Conceding liability? My friend in Atlanta could tell me. I’ll have to hit him up in the morning.
Geminid
@Geminid: Robbie Kaplan, attorney for E. Jean Carrol, represented Edith Windsor in the case Winsor v. U.S., which in 2011 struck down the “Defense of Marriage Act.” Winsor was a precurser to the Obergefel case that legalized same sex marriage in the U.S.
James E Powell
@Geminid:
If he settles the case, he can get out of it. Otherwise, I don’t know how. I am sure he will file every sort of motion for protective order, attempt to limit questioning, etc., and he will keep filing and appealing in search of a Trumpist judge who will protect him. He may have run out of luck, we will see.
If & when he testifies, he will lie and he will say he doesn’t remember. I will be amazed if the case goes to trial.
Geminid
@James E Powell: The Washington Post has an article datelined March 20, about some of the 29 civil lawsuits trump faces, and some other legal troubles. It’s a long article.
Dan B
@Sister Golden Bear: It warms my heart to read your words. All of our neighbors have been mystified by these two “brothers” who live together, with several exceptions, one of whom lost a brother to AIDS. NONE of them have been anything but great loving neighbors. The two of us are half the white people on our double- long block. It’s safe for us here, especially for the POC. We all seem to treasure that. There’s some shared understanding that we may be different we recognize the differences but do not judge. Instead we like each other a lot. We don’t need to discus our differences we just go with the flow and discoveries of everyday life, as neighbors.
Mary G
Wait for it:
TFG’s administration in a nutshell.
Martin
@James E Powell: Nobody is going to take an offer to settle.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G: There was no dumpster on fire in back. :)
Ruckus
@Martin:
The early bird might listen to an offer. But it will never be enough and won’t be accepted and it will be because of his inability to see himself as anything but right/perfect.
I’d bet everyone will be going all in for everything possible. He’s been screwing so many out of so much for so long, the shear numbers are going to bury him.
The Fat White Duchess
@gwangung: That is atrocious. Thank you for the information.
Uncle Cosmo
Just FTR, the customary architectural motif of the basic Global Oligarch business edifice is stone walls mortared with bullshit.
Geminid
@James E Powell: My Atlanta friend, a former litigator, weighed in on the consequences of a trump refusal to be deposed:
“I believe the sequence would be a motion to compel, followed by an order compelling production or attendance, followed by a motion for contempt if the latter is not obeyed, with the usual contempt penalties of money fines or jail time.”
Trump might still resist, but the optics of him being cited for contempt, in a matter whose origin is an allegation of rape, would not be good. That would quicken the transition of trump’s public image as an 800 lb. gorrilla to that of a 300 lb. mangey monkey.
Miss Bianca
@Cheryl Rofer: *I* didn’t have any problem figuring out the symbolism of her dress. Kind of surprised it wouldn’t have been more obvious to others. Come on, people!
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Ruckus: Oh its worse than that. Thinking outside of those boxes is practically a sin. “Those boxes were put there by God as part of his divine natural order!”