there were a lot of good things to come out of the 2022 midterms for the center-left but a big one is that swing voters generally identified the people obsessed with other people's bodies as the weird freaks, contra conservative attempts to make the tolerant people look freakish. https://t.co/hd0gSUNSmf
— a vindicated archaeologist (@merovingians) November 20, 2022
The revanchists are angry because they’re losing. It’s important to remember that!
something that I think is kinda interesting here that speaks to a unique phenomenon in young elite GOP types: they’re personally pretty cosmopolitan (she went to a gay club many times), while also being totally in favor of policy that treats groups like gay people as subhuman. https://t.co/DxpAK9Q30R
— William B. Fuckley (@opinonhaver) November 21, 2022
I think a lot of cancel culture discourse is driven by elite-ish conservatives who dislike the fact that personal cordiality doesn’t entitle them to friendship with people who they want to use politics to brutalize.
— William B. Fuckley (@opinonhaver) November 21, 2022
a common strain which percolates through the elite class is that's it's not enough simply to possess affluence and power — they also demand veneration, or at least compulsive deference
— meditative zebra (@meditativezebra) November 21, 2022
Part of it imo is that before Obergefell they were invited to the elite social circles, but now the winds have changed so much that they’re just mad it’s not acceptable anymore.
— usermovie (@usermovie) November 21, 2022
I have said this a thousand times and I will say it again: If you don't care about trans ppl and don't want to think about them then you should support the liberal posistion of "leaving ppl alone" instead of the conservative plan of "rigorous genital inspections in every school." https://t.co/qJJxXYvxUi
— Nathan Goldwag ???? (@GoldwagNathan) November 20, 2022
being pro-trans is a hill worth dying on in and of itself, but it’s been clear since biden paid no political price for the “at least three genders” line that dying on the hill isn’t even a remote likelihood. americans don’t care about things that don’t personally affect them lol https://t.co/TR08jXY3kp
— dyIan ?? ???????? (@manicpixiehack) November 20, 2022
most americans seem largely unconcerned with gender neutral bathrooms and pronouns. this is a very good thing, and a reason to never ever treat trans people worse than anyone else in the coalition – it's not just deeply wrong morally, it's also politically ineffective
— a vindicated archaeologist (@merovingians) November 20, 2022
Math Guy
Present.
satby
In my booth at the farmers market is a sign supporting Transgender rights. It’s 11×17 so you can’t really miss it. South Bend is purple at best, the farmers and many customers are MAGA at worst; yet every single week someone thanks me for displaying that sign. Old people, college kids, middle aged people: sometimes I’m really taken by surprise by who appreciates it. Because even in red zones, there are LGTBQ+ people and families who love them. Never be afraid to be an ally.
OzarkHillbilly
I grew up in the ’60s, early ’70s. For the vast majority of that time, a persons genitals were referred to as one’s “private parts.” As in, “nobody’s business but the person who owned them.” This being the ’60s and ’70s, that wasn’t really true, but just as the Declaration of Independence was aspirational, so was that sentiment.
We need to reclaim that.
What I do with my private parts ain’t nobody’s business but my own. As long as I don’t force them on another person of course.
Baud
I don’t hate trans people. Why can’t I get invited to all the cool parties?
Alison Rose
It’s amazing the philosophical pretzels conservatives will twist themselves into to pretend like the vicious anti-gay, anti-trans rhetoric and policies many of them espouse and uphold has NOTHING WHATEVER to do with attacks on those communities.
It’s not like this dude went after a bunch of cis het people in a knitting circle or a garden club.
Alison Rose
@Baud: Everyone has standards, Baud.
Qrop Non Sequitur
Awfully cumbersome way to say “I don’t think we should be protecting people or challenging hatred.”
Baud
@Alison Rose:
Now you sound like my mom.
HumboldtBlue
@Alison Rose:
Damn.
schrodingers_cat
I had a friend who was genuinely surprised when I didn’t want to have anything to do with her after she made excuses and low key supported the Orange One’s Muslim ban
We had had a tense and a difficult relationship since the 2014 midterms after she fell hook line and sinker for the immigrants bringing Ebola over the southern border canard of the Republican party.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
The best way we can get back at them is to force them to hang out with each other.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Oh yes that’s a great idea. She thought I was the unreasonable one.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Even I have standards. Mind you, they are pretty damned low. Even you can meet them. SFAW too. Come to think of it Immanentize, Raven, Satby, MomSense,…
Maybe I don’t have standards after all.
OzarkHillbilly
@schrodingers_cat: You are. You have standards. How unreasonable!
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Baud: My only standard, pants for mixed company.
Brachiator
I used to think that general American common sense led to the idea that you leave people alone to live their lives as they see fit.
But then the right wing, spearheaded by evangelicals insisted that they had to stop abortion in order to “save babies,” which of course let them erase women.
And now they claim that they are “saving” trans people by preventing them from modifying their bodies because they “know” that God only makes male and female with standard body parts.
bbleh
True that losing makes them angry — or angriER — but a lot of them are angry pretty much all the time anyway. They seek out things to be angry about, and if they can’t find them, they invent them. They’re anger junkies.
Baud
@Qrop Non Sequitur:
Dammit.
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Baud: There are definitely no-pants parties; but those are typically, let’s say, agenda driven.
Scout211
Deleted
Starfish
@Qrop Non Sequitur: I see you are not inviting our blog host to any events. How rude.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Nominated!
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Starfish: He can come. He just needs to be part of a group who comes together expecting not to wear pants. For whatever reason.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I got no class, I got no principles. . .
Qrop Non Sequitur
@raven: I got class. It’s the homework that always trips me up.
raven
@Qrop Non Sequitur: Alice clippin it!
Emma from Miami
OK, so, who put the pepper in Buckley’s oatmeal?
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Emma from Miami: Not William F. Buckley.
William B. Fuckley
Kelly
A nice even disposition, a little pissed off all the time.
Martin
They’ve been losing since 2010. They’re making up for the lack of voters with violence.
Martin
I wonder if MSNBC would have run a segment on abolishing billionaires if not for the Musk/Twitter fiasco.
If I recall correctly, some people thought I was off my rocker for even suggesting such a thing. I wonder what a poll of 18-29 year olds would think of the idea?
Geminid
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Barack Obama plans to hold a runoff rally with Senator Warnock in Atlanta on December 1st.
Fake Irishman
@Baud: I suspect it might have to do with your pants-optional political positions.
HinTN
@OzarkHillbilly: No standards are the best standards.
Emma from Miami
@Qrop Non Sequitur: Ah. All is right with the world. I was looking for further signs of the Apocalypse.
Martin
Last Saturday showed my wife a video essay on the challenges of trans healthcare and how it reveals inequities in the industry that affect all of us, turns out the church sermon on Sunday was a similar topic.
So yeah, progress is progressing.
HumboldtBlue
@Geminid:
And Walker gets Ted Cruz.
Martin
How is this a new take? The GOP fucking LOVE Clarence Thomas, even the ones that would burn a cross in the front yard of every other black person. This has been true my entire life. There is nothing unique about it. See also railing against coastal elites, while every elected GOP went to 7 different Ivys and owns a yacht.
Alison Rose
@Baud: All Jewish women eventually sound like moms even if we don’t have children.
HinTN
@raven: Did I hear, “Come on, Birmingham”? Yes, I did!
Kay
Doubling down on the CRT, anti woke culture war bullshit:
I hope they run on it again.
Alison Rose
@HumboldtBlue: That’s fitting, since he looks like a werewolf who got stuck mid-morph.
Kay
If you don’t know (and you might not) Randi Weingarten, the person conservatives have identified as the most dangerous person in the world, is a teachers union president.
They should definitely run on conquering Randi Weingarten. They’ll lose by more than they lost by the last time.
Baud
@Kay:
I was hoping he’d choose me.
Baud
@Kay:
Oh thanks. I thought it was Randy Rainbow’s real name.
Chetan Murthy
@Baud:
You’ve retained the element of surprise! You’ll have the drop on ’em!
Baud
@Alison Rose:
You’re going to make me eat more food, aren’t you?
Cameron
@Kay: That’s really unhinged. That doesn’t even enter the same galaxy as reality.
Kay
@Baud:
They just finished telling us they would find something new to run on. Same old shit, maybe third time is the charm?
Fake Irishman
@Kay:
she’s not even president of the largest teacher’s union in the country!
(old AFT guy here, you actually kindly posted something to the board appealing for help when my local got in a scrape in 2012)
Barbara
@Kay: Apparently the participants in a Republican led focus group laughed when they were asked about banning trans athletes from women’s sports. As they might have said in days gone by, what does that have to do with it price of beans?
marklar
@Baud: “Oh thanks. I thought it was Randy Rainbow’s real name.”
Believe it or not, Randy Rainbow’s real name IS Randy Rainbow (from birth)! His father, Gerry Rainbow, was also a professional musician.
2liberal
try putting some pants on!
Dan B
@satby: Thanks for your sign. I’ve known at least a half dozen trans people and worry about their safety. There have been creeps coming to the neighborhood with the most gay bars and threatening people.
Baud
@marklar:
Whoa. How fortuitous.
Alison Rose
@Baud: YES. Eat, darling, eat! Only four bowls of matzoh ball soup? Come, come, here, have more.
CaseyL
@bbleh: They’re scapegoat-hunting for their generally shitty lives. All the stuff they get enraged by – LGBTQ, CRT, etc. – is the sort of thing that, if you’re a good person or striving to be, doesn’t bother you because it’s not a threat to you. They’re shit people, so everything is a threat to them.
Alison Rose
@marklar: In his memoir, he basically said his parents shouldn’t have expected him to turn out any differently.
Kay
@Fake Irishman:
Oh I’m glad I did that.
Weingarten, as you know, is one of the people they demonize constantly. I just think it’s amazing they believe this is a viable strategy for a presidential election- even for a losing candidate like Pompeo.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Yes!
Cameron
@Kay: I wonder how many people in this country know who she is.
Kay
ha! Look at that.
Taniel
@Taniel 2m
All ballots are now counted in Arizona. And Democrats have won the attorney general race, pending a recount. Mayes leads Hamadeh by 510 votes. Out of 2.5 millions! A margin of 0.02%. If recounts confirms, this means Arizona’s statewide far-right slate has all lost.
Sister Golden Bear
@satby: Thank you for a sign. Trust me, it makes a difference.
@Baud: Sorry, gotta wear pants dude.
@Alison Rose: After all Baud needs to keep up his strength to attend the uncool parties.
Baud
@Kay:
Amazing. Hope it holds up.
Delk
Making sure we don’t teach our kids crap by hiring completely unqualified people.
Kay
@Cameron:
It’s their weird “code talking” where they signal to the loonies.
During Obama they bought a billboard that said “where’s the birth certificate?”
Normal people thought it was a PSA, like “I really should locate my important papers”
Omnes Omnibus
@Sister Golden Bear: No kilts?
Ohio Mom
@Kay: Did Pompeo lift that from Woody Allen?
In the movie Sleeper, Woody Allen has woken up and is digesting the fact that he is now in the future. One of the questions he asks is, What happened to the world he knew?
The answer is something along the lines of, “Apparently a man named Albert Shanker got a hold of an atomic bomb.”
(For those of you unfamiliar with the NYC teacher’s union’s history, Al Shanker was a predecessor of Wengarten’s).
Sister Golden Bear
@Omnes Omnibus: Fair enough. A dress would work too — albeit probably not a micro-mini-skirt. But I think Baud would look fetching in a designer dress.
Ohio Mom
@Cameron: The reason I remember that scene from Sleeper is, I had recently moved to Cincinnati from New York and decided to take myself to the movies.
I was the *only* person in the theater who laughed at that line, no one else had any idea who Albert Shanker was.
So I agree with you, hardly anyone knows what Pompeo is talking about, except that he’s calling out someone Jewish. They may not even know if Randi is a man or a woman, but the anti-Semitic dog whistle is enough.
The Thin Black Duke
@Sister Golden Bear: Full Frontal Baud.
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Cameron: I was today years old when I learned who Randi Weingarten is.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ohio Mom: Oddly enough, Weingarten codes as German to me.
Citizen Alan
@schrodingers_cat: My sister and I have jointly agreed that there will be absolutely no discussion of politics at Thanksgiving. Of course, my sister and I have also both quietly acknowledged the reality that when I finally get a job away from Mississippi, we will likely ever see each other again in person.
CaseyL
@Qrop Non Sequitur: I’ve heard the name, but keep getting him confused with Gene Weingarten, who was the editor of the Miami Herald for many years, most of them while I was living there.
Martin
@Ohio Mom: Also fits neatly in the broader category of ‘secret people who control the world’ that the GOP are so deeply invested in. That nobody knows who she is actually works in the favor of it being a winning message.
Remember ACORN?
Qrop Non Sequitur
@CaseyL: Also, too, she’s a woman. Note the ‘i’ in Randi.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Randy Rainbow’s real name is Randy Rainbow.
different-church-lady
Half-baked inkling here… perhaps the problem is Twitter broke John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.
For those unfamiliar, that equation is stated as:
“Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fuckwad”
Except Twitter somehow encouraged already famous people to become Total Fuckwads, and also allowed others to become famous for being total fuckwads. Either way, the anonymity got taken out of the equation.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom: I love that line.
Ohio Mom
@Omnes Omnibus: When I take a quick look at the Cincinnati Enquirer’s obituaries, I am often flummoxed by the German Catholic names (Cincinnati is a very German Catholic town).
Here is someone named Klein, do we know anyone he was related to? Nope, obviously not Jewish from the name of the funeral home and cemetery.
How about this Rosenbaum? Another nope.
CaseyL
@Qrop Non Sequitur: Oops, my bad.
Cameron
@Qrop Non Sequitur: The only reason I knew who she was is because I used to work for an early literacy nonprofit.
Qrop Non Sequitur
So a youth indoctrination camp. Gotta get em early, like the cigarette companies.
NotMax
Cue the teensiest violin.
Steeplejack
Martin
@NotMax: Not surprised. They want a culture war so bad and nobody will give them one.
Poe Larity
Are we going to have to do a like covid zoom test and check who is commenting pantsless?
Spanky
@Poe Larity: Do you really want to know?
UncleEbeneezer
@Martin: Right? There is nothing new about White People, Men, etc., having love for Black Culture, Women etc., while also voting to oppress them. This is why you can’t trust the fact that they love marginalized cultures or individual people.
zhena gogolia
Has anybody else watched Is That Black Enough for You? (Netflix) I wouldn’t say it’s a great documentary, but it is a wealth of information about films I barely remember and a lot I never heard of. Great interviews. The narration is kind of disjointed, but I’m really enjoying it.
Kent
There will likely be political discussions at our Thanksgiving. But it will mostly be consensus about the horror that is today’s right wing. I don’t bother to invite any MAGA dipshits even though I’m related to plenty. All extended family not immediate family.
About 5 years ago I decided that life is too short to deal with hateful dipshits so I don’t anymore. Even if they are family. And if I end up stuck with them I am merciless and don’t put up with any of their bullshit.
lashonharangue
@Kay:
If this holds up maybe Four Directions was the difference. Way to go jackals!
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Sister Golden Bear:
How about Baud in chaps and a thong? I’d vote for that!
Cameron
@Qrop Non Sequitur: First they demand a classroom library, then it’s litter boxes, then…
Cameron
@Poe Larity: What, like a Toobin roll call?
frosty
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Eewww!!! Pass the eye bleach, please!
cain
@Kay: It would seem that it is them who have logic problems – they keep thinking 1+1 = 3. They are complaining about math??? Motherfucker…
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Cameron: The slippery slope is not a logical fallacy. Change my mind.
Poe Larity
@Cameron: Only for the lawyers here
matt
The conservative alliance is presented as a weird marriage of convenience between real conservatives who dress nicely and don’t cuss and Donald Trump who looks weird and cusses.
I think the real battle is between weird theofascists who want to set up a Christian dictatorship and the rest, who don’t really want that. Trump looked weird and acted weird, but his political instincts were to seek out majorities, while the theofascists just want to set up some kind of weird fascist state so they can experiment on the citizens of the richest country that ever existed.
cain
@schrodingers_cat:
I have the perfect mastodon account for you to follow – https://mastodon.social/@[email protected]
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Don’t know if this was mentioned earlier today, but Mary Peltola and Murkowski are projected to win, according to Indian Country:
rikyrah
Sons of Killmonger & Disciple of Dark Brandon (@2Strong2Silence) tweeted at 1:27 PM on Mon, Nov 21, 2022:
Just a reminder: 👱♀️ saw Hillary as the enemy. BW saw themselves in her. The 53% club never forgave her for being strong & not willing to stand in a man’s shadow. Black women saw themselves, WW saw what they coulda been if they had courage.
(https://twitter.com/2Strong2Silence/status/1594774574935478272?s=02)
Sister Golden Bear
Yes, it’s on the bird hellsite, but I haven’t found it elsewhere.
This interview with the hero who took down the Club Q gunman. OMG.
Perhaps a mod could embed the full post (not sure if video can play on embedded tweets).
Jeffro
I hope they DON’T run on this insanity – some school or schools somewhere is going to get shot up
JWR
@Sister Golden Bear: Yes, a front pager can do what you ask, (post a video in comments) and yes, that video is short but powerful.
Suzanne
@Barbara:
I always thought this was so fucking weird. Like…..even if this is something you care about (you suck, but that’s beside my point)…. This is such SMALL BALL (no pun intended). I could not care less which team wins a football game or who wins the swimming race. Especially at the high school level, what kind of person has this as a primary concern for government?!
danielx
@Baud:
I am sure your invitation to CPAC is in the mail.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Dude, you have standards.
May take an express 67 floor basement elevator to get low enough to find them but they are there……
Ruckus
@Qrop Non Sequitur:
Only pants?
Worn or displayed?
Piled or folded?
JWR
@Ruckus:
Corduroy or jeans?
Ruckus
@CaseyL:
They’re shit people, so everything is a threat to them.
Should be a rotating tag.
Ruckus
@JWR:
Yes.
Ruckus
@Sister Golden Bear:
But I think Baud would look fetching in a designer dress.
Are you trying to ruin the concept of a dress?
No, just fucking NO.
JWR
@Ruckus: ;)
Martin
@Suzanne: I think you’re misreading it. The trans athlete thing is a measure, not a policy. They don’t care about it. They care about whether they can control it or not. If they can, they have cultural authority. If they can’t then they don’t. That’s is a small ball thing is what makes it a good measure – almost nobody is *personally* invested in it so it’s a good cultural touchstone, a good example of raw political power.
FastEdD
Hey Mike Pompeo you potato in a suit, you go after my union and you go after us all. I have seen a 5 foot 2 math teacher hold back 100 screaming high schoolers with just her sheer force of will. I have knocked on half the doors in Portland to elect Jeff Merkley as US Senator, and AFT was just getting started. Randi Weingarten can eat you as a side dish.
mrmoshpotato
@FastEdD:
Bonasera, Bonasera, what have we spuds ever done to make you treat us so disrespectfully?
LiminalOwl
@Ohio Mom: I saw Sleeper with my father, who had something of a personal feud with Shanker. Thank you for the memory.