Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Consistently wrong since 2002

We have all the best words.

Shock troops for the Unitarian Jihad.

I showered with Rahm and all I got was this shitty blog.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Mission Accomplished!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

An army of rabid, anonymous commenters

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week

Gastritis Broke My Calculator

How has Obama failed you today?

The Math Demands It!

Wetsuit optional.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity.

The house always wins.

Good luck with your asparagus.

Nevertheless, she persisted

Word salad with all caps

Shocking, but not surprising.

Screw the Judean People’s Front. Splitters.

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Women: They Get Shit Done

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Women's Rights Are Human Rights

Democratic Primary Debate Open Thread Part II: VP Biden Breaks Some News

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VP Biden has now committed that if he is the nominee, his vice presidential running mate will be a woman. And that he is committed to putting the first African American woman on the Supreme Court. Senator Sanders has committed to most likely choose a woman as his running mate were he to get the nomination, but he needs to ensure that it is a progressive woman.

Open thread!

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Chris Matthews Taps Out

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About 45 minutes or so ago, depending on when I hit post, Chris Matthews has retired from MSNBC.

It was so abrupt and sudden and, apparently, unexpected that when they came back from commercial, Chris Kornacki was sitting in front of the camera, looking like he was going to cry, and clearly at a loss for words. He took the show immediately back to another commercial so they could figure out what to do for the rest of the hour.

A lot of people are going to start to opine that Matthews was forced out because of his confusing Jamie Harrison who is running to unseat Senator Graham in South Carolina for Senator Scott, who is the junior senator from South Carolina. Or that his comparing Senator Sanders’ victory in the Nevada caucus to Hitler’s invasion and subsequent occupation of France by going around the gap in the Maginot Line. But the reality is that Laura Bassett’s courage was the coup de grâce.

At the end of last week, Bassett wrote an article and got it published that specifically recounted how Matthews had sexually harassed her on multiple occasions when she was booked on Hardball as a commenter. The safe play for Bassett was to continue to not publicly discuss it, even as many people knew that something had happened according to her recounting events in her article based on an earlier article about a not named cable news host who had harassed her.

Here is Bassett’s response to his resignation:

And here response to his on air apology that was not specifically addressed to her:

Open thread.

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Some Of Our Government Still Works For Us

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The National Archives has an exhibit on suffrage and women’s protests. A big photo of the Women’s March greets visitors. But some things are missing. Criticism of Trump is blurred out. References to women’s anatomy (OMG vagina!) are blurred out.

Let’s hear from the reporter.

Historians and museum curators have been unanimous in saying that the National Archives should not be in the business of altering documents. Most of us can recognize that, just from that sentence.

The National Archives listened!

Kudos to the National Archives!

And open thread!

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Let’s Add Some Facts

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A new five-year study of women who had abortions has some interesting conclusions:

Starting one week after their abortions and then twice yearly after that, the women were asked about their feelings. The authors said they wondered about stigma and how the women would reflect on their decisions as time passed.

What they found was a surprise: Over time, all emotions, good and bad, faded.

“A really interesting finding is how the intensity of all emotions is so low,” said Corinne Rocca, lead author of the study and a UCSF associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.

A week after their abortions, about 51 percent of women expressed mostly positive emotions, 17 percent expressed negative emotions and 20 percent said they had none or few. As time went by, the number who felt few or no emotions rose sharply. At the five-year mark, 84 percent reported either primarily positive emotions or none at all, while 6 percent had primarily negative feelings. There was “no evidence” of new negative or positive emotions, the authors said.

Immediately after their abortions, 95 percent of those who agreed to interviews said they had made the right decision. At five years, that percentage increased to 99 percent.

Here are a bunch of other facts from the Guttmacher institute. Two that jump out is that, at the 2014 rate, about 24% of all women will have an abortion by age 45, and in 2017, 39% of all abortions used medication, not surgery.

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A Rapist In Your Path

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I had no idea this was happening in Chile (and, if you watch the video, which is well worth watching, around the world):

A Chilean protest song about rape culture and victim shaming has become a viral anthem for feminists around the world.

Un Violador en Tu Camino – A Rapist in Your Path – was first performed in late November as Chile’s nationwide uprising against social inequality pushed into its second month. […]

According to statistics compiled by the Chilean Network Against Violence Against Women, 42 cases of sexual abuse are reported each day to the police (approximately two every hour). In 2018, only 25.7% of sexual abuse cases resulted in judicial rulings.

“In the Chilean judicial system, stereotypes and biases harm women victims of sexual violence,” said Bárbara Sepúlveda Hales, spokeswoman for the feminist lawyer group Abofem. “In many trials, the life and sexual behavior of the victim is exposed as if it were a justification for the aggression they suffered.”

Again, via AOC’s twitter.

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Here It Is (Open Thread)

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I get tired of saying it, so I assume y’all get tired of hearing it, but the presence of the leering misogynist Donald Trump in the Oval Office is a daily, incarnate insult to women, a constant orange beacon that illuminates our second-class citizenship. And it is made all the more unbearable by the complicity of the (overwhelmingly white) women who helped put him there.

This is a truth we confront daily. But sometimes, the base materials that created this hideous aspect of Trumpism come together under pressure to yield a perfect diamond of ignorant, braying sexist bullshit. And here it is:

For those disinclined to watch the clip, Trump is celebrating himself signing the Woman’s Suffrage Centennial Coin Act, which commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. (The 19th Amendment passed the House in 1919 and was ratified in 1920.)

Trump signed the Woman’s Suffrage Centennial Coin Act next to a woman dressed as a beauty pageant contestant in a tight “suffragette white” sheath dress and sash. Trump wonders aloud why it took so long to get this particular act signed into law — wholly ignorant of the meaning of the word “centennial,” it appears — and credits himself with finally getting it done.

Then Trump asks the Platonic Ideal of the anti-woman Trump woman, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), to give remarks. This clip mercifully spares us Blackburn’s remarks, but we can assume they were embarrassingly obsequious. She may even have credited Trump with giving women the right to vote rather than signing an act creating a commemorative coin 100 years later, who knows.

So, if you see women in your life who are not Marsha Blackburn rage-drinking or punching through plaster walls, this sort of thing might explain it. Open thread!

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Respite Open Thread: Happy Birthday, Lily Tomlin

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A patron saint for this, our moment in time…

“No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.”

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Election 2020 Open Thread: Kirsten Gillibrand Has Dropped Out

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Ave atque vale! Her kids are young, and to someone interested in making a difference, there are worse jobs than being a senator from New York, so…

… A Gillibrand aide told CNN that the senator decided to end her presidential campaign last night after talking with her family and “after it was clear she would not make the stage.”

Gillibrand, in a sign that the campaign viewed qualifying for the third debate as critical, had spent millions on TV and digital ads aimed at boosting her support. But those efforts failed to break Gillibrand out of the pack of candidates polling under 1% nationally.

The senator entered the presidential race with an exploratory committee in January, outlining a campaign that would focus on fighting for equality, especially for women, something that she has also made central to her time in the Senate.

Gillibrand joined the 2020 field with $10.5 million in the bank, a massive campaign bank account that quickly made her one of the most financially formidable candidates in the race. But that advantage was short lived as Gillibrand struggled to raise money in the crowded field, an early sign that the senator’s bid would eventually fail.

Unlike some Democrats running for President, Gillibrand took her fight directly to President Donald Trump, regularly calling him out on the campaign trial. This was a clear strategy for the senator from Trump’s home state: Gillibrand officially kicked off her presidential campaign in March with a rally outside Trump Tower in New York City…

A number of her Democratic opponents took to Twitter to tout Gillibrand’s work after her announcement on Wednesday.

“Kirsten, you are my sister and one of the most righteous fighters I know,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker wrote. “I’ll miss our run-ins on the trail, but women, New Yorkers, and all Americans are lucky to have you resolutely at their sides.”

“My friend ⁦‪@SenGillibrand⁩ is a brave voice on some of the most critical issues facing our country today — from childcare to sexual assault. She is a champion and I know she’s not done fighting for women and families everywhere,” California Sen. Kamala Harris said.

And former Rep. Beto O’Rourke wrote, “Thank you, ⁦‪@SenGillibrand⁩, for always fighting for what’s right. Every day of this campaign, your leadership brought attention to the issues that matter most—and our party, and our country, are stronger because of it.”

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Congratulations, USWNT

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CBS New York, “USWNT World Cup Parade: NYC Readies To Celebrate U.S. Women’s National Team”:

Ticker-Tape Parade Planned For USWNT World Cup Champions Wednesday, July 10, at 9:30 a.m. (EDT)

Roaring crowds of enthusiastic fans are expected to pack Lower Manhattan Wednesday morning to celebrate the World Cup champion U.S. Women’s National Team.

The U.S. woman will be passing through the Canyon of Heroes.

The sidewalk along Broadway is decorated with names of the United States’ greatest athletes.

Fans will gather to celebrate the American women capturing their record fourth World Cup championship with Sunday’s 2-0 win over The Netherlands…

But it’s not all about celebrating for the women on the team. It’s about delivering a message as they fight for equal pay.

“I think that this win changes the conversation [from] ‘do we deserve it’ to OK, how are we actually going to get the action? What are we going to see from FIFA, from U.S. soccer, from the sponsors?” midfielder Kelley O’Hara said.

According to Nielsen ratings and other streaming services, here in the United States, Sunday’s match ranked as one of the highest-rated soccer telecasts in history. It drew bigger ratings than the 2018 men’s World Cup final…

Team co-captain Megan Rapinoe, who won the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament and the Golden Boot as top scorer, spoke out on Good Morning America on Tuesday.

“Go watch your team. Watch the national team. Watch your local club teams. I think that there’s a part in this for everybody to do,” she said…

If you click on the link, there’s instructions on how to livestream the event, “Free access – no sign up.”

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Monday Morning Open Thread: Remember the Ladies…

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Rep. Chisholm, and Bella Abzug, were my first IRL political heroes when I was in high school. “In 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major party’s nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, as well as the first ever woman (of any race) to appear in a United States presidential debate.”

It’s not just Black women she inspired / motivated, either! From the NYTimes, “Warren and Harris Rise in Democratic Primary, Challenging Male Front-Runners”

… “I want someone who I know will stand up, that has a backbone,” Ms. Krerowicz said, suggesting that Ms. Warren and Ms. Harris could perhaps form a ticket. “They’re both very, very strong women. I would love to see them together, but I think Elizabeth has the experience.”

In the span of just a few weeks, voters like Ms. Krerowicz have pushed the race into a new, highly uncertain phase, propelling a pair of women toward the top of the Democratic pack at the expense of the onetime front-runners, Mr. Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Neither woman is yet in a position to take control of the race. Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders retain considerable advantages, most notably the backing they enjoy among working-class voters and their significant financial reserves. Mr. Biden, 76, is still the clear front-runner, and both he and Mr. Sanders, 77, are not likely to see their support simply melt away.

But recent polls, and interviews with voters in the early primary and caucus states over the last week, found that Ms. Harris and Ms. Warren had plainly broken through, drawing on a deep hunger within the Democratic electorate for big ideas and groundbreaking female leadership…

Gonna be another busy week, like it or not; remember the long game, and try to hang on to your sense of humor…

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WWC Open Thread: Equal Pay — At the Very Least

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Breaking! Jeffrey Epstein Arrested in New York For Allegedly Sex Trafficking Minors

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From The Daily Beast:

Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to three law enforcement sources. The arrest, by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force, comes about 12 years after the 66-year-old financier essentially got a slap on the wrist for allegedly molesting dozens of underage girls in Florida.

For more than a decade, Epstein’s alleged abuse of minors has been the subject of lawsuits brought by victims, investigations by local and federal authorities, and exposés in the press. But despite the attention cast on his alleged sex crimes, the hedge-funder has managed to avoid any meaningful jail time, let alone federal charges.

The new indictment—which, according to two sources, will be unsealed Monday in Manhattan federal court—will reportedly allege that Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage girls in a now-familiar scheme: paying them cash for “massages” and then molesting or sexually abusing them in his Upper East Side mansion or his palatial residence in Palm Beach. Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors—which could put him away for a maximum of 45 years. The case is being handled by the Public Corruption Unit of the Southern District of New York, with assistance from the district’s human-trafficking officials and the FBI.

Several of the billionaire’s employees and associates allegedly recruited the girls for Epstein’s abuse, and some victims eventually became recruiters themselves, according to law enforcement. The girls were as young as 14, and Epstein knew they were underage, according to details of the arrest and indictment shared by two officials.

Epstein’s attorney Martin Weinberg declined to comment when reached by The Daily Beast on Saturday night. The SDNY also declined to comment.

“It’s been a long time coming—it’s been too long coming,” said attorney David Boies, who represents Epstein accusers Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Sarah Ransome. “It is an important step towards getting justice for the many victims of Mr. Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise.

“We hope that prosecutors will not stop with Mr. Epstein because there were many other people who participated with him and made the sex trafficking possible,” he told The Daily Beast.

None of this would be possible without Julie K. Brown’s reporting at The Miami Herald, which reignited interest in Epstein, his crimes, his co-conspirators, his enablers, and his protectors by giving a public voice to some of his victims who were cheated out of their chance for justice by current Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta.

Epstein’s arrest and pending indictment is going to have massive repercussions within the US, as well as in other countries. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in response to legal intervention made by Brown, has recently ordered the unsealing of 167 pages of documents in a lawsuit brought by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia L. Guiffre, in her attempts to get Epstein’s sentence overturned so that she and her fellow victims can seek actual justice, as opposed to the sweetheart deal that Epstein received. Here’s the link to the 2nd Circuit’s order. Lisette Voytko at Forbes explains:

A federal appeals court Wednesday ordered that 167 documents in a lawsuit that alleges famously well-connected financier Jeffrey Epstein participated in a sex-trafficking ring should be unsealed—and that many of his powerful friends could be named.

  • In its 27-page decision, the court cited the public’s right to access the case information outweighed the privacy of certain individuals, “including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well‐known Prime Minister, and other world leaders.”
  • Virginia Guiffre (now Roberts) filed the lawsuit against Ghislane Maxwell, alleging that she had used her as part of a sex trafficking network of underage girls to Epstein and a number of his famous friends, including his lawyer Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew. Both men denied the accusations.
  • Dershowitz has supported unsealing the documents, according to the Daily Beast.
  • The documents will not be immediately available, as anonymous individuals involved in the case have two weeks to file appeals.
  • The court advised the documents be read carefully. “We therefore urge the media to exercise restraint in covering potentially defamatory allegations, and we caution the public to read such accounts with discernment,” wrote the court in its decision.

Those 167 documents contain up to 2,000 pages of material! This has the potential to expose a lot of powerful men in the US and elsewhere. Democrats, Republicans, politicians, businessmen, as well as other elites and/or notables. And, most likely as was the case with Ghislaine Maxwell, some women who enabled or covered up this crime spree as well. Regardless of whose ox gets gored as a result of Epstein’s pending indictment on Monday and the forthcoming release of the court documents from Guiffre’s suit, we should all be pleased that these women are one step closer to justice that has been too long denied.

Open thread!

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Goddess Bless America

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Friday Morning Open Thread: Maybe Just Enjoy the Weekend

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Speaking of weird “patriotic” co-optations… I knew that Gretchen Peters’ “Independence Day” was not exactly an America Fvck Yeah! anthem, but then I was living in the area during the Francine Hughes trial. What I had *not* known, until now, was that the song has been claimed by the same sort of rightwing nitwits who think “Born in the USA” is about how Ronald Reagan made jingoism kewl again. From Rolling Stone, “How a Song About Domestic Violence Got Mistaken for a Patriotic Anthem”:

When Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” was released to country radio in April 1994, it was easy to mistake the country song for a U-S-A! U-S-A! anthem. It was titled after America’s most patriotic holiday after all, and its irresistible chorus of “Let freedom ring!” seemed custom-made for small-town Fourth of July celebrations to come. But the true meaning behind “Independence Day,” written by Gretchen Peters and recorded by powerhouse vocalist McBride, was lost on many listeners — the seemingly July 4th holiday hit turned out to be a story of domestic violence and one woman’s drastic measures to escape abuse at home.

“I started getting all these letters — handwritten letters, back in the day — from women saying, ‘This is my song,’” McBride says now. “I got a few letters that said, ’I heard this song on the radio, I’ve been battered for 10 years, and I left. This was the thing that made me realize that it’s not my fault, that I need to make a change.’”

Throughout the past 25 years, both McBride and Peters have watched as their song has taken on a life entirely of its own — not just in its cathartic impact for victims of abuse, but also in its misinterpretation for political means. Sean Hannity used the song as a theme on his radio show from shortly after 9/11 until 2014; Sarah Palin chose it as a walk-on song during her Vice Presidential campaign. Peters, in particular, has been saddled with a patriotic anthem she did not write.

“As the writer, I always believe that it’s very powerful to know what your story’s about and know your characters, but not necessarily put it all in there,” she says. “Because I think it invites the listener to play a part. The danger there is that those kinds of songs are much more easily misconstrued.”…

Somehow a song about deliberate cruelty driving its victims to a terrible revenge seems appropriate right at the moment, or maybe that’s just me. It’s a darned catchy ditty, regardless!

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: For the Win

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Yeah, I don’t pretend to understand soccer, but I’m enjoying this. Per the Washington Post:

… Rapinoe’s contributions punctuated a glorious night for women’s soccer, which is trying to make gains in a male-dominated sport. The United States and France were the top two favorites in the tournament, but the draw had placed them in the same bracket for a likely meeting in the quarterfinals.

“I hope this will help this women’s game go further and move into that next level,” said French Coach Corinne Diacre, whose third-ranked team has lost in the quarterfinals in each of the past five major world tournaments…

As kickoff neared, streets leading to the venue filled with fans singing and marching with flags and traditional scarves. Among the chants: “Equal pay!” — a reference to the U.S. players’ efforts for gender equality within the U.S. Soccer Federation…

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