Trump

[Ronster]

[Mike]

Even if he sues (and he won't), it won't see a courtroom before December 12, and then it will be too late, because guilty or innocent, the vote will be over.

[Mike]

[Phoebe]

Thank God, you're one of the small handful of Trump voters who are unabashedly still pro Trump but I respect your reasoning anyway. I mean, there's a low bar: you HAVE reasoning! But seriously, you have reasons. I can deal with reasons. I can reason with reasons. I can scrutinize my own reasons. I can't deal with people who are like, librul consipiracy! People, Anthony Weiner was a Democrat, and not only that, his psychological problems cost the nation itself dearly. It's not like there's insufficient blame and loathing to spread round cheerfully! It won't always go to Republicans.

[poorpete]

Trump saying he's not necessarily supporting Moore but Alabama shouldn't vote for a liberal is disgusting but also the same shit those who unendorsed Trump said about Hillary. Inferring, in both cases, that a rapist is better than a liberal. It's shit, and people can now go to the polls believing their concience clean, as they are told the correct path is clear.

[Phoebe]

It's really gross. I gotta tell you, people are not able or willing to differentiate between all these incidents that get reported. So the fact that some elected Democrats and news reporters are responding to Al Franken in much the same way they're responding to Roy Moore is a serious problem. People who intentionally groom young teenage girls, assault them, and try to assault them, are different in an important way. It's the same with Weinstein, who is said to have raped multiple people and attempted rape with others. It's really bad to conflate all these things, because it damages victims and especially the people who aren't yet able to tell their stories.

People are using these instances now as political weapons, and the more obvious that is, the more backlash, which always comes back to hurt the victims. Even the worst crimes are now being lost in the shuffle, just another tool in the ongoing struggle for political power.

The outcome from the other side of the power gap is that women in particular will be even less likely to be invited into inner circles. Friends keep saying this is a revolution and sea change, and I wish I could believe that, but it's still in its infancy and already the expected response is occurring.

[Phoebe]

The rule for every Trump nominee is this:
Pick the person who is singularly unqualified yet most obviously hostile to the intended good purpose of an institution. Dig deep into the ranks of the unqualified to find this gem of a person who will destroy the institution they are being asked to lead.

Latest example: the Census Bureau.

The fact that the nominee to Chief scientist of the FDA has withdrawn under pressure related to the Russia investigation is also bizarre. How and why is a low-level player in a fairly unimportant state to national politics getting sucked into that vortex? It seems like there's much more going on here than meets the eye and that we're never going to really know. However, it relates to a question I have about why people in my own local politics are suddenly espousing far-right fascist ideas that never would have seen the light of day here a year ago.

[poorpete]

On the "sea change" during this deluge, I hope it is, but there's many who see signs it wont be:

Analysis from Rebecca Onion that it's good we are taking down monsters, but doing nothing to enact changes that will stop this from happening again and again.
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/ ... rcity.html

And another from Rebecca Traister on the eventual backlash: http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/ ... trump.html

I agree Franklin is in a different level, and his victim said he accepts his apology, but that level is still like Louis CK level, and I still think he should do the right thing and retire.

This is me when a Dem is accused of mistreating women

[Mike]

This is a moment of incredible change. It will fuel a backlash, especially with Trump and people like him in power. Things in some areas are going to get worse for women. But it will not be permanent. Because we have a younger generation that actually believes in equality far more than any generation before them AND every year we have more and more women in government and leadership positions, especially on the local level, but also at every level. That will result in changes to our culture in 10 years and in 20 years that we can't even predict now. Despite ups and downs, the trend is always towards progress (as I define progress).

Let us note that every indication is that most Republican politicians on a national level recognize that Trump is troublesome and potentially dangerous as our president. However, the only conservatives in the Senate willing to stand up to him are men who are retiring and women. Men will oppose him if they have nothing left to lose. Women will oppose him if it is the right thing to do. They are still conservatives, and they are human beings, so they are as flawed as anyone else, but there appears to be a difference in the governing styles of men and women in our current culture. As the percentage of women in leadership roles grows from the current 15% to 25% and in a couple decades hopefully to something approaching the expected 50%... we will see things change.

[poorpete]

Thanks for the pep talk Mike!

[Tahlvin]

I wish I could believe it. But when you see the level of support Roy Moore has from conservative women in AL, and some of the things I've seen from young nieces that are my childrens' ages, I just don't know.

[Phoebe]

I want to believe but can't really get there. I can't listen to the Rebecca Traister thing right now because I'm deep into the Celine blasting, but if her basic premise is that a backlash is coming, she's right.

The subtle backlash is that men may become more clubby and defensive, and when they still have most of the keys, that's a problem. One of the things I like about my husband is that he grasps the difficulties faced by women in his profession and tries to do something about it. But that is not without risk and cost, and he already observes that men are more cautious and less likely to include female colleagues in the kind of background social activity that strengthens networks and boosts careers. Ron also has older female mentors, and brags them up, which is so important. When younger men and women see that a successful guy depends on older female mentors, that changes culture. It changes the womens' status. But there are risks to people like him when they strive to mentor younger women. Unfortunately, it now means taking a risk, and they really do have different standards sometimes - ones with which I totally disagree, btw.

I'm very lucky to have had male mentors who completely support me, but there's a delicate process on both sides of figuring out if you can trust this person. They're worried about people misinterpreting, bristling, and turning on them, and I'm worried about Behaviors suddenly popping out, or being Undermined or Patronized. All of these things happen frequently on both sides, so the mentoring relationship becomes harder to establish. And when you do establish one, particularly if you're unlikely to bristle at difficult people or difficult words, you'll be judged by everyone else who does bristle easily. You're the "good girl" and your motives are in question, and so are his. The nice thing is that when my husband establishes older female mentors, that is less of an issue - though it's still there sometimes. Anyway, I have great affection for some of my older male mentors, and I too have to be very careful about showing it because I don't want them to be judged in the lights shining on bad behavior, which we do want to shine! Some men will want to be so far from that light (see: Mike Pence lite or Mike Pence full-blown...), they won't risk it at all, which also hurts women. The light-shining doesn't happen in a vacuum, that's all.

[mimekiller]

[Bonefish]

Technically, everything IS better. We have the lowest levels of violence in known human history/archealogy. People have a higher standard of living, preventable diseases are at all time lows, etc.

[Stan]

Piece on the source of Trump support:

[Phoebe]

This is such a great article. I read this one about the second it came out and have been rereading it and mulling it ever since.

Add to this as an exercise: the recent kerfuffle over the New York Times' depiction of a nice polite Midwestern white bread Nazi. Half the people shocked because they didn't realize this was possible, and the other half shocked because they can't understand how half the people didn't realize this was possible.

[poorpete]

Calling Warren "Pocahontas" in front of Navajo war heroes can be dismissed away as Trump making a usual off-the-cuff off-color joke. Placing the ceremony in front of a picture of Andrew Jackson? That's White House planning.

[Stan]

article on intentional voter suppression in Wisconsin:



As I've said before, gop focus on voter fraud is just a smoke screen to enact suppression now that the voters rights act has been gutted.

[Phoebe]

[Phoebe]