lavendertook

I'm going to write about Trump's dangerous cooption of a famous quote, the wonderfulness of Doug Jones, and a bad idea Jones stated that I hope he can correct.

Giving up Liberty for Prosperity

I'm not a Twitter user and found my peace of mind easier to maintain when I stay away from media reports on Trump's feed, and just note the topic on which he spoke; was it racist, sexist, islamiphobic, etc. rather than reading for the quote.

But I read the speech Trump released yesterday and am stuck on his theft of Benjamin Franklin's phrasing to state, "Any nation that trades away its prosperity for security will end up losing both." This time, it's our liberty he's swindling from us with his paraphrase.

( Read more... )

Back from the Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) protest, and very tired and late for bed, but very glad I went and made my own sign this time. This was another high-spirited and peaceful protest of about 2000 people, with a nice split level effect, and shrubberies, too. I will post many more pics, along with the Annapolis rally from last week another day, hopefully; that's if Trump would just slow down wth the horridness a little so I'm not going to five more protests by next weekend . . .



And thank you to lbilover for the lovely icon.

From a great snarky op-ed in the Washington Post about Steve Bannon by Alexandra Petri:

I have no doubt that a real racist sexist chauvinist white supremacist will be easy to spot. “I am coming for minorities now,” he will say. “I am an actual racist. I am, literally, Hitler, or at the very least Goebbels.”

Read the whole piece here. It's fun and thinky. And no, no giving him a chance--he's made himself perfectly clear already where he stands and it's hateful and a danger to democracy.

I called my Congresspeople, Senator Barbara Mikulski and Rep Steny Hoyer today to ask them to protest the appointment of Steve Bannon, that he has every right to publish alt-right screeds, but I do not want him in my government and how frightened to the core his being there makes me. As lbilover said we cannot allow them to normalize what Trump is doing, let alone white supremacists and neo-nazis as viable representatives of our democracy.

If you are feeling as anxious as me, please call your Congresspeople:

http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Thanks to rydra_wong for the quick links and she has many more good links on why it is better to call than email our Congresspeople or sign petitions, why it is better to call them at their state offices rather than the above linked DC offices, and script ideas in her post here. But just stick to calling the DC offices if doing the extra work to get the state offices will delay you or use up more spoons than you have.

Funding suggestions if you can spare it:

Good organizations to contribute to for protecting all of us and especially our most vulnerable and immediately threatened Dreamer kids and Muslim Americans are the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Anti-Defamation League.

And since I've been seeing sexist arguments on the left that it's too risky now to run a woman for president in the immediate future, block that noise and if you have more funds, contribute to Emily's List. Since Christian extremists have long been normalized in US government and are now in control, Planned Parenthood needs funds now more than ever.

Feel free to post other suggestions in comments.

Also posted at http://lavendertook.dreamwidth.org/215038.html with comments

Just got this list of several incidents of violence and harassment happening all around the US from a momsrising.org email. Click on the first link under the cut to sign a petition calling on Trump to basically call off his dogs. The bottom links are to the sites listing the incidents. Pass on. Be vigilant, my friends.

( And trigger warning--this is upsetting stuff, but inform yourself if you can . . . )

Also posted at http://lavendertook.dreamwidth.org/212918.html with comments

There are so many horrible and deplorable white people and misogynists in this country and they won last night.

And let's not fall for the classist narrative that a lot of the press is upholding. Do not ignore that statistics show that the backbone of Trump's support is the same as Republicans have always had--wealthy people of varying education levels, mostly white men and the women who love and are related to them, and their only concern is to not pay taxes. They do not care who gets thrown under the bus as long as they keep all their stuff. They are supported by poor white people who hope to be them one day, but they are not the backbone--the wealthy and well off are and they are very quiet about what they are doing. They do not attend political rallies--they make phone calls and transfer money.

We have to go on and look out for each other and those more vulnerable than us. It's going to be harder still for a while. The fight continues.

Also posted at http://lavendertook.dreamwidth.org/212239.html with comments

FAB NEWS:

From the Fair And Balanced Newsroom:

Hillary Clinton Refuses to Release Pictures of Urinating in a Public Fountain

Hillary Clinton has been proven to be a human being, although statements of this fact have not yet been released by her campaign. Furthermore, they have failed to disclose that she is subject to disease and aging, eats daily, how many times a day she uses the toilet, and exactly how many sheets of toilet paper she uses per bathroom visit. "I think Hillary probably doesn't use toilet paper. I haven't seen her use any." Donald Trump announced at a rally earlier today. Many speculate what she may be hiding about her toilet paper use, or lack thereof.

It has been noted that, unlike Donald Trump, she has 2 X chromosomes and is therefore frail, lies, and isn't very fun to listen to. "Her voice reminds me of my mother, my mother-in-law, my ex-wife, and my sixth grade reading teacher. For some reason, Donald Trump's voice doesn't affect me that way." Kenny Mipainonly, a Trump supporter in Fort Wayne, Indiana explains. "I just want Muslims and Mexicans thrown out of the country and have a beer with David Duke, and it deeply offends me to be called mean names like "racist" and "xenophobic" by some b***** for stating my opinion."

Donald Trump stated that it is very unfortunate that Hillary Clinton has 2 X chromosomes and he will reveal audits of his Y chromosome very soon. Furthermore, he is known to be inhuman, and therefore not subject to aging. When asked if he is subject to oxidation and rust, he said this is an advantage and makes him stronger and a better leader, as anyone can plainly see.

Because Hillary Clinton has been revealed by an FBI commission to be human, there is much speculation as to whether she will be replaced as a candidate for the presidency by Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, or anyone else attached to a white penis, and therefore harboring the possibility of immortality, as well as the hope to surpass the arc of Vladimir Putin's urine trajectory in a public fountain.

There is much speculation about this and we will continue to report every speculation as the utmost newsworthy item to report. We will continue to demand pictures of Hillary Clinton's lack of urinating in public fountains on a daily, even hourly basis to best serve our deserving public until such demands are met.

It's not just Readercon and it's not only sexual harassment and the sexism that creates the environment for it. It's not just men in sf&f/nerd/geek spaces and the casual acceptance of sexual harassment that has made those spaces uncomfortable for me, and makes staying at home with the cats and talking with my friends online the better social option. Earlier this summer, I went to a local meet up for geek women, and "geek" here does seem to mean "fandom". It was a nice enough group, the organizer was fun, and I wanted to go again.

Then a couple of weeks ago, the organizer, who appears to be white (as did all the group at the meetup I attended, though there are a few women of color on the meetup list who weren't in attendance) made a racist and ableist comment meant to be a joke on the group mailing list/message board. And I've been debating whether to say something, which my hunch says will not be well received, or if I should just save the energy and walk away from the group, which would be the easier thing to do. I already skipped the last meet up.

I decided to give sociability and communicating about my discomfort with the racist/ableist comment a go, though I did focus more on the racist part of it. Below is the email I sent the organizer yesterday afternoon. I took a note from Jay Smooth and decided to leave out the "r'" word. If you think there's a gentler way I could have gotten my point across, and want to share to help me in future situations, please let me know. I've been in this position many times in the past in plenty of places and will be in it again many times in the future. And I don't always have the choice to stay home with the cats when it's not an optional social space like fandom, but instead a place of employment, for instance. So here's what I sent her, sans greeting, quote of the comment, and closure:
( My email, kvetching about white sf/f fan spaces, and the reply that then came below . . . )