Feminism – National News Roundup

National News Roundup: Year 2, Week 1 (January 21–27)

January 30, 2018 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

By gabriellah money (becca’s boots), via Wikimedia Commons

I described the news this week to someone as “chaotic petty” earlier today, which seems as good a descriptor as any — it’s shades of dirty surreality nearly all the way down, my friends. Still, that’s better than last week, so I suppose I’ll take it.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a Medusa, unless you ask Courtland Sykes! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

There was a metric ton of news on the Russia Collusion Investigation front this week, and some of it was pretty wild. Most of it can be boiled down to updates on the Mueller investigation, one way or another:

Mueller’s Minion Movement.* News broke this past week that Mueller quietly interviewed Jeff Sessions last week, looking for information on a potential obstruction of justice claim. This is a big deal, both because Sessions is the first member of this bizarro Presidential Cabinet to be interviewed and because there’s growing evidence to suggest that Sessions has been doing Trump’s dirty work, especially on obstruction-of-justice-related issues (though I’ll say more about that below). Meanwhile, Mueller prepares to interview Steve Bannon as well, and Senate Democrats are pressing to give Mueller a transcript of Trump Jr’s testimony, which is basically another way of saying they think he perjured himself. So there’s a lot going on right now.
Mueller vs. Trump.* In addition to the other movement mentioned above, Mueller has begun pressing to interview Trump himself. This news was originally met with Trump’s typical bluster that he “would love to do it” and “is looking forward to it,” — leaving personal attorney and all-around whipping boy Ty Cobb to walk back the statement afterwards. Mueller has already given a list of subjects to Trump’s attorneys, signaling that this interview is likely to happen in the next few weeks; though I obviously haven’t seen the list, I bet he added a couple new ones after multiple bombshells hit this week — more on that below.
Potpourri of Sketchy Trump Moves.* This week was a veritable cornucopia of bad Trump behavior coming to light, and nearly all of it involved obstruction of justice in one way or another. First news broke that one of Trump’s first actions post-Comey-firing was to quiz acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe about how he voted in the 2016 election, continuing his disturbing theme of demanding absolute loyalty from the FBI and having no boundaries. (Eventually he also told Sessions to get McCabe fired, and now McCabe is stepping down, and I’m sure that’s entirely unrelated.) But the really big story of the week is that Trump ordered Mueller fired in June, and the only reason we didn’t hear about this sooner is that White House Counsel with a Modicum of Sense Don McGahn refused to follow the order and threatened to resign over it. And presumably he’s the only guy who knows how Trump files his taxes, so Trump backed down. Then, as CNN gleefully points out, the White House publicly denied that this happened eight times, further building Mueller’s obstruction of justice case for him. So now, of course, It Is On in Congress, with Democrats clamoring to pass legislation to protect Mueller’s process and Republicans divided on whether they would support it.

In addition to all of those gems, this week there was also some rare movement in both directions on the Emoluments Clause issue:

RNC Rotgut. Arguments in an emoluments clause lawsuit moved forward this past week, apparently in front of a fairly receptive judge. And that’s not a moment too soon, because multiple outlets are reporting that Trump plans to address the RNC at his own hotel this upcoming week — which, and here’s the kicker, isn’t even the hotel where the RNC gathering is being held. These two things are probably related, in case anyone was curious.

Your “Normal” Weird:

DACA Debates. This was a pretty weird week on the DACA front, and I don’t say that lightly. Trump made an offer on Wednesday that managed to piss off nearly everybody, because it both granted a path to citizenship for Dreamers (a thing we don’t currently have at all) and also ended family-based migration (a thing we definitely currently have, and half the Trump administration personally benefited from). Then by Thursday, Schumer had officially rejected Trump’s plan and it looked like the Senate was planning to drop DACA from budget talks all together, although there are still some bipartisan efforts floating around. And if you’re scratching your head saying “Didn’t the Democrats literally agree to reopen on the condition that DACA was addressed only three days before?” Why yes, gentle reader, yes they did.
Davos Drop-In.* Trump appears to have mostly managed his two-day trip to Davos for the World Economic Forum, prompting not much worse than some booing when he trash-talked the press. It’s a bit surprising that he managed to talk with global leaders without spitting on himself, but on the other hand, expectations weren’t high and his involvement wasn’t that great to begin with, so perhaps it’s all relative.
Solar Panel Blues.* Trump initiated a tariff on solar panels this week, alienating a bunch of conservatives as well as a bunch of liberals. But the events leading up to the tariffs seem pretty convoluted, and that might explain why his actions are being defended by Al Gore, of all people. It’s hard for me to tell at this early stage whether this will be bad, but it’s certainly strange, so the Weird column it is.
Good for You, Guggenheim. News broke this week that the Guggenheim refused the Trumps’ request to borrow a van Gogh painting in September. To soften the blow, however, they offered to loan the Trumps a used gold toilet that was part of an interactive piece called ‘America.’ Said toilet had been installed as a temporary interactive exhibit in a public restroom in the museum. The story is just the latest illustration of an incredibly consistent truth to emerge in the past year, which is that nobody hates Trump quite like New Yorkers do.

The Bad:

Abortion Ban Legislation Alert.* McConnell has moved to hold a vote on legislation introduced by Lindsay Graham that would ban abortions after 20 weeks (which is about halfway through the second trimester, for those of you playing the home game). The measure will require 60 votes, which McConnell isn’t terribly likely to get, but it’s likely Trump put pressure on him to move forward after more than a week of pro-life action. And regardless of whether he has the votes, we should still watch this carefully.
Sexism and Sketchism. This was really not a great week for the role of women in politics, I tell you what. First news broke that Rep Patrick Meehan used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment suit brought by a former aide, and then later said she “specifically invited” his overtures. Eventually he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2018, and it just couldn’t have happened to a nicer sleazeball. Finance chairman of the RNC and all-around creepy rich guy Steve Wynn resigned amid sexual harassment claims as well, and I know I’ll sure never look at the Bellagio the same way again. Meanwhile, Missouri Senate candidate Courtland Sykes wants everyone to know he’s onto us Gorgon feminists, what with our snake-filled heads brimming with ideas about being allowed to wear shoes. And last but not least, a bunch of media outlets are very concerned that we know about Hillary Clinton’s PR decisions from ten years ago, because docking an employee several weeks of pay and ordering counseling was definitely an inappropriate response to harassment in 2008 if you were a female politician. (Note that no accountability has been placed, funnily enough, on the aide who harassed people.) So all of that was a fun jaunt into 1952.

The Good:

Net Neutrality Executive Orders.* Governors of Montana and New York both signed executive orders this week enforcing net neutrality in their states. Because the FCC’s decision preempts direct regulation of ISPs, both of the executive orders require state agencies to only do business with ISPs that offer neutral services. I’m genuinely really curious to see what happens to these orders legally, and I’m also excited to see states taking proactive steps to try to preserve an important process. So, thanks Montana and New York! We forgive you for Greg Gianforte and Donald Trump. For now.
Cleveland Indians Come Clean. The Cleveland Indians announced today that they are retiring their beloved racist caricature of a mascot from team uniforms, opting for a new depiction beginning in 2019. While it would be cool for them to stop calling themselves ‘the Cleveland Indians’ while they are at it, or possibly just fully retire the merchandise instead of continuing to sell it, I’ll take baby steps where I find them.
Nassar Nightmares End. Speaking of sports, this past week also concluded a notorious sentencing hearing of Larry Nassar, the doctor convicted of sexually assaulting ten adolescent athletes who presented to him for medical care from 1995 through 2018. The sentencing hearing drew more and more accounts of abuse into the open, ultimately culminating in over 150 people disclosing sexual abuse in the guise of medical care (including multiple Olympic gymnasts). He was sentenced to 40 to 175 years of incarceration for the underlying ten sexual assault on a minor convictions; this is in addition to a 60 year sentence for child pornography already handed down and a separate sentencing hearing for Michigan charges that begins on January 31. There is also a separate lawsuit pending, with over 140 plaintiffs, alleging institutional complicity on the part of Nassar’s affiliates USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. All told, it’s truly staggering that this pattern continued for twenty years as uninterrupted as it did, and the closing of that chapter of sports practice can only be a good thing.

And that’s all the news that I have for now. If we’re following old patterns, next week will be a good news cycle. And I think we can all use some good news, so I’m gonna go ahead and hope for it. But either way, catch you next time!

National News Roundup: Week 42 (November 5–11)

November 14, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

FORTEPAN / Saly Noémi, via Wikimedia Commons

This week has been weird, y’all. Like, “conservatives are smashing their Keurig machines to stick it to liberals” weird. (Joke’s on them; environmentalists hate those things!) I got nothin’.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a diplomat! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

For a second week in a row, the Russia Collusion Investigation remains the biggest news of the week. We saw a lot of different interrelated developments:

Carter Page’s No Good, Very Bad Testimony.* The transcript of the aide’s testimony before the House Intelligence committee, which was released at the beginning of the week, was… let’s just say, less than helpful to himself, half the Trump administration, and anybody who wants to dispute the validity of the Steele dossier. And, more to the point, it was less than helpful to Jeff Sessions, who had been claiming he knew nothing about any contact with Russia before Carter said he told Sessions he was going to go talk to some Russians.
Sessions to Testify Again. In likely relation to that first bullet point, Sessions is scheduled to testify yet again this week after bipartisan requests were made on various media circuits. This is hardly a surprise, particularly because Democratic Senators were calling him to testify last week as well, but it will certainly be interesting to see what he says. My money’s on record numbers of “I don’t recall, Senator.”
Gates Gag Orders. The presiding judge on the Manafort and Gates cases issued a gag order this past week, barring the parties, potential witnesses, and legal counsel from making statements about the case. This is probably at least in part because of public statements already made by defense attorneys, given the judge’s pointed comment about avoiding attorney statements “on the courthouse steps.” That said, this kind of order is not an unusual move in a criminal case, especially when the court will need to empanel a jury eventually — but it does show the judge is serious about moving the case forward.
Trump Jr. Tweets His Own Prosecution Case. Again. An incredible story broke today that Donald Trump Jr was corresponding with Wikileaks, the site that published the DNC emails package, well into 2017. Then Donald Trump Jr. topped that story, in much the same fashion he did when news broke that he’d met with a Russian lawyer, by tweeting out all the messages. If all of this is bizarre and confusing to you, you’re in good company; Vox has a good contextual summary that makes it almost make sense.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Rand Paul Mystery Assault. In a weird turn of events, Rand Paul apparently got assaulted by his Kentucky neighbor, a local doctor, over what may or may not be a landscaping dispute. Further confusing the issue, Paul supposedly hadn’t spoken with his neighbor in years before the attack. Whatever the motivation, Paul had six broken ribs, and his recovery is expected to take months.
Voter Fraud Commission Suit. The voter fraud commission is being sued by one of its own members, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who is alleging that Democrats on the panel are being intentionally kept out of the loop on proceedings. As Dunlap put it in an interview, “I’m asking for a schedule, not the nuclear secrets of the country.” This is apparently the eighth suit to be brought against the commission, which is probably some kind of record even among Trump officials.
Not Qualified Squared. One of Trump’s picks for appellate judge, Brett Talley, has been pretty unpopular. For one thing, he’s only been a lawyer three years and he’s never tried a case, which is probably why the American Bar Association deems him not qualified. But we learned this week he’s unqualified for a second reason, too: He’s married to the White House legal counsel’s chief of staff, which he conveniently forgot to mention on the Senate questionnaire form. But to be fair to Talley, he might not have known he had to disclose it. After all, he’s only been a lawyer three years.
Trump’s Messy Trip to Asia.* Ho boy, where to even start with this one. Trump went to Asia over the past week, but not a lot got accomplished, other than some business deals with China. He did, however, manage to insult America, meet with (and defend) Vladimir Putin, tweet mean girl insults at North Korea, and discredit the CIA. But that didn’t stop him from announcing that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping could solve “probably all” the world’s problems. (Disturbingly, aides claim that this was the toned-down version of Trump’s trip — though nobody threatened nuclear war, so it absolutely could have been worse.)

The Bad:

TPS News. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke announced the fate of temporary protected status for Nicaragua and Honduras this past week, ending the status for 2,500 Nicaraguans but giving 57,000 Hondurans six months to get their affairs in order. Bizarrely, former Secretary John Kelly pressured Duke to end Honduran TPS immediately, despite literally making the same decision about Haitian TPS six months ago. (We’re now waiting for final word on Haitian TPS yet again, which is due by November 23, along with El Salvadoran TPS, which will be announced in January.) You can read more about temporary protected status, and why it has become a symbolic battle on immigration philosophy, in this thorough Vox article on the topic.
Senate Version of the Tax Reform Bill.* The Senate released its version of the tax reform bill this week, in all its 253-page glory. Forbes put out a good summary, but here are the main things to know: 1) It has a lot of changes from the House version, which will probably necessitate the two bodies duking it out even if the Senate bill passes; 2) One thing that didn’t change is that the middle class is again the biggest loser; and 3) Trump likely wants the House version and that probably signals the rest of us do not.
Roy Moore Joins the Sexual Miscreant Parade. There has been a huge amount on sexual harassment and assault in the news in the recent past, with this past week being no exception. The biggest, most political story to hit is that Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in the Alabama special election for the Senate, is alleged to have solicited sexual acts from multiple underage women while in his thirties. (I wrote up some thoughts on how and why the Moore story will have political implications, so I won’t rehash it again here, but the short version is that apparently not everybody has a problem with sexual predation of an eighth grader if the story comes from a Yankee.) But in addition to Moore, there’s also the growing Hollywood horror list, which is now up to 23 names since the Harvey Weinstein story first broke about a month ago. These stories, and their aftermath, illustrate the sheer pervasiveness of sexual violence in our culture. But news also broke this week that Gal Gadot, who is in negotiations for a Wonder Woman sequel, felt empowered to refuse to work with a name on that list, which seems like a sea change; maybe we’re entering a new era of accountability.
Pruitt Will Roll back the Clean Power Plan. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a proposal to roll back the Clean Power Plan this week, in sheer defiance of his own agency’s recent report and all common sense. Meanwhile, Pruitt is being sued over climate change, and Syria joined the Paris Accord, leaving us literally the only country in the world that isn’t cooperating. And people are destroying their Keurigs on viral video, so it’s a strange and disturbing time for environmentalism all around.

The Good:

ACA Numbers Don’t Lie. Despite some intentional sabotage by the Trump administration, ACA enrollment reached historic highs this season on its first day of enrollment, more than doubling the previous year’s numbers. In addition to suggesting that healthcare is on people’s minds, these numbers are another piece of evidence that the ACA has become much more popular with the average American in the past year. On a related note, in this past Tuesday’s election Maine voted to expand Medicaid under the ACA by referendum, finally getting around their governor’s perpetual veto. (Their governor, Paul LePage, is already dragging his feet on implementation.)
Bob Is My Constituent. We saw some truly amazing victories on Election Day this past week, and I can’t oversell how excited I am about them all! Most obvious were the heaps of Democratic victories, including in both Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial elections. But even more historic was the veritable tide we saw of successful female candidates, successful candidates of color, and successful openly trans candidates in particular. Also, I have particular delight in the story of Danica Roem, who is the first openly transgender state lawmaker, and who defeated Bob Marshall, an extremely outspoken and well-entrenched opponent of trans rights. When she was asked on election night whether she was glad to have defeated his agenda, Ms. Roem apparently replied: “I don’t attack my constituents. Bob is my constituent now.”

And that’s what I have this week — it managed to be weird, terrible, and kind of awesome in turns throughout the week. I could get used to having positive news, though I’m not holding my breath for too long of a streak. Either way, I’ll catch y’all next week!

Roy Moore and the Southern Lawn Crayfish Problem

November 13, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Photo by me, courtesy of the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans, LA

We live in a big country, and that means regions can have a lot of particularly disparate experiences. For example, did you know that places in the American South experience lawn crayfish? That’s what it sounds like, by the way; it’s an invertebrate related to the common crayfish that lives in your lawn. Many people from the North, myself included, look at that and say “Why is my seafood dinner hanging out next to my begonias?” But in the South, that’s just a thing.

I mention this because we’ve had a solid week now of the Washington Post reporting on the story that Roy Moore, the Republican special election candidate for the Alabama Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, solicited sexual acts from multiple underage women when he was an ADA in his thirties. And much like the lawn crayfish, some prominent people in the South have accepted and defended Moore doing his squirmy, unsettling thing, while all of us in the metropolitan North demand to know what on earth is going on. It’s a predictable, regional mess that can have real life consequences for us all, so I’m writing a bit more about it today. Here are some examples and analyses of the past week’s horrorshow defenses, which have pretty much been The Worst Game of Handmaid’s Tale Bingo:

“There’s nothing wrong with the story as reported.” The most prominent variant on this claim came from Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who compared Moore’s actions to Mary and Joseph in an interview with the Washington Examiner. It reflects one of the most important underpinnings of this entire thing: as locals have started saying, they already knew he was preying on teenagers. In the incredible political atmosphere of 2017, grass roots deconstructionist Republicans feel safe simply stating that molesting children is normal per the Bible. (Although in this case, I’m not sure I’d point to a famous instance of a virgin birth to prove my point about sexual misconduct.)
“It was so long ago, and people shouldn’t be held accountable for mistakes made in their youth.” Never mind that he was in his thirties, and a licensed attorney at the time of all four allegations; that isn’t relevant. Jim Zeigler, the guy responsible for the Joseph and Mary quote, even included a messed up Romeo and Juliet argument that Moore simply habitually loved younger women in his youth, citing the fact that his current wife of 35 years is 14 years his junior. (As if marrying a young adult when you’re an established professional, whom you make your own legal secretary, creates an equitable relationship rather than an additional lever for control.)
“If this is true, it’s reprehensible.” This one is particularly insidious, and it’s one of the biggest reasons I think this story should not have been published. Republican officials know they can say this with abandon to thread the needle, because in Alabama, the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuses is long gone. We are never going to have “more facts,” because there will never be a trial, which means everybody in the Tea Party faction of the GOP who doesn’t live in Alabama can get away with this scandal’s version of offering “thoughts and prayers.”
“This was in some way the teenagers’ fault.” I was waiting for this one in particular to show its ugly head from the moment I read this story, for obvious reason. And sure enough, we have an Alabama state rep calling for the women who spoke to the Post to be prosecuted, saying that they enabled Moore by not reporting him if these stories were true. Keep in mind that Moore was an ADA when these allegations would have happened. Would you go tell the police that their colleague tried to illegally get sex out of you, or your daughter? Relatedly, I will be extremely surprised if these women aren’t doxxed and threatened with rape or death, which is Reason #2 this story should not have been published in this timeframe.
“It’s too late for you to interfere; he’s already our candidate and you can’t make us remove him.” This one is the biggest crayfish in the yard, and it has the unfortunate credibility of being absolutely true. It’s too late for the RNC to remove him from the ballot and Alabama officials have no desire to remove Moore for something they already knew about and probably condone. In fact, we’re already seeing Alabama Republicans respond to pressure at this stage by mobilizing their local base. Even worse, when it’s known that Luther was the favored establishment candidate, and the establishment tries to intervene past when it’s effective, local politicians are accurately stating that there was an attempt to tamper with the elective process. The Tea Party base is not noted for favoring truth, but that doesn’t mean they don’t respond to it when it’s in their favor.

Basically, this was a gross miscalculation that assumed Alabama natives would have the same rules of conduct we can expect in Washington, DC — a faulty and potentially dangerous assumption. I get why the Post, and possibly the establishment GOP, thought they could ride the tide of sexual harassment allegations and voting referenda from Tuesday to damage Moore’s chances in a close special election. But those things didn’t happen in Alabama — the location that elected Jeff Sessions over and over. It’s not an area known for listening to women’s voices. I don’t know why they thought that living in Trump’s post-decency political realm would make that any better.