We Resist: Day 607

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Tuesday, September 18, 2018
a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Earlier today by me: Maybe We Could All Try Being Better Than Trump and Trump Declassifies Documents in Brazen Authoritarian Move.

Here are some more things in the news today...

[Content Note: Sexual assault; rape culture. Covers entire section.]

Andy Towle at Towleroad: Trump Snarls at Reporter Who Asks If Kavanaugh Should Withdraw: 'What a Ridiculous Question That Is'. "Donald Trump defended Brett Kavanaugh on Monday afternoon in a session with reporters in the wake of the sexual assault allegations launched at his SCOTUS nominee. Said Trump: 'Brett Kavanaugh is one of the finest people that I've ever known. He's an outstanding intellect, an outstanding judge respected by everybody, never had even a little blemish on his record.' ...Asked if he had offered to withdraw from the process, Trump snarled: 'Next question. What a ridiculous question that is.'"

Anita Hill at the New York Times: How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right. "In 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee had an opportunity to demonstrate its appreciation for both the seriousness of sexual harassment claims and the need for public confidence in the character of a nominee to the Supreme Court. It failed on both counts. ...That the Senate Judiciary Committee still lacks a protocol for vetting sexual harassment and assault claims that surface during a confirmation hearing suggests that the committee has learned little from the Thomas hearing, much less the more recent #MeToo movement. ...A fair, neutral, and well-thought-out course is the only way to approach Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh's upcoming testimony. The details of what that process would look like should be guided by experts who have devoted their careers to understanding sexual violence."

There is an epic fuckton of rape apologia being disgorged on behalf of Brett Kavanaugh, and one of the most common refrains is that the allegations shouldn't matter, even if they're true, because "he was just a kid." I briefly addressed that on Twitter:


Every motherfucking time I have to read someone talking about how teenage rapists are just confused kids, I flash back to the look on his face while he did it. He wasn't confused about what he was doing.

He was also drunk, like Christine Blasey Ford says Kavanaugh was — another piece of information that is being used to suggest he isn't responsible for his actions. Especially when other abusers or encouraging witnesses are present, sexual predators may drink to lower their inhibitions to facilitate the harm they want to do. Being drunk is hardly the mitigating factor rape apologists seem to believe that it is.

I also want to quickly note how utterly distressing the entire dynamic of this public discussion is, for others who may be feeling upset by it and would benefit from validation of those feelings and/or can't find the words to articulate it.

It's disgusting. I'm exhausted from having to publicly talk about my own survival, over and over, opening myself up to more harassment because there are people who don't give a fuck about survivors. It feels exploitative, and it feels futile. We just keep laying ourselves bare talking about the costs of harm, and it's basically jerk-off fodder for Trump and his 30 million bros.

"OOH TELL US MORE ABOUT HOW MUCH IT HURTS YOU."

So my choice is between giving wank material to sadists or keeping my mouth shut? Great options.

I choose to keep speaking. But goddamn does it come at a steep cost.

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[CN: Hurricanes; displacement; racism; class warfare] Adam Gabbatt and Oliver Laughland at the Guardian: In North Carolina, It's the Poorest Who Bear the Brunt of Flooding.
Amid the cluster of uniformed officials, flashing lights, and shallow-bottomed boats in downtown Lumberton on Sunday afternoon, six figures stood out.

Patrice Carmichael, Clarence Hargrove and three of their children were walking slowly through the driving rain, pushing their four-month-old baby in a stroller and hauling a shopping trolley filled with clothing and food.

The family had been forced to evacuate their apartment in the path of the expected flooding from the Lumber river. But without a car or, it appeared, any help from authorities, they were forced to walk a mile and a half to an evacuation shelter.

...Greenleaf is home to national civil rights leader the Rev William Barber, who left the city briefly to evacuate his elderly mother.

On the phone, Barber argued that Florence should mark a moment to discuss the state's various forms of structural racism and economic inequality.

"Where the hurricanes hit the hardest are the counties that have the highest number of black populations and poor populations. And yet in those areas the resources and the infrastructure that could be put in before we have storms is never quite dealt with," he said.
Tracy Connor at the Daily Beast: Man Who Lost Wife and Baby to Florence: 'It All Went Wrong So Fast'. "Early Friday morning, when the storm called Florence was still at hurricane strength and bearing down on North Carolina, Adam Johnson was in the bedroom he shared with his wife Lesha Murphy-Johnson and their 8-month-old son. ...The family–including Lesha's three daughters from a previous relationship and her mother – didn't feel like they were in any imminent danger. 'And then it all went wrong so fast,' Johnson told The Daily Beast on Monday, three days after his wife and child became early casualties of a storm that has claimed at least 20 lives." Their house in Wilmington wasn't in the mandatory evacuation zone. Sob.

Nick Miroff and William Wan at the Washington Post: Embattled FEMA Chief Brock Long Facing Possible Criminal Investigation. "William 'Brock' Long, the top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is facing a potential criminal probe related to his use of government vehicles, after an internal investigation into his travel was referred to U.S. attorneys for prosecution, according to administration officials and others familiar with the matter. The development intensifies pressure on Long to step down and comes as he leads FEMA's response to Hurricane Florence."

So the guy tasked with leading the federal response to a horrendous disaster is now facing a possible trial because he's corrupt like the rest of this shitshow regime. If he stays, he'll be distracted by the investigation; if he goes, someone new has to hit the ground running during major demands on FEMA's increasingly limited resources. And the people who will suffer are some of the most vulnerable in the Carolinas. Goddammit.

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[CN: Nativism] Rebekah Entralgo at ThinkProgress: Trump Administration Announces It's Slashing Refugee Admissions to a Record Low. "The United States will admit will a maximum of 30,000 refugees in Fiscal Year 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced at a press briefing late Monday afternoon. During the briefing, Pompeo said refugee admittance should not be seen as the 'sole barometer' to measure a country's humanitarian efforts and that the 30,000 cap 'must be considered in the context of the many other forms of protection and assistance offered by the United States.' The new cap would be the lowest since the program began in 1980 and represents less than one-third of the average number of refugees admitted before [Donald] Trump took office."

[CN: Child abuse] Yessenia Funes at Earther: The EPA Is Failing to Keep Students Safe from Asbestos: Report. "The Environmental Protection Agency has been slacking when it comes to monitoring asbestos in schools. It did such a poor job between 2011 and 2015 that even its Office of Inspector General can't protect its image. The inspector general's office published a report Monday breaking down how badly the EPA has failed our children: The agency conducted only 13 percent of the inspections at public, private, and nonprofit schools that are required under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act from fiscal years 2011 to 2015. For comparison, the 21 states that handle this responsibility themselves conducted 87 percent of the required inspections."

[CN: Christian Supremacy; sexual assault] Katelyn Burns at Rewire.News: Leaked Title IX Rule Would Allow Religious Schools to Discriminate — Without Saying Why. "A leaked copy of U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Secretary Betsy DeVos' proposed rule for handling campus sexual assault allegations appears to reveal a plan to make exemptions to Title IX anti-discrimination laws easier for religious institutions. ...A copy of the draft rule, posted online by the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) and reviewed by Rewire.News, shows that it may also give broad license to religious institutions to claim exemptions from Title IX regulations, which protects against sex-based discrimination in education. ATIXA believes the document is authentic."

[CN: Sexual harassment and assault; descriptions of harassment and assault at link] Dominic Rushe at the Guardian: McDonald's Workers Walk out in 10 U.S. Cities over 'Sexual Harassment Epidemic'. "On Tuesday, Tanya Harrell and hundreds of other McDonald's workers will protest outside the fast-food giant's restaurants in 10 cities across the U.S., highlighting what they claim is an epidemic of sexual harassment for workers that they say the company has done little to address. Workers in Chicago, McDonald's hometown, Durham, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Orlando, San Francisco, and St Louis will all walk out at lunchtime in an effort to highlight their struggle and call on the company to take action. Bolstered by the success of the #MeToo movement, where high-profile women have decried sexual harassment in the workplace, they are hoping the strike will highlight the plight of women and LGBT workers in low-paid jobs who face similar issues on a daily basis but whose struggles rarely make the headlines."

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
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