A better day in a better time:
All entries by this author
The man who knew too much
Aug 16th, 2018 3:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonWhat was so threatening about the former CIA chief? Beyond Brennan’s sheer cussedness, I’d guess that Trump was frightened — and remains so to this day — about just how much Brennan knows about his secrets. And by that, I don’t just mean his dealings with Russian oligarchs and presidents but the way he moved through a world of fixers, flatterers and money launderers.
Hmm, yes, Brennan probably does know a lot about Trump’s secrets. So…it wasn’t particularly clever to piss him off further, was it.
… Read the restBrennan, like Comey, was there at the beginning of this investigation. Trump must have asked himself: What does Brennan know? What did he learn from the CIA’s deep assets in
Come at me, sir
Aug 16th, 2018 3:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe retired admiral who oversaw the raid that killed bin Laden tells Trump to take away his security clearance too.
Dear Mr. President:
Former CIA director John Brennan, whose security clearance you revoked on Wednesday, is one of the finest public servants I have ever known. Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him.
Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.
He says he … Read the rest
Guest post: Ask any female comic book fan about ‘pornface’
Aug 16th, 2018 3:19 pm | By Ophelia BensonOriginally a comment by Freemage on Foreplay is supposed to hurt, yeah?
Yeah, when I encounter SWIFs, I’m always dumbfounded by the fact that they so readily dismiss the notion that people (individually) and society (collectively) are influenced by the media they consume. This is a damned staple of every social justice movement in existence–and yet, somehow, we’re supposed to believe that porn (a genre meant to be consumed at precisely the moment you’re establishing some of the strongest emotional connections in your brain) will have no effect whatsoever.
As for the cultural impact of porn–ask any female comic book fan about ‘pornface’. Apparently, a large number of pencilers in the big comic-book houses (DC, Marvel and Image) make use … Read the rest
With the face of a pig
Aug 16th, 2018 1:21 pm | By Ophelia BensonTrump has always called women dogs, so lighten up already. Gail Collins is one of those women:
… Read the restHey, it was long ago, but it still comes up. Particularly now that we’re making lists of all the women our president has ever compared to a canine. Back when I worked for New York Newsday, he sent me a copy of a column I’d written, scrawled with objections, along with an announcement that I was “a dog and a liar” and that my picture was “the face of a pig.” At the time, he was only a flailing real estate developer trying to make a deal with the city, yet it still seemed so weird that at first I wondered if
When is targeted harassment not targeted harassment?
Aug 16th, 2018 1:01 pm | By Ophelia BensonWhen slapping doesn’t mean slapping.
https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/1028494677157113856
Wow, she says. Wow, when all she said was
You will get slapped and you will absolutely deserve it.
Does she want white men telling her she’ll be slapped and she will absolutely deserve it? I doubt it.
https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/1028495455234056192
A tweet about protecting trans women, she called it – carefully not mentioning the “TERFs will be slapped and absolutely deserve it” part.
You couldn’t make it up.… Read the rest
Arrest that woman
Aug 16th, 2018 12:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonTrump is triggered. His people have been telling him to ignore Omarosa and her book, which tells us that they’ve confused him with someone else.
Now advisers fear his rage at Manigault Newman is fueling irrational outbursts that bolster the claim in her book that Trump said the “n-word” during an Apprenticeouttake.
Irrational outbursts? Trump?? Surely not. It’s people like Brennan and Comey who go in for that kind of thing; Trump says so himself.
… Read the restIn recent days, Trump has called Manigault Newman “crazed,” a “lowlife,” and a “dog” on Twitter. His campaign filed an arbitration suit against her seeking “millions.” And Trump told advisers that he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to have Manigault
Unanimous consent
Aug 16th, 2018 10:03 am | By Ophelia BensonShameful that it’s needed.
JUST IN: US Senate passes resolution with unanimous consent by voice vote that “affirms that the press is not the enemy of the people” and “reaffirms the vital and indispensable role that the free press serves” and “condemns the attacks on the institution of the free press.” pic.twitter.com/uK8DvhsXie
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 16, 2018
Trump thinks they’re very duplicitous
Aug 16th, 2018 9:30 am | By Ophelia BensonWell golly gee. Trump artlessly told the Wall Street Journal that he went after Brennan in order to obstruct justice in the Mueller inquiry.
President Trump drew a direct connection between the special counsel investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and his decision to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan and review the clearances of several other former officials.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Trump cited Mr. Brennan as among those he held responsible for the investigation, which also is looking into whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Mr. Trump has denied collusion, and Russia has denied interfering.
Much as a mob bus might tell a lieutenant that … Read the rest
Happy Independence Day
Aug 15th, 2018 5:38 pm | By Ophelia Benson— Indian Atheists (@IndianAtheists) August 15, 2018
Taking liberties
Aug 15th, 2018 5:35 pm | By Ophelia BensonMo is showing solidarity with the victims of BoJo’s cruel mockery.
Wild outbursts on the internet and television
Aug 15th, 2018 4:34 pm | By Ophelia BensonVox gives us Sarah Sanders’s disgusting performance “explaining” Trump’s attack on Brennan.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, reading a statement from the president during the daily press briefing on Wednesday, cited Trump’s “constitutional responsibility to protect the nation’s classified information” as justification for his decision to revoke Brennan’s clearance.
“Mr. Brennan has recently leveraged his status as a former high-ranking official with access to highly sensitive information to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations — wild outbursts on the internet and television — about this administration,” Sanders said, reading the president’s statement.
“I’m not a reckless lunatic, you’re a reckless lunatic!” Trump is the guy who goes in for wild outbursts on Twitter and at … Read the rest
Oh well, breathing is for sissies
Aug 15th, 2018 4:08 pm | By Ophelia BensonOh hey, we here in the Northwest have the dirtiest air in the country (well somebody has to) and the worst air on record ever, at least for Seattle.
This probably comes as no surprise, but Washington has the worst air quality in the country today thanks to wildfire #smoke. Conditions improve slightly tomorrow #wawx pic.twitter.com/8jOiUesIaC
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) August 15, 2018
Also? Hottest summer ever.
Record broken or broken record? The all-time record for number of 85°+ degree days in a year was set Tuesday in Seattle. The previous record was set in 2017. Oh, it's also only August 15th… #WAwx pic.twitter.com/CLBLASWPAc
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) August 15, 2018
Normally I can see 60 miles looking … Read the rest
Another giant step
Aug 15th, 2018 12:57 pm | By Ophelia BensonI think Mimi Rocah is right.
We have now fully entered dictatorship territory. https://t.co/Vot8e9rmLL
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) August 15, 2018
This is dictatorship territory, and we are now in it. This is bad.
In adding John Brennan to his enemies list, Trump demonstrates again how deeply insecure and vindictive he is — two character flaws dangerous in any President.
An enemies list is ugly, undemocratic and un-American. I also believe this action to silence a critic is unlawful. https://t.co/bfOhThIWfq
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) August 15, 2018
Boy, it sure feels like the president is slowly purging the nation's security apparatus of people he considers personally disloyal https://t.co/mnDaElRaOC
— Matt Ford (@fordm) August 15, 2018
Which should not be the … Read the rest
Citing “erratic” behavior
Aug 15th, 2018 12:34 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd now this:
In a remarkable attack on a political opponent, President Trump on Wednesday revoked the security clearance of John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director under President Barack Obama, citing what he called Mr. Brennan’s “erratic” behavior.
Trump calls Brennan erratic.
The White House had threatened last month to strip Mr. Brennan and other Obama administration officials — including Susan E. Rice, the former national security adviser; and James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence — of their security clearances. At the time, Ms. Sanders said that Mr. Trump was considering doing it because “they politicized, and in some cases monetized, their public service and security clearances.”
The lying hack.
… Read the restIn a tweet this
Remember, he’s not a real Strzok
Aug 15th, 2018 12:21 pm | By Ophelia BensonTrump has been on a Twitter binge. (Does he ever do any actual work?) One in particular got my attention.
“The action (the Strzok firing) was a decisive step in the right direction in correcting the wrongs committed by what has been described as Comey’s skinny inner circle.” Chris Swecker, former FBI Assistant Director.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2018
What what what? That sounds as if the FBI has been doing Trump’s bidding. Who is this Swecker and where did Don get that weird assertion? So I googled Swecker’s name and got a Think Progress piece from a couple of hours ago:
… Read the restAs he’s in the habit of doing, on Wednesday morning President Trump tweeted out
Fetish or latest woke thing?
Aug 15th, 2018 11:27 am | By Ophelia BensonOh, a new one – I thought it was just a joke/analogy to talk about “identifying as” an infant but no, of course not, I should have known: it’s a Thing. It’s Adult Babies.
It starts with Neville Southall and (of course) Twitter:
… Read the restBig Nev has latterly taken to tweeting about social and political issues from a left-wing / liberal perspective, building his follower list to a hefty 144,000.
As part of his aims to spread awareness about various issues, he regularly hands over control of his account to different charities – past participants have been LGBT groups, sex worker groups and a drugs helpline.
Which brings us to Wednesday, when it was announced that a a woman who
Shermer devotes entire issue to lobster man
Aug 15th, 2018 10:43 am | By Ophelia BensonOh lord – just what the world needs.
A hint of what is to come in the next issue of Skeptic magazine/eSkeptic: a special issue devoted to @jordanbpeterson
Join the Skeptics Society & subscribe to Skeptic (a physical magazine) here: https://t.co/2MzgXisUd3
eSkeptic is free here: https://t.co/f3j4b2UWv5 pic.twitter.com/stwPIW1hCJ
— Michael Shermer (@michaelshermer) August 15, 2018
Marsh – part of the brilliant team that organizes QED – remarks:
… Read the restWhile US Skeptic mag dedicates an issue to a guy who teaches young men that “women are responsible for chaos”, I’m spending the evening giving a talk at a cake shop to a v.lovely skeptic group who, last time I was there, had a v.packed room with a female-majority audience.
— Michael Marshall @marsh@mastodon.world
Egg or chicken?
Aug 15th, 2018 9:42 am | By Ophelia BensonGreg Sargent at the Post notes that in primaries, Republicans who are critical of Trump lose to Republicans who passionately defend whatever he does, in particular his bragging about grabbing women by the pussy.
… Read the restThe big news in Tuesday night’s elections is the defeat of GOP establishment pick Tim Pawlenty in the Minnesota GOP gubernatorial primary, at the hands of a full-blown Trump loyalist. This makes a Democratic victory in the state more likely, and crucially, it probably makes it easier for Democrats to hold a couple of House seats they are defending in the state, which is key to Democrats’ hopes of taking back the lower chamber this fall.
Beyond this, Pawlenty’s loss provides a useful way to try
Their placards excluded men
Aug 14th, 2018 4:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere was a Dyke March in Vancouver. You’ll never guess what happened. Danielle Cormier was there:
… Read the restHaving chosen “lesbian heroes” as our theme for this year’s March, we carried homemade signs that featured lesbians we admire — our lesbian heroes — pioneers who have made significant contributions to lesbian culture or allies in the ongoing struggle for lesbian sexual autonomy.
Many of these women are on the ever-growing list of lesbians considered enemies and “bigots” due to their views on gender, female space, or our right to gather separate from males, among peers, and to determine for ourselves who those peers are.
The roster of lesbians whose names have become taboo, forbidden, and synonymous with hatred is notable. Lesbian
