Max Dashu isn’t even the only one in the past week or so. There’s also for instance Nina Paley:

As a small business in Urbana, Arcadia has made the decision to cancel the Art Salon with Nina Paley event. We do this not to silence Nina’s art or her artistic voice but because this event is no longer about Nina’s art. There are many divided opinions regarding the topics that have arisen from Nina’s personal stances on certain issues. Our small business is not in a position to hold the forum for such a debate over these issues. Arcadia was formed to provide a unique and thoughtful space for families, creative exploration, and events in our Urbana community. It is regrettable that we must make this decision in this manner and we thank those of you who have come in and bought a coffee or drink and enjoyed the space with us and will continue to do so despite the issue at hand.

They don’t do it to silence Nina’s art or her artistic voice but they do it anyway. That is not, they imply, their goal, which is nice to know but it doesn’t change the fact that canceling her event does silence her art and her artistic voice in that particular place at that particular time.

And Ms Magazine joined the fad by deplatforming Meghan Murphy from an article for which they’d already interviewed her.

I've just learned that after I spent my time & energy responding to questions from a male journalist for a piece he published in @MsMagazine,an anti-feminist woman he interviewed demanded MsMagazine remove my quotes from the article b/c she doesn't like me https://t.co/p0uMUNy366

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

Why did they? Because Marina Watanabe told them of her putative “history of transphobia” and they squawked in fear and did what they were told.

An update to the @MsMagazine article situation: they contacted me and are removing Meghan Murphy's quotes from the article. They took her history of transphobia seriously and I appreciate their response.

— Marina Watanabe (@marinashutup) July 9, 2018

Here's the article. @msmagazine is it common journalistic practice to allow interviewees to vet other interviewees for articles? Is it ethical to remove quotes after the fact because one interviewee has political disagreements with another? https://t.co/ucdKskPX3O

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

Curious to know what co-founders @GloriaSteinem & @TheRobinMorgan think about this? Is it ethical, either from a journalistic perspective or feminist/political, to allow interviewees to dictate who is interviewed for a piece & have women whose opinions they don't like censored?

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

…Ironic that the person who is subjected to constant threats, hate speech, & abuse online on account of my feminist opinions is the person whose quotes have been removed from the article, for the very reason she is harassed and threatened in the first place…

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

Essentially @MsMagazine has legitimized the violent threats, abuse, and misogyny hurled at me on the regular, by going along with the slanderous, anti-feminist attacks lobbed against me by @marinashutup. What a sad state for a previously radical magazine.

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

Real women are really being attacked IN REAL LIFE because they have been labelled 'TERFs' and 'transphobic.' This is an article about how 'trolling' impacts women IN REAL LIFE and how men can support women targeted. Is the author 'supporting' me by agreeing to remove my quotes?

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

I was never informed by @GregMatos that he was removing my quotes on @marinashutup's request. Not sure if he had a choice in the matter or not? Either way, this whole situation is pathetic, unethical, and disgusting. @MsMagazine should be ashamed. As should its founders.

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) July 14, 2018

Makes you wonder if Putin’s behind it.

Sian Norris explains that no, “fundamentally decent” men don’t murder women. You’d think that wouldn’t need explaining, but…

I’ve just killed my wife […] bit different for you tonight I expect. Happy New Year.”

These were the words of former Ukip-councillor Stephen Searle during a 999 call. Searle, 64, was this week found guilty of killing his wife, Anne. She was 62 years old.

He then quipped: “Bit of a bizarre situation but you know, never mind.”

How fundamentally decent of him.

The joke is even less funny when you realise that domestic abuse and fatal male violence are anything but bizarre in the UK.

Across the country, just under two women a week are murdered by their former or current partner. The National Crime Surveyrecorded that, in England and Wales, there are 1.2 million incidents of domestic abuse every year. The vast majority (89 per cent) of victims who endure sustained abuse (four or more incidents) are women. And the Counting Dead Woman project has so far estimated that 73 women have been killed by men in 2018 (this includes non-domestic violence related killings).

Well, look at it from the fundamentally decent guys’ point of view. Don’t these stats just show how annoying women are? Doesn’t that make it all explicable, however sad? Doesn’t it make it almost kind of…normal?

During the call, Searle went on to reassure the phone operative that it was safe for officers to enter his house, as “I’m not violent.”

Only to women he’s married to, which doesn’t count, because *cue annoying wife joke*

Fatal male violence isn’t a dispute that gets out of control. It’s a great myth that domestic abusers have no control over their behaviour. The very fact that women are most vulnerable at the point of leaving shows that it is losing control that abusers most fear. Murdering your partner is the ultimate act of control — not a loss of it.

And it’s not decent, either fundamentally or superficially.

I saw this tweet

#BREAKING On the @HouseFloor, @housegop voted to ZERO out our election security funding. @RepMikeQuigley & @WhipHoyer passionately spoke to defend the USA. @HouseDemocrats broke into chant of “USA! USA!”

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 19, 2018

so I looked it up. The Post:

House Republicans on Thursday approved a spending bill that excludes new money for election security grants to states, provoking a furious reaction from Democrats amid a national controversy over Russian election interference.

The spending bill passed 217-199. Democrats’ bid to add hundreds of millions more in election spending was rejected 182-232 — as Republicans were unmoved by Democrats floor speeches decrying the funding changes and chanting “USA! USA!”

At issue is a grants program overseen by the federal Election Assistance Commission and aimed at helping states administer their elections and improve voting systems; Democrats want to continue grant funding through 2019, while Republicans say the program already has been fully funded.

Let’s definitely err on the side of not spending enough, because hey it’s only elections.

Bad bad very bad.

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1019684009897537538

Retired CIA Chief of Russian operations https://t.co/iwi0eDWl95

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 18, 2018

Reading this, everyone should feel the dark shadow of evil drawing across our country. Your politics shouldn't matter. The idea that a President would turn over a former Ambassador & help with prosecution of a man who crusaded against corruption in Russia should be unthinkable. https://t.co/OP1yVr72iL

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) July 18, 2018

https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1019704904640843777

No "consultation" is needed to make clear that U.S. will never cooperate in Putin's crusade against Bill Browder or former U.S. officials, like Ambassador McFaul.@McFaul served his country honorably. His freedom is not up for negotiation or to be offered up as a gift to Putin. https://t.co/B7mqBdpx8x

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 18, 2018

Let’s recall why Putin began making outrageous, false accusations against @McFaul: Mike stood up for human rights and against Russian oppression. That terrified Putin. The fact that @realDonaldTrump won’t stand up for an American patriot is a travesty https://t.co/Z6zlPYGV5Y

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) July 18, 2018

After White House inexplicably expresses willingness to consider Russia's demand to hand over former US Ambassador Michael @McFaul "for questioning," Amb. @McFaul joins us tonight to respond.

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) July 18, 2018

Originally a comment by Screechy Monkey on Look at ambassadors not there.

Somewhat OT, but still on the subject of liars, here’s your next Supreme Court justice:

Asked at an American Enterprise Institute event in March 2016 if he could think of a case that deserved to be overturned, Kavanaugh said: “Yes.” Asked if he could specify a case, Kavanaugh first responded: “No,” prompting laughter from the audience.

Hahahahaha. It’s funny because they know he means Roe v. Wade (and hell, maybe Griswold v. Connecticut while you’re at it), but they know he can’t say it because one day he may get nominated to the Court and have to testify that gosh, he’s never really thought about whether Roe v. Wade should be overturned, I mean, he’s personally pro-life but you know, stare decisis is really super duper important and all that but on the other hand there are always exceptions like Plessy v. Ferguson was bad law, so you never know but I can’t prejudge a case and I’ve certainly never ever ever expressed an opinion on overturning Roe because it’s totally normal for an adult who’s been through law school and a couple of decades of a legal career to never think about one of the most famous cases in modern Court history.

The crowd laughed because they knew it was a game. Kavanaugh’s gonna commit perjury, and Susan Collins will pretend to believe it, and isn’t that hilarious! Checkmate, libs!

People in charge of an event called Modern Witches Confluence 2018 wrote a poisonous Facebook post today congratulating themselves on having banished and shunned the feminist historian Max Dashu, who was scheduled to be on a panel. No prizes for guessing why.

Dear Community,

We sincerely apologize for involving Max Dashu in our workshop line-up. Since your community concerns have been raised regarding Dashu’s trans-exclusionary views, we have removed Max Dashu from our teaching line-up, and she will no longer be an influence on the Modern Witches Confluence. We appreciate you voicing your concerns, and we apologize for not responding to them sooner.

We should have done our research before asking Dashu to join us for our event, and after this incident, we know to do our due-diligence. We do not support or endorse those who shame, oppress, or exclude others. The success of our gathering will be built on a shared vision of inclusion, and the collective desire to liberate ourselves from societal rigidity, hatred, and separatist categorization.

We hope that by righting this wrong, the LGBTQ community and beyond will feel safe and welcomed to join us for our event in October. Please keep letting us know how we can do better. This is a community of many diverse voices, and we will need to keep voicing concerns, and listening, in order to grow and evolve.

Contact us at: info@witchesconfluence.org

with Love,

MWC

For what it’s worth, Max doesn’t even have “trans-exclusionary views.” She wrote a Facebook post critical of violence aimed at lesbians at the San Francisco Pride march recently, but that’s hardly “exclusionary.” She is a respected scholar in the field – but hey, somebody somewhere claims she has “trans-exclusionary views” so that’s the end of it. Shun her.

If Putin isn’t contributing trolls and bots to this “movement” he’s missed a trick, because they’re doing a fabulous job of dividing the left.

Trump has been burning the place up since yesterday. He called John Brennan “a very bad person,” he called Montenegro “aggressive” and speculated it could get us into World War III being so aggressive, he ranted about Trump Derangement Syndrome and its responsibility for our failure to be awed by his success at kissing Putin’s bum.

Vanity Fair:

“Membership in NATO obligates the members to defend any other member that’s attacked,” Carlson said to Trump. “So let’s say Montenegro, which joined last year, is attacked. Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?” In response, Trump told Carlson that he sympathized with his view. “I’ve asked the same question. Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people,” the president said. “They’re very aggressive people. They may get aggressive, and congratulations you’re in World War III.”

…

By casting doubt on the founding principle of NATO, Trump again seemed to side with America’s adversaries over its allies. As Nicholas Burns, who served as the U.S. ambassador to NATO under George W. Bush, explained to me last week, the NATO alliance is only effective as a deterrent against Russian aggression if President Vladimir Putin believes that the U.S. and the alliance’s 28 other members will respect Article 5. “The big danger here is that Putin needs to believe that Trump is the leader of NATO, is willing to defend NATO countries that could be threatened by Russia,” he told me. “That is what deterrence is all about, that is how deterrence works, right? The other guy, in this case the adversarial power Putin, has to believe in his heart of hearts that he cannot take aggressive measures toward NATO countries because Trump and the other leaders would stand up to him.”

Well that ship has sailed.

CBS News:

President Donald Trump lashed out at former CIA Director John Brennan after Brennan criticized Mr. Trump for remarks he made during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I think Brennan is a very bad guy, and if you look at it, a lot of things happened under his watch,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson in Helsinki on Monday. “I think he’s a very bad person.”

The traitor tweets:

So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki. Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

While the NATO meeting in Brussels was an acknowledged triumph, with billions of dollars more being put up by member countries at a faster pace, the meeting with Russia may prove to be, in the long run, an even greater success. Many positive things will come out of that meeting..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

….Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along. There is no rush, the sanctions remain! Big benefits and exciting future for North Korea at end of process!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

Some people HATE the fact that I got along well with President Putin of Russia. They would rather go to war than see this. It’s called Trump Derangement Syndrome!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

The slope gets steeper every day.