All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[Tami]

America’s sexist obsession with what women politicians wear, explained

When she was in the Senate, Carol Moseley Braun got used to having her clothing scrutinized.

She remembers one incident in particular, she told Vox. “Women’s Wear Daily had me on its cover — actually a picture of my butt,” she said, “and it said, ‘this is what a Chanel sweater set should not look like.’”

Women in politics “are held to a different standard across the board” than men when it comes to dress, said Moseley Braun, who represented Illinois in the Senate from 1993 to 1999. And it hasn’t necessarily changed much since she was a senator.

In November, writer Eddie Scarry of the conservative Washington Examiner made headlines (and spawned countless memes) when he tweeted a photograph of Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York City Democrat, with the caption, “that jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles.”

Scarry’s comments were just the latest in a long history. Ever since women started running for office in the United States, their clothing choices have been judged and dissected, receiving much more criticism than male politicians’ attire ever gets.

Sometimes, they’ve been subjected to rules their male colleagues didn’t have to worry about; when Moseley Braun was elected, for instance, women weren’t supposed to wear pants on the Senate floor. At other times, the media and the public have focused on women politicians’ clothing at the expense of their ideas.

[InformationGeek]

Our daily dose of evil and vileness from the president.

Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two.....

...children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days. Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!

[Mister Mets]

Huh. I guess condescension is one way to talk to people.

Choices.

It's not meant to be condescending. It's an acknowledgement that our understanding of the world shapes our policy suggestions. Anyone who thinks they're correct believes that other people are in the wrong.

I disagreed with the other guy's understanding that most right-wingers don't care about migrants exclusively because of race. He's perfectly comfortable telling me where he disagrees with my view of the world. Everyone here has their own understanding of things, and it's sometimes irreconcilable. This leads to situations where at one person is wrong in a way that's going to affect their views on politics and what should be done to make the country better.

The Bernie fans may have different beliefs about what is politically feasible, and what the outcomes of particular policies would be than the standard Democrats here. I listened to my dad talk about politics, and while our views are pretty similar (conservative but anti-Trump) he thinks there are organized efforts to swing elections in particular states, partly based on his experience as a volunteer lawyer for Pat Toomey's Senate reelection campaign. He'll probably view me as being naive to election shenanigans, and having the wrong worldview that way.

The Bernie vs Beto thing is a made up "Scandal" by disengenous actors like Jonathan Martin and such.
Beto is a better candidate than Trump. But Beto being above scrutiny about his actual record is BS.

The Neera Tandens of the world love shitting on Bernie or his "Bros/Sistahs" anyway and a few months ago, the only place you saw Beto was on the Young Turks. But now that his record is out, the Establishment Love them some Beto. Whereas before November, nobody in the MSM knew his name.

The Chait piece was about the strategic reasons to go after Beto.

That, and every time any nation fails to live up to its ideal, Russia takes that as license to act the same way, rather than insist the other do better. They seem to practice the politics of grievance as much as any MAGAt.

I liked a description that Russia seems to have two answers to these questions. They'll ask why they're not allowed to do what other countries are allowed to, typically a bad faith interpretation of some event, and when held to the same standard as other countries, they'll yell about how the Russian soul is unique, and can not be judged the same way.

[jetengine]

America’s sexist obsession with what women politicians wear, explained

Tbf the same happens in the UK. Theresa may has had alot of weird attention on her legs and heels for a 60 year old whom at best is 5/10.

As a grocery chain is dismantled, investors recover their money. Worker pensions are short millions.

After 5 times this is clearly not an accident or even a coincidence. These bastards are sabotaging companies to leech funds, actively destroying americas economy and civil welfare for their own greed

[Kirby101]

It's called Vulture Capitalism and it's all planned. Mitt Romney made a fortune doing this.

[aja_christopher]

I disagreed with the other guy's understanding that most right-wingers don't care about migrants exclusively because of race.

If you're referring to me, that's not at all what I said Mets -- race is a factor, but there are many other issues at hand here, not the least of which is that you insist on making a nonsense "open borders" argument without any real proof outside of a T-shirt.

If that's how you think, then I don't see the point in wasting time trying to convince you to think otherwise.

[heretic]

Nobody has wanted to "destroy Russia" in a long time. We want them to behave.

Too bad a number of sorts consider 'behave' worse than open war against everyone around them.

[Tami]

‘You Control Nothing’: House Republicans Brace for Life in the Minority

About two-thirds of Republicans returning to the House for the 116th Congress this week have never experienced the exquisite pain of being on the outs in an institution where the party in charge is totally in charge. Majority control runs the gamut from determining the floor agenda to determining access to the prime meeting space. It will be a rude awakening for many who have known only their exalted majority status.

“They say you will have a lot more time on your hands and will vote ‘no’ a lot more often,” said Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who was elected in the 2010 wave that handed control of the House to Republicans in President Barack Obama’s first midterm election.

“We have come to grips with the shock of the election,” he said, “but the shock of governing will still be a wake-up call for some people.”

Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and a veteran of stints in both the minority and the majority, groaned when asked what advice he had for his House brethren who had tasted only life on top.

“Oh. Sheesh,” Mr. Cole said, hemming and hawing before advising, only half-jokingly, “Smoke a lot; drink a lot.”

“You are going to get some real disappointment,” he said of his colleagues. “They are going to find out how good they had it in the majority, particularly when we had a Republican Senate, as frustrating as that could be.”

[Tami]

This is really getting to be old, as in what the (blank) is wrong with these people?

A Black Man Called His Mom From a Hotel Lobby. Then He Was Kicked Out.

When a black man staying in a Doubletree hotel in Portland, Ore., called his mother from the lobby, he was told by a white security guard that he was trespassing and was escorted out of the building by the police.

The Dec. 22 encounter was captured on cellphone video by the man, Jermaine Massey, who posted it that night on Instagram, where it was shared widely. In other videos, Mr. Massey, 34, acknowledges that he has become part of the continuing documentation, through cellphone videos and social media, of black people being confronted by white authority figures or bystanders while going about their everyday lives.

“I’m afraid to just do normal things now,” Mr. Massey said in an interview Friday, calling the encounter racial profiling. “I’m cautious about what I’m doing, and how people are perceiving that, and I shouldn’t have to think twice about where I take a phone call, or what part of the hotel I can visit.”

Paul Peralta, the general manager of the Portland Doubletree, said in a statement on Saturday that, after an internal review, the hotel had fired the security guard and a hotel manager who was also involved in the encounter.

[jetengine]

This is really getting to be old, as in what the (blank) is wrong with these people?

A Black Man Called His Mom From a Hotel Lobby. Then He Was Kicked Out.

This is kinda mixed tbh. Whilst its shit it happened the people have been fired for fucking up.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I get the feeling that, even if Trump leaves office and a Democrat became President, we have enough material here to be talking about the Trump Administration for years.

The tell-all books about this dumpster fire of an administration figure to be highly interesting. Unless of course Trump has everyone under NDA’s with no expiration date.

[Kirby101]

The tell-all books about this dumpster fire of an administration figure to be highly interesting. Unless of course Trump has everyone under NDA’s with no expiration date.

About the tell all books, I like what Atrios said.

The Last Person Between The Country And Oblivion
At some point we're going to get dozens of ex-Trumpkin job memoirs about how almost every decision they had to implement was oh so troubling but they stuck around to do what they could to slow or stop the worst of it and keep the country from descending into hell. This would be almost believable in some cases except in every one there will be a period between the resignation date, and the book contract/advance/publication dates during which they will be mysteriously silent as they await their book payoffs and subsequent MSNBC shows.

Everybody's gotta eat, but most of these people are going to eat well anyway, and while they can justify their silence while on the job, they can't justify it once they left.

There are no heroes in this administration.

[Kusanagi]

This is kinda mixed tbh. Whilst its shit it happened the people have been fired for fucking up.

Honestly I'll happily take 2018's wave of 'White People reveal themselves as racist, and are named, shamed, and fired' over previous years 'unarmed black man shot by police, officers face no charges' stories.

[Tami]

This is kinda mixed tbh. Whilst its shit it happened the people have been fired for fucking up.

If they paid any attention to the news, they would know that they were going to get fired for this. I mean, if they had a lick of sense, they would know that doing this is not only wrong, but reflects badly on the place where they work and that the only way to resolve that would be a firing or two. Their firing. Did they really believe that the company would back them up over a paying customer? Employees are a dime a dozen. Every customer badly treated, unjustly accused, or wrongly kicked out is hundreds of millions of dimes lost in profit.

[Kirby101]

If they paid any attention to the news, they would know that they were going to get fired for this. I mean, if they had a lick of sense, they would know that doing this is not only wrong, but reflects badly on the place where they work and that the only way to resolve that would be a firing or two. Their firing. Did they really believe that the company would back them up over a paying customer? Employees are a dime a dozen. Every customer badly treated, unjustly accused, or wrongly kicked out is hundreds of millions of dimes lost in profit.

Hey, Trump's America, they don't have to pretend anymore.