Kali Holloway writes about "Why It Was So Easy for Rachel Dolezal to Slip Into Black Skin." You'll be reminded of the black folks who "passed" as white, of "our nation’s legacy of slave rape" and "of secret relationships that ended with black men strung from trees" that helped produce "African Americans of every hue and skin tone," and of how, in America, virtually any deviation from whiteness renders folks non-white. You'll also learn how "transracialism" is a silly notion and how Ms. Dolezal's lifelong attempt to be black is "a sign of privilege itself." Really outstanding reading.
Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton discusses "free" trade in the wake of the fast track setback on Friday, and it's classic Clinton: admit that the liberals have "valid" "concerns," but still say President Obama should fight for "the best, strongest deal possible." Liberals have valid points, not just "concerns," and the "best, strongest deal possible" is no deal, but I'm pretty sure Ms. Clinton didn't mean either one of those things, though folks who really want her to be President might see that differently, just as folks expected differently from Mr. Obama because, well, they wanted to. Which is, as I always say, beside the point -- you don't wait for a President to come along and do what you want, you tell the President to do what you want.
Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina says we need "a new definition" of "feminism," since the "liberal" one "isn't working." If you're still not sure what that definition is by article's end, you're not alone -- her definition seems to include a lot of the current definition, which already isn't about "man-hating" or pretending that homeschoolers can't be feminists, and her definition also seems to include a skittishness about Republicans getting criticized for being anti-feminist. And, ah, that bit about over-the-counter birth control? Many OTC drugs are still cheaper to the consumer when filled with a prescription, since your copay will often be lower than the OTC sticker price (especially when the copay is zero, as the Obama Administration has mandated for birth control). It's like she doesn't fill her own prescriptions or something.
Kansas Republican legislators report that Gov. Brownback appeared to get "choked up" during negotiations to close the state's $400 million budget hole -- a hole he created with his massive tax cuts for the rich, you remember. They also report that he said he's made cuts that were "really difficult to do before" (yes, pooping all over everything is actually difficult, but that doesn't mean it's worth doing!), that he talked about the criticism he's received in public ("waaaaah, I pooped all over Kansas and nobody likes me now!"), and that, naturally, he coupled his emotional display with a hostage crisis: come to an agreement to close the budget hole, or 6% of every department gets it! Remember: this was all an "experiment" to him, though not to the good Kansans who have to go without public services as Sam Brownback's cronies rape the treasury.
Daily Kos diarist notes that a Fox News (sic) talking head called child molester Josh Duggan "curious," while calling the black girl Texas police threw to the ground at that infamous pool party "no saint." Is it just wishful thinking on my part, or was there really a day when right-wingers tried harder to be less obvious?
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