Monthly Archives: November 2017

“It turns out those pink kitty-cat hats weren’t just for show after all.”

The Atlantic: Women Exit the Party of Trump. “After laboring for years to close the gender gap, GOP strategists are suddenly facing a gender chasm.” By Michelle Cottle.

“As if the situation weren’t ticklish enough, the spotlight on sexual harassment is boosting many women’s sense that something needs to change. As [Jean] Card put it, “We’re having a little bit of a sisterhood moment here.“

“Imagine if we had a female leader, how this could be handled,“ said Card (who supported Carly Fiorina for president last cycle). “Instead, we do have the polar opposite. We do have a man who said he could grab women by the pussy. We can’t have presidential leadership on the sexual harassment issue because of that.“

(No question, Trump is a problematic ambassador for the cause. Greenberg recently conducted a national poll asking voters, “Do you believe that Donald Trump sexually harassed women, or not?“ Sixty-eight percent said yes.)”

“If there’s a virus anywhere in the world, it could just come back in.“

Gizmodo: The Last of the Iron Lungs. “In 2013, the Post-Polio Health International (PPHI) organizations estimated that there were six to eight iron lung users in the United States. Now, PPHI executive director Brian Tiburzi says he doesn’t know anyone alive still using the negative-pressure ventilators. This fall, I met three polio survivors who depend on iron lungs. They are among the last few, possibly the last three.” Includes a 7:00min video.

“But another thing they all had in common is a desire for the next generations to know about them so we’ll realize how fortunate we are to have vaccines. “When children inquire what happened to me, I tell them the nerve wires that tell my muscles what to do were damaged by a virus,“ Mona [Randolph] said. “And ask them if they have had their vaccine to prevent this. No one has ever argued with me.“

[Paul] Alexander told me that if he had kids he would have made sure they were vaccinated. “Now, my worst thought is that polio’s come back,“ he said. “If there’s so many people who’ve not been—children, especially—have not been vaccinated… I don’t even want to think about it.“

[Martha] Lillard is heartbroken when she meets anti-vaccine activists. “Of course, I’m concerned about any place where there’s no vaccine,“ she said. “I think it’s criminal that they don’t have it for other people and I would just do anything to prevent somebody from having to go through what I have. I mean, my mother, if she had the vaccine available, I would have had it in a heartbeat.“ “

Link via MetaFilter.

I remember the posters in doctor’s offices during my childhood: Schluckimpfung ist süß – Kinderlähmung ist grausam. (Translation: Oral vaccination is sweet, polio is cruel.)

Wenn nicht Jamaika, was dann?

Na, das wird ja spannend…

Deutsche Welle: Nach dem Scheitern der Jamaika-Sondierungen – Die Erklärung des Bundespräsidenten im Wortlaut. “Manche hatten die Ankündigung von Neuwahlen erwartet. Doch Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier schlägt einen anderen Weg ein. Hier seine Erklärung, die er nach einem Treffen mit der Kanzlerin abgab, im Wortlaut.”

Frank-Walter Steinmeier: “Für mich steht fest: Innerhalb, aber auch außerhalb unseres Landes und insbesondere in unserer europäischen Nachbarschaft wären Unverständnis und Sorge groß, wenn ausgerechnet im größten und wirtschaftlich stärksten Land Europas die politischen Kräfte ihrer Verantwortung nicht nachkämen.”

Die Zeit: “Eine Minderheitsregierung kann auch eine Chance sein”. “Wir könnten zum ersten Mal eine Minderheitsregierung auf Bundesebene bekommen. Warum wir uns davor nicht fürchten müssen, erklärt Staatsrechtler Joachim Wieland.”

“[Eine Minderheitenregierung] kann aber auch durchaus eine Chance sein. Die Mehrheit wird nicht zur Selbstverständlichkeit, und auch den Bürgern wird deutlich, dass für jedes Projekt eine neue Zustimmung gefunden werden muss. Alle Beteiligten müssen darlegen, warum sie bereit sind, an so einer Mehrheitsbildung teilzunehmen, oder warum sie sie ablehnen. “

Zeit Presseschau: “Merkel kann Krise”. “FDP-Chef Lindner habe die Sondierungen kalkuliert scheitern lassen, lautet die Analyse vieler deutscher Medien. Manche sehen dadurch Angela Merkel wieder erstarken.”

“History will judge Trump, and it will not be kind.”

Vox: “The fish rots from the head“ : a historian on the unique corruption of Trump’s White House. “Politicians lie, but this is different.” Interview with Robert Dallek.

“[T]he examples of corruption are numerous: Trump refused to divest from his business interests; there are questions about whether he’s violating the emoluments clause by running Trump International Hotel in DC; there’s the indictment of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort; there’s the looming indictment of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn; Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, failed to disclose $1 billion in loans connected to his real estate company; and of course several of his Cabinet heads are being investigated for profligate travel expenses.

But here’s what I think is unique: Often you see a lot of corruption result from a lack of oversight, but I think this administration is quite different in that Trump really sets the tone for all this. He encourages it, really. The fish rots from the head, and the stench of this administration starts at the very top.”

Catheter Cowboy: “There’s no shame in quittin’.”

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): The Trump Presidency. (YouTube, 23:50min)

John Oliver talks about three tactics used by Trump that some other politicians and certain media outlets are picking up as well:

  • Deligitimizing the media
  • Whataboutism
  • Trolling

“Look, Tuesday’s results should not make you complacent, they are absolutely no guarantee that the midterms will turn out at all well. That is why, though, you should take these moments of encouragement to help you keep going. Because the Trump presidency is basically a marathon. It’s painful, and it’s pointless, and the majority of you didn’t even agree to run it, you were just signed up by your dumbest friend. And the fact is, we’re not even at mile six right now, or possibly even mile three, so there is a long way to go, and though you’re exhausted, and your whole body is screaming for you to give up and your nipples are chafing for some reason, the stakes are too high for any of us to stop.”