#Clinton’s profile

[yank-a-ton]

idk if you still take requests but I’d love to see some more Franklin from you if you ever find the inspiration <33

[scientia-rex]

I feel like disappointment in Biden is baffling to me because he was always a disappointment. He was the asshole who got to ride to power on the coattails of a better man. He told bizarre and repeated lies (despite getting caught at it and his team telling him not to) about having a Welsh coal miner dad when he did not and he stole that story from actual Welsh people. I read a profile of him years back that pointed this out and told the story of the time he straight up ignored good advice from an expert not to plant a certain kind of tree too close together and flew a bunch of them out to plant, at night because he was just too fucking excited about it, and they all died. He’s not a smart man! He’s charismatic ish and lacks principles and as far as I can tell doesn’t really care about abortion rights or a lot of things we’d consider pretty critical to preserving freedom. I sincerely thought he couldn’t become President because there were so many obviously better candidates in the pool. I underestimated the sexism and antisemitism in American politics, and when he became the candidate in 2020 I gritted my teeth and voted for him because the alternative was a man who is not only an idiot but also profoundly dangerous. Trump is not ha-ha crazy, he’s Mussolini crazy. He is not dangerous because he’s stupid, although that doesn’t help; he’s dangerous because he does not care about anyone except himself under any circumstances and if that means he lets the far right push us straight into forced birth for white women and sterilization for women of color he’s going to do that. If that means conversion therapy for queers and death penalty for homosexual acts he’s going to do that. He has literally no limits. If he gets back into power, a whole lot of people are going to die, again. It’s not a hypothetical because it happened the first time and he’s only going to get worse.

I am not, never have been, and never will be a fan of Biden. To pretend that he and Trump are in any way equivalent is wrong at best and another goddamn Russian psy-op at worst. To pretend that a third party candidacy is viable in the US is to completely ignore every election of your lifetime and your parents’ lifetimes, and to further ignore the lesson of Ross Perot.

You cannot save Palestinians by not voting for Biden in November; the best you can do is chip away at his margin, and the worst you can do is see Trump elected so he can decide to do the worst possible thing in ever circumstance. Biden has Palestinian blood on his hands and watching this when we could have had Bernie or Elizabeth Warren instead is maddening. (I would have preferred Hillary to Trump, but I don’t think she’d be any different than Biden here. They’re both old-school politicians.)

I hate everything about this, and I hate that saying “maybe don’t put the man who literally said he would kill his political enemies in power” is seen as supporting genocide. It’s acknowledging reality. Joe Biden as a person can eat rocks for all I care. I was kind of hoping he’d die sooner in his term so we’d have time to get used to and then vote for President Harris. (Remember when the line was “she’s a cop, don’t vote for her”? Funny how there’s always a reason not to vote for a woman or a person of color or someone you just “don’t like” and can’t put a finger on why except she “seems angry.” Oh does she. How would she not? When Michelle fucking Obama, the picture of grace , STILL got called angry for having the nerve to be a Black woman with an opinion? When Hillary Clinton lost to a man with no political experience to her decades and who openly discussed sexually assaulting women? Would you have voted for President Harris? Or would you let Trump win again because you don’t LIKE her personally and she’s made decisions and statements you disagree with?)

Biden has both less power than his critics give him credit for and more power than his fans give him credit for. He needs to do more to pressure Israel and although it’s a delicate diplomatic situation I’d rather see us fuck up our diplomatic relationship with Israel than watch more Palestinians get murdered for things like “wanting to eat” and “existing.” The line has been crossed, and he doesn’t see it. Because he wasn’t the best person for the job. Because they didn’t get elected, because of sexism/antisemitism/racism. Hell, I have no idea what bootlicker Pete Buttegieg would have done here, but I’d have given him a try. But no. We got Biden and we’re stuck with this reality where you can be as leftist as you want and still have to look at the situation and decide whether you’re comfortable contributing to a Trump victory through inaction. I want socialism—I want every single person on Earth to have clean drinking water, enough safe food, shelter, medical care, and education—and I’m going to vote for Biden, pissy as it makes me, because the only actual alternative is so, so much worse, for me personally as both a woman and a queer, and for everyone in America and the rest of the world who Trump would find reasons to hurt. What do you think the man who openly and repeatedly praises dictators is going to do when those dictators massacre their own people? Yes, we need to care about this genocide now. We also need to care about all of the other people who are at real risk, both at home and abroad. Would a Trump government agree to fund military intervention in Haiti without insisting on it being a colonial exercise in power? Would a Trump government roll back the restrictions on discriminating against transgender patients in healthcare? How would Trump respond if Orban started dragging people into the streets and shooting them en masse? How would Trump respond if China finally went for it and invaded Taiwan? There are more lives at stake here than mine or yours or even those of the Palestinians, who have deserved better for literally decades and are being mass killed in ways that should result in immediate sanctions, a war crimes trial, and the execution of Netanyahu.

The world deserves better from you than complicity in a Trump victory.

[robertreich]

Who’s to Blame for Out-Of-Control Corporate Power?    

One man is especially to blame for why corporate power is out of control. And I knew him! He was my professor, then my boss. His name… Robert Bork.

Robert Bork was a notorious conservative who believed the only legitimate purpose of antitrust — that is, anti-monopoly — law is to lower prices for consumers, no matter how big corporations get. His philosophy came to dominate the federal courts and conservative economics.

I met him in 1971, when I took his antitrust class at Yale Law School. He was a large, imposing man, with a red beard and a perpetual scowl. He seemed impatient and bored with me and my classmates, who included Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham, as we challenged him repeatedly on his antitrust views.

We argued with Bork that ever-expanding corporations had too much power. Not only could they undercut rivals with lower prices and suppress wages, but they were using their spoils to influence our politics with campaign contributions. Wasn’t this cause for greater antitrust enforcement?

He had a retort for everything. Undercutting rival businesses with lower prices was a good thing because consumers like lower prices. Suppressing wages didn’t matter because employees are always free to find better jobs. He argued that courts could not possibly measure political power, so why should that matter?

Even in my mid-20s, I knew this was hogwash.

But Bork’s ideology began to spread. A few years after I took his class, he wrote a book called The Antitrust Paradox summarizing his ideas. The book heavily influenced Ronald Reagan and later helped form a basic tenet of Reaganomics — the bogus theory that says government should get out of the way and allow corporations to do as they please, including growing as big and powerful as they want.

Despite our law school sparring, Bork later gave me a job in the Department of Justice when he was solicitor general for Gerald Ford. Even though we didn’t agree on much, I enjoyed his wry sense of humor. I respected his intellect. Hell, I even came to like him.

Once President Reagan appointed Bork as an appeals court judge, his rulings further dismantled antitrust. And while his later Supreme Court nomination failed, his influence over the courts continued to grow.  

Bork’s legacy is the enormous corporate power we see today, whether it’s Ticketmaster and Live Nation consolidating control over live performances, Kroger and Albertsons dominating the grocery market, or Amazon, Google, and Meta taking over the tech world.

It’s not just these high-profile companies either: in most industries, a handful of companies now control more of their markets than they did twenty years ago.

This corporate concentration costs the typical American household an estimated extra $5,000 per year. Companies have been able to jack up prices without losing customers to competitors because there is often no meaningful competition.

And huge corporations also have the power to suppress wages because workers have fewer employers from whom to get better jobs.

And how can we forget the massive flow of money these corporate giants are funneling into politics, rigging our democracy in their favor?

But the tide is beginning to turn under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are fighting the monopolization of America in court, and proposing new merger guidelines to protect consumers, workers, and society.

It’s the implementation of the view that I and my law school classmates argued for back in the 1970s — one that sees corporate concentration as a problem that outweighs any theoretical benefits Bork claimed might exist.

Robert Bork would likely regard the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts with the same disdain he had for my arguments in his class all those years ago. But instead of a few outspoken law students, Bork’s philosophy is now being challenged by the full force of the federal government.

The public is waking up to the outsized power corporations wield over our economy and democracy. It’s about time.

[jflemings]

Blurb night idea:

Grace Clinton - “i love you and i will always support you, but i will never ever do that for you”

(maybe R is an Arsenal player?)

— skewed

grace clinton x arsenal!reader

blurb

“baaaaabe” grace whines through your apartment as she follows you into the bathroom “please”

she had spent the better half of the past hour trying to convince you to wear her tottenham shirt to the fa cup final. despite not being able to play in the final against her parent club, grace was still adamant that you be present for the game. you, of course, were going to go for support but you had intended to keep a low profile due to your secret relationship and the fact that you play for arsenal.

you roll your eyes and shift through your makeup bag looking for your bronzer. you look up her through the mirror “grace. c’mon”

“it’s one game!”

“a game that i will not be caught dead in a spurs shirt at”

“but it’s my shirt” she hooks her chin over your shoulder “please”

rolling your eyes again, you take the cap off your cream bronzer stick and pull your bronzer brush out of the mason jar it’s kept in “i love you and i will always support you, but i will never do that for you”

“i’d wear it if it was you playing!” she wraps her arms around your torso and squeezes, tucking her chin into the crook of your neck.

“no you wouldn’t. beth would have your head if she saw you were in an arsenal shirt”

it’s grace’s turn to roll her eyes. she untucks her chin and leans back as you brush the makeup brush against the cream bronzer and apply it to your face. she continues to watch you in the mirror, her eyes lingering on your face as you focus.

“okay. fine. maybe she would! but i’d still wear it”

“your loyalties are skewed, my love” you smirk

grace tilts her head and lazily smiles at you. she leans around your shoulder to look you in the eye “only for you, darlin’”

she kisses you sweetly, her smile still lazily plastered on her face as her lips mould against your own. you smirk against her “being sweet won’t get me in that shirt”

“come onnnnn”

[reality-detective]

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙊𝙛 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙄𝙨 𝙂𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙨𝙚: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣

𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙨𝙝𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝙆𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙣 "𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙮" 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧’𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙥 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙. 𝙊𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 25, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞��𝙣, 𝙛𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝘼 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙚𝙭 𝙩𝙧𝙖••𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨, 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙮, 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

• ASU

• CEMEX

• McCain Institute.

• Thorn (Ashton Kutcher)

• NXVIM

• The Rothschilds

• The Bronfmans

During a 2019 episode of Hot Ones that recently resurfaced, Ashton was asked about the parties at Combs' house by host Sean Evans.

'I’ve got a lot I can’t tell,' he said, pausing for a moment before adding: 'I can’t tell that one either.'

Diddy, 54, and Ashton have been friends for decades and appeared together on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2018 where he gushed about their bond.

'I was doing Making the Band on MTV, he was doing Punk’d and I gave him a call one day and said, "I heard that you are going to punk me and I just don’t think that’s a good idea,"' Diddy told Corden.

As you all can see many celebrities have been quiet about this P. Diddy drama. They know what they did at these parties and they know P. Diddy is not someone who is going to be reserved on who attended these parties if he is questioned on the stand through cross examination once the evidence is presented.

P. Diddy is loyal to no one but maybe Clive Davis & Lucien Grainge. But even they have been brought under scrutiny and its matter of time before they are brought within scope of how they were also participants in some of those parties. You know this case is heavy when all the passports were taken from not only P. Diddy but his children including the baby.

Another thing people have to consider is the fact that P. Diddy has been paying off victims for decades not to go to authorities. Not to say that some were threatened but many took the money and never followed through on what happened. But now P. Diddy no longer has the means to do so at this point. Which is why he was willing to offer his home and his mother's home up for the 50 million dollar bail. Which should imply to anyone that his money is tied up.

So he is in a very tight spot at this time. Which is what makes this case all the more damning to the network of high profile figures who are walking around in fear that they may be getting a subpoena soon. And ofcourse Ashton Kutcher is one of those people. But again I want to mention this for all those who are salivating at the mouth for P. Diddy to be tossed in the slammer. You are thinking way too small here.

The Royals

The Clintons

Barrack Obama

Naomi Campbell

The C!A

The Playboy Mansion

As a matter of fact Most people of influence are controlled with money, drugs, s•x scandals, and pedophilia. The C!A also used prostitution and homosexuality as blackmail and honeypot tools back when they constituted criminal offences and were considered socially scandalous. At Heffner’s Playboy Mansion, straight blackmail targets were lured with a promise of associating with scantily clad beautiful women and celebrities. Innocent targets were drugged and photographed with clearly underaged and/or male sex partners, and the staged photos were enough to create the leverage of control the CIA sought over the now-compromised targets. 🤔

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Matt Johnson at The UnPopulist:

Joe Rogan, a UFC commentator and comedian who hosts the most popular podcast in the United States and possibly the world, has developed a reputation as an anti-tribal and fiercely independent voice who is beholden to no political party or faction. In the eyes of his regular guest Jordan Peterson, Rogan is “the most powerful journalist who’s ever lived,” and he has managed to gain such broad appeal because he “just asks questions.” But the notion that Rogan is an honest broker of information who has an overriding commitment to the truth is absurd. In fact, he has only one consistent mission: attempting to debunk mainstream media narratives by entertaining conspiracy theories. He’s more of a populist than a non-partisan—and he’s definitely no truth-seeker. Nothing illustrates this better than his warmly favorable treatment of both Donald Trump and RJK Jr., along with the parade of other cranks he features who peddle outlandish conspiracy theories and constantly congratulate themselves for being “anti-establishment” or “heterodox.” The effect, whether he intends it or not, is to overwhelm our epistemic infrastructure and pave the way for dangerous populist demagogues.

The Most Popular MAGA Pundit in the World

In his much-discussed interview with Trump last week, Rogan’s approach was to first encourage Trump to air his typical barrage of conspiratorial falsehoods—and then to endorse them himself. Take, for example, the segments on elections and voting, which were always shaped by Rogan’s MAGA-friendly framing. When Rogan told Trump that “a lot of weirdness ... was going on during the 2020 elections,” he was basically affirming Trump’s Big Lie and ignoring the fact that the 2020 election was the most scrutinized contest in American history. The rest predictably followed:

Trump claimed that “old-fashioned ballot screwing” had taken place, such as “people ... dropping in phony votes.” Rogan agreed.

Trump claimed “the Russia hoax” swayed the 2020 election. Rogan agreed.

Trump claimed the temporary suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story also swayed the election. Rogan agreed.

Trump claimed Democrats weaponized the justice system against him. Rogan agreed.

Trump alleged that Democrats are opposed to certain forms of voter ID “because they want to cheat.” Rogan responded: “It doesn’t make sense any other way.” Voter ID laws are a solution in search of a problem, given that there is little evidence of widespread voter fraud, but Rogan preferred to attribute to Democrats the most sinister motivation imaginable. Rogan also said “mail-in ballots are a problem” and worried about vote-counting machines getting hacked—a version of a famously discredited conspiracy theory for which Fox News had to pay $787 million in a settlement with a voting systems firm for pushing it on its airwaves.

When the discussion turned to the topic of denying election results, it was the perfect opportunity for Rogan, the interviewer renowned by fans as a tenacious truth-seeker, to press the most high-profile election denialist American politics has ever seen. That’s not what happened. Instead of challenging Trump’s years-long insistence that he actually won the 2020 election, or his enlisting of attorneys like Sidney Powell to claim communist-designed voting machines rigged the contest against him, or his attempts to overthrow the election by sending fake slates of electors to Washington, or his incitement of an insurrectionary mob at the U.S. Capitol to halt the certification of the vote, Rogan brought up ... the Russia investigation. Democrats are especially prone to denying election results, he told the man who believes he beat Hillary Clinton in the popular vote in 2016 and Joe Biden in the Electoral College vote in 2020.

But the segment on elections and voting wasn’t only about 2020. Consider their exchange about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. After Trump declared that Democrats had turned Springfield into a “horror show” by “dropping” immigrants into the community, Rogan’s follow-up wasn’t to press Trump for corroboration, given that state Republican officials said this was nonsense and have asked Trump to stop endangering an innocent minority group. Instead, Rogan asked Trump to hypothesize about what must be motivating Democrats to allow a flood of immigrants into the country. As if that was not a loaded enough question, Rogan then proceeded to say this: “One of the things that’s been very clear is that they’ve moved a large percentage of these migrants—they’re coming across the border illegally—[into] swing states.” Never mind that the Haitians in Springfield are legal. In one fell swoop, Rogan managed to seamlessly transition from asking a question about immigration to asserting the Great Replacement conspiracy theory that Democrats are importing illegal voters to steal elections—exactly Trump’s view.

[...] Rogan’s embrace of RFK Jr. isn’t ultimately down to his personal charms—Rogan is dependably supportive of health and wellness conspiracism just generally. During the Covid pandemic, the Joe Rogan Experience was among the most formidable engines of misinformation about the disease, alternative treatments, and vaccine safety, with appearances by conspiracists like Bret Weinstein, Robert Malone, and Pierre Kory. He regularly invites conspiracists onto his show to pump out hours of uninterrupted anti-vaccine propaganda. Alex Jones—one of the most prolific and notorious conspiracy theorists of our time, who accused the grieving families of Sandy Hook victims of being crisis actors who were part of a plot to take Americans’ guns—has been a guest many times. Conspiracy theorists like Weinstein who rant about the horrors of vaccine injuries, the life-saving properties of ivermectin, and the totalitarian machinations of the WHO for long stretches, are honored guests.

[...]

Heterodox Media Has a Right-Wing Conspiracism Problem

Rogan has presented his podcast as a counterweight to the “establishment” media. That means he regularly platforms figures that traditional outlets won’t because they don’t meet basic journalistic standards. He evades accountability by always pointing out that he’s a mere comedian and entertainer, a clever rhetorical shield. This grants him the latitude to speculate as recklessly as he wants, indulge some of the wildest conspiracy theories around, and consistently get basic facts wrong while allowing his guests to do the same. So long as his audience laps it up, he has no reason to approach things any differently. But that’s also why the backlash from Trump’s MAGA base was so threatening to him: that’s an occasion in which he risked losing his audience. Rogan has become wholly captured by his audience even as he maintains the pretense that he’s a fair-minded and inquisitive political observer who is capable of seeing through what he regards as the sinister machinations and distortions of both major political parties. That’s why, when the wave of MAGA resentment came crashing down on him when he endorsed RFK Jr., he caved.

Kamala Harris’ supporters never expected Rogan’s endorsement, and there’s no Democratic equivalent of Catturd to chastise Rogan for supporting a third-party candidate. Nor does Rogan have much of a non-right audience. So all his incentives lean in the direction of becoming a right-wing conspiracy theorist—especially since, right now, there are more conspiracies on the right. Indeed, there are few, if any, MAGA conspiracy theories that Rogan hasn’t amplified. Last year, he suggested that Jan. 6 was a “false flag” operation in which “intelligence agencies were involved in provoking people into the Capitol.” He defended Arizona’s Republican senatorial candidate, Kari Lake’s, debunked claims about voter fraud in her state’s gubernatorial race: “All that Kari Lake stuff in Arizona they tried to dismiss, it doesn’t look like that’s invalid. It looks like there’s real fraud there.”

Rogan, of course, isn’t the only one. There is an entire industry of self-styled “heterodox” thinkers who have gravitated toward the right. Peterson, Rogan’s frequent guest, was once merely critical of campus identity politics and other forms of “wokeness.” He’s now a committed political partisan indistinguishable from a standard-fare Fox News commentator (e.g., characterizing Harris as “a master of chaos and deception” who is full of “envy” and “spite”; or describing Trump’s indictments as a “horrible” form of political “persecution”). Rogan and Peterson are part of an alternative media community providing an intellectual permission structure for people to support MAGA under the guise of “independent thought,” “heterodoxy,” or “classical liberalism.”

But Rogan plays a crucial role in this right-wing alternative media ecosystem. Because he has always presented himself as non-partisan, millions of listeners trust that he doesn’t have an agenda. Heterodox intellectuals and influencers like Peterson constantly decry traditional media as captured by elite interests, and they present shows like the Joe Rogan Experience as the alternative. But when Rogan and his guests shower praise on Trump and relentlessly attack his political opponents, they prove that they aren’t the anti-establishment crusaders they claim to be—they’re just supporting one establishment over another. In many ways, Rogan is the perfect embodiment of the Trump-era podcaster.

Joe Rogan claims to be an independent voice, but is in reality a right-wing conspiracy theorist whose podcast has a largely MAGA audience.

[detroitpedxing]

Meet Susie Wiles, the ‘ice maiden’ who propelled Trump to victory – and his new chief of staff

On one hand, Susie Wiles is the generous neighbour who brings you casseroles and sends you flowers when you’re in the hospital. On the other, she’s a ruthless political operator who was the mastermind behind getting Donald Trump back to the White House. Alex Hannaford talks to those who know her to find out how she became one of the few people who can handle her boss...

On her Twitter/X profile, she wears a blouse and cardigan, drop earrings, and a gold necklace, her grey hair perfectly set. But Susie Wiles’ “Golden Girl”, grandmotherly image belies the role that consumes her. Wiles is one of the most powerful players in Republican politics, who ran Donald Trump’s campaign for re-election and who has just become his next chief of staff.

In his statement on Thursday evening Trump said that Wiles “just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history” and “is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected”.

“It is a well deserved honour to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history,” he continued. “I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”

Wiles, 67, is the first woman to be appointed White House chief of staff and in his victory speech in Florida the President-elect Donald Trump mentioned her previously little-known name seven times.

“Let me also express my tremendous appreciation for Susie and Chris —the job you did. Come, Susie,” Trump said. “Susie likes to stay in the back, let me tell you. We call her the ice maiden”, he joked, adding. “She is not in the background (anymore).”

A ruthless political operator, for the past 12 months her focus has been on absolute victory. And on Thursday evening, Trump confirmed her as his White House new chief of staff.

The Hill political newspaper called her “the most powerful Republican you don’t know”; The New York Times described her as “perhaps the most significant voice inside Mr Trump’s third presidential campaign”.

But who is she, and what makes this cake-baking, bird-watching 66-year-old grandmother tick?

Wiles has worked in Republican politics since the late 1970s and went on to become a campaign scheduler on Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential bid, and later in his administration. In her late twenties, she moved from New Jersey, where she was born and raised, to Jacksonville, Florida, with her then-husband, Lanny, an “advance man” who handled publicity for candidates during political campaigns.

When the couple had their two daughters, Katie and Caroline, she took some time out to raise them but then went full-throttle back into the game – eventually running Trump’s Florida operations in his first bid to become president. Many attribute him winning the state by 1.2 percentage points over his rival Hillary Clinton to Wiles.

Choosing to stay in Florida instead of heading to the White House, Wiles focussed her efforts a couple of years later, on helping the Trump-anointed Ron DeSantis in his campaign to succeed Rick Scott as governor. Their relationship soured, with him blaming her for leaks and despite her denials, it is thought he was behind her ousting from the team. She officially left for health reasons in September 2019, but one friend of Wiles told me she was “really down at that point – at the very bottom”, and that leaving presented an existential crisis for her.

But then, in 2020, she got a call from Trump. He wanted her back on his team. And not only that, he wanted her to head it up.

Wiles’s father, Pat Summerall, was a professional football player and later a well-known sports broadcaster. Peter Schorsch, publisher of Florida Politics, who has known Wiles for a decade and considers her a friend, says Summerall would reach tens of millions of people each Sunday with his broadcasts and was such a voice of authority that he thinks some of that ability to take control; to command an audience, rubbed off on Wiles. Another former colleague and friend agreed that her gift as a “people person” was probably inherited from her dad but that her warm personality came from her mother, Katherine Jacobs, “who was a wonderful woman”.

However, it wasn’t all apple pie and roses. Summerall was an alcoholic and, after divorcing Katherine, was estranged from Wiles and her two siblings, Jay and Kyle, for some time. But, as an adult, Wiles left the door open for him to reconcile, and Summerall credited her with eventually helping get him into rehab for his addiction.

In 2017, Wiles and Lanny separated. Schorsch described it as a “quiet divorce between two prominent people” but he thinks it had the effect of freeing Wiles up to focus on her political career in her sixties, “to where she can be devoted to whoever her principal is at the time; undistracted when working on a candidate”.

Her soft edges however aren’t enough to hide a reputation for being a rottweiler, unafraid of baring her teeth. As a political operative, “Susie does not f*** around,” Schorsch says. “There is no other way to say it. It’s not that she’s hard, it’s not that she’s mean, but if you try to promote yourself or if you flimflam or you’re not honest about something, Susie will knife you herself.” It’s perhaps a trait her new boss is particularly fond of.

Schorsch recalls an instance when she oversaw the DeSantis campaign and a consultant who was brought in chose to speak to the media when they were told not to: “Susie immediately cut this person off and it took years for them to repair that relationship.”

But he says she also possesses this “southern grandmotherly kindness”. For example, he says, she knew the names of the volunteer working tirelessly for the campaign in a far-off county, and she takes care of the people working with her. “She’s very good at offering familial advice to a lot of her young staffers.” He recalls one such staffer had just had a baby and Wiles emphasised the importance of taking time off. “There’s an emphasis on making sure the people working for her are taking care of their home lives too.”

Schorsch says she’d very much fit into the kind of decorum and stagecraft that is a hallmark of British politics. Unlike her boss maybe “she just respects so much of the institutional stuff, the discipline of it all, while at the same time being a very savvy operator”.

It was a savvy “Team Trump” that recruited Wiles to the campaign. By taking all the “craziness” that surrounds Trump and adding what Schorsch calls a “disciplined ground game”, it seemed to be the sleight of hand helped Trump along to victory. Schorsch noted how Mar-a-Lago became “so much more disciplined since Susie became the chief gatekeeper.”

What’s more, he thinks that Wiles sees no need to rein in Trump’s worst excesses. “It’s a much more pragmatic ‘let Trump be Trump’ philosophy: he says certain things to the Maga crowd, but he also offers an incredible tax policy to the billionaire crowd, and they like that. I don’t want to say she’s made a deal with the devil, but she knows what Trump’s about.”

It’s this ability to think two things at once and instinct to know what people want that makes her such a smart operator. John Delaney hired Wiles when he ran a successful campaign to become mayor of Jacksonville back in 1995, after which she became his chief of staff.

“Four weeks into the campaign she kind of transformed the thinking and the messaging,” he says. And there are certain Trumpian elements to her too – in terms of her ability to connect with a crowd and give them exactly what they want. “She is an absolutely brilliant political savant with incredible instincts about what the public thinks; what can fly,” Delaney says.

Delaney says Wiles wants to help the people she works for reach the goals they are aiming for, even if she doesn’t always agree entirely with their politics. “She has no ego. She’s very much a behind-the-scenes person.” But despite friends and colleagues being willing to talk about her and her ability to do a difficult job, she remains an enigma and fiercely guards her personal life. Even members of the Trump campaign are reluctant to talk about her.

As for working for Trump, Wiles might not always agree with his delivery, his choice of words or even his political stance on an issue, but Delaney says politics is about what people can overlook in one candidate and what they can’t overlook in another. In that way, she’s very much like the voters who might have held their noses at the ballot box; “dyed in the wool” Republicans who may not have loved their candidate, but who got over the line.

Delaney doubts that Wiles’ politics always chime with Trump’s. “She would be what I’d call left on LGBT+ issues. And I can’t believe she would necessarily agree naturally with Donald Trump on immigration, but that’s more me speculating.”

Delaney agrees with Schorsch that, political career aside, Wiles is a sweet, good-natured person. “If she lived in your neighbourhood and you were sick, she’d bring over a casserole,” he says. “If you needed an electrician to be let into your house, she’d figure out how to do that. And if you were in the hospital, she’d visit and send you flowers. She’s just a really nice person.”

When Wiles is at home, he says she likes to tend her garden and she enjoys cooking. She’s known to be an avid birdwatcher, too, although as one person who knows her told me, “I doubt she’s doing much birdwatching at the moment.”

“And she’s crazy about her girls and her grandkids,” Delaney says. She’s not flashy, doesn’t splurge on five-star hotels, and he says as a practising Episcopalian she’s a “church-every-Sunday person and prays frequently”.

Nate Monroe, a columnist for the Florida Times-Union newspaper who has known Wiles in his capacity as a journalist for a decade, says her critics would say that sweet, personable demeanour “masks a very, very calculating, hard-charging operator. As much as she is very well thought of, she is equally feared. And she is a dangerous person to cross.”

In January, Monroe penned a devastating editorial, castigating DeSantis for his presidential campaign and pointing out personal traits which ensure he “always chooses cruelty over kindness, dog whistles over empathy, divisiveness over grace”. Just to ensure the knife was well and truly twisted, Monroe added: “Who was it that Trump called out during his victory speech [in Iowa], that diminutive figure standing at the periphery of his entourage on stage? Susie Wiles, the adviser DeSantis cast out, is one of Trump’s most trusted confidantes. Oops.”

Monroe says those familiar with Wiles knew that by cutting her out of his inner circle – and humiliating her in the process – DeSantis would eventually get his comeuppance. He also says Wiles is “almost allergic to drama” – which may sound illogical – comical, even – when you consider who her boss is. But Monroe has another take. Perhaps it’s a good fit. Perhaps, in Susie Wiles, Donald Trump has found a calm, steady hand.

[bighermie]

BOOM: Judge Orders Over 100 of Child Predator Jeffrey Epstein's High Profile Associates to Be Revealed in Next 14 Days - Several Names Linked to Epstein are Emerging - Will Bill Clinton and Bill Gates Be Mentioned? | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft

[nodynasty4us]

Trump is basically lazy, and cares little for governance. He doesn't have the patience for sausage-making. And he intensely dislikes negative coverage and criticism, particularly if it comes from "his people." There is no doubt that he will implement some of his ideas, particularly when he can do so unilaterally. The tariffs leap to mind as something that is in this category. However, in his first term, most of the occasions where he "delivered" on his promises, it was just political theater. A few miles of border fence was built, and then he held a photo-op. He "negotiated" a new factory in Ohio on taking office, and then... did virtually nothing else in terms of proactive job creation. He said he would "punish" Hillary Clinton, which turned out to mean... that he would lead his rallygoers in chants of "Lock her up." This time around, we foresee, for example, a couple of high-profile deportations. But is there really any reason to believe Trump will try to deliver the breadth he's promised on that issue, or on most others? He wants a few headlines and a photo-op and a week's worth of fawning coverage on Fox, and then he moves on.

Electoral-vote.com

[dhaaruni]

Also, this excerpt from that Politico piece gave me pause. I don't think I've seen any other high-profile Democrat except Bill Clinton directly admit on the record that delivering material benefits to voters doesn't automatically bring about electoral victory.

Democrats should support blue-collar unions and high-speed broadband on their merits, but a lot of Dems genuinely seem to believe that good economic policy can move enough votes to win (see below) and I don't think it will.

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Ohiyesa Smith

The Sheriff of Elkhorn, Oklahoma in the late 1800s, Ohiyesa Smith was a legendary lawman, renown for his steadfast sense of justice and ability to keep the peace in the turbulent times following the American Civil War.  Heralding from the Sioux Nation, many of the more narrow-minded townsfolk of Elkhart were initially reluctant to trust Ohiyesa; with some referring to him by the derogatory name of ‘Pow Wow Smith.’  And yet Ohiyesa’s skills as a detective, gunslinger and his unwavering pursuit of law and order quickly won the people over.  Before long, Elkhorn became a beacon of peace and prosperity in the old west and Ohiyesa became greatly admired and respected.  

Ohiyesa had frequent run-ins with Tobias Manning, although the small-time outlaw was no match for the sheriff.  After Manning stole David Clinton's time belt, however, he used it to arm himself and his gang with radically advanced weapons. With this advantage, Manning was able to run Ohiyesa out of town and take over Elkhorn. 

Aided by time-displaced members of The Justice League, Ohiyesa was able to defeat Manning and save his town.  David Clinton escaped back into the time stream with the Justice League in pursuit.  It had all made for a rather strange adventure, but the important thing was that peace had returned to Elkhorn and Ohiyesa resumed his duties as the town’s beloved sheriff.   

Actor Jonathan Joss provided the voice for Ohiyesa Smith with the hero of the old west first appearing in the 12th episode of the first season of Justice League Unlimited, ‘The Once and Future Thing Part One: Weird Western Tales.’  

[f1ghtsoftly]

All The Women’s News You Missed Last Week:

9/9/24-9/16/24

US Reproductive Rights:

The Young Woman Making Kamala Harris’ Strongest Case on Abortion Rights

A judge strikes down North Dakota’s abortion ban and rules that access is protected

Missouri’s ballot will include abortion rights measure in November, court rules

More Women Had Their Tubes Tied After Roe V. Wade Was Overturned

Transgender/Gender Critical:

A look at Trump's 'transgender operations on illegal aliens' debate claim

Transgender New Hampshire teens can play for girls' sports teams during lawsuit, judge says

Sarah McBride is one step closer to becoming the first trans member of Congress

Greens hit with £90,000 bill after discrimination case

Graham Linehan 'subjected to discrimination in Belfast pub over gender critical beliefs'

US:

Trump says 'I hate Taylor Swift' after pop star endorses Harris

If Harris wins, she would make history. But she isn’t talking about that

A’ja Wilson becomes 1st WNBA player to reach 1,000 points in a season as Aces top Sun

WNY high school athletes, transgender advocates bring awareness to NY PROP 1

New York officials to release new renderings of possible Gilgo Beach victim

The anti-abortion activist urging followers not to support Trump

Trailblazing ballerina Michaela DePrince dies aged 29

Arkansas’ gov says Medicaid extension for new moms isn’t needed. Advisers disagree

Biden commemorates Violence Against Women Act as 'proudest' legislative win on eve of its 30th anniversary

She couldn't go to her daughter's graduation, so the hospital brought it to her

A venture capital grant program for Black women officially ends after court ruling

U.S. urges Israel to swiftly investigate killing of American woman in West Bank

Global:

Man accused of killing a Ugandan Olympian by setting her on fire, dies of burn wounds

Channel 4 will not remove alleged abuser from show

'Baby Reindeer' is facing a lawsuit — that didn't stop it from winning 6 Emmys

Kidnapped and trafficked twice - a sex worker's life in Sierra Leone

Couple accused of murdering teen to steal baby acquitted

'Lashed for a social media photo' in Iran

Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway

Former prominent BBC news anchor gets suspended sentence for indecent images of children on phone

A union leader freed from prison vows to continue a strike against Cambodia’s’s biggest casino

Mother in Gaza longs for triplets in Jerusalem hospital

Princess Kate completes chemotherapy treatment for cancer

A Filipino preacher on the run from sexual abuse charges surrenders

Culture:

Profiles in clean energy: She founded a business to keep EV charging stations up and running

Hillary Clinton takes stock of life’s wins and losses in a memoir inspired by a Joni Mitchell lyric

Her piano concert was six years in the making. Then Puerto Rico's power went out

'I wanted to make a gay Clueless': Jamie Babbit on how her lesbian comedy But I'm a Cheerleader became a cult classic

'Criminally underrated': Why My Brilliant Friend is one of the best shows on TV

Jessica Pratt cracks open the sunny veneer of the California dream

Cooking for the most powerful person in the world

Rachel Kushner's new espionage thriller may be her coolest book yet

Want this emailed to you instead? Subscribe here.

As always, this is global and domestic news from a US perspective covering feminist issues and women in the news more generally. As of right now, I do not cover Women’s Sports. Published each Monday afternoon. 

I am looking for better sources on women’s arts and culture outside of the English-speaking world, if you know of any-please be in touch.

[julianbashir]

After months of public outcry and pressure from the City Council, New York City’s libraries are poised to have their budgets fully restored so that branches may resume seven-day-a-week service, including Sundays, according to three people with knowledge of the budget negotiations. Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council are set to announce a handshake budget deal on Friday that reverses $58 million in library cuts, the sources said. The three people who spoke to Gothamist provided the information on the condition that their names not be used because budget discussions are private. Following the publication of this story, the mayor and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams issued joint press releases announcing the restoration of funding for libraries as well as cultural organizations. “These institutions are a critical part of New York City’s social fabric, which New Yorkers depend on for their children’s growth and the vibrancy of our city,” the mayor said in a statement. The speaker, who thanked the mayor, said restoring the funding had been a “top priority” for the Council.

As part of the 11th hour negotiations, the Adams administration also agreed to provide $43 million annually for the libraries in future years, according to the sources. The change represents a significant concession from the mayor, who has seen historically low approval ratings tied in part to budget cuts. The decision to guarantee a portion of the library budget could help spare libraries from the annual budget dance because they have traditionally been used as a bargaining chip in negotiations. The cuts to the more than 200 library branches had become a political thorn in the mayor’s side. In the weeks leading up to the budget agreement, Council members and library leaders mounted an aggressive pressure campaign: they organized rallies and enlisted support from high-profile individuals, including Hillary Clinton and Whoopi Goldberg. A heatwave that lasted through the weekend further spotlighted the Sunday closures of libraries, which serve as cooling centers. The Council is expected to pass the budget over the weekend, allowing the city to meet the June 30 deadline. The overall budget fight became a protracted battle between the mayor and Council, with Adams citing the multi-billion dollar costs to care for migrants as a reason for belt-tightening. But amid better than expected revenues and cost savings, he walked back some of the cuts to public safety, parks and schools. The mayor was more reluctant to restore cuts to libraries, agreeing only to grant them a reprieve from a planned cut this fiscal year. At the time he made the cuts, Adams argued that libraries should consider drawing funds from their endowments. “Some have over a billion dollars in their endowment,” he said in January. “Let's share the wealth. Let's find ways of helping all New Yorkers navigate through this crisis that we're facing.” But endowments are often earmarked for specific programs and capital improvements, deeming them off limits for general funding. Library officials have also repeatedly maintained that the city is legally obligated to help pay for library operating costs.

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

I find it hilarious that Meghan has desperately hyped and outrightly exaggerated relationships with Alisters. She talked to Michelle Obama over dinner. Remember when she leaked that Hillary Clinton, Oprah, The Clooneys and the Obamas had formed "a ring of steel of protection" around her and that they are advising her on Megxit, prompting the Obama's to tell people magazine that no such thing exists.

During her podcast, she personally interviewed only Alisters herself, while the other guests were interviewed by her producers. During Netflix documentary, she showed a text, supposedly coming from Beyonce. She got SS to get some high profile celebrities to do her 40x40 stuff for her. She leaked about her 'friendship' with Gwyneth. She is desperate to be friends with celebrities but when the chips are down, when it comes to where she should be hanging out with them, no celebrity associates with her so she resorts to hanging out with those she pays or her employees.

They are all pr relationships.

And, at this point, it’s painfully obvious that they are pr relationships.

[reality-detective]

🚨 BREAKING:

Slave Trader Oprah Winfrey Facing Life Behind Bars On Child Sex Trafficking Charges

Oprah Winfrey’s reputation has taken a hit due to her close friendships with numerous high-profile rapists and pedophiles, but she is about to lose a whole lot more, according to investigators who revealed the billionaire media tycoon is about to be thrown under the bus and prosecuted on child trafficking charges.

Oprah isn’t the only member of the VIP global elite facing charges. A whole host of household names, including Bill Gates, mainstream media figures, and members of the US House and Senate are currently sweating as the walls close in on them.

According to investigators, Oprah Winfrey has been hiding in plain sight for decades, conspiring with some of the world’s most notorious pedophiles and sex traffickers, and taking every opportunity to legitimize child sexual abuse in public forums.

According to mainstream media, Oprah’s laundry list of pedophile connections is just an unfortunate coincidence. It’s like the extensive list of Clinton associates who wound up dead in bizarre circumstances, often committing suicide by putting two bullet holes in their back of their own head. One coincidence after another.

For decades and decades. After Oprah’s close friend Jerry Harris was sentenced to 12 years in prison on child sex crimes in July, the media fact-checked anybody who dared to point out that he was Oprah’s protégé. This was information they did not want to get out. 🤔

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Smith and Robert Tait at The Guardian:

Barack Obama has endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for US president, meaning the vice-president has now won the backing of all the party’s politically active high-profile figures for her White House bid. The former president had conspicuously withheld his endorsement in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the campaign, and was initially believed to favour an open nominating contest at next month’s Democratic national convention in Chicago. But after Harris earned the backing of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, a host of state governors and the most senior Democrats in Congress – – as well as Biden himself – Obama has added his voice in what amounts to a major boost for the vice-president.

The 44th president was joined by wife Michelle, the former first lady, in a phone call with Harris that was filmed and released by her campaign on Friday. In the video, Harris is seen listening to the Obamas on an iPhone in her right hand. “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you,” Michelle Obama says. “This is going to be historic.” Barack Obama weighs in: “We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.”

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle endorse the presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. #Harris2024