#whoever is the president is largely irrelevant to that plan

[clonerightsagenda]

Not getting into the voting discourse but I do have to laugh at the post I saw that said 'stop saying voting for Harris is controlling who you're organizing under, you can't even organize her to stop bombing the Middle East'. Posts that demonstrate you don't know what organizing is

[sinrau]

What’s happening

After months without any in-person events, President Trump intended to get his reelection campaign back up and running with a raucous rally in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday. Things didn’t go as planned.

Despite claims that more than 1 million tickets had been requested, only about 6,200 people attended. News coverage of the rally showed whole sections of empty seats in the arena. A second stage had been erected outside the venue so the president could address what was expected to be an overflow crowd of thousands. It was taken down without being used.

A number of explanations have been offered for the lackluster attendance. The president’s campaign said protesters had blocked his supporters from entering the arena, though reporters on the ground have refuted that claim. Teenagers on the social media platform TikTok said they made reservations for the event with no plans to show. Warnings from public health officials that the event could pose a serious risk of spreading the coronavirus may also have stunted turnout.

Why there’s debate

The president’s allies and critics largely agree that the rally was a letdown. There’s significant disagreement, however, over what it may mean for Trump’s chances at winning another term in November.

To some observers, the president’s inability to draw a sizable crowd in a state he won by 36 points in 2016 is a sign that enthusiasm among his base supporters has eroded. Typically, one disappointing rally may not be a big deal, but Saturday’s poor showing came at a time when Trump’s campaign was in desperate need of a win, election analysts say. The majority of the public disapproves of how he has handled both the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, which has helped Joe Biden build a lead in national and swing state polls. The Tulsa event could have been a chance to reverse that trend, but instead it helped solidify the narrative of a campaign in crisis, some political analysts say.

The content of the president’s speech may have been even more inauspicious than the crowd size, some argue. News coverage after the address focused on Trump’s lengthy explanation of why he had walked awkwardly down a ramp and his claim that he had advised his coronavirus task force to “slow the testing down” to keep the number of positive cases lower. What the speech lacked, some argue, was a clear case of why voters should want him in office for another four years.

Others warn against drawing too many conclusions from a single event — especially during such uncertain times. Elections aren’t determined by the size of rally crowds. Concern over the virus may have kept many Trump supporters from attending the rally, but it may not have the same impact on Election Day. Trump’s reelection chances will hinge on his ability to manage the economic, public health and social crises currently gripping the country, some experts argue. If he’s able to do that effectively, a poorly attended rally months before the election will likely be mostly forgotten.

What’s next

Trump held a series of small campaign events in Arizona focused on border security on Tuesday. His campaign is planning upcoming rallies in Florida, Texas and North Carolina. Dates for those events have not yet been set.

Perspectives

The small crowd size suggests Trump’s base of devoted supporters is shrinking

“To explain how he might be able to win despite poor polling numbers — and amid national crises — he has posited that a ‘silent majority’ of Americans backs him. But the poor turnout suggests just the opposite — that enthusiasm for him is weaker than it appears.” — Jonathan Allen, NBC News

Crowd size is irrelevant

“Realistically, not a single vote will be flipped in or against Trump’s favor because some reporters managed to snap a picture of an only moderately-filled arena with a snarky caption.” — Tiana Lowe, Washington Examiner

Trump’s campaign has very little room for error

“Once viewed inside the White House and Trump’s campaign as a reset button for a presidency beset by crises and self-inflicted wounds, Saturday evening’s campaign rally in Tulsa instead became plagued with pitfalls, a disappointing microcosm of the blindspots, denial and wishful thinking that have come to guide the president as he enters one of the most precarious moments of his first term.” — Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins, CNN

Trump still has ample time to shift the course of the race

“President Trump can meet this moment and win over the voters he needs in 2020 with a new message of change for people who’ve been left behind — equal opportunity for Americans of every race. Make America great again for all.” — Steve Hilton, Fox News

Trump’s speech lacked a clear reelection message

“The Trumpian vision, as outlined in Tulsa, is distinctively devoid of ideas.” — Ruth Marcus, Washington Post

The election will be decided by the state of the nation in November, not a rally in June

“Much could also change. The coronavirus crisis could be overcome. The economy could come roaring back. The enormous effort the Trump campaign is putting into attacking Biden could pay off.” — Niall Stanage, The Hill

There’s a lot of time before Election Day, but the rally was still a significant setback

“It’s not a good sign for a president who needed a shot in the arm as he faces slumping poll numbers. There are still four and a half months to go until Election Day, and a lot will change, but it’s hard to imagine that this is what his campaign was hoping for.” — Domenico Montanaro, NPR

Trump’s speech included some effective lines of attack on Biden

“His lines going after Biden were very effective, particularly on Biden being a tool of the radical left. But I’d like to see that focused message take up more space in the overall speech, because it will resonate with wobbly suburbanites.” — Republican political strategist Scott Jennings to Politico

TikTok users didn’t affect crowd size, but the prank is still a bad sign for Trump

“What’s important about the TikTok hanky-panky is how much fun the kids had doing it. They reveled in the chance to mess with the Trump campaign. This is fantastic news for Joe Biden and Democrats. One of the iron laws of politics is: Whoever is having fun is winning.” — David Plotz, Business Insider

There are many explanations for the small crowd

“It is tempting to find a larger message about Trump’s waning popularity with the GOP base in the meager turnout in Tulsa. … But it is hard to know whether the seats were empty because of virus fears, teenagers mischievously signing up on TikTok, or just the sensible calculation that there are better things to do on a Saturday night in Tulsa, even in the midst of a pandemic.” — Walter Shapiro, New Republic

Trump’s Tulsa rally: Small setback or sign of trouble? #web #website #copied #to read# #highlight #link #news #read #blog #wordpress post# #posts #breaking news# #Sinrau #Nothiah #Sinrau29

[bitchninthekitchnnn]

Pink Pussy Hat Popcorn

It seems that, no matter how hard we try to avoid it, no matter how much we want to pretend to live in a magical world of rainbows and shit, there it is: our orange ominous cloud of doom; the Commander in Chief.  As I sit in this kitchy San Francisco cafe among all my fellow hipsters watching President Mister Potato Head make an hour long speech out of what could've only been two sentences (as if adding water to an almost empty ketchup bottle makes it the most ketchup-y ketchup ever, and everyone agrees), I can see that those rainbows and shit have gone to a better place.

For those of you just tuning in, here's just one, because, you know, I don't want to completely break your hearts, of the actions our new POTUS is backing up, both tiny hands down for:

He's building a fucking wall.  It's actually happening.  This is no longer a drill.  This action is almost mirroring the construction of the Berlin Wall, said to keep out Fascists and other enemies of the State, while it's real purpose was to keep East Berliners from moving to the West.  As Trump has said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "They took our jahbs!", it seems like there's an underlaying reason that will most likely show it's yuge face sooner or later.

As I sit here, seeing this all go down, I can only imagine that this horror is like watching the schoolyard bully slowly pack an icy snowball, making eye contact and smiling, before hurling it at your face.  We're all just watching, cold and helpless, the growing of our potential doom.  Times are changing, and it doesn't look too optimistic.  Or not, who knows. Meh.

Way too often I have read or watched the news and had a violent urge to flip up tables and scream, "WHHYYYY?!", but this is a society and that, along with shaking people and cursing at televisions in public places, is generally frowned upon.  I guess my last grasp of hope is seeing so many generations stand up and voice their opinions.  I was among the 100k women, men, and children who marched in San Francisco on the 21st last month, with the crowd growing as it grew later.  Did I mention it was fucking raining, too?  I should also mention, that I was not there for the full 5 hours of the march, because well, 5 hours.  I still do to consider myself an activist because I was there, I stood up in solidarity with so many other people for basic human rights...even though I side stepped out because this lady did not prepare for rain. Yet, for every activist, there is someone willing to just give up, lay down, and watch this happen- the civil injustices, racism, bigotry, and flat out ignorance- and, just go, "Meh".  I mean, I feel ya, I'm lazy, too.  There's only so much we can say and do to get everyone involved.  So, I chose a flavored popcorn recipe for those of you who would rather sit down and watch this tragic comedy of a presidency unravel.  I mean, you've read this far, at least you're trying, amiright?

Lucky Elephant Pink Popcorn

           I like this recipe mostly because it’s pink.  With pink being the color for the Women’s March and Valentine’s Day approaching, it seemed fitting.  This popcorn is a common children’s snack in Canada, which is also fitting, being that most of us Americans love to talk about our plans to move there during pretty much every election.  Like Trump’s speeches, it has a light candy coating and, like Trump himself, is very vanilla.

           You can find this recipe all over the internet, so citing it seems irrelevant, they only really vary when it comes to how you pop the popcorn, some suggest an air popper or a stovetop, I suggest a microwave because, as I’ve said before, I’m lazy as hell.  This recipe took me about 10 minutes to make, most of the time was just waiting for the mixture to come to a boil.  I’ve also included a video incase you just don’t feel like reading.

A video posted by M.R.B. (@emarebe) on Jan 26, 2017 at 5:24pm PST

You’ll Need:

 1 bag of popcorn

 2/3 cup of whole milk or half&half

 1 tbsp white corn syrup

 ¼ tsp salt

 2 cups granulated sugar (I used a substitute)

 1 tsp vanilla

 pink food coloring

 baking sheet

Optional (but not really): 1 bottle of wine.

 Let’s get poppin’:

1. Grab your bag of popcorn and throw that shit in the microwave, following the time that’s on the bag. Pour a glass of wine.

 2. Stir milk, corn syrup, and salt together in a saucepan on medium heat. Pour your sugar into the center, without touching the sides of the pan.  Bring the mixture to a boil and stir occasionally until all the sugar is dissolved.  You’re half way there, look at you go!  Sip wine.

 3. Stir occasionally until you see large bubbles in the mixture (shown in the video, it takes about 10 minutes).  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and food coloring.

 4. Here’s the annoying part where you might need an extra set of hands; working quickly, open the bag of popcorn and pour the mixture into the bag, shake that shit up.  I recommend that whoever is holding the popcorn bag wear gloves, because that shit it hot.  Pour the popcorn onto the baking sheet and mix a bit more with whatever you feel like using. Finish your glass of wine while you wait about 5 minutes for the popcorn to set.  Enjoy!

-Melissa Rae Burns

Note from the “editor”:

Melissa is my awesome cousin. I’ve always looked up to her. When family shit hits the wall, she’s the one I call because she fucking understands. She’s always been there to tell me I’m not crazy. We both tend to be the black sheep of the family, trying to make things work when more than often it's plainly not going to go well. 

Melissa is a complete badass. She get’s things done and she does so much! Check out her Instagram, it’s amazing. She has this (stupidly) cute dog that I plan on stealing sometime. Probably when I can actually make the time to come see her, like I’m always hoping to, but never can. This year we actually mailed out x-mas presents to each other, unlike last year when we forgot to do that for a year. -_- progress ladies. Progress is slow. 

If you want to write for this blog, just let me know. You can email me through elle.levy.design@gmail.com or go through the submission page here too. They are both good options. It doesn’t have to be political, I know it’s looking this way, but woof, it’s the elephant in the kitchen. It’s hard to miss. You can also post anonymously too, You just need to let me know or submit it as such on tumblr. 

[global-justice-blog]

A Feminist Foreign Policy: Sweden’s, Anyway

By Mark P. Lagon 

In becoming its Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom declared in the fall of 2014 that Sweden was adopting a “feminist foreign policy.”  She exhibited guileless candor the next spring questioning treating the misogynist monarchy of Saudi Arabia as a normal partner, a case which can be made based on interests.

Even to a self-identifying feminist like me, her rallying cry raised practical questions.  What does a feminist foreign policy entail?  Was it different in character from Sweden’s emphasis for some time?  Traveling to Stockholm several months ago as Freedom House’s President, I heard career service officials in her ministry and Sweden’s development ministry wonder what the details would be.  

Well, the posture amounts to quite a bit.  Its goal is that women and men should have the same power to shape society and their own lives—with a gender perspective in all areas of policy and programming.  I know from serving in the U.S. Government, and leading two nonprofits receiving funding from it, that gender analyses of programs can, at their worst, be box-checking exercises.  At their best, they influence subtle program design and monitoring of impact.  Sweden is in effect saying judge our work by the latter standard.

In particular, the policy focuses on 3 Rs: rights of women and girls; representation of women in political, business, and civil society leadership roles; and resources.  Without the third, the first two will be hamstrung.  For instance, recent U.S. policies to “stand with civil society” globally would have had more juice with higher Congressional appropriations and Executive Branch requests for them in the first place.

The Swedish Ministry’s Action Plan for a Feminist Foreign Policy is rather specific on goals (e.g., for women in humanitarian distress, as political and economic actors, and in the reproductive area), partners (since the Swedish government cannot act alone), and empirically-based targets.

As for taking longstanding aspects of Swedish policy farther, two examples are striking.  First, the first UN Security Council Resolution (#1325) ever focusing on women in a security context was passed back in 2000.  Not leaving a resolution over 16 years ago to languish as aspirational rhetoric, and winning a seat as elected member of the Council, Sweden’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace, and Security for 2016-2020 draws lessons from the mixed efforts to date (theirs and others’), and sets commitments on inclusive peace processes, conflict prevention, and stronger protection of women and girls from violence.

A second example going deeper was reinstating the position of Ambassador-At-Large for Trafficking in Persons.  I met recently with the envoy, Per-Anders Sunesson.  He focuses on how the worst sexual and even labor exploitation–horrendous for any fellow human being--falls disproportionately on the shoulders of females.  He prioritizes sharing – empirically rather than moralistically -- what has worked to combat sex trafficking at home.  Sweden’s formula is never punishing those in prostitution, and not only holding to account traffickers and pimps, but the “customers” whose demand fuels the exploitation.  It demonstrably works in Nordic countries, and others like Canada and France have been attracted to the model.  

Indeed, Sweden has a healthy sense that a foreign policy starts with being an exemplar – like fully half of the 24 ministers in the government being female.  But Sweden acknowledges how far even it needs to go.  Women have 77 percent participation in the labor force vis-à-vis 82 percent for men. Not bad.  But they only make 82 percent the level of salaries of men, and only 6 percent of Swedish publicly-traded companies have women CEOs. Part of government-wide feminist policies, Sweden puts out a transparent rendering of gender equity in Sweden at the same time it urges the world to prioritize women’s rights.

Donald Trump, whose words and deeds call into question his sensitivity and commitment to women’s dignity and rights, defeated a self-conscious, operationally-experienced feminist in the Electoral College.  But Sweden’s effort is not irrelevant.  In a U.S. Administration likely to sport an even higher proportion of business and military figures in its leadership than in recent memory, it may well be those voices inclined to make the point….  A failure to focus on half the world’s population is not only inequitable, it squanders an enormous asset for an educated workforce, economic vitality, and inclusive political leadership incorporating talents, consensus-building, and broader creativity.

Apparently Donald Trump needs fellow Republican Senator Lindsay Graham to remind him of basic truths.  Graham has tried to remind Trump (as Sweden also knows it well, given its geography) that Russia with Vladimir Putin at the helm is a threat to Western security and political systems.  So too Graham rightly reminds us of the importance of gender equality.  Explaining why he sought to be the lead Republican at the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee despite foreign aid hardly being politically helpful to him back in South Carolina, he said: “I’ve learned from my travels that a small schoolhouse in a remote region educating a young girl can do more damage to radical Islam than any weapon we possess.”

Whoever is Tweeter-in-Chief, American officials, companies, and citizens should, like Sweden, act upon the premise that feminism serves justice and interests.