Taking the Measure of a Man

 

On the second night of the DNC, something happened that to me, was entirely hilarious. Of course, Chicago was rocking because the rollcall affirmed our candidate, and who isn't turned up for the Obamas? But at the exact same time, VP Harris and Governor Walz filled the house in Milwaukee at the same venue the RNC occupied. Who the hell can cast that much shade at night?

Stars do.

I noted in the comments of an earlier post that Trump was going to speak on crime at Howell, MI, a town associated with the Klan, and it happened, and it was dull, and Trump was Trump. He lied a lot, but listlessly. He wonders why suburban women don't want him, a sex pest associated with other sex pests, a serial philanderer, a shitty role model for boys, a misogynist, and a person who does not respect women's rights over our own bodies or lives. It really makes you wonder what funhouse mirror view of himself he's always had. 

And then at the DNC, he got called out in a standup funeral. Sure, Democrats and a few Republicans were there to talk about why Kamala Harris and why now, and what needs to be preserved for our future of this great democratic experiment. 

It was uplifting and magnificent and of course I was teary-eyed and in the front pew of the church of what's happening now. It's a beautiful thing to see people come together to build a better future. I love it, and I love it for us. 

But you know what?  I stay petty. 

It is What it Is

FULL SPEECH: Fmr. First Lady Michelle Obama issues scathing indictment of PresidentTrump's policies and character https://t.co/l62D0HpOng

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 18, 2020

One way to determine the success of a speech is to take a look at social media and see how the usual suspects are responding, and to be honest, Michelle Obama has a wonderful ability to both hit'em high and sail beautifully over some folks' heads.

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

There's something that struck me as very poignant in the image of the empty frames lining the walls of the West Wing (well done, David Nakamura/WP). The "ghostly" quality of the empty frames prompts the mind to refill them with memory. It is hard to say "goodbye" to an exceptional president and his exceptional family. It will never be hard to recall them.

(Damn everyone seems so young there. Those little girls became young women before our eyes.)

The trust and affection of the Obama/Biden partnership always seemed unforced, natural, a real "friendship goals" situation.

So I'm Petty, Sue Me

Of course, Michelle Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren gave absolutely grand speeches this evening; Obama bringing in an inspiring historical perspective about the direction of this country, Warren laying down the truly stark choices we are facing in this election.

But I've got to give it up for Bernie Sanders--he laid out the case for why his supporters should vote for Hillary Clinton. It wasn't an easy speech for him, and he'd even said himself that the job of party unification was up to the presumptive nominee. But in an obvious contrast from Senator Ted Cruz telling the RNC audience to "Vote their Conscience", Senator Sanders basically said, "If you have a conscience, vote for Clinton."

That's huge. Today was marked with Sanders supporters (I use the term loosely, I think they are more against things than for them based on their behavior) engaging in the kind of hostility that would have been more at home in the other guys' camp. There were chants from some of these classless class warriors that tried to stomp all over the speeches of people they could have heard out as allies instead of treating like enemies. (I misheard "We trusted you" directed at Senator Warren, as "prostitute", and wanted to drive down and start punching hippies. It's like that, now.)

But Senator Sanders himself showed his qualities by trying to be the peacemaker and the unifier. He hushed up Donald Trump's gross insinuations that Team Gilded Toilet could win over people who genuinely understand that income inequality in the country isn't going to be any closer to fixed by letting a conman into the White House.

This isn't to say those people who were feeling the bern and now are Trump-curious don't exist. Cable news programs are looking hard for those people and found a few. But let's just come out and say it--those folks are not a revolution. They are a tantrum.

But I'm petty. This Tweet basically sums up how Trump looks at people--if Sanders isn't anti-Hillary, well, he needs to be insulted. The Sanders Twitter reply is as dismissive as it ought to be.

How Women Can Be Seen, or Not

A little bit of a furor came about over First Lady Michelle Obama's decision not to cover her head in Saudi Arabia when meeting the new Saudi king. I don't know why.The way I see it, the decision to cover one's head is very personal. If a woman chooses to wear a hijab or a tichel, it should be her choice, based on her convictions. I would fight for a woman's right to wear what she prefers.  Michelle Obama doesn't wear a head covering in the US or in most countries. We have many pictures documenting her not wearing any kind of head covering. It would be a weird kind of deference to start just because she's in Saudi Arabia--and where do you draw the line? She dressed moderately and appropriately, and like a modern western woman. This is what she is.

I have some reservations about the custom of head covering or veiling. It can be seen as being about modesty--but in some respects I see the argument that it can be about enforcing conformity and erasing certain aspects of individuality in women in order to "disappear" them. There's this amazing picture of former First Lady Laura Bush amid such similarly-dressed women: