And maybe you can be less judgmental of other people’s comments, because his problem is a fact. It had been discussed among those who are around him, and it is an issue for those who have worked with him. I’m not interested in being reprimanded by you. Trump has mental as well as physical problems and is not fit to be president. All of this matters.
There's a difference between stating a fact, for a reason, and intentionally insulting someone. It's very clear from your comment which category yours falls into. I don't care if you're interested in being "reprimanded". I am interested in disrupting ableism and you made an ableist comment, so I am going to respond and I don't need or want your permission to do so. If you don't want to be reprimanded, don't make fun of people's disabilities.
Trump isn’t disabled, he deserves to be mocked, just like he mocked the disabled journalist when he was running for president the first time. He is so full of hatred it’s pathetic. Trump is a disgrace to this country.
Incontinence is a disability. Whether or not Trump deserves ridicule is not the point. The point is that you have a choice about how you frame that ridicule. If he is really deserving of ridicule (and i agree with you 100% that he is), it isn't difficult to address the actual reasons he deserves it. If you choose instead to take the easy shortcut of lobbing insults at him that's entirely your prerogative, but if those insults are based on ableist biases you are inevitably perpetuating ableism against all people with a similar disability. Trump will not suffer one iota because of your ridicule because he will never see it, and he has the power and wealth to protect himself from the marginalization that is inevitable for disabled people with less resources and access to support. Every time you use ableist language against anyone, regardless of how deserving of ridicule you believe them to be, you are perpetuating the status quo systemic bias against every person with a similar disability. Invoking systemic biases always creates collateral damage, and there's no way around that. If you choose to ignore that fact in favor of the convenience of cheap shots, then you have more in common with Trump than you probably want to admit.
We shall agree to disagree. Actually you may have more in common with trump than I ever could; get off your high horse. His incontinence isn’t because he is disabled, it’s because of his lifestyle. There is a difference.
A complete and utter disaster for trump. He demonstrated that he was a racist and couldn’t answer any question directed at him. All that came out of his mouth were the usual lies, deflections and sheer nonsense.
Also, I kind of feel like Trump’s horrific sexism gets lost in the discussion here. “Nasty,” in particular, is Trump’s go-to sexist insult with “rude” as a close second. No male interviewer gets either label.
Trump is a tired old, one trick pony. He is lazy, boring and a racist. He hates strong women who challenge him and relies on the old sad, boring, ignorant playbook that is just pathetic given it is 2024.
Trump’s own people took him off the stage yesterday. But it’s up to us, the voters, to do that in November!
In addition to some official merch, I ordered this Kamala Removes Stubborn Orange Stains T! 👇 🤣
I’m horrified (but unsurprised) at their wholehearted racist asshattery, and so sorry you have to put up with their ignorant bullshit. Are they ashamed? Nope. They genuinely mean harm. As usual.
Having grown up in a town next door, I can say with absolute certainty that if trump thinks he can mess with a black or Indian woman from Oakland, he's got another thing coming. They do not play.
My hope is that people in the black community who support him will see who he really is. As far as I can see he behaves like an undisciplined angry child on a world stage. We see him and know who he is and how he will retaliate against his perceived enemies. He lacks the ability to be civil. I certainly have wanted to channel my 8 year old many times in response to his rants. I’m tired of having to go high because he goes low every day against good people. He makes me cry for our country.
Excellent observations - it makes me sick how people think. In my genealogy research, it turns out I have people from Senegal. Cool! The damned republicans are so insidious and hateful. We are ALL humans. Period. End of story. “Poopy head”🤣🤣🤣
Race, if it ever made sense, becomes increasingly meaningless. I watched a video recently in which the presenter demonstrated the reasons racial distinction was invented. In the aftermath of Bacon’s rebellion ordinances in Virginia and Maryland were enacted which defined whiteness. The reason was because the rebellion was staged by African and European rebels. The rebels’ motives were appalling but the cooperation of the two ethnicities frightened the planters to the core.
I can see that almost every social ill, especially one that fails to make logical sense, is based on those in power being frightened by the idea that those without power might join forces and rise up. Keeping people divided means they can maintain power using Otherism and Tribalism. It's awful, but it works.
Yes it works until such time as a lot of people stand up and say no more. That is how the Viet Nam war was ended. I had so much hope for my generation ending the war but hope is a whimsical illusion.
Never-the-less,I can be seduced by the siren calls of hope, at least for moments.
To your point, the educator Jane Elliott has been a pioneer of the theory that race is meaningless and actuallynon-existent. It’s a human construct that has done more damage than good. Here is a link to the Wikipedia website that discusses her background.
I think she's the one who asked a room full of people if any of the white folks would want to trade places with any of the BIPOC, and not one person raised their hand. She used that as a way of demonstrating how all of us white people know we have privilege that BIPOC don't have, even if we aren't consciously aware of that as a fact.
I’m sorry for this crazy long link, but that’s what kept appearing when I tried to paste it into the comment section. And yes, Jane Elliott is wonderful and is now 90 years old
There is no such thing as race. Race was a human construct by racists. Read an article recently by scholars holding that position. They examined when the teen was first used and who used it. No surprise the concept originated with slave owners.
Atheist here: I don't follow a religion myself, but I've seen how religious faith can be a great support and framing for many people (one of my favorite books is "Faitheist." It really expanded my awareness). Imo, religion isn't the problem; the problem is that any ideology - religious or not - can and will be warped to suit the purposes of people who want to use it to justify their harmful beliefs or actions. In the US, when either capitalism or any form of Protestant Christianity is used this way, dominant culture refuses to challenge it, so it inevitably escalates and we end up where we are now, with MAGA ideology framed as legitimate to a degree, even by many who don't agree with it. Imo, that's why the "weird" strategy is so resonant: it delegitimizes the rancid ideology that virtually everyone right of center has embraced.
I read a book a few years ago by historian Yuval Noah Harari, called Sapiens: A History of Humankind. In it, he explained a lot about the origins of racism and classism. They are human constructs that go back to our beginnings. As we evolve as a species, I’d like to think that we can come to the realization that it’s all bullshit. Some will understand that sooner than others. People like Trump may never get it.
Thanks for sharing so many cents! My family is Jewish, American by way of Eastern Europe, and my husband is from Guatemala. Our children are in their late twenties now. It has been a struggle since they entered school to have both cultures acknowledged. My daughter is often asked (usually by rude men) "what are you?" and most people assume my son speaks Spanish.
To your point though, there is a wide range of skin, hair and eye color within each of our families. It's all about the melanin.
Perhaps Kamala's frankness and presidency can start us on the right path, so one day we will all see each other as just human.
And the twin girls from the UK are both so beautiful too! I’ve spent my whole life trying to get my hair to look like Lucy’s. So many, many bad perm jobs that left my poor baby-fine hair fried and frizzy. Oh well…
Yesterday Trump was Trump. And every lady on that stage was classy and sharp, showing the world the difference between serious people and a know-nothing buffoon. As for Kamala, she is so far above and beyond that sad little man, Donald Trump, she has no worries. Always a class act and joyous, even while being totally professional and talking about serious issues.
I cannot wait to call her Madam President!
I ordered more Kamala tees last tonight. I’m prolly pushing my luck in my small, Texas town. They’re allowed to wallpaper their cars with ridiculous MAGAt stickers, but anyone who supports a Democrat triggers them.
But I don’t care. I plan to wear one every day of the week until the election.
Alicia Norman: No wonder I read your every column with love and interest!
You and I ARE SPIRITUALLY ONE. This is the right concept: "Cultural."
That concept has long been a part of who I am.
"Race" crashed into the abyss with the fall of the Third Reich.
WWII was about crushing the concept, "Race".
I believe already in the 1930s, Frank Boas was one of the pioneer anthropologists to scientifically explode any concept of "race."
We really are all "From Africa". Today's consensus on humanity, is that all of humanity originated in southern parts of Africa and wandered from there, ultimately forming the rainbow of cultures that enrich our humanity.
Whatever color my skin, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, WEB DuBois, Frederick Douglass, Jesmyn Ward, Toni Morrison, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and (tragically) "Strange Fruit" are an integral part of my own, our culture and the meaning in life.
We are all of mixed "race" if you must use race use human race, the idea that we are somehow better or worse because of who our ancestors were is fucked up! I have three grandparents who were Native
American, Cherokee, Blackfoot Sioux, and Choctaw, Scots Irish is the biggest chunk of my genes and according to ancestry.com sub saharan Africa figures in as well. NOW! What race am I? Do I get to choose? I have blue eyes, curly blonde hair when I was born to kinky dark brown as an adult and stark white as an old man. Do I get to choose? No, it was chosen for me by society, I am considered white by everyone I know, no one cares about who my ancestors were, I have blue eyes, relatively light skin (I tan shockingly dark btw) but If I had just a tiny bit darker skin and hair I would be black? Kamala is a human being, from what I've seen a very capable human being, she is intelligent, personable, moral, well educated in the working of government, has empathy for others, the positive list goes on but the most important thing is that Kamala is the only candidate that exemplifies these qualities. Kamala is the only real choice by any reasonable standard, personally I think she will make a great national leader questioning her "race" is simply obfuscation f the real issues.
As prosecutor KH stated recently, she knows Trump's type, his criminal type to be specific! She reminds us of his type frequently! It's what a an excellent prosecutor and presidential candidate does!
This phrase is a masterpiece. This whole piece is a masterpiece, Alicia!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💙
"BTW, race is a social construct and Trump is a poopy head"
ROFLMAO glad you liked it, X-D
He also has poopy pants, if the rumors are to be believed. 😂😈
Ewwwwww
Yeah, and so do a lot of really wonderful disabled people. Maybe we can stick to criticizing the damage he does instead of how his body functions?
And maybe you can be less judgmental of other people’s comments, because his problem is a fact. It had been discussed among those who are around him, and it is an issue for those who have worked with him. I’m not interested in being reprimanded by you. Trump has mental as well as physical problems and is not fit to be president. All of this matters.
There's a difference between stating a fact, for a reason, and intentionally insulting someone. It's very clear from your comment which category yours falls into. I don't care if you're interested in being "reprimanded". I am interested in disrupting ableism and you made an ableist comment, so I am going to respond and I don't need or want your permission to do so. If you don't want to be reprimanded, don't make fun of people's disabilities.
Trump isn’t disabled, he deserves to be mocked, just like he mocked the disabled journalist when he was running for president the first time. He is so full of hatred it’s pathetic. Trump is a disgrace to this country.
Incontinence is a disability. Whether or not Trump deserves ridicule is not the point. The point is that you have a choice about how you frame that ridicule. If he is really deserving of ridicule (and i agree with you 100% that he is), it isn't difficult to address the actual reasons he deserves it. If you choose instead to take the easy shortcut of lobbing insults at him that's entirely your prerogative, but if those insults are based on ableist biases you are inevitably perpetuating ableism against all people with a similar disability. Trump will not suffer one iota because of your ridicule because he will never see it, and he has the power and wealth to protect himself from the marginalization that is inevitable for disabled people with less resources and access to support. Every time you use ableist language against anyone, regardless of how deserving of ridicule you believe them to be, you are perpetuating the status quo systemic bias against every person with a similar disability. Invoking systemic biases always creates collateral damage, and there's no way around that. If you choose to ignore that fact in favor of the convenience of cheap shots, then you have more in common with Trump than you probably want to admit.
We shall agree to disagree. Actually you may have more in common with trump than I ever could; get off your high horse. His incontinence isn’t because he is disabled, it’s because of his lifestyle. There is a difference.
🥰
A second on the masterpiece!👍😀😀
Laughing out loud. Channel your inner eight year old Lorraine!
That's me Jena!
A complete and utter disaster for trump. He demonstrated that he was a racist and couldn’t answer any question directed at him. All that came out of his mouth were the usual lies, deflections and sheer nonsense.
Also, I kind of feel like Trump’s horrific sexism gets lost in the discussion here. “Nasty,” in particular, is Trump’s go-to sexist insult with “rude” as a close second. No male interviewer gets either label.
Trump is a tired old, one trick pony. He is lazy, boring and a racist. He hates strong women who challenge him and relies on the old sad, boring, ignorant playbook that is just pathetic given it is 2024.
Trump’s own people took him off the stage yesterday. But it’s up to us, the voters, to do that in November!
In addition to some official merch, I ordered this Kamala Removes Stubborn Orange Stains T! 👇 🤣
https://libtees-2.creator-spring.com/listing/votek
Can’t wait to wear it!
VOTE.
"Trump’s own people took him off the stage yesterday. But it’s up to us, the voters, to do that in November!"
A solid rallying cry if ever there was one!
Great comment. And great t-shirts too!
Thank you! 😉
He and the GOP are fucking idiots.
I’m horrified (but unsurprised) at their wholehearted racist asshattery, and so sorry you have to put up with their ignorant bullshit. Are they ashamed? Nope. They genuinely mean harm. As usual.
Yup, for them, the cruelty is the point. They are gleefully mean-spirited asshats!
💙
Having grown up in a town next door, I can say with absolute certainty that if trump thinks he can mess with a black or Indian woman from Oakland, he's got another thing coming. They do not play.
Hollah! I almost feel sorry for them, Sam--they ain't ready! LOL!
Truth!
My hope is that people in the black community who support him will see who he really is. As far as I can see he behaves like an undisciplined angry child on a world stage. We see him and know who he is and how he will retaliate against his perceived enemies. He lacks the ability to be civil. I certainly have wanted to channel my 8 year old many times in response to his rants. I’m tired of having to go high because he goes low every day against good people. He makes me cry for our country.
I would like to run this by you:
Get On Board
The Harris train is coming
Coming just at hand
I hear the car wheels rumbling
And rolling through the land
Get On Board everybody
Get On Board everybody
Get On Board everybody
There's room for many more
The fare is cheap and all can go
The rich and poor are there
No second class aboard this train
No difference in the fare
Get On Board
The cars resound with freedom songs
Women and men in tune
The Harris train is on it's way
So get a ticket soon
Get On Board everybody
Get On Board everybody
Get On Board everybody
There's room for many more
Revisions and new verse by
Malcolm McKinney
Catchy. Love to hear it sung!
A copy of this needs to be sent to the DNC ! It’s perfectly done. Thank you for sharing ! 👏👏👍
Thank you! I was singing along as I read!
My bother and I would sing the original at festivals early 70s at the end of the set.
Keep singing and be well.
Thank you all, especially Alicia!
Excellent observations - it makes me sick how people think. In my genealogy research, it turns out I have people from Senegal. Cool! The damned republicans are so insidious and hateful. We are ALL humans. Period. End of story. “Poopy head”🤣🤣🤣
Bwahahahahahahaha, I had to toss his silliness right back at him!
You’re so good! 😂. I hope you’re feeling better!
Yup--still a few minor restrictions for a few weeks, but I am tooling around and trying to get back into exercise.
Get that core strong. Start slowly. Walking is the best thing you can do.
walking and slow jazzercise--some yoga...
Yoga is so so good.
You did a great job of it, though poopy head is now stuck in my head - lol
😂😂😂😂
Race, if it ever made sense, becomes increasingly meaningless. I watched a video recently in which the presenter demonstrated the reasons racial distinction was invented. In the aftermath of Bacon’s rebellion ordinances in Virginia and Maryland were enacted which defined whiteness. The reason was because the rebellion was staged by African and European rebels. The rebels’ motives were appalling but the cooperation of the two ethnicities frightened the planters to the core.
I can see that almost every social ill, especially one that fails to make logical sense, is based on those in power being frightened by the idea that those without power might join forces and rise up. Keeping people divided means they can maintain power using Otherism and Tribalism. It's awful, but it works.
Yes it works until such time as a lot of people stand up and say no more. That is how the Viet Nam war was ended. I had so much hope for my generation ending the war but hope is a whimsical illusion.
Never-the-less,I can be seduced by the siren calls of hope, at least for moments.
Hey--when all else fails, hope.
It is not hope I see in Kamala. I see truth and one committed to equality and Justice.
To your point, the educator Jane Elliott has been a pioneer of the theory that race is meaningless and actuallynon-existent. It’s a human construct that has done more damage than good. Here is a link to the Wikipedia website that discusses her background.
https://www.google.com/search?q=jane+elliott&client=safari&sca_esv=e4dd71f640266e19&sca_upv=1&channel=iphone_bm&source=hp&ei=P9SrZsatAr-Cm9cPlIC56A4&gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TcwSiorMzRg9OLJSsxLVUjNycnMLykBAF6zCAI&oq=jane+ellipt&gs_lp=EhFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocCILamFuZSBlbGxpcHQqAggAMgoQLhiABBixAxgKMgcQLhiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKSJNtUI01WJ1fcAZ4AJABAJgBeaAB-AmqAQQwLjExuAEByAEA-AEBmAIRoAKHC6gCD8ICBRApGKABwgICECnCAgoQABgDGOoCGI8BwgIKEC4YAxjqAhiPAcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAgUQABiABMICBRAuGIAEwgIIEC4YgAQYsQPCAg4QLhiABBixAxjRAxjHAcICDxC5ARiABBixAxiDARjvBMICCxAuGIAEGLEDGNQCwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICCBAAGIAEGLEDmAMO4gMFEgExID7iAwUSATEgP-IDBRIBMSA-4gMFEgExID_iAwUSATIgE5IHBDYuMTGgB8uTAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp
Oh wait--I have seen her before. I LOVE HER!!!
I think she's the one who asked a room full of people if any of the white folks would want to trade places with any of the BIPOC, and not one person raised their hand. She used that as a way of demonstrating how all of us white people know we have privilege that BIPOC don't have, even if we aren't consciously aware of that as a fact.
Hey--thanks for this, Janet!
I’m sorry for this crazy long link, but that’s what kept appearing when I tried to paste it into the comment section. And yes, Jane Elliott is wonderful and is now 90 years old
I knew I read this somewhere. Thank you for validating my memory.
Jane Elliot is fantastic.
There is no such thing as race. Race was a human construct by racists. Read an article recently by scholars holding that position. They examined when the teen was first used and who used it. No surprise the concept originated with slave owners.
100 percent--gave them the ability to apply a false sense of supremacy based on made up BS!
Alicia, I know you come from a god-fearing family. So I will not speak about some of the great evil I see in some belief systems.
Hell, I will say it. Religion in this country is like lead poisoning. It acts slowly but does dull the mind after continuous ingestion.
Atheist here: I don't follow a religion myself, but I've seen how religious faith can be a great support and framing for many people (one of my favorite books is "Faitheist." It really expanded my awareness). Imo, religion isn't the problem; the problem is that any ideology - religious or not - can and will be warped to suit the purposes of people who want to use it to justify their harmful beliefs or actions. In the US, when either capitalism or any form of Protestant Christianity is used this way, dominant culture refuses to challenge it, so it inevitably escalates and we end up where we are now, with MAGA ideology framed as legitimate to a degree, even by many who don't agree with it. Imo, that's why the "weird" strategy is so resonant: it delegitimizes the rancid ideology that virtually everyone right of center has embraced.
I see what you are saying differently. We are both welcome to our own opinions.
Thank you for your reply.
I read a book a few years ago by historian Yuval Noah Harari, called Sapiens: A History of Humankind. In it, he explained a lot about the origins of racism and classism. They are human constructs that go back to our beginnings. As we evolve as a species, I’d like to think that we can come to the realization that it’s all bullshit. Some will understand that sooner than others. People like Trump may never get it.
One wonders if he and the MAGA ilk want to understand--how they can let go of their beloved grievances and scapegoats.
I think DNA testing will help.
A lot of folks bragging about having a Cherokee great great grandmother are discovering she was black.
Cool thing if you're not a racist, devastating if you are.
Harari is great!
Thanks for sharing so many cents! My family is Jewish, American by way of Eastern Europe, and my husband is from Guatemala. Our children are in their late twenties now. It has been a struggle since they entered school to have both cultures acknowledged. My daughter is often asked (usually by rude men) "what are you?" and most people assume my son speaks Spanish.
To your point though, there is a wide range of skin, hair and eye color within each of our families. It's all about the melanin.
Perhaps Kamala's frankness and presidency can start us on the right path, so one day we will all see each other as just human.
Loved this! Thank you for the break down and for sharing your wonderful family. Here is a good piece on Lotus for POTUS: https://open.substack.com/pub/passalongsongs/p/lotus-for-potus?r=13nlz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Yes we KAM,
God, I love her. That was a perfect and beautiful response.
I would not have been as polite as she was. Anyway, good for Lotus POTUS!
You have a beautiful family!
And the twin girls from the UK are both so beautiful too! I’ve spent my whole life trying to get my hair to look like Lucy’s. So many, many bad perm jobs that left my poor baby-fine hair fried and frizzy. Oh well…
Yesterday Trump was Trump. And every lady on that stage was classy and sharp, showing the world the difference between serious people and a know-nothing buffoon. As for Kamala, she is so far above and beyond that sad little man, Donald Trump, she has no worries. Always a class act and joyous, even while being totally professional and talking about serious issues.
I cannot wait to call her Madam President!
I ordered more Kamala tees last tonight. I’m prolly pushing my luck in my small, Texas town. They’re allowed to wallpaper their cars with ridiculous MAGAt stickers, but anyone who supports a Democrat triggers them.
But I don’t care. I plan to wear one every day of the week until the election.
#Harris2024
Alicia, you have a beautiful family! BTW, I agree that the story is a masterpiece. I was enthralled by it.
I’m also going to “borrow” the poopy pants description. 😂
Alicia Norman: No wonder I read your every column with love and interest!
You and I ARE SPIRITUALLY ONE. This is the right concept: "Cultural."
That concept has long been a part of who I am.
"Race" crashed into the abyss with the fall of the Third Reich.
WWII was about crushing the concept, "Race".
I believe already in the 1930s, Frank Boas was one of the pioneer anthropologists to scientifically explode any concept of "race."
We really are all "From Africa". Today's consensus on humanity, is that all of humanity originated in southern parts of Africa and wandered from there, ultimately forming the rainbow of cultures that enrich our humanity.
Whatever color my skin, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, WEB DuBois, Frederick Douglass, Jesmyn Ward, Toni Morrison, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and (tragically) "Strange Fruit" are an integral part of my own, our culture and the meaning in life.
We are all of mixed "race" if you must use race use human race, the idea that we are somehow better or worse because of who our ancestors were is fucked up! I have three grandparents who were Native
American, Cherokee, Blackfoot Sioux, and Choctaw, Scots Irish is the biggest chunk of my genes and according to ancestry.com sub saharan Africa figures in as well. NOW! What race am I? Do I get to choose? I have blue eyes, curly blonde hair when I was born to kinky dark brown as an adult and stark white as an old man. Do I get to choose? No, it was chosen for me by society, I am considered white by everyone I know, no one cares about who my ancestors were, I have blue eyes, relatively light skin (I tan shockingly dark btw) but If I had just a tiny bit darker skin and hair I would be black? Kamala is a human being, from what I've seen a very capable human being, she is intelligent, personable, moral, well educated in the working of government, has empathy for others, the positive list goes on but the most important thing is that Kamala is the only candidate that exemplifies these qualities. Kamala is the only real choice by any reasonable standard, personally I think she will make a great national leader questioning her "race" is simply obfuscation f the real issues.
Surprisingly, the African trace may come from the Scots-Irish.
There was regular trade between Ireland and Spain and the Moors ruled Spain for 800 years.
We were really hoping to find it in our DNA because my father like you had blue eyes, fair skin and tanned like leather but we’re boring.
Irish back to the creation.
😁
As prosecutor KH stated recently, she knows Trump's type, his criminal type to be specific! She reminds us of his type frequently! It's what a an excellent prosecutor and presidential candidate does!