Image of the Week

The expression on that kid's face is priceless:

With thanks to commenter Fred Kepler at Joe.My.God.

Antidote: They're Not All Like That

I'm sure you've run across this story, with accompanying videos:

The video shows a group of dozens of mostly young men wearing President Trump’s signature red “Make America Great Again” hats and other apparel supporting the president. Several young men can be heard shouting and seen jumping around a Native American elder who is chanting and beating a drum. At one point, a young man is seen standing directly in front of the elder as he chants.

The kids have been identified as being from Covington (KY) Catholic High School, an all male school. True to form, they're claiming to be the victims. Given this, I doubt it:

Here's a 2015 photo of #CovingtonCatholic's fine, upstanding student body clad in blackface at one of their basketball games. The kid harassing the black player is also flashing the white power sign. pic.twitter.com/gy1kshMyzQ

— Bjorn Again Borg 🌊 (@mrFawkes51) January 21, 2019

I have to say, reading the various accounts of this story, one thing came to mind: Brett Kavanaugh. It's a culture that you find most often in all-male high schools and colleges, and occasionally in public, co-ed schools.

(Above via Joe.My.God.)

However, I promised you an antidote, and here it is:

This is one of three videos at the link showing people being decent. Just to show that the Trump poison hasn't spread to everyone.

"This Is Me"

Just to remind us that there's something besides Trump and his smallness and meanness:

Four of Queer Eye‘s Fab 5 helped three high school students achieve the dream of performing for an audience and the process took center stage in a new chills-inducing video for “This Is Me” from the remix album The Greatest Showman: Reimagined.

Rolling Stone reports: ‘The Jared Hogan-directed clip centers around three kids, Tim, Olivia and J’Shawn, each with a different passion — to rap, to sing and dance, respectively. The “This Is Me” remix — which features singer Keala Settle alongside Kesha and Missy Elliott — serves as the perfect montage music as Queer Eye‘s Antoni, Tan, Bobby and Jonathan work with the kids as they perfect their craft. The clip fittingly closes with a special performance in which Tim spits alongside Missy Elliott’s verse, Olivia belts with Settle and J’Shawn performs a spirited dance to the song.’

March for Our Lives,. Part 8: Karma's a Bitch

I thought I had posted on Laura Ingraham insulting David Hogg via Twitter, but apparently I didn't. Digby has a must-read that examines not only Ingraham but the right wing in general in their attacks on the activist Parkland survivors:

Laura Ingraham did her thing. Again:



Via Vox:

Many conservatives have naturally been critical of the political and policy stances of the Parkland survivors, as would be expected given that they generally oppose gun control.

But some, like Ingraham, have gone further than that — attacking Parkland students, who are still kids, for unrelated and often personal aspects of their lives. Just consider the fact that Ingraham could post an article about how Hogg was rejected from four universities. Why did the Daily Wire, conservative pundit Ben Shapiro’s outlet, find that news worth covering in the first place, besides the schadenfreude the outlet knew it would provide conservative readers who don’t like Hogg and his movement?

It’s not unusual for politics to get personal. But it’s particularly glaring when prominent pundits and even lawmakers are going after teenagers in such a personal way.

Digby then goes on to detail some of the attacks right-wing nutters have made on the Parkland kids. It's pretty disgusting.

Oh,and as for Ingraham:

Hogg called for a boycott, and her advertisers responded, which led Ingraham to an "apology".

Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David...(1/2)

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018

"In the spirit of Holy Week"? If this woman was a follower of Jesus, she never would have attacked the kid to begin with.

... immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how "poised" he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion. WATCH: https://t.co/5wcd00wWpd (2/2)

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018

Oh, look -- suddenly she's open to a "productive discussion". Yeah, right.

At any rate, it didn't work: her advertisers have continued to bail, and there are rumors that Fox is ready to dump her. (Lest you think that this indicates some sort of standard or integrity on the part of Fox, well, no: think lost revenues.)

And Hogg isn't buying it:

Parkland activist David Hogg was interviewed this morning by CNN’s Alison Camerota. Via Mediaite:

Camerota pointed out that Ingraham is a conservative talk show host, and isn’t objective, before noting that she apologized for her tweet poking fun at Hogg.  “Do you accept her apology?”

“No,” Hogg said. “She’s only apologizing after a third of her advertisers pulled out. I think it’s wrong. And I think if she really wants to do something she could cover inner-city violence and the real issues that we have in America,” he continued. “I know she is a talk show host, but as such she also has a responsibility to show both sides of the story.”

All I can say is, "Keep up the good work!"

Sorry for the link dump, but my connection is worse than usual and Firefox is fighting me every inch of the way.

March for Our Lives, Part 6: Moron du Jour

There's a good reason the voters of Pennsylvania booted Rick Santorum (google it!) out of the Senate after one term -- aside from them finding out what a crook he is: he's too stupid to walk and breathe at the same time. Via Joe.My.God.:

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) suggested that students should take CPR classes and take steps to prepare for active shooter situations instead of holding protests calling for new gun laws. “How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about,” Santorum said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Maybe taking CPR classes or try to deal with situations that, where there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that.” Santorum said students took action to “ask someone to pass a law.”

“They didn’t take action to say how do I, as an individual, deal with this problem. ‘How am I going to do something about stopping bullying within my own community. What am I going to do to actually help respond to a shooter,'” he said.

There, in a nutshell, is the right wing's response to school shootings: normalize them, and blame the victims. Seriously -- take CPR classes? As for "ask someone to pass a law" -- that's the way it works, dumbo -- you put pressure on your elected representatives to pass the laws you need.

March for Our Lives, Part 5: The Empire Strikes Back

Actually, it's the gun-manufacturers lobby:

NRA TV has been flooding its social media channels with videos criticizing the protesters under the hashtag #MarchForOurLives, the name student survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, chose for the event. Students leading the march want legislators to raise the federal age to buy a gun to 21, close background-check loopholes for gun show and online gun sales, and ban assault weapons.

"If you’re too immature to carry a firearm, you’re too immature to make policy about firearms,” said NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch in a video posted to Twitter on Thursday evening.

But apparently not too immature to be murdered by one of those "law-abiding members" NRA keeps touting -- you know, the ones who walk around with military-grade penis substitutes.

Fun fact, speaking of Dana Loesch: Did you know that in East Asian languages -- Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese -- "L" and "R" are the same sound? And that the loach is a bottom-feeding fish often stocked by tropical fish enthusiasts in their tanks to keep the gravel clean?

March for Our Lives, Part 4 (Update)

Tom Sullivan, at Hullabaloo, has a must-read on the marches. I'm going to include his quotes from David Hogg here, but read the whole post:

David Hogg has had enough. The student activist told the crowd at yesterday's rally the student movement means to make gun violence a voting issue. Only eighteen percent of first-time voters, he said, vote in mid-term elections. Not this time:

"Who here is going to vote in the 2018 election?" he asked. "We are going to make this a voting issue. We are going to take this to every election, to every state and every city. We are going to make sure the best people get in our elections to run, not as politicians, but as Americans."

"Because this is not cutting it," Hogg said, pointing behind him to the U.S. Capitol building.

He described adult failure weeks earlier in terms less broadcast-friendly:

“When your old-ass parent is like, ‘I don’t know how to send an iMessage,' and you’re just like, ‘Give me the fucking phone' and you're like, 'okay, let me handle it.' And you get it done in one second. Sadly, that’s what we have to do with our government; our parents don’t know how to use a fucking democracy, so we have to.”

That kid's going to be president -- unless someone shoots him first.

Update: Digby has a must-read as well,, with a caution:

The other side is not going to give up. They are very angry as you can see from some of the quotes above. Nobody should be sanguine that just because these large numbers of people are coming out to protest that there is no opposition. There's plenty. This is fight.

March for Our Lives, Part 3

From Susie Madrak at Crooks and Liars, this post is largely a series of tweets from various cities (not all in this country) showing the rallies and marches.

A sampling:

From New Albany, Indiana -- Mike Pence territory:

March for Our Lives Rally in New Albany pic.twitter.com/elTpHKMUyg

— Aprile Rickert (@Aperoll27) March 24, 2018

From Chicago:

Teen activists from Chicago’s South Side are joining March for Our Lives to bring attention to the gun violence they face every day. pic.twitter.com/pZzjAK6vCL

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 23, 2018

From Edinburgh -- yes, that's in Scotland:

Reporting from the March For Our Lives rally in Edinburgh, where survivors of the Dunblane massacre are urging the US Congress to change gun control laws and end gun violence after last month's school shooting in Parkland Florida #MarchForOurLives #Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/NzmQ1OaeQ2

— Laura Alderman (@itsbigginge) March 24, 2018

I don't know where this is from, but it's obviously not just teenagers who are getting involved:

My 5 year old made this for the march today pic.twitter.com/cpu7YtjmfR

— Lisa Johnson (@lisalovesthree) March 24, 2018

It goes on, from St. Paul to Ft. Worth to Portland to Amsterdam -- according to this story, marches took place in 800 cities in all 50 states and 30 countries:

Saturday’s #MarchForOurLives is scheduled to take place in all 50 states and 30 countries around the globe. pic.twitter.com/0TjUhsUGbF

— TODAY Graphics (@TODAYGraphics) March 23, 2018

You think some of NRA's wholly-owned subsidiaries in Congress are going to get a clue? Don't hold your breath. Vote them out in November.

Today's Must-Read: March for Our Lives, Part 2

This is strong stuff: an eleven-year-old girl from Virginia named Naomi Wadler:

"Hi. My name is Naomi, and I'm 11 years old," she began.

"Me and my friend Carter led a walkout of our elementary school on the 14th. We walked out. We walked out for 18 minutes, adding a minute to honor Courtland Arrington, an African-American girl who was the victim of gun violence in her school in Alabama after the Parkland shooting. I am here today to represent Courtland Arrington.

"I am here today to represent Hadiyah Pendleton. I am here today to represent Tijana Thompson who at 16 was shot dead in her home here in Washington, D.C. I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African-American girls whose stories don't make the front page of every national newspaper. These stories don't lead on the evening news. I represent the African-American women who were victims of gun violence, who were simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential."

It's an amazing speech. Read the whole thing.

March for Our Lives

This happened yesterday, in all fifty states and several foreign countries. Here are a few highlights:

First, Cameron Kasky:

Cameron Kasky began his address by telling the hundreds of thousands gathered “welcome to the revolution.” Stating that he’s been asked if he believes that “any change is going to come” following the tragic Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, he told the crowd to “look around” because “we are the change.”

“We must educate ourselves and start conversations that keep our country moving forward, and we will,” Kasky exclaimed to cheers. “We hereby promise to fix the broken system we’ve been forced into and create a better world for the generations to come. Don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

Next, Emma Gonzalez:

Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez has become a powerful activist, and when she took the stage to speak at today’s March for Our Lives in D.C., the crowd was moved by her stunning speech, which lasted 6 minutes and 23 seconds, the length of the Parkland shooting.

“Six minutes and about twenty seconds. In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us, 15 were injured, and everyone, absolutely everyone, was forever altered,” she began. She them stopped speaking and stared into the crowd, tears streaming down her face.

She ended the silence with, “Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and twenty seconds. The shooter has ceased shooting and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape and walk free for an hour before arrest. Fight for your life before it’s somebody else’s job.”

In a day of extraordinary moments, this is still remarkable: Emma Gonzalez stands for nearly six minutes in silence, angry, heartbroken, determined, after reading out the names of her murdered classmates. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/53yUEsm0sv

— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) March 24, 2018

Here's a report from Newsweek via Towleroad focusing on Pennridge High School in Pennsylvania, with some good background:

When the survivors of the Parkland, Florida, massacre began channeling their grief into a call for change, 18-year-old Sean Jenkins, a student at a Pennsylvania high school, knew this school shooting would be different.

The Pennridge High School senior and his classmates are among a new generation of student activists making their voices heard in the fight for gun control. On Saturday, thousands of teenagers from across the U.S.—Pennridge kids included—will descend on Washington, D.C., for the March for Our Lives, led by the survivors of the Parkland shooting and calling for an end to gun violence.

Seeing students in Florida move the gun control needle was inspiring, Jenkins told Newsweek. “Even though we’re just students and most of us can’t even vote yet, the Parkland kids showed us and thousands around the country that we can make a real difference if we fight for it.”

I'll update as necessary. Feel free to add your own updates in the comments.

Today's Must-Reads: The Walk-Out

First off, these posts by Betty Cracker and TaMara at Balloon Juice (with pictures and videos).

And a really good piece by Mustang Bobby that brings it all home to those of us who remember the 1960s. This cause is a lot more immediate than what we were protesting against.

That's probably it for today -- I'm a little pressed for time this morning.

Today's Must-Read: The Kind of Citizens We Need

Tom Sullivan has a really good post at Hullabaloo on why the survivors of the Parkland shooting are turning into such a major force in the debate over gun control. (And it says something about the pathetic state of America that we have a debate on gun control.) I found his first paragraph more than a little humorous:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) suggested in a tweet Wednesday, "We claim a Judea-Christian heritage but celebrate arrogance & boasting. & worst of all we have infected the next generation with the same disease." That last barb seemed aimed at students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They returned to school for the first time Wednesday after a mass shooting on Valentine's Day claimed 17 of their classmates.

First off, Senator NRA's $3 million water boy, your "Judea-Christian" [sic] heritage celebrates arrogance and boasting. Read your Bible.

Sullivan quotes extensively from an article by Dahlia Lithwick that's also a must-read.

Sullivan's conclusion is right on the mark:

What upsets Rubio and the Examiner is that Stoneman Douglas students don't know their places. Schools that are preparing students to serve their country rather than the economy are not fulfilling their mission. Their issue with Stoneman Douglas is it is not turning out sheep.

It seems that despite Betsy DeVos' efforts to turn public schools into trade schools, some kids are getting the kind of education I had. We had art, we had music appreciation classes, we had debate (what they called "speech classes" when I was in high school, where we learned how to actually think about what we were saying), we had literature, we had foreign languages (which were a state requirement). And please note that I didn't go to elite private schools -- I went to public schools in a very Republican (back when that meant something besides "fascist") small town.

And Sullivan's right -- that kind of education does not turn out corporate cogs. It turns out trouble-makers -- you know, people like the founders of this country.

National Pizza Day: How Real Americans Do It

So, yesterday was National Pizza Day. (There's a day for everything.) Just to demonstrate that the country is not completely populated by the greedy and ignorant, there's this little tale from RawStory:

Much like their jaw-dropping dough-slinging act, brothers Michael and Nicholas Testa are taking their charity work to the national stage.

Michael, 13, and Nicholas, 11, better known as the Jersey Pizza Boys, began giving out pizzas to help feed the homeless in areas around their family-owned pizzeria, Carmine's Pizza Factory.

But after helping the New York-based Slice Out Hunger feed the homeless in Manhattan, the brothers decided to feed those less fortunate across the entire country.

"Last summer our friend Scott Wiener from Slice Out Hunger asked our dad if we wanted to donate some pies to feed the homeless in New York," said Michael. "It was an amazing experience and on the car ride home me, my brother, and my dad, wondered how cool it would be to do this on a bigger basis."

Less than a year later, the boys -- who have dazzled national television audiences with the pizza dough-tossing feats -- conducted their first "Pizza Across America" event this afternoon on National Pizza Day.

250 pizzerias across the country participated, including Alaska and Hawai'i. And they're hoping for more next year.

Sidebar: Last summer, on a couple of my walks in the park, I ran across a young girl with a lemonade stand, which is not as common as it used to be. On this one was a sign that said the proceeds would be donated to help the homeless.

Maybe the Republicans in Congress could think about this, and how the richest country in the world has people going hungry -- and why --and what they should do about it.

Nah -- some things are just beyond imagining.

There's video of the boys slinging pizza dough at the link.

Some People Get It

This seems appropriate for the morning after than nasty little man in the White House lied his way through the State of the Union address. Apparently, there's this thing called "Broadway Roulette" -- you pay a fee and they pick a show for you at random. Here's a letter one mother sent to the cast of Kinky Boots about her experience with her daughter:

Orchestrator Stephen Oremus, who won a Tony Award for his work on the hit musical Kinky Boots, shared a letter the cast received from a grateful mother and it is truly inspiring. Oremus posted the letter on his Instagram account.

The mom tells the cast about her cautious trip to see the musical with her 10 year-old daughter and her worries about whether or not it was appropriate for her age. As she quickly found out, the show is quite suitable – and needed – for audiences of all ages.

“For the next few hours my child was mesmerized,” the mother wrote. “As the cast sang the final number I had tears streaming down my face. Not only was this an appropriate show for my daughter, it was the BEST show for my daughter to see.”

“In a world where kids are bullied every day, the message of your show is to celebrate what makes us different and unique. I cannot imagine a better message to send to my daughter than one of acceptance and tolerance.”

Click through to read the whole letter -- it funny and heartwarming.

The Next Generation

While we're all thinking "This, too, shall pass," there's encouraging news about what -- or who -- is coming up:

After a glowing introduction, the very tall young man steps forward to the podium and announces his candidacy to replace a retiring State Senator in a style and physical appearance reminiscent of the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Yet this 26 year old more accurately embodies President Kennedy's request of Americans from nearly 58 years ago.

In his announcement earlier in the day on his Facebook page, Zach Wahls noted:

“This afternoon, I will launch a campaign for Iowa state Senate District 37, which is where I grew up and the place I call home. The incumbent, Democrat Senator and leader Bob Dvorsky, announced in August he would not be running for re-election. This is an all hands on deck moment for our state, and I am stepping up to do what I believe is the most good I can do. I am running to protect Senator Dvorsky's legacy and to fight every single Iowan who feels left behind or left out.”

In case your memory's a little vague on Zach Wahls, read the article. I'm sure he'll snap into focus.

And I have a hunch he's going to win his race.

Coming Attractions: Love, Simon

Due out in March:

New gay film Love, Simon has released its first trailer – and it promises a rollercoaster of emotions.

The young adult dramedy, which is set to come out in March next year, tracks Simon, a 17-year-old high school student who has not come out to any of his friends and family.

Based on Becky Albertalli’s book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the blockbuster will see Simon – played by US actor Nick Robinson – come of age as he comes out.

Some of the reactions:

There are more at the link.

And the trailer is very well done -- one of the few that doesn't turn me off to the film.



Antidote: The Kids Are Alright

As a counter to reports of 47,000 Boy Scouts booing Hillary Clinton at the behest of The Hairpiece, I offer this:

Photo:  Jenny Burnett

If there was any doubt that Kamden Houshan and Paul Burnett would be friends forever, there certainly is not anymore. . . .

Kamden became a paraplegic when he was born with a massive tumor embedded in his spine. Though doctors were able to remove the tumor in surgery, the 8-year-old boy was left paralyzed.

Kamden's last wheelchair was so heavy and bulky, it prevented the youth from being able to freely maneuver household doorways. Since it could not fit into the bathroom, Kamden's mother always had to carry him, which put excessive stress on her body.

Then in August, Kamden was able to test drive a lighter wheelchair model – and he was astounded by how much of a positive difference it made in his life. Unfortunately, insurance could not cover the cost of another wheelchair for another few years.

Maybe the Republicans should consider Paul's solution as part of their "destroy health insurance" drive:

Meanwhile, Paul had learned about GoFundMe from watching YouTube videos. Upon hearing about his friend's troubles, he asked his parents if he could start a campaign for his Kamden.

In a matter of weeks, Kamden's page had raised $5,500 – roughly $2,000 more than their original goal.

It's not all teabaggers and trumpanzees.

Today

Is Pride Day in Chicago -- the day of the Parade. That means that the North Side, from about Armitage to Wilson and east of Damen, is going to be a wee bit crowded. (Well, with a million visitors crammed into that space, what do you expect?)

And of course, as always, it's clear and bright because it never rains on our parade.

A few shots of Prides past:

It's all about color and motion and celebration -- it's a happy thing. And it's a family event -- people bring their kids to watch the dancers and the balloons and the streamers and the excitement.

I started attending the Parade, if not right at the beginning, very soon thereafter. The route was somewhat shorter, the Parade was much smaller, and the crowds were nowhere near what they are today. I've marched -- at first, it was spontaneous: the last float went by, I looked at my friends, they looked at me, and we just joined the Parade -- I've ridden floats, and I've watched from the sidelines.

These days, the idea of watching the Parade with a million of my closest friends is a bit more than I can deal with -- I'm not good with crowds. So I will most likely find a bus that will leave me somewhere in the park and watch the kids wearing rainbows when the Parade is over. That's something that makes me happy: the kids get very involved. That's a good thing.

Antidote: A Coming Out Story

I don't usually remark on this kind of story, but this one is exceptional:

I also decided that it was then time to officially come out to everyone at school. I remember the first teacher I told was my biology teacher, Mrs. Broomas. We had a sex-ed quiz and one of the questions asked, "How could you prevent getting a girl pregnant while having intercourse?" My reply was, "I'm GAY so I don't have to worry about that.”

As she got to my paper she broke out laughing and just smiled at me. She then asked if she could read it to the class, and with confidence I told her she could. When she did, all the kids laughed and gave me a hug afterward and told me no matter what that they would always be my friends and still support me.

It's worth reading the whole thing.

(Via RawStory.)

Antidote

As I run across more and more stories of the deplorables supporting Trump, it's nice to run across one that shows what we can be:

Dear President Obama,

Remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to [my home]? Park in the driveway or on the street and we will be waiting for you guys with flags, flowers, and balloons. We will give him a family and he will be our brother. Catherine, my little sister, will be collecting butterflies and fireflies for him. In my school, I have a friend from Syria, Omar, and I will introduce him to Omar. We can all play together. We can invite him to birthday parties and he will teach us another language. We can teach him English too, just like my friend Aoto from Japan.

Please tell him that his brother will be Alex who is a very kind boy, just like him. Since he won't bring toys and doesn't have toys Catherine will share her big blue stripy white bunny. And I will share my bike and I will teach him how to ride it. I will teach him additions and subtractions in math. And he [can] smell Catherine's lip gloss penguin which is green. She doesn't let anyone touch it.

Thank you very much! I can't wait for you to come!

Alex

6 years old

Maybe there's hope. Now if we can just persuade the press not to hand the election to the Hairpiece. . . .