A word from Piglet. Guide to Presidential behavior. Trump endangers national security. Swing Left. Jewish Supreme Court Justices. SheShouldRun.
LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN NEWSLETTER #48 MAY 17, 2017
TRUMP WATCH
Each news cycle brings another incredible revelation about POTUS' dangerous, devious, or irresponsible behavior. Yesterday, we learned that he shared Israeli security secrets with Russia, ally of Iran, Israel's sworn enemy and greatest existential threat? Come again? Monday, he'll be meeting Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Where's Ian Fleming when we need him?
In case you forgot how Trump views women, consider his Mother's Day statement (below). The only fake words in the document are its headline. The rest is Donald verbatim.
NY Times editorial asks: "What do Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders think a president may say or do and still deserve their enthusiastic support?" Don't miss The Republican's Guide to Presidential Behavior. ( To paraphrase a recent FBI Director, it makes me nauseous.)
ACTIVISM
Cleary, no experience is necessary to run for office or serve in government positions so why not run yourself? Especially if you're a woman, of which far too few are in public life. See SheShouldRun.org
We can flip the House in 2018. Swing Left is a national grassroots network of over 300,000 volunteers supporting Democratic candidates in 65 Swing Districts. Hop on the bandwagon here.
WOMEN
Humiliated and erased. All five female Republican Senators were sidelined last week when their leaders named 13 Republicans to the health care panel -- 13 of them men. "Nobody is being excluded because of gender," said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Coverage of pregnancy, maternity and newborn care are among ObamaCare''s 10 "essential" health benefits, most of which Republicans are lobbying to remove . The guys don't think men should have to pay for pregnancy or prenatal care. Women should just carry babies, birth them, and shut up.
Don't be scared by misinformation. A study of 1000 women shows that taking the abortion pill at home is as safe as taking it at a clinic (as anti-choice obstructionists insist is necessary). And NIH research reveals that abortion is 14 times safer than childbirth.
Unsung hero. Anne Morrissy Merick, who died last week at 83, was a path-breaking journalist who won the right to cover combat in the Vietnam War. She was also the first female sports editor at the Cornell Daily Sun & the first women credentialed to sit in the press box at the Yale Bowl, Obit here.
JEWISH LIFE
From Brandeis to Kagen. Author David Dalin will discuss his book on the lives & legacies of the nation's 8 Jewish Supreme Court Justices. 5/17 6:30 PM, Center for Jewish History 15 W. 16 St NYC Tickets here.
"Gefilte fish can be sexy," Jeffrey Yoskowitz told the audience at a Berlin food festival celebrating Jewish cuisine. His cookbook, The Gefilte Manifesto, takes Grandma's recipes up a few notches.
TV & FILM
Jimmy Fallon shows the "hilarious similarities" between Donald Trump's first commencement address as President (at Liberty Univ;ersity) and Elle Woods' cliche-packed speech in the movie and play, 'Legally Blonde.'
Romance among the frum (observant). I've been binge-watching the improbably addictive Israeli TV series "Srugim" about a group of Jewish singles in Jerusalem who deal with the everyday challenges of religious life while trying desperately to find mates.
Israel's #1 film of the year is a dramatic comedy about group of women who react in surprising ways when the upstairs women's section in their synagogue collapses. I'm planning to see the film based on its trailer and promotional copy: The Women's Balcony "...examines the relationships and tensions between different groups within Orthodox Judaism in Jerusalem, and provides a cautionary (and universal) tale about religious fundamentalism and social change." Trailer & screening dates here. Starts NYC 5/26.
(Asked to describe an "Orthodox Jew," most of us might conjure a man in a black hat and a woman in a long skirt trailing a half dozen children. But the cinematic stories told in Srugim, and The Women's Balcony, showcase a different Israeli Jewish community, the vibrant world of Modern Orthodoxy.)
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
Fasten your seat belts, POTUS is off to the Middle East to jump-start the peace process.
Trump lands in Israel next Monday. He plans to meet Israeli PM Netanyahu & Palestinian Authority Pres. Abbas as well as visiting Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Masada (the historic site of an ancient Jewish rebellion & mass suicide. Factoid: Trump once requested permission to hold a beauty pageant there.)
Different perspectives. Israel recently celebrated its Independence Day, Yom Ha'Atzmaut, to commemorate the establishment of the state in 1948. Last Monday, the day after Mothers Day, Palestinians commemorated what they call the "Nakba" (the "catastrophe" of their expulsion or exodus in 1948). A Palestinian friend wrote: "Today marks 69 years since the first time we were forced out of our homes.... I'm thinking of my mom and 69 years of unending heartbreak...and I marvel that she could feel so much joy in her life, yet carry painful memories so fresh and brimming." (Regardless of our politics, we Jews ought to be able to empathize with another people's loss instead of viewing suffering as a zero sum game. )
These days, not only is it hard to stay on top of the news, it's tough to keep summoning the energy to resist the normalization of Trump's behavior and the aftershocks of his actions. But, to quote longtime activist Ruth Messenger, "We cannot retreat into the convenience of being overwhelmed."