Chelsea Handler. Brat & Coconut trees decoded. George W. told no lies, had no kids. Will Swift endorse Harris? MAGA merch. Revenge porn. "Heil Hitler" in Paris. Elon Musk's trans daughter. Puppies.
Newletter #155
POLITICS
* Tit for tat. Chelsea Handler, the supposedly miserable childless cat lady, deftly skewers JD, the supposedly maligned GOP “couch-fucker.”
*Visual above and below courtesy of Michael Moore
Watch Kamala grill Kavanaugh. Can’t wait for her to debate DWT & leave him speechless.
*Great antidote to the snarling Orange Menace: Harris dancing, answering Jimmy Fallon with a zinger and generally having a ball.
*Colorado Gov. Jared Polis endorses Harris with triple emojis (above).
* Post by Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz: “Madam Vice President, we are ready to help.”
* Millions of Swifties chant “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” How long before Swift campaigns for Harris?
* Clueless about viral memes Brat and coconut trees? Explainers at Fox, Pod Save America, Newsweek, NPR, Forbes, and, best of show, CNN.
* What makes us laugh at “fell out of a coconut tree?” Not just the loony image but the word “coconut.” Why? Because, as comedians have known forever, “K” sounds are intrinsically funny and coconut has two of them.
*Thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for its brief history of the meme tree.
JEWS
*Deja vu all over again: Jew-hating at the Olympics. In case you saw pro-Palestinian protestors raising the Nazi salute and chanting “Heil Hitler" at the Israel-Paraguay soccer match and thought they were antiZionists, think again. When people hail history’s most maniacal, methodical Jew-killer, they’re not anti-Israel, they’re bald-faced antisemites.
* In the face of Trump’s latest attempt to drive a wedge between Jewish voters and the Democratic party over the Israel-Hamas war, Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish, a citizen of both the U.S. and Israel, and the Founding Director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI), champions Harris based on her policies, behavior, statements, wisdom, vision, and character.
WOMEN
*Harris’ attack on “revenge porn” is masterful. She calls out men who respond to rejection by publicly shaming and degrading women, intentionally exposing them to vicious internet stalking, and causing them lasting emotional harm. Kamala is great at articulating this issue because she gets it in her kishkes (gut).
*The Seneca Project, a bipartisan superPAC that’s mobilizing Dem women voters in key swing states, put out a high octane ad hyping girl athletes with lines like: “It’s not just about Kamala, it’s about us! It’s about basic freedoms. It’s about trusting women to make decisions about their own lives… Our daughters’ rights are on the ballot and we won’t go back.” Donate here to “Galvanize Women and Save Democracy.”
*MAGA merchandise (above) sets a new low in sexist vulgarity. If you’re curious about other slimy Trump merch click here.but keep the kids out of the room.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
MUSIC
*Musician-songwriter-bandleader, Tal Wilkenfield, recently posted a found video of herself as a small child, pumping herself up with a pep talk (click above).
*Wilkenfield’s ebullient girlhood self-confidence obviously took root. Now grown up, she’s talented enough to have performed with, or opened for, The Who, Jeff Beck, Chick Corea, Prince, Herbie Hancock, and Mick Jagger.
GENDER
*Elon Musk says he was tricked into approving gender affirming care for his trans daughter, Vivian Wilson, who was ”born gay and slightly autistic.” When she was a child, he berated her for being queer and feminine. He once referred to her as “dead — killed by woke mind virus, and now says she is “not a girl.” Vivian, who is one of twelve children Musk sired with three different women, is now a trans activist. “He doesn’t know what I was like as a child because he quite simply wasn’t there,” she retorted in an NBC-TV interview. (Sounds like one of those men who’s basically a sperm donor not a dad.) She also called him “cold. . . very quick to anger. . . uncaring and narcissistic.” Now a Trump supporter, Musk has said permitting children to change their gender identity is “incredibly evil” and those who advocate for gender-affirming care for young people “should go to prison.” I’d say fathers who keep spawning kids they belittle or neglect are the people who belong behind bars.
FEEL GOOD VIDEOS
*Play date with a butterfly.
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION
*Upcoming conversation between me and my daughter Robin Pogrebin, who covers culture for the NYTimes. Robin will interview me about my latest book, SHANDA, family secrecy, private shame, and the pressure felt by Jewish immigrants — and first generation Americans like me -- to hide their flaws in order to be acceptable to “real” Americans. The FREE event, sponsored by American Jewish University, will be live on Zoom, Thurs, Aug 15 @ 3 PM EDT. Register here to stream it or get recording.