Kamala's Jewish mother-in-law. Trump's new woman problem. Stable genius sabotages U.S. Mail. Twists history. Fakes faith. How to know you're Jewish. Queen Elizabeth sends a warning.
LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN. NEWLETTER #85 AUG. 14, 2020
I'd love to elaborate on why I'm so pleased with Biden's choice of VP but by now my views would be redundant. So I'll move straight to this week's admittedly idiosyncratic gleanings.
POLITICS
* Kamala Harris (above with her Jewish Brooklyn-born husband Douglas Emhoff), does a hilarious imitation of her mother-in-law, Barb. Please don't hock me about Jewish Mother stereotypes. I'm on it. But any Member of the Tribe who finds this offensive either was born without a funny bone or never had a relative who "tawks" like this. Harris' imitation is clearly affectionate. She has the accent down pat. And her blended family adores her. With all her other talents, who knew she'd be a great mimic?
*Video: More about America's first soon-to be "Second Husband" -- Doug Emhoff,.
* Make Trump Furious: Get Your "Vote" Face Mask. Order here.
* Donald does history. The nation's most "stable genius" claims the 1917 pandemic ended World War II. How could the man who sits in FDR's office, not know 8th grade history?
* Stop Trump from sabotaging the Postal Service to prevent millions of Americans from voting by mail. Demand that that Tammy Whitcomb, Postal Inspector General, investigate the Trump slowdown at the Post Office and ensure that every mail-in ballot is counted Sign petition now.
======== INTERNATIONAL NEWS
OPEN LETTER TO CITIZENS OF THE U.S. FROM HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH
[Apologies to the unknown author for my abbreviated version of this bloody clever piece.)
With fewer than three months remaining until your election day, the Crown hereby gives notice of our intention to revoke your independence should you be daft enough to re-elect the low-life scoundrel presently occupying your White House. Here's what will happen:
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all your states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, and Utah, which she does not fancy).
Our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Your Congress and Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in your transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules will be introduced with immediate effect:
1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' You will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels.
2. Interspersing words with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' will be banned. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will inform Microsoft on your behalf.
3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse.
5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry it in public or on planes.
6. All traffic intersections will be replaced with roundabouts and you will start driving on the left side of the road. At the same time, you will go metric without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
7. You will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you call gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
8. You will learn to make real chips. The things you call French fries are not real chips, and the things you call potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick-cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not beer. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer. European brews of known provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are the greatest sporting nation on earth presumably due to their beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them.
10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialect in "Four Weddings and a Funeral " was akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one proper kind of football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football but does not involve stopping for a rest every20 seconds or wearing full body armour).
12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will
let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups and saucers (never mugs), high-quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with clotted cream) when in season."
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
RELIGION
* POTUS' hypocritical religiosity is exposed by WashPost & contrasted with the touching sincerity of Joe Biden's. Every person of faith should read this article. Remember when DJT refused to name his favorite verse in his "favorite book" because "It's very personal." Give me a break!
* You know you were raised Jewish if. . . "Your family dog responded to commands in Yiddish.... The only good advice your Jewish mother gave you was: 'Go! You might meet somebody!'...You grew up thinking it was normal for someone to shout 'Are you okay?' through the bathroom door when you were in there longer than three minutes.... You were as tall as your grandmother by age 7." More at Aish.com
WOMEN
* "Trump's Woman Problem Just Got Worse." Read Molly Jong-Fast's trenchant summary of where things stand on the gender front now that Kamala Harris is Biden's running mate.
* When he accosted her in front of reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, foul-mouthed Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) “disgusting,” “out of your freaking mind,” "dangerous," and a “fucking bitch" In response, AOC delivered a fiery speech on the House floor explaining how such vilification "is normalized in the lives of all women. It only 10 minutes and it's brilliant. Please LISTEN TO IT. To drill deeper on the issue of verbal sexist abuse, read "The Poison of Male Incivility," by Rebecca Traister on what happened after AOC spoke.
* Video: Trump freaks out about Kamala Harris, AOC, Nancy Pelosi. Attention Republicans: How much debasement must American women tolerate before you'll abandon this disgusting president?
100 YEARS OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE
* Must Watch: Women Take The Stage, featuring the iconic singing group, Sweet Honey in the Rock (above, top) and the great girl band, *BETTY" and other boffo headliners celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote. Watch amazing feminist speakers, entertainers, and holy troublemakers (roster below).on Aug 26th from 9 to 10:15 PM ET. Register free here,.
ONLINE CONCERT & RALLY
Speakers and musicians share a virtual stage for inspiration, entertainment and voting action.
GET YOUR FREE TICKET HERE!
The lineup so far ...
- Gloria Steinem (Groundbreaking feminist & writer)
- Letitia James (New York's first and current African American Attorney General)
- Jennifer Siebel Newsom (First Partner of California)
- Dolores Huerta (Legendary labor leader)
- Ruth Simmons (Ivy League's first African American president, current president of an HBCU)
- Megan Smith (CEO of shift7& 3rd Chief Technology Officer of US)
- Alicia Garza (Co-founder, Supermajority)
- Tina Tchen (CEO of Time's Up)
- Carol Jenkins (CEO of ERA Coalition)
- Kierra Johnson (Dep. Exec.Dir, Natl LGBTQ Task Force)
- Lakeila Stemmons (Natl Dir, Higher Heights)
- Gail Small (Exec. Dir, Native Action)
- Debbie Almontaser (American Muslim Women PAC)
- Mia Ives-Rublee (Founder, Women's March Disability Caucus)
- Rev. Jacqui Lewis (Anti-racism leader)
- Staceyann Chin & Zuri (Spoken-word poet & daughter)
- Mona Lake Jones (Poet Laureate of Seattle)
- Charlotte Mangin (Producer, UNLADYLIKE2020)
- Idina Menzel (Actor, singer)
- Lily Tomlin (Actor, writer, comedian)
- BETTY
- Pura Fé
- Kate Pierson (B-52s)
And a special Women Take the Stage shout-out from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
* 19th Century cartoon (below) shows how hard it was to get men's attention for women's rights.
* A great way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment is by learning what every kid should have been taught about our foremothers' battle for the ballot -- but wasn't: Listen to the weekly podcast SHE VOTES! whose hosts --award-winning journalists, Ellen Goodman & Lynn Sherr -- do history with humor & sizzle. (If you've never uploaded a podcast, find the bright purple icon on your iPhone that says Podcasts, click on it, then hit search & type in SheVotes, up pops the red, white & blue icon, hit subscribe & you're in!. For Android users, click here, then press Subscribe.)
BOOKS
* Rosalyn Terborg-Penn's African American Women In The Struggle For The Vote, 1850-1920
has been called a "definitive work" by Choice, the review published by the Association of College and Research Libraries. "Groundbreaking," says the Philadelphia New Observer.
* The well-credentialed authors of African American Women and The Vote: 1837-1965 are Ann D. Hordon, editor of the papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony at Rutgers; UMass Professors Arlene Voski Avakian (women's studies), Joyce Avrech Berkman (history), & John H. Bracey (Afro-American studies); & Bettye Collier-Thomas, director of the Center for African American History & Culture at Temple University. They've gathered essays by leading scholars who've reframed the political history of black women in the U.S. by placing them "at the center of our thinking."
* Just published: She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next by Bridget. Quinn, with a Foreword by Nell Irvin Painter. From the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation to the first woman to wear pants on the Senate floor, this intersectional story shines a spotlight on the women who broke down barriers in the long struggle for women's equality.
* Suzanne Nessel's Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All offers 20 principles for how we can live together in our diverse, digitized and divided society without curbing freedom of speech.
STAY SAFE. HELP SOMEONE ELSE. STOP HATE. VOTE
-- Letty
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