Lead with the light. Father-son reunion in Gaza. Puppy love in first grade. Art for Ukraine. Women restrict women. Men, boys & dolls. Politics at warp speed. Sen. Katie Britt's "fundie baby voice."
Newsletter # 151
LEAD WITH THE LIGHT
Though often overwhelmed by world pain and personal sorrow, I see glimmers of light in stories that are comical, joy-inducing, or deeply moving.
* Euphoric reunion of father and son in Gaza.
* Teacher in first grade uses puppy love to inspire young readers.
*Women suggest new ways for their bodies to be restricted. These sardonic policy proposals would be hilarious were they not so frigging plausible. Which is why stopping Conservatives from turning the clock back to the 19th century should be one of our top priorities.
*His harangue starts like a sexist screed but ends as a passionate defense of female agency: Demetri Manabat explains why he won’t let his sons play with dolls. (I love this rap poem but wish he’d distinguished between fashion dolls which objectify women, and baby dolls which allow kids to practice parenting skills like bathing, burping, and hugging.)
*Which reminds me, anyone who wasn’t raised on Marlo Thomas’ family entertainment phenom, Free To Be… You and Me., should take a listen to “William’s Doll,” sung by Marlo and Alan Alda, on the 1972 record album. Just this week, NYTimes chief TV critic, James Poniewozik, published a warm tribute to the ABC-TV’s special, Free To Be, You and Me, which was broadcast 50 years ago but still resonates. You may not recognize Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack, who also sang in the special.
SPECIAL EVENT IN NYC
*If you’re within 50-miles of NYC tomorrow evening, the place to be is at the opening of “Family, Friends, and Flowers for Ukraine,” an art show featuring the work of Joseph Fioretti. You’ll find it hard to resist buying one of Joey’s gorgeous paintings, so indulge yourself —especially since all proceeds from the sale will benefit humanitarian aid for the intrepid Ukrainian people. Actively supporting the event are friends of the artist including Joy Behar, Judy Collins, Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Penn, Gloria Steinem, Marlo Thomas, and Peter Yarrow. Join them tomorrow , 3/14, between 6 & 9 PM @ the Ukrainian Institute of America, 2 E. 79 St.
POLITICS
*Seth Meyers’ speedy recall of “Trump’s greatest hits” is laughable now but no joke if the Orange Menace retakes the White House.
*This high octane recitation offers an informative, uplifting: 20-seconds of Biden’s impressive improvements to the U.S. economy. Memorize it!
* Progressive Mobilization facilitates information-sharing among community leaders and organizers working for a Democratic trifecta and building a more unified progressive movement. PM maintains a listserv, provides practical resources, and invites your participation in an organizers’ call every Mon. and Thurs, 2-3 pm ET. Register here.
*NYC to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL): Drop Dead. But first check your facts, dude. The Big Apple rates among the safer large cities in America.
*When it comes to bottom-of-the-barrel U.S. Senators, Alabama is two for two. Sen. Katie Britt, (R-AL), who delivered the Republican response to Biden’s state of the union address — from her kitchen — did so in a pretty weird voice. Jess Piper, a former fundamentalist, decodes “the fundie baby voice” via clips from Kelly Johnson, wife of Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, and Michelle Duggar, who, with hubby Jim Bob, has 19 children, 33 grandchildren and many scandals to answer for.
*I missed this last fall but it’s truer now than ever: Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, rebuked his GOP colleagues: “Name one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican Party has done with their majority!” Yeah, please do. Democrats take note: use his quote against MAGA lies..
*David Remnick warns in The New Yorker, tempting as it is to tune out Trump’s increasingly crazy, violent rhetoric, we do so at our peril.
ANTISEMITISM
*Berkeley professor, Ron Hassner, starts an open-ended live-in at his campus office to force the university to take action agains antisemitism.
*Quote from Franklin Foer’s cover story in the Atlantic: “When antisemitism takes hold, conspiracy theory hardens into conventional wisdom, embedding violence in thought and then in deadly action. A society that holds its Jews at arm’s length is likely to be more intent on hunting down scapegoats than addressing underlying defects. . . If America persists on its current course, it would be the end of the Golden Age not just for the Jews, but for the country that nurtured them.”
*Add to the “collateral damage ”from the Israel-Hamas war a nearly 400% spike in antisemitism. (And a more than 200% increase in Islamophobic incidents, among them the stabbing that killed a six-year-old Muslim boy in a Chicago suburb and the street shooting in Burlington, VT of two college students of Palestinian descent.)
*Jewish students share harrowing stories about antisemitism on campus.
*Cognitive dissonance. A 2023 poll found that nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure than they did a year ago. Though only a quarter of the respondents had been targets of antisemitic attacks, almost half said they had altered their behavior to avoid being identified as Jewish – changing what they wore, what they posted online or where they went so other people wouldn’t know they were Jews.
What accounts for the disparity between our relative lack of personal experience of antisemitism and our relatively high level of anxiety? In a word, fear. Based on my own state of mind, toxic hate speech, the mainstreaming of white supremacist antisemites, the increased visibility of neo-Nazis, and the proliferation of demonstrators who openly laud the sadism of Hamas, are enough to trigger painful historical memories and a new shiver of vulnerability.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
*The raw, raging grief of this Gazan girl put my heart in a vise months ago and haunts me still. Watch her and weep.
*There’s a sword and an olive branch on the emblem of the Israeli Defense Forces. Enough with the sword. It’s past time to pursue peace.
Ramadan Mubarak to my Muslim friends. Though your people’s suffering looms over each day of this holy month, I wish you comfort and relief among your friends and family.