Let them eat Charmin. Blood trail Aurora to Las Vegas. Dems split. Moron POTUS predicted. Contraception denied. Sex predator outed. GOP Hypocrite ditto. Stellar events.
LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN NEWSLETTER #54 OCT 10, 2017
At the end of this posting, I've appended a special request related to Hillary Clinton. Hope you'll respond.
POLITICS
Let them eat Charmin. Three former presidents responded to past disasters with compassion and hugs. Trump went to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at victims of Hurricane Maria who have been without food, water, shelter, and power for weeks.
*The Democrats have a long history of destroying themselves and each other. Looks like they're at it again. Don't let fragmentation destroy the party. Add to your resistance agenda: Resist divisiveness.
* Politicians always crow about how they're praying for victims and their families. Yet they keep kowtowing to the gun lobby. How many more people have to die in mass murders before our elected officials stand up to the NRA? The above cartoon was published in response to the Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre in 2012. Since then, we've seen the following death tolls from mass shootings. And zero progress toward sane gun laws.
Call your Senators and Congress member and raise holy hell. Demand they reform gun laws. U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.
*Wear your politics on your chest. "Democrats are the party of We. Republicans are the party of Me." Order your quality T-shirt from this mother-daughter team -- Megan (L) and Phoebe.
* Rex Tillerson wasn't the first to use the word "moron" in connection with the presidency.
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H. L. Mencken, July 26, 1920
WOMEN
Trump Administration turns back the clock on women's reproductive rights. GOP distorts science to end Obamacare coverage of contraception. Here's Trump's women's agenda in a nutshell: Grab them by the pussy. Then deny them birth control. Then outlaw abortion. Then defund maternity care programs. Then slash funds for children's health. What's next, The Handmaid's Tale?
* Yet another Republican politician caught practicing the opposite of what he preaches. Anti-choice Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who pressured his mistress to get an abortion, and did lots of other loathsome things, has been forced to resign. He's not the first. Tennessee Republican Scott DesJarlais, also a big "pro-lier," supported his ex-wife's abortions. I think, every "pro-life" male politician should have to swear on a bible that he has never demanded, arranged paid for, or pressured a woman to have an abortion. And every female "pro-lifer" should have swear under oath that she has never had an abortion herself or arranged for another woman to have one. How many do you think could pass that test?
Another sex predator goes into therapy. Even it you've been closely following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, you'll want to read Ronan Farrell's piece in the New Yorker and the first person testimony of Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Rosanna Arquette and others in today's NY Times . Plaudits to the women who, like Ashley Judd (above), had the courage to go public with this man's disgusting behavior after so many other women took a financial settlement in return for their silence. Let's name the problem but not blame the victims who were between a rock (the predator) and a hard place (their future careers) As details of of Weinstein's modus operandi emerge, it's clear that he targeted young, naive, aspiring actresses with zero power to bring down a reigning mogul whose behavior was well-known and yet tolerated by everyone in the industry. Before Weinstein has therapy, let him pay for his victims' therapy.
*The unintended consequence of workplace sex scandals. Claire Cain Miller, describes how "Sexual Harassment Scandals Have Chilled the Office, and Women Pay the Price." As men become more cautious about relating to, and being alone with, female colleagues or underlings, guess whose career suffers?
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DEPT. OF RACISM, ANTISEMITISM, & ISLAMOPHOBIA
* Islamophobic bias in the media. Notice how differently the press reports on white Christian terrorists as opposed to coverage of Muslim terrorists. Don't they know that since Trump took office, more Americans have been killed by white American men with no connection to Islam than by Muslim terrorists or foreigners?
* How could Six Million victims slip their mind? The plaque on the new Canadian Holocaust Memorial (above) neglected to mention Jews. until an outcry shamed them into changing it. Was the omission the work of a Steve Bannon-type mole in the Canadian government? Or is this yet another expression of the growing trend toward "universalizing" the Holocaust by erasing Jewish experience? Santayana warned us about this: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
* Backgammon, pop music, peace rally. Isabel Kershner writes from Jerusalem: "... after years of impasse in the peace process, a growing number of Israelis and Palestinians seem to be searching for creative ways to bypass politics, reaching across the divide to find professional peers, new resources and receptive audiences. And a number of recent events have sought to provide a common language for Israelis and Palestinians here."
One example Kirshner cites is Journey to Peace which I've featured previously: "On Sunday, thousands of supporters of Women Wage Peace, a Jewish-Arab movement, converged, first in a reconciliation tent in the desert near Jericho in the West Bank, and then at a rally in Jerusalem."
* Speaking of reaching across the divide, a group called Our Generation Speaks (OGS) is an incubator program housed at Brandeis University that trains and supports young Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs who spend a summer living together, studying business practices, and working on their start-up ideas. I was hugely impressed when I met one of their fellows, Majd Mashrawi (above), a young Palestinian engineer who invented a way to use waste materials to make building blocks to help rebuild Gaza.
EVENTS IN NYC AREA
* You can meet Ohad Elhelo, the dynamic young founder of Our Generation Speaks (see above) at a parlor meeting on the Upper West Side, Nov 6 @6 PM. RSVP LaurelEisner2@gmail.com .212-874-6805.
* Memorial Service for KATE MILLETT, feminist pioneer, writer, artist, activist, visionary: @ Unitarian Universalist Church, 160 Central Park West @ 76 St., Thurs, Nov 9, 2-4 PM
* Gloria Steinem & Robin Morgan (above) have curated Festival Albertine, a French-American cultural gathering which will examine feminism across the world, Nov. 1-5, @ Albertine Books, 972 Fifth Avenue.
* Listening, Love, & Citizenship. On the 1-year anniversary of the presidential election, the question of how the U.S. became such a fractious, fractured society will be discussed by psychology professors Carol Gilliga (above), Niobe Way, & Alisha Ali, & activist-author Khary Lazarre-White (above). Moderator: Sarah Sayeed . Wed. Nov 8, 7 PM,Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway @122 St. Register here.
* Monumental Women. Celebrate the launch of the Design Competition for the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Monument in Central Park. There are 23 statues of historical figures in New York's Central Park. Not one honors a woman. Join the campaign to add a statue of the suffrage leaders. Mon, Nov 6th , 5:30-7 PM @ Center for Women's History, 170 CPW. If you can't come, you can still donate.
P.S. In London, a statue by Gillian Wearing (above) will honor British suffragist, Millicent Garrett Fawcett. The monument will be erected in Parliament Square opposite Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, where statues of 11 men already stand. It will be the first by a female sculptor,.
NEW BOOKS
* Francine Klagsbrun's "Lioness," her biography of the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir is getting rave notices. Kirkus calls the book, "A terrific chronicle." The Jewish Book Council says, it's "absolutely riveting," Klagsbrun sees Golda clearly, warts and all, and writes like a breeze.
* "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," Edited by Bandy X. Lee. Says Bill Moyers, “There will not be a book published this fall more urgent, important, or controversial than The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, the work of 27 psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health experts to assess President Trump’s mental health.” Book signing. Oct 13, 6:00-8:30 p.m. NYU Law School, 245 Sullivan St., NYC.
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Editor's Note: On Nov 1st, I'll be interviewing Hillary Clinton at the Streicker Center at Temple Emanu-El In connection with her new book, WHAT HAPPENED. I can't encourage you to attend because it's sold out But If you could pose one question to her, what would it be?