Helen H. Moore's Blog, page 914
December 24, 2015
Fired for feeding a hungry kid: A cafeteria worker’s good deed turns to bureaucratic nightmare
Congratulations, Idaho's Pocatello School District. You've really nailed in this year's American Fiascos, Holiday Edition division. As Dalene Bowden tells it on her recently launched GoFundMe page, "I was a lunch lady at Irving Middle School. I was placed on unpaid leave Tuesday after I gave a free lunch to a 12-year-old student who didn’t have money to pay for her hot lunch." Bowden says that earlier this month, she was placed on leave after giving a hot lunch to a 12 year-old girl who said she didn't have the money to pay for it. She adds that she even offered to give the $1.70 the meal would have cost, but was turned down and instead given a "termination leave." Two days later, she was then sent a registered letter, signed by District 25 Director of Human Resources Susan Pettit, alerting her she'd been terminated for "theft of school district property and inaccurate transactions when ordering, receiving and serving food." Speaking to the Idaho Statesman Monday, Bowden, who worked for the district for three years, said, "This is just breaking my heart. And they couldn’t even bother to put my check in with the letter…. I broke the rules, but I offered to pay for the meal and I don’t think I deserved to lose my job over it…. I know I screwed up, but what are you supposed to do when the kid tells you that they’re hungry and they don’t have any money?" She says she's never even had any prior trouble or been reprimanded, though she claims she was previously given a verbal warning for giving a child a cookie. District spokesperson Shelley Allen told the Statesman that children who go over their lunch bill limit are still "provided something to eat, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and milk," but Bowden claims "workers are supposed to take their tray away and dump it." (And, as it turns out, the child was actually still within her lunch credit limit.) Since nothing says "America at the holiday season" quite like allegedly firing a lunch lady for giving a meal to a hungry child, Bowden's story quickly attracted international attention. A petition to reinstate her has racked up over 80,000 signatures — and counting. But Shelley Allen told the Idaho State Journal that Bowden's supervisor "behaved in a professional and appropriate manner" regarding the matter. This, by the way, is the same district that two years ago fired — and then had to reinstate — Pocatello High's girls’ basketball coach after a photo emerged on social media of her fiancé touching her clothed breast. The fiancé, Pocatello High's football coach, only a received a reprimand. As the Bowden backlash continued this week, the town stepped in, issuing a charmingly butt-covering statement that "We’d like to remind everyone that the situation involving Dalene Bowden was handled by officials with Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 and no City elected officials or employees were involved in the decision making process. While we both operate in the same community, the district and City government are two separate entities in Pocatello. Mayor Blad and the City feel this is an extremely unfortunate situation. Despite being separate jurisdictions, Mayor Blad is actively trying to get a meeting with the Superintendent of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 to discuss how this situation has impacted our community as a whole." An updated message noted that "Mayor Blad met with Superintendent Howell this afternoon. The Superintendent assured the Mayor that the School District is working toward a solution. We appreciate the District's willingness to meet with the Mayor even though we are completely separate entities with no jurisdictional oversight over each other." So just to be clear, this was totally not the mayor's fault. Then on Wednesday evening, School District 25 issued its own statement, cryptically saying, "The District wishes to let the public know that it does not and has not ever taken negative employment action against any food service worker due to a singular event of this nature as is being presented through the press and various social media sites." (Earlier this year, a Colorado elementary school kitchen manager claimed she was fired for giving needy children free meals, a claim her school district similarly disputed.) The statement went on to assert, "The District jeopardizes it’s funding for the Federal Food Service Program if its employees do not follow the proper procedures and requirements. [sic]…. In the spirit of the holidays, Superintendent Howell advises that the District has been in communication with Ms. Bowden extending an opportunity for her to return to employment with the District." How festive! For her part, though, Bowden says she's not so sure. "I have to think about it," she told the Statesman Wednesday. "I’m afraid that they would just make my life miserable and then try to set me up, or get rid of me some other way."Congratulations, Idaho's Pocatello School District. You've really nailed in this year's American Fiascos, Holiday Edition division. As Dalene Bowden tells it on her recently launched GoFundMe page, "I was a lunch lady at Irving Middle School. I was placed on unpaid leave Tuesday after I gave a free lunch to a 12-year-old student who didn’t have money to pay for her hot lunch." Bowden says that earlier this month, she was placed on leave after giving a hot lunch to a 12 year-old girl who said she didn't have the money to pay for it. She adds that she even offered to give the $1.70 the meal would have cost, but was turned down and instead given a "termination leave." Two days later, she was then sent a registered letter, signed by District 25 Director of Human Resources Susan Pettit, alerting her she'd been terminated for "theft of school district property and inaccurate transactions when ordering, receiving and serving food." Speaking to the Idaho Statesman Monday, Bowden, who worked for the district for three years, said, "This is just breaking my heart. And they couldn’t even bother to put my check in with the letter…. I broke the rules, but I offered to pay for the meal and I don’t think I deserved to lose my job over it…. I know I screwed up, but what are you supposed to do when the kid tells you that they’re hungry and they don’t have any money?" She says she's never even had any prior trouble or been reprimanded, though she claims she was previously given a verbal warning for giving a child a cookie. District spokesperson Shelley Allen told the Statesman that children who go over their lunch bill limit are still "provided something to eat, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and milk," but Bowden claims "workers are supposed to take their tray away and dump it." (And, as it turns out, the child was actually still within her lunch credit limit.) Since nothing says "America at the holiday season" quite like allegedly firing a lunch lady for giving a meal to a hungry child, Bowden's story quickly attracted international attention. A petition to reinstate her has racked up over 80,000 signatures — and counting. But Shelley Allen told the Idaho State Journal that Bowden's supervisor "behaved in a professional and appropriate manner" regarding the matter. This, by the way, is the same district that two years ago fired — and then had to reinstate — Pocatello High's girls’ basketball coach after a photo emerged on social media of her fiancé touching her clothed breast. The fiancé, Pocatello High's football coach, only a received a reprimand. As the Bowden backlash continued this week, the town stepped in, issuing a charmingly butt-covering statement that "We’d like to remind everyone that the situation involving Dalene Bowden was handled by officials with Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 and no City elected officials or employees were involved in the decision making process. While we both operate in the same community, the district and City government are two separate entities in Pocatello. Mayor Blad and the City feel this is an extremely unfortunate situation. Despite being separate jurisdictions, Mayor Blad is actively trying to get a meeting with the Superintendent of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 to discuss how this situation has impacted our community as a whole." An updated message noted that "Mayor Blad met with Superintendent Howell this afternoon. The Superintendent assured the Mayor that the School District is working toward a solution. We appreciate the District's willingness to meet with the Mayor even though we are completely separate entities with no jurisdictional oversight over each other." So just to be clear, this was totally not the mayor's fault. Then on Wednesday evening, School District 25 issued its own statement, cryptically saying, "The District wishes to let the public know that it does not and has not ever taken negative employment action against any food service worker due to a singular event of this nature as is being presented through the press and various social media sites." (Earlier this year, a Colorado elementary school kitchen manager claimed she was fired for giving needy children free meals, a claim her school district similarly disputed.) The statement went on to assert, "The District jeopardizes it’s funding for the Federal Food Service Program if its employees do not follow the proper procedures and requirements. [sic]…. In the spirit of the holidays, Superintendent Howell advises that the District has been in communication with Ms. Bowden extending an opportunity for her to return to employment with the District." How festive! For her part, though, Bowden says she's not so sure. "I have to think about it," she told the Statesman Wednesday. "I’m afraid that they would just make my life miserable and then try to set me up, or get rid of me some other way."
December 23, 2015
Hollywood’s despicable whitewashing continues: This bland Keanu Reeves cop thriller started as a diverse, female-centered bilingual drama
If you never knew that something was there in the first place, will you miss it when it’s gone? The psychology of distraction is the bread-and-butter of the magician’s trade: it’s the art of dangling bright shiny objects in front of us so we don’t see the shadowy tricks being pulled. Something of this dynamic is happening with “Exposed,” a new thriller starring Keanu Reeves. Unless you’re paying close attention, you’re unlikely to notice the erasure of black and brown bodies in favor of white stars onscreen. Scheduled for theatrical release early in January 2016, “Exposed” is currently being promoted via the usual outlets. I watched the trailer, which was most memorable for the scene-chewing contributions of Oscar-winning actor Mira Sorvino, offset by Keanu’s trademark brooding. It seemed fairly predictable thriller fare, and that’s precisely the problem. Earlier this month, blogger Asia Worgan noticed that director Gee Malik Linton removed his name from the project to express his disgust at the way the film had been manipulated. (“Declan Dale,” who is currently credited as director, is Linton’s pseudonym.) Originally conceived as a “serious drama that focused [on] social issues that affect women,“ the film had been titled “Daughter of God,” and prominently featured black and Latino actors. Then Lionsgate studio decided that it wasn’t sufficiently commercial, and reshaped the film by aggressively editing it. After “Daughter of God” was cut by more than 20 minutes, explains Danielle C. Belton, the “once dreamy-but-haunting, female-centered drama is turned into a disjointed thriller with few thrills. Some characters’ parts are almost cut entirely, diminishing the effect of the final twist of the film and causing it to fall flat. And the impact of a subplot about police corruption and brutality is diluted to make more time for Reeves to brood, an attempt to pad out what was intended as a thin role.” The end result of all that trimming was a new film: “Exposed.” If nothing else, the fact that there are two versions of the same film help us grasp why there’s an Oscar for film editing, because we’re trained not to notice the cuts. However, because it’s an original story that we have not already seen, it’s difficult to gauge what was lost. For the same reason, unfortunately, audiences aren’t likely to get outraged at the film’s whitewashing of storylines, characters, and entire neighborhoods in the manner of “Gods of Egypt,” and “Noah,” or to notice that the marketing emphasis on Reeves is a form of whitecasting. It’s a question of taking away that which you never knew about, so how can you protest? And even if you did, would anyone listen to a plea for better editing? There’s an analysis system called the “Ulmer Number,” which runs from 1-100, and helps studios decide which films to finance by scoring an actor’s bankability. In an undated post, James Ulmer noted that hardly any stars are now capable of guaranteeing returns. Where there used to be dozens, such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Tom Hanks, there are “only two left,” Ulmer notes: Johnny Depp and Will Smith. (Yes, women fared poorly on the Ulmer list). In other words, as a colleague of mine in the industry suggests, the studio’s decision to cut out the least recognizable actors and turn “Exposure” into a Keanu film, may at least have been partly based on crunching the Ulmer numbers and deciding, perhaps shortsightedly, to follow the theory of profitability rather than the trusting the cinematic product and listening to audiences clamoring for original stories. So “Daughter of God” may have been gritty, bilingual, textured “masterpiece,” but the trailer for “Exposure” presents moviegoers with a story about a white cop in a rough neighborhood having to find his conscience and Save the Girl. In other words, business as usual. Again. Will we miss the forgettable when it’s over?If you never knew that something was there in the first place, will you miss it when it’s gone? The psychology of distraction is the bread-and-butter of the magician’s trade: it’s the art of dangling bright shiny objects in front of us so we don’t see the shadowy tricks being pulled. Something of this dynamic is happening with “Exposed,” a new thriller starring Keanu Reeves. Unless you’re paying close attention, you’re unlikely to notice the erasure of black and brown bodies in favor of white stars onscreen. Scheduled for theatrical release early in January 2016, “Exposed” is currently being promoted via the usual outlets. I watched the trailer, which was most memorable for the scene-chewing contributions of Oscar-winning actor Mira Sorvino, offset by Keanu’s trademark brooding. It seemed fairly predictable thriller fare, and that’s precisely the problem. Earlier this month, blogger Asia Worgan noticed that director Gee Malik Linton removed his name from the project to express his disgust at the way the film had been manipulated. (“Declan Dale,” who is currently credited as director, is Linton’s pseudonym.) Originally conceived as a “serious drama that focused [on] social issues that affect women,“ the film had been titled “Daughter of God,” and prominently featured black and Latino actors. Then Lionsgate studio decided that it wasn’t sufficiently commercial, and reshaped the film by aggressively editing it. After “Daughter of God” was cut by more than 20 minutes, explains Danielle C. Belton, the “once dreamy-but-haunting, female-centered drama is turned into a disjointed thriller with few thrills. Some characters’ parts are almost cut entirely, diminishing the effect of the final twist of the film and causing it to fall flat. And the impact of a subplot about police corruption and brutality is diluted to make more time for Reeves to brood, an attempt to pad out what was intended as a thin role.” The end result of all that trimming was a new film: “Exposed.” If nothing else, the fact that there are two versions of the same film help us grasp why there’s an Oscar for film editing, because we’re trained not to notice the cuts. However, because it’s an original story that we have not already seen, it’s difficult to gauge what was lost. For the same reason, unfortunately, audiences aren’t likely to get outraged at the film’s whitewashing of storylines, characters, and entire neighborhoods in the manner of “Gods of Egypt,” and “Noah,” or to notice that the marketing emphasis on Reeves is a form of whitecasting. It’s a question of taking away that which you never knew about, so how can you protest? And even if you did, would anyone listen to a plea for better editing? There’s an analysis system called the “Ulmer Number,” which runs from 1-100, and helps studios decide which films to finance by scoring an actor’s bankability. In an undated post, James Ulmer noted that hardly any stars are now capable of guaranteeing returns. Where there used to be dozens, such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Tom Hanks, there are “only two left,” Ulmer notes: Johnny Depp and Will Smith. (Yes, women fared poorly on the Ulmer list). In other words, as a colleague of mine in the industry suggests, the studio’s decision to cut out the least recognizable actors and turn “Exposure” into a Keanu film, may at least have been partly based on crunching the Ulmer numbers and deciding, perhaps shortsightedly, to follow the theory of profitability rather than the trusting the cinematic product and listening to audiences clamoring for original stories. So “Daughter of God” may have been gritty, bilingual, textured “masterpiece,” but the trailer for “Exposure” presents moviegoers with a story about a white cop in a rough neighborhood having to find his conscience and Save the Girl. In other words, business as usual. Again. Will we miss the forgettable when it’s over?
Hillary Clinton campaign makes change to offensive slogan after Twitter outrage — now she just has some “things in common with your abuela”
In today's news of Hillary Clinton trying and miserably failing to connect with voters of color... Someone at the Clinton campaign came up with the brilliant idea to compare Clinton to a Hispanic grandmother. Cue the backlash from outraged hispanics. The article on Clinton's website was originally titled "7 Ways Hillary Clinton is just like your abuela" then changed to "7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela." Watch our video recap. In today's news of Hillary Clinton trying and miserably failing to connect with voters of color... Someone at the Clinton campaign came up with the brilliant idea to compare Clinton to a Hispanic grandmother. Cue the backlash from outraged hispanics. The article on Clinton's website was originally titled "7 Ways Hillary Clinton is just like your abuela" then changed to "7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela." Watch our video recap. In today's news of Hillary Clinton trying and miserably failing to connect with voters of color... Someone at the Clinton campaign came up with the brilliant idea to compare Clinton to a Hispanic grandmother. Cue the backlash from outraged hispanics. The article on Clinton's website was originally titled "7 Ways Hillary Clinton is just like your abuela" then changed to "7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela." Watch our video recap. In today's news of Hillary Clinton trying and miserably failing to connect with voters of color... Someone at the Clinton campaign came up with the brilliant idea to compare Clinton to a Hispanic grandmother. Cue the backlash from outraged hispanics. The article on Clinton's website was originally titled "7 Ways Hillary Clinton is just like your abuela" then changed to "7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela." Watch our video recap.
The fantasy world of Sen. Ted Cruz: Why he’s the perfect candidate for the right-wing’s alternative reality
The Washington Post's Dave Weigel is responsible for some of the very best reporting we've seen so far during this campaign cycle. His August piece on white working-class supporters of Donald Trump, for example, was both insightful and ahead of the curve. More than most of the countless pieces with a similar theme, Weigel's article helped those of us who could never support Trump at least imagine why someone might. That's good journalism. That's also how we should understand Weigel's latest, a dispatch from Alabama explaining why senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz's standing with the GOP base has not suffered, despite his fellow senator and presidential rival Marco Rubio's recent attack over his immigration policies. According to Weigel, the reason that Cruz's lawyerly answers have not backfired, as many outside observers expected, is because his audience is so ensconced in a right-wing media bubble that often goes 180 degrees against the mainstream narrative:
From the outside, it might have looked like the Cruz brand was damaged, but his campaign saw no evidence of that. The fight over the immigration bill — co-sponsored by Rubio as a member of the Gang of Eight that crafted it — was not obscure to conservative voters. Cruz’s lawyerly strike against it was not seen as slippery; it was seen as smart. In Alabama, voters could rattle off the details of the bill, as well as their problems with the end-of-year omnibus Cruz had just voted against. They knew Washington enough not to trust it.It's not simple contrarianism that's inoculated Cruz, though. Weigel finds that another reason why Rubio's punches didn't land is because so many people in the GOP base rely almost exclusively on far-right media, which by and large loves Cruz and has often already made arguments in his defense for him. Here's an example, from a recent Cruz campaign event:
[Cruz] treated his audiences to unusually long, substantive introductions about the Senate’s workings and video tributes from people who might be obscure outside the conservative movement. A strip that now plays before every stop features Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; Paul Pressler, a conservative who helped turn the Southern Baptist Convention to the right; and Brent Bozell, the founder of multiple Virginia-based conservative groups. They’re echoed in audio clips of Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh, multiplatform stars who reach millions of conservatives. Each of them, to the delight of the Cruz campaign, had taken his side in the immigration tete-a-tete. Anyone who pays attention to them had heard them enforce the campaign’s message.Because they were thoroughly prepped by the far-right media, and because they heard Cruz defended by other far-right stars, like Rep. Mo Brooks and Sen. Jeff Sessions, the rally attendees, Weigel writes, had "only two reads on this argument." The first? "[T]hat Cruz was telling the truth because he had earned that trust." The second? "[T]hat Cruz was probably telling the truth and a quick check confirmed it." Confirmation bias and new media make for one helluva drug. Cruz is hardly the first extreme conservative to benefit from what the blogosphere likes to (pretentiously) describe as the "epistemic closure" of the right-wing. The public's ability to filter-out any facts or opinions that don't jibe with its values or prejudices has been widely noticed, and it's not exclusive to those on the right. Still, while you can find it almost everywhere, it's most conspicuous within the conservative movement. And perhaps more than any candidate besides Trump, Cruz is great at making would-be supporters believe that he's smack dab in the middle of the bubble with them. Cruz is so good at reaching these people, in fact, that you could argue he's made pandering to them the cornerstone of his presidential campaign's strategy. As Ed Kilgore and others have noted, Cruz is prospering in part because he is telling the GOP base one of the things it most wants to hear. Namely, that Republicans need not make any effort whatsoever to appeal to people of color; that the party can continue to win by going all-in with the white evangelical vote. This is sometimes called the "missing white voter" theory; and it is the foundation of Cruz's entire operation. Not surprisingly, this sounds might good to the GOP base's ears. And, not surprisingly, it seems to be total bunk. For one thing, the data the theory is premised on is questionable. But even with that aside, the missing voter theory only makes sense if one assumes either that only "missing" voters who are white will show up (unlikely) or that all the evangelicals who didn't vote in 2012 are conservative (they're not). It's a delusion, in other words — but one in which many Republican voters, following the lead of right-wing media stars, now fervently believe. What Cruz is offering to Republican voters, in effect, is permanent residency in the movement's preferred alternative reality. For the first time perhaps ever, he is offering them the chance to vote for a viable primary candidate who not only pays attention to the Limbaughs and Hannitys, but lives in the fantasy with them. And because GOP elites are increasingly terrified that Donald Trump really will win the nomination, Ted Cruz, the Alternative Reality Candidate, is starting to look to them like the lesser evil (despite the fact that he's spent so much of this campaign mimicking Trump). Is it any wonder, then, that Cruz is rising? Most of his competitors are offering GOP voters a strong chance to defeat Hillary Clinton. Cruz, on the other hand, is offering to let them stay in a make-believe world they vastly prefer to our own.The Washington Post's Dave Weigel is responsible for some of the very best reporting we've seen so far during this campaign cycle. His August piece on white working-class supporters of Donald Trump, for example, was both insightful and ahead of the curve. More than most of the countless pieces with a similar theme, Weigel's article helped those of us who could never support Trump at least imagine why someone might. That's good journalism. That's also how we should understand Weigel's latest, a dispatch from Alabama explaining why senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz's standing with the GOP base has not suffered, despite his fellow senator and presidential rival Marco Rubio's recent attack over his immigration policies. According to Weigel, the reason that Cruz's lawyerly answers have not backfired, as many outside observers expected, is because his audience is so ensconced in a right-wing media bubble that often goes 180 degrees against the mainstream narrative:
From the outside, it might have looked like the Cruz brand was damaged, but his campaign saw no evidence of that. The fight over the immigration bill — co-sponsored by Rubio as a member of the Gang of Eight that crafted it — was not obscure to conservative voters. Cruz’s lawyerly strike against it was not seen as slippery; it was seen as smart. In Alabama, voters could rattle off the details of the bill, as well as their problems with the end-of-year omnibus Cruz had just voted against. They knew Washington enough not to trust it.It's not simple contrarianism that's inoculated Cruz, though. Weigel finds that another reason why Rubio's punches didn't land is because so many people in the GOP base rely almost exclusively on far-right media, which by and large loves Cruz and has often already made arguments in his defense for him. Here's an example, from a recent Cruz campaign event:
[Cruz] treated his audiences to unusually long, substantive introductions about the Senate’s workings and video tributes from people who might be obscure outside the conservative movement. A strip that now plays before every stop features Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; Paul Pressler, a conservative who helped turn the Southern Baptist Convention to the right; and Brent Bozell, the founder of multiple Virginia-based conservative groups. They’re echoed in audio clips of Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh, multiplatform stars who reach millions of conservatives. Each of them, to the delight of the Cruz campaign, had taken his side in the immigration tete-a-tete. Anyone who pays attention to them had heard them enforce the campaign’s message.Because they were thoroughly prepped by the far-right media, and because they heard Cruz defended by other far-right stars, like Rep. Mo Brooks and Sen. Jeff Sessions, the rally attendees, Weigel writes, had "only two reads on this argument." The first? "[T]hat Cruz was telling the truth because he had earned that trust." The second? "[T]hat Cruz was probably telling the truth and a quick check confirmed it." Confirmation bias and new media make for one helluva drug. Cruz is hardly the first extreme conservative to benefit from what the blogosphere likes to (pretentiously) describe as the "epistemic closure" of the right-wing. The public's ability to filter-out any facts or opinions that don't jibe with its values or prejudices has been widely noticed, and it's not exclusive to those on the right. Still, while you can find it almost everywhere, it's most conspicuous within the conservative movement. And perhaps more than any candidate besides Trump, Cruz is great at making would-be supporters believe that he's smack dab in the middle of the bubble with them. Cruz is so good at reaching these people, in fact, that you could argue he's made pandering to them the cornerstone of his presidential campaign's strategy. As Ed Kilgore and others have noted, Cruz is prospering in part because he is telling the GOP base one of the things it most wants to hear. Namely, that Republicans need not make any effort whatsoever to appeal to people of color; that the party can continue to win by going all-in with the white evangelical vote. This is sometimes called the "missing white voter" theory; and it is the foundation of Cruz's entire operation. Not surprisingly, this sounds might good to the GOP base's ears. And, not surprisingly, it seems to be total bunk. For one thing, the data the theory is premised on is questionable. But even with that aside, the missing voter theory only makes sense if one assumes either that only "missing" voters who are white will show up (unlikely) or that all the evangelicals who didn't vote in 2012 are conservative (they're not). It's a delusion, in other words — but one in which many Republican voters, following the lead of right-wing media stars, now fervently believe. What Cruz is offering to Republican voters, in effect, is permanent residency in the movement's preferred alternative reality. For the first time perhaps ever, he is offering them the chance to vote for a viable primary candidate who not only pays attention to the Limbaughs and Hannitys, but lives in the fantasy with them. And because GOP elites are increasingly terrified that Donald Trump really will win the nomination, Ted Cruz, the Alternative Reality Candidate, is starting to look to them like the lesser evil (despite the fact that he's spent so much of this campaign mimicking Trump). Is it any wonder, then, that Cruz is rising? Most of his competitors are offering GOP voters a strong chance to defeat Hillary Clinton. Cruz, on the other hand, is offering to let them stay in a make-believe world they vastly prefer to our own.
Two-faced Ted Cruz: Is he against gay marriage? Depends on whom he’s talking to
Ted Cruz's electoral strategy, particularly for winning the nomination, is to present himself as a near-prophetic figure to Christian conservatives, a strategy that has required him going hard in public against gay rights. But, as Mike Allen at Politico reported on Wednesday, Ted Cruz drops the medieval crusader act behind closed doors when meeting with funders that are more interested in tax breaks than forcibly divorcing happy couples. Allen describes a Q&A period at a New York law firm where the audience tended to be a lot more liberal on these social issues.
During the question period, one of the donors told Cruz that gay marriage was one of the few issues on which the two disagreed. Then the donor asked: “So would you say it's like a top-three priority for you — fighting gay marriage?” “No,” Cruz replied. “I would say defending the Constitution is a top priority. And that cuts across the whole spectrum — whether it's defending [the] First Amendment, defending religious liberty.” Soothing the attendee without contradicting what he has said elsewhere, Cruz added: “People of New York may well resolve the marriage question differently than the people of Florida or Texas or Ohio. ... That's why we have 50 states — to allow a diversity of views. And so that is a core commitment.”The Cruz campaign is denying that this is a contradiction, arguing that the "leave it to the states" line has always been his policy. But Cruz shouldn't be allowed to wriggle out of this on a technicality. What this incident shows is that the empty rhetoric about "religious liberty" is all about trying to manipulate different audiences into hearing a different message. Here, he's clearly using it to create a false sense that he's a live-and-let-live guy, but when he's in a different crowd, he's putting forward a different face. For the everyday evangelical crowd, "religious liberty" is clearly just coded language for denying gay couples the right to marry. That's why Cruz rallied around Kim Davis, whose entire case was a legal test to see if there was a way to make gay marriage illegal in all but name. Davis's adamant refusal not just to issue licenses but to let anyone else do so was the polar opposite of the live-and-let-live attitude Cruz wants his New York funders to perceive. Cruz is so eager to pander to the theocratic elements on this issue that he even went to a Christian right conference organized by people who have come out in favor of laws that make homosexuality punishable by death. Most Republicans have to play this game of pandering to the hard right sometimes while pretending to be moderate for more general audience, of course. But Cruz embraces the extremists on this front, making his play to be accepted as more moderate all the more ridiculous.Ted Cruz's electoral strategy, particularly for winning the nomination, is to present himself as a near-prophetic figure to Christian conservatives, a strategy that has required him going hard in public against gay rights. But, as Mike Allen at Politico reported on Wednesday, Ted Cruz drops the medieval crusader act behind closed doors when meeting with funders that are more interested in tax breaks than forcibly divorcing happy couples. Allen describes a Q&A period at a New York law firm where the audience tended to be a lot more liberal on these social issues.
During the question period, one of the donors told Cruz that gay marriage was one of the few issues on which the two disagreed. Then the donor asked: “So would you say it's like a top-three priority for you — fighting gay marriage?” “No,” Cruz replied. “I would say defending the Constitution is a top priority. And that cuts across the whole spectrum — whether it's defending [the] First Amendment, defending religious liberty.” Soothing the attendee without contradicting what he has said elsewhere, Cruz added: “People of New York may well resolve the marriage question differently than the people of Florida or Texas or Ohio. ... That's why we have 50 states — to allow a diversity of views. And so that is a core commitment.”The Cruz campaign is denying that this is a contradiction, arguing that the "leave it to the states" line has always been his policy. But Cruz shouldn't be allowed to wriggle out of this on a technicality. What this incident shows is that the empty rhetoric about "religious liberty" is all about trying to manipulate different audiences into hearing a different message. Here, he's clearly using it to create a false sense that he's a live-and-let-live guy, but when he's in a different crowd, he's putting forward a different face. For the everyday evangelical crowd, "religious liberty" is clearly just coded language for denying gay couples the right to marry. That's why Cruz rallied around Kim Davis, whose entire case was a legal test to see if there was a way to make gay marriage illegal in all but name. Davis's adamant refusal not just to issue licenses but to let anyone else do so was the polar opposite of the live-and-let-live attitude Cruz wants his New York funders to perceive. Cruz is so eager to pander to the theocratic elements on this issue that he even went to a Christian right conference organized by people who have come out in favor of laws that make homosexuality punishable by death. Most Republicans have to play this game of pandering to the hard right sometimes while pretending to be moderate for more general audience, of course. But Cruz embraces the extremists on this front, making his play to be accepted as more moderate all the more ridiculous.
Wait, what, Stephen Colbert just endorsed Donald Trump? “There’s a populism to Trump that I found very appealing”
Politico's Nolan McCaskill reports that on "Face the Nation" this Sunday, Stephen Colbert will reprise the role of "Stephen Colbert" and sort of kind of endorse Donald Trump for president. "There’s a populism to Trump that I found very appealing," Colbert will tell CBS's John Dickerson. "The party elders would like him to go away, but the people have decided that he is not going to." "I may disagree with anything that he's saying and think that his proposals are a little -- well, more than a little shocking. But there is something really hopeful about the fact that, well, 36 percent of the likely voters want him so the people in the machine don't get to say otherwise." "That's the one saving grace of his candidacy," Colbert will add. "There sounded like there's a little bit of Trump respect in you for his ability to channel the populist," Dickerson will ask. "What I do respect is that he knows it is an emotional appeal," Colbert will answer. “And it might be emotional appeals that I can't respect. But he knows that you have to appeal to the voter. And that's why, I may be wrong -- I made a big deal about there's no way he's gonna win." "Again, though, I don't know anything about politics," he'll conclude.
The year in viral videos: John Oliver, Larry David, mac-and-cheese douche and the very best the Internet had to offer
Wow, what a year we've had. One of the most important things that happened this year in video is that President Obama decided he didn't give a fuck. So, we've all been lucky to see POTUS find his more comedic side. At the same time, there were some killer parodies, hilarious skits on "SNL" and the other nightly shows and some tearful reminders of those we lost. Check out the most massive, epic, colossal, Trump-ego-huge list of videos from 2015 that will remind you of how great this year was: The commercial that'll make you call your parents. If you haven't seen this video yet this holiday season it's gone super viral. It's a commercial for a German supermarket chain, and it might make you cry. Seriously, I called my grandpa after watching this. Remember when President Obama brought in an anger translator to the White House Correspondents Dinner? "We can count on Fox News to terrify all white people with some nonsense!" Then Stephen Hawking covered Monty Python's Galaxy song because, of course he did. John Oliver's epic televangelist take down is literally the best John Oliver has ever John Olivered Joe Biden's profound personal discussion with Stephen Colbert about grief in the wake of his son Beau Biden's death: "Sesame Street" did a "Game of Thrones" parody called "Game of Chairs" and it was awesome: The biggest assholes ever. A couple from New Zealand on the X-Factor who completely crushed a contestant and became the super villains of the world. Obama Calls Donald Trump with Debate Advice "Look, I've been president for eight years, I'm ready for some entertainment!" That surprising moment when "Bernie Sanders" rocked the Hotline Bling That strange moment Hillary Clinton Learned The Nae Nae Chris Farley as Shrek This year we found out that Chris Farley was originally slated to play Shrek instead of Mike Myers. But due to his untimely death, we missed out on seeing him do it.... Until.... the sketches and about 90 percent of the voice work for the film was released and put online. Here is some of it: Remember that rich drunk college kid who was in the dining hall demanding macaroni and cheese? Whatever happened to that guy? Obama reads mean tweets as he enters the "Obama don't give a f*ck" portion of his presidency: Real life Peter Griffin showed up to New York Comic Con and he was everything you hoped he'd be! Thank you to Auntie Fee who, this year, taught us how to cook everything we ever need: Larry David played the best Bernie Sanders of all time. Even today, people tweet the debates and refer to Sanders as Larry David. It was amazing. Uptown Funk goes nuts in the pop-culture ether. BarackDubs: Obama Sings Uptown Funk (sorta). f Uptown Funk sung by the Movies Planned Parenthood: Elizabeth Warren's kickass floor speech on why she stands with Planned Parenthood Seth Meyers shuts down the anti-Planned Parenthood lies Kristen Wiig performed Sia's "Chandelier" at the Grammys and crushed it. Bad Lip Reading does The First Republican Debate - that part with Ben Carson gets me every time! Anne Hathaway lipsyncs to "Wrecking Ball" in the most legendary Lip Sync Battle episode ever. Seriously, ever. CNN/HLN Got Trolled On National TV: It's possible you missed this, the video has been taken down and put back up many times. Meet Jon Hendren. He was brought on CNN/HLN to talk about Edward Snowden and ended up talking about Edward Scissorhands. Dick Cheney Truth: This video totally went nuts on Tumblr. It's basically a dude talking about how Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War. Because, of course we have to mention it: Pizza Rat Wow, what a year we've had. One of the most important things that happened this year in video is that President Obama decided he didn't give a fuck. So, we've all been lucky to see POTUS find his more comedic side. At the same time, there were some killer parodies, hilarious skits on "SNL" and the other nightly shows and some tearful reminders of those we lost. Check out the most massive, epic, colossal, Trump-ego-huge list of videos from 2015 that will remind you of how great this year was: The commercial that'll make you call your parents. If you haven't seen this video yet this holiday season it's gone super viral. It's a commercial for a German supermarket chain, and it might make you cry. Seriously, I called my grandpa after watching this. Remember when President Obama brought in an anger translator to the White House Correspondents Dinner? "We can count on Fox News to terrify all white people with some nonsense!" Then Stephen Hawking covered Monty Python's Galaxy song because, of course he did. John Oliver's epic televangelist take down is literally the best John Oliver has ever John Olivered Joe Biden's profound personal discussion with Stephen Colbert about grief in the wake of his son Beau Biden's death: "Sesame Street" did a "Game of Thrones" parody called "Game of Chairs" and it was awesome: The biggest assholes ever. A couple from New Zealand on the X-Factor who completely crushed a contestant and became the super villains of the world. Obama Calls Donald Trump with Debate Advice "Look, I've been president for eight years, I'm ready for some entertainment!" That surprising moment when "Bernie Sanders" rocked the Hotline Bling That strange moment Hillary Clinton Learned The Nae Nae Chris Farley as Shrek This year we found out that Chris Farley was originally slated to play Shrek instead of Mike Myers. But due to his untimely death, we missed out on seeing him do it.... Until.... the sketches and about 90 percent of the voice work for the film was released and put online. Here is some of it: Remember that rich drunk college kid who was in the dining hall demanding macaroni and cheese? Whatever happened to that guy? Obama reads mean tweets as he enters the "Obama don't give a f*ck" portion of his presidency: Real life Peter Griffin showed up to New York Comic Con and he was everything you hoped he'd be! Thank you to Auntie Fee who, this year, taught us how to cook everything we ever need: Larry David played the best Bernie Sanders of all time. Even today, people tweet the debates and refer to Sanders as Larry David. It was amazing. Uptown Funk goes nuts in the pop-culture ether. BarackDubs: Obama Sings Uptown Funk (sorta). f Uptown Funk sung by the Movies Planned Parenthood: Elizabeth Warren's kickass floor speech on why she stands with Planned Parenthood Seth Meyers shuts down the anti-Planned Parenthood lies Kristen Wiig performed Sia's "Chandelier" at the Grammys and crushed it. Bad Lip Reading does The First Republican Debate - that part with Ben Carson gets me every time! Anne Hathaway lipsyncs to "Wrecking Ball" in the most legendary Lip Sync Battle episode ever. Seriously, ever. CNN/HLN Got Trolled On National TV: It's possible you missed this, the video has been taken down and put back up many times. Meet Jon Hendren. He was brought on CNN/HLN to talk about Edward Snowden and ended up talking about Edward Scissorhands. Dick Cheney Truth: This video totally went nuts on Tumblr. It's basically a dude talking about how Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War. Because, of course we have to mention it: Pizza Rat Wow, what a year we've had. One of the most important things that happened this year in video is that President Obama decided he didn't give a fuck. So, we've all been lucky to see POTUS find his more comedic side. At the same time, there were some killer parodies, hilarious skits on "SNL" and the other nightly shows and some tearful reminders of those we lost. Check out the most massive, epic, colossal, Trump-ego-huge list of videos from 2015 that will remind you of how great this year was: The commercial that'll make you call your parents. If you haven't seen this video yet this holiday season it's gone super viral. It's a commercial for a German supermarket chain, and it might make you cry. Seriously, I called my grandpa after watching this. Remember when President Obama brought in an anger translator to the White House Correspondents Dinner? "We can count on Fox News to terrify all white people with some nonsense!" Then Stephen Hawking covered Monty Python's Galaxy song because, of course he did. John Oliver's epic televangelist take down is literally the best John Oliver has ever John Olivered Joe Biden's profound personal discussion with Stephen Colbert about grief in the wake of his son Beau Biden's death: "Sesame Street" did a "Game of Thrones" parody called "Game of Chairs" and it was awesome: The biggest assholes ever. A couple from New Zealand on the X-Factor who completely crushed a contestant and became the super villains of the world. Obama Calls Donald Trump with Debate Advice "Look, I've been president for eight years, I'm ready for some entertainment!" That surprising moment when "Bernie Sanders" rocked the Hotline Bling That strange moment Hillary Clinton Learned The Nae Nae Chris Farley as Shrek This year we found out that Chris Farley was originally slated to play Shrek instead of Mike Myers. But due to his untimely death, we missed out on seeing him do it.... Until.... the sketches and about 90 percent of the voice work for the film was released and put online. Here is some of it: Remember that rich drunk college kid who was in the dining hall demanding macaroni and cheese? Whatever happened to that guy? Obama reads mean tweets as he enters the "Obama don't give a f*ck" portion of his presidency: Real life Peter Griffin showed up to New York Comic Con and he was everything you hoped he'd be! Thank you to Auntie Fee who, this year, taught us how to cook everything we ever need: Larry David played the best Bernie Sanders of all time. Even today, people tweet the debates and refer to Sanders as Larry David. It was amazing. Uptown Funk goes nuts in the pop-culture ether. BarackDubs: Obama Sings Uptown Funk (sorta). f Uptown Funk sung by the Movies Planned Parenthood: Elizabeth Warren's kickass floor speech on why she stands with Planned Parenthood Seth Meyers shuts down the anti-Planned Parenthood lies Kristen Wiig performed Sia's "Chandelier" at the Grammys and crushed it. Bad Lip Reading does The First Republican Debate - that part with Ben Carson gets me every time! Anne Hathaway lipsyncs to "Wrecking Ball" in the most legendary Lip Sync Battle episode ever. Seriously, ever. CNN/HLN Got Trolled On National TV: It's possible you missed this, the video has been taken down and put back up many times. Meet Jon Hendren. He was brought on CNN/HLN to talk about Edward Snowden and ended up talking about Edward Scissorhands. Dick Cheney Truth: This video totally went nuts on Tumblr. It's basically a dude talking about how Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War. Because, of course we have to mention it: Pizza Rat Wow, what a year we've had. One of the most important things that happened this year in video is that President Obama decided he didn't give a fuck. So, we've all been lucky to see POTUS find his more comedic side. At the same time, there were some killer parodies, hilarious skits on "SNL" and the other nightly shows and some tearful reminders of those we lost. Check out the most massive, epic, colossal, Trump-ego-huge list of videos from 2015 that will remind you of how great this year was: The commercial that'll make you call your parents. If you haven't seen this video yet this holiday season it's gone super viral. It's a commercial for a German supermarket chain, and it might make you cry. Seriously, I called my grandpa after watching this. Remember when President Obama brought in an anger translator to the White House Correspondents Dinner? "We can count on Fox News to terrify all white people with some nonsense!" Then Stephen Hawking covered Monty Python's Galaxy song because, of course he did. John Oliver's epic televangelist take down is literally the best John Oliver has ever John Olivered Joe Biden's profound personal discussion with Stephen Colbert about grief in the wake of his son Beau Biden's death: "Sesame Street" did a "Game of Thrones" parody called "Game of Chairs" and it was awesome: The biggest assholes ever. A couple from New Zealand on the X-Factor who completely crushed a contestant and became the super villains of the world. Obama Calls Donald Trump with Debate Advice "Look, I've been president for eight years, I'm ready for some entertainment!" That surprising moment when "Bernie Sanders" rocked the Hotline Bling That strange moment Hillary Clinton Learned The Nae Nae Chris Farley as Shrek This year we found out that Chris Farley was originally slated to play Shrek instead of Mike Myers. But due to his untimely death, we missed out on seeing him do it.... Until.... the sketches and about 90 percent of the voice work for the film was released and put online. Here is some of it: Remember that rich drunk college kid who was in the dining hall demanding macaroni and cheese? Whatever happened to that guy? Obama reads mean tweets as he enters the "Obama don't give a f*ck" portion of his presidency: Real life Peter Griffin showed up to New York Comic Con and he was everything you hoped he'd be! Thank you to Auntie Fee who, this year, taught us how to cook everything we ever need: Larry David played the best Bernie Sanders of all time. Even today, people tweet the debates and refer to Sanders as Larry David. It was amazing. Uptown Funk goes nuts in the pop-culture ether. BarackDubs: Obama Sings Uptown Funk (sorta). f Uptown Funk sung by the Movies Planned Parenthood: Elizabeth Warren's kickass floor speech on why she stands with Planned Parenthood Seth Meyers shuts down the anti-Planned Parenthood lies Kristen Wiig performed Sia's "Chandelier" at the Grammys and crushed it. Bad Lip Reading does The First Republican Debate - that part with Ben Carson gets me every time! Anne Hathaway lipsyncs to "Wrecking Ball" in the most legendary Lip Sync Battle episode ever. Seriously, ever. CNN/HLN Got Trolled On National TV: It's possible you missed this, the video has been taken down and put back up many times. Meet Jon Hendren. He was brought on CNN/HLN to talk about Edward Snowden and ended up talking about Edward Scissorhands. Dick Cheney Truth: This video totally went nuts on Tumblr. It's basically a dude talking about how Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War. Because, of course we have to mention it: Pizza Rat
Rachel Maddow eviscerates Donald Trump for claiming “I hate these people, but I’d never kill them” — that’s what his “9,000 maniacs” are for
On "The Rachel Maddow Show" Tuesday evening, host Rachel Maddow played clips of Donald Trump with a condescending shovel digging what would -- in any other election cycle -- be his own electoral grave, before rightly criticizing him for his faux-magnanimous declaration that he "wouldn't kill...these people" who disagree with him. The racism, sexism, and classism of previous election cycles "seem so harmless, seem so quaint," Maddow said, when compared to what Trump is currently offering. "They said [Vladimir Putin's] killed reporters," Trump said in the clip Maddow aired, "I don't like that, I'm totally against that. By the way, I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them." By "these people," he was of course referring to people who were protesting him. "I hate them," Trump continued, "I'll be honest. I'd never kill them." He then made the non-committal noise that people who aren't comedians think is funny, before jokingly reiterating that "I'd never kill them. I just hate them." "But," he added, "some people are such lying, disgusting people -- it's true, it's true -- but I'd never kill them, and anyone who does would be despicable." His comments were met, not surprisingly, with much applause. Maddow cut to another clip of Trump dealing with a protester, in which he said, "Hello darling -- look at these people. You really are a bunch of losers. You really are a loser, a bunch of losers. Get 'em out of here. That's not a 'protester prime.'" He then suggested that those protesting were "drugged out," because "honestly, who else would do this?" Maddow pointed out that Trump praising these protesters for their bravery, as they "stood up in front of 9,000 maniacs who want to kill them" is a little disturbing, given that the "9,000 maniacs" in question were all Trump supporters. Watch the entire segment via MSNBC below. On "The Rachel Maddow Show" Tuesday evening, host Rachel Maddow played clips of Donald Trump with a condescending shovel digging what would -- in any other election cycle -- be his own electoral grave, before rightly criticizing him for his faux-magnanimous declaration that he "wouldn't kill...these people" who disagree with him. The racism, sexism, and classism of previous election cycles "seem so harmless, seem so quaint," Maddow said, when compared to what Trump is currently offering. "They said [Vladimir Putin's] killed reporters," Trump said in the clip Maddow aired, "I don't like that, I'm totally against that. By the way, I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them." By "these people," he was of course referring to people who were protesting him. "I hate them," Trump continued, "I'll be honest. I'd never kill them." He then made the non-committal noise that people who aren't comedians think is funny, before jokingly reiterating that "I'd never kill them. I just hate them." "But," he added, "some people are such lying, disgusting people -- it's true, it's true -- but I'd never kill them, and anyone who does would be despicable." His comments were met, not surprisingly, with much applause. Maddow cut to another clip of Trump dealing with a protester, in which he said, "Hello darling -- look at these people. You really are a bunch of losers. You really are a loser, a bunch of losers. Get 'em out of here. That's not a 'protester prime.'" He then suggested that those protesting were "drugged out," because "honestly, who else would do this?" Maddow pointed out that Trump praising these protesters for their bravery, as they "stood up in front of 9,000 maniacs who want to kill them" is a little disturbing, given that the "9,000 maniacs" in question were all Trump supporters. Watch the entire segment via MSNBC below. On "The Rachel Maddow Show" Tuesday evening, host Rachel Maddow played clips of Donald Trump with a condescending shovel digging what would -- in any other election cycle -- be his own electoral grave, before rightly criticizing him for his faux-magnanimous declaration that he "wouldn't kill...these people" who disagree with him. The racism, sexism, and classism of previous election cycles "seem so harmless, seem so quaint," Maddow said, when compared to what Trump is currently offering. "They said [Vladimir Putin's] killed reporters," Trump said in the clip Maddow aired, "I don't like that, I'm totally against that. By the way, I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them." By "these people," he was of course referring to people who were protesting him. "I hate them," Trump continued, "I'll be honest. I'd never kill them." He then made the non-committal noise that people who aren't comedians think is funny, before jokingly reiterating that "I'd never kill them. I just hate them." "But," he added, "some people are such lying, disgusting people -- it's true, it's true -- but I'd never kill them, and anyone who does would be despicable." His comments were met, not surprisingly, with much applause. Maddow cut to another clip of Trump dealing with a protester, in which he said, "Hello darling -- look at these people. You really are a bunch of losers. You really are a loser, a bunch of losers. Get 'em out of here. That's not a 'protester prime.'" He then suggested that those protesting were "drugged out," because "honestly, who else would do this?" Maddow pointed out that Trump praising these protesters for their bravery, as they "stood up in front of 9,000 maniacs who want to kill them" is a little disturbing, given that the "9,000 maniacs" in question were all Trump supporters. Watch the entire segment via MSNBC below. On "The Rachel Maddow Show" Tuesday evening, host Rachel Maddow played clips of Donald Trump with a condescending shovel digging what would -- in any other election cycle -- be his own electoral grave, before rightly criticizing him for his faux-magnanimous declaration that he "wouldn't kill...these people" who disagree with him. The racism, sexism, and classism of previous election cycles "seem so harmless, seem so quaint," Maddow said, when compared to what Trump is currently offering. "They said [Vladimir Putin's] killed reporters," Trump said in the clip Maddow aired, "I don't like that, I'm totally against that. By the way, I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them." By "these people," he was of course referring to people who were protesting him. "I hate them," Trump continued, "I'll be honest. I'd never kill them." He then made the non-committal noise that people who aren't comedians think is funny, before jokingly reiterating that "I'd never kill them. I just hate them." "But," he added, "some people are such lying, disgusting people -- it's true, it's true -- but I'd never kill them, and anyone who does would be despicable." His comments were met, not surprisingly, with much applause. Maddow cut to another clip of Trump dealing with a protester, in which he said, "Hello darling -- look at these people. You really are a bunch of losers. You really are a loser, a bunch of losers. Get 'em out of here. That's not a 'protester prime.'" He then suggested that those protesting were "drugged out," because "honestly, who else would do this?" Maddow pointed out that Trump praising these protesters for their bravery, as they "stood up in front of 9,000 maniacs who want to kill them" is a little disturbing, given that the "9,000 maniacs" in question were all Trump supporters. Watch the entire segment via MSNBC below.
