It is time for my annual year in review post. I'll pick two or three posts from each month that I like best and link to them here. Last year's post has more details, and links to earlier round-ups if you're curious.
This has been a tough year on a lot of fronts, but I think I'll find some happiness to revisit, too. It also saw my posting frequency fall at times, so I am a bit worried I may struggle to find two posts to revisit from some months. But I'll deal with that when I get there, I guess. Let's get to it.
I started January with a little show and tell: delivering on my promise to Petunia to get her a fishy pet, and my promise to myself to learn crochet. (I am happy to report that both the fish and the crocheting are still going strong.) I was worried about my main contract ending mid-year (it didn't, and in fact is extended for next year and probably the year after that), and feeling a little jealous of my husband's new job energy (that passed). And I wrote about the hidden costs of the way things are. I still really like that post, and think about what costs I'm not seeing.
I mused some more about the costs I paid over the course of my career early in February, prompted by a sexual harassment case at my undergraduate alma mater. I started to work through my feelings about Hillary Clinton, not aware of how many more feelings about her the year would create. Maybe I'll work through the new ones in 2017, but I'll be surprised if I can. I suspect we'll need to be past the danger posed by Donald Trump before I feel like I have the space to work through all my feelings about the election. But back in February, I was realizing how much I admired about Hillary Clinton, and being a bit surprised by that. I also had a lesson about not second-guessing myself so much, courtesy of my lungs.
In March, I started writing hodge-podge posts... and my first may be my favorite of the entire year. It was the first post in which I started to wrestle with the unusual stakes in this year's election. And I continued to wrestle with those stakes in a post that was mostly about a couple of books I really liked, but also about how our life is made of our choices, and how sometimes circumstances make our choices more momentous than we'd like. And I went to BinderCon in LA and had a great time.
April saw me pondering my mortality and the limits of what I can hope to accomplish, first after attending the funeral of a dear family friend and then in response to the news of Prince's death. I also realized that my brain was lying to me, and that showed me the limits of empathy. (Perimenopause has been hard on me this year... that will come up again in later months.)
In May, I had some epiphanies about my career. The extension of my main contract has bought me extra time to keep trying to build a sustainable business, which is great, because that is what I really want to do. I wrote about the lack of breathing room in our lives, and the porous nature of the boundaries in my life. I also turned 44, but I didn't write about it.
In June, I didn't write much, but I really like the post about wanting to stop worrying and start living.
We took our family vacation to New Zealand and Rarotonga at the end of June and the beginning of July. While we were in NZ, the Brits voted for Brexit, and I started to take the possibility of a Trump win seriously. When I came home, I wrote about holding the center. I also saw the pictures from the beach portion of the trip and resolved to try harder to live the healthiest life I will enjoy.
In August, I was surprised to discover I still have some hard-feelings about all the blonde jokes I used to hear. My kids went back to school, and I found that I was struggling with motivation. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think the toxicity of the election was starting to get to me. I never did get to take a lot of long walks on the beach. I may need to make time for it in the new year.
September found me struggling with hormonal headaches. I have finally found a birth control option that seems to have sorted those out, but it has its own side effect issues. Perimenopause sucks. I was also struggling with clothes, which I fixed with a visit to a personal shopper at Nordstrom. And I expressed a wish for people on the more conservative end of the political spectrum to recognize the damage they have done by accepting racism and sexism from their fellow conservatives. That wish didn't come true, to say the least. I've also seen more racism and sexism from the more liberal end of the political spectrum, both during the election and in the aftermath. So I get to practice what I preach in this regard, too.
Politics occupied a lot of my attention in October. I wrote about stepping away from the abyss. But of course, we didn't. We've plunged into it, and it is as terrifying as I thought it would be. Reading my post about almost deciding to go see President Obama speak was hard, since all of the optimism in that post has been squashed and all the worries are amplified. I still have no idea how I am going to explain Trump's misogyny to Pumpkin and Petunia when I can no longer hide it from them. I need to start preparing them for the world we have instead of the world I thought we would have, though, so I guess that will be a project for 2017. Petunia still has her "Go Hillary Clinton" sign in her bedroom window. "She is still a great person," Petunia says. And so the sign stays.
And then came November. After I voted my ballot, I wrote about how disgusted I am with the Republican leadership. Their behavior since the election has only deepened that disgust, although there have been some bright spots among the old guard (e.g., McCain and Graham's push for a proper investigation into the Russian interference in our election) and I see some hope for a better Republican party (or perhaps a better conservative party under another name) in the future if some of the younger Republicans like Evan McMullin manage to take the lead. But there would need to be a lot of changes for me to consider voting for a Republican in the future. The day after the election, I wrote about how much it sucked. I am sad to say that even my modest hopes for the transition have been dashed. Two days after the election, I wrote about consulting my moral compass. I've been spending a lot of time with it since the election. Unfortunately, it is no help for the scariest of my worries. I did rally for Thanksgiving, though, possibly helped by my decision to write about what I'm thankful for.
Now, in December, my sadness has ebbed a bit, but I am more frightened. I find myself in a weird state of fear, anger, and hope. And I found my mantra for 2017: Hope is something you create.
This is likely to be my last post for 2016. I may get a links post up tomorrow, but it seems unlikely, given the other things on my schedule tomorrow. So I'll sign off wishing for all of us to create as much hope as we can in 2017.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
Hope Is Something You Create
I've spent the last few days with my family, mostly ignoring the wider world. It was just what I needed. I am lucky in the family department: we all like each other as well as loving each other, and I genuinely look forward to spending time with them. Christmas was tiring (a lot of cooking!) but wonderful, and I went to bed last night a very happy person.
As part of "mostly ignoring the wider world," I have not been reading as much online as I usually do. I can't say why I decided to click on a link to read an article about Children of Men and how it is resonating for people in 2016. I have not seen the movie. (I see very few movies: I can appreciate that they are an art form, but I find modern movies too immersive. They often give me nightmares, so I just don't go to the movies much.) I was actively avoiding potentially depressing things about the state of the world right now. And yet, I clicked, and I read the entire thing.
Towards the end, there is a passage about hope that rewarded my random decision to read this article:
As I've been thinking about what I want to do in 2017, I keep coming back to the idea that I want to be more involved in my community. There are many different ways to try to change our present for a better world. I am already doing some: giving money to causes I believe in, working to raise my children well, and trying to always be kind in my personal interactions (not always succeeding, but always trying). That increasingly feels like the minimum standard, and I want to do more. So I am thinking more broadly about how to change my present for a better world. There is work to do at every scale: from the neighborhood to the nation to the world. The scale that feels right to me is the city. I've identified a couple of volunteering options, and choosing one and getting involved is definitely going on my 2017 goals list, and it is a goal I plan to act on in January.
More generally, I think I will make my mantra for 2017 "hope is something you create," and let that guide my actions next year.
In the meantime, I hope all of you are also enjoying some time to rejuvenate as we look ahead to 2017. I'll start working on my annual year in review post soon, but this year more than most, I want to look forward, not back.
As part of "mostly ignoring the wider world," I have not been reading as much online as I usually do. I can't say why I decided to click on a link to read an article about Children of Men and how it is resonating for people in 2016. I have not seen the movie. (I see very few movies: I can appreciate that they are an art form, but I find modern movies too immersive. They often give me nightmares, so I just don't go to the movies much.) I was actively avoiding potentially depressing things about the state of the world right now. And yet, I clicked, and I read the entire thing.
Towards the end, there is a passage about hope that rewarded my random decision to read this article:
Sure, he says, climate change could decimate humanity, but that’s no excuse to give in to fatalism. “There would be, still, pockets of populations that will scatter around the world,” he says. “What’s at stake is the culture as we know it.” Humans will continue to exist — and we have a responsibility to build a culture of respect and mutual assistance. It seems so dreadfully unlikely, but we are obligated to hope.
Cuarón is very specific about what he means by that word. For him, it is not a passive thing. It is not a messianic thing, either — he speaks derisively of the idea that you could vote for Barack Obama, then sit back passively and feel disappointed. “The hope is something that you create,” he says. “You live by hoping and then you create that change. Hope is trying to change your present for a better world. It’s pretty much up to you.”
As I've been thinking about what I want to do in 2017, I keep coming back to the idea that I want to be more involved in my community. There are many different ways to try to change our present for a better world. I am already doing some: giving money to causes I believe in, working to raise my children well, and trying to always be kind in my personal interactions (not always succeeding, but always trying). That increasingly feels like the minimum standard, and I want to do more. So I am thinking more broadly about how to change my present for a better world. There is work to do at every scale: from the neighborhood to the nation to the world. The scale that feels right to me is the city. I've identified a couple of volunteering options, and choosing one and getting involved is definitely going on my 2017 goals list, and it is a goal I plan to act on in January.
More generally, I think I will make my mantra for 2017 "hope is something you create," and let that guide my actions next year.
In the meantime, I hope all of you are also enjoying some time to rejuvenate as we look ahead to 2017. I'll start working on my annual year in review post soon, but this year more than most, I want to look forward, not back.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Weekend Reading: The Not as Happy as I'd Like Edition
I'm off work this week, so this post is getting thrown together in between family time and baking. I wish I had happier links this week, but the news isn't all that happy these days.
I do have one happy link: Xykademiqz is running a game to help promote Academaze. Join in the fun!
Also, I'm looking for submissions for Annorlunda Books' 2017 schedule.
And this link is helpful: some ideas for how to live more sustainably.
One of my Dad's friends sent me this link from the Phoenix area indie newspaper with more information about the human tragedy on the border. If you'd like to know more about why people like me are pessimistic about increased enforcement, this is a good article to read. Like I said last week, all I've seen increased enforcement do is drive people to take bigger risks and then more people die.
Here's a story from the LA Times about a new aspect of the migration problem: people are coming from farther away to try to enter via Mexico. There have been quite a few local radio news stories about the people in Tijuana trying to help people stranded there. I'll try to remember to share it the next time I come across one.
A warning from Turkey to guard the truth.
I agree with Josh Marshall: you don't have to be a Russia hawk to care about the hacking.
And Yochi Dreazen's article about the hack and its aftermath is really good.
I've been watching what is happening in North Carolina with worry. I have two links that talk about it: Jason Sattler on the War on Democracy and Andrew Reynolds on how poorly North Carolina scores on measures of democracy.
If you share my fear that what we are seeing in North Carolina is a preview of what is coming to the country as a whole, you might like to read about the lessons from ACT UP.
Here is an article about whether Wisconsin's voter ID laws had an effect on the election. I've started to put together a list of groups working to protect (and expand!) voting rights. I'll share the list when it is in a more complete state.
Looking to the women of the Supreme Court for guidance.
An interview with economist Branko Milanovic about inequality.
People have started writing articles trying to explain why so many of us are so freaked out right now:
Dara Lind's article at Vox is one I particularly like.
David Horsey's article in the LA Times is also very close to what I'm feeling.
Noah Berlatsky on how the rise in anti-Semitism is making him feel more conspicuously Jewish.
Sara Benincasa's post In Praise of Hopeful Rage was exactly what I needed to read earlier this week.
I've got a lot of other thinks bookmarked but not read, and it is time for family time... so they'll have to wait. Let's end with some fun.
This thread is awesome:
Time for some bunnies!
And I'll end with something appropriate for the approaching holiday:
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! And happy weekend to everyone.
I do have one happy link: Xykademiqz is running a game to help promote Academaze. Join in the fun!
Also, I'm looking for submissions for Annorlunda Books' 2017 schedule.
And this link is helpful: some ideas for how to live more sustainably.
One of my Dad's friends sent me this link from the Phoenix area indie newspaper with more information about the human tragedy on the border. If you'd like to know more about why people like me are pessimistic about increased enforcement, this is a good article to read. Like I said last week, all I've seen increased enforcement do is drive people to take bigger risks and then more people die.
Here's a story from the LA Times about a new aspect of the migration problem: people are coming from farther away to try to enter via Mexico. There have been quite a few local radio news stories about the people in Tijuana trying to help people stranded there. I'll try to remember to share it the next time I come across one.
A warning from Turkey to guard the truth.
I agree with Josh Marshall: you don't have to be a Russia hawk to care about the hacking.
And Yochi Dreazen's article about the hack and its aftermath is really good.
I've been watching what is happening in North Carolina with worry. I have two links that talk about it: Jason Sattler on the War on Democracy and Andrew Reynolds on how poorly North Carolina scores on measures of democracy.
If you share my fear that what we are seeing in North Carolina is a preview of what is coming to the country as a whole, you might like to read about the lessons from ACT UP.
Here is an article about whether Wisconsin's voter ID laws had an effect on the election. I've started to put together a list of groups working to protect (and expand!) voting rights. I'll share the list when it is in a more complete state.
Looking to the women of the Supreme Court for guidance.
An interview with economist Branko Milanovic about inequality.
People have started writing articles trying to explain why so many of us are so freaked out right now:
Dara Lind's article at Vox is one I particularly like.
David Horsey's article in the LA Times is also very close to what I'm feeling.
Noah Berlatsky on how the rise in anti-Semitism is making him feel more conspicuously Jewish.
Sara Benincasa's post In Praise of Hopeful Rage was exactly what I needed to read earlier this week.
I've got a lot of other thinks bookmarked but not read, and it is time for family time... so they'll have to wait. Let's end with some fun.
This thread is awesome:
Okay I confess that this thread maybe brought me some holiday cheer. They weren't lying! https://t.co/IrXbXrfLuW— Lisa Lucas (@likaluca) December 23, 2016
Time for some bunnies!
— うさぎ島の写真bot (@rabbit_isle_bot) December 23, 2016
— うさぎ島の写真bot (@rabbit_isle_bot) December 23, 2016
— happy hogswatch 🎁🎄 (@madeofwasps) December 18, 2016
And I'll end with something appropriate for the approaching holiday:
Lasy year our church bathroom became an accidental minimalist nativity pic.twitter.com/gfzmtsxAdh— Fr. SJM-C+ (@FatherSJMC) December 21, 2016
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! And happy weekend to everyone.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Fear, Hope, Anger, and that Weird Place Where They Meet
I'm supposed to be working. The kids are home with me, and we went out and played a bit this morning. My plan was to work this afternoon. I've done some work: I finally made the printable gift card for Small and Spooky, for instance. Next on my list was "post a call for submissions." That has been on my to do list for weeks, and I'm just not getting it done. I don't know what is wrong with me. I want to write it, because I want to read the cool stories people will submit for publication. But every time I sit down to write it, I fail. Perhaps my problem is that looking ahead into 2017 makes me unhappy and nervous.
I'm working on changing that. I want to feel steely resolve, but whenever I try to summon that emotion my brain suggests we just sell our house and move to New Zealand. I am not a partisan activist by nature. I am an incrementalist, a "work within the system to make the system better" type of person. I am happy to discuss policy with people, but I am rarely so sure of my opinion that I want to be out there agitating for my way or the highway. I like to look for compromises and common ground. When I volunteer, I like to focus on helping specific people in my community, not on fighting an election or resisting an over-reaching state.
But the world doesn't really care what I'd rather do, and the times are what they are. So I've roused myself to call my representatives and push on lobbying groups (I'm happy to report that the AARP plans to fight to save Medicare and Social Security). I may even find myself at a protest before all of this is through. In fact, I may find myself at one soon. Some members of my book club are talking about going to the local Women's March, if it happens.
I am finding that taking action makes me feel more hopeful, and I need to hold on to hope or the part of my brain that is advocating that we sell our house and move to New Zealand will surely win.
We may yet sell our house and move to New Zealand, but that would be a big move that would leave us poorer than we are now, and it is one that we would be unlikely to be in a position to reverse at a later date. If we do it, I want it to be for well thought out reasons, not due some inchoate fear I have of the future, my hatred of having to make so many damn phone calls to my congresspeople, and my desire to not feel called to go out on the street and protest.
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I have to confess, I'm getting tired of reading about "what Democrats should do to confront Trump." Oh, I'll keep reading these pieces, because I am still scared of what Trump might do to our democracy, and so I guess I'd better be ready to confront him.
But damn, I'd love to read a piece about what Republicans should do right now. I've seen some introspection from some conservative writers about how things went so wrong in the conservative movement that their base ended up electing Trump, who is not a conservative and who presents a danger to the liberty I've always assumed conservatives genuinely loved (I'll share some links on Friday).
But I haven't seen anything with a call to action for Republicans who are worried about what Trump might do to our democracy. I know some Republicans are indeed worried. I'm friends with some of them, and they are trying to figure out what to do now. It would be nice if someone wrote them a piece about their options.
(Personally, I'm hoping at least a couple of sitting House members get primaried over their refusal to investigate Trump, but that is probably unrealistically optimistic of me.)
I get that the Democrats are the most likely opposition, and we need to figure out how to fight effectively. But dammit, we're not the ones who nominated and elected Trump. The Republicans did that. I am tired of all the guilt being directed at me. I don't want to read anything more about Hillary Clinton's weaknesses or be made to feel bad for daring to hope we could elect her. I am tired of being told to have empathy for the people who just voted to gut their own health insurance. I am always sorry to see people suffer, but those voters are adults and I assume they decided something else mattered more. If they now wish to also hold on to their health insurance, perhaps they should call their representatives and express that wish. I fail to see what some extra empathy from me here in California will do for them.
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Speaking of Trump's tax returns, another thing I'm angry about is the speed with which ethics and principles are being jettisoned by our incoming administration. Just today, there is news that the Trump Organization pressured foreign governments to move their events to the Trump Hotel and that Trump plans to keep his private security force after the election. Both of these developments are just wrong. I can find no middle ground with people who are OK with them. These are just the latest stories. Yesterday, there were different ones. Tomorrow, there will be new stories. We've fallen into a bottomless well of conflicts of interest and norm-breaking behavior. And far from attempting to convince our President-Elect to address these problems, Newt Gingrich is out here arguing that Congress should just change the laws to make the problems go away. (Hint: the behavior would be worrying and wrong even if it weren't illegal!)
I have seen little appetite from Republican leaders to take any of this on. I know that at least some Republican voters want them to do it. I hope they are letting their congresspeople know. But they could use some leadership. I suspect the Republicans in Congress would be willing to act if they thought it was politically safe to do so: if Trump is impeached, the next two people in the line of succession are staunch conservatives (Pence and Ryan). If I were a Republican, I'd rather action was taken before the 2018 election, but if I've learned anything in this election it is that I don't understand how Republicans think.
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I'm working on changing that. I want to feel steely resolve, but whenever I try to summon that emotion my brain suggests we just sell our house and move to New Zealand. I am not a partisan activist by nature. I am an incrementalist, a "work within the system to make the system better" type of person. I am happy to discuss policy with people, but I am rarely so sure of my opinion that I want to be out there agitating for my way or the highway. I like to look for compromises and common ground. When I volunteer, I like to focus on helping specific people in my community, not on fighting an election or resisting an over-reaching state.
But the world doesn't really care what I'd rather do, and the times are what they are. So I've roused myself to call my representatives and push on lobbying groups (I'm happy to report that the AARP plans to fight to save Medicare and Social Security). I may even find myself at a protest before all of this is through. In fact, I may find myself at one soon. Some members of my book club are talking about going to the local Women's March, if it happens.
I am finding that taking action makes me feel more hopeful, and I need to hold on to hope or the part of my brain that is advocating that we sell our house and move to New Zealand will surely win.
We may yet sell our house and move to New Zealand, but that would be a big move that would leave us poorer than we are now, and it is one that we would be unlikely to be in a position to reverse at a later date. If we do it, I want it to be for well thought out reasons, not due some inchoate fear I have of the future, my hatred of having to make so many damn phone calls to my congresspeople, and my desire to not feel called to go out on the street and protest.
------------------------
I have to confess, I'm getting tired of reading about "what Democrats should do to confront Trump." Oh, I'll keep reading these pieces, because I am still scared of what Trump might do to our democracy, and so I guess I'd better be ready to confront him.
But damn, I'd love to read a piece about what Republicans should do right now. I've seen some introspection from some conservative writers about how things went so wrong in the conservative movement that their base ended up electing Trump, who is not a conservative and who presents a danger to the liberty I've always assumed conservatives genuinely loved (I'll share some links on Friday).
But I haven't seen anything with a call to action for Republicans who are worried about what Trump might do to our democracy. I know some Republicans are indeed worried. I'm friends with some of them, and they are trying to figure out what to do now. It would be nice if someone wrote them a piece about their options.
(Personally, I'm hoping at least a couple of sitting House members get primaried over their refusal to investigate Trump, but that is probably unrealistically optimistic of me.)
I get that the Democrats are the most likely opposition, and we need to figure out how to fight effectively. But dammit, we're not the ones who nominated and elected Trump. The Republicans did that. I am tired of all the guilt being directed at me. I don't want to read anything more about Hillary Clinton's weaknesses or be made to feel bad for daring to hope we could elect her. I am tired of being told to have empathy for the people who just voted to gut their own health insurance. I am always sorry to see people suffer, but those voters are adults and I assume they decided something else mattered more. If they now wish to also hold on to their health insurance, perhaps they should call their representatives and express that wish. I fail to see what some extra empathy from me here in California will do for them.
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Speaking of being here in California: my anger at being told I am "not a real American" and am "living in a bubble" is reaching a boiling point. California is a big state, diverse in politics as well as just about every other measure. I know and talk to Republicans. I know and talk to religious people. I know and talk to working class people. Some of them are even white.
I also know and talk to Muslims. I know and talk to Latinos whose families have been here for generations, and Latinos whose parents immigrated here. I know and talk to immigrants from a great many places. I know and talk to Black people. I know and talk to people in the LGBTQ community. I care about all of these people. When I read about a policy that targets one of these groups, I can see faces of people who will be hurt.
I know fewer rural residents, that is true. But my America is just a real as rural America. My vote counts, too. I pay my taxes and up until the point I realized that some of them will be going to pay for Trump's refusal to follow norms like moving into the effing White House, I never complained about that fact that I live in a net-outflow state.
I don't want us city people to run rough-shod over rural concerns, but neither do I want their opinions of immigrants and people not like them to run rough-shod over the lives and rights of my friends. We need to find a way to work together. Instead, we got the Tea Party and the politics of "no." It makes me angry to hear voters in Iowa interviewed about how they never protested the election of Obama, so we shouldn't protest Trump. They damn well DID protest Obama, that is where the Tea Party came from. They made our first Black president produce his birth certificate for crying out loud. Why can't we see Trump's tax returns?
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Speaking of Trump's tax returns, another thing I'm angry about is the speed with which ethics and principles are being jettisoned by our incoming administration. Just today, there is news that the Trump Organization pressured foreign governments to move their events to the Trump Hotel and that Trump plans to keep his private security force after the election. Both of these developments are just wrong. I can find no middle ground with people who are OK with them. These are just the latest stories. Yesterday, there were different ones. Tomorrow, there will be new stories. We've fallen into a bottomless well of conflicts of interest and norm-breaking behavior. And far from attempting to convince our President-Elect to address these problems, Newt Gingrich is out here arguing that Congress should just change the laws to make the problems go away. (Hint: the behavior would be worrying and wrong even if it weren't illegal!)
I have seen little appetite from Republican leaders to take any of this on. I know that at least some Republican voters want them to do it. I hope they are letting their congresspeople know. But they could use some leadership. I suspect the Republicans in Congress would be willing to act if they thought it was politically safe to do so: if Trump is impeached, the next two people in the line of succession are staunch conservatives (Pence and Ryan). If I were a Republican, I'd rather action was taken before the 2018 election, but if I've learned anything in this election it is that I don't understand how Republicans think.
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Amidst my fear and anger, I am trying to find hope. I am inspired by the sometimes unexpected people who are standing up and saying no. A big hooray to all the entertainers who are saying no to playing at the inauguration, for instance. I am inspired by the long time activists who are offering advice and encouragement, and by all the newly fired up activists I see in my Twitter feed. I am encouraged by the members of Congress I do see speaking up and introducing useful legislation.
I never thought the Electoral College would do anything but what they did today. I fully expect Trump to be inaugurated. But that is not the end. That is really just the beginning, because at that point we'll be in a place where we as a country have been before; with a corrupt President who has violated laws and can be held accountable by Congress, and by the ballot box if Congress refuses to act.
I expect more challenges to voting rights, and am working on a list of organizations who will be fighting that and working to mitigate it. I am trying not to let my brain go down to many "what if" rabbit holes about ways in which our freedom might be curtailed before the next election. For all of Trump's false talk about a "mandate," he has none. The people who voted against him are the majority, and a decent portion of the people who voted for him don't actually like him or what he stands for. If we stand strong and resist, we'll have another day at the ballot box.
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And now it is time for me to go finish the potato soup I have cooking in the crock pot for dinner, and make some popovers to go with it. This will be a long fight, and perhaps the most important thing will be to figure out how to keep the intensity to resist as much as we need to without burning out and ending up in despair. For me, that means taking time to focus on the things I love in my life, and trying to hold to my usual routines. It is working... so far. Share any "stay intense but not overwhelmed" tips in the comments!
Friday, December 16, 2016
Weekend Reading: The Post-News Conference Edition
So, that news conference was not such a big deal after all. I know a lot of people wanted President Obama to come out breathing fire and announce something that would change the fact that come January, he'll be transferring power to Trump... but the rumors that he was going to do that were what had me extra scared yesterday. Obama is a Constitutional scholar and a believer in laws and institutions. He would only act within the Constitution, and any act he could take within the Constitution at this point would be pretty scary, particularly since I suspect that the overlap between Trump's base and the people who never really accepted Obama as a legitimate president is quite high. If people are willing to occupy a wildlife office over grazing rights, what might they do if they think they are being denied the presidency?
Anyway, we got no new information from that press conference other than that President Obama supports the idea of a true bipartisan commission to investigate the Russian interference in our election. That is different from what Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell say they support, which is an investigation by the usual committees. (Nevermind that the chairman of the House Oversight Committee has already signaled he's NOT starting an investigation....) The difference is that the usual committees can choose to hold closed door sessions, don't necessarily provide the minority party with subpoena power, and have other competing priorities that could delay the completion of the investigation. So, if you want to call your representatives and press for an investigation, I recommend mentioning that you are supporting the bill Reps Swalwell and Cummings introduced, or you can say that you are urging a true bipartisan commission like the one we had after the September 11 attacks.
My worries are ratcheted back down to where they were at the beginning of the week, and I'm back to thinking that we need to prepare for a lengthy push to get investigations of Trump's many conflicts of interest and the Russian hacking. I was curious about precedent here, so I went and looked up the timeline for the Watergate scandal. It wasn't as fast as people seem to think. Nixon was re-elected in the middle of it. And that was with Democrats in control of Congress. I look forward to talking with my parents about what they remember from that time over the holidays, to see what lessons we might take for now. Forcing legislators to investigate a President from their own party is not going to be easy, but I think we have to try. And if they won't do it, we have to try to elect people in 2018 who will.
Why do we need an investigation if all our intelligence agencies agree the Russians were behind the hacks? David Frum poses five questions. I would also like to hear FBI Director Comey explain why he treated the hacking news so differently from the discovery of emails from Hillary Clinton on Anthony Weiner's laptop. Why did he keep the former quiet and announce the latter?
I expect to see more attempts at voter suppression bills between now and 2018. As I've said before, the voter suppression nonsense really bothers me. I consider it un-American, or given that it has clearly happened here before, I guess I should say I consider it unworthy of us and counter to our ideals. So here's a manifesto for how to fight it legislatively. I'm still working on a strategy for how I can get involved in that fight in the most meaningful way. There is room for improvement here in California and I will probably contact my state reps to push for it, but I also want to support the effort in places where it is more under threat. I'll let you know when I come up with something beyond donating to the North Carolina NAACP and Mi Familia Vota.
If you're not aware of what is happening in North Carolina right now, here is a short description that puts it into the broader context. I am genuinely curious to hear from any readers who see a defense for what the Republicans are doing right now. It seems so blatantly anti-democratic to me, and I have yet to find any conservative writer defending it. But bubbles, blah blah blah... so maybe I'm missing something. Let me know. I promise to listen!
If you're fired up and ready to fight, here are two things to read: The leader of the NC NAACP about creating a moral movement for change will help you think about why you fight and a document from a group of former Congressional staffers who watched the Tea Party stifle Obama's agenda will give you ideas about how to fight.
I know that I have at times felt like there is little I can do from my safely blue state, but Heather Gerken makes a case about how states like California can use state's rights arguments to fight back. My governor has already had this idea. He gave a rousing speech to the American Geophysical Union, which included a quote that is making the rounds of the internet:
“And, if Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite”
(If you want to read a summary of the speech, the Sacramento Bee has one.)
Ta-Nehisi Coates' longread on President Obama, My President Was Black, is excellent. But don't miss Tressie McMillan Cottom's response, The Problem with Obama's Faith in White America. That one was a humbling read as I realize even more of how little I understand about how race really works in this country.
Zadie Smith's On Optimism and Despair is excellent, too.
Gianpiero Petriglieri's defense of cosmopolitanism was my favorite thing I read all week.
I meant to share this essay from someone who worked as a voter protection volunteer in Philadelphia earlier, but I forgot. It is an eye opening read. My voting experiences have been uniformly good. I am sad that this is not universally true.
This is a sad story of one type of heartbreak associated with illegal border crossings. So many deaths, so many families who don't know what has happened to their love ones. I wish I thought that the policy changes promised by our new administration would stop this sort of heartbreak, but I don't. I've lived in a border state for all except 6 years of my life. I have never seen an enforcement policy stop people from coming. Changes to enforcement policies just lead to changes in how people come. It is a very big border that covers a lot of wilderness. The amount of money it would take to physically block it boggles my mind. I suspect what we'll do is make it still possible to cross, but even more dangerous. So more people will die. Will fewer people decide to try? I don't know.
(I was going to put in a link to a story I saw earlier today about immigration from Mexico already being much lower than it was earlier, but I can't find that. I don't suppose it would change any minds, anyway. Immigration has become an issue like abortion: land of true beliefs and no room for finding common ground to work towards shared goals. It is too bad, because I think this leads to more death and suffering. In both cases.)
Enough politics... this is a surprisingly interesting deep dive about the F word and its surrogates.
And here's my favorite bunny picture of the week!
Happy weekend, everyone.
Anyway, we got no new information from that press conference other than that President Obama supports the idea of a true bipartisan commission to investigate the Russian interference in our election. That is different from what Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell say they support, which is an investigation by the usual committees. (Nevermind that the chairman of the House Oversight Committee has already signaled he's NOT starting an investigation....) The difference is that the usual committees can choose to hold closed door sessions, don't necessarily provide the minority party with subpoena power, and have other competing priorities that could delay the completion of the investigation. So, if you want to call your representatives and press for an investigation, I recommend mentioning that you are supporting the bill Reps Swalwell and Cummings introduced, or you can say that you are urging a true bipartisan commission like the one we had after the September 11 attacks.
My worries are ratcheted back down to where they were at the beginning of the week, and I'm back to thinking that we need to prepare for a lengthy push to get investigations of Trump's many conflicts of interest and the Russian hacking. I was curious about precedent here, so I went and looked up the timeline for the Watergate scandal. It wasn't as fast as people seem to think. Nixon was re-elected in the middle of it. And that was with Democrats in control of Congress. I look forward to talking with my parents about what they remember from that time over the holidays, to see what lessons we might take for now. Forcing legislators to investigate a President from their own party is not going to be easy, but I think we have to try. And if they won't do it, we have to try to elect people in 2018 who will.
Why do we need an investigation if all our intelligence agencies agree the Russians were behind the hacks? David Frum poses five questions. I would also like to hear FBI Director Comey explain why he treated the hacking news so differently from the discovery of emails from Hillary Clinton on Anthony Weiner's laptop. Why did he keep the former quiet and announce the latter?
If you're not aware of what is happening in North Carolina right now, here is a short description that puts it into the broader context. I am genuinely curious to hear from any readers who see a defense for what the Republicans are doing right now. It seems so blatantly anti-democratic to me, and I have yet to find any conservative writer defending it. But bubbles, blah blah blah... so maybe I'm missing something. Let me know. I promise to listen!
If you're fired up and ready to fight, here are two things to read: The leader of the NC NAACP about creating a moral movement for change will help you think about why you fight and a document from a group of former Congressional staffers who watched the Tea Party stifle Obama's agenda will give you ideas about how to fight.
I know that I have at times felt like there is little I can do from my safely blue state, but Heather Gerken makes a case about how states like California can use state's rights arguments to fight back. My governor has already had this idea. He gave a rousing speech to the American Geophysical Union, which included a quote that is making the rounds of the internet:
“And, if Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite”
(If you want to read a summary of the speech, the Sacramento Bee has one.)
Ta-Nehisi Coates' longread on President Obama, My President Was Black, is excellent. But don't miss Tressie McMillan Cottom's response, The Problem with Obama's Faith in White America. That one was a humbling read as I realize even more of how little I understand about how race really works in this country.
Zadie Smith's On Optimism and Despair is excellent, too.
Gianpiero Petriglieri's defense of cosmopolitanism was my favorite thing I read all week.
I meant to share this essay from someone who worked as a voter protection volunteer in Philadelphia earlier, but I forgot. It is an eye opening read. My voting experiences have been uniformly good. I am sad that this is not universally true.
This is a sad story of one type of heartbreak associated with illegal border crossings. So many deaths, so many families who don't know what has happened to their love ones. I wish I thought that the policy changes promised by our new administration would stop this sort of heartbreak, but I don't. I've lived in a border state for all except 6 years of my life. I have never seen an enforcement policy stop people from coming. Changes to enforcement policies just lead to changes in how people come. It is a very big border that covers a lot of wilderness. The amount of money it would take to physically block it boggles my mind. I suspect what we'll do is make it still possible to cross, but even more dangerous. So more people will die. Will fewer people decide to try? I don't know.
(I was going to put in a link to a story I saw earlier today about immigration from Mexico already being much lower than it was earlier, but I can't find that. I don't suppose it would change any minds, anyway. Immigration has become an issue like abortion: land of true beliefs and no room for finding common ground to work towards shared goals. It is too bad, because I think this leads to more death and suffering. In both cases.)
Enough politics... this is a surprisingly interesting deep dive about the F word and its surrogates.
And here's my favorite bunny picture of the week!
— うさぎ島の写真bot (@rabbit_isle_bot) December 16, 2016
Happy weekend, everyone.
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