Planet Moron

Review of The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray

“The Madness of Crowds” by Douglas Murray was published nearly a year ago and yet could not be more timely. Like The China Syndrome-Three Mile Island timely. Like, the film industry is finally making great comic-book movies before I die timely. And while it was not exactly the book I thought it was, it was anything but a disappointment.

Rather than being a deep dive into the psychology of mob behavior as I had assumed, The Madness of Crowds is instead a kind of detailed travelogue of the madness that has gripped our current culture, and in the end offers a possible explanation for why people seem to be going nuts all around us.

A handful of examples:

At a panel discussion at Rutgers university on identity politics, Kmele Foster, an African-American libertarian and entrepreneur, was making a purely reasonable defense for free speech when a portion of the crowd turned on him chanting “black lives matter.” At one point, one of the African Americans who had been shouting at him was asked by Foster:

“Do facts matter?”

His response?

“Don’t tell me about facts. I don’t need no facts.”

Well, that certainly does explain a lot!

It is also worth pondering that this excerpt is not from the chapter titled “Crazy Sh*t.” It doesn’t quite make the cut.

What does?

Upon the upcoming release of the movie Black Panther, a senior editor of The Planetary Society named Emily Lackdawalla asked Twitter “When would be the appropriate moment for a white woman such as herself to go to see Black Panther?”

Keep in mind that Lackdawalla is a grown woman, a respected individual with a masters degree in planetary geology.

And yet she appears to believe that her skin color holds the power to rob black people of joy by her mere presence.

Infantilizing an entire race is apparently a new way to show them respect. Or perhaps she’s just floating ideas for the next MCU super-villain. Working titles: “Karen the Conqueror” and “Captain Supremacy.” Vote for your favorite in the comments.

In a later chapter Murray recounts the trouble National Geographic got into a few years back for an article it had published with a photo caption of Aboriginal Australians that read:

"South Australian Blackfellows: These savages rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings."

In 1916.

I think we can all agree that that was an awful thing to write. (Besides, Antifa members hold that crown.)

But we can also all agree that it was over 100 years ago.

National Geographic effusively apologized of course for these terrible statements made by people who aren’t them, but in the age of catastrophizing everything, it turns out little has changed.

Eight months after that confession, Vox noticed that the magazine had not learned its lesson after all. Writer Kainaz Amaria wrote a piece about National Geographic’s latest issue that included a cowboy sitting on a horse on an open plain juxtaposed with a photo of a native American protesting in full headdress and other accoutrements and noted that:

“This visual framing — the heroic white savior versus the savage native — is not new to the American imagination or to the magazine.”

We would argue that such visual framing had faded into obscurity from the American imagination quite a long time ago, but apparently not to the imagination of Amaria.

And that says so much more about her than about the rest of us.

It should also probably be noted that the native American protesting chose to dress the way he did of his own accord, perhaps forgetting he should have first sought the permission of Amaria.

These handful of anecdotes can not do justice to an Audible book that clocks in just under 12 hours, but it does give you a flavor, and after a bit you start understanding what Murray really means about the “madness of crowds.” It’s not always a momentary thing, a mob overcome with the emotion of the moment that settles down hours later. He’s also talking about societal madness, movements that endure over years to the point that a well-meaning professional woman feels the need to ask permission to see a movie featuring African Americans or a centuries-old institution feeling the need to start apologizing for statements made by people long dead.

More than that, Murray builds the case that the madness does have a purpose, that purpose being to divide us, to make us believe that life is so intolerable that we must tear it all down and start over.

Murray’s argument rests on the social justice warriors choosing transgender issues as their point of the spear for change. Not transsex or intersex, which are, or can be made to be, actual physical changes, but a movement that requires you to accept someone is of another gender simply because he or she asserts it without any other evidence needed.

As Murray points out, this naturally results in absurdities such as the convicted male rapist insisting he is a transgender women, getting placed in a woman’s prison, and then proceeding to rape four women.

A few additional observations.

Murray narrates the book himself, which is always  welcomed by me if they are any good at it. He is. He is a Brit and has that classic wry delivery you would expect. I could see some people finding it annoying after a bit, but I enjoyed it.

Murray is gay. This should not be important, and maybe some day it won’t be, but his observations regarding the LGBTQ community (namely that there really is no such thing in that the components of the abbreviation don’t really form an actual community) is informed by more personal experience than a straight person could bring to such a subject.

If you are interested in purchasing the book (available in various formats including hard cover, paperback, Audible, and Kindle, please consider using one of our links here (such as this one!). It is an affiliate link (explained towards the bottom of the column on the right) and costs you nothing extra but can help us out.

Of all the books we’ve reviewed this year, this one might be the most urgent. If only by a little.

J.

They’re Relying On The Science! Political Science. (That’s A Science, Right?)

You might find yourself confused as to why you have to wear a face mask given all the conflicting information you’ve been given.

That’s because you have been duped. You need to stop listening to so-called “experts” like the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization and instead listen to real experts, like the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

Well, after they’ve changed their minds, that is. Just assume everything we thought we knew about viruses over the past five decades is wrong, and we just now in the past couple of months finally figured it all out.

Talk about timing.

For example, a study earlier this year that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine made the following observation:

“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection… In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."

We now know that this statement was taken out of context. The correct context is shut up and wear your mask.

Kind of casts it in a whole new light, doesn’t it?

The Surgeon General had made similar statements strongly discouraging the wearing of face masks saying they were ineffective and could do more harm than good.

He has since recanted, urging us all that masks actually do work explaining the change by pointing out that we once “prescribed cigarettes for asthmatics.”

Ha! We were SO dumb in the 1950s. And March.

Poltifact even fact-checked a study that suggested masks were ineffective, finding that:

“No, a CDC-WHO study does not prove that masks do not prevent spread of COVID-19.”

Silly Citizens.

Their reasons:

First, the study was done on influenza, and yes, it may spread like Covid-19, but the study never mentioned Covid-19 specifically. (We assume they used the “Find” function.)

Second, they note that the study was done by the University of Hong Kong.

Keep in mind, they are trying to discredit the study by noting it was done by the Chinese.

Now normally, that would be very extremely racist and possibly a form of hate speech, and many careers would need to be ended as a consequence, but that is not the case here because of reasons.

Finally, one of the seven authors of the study said the claim was false.

Which author?

The only one who was white.

Again, under different circumstances that would be cause for an immediate dismissal of everyone at Politifact, the burning down of their offices and the smoking ruins left as a warning to others.

But these aren’t those circumstances. These are the kind of circumstances where you can say and do those things without fear of retribution.

The white, reliable, non-Chinese scientist pointed out that the finding that masks were not effective was an “incorrect interpretation,” of the study “confusing absence of evidence with evidence of absence.”

In human speak, that means the study found no proof that they were effective, but it didn’t prove they were ineffective either.

In other words, just because you found that beating on your computer with a hammer didn’t seem to help it connect to WiFi, doesn’t mean you’ve proven that beating on your computer with a hammer isn’t effective.

Science!

It should also be pointed out that the CDC directs you to many Chinese studies to prove that masks are in fact effective.

But we guess those were all approved by white guys.

Still suspicious?

Permit us to drop some truth bombs on you.

The CDC believes so strongly that you should wear a mask that they state right on their web site that you must not under any circumstances wear the most effective mask for stopping the spread of virus.

Instead, wear some random piece of cloth that your neighbor down the street, the one with all the cats, made using her deceased husband’s old Korean War uniforms.

You should also be perfectly comfortable finding that when you pull up many of the articles (such as this one and this one) on how face masks might not be all that effective, those articles have been modified with clarifications and notes saying that what they said is no longer true.

Which is not the least bit suspicious so stop thinking about it right now.

You should also not spend any time at all pondering the ramifications of the CDC’s latest advice that wearing a mask when you most need it, such as during close contact with someone for 15 minutes or longer, is useless.

CDC guidelines say wearing a mask during prolonged exposure to coronavirus won't prevent possible infection https://t.co/ozOtGy8r7K

— Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) August 28, 2020

Given all this, it is clear that as sovereign citizens we can examine this conflicting advice, much of it potentially politically motivated, and make our own decisions regarding whether or not we should wear a mask, under what circumstances, and how comfortable we are around others who may make decisions different from ours based on their own circumstances and risk tolerance.

Ha, ha, just kidding. Put on your mask and shut up.

J.

Tell the world what you really think. CLICK HERE for purchase. Before we get cancelled! 

CLICK HERE! (Before they catch on to us!)

Plagiarism Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

If you are like most people watching Joe Biden’s acceptance speech Thursday night, you awoke from a deep slumber around 3 AM, an empty glass of bourbon in your hand.

Also, you were deeply moved by his closing remarks:

“Love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. And light is more powerful than dark. This is our moment. This is our mission.”

It’s like Aristotle and Shakespeare had a baby (which we understand is possible now). It is in fact so moving, so powerful, that it transcends meaning.

Seriously, we have no idea what it means, but we can tell it’s very deep and soulful based on what CNN told us to think about it.

Like all transcendent oratory, it is not without controversy. Some have suggested that Biden plagiarized the late Canadian politician Jack Layton who wrote in a farewell letter shortly before his death:

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair.”

As you can see, this is clearly not plagiarism. First of all, barely half the words are the same. Second of all, no one in the United States knows who Jack Layton is.

Regardless, this mix of philosophy and poetry has inspired us to take pen in hand and write our own message to the people of the United States:

“Good is better than bad. Life is better than death. And pie is better than kale. This is our moment. This is our dessert.”

You’re welcome.

J.

Save Our Jobs! We Mean, The Whales. Save the Whales Is What We Meant.

What if you were an environmental conservation organization raising funds to preserve threatened species and you actually succeeded in preserving one of your most profitable, we mean, most environmentally important, animals?

Would you:

A) Break out the champagne and celebrate an outcome you had all worked so tirelessly to achieve.

B) Reassess your priorities, perhaps even winding down some of your operations.

C) Make believe it never happened.

If you chose “C” you could very well be the president of a major environmental organization!

For example, the Canadian Wildlife Federation has decided to simply act as if nothing at all has changed. Take, for instance, this fundraising appeal.

That’s a humpback whale, one of the more beloved species among humans and popularized in the Star Trek movie, “The Voyage Home.”

It’s also thriving.

No matter, if it’s popular, photogenic, and most importantly, bankable, it’s going in a fundraising appeal. That’s not enough, however. You have to make sure that readers understand that the no-longer-endangered whale is in grave and immediate peril and that Visa and Mastercard are accepted. You can do that by throwing in a menacing ship of some kind. Maybe it's a whaler? Sure, commercial whaling was all but banned decades ago, but does that really matter? 

Maybe it's some sinister pleasure boater out in his 75-foot fishing trawler looking to engage in his favorite pastime:

Mowing down whales like a drunk mows down traffic cones. 

(Probably a MAGA guy.)

Oh, and don’t forget to toss in a baby.

Baby whales really open up the wallets.

What if that doesn't work?

Well, you can simply create a new "subspecies" based on where the whales happen to live.

The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a giant consortium of environmental organizations (and so not at all bureaucratic) has done just that.

"Technically, there are five kinds of Right Whales. Two are doing fine – Bowheads are increasing, and the IUCN isn’t concerned about Pygmy Right Whales.

The three remaining Right Whales used to be considered a single species. Recently some (but not all) whale experts have started viewing them as separate species according to geographical location. If that hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be having this conversation."

You see, by declaring that Right Whales who happen to live in the North Atlantic are now to be considered, “North Atlantic Right Whales,” you now have an endangered “species” that requires donations. Protection. Requires protection.

Which reminds us. While the Robin is not necessarily considered to be an endangered bird, the numbers of the subspecies, “In My Backyard Robin” are critically low.

Please send me money to preserve the In My Backyard Robin so that they may be enjoyed for generations to come.

Or do you just hate nature?

J.

White Vegans: The New Ku Klux Klan

You may not know this, but food is now considered “owned” by members of whatever culture originally produced it and can only be claimed by individual members of the race associated with that culture or who “look like them.”

Please note, this is not in the least bit racist.

If you prepare, enjoy, and promote a food, and you are not a member of the culture that created it, or look like the members of that culture, you are “appropriating” it.

Again, not racist.

And this turns “racialized people away,” racialized people being people who are not white, which apparently ceased being a race at some point.  (Kind of embarrassing, we have always prided ourselves on keeping up with the news.)

This, too, is not even remotely a racist viewpoint.

It was important that we clear that up early.

According to reporter Anya Zoledziowskian of Vice, these “white vegans” have been “appropriating traditional foods forever.”

Vegan Instagrammer Afia Amoako adds, “they often touted recipes such as ‘African peanut stew’ or ‘Asian stir fry’ that rely on racial stereotypes.”

Which is totally outrageous. Well, sure, your author was personally introduced to African peanut stew years ago by a coworker who was from Western Africa where she had noted that it is a common staple, but it’s now totally racist to make such an obvious and factual observation about food (even if in the same breath people are claiming those very foods for exclusive promotion by their culture or race).

So, in order for you to make and promote, say, Mexican tacos, you must be Mexican. That’s NOT racist.  However if you suggest tacos are Mexican and that Mexcians eat them, that IS racist. 

It’s best if you don’t think about it too much.

As black vegan influencer Tabitha Brown noted, she used to think vegans were “white ladies who do yoga.”

Which is not at all a racial stereotype and so you are not permitted to condemn it, note it, or even mention it, so forget about it already.

Also, while not noted in the article, white ladies “culturally appropriated” yoga, too. (Surprised they missed that one.)

According to the article,

“Even pop star Lizzo has come out as vegan, coupling her new diet with the body positivity movement and racial justice.”

The keys to health have been updated it would appear:

Out: Diet and exercise

In: Diet and racial justice

That should keep those unwanted pounds off.

Emani Corcran, another vegan Instagrammer, places the blame for the “vegan girl” stereotype on the media. As the author puts it:

“This imagery ignores ‘the roots of a lot of cultures’ and risks conflating Western understanding of ‘whole foods’ or ‘organic foods’ with whiteness, instead of paying homage to cultures teeming with vegetables, grains, and legumes.”

No doubt, when white people prepare a dish of vegetable biryani, whole roasted cauliflower with zaatar spice and tahini sauce, or spicy eggplant with Szechuan sauce, the first thought that comes to their minds is:

“Wow, gotta love this traditional all-American white food. Thank you Thomas Jefferson!”

In other goings on at Vice, their culinary director, Farideh Sadeghin, is famous for her chicken parmesan.

Funny, Sadeghin doesn’t sound Italian…

J.

Ice Cream Truck Song Racist Because of Course It Is

It turns out that a traditional “ice cream truck” song, used for years by Good Humor and others, is racist.

If you are like most Planet Moron readers, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “You know what would make an ice cream bar even better? If you added bourbon. And took away the ice cream bar.”

Also, “Wait, what?!”

It turns out that yes, a favorite of generations, “Turkey in the Straw,” is racist.

Just how racist is it?”

The LA Times brought the story to a shocked and saddened world:

You might love the dessert, but you might not know the history behind the song associated with it.

As @GoodHumor explains, "Turkey in the Straw" has a VERY racist past https://t.co/BeLAppQcTb pic.twitter.com/xJMuQghiIw

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 13, 2020

It is VERY racist indeed, and, “you might not know the history behind the song associated with it.”

No, no, you would not. That’s because nobody does.

But it’s true: While it may have originated hundreds of years ago as an innocent folk tune of British and Irish origins, and in more modern times been used as a familiar jingle for ice cream trucks to alert excited children that delicious summer treats were on the way, the song has a much more sinister past:

It was used for a period of time in minstrel shows a hundred and fifty years ago, and again in a Columbia Records release as recently as 1916.

That’s right, there are people still alive today who almost certainly have no idea what you’re talking about (with the possible exception of Joe Biden).

But for the LA Times, we all could have gone the rest of our lives never knowing this and instead simply enjoyed an ancient jingle that evokes fond childhood memories.

Thank you, LA Times, thank you for rescuing us from that little bit of hell on earth.

Although, credit where it is due, the story was originally “broke” by “Code Switch” six years ago and revived back in June when Good Humor decided to be “part of the solution” (to a problem that didn’t exist until it was created).

The solution of course, is to cancel “Turkey in the Straw,” and so Good Humor is “calling on ALL drivers to STOP playing ‘Turkey in the Straw’ immediately" because of its association with minstrel shows in the 1800s.

As a reminder, this is the song in question:

You know, now that we listen to it, it does sound a little racisty.

But not to worry, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA has written and donated free of charge, a new jingle to replace this hateful song so full of hate that it makes us hate ice cream except for the Strawberry Shortcake bar because we really like the Strawberry Shortcake bar.

The new song:

This far more appropriate jingle takes a decidedly melancholy approach evoking a sense of sadness and regret, all the better to deeply ponder your privilege while you consume a creamsicle.

In other childhood-destroying news:

Hansel Culture https://t.co/oY4Atagrd0

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) August 16, 2020

J.

Coronavirus-Themed Toys For The Pandemic

What with lockdowns, closures, and parents working from home, Fisher Price has launched a line of coronavirus-themed toys so that children will have new ways to relate to today’s pandemic realities.

These items include play laptops, headsets, smartphones, coffee, kettle bells and protein shakes.

“These new play sets let kids play like they also are working from home, exercising in the house, and spending more time in the kitchen – just like their parents.”

We think this is such a great idea that we anticipate more toymakers getting in on the act the better to help kids adjust to the dramatic changes they’ve had in their daily lives:

Mommy’s New Words

A card game that’s both fun and educational helping young children understand all the new words they hear mommy saying since she started working at home full time. One player draws a card such as “Zoom Meeting Crashed,” and “Idiot in Accounting Messed up Payroll Again,” and the other player has to write down one of “Mommy’s New Words” that is the most appropriate for the situation. Parental guidance is suggested.

VIRTUE!

In this exciting new board game players will roll the dice and travel the board gathering virtue signaling yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons and t-shirts. Because children often don’t fully understand the subtlety involved in virtue signaling, slogans will be more direct and age appropriate thus helping children to better understand these kinds of messages. These will include “YOU’RE A RACIST, BUT I’M NOT,” “SHUT UP YOU TOOTHLESS HILLBILLY I’VE GOT A COLLEGE DEGREE,” “HATE HAS NO HOME HERE YOU HATING HATER BIGOT MORON,” “GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL NOW SHUT UP JUST SHUT SHUT UP ALREADY,” and much, much more!

Antifa Action Figures

Inspired by GI Joe Cobra characters, Antifa Action Figures will come complete with all the accessories you’ll need to peacefully protest such as gas masks, Molotov cocktails, bags filled with ball bearings, lasers, and incomprehensible political slogans. Fully combustible federal courthouse sold separately.

Daddy Seems Different

This new playset will include a BPA-free bottle of opioids, a packet of imitation beard stubble, and a counterfeit prescription pad. Daddy used to have his own business, but the government closed him down. Now he works at Wal-Mart and takes medicine. A lot of medicine. So much medicine that he needs more than one doctor! “Wake up daddy, wake up, I’m hungry.” 

Shrieking Karen

This delightful new doll is modeled after Barbie but a thousand times angrier. Standard doll comes with face mask, six foot pole, and a sense of moral superiority.  Imagine the joy on your children's little faces as they scream at their siblings to “stay the #*ck away from me,” and “I hope you and your children all die.” Endless fun for the whole family!

Where’s My Teacher?

This video game immerses your child in an adventure mystery searching level after level for his or her teacher.  Everyone starts in an empty classroom and then the fun begins. Is she on the picket line striking for more pay, fewer hours and defunding the police?  Is she at a BLM protest? Is she on a tour through wine country? The possibilities are endless!  The player wins once the teacher is back in the classroom where he or she belongs, teaching the kids that they are all racists.

Keep an eye out for these, just in time for the holidays!

J.

Review of Always a Soldier by Rob Smith

“Always a Soldier” by Rob Smith has one of the best tag lines in publishing history.

“Service, Sacrifice, and Coming Out as America’s Favorite Black, Gay Republican”

Clickbait?

Transparent attempt at personal branding?

Blatant marketing ploy?

Sure, all of those.

But also accurate.

Okay, it’s not as if I did a poll or anything, but I imagine Smith’s claim is valid in part because while I can think of quite a few gay Republicans, and quite a few black Republicans, thinking of a gay, black, Republican leaves me thinking of, well, Rob Smith.

He OWNS the demo.

When you purchase Always a soldier, you are essentially getting two very different books in one.

Fortunately, both are excellent in their own way.

The first three quarters or so is a stunningly honest recounting of his life as an awkward overweight teen struggling with his sexuality and the challenges of a broken home. He joins the United States army, infantry, when he was still just 17.

Part gay coming-of-age story, part eyewitness recounting of what it’s really like to be in the army, particularly during a war (he served in Iraq), makes it fascinating for those of us personally unfamiliar with either, and yet Smith makes it entirely relatable. 

That would be the “service and sacrifice” part.

The last quarter of the book is the “coming out as America’s favorite black, gay Republican” part. Here he notes how he was at first your typical progressive, pursuing many issues, such as ending the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy that was in effect when he was in the army (and a position he still supports) and then slowly becoming disenchanted with many of the positions he was expected to hold as a gay black man.

While the first part was very somber, almost melancholy (I got the Audible version and you can hear it in his voice), the second part is all confidence and bravado; it’s the Rob Smith you know from his television appearances, and serves as a triumph of sorts given the many challenges of his early life.

Smith is upfront about the two very different stories. He notes that a lot of people who would never consider reading about the life of a young gay man will pick this book up for the red meat he feeds them in the second part. He makes note of the responsibility that suggests.

He delivers on all counts. The book is authentic throughout. No punch is pulled, whether he’s describing what he thought of his fellow soldiers (good and bad both) to his personal encounters with both racism and homophobia (sometimes combined), to his early relationships with men (both romantic and and sexual), to his dressing down of the “LGBTQ cult” to discussing how illegal immigration hurts lower income blacks to how it was more difficult in many ways coming out as a Republican than coming out as gay.

But in the end, Rob Smith’s story isn’t just a story about a gay man or a story about the military or a story about a political transformation. For all that, it’s an old-fashioned American story in which perseverance triumphs over hardship.

Let's have more of that.

J.

Out: Kamala Harris Tough-As-Nails-Prosecutor. In: Kamala Harris Social Justice Warrior

If you are like most Planet Moron readers, you probably already know what time the liquor store opens.

Also, that Democratic nominee Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris to be his running mate, a politician who made her career being a tough-on-crime prosecutor in various positions in California including rising to the office of state attorney general.

You would think this might be problematic for many progressives who have worked a lifetime promoting social justice causes, specifically involving prison reform, sentencing guidelines, and prosecutorial overreach.  For example, Shaun King, a civil rights activist who has dedicated his life to social justice issues, said in late 2018:

I'll be frank and tell you two Democrats that I am 99% sure I won't be supporting - primarily because of their dismal history on criminal justice reform over the course of their entire careers.

Joe Biden & Kamala Harris.

They both helped build & advance mass incarceration.

— Shaun King (@shaunking) November 14, 2018

Seeing this, you no doubt expect he will probably be conflicted, perhaps holding his nose and tepidly supporting the ticket over Trump. And yet he takes it a step or two (or hundred) beyond that, believing the ticket is less a nightmare, and more a “dream:”

"That's it for me.

I am incredibly proud to see a brilliant Black woman, and HBCU grad, chosen as a Vice Presidential nominee.

I've done political work my whole life. It's rarely things dreams are made of. Kamala

Harris is the most progressive VP nominee in American history."

People are having a lot of fun with this but what you may not realize is that she has changed quite a bit, “especially this summer:”

Yes.

In 2018, I said I did not plan on endorsing either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES.

I endorsed Bernie.

I’ve been a strong critic of Biden & Harris on issues of justice.

She has grown and evolved on policing & justice.

Especially this summer. https://t.co/RwuR8weka1

— Shaun King (@shaunking) August 12, 2020

We don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty sincere. In fact, King goes further, and notes she hasn’t done a complete 180 degrees on her life’s work just over the summer. That would be a stretch. Her views have actually been particularly evolving over the past four months during which she has made many “remarks:”

Among current United States Senators, I would rank Kamala Harris in the Top 3 on justice reform issues.

As we know, she has a mastery of the system, but has evolved and grown a great deal on this.

Her remarks on justice over the past 4 months were the best of ANY Senator.

— Shaun King (@shaunking) August 11, 2020

Before you say anything, it is a total coincidence that Kamala Harris has spent the past four months actively pursuing the Vice Presidential nod from Biden and suggesting that she changed her long-held views on the subject only recently in a blatant and unprincipled pursuit of power means you are racist, misogynist, and probably are particularly resentful of people of Indian and Jamaican heritage.

Hater.

We need more people like Kamala Harris, people who have the courage to take a stand as soon as it becomes personally advantageous for them to do so.

And we'll probably get them.

J.

‘We Have Her Back’ Wait, When Did She Leave?

A new group called, “We Have Her Back,” has helpfully put together an instruction manual for the media regarding how they are to cover Joe Biden’s pick for vice president.

The group was formed by women from a number of existing groups including NARAL, Planned Parenthood,  TimesUp, and other totally nonpartisan organizations that nonpartisanly support exclusively progressive issues including the Democratic vice presidential nominee whomever that turns out to be.

“We Have Her Back” wants to ensure that the VP pick is not treated unfairly by the media, particularly black and brown women.

It should be noted before we go any farther that in nonpartisan progressive circles there is a strict hierarchy of victimhood that must be adhered to and mentioned at every opportunity. In the letter “We Have Her Back” sent to their media servants independent journalists this was on full display:

“Given how few women have reached this point, the sometimes disappointing coverage of the process to date and the double standards we’ve seen in the public and media expectations of women leaders over the years-and even more so for Black and Brown women leaders…”

“Women have been subject to stereotypes and tropes about qualifications, leadership, looks, relationships and experience. Those stereotypes are often amplified and weaponized for Black and Brown women.”

“Attempts at legitimate investigations of a candidate have repeatedly turned into misguided stories that perpetuate impressions of women as inadequate leaders, and Black and Brown women as worse.”

“Reporting on and using pictures of a woman’s, particularly black women, show of anger at injustice or any other kind of passion in communication perpetuates racist tropes…”

It’s not clear why the letter did not note that media coverage is super-duper double worse if you are a black or brown LGBTQ handicapped undocumented woman.

The group notes that:

“Reporting, even as asides in a story, on a woman’s looks, weight, tone of voice, attractiveness and hair is sexist news coverage unless the same analysis is applied to every candidate”

Of course, an analysis of  looks, weight, tone of voice, attractiveness and hair has been applied to male candidates for years.

But when you do it to a woman it’s sexist because of course it is.

You also can’t report on a woman’s relationship with her staff, whether or not she is likeable, her electability, nor can you show any pictures of women, particularly black and brown women, when they are angry.

Sure, all of these things have been reported on for years with male candidates but on the other hand shut up.

Why is it important that the media not report unflattering things about a female candidate?

Because “We Have Her Back” believes that women, even more so for black and brown women, are so strong, so independent, and so powerful, that they must be shielded from any and all criticism whatsoever.

It’s easy to see why it is necessary, now more than ever, to confront the systematic sexism and racism that is so rampant in this country.

In fact, we are so sexist and racist that not only are we seeing a record numbers of races that include only women, but a record number of races that include non-white women.

Yeah, it’s gotten that bad.

Fortunately, we have “We Have Her Back” to see to it that these record numbers of women running for office this November are not oppressed by the oppressive American oppressors who just recently voted for them to secure their respective parties' nomination.

“We are here to help you with this challenge. We would be happy to meet and continue to engage on these issues.”

They really do "have her back."

It's not clear who has yours, though.

J.