September 17, 2017

So like a lot of other people, I got my copy of "What Happened" by Hillary Clinton this week, Because I actually had deadlines I had to meet before I could allow myself to get distracted, I didn't start reading the book until this weekend.

I had to put it down, just a few chapters in.

I had mentally prepared myself to feel saddened. My mom actually passed away the day after Election Day, so my sense of devastation was pretty acute back then, and I thought I might be triggered into all that grief all over again.

But instead, I felt angry.

I'm talking Hulk-like rage. Fury, like white hot pokers, burned through me. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, making my hands shake and me unable to sit still. I was ready to get into the face of any Trump supporter who passed by my notice on social media and turn them into a quivering mass of white male fragility.

I wasn't upset over anything Hillary wrote. It's a pretty clear-eyed, frank and no b.s. memoir, where (despite what so many men who haven't read the book want you to believe) she accepts plenty of responsibility for choices and mistakes made. No, I was upset because of how hard it is for women to be believed when they try to tell their own story, be it the first female major party candidate for president, or a journalist, or an actress/writer, or a gamer, or even a sexual assault victim.

Damnitall to hell, we're more than half the American population. And you know the statistics: we get paid less, we get fewer opportunities to lead, to innovate, to host television shows, etc. etc. And worse, far worse than all of that, we don't get the respect of being listened to or believed when we try to tell our story.

Hell, just look at how few women are booked this morning.

So yeah, I'm not ready to make nice with that rubbish any more.

And you shouldn't either.

ABC's "This Week" - British Prime Minister Theresa May; national security adviser H.R. McMaster; Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Panel: GOP strategist Alex Castellanos, Patrick Gaspard, vice president of Open Society Foundations and former U.S. ambassador to South Africa; ABC’s Jonathan Karl; Republican strategist and CNN commentator Alice Stewart; and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Panel: Doris Kearns Goodwin; David Brody of CBN News; Al Cardena; and Katy Tur.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Panel: Jamelle Bouie of Slate, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, Susan Page of USA Today and Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Panel: CNN commentator Ana Navarro; former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.; and David Urban.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" -- Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University and Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.” Anne Applebaum of The Washington Post; Fraser Nelson, The Spectator; and Martin Wolf, The Financial Times.

CNN's "Reliable Sources" -- Christine Brennan of USA Today; Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post; Spencer Ackerman of The Daily Beast; Amy Chozick of The New York Times; Michael Oreskes of NPR; Nancy Gibbs of Time Magazine; Sarah Westwood of the Washington Examiner.

"Fox News Sunday" - McMaster; Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Panel: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Julie Pace of The Associated Press, Guy Benson of Townhall.com and Rachael Bade of Politico.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon