Even Simone Biles can be a pretext for sadistic bullying from the Fox party.

On Fox, a growing cadre of white, male rightwing sports talking heads sharpened their claws, ignoring the racial and gendered nuance of Biles’ experience. On his Fox Sports radio show Doug Gottlieb claimed Biles hasn’t faced criticism in her career. “For years, women have said, all we want to be judged as is equal,” he opined. “Generally, we don’t have any sort of critique for our female sports teams. On one hand you want to be viewed, treated, and compensated the same as the men, but on the other hand whatever you do, just don’t be critical of us.”

On the one hand you want … Read the rest

It’s an interesting idea, that a member of Congress should be able to encourage a violent attack on that same Congress because his team lost an election, and then get the government to act as his lawyer. The DoJ isn’t persuaded.

The Justice Department rejected a request by Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks for legal protection in court against a lawsuit linking him to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Brooks, former President Donald Trump and others were sued by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., earlier this year. Swalwell alleges that Brooks and others named in the lawsuit helped incite a mob of Trump supporters on Jan. 6 during a pro-Trump rally.

Swalwell alleges it and the … Read the rest

Why indeed?

Originally a comment by cluecat on A full wax.

This has been an issue in a number of settings – particularly gymnastics and related sports. A number of us have taken the point deduction that comes with departing from uniform expectations in competitions. Those deductions can be substantial – going from a near-perfect score on technical grounds, to ending up placing last as a direct result of the clothing/appearance penalty. A penalty applied only to female athletes in these settings – the males rarely have points deducted on these grounds.

I have competed wearing leggings in some sets, and others have worn the “boy’s” uniforms – a vest or mens’ leo with shorts. We were all penalised for refusing … Read the rest

So that’s a relief anyway.

BREAKING: DOJ & Garland have rejected Mo Brooks’s request to be immunized for the insurrection. They correctly found that his actions were OUTSIDE the scope of his duties.

Called it: https://t.co/bk89cVUNem

— Norm Eisen (#TryingTrump out now!) (@NormEisen) July 28, 2021

DOJ says Mo Brooks was NOT acting in his scope of employment in his rabble-rousing 1/6 speech and thus they will not defend him against the lawsuit by Eric Swalwell. Very big development as a practical matter, and Brooks is going to be sweating it big time come his deposition,

— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) July 28, 2021

And not just Mo Brooks…

DOJ sends a clear-as-day signal that Trump would also not be shielded

I saw a tweet by Amy Siskind saying the Pillsbury Dough Boy of Fox News is now mocking today’s January 6 hearing, and after I got my breath back I looked for more. Aaron Rupar, as so often, obliges.

Tucker Carlson is now making fun of Adam Kinzinger for choking up during the January 6 committee hearing pic.twitter.com/d5IPxjrqIG

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2021

i know it's not even really worth amplifying this stuff but man, this is so absurd. i pity anyone who thinks this sort of deflection is compelling pic.twitter.com/M8uWG7AIEp

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2021

And in case that’s not enough –

“Hysteria” and “grift” – yes it’s all just a big con game. … Read the rest

From a comment by iknklast on How to threaten power.

There is a battle between faculty and administration right now, both of whom claim to support high standards, but who identify that differently. High standards to the faculty means that you actually educate the students in what they came to learn; high standards to the administration means they are happy. They are doing battle right now with English and Math because they are trying to remove basic competencies in reading and mathematics that we currently require for graduation; the administration says that held up several students from getting their degree on time. Yeah. It’s more important that they graduate than that they learn anything.

They’ve also made it possible … Read the rest

From a comment by Rob on Systemic v individual.

I’m not going to enumerate all the examples of serious cultural, institutional and systemic racism in western society. Any reasonable person just needs to open their eyes to see the ocean we swim in. CRT was initially adopted by law schools as a tool for analysing the effect of laws (past and present) and the way their application affected people coming into contact with the legal system (police, courts and prisons). Remember this isn’t just kumbaya-singing hippies at universities, but hard headed lawyers from a wide ranging political and social spectrum. You can find plenty of non-academic lawyers and prosecutors online who give meaningful and specific examples of current systemic … Read the rest

Well. That takes some nerve.

Really?!

No.

Stefanik’s claim is that the Capitol police raised concerns about security and that Pelosi “prioritized her partisan political optics over their safety.” But there’s a catch: their safety is not Pelosi’s jurisdiction.

It should go without saying that the main person who bears responsibility for the violence that occurred on Jan. 6 is former President Donald Trump, whose lies about the election being stolen are what inspired a militant set of protesters to gather in Washington. He then directed that very group he convened to head to the Capitol and told them to “show strength.”

But as far as who was responsible for security vulnerabilities that day [is concerned], Pelosi again

Speaking of shorts on the men and tiny tiny underpants on the women, Gail Dines points out something I think of every time I see those damn photos and clips –

No discussion in mainstream media about the need for women athletes to have a full Brazilian wax to wear the hypersexualized, pornified skimpy outfits. Aside from the very painful procedure, women often bleed during the wax, get infections, and it hurts when the hair grows back. Could you imagine men having to wax their pubic area in order to compete in sports? And the mostly male coaches get to have a bird’s eye view of the women’s crotches, and we know that Larry Nassar is not just one bad

CNN on the treason hearings:

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack at the Capitol held its first hearing on Tuesday with harrowing testimony from four officers who shared their stories of being attacked by the rioters.

…

One by one, the four officers who testified Tuesday — DC Metropolitan Police Officers Daniel Hodges and Michael Fanone, and Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Sgt. Aquilino Gonell — recounted their gut-wrenching stories about how they were attacked and their lives were threatened on January 6.

Witnesses and committee members were verklempt at times.

H[odg]es described how he was forced to scream out in agony as he was pressed between the rioters and a metal doorframe. Fanone

Aaron Rupar is following the January 6 hearing for us.

Sgt. Gonell gets emotional recalling how when he returned home early on the morning on Jan 7, he had to push his wife away because of all the chemicals he had on his clothes pic.twitter.com/91LBpd1LVi

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2021

Fanone: "I was aware enough to recognize I was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm. I was electrocuted again and again and again with a taser. I'm sure I was screaming, but I don't think I could even hear my own voice." pic.twitter.com/2qgmASp6n1

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2021

Fanone pounds the table as he says, "the indifference shown to my

As the man said – powerful.

Officer Dunn: "There was an attack carried out on January 6, and a hit man sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that." pic.twitter.com/mIOtjxKpI7

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2021

… Read the rest

Labour is not supporting Rosie Duffield, Labour is instead doing what the trans “activists” and “allies” ordered them to do, and “investigating” her.

LGBT+ Labour said its demand “comes after a pattern of LGBT-phobic behaviour culminating in the endorsement of tweet from a person arrested on terrorism charges which accuses members of the LGBT+ community of being ‘cosplayers’”.

And? Is LGBT+ Labour seriously pretending zero such “members of the community” are cosplayers? Many such members go on at great length about their cosplaying.

Never mind that, heads they win tails we lose.

Update, 6.50pm: A Labour spokesperson said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of homophobia or transphobia extremely seriously. This complaint will be fully investigated in line

Oh the confidence of a man who knows nothing at all about it.

People saying stupid things like this know they're talking about predatory cis men and not trans women, right? Right? Hello, is this thing on?https://t.co/s8z7ywBB1s

— Mike (@Mike_P_Williams) July 26, 2021

But how do women keep predatory men out of women’s change rooms when we’re not allowed to keep men out of women’s change rooms? They don’t show up with labels on you know.

Good fucking grief, if this is the sort of vile abuse I receive, what must it be like for trans people? My advice: let them exist and stop trying to police safe spaces and blaming trans women for the behaviours of predatory men.

You have GOT to be kidding.

Inbox: “Reps. Gaetz, Gohmert, Gosar, and Greene to Hold Press Conference at DOJ Demanding Answers on Treatment of January 6th Prisoners” pic.twitter.com/OjN2LVh1kG

— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) July 26, 2021

All of a sudden the ugliest most right-wing Republicans care about treatment of prisoners – when the prisoners in question are white guys who did absolutely nothing wrong apart from invading the Capitol, assaulting cops, trying to assassinate members of Congress, and making an energetic attempt to overthrow the government and install a dictator.

It’s enough to make you projectile-vomit.… Read the rest

Speaking of female v male sport clothes…

The sexism and misogyny reflected in sports uniforms is indeed a global problem. https://t.co/R7UwWk402i

— Black Together Again (@KProtein19) July 26, 2021

It’s almost as if the whole point is to…… Read the rest

Check out this complete fuckwit answering demands for specifics and evidence with a tweet of his own which is just another string of assertions. “Show me some evidence!” “Ok here’s me saying things!” Doing this over and over again. The conceit plus stupidity is quite something. Complete fuckwit inexplicably has 248 thousand followers.

https://t.co/040ztvZvt4

— George Aylett (@GeorgeAylett) July 26, 2021

https://t.co/040ztvZvt4

— George Aylett (@GeorgeAylett) July 26, 2021

https://t.co/KXz5A5sfUY

— George Aylett (@GeorgeAylett) July 26, 2021

https://t.co/040ztvZvt4

— George Aylett (@GeorgeAylett) July 26, 2021

People are either being purposefully ignorant or they genuinely don’t know about Duffield’s transphobia. To everybody saying ‘what has she done?!’ have a look: https://t.co/040ztvZvt4

— George Aylett (@GeorgeAylett) July 26, 2021

“But why should … Read the rest

Scene: a sporting goods store in Montana. A guy spots Tucker Carlson and gets in his face.

In a confrontation that swiftly went viral, a Montana man told Fox News host Tucker Carlson: “You are the worst human being known to mankind.”

The man, identified on Instagram as Dan Bailey, posted the video of the encounter in a sporting goods store on 23 July.

…

Fox News’s most-watched host, a key influence on rightwing politics and invective, has recently come under fire for questioning vaccines against Covid-19 while refusing to say if he has had one, and for stoking racial division.

“Questioning vaccines” is putting it politely. Really what he’s doing is encouraging people not to get them, … Read the rest

Pink News is trying hard to punish a woman MP who says that only women are women.

LGBT+ Labour are calling for Rosie Duffield to lose the whip and be suspended from the party after an alleged “pattern of LGBT-phobic behaviour” from the Canterbury MP.

Yes the pattern is “alleged” all right, and the allegation is false.

LGBT+ Labour’s statement comes after Duffield liked a tweet by Kurtis Lemaster yesterday (25 July) that stated the word “queer” is being reclaimed by “heterosexuals cosplaying as the opposite sex and as ‘gay’”.

Why would that be a reason to remove the whip and suspend her from the party? They don’t say.

Rosie Duffield’s history of anti-trans activity

That is, her history of … Read the rest