Behold a mean person

May 3rd, 2017 4:37 am | By

I’m told that Zoé Samudzi perpetrated a Twitter storm on Friday, and I gather that may be what set off the flamers who quickly got Hypatia to agree to throw Rebecca Tuvel under the bus. Samudzi tweets a lot, so I haven’t found the storm yet, but I found a more recent squall, and it’s nasty enough for any taste. She’s responding to Jesse Singal’s article yesterday.

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859122708633665536

The piece is about Tuvel, specifically the attack on Tuvel and the retraction of her article along with a public attack by the editors. It doesn’t “give her a platform”; it reports on her abrupt deprivation of a platform. It’s not obliged to give other academics a “platform”; it’s an article, not an academic department or a conference.

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859123139736776704

“Whining” indeed. As if Samudzi wouldn’t “whine” if somebody published an article of hers and then retracted it and publicly excoriated her. And she’s lying about the dogwhistle.

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859123320687435776

Oh, is she being neglected? Is that a whine? Also, is she really complaining about not getting enough credit for her Twitter yammering? It’s Twitter; it’s not publication. Nobody is obliged to pay attention to her THREAD.

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859123461993578497

Oh I see, this is white privilege, is it? Having an article retracted and having the editors publicly trash you? And it’s being affirmed as a victim? That’s how that works?

If this stuff is representative, Samudzi must be a remarkably callous and malicious human being. If that’s lefty politics, we’re all fucked.

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859125983558877184

It’s not “dangerous.” That blackmailing catastrophizing bullshit is what’s dangerous: it’s driving feminism out of public discourse.

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859126392906104832

That’s simply disgusting. She’s not “whining”; her academic freedom was very obviously infringed; she hasn’t engaged in any “epistemic violence”; and retracting an article and demonizing its author is not mere “pushback.”

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/859126927851831297

Sure, go ahead, destroy her career. Why not?

I feel dirty now.



Tuvel’s peers are busily wrecking her reputation

May 2nd, 2017 5:28 pm | By

Jesse Singal has written a blast against the public trashing of Rebecca Tuvel’s article.

In late March, Hypatia, a feminist-philosophy journal, published an article titled “In Defense of Transracialism” by Rebecca Tuvel, an assistant professor of philosophy at Rhodes College in Memphis, as part of its spring 2017 issue. The point of the article, as the title suggests, is to toy around with the question of what it would mean if some people really were — as Rachel Dolezal claimed — “transracial,” meaning they identified as a race that didn’t line up with how society viewed them in light of their ancestry.

Tuvel structures her argument more or less as follows: (1) We accept the following premises about trans people and the rights and dignity to which they are entitled; (2) we also accept the following premises about identities and identity change in general; (3) therefore, the common arguments against transracialism fail, and we should accept that there’s little apparent logically coherent reason to deny the possibility of genuine transracialism.

Anyone who has read an academic philosophy paper will be familiar with this sort of argument. The goal, often, is to provoke a little — to probe what we think and why we think it, and to highlight logical inconsistencies that might help us better understand our values and thought processes. This sort of article is abstract and laden with hypotheticals — the idea is to pull up one level from the real world and force people to grapple with principles and claims on their own merits, rather than — in the case of Dolezal — baser instincts like disgust and outrage. This is what many philosophers do.

Fortunately for us, because it’s a good idea to probe what we think and why we think it and to highlight logical inconsistencies that might help us better understand our values and thought processes. One of the things I loathe most about the “SHUN HER NOW” school of non-thought is the way it forbids all that and insists that thinking has to be replaced with formulas and that the formulas have to be repeated exactly or dire punishment will follow. In short I loathe the banning of thought and probing and questions. I think I knew I couldn’t stay at FTB any longer when the goons started mocking me for daring to say it made a difference whether we were talking about ontology or politics. Fucking hell, if we can’t make distinctions as basic as that how can we think at all?

Tuvel is now bearing the brunt of a massive internet witch-hunt, abetted in part by Hypatia’s refusal to stand up for her. The journal has already apologized for the article, despite the fact that it was approved through its normal editorial process, and Tuvel’s peers are busily wrecking her reputation by sharing all sorts of false claims about the article that don’t bear the scrutiny of even a single close read.

The biggest vehicle of misinformation about Tuvel’s articles comes from the “open letter to Hypatia” that has done a great deal to help spark the controversy. That letter has racked up hundreds of signatories within the academic community — the top names listed are Elise Springer of Wesleyan University, Alexis Shotwell of Carleton University (who is listed as the point of contact), Dilek Huseyinzadegan of Emory University, Lori Gruen of Wesleyan, and Shannon Winnubst of Ohio State University.

It’s shocking. What the open letter people are doing is shocking.

Singal goes through the open letter and lists the many mistakes and false claims in it. I recommend reading the whole thing.

All in all, it’s remarkable how many basic facts this letter gets wrong about Tuvel’s paper. Either the authors simply lied about the article’s contents, or they didn’t read it at all. Every single one of the hundreds of signatories on the open letter now has their name on a document that severely (and arguably maliciously) mischaracterizes the work of one of their colleagues. This is not the sort of thing that usually happens in academia — it’s a really strange, disturbing instance of mass groupthink, perhaps fueled by the dynamics of online shaming and piling-on.

Others within academia criticized Tuvel’s article in misleading ways as well. In his article, Weinberg highlights a popular public Facebook post by Nora Berenstain, a philosophy professor at the University of Tennessee, that has since been taken down but which read as follows (I’m introducing numbers to take the new points on one by one):

(1) Tuvel enacts violence and perpetuates harm in numerous ways throughout her essay. She deadnames a trans woman. She uses the term “transgenderism.” (2) She talks about “biological sex” and uses phrases like “male genitalia.” (3) She focuses enormously on surgery, which promotes the objectification of trans bodies. (4) She refers to “a male-to- female (mtf) trans individual who could return to male privilege,” promoting the harmful transmisogynistic ideology that trans women have (at some point had) male privilege.

I read Berenstein’s post yesterday, more than once. I find it skin-crawling. It’s still readable on Google’s cache. Singal notes a fraction of what’s wrong with her post too, and then comments:

I could go on and on. This is a witch hunt. There has simply been an explosive amount of misinformation circulating online about what is and isn’t in Tuvel’s article, which few of her most vociferous critics appear to have even skimmed, based on their inability to accurately describe its contents. Because the right has seized on Rachel Dolezal as a target of gleeful ridicule, and as a means of making opportunistic arguments against the reality of the trans identity, a bunch of academics who really should know better are attributing to Tuvel arguments she never made, simply because she connected those two subjects in an academic article.

But it’s quite clear from her own words Tuvel doesn’t believe it’s an apt comparison to make Breitbart-y arguments about Dolezal and trans people. Here’s what she says in her very first endnote: “Importantly, I am not suggesting that race and sex are equivalent. Rather, I intend to show that similar arguments that support transgenderism support transracialism. My thesis relies in no way upon the claim that race and sex are equivalent, or historically constructed in exactly the same way.” She is making a very specific, narrow argument about identity in an academic philosophy setting, all while noting, every step of the way, that she believes trans people are who they say they are, and that they should be entitled to the full rights and recognition of their identity. This pile-on isn’t even close to warranted.

So why are they doing it? Because it’s so much fun? Because they’re fanatics? Because they’re afraid? I don’t know. I don’t get it. I never have. The venom directed at me was out of proportion too, and I never got that either.

(It started with Dolezal in my case too.)

Unfortunately, Hypatia simply surrendered to this sustained misinformation campaign. On April 30, one of the journal’s editors, Cressida Hayes, posted a lengthy apology to Facebook, later posted to the journal’s Facebook page as well, from “the members of Hypatia’s Board of Associate Editors.” Among other things, the apology notes that “[i]t is our position that the harms that have ensued from the publication of this article could and should have been prevented by a more effective review process.” Like the critiques themselves, the apology deeply misreads and misinterprets the original article: “Perhaps most fundamentally,” write the editors, “to compare ethically the lived experience of trans people (from a distinctly external perspective) primarily to a single example of a white person claiming to have adopted a black identity creates an equivalency that fails to recognize the history of racial appropriation, while also associating trans people with racial appropriation.” At no point in Tuvel’s article does she come close to doing anything like this. Rather, the entire premise of the article is to examine what genuine instances of deeply felt transracialism would tell us about identity and identity change in light of the progressive view of trans rights. Early on, she even effectively sets Dolezal aside, writing that she isn’t particularly interested in what Dolezal really feels, since that’s unknowable, but is rather interested in dissecting some of the underlying issues about identity in a more hypothetical way — “My concern in this article is less with the veracity of Dolezal’s claims,” she writes, “and more with the arguments for and against transracialism.”

They’re interesting. Some people are interested in such things. It shouldn’t be treated as a crime.

It is pretty remarkable for an academic journal to, in the wake of an online uproar, apologize and suggest one of its articles caused “harm,” all while failing to push back against brazenly inaccurate misreadings of that article — especially in light of the fact that Tuvel said in a statement (readable at the bottom of the Daily Nous article) that she’s dealing with a wave of online abuse and hate mail.

Some other academics have already reacted angrily to the extent to which Hypatia rolled over in the wake of this outrage-storm. On his Leiter Reports philosophy blog, for example, Brian Leiter, a philosophy professor, writes

…what you already know he writes, because I posted about it yesterday.

[W]hat’s disturbing here is how many hundreds of academics signed onto and helped spread utterly false claims about one of their colleagues, and the extent to which Hypatia, faced with such outrage, didn’t even bother trying to sift legitimate critiques from frankly made-up ones. A huge number of people who haven’t read Tuvel’s article now believe, on the basis of that trumped-up open letter and unfounded claims of “violence,” that it is so deeply transphobic it warranted an unusual apology from the journal that published it.

We should want academics to write about complicated, difficult, hot-button issues, including identity. Online pile-ons cannot, however righteous they feel, dictate journals’ publication policies and how they treat their authors and articles. It’s really disturbing to watch this sort of thing unfold in real time — there’s such a stark disconnect between what Tuvel wrote and what she is purported to have written. This whole episode should worry anybody who cares about academia’s ability to engage in difficult issues at a time when outrage can spread faster than ever before.

I second that.



Such incendiary literature

May 2nd, 2017 4:25 pm | By

Speaking of Andrew Jackson and slavery and the Civil War…here’s some background.

Jackson’s presidency coincided with the formation of state and national antislavery societies, the publication of William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator , and the expansion of abolitionist efforts to awaken the nation’s conscience. Although abolitionists focused primarily on nonpolitical tactics, their activities inevitably intruded into politics. During the last two years of the Jackson administration, therefore, the slavery issue was reintroduced to American politics for the first time since the fiery Missouri debates of 1819–1821.

In the summer of 1835, shortly after the Democratic convention adjourned, antislavery forces organized a campaign to distribute propaganda tracts through the mails to the South. The southern response was predictable. Southern state legislatures passed laws to keep out such “incendiary literature,” and many southern postmasters refused to deliver abolitionist mail. At Charleston, South Carolina, on 29 July, a mob of some three hundred incensed citizens stormed the post office to seize abolitionist material. Although persuaded to disperse, a few Carolinians returned that night and took possession of the literature, which they burned the following evening on the Charleston parade grounds.

The Jackson administration’s handling of this controversy has generally been interpreted as evidence of its southern orientation. According to one account, the Democratic party’s pro-South and pro-slavery bias was the “darker side to Jacksonian Democracy.” The Jackson administration certainly was hostile to abolitionism and any efforts to disturb the South’s “peculiar institution.” It showed a continuing solicitude for southern opinion and interests, and it embraced the racial tenets of “herrenvolk democracy,” which affirmed the equality of whites and their superiority over non-whites. Jackson himself was a substantial planter, owning many slaves, and while he insisted that they be treated “humanely,” he showed no disposition to disturb the legal and constitutional arrangements that maintained the slave system. Yet Jackson’s position on the slavery issue was more complex than this.

The Democratic party was a national organization, and northern attitudes about slavery and civil liberties had to be given weight. Moreover, Jackson’s denunciation of abolitionism did not signify that he considered slavery a positive or permanent good. Rather, he thought that by maintaining sectional calm, Providence would, in time, somehow eradicate the evil.

Maybe that’s what Trump is trying to think of when he says Jackson was “angry” about all this pre-Civil War controversy: he wanted everybody to stop fighting over it and just kick back and relax, because Providence would end slavery in its own good time.

Easy for him, of course, since he wasn’t a slave and wasn’t in any danger of becoming a slave. It may be that the issue was more urgent for people who were slaves.

Upon learning of the situation in Charleston, Jackson angrily denounced the abolitionists as “monsters” and suggested that those who subscribed to the papers have their names recorded by the postmaster and exposed in the public newspapers. Yet Jackson did not justify mob action or the complete interdiction of abolitionist mailings. He denounced the “spirit of mob-law” as evidenced in Charleston and thought that the instigators should be “checked and punished.” Reminding Kendall that federal officials had “no power to prohibit anything from being transported in the mails that is authorized by the law,” he suggested that the papers be delivered only to those who were “really subscribers.”

The mails controversy became a leading question when Congress convened in December 1835. In his annual message, Jackson noted the “painful excitement” caused by the abolitionist tracts and recommended that Congress prohibit their circulation in the South.

If the abolitionists had just shut up, there never would have been a Civil War. There might still be slavery, but there wouldn’t have been a civil war.

Jackson deplored the increased sectional bitterness that marked national politics during his presidency. He urged Americans to remember that the foundations of the Constitution and the Union were laid in the “affections of the people” and in their “fraternal attachment” as members of one political family. His sentiments were heartfelt, but time would demonstrate that his appeals for moderation, for unionism, and for patience in awaiting Providence’s will were ineffectual nostrums for the great moral and legal issues posed by slavery.

The increased sectional bitterness was over the issue of slavery. The South was not about to end slavery, gradually or otherwise. A happy-clappy solution wasn’t available.



No laughing in the kingdom

May 2nd, 2017 3:59 pm | By

The Feds are prosecuting a woman for laughing during Jeff Sessions’s confirmation hearing.

During Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearings, Senator Richard Selby claimed that the North Carolina senator’s history of “treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented.” At that, activist and CodePink member Desiree Fairooz laughed, since Sessions is actually best known for being deemed too racist for a federal judgeship in the 1980s. As the Huffington Post reports, a rookie cop with no appreciation for irony arrested Fairooz, and prosecutors are charging the 61-year-old with attempting to “impede, disrupt, and disturb the orderly conduct” of the hearings.

Who is the prosecutors’ boss? Why, Jeff Sessions.

A lawyer representing Fairooz at trial noted that other spectators laughed during the Sessions hearings, including when he joked about disagreements with his wife. According to the prosecutor, it was “appropriate for the audience to laugh when Sessions made a joke about his marriage but not when Shelby claimed Sessions had a long record of ‘treating all Americans equally.’”

So let me see if I understand this – it’s legal to laugh at Jeff Sessions’s jokes, but illegal to laugh at a senator’s brazen lie about Sessions? What law is that exactly?



His daughter’s eyes welled with tears

May 2nd, 2017 12:03 pm | By

So Ivanka Trump has at least once grokked the full horror of her horrible father, if the Times is accurate.

It was last October.

Inside Trump Tower, the candidate was preparing for a debate when an aide rushed in with news that The Washington Post was about to publish an article saying that Mr. Trump had bragged about grabbing women’s private parts. As Ivanka Trump joined the others waiting to see a video of the episode, her father insisted that the description of his comments did not sound like him.

When the recording finally showed he was wrong, Mr. Trump’s reaction was grudging: He agreed to say he was sorry if anyone was offended. Advisers warned that would not be enough.

We see yet again what a pig he is – if “anyone” was offended. He pokes you in the eye, then he grudgingly says he’ll apologize if you say your eye hurts.

Ivanka Trump made an emphatic case for a full-throated apology, according to several people who were present for the crisis discussion that unfolded in Mr. Trump’s 26th-floor office. Raised amid a swirl of tabloid headlines, she had spent her adult life branding herself as her father’s poised, family-focused daughter. She marketed her clothing line with slogans about female empowerment and was finishing a book on the topic. As she spoke, Mr. Trump remained unyielding. His daughter’s eyes welled with tears, her face reddened, and she hurried out in frustration.

Well, on second thought, maybe that’s nothing to do with grokking the horror. Maybe it’s just irritation that he ignored her advice. Either way, she’s working for him and thus complicit with him now, so it doesn’t matter. She may be “poised” but she’s a moral vacuum.

In interviews last week, she said she intended to act as a moderating force in an administration swept into office by nationalist sentiment.

There’s no moderating something like that.

Some former employees express surprise at her new policy interest, saying she was once reluctant to grant them maternity leave. But other observers call her the administration’s best hope for progress on gender issues and say they are encouraged to see a presidential daughter, and a top member of a Republican White House, advocate federal paid family leave. (She intends to go beyond her father’s campaign pledge and push to include both fathers and mothers, according to a White House official.)

How about a living wage and overtime pay for the Chinese women who make her clothes?

Those close to Ms. Trump say she is generally business-friendly and socially liberal. But she says that on many issues, she does not have strongly held views. (In the White House, she uses corporate terms — like “business plan” — as much as partisan or political ones.)

Of course she doesn’t have views – she’s empty-headed. No one would be paying the slightest attention to her if she weren’t an offspring of Donnie from Queens.

For now, Ms. Trump acknowledges how much she has to learn and asks the public to be patient with her.

“I do believe that in time I’ll get to the right place,” she said. “In the short run I’ll have missteps, and, in some cases, I’ll take shots that I could have avoided if I had publicly said what I think.”

“I’m really, really trying to learn,” she added.

Yeah no. People who have “much to learn” shouldn’t be doing that job in the first place. This isn’t Darling’s first job, this is the fucking government, and she has zero relevant experience or education. No we’re not going to be “patient with her.”



Guest post: Background on the schism

May 2nd, 2017 10:47 am | By

Originally a comment by Salalia on Leiter on Thought Crimes Watch.

It seems to me that this dispute can’t be understood without the background: Transgender issues have brought about something of a schism within academic feminism; the side that favors more extensively accommodating transgender politics within academic feminism has clearly “won” and has mostly succeeded in ostracizing and delegitimizing their (academic) opponents.

Tuvel and her critics are all on the same “side” on issues of gender (as far as I know neither side in the Hypatia dispute actually opposes transgenderism-within-feminism ideology). But her ideas (extrapolating “trans” concepts from gender to race) threatens to split the academic antiracism movement in the same way that transgender issues split feminism, except worse in that the “appropriation” narrative has much stronger resonance against transracialism than it did against transgenderism.

A civil war within the critical race theory movement over transracialism could have two outcomes, both of them extremely ugly from the perspective of Tuvel’s critics:

(a) Tuvel’s critics understand intuitively that their colleagues and students of color are disproportionately unwilling to accept transracial ideology into their movement. Allowing Tuvel’s ideas to be discussed in a non-dismissive way could get very messy, and could poison the entire field of critical race theory in the eyes of its natural constituency, students/faculty/activists of color.

(b) On the other hand, if the broader field came to accept transracialist ideas in the same way that transgender ideas won out inside academic feminism, Tuvel’s critics could find themselves ostracized from their movement in the same way that academic feminists who questioned the wholesale incorporation of transgenderism into feminism have been ostracized. For anyone working in a field where politics and ideology are absolute, the risk of that kind of ostracism is dreadful to contemplate.

By attacking Tuvel’s work so aggressively, her critics hope to stop this line of discussion early before it can cause this kind of split within the field of critical race theory. From that perspective, the more vicious and frightening and absolutist their public statements are, the better — they don’t just want to push back against Tuvel herself, they want to deter any other young faculty who might consider going in the same direction. “Nice pre-tenure record you’re building there, shame if anything happened to it.” I think we can all agree that what’s happening to Tuvel would make others shy away from publishing a similar argument.

But they can’t make that argument explicitly, so they attack Tuvel for being insufficiently supportive of transfolk, even though Tuvel in fact is supportive of transfolk. It gives them a way to suppress the dangerous ideas indirectly, while staying on the safe ground of gender ideology rather than race ideology.

That’s how it seems to me. Disclaimer: I am not a philosopher nor a critical race theorist.



To fix mess

May 2nd, 2017 10:36 am | By

Trump saying it.



What we need

May 2nd, 2017 10:21 am | By

So now Trump is saying there should be a government shutdown. That’s new. The Republicans have deliberately caused them in the recent past, but I don’t think they have called for them ahead of time, as if they’re an inherent good.

President Trump on Tuesday called for a government shutdown later this year and suggested the Senate might need to prohibit future filibusters, dramatic declarations from a new commander in chief whose frustration is snowballing as Congress continues to block key parts of his agenda.

“Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!” Trump wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday morning.

Or a tsunami! Or an earthquake! Or a direct hit from an ICBM!

That’s our new president, calling for the destruction of our government.

Trump’s call for a shutdown, which appears to be unprecedented from a sitting president, come as his problems are mounting within the House and Senate, chambers that are both controlled by his party.

He’s a fucking reckless solipsistic lunatic, and he’ll destroy us all because he can’t get what he wants.

Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, told reporters Tuesday that Trump’s call for a shutdown later this year is a “defensible position, one that we will deal with in September.”

No, it is not. A shutdown of the government is not something a president “calls for.” It’s a critical malfunction, not a goal. It is not defensible for the head of state to be “calling for” a broken state.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he was “deeply disappointed” by Trump tweeting about a “shutdown,” arguing that the spending bill was the result of bipartisan negotiations.

“It is truly a shame that the president is degrading it because he didn’t get 100 percent of what he wanted,” Schumer said.

It is truly a shame that we have an angry baby as head of state.



Besties no more

May 1st, 2017 5:52 pm | By

Trump has stopped saying “Obama likes me!” He’s stopped saying he likes Obama. Now he says Obama was “very nice to me with words” but since then they have “no relationship.” Did he think they were going to be buddies? I suppose they could have played golf, but I’m pretty sure Obama knows more congenial people even for that.

Meanwhile he’s still saying Obama spied on him, and when John Dickerson tries to get him to explain what he means, first Trump repeatedly says “You can take it the way you want, you can take it any way you want,” as if it were all a matter of “taking” things one way or another, as opposed to a matter of facts, evidence, accusations of committing a felony, and lying.

Then he just makes a rude gesture and says get out.

I have a little fantasy of having Trump in a room, all by ourselves, and he’s tied down, and I get to tell him what’s wrong with him. I get to explain it to him.



Leiter on Thought Crimes Watch

May 1st, 2017 5:27 pm | By

Brian Leiter has two posts on the monstering of Rebecca Tuvel. The first is nicely titled Thought crimes watch: comparing trans-racialism to transgenderism verboten!

A majority of the editorial board of an allegedly scholarly journal apologizes for publishing an article (which presumably went through whatever passes for peer review there) called “In Defense of Transracialism,” by Rebecca Tuvel, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Rhodes College.  Here’s the abstract for the thought crime article:

Former NAACP chapter head Rachel Dolezal’s attempted transition from the white to the black race occasioned heated controversy. Her story gained notoriety at the same time that Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner graced the cover of Vanity Fair, signaling a growing acceptance of transgender identity. Yet criticisms of Dolezal for misrepresenting her birth race indicate a widespread social perception that it is neither possible nor acceptable to change one’s race in the way it might be to change one’s sex. Considerations that support transgenderism seem to apply equally to transracialism. Although Dolezal herself may or may not represent a genuine case of a transracial person, her story and the public reaction to it serve helpful illustrative purposes.

Apparently the “harm” to Prof. Tuvel of a public apology by the majority of the editorial board of the journal that published her article was outweighed by the “harm” of her thought crime to transgender people.  (Addendum:  no thought crime is complete without a public letter of protest.  What is chilling about this is that instead of this campaign of vilification of a junior faculty member and demand for “retraction” of her article, someone could have written a response piece and sent it to the same journal.  But this is obviously not a scholarly community, but a political one.  Those familiar with the history of 20th-century Marxist movements will recognize what’s going on here, and it isn’t a happy sight.)

It’s ugly. Ugly ugly ugly.

The second is even harsher (I don’t say that disapprovingly – I think harshness is well deserved here): The defamation of Rebecca Tuvel by the Board of Associate Editors of Hypatia and the authors of the Open Letter.

I just want to flag something else about the remarkable “apology” issued by the Associate Editors of Hypatia, which a couple of readers flagged for me.  It contains the following:

It is our position that the harms that have ensued from the publication of this article could and should have been prevented by a more effective review process. We are deeply troubled by this and are taking this opportunity to seriously reconsider our review policies and practices. While nothing can change the fact that the article was published, we are dedicated to doing what we can to make things right. Clearly, the article should not have been published, and we believe that the fault for this lies in the review process. In addition to the harms listed above imposed upon trans people and people of color, publishing the article risked exposing its author to heated critique that was both predictable and justifiable. A better review process would have both anticipated the criticisms that quickly followed the publication, and required that revisions be made to improve the argument in light of those criticisms.

The “open letter” is even more explicit that Prof. Tuvel is not, in the view of the signatories, a competent professional scholar, stating that, “Many published articles include some minor defects of scholarship; however, together the problems with this article are glaring,” so much so that they demand retraction.

I confess I’ve never seen anything like this in academic philosophy (admittedly most signatories to the “open letter” are not academic philosophers, but some are).  A tenure-track assistant professor submits her article to a journal, it passes peer review, it is published, others take offense, and the Associate Editors of the journal declare that “Clearly, the article should not have been published” and that the abuse to which the author is being subjected is “both predictable and justifiable.”

Yes. It’s horrible. It’s familiar but it’s none the less horrible for that.

I hope that Prof. Tuvel consults a lawyer about this defamation; and while it looks to me like defamation per se (i.e., damages are presumed since the critics are impugning her competence in her profession), I would imagine showing damage would not be hard.  How can Prof. Tuvel, for example, now use this repudiated but allegedly peer-reviewed article as part of her tenure process?   Indeed, how can her department or college support her for tenure when she has been so vilified as a scholar and professional by people who work in her fields?  I wonder did any of those professing solidarity with those who specialize in taking offense consider the very tangible harm they are doing to the author of this article?

I really doubt it. I think they were too busy frotting their imaginations over the imaginary harm Tuvel’s article would cause to imagined victims.



The list of demands

May 1st, 2017 4:28 pm | By

The open letter to Hypatia that their groveling apology was a response to is pretty horrifying if it really comes from academics.

As scholars who have long viewed Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy as a valuable resource for our communities, we write to request the retraction of a recent article, entitled, “In Defense of Transracialism.” Its continued availability causes further harm, as does an initial post by the journal admitting only that the article “sparks dialogue.”

In what circumstances is it normal to request an academic journal to retract an article? I assume it would have to be for reasons of gross malpractice or dishonesty – shameful mistakes or shameful lies. The “scholars” who wrote the letter have other grounds for their “request.” (I can see there are going to be a lot of scare quotes in this post. That’s because there’s a lot of abuse of language and thought in the letter.)

Our concerns reach beyond mere scholarly disagreement; we can only conclude that there has been a failure in the review process, and one that painfully reflects a lack of engagement beyond white and cisgender privilege.

I repeat: there’s no such thing as “cisgender privilege.” Women don’t have “cisgender privilege.” Pretending they do is profoundly anti-feminist.

We believe that this article falls short of scholarly standards in various areas:

1. It uses vocabulary and frameworks not recognized, accepted, or adopted by the conventions of the relevant subfields; for example, the author uses the language of “transgenderism” and engages in deadnaming a trans woman;

Subfields of what? Hypatia is a philosophy journal; what are the relevant subfields of philosophy that adopt conventions on whether or not to use the word “transgenderism”? Is there a subfield of philosophy that has any view at all on “deadnaming”? That’s not a technical word, it’s a political jargon word. Is there a subfield of philosophy that forbids scholars to mention a trans woman’s previous name? That sounds like a very odd subfield to me.

2. It mischaracterizes various theories and practices relating to religious identity and conversion; for example, the author gives an off-hand example about conversion to Judaism;

How is that a reason to demand that a journal retract an article?

3. It misrepresents leading accounts of belonging to a racial group; for example, the author incorrectly cites Charles Mills as a defender of voluntary racial identification;

Same question. They have detailed objections, but objections are not a reason to retract an article (much less to shame its author on Facebook).

Many published articles include some minor defects of scholarship; however, together the problems with this article are glaring. More importantly, these failures of scholarship do harm to the communities who might expect better from Hypatia. It is difficult to imagine that this article could have been endorsed by referees working in critical race theory and trans theory, which are the two areas of specialization that should have been most relevant to the review process.

Except that Hypatia is a philosophy journal.

A message has been sent, to authors and readers alike, that white cis scholars may engage in speculative discussion of these themes without broad and sustained engagement with those theorists whose lives are most directly affected by transphobia and racism.

And?

They may. There is no law that says white scholars or “cis” scholars (whatever they are) may not engage in speculative discussion of whatever theme they choose. Apparently the authors and signers of this horrible letter want to send the message that they may not – literally may not, on pain of public shaming and retraction of a published article.

We urge that Hypatia immediately acknowledge the severity of these concerns. In addition to retracting the article, we also believe it is imperative that Hypatia commit immediately to the following:

1. Issue a statement taking responsibility for the failures of judgment associated with publishing this article and apologize for the initial uncritical response posted on Hypatia’s Facebook page;

In other words, grovel, a lot.

4. Avoid the practice of deadnaming (that is, referring to trans people by former names) and commit to developing best practices for naming trans individuals as authors and subjects of scholarly discussions.

They say that as if “deadnaming” were an ordinary, universally recognized word and concept. It’s not. There is no general rule that forbids saying X used to go by Y. Sometimes people need to know former names, for safety reasons for instance. It’s not a human right to change one’s name and keep it forever secret no matter what.

And then they had to grovel themselves, because they said A Wrong Thing too, or neglected to say A Right Thing.

“Note from statement writers (added 5/1): We acknowledge that this statement should have named anti-Blackness directly. The statement is not an exhaustive summary of the many harms caused by this article. We hope it will at least serve as a way to register that harm and issue a demand for a retraction. This is one step in the direction of seeking accountability for the harms committed by its publishing– and to begin a conversation about the larger problems with our discipline it represents. And we thank Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (and others) for pointing out the dangerous erasure of anti-Blackness and the erasure of the Black labor on which the rhetoric of our own letter is built”

Tomorrow there will be an addendum saying what Chanda Prescod-Weinstein neglected to say and the people she thanks, and it could go on that way forever.



Don’t hit us, hit her

May 1st, 2017 1:12 pm | By

Hypatia’s statement on Facebook:

To our friends and colleagues in feminist philosophy,

We, the members of Hypatia’s Board of Associate Editors, extend our profound apology to our friends and colleagues in feminist philosophy, especially transfeminists, queer feminists, and feminists of color, for the harms that the publication of the article on transracialism has caused. The sources of those harms are multiple, and include: descriptions of trans lives that perpetuate harmful assumptions and (not coincidentally) ignore important scholarship by trans philosophers; the practice of deadnaming, in which a trans person’s name is accompanied by a reference to the name they were assigned at birth; the use of methodologies which take up important social and political phenomena in dehistoricized and decontextualized ways, thus neglecting to address and take seriously the ways in which those phenomena marginalize and commit acts of violence upon actual persons; and an insufficient engagement with the field of critical race theory. Perhaps most fundamentally, to compare ethically the lived experience of trans people (from a distinctly external perspective) primarily to a single example of a white person claiming to have adopted a black identity creates an equivalency that fails to recognize the history of racial appropriation, while also associating trans people with racial appropriation. We recognize and mourn that these harms will disproportionately fall upon those members of our community who continue to experience marginalization and discrimination due to racism and cisnormativity.

It is our position that the harms that have ensued from the publication of this article could and should have been prevented by a more effective review process. We are deeply troubled by this and are taking this opportunity to seriously reconsider our review policies and practices. While nothing can change the fact that the article was published, we are dedicated to doing what we can to make things right. Clearly, the article should not have been published, and we believe that the fault for this lies in the review process. In addition to the harms listed above imposed upon trans people and people of color, publishing the article risked exposing its author to heated critique that was both predictable and justifiable. A better review process would have both anticipated the criticisms that quickly followed the publication, and required that revisions be made to improve the argument in light of those criticisms.

But here they are adding to the “heated critique” the author was exposed to, and holding her up for more stoning.

In addition, to reconsidering our review policies, we are drafting a policy on name changes that will govern review of all work considered for publication in the journal from this point forward. We wish to express solidarity with our trans colleagues in our condemnation of deadnaming. It is unacceptable that this happened, and we are working to ensure that it never happens again. We also wish to express solidarity with our colleagues of color (understanding that gender and race are entangled categories) in our condemnation of scholarship about racial identity that fails to reflect substantive understanding of and engagement with critical philosophy of race. We are working to develop additional advisory guidelines to ensure that feminist theorists from groups underrepresented in our profession, including trans people and people of color, are integrated in the various editorial stages. This does not mean that we want to place future responsibility solely on transfeminists and feminists of color. We are committed to improving our review process and practice in order to make the best decision about publication and to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

Hypatia is a journal committed to pluralist feminist inquiry and has been an important site for the publication of scholarship long-considered marginal in philosophy. Too many of us are still characterized as “not real” philosophers by non- and anti-feminist colleagues. As a feminist journal, Hypatia is committed to providing mentorship to all who submit articles by encouraging substantive feedback on essays submitted for consideration. Clearly there was a mistake along the line in the review process, and we are doing our best to figure out a way forward.

So when the mentorship goes wrong they hold the non-mentored author up for people to stone.

Several further types of responses have been suggested to us, including issuing a retraction and setting up a blog or website for further conversation about how to move forward and improve our process. We continue to consider those responses and all of their potential ramifications thoughtfully. We welcome more feedback and suggestions, as we intend to learn from this mistake and do our best to be accountable and worthy of the trust of all feminist scholars.

Finally, we want to recognize that following the publication of the article, there was a Facebook post from the Hypatia account that also caused harm, primarily by characterizing the outrage that met the article’s publication as mere “dialogue” that the article was “sparking.” We want to state clearly that we regret that the post was made.

We sincerely thank all who have expressed criticism of the article’s publication and who have called on us to reply. Working through conflicts, owning mistakes, and finding a way forward is part of the crucial, difficult work that feminism does. As members of Hypatia’s editorial board we are taking this opportunity to make Hypatia more deeply committed to the highest quality of feminist scholarship, pluralism, and respect. The words expressed here cannot change the harm caused by the fact of the article’s publication, but we hope they convey the depth and sincerity of our commitment to make necessary changes to move forward and do better.

Sincerely,
A Majority of the Hypatia’s Board of Associated Editors

A contemptible display.



Stone the witch

May 1st, 2017 1:04 pm | By

Another one of these – a public grovel and shunning over someone – a woman, naturally – saying Wrong Things about transracialism and transgenderism. The CHE reports:

The feminist philosophy journal Hypatia has apologized for publishing an article comparing transracialism with transgenderism.

In a post on the journal’s Facebook page on Monday, “a majority of the Hypatia’s Board of Associated Editors” signed a lengthy and “profound apology” in which they said that “clearly, the article should not have been published.”

The article, ”In Defense of Transracialism,” by Rebecca Tuvel, an assistant professor of philosophy at Rhodes College, drew a significant backlash following its publication, in late March. The article discusses public perceptions of racial and gender transitions by comparing the former NAACP chapter head Rachel Dolezal’s desire to be seen as black with the celebrity Caitlyn Jenner’s public transition from male to female.

It’s nice that Hypatia hung her up for the crows to peck – and by “nice” I mean “profoundly loathsome.”

Since a backlash erupted on social media, more than 400 academics have signed an open letter to the editor of Hypatia calling for the article to be retracted. “Our concerns reach beyond mere scholarly disagreement; we can only conclude that there has been a failure in the review process, and one that painfully reflects a lack of engagement beyond white and cisgender privilege,” the letter says.

There’s no such thing as “cisgender privilege.” The claim that there is is exactly as stupid as claiming there’s such a thing as “cisracial privilege.”

Ms. Tuvel, the article’s author, wrote in a statement to The Chronicle (quoted in full on the website of the Daily Nous) that she welcomed the opportunity to respond to the controversy that her article had caused. She said that she had written the article “from a place of support for those with non-normative identities, and frustration about the ways individuals who inhabit them are so often excoriated, body-shamed, and silenced.”

Ms. Tuvel added that she had received hate mail and had been strongly urged to retract the article. She also said that a few people had expressed support — talking about “bullying culture, call-out culture, virtue-signaling, a mob mentality, and academic freedom.”

“So little of what has been said, however, is based upon people actually reading what I wrote,” she continued. “There are theoretical and philosophical questions that I raise that merit our reflection. Not doing so can only reinforce gender and racial essentialism.”

She added: “Calls for intellectual engagement are also being shut down because they ‘dignify’ the article. If this is considered beyond the pale as a response to a controversial piece of writing, then critical thought is in danger. I have never been under the illusion that this article is immune from critique. But the last place one expects to find such calls for censorship rather than discussion is amongst philosophers.”

You would think.



That’s a long time ago

May 1st, 2017 11:07 am | By

David Graham at the Atlantic on Trump’s history lesson:

“I said, ‘When was Andrew Jackson?’ It was 1828, that’s a long time ago, that was Andrew Jackson,” Trump said, a sign that the history to follow would be somewhat shaky. Reminiscing about a visit to Tennessee in March, Trump continued:

I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said, “There’s no reason for this.” People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

I italicize “really” because that’s how he says it.

On an historical level, Trump’s remarks are full of problems. It is difficult to know what the president means when he says that Jackson “was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War.” Jackson died in 1845, 16 years before the war began, though the challenge to national unity posed by slavery was clear by then. It’s possible Trump is referring to the Nullification Crisis, a conflict between the federal government and the state of South Carolina.

No it isn’t. That would be a possible interpretation of what Trump said, in the abstract, but it’s not possible that it’s what Trump was referring to. Trump’s references to history are on the level of “very tough” and “big heart” and “Honest Abe.”

It is difficult to imagine that Jackson, as a Southern slaveholder and defender of slavery, would have been willing to stand against the South in the event of a civil war. But that’s ultimately beside the point: Even if he had, such a position would likely have stood little chance of preventing the war, which flowed from the Southern commitment to slavery.

Trump’s assertion that Jackson could have staved war off is a manifestation of Trump’s central, and perhaps only truly committed, political beliefs: a faith in the power of strength, and a faith in the power of dealmaking. It is why the president rushed to congratulate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a referendum empowering him and sapping democracy; it is why he is so fond of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi; and it is why on Sunday he invited the vicious Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to the White House.

What I’m saying. That’s his level of understanding. It’s the level of a fan of “reality” tv – it’s all about personalities. He thinks it’s all-important that he “likes” Xi; he thinks Obama “likes” him; he thinks it matters which heads of state he “likes” or doesn’t “like.” He can’t understand anything more complicated than that. He’s not a bright man.

It’s perfectly possible that Trump, despite attending good private schools in New York and then graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, is, like many Americans, ill-served by his education when it comes to the Civil War. Many Americans are still taught, incorrectly, that the war was essentially a conflict over state’s rights, with abolition as a byproduct of the war. This revisionist view flourished after the war, and though gradually being displaced, is common across the country. (Many erroneous beliefs about the war remain similarly common. In 2016, Coates and others criticized Hillary Clinton for her historically faulty gloss on Reconstruction, rooted in the revisionist “Dunning School” approach.)

I was taught Reconstruction that way. Fortunately I later read Eric Foner and David Oshinsky and learned better. Trump of course didn’t sit around reading history, he was too busy building a fraudulent real estate empire.

Recent presidents make great show of their reading of history. Bill Clinton went on the Today show in 2011 to recommend a set of dense historical tomes. George W. Bush released reading lists full of historical works during his presidency, and he told Jay Leno in 2013, “I did what I did and ultimately history will judge.” One book Bush read in the White House was Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, a selection he shared with Barack Obama, who liked the book so much that he depicted his own cabinet, including former primary opponent Hillary Clinton, as a “team of rivals.”

Trump’s attempt to replicate this plays as caricature. Had the president read Goodwin’s book, it’s difficult to imagine he would have made the statement he did today. Trump has betrayed a weak grasp on American history, and in particular mid-19th century history, on several occasions. In February, he posted a fake Lincoln quote to Twitter. Marking Black History Month, Trump delivered a perplexing paean to a great abolitionist that suggested he believed the man was still alive: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.” In March, speaking about the most famous Republican president in history, Trump said, “Most people don’t even know he was a Republican.”

That’s his solipsism yet again. He means he didn’t know until someone told him, so he assumes most people didn’t know. He underestimates us.



This is our hell

May 1st, 2017 10:17 am | By

Some tweets on the president of the US’s ignorance of the history of the US.

https://twitter.com/HITEXECUTIVE/status/859077289320996864

https://twitter.com/darth/status/859034994143973376

Updating to add Brad Jaffy’s audio clip which is indeed worth listening to. (Yes of course it’s also anguish to listen to but duty is duty.)



People don’t ask that question

May 1st, 2017 9:43 am | By

I still say we need better filters. I still say a head of state should know some basics before being allowed to touch the controls. I still say one of those basics should be some knowledge of the history of the state in question.

Behold the current occupant of the US one:

President Donald Trump is causing an uproar again this morning after a bizarre interview where he praised President Andrew Jackson and questioned the reason behind the Civil War. His remarks were from a radio conversation with Sirius XM’s Salena Zito on Monday morning.

“I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a really tough person, but he had a big heart,” Trump said, despite the fact that Jackson was behind Indian removal, the Trail of Tears and owned about 150 slaves.

Does Trump’s description remind you of anything? A really tough person with a big heart? I know, that’s too easy – it’s Trump’s idea of his own precious self. It’s his translation of “a mean vindictive sexist racist shit who can get sentimental over individuals.”

But more to the point…a president of the US really should have a better grasp of US history than that. We already knew that – he has no clue who Frederick Douglass was, he has no clue what John Lewis did, he thinks Lincoln’s real name is Honest Abe – but still this is horrifying.

“He was really angry at that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said, ‘There’s no reason for this,'” Trump added. Jackson died in 1845. The Civil War began in 1861.

“People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?,” he added, seeming to forget the basic curriculum of an American history class. “People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?” Hint: slavery. Another hint: “states’ rights.”

His belief that people don’t ask that question is another thundering error. Of course they do.

He should be instantly impeached on the grounds of hopeless ignorance and inability to learn.



Talking to Bozo

Apr 30th, 2017 4:33 pm | By

Another Trump transcript, this one of an interview with CBS for Face the Nation.

They start with North Korea. There was that missile test yesterday. It was a small one, Trump says, as if that makes a difference.

But he understands we’re not going to be very happy. And I will tell you, a man that I’ve gotten to like and respect, the president of China, President Xi, I believe, has been putting pressure on him also.

As if it’s meaningful that he’s “gotten to like and respect” Xi. He likes and respects anyone who puts on a good act for him. He has all the insight of a dish sponge.

JOHN DICKERSON: The Chinese, our allies, have been allies with North Korea. How are you sure that they’re not using this as a way to test you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You can never be sure of anything, can you? But I developed a very good relationship. I don’t think they want to see a destabilized North Korea. I don’t think they want to see it.

That delusion again. He thinks it’s personal, and he thinks he’s good at it.

The relationship I have with China, it’s been already acclaimed as being something very special, something very different than we’ve ever had. But again, you know, we’ll find out whether or not President Xi is able to affect change.

No. No it hasn’t. That’s delusional.

A comedy interlude:

TRUMP: You know, it’s very funny when the fake media goes out, you know, which we call the mainstream media which sometimes, I must say, is you.

JOHN DICKERSON: You mean me personally or?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, your show. I love your show. I call it Deface the Nation.

No wonder he has such great relationships with all the people.

JOHN DICKERSON: What do you know now on day 100 that you wish you knew on day one of the presidency?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, one of the things that I’ve learned is how dishonest the media is, really. I’ve done things that are I think very good. I’ve set great foundations with foreign leaders. We have you know — NAFTA, as you know, I was going to terminate it, but I got a very nice call from a man I like, the president of Mexico.

I got a very nice call from Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada. And they said please would you rather than terminating NAFTA —  I was all set to do it. In fact, I was going to do it today. I was going to do as we’re sitting here. I would’ve had to delay you. I was going to do it today. I was going to terminate NAFTA. But they called up and they said, “Would you negotiate?” And I said, “Yes, I will negotiate.”

Because he got a nice call. Because they are very nice. Because he likes them. The man is a stone genius.

JOHN DICKERSON: Presidents have to learn how to adapt. Every president comes into the job, it’s different than they expect, they must adapt. Surely, you’ve learned something else other than that the media is dishonest.

Nope.

Then they talk about the new health care bill, and they go back and forth on whether or not pre-existing conditions will be covered, for real, and that won’t be left up to the states. Trump keeps saying yes yes, and Dickerson keeps pressing for assurances. Then we get

JOHN DICKERSON: But on that crucial question, it’s not going to be left up to the states? Everybody gets pre-existing, no matter where they live?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, but the states–

JOHN DICKERSON: Guaranteed?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –are also going to have a lot to do with it because we ultimately want to get it back down to the states.

JOHN DICKERSON: Okay. Is it a guarantee?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Look, because if you hurt your knee, honestly, I’d rather have the federal government focused on North Korea, focused on other things, than your knee, okay? Or than your back, as important as your back is. I would much rather see the federal government focused on other things–

Yes yes yes totally covered – but we don’t want to cover your knee, dude, because we have other things to do.

Then they talk about his tax returns. He’s still being audited. He thinks it’s very unfair.



Another jesting Pilate

Apr 30th, 2017 3:32 pm | By

Susan Matthews at Slate on that climate change denial column by the New York Times’s new mavericky guy Bret Stephens.

His debut column, “Climate of Complete Certainty,” published on Friday, supports my theory. The thesis of the column is that we would do well to remember that there are fair reasons why people might be skeptical of climate change, and that claiming certainty on the matter will only backfire. He casts himself as a translator between the skeptics and the believers, offering a lesson “for anyone who wants to advance the cause of good climate policy.”

He talks about the overconfidence of the Clinton campaign.

He then goes on to compare the Clinton failure and the science on climate change. “Isn’t this one instance, at least, where 100 percent of the truth resides on one side of the argument?” he asks facetiously.

I will be honest, I do not know what “100 percent of the truth” means. But I do know what Stephens is doing here. He is sowing the seeds of epistemic uncertainty. He is telling readers that the experts’ wrongness during the 2016 election is a good justification for doubting other established facts. People are right to look around at the institutions we once held onto and to doubt the veracity of the information they give us. It is entirely reasonable to stop trusting expertise, Stephens subtly suggests. Remember Clinton?

Clever people can get overconfident, therefore, assume all experts are wrong. Not so sure I agree 100% with the logic there Lou.

This is a classic strain of climate change denialism. Stephens does not call a single fact into question throughout his piece. Instead, he’s telling his readers that their decision not to trust the entire institution of science that supports the theory of climate change might actually be reasonable. “Ordinary citizens also have a right to be skeptical of an overweening scientism,” he writes. “They know—as all environmentalists should—that history is littered with the human wreckage of scientific errors married to political power.”

So just laugh merrily, fill up the SUV with 40 gallons of gas, and drive off into the sunset, leaving your children to deal with the floods and droughts and mass migrations.

The final shoe drops in the last lines of the piece:

Perhaps if there had been less certitude and more second-guessing in Clinton’s campaign, she’d be president. Perhaps if there were less certitude about our climate future, more Americans would be interested in having a reasoned conversation about it.

What he is suggesting here is that the rational way to go forward with a conversation about climate change is to admit that climate change might not be certain. This is similar to the torturous logic he puts forward throughout the rest of the piece—the only way to be reasonable about this topic is to give in to those who are unreasonable about it. While he calmly insists he is the only logical person around, he is spewing complete bullshit.

Trump will probably invite him to Taco del Mar next weekend.



What we will have to do

Apr 30th, 2017 11:58 am | By

The Austrian president had an idea.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has ignited debate in Europe after video appeared to show him supporting a woman’s right to wear an Islamic headscarf — and suggesting that all women should wear a headscarf to battle prejudice against Muslims.

Speaking to students at the House of the European Union in Vienna on March 24, Van der Bellen said that it is his opinion that women have a right to dress however they want. “If Islamophobia continues to spread . . . the day will come when we will have to ask all women to wear headscarves,” Van der Bellen said, according to video footage of the event. “All of them, in solidarity with those who [wear them] for religious reasons.”

Oh really. “We” will have to do that, will we? “We” will have to ask women to wear a hair, ears and neck concealing piece of cloth that women in Iran, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia are beaten or whipped or imprisoned or killed for refusing to wear? A garment that only women are forced to wear? A garment that is explicitly for the purpose of protecting women’s “modesty”? A garment that its fans compare to a wrapper on candy or refrigeration of meat? A garment that women have been rebelling against for generations? A garment that fathers and brothers bully daughters and sisters into wearing? A garment that stands for women’s inferior status among other things?

And “we” will have to ask women to do that while “we” don’t ask men to do anything? And “we” don’t even pause to notice that that just might be a tad unfair, not to mention theocratic?



Norval Morrisseau

Apr 30th, 2017 11:06 am | By

On the other hand…this story about closing down Amanda PL’s exhibit sent me to Google images to check out Norval Morrisseau, and holy shit. Maybe the objectors were just pissed off because her art is not as good. But we don’t get to shut down exhibits just because they’re not good enough! We kind of have to let that objection take care of itself. Painting of cats on velvet can get exhibits; there’s nothing we can do about it.

But anyway: Morrisseau is breathtaking, and I hadn’t heard of him before.

Image result for Norval Morrisseau

Kinsman Robinson Galleries

Seriously: I recommend going to Google Images to see what turns up.