Democratic Leaders Are Getting the Abortion Story Wrong — Again
Rebecca Traister skewers national Democrats for failing time and again to say and do the right thing when it comes to reproductive rights, contributing to the moment at which America now finds itself — on the doorstep of Roe v Wade’s reversal:
Schumer and Pelosi’s bizarre assertion that this looming rollback of rights was emblematic of “the party of Trump” is profoundly ahistorical. The overturn of Roe, whatever form it takes, will not be the product of the “party of Trump.” It is the party of Ronald Reagan, who came to power in 1980 on a platform that included a “human life amendment.” It is the party of George H.W. Bush, who flipped on his previous support for abortion rights to become Reagan’s vice-president and, eventually, his successor to the White House. It’s the party that put Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on the bench. It is the party that stole a Supreme Court seat from a president who was elected by a majority of voters, and that used the Electoral College and the Supreme Court itself to ensure the White House was occupied by Republican presidents who had lost the popular vote, but could nevertheless appoint justices who had been grown in a Federalist Society lab to strike down freedoms supported by a majority of Americans.
So no, where America finds itself is not in a world transformed by Donald Trump. Rather it’s one in which generations of Republicans have been open about their brutal aim, while Democratic leaders have repeatedly asked voters to trust them in a fight that, up to the very night Roe was struck down in draft form, they refused to accurately describe or perhaps even discern.
The Poison of Male Incivility
On Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s powerful speech on the House floor, and the entrenched narrative of the “disruptive” woman.
The Resilience of Marga Griesbach
“I think every life is like a novel.” Marga Griesbach was born in Germany in 1927. Her life is like multiple novels — horror, romance, magical realism, travelogue. Whatever you’re doing right now, you should stop it and read this story.
Ronan Farrow Depicts a Chilling Cover-up at NBC
Rebecca Traister reads Ronan Farrow’s new book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, and realizes that those at NBC who colluded to obstruct Farrow’s ground-breaking reporting on Harvey Weinstein remain in charge.
Elizabeth Warren’s Classroom Strategy
“Warren believed that the law and its remedies should not be simply the domain of the already powerful, and her approach to communicating with her students — and later, as a more public figure, with a wider audience — came back to her drive to make seemingly complicated concepts available to those who didn’t already have an expertise, specifically by decluttering the language she feels is meant to drive people away from engagement with the policies that shape their lives, rather than drawing them in and making them full participants.”
46 Minutes With Barbara Lee
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee speaks to Rebecca Traister about her dissent on Iraq 17 years ago and her campaign to become chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the Democratic party’s number five leadership role.
Summer of Rage: White Men are the Minority in the United States — No Wonder They Get Uncomfortable When Their Power is Challenged
The rights and priorities of white men in our country have always overshadowed those of people of color and women. It is, however, a ruling minority situation as white men make up only a third of the population. With shifting demographics and destabilizing movements like #metoo, the ruling minority seeks to minimize and discredit their disruptors because they know what they are: real threats to their long-lasting hegemony.
This Moment Isn’t (Just) About Sex. It’s Really About Work.
Rebecca Traister looks below the surface of this moment in which so much sexual misconduct has been coming to light, and finds at the root of it troubling, longstanding, gender-based workplace power dynamics.
Hillary Is Poised to Make the ‘Impossible Possible’ — for Herself and for Women in America
The always excellent Rebecca Traister on how Hillary Clinton the presidential candidate and Hillary Clinton the 1969 Wellesley student in student government are remarkably consistent in beliefs and commitment.
Hillary Clinton vs. Herself
Rebecca Traister gets a closer look at Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail and finds both a stiff, off-putting performer, and a warm, hard-working civil servant.