Journalist – Historian – Speaker
Steve Bannon’s long history promoting sexist, antisemitic, and racist views are very much in the news right now, appropriately. I’ve been saying it’s the first major test/fight of the President Trump era. He can place this man in the heart of American power. There’s no Congressional approval. But here is where we find out if …
Dear Readers, Since the election, it’s been difficult to write more than strings of upset tweets as we processed together. I was not shocked that so many people voted for Trump. For a year, I’ve been predicting he’d receive 48-52% of the vote, with most people who voted Republican continuing to do so. I did …
I just received this gorgeous statement from the National Disability Leadership Alliance on Solidarity and the 2016 Presidential Election. It’s a model of how to maintain an explicitly non-partisan position (required by many of these orgs’ tax status) while standing for principle. The NDLA is, “a national cross-disability coalition led by national organizations run by people with …
Jamelle Bouie opens with a powerful statement about the nature of Trump’s victory: More than anything, Trump promises a restoration of white authority. After eight years of a black president—after eight years in which cosmopolitan America asserted its power and its influence, eight years in which women leaned in and blacks declared that their lives …
Local elections and referenda matter. Here’s my issue – I want a new library that empowers creativity and dreaming. Libraries provide the infrastructure for dreams. Also, it’s good business sense. Brookfield, IL, where I live, is a small suburb west of Chicago most famous for its zoo, but we moved there because of affordable houses and great …
1. ASL Voter Assistance Hotline video (above) 2. Transequality has a page on “Voting While Trans,” specifically talking about navigating voter ID laws. 3. Rooted in Rights has an amazing master page of resources dedicated to all kinds of disabled populations. Send me more in the comments or via social media. Will update!
Earlier today I wrote about a 12 year old boy with Cerebral Palsy (he uses a wheelchair and a communication device) who was 1) expelled from a Trump rally for holding up a Hillary sign and 2) got to meet President Obama. The moral: Trump supporters cannot tolerate any dissent, even from a disabled child. …
[Story updated 9:06 CST 11/6] White House Press Pool reports that President Obama met a disabled child who had been kicked out of Trump rally. Background: JJ Holmes, a 12 year old boy with Cerebral Palsy told his mother he wanted to go to a Trump rally to protest. He held up a Hillary Clinton sign. …
Today I’m participating (via remote) in the Iowa Justice Summit, sponsored by the Des Moines NAACP. I’ll be joined by a mental health professional and a person with mental disabilities to talk policing and mental health. Of course, Des Moines policing is very much in the national news, thanks to the ambush and murder of …
It’s faded from the news during this intense election cycle, but Orac makes an argument that one of Donald Trump’s most consistent positions over the years is that he’s a proponent of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Antivax groups know it though, and they’re excited about having one of their movement appointing the head of the CDC. Orac …