The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Kirsten Gillibrand’s Phony ‘Courage’

Posted on | September 16, 2014 | 33 Comments

Kirsten Gillibrand is a Democrat and a liar, but I repeat myself. In her new book, she claims that male Senate colleagues sexually harassed her, but refused to name names, which means either:

A. The harassers were Democrats, and Gillibrand is protecting these sexist swine for partisan reasons;
or
B. She’s lying.

You can believe what you want to believe, but I never believe anything any Democrat says, unless it is independently corroborated, and we have no way to corroborate Kirsten Gillibrand’s stories:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is giving more details, and dropping f-bombs, about her experience with sexist comments she’s received about her weight, saying she couldn’t tell a male colleague “to go f—- himself.”
“At that moment, if I could have just disappeared, I would have. If I could have just melted in tears, I would have. But I had to just sit there and talk to him. And I switched the subject and I didn’t hear another word he said, but I wasn’t in a place where I could tell him to go f—- himself,” Gillibrand told HuffPost Live in an interview posted Monday. . . .
Talking to to HuffPost Live, Gillibrand said of the comments, “It’s all horrible” adding that women “get comments like this all the time.”
She said the comments are “undermining” to women’s careers and she pushed back against critics who questioned why Gillibrand hasn’t named names, saying it’s not just about “any one insult or any one person.”
“It’s more important to elevate the debate, to have a national debate about how are women treated in the workplace,” the senator said.

Oh, I see: Not naming names — which might make it possible for us to verify or disprove what Gillibrand says — is a way to “elevate the debate,” which is not about the specific truth of what Gillibrand says, but “about how are women treated in the workplace.”

What she’s trying to do is to get “courage” points, offering herself as the Heroic Victim in the feminist narrative of what happens to women “all the time,” soliciting admiration by telling stories about how brave and strong she is, Speaking Truth to Power — and yet preventing us from verifying that she is actually speaking the truth.

This is a classic bullshit artist technique: Tell a story in such a way as to make it difficult to confirm or disprove; when people then ask for the kind of details that would make it possible for them to confirm it, you change the subject. “The details don’t matter.”

You see this technique, for example, in “Stolen Valor” cases, where bullshit artists fraudulently claim to be combat veterans and either (a) they were in the service, but never saw combat, or (b) they never were in the service at all. This kind of evasiveness about details — the unit they were in, the names of their commanding officers — is your clue that something is wrong with their story.

Have people said rude and obnoxious things to Kirsten Gillibrand? I don’t doubt that, but people say rude and obnoxious things every day without anyone claiming to be victimized or harassed. What Gillibrand is claiming, however, is that she was the victim of a pattern of sexist comments and behaviors by members of the United States Senate. This is a very serious accusation, and Gillibrand cannot be permitted to make such accusations, refuse to name names, and then try to change the subject by saying she wants to have “a national debate about how are women treated in the workplace.”

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND IS LYING.

But she’s a Democrat, so that’s not actually news.

 

Category: Democrats

LIVE AT FIVE: 09.16.14

Posted on | September 16, 2014 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
How Kira Kazantsev Went From Cronut Blogger To Miss America

Third consecutive New Yorker to win the crown

Has always been an overachiever; speaks three languages and triple-majored at Hofstra
Happy red cup leads to happy new Miss America
Why the Miss America pageant can’t save Atlantic City

Obama Dispatching Military, Medical Aid To Africa For Ebola Fight
About 3000 troops to train, build medical facilities, and handle logistics

Poroshenko Offers Rebels Major Concessions To End Fighting
NATO members begin arms deliveries to Ukraine



POLITICS
Clinton Aides Scrubbed Benghazi Files Before Review, Former Official Says

“At this point, what difference does it make?”

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Richard Maxwell blows the whistle; State denies accusations

Ayatollah, Kerry Spar Over Iran’s Role In Fighting ISIS


De Blasio, Cuomo And Christie Meet With Homeland Security Head For Threat Discussion

Insurance Providers Widely Ignoring Obamacare Abortion Provision

Dems Hope To Make Campaign Fodder As GOP Blocks Equal Pay Bill

House GOP: No US Ground Troops In Mideast Plan



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude’s Dead Cat Bounce Moderated By Weak Demand: WTI $92.77, Brent $97.91
Nikkei Drops As Investors Await Fed Outcome; Softbank Soars
Calpers To Exit Hedge Funds, Divest $4 Billion Stake
United To Offer Up To $100K Severance In Effort To Thin Flight Attendant Ranks
NASDAQ Slumps To Worst Day Since July; S&P 500 Dips
Olive Garden Defends Breadstick Policy
Authors United May Not Want To Admit It, But Most Books Are Consumer Goods
iPhone 6 Sparks Record 4 Million Pre-Orders
Four Months And Three Million Comments Later, The Public Has Spoken On Net Neutrality
Microsoft To Preview Windows 9 On September 30
Steve Jobs Was A Low-tech Parent
Facebook Forces Drag Queens Out Of The Closet



SPORTS
Angels First To Clinch Playoff Berth

Mike Trout (#27) is going to the playoffs for the first time in his career

Blowout 8-1 win against Mariners puts them 10 1/2 games up on Oakland in the AL West

DeGrom Fans 8, Mets Fall To Fish  6-5 Anyway

Cashner & The Padres Shut Out Phillies 1-0

O’s Magic Number Is One After Topping Jays 5-2

Yankees Eliminated From AL East After Rays Rally In The Ninth For 1-0 Win

Phillies Closer Papelbon Gets Seven Games For Grabbing Crotch, Bumping Ump*

Tigers Rally In Ninth, Twins Can’t Answer, Lose 8-6

Astros Beat Fading Tribe 3-1

Royals Rally, Beat White Sox 4-3

Strasburg Throws Seven Scoreless Innings, Nats Beat Braves 4-2: Magic Number Now 2

*But mostly for grabbing his crotch.



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
First She Was All Like “RAAAAACISM!!!!111oneoneone!!!” But When The Tape Came Out She Was Like “Okay, We Were Doing It In The Car”

Daniele Watts: race card declined

Turns out it wasn’t her husband, either. Did she tell the truth about anything?

Unspeakable Armenian Cuddles Koala On Family Trip To Zoo In Oz

Robin Thicke Admits To Drug Use, Lying To Media In Wild “Blurred Lines” Deposition

Kanye West Not Apologizing For Joe Biden Impression: “I’m The Victim!”


Holly Montag Ties The Knot

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” In Season Again At Sony

Mindy Kaling Reveals She Was Up For Maya Rudolph’s Role In “Bridesmaids”

Universal Reuniting Matt Damon & Paul Greenglass For Another Jason Bourne Film

Pete Davidson Joins SNL As New Featured Player

Beyonce & Jay-Z’s Bonnie & Clyde Short Film Trilogy Released

Miss Nebraska Flashes The Cameras

Jimmy Fallon Celebrates 40th Birthday In The Hamptons

Joan Rivers Complains Of Voice Trouble In Her Last Recording

Surprise Party For “Orange” Star Gets Silly



FOREIGNERS
Scottish Expats Excluded From Independence Vote
Odile Batters Mexico’s Baja Resorts, Knocks Out Power To Most Of The Area
Donetsk Separatist Leader Says Cease-Fire Signed To Avert Humanitarian Catastrophe
Convoy Hit In Kabul Bomb Attack
700 Illegals Feared Dead After Traffickers Deliberately Scuttle Boat
UN Peacekeepers Deploy In Central African Republic
US Trying To Rekindle Anbar Awakening Against ISIS
Thais Hunting Western Backpacker In Murder Of British Tourists
Typhoon Kalmaegi Sweeps Past Shut-Down Hong Kong
Irish Troops Withdraw From Syrian Posts
Poll: Silva Would Tie Rousseff In Brazilian Election, Force Runoff
Nigerian Soldiers Sentenced To Death For Mutiny



BLOGS & STUFF
Michelle Malkin: The Deadly Attack On Camp Bastion, Two Years Later
Twitchy: Salon Tool Says “Nothing Scares A White American More Than Someone Who Isn’t A White American”
American Power: Obama Vs. The Generals
BLACKFIVE: White House Press Brief – Disgustipated By Ransom Threats, Etc.
Conservatives4Palin: Gov. Palin Endorses Tom Emmer For Congress (MN-6)
Don Surber: Do Democrats Care About Dead Black Men?
Jammie Wearing Fools: Texas Sheriff Says Reports Warn Of ISIS Terrorist Cells Coming Across The Border
Joe For America: Senators Have Time To Be Reality TV Stars?
Protein Wisdom: Hillary And Obamacare – “Her Fingerprints Are All Over That Legislation”
Shot In The Dark: The Good Guys Win Another
The Gateway Pundit: Study Finds FLOTUS’ Healthy Food Program Elitist, Sexist, And Shames Working Mothers
The Jawa Report: Jawa Report Congratulates Gary Cass On His CAIR Fatwa
The Lonely Conservative: CDC Tells US Hospitals To Prepare For Ebola
This Ain’t Hell: Feds Resent Vets’ Hiring Preferences
Weasel Zippers: Dem Rep Ann Kirkpatrick Flies Mexican Flag During Arizona Parade (But Not US Flag)
Megan McArdle: College Kids Can’t Defeat Big Oil


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Category: Live at Five

HIV-Infected Music Teacher Arrested for Sex With 15-Year-Old Boy

Posted on | September 15, 2014 | 48 Comments

McKinney, Texas:

Police have arrested a Richardson music teacher and charged him with sexual assault after he was found sneaking out of a home in McKinney.
The homeowners called police on Sept. 10 to report what they thought was a burglary, police said in a press release Friday.
They found Roger Kessler, 43, trying to run away from their home and detained him until police arrived.
“The homeowner saw a male suspect fleeing the residence and the homeowner was able to detain the suspect until police arrived,” said Sabrina Boston, of McKinney police.
It was determined that Kessler wasn’t a burglar and was at the home to have sexual relations with a 15-year-old resident who lived there. . . .
An affidavit states that Kessler was using the app Grindr to meet the teen, and the pair had met about four times.
The affidavit also stated that Kessler told police he is HIV positive, but had used protection with the teen during all encounters except one. He also admitted that the teen didn’t know about Kessler’s condition.

Notice how the reporters go out of their way to avoid saying that Kessler was having sex with a boy, instead referring to the victim as a “teen.” Hint: You don’t meet girls on Grindr.

 

Category: Crime, Education, Gays, Sex

Rotherham Update

Posted on | September 15, 2014 | 12 Comments

Sarfraz Mazoor, a Briton of Pakistani ancestry, has an op-ed column in today’s New York Times about the Rotherham Horror:

What has gone wrong in Rotherham, and what is wrong with its Pakistani community, are questions much asked in recent weeks: How could this small, run-down town in northern England have been the center of sexual abuse of children on such an epic and horrifying scale?
According to the official report published in August, there were an estimated 1,400 victims. And they were, in the main, poor and vulnerable white girls, while the great majority of perpetrators were men, mainly young men, from the town’s Pakistani community. Shaun Wright, the police commissioner who was responsible for children’s services in Rotherham, appeared before Parliament after his refusal to resign over the scandal. The scandal has cost both the chief executive and the leader of the council their jobs, and four Labour Party town councilors have been suspended.
A popular explanation for what Home Secretary Theresa May has described as “a complete dereliction of duty” by Rotherham’s public officials is that the Labour-controlled council was, for reasons of political expediency and ideology, unwilling to confront the fact that the abusers were of Pakistani heritage. Proper investigation, it is said, was obstructed by political correctness — or, in the words of a former local M.P., a culture of “not wanting to rock the multicultural boat.”

Mazoor mentions the attempt of Pakistani immigrants to maintain their own cultural identity: “The custom of first-cousin marriages to spouses from back home in Pakistan meant that the patriarchal village mentality was continually refreshed.” Mazoor adds:

The Labour politicians who governed Rotherham in the last decade came into politics during the anti-racism movement of the ’70s and ’80s. Their political instinct — and self-interest — was not to confront or alienate their Pakistani voters. Far easier to ally themselves with socially conservative community leaders, who themselves held power by staying on the right side of the community.
These dynamics help explain why so few spoke out about the culture that produced the crimes — a culture of misogyny, which Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative politician who was raised near Rotherham, criticized in 2012, saying that it permits some Pakistani men to consider young white women “fair game.” It would be a brave leader, Pakistani or otherwise, who would tell the Pakistani community that it needed to address such issues, or that the road to progress required Pakistani parents to relax their strictures and allow their sons and daughters to marry out.

Hmmm. Is this about Pakistani prejudice against exogamy? An interesting claim. Meanwhile, in Rotherham, a 28-year-old woman who says she was victimized by the rape gangs confronted a man on the street who she accused of exploiting her as a teen. She was “arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences.”

Doesn’t it seem that this kind of political correctness — “racially aggravated” crimes — is a basic part of the problem? Wouldn’t it be easier to get rid of such ridiculous kid-gloves sensitivity about race than to expect Pakistanis to change their culture?

 

Category: Crime, Great Britain

‘I Was Drunk. After That, It All Gets Kind of Blurry. … I Know We Had Sex.’

Posted on | September 15, 2014 | 45 Comments

The headline is a quote from atheist Alison Smith, describing her hookup with atheist Michael Shermer at a 2008 atheist conference in Las Vegas, in a BuzzFeed article headlined:

Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement?

My headline is better. Just sayin’ . . .

Also, the BuzzFeed headline is asking the wrong question. It should be, “Will Feminism Bring Down The Atheist Movement?” The problem is not necessarily that atheist men are feral swine — are we surprised? — but rather that women are attending conferences with these feral swine and expecting to be treated like ladies. Or treated like “equals,” even if they are manifestly not equal.

Men started this atheist conference — known as “The Amazing Meeting” — paying their own money to fund it, and then the women showed up and wanted to change the rules. The atheist women complained that they were not adequately represented on the panels, despite the fact that, y’know, the big-name attractions were all men who had done actual work that mattered to the atheist movement.

And then, in 2008, this “incident” happened: Alison Smith, 26 at the time, met the eminent atheist Michael Shermer, 54 at the time, at a party during this conference in Las Vegas. Even among the feral swine of atheism, it seems, Shermer has a reputation as an aggressive lecher. Anyway, Smith and Shermer left the party at the Flamingo, when to another party at Caesar’s Palace and then, after Smith got sloppy drunk, she and Shermer returned to the Flamingo and ended the evening in Shermer’s hotel room, where he boned her.

As I said, are we surprised?

The BuzzFeed article goes on and on about how this drunken Vegas hookup  in 2008 is emblematic of A Larger Problem, namely the “misogyny” in a movement which is and always has been male-dominated. But some men in the movement wanted to attract more women (so they could get them drunk and bone them, obviously) and it seems that, when young atheist women did begin showing up at these events, they did not consider it particularly flattering that feral swine like Michael Shermer wanted to bone them.

Having written about this last year (“No Love for the Godless,” American Spectator), I don’t have much more to say, except to point out the obvious question: Why would these women assume that an egalitarian ethos must prevail in the atheist community? Doesn’t this egalitarian assumption reflect the pervasive influence of feminism in our culture — especially in our higher education system — so that every “movement” must now also be a feminist movement? Every institution is expected to operate on a de facto feminist quota system so that unless a certain percentage of seats are filled by women, the accusation of sexist discrimination is automatic.

These egalitarian assumptions are illogical and, while I certainly don’t endorse the misbehavior of feral swine like Michael Shermer, I’m amazed that these atheists — who pride themselves on their strictly scientific view of the world — don’t have the brains or courage to challenge the quota-minded radical feminist assumptions that some atheist women are attempting to smuggle into their movement.

Of course, all these atheists are going to hell, which will be a very equal place, because there will be so many feminists there.

 

Category: Feminism

Is Scotland A Symptom?

Posted on | September 15, 2014 | 27 Comments

by Smitty

Pravda on the Hudson notes:

From Catalonia to Kurdistan to Quebec, nationalist and separatist movements in Europe and beyond are watching the Scottish independence referendum closely — sometimes more so than Britons themselves, who seem to have only just woken up to the possibility that Scotland might vote next Thursday to bring to an end a 307-year union. A curious collection of left and right, rich and poor, marginal and mainstream, these movements are united in the hope that their shared ambition for more self-determination will get a lift from an independent Scotland.

I think they get near the bone with the note:

National self-determination, he said, “is about bringing policies closer to the people.”

Let’s just put a few things out there, shall we?
This is the Information Age

  • The Information Age has underscored the banality of officeholders everywhere, as human beings.
  • Simultaneously, the Information Age has supported lying to more people about more things more subtly than ever, both through cable news and the internet. Does anything think the government ever puts out straight numbers on any topic anymore?
  • Counter-balanced by the increasing number of people looking at each other and inquiring: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Prediction:

People in bulk aren’t bright, but the lies decay at a faster rate than Progress can spew them. Progress dies a slow, ignoble death, if some conservative leadership of Reagan caliber can be identified to blow through the Progressive GOP deadwood.

Scotland herself actually balks at independence, pen comes to ballot. Their motives, as far as I can tell, are not driven by actual capitalist desire for liberty; rather, a truly Progressive desire to tax their way to prosperity. In other words, I doubt there is enough sack under the kilts to make a go of it.

In the history of the crash of global Progressivism, though, the referendum vote will be a notable milestone.

Category: Culture

LIVE AT FIVE: 09.15.14

Posted on | September 15, 2014 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Over 184,000 Saved From Kashmir Flooding

Focus now turns to preventing waterborne diseases

150,000 still stranded a week after flooding
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah left with only two officials when floods struck
Kashmir bureaucrats resent draconian call back to duty
Fresh rain hampering rescue efforts

Hurricane Odile Slams Cabo San Lucas Resort In Baja
Damaging winds, flooding and mudslides likely

New Poll Puts “No” Ahead In Scotland
Survation poll for “Better Together” campaign finds support for staying in UK at 54%



POLITICS
Sanders Tests Presidential Waters On TV

Appears on “Meet The Depressed”

“The issue is not Hillary Clinton.”


Obama Assures Pro-Illegal Groups He’ll Do Executive Amnesty Before Holidays



“Django Unchained” Actress Claims LAPD Mistook Her For Prostitute After Interracial Kiss With Husband

Administration Presses Congress To Vote Now On Arming Syrian Rebels

Hurdles For Obamacare In Second Signup Season

Kerry Still Scrambling For Anti-ISIS Commitments In Middle East

Landrieu Releases Reports On Questionable Flights, New Safeguards After Repaying $34K



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude Falls Further After Weak Chinese Data: WTI $91.21, Brent $96.48
Global Stocks Drop With Oil, Copper On China Data
Heineken Rebuffs SABMiller Bid
Lufthansa Pilots To Strike Thursday
Commodities Brace For More Woe Ahead Of Fed Decision
Alibaba Reportedly Boosting IPO Size Due To Heavy Investor Interest
Malware Uses Twitch Chat To Target Steam Users
The iPod: Gone But Not Forgotten
Oracle To Acquire Content Storage Management Company Front Porch Digital
Google To Launch Android One Phones In India For ~$105
Microsoft’s Purchase Of Minecraft Maker Mojang Could Be Worth $2.5 Billion



SPORTS
Keselowski Wins First Chase Race At Chicagoland

Winning the opening round

Daring three-wide drive through the middle seals the deal


Ray Rice Considering Lawsuit Against NFL, Citing Double Jeopardy

A’s Stay Alive In Playoff Hunt With Back-To-Back Wins In Seattle

Sims Leads Alabama Past Southern Mississippi 52-12 #rolltide


O’s Rally Past Yankees In 9th, Magic Number Drops To Three

Cowboys Avoid 0-2 Start With 26-10 Win Over Texans

Tigers Hold On To Top Tribe 6-4

Injured RG3 Watches Redskins Crush Jags 41-10

Fish Rally Past Phillies, Score Four In Ninth To Win 5-4

Patriots Dominate Peterson-Less Vikings 30-7

Rangers Complete Sweep Of Braves With 10-3 Win

Astros End Angels’ Streak With 6-1 Thrashing

Nava’s Grand Slam Lifts Red Sox Past Royals

Jets Timeout Nullifies Tying Score, Hands Packers A Win

Twins Avert Sweep, Beat Pale Hose 6-4

Nats Blank Mets 3-0, Magic Number Now 4



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Iggy Azalea Threatens Porn Company

Use my trademarked name? We’ll see who gets screwed

Pop star’s lawyers threatening Vivid over release of alleged sex tape


Lauren Conrad Marries William Tell

Beyonce Pregnant With Second Child?



Kanye West Has Joe Biden Moment, Demands Wheelchair-Bound Fans Stand Up & Dance

Martha Stewart Says Gwyneth Paltrow Should Shut Up And Stick To Acting

Has TMZ Put Roger Goodell’s Job In Jeopardy?

Nick Jonas Lands Modeling Gig

Jennifer Connelly’s Loft Stuck In Hurricane Sandy Damage Dispute

Padma Lakshmi Calls “Top Chef” Picketers A “Blip”



FOREIGNERS
White House Claims Arab Nations On Board With ISIS Airstrikes But Doesn’t Name Names
Queen Urges Voters To “Think Carefully” About Scottish Independence
Diplomatic Push Begins Against ISIS
Explosions, Gunfire Return To Donetsk
Norks Sentence American Tourist To Six Years Hard Labor For “Hostile Acts”
Swedish Krona Weakens After Weekend Elections Result In Hung Parliament
Chancellor Merkel Leads Berlin Rally Against Anti-Semitism
Typhoon Kalmaegi Departs Philippines, Leaving Damage But No Casualties In Its Wake
Pro-Democracy Protesters Stage “Black Cloth” March In Hong Kong
“Action Against Islamic State Should Include Syria”
With Eye On China, India To Develop Disputed Border Region



BLOGS & STUFF
American Power: British PM Cameron Declares “Islam Is A Religion Of Peace”
American Thinker: Why Did Mideast Christians Heckle Pro-Israel Ted Cruz?
BLACKFIVE: Trailer Talk – Declare The War Already
Conservatives4Palin: Scott Conroy Sets The Record Straight On The Media’s Latest Palin Gossip
Don Surber: GoFundMe Says Fund Your Own Abortion
Jammie Wearing Fool: Carpetbagging Husband Of Facebook Founder Getting Crushed In Congressional Bid
Joe For America: Wisconsin Voter ID – Dems Smacked In The Courts Again
JustOneMinute: The Uncertain Trumpeters
Protein Wisdom: Vagina Warrior Amanda Marcotte Has An Enemies List
Shot In The Dark: Trulbert! Part X – Human Nature
STUMP: Public Pensions Watch – Alternative Asset Classes, Part VIII – New Jersey Followup
The Gateway Pundit: Black Panthers Threaten To Lynch Black Conservative For Supporting Officer Wilson
The Jawa Report: Jawa Report Only A Few Months Ahead Of The Media
The Lonely Conservative: ISIS Beheaded Another Hostage
This Ain’t Hell: About That “Lack Of Diversity In Army Officers” Claim…
Weasel Zippers: Another Beheading Means…Another Day On The Golf Course
Megan McArdle: How To Stop Money From Killing Your Marriage


Category: Live at Five

Sudden Onset Lesbian Syndrome

Posted on | September 14, 2014 | 90 Comments

“Men who rule, and male leftists who seek to rule, try to depoliticize sex . . . in order to prevent us from acting to end our oppression and challenging their power. As the question of homosexuality has become public, reformists define it as a private question of who you sleep with in order to sidetrack our understanding of the politics of sex. For the Lesbian-Feminist, it is not private; it is a political matter of oppression, domination, and power. . . . The only way oppressed people end their oppression is by seizing power: People whose rule depends on the subordination of others do not voluntarily stop oppressing others. Our subordination is the basis of male power.”
— Charlotte Bunch, “Lesbians in Revolt,” 1972

“Lesbianism is the greatest threat that exists to male supremacy.”
— Rita Mae Brown, A Plain Brown Rapper, 1976

“Central to radical feminism is the belief that the patriarchy (not capitalism or sex roles or socialization or individual sexist men) is the root of all forms of oppression; that all men benefit from and maintain it and are, therefore, our political enemies. Within this framework, heterosexuality, far from existing as a ‘natural state,’ ‘personal choice’ or ‘sexual orientation,’ is described as a socially constructed and institutionalized structure which is instrumental in the perpetuation of male supremacy.”
— Celia Kitzinger, The Social Construction of Lesbianism, 1987

When feminists say “the personal is political” and declare that women are oppressed by “patriarchy” and “male supremacy,” they mean what they say and — because Ideas Have Consequences, as Richard Weaver warned — the impact of these radical ideas on the lives of individuals is never really coincidental. Steve Basilone‘s personal tragedy is not really a comedy, nor is it actually personal, according to feminist theory. He is the patriarchal oppressor, and his ex-wife is therefore now liberated:

One of the head writers for “Orange is the New Black” has filed for divorce … the logical step since she’s now realized she’s a lesbian and is dating one of the female stars.
Lauren Morelli just filed divorce docs — obtained by TMZ — from her husband of 2 years, Steve Basilone. It’s actually a joint petition … probably because Steve realizes that ship has sailed.
The story is amazing. Lauren began writing for OITNB 5 months after she got hitched. Lauren says as she started writing for the main character — who had once been in a lesbian relationship — she saw herself in the character. Lauren says she began to feel like a fraud … married to a man but clearly gay.
According to Lauren … as she began writing about Piper’s blossoming relationship with the very hot Alex … “I found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like.”

Ms. Morelli’s future looks like sex with OITNB actress Samira Wiley:

We are asked to believe that before Ms. Morelli had this revelation at age 30 — having never previously imagined she was gay — her life was an inauthentic charade, a phony pretense of heterosexuality.

This phenomenon of Sudden Onset Lesbian Syndrome has become more common in recent years, and we have examined it before: “How to Become a Lesbian, Step One: Watch Cable TV While Depressed,” wherein a married mother of two discovered her gayness by watching The L Word on Showtime. We imagine her ex-husband telling his buddies, “Yeah, I should have known better than to subscribe to those premium channels. Whatever you do, guys, stick to the basic cable package or your wife will turn into a dyke and then you’ll have to fix your own sandwiches.”

Sarcasm comes easy to those of us who can’t afford premium cable, and who imagine that our families could never become victims of the Cultural Revolution. Yet the revolutionaries have limitless ambitions, and there is nothing funny about Steve Basilone’s discovery that his wife’s wedding vows included a hidden clause:

“Wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honour, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live? Unless, of course, you subsequently figure out you’re actually a lesbian?”

What we are supposed to believe is that the Meaning of Life is the pursuit of your True Self. Any promise can broken, any prior commitment discarded, any vow is automatically invalidated, the moment you realize your True Self is gay. And if you are a woman, those hateful homophobes who would stand between you and your gay True Self are also oppressive agents of male supremacy. Read more

Category: Feminism, Gays, Marriage, Sex Trouble
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