Interesting week, but mostly a week of observation and listening.
There has been live audio from the hearings regarding the Executive Order, also known as the ‘travel ban’ or ‘Muslim ban.’ The door has been opened to argue ‘intent,’ which means that they’ll be looking at things that Trump said during the Campaign, and outside of the exact wording of the Executive Order. The court may also have some leeway to reword the order so that it is clear and ‘legal.’
On Wednesday, Trump used his @POTUS Twitter account to retweet his own tweet (from his personal @realDonaldTrump account) accusing Nordstrom of treating his daughter, Ivanka, unfairly. Nordstrom had announced that they would no longer carry Ivanka’s products, as they were not selling well.
This earned Trump some air time, from discussions about whether or not it was appropriate to use the Office of the President to interact with Nordstrom and make such an accusation, to calling him a “helicopter parent” to his adult child.
My response:
The issue with a decline in sales is certainly likely to a voluntary boycott across the country. Many people feel that Ivanka was a big part of her father’s campaign, and has been involved in calls at the White House, and therefore deserves a level of censure, and have pointedly refused to buy her products.
My opinion – it’s much better to boycott specific products (e.g., Ivanka’s products) than to boycott the store that carries them. The store is a business, and stocks products from a variety of businesses. To boycott the entire store would harm other businesses in the process. By targeting the one set of products, Nordstrom, and businesses like them, can be left alone to make business decisions based on product response, without having to get involved in politics.
The Big Story
Real outrage was caused on Tuesday night when the hearings began for the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. It has already been in the news for some time that Coretta Scott King wrote a letter back in 1986 that kept Sessions from becoming a federal judge. Senator Elizabeth Warren stood up to speak, and began reading the letter. Because Jeff Sessions is currently a Senator, Mitch McConnell (Majority Leader, and he doesn’t want you to forget it) stopped her. He said she “has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama, as warned by the chair. I call the Senator to order under the provision of Rule 19.” Within minutes, she was told to “sit down,” and thereafter was not allowed to say anything on the floor of the Senate for the next 24 hours.
Apparently, Rule 19 was created to keep Senators from damaging each other’s character. So, thoughts:
— If a letter stating factual information impugns the character of a Senator who is up for the position of Attorney General, we should probably listen.
— This is a hearing to see if he’s qualified, and the right choice for Attorney General. This isn’t a discussion about differing opinions about a bill. Sessions shouldn’t even be viewed as a Senator in this case. He’s a prospective AG.
Results:
Senator Warren immediately went outside of the Senate Chamber and read the full text of the letter, on video, which was streamed live on Facebook. The video immediately went viral. The video is the first thing I viewed when I woke up to on Wednesday morning.
Millions of people across America read, linked, tweeted, and retweeted Coretta Scott King’s Letter (you can read it here).
Other Democratic Senators stepped in opposition to Senator Warren’s censure. It was noted that there was a time when Leader McConnell was called a liar on the floor of the Senate, but Rule 19 was not invoked. Additional examples were given. Then, several (male) senators read the letter, and were allowed to do so without censure. This has further cast aspersions on McConnell’s actions, as a Southern White Man shutting up a woman speaking out.
A quote from Mitch McConnell became a new rallying cry for feminists and protesters across the country. He said, “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
Twitter went crazy.
#LetHerSpeak
#LetLizSpeak
#NeverthelessShePersisted
And some memes were inspired.
