May 2017 – Feministe

Let’s talk about Confederate monuments.

They’re going down. Some of them are, anyway. But they’re not going down without a fight from the heritage-not-hate devotees of the tributes to the fight to preserve slavery and white supremacy. New Orleans has taken down statues honoring Confederate generals and leaders, and Charlottesville has voted to do the same. But just as quickly as the statues are falling, city and state governments are proposing protections for such monuments as a matter of “heritage.” Alabama passed theirs on Friday, and Louisiana’s is in the works.

So what’s really behind this desperate protectiveness of Civil War participation trophies, and why do they have no place on taxpayer-owned land? Let’s talk.

Sally Yates vs. Ted Cruz: FINISH HIM

On Monday, former acting attorney general Sally Yates testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism about connections to Russia throughout Trump’s campaign team and administration. Remember how she told the White House counsel about Michael Flynn being compromised, and got cool-story-bro’d? Well, Ted Cruz had some questions — but not about anything to do with that, because he just wanted to get in his smug digs about her refusal to enact Trump’s Muslim ban. This was a mistake.

(Also, Go Dawgs.)

Quick Hit: The White House ignored Sally Yates because… Clinton?

So Sally Yates testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism on Monday, talking about Russian interference in the election. Largely she talked about trying to tell the White House that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was talking with the Russians and lying about it, and how they were, like, “NBD.” So in this morning’s press briefing, Sean Spicer was quick to discredit Yates, saying it was perfectly reasonable to disregard her evidence-backed warnings because she’s a Clinton supporter (apparently), and I guess those are prone to lying about matters of national security? Whatever. Here he is.