Let me just say how absolutely grateful I am for the Blue Wave

No, things aren't perfect. Trump is still president and our country is still in a mess.

But we are now actually having hearings about gun violence and the detention camps. We're getting oversight over this corrupt administration. We now have at least part of one branch of government acting like it's actually a separate branch of government.

And, of course, there's this, which will probably bring me joy the rest of my life:

So, while we wrestle with all sorts of mess, I just wanted to take a moment to exhale and remember that there is hope for us.

STOP trying to whitewash the blackface!

If I see one more post insisting that we shouldn't judge what Northam did in 1984 by "today's standards," I'm going to throw my computer out the window. (To those who want me gone, don't get excited - I have more than one computer, so I'm not going anywhere ...)

The reprehensibility of blackface isn't a new phenomenon that sprung up in the Age of Obama. Black people and decent, thinking white people have been decrying its use for more than a century. And the consensus for the vast majority of the country has been that it was unacceptable for decades - well before 1984.

Don't believe me? Consider this: If wearing blackface wasn't that big a deal in 1984, why did Northam and his buddies only do it around each other and not broadcast their photos beyond their limited, privileged little circle?

Why are there no pictures of them (or anyone else at their school) standing around grinning in blackface next to, instead of KKK lookalikes, one or more of their black classmates or colleagues? Why didn't they show up at football games or integrated school mixers or at local events dressed like minstrels with shoe polish all over their faces and hands?

Because they knew then that what they were doing was some f*cked up racist ish.

So stop trying to excuse them by claiming it was ok then. It wasn't. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

I believed Anita Hill, Desiree Washington, Dr. Ford, and R. Kelly's accusers-and I think OJ did it.

But not one of those conclusions did I reach within days of first learning of the allegations nor did I decide what I thought based only on an accusation unaccompanied by any corroboration or other evidence.

I don't have enough facts right now to decide whether to believe that Justin Fairfax is a rapist or if Dr. Tyson has made a false accusation against him, or something somewhere in the middle. I do know that I have no reason to think she's lying. Just as I have no reason to think he's a sexual predator.

I don't believe that my commitment to the #MeToo movement means I must immediately believe every single woman's accusation of assault just because she said so any more than my commitment to Black Lives Matter requires me to believe that every black man accused of a crime is innocent.

We may learn more facts about this case and, if and when we do, I'll assess them and may decide whether to accept Dr. Tyson's version of events or Lt. Gov. Fairfax's - or maybe I'll accept neither. But I'm not going to be bullied into allowing my support for women to lead me assume this man committed a crime any more than I will allow myself to be shamed into assuming this woman falsely cried rape.

So, anyone who wishes to infer that a willingness to wait for more facts to come out before passing judgment is somehow a betrayal of my gender or a betrayal of my black brothers (although I've been repeatedly and often nastily accused on this board of the former but not of the latter) can please go take a seat. I'm not having it.

Speaking of raggedy oppo research, shouldn't Elizabeth Warren's team dug up everything that

could possibly cause her a problem connected to her representations of her heritage?

I can understand why she wouldn't remember every document she signed. But a bar registration is a public record that her team should have found. And especially under the circumstances, they should have been particularly vigilant about this.

It seems like she was really badly served.

No words for this AOC Meme

If this isn't the best meme ever - or at least in the top 20 - I don't know what ...



https://www.facebook.com/snarkydemocrat/photos/a.475161255873159/2065864866802782/?type=3&theater

Let's go over the definition of "Blackface" again

In case anyone thinks Nancy's not grooming young leaders to take over

I survived Stacey Abrams' rebuttal without spontaneously combusting with joy and pride

But just barely ...

NANCY!!!

Is he hoping that Stacey Abrams will give up and go to bed without giving her rebuttal?