Repost of Ann's take on Scarlet Witch
I just posted "There is a God: Call Me Kat gets the axe (Ann)"
at Marcia's site. She and her girlfriend have a family reunion. They
weren't going to go because her girlfriend had to work but at the last
minute (an hour ago), her boss gave her the rest of the day off. So
they were getting in the car to drive (it's a two hour drive) and Marcia
called and I said, "Go for it."
The bad news? That was my big post. I'll probably pull it over here next week.
Oh, looking at the news I do have something I can write about.
WandaVision was a hideous show. Credit to Ava and C.I. who called the retrograde and anti-woman show out in real time: "TV: Can anything be worse than fall 2020?" and especially see "TV: The way things are or are thought to be" and one more is "Media: They lie."
It was insulting and it was insulting to watch critics lie and pretend that it wasn't sexist b.s.
Crazy woman can't handle her powers.
That's
a trope. It starts with Jamie Sommers on The Six Million Dollar Man
and runs to Jean Grey on X-Men and all over the place.
Never happens to the male heroes.
It was insulting.
Guess who's finally whining? Elizabeth Olson:
In a new video feature for Vanity Fair,
Olsen sat down to rewatch key moments from her career, but it's her
comments about Marvel that are sure to make all the headlines, as she
comments on the lack of go-between involving the writers of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and WandaVision, which
were filmed at similar times, and having to attempt to tie the two
together—except one project was written for her, and the other simply
had her in it. In the video, Olsen said:
"It's a similar arc that I had to play in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
There could be parallel stories being told there, of dealing with grief
and loss. Well, I proposed that to the writers who wrote Multiverse of Madness. I said 'Do you know what we're doing in WandaVision? Have
you seen it?' and no, they had not seen it, because it wasn't finished
yet. So I had to try and, I don't know, play it differently, right? I
had to attack the same themes in order for it to be interesting for me, I
think, and potentially for the audience. I had to come at it from a
different point of view so that it wasn't repetitive."
Poor
dumb Elizabeth. Every time she opens her mouth I cringe. Scarlet
Witch was my favorite Avenger in the comic books and it has been
depressing as hell to watch that character be ignored and then
destroyed. Elizabeth never fought for the character and let her be
useless in her first three films.
Here's reality. WandaVision was hideous and started Scarlet down the road that had to end as it did in the Dr. Strange film.
But
isn't it telling that Elizabeth Olsen's commitment wasn't too Wanda.
It was to finding something interesting that she wanted to play. Guess
that's why she gave up on explaining what had happened in WandaVision to
the people working on Dr. Strange.
Elizabeth's not happy about the Doctor Strange movie.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, May 5, 2023. Who do you trust, how do you characterize and
categorize -- a lot of topics inspired by USEFUL IDIOTS' latest video.
Running late this morning, sorry. Let's start with a video that went up a little while ago.
1) "CODEPINK, you can't say enough about them." Worthless? Aaron, you can say that they're worthless.
Susan "Medea" Benjamin accomplishes nothing.
CODESTINK
is not helping. They can't focus. They fundraise on aims and plans
that they don't follow through on -- they took a lot of our money in
2006 for that interaction with Iraqis that they dropped days before it
was to start because the press was paying attention to Palestine. They
angered many Iraqis who risked a lot to build that event and get the
word out. So let's stop pretending there.
Then
let's note that Julian needs attention. Julian Assange is being
persecuted. I know it. If you're here reading this, you know it. But
what if you're new to this?
What if you're catching that clip on the news. You're going to think, "Who is that crazy lady."
Her actions are not helping anyone but herself.
Foolish people like Aaron Mate will rush to praise her for her nonsense.
At
some point, when you've been doing the same thing over and over, you
have to ask yourself, "Is this working?" Susan will never do that.
It's much more important to her to get publicity for herself.
Aaron and Katie decided to cover this. And they don't know the name of the woman who was also part of the protest.
Susan
needs to step down from leadership because she's not accomplishing
anything. And she needs to step down because the only real life in that
organization is the young members. But Susan was the female figurehead
in 2003 and she still is. Apparently, like Dianne Feinstein, she's
going to die in office.
Are we really that pathetic?
If CODESTINK isn't just for Susan's vanity, then they should have long ago replaced her so that the organization could grow.
That said, were I a young woman in my 20s or 30s, I don't know that I'd want to be in charge because there are so many lies.
A feminist organization? Created by women?
They've
web papered over reality in many ways but anyone who wants to do a real
deep dive -- even online -- can find that they're not really what they
pretend they are today.
And these early lies
are why Susan Benjamin can feel comfortable sharing the stage with
convicted pedophile and registered sex offender Scott Ritter. It took
the rank and file of CODEPINK calling her out for that to keep her off
the stage. She is that out of touch with young women. She needs to
step aside and let the young lead.
I am sick
to death of the Dianne Feinsteins, Susan Benjamins and Gloria Steinems
who refuse to leave the stage. And I'm sick of the lies involved in all
three. DiFi is a reactionary politician and always has been throughout
her too long career. We've already talked about Susan. Been awhile
since we talked about Gloria.
She can have her snit fits with THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE NEW YORKER and -- Well, everybody.
She is no longer useful and people don't feel like lying for her anymore.
She was CIA and outlets -- news outlets -- are no longer going to play.
I didn't speak to Susan Faludi about Gloria for BACKLASH.
But
if I had, I would've given a variation of what Susan wrote. It's what
we were told in real time. And we didn't have the internet back then.
I
would've said, Gloria, in college, helped on an international project
and didn't realize that there was CIA funding. That was a mistake on
her part. Most universities were taking funding from the CIA for
various projects and activities -- often filed under "student life."
That's what she told me. That's what she told Marlo Thomas.
I
didn't live in NYC and was not plugged into that community. I did get a
heads up from Ellen Willis that Gloria's version was "creative
writing." I filed that away and didn't make public comments for that
reason. Ellen was plugged into the NYC scene and she did know a lot,
lot more than I did.
Kathie Sarachild and Gloria came into conflict because of this.
The women's movement had been a powerful force. Along comes Gloria.
She
and her friends elbow out Betty Friedan for being 'too old' -- yet
Gloria would hang onto leadership (self-appointed leadership) many
decades older than Betty -- and the women's movement peters out.
Go to THIRD and look there I'm not in the mood to spoonfeed on this. I'm tired and struggling to breathe.
Kathie
and others in The Redstockings did research and asked questions and did
so publicly. And Gloria used professional connections -- including to
other CIA spooks (Clay, that's all you were). She silenced it. The
media walked away from it.
Early on, when I
started online, we would get e-mails from people saying this or that
about Gloria. I would spit back out what I thought was accurate. What
the media had told us. But I can be wrong. I'm wrong all the time. I
don't remember Bob's last name -- starts with an F and then too many
letters for a dyslexic like me -- but he wrote several e-mails to us at
THIRD and I always dictated a response through Ty and I told Bob he
might be right, that there were other things I had to focus on but I
wouldn't let it drop and I would continue to look into it.
Ruth
Rosen told me she stood by what she wrote in THE WORLD SPLIT OPEN. It
was not the airbrushed portrait that Gloria always shopped around.
Marilyn French was far more specific.
I asked Marilyn how Gloria got away with it? "People wanted a leader and wanted to believe we had an honest one."
We did not have an honest one.
Bob was right and if he wants to e-mail, I'll give him credit for forcing me to look for the truth.
The
kindest explanation for Gloria's incompetence is that she is stupid and
caught up in victim mentality. That would explain how feminism under
Gloria in the US peters out. We're no longer challenging, we're
begging. We're no longer strong, we're pathetic.
But
Gloria was CIA. And it went beyond her time in college. But that time
in college was not what she claimed. She was actively spying on and
compiling lists of dissidents and those lists were handed over by the US
government to the countries the dissidents lived in. People were
harmed and, yes, people died because of Gloria's actions.
That's reality.
It's also reality that she continued to work for the CIA as late as 1968 she was working for a cut-out.
This
was not a mis-step in her youth. And, thanks to the internet, we now
can see clips that were long buried. Gloria was a high profile
journalist -- but not yet a feminist -- proclaiming her work for the
CIA, her love for the CIA, how she and the CIA shared the same goals.
That stuff wasn't available when Kathie Sarachild and others were demanding answers.
Gloria misled the movement.
We
would not have accepted her in any position had we known she was CIA. I
should clarify that. Those of us who were not CIA would not have
accpeted her. I word it that way because there are a lot of women who
propped Gloria up and, as Marilyn French detailed to me, these women had
a lot to hide as well. Gloria brought them in.
And maybe they did care about women's issues. But they were part of Gloria's watering down feminism.
Earlier
this week, a snapshot almost included a mocking of Max Blumenthal. But
I pulled it at the last minute. In it, I was mocking him for just
discovering what a 'left hero' really was like. As I noted in that
dictated spot, Max, that man broke my heart in college when I discovered
what he was. Why did it take you so long?
There are a lot of people who act like leaders but are not, in fact, leaders. They are misleaders.
And
to those who can't face the truth about Gloria, let's just note that --
CIA or not -- she was ineffective and she should have stepped down a
long time ago.
The same is true of Susan with
regards to stepping down. (There have always been rumors about Susan
and the CIA. I have no idea on that. I spent many years vouching for
Gloria only to find out I was an idiot. I'm not about to make that
mistake with regards to Susan.) Why is one woman the focus of a group?
And why is one woman the 'leader' for a third decade?
That's not a political group, stop kidding yourself. It may be a cult, it is not a political group.
She
needs to step aside and let young women take the stage. If she can't
do that, then everything I've said about her ego is true.
Back
to the video. For "Republicans suck" Katie Halper offers Republicans
on abortion. And they are awful. The American Taliban.
And
if it doesn't apply to you and you're a Republican, let it roll off
your back. I don't have time or energy to do "*" to statements right
now. I'm just trying to power through each day.
But here's my issue. Katie, you're promoting Marianne Williamson.
Kat's entry from last night -- and I'll note the end with "------"
That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Matt Gaetz Wet" from up last night.
Abortion.
Have you read Marianne Williamson's mealy-mouth words? C.I. refers to
it in today's snapshot. I know she's under the weather (she's had a bad
cold) so I called Elaine (they work out together in the morning while
C.I.'s dictating the snapshot) and asked her about it. She said C.I.
was asked to link to the student's report and did so gladly (she always
supports colleges, especially the ones she speaks at and with - with
meaning on zoom conferences). But she thought she'd be able to praise
Marianne and instead found this:
Williamson
said that while she is pro-choice, she is not in favor of late-term
abortions, calling them “misnomers,” or false cases used by those who
are pro-life to ban abortion.
Appalling and shameful. Marianne, you're too weak ass to get my vote.
And
this is an issue we have the support on. So much so that Republicans
with sanity are pumping the brakes on the abortion issue. Poppy Noor (GUARDIAN) reports:
In
one state, Republican women filibustered to block a near total abortion
ban introduced by their own party. In another, the Republican
co-sponsor of a six-week abortion ban subsequently tanked his own bill.
On the federal level, a Republican congresswoman warns that the GOP’s abortion stance could meaning “losing huge” in 2024.
As
states continue to bring in tighter restrictions on abortion following
the fall of Roe v Wade, internal divisions within the Republican party
on the issue are starting to show.
Divisions
most clearly started to show last week in the deep red states of South
Carolina and Nebraska, where Republicans roundly rejected further
attempts to curtail abortion rights last week.
In
South Carolina on Thursday, all five female senators – three of them
Republican – led a filibuster that ultimately blocked a bill which would
have banned abortion from conception with very few exceptions.
That
was the third time a near-total ban on abortion has failed in the
Republican-dominated senate in South Carolina since Roe was overturned
last summer.
So
is there a reason that Marianne can't show leadership on this issue?
What's the female equivalent of a cuck? Seriously, I am appalled by her
and she's damn lucky the statements she made caught C.I. unaware and on
a morning when she was so congested, she could barely speak. I can't
believe it.
I think
Marianne's spent too much time hanging with toy radicals and has
forgotten what basic voting issues are. She better get on her game and
she better stop this 'abortions are icky' nonsense or she's going to
polling worse than she already is.
-----------
End
of Kat's entry. So USEFUL IDIOTS wants to call out Republicans but
we're supposed to be embracing Marianne for her nonsense? For her use
of right-wing talking points? How is her stance on late-term abortions
any different from forcing women to carry to term -- the thing Katie was
pointing out?
It's not.
Buy a clue.
By
the way, Kat could have called me. I get a cold and everyone worries
I'm dying. Which is why I'm late this morning. I have a new bed
arriving today. I'm not dying but I'm not going to go out never having
had a bed I actually wanted. After college, I'd given everything away
to charity and lived in a crash pad and we threw mattresses on the
floor. After that, I always let the man I was sleeping with pick
because sleep has never been that important to me. (Lifelong insomniac
going back to early childhood. My parents didn't believe in TV but got
me one when I was three to keep me in my room at night because otherwise
I would pop the screen off the window, hop out and walk down a few
streets to my grandfather's house.) When a friend moved from the house
she loved in the 70s to a nicer home, she drove the UHaul herself and I
understood why. Point being, I wanted to get the bed springs, mattress,
etc downstairs. Great staircase for parties and big entrances but it's
not fun hauling furniture up. The new bed, mattress, et al will be
hauled up by the people delivering it in a few hours. They're also
going to haul off the old stuff. I wanted to get that all downstairs.
So I woke up early this morning and was going to do it myself.
Mike
heard me and helped -- and I knew he would have if I'd asked -- but
that's why the snapshot's late. And with my congestion, it probably
didn't help.
Okay, back to the video above. "Great job, Hollywood."
What is your point, Aaron Mate?
Do you honestly think that the Met gala was in Los Angeles?
What the honest f**k?
I'm
not in the damn mood. I generally never use the term "Hollywood." I
think it's a misnomer and I think people using it don't know what
they're talking about it. The friend I mentioned earlier -- with the
U-Haul -- gave a great definition of "Hollywood" to PREMIERE years ago.
She's an award winning actress and had to use a ton of words to
describe it.
People like Aaron seem to think they saw Ginger on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND so they know all about "Hollywood."
We don't do the Met gala. Those of us in the entertainment industry in California.
I don't like the NCY crowd to begin with. And I would never go to a Met gala.
Do we have big events in California? We do. Usually for UCLA or a medical issue or what have you.
A
friend, in fact, called me whatever night the gala was to laugh at E!
which was providing live coverage and claiming it was part of their
"Hollywood" coverage.
A few actresses who need to work on their craft instead of selecting princess gowns that push up their breasts attended.
You'll
find bimbos and fashionistas in every grouping. But don't pin that on
"Hollywood," Aaron. I've had a nice career and I've been very
political. My friends don't go to events like that and are appalled at
the amount of wealth flaunted -- borrowed wealth in most cases.
It's cos play for a lot of starlets as they wear jewelry that they don't own.
Any
pretense that this is about celebrating art was long ago ripped to
shreds. This is a NYC event for the shallow and the stupid who don't
have the brains to grasp how much poverty is in this country.
Those of us in the entertainment industry in California take enough flack. Don't pin your greedy NYC events on us.
Honestly, what the actual f**k?
In
the video above, Katie makes the point that The Twitter Files
revelations do not require that you be a fan boi of Elon Musk. She is
correct. So Aaron, stop dragging my industry into your problem with the
glitterati in NYC. Take it up with them, don't drop it on my doorstep.
And
certainly don't drop it on my doorstep when you're so pathetic that
you're calling Tucker Carlson 'anti-war.' He's not and he's never
been. He was for the Iraq War. His insults of the Iraqi people are
offensive. How dare you tell the world that this man is anti-war?
Doing that erases their suffering.
It's not happening and you can't make it happen. You can destroy your own image by continuing down this road.
Glenneth
Greenwald, your buddy, and Jimmy Dore, your buddy, have both limited
their own reach and you're going to go down that road to, Aaron, if you
don't wake the f**k up.
Tucker is a racist
Tucker is a sexist. Tucker is not to be applauded. Are you going to
applaud Bill O'Reilly next? He had on Janeane Garofalo to speak out
against the Iraq War.
That doesn't mean we praise Bill and we shouldn't be praising Tucker.
"He did bring on people who disagreed with him," Aaron rushes to insist.
How stupid are you?
That's
what the outlets are supposed to do. Your critique of MSNBC not doing
that? Bob Somerby's being making that critique for over 15 years --
maybe even 20. You clearly do not know what you're talking about.
I don't suffer fools and I especially don't suffer fools who justify a racist, transphobic, sexist pig.
You're inability to know the critiques that came before you got pubes? Do the work.
Here's the man whose balls you're tongue bathing.
That's
how he spoke of Iraqis. Do not pretend that he is anti-war. Do not
praise him unless you agree with what he said about the Iraqi people.
And if you do agree with what he said, state so openly so we can all
know how bigoted you are.
There is no defense for the comments he made about the Iraqi people.
You
know, back in college when ______ set me up for what I thought was a
lunch date, I wondered about it but went on it only to discover he had
set me up with the CIA. A remarkable college professor admired then and
now -- Aaron, your buddy questioned that admiration this week -- and I
didn't know how to process that. He had done -- and has since -- many
wonderful things. But he was recruiting for the CIA. And while I might
have stayed through dessert for his lonely friend if it were a date,
when I found out what it actually was, I made the biggest scene. I was
offended. I don't support the CIA's work. They have killed millions
around the world. They work in secret, they lie, they destroy.
But what did that mean about the professor?
It's a question I could struggle with. Or I can just accept the fact that he is not actually on my side.
When
you endorse Tucker, you appear to be making it clear that you are not
on the side of the Iraqi people. If that is the case, how about you say
it plainly?
I don't admire you. You're not a
hero to me. But I'm sure you are to some people. So get honest and
don't cause the pain that the CIA recruiting college professor did to
me.
The following sites updated:
