There’s so much to be angry and terrified about this week, it’s hard to know where to start. What’s struck me, though, is that in the midst of the crimes this administration is committing against children, they’re being quite strategic about who they’re sending out to defend themselves.
Sarah Sanders. Kirstjen Nielsen. Ivanka. Melania. White women have been trotted out to explain why children were stolen from their parents and forcibly detained like prisoners – or to applaud Trump’s phony executive order, or to feign giving a shit while quite literally stating they “really don’t care”.
I don’t believe it’s an accident that the face of these horrific detentions has been overwhelmingly female. It’s an attempt to try to soften what this policy is doing to families – one that failed miserably. It doesn’t matter if women and mothers of the Trump administration shield the president – their femaleness doesn’t excuse the irreparable damage this policy caused to babies, nor does it protect them from being accountable.
We won’t forget who stood by while this happened, no matter what a person’s gender.
Glass half-full
In the midst of all this horror, a small bit of light: a California couple’s attempt to create a small online fundraiser for an organization helping immigrants in Texas ended up raising more than $15m.
What I’m RTing
If you set up internment camps for babies and then everyone notices so you sign an order ending internment camps for babies it doesn't mean you didn't set up internment camps for babies.
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) June 20, 2018
“A common refrain is that such actions are “un-American” and run counter to the nation’s values. Yet the separation of families has deep roots in the American past.” https://t.co/76hL1xGdSG
— Stacey E. Singleton (@staceyNYCDC) June 20, 2018
Concentration camp expert @andreapitzer says yes. https://t.co/YK8dlyu75v
— Kevin D. Grant (@kevindgrant) June 19, 2018
.@kilmeade on children who have been split from their parents as a result of Trump administration policy: "Like it or not, these are not our kids. Show them compassion, but it's not like he's doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas. These are people from another country." pic.twitter.com/s24zwyDfNc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 22, 2018
Who I’m reading
Adam Serwer with this remarkable piece about family separation being the “essence of Trumpism”; Dahlia Lithwick in How to defend the indefensible; and Dara Lind interviewing an expert in the trauma of family separation.
What I’m watching
Protesters in DC making sure that DHS secretary Nielsen can’t enjoy her meal when kids are being imprisoned. She should be shamed wherever she eats, wherever she goes.
How outraged I am
It’s not just that we watched Trump and his supporters defend imprisoning children – but that now we’re expected to thank them for putting a stop to a policy that they themselves created. It’s maddening, and no one-to-10 scale could capture that.
How I’m making it through this week
I’ve been trying to watch things that are a little lighter (I just can’t take Handmaid’s Tale horror right now) – if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend The Marvelous Mrs Maisel for some much-needed joy. If that doesn’t work, maybe a gif of a murderous crab will help.
