Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

Sunday Thoughts, Extra Blasphemy Mother's Day Edition:

"Let's not blame the boy. Having one mother but two fathers is a wee bit confusing but we try to provide a sense of normalcy."

So what was is it this time:

1. Did he cause a ruckus at the bank? Turning over the tables again?

2. Did he change the water into wine and not check IDs?

3. Did he lift his robe and cause the sighted to go blind?

4. Did he lift his robe and make the blind man see?

5. Is he consorting with the local prostitutes again?

6. Are his followers doing that laying on of hands again?

You can't lock him up you know. He'll break out within 3 days.

From Mother's Day to #SexStrike: The Obscured Roots of Global Peace Solidarity

by Sam Husseini

To much attention, the actress Alyssa Milano ‏on Friday tweeted: "Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on." Much of the reaction online focused on the alleged irony of a liberal woman advocating abstinence from sex.

The same day, Donald and Melania Trump hosted a celebration of military mothers at the White House. Said Donal Trump: "To the active-duty moms here today: We thank you for your courage, and we applaud your noble service. You have two of the most important jobs in the world: bravely defending America from our enemies and helping to raise the next generation of American patriots."

While Trump focuses on Mother's Day, Milano hearkens back to the sex strike as depicted in the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes.

What's striking is that both of these are rooted in movements against war. In the case of Milano, it's obscured, while Trump actively opposes the antiwar roots of Mother's Day.

The original Mother's Day Proclamation, written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870, states: “We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own, it says 'Disarm! Disarm!' The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. ... " (See my piece "Art Worth of Howe's Mothers Day: Maxo Vanka's Murals.")

Julia Ward Howe actually references Lysistrata In one of her lectures: "Barring the indecencies which belong to the common taste of the time, and which are largely omitted in translations, the Greek of Aristophanes does not appear to me very damaging to our position as advocates of the rights of women. In one of these plays, Lysistrata, the women of Athens, weary of the absence of their husbands in the Peloponnesian war, take the negotiation of the peace into their own hands. Lysistrata, the leading spirit among them, has summoned together the women from various parts of Greece, with the view of wresting the management of public affairs from the hands of the men entrusted with them and of putting an end to the sinuous and devastating war. Whether intentionally or not, Aristophanes puts very sensible reasoning into the mouth of this leader among the women."

Part of the genius of Lysistrata is that she reached out to the women of other city states, including Athen's main rival, Sparta. The sex strike in Lysistrata targeted men in each of the warring states.

At one point in the play, Lysistrata leads a group of women to seize control of the Acropolis, which stores the financial reserves of the Athenian state. She and a government magistrate are in a stand off. He asks: "Is it money that’s the cause of war?"

Lysistrata avoided arguments which are now commonplace of the government having "bungled" its way into war and instead escalates her accusations against the pro-war politicians: "Yes, and all the rest of the corruption. Peisander [a leading Athenian politician, suspected of favoring the war for selfish reasons] and our leading politicians need a chance to steal. That’s the reason they’re always stirring up disturbances. Well, let the ones who wish to do this do what they want, but from this moment on they’ll get no more money."

Valarie Ziegler, author of of Diva Julia: The Public Romance and Private Agony of Julia Ward Howe, has written: “Howe, now remembered for writing the words to ‘The Battle of the Hymn Republic,’ was absolutely committed to the Civil War... But by 1870, she began to look critically at war, particularly at war between nations. By this time, she was also very interested in the women’s movement and women’s suffrage. So, she began thinking of what might be possible for women to do on behalf of humanity...

“She would in time hold peace conferences both in the United States and in Britain... And so, Mother’s Day originally was not a day when dad cooked and you went to church, and the ladies got applause and everything. It was really a day for women to come together and to call men and the world to see the necessity for living in peace, rather than giving into the ravages and aggressions of war.”

That origin of Mother's Day has largely been obscured, helping to pave the way for Trump's pronouncements, which simultaneously attempt to embrace women as warriors -- and also of women raising "the next generation of American patriots," with almost a hint of the Nazi "Mother's Cross."

Milano recently tweeted out a 2017 article: "History shows that sex strikes are a surprisingly effective strategy for political change," published soon after the Women's March the day after Trump as inaugurated. The piece states: "Calls to end misogyny and sexism will always be necessary-- especially while we have a self-admitted 'pussy grabber' in the Oval Office. But in order for a sex strike to succeed in the US, it must be inclusive, with a specific goal in mind. Otherwise, we’ll just be treading water."

But treading water seems to be a specialty of many political operatives. The goal of much of the political establishment is to keep the partisan hatred at a sufficiently high level. Among other things, it facilitates lesser-evilism, the dominant tactic of ensuring the bases of each of the major political parties ask preciously little from their party, since the other is deemed so awful. And it usually is.

Interestingly, Milano had just recently made headlines for defending Joe Biden from charges of sexual harassment. Her focusing now on reproductive rights may be more useful to her friend Biden, though into the 1980's, Biden voted to let states overturn Roe v. Wade. But that may seem as long ago as ancient Greece to some.

Certainly, both Mother's Day and Lysistrata can be criticized in that they seem to depict women as wombs or vessels of pleasure. But they are largely about women asserting themselves in terms of how the society is formed. A refrain in Lysistrata is the dumbfounded reaction by males: How dare you women assert yourselves on this serious man's business of war? The Mother's Day Proclamation outright challenges the legitimacy of institutions that enable war.

In both cases, women, who themselves are denied rights, are effectively attempting largely to save men. Selflessness is-- perhaps stereotypically-- associated with women. Part of Milano's call seems an attempt to utilize a sex strike, not so that women can do something "on behalf of humanity," but for themselves specifically. One would hope that men's presumed selfishness would not be deemed normative. That is, if women in these cases have been exceedingly selfless, that should be a trait than more men should adopt rather than fewer women.

Part of the power of both Mother's Day and Lysistrata are in their global nature. They are remarkable universal in their appeal and have a connection to the Feb. 15, 2003 global protests against the Iraq invasion-- when the peace movement was viewed as the "second super power." Indeed, I recall Lysistrata being preformed widely during the buildup to the 2003 invasion. The peace movement lost its power in the following years largely part because it didn't build on those global protests; see my 2006 piece "Pick Your Global Protests." Likewise, the peace message of Mother's Day is somewhat diminished since it's not celebrated on the same day globally.

The U.S. is currently at war in so many countries-- Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Iraq, et al. And it is placing deadly sanctions on Venezuela and Iran while continuously backing Israel's ceaseless aggressions. It's difficult to keep track, especially when news reports on the realities of war are the exception and excuse-making is the default.

It's like fish in water. You want to know about U.S. and war? You're swimming in it. You might not realized it since Trump still poses as an isolationist on alternate Thursdays-- as Obama posed as a peace candidate-- but that's the reality.

Traditions which might help lead us out of it-- like Mother's Day and, if it will now become widespread, Lysistrata-- are being obscured by those who would control the culture and, consciously or not, ensure the perpetuation of these wars.

The Republicans Have A Family Leave Bill-- That Chips Away At Social Security Benefits

The U.S. is the only advanced country in the world without a paid family leave program in place-- and American women have been picking up on that. Paid family leave was a big issue in Hillary Clinton's campaign that she handled very well-- but which was almost entirely ignored by the media. And Ivanka Trump-Kushner has been talking it up as a theory that's supposed to put a happy face on her father's neo-fascist regime. Most of the Democratic 2020 hopefuls are all talking about it and in the last few weeks, several Republicans in Congress have introduced fake family leave bills that are all based around screwing with Social Security.

I think the worst of the bills is the one Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) introduced in the House Wednesday (with a companion bill sponsored by Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney in the Senate). The bill requires parents who want paid leave to take it out of Social Security retirement funds. It's a really pernicious, evil bill, pitting young families' immediate needs against future needs that the GOP has never believed in. Mike Lee and Joni Ernst proposed a similar bill (The Child Rearing and Development Leave Empowerment, or CRADLE Act)-- 12 weeks of paid leave in return for delaying Social Security benefits by around 6 months.

The bill allows parents to take 12 weeks leave-- just like the Democratic plans-- for about two-thirds of their salaries. But it would come out of future Social Security benefits. The parents would have to agree to either increasing their Social Security retirement age or retiring with reduced Social Security benefits for the first five years of retirement. The Democratic plans-- modeled on Bernie's 2016 platform-- are more generous, tend to also include leave for people taking care of sick family members and are paid for with a tiny increase in payroll taxes (0.2% split between employee and employer). The gold standard for Democratic proposals is Rosa De Lauro's FAMILY Act, which you can read here in it's entirety.

(Amy Klobuchar implemented her own family leave plan in her office-- and it was a stinker that embarrassed her. She has now scrapped it but it was based on 12 weeks time off with pay in return for staying at the office for three times that time off once they returned. She's run her office like a torture chamber for her employees and it has turned her campaign into a complete shambles.)

GOP reactionary Michael McCaul of Texas, was one of the Republicans who voted against equal pay for women this week. His progressive Democratic opponent, Mike Siegel, who has 2 small children of his own, gave me a statement on parental leave: "I support paid family leave without hesitation, and continue to be amazed by the so-called 'family values' party that treats mothers like cogs in a machine. Like the recent bill on equal pay for women-- which all but seven Republicans opposed-- I look forward to House legislation that will show where each representative stands on family leave. These are real kitchen table issues-- family leave and health care, equal pay and equal rights-- that will go a long way towards determining which party takes power in 2020."

In mid-March Barron's published a piece, Use Social Security to Pay for Parental Leave? That’s a ‘Terrible Idea,’ Experts Say, that explains why the GOP plans are so bad. Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, told Barron's that "this type of parental leave bill would undermine retirement security... Workers are simply not in a position to give up future benefits from Social Security."

Cindy Hounsell, president of the nonprofit Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement, said the proposal did little to ameliorate the gender gap women face. “It is essentially an unpaid leave bill since you are using retirement money to pay for unpaid caregiving,” she said. Hounsell also favors giving women extra retirement credits for giving birth-- or to those who leave work to care for elderly parents or a partner.

Olivia Mitchell, a professor of insurance and risk management and business economics and public policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was more succinct: “It is a terrible idea,” she said in an email. “Social Security is already facing insolvency such that benefits will need to be cut 25% to 30% soon.”

The Motley Fool agrees that the Republican plans are a terrible idea... the idea of allowing parents to essentially take out a loan against their future Social Security benefits is nothing short of terrible.

One of the biggest problems with providing parental leave benefits tied to Social Security is that the program doesn't have the ability in its current state to "lend out" a substantial amount of benefits. The trustees' report has suggested that outlays will outweigh revenue collection very soon, with the program's $2.9 trillion in asset reserves projected to disappear by 2034. Lending out money for parental leave benefits would put the program in an even more precarious position.

Parental leave benefits tied to Social Security may threaten economic growth and productivity as well. Even though these benefits would be paid via Social Security, rather than by an employer (thus saving that employer money), an extended absence for a key worker might result in reduced output or productivity for a company.

Furthermore, an analysis from the Urban Institute of Rubio's bill estimates that Social Security wouldn't recoup around 25% of the loans from a parental leave program as people die before reaching their claiming age, receive disability insurance, or simply don't work enough to reach the 40 lifetime credits needed for a retired worker benefit.

Whether it's the Cradle Act, Rubio's bill, or any other number of ideas that have been floated on Capitol Hill, borrowing against future Social Security income to cover a few months of paid parental leave is a terrible idea.

I asked a couple of the women Blue America has endorsed this cycle about the way the Republicans are approaching this issue. Audrey Denney, running for a rural district seat in the northeast corner of California, told me she loves that John Oliver clip up top. "The fact that the United States doesn’t have a comprehensive paid maternity leave and paid family leave program baffles me," she said. "We are one of the only countries in the world that has not passed laws requiring organizations offer paid maternity leave to their employees.  I’ve watched my friends and sister struggle with how to afford to deliver their babies, miss work to care for their newborns, and provide childcare when they go back to work. We’re seeing increases in maternal mortality and shocking rates of postpartum depression (as high as 1 in 5 in some states!). We have to be better at creating conditions where new moms can care for their physical and mental well-being-- and that starts with letting them take paid maternity leave."

Marie Newman is running for a Chicagoland seat held by reactionary Blue Dog Dan Lipinski, one of the incumbents who Cheri Bustos is trying to protect from a primary opponent (Marie). Yesterday Marie told me that "The reason I am a huge proponent of paid leave for families is that it helps our economy and increases quality of life for all Americans. Without paid leave, families postpone having kids and reaching their goals. It is not only balance of life and work that is critical to ensuring our children’s future, it is ensuring parents are enabled to care for the next generation."

Our progressive candidate in Arizona, Eva Putzova, just moments ago, said "While on the Flagstaff City Council I championed--and we approved--paid parental leave for our employees. The City could afford to offer only one month of this paid benefit to new mothers and fathers, but it's one month more than what employees had before. However, if we as a country value families, it should not be up to individual employers decide whether to support new parents or not. We should have a national program for new mothers and fathers regardless of their employment status or form of employment. There are many ways to structure the paid parental leave benefit, but it should never be at the expense of future Social Security benefits. We could expand Social Security to cover the cost of parental leave, make it part of universal healthcare, or propose a combination of these two and other strategies. Clearly, there are many models around the world we can adapt. What GOP is proposing is the worst possible option--exchanging economic security in retirement for financial support in parenthood earlier in life. Not only we can but we must do better."

My Friend Mike Lux's Mother's Day Tribute

My friend Mike's mom passed away in March. We've written about Mike over the years, primarily because of his incredibly important book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, but today, as we prepare to honor our mothers or their memories, I want to share the gorgeous video Mike made to honor his mother. She must have been a very special person. Please watch it.