December 8, 2018

Kirsten Gillibrand is "running for president, and invoking the language of critical gender theory, she seems to believe, will help her in the primaries."

I'm reading another section of the Andrew Sullivan column I already linked to in the previous post (NY Magazine). Sullivan notes Gillibrand's recent tweet: "Our future is female. Intersectional. Powered by our belief in one another. And we’re just getting started." What's going on there?
Gillibrand’s evolution... has been long in the works — and reveals, I’d say, where the Democrats are going. When Gillibrand was a member of Congress...
He means when she was a member of the House of Representatives, 2007-2009, before she became a Senator. We do use the term "Congressman" or "Congresswoman" for the representatives in the House, but the Senate is part of Congress, so you shouldn't say a Senator isn't a member of Congress. I have never before noticed this usage problem!
... she identified as a Blue Dog conservative Democrat. She once campaigned in defense of gun rights, was in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration, voted against the 2008 bank bailout, and opposed marriage equality...

She first reversed her previous anti-gay positions... By 2015, she invited Emma Sulkowicz to the State of the Union.... Gillibrand, who once opposed allowing illegal immigrants to get driving licenses, is also now a supporter of abolishing ICE.

And, of course, she famously engineered the resignation of one of the more talented Democrats in the Senate, Al Franken, because of a forced stage kiss, allegations of groping, and a photo of him pretending to grab a fellow USO entertainer’s boobs. We won’t ever get to the bottom of all that because Gillibrand demanded Franken’s resignation merely on the basis of allegations, and within a day, Franken had resigned, before the Senate Ethics Committee had finished an investigation. “Enough is enough,” she declared, invoking the “existing power structure of society” to end due process for Franken. 
Does this record explain that tweet? Is the explanation better if you assume she's setting up a run for President? I find that very hard to understand.

93 comments:

rhhardin said...

Always a Woman is the future

Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
Oh, she never gives out and she never gives in
She just changes her mind

whitney said...

She has two sons, 10 and 15.

tim in vermont said...

I know she turned on a dime and showed herself to be a crass opportunist when she was awarded that Senate seat, the same one that was awarded to Hillary earlier.

mezzrow said...

It's like when you recite the Apostle's Creed in church. It's a statement of belief and identifies her as part (perhaps a leader) of the woke reformation that women will deliver in this century.

If you are also a believer, she would like to be your candidate. Forget all that other stuff. She's grown since then. Have you?

tim in vermont said...

Is she lying now, or was she lying then? Probably both.

tim in vermont said...

If it comes down to her and Bernie in the primary, this would be the biggest battle of Lake Champlain since Ticonderoga.

RK said...

Like Patricia Schroeder, I bet she cries and blames sexism when she has to drop out because even Democrats don't want her?

rehajm said...

Is this nothing you’re offering voting aged men all you’re going to offer?

gilbar said...

The simple answer is she goes which ever way the wind blows

When Gillibrand first entered Congress [see? i fixed this!]
she said Whatever the northern NY wind said
now, she says Whatever the prevailing wind says.
Like any egomaniac, she wants to be President; but like a piece of dust, she goes where she's blown

You could write a song about how she finds her answers blowing in the wind

MayBee said...

"The future is female" is all at once stupid, meaningless, and slightly dangerous. It really means absolutely nothing, but it shuts out boys and it makes it seem ok to talk like that.

Why do women need to be stroked so much? I don't understand why we are supposed to have to hear declarations like that to feel motivated. And also....does anyone want the Senator who brought Mattress Girl to the SOTU to be the one declaring this? It makes it so ominous!

Hagar said...

"If you don't like these principles, I've got others!"

campy said...

"Why do women need to be stroked so much?"

Because they, not men, are the ones with the ridiculously fragile egos.

MayBee said...

I really don't care how much she's changed. She's just a politician and they do they.

But "The Future is Female" is extremely troublesome. It's bad for our national psyche now. That shit needs to be shut down.

Paul Zrimsek said...

The future is NOT female. Tomorrow can only come once.

Darrell said...

The future is female--and it's fabulous!
This has a much better ring to it. Send me a dollar each time you use it.

tcrosse said...

The future is female--and it's fuckable!

DEEBEE said...

A distinguished record of accomplishing nothing of substance

Trumpit said...

The coming treason indictments must be timed to ruin Schlump's re-erection chances - for the sake of the country. Schlump can mock and belittle his opponents from behind bars.

Jupiter said...

Arguably, the best representative is the one who does not let his principles, such as they may be, get in the way of a faithful and accurate representation of his constituents' prejudices.

ga6 said...

"The existing power structure of society"

Do they wear brown shirts or black?
Do they carry red flags or black?
Does it make any difference?

Narayanan said...


Blogger tim in vermont said...
I know she turned on a dime and showed herself to be a crass opportunist when she was awarded that Senate seat, the same one that was awarded to Hillary earlier

Tim ?How do you separate pots from kettles in that scenario?

William said...

Over the years she has gotten better looking. This is all the more remarkable when you consider her roots are in northern NY. Unlike the Senators from California she has no knowledge of nor easy access to the very best plastic surgeons. Nonetheless, she persisted and got it done. Plus she also managed to shed a few pounds. This is a woman who isn't afraid to take the hard path in her pursuit of the Presidency.

rehajm said...

Unlike the Senators from California she has no knowledge of nor easy access to the very best plastic surgeons

Most of those guys visit NYC for a few weeks a year. They set up pop-up shops.

Temujin said...

Let's talk intersectionality. She's everything that sucks about politicians, and preening SJWs. You could say she's the intersection of two of the great sucks in today's society. This is a joke, right? The Dems simply have to put up a potato bag without a tear in it to win back the White House, and instead they're giving us Alexandra what's her name, Robert Francis O'Rourke (who is like that guy you met in college who never grew out of being that guy in college), Bernie 'Hands' Sanders, Spartacus, Fauxcahantas, Joe 'Hands' Biden, Hillary 'Bleachbit' Clinton, and this Twit. With more to follow.

We're at the lowest end we've ever been for talent going into politics. This is cringe material. PS- I know I nicknamed two of them 'hands', but let's face it- it fits.

Temujin said...

Let's talk intersectionality. She's everything that sucks about politicians, and preening SJWs. You could say she's the intersection of two of the great sucks in today's society. This is a joke, right? The Dems simply have to put up a potato bag without a tear in it to win back the White House, and instead they're giving us Alexandra what's her name, Robert Francis O'Rourke (who is like that guy you met in college who never grew out of being that guy in college), Bernie 'Hands' Sanders, Spartacus, Fauxcahantas, Joe 'Hands' Biden, Hillary 'Bleachbit' Clinton, and this Twit. With more to follow.

We're at the lowest end we've ever been for talent going into politics. This is cringe material. PS- I know I nicknamed two of them 'hands', but let's face it- it fits.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Intersectional is also called insane crazy paranoid.

AllenS said...

Temujin, how about Bernie 'Hands Reaching for Your Wallet' Sanders?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Franken show was to show that allegations are all it takes.

I do not like Franken and I think his seat was stolen (like everyone else) but his stepping down was not what we on the right call fair.

Virgil Hilts said...

Gilbar is 100% correct - KG says whatever she thinks will get her to the next rung (she used to run on gun rights, against illegals, etc.) I don't like her, but would prefer someone like her to a true believer or an actual fucking villain (KH). Bill C was a fair president because his #1 goal in life was to be popular (number 2 was to sleep with lots of women). Will also say this for KG - she has brains and is lots, lots smarter than the other Dems who might run (and maybe all of the Reps as well). I would not underestimate her. KG knows the Dems are not going to nominate a moderate. She's right.

Big Mike said...

If the people who voted for Gillibrand in 2004 had known what she would espouse in 2018, would she have ever been elected to the House of Representatives?

cronus titan said...

"She has two sons, 10 and 15."

Saw your tweet. Gee, thanx Mom.

Roger Sweeny said...

Or she may just be following the zeitgeist. Reminds me of Charlie Goodell. He was a 4- term moderate Republican Congressman from upstate New York. On September 9, 1968 (thank you widipedia), he was appointed Senator and fairly quickly moved left, enough to get both the Republican and Liberal Party endorsements in the 1970 election. Yet he got less than 25% of the vote, losing to James Buckley who got 39% running on the Conservative Party line. Democrat Richard Ottinger got 37%.

The next appointed Senator in New York State was Kirsten Gillibrand.

One of his sons is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and ironically Charles was a New England Patriots fan.

Earnest Prole said...

What’s going on? It’s a little like how Mitt Romney, a lifelong Mormon and Republican, could decide at age fifty that his pro-choice moral convictions he so convincingly wore on his sleeve as governor of Massachusetts were mistaken. Or Al Gore except the other way around.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Franken did not resign within a day. The worm wriggled for weeks. Also, what constitutes "talent" when you are referring to a snide asshole with a nasal voice who was elected through the most egregious example of vote fraud in American history. Al Franken and Andrew Sullivan are typical Democrat party members, scum thug and the vicious faggot.

Big Mike said...

Gillibrand invited Columbia Mattress Girl to the State of the Union? So by implication Gillibrand believes in retroactively withdrawing consent for sex acts?

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Kirsten JellyBrains-- isnt she tied tangentially to the NXVIUM cult?

gilbar said...

someone said... the Dems simply have to put up a potato bag without a tear in it to win back the White House, and instead they're giving us...

Better than nothing is a high standard!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I agree with Paglia and what she said would be a winner on the democrat ticket. Someone not nuts.

Sebastian said...

"she identified as a Blue Dog conservative Democrat"

What gilbar said.

We know progs don't believe their own BS. What about sorta-moderate Dem voters? Dopes, fools, or willing sheep?

hombre said...

"Our future is female" as long as the country continues to run on gibberish and chimera.

The rise to prominence of harridans like this is dependent on the forbearance of men. She would be wise to rethink her stand on immigration. Muslim men and latino gangbangers and cartel men have a different perspective on the role of women.

Of course, as the mass of these male immigrants approaches critical, the feminists can always call on Wonder Woman or the metrosexuals to save them.

chickelit said...

Gillibrand showed Nifong-level mendacity during the Sulkowicz ordeal. No one should expect an apology, but it shows bad judgement on her part. She's no more Presidential than Dianne Feinstein is or ever was. It's clear to me that in her heart of hearts, she represents at best half the population,-- the ones with XX chromosomes.

LA_Bob said...

Seems strange to me she thinks "invoking the language of critical gender theory" will be a winning strategy. After all, wasn't Hillary pilloried in part over years of flippery, much of which she denied despite video evidence?

"Kirsten JellyBrains..." I like it. "President JellyBrains" has a ring to it. And in the House, Alexandria Occluded-Cortex.

Re: "Conressman, congresswoman". I always thought "Representative" was the appropriate title for a member of the House. It accurately describes their job and it's gender-neutral (maybe that's a bad thing in today's climate). It is a bit of a mouthful, though. "House Member" might be better, but I doubt it will catch on unless Joy Behar and Chris Cuomo start using it.

chickelit said...

Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...I agree with Paglia and what she said would be a winner on the democrat ticket. Someone not nuts.

Are you sure she didn't say "someone without nuts"?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So she's about as phony as a 3-dollar bill and as opportunistic as a snake oil salesman. If the Democrats don't weed out weasels like her for top leadership (and eventually, justifiable membership) than they're toast. She is toxic. I regret that years ago I didn't pick up on how poisonous she is but maybe that wouldn't have been as clear as day as her toxicity has become within the recent years catalogued in this article. She is a pox and needs to (eventually) go. To have taken out someone as instrumental to Democratic leadership (and likely "innocent") as Franken proved to be is LBJ-level cravenness. She is a phony piece of shit and belongs in a wax museum, not among a deliberative body of sentient leaders with any ethically justifiable motivations and concern for integrity. She missed the current crop of straightforward progressives by a half-a-generation or so and just needs to go back to the swamps that the old corporatist bullshitting Democrats came from.

AMDG said...

Oh please please please make intersectionality a big issue in 2020.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"a blue Dog conservative Democrat..." from New York?

Ok, that's about as phony as it gets. I don't think the time or availability is right but probably in a few years if that piece of political mildew doesn't get primaried the Democrats will have a real problem on their hands. They obviously do with her, already. She is soap scum.

JaimeRoberto said...

In some languages the future is female. German, for example is die Zukunft. So maybe she's just a cunning linguist.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Automatic disqualification:

~Set up a Private Server to run offical State Dept business without over-sight.

~Intersectionality

~Compare Immigrations and Customs officers with the KKK.

Out:
Hillary
Gillibrand
Kamala

Un-electable.


The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

She’s definitely an old-school Democrat, with her strong affinity for lynch mobs. I don’t think she’s as viable as some think. She’s an opportunist, but not an operator. A smart and ruthless primary opponent would find lots of ways to slip the knife in.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Heather MacDonald for president

Real females are smart. Smart females are real.

Intersectionality = hate.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

lol- Chicken

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Gillibrand will inspire women to wallow in "delusional oppression." That is the platform for democrats will embrace.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Do democrats support administrative diversity officers making $400,000 + a year at college campuses? This is a reality.

Imagine what 400,000 would pay for in terms of education.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Heather MacDonald believes scientists are engaged in a conspiracy to keep ordinary people from understanding lobbying propaganda in the manner that Exxon-Mobil has suppressed and manipulated.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

No - Peepee That's nuts. Why are you leftists so nuts?

J. Farmer said...

Overall, I thought this was a very good essay by Sullivan. I have long enjoyed him as a writer and was a regular reader of his blog, even though he was prone to histrionic overreaction to whatever was in the day's news cycle. I agree with his framing of progressivism as a sort of secular religion, and I think he is largely right about the Trump cult. For those of us on the America First, nationalist right, there are a lot of reasons to be disappointed with Trump. Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson have recently elucidated some of those reasons. But for many, Trump is merely an avatar in the culture wars. And so long as he keeps pissing off the right people, he will continue to receive almost unwavering support from that sector.

J. Farmer said...

@Dickin'Bimbos@Home:

I'd throw my support behind Heather MacDonald in a New York minute. She has consistently produced great work at the Manhattan Institute, and her publications in City Journal are always worth reading. That said, Heather is far too intelligent, sane, and rational a person to ever consider running for elected office.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

J Farmer
I too liked some of what Sullivan was saying here., but he wasn't attacking Trump, he attacked, as he usually does, Trump's supporters. More of his trademark strawman slam against the deplorable Christianists (without saying Christianists this time) on the right who support Trump. As if The Christian Right is a monolithic blob, and as if that blob is the only demographic that pulled the lever for Trump, and they all still blindly worship him. Also, the idea that president/politician-worship is only a thing on the right. Pah-lease.

I agree with Ann and Carson as well. Trump better keep some promises or he is doomed. It didn't help that Paul Ryan's non-leadership in the house shot it all to hell.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

J Farmer @ 1:04

It is a pity we cannot have wise leadership.

FIDO said...

KG knows the Dems are not going to nominate a moderate. She's right.

Perhaps true, but what percentage of Hispanic and Black men, two hypermasculine cultures, going to think of her 'the future is female' tweet? Even a small number not showing to the polls will kill her.

Then again, considering the rhetoric coming from the Democratic Party, I can't understand how any man votes for them?

Obviously Craig is excused for only being vaguely male

Earnest Prole said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Earnest Prole said...

Gillibrand began her political career working for New York’s Republican Senator.

Kevin said...

Gillibrand is not a person of color and thus must double-down on her womanhood in the Democratic Primaries.

Sparticus will be doubling down on black, while Warren is being forced to pick up the Native American card and rethink her strategy.

Bilwick said...

Well, the future is looking statist to me, and since most women tend to vote for the most statist candidates, I guess she is correct.

Bilwick said...

DickinBimbos wrote in response to another brilliant Pee Pee comment, "No - Peepee That's nuts. Why are you leftists so nuts?"

At this point in history, with all the treasure it has looted, and all the people it has killed, you pretty much have to be nuts to think that the State is our best friend.

GrapeApe said...

This is a joke. That woman thinks she has the ovaries to run a campaign? Good grief.

Jupiter said...

chickenlittle said...
"It's clear to me that in her heart of hearts, she represents at best half the population,-- the ones with XX chromosomes."

There are many people with XX chromosomes who are not at all inclined to vote for the likes of Gillibrand. We do well to remember that if you add up the various groups of "victims" that the Democrats claim to speak for, you get about 70% of the population. But they don't get 70% of the vote in most elections. The women the Democrats speak for -- and to -- are mostly the ones who can't get a man themselves, and want to tax some other woman's man instead.

Kevin said...

But they don't get 70% of the vote in most elections.

And boy does that piss them off. All your vote are belong to us!

Kevin said...

White male privilege: the only gender/color combination not expected to vote Democrat.

rcocean said...

Al Francken was an embarrassment.

They used to talk about Reagan being a 'dumb actor'.

But Reagan was giant compared to Franken. How did that unfunny clown ever get into the Senate?

Anyway, Gillibrand did those Minnesota Democrat clowns a favor. They now have a Senator who votes the same way, and doesn't make everyone think Minnesota is backward state full of dumb clowns.

rcocean said...

All the blue-dog Democrats have turned out to be fakes.

They ones that were defeated in 2018, all decided to lose rather than depart from Schumer's party line.

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bilwick said...

There's an interesting quote on the Samizdata blog about women in politics:

"Whenever I hear people stereotyping based on gender. 'Women vote this way', 'Men act in this manner', I am reminded of the great contrast between Britain’s two women Prime Ministers. Thatcher, won a brilliant renegotiation of the EEC, trounced the unions, denationalized vast swaths of obscene nationalized industries, and was one of the four people instrumental in ending the cold war. May, the other lady from number 10, apparently couldn’t negotiate the purchase of a sausage supper for fifty quid in the local fish and chip shop.

"Apparently, it is more to do with the content of your character than the content of your underpants."

– Fraser Orr

walter said...

More prominent Dems than her have reversed their stance on illegal immigration...err..re undocumented migrant refugee asylum seeking unoccupied job filling CAGW victimized folk.

But I'm not sure it works to focus on "female" so much within a supposed framewaork of intersectionality.
But hey..why try to make sense out of that bullshit?

cronus titan said...
"She has two sons, 10 and 15."
Saw your tweet. Gee, thanx Mom.
--
Yep. Was on a shoot last 3 days and during lunch on second day Moonves' news came up and the male director was talking with the female producer (both middle aged) about the possibility now of mere accusations taking down innocent men. She wasn't having this..though she has a son, said that's the price of women being forced to be quiet for so long.
Thankfully the discussion moved back into production details.

walter said...

Ah..even the woke may have an issue with said focus:
Intersectionality 101: Why “we’re focusing on women” doesn’t work for Diversity & Inclusion

chickelit said...

Jupiter replied: There are many people with XX chromosomes who are not at all inclined to vote for the likes of Gillibrand.

Let me clarify what I meant by "Gillibrand represents." I'll put it in visual terms: Gillibrand throws a blanket of political coverage. But she only means and intends to cover, capture, help and represent females. Any representation she offers men is collateral and unintended. Hillary has the same problem. Of course some women she hopes to politically capture will reject her. I only meant that Gillibrand is blatantly sexist and partisan.

Rosalyn C. said...

I can see where Gillibrand could have a branding problem. It's got to burn some people that Gillibrand is using her NY Senate seat as a springboard into national politics, you know the one that Hillary used as a springboard. Hope that Hillary Clinton isn't the jealous and vindictive type.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

That's nuts.

Yeah, it is. But it's also unfortunately what MacDonald believes.

J. Farmer said...

@President Pee-Pee Tape:

Yeah, it is. But it's also unfortunately what MacDonald believes.

What does a video of Danielle Pletka have to do with Heather MacDonald?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The fact that they look very much alike. I'm apparently mixing up my right-wing blondes. Apologies, but it's understandable, given how similar and ubiquitous they are. Are you saying they're really not an army of clones?

Jupiter said...

chickenlittle said...
"Gillibrand throws a blanket of political coverage. But she only means and intends to cover, capture, help and represent females. Any representation she offers men is collateral and unintended."

Well, I wasn't looking to start an argument, but I don't agree. What, if anything, is meant by "the future is female" is beyond me. But the clear expectation of the Identicrats is that those white males who are decent, honorable and non-deplorable will recognize that we have long been the beneficiaries of an unfair male privilege, and will be delighted to see that privilege come to an end.

This is not an altogether unreasonable expectation, on the face of it. It is precisely the way a large proportion of white people have responded to affirmative action, which is presented the same way. Certainly, Gillibrand cannot expect to get elected without any male votes. Can she?

chickelit said...

Certainly, Gillibrand cannot expect to get elected without any male votes. Can she?

"The future is female" is such a stark, binary choice that it needs to be pushed back and mocked. I think what she means is in the future, women will play a greater role. But like the BLM folks, given the choice of "all lives matter" or "black lives matter" the answer has to be "black lives matter." Cf. Hillary at the 2016 primary debates when Jim Webb, a real "blue dog Dem," was eliminated on that basis.

chickelit said...

So yeah, as long as pols like Gillibrand keep mouthing bullshit, I'll be around to mock her, even though she's not my rep at all.

gilbar said...

rcocean said... Al Franken was an embarrassment.How did that unfunny clown ever get into the Senate?

I'm assuming you meant this rhetorically ? The answer is: Truckloads of 'found' votes

J. Farmer said...

@President Pee-Pee Tape:

Are you saying they're really not an army of clones?

It's irrelevant. It's also irrelevant who funded them or what organization they are affiliated with. All that matters is the argument. Imagine everything MacDonald ever wrote had been published anonymously. Would it have any effect on how you judged the work?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I rather imagine that J. Farmer had a sense of humor and didn't believe that he was the fount of perfection.

Let's argue about something more interesting.

chickelit said...

As Howard might write, the Dems are clearing out their deadwood.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...


R.J. Chatt said...

I can see where Gillibrand could have a branding problem.


yes, especially if she is in any way associated with the NXIVM cult

narciso said...

Interesting Kristin kreuk got a series af least for a few episodes while alison mack seems to have ended up in the pokey.

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Joe said...

When you believe in nothing, it's easy to pretend to believe in anything.

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