The Fundie Baby Voice
March 9, 2024 11:37 AM Subscribe
"As soon as Senator Katie Britt started speaking, I knew exactly who she is. She is so many of the pastor's wives and Sunday School teachers I knew growing up in an Evangelical church. Be sweet. Obey."
I couldn't bear to watch much of it but I assume her husband appeared on screen at the end to say that he approved of her message. I mean these people totally walk the walk by living the kinds of lives they're trying to legislate, right?
posted by treepour at 11:56 AM on March 9 [2 favorites]
posted by treepour at 11:56 AM on March 9 [2 favorites]
Britt's "breathy cadence," "soft, child-like high pitch," and false linkage of a sex-trafficking case to Joe Biden.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:36 PM on March 9 [21 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:36 PM on March 9 [21 favorites]
“Won’t someone please think of the children?!!”
posted by non canadian guy at 12:38 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
posted by non canadian guy at 12:38 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
Does this same writer have similar observations about those who are Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim?
posted by Ideefixe at 12:39 PM on March 9
posted by Ideefixe at 12:39 PM on March 9
Does this same writer have similar observations about those who are Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim?
I think there's no problem finding people to be very critical of religious sects which abuse their power to control women and infringe on the human rights of others. Even ones that are powerful enough to dethrone academics at supposedly independent universities in the pursuit of their control over the lives of others.
posted by ambrosen at 12:44 PM on March 9 [73 favorites]
I think there's no problem finding people to be very critical of religious sects which abuse their power to control women and infringe on the human rights of others. Even ones that are powerful enough to dethrone academics at supposedly independent universities in the pursuit of their control over the lives of others.
posted by ambrosen at 12:44 PM on March 9 [73 favorites]
Loved how in the middle she destroyed Biden by announcing she approved of IVF.
posted by sammyo at 12:45 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 12:45 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
She's not Jewish, Buddhist or Muslim. She is, however, from the same fundamentalist/evangelical background, and was writing from her experience of an affect she recognized from being trained in it herself.
posted by fatbird at 12:46 PM on March 9 [130 favorites]
posted by fatbird at 12:46 PM on March 9 [130 favorites]
An interesting fact about Britt’s vignette about the sex trafficking victim, for whom Biden’s border polices were the supposed cause of thousands of assaults:
The woman in question is a Mexican activist, has never been to the United States, (so this has nothing at all to do with border policy), and her captivity took place in Mexico City during the Bush administration, 2003-2006.
But it was all Biden’s fault.
Her team will not retract the story.
These people are evil.
posted by teece303 at 12:50 PM on March 9 [88 favorites]
The woman in question is a Mexican activist, has never been to the United States, (so this has nothing at all to do with border policy), and her captivity took place in Mexico City during the Bush administration, 2003-2006.
But it was all Biden’s fault.
Her team will not retract the story.
These people are evil.
posted by teece303 at 12:50 PM on March 9 [88 favorites]
No abortion for the poors, but IVF is fine for the rich. Got it.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:55 PM on March 9 [16 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:55 PM on March 9 [16 favorites]
Does this same writer have similar observations about those who are Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim?
From what I can tell she's focusing on what she observed in her own Christian fundamentalist upbringing, but it would be interesting to know if there are similar vocal styles adopted by women in the most fundamentalist/patriarchal versions of various faiths.
In comments on this story I've seen the suggestion that kawaii culture in Japan, with its similarly "cutesy" vocal styles for women, is a direct descendant of a survival skill from a time when husbands could kill their wives. But then when I went to Google I saw arguments that kawaii culture is actually feminist way to fight the patriarchy. I have nothing more than surface knowledge here, so I don't know.
I also found this comment from a Reddit discussion about the story interesting:
From what I can tell she's focusing on what she observed in her own Christian fundamentalist upbringing, but it would be interesting to know if there are similar vocal styles adopted by women in the most fundamentalist/patriarchal versions of various faiths.
In comments on this story I've seen the suggestion that kawaii culture in Japan, with its similarly "cutesy" vocal styles for women, is a direct descendant of a survival skill from a time when husbands could kill their wives. But then when I went to Google I saw arguments that kawaii culture is actually feminist way to fight the patriarchy. I have nothing more than surface knowledge here, so I don't know.
I also found this comment from a Reddit discussion about the story interesting:
I use this voice on my husband sometimes when he is unnecessarily or inappropriately mad or grumpy, fully intending for him to interpret it as sarcasm and condescension but he NEVER DOES. It soothes him immediately. It’s both gross and fascinating to me.posted by clawsoon at 12:57 PM on March 9 [78 favorites]
She is supposedly there to speak directly to the "women of America" - and by women of America we mean white, middle-class, child-bearing, Christian women. HOWEVER, I don't think she nailed it because who she is really speaking to here is men. She's showing men what their women can be, ought to be, will be if they vote for these fuckers. See, that's how a woman should be. Smart but still in the kitchen. Very pretty, but not too pretty. God-loving so you know she is a traditionalist who puts herself second to her man. She is a wife and a mother. PAY NO ATTENTION TO HER EMPLOYMENT AS A CIVIL SERVANT AND EMPLOYEE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERMENT. Wife. Mother. Pretty. Young. Jesus. And she gave her children the names most commonly associated with street names in gated neighborhoods, paid for by men who drive shiny trucks. She's talking to men.
posted by amanda at 1:07 PM on March 9 [69 favorites]
posted by amanda at 1:07 PM on March 9 [69 favorites]
I was worried that maybe that performance seemed less bizarre to its target audience than it did to me, so I put on my hazmat suit and ventured over to Twitter, where it's always interesting to search someone's name and then look at the most-recent posts. And yeah. It really seems like that speech didn't go over well with anyone. Also, Jonathan Katz's TikTok about her lying about the sex trafficking victim seems to be getting a lot of traction. I think that Katie Britt probably torpedoed her VP nomination hopes, although I could see Trump picking her anyway because she's cute and he wouldn't want anyone who might outshine him or seem like a viable alternative to him.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:21 PM on March 9 [12 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:21 PM on March 9 [12 favorites]
Oh she has been ROASTED on Twitter. It’s been glorious to behold.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 1:26 PM on March 9 [18 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 1:26 PM on March 9 [18 favorites]
I'm not sure how she (Katie Britt)manages to sound both vapid and condescending at the same time, but the combination of what she was saying and how she was saying it was absolute nails on a chalkboard to me. TFA provided the cultural context of "fundie voice" that I lacked- I've had the good fortune of not encountering people who speak that way IRL.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 1:28 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 1:28 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
And she gave her children the names most commonly associated with street names in gated neighborhoods,
A school age child named Ridgeway, presumably born during Infrastructure Week.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:31 PM on March 9 [17 favorites]
A school age child named Ridgeway, presumably born during Infrastructure Week.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:31 PM on March 9 [17 favorites]
A school age child named Ridgeway, presumably born during Infrastructure Week.From the video we don't know how it's spelled, only its pronunciation. Odds are small but we can't rule out Ridgway.
Creepy lady gave me the creeps, too, but I wish people were talking less about her tone and more about the content of her speech. I don't think that analysis of some of the meta details of her speech is beyond the pale but I do hope people will not get lost in the weeds of analyzing "fundie baby voice" or the choice to set her speech in the kitchen and will save some focus for the naked xenophobia of her "commies are coming for your children and furriners will sex traffic our wimmen" content.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:06 PM on March 9 [15 favorites]
But those were all part of the message. The text gets adapted with changing times, but the payload is the same as it has been for the past hundred years: brown people are coming to steal your women. The set design and costuming and delivery are essential: "We are good and obedient women, and will serve you and have your sons if you will just save us from the $SLURs"
posted by tigrrrlily at 2:24 PM on March 9 [46 favorites]
posted by tigrrrlily at 2:24 PM on March 9 [46 favorites]
Apparently Mormons call their equivalent Primary Voice, "named after the Primary Organization, which is a group largely run by women that was created to instruct Mormon children about Gospel principles."
posted by clawsoon at 2:35 PM on March 9 [21 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 2:35 PM on March 9 [21 favorites]
Fundamentalist culture is a completely different beast from a concept as broad as “Christian” or “Jewish” or “Muslim” or “Buddhist.” You can, however, read about reactionary American Buddhism which has some analogues to fundamentalist American Christianity over here, if you’re curious. I don’t know of any politicians that fall in this cultural group so hard to make observations about them in politics, ya know?
Anyway, the description of the fundie baby voice flipping off and turning into venom when talking to children at home made me viscerally flinch. Very, very real.
posted by brook horse at 2:40 PM on March 9 [34 favorites]
Anyway, the description of the fundie baby voice flipping off and turning into venom when talking to children at home made me viscerally flinch. Very, very real.
posted by brook horse at 2:40 PM on March 9 [34 favorites]
Also open in my tabs right now: Why Kelly Johnson Sounds Like Michelle Duggar
Understanding the childlike voice of fundamentalist women
(Tia Levings, Substack, 12/23)
“The ideal feminine voice is gentle and variable, with a clear ringing tone and an air of self assurance. You must not let your voice suggest mannish efficiency, or coarse boldness..”
That voice is a tool, and it is being used to signal things. Know what you are hearing, even if it isn’t for you.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:10 PM on March 9 [46 favorites]
Understanding the childlike voice of fundamentalist women
(Tia Levings, Substack, 12/23)
“The ideal feminine voice is gentle and variable, with a clear ringing tone and an air of self assurance. You must not let your voice suggest mannish efficiency, or coarse boldness..”
That voice is a tool, and it is being used to signal things. Know what you are hearing, even if it isn’t for you.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:10 PM on March 9 [46 favorites]
Sounds a little Bene Gesserit there, MonkeyToes!
posted by wenestvedt at 3:17 PM on March 9 [9 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 3:17 PM on March 9 [9 favorites]
I think there's no problem finding people to be very critical of religious sects which abuse their power to control women and infringe on the human rights of others.
I don't think you'll find many Americans speaking out loudly against evangelicalism who are enthusiastic about parallel fundamentalisms in other religions, though some of us do try make our criticisms informed by awareness of our differing social positions vis-a-vis members of those religions and/or the ethnic or national groups that commonly practice them.
Fundamentalists are wretched creatures generally, but as a white American woman it behooves me to speak most unrestrainedly about white evangelicalism rather than about, e.g., the fundamentalisms churned up by Western imperialism.
posted by praemunire at 3:45 PM on March 9 [25 favorites]
I don't think you'll find many Americans speaking out loudly against evangelicalism who are enthusiastic about parallel fundamentalisms in other religions, though some of us do try make our criticisms informed by awareness of our differing social positions vis-a-vis members of those religions and/or the ethnic or national groups that commonly practice them.
Fundamentalists are wretched creatures generally, but as a white American woman it behooves me to speak most unrestrainedly about white evangelicalism rather than about, e.g., the fundamentalisms churned up by Western imperialism.
posted by praemunire at 3:45 PM on March 9 [25 favorites]
Not too late to win an Oscar. Imagine Meryl Streep playing Meryl Creep.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:50 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:50 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]
More than a little, wenestvedt? I think I need to read up on Fascinating Womanhood, which is a sort of training manual. A gross one. I think the observation that the senator was speaking in a way that is recognizable to fundamentalists is important, even beyond the mockery.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:51 PM on March 9 [8 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:51 PM on March 9 [8 favorites]
I think I need to read up on Fascinating Womanhood, which is a sort of training manual. A gross one.
Interesting:
Interesting:
Learn childlike mannerisms by studying the antics of little girls. Stomp your foot, lift your chin high, square your shoulders, pout, put both hands on your hips, open you eyes wide, mumble under your breath, or turn and walk briskly away, then pause and look back over your shoulder. Or, beat your fists on your husband’s chest.posted by clawsoon at 4:04 PM on March 9 [20 favorites]
You may have to be an actress to succeed, if only a ham actress. But, remember, you’ll be launching an acting career that will save you pain, tension, frustration, a damaged relationship, and perhaps even a marriage. Is any acting career of greater importance? No, so turn on the drama.
Full set of Fascinating Womanhood reviews from Samantha Field, who "grew up in a Christian fundamentalist cult, but escaped as a young adult. Now, I write about being a bisexual woman and abuse survivor, exploring intersectional feminism and liberation theology."
posted by clawsoon at 4:25 PM on March 9 [12 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 4:25 PM on March 9 [12 favorites]
Right?? Serene Empress Dork linked that one a couple of years back, clawsoon. That SOTU response wasn’t for the average voter; it was targeted at a specific demographic, and I want to understand that choice.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:25 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:25 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
I'd love to read that discussion, MonkeyToes. Any chance you've got a link to it?
posted by clawsoon at 4:30 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 4:30 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]
Short video clip of Britt's natural voice compared to how she delivered her response
posted by cheshyre at 4:35 PM on March 9 [27 favorites]
posted by cheshyre at 4:35 PM on March 9 [27 favorites]
These fundie women sound a bit like like Nurse Ratched, with that soft kindergarten teacher voice masking their deep condescension and contempt. But their way of speaking also kind of reminds me of Julianne Moore's wispy little housewife voice from the Todd Haynes movie, Safe. I remember hearing an interview where Moore talked about how she developed that way of speaking, and she said it involved pitching her voice in the exact range where it didn't resonate in her chest or throat at all. A kind of ghost voice, drifting around in your body without ever touching your bones.
Imagine talking like that all day. Choosing it.
Republicans are terrifying.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:35 PM on March 9 [31 favorites]
Imagine talking like that all day. Choosing it.
Republicans are terrifying.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:35 PM on March 9 [31 favorites]
I guess I have been thinking about the role of the compelling voice wrt Trump since I saw the mashup of Mike Flynn and I AM cult leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet. That’s something like what Piper is talking about: the shape and sound of the voice pings something in people who were brought up with it. The rest of us stand on the outside of it, making fun of how it sounds (and I appreciate a good Serena Joy joke), but it’s doing a kind of work. The handmaidens of fascism are media savvy, and that’s really troubling in times of information warfare.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:37 PM on March 9 [8 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:37 PM on March 9 [8 favorites]
Here you go, clawsoon. It’s a single comment. I will have a look around for other commentary; seems like an influential book among a certain audience, and there has to be something out there on how it’s been manifesting in right-wing politics (which will probably lead to the trad wife—> white supremacy swamp, as described by Sisters in Hate, which may be where I first learned about this book?).
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:47 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:47 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
That "fascinating womanhood" piece makes me feel all sorts of ways as a trans, immigrant woman living in the US. I'm of the opinion that most of us never really start or stop acculturating, but going through the particular bit of acculturation so that I would be perceived and treated as a female American college student while having a fully-developed brain and an existing frame of reference was revelatory to me.
To see some aspects of American womanhood that I had to adopt in order to fit in written out so plainly as an induction into one's servitude and at the same time a much-needed survival guide feels very validating of both the insight and the trauma I collected along the way.
Lacking a written guide (this was... in a different age), I nevertheless quickly learned the part of the survival guide that was necessary for dealing with male medical professionals in particular: they respond much better if the person in their office asking for help with this very particular issue is already firmly established in their mind as a charming, well-spoken, attractive young lady.
Sick bags are under your seat.
posted by tigrrrlily at 4:51 PM on March 9 [39 favorites]
To see some aspects of American womanhood that I had to adopt in order to fit in written out so plainly as an induction into one's servitude and at the same time a much-needed survival guide feels very validating of both the insight and the trauma I collected along the way.
Lacking a written guide (this was... in a different age), I nevertheless quickly learned the part of the survival guide that was necessary for dealing with male medical professionals in particular: they respond much better if the person in their office asking for help with this very particular issue is already firmly established in their mind as a charming, well-spoken, attractive young lady.
Sick bags are under your seat.
posted by tigrrrlily at 4:51 PM on March 9 [39 favorites]
Neal Stephenson wrote Snow Crash (the sci-fi novel that originated the term "metaverse") in 1992:
> Their skins were different colors but they all belonged to the same ethnic group: Military. Black kids didn't talk like black kids. Asian kids didn't bust their asses to excel in school. White kids, by and large, didn't have any problem getting along with the black and Asian kids. And girls knew their place. They all had the same moms with the same generous buttocks in stretchy slacks and the same frosted-and-curling-ironed hairdos, and they were all basically sweet and endearing and conforming and, if they happened to be smart, they went out of their way to hide it.
> So the first time Hiro saw Juanita, or any other girl like her, his perspectives were bent all out of shape. She had long, glossy black hair that had never been subjected to any chemical process other than regular shampooing. She didn't wear blue stuff on her eyelids. Her clothing was dark, tailored, restrained. And she didn't take shit from anyone, not even her professors, which seemed shrewish and threatening to him at the time.
Emphasis mine.
posted by AlSweigart at 4:59 PM on March 9 [19 favorites]
> Their skins were different colors but they all belonged to the same ethnic group: Military. Black kids didn't talk like black kids. Asian kids didn't bust their asses to excel in school. White kids, by and large, didn't have any problem getting along with the black and Asian kids. And girls knew their place. They all had the same moms with the same generous buttocks in stretchy slacks and the same frosted-and-curling-ironed hairdos, and they were all basically sweet and endearing and conforming and, if they happened to be smart, they went out of their way to hide it.
> So the first time Hiro saw Juanita, or any other girl like her, his perspectives were bent all out of shape. She had long, glossy black hair that had never been subjected to any chemical process other than regular shampooing. She didn't wear blue stuff on her eyelids. Her clothing was dark, tailored, restrained. And she didn't take shit from anyone, not even her professors, which seemed shrewish and threatening to him at the time.
Emphasis mine.
posted by AlSweigart at 4:59 PM on March 9 [19 favorites]
In terms of the content of her speech, I found the extended "rape of a 12-year-old" to be especially gross. I watched the State of the Union with my 13-year-old. She was 12 just 3 months ago. While she is now learning about the dangers of being a woman in the world, I'm glad we turned off the tv for this part. Culturally...we are quite fascinated with stories of women/girls being murdered, stalked, sexually abused, raped from when they are very young children all the way through adulthood. Rape and sexual abuse of a women/women has become a common fallback trope as the "origin story" of every strong fictional woman. We aren't believed anyway so I don't know why our culture a) pushes the narrative that we are never safe and b) that we are never to be believed when something terrible happens to us. It's revolting. And Britt's narrative was revolting and yes, it sure as hell implied that this was a an incidendent happening at large today and that it was somehow the fault of the current administration? Because...why? I'm still at a loss, having now read about the background on Karla Jacinto Romero (which sounds awful and harrowing and full of trauma), fits the Republican narrative about why they are the ones who should lead and the Democrats are the baddies here. Because last I checked, the Republicans are against people being able to easily flee their country of origin, their child rapists, for a better life, for any life at all in this country. So...what's the point? I think the rape story just makes some on the right all hot and bothered - the fear, anger and disgust is motivating. And, sorry, but we just wouldn't have all these narratives about white women in distress, women getting sexually assaulted, women getting murdered if it didn't titillate a significant portion of the audience. For all we talk about it...we still have miles to go (as we criminalize pregnancy outcomes) before things are materially better for women and children in this country.
posted by amanda at 5:24 PM on March 9 [26 favorites]
posted by amanda at 5:24 PM on March 9 [26 favorites]
Relattedly…” Dr. Laura Anderson, a therapist who herself left a fundamentalist sect and now helps others who are leaving, said she had longed for that "sense of stability" and argued that "fundamentalism is a coping mechanism for a deregulated nervous system." That’s from Amanda Marcotte’s recent piece, "Tradwives" offer an alluring vision of right-wing Christianity — online warriors are fighting back (Salon). I feel a little strange saying it, but there was a point to putting Senator Babyvoice in the kitchen to talk to (to frighten and rile up) Republican women who are already afraid, and whose training primes them to respond to the Voice. It isn’t new, but it’s something to watch for this year as culture war issues, religious fundamentalism, and campaign season converge. It doesn’t have to make sense if it speaks to people primed to (or dysregulated and fearful enough to) hear it.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:25 PM on March 9 [17 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:25 PM on March 9 [17 favorites]
This makes me understand these people even less. How did Britt make it through a primary? Senators are supposed to be worthy and capable of wielding great power. I can’t square that. If you’re the kind of person who finds that performance appealing, how do you take her seriously enough to vote for her?
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 5:38 PM on March 9 [3 favorites]
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 5:38 PM on March 9 [3 favorites]
She's a red token. You advance red tokens so the blue tokens don't win.
The last thing they're expecting is for her to display independent thinking or initiative, I assure you.
posted by tigrrrlily at 5:41 PM on March 9 [17 favorites]
The last thing they're expecting is for her to display independent thinking or initiative, I assure you.
posted by tigrrrlily at 5:41 PM on March 9 [17 favorites]
She won the primary because she was endorsed by Donald Trump. But also, her self-presentation in the State of the Union rebuttal was an act, and I think voters are probably aware that it's an act. What voters find appealing is that she performs submissive femininity and gestures towards conventional gender roles, even though she was president of student government at the University of Alabama and has a law degree and was chief of staff to a senator and has done a lot of things that meek and submissive housewives don't do. Everyone is aware that she's ambitious, competent, and successful. It's ok for a select few women to be ambitious, competent, and successful, as long as they endorse the idea that a woman's place is in the home, submitting to their patriarchal husbands. You're supposed to pay attention to what they say and how they wield their power, not what they do in their personal lives.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:52 PM on March 9 [38 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:52 PM on March 9 [38 favorites]
The last thing they're expecting is for her to display independent thinking or initiative, I assure you.
Reading up on her career on Wikipedia makes it sound more complicated than that, e.g.:
It makes me think of the woman who basically ran the church I grew up in. She never spoke with fundie baby voice that I recall, and I assumed that she put herself in charge of everything in her own life (she certainly had the confidence and organizational ability for it), so I was surprised when she told me in a Facebook conversation a couple of years ago that she considered her husband the head of their household with final decision-making say about everything.
(I suspect that her husband went along with her decision that he was going to be the final decision-maker because he knew it would've been futile for him to resist.)
posted by clawsoon at 5:58 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
Reading up on her career on Wikipedia makes it sound more complicated than that, e.g.:
...Britt and 17 other former employees joined the Birmingham office of Butler Snow LLP. She founded the firm's government affairs branch...I can't vouch for her independent thinking based on that, but she seems to have an abundance of initiative.
In May 2016, Yellowhammer News named Britt one of "the people who will be running Alabama in a few years"...
In December 2018, Britt was selected as president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, effective January 2; she was the first woman to lead the organization. As head of what Alabama Daily News called one of the state's "most influential political organizations", she focused on...
It makes me think of the woman who basically ran the church I grew up in. She never spoke with fundie baby voice that I recall, and I assumed that she put herself in charge of everything in her own life (she certainly had the confidence and organizational ability for it), so I was surprised when she told me in a Facebook conversation a couple of years ago that she considered her husband the head of their household with final decision-making say about everything.
(I suspect that her husband went along with her decision that he was going to be the final decision-maker because he knew it would've been futile for him to resist.)
posted by clawsoon at 5:58 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
Short video clip of Britt's natural voice compared to how she delivered her response
Her natural voice sounds... within the normal range of confident and competent? Is it possible that her response sounded so weird because she's actually not very practised at fundie baby voice?
posted by clawsoon at 6:02 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
Her natural voice sounds... within the normal range of confident and competent? Is it possible that her response sounded so weird because she's actually not very practised at fundie baby voice?
posted by clawsoon at 6:02 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
Ugh. I keep forgetting it’s all kayfabe, these people believe in and value nothing, and everything they say about their beliefs and values is somehow even more meaningless than a lie.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 6:03 PM on March 9 [26 favorites]
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 6:03 PM on March 9 [26 favorites]
I wasn't expressing an opinion regarding her actual abilities, I was explaining why a Republican voter would vote for her even though they might not have any respect for women's abilities in general.
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:07 PM on March 9 [3 favorites]
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:07 PM on March 9 [3 favorites]
Ugh. I keep forgetting it’s all kayfabe, these people believe in and value nothing, and everything they say about their beliefs and values is somehow even more meaningless than a lie.
and yet a goodly portion of the activity in this space, on a weekly basis, reveals an impulse to understand, commentate. I feel like a moth at a candle. "even more meaningless than a lie" obscures some kind of meaning, the kind of meaning that we ignore at our peril. and what is that meaning: It's Too Late. I'm not sure.
posted by elkevelvet at 6:17 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
and yet a goodly portion of the activity in this space, on a weekly basis, reveals an impulse to understand, commentate. I feel like a moth at a candle. "even more meaningless than a lie" obscures some kind of meaning, the kind of meaning that we ignore at our peril. and what is that meaning: It's Too Late. I'm not sure.
posted by elkevelvet at 6:17 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
Ugh. I keep forgetting it’s all kayfabe, these people believe in and value nothing, and everything they say about their beliefs and values is somehow even more meaningless than a lie.
I found this article in today's WaPo interesting [gift link]. If Florida Republicans are starting to weary of the grift, there may be a glimmer of hope yet.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:24 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
I found this article in today's WaPo interesting [gift link]. If Florida Republicans are starting to weary of the grift, there may be a glimmer of hope yet.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:24 PM on March 9 [5 favorites]
The medium is the message motherfuckers! And considering that the very opener told us her ‘most important job’ was being a WIFE AND MOTHER - and this was the point where I screamed out loud - it’s a huge part of that message.
posted by bq at 6:42 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
posted by bq at 6:42 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
Was this aimed at women or men? I’m female and I am, to a certain extent, interested in hearing a (non-psycho) female Republican viewpoint, but hearing an elected official say right off the bat that her job as a wife and mother was the most important one - well the best I can explain is that it immediately broke the suspension of disbelief.
posted by bq at 6:50 PM on March 9 [11 favorites]
posted by bq at 6:50 PM on March 9 [11 favorites]
Lacey Chabert call your agent
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:50 PM on March 9 [10 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:50 PM on March 9 [10 favorites]
I suppose what I’m getting at is asking a conservative what they believe won’t even get you a clue about what they believe. If they have a morality it’s blue/orange, not good/evil, or at best it’s just the Crooked Timber line.
I must remind myself anew every week they need not be understood, only opposed.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 8:07 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
I must remind myself anew every week they need not be understood, only opposed.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 8:07 PM on March 9 [13 favorites]
My very first thought was, "The Machine decided to openly get into national politics?" But apparently it's more complicated than that.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:55 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 8:55 PM on March 9 [6 favorites]
What voters find appealing is that she performs submissive femininity and gestures towards conventional gender roles, even though she was president of student government at the University of Alabama and has a law degree and was chief of staff to a senator and has done a lot of things that meek and submissive housewives don't do.
And if anything, the contradictions only enhance the appeal. By their lights, if it’s hypocrisy then it’s hypocrisy in the sense of La Rochefoucauld’s “tribute that vice pays to (right-wing white evangelical Christian) virtue”. By their lights, the very performativeness of it is a sidelong acknowledgment/reinforcement of the electoral and cultural power that they take as their due.
posted by non canadian guy at 9:50 PM on March 9 [7 favorites]
And if anything, the contradictions only enhance the appeal. By their lights, if it’s hypocrisy then it’s hypocrisy in the sense of La Rochefoucauld’s “tribute that vice pays to (right-wing white evangelical Christian) virtue”. By their lights, the very performativeness of it is a sidelong acknowledgment/reinforcement of the electoral and cultural power that they take as their due.
posted by non canadian guy at 9:50 PM on March 9 [7 favorites]
I suppose what I’m getting at is asking a conservative what they believe won’t even get you a clue about what they believe. If they have a morality it’s blue/orange, not good/evil
If it's helpful, for someone who grew up in it it's very to see where their good/evil line is. "Good" means that you are on the side of the God of the Bible, as interpreted by Evangelicals. If you are in the group, you are good. If you are opposed to the group, you are on the side of the very real Satan and his demons, and you are evil.
Most of the time their god is concerned about sex. Heterosexual sex inside of a church-ordained marriage where the man is the head of the family is good; every other kind of sex, sexuality and gender expression is evil. Exceptions can be made, however, for sufficiently powerful men who advance the interests of the group of good people (them) against evil people (people opposed to them).
posted by clawsoon at 4:16 AM on March 10 [7 favorites]
If it's helpful, for someone who grew up in it it's very to see where their good/evil line is. "Good" means that you are on the side of the God of the Bible, as interpreted by Evangelicals. If you are in the group, you are good. If you are opposed to the group, you are on the side of the very real Satan and his demons, and you are evil.
Most of the time their god is concerned about sex. Heterosexual sex inside of a church-ordained marriage where the man is the head of the family is good; every other kind of sex, sexuality and gender expression is evil. Exceptions can be made, however, for sufficiently powerful men who advance the interests of the group of good people (them) against evil people (people opposed to them).
posted by clawsoon at 4:16 AM on March 10 [7 favorites]
But that’s what makes it a farce. They claim that people who don’t obey what they say is their morality are to be opposed purely for that, but they carve out endless exceptions for anyone in their in-group. The example that basically coincides with my political awakening was Clinton. I’ll never let go of the anger I have at people who told young me it didn’t matter if Clinton was a good president when he was a bad man telling adult me it doesn’t matter if Trump is a bad man or even a bad president because he’s god’s choice for our king.
It somehow also doesn’t matter that if the God they claim to believe in had picked a king it would’ve been Carter. He’s also bad because of reasons.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 5:50 AM on March 10 [10 favorites]
It somehow also doesn’t matter that if the God they claim to believe in had picked a king it would’ve been Carter. He’s also bad because of reasons.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 5:50 AM on March 10 [10 favorites]
depressing realization (after watching SNL last night): today's republicans are beyond parody. it's kind of like: what's a more disgusting metaphor for "human-sized corpse-eating cockroach"?
posted by graywyvern at 6:21 AM on March 10 [4 favorites]
posted by graywyvern at 6:21 AM on March 10 [4 favorites]
But that’s what makes it a farce. They claim that people who don’t obey what they say is their morality are to be opposed purely for that, but they carve out endless exceptions for anyone in their in-group.
When they say "God is good", they don't mean that God lives up to some external standard of morality. They mean that God, no matter what horrifying things he does, is the external standard of morality. If you are on their God's side, you are good by definition.
Conveniently, their god agrees with them about everything, no matter how often they change their minds.
posted by clawsoon at 6:39 AM on March 10 [13 favorites]
When they say "God is good", they don't mean that God lives up to some external standard of morality. They mean that God, no matter what horrifying things he does, is the external standard of morality. If you are on their God's side, you are good by definition.
Conveniently, their god agrees with them about everything, no matter how often they change their minds.
posted by clawsoon at 6:39 AM on March 10 [13 favorites]
Does this same writer have similar observations about those who are Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim?
Did you bother reading the article? She grew up in this culture and knows it, which is why she feels comfortable talking about it. Why don’t you go make those observations about cultures you have no background in?
posted by mattholomew at 7:28 AM on March 10 [14 favorites]
Did you bother reading the article? She grew up in this culture and knows it, which is why she feels comfortable talking about it. Why don’t you go make those observations about cultures you have no background in?
posted by mattholomew at 7:28 AM on March 10 [14 favorites]
I think that one of the separations between Conservatives and Liberals is that Conservatives think good/bad are stable aspects of the self, IOW: some people (and institutions) ARE good, regardless of their actions and some ARE bad, ditto.
You see that not only in Trump and other obviously morally bankrupt (by their own supposed standards) politicians, who are above any reproach simply because of who they are, but also in their defense of sex-abuse in Churches, their opposition to LGBTQ issues, immigrants, etc.
I think it has to do with Conservatives' implicit objective of securing the most benefit for their group (race, family, faith, etc.) and excluding others. It doesn't matter what you do, just who you are, in or out.
Liberals, while far from perfect or consistent, tend to judge people more on their actions in my experience.
posted by signal at 8:58 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]
You see that not only in Trump and other obviously morally bankrupt (by their own supposed standards) politicians, who are above any reproach simply because of who they are, but also in their defense of sex-abuse in Churches, their opposition to LGBTQ issues, immigrants, etc.
I think it has to do with Conservatives' implicit objective of securing the most benefit for their group (race, family, faith, etc.) and excluding others. It doesn't matter what you do, just who you are, in or out.
Liberals, while far from perfect or consistent, tend to judge people more on their actions in my experience.
posted by signal at 8:58 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]
graywyvern: "depressing realization (after watching SNL last night): today's republicans are beyond parody. "
Reminds me a bit of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin: it wasn't even parody and needed no script, she just repeated what Palin said, verbatim.
posted by signal at 9:02 AM on March 10 [8 favorites]
Reminds me a bit of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin: it wasn't even parody and needed no script, she just repeated what Palin said, verbatim.
posted by signal at 9:02 AM on March 10 [8 favorites]
I get that “god is good” is not subject to external interrogation and that “good” is whatever they value but that brings me right back around to everything they say being semantically null. You can’t derive anything from what they say because still all they’re saying is “I’m going to act according to the dictates of whichever synapse happens to be firing under my MAGA cap at the moment with no regard for consistency,” which we all already knew.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 9:21 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 9:21 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]
Look, what you libs don't understand is that Republican Jesus is just a different kind of guy.
posted by amanda at 10:13 AM on March 10 [3 favorites]
posted by amanda at 10:13 AM on March 10 [3 favorites]
I get that “god is good” is not subject to external interrogation and that “good” is whatever they value but that brings me right back around to everything they say being semantically null. You can’t derive anything from what they say because still all they’re saying is “I’m going to act according to the dictates of whichever synapse happens to be firing under my MAGA cap at the moment with no regard for consistency,” which we all already knew.
There is a fairly stable underlying ideology- God is power and is in charge, God puts certain people (men, bosses, fathers, the good politicians, pastors) in charge and virtue is knowing and correctly performing your place in that hierarchy. Submit to those who are righteously above you and dominate (this is a fairly raw word for it but it's the only one that really encompasses all the verbs that go here depending on the specific person and their specific place in God's Org Chart) those righteously below you so that they will be virtuous, i.e. know and perform their place. That's what's underneath it all- the worship of hierarchy and power. The love of God not for any of the positive adjectives ascribed to him by the Bible but because he's The Power, the Father. Absolutely everything is acceptable as long as it's in service to that hierarchy, to that structure of dominance and submission.
That what mostly appeals to the people who have invested their sense of self in that structure is violence and exploitation and reveling in endless, endless sadism for its own sake makes perfect sense once you understand that they are being continually enculturated into it, mostly since birth.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:18 AM on March 10 [14 favorites]
There is a fairly stable underlying ideology- God is power and is in charge, God puts certain people (men, bosses, fathers, the good politicians, pastors) in charge and virtue is knowing and correctly performing your place in that hierarchy. Submit to those who are righteously above you and dominate (this is a fairly raw word for it but it's the only one that really encompasses all the verbs that go here depending on the specific person and their specific place in God's Org Chart) those righteously below you so that they will be virtuous, i.e. know and perform their place. That's what's underneath it all- the worship of hierarchy and power. The love of God not for any of the positive adjectives ascribed to him by the Bible but because he's The Power, the Father. Absolutely everything is acceptable as long as it's in service to that hierarchy, to that structure of dominance and submission.
That what mostly appeals to the people who have invested their sense of self in that structure is violence and exploitation and reveling in endless, endless sadism for its own sake makes perfect sense once you understand that they are being continually enculturated into it, mostly since birth.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:18 AM on March 10 [14 favorites]
I'm coming back to repeat that she's speaking to men. As a wife and a mother, she's speaking to your husband, your father, your brother, your son, your boyfriend, your male friends to show them this is how women are. The misogyny is the message. If you are disgusted by how she portrayed her message? Good. That disgust just furthers our cultural misogyny toward women. Can you even imagine the kind of woman who listens to this and feels like what she is saying speaks to her? GROSS! Whether you are a man or woman repulsed by her message, it doesn't matter. She speaks for women in that moment. She is an exemplar of the kind of woman many of us hate. Sure, there's a spectrum of misogyny...but I aver that that spectrum lands pretty harshly on those who would allow a person to die rather than allow them reproductive autonomy of their own bodies. I am happily far beyond the point where I see this construct, this act, this dramatic play of overt femininity and think to myself, "well, see, I'm a special woman because I'm not like that." It's misogyny and the kind that just furthers the patriarchy and domination of men. It's parallel to the use of racial fears to align whites with the ruling class to the detriment of their own health and welfare. And for all those folks that think her speech and demeanor is hottt, I mean, they are already in the bag. Her tone matters because often the only thing we can hear of women in this country is tone. But her words were just as abhorrent.
posted by amanda at 10:21 AM on March 10 [19 favorites]
posted by amanda at 10:21 AM on March 10 [19 favorites]
God, I hate everything
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:26 AM on March 10 [7 favorites]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:26 AM on March 10 [7 favorites]
Republican Jesus is just a different kind of guy
For one thing, he's a white Christian instead of a (historically accurate) brown Jew.
posted by dannyboybell at 11:30 AM on March 10 [6 favorites]
For one thing, he's a white Christian instead of a (historically accurate) brown Jew.
posted by dannyboybell at 11:30 AM on March 10 [6 favorites]
There is a fairly stable underlying ideology- God is power and is in charge, God puts certain people (men, bosses, fathers, the good politicians, pastors) in charge and virtue is knowing and correctly performing your place in that hierarchy.
I like to think of it as a contrast between hierarchy-based morality vs. consent-based morality.
The two have been at war for, I dunno, probably the last 200,000 years.
posted by clawsoon at 11:31 AM on March 10 [5 favorites]
I like to think of it as a contrast between hierarchy-based morality vs. consent-based morality.
The two have been at war for, I dunno, probably the last 200,000 years.
posted by clawsoon at 11:31 AM on March 10 [5 favorites]
How did Britt make it through a primary?
Same way Mormon wives make great heads of MLMs. The Republicans know they need to perform equality. So they are all behind electing women. It's just that Real Women want to submit to their husbands, have kids, bake cookies, etc. (And are probably very reliable about supporting core party interests.)
So when they find someone who wants to do that and who is electable, they go for it.
I don't think you'll find many Americans speaking out loudly against evangelicalism who are enthusiastic about parallel fundamentalisms in other religion
Interestingly, in some areas of Canada this is happening...forming a block of support for things like "parent rights" The 1 million march 4 children (UGH) was led by a conservative Muslim group, but got quite a bit of fundamentalist support across religions.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:42 AM on March 10 [4 favorites]
Same way Mormon wives make great heads of MLMs. The Republicans know they need to perform equality. So they are all behind electing women. It's just that Real Women want to submit to their husbands, have kids, bake cookies, etc. (And are probably very reliable about supporting core party interests.)
So when they find someone who wants to do that and who is electable, they go for it.
I don't think you'll find many Americans speaking out loudly against evangelicalism who are enthusiastic about parallel fundamentalisms in other religion
Interestingly, in some areas of Canada this is happening...forming a block of support for things like "parent rights" The 1 million march 4 children (UGH) was led by a conservative Muslim group, but got quite a bit of fundamentalist support across religions.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:42 AM on March 10 [4 favorites]
“Status Report: The Katie Britt Lie,” Jay Kuo, The Status Kuo, 10 March 2024
posted by ob1quixote at 12:44 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 12:44 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
It's just that Real Women want to submit to their husbands, have kids, bake cookies, etc.
Anyone else remember Hilary Clinton baking cookies during Bill’s first campaign?
posted by bq at 12:47 PM on March 10 [13 favorites]
Anyone else remember Hilary Clinton baking cookies during Bill’s first campaign?
posted by bq at 12:47 PM on March 10 [13 favorites]
Britt was the longtime chief of staff for Senator Richard Shelby (in office 1987-2023), serving as deputy campaign manager in 2016.
When Shelby announced he would not seek re-election, the born-in-Alabama attorney threw her hat in the ring and prevailed (66.6% of the vote) against The Most Rev. Dr. Will Boyd (D; 30.9%) and John Sophocleus (L; 2.3%).
Why two-thirds of the Alabama voting pool weren't interested in a born-in-another state, ordained, Black, Democrat — one with a Ph.D, a bibliography, and ties to organized labor — is a real head-scratcher.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:12 PM on March 10 [11 favorites]
When Shelby announced he would not seek re-election, the born-in-Alabama attorney threw her hat in the ring and prevailed (66.6% of the vote) against The Most Rev. Dr. Will Boyd (D; 30.9%) and John Sophocleus (L; 2.3%).
Why two-thirds of the Alabama voting pool weren't interested in a born-in-another state, ordained, Black, Democrat — one with a Ph.D, a bibliography, and ties to organized labor — is a real head-scratcher.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:12 PM on March 10 [11 favorites]
“Why Senator Katie Britt's border lie matters,” Jonathan M. Katz, The Racket, 10 March 2024
posted by ob1quixote at 1:13 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 1:13 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
Anyone else remember Hilary Clinton baking cookies during Bill’s first campaign?
The First Lady Bake-Off.
I also remember 2016 Bill Clinton submitting Hillary's 1992 cookie recipe--though the cookie contests in between, which included accusations of sabotage and plagiarism as well as pumpkin spice and oatmeal-butterscotch cookies, I can't really recall.
posted by box at 1:23 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
The First Lady Bake-Off.
I also remember 2016 Bill Clinton submitting Hillary's 1992 cookie recipe--though the cookie contests in between, which included accusations of sabotage and plagiarism as well as pumpkin spice and oatmeal-butterscotch cookies, I can't really recall.
posted by box at 1:23 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]
Thank you for the reminder, bq
stares off into space
posted by tigrrrlily at 1:34 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
stares off into space
posted by tigrrrlily at 1:34 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]
Ah yes, the bake-off, held by a woman's-interest mag after HRC defended having a career of her own (then an uncommon quality in presidential-candidate spouses).
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:47 PM on March 10 [6 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:47 PM on March 10 [6 favorites]
Blogger Fred Clark writes about Senator Britt's State of the Union Response in a recent post in his Slacktivist blog. Clark, who writes about social and religious issues as viewed through the lens of his own evangelical upbringing, covers a lot of the ground we've already gone over but does it well and has a few things to add that I think make his post worth the read, particularly his conclusion:
It was an audacious, bald-faced lie — one that involved further exploiting a woman who was horribly exploited as a child.posted by Nerd of the North at 11:39 PM on March 10 [25 favorites]
But it is also a lie that makes no sense. Britt worked hard to create a general vibe that would appeal to xenophobic white voters, stretching and straining to create an association between Joe Biden, sex trafficking, and Scary Mexicans just by mentioning all of those things in one short period of time.
But anyone outside of Britt’s bubble — anyone who didn’t already associate all of those things because they had already actively chosen the white nationalism Britt was selling — would hear such a story and think: That poor child! Did anyone help her? We should help her!
That’s how normal people hear this story. As Katz wrote: “Wouldn’t a victim of such horrific abuse be a good candidate for immigration protection, if not asylum?”
Katie Britt traveled to Del Rio, Texas, near the border, and heard Karla Jacinto Romero’s testimony of fleeing horrific abuse and violence. But rather than resolving to do more — or to do anything — to help those like Jacinto, Britt has repeatedly stolen that story and turned it into a weapon to deny asylum to Jacinto and to everyone like her.
What is Katie Britt actually arguing should be done with human trafficking victims fleeing rape and abuse in Mexico? Katie Britt wants to see them rounded up and deported — sent back to the very place they fled.
Britt’s cruelty is, like her dishonesty, difficult to overstate.
Both of those registered with viewers during Britt’s SOTU response — even before any of them watched Katz’s video or read any of the later reports debunking her cruel lie.
And I think that cruelty and dishonesty — more than Britt’s painful overacting or the strangeness of her fundie baby voice — was what skeeved people out even if they couldn’t articulate what it was about this senator that was making their skin crawl.
Ah yes, the bake-off, held by a woman's-interest mag after HRC defended having a career of her own (then an uncommon quality in presidential-candidate spouses).
Bill's first campaign in Arkansas didn't go so well, and part of the blame for that was put on Hilary for wearing (OMG!) PANTS and having a career and not playing "the wife" role. She (I think reluctantly?) turned that around for his next campaign and by the time he was running for president, she knew was her role was supposed to be. (But damn did she try to fight against that)
posted by LizBoBiz at 11:49 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
Bill's first campaign in Arkansas didn't go so well, and part of the blame for that was put on Hilary for wearing (OMG!) PANTS and having a career and not playing "the wife" role. She (I think reluctantly?) turned that around for his next campaign and by the time he was running for president, she knew was her role was supposed to be. (But damn did she try to fight against that)
posted by LizBoBiz at 11:49 PM on March 10 [2 favorites]
How did Britt make it through a primary?
The inside GOP baseball reason why Britt won her primary is that Trump originally endorsed the incumbent Senator Mo Brooks, but Brooks said that Republicans needed to "move on" from the 2020 election, which Trump interpreted as an attack on the ego-driven lie that he had won the 2020 election. As a result, Trump withdrew his endorsement of Senator Brooks & he lost his own primary. The primary then went to a two-person runoff between Brooks & Britt, which led Trump to endorse Britt in order to punish Brooks.
posted by jonp72 at 7:44 AM on March 11 [5 favorites]
The inside GOP baseball reason why Britt won her primary is that Trump originally endorsed the incumbent Senator Mo Brooks, but Brooks said that Republicans needed to "move on" from the 2020 election, which Trump interpreted as an attack on the ego-driven lie that he had won the 2020 election. As a result, Trump withdrew his endorsement of Senator Brooks & he lost his own primary. The primary then went to a two-person runoff between Brooks & Britt, which led Trump to endorse Britt in order to punish Brooks.
posted by jonp72 at 7:44 AM on March 11 [5 favorites]
Small correction to the above...Mo Brooks was the US Representative for Alabama's 5th District not the incumbent senator. Senator Britt won the runoff 63-to-37.
posted by mmascolino at 7:57 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 7:57 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
Republican Jesus is just a different kind of guy
The thing that makes me laugh at the pro-Christian "He gets us" ads that have been pushed (hard!) on Reddit the last year or twoo are the valence of the whole idea. That is, why should God "get" humans? Shouldn't humans be working hard to comprehend and conform to God? I mean, he was here first!
It must be some amazing, overwhelming tide of self-regard that can make evangelicals happy to tell the world that God apprehends their nature! How do I not point and laugh?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:00 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
The thing that makes me laugh at the pro-Christian "He gets us" ads that have been pushed (hard!) on Reddit the last year or twoo are the valence of the whole idea. That is, why should God "get" humans? Shouldn't humans be working hard to comprehend and conform to God? I mean, he was here first!
It must be some amazing, overwhelming tide of self-regard that can make evangelicals happy to tell the world that God apprehends their nature! How do I not point and laugh?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:00 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
Sex trafficking victim says Sen. Katie Britt telling her story during SOTU rebuttal is ‘not fair’ (CNN) Karla Jacinto told CNN that Mexican politicians took advantage of her by using her story for political purposes and that it’s happened again in the United States.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:03 AM on March 11 [6 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:03 AM on March 11 [6 favorites]
“I work as a spokesperson for many victims who have no voice, and I really would like them to be empathetic: all the governors, all the senators, to be empathetic with the issue of human trafficking because there are millions of girls and boys who disappear all the time. People who are really trafficked and abused, as she [Britt] mentioned. And I think she [Britt] should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude,” Jacinto said.
Jacinto said she met the senator at an event at the southern border with other government officials and anti-human-trafficking activists, instead of one-on-one as Britt stated. She also said that she was never trafficked in the United States, as Britt appeared to suggest. She was not trafficked by Mexican drug cartels, but by a pimp who operated as part of a family that entrapped vulnerable girls to force them into prostitution, she said.
Jacinto said she was kept in captivity from 2004 to 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office and when Biden was a senator. (CNN)
Exploitation, ex·ploi·ta·tion.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:20 AM on March 11 [16 favorites]
Jacinto said she met the senator at an event at the southern border with other government officials and anti-human-trafficking activists, instead of one-on-one as Britt stated. She also said that she was never trafficked in the United States, as Britt appeared to suggest. She was not trafficked by Mexican drug cartels, but by a pimp who operated as part of a family that entrapped vulnerable girls to force them into prostitution, she said.
Jacinto said she was kept in captivity from 2004 to 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office and when Biden was a senator. (CNN)
Exploitation, ex·ploi·ta·tion.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:20 AM on March 11 [16 favorites]
I think the "surely this" phenomenon fairly encapsulates that moment when some awful detail is shared and someone reacts in disbelief and outrage, and that pretty much summarizes my feelings after reading the information shared by Iris Gambol: my brain and heart kind of breaks, trying to reach at the edges of the shape of this shitty behaviour.. the fact Britt is using her voice to cause further harm, and further exploit Jacinto, it is just hard to comprehend the depths of this motivation.
and sure, someone else will chime in with their more jaded/worldly rejoinder: the cruelty is the point or something. I'm sorry, I don't see that we can get past this. I don't know that we deserve to.
posted by elkevelvet at 9:48 AM on March 11 [4 favorites]
and sure, someone else will chime in with their more jaded/worldly rejoinder: the cruelty is the point or something. I'm sorry, I don't see that we can get past this. I don't know that we deserve to.
posted by elkevelvet at 9:48 AM on March 11 [4 favorites]
And nails it in tone and inflection in spots...
posted by Windopaene at 12:07 PM on March 11
posted by Windopaene at 12:07 PM on March 11
One of my colleagues went to college with Senator Britt; they were both in a liberal arts curriculum that was quite “woke” (we actually used that term, non-ironically, when talking about it). This was at the University of Alabama, where you would have to actively seek out a liberal slate of courses. She was pretty surprised at the trajectory that Britt’s life has taken since then. Which raises the question of whether Katie Britt was code switching in college or whether she is code switching now. Or just doing whatever it takes to move ahead, with no moral compass of her own.
posted by TedW at 12:54 PM on March 11 [10 favorites]
posted by TedW at 12:54 PM on March 11 [10 favorites]
A Republican with no moral compass? Say it isn't so...
posted by Windopaene at 8:14 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 8:14 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
“The pure emptiness of Katie Britt,” Lucian K. Truscott IV, Salon, 12 March 2024
posted by ob1quixote at 8:40 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by ob1quixote at 8:40 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Scarlett Johansson does Katy Britt on SNL
posted by newdaddy
My tea is ready.
posted by amanda at 8:49 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by newdaddy
My tea is ready.
posted by amanda at 8:49 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
What was that reference? I couldn't pick up what was going on with that teacup...
posted by Windopaene at 9:48 AM on March 12
posted by Windopaene at 9:48 AM on March 12
The teacup reference is to Jordan Peele's brilliant "Get out"
The scene in question
posted by cirhosis at 9:59 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
The scene in question
posted by cirhosis at 9:59 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
that Salon article is brutal
posted by bq at 11:29 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by bq at 11:29 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
OK, haven't watched "Get Out". I am an old.
Couldn't watch much of the clip. Child 3 loves get out...
I can still handle murder mystery (knives out, even Glass Onion), but can't handle freaky horror movie stuff. And since Child 3 loves it, (and has a tattoo of a bloody knife on their leg), probably won't.
Hate it when I am so out of touch to not get that reference...
posted by Windopaene at 11:08 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Couldn't watch much of the clip. Child 3 loves get out...
I can still handle murder mystery (knives out, even Glass Onion), but can't handle freaky horror movie stuff. And since Child 3 loves it, (and has a tattoo of a bloody knife on their leg), probably won't.
Hate it when I am so out of touch to not get that reference...
posted by Windopaene at 11:08 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
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posted by tommasz at 11:51 AM on March 9 [36 favorites]