"I HAVE NEVER BEEN PANDERED TO SO EFFECTIVELY BEFORE"
July 1, 2016 8:20 AM   Subscribe

To mark the website's final day, The Toast posted a note from Hillary Clinton about the site. [SLToast]

For those unfamiliar with the article's author, according to her bio on the site, "Hillary Clinton is a former First Lady, senator, and Secretary of State, and is currently running for President. She thinks your hair looks great exactly as it is."
posted by sgranade (124 comments total) 92 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've never really felt the expression to be so apt before, but we're through the looking glass now.
posted by Carillon at 8:24 AM on July 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


Hey Ladies, take it to Slack (Toast last-day errata)
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:26 AM on July 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


Proudly take credit for your ideas. Have confidence in the value of your contributions. And if the space you’re in doesn’t have room for your voice, don’t be afraid to carve out a space of your own.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:28 AM on July 1, 2016 [94 favorites]


Maybe this is political pandering, but, if it is, I think I'm okay with political pandering.
posted by maxsparber at 8:32 AM on July 1, 2016 [43 favorites]


I came here to quote what ChuraChura because I felt that it was an important takeaway. More women need to know that this is a thing we can do. There is nothing wrong with saying, "Yup, I thought of that, and it's good."

I'll miss the Toast.
posted by teleri025 at 8:35 AM on July 1, 2016 [12 favorites]


Damn it, you beat me to it!

I gasped audibly when I saw TFA. So awesome. Turns out HRC's staff has been showing her Two Monks (and, presumably, Women in Art History) on long campaign days.

If The Toast has to go out, at least it goes out on a high note.
posted by suelac at 8:36 AM on July 1, 2016 [9 favorites]


What is even happening
posted by The Whelk at 8:37 AM on July 1, 2016 [33 favorites]


I'm a little amazed we live in a world where a website can be read by our likely next president and still not make enough money to stay viable. Go go internet economy, I guess.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:37 AM on July 1, 2016 [109 favorites]


Turns out no one has actually clicked an online ad since 2006
posted by The Whelk at 8:38 AM on July 1, 2016 [120 favorites]


> don’t be afraid to carve out a space of your own.

....with machetes if necessary. /dark toast

I will miss you.
posted by rtha at 8:39 AM on July 1, 2016 [20 favorites]


Between this and her appearance on Broad City I am forming a mental image of Hillary chilled out on the couch with a laptop and Doritos, high as shit, wearing some ratty old oversized grey hoodie, squinting at the window and not sure if the sun is just coming up or just coming down
posted by beerperson at 8:39 AM on July 1, 2016 [85 favorites]


In the comments:


NicoleCliffe · 1 hour ago


Asking if Hillary wanted to receive her fifty dollar freelancing payment via check or PayPal was one of the best moments of my life.

posted by cooker girl at 8:40 AM on July 1, 2016 [177 favorites]


Turns out no one has actually clicked an online ad since 2006

I click them for companies or people I loathe so that they're charged for invading my mind.
posted by resurrexit at 8:40 AM on July 1, 2016 [14 favorites]


She thinks your hair looks great exactly as it is.

Madame Secretary, thanks for the compliment, but my hair is pretty darn messy.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:43 AM on July 1, 2016 [4 favorites]


You guys.

I got engaged about a month ago, and am really, really excited to invite a woman president to my wedding.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:43 AM on July 1, 2016 [24 favorites]


"We lose money on every sale, but we make it up on volume!"
posted by wenestvedt at 8:46 AM on July 1, 2016


I got engaged about a month ago, and am really, really excited to invite a woman president to my wedding.

EXPLAIN.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:47 AM on July 1, 2016 [8 favorites]


Between this and her appearance on Broad City I am forming a mental image of Hillary chilled out on the couch with a laptop and Doritos, high as shit, wearing some ratty old oversized grey hoodie, squinting at the window and not sure if the sun is just coming up or just coming down

Nah you're thinking of Bill.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 8:47 AM on July 1, 2016 [8 favorites]


Maybe this is political pandering, but, if it is, I think I'm okay with political pandering.

maybe this is a learning moment? a time to reflect on all those times when other people were being pandered to and it seemed kind of icky and fake when viewed from outside...
posted by andrewcooke at 8:47 AM on July 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


The most effective HRC pandering is the 'win tickets to see Hamilton in NYC with Hillary' pandering.
posted by palindromic at 8:47 AM on July 1, 2016 [40 favorites]


Nah you're thinking of Bill.

Oh it was Bill who wrote this?
posted by beerperson at 8:49 AM on July 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


I'll be honest. I was too witches to buy into that Hamilton contest.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:50 AM on July 1, 2016 [7 favorites]


EXPLAIN.

Oh, I don't think she's going to come. My uncle worked in Bill's administration.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:50 AM on July 1, 2016 [7 favorites]


I click them for companies or people I loathe so that they're charged for invading my mind.

I thought I was the only one!
posted by Aizkolari at 8:51 AM on July 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


Today is my birthday and I've known about the shuttering of The Toast ever since they announced it (yo, Mallory - HORRIBLE BIRTHDAY GIFT, GIRL), but their final day's programming (and the anticipation of receiving my spear maid tote) is easing the pain.
posted by palindromic at 8:52 AM on July 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


beerperson: "Between this and her appearance on Broad City I am forming a mental image of Hillary chilled out on the couch with a laptop and Doritos, high as shit, wearing some ratty old oversized grey hoodie, squinting at the window and not sure if the sun is just coming up or just coming down"

That's from the "Trump Wins" timefork.
posted by chavenet at 8:52 AM on July 1, 2016 [10 favorites]


EXPLAIN.

If you send a wedding invitation to the first family, you will get a congratulations card back. Also they might come (probably not).

Ours was preprinted but is still a nice memento.
posted by sparklemotion at 8:52 AM on July 1, 2016 [30 favorites]


"I have never been pandered to so effectively before" is dead-on. Clinton's note read as pretty pandery to me, and I kind of want to be cynical about it, but really, I'm just impressed that Hillary Clinton had the Toast on her radar and understood what it's meant to so many of us. If I'm going to be pandered to at all, I'd much rather be pandered to by someone who gets me than by the political equivalent of a fat-free cheesecake-flavored yogurt commercial.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:55 AM on July 1, 2016 [78 favorites]


I hope you’ll also look forward and consider how you might make your voice heard in whatever arenas matter most to you. Speak your opinion more fervently in your classes if you’re a student, or at meetings in your workplace. Proudly take credit for your ideas. Have confidence in the value of your contributions. And if the space you’re in doesn’t have room for your voice, don’t be afraid to carve out a space of your own.

I need to hear this. I need to hear it over and over all the fucking time because I still have people and forces in my life giving me the opposite message every single goddamn day. I need these voices in my life and I need them to be prominent, persistent and loud. And I'm a grown-ass woman. Think about what it means to little girls.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:56 AM on July 1, 2016 [93 favorites]


Here I stand with my Paneer on a Spear...carving, carving, carving toward freedom.
posted by drlith at 8:56 AM on July 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


Hey Ladies, take it to Slack (Toast last-day errata)

I'm lollerskating at the idea of a Hamilton-themed funeral. I'll miss you, Hey Ladies.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:57 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Going To Maine: "EXPLAIN"

You can basically invite anybody to anything. Doesn't mean they're gonna take you up on it. Invite Ban Ki-Moon to your 4th of July party, go nuts.

teleri025: "I came here to quote what ChuraChura because I felt that it was an important takeaway. More women need to know that this is a thing we can do. There is nothing wrong with saying, "Yup, I thought of that, and it's good." "

Also when carving out your own space, remember Amy Poehler's wisdom, "I don't fucking care if you like it" and the decade old words of a cartoon cat in a thong: "I wish in the past I had tried more things 'cause now I know that being in trouble is a fake idea."

Go forth and tear things up.
posted by boo_radley at 8:57 AM on July 1, 2016 [32 favorites]


real pandering would be promising to keep The Toast running by executive order if elected
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:58 AM on July 1, 2016 [45 favorites]


Bold new NEA funding yes I'm behind it clearly the market can't provide
posted by The Whelk at 8:59 AM on July 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


Clinton is going to activate the draft but for websites.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:00 AM on July 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


What is even happening

Ever read "Future Shock?"

Anyway, now I'm hoping Mallory will get a cabinet position. Or maybe the head of something like "Presidents Special Commission on Internet Feminism." I can hope, right?
posted by happyroach at 9:03 AM on July 1, 2016 [7 favorites]


And if the space you’re in doesn’t have room for your voice, don’t be afraid to carve out a space of your own.

Paraphrasing Shirley Chisholm, who said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."
posted by Sophie1 at 9:03 AM on July 1, 2016 [28 favorites]


I missed the chance to get a boat tote. :( I have a lot of feelings and no sensible canvas container in which to place them.
posted by rewil at 9:03 AM on July 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


I am beyond excited at her having to disclose that she was paid by The Toast.
posted by sgranade at 9:03 AM on July 1, 2016 [9 favorites]


If she accepts the payment from the Toast which I highly doubt she will, the right will blame her for the Toast not making enough money or any money to stay in business.
posted by AugustWest at 9:06 AM on July 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


maybe this is a learning moment? a time to reflect on all those times when other people were being pandered to and it seemed kind of icky and fake when viewed from outside...

I'm sure you didn't intend to be the dude who comes into a thread on the closing of a beloved feminist site to tell the ladies that maybe there's a thing or two we should learn about politics.
posted by palindromic at 9:08 AM on July 1, 2016 [126 favorites]


i love that even if it is campaign pr pandering, that the toast (and it's audience) is seen as important enough to get that attention. when i think of my 16 years as a voting age person, and the ways that i've seen women pandered to, this is just damn refreshing.

keep giving them hell. We’re counting on you.

posted by nadawi at 9:12 AM on July 1, 2016 [33 favorites]


not to be outdone, Donald Trump posted his rarest pepe to /pol/ today
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:13 AM on July 1, 2016 [64 favorites]


i love that even if it is campaign pr pandering, that the toast (and it's audience) is seen as important enough to get that attention.

Exactly this.

I said it in the election thread too -- who a campaign panders to tells you who they're going to try and keep happy after the election. Even if it's only done with "minor" policies, small things from the White House can have major effects on people's lives.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:14 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]


Typical. This just confirms she's a bought-and-paid-for puppet of Big Toast
posted by theodolite at 9:17 AM on July 1, 2016 [27 favorites]


not to be outdone, Donald Trump posted his rarest pepe to /pol/ today

Gary Johnson furiously posting comments on ronpaul.com
posted by beerperson at 9:18 AM on July 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


not to be outdone, Donald Trump posted his rarest pepe to /pol/ today

I snorted.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:21 AM on July 1, 2016


I'm all cynicked out and have no more cynics to give so I'm just going to enjoy this in the spirit I imagine it was given.

I just wish girls were told less to speak up and boys were told more to shut the fuck up. I'm just bitter because I do all the things she told me to do and just got smacked down for it at work.
posted by bleep at 9:23 AM on July 1, 2016 [41 favorites]


not to be outdone, Donald Trump posted his rarest pepe to /pol/ today

Gary Johnson furiously posting comments on ronpaul.com

Diamond Joe definitively explains how you can exercise every other day on bodybuilding.com
posted by Going To Maine at 9:27 AM on July 1, 2016 [20 favorites]


Can we not make this thread into corny jokes about dude-bros.
posted by bleep at 9:30 AM on July 1, 2016 [16 favorites]


More women need to know that this is a thing we can do. There is nothing wrong with saying, "Yup, I thought of that, and it's good."

Yeah, this! So important. I was just sort of whining on twitter that the only people I know IRL who wrote for the toast are three white guys. And this is not a slam on them at all, but I know so so many amazingly talented, hilarious women who have great ideas and continually shot their own ideas down with 'I'm not good enough for that.' The line that ChuraChura highlighted is so important to hear and to understand.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 9:31 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]


i have been beating myself up today for not pitching to the toast and not reaching out for inclusion on the convert series. i am so often the one telling me i can't do something, i'm not cool enough, my ideas are bad, my execution and follow through are lacking, i'm the only one who thinks i'm funny. and between that feeling and this post i'm going to try to stop being the one who tells me no and let other people do it for a while just to see what happens.
posted by nadawi at 9:36 AM on July 1, 2016 [32 favorites]



I was just sort of whining on twitter that the only people I know IRL who wrote for the toast are three white guys.


I know one of the Hey Ladies women IRL.
posted by zutalors! at 9:37 AM on July 1, 2016


Can we not make this thread into corny jokes about dude-bros.

Liz Warren restarts FuckedCompany.com
posted by Going To Maine at 9:39 AM on July 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


The "librarians, queer nerds, smart women, and bookish graduate students" lobby is not powerful enough to compel the putative next president of the United States to write a heartfelt short essay about the importance of hearing and appreciating women and having spaces explicitly to hear and appreciate women's voices to pander. As much as I wish it, The Toast's demographic was never going to be the one swaying this election.

I really do think that this is just (heh) Hillary Clinton acknowledging that these spaces are few, far between and precious, and that she recognizes their importance and is sad when they disappear - and that she really enjoyed the things she read on the Toast.
posted by ChuraChura at 9:39 AM on July 1, 2016 [82 favorites]


I got a piece rejected by the Toast but they were very nice about it. I will miss them.
posted by emjaybee at 9:40 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]


If I'm going to be pandered to at all, I'd much rather be pandered to by someone who gets me than by the political equivalent of a fat-free cheesecake-flavored yogurt commercial.

THIS. It's probably a telling sign of just how teeny-tiny a slice of the media I've consumed all my life is actually directed at me, how much I've had to make do with TV and writing and political pandering aimed at others, but some of the stuff Hillary is doing in her campaign is making me feel frigging DRUNK WITH POWER. I FEEL SO HEARD!!!
posted by sunset in snow country at 9:41 AM on July 1, 2016 [19 favorites]


The comments are great. "I cannot wait for this woman to be head moderator over the glorious mess that is America."
posted by corb at 9:42 AM on July 1, 2016 [20 favorites]


I just wish girls were told less to speak up and boys were told more to shut the fuck up.

Heidi is sick of your bullshit
posted by palindromic at 9:42 AM on July 1, 2016 [31 favorites]


What does the "promoted content" note under the piece mean? That it was editorially promoted, or that it is a paid ad?
posted by Rumple at 9:48 AM on July 1, 2016


Invite Ban Ki-Moon to your 4th of July party, go nuts.

Never. He knows why.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:48 AM on July 1, 2016 [9 favorites]


The "promoted content" refers to the links underneath that line.
posted by praemunire at 9:52 AM on July 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


If you send a wedding invitation to the first family, you will get a congratulations card back. Also they might come (probably not).

what if i invite joe biden to my birthday party
posted by poffin boffin at 9:52 AM on July 1, 2016 [34 favorites]


reflect on all those times when other people were being pandered to and it seemed kind of icky and fake when viewed from outside

Clinton's not exact quoting "Two Corinthians" here.
posted by straight at 9:53 AM on July 1, 2016 [15 favorites]


The "promoted content" refers to the links underneath that line.

Ah, ok. Adblocker doesn't show any of that. Ironically I suppose this is why I should whitelist sites like the toast before they go bankrupt.
posted by Rumple at 9:54 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


what if i invite joe biden to my birthday party

pretty sure he brings a snocone machine that doubles as a margarita machine
posted by nadawi at 9:54 AM on July 1, 2016 [37 favorites]


joe biden is compelled by law to agree to every invitation with the word "party" included, unless the word is preceded by "republican"
posted by rorgy at 9:54 AM on July 1, 2016 [20 favorites]


pretty sure he brings a snocone machine that doubles as a margarita machine

Bouncy. House.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:55 AM on July 1, 2016 [8 favorites]


I cried when I read this. Sometimes I think, ohhhh, Clinton probably isn't as much of a Leslie Knope nerd as I think she is. And then she posts on the Toast and admits that she looks up to Mallory and Nicole and Nicole and I learn that her young staffers read Two Monks to her and I feel like my heart will burst with happiness at the thought of a ladynerd being President.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 9:56 AM on July 1, 2016 [70 favorites]


But I don't wanna go.
posted by rewil at 9:57 AM on July 1, 2016 [2 favorites]




I gotta say, as political pandering goes, the only way to make it milder would be to print it on velveeta. And is anyone actually objecting to the message? The first woman with a credible run at the US presidency saying "women deserve more space? Women should make more space?" I pander more to my reflection while brushing my teeth. Yeesh.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:02 AM on July 1, 2016 [32 favorites]




Also, by far the worst kind in pandering is when you have to clean out the pander enclosure, and the damned panders keep climbing in the baskets and rolling around, scattering leaves everywhere. That's as bad as trying to get something sensible through Congress.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:15 AM on July 1, 2016 [58 favorites]


As a friend of mine pointed out on facebook, Hillary Clinton has been beating this drum for decades. She's made similar remarks in commencement speeches, in interviews, etc for decades. The message is 100% Hillary. Even if it is pandering, it's directly from her, not just something her staff thinks will look good.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:15 AM on July 1, 2016 [32 favorites]


I thought it was more like a pep talk than pandering. And today was the sort of day where I needed a pep talk like that. So, y'know, I'm okay with this particular drum-beating.
posted by sldownard at 10:20 AM on July 1, 2016 [15 favorites]


The number of people who will actually decide to vote for Clinton based on this is so close to zero as to be zero, and she knows it. This was a genuinely heartfelt thank-you note from a fan.
posted by Etrigan at 10:25 AM on July 1, 2016 [58 favorites]


Personally I won't believe Hillary really "gets it" until she posts an askme thread about whether she can eat carnitas that was sitting in an unplugged crock pot for four hours
posted by theodolite at 10:35 AM on July 1, 2016 [61 favorites]


I pander more to my reflection while brushing my teeth.

I pretend the toothpaste foam is rabies and growl at myself so me too I guess.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:37 AM on July 1, 2016 [43 favorites]


I am glad that Hillary is a big of fan of Two Monks as I am. Talk about a candidate you could have a beer with...

I will miss The Toast. A lot. I kinda want to just go on a tipping spree on articles later in the day, I will probably do that with gin later.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:40 AM on July 1, 2016


I pretend the toothpaste foam is rabies and growl at myself so me too I guess.

Fun Fact: You showing me this is one of my earliest memories of you, probably before we were even really flirting. How that worked out for you, I'll never understand.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:41 AM on July 1, 2016 [37 favorites]


Does anyone have any suggestions to replace Nicole Cliffe's Link Roundups? I'm going to miss those so much.
posted by bibliowench at 10:44 AM on July 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


Fun Fact: You showing me this is one of my earliest memories of you, probably before we were even really flirting. How that worked out for you, I'll never understand.

Stockholm syndrome.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:44 AM on July 1, 2016 [19 favorites]


I thought it would be a shared appreciation for Peewee Herman. :(
posted by LionIndex at 10:52 AM on July 1, 2016


Honestly, the only thing that could make this better would be if Hillary Clinton got her own metafilter account so that she could comment in this thread.

But this is really awesome all on its own. If this is pandering, then please pander away!
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:55 AM on July 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


The number of people who will actually decide to vote for Clinton based on this is so close to zero as to be zero, and she knows it.

Energizes the base some, though, and maybe pushes on some reluctant left-leaners, some of whom are indeed women. This is too small an audience for the enthusiasm to be entirely faked, even if she did have a staffer write this.

The only relationship Trump ever had with a publication was with Spy.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:57 AM on July 1, 2016 [4 favorites]


I told someone this morning that I've been pretty meh about Clinton (ok sure, better than Orange Julius Caesar, but that's not a very high bar) but I actually found this pretty moving.
posted by epersonae at 11:10 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


fat-free cheesecake-flavored yogurt

I went and looked it up assuming it existed because it totally sounds like it would be a thing that physically exists in the universe but initial googling turned up nothing and then I was sad but then I realized I could probably just mix a thingy of fat free cheesecake flavored pudding mix into a pint of yogurt and then I would have it but also embetterated with puddingy goodness like sort of a puddgurt or yodding so I think where I am going with this is that maybe I don't need to hate everyone today.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:11 AM on July 1, 2016 [8 favorites]


Totally is a thing
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:15 AM on July 1, 2016


I just wish girls were told less to speak up and boys were told more to shut the fuck up. I'm just bitter because I do all the things she told me to do and just got smacked down for it at work.

Take my favorite as the hug it's meant to be. I'm finally out on the other end of a long period of smackdowns, and remaining upright and true to yourself is pretty much The Way Out. No matter what happens. Because however it turns out, you get this result: you remained true to your values and yourself. It's a bit tricky because that same advice used by men generally means "I can do whatever I want so fuck you!!" whereas as women, yeah, just being... a woman... gets you sneers and rolled eyes. Mister Smarty Pants gets oohs and ahhs when he says, "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the sky is blue," but Misses Smarty Pants? When she says "I do believe the sky changes color depending on cloud cover, weather, air pollution, position of the sun, season, and many other factors, plus people with colorblindness will of course see it differently," gets "hurrr hurrr everyone knows that hurrrr I bet a man taught her that hurr." (Who me? Cynical? Uh, yes? Reality is pretty cynical.)

Well, fuck the sneers and rolled eyes. Give 'em hell. And keep written records of those smackdowns as much as you can, because they can be as stick-up-the-butt as they want, it's bad practice and will bite them in the ass someday. I've seen it happen. Sweet, sweet schadenfreude.
posted by fraula at 11:20 AM on July 1, 2016 [19 favorites]


I guess she was also pandering way back in 1969 when she gave a commencement speech to her graduating class at Wellesley that touched on some of these very same themes.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:22 AM on July 1, 2016 [14 favorites]


It's the longest con.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:24 AM on July 1, 2016 [25 favorites]


Hey Ladies, take it to Slack

I am so, so glad they were able to put a capper on the HL saga.

And glad to get a few warm fuzzies about HRC in the face of this prospect for the next four years.
posted by psoas at 11:26 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's the longest con.

So ingenious! It reminds me of the Key and Peele sketch where their characters decide to rob a bank by getting jobs there and working there for decades.

True deviousness: spending your entire life working on one central goal. No one ever sees it coming!!!
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:30 AM on July 1, 2016 [16 favorites]


The number of people who will actually decide to vote for Clinton based on this is so close to zero as to be zero, and she knows it.

Yes, but Space Witches are influencers.
posted by apparently at 11:39 AM on July 1, 2016 [9 favorites]


Does anyone have any suggestions to replace Nicole Cliffe's Link Roundups? I'm going to miss those so much.

It tends to be a little more celebrity-and-fashion focused than I am interested in, but GoFugYourself's weekly Fugs and Pieces often has a couple of nuggets of goodness I wouldn't have found elsewhere.
posted by psoas at 11:49 AM on July 1, 2016


I voted for Bernie in the primary and really wanted him to win. I've known forever that I will vote for Hillary in the general election because I am not completely insane. But now, after reading this post, I will vote or her happily, and with gusto, instead of just because I am not completely insane. This post and her letter made a difference to me.
posted by staggering termagant at 12:04 PM on July 1, 2016 [37 favorites]


Gonna pour out a fat-free cheesecake-flavored yogurt for my home girls at The Toast tonight.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:13 PM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]


I'm so bummed about The Toast closing, but this is an amazing way to end it!
posted by SarahElizaP at 12:26 PM on July 1, 2016


I am also going to miss her links round up immensely. Two others that are good to have in the favorites are The Morning News for their daily headlines and the Paris Review Daily for a slightly more literary focus. TMN linked to The Toast all the time.

No Sansa pics tho:(
posted by rdnnyc at 12:27 PM on July 1, 2016


I click them for companies or people I loathe so that they're charged for invading my mind.

Wait, so I should be advertising for evil companies on my website? Here I was trying to only promote things I thought my readers would LIKE. Silly me.
posted by threeturtles at 12:28 PM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


So I grew up in Arkansas in the '80s, and thus got to watch Clinton before she'd developed the protective shell of caution that wraps her now. Back then she was clearly wonkish and policy-focused in a nerdy political way. I got to reap the benefits of her drive to improve our education system. She was Leslie Knope before Leslie Knope existed.

I've seen that earnest, driven side of her. I have no trouble believing that, having discovered The Toast, she'd want to mark its passing because she saw value in the site. And that she'd want to do it by articulating some of what she truly believes to a like-minded crowd of people.
posted by sgranade at 12:28 PM on July 1, 2016 [51 favorites]


ChuraChura: "The "librarians, queer nerds, smart women, and bookish graduate students" lobby is not powerful enough to compel the putative next president of the United States to write a heartfelt short essay"

yes but what about the space witches

this message brought to you by SpaceWitchPac
posted by mhum at 12:53 PM on July 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


this message brought to you by SpaceWitchPac

Damnit, go ahead.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:06 PM on July 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


I turned on John Fugelsang's show and they were all talking about what they think is the next scandal thing that's going to torpedo her campaign and you know, just...this is nice. I just want to think about the nice stuff right now before hopping back into an election season that is like riding a rollercoaster in the dark inside a house of horrors where they use real chainsaws and there's a nonzero chance the safety controls will fail.

I'd just like to think about Hilary Clinton sending nice notes to neat people for a few minutes.
posted by emjaybee at 1:10 PM on July 1, 2016 [18 favorites]


The worst pandering is when you're a Trojan dude who hooks up one of Priam's sons with your niece.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:07 PM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Totally is a thing

zoidberg_buffet.gif
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:21 PM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


This made me cry. I'm going to miss The Toast so much, but this was a good send-off.
posted by areaperson at 3:55 PM on July 1, 2016


It's probably a telling sign of just how teeny-tiny a slice of the media I've consumed all my life is actually directed at me, how much I've had to make do with TV and writing and political pandering aimed at others, but some of the stuff Hillary is doing in her campaign is making me feel frigging DRUNK WITH POWER. I FEEL SO HEARD!!!

Oh my god, it's the same for me. I end up thinking "is this what white men aged 18-35 feel like ALL THE TIME?!?!" Because it's just so rare for me to see something directed specifically at me, or that's meant to be a mirror to my experience, that the few things that are give me this sense of wondering disbelief and gratitude. And yes, a certain amount of cackling with glee, suddenly feeling like Galadriel all "ALL SHALL LOVE PANDER TO ME AND DESPAIR."

I'm going to miss The Toast, but what a way to go. And I continue to be so grateful to Hillary Clinton for just being who she is, and for supporting us and fighting for us.
posted by yasaman at 4:57 PM on July 1, 2016 [40 favorites]


This was lovely.

Also re: substitutes that aren't the Toast but still give me some of the same fuzzies, Autostraddle is the cool queer girl in the band.
posted by you're a kitty! at 5:57 PM on July 1, 2016 [9 favorites]


EXPLAIN.

Unless I missed it, no one has actually explained.

If you send a wedding invitation to the President, he (or, we expect, she) will respond with a note of congratulations. Ours is from the Reagans. Neh, it's from a president. You take what you can get.
posted by lhauser at 6:50 PM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh my god, it’s the same for me. I end up thinking “is this what white men aged 18-35 feel like ALL THE TIME?!?!”

As someone who falls into this demographic, I think I can pretty definitely say “No”. Knowing that, I dunno, the President watches Game of Thrones is very different from knowing that he comes into your local café to hang out.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:12 PM on July 1, 2016


Wait. The Toast is closing down? How will I reread the Leaving New York because of Wizards page over and over anymore. Can we send money or something?
posted by fshgrl at 7:19 PM on July 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


IIRC, there just won't be new stuff, but the existing content will stay up.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:47 PM on July 1, 2016


Mod note: Couple of comments deleted. The Toast explained why they were closing, we had a long discussion about it at the time, and it's their prerogative to close. It's weird to be waggling eyebrows about it like there's some conspiracy.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:24 PM on July 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


I end up thinking "is this what white men aged 18-35 feel like ALL THE TIME?!?!"

Nah. You get blasé after a while. I mean, it's nice and everything, but in a way I envy you, because for you, it's fresh.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:58 AM on July 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


I end up thinking "is this what white men aged 18-35 feel like ALL THE TIME?!?!"
Nope.

We don't even think about it. We know it.
Being right and important isn't a feeling, it just is.
See, I'm not even offering my opinion. I'm spouting fact.

It's actually hard work for us to even consider the alternative.
posted by fullerine at 9:42 AM on July 2, 2016 [7 favorites]


I've been almost too heartbroken to look at the Toast in the past week. I'm so glad the site is staying up for posterity, but where shall I find my people again? Suggestions for alternate sites most welcome.
posted by jokeefe at 11:08 AM on July 2, 2016


Are you open to chat rooms? Because Toast Refugee Slack is amazing, if struggling a little this week with the influx of new folks. MeMail me if you want info on accessing it.

#toastietwitter is also full of Toast Refugees if you're a Twitter person.
posted by Stacey at 2:48 PM on July 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I once watched a Japanese movie about a male synchronized swimming team with blatant fanservice in the form of Satoshi Tsumabuki in a speedo singing to his girlfriend. I felt instantly angry that I was never serenaded by a hot guy in a speedo when I was in high school, and then I realized, THIS must be what American guys feel like all the time. It was a brief yet powerful insight into what it must feel like to be so entitled.
posted by sunset in snow country at 3:05 PM on July 2, 2016 [6 favorites]


There's also a few lists of #toastietwitter folks you can subscribe to or use to find other Toasties to follow - I have one here. (Disclaimer, I made this one)

I know there were a few other large ones I can try to track down, if anyone liked.
posted by pseudonymph at 8:04 PM on July 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


I invited the Obamas to our wedding and got a nice card in reply. You can also request birthday cards from the White House for children. I did that for my goddaughter and they sent her some coloring and activity pages. She somehow got the idea that they were like a special mission from the White House and sat down immediately to complete them.

Also, the White House sends cards congratulating parents on the birth of children by request. I've done that for a few friends and love seeing the post on Facebook weeks after I make the request saying HOW DID THEY KNOW OMG SO COOL!!!

That said, I also invited the Bidens to my wedding and heard nothing. I wasn't expecting a toaster or anything but not even a card? I thought Joe and I had a thing.
posted by kat518 at 10:34 AM on July 3, 2016 [10 favorites]


That said, I also invited the Bidens to my wedding and heard nothing.

Oh, he was there. Right next to Bill Murray, in the back, not making a big deal out of it.
posted by Etrigan at 11:59 AM on July 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


So this is actually the second time I've been all "OMG is she pandering to the nerdy woman demographic? That's MEEE!"

And this makes me think that the answer to my question in that previous comment I linked is, "Yes. Yes she does know that 'stronger together' was Supergirl's slogan first." She's pandering to all the different kinds of geeky girls.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:41 PM on July 4, 2016


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