1. Please click on and read this full twitter thread and consider whether living by vow means the same thing to you as it does to these doctors. 🎯🙏
2.
I watched The Undoing and found it hard to “like” because a character study in brutal deception is terrifying to watch, no matter how thrilling the drama. And because I lost a fancy sushi meal bet about who dunnit to CxD Patron saint Circe Sturm. ☹️
Q: Why is telling the truth so terrifying for many of us? What are we so afraid would happen that’s worse than even the most horrific kinds of life detonations and explosions?
Related—a serious problem with the show: “The sexualization and selling of violence against women is important to see with open eyes and critical distance. The Undoing is based on a book called You Should Have Known, and it’s true: Everyone should know that “violence against women is a global problem of pandemic proportions,” as the World Health Organization says. Awareness is key to funding services for domestic-violence survivors and mobilizing the will for the political changes necessary to address violence against women.
Read: Can you cure a domestic abuser?
One way to educate the public about these harsh realities is through pop culture. The Undoing does a horrible job of it, but other series, such as Netflix’s Unbelievable, the second season of BBC One’s Criminal Justice, and the stalwart Law and Order: SVU, sensitively portray sexual violence and its aftermath. HBO’s Big Little Lies, in which Kidman’s character is abused by her husband, was praised by critics and domestic-violence nonprofits for how it handled the complex issue on-screen.
Meanwhile, for The Undoing, HBO didn’t even insert an afterword about domestic violence or list resources victims could call upon. The cable channel had the opportunity to highlight an enormous problem. Instead it perpetuated a big, dangerous blind spot.
3. “Why the hell are Republicans sticking with Trump on his farewell self-immolation tour?
The leading theory in Washington is cowardice. Most political observers believe that for the last four years
Republicans remained silent about Trump’s chaotic incompetence and crass corruption out of trepidation. Whenever a Republican enables another Trump transgression, every liberal blue checkmark tweets “COWARD.” The sense among reporters is that Republicans don’t like what Trump says or does, but if they speak up they will be tweeted out of the party.
This narrative is comforting because it implies that the Republican Party is not beyond repair — they are just cowards, not bad people. Here’s the problem: the events of the last few weeks make it crystal clear that this narrative is wrong. It is way too generous to the Republicans.
Cowards want to to do the right thing but are too afraid to do it. I do not believe the Republicans want to do the right thing and I do not believe they are concerned about the damage Trump is doing to our democracy. Ultimately what bothers them about Trump is not that he is a racist authoritarian. It’s that he is a clumsy, incompetent racist authoritarian. The Republican supplication to Trump’s whims — before and after the election — is not cowardice, it’s calculation. Understanding the difference is critical. If we don’t, we will not be prepared for the battles to come nor we will fully comprehend the very dire threat to democracy that the Republican Party poses.”
4.
5.
Is this so? Why is this so if it is so? What the fuck is it about this Truth thing that is so terrifying?
The small-minded prison we build for ourselves sure does seem comfortable compared to risk of wild tigers of Freedom lurking around the corner.
6. Have someone on your holiday list who’s been a good boy or girl this year? Why not get them a subscription to CxD and make all the CxD elves happy as well?