After Kevin Cramer characterized #MeToo as "victimization," I thought it'd be helpful to look into Kevin's backstory.

Turns out this is one of the least misogynistic things he's ever said.
Buckle up, North Dakota & meet your possible future Senator.

(THREAD)
#MondayMotivation (2) Cramer made national news with his hot take on Kavanaugh.

“My point was that there was no type of intercourse or anything like that...that nothing happened in terms of a sexual … event, beyond, obviously, the attack... Even if it’s all true, does it disqualify him?"

Yikes.

This #SaturdayMorning we're addressing a complaint from those who say they won't bother voting this November.

What does it matter? they think. Gerrymandering has rigged the election. I'm in a red state or a red district. My vote won't count.

Here's why it matters.
👇
(THREAD) (2) The GOP has erected many barriers to voting, including voter ID laws & lax security that undermines voter confidence in elections. But perhaps their most powerful tool is voter suppression through gerrymandering.

It's how the GOP won the House in 2012
nytimes.com/2018/06/19/opi…

This #SundayMorning let's chat about what has become obvious during the Kavanaugh hearings.

We're still deep in the patriarchy, peeps.

The #MeToo movement has exposed the pervasiveness & persistence of misogyny. How do we fight back & dismantle sexism once and for all?
(THREAD) (2) Let's start here.

One of the biggest problems is while women make up half the population, we don't have control of the institutions that have power over our lives.

From executive boardrooms to the halls of Congress, men's interests are & have always been OVER represented.

I want to address what some have critiqued about Dr. Ford's accusations.

Why doesn't she recall more specifics?

Some survivors say they don't believe her because she doesn't remember the same details they do about their own assaults.

Let's deal with this bullshit.
(THREAD) (2) My first assault happened when I was 12 years old. I remember what pajamas I was wearing. I remember what movie we were watching. I remember what beer he was drinking. I can recall specific smells and sounds and almost every nuance of that interaction seared on my brain.

Some people look at Brett Kavanaugh and see an ivy league nerd with a wife and two kids and a solid, respectable life.

But this is precisely why millions of women don't find it difficult to believe Dr. Blasey Ford & Debbie Ramirez.

WE SEE YOU BRETT.

#WednesdayWisdom
(THREAD) (2) I see Brett because when my Mom looks at my stepfather, she sees the man she's loved and been married to for decades. A good partner and father.

But I see the man who abused and assaulted me throughout my teenage years. And the woman who didn't believe me.

This #SundayMorning we're delving into a question that's on everyone's mind these days. With only 51 days left until midterms, the forecast for Dems to take the House is looking pretty sunny.

Is it possible for Dems to take the Senate as well?
(Thread) (2) First off, anything is possible. Trump wasn't favored to win the Presidency either and here we are. I guess the real question becomes is it likely for Dems to take the Senate in the upcoming midterms.

The answer is NO. It's not likely.
Here's why.

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

This #SundayMorning we're digging into a question that has perplexed several news organizations looking into Brett Kavanaugh's financials.

How do you rack up between $60,000-$200,000 in credit card debt on baseball tickets and then make the debt disappear a year later?
(THREAD) (2) First off let's explain what the hell is going on here. Brett Kavanaugh's finances are super suspicious. Kavanaugh makes about $250K as a judge and from lecturing at Harvard, but he also owes on a $1.2 million home that has been refinanced twice.

vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/b…

This #SaturdayMorning I want to tell you what happened when I attempted to pick my son up from school yesterday.

It begins in the car on the way to the bus stop when I look down at my phone and realize somehow, I have missed 6 calls.

My anxiety immediately skyrockets.
(THREAD) (2) They are all coming from the same number, one I recognize. My son, who is in 8th grade, doesn't have a phone. But his friend does.

I call back right away but there is no answer. Fortunately, he's left one message.
Unfortunately, I can't understand a word of it.

Equality Ed here doesn’t believe toxic masculinity is a thing.

He says this as he comes to a woman’s page and spends time ripping apart her mentions for pointing out mass shooters are typically male.

I think @equalityed needs a new handle. Suggestions?

https://twitter.com/equalityed/status/1034204379933335552?s=21

I don't really have time or energy for "equalityed" types, but if you're actually interested in learning about toxic masculinity as a construct (it is NOT the idea that if you have a penis you are toxic because that would be stupid), you can learn more 👇
geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Toxic_mas…

Trump's approval ratings are at historic lows in the US, especially his strongly approve at 18%. While Trump's approval among Rs remains steady, there's evidence it's because the party is shrinking.

This #SundayMorning let's look at how the rest of the world sees Trump.
(THREAD) (2) After Helsinki, it's been a slow, certain slide for Trump's approval rating. Recent scandals regarding his involvement in payoffs with Cohen & tapes from Omarosa haven't helped either.

But what does the rest of the world think of this Presidency?
businessinsider.com/trumps-support…

The glamping @Airbnb we’re staying at in Ireland has a Game of Thrones themed composting toilet.

I’m dying. 😂 More pics. They went all out on this one. Even the urinal.

The court ordered deadline passed earlier this week for reuniting children separated from their parents at the border.

This #SundayMorning we're taking a look at how many remain separated, what went wrong & what can be done to hold this administration accountable.

(THREAD) (2) First, the numbers.

22 of the 103 children under the age of 5 remain separated from their parents.

HHS says these kids were brought by people who were not their parents or had extensive criminal histories, including murder, kidnapping, etc.

cnsnews.com/news/article/b…

This #SundayMorning , we're checking in on #WhereAreTheChildren

4 days are left until the deadline for HHS to reunify all children separated from their parents.

450 out of the nearly 2,500 kids over 5 have been reunited.
Less than 1/5 of those in HHS custody.
(THREAD) (2) The administration has already blown past a previous deadline earlier this month to reunite all children under 5 years of age.

HHS returned only 57 out of the 105 babies & preschoolers, claiming the rest were "ineligible" to be reunited.

texastribune.org/2018/07/20/450…

The list of GOP who criticized or refuted Trump's comments today:

Dan Coates
John McCain
Ben Sasse
Jeff Flake
Lindsey Graham
Bob Corker
Will Hurd
Paul Ryan
Dave Reichert
Mitch McConnell
Liz Cheney
Marco Rubio
Trey Gowdy
Susan Collins
Adam Kinzinger
Orrin Hatch
Frank LoBiondo Every single one of those people supports the conclusion of our intelligence community that Russia meddled in a US election.

Even god damn Newt Gingrich.

Trump underestimated how damning his performance for Putin was going to be.
cnn.com/2018/07/16/pol…
fox5sandiego.com/2018/07/16/som…

7 GOP Senators & 1 GOP Rep spent July 4th in Moscow meeting behind closed doors with Kremlin officials.

A congressional delegation isn't unusual, but let's discusss why this one made headlines. And try to answer an important question.

Why the hell was the GOP there?
(THREAD) (2) A codel (short for congressional delegation) is pretty common. In fact, lawmakers tried to go to Russia last year but one of their colleagues, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, was denied a visa.

This year, they left Shaheen and other Putin critics at home.
politico.com/story/2017/12/…

This #SundayMorning we're tracking 2,000 migrant children separated from parents.

BP doesn't have them. DHS doesn't have them.
Where are they?

Many are in camps or centers. But some are in foster care & alarmingly, at Christian adoption agencies.
#WhereAreTheChildren

(THREAD) (2) One of the truly horrifying things has been the lack of records associated with the zero-tolerance policy. There's been little effort to track children separated from parents & former HHS officials warned that separations might be permanent.

nbcnews.com/storyline/immi…

Dear White House Press Corp,

You seem to need some help with Sarah Sanders.

I'm going to teach you a litle strategy women use to help each other in meetings when they're being gaslighted or ignored.

It's called amplification. Here's how it works.
(THREAD)

👇 (2) When a member of an oppressed group speaks up and challenges authority, they're usually told to sit back down. Mind their manners. Not talk out of turn. Their concerns are minimized and their voice ignored.

Sound familiar?
Women have been dealing with this for a LONG time.

For your #FridayFeeling today please humor me while I conduct a little empathy exercise.

I want you to imagine you are a woman in Honduras. You are one of 60% living in poverty, exposed to violence, rape & murder daily.

You also have a two-year old son.

cnn.com/2018/04/30/ame… He’s little now but as he grows, if he’s fortunate enough to survive, he’ll be recruited by gangs. If he doesn’t join, he’ll be killed.

You’ve worked hard to save enough money to take him to a safer place.

It’s a dangerous journey that will take months.

nbcnews.com/news/world/int…

A picture is a worth a thousand words, but often photojournalists don't get credit for the work they do. Photos turned the tide in the Vietnam War & galvanized support for the civil rights movement.

Here's a look at photojournalists covering the immigration crisis.

(THREAD) (1) @jbmoorephoto (Getty) is one of the most visible and he's covered immigration extensively in Central & Southern America for over a decade. Recently, he traveled the entire length of the US Southern border to document the journey of migrants.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/…

There’s lots of Obama blame in response to #WhereAreTheChidren

Let’s be really clear.

Obama took UNACCOMPANIED minors at the border & put them with sponsors.

Trump is taking kids from their parents & placing them in detention centers.

Here’s the difference.
(THREAD) (2)The Obama administration placed unaccompanied minors with sponsors, preferably family if they could find them, because kids needed to stay somewhere until their case went through immigration court.

It’s certainly preferable to juvenile detention.
But it was problematic.

This #SaturdayMorning I'm asking what any human with an ounce of compassion is asking.

#WhereAreTheChildren

Here's what we know so far about the 1,475 migrant children who are reportedly "lost" in custody over the last year by HHS.
(THREAD) (2) These are the children of migrants who went to the border unaccompanied in the last year, many seeking asylum. They were placed in sponsor homes by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Since 2013, 180,000 children have crossed the border unaccompanied.