Kirsten Gillibrand’s Fiery Town Hall

Kirsten Gillibrand did a town hall on Fox News. There were few moments where things got a little testy.

Chris Wallace cut her off when she criticized FoxNews for 6.5 hours of coverage of coverage of “infanticide”.

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>> Kirsten Gillibrand had her town hall on FOX News.
And look, there’s been a debate about whether or not it makes sense to do a town hall on
FOX News.
Elizabeth Warren believes that it legitimizes FOX and it helps them sell ads and I think
that’s a fair point to make.
Whereas others think it’s important to go on this platform and try to convince Republican
voters to support them.
>> Which is not gonna happen, but anyway.
So during this town hall Chris Wallace is hosting, and there were a few moments where
things got a little fiery.
Let’s show you the first example.
>> I can tell you, before President Trump gave his State of the Union, Fox News talked
about infanticide.
Infanticide doesn’t exist.
>> Senator, Senator I just want to say we brought you here
>> I know, I just- >> For an hour, we have given you-
>> I respect that.
>> We are treating you very fairly.
I understand that maybe to make your credentials with the Democrats who are not appearing on
Fox news, you’re gonna attack us.
I’m not sure it’s frankly very polite when- >> Okay, I’ll do it in a polite way.
>> We’ve invited you to be here.
>> I’ll do it in a polite way, but it’s a chore for me.
>> Well, I just think- >> It’s to a point-
>> I just think why don’t we- >> I’m answering your question.
>> Instead of talking about Fox News why don’t you answer question?
>> The debate about whether or not women should have reproductive freedom has turned into
a red herring debate.
And what happens on Fox News is relevant, because they talked about infanticide for
6.5 hours, 6.5 hours.
>> Good for her.
>> So, she was told to be polite.
I mean that wasn’t his exact wording, but he called her impolite and then she said,
okay, I’ll say it in a polite way.
No, don’t say it in a polite way.
No.
Listen to me, Fox.
You want Democratic candidates to go on your town halls and help you guys with advertisers?
Fine, but they get to say what they want to say.
You don’t like it, Chris Wallace?
I mean do you remember, I don’t know if you guys remember, Candy Crowley.
Her entire career on CNN was destroyed because she fact checked, by the way, correctly fact-checked
candidates during a debate, right?
This was years ago.
I don’t even remember which candidates were involved, I even remember exactly what happened.
But I do remember that she very, in my opinion, like meekly fact-checked.
And then that was it, she’s gone.
She is not on CNN obviously.
What is Chris Wallace doing?
Don’t tell her to polite!
Don’t even imply that she needs to be polite.
She’s there, during a town hall, and this.
Anyway, it makes me so irritated because it is not your place to interrupt her and tell
her what she can and can’t say as a candidate agreeing to do a town hall on your network.
>> Yep, nope.
Kinda reminds me of this past week when the gentleman ran onstage while Harris was there
trying to speak.
It’s that continued narrative we see of men stepping up and stepping in, in a way to try
to discredit a woman or try to push her in a direction as opposed to letting her have
her own autonomy and use her own voice.
And also the whole Be Polite narrative, isn’t that same framework of just smile more?
>> Totally, totally.
>> Yeah.
>> It’s like do you want her to spell propaganda or to share facts?
Because the focus shouldn’t have been on whether she was polite or not, but whether she was
spouting truth, and it sounds like it, that’s exactly what she was doing.
And just because Wallace was not content with that doesn’t mean he should have opened his
damn mouth.
>> The point of this town hall is not to hear about how, what this candidate is saying is
hurting Chris Wallace’s feelings or Conservative’s feelings.
The point of the town hall is for the candidate to put their policies out there and show voters
who they are.
So if conservatives voters don’t like who she is or what she has to say, they’re not
gonna vote for her, we’re done with it, right?
>> Right.
>> But you don’t get to decide what she can say and what she can’t say.
She’s agreed to do this town hall, you guys have been crying like little children over
the Democrats who don’t wanna do their town halls on your network.
And now you have the audacity to tell a woman who’s running for president to be polite?
>> The only thing is that the continuous interruption- >> Yes.
>> They didn’t do that to Bernie.
>> No.
>> Cuz Bernie didn’t have it, and people call Bernie rude, but Bernie is not rude, Bernie
is just standing his ground.
If she would have been in any way, if she would’ve popped off in any way, then it would’ve
been she is an angry woman.
There’s no way to win in that situation.
>> So true.
>> You just got to ride hard.
You just cannot, and good for her that she just kept going and she didn’t let him, but
the network that has Laura Ingraham is telling people to be polite, shut up and dribble?
Are you kidding me?
>> Exactly.
>> Elizabeth Warren was wise for not going on that network, cuz there’s just nothing
that you can say to truly communicate without being shut down or trying to be shut down
or intimidated in some way when you’re trying to share the facts and the truth.
>> But I don’t know, Adrianne- >> Meghan McCain is thinking that it’s not
a good idea because you’re alienating an entire group of people by not going on network.
>> Do not politicize it.
>> My God.
>> So anyway, now I’m being catty.
But let’s go to the second video because it went on.
>> So what I mean by our future is female, is that we want more women’s voices heard.
I was so inspired by the 2018 election.
Those 120 women who ran in the red and purple places across the country broke through.
Our first two Muslim American women, our first two Native American women.
Young women, diverse women.
And so we want women to have a seat at the table.
>> What about men?
>> They’re already there.
Do you not know?
>> So.
>> I guess what I’m asking is are we part of the future, too?
05:52
>> Yes, you’re already there.
So it’s not, it’s not meant to be exclusionary, it’s meant to be inclusionary.
>> Okay.
>> So we’re just wanna have a couple more chairs for the rest of us.
>> All right, we’re not threatened.
>> No, you sound pretty threatened.
What about men?
What’s gonna happen to us?
>> All lives matter.
>> At the table.
You guys have made bulk of the decisions.
You represent the majority of representatives and senators in Congress.
What do you talk?
We haven’t had a single female president.
What are you talking about?
>> No, no, but he wants to make sure he’s not gonna be excluded from the future.
Give me a break, come on.
And let her speak.
And I do really hope that the women who were there in the audience and hopefully some of
the men, it really resonated with them to the extent to which Wallace was interrupting
her and really how demeaning that is.
And I just really hope that that spoke volumes to them.
>> What about men?
I’ll tell you, look at all of the social ills of the world, and they’re usually connected
to men.
How about we open the doors for women and let them bring their compassion and humanity,
and probably resolve a lot of these issues?
And I dare to say that I didn’t know, I thought Nikki Haley was Native American.
But I know that women are not innately evil like some of these men.
So I’m saying that here today, I’m going out on a limb as the comedian that I am, you say
what about men?
Look at the world, what about men?
>> Yeah.
>> And something that I actually really like, at Georgetown University a political scientist
there went and did a research study.
And found that women legislators sponsor more bills, pass more laws, get more money for
their districts.
They work harder.
Maybe because we women have been forced to work twice as hard to get opportunities, but
women actually work harder for you as leaders.
So what about men?
>> And we aren’t emotionally constipated.
>> Yeah, definitely.
And look, I just think it’s interesting how the whole issue of gender equality, it’s not
about giving one gender a leg up over the other.
The way that it’s being treated as a zero-sum game, it is being treated as a threat by some
men, certainly not all, not even close to all.
>> That’s right.
>> And the point I wanna make is look, we’re living in the type of economy right now where
if you’re a man who is threatened by the equality and you don’t want women to have the some
opportunities as you?
I mean, if you’re straight and you plan on having a female partner, you need a dual income
household to survive.
You want those opportunities for both of you, right?
>> What do they say, when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression?
>> Yeah.
>> So that’s what you were saying there with little Chris and his little feet were dangling
on the tear.
>> Yeah.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib Rejects Israeli Offer to Visit West Bank Family

Israel walked back an earlier decision to block a visit by Tlaib and Omar

Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Friday called off her visit to the West Bank, hours after Israel ’s decision to allow her into the country on humanitarian grounds with some restrictions on what she could say and do.

Her announcement capped off two days of back-and-forth, with Israel on Thursday saying it would bar Ms. Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar from the country because of their support for boycotting Israel. Israel had said last month it would allow the Congresswomen to visit but reversed course after pressure from President Trump, who said “it would show great weakness” to let them in.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!

Ms. Tlaib had filed a humanitarian appeal to Israel, promising not to promote boycott activities and abide by restrictions while visiting her family in the West Bank. She said it might be her last chance to see her elderly grandmother. But she said Friday she didn’t want to visit under the conditions imposed by Israel, who she accused of “silencing me and treating me like a criminal.

“I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in—fighting against racism, oppression & injustice,” she said in a tweet.

Rashida Tlaib

✔@RashidaTlaib

Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me. I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in–fighting against racism, oppression & injustice. https://twitter.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1162341203406401536 …

Rashida Tlaib

✔@RashidaTlaib

When I won, it gave the Palestinian people hope that someone will finally speak the truth about the inhumane conditions. I can’t allow the State of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me & use my love for my sity to bow down to their oppressive & racist policies. https://twitter.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1162333169846247425 …

18.9K people are talking about this

Israel’s announcement Friday had partially walked back Israel’s decision Thursday to block Ms. Tlaib, a Palestinian-American representing Detroit, and Ms. Omar, a Somali-American representing Minneapolis, from entering Israel for a visit to Jerusalem and the West Bank that was to begin Sunday.

Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who said he authorized Ms. Tlaib’s entry into Israel on humanitarian grounds, wrote on Twitter that the congresswoman’s “hatred of Israel outweighs her love for her grandmother.”

The episode was the latest round in Mr. Trump’s feud with Ms. Tlaib and Omar, who, along with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, make up a group of women of color in Congress calling themselves ‘The Squad.’ Mr. Trump has repeatedly targeted them at rallies and on Twitter as being anti-Israel, which they deny.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

How will the events of the past two days affect U.S.-Israel relations? Join the conversation below.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R. Fla.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Israel’s decision to bar the Congresswomen is a mistake. “Being blocked is what they really hoped for all along in order to bolster their attacks against the Jewish state,” he said.

House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the decision was a sign of weakness, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said it believed every member of Congress should be able to travel to Israel.

Democratic leaders have expressed concern over Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Omar’s views on Israel, which are problematic for a party that has identified as pro-Israel.

Ms. Omar has said lawmakers’ support for Israel is motivated by money, which critics slammed as anti-Semitic. She later apologized for the comments after Mrs. Pelosi rebuked her.

Ms. Tlaib has slammed Israel’s policies toward Palestinians and has said she supports a one state solution, in which Israelis and Palestinians living in Israel would have equal rights and representation. Israel fears that would be the end of its Jewish majority in the country.

Along with Ms. Omar, Ms. Tlaib was to visit Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah.

Ms. Tlaib came under fire from some supporters Friday after she had accepted Israel’s offer to visit her grandmother. Some Palestinians criticized Ms. Tlaib as having caved to Israeli pressure and accepting unfair demands.

Bassam Tlaib, 54, the Congresswoman’s uncle who lives in Beit Ur al-Faqua, said the whirlwind of media reports whether Ms. Tlaib would be allowed to enter Israel brought the family “from a state of happiness to anxiety.” He said he was afraid to give Ms. Tlaib’s grandmother hope that she’ll be visited by her grandchild.

“She’s is waiting to be embraced by her loved one,” Mr. Tlaib said of his mother and the congresswoman’s grandmother.

Brené Brown

The power of vulnerability: TEDx Houston (2011)

(Jan 2011) Brené Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share.

 

Listening to shame | Brené Brown (2012)

Vulnerability:
  • Vulnerability is not weakness. It is our most accurate measure of courage.
  • Vulnerability is the birthplace of
    • innovation,
    • creativity, and
    • change.
Shame: has focus on self.  Guilt is focus on behavior.
  1. Shame has two scripts:
    • You are never good enough.
    • Who do you think you are?
  2. Shame is correlated with:
    • addiction,
    • depression,
    • violence,
    • aggression,
    • bullying,
    • suicide,
    • eating disorders.
  3. Shame is organized by gender:
    • For women is not being able to do it all perfectly while never letting them see you sweat.
    • Shame for men is appearing weak.
  4. Shame is fed by
    • secrecy,
    • silence, and
    • judgement.

The antidote to Shame is Empathy.

Brené Brown: Create True Belonging and Heal the World with Lewis Howes (2017)

 

Whenever there is not love and belonging there is suffering.

Belonging:

  • Belonging is being part of something bigger than yourself, but belonging is also the courage to stand alone.
  • Belonging never asks us to change who we are.
  • Fitting in can mean betraying yourself if it asks us to change who we are to belong.

Teams and Groups can deliver the illusion of belonging.

If you become so adaptable that the goal of adapting is to make you like me, you betray yourself.

There are two kinds of kids:

  1. Kids who ask for help
  2. Kids who don’t

Lewis: my way was of asking was getting angry, mad, and lashing out, turning fear into rage and ploughing over others

  • In 3rd or 4th grade, Lewis was shamed by getting picked last in a dodgeball game
  • He turned his loss into fuel for athletics, eventually playing football in the NFL.
  • He felt like every loss was an attack on his life because he feared he couldn’t be accepted.
Vulnerability
  • Involves: uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure
  • You can’t be a courageous leader if you aren’t willing to be uncomfortable

The ability to opt-out of talking about Charlottesville and having it “not affect her” is the definition of privilege.

  • Charlottesville is about powerlessness

I can’t imagine a way though the next decade that doesn’t involve dealing with pain. (34 min)

James Baldwin: people hold on to their hate so stubbornly because once they let it go their is nothing but pain.

After a difficult breakup while at college, Lewis took out his rage on the football field.

Every social crisis, almost without exception, is about our inability to deal with our pain:

  • Opioids: physicians
  • Medicated, addicted, in debt, obese.

Our inability to deal with pain and vulnerability is what leads to many problems.

The football team that acknowledges its vulnerabilities will be more successful.

Charlottesville comes down to identity, belonging, and power.

  • This is the concept of “power-over”‘s last stand
  • last stands are violent, desperate
  • nostalgic: “It was so much better when people knew their place”

We can’t solve the next issues with national solutions

 

Vulnerability is not weakness.  It is about the willingness to be seen when you can’t control the outcome.

When you experience shame:
  • Talk to yourself like you talk to someone you love.
  • Talk to someone else: shame can not respond to being spoken

You either own your story or it owns you.

What is Greatness?
  • Greatness is owning your story and loving yourself though that.

 

Brené Brown Shows You How To “Brave the Wilderness” (2017)

(Warning: There is swearing in this video)

 

Dehumanization is not a social justice tool (15 min)

Police-Protester Dichotomy: shaming us for not hating the right people.

I’m not going to let my imperfection move me away from the conversation because its too important

I contributed more than I criticized.

There is a difference between holding people accountable and shame.

Shame is not a strategy.  It will hurt them and you.  Shame begets shame.

Holding people accountable is not as much fun as raging against them.

There should be more tools in your tool bag than shame and coddling. (25 min)