Okay so now that the entire program has concluded some general thoughts about the culture wars portion of the programming

A thread, as the kids say

Abby Johnson told a lot of lies that inspire folks like Robert Lewis Dear to go and shoot up a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs. I know this because I've covered the Dear proceedings since Day One. https://rewire.news/article/2016/05/03/dillard-daleiden-dear-summer-abortion-violence-trials-starts-now/

Phrases like "the smell of abortion"-- which in hindsight I regret snarking about-- those are flares to folks already predisposed to violence and given who we have as an Attorney General -- a man who wont defend the FACE Act in real measures-- that matters

I also expected the speeches to be more animated and that too was a mistake. Conservatives need to UNDERSELL the coming onslaught of our rights should Trump be re-elected. That's why Covington Catholic kid was seated and not standing, for example. Framing matters.

And Melania's speech while BORING AF was actually a lot of counter-programming for the conservative culture wars here and it's SO TYPICALLY conservative

Weaponizing white women to soften the brutality of their policies: this is probably the oldest conservative play

Speaking of! You know whose finger prints were all over tonight's programming? Ginny Thomas

This is definitely a 'save it for the column moment' but fuck it.

Ginny Thomas directed tonights culture wars programming and is likely steaming about the QAnon lady getting yanked

The chances that some other journalist with more time and resources actually writes this up before me is pretty solid but y'all heard it first this was the Ginny Thomas show tonight

That tweet itself is the saddest micro-commentary on juggling parenthood and my journalism if I'm being real honest

Anyway nobody wants to hear me lament about how hard it is to be a mom in journalism I'll save that for my therapist back to Ginny Thomas she is terrible

Why do I think tonight was the Ginny Thomas show? Because it was a whose who of culture warriors that only us nerds would recognize as such. Like Rand Paul and Pam Bondi and Mike Pompeo all show up at a bar and there's a select few of us who know that they're talking ABORSHUN

But you know who doesn't know this? My high school boyfriend who still lives in Omaha and is definitely on the Q train and HOWDY BOY TALK ABOUT DODGING BULLETS BUT I DIGRESS

What he saw tonight is a lot of conservative thought leaders!

I'm being sarcastic none of them are thought leaders but you go to war with the army you have amirite conservatives

Back to the Ginny Thomas show.

Tonight managed to center: abortion; cancel culture; white race grievance; christian persecution complex; sex pests ... and usual anti-ACA nonsense.

This is Ginny Thomas' ENTIRE JAM Y'ALL

If I were to make a Ginny Thomas bingo sheet all of these points would be on it.

With federal courts and gender fuckery to boot

Look. An Omaha girl knows an Omaha girl is what I'm saying.

There is one person reaaaally steeped in connecting the constituencies of The Heritage Foundation and Susan B Anthony List and that is Ginny Thomas [and Mike Pence]

Trump has nominated, and Republicans have confirmed, more Thomas clerks to the federal courts than any other justice.

Is it any wonder a FISHERMAN FROM MAINE talked about abortion and the federal courts

I MEAN

He didn't write that line. It was a narrative thread a producer made sure got air time.

That's a coordinated political message to my idiot former high school boyfriend

And what we didn't see was the actual fire and brimstone behind Trump policies.. the kind of fevered passions that would make the Lincoln Project uncomfortable and be sliced a million ways for Biden ads

That was actually very smart. If tonight Republicans had admitted to granting a waiver to a religious social services organization in South Carolina that refused foster care placements with Jewish families in a case SCOTUS hears a day after the election... imagine the ads

SO DEMOCRATS FREE TIP MAKE AN AD TALKING ABOUT HOW TRUMP IS DEFENDING RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION AT SCOTUS AND WONT TALK ABOUT IT

Why Democrats refuse to talk about SCOTUS when it scheduled oral arguments in the case brought by Republicans designed to bring down the entirely of the ACA DURING A PANDEMIC WHERE WE ARE CLOSING IN ON 200K IS BEYOND ME

What is the actual point in having an opposition party

Again. Back to Ginny Thomas who got me so heated because conservatives are just SO MUCH BETTER at this courts stuff than progressives have been

I got mad and started yelling in a side bar: The Jess Pieklo story