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Nancy Pelosi’s sisterly civility problem

Have you heard of the “inappropriate in Ireland” rule? No, I haven’t either. But according to Nancy Pelosi it’s a thing. On Friday, the House speaker was asked whether Congress was planning to impeach Donald Trump, a question that’s kinda top of mind at the moment. Pelosi, who was in Belfast, refused to comment, telling journalists it wouldn’t be appropriate to criticize the president while she’s abroad.

It’s strange that Pelosi should care about the etiquette of when and where it is appropriate to criticize a morally bankrupt demagogue who is clearly unfit for office. Particularly as she doesn’t seem bound by any geographical restrictions when it comes to disparaging the progressive young women in her own party.

Fox mentions Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for 42 days running – 3,181 times Read more

There seems to be no rule about not insulting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from abroad, for example. On Monday, Pelosi told an audience at the London School of Economics that a “glass of water” could have won a seat in Ocasio-Cortez’s “solidly Democratic” district. Which rather glosses over the fact that 28-year-old Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in the primaries. And completely misses the point that Ocasio-Cortez was elected because people are desperate for real change, not more establishment centrists like Crowley. (Who, by the way, then went off to join a corporate lobbying firm that reps clients from the fossil fuel industry.)

Pelosi also doesn’t seem to find it necessary to treat Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar with much respect. She has made it abundantly clear that she sees Omar as a nuisance to be dealt with, rather than a colleague to be defended. When Trump recently tweeted a racist video dishonestly accusing Omar of minimizing 9/11, the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders jumped to Omar’s defence. Pelosi’s reaction, meanwhile, was to not mention Omar’s name and tweet a thinly veiled jab about the memory of 9/11 being sacred ground.

Pelosi has been very vocal about the fact that she thinks the way Democrats will beat Trump is by staying firmly in the centre, and has repeatedly downplayed the influence of Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives. Just a day before her “glass of water” insult, Pelosi dismissed the more left-leaning faction of the Democratic party as “like, five people” during an interview on 60 Minutes. She’s also sneered at initiatives like the Green New Deal, which she has described as “the green dream, or whatever they call it”. The House speaker has been happy to wax lyrical about how young and diverse her party is, but clearly isn’t so happy to actually listen to those new voices.

Which is a shame because those new voices are doing what Pelosi should be doing: calling for a more equitable America, and unambiguously calling for Trump to be impeached. In the wake of Robert Mueller’s report, Ocasio-Cortez and Omar have both said they will sign Rashida Tlaib’s impeachment resolution. Pelosi should be doing the same, rather than comparing women in her party to glasses of water.

Bring on American ‘homocracy’

A Virginia pastor has warned that if Pete Buttigieg was elected president, the openly gay politician and his LGBTQ supporters would turn America into a “homocracy”. He wasn’t entirely clear about what this homocracy would look like, but one imagines it would be fabulous.

Bangladeshi teenager murdered after reporting sexual harassment

Nineteen-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi has died after being set on fire at her school. The attack seems to have been retaliation for Nusrat accusing her headteacher of sexual harassment. “The teacher touched me. I will fight this crime till my last breath,” Nusrat says in a video recorded in the ambulance before she died. What an incredibly brave woman.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nusrat Jahan Rafi. Photograph: Handout

Malaysian women investigated for ‘dehijabbing’

Islamic officials in Malaysia are investigating three women who held a panel discussion about not wearing the hijab. In a joint statement the women said they “condemn this unnecessary investigation as abuse of power to harass and intimidate women activists who are speaking up on issues affecting women”. Over the last few years there has been a worrying rise in hardline Islam in Malaysia, and women’s rights seem increasingly in jeopardy.

Gender-based TV channels

Italy’s state broadcaster is thinking about having separate TV channels for men and women. Someone apparently forgot to tell them that it is 2019.

Eagle parenting duties

Two male bald eagles, and one female, have formed a very modern family in north-west Illinois. The trio have hatched three eggs and are taking turns feeding the babies and tending the nest. Meanwhile, in the human world, women still spend a lot more time on housework and childcare than men.

The first female leprechaun

For the first time in history, the University of Notre Dame has chosen a woman to serve as a leprechaun, the school’s official mascot. A big moment for little girls everywhere who thought they could never grow up to be green, gold-hoarding fairies.