Hi, I wrote about Turning Point USA's Young Woman's Leadership Summit for The New Republic, and if you'd like to read about it you can click here and do that.
The cool thing about Frontier Summer GoWild Pass is that I can fly anywhere Frontier does for $0 (plus tax) all summer. The bad thing about Frontier Summer GoWild Pass is you have to fly with Frontier Airlines, which has found a way to be worse than Spirit. If you've ever flown Spirit you might be skeptical of this claim but it's apparently possible if you do all the things Spirit does and then also have total chaos re: the existence of planes at any given time.
The way you fly Frontier is you show up and wait for things to go wrong. Maybe there will be a 12-hour delay but they don't tell TSA so your ticket won't get you through security and you stand in a line with everyone else on your flight for an hour waiting for a representative to get there, which is what happened to me on my way to the the Young Woman's Leadership Summit. Maybe your flight gets delayed and they announce it via email but don't tell the airport and then after waiting two hours after the emailed delay time they tell you that your plane doesn't exist, which is what happened to me when I tried to go back to New York. So you book a last-minute flight to Miami for $0 (plus tax) and then suddenly you're in Florida in front of the Miami Federal Courthouse with a handful of protest weirdos. I mean, why not? Better than spending the night in Dallas. No offense. Just, given the choice. You know?
Look for a Substack about that tomorrow morning, or thereabouts, unless I sell the article to someone last minute, in which case look for a shorter Substack with a link on it tomorrow morning, or thereabouts.
Turning Point USA is, in my opinion, one of the most dangerous organizations out there. They have mastered aesthetics. They have mastered the art of throwing a conference that feels like a party. There's a real chance Americafest will supplant CPAC: between Matt Schlapp's penchant for schlapping nonconsenting male staffers and how profoundly lame this year's CPAC felt, it feels like the party might be over. TPUSA feels fresh and new and fun, and they care less about the truth than any org I've encountered so far. They are propagandists, and maybe they'd pretend to get mad at me for saying so but I have to imagine they know. It's so cynical, so purposefully crafted. These are real culture warriors: they know who their enemy is (you, if you're left of Fox News) and they're fighting to win.
I applied for a press pass and was rejected within 24 hours: an impressive turnaround I suspect has more to do with not letting any non-reactionary press in than me personally. So I got in the old-fashioned way: with a discounted veteran's ticket. If you kick me out of your conference you don't support the troops. I don't make the rules.
Anyway, you can read all about it here. I've got to get back to the Trumpening II, which is looking very Manhattan District Courthouse so far. Should have pardoned those J6 lads when you had the chance, Donald: I don't think anyone's risking their neck for you ever again.
This is the gold mine in your piece..."Clark is half-right, though. Something is coercing women who would prefer to stay at home to work outside it: economic policies that Republicans traditionally endorse. In her speech, Clark acknowledges that maternity leave is insufficient..." It all comes down to economic power, it seems--and reinforces an age-old belief, who has the money, has the power. Which is why I never, ever, EVER would consider being a "tradwife." Imagine telling a man to hand over his economic security to another person, ever.
Is TPUSA attracting new converts or mostly preaching to the choir? Either way getting the news out is important, so many Americans do not know about the all out push of the Christofascists (and the rest which most of us have never heard of, ie 7 Mountains)