JD Vance is weird again

Melania Trump has made it clear that her second term as first lady will be entirely on her own terms. It has been reported that she is unlikely to return to the White House and will spend much of the next four years shuttling back and forth between New York and Florida. Maybe she’ll write another illustrated book. Maybe she’ll develop another caviar-infused skin care line. Who knows. But whatever she does, it will serve her own interest and not that of the country.

Since Melania has no particular interest in being by Donald’s side, there is a gap that needs to be filled. And it looks like JD Vance and Elon Musk are fiercely competing to win the new president’s affections. Since the election, Musk has been practically camping out at Mar-a-Lago and has achieved “uncle” status, according to Trump’s granddaughter Kai.

The tech billionaire also sat at the Trump family table at Thanksgiving dinner, where he went to the YMCA and presumably giggled a little at a bizarre AI-generated video Trump tweeted showing Donald popping out of a turkey, that Joe Biden was about to carve and circling. It’s not clear whether Musk, who spent the rest of the day tweeting self-aggrandizing videos of himself, had time with his children over the holidays, but that appears to be his motive: to push people to have multiple children , while ignoring his own.

JD Vance may be the next vice president, but it looks like Musk appears to be Trump’s number two. However, Vance seems keen to change that and celebrated Thanksgiving with a strange tweet of his own. The vice president-elect released an edited image of Norman Rockwell’s 1943 Thanksgiving painting “Freedom from Want,” in which Trump’s face was photoshopped onto the patriarch and Vance was photoshopped onto the woman. (To be clear, it is not explicitly stated who the matriarch figure is in the painting, but while Rockwell’s cook is the model, the woman is often interpreted as the wife of the man she is standing next to.) In the original painting, the matriarch is holds up a turkey. In Vance’s version, he – dressed in an apron and blue dress – holds up a very red map of America. Once upon a time, Vance compared Trump to Hitler; Now he’s busy manipulating images so he can portray himself as Trump’s traditional wife.

Why would Vance embarrass himself like that? Former Kamala Harris adviser Mike Nellis says: “Vance is worried that Elon might have more influence than him, so he thought posting this weird meme would win back his favor.” I’m not sure whether anyone should ever listen to a Democratic strategist again, but that interpretation seems about right.

While I couldn’t tell you exactly what was going through Vance’s mind when he posted a picture of himself as a matriarch wearing an apron, I can say with certainty that we have (at least) four more years of posts like this. Forget the banality of evil, the Trump administration represents the folly of evil: we will see the enactment of inhumane policies, the dismantling of reproductive rights, and the gutting of public services alongside idiotic memes aimed at “owning the freedoms.” The online trolls have crawled out from under the bridge and are now advising the president; The shitposters are now in charge.

I think it’s now completely okay to threaten Muslim members of Congress in the US

Speaking of trolls, Trump-endorsed congressional candidate and Florida state Sen. Randy Fine this week tweeted a casual death threat to Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar — the only Muslim women in Congress. “The Hebrew hammer is coming,” Fine tweeted. “(Rashida Tlaib) and (Ilhan Omar) might think about leaving before I get there. #BombsAway.” Can you imagine if Tlaib or Omar Fine had delivered a similar message? It would have been a front-page headline and Biden would have made an outraged statement. This was barely covered. Fine, by the way, is the same guy who cheered the murder of 26-year-old American citizen Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, an activist who was reportedly killed by Israeli forces while peacefully protesting against illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Astronaut and MIT-trained engineer Emily Calandrelli became the 100th woman in space when she joined six space tourists on a Blue Origin launch. An Instagram video about her excited reaction to being in space was flooded with misogynistic comments, leading to Blue Origin removing the video. Being in public as a woman is a real pleasure!

A fifth woman has probably died as a result of abortion bans

According to ProPublica, Porsha Ngumezi, a 35-year-old woman from Texas, is the fifth woman known to have died because her medical care was delayed following miscarriages or because she was unable to obtain legal abortions.

Fox News’ Jesse Watters: “Trump will treat Denver like a woman.” He will protect the city whether they like it or not.

Poor Denver.

Brazil’s congressional committee votes for a bill banning abortions in all cases

This also applies to malformations of the fetus, rape or if the mother’s health is at risk. Before the bill can move forward it still needs to go to a select committee, but the fact that it has gotten this far is alarming.

Walmart is the latest company to abandon its DEI initiatives

The right has declared war on DEI and it looks like they are winning. Not a good time for my (satirical) company Rent-a-Minority, I have to say.

Gen Z isn’t a big fan of dating apps

“There is an increasing romanticization of face-to-face meetings and interaction,” one expert told the Guardian.

Former ICC chief prosecutor says she was subjected to threats and ‘thug tactics’

Fatou Bensouda said she faced direct threats against herself and her family simply because of her work. Meanwhile, the U.S. government and its allies continue to undermine the International Criminal Court and international law.

Israel’s finance minister suggests “thinning” Gaza’s population

“It is possible to create a situation in which Gaza’s population will be reduced to half its current size in two years,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday. (Strangely, while the Israeli press reported these remarks, much of the U.S. press did not seem to consider them newsworthy.) Israeli settlers are already preparing to occupy the Strip and build new homes next to mass graves.

The week in the Pawtriarchy

Want to see a picture of a sick penguin named Flop who learned to walk again because zoo staff made her a custom baby bouncer and treadmill? Of course you do. This Guardian piece is guaranteed to make you grin.