Vice Presidential pick or Disney prince?

August 6, 2024

The wildly humane record of Gov. Tim Walz ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 6, 2024

’ello, Meteor readers,

Shannon is out this week, so the illustrious Julianne Escobedo Shepherd and I are here in her stead.

Today is a big day in politics: Vice President Kamala Harris announced her heavily anticipated pick of vice presidential running mate, and, as we’re sure you’ve heard, the rose went to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Walz recently went viral for calling Donald Trump and J.D. Vance “weird,” but in today’s newsletter we dig into his progressive bonafides and…it’s giving extremely decent human being.

I mean, I don’t know what moves the needle in your household—but the man created a National Beyoncé Day. But first, the news.

Donchya know,

Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT’S GOING ON

Yesterday, three Black women made Olympic history: Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles of the United States took the gold, silver, and bronze, respectively, for the floor exercise in women’s gymnastics—making them the first all-Black trio on the podium ever. And in a viral move, Biles and Chiles bowed to Andrade, who had been projected to be Biles’ main competition coming into the 2024 Games. This year’s Olympics has been, without a doubt, a banner year for women in sports. But the breakout emotion we’re feeling is the tremendous camaraderie these women have shown each other in an extremely competitive, high-stakes sport. We are living for it.

AND:

Speaking of women at the Olympics: Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who has spent the week being attacked by transphobes after her opponent quit in the middle of their bout, has spoken up about the toll the abuse has taken on her. Khelif, who is a cis woman, told Vogue Arabia that bullying “can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit, and mind. And it can divide people.” She also noted that she’s known her opponent, Italian boxer Angela Carini, for years and even trained with her directly in Italy; Khelif said the Italian coaches “took advantage of the media campaign against me to affect me but I will work to reach the goal I am here for.” She’s already guaranteed a bronze, and tonight in the semi-finals, she’s got a real shot at gold.
In Bangladesh, Gen Z-led protests managed to oust sitting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been in the role for 15 years. As CNN writes, she had turned “increasingly authoritarian” towards the end of her tenure, overseeing a crackdown on peaceful protests which led to the death of about 300 people. Protesters are asking that the government be temporarily led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has said he is ready to return to Bangladesh to oversee the transition of power. While anxiety and speculation about the future of Bangladesh remain, Yunus told the Washington Post, “We’re all rejoicing—the monster who is on top of us has left. Today we are free.”
A new report found some states have increased government funding to anti-abortion centers, aka crisis pregnancy centers, since the fall of Roe—to the tune of $500 million dollars. Reminder: CPCs are not medical facilities—just propaganda centers using medical props like ultrasound equipment to talk you out of an abortion.
The “orgasm gap” is still gapping, at least for straight women. A new study finds that “men of all sexual orientations reported higher orgasm rates during sex—from 70 to 85 percent—compared with 46 to 58 percent for [heterosexual] women.” If it occurs to you that this might be because of what NYT journalist Catherine Pearson calls “the lingering idea that women’s sexual pleasure is somehow secondary,” you are correct!
It’s Crop Over in Barbados, and Rihanna has returned with her best carnival costume yet.

EXTREMELY DECENT

Welcome to Walzworld

What to know about Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ pick for VP

BY JULIANNE ESCOBEDO SHEPHERD

IT’S GIVING MIDWESTERN (GLEN STUBBE/STAR TRIBUNE VIA GETTY)

After a few short weeks of social media superstardom and the kind of maneuvering on the Hill that’d make Game of Thrones look like Dr. Seuss, Tim Walz, the charismatic 60-year-old governor of Minnesota who made calling the MAGA ticket “weird” the liberal lingua franca, has been chosen by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate for the Democratic ticket.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Harris would choose between either Walz or Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania. While Walz became an internet sensation for his straight-shooting TV appearances, Shapiro received scrutiny for the way he handled sexual harassment complaints about one of his top advisors, a racist column he wrote in college, and his statements comparing pro-Palestine protesters to the KKK. Meanwhile, Walz struck a middle-of-the-road approach regarding Palestine. When asked in April by Twin Cities PBS about the protests, Walz called for a “two-state solution with self-determination. We can criticize if Israel is overstepping where their authority is, and we can also criticize where antisemitism is speaking into this discussion and make sure we keep it in a place to find a solution.”

A Nebraska native who served in the Army National Guard, Walz later became a social studies teacher and football coach before being elected six times to the House of Representatives. (His former colleague Nancy Pelosi calls him a “heartland-of-America Democrat.”) More to the point, he has been a major advocate for reproductive rights, signing abortion access and paid family leave into Minnesota law, and a longtime advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights: In Minnesota, he codified the right to gender-affirming care and banned conversion therapy, and as a Congressman, he helped pass the 2009 law which made anti-LGBTQIA hate crimes prosecutable at the federal level. (And as a high school teacher in 1999, he was the adviser for his school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance.)

GOV. WALZ IN 2023 AFTER SIGNING BILLS TO PROTECT ABORTION RIGHTS AND GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE AND BAN CONVERSION THERAPY. (GLEN STUBBE/STAR TRIBUNE VIA GETTY)

Additionally, at a time in which Republicans like J.D. Vance want to make IVF even harder to access, Walz has publicly spoken about using IVF with his wife, Gwen, to have their daughter Hope. He also signed into law a highly successful program that ensures Minnesota’s children receive free school meals—and one that provides free tuition for low-income students who want to attend college. He’s also pretty good on things like affordable housing, climate change, gun control, and tax cuts for low-income families. Meanwhile, Gwen Walz, Tim’s wife, has influenced policy in Minnesota as well: In her capacity as an educator and first lady, she created a program for incarcerated people to access education, including college. She’s also advocated for prison reform and spearheaded programs to help formerly incarcerated people succeed.

In an Instagram post announcing her decision, Harris wrote that her choice was influenced by the way Walz’s “convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It’s personal… We are going to build a great partnership. We are going to build a great team. We are going to win this election.”

Harris officially became the Democratic nominee for President on Monday night after she received 99% of the votes on a virtual roll call of participating delegates. It was a historic moment—Harris is the first Black and South Asian woman to be the official nominee—and should Walz step down from his role as governor for any reason, there will be another first: Walz’s lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan, of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, will become the first woman Native American governor ever in U.S. history. Harris and Walz will spend the next five days making campaign stops and holding rallies in swing states across the country—including their first stop tonight in Philadelphia, PA.

This decision is, as always, a political calculation as much as anything else, and it is not without risk. As writer Rebecca Traister said on X, “I have never seen them do the thing that is obviously the smart and exciting thing but which is also not the most careful thing designed to please the strategists and numbers guys.” But Gov. Walz’s record certainly makes him feel like the most progressive choice among her rumored contenders for VP. He also seems like a reasonable human being who cares about improving the lives of everyday Americans. There’s nothing weird about that.