Bette’s Weekly Roundup - Unbroken
Bette’s Weekly Roundup - Unbroken
The best of Bette for the week <3
At yesterday’s Happy Hour we had a full house and full hearts. So many great suggestions on how to unf**ck our world.
Indebted to those who showed up and shared their wellness tips and ideas for structural reforms to help seal vulnerabilities in our democracy.
We all have become the media, and it’s up to each of us to keep truth alive. The first thing that happens when countries lose their democracies is the silencing of truth, which comes in the form of killing independent media and yes, journalists.
We are in fascism’s legal phase in America, as independent journalists are being sued by US traitors. We are mounting a defense, and I do believe we will win, but it will take our legal system to still function, and for that, we will have to address the right-wing activists who have been planted on our Supreme Court.
We have work to do, and we must not be timid.
As Ruth Ben-Ghiat says, never underestimate the American people. As a reminder, members — please expect a registration link in coming days for our ‘Speakeasy’ zoom salon with Ruth this Sunday, July 30, 4 pm PT. If you’re not yet a member, please join our wonderful community. We are a global group of pro-democracy activists and our numbers are growing daily.
Here is the Best of Bette for the week:
I am really proud of the American Monster series and part three is on the mob lawyer who was Trump’s mentor. If you do not already know the story of Roy Cohn, it’s vital to the understanding of how terrible a win for global criminals the installation of Trump was and how damaging to our democracy it is each time a high-level criminal evades justice. Cohn should have been in prison, where he couldn’t hurt our country anymore.
Here is an excerpt:
Village Voice investigative reporter Wayne Barrett told Democracy Now! in 2016: "Roy is incandescent evil… the Satanic feeling that he would give you… He was the weirdest guy. He was into the strangest stuff. He was a chicken hawk after little boys, and yet he was the most virulently anti-gay guy you could imagine. And so, that was Donald's mentor and constant sidekick, who represented all five of the organized crime families in the City of New York."
Just think about that.
This report is also available in podcast form and is exclusively for Bette members. Part 1 & Part 2 are on Manafort and Stone, respectively.
Dragstrip 66 in Los Angeles Magazine
New Bette members might not know that along with being an investigative reporter in TV news, I was also the Los Angeles Times nightclub columnist for 15 years. Los Angeles Magazine kindly asked me to write memoirs from that era, as well as contribute Hollywood scene reports — my milieu.
I spent Sunday afternoon dancing my ass off at a veteran drag club, running into people I hadn’t seen in decades. Felt so good. Here is an excerpt from my LA Mag report:
“Dragstrip 66 was truly a ‘you had to be there’ kind of phenomenon; a lightning in a bottle moment that was just the right idea with all the right people during the right era,’ said Paul V, Dragstrip 66 promoter and a music industry veteran who managed Porno for Pyros. “It was a necessary lifeboat for an embattled LGBTQ community who were still dealing with so much loss, grief, and death because of HIV and AIDS; one of the only gay identified nightclub events that didn’t have a hierarchy of class, status or beauty; and in fact sought out and elevated the misfits and the freaks, and allowed everyone a safe, welcoming space to discover their sexual identities and authentic selves.”
So here we are in 2023 facing a new kind of “plague,” Paul said.
“A plague called MAGA, with monsters like Ron DeSantis and the rest of that vile ilk who are wholly targeting the LGBTQ community (again!), and especially the drag and trans community. And hurling lies calling us ‘groomers’ and ‘pedophiles’ because that’s what instills fear in closed minds, and what forces those closed minds to open their wallets and send them money,” he said. “Honey, this is the same shit, different decade; and this has been going on since fucking Anita Bryant in 1977.”
Although he says it’s a scary time because “these assholes are armed to the teeth and showing up to our Pride events and drag shows, it also means that our community needs to be louder, queerer, and more fearless than ever. And we don’t fight pathetic bullies by retreating.”
They fight with sequins and moxy — and that’s part of the magic and power of drag.
It’s a great time to be an ally.
Southern Kleptocracy - a new RadPod series
A new part of RadPod’s mission is to speak to people in the South and bring their stories to our global audience. In our debut, we interview a woman who lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi, who said her city has been abandoned. She describes an impoverished community, where people are in survival mode — staggering poverty rates, undrinkable water, an enormous disparity between the haves and the have-nots, the last area hospital now on the brink of closure. That this is America in 2023 is unacceptable.
This is a long war — there will be victories and defeats, sometimes daily. Some days will be harder than others — the onslaught of junk by desperate criminals trying to stay out of prison for their attacks on our country or trying to stay away from treacherous windows can be overwhelming, but we’ve got truth and all they have are their cold lies and disgrace.
Knowledge is power, and community is powerful, and together we will remain unbroken as we do the necessary labor of democracy to win in 2024 and begin the deep structural reforms that will right this ship into the future.
Who’s with me?
Thanks to my growing posse of Founding Members and those upgrading to Founder’s level, I am able to offer annual discounts to new members, and as a thank you, I’m launching a monthly Founder’s Day — where my high-level supporters will get to meet our brilliant experts in a more intimate setting. Looking so forward to our inaugural event, and will be sending information on that next week. <3
Thank you to everyone who supports my work.
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Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you as well to all those who support my work with your generous coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. Some of you prefer making subsidizing donations via venmo, and it’s always greatly appreciated. If you wish to gift a membership, you can do so by donating to the ko-fi or venmo accounts, and indicate it’s for a gift, or do so here.
Also, a private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous@gmail.com. 🥹
We just have to see that the battle for democracy is broader. It's deeper.—David Pepper
I need people to see they're on the frontline. Wherever you live, if you’re doing this work, you are the frontline.—David Pepper
The message should be a fair deal… fairness everywhere.—Martin Sheil
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“I say a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I walk upon the earth.”-Audrey Peterman.
“May the viral hope for truth and humanity wash away the chaos of these years.”-S.C., Bette community member
“Something Sacred never dies in almost all of us, who can hear the invitation of Truth…”-words from a Bette Dangerous community member
“Non-violent protest is a life-affirming activity as it seeks to promote a more humane society.”-Ellen Zucker
“Nothing but blue skies from now on…”-Irving Berlin
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(Above, Trump’s mentor and sidekick, American Monster)