Women to watch this week

Put E. Jean Carroll and Zooey Zephyr on your radar -- if they aren't there already

The rape trial of TFG continues this week — perhaps without the presence of TFG — as writer/editor E. Jean Carroll continues to pursue justice for herself and for the rest of us. Here’s just a part of her story about that moment in time, excerpted from her memoir, “What Do We Need Men For?”

Carroll’s is a civil case, and so “beyond a reasonable doubt” is replaced by “a preponderance of evidence” that TFG raped Carroll in the mid-’90s, and then lied about it (and then called Carroll a liar when she went public).

So far, Carroll’s humanity on the stand has won the day while TFG’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, showed how not to cross-examine a witness last week.

What new skills will he exhibit this week?

Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, continues representing her constituency from a bench outside the House chambers because Montana Republicans have torn a page from the anti-democratic playbook of the Tennessee State Republicans, the page that’s headed “To avoid debating the issues, kick out any one who doesn’t agree with your.” Honestly, that move has not worked so well for the Tennessee GOP. When you say the quiet part out loud, you tend to get the kind of attention most people would prefer to avoid, but you do you, Montana, and count on us watching and reporting and sharing.

I suppose you can’t expect much from a state party that includes a Republican mother and representative who said there are limits to what she would do to keep her child from committing suicide. So if she could choose between saving her child from suicide or having a trans child, this Republican mother — who called her child’s suicidal things “emotional manipulation” — would choose the death of her child. This is an exciting new kind of motherhood that’s really not all that new, but here, listen for yourself.

Goodness, the party of family values makes one scratch one’s head.

The week will unfold as it will unfold. People will do foolish things. People will do beautiful things. And we will gather here at Super Probably to discuss.