Brooke Powers

I’m addicted to sharpies, notebooks, making lists, solving problems, sweet tea, and Mexican food. Two things I need every day: God and Grace.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

👏🔥

[The Real Mike Rowe @mikeroweworks]

I want to apologize for not responding to any of the 22 thousand comments my last post inspired. I’ve been filming all week and just noticed my observations about Jimmy Kimmel and a former plumber named Markwayne Mullin have gone viral. I've also noticed that many of the comments are from people who genuinely seem to believe that Jimmy wasn’t belittling plumbers at all, but was instead, simply trying to point out that Mullin is not qualified to lead the DHS. Here's a small smattering...

Roger Bicknell...
Mikey stop. Kimmel wasn't making fun of plumbers he was making fun of Mullin.

Rebecca Piatt Gonzalez...
Dearest Mike, it's not anything to do with his being a plumber. It's him NOT being skilled in Homeland Security.

Patrick Wise...
Being a plumber qualifies you to be a plumber. Period. The issue Jimmy and the rest of us at the adult table recognize is that jobs require certain training and experience and being a plumber does not qualify you to be Sec of DHS.

Had Roger, Rebecca, Patrick and all the others who rushed to Jimmy’s Kimmel’s defense actually read what I had written, they would see that I did not suggest - even remotely - that a plumber was inherently qualified to hold a cabinet position. What I said was that being a plumber should not disqualify a person from holding such a position. Big difference. Doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, fireman, and university professors are no more or less qualified to run the DHS than plumbers, electricians, or carpenters – but should they all be dismissed as “unqualified” simply because they made a living in some other vocation?

As I wrote in my original post, credentials and diplomas are great ways to bolster a person’s credibility, especially if we’re talking about mastering a specific skill. I think we can all agree that plumbers, accountants, mechanics, and surgeons should all have to prove themselves competent before hanging out a shingle. But what do their credentials and diplomas have to do with their actual competency? Are we not already surrounded by a legion of perfectly qualified experts who don't know what the hell they're doing? Moreover, what do credentials and experience have to do with wisdom, honesty, common sense, integrity, courage, the ability to lead, or any other virtue we’d like to have in our elected officials?

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to question Mullin’s suitability for this role. But there’s no legitimate reason to disqualify him simply because he used to be a plumber. Just as there was no legitimate reason to dismiss AOC because she used to tend bar. As for the joke itself, here’s an honest question. If Senator Mullin was a retired doctor instead of a retired plumber, do you believe he would have would made the same joke?

Roger, Rebecca, Patrick...be honest. Do you really think Jimmy would have said to his audience, "So, now we have a DOCTOR in charge of protecting us from terrorism? Hey – it worked for Dr. Suess – maybe it’ll work for Markwayne!"

Personally, I don't. Not in a million years. Why? Because no one would have found it funny, that’s why. Even though doctors are no more “qualified” to protect us from terrorists than plumbers are, Jimmy knows that doctors are widely respected in society, and that plumbers are not. He knows that medical degrees and doctorates are aspirational credentials, whereas plumbing certificates are not. The entire premise of his joke was based on a personal bias that he knew his audience shared – a bias that presupposes plumbers are uneducated, one-dimensional workers who never made it to college, and are therefore "unqualified" to do anything but plumb.

Jimmy is entitled to his opinion, along with anyone else who believes that Mullin is unqualified to lead the DHS. The Constitution, however, says otherwise, and so does the Senate. Likewise, reasonable people can disagree as to what is funny and what isn’t. Frankly, I couldn’t care less. What I do care about, is the extraordinary shortage of plumbers and electricians our country is facing, and the longstanding stigmas and stereotypes that continue to discourage people from considering a lucrative career in the skilled trades. Jimmy’s joke – and his audience’s reaction to it – is proof positive that those stigmas and stereotypes are alive and well.

PS. We have a lot of money set aside to help train the next generation of plumbers. Apply for a scholarship at https://t.co/vidLSYXCf6 Who knows? Could be the first step on your road to President..

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@ClayTravis The SC 2022 game destroyed us TN fans. Hope and dreams were SHATTERED.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

😤💪🧡

[Tennessee Baseball @Vol_Baseball]

the hunt starts now.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

Won’t God do it?! 👏👏

[Gatsby @ZachGatsby]

🚨BREAKING: In September, #Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already metastasized to his collarbone.

Today, he is officially cancer-free. What an incredible battle and victory. #NEPats

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

Neyland Stadium- #1 in everything except sound system. Every other stadium beats us in hearing the PA/Refs/Music CLEARLY! We may be the loudest/best but that part blows. Here’s hoping @AD_DannyWhite has that next on the agenda with all the fabulous upgrades! 🧡

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

I’m not sure it gets better than this!🧡

[Pyro Jesus @AbleMass]

Since everyone else is posting their fly over videos from their vantage point , I guess I’ll post mine too.

#StarSpangledBanner #RetiredArmy #GreatestCountryOnEarth #GoVols #VFL #GBO

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@byron_97 Always love watching you, BY!

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@SullenSerf The Army and Air Force ROTC’s did this before their veterans run. They do a different one every year :) The rock can be painted by any one on campus and done at any time but most people usually have respect of others work for at least a day.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

👏👏

[Tennessee Athletics @Vol_Sports]

tonight's the night

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@_joshpray Wait til you see what the band is about to do! 👀👀

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@_joshpray Wait til you see what the band is about to do! 👀👀

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

👏👏🧡

[Tennessee Baseball @Vol_Baseball]

The hunt continues...

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

👏👏

[Tennessee Baseball @Vol_Baseball]

The New 𝐄ra.

Josh Elander takes the reigns as the 26th head coach in Tennessee Baseball history.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@BarstoolTenn #KnoxvilleBCT

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@EricLDaugh I’ve seen college kids with fake ID’s that have the real ID star and they actually scan. While I’m not condoning it, because it’s absolute trash that this person was given CDL capabilities, it’s very likely that it could be a fake.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

Summitt and Neyland have been working hard on the lyrics to Rocky Top. One of them almost got her “woo” in there. Forgive the southern singing and focus on the blue ticks! 🤣They’re obviously ready for @Vol_Football tomorrow! Go VOLS! 🧡🍊

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@RebekahPainter I never cheer for Bama but with a close loss to GA and Bama beating GA, it would look better for us if we beat Bama and they’ve beat GA and Vandy. Little brother needs to be checked and it will just make me more mad if Bama loses to Vandy and doesn’t move one spot in polls. 🤷‍♀️

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

@BarstoolTenn @barstoolUD #KnoxvilleBCT

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

“I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous.”

Wow. That’ll hit you different. 👏👏

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

I'm seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points.

I'm not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. The idea is as ludicrous as me checking with the boss I had when I was twenty-one for what opinions I should hold these days.

Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology. Such beliefs are legally protected, and I wouldn't want to see any of them threatened with loss of work, or violence, or death, because of them.

However, Emma and Dan in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right - nay, obligation - to critique me and my views in public. Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created.

When you've known people since they were ten years old it's hard to shake a certain protectiveness. Until quite recently, I hadn't managed to throw off the memory of children who needed to be gently coaxed through their dialogue in a big scary film studio. For the past few years, I've repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma specifically, most notably on the Witch Trials of JK Rowling. Ironically, I told the producers that I didn't want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said.

The television presenter in the attached clip highlights Emma's 'all witches' speech, and in truth, that was a turning point for me, but it had a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself. Emma asked someone to pass on a handwritten note from her to me, which contained the single sentence 'I'm so sorry for what you're going through' (she has my phone number). This was back when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak, at a time when my personal security measures had had to be tightened considerably and I was constantly worried for my family's safety. Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.

Like other people who've never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she's ignorant of how ignorant she is. She'll never need a homeless shelter. She's never going to be placed on a mixed sex public hospital ward. I'd be astounded if she's been in a high street changing room since childhood. Her 'public bathroom' is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door. Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who's identified into the women's prison?

I wasn't a multimillionaire at fourteen. I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous. I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women's rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges.

The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me - a change of tack I suspect she's adopted because she's noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was - I might never have been this honest.

Adults can't expect to cosy up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend's assassination, then assert their right to the former friend's love, as though the friend was in fact their mother. Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public - but I have the same right, and I've finally decided to exercise it.

[Brooke Powers @jbrooker4]

#KnoxvilleBCT

[Barstool Rocky Top @BarstoolTenn]

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