Bravo, Ben! Your words are incredibly powerful—exactly the voice I’ve been searching for. Like you, I’ve felt like I’m shouting into the void. I joined Kara Dansky’s movement and signed The Democratic Women’s Declaration for this very reason. The LGB community has been vocal because, as J.K. Rowling eloquently put it, ‘If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.’
Yeah, It's pretty strange. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Trump, but my feelings of despair at Harris' loss have failed to materialize. I keep thinking... I must be sad and horrified...right? Right?
But the fact is, there has been, on the Left, a full-on assault on material reality (like, is there not a word specifically denoting those humans capable of gestating a baby?) and on the basic ethical rules that apply to everyone. (No, it's not ok to humiliate people in public or deprive them of their livelihoods for not sharing your beliefs about how "gender identity" works, nor to force them to submit to "re-education" for thinking Black people -- like all human beings, frankly -- are capable of being racist, and no, it is not laudable to cheer while a psychopathic terrorist group burns whole families alive, rapes girls to death, and murders babies in front of their screaming parents. Not even if it's an act of "decolonialization".
But hey, who would ever have guessed that "Social Justice" projects inspired by Foucault, of all people (who wanted to normalize sex between men and small boys) would not actually benefit society? The fact is, all this has exhausted me even more than I realized.
Am I nervous about Trump? Sure. But I'm hoping that the fact that the Republicans won, in part, by actually paying attention to the science and the principles of good medicine, will ultimately chase some of the bats out of MY party's belfry. Post-Modern "Social Justice" is neither "Social" nor "Justice". It's a mind-f**k.
Before I knew what was going on, I was so used to thinking of Donald Trump as P.T. Barnum, with the Republicans playing the part of the suckered. And then it turned out the truly one-born-every-minute Democratic leadership was toeing a line drawn by the Pritzker-backed Trans lobby. It's been quite an eye-opening experience, let's say. And it ain't over yet.
Well, no, I don't think Trump is the "good guy". I just think the Democrats have been showing a remarkable lack of common sense.
They've basically been investing in, and/or pandering to, those trying to impose the tenets of a destructive religion (which it is heresy to contradict or even question). The method being used by Post-Modern "Social Justice" movements is the dismantling of the fundamental elements of a civil society (including fundamental ethics based on human equality and mutual responsibility), in favor of Tribalism and anarchy.
So it's pretty brainless (and/or gullible) not to say, "Hey, wait a minute, we're saying we have to reject Trump's dystopia, and do what, build our own, that feels even closer to home? Are we really thinking all those people who have been keeping quiet and not saying what they really think about this crap are nevertheless going to vote for it?" Well, guess what. Many of them voted no.
My point is, that because the Democratic party (at very least) sucked up to one well-heeled lobby rather than reading the room [the frying pan], we've likely now ended up in an autocracy [the fire]. Trump may indeed help dismantle the power of the Post Modernists. And that pleases me. But he'll likely take down our Democracy as well.
We are a Constitutional Republic. Democracy is mob rule which is what the Democrat party has been pushing for years. They have always been the party of racism, KKK and haven’t been for the working class since the 60’s. I lived through it. Johnson’s New Deal destroyed the black family by promoting welfare and taking the man out of the family and replacing him with government. Trump is just working on common sense and the American dream. Be honest and look back at how he lifted up Americans in his first administration despite being harassed by the Uniparty who was afraid he would upset their gravy train. Prosperity for all regardless of race, sexual orientation or any other class that the Democrats like to put people in to control them. Trump is about freedom and we in America have the best opportunity to achieve whatever you put your mind to. Why do you think people immigrate here? Join us, let us go back to being Americans, let us be proud of our country and not hate it, let us go back to the time before Obama pushed race relations back 50 years. I want to just live my life without government interference. Let’s be happy and laugh again. Let us make America great again together. Peace to all.
If you stop letting the Legacy Media narrate your narrative you would see that Elon was great as long as he was producing trendy EVs and even rocket ships, then he bought Twitter, restored free speech and became "a total nut case." Bobby Jr was fine as long as he was an environmental warrior (so Kennedyesque) but when he saw the science about the vaccine injuries and corrupt Pharma (and Fauci, TLS), he became "a total nut case." Tulsi Gabbard was a fine Dem Congresswoman until she turned against the warmongering plank of the DNC and became a "total nut case." JD Vance was an interesting study, a hillbilly who righted the ship and went to Yale (ah, Yale!) until he turned out to actually care about the poor classes of Ohio and Kentucky and became a "total nut case."
Don't any of you pick up a pattern there?
Meanwhile the entire barnyard of actual nutcases--Yellow Pony Soldier meets Corn Pop meets strange kids at his pool while lifeguarding and does strange things with a cohort of Lolitas and younger--cringe--while the cameras are rolling, Karine who proved someone could be dumber than Jen--a dumb and dumber duo, Admiral Levine, the guy who stole women's clothes at the airport--Sam Brinton . . .
You had a faux Prez (on so many levels) in Biden, who has been missing neural connections for at least a decade, appointed by the committee and then ousted (shall we say coup) by the committee who then installed Ms Word Salad who never got a single vote for anything, a border which paid for 15 million foreigners to achieve a soft invasion, an intentional distruction of the Dollar as the world currency, a blowing up of the national balance sheet such as we've never seen, not even during the world war . . . and somehow Trump who has risked it all is not "the good guy."???
The Democrats have morphed into the Party of Death--they even ran their entire campaign shouting Abortion! and not even pretending it was about the bogus words of "reproductive health" and "the right to body integrity". They want the right to murder fetuses, vaccinate with wild abandon to destroy children's lives or just outright kill them (see SIDs etc), after that destroy childrens' lives by drugging them (mostly boys) into submission and then chemically or surgically castrating and spaying them, and visiting Death on foreign lands via proxy wars under the rubric of "Nation Building" or "Defeating the Latest Hitler"--gotta keep destroying those Ukrainian towns and villages in order to save them--and then assisted-suiciding anyone who might be feeling blue.
Did I mention all the endless warmongering from the Democrats, and Republicans, lining up behind Kamala Wamala? You know you are really into Death when not only the Clinton faction and the Obama faction of Warmongers Are Us are pushing their low IQ candidate, but WMD Bush and the Two Cheney clowns throw all their chips in as well. Death, Death, Death . . . gee, are we the baddies?
Trump is not the answer?
You still have an extremely long row to hoe, at least 4 years long.
No, but then he was expecting to lose, and was a bumbling idiot as president, surrounded by people keeping him in check. This time he's been granted immunity by the Supreme Court, he's surrounded by his own hand-picked cronies, and he knows exactly what he wants.
As though Biden and Harris were not surrounded by their own cronies? These cronies brought the misery we have been dealing with the last 4 years. Inflation is insidious. Couple that with everything else that defined this administration and you can feel the anxiety. I am relieved that the course direction has been altered. In the end, it comes down to one’s self-interest whatever that might be for each of us. Harris and Walz were not in my “self-interest.” The binary choice for me was easy.
The Supreme Court did not grant him the immunity you are imagining. They created three categories, with one giving complete immunity to actions traditionally, completely, unquestionably within the role of the President (as has been customary throughout our history); one giving NO immunity to actions that have no Executive function, like murdering someone; and for the third category, for actions that arguably might/might not be functions of the President, it created a framework of analysis to help determine whether it was an act that deserved immunity or not. In fact, many legal scholars have said that it can be read to *limit* the immunity of the Office of the President in ways that we have not previously seen.
You know that same immunity belongs also to Biden? And every president before him… the immunity the Supreme Court "granted" was only a clarification. The immunity extends only to acts done while acting in the office of president. It doesn't cover personal acts, even personal act done while president. I'm really ashamed of our legacy media who does not explain these things clearly, but creates fear and loathing instead.
I would hope that the Democratic Party would take this as a wake up call, go back to the drawing board, assess who they are and who they are serving. They could take this next four years and come out strong if they had the right message and some good leadership.
i, happily, do not think he will take down our democracy/constitutional republic. i wasn't a mainstream news watcher for many years unless something big was going down, like an election. then, like so many others, i believed much of what the media said. i did not vote for trump in 2016 or 2020 (write-in that year) because of that, and because i was put off by his 'style'. as a former federal employee, i was aware of enough to know our gov't has gotten far too big, employees were not held accountable and a sh*t ton of (our) money was wasted. it took me longer than i care to admit to realize just how far & wide the poison/media control had spread. one silver lining to covid (and retirement) is that i had the time to do my own research on many 'issues' that concerned me. i was fully prepared to vote for rfk jr. this time but, independents were denied an opportunity to vote. so, i paid even closer attention to trump. thankfully, i never did reach the level of hate so many have for him. i still don't care for his style, but it's no longer a listening barrier for me. i watched & listened to who he was bringing into the fold and i liked what i saw, heard and read from them and independent journalists and others whose voices the biden admin tried to shut down. so, i voted for trump. now i'll be keeping an even closer eye on him, as i expect most who voted for him will be, as well. if he stays true to course i think we have the best chance we've had in many, many years to course-correct our county.
I can only ask you to consider that the powers-that-be pushing a 'destructive religion' or cult (heresy even to question) bent on dismantling fundamental and ethical elements of civilization, that made many people afraid to express their honest thoughts and opinions... those powers-that-be may have not been honestly presenting Trump or his intentions.
Leadership rejecting common sense reality and suppressing honesty among their own followers deserve NO benefit of the doubt regarding assertions about all of the rest of us who sincerely and emphatically reject their cult of anti-civilization. Even Trump.
I didn't vote for Trump, but I didn't vote for Harris either; I wrote in Nikki Haley's name. I was relieved Harris lost and knew I would be; but the light-heartedness I feel at Trump's swamping the Democrats and in lesser races at the victories against crime and drugs is really something.
My family is in mourning. Too bad. And very weird: You'd think they'd been told they had cancer or something.
Your comment is as good as the article. I think what’s happening is that there is a new party emerging. Trump is not really a republican, he just won under that name. That’s why many of the republicans are freaking out. I truly hope that this new group can right the ship. Great comment
Exactly. Trump is a moderate; could've frankly run on either ticket. Let's hope he fills his cabinet with the best people for the job rather than people who tick boxes.
We'll have to wait and see. I like the Stefanik, Waltz, Noem, Homen, and Patel picks. Withholding judgement on Wiles, Hegseth, Ratcliffe, Zeldin, Rubio, and McMahon. I don't trust Vivek.
On X, at least, election breakdowns are pointing to trans issues being a notable factor for swing voters *not* voting for Harris.
And yet the comments under these studies are full of liberals saying the voters were “wrong”, that this is a made up issue, that Trump is making something out of nothing.
Does not bode well for democrats if they can’t read the writing on the wall.
Some will keep their heads up their asses. But those who actually want to win elections will disregard the Alt Left idiots and appeal to basic commonsense and biological reality.
And how about really meaning "my body, my choice" with regard to experimental medical procedures, as well and abandoning the notion of "Abortion on demand (meaning at any time of pregnancy without question), no apologies."? Just one of several hypocrisies and lack of accepting any limits which the left has been engaging in for many years now.
We haven't technically had a draft in years. Males sign up for "selective service" (in case of the need for a draft) but our military has been volunteer for a long time.
As I've said to a number of my freaking out friends , calling everyone who voted Trump in "Nazis!", I think a lot of people watched the Olympics. You can't unsee the Algerian (m) boxer beat the Italian (f) boxer to a pulp and get awarded the Gold Medal. That is visceral and hard for anyone who is in touch w/ their humanity to vote for!
Like you, I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either. Like you, I had been a Democratic voter. But when it was clear the Republicans had won, I felt relief! I am so surprised by how hopeful I’m feeling.
I’m bracing myself for disappointment but Trump and Vance could not have been clearer about why gender ideology is wrong and what they will do to attack it. Trump’s statement was comprehensive (going after insurance coverage, big pharma, hospital networks, NIH funding, DOE).
The MSM barely mentions this issue, waving it away as fearmongering from the Right. But this is fundamental and is touching a wider and wider portion of the electorate.
The puzzlement over why so many Muslims voted for Trump despite his pro Israel stance is possibly explained by this issue. Those communities don’t want schools transing their children.
I look forward to January 2025 more than I had before.
That’s a really good point about the Muslim communities who voted for him. I also suspect they respect a strongman, and in the end that played better than a candidate like Kamala.
Yeah I think in the end, strength matters more. Trump can say to them “I’m gonna bring the war to an end” and they believe him more than Biden/Harris. Plenty in MAGA don’t want us sending money overseas for *any* war, so it’s like this weird crossover where he manages to appeal to both sides. Wild
Trump lies out his ass, or just loses interest in projects, but we’ll see what happens. He’ll surely role back Biden’s Title IX nonsense and make it safe for women to compete with real women again. And I expect he’ll put an end to kiddie sex changes and make it safe for kids to grow up gay in peace again. And I sure support getting Critical Everything Nonsense out of the schools, although NOT for abolishing the Dept of Education. I doubt Trump education will be any better than what we’ve currently got now; likely he’ll substitute extremist Christian crap for the woke crap kids are getting now. Same old cult, different leader.
FWIW, My entire family is conservative Christian. The Christians felt sidelined during this campaign, especially the pro-lifers. The only place I hear about Christian Nationalism is from liberal sources. I hear zero about it from the many many Christians I know IRL. I think it’s a scare tactic for the Left, personally. IMO The real problem is teaching stuff like gender identity—an unscientific belief system akin to believing in souls—in public schools. They need to get all of that and all the identity politics out. Intersectionality is a theory akin to a conspiracy theory and it’s fine to believe it, but you can’t just teach it to everyone else’s kids. No religion in schools, period.
Government should not be involved in educating the populace. That is the function of the states. See the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
As you pontificate on education, perhaps you should get some.
The department of education. Is misnamed. They don’t determine curriculum, or what can or cannot be said on campuses. They don’t regulate teachers. All of those things are done at the state level.
The roll of the department of education is to ensure everyone has access to education.
This includes helping states with funding for things like accessibility, special education, and alternative types of education like career technical training.
These are all outside of the funding streams of most school districts, and without the DoE would most likely cease to be available.
Millions and millions of Muslims are neither Arabs nor from the Middle East. I've known and worked with Muslims overseas, in countries they run and don't run, in the ME and far from the ME. By a gigantic margin they are more conservative and family focused than the average "united Methodist" or Episcopalian, etc., in the US. Don't mistake the vocal minority (radicalized by opportunistic governments or local leaders) for the essential nature of these communities and individuals. The ones who make the news are problematic but not, in my experience, representative.
True dat….but I will say, having lived in Toronto for nearly twenty years with a large Muslim population…there does seem to be an ugly thread of antisemitism that runs throughout. It can be radical ‘kill all the Jews’ or it could be, as I’ve more commonly encountered, “So why did no Jews die on 9/11?” People who would NEVER hurt another person, who can converse happily with Jews, but there’s that ugly thread there buried deeper within. Kinda like the folks who get along fine with blacks but wouldn’t want their daughter to marry one. Or who privately think they’re criminal. And the unquestioning support of Gaza with Hamas and Hezbollah bother me greatly. Can’t they support the Gazans without the other two? Why aren’t they willing to condemn the latter two more?
Democrats and American liberals made a grave error and did themselves and the rest of us a great disservice when they adopted Critical Theory ideology as their new sacred belief system.
While more post-Marxist than Marxist, Crit Theory was created by Marxists and thus comes with the patterns of thought typical of all Marxists: A highly reductive and oversimplified view of human conflict; a dogmatic belief in the superior virtue of the Oppressed; an obsession with rooting out ideological impurity and suppressing dissent; and the replacement of equality before the law with WHO/WHOM.
Crit Theory operates like a cult and turns all its true believers essentially into cult members: they can no longer think or debate and thus have to immediately resort to ad hominems and other vicious attacks against their opponents (e.g. JK Rowling, Jordan Peterson, and all those many cancelled profs and performers); they all become roving Stasi and agents of the Thought Police, bullying people into using their language through moral blackmail and emotional manipulation; they intensely and punitively moralize and politicize every aspect of life, tearing apart families and relationships, poisoning art and threatening artists with career destruction if they refuse to obey, and making it impossible for us to do anything from shopping to fucking without tiptoeing through an ideological minefield.
I'm really hoping this election deals a fatal wound to the control of our culture by Social Justice zealots, but both cults and Marxists have always been impervious to evidence and to reality. The Democrats would be wise to amputate their academia/activist wing—even if just for their blatant raging illiberalism—but as for the Ivy League and the rest of our upscale educated betters, I doubt that even a nuke dropped on Harvard Yard would dent their certitude. But at least they took a solid punch to the nose this week, and that's a good first step.
If early days are anything to go on, the Maoist rainbow cult is doubling down in blue states. They're asking/demanding "ally statements" be posted in schools and shunning anyone not kowtowing to far left slogans as a Nazi-racist-transphobe. Things could get worse before (or if) they get better.
Yes, I'm afraid of that, too. My own daughter (in college) is worried that Trans people are in danger of being "massacred". I don't know how to tell her that she's being played. More hype and fear-mongering is coming our way.
Honest question. May I ask who is supposed to do this to trans people? And why? I feel trans people have been brainwashed and abused by those who are pushing this dangerous ideology. They have destroyed detransitioners’ lives. It’s horrible. College is pure indoctrination now. I’m past the age of having children in college so am trying to understand what’s being done to that generation.
Literally the only "trans genocide" is the cult indoctrinators stealing these children's future fertility, & sometimes even their very lives- I've seen so many young people end up destroying their health & often dying from the medical complications of pursuing a trans identity.
For example, this distraught woman is painfully well meaning: "Close, trusting affinity groups can mobilize quickly to protect immigrants, trans people, pregnant people, women, Muslims, Jews, people with disabilities, people of color — those who will be attacked, deported, penalized, or threatened. Affinity groups could be prepared to flood airports again if there are Muslim bans, shelter refugees, file court cases, accompany women heading for clinics, provide sanctuary in houses of worship, and protect those at the border."
When you abandon logic, reason, and rational thought you find yourself going over the cliff. Allowing biological males to compete in women sports among other things drove voters away. Predictable in my point of view.
My question has been where were the feminists? Why did they not stand up and denounce the destruction of women’s sports? They fought for women’s rights then just disappeared.
And then there are "Intersectional Feminists", which means they agree that Women don't get to define who a Woman is. They are basically endorsing the idea that women's role is, as ever, to accommodate everyone besides Women. Actually advocating for Women's rights would be in poor taste.
As we know, Black people get to decide who is Black. Native Americans decide who is Native American. Jews have their own standards for who is Jewish. Self identification based on "inner conviction" doesn't cut it with any of those groups, and demanding or insisting will get you nowhere -- and nobody would expect it to. But women, who have in common a physical claim to freedom from domination (by men) and to safety (from abuse by men) must get up and serve the coffee to Trans Women, who are, apparently, more to be admired for their "courage".
The real Feminists (Second Wave, either "liberal" or "radical") are shunned and reviled for being TERFs ("Trans exclusionary") and get deplatformed, fired, canceled, and sent death threats by "Trans Allies". They've been vocal nevertheless, I assure you. It's just that it's considered Transphobic to listen to them.
Thank you for that articulate and SUCCINCT synopsis, CP. Am going to memorize its embedded bullet points so that I have a script to invent from when needed.
Bravo, Kara! We’re here, standing with you, and deeply grateful for all the incredible work you’ve done to advance women’s rights in America. Thank you so much!
The book mainly focuses on where the Democrats as a whole get their funding, and the influence it has on their decisions. Her section on the Republicans is very short. If you have read her book you will know what I meant in the comment.
It was the word ‘Latinx’ which drove Latino voters to the Republican side. It was that picture of Lia (Will) Thomas, a man pretending to be a woman on a women’s swim team. Winning. Of course.
Ben I’m with you 1000%. This stuff is so obnoxious and toxic.
Yes indeed. I’ll say it. He won. He’s a man. He won because he’s a man. Apparently this truth is not allowed to be told because it’s ‘cruel.’ What’s cruel is indulging in someone else’s delusions to the detriment of all women.
Seriously? He won because he has more qualifications than Kamala. He was President previously and people did well under his administration. He talked about his policies. She never articulated her policies. Never. She got the soft treatment from the media and never directly answered a question. It was frustrating. Speaking of the detriment to women were you happy for the destruction of women’s sports by the transgender nonsense? Where were you on that mess? At least Trump recognizes the destruction that is being done to our culture.
Oh I misunderstood. Thanks for clarifying. Since I’ve seen the talking heads saying you need to vote for Kamala because she is a woman I made the leap. My bad.
It’s not cruel, it’s simply your opinion. I wouldn’t have been happy with a Harris win either, and I doubt I’d be feeling a little more hopeful a week later. I think she would have been a terrible President and fed the notion that women don’t have what it takes to lead a nation, despite many other women past and present having done it. I think if Hillary Clinton had possessed Trump’s confidence, brashness, assertiveness, and communication powers, she’d have trounced his dumb orange ass. But really, NSYA, do you really think that’s it? Because he’s a man? Is it possible she just ran a really gawdawful campaign and didn’t speak to anyone except the 8% of ‘progressives’?
Yes! Well said! And I know you know, Ben, but others may not know that DIAG (Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender, a new nonprofit) is right there with you. Our numbers are growing. Y'all check us out at di-ag.org
Such a perfect encapsulation of my feelings and that of many women I know. An under appreciated aspect of this election was the democrat women who didn’t vote for Harris because of gender ideology. Those voters are going to be lost in the analysis, but they contributed to her loss as did others who didn’t show up. I voted L and didn’t vote for the dem for the first time ever, and it felt GOOD. It felt good to reject the terrible sanctimony of Democrat voters and their leaders who let it all happen. It felt satisfying to deal the people a blow who let people’s livelihoods get stolen and dismantled female spaces. It felt amazing to reject them for the first time, especially because I was expected to vote for the first Indian American to be president (even though she doesn’t identify as Indian American). Trump said one of the first things he’d do was outlaw “transitioning” children, and I found myself nodding along because it’s a reasonable position that children shouldn’t become lifelong patients of the medical industrial complex. If you keep capitulating to bullies who tell you the other bully is worse, I can see why people chose the other one. I think Dems needed their stranglehold on POC broken to this degree to force a reckoning. But still, many aren’t reckoning at all with how they might have driven their supposed natural constituency into trumps arms and are instead pathologizing them.
I don't know how to fix the psychic damage that the rhetoric around this election has created. Most of my friends truly believe that over half the country is racist, sexist, and hates trans people. A friend's trans tween is under medical care for depression and despondent. I'm personally much more hopeful than that, but the echo chambers are real, and seem impenetrable. Even saying, "it's complicated " is seen as complicity in LGBTQ and Gazan genocide. It's going to be a long time before people can hear each other again, and I hope we can move forward with compassion and good faith. But I worry that the national anxiety, and the deep divisions, are too strong, especially for young people.
Give it some time. I was kinda depressed last week but I was surprised to read this and realize someone else had been feeling a little hopeful too. The Republicans are going to open up an investigation in January into the withholding of information about gender treatments for kids that the Biden administration (via Rachel Leveine). The death knell tolls for the cult.
I keep in mind that the woke/trans cult will probably be replaced by an equally toxic fundamentalist Christian cult. So I'm hopeful now, and there are other things Trump has promised to do that I'm hoping for, but I also expect I'll probably hate most of what the guy does. Unless the Republicans who *aren't* half-senile and ready to retire realize they could stay in power longer if they cool it with their own totalitarian impulses. It's a small hope.
FWIW, I doubt that will happen (the fundy Christian cult thing). The vast majority of Christians are neither fundies nor authoritarians, and at worst just want to preach the love of Jesus at you rather than force you to join their religion. (Though, Trump-ish people might well allow more freedom to express Christian beliefs publicly, which could be uncomfortable or feel like "imposing a Christian cult" to people who've been hurt or abused by religion.)
Has something changed since I left twenty years ago? Because they were theocratic nightmares when I was still living in the States. Love of censorship, racist, sexist, homophobic…
Well, I suspect they would still fall into "sexist and homophobic" by your standards. But my experience has been a lot less inclination to censorship and banning things, compared to the 90s when they were trying to outlaw violent video games and D&D. The "let's outlaw gay people" camp is really tiny compared to the size of progressive christians ("just believe the bits of the bible that feel right to you") and tolerant evangelicals ("I believe it all and I will tell you why, but I also believe in your right to call me a bigoted religious nut in response").
(Edit to add--- there are also churches that don't actively want to regulate people outside their congregation but are really controlling and abusive to the members. They are gross and need to stop, too.)
That sounds like maybe they *have* improved a little. Interesting. We don't have too many of them here in Toronto - well, not as in-your-face as they are in the US, although I ran into one sweet little teenager a few years ago in the park who told me God had told her to come talk to me. I told her God was playing a joke on her, and that he knows if he wants me back in the Christian fold he can call me himself and I will respond. But we had a nice conversation--she was such a sweet kid and her approach was better than the Bible-thumping I was used to in the States. Our Christians are just overall nicer here.
I'll talk to my family about this next week when I'm visiting for Thanksgiving. We have two Trumpers in the family, both Christians, but only one will be there this year. We all get along fine, not just by family fiat but because we all just accept each other. We also had, before she passed away a few years ago, a conservative Christian who was pro-life but also believed women should have the right to make the abortion decision. It sounds like maybe the Bible-thumpers have tempered themselves somewhat (although they're still trying to ban books from libraries and bookstores, competing with their left-wing banners and censors).
All interesting ahead, especially if he puts his money where his mouth is. I hope he acts on his words. More than that, I hope many, many more on both sides see the truth.
Thank you for this thoughtful perspective. I am a longtime democrat whose mind was blown open by Covid tyranny these last four years. The censorship of scientists and doctors, and suppression of real Science, led me to vote in a way I never thought I would. Though beyond the scope of the reasons you mention, I appreciate the thoughtful analysis of how the party of the so-called “educated” (I, too, am a Columbia grad) abandoned many of us who continue to think critically.
Good article and I agree with much of it. But I think you are forgetting that a formidable number of democrats left the party in 2020 after witnessing the insane medical authoritarianism of the left. The democrats were the ones fully endorsing destructive mandates that destroyed many small businesses and robbed many nurses, firefighters, military, police and other working and middle class people of their jobs/careers. They completely abandoned “my body my choice” (except for abortion) and embraced apartheid policies and the aggressive censorship of opposing views. They were openly hostile to anyone objecting to forced experimental shots or prolonged school closures that hurt the most vulnerable. They also maligned RFK jr and supported the lawfare that took him off the ballot. I left the party in disgust in 2020 along with millions of other new medical freedom voters. We voted MAHA, and are also relieved. Oh yeah, I also graduated from Barnard, the former “feminist” women’s college that now admits biological males.
Yes, the federal mask and shot mandates were under Biden, but I live in CA and the democrats (Newsom and the CDPH and local county boards) forced lockdowns and masks on us in 2020. And vilified anyone opposing them.
Most of us Trump voters feel the same way...his personality and communication style are..ugh. But if you can decode him, his message is is one of common sense, peace and prosperity for everyone. He's managed to remake the Republican Party from Neocon to Big Tent.
Thank you! you have eloquently expressed exactly how I feel. I’m skeptical that Trump can overcome his craziness to be a positive force, but the rejection of Democratic wokism feels right.
Bravo, Ben! Your words are incredibly powerful—exactly the voice I’ve been searching for. Like you, I’ve felt like I’m shouting into the void. I joined Kara Dansky’s movement and signed The Democratic Women’s Declaration for this very reason. The LGB community has been vocal because, as J.K. Rowling eloquently put it, ‘If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.’
Yeah, It's pretty strange. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Trump, but my feelings of despair at Harris' loss have failed to materialize. I keep thinking... I must be sad and horrified...right? Right?
But the fact is, there has been, on the Left, a full-on assault on material reality (like, is there not a word specifically denoting those humans capable of gestating a baby?) and on the basic ethical rules that apply to everyone. (No, it's not ok to humiliate people in public or deprive them of their livelihoods for not sharing your beliefs about how "gender identity" works, nor to force them to submit to "re-education" for thinking Black people -- like all human beings, frankly -- are capable of being racist, and no, it is not laudable to cheer while a psychopathic terrorist group burns whole families alive, rapes girls to death, and murders babies in front of their screaming parents. Not even if it's an act of "decolonialization".
But hey, who would ever have guessed that "Social Justice" projects inspired by Foucault, of all people (who wanted to normalize sex between men and small boys) would not actually benefit society? The fact is, all this has exhausted me even more than I realized.
Am I nervous about Trump? Sure. But I'm hoping that the fact that the Republicans won, in part, by actually paying attention to the science and the principles of good medicine, will ultimately chase some of the bats out of MY party's belfry. Post-Modern "Social Justice" is neither "Social" nor "Justice". It's a mind-f**k.
Before I knew what was going on, I was so used to thinking of Donald Trump as P.T. Barnum, with the Republicans playing the part of the suckered. And then it turned out the truly one-born-every-minute Democratic leadership was toeing a line drawn by the Pritzker-backed Trans lobby. It's been quite an eye-opening experience, let's say. And it ain't over yet.
As a lifetime Democrat who is now unable to trust the Democratic Party, I feel like the meme is coming true:
“Are *we* the baddies?”
Yes, the Democrats are the baddies. Could Mr Con Man actually be the good guy? Mind blowing.
Well, no, I don't think Trump is the "good guy". I just think the Democrats have been showing a remarkable lack of common sense.
They've basically been investing in, and/or pandering to, those trying to impose the tenets of a destructive religion (which it is heresy to contradict or even question). The method being used by Post-Modern "Social Justice" movements is the dismantling of the fundamental elements of a civil society (including fundamental ethics based on human equality and mutual responsibility), in favor of Tribalism and anarchy.
So it's pretty brainless (and/or gullible) not to say, "Hey, wait a minute, we're saying we have to reject Trump's dystopia, and do what, build our own, that feels even closer to home? Are we really thinking all those people who have been keeping quiet and not saying what they really think about this crap are nevertheless going to vote for it?" Well, guess what. Many of them voted no.
My point is, that because the Democratic party (at very least) sucked up to one well-heeled lobby rather than reading the room [the frying pan], we've likely now ended up in an autocracy [the fire]. Trump may indeed help dismantle the power of the Post Modernists. And that pleases me. But he'll likely take down our Democracy as well.
Great.
Democracy just worked. Trump will right the ship
We are a Constitutional Republic. Democracy is mob rule which is what the Democrat party has been pushing for years. They have always been the party of racism, KKK and haven’t been for the working class since the 60’s. I lived through it. Johnson’s New Deal destroyed the black family by promoting welfare and taking the man out of the family and replacing him with government. Trump is just working on common sense and the American dream. Be honest and look back at how he lifted up Americans in his first administration despite being harassed by the Uniparty who was afraid he would upset their gravy train. Prosperity for all regardless of race, sexual orientation or any other class that the Democrats like to put people in to control them. Trump is about freedom and we in America have the best opportunity to achieve whatever you put your mind to. Why do you think people immigrate here? Join us, let us go back to being Americans, let us be proud of our country and not hate it, let us go back to the time before Obama pushed race relations back 50 years. I want to just live my life without government interference. Let’s be happy and laugh again. Let us make America great again together. Peace to all.
If you stop letting the Legacy Media narrate your narrative you would see that Elon was great as long as he was producing trendy EVs and even rocket ships, then he bought Twitter, restored free speech and became "a total nut case." Bobby Jr was fine as long as he was an environmental warrior (so Kennedyesque) but when he saw the science about the vaccine injuries and corrupt Pharma (and Fauci, TLS), he became "a total nut case." Tulsi Gabbard was a fine Dem Congresswoman until she turned against the warmongering plank of the DNC and became a "total nut case." JD Vance was an interesting study, a hillbilly who righted the ship and went to Yale (ah, Yale!) until he turned out to actually care about the poor classes of Ohio and Kentucky and became a "total nut case."
Don't any of you pick up a pattern there?
Meanwhile the entire barnyard of actual nutcases--Yellow Pony Soldier meets Corn Pop meets strange kids at his pool while lifeguarding and does strange things with a cohort of Lolitas and younger--cringe--while the cameras are rolling, Karine who proved someone could be dumber than Jen--a dumb and dumber duo, Admiral Levine, the guy who stole women's clothes at the airport--Sam Brinton . . .
You had a faux Prez (on so many levels) in Biden, who has been missing neural connections for at least a decade, appointed by the committee and then ousted (shall we say coup) by the committee who then installed Ms Word Salad who never got a single vote for anything, a border which paid for 15 million foreigners to achieve a soft invasion, an intentional distruction of the Dollar as the world currency, a blowing up of the national balance sheet such as we've never seen, not even during the world war . . . and somehow Trump who has risked it all is not "the good guy."???
The Democrats have morphed into the Party of Death--they even ran their entire campaign shouting Abortion! and not even pretending it was about the bogus words of "reproductive health" and "the right to body integrity". They want the right to murder fetuses, vaccinate with wild abandon to destroy children's lives or just outright kill them (see SIDs etc), after that destroy childrens' lives by drugging them (mostly boys) into submission and then chemically or surgically castrating and spaying them, and visiting Death on foreign lands via proxy wars under the rubric of "Nation Building" or "Defeating the Latest Hitler"--gotta keep destroying those Ukrainian towns and villages in order to save them--and then assisted-suiciding anyone who might be feeling blue.
Did I mention all the endless warmongering from the Democrats, and Republicans, lining up behind Kamala Wamala? You know you are really into Death when not only the Clinton faction and the Obama faction of Warmongers Are Us are pushing their low IQ candidate, but WMD Bush and the Two Cheney clowns throw all their chips in as well. Death, Death, Death . . . gee, are we the baddies?
Trump is not the answer?
You still have an extremely long row to hoe, at least 4 years long.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/30/meet-sam-brinton-non-binary-biden-official-arrested-over-stolen-suitcase/
Great comment
Excellent commentary!
F'n TRUMPAMANIA baby! 🐥
Did he take down the democracy the first time and I just never heard abt it?
No, but then he was expecting to lose, and was a bumbling idiot as president, surrounded by people keeping him in check. This time he's been granted immunity by the Supreme Court, he's surrounded by his own hand-picked cronies, and he knows exactly what he wants.
As though Biden and Harris were not surrounded by their own cronies? These cronies brought the misery we have been dealing with the last 4 years. Inflation is insidious. Couple that with everything else that defined this administration and you can feel the anxiety. I am relieved that the course direction has been altered. In the end, it comes down to one’s self-interest whatever that might be for each of us. Harris and Walz were not in my “self-interest.” The binary choice for me was easy.
The Supreme Court did not grant him the immunity you are imagining. They created three categories, with one giving complete immunity to actions traditionally, completely, unquestionably within the role of the President (as has been customary throughout our history); one giving NO immunity to actions that have no Executive function, like murdering someone; and for the third category, for actions that arguably might/might not be functions of the President, it created a framework of analysis to help determine whether it was an act that deserved immunity or not. In fact, many legal scholars have said that it can be read to *limit* the immunity of the Office of the President in ways that we have not previously seen.
You know that same immunity belongs also to Biden? And every president before him… the immunity the Supreme Court "granted" was only a clarification. The immunity extends only to acts done while acting in the office of president. It doesn't cover personal acts, even personal act done while president. I'm really ashamed of our legacy media who does not explain these things clearly, but creates fear and loathing instead.
I would hope that the Democratic Party would take this as a wake up call, go back to the drawing board, assess who they are and who they are serving. They could take this next four years and come out strong if they had the right message and some good leadership.
i, happily, do not think he will take down our democracy/constitutional republic. i wasn't a mainstream news watcher for many years unless something big was going down, like an election. then, like so many others, i believed much of what the media said. i did not vote for trump in 2016 or 2020 (write-in that year) because of that, and because i was put off by his 'style'. as a former federal employee, i was aware of enough to know our gov't has gotten far too big, employees were not held accountable and a sh*t ton of (our) money was wasted. it took me longer than i care to admit to realize just how far & wide the poison/media control had spread. one silver lining to covid (and retirement) is that i had the time to do my own research on many 'issues' that concerned me. i was fully prepared to vote for rfk jr. this time but, independents were denied an opportunity to vote. so, i paid even closer attention to trump. thankfully, i never did reach the level of hate so many have for him. i still don't care for his style, but it's no longer a listening barrier for me. i watched & listened to who he was bringing into the fold and i liked what i saw, heard and read from them and independent journalists and others whose voices the biden admin tried to shut down. so, i voted for trump. now i'll be keeping an even closer eye on him, as i expect most who voted for him will be, as well. if he stays true to course i think we have the best chance we've had in many, many years to course-correct our county.
I can only ask you to consider that the powers-that-be pushing a 'destructive religion' or cult (heresy even to question) bent on dismantling fundamental and ethical elements of civilization, that made many people afraid to express their honest thoughts and opinions... those powers-that-be may have not been honestly presenting Trump or his intentions.
Leadership rejecting common sense reality and suppressing honesty among their own followers deserve NO benefit of the doubt regarding assertions about all of the rest of us who sincerely and emphatically reject their cult of anti-civilization. Even Trump.
How will he take down democracy?
I didn't vote for Trump, but I didn't vote for Harris either; I wrote in Nikki Haley's name. I was relieved Harris lost and knew I would be; but the light-heartedness I feel at Trump's swamping the Democrats and in lesser races at the victories against crime and drugs is really something.
My family is in mourning. Too bad. And very weird: You'd think they'd been told they had cancer or something.
Your comment is as good as the article. I think what’s happening is that there is a new party emerging. Trump is not really a republican, he just won under that name. That’s why many of the republicans are freaking out. I truly hope that this new group can right the ship. Great comment
Exactly. Trump is a moderate; could've frankly run on either ticket. Let's hope he fills his cabinet with the best people for the job rather than people who tick boxes.
Fat chance…
We'll have to wait and see. I like the Stefanik, Waltz, Noem, Homen, and Patel picks. Withholding judgement on Wiles, Hegseth, Ratcliffe, Zeldin, Rubio, and McMahon. I don't trust Vivek.
Absolutely! A new Party - great idea!
I’m glad I’m not alone — I’ve had a really similar reaction to the election.
On X, at least, election breakdowns are pointing to trans issues being a notable factor for swing voters *not* voting for Harris.
And yet the comments under these studies are full of liberals saying the voters were “wrong”, that this is a made up issue, that Trump is making something out of nothing.
Does not bode well for democrats if they can’t read the writing on the wall.
In the most direct sense they literally lost Elon Musk and half of Silicon Valley when they mutilated his child over trans.
There's a good movie plot there.
Overreach is the word of the decade, in every way and on all fronts.
Yeah, it’s only a “non-issue” if it doesn’t help a major party win or lose an election.
It’s such a huge deal that people lose their jobs and friend circles over not agreeing with the nonsense, but it’s also totally not a big deal.
These people need to pick a damn lane.
💯
So far from what I’ve read, they seem determined to keep their heads up their a**es, but hopefully that’s temporary. 🙏🏼
Some will keep their heads up their asses. But those who actually want to win elections will disregard the Alt Left idiots and appeal to basic commonsense and biological reality.
And how about really meaning "my body, my choice" with regard to experimental medical procedures, as well and abandoning the notion of "Abortion on demand (meaning at any time of pregnancy without question), no apologies."? Just one of several hypocrisies and lack of accepting any limits which the left has been engaging in for many years now.
And this to the “bodily autonomy” list: How about getting rid of the draft?
We haven't technically had a draft in years. Males sign up for "selective service" (in case of the need for a draft) but our military has been volunteer for a long time.
Women dodged a bullet. The Democrats just passed a bill in the Senate requiring women to register for the draft. No wonder they embraced warmonger Liz Cheney. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4730560-senate-democrats-require-women-draft/
There may be many millions of people not willing to believe them again for a few decades or generations.
Don’t count on it. I think the globalist have infiltrated what used to be the Party of the people.
As I've said to a number of my freaking out friends , calling everyone who voted Trump in "Nazis!", I think a lot of people watched the Olympics. You can't unsee the Algerian (m) boxer beat the Italian (f) boxer to a pulp and get awarded the Gold Medal. That is visceral and hard for anyone who is in touch w/ their humanity to vote for!
Like you, I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either. Like you, I had been a Democratic voter. But when it was clear the Republicans had won, I felt relief! I am so surprised by how hopeful I’m feeling.
I’m bracing myself for disappointment but Trump and Vance could not have been clearer about why gender ideology is wrong and what they will do to attack it. Trump’s statement was comprehensive (going after insurance coverage, big pharma, hospital networks, NIH funding, DOE).
The MSM barely mentions this issue, waving it away as fearmongering from the Right. But this is fundamental and is touching a wider and wider portion of the electorate.
The puzzlement over why so many Muslims voted for Trump despite his pro Israel stance is possibly explained by this issue. Those communities don’t want schools transing their children.
I look forward to January 2025 more than I had before.
That’s a really good point about the Muslim communities who voted for him. I also suspect they respect a strongman, and in the end that played better than a candidate like Kamala.
I was sort of surprised by that. You'd think they'd go for the party that dislikes Israel as much as they do.
Yeah I think in the end, strength matters more. Trump can say to them “I’m gonna bring the war to an end” and they believe him more than Biden/Harris. Plenty in MAGA don’t want us sending money overseas for *any* war, so it’s like this weird crossover where he manages to appeal to both sides. Wild
Trump lies out his ass, or just loses interest in projects, but we’ll see what happens. He’ll surely role back Biden’s Title IX nonsense and make it safe for women to compete with real women again. And I expect he’ll put an end to kiddie sex changes and make it safe for kids to grow up gay in peace again. And I sure support getting Critical Everything Nonsense out of the schools, although NOT for abolishing the Dept of Education. I doubt Trump education will be any better than what we’ve currently got now; likely he’ll substitute extremist Christian crap for the woke crap kids are getting now. Same old cult, different leader.
FWIW, My entire family is conservative Christian. The Christians felt sidelined during this campaign, especially the pro-lifers. The only place I hear about Christian Nationalism is from liberal sources. I hear zero about it from the many many Christians I know IRL. I think it’s a scare tactic for the Left, personally. IMO The real problem is teaching stuff like gender identity—an unscientific belief system akin to believing in souls—in public schools. They need to get all of that and all the identity politics out. Intersectionality is a theory akin to a conspiracy theory and it’s fine to believe it, but you can’t just teach it to everyone else’s kids. No religion in schools, period.
The federal
Government should not be involved in educating the populace. That is the function of the states. See the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
As you pontificate on education, perhaps you should get some.
The department of education. Is misnamed. They don’t determine curriculum, or what can or cannot be said on campuses. They don’t regulate teachers. All of those things are done at the state level.
The roll of the department of education is to ensure everyone has access to education.
This includes helping states with funding for things like accessibility, special education, and alternative types of education like career technical training.
These are all outside of the funding streams of most school districts, and without the DoE would most likely cease to be available.
Still under the TDS spell 😔
Millions and millions of Muslims are neither Arabs nor from the Middle East. I've known and worked with Muslims overseas, in countries they run and don't run, in the ME and far from the ME. By a gigantic margin they are more conservative and family focused than the average "united Methodist" or Episcopalian, etc., in the US. Don't mistake the vocal minority (radicalized by opportunistic governments or local leaders) for the essential nature of these communities and individuals. The ones who make the news are problematic but not, in my experience, representative.
True dat….but I will say, having lived in Toronto for nearly twenty years with a large Muslim population…there does seem to be an ugly thread of antisemitism that runs throughout. It can be radical ‘kill all the Jews’ or it could be, as I’ve more commonly encountered, “So why did no Jews die on 9/11?” People who would NEVER hurt another person, who can converse happily with Jews, but there’s that ugly thread there buried deeper within. Kinda like the folks who get along fine with blacks but wouldn’t want their daughter to marry one. Or who privately think they’re criminal. And the unquestioning support of Gaza with Hamas and Hezbollah bother me greatly. Can’t they support the Gazans without the other two? Why aren’t they willing to condemn the latter two more?
I couldn't bring myself to vote either, after having been a reliable Democratic voter since I was old enough to cast a ballot (2008).
Democrats and American liberals made a grave error and did themselves and the rest of us a great disservice when they adopted Critical Theory ideology as their new sacred belief system.
While more post-Marxist than Marxist, Crit Theory was created by Marxists and thus comes with the patterns of thought typical of all Marxists: A highly reductive and oversimplified view of human conflict; a dogmatic belief in the superior virtue of the Oppressed; an obsession with rooting out ideological impurity and suppressing dissent; and the replacement of equality before the law with WHO/WHOM.
Crit Theory operates like a cult and turns all its true believers essentially into cult members: they can no longer think or debate and thus have to immediately resort to ad hominems and other vicious attacks against their opponents (e.g. JK Rowling, Jordan Peterson, and all those many cancelled profs and performers); they all become roving Stasi and agents of the Thought Police, bullying people into using their language through moral blackmail and emotional manipulation; they intensely and punitively moralize and politicize every aspect of life, tearing apart families and relationships, poisoning art and threatening artists with career destruction if they refuse to obey, and making it impossible for us to do anything from shopping to fucking without tiptoeing through an ideological minefield.
I'm really hoping this election deals a fatal wound to the control of our culture by Social Justice zealots, but both cults and Marxists have always been impervious to evidence and to reality. The Democrats would be wise to amputate their academia/activist wing—even if just for their blatant raging illiberalism—but as for the Ivy League and the rest of our upscale educated betters, I doubt that even a nuke dropped on Harvard Yard would dent their certitude. But at least they took a solid punch to the nose this week, and that's a good first step.
If early days are anything to go on, the Maoist rainbow cult is doubling down in blue states. They're asking/demanding "ally statements" be posted in schools and shunning anyone not kowtowing to far left slogans as a Nazi-racist-transphobe. Things could get worse before (or if) they get better.
Yes, I'm afraid of that, too. My own daughter (in college) is worried that Trans people are in danger of being "massacred". I don't know how to tell her that she's being played. More hype and fear-mongering is coming our way.
Honest question. May I ask who is supposed to do this to trans people? And why? I feel trans people have been brainwashed and abused by those who are pushing this dangerous ideology. They have destroyed detransitioners’ lives. It’s horrible. College is pure indoctrination now. I’m past the age of having children in college so am trying to understand what’s being done to that generation.
Literally the only "trans genocide" is the cult indoctrinators stealing these children's future fertility, & sometimes even their very lives- I've seen so many young people end up destroying their health & often dying from the medical complications of pursuing a trans identity.
Check out Exulansic here on Substack to find the best presentations on these kind of medical horror stories
For example, this distraught woman is painfully well meaning: "Close, trusting affinity groups can mobilize quickly to protect immigrants, trans people, pregnant people, women, Muslims, Jews, people with disabilities, people of color — those who will be attacked, deported, penalized, or threatened. Affinity groups could be prepared to flood airports again if there are Muslim bans, shelter refugees, file court cases, accompany women heading for clinics, provide sanctuary in houses of worship, and protect those at the border."
https://www.gazettenet.com/Columnist-Ayvazian-57950856
When you abandon logic, reason, and rational thought you find yourself going over the cliff. Allowing biological males to compete in women sports among other things drove voters away. Predictable in my point of view.
My question has been where were the feminists? Why did they not stand up and denounce the destruction of women’s sports? They fought for women’s rights then just disappeared.
Many feminists fought and are still fighting trans ideology, but most were canceled and deplatformed. Lots of them are here on Substack, thankfully.
And then there are "Intersectional Feminists", which means they agree that Women don't get to define who a Woman is. They are basically endorsing the idea that women's role is, as ever, to accommodate everyone besides Women. Actually advocating for Women's rights would be in poor taste.
As we know, Black people get to decide who is Black. Native Americans decide who is Native American. Jews have their own standards for who is Jewish. Self identification based on "inner conviction" doesn't cut it with any of those groups, and demanding or insisting will get you nowhere -- and nobody would expect it to. But women, who have in common a physical claim to freedom from domination (by men) and to safety (from abuse by men) must get up and serve the coffee to Trans Women, who are, apparently, more to be admired for their "courage".
The real Feminists (Second Wave, either "liberal" or "radical") are shunned and reviled for being TERFs ("Trans exclusionary") and get deplatformed, fired, canceled, and sent death threats by "Trans Allies". They've been vocal nevertheless, I assure you. It's just that it's considered Transphobic to listen to them.
Thank you for that articulate and SUCCINCT synopsis, CP. Am going to memorize its embedded bullet points so that I have a script to invent from when needed.
thanks feel free
I love this comment so much - thank you!
thanks! much appreciated
My acquaintance, who actually grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution, wrote a book about this, called "Moa's America"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123027175-mao-s-america
"But after four years of screaming into the void, it’s vindicating to watch Democrats finally reckon with what they’ve been getting wrong." Shameless book promotion incoming: https://www.amazon.com/Reckoning-Democrats-Betrayed-Women-Girls/dp/B0CN32BXC2
Bravo, Kara! We’re here, standing with you, and deeply grateful for all the incredible work you’ve done to advance women’s rights in America. Thank you so much!
I’ve just been reading it. Thank you, it explains a lot, including that Republicans may be influenced by where their funding comes from.
All political parties are influenced by where their funding comes from. Harris spent over $1B and is $20+M still in debt. Trump had $425M.
The book mainly focuses on where the Democrats as a whole get their funding, and the influence it has on their decisions. Her section on the Republicans is very short. If you have read her book you will know what I meant in the comment.
Buying it as I read
looks like a great book! thanks for questioning the new narrative. brave thing to do these days!
looks great!!!
It was the word ‘Latinx’ which drove Latino voters to the Republican side. It was that picture of Lia (Will) Thomas, a man pretending to be a woman on a women’s swim team. Winning. Of course.
Ben I’m with you 1000%. This stuff is so obnoxious and toxic.
You forgot the quotes around 'winning'....
Yes indeed. I’ll say it. He won. He’s a man. He won because he’s a man. Apparently this truth is not allowed to be told because it’s ‘cruel.’ What’s cruel is indulging in someone else’s delusions to the detriment of all women.
Seriously? He won because he has more qualifications than Kamala. He was President previously and people did well under his administration. He talked about his policies. She never articulated her policies. Never. She got the soft treatment from the media and never directly answered a question. It was frustrating. Speaking of the detriment to women were you happy for the destruction of women’s sports by the transgender nonsense? Where were you on that mess? At least Trump recognizes the destruction that is being done to our culture.
not so young is referring to the Thomas not Trump.
Oh I misunderstood. Thanks for clarifying. Since I’ve seen the talking heads saying you need to vote for Kamala because she is a woman I made the leap. My bad.
It’s not cruel, it’s simply your opinion. I wouldn’t have been happy with a Harris win either, and I doubt I’d be feeling a little more hopeful a week later. I think she would have been a terrible President and fed the notion that women don’t have what it takes to lead a nation, despite many other women past and present having done it. I think if Hillary Clinton had possessed Trump’s confidence, brashness, assertiveness, and communication powers, she’d have trounced his dumb orange ass. But really, NSYA, do you really think that’s it? Because he’s a man? Is it possible she just ran a really gawdawful campaign and didn’t speak to anyone except the 8% of ‘progressives’?
He brought much needed male energy
It's true; we don't want to be called "Latinx". It's lame
Yes! Well said! And I know you know, Ben, but others may not know that DIAG (Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender, a new nonprofit) is right there with you. Our numbers are growing. Y'all check us out at di-ag.org
Genuinely thought that acronym stood for “Die In A Grease-Fire.”
Lolololllll
Such a perfect encapsulation of my feelings and that of many women I know. An under appreciated aspect of this election was the democrat women who didn’t vote for Harris because of gender ideology. Those voters are going to be lost in the analysis, but they contributed to her loss as did others who didn’t show up. I voted L and didn’t vote for the dem for the first time ever, and it felt GOOD. It felt good to reject the terrible sanctimony of Democrat voters and their leaders who let it all happen. It felt satisfying to deal the people a blow who let people’s livelihoods get stolen and dismantled female spaces. It felt amazing to reject them for the first time, especially because I was expected to vote for the first Indian American to be president (even though she doesn’t identify as Indian American). Trump said one of the first things he’d do was outlaw “transitioning” children, and I found myself nodding along because it’s a reasonable position that children shouldn’t become lifelong patients of the medical industrial complex. If you keep capitulating to bullies who tell you the other bully is worse, I can see why people chose the other one. I think Dems needed their stranglehold on POC broken to this degree to force a reckoning. But still, many aren’t reckoning at all with how they might have driven their supposed natural constituency into trumps arms and are instead pathologizing them.
Exactly.
I don't know how to fix the psychic damage that the rhetoric around this election has created. Most of my friends truly believe that over half the country is racist, sexist, and hates trans people. A friend's trans tween is under medical care for depression and despondent. I'm personally much more hopeful than that, but the echo chambers are real, and seem impenetrable. Even saying, "it's complicated " is seen as complicity in LGBTQ and Gazan genocide. It's going to be a long time before people can hear each other again, and I hope we can move forward with compassion and good faith. But I worry that the national anxiety, and the deep divisions, are too strong, especially for young people.
Give it some time. I was kinda depressed last week but I was surprised to read this and realize someone else had been feeling a little hopeful too. The Republicans are going to open up an investigation in January into the withholding of information about gender treatments for kids that the Biden administration (via Rachel Leveine). The death knell tolls for the cult.
I keep in mind that the woke/trans cult will probably be replaced by an equally toxic fundamentalist Christian cult. So I'm hopeful now, and there are other things Trump has promised to do that I'm hoping for, but I also expect I'll probably hate most of what the guy does. Unless the Republicans who *aren't* half-senile and ready to retire realize they could stay in power longer if they cool it with their own totalitarian impulses. It's a small hope.
FWIW, I doubt that will happen (the fundy Christian cult thing). The vast majority of Christians are neither fundies nor authoritarians, and at worst just want to preach the love of Jesus at you rather than force you to join their religion. (Though, Trump-ish people might well allow more freedom to express Christian beliefs publicly, which could be uncomfortable or feel like "imposing a Christian cult" to people who've been hurt or abused by religion.)
Has something changed since I left twenty years ago? Because they were theocratic nightmares when I was still living in the States. Love of censorship, racist, sexist, homophobic…
Same old regime, same as the last, too.
Well, I suspect they would still fall into "sexist and homophobic" by your standards. But my experience has been a lot less inclination to censorship and banning things, compared to the 90s when they were trying to outlaw violent video games and D&D. The "let's outlaw gay people" camp is really tiny compared to the size of progressive christians ("just believe the bits of the bible that feel right to you") and tolerant evangelicals ("I believe it all and I will tell you why, but I also believe in your right to call me a bigoted religious nut in response").
(Edit to add--- there are also churches that don't actively want to regulate people outside their congregation but are really controlling and abusive to the members. They are gross and need to stop, too.)
That sounds like maybe they *have* improved a little. Interesting. We don't have too many of them here in Toronto - well, not as in-your-face as they are in the US, although I ran into one sweet little teenager a few years ago in the park who told me God had told her to come talk to me. I told her God was playing a joke on her, and that he knows if he wants me back in the Christian fold he can call me himself and I will respond. But we had a nice conversation--she was such a sweet kid and her approach was better than the Bible-thumping I was used to in the States. Our Christians are just overall nicer here.
I'll talk to my family about this next week when I'm visiting for Thanksgiving. We have two Trumpers in the family, both Christians, but only one will be there this year. We all get along fine, not just by family fiat but because we all just accept each other. We also had, before she passed away a few years ago, a conservative Christian who was pro-life but also believed women should have the right to make the abortion decision. It sounds like maybe the Bible-thumpers have tempered themselves somewhat (although they're still trying to ban books from libraries and bookstores, competing with their left-wing banners and censors).
All interesting ahead, especially if he puts his money where his mouth is. I hope he acts on his words. More than that, I hope many, many more on both sides see the truth.
Thank you for this thoughtful perspective. I am a longtime democrat whose mind was blown open by Covid tyranny these last four years. The censorship of scientists and doctors, and suppression of real Science, led me to vote in a way I never thought I would. Though beyond the scope of the reasons you mention, I appreciate the thoughtful analysis of how the party of the so-called “educated” (I, too, am a Columbia grad) abandoned many of us who continue to think critically.
I also voted for Kamala, and I also rejoiced at her resounding defeat, for all the reasons you said. Strange times indeed
Good article and I agree with much of it. But I think you are forgetting that a formidable number of democrats left the party in 2020 after witnessing the insane medical authoritarianism of the left. The democrats were the ones fully endorsing destructive mandates that destroyed many small businesses and robbed many nurses, firefighters, military, police and other working and middle class people of their jobs/careers. They completely abandoned “my body my choice” (except for abortion) and embraced apartheid policies and the aggressive censorship of opposing views. They were openly hostile to anyone objecting to forced experimental shots or prolonged school closures that hurt the most vulnerable. They also maligned RFK jr and supported the lawfare that took him off the ballot. I left the party in disgust in 2020 along with millions of other new medical freedom voters. We voted MAHA, and are also relieved. Oh yeah, I also graduated from Barnard, the former “feminist” women’s college that now admits biological males.
Yes indeed. But a small correction: the mandates came in 2021, under Biden.
I too left the Democrat party in 2020.
Yes, the federal mask and shot mandates were under Biden, but I live in CA and the democrats (Newsom and the CDPH and local county boards) forced lockdowns and masks on us in 2020. And vilified anyone opposing them.
Amen! Grateful my ballot never arrived. I know Trump is…ugh, but I’m grateful the Ds have been slapped down for their narcissism and silencing.
Most of us Trump voters feel the same way...his personality and communication style are..ugh. But if you can decode him, his message is is one of common sense, peace and prosperity for everyone. He's managed to remake the Republican Party from Neocon to Big Tent.
Thank you! you have eloquently expressed exactly how I feel. I’m skeptical that Trump can overcome his craziness to be a positive force, but the rejection of Democratic wokism feels right.