I was in a very male-dominated profession, and after a while the comments become barbs as the listener becomes sensitized. Too bad for the men down the line who think they are only making a simple comment when his colleague smacks back, but she has been getting the drip drip drip of water torture for her lifetime. It's high time we all became more aware of comments that belittle, bully, and hurt. Call it woke, compassion, or just good manners - words matter.
It's also called micro aggression, which when piled on years after years raise blood pressure, cause physical and emotional stress-related diseases, and more.
Yes. Black Americans have dealt with this micro aggression for decades. Studies prove it has a deleterious effect on their health. Not sure if women in general have been studied as well, but it stands to reason the effects are similar. As a retired architect I feel lucky I didn’t experience this as badly as some in my field but there were definitely times I did.
Linda Just because someone says or does something racist, misogynistic, etc. it does not mean it is OK and well, maybe it was a joke. Clearly the speaker or actor meant it to be a barb to stick in the heart and mind of those who are being attacked. We must all be upstanders who will call out the remark or act if the person being attacked can't. We are strong enough, caring enough and need to find ways to step up, as often as possible.. Maybe it will shut them up or maybe they wil continue, but at least you will have done something positive for others that day, that moment.
Until I retired, I didn't realize how pent up my frustration, had affected me. It took literally years to finally calm down...pitiful but true. You are 100% on the money!
Our feelings of excitement and joy at the prospect of Vice President Harris becoming our next president are at least in part in response to all the dismissiveness, belittling, and snark we have endured for years. The idea that an exceptionally talented, hard working and very well deserving woman just might FINALLY win is beyond thrilling. I think some men might underestimate the power, breadth and depth of this phenomenon. Go Kamala!
When I worked in the courts, I was bullied by the presiding judge for years. I had two mental breakdowns, the second one resulting in my finally resigning. He had similarly bullied my predecessor, and after I left he harassed the public defender's secretary. Men who bully women have serious issues with their identities as men. Intelligent women frighten them.
Yes, Sally, and more. Maybe even oversensitivity to a post that may not have been intended as "backhanded" at all. It made perfect sense to me. Read it again: “We should be open to the notion that someone who is a great Senator, great AG and mediocre VP is best suited for an executive role.” The part about being a "mediocre VP" COULD be taken as acknowledgement of the common trope of a VP staying in the background, not taking the limelight away from her boss; not much of an "executive role". The author paid Harris' performance as both AG and Senator great respect, noting that she may well be quite capable and ready to take a leading role. I'm on old white male but have always been willing to give capable women their due. And I sympathize with the uphill battle women have been forced to wage theought history. But I urge both you and the many other posters here that pounced on that fellow's comment as somehow misogenistic to be just a bit more tolerant.
Thus the problem with social media posts that are a few words and not personal discussion. As an old white female, though, I understand the "rawness" many women have because they have been "put down" for their gender or "dismissed" as having any intellect. I've also experienced "ageism", especially when I go to purchase a car or computer on my own. It's hard not to read into some of the comments made. However, I do "call" people on it with a smile; and, usually we end up as friends. Just recently, I called our Pastor on his comment about the women getting out their recipes for casseroles for a recent potluck! I took it to meant that only women do the cooking, he meant the men usually do the grilling!
However, I was lucky enough to have a father that supported everything I did, valued me as a person and taught me to value myself despite what others may say. In fact, when he was in his 90's, he said he was voting only for women because he thought they were smarter - LOL! Okay, that's not a "slam" against any other group. And, of course, he was talking to his daughter, so I'm guessing it was one more chance to encourage me.
You're right! I hate age discrimination. I interviewed for a very interesting job when I was in my late fifties. The interview seemed to go well, and I answered all their questions the best that I could. They already knew about my job skills and experience because they had done a very lengthy background investigation before my being selected to interview.
However, as one of the gentlemen escorted me downstairs to turn in my visitor's badge, he said to me, "I think they were all impressed with your qualifications and how you answered our questions, but I have a feeling that you're TOO qualified for the job." Maybe I was wrong to think this, but I had a gut feeling that he was actually telling me, "We think you're too OLD for the job." (I cried all the way home.)
I found a job shortly afterwards and stayed there until I retired six years ago. None of the supervisors seemed to have an issue with my age.
Wish I had known your father, so he could have given me some support afterwards.
Perhaps not getting the first job was a blessing in disguise? Another one of my dad's sayings was "The only mistakes we make are those we don't learn from." I'm not saying the first job interview was a mistake, but you did seem to grow stronger afterward. I wish you could have known him, too. He was a teacher and then a Superintendent in the public school system. That was his life's gift to many, and I'm glad. I hope you're enjoying your retirement. I am!
Ruth, it just might have been a blessing in disguise after all. I had a male chauvinist supervisor already. Had I gotten that the job I wrote about here, it's always possible that the ones who interviewed me, and others who worked in that department, may not have been very kind after all.
It often takes a while for me to learn from my mistakes, and sometimes I never do learn, but I'll keep saying the quote that you and your father like and maybe I won't be so hard-headed.
Thanks!
p.s. Glad you're enjoying your retirement. You EARNED it!!!
? I was responding to Bonnie MacAvoy's post, about being a highly trained anesthesiologist MD and facing ongoing negative comments and 'jokes' in her workplace, and the damage that can do to one's health and well-being over time. And, as Linda Lee commented, it has a particularly pernicious effect on Black Americans. I
worked in a diverse city government agency for decades and saw the effect of systemic racism on the health of friends and colleagues. So many wonderful people dying before their time. It was shocking.
Not sure why your comment was directed at Sally, but my response to you is that "mediocre" is in no way a compliment. Then I laughed through the rest of your statement. When you are speaking to your fellow "old white" males, do you dare to use the words and phrases "maybe even over sensitivity," "but have always been willing to give capable [insert "men"] women their due," and "But I urge both you and the many other posters here that pounced on that fellow's comment as somehow misogenistic to be just a bit more tolerant." Do you? I think not.
The following is my most recent submission on my blog. Please consider ideas that I have expressed.
Let's Double the Vote Count for Kamala Harris
Way back in 2006, I evolved a personal plan to find a friend (and that’s hard to do these days) that was unlikely to vote in the Connecticut election for the Senate in Washington. That summer, state democrats nominated our current governor Ned Lamont to run over the more conservative candidate Joe Lieberman, who was really the democrats version of a RINO: republican in name only. Yes Lieberman was a democrat in name only. He took out papers and filed to run under his Lieberman for Connecticut party.
I activated my personal plan to help elect Ned Lamont. I found a friend who was likely to vote democratic but not a very enthusiastic voter. I would call Marilyn periodically to chat and casually include in the conversation, if she was following the election as I tried to show her how important it was to support Ned Lamont for Senate.
I then called Lamont’s campaign manager and expressed to him a plan that could in theory double the vote count namely, to encourage all supporters of Lamont to find just one person and build encouragement toward election. This run was a 3-way fight. On a personal level, it’s hard to find just one person who might not vote but who could be receptive to voting if encouraged. Lamont’s manager’s response: “Why just one person why not ten people?” It was at that moment I knew he didn’t take my plan seriously. Ned Lamont lost and Joe Lieberman went to Congress.
I called Marilyn up that afternoon after work asking her if she needed a ride to the polls. She told me it wasn’t necessary because she had already voted. I felt vindicated that day even though my candidate lost.
The Democratic National Committee to elect Kamala Harris would do well to institute such a plan. If every motivated democrat would seek out a friend or family member, just one, and encourage them over the intervening election period, of the importance of voting, the numbers would ensure victory in November.
I wrote this before but was told it didn't post. I know Bill Katz got it because he responded. I am working on this project!
This is a good idea and I plan to commit to doing the same for Kamala. I know just the person I am going to call. He is an ex-husband who has NEVER voted or registered in his 72 years. We are still on speaking terms. In the 24 years we were married I convinced him he would have been a Democrat had he picked a party to support. He was sure I was not correct and said he would have followed his father's choice and become a Republican. Over the years I pointed out ways that he was too nice to to be a Republican. However, I failed to talk him into registering. Maybe I can make a difference if I try one more time.
Hi Jacqueline. I hope you succeed. I have joined some kind of neighborhood team that is offering a pay. I never imagined working for pay but I’ll take it and consider it contribution to my informal non profit cat collection of 7 former homeless cats. Any time I’m asked to contribute to some cause, I explain that I have my own non-profit. Good luck. I want to send a copy my piece to campaign headquarters but I can’t find an address. Not that anyone will listen to the idea. But I’m compelled to try,
Compulsory voting is like compulsory going-to-church: it's mostly about appearances. It's like papering over the serious fissures in a wall. How about addressing the many reasons that USians don't vote, or only vote in presidential elections? *That* might lead to a more engaged citizenry and a democracy worthy of the name.
Agree 100%, but I don't think compulsory voting is going to fix any of it. The League of Women Voters had the right idea many years ago: DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT.
I think we have skirted disaster with Biden dropping out and Harris taking the lead. But a word of warning unless we move our politics to the center , we will most definitely face authoritarianism again in the near future. We just can’t have our cake and eat it too. We have allowed social media to seep poison into our society. We’ve not paid attention to history. In particular, migration issues. I beg you all to watch a new documentary on the German far right coming to Frontline next week. It details how entrenched German nationalists have grown. They are close to a takeover. Way? Open borders. When Angela Merkle was once asked why she had such lenient border policy she responded that it was German guilt from the Nazi period. I realized that she was seeding the next nationalist movement. And now the seeds have blossomed. We need to win back that white working class base that we lost in previous decades. Clearly, the storm clouds have weakened for now. Just for now.
I don’t think the Democratic Party’s positions are extreme. Universal healthcare? What’s not centrist about that? Sensible gun laws what’s not centrist about that? Not spending a gazillion dollars on weapons of warfare that don’t even work? Working towards a cleaner economy? These are things that benefit everybody. None of these are extreme positions. What are the extreme positions that you had in mind? Certainly a woman’s rights should be first and foremost.
The Democratic Party’s positions on issues represent 70% of what Americans want, R's, D's and Independents alike.
Abortion won in deep red KS and will win in red OH. There's a referendum for abortion to be added to their constitution, and the R's tried to raise the level to pass to 60% of the vote. Last I heard, 51% is a majority
The Biden won counties represent 70% of the GDP.
I believe if we had nationwide voting referendums (propositions in CA) they would all pass.
The nonsense of Senators using the filibuster to block progress would then a moot point.
I was going into a protracted response but I have chosen not to because most democrats are imbibed with a self righteousness and if one dares to challenge any part of it we are castigated for our troubles. I will say that a feeling that the Democratic Party no longer represents working class whites and constantly shoves diversity diversity diversity over and over again and it’s exclusive of the group I just mentioned. I recently applied to do an event at the democratic national convention and I had to identify which of many groups I was part of or not. I didn’t fit in. I’m not Black. I’m not gay (yes they did ask that question too), I’m not unionized I’m a single proprietor,I’m not woman-owned. I didn’t serve in the military. I want a level playing field in the business sector but can’t seem to get it in the world of Democratic Party diversity. And pa-lease don’t tell me I’m privileged. I work my ass off like everyone else.
That (white working class) was Joe Biden’s base once and the main reason Obama chose him as his VP. But that group has sort of abandoned him. All the points you mention are all valid which is why I remain committed to most of what the party stands for. But the other issues are what will eventually sink a future election.
At the end of the day, when something goes wrong with my activities, the first thing I ask myself is what was I did wrong instead of lashing out. I think it’s a healthy philosophy to use. And btw, I didn’t say extreme you did. Everything you mentioned are my goals too. But I don’t expect you to understand anything I just said. Because you are likely enslaved by the Democratic Thinkers who give guidance to the Obedient Sheeple.
I'm personally amazed you don't find a business friendly vibe in the Democratic Party. It's there, but favors businesses that don't exploit their workers. Dems DO take diversity seriously. You can self identify, or not. It's up to you. It helps the party include ALL voices.
A word about your privilege. It doesn't mean you don't work hard. It doesn't mean your don't struggle. If indeed, you enjoy White Male Privilege, it means others had to work even harder to get less reward than you achieved.
You didn't ask for this Privilege, but you can't help but benefit from it. In like fashion, it is as difficult to evade as it is for others to avoid harm from NOT having it. I don't blame YOU. However, the system we all work in tolerates this...corruption of the ideal. Let's work to end it.
With regard to the working class white men: some of their Privilege is eroding in my opinion. This has unsettled them, and understandably so. But Dem policies have brought them new jobs, as long as they can keep up. We will ALL be better off. If only there were a way to tell them diversity is not the enemy. Those who would exploit them and their labor are.
I’m including in the white group many perhaps most who own their own businesses. You said something of interest you said “others had to work harder…” meaning they arrived. There are strict laws against discrimination. Again I need to use myself as an example. An acquaintance of mine is both Black and a woman and I can’t compete in areas she can get in. Her company is more prosperous than mine. Ok so what. I can deal with it but I want you to be aware that there are many business owners and others who beg to disagree. We keep pushing our bifurcated systems and we need to ask ourselves if this is the reason that we either lose elections or just make it with a sliver. And to be perfectly frank, I don’t feel at home in either party but our party is of course the closer to my values. But it’s vitally important that we become more inclusive and right now, we have sworn allegiance to diversity at the expense of a very large segment of the population. Just think if Biden had stayed in and lost to the biggest monster ever in the history of this nation. We are not out of deep water but I sense that the tide has turned in our favor. But the future is less certain.
When my husband was stationed in Germany in the late 60's, I became good friends with one of the "locals" that I worked with. After I came home, I still kept in touch with her. We wrote to one another over the years, but as time went by, she began to talk about how badly thing were getting there. She was especially concerned about the number of immigrants who were moving to her town, the increase in crime there, and all the changes going on throughout Germany.
She wrote to me that she hated to leave her birthplace so badly, but they were afraid to stay in Germany. Sadly, that was the last letter that I got from her.
I think that it's going to be that way here in US before long. I've read posts from many people talking about Trumpism, especially their concerns and fears regarding Project 2025. Many of them are saying that they had just gotten passports or were currently applying for one.
Who knew a few years ago that things would EVER get to this in our country, all because of a self-absorbed, sadistic, evil, sly, treasonous, lying conman and leaker of classified information, who could care less about us and our democracy, and who wants to "unwrite" our constitution?
This is exactly why WE HAVE TO GET MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO VOTE BLUE ALL THE WAY DOWN THE BALLOT!!!! (Sorry for so many all-caps, but this is my opinion, and as they say, "That's my story, and I'm sticking with it."
I’m not so foolish to think anyone will even read it never mind responding. As I mentioned in my piece, the campaign manager thought he knew all the answers for his candidate but he didn’t and I knew the 3rd party candidate was popular in CT.
I honestly don"t believe the grotesque "she's a shrill women" 2016 anti-HRC - style baiting has much legs at all when directed toward VP Harris...might be naïve here, but other than the MAGA and incel set, I sense that most people have grown out of this stupidity, and four years as Biden's No.2 have conditioned people to see a strong women in the WH.
May your words be true yet I some reason to doubt them. It's already Kamala's laugh, she is DEI, dumb as a rock, low IQ. Hillary was white so her cackle and her canakles so what we see with our Vice President is racism and misogony. We must do better.
What matters is that Kamala's momentum has surged even before announcing her running mate, let alone the climax at the Democratic Convention. Just two weeks ago, republicans were giddily cohesive at their convention and the attempted assassination painted trump as a martyr which he continually reminded us by taping a pillow on his ear. Today Harris's poll numbers are climbing while trump is peeing in his pants. And what do you make of Vance--a caricature of a shameless dumbass....
They are throwing everything at her to see what will stick. It's childish, desperate behavior. I also hope America is sick of it. Who wants their kids to grow up in that kind of world 😔
The petty criticisms of Hillary and Kamala really anger me. Both of these intelligent people, in the public eye, are brilliant, resourceful leaders of both men and women. And both have laughs that are delightful!
I still remember how ticked off I would get every single time Trump purposely mispronounced her name, and then adding insult to injury by laughing about it, as if it were some kind of a joke. It brought back memories of just how irritating sixth-grade boys could be, only much worse. It was so disrespectful that I wanted to throw the remote control at the TV!
I'm sure he'll start doing that again, because he'll never grow up. In fact, he's WORSE than a sixth grader.
He has already started mispronouncing her name, but don't let that anger you, Dianne. Every time he does that it makes him look and sound more ridiculous. His brain is short-circuiting more often than not.
I still shake my head at how many brainless idiots are in our midst! My six cats have more sense and can also speak clearly. Did you by chance teach 6th grade? You are right about how irritating the 6th-grade boys could be. Trump's name-calling reminded me of bullies attacking some poor kid during recess.
“Low IQ” is unheard of for someone who has been elected Senator in a blue state, after being state attorney general, etc. In red states, there seem to be some examples of low IQ people in office, or else these elected officials are pretending to be dumb as rocks so as to appeal to their voters.
Well said! JFK would have been so disappointed if he somehow found that out his niece married a Republican governor. He might really be upset to know that his nephew wanted to run for President, but not as a Democrat.
Off topic here, but speaking of RFK, Jr., is he the son who suffered from bone cancer in his leg when he was young? Did I dream that? Or am I talking about someone totally unrelated to the Kennedys?
Yes, but what you cite is just moronic desperation..."her laugh"..."hates plastic straws"...and even the DEI business - the moron is insulting ALL Black people who have achieved success off their own bat - yes, even including Justice Clarence Thomas!
The accuser projects his/her own worldview onto the world outside his/her own mind.
Instead of defending the accused, attack the accuser with this point.
Moronic accusers are going to say moronic things about people in public life.
The "Republicans" and the people who vote for "Republicans" have, at best, a tenuous grasp of the consensus reality and world view the rest of us share.
The idjits should not be able to score "points" with their inane commentaries.
You know it's just fine to laugh in people's faces when they are that stupid if you happen to be facing them. Then we have a laugh icon here we can pull up right? Of course they have the right to be stupid but we don't have to give them any extra air or energy because we have to use our energy in a better direction. That is getting pretty obvious.
All that is true. We do vote and we do bring friends. I also firmly believe we call men out on their behavior when it occurs. I don't engage in protracted debate with them yet I let them know their arrogance or privilege or misogony is showing.
The "shrill" comments are so crazy - used so regularly against any woman who is strong. And then there's the bloviating, bellicose, bronzed buffoon -- oh, but at least he's not shrill???? WTAF.
'Usha Vance told friends Trump appalled her. Now she’s working to elect him.'
'The potential second lady found Trump’s actions on Jan. 6' “deeply disturbing,” 'a friend said. But ambition and devotion to her husband ultimately drove her to a place in the former president’s campaign.' (WAPO)
OK, I'm not saying that a misogynistic cohort represents a fair amount of voters (47%?), but what I am suggesting is that such an appeal to the majority of other voters doesn't carry the weight of eight years ago.
Even American voters can grow up, and I do believe that this ticket headed by VP Harris can indeed catch the fancy of a majority, and that despite all odds, Harris is well-placed vs a reprobate degenerate like tRump, whose schtick is time-worn and fly-blown, much as the man himself. We shall see.
There is plenty of misogyny out there still,,and it comes from women as well. Women who alway hid behind a man, or were so belittled they believed the bs, or so dumb they thought it was a female thing not a personal thing.
Words are in themselves actions, as any Jew can tell you. Let's get that one across. In Hebrew we call it bad speech (lashón hara) if it is meant that way, no matter what people say they meant, to cover themselves for their irresponsibility.
Fifty years after Shirley Chisholm ran for the Presidency, we find ourselves yet again questioning the durability of outmoded presumptions about race and gender.
By Jelani Cobb
July 27, 2024
In January, 1972, Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, appeared at a Baptist church in Brooklyn and announced her candidacy for President of the United States. Chisholm was a singular force in American politics of the time: her support for civil rights and legal abortion made her a pivotal connection between the interests of African Americans and the emerging, mostly white, reproductive-rights movement. But, despite her status as a trailblazer, her campaign—set against an entirely white, entirely male field of rivals for the Democratic Party’s nomination—was more often than not treated as a lark. The newly formed Congressional Black Caucus, of which she was a founder, did not endorse her. (Many members chose to support George McGovern, the eventual nominee.) The political calculations were clear: the nation would not support a Black woman, and the better play was to back a viable candidate who might eventually provide a return on the investment.
Fifty-two years later, Kamala Harris’s ascent to being the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party represents, on many levels, a sharp contrast to Chisholm’s story. (Harris, during her 2020 Presidential run, nodded to her predecessor’s significance by incorporating a color scheme and typography similar to Chisholm’s 1972 campaign materials into her own.) Chisholm waged a shoestring effort, using her own savings to keep her campaign afloat; for Harris, word of President Joe Biden’s exit from the race unleashed a torrent of cash to support her candidacy. ActBlue reported a hundred-and-five-million-dollar haul within roughly the first twenty-four hours. The next day, Voto Latino committed to forty-four million. Chisholm essentially had to build her own electorate as she campaigned; Harris’s entry into the Presidential contest sparked a reported seven-hundred-per-cent increase in voter registrations.
Yet, as various Democratic factions were defecting from Biden’s camp in the weeks after his disastrous debate with Donald Trump, the C.B.C. remained steadfast in its allegiance to him. This was understood as a product of Biden’s strong support among the caucus’s (largely Black) constituents. But had the C.B.C.—which Harris had belonged to as a senator—called for Biden to step down, it could have been cynically read as an attempt to engineer an opening for her. The caucus endorsed Harris soon after Biden withdrew, though, in essence declaring that, unlike in 1972, a Black woman candidate could be more viable than two white men: the incumbent and his opponent.
But we have not entirely broken with hidebound, stagnant tradition. In 2008 and 2016, the Democrats offered up barrier-breaking nominees for the Presidency; the Party is batting .500 when it comes to actually electing such candidates. Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign inspired poetic musings about shaking off the moribund strictures of race, even as the first ripples of the eventual tide of racial backlash could be felt virtually from the outset. Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign was confronted with an unending assault of unfounded rumors, sexist insinuations, and conspiracy theories; Clinton spent far more time on defense than any successful candidate could. This year, we find ourselves yet again questioning the durability of outmoded presumptions about race and gender. It’s as if the nation has been running an experiment in which, at eight-year intervals, we test the impact of different kinds of identities in national elections. The constant in this experiment has been Trump. Amid the myriad provocations that he has authored, it’s easy to forget that his political career began with a campaign to convince the public that Obama was not born in the United States. Trump moved on to the high-volume mendacity and misogynistic contempt that characterized not only the 2016 campaign but also the Presidency it delivered to him. The past week has seen him awkwardly trying to figure out how to hate Harris from scratch. (THE NEWYORKER)
I remember Chisholm’s candidacy; I thought she was a hero, running against all the odds and doing it virtually on her own. I knew she couldn’t win but was so impressed with her. She should not be forgotten.
I also worked in very male-dominated environments for most of my life. Fortunately, for the most part, it wasn't that bad. I worked with military personnel for a long time. They knew better than to disrespect anyone, especially women. I enjoyed working with men and women, and never had any complaints about their behavior.
Later on, while working in civilian life, I had a supervisor who could have been the poster child for male chauvinist pigs. There were five of us in that office, he was the only male. There were more than 100 people working there, with maybe 20 or 25 women at the most.
Although the three women in my office had been there much longer, they were younger, and all of them single. He was closer to my age (early 50's), not that it made any difference.
He was constantly criticizing the other females in the building, referring to them as "hussies" and "sluts." His favorite name for pregnant women was "a prego." It finally got to the point that I couldn't stand it any longer, so I tried filing a sexual harassment claim against him. That backfired on me because the women in my office claimed they never heard him say any of those things. A friend of mine suggested that I try filing a hostile work environment claim against him. The same thing happened again.
Since I was nearing the end of my year-long probation, I was caught off-guard when my supervisor asked me to go with him to talk to the big boss upstairs. When we got there, the person in charge of HR was sitting next to his desk. I was accused of doing things that never happened and making my co-workers uncomfortable. When I tried to bring up those claims, I was accused of fabricating everything. It was my word against everyone else's, so I was immediately terminated. All I could do was pack up my things and leave.
Bonnie, you are RIGHT! Words do matter. Chris was. --- and most likely still is --- a bully, yet he was allowed to get away with it.
We can't allow ANY member of the male species to tell us what we can or can't do with our bodies. We can't allow ANY member of the male species to call us the names, especially the insulting ones that they used against Kamala Harris. And we definitely can't allow ANY member of the male species to disrespect us by treating us like second-class citizens.
Notice that I didn't use the word "men" because those who behave badly AREN'T men. They're two-legged animals. I apologize to the majority of male species who ARE men.
Thank you, Bill. What was really heartbreaking was that I loved my job and what I was doing. It was interesting, and I learned a lot. However, I despised the environment and hated to get up and go there each day.
In my previous installment, I failed to mention that he, another of my co-workers, and I had to attend a training session about 30 miles away. Barbara drove and he sat up front with her. On the way there, he couldn't keep his slimy hands off her. Going down the interstate, he caused her to barely sideswipe the car next to us!
It gets stranger, though. I had to take my car to the shop the other day and realized that his son was the guy at the counter. He asked me how I liked working with his dad years ago. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. I almost bit off my tongue!
If you’ve been in a male-dominated profession and want to survive, survivors learn to redefine misogyny as a sign of cowardice and weakness along with limited intelligence. It really does help your sense of worth and how you react. You never ever allow it to define or limit you.
Sadly women sometimes joined men in trying to hold us back. My first promotion into management had one descenting opinion, from the only female V.P. In my case one vote didn’t stop my progress.
WEATHERING by Arline T. Geronimus (Little, Brown, 2023) is really, really good on this, microaggression in general, and the wider picture as well. The subtitle describes it well: "The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society."
Wow! Guess I'll be making another trip to the bookstore and library very soon! My house could use vacuuming and the dirty clothes basket is about to explode, but I'm more concerned about learning all I can so I can pass all of this knowledge on to those who need to know, too!!!
I too was in a very "male" dominated profession for 20+ years. I worked on air in radio. At one point in time I worked for a truly misogynistic born again christian boss. The worst boss I ever worked for. He spouted his religion out of one side of his mouth and filth out the other side. He made sure he took care of the male air talent but I got snide remarks. BTW - when the ratings came out I had the #1 spot in the market for my time slot. But that did not matter. He was of the same "JD Vance" ilk you see making the rounds now. That has shaped my opinions about folks who constantly praise "god" but never embody any of the teachings. I am all in for Kamala and NOT going back!
Donna, I'm glad that you stuck with your job, despite JD Vance's "clone" being your boss. I'm sitting here right now, imagining how ticked off he was when you made the top position in that time slot. I'm proud of you, BTW. Did he just pretend that it never happened?
Whenever I've been around a born-again Christian and they start "preaching" to me, I tell them I'm agnostic and that I don't want to talk about THEIR PROBLEM. Most times, they're caught off guard. One of the best things my husband taught me was the art of sarcasm.
He was just a nasty human being. But we laughed at him behind his back especially the day that he told us how son's bee stings were cured by prayer.
His son was in summer camp and evidently on a hike was attacked by bees. He told us that everyone gathered around him and prayed and the bee stings just disappeared. He was going on about this miracle to 3 of us in our triangle lobby. Luckily 2 of us were able to escape out the side doors before we burst into laughter. The receptionist wasn't so lucky. I was attacked by bees as a youngster riding on the back of a farm wagon. I know first hand what that's like. He is/was the poster child for born again christian liars.
It would have been fun to be able to laugh at my boss, but there wouldn't have been anyone who would have joined me in my moment of joy!
Gee, I sure wish I could have had those summer camp kids and the "minister" around last Sunday evening when I was stung by several yellow jackets. I learned the hard way NOT to try swatting at them or trying to run, because that made them as mad as --- a hornet?
Adding insult to injury, I found that there's not a single urgent care place open in the entire county that is open after 6:00 on Sundays, and 8 on other days, so should you have any kind of "not quite an emergency" after they close, you grin and bear it, or go to the ER. Thank heaven for Google research, where I found that Benadryl and ice would help. I'm much better now and refuse to walk within a five-foot radius of their home. I didn't realize that yellow jackets hang around the ground!
Meanwhile, I'm trying to visualize the "minister" in a huddle with the happy campers bowing their heads, surrounding the bee victim. Thankfully, he's not allergic. I'm not opposed to prayer; in fact, I say prayers throughout the day, and when I go to bed. It's always good to give thanks, yet once in a while, I ask for a favor.
It's hard to understand why some born-again Christians quickly forget how to ACT like a Christian. It's also disgustingly hard to understand Trump's convenient, sudden interest in anything that's related to religion, especially since he didn't even know that he was holding that Bible upside-down for his disgusting photo-op. Had he opened it, who knows what may have flown, or crawled out!
"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perversivness in it breaks the heart" Proverbs 15:4
Timeless words of truth penned many hundreds of years ago, more true today than ever.
VP Harris speaks with love, dignity and positivity. The Orange Diaper Clad Rapist speaks with hatred, revenge, rage, selfishness.........
MIcro aggression is another sadistic sympton of Narcissitic Personality Disorder. Narcs like Orange Jesus are demonic experts in projecting their demented views of life...their insecurities on to ?nice' people..
In order to crush Narcs......fill your body, soul and heart with bright white light that will form a protective shield.
I spent 34 years as a commodity analyst in the livestock industry - also a very male-dominated industry. I saw both micro and macro aggressive behavior. I learned early on to "give as good as I got", and it was satisfying how quickly most of the offenders developed a more respectful attitude. Most bullies learn pretty quickly that you aren't going to take their sh*t, and back off. (It also helped that I was very good at what I did.)
I agree. Learning about the White Christian Nationalist beliefs and the New Apostolic Reformation Church beliefs are like women should be slaves. People who believe in this are not the ones to convince that Harris is capable, because that is not their world view. We need to go out to vote in droves to protect ourselves from the enslavement that they want for women. I am reading those fascist voices already questioning the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote.
Trouble is, they are not making a 'simple comment', it is a deliberate attempt to slow that woman down. It's shiv-style 'support'. Sometimes consciously slipped in, sometimes not, but the same result.
I too worked in a male-dominated profession (hell, any profession that pays well is male-dominated), and I used these 'simple comments' as my mental marker for the men I could trust, and the men who were false friends. I never let them know I had them marked because sadly, many of them regarded themselves as fabulous supporters of women, were totally unaware of their buried bias.
But underneath it all, they were constantly advising me to subsume myself to the other men, thinking it was wiser. Sometimes it was, but mostly it was not. I had to carve out my own path and make my own mistakes to survive.
I am writing a letter right now to all my young nieces, my daughter, and all my “adopted” daughters of reproductive age to tell them of what’s at stake. All of my siblings do not talk openly about any of this and I am determined to wake up on Nov. 6 and know I did everything I could to save democracy. That includes letting my nieces know I am fighting for them and am open to any conversation they may want to have. Thank you for always keeping us informed and for fighting for democracy as well, Joyce! 💙
And remind them that, at least for now, they don't actually have to live in the deep red states. Only some of our states are riding off into Gilead led unapologetically by those who fashion themselves hard right Christians. The irony of the vast daylight between the teachings of Jesus and what they profess requires too much contrition.
Well, my daughter recently moved from Alabama to Pennsylvania. And most of my nieces are in Ohio. I hope they were among the group of young women who voted to keep access to safe abortion in their state. I haven’t asked and I probably won’t. I’m just glad my daughter got out of the deep south!
Please! There are ignorant folk in every state and territory. People live where they live for many reasons - close to family, economic reasons, desired employment, etc. Living in Alabama as I do can certainly be frustrating, but I don't have realistic options for leaving that don't come with a lot of negatives. And there's a sense in which I feel that way about the USA - hard to leave even though many other places would be far safer from gun violence, for example. So we stay and do what we can where we are. Having said that, my MAGA Alabama congressman has no Democrat opponent so I actually have little practical reason to vote in November, only the satisfaction of proving that the place isn't 100% MAGA.
Good luck to you, and to Joyce, and I know it's not solid red. That there are points of shining blue light all across the state. But it's a trial to live where the political establishment is hell bent on continuing the economic and political control of white men despite the Civil War be 160 years in the past.
Thank you, Suzanne, for this. Your idea is something I can easily do in my extended family, and although it scares me — because the maga viewpoint is very strong in the group— I am the matriarch now and I find that they at least pretend to listen with respect.
Yeah, I am a bit nervous too but when I weigh it, I’d rather know I did something than nothing in this crucial time. I already feel somewhat on the outside of my family because I’m the only one who speaks out about politics (however, as you know, the political is personal) and there is an unspoken rule to not speak about politics, especially about abortion, of all things! I’m mailing it via snail mail with a Kamala for Prez sticker. They’ll have a “souvenir” to mark this very important election. Or they can pitch it, I suppose. But I just felt it should be a tangible remembrance and not lost in the ethers. 💙 ✉️
First, the self proclaimed dude who calls himself 'God' makes a prediction that doesn't come true. Then pesters everyone with something accurate to report. This 'God' is a pest looking for more subscribers. Could it be that he is after the bucks? There are so many like him, but they don't call themselves 'God'. He reminds of the one we call 'Trump'.
um... he's definitely not a tffg magat afaik based on the Facebook page postings. I haven't been on Facebook in recent years but have seen his postings over time, imho nothing unreasonable nor rude. But I am not religious so maybe others might consider it disrespectful or sacrilegious. It is intended as a parody/satire. Last I looked, he had over 3M followers. It's also possible that there are multiple admins and the person posting in this Substack is not the primary page owner.
NOTE: This is a parody page, intended as satire. God is not intended for young or emotionally immature viewers. Bullying or abuse of any kind in the comments sections shall not be tolerated. Those who defy this rule shall be banned."
Bill That is a major reason why I choose not to have my own Substack. I enjoy making spontaneous comments on three Substack accounts and the NYT. Personally I wish to express what I feel rather than endeavor to satisfy my subscribers—which, too often, is what media opinion writers do.
Dear Keith, I share your reasons for not having my own substack. I would not like my interest in a subject impacted by the commercial aspects and additional time required for such an enterprise. In addition, I am annoyed by Subtack's email interruptions to offer tips and info to its substacker clients. Is the day of over-commercialization on the way?
We had better hope he experiences more than backlash. Instead, let’s drown him with overwhelming votes for decency and an end to misogyny. We deserve much, much better.
MeidasTouch recieved more YOUTUBE hits than Fox news last week. It is a lighthouse in the storm guiding democracy lovers to the truth. They are close to 3 million subscribers.....There is no need for the Post or the NYTimes
The problem is that pretty much only Democrats read WaPo (or the NYT). It’s preaching to the choir. We’ve got to get this message out on right-wing media (IF POSSIBLE).
Lots of Dems have unsubscribed from NYT and WaPo because their coverage of both Trump and Biden has been egregiously slanted, in ways that normalize Trump's behavior while denigrating Biden's supposed infirmities. The situation hasn't improved a whole lot now that Harris is the presumptive nominee.
For what it’s worth, I post on Fox but the MAGAs there wouldn’t believe any truths. This is a struggle for the independent voter which I portray myself to be but in truth, would never vote republican.
The funding for right wing media is hard core and they are feeding the Orange Cult with non-stop lies and falsehoods. A coalition model from France and England is something we have the time for. Project 2025 is the end of democracy!! Changing minds that will die for the Orange Hitler is a tough call.
That's good; I haven't seen it covered on mine. In fact, were it not for social media I would not have heard the story. The mainstream media seems to cover such statements from Trump as the normally expected pronouncements that should be ignored, but that is a serious mistake. That's Trump's talent - normalizing that which never should be normalized.
Trump said "I am not a Christian" at the end of that video clip. He's speaking to voters at a conference of Christans, urging them to vote. Do you want us to shout that from the rooftops? I transcribed the video clip and separated the monologue into paragraphs so you can easily see the end of the second paragraph.
“Vote early, vote absentee, vote on election day. I don’t care how but you have to get out and vote. And again, Christians, get out and vote! Just this time.
You won’t have to do it anymore, you know, four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I’m not Christian.
I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years you won’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
Yes, it's critically important that he tells people voting won't matter. That got all the news, but admitting he's not a Christian is a big deal that deserves its own headlines.
Seems hard to misinterpret when he says he'll fix things so you won't need to vote any more. Trump has a unique talent for using words that his followers can easily understand while those outside that group can easily normalize or otherwise downplay the comments. The media accustoms us to not taking him seriously. We do that at our peril.
To answer your question, can it be legal? Yes it can.
Everything the Nazi party in Germany did in the 1930s & 40s was legal. They took over a weak party, were elected into power, and made the holocaust legal.
Who is going to come to America’s defense if we willingly hand over power to these right wing fascists? Who will take on this country in a war? No one.
We have to stop these Nazis in advance and defeat them so soundly that they cannot recover.
And send trump to jail for his crimes, especially the theft of government secrets.
There will be no tribunal after the fact to hold trump and his criminals accountable. After all he will claim everything were “official acts” and will be immune.
Sherry Spot on! At 90 I believe that this election is our Armageddon for democracy. Just look at what happened in Eastern Europe during the 1930s—and today in Hungary and some other countries.
Harris is running against someone who has been found guilty of sexual assault, has had numerous other women step forward and accuse him, is alleged to have participated in sex acts with children, and has 5 children with 3 wives.
Talk about a double standard.
--Paula Collins, Democratic Candidate for Congress in NY-21.
This really got me. So well said “It’s prosecutor versus felon, champion of people’s rights versus misogynist, believer in democracy versus a man who would end your right to vote. Will the country really going to give into the tropes about Black women and reelect Trump?”
Honestly, if America doesn’t see this, do we deserve peace and prosperity? We simply HAVE to get our neighbors to see it.
The fact that he’s backed out of the debates tells us everything. He knows he can’t afford to be run off the stage by a mere woman. As to the voting comments, apart from the fact that Christ would have thrown him out of the temple with the rest of the moneychangers, his lack of understanding of and disdain for the Constitution and the electoral process is already abundentelyclear. His MAGA mob doesn’t ever hear that part of his ramblings anyway, or if they do, they agree with him.
Then there should be a debate with a stand-in. A big orange smeared face painted fat baby doll with a wraparound head bandage on one side and Kamala Harris on the other.
How about when publications like NYT refer to President Trump and Harris (rather than Vice President Harris)? How about when media refers to Biden, Trump and Kamala (rather than Harris)? Where is the respect for the person and the office achieved? We need to be aware of the subtle ways that female candidates get treated with less respect.
I HATE that. It's been constant for this entire time, too -- Biden was Biden but it was always President Trump, like he was some kind of prince in waiting.
Yes, it is a privilege of the office to carry the title and many other things for life -- but words MATTER. Use them equally or not at all. It's not like they're fumbling for a thesaurus or something.
I don’t like that Trump has been running this shadow government. Every time a head of state comes to Washington, they end up at Mar-a-Lago. Seems like that should be stopped. He is a private citizen, not President.
Totally agree. Netanyahu going to MAL and having a cabinet-like conference? Appalling. Isn’t that illegal or unconstitutional in some way? I think it was purposeful to make Biden look bad, as if “oh, look, we’re the incoming admin, you deal with us now.” So wrong.
He shoukd be called former president trump. When he’s claiming that he actually won and therefore is or should be president, to use the president trump or Mr President honorific is to reinforce his LIE.
I am concerned with the misogyny I hear coming from women in my gym, towards Kamala Harris. The most common one is she is stupid....she is a loser as a VP...as if bobble head Pence was some super hero??? trump and his minions work hard to denigrate this remarkable woman and the trumpers just lap it up and then parrot the misogyny. I do not ignore these comments, but, then I get the, Bless her heart eye roll.
Huh - stupid she's not. Look at her colleges, look at her jobs prior to VP. People shouldn't fall for that GOP tripe. If anything, based on what he says, Trump is the stupid one.
It sounds like it might be time to switch gyms! Or, confront these niTwiTs with the TRUTH about Kamala's many achievements in government positions she had to be voted in for. Women like the gym gals literally make my blood boil.😡
Right on, Susan. Those women are pointing a finger at Kamala and calling her "stupid," at the same time each has three fingers pointing back at themselves.
The reaction to you is just disgusting. You've got to wonder who has indoctrinated them. I know that I grew up with the notion that I could never make it without a man. That is probably also true for a lot of the boomers.
The answer I got to that same question was “come on now”. I replied: I guess you can’t tell me then! These gals will be ignoring me but I hope I made them feel stupid and uncomfortable.
I am deeply bothered by the many women who keep us in our "places." It reminds me of when I marched for the ERA. (It was more like a walk.) Church ladies were out gardening at the Methodist church and resoundingly booed us as we passed. When we said, "We are doing this for you," they told us to go home. The point is that many faiths teach women are subservient to men, and they believe it. Right now, significantly, conservative Catholics are influencing our courts (cf: Opus Dei), and bible-toting Evangelicals are forbidding women preachers and ministers because somewhere it says women should not teach men. (Really?)
Really. I remember encountering that, but fortunately not at the church I attended, which was pentecostal. That's one reason why I no longer want to have anything to do with organized religion. Too much of it has gone the way of extremism. In the wrong direction.
I would try to ignore it — just like many of us ignored junior high and high school girls and boys who more interested in how they looked versus how they performed academically. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
They have a lot of advice on talking with others in these times of discordant discourse and the outright trump-like mean behavior. Helped me defuse some tricky encounters.
Thanks Joyce for this article. We cannot let folks use these disingenuous sideways remarks. Thanks for calling them out. I've been around strong women all my life, but not everyone has.
Kamala has energized the young voters, indeed every democrat I know is jazzed.
I appreciate knowing that some men are fine with strong women. Too many aren't. Everyone's life is better if women are allowed to be themselves. BTW, my husband loves strong women. I am the second one he's married (he lost the first one to a major stroke).
A college math dept is a good place to find strong women. I worked at El Camino College in Torrance Ca for 29 years. I was on 5 hiring panels in a 9-year span. Almost half of the people we hired were women.
I am sorry you have to keep your mouth shut, PeachBlossom. It must be quite difficult. I could not stand having a tRumper around and had to convince a former husband that he was liberal. It wasn't difficult, thank heaven.
Have avowed trumpets in my family as well. Think he and his cult are the end all and be all! They treat his lies as gospel. Suddenly things dramatically changed. President Biden stepped down and Kamala stepped up! Our optimism blossomed, our hearts no longer heavy...we felt she brings new hope to us all. Now we have the chance to win! KARMA AND KAMALA ! ...an unbeatable combination🤗
Would he notice if you put a Harris for President lawn sign out or bumper sticker on your car? And would it lead to asking you why and an opportunity for you to describe the society you want? Not trying to cause tensions, but sometimes a productive conversation can be started in some fashion.
He listens, we discuss, but he believes in the controls of the balance of power. He had planned to vote a write in, but told him that would be a vote for tfg. Don’t know what he’ll do now. We often cancel out each other’s vote. Both Independents, but he leans right, I lean left. Often I’ve said we need a party with a democratic heart and a bit of a republican pocketbook!
The problem with a Democratic heart and Republican finances is the disconnect will increase the national debt. Republicans give tax cuts to the higher income that decrease the budget, while the Democrat social net needs funding. I’ve found you can’t have both so pick a plan!
People don't think massive upheavals, political changes and civil wars can actually happen to them if they've never experienced it for themselves or a loved one. Kind of like riding a bike without a helmet, driving drunk, etc -- no matter how much you hear about it, "know" about it, many people still dismiss it as impossible because somehow they know better. It hasn't happened to them, therefore it's impossible.
This is a big part of why folks with a majority privilege like race or perceived gender dismiss folks who actually experience events. No matter how much information, science or facts you throw at them, no matter how intelligent or empathetic they can be on other things, there are always reasons it's not possible.
It's a big part of why things CAN happen -- people are convinced it couldn't. I was a young adult when 9/11 happened, and already people 20 years younger say something like that is absolutely impossible and could never really happen. They didn't experience it or all of the results from it that fundamentally changed things about how we do things like air travel or the massive rise in anti-Muslim (etc) sentiment across NA that is still thousands of times magnified from immediately beforehand.
My folks witnessed the same changes with TVs and cell phones and going from every meal being home cooked and nationally having all businesses closed on Sundays to today. Some happened while I was a kid, but I didn't really understand the ramifications until much later if at all.
People HAVE lived through power grabs, massive democracy/authoritarian swings, and civil war, like Syria or Bosnia in my early lifetime. People in NA generally think of those places as "third-world" and honestly don't understand that they were as democratic and liberal and multicultural as the US or Canada has ever been, and just as equivalent. They've never been there and have only ever seen post-war or disaster images.
I have friends who did grow up in those places and the sentiment is absolutely the same, they did not think it could possibly happen, not with how strong their community and government was.
Excellent answer and of course you're right. It's very disturbing. I suppose it's human nature but aware people have to fight against it.
I remember when I was a kid, the house two houses down burned. I was shocked. It didn't happen to me but it was close. After that I was always aware that anything could happen to me and anyone else. Sometimes people understand this as they get older and accumulate experience. Some people never do, however. Like Trump.
The endless complaints that “she’s too shrill” or “I hate her cackle.” How about “trump’s voice is so whiny”? Or we hear “Harris has been a terrible VP!” What did Pence ever do besides walk out of an NFL game before he counted the electoral votes? Women are ALWAYS held to a different standard. Trump is a convicted felon but Kamala smiles and dances!!! We have to beat these blowhards decisively before there will be a change. They
Personally, at this point I am so sick of his voice I have to switch off sound or shove earbuds in if I'm in public because it gives me so much anxiety. It doesn't stop me from reading and being sure, and I'm not sick of his voice just because of the tone.
Heck, I've returned audiobooks just because the narrators were atrocious, but that doesn't mean I didn't read the book in print. Women who speak 30% as often as men are seen as shrill and overbearing/over-aggressive hust in regular day to day things.
Meanwhile men aren't throwing absolute temper tantrums about things and being congratulated for "projecting" or "speaking out".
(I'm speaking in huge, gender-perceived binary terms, not who the people themselves identify as, but you know what I mean. Of all studies, men/women are some of the longest-running with the most data and are still the most ignored. Because any empowerment of anyone else means, in their minds, loss of their own power. It isn't justice or equality, it's only them being "forced" to give up what they've enjoyed uncontested. I mean, less than 150 years ago male doctors were absolutely clear that women and children did not feel pain so it was okay to use them in medical experimentation of whatever caught their whim.)
I was in a very male-dominated profession, and after a while the comments become barbs as the listener becomes sensitized. Too bad for the men down the line who think they are only making a simple comment when his colleague smacks back, but she has been getting the drip drip drip of water torture for her lifetime. It's high time we all became more aware of comments that belittle, bully, and hurt. Call it woke, compassion, or just good manners - words matter.
It's also called micro aggression, which when piled on years after years raise blood pressure, cause physical and emotional stress-related diseases, and more.
Yes. Black Americans have dealt with this micro aggression for decades. Studies prove it has a deleterious effect on their health. Not sure if women in general have been studied as well, but it stands to reason the effects are similar. As a retired architect I feel lucky I didn’t experience this as badly as some in my field but there were definitely times I did.
Linda Just because someone says or does something racist, misogynistic, etc. it does not mean it is OK and well, maybe it was a joke. Clearly the speaker or actor meant it to be a barb to stick in the heart and mind of those who are being attacked. We must all be upstanders who will call out the remark or act if the person being attacked can't. We are strong enough, caring enough and need to find ways to step up, as often as possible.. Maybe it will shut them up or maybe they wil continue, but at least you will have done something positive for others that day, that moment.
Until I retired, I didn't realize how pent up my frustration, had affected me. It took literally years to finally calm down...pitiful but true. You are 100% on the money!
Our feelings of excitement and joy at the prospect of Vice President Harris becoming our next president are at least in part in response to all the dismissiveness, belittling, and snark we have endured for years. The idea that an exceptionally talented, hard working and very well deserving woman just might FINALLY win is beyond thrilling. I think some men might underestimate the power, breadth and depth of this phenomenon. Go Kamala!
Spot on, Nancy!
When I worked in the courts, I was bullied by the presiding judge for years. I had two mental breakdowns, the second one resulting in my finally resigning. He had similarly bullied my predecessor, and after I left he harassed the public defender's secretary. Men who bully women have serious issues with their identities as men. Intelligent women frighten them.
I’m sorry that happened to you.
Terrible. I'm so sorry.
Yes. Kamala is Karma.
Mary cat!!!
So what are we going to do about it!!!
LET’S VOTE OUR HEARTS OUT!!!!
Let’s encourage everyone…provide transportation to everyone who needs it and hopefully party together afterwards…BUT WE MUST WORK….WE MUST VOTE!!!!
Yes, Sally, and more. Maybe even oversensitivity to a post that may not have been intended as "backhanded" at all. It made perfect sense to me. Read it again: “We should be open to the notion that someone who is a great Senator, great AG and mediocre VP is best suited for an executive role.” The part about being a "mediocre VP" COULD be taken as acknowledgement of the common trope of a VP staying in the background, not taking the limelight away from her boss; not much of an "executive role". The author paid Harris' performance as both AG and Senator great respect, noting that she may well be quite capable and ready to take a leading role. I'm on old white male but have always been willing to give capable women their due. And I sympathize with the uphill battle women have been forced to wage theought history. But I urge both you and the many other posters here that pounced on that fellow's comment as somehow misogenistic to be just a bit more tolerant.
Thus the problem with social media posts that are a few words and not personal discussion. As an old white female, though, I understand the "rawness" many women have because they have been "put down" for their gender or "dismissed" as having any intellect. I've also experienced "ageism", especially when I go to purchase a car or computer on my own. It's hard not to read into some of the comments made. However, I do "call" people on it with a smile; and, usually we end up as friends. Just recently, I called our Pastor on his comment about the women getting out their recipes for casseroles for a recent potluck! I took it to meant that only women do the cooking, he meant the men usually do the grilling!
However, I was lucky enough to have a father that supported everything I did, valued me as a person and taught me to value myself despite what others may say. In fact, when he was in his 90's, he said he was voting only for women because he thought they were smarter - LOL! Okay, that's not a "slam" against any other group. And, of course, he was talking to his daughter, so I'm guessing it was one more chance to encourage me.
You're right! I hate age discrimination. I interviewed for a very interesting job when I was in my late fifties. The interview seemed to go well, and I answered all their questions the best that I could. They already knew about my job skills and experience because they had done a very lengthy background investigation before my being selected to interview.
However, as one of the gentlemen escorted me downstairs to turn in my visitor's badge, he said to me, "I think they were all impressed with your qualifications and how you answered our questions, but I have a feeling that you're TOO qualified for the job." Maybe I was wrong to think this, but I had a gut feeling that he was actually telling me, "We think you're too OLD for the job." (I cried all the way home.)
I found a job shortly afterwards and stayed there until I retired six years ago. None of the supervisors seemed to have an issue with my age.
Wish I had known your father, so he could have given me some support afterwards.
Perhaps not getting the first job was a blessing in disguise? Another one of my dad's sayings was "The only mistakes we make are those we don't learn from." I'm not saying the first job interview was a mistake, but you did seem to grow stronger afterward. I wish you could have known him, too. He was a teacher and then a Superintendent in the public school system. That was his life's gift to many, and I'm glad. I hope you're enjoying your retirement. I am!
Ruth, it just might have been a blessing in disguise after all. I had a male chauvinist supervisor already. Had I gotten that the job I wrote about here, it's always possible that the ones who interviewed me, and others who worked in that department, may not have been very kind after all.
It often takes a while for me to learn from my mistakes, and sometimes I never do learn, but I'll keep saying the quote that you and your father like and maybe I won't be so hard-headed.
Thanks!
p.s. Glad you're enjoying your retirement. You EARNED it!!!
Thanks!
? I was responding to Bonnie MacAvoy's post, about being a highly trained anesthesiologist MD and facing ongoing negative comments and 'jokes' in her workplace, and the damage that can do to one's health and well-being over time. And, as Linda Lee commented, it has a particularly pernicious effect on Black Americans. I
worked in a diverse city government agency for decades and saw the effect of systemic racism on the health of friends and colleagues. So many wonderful people dying before their time. It was shocking.
Not sure why your comment was directed at Sally, but my response to you is that "mediocre" is in no way a compliment. Then I laughed through the rest of your statement. When you are speaking to your fellow "old white" males, do you dare to use the words and phrases "maybe even over sensitivity," "but have always been willing to give capable [insert "men"] women their due," and "But I urge both you and the many other posters here that pounced on that fellow's comment as somehow misogenistic to be just a bit more tolerant." Do you? I think not.
The following is my most recent submission on my blog. Please consider ideas that I have expressed.
Let's Double the Vote Count for Kamala Harris
Way back in 2006, I evolved a personal plan to find a friend (and that’s hard to do these days) that was unlikely to vote in the Connecticut election for the Senate in Washington. That summer, state democrats nominated our current governor Ned Lamont to run over the more conservative candidate Joe Lieberman, who was really the democrats version of a RINO: republican in name only. Yes Lieberman was a democrat in name only. He took out papers and filed to run under his Lieberman for Connecticut party.
I activated my personal plan to help elect Ned Lamont. I found a friend who was likely to vote democratic but not a very enthusiastic voter. I would call Marilyn periodically to chat and casually include in the conversation, if she was following the election as I tried to show her how important it was to support Ned Lamont for Senate.
I then called Lamont’s campaign manager and expressed to him a plan that could in theory double the vote count namely, to encourage all supporters of Lamont to find just one person and build encouragement toward election. This run was a 3-way fight. On a personal level, it’s hard to find just one person who might not vote but who could be receptive to voting if encouraged. Lamont’s manager’s response: “Why just one person why not ten people?” It was at that moment I knew he didn’t take my plan seriously. Ned Lamont lost and Joe Lieberman went to Congress.
I called Marilyn up that afternoon after work asking her if she needed a ride to the polls. She told me it wasn’t necessary because she had already voted. I felt vindicated that day even though my candidate lost.
The Democratic National Committee to elect Kamala Harris would do well to institute such a plan. If every motivated democrat would seek out a friend or family member, just one, and encourage them over the intervening election period, of the importance of voting, the numbers would ensure victory in November.
I wrote this before but was told it didn't post. I know Bill Katz got it because he responded. I am working on this project!
This is a good idea and I plan to commit to doing the same for Kamala. I know just the person I am going to call. He is an ex-husband who has NEVER voted or registered in his 72 years. We are still on speaking terms. In the 24 years we were married I convinced him he would have been a Democrat had he picked a party to support. He was sure I was not correct and said he would have followed his father's choice and become a Republican. Over the years I pointed out ways that he was too nice to to be a Republican. However, I failed to talk him into registering. Maybe I can make a difference if I try one more time.
Hi Jacqueline. I hope you succeed. I have joined some kind of neighborhood team that is offering a pay. I never imagined working for pay but I’ll take it and consider it contribution to my informal non profit cat collection of 7 former homeless cats. Any time I’m asked to contribute to some cause, I explain that I have my own non-profit. Good luck. I want to send a copy my piece to campaign headquarters but I can’t find an address. Not that anyone will listen to the idea. But I’m compelled to try,
Good job, Bill! And bless you for your non-profit that helps kitties. Someone who takes interest in people, and animals, deserves a pat on the back!
A scratch on the head we say in the business.
Use this link. https://voterizer.org/
While you're at it. Register more Democrats to save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Australia has compulsory voting. Not only does everyone have the right to vote, but must vote. It has some interesting benefits. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61186402
Not a bad idea at all. I like that!
Compulsory voting is like compulsory going-to-church: it's mostly about appearances. It's like papering over the serious fissures in a wall. How about addressing the many reasons that USians don't vote, or only vote in presidential elections? *That* might lead to a more engaged citizenry and a democracy worthy of the name.
Susanna,
We all need to engage in what is going on within our communities.
Our lack of responsibility over a period of years has made us weaker as citizens.
It is our choice. It is getting late to save our Democracy. We have been too lazy and
lthe enemies of freedom have been fighting for years to gain a foothold.
We can wait no longer or we will have committed the death of our once great Democracy.
Freedom is TRULY NOT FREE!!!
WE’VE GOT TO”MOVE IT!, MOVE IT!!!!
Agree 100%, but I don't think compulsory voting is going to fix any of it. The League of Women Voters had the right idea many years ago: DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT.
I think we have skirted disaster with Biden dropping out and Harris taking the lead. But a word of warning unless we move our politics to the center , we will most definitely face authoritarianism again in the near future. We just can’t have our cake and eat it too. We have allowed social media to seep poison into our society. We’ve not paid attention to history. In particular, migration issues. I beg you all to watch a new documentary on the German far right coming to Frontline next week. It details how entrenched German nationalists have grown. They are close to a takeover. Way? Open borders. When Angela Merkle was once asked why she had such lenient border policy she responded that it was German guilt from the Nazi period. I realized that she was seeding the next nationalist movement. And now the seeds have blossomed. We need to win back that white working class base that we lost in previous decades. Clearly, the storm clouds have weakened for now. Just for now.
On to victory in November.
I don’t think the Democratic Party’s positions are extreme. Universal healthcare? What’s not centrist about that? Sensible gun laws what’s not centrist about that? Not spending a gazillion dollars on weapons of warfare that don’t even work? Working towards a cleaner economy? These are things that benefit everybody. None of these are extreme positions. What are the extreme positions that you had in mind? Certainly a woman’s rights should be first and foremost.
The Democratic Party’s positions on issues represent 70% of what Americans want, R's, D's and Independents alike.
Abortion won in deep red KS and will win in red OH. There's a referendum for abortion to be added to their constitution, and the R's tried to raise the level to pass to 60% of the vote. Last I heard, 51% is a majority
The Biden won counties represent 70% of the GDP.
I believe if we had nationwide voting referendums (propositions in CA) they would all pass.
The nonsense of Senators using the filibuster to block progress would then a moot point.
Julie,
We should want to take care of one another.
What we need to do is fight for fair costs of medicines and healthcare. There can be a win/win if we address sheer greed!!!!
I was going into a protracted response but I have chosen not to because most democrats are imbibed with a self righteousness and if one dares to challenge any part of it we are castigated for our troubles. I will say that a feeling that the Democratic Party no longer represents working class whites and constantly shoves diversity diversity diversity over and over again and it’s exclusive of the group I just mentioned. I recently applied to do an event at the democratic national convention and I had to identify which of many groups I was part of or not. I didn’t fit in. I’m not Black. I’m not gay (yes they did ask that question too), I’m not unionized I’m a single proprietor,I’m not woman-owned. I didn’t serve in the military. I want a level playing field in the business sector but can’t seem to get it in the world of Democratic Party diversity. And pa-lease don’t tell me I’m privileged. I work my ass off like everyone else.
That (white working class) was Joe Biden’s base once and the main reason Obama chose him as his VP. But that group has sort of abandoned him. All the points you mention are all valid which is why I remain committed to most of what the party stands for. But the other issues are what will eventually sink a future election.
At the end of the day, when something goes wrong with my activities, the first thing I ask myself is what was I did wrong instead of lashing out. I think it’s a healthy philosophy to use. And btw, I didn’t say extreme you did. Everything you mentioned are my goals too. But I don’t expect you to understand anything I just said. Because you are likely enslaved by the Democratic Thinkers who give guidance to the Obedient Sheeple.
I'm personally amazed you don't find a business friendly vibe in the Democratic Party. It's there, but favors businesses that don't exploit their workers. Dems DO take diversity seriously. You can self identify, or not. It's up to you. It helps the party include ALL voices.
A word about your privilege. It doesn't mean you don't work hard. It doesn't mean your don't struggle. If indeed, you enjoy White Male Privilege, it means others had to work even harder to get less reward than you achieved.
You didn't ask for this Privilege, but you can't help but benefit from it. In like fashion, it is as difficult to evade as it is for others to avoid harm from NOT having it. I don't blame YOU. However, the system we all work in tolerates this...corruption of the ideal. Let's work to end it.
With regard to the working class white men: some of their Privilege is eroding in my opinion. This has unsettled them, and understandably so. But Dem policies have brought them new jobs, as long as they can keep up. We will ALL be better off. If only there were a way to tell them diversity is not the enemy. Those who would exploit them and their labor are.
I’m including in the white group many perhaps most who own their own businesses. You said something of interest you said “others had to work harder…” meaning they arrived. There are strict laws against discrimination. Again I need to use myself as an example. An acquaintance of mine is both Black and a woman and I can’t compete in areas she can get in. Her company is more prosperous than mine. Ok so what. I can deal with it but I want you to be aware that there are many business owners and others who beg to disagree. We keep pushing our bifurcated systems and we need to ask ourselves if this is the reason that we either lose elections or just make it with a sliver. And to be perfectly frank, I don’t feel at home in either party but our party is of course the closer to my values. But it’s vitally important that we become more inclusive and right now, we have sworn allegiance to diversity at the expense of a very large segment of the population. Just think if Biden had stayed in and lost to the biggest monster ever in the history of this nation. We are not out of deep water but I sense that the tide has turned in our favor. But the future is less certain.
When my husband was stationed in Germany in the late 60's, I became good friends with one of the "locals" that I worked with. After I came home, I still kept in touch with her. We wrote to one another over the years, but as time went by, she began to talk about how badly thing were getting there. She was especially concerned about the number of immigrants who were moving to her town, the increase in crime there, and all the changes going on throughout Germany.
She wrote to me that she hated to leave her birthplace so badly, but they were afraid to stay in Germany. Sadly, that was the last letter that I got from her.
I think that it's going to be that way here in US before long. I've read posts from many people talking about Trumpism, especially their concerns and fears regarding Project 2025. Many of them are saying that they had just gotten passports or were currently applying for one.
Who knew a few years ago that things would EVER get to this in our country, all because of a self-absorbed, sadistic, evil, sly, treasonous, lying conman and leaker of classified information, who could care less about us and our democracy, and who wants to "unwrite" our constitution?
This is exactly why WE HAVE TO GET MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO VOTE BLUE ALL THE WAY DOWN THE BALLOT!!!! (Sorry for so many all-caps, but this is my opinion, and as they say, "That's my story, and I'm sticking with it."
I want to hard copy this and send it to campaign headquarters but I can’t find the address in Wilmington, DE. Does anyone know this address?
Kamala Harris Campaign Headquarters
Wilmington, Delaware
That's all you need. It'll get there. Every USPS employee in Wilmington will know where it is.
Done and a 2nd address in Washington
Good point.
Let us know how it goes!!!
I’m not so foolish to think anyone will even read it never mind responding. As I mentioned in my piece, the campaign manager thought he knew all the answers for his candidate but he didn’t and I knew the 3rd party candidate was popular in CT.
I honestly don"t believe the grotesque "she's a shrill women" 2016 anti-HRC - style baiting has much legs at all when directed toward VP Harris...might be naïve here, but other than the MAGA and incel set, I sense that most people have grown out of this stupidity, and four years as Biden's No.2 have conditioned people to see a strong women in the WH.
"Hope and Change" redux? Yes! Yes! Yes!
May your words be true yet I some reason to doubt them. It's already Kamala's laugh, she is DEI, dumb as a rock, low IQ. Hillary was white so her cackle and her canakles so what we see with our Vice President is racism and misogony. We must do better.
What matters is that Kamala's momentum has surged even before announcing her running mate, let alone the climax at the Democratic Convention. Just two weeks ago, republicans were giddily cohesive at their convention and the attempted assassination painted trump as a martyr which he continually reminded us by taping a pillow on his ear. Today Harris's poll numbers are climbing while trump is peeing in his pants. And what do you make of Vance--a caricature of a shameless dumbass....
The Republican Ticket makes me laugh! The "old guy" picked a winner as his running mate.
They are throwing everything at her to see what will stick. It's childish, desperate behavior. I also hope America is sick of it. Who wants their kids to grow up in that kind of world 😔
The petty criticisms of Hillary and Kamala really anger me. Both of these intelligent people, in the public eye, are brilliant, resourceful leaders of both men and women. And both have laughs that are delightful!
We all deserve better. I have much respect and warm feelings for both Hillary and Kamala.
I still remember how ticked off I would get every single time Trump purposely mispronounced her name, and then adding insult to injury by laughing about it, as if it were some kind of a joke. It brought back memories of just how irritating sixth-grade boys could be, only much worse. It was so disrespectful that I wanted to throw the remote control at the TV!
I'm sure he'll start doing that again, because he'll never grow up. In fact, he's WORSE than a sixth grader.
He has already started mispronouncing her name, but don't let that anger you, Dianne. Every time he does that it makes him look and sound more ridiculous. His brain is short-circuiting more often than not.
Actually, I don't think he HAS a brain. Whatever slimy mush that's in his head rotted decades ago.
I still shake my head at how many brainless idiots are in our midst! My six cats have more sense and can also speak clearly. Did you by chance teach 6th grade? You are right about how irritating the 6th-grade boys could be. Trump's name-calling reminded me of bullies attacking some poor kid during recess.
“Low IQ” is unheard of for someone who has been elected Senator in a blue state, after being state attorney general, etc. In red states, there seem to be some examples of low IQ people in office, or else these elected officials are pretending to be dumb as rocks so as to appeal to their voters.
Trump's jealous because HIS own IQ is less than "45."
Don't be so hard on, dumber than a stump, Tubberville , who is a reflection on those who voted for him.
Poor thing doesn't know the 3 branches of government.
I cringed when Arnold was elected governor.
Sargent Schriver was spinning in his grave, because his daughter was First Lady of a Republican governor.
CA will elect my CA30, Schiff as Senator and rejecting, hit in head by a baseball too many times, Garvey.
Well said! JFK would have been so disappointed if he somehow found that out his niece married a Republican governor. He might really be upset to know that his nephew wanted to run for President, but not as a Democrat.
Off topic here, but speaking of RFK, Jr., is he the son who suffered from bone cancer in his leg when he was young? Did I dream that? Or am I talking about someone totally unrelated to the Kennedys?
Maria Schriver gave up her journalist career on NBC for Arnold.
I'm surprised Ethel hasn't come out and publicly denounce Robert, but his siblings did.
That was Edward Kennedy's son, Edward, in 1973.
https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/18/archives/kennedy-sons-leg-amputated-because-of-cancerous-growth.html
Yes, but what you cite is just moronic desperation..."her laugh"..."hates plastic straws"...and even the DEI business - the moron is insulting ALL Black people who have achieved success off their own bat - yes, even including Justice Clarence Thomas!
Every accusation is a self-revelation.
The accuser projects his/her own worldview onto the world outside his/her own mind.
Instead of defending the accused, attack the accuser with this point.
Moronic accusers are going to say moronic things about people in public life.
The "Republicans" and the people who vote for "Republicans" have, at best, a tenuous grasp of the consensus reality and world view the rest of us share.
The idjits should not be able to score "points" with their inane commentaries.
Lance, it does not matter whether you think it is moronic! It is out there and is offensive, straight up offensive and demeaning.
You know it's just fine to laugh in people's faces when they are that stupid if you happen to be facing them. Then we have a laugh icon here we can pull up right? Of course they have the right to be stupid but we don't have to give them any extra air or energy because we have to use our energy in a better direction. That is getting pretty obvious.
Meggie,
You can always detect when a man is scared. He puts down women.
We know how to ACT when that happens. We don’t waste our time responding to their affronts!!!
WE ACT….WE VOTE!!!and we bring our friends!!!!
All that is true. We do vote and we do bring friends. I also firmly believe we call men out on their behavior when it occurs. I don't engage in protracted debate with them yet I let them know their arrogance or privilege or misogony is showing.
The "shrill" comments are so crazy - used so regularly against any woman who is strong. And then there's the bloviating, bellicose, bronzed buffoon -- oh, but at least he's not shrill???? WTAF.
The news. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/07/27/trump-tells-christians-you-wont-have-to-vote-anymore-if-hes-elected-4/?lctg=2491450084D14481B43C949A39&utm_email=2491450084D14481B43C949A39&active=yesD&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.sun-sentinel.com%2f2024%2f07%2f27%2ftrump-tells-christians-you-wont-have-to-vote-anymore-if-hes-elected-4%2f&utm_campaign=trib-sun_sentinel-breaking_news-nl&utm_content=alert
You are speaking of approximately 47% of voting population when you say MAGA. I would say the impact is a bit more than noise.
Nah. More like 30% are actually MAGA.
'Usha Vance told friends Trump appalled her. Now she’s working to elect him.'
'The potential second lady found Trump’s actions on Jan. 6' “deeply disturbing,” 'a friend said. But ambition and devotion to her husband ultimately drove her to a place in the former president’s campaign.' (WAPO)
They are ambitious aren’t they?
Jumped-up climbers.
30% or 47%!! It just is unacceptable regardless of percentage. It is insulting and offensive.
OK, I'm not saying that a misogynistic cohort represents a fair amount of voters (47%?), but what I am suggesting is that such an appeal to the majority of other voters doesn't carry the weight of eight years ago.
Even American voters can grow up, and I do believe that this ticket headed by VP Harris can indeed catch the fancy of a majority, and that despite all odds, Harris is well-placed vs a reprobate degenerate like tRump, whose schtick is time-worn and fly-blown, much as the man himself. We shall see.
I hope and think you’re right.
Same here.
So let's work on increasing the voter headcount. Which is already doing so in great numbers in just this week.
Let's focus on younger folks who have more to lose and aren't yet stuck in their opinions.
Let's share all of the clips of him babbling incoherently as well as spouting his plans to do away with voting if he's elected.
That's already happening on TikTok
I enjoyed the clips of the wannabe VP criticizing Trump royally. How quickly these idiots forget!!! Unfortunately for them, videos don't.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/26/young-voter-registration-skyrockets-harris/74556135007/
Great article, thanks!
There is plenty of misogyny out there still,,and it comes from women as well. Women who alway hid behind a man, or were so belittled they believed the bs, or so dumb they thought it was a female thing not a personal thing.
Misogyny, like bigotry, is a learned behavior and is handed down to the next generation.
Well I first saw it in the Bible so it's been here a helluva long time..
And these mugs want to keep teaching that crap
Words matter and we are not going back.
Words are in themselves actions, as any Jew can tell you. Let's get that one across. In Hebrew we call it bad speech (lashón hara) if it is meant that way, no matter what people say they meant, to cover themselves for their irresponsibility.
'Kamala Harris Isn’t Going Back' (THE NEWYORKER)
Fifty years after Shirley Chisholm ran for the Presidency, we find ourselves yet again questioning the durability of outmoded presumptions about race and gender.
By Jelani Cobb
July 27, 2024
In January, 1972, Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, appeared at a Baptist church in Brooklyn and announced her candidacy for President of the United States. Chisholm was a singular force in American politics of the time: her support for civil rights and legal abortion made her a pivotal connection between the interests of African Americans and the emerging, mostly white, reproductive-rights movement. But, despite her status as a trailblazer, her campaign—set against an entirely white, entirely male field of rivals for the Democratic Party’s nomination—was more often than not treated as a lark. The newly formed Congressional Black Caucus, of which she was a founder, did not endorse her. (Many members chose to support George McGovern, the eventual nominee.) The political calculations were clear: the nation would not support a Black woman, and the better play was to back a viable candidate who might eventually provide a return on the investment.
Fifty-two years later, Kamala Harris’s ascent to being the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party represents, on many levels, a sharp contrast to Chisholm’s story. (Harris, during her 2020 Presidential run, nodded to her predecessor’s significance by incorporating a color scheme and typography similar to Chisholm’s 1972 campaign materials into her own.) Chisholm waged a shoestring effort, using her own savings to keep her campaign afloat; for Harris, word of President Joe Biden’s exit from the race unleashed a torrent of cash to support her candidacy. ActBlue reported a hundred-and-five-million-dollar haul within roughly the first twenty-four hours. The next day, Voto Latino committed to forty-four million. Chisholm essentially had to build her own electorate as she campaigned; Harris’s entry into the Presidential contest sparked a reported seven-hundred-per-cent increase in voter registrations.
Yet, as various Democratic factions were defecting from Biden’s camp in the weeks after his disastrous debate with Donald Trump, the C.B.C. remained steadfast in its allegiance to him. This was understood as a product of Biden’s strong support among the caucus’s (largely Black) constituents. But had the C.B.C.—which Harris had belonged to as a senator—called for Biden to step down, it could have been cynically read as an attempt to engineer an opening for her. The caucus endorsed Harris soon after Biden withdrew, though, in essence declaring that, unlike in 1972, a Black woman candidate could be more viable than two white men: the incumbent and his opponent.
But we have not entirely broken with hidebound, stagnant tradition. In 2008 and 2016, the Democrats offered up barrier-breaking nominees for the Presidency; the Party is batting .500 when it comes to actually electing such candidates. Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign inspired poetic musings about shaking off the moribund strictures of race, even as the first ripples of the eventual tide of racial backlash could be felt virtually from the outset. Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign was confronted with an unending assault of unfounded rumors, sexist insinuations, and conspiracy theories; Clinton spent far more time on defense than any successful candidate could. This year, we find ourselves yet again questioning the durability of outmoded presumptions about race and gender. It’s as if the nation has been running an experiment in which, at eight-year intervals, we test the impact of different kinds of identities in national elections. The constant in this experiment has been Trump. Amid the myriad provocations that he has authored, it’s easy to forget that his political career began with a campaign to convince the public that Obama was not born in the United States. Trump moved on to the high-volume mendacity and misogynistic contempt that characterized not only the 2016 campaign but also the Presidency it delivered to him. The past week has seen him awkwardly trying to figure out how to hate Harris from scratch. (THE NEWYORKER)
I remember Chisholm’s candidacy; I thought she was a hero, running against all the odds and doing it virtually on her own. I knew she couldn’t win but was so impressed with her. She should not be forgotten.
You express my memory as well.
I also worked in very male-dominated environments for most of my life. Fortunately, for the most part, it wasn't that bad. I worked with military personnel for a long time. They knew better than to disrespect anyone, especially women. I enjoyed working with men and women, and never had any complaints about their behavior.
Later on, while working in civilian life, I had a supervisor who could have been the poster child for male chauvinist pigs. There were five of us in that office, he was the only male. There were more than 100 people working there, with maybe 20 or 25 women at the most.
Although the three women in my office had been there much longer, they were younger, and all of them single. He was closer to my age (early 50's), not that it made any difference.
He was constantly criticizing the other females in the building, referring to them as "hussies" and "sluts." His favorite name for pregnant women was "a prego." It finally got to the point that I couldn't stand it any longer, so I tried filing a sexual harassment claim against him. That backfired on me because the women in my office claimed they never heard him say any of those things. A friend of mine suggested that I try filing a hostile work environment claim against him. The same thing happened again.
Since I was nearing the end of my year-long probation, I was caught off-guard when my supervisor asked me to go with him to talk to the big boss upstairs. When we got there, the person in charge of HR was sitting next to his desk. I was accused of doing things that never happened and making my co-workers uncomfortable. When I tried to bring up those claims, I was accused of fabricating everything. It was my word against everyone else's, so I was immediately terminated. All I could do was pack up my things and leave.
Bonnie, you are RIGHT! Words do matter. Chris was. --- and most likely still is --- a bully, yet he was allowed to get away with it.
We can't allow ANY member of the male species to tell us what we can or can't do with our bodies. We can't allow ANY member of the male species to call us the names, especially the insulting ones that they used against Kamala Harris. And we definitely can't allow ANY member of the male species to disrespect us by treating us like second-class citizens.
Notice that I didn't use the word "men" because those who behave badly AREN'T men. They're two-legged animals. I apologize to the majority of male species who ARE men.
I’m sorry you had to deal with that.
Thank you, Bill. What was really heartbreaking was that I loved my job and what I was doing. It was interesting, and I learned a lot. However, I despised the environment and hated to get up and go there each day.
In my previous installment, I failed to mention that he, another of my co-workers, and I had to attend a training session about 30 miles away. Barbara drove and he sat up front with her. On the way there, he couldn't keep his slimy hands off her. Going down the interstate, he caused her to barely sideswipe the car next to us!
It gets stranger, though. I had to take my car to the shop the other day and realized that his son was the guy at the counter. He asked me how I liked working with his dad years ago. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. I almost bit off my tongue!
A woman just won an 8 million dollar lawsuit in the Bay Area for sexual harrassment. She was on a police swat team.
Good for her!!! I'm proud of her strength and that she never gave up!!!!
If you’ve been in a male-dominated profession and want to survive, survivors learn to redefine misogyny as a sign of cowardice and weakness along with limited intelligence. It really does help your sense of worth and how you react. You never ever allow it to define or limit you.
Sadly women sometimes joined men in trying to hold us back. My first promotion into management had one descenting opinion, from the only female V.P. In my case one vote didn’t stop my progress.
Smile emoji headed your way.
P.s. that was 43 years ago.
WEATHERING by Arline T. Geronimus (Little, Brown, 2023) is really, really good on this, microaggression in general, and the wider picture as well. The subtitle describes it well: "The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society."
Wow! Guess I'll be making another trip to the bookstore and library very soon! My house could use vacuuming and the dirty clothes basket is about to explode, but I'm more concerned about learning all I can so I can pass all of this knowledge on to those who need to know, too!!!
I too was in a very "male" dominated profession for 20+ years. I worked on air in radio. At one point in time I worked for a truly misogynistic born again christian boss. The worst boss I ever worked for. He spouted his religion out of one side of his mouth and filth out the other side. He made sure he took care of the male air talent but I got snide remarks. BTW - when the ratings came out I had the #1 spot in the market for my time slot. But that did not matter. He was of the same "JD Vance" ilk you see making the rounds now. That has shaped my opinions about folks who constantly praise "god" but never embody any of the teachings. I am all in for Kamala and NOT going back!
Donna, I'm glad that you stuck with your job, despite JD Vance's "clone" being your boss. I'm sitting here right now, imagining how ticked off he was when you made the top position in that time slot. I'm proud of you, BTW. Did he just pretend that it never happened?
Whenever I've been around a born-again Christian and they start "preaching" to me, I tell them I'm agnostic and that I don't want to talk about THEIR PROBLEM. Most times, they're caught off guard. One of the best things my husband taught me was the art of sarcasm.
He was just a nasty human being. But we laughed at him behind his back especially the day that he told us how son's bee stings were cured by prayer.
His son was in summer camp and evidently on a hike was attacked by bees. He told us that everyone gathered around him and prayed and the bee stings just disappeared. He was going on about this miracle to 3 of us in our triangle lobby. Luckily 2 of us were able to escape out the side doors before we burst into laughter. The receptionist wasn't so lucky. I was attacked by bees as a youngster riding on the back of a farm wagon. I know first hand what that's like. He is/was the poster child for born again christian liars.
It would have been fun to be able to laugh at my boss, but there wouldn't have been anyone who would have joined me in my moment of joy!
Gee, I sure wish I could have had those summer camp kids and the "minister" around last Sunday evening when I was stung by several yellow jackets. I learned the hard way NOT to try swatting at them or trying to run, because that made them as mad as --- a hornet?
Adding insult to injury, I found that there's not a single urgent care place open in the entire county that is open after 6:00 on Sundays, and 8 on other days, so should you have any kind of "not quite an emergency" after they close, you grin and bear it, or go to the ER. Thank heaven for Google research, where I found that Benadryl and ice would help. I'm much better now and refuse to walk within a five-foot radius of their home. I didn't realize that yellow jackets hang around the ground!
Meanwhile, I'm trying to visualize the "minister" in a huddle with the happy campers bowing their heads, surrounding the bee victim. Thankfully, he's not allergic. I'm not opposed to prayer; in fact, I say prayers throughout the day, and when I go to bed. It's always good to give thanks, yet once in a while, I ask for a favor.
It's hard to understand why some born-again Christians quickly forget how to ACT like a Christian. It's also disgustingly hard to understand Trump's convenient, sudden interest in anything that's related to religion, especially since he didn't even know that he was holding that Bible upside-down for his disgusting photo-op. Had he opened it, who knows what may have flown, or crawled out!
"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perversivness in it breaks the heart" Proverbs 15:4
Timeless words of truth penned many hundreds of years ago, more true today than ever.
VP Harris speaks with love, dignity and positivity. The Orange Diaper Clad Rapist speaks with hatred, revenge, rage, selfishness.........
MIcro aggression is another sadistic sympton of Narcissitic Personality Disorder. Narcs like Orange Jesus are demonic experts in projecting their demented views of life...their insecurities on to ?nice' people..
In order to crush Narcs......fill your body, soul and heart with bright white light that will form a protective shield.
I spent 34 years as a commodity analyst in the livestock industry - also a very male-dominated industry. I saw both micro and macro aggressive behavior. I learned early on to "give as good as I got", and it was satisfying how quickly most of the offenders developed a more respectful attitude. Most bullies learn pretty quickly that you aren't going to take their sh*t, and back off. (It also helped that I was very good at what I did.)
I agree. Learning about the White Christian Nationalist beliefs and the New Apostolic Reformation Church beliefs are like women should be slaves. People who believe in this are not the ones to convince that Harris is capable, because that is not their world view. We need to go out to vote in droves to protect ourselves from the enslavement that they want for women. I am reading those fascist voices already questioning the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote.
Trouble is, they are not making a 'simple comment', it is a deliberate attempt to slow that woman down. It's shiv-style 'support'. Sometimes consciously slipped in, sometimes not, but the same result.
I too worked in a male-dominated profession (hell, any profession that pays well is male-dominated), and I used these 'simple comments' as my mental marker for the men I could trust, and the men who were false friends. I never let them know I had them marked because sadly, many of them regarded themselves as fabulous supporters of women, were totally unaware of their buried bias.
But underneath it all, they were constantly advising me to subsume myself to the other men, thinking it was wiser. Sometimes it was, but mostly it was not. I had to carve out my own path and make my own mistakes to survive.
I am writing a letter right now to all my young nieces, my daughter, and all my “adopted” daughters of reproductive age to tell them of what’s at stake. All of my siblings do not talk openly about any of this and I am determined to wake up on Nov. 6 and know I did everything I could to save democracy. That includes letting my nieces know I am fighting for them and am open to any conversation they may want to have. Thank you for always keeping us informed and for fighting for democracy as well, Joyce! 💙
And remind them that, at least for now, they don't actually have to live in the deep red states. Only some of our states are riding off into Gilead led unapologetically by those who fashion themselves hard right Christians. The irony of the vast daylight between the teachings of Jesus and what they profess requires too much contrition.
Well, my daughter recently moved from Alabama to Pennsylvania. And most of my nieces are in Ohio. I hope they were among the group of young women who voted to keep access to safe abortion in their state. I haven’t asked and I probably won’t. I’m just glad my daughter got out of the deep south!
Exactly (Sorry Joyce)
Oops! Right. I forgot. 😬
How Joyce stays down there among the inbred peckerwoods is beyond me. Alabama, the most ignorant place in America.
Please! There are ignorant folk in every state and territory. People live where they live for many reasons - close to family, economic reasons, desired employment, etc. Living in Alabama as I do can certainly be frustrating, but I don't have realistic options for leaving that don't come with a lot of negatives. And there's a sense in which I feel that way about the USA - hard to leave even though many other places would be far safer from gun violence, for example. So we stay and do what we can where we are. Having said that, my MAGA Alabama congressman has no Democrat opponent so I actually have little practical reason to vote in November, only the satisfaction of proving that the place isn't 100% MAGA.
Good luck to you, and to Joyce, and I know it's not solid red. That there are points of shining blue light all across the state. But it's a trial to live where the political establishment is hell bent on continuing the economic and political control of white men despite the Civil War be 160 years in the past.
Even though your congressman is unopposed, you can and I hope you will vote for Harris for president!
Thank you, Suzanne, for this. Your idea is something I can easily do in my extended family, and although it scares me — because the maga viewpoint is very strong in the group— I am the matriarch now and I find that they at least pretend to listen with respect.
Yeah, I am a bit nervous too but when I weigh it, I’d rather know I did something than nothing in this crucial time. I already feel somewhat on the outside of my family because I’m the only one who speaks out about politics (however, as you know, the political is personal) and there is an unspoken rule to not speak about politics, especially about abortion, of all things! I’m mailing it via snail mail with a Kamala for Prez sticker. They’ll have a “souvenir” to mark this very important election. Or they can pitch it, I suppose. But I just felt it should be a tangible remembrance and not lost in the ethers. 💙 ✉️
Yup, it’s totally insane. And the news media will never cover Trump promising to end voting like they did ‘Biden old’
In the Washington Post under the heading of MOST READ:
'Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark'
cool, now they will be doing 30 articles per day when?
First, the self proclaimed dude who calls himself 'God' makes a prediction that doesn't come true. Then pesters everyone with something accurate to report. This 'God' is a pest looking for more subscribers. Could it be that he is after the bucks? There are so many like him, but they don't call themselves 'God'. He reminds of the one we call 'Trump'.
Fern Once again Trump was confused. When he muttered ‘God,’ he meant ‘dog,’ and since he never has had a dog ‘God/dog’ abandoned him.
You bring me deep from my belly long lasting laughter, Professor Scribe, Keith Wheelock.
um... he's definitely not a tffg magat afaik based on the Facebook page postings. I haven't been on Facebook in recent years but have seen his postings over time, imho nothing unreasonable nor rude. But I am not religious so maybe others might consider it disrespectful or sacrilegious. It is intended as a parody/satire. Last I looked, he had over 3M followers. It's also possible that there are multiple admins and the person posting in this Substack is not the primary page owner.
"https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodLordAbove/about_details
NOTE: This is a parody page, intended as satire. God is not intended for young or emotionally immature viewers. Bullying or abuse of any kind in the comments sections shall not be tolerated. Those who defy this rule shall be banned."
Also, https://www.thegodpodcast.com/about
Not responding to my question and resorting to inane attacks, are we?
'30 articles a day', 'God', loosely called out. He is better named 'Lance' from The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
cool, great comeback, really leaning on the attacks cuz you lost the debate
We are all seeking more subscribers, Fern. That’s what writers want.
Bill That is a major reason why I choose not to have my own Substack. I enjoy making spontaneous comments on three Substack accounts and the NYT. Personally I wish to express what I feel rather than endeavor to satisfy my subscribers—which, too often, is what media opinion writers do.
Dear Keith, I share your reasons for not having my own substack. I would not like my interest in a subject impacted by the commercial aspects and additional time required for such an enterprise. In addition, I am annoyed by Subtack's email interruptions to offer tips and info to its substacker clients. Is the day of over-commercialization on the way?
Yes, Bill, the commercial quality, growth and emphasis of Substack are clear.
Runaway narcissism and getting more psychotic by the hour.
We had better hope he experiences more than backlash. Instead, let’s drown him with overwhelming votes for decency and an end to misogyny. We deserve much, much better.
We deserve President Kamala Harris!!!
MeidasTouch recieved more YOUTUBE hits than Fox news last week. It is a lighthouse in the storm guiding democracy lovers to the truth. They are close to 3 million subscribers.....There is no need for the Post or the NYTimes
The problem is that pretty much only Democrats read WaPo (or the NYT). It’s preaching to the choir. We’ve got to get this message out on right-wing media (IF POSSIBLE).
Lots of Dems have unsubscribed from NYT and WaPo because their coverage of both Trump and Biden has been egregiously slanted, in ways that normalize Trump's behavior while denigrating Biden's supposed infirmities. The situation hasn't improved a whole lot now that Harris is the presumptive nominee.
Judging from the comments on WAPO, I think it a somewhat mixed group, but I don't have the data.
For what it’s worth, I post on Fox but the MAGAs there wouldn’t believe any truths. This is a struggle for the independent voter which I portray myself to be but in truth, would never vote republican.
The funding for right wing media is hard core and they are feeding the Orange Cult with non-stop lies and falsehoods. A coalition model from France and England is something we have the time for. Project 2025 is the end of democracy!! Changing minds that will die for the Orange Hitler is a tough call.
As HCR points out: the choir sings.
As it should be. There is NOTHING more telling than that stupid statement.
Saw it reported on our local NBC affiliate newscast.
once, but will they cover it breathlessly for weeks? there is a difference
That's good; I haven't seen it covered on mine. In fact, were it not for social media I would not have heard the story. The mainstream media seems to cover such statements from Trump as the normally expected pronouncements that should be ignored, but that is a serious mistake. That's Trump's talent - normalizing that which never should be normalized.
Dear God,
Trump said "I am not a Christian" at the end of that video clip. He's speaking to voters at a conference of Christans, urging them to vote. Do you want us to shout that from the rooftops? I transcribed the video clip and separated the monologue into paragraphs so you can easily see the end of the second paragraph.
“Vote early, vote absentee, vote on election day. I don’t care how but you have to get out and vote. And again, Christians, get out and vote! Just this time.
You won’t have to do it anymore, you know, four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I’m not Christian.
I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years you won’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
Yes, it's critically important that he tells people voting won't matter. That got all the news, but admitting he's not a Christian is a big deal that deserves its own headlines.
Tjhe dumbass inbred Southern fundiescuum want to give their power to the embodiment of the Seven Deadly sins.
He said I am a Christian. Only the brainwashed believe him.
Let's all cover it on our own social media every time we run across a clip.
They did; several major new items.
let’s see where it goes tomorrow and the next day. they are already covering it as ‘what he really meant’
And what did he really mean? Not what he said?
Seems hard to misinterpret when he says he'll fix things so you won't need to vote any more. Trump has a unique talent for using words that his followers can easily understand while those outside that group can easily normalize or otherwise downplay the comments. The media accustoms us to not taking him seriously. We do that at our peril.
exactly, they have softened it for him
We are NOT going back. Thank you for pushing back and reminding us all to push back against the misogynistic nonsense.
Agree.
I think you should start referring to him as "Mr. Injustice Alito".
Can that even be LEGAL?
He is ADVERTISING that he will FIX our free elections.
A person that CONSPIRES to commit a crime is guilty, isn’t that true? (I have seen wives conspiring to murder their husband and Vice Versa on TV).
So Trump’s statement is admitting he WILL commit a crime. Shouldn’t he be held accountable?
Another reason Trump shouldn’t be on the ballot. Trump should be disqualified!!!
To answer your question, can it be legal? Yes it can.
Everything the Nazi party in Germany did in the 1930s & 40s was legal. They took over a weak party, were elected into power, and made the holocaust legal.
Thea
After WW II there were the Nuremberg trials.
Yes, but after how many millions were murdered? We must stop this NOW!
Because the allies prevailed in the war.
Who is going to come to America’s defense if we willingly hand over power to these right wing fascists? Who will take on this country in a war? No one.
We have to stop these Nazis in advance and defeat them so soundly that they cannot recover.
And send trump to jail for his crimes, especially the theft of government secrets.
There will be no tribunal after the fact to hold trump and his criminals accountable. After all he will claim everything were “official acts” and will be immune.
So this election is our only chance.
Sherry Spot on! At 90 I believe that this election is our Armageddon for democracy. Just look at what happened in Eastern Europe during the 1930s—and today in Hungary and some other countries.
And being German they kept excellent records.
Doesn't matter if it's legal. As long as his fixing free elections is considered an official act by the current SCOTUS, he's immune.
The comment that is rich beyond words is that Harris "slept her way to the top." And that misogyny was from a woman in 2019 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/08/01/tomi-lahren-apologizes-after-saying-kamala-harris-slept-her-way-top/) and more recently by Megyn Kelly.
Um.
Harris is running against someone who has been found guilty of sexual assault, has had numerous other women step forward and accuse him, is alleged to have participated in sex acts with children, and has 5 children with 3 wives.
Talk about a double standard.
--Paula Collins, Democratic Candidate for Congress in NY-21.
I wish you all the best - Stefanik really needs to be replaced!
Sounds like Kamala has a strong case for slander. She could make life hard for her lying critics.
I thought the same thing. Isn’t that slanderous?
Trump slept his way to the bottom.
Tomi Lahren is the epitome of the term "bottle blonde bimbo."
This really got me. So well said “It’s prosecutor versus felon, champion of people’s rights versus misogynist, believer in democracy versus a man who would end your right to vote. Will the country really going to give into the tropes about Black women and reelect Trump?”
Honestly, if America doesn’t see this, do we deserve peace and prosperity? We simply HAVE to get our neighbors to see it.
If we didn’t have the electoral college, Kamala would win hands down.
The fact that he’s backed out of the debates tells us everything. He knows he can’t afford to be run off the stage by a mere woman. As to the voting comments, apart from the fact that Christ would have thrown him out of the temple with the rest of the moneychangers, his lack of understanding of and disdain for the Constitution and the electoral process is already abundentelyclear. His MAGA mob doesn’t ever hear that part of his ramblings anyway, or if they do, they agree with him.
It’s all down to November. Game on!
Exactly. He claims this Christian mantle and he is as far from a true Christian as one can imagine.
TRump's the anti-Christ...
If I believed in an antichrist, it would be him.
Trump is NOT smart enough to be the anti-Christ.
Then there should be a debate with a stand-in. A big orange smeared face painted fat baby doll with a wraparound head bandage on one side and Kamala Harris on the other.
Let the questions begin.
Has he actually backed out or still proclaiming he won't commit until there's a dem nominee?
She will mock him mercilessly for it.
All I can think of is little Jeff Sessions saying she makes him nervous.
That and the disgusting Bill Barr not having an answer. THAT man needs to be in prison.
How about when publications like NYT refer to President Trump and Harris (rather than Vice President Harris)? How about when media refers to Biden, Trump and Kamala (rather than Harris)? Where is the respect for the person and the office achieved? We need to be aware of the subtle ways that female candidates get treated with less respect.
I HATE that. It's been constant for this entire time, too -- Biden was Biden but it was always President Trump, like he was some kind of prince in waiting.
Yes, it is a privilege of the office to carry the title and many other things for life -- but words MATTER. Use them equally or not at all. It's not like they're fumbling for a thesaurus or something.
I don’t like that Trump has been running this shadow government. Every time a head of state comes to Washington, they end up at Mar-a-Lago. Seems like that should be stopped. He is a private citizen, not President.
Totally agree. Netanyahu going to MAL and having a cabinet-like conference? Appalling. Isn’t that illegal or unconstitutional in some way? I think it was purposeful to make Biden look bad, as if “oh, look, we’re the incoming admin, you deal with us now.” So wrong.
He shoukd be called former president trump. When he’s claiming that he actually won and therefore is or should be president, to use the president trump or Mr President honorific is to reinforce his LIE.
I am concerned with the misogyny I hear coming from women in my gym, towards Kamala Harris. The most common one is she is stupid....she is a loser as a VP...as if bobble head Pence was some super hero??? trump and his minions work hard to denigrate this remarkable woman and the trumpers just lap it up and then parrot the misogyny. I do not ignore these comments, but, then I get the, Bless her heart eye roll.
Huh - stupid she's not. Look at her colleges, look at her jobs prior to VP. People shouldn't fall for that GOP tripe. If anything, based on what he says, Trump is the stupid one.
It is so crystal clear to me.
It sounds like it might be time to switch gyms! Or, confront these niTwiTs with the TRUTH about Kamala's many achievements in government positions she had to be voted in for. Women like the gym gals literally make my blood boil.😡
No way I could work out with people who speak like that in my presence. My workouts are for my serenity, not for ignorant ranting by others.
Stupid? Why would they think she's stupid?
Umm, let's see. She's female, she's Black/Asian, she doesn't need a man to be able to survive well…
They're envious.
Right on, Susan. Those women are pointing a finger at Kamala and calling her "stupid," at the same time each has three fingers pointing back at themselves.
Love your take, Jacqueline! Thank you for a good laugh.
Because Trump said so.
Well if she’s stupid what does that make Trump? He’s afraid to debate her!
The reaction to you is just disgusting. You've got to wonder who has indoctrinated them. I know that I grew up with the notion that I could never make it without a man. That is probably also true for a lot of the boomers.
I don't know if it would work, but do you ever ask, innocently, "What makes you say she's stupid?" and see what they say?
The answer I got to that same question was “come on now”. I replied: I guess you can’t tell me then! These gals will be ignoring me but I hope I made them feel stupid and uncomfortable.
They will likely repeat what Trump or a magat said. If they could think for themselves, they would know Kamala is smart as a whip.
I've responded by saying I've never seen any proof of that. How do you know it's true? What proof do you have of that or did you see that first hand?
I am deeply bothered by the many women who keep us in our "places." It reminds me of when I marched for the ERA. (It was more like a walk.) Church ladies were out gardening at the Methodist church and resoundingly booed us as we passed. When we said, "We are doing this for you," they told us to go home. The point is that many faiths teach women are subservient to men, and they believe it. Right now, significantly, conservative Catholics are influencing our courts (cf: Opus Dei), and bible-toting Evangelicals are forbidding women preachers and ministers because somewhere it says women should not teach men. (Really?)
Really. I remember encountering that, but fortunately not at the church I attended, which was pentecostal. That's one reason why I no longer want to have anything to do with organized religion. Too much of it has gone the way of extremism. In the wrong direction.
Just put her into the debate ring with Trump and we will see who is stupid! She’ll smash him!
I would try to ignore it — just like many of us ignored junior high and high school girls and boys who more interested in how they looked versus how they performed academically. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
Cathleen,
How awful that must have been!
I imagine you handled yourself well.
I'm guessing at least a couple of the gym women thought about this 'discussion' with some embarrassment or regret when back in their cars.
Let us hope.
Check out Braverangels.org
They have a lot of advice on talking with others in these times of discordant discourse and the outright trump-like mean behavior. Helped me defuse some tricky encounters.
This is a life saver....I appreciate the referral to Braver angels!
Remember Elf on a Shelf?
I can't express how much I want TFG and all the enablers of this hideousness to be ground hard into the gravel by jillions of blue heels in November.
I love that image!
Thanks Joyce for this article. We cannot let folks use these disingenuous sideways remarks. Thanks for calling them out. I've been around strong women all my life, but not everyone has.
Kamala has energized the young voters, indeed every democrat I know is jazzed.
Kamala is the antidote to Trump.
I appreciate knowing that some men are fine with strong women. Too many aren't. Everyone's life is better if women are allowed to be themselves. BTW, my husband loves strong women. I am the second one he's married (he lost the first one to a major stroke).
A college math dept is a good place to find strong women. I worked at El Camino College in Torrance Ca for 29 years. I was on 5 hiring panels in a 9-year span. Almost half of the people we hired were women.
My hubby is one of the ones not paying attention. Drives me nuttier. “That’s not going to happen” is the usual response, and he’s not a stupid person.
My husband signed up for the White Dudes for Harris call on Monday. 🤗
Good for him.
I just noticed my neighbor’s boyfriend had a Trump sticker on his truck. Well, at least he doesn’t live here!
I'm envious! My husband is a full-fledged MAGAt who won't listen to any facts regarding Trump.
I am sorry you have to keep your mouth shut, PeachBlossom. It must be quite difficult. I could not stand having a tRumper around and had to convince a former husband that he was liberal. It wasn't difficult, thank heaven.
I no longer keep my list of Trump cons. Now I just say, "He's a criminal, a convicted felon, a financial fraudster, and sexual abuser."
And you're still married to the moron?
So sorry. Ever read Lysistrada?
It already *is* happening!
Same exact thing here and it makes me crazy.
Have avowed trumpets in my family as well. Think he and his cult are the end all and be all! They treat his lies as gospel. Suddenly things dramatically changed. President Biden stepped down and Kamala stepped up! Our optimism blossomed, our hearts no longer heavy...we felt she brings new hope to us all. Now we have the chance to win! KARMA AND KAMALA ! ...an unbeatable combination🤗
Family, the gift that keeps on *living*!
Would he notice if you put a Harris for President lawn sign out or bumper sticker on your car? And would it lead to asking you why and an opportunity for you to describe the society you want? Not trying to cause tensions, but sometimes a productive conversation can be started in some fashion.
He listens, we discuss, but he believes in the controls of the balance of power. He had planned to vote a write in, but told him that would be a vote for tfg. Don’t know what he’ll do now. We often cancel out each other’s vote. Both Independents, but he leans right, I lean left. Often I’ve said we need a party with a democratic heart and a bit of a republican pocketbook!
The problem with a Democratic heart and Republican finances is the disconnect will increase the national debt. Republicans give tax cuts to the higher income that decrease the budget, while the Democrat social net needs funding. I’ve found you can’t have both so pick a plan!
On what basis is it not going to happen?
People don't think massive upheavals, political changes and civil wars can actually happen to them if they've never experienced it for themselves or a loved one. Kind of like riding a bike without a helmet, driving drunk, etc -- no matter how much you hear about it, "know" about it, many people still dismiss it as impossible because somehow they know better. It hasn't happened to them, therefore it's impossible.
This is a big part of why folks with a majority privilege like race or perceived gender dismiss folks who actually experience events. No matter how much information, science or facts you throw at them, no matter how intelligent or empathetic they can be on other things, there are always reasons it's not possible.
It's a big part of why things CAN happen -- people are convinced it couldn't. I was a young adult when 9/11 happened, and already people 20 years younger say something like that is absolutely impossible and could never really happen. They didn't experience it or all of the results from it that fundamentally changed things about how we do things like air travel or the massive rise in anti-Muslim (etc) sentiment across NA that is still thousands of times magnified from immediately beforehand.
My folks witnessed the same changes with TVs and cell phones and going from every meal being home cooked and nationally having all businesses closed on Sundays to today. Some happened while I was a kid, but I didn't really understand the ramifications until much later if at all.
People HAVE lived through power grabs, massive democracy/authoritarian swings, and civil war, like Syria or Bosnia in my early lifetime. People in NA generally think of those places as "third-world" and honestly don't understand that they were as democratic and liberal and multicultural as the US or Canada has ever been, and just as equivalent. They've never been there and have only ever seen post-war or disaster images.
I have friends who did grow up in those places and the sentiment is absolutely the same, they did not think it could possibly happen, not with how strong their community and government was.
Excellent answer and of course you're right. It's very disturbing. I suppose it's human nature but aware people have to fight against it.
I remember when I was a kid, the house two houses down burned. I was shocked. It didn't happen to me but it was close. After that I was always aware that anything could happen to me and anyone else. Sometimes people understand this as they get older and accumulate experience. Some people never do, however. Like Trump.
Loved this, Bears. Thanks
You know, checks and balances! 🤨
Perhaps maybe he is…
The endless complaints that “she’s too shrill” or “I hate her cackle.” How about “trump’s voice is so whiny”? Or we hear “Harris has been a terrible VP!” What did Pence ever do besides walk out of an NFL game before he counted the electoral votes? Women are ALWAYS held to a different standard. Trump is a convicted felon but Kamala smiles and dances!!! We have to beat these blowhards decisively before there will be a change. They
Absolutely.
Personally, at this point I am so sick of his voice I have to switch off sound or shove earbuds in if I'm in public because it gives me so much anxiety. It doesn't stop me from reading and being sure, and I'm not sick of his voice just because of the tone.
Heck, I've returned audiobooks just because the narrators were atrocious, but that doesn't mean I didn't read the book in print. Women who speak 30% as often as men are seen as shrill and overbearing/over-aggressive hust in regular day to day things.
Meanwhile men aren't throwing absolute temper tantrums about things and being congratulated for "projecting" or "speaking out".
(I'm speaking in huge, gender-perceived binary terms, not who the people themselves identify as, but you know what I mean. Of all studies, men/women are some of the longest-running with the most data and are still the most ignored. Because any empowerment of anyone else means, in their minds, loss of their own power. It isn't justice or equality, it's only them being "forced" to give up what they've enjoyed uncontested. I mean, less than 150 years ago male doctors were absolutely clear that women and children did not feel pain so it was okay to use them in medical experimentation of whatever caught their whim.)
Even now one hears too many reports of doctors dismissing the pain of women, and, in particular, of women of color. It makes me sick.
Better VP than he was P.
Thank you. It’s time. I understand the assignment and beyond ready to show “them” what we mean. This could be fun.