The USA could become the Greatest Country on Earth. We have the most diverse population of any country which gives us the ability set the example for the rest of the world. And it’s not a huge undertaking.
As Americans all we need to do is Live And Let Live. Each of us has a life to live. If we practiced treating people with respect and practiced being Humble and Kind and accepting the way others choose to live it would be a lot nicer place to live.
We need to raise the white flag and get back to being civil with others. We are all in this together. The longer we fuel division the weaker we become.
Our leaders in Congress need to Lead By Example and show us and the rest of the world how they can WORK TOGETHER instead of against each other.
Our Country could and should be the Envy of the world! We have the talent in spades.
Not to detract from the main topic but a governor of ANY state who assaults a reporter (or anyone else for that matter) should not have a job.
On topic, it’s ironic that they call the protests insurrection, given that an actual insurrection took place on January 6th 2021 led by the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds.
I have a lot of trouble wrapping my head around someone's manhood being threatened by the existence of transgender people. How fragile they must be! It's the same nonsensical reaction that causes men to fear the admission of gays (or women or Blacks) into the Army.
Disney did it right...As soon as the new board was put into place. WHAMO lawsuit. Rep Zephyr should do EXACTLY that. That is what it will take. Courts. There is a Constitution. LEAN ON IT! Her constituents voices need to be heard... show up. SHOW UP. Mass the people. Stand up. EVERYONE! ENOUGH!!! The youth are needed. Register the youth to vote !!!
An important reminder. Thank you. There is SO much behind it it is almost hard to catalog. Transphobia and homophobia was present in Naziism. However, the form this transphobia is taking is similar to antisemitism as it involves a conspiracy theory, a sexualized minority, a secret hidden threat, a threat to children and civilization itself. Right wingers like Charlie Kirk, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Marco Rubio have blamed transgender people for inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the formula shortage. In addition, it’s also a useful foil for the loss of Roe v. Wade, which was the shield the GOP always used to evade any criticism for their policies. In fact, it is all of a piece, as Prof. Stanley’s blurb shows. There is a larger attempt to regulate gender roles--opposition to birth control, abortion, no-fault divorce, etc. It’s a moving target and very frightening because there are now fantasies of elimination, and extremist violence. All of this is a test case to see what is possible. If people don’t push back, the GOP will certainly push forward. Almost any account of fascism contains most of the things we’ve seen--book bans, people being fired, dehumanizing rhetoric, attempts to ostracize and threaten, stochastic violence, laws targeting visible minorities. We’re already there. I wish people would not be so complacent.
There will be a continual need to escalate because the drama that’s been created has somehow caught fire, and they need to maintain the interest. They tried with immigrants and various other groups but now they have a sense that this is a winner. In fact, it is not in terms of increasing their numbers but it certainly has created an intensity that feels like momentum to them and they just don’t have anything else that can elicit the emotions because they’re stumbling a bit on the abortion issue. The centrist media is encouraging them, much like they did on the issue of abortion long ago. The effort is also extremely well-funded. The National Christian Charity Foundation has very deep pockets as do other billionaires. What’s chilling is that they are actually imitating the fascist template with this--it is not accidentally following a fascist line. There is a deliberate use of tropes that have worked in the past. Some of the groups designing these campaigns are well aware of how to do such a campaign.
In addition, they are folding antisemitism into transphobia by claiming LGBT rights have links to George Soros and the Pritzker family. What’s weird or maybe not so weird is that a lot of these ideas like drag being a method for grooming children (how exactly?) started on qanon forums. It really sucks that as a child, I used to wonder how these terrible things happened like the Holocaust and the Balkans War. How did people go from living peacefully with others for generations to baying for their neighbors’ blood? Now it doesn’t seem mysterious at all but completely obvious. It isn’t even puzzling to us anymore how people could lose their minds and turn on other people as a result of completely absurd and far out ideas that are easily disproven. That’s how much things have changed in the last 5 or so years.
Republican strategists see the transgender issue as a potent force to bring foam to the mouths of their brethren. Male hatred of former males pegs the meter on multiple levels.
If they ever smiled at a tight butt and realized it was a guy, they have to react forcefully to hide any shame they carry with them from that moment.
Any hint of tolerance or God forbid compassion is a direct assault on their manhood.
If they don’t deny trans folks 100% of their humanity, rightwing and evangelical men fear that suspicion may point in their direction.
If we are going to live together in peace on a small and shrinking planet, we must first embrace the diversity that is so obviously part of the human race. That means seeking out people who are different from us and focussing on things we have in common with them. It isn't so difficult once you attempt it.
So, males threatened by economic security and gender equality undermining their provider/protector roles are drawn to the party that both aggravates their insecurity and stimulates their anger (an emotional substitute for power?) by presenting them with a scapegoat, though that party does nothing to improve their economic situation, and if it gains power by using their insecurity, this party will immediately vote in tax breaks for the wealthy that leave these guys even worse off. Meanwhile, the party that is working to strengthen unions and build the economy from the bottom up is loathed and despised because it also promotes gender equality and an end to sexual bigotry? Do i have that right? What are the necessary conditions for human beings to clearly see what is in their best interest?
What is particularly cruel about the GOP fascist fear & loathing strategy is that the victims of transmania are kids; not adults. Gender identity and sexual orientation are basically birth anomalies like learning disabilities, diabetes, deafness, and other such physical attributes that are not always externally manifested. They are hard enough to adapt to without being bullied and mocked by both age peers and ignorant hateful adults - and now Governors, legislator are forcing teachers to regulate things like sports participation and use of school toilets. It is deplorable.
To reduce insecurity in all but the uppermost strata will require politicians to do what their donors don't want them to do. (All but the uppermost strata? AI will make many professions almost obsolete in the near future.)
We have to get big money out of politics.
That will also remove the major roadblock to climate and healthcare action and make dealing with guns easier.
While Republicans appear to have many problems with democracy, I think this current fascination with gender/equality/women's rights, is to focus their foot soldiers on the cultural-wedge, which is really all they have for '24. Whatever you think of Biden & his performance at serving the American people, that, has been his focus, how to make life better/fairer for those who voted for him, & those that didn't. The Republicans have nothing but grievance & division to run on, it's their bumper sticker! Democrats & Biden's campaign would do well, to simply focus attention on this list of accomplishments, & contrast that with the Orwellian actions of the GOP.
Has anyone else noticed that the transgender movement "magically" came to the forefront of political discussions right after Roe vs. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court? The transgender arguments are almost identical to abortion for both teams. Is it real or merely a new means to fundraise while smashing political foes?
Republicans are not the only people who see the new white patriarchal Transgender women's movement for the misogyny that it quite often is. Seriously, you can't make yourself out to be a White Savior by pretending that Transgender women are the same as biological women. You can't make yourself out to be a White Savior by pretending to be so compassionate and woke, because there are MANY different realities and truths.
I'm not referring to men who transitioned, I'm talking about Transgender "women" who are actually anatomical, fully intact males with penises and testicles. Educate yourself. Women are under attack, and it is not ONLY Republicans who see this, it is women like me, Democrats who consider themselves liberal. I am an adult human female. I am a WOMAN.
A group of protesters coming to demand that their representative be allowed to speak and represent them is not an insurrection unless they are carrying weapons or things used as weapons, like 'bear spray', flags with poles to jab with or the like ; or hitting pushing etc. hitting with with fire extinguishers, punching or kicking; in other words attacking physically. What I saw was police pushing people with rifles and gun stocks. and shoving them. Not a good look for Democracy! It reminded me of similar 60's protests.
The sad fact is that we are little different today from what we were when we slouched onto our own branch of the evolutionary tree. We are creatures of emotion and our most powerful emotional motivator is fear. Unfortunately, it is the most easily manipulated. The sad thing is, our adaptive capabilities that fostered the creation of human civilization have never been pointed at the issue of our fear and how it feeds our bigotry. It seems, in the US at least, that humanity is starting to devolve into the primal primacy of fear, foregoing all our advancements in knowledge, eschewing all our accomplishments in moral philosophy, such as they are. We are becoming more tribal in the sense that we seek sameness and reject difference.
I am proud to say that I am that difference. I am a gay man in an ex-urban area of North Texas near the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. I see daily friendly faces that turn to anger in a heartbeat over three little words: I am gay. I hear their litany of ‘hate the sin, love the sinner,’ as they confidently and without remorse discuss the denial of our rights to exist as we are. They are disgusted if we hold hands or express our love publicly, complaining that we are ‘throwing it in their face’ never once considering their public displays of affection are no different. They will gladly take advantage of our talents, but would just as easily see us rounded up and disposed of. We do have allies here, good people who do stand up to the bigotry and hate. But the power of churches in the area is almost iron clad, and few of them are on our side. Many are direct social control agents of the Right, using the power of the pulpit to stir up and maintain fear among the congregations, ensuring their sermons are on point with the political messages from the Right and the votes are cast for the right candidate. They hate us because they are told to hate us. Most of them have at least one uncle who has a ‘friend’ he lives with, or an aunt and her ‘friend.’ They can’t hate the individual at their dinner table, but they can hate the group because their relationship to the LGBTQIA+ community is anonymous. Uncle Bob is great, but any collective that seeks recognition and defends his rights and the rights of LGBTQIA+ communities is bad because they are just groomers and pedophiles.
Yes, the health of a democracy can be measured by how its people treat those who have the least power within it. In a country that prides itself on the advancement of individualism, it is ironic that so many reject what could be seen as the most courageous act of individualism one can engage, being who one really is. Gender Dysphoria is real. Homosexuality is not unknown to nature. We are born this way. I find it funny how quickly those on the Right become advocates of nurture where sexuality is concerned while relying on ‘human nature’ to define the characteristics they like.
If we want to eliminate bigotry, against sexual minorities or people of color or women, we have to address our unrestrained fear. Fear is a protector, but it is also a mind killer, as the Litany from Dune says. Until we face our fears of difference both individually and as a society, we will cycle through those with the least power in our world assigning them the hate du jour and feeling good about it. We have a clear choice: we are either a society held together by a common fear, or we are a society held together by the choice to value all members and work together to ensure we all are treated with dignity and respect. What people who rely on fear don’t understand is that fear will devour all that you love until you are the only thing left. Then you are alone in the dark, and all that exists becomes a source of fear and there is no one left to hold your hand and tell you it will be ok, no one to ignite the flame of hope and keep it burning through the night. In the grip of fear, your world dies in darkness.
I was taught that how a society protects it minorities is a test of its democracy . What grade does America earn today ?
Here’s A Thought
The USA could become the Greatest Country on Earth. We have the most diverse population of any country which gives us the ability set the example for the rest of the world. And it’s not a huge undertaking.
As Americans all we need to do is Live And Let Live. Each of us has a life to live. If we practiced treating people with respect and practiced being Humble and Kind and accepting the way others choose to live it would be a lot nicer place to live.
We need to raise the white flag and get back to being civil with others. We are all in this together. The longer we fuel division the weaker we become.
Our leaders in Congress need to Lead By Example and show us and the rest of the world how they can WORK TOGETHER instead of against each other.
Our Country could and should be the Envy of the world! We have the talent in spades.
Not to detract from the main topic but a governor of ANY state who assaults a reporter (or anyone else for that matter) should not have a job.
On topic, it’s ironic that they call the protests insurrection, given that an actual insurrection took place on January 6th 2021 led by the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds.
I have a lot of trouble wrapping my head around someone's manhood being threatened by the existence of transgender people. How fragile they must be! It's the same nonsensical reaction that causes men to fear the admission of gays (or women or Blacks) into the Army.
Disney did it right...As soon as the new board was put into place. WHAMO lawsuit. Rep Zephyr should do EXACTLY that. That is what it will take. Courts. There is a Constitution. LEAN ON IT! Her constituents voices need to be heard... show up. SHOW UP. Mass the people. Stand up. EVERYONE! ENOUGH!!! The youth are needed. Register the youth to vote !!!
An important reminder. Thank you. There is SO much behind it it is almost hard to catalog. Transphobia and homophobia was present in Naziism. However, the form this transphobia is taking is similar to antisemitism as it involves a conspiracy theory, a sexualized minority, a secret hidden threat, a threat to children and civilization itself. Right wingers like Charlie Kirk, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Marco Rubio have blamed transgender people for inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the formula shortage. In addition, it’s also a useful foil for the loss of Roe v. Wade, which was the shield the GOP always used to evade any criticism for their policies. In fact, it is all of a piece, as Prof. Stanley’s blurb shows. There is a larger attempt to regulate gender roles--opposition to birth control, abortion, no-fault divorce, etc. It’s a moving target and very frightening because there are now fantasies of elimination, and extremist violence. All of this is a test case to see what is possible. If people don’t push back, the GOP will certainly push forward. Almost any account of fascism contains most of the things we’ve seen--book bans, people being fired, dehumanizing rhetoric, attempts to ostracize and threaten, stochastic violence, laws targeting visible minorities. We’re already there. I wish people would not be so complacent.
There will be a continual need to escalate because the drama that’s been created has somehow caught fire, and they need to maintain the interest. They tried with immigrants and various other groups but now they have a sense that this is a winner. In fact, it is not in terms of increasing their numbers but it certainly has created an intensity that feels like momentum to them and they just don’t have anything else that can elicit the emotions because they’re stumbling a bit on the abortion issue. The centrist media is encouraging them, much like they did on the issue of abortion long ago. The effort is also extremely well-funded. The National Christian Charity Foundation has very deep pockets as do other billionaires. What’s chilling is that they are actually imitating the fascist template with this--it is not accidentally following a fascist line. There is a deliberate use of tropes that have worked in the past. Some of the groups designing these campaigns are well aware of how to do such a campaign.
In addition, they are folding antisemitism into transphobia by claiming LGBT rights have links to George Soros and the Pritzker family. What’s weird or maybe not so weird is that a lot of these ideas like drag being a method for grooming children (how exactly?) started on qanon forums. It really sucks that as a child, I used to wonder how these terrible things happened like the Holocaust and the Balkans War. How did people go from living peacefully with others for generations to baying for their neighbors’ blood? Now it doesn’t seem mysterious at all but completely obvious. It isn’t even puzzling to us anymore how people could lose their minds and turn on other people as a result of completely absurd and far out ideas that are easily disproven. That’s how much things have changed in the last 5 or so years.
Republican strategists see the transgender issue as a potent force to bring foam to the mouths of their brethren. Male hatred of former males pegs the meter on multiple levels.
If they ever smiled at a tight butt and realized it was a guy, they have to react forcefully to hide any shame they carry with them from that moment.
Any hint of tolerance or God forbid compassion is a direct assault on their manhood.
If they don’t deny trans folks 100% of their humanity, rightwing and evangelical men fear that suspicion may point in their direction.
If we are going to live together in peace on a small and shrinking planet, we must first embrace the diversity that is so obviously part of the human race. That means seeking out people who are different from us and focussing on things we have in common with them. It isn't so difficult once you attempt it.
So, males threatened by economic security and gender equality undermining their provider/protector roles are drawn to the party that both aggravates their insecurity and stimulates their anger (an emotional substitute for power?) by presenting them with a scapegoat, though that party does nothing to improve their economic situation, and if it gains power by using their insecurity, this party will immediately vote in tax breaks for the wealthy that leave these guys even worse off. Meanwhile, the party that is working to strengthen unions and build the economy from the bottom up is loathed and despised because it also promotes gender equality and an end to sexual bigotry? Do i have that right? What are the necessary conditions for human beings to clearly see what is in their best interest?
What is particularly cruel about the GOP fascist fear & loathing strategy is that the victims of transmania are kids; not adults. Gender identity and sexual orientation are basically birth anomalies like learning disabilities, diabetes, deafness, and other such physical attributes that are not always externally manifested. They are hard enough to adapt to without being bullied and mocked by both age peers and ignorant hateful adults - and now Governors, legislator are forcing teachers to regulate things like sports participation and use of school toilets. It is deplorable.
To reduce insecurity in all but the uppermost strata will require politicians to do what their donors don't want them to do. (All but the uppermost strata? AI will make many professions almost obsolete in the near future.)
We have to get big money out of politics.
That will also remove the major roadblock to climate and healthcare action and make dealing with guns easier.
While Republicans appear to have many problems with democracy, I think this current fascination with gender/equality/women's rights, is to focus their foot soldiers on the cultural-wedge, which is really all they have for '24. Whatever you think of Biden & his performance at serving the American people, that, has been his focus, how to make life better/fairer for those who voted for him, & those that didn't. The Republicans have nothing but grievance & division to run on, it's their bumper sticker! Democrats & Biden's campaign would do well, to simply focus attention on this list of accomplishments, & contrast that with the Orwellian actions of the GOP.
Has anyone else noticed that the transgender movement "magically" came to the forefront of political discussions right after Roe vs. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court? The transgender arguments are almost identical to abortion for both teams. Is it real or merely a new means to fundraise while smashing political foes?
Republicans are not the only people who see the new white patriarchal Transgender women's movement for the misogyny that it quite often is. Seriously, you can't make yourself out to be a White Savior by pretending that Transgender women are the same as biological women. You can't make yourself out to be a White Savior by pretending to be so compassionate and woke, because there are MANY different realities and truths.
I'm not referring to men who transitioned, I'm talking about Transgender "women" who are actually anatomical, fully intact males with penises and testicles. Educate yourself. Women are under attack, and it is not ONLY Republicans who see this, it is women like me, Democrats who consider themselves liberal. I am an adult human female. I am a WOMAN.
https://www.commentary.org/articles/christine-rosen/the-new-misogyny/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voaYjKMw5rI
A group of protesters coming to demand that their representative be allowed to speak and represent them is not an insurrection unless they are carrying weapons or things used as weapons, like 'bear spray', flags with poles to jab with or the like ; or hitting pushing etc. hitting with with fire extinguishers, punching or kicking; in other words attacking physically. What I saw was police pushing people with rifles and gun stocks. and shoving them. Not a good look for Democracy! It reminded me of similar 60's protests.
The sad fact is that we are little different today from what we were when we slouched onto our own branch of the evolutionary tree. We are creatures of emotion and our most powerful emotional motivator is fear. Unfortunately, it is the most easily manipulated. The sad thing is, our adaptive capabilities that fostered the creation of human civilization have never been pointed at the issue of our fear and how it feeds our bigotry. It seems, in the US at least, that humanity is starting to devolve into the primal primacy of fear, foregoing all our advancements in knowledge, eschewing all our accomplishments in moral philosophy, such as they are. We are becoming more tribal in the sense that we seek sameness and reject difference.
I am proud to say that I am that difference. I am a gay man in an ex-urban area of North Texas near the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. I see daily friendly faces that turn to anger in a heartbeat over three little words: I am gay. I hear their litany of ‘hate the sin, love the sinner,’ as they confidently and without remorse discuss the denial of our rights to exist as we are. They are disgusted if we hold hands or express our love publicly, complaining that we are ‘throwing it in their face’ never once considering their public displays of affection are no different. They will gladly take advantage of our talents, but would just as easily see us rounded up and disposed of. We do have allies here, good people who do stand up to the bigotry and hate. But the power of churches in the area is almost iron clad, and few of them are on our side. Many are direct social control agents of the Right, using the power of the pulpit to stir up and maintain fear among the congregations, ensuring their sermons are on point with the political messages from the Right and the votes are cast for the right candidate. They hate us because they are told to hate us. Most of them have at least one uncle who has a ‘friend’ he lives with, or an aunt and her ‘friend.’ They can’t hate the individual at their dinner table, but they can hate the group because their relationship to the LGBTQIA+ community is anonymous. Uncle Bob is great, but any collective that seeks recognition and defends his rights and the rights of LGBTQIA+ communities is bad because they are just groomers and pedophiles.
Yes, the health of a democracy can be measured by how its people treat those who have the least power within it. In a country that prides itself on the advancement of individualism, it is ironic that so many reject what could be seen as the most courageous act of individualism one can engage, being who one really is. Gender Dysphoria is real. Homosexuality is not unknown to nature. We are born this way. I find it funny how quickly those on the Right become advocates of nurture where sexuality is concerned while relying on ‘human nature’ to define the characteristics they like.
If we want to eliminate bigotry, against sexual minorities or people of color or women, we have to address our unrestrained fear. Fear is a protector, but it is also a mind killer, as the Litany from Dune says. Until we face our fears of difference both individually and as a society, we will cycle through those with the least power in our world assigning them the hate du jour and feeling good about it. We have a clear choice: we are either a society held together by a common fear, or we are a society held together by the choice to value all members and work together to ensure we all are treated with dignity and respect. What people who rely on fear don’t understand is that fear will devour all that you love until you are the only thing left. Then you are alone in the dark, and all that exists becomes a source of fear and there is no one left to hold your hand and tell you it will be ok, no one to ignite the flame of hope and keep it burning through the night. In the grip of fear, your world dies in darkness.