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It all comes down to how you personally define as "better for women." Do you define "better for women" as:
There is no party that does "all of the above" in America. You, the voter, are forced to prioritize which of the above you feel will benefit women the most and vote accordingly. Obviously, there is a lot of disagreement on Ovarit and elsewhere on how to prioritize these issues.
My community spends more per student than they did when I was student, but we had better literacy & math & science scores when I was a student. The same is true for many other school districts around me.
While money helps schools, kids in developing nations learn basic literacy, and more advanced math even though in some places they have far fewer resources including textbooks, they aren't using laptops or high tech. It isn't just about money. It's teaching methods & fads. It's also parents and students valuing learning & even parents who may not have gotten much schooling push their kids to excel.
Neither party has a good solution for this because it isn't just due to the schools
My school district shuts down on hot weather days because the 100+ year-old buildings have no air conditioning. Prior to COVID era online learning, that meant students missing several days of school every year. Again, this is a completely unacceptable situation in America. The federal government has spent trillions of dollars on other countries during the course of my lifetime, but they won't spend a single dime building a modern facility for American children. The federal government will, however, ship in several thousand immigrants so that the local school district is forced to spend most of their budget on ESL services instead of updating their facilities. At what point do American citizens come first? At what point does the government start investing in a future for our citizens?
yes, I can really understand this - having to prioritize which things you feel affected by the most.
This is a really comprehensive list. I want all of these things and more for women and children. All of them are basic and more than reasonable. Why should we have to pick and choose based on arbitrary political parties created by men?
Why should we have to pick and choose based on arbitrary political parties created by men?
I know you know you answered your own question!
The only thing I see on the list as not doable anymore is the porn issue. We tried taking it to the supreme court and got knocked down for 1st amendment issues. They tried multiple times when Reagan was in office. They tried arresting Hefner and Flint to stop playboy and hustler, and again ran into the first amendment. It never seemed to matter to the courts that porn exploits women and is damaging to them. And now it is damaging kids.
I am voting for Kamala Harris.
The trans issue may go away once it gets taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. I think Trump is a criminal who will do anything for the highest bidder. Who knows what he has promised Putin for Christmas this time? He might really undo NATO this time, I got tired of seeing him tweeting about who was on his shit list every morning. January 6th 2020 could be more professionally carried out next time.
I'm an American and I live in a solidly blue state, so I am not voting. This is my impression of what's going on:
Many normie American conservatives, as well as many from the 'heterodox' crowd online, believe a Trump administration could be kept in check from accomplishing the more extreme demands made by a wannabe dictator. Many conservatives see themselves as tolerant of others in a "live and let live" kind of way, so they're not going to come after gay rights, and they believe women will be fine. They think curbing abortion access will simply make people more responsible for their actions, and personal responsibility will collectively bring us all back to our senses, and get us to see the family unit as a source of meaning and value again. Normie conservatives will assume women will go on being able to access contraception, no-fault divorce, and careers if these are things they choose for themselves. Conservatives and the pro-trump heterodox crew see liberals as "Trump deranged" and disregard Trump's lies and threats as benign rhetoric. The heterodox crew tends to see freedom of speech and freedom from imposed beliefs (e.g. a belief in gender identity as something real) as essential to a free society, and they think Democrats demonstrated a willingness to use authoritarian measures during the Covid crisis.
On the other hand, normie American liberals may be opposed to some of the woke nonsense now, and are too tired to be whipped into a frenzy around the social justice cause du jour. But they believe that the excesses of their side over the past several years were well-intended ("We were fighting for the underdog!"), and they still don't understand how a small minority of trans-identified individuals could seriously impact the rights of women and girls. On any number of issues, most liberals trust "the experts" more than their own critical thinking or common sense--even when it comes the health and safety of their children. Liberals will "trust the experts" in a lemming-like fashion and will enforce compliance by suggesting anyone who disagrees with them is a bigot who shouldn't remain employable. Similar to normie conservatives, normie liberals just don't want to believe their side would do anything too extreme.
The American voter is left to guess which side will actually fuck them over.
I got too tired midway to be any more articulate than this. It's too nice outside.
You were very articulate. This is a thoughtful take on the assumptions and behaviors of both sides. Brava.
Wow! Such a breath of fresh air to read this after weeding through that other huge thread about Kamala's Fox interview which devolved into yet another unsolvable argument of Vote D or Not.
Such a breath of fresh air to read this after weeding through that other huge thread about Kamala's Fox interview which devolved into yet another unsolvable argument of Vote D or Not.
Has who to vote for been settled in this, for now, smaller thread?
Some people made some really good points in the other thread including that it does no good to complain about politicians unless we are willing to say we won't vote for them if they don't listen.
Also I am glad that the acrimony that can rear up was absent last time I checked.
This is a very informative take, thank you. It seems a key point is to what extent will either side be able to be stopped from going to the extreme. I can see there's a risk in the left sticking their head in the sand or not being proactive enough, whereas the right could end up with stepping stones to increased restrictions on women. It's very difficult. I don't envy Americans. I'm not really sure where I stand politically as I have significant disability and policies on this really matter to me, but often the parties who have better policies in that regard have ones I don't agree with on other issues like women's rights, immigration etc. It's tricky.
Sherwood Brown of Ohio has tacked away from full-throated trans support because of attack ads on this issue. Democrats will continue to move away from trans support, and the judicial, legislative and public stink over men in women's sports, prisons, etc, will continue to beat back trans juggarnaut.
I disagree tha American Democrats, as opposed to "liberals" of the college campus variety, are on board with the trans thing at all. They're voting for Harris-Walz administration because of their stand on other issues, and are hopeful once elected, there will be a continuing rising tide legislativey, judicially and in court of public opinion, to take care of the trans nonsense.
Okay, except that it’s not liberals of the college campus variety that made changes to Title IX a first day priority. Our current president stated that trans rights were the “civil rights issue of our time”. These aren’t fringe people with no power doing this. It’s an open question whether democrats will back away from this. It certainly isn’t true that they haven’t been pushing this. They have been. Yes, they’ve been bought to do so, but that doesn’t make it better imo.
She picked Tim Waltz as her running mate. They are not backing away from trans rights.
I do agree the trans issue doesn't even register with them. And if asked, it's of course we support trans people because "we're the good people".
But I don't agree they're really voting on issues, except for the climate change crowd. They're basically voting Harris or any Democrat including a corpse if Biden had stayed in because of "Not Trump." Generally, that's basically the only reason for their vote.
Very articulate. You are talking about the 80 percent of Americans who do not have extreme views. Unfortunately politicians do not represent the 80 percent. Liberals and conservatives "don't want to believe their side would do anything too extreme" Trump wil do whatever he wants and Harris will do whatever she is told to do.
The GOP is categorically bad for anybody who isn't already a white male billionaire. There is not a single issue on which they are not so horrible that it verges on cartoon villainy. Yes, that includes trans issues, and if anybody on this forum actually believes they are "on our side" of this topic I have a bridge to sell you.
The Democratic Party is what most sane nations would consider a center-right party. It's sexist, it's corporate, and it's deeply invested in not challenging any of the foundational problems with the status quo. The fact that it is absolutely and positively the lesser of two evils in every single area of life for every citizen of the USA (except the aforementioned white male billionaire) is not a reflection of anything particularly good about the Democrats; rather, it reflects just how cartoonishly bad the GOP manages to be.
Kamala knows what a woman is. She has referred to “pregnant women” many times when discussing abortion. I have not heard her speak much about trans issues since becoming the Democratic nominee. I think she knows how unpopular this issue is with Americans.
By the way, I haven’t heard Trump or JDV speak much about trans issues either. Mostly keeping the focus on immigrants, legal and illegal. I doubt they will do much to help if they are elected.
Trump is talking about the trans issue. He just came out saying he would ban TIMs in women's sports & he has talked about it before. & the GOP has ads esp in Senate races that refer to the Dems extremist TRA policies.
And in response to an attack ad about trans, Dem Sherrod Brown of Ohio has back-pedaled; trans borg is shedding angry tears, the betrayal! This will continue to happen, simple facts of electoral politics, TRANS is not important enough to lose a seat over.
Brown has always been a moderate, so I'm not surprised, and he was probably never on board with the trans movement. He has always been a centrist.
He's certainly been painted as an extreme liberal for quite some time now by the right.
The right call everyone who is a Democrat an extreme liberal. It is all bullshit rhetoric from the right.
Kamala is a woman. Trump is an imbecilic criminal.
It's not like it’s an excitable choice, but it’s an easy one.
Except it’s not an easy choice. Harris has actively worked against women and has made the US less safe for women and children. And so has Trump. But it’s not an easy choice and I will not vote for her or any Democrat who will not disavow gender identity. I believe it’s causing greater harm and has to be the priority.
I respectfully disagree with you, but respect your opinion. There's a lot more at stake than just gender ideology to me personally. I'm not privileged enough to gain any benefit from Trump, and would likely be actively hurt by him. Harris is at least somewhat neutral on my daily life, if not potentially a little helpful.
It's your right to choose to vote or not, and to vote for who you want. But I'm exercising my right because I know there are many out there who would prefer I didn't. As well, there are many local election options on my ballot, which are important for me to vote for.
I'm not privileged enough to gain any benefit from Trump
I've seen this referenced in various places. I'm not sure whether it's a tax reference or not, but, if so, it's worth pointing out that the Trump tax cuts included a 20% upfront deduction for the self-employed and for sole proprietors of small businesses—which has had a positive impact on blue-collar areas, since so many skilled trade workers become self-employed or start a passthrough (as sole proprietor) business once they reach the rank of journeyman [unisex] or especially master.
🥰🇺🇸 Why thank You, I love this
bbuuuttt I'm not old enough ahah (same age floor as the presidency, per the 12th amendment).
also, regardless of the age thing, there would probably be a Constitutional crisis about whether I'm a "natural born citizen"... as somebody who was foreign-born and orphaned, with exact roots unknown, and adopted into U.S. citizenship ahah.
Being born in Canada wasn't a problem for Ted Cruz when he ran in presidential primaries—but there's the sticking point of that word "born", there, in the phrase "natural-born citizen". Adoptees have long been considered legally identical to genetic children—even for blood-quantum purposes by virtually all Federally recognized Indian (US) and First Nations (Can) tribes—but the U.S. Constitution dates to long before all of those legalities, and when even the organizers of amateur basketball tournaments with nothing material at stake cry foul over the inclusion of adoptees, one can only imagine the eternal stink that would be raised over a President whose "natural-born" U.S. citizenship came by way of adoption.
maybe @pennygadget?
They are already disavowing gender identity - in response to attack ads, Dem Sherrod Brown has pivoted away from total 100% trans support. This will continue to happen, because individual Democratic polticians are not willing to lose elections over men in women's sports (or boys at high school level). There is the judicial system, lawsuits, as well as policy-making by Republican controlled states. So there is a tidal wave of "fed up with trans bullshit" building. I have confidence in the tidal wave; Harris, nor any other politician individually or collectively, can fight it.
I'm not interested in China invading Taiwan, Russia retaking Poland, Baltic states, global warming getting so much worse than it is already turning out to be, etc. THAT takes priority over idiot trans issue, which IS being beaten back on many fronts. Including, when push comes to shove, Dems losing seats over trans issue. They will pedal back like any politician of any stripe, to keep that seat. Sure, if supporting trans to the nth degree would allow Sherrod Brown to win elections, he'd do it. But it won't.
It goes beyond just trans. It is censorship. You don't have to take away the first amendment to get censorship. It can be much more subtle than that. They shame people for not toeing the party line. Many people have lost jobs because they were considered bigots for not going along with the party line. It would be one thing if this was just a fad among non-government people, but this is government backed. Makes me wonder how far they will go to control the population. It is a big lie that the government is pushing down our throats and saying you will believe it or else. Scares the hell out of me.
Although I haven’t heard from Harris about gender identity, I understand she follows the regrettable Democratic policy of supporting gender self-ID and medicalization. Supposedly during the 2019 campaign (in the primaries for the Democratic nomination) she was asked if she supported government-funded sex changes for detained immigrants (double or triple right-wing rage bait, depending how you count) and said yes, if that was part of their medical treatment plan, along with all other necessary health care.
Harris is making abortion rights a big part of her platform. That (is not my top priority but) is important for women because not only are abortion rights restricted in many states, but women are having trouble getting treatment for complications with wanted pregnancies because doctors are afraid to fall afoul of very restrictive state policies. At least two women have died of these complications because they couldn’t get treatment or it was delayed too long. Beyond that, fear of these policies has led ob-gyns to leave certain states, resulting in maternal care deserts or hospitals closing obstetrics units.
To think that Trump is better than Harris is to have no problems at all in life and to think no one else does either. He is campaigning hard on trans policies, or rather against Democratic policies on trans. He brags about having nominated the SC justices who overturned Roe v Wade but he also realizes that is backfiring so he tries to have it both ways. I doubt he has strong convictions on either abortion or trans rights. I’m sure he’s paid for at least one abortion over the years, or told a woman he would pay for her abortion—he’s not known for paying his bills. As for trans, I doubt he cares. He’s big on men doing whatever their dicks want.
On a personal level, he is well known as a swine, or as it used to be called a “womanizer” (how quaint). He bragged on video about grabbing women by the pussy (“when you’re a star they let you do it”). He was found in (civil, not criminal) court to be responsible for raping E Jean Carroll. He said he wouldn’t mind dating his daughter Ivanka.
Beyond these, the reasons Trump would be terrible for women are the same ones he’d be terrible for everybody: fueling inflation by replacing income taxes with his stupid tariffs, sucking up to autocrats, stripping civil service protections in government to install his loyal flunkies, telling donors he’d roll back environmental regulations for a donation of $1 billion to his campaign (spoiler: he’ll do it for free), somehow deporting legal immigrants as well as illegal ones and reversing naturalized citizenship, it goes on and on.
Gosh, Trump really is vile. I agree that I doubt he gives a shit about women and it's more about what can he say that people will like him saying.
How do you think you will get abortion back if Harris wins. What do you think she can do about it.
She would sign a bill creating a national right to abortion and she would nominate judges and SC justices who would uphold it. Trump’s approach is states’ rights, because that worked so well for slavery in the 19th century.
And how do you think she will get that through congress and the senate. SC judges are lifers, so unless one retires, she cannot appoint one. Abortion is not a constitutional right. It would take 2/3rd of the states to make it a constitutional amendment. When something is a state right, the federal government cannot override it. It is just wishful thinking.
I used to think the Republicans were better because, when I was involved in Tea Party groups, it seemed as if younger conservatives and disaffected liberals were pushing mainstream Republicans/conservatives into a more moderate direction. It seemed like the right would become less hardline on social issues like gay marriage and abortion as the old religious conservatives were replaced by younger people who had more lived experience outside of the religious "trad life" bubble
Well, goes to show how naive and dumb i was back then! Because the Trump fanbase eventually took over the movement and got Roe overturned.
Now, I honestly can't say which is the lesser of two evils (especially when you factor in other issues besides genderwoo)
but I really want to hear some perspectives of American women and what you think, particularly in reference to women like Meghan Kelly, KJK, Meghan Murphy etc supporting Trump as far as I can tell.
As someone who became right wing in my youth after being majorly burned by the left, I get why women like Megan Murphy support Trump. The right wing is very welcoming to the politically homeless and left wingers who feel betrayed by the left. Meanwhile, the far left has become far more dogmatic and prone to cast people out and demonize them for minor acts of wrongthink (Ana Kasparian, JK Rowling, Arielle Scarcella, and Brianna Wu are good examples of this)
I think Trump is a grifter and will go along with pretty much whatever the Republican Party wants from him. And Harris is a puppet. She has no real vision for the country and will also bend over for the democrats. I’m not voting for either of them. Can’t have that on my conscience. Trump is going to win anyway.
It’s really depressing isn’t it? Nor is our current situation covered by “the lesser of two evils”. Bush/Gore is the lesser of evils. This is another order of magnitude entirely. It’s more like choosing whether you’d rather be shot or stabbed.
As I posted on another post:
I will vote for Harris, because of Trump's attempt to overthrow the election on Jan. 6th. And I think Vance is even more extreme & restrictive about women. He has just said he doesn't think that Trump lost the 2020 election. He has also said the GOP has to "get over" fears of being authoritarian, that if Trump wins he should ignore SCOTUS rulings-(eg. it was about using an executive order to fire a large part of the civil service & replace them with Trump loyalists, which in some cases it is against the law as they have some protection from firing for political reasons) because, how is the SCOTUS going to enforce it? ; he said a few years ago that people with children under 18 should get votes for the number of kids they have & vote on the kids behalf, he thinks divorce is too easy & offhandedly cited people claiming violence as an "excuse" (& then tried to say he was misunderstood).
And Harris & Walz at least would not say as Vance basically said about SCOTUS rulings he didn't like, "make me".
However, with a Dem President, it's ok for me to have the Dems not have a majority in at least either the House or Senate. It may cause gridlock, but hopefully it would keep either side from having the numbers to push their extremist views.
I did tell a campaign volunteer who called, that if Harris won, I was ok with having a "firewall" in Congress of the other party to prevent the pushing of extremist gender ideology, so I was still not decided about the Senate race.
Given all the awful things Trump has said, is it all just so awful and normalised for him that people almost don’t see how awful it is or something?
Yes. He is Teflon. And people assume he is exaggerating & that's "just Trump, that's just the way he is".
And he has already done 4 years and the US didn't fall apart. He wasn't a good president, but he didn't start any wars, and he eventually had to leave. He won't be any worse this time and as far as Vance goes we don't really know, he is probably an average republican, and we will get a republican eventually anyway. They all have the same agenda and always have. This country is structurally set up so change happens very slowly. The founders did that on purpose, so there could never be a dictatorship.
Pretty much. Like how men are expected to commit crimes but a woman committing the same crimes is treated like a heretic betraying all of the human race.
A good term to look up is "gish gallop". Trump is a kind of living, slow motion gish gallop.
Between his ride-or-die supporters* believing in insane propaganda and pushback from Republican Party operatives on news stories that aren’t nice enough to him and fact-checking in debates, the media treats him with kid gloves and cleans up his word salad in text and on video to make him look less insane.
*For a recent example: the guy who threatened to shoot federal government workers rescuing and cleaning up after the recent hurricanes because of outlandish rumors that they’re giving funds to illegal immigrants or something, I can’t even keep track.
Given all the awful things Trump has said, is it all just so awful and normalised for him that people almost don’t see how awful it is or something?
That. And many valid criticisms against Trump get lost in the sea of outlandish statements about Trump wanting to ship the gays, the transgendered, Mexicans, Muslims, etc off to death camps.
particularly in reference to women like Meghan Kelly, KJK, Meghan Murphy etc supporting Trump as far as I can tell
Two of those women aren't Americans and the other has always been a conservative and got her start as a Fox News anchor. Murphy is the only one who would call herself a feminist and she's a bit unhinged on other issues.
Trump is definitely the worse of two evils. Kamala is guilty of supporting the trans cult I don't think she's malicious in the same way as Trump. I suspect her views will conform to the changing public sentiment and expect her to back away from the trans shit as more and more people peak. She's first and foremost a politician who cares about getting elected and re-elected. The Democrats are slowly realizing this is a losing issue.
Most women here will say Kamala, but I disagree with them and will not vote for Kamala. I look at the policies and not the person. Kamala also lacks empathy, e.i, putting mothers (most of whom were black) in jail for truancy etc.
For me, gender ideology is the most important thing for me, you can not talk about women’s rights without being able to define one. Personally, I think this is the election that decides whether gender ideology will be ingrained in society or not. It will be much harder to get rid of it when Kamala wins because we as women did not make it an issue of concern this election cycle, a foolish and big mistake. With an election so close, this was the perfect election to get the democrats to listen to us about the issue.
I think like many in that era, especially since people in communities were demanding it, she had a tougher attitude on crime.
Truancy adds to crime because the kids are idle, bored & unsupervised. Letting them get away with not going to school also steals their future in a sense of having a chance for a better life via education.
There was one woman whose daughter had medical reasons that were documented & the school reported her, even though they had the documented justification. In that case, it was an inflexible bureaucracy that was at fault, & the prosecutors office unfortunately favored the schools as the default correct party.
The parents were prosecuted because it is the law that parents must send their kids to school or provide an education up to a certain level. Parents are sometimes held criminally liable for some things their kids do. 2 recent examples are where the parents of 2 school shooters were tried for contributing/ignoring the dangers that enabled their kids crimes. One set of parents has been convicted & face a long sentence.
She also kept prisoners in prison longer than they were supposed to because she wanted free firefighters. Put black men in prison for weed and then laughed about it when she was asked if she smoked weed, and she said Yes and I did inhale. I think she is a mean girl woman. Has lived in a bubble all her life and has had everything handed to her. She claims to be black, but she never lived and had to endure life as an African American. She lived an upper middle class life in CA and then spent from 12-18 in Canada. Likewise, she was asked who her favorite Rapper was, and she said Tupac and didn't realize he was dead and when called out she laughed it off and then said I like a lot of rappers. When pressed, she couldn't answer. It reminded when Katie Couric asked Palin what papers she read, and she said all of them and then couldn't come up with a single paper when pushed. I know it sounds petty, but Harris comes off so inauthentic and phony. It is hard to even get a read on who she is. It scares me that a government pushes something so absurd and expects you to believe it and go along with it or get your kids taken away. 1984 here we come.
Arresting mothers was not the solution. A mother was arrested due to her sick daughter, not because of neglect. Giving an explanation to an inhumane act is not justifiable. I know the negative impact of truancy, but arresting mothers and laughing about it was not humane. I still stand by my first statement.
The school set that in motion. Did Harris's office know that the school had received the medical notes?
And what is the alternative to arresting the Mothers? Sending the kids to juvenile institutions? Fining Mothers or other parents or guardians? Sending officers to escort the kids to school & arresting them if they refuse to go along?
Truancy also covers up child abuse in some cases. Even now, you read about cases where kids have been abused, tortured or murdered but because they are not in school or registered for school, they fall off the radar for safeguarding.
There has to be some middle ground solution between locking truant kids in juvie or locking their mothers in jail (or making their lives harder with onerous fines they cannot afford)
Like I said, I’m not here to argue with you because it seems like you have time. I stand with my statement before! it was inhumane, affected black women, and a better approach could have been used.
I hate Trump, but share your fear of Trans Takeover
All women’s rights/safeguarding is at risk if men can be women
What is absolutely most important to me is freedom of speech. I don’t know who is going to be better for that.
I see what’s happening in the UK and it’s terrifying. If you don’t have freedom of speech, you don’t have the other rights. This whole idea of holding the Internet accountable does make me nervous. Say what you want about Twitter, it’s toxic as hell, but my husband’s family is from the USSR. He already sees the danger of biased news, sources, of either direction.
Once social media is restricted, mainstream media will have more leeway for bias and propaganda.
Regarding freedom of speech, I trust republicans more than democrats, which would be shocking w few years back but no longer, The democrats are certainly not the upholders of freedom of spleen. What is happening in the U.K is a result of people who also endorsed gender ideology. Just listen to what Hilary said recently and you see that.
Neither. It's just a matter of choosing which brand of misogyny you want in power. (And I also realize this is not just in America - women around the world feel the same way about their countries.)
But in America specifically, I personally find it silly and useless to get worked up about this or that candidate in a presidential race, because if you disagree with the majority of people in your state, your vote doesn't count because of the "winner takes all" policy. So I don't waste my time.
This is why every presidential election feels like a national tragedy - talk to any sane person (not the fake, smiling activists or campaign staff that are always taking up space on the news and internet), and every election cycle you hear most normal people say they are "choosing the lesser of two evils."
I don't mean to ramble about politics, but I hope I gave some small insight into just how hopeless it feels here. I was considering posting about this as well.
I can totally see how this feels a choice of the lesser of two evils for a lot of people. I can relate to the feeling of political hopelessness. Here in the UK, the only party that seems to give a shit about people with disabilities (which is important to me) is the Lib Dems, but unfortunately they have a load of wacky policies and think men can be women. Labour pretends they care more about people with mental illness and disabilities than the Tories but their policy approach tells a different story. More Tories now seem to know what a woman is but they were also the ones in power for over a decade when all this gender crap got pushed through. Keir Starmer is a monumental coward who will say whatever he thinks will appease whichever leftwing group is shouting the loudest. But I can also appreciate that the situation in America is very different to the UK and probably there is more hopelessness there as it's such an extreme binary between the left and right. If only our countries had sensible centrist parties or something, I dunno.
It isn’t even close. Kamala hands down.
Unless you are in a solid Blue or Red state
Almost all of us are in a solid blue or red state. I hate both of them, but I'm in the bluest state in the nation, and I am not voting for president. However, I am voting Democrat on the down ballot. Haven't decided whether to write in a vote or just write I hate both of them, I probably won't leave it blank because someone else could write in a name.
Look up Christofascism and PROJECT 2025, both of which a Republican presidency would produce. That makes it very simple.
Just wanted to underscore we were right; DT is appointing authors and proponents of Project 2025, just like we said he would.
This woman has been right about a lot of things. There is reason to be terrified.
The only people talking about Project 2025 are left wing operatives. It is left wing propaganda. The Heritage foundation has been around forever. That list has been their list of what they want forever. The heritage foundation is one of many think tanks that the republicans have, and the Democrats also have a bunch of think tanks that tell the Democrats what they want done. There was some book I can't remember the name of anymore that tried to say the same thing when Trump ran the first time, and he didn't implement any of it. It was the same sort of scare tactics. The author was on real time and she didn't get much traction. Now they are doing this again to try to scare everyone.
Honestly? Neither of them. It's so frustrating feeling like we're living out 1984 in real life. As a former Democrat it's been interesting to see the party embrace actions that I would only expect see the Republicans do (such as suing to kick 3rd parties off the ballot while ironically claiming a commitment to "democracy"). This is why, despite being in a swing state I'm still going 3rd party.
I agree with most of the comments below. Every significant thing we do involves a tradeoff of cost and benefit.
I deplore the gender woo; I deplore more the execrable Mr. Trump and the even more execrable Republican Party policies of the past 40 years.
I am also not fond of outsiders sticking their noses into our business. Perfectly fine to express a preference for Trump, Ms. Murphy, not so much to badger us - lookin’ at you, Ms. Parker - on the subject. I admire PP immensely for all she has done in this arena, but her ranting on this election displays a profound ignorance of the American political quandary.
It is not that tricky. First off, it is about billionaires paying for election campaigns, which cost multiple millions of dollars. It is not that the dems believe gender woo; it is that they need this money to run election campaigns ON BOTH SIDES: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/is-the-trans-lobby-disproportionately-strong/623655/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27FAWtslkeA
https://fullmeasure.news/newest-videos/transgender-lobby
https://ovarit.com/o/GenderCritical/562093/follow-the-money-trans-truth-com [though this site gets some stuff wrong]
https://ovarit.com/o/GenderCritical/551914/how-a-handful-of-billionaires-created-the-transgender-movement-an-interview-with
A different origin narrative--again, NOT feminist in any way: https://ovarit.com/o/GenderCritical/534155/dr-john-money-and-the-sinister-origins-of-gender-ideology-spiked
However, this document is key and gives a big picture: http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/Transgender-Astroturfing.pdf Refusing millions of $$ is basically impossible. Trump is even more dependent on billionaire PACs like Blackstone. It is BAD --and always comes with strings (giant steel cables) attached.
Please see these posts for clarity, most with actual evidence: https://ovarit.com/o/WomensLiberation/604169/kamala-harris-helped-shut-down-backpage-com-sex-workers-are-still-feeling-the-fa
I feel like actual info (as opposed to single issue in a vacuum) helps suss out the concrete stakes of this election, the unbroken links are here:
Key receipts: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/debunking-myth-migrant-crime-wave
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/15/us/border-migrants-crime-cec/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/briefing/the-myth-of-migrant-crime.html
As I noted there: https://www.splcenter.org/news/2023/05/23/after-incel-attack-male-supremacism-growing
These are white men. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/02/incels-toronto-attack-terrorism-ideological-violence/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-report-identifies-misogynist-incels-violence-threat-2022-03-15/ https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62908601
Indeed, the more we circulate misinformation about people of different races and religions, the more we contribute to the actual bigger domestic threat: "It found that the two most lethal elements of today’s domestic terrorism threat are (1) racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists who advocate for the superiority of the white race..."
OTHER ISSUES/FACTS:
Trump is terrible for the environment which also disproportionately affects women. I just don't understand how anyone here on ovarit can vote for a rapist and pedophile. He raped (violently) a 13 year old girl. He is by all accounts a monstrous misogynist. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50563106 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/us/politics/trump-women-history.html
It is unclear and upsetting how women can vote against their own interests. Please just make an informed, well-rounded decision: https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/
Here is some on abortion: Anyone remember the song by the Talking Heads, "Making Flippy Flop"? So does Trump. here are the greatest hits:
“Today’s decision, which is the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation, along with other decisions that have been announced recently, were only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said in a statement after the Roe v. Wade decision was overturned.
Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle?” After his response, the host then sought a clarification on his use of the word punishment: “For the woman?” And Trump said, “Yeah, there has to be some form.”
“We have to be strong and powerful. That’s why when I’m re-elected, I will continue to fight against the demented late-term abortionists in the Democrat Party who believe in unlimited abortion on demand and even executing babies after birth,” Trump said at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Gala in Washington, D.C., adding that he was proud to be “the most pro-life president” in U.S. history.
Shortly after that statement, Trump credited divine intervention for the Supreme Court’s decision.
“God made the decision,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
I was able to kill Roe V. Wade
Which party is dangling the abortion carrot stick again?
UNDER TRUMP:
The economy lost 2.7 million jobs. The unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points to 6.4%. Paychecks grew faster than inflation. Average weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.4% after inflation. After-tax corporate profits went up, and the stock market set new records. The S&P 500 index rose 67.8%. The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 36.3% from 2016. The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million. The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion. Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%. Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016. Coal production declined 26.5%, and coal-mining jobs dropped by 25%. Carbon emissions from energy consumption dropped 11.3%. Handgun production rose 12.5% last year compared with 2016, setting a new record. The murder rate last year rose to the highest level since 1997. Trump filled one-third of the Supreme Court, nearly 30% of the appellate court seats and a quarter of District Court seats.
He bragged about overturning Roe v Wade.
Foreign Policy https://time.com/7018409/donald-trump-elon-musk-government-commission/
He pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, gutted the Affordable Care Act, which directly impacts women. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/24/politics/trump-worst-abuses-of-power/index.html https://www.therepublic.com/2021/01/29/the_good_bad_and_ugly_policies_of_the_trump_presidency/
Also substantial links here:
A few facts-- The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/politics/nicole-shanahan-vp-rfk-jr/index.html
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16072024/trump-environmental-impact/
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-06-27/2024-election-presidential-debate-climate-record-trump
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4826175-trump-climate-change-not-biggest-threat/
And for those who want to argue we should focus on women's issues: https://unfccc.int/news/new-report-why-climate-change-impacts-women-differently-than-men https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/02/explainer-how-gender-inequality-and-climate-change-are-interconnected
But, sure, let's focus on women's issues: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-women-international-womens-day-abortion-policies-healthcare-a9380411.html
https://theweek.com/donald-trump/655770/61-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-women
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50563106
Right, right, who cares what he SAYS about women. Let's stick to issues: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trumps-many-abortion-positions-timeline-rcna146601
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-the-trump-administration-is-remaking-federal-policy-on-womens-reproductive-health
https://www.pastemagazine.com/politics/donald-trump/15-of-trumps-direct-attacks-against-women-and-thei
For those who don't feel like reading:
19 Women Have Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment, Abuse and Rape — Nothing Has Been Done Declared That Women Who Receive an Abortion Should be “Punished” Created a Gender Gap in the White House by Hiring Way More Men Than Women Backed Up All of His Sexual Assault Buddies in Office Limited Women’s Access to Abortion by Reshaping Title X, Twice Changed Title IX to Favor the Accused Over the Victim in College Sexual Assault Cases Reinstated the Global Gag Rule: Trump’s reinstatement of the global gag rule also expanded the rule greatly and it now applies to all of the U.S.’s global health assistance. Now, this rule not only impacts reproductive clinics but also those that treat HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, malaria, tuberculosis and more. This means, international clinics must choose between offering comprehensive health care and receiving U.S. funding. Mocked the #MeToo Movement Opposed the Global Breastfeeding Initiative, Probably Because He Thinks It’s “Disgusting” Silently Removed Official Information on Sexual Violence and More from Government Websites Attempted to Block Multiple Migrant Girls’ Right to an Abortion Vowed to Appoint Supreme Court Justices Who Will Overturn Roe V. Wade. UPDATE: SUCCEEDED! Shifted Funding from Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs to Abstinence-Only Reshaped Title X to Limit Women’s Access to Birth Control and Increased “Religious Liberty” So yeah, destroyed the lives of women and girls on many, many levels.
Last edit: I guess I should have posted this in women's liberation, since those who are for Trump are for a known rapist, of children (13 yo) no less. That is neither women's liberation nor radical feminist. Greer, Dworkin, Firestone, Susan Brownmiller(!) are all rolling in their graves to see women opt for a rapist misogynist over a woman who is pro-abortion, stopped the sale of women's bodies and went after the MEN who did so, and will continue the multi-million dollar commitment Biden made to women's health research that Trump will end, did end. Proven fact.
My (futile) plea for an informed electorate.
Damn, you came with receipts! Love it
This may be the most thorough and well-put together political post I have read on this or any site, and I thank you for it.
Thank you. It is culled from a few earlier posts. I hope people will read this and rethink the single issue. I am happy to fight that every day, but in every way, with the dems, but a rep admin is going to make things awful for the poor, for women, for the environment--for polar bears! Vote for KH for the polar bears and all the species that will disappear under Trump's environmental policies.
I agree on all counts - as a woman, as an American living abroad, and as an inhabitant of this planet.
I wonder if any of the Reddit lurkers who insist we are all MAGA conservatives will be highlighting this.
Thank you that’s very comprehensive and helpful, I appreciate it. There’s a lot of stuff I hadn’t heard before about Trump.
Pleas do make this a post!!
Please!!
done. now I have to brace myself for the haters. sigh. defending, even passively and/or by default, a violent rapist and pedo.
Hugs. Brace for impact!
Don’t worry, I’ve never considered voting for Trump. But I do worry, with other Ovarites over months and years, that the current woke agenda, especially TRA, is the slow poison wrapped in an opium dumpling. How can we fight for even basic rights when we’re being disappeared in language and law and policy? When male violence is being obscured by counting the crimes of fully intact men in dresses as women’s crimes?
Common wisdom says that the Dems will fight to get reproductive rights back but will they? I haven’t heard anything resembling a plan. Or a plan for the environment or actually caring for our citizenry. Or coping with our enormous debt. Or figuring out some sort of immigration policy that makes sense. For starters males between 18 and 40 should be heavily vetted. But women and children and (innocent) men should be helped. Finally, some say we’re due for our next big war cycle; is anyone trying to prevent this? Because I don’t think a truly large scale conflict will go well for anyone.
Honestly sometimes I despair at the state of our planet and society and I’m not sure anyone knows how to solve our very serious problems. Somehow the powers that be have decided to double down on this insane course and competition to see who’s still standing at the end and who’s controlling the most resources. There are good and reasonable people but they’re voiceless. There are even people who want to at least take a stab at solving our problems but they have no support to develop ideas or try any solutions.
Because of neoliberalism. Because of unchecked wealth and the increasing wealth divide, which is more extreme than the times of moonarchies and serfdom. This is another reason why Trump is a HUGE problem; but it also greatly impacts dems bc NO CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM. no one even talks about it anymore (Howard Dean, amiright?). They say "it's the economy, stupid"--but no one ever REALLY goes there. We live in an oligarchy; the 1% literally choose our leaders--and our SCOTUS. No dem can claim ANYTHING at risk of pissing off multi-billionaires and their interests (profit, greed, exploitation). Just watch anything about the Koch brothers Everyone here who condemns KH and the dems on the SINGLE issue of trans needs to watch Jennifer Bilek, et al. All of politics MUST run on $$$ (traveling, ads, you name it). Where do we think it comes from? These men are beyond powerful, and they know it. Trump might get men out of sports but he will destroy the very planet that supports it, so that the wealthy can strip it for resources. We can get men out of sports and Title IX, etc., through the courts--if we can keep Republicans from stacking them with activist judges (it was Trump's & McConnell's SCOTUS that voted FOR Bostock, admittedly opening the door to ALL OF THIS).
Knowing all this doesn't make it any less hopeless--more so. But according to this book I am reading, it will likely end with nuclear destruction--and sooner than any of us are willing to admit.
Thank you for the link. Monbiot is interesting. I read an interview with him on the same site when I read your link.
Totally agreed that campaign finance reform would help all of this a lot. We could do a bit of a European model, but the powerful would fight tooth and nail because you can’t buy an election if campaigns don’t cost millions or billions. We need to sell people on the idea that campaign finance reform is an issue that would have a positive domino effect on many issues.
Probably not. At least not in any large scale way. Abortion is a "carrot on a stick" issue to keep women voting blue. Democrats don't gain anything if abortion rights are ever codified into law federally