There are two Americas right now. The battle for the future will come down to this: those who think kindergarteners should be taught about gender identity because they might be trans and thus in need of medication immediately and those who don't. Why, because the Left has continued to need to topple milestones, deconstruct norms around identity. Gender appears to be the last hurdle (although you never know, there could be more). But it also might be the hurdle that broke the camel's back.
The Left now does not seem to understand just how cut off from everyday Americans it has become. This is very much an Upper West Side, Whole Foods shopping, Prius driving kind of ideology that seems to offer people with most of their basic needs met a sense of purpose. It has taken the place of religion. This has taught me that humans probably do need religion and if they don't already have one they will invent one. Imagine, for instance, any country like Syria or Yemen or even Afghanistan by now throwing these kinds of fits on a daily basis like we do here.
But even here, outside the bubble, people are increasingly saying WTF? WTF? If there was an open dialogue about these issues I don't think it would be at this point. Maybe the Right will overplay their hand - but I don't think so. I think they will win the majority because the Left does not allow anyone to speak freely about their concerns. It's always SHUT UP AND COMPLY YOU RACIST HOMOPHOBE TRANSPHOBE.
So on the one hand you have Biden ("puberty blockers for children") and on the other hand you have Trump ("we're going to save our schools, save women's sports.") Is there no reasonable middle?
So you can blame Fox News all you want but then look at the ratings. More people are watching Fox, listening to Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan - but in the end it's going to come down to these two competing ideologies.
I appreciate you recognizing the situation that the right is applying the left rules for radicals against them. Howevr, poorly worded laws get passed in every state and especially in blue states regarding contentious issues. This is an absurd reaction to a pretty reasonable law. The left leaning/simping media seems determined to overreact to everything. They are playing into Ron Desantis's hands and I'm here for it. If you really wanted to defeat him, just ignore him.
I suspect we disagree on 90 percent of policy but I really enjoy your humorous takes and willingness to critique your own side.
Today I learned Ron DeSantis is wanting to revoke Disney World's special status that allows it to pass its own laws. People on the left are up in arms about DeSantis punishing a private business and people on the right are up in arms about a private business being an activist against popular governance.
Most people I've seen are joking about how the arguments are carbon copies of what the other side usually says.
MY response is, "Wait, Disney World had special status that allowed it to pass its own laws? How is that okay?"
This is outstanding, Jeff. One of your best, in my opinion.
I think the big problem we face as a society is the perception being pushed by echo chambers on the Left and Right. It seems like only an extreme minority of whack jobs believe in much of this craziness, but they're the loudest on Twitter, so they drive the discussion. And when your favorite "helpful" politician tries to gain support, he looks out over the vast swathes of unwashed Twitterati and finds a target. Moderates in the room are tired of being yelled at, so they keep mum, and the flaming bomb throwers drive policy.
Our nation is driven by politicos motivated to own the other side rather than craft rational policy. And that bodes ill for our future if we can't make it better.
I think of myself as pretty left but what that Fox guy says makes sense? Why would you be talking about gender identity in K-3rd grade? Kids that age are not thinking about this stuff yet.
So, someone with the titles of Executive Producer, Director, and Writer at Disney is just "one person in a company with hundreds of thousands of employees". Sure, OK!
"[Raveneau]'s obviously being tongue-in-cheek when she describes her “gay agenda”."
Why, exactly, is that obvious? It seems perfectly straight(no pun intended!)forward to me.
As I read the comments, I think there may be a few useful examples of Step 3, viz.: repeating tendentious cockamamie shit published on partisan websites to stoke the fires and / or pulling extreme concocted cases or made-up quotes from one’s ass. Seeing this, I wondered “Is it unreasonable to ask anyone claiming some social violation to furnish concrete evidence of that violation (ideally with a cite or link)?” And then I thought “No; it is not unreasonable to ASK Satan for a drink of ice water. What’s unreasonable to EXPECT is something else again.”
Can I chime in? I teach preschool and kindergarten. I work in a somewhat decent non-Florida area school. We still have a pretty high ratio of kids per teacher still: 8-12. Does the average person know how busy a teacher’s life is? Agendas? I barely have time to show them how to tie their shoes!
Does Florida law also "prohibit" talking about heterosexual relationships? Is it that vaguely written? Could a pregnant teacher get in trouble just addressing questions about her pregnancy or husband?
There are two Americas right now. The battle for the future will come down to this: those who think kindergarteners should be taught about gender identity because they might be trans and thus in need of medication immediately and those who don't. Why, because the Left has continued to need to topple milestones, deconstruct norms around identity. Gender appears to be the last hurdle (although you never know, there could be more). But it also might be the hurdle that broke the camel's back.
The Left now does not seem to understand just how cut off from everyday Americans it has become. This is very much an Upper West Side, Whole Foods shopping, Prius driving kind of ideology that seems to offer people with most of their basic needs met a sense of purpose. It has taken the place of religion. This has taught me that humans probably do need religion and if they don't already have one they will invent one. Imagine, for instance, any country like Syria or Yemen or even Afghanistan by now throwing these kinds of fits on a daily basis like we do here.
But even here, outside the bubble, people are increasingly saying WTF? WTF? If there was an open dialogue about these issues I don't think it would be at this point. Maybe the Right will overplay their hand - but I don't think so. I think they will win the majority because the Left does not allow anyone to speak freely about their concerns. It's always SHUT UP AND COMPLY YOU RACIST HOMOPHOBE TRANSPHOBE.
So on the one hand you have Biden ("puberty blockers for children") and on the other hand you have Trump ("we're going to save our schools, save women's sports.") Is there no reasonable middle?
So you can blame Fox News all you want but then look at the ratings. More people are watching Fox, listening to Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan - but in the end it's going to come down to these two competing ideologies.
I appreciate you recognizing the situation that the right is applying the left rules for radicals against them. Howevr, poorly worded laws get passed in every state and especially in blue states regarding contentious issues. This is an absurd reaction to a pretty reasonable law. The left leaning/simping media seems determined to overreact to everything. They are playing into Ron Desantis's hands and I'm here for it. If you really wanted to defeat him, just ignore him.
I suspect we disagree on 90 percent of policy but I really enjoy your humorous takes and willingness to critique your own side.
Today I learned Ron DeSantis is wanting to revoke Disney World's special status that allows it to pass its own laws. People on the left are up in arms about DeSantis punishing a private business and people on the right are up in arms about a private business being an activist against popular governance.
Most people I've seen are joking about how the arguments are carbon copies of what the other side usually says.
MY response is, "Wait, Disney World had special status that allowed it to pass its own laws? How is that okay?"
This is outstanding, Jeff. One of your best, in my opinion.
I think the big problem we face as a society is the perception being pushed by echo chambers on the Left and Right. It seems like only an extreme minority of whack jobs believe in much of this craziness, but they're the loudest on Twitter, so they drive the discussion. And when your favorite "helpful" politician tries to gain support, he looks out over the vast swathes of unwashed Twitterati and finds a target. Moderates in the room are tired of being yelled at, so they keep mum, and the flaming bomb throwers drive policy.
Our nation is driven by politicos motivated to own the other side rather than craft rational policy. And that bodes ill for our future if we can't make it better.
I think of myself as pretty left but what that Fox guy says makes sense? Why would you be talking about gender identity in K-3rd grade? Kids that age are not thinking about this stuff yet.
So, someone with the titles of Executive Producer, Director, and Writer at Disney is just "one person in a company with hundreds of thousands of employees". Sure, OK!
"[Raveneau]'s obviously being tongue-in-cheek when she describes her “gay agenda”."
Why, exactly, is that obvious? It seems perfectly straight(no pun intended!)forward to me.
I can’t even begin to describe how much I hate Fox News and what it is doing to this country.
As I read the comments, I think there may be a few useful examples of Step 3, viz.: repeating tendentious cockamamie shit published on partisan websites to stoke the fires and / or pulling extreme concocted cases or made-up quotes from one’s ass. Seeing this, I wondered “Is it unreasonable to ask anyone claiming some social violation to furnish concrete evidence of that violation (ideally with a cite or link)?” And then I thought “No; it is not unreasonable to ASK Satan for a drink of ice water. What’s unreasonable to EXPECT is something else again.”
Can I chime in? I teach preschool and kindergarten. I work in a somewhat decent non-Florida area school. We still have a pretty high ratio of kids per teacher still: 8-12. Does the average person know how busy a teacher’s life is? Agendas? I barely have time to show them how to tie their shoes!
The Culture War Left has met its Waterloo. Children and Parents.
Does Florida law also "prohibit" talking about heterosexual relationships? Is it that vaguely written? Could a pregnant teacher get in trouble just addressing questions about her pregnancy or husband?
Man, I would have so much more of an issue with what the Twitter wing of the GOP was doing here if it wasn't so much a leopards ate my face situation.