Ben Franklin, 1787: response to a woman’s question about what the Constitutional Convention has just created: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, 2021, discussing the Russian threat to invade Ukraine: “Democracy is not a given. It must be fought for.”

Since 1775, over 1 million American men and women have died defending American democracy. Millions more wounded, some severely disabled.
YOU are not being asked to storm the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima. YOU are not being asked to endure 12 years of the Great Depression

Are. YOU. willing to defend American democracy?

Since 1980, there is a phenomenon which is steadily growing and frightening many: the rise of authoritarianism, largely in one political party, that violates basic Constitutional principles, in the name of “freedom.”

“When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will
not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called of
course, ‘Americanism.'” [Halford E. Luccock]

The most sensational 1980-202X event has been the January 6, 2021, insurrection. A mob mobilized by a demagogue stormed and trashed the U.S. Capitol, proclaiming they were looking for ‘traitors’ to execute.

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and
refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”
[Dwight D. Eisenhower, l944]

The 1/6/21 insurrection is a symbol, a public event, in a much longer chain of events, much hidden. There are “militias” proclaiming willingness to protect their definition of America; often motivated by a certain demagogue
“At a conservative rally in western Idaho last month, a young man [asked] when he could start killing Democrats. “When do we get to use the guns” he said as the audience applauded. “How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” The local state representative, a Republican, lated called it a “fair” question. [Lerer & Herndon; 11/14/21; N.Y. Times]
“In Ohio, the leading candidate in the GOP primary for Senate blasted out a video urging Republicans to resist the “tyranny” of a federal government that pushed them to wear masks and take vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.” [Lerer & Herndon; 11/14/21, N.Y. Times]

“Freedom exists only where the people take care of the government.” [Woodrow Wilson, 1912]

“Burned-out elections officials retreat from hot seats..Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin..After facing threats and intimidation..county officials who ran elections are quitting or retiring early..thanks to the baseless claims of widespread fraud that continue to be pushed by many in the Republican Party. [A.Izaguirre; 6/14/21; Assoc. Press]
“Trump allies aim for election posts..Those who rejected the 2020 results are now looking to fill prominent roles in states..to place Trump loyalists in key positions across the administration of U.S. elections..If they succeed, Trump and his allies could pull down some of the guardrails that prevented him from overturning Biden’s win..Jeff Timmer, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party: “The officials who fulfilled their legal duty after the last election are now being replaced by people who are pledging to throw a wrench in the gears of the next election.” [Gardner, Hamburger, Dawsey; 12/5/12; Wash. Post Weekly]. ***re-read, this is what happens in ‘banana republics’ [CORRUPTION]

“The freedom that counts is simply what is in the minds and hearts of millions of free
people.” [Adlai E. Stevenson, 1955]

“report finds U.S. democracy sliding..added to a list of “backsliding democracies.”..by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Association” in a first..”The UnitedStates..fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself..The report’s U.S. assessment centered on developments during former President Donald Trump’s administration. It called Trump’s factually baseless questioning of the legitimacy of the 2020 election results a “historic turning point” that “undermined fundamental trust in the election process” and culminated in the January 6 insurrection..” [Berger; 11/23/21; Wash. Post]

A small sampling of headlines:
-“Sowing Voter Confusion..GOP seeks to reshape the nation’s electoral system, leaving Democrats sidelined” [Corasaniti; 12/5/21; Assoc. Press]
-“Arizona enacts bills making it harder to vote.” [F.Fonseca; 5/12/21]
-“GOP maps lock in legislatures in 4 key states until next census.” [Corasaniti; 11/26/21; Assoc. Press]
-“Wisconsin GOP pushers to take over the vote” [R.Epstein; 11/20/21; N.Y. Times]
-“Gerrymanders Spread, Get Hard To Beat” [M.Wines; 11/21/21; N.Y. Times]
-“GOP again shelves voting rights bill” [C.Hulse; 10/21/21; N.Y. Times]
-“Texas Republicans enact voting restrictions” [N.Corasaniti; 9/8/221; N.Y. Times]

John Dean [Nixon’s Watergate lawyer] and Bob Altemeyer’s “Authoritarian Nightmare” is extremely sobering and frightening. They estimate 36.4 million American adults are “Double Highs” – the most extreme authoritarians – people who want a “strong man” ruler [ i.e, dictator]
The road to 2016-21 was enabled by many prior to Trump: reactionary billionaires wanting reduced government authority [over them] financed it; the “religious right” provides ‘boots on the ground.” Senator Barry Goldwater [1964 Republican presidential candidate] warned: :..Republicans are selling their souls to win elections..If and when these preachers get control of the party..it’s going to be a terrible damn problem.” He was correct.

“The Ship of Democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those
on board.” [ President Grover Cleveland, 1894]

One of the Founders’ top 4 fears was mobs. Now we have mobs with guns.

“Will guns become a tool of political intimidation? It would change the face of political protest in America…conservatives may decide..carrying. guns – especially military-style rifles – can be used to intimidate both their political opponents and office-holders.” [P.Waldman; 11/18/21; Was. Post Weekly]
“Study, headlines reflect the rise of political violence..”From death threats against previously anonymous bureaucrats and public-health officials to a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor and the 6 January, 2021, attack..acts of political violence have skyrocketed in the last five years’ wrote Rachel Kleinfeld.. “Ideas that were once confined to fringe groups now appear in..mainstream media..” [J.Rash; 11/20/21; Mpls. Trib.]
“Menace As Political Tool..Right-Wing GOP openly threatens violence…among a significant segment of the Republican Party…belief the country is at a crossroads that could require armed confrontation is no longer limited to the fringe…”When you start dehumanizing political opponents, or really anybody, it becomes a lot easier to inflict violence on them…30% of Republicans and 40% of people who “most trust far-right news sources believe that ‘true patriots’ may have to resort to violence to ‘save’ the country.” [Lerer & Herndon; 11/14/21; N.Y. Times]

“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction
from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.” [R.M. Hutchins, 1954]

How much European or American history needs to be mentioned here??? What happened in Germany, 1920-45, is well documented. And – “ItDid Happen Here” as well. Freehling’s “The Road to Disunion” discusses the reign of terror in the 1830-60 American South: whites subjected to being tarred & feathered – and run out of town; “some 300′ whites” were lynched. The post-Civil War KKK aimed to ‘save’ the country [of the pre-war South]. That pre-war South also had “the shudder,” as did Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia – self-censorship [and -fear].

“The most popular man under a democracy is not the most democratic man, but the most despotic man.
The common folk delight in the exactions of such a man. They like him to boss them. Their natural
gait is the goosestep.” [H.L. Mencken. 1920]

One major anti-democratic effort is rewriting 1/6/21 events. The official right-wing story: this was only a mass “free speech” event of “concerned patriots.” All the talk of insurrection [what does the Pentagon know?] , etc. are “fake news.”
As usual, Trump is stonewalling everything, in every manner possible, stringing legal actions out, trying to “run the clock out.” He’s getting major help from enablers all over America in state legislatures. Over 400 bills reducing people’s ability to vote have been introduced. In virtually every state they control, Republicans pushing through radical “gerrymandering” plans [enabled by a Repub. dominated Supreme Court], turning themselves from minority to majority party by selecting their voters.
Violent protests across America have worked. Normal, neutral elections officials replaced by Trump loyalists. The very manner in which elections will be decided is bering changed – giving Republicans in positions of power the ability to declare vote results against them null and void. [banana republic style; Putin style]
Read Barton Gellman’s January/February, 2022, The Atlantics’s :”Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun” U.C. Irvine Professor R.I. Hasen: “Wr face a serious risk that American democracy as we know it will come to an end in 2024.” Sadly, he isn’t the first to state this
Trump’s 2017-2l tenure was unlike any in American history. The record-setting [“firehose’] of lying; the anti-democratic deeds; the anti-democratic and divisive language; the destruction; the damage to America’s world-wide reputation; the damage in lost faith of our people; the sheer unconcern for trying to help ordinary people [see COVID response] – all UNPRECEDENTED. The enormity of Trump’s quasi-dictatorship almost too much to comprehend.

Look up “the 14 characteristics of fascism.” We have “achieved,” in part for each of 13 of them, fascism. The ONLY one we have NOT achieved – fraudulent elections – is the one Trump and Republicans are working to obtain for 2022 and most definitely, for 2024. What is listed above is only “the tip of the iceberg” of the effortRepublicans are working on.
Over the top? Too much “conspiracy talk’? Ponder this: throughout the 1929-1839 period, many Jews in Nazi Germany refused to believe what they were seeing and hearing was happening. Germany was “too cultured.” Many of them had fought, some with distinction, in World War I.

Multiple reports are building; warnings have been issued. Read Jamelle’s “The Trump Conspiracy is hiding in plain sight” [12/8/21; N.T. Times]; Levitsky & Ziblatt’s “How Democracies Die ” [“Democracy’s erosion is, for many, almost imperceptible”]; Stanley’s HowFascism Works”; MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains; Snyder’s “On Tyranny”; Giroux’s “American Nightmare”; Homans” “Penetrating The System” [12/12/21; N.Y. Times].

A number of Republicans have written warnings: Dean’s “Broken Government” [ GOP insider; don’t vote for ANY Republican]; Boot’s “The Corrosion of Conservatism” [GOP needs to be “burned to the ground”}; Sykes’ “How TheRight Lost Its Mind”; Stevens’ “It Was All A Lie”

Trump and Trumpism is THE. man our Founders FEARED. Corruption was their #1 fear. Democracy requires tolerance, forbearance, compromise, limits, respect, love. We survived, barely, 2016-2021. We will NOT survive a second era like that. That, friends, is up to. YOU. Do. YOU. care?????

note: quotes supplied by the Harper Book of American Quotations, and “On 1984”}

Blame it on Mom and Dad, two of “The Greatest Generation.” They had no vices, hated nobody. We went to a mainstream church that practiced what it preached: LOVE. Mom and Dad were intelligent, educated. They talked about, did “the right thing.” You were EXPECTED to do “the right thing,” because it was the right thing. Being humans, we didn’t always do the right thing.

Mom and Dad, like others of “the greatest generation,” were young people in the 1930s “Great Depression” – which was followed by World War II – 16 straight years of being “tested” by forces of nature, by human greed and evil. 16 straight years of thinking about forces greater than themselves. 16 straight years of learning that to survive as individuals, as a nation – people needed to work together, for each other

Mom and Dad, like others of their generation, valued virtually everything they had. There were balls of string, coils of wire, extra glass jars, boxes of spare electrical parts, extra wood boards, metal rods, extra windows, etc. – because “we might need them.” You didn’t throw things away, you tried to fix them. If you couldn’t fix it, there were “fix-it” shops and hardwares that could.

We didn’t appreciate much of this at the time – we were kids. We assume3d what happened was “normal.” Unfortunately it wasn’t – we learned this later too.

We were surrounded by members of the “greatest generation.” They were other kids’ parents, our neighbors, teachers, our parents’ friends, many adults, later – our bosses. We didn’t appreciate how privileged we were to grow up surrounded by this group of adults – we were just kids.

Most of the men had beed World War II veterans. Most of them didn’t talk about what they saw. But – many of them were unable to forget it. Some, like famed writer J.D. Salinger, were extremely affected, even hospitalized. Mom said Dad tossed and turned for months in his sleep after he got back. Dad never said much about what he’d seen. His proudest memory: his gun crew didn’t shoot down any “friendlies” – he had a great “spotter.”

There were three of us, always trying to get “the biggest piece.” Mom was a great cook. Her masterpieces were mouthwatering hand-crafted chocolate cakes. The contest for the “biggest piece” was solved by “Betty’s Rule.”

Betty’s Rule: the kid who cuts the cake gets the last piece.

My brother thought he had THE answer for this problem: he put a ruler on top of one of Mom’s great chocolate cakes. Mom laughed. Points for creativity.

Many of the 1980-202X American problems exist because America doesn’t operate by “Betty’s Rule.” “The kid” who cuts the cake DOESN’T get the last piece. Increasingly, that “kid” gets not only the FIRST piece, but often the second and third as well.

Since 1980, we have increasing “economic inequality” – the top 1% acquires more and more of EVERYTHING. [except taxes]. Increasingly, we have a “Winner Take All” America [Hacker & Pierson]. Perhaps best symbolized by the greedy Wall Street “people” who, without shame, took 2009 bail-out money form the lower 90% [which existed because of the crisis THEIR greed had created] – and gave themselves “bonuses.”
Betty”s Rule is unknown on Wall Street. If it were, they”d laugh at the mere idea.

Numerous analysts have written about the cost and consequences of post-1980 America not living by “Betty”s Rule,” or ANY rule mentioning restraint and moderation, ANY hint of “we’re all in this together,” ANY moral rule indicating there might be some reasonable limit, beyond which, even GREED no longer made sense – except to keep score.

For perspective and knowledge, you can refer to any of the following:_
– Wilkinson & PIckett’s international bestseller, “The Spirit Level” [Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger}
– Joseph Stiglitz’ “The Price of Inequality [How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future]
– Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?”
– Double Pulitzer Prize winners Donald Bartlett & James Steele’s “The Betrayal of the American Dream”
– Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston’s “Divided” [The Perils of Our Growing Inequality], or other Johnston books: “Free Lunch” [How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves…] & “Perfectly Legal” [The Covert Campaign to Rig…]
– CharlesFergusons’s Academy Award winning film “Inside Job” or subsequent book “Predator Nation” [Corporate
Criminals and the Hijacking of America]
– study work done by Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez
– find unspun IRS, GAO, CBO statistics [example: Mother Jones, March/April, 2011, page 25]
– the Mother Jones, March/April, 2011, issue contains “Your Loss, Their Gain” chart: “How much income have YOU given
up for the top 1%?” If you are in the lower 90%, it averages between $3733-l0,100 [2011 dollars!!!] less EVERY. year, IF.
your income had seen the same growth rates in 1979-2005 “as they did in previous decades” [Hacker & Pierson]
– Mother Jones, March/April, 2011, issues has “Plutonomics” explained by Citigroup’s lead “strategist” for wealthy clients
and this: “Kapur noted that the wealthiest one percent of Americans – whom he called ‘the plutomists” had benefitted
DISPROPORTIONATELY from recent increases in worker productivity, and he happily forecast that ‘global capitalists’
are going to be getting an EVER GREATER share of the wealth pie over the next few years.”

You people in the lower 90% – THEY’RE. LAUGHING. AT. YOU11111. all the way to the banks. They’re rubbing your noses in it. They’re buying off [mostly Republican] politicians to GUARANTEE this happens.
Some of you were conned by the [maybe] billionaire in 2016. He promised you the moon [another BIG LIE]. His signature domestic “achievement”: the reverse Robin Hood tax cuts that. ONLY permanently last for the top 1% and corporations [check this out: the IRS & CBO numbers are in!!!].

From 1789 – 1980, one signature American economy and society characteristic was: every generation almost always did better than their parents. Since 1980, this is no longer guaranteed. YOUR task: find out Why.
Why are we talking about “economic inequality” now? We didn’t worry about this in the great middle class prosperity of 1947-73. Your task: What. DELIBERATELY. changed?
The top 1% decided they didn’t want to share. So – we have “job outsourcing.” We have “globalism” – the “race to the bottom”; lowest taxes, least regulations, cheapest wages. We have massive [documented] rigging of the tax code. We have obscene wealth of 3 million Americans.

We DON’T. have “Betty’s Rule, or anything like it. “The kid” [top 1%] that cuts the cake doesn’t get the last piece – they get most of the entire cake. And – they’re laughing at you.

Why does a church you DON’T attend have any say in your life?

“Pro-life” citizens have a First Amendment right to speak their views. “Pro-life” political zealots are forbidden by the First Amendment from enacting THEIR religious dogma into American laws.

Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s January 16, 1937, radio speech: he had two future tasks to purify the Third Reich, the elimination of two abominations”: abortion and homosexuality. Abortions were illegal in Nazi Germany; also in several Eastern Europe nations under communism

The Massachusetts 1641 legal code’s top three capital crimes were: idolatry, witchcraft, and blasphemy – based on Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. All but one of the prosecutors for the infamous 1692 Salem “witchcraft” trials were ministers.

Amendment One: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..”
Dictionary definition of “established church”: “a church that is recognized by law, and often financially supported, as the official church of a nation”
Dictionary definition of “no”: “a negative used to express dissent, denial, or refusal, as in response to a question, request, etc….not in any degree, not at all..”

From this a “reasonable person” deduces: no church, can EVER, in America have its dogma put into law. “Pro-life” is religious dogma – putting this into law violates the Constitution. It also violates rights of other religions, and non-religious people to their own “..free exercise thereof..”

The CONTEXT for the Constitution and the 1791 Bill of Rights is found in 1775-1800 state constitutions. The language in them is IN. Amendment One and in Article VI.
Delaware, 1776, article 29: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another;..no clergyman..of any denomination, shall.. [hold] any civil office in this State.” 1791, Article I: “..no man shall..be compelled to attend any religious worship, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of worship, or..maintenance of any ministry, against his own free will and consent..”
North Carolina, 1776, Articles XXXIV: “..no establishment of anyone religious church..in this State, in preference to any other; neither shall any person, ON ANY PRETENSE WHATSOEVER, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith..nor be obliged to pay, for the purchase of any glebe, or the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes is right..”

Is there. ANY. doubt what they meant???????????????????

Eight states forbade ministers holding office in their state. Four states prohibited “religious tests” for office. U.S. Constitution, Article VI: “.. no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public trust under the United States.” The pledge, the appointment of “pro-life” judges is un-Constitutional.

Why does a church you DON’T attend have any say in your life?????????

On December 1, 2021, Justice Thomas asked: “If I were to ask you what constitutional rights protects the right to abortion, is it privacy? Is it autonomy? What could it be?”
His answer is in the intent of Amendment Three; and in the specific words of Amendment Four: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons…against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..”
His answer is in Madison’s 1792 essay on “property’: the “larger and juster meaning” of the term. It embraces every thing toi which a man may attach value and have a right”..in the broader sense it meant that “a man has property, in his opinions..property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person..In a word..he may actually said to have property in his rights.”
His answer is in “Meyer”: the Court said liberty must include “the right of the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life..to marry, establish a home and bring up children..to worship to the dictates of his conscience.”
His answer is in “Katz”: Justice Harlan: the key 4th Amendment issue was whether the government had violated a person’s “reasonable expectations of privacy.”
His answer is in”Poe”: Justice Harlan stated a law making it criminal for married couples to use contraceptives is “an intolerable and unjustifiable invasion of privacy in the conduct of the most intimate concerns of an individual’s personal life.” The Constitution protects not only rights expressly specified..but all “rights “which are fundamental; which belong ..to the citizens of all free governments.'”
His answer is found in “Baird”: Justice Brennan said “if the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of an individual, married or single, to be free from the unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision wether to bear or beget a child,:”

Thomas’ answer is famously, in Justice Brandeis’ “Olmstead” opinion: the most important 4th Amendment point was the spirit behind the Amendment, which was to ensure privacy: “The makers of our Constitution undertook..to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions, and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone – the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men..The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachments. by men of zeal…”

Thomas’s answer is found in Gary Wills’ “A Necessary Evil”: We interpret the [Constitution] in terms of concepts and words..not i the document. Nowhere does the Constitution mention checks, or balances, or separation of powers, or coequal branches [or even branches] of government, or states’ rights [or any rights in the original unamended document].”
The word “sex” is not in the Constitution. Does this mean sex does not exist; or that humans don’t have a fundamental right to exercise that function?

Thomas’ answer is found inChief Justice Marshall”s “Bank of the U.S.”: “A Constitution, from its nature, deals in generals, not in detail. Its framers cannot perceive minute distinctions which arise in the progress of the nation, and therefore confine it to the establishment of broad and general principles.”

On December 1, 2021, Justice Kavanaugh said: “The Constitution is neither pro-life nor pro-choice on abortion,” adding the court should not “pick sides on the most contentious social debate in American life>”
One might ask: why do we have a Supreme Court? In this case, to not pick sides is to allow Mississippi and Texas law become the law of America – for all 331 million people.
Justice Kavanaugh is. VERY WRONG!!! The Constitution DOES “pick sides.” It has stated a religious dogma-based law such as Mississippi or Texas is un-constitutional

On December 1, 2021, Justice Barrett said pregnant women who do not want to raise a young child can put the baby up for adoption. If so, she said, the lack of access to abortions should not have a great impact on their lives and careers.
This statement has to rank among the most ignorant, obtuse, and CRUEL in Supreme Court history. By Barrett’s “logic” – pregnant women are sentenced to devote 9 months carrying a child they don’t want – making them the possession of the state. To say this required duty would have no great impact on women’s lives flies in the faces of millions of real stories of women forced to carry to term – and the devastating impact it DIDF have on them and society.

These Justices’ statements may delight “pro-life” people, frightful to all others. Question one: is this an example of “wisdom” and “constitutional knowledge” we expect of a Supreme Court Justice??? Question two: is this the public smoke screen for a decision made BEFORE the arguments occurred? Question three: is this why Justice Sotomayor stated: “Will this institution survive the stench this creates in the public perception, that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? Question four: did these three “justices” just disprove what Barrett stated in September; “that we are not just a bunch of partisan hacks’?
We can also suggest Barrett read Justice Brennan’s “Baird: opinion: “..to be free from the unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.”

Everything about abortion and contraceptives boils down to this: Why does a church you. DON’T. attend
have any say in how YOU. run. YOUR. life?????????????

Then there is the Republican/far religious right. DOUBLE. STANDARD. THEY can choose people with pronounced extreme religious views, put them on the Supreme Court [and other courts]. YOU are NOT. allowed to question this – because this “violates the religious rights” of the Justice!!!!!!!!!! YOUR. rights are immaterial. 6 people, all raised in one fundamentalist faith, all screened by reactionary legal and religious groups – have a “right” to decide. YOUR private life, by the tenets of that faith. If YOU. question this – YOU are the bigot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The American “religious right” has fought a 50 year religious war [their own term] to get to this Supreme Court decision. Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country..don’t want equal time..don’t want pluralism.”

What’s. next??? Outlawing masturbation and vasectomies? [one Supreme Court Justice said, if he could, he would criminalize masturbation]. Requiring organized school prayer? Outlawing gay people? Requiring taxpayer subsidies [even more] of religious schools? Outlawing teaching of evolution? Requiring tithing to churches? Outlawing women working? Counting fetuses in the census? Outlawing contraceptives?

Where. does. it. stop? DOES. it stop?

Maybe never. One major “conservative” thinker said: “abortion…is the focal point for liberalism’s simultaneous assault on self-government, morals, and nature. So, challenging the judicially imposed regime of abortion-on-demand is key to a conservative reformation in politics, in morals, in beliefs.”

“A conservative reformation…? People are too weak. people “need” to be made to do things “for their own good.” Another leading “conservative’ thinker: “..the state, should deliberately and publicly identify, encourage, facilitate, and support the truly worthwhile [including moral virtue], should deliberately and publicly identify, discourage, and hinder the harmful and evil…”

WHO. gets to decide what is “good” and “bad”??? Obviously, it would be the far-right “conservatives”. – the rest of us are not “saved,” not worthy.

This is NOT just about abortion. This is about whether some people will “purify” America – whether. YOU. want them to or not.

Why should a church YOU. DON’T. attend have a say in your life??????i

The story of how Russian Bolsheviks sabotaged the 1917 Russian Revolution is well documented. The ongoing story of how Republican Bolsheviks are sabotaging American democracy unfolds before YOUR face.
The January 6, 2021, coup attempt wasn’t the first reactionary attempt. That was the July-November, 1933 top 1%/corporate plot [Feb. 15, 1935 McCormack-Dickstein Committee report]. The plot failed because the attempt to get “Brown Shirt” boots on the ground failed – turned in by double Medal of Honor winner, Major General Smedley Butler.
Excuseniks for 1/6/21 first tried a BIG Lie: it wasn’t right wingers beating up and killing police, trashing the Capitol, etc. – it was violent Left wingers!!! Arrest records of right wingers demolished that.

Excusenik Big Lie #2 is still attempted: what YOU saw on TV didn’t really happen!!! It was “just a bunch of “patriots” exercising “freedom of speech.”
The problem with this BIG LIE: “The Right-wing GOP openly threatens violence” [ll/14/21; Lerer, Herndon; N.Y. Times; “Menace as Political Tool”] “At a conservative r ally in western Idaho last month, a young man stepped up..to ask when he could start killing Democrats. ‘When do we get to use the guns?’ he said as the audience applauded.” “Polling indicates..30% of Republicans and 40% of people who “most trust” far-right news sources believe..”true patriots” may have to resort to violence to “save” the country.”

The 11/20/21 Rah Report [Mpls. Trib.; “Study, headlines reflect the rise of political violence”] quoted Rachel Kleinfeld [“The Rise of Political Violence in the United States”]: The false narrative of a stolen election clearly increased support for political violence,” believers in lies like this “were more likely to endorse coups and armed citizen rebellion.”
Paul Waldman’s 11/28/21 “Will guns become a tool of political intimidation?” [Wash. Post Wkly]: following the Rittenhouse acquital “conservatives may now decide ..carrying guns – especially military-style rifles…can be used to intimidate both their political opponents and officeholders..Carrying guns openly is…meant to communicate a clear message: I may decide to kill you. The intimidation is the point.”
Intimidation is working. Diana Palmer and Timothy Zick [10/27/21 online The Atlantic] report a study of guns on exercising protest rights: “The study found that participants were far less likely to attend a protest, carry a sign, vocalize their views, or bring children to protests if they knew firearms would be present.”

Violent threats also work in other ways. Anthony Izaguirre’s “Burned-out elections officials retreat from hot seats” [6/14/21; Assoc. Press]: “After facing threats and intimidation during the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, and now the potential of new punishments in certain states, county officials who run elections are quitting or retiring early…local election jobs are being vacated as Trump’s false claims of fraud persist within the GOP and provide a platform for his loyalists to launch campaigns to become top election officials in several swing states.”
“Election oversight reshaped by GOP” [11/30/21; Gardner-Hamburger-Dawsey; Wash. Post]: “..Trump allies are..seeking to replace officials across the nation, including volunteer poll watchers, paid precinct judges, elected county clerks and state attorneys general..If they succeed, Trump and his allies could pull down some of the guardrails that prevented him from overturning Biden’s win..”

The Roberts Court had a chance to declare “gerrymanders” unconstitutional. No honest political analyst has EVER called them fair. Now Republican Bolsheviks are rigging American elections, after the Court refused to rule.
“Gerrymanders spread, get hard to beat” [M.Wines; 11/21/21; N.Y. Times]: “More and more states – mostly Republican..are drawing maps that effectively guarantee..the party in power stays in power.” Much of this possible by Roberts Court 2013 and 2018 rulings gutting provisions against vote suppression.
“Redrawn district maps heavily favor GOP” [Epstein, Corasaniti; 11/16/21; N.Y. Times]: “..likely represents an even more extreme warping of American political architecture …is likely to leave the country ever more divided by further eroding competitive elections and making conservatives beholden to their party’s base.”

Republican Bolsheviks have won one presidential election popular vote since 1988. They themselves have said publicly they can’t win without cheating. So – change the rules. Rig the game.

Republican Bolsheviks are good at changing rules. They’ve worked hard to change the federal judiciary since 1968. Successive Republican Bolshevik appointed Supreme Courts have increasingly rigged the game for the top 1% and corporations [Note: corporations owe 100% of their “rights” to the Supreme Court. The Founders didn’t trust them; “corporation” isn’t in the Constitution]
Supreme Courts have twisted “free speech” to allow things favored by the Republican Bolshevik base: overturning 200 years Second Amendment precedence; making it easier for the top 1% and corporations to launder money through “campaign contributions” [Buckley-Valeo; Citizens United]; restricted citizen access to courts to sue corporations; attacked unions [“Janus”]. Only one major gift is left for the 6 “conservatives” – and they have that case.
Republican Bolsheviks have changed state rules for decades. Often done at the request of reactionary billionaires [see Mayer’s “Dark Money”]. One major “business-friendly” organization, A.L.E.C., holds yearly [very secret!!!] meetings to create “model bills” introduced by Bolsheviks at state legislatures. They’ve claimed getting 200 passed every year [lower business taxes, less regulations, etc.]

One arm of the Republican Bolshevik alternative universe is legal. Claiming the American Bar Association was “too liberal,” a “conservative” group was funded by a reactionary billionaire. In addition to vetting federal and state judges, they hold “training sessions” for American judges!!!!! One is “Law and Economics,” a “free-market” approach [trying for give away the farm]. Between 1/4 and 1/2 of ALL federal judges have attended [2013]. Thousands of “Federalist Society” members teach and practice; Republican administrations are full of them.

Another, very consequential rules change is attacking labor unions, begun in 1970s. It involves “outsourcing” jobs to low-wage areas. This sharply reduced the historic 1947-73 middle class golden prosperity age. Republican Bolsheviks passed numerous laws reducing labor union power. Corporations conduct all-out war against unions. Since the presence of successful unions raises all wages, this resulted in the lower 90%’s reduced buying power.

Earlier, i said “in YOUR face.” Notice how much this uses daily newspaper stories. What has happened to the lower 90% and American democracy since 1980 is NOT a mystery. The only mystery; behind-the-scenes plotting.

In his 2006 “The Conservative Soul,” a frustrated conservative Republican, Andrew Sullivan’s book jacket cover: he.. “makes an impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the excesses of the Republican far right, which risks making the GOP the first fundamentally religious party in American history.” Read Sullivan’s Chapter Two: “The Fundamentalist Psyche”
Sullivan, in common with renowned religion expert, Charles Kimball, places America’s far religious right on a continuum with the Taliban; Sullivan adds Nazis and Communists as “fundamentalists.” Sullivan mentions Nazi and Communist purges of people insufficiently “born again.” Republican Bolsheviks have purged “moderates” and “liberals” – their latest “guilt” person is conservative Liz Cheney. Cheney dared tell truth on 1/6/21. Republican Bolsheviks don’t tolerate truth tellers.

In their 2020 book, John Dean and Bob Altemeyer’s “Authoritarian Nightmare,” relying on over 30 years research, estimate 36 million American adults are “Double Highs” – people waiting for the next Hitler or Stalin to follow. Republican Bolsheviks plan to have that person for 2024.

No democracy is guaranteed to survive. TheRepublican Bolshevik plan – documented by many, including Pulitzer Prize winners – is to create an American theocratic plutocracy. Rigging the game, definitely including rigging elections is how they plan to succeed.

So – what is YOUR. plan? Do. YOU. want America to continue as a democracy????? If not, it’s over.

Questions to ask YOURSELF…..
1 a] on paper, communism is the most perfect system invented. In reality, communism produced some of the worst dictatorships in world history.
b]. on paper, Republican Bolsheviks talk much about “freedom” and “personal rights,” and many other great sounding concepts. In reality, the four most criminal presidencies since World War II have been Republican Bolshevik: Nixon [15 prison sentences]; Reagan [8 prison sentences]; Bush II [9 prison sentences]; Trump [6 prison sentences].
2 a] Russian communists talked about a “dictatorship of the proletariat” supposedly providing everybody what they needed; in reality, most ordinary Russians lived austere lives, many in poverty and privation.
b] Republican Bolsheviks talk about wonders of capitalism, how electing them means better lives for all; in reality, the Republican Bolshevik dominated l98l-202X era has – STATISTICALLY – been less than the great 1947-73 middle class great prosperity, created by Democratic policies and values.
3 a] Russian communists had state propagandists lying about how great life was for ordinary people – who knew better
b] Republican Bolsheviks specialize in lying: Nixon WAS a crook; Reagan lied about Iran-Contra [& much else!]; Bush II lied America into an immoral Iraq war [& much else!]; Trump set records for daily lies; Republican Bolsheviks lied about COVID and climate change crisis.
3 a] Russian communists were famous for cruelty – to their own people – secret police and extensive prison gulags; purges and mass killings.
b] Republicans specialize in cruelty – look up Clayton Williams, Todd Akin, Rick Santorum, Richard Mourdock and Lawrence Lockman on rape; Republican Bolsheviks have tried to “privatize” Social Security, cut benefits for vulnerable people, been big on imprisoning [non-rich] people, want to control people’s sex lives, etc., etc…….
5 a] Russian communists, like most fundamentalists, were big on enemies – why they had a secret police and prison gulags – in “the people’s paradise”
b] Republicans are big on enemies – a large list of the “Other” that supposedly threaten “good Americans;” usually done in “code words,” clever innuendo and phrasing.. They “need” enemies to have somebody/thing to “protect you from – which includes the worst: “!!!”socialism”!!! {which definitely does NOT include cutting taxes on the top 1%].
6 a] Russia communists perverted justice with “kangaroo courts,” where “the guilty” often “confessed” before getting their pre-determined penalties.
b] Republican Bolsheviks, since 1968, have “packed” the American judicial system with reactionary judges [many totally unqualified], screened for “the right” ideology. This has become so blatantly obvious that some Supreme Court Justices felt compelled to publicly state they “weren’t political hacks.”

Ask yourself WHY many ex-Republicans have written books about why they became disillusioned with then post-1980 “Republican” Party; WHY many respected analysts have warned about anti-democratic post-1980 Republican activities.
Ask yourself WHY the common conclusion exists: that Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower – the best Republican presidents couldn’t get nominated in the 21st century. Others have questioned whetherReagan could as well.

You should read: Dean [Broken Government], Boot [The Corrosion of Conservatism], Brock [Blinded by then Right]., Sykes [How the Right Lost Its Mind], Lofgren [The party is Over], Stevens [It Was All A Lie], Dean & Altemeyer [Authoritarian Nightmare].

Other analysts have been caused to express their concerns about Republican Bolshevik anti-democratic tendencies: Mann & Ornstein [Its Even WorseThan It Looks], Overton [Stealing Democracy], Ehrenberg [$ervants of Wealth], Baker [The Conservative Nanny State], Edsall [The Age of Austerity], H.Smith [Who Stole theAmerican Dream?], Ferguson [Predator Nation], Bartlett & Steele [The Betrayal of the American Dream], Frank [The Wrecking Crew], G.Lafer [The One Percent Solution}, K.Andersen [Evil Geniuses], Applebaum [Twilight of Democracy], J.Daley, Ed. {On 1984], T.Snyder [On Tyranny], M.Gessen [Surviving Autocracy], MacLean [Democracy in Chains], Teachout [Corruption in America], Chayes [On Corruption in America], Albright [Fascism], A.Nelson [Shadow Network].

All of the above is a “bare tip of the iceberg” of the MOUNTAINS of evidence in state and federal actions, in state and federal court decisions, in what Republican Bolsheviks are saying. They themselves are admitting ‘the fringe has come to power.” But – they are ‘ridding the tiger”. and dare not get off. Connect the dots. What would a “reasonable person” think; the “man from Mars”?; reasonable people from Western Europe, Canada, Australis, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea? What they have ALREADY said is a matter of record – major concerns.

The authors mentioned above, this blog. – we can only alert YOU. America is. NOT. guaranteed to continue as what “reasonable people”. would call a “democracy.” It. will. NOT. survive. – if. YOU. don’t care.

*** “When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will be not even called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism.'” [Halford Luccock]

The following characteristics are the consensus on what fascism is:
1] strong and continuing nationalistic statements
2] disdain for human rights
3] use of enemies and scapegoats
4] militarism and supremacy of the military
5] extensive sexism/misogyny
6] controlled mass media
7] national security obsession
8] religion and ruling classes connected
9] corporations protected
10] labor suppressed
11] suppression of intellectual and the arts
12] obsession with crime and punishment
13] extensive cronyism and corruption
14] fraudulent elections

*** “As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.” [Supreme Court Justice W.O. Douglas]

As of November, 2021, America has now at least partially achieved numbers 1-13. Recent false claims have been made – roundly disproved, of ‘fraudulent election – by one of the major proponents of American authoritarianism. Subsequent anti-democratic efforts by his supporters throughout America. This resulted in numerous vote suppressing laws.

*** “The ideal subject to totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.” [Hannah Arendt]

Some of the evidence for American 1980-202X fascism:
1] Current right-wing [R-W] nationalism has occurred in various forms, including 1920-41 “isolationism.” Since 1945, more militant nationalism has steadily built. One analyst [Calmes] describes “waves”: 19802 Reaganism; 1990s Gingrichism; 2000s Bush II ism; 2010s Tea Party to Trumpism – each driving the Republican Party ever more radically to the reactionary right.

*** “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” [George Washington]

2] Violations of human rights of the “Other” – is a major driving mechanism of modern R-Ws, carried out by the Republican Party. Legal discrimination is enabled by Republican-appointed Supreme Court Justices and at state levels. Street-level discrimination is done by various ‘Brown Shirts’ and individuals

*** “When we begin to build walls of prejudice, hatred, pride, and self-indulgence around ourselves, we are more surely imprisoned than any prisoner behind concrete walls and iron bars.” [Mother Angelica]

3]. Enemies of the R-Ws are many. Communists and “socialism”; all non-white people; Jews by implication and street level action; non-fundamentalist religions and people; gay and trans gender people. Cynical leaders drum up “divide-and-conquer” hysteria by blaming “Others” at opportunistic times.

*** “In Germany, the Nazis came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I was a Protestant and didn’t speak up. then they came for me… by that time there was no one to speak for anyone.” [Martin Niemoller}

4] President Eisenhower warned against the “military-industrial complex.” The “defense” complex has a substantial portion of American government’s budget. America has the world’s biggest ever military empire. Blinded by the “domino theory” America blundered into Vietnam war. Lied into “democratizing” others, America invaded an innocent country in 2003 [ see Poland, 1939]

*** “As long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable.” [Aldous Huxley]

5] Much R-W policy concerns suppression of women. The major R-W base is religious fundamentalists, which requires second class female status – best seen in “family values” mantra and vigorous anti-contraceptive and abortion policies and laws. The Nazis were strongly opposed to abortion.

*** “The claim that American women are downtrodden and unfairly treated is the fraud of the century.” [Phylis Schlafly]

6]. All mass media is not controlled by the state. Much is controlled by corporations. The R-W alternative universe has its own controlled media: Fox “News”, various radio talking heads, various internet idiots – all working together with strict discipline, to push the “message of the day” [some local media are given required scripts].

*** “Power in America today is control of the means of communication.” [Theodore White]

7] National security is a major R-W position. The infamous 1940s-50s communist witch hunt was led by Republican Congress Critters. Thousands of innocents had lives and careers ruined. Accusing opponents of being “soft on communism” or of “socialism” is a major R-W strategy.

*** “The essence of fascism is to make laws forbidding everything and then enforce them selectively against your enemies.” [John Lescroart]

8]. “Conservative” religions and R-W have been closely connected since the 1930s opposition to the New Deal. After 1968 this has escalated. It is now commonly stated Republicans are a religious party. The “pro-life” agenda was a major political strategy to attract Catholic voters. Official Republican policy is nominating “pro-life” judges – itself unconstitutional [Article VI]

*** “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time..don’t want pluralism.” [Randall Terry]

9] American corporate power has been increasingly protected since 1970. Often the famous “Powell Memorandum” is cited a call to arms. Others suggest just a symptom of what was already happening. Corporate America has an army of “lobbyists” at all levels. Anti-trust and other restraining laws are unenforced. R-Ws bankrolled by rogue anti-democratic billionaires [Mayer: “Dark Money”]. The Roberts Court is THE most “business-friendly” since 1945.

*** “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” [Benito Mussolini]

10] Republicans and R-Ws have attacked labor ferociously since 1933. Before that their goons just shot union people. From 1947’s “Taft-Hartley” forward, Republicans and R-Ws have done everything they could to dismantle unions. Law and Supreme Court decisions [“Janus’]. Simply “outsourcing’ jobs to Southern “right-to-work”[for less!!!] states; Mexico and Latin America; low-wage south Asia; China. In their desire to evade taxes and regulations, pay labor nothing – “American” corporations have financed the new Nazi Germany [just like they did the original – Higham: “Trading With the Enemy”] – Communist China!!! R-Ws bend their ‘rules’ when money calls!!!!!

*** “There’s class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” [Warren Buffett]

ll] Republicans and R-Ws don’t like intellectuals [real ones] because they poke holes in their “reasoning [often easy to do!!!]. Prime current examples: opposition to medical science on COVID-19 and opposition to any REAL “global warming’ solution [that hurts profits!!!]. To rile up their “base,” Republicans and R-Ws are willing to destroy the earth, allow COVID ravage America and the world. They also “burn books” – local public schools and libraries are attacked by R-W zealots.

*** “In the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.”{Adolf Hitler]

12] Republicans and R-Ws are obsessed with”street crime – which [they say] is mostly done by the “Other” they hate. Republicans and R-Ws are against ANY suppression of the most damaging crime: “suite crime” – which is perpetrated by their billionaire funders. Suite criminals will be honored as”job creators” [rather the job exporters they often are].

*** “It is not unfrequent to hear a man declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty – to oppress without control or restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves.” [Sam Adams]

13]. Cronyism and corruption – by the top 1% and corporations they own is a top American characteristic. America has slid from 19th most honest to 24th. The”revolving door” lets corporate ‘public servants’ work government jobs – often creating policies that favor the company they will return to!!!!! Tax policies are often written by corporate lobbyists. Americans pay 250% of world drug prices, go bankrupt WITH medical insurance for one reason: CORRUPTION.

*** “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” [Frederic Bastiat]

14]. Fraud is virtually non-existent in American elections. 2020-202X America observed how an anti-democratic authoritarian operates: as an overwhelming loser, claiming he was “robbed” – urging followers to attempt a coup [while denying he did no such thing!!!], and then to cover up an attempt documented in many ways [see ‘the big lie’ above]. The on-going cover-up and legal battle is used to raise defense and ‘campaign funds’ – sabotaging faith in free elections.

### “The most intelligent of the Nazis..legal theorist Carl Schmitt, explained..the essence of fascist governance. The way to destroy all rules..was to focus on the exception. A Nazi leader outmaneuvers his opponents by manufacturing a general conviction..the present moment is exceptional..then transforming that state of exception into a permanent emergency. Citizens.. trade real freedom for fake security.” [Timothy Snyder,

For those who refuse to believe any of the [tip of the iceberg] points: my challenge to you: go to MAINSTREAM sources [serious sources respected around the world]. Numerous ex-Republicans and R-Ws have published “confessionals” and serious works. Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning authors have documented what has occurred to the bottom 90% of America and to American democracy, 1980-2021. What was once THE example of democracy, 1947-1973 America, has been DELIBERATELY SABOTAGED by Republicans and the Right Wing, corporations, religious zealots.

*** “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercise in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” [John K. Galbraith]

Begin your search for the truth with NUMBERS. Check unspun IRS numbers fro pre and post-1980 incomes. Find the average top marginal tax rate for 1945-1980 [hint roughly 81%!!!]. Check on how much American taxes are/were paid by corporations before post-1980 reverse Robin Hood tax cuts!!! Check on the paper corporate tax rate versus what they actually pay!!! Check on WHY billionaire Warren Buffett says he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary!

###”Soft money was..hard-earned dollars..Big Brother has yet to control..I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point..We do want something in return..” [Betsy DeVos]

For perspective: WHY are the “happiest people on earth” consistently residents of northern Europe??? The U.S. Constitution”s Preamble requires American government to “..promote the general Welfare..” Eisenhower’s 1950s Interstate Freeway System meets that test. The 2017 reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the rich and corporations fail it.

There are reasons why people have written books and studies on fascism, authoritarianism, corruption in recent years – because they don’t like what they see happening to America. The NUMBERS are obvious. the deterioration in American governmental performance is obvious. The reactionary radicalization of one political party is obvious. The realization of the fragility of American democracy had frightened many – some of. whom have witnessed the corruption in foreign countries now see that in America.

There is also a reason in Benjamin Franklin’s famous response to a woman’s question in September, 1787 Philadelphia: “Well, Doctor, what do we have?” “A republic, if you can keep it.”

SO – dear friends, there is YOUR challenge: Do. YOU. wish to keep the American republic?

***”Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by men and women in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than ours.” [Grover Cleveland, 1905]

Her name was Ruth, “The young college student was walking to her car. The man catcalled her. She ignored him. What happened next could have been lifted from any woman’s most vivid nightmare” The man..followed the 19-year-old student..as she entered the parking garage..He followed her from behind and put her into a chokehold.. ‘The defendant was angry he was being ignored,’ prosecutors said..police tracked the pings of her cellphone to the parking garage, where her body was discovered.” [“Student allegedly killed by man after catcalls ignored”; Julie Bosman; 11/28/19; N.Y. Times] The “problem:” Ruth’s killer was ENTITLED – to catcall her and not be ignored.

***”Rape is kinda like the weather. If it’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” [Clayton Williams; Republican, Texas]

This post is inspired by Kate Manne’s 2020 “Entitled. How Male Privilege Hurts Women.” Manne: “Misogyny..best conceptualized as the “law enforcement” branch of patriarchy – a system that functions to police and enforce gendered norms and expectations, and involves girls and women facing disproportionately or distinctively hostile treatment because of their gender, among other factors…In general, I think of misogyny as being a bit like the shock collar worn by dogs…it tends to discourage girls and women from venturing out of bounds. If we stray, or err, we know what we are in for..it is best to think of misogyny primarily as a property of the social environments girls and women navigate…”

***”In those days, it didn’t matter: you could be a Wimbledon champion, Phi Beta Kappa, Miss America, Nobel Peace Prize winner, but if they asked you about marriage and you didn’t at least have a hot prospect ready to go down on one knee, you knew you were considered to be no more than half a woman.” {Billy Jean King, 1982]

“A few weeks ago, as I was walking down the street to my car, a man stopped me to begin a conversation about my height. Here we go, I thought. He asked me the usual questions, prodding me about my basketball career, and then there it was: “Let’s play one-on-one. I bet I could beat you.”…I’m not going to play you one-on-one…I had to prove my skill in middle school..I had to prove my skill in high school..I had to prove it in college..I have nothing to prove.. Why can’t a man respect a woman at the top of her field?” [Devereaux Peters; 8/13/18; Wash. Post]
The “problem ” here: men are ENTITLED to challenge an WNBA player.

***”Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke.” [Gloria Steinem, “Ms”; l972]

Manne: “..I take sexism to be the theoretical and ideological branch of patriarchy: the beliefs, ideas, and assumptions that serve to rationalize and naturalize patriarchal norms and expectations – including a gendered division of labor, and men’s domination over women in areas of traditionally male power and authority.”

***”There never lived a woman who did not wish she were a man. There never lived a man who wished he were a woman.” [Edgar Watson Howe, 1911]

“To Sandberg, the move to Facebook..wasn’t..counterintuitive..she had hit a ceiling: there were several vice presidents at her level..Men who weren’t performing as well as she were getting recognized and receiving higher titles, former Google colleagues maintained.” [“An Ugly Truth”; S.Frenkel & C.Kang; Harper Collins, 2021]
The “problem”: they were ENTITLED – she wasn’t.

***If a woman has [the right to an abortion], why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t [in most cases] result in anyone’s death.”
[Lawrence Lockman, Republican, Maine]
***”If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” [Florynce Kennedy; “Ms”, March, 1973]

Manne: “..women are expected to give traditionally feminine goods [such as sex, care, nurturing, and reproductive labor] to designated, often more privileged men, and to refrain from taking traditionally masculine goods [such as power, authority, and claims to knowledge] away from them…These goods can..be understood as those which privileged men are tacitly deemed entitled..”

***”Women’s degradation is in man’s idea of his sexual rights. Our religion, laws, customs, are all founded on the belief that woman was made for man.” [Elizabeth Cady Stanton letter; 6/14/1860]

“The Nancy Pelosi Problem. The first female speaker of the House has become the most effective congressional leader of modern times – and not coincidentally , the most vilified…Why is she so unpopular? Because powerful women politicians usually are. Nancy Pelosi does he job about as well as anyone could. But because she’s a woman, she may not be doing it well enough…By climbing to the top of the greasy pole..Pelosi has made her ambition visible. She has gained the power to tell her male colleagues what to do…The more successful Pelosi is – the more she outmaneuvers and dominates her male adversaries – the more threatening she becomes.” [The Atlantic; April, 2018]
The “problem” here: a woman ISN’T entitled to do this, to enjoy “male” goods.

***”If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that thing down.” [Todd Aikin, Republican, Missouri]

Manne: “..the phenomenon of “himpathy”: the way powerful and privileged boys and men commit acts of sexual violence or engage in misogynistic behavior often receive sympathy and concern over their female victims..understand “himpathy” as the flip side of misogyny..Himpathy goes hand in hand with blaming or erasing victims and targets of misogyny..she will often be subject to suspicion and aggression for drawing attention to his misdeeds. Her testimony may..fail to gain the proper uptake. Instead, those who are “himpathetic” find endless excuses for the perpetrator.”

***”Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” [Rick Santorum, Republican, Pennsylvania]

“New Jersey judge rebuked for leniency in case of teen rape suspect “from good family”: the 16-year-old girl was visibly intoxicated, when a drunk 16-year-old boy..filmed himself penetrating her from behind..He later shared the cellphone video among friends..sent a text..’When your first time having sex was rape’..But a family court judge said it was not rape..also said the young man came ‘from a good family,” attended an excellent school, had terrific grades and was an Eagle Scout..pressing charges would destroy the boy’s life..” [Luis Ferre-Sadurni; 7/4/19; N.Y. Times] Question: does this outstanding young man now qualify for a “Rape Badge”? It would seem he’s definitely ENTITLED.
!!!!!???!!! News flash! – it just happened again [November, 2021] – a judge gave a young man 8 years of probation – instead of any jail time – for raping four [4!!!] young girls. The young man is from a wealthy family. The sexual assaults occurred in the family’s mansion. The poster boy of ENTITLEMENT?

*** “The problem that has no name – which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities – is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.”{Betty Friedan, 1963]

Manne: “A paradigmatic act of “mansplaining” consists of a man presuming to “explain” something incorrectly to a more expert female speaker or set of speakers – and in an overly confidant, arrogant, or overbearing manner…”mansplaining” typically stems from an unwarranted sense of entitlement on the part of the mansplainer to occupy the conversational position of the knower by default…”

*** “In the East, women religiously conceal that they have faces; in the West, that they have legs. In both cases they make it evident they have but little brains.” [HenryDavid Thoreau; 1/31/1852]

“In more than a decade as a trial lawyer, I’ve watched in frustration as male attorneys rely on a range of courtroom tactics ..off-limits to women…90% of her courtroom opponents are male…they file a ‘no-crying’ as a matter of course. Judges deny them, but the damage is done…women in the courtroom face what she described as a “double standard and a double bind.” Women ..must avoid being seen as “too soft” or “too strident.’ “too aggressive” or “not aggressive enough.” ..Sexism infects every kind of courtroom encounter..women’s clothing choices..were subject of intense scrutiny…I was practicing law differently from many of my male colleagues…she often has to bring one of her male partners along – even if he knows little about the case. “That older man at the table carries some kind of credibility.” [Lara Bazelon; “May it Please the Court’: The Atlantic; September, 2018]. The “problem”: she WASN’T entitled to credibility.

*** “I must not write a word to you about politics, because you are a woman.” [John Adams; 2/12/1779 letter to Abagail]

Manne: “There is a certain kind of man who is unable or unwilling to cope with others expressing views that threaten his own sense of what has happened..Such men cannot abide girls and women, in particular, evincing their own, legitimate off the epistemic entitlement to state what is happening…They.. want to shut her up..denying her word has any meaning or merit whatsoever…”

“A self-described “anti-feminist lawyer..who received media attention..for lawsuits challenging perceived infringements of “men’s rights”…In writing posted online. Den Hollander derided the judge as having traded on her Hispanic heritage to get ahead..was best known previously for unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of “ladies night” promotions…In more than 2,000 of often misogynist..writings, Den Hollander criticized Salas’ life story..” [“Lawyer eyed in shooting of judge’s family”; M.Dale, M.Balsimo, M.Sisak; 7/21/20; Assoc. Press]

***”The prolonged slavery of women is the darkest page in human history.” [E.C. Stanton; 1881]

Manne: “..social psychologists have speculated that there’s something about women who seek the highest position of power and the most masculine-coded authority positions that people continue to find off-putting.”

“Megan Rapinoe isn’t here to make you comfortable. “It’s hard to keep count of all the polarizing ways that people describe Megan Rapinoe…a star..a pariah..fun-loving..annoying..exuberant..excessive..a necessary voice..an irreverent troublemaker.. delightful.. disgraceful..essential..inappropriate..”
“But her defiance exemplifies the U.S. women’s soccer tradition..it was built, through excellence, on combating prejudiced views of what’s possible and what’s proper for female athletes.” [Jerry Brewer; 6/30/19; Wash.Post Wkly]
The “problem” here; Megan Rapinoe ISN’T entitled to represent what America is.

***”The status quo protects itself by punishing all challengers, especially women whose rebellion strikes at the most fundamental social organization: the sex roles that convince half the population that its identity depends on being first in work and war, and the other half that it must serve as docile, unpaid, or underpaid labor.” [Gloria Steinem, “Ms”, 1972]

And then – there is the uplifting story of “Maiden,” the English sailboat with an all-female crew, that was. THE. story of the 1989-90 “Whitbread Round the World Race.” They won two of the first three legs, then suffered water damage and finished second in their class. When they returned to England – they were met by a fleet of boats out to greet them, and “a reception fit for a king” on land. Skipper/inspiration for this, Tracy Edwards, was declared “Yachtsman of the Year.”
The full story: they were openly derided before the race. Bets were made they wouldn’t even finish the first leg of the race. Only when they won the second and third legs in their class did things begin to change.
They WEREN’T entitled to respect because they were women.
Rent/buy the Sony Pictures DVD – “Maiden”. for a wonderful 97 minute s. Produced by Alex Holmes, with much commentary by Edward s and her crew.i

The most demoralizing, bewildering, incredulous phenomena of contemporary American life has been savagery, hatred, and meanness some “Americans” directed at innocents and people merely doing their jobs. At this rate, the Russians, Chinese and other anti-democratic forces should save their time, effort, and money. Just sit back and watch “Americans” destroy each other and the country.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Mount Rushmore plaque: “We, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men.”

Symbolic Act #1: at a 2008 John McCain rally, a woman said she “knew” Barack Obama was not American-born. McCain said she was wrong. His “supporters” booed him. John McCain was a patriot. He’d been shot down in Vietnam, captured, hospitalized, tortured; refused early release because it wasn’t his turn. No person at that rally, few [if any[ Americans held his patriotic credentials. No matter.

Symbolic Act #2: frequent acts like this: a woman with a legal prescription goes to a pharmacy for contraceptives, often with her child. The pharmacist denies her, because it is against. HIS “religious beliefs.” Not only denied legal medicine, but humiliated. NO matter.

Symbolic Act #3: January 6, 2021 insurrection [the Pentagon states] by a mob believing a man who lost the election by 7 million votes was victimized by “fraud.” Election officials in every state said otherwise. No matter.

Symbolic Act #4: at a public Colorado meeting, a woman said: “I have a constitutional right to be mean to you guys.” In her mind, the U.S. Constitution allows her to be mean.

Symbolic Act #5: November, 2021 – self-appointed vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse acquitted. Parents of one man killed by Rittenhouse: the verdict “sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people on the street.” Supporters of the verdict: be careful for what you wish – this will not end well.

Abraham Lincoln, 8/24/l855 letter: “When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read all men are created equal except Negroes, and foreigners and Catholics. When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of losing liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

A review of SOME. of the many arrogant cruelties inflicted on innocents:
1] Modern Typhoid Marys – the COVID-19 refusniks:
– “Mask, vaccine conflicts descend into violence and harassment” – doctors, nurses, public servants accused of being Nazis, Marxists, Taliban [8/22/21; Kelleher, Tang, Rodriguez; Assoc. Press]
-“More citing religion to avoid vaccination” – BUT, many major religions have no objections to COVID-19 vaccinations; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 1905, states may compel vaccinations necessary for public health; the U.S. Army granted no religious exemptions for COVID-19; the U.S. Navy hasn’t granted religious exemptions for ANY vaccine in 7 years [A.Horton, 10/31/21; Wash. post Wkly]; the U.S. Air Force granted NO COVID-19 exemptions [Rein, Duncan, Horton, 11/8/21; Wash. Post]
– Idaho hospitals rationing care because COVID patients filled beds [9/8/21]; a 3rd Alaskan hospital “instituted crisis protocols” so it can ration health care [10/3/21]
Republican Alabama Governor Ivey: “It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, but not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” T.Bella; 7/24/21; Wash. post]
– “Denied hospital bed, veteran dies..” stuck in rural health care due toCOVID; “doctors in both states blame..too many hospital beds..occupied by COVID patients who did not receive vaccinations..” [10/16/212; M.Henson; Forum News ]
-“Austria plans to confine unvaccinated” – the lockdown “..essentially aims to keep the estimated 2 million unvaccinated Austrians off the streets.” [11/15/21; N.Y. Times]
– solution offered: “Raise insurance rates to unvaccinated people.” Health insurance companies legally charge smokers 50% more than non-smokers. [St Louis Post Dispatch; 8/26/21]

2]. Incredulous, to most, Attacks on Doctors, Nurses, Public Health Workers
– “Once COVID heroes, hospital workers now live in fear.” “In Idaho, nurses say they are scared to go to the grocery store unless they changed out of their scrubs” {H.Hollingsworth, G.Schulte; 9/20/21; Assoc. Press]
-” “Threats, resignations, new laws hurt public health” “She must make sure nobody finds out where she lives…a staggering exodus of personnel..growing shortfalls..could have lasting impacts” {M.Baker, D.Ivory; 10/18/21; NYTimes]

3] “Across U.S., school board members saying “Enough’ – many ending terms early amid hostile meetings, threats, and bullying” “She has stepped up security at her home…escorted to their cars by officers..he considered suicide..” [C.Thompson; 8/30/21; Assoc.Press]
– “School board groups ask U.S. for help dealing with threats” “..could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes;” Arizona man arrested after he and two others brought zip ties to make “a citizen’s arrest of a school principal; California parent punched a teacher over mask rules [C.Thompson; 10/1/21; Assoc. Press}

4]. Attacks on Police and Firefighters; Elections Officials
– “Deputy killed in ambush at Houston bar; 3 deputies responding to suspected robbery ambushed by man with AR-15 style rifle [10/15/21]
– “hooks ladders, hoses, and now, ballistic gear” “..instances of rocks, bottlers, bricks thrown at firefighters [M.Gottfried; 7/1/20; Pioneer Press]
– “Burned-out elections officials retreat from hot seats” “..election administration has now become a political minefield thanks to baseless claims of widespread fraud..” [A.Izaguirre; 6/14/21; Assoc. Press]

5]”Murders, Road Rage, Carjacking, Domestic Assaults, Street Racing
– “Gun violence claiming young lives across U.S.” toddlers, teens killed in turf wars, drug deals, posting the wrong thng {J.Salter, C.Lauer; 10/12/21; Assoc.Press]
– “17-year-old charged in Grand Avenue carjacking”. he kicked the 53-year-old woman in the face, held a gun toher head – at 3PM [D.Weniger; 11/3/21; Pioneer Press]
– “Street racing spawned by pandemic is costing lives” [A.Selskey; 5/16/21; Assoc.Press]
– “Murder spike seen in 2020”. pandemics economic and social toll and sharp increase in gun purchases [N.MacFarquhar; 9/28/21; N.Y. Times]
“Pandemic pushes domestic violence deaths up 40% in state” {E.Nelson; 10/2/21; Mpls. Tribune]

6]. Attacks on Retail Workers
– Georgia cashier fatally shot after mask dispute” [6/16/21; Atlanta Journal-Constitution; AP]
” “First battered by pandemic, now by a rude clientele” verbal abuse so bad “some of their employees cried” irate man demanded breakfast before restaurant open!!! [N.Vigdor; 7/19/21; N.Y. Times]

7]. Attacks on Airlines Workers
– “Air rage boils over as planes fill up again”. 3,000 disruptive passengers cases since January; letter sent to Justice Department asking for help; 3,000 banned since May, 2020 [D.Koenig; 6/23/21; Assoc. Press]

8] Attacks on Ethnic Groups
– “Suni Lee victim of racist attack” [M.Kornfield; 11/12/21; Wash.Post]. – “America’s hero” now just another ‘Asian’????
– “Survey: 1 in 3 Jews hide faith at times” [J.Zauzmer; 10/27/21; Was. Post Wkly]
“Shootings leave some Latinos on edge” [R.Contreras, A.Snow; 8/12/19; Assoc. Press]

9]. Assorted Incidents
– Pharmacist pleads guilt to sabotaging COVID-19 vaccines” [T.Richmond; 2/10/21; Assoc. PressP
– “Brooklyn’s Irving dodges fan’s bottle in Boston” [J.Golen; 6/1/21; Assoc. Press]
– “More fan misbehavior in D.C. [H.Fendrich; 6/1/21; Assoc. Press]. tackled running onto court!!!

10]. The Attack on Young People, K – College
– “The school kids are not all right” “..elected officials seem more concerned about reopening bars and restaurants…the learning catastrophe that has befallen the country’s most vulnerable children will take longer than one academic year to remedy” [8/29/21; N.Y. Times]
– “U.S. kids face mental health struggles returning from isolation” “..a surge in teen suicide attempts…’The overwhelming demand for pediatric mental health services..”[L.Tanner; 6/30/21; Assoc. Press]
– “120,000 U.S. children have lost a parent, caregiver to virus” [D.Victor; 10/8/21; N.Y. Times]
– “Kids and long COVID: “This is really scary'” between 11-15% of infected youths might “end up with this long-term consequence'” [P.Belluck; 8/9/21; N.Y. Times]
– “CDC report On Teacher’s Mental Health” 53% are thinking of quitting {Nea Today; August, 2021}

Many groups, occupations have been severely impacted by COVID – BUT. – for long term health of America – two stand out: damage done to the entire American health profession; damage done to our young, K – college.

Public attacks on medical personnel will never be forgotten by them. The insanity of attacking the ONLY. people allowing America to withstand the pandemic demoralized them. For sheer stupidity – it is unrivaled in American history. Some committed suicide. Many have left.

The damage to America’s children and young adults is disastrous. Their entire lives impacted [for at least] 3 years – at extremely critical periods of life. Many suffering some sort of PTSD – diagnosed or not.
The saddest, the truly. EVIL. part of the victimization of America’s young: they’re innocent. They’ve been victimized by so-called “adults” who “had” to have a beer, a meal, attend a game, etc.
Unwilling to make sacrifices, ANY. sacrifices – America’s “adults” have now, collectively, sacrificed their own children.

Many American adults did “the right things” – social distancing, masks, vaccines – but. – their efforts SABOTAGED by that 25-30% arrogantly demanding their “rights.”

A dictionary definition of TREASON: to give aid and comfort to the enemy.

Vaccine REFUSNIKS are guilty of treason. They’ve sabotaged America just as much as if they were spies forRussia and China.

Neither America, nor any country, will “go back to normal” until COVID-19 is controlled – by. VACCINATIONS. Just like vaccinations all but eliminated small pox, measles, polio>

Our current situation [November, 2021] is. anarchy. We “have our rights.” Nobody can tell us what to do. We owe nobody anything. I know as much as [any expert – I learned it on the internet!!!]. If my conduct hurts you – “screw you.” And they have. We will continue to suffer if some “adults” continue to act like children.

“At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” {Abraham Lincoln; l/27/1837]i

“It was decades ago, but SARA…remembers perfectly the panic she felt when she realized a car was following her as she ran along a country road at dusk..She desperately tore into a cornfield and listened as the vehicle stopped…I remember hiding in the cornfield and hearing them and then just running as fast as I could in the other direction and making it out of the cornfield and all the way to my house and being petrified..That experience has never left me, and it’s 25 years ago
“[She} often recalls that evening as she hears comments yelled by passing motorists when she trains along city streets…The killings raised alarms about how women can defend themselves and why they must be ready to fight off attackers in the first place.” [L.Meredith & S.McFetridge; 9/23/l8; Assoc. Press]

This post is inspired by Marilyn French”s 1992 book by the same title. French documents many of the ways “civilization” has treated women as second-class persons, and worse:
“..men-as-a-caste – elite and working class men – continue to seek ways to defeat feminism, by rescinding or gnawing away at its victories [legal abortion], confining women to lower employment levels [putting a “glass ceiling” over professional women], or founding movements aimed at returning them to fully subordinate status [“fundamentalism”].”

But society pays as well. On pages 162-177, French describes “War Against Women In Art” – only this isn’t against women alone: “expression is, and always has been in this and every state since patriarchy, subject to taboos. Taboos are political..exist to keep people from thinking independently, which might make them aware they are oppressed…aimed at precluding solidarity in groups that threaten the elite, mainly people oppressed by the elite. Taboos are enforced by power. In the United States, private expression is free, although small communities censor speech by pressure, shunning,.. harassing..unpopular views.”….
“However, public expression is censored everywhere: either directly [by laws..or by state terrorism] or indirectly, under the euphemism of “the market.” The United States uses both methods…the power of money usually suffices to censor public expression…In the United states, censorship is imposed…by corporations [Tv, print media].”
Creative people [books, TV, film] “..know what they cannot say…self-censorship is even more insidious: restraints have been internalized…America’s ruling class has found a solution to the problem of expression: it is not necessary to maintain a KGB and gulags when you can simply keep dissenting ideas from being diffused.”

Pages 170-172 describe the saga of “Ms” magazine, and the advertiser’s requirements for ads and locations; “to promote a certain kind of beauty, food, and fashion.” One major cosmetics firm refused “Ms” ads because it was selling “a kept-woman mentality.” The male exec said he knew his customers “and they would like to be kept women.” Another major advertiser demanded none of its ads in any issue mentioning gun control, abortion, occult, cults, or disparged religion.
Also: women must be happy all the time
The number one commandment: portraying men-as-a-caste as responsible for women’s problems is forbidden; if one man appears an oppressor, another man must be her savior. When this taboo is broken. “men protest. Primary example: “Thelma and Louise,” which “is radical; it breaks two major taboos: it shows men at war with women, and women retaliating against men.”
“Most films and television shows are produced by men for men. Their main purposes are to show white males triumphant, to each gender roles, and to cater to men’s delight in male predation and victimization of women, especially young, pretty, near-naked women…”

“For GOP Representative Mary Bono, the suggestive comments wouldn’t stop from one male colleague. He even approached her on the House floor to tell her he’d been thinking about her in the shower…”This is about power, said former California Senator Barbara Boxer, after describing an incident at a hearing in the 1980s where a male colleague made a sexually suggestive comment about her from the dais, which was met with general laughter and an approving second from the committee chairman…”When I was a very new member of Congress in my early 30s, there was a more senior member who outright propositioned me, who was married, and despite trying to laugh it off and brush it aside, it would repeat.” [Erica Werner & Juliet Linderman; 11/4/17; Assoc. Press]

French’s pages 181-207 discuss “Men’s Personal War Against Women.” “To be female is to walk the world in fear..” Male violence against women is epidemic because the entire social system [press, police, courts, legislatures, academia, welfare agencies, professions] cooperates.

“Study: Many women report forced first sex..1 in 16 describe such experiences…it happened at age 15 on average and the man was often several years older.”
The results were often traumatic and lasting: “more sex partners, unwanted pregnancies and abortions..more reproductive health problems…Other studies have found..long-term effects of sexual assault may include social isolation, feelings of powerlessness, stigmatization, poor self-image and risky behavior.” Lindsey Tanner, 9/17/19, Assoc. Press]

“Mercy emergency room physician Tamara O’Neal had reportedly broken off her engagement with the gunman…a few months before he confronted her in the hospital parking lot Monday and shot her several times…Mary MacLaren..”That’s the most dangerous time, when the person tries to get out of” the relationship…”The Mercy shootings also highlight the high risk of violence at hospitals and other health care environments…The rate of nonfatal injuries sustained by nurses is three times higher than the average of all other private sector workers..” [“At work, women face most danger from partners, exes.”; Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz; 11/25/18; Chicago Tribune]

“Each year, roughly 125,000 rapes are reported across the United States [14 per hour]…But in 49 out of every 50 rape cases, the alleged assailant goes free…by far the easiest violent crime to get away with.”
“Usually only a certain type of victim will see her rapist prosecuted…We heard over and over detectives use the term”righteous victim”..A woman who didn’t know her assailant, who fought back, who has a clean record and hadn’t been drinking or offering sex for money or drugs – that woman will be taken seriously…In cases of acquaintance rape, detectives expressed doubt and blamed the woman..spoke skeptically of “party rapes,” in which women drank too much “and make bad choices.”
“Prosecutors, particularly elected ones, are measured by their wins and losses..”They only allow certain victims to goto trial…They’ve got to have the perfect victim, the perfect crime, the perfect witness – and anybody who deviates from that is not going to have their day in court.” [“An Epidemic of Disbelief. What new research reveals about sexual predators and why police fail to catch them”; Barbara Haggerty; August, 2019, The Atlantic]

The USA is the only industrialized nation without paid leave for new mothers; almost 1 in 5 families headed by single women are ‘food insecure’; the gender pay gap could cost women more than $430,000 lifetime; 67% of minimum wage earners are women; 35% of American women are living on the brink of poverty; the percentage of women on U.S. corporate boards is about 12%; only 27% of workers making over $100,000 are women; women college athletes receive $176 million less in annual scholarships; 19% of middle and high school girls said they had a hard time studying as a result of sexual harassment in school; women in the military were more likely to be rape victims than be killed in combat; one in 7 women [1 in 18 men] have been stalked to the point of fear; women are afraid to leave drinks unattended at a party for fear of being drugged; just 12% of engineers are women, the number of women in computing was 27% in 2013; the Google-Apple-Facebook-Twitter workforce is 10-20% women. [“79 examples of how women are still treated unequally”; American Association of University Women; circa 2015]

“Kentucky’s ‘child bride’ bill stalls as groups fight to let 13-year-olds wed Concerns focused on rights of parents to allow children to marry at younger age.”….Donna Pollard, a Louisville woman who said she was married at 16 to an older man who began sexually abusing her when she was 14, has advocated for the bill. She told Courier Journal that opponents included the Kentucky Family Foundation, a Lexington-based conservative group…” [Deborah Yetter; 3/4/18; Louisville Courier Journal; USA Today Network]

“Between 2000 and 2010, nearly 250,000 children in the USA under age 18 were married, including some as young as 13. Most of these children were girls; most of the people to whom they were married were much older men…Data show..most of these marriages have tragic consequences for girls on all levels: economic, psychological, physical, sexual. These girls endure poverty, abuse, untreated health crises including those arising from giving birth before their own physical maturation, and the near-certainty of passing on lives of poverty to their children.” [“Rape and Impunity Child marriage is a related example of entrenched injustice”; E.J.K.; 7/30/18; Mpls. Trib]

French: “Humans are the only species in which one sex consistently preys upon the other.” Women are also often treated as a “special interest group”!!!!! 51% of the human population is a “special interest group”. – on par with corporations?
Humanity’s problem is this: in 1992, a serious academic book with the title “The War Against Women”. could be written, with much documentation itself, and far more from other sources. – and NOTHING in the following 30 years is very much changed. Funny coincidence [?????] – similar to humans destroying the planet we live on.

As the top 1%, the corporations they own; right-wingers and their “think tanks”; and their Republican mouthpieces seek to blame Joe Biden for EVERYTHING happening during his first 10 months [they’d include disappearing polar bears, but “they’re not scientists], perspective is supplied by numerous newspaper articles.
REQUIREMENT: the Constitution’s Preamble states the purpose of American government is to “..promote the general Welfare..” What needs to be done – to solve inflation, vulnerable supply lines, “globalizing” the American economy – the benefits 100% of US? Have those opposing Biden offered ANYTHING [realistic] that will “promote the general Welfare? If not, they’re sabotaging America.

1] “Biden inherits economy damaged by pandemic” [Christopher Rugaber, 1/24/21, Assoc. Press]: “President Joe Biden has inherited a badly damaged economy pulverized by the pandemic, with 10 million fewer jobs than a year ago, and as many as one in 6 small businesses shut down.”

2] “Economic dip rattles Biden agenda” [J.Stein, R.Siegel, A.Van Dam; 5/16/21; Wash. Post Wkly]; “Price growth has accelerated every month starting in December..”

3] “Big ship in Suez is a very big problem” [David Lynch, 3/28/21, Wash. Post]: “What began in early 2020 with shortages of personal protective equipment..later morphed into semiconductor shortages that idled major General Motors and Ford plants..the canal incident..could cause global executives to rethink hyperefficient production strategies designed above all else to reduce costs. That “Just-in-Time” philosophy produced fatter profits but left companies vulnerable to unexpected events…”

4] “Just In Time Supplies Are Running Late” [P.Goodman, N.Chokshi; 6/3/21; N.Y. Times]: “..many businesses have combined a dedication to Just in Time with a reliance on suppliers in low-wage countries like China and India…No pandemic was required to reveal the risks of overreliance on Just in Time combined with global supply chains. Experts have warned about the consequences for decades.”

5] “Trade is Choking as U.S. Ports” [David Lynch, 9/25/21, Wash. Post]: “Trucking companies and warehouses complain they can’t find enough workers to keep freight moving…Analysts and industry executives said there is little chance the federal government can untangle the cargo snarl before the financially critical holiday shopping season…The mismatch between surging import volumes and an overwhelmed transport network id dogging the recovery.”

6] “Pandemic disrupts supply chain A to Z” [Peter Goodman, 10/24/21, N.Y. Times]: “The disruptions go back to early last year..Factories in parts of the world where a lot of the globe’s manufacturing capacity sits..China, South Korea..Taiwan..Vietnam..Germany – were hit by the spread of coronavirus cases…shipping companies cut their schedules…timing and quantity of consumer purchases swamped the system…finished products..piled up in warehouses and..ports throughout Asia…heavy influx of ships overwhelmed..availability of docks…came on top of decades of very lean inventories kept by companies to limit their costs…bonuses for executives…Monopolistic tendencies..help explain the shortages [meatpackers]..”

7]. “Annual consumer inflation hits 5%, highest since 2008” [Martin Crutsinger, 6/11/21, Assoc. Press]: “The increased consumer appetite is.. bumping up against a shortage of components, from lumber and steel to chemicals and semiconductors, that supply such key products as autos and computer equipment, all of which has forced up prices…a range of companies have been raising prices or plan to do so, in some cases to make up for higher wages they’re now paying to keep or attract workers.”

8]. “Inflation…The Hidden Meaning of hard-money politics” [Jacob Rosenberg, July/August, 2021, Mother Jones]: “For Michael O’Malley, a professor at George Mason University, the 19th-century arguments rhyme with the Reagan-era demagoguery about “welfare queens driving Cadillacs.” And they were used to similar effect…It was the project of 20th-century reactionaries to obscure the distributive struggles contained within inflation…Thus the austerity of the 1970s and beyond was offered as a technocratic fix..allowing bankers to make a killing…We are still living with the wreckage caused by the old consensus…It was never just about the money. Inflation hysteria is always class war of one kind or another, waged on behalf of the asset-holders against perceived forces of “social destabilization,” O’Malley said. “It’s about the wrong kind of people getting too much stuff.””

9] “Car prices expected to stay high” [Tom Krisher, 9/6/21, Assoc. Press]: “The global parts shortage involves not just computer chips,..beyond autos, vital components for goods ranging from farm equipment and industrial machinery to sportswear and kitchen accessories are also bottled up..”

10] “Worker Shortages Drive Up Food Costs” [E.Elkin, M.Ngoc Chau, A.De Sousa; 9/12/21; Blomberg News]: “Across the world, a dearth of workers is shaking up food supply chains…Shortages are hitting farms, processors and restaurants alike…the delta variant is spreading in places like Southeast Asia…the scramble for staff is compounded by local issues, such as difficult and dangerous farmwork conditions caused by a record U.S. heat wave…”

11] “Natural gas prices soar due to shortage” [John Kemp, 9/12/21, Reuters]: “Last year, volume-weighted global prices fell to their lowest annual level since 1995..the result was a sharp cutback in drilling and capital investment..leading to an unprecedented decline in worldwide output…in. an inevitable reaction, monthly prices have now climbed to their highest in real terms since mid-2014..:

12]. High oil prices are likely to remain” [John Kemp, 10/31/21, Reuters]: “Restrictive output policies from both OPEC Plus and U.S. shale producers have kept global production consistently below consumption since June, 2020. The result has been a sharp drawdown in global inventories, which has lifted prices…”

13] “Many industries Feel Chemical Shortage” [ P.Wiseman, T.Krisher; 10/1/21; Assoc. Press]: “As the economy sank into near-paralysis, manufacturers of all types, slashed production. So they were caught flat-footed..companies were scrambling..panic buying…In 2020, Hurricanes Laura and Zeta pounded Louisiana…Hurricane Ida struck…”The consumer is going to have to pay.”

14]. “Inflation hits economy in places we might not expect” [Neil Irwin, 10/12/21, N.Y. Times]: “Many types of businesses..have dealt with..problems..by taking steps that could give their customers a lesser experience..no daily room cleaning..limited restaurant service..receiving the wrong order or no drink at all..no hot breakfast…”

15] “Oat Shortage Looms” [M.Nicholson, M.Hirtzer; 10/12/21; Bloomberg]: bottom line: will YOU be able to buy your Cheerios?!?!?!?! “Wheat prices raise bread costs” [Megan Durison, 11/3/21, Bloomberg]: “Wheat prices are surging from the U.S. to Russia…The crop..was hit by droughts, frost, heavy rains this year..” Issues: dwindling stockpiles, protectionist measures, import needs, costlier fertilizer.

16] “Cost pressures for companies mean higher prices for consumers” [Thomas Mulier, 10/24/21, Bloomberg]: “Consumers around the world are about to get socked with even higher prices on everyday items…Companies are facing a dire mix of supply-chain challenges…”This is a story that’s consistent across the world..””

17]. “White House takes aim at supply chain” [David Lynch, 11/10/21, Wash. Post]: “..the private companies responsible for the ports, trucks, terminals and trains that make up the nation’s goods pipeline operate beyond easy federal direction…Mahir Rasheed of Oxford Economics: “The persistent mismatch between supply and demand will remain a principal driver of elevated inflation as capital and labor shortages improve only gradually heading into 2022″ he wrote in a client note.”

SO – if you want to blame Joe Biden for inflation and supply-chain problems, then you’re asking him to control the weather, asking him to force OPEC to pump more oil, blaming him for COVID-19, blaming him for the “Just-in-Time business model, blaming him for globalization [shifting U.S. jobs & manufacturing offshore since 1970], blaming him for rising world-wide commodity prices, blaming him for companies cutting back production during COVID, blaming him for workers getting paid living wages, blaming him for price increases that started in 2020

If you want President Biden to “do something.” The only thing he can do is nationalize the U.S. economy. – because it’s private companies that run the entire system. SO – if you want that – it means you’re advocating communism!!!

The real solution: bring back manufacturing and good union jobs to America. – like it was when our side won World War II, the Cold War, and built the greatest middle class prosperity in world history.

Sabotage…. The Founders attempted a “virtuous republic” a nation where people “did the right thing” because it was patriotic. Joe Biden, and America itself, are facing sabotage from the “right wing,” led by Republicans.
Think of America as a football team, with Biden the QB. No football team succeeds if all 11 players don’t work together. The “right wing,” financed by rogue billionaires, has grown increasingly radical, reactionary, and destructive since 1965.

Republican Senate leader mcConnell said in 2009, his major goal was to sabotage President Obama. He said the same thing about Joe Biden. He has, and is, doing everything to achieve that goal – even if it means sabotaging his own country. We all saw what Republicans did in justifying the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Symbolic of recent America is resistance to rational, medically sound science on COVID-19 – again by the right wing. Their refusal to vaccinate, wear masks, etc. means the COVID pandemic will not be easily brought under control. Immense damage has been done to our health care workers. Some have quit. Immense damage has been done to our children. Some have committed suicide. COVID refusniks are modern day “Typhoid Marys” only this time their number is in the millions – having listened to demagogues, media morons, internet idiots.

Because America didn’t invest in itself, we have fallen behind in infrastructure, in public health, in education [is YOUR child’s school equipped with modern heating/AC?], in equitable economic reward distribution – we have not taken care of ALL 331 million Americans. Much of this occurs because of greed – by the top 1%.
There are reasons why America is NOT the happiest place on earth – like we used to be, 1947-1973. Our title now belongs to the people of northern Europe. What do they do that we do not?

This post is inspired by: “The Economist,” September ll, 2021, “why nations that fail women fail;” and “The Atlantic,” January/February, 2019, “The Global Backlash Against Women.” Other information also included.

“What Sani went through was forced marriage at..age..12: something not unusual in [XYZ], where 43% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday. Terrified of her 25-year-old husband, she managed to avoid him for the first two years of marriage. Eventually..he had his friends tie her to the bed and raped her so violently..she had to be admitted tro the hospital for days.” [Population Connection, September, 2017]

The Economist: “Societies that oppress women are far more likely to be violent and unstable..There are several possible reasons..In many places girls are selectively aborted or fatally neglected. This has led to skewed sex ratios..millions of young men..doomed to remain single..more likely to commit violent crimes or join rebel groups. Recruiters for Boko Haram and Islamic State..promise them ‘wives’ as..spoils of war. Polygamy also creates a surplus of single young men..all of the 20 most turbulent countries on the Fragile States index practice polygamy.”
“Outside rich democracies, the male kinship group is still the basic unit of many societies..Societies based on male bonding tend to subjugate women..Dowries or bride prices are common in half the world’s countries.”
“Researchers at Texas A&M and Brigham Young..compiled a global index of pre-modern attitudes to women, including sexist family laws, unequal property rights, early marriage for girls, patrilocal marriage, polygamy, bride prices, son preference, violence against women and legal indulgence of it.. It turned out..highly correlated with violent instability..”
“Oppressing women is not only bad for women; it hurts men too. It makes societies poorer and less stable…patriarchy and poverty go hand in hand.”

“Qualified women in tech dropping out of the industry” [Tracey Lien, 3/8/15, L.A. Times]: “A Harvard Business Review study from 2008 found…as many as 50% of women working in science, engineering and technology will..leave because of hostile work environments…Tracy Chou..a well-known engineer..said she faced an ‘undercurrent of sexism’..that included being bypassed for projects and treated ‘like I didn’t know what was going on.”

“Women may get harassed off STEM career path in academia” [Ethan Baron, 7/22/18, Mercury News]: “In the report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine..researchers lay out three categories of sexual harassment: actions that ‘convey hostility, objectification, exclusion, or second-class status about members of one gender; unwanted sexual attention; sexual coercion that involves favorable treatment in exchange for sexual activity’…higher ed is structured in a ‘patriarchal’ fashion…”Even when they remain, their ability to contribute and advance in their field can be limited as a consequence of sexual harassment..'”

“By the time she was 17, the Dutch teenager had written a harrowing memoir recounting repeated sexual assaults and her subsequent .. post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anorexia…when her sister announced the teenager..had died..’She had stopped eating and drinking,’ her relatives said..Her mother: ‘Noa doesn’t want this life anymore..She just longs for peace.'” [Iliana Magra, 6/7/19, N.Y. Times]

“Japanese medical school altered scores to limit women” [Mari Yamaguchi, 8/8/18, Associated Press]: “Tokyo Medical University manipulated all entrance exams starting in 2006 or even earlier..similar manipulations had occurred for years because the school wanted fewer female doctors since it anticipated they would shorten or halt their careers after becoming mothers..”

“Doctor says ‘women don’t work as hard’ [9/3/19 Associated Press]: “A Plano, Texas, doctor..told a medical publication..female physicians make less because: “Female physicians do not work as hard and do not see as many patients as male physicians..This is because they choose to, or they simply don’t want to be rushed, or they don’t want to work the long hours.”

“Women scientists get less funding” [4/14/19, Chicago Tribune]: “For many women, it will mean they don’t persist,” said Teresa Woodruff, professor of obstetrics and gynecology..and director of the Women’s Health Research Institute..”It’s impossible to measure what we’ve lost as a consequence of inequities.”

The Cost and Consequences of Sexism and Misogyny: We…will…NEVER…know…..

Consider what we DO. know:
-Margaret Kivelson, a physicist and planetary scientist transformed the course of space exploration, reshaping scientific understanding
-Marie Curie pioneered the study of radioactivity; winner of two Nobel Prizes: “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”
-Rosalind Franklin played a pivotal role in one of scientific history’s greatest revolutions in genetics. Her work led to revealing the DNA mystery.
-Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” forced rethinking of pesticide effects, which founded the environmental movement.

“I listen to feminists and all the radical gals – most of them failures. They’ve blown it. Some of them have been married, but they married some Casper Milquetoast who asked permission to go tom the bathroom. These women just need a man in the house. That’s all they need. Most of these feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they all blew it and they’re mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They’re sexist. They hate men – that’s their problem.” [Reverend Jerry Falwell]

The Atlantic: “besides their hostility to liberal democracy, the right-wing autocrats taking power across the world share one big thing…..to subordinate women…for most of human history, leaders and their male subjects forged a social contract: ‘Men agreed to be ruled by other men in return for all men ruling over women.’ Trump and his evangelical backers [share] a common desire to constrain the behavior of women..Bolsonaro linked this counterrevolution to a counterrevolution against uppity women..Duterte’s antifeminist crusade..featured the ritualized humiliation of powerful women..Poland’s autocratic government has run ads urging Poles to “bred like rabbits”..
“The first [gender] difference individuals notice,” Valerie Hudson told me, “is the difference between sexes in one’s own home. That establishers the first political order, the nature of how things should be in the country.”….authoritarians often succeed when women – especially feminist women – threaten male dominance of public life in counties where men still reign in private.”
“Compare the U.S., Philippines, Brazil, Hungary, Poland with the countries of northern Europe, where women’s political power has become more normal.” Consider this: virtually every year, polls show “then happiest people on earth” live in northern Europe. This is “just a coincidence”?????????

“Inequality, for women, today, is not an abstraction, but something understood directly through their bodies, through legislative and regulatory efforts to deny them reproductive freedom, through the fear of assault and through the inequities built into our system, from bathrooms to medical research, that makes female bodies – which outnumber male bodies in the United States by several millions – the exception to the male-dominated norms and rules.” [Phillip Kennicott, 1/22/20, Washington Post]

“! in 3 women worldwide has suffered from abuse” [Maria Cheng, 6/21/13, Assoc.Press]: “Among the findings: 40% of women killed worldwide were slain by an intimate partner..According to the United Nations, more than 600 million women live in countries where domestic, violence is not considered a crime.”

“The deadly devaluation of a gender” [The Economist, 3/6/10]: “It is no exaggeration to call this gendercide. Women are missing in the millions..In 1990 an Indian economist, Amartya Sen, put the number at 100 million…The destruction of baby girls is a product of three forces: the ancient preference for sons; a modern desire for smaller families; and technologies that identify the sex of a fetus.”

“Pooping woes, gender inequality: Yup it’s a real thing” [Jessica Bennett, Amanda McCall, 9/28/19, N.Y. Times]: “Poop shame is real..disproportionately affects women…the patriarchy has seeped into women’s intestinal tracts…One unpublished study..found that a woman who excused herself to go to the bathroom was evaluated more negatively than one who excused herself to tend to “paperwork” – while there was no difference in the way participants viewed the men.”

“Things protective daughters never told their dads” [Monica Hesse, 10/8/18, Wash. Post]: “Two of my daughters have told me stories that I had never heard before about things that happened to them in high school,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace mused on air…To the father of the young woman..assaulted by the student athlete she was hired to tutor: She never told you because she didn’t want to break your heart…To the father of the junior high student who was pinned down and undressed at a gathering 30 years ago: She didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to see you cry…To the father of the teenager who was raped at a party: You don’t know about this, because she was certain if you knew, you would kill her attacker and go to jail, and it would be her fault….”

“The Price of Speaking UP” [Agata Boxe, August, Scientific American]: “..a 2018 report analyzed 46,210 Title VII sexual harassment discrimination charges filed..found..65% of women who filed such charges between 2012 and 2016 said they lost their jobs after making their complaints.”

“When it comes to sexual harassment, the courthouse doors slam shut” [Jean Boler, 11/21/17, Mpls. Trib.]: “…courts have put up more barriers to women seeking justice after harassment on the job…Conduct must be ‘extreme’ and ‘so intimidating, offensive or hostile that it poisoned the work environment’…three male judges dismissed the case of a woman who had experienced male coworkers standing extremely close tom her with obvious erections, blocking her exit from her cubicle and coming uninvited into her work station…the court acknowledged conduct was “vile or inappropriate,” the case was kicked out because it did not “rise to the level of actionable sexual harassment.”!!!!! The court justified the decision: they’d previously ruled asking a woman to watch porn flicks together and masturbate each other; suggesting a woman would professionally advance if she caused a male to orgasm, or if a male grabbed a woman’s body parts – none of this would be “actionable sexual harassment.” !!!!! What would ?????

“Character attack: Being Skyler White” [Anna Gunn, 8/27/13, N.Y. Times]: “My character..has become a flash point for many people’s feelings about strong, nonsubmissive, ill-treated women. As the hatred for Skyler White blurred into loathing for me as a person, I saw glimpses of anger that, at first, simply bewildered me…Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or ‘stand by her man”? …It’s notable..viewers have expressed similar feelings feelings about other complex TV wives…I finally realized..most people’s hatred of Skyler had little tom do with me and a lot to do with their own perceptions of women and wives.”

“Female patients: It’s not ‘all in your head'” [Emily Dwass, 8/3/17, L.A. Times]: “In my case, it took four years and several doctors…Even after my diagnosis I had to contend with dismissive, condescending doctors…”We don’t know what’s wrong with you – but we think this problem is all in your head.” is still amazingly common…the number one concern among women with autoimmune disease is..doctors don’t listen to them…elderly women have to contend with ageism on top of sexism.”

Consider what we know, II:
-Lianne Russell, a refugee from Nazi Germany, changed what we know about X-rays, embryos, Y chromosomes. The benchmark for study of mutations and genetic risk assessment.”
-Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton: treatment of wounded soldiers, the Red Cross
-Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson: African-American NASA workers- the brains behind astronaut John Glenn’s orbit, and more. [“Hidden Figures”. DVD]
-Odette Sansom, World War II’s most highly decorated spy; captured by Germans – survived without divulging locations of other Allied spies
-the “Code Girls,” 10,000 American WW II women who worked to break German and Japanese codes [Liza Mundy’s book by the same title]

BUT. – we will. NEVER know what women have NOT. done – because they weren’t allowed to try……

THE. BIG. QUESTION: can the human race expect to EVER. reach 100% success potential, if we continue to oppress 50% of US? because they were born as a member of the “wrong” gender???????????????????