Somehow, despite my earnest neglect of this space, the subscriber count has steadily grown a good 25% or so since I stopped regularly posting late last year.
I guess that teaches me to get feeling high and mighty about my meager Substack fortunes.
Anyways, now I feel guilty. Oh yeah, and election season is upon us, so it’s kind of time to start engaging again. Maybe this time, it’ll pay off? Who the fuck knows!
So, without further ado (and navel-gazing), let’s kick this shit back off.
The most astonishing development of the last month or so is the burgeoning rise of the GOP permission structure for criticizing Trump. I know this may sound “duh” at this point, but let’s appreciate the profundity here: 3 months ago, it was completely inconceivable that a Republican would ever come out and directly attack Trump. Even Chris Christie was widely considered a paper tiger!
This is the biggest dynamic for us to watch in this primary season.Accordingly, I’ve registered to vote in the Republican primary in Connecticut. Not because I like their policies, but because I feel a moral duty to do my incredibly tiny part in trying to influence the outcome of 2024.
Fuck gender politics. Okay, yeah, yeah, that’s a needlessly provocative way of framing it. Sue me1. But you know what? I think that, for those of us who live in the great gray middle of American politics, if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that literally anyone can come up with any old dumb ass reason for misconstruing even your best-faith effort at coming up with a coherent theory of gender as hopelessly bigoted. In fact, that’s exactly what half the gender studies departments — the “wokest” places in the country — think about the other half!
So, my entirely unsolicited opinion is… why the fuck bother? The plain fact is, you don’t need to have a coherent theory of gender in order to just not be an asshole and treat people like human beings. I’ve seen too many people get wrapped around the axel about precisely what they think is wrong about some theory or term like AMAB/AFAB, and completely lose their fucking perspective about literally everything else in life. It’s kind of disturbing!
So, I’m issuing this challenge: For this election season, just try not to let gender issues get you too bent out of shape. Just don’t waste your time on it! If you are a person of good faith and good intention, like I imagine myself to be, then “let people be whoever they want to be” is a good starting point. You don’t need anything more than that! There are always going to be idiot activists pushing the envelope with their esoteric theories, and there is always going to be Faux News and the broader right-wing propagandasphere trying to make you feel scared about whatever bullshit they’re triggered about today. Don’t play either of their games.The wierd thing about the GOP loyalty pledge — the one that says that any candidate will support the ultimate nominee — is that the one person who it’s supposed to bind, is the one person who doesn’t feel bound by it in the fucking slightest.
This is such an old problem that it’s kind of shameful that our political class is still dealing with it 8 years later. They should have figured this shit out by now; it’s easy enough for an 11-year-old to figure out. But they are, so it bears mentioning.
And now, it’s time for a new feature: Dave’s GOP Primary Power Rankings!
This space will be devoted to who I am feeling most disposed to voting for in the upcoming primary, since I’m technically a GOP primary voter — albeit a tactical one at that2.
Chris Christie. He’s not perfect. But he’s come out swinging the hardest at Trump, and thus stands the best chance of distinguishing himself from the pack, despite his low polling numbers right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he fell flat on his face, but you shouldn’t be surprised if he ends up the leading non-Trump candidate 1-2 months from now.
Asa Hutchinson. GaaaAAAAH, this guy is a fucking sad sack. But he’s probably also the purest expression of a tolerably Reaganist pre-2008 strain of Republicanism. I hope that he wins the nomination. But if he can’t outrace Christie, well, that’s just how politics goes.
Tim Scott. One of the things people really underestimate is how much the party faithful on either side tend to define themselves based on their nominee. We imagine that the two parties represent two permanent ideological coalitions, but they’re only semi-permanent, and they’re mostly identity-based, not ideological.
Accordingly, Tim Scott could help the GOP re-brand itself as the party of racial equality. Sure, it’s not the sort of racial equality that you (I presume) or I would prefer, but again, this is one of those areas where what matters most is how a bunch of people who aren’t like us define themselves. If Trump wins, they will keep defining themselves in terms of annoying, bigoted politics like the insane border wall. If Scott wins, they’ll — ever-so-slowly — start defining themselves as the sort of party that will start excluding fuckheads like the Proud Boys and Tucker Carlson. And that’s worth something to America.Ron DeSantis. God, this guy is a fuckhead. A serious piece of shit. And yet, he’s not a narcissistic sociopath like Trump. For whatever his illiberal impulses and deeds, he just doesn’t have the sheer lack of shame that let Trump cow the entire GOP before his feet. Can anyone truly imagine RDS pulling a Jan 6? Of course not! He’s too much of a pussy.
To be clear, as a devoted con-prog, none of these candidates would make me remotely happy. I’m opposed to the entire way we elect our legislatures, let alone our presidents, so there’s zero chance I’d be perfectly happy with either party’s slate of candidates. And to me, RDS is the epitome of the way this system presents us with shitty choices.
But I’ll take his ineffectual too-online pussitude over Trump’s pathological kakistocratic criminality every day of the week, and twice on Sundays. There’s a difference between, “out of the frying pan, into the fire”, and, “out of the frying pan, into the sauna where some asshole is beating the thermostat with a hammer”. One of those, you’re fucked either way. The other, you stand half a chance of taking the hammer from the asshole.The Nikkis Haley. I’m reserving her moniker for everyone who isn’t worth fucking mentioning. Like that asshole whose name rhymes with Bug Durgum.
Vivek Ramaswamy. Wow, what an arrogant… you know what, actually? The way he kowtows to Trump, he kind of reminds me of this guy I worked with at a pizza joint in high school. He was a total jerk who bullied people around like he was BMOC football player, but actually played flute in his school’s marching band and would shy away from any real confrontation. When he finally got fired, I remarked that he was “the best combination of an asshole and a pussy that I’ve ever seen”. Even the manager laughed at that one.
It’s like if Elon Musk decided to run for president, but was only a centimillionaire, not a centibillionaire. NEXT!I’m never voting for Trump. Period. If that criminal piece of shit is the presumptive favorite and no one else is on the ballot, I’ll write Barack Obama in on my GOP primary ballot and never look back. Trump is a despicable excuse for a human being, and may God have mercy on his soul, because I sure fucking wouldn’t.
Alright, I’m out of juice for tonight. But please, like, subscribe, do the all the things. Let’s see if we can make this worth my time again! Until then, I make absolutely zero promises as to when I’m going to publish. Cheers.
Or better yet, cancel me. I dare you.
Don’t fucking @ me like I’m an apostate. I’m doing what I believe to be best for the country, nothing more, nothing less. I’ve been an Obama Democrat since, well, Obama, and have since decided on a more-or-less permanent ideological stance as a “con-prog” — that is, a conservative progressive. To wit, that means I am motivated by progressive causes, but I believe in going about them in a conservative manner, which I believe to be the most sustainable way of achieving real progress. If you can’t deal with that, that’s your problem, not mine, so don’t fucking make it mine.
Ill tell my kids all the time that just because you get older, doesn't mean you get smarter.
First off, I think the permission structure to criticize Trump may have been upended by Vivek's call for all the candidates to commit to pardoning Trump. Now these candidates who were playing around the edges of commenting on why they are better than Trump have to come down one way or another on what they think of his multiple indictments. I have a feeling we will see a lot of, "we will just have to see where the facts take us....".
Second, gender politics is important to millions, but you're right, it shouldn't be the focus. It shouldn't be the focus because it's factually a non-issue that conservatives have seized upon. You can't ignore it though because it can literally alter our culture and but entire communities in danger that often have to struggle to defend themselves anyway.
It is another in a long line of scare tactics conservatives have used to denigrate others. You can go all the way back to the conscious othering of Black folks from the 19th century onward, racist ideas about how they were different from white people. This is fully displaced around the fear of black men attacking white women, which is usually what led to the hundreds of lynchings. Add in the warped and inaccurate views many had towards immigrants (and many still do). Characterizations that show off one dimensional inaccuracy, always around "taking" what was perceived as "white" Americans property/jobs/rights/etc.
Starting the middle of last century we have the rise of LGBT rights as an issue, then all of a sudden gay folks are here to abuse your kids. Conservatives can't win a human rights debate on facts or don't want work that hard, and so instead will attack with irrational and false beliefs about the "danger" that group holds. As yourself which segment of the population is most unable to defend themselves.....kids. So, it becomes the ultimate scare tactic to say that our kids are in danger. Thats why we see drag queen story hours and CRT as the number one threats to America's kids. Ideas that are outside the norm, outside what they grew up with scare these folks. Instead of thinking critically about our changing society they seek to attack it and legislate it away.
Don't for a second think that conservatives who push these lies aren't good at what they do. The Republican party has been led for decades on fear and grievance. Afraid that what people have achieved (or been given) is going to be taken away by change. Thats why they are conservative, if they slow down change then things will stay how they want it for longer. They have no problem pivoting their views or focus.
Remember a few years back the wave of "bathroom bills" that would bar trans people from going into the bathroom they felt more identified with their gender identity? the backlash was real, and a few states suffered economically big time. That backlash was strong than would think because many conservative rank and file didn't care enough to go out and protest or vote on that issue. Conversative simply reframed the issue in a far more dangerous way with gender-affirming care and youth sports becoming the focus. Can you really believe that trans girls playing high school sports is the "women's issue of our time" according to Nikki Haley? Not pay inequity, or representation or domestic violence? but a few dozen trans girls in sports? And she got a standing ovation.
I realize that was a bit long, but I swear I'm almost done.
So ignore the conservatives on gender and trans issues at your own peril. The "easy" part for the liberals is to similar say "we love and support all our kids and want them to feel safe being who are". Its a message of love and hope. We can legislate around the edges of the issue, which in all fairness does need some rules set so everyone can be on the same page. Its already accepted medical practice and group norm to not normally perform any transition surgeries until trans kids are at least 18 if not 21. Maybe make that a law? or at least have medical associations come out with a simple recommendation? For trans kids in sports, i think you can't ignore parents, but you don't have to go down the rabbit hole with them. Seems like the Biden admin is already starting to work on some rules and recommendations, but last time i checked the white house doesn't govern youth sports.
As a parent the hatred and bigotry these conservatives show towards trans kids is mind-blowing and saddening. As any parent will (or should) tell you, raising kids is amazing, frustrating and life changing. You want the kids to be the best version of who they are, but at the same time let them know that no one is perfect and that you are there for them no matter what. How can you be a loving parent but at the same time espouse hatred for kids who are simply exploring what it means to be who they are. Ill tell my kids all the time that just because you get older, doesn't mean you get smarter. These people really are proof of that.