Thursday, August 17, 2023

The Universe Is A Weird Place

So, I'm reading this:

"On the trans issue, for instance," Tarlov offered, "our own Fox polling shows that 57% of Americans think that trans kids and their families being the target of political attacks, as in these anti-trans bills, is a major problem."

"When you look at the actual numbers of kids that are, for instance, they have gender dysphoria, and they're getting top surgery. How many kids do you think got top surgery last year?" she asked, not receiving a response from any of her co-hosts.

"Under 300," answered Tarlov, who "holds two Master’s degrees in political science and public policy, as well as a Ph.D. in Government from the London School of Economics and Political Science," according to Variety.

"Then think about an issue that's really important to Democrats –" she suggested, trying to continue before co-host Greg Gutfeld interjected, asking: "Children?"

"Minors," she responded, referring to the question of top surgery.

"That's an atrocity," Gutfeld declared. "But continue," he added, laughing.

"But over 5800 kids were victims of gun violence, for instance," Tarlov pointed out. "I don't hear Republicans talking about that. Tyranny of the minority –" she again tried to continue before Gutfeld interrupted.

"Oh, what a false comparison," he snarked.

"It absolutely isn't," responded Tarlov. "It's a priority on the right to talk about trans issues, a priority on the left to talk about gun violence. Which affects more people?" she asked.

And realizing how much it sounds like this: 

"I do want to ask you, lastly, about this really disturbing trend that we're now seeing. Pictures, social media profiles, even purportedly home addresses of these grand jurors in Georgia, and threats being made on some online sites, all of whom voted to indict Donald Trump," host Sidner prompted. "There's also a threat and an arrest against the judge in the D.C. case. Is this going to have a chilling effect, and how should the government do something to protect these people?"

But, of course, it's not just about those identifiable individuals:

"It is horrifying, and the government will marshal its forces, but it only takes one lone wolf," Litman cautioned.

"This is like January 6th all over again. Trump puts into motion certain forces and then he can't control them. It is genuinely a terrifying prospect, and if something goes awry, it's a tragedy and also a huge challenge for the system."

Be afraid; be very afraid.  Tyranny of the minority, and we cannot stand for it!

"Abortion is another instance of the tyranny of the minority," Tarlov continued. "I get it, federalism – you send it back to the states where a group of elected officials have decided, for instance, in like Texas, Louisiana, that women should not be able to get abortions after six weeks. We have women that are bleeding out, going into sepsis. In Louisiana, a woman was forced to carry a baby that had no skull."

Gutfeld, apparently outraged, screamed, "What does this have to do with this topic?"

"What are you talking about?" she replied. "This is, he says tyranny of the minority."

"But that had to do with LGBTQ," Jeanine Pirro interjected, "not with all of your favorite issues."

"He's running to be president of the United States of America," Tarlov argued.

"But that's not what we're talking about, we're talking about – I asked you specifically about pronouns," Pirro complained.

"And I said he was wrong to act as if the GOP is the party of the majority opinion – they are not. They're taking minority positions and running with them," Tarlov explained.

An agitated Gutfeld again interjected, "Pro-life isn't a minority position."

"It is, actually," she replied.

"What, are you gonna talk about the fact that it's like 48%," Gutfeld, hands raised, again snarked.

"No, I'm going to talk about the 69% – it's the highest it's ever been recorded – that now support abortion at least through the first trimester," she replied. "And what's happening then in Ohio and Kansas and Kentucky."

I agree that, electorally, the voice of the minority is louder among elected politicians at the moment, especially in the issue of abortion (although in five states, the vox populi has been loud and clear on this issue).  But Dobbs just recently, in electoral terms, repealed Roe.  As that settles into the electorate, already 69% think restrictions on abortion are improper, and the majority opinion is that the question is for the woman and her doctor; not for politicians or, worse, juries, to decide.  That last is what is really hitting home.  The stories you read about women in Texas or elsewhere suffering because they can't get abortions, or the story cited on "The Five," of a woman in Louisiana forced to give birth to her hydrocephalic child (it was born without a skull).  Those are not stories of the poor women I saw at abortion clinics before Dobbs; the women who, being poor, were also voiceless and without any real agency in the public discourse.  The women we're hearing from now are women with better resources and the power to get their stories heard, withi the social and economic position to get the attention of the media.  That's what's behind that 69% statistic, and it's a game-changer (sadly, but dese are de conditions dat prevail).  Whose ox is being gored now?  That of the people who have the power to make a change.

But it's interesting that the majority position on "The Five" is that the "tyranny of the minority" is being exerted by Democrats and "leftists."  Where the position of those fear-mongering about Trump's ability to create another January 6, sound the same alarm; except now the minority is MAGA.

That which you most fiercely oppose, you most come to resemble.

It's almost amusing when that lesson is offered up so conveniently on such a metaphorical platter. 

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