I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
For a long time, I've thought of DeSantis as a good alternative to Trump for people who like a lot of Trump's ideas but can't take the weirdness. DeSantis had the opportunity to repackage Trumpism in normality and reliable solidity. But somehow he's opting for a different route. Really awful.
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"...but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
I disagree. The alphabet mafia has been throwing a lot of unkindness and disrespect at, and excluding to boot, entire cohorts of those they deem enemies.
Sauce for the goose. Their feelings aren't more important than anyone else's.
"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage." - Alinsky
I remember Trump 2020 shirts that said 'f**k your feelings'.
Seems like Ron 'Pudding' DeSantis took that as his campaign slogan.
AA, "DeSantis had the opportunity to repackage Trumpism in normality and reliable solidity."
Excellent point.
But the campaign is just starting. It's a learning process.
Trump's meanness is the opposite of mean. It's open to, and welcomes, a riposte. It's fun humor.
DeSantis is another matter. He strikes me as having his own deep state.
He's awful because he doesn't think MEN should take WOMENS place in sports?? This makes me like him more. Men are NOT women. What happened to the patriarchy?? We should let men take over everything?? Jeez.
Men playing womens sports is NOT normal and reliable. Why does the left hate women??
Just watched the vijayo.
What I saw/heard was a statement of facts completely uncontroversial to anyone grounded in reality instead of radical post-modern gender ideology, with a light layer of sarcasm thrown on.
Lia Thomas is the perfect example. It may well feel mistakenly born into a man's body. But ersatzwomen are not women. Absent being a complete narcissist, Lia would have the sense to adopt the role, without demanding privileges that do not belong to it, because it isn't a woman.
I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
In most cases, I would agree with you. When it comes to college educated White women, I do agree with you.
However, in this specific case, the pro-trans community (the woke), are the ones who began acting unkindly and disrespectfully (to say the least) first. My very first memory of the modern trans movement was a TV clip of a man who insisted he was a woman, committing assault and battery on Ben Shapiro. It's the woke crowd that shouted down Judge Duncan at Stanford. It's the woke crowd getting people cancelled, attacking Rowling, attacking Gaines, and shooting up a Christian school. It's the woke crowd telling parents that schools are going to transition their children without their permission or knowledge. It's the woke calling us haters and monsters because we don't support the abuse of children.
Even now, the target of our ire is Bud Light, not Mulvaney, precisely because Bud Light treated us with disrespect.
eee gads. I agree the ad is terrible.
It reminds me of Trump's super-hero bubble gum cards.
Trans should not be mocked. But biological males should not be in women' sports. That can be stated clearly - without the silly bravado.
Link no go.
I don't think the mockery of male athletes crowding women out of their places in women's sports competition is unkindness. Someone is going to get badly hurt or killed if this doesn't stop.
Biden's fundamental indecency is on full display here. Why shouldn't DeSantis go after it?
There is a simple and fair solution to this. Create a third or open category where these underachieving biological males can strive against each other. Or just continue with two categories, xy and xx.
I do not have permission to view the Fox News link.
I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
You have a funny definition of excluded. Unless I am mistaken, none of these men are excluded from participating in sports. They are excluded from playing in little league, they are excluded from playing in pee wee leagues, they are excluded from paying in all sorts of competitive sports. But they are not excluded from playing in men's sports, the sport where they are supposed to play in. They don't want to participate, they want to win. Thus they choose to play in an arena where they have an unfair advantage.
What is unkind and disrespectful is to pursue their own dreams of glory by shunting aside others who are then denied a fair opportunity to participate. Which is meaner? To take what you don't deserve or to be called out for doing just that?
These people are doing their own cause a disservice by making a mockery of the system for their own benefit and generating ill will.
Despite all the amputations
Shim could dance to a rock n’roll station
"... but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Didn't you just imply that was exactly what was wanted by "the cruelty-oriented subset of the right-wing segment of American voters"?
BTW, I am not aware of any "trans-gender female athletes", and I doubt there are any. Females have a hard time competing athletically with men, even if they take testosterone shots. I think you mean transgender male athletes. The ones who are trying to destroy women's sports so they can win a few medals that no honest man would want. Your respect for them is puzzling.
" but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Many pretend women aren't going to be interested in participating in women's sports. The only ones who would be excluded are the ones that want to be included. You're welcome to respect them if you like, I don't.
Trump certainly campaigns against wokeism as a whole, but for a lot of social issues he doesn't really dig in. After the Dobbs decision he didn't take much of a victory lap despite it being a decades long goal of many in the conservative movement. He also doesn't really talk about LGBT issues. In fact there is a memorable photo of him holding a pride flag with the words LGBTs for Trump on it (or something to that effect). Now I suspect part of this is because he doesn't really care that much about Abortion or LGBT stuff. But he is also a salesman and if he thought he would benefit by railing against either he would, but he doesn't. The conservatives should take some lessons from Trump and pick their battles carefully. The left is much better at this then the right. They don't just attack random people or institutions without first doing prep work. This is part of the underlying rationale of the victimhood tactic the left uses. A victim doesn't just exist on their own. A victim is made. A victim is an object that requires a subject to have made that entity a victim. Once people start thinking of someone or a group of someones as a victim there is far less blow-back if you attack the someone or groups of someone who may have made that victim. There are plenty of people who have problems with the current trans ideology that will not side with conservative if they feel that conservatives are mean. Those people would rather go it alone than be on the mean team.
I don't think the parody is very funny either.
Men who were mediocre in their sport are now champions in the women's division as transwomen. You might say this was not their intention or their main motivation, but it's still true that this has been the result in some well-publicized cases.
This commercial does not appeal to me, but I don't see unkindness (lack of kindness isn't the same thing). I can see the unkindness of giving a women's team slot to someone who has had the athletic advantage of going through puberty as a male.
Well, were the original "Real Men of Genius" ads "cruel" for mocking cis-men?
"...unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Like the original ads, the DeSantis ad parodies a type of man.
In the original, it was vainglorious, overtly heterosexual men (e.g., Mr. Really Bad Toupee Wearer, Athletic Groin Protector Inventor, Giant Taco Salad Inventor, Silent Killer Gas Passer, Pro Sports Heckler Guy, Golf Ball Washer Inventor).
Likewise, the De Santis ad doesn't parody all transexuals, just the vainglorious male to female transexuals who believe that "fairness" requires them to dominate women's sports, rather than simply compete in men's sports.
Althouse writes, "...but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Sorry.
The gender queers have put themselves in this position. They'd rather have normal people kowtow to their demands, no matter what happens to women's athletics, than pay women the decent respect they deserve and refrain from intruding where biology and tradition exclude them. By ignoring the obvious, they're getting the payback they have earned.
The trans frauds have two options (1) take it as a hard lesson painfully but gratefully learned or (2) they can pitch their typical enfants terribles uber-tantrum complete with riots, assaults, and even murders and thereby make honorable Americans hate them with a white-hot passion.
The culture war was ignited by the left and they have used tactics infinitely more distasteful than Ron DeSantis's somewhat hamfisted parody. The political history of the last 52 years since the publication of Rules for Radicals teaches that the enemy must be made to live and die by his own rules. DeSantis's attack on the gender queers assumes that they are responsible and sane adults, not fragile idiots in need of institutional care, which is exactly their claim to whatever special treatment they demand. It's a gauntlet thrown to the ground rather than in the face.
People are really tired of the heshes and shehes hitting the defect button in this country masquerading as the prisoners dilemma. It's time for it to stop. If bringing back bullying makes it stop, so be it.
“Florida Governor sucks up to the cruelty-oriented subset of the right-wing segment of American voters.”
What is cruel is when men who can’t win against other men in sports competition, claim that they are women so that they are now able to win. Isn’t taking away a championship from a woman who worked hard to achieve that goal cruel? And yet you feel sorry for the man who pretends that he is a woman and not the women. Isn’t your sympathy misplaced? Nothing prevents a man who now declares that he is a woman from still competing against other men. Lia Thomas competed in men’s swimming against other men and could not win a championship. He knows that he is bigger and stronger than women swimmers, yet he chooses to compete against them in order to win. What can be more cruel than that?
Althouse writes, "For a long time, I've thought of DeSantis as a good alternative to Trump for people who like a lot of Trump's ideas but can't take the weirdness."
Althouse never has to look too far for a reason to vote for chaos, corruption, and degeneracy, but her reason is seldom found this early.
Agree. The four-lane, empty highway called "Road to GOP Success AKA Trump Policies Without Being an A-Hole Boulevard" remains unused, while anti-woke Republicans crowd onto "Appeal to Jerks and No One Else Avenue."
So it’s OK to be against X, but god forbid you talk about it or make a parody about it. Love sliding down the slippery slope to the crash of civilization
This should be a minor issue best handled by the states, and doesn't need a POTUS candidate running commericals on it.
As for "Unkindness" what about "Unkindness" of men posing as women and horning in on women's sports? A big majority of people don't want them there. And there's no reason for them to be there.
There seems to be a some sort of never-ending drive, based on some motivation, pushing all these weird Sexual minorities onto everybody. Its not a demand for "tolerance", since no one is asking they be hurt in anyway, BUT any attempt to set boundries or any refusal to submit to their demands is denounced as "Rightwing" or "Nasty".
If you'd told me 20 years ago, we'd be talking about this, I never would've believed it. We got real massive problems in the USA, and we're talking about an extremely small set of the population.
"Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.foxnews.com/sports/desantis-bud-light-commercial-parody-takes-aim-real-men-womens-sports" on this server."
Seein' some civility bullshit here....
cruelty-oriented subset of the right-wing segment of American voters.
Wow. Cruelty-oriented.
I guess it matters what you think is "cruel". I think many in this "cruelty-oriented subset" would argue pushing gender confusion on young children is rather cruel. Sterilizing them prior to adulthood is cruel. Taking them to watch transgender women who are dressed like clowns pole is cruel.
I'm guessing the same cruelty-oriented subset of liberals who want to inject every American kid with the poison mRNA shots....are all for giving them puberty blockers and mutilating their bodies for medical profit.
How about not controlling costs at colleges and driving kids into massive debt for one's own financial benefit and comfort? That seems cruel. Locking them in dorms during the "pandemic" was cruel. Requiring mRNA shots to attend is cruel.
The list goes on...
I wouldn't put up with a 30 second ad to see the thing.
That said, ridicule is cheap, quick, and cost-effective, and transgenderism must be ridiculed.
I have the feeling no Republican can be elected President in the foreseeable future. This is due to overturning Roe, and due to the Trump chaos (and I voted for him twice). So nothing about DeSantis or Trump really matters.
Is Ron doing this - or someone on his team?
If this is someone on his team - that person needs to be fired.
Transgendered biological men should not be allowed to compete with women.
Mocking them is counter-productive and only aids in the continuation of the unfairness against women.
No hacking of the system going on here. No male mediocrity taking advantage of women.
A Kenyan man recently made international news headlines after being caught taking part in a women’s chess tournament using a full burka as a disguise.
In what is considered a first for the Kenyan Chess Federation, a disciplinary committee is currently debating the proper punishment for a male player who disguised himself as a Muslim woman in an attempt to win a women’s chess tournament.
25-year-old Stanley Omondi was reportedly facing financial woes when he decided to try and get his hands on the £2,400 ($3,000) grand prize of a women’s chess tournament. To pull it off without attracting too much suspicion, the male chess player put on a black burka which only left his eyes and feet visible, and registered under the false name ‘Millicent Awour’. At first, organizers were none the wiser to the player’s gender, but it was his prowess at the game of chess that first drew their attention…
QED.
btw - as an aside....
I do think women in sports need to band together - ditch the timid cowardly approach.
Each and every women on the swimmer's platform MUST show up with Lea Thompson (a biological male) and when the gun goes off - they should all agree to take a knee.
Let lea Thompson win all alone. That is the bravery women need to display. This is more than protecting the feelings of trans. This must be about protecting WOMEN.
Women sports are for women? What's the problem here? Biological males bullying females is OK!
Obtain effective therapy.
Sorry, but disrespect is what people like Lia Thomas deserve. Full-scale mockery is required here, nothing less will suffice to stop this sort of nonsense. If Thomas wants to transition, no one is stopping him/her. Thomas is an adult and free to do with their body what they wish, but don't fucking enter female swim meets. I would be embarrassed were I in Thomas' shoes to compete in such an unfair manner- the shame of cheating this way would prevent me from competing, and if self-realized shame isn't enough, then society needs to provide some in its place.
Transgender female athletes aren't female. That's for real.
It is cruel to make young women who have worked their whole lives to compete in high level women's athletics, suddenly have to compete against biological men, and lose.
It is also cruel to expect these young women to sing the praises of these men who now beat them is swimming, track, wrestling...etc.
It is cruel to vilify female athletes who speak out against this ridiculousness.
I don't think cruelty is just a subset of liberals. Their comfort, defense, and promotion inner city violence is completely cruel. The ivory tower liberals in Madison don't have to suffer with Milwaukee's inner city violence, and support liberal judges who keep the violence growing...are rather cruel.
I guess we can throw stones all day long on this one.
The exaggerated vocals are truly annoying. This is the adult in the room? I may need this guy as a backup but he keeps stepping on his dick* every time he gets out of his comfort zone of local politics. Do better, Ron.
*Hat tip to Doctor Mike.
And wishing won't make it so.
Ugh. Maybe it makes me a Nice White Woman, but this is not the message that responses with me, angered as I am by the transteria.
Agreed. This is a cringe-worthy paraody of "Anchorman: The Ron Burgundy Story" with Will Ferrell. The same voice-over is used in the video here. I guess it's aimed at that audience of white men. But DeSantis needs women voters. A more effective video would show how young female athletes were cheated out of awards or scholarships because a male trans-athlete unfairly took their place in competition. Suburban mothers and young women could relate to this and might vote for DeSantis come election time. No Republican can win the Presidency without the vote of American women.
Every man in this video has a clear advantage over the women they're competing with, and they know it. In the case of the MMA fighter, he is literally cracking women's skulls. If there's any cruelty, it's on the part of these men taking advantage of a cultural phenomenon to keep women from the titles for which they've worked years. If they were just calling for an "open"-type sports category, it would be cruel of DeSantis, but they're not.
Gonna have to agree to disagree. This practice needs to be called out, shamed, and run out of women's sports.
Perhaps the cruelty that repulses you should be re-directed toward the cruelty being perpetrated on the biological women who worked to get to the top of the female sports world, only to be shunted aside by trans-women who have enjoyed the advantage of years of elevated testosterone, and the concomitant enhanced musculature.
There is a reason why East German swimmers were DQ'ed for elevated testosterone. It is an unfair advantage.
As to the plight of the poor trans-women who might be unable to compete in women's sports, sorry, but that's part of the choice you made when you transitioned. You may ID as female, but there are certain measurable standards to which you must adhere to compete as such. Penis? Sorry. Testicles? Sorry. Elevated testosterone? Sorry. Now THAT's fairness.
It makes sense to be kind to the people who have the mental illness of gender dysphoria. However, there is no reason to be kind to, or respect, men who wish to compete against women in sports. They are cheaters. They do not deserve respect or kindness.
Fox News reports, embedding the video of the politician's comedy ad, which made a very bad impression on me.
Well, Althouse, you not a Florida voter, and you’ve repeatedly stated how much you hate Republicans. If you aren’t going to vote for DeSantis except under the most dire circumstances, it’s not as though you’re in the target demographic.
… as the Florida Governor sucks up to the cruelty-oriented subset of the right-wing segment of American voters.
Also known as the Normals. Or the Deplorables, if you’re a Hillary-loving feminist.
When a self-declared trans female makes a point of showing off his (oops, her) male genitalia at naked female athletes in the locker room and shower, and when he is observed clearly ogling naked females in the locker room and shower, what is left to do besides laugh at “her”? Really, the whole scenario sounds like something a cheesy porn author would dream up, except that the women on Thomas’s team have to live that scenario at every team practice.
Or would you maybe prefer screaming mobs threatening violence, as confronted Riley Gaines in San Francisco?
It's easy to find the video just by searching for it.
It's not funny. It's like an SNL skit. We're expected to laugh and bang our flippers together because we're politically aligned with the underlying message and/or messenger? Fuck that SNL, Jimmy Kimmel robofan crap.
It's not funny! It's not clever. It's not persuasive. Can DeSantis not tell if something is funny or not? If not, that's okay, lots of people can't. But get an advisor who can.
Althouse is right, it's a fail, IMO.
Be best, Ron.
All true, Althouse. Kudos.
And let’s not forget the nearly-simultaneous DeSantis controversy; his suggestion that perhaps a Florida prison could be located adjacent to Disneyworld Orlando.
From what I am reading, the prison scheme is playing just as badly among independents.
Two stories loaded with vindictiveness.
Satire can be cruel. Are we now to have politics without parody. Alinsky recommended ridicule as legitimate and his acolytes have been successful.
The ad must have struck a personal nerve with our host.
can there be such thing as dishonest-trans?
A mockery of celebrating Democrats' men first in women's history.
I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
Pick one, because you can't have both. The whole trans movement, and the left's woke social movements in general, rely on a sort of passive aggressive insistence on pushing into women's spaces while women are unable to push back for fear of being labeled mean.
For a long time, I've thought of DeSantis as a good alternative to Trump for people who like a lot of Trump's ideas but can't take the weirdness. DeSantis had the opportunity to repackage Trumpism in normality and reliable solidity. But somehow he's opting for a different route. Really awful.
You can't have Trumpism without Trump. That's what a lot of us have been shouting for a while. Not necessarily Trump himself, but his attitude, his experiences, his willingness to get into these fights, and his ability to look at problems differently than the political class. You'll never get Trump's policies from Mitt Romney.
What’s the slightest problem with the commercial? Inquiring minds really want to know why it’s “cruel” to call out the fakes and frankly, cheaters that are gaming the “ tolerance” system to win awards and MONEY because of their physical advantage. They deserved to be shamed and castigated for this behavior - not praised and mostly NOT TOLERATED.
If it was a male trans who had been on estrogen and blockers since before puberty and had no built in “male boost” competing in these sports - fine. But it’s not. It’s failed males that figured out a path to be “champions”. Some of these “ladies” have not been started transition too. ( and the example I used needs to be outlawed because doing that to a child is abuse - period.)
This is a money game for clinics and pharma to get a captive audience for life with all the drugs they need to “sustain” the illusion. And from data - it doesn’t seem to slow down the suicide rate in their group to any significant degree.
Sorry Professor but without Trump there is no Trumpism.
DeSantis has made the decision to align himself with the BushChenyRoveRomneyGOPe so that that group can continue to help the democrats continue the fleecing of America and thereby enrich themselves at your and my expense.
Time to wake up America.
I didn't see anything unfair or out-of-bounds about that video. Yes, it mocked Lia Thomas and other men pretending to be women for the purpose of advancing their sports careers, but if anything ever deserved mockery, this was it. It wasn't as funny as it might have been, but it's a start.
They - the tranny athletes who want to compete as women - like to claim that they're being denied the right to participate in sports, if they're excluded from the women's team. That's just bull; they can participate on the men's team, just as before. So why don't they? Because that would deprive them of the unfair advantage they seek, competing with men's bodies against women. Lia Thomas would have continued to be just another so-so Ivy League male swimmer, if he hadn't started pretending to be a woman.
The trannies have hardly conducted themselves, collectively, with decorum. They heckle and assault their opponents. So, a little mockery served back their way, that's what is out-of-bounds now? Can't see it.
I've been a big Desantis fan, but the abortion stuff (ban after 6 weeks) is idiotic political suicide. I also blame Trump for not making ACB promise not to overturn RvW. This country is doomed.
Althouse writes:
"I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
The only individuals who will be excluded are transwomen who wish to compete as women. Those individuals are being unkind and disrespectful. Poor sportsmanship, which these individuals clearly display, does want some sort of unkindness and disrespect aimed at it.
if Trump schtick is due to chemicals for orange hair >>>
then FL gov need to kick up citrus research.
A rare mistake by DeSantis. He can, has, and should continue to, make his mark in real policy setting the boundaries of trans rights.
Ads like this will turn off a lot of people who are open to the actual message of men in women's sports. It should be put out by a PAC not formally attached to the politician so the politician can keep his hands clean.
"I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but..."
I am sure a VERY HIGH MAJORITY of men and women wish these cross dressing men would stay out of women's sports. Maybe they can start their own leagues of transgender sports (which no one would watch.) And a VERY HIGH MAJORITY of men and women don't want them in women's bathrooms (or mens.) Maybe single stall bathrooms with locks on doors is the answer to that to.
As for 'unkindness or disrespect'... the honest truth is people don't want them to PUSH THIS IN THEIR FACE. They would leave the trans people alone if they would just ... go back under their rock and leave the rest of the people alone to.
But I doubt that will happen so laws will have to be made to keep them from harassing the rest of the people.
Yeah the Left really hates unkindness or disrespect. They would never insult a child for years at a time for the crime of not bowing to a Native American fake veteran who approached them at an anti-abortion protest.
View Trump and DeSantis as boxers in the early rounds of a 15-round prize fight: Trying to determine what attack/strategy will work best to defeat the other guy. Trump will most likely remain his "weird" self while DeSantis will be here, there, and everywhere looking for the key opening. I don't know squat about Florida politics but even progressives I know down there are OK with DeSantis -- perhaps he should stick to what worked for him there and at least be consistent.
DeSantis did say:
""It is wrong to have a swimmer compete for three years on the men’s swim team, switch to the women’s team, and then win the women’s national championship," the Florida governor said while speaking at Liberty University Friday. "That is a fraud. That is wrong.""
that is correct.
Remember - there's never any outrage when a soviet left-wing trans activist assaults anyone not pro-trans in women's sports - with violence.
"DeSantis' latest comments come just days after Gaines, an outspoken advocate of preventing female-identifying biological males from competing in women's athletics, was "violently accosted, shouted at, physically assaulted, and barricaded in a room by protestors" after speaking to students at San Francisco State University."
There’s an old expression, sometimes you need a thorn to remove a thorn. I recently watched a debate between trans women and biological women athletes. The trans women athletes were totally dominating the conversation. It was ridiculous, because the trans women totally mocked and talked over the biological women just like any old guy would do. I agree with you that I don’t want to be cruel to transgender people. However, it appears that sometimes you need somebody with some strength to get the point across and I think this ad really does express in the most graphic way the ridiculousness of trans women athletes dominating in women’s sports.
From your description I thought it would be over the top cringey. No. It’s fine. It’s mildly funny and on point.
People who are not emotionally invested in the LGBT cult like you are will find this mildly amusing. It won’t turn off anyone who was already likely to vote for DeSantis. The only people who can’t admit that men in dresses has been a natural source of derision for thousands of years in every human culture are LGBT cultists and the pathetic people who think they get social status by being offended for others.
You're right.
Should have featured the disenfranchised real women crying and getting assaulted.
This ad will offend the sensitivities of highly agitated women.
The politics of personal destruction have been around since before Clinton. They've been ratchet up. People Like Romney tried to stay above the fray most of the time, and the result was defeat. DeSantis is perhaps so embedded in this destructive discourse that he doesn't see he's part of the downward spiral. But the truth is, being presidential got Romeny mocked, attacked and he still lost. Trump took Romeny's plans and ran with many of them in office and combined it with his rhetoric and lost to a dead man. Who, incidentally, took many of Trumps foreign policy plans and ran with them and played the dismissive, occasionally insulting aloof self he's always been.
Is his tactic a success or was Trumps a failure? It could just be that DeSantis is using Twitter for what it is good for. Short, polarized sucks.
It's a dude ad about a woman's issue. Seeing a biological woman who's trained her whole life get blown out by a biological man is the pain, the conflict. This is just fratty slagging.
It's not funny and it's not moving the needle. It needs to do one, at least.
Cruel Desantis. Cruel neutrality. But what I find more cruel is the bad policies Biden is pursuing that have eroded the dollar, made banks unstable and exacerbated distrust of government and media by manipulating both. I’m tired of putting the easily bruised feelings of a tiny population of unwell children ahead of the actual needs of the American people. Less haughty hubris from the self-selected smart politicos and more common sense application of the law.
"that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded . . . But somehow he's opting for a different route. Really awful."
As predicted here months ago. DeSantis is too mean! Not a nice man! He should be nicer! We don't want to be unkind! Nothing's worse.
If transexuals want our compassion they should stop assaulting people. I had a babysitter as an infant, a neighbor of my parents, who worked as what was then called a female impersonator. I am totally sympathetic to anyone who wants to live as the opposite sex, but I have no sympathy for the Lia Thomas's who are so resistant to not being the best to changing their sports category.
I suspect Ann's opinion is in the minority in rational America who are suffering fatigue from what we're expected to endure or else...A little farce mixed with fuck off hits the right note...
Nobody is being excluded. They will compete on the team that matches their birth gender. The same rules apply to everybody.
Trying to shove something down my throat does NOT call for kindness
I like it. He defends women while mocking the real people who are oppressing them in sports, the trans. He shows real images of the athletes, depicting a reality repulsive to any fair-minded individual.
Carving, amending healthy girls and boys in the woke of social progress, profit, and virtue.
Conflating abortion and viability.
Equating couples and couplets.
Political congruence ("=") under the Pro-Choice ethical religion.
Diversity [dogma] is inequity, exclusion.
Conflating affirmative action and affirmative discrimination.
Rainbow symbols and rhetoric.
Corrupting boys and girls through medical, surgical, and psychiatric treatments.
Immigration reform in lieu of emigration reform.
Pathogenic migration without borders.
Shared responsibility through redistributive change.
Conflating feminism and masculinism with women and men, respectively.
Science practiced outside of a limited frame of reference.
I suppose feeling bad for cheaters is a take. Not a common take outside of professional wrestling, but whatever.
Let's include boys and men out of girls' and women's sports. Now that's the kind of inclusion 95% of the country can get behind.
And XY will always be XY, no matter how much the deluded try to pretend otherwise.
Pretty good ad, BTW.
No one is being excluded. They can complete with men like anyone else.
By the way,
Manifesto?
Tox screen?
Whatevs..
Gee. I’m surprised.
Althouse finds another reason not to vote for an alternative to the Big State Democrats.
but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
Yes, it would be nice if that happened. It would also be nice to not be called racist, ableist, ageist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, and misogynistic and too stupid simply for expressing the opinion that there should be an upper age limit for running for public office. If you are thinking that sentence makes no sense, you are correct. "Making no sense" is my point. These days you can't be just one "ist" category. You are all of them even when you have said nothing related to race, sex, gender orientation etc.
ALL people want to be treated with respect.
I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
What is it when men demand that they have the RIGHT to go into women's lockers roomers and check out the changing / naked women?
What is it when school administrators tell the girls whose privacy is being violated that it's THEIR problem if they don't like perverted guys checking them out, so they are the ones who have to stop using the team locker room if they have a problem with the abuse?
Is that "unkindness" or "disrespect" aimed at those girls?
You seem excessively happy with THAT "unkindness or disrespect". Why is that?
The "individuals who will be excluded" are ALL, 100%, perverted freaks and / or abusers.
There are NO "trans women" attempting to compete in women's or girl's sports in good faith.
None.
They are ALL men / boys taking advantage of biology, and authorities insanity, to get things they do not deserve, be it victories and medals, or a chance to check out cute naked chicks.
There are some, vanishingly few, people who are "trans" in good faith.
It's easy to find such people.
They're not joining women's sports teams, they're not flaunting their penises in women's spaces, and they're not screaming about "TERFs" or demanding that people who refuse to accept their delusions be censored. They're attempting to quietly live their lives as their preferred sex.
None of them appear in DeSantis's ad
Someone who actually believes that people's feelings are important, and should be respected, respects the feelings of those who disagree with them.
The vocal "trans" crowd refuses to respect the rest of our's feelings, because the vocal trans crowd is in it for the chance to bully people, NOT for some concern about feelings being "respected"
Sorry, but I have nothing but disrespect for men who want to compete as women.
The ad:
"Today, we recognize the men who hacked the system," the voiceover says. "Once mediocre in the men’s division, now cream of the crop in the women’s. You couldn’t cut it with the boys, so you pushed women off the podium. Because without you, sports would be fair. Without you, women’s sports would be for well, women."
What about that isn't 100% true?
Will Thomas competed in NCAA men's swimming for 3 years.
https://pennathletics.com/sports/mens-swimming-and-diving/roster/will-thomas/14590
2019-20: Competed in four of Penn’s eight regular season events … Won the 500 free against Villanova (Nov. 15).
"Lia" Thomas competed in NCAA "women's" swimming for 1 year.
Won the national championship
Regularly crushed actual female competitors
But I guess you don't give a shit about actual girls actually trying to compete in women's sports.
If you want to see a nasty, hate filled individual who doesn't give a shit about other people's feelings, look in the mirror.
because that's what you have to be, to object to DeSantis wanting to protect actual female athletes from the fake ones
that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
Biological males who have so little self-respect, nor respect for women who have trained all their lives for athletic competition against other women, as to cross over and compete as women are not deserving of any respect or even kindness. They deserve shame, not for merely being transgender, but for using their transgender status to gain undeserved advantage in sports and to damage women's sports--irreparably if this is allowed to continue.
The whole woke ideology is ridiculous, and needs to be mocked. People are afraid to point the ridiculousness out because of the bullying from the left that results when someone does. See what happened to Riley Gaines, for instance, and note the lack of criticism from the leadership on the left about what happened to her.
That left a bad taste?
I only saw factual footage. I didn’t even notice a parody. They did forget to include the girl carried off the volleyball court on a stretcher, though.
The men who wish to compete against women should be shamed, condemned, ridiculed, mocked. They are shit athletes and deserve zero respect for their desire to easily beat women. It is a sign of our accelerating collapse as a culture that this is Eve a freaking topic.
One of the sub-plots from the first Season of Glee was a female cheerleader worrying that she wouldn't be able to get a scholarship to university if her cheerleading squad didn't win a championship
There's a lot of high school girls looking for scholarships, who won't be able to win competitions, and won't be able to get those scholarships, when "trans girls" are allowed to compete in "girls" high school sports
Why is it that the "caring people" never give a shit about those girls? is it because you all hate anyone who might have actual success based on their own individual merit?
All kinds of crude behavior and humor are fine on the left, but a little from the right engenders a lot of pearl clutching. You never were going to vote for him. Now you have your rationale.
So you don’t think you’ll be voting for DeSantis.
That’s valuable information, I hope the pollsters are listening.
Awwww. Did he hurt your fewings? DeSantis is fine on cultural issues in spite of your distaste but he needs to talk about economics and he made a good start on foreign policy with his Ukraine comment but the GOPe quickly yanked his chain and he retracted.
If you won't stand up to help women and girls in athletics who will?
Title IX is rendered meaningless. Maybe the schools allowing "Trans females with penises" to compete against females with vaginas should be sued under Title IX?
Transgenderism is a predictable Althouse hobby horse.
"DeSantis had the opportunity to repackage Trumpism in normality and reliable solidity."
Tell me you don't understand Trumpism without telling me you don't understand Trumpism.
After Ann's description I expected something far harsher and meaner. This was just a bit of light mockery for something worthy of it. I think you're being a little oversensitive, dear hostess.
Sorry, Althouse, but your plea for civility from DeSantis is pure bull shit - "civility bull shit" to coin a phrase.
"Videos like this are shameful and disrespectful to real women who are seeing their sports be destroyed by biological men competing against them. Only way to solve this issue is create a 3rd category and let trans athletes compete against trans athletes #savewomensports"
https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1648141754640613379?s=20
I wonder if our hostess's labeling this political parody as "unkindness" and "disrespect" might be understood as a "call for civility?"
Personally, I think the trans "women" who have invaded women's sports are the ones being disrespectful. DeSantis has done nothing but point out the truth. This is the problem. Conservatives are never supposed to notice reality, or, at least, comment on it--especially those running for political office.
That these biological males insist on competing with biological women and invading our private spaces is the biggest indicator they are frauds. If they really "feel like women", they would understand or at least sympathize with what it feels like to be the smaller, weaker, and more vulnerable sex. They would participate in sports just for recreation and not competition and use the unisex "family" public bathrooms. Instead, they are bullies.
But I save my most unkind thoughts for the women who support them over other women. There really is a special place in hell for them. While many women were out there fighting for the right to kill the next generation of women, many of us were working our asses off for Title IX. How are they going to face their granddaughters when there are no sports left for them to compete in? My grandmother left me the right to vote. I would like my legacy not to be women surrendered to men who were either mentally ill or brutes or both.
It's not the message. It's the delivery and the decision to use that delivery. Turn the sound on! If that appeals to you and you're not a pro wrestling fan then I don't know what to tell you.
For a long time, I've thought of DeSantis as a good alternative to Trump for people who like a lot of Trump's ideas but can't take the weirdness.
I have no problems with DeSantis, but I keep my mind open. While I liked a lot, that he took the fight on. Never listened to the civility bullshit. But I also noted he was quickly folded into the GOPe crowd of consultants and donors. Those people are not winners. They are professional losers.
One thing that Trump was able to do is always convey his love of country, and belief in the people. Not the Elite. I don't see DeSantis even attempting the same kind of broad over arching foundation to guide his messaging. While he separates himself from Democrats, he hasn't spent much time connecting himself to the People.
Don't be politically congruent ("="), Respect for Marriage... Civil Unions Act.
So now I'm an assholish, hateful clod who's cruel to men who think they're women and shame on me for even considering calling them out for their bullshit.
OK.
What else you got?
Dudes..err..horning..in on women's sports seems like big league Toxic Masculinity, Manspreading etc
Althouse prefers her politicians to be straight-out pedophiles like Biden, but trans-insanity is acceptable as long as your don't make too much noise. That's what passes for Cruel Neutrality in Wisconsin.
Maybe next he’ll do a parody of women seeking an abortion in Florida. Or those women trying to prove they were the victims of rape and/or incest. Rightists would find that hilarious?
It's a really weird asymmetry--the unkindness and disrespect shown by the transathletes themselves (choosing to compete against, and frequently dominate, non-trans women) doesn't seem to bother nice people like Professor Althouse. When women say they're uncomfortable or feel unsafe we as a society are expected to take that seriously and react, but when female athletes say they're uncomfortable or feel unsafe competing against and sharing intimate quarters with transathletes the nice people tell those women to shut up, stop complaining, or leave the sport if they don't want to compete.
When transathletes make a mockery of the sport and of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of female athletes the nice people cheer and expect the rest of us, under penalty of being called transphobic bigots, to cheer along and say how stunning and brave the transathletes are. When someone mocks back, though...well that's just too much, the nice people like Professor Althouse simply won't have it, that's cruel and meanspirited!
What's crueler--pointing out the absurdity of a "male-bodied" swimmer easily destroying the competition in a women's swimming race or the transathlete choosing to enter that race and invalidate the hard work and prior success those competitors achieved?
It keeps popping up, but apparently only *some* people's feelings matter!
Want to listen to an invited speaker without having them shouted down? Too bad, you're not part of a group the nice people care about and the hecklers are. Want to compete fairly and have your skill and hard work evaluated on a level playing field? Too bad, your feelings don't matter and treating you poorly just to please the desire of a small minority isn't cruel to you--they simply matter more.
Oh well.
Who was it that wrote so incisively about calls for civility often being bullshit? When someone criticizes something as uncivil but that criticism isn't evenly applied it's really just a ploy to gain advantage and thus it's bullshit, right?
I've participated in, and covered professionally, more sports than I can count. From baseball and football to cricket and adult go-kart racing. The M/F divisions exist for a reason. As do the co-ed versions for recreational sports. If I, a mediocre athlete, had played on almost any of the female teams I've covered I would have been an all-star/mvp level player. Everyone knows this, whether spectator or participant. Let's have some "equity" for actual females competing in Female sports, is that too much to ask?
How dare you point out the emperor's naked--what an unkind and cruel thing to say!
I tweaked the link so it will work now.
The trannies have hardly conducted themselves, collectively, with decorum. They heckle and assault their opponents.
They also gun them down in elementary schools.
Trump's meanness is the opposite of mean. It's open to, and welcomes, a riposte. It's fun humor.
========
if you tell Trump 'ur mthr wrs army bts' >> he will say 's gld pltd'
"Lea Thompson (a biological male)"
Lea Thompson is pretty much a woman.
Lia Thomas is the name you're looking for.
Instead, they are bullies.
====
soon to theater near you >>> Mean girls [with Trans cast]?
Trans women should not be given nor accept awards of accomplishment intended for women, either. Men do not make better women in any venue. Dr Rachel Levine is not the first woman whatever that role s/he’s in. S/he’s the first trans woman in that role. The first woman in that role is still pending….
I agree with our blog host. As a Floridian, I've loved this guy as our Governor, particularly during a very tough covid/economic shutdown period. He not only kept Florida moving, he made it attractive enough to create a boom here (and a welcome change for those escaping failing Blue states.) And the untold story is that before covid, he was working with both sides of the aisle here to get things done. He has been very definitely, a Governor of action, not words.
I've always seen him as someone who is a step ahead of the 'consensus view' and who does not make a play unless he knows the outcome, like a lawyer not asking a question without knowing the answer. But as of late, he's produced some statements, ads, and put through a recent law- all of which I see as shortsighted, and unforced, unnecessary errors.
My feeling is that now that he's gathered 'political experts' around him to help put together his campaign, he's getting typically awful advice on what to do, what to say, and how he should appear to the nation. He's getting advice that will end his campaign before it gets going. (Perhaps his advisors are Democrats in disguise? Or just the same old recycled politicos.)
I'm looking for him to get this straightened out quickly. Or I'm back to looking hard at Nikki Haley. I'm just going for sane, but tough this time around. I thought it was DeSantis. Right now he's looking amateurish to me. That can still change. And I hope it does- quickly. On the other hand, I'd take Haley as Prez and another term of DeSantis as Guv and be very happy with that.
Incels.
Transphobes.
Misogynists.
Two men and a womb.
Jane's Revenge.
Some, Select [Black] Lives Matter.
DIEversity.
Objects in... Liberalism may be more progressive than perceived.
so people watching Fox know about this and also Althouse readers.
any others?
My feeling is that now that he's gathered 'political experts' around him to help put together his campaign, he's getting typically awful advice on what to do, what to say, and how he should appear to the nation.
========
so he is becoming what Trump was [with his advisors] during Covidiocy
what a lesson to learn
"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage." - Alinsky
RideSpaceMountain at 10:57am
Althouse has no concern for female athletes. That's why she is offended.
Are any of these trans women besides Bruce Jenner on Wheaties boxes yet? The others really should compete in a fair way--compete according to their biological sex and them come out latter when they triumph. What they are doing now is cheating and it's clear to almost everyone. I would vote to man biological males in women's sports.
Everyone has an ew spot in a slightly different place. Our opinions will now enhance the metadata of our voter profiles. In the end, we count and decide. Who and how are valid questions regarding the count.
Perhaps disgust will be the hallmark of this election cycle.
This smells like civility BS by Ann
Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...
btw - as an aside....
I do think women in sports need to band together - ditch the timid cowardly approach.
Each and every women on the swimmer's platform MUST show up with Lea Thompson (a biological male) and when the gun goes off - they should all agree to take a knee.
Agree with this. I don't think this will end until the women themselves start refusing to participate, en masse.
As far as I am concerned those who oppose men in women's sports can sink as low as they have to in order to counter the madness currently in vogue. ( could not find the ad so I can't speak specifically to that.) Once again Ann wants the straights to play fair while the trans play dirty. The hell with them.
The ad would have been better if they targeted Anheiser-Busch, or if they targeted the Trans ideology and it's effect on women's sports but avoided targeting specific actual Trans people. So just use a fictitious Trans character. One of the images they showed was of a Trans athlete from a high school track event. Sure it isn't fair to let a male compete in the female league, but that person was probably 17 or 18 at the time and still a high school student.
Not that long ago there was a “b movie” called “the Ringer” where a guy pretended to be “special” so he could compete (and destroy the competition) in the Special Olympics.
I’m wondering (honest question) whether the professor thinks that’s ok? I would hope you didn’t, but I don’t really see how it’s any different than the Lia Thomases of this day and age. You seem not only ok with them but supportive of them (and utterly dismissive of those who see it as cheating and unfair).
Maybe you have some, more nuanced, view. But you have yet to articulate it AFAIK.
Deflections by Inga says...
--
What's a woman?
Leah's abortion "rights" remain unscathed.
The ad is both funny & factual, ergo our hostess is "offended".
"The four-lane, empty highway called "Road to GOP Success AKA Trump Policies Without Being an A-Hole Boulevard" remains unused"
That highway doesn't exist except in the Atlas of GOP Losers.
Ok, I hadn't watched the ad before and in fact commented with very poor reading comprehension: I thought the ad was vilifying trans people generally, not "transwomen" in women's sports. More fool I, and I'll try to refrain from commenting when I don't have time or opportunity to do so with my whole attention.
I just did watch the ad, and I thought it was kinda funny - I remember those ads too, and btw the singer oversang on the originals as well - it was part of the schtick. And I agree with the commenters who say that these athletes are fair game, for the most part: they made at least two choices, to transition (to whatever degree) and to attempt to compete in women's sports. No one held the proverbial gun to their heads.
BUT - does it make a clear point? I'm not sure what DeSantis is trying to get across, besides pointing up the ridiculousness of the situation. So in that respect, I think maybe it fails as clear political communication (though for the LIVs who might not have seen that shot of Lia on the podium beside the second place young woman, to say nothing of the MMA fight, it might at least be informative).
As others have said, early days.
rcocean said...
This should be a minor issue best handled by the states, and doesn't need a POTUS candidate running commericals on it.
But it's not a minor issue, and the NCAA and the Federal Gov't refuse to leave it to the States.
Are you so pathetically ignorant you're unaware of that?
Or are you just os vile and evil that you always oppose fighting back effectively?
Democrats want to sexually mutilate 12 year olds.
Ann wants DeSantis to have more tasteful ads.
How about a "cruel neutrality bullshit" tag?
Agree that it is stupid and mean spirited, but is there a "cruelty-oriented subset" of the right wing? Maybe. I have definitely seen a cruelty-oriented subset of the left wing. There are many, many people (a majority?) on the left who thought people who were not COVID vaccinated should be denied hospital care. Let us never, ever forget that cruelty.
That is just one example of many I can think of.
Vivek Ramaswami. Or watch some interviews with Winsome Sears Lt Gov of VA. They say commonsense truths about policy without acting weird.
If Lia Thomas wants to be a woman instead of just a cheater in women's swimming events, he is an adult. Cut his dick off. Balls, too. Then he/she won't outrage the women in the locker room or shower. Then he/she might deserve some of that civility you are so worried about.
Temujin: "I've always seen him as someone who is a step ahead of the 'consensus view' and who does not make a play unless he knows the outcome, like a lawyer not asking a question without knowing the answer. But as of late, he's produced some statements, ads, and put through a recent law- all of which I see as shortsighted, and unforced, unnecessary errors.
My feeling is that now that he's gathered 'political experts' around him to help put together his campaign, he's getting typically awful advice on what to do, what to say, and how he should appear to the nation. He's getting advice that will end his campaign before it gets going. (Perhaps his advisors are Democrats in disguise? Or just the same old recycled politicos.)"
Most of that is not DeSantis' fault necessarily. DeSantis cannot self fund so he has to go hat in hand to the GOPe powers that be, which he did, and he has thus far been handsomely rewarded financially ($200M+ for an "in the bag" Gov reelection campaign?).
However, those powers that be require DeSantis accept all the usual GOPe/inside the beltway/connected advisors/campaign consultants that have tanked so many promising candidates in the past.
Who can forget George Will's wife being one of the Masters of Universe on the 2016 Scott Walker campaign where the GOPe idiots took a successful midwest/populist governor and turned him into Mitt Romney milquetoast in a matter of a few months and Walker disappeared, never to be seen again.
Rove and the Bushes and the rest of the GOPe-ers are screwing DeSantis over while the major funders for DeSantis have made it clear they do NOT want any of the Trump-like populist economic/foreign policy agenda that would enable the GOP to nail down the working class vote.
This crew wants a clean return to 2004 and they will not allow DeSantis to deviate too much, even if he wanted to. On top of that, DeSantis still has to live down his congressional voting record with was pure Paul Ryan-esque so what does DeSantis have left?
Attack the wokesters with all he's got to make up for the economic/foreign policy deficits but he has to do it with the tone deaf DC insiders. Recipe for failure, which DeSantis probably sees now but what can he do? He's committed.
It's a very tough place for DeSantis to be and it shows.
As I recall, the original ads weren't funny, either.
Most politicians, and Repubs in particular, have to go over the top to penetrate public consciousness at all. When was the last political ad that had a real, lasting nationwide impact? Willie Horton? And that was mostly from the denunciations. So, denounce away!
niki haley was all in on blm, on vaccines and ukraine, i'm sure shes stand strong for the second amendment satc,
What is this "inclusion" fetish on the left? Sometimes exclusion is the right approach.
Does the left like to include nazis in their gatherings? Do they enjoy 'including' conservative speakers on their campuses? Are they big fans of including pro-life people on their anti-baby organization, like they try to impose anyi-baby activists on pro-life organizations?
Of course not. Your "civility bullshit" tag is appropriate here.
“I'm certain plenty of American women (and men) — probably a big majority — care about keeping transwomen out of competitive women's sports, but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.”
Those men look ridiculous standing on a women’s podium holding a trophy. If they don’t want to be ridiculed they should stop doing ridiculous things.
I would love to hear Dame Edna Everage on this topic. Then we would get some real cruelty. And Sir Les Patterson (Australian Cultural Attache) would be sure to offer a few vulgar yet apt observations.
"It's a very tough place for DeSantis to be and it shows."
Same can be said about Trump and the medical tyranny he unleashed.
Fortunately for him, Dems too signed on to that power grab.
You have hit it out of the park with this one, Althouse!
Chuck approves.
Call me a hateful clod, but it's way past time for a politician to come out swinging on this topic. The entire objective of the leftie enterprise is to fix it so that their opponents must express their disapproval....if at all....with a classy, buttered-over, quiet, and understated appreciation for the validity of the leftie feelings and vulnerability, but "perhaps you might want to consider an alternative view, but only if you want."
The progs don't have to work too hard at that so long as someone like our hostess is around to keep the class discussion civil and nicey nice.
Meanwhile the lefties can be unrestrained as nasty and hateful shits.
- Krumhorn
Just getting here, at 7:16 pm....134 comments, eh? This ought to be some good reading. (:-)
So...male athletes claiming to be women and using male biological advantages to win is OK? Will there be any calls to reinstate Lance Armstrong's Tour championships? He just took an unfair advantage of his male competitors the same way the trans athletes are doing to women.
DeSantis is like Biden is like Trump is like Obama is like... it's over.
I have definitely seen a cruelty-oriented subset of the left wing. There are many, many people (a majority?) on the left who thought people who were not COVID vaccinated should be denied hospital care. Let us never, ever forget that cruelty.
Progressivism has long become a vehicle for weak and insecure theater majors to lash out at their small towns and everyone they've long held a grudge against.
You can't have Trumpism without Trump. That's what a lot of us have been shouting for a while. Not necessarily Trump himself, but his attitude, his experiences, his willingness to get into these fights, and his ability to look at problems differently than the political class. You'll never get Trump's policies from Mitt Romney.
4/18/23, 12:03 PM
THIS^^^^
. I also blame Trump for not making ACB promise not to overturn RvW. This country is doomed.
4/18/23, 12:05 PM
They DIDN'T overturn Roe...they sent it to the states, like it should have been from the beginning.
RoseAnne said...
but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded.
Yes, it would be nice if that happened. It would also be nice to not be called racist, ableist, ageist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, and misogynistic and too stupid simply for expressing the opinion that there should be an upper age limit for running for public office. If you are thinking that sentence makes no sense, you are correct. "Making no sense" is my point. These days you can't be just one "ist" category. You are all of them even when you have said nothing related to race, sex, gender orientation etc.
ALL people want to be treated with respect.
4/18/23, 1:13 PM
HEAR!! HEAR!! This is exactly the point. Thanks, RoseAnne!!
Yeah. This was dumb. It's low hanging fruit and has been done much better by other people.
What bothers me most about this whole transgender debate are the "scientists" and medical professionals who claim that there is no biological difference between women and men. It's right there in the genes.
Althouse, like most women, can only empathize with one side in an emotionals dispute. Here, she sides with the trans, so does not see the "cruelty" the trans-lobby imposes on others (mostly women, ironically), she only despairs of the "cruelty" inflicted upon the trans-community.
Althouse needs to practice "cruelty neutrality."
If Leah Thompson is a man, wouldn't that make Zoey Deutsch ... a clone?
If I had to decide I wouldn't run the ad, but is it really cruel? It would be cruel to mock an unhappy teenage girl who wants to become a boy or a lonely middle aged man who always wanted to become a woman only to find that the transition didn't make him any happier. But is Lia Thomas really tormented? Was she really uncomfortable as a boy or young man? Lia comes across as another conceited, knuckle-headed jock, and thus fair game for satire.
The cruelty is the point. That’s how fascist authoritarians like DeSantis operate. And he lives for one thing: to show how domineering he can be the most vulnerable groups - from Disney workers to transsexuals.
We shouldn’t be surprised. His faction is done pretending it has any policies that will actually help anyone and is descended ideologically from the same folks who put pink triangles on people they deemed “deviant,” before rounding them up into concentration camps.
It’s funny how this is a self-perpetuating problem, too - once you realize how far testosterone levels have dropped after decades of Republicans pushing obesity-causing policies and polluting the environment with endocrine poisons. Heck, even Alex Jones understands that the frogs didn’t just change their sexuality without some degradation of their ponds.
At least conservatives have the conviction to care more about money than about the people and ecosystems they’re poisoning in the pursuit of it. That’s something.
“There are many, many people (a majority?) on the left who thought people who were not COVID vaccinated should be denied hospital care.“
What a perverse distortion, The conservative COVID deniers still got care, even while in emergency rooms dying from the disease that they were still claiming did not exist - often insisting that what was just about to kill them was something else entirely. (Without any evidence of course, because conservatives do not believe in evidence).
Of course, it was unfair in a pandemic with limited resources* to insist that those acting most irresponsibly by spreading the disease and avoiding vaccination should have gotten priority on the rare, overcrowded hospital beds that would inevitably be needed to treat them. Rewarding such perversely irresponsible selfishness by prioritizing those exercising it with the rare treatment resources is strange and unnatural - but part of the same mindset that’s gotten America into such a warped state as is.
*Limited further by Donald Trump’s son-in-law claiming that states should be denied protective equipment unless they were favored by Trump - not a peep out of conservatives for those deadly retributive policies.
“Trump-like populist economic/foreign policy agenda that would enable the GOP to nail down the working class vote.“
Nails? Atop the crucifix on which the GOP martyrs that demographic while they gut their resources? Or just nailed down figuratively?
"Or I'm back to looking hard at Nikki Haley."
You and about 4 other voters in the country.
"... but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Yes it does. There's unkind or disrespectful about mocking someone trying to aggrandize themselves unfairly, that what transwomen -- meaning biological men -- are doing by entering womens' competitive sports.
But, speaking of cruelty, there does appear to be something at least unkind in Ann's attempt to smear anyone using humour to point out the blatant fairness.
To quote an ancient philosopher “Don’t start none, won’t be none”.
Republicans didn’t start this fight.
Republicans didn’t start with the hateful, crazy, violent rhetoric.
Republicans didn’t decide it was a good idea to put men with lipstick in women’s prisons and shelters in order to sexually assault victims of sexual assault.
If some trans person is just living their life and minding their own business, they should be left alone and accorded the same rights as every other American. No less, but no more.
But if a 6 foot three dude decides to invade a women’s sport where he towers more than a head taller than all his competitors, the mockery is fully earned and should be delivered.
Sorry -- trying to make a correction:
"... but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Yes it does. There's nothing unkind or disrespectful about mocking someone trying to aggrandize themselves unfairly, that what transwomen -- meaning biological men -- are doing by entering womens' competitive sports.
But, speaking of cruelty, there does appear to be something at least unkind in Ann's attempt to smear anyone using humour to point out the blatant fairness.
Oh, c'mon. "Those who would be excluded" have shown nothing but "unkindness and disrespect" for women and the institution of women's sports. The DeSantis ad merely applies ridicule where ridicule is due. Testosterone (natural or artificial) is a performance-enhancing drug, and what Lia Thomas is doing is no different from what Sammy Sosa was accused of: doping.
Sorry -- trying to make a correction again:
"... but that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Yes it does. There's nothing unkind or disrespectful about mocking someone trying to aggrandize themselves unfairly, and that's what transwomen -- meaning biological men -- are doing by entering womens' competitive sports.
But, speaking of cruelty, there does appear to be something at least unkind in Ann's attempt to smear anyone using humour to point out the blatant unfairness.
Althouse: we speak sexual perversion and baby murder here.
Welcome, Althouse, to your commentariat.
I agree with our blog host
Thats really all i had to read.
I believe the “Real Men of Genius” commercial singer was from the band Survivor.
“Eye of the Tiger” and all that……
Hmm, civility bullshit from Althouse: "He's right, but he's mean about it, so that's no good." Now if he were shouting a university speaker, that would be a legitimate free speech exercise, but not an uncivil TV ad, no no no.
Sorry, but sports are only about winners and losers. It’s not a modern dance recital. It’s serious. And cheaters should be shamed out as harshly as possible.
As DeSantis declares, Pretending a man is a women is into extreme cheaters territory. Send Miss Thomas flowers if you feel offended by her/his harsh treatment by exposure.
Temujin: " On the other hand, I'd take Haley as Prez and another term of DeSantis as Guv and be very happy with that."
I live in Florida, too. Maybe you just aren't aware of our laws, but Desantis is term limited out. Two terms only. Makes me wonder if you actually live here.
Also, I have to say, Haley, really? You think Desantis a wishy-washy, Mitt Romney type who will cave to consultants but Haley isn't. It is to laugh. Are you sure you live in Florida?
I am... conflicted here.
For a LONG time now the general story form the left is that the right is just so filled with hate, hate and misogyny, hate and misogyny and racism, hate and misogyny and racism and homophobia, hate and misogyny and racism and homophobia and xenophobia, hate and misogyny and hate and transphobia and hate and.... well, wait a while and they'll have something else to add to the list.
And NOBODY ever pushed back because in the left's rule book to DENY something - even with proof - is the exact same damned thing as admitting to it.
We, because we were the 'good guys', just had to stay silent because we didn't want to aggravate the screamers.
So - Desantis is starting to use the tactics the left's used for decades now. And I'm supposed to be UPSET about that?
Before I knock off for the night, I have a question for Prof. Althouse. Is there a reason, beyond raw, pants-wetting, fear, why people should show respect for the type of people who send death threats to J K Rowling and who threatened Riley Gaines with physical threats? You want people to play nice? How about you start with the LBGTQ crowd and teach them not to murder 9 year old children?
I’ve seen the ad now.
It’s spot on. Nobody likes a cheater. Or a bully.
Men in women's sports are both.
And gross looking in women’s clothing.
And Biden us pushing new rules on this right now, so the timing is spit on.
Screw the naysayers.
"...that doesn't mean what is wanted is any sort of unkindness or disrespect aimed at the individuals who will be excluded."
Oh please. They are bullies and cheaters and deserve neither kindness nor respect. The ad was unnecessary and probably not a good political move. That's the only issue.
DeSantis ought not to be trying to out-Trump Trump on the boorish scale. It's not his style.
I am starting to suspect that the bio-women who are so happy to see dudes in dresses crushing it (literally) in women’s sports are the women who sucked at sports in school, so they secretly resented the sporty girls, and are now snickering as those resented sporty girls are displaced by dudes in dresses.
Althouse:
"a good alternative to Trump for people who like a lot of Trump's ideas but can't take the weirdness."
I wonder what "ideas" the old Professor is talking about. I though maybe her tags might enlighten me but they only refer to Desantis and transgender.
This craziness needs to be mocked hard.
And good on De Santis for telling the truth about this stuff.
Clearly DeSantis making a play for the AA commenters. Success will depend less on quality of "satire" and more on various pending civil cases and criminal investigations.
“After Ann's description I expected something far harsher and meaner. This was just a bit of light mockery for something worthy of it. I think you're being a little oversensitive, dear hostess.”
I thought that it was decently good. Not great. But not uncalled for. Guys want to hold themselves up to ridicule by pretending to be female so that they can win at sports that they weren’t competitive in? Fine. Live with it. Live with the shame. Live with the ignominy of cheating by being a guy winning at sports by pretending to be a gal. And expect the ridicule.
The thing about DeSantis is that he will fight on the social issues. Trump really won’t. That’s, I think, DeSantis’ lane. He comes across as a knife fighter, willing to leave those he goes after bleeding on the floor. A lot of people seem to want that. Just watch how DeSantis is handling Disney. You would think that attacking Mickey Mouse would be fatal to one’s political career. He terminates their special district. They respond by having the outgoing board assign all their powers to another entity. He responds by introducing legislation to undo that, launched investigations into possible lawbreaking in that move, and is talking about building a prison next door. And a lot of the conservatives in the country are cheering him on. After the abuses by the Deep State, followed by the gross incompetence and venal attacks under the FJB junta, a lot of people want to see liberal blood on the floor. The FBI, along with the DOJ and the formerly Pelosi controlled Capital Police, lied and cheated to the courts to hold the J6 rally participants in deplorable conditions in jail, for years, while awaiting trial on bogus and trumped up charges. The J6 people tried it Trump’s way - non violent protests. A lot of people want the blood of those involved in the witch trials on the floor. As well as the blood of Fauci and the rest of the sold out public health officials. They sold out for money, and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, at a minimum. That, I think, is DeSantis’ lane - those who want their candidate to take the war to the left, efficiently and effectively. Trump just isn’t mean enough pErsonally, nor does he have the skill set to be effective there.
It's a really weird asymmetry--the unkindness and disrespect shown by the transathletes themselves (choosing to compete against, and frequently dominate, non-trans women) doesn't seem to bother nice people like Professor Althouse. When women say they're uncomfortable or feel unsafe we as a society are expected to take that seriously and react, but when female athletes say they're uncomfortable or feel unsafe competing against and sharing intimate quarters with transathletes, the nice people tell those women to shut up, stop complaining, or leave the sport if they don't want to compete.
When transathletes make a mockery of the sport and of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of female athletes the nice people cheer and expect the rest of us, under penalty of being called transphobic bigots, to cheer along and say how stunning and brave the transathletes are. When someone mocks back, though...well that's just too much, the nice people like Professor Althouse simply won't have it, that's cruel and meanspirited!
What's crueler--pointing out the absurdity of a "male-bodied" swimmer easily destroying the competition in a women's swimming race or the transathlete choosing to enter that race and invalidate the hard work and prior success those competitors achieved?
It keeps popping up, but apparently only *some* people's feelings matter!
Want to listen to an invited speaker without having them shouted down? Too bad, you're not part of a group the nice people care about and the hecklers are. Want to compete fairly and have your skill and hard work evaluated on a level playing field? Too bad, your feelings don't matter and treating you poorly just to please the desire of a small minority isn't cruel to you--they simply matter more.
Oh well.
Who was it that wrote so incisively about calls for civility often being bullshit? When someone criticizes something as uncivil but that criticism isn't evenly applied it's really just a ploy to gain advantage and thus it's bullshit, right?
This is great, maybe the best thing I've ever read on this website.
Only SNL type leftists are allowed to mock the right.
Media still on track to pimp the man they hate the most - Trump.
All is going as planned.
Disantis' most effective national political move to date was putting a bunch of "migrants" that Joe Biden sent to Florida on a plane to Martha's Vineyard. It was pure mockery and pure genius, and had precisely the effect intended--even more so because the limo libs immediately moved heaven and earth to get those unwanted folks off their pristine island ASAP.
The pearl-clutchers were upset then, and they are upset now.
They don't even know why they are upset, except that it is "controversial" and "mean-spirited."
When the Republicans try to address these things in "respectful" ways, they are ignored and/or mocked for being "prudes" and "bigots." The whole "Don't Say Gay" thing is a prime example.
To fight the left, you have to take control of the agenda.
One thing is certain - Most of the collective left are anti-women. (the rest tow the line)
The left's collective obsession with abortion (That might be a little girl you're killing)
and the left's obsession with forcing trans-men into women's locker rooms and competitive sports.... it will GARNER (sorry) push-back.
Now- that push back should be carefully crafted. The right are not allowed the same rules of mockery engagement given to the collective left.
On the right - "you're being mean"... stop it! That said - the ad is still lame.
"Want to listen to an invited speaker without having them shouted down? Too bad, you're not part of a group the nice people care about and the hecklers are. "
Good point. undercurrent of subconscious bias that states leftism is the bully and the victim - and if the bully/victim shout "shut up"... and "obey" - well, shut up and obey.
Jaydub @2:34pm FTW
Bruce Hayden.
Agreed. Trump will open the door to the deep state. DeSantis will close it down.
gusty Winds 11:39 - yep.
Maybe Ron thought women's sports were getting too "fratty."
Maybe he thought our talented and brave young lesbian athletes weren't getting the support they deserved.
P.S. Why no controversy about calling him "Meatball Ron" or a "fascist" being blatant examples of Italophobia?
Crook Biden is fine. We just accept his family grifting as A-OK!
I love the rush to trash DeSantis as "over".
Comply with the narrative, folks. mooooooooooooooo mooooooo
Moo.
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