Frat-Boy McDrunkFace Confirmed. Now What?

-by Digby

It was a good week for Republicans, let's give them that. They managed to confirm a far-right political hit-man and accused sexual abuser to the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment. And they did it by using the language of domestic abusers-- blaming the Democrats and taunting protesters by saying, "look what you made me do." Clever boys.

When asked on Air Force One what his message is to women across the country who are feeling devastated by Kavanaugh's confirmation, Trump replied, "I don't think they are. If you look at the biggest fans and I can tell you that the people who spoke in the strongest of terms in his favor were women, women. Women were OUTRAGED at what happened to Brett Kavanaugh."

In other words, you can believe me or you can believe your lyin' eyes. The tens of millions of women who have been protesting this misogynist sausage fest, whether on January 21st 2017 or on the steps of the Supreme Court on Saturday have been disappeared and replaced with people like Susan Collins, the alleged "moderate" who cast the deciding vote after gaslighting the country with a speech that pretended Kavanaugh's outrageous performance in his last hearing never happened.

It's clear that after Trump's victory in 2016 and the success of brute imposition of conservative white male dominance in this fight, they are convinced that the key to winning is to bring the hammer down on the feminists, male and female, who support progressive Democrats.

IT. WILL. NOT. WORK.

That wailing and whining you hear from these conservative white men (and the conservative white women who are desperately clinging to their sad status as daddy's favorite female-- as long as she doesn't step out of line) is the sound of the death throes of a movement that's on its way to extinction.

If Donald Trump isn't an example of a species that's run its course, I don't know what is.

They won't go without a fight. They have shown they are willing to win by any means necessary which is why it's so important that progressive women be elected to government as soon as possible.

After the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings were held in 1992 the voters elected 47 women to the House of Representatives, 24 for the first time, out of 435. That year 4 new female Senators were elected to the Senate bringing the total to 6 out of 100. A generation later we have 84 women in the House, equalling 19 percent. The Senate has made a similar percentage gain, with 21 (16 of whom are Democrats) bringing the percentage up to a whopping 21%.

That is pathetic. Women make up 51% of the population.

This has to change now. But as we've seen with the so-called moderate Susan Collins; it doesn't help to elect Republican women. They are happy to support a vile misogynist like Donald Trump and help install a right-wing Supreme Court majority for a generation. We need progressive women and men who represent the majority of this country, not appeasers and collaborators.

This election is a turning point. You can do your part by helping our Blue America slate of progressive female fighters who aren't just willing to go to battle on behalf of the vulnerable and the powerless, they are chomping at the bit to stare down these phony macho bullies once and for all. They aren't afraid because they know these right-wing whiners are nothing more than petty, schoolyard tyrants who need to be put in the corner for a long time out to think about what they've done. [And you can do that by clicking on the thermometer on the right and contributing what you can.]

They're willing to take on the challenge and it isn't easy. We need to have their backs.

This morning, one of our most dynamic candidates (of either gender), Katie Porter, told us that "electing women can improve our country’s leadership and Congress’ productivity. But not all women will be champions for equality or diversify the voices in Congress. I am proud to be a single, working middle-class mother of three school-age kids, and to be one of the first woman to bring this experience-- shared by millions of other hardworking mothers to Congress. When I fight for federal investment in childcare or paid parental leave, my voice will carry the weight of personal experience. We cannot win change for women without having women who share the most common experiences of American women like being told they should stop working and care for kids, despite financial realities that prevent that. Or being asked in job interviews whether they planned to have more kids. Women and men in America know that working parents are driving economic growth. That’s why I will fight for affordable childcare, paid family leave, equal pay for women, quality public schools, and living wages."

 



UPDATE: Confessions of a Proud Beta Male

John Pavlovitz is on the VoteCommonGood bus helping introduce progressive Democrats to evangelical voters. This afternoon they're with Kendra Fershee at the Morgantown Farmers Market on Spruce Street in Morgantown West Virginia. Last week he wrote on his blog that a Trumpist had called him a "Beta Male" while he was on social media expressing his respect for survivors of sexual assault, in the wake of the President’s vile and reprehensible public ridiculing of Christine Blasey Ford. The Trumpist had dropped "what he thought was some leg sweep, knockout punch, mic drop, designed to leave me in a quivering mass on the floor."

Apparently I was supposed to be insulted.


I wasn’t it.


I felt complimented.


I felt validated.


I realized I’m on the right track.

“Beta Male,” seems to be a Trump fan’s word for a man with decency, self-control, and compassion; someone a woman wouldn’t need to fear being around when alone or vulnerable.


It’s the label they slap on any man who is sickened by the misogyny on display in this Administration, who pushes back against the cultivating of a lowest-common-denominator expression of toxic masculinity, who rejects the idea that dehumanizing a woman and talking about grabbing her by the genitalia, is something decent men do.

Based on my observations, in the minds of these folks, Beta Males:

• are capable of deep empathy for people who are suffering.
• yield to a woman’s consent regarding her body and her needs.
• are burdened to be sources of gentleness and restraint and kindness.

• don’t need to display physical dominance in order to feel validated.
• aren’t a physical or emotional danger to women around them.

Sign me up.

With what we’re seeing unfold right now in America, the last thing we need are more men like this President and the men who emulate him; perpetually insecure man-children who’ve never been able to find a fully formed understanding of what it means to be a gentleman and human being. We don’t need anymore knuckle-dragging cavemen who are terrified of strong women and intimidated by sexuality and orientation that don’t fit their brittle Old Testament sensibilities.

I want my son to be a Beta Male. I want him to be a safe place for the women around him. I want him to respect their humanity and honor their wishes and see them is equal. I want him to see in his father, someone who is secure enough in who he is, not to need to damage someone else to prove his worth.

I want my daughter to be surrounded by these Beta Males; men who value her enough to let her decide what happens to her body, who see her as more than a tool for their self-gratification, who are not intimidated by her strength or intellect or accomplishments, who don’t leveraging religion or guilt or fear to coerce women into anything.

If Donald Trump is an Alpha Male, if Lindsey Graham is an Alpha Male, if Brett Kavanaugh is an Alpha Male-- count me out. That’s not exactly a mark I’m interested in attaining. I’d rather sleep at night knowing that I’ve left this world more compassionate and loving than I found it.

If being an “Alpha Male” is what this Administration is cultivating, employing, and perpetuating-- I’ll gladly be a Beta Male.

I think that just means I’m being human.