New Progressives

The problem that progressives face today is that a growing number of people wonders what’s their next step after declaring that

– the phrases “pregnant women” and “a woman’s right to abort” are hugely offensive

– doubting the usefulness of trigger warnings “retraumatizes victims of sexual assault” [a real quote from a real person]. Which to me sounds like saying that your doubt of something completely extraneous is the same as rape.

– trying to address low graduation rates among male African American students makes you a white supremacist.

– the word “women” needs to be excised from newsletters of a feminist organization because it’s alienating and not inclusive.

These are not examples from the media. These are examples from my life and they all took place since April. If I were to go to the highly publicized stories, I’d find much worse. These are instances of complete and utter kookiness that scare people away. And if there are progressives who are opposed to all this, they aren’t making that widely known.

And it’s hard to vote for candidates who are enthusiastically supported by these folks. We all know how they are. You give them a finger, and they devour you whole like a bunch of starving alligators. We agreed that it was an acceptable thing among normal people to use the expression “trigger warnings” just to humor these wackos. And five minutes later, they are calling you a rapist for mildly doubting the concept. I don’t even want to know what the next step is if we humor them some more. It’s impossible to trust a politician who keeps them close.

Ten years ago, I proudly called myself a progressive. Now, I hear the word and I scram because I know there is a high likelihood of angry lunacy occurring.

And yeah, yeah, not all men / Trump supporters / progressives. Definitely. It’s still not helping when I see a candidate who seems OK but the kookazoids are crazy about her and I just have to wonder what’s wrong with her (him, them, it, whatever) if they are so enthused.