Back in 2020, I replied to a guy on twitter who got all up in his Christian supremacy and stated to the world why his wife was happily voting as he instructed her to do.
AG, your story about your mom reminded me of that post, and my reply is now my pinned tweet:
Dear Mrs. Sumpter,
Your vote is yours and yours alone. You are not chattel, and voter intimidation and/or coercion is a crime.
If you vote in kind, great; if not, that’s great, too.
There are reasons your vote is private, and your husband is one of them.
Want to know something funny? A number of years back I saw an interview with a member of the Taliban. The reporter was female. The terrorist said “you must give your husband a lot of trouble.”
Yours is a great story. Guess I never thought about it, but my Dad was the "lesser light" who was told "how the cow should eat cabbage"
My folks were born in the Midwest around 1920, both moved to CA during WWII. My voting started during the Vietnam war.. I demanded my parents understand that NIXON was in fact a crook! My Mom did not approve my politics or marching with 30K to end the war. But they never voted Red again. He WAS responsible for my desire for liberal thoughts and empathy for others.... Dad would be voting for Kamala!!
The story goes that when my parents met, dad was wearing a Nixon button and mom a Kennedy button.
We lived overseas for many years and politics wasn’t much of a thing growing up, but if my mom were still alive today, she’d absolutely be voting for Kamala. And even my dad, who remained a pretty loyal republican, refused to ever vote for trump. Whether he, too, would vote for Kamala is anyone’s guess.
The interesting thing about that is it applies to Mr. Sumpter as well. Do you not know any women who tell their husbands who to vote for? I know all kinds of them. I also knew men who assured their wives that they would vote for Hillary back in 2016, only to keep the peace in their relationships. They chose not to pull the lever for her while privately voting in the booth. You all think you are being clever or virtuous by trying to persuade MAGA women to vote for Kamala. It’s quite insulting for you to assume they are held hostage by their husbands or any man. Goodness where have you feminists been for the last eight years? Please stop man hating and dividing people by gender. Many woman will be choosing NOT to vote for Kamala. Male or female, it still is one’s sacred and private right.
You know what’s interesting, Elizabeth? You and I agree on a couple of points.
First: Nobody should be permitted to coerce or threaten any Misters, either.
Second: You mentioned that you know of actual people who resisted “voting as instructed”. To that I say: GOOD
Other than that, you’re bringing up a whole lot of very specific points that are allusions on your part. I was not addressing you, (or, oh my gosh, maybe I was? Blink once for yes, twice for no) nor was I in any way pointing out any particular group other than Christian men who freely admit that they expect their wives to “submit” (their word) and vote as instructed. I made no mention of Maga, nor Kamala Harris, nor Hillary Clinton.
I just don’t think all women realize that they actually do have that option. Furthermore, if you find yourself offended by a comment that was not in any way directed at you, I suggest you look within and try to get a grip on whatever is eating you up inside.
Kim wasn’t trying to persuade anyone to vote one way or the other. She was simply saying that women whose Christian husbands are domineering and trying to get them to vote a certain way can vote however they like because their vote is secret. It so happens that in this day and age Christian men who try to be domineering over their wives are almost entirely right wingers. But Kim’s point wasn’t that Christian women should vote for Kamala. It was that Christian women’s votes are secret and they can vote for whomever they want.
Oh my. The memories! My mom was a voting poll worker for decades in Euclid, Ohio- not far from you. Growing up we knew we would have crockpot chili for dinner on Election Day. Some of my siblings and I carry that tradition on today- even if we early or absentee vote. I also can recall vividly the curtains of the voting booth, the thrill of signing the log under her proud eyes. Mom was a lifelong Democrat, and the most poignant thing I remember about her personal voting record was in 2004 when she was told by the priest at the Catholic Church she attended that she couldn’t vote for John Kerry because of his stand on abortion. It was the last presidential election of her life- and she didn’t vote. I guess she figured that God would know who she voted for, even if no one else would. I will never miss an election, and I will never let someone else tell me how to vote.
Thank you for sharing, very powerful. I'm from two Catholic families (Irish and Italian) so I feel qualified to say it's sad to me that a church authority threatened your Mother's soul over whatever small works she could do (including voting) to help other women in need. Every womans birthright is their body and their soul, so this position in the church is befuddling and merciless. Making healthcare available for women in crisis does not make us responsible for others souls or moral choices when there is one to be made. It's a pickle I understand well for the faithful. The patriarchy has not been helpful in creating a more fair and just society, I wish they'd acknowledge that and find a different tactic to change outcomes. How about counseling men on abusing their power with women? What we do to our sisters matters, and mercy is justified by all her works.
Thank you Anne. That was beautifully expressed. Your response is one that I will remember and talk with my family who still see abortion as the reason they, as good Catholics, don’t vote for Democrats.
Thanks MK. Walking that line is challenging but I have found the church without intellectual rigor in our complicated times. I find it hard to believe that Jesus would say, sure let her bleed to death in the street even if you could help. Not even the church could tell me its God's plan for women to be raped and have to carry a baby and then raise a child not of their own choosing but the choosing of another man. Anything else is not mine to judge, it's God's place. Some in ministry have failed to see their place in the lineup, God decides and all choices are between God and the person, that's the point, right? Jesus knew the world was very complicated and that humans face impossible choices, and sometimes valor is possible and other times we need to be forgiven for our failures to meet the moment, but we don't deserve to be punished for a lifetime for the failures of others to meet theirs. That's free will, and God's gift to us in exercising our power of choice. This is where mercy steps in. Instead of voting (btw, give to Ceasar what is Caesar's?) to let women suffer in so many ways, maybe Catholics could vote for the equal rights amendment and then work in their communities to help women and children. I don't think you can vote against women's health without also spending time putting your effort into the gap, and the church hasn't done that level of lobbying for 50 years about legislation to support women and children in every corner of the world. Pope Francis calling for economic justice is like a shout in the wind if every Catholic doesn't hear that message in the pew every Sunday until it's a reality. Ghandi said something like "how am I to talk of God to millions of people who don't have enough to eat. God can only appear to them in the form of bread."
I keep sayin' as a 25 year Lutheran,) my Mom's legacy( and a 5 year Congregational UCC now. ,We hold Justice, mercy as the rule, and a pastor who says God is Forgiveness, not Fascist.
It’s Rich that you’re trying to brag about being a Christian while supporting the most satanic and perverted platform and party the world has ever seen. I questioned your salvation. You should probably question it as well.
Do you really think the baby murdering butt fucking, child transing perverts from the Democratic Party are pleasing to God? If you think that you’re really deceived Nancy.
Hoo boy - next county over & 4 years earlier - Medina 1976 , and my father took me to the Medina courthouse to vote absentee - me 1st time voter and away to college and him to the airport. We were the only two voting, so he felt free to "instruct" me who to vote for all the way up and down. He - GOPer, and me - secret Dem, although registered Republican. The election workers just laughed, but they knew just what your mother imparted to you - no one knows how you vote.
Hillary and others made this moment possible. I’m sure the press will eventually create dumb gender stories but in my opinion the voting public in general has gotten past that and can now more easily imagine a woman president. Hillary running in 2008 and 2016 made it seem natural. IMHO, because of Hillary’s success, I think Harris won’t have to deal with as much noise about it. (I’m not saying there won’t be ridiculous discussions about gender, only that there will be less of it).
Laugh at Pouting Trump every opportunity you get; DJT must have had a whole lot of women laughing at him over his lifespan and it makes him SO CRAZY! Stormy’s testimony on late night shows gives a hint why DJT is so sensitive to laughing women!
The next 100 days will be: The prosecutor vs the FELON.
That's why I already ordered this funny "Prosecutor or Criminal 2024" t-shirt 👇 🤣
I'm voting for her because Biden/Harris did a fantastic job. Unsurpassed bipartisan legislation. Economy that is the envy of the world. Helping Ukraine fight for their freedom without our troops on the ground. It tells Putin and Xi not to mess with the free world.
You go ahead and vote for the criminal, rapist, traitor that tried to overthrow a legally certified democratic election. You must love that he called those that died for our country, suckers and losers.
I’ve been thinking about this kind of thing a lot. Folks are so afraid of MAGA reprisals that in public they comply. In private they vote their conscience and vote blue! 💙🗳️💙
I saw a research article a couple days ago about voter breakdowns and white women are apparently the majority of voters, and they majority vote for GOP. The only explanation I can come up with is that white women think if all women have equal rights they will lose some of their privilege? Idk, it's crazy to me that we're here and white women might be voting in large numbers for GOP ticket, and did the last 6 elections.
I think a lot of them don’t realize how conditioned they are to value patriarchy. I think, being in that conservative social stew, they believe if they align themselves with it they’ll be seen as rational, sensible women, since the GOP sells that image of themselves (vs the dumb, tree-hugging Dems without common sense—so they say). They are very much Serena Joys (Handmaid’s Tale).
I know it’s only human to want to fit into your circle, but it’s so disappointing.
I remember going with my mom to vote, probably 1956. I had just turned 4. Big metal machine with a lever that closed the curtains & metal levers for each candidate. Your moved the levers you wanted and when you pulled the lever to open the curtain, it recorded your vote and reset all the levers to neutral.
I had my twins at 48, thanks to IVF! They were in elementary school when I took them with me to vote for Obama!! Not the same set up with levers, but did have a curtain. They now vote BLUE.
I worry for people who are forced to use mail-in ballots and have to show their ballots to whom ever is trying to control them and their vote. The anecdote from your Mom is a treasure though.
In the county I live in you either get a democratic ballot or a republican ballot. The President and VP positions are all named but the other down ballot office choices are only 1 party or the other.
What a wonderful role model your mom was. ☺️. Agreed that all women need to vote their own conscience knowing that no one will know their vote. That's why this election is so needed - to show the power of women's voices and show that women can absolutely do anything they put their minds to and bring to the country what it has needed for a long time...women who know their strength when united together.
I mentioned this to my Republican sister shortly before the 2020 vote. Her husband is an easily brainwashed retired Marine who's been a GOP his entire life. And she does whatever he does. Sad, but true. When I mentioned this to her that day over lunch, she kind of rolled her eyes and said that she knew that but that it didn't matter--because they were voting the same anyway. I gently brought it up again shortly after that, after January 6, but of course they saw that as a righteous thing to do. I think they're moral compasses are broken.
Thank you for your anecdote, Allison. Easy to see how your mother was an awesome inspiration for you. I admire your podcasts and following you on X and yes, I can well believe that you were indeed a "hellion"! 😘 (you still are!)
I have no idea. I was busy trying to keep myself and my family safe from Covid. But I can guess what your opinion is on that question. And before you say it, don’t forget that many of those images of “cities burning from BLM protests” were actually not from those protests at all. And lastly, I condemn unequivocally ANY political protests that turns violent regardless of how I feel about the issues being addressed.
Also, the BLM protests, whether you believe they were violent or not, did not involve a concerted effort to nullify the will of the American people as expressed in a free and fair election. That’s what happened on 1/6/21: a group of people used violence to try to stop the certification of an election because they didn’t agree with the outcome. Besides being the biggest case of sore losing in American history, it was profoundly undemocratic.
I was simply stating that in 2020 many of the protests that happened turned violent and even became riots and most people still listened to what the non violent protesters were saying.
Almost all of the Jan 6 protesters weren’t violet and only expressing their 1st amendment rights.
The idea these people were trump’s ace in the hole or a threat at all to the established order is fantasy and a democrat talking point.
I mean how was that more of a threat to democracy than the patriot act?
As an example, BLM had a violent insurrection in 2020, people died, property was destroyed, Walz let Minneapolis burn, Kamala bailed them out. J6 was a bunch of boomers let in and given tours by capitol police,according to the video, protesting a stolen election, and the corrupt Democrats used it to entrap and crush them. You are deceived. Or stupid. Or both.
Do you know who started the riots??,,, police officers.
I lived in Santa Cruz at the time. The black mayor and the police chief took a knee at the start of the parade. Police officers were assigned along the way to protect the peace. Guess what, no violence,,, AT ALL!
Can't imagine being in a marriage where "your man" gets into your face about who you voted for whenever elections roll round. Prolly easier to lie than risk a blowup, but pull that lever for your choice, it's the American way!
I can easily see why a wife would lie. I won’t lie, and haven’t lied, but my husband sure does try to start fights about politics, and it’s exhausting and traumatic for everyone within earshot. After 8 years of this shite, we’ll see if I still have a marriage in Feb.
Nope, didn’t see it coming. Up until TFFG, my husband claimed to be an independent. He had arguments with people about politics, but since I wasn’t a big follower of politics, it didn’t affect me.
That's curious. Do you think there's anything in project 2025 that would impact him personally in any way? I'm finding that many people I know are just one degree away from someone who's in civil svc job, or has an immigrant person in the family through marriage, etc. I don't know if this helps at all, but in the early 80s my father and I had an argument about the ERA. He was voting against it because Reagan threatened people by saying the US gvmt fresh off Vietnam would draft young women and send them into combat. That's why it didn't pass. Like my father wouldn't be a responsible parent putting his daughters in harms way. Maybe there's an equal threat to someone in your family/friends that might help him make another choice. There's always the euthanasia comments he made about disabled people in his nephews' (Fred Trump) book...
There is a subset of Trump followers who come by it naturally. They are predisposed to it because they’re already afraid, they already believe the entire government needs to be blown up and started over, and the illogical of that doesn’t occur to them because they are afraid. And then, if you add some good old-fashioned southern racism on top of that? You have my husband.
Point being, I am not entirely sure he would find project 2025 threatening. He has gone deep, deep down some of the wingnut rabbit holes. It’s really depressing. On the other hand, now that I’ve decided to at least separate from him, I personally am feeling much better.
Thank you for sharing all this. The times we are living in are hard to understand and I don't talk to people who support trump about politics because I suspect it's a losing proposition. It doesn't stop me from wondering though, and trying to understand how we find ourselves in this moment. I'm glad you're able to keep it in perspective and take care of yourself in the situation. It's a good sign to be feeling better. We can only hope Kamala ascends and the delusion fever breaks and people come back to.planet earth. Wishing you peace in every way as things unfold.
I've left my right-winger in the dust also. It's so difficult to go through, hopes and dreams crushed. However, looking back, I am WAY better off! Hang in there.
Because women of her generation were/are born into a world where her entire identity as an individual human being was legally and socially defined and understood as being completely sublimated into his when she got married (coverture.) It should come as no surprise that her politics have morphed accordingly - she doesn't even get her own name.
Could it have anything to do with Mr and Mrs Comperatore and their girls having been slandered repeatedly by Mr Biden?
Nooo, of course not! It must be because Mrs Comperatore doesn’t have a brain.
And people wonder why I will not tolerate democrats and their “facts.”
PS: I took my kids to the polls every two years until they graduated. We also discussed politics, logic, reason and policy. Like me, my daughter is not impressed with the former prosecutor from San Francisco and will not be voting for her.
I love when Republicans just regurgitate the latest horse shit they read on Facebook or heard on Fox.
It's always funny, watching people who lack basic critical thinking skills try to construct a coherent argument when they can't even fact check their own preferred narrative.
I just read the cited text and checked to be sure I understood the term "slander." The President did not slander the Comperatores. That family chose to identify as Trump supporters, though not necessarily MAGAs. (Perhaps I missed any such declaration?)
“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.”
I don’t know which dictionary you’re using. In mine, the above and many other sentences from that abomination of a speech are slanderous.
Sooo, by now, you should understand the saving of democracy is not Trump's Mission, period! This should matter to YOU as an American.
He lies, all the time, always has, even about his golf games. He's cheated on all 4 wives, (Melania when she was home with 4 mo. old Baron.) He's a felon, convicted of sexual assault and 34 counts of felony financial fraud. He's fondled very young girls with Epstein and at his beauty pagents.
You really prefer that sort of candidate? You believe who THAT person says he is, versus what he shows you? Have you read the 2025 manual???
And you prefer that liar, convicted felon, over an attorney who prosecuted felony criminals just like TRump. ( Plus she's worked next to President Biden for 4 years)
I am smiling at your comments, but feel sorry for you actually. Do you really think words will hurt or change my mind? Again, wakey wakey! Do some research instead of blindly following the Orange Blob and Fox News!
This was absolutely a thing for older generations. Along with every other aspect of a woman's identity, it was simply expected that she would adopt her husband's politics when she got married. Let's be completely honest about the situation of women cohabiting with a Republican man: there's a very real possibility he's beating her into it.
Oh how I would love to share this with my sister in law. My MAGA brother fills out her ballot and she signs it. In Oregon it’s 100% mail in, so easy to get away with that. Seems to me THAT is typical Republican voter fraud. My brother gets to vote twice. He’s retired Navy and police officer and cheats.
Can I say "puke"? I really have no respect for men like that. The person I'm married to is almost as bad. He doesn't even vote but he sure lets his opinions be known. Just like nearly every other male magat where I live.
What a dangerous And terribly tragic situation your sister-in-law is in. And even more frightening that she is living in an abusive relationship and calling law enforcement for help is more likely than not, not an option for her as the abuser is in law enforcement. I hope someone will be able to help her and that she’s not in danger. This does not sound or seem to be safe at all.
She’s very passive, so not in any danger. She was raised to defer to the man in the house. She also has 2 grown daughters who are tigresses who do NOT defer to men!
Passiveness is a survival mechanism, just fyi. It falls between freeze / play dead and appease in the basic survival instincts (fight, flight, flop, freeze, appease.)
(I personally have a hypothesis regarding the possibility that women of European descent have epigenetic memory of the Burning Times, where men spent seven hundred years selectively eliminating any women whose survival instincts defaulted to either fight or flight - leaving only freeze/play dead and appease alive to have daughters. If I'm right about this, the surprising thing would be how relatively few white women capitulate to their Republican husband's political expectations.)
This is, unsurprisingly, far more common than people would like to think. It's much easier (and safer) to just blame and demonize [white, married, mostly over 50] women who voted for Trump than to contemplate the role coercive control likely plays.
Why do you have to pretend that you are “outwardly” MAGA? What a gutless thing to do! How about not discuss politics in public if you are surrounded by people who have lost their moral compass?
Many reasons depending on a person’s environment, such as the culture at their workplace. But the main point of AG’s article and of the cartoon is directed at women who live with controlling husbands.
Imagine the husband of the majority of women who vote for Trump (white, married, over 50) and tell me you would be surprised to learn he's a closet woman-beater and doesn't let her keep her own paychecks.
Right, you’re so moral you support cutting the dicks off of minor boys and telling them they can be a girl if they put on a dress. You’re very moral aren’t you? I bet you support aborting babies up to the point of birth as well, so moral. Your party has a whole proud month of supporting men fucking men in the ass. Very moral isn’t it?
Same reason why many queer people stay in the closet and try to blend in. Safer. Cowardly, perhaps. But safer. Can't blame people for wanting to remain safe.
In the county where I live, if you vote in person, a worker calls out "which party" and you have to say out loud. There are few secrets when you have to declare to whomever is around which party ballot you want. Have always found this offensive even though I am a proud life long democrat in a BLUE city and state. I would change that behavior to ensure everyone had the anonymity we should have as voters in the USA.
I moved to NC, registered as an incognito Independent and this happened to me when voting here in my first primary. The man asked me what kind of ballot I wanted and he shouted it out across the room as if he was yelling my preference to a short order cook. I was mortified😳. I’m not a fan of living in this deep red county, but by golly, I’ll never miss a chance to vote!🗳️
Note that this can happen in a primary election, but not in a general election. In NC, primaries are "closed" - you can only vote in the primary of the party in which you are registered. The general election has all the candidates/parties on one ballot, which the voter fills out alone/no help.
Back in 2020, I replied to a guy on twitter who got all up in his Christian supremacy and stated to the world why his wife was happily voting as he instructed her to do.
AG, your story about your mom reminded me of that post, and my reply is now my pinned tweet:
Dear Mrs. Sumpter,
Your vote is yours and yours alone. You are not chattel, and voter intimidation and/or coercion is a crime.
If you vote in kind, great; if not, that’s great, too.
There are reasons your vote is private, and your husband is one of them.
If you aren’t single and miserable I am willing to bet you are married and make your husband miserable.
Want to know something funny? A number of years back I saw an interview with a member of the Taliban. The reporter was female. The terrorist said “you must give your husband a lot of trouble.”
Sound familiar?
Yours is a great story. Guess I never thought about it, but my Dad was the "lesser light" who was told "how the cow should eat cabbage"
My folks were born in the Midwest around 1920, both moved to CA during WWII. My voting started during the Vietnam war.. I demanded my parents understand that NIXON was in fact a crook! My Mom did not approve my politics or marching with 30K to end the war. But they never voted Red again. He WAS responsible for my desire for liberal thoughts and empathy for others.... Dad would be voting for Kamala!!
The story goes that when my parents met, dad was wearing a Nixon button and mom a Kennedy button.
We lived overseas for many years and politics wasn’t much of a thing growing up, but if my mom were still alive today, she’d absolutely be voting for Kamala. And even my dad, who remained a pretty loyal republican, refused to ever vote for trump. Whether he, too, would vote for Kamala is anyone’s guess.
The interesting thing about that is it applies to Mr. Sumpter as well. Do you not know any women who tell their husbands who to vote for? I know all kinds of them. I also knew men who assured their wives that they would vote for Hillary back in 2016, only to keep the peace in their relationships. They chose not to pull the lever for her while privately voting in the booth. You all think you are being clever or virtuous by trying to persuade MAGA women to vote for Kamala. It’s quite insulting for you to assume they are held hostage by their husbands or any man. Goodness where have you feminists been for the last eight years? Please stop man hating and dividing people by gender. Many woman will be choosing NOT to vote for Kamala. Male or female, it still is one’s sacred and private right.
You know what’s interesting, Elizabeth? You and I agree on a couple of points.
First: Nobody should be permitted to coerce or threaten any Misters, either.
Second: You mentioned that you know of actual people who resisted “voting as instructed”. To that I say: GOOD
Other than that, you’re bringing up a whole lot of very specific points that are allusions on your part. I was not addressing you, (or, oh my gosh, maybe I was? Blink once for yes, twice for no) nor was I in any way pointing out any particular group other than Christian men who freely admit that they expect their wives to “submit” (their word) and vote as instructed. I made no mention of Maga, nor Kamala Harris, nor Hillary Clinton.
I just don’t think all women realize that they actually do have that option. Furthermore, if you find yourself offended by a comment that was not in any way directed at you, I suggest you look within and try to get a grip on whatever is eating you up inside.
Peace.
P.S. it’s not “you feminists”, it’s “you badass fucking feminists”, thankyouverymuch.
Kim wasn’t trying to persuade anyone to vote one way or the other. She was simply saying that women whose Christian husbands are domineering and trying to get them to vote a certain way can vote however they like because their vote is secret. It so happens that in this day and age Christian men who try to be domineering over their wives are almost entirely right wingers. But Kim’s point wasn’t that Christian women should vote for Kamala. It was that Christian women’s votes are secret and they can vote for whomever they want.
👍🏾👏🏾😻🐈⬛
Oh my. The memories! My mom was a voting poll worker for decades in Euclid, Ohio- not far from you. Growing up we knew we would have crockpot chili for dinner on Election Day. Some of my siblings and I carry that tradition on today- even if we early or absentee vote. I also can recall vividly the curtains of the voting booth, the thrill of signing the log under her proud eyes. Mom was a lifelong Democrat, and the most poignant thing I remember about her personal voting record was in 2004 when she was told by the priest at the Catholic Church she attended that she couldn’t vote for John Kerry because of his stand on abortion. It was the last presidential election of her life- and she didn’t vote. I guess she figured that God would know who she voted for, even if no one else would. I will never miss an election, and I will never let someone else tell me how to vote.
Thank you for sharing, very powerful. I'm from two Catholic families (Irish and Italian) so I feel qualified to say it's sad to me that a church authority threatened your Mother's soul over whatever small works she could do (including voting) to help other women in need. Every womans birthright is their body and their soul, so this position in the church is befuddling and merciless. Making healthcare available for women in crisis does not make us responsible for others souls or moral choices when there is one to be made. It's a pickle I understand well for the faithful. The patriarchy has not been helpful in creating a more fair and just society, I wish they'd acknowledge that and find a different tactic to change outcomes. How about counseling men on abusing their power with women? What we do to our sisters matters, and mercy is justified by all her works.
Thank you Anne. That was beautifully expressed. Your response is one that I will remember and talk with my family who still see abortion as the reason they, as good Catholics, don’t vote for Democrats.
Thanks MK. Walking that line is challenging but I have found the church without intellectual rigor in our complicated times. I find it hard to believe that Jesus would say, sure let her bleed to death in the street even if you could help. Not even the church could tell me its God's plan for women to be raped and have to carry a baby and then raise a child not of their own choosing but the choosing of another man. Anything else is not mine to judge, it's God's place. Some in ministry have failed to see their place in the lineup, God decides and all choices are between God and the person, that's the point, right? Jesus knew the world was very complicated and that humans face impossible choices, and sometimes valor is possible and other times we need to be forgiven for our failures to meet the moment, but we don't deserve to be punished for a lifetime for the failures of others to meet theirs. That's free will, and God's gift to us in exercising our power of choice. This is where mercy steps in. Instead of voting (btw, give to Ceasar what is Caesar's?) to let women suffer in so many ways, maybe Catholics could vote for the equal rights amendment and then work in their communities to help women and children. I don't think you can vote against women's health without also spending time putting your effort into the gap, and the church hasn't done that level of lobbying for 50 years about legislation to support women and children in every corner of the world. Pope Francis calling for economic justice is like a shout in the wind if every Catholic doesn't hear that message in the pew every Sunday until it's a reality. Ghandi said something like "how am I to talk of God to millions of people who don't have enough to eat. God can only appear to them in the form of bread."
Wow! Anne- thank you for sharing your thoughts on this issue. I’ll certainly share your ideas with others.
I keep sayin' as a 25 year Lutheran,) my Mom's legacy( and a 5 year Congregational UCC now. ,We hold Justice, mercy as the rule, and a pastor who says God is Forgiveness, not Fascist.
It’s Rich that you’re trying to brag about being a Christian while supporting the most satanic and perverted platform and party the world has ever seen. I questioned your salvation. You should probably question it as well.
Do you really think the baby murdering butt fucking, child transing perverts from the Democratic Party are pleasing to God? If you think that you’re really deceived Nancy.
Hoo boy - next county over & 4 years earlier - Medina 1976 , and my father took me to the Medina courthouse to vote absentee - me 1st time voter and away to college and him to the airport. We were the only two voting, so he felt free to "instruct" me who to vote for all the way up and down. He - GOPer, and me - secret Dem, although registered Republican. The election workers just laughed, but they knew just what your mother imparted to you - no one knows how you vote.
Hillary and others made this moment possible. I’m sure the press will eventually create dumb gender stories but in my opinion the voting public in general has gotten past that and can now more easily imagine a woman president. Hillary running in 2008 and 2016 made it seem natural. IMHO, because of Hillary’s success, I think Harris won’t have to deal with as much noise about it. (I’m not saying there won’t be ridiculous discussions about gender, only that there will be less of it).
Laugh at Pouting Trump every opportunity you get; DJT must have had a whole lot of women laughing at him over his lifespan and it makes him SO CRAZY! Stormy’s testimony on late night shows gives a hint why DJT is so sensitive to laughing women!
The next 100 days will be: The prosecutor vs the FELON.
That's why I already ordered this funny "Prosecutor or Criminal 2024" t-shirt 👇 🤣
https://libtees-2.creator-spring.com/listing/porc2
Getting Obama level vibes with 2024 Harris.
Go Kamala! 💙
You can vote for whom you please, but don’t tell other women to vote for the commie just because she is a women. Gender does not matter.
Except no commies are running in this election.
Except Harris and Walz
😂 BwaHaHaHa. You wish....
Wow, commie! That's straight outta the 1960's.
I'm voting for her because Biden/Harris did a fantastic job. Unsurpassed bipartisan legislation. Economy that is the envy of the world. Helping Ukraine fight for their freedom without our troops on the ground. It tells Putin and Xi not to mess with the free world.
You go ahead and vote for the criminal, rapist, traitor that tried to overthrow a legally certified democratic election. You must love that he called those that died for our country, suckers and losers.
Yeah a great job of fucking up the country. You been totally brainwashed. All of you leftist, commies.
Well, at least I stated facts.
What a shame you can't do the same. That's pathetic.
You [obviously] WISH. Gender does matter to those who have suffered because of it!!!!
Vote for the fascist because that is somehow better?
You people are sick. Get some help.
I’ve been thinking about this kind of thing a lot. Folks are so afraid of MAGA reprisals that in public they comply. In private they vote their conscience and vote blue! 💙🗳️💙
I saw a research article a couple days ago about voter breakdowns and white women are apparently the majority of voters, and they majority vote for GOP. The only explanation I can come up with is that white women think if all women have equal rights they will lose some of their privilege? Idk, it's crazy to me that we're here and white women might be voting in large numbers for GOP ticket, and did the last 6 elections.
I think a lot of them don’t realize how conditioned they are to value patriarchy. I think, being in that conservative social stew, they believe if they align themselves with it they’ll be seen as rational, sensible women, since the GOP sells that image of themselves (vs the dumb, tree-hugging Dems without common sense—so they say). They are very much Serena Joys (Handmaid’s Tale).
I know it’s only human to want to fit into your circle, but it’s so disappointing.
I have only voted blue…and I’m a white woman.
Let us pray!!!
You mock God at your own peril. Just sayin
No way
Men can do this as well. Peer pressure disappears in the voting booth.
maga on the outside, BRAT on the inside!
Lol! Sounds like something my wonderful coworker, Laurie, would say😍🤜🏼💥🤛🏼
We can only hope, and that's why polls will be useless to us going forward.
I remember going with my mom to vote, probably 1956. I had just turned 4. Big metal machine with a lever that closed the curtains & metal levers for each candidate. Your moved the levers you wanted and when you pulled the lever to open the curtain, it recorded your vote and reset all the levers to neutral.
I had my twins at 48, thanks to IVF! They were in elementary school when I took them with me to vote for Obama!! Not the same set up with levers, but did have a curtain. They now vote BLUE.
That’s my memory, as well (1960’s)
I remember those!
Hey AG,
I worry for people who are forced to use mail-in ballots and have to show their ballots to whom ever is trying to control them and their vote. The anecdote from your Mom is a treasure though.
You can do it in secret, seal it and mail it. Here’s to mail-in ballots although I too treasure that cartoon/anecdote.
In the county I live in you either get a democratic ballot or a republican ballot. The President and VP positions are all named but the other down ballot office choices are only 1 party or the other.
That’s not right at all.
They only separate parties when it’s a primary.
Party ballots.
Easy to vote,
Easy to track.
What a wonderful role model your mom was. ☺️. Agreed that all women need to vote their own conscience knowing that no one will know their vote. That's why this election is so needed - to show the power of women's voices and show that women can absolutely do anything they put their minds to and bring to the country what it has needed for a long time...women who know their strength when united together.
I mentioned this to my Republican sister shortly before the 2020 vote. Her husband is an easily brainwashed retired Marine who's been a GOP his entire life. And she does whatever he does. Sad, but true. When I mentioned this to her that day over lunch, she kind of rolled her eyes and said that she knew that but that it didn't matter--because they were voting the same anyway. I gently brought it up again shortly after that, after January 6, but of course they saw that as a righteous thing to do. I think they're moral compasses are broken.
Thank you for your anecdote, Allison. Easy to see how your mother was an awesome inspiration for you. I admire your podcasts and following you on X and yes, I can well believe that you were indeed a "hellion"! 😘 (you still are!)
What is wrong with protesting the government?
Nothing. As long as it’s done peacefully and as long as it doesn’t involve an attempt to thwart the will of the people.
What do you think was the most violent protest in 2020?
I have no idea. I was busy trying to keep myself and my family safe from Covid. But I can guess what your opinion is on that question. And before you say it, don’t forget that many of those images of “cities burning from BLM protests” were actually not from those protests at all. And lastly, I condemn unequivocally ANY political protests that turns violent regardless of how I feel about the issues being addressed.
Also, the BLM protests, whether you believe they were violent or not, did not involve a concerted effort to nullify the will of the American people as expressed in a free and fair election. That’s what happened on 1/6/21: a group of people used violence to try to stop the certification of an election because they didn’t agree with the outcome. Besides being the biggest case of sore losing in American history, it was profoundly undemocratic.
I was simply stating that in 2020 many of the protests that happened turned violent and even became riots and most people still listened to what the non violent protesters were saying.
Almost all of the Jan 6 protesters weren’t violet and only expressing their 1st amendment rights.
The idea these people were trump’s ace in the hole or a threat at all to the established order is fantasy and a democrat talking point.
I mean how was that more of a threat to democracy than the patriot act?
PS.... What "news" were YOU watching... on Jan. 6th?
The meaning of the words...
'protest" versus "violent insurrection,"
As an example, BLM had a violent insurrection in 2020, people died, property was destroyed, Walz let Minneapolis burn, Kamala bailed them out. J6 was a bunch of boomers let in and given tours by capitol police,according to the video, protesting a stolen election, and the corrupt Democrats used it to entrap and crush them. You are deceived. Or stupid. Or both.
Do you know who started the riots??,,, police officers.
I lived in Santa Cruz at the time. The black mayor and the police chief took a knee at the start of the parade. Police officers were assigned along the way to protect the peace. Guess what, no violence,,, AT ALL!
Can't imagine being in a marriage where "your man" gets into your face about who you voted for whenever elections roll round. Prolly easier to lie than risk a blowup, but pull that lever for your choice, it's the American way!
I can easily see why a wife would lie. I won’t lie, and haven’t lied, but my husband sure does try to start fights about politics, and it’s exhausting and traumatic for everyone within earshot. After 8 years of this shite, we’ll see if I still have a marriage in Feb.
I'm sorry it's been a slog for you. This may be too personal but did you see this coming before 2016? Like was it always a sore spot?
Nope, didn’t see it coming. Up until TFFG, my husband claimed to be an independent. He had arguments with people about politics, but since I wasn’t a big follower of politics, it didn’t affect me.
That's curious. Do you think there's anything in project 2025 that would impact him personally in any way? I'm finding that many people I know are just one degree away from someone who's in civil svc job, or has an immigrant person in the family through marriage, etc. I don't know if this helps at all, but in the early 80s my father and I had an argument about the ERA. He was voting against it because Reagan threatened people by saying the US gvmt fresh off Vietnam would draft young women and send them into combat. That's why it didn't pass. Like my father wouldn't be a responsible parent putting his daughters in harms way. Maybe there's an equal threat to someone in your family/friends that might help him make another choice. There's always the euthanasia comments he made about disabled people in his nephews' (Fred Trump) book...
There is a subset of Trump followers who come by it naturally. They are predisposed to it because they’re already afraid, they already believe the entire government needs to be blown up and started over, and the illogical of that doesn’t occur to them because they are afraid. And then, if you add some good old-fashioned southern racism on top of that? You have my husband.
Point being, I am not entirely sure he would find project 2025 threatening. He has gone deep, deep down some of the wingnut rabbit holes. It’s really depressing. On the other hand, now that I’ve decided to at least separate from him, I personally am feeling much better.
Thank you for sharing all this. The times we are living in are hard to understand and I don't talk to people who support trump about politics because I suspect it's a losing proposition. It doesn't stop me from wondering though, and trying to understand how we find ourselves in this moment. I'm glad you're able to keep it in perspective and take care of yourself in the situation. It's a good sign to be feeling better. We can only hope Kamala ascends and the delusion fever breaks and people come back to.planet earth. Wishing you peace in every way as things unfold.
I've left my right-winger in the dust also. It's so difficult to go through, hopes and dreams crushed. However, looking back, I am WAY better off! Hang in there.
The guy that died at trumps rally was such a cult member that his wife would not take a
Call From Biden because he wouldn’t have liked it. Trump called 4 days or so later after the guilt hit him. She took that one.
That was truly bizarre...I mean, essentially tell a sympathetic President to eff off because her late hubster was a tRump fan?? Wha....?
Because women of her generation were/are born into a world where her entire identity as an individual human being was legally and socially defined and understood as being completely sublimated into his when she got married (coverture.) It should come as no surprise that her politics have morphed accordingly - she doesn't even get her own name.
Yup that’s how bad it gets in red country. Now they want the shoes and vote back
Could it have anything to do with Mr and Mrs Comperatore and their girls having been slandered repeatedly by Mr Biden?
Nooo, of course not! It must be because Mrs Comperatore doesn’t have a brain.
And people wonder why I will not tolerate democrats and their “facts.”
PS: I took my kids to the polls every two years until they graduated. We also discussed politics, logic, reason and policy. Like me, my daughter is not impressed with the former prosecutor from San Francisco and will not be voting for her.
I love when Republicans just regurgitate the latest horse shit they read on Facebook or heard on Fox.
It's always funny, watching people who lack basic critical thinking skills try to construct a coherent argument when they can't even fact check their own preferred narrative.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NA3Outfs7K8
Full transcript
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/01/remarks-by-president-bidenon-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation/
You were saying….? 🙄
I just read the cited text and checked to be sure I understood the term "slander." The President did not slander the Comperatores. That family chose to identify as Trump supporters, though not necessarily MAGAs. (Perhaps I missed any such declaration?)
“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.”
I don’t know which dictionary you’re using. In mine, the above and many other sentences from that abomination of a speech are slanderous.
Joining the WEIRD party Huh??
Sooo, by now, you should understand the saving of democracy is not Trump's Mission, period! This should matter to YOU as an American.
He lies, all the time, always has, even about his golf games. He's cheated on all 4 wives, (Melania when she was home with 4 mo. old Baron.) He's a felon, convicted of sexual assault and 34 counts of felony financial fraud. He's fondled very young girls with Epstein and at his beauty pagents.
You really prefer that sort of candidate? You believe who THAT person says he is, versus what he shows you? Have you read the 2025 manual???
And you prefer that liar, convicted felon, over an attorney who prosecuted felony criminals just like TRump. ( Plus she's worked next to President Biden for 4 years)
Wakey wakey! Smell the coffee Marie!
If you think your condescension is an effective conversion strategy, I hope you don’t work in sales.
I am smiling at your comments, but feel sorry for you actually. Do you really think words will hurt or change my mind? Again, wakey wakey! Do some research instead of blindly following the Orange Blob and Fox News!
This was absolutely a thing for older generations. Along with every other aspect of a woman's identity, it was simply expected that she would adopt her husband's politics when she got married. Let's be completely honest about the situation of women cohabiting with a Republican man: there's a very real possibility he's beating her into it.
I love this. I shared on my FB Page. Hopefully the MAGA ladies in my life will take the time to read this.
I’m afraid the appalling lack of anything approaching a policy position isn’t going to be persuasive for the vast majority of voters.
Oh how I would love to share this with my sister in law. My MAGA brother fills out her ballot and she signs it. In Oregon it’s 100% mail in, so easy to get away with that. Seems to me THAT is typical Republican voter fraud. My brother gets to vote twice. He’s retired Navy and police officer and cheats.
Can I say "puke"? I really have no respect for men like that. The person I'm married to is almost as bad. He doesn't even vote but he sure lets his opinions be known. Just like nearly every other male magat where I live.
What a dangerous And terribly tragic situation your sister-in-law is in. And even more frightening that she is living in an abusive relationship and calling law enforcement for help is more likely than not, not an option for her as the abuser is in law enforcement. I hope someone will be able to help her and that she’s not in danger. This does not sound or seem to be safe at all.
She’s very passive, so not in any danger. She was raised to defer to the man in the house. She also has 2 grown daughters who are tigresses who do NOT defer to men!
Passiveness is a survival mechanism, just fyi. It falls between freeze / play dead and appease in the basic survival instincts (fight, flight, flop, freeze, appease.)
(I personally have a hypothesis regarding the possibility that women of European descent have epigenetic memory of the Burning Times, where men spent seven hundred years selectively eliminating any women whose survival instincts defaulted to either fight or flight - leaving only freeze/play dead and appease alive to have daughters. If I'm right about this, the surprising thing would be how relatively few white women capitulate to their Republican husband's political expectations.)
That is a very interesting theory. Pls say more.
Thanks for the update.
Tragic.
That, my friend, is voter fraud. He doesn't get two votes and he doesn't get to take hers.
This is, unsurprisingly, far more common than people would like to think. It's much easier (and safer) to just blame and demonize [white, married, mostly over 50] women who voted for Trump than to contemplate the role coercive control likely plays.
That is cheating for sure. The GQP really don’t like mail in ballots. But they are hypocrites.
You dumb lying bitch, your brother doesn’t fill out your sister-in-law‘s ballot.
Uh.... yeah, I'm pretty sure that is actual voter fraud.
Why do you have to pretend that you are “outwardly” MAGA? What a gutless thing to do! How about not discuss politics in public if you are surrounded by people who have lost their moral compass?
Lots of reasons - domestic violence, unsafe "neighbors", potential job loss - if you can imagine it, they will do it.
AGREE!!!
This!
Many reasons depending on a person’s environment, such as the culture at their workplace. But the main point of AG’s article and of the cartoon is directed at women who live with controlling husbands.
Imagine the husband of the majority of women who vote for Trump (white, married, over 50) and tell me you would be surprised to learn he's a closet woman-beater and doesn't let her keep her own paychecks.
Those MAGAts threaten violence and they have proved they are willing and capable, probably armed, as they love the power and control of a gun.
Because I am a woman, a real biological woman, my gun is the ultimate equalizer when/if I’m threatened by anyone, male or female.
I’m not about to give up my equalizer.
Nobody’s asking you to.
Right, you’re so moral you support cutting the dicks off of minor boys and telling them they can be a girl if they put on a dress. You’re very moral aren’t you? I bet you support aborting babies up to the point of birth as well, so moral. Your party has a whole proud month of supporting men fucking men in the ass. Very moral isn’t it?
Same reason why many queer people stay in the closet and try to blend in. Safer. Cowardly, perhaps. But safer. Can't blame people for wanting to remain safe.
In the county where I live, if you vote in person, a worker calls out "which party" and you have to say out loud. There are few secrets when you have to declare to whomever is around which party ballot you want. Have always found this offensive even though I am a proud life long democrat in a BLUE city and state. I would change that behavior to ensure everyone had the anonymity we should have as voters in the USA.
I moved to NC, registered as an incognito Independent and this happened to me when voting here in my first primary. The man asked me what kind of ballot I wanted and he shouted it out across the room as if he was yelling my preference to a short order cook. I was mortified😳. I’m not a fan of living in this deep red county, but by golly, I’ll never miss a chance to vote!🗳️
Note that this can happen in a primary election, but not in a general election. In NC, primaries are "closed" - you can only vote in the primary of the party in which you are registered. The general election has all the candidates/parties on one ballot, which the voter fills out alone/no help.
What?
Where do you live Amber? This would be totally unacceptable in New York.
I wonder if the voter could slip the poll worker a note with their response, to keep it secret.
Caucusing?