Thanks Charlie. It truly is. Yet, even now, I don't think most people get it. I suppose that is largely due to censorship of any contradictory data and the constant barrage of pro trans rhetoric.
Yes and it is not just children anymore. They have been teaching gender ideology for a while, those kids are young adults now and lining up for masculinizing and feminizing drugs.
I would suggest you dig into the data Ron and turn off the talking points. The first gender clinic prescribing puberty blockers and cross sex hormones opened in 2007. Now planned parenthood alone has 450 prescribing clinics and there are some hundreds more. That is a trend. A bad one.
There is huge money pushing this. It is important we ask why because kids and young adults are harming themselves.
I don't think it's ridiculous at all. When I began transition some forty years ago there were massive gatekeeping standards that I had to fulfil. There was no visible transgender ideology and I definitely wasn't influenced by outside political trends. In fact I had to pass a high bar and go through some years of trial transition before I was considered for full medical reassignment.
However, since the late nineties and the appearance of Judith Butler and her gender ideology the trend has been more and more towards liberalisation of both social standards of what 'gender' amounts to and medical treatments for young people. Actually these are somewhat contradictory, but that doesn't seem to make much difference.
In my book, which Sue references towards the end of her post, I raise the issue of the massive rise in children seeking gender reassignment in the UK during the twenty-teens. My book was published before the Cass Report which confirmed the concerns I raised in my book.
In my late twenties (in the 1980s) I had to go through a stringent process of psychological and psychiatric assessment before I was even given hormone blockers. I think I was seen by a total of at least five psychiatrists in all and my initial assessment was carried out by the Professor of Psychiatry at the Leeds General Infirmary, (in front of a room full of registrars, house officers, medical students and social workers) before I was referred to the Gender Identity Clinic which had a total of three patients a year completing treatment. I was probably given a slightly easier ride because I had already worked as a psychiatric nurse and qualified as an Art Therapist, a qualification which involved personal therapy as part of the training, and so I would have been seen as already having gone through a process of self examination.
The idea that children should be given puberty blockers or even testosterone at their first consultation is frankly frightening to me. This is obviously some kind of slippery slope whereby the ideologues are seeking to make gender transition no more than a fashion statement such as teenagers often do, becoming goths or punks or whatever the latest craze happens to be.
Fortunately the only harm that a goth or punk is likely to do themselves is to sport a bizarre haircut which will soon grow out again. A child who has been given medical treatment but then decides to detransition is unlikely to be so fortunate.
And the massive increase in numbers of children who seek this and the false 'concern' for their well being such as Walz and Harris profess only demonstrates to me that those who encourage this are either doing it deliberately or are simply stupid in their virtue signalling.
Incredibly well said Claire. I would like to hear Ron Whipple’s response.
It is a testament to the media suppression of facts and the promotion of falsehoods that so many believe it’s a good idea to give kids and young people these dangerous drugs.
Thankyou Sue. I think the simple fact of how many detransitioners we are hearing about these days is an indication that something has gone very wrong.
It is the duty of the medical establishment to carry out extreme triage on people who are seeking this kind of treatment.
Unfortunately the politicians who seek to look 'compassionate' with their virtue signalling don't understand the difference between identifying a genuine condition and pandering to a false ideology, as we see Harris and Walz doing.
Thanks Rob. This conversation surrounding this subject is mind boggling. There are far too many people who don't think this is real or consequential. As I responded on another comment, the future will hold unimaginable consequences if we allow those behind this movement to continue to redefine what it means to be human. We are frogs boiling.
Yes. When you ask people why they are voting for Kamala they say because she is a woman. Or because she is for women's reproductive rights. They don't understand his state gives amnesty to children so they can have a gender change operation. Waltz also allows full-term abortions. And during Covid he sent out enforcers with paintball guns to make people go into their houses. The enforcers are yelling orders as if they're the Gestapo. It's scary.
I agree with most of your piece. However I believe that the US will begin sliding toward banning transition meds or surgeries for minors, as many European countries have. Also, given the chaos that is our Congress, the likelihood of any bills promoting or mandating use of these measures for minors is unlikely to pass. So while I understand the concern and it being one reason to not vote for Harris, I think there are far more reasons to not vote for Trump.
Thanks for your comment Ann. Yes we all must examine the policies on both sides, and choose based on which most closely aligns with our own belief structures.
I agree the tide is turning on the medicalization of minors. Once the details emerge of all the pending lawsuits, people will be horrified.
I do not see it turning with young adults messing up their bodies with cross sex hormones yet. My previous blog Boob Jobs, Bell Bottoms and Sex Change Drugs includes some very disturbing data.
The key with this whole issue however is the contortion of what it means to be human. The dangers of teaching this and promoting it on social media cannot be understated.
I view this effort as the beginning of other unimagined trends to come. Anything that calls gender ideology into question is suppressed and derided. In searches Google promotes trans activists who suggest the term gender ideology is made up by people like me to attack transgender people’s rights. This is done when the true history of this insanity is easily discerned. This is a very recent phenomenon.
Aside from destroying the health of kids and young adults, this is the underlying danger. Harris and Walz are fully on board with it.
Humans are binary animals and what the activists call “genders” are our personality traits.
I grudgingly accepted the senate bill on immigration, co authored by extremely conservative GOP, but Trump said no. I like that it began to address the reasons we have such problems…more law enforcement, more importantly increasing and FUNDING the review process with staff and immigration judges. At best it now takes 6 months or more. I agree we have a huge problem at the border, but right now far fewer are entering than when trump was in office. Harris will maintain this and hopefully find politicians who will cross the isle to fix the problem. Mass deportation? The way trump talks about immigrants and deportation…no way. A couple weeks ago someone interviewed a man, now a legal immigrant lucky enough to get through process and has a court date. He and his son gave themselves up to border patrol. His son, then 4 or 5ish, was separated and put into one of those cyclone fence enclosures with a bunch of other little ones. His father was sent to detainment area. That little boy didn’t see or hear from his dad, or anyone he knew, for 40 days…40 days…along with all those little kids, scared, crying, lost. Overly Dramatic ? If you think so…just humor me, promise that for five minutes you will picture a little one you love…3-4-5- years old or their parents. In such an environment for 40 days. That’s it. (In this US where parents insist there kids pocket a cell phone 24/7 so they can track them every minute.). Mass deportation? Under another Trump administration? Not for me. Better ways certainly exist. Truth is bath parties use as campaign issue. I’m holding Harris to her word she’ll go back the table and the bill.
Think of the billions spent on this election. It’s sickening. This country has the means to fix the border now, humanely and justly. Not to mention could have cured cancer by now as well.
On the economy, forgive me but I haven’t the time to cite, but you can easily find with a short search. Seek out the Wall Street Journals piece on comparison of T vs H economic plans. This and others point out Trump’s tariffs will increase inflation, Harris’s will decrease. His tax break, he wants to make permanent, for millionaires significantly contributed to raising the debt. While we suffered inflation (that neither party is directly responsible for) it has now subsided and all along, we were better off than any other nation. Employment is low. Wages have increased but not enough. I applaud the infrastructure bill, the chips act, and other measures Biden’s adm passed that avoided the recession everyone was fearing in 2022. Harris’s concrete ideas for supporting new home ownership and small business resonate with me, my kids will benefit.
Trump will increase the debt significantly more than Harris’s plan.
Here’s a Substack touching on this that I have handy this morning.. search WSJ and you’ll find the piece I’m referring to
The border and economy are the crux of this election.
While the border bill had some good aspects, it still set a massive influx of very lightly vetted people as a baseline before the border would be shut. That killed it for me. But agree the whole system has to be retooled so we attract the best and brightest who will not need to be on the dole.
Biden issued executive orders to slow the flow after 3 years of massive border failure. There are critical questions. Why did whoever is pulling Biden and Harris’s strings overturn Trump admin policies and allow millions of unvetted people to flood our country for 3 years? Create programs where they fly hundreds of thousands of people in? And then slow the flow right before the election?
Practically speaking I don’t know how mass deportations would work. But let’s at least deport the criminals. How many illegals are already in our jails??
People fail to see how this influx has undermined our financial security nationally and locally. It’s insane. Please visit FAIR for details.
While I am no fan of Trump personally I am liking the coalition he has put together. But the choice in this election is so much bigger than him. We need to fire whoever is running the country now and will continue to pull Harris strings. This group will take our country to the brink financially and culturally. They got to go.
Generally on the economy - Trumps team will take us in a more free market direction. Harris will expand this admin effort towards more government control and intervention. How is that working on green energy etc?
I need to do far more research on tariffs to speak intelligently. But one thing seems clear - they are a great negotiating tactic.
Again, this country can handle the border issue in a humane and legal manner.
Economy? I don’t have time to cite everything but it’s a fact that Trump will add nearly 2x to the debt than Harris. Something like nearly 8million vs 4 million
Aside from some high prices on certain items, I’m not sure what people are complaining about as far as economy and Biden. By nearly every metric…wages, household income, inflation, the market,….Biden is outperforming Trump.
The Economist, arguably stalwart and conservative, has endorsed Harris because of the risks Trump economy on the US and hence the world. And they are not enthused about Harris but see her economic plan as reasonable.
Plus, finally please pay very close attention to Musk/Trump’s so called government efficiency plan. Elon said the he could eliminate the debt rapidly by eliminating 3/4 of the fed gov and Americans “will have to suffer for some years “ and then everything will be great. Easy for the richest man in the world and a millionaire President to say, and do. Well when the average American’s savings, investments and 401ks are wiped out, we can always start over right? And we will take great comfort and pride in Musks great space program, built on literally billions of our taxpayers dollars.
All of this is all over the Substack, the web, X and MSM. Easy to back up if you look. Search on Trump Musk economic plans. IMHO, I do believe this is the first obviously tangible, imminent threat to the destruction of middle and lower classes. The income disparity will widen immensely. The uber wealthy will win. We will have a true Oligarchy in the US.
Can’t say I agree with all the above. The Economist is not a conservative publication btw. I love how they say Harris has abandoned her far left positions. If they believe that they have zero credibility.
Let’s bring it back to the article. If she had abandoned her far left position to medicalize vulnerable kids and funnel people into the arms of big pharma, she would not have picked Walz.
I generally don’t support transitioning minors. But it’s an issue affecting a very small proportion of our population. I can’t use it to justify a single issue, especially in this election. I can understand the backlash against how far wokism has gotten, but I see it waning in several areas. In any case, the GOP could certainly run someone more acceptable than Trump. It wouldn’t be difficult.
I suggest checking out my article “Boob Jobs, Bell Bottoms and Sex Change drugs and review the data included. It is bigger than most people think.
Plus these people teach kids an ideology that teaches them gender is distinct from biological sex and both are fluid. Then they are taught drugs can help them achieve whatever outcome they desire. In sum progressives are driving vulnerable kids and young adults into the arms of big pharma. Permanent harm.
While I am not a single issue voter at all it is very disturbing how many people are sticking their heads in the sand with this.
Not to put too fine a point on it, those who refuse to recognize the nature and results of this movement are essentially condoning it. One kid who gets sterilized on the altar of gender theory is too many.
You are a fascist. Trump is a monster whose policies range from catastrophic through apocalyptic. His denial of climate change alone will make much of the country uninhabitable. If you vote for that monster, you are responsible for every single one of those millions of deaths.
From Wikipedia: Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is an authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.[2][3] Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, egalitarianism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[4][5] fascism is placed on the far right-wing within the traditional left–right spectrum.[6][5][7]
Robert Paxton’s definition of fascism: “ Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.[17]”
I understand you think Trump is a monster. I did too. But then I started watching both liberal and conservative media during Covid and I realized that I was repeating a story I'd been told by the people running against him. Now, after finding alternative ways to look at the policies of both sides, I have to vote for Trump.
This topic has been over amplified with Trump even stating that gender affirming surgery is happening in schools. Meanwhile, while the US is in a hot proxy war with Russia, with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty expiring in 2026, and North Korean sending 10,000 Troops to Russia for support in the war, Trump has had 6 private phone calls with Putin. In any other era of American history, this would be considered treason. Culture war topics deserve attention but are being used to pull people away from reaching common ground on more devastating events.
As stated in article there are many critical issues to consider this election. It is quite difficult to rank them so I will not try.
I have done significant research on this and I do not agree it is a “culture war” issue.
It has been a well financed campaign years in the making.
We ignore it at our own peril or I should say the peril of the next young girl who cuts off her breasts because she has been influenced to do so. Useage of sex change drugs has increased substantially in recent years as well.
Unfortunately, in America, amplifications of non truths does drive it into Cultural Wars to defect off other issues and to get votes. I understand Europe pulled back into more reasoned approaches after lessons learned. Europe doesn’t have a massive movement of politically powerful evangelical Christians who show little acceptance for anyone who is struggling with their gender identity, and hold onto non truths to justify their beliefs. I don’t follow this topic closely, but the path to progress for change may be with those who believe the issues are real for some versus being part of some larger culture war.
“The issues are real for some versus being part of some larger culture war”. Yes this is a recurring theme in all my articles on this subject.
The word “culture war” suggests to me something relatively superficial.
There is nothing superficial about the vast financial backing to promote the idea to kids and young adults that sex and gender are fluid. This campaign takes the very real condition of gender dysphoria and uses it to promote this theory as fact and drive kids and young adults into the arms of Big Pharma.
I reckon what we see out of Christians is a backlash. They are in reactionary mode.
Indeed, the issues are real for some, such as myself.
But a lifetime of dealing with this myself has taught me that there are many who enter this without proper consideration, and what is worse that there are too many, like Walz, who think that granting children their every wish is a kind thing to do.
It is not. Many children experience remission of their gender difficulties and must be allowed that chance.
My background is not in this area, but in the long run, I would trust the Democrats to get to a more reasonable position long before MAGA. MAGA’s position will align with evangelical Christians which is to give children with gender questions no consideration and one of denial. The $65M spent on Ads around this is targeted to move people away from the Democrats to deflect the focus on MAGA’s bigger agenda as Trump did with abortion which resulted in fewer overall health care rights for women. The net result may likely be the same, fewer rights for children and parents with children with gender questions. I took a broader simple inventory of political party value directions based on stated and demonstrated values of both.
Value DirectionS: Democratic Party versus MAGA (formerly Republican Party)
Women’s Rights - Same as Men v. Less Than Men
Gay Rights -Same as Straight v. Less Than Straight
Consumer Rights- A little more v. Less rights
Privacy Rights- Less v. Less
School Safety -More Gun Regulation v. Less Gun Regulation
Public Schools -Support v. Decrease Support
Health Care -Decrease Cost v. No Plan
Protect the Planet -Yes v. No
Taxes- Child Tax Credits v. Tax Cuts/Subsidies for Very Rich
Infrastructure Spending- Increase v. Status Quo
Foreign Trade - Tariffs on strategic goods v. Heavy Tariffs nearly everything
Domestic Oil Production – Increase v. Increase
Immigration - Managed with Restrictions v. Mass Deportation Undocumented and many Documented
Foreign Policy - Renew Nuclear Weapons Treaties Expiring 2026 v. Trillions $ on Space Weapons (Elon Musk)
Defense Spending- Increase v. Increase
Rule of Law- Applies to All v. Presidential Immunity
Presidential Power- Status Quo v. Increase Dramatically
Military- Loyalty to the Constitution v. Loyalty to the President
I would say that anyone doing the kind of thing that Walz has done with reducing the limits or constraints on gender reassignment treatments for minors is not fit to be in office.
Also, while I am a British citizen and not American, I'm inclined not to agree with your remarks on comparison. For instance, censorship is a big part of the Democrats and Republicans are for freedom of expression.
And as I have said, I have reservations about Donald Trump. But my reservations concerning the Harris/Walz team greatly exceed and dwarf those I have about Trump.
I understand that there is no actual corroboration of the supposed 10,000 N Korean troops. What difference would 10,000 make to a war where both sides count their armies in the hundreds of thousands? I call fake news on that.
I would remind readers that Trump is the only President since Nixon not to have initiated any new wars. That should count for something surely.
I have some reservations about Trump but there can be no doubt that this whole minors gender treatment issue has got out of hand and needs to have some restraint on it. If it takes Trump to do that, then so be it. The idea of a Harris presidency with Walz promoting uncontrolled medical gender treatments is frankly frightening. Any administration which allows, even encourages such abuse is so irresponsible as to not be fit for office.
And just to make my position clear, I had full medical gender reassignment nearly 40 years ago. I appreciate that Sue recognises that gender dysphoria (I wish I could think of a better term) does exist and we both have the same view that it has been infiltrated, colonised and weaponised by agents provocateurs, whether they be leftists or anarchists.
Thanks Liz. In my book I go into some detail about a gay man I knew in the mid-eighties who went for medical reassignment but fortunately dropped out at the last minute when he realised he was only looking for a way out of the stigma of being gay. From the outset of meeting him I always felt he was simply gay, for multiple reasons, and was very relieved when he dropped out of the program.
If he had been granted treatment as affirmation on the first approach he might have found out his mistake too late.
Gender dysphoria needs to be properly assessed and tested. We should know from life in general that people can make wrong decisions and we see that too often with the increasing numbers of detransitioners, some of whom are now taking class actions against the clinics which were too lax in their assessment procedures and gave inappropriate treatment, rather than continuing assessment.
It's my understanding that a class action lawsuit has been filed or is in the process of being so regarding the Tavistock clinic in the UK for minors which has now been run down.
I have seen a short video of one of the lawyers saying that the Tavistock was subject to 'ideological capture', an assertion with which I agree.
I find it interesting that despite my close engagement with this subject over my entire life going back to the late nineteen fifties I am still dismissed by people who are new to the subject, which is a major reason why I respect the work that you are doing Sue.
This promotion by the likes of Walz will in the long run be to the detriment of those people such as myself who have actually experienced lifelong dysphoria until we got treatment since it has already provoked immense pushback.
Thank you for this well-written article. It’s truly disturbing to see what the left-leaning progressive agenda is imposing on our children.
Thanks Charlie. It truly is. Yet, even now, I don't think most people get it. I suppose that is largely due to censorship of any contradictory data and the constant barrage of pro trans rhetoric.
Thank you so much for this comprehensive resource!
Thanks Andy. I hope it is helpful.
A great quote from this, “As a country we fell for it when we confused compassion with the underlying theory.”
Of course there will be no discussing of this prior to the election for good reason. People have been deceived.
We used to care about children.
Yes and it is not just children anymore. They have been teaching gender ideology for a while, those kids are young adults now and lining up for masculinizing and feminizing drugs.
Oh my God! They are going to turn all our children into trannies! Do you know how ridiculous you sound?
I would suggest you dig into the data Ron and turn off the talking points. The first gender clinic prescribing puberty blockers and cross sex hormones opened in 2007. Now planned parenthood alone has 450 prescribing clinics and there are some hundreds more. That is a trend. A bad one.
There is huge money pushing this. It is important we ask why because kids and young adults are harming themselves.
I don't think it's ridiculous at all. When I began transition some forty years ago there were massive gatekeeping standards that I had to fulfil. There was no visible transgender ideology and I definitely wasn't influenced by outside political trends. In fact I had to pass a high bar and go through some years of trial transition before I was considered for full medical reassignment.
However, since the late nineties and the appearance of Judith Butler and her gender ideology the trend has been more and more towards liberalisation of both social standards of what 'gender' amounts to and medical treatments for young people. Actually these are somewhat contradictory, but that doesn't seem to make much difference.
In my book, which Sue references towards the end of her post, I raise the issue of the massive rise in children seeking gender reassignment in the UK during the twenty-teens. My book was published before the Cass Report which confirmed the concerns I raised in my book.
In my late twenties (in the 1980s) I had to go through a stringent process of psychological and psychiatric assessment before I was even given hormone blockers. I think I was seen by a total of at least five psychiatrists in all and my initial assessment was carried out by the Professor of Psychiatry at the Leeds General Infirmary, (in front of a room full of registrars, house officers, medical students and social workers) before I was referred to the Gender Identity Clinic which had a total of three patients a year completing treatment. I was probably given a slightly easier ride because I had already worked as a psychiatric nurse and qualified as an Art Therapist, a qualification which involved personal therapy as part of the training, and so I would have been seen as already having gone through a process of self examination.
The idea that children should be given puberty blockers or even testosterone at their first consultation is frankly frightening to me. This is obviously some kind of slippery slope whereby the ideologues are seeking to make gender transition no more than a fashion statement such as teenagers often do, becoming goths or punks or whatever the latest craze happens to be.
Fortunately the only harm that a goth or punk is likely to do themselves is to sport a bizarre haircut which will soon grow out again. A child who has been given medical treatment but then decides to detransition is unlikely to be so fortunate.
And the massive increase in numbers of children who seek this and the false 'concern' for their well being such as Walz and Harris profess only demonstrates to me that those who encourage this are either doing it deliberately or are simply stupid in their virtue signalling.
Incredibly well said Claire. I would like to hear Ron Whipple’s response.
It is a testament to the media suppression of facts and the promotion of falsehoods that so many believe it’s a good idea to give kids and young people these dangerous drugs.
Thankyou Sue. I think the simple fact of how many detransitioners we are hearing about these days is an indication that something has gone very wrong.
It is the duty of the medical establishment to carry out extreme triage on people who are seeking this kind of treatment.
Unfortunately the politicians who seek to look 'compassionate' with their virtue signalling don't understand the difference between identifying a genuine condition and pandering to a false ideology, as we see Harris and Walz doing.
Thank you
It's not ridiculous. Minnesota is now an amnesty state for children. They can go there and without their parent's consent get a sex change operation.
This has gone waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too far...
I’m Voting like a Christian and encourage people to do the same and stay out of the politics and stick to your beliefs.
My sister just voted. She was leaning towards Harris, but ended up leaving it blank. A small victory!
Yes!
Hooray.
Thank you for sharing this information and fighting against the transgender agenda by exposing it.
Thanks Rob. This conversation surrounding this subject is mind boggling. There are far too many people who don't think this is real or consequential. As I responded on another comment, the future will hold unimaginable consequences if we allow those behind this movement to continue to redefine what it means to be human. We are frogs boiling.
Yes. When you ask people why they are voting for Kamala they say because she is a woman. Or because she is for women's reproductive rights. They don't understand his state gives amnesty to children so they can have a gender change operation. Waltz also allows full-term abortions. And during Covid he sent out enforcers with paintball guns to make people go into their houses. The enforcers are yelling orders as if they're the Gestapo. It's scary.
I agree with most of your piece. However I believe that the US will begin sliding toward banning transition meds or surgeries for minors, as many European countries have. Also, given the chaos that is our Congress, the likelihood of any bills promoting or mandating use of these measures for minors is unlikely to pass. So while I understand the concern and it being one reason to not vote for Harris, I think there are far more reasons to not vote for Trump.
Thanks for your comment Ann. Yes we all must examine the policies on both sides, and choose based on which most closely aligns with our own belief structures.
I agree the tide is turning on the medicalization of minors. Once the details emerge of all the pending lawsuits, people will be horrified.
I do not see it turning with young adults messing up their bodies with cross sex hormones yet. My previous blog Boob Jobs, Bell Bottoms and Sex Change Drugs includes some very disturbing data.
The key with this whole issue however is the contortion of what it means to be human. The dangers of teaching this and promoting it on social media cannot be understated.
I view this effort as the beginning of other unimagined trends to come. Anything that calls gender ideology into question is suppressed and derided. In searches Google promotes trans activists who suggest the term gender ideology is made up by people like me to attack transgender people’s rights. This is done when the true history of this insanity is easily discerned. This is a very recent phenomenon.
Aside from destroying the health of kids and young adults, this is the underlying danger. Harris and Walz are fully on board with it.
Humans are binary animals and what the activists call “genders” are our personality traits.
I grudgingly accepted the senate bill on immigration, co authored by extremely conservative GOP, but Trump said no. I like that it began to address the reasons we have such problems…more law enforcement, more importantly increasing and FUNDING the review process with staff and immigration judges. At best it now takes 6 months or more. I agree we have a huge problem at the border, but right now far fewer are entering than when trump was in office. Harris will maintain this and hopefully find politicians who will cross the isle to fix the problem. Mass deportation? The way trump talks about immigrants and deportation…no way. A couple weeks ago someone interviewed a man, now a legal immigrant lucky enough to get through process and has a court date. He and his son gave themselves up to border patrol. His son, then 4 or 5ish, was separated and put into one of those cyclone fence enclosures with a bunch of other little ones. His father was sent to detainment area. That little boy didn’t see or hear from his dad, or anyone he knew, for 40 days…40 days…along with all those little kids, scared, crying, lost. Overly Dramatic ? If you think so…just humor me, promise that for five minutes you will picture a little one you love…3-4-5- years old or their parents. In such an environment for 40 days. That’s it. (In this US where parents insist there kids pocket a cell phone 24/7 so they can track them every minute.). Mass deportation? Under another Trump administration? Not for me. Better ways certainly exist. Truth is bath parties use as campaign issue. I’m holding Harris to her word she’ll go back the table and the bill.
Think of the billions spent on this election. It’s sickening. This country has the means to fix the border now, humanely and justly. Not to mention could have cured cancer by now as well.
On the economy, forgive me but I haven’t the time to cite, but you can easily find with a short search. Seek out the Wall Street Journals piece on comparison of T vs H economic plans. This and others point out Trump’s tariffs will increase inflation, Harris’s will decrease. His tax break, he wants to make permanent, for millionaires significantly contributed to raising the debt. While we suffered inflation (that neither party is directly responsible for) it has now subsided and all along, we were better off than any other nation. Employment is low. Wages have increased but not enough. I applaud the infrastructure bill, the chips act, and other measures Biden’s adm passed that avoided the recession everyone was fearing in 2022. Harris’s concrete ideas for supporting new home ownership and small business resonate with me, my kids will benefit.
Trump will increase the debt significantly more than Harris’s plan.
Here’s a Substack touching on this that I have handy this morning.. search WSJ and you’ll find the piece I’m referring to
https://open.substack.com/pub/noahpinion/p/realistically-how-much-damage-could?r=jlqal&utm_medium=ios
You raised two critical issues…I do share your concerns!
The border and economy are the crux of this election.
While the border bill had some good aspects, it still set a massive influx of very lightly vetted people as a baseline before the border would be shut. That killed it for me. But agree the whole system has to be retooled so we attract the best and brightest who will not need to be on the dole.
Biden issued executive orders to slow the flow after 3 years of massive border failure. There are critical questions. Why did whoever is pulling Biden and Harris’s strings overturn Trump admin policies and allow millions of unvetted people to flood our country for 3 years? Create programs where they fly hundreds of thousands of people in? And then slow the flow right before the election?
Practically speaking I don’t know how mass deportations would work. But let’s at least deport the criminals. How many illegals are already in our jails??
People fail to see how this influx has undermined our financial security nationally and locally. It’s insane. Please visit FAIR for details.
While I am no fan of Trump personally I am liking the coalition he has put together. But the choice in this election is so much bigger than him. We need to fire whoever is running the country now and will continue to pull Harris strings. This group will take our country to the brink financially and culturally. They got to go.
Generally on the economy - Trumps team will take us in a more free market direction. Harris will expand this admin effort towards more government control and intervention. How is that working on green energy etc?
I need to do far more research on tariffs to speak intelligently. But one thing seems clear - they are a great negotiating tactic.
Again, this country can handle the border issue in a humane and legal manner.
Economy? I don’t have time to cite everything but it’s a fact that Trump will add nearly 2x to the debt than Harris. Something like nearly 8million vs 4 million
Aside from some high prices on certain items, I’m not sure what people are complaining about as far as economy and Biden. By nearly every metric…wages, household income, inflation, the market,….Biden is outperforming Trump.
The Economist, arguably stalwart and conservative, has endorsed Harris because of the risks Trump economy on the US and hence the world. And they are not enthused about Harris but see her economic plan as reasonable.
Plus, finally please pay very close attention to Musk/Trump’s so called government efficiency plan. Elon said the he could eliminate the debt rapidly by eliminating 3/4 of the fed gov and Americans “will have to suffer for some years “ and then everything will be great. Easy for the richest man in the world and a millionaire President to say, and do. Well when the average American’s savings, investments and 401ks are wiped out, we can always start over right? And we will take great comfort and pride in Musks great space program, built on literally billions of our taxpayers dollars.
All of this is all over the Substack, the web, X and MSM. Easy to back up if you look. Search on Trump Musk economic plans. IMHO, I do believe this is the first obviously tangible, imminent threat to the destruction of middle and lower classes. The income disparity will widen immensely. The uber wealthy will win. We will have a true Oligarchy in the US.
Can’t say I agree with all the above. The Economist is not a conservative publication btw. I love how they say Harris has abandoned her far left positions. If they believe that they have zero credibility.
Let’s bring it back to the article. If she had abandoned her far left position to medicalize vulnerable kids and funnel people into the arms of big pharma, she would not have picked Walz.
I generally don’t support transitioning minors. But it’s an issue affecting a very small proportion of our population. I can’t use it to justify a single issue, especially in this election. I can understand the backlash against how far wokism has gotten, but I see it waning in several areas. In any case, the GOP could certainly run someone more acceptable than Trump. It wouldn’t be difficult.
I suggest checking out my article “Boob Jobs, Bell Bottoms and Sex Change drugs and review the data included. It is bigger than most people think.
Plus these people teach kids an ideology that teaches them gender is distinct from biological sex and both are fluid. Then they are taught drugs can help them achieve whatever outcome they desire. In sum progressives are driving vulnerable kids and young adults into the arms of big pharma. Permanent harm.
While I am not a single issue voter at all it is very disturbing how many people are sticking their heads in the sand with this.
Not to put too fine a point on it, those who refuse to recognize the nature and results of this movement are essentially condoning it. One kid who gets sterilized on the altar of gender theory is too many.
What about the border? What about the economy?
Both are critically important. At least they are getting some attention in the campaigns. See my answer to Ann22 below.
You are a fascist. Trump is a monster whose policies range from catastrophic through apocalyptic. His denial of climate change alone will make much of the country uninhabitable. If you vote for that monster, you are responsible for every single one of those millions of deaths.
Can you define fascist?
From Wikipedia: Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is an authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.[2][3] Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, egalitarianism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[4][5] fascism is placed on the far right-wing within the traditional left–right spectrum.[6][5][7]
Robert Paxton’s definition of fascism: “ Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.[17]”
I understand you think Trump is a monster. I did too. But then I started watching both liberal and conservative media during Covid and I realized that I was repeating a story I'd been told by the people running against him. Now, after finding alternative ways to look at the policies of both sides, I have to vote for Trump.
Please, please read this: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/11/07/hitlers-enablers-the-death-of-democracy-benjamin-carter-hett/
This topic has been over amplified with Trump even stating that gender affirming surgery is happening in schools. Meanwhile, while the US is in a hot proxy war with Russia, with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty expiring in 2026, and North Korean sending 10,000 Troops to Russia for support in the war, Trump has had 6 private phone calls with Putin. In any other era of American history, this would be considered treason. Culture war topics deserve attention but are being used to pull people away from reaching common ground on more devastating events.
As stated in article there are many critical issues to consider this election. It is quite difficult to rank them so I will not try.
I have done significant research on this and I do not agree it is a “culture war” issue.
It has been a well financed campaign years in the making.
We ignore it at our own peril or I should say the peril of the next young girl who cuts off her breasts because she has been influenced to do so. Useage of sex change drugs has increased substantially in recent years as well.
Unfortunately, in America, amplifications of non truths does drive it into Cultural Wars to defect off other issues and to get votes. I understand Europe pulled back into more reasoned approaches after lessons learned. Europe doesn’t have a massive movement of politically powerful evangelical Christians who show little acceptance for anyone who is struggling with their gender identity, and hold onto non truths to justify their beliefs. I don’t follow this topic closely, but the path to progress for change may be with those who believe the issues are real for some versus being part of some larger culture war.
“The issues are real for some versus being part of some larger culture war”. Yes this is a recurring theme in all my articles on this subject.
The word “culture war” suggests to me something relatively superficial.
There is nothing superficial about the vast financial backing to promote the idea to kids and young adults that sex and gender are fluid. This campaign takes the very real condition of gender dysphoria and uses it to promote this theory as fact and drive kids and young adults into the arms of Big Pharma.
I reckon what we see out of Christians is a backlash. They are in reactionary mode.
Indeed, the issues are real for some, such as myself.
But a lifetime of dealing with this myself has taught me that there are many who enter this without proper consideration, and what is worse that there are too many, like Walz, who think that granting children their every wish is a kind thing to do.
It is not. Many children experience remission of their gender difficulties and must be allowed that chance.
My background is not in this area, but in the long run, I would trust the Democrats to get to a more reasonable position long before MAGA. MAGA’s position will align with evangelical Christians which is to give children with gender questions no consideration and one of denial. The $65M spent on Ads around this is targeted to move people away from the Democrats to deflect the focus on MAGA’s bigger agenda as Trump did with abortion which resulted in fewer overall health care rights for women. The net result may likely be the same, fewer rights for children and parents with children with gender questions. I took a broader simple inventory of political party value directions based on stated and demonstrated values of both.
Value DirectionS: Democratic Party versus MAGA (formerly Republican Party)
Women’s Rights - Same as Men v. Less Than Men
Gay Rights -Same as Straight v. Less Than Straight
Consumer Rights- A little more v. Less rights
Privacy Rights- Less v. Less
School Safety -More Gun Regulation v. Less Gun Regulation
Public Schools -Support v. Decrease Support
Health Care -Decrease Cost v. No Plan
Protect the Planet -Yes v. No
Taxes- Child Tax Credits v. Tax Cuts/Subsidies for Very Rich
Infrastructure Spending- Increase v. Status Quo
Foreign Trade - Tariffs on strategic goods v. Heavy Tariffs nearly everything
Domestic Oil Production – Increase v. Increase
Immigration - Managed with Restrictions v. Mass Deportation Undocumented and many Documented
Foreign Policy - Renew Nuclear Weapons Treaties Expiring 2026 v. Trillions $ on Space Weapons (Elon Musk)
Defense Spending- Increase v. Increase
Rule of Law- Applies to All v. Presidential Immunity
Presidential Power- Status Quo v. Increase Dramatically
Military- Loyalty to the Constitution v. Loyalty to the President
Monopoly Power- Reduce some v. Protect
Government- Improve v. Dismantle
I would say that anyone doing the kind of thing that Walz has done with reducing the limits or constraints on gender reassignment treatments for minors is not fit to be in office.
Also, while I am a British citizen and not American, I'm inclined not to agree with your remarks on comparison. For instance, censorship is a big part of the Democrats and Republicans are for freedom of expression.
And as I have said, I have reservations about Donald Trump. But my reservations concerning the Harris/Walz team greatly exceed and dwarf those I have about Trump.
I understand that there is no actual corroboration of the supposed 10,000 N Korean troops. What difference would 10,000 make to a war where both sides count their armies in the hundreds of thousands? I call fake news on that.
I would remind readers that Trump is the only President since Nixon not to have initiated any new wars. That should count for something surely.
I have some reservations about Trump but there can be no doubt that this whole minors gender treatment issue has got out of hand and needs to have some restraint on it. If it takes Trump to do that, then so be it. The idea of a Harris presidency with Walz promoting uncontrolled medical gender treatments is frankly frightening. Any administration which allows, even encourages such abuse is so irresponsible as to not be fit for office.
And just to make my position clear, I had full medical gender reassignment nearly 40 years ago. I appreciate that Sue recognises that gender dysphoria (I wish I could think of a better term) does exist and we both have the same view that it has been infiltrated, colonised and weaponised by agents provocateurs, whether they be leftists or anarchists.
Well said Claire. Thanks for taking the time to express your thoughts on this.
So well said from someone who speaks from experience. Thank you for your courage!
Thanks Liz. In my book I go into some detail about a gay man I knew in the mid-eighties who went for medical reassignment but fortunately dropped out at the last minute when he realised he was only looking for a way out of the stigma of being gay. From the outset of meeting him I always felt he was simply gay, for multiple reasons, and was very relieved when he dropped out of the program.
If he had been granted treatment as affirmation on the first approach he might have found out his mistake too late.
Gender dysphoria needs to be properly assessed and tested. We should know from life in general that people can make wrong decisions and we see that too often with the increasing numbers of detransitioners, some of whom are now taking class actions against the clinics which were too lax in their assessment procedures and gave inappropriate treatment, rather than continuing assessment.
It will be the lawsuits that open more eyes to what is happening. It’s sad so many might take the wrong and irreversible path in the meantime.
It's my understanding that a class action lawsuit has been filed or is in the process of being so regarding the Tavistock clinic in the UK for minors which has now been run down.
I have seen a short video of one of the lawyers saying that the Tavistock was subject to 'ideological capture', an assertion with which I agree.
I find it interesting that despite my close engagement with this subject over my entire life going back to the late nineteen fifties I am still dismissed by people who are new to the subject, which is a major reason why I respect the work that you are doing Sue.
This promotion by the likes of Walz will in the long run be to the detriment of those people such as myself who have actually experienced lifelong dysphoria until we got treatment since it has already provoked immense pushback.