Let's Talk About Those Pussyhats

 A few of my conservative friends posted their misgivings on social media about the wearing of “pussyhats” during the Women’s March on Washington last weekend.  Some of the comments were, “it is vulgar”, “it is demeaning to women”, “a v-hat marginalizes and degrades their message”, “it crossed a moral line”, and "what if men wore phallic symbols?".  Ok snowflakes, here’s the deal:


First of all, the pink hats are not vag-hats or V-hats.  They are kitten ear hats!  And they are pink because pink is a girl color!  That these feminine-hued kitten hats are being viewed as a vag-hat says much more about the people seeing them that way than those who created them.  The organizer of the pussyhat movement states quite clearly the intent of the hat on her website www.pussyhatproject.com.  She admits to the double entendre of the pussyhat as a play on words to dig at Trump’s womanizing statements, but she never intended to depict anything more.  And if the hat were intended to symbolize the vagina - big deal!  It is argued that the U.S. Capitol dome is a phallic symbol, along with the Washington Memorial, the Empire State Building, and many other towers throughout America. They are offensive only to those who visualize it that way, and most of us do not.

Any Trump supporter who condemns the wearing of a home-made garment as a symbol of solidarity and peaceful protest by saying it is “offensive” has now jumped into the realm of hypocritical political correctness.  Voters made vulgarity OK when they selected Trump - the most vulgar buffoon elected to office in my lifetime.  Now they are offended by so called “liberal snowflakes” in pink pussyhats.  The tables have turned.  Are you offended by the 1967 hit song “What’s new Pussycat” or the early 1970’s cartoon “Josie and the Pussycats” or the 2011 animated film “Puss in Boots”?  Perhaps not, because you know these titles are not referring to a female body part, but I can assure you Trump was referring to a female body part when he said “I can grab her by the pussy”.  This was excusable to 60 million Americans, because it was only locker room talk and he’s a successful billionaire.  But a pink pussyhat somehow “crosses the line of morality".

Does the color pink offend you?  It is the color of the so-called offensive body part.  If that is the case, you should be disgusted by the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure which is bathed in pink as a symbol of support for women who have been victimized by breast cancer.  I suppose voters excuse this because these women are victims of a terrible disease, and evidently grabbing a pussy is a victim-less crime.

If you wonder why many thousands of women protested on the first day of the presidency, you might consider that they are deeply offended by the fact that our president is an indecent pig who clearly demonstrated disrespect for women and still GOT ELECTED!  Women came out in droves to say THIS IS NOT OK!  I am amazed at the ability of these Americans to rise, organize, mobilize, symbolize, vocalize, and chastise in numbers far exceeding the President's inauguration.

You may wonder if the whole event will truly make a difference, but I believe it already has.  Trump may be in denial, but his cabinet members, staff members, and fellow Republicans can see they are not very popular right now, and that’s a start.  We all must refuse to excuse any man who takes a pussy in one hand, only because he has a bundle of money in the other hand.

Tony F. with edits by Angela JMF.
2017

This Meme

A Facebook friend recently posted this meme in an effort to highlight the failures of President Obama.  This is unfortunate because this graphic is full of misinformation.  Let’s check it out:

Eight years of war – False.  Obama ended the wars by 2014.  American involvement in the Middle East is now limited to advisory positions and training.  In total, fewer than 100 American troops have died in the Middle East over the last 2 years.  In all, Obama oversaw 6 years of war and was criticized by most conservatives for ending the wars too early.

Lowest economic growth in American history – Misleading.  The lowest economic trend in American history was the Great Depression which lasted a decade. It is true Obama oversaw the flattest and longest recovery in post-war history, but most economists do not see this as a bad thing.  High economic growth exceeding 3% is considered too fast.  In this case, the Federal Reserve will typically enact policies to slow the pace and reduce the threat of a crash.  The Federal Reserve recently warned that if Donald Trump were to apply aggressive growth efforts the Fed may act against him to keep growth from reaching a dangerous pace.  Obama’s flat recovery averaging 1.5% over his term has resulted in the longest period of constant expansion and increased employment.  The Federal Reserve recently suggested computer technology and other global factors are contributing to a flatter new economy.

Record number of mass shootings – True for every President.  This number has been growing every decade throughout American history.  There is no linkage between a growing number of mass shootings through every decade of history, and who is President.

Record number of terrorist attacks in America – True for every President.  This is closely related to the mass shootings claim above, and includes many of the same data points.  Again, there is no linkage between this growing concern and who is President.  In fact, during most of Obama’s term the U.S. government was using enhanced anti-terrorist tactics enacted by the Patriot Act in 2001.  This statistic proves the Patriot Act did not work although it is still in effect.

Record number of people on food stamps – True, but only due to the recession.  Keep in mind, population is constantly growing, so any claim of “record number of people” is a function of larger population.  The true cost of welfare must be compared to GDP.  Welfare expenses have now leveled off to a 50-year average.

Record high health insurance costs – True for every President since 1970.  The rate of increase actually leveled off since Obamacare was passed.  The 50 year average increase in medical spending has was about 8% per year, but after Obamacare the rate of increase dropped down to around 4%.

Record high national debt – True for every President since 1950.  Inflation will always produce record highs.  When measured in relation to GDP, the highest debt actually occurred at the end of WWII and has not returned to that level.

Worst rioting since 1967 – False.  The list of civil unrest incidents from 1968 to 1975 exceeds the number during Obama's term.  Many riots during Obama’s term were racially motivated due to the perception of unfair treatment of African Americans by the police.  When the first black president was elected, many hoped race was no longer a factor.  This hope caused a great deal of disappointment as minorities reckoned with the idea that racism still exists.  Rioting occurred due to unmet expectations.

Highest poverty level in American history – False.  Even during the Great Recession poverty levels never reached numbers prior to 1960.

And this is what liberals call success – False.  Since the prior statements are either false (3 times), misleading (1), or true for every other modern President (4 times), these statements have little to do with the President’s performance, and nothing to do with anyone’s opinion of success.  What should Americans call success?  I will give you a few ideas:

Highest level of renewable energy production in history
Highest level of energy independence since 1970
Highest number of immigrant deportations in U.S. history
Highest number of new jobs in U.S. history
Highest percentage of health insured citizens in U.S. history
Equal marriage rights for LGBT’s
Stock market performance better than any Republican president in U.S. history (but approximately equal to Ronald Reagan)
Killing of Osama Bin Laden, and covert drone killings of 2,500 additional terrorists

This is success.  Any questions?

Tony F.
2017

Make it Happy

Upbeat Cubans having a jam.

A friend of mine recently traveled to Cuba with a few friends and business partners.  Once there, he made two observations that forced him to ask an interesting question.  The first observation was that the country had fallen to ruins under Communist rule.  Since the political climate of Cuba gave little opportunity or motivation for self improvement, each citizen simply settled for what they thought they could get.  Without the potential for a richer life, the quality of Cuban life and infrastructure slowly declined until everyone was living just slightly above poverty level.  But he also observed that Cubans seemed relatively happy.  This led him to a question – Do we really know what makes us happy?

Be that person.

In the book “Stumbling on Happiness”, Daniel Gilbert makes a strong argument that we really don’t have the ability to predict what will make us happy.  Most Americans tend to think the next “thing” should make us happy.  We tend to strive for a bigger house, a new car, a new pair of shoes, or a new item of clothing.  In the end, we find that all of these things don’t result in a whole lot of pleasure.  Even worse, we are also lousy at recognizing events that should make us happy.  We often wish for peace in times of drama, but we then perceive peaceful events as boring and create drama to combat boredom.

Often, we don’t allow ourselves to be happy because we want more of everything than we had yesterday.  Numerous studies show the upper class is only slightly happier (because they have less to worry about) but once they reach a certain threshold of financial security, strife and dissatisfaction still prevails.  The old adage holds true – money does not buy happiness – but the right amount of money may reduce stress.  The trouble is, we don’t recognize the right amount of money when we have it.

In the book “The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying”, Bronnie Ware records her findings from several years of working in palliative care, talking to hundreds of people in the last weeks of their life.  She discovers the top 5 regrets of these dying folks as follows: 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.  2.  I wish I didn’t work so hard. 3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.  I find item 5 most interesting – sometimes we simply need to give ourselves permission to BE happy.  So, instead of making choices for things that should MAKE us happy, perhaps we can just CHOOSE happiness.

Choose happiness.

In his popular TED talk, “Paradox of Choice”, psychologist Barry Schwartz concludes we have too many choices in American life, which results in expectations that a perfect choice exists, which nearly always results in disappointment.  He summarizes his philosophy by saying, “The secret to happiness is low expectations” which evidently holds true in the Cuban example.  To take this further, I would argue that some choices are not available to all of us, but we see that other people have more choices than we have and become unhappy with the comparison.  Still, unhappiness occurs because we think better choices probably exist to MAKE us happy.

Why am I writing this?  It’s not because I believe the Cuban example is the best way to run a country.  Instead, I’m arguing Americans should enjoy our good lives and give ourselves permission to BE happy.  Be yourself, and say what you think and feel.  Work hard enough to pay the bills, and then take the time to do something you enjoy.  Don’t bother comparing your material things to the things of others because those with more and better things are probably not much happier.  Love your family and friends.  Most of all, find reasons to be happy.  I hope you take it literally when I say, “Have a happy New Year”.

Tony F.  2017