Little Lizzie and Bernie had a playground spat.
“He said that I couldn’t be president because I’m a girl.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not,” and so on and so forth.
I’m sure some advice in the kindergarten teacher manual recommends how to deal with “he said”-“she said” arguments, but here’s a memo to these presumed grown-ups acting like overgrown toddlers.
You both sound ridiculous!
In the long-ago distant past when I was a child (it wasn’t actually that long ago, but the memory of college-educated American seems to be about ten-minutes-long these days) there was a popular riddle.
“A child is rushed into the operating room after being in a car accident.”
“The surgeon enters the operating room and exclaims, ‘I can’t operate. This is my son.’”
The surgeon is not the boy’s father. How can that be?
The incredibly elusive answer was that the surgeon was the child’s mother.
Have you heard that riddle being told lately? Neither have I. The instant response today would be, “Duh – it’s his mother.” (Or maybe, “Duh, it’s his stepmother or his other dad or….”) Female physicians are part and parcel of the landscape rather than an aberration. Someone should tell that to Senators Warren and Sanders.
Somewhere between my childhood and today, I recall reading—and being terribly annoyed— by an article about women in Congress in Good Housekeeping magazine. If memory serves me, either Senator Susan Collins (Republican, Maine, 1997-present) or Senator Olympia Snowe (Republican, Maine, 1995-2013) spoke of feeling a sisterhood with her female Democrat colleagues to the point of being more likely to support legislation proposed by one of them. I was indignant. Senators are supposed to represent ideas, not gender affiliation. If anything, those words made me less likely to vote for a female, not more. I want my elected officials to examine, analyze and vote based on the legislation itself, not based on feelings of kinship with the person bringing it to the table.
I had a similar negative reaction to former secretary of state Madeleine Albright’s words while campaigning for Hillary Clinton, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other!” If women vote based on such foolish criteria then we should re-examine whether they indeed deserve the vote in the first place. Even Ms. Albright doesn’t mean what she says. Had, for example, Nicky Haley been running on the Republican ticket we can be pretty sure that she wouldn’t have advocated sisterhood. Sarah Palin certainly did not get the support of woke women just for having an Xtra chromosome.
Here’s the rub. All three Senators I mentioned (Warren, Snowe, and Collins), as well as Ms. Albright, are—how to put this tactfully?—on the older side. Their age is showing. Any assumption that a substantial portion of Americans would not vote for a woman is highly anachronistic. Elizabeth Warren is out-of-touch with reality in many ways. Channeling victimhood for being a woman is one embarrassing example.
Politicians should follow Rabbi Lapin’s teachings: “Communicate, Coordinate, Collaborate”. This would Consolidate America and it’s population. Here’s an example of non-partisan politics: donate or receive a blood transfusion. In my understanding, no human being questions the source or the destination of this “cooperation”. Instead, Gratitude (another of Rabbi Lapin’s teachings) would be very appropriate for sustaining precious God given LIFE.
Dear Susan,
I just love to read your thoughts. I cannot believe all the issues that evolved since the 2016 elections. Apparently, the fact that the American people did not vote for the supposed winner, Hilary, has brought so much anguish that they have to attack what the voters wanted. It appears that the MOB is truly the Democrats who love to fight the American system.
They have come from all angles with demonic force to destroy everything America stands for because they lost !
It is like a high school football game with competition so fierce they will think murder is the answer.
Why are the Dems ready to murder for their own cause? What has personality to do with it? Certainly, the Clintons don’t have the personality the American citizens liked, why is that so hard to understand?
They have divided the country, disgracing anyone in their way, picking apart whatever they think they can get away with, and set a perfect example of hate to our youth.
Voting for the best person, I never looked at party but at the integrity of the candidate. However, I have decided I will NEVER vote for another Democrat.
The favor is not theirs and I hope and pray they all end up with a very big EGG on their faces for failing to provide the needs of Congress. They have accomplished NOTHING but attack on the President the people elected.
What SHAME they should have! It is totally unnecessary and with all the world has to achieve yet, they have set progress behind the last four years with the antics of a “monster” to beat their drum of hate.
I certainly hope our younger generation can have more educated opinions.
Joan, on the #walkaway site I see many people like you who are fed up with the Democrats regardless of how hey feel about the President or Republicans.
Back in 2008, I had a strong leaning to pray for this nation… that we were headed for a crossroads..
Why I felt that at the time, who knows…..My prayer was , God “show us who they are….”, the good, the bad, the ugly”. …Shine your light on the shadows….. It’s time for us to walk a thorny path to the truth.. Why those words? No clue.
Every day since then, that prayer has been answered in ” stunned me stupid” spades.
Sincerely,
Dee
It is so true,Dee, that candidates are openly saying things that would have ended careers only 10 years ago. It is harder for people to claim they are being fooled if they only pay attention
Well said!
I absolutely agree, Susan. There are politicians of every stripe that could be found pandering to this and other issue that should be brushed aside in order to address things that have much greater weight now. Unfortunately all to many politicians and voters have their heads stuck in the sand because they don’t really want to face the moral and ethical cliffs our nation seems to act lemming like as we rush to fall into judgement rather than face the murder of millions of unborn children, spending the money yet to be earned of not children but grandchildren or further in the future. The list could and does fill much more space than a comment could or should fill. Suffice it to say perhaps we all should take a good hard look at what we are and where we are going. Then we each ought to take time and effort making adjustments in attitudes and actions now and spend less time looking in the rear view mirror.
It’s unfortunate that your critics can’t understand that bareing the flaws of some is not an excuseing of flaws in others. The petulant, spiteful conduct demonstrated in Warren v. Sanders appears to be common among our ‘priveleged class’ celebrities. Trump’s affliction, while one of the most severe on the present stage, has now been rendered moot with me by the fact of his accomplishments in office; NONE of his critics or adversaries have ANY meaningful contributions to our society!
When I heard the audio of the spat Warren said; I think you just called me a liar on national TV. All I could think is; You are a liar on national TV. I was at one terrified of these people but now the light is being shined on them and it appears some substantive action is being done. I can just laugh at them. Let them feast upon their own flesh.
Shawn, the moderator posing the question was similar to Candy Crawley (not sure I spelled that correctly) jumping in to side (incorrectly) with President Obama against Mitt Romney in their debate. Romney had no idea how to respond. One reason that Donald Trump won the election was that he knew he would be treated unfairly. Democrats are not used to this type of thing being used against them.
Susan, thank you for reading and keeping up with all of this news because I can’t look at them anymore.
Liz and Bernie being loons is quite evident, but ……..how do they keep getting elected?
It reminds me of a comedic skit by Isaac Whitting where he went to a fast food place, orders a hamburger, and the girl behind the counter replies, “Canada!”
And then they stare at each other. Then he says, “Nooooo, I said, cheeeeeseburger.”
I wonder what must their constituents be like because those people obviously think they’re being well represented.
Help me Susan! I’m trying to be kind and think well of my fellow citizens.
Vienna, I admit to being stumped as to how many people get elected. One horrifying statistic is how many conservative leaning citizens stay home from the polls.
I truly cannot believe you would call out these politicians for “acting like overgrown toddlers” while supporting Donald Trump. Have you read his tweets? Have you watched one of his rallies? You’ve lost all credibility with me. And it pains me to write that. I looked to you and your husband for financial and life advice because of your integrity and conservative worldview. But you now support a petty, failed casino owner with mob ties who’s paid hush money to porn stars and playboy bunnies! And Warren and Sanders–for all their failings–are your focus?
On top of that, Trump has little business acumen. Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, Trump Mortgage, Gotrump.com, Trump Entertainment, Trump Magazine–all failed! The Left disgusts me for many reasons, but the hypocrisy and blindness on the Right is one of the most disconcerting things I’ve ever seen.
When Donald Trump was candidate Trump I agonized, in this column, about his manner of communicating. I compared it unfavorably to a school child’s. Since his election, I think that his actions as president have been amazing for this country.
The action of trying to set Americans against each other as in women against men is what the piece was really about.
amen to that also!
Respectfully, I would think a writer would understand a written piece. It’s possible you missed the point entirely Jacob and sound a little like those described in the piece.
I have to wonder what experience you have in business, Jacob. Your list of Trump failures and your conclusion that he has no business acumen lead me to believe that you have very little. Richard Branson (Mr. Virgin everything) has a similar resume. So is he also not very business savvy in your opinion?
I’ve worked in corporate finance for four self-made millionaires over the course of my lifetime. My job was to keep them from going off the deep end and plunging more and more resources into a cockamamie idea. I was the voice of caution. But that’s one reason I was on salary and they were millionaires – they were willing to take those risks and go out of their comfort zones. If they lost money and the business(es) folded, oh well. They learned something along the way about their strengths and weaknesses, and their perception of particular markets.
The average millionaire / billionaire has a failure rate between 7 and 10 percent. And 75 percent of trust fund babies lose their fortunes. Trump flourished in his core businesses – real estate, construction and landlording – and was able to parlay a 5K inheritance into his current net worth.
Now tell me again how Trump has little business sense.
Dear Jacob–
As a business professional who has had failures and has always bounced back, I challenge your assertion that since some of the President’s enterprises have failed, he therefore ‘has little business acumen.’ Along with the majority of other business leaders, when hiring, I favor candidates who have experienced failure. Many Americans have been fortunate enough to receive generous inheritances. It is far more common for children to squander and shrink their inheritance. Mr Trump received a generous inheritance from Fred Trump and in one of the toughest and most competitive business environments, New York real estate, he multiplied his inheritance many times. You’ll pardon me, Jacob, but your second paragraph makes you sound foolish, surly and petulant.
Regarding your first paragraph, I didn’t start supporting Mr Trump back in early 2016 in a vacuum, Sir. It was in an political environment in which I was desperate to see America step off the downward socialist escalator that Obama had shoved us onto. I wasn’t selecting a synagogue president or a church elder, I wasn’t selecting a son in law or a candidate for the position of Archbishop of Canterbury (though that wouldn’t have been a worse choice than the current incumbent) I was seeking a candidate who could (a) beat the thuggish and ruthlessly ambitious Clinton machine, and, (b) would reintroduce to the presidency, someone with the practical pragmatism of a shrewd business professional rather than yet another technocrat from the ruling political class. My prayers have been answered. And then some.
While I know that unsolicited advice is usually unwelcome, I am writing this not only for you dear Jacob, but also for countless other visitors to this page so without hesitation I recommend that you learn to evaluate politicians by what they do and not by what they say (or tweet.)
Finally, I am dismayed that you looked to Mrs Lapin and me for advice because of our integrity and conservative worldview. You have no idea of my integrity or that of anyone else. Furthermore, I have no idea of what you mean by a conservative worldview. But whatever you mean by it, that is most definitely not a reason to follow anyone’s advice. There is only one reason for turning to an advisor and that is his or her advice works. Over time what he has advised has turned out to be borne out by reality. By that measure, Mrs Lapin and I are indeed extremely good advisors, but our effectiveness is in now way diminished by who we choose to support or reject in politics. I really suspect your letter was written in a fit of pique rather than in a mood of thoughtful reflection. I therefore do not judge you by your letter.
Cordially
RDL
Hi Susan,
Hey! You’re pretty smart. (For a girl!)
It’s rainy here today and thus no golf so I decided to stir the pot a little! For the record, my late wife, Kay, was the smartest person I ever met. And I have met tens of thousands. I was going to just include the first sentence but then thought better of it. I didn’t want to raise the blood pressure of too many of your readers.
Rich
Not everyone can put things in context,Rich.
It sure seems that more individuals in each succeeding generation suffer from emotionally immaturity. I remember seeing an old photograph (circa 1935) of a young boy (approximately 10 years old) with a double barrel shot gun. The gun is properly broken open over his forearm and empty. It is a picture of someone who is unlikely to aim this dangerous weapon at others or shoot his neighbor in the butt. What does this have to do with Lizzy and Bernie? Well, they are what they do. What I don’t understand is why more people don’t see them for what they are.
amen!
I too felt the same aversion.
I ‘came up’ in the ‘feminist’ movement.
According to the ‘feminists’ of today – what I heard growing up and what matters today – is fighting at cross purposes.
As I have matured, I have realized that the ‘feminist’ movement is another LIE of the left, with the intention of thumbing a nose at God Almighty.
SOOOO look forward to these emails every week (Thought Tools, Ask the Rabbi, Susan’s Musings)
Blessings to you
You’ve been a faithful reader and commenter for a long time, Karen. Thank you.
I can’t agree more! I always thought that if I lived in the 50-s I would be a feminist, but being a feminist now sounds ridiculous to me. It reminds me of the good old anecdote: a man runs out of forest in Russia, and asks the passerby: where are the fascists? A passerby says – what are you talking about?! The war is over for 5 years now… Then the guy from the forest said puzzled: why then I’m still blowing up trains around here?!
I think that Lizzie just have nothing else to run on, so she dusted the good old “poor little girl” cr^p
Luda, like so many other things, at first there are reasonable issues and problems but we swing the pendulum so far that we end up with mass hysteria.
Brilliant thinking! Brilliant expression of your thoughts!
Not bad for a female, you mean,Steve 🙂
Love your point of view, Susan.
I’m watching Ancient Jewish Wisdom. The topic is shoes. I love the teaching.
Susan, you are wearing a white sweater, and a lovely necklace. I like you with eyeglasses.
You look great on this episode and the Rabbi just mentioned EYEGLASSES!!! What?
Stay well. Mary Violet. Bards, KY.
I’m glad you liked the show, Mary. I’ll have to find it to see what you’re referencing.
My first thought on reading about this world changing discussion was; this is how our country’s leader, or senators, resolve problems! Don’t shake hands on a national stage either! Please circulate the memo to ALL of our elected officials.
I’m afraid the whole impeachment charade in the House was a childish (dangerous) tantrum as well, Becky. No respect for history, the country or Americans.
Brilliant. How simple are things when you look at them logically.
Honestly, Fred, I’m sure that you can find someone who won’t vote for a woman – or anyone with red hair, or anyone who wears glasses, or for a man, or for anyone who is from Texas or, or, or…