Excellent comments for the most part Joe, particularly the defense of the beleaguered American male.
I do have to part company with you over your hailing of the President’s speech criticizing Trump over race. I found it to be harsh, unfair, pandering, deceitful, sophistry— in short what the President (who once promised to unite the country) does best. Trump is a lot of things unpleasant but I have always found the evidence of his presumed racism to be paltry and stretched to the breaking point. He can be a jerk and a boor but an equal opportunity offender.
Trump’s comments on the Central Park Five were born of the understandable frustration of a heinous crime. He never mentioned the names of the suspects and tempered his remarks with the qualifier, “if they are found guilty.” People found the act disturbing because of the act, not because of the race of the perpetrators.
And regarding BLM, I am more comfortable with Trump’s apparent disregard for the radical grifters than Biden’s pandering embrace of them. Blacks deserve better than both BLM and Biden’s poll driven condescending and desperate race-baiting. His Morehouse college graduation speech was a perverse classic in projecting the hate and hopelessness of someone who cynically wants blacks to remain a class of victims, as long as they vote the right way.
Thanks PG, for your brains and civility, as always. You're right, too: I went a little easy on Biden, happy that he was, for once, showing a pulse. But he remains an anachronism on race issues--as he demonstrated in the Morehouse speech (I did call him on that in a previous post) and his continuing support for BLM. But several Trump bios I've read--especially Trumped, by a former associate--make clear that he has a casual disdain for black people.
I agree and I also think in progressive circles there are young men who are creative gentle souls type that reject the “toxic masculinity “male and then think they must be trans to tragic results. Young western man need more different representations of being men and we need to pay attention to their needs instead of ADHD medication for instance. Society needs healthy men.
Another dandy piece. I particularly enjoyed the quips about men who have no idea of how to act around women and women who take a compliment as an act of aggression. Old geezers like Joe and me remember bad behavior "back then", but we also remember acceptable rituals that made men and women feel good about themselves which seem to have been discarded like the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Bring back charm kids! Who knows? You might even find you enjoy it.
This is a load of crap. 'They have been socialized through sports, but nothing quite beats the “muscular bonding” of close-order drill that McNeill describes. I once asked Eric Greitens—a Navy SEAL elected Governor of Missouri who turned out to be something of a scoundrel' No, Joe, he turned out to be a poster BOY for "toxic masculinity". He had to resign due to a lurid sex scandal, and then there is this: https://www.cnn.com/.../eric-greitens-abuse.../index.html "Sheena Greitens, who now resides in Texas with the former couple’s two children, said she grew so afraid of her former husband that she sought to limit his access to weapons and began sleeping in her children’s room out of concern for their safety." So how did that "muscular bonding" work out for Eric, hmmm? He had an affair with a woman he brutalized, and evidently also physically abused his wife and children before she escaped with them and divorced him. He is a violent scumbag.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I said Greitens was a scoundrel. I don't see even the slightest scintilla of a substantive argument here against what he's proposing. For your information, Greitens also saved hundreds of lives through his program The Mission Continues. I interviewed many of them...but that doesn't matter, either. In the future, please consider substantive responses if you want to play in this space.
Answer my question: how did that "muscular bonding" work out for him? And for his family? Of ALL the men you could have chosen to exemplify teaching young men how to be decent human beings, you choose THIS monster of toxic masculinity? WTF is wrong with you?
Sorry, girl. You're still not addressing the issue. Saying that "muscular bonding" didn't work out for Greitens and any number of other military jerks is like saying that some mothers harm their children and therefore the notion of maternalism is corrupt. There are always exceptions. But you still haven't addressed Greitens' idea about how to bring hyperactive pubescent boys into the classroom. Take a deep breath. Have a think. And then, perhaps, try to respond in a constructive manner.
Substantive? Constructive? Like your pretense that "maleness" = meat-eating? Yeah, no. Continue playing in the sandbox with the other whiny boys complaining about how the mean uppity women are taking all the fun out of your lives. Enjoy!
Excellent comments for the most part Joe, particularly the defense of the beleaguered American male.
I do have to part company with you over your hailing of the President’s speech criticizing Trump over race. I found it to be harsh, unfair, pandering, deceitful, sophistry— in short what the President (who once promised to unite the country) does best. Trump is a lot of things unpleasant but I have always found the evidence of his presumed racism to be paltry and stretched to the breaking point. He can be a jerk and a boor but an equal opportunity offender.
Trump’s comments on the Central Park Five were born of the understandable frustration of a heinous crime. He never mentioned the names of the suspects and tempered his remarks with the qualifier, “if they are found guilty.” People found the act disturbing because of the act, not because of the race of the perpetrators.
And regarding BLM, I am more comfortable with Trump’s apparent disregard for the radical grifters than Biden’s pandering embrace of them. Blacks deserve better than both BLM and Biden’s poll driven condescending and desperate race-baiting. His Morehouse college graduation speech was a perverse classic in projecting the hate and hopelessness of someone who cynically wants blacks to remain a class of victims, as long as they vote the right way.
Thanks PG, for your brains and civility, as always. You're right, too: I went a little easy on Biden, happy that he was, for once, showing a pulse. But he remains an anachronism on race issues--as he demonstrated in the Morehouse speech (I did call him on that in a previous post) and his continuing support for BLM. But several Trump bios I've read--especially Trumped, by a former associate--make clear that he has a casual disdain for black people.
The only "beleaguered American males" are the ones whining that they no longer rule the roost.
I agree and I also think in progressive circles there are young men who are creative gentle souls type that reject the “toxic masculinity “male and then think they must be trans to tragic results. Young western man need more different representations of being men and we need to pay attention to their needs instead of ADHD medication for instance. Society needs healthy men.
Check out the substack PITT- Parents of Inconvenient Truths.
Another dandy piece. I particularly enjoyed the quips about men who have no idea of how to act around women and women who take a compliment as an act of aggression. Old geezers like Joe and me remember bad behavior "back then", but we also remember acceptable rituals that made men and women feel good about themselves which seem to have been discarded like the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Bring back charm kids! Who knows? You might even find you enjoy it.
Well said! Reeves book on men and boys is outstanding and eye-opening
This is a load of crap. 'They have been socialized through sports, but nothing quite beats the “muscular bonding” of close-order drill that McNeill describes. I once asked Eric Greitens—a Navy SEAL elected Governor of Missouri who turned out to be something of a scoundrel' No, Joe, he turned out to be a poster BOY for "toxic masculinity". He had to resign due to a lurid sex scandal, and then there is this: https://www.cnn.com/.../eric-greitens-abuse.../index.html "Sheena Greitens, who now resides in Texas with the former couple’s two children, said she grew so afraid of her former husband that she sought to limit his access to weapons and began sleeping in her children’s room out of concern for their safety." So how did that "muscular bonding" work out for Eric, hmmm? He had an affair with a woman he brutalized, and evidently also physically abused his wife and children before she escaped with them and divorced him. He is a violent scumbag.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I said Greitens was a scoundrel. I don't see even the slightest scintilla of a substantive argument here against what he's proposing. For your information, Greitens also saved hundreds of lives through his program The Mission Continues. I interviewed many of them...but that doesn't matter, either. In the future, please consider substantive responses if you want to play in this space.
Answer my question: how did that "muscular bonding" work out for him? And for his family? Of ALL the men you could have chosen to exemplify teaching young men how to be decent human beings, you choose THIS monster of toxic masculinity? WTF is wrong with you?
Sorry, girl. You're still not addressing the issue. Saying that "muscular bonding" didn't work out for Greitens and any number of other military jerks is like saying that some mothers harm their children and therefore the notion of maternalism is corrupt. There are always exceptions. But you still haven't addressed Greitens' idea about how to bring hyperactive pubescent boys into the classroom. Take a deep breath. Have a think. And then, perhaps, try to respond in a constructive manner.
Substantive? Constructive? Like your pretense that "maleness" = meat-eating? Yeah, no. Continue playing in the sandbox with the other whiny boys complaining about how the mean uppity women are taking all the fun out of your lives. Enjoy!
The audio version of The Good Lord Bird read by Michael Boatman is an absolute must. His ability to speak the dialects of the characters is amazing.