Going After Women

You know the Trump Team is in trouble when they go after women. “Fucking Bitch.” That’s what ICE officer Jonathon Ross called Renee Good after he shot and killed her. Three days later, David Marcus of Fox News said “Organized gangs of wine moms using Antifa tactics to harass and impede ICE agents is not civil disobedience. It isn’t even protest. It’s just crime.” On X, conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson called Good an “AWFUL” (Affluent White Female Urban Liberal), adding “progressive whites are turning violent.”  And don’t get me started on Hegseth and women in the military.

No, this time, it is not:

• The Somalians in Minnesota, the cat and dog eating legal Haitian immigrants in Ohio, or the drug running, murdering rapists from Mexico.
• Trump publicly mocking a New York Times reporter, Serge F. Kovaleski, who has a chronic condition affecting the movement of his arms, by flailing his own arms. 
• Calling some nations shit hole countries, or the bogus complaint about blacks in South Africa practicing genocide against white Afrikaners, or The Islamic State “viciously killing … innocent Christians at levels not seen for many years.”
• Mocking Senator John McCain as a war hero.
• Calling Vice President Kamala Harris “lazy“, or referring to cities with large black populations, such as Baltimore, as “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested messes.“
• Trump commenting, “any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.” 

Nope. This time, it is not the immigrants, the handicapped, people of other countries, political opponents, Blacks, or Jews. Now, they are now going after women.

There is something else worth noting. Women of color, lesbians, and trans women have long been an acceptable target both for Trump himself, and for his minions.  Now they are also going after white women. As my friend, fellow West Point graduate (class of ‘90), and combat veteran Candace Vernold said to me, “It’s not just poor, white, or lesbian women either… It’s women who are cis, hetero, educated, pregnant, parents, and in positions of power. Even THESE white women are now getting invited to the fascist fiesta of hate, control, and murder.”

 Why? Because women are in the forefront of the protests against Trump and the challenges to his administration. It is true nationally. It is also true locally, where the majority of people turning out for action are women. This includes volunteering to support candidates, taking part in vigils, rallies, and protests, and not backing down. Even as threats of violence rise, women are not backing down.

Everyone knows Martin Niemöller’s famous quote about the Germans in WWII:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Here in America, rather than the socialists, the unionists, and the Jews, it is the immigrants, the handicapped, the political opponents, the Blacks, the Jews and now the women.

Kristi Noem, Secretary at DHS recently posed at a lectern with the phrase “One of ours, All of yours” on the front of the podium. Some have compared this to an encapsulation of NAZI sentiment during WWII, when Germans would sometimes destroy an entire village after one soldier or politician was killed.

 We need to turn the slogan on its head and direct it at this administration and their lackies. You impugn one of ours? You harm one of ours? You murder one of ours? All of you are complicit. All of you are participants. All of you are guilty. All of you will pay a price.

I urge all to get involved and stay involved. This is our America. If you aren’t already doing something, join with the women who are at the forefront of confronting the Trump administration. Get involved politically. Protest peacefully. Stand with your neighbors. Trump is becoming desperate, and no doubt the confrontations will increase. It is a sign of their weakness and not one of strength. With every action, the Trump team digs their hole deeper.

Addendum:

• PS – While talking about the assault on women, let’s not forget the Epstein files. Less than 1% of the files have been released.
• Special thanks to friends Colleen Conroy and Candace Vernold (USMA, ‘90) for their inputs to this blog. Both are strong as hell, and making a difference everyday.