Taking the bait and failing to counter-punch on the Texas transgender kid wedge issue

[gulliver]

The Republican "witch hunt" for what must be a miniscule number of botched gender-affirming health care cases is, of course, a disgusting, dirty political strategy. It's a standard wedge issue for them, just like "bathroom choice" or "partial birth abortion" or "Terri Schiavo." A tiny handful of extreme cases are weaponized for political war against Dems.

How many times are we going to take that bait?

I don't think the best response is to accuse Republicans of "bullying" transgender kids, their parents, and their health care providers. That's punching them in the fist with our faces. It's what they want us to do. It's arguably immoral for us to do that, really, because it weakens us in our pursuit of other Dem and progressive priorities. Moreover, it encourages the Republicans to bully even more people. We need a better answer.

Doctors are not gods, nor are they even pure-hearted, altruistic, ultimate authorities. They're people who need to make a living, just like the rest of us hacks. It's easy for me to imagine a few hack doctors mongering grotesquely incompetent and damaging "gender-affirming health care services." I don't think Dem politics should rely on that type of doctor not existing in nature.

So, a suggestion is that we Dems affirm the rights of parents and children to health care treatment by trained experts for gender-related problems. Then we, perhaps, champion regulations on the health care industry to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in those and other cases. We attack the Republicans for being against our regulations.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Nah, it's bullying and it's hateful and it needs to be called out as such.

[gulliver]

2. Sure, but I'd call it more of a witch hunt

It's a paranoid search for grotesque cases, typical of Republican witch hunts. It's bullying and hate, sure, but we overuse and misuse those words, robbing them of the impact they could have against bullying and hatred. That's another discussion though.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

3. No

Please do not tell the ones being bullied they are not being bullied. The trans community is very much being bullied.

This is a witch hunt - against the trans community. This is bigotry. This is bullying. I doubt you have any idea what this shit has done to my anxiety and mental health - and I'm not a teen, nor do I live in Texas. But I've watched this unfold, thinking "What's next? Who gets hurt next?" I can't even imagine what it'd feel like right now to be a 15 year old trans person in Texas - the hurt, the fear, all of it.

I think you have no idea what it is like to walk in my boots, or the shoes of a trans person.

I also think you have it totally backwards myself... The problem is not when we call out the QOP for being bullies... The problem is we've let them be bullies for decades, which allowed them to reach this point. It's not that they're called out too much... They weren't called out enough!

You want to call out bad doctors? Then call out all bad doctors. Singling out the ones that may have mishandled gender affirming treatment is playing right into the QOP's hands.. And, oh, by the way: They wouldn't care if every single gender affirming case in history went perfectly. They would still be doing this because they fucking hate trans people, they are bigots, and the cruelty is the point. They are not doing this to "protect" trans kids.. They are doing it to harm them.

What the Democrats need to do is stand with trans kids and their families, period. No word games with the QOP. No compromise. Stand for human rights, because, that is exactly what this is... Another human rights struggle, in the "freeist country ever."

This isn't about not "taking the bait"... This is about standing up for a vulnerable community being harassed and bullied by the QOP.

[gulliver]

4. Yes

No one's disputing the anti-trans bigotry and bullying by the Republicans. They're doing that bullying on purpose for political gain. Merely calling them bullies is unintentionally immoral in my book because it gives them that political gain. There is a huge difference between calling something out and standing up against it. We should be on offense.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

5. They're doing that bullying because the cruelty is the point...

I've seen it first-hand for thirty years now. Political gain is just a bonus. The whole point of getting elected at all has been to hurt others.

It's been 30 years of take an inch here, take an inch there, fuck it, let's take it all. They've gotten away with too much already. Then factor in the eternal temper tantrum since the 2020 election, and what you have is a mixture of "Who's gonna stop us?" and "It's payback time!"

They are bullies, and yes, it needs to be called out. One, because it's true. Two, because QOP snowflakes melt down when they're called bullies or bigots. It's the great irony of these "tough guys." They bully people, they discriminate. But the second you say "You're a bully" or "You're a bigot," they flip out.

It should've been called out a long time ago - like when the bastards were bullying people in school. But we coddled that. Then coddled some more. Then coddled some more. And now we have this fight going.

I also think we are fully capable of calling them bullies, while fighting back and punching back on this... And not just punching back to stop what happening in Texas, but stop it from happening anywhere. Some of us can only do so much - which means in my case calling their shit out. Fortunately, we have the ACLU and Lambda and Biden doing their part to stand up against it.

[gulliver]

6. They can't bully if they lose, but they can if they win.

I essentially agree with every point you make. And I do agree that "now we have this fight going." My point is that we should win the fight.

Labeling, judging, and name calling can be very effective. Don't get me wrong. It definitely (perhaps unfortunately) has a place, but we definitely don't do it well. The Republicans in this case have created a framing where our name calling with names like "bully" or "bigot" is to our disadvantage. That's what "witch hunt" politics are all about, creating an indisputable enemy in people's imaginations. Our best bet is to demolish that framing, not break our swords ("bully" and "bigot" labeling) on a rock.

Still use those words. By all means. Just don't forget to be against "the witch," while calling out that it's a scare tactic used by cynical, Putin dupe, spit-on-the-flag Republican career politicians to draw suckers who should know better.

And, of course, I'm fully behind all the legal battling being done by our team. I'd just like to see us win all the battles.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

7. No matter what we say to them or call them..

They're going to do this. We could tell them they're beautiful and amazing and we love them, and they'd do this. We could call them every vile name in the book (true or not) and they'd do this. Whether or not we yell "Bullies!" and "Nazis!" on DU, or writers call them out in the media, they'll do this.

They've been creating and targeting boogeymen for decades. A decade ago, it was LGB's. On and off over the decades, it's been immigrants. Now it's T's, but with even more vengeance. No matter what you or I say, they'll do it. Because when you become the party of hate - which they have been for a long time, but no longer bother to hide it - you have to have someone to hate.

What's going to stop this is action. Action that we're now seeing in the courts, led by the ACLU and Lambda. Action that I imagine we are about to see out of the White House.

As far as a war of words? That too falls into what I said of how long we've let them get away with it. They've been allowed to basically dictate the dialogue for a long time. It's time for that to stop too. By firing back? By getting louder? Something else? I don't know. But the days of "The QOP owns the dialogue" need to end. Badly.

[Hav]

8. You might have a good point

I think one important approach that didn't play out well for Dems recently was the suggestion by some that parents should have no say in what is taught in school.
The problem is, I don't think that those who support this bill would grant other parents their right to do what they believe is best for their kid. I still think it's a worthwhile approach as it's something that usually speaks to them. It's strange how there are no small government Repubs on this subject.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

9. There are no small government Repubs...

Unless by small government you mean them saying "small government for me, huge government for thee."

That said, there is a difference between discussions over whether parents should have any say over what is taught in schools, and what parents do in their own homes.