​The misogyny has got to stop

The demonization of women in power needs to stop. Trump whipping up his minions in a froth with chants such as “Lock her up!” and “Send her back!” are further examples of normalizing misogyny in our country. Afterall we don’t need no wimmen tellin’ us what to do… right? When did America turn into the “Heman woman hater’s club?” to reference “The Little Rascals.”.

We’re not even going to get into the pussy grabbing, the attack on women’s reproductive rights, #metoo, or his stance on sexual and domestic abuse. Each of these topics are a whole ‘nother conversation to revisit.

Post election Trump talked about Hillary like they went through a bad break. Get over it honey -- she’s moved on and you should too. Now his base of bullies continue to use the same language. But why? How and why has Hillary Clinton become a trigger for Trump’s base?

Why doesn’t Trump and his cronies come up with a cute little hate filled chant against the men who challenge him? Sure they might get a silly nickname or he’ll pick apart something about their appearance, or they’ll be called a loser but they don’t get a catchy three word chant that sounds more suitable for a rally under the Third Reich than for North Carolina.

Yes, I’m referring to the “Send her back” chant. Beto O'Rourke even referred to that Trump event as “almost an impromptu Nuremberg rally.” Yeah, I get it... no one likes to be compared to the Third Reich. To avoid this my suggestions would be: 1. Don’t let your party read excerpts from “Mein Kampf” on the Senate floor, we’re looking at you Rep. Mo Brooks (R),from Alabama. 2. Don’t encourage an angry mob mentality fed by fear and 3. Don’t stick up for white supremacists -- remember Trump’s reaction from Charlottesville?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, now referred to as “the squad” are four democratic congresswomen of color. They’ve undergone a barrage of nonsensical tweets from the tweeter in chief, who went so far as to call them: “A very racist group of troublemakers.” Yet again he fails to accept the responsibility of the dogs he’s sicking upon them.

I don’t understand the blind support. Why do we think this is appropriate behavior for a leader? A good leader doesn’t support bullying or hate mongering. A good leader doesn’t incite hateful language. I don’t have kids, but how do you explain this behavior to your children? Ban them from current events? Keep them away from newsstands? Keep them away from that racist uncle when he starts drinking?

Before we start this discussion… let’s get one thing straight: I’m not saying all of Trump’s supporters are bad people. I know North Dakota is a conservative state. I know how the majority votes and I’m not budging anytime soon so don’t tell me to leave. Got it? We’re stuck in this state together. We’ll still be neighbors, we’ll still drive past each other on gravel roads offering the two finger farmer wave, because we’re North Dakotans, and that’s what we do.

Circling back to the whole “Lock her up” anti-Hillary phenomena, somehow this residual misogyny trickled its way into our state Senate race. Images of Hillary were used in campaign videos against Heidi like she should be the enemy of the state for supporting Hillary Clinton -- and why shouldn’t she have supported Hillary? Heidi’s a moderate Democrat. Then again voters are treating political rivalries like those of sports teams. I’ve driven past more roadside Trump flag stands than I care to admit.

One of the best analogies that I’ve come across describing the current political climate was when a good friend of mine compared it to the “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding’s book about a group of English schoolboys who end up stranded on a tropical island where everything starts out civil and ends up in a bout of savage survivalism.