J.D. Vance Goes There Yet Again
There is video going around of a speech J.D. Vance made in 2021 to a conservative group. In it, he says that Americans who don't have children should “face the consequences and the reality” and not get “nearly the same voice” in democracy.
(Side note: Why he calls his concept "democracy" is not clear.)
But his suggestion on how to rectify what bothers him is even more idiotic. And yes, idiotic is the only way to describe it. Actually, it's idiotic before he even gets to the suggestion. It's already idiotic on the basic concept. Vance's suggestion is --
“Let’s give votes to all children in this country, but let’s give control over those votes to the parents of those children.”
Yes, really.
Someone on Twitter had an excellent response, putting it in proper perspective. The person wrote, ""This is wild. So young people who have decided they aren’t ready for kids, people who have lost a child, people who are infertile, people who don’t want children, should not have the same voting rights as parents?!?!"
For that matter, what about from the other end -- couples who decide they want as many votes as possible and have a baby every year. But then, for that matter, what happens if the parents disagree between them?! Who gets to decide the vote? (Oh, okay, in fairness, I know the answer to that one. This is J.D. Vance, after all, the man who has said that if a woman is in an abusive marriage, she should stay in it. So, of course, to Vance the father would get the tie-breaker vote. Which is another way of saying the father always gets to decide.)
Personally, I hope that J.D. Vance keeps saying this over and over -- and that Trump is asked if he agrees with his VP selection. In fact, it's so monumentally stupid that it almost can't be called "divisive" since it's hard to imagine many sane people supporting it. Including children who would get "the vote" their parents would control.
(I don't know what's more ridiculous a concept: a two-year old infant having "a vote" or rebellious teenagers aware that they have "a vote," but knowing their parents get to use it.)
The speech is even worse than that, by the way. And yes, that's possible. In it, he referred to Democrats as "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too." And added, "How does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?" And specifically singled out Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Hillary Clinton responded to the Vance video and wrote sarcastically “What a normal, relatable guy who certainly doesn’t hate women having freedoms.”
For the record, in case you're forgotten sixth grade civics, the U.S. Constitution describes the requirements to be President or a member of Congress. There are three: age, citizenship and residency. Parenthood is not among them.
For the record, too, Kamala Harris is a stepmother, raising children. And Pete Buttigieg has adopted children. That doesn't matter, of course, but it's still good to know, just for the sake of accuracy. And Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was only 29 when she ran for Congress.
(Just for fun, there was a quote yesterday defending Kamala Harris on not having children. Not that such a defense is remotely necessary, it isn't at all, but this is just too wonderful to let pass by. After all, it was said by Kerstin Emhoff -- the ex-wife of Kamala Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff! "For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present.” Comparisons to Trump will be accepted...)
After only a week, there have been stories of Republican officials already with misgivings about J.D. Vance being selected as Trump's VP pick. (C'mon, guys, didn't you think there might be problems with a guy who said Trump was "America's Hitler" and that "I"m a Never Trump guy. I never liked him"??!) And that was before it came out the other day that Vance wrote the forward for an upcoming book about the now-reviled Project 2025 (hated by both parties!) written by one of the project's main authors.
And now this video has popped up. Surely there will be others.
Speaking of videos, I think this is the right way to wrap things up with the proper perspective. Moreover, it's yet another example of why I like and admire Pete Buttigieg.
Here he is the other other on Real Time with Bill Maher shredding J.D. Vance -- but as perhaps only Pete Buttigieg can do: politely and thoughtfully, without being vindictive or ad hominen attacks, just expressing his view from observation and experience.
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