New <a href="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/f548560f100205ef/e656ddda-full.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polling</a> from the New York Times shows that Americans, regardless of political party, agree with Republican positions on numerous transgender issues, including gender transitions for minors and sports inclusion.
The New York Times/Ipsos Survey, which was conducted earlier this month, found that a stunning 79% of Americans believe males should not be permitted to participate in female sports, even if the athlete identifies as transgender.
<div class="page" title="Page 14">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
&#8220;Thinking about transgender female athletes — meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female &#8212; do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women&#8217;s sports?&#8221; the survey posed.
Overall, 79% of those surveyed answered no, including 67% of Democrats. In total, only 18% of Americans believe trans athletes should be allowed in female sports.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NYT POLL: “79% of Americans — including 67% of Democrats — think transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women&#8217;s sports” <a href="https://t.co/w63pPLz04x">pic.twitter.com/w63pPLz04x</a>
— Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/karolineleavitt/status/1880637623896559783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Another survey question asked about transgender medications for minors: &#8220;Thinking about medications used for transgender care, do you think doctors should be able to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs or hormone therapy to minors between the ages of 10 and 18?&#8221;
Overall, 71% of Americans answered &#8220;No,&#8221; including 54% of Democrats. Only 10% of respondents said minors should have access to the drugs, with another 16% saying minors ages 15-18 should have access.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737044212122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mp2MZNwEXBk00lKmCtOss">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
Respondents were also asked if we&#8217;ve gone too far as a society accommodating trans-identifying individuals. &#8220;Which statement comes closest to your feelings about the way our society deals with transgender people — that is, someone who does not identify with their sex at birth, like a person born male who now identifies as female,&#8221; the survey asked.
<div class="page" title="Page 5">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
A total of 77% of respondents agreed that society has gone too far or has gone far enough to accommodate trans people, while only 21% said we haven&#8217;t gone far enough.
</div>
</div>
</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
New NYT poll:
Society has gone too far or far enough accommodating trans people:
Total: 77% 
GOP: 93% 
Dem: 62%
Trans women should NOT be allowed in women’s sports:
Total: 79% 
GOP: 94% 
Dem: 67%
Minors should NOT be able to get puberty blockers:
Total: 71% 
GOP: 90% 
Dem: 54% <a href="https://t.co/ovXY5qKEEv">pic.twitter.com/ovXY5qKEEv</a>
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sfmcguire79/status/1880631804308426769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-case-on-parental-rights-and-lgbt-content-in-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Case On Parental Rights And LGBT Content In Schools</a>

young person with a transgender pride flag

NYT Polling Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Support GOP Position On Numerous Trans Issues

NYT Poll Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Support GOP Position On Numerous Transgender Issues

New York Times

Polls

Social Issues

Transgender

Transgender Athletes

U.S.

The New York Times executed a 180-degree turn on its own reporting — which just six months earlier had assured readers that President Joe Biden was in top form — and declared in a Tuesday headline, &#8220;A Weary Biden Heads For The Exit.&#8221;
Just three paragraphs in, the message is clear: the same people who were actively helping prop up an obviously diminished Biden — even in the final weeks before he was unceremoniously ushered off the stage and out of the 2024 presidential race — clearly understand that he would not have been able to withstand the stress of the rest of the campaign, much less another term in the White House.
From Tuesday&#8217;s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/us/politics/biden-final-days-in-office.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a>:
<blockquote>Time is catching up with Mr. Biden. He looks a little older and a little slower with each passing day. Aides say he remains plenty sharp in the Situation Room, calling world leaders to broker a cease-fire in Lebanon or deal with the chaos of Syria’s rebellion. But it is hard to imagine that he seriously thought he could do the world’s most stressful job for another four years.</blockquote>
Just six months prior, the narrative was obvious: Biden is fine, and people should ignore those pesky viral videos that show him looking lost because they are creating unnecessary problems.
The article, published on June 21, was titled, &#8220;How Misleading Videos Are Trailing Biden As He Battles Age Doubts&#8221; and argued that the videos — most of which were even more damning when viewed uncut — were &#8220;edited or lacking context.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1734629528380000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Vdff7bqq0I056d3bMh731">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/21/us/politics/biden-age-videos.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> asserted that Biden was none the worse for wear and then blamed conservative media for manipulating videos to convince the American people otherwise.
<blockquote>In the last two weeks, conservative news outlets, the Republican National Committee and the Trump team have circulated videos of Mr. Biden that lacked important context and twisted mundane moments to paint him in an unflattering light.</blockquote>
Critics pointed out the quick turn, showcasing the articles side by side and noting just how quickly the proverbial worm had turned.
&#8220;What a difference 179 days make for The New York Times. From: &#8216;videos of Mr. Biden circulating during this year’s campaign are clearly manipulated to make him look old and confused.&#8217; To: &#8216;it is hard to imagine that he seriously thought he could do the world’s most stressful job for another four years,'&#8221; conservative communications strategist Steve Guest said via X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What a difference 179 days make for The New York Times. 
From: “videos of Mr. Biden circulating during this year’s campaign are clearly manipulated to make him look old and confused.”
To: “it is hard to imagine that he seriously thought he could do the world’s most stressful… <a href="https://t.co/2k7gZETQr4">pic.twitter.com/2k7gZETQr4</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1869389727314436192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
RedState&#8217;s Bonchie added, &#8220;The Times four months ago: &#8216;Those videos of Joe Biden falling asleep and slurring his words are cheap fakes. Of course he can serve another four years.&#8217; The Times now: &#8216;How could anyone have imagined Joe Biden could ever serve another four years?'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Times four months ago: “Those videos of Joe Biden falling asleep and slurring his words are cheap fakes. Of course he can serve another four years.”
The Times now: “How could anyone have imagined Joe Biden could ever serve another four years?”
Conservatives: <a href="https://t.co/WEsA3zBkkW">pic.twitter.com/WEsA3zBkkW</a>
&mdash; Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) <a href="https://twitter.com/bonchieredstate/status/1869373600278389091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

President Biden Speaks To The Department Of Labor

NYT Executes 180-Degree Turn, Suddenly Wants To Talk About How Old And Tired Biden Is

2024 Election

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Media

Politics

Economist Paul Krugman has retired as a columnist for the New York Times, a former newspaper. Krugman published his final column Monday, and headlined it, “I will not be retiring from the New York Times,” in order to continue his unbroken record of being wrong about every single thing. Krugman began his column in January 2000 and won the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics for his discovery that money doesn’t really talk, that’s just a metaphor. He says he’s now going to cash in his investments in Kodak and Pets.com so he can afford to devote all his time to his tinfoil farm, where he grows the hats that help him communicate with the invisible spirits who see the economic future before it happens. In his final offering, Krugman reminisced about his most important columns, including his famous 2008 masterpiece, “Why the Good Times will Never End,” along with some older columns like “The Government Can Borrow as Much as It Wants As Long as the Moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter Aligns with Mars,” and some recent ones, like “Don’t Blink or You’ll Miss the Transitory Inflation,” and “What’s Everyone Complaining About? My Intel Stock is Poised to Go Through the Roof.”
After Krugman announced his retirement from the opinion page — which is sometimes fondly called by nicknames like Knucklehead Row or Fathead City or what a bunch of stupid a-holes — the Big Brains of the page honored Krugman with a retirement party. A wild time was had by all as Charles Blow showed off his intellectual prowess by buttoning his shirt correctly while David Brooks and Thomas Friedman competed to see which of them would be first to figure out how to turn his Super Mario hat so that the brim faced forward. As the bubbly flowed and the anti-depressants were passed around, the gang grew nostalgic talking about their own famous columns, like that insightful Charles Blow favorite, “White People Are Meanies,” and David Brooks’ book on the importance of character, called, “How to Dump Your Wife for a Younger Woman,” not to mention Thomas Friedman’s thoughtful essay for last month’s Sunday Magazine, “Basheer al-Assad, a Leader with Staying Power.” Meanwhile, Ross Douthat threatened to ruin the festivities by continually grabbing the arms of passersby and screaming, “Look at me! I’m a sane, rational man! I am not supposed to be here! Please send help!”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
The task of finding a replacement for Krugman now falls to the Times editorial board, which includes such journalistic powerhouses as the Mango Tango crayon from the jumbo size Crayola Box, a wax replica of the miraculously preserved corpse of Vladimir Lenin and that guy who walks up and down 47th Street screaming at his mother in her home in the sky. The question before them is: how to create a column that can match the level of Paul Krugman’s wit and wisdom without it becoming a series of meaningless characters that only resemble words until you look at them closely. 
One idea is to brighten up the opinion page with a typical Times Relationship column that will give readers helpful advice on where to find the best porn, how to arrange a throuple with your soon-to-be-former friends, and how you can spice up your marriage by refusing to sleep with your spouse. Another idea is a column called “Poor Little Dirtbag,” in which every week a Times writer explains why we should feel compassion for a different terrorist, pervert, murderer or Times editorialist while forgetting all about the suffering of his victim or subscriber. And finally, the board discussed a possible column by Times Editor-in-Chief Blithering Prevarication the Third called, “Why I Hate Donald Trump So So Much,” in which every single day Mr. Third gives yet another reason why he hates Donald Trump so, so much. But that idea was rejected after the editors decided it would be indistinguishable from the current opinion page.
In a statement to Times readers, the editorial board wrote, “We hope all our devoted subscribers will take a moment off from playing Wordle, and say a fond farewell to Mr. Krugman. His departure will leave a dark empty hole where his column used to be, so probably you won’t notice any difference.”
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. He is the bestselling author of the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613165536?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_3&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A WOMAN UNDERGROUND</a>,” is now available. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Portraits Of The Economist Paul Krugman At The Rafael Del Pino Foundation In Madrid

Man Who Was Wrong About Everything Retires From NY Times

Andrew Klavan

Economics

Humor

Paul Krugman

Reporters

Satire

One of the astonishing things about the news industry is that many stories with an outsized national impact turn out to have been completely falsified upon further review. One of its incentive structures is often “firstist with the mostist”; in other words, get to the story fast and report it incredibly quickly. But then, the reporting ends up being false. In retrospect, this does significant damage. This is true in regard to reporting about COVID or Black Lives Matter.
One of the signal examples of this is now being exposed for all the world to see.
18 years ago, in 2006, the Duke lacrosse rape case incited a wide variety of movements that would come into full flower over the course of the subsequent 10 years, particularly during the Obama era. The Duke lacrosse case was an inciting incident for Black Lives Matter and for the #MeToo movement.
In this case, a stripper accused a series of rich white lacrosse players at Duke University of having sexually assaulted her. It became one of the biggest cases in American criminal justice history, specifically because of its ripple effects.
Crystal Mangum, the stripper at the center of that case, has admitted she lied back in 2006. Until now, she has never publicly admitted she fabricated the rape allegation.
Three men, David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann, were arrested and put on trial before the case was dismissed. Mangum’s original allegation was that she had been performing at a team party off campus in March of 2006, had been sexually assaulted, and raped by a series of white Duke lacrosse players.
She was, indeed, at this party, but, apparently, she engaged in none of her &#8220;career activity,&#8221; shall we say, because she was high on drugs or intoxicated with alcohol. She ended up leaving early, and then these accusations were filed.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2104-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
There were many holes in her story. First, there is no DNA on her. Second, she could not identify any of the Duke lacrosse players, except for one, who ended up not having even been there.
Yet, the problems with her allegations did not stop everyone — including the elite media and those on university campuses — from jumping to conclusions.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqt9OX-oAtU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in 2006, “I am not going to allow Durham’s view in the mind of the world to be a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl in Durham.”
Nifong obviously had other political motivations, possibly to run for a higher office at some point. In a March 2006 interview with CBS News, he <a href="https://www.ncbar.gov/orders/06dhc35.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done. It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so.” According to Nifong, this wasn&#8217;t just a rape. It was, in fact, a racist rape.
The former Duke University president, Richard Brodhead, took immediate action against the team following only the allegations. He accepted the resignation of the men&#8217;s lacrosse coach, canceled the remainder of their season, and suspended the accused three players from school after they were indicted for rape, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/former-stripper-murder-convict-crystal-mangum-confesses-to-lying-about-being-raped-by-duke-lacrosse-players-in-2006/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>. This was “despite having asked the public not to prejudge the criminal case.”
David Evans, one of the players, stridently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niLROfcOfBc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied the allegations</a>, saying, “I am absolutely innocent of all the charges that have been brought against me today, that Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty are innocent of all the charges that were brought against them. These allegations are lies.” Eventually, the case was dismissed.
<div id="attachment_844111" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-844111" class="wp-image-844111 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732.jpg" alt="DURHAM, NC - MAY 15: Duke lacrosse player David Evans (C), 23-years-old, proclaims his innocence as he addresses the media outside the Durham County Detention Center after being indicted on sexual assault charges on May 15, 2006 in Durham, North Carolina. Evans is the third player to be indicted for sexual assault of a woman hired as a private dancer to a party attended by lacrosse team members March 13. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)" width="1024" height="557" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732-300x163.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732-768x418.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />DURHAM, NC &#8211; MAY 15, 2006: Duke lacrosse player David Evans (C), 23-years-old, proclaims his innocence. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)</div>
Yet that did not stop The New York Times from running around 100 pieces about the Duke lacrosse allegations. A tremendous number of Duke faculty actually paid for an ad that was put in the Duke Chronicle devoted to this particular case. Numerous departments and professors at the university signed onto this paid advertisement. What did <a href="https://today.duke.edu/showcase/mmedia/pdf/socialdisasterad.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the statement</a> say?
<blockquote>We are listening to our students. We’re also listening to the Durham community, to Duke staff, and to each other. Regardless of the results of the police investigation, what is apparent everyday now is the anger and fear of many students who know themselves to be objects of racism and sexism; who see illuminated in this moment’s extraordinary spotlight what they live with everyday. They know that it isn’t just Duke, it isn’t everybody, and it isn’t just individuals making this disaster. But it is a disaster nonetheless. These students are shouting and whispering about what happened to this young woman and to themselves.</blockquote>
The ad then provided anonymous student statements about the issue. The seedbed for the Black Lives Matter movement here is obvious. And it turns out all of this was based on lies. It was all lies — beginning to end.
Eventually, the North Carolina attorney general, Roy Cooper, announced that the charges had, in fact, been dropped. (Cooper would go on to become the governor of North Carolina.) He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHtDbZ5i-w8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a>:
<blockquote>Our attorneys and SBI agents have interviewed numerous people who were at the party, DNA and other experts, the Durham County district attorney, Durham police officers, defense attorneys, and the accusing witness on several occasions. We have reviewed statements given over the year, photographs, records, and other evidence. The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges. Today, we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans. The result is that these cases are over, and no more criminal proceedings will occur.</blockquote>
Nifong ended up being disbarred for making false statements and hiding evidence from the defense. The president of Duke University later came out and offered <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkgddRymFA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an apology</a>.
But here&#8217;s the issue: What was the fallout from this case? Was the fallout a lesson learned about people making false allegations? Of course not. Was the fallout about the rush to judgment by the media deeply desperate for a race case that they could magnify? Of course not; there have been dozens since.
The actual fallout in terms of policy was that in 2011, the Obama administration changed Title IX regulations so that you basically could not defend yourself against sexual harassment or sexual assault allegation on campus.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/07/politics/betsy-devos-education-department-title-ix/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that the administration,
<blockquote>&#8230;outlined guidelines for schools on how to handle sexual assault allegations in a memo referred to as a ‘dear colleague’ letter. The letter reminded schools of their legal obligation to address sexual violence amid concerns that schools were not taking the issue seriously enough, and called on schools to step up investigations of reports. It also provided guidelines for investigations and hearings.</blockquote>
And it gave the accused no due process. It made it so that a person did not actually have a right to face down someone who was accusing them. That was the actual legal implication drawn from the false allegations of the Duke lacrosse case.
This repeated itself later with similar allegations that were made about the University of Virginia frat members in 2014 accused by Rolling Stone of engaging in a gang rape, which turned out to be completely false as well. But that didn&#8217;t stop the momentum of the #MeToo movement.
False allegations are, unfortunately, the lifeblood of movements that require gas when there is no gas in the tank.
Yesterday, Mangum, the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case — who is serving time for murder right now — finally admitted (nearly 20 years later) that her accusations were all made up. She said in <a href="https://www.letstalkwithkat.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview</a>: 
<blockquote>I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn&#8217;t. And that was wrong. And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me and made up a story that wasn&#8217;t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God. And that was wrong. And I hope that they can forgive me.</blockquote>
It was false, and everyone knew it was false at the time. Yet it led to another string of these sorts of cases ranging from: the University of Virginia false rape allegations; the false allegations regarding Michael Brown&#8217;s death in Ferguson, Missouri, which led to riots in 2014; the case of George Floyd, which is in fact a false case; and the Daniel Penny case.
It stretches forward because the media need these opportunities. They spin up these opportunities. They rely on these opportunities in order to “have the discussion.” They&#8217;re constantly looking for a news hook to have discussions on the issues that they find most interesting regardless of whether the underlying data is there or not.
The media are perfectly willing to jump into certain conversations. However, there are other conversations that the media are absolutely not willing to broach.
Was there a widespread investigation into false rape allegations, which was the actual story with regard to the Duke lacrosse case? Absolutely not. Was there a full-scale media blitz on the question of rape hoaxes, which is what happened in Duke lacrosse? Absolutely not. The way the mainstream media work, their way of deciding whether something is a national story or not, is not based on the truth or falsity of the statements or the good or bad action of the people in question.
They have a preset narrative, and then they look for a hook for that narrative. That is how spinning up a movement out of nothing becomes possible. And it is how polarizing the American body politic occurs.
For four decades, the national media have pursued a preset narrative agenda. Then, they look for a news hook for that agenda that allows them to spin it up into a national story.
That is why Americans are sick and tired of the national legacy media.
* * *
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a></h3>

Lacrosse

The Race Rape Hoax That Started It All Collapses

Ben Shapiro

campus

College

Duke University

false accusations

Legacy Media

North Carolina

Opinion

Rape

Sexual Assault

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> presided over the largest surge in immigration, the majority of it illegal, in the history of the United States.
The New York Times arrived at the conclusion based on an analysis of government data.
The report said that from 2021 to 2023, the total net migration into the U.S. was 2.4 million, meaning the total number of people minus the people who left.
It is estimated that more than eight million people entered the country over the course of Biden&#8217;s presidency, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/briefing/us-immigration-surge.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> said, a number greater than the populations of at least 38 states.
The real number is likely much higher, potentially by about <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/2024/05/22/startling-stats-factsheet-biden-administration-on-track-to-reach-10-million-encounters-nationwide-before-end-of-fiscal-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two million</a>, as illegal aliens who evade capture by border officials — known as &#8220;gotaways&#8221;— were not included in the numbers.
The surge in illegal immigration has &#8220;caused the share of the U.S. population born in another country to reach a new high, 15.2 percent in 2023, up from 13.6 percent in 2020,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;The previous high was 14.8 percent, in 1890.&#8221;
Biden&#8217;s open border policies &#8220;appears to have been the biggest factor,&#8221; the report said.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
The report noted that the surge in illegal immigration means &#8220;wage growth for Americans who did not attend college will be lower than it otherwise would have been for the next few years.&#8221;
A poll from last month found that Americans are strongly supportive of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to enact a mass deportation program upon taking office.
The poll of 2,232 adults, conducted by YouGov on behalf of CBS News following the presidential election, found that 45 percent of respondents said that Trump’s effort to “deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally” should be “high priority.” Another 28 percent said that it should be “medium priority,” while just 27 percent said it should not be a priority.
A majority of respondents said that they would approve of Donald Trump “starting a national program to find and deport all immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.” A full 57 percent said that they would approve of such a plan.
Trump made mass deportations one of his key campaign promises, pledging to “launch the largest deportation program in American history.” Trump has since announced that former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan will serve as his border czar and be in charge of the deportation agenda.
A full 74 percent of white respondents said that deportations should be a high or medium priority of the Trump administration, while 70 percent of black respondents and 69 percent of Hispanic respondents agreed, displaying broad support for the initiative.
Spencer Lindquist contributed to this report.

President Biden¬†Hosts Diwali Celebration At White House

Biden Caused Largest Surge Of Illegal Immigration In U.S. History: NYT

Illegal Immigration

Documents shared with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/world/middleeast/hamas-unrwa-schools.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> impelled the media outlet to admit that senior staff at UNRWA schools doubled as members of Hamas’ military wing.
“The agency, which employs roughly 13,000 people, including thousands in the schools, has a <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/neutrality?__cf_chl_tk=GNHwhwv318FJMYzf1Pl0HdMarL0cDVxE70_EnJDZSBY-1732890294-1.0.1.1-43DuV.k1azKtoRa577K1fmonaOTV6welJgUzsTgMVLE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">duty to maintain</a> the neutrality of its facilities in the conflict zones in which it operates, including by keeping militants off its premises and payrolls,” The Times noted.
But as shown by the detailed records kept by the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, that were seized by Israel, at least 24 people employed by the anti-Israel UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in their schools were members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
“A majority were top administrators at the schools — principals or deputy principals — and the rest were school counselors and teachers, the documents say,” The Times reported. “Almost all of the Hamas-linked educators, according to the records, were fighters in the Qassam Brigades.”
“Names and identification numbers listed on the seized documents match those in a separate UNRWA database,” the Times reported. “The documents also list two schools in particular that were to be used as redoubts where fighters could hide and stash weapons in a conflict. &#8230; In several cases, educators remained employed by UNRWA even after Israel provided written warnings that they were militants. &#8230; Residents of Gaza said in interviews that the idea that Hamas had operatives in UNRWA schools was an open secret.”
“The U.N. seems intent on portraying this problem as a few bad apples, rather than acknowledging that the tree is rotten,” Deputy Director General for UN and International Organizations Amir Weissbrod declared.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
Israeli officials have said at least 100 UNRWA workers were alleged Hamas militants.  “The U.N. has been unable and or unwilling to eliminate Hamas militants and their supporters, as well as those from other terrorist groups, from their ranks,” said James Lindsay, UNRWA’s general counsel until 2007. “UNRWA hiring practices and the makeup of the labor pool from which UNRWA draws its employees suggests to me that the numbers the Israelis are talking about are probably pretty close to the truth.”
In January 2018, the Trump administration confirmed earlier reports that it would withhold $65 million from UNRWA.
As part of his report to the House Committee On Foreign Affairs, Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of United Nations Watch, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116769/witnesses/HMTG-118-FA17-Wstate-NeuerH-20240130.pdf">stated</a>: “As we have shown in numerous reports over the past decade, teachers and schools at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which runs education and social services for Palestinians, regularly call to murder Jews, and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis, and incite antisemitism.” Neuer posted a <a href="//C0ACE32D-073E-440D-B46D-71CF87D39316/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thread</a> on X in January that he said “exposed a Telegram chat group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers that is replete with messages, photos and videos celebrating the Hamas massacre of October 7th.”
UNRWA’s funds have helped to train terrorists for ISIS. “The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnLIzNGb9gI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documentary</a>, &#8216;The UNRWA Road to Terror: Palestinian Classroom Incitement,&#8217; shows children as young as 7 in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) expressing support for terrorism. One clip shows a 13-year-old Palestinian student chanting &#8216;With Allah’s help I will fight for ISIS, the Islamic State,&#8217;” Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/lawmakers-call-for-defunding-un-schools-after-film-shows-palestinian-kids-praising-isis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in 2016.

Hamas activists are seen during a military demonstration

NYT: Hamas Records Taken By Israel Show UNRWA Top School Administrators Also Were Hamas Terrorists

Hamas

Terrorists

UNRWA

&#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; author and female rights activist JK Rowling blasted The New York Times on Monday for the &#8220;rewriting of history&#8221; about transgender activists&#8217; vicious tactics, while Rowling outlined just how much she and others have suffered for speaking out for girls and women.
Rowling posted a screenshot of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/us/politics/transgender-activists-rights.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Times</a> article that suggests trans activists are going to have to moderate their &#8220;unsparing criticism&#8221; of those who disagree with them, ever since Democrats lost the 2024 election and Americans are increasingly disagreeing with the trans agenda.
&#8220;The rewriting of history begins,&#8221; Rowling wrote. &#8220;Opponents of gender ideology haven&#8217;t merely &#8216;endured unsparing criticism&#8217;. I haven&#8217;t simply been told I &#8216;betrayed real feminism&#8217; or received a few book-burning videos.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been sent thousands of threats of murder, rape and violence,&#8221; the author outlined. &#8220;A trans woman posted my family&#8217;s home address with a bomb-making guide. My eldest child was targeted by a prominent trans activist who attempted to doxx her and ended up doxxing the wrong young woman.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1732727087136000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Ao27zcTCGutKhTz_xpaKC">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
&#8220;I could write a twenty thousand word essay on what the consequences have been to me and my family, and what we&#8217;ve endured is NOTHING compared to the harm done to others,&#8221; Rowling said. &#8220;By standing up to a movement that relies on threats of violence, ostracisation and guilt-by-association, all of us have been smeared and defamed, but many have lost their livelihoods. Some have been physically assaulted by trans activists. Female politicians have been forced to hire personal security on the advice of police. The news that one of the UK&#8217;s leading endocrinologists, Dr Hillary Cass, was advised not to travel by public transport for her own safety should shame everyone who let this insanity run amok.&#8221;
Now that the &#8220;political landscape has shifted,&#8221; she highlighted, &#8220;some who&#8217;ve been riding high on their own supply are waking up with a hell of a hangover.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;ve started wondering whether calling left-wing feminists who wanted all-female rape centers &#8216;Nazis&#8217; was such a smart strategy,&#8221; Rowling mocked. &#8220;Maybe parents arguing that boys ought not to be robbing their daughters of sporting opportunities might, sort of, have a point? Possibly letting any man who says &#8216;I&#8217;m a woman&#8217; into the locker room with twelve-year-old girls could have a downside, after all?&#8221;
Eventually, a &#8220;reckoning&#8221; is coming, Rowling said.
&#8220;Mealy-mouthed retconning of what has actually happened over the past ten years is predictable but will not stand,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;I don&#8217;t doubt those who&#8217;ve turned a blind eye to the purges of non-believers, or even applauded and encouraged them, would rather minimize what the true cost of speaking out was, but &#8216;yes, maybe trans activists went a little over the top at times&#8217; takes are frankly insulting.&#8221;
&#8220;A full reckoning on the effects of gender ideology on individuals, society and politics is still a long way off, but I know this: the receipts will make very ugly reading when that time comes, and there are far too many of them to sweep politely under the carpet,&#8221; she closed the post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The rewriting of history begins.
Opponents of gender ideology haven&#8217;t merely &#8216;endured unsparing criticism&#8217;. I haven&#8217;t simply been told I &#8216;betrayed real feminism&#8217; or received a few book-burning videos.
I&#8217;ve been sent thousands of threats of murder, rape and violence. A trans… <a href="https://t.co/aiGv2yHDCO">pic.twitter.com/aiGv2yHDCO</a>
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1863579675877884385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/j-k-rowling-fighting-for-safety-of-women-and-children-is-definitely-hill-im-willing-to-die-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.K. Rowling Says Fighting For ‘Safety Of Women And Children’ Is Hill She’s Willing To Die On</a>

2019 RFK Ripple of Hope Awards

JK Rowling Details Cost Of Speaking Out On Trans Issue, Blasts NYT ‘Rewriting Of History’

JK Rowling Details Cost Of Speaking Out On Trans Issue, Blasts NYT 'Rewriting Of History'

Celebrities

JK Rowling

The New York Times

Transgenders

World

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s “We Who Wrestle With God: Perceptions of the Divine,” topped a New York Times bestseller list Friday, a week after it took the top spot on Amazon.
&#8220;The @nytimes is (no doubt) Thrilled to announce that Dr. Jordan B Peterson’s We Who Wrestle with God is Number 1!,&#8221; Peterson<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DC-TBmQynZG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> joked</a> on Instagram Friday. The book holds the number one spot on the Times&#8217; &#8220;Advice, How-To &amp; Miscellaneous&#8221; chart, beating out a number of popular books, including James Clear&#8217;s &#8220;Atomic Habits,&#8221; which has spent 261 weeks on the list.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DC-TBmQynZG/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DC-TBmQynZG/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson (@jordan.b.peterson)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script> 
Based on Peterson&#8217;s worldwide lecture series of the same title, &#8220;We Who Wrestle With God&#8221; examines the Bible both “scientifically and spiritually,” offering new insights into well-known biblical stories like that of Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel, and Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. &#8220;We Who Wrestle With God&#8221; became the<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jordan-petersons-we-who-wrestle-with-god-takes-1-spot-on-amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> number one book</a> on Amazon just days after its release.
“We Who Wrestle with God” is now <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Who-Wrestle-God-Perceptions/dp/0593542533/ref=zg_bs_g_books_d_sccl_1/141-2880908-1217261?psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">available</a> on Amazon. Readers who want more of Peterson&#8217;s insight into the Biblical epic can check out his new series, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/the-gospels-official-trailer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Gospels</a>,” which will be available to stream on DailyWire+ December 1.
Speaking to Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro during a recent episode of The Sunday Special, Peterson explained his view that the Bible is ultimately a story of sacrifice — and that this story offers an important reminder in our hyper-individualistic times.
“There’s no difference between work and sacrifice, because work is the sacrifice of the future to story, the sacrifice of the present to the future, and the sacrifice of the narrow self to the community,” Peterson said.  “If it’s all about me in the most narrow way, then there’s no community, right? There’s only the immediate gratification of my whim … and I have to impose those whims on other people using power, because they’re not going to cooperate voluntarily if it’s all about me.”
Along with his latest best-selling book, Peterson has also recently released a new series on DailyWire+. Peterson’s “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/jordan-peterson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mastering Life Collection</a>” is available to stream now. The series includes “Masculinity,” “Marriage,” “Vision &amp; Destiny,” “Depression &amp; Anxiety,” “Negotiation,” and “Success.”

Jordan Peterson

Jordan Peterson’s ‘We Who Wrestle With God’ Tops New York Times Bestseller List

Amazon

Jordan B. Peterson

The New York Times faced a wave of backlash for a story that referred to biological females as &#8220;non-transgender women.&#8221;
The story in question, titled &#8220;How a Women’s College Volleyball Team Became the Center of the Transgender Athlete Debate,&#8221; explored the explosion of protests and forfeitures surrounding San Jose State University and the school&#8217;s star player — a trans-identifying male.
When addressing the issue of eligibility for trans-identifying players under the NCAA&#8217;s rules, the NYT <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/us/trans-volleyball-san-jose-state.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published the following</a>:
<blockquote>On its website, <a class="css-yywogo" title="" href="https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/inclusion/lgbtq/SSI_TransgenderSADeadlinesAndThresholdsFall.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the N.C.A.A. says</a> trans volleyball players are eligible to play if their testosterone level is less than 10 nanomoles per liter — that’s at least four times more than what many experts say is the top of the range for non-transgender women, and in the typical range for adult men.</blockquote>
As the article itself notes, the <a href="https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/tests/testosterone#:~:text=Normal%20Results&amp;text=Male%3A%20300%20to%201%2C000%20nanograms,per%20liter%20(nmol%2FL)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">normal testosterone level</a> for an adult male — which would then decrease with age — is 10-35 nanomoles per liter. And that alone could be cause for argument that a trans-identifying player still has a biological advantage over female players.
But after being referred to as &#8220;cis&#8221; women, &#8220;birthing persons,&#8221; and &#8220;menstruators,&#8221; it was the NYT&#8217;s phrasing that got the attention of their critics.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1732727087136000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Ao27zcTCGutKhTz_xpaKC">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
&#8220;Hey @nytimes. Don’t call us ‘non-transgender women.’ Just stop it. Stop all the offensive terms for us: birthing parent; uterus haver; menstruator; vaginal presenting (from the Olympus spa hearing). We are WOMEN!&#8221; Women Are Real posted via X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>
Don’t call us ‘non-transgender women.’
Just stop it
Stop all the offensive terms for us
❌birthing parent ❌uterus haver ❌menstruator ❌vaginal presenting (from the Olympus spa hearing)
We are WOMEN! <a href="https://t.co/YpMxDXm5cD">pic.twitter.com/YpMxDXm5cD</a>
&mdash; WomenAreReal (@WomenAreReals) <a href="https://twitter.com/WomenAreReals/status/1862367939716161669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;NYT — you stink. We are women, not NOT TRANSGENDER WOMEN. Just WOMEN will do in the future,&#8221; tennis legend Martina Navratilova added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NYT- you stink. We are women, not NOT TRANSGENDER WOMEN. Just WOMEN will do in the future. <a href="https://t.co/xJZNJvS6O1">https://t.co/xJZNJvS6O1</a>
&mdash; Martina Navratilova (@Martina) <a href="https://twitter.com/Martina/status/1862509934375538860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;WOW — A NEW LOW FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES. Referring to Women now as &#8216;Non-Transgender Women.&#8217; This othering is typical of a liberal rag like this. Another once proud publication has been completely captured by the woke ideology,&#8221; another posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WOW 🚨 A NEW LOW FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
Referring to Women now as &quot;Non-Transgender Women&quot;
&#8211; This othering is typical of a liberal rag like this &#8211; Another once proud publication has been completely captured by the woke ideology<a href="https://twitter.com/JulietMacur?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JulietMacur</a> what were you thinking? <a href="https://t.co/jXdSBe9BOQ">pic.twitter.com/jXdSBe9BOQ</a>
&mdash; Basil the Great (@Basil_TGMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/Basil_TGMD/status/1862548090856587419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

‘NYT — You Stink!’: Paper Blasted For Reducing Biological Females To ‘Non-Transgender Women’

'NYT — You Stink!': Paper Blasted For Reducing Biological Females To 'Non-Transgender Women'

Women

Democrats still seem quite troubled about what went wrong in the 2024 election. They keep offering various reasons for the loss. Their reasons range from the failure of the meritocracy, according to David Brooks, to the utter disconnect of the American people involving racism, sexism, bigotry, and homophobia — all of it.
Well, the latest explanation comes courtesy of Kamala Harris&#8217; advisers. According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/why-harris-lost-democrats-lessons/">The Washington Post:</a>
<blockquote>Senior officials with Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign say her defeat stemmed primarily from dissatisfaction among voters about the overall direction of the country and discontent over inflation and the economy, arguing that those headwinds proved too strong for Harris to overcome in her sprint to Election Day.</blockquote>
This is a very convenient explanation for Democrats, because it means they don&#8217;t have to change anything. All of this feels like whistling past the political graveyard. It is a refusal to deal with the underlying factors that led to the Democrats getting shellacked across the country.
Well, now we’re getting this same sort of sense from the so-called “resistance.” There&#8217;s a lengthy article in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/us/trump-womens-march-protests-activism.html?searchResultPosition=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> discussing Trump&#8217;s resistance encountering fatigue. It turns out that all of the ladies who protested during the first Trump administration are a little frustrated because they&#8217;re not quite sure what to do.
According to The New York Times:
<blockquote>The first Trump presidency spawned the largest protests the country had seen in half a century.
But not everyone wants to participate in another four years of mass movement work. When Women’s March shared information about an upcoming rally on Instagram, one person responded, “No im tired, yall have fun though.” (Women’s March later hid some of the pushback and limited who could respond to a handful of posts.)
On TikTok, plans for the march were met with memes of women saying, “Get somebody else to do it.” “This is an opportunity for a national brunch day for the 93 percent,” said one user, referring to the 93 percent of Black women who exit polls suggested had voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Others questioned whether the previous protests had resulted in substantial concessions.</blockquote>
So they&#8217;re realizing that their protest movements have accomplished nothing. But what they refuse to recognize is the reason why those protest movements are accomplishing nothing.
Maybe it&#8217;s because there was at least the patina of legitimacy to many of the causes people were protesting back in the 1960s and 1980s.
And now, as it turns out, the causes they&#8217;re backing are just bad.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2091-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
And this brings us to the controversy of the day.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) has now sponsored a resolution on the floor of the House that is going to be implemented. It suggests that women should be able to use their bathrooms without men with penises in those same bathrooms. 
This seems perfectly legitimate. In fact, this is relatively non-controversial in the regular world. And these transgender bathroom rules are perfectly obvious. There&#8217;s nothing particularly shocking about them. A man should use the men&#8217;s bathroom and a woman should use the women&#8217;s bathroom. Apparently, according to the Left, this is very bad. How dare Nancy Mace. How dare she? 
Mace appeared on Scripps News and during the interview the anchor kept insisting to Mace that she was barring a woman from using the bathrooms, to which Mace responded, “No.” Sarah McBride is a dude whose name was Tim McBride and still has all of the male appendages. In her <a href="https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/congress/rep-nancy-mace-tells-scripps-news-new-bills-would-limit-bathroom-use-for-transgender-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with Scripps News</a> Mace says a true thing, but an offensively true thing:
<blockquote>Scripps: I just want to add that the congresswoman-elect does identify as a woman. I will be…
Mace: She&#8217;s not a woman. It&#8217;s a man. She was born a man. She&#8217;s a man. She is biologically a male. That is science. You guys on the Left in the mainstream media want to say, “follow the science.” Let&#8217;s follow the science. Okay. He is a man. He can wear a dress. He can call himself, his pronouns can be she or her. But he doesn&#8217;t belong in a women&#8217;s restroom, period.</blockquote>
Again, according to the polling data, most Americans agree with this. This is not a controversial proposition, but the Left can&#8217;t let go of it.
For example, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1859047222895407475">suggested</a> the real problem is Mace and company, of course:
<blockquote>This is what we&#8217;re doing. This is the lesson that you&#8217;ve drawn from the election in November. This is your priority. If you want to bully a member of Congress as opposed to welcoming her to join this body so that all of us can work together.</blockquote>
The priorities are truth and protection of women. One of the most annoying things about Democratic policy on this particular proposition is that they do something totally abnormal and out of the boundaries of decent human behavior — then, they question when people bring it up.
For his part, Speaker Johnson has put out a <a href="https://mikejohnson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1484">statement</a> saying,
<blockquote>All single sex facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings such as restrooms, changing rooms and locker rooms are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.</blockquote>
It&#8217;s also important to note each member’s office has its own private restroom. Unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol. Women deserve women&#8217;s only spaces. Again, perfectly reasonable. There are alternative solutions. 
Despite many of his heterodox positions with his party, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is still a progressive. He <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1859316484029259986" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> out, 
<blockquote>There’s no job I’m afraid to lose if it requires me to degrade anyone. If that’s a defining issue for a voter, there will be a different candidate. We have a bathroom in my office that anybody is welcome to use, including Representative-elect Sarah McBride.</blockquote>
I&#8217;m glad that you want Sarah McBride to use your bathroom. That&#8217;s your choice, senator. Also, you don&#8217;t get to decide whether women ought to have men in their bathroom.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a></h3>
Why does all this matter? Because the reason Democrats lost is the cultural disconnect that the people on the coasts and the Democratic elite have with the rest of America. These are noncontroversial propositions that are made controversial by the Democratic Party.
That is what is happening. And these are belief systems that are held so deeply that even the most elite people in the Democratic Party — people who face no discrimination in America — are now treating the election of Donald Trump and the restoration of some form of normality as a grave threat to them.

Newly Reelected House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) Holds News Conference After House Democrats’ Leadership Elections

The Democrats’ Future Swirls The Toilet

Bathrooms

Democratic Party

Democrats

Hakeem Jeffries

John Fetterman

Nancy Mace

Washington Post

An illegal immigrant from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/venezuela" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Venezuela</a> was convicted on Wednesday for the brutal murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, but a number of major media outlets left one key word — &#8220;illegal&#8221; — out of their coverage of the verdict.
After the defense opted for a bench trial rather than a jury trial, Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Jose Ibarra, 26, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-jose-ibarra-found-guilty-of-killing-georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guilty on all ten counts</a> including &#8220;malice murder.&#8221; But despite the fact that Ibarra&#8217;s immigration status — he entered the country illegally in 2022 — is well known, it was left out of a number of reports.
John Hasson shared screenshots from The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and The New York Times where Ibarra was referred to as a &#8220;Venezuelan national,&#8221; a &#8220;man,&#8221; and a &#8220;Venezuelan migrant&#8221; respectively.
&#8220;[They] all refuse to describe Laken Riley&#8217;s murderer as an illegal immigrant,&#8221; Hasson noted. &#8220;Simply infuriating.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@washingtonpost</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AP</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a> all refuse to describe Laken Riley’s murderer as an illegal immigrant
Instead he’s a
“Venezuelan national” “Man” “Venezuelan migrant”
Simply infuriating <a href="https://t.co/V0l3s2o5bn">pic.twitter.com/V0l3s2o5bn</a>
&mdash; John Hasson (@SonofHas) <a href="https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1859282503359479845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
From The Washington Post: &#8220;Breaking news: Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra was found guilty of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student. Ibarra was found guilty on all charges, including the most serious counts of malice murder and felony murder.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Breaking news: Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra was found guilty of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student. Ibarra was found guilty on all charges, including the most serious counts of malice murder and felony murder. <a href="https://t.co/vGDKUBvbhE">https://t.co/vGDKUBvbhE</a>
&mdash; The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1859275424104071278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a follow-up post, the outlet raised the point that Riley&#8217;s death had sparked a national argument about illegal immigration — particularly under President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration — but did not go so far as to accurately label Ibarra an illegal immigrant.
&#8220;A Venezuelan national was found guilty of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student whose February killing inflamed the immigration debate that became a central theme of this year’s presidential election,&#8221; the second post read.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A Venezuelan national was found guilty of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student whose February killing inflamed the immigration debate that became a central theme of this year’s presidential election. <a href="https://t.co/bugNgkLPwb">https://t.co/bugNgkLPwb</a>
&mdash; The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1859293398257074256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Associated Press also noted that the case had sparked debate over illegal immigration, but gave no indication as to how that was connected to &#8220;a man&#8221; being convicted for Riley&#8217;s murder.
&#8220;BREAKING: A man was convicted of murder in the killing of Georgia student Laken Riley, a case that fueled the national immigration debate,&#8221; the post read.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: A man was convicted of murder in the killing of Georgia student Laken Riley, a case that fueled the national immigration debate. <a href="https://t.co/p9qySbVcjy">https://t.co/p9qySbVcjy</a>
&mdash; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1859273852552945862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The New York Times offered a similarly-disconnected framing, posting, &#8220;Breaking News: A Venezuelan migrant was convicted of murdering Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student whose killing became a flashpoint in the immigration debate.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Breaking News: A Venezuelan migrant was convicted of murdering Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student whose killing became a flashpoint in the immigration debate. <a href="https://t.co/PJTai04HZw">https://t.co/PJTai04HZw</a>
&mdash; The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1859278483395948902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The push to hide Ibarra&#8217;s immigration status is nothing new — even President Biden was forced to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-apologizes-for-calling-alleged-laken-riley-murderer-an-illegal-they-built-the-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">walk it back</a> after he told the truth during his 2024 State of the Union Address. In an interview shortly after the address — during which he also mispronounced Riley&#8217;s name — Biden said he regretted calling Ibarra &#8220;illegal.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨📷 Joe Biden says he regrets calling Laken Riley&#39;s murderer an &quot;illegal.&quot; Joe Biden cares more about criminal aliens than American citizens. <a href="https://t.co/B8qdZek632">pic.twitter.com/B8qdZek632</a>
&mdash; MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/MAGAIncWarRoom/status/1766581481692954676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP

Laken Riley’s Killer Is Convicted, But Media Must Protect The Narrative

Laken Riley's Killer Is Convicted, But Media Must Protect The Narrative

Associated Press

illegal immigrant

Laken Riley

We have talked a lot over the years about the decline in the birthrate and the rapidly increasing number of young adults who are refusing to get married and have children. As much as we’ve discussed the subject, we still have not discussed it enough. It is one of the great crises facing our civilization at the present moment. When a society gives up on having children, it has given up on its future, given up on itself.
Of course, plenty of people are still having children. We haven’t entered full on &#8220;Children of Men&#8221; territory quite yet. Our population is still growing, just as the population of the world is still growing. But that growth is slowing. And we have long since crossed the crucial threshold where our fertility rate is now below replacement level. We are no longer having enough babies to replace older people as they die off. As a consequence, our population itself grows older and more top heavy. All kinds of complications follow form this, and those complications quickly turn into catastrophes. 
We have discussed many aspects of this problem. But it’s a problem so deep and all-encompassing that there are always going to be new dimensions to explore. A few days ago, the New York Times, engaging in another random act of journalism (as Rush Limbaugh used to call it), published a piece homing in on a facet of the birth rate decline that, until now, hadn’t gotten much press, if any at all. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/well/family/grandparent-grandchild-childfree.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article is titled</a>: “The Unspoken Grief of Never Becoming a Grandparent.” The piece, by Catherine Pearson, has gotten a decidedly mixed reaction. Some people — myself included — found it to be a profoundly sad yet very empathetic and very interesting look at a group of people who are suffering in a unique way from our society’s plummeting birth rate. But other people were angry and offended, for reasons we’ll talk about in a moment. 
First let’s read a bit of this: 
<blockquote>“Lydia Birk, 56, has held on to her favorite copy of “The Velveteen Rabbit” since her three children — now in their 20s and 30s — were young. 
She loved being a stay-at-home mother, and filled her family’s home with books. (All of her children could read before they started school, Ms. Birk recalled with pride.) She hoped one day to be a “cool” grandma who would share her favorite stories with a new generation. 
But none of her children want to have kids. And though that decision is “right for them,” Ms. Birk said, it still breaks her heart. “I don’t have young children anymore, and now I’m not going to have grandchildren,” she said. “So that part of my life is just over.” 
Like Ms. Birk, a growing number of Gen Xers and baby boomers are facing the sometimes painful fact that they are never going to become grandparents. A little more than half of adults 50 and older had at least one grandchild in 2021, down from nearly 60 percent in 2014. Amid <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/health/fertility-births-vance.html">falling birthrates</a>, more U.S. adults say they’re <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/well/mind/child-free-adults-pew-study.html">unlikely to ever have children</a> for a variety of reasons, chief among them: They just don’t want to.”</blockquote>
The article continues with more anecdotes along these lines. I won’t post them all here. But you should read them for yourself. They’re quite sad. And quite illuminating. There are many older people these days with children who swear they will never have children of their own. The reasons they give for remaining childless are all very similar. They point to the economy, the state of the world, climate change, and so on. None of them feel they have any obligation to have kids and carry on the family name and the bloodline. They are thinking only about themselves and what would make them most comfortable. And they’ve decided that they are most comfortable being childless and alone. Their parents will just have to deal with the loneliness and grief. That’s the general attitude.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1486-the-matt-walsh-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
It’s also the attitude of many commenters on this article. There’s plenty of sympathy for the would-be grandparents. But there’s also a lot of this sort of thing: 
<blockquote>Boo hoo.  Get over yourself.  I chose not to have children.  That is/was my choice, which was clear from day one with my spouse.  He married me on those terms.  I am not responsible for my parents&#8217; happiness, they are.  They tried to guilt me into it during the first few years I was married but eventually gave up.  It was never their choice to make.</blockquote>
A similar message in this comment: 
<blockquote>I feel it is extremely self centered of any person who expects others to make decisions that will make them happy. Too many parents try to live their lives vicariously through their children. Children do not owe their parents everything. Besides, many of us were forced to babysit our younger siblings. I had 18 years of watching my 3 younger siblings AND having to work in my mother&#8217;s day care center! My God, if I had had my own children I would have ended up spending my entire life raising children. My purpose in life is not to watch/raise children. With the recent parental theory/practice of making the oldest child the &#8216;third parent&#8217; (making them help raise their younger siblings) you can expect that more people will reject parenthood when they become adults.</blockquote>
I have to clarify one thing here. It is a not a “recent theory” that older children should help care for their younger siblings. This is in fact how all human societies have worked since the dawn of our species. This commenter is suggesting that “more people” are rejecting parenthood because they were raised in the same way that billions of humans have been raised since time immemorial. This is a common theme. People with absolutely no understanding of human history have decided that the challenges they have faced are utterly unprecedented, when in fact they haven’t dealt with a single thing that billions of other people haven’t also dealt with. And those billions of people had families in spite of it.
In any case, this article also went viral on X. The commentary there was very similar. 
A couple of examples: 
<blockquote>Unspoken? my parents never shut the f up about wanting grandkids. dont f up the economy for your children and then get surprised when they can&#8217;t afford kids.</blockquote>
Another one says: 
<blockquote>These grandparents should have built enough generational wealth so their kids would feel financially secure enough to start a family. &#8220;The unspoken grief of not being a trustfund nepobaby who can easily support a family.”</blockquote>
Obviously we hear this excuse constantly. We’re told that people aren’t having kids today because “the economy” makes it impossible. This person blames the brith rate decline on a lack of “generational wealth.” Let me reiterate a point I made on Twitter/X, which seems to have upset a lot of people. Now I’ll upset them again. The economy is not preventing anyone from starting a family or having children. I am not denying that the economy is in poor shape at the moment. But that is not a good reason for a society to give up on the family. If anything, it’s all the more reason not to give up.
You don’t need “generational wealth” to start a family. I didn’t have any generational wealth when I started mine. Many of you are familiar with my story. I was broke when I got married. The economy wasn’t exactly humming at the time either. We were just climbing out of the Great Recession. I was living in an apartment on a meager salary. So broke that I frequently had to pay for gas with the spare change in the cupholder in my car. We weren’t in much better shape when we had our first two kids. We didn’t buy our first house until we already had three kids. You do not need to be rich to start a family. You do not need to come from a rich family. You do not need a strong economy. Economies ebb and flow. They go up and they go down. If you ever have kids, it is guaranteed that you will have kids during a weak economy. It may be strong now, but you’ll still be a parent ten years from now when it dips again. It may be weak now, but you’ll be a parent ten years from now when it’s stronger. This is how economies work.
It’s why you can’t wait around for the economy to permit you to move on with your life and do the things that you are meant to do as a human being.
I share my own story as an example because it’s my story, but because I want you to know that I’ve actually done the thing I’m advocating for. But of course even at my brokest point I was still &#8220;rich&#8221; compared to the vast majority of humans who have ever lived on Earth. You, right now, no matter what your financial situation, are richer than almost everyone who has ever lived. People with fewer resources than you have been reproducing since the beginning of human civilization. Literally billions of people have done the thing that we are now told can&#8217;t be done unless you have $100,000 in savings. If people had this attitude in the past, the human species wouldn&#8217;t exist anymore.
So, you can’t afford to start a family? How can that be? How can it be that you can’t afford it, and yet billions of people have afforded it with less? How is it that you &#8220;can&#8217;t&#8221; do something that has been done under more difficult circumstance billions of times? I am often told by younger people that the situation now is just too difficult, everything is too expensive, I just don’t understand, I can’t relate. It’s like they think the history of the world started 45 minutes ago. If you think the challenges you face today are so unprecedented that they mean we should stop reproducing as a species then you simply have no understanding of world history. You don’t know what the world was like. You don’t know what your ancestors had to deal with. You don’t even know what people ten years older than you had to deal with.
People have been through recessions, depressions, famines, wars, catastrophes of all kinds. And they continued having children. They continued building families. Sure, fertility rates have gone up and down over the years and decades. But there has never been a time when mass amounts of young adults have simply sworn off parenthood altogether. That has never happened until now. 
Do you really think you face greater hurdles than your great great grandparents did during the Great Depression? Do you really think it’s harder to have a family now than it was when the Black Death was wiping out a third of the population of Europe? Yes, these days young families may struggle to buy a starter home. I did, too, in my early 20s. If there was ever a time when it was easy for someone in their 20s to afford a nice home, that time lasted for like 30 seconds 40 years ago. It was never like that before, and hasn’t been like it since. Get over it. Most people in the history of Earth could never dream of living in any kind of home at all. In fact, for most people who’ve ever lived, the greatest challenge in starting a family was that half of their kids wouldn’t live past infancy. And yet they still started families. They still forged on.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
The truth is the economy isn’t stopping anyone from having kids. It’s not that they can’t afford it. It’s that they don’t want to make the sacrifices it requires. They’d have to give up a certain measure of comfort in order to start a family, and they don’t want to do that. For most of the people who say they can’t afford kids, that’s what they mean. That’s how we can end up in a situation where someone “Can’t afford kids” even though they are wealthier and more comfortable than billions of people who somehow could afford kids. 
What they really mean to say is they can’t afford the same level of luxury and comfort while also having kids. This is not a matter of affordability. It’s a matter of priority. A lot of people today prioritize their own pleasure and enjoyment over anything and everything else. 
The irony, of course, is they so often end up with far less pleasure and enjoyment than people who don’t prioritize it. The truth is you can start a family and have kids and then down the line end up far richer than you were when you were childless. I’m a testament to that. Millions of other examples are available. But one of the most basic realities of life is that if you want more, you have to be willing to risk what you already have. You have to put your chips on the table. If you won’t do that, you’ll be stuck in exactly the spot you’re in right now forever. Until eventually you lose that too. 
That brings me to the final point I want to make. We heard those responses to the New York Times article from people who insisted, quite indignantly, that they don’t owe it to anyone to have kids. But actually, you kind of do. Nobody will tell you this. 
Nobody will talk about the obligation to start a family. The idea that any of us have any obligations at all is of course anathema to the modern mind. We are deeply distressed by the thought that we owe anything to anyone, ever. But you can be distressed all you want. I’ll say what no one else will say to you: You do actually owe it. You have a duty. There are exceptions. Some people are called to a life of service apart from biological parenthood. Some people simply can’t have kids. There are other vocations human beings can have. But most of us are called to start families. And for those of us who are called, we do owe it, we do have a debt to pay.
Your ancestors suffered and bled and died to build the civilization you live in now, and give you all of the comforts and luxuries you take for granted. They lived lives that were, by our standards, brutal and short and impoverished. They built their lives by hand, from scratch. They built this civilization from scratch. You think you can’t afford children. You have a grandfather not all that far back in your lineage who built a one bedroom cabin by hand and shared it with your grandmother and 8 kids, one of whom gave birth to the person who gave birth to the person who gave birth to you. You experience more comfort and luxury in a single day then that man did in his entire life. His life would have been easier if he never had kids. But he had them, because he wanted you to exist. He was actually thinking 100 years into the future — 200 years, 300 years. You come from a long line of people who actually cared about what the world would look like in the distant future, even as you only care about what you’re going to have for lunch this afternoon.
You don’t have just one grandfather like that. Your bloodline was carried on through the centuries by men and women of this type. They carried your family name and your lineage and your history and everything that makes you, you — they carried it on their backs, and suffered for its sake. And now after all of that, after those thousands of years of struggle and strife just to bring you into this world, you’re going to shrug your shoulders and refuse to continue. They ran marathons, handed you the baton, and you’re going to just sit down in a lawn chair and say, “Sorry, you all wasted your efforts. The race ends here. I don’t feel like running.” You’re going to wipe out your lineage and bloodline just so that you have more time to watch Netflix? Thousands of years of toil end with you, by your own choice, because you just can’t be bothered. That is a failure of historic proportions. It is a failure to live up to your obligation. Because yes you have an obligation to the people who built this world — you have an obligation to continue what they built.
I’m not saying this is the most compelling argument. To a lot of people these days, the idea that they should have any respect for their ancestors, much less that have any obligations to them, is totally foreign. I realize that. We are a culture severed from its own past, living a perpetual state of now, as though the past never happened and the future will never happen. That’s how you end up with people who act as though they’re facing unprecedented financial hardships because they can’t afford to buy a three bedroom house at the age of 23. I understand all of that. But what I’m saying is still true, all the same.
So if your parents are sad that you aren’t giving them any grandchildren, this is why. They have every right to be sad. They are mourning not only their own loneliness, but also the fact that you are choosing to squander ten thousand years of work. They are mourning the extinction of their bloodline. And they are wondering what the point of any of this ever was, if it all ends like this, it all ends with you, for no good reason.

Menu