Seriously. J.D. Vance should be asked by journalists what I raised in the title of this. If they won’t do it then Democrats sure as hell should. And one Democrat in particular who happens to be President of the United States and is a lifelong Catholic. I don’t know how many priests and nuns there are in the U.S. but it has to be in the tens of thousands. Let’s talk about why Republican VP nominees comments about “cat ladies” and childless people in general matters. And the impact it will have with a huge bloc of voters. I’m surprised that so far no one has pointed out Vance might have opened a gaping wound in the ability of Trump (and him) and other Republicans to win the Catholic vote!
I’m sure you’re aware of Vance’s disparaging comment about childless cat ladies with no children. He didn’t really try to clean it up at first. Oh, he said he was being sarcastic and had nothing against cats (except maybe what they can do with their claws to couches – for the record that supposed comment from his book has been debunked) but he went on to in effect double down. The whole since they (and others) don’t have kids they don’t have a real stake in this country and should be ignored. Well, it turns out there is plenty more of that kind of talk going back years! There are plenty of fresh stories today but I thought I’d provide a link to one from Forbes. Why? Because no one can accuse Forbes Magazine of being some ‘liberal rag.’ It cites multiple instances going back to 2019. That one was a doozy:
In one of his earliest known statements on the topic in a 2019 speech, Vance said he’s seen positive changes in people after having children, adding “we should care about declining fertility, not just because it’s bad for our economy, but because . . . we think babies are good because we’re not sociopaths,” he told an audience at a gala for The American Conservative magazine, according to a YouTube clip cited by CNN
You can check out the link to see more examples but I want to get to the heart of why I’m writing this. When it comes to priests and nuns some are very conservative and even vocal about it. Some are actually pretty progressive although they have to be careful about how much they express it, at least publicly. Most I think fall in a very wide middle range of the the conservative/progressive thing. However as I said we aren’t talking about a huge number of people, childless people let me remind you. The number of priests and nuns is only in the tens of thousands, but the number of adult Catholics who can VOTE number into the tens of millions. Over sixty million in fact. Not all are old enough to vote but if you look at this link to Pew Research Center some interesting data shows up.
For example at 20 percent Catholics make up the largest percentage of any Christian denomination in this country. Also, most are white (57%) but a third are Hispanic (33%) which is important. Because when it comes to politics 52 percent of registered Catholic voters are or lean Republican. For Hispanics 44 percent affiliate with Democrats. In 2020 Catholics were evenly divided in their voting. What about abortion you ask? About 60 percent say abortion should be legal, despite what church doctrine says. This is going to be a crucial voting bloc so I encourage you to bookmark the link to Pew.
The point though is that regardless of political leanings or views on ‘culture war’ stuff Catholics are united on one thing. Admiration for the priests and nuns in their own parish and elsewhere. These are people who might well have at one time thought about marriage and children but their vocation was strong enough they set those things aside to serve the church and parishioners. They are admired. Respected. Quite often beloved even. They are LEADERS, who have devoted their lives to saving souls and service to the church and their communities.
Somehow I don’t believe that when they think about Vance’s views on childless people, that they don’t have a stake in things, that they have no business being leaders virtually every Catholic will think of priests and nuns they’ve known and strongly disagree In fact, I think millions, if not tens of millions of them will be downright offended at the thought Vance thinks their priests and nuns aren’t fully invested in this country!
Yep. I think the mess Vance has made might be larger than people realize. Frankly I’m disgusted I have yet to see a major news outlet address this. And, more important question Vance about it. I fear they won’t. Or if they do it will be a bit of “quick mention and move on” reporting. So again I say if journalists, and even Democratic leaders won’t the WE should. Both on social media and in person. Even if you’re not Catholic you almost certainly know people who are. Ask priests and nuns directly what they think of Vance and his views on the worth of childless people which of course includes THEM. Or press your friends who are Catholic to ask, and not just to their priests and nuns but others in their parish.
As I said from the seriously conservative to the seriously liberal and all that huge in between one thing Catholics will agree on is that priests and nuns might be childless, but they sure as hell aren’t second class, or living unfulfilled lives, or have no business being in positions of leadership. At some point even conservative people who identify as Christian will get tired of holding their noses and overlooking all Trump’s obvious and well known flaws to say “No more. Even if I can’t bring myself to vote for a Democrat I simply can’t vote for Trump again” Vance might well have given them the final push to abandon Trump and as I keep saying a third Party or write in vote or simply leaving the Presidential race blank is enough for our purposes.
We just have to make sure they make the connection between Vance’s toxic views and their own priests and nuns. Get to work folks!
I agree with you Denis, I was actually brought up Roman Catholic, I got over it a long time ago. But there were 2, a priest and a nun, that I actually admired. And they were leaders there.
What he’s really saying is that The Pope isn’t really a leader and shouldn’t be listened to.
But that he, JD, should be?
Yeah. Right.
Well, he’s a Southern Baptist or at least is one now since that’s the religion of Trumpies. As such the Pope ain’t jack-sh*t as far as he’s concerned. If some journalist had the guts to confront him the way I’d like it’s possible he might actually disparage the Pope. And again, that will piss off Catholics from the most conservative to the most progressive and everywhere in between. Oh how I wish. I’m thinking of a variation of ‘Oh Please’ based on this Far Side cartoon:
“(except maybe what they can do with their claws to couches – for the record that supposed comment from his book has been debunked)”
Who cares if it’s been “debunked?” I say that I hope it lives on till Vance is on death’s door the same way that the FULLY DEBUNKED story about Al Gore “inventing the internet” continues to live on. You ask pretty much anybody their answer to “Did Al Gore say he invented the internet?” and most will say, “Yes, he did” when the truth (which has been out there for a quarter of a century, being widely ignored) is “No, he did not.”
I agree. Vance will never live this couch f**ker thing down. Screw the bills for Brain Bleach. It’s just too funny to let go of. You know the old saying about not being able to prove a negative? Well, while the original claim was he wrote it in his book has in fact been debunked, who’s to say he didn’t actually have a go with grandmaw’s couch? That’s a whole new set of memes to taunt Vance with. Can he PROVE he’s never humped a couch? No, this is not going to die down anytime soon. And will never go away. Sure, it will fade but someone can crack a joke at Vance’s expense and it will ALL come flooding back to people! All his money can’t prevent that.
If the worst happens, and somehow the goon squad (those who survive) manage to take me alive if I’m able to speak my last words might well be “At least I didn’t f**k a couch like Vance did!”
Having fathered children didn’t seem to do anything to tRump’s character or personality. Riddle me that, JD!
Trump hasn’t fathered a single child. He’s sperm-donored children but that’s a far cry from being a father, much less a “dad.” As for Vance, I don’t know how involved he’s been with his own kids, I think they’re pretty young but he and his wife had enough wealth to afford nannies and servants too. Interestingly, Trump’s spawn have had mothers who seem to have actually invested at least some effort into raising them. Trophy Wives #1 and 2 tried to steer them clear of the Trump Org but even Tiffany, who’s mom Marla Maples who seems to have put the most into raising her only child and worked hard to keep her daughter at arm’s length ultimately failed. The lure of a make-work job with a fabulous salary and perks from their sperm donor was too much to resist. It seemed Marla’s heartbreak was genuine when Tiffany chose the easy route instead of pursuing what would have been a lucrative career at a high end DC white collar law firm. I used to feel sorry for her but recently she’s decided to jump on board the Trump Train herself so when it all comes crashing down I’ll feel no more sympathy for her than I will for Tiffany who truly did have an “out” – a chance to live a live almost frre of Trump World. Maybe Marla wanted some extra cash and lilke Melania got herself a fee for advocating for Trump all of a sudden. It would be funny if she didn’t get payment up front because if she didn’t she’lll never see a dime!
The problem with this (and most other commentaries) that assume far-right, religiously motivated Trump voters will ever reach a point of “no return” is that it assumes facts and truth have any influence over their behavior.
These people are solely motivated by belief, not knowledge. And saying “God told me so” obviates the need for any soul searching or other reflection, not just on an issue by issue basis, but for EVERYTHING.
Christian nationalism is a complete repudiation of every ounce of the progress humanity has made in analyzing and choosing actions based on rational thought and fact-based decision making. Asking one of its adherents to even consider regular (not revealed) “truth” in any decision making EVER is delusional.
The two camps simply don’t speak the same language and never will. One side thinks, the other believes. Two ships in the night, unfortunately. And it’s never going to change, which means those of us raised in the traditions of modern thought will either win or lose, not because we won’t offer some sort of compromise (we already have) but because the others simply can’t. After all, their God told them not to!
I guess Vance won’t be leading any seminars on how to win friends and influence people.
Does anyone know what religion, other than the religion of hatred, hillbilly boy belongs to? I happen to know, having had the grave misfortune of living in the south for years, that southern baptists/evangs consider catholicism to be the harlot of one of their little fairy tale books they call the bible. Many con xtians also want very little to do with mormons. As someone not xtian, I can’t tell the difference between you all but apparently you all can?
No matter. If he doesn’t belong to the church of rome, he probably thinks poorly of catholic leadership, priests, and nuns. yes, the evangs/s.b.c. did make common cause with the kook portion of catholicism over abortion but that’s about it.