{"id":5368,"date":"2022-02-23T20:35:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T01:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5368"},"modified":"2022-02-27T08:45:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T13:45:11","slug":"for-the-votes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/","title":{"rendered":"For the Votes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is one of the Republicans who would, \u201cRun for President: IF\u2026\u201d. IF Donald Trump decides not to run in 2024. Abbott has to be prepared, to, like his rival in Florida, Ron DeSantis, step into the \u201cbreach\u201d should Trump decide to opt out. Stepping into that breach means that Trump voters, the ultimate controlling authority in today\u2019s Republican Party, will turn to Him as the heir to the Trumpian legacy. And to get that done, both Abbott and DeSantis need to have a record of Trump-like pronouncements and achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis has \u201cmade his bones\u201d in the anti-Covid, anti-vaxxer, anti-masker world.\u00a0\u00a0He is leading the state of Florida in \u201cpersonal FREEDOM\u201d (please see Mel Gibson with blue face paint and a kilt every time you hear that expression).\u00a0\u00a0That his leadership has cost Florida, the retirement state, thousands of lives isn\u2019t really important.\u00a0\u00a0DeSantis has found his niche in the Trumpian world.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s even out \u201canti-vaxxed\u201d the former President himself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And he\u2019s made a healthy political profit in the process, \u201canti-vax\u201d but absolutely pro-monoclonal antibodies.\u00a0\u00a0Florida was the state with drive-thru antibody treatment tents.\u00a0\u00a0After all, the producer of that Covid drug therapy is a leading contributor to the DeSantis war chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compassion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So Abbott needs an issue to stand out in his own way.  And while Texas has made a great performance of tightening their voter laws without evidence of voting corruption, it hasn\u2019t really made the impact he\u2019d like.  Add to that the fact that Texas, with the longest Mexican border in the nation, hasn\u2019t managed to build a wall, or make that traditional Trump talking point into a positive \u201cAbbott\u201d position.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s one thing you may not know about Greg Abbott.  The sixty-four year old man is confined to a wheelchair, the result of a freak accident.  While he was practicing law at thirty-one, the former high school track athlete took a break and went out for a jog.  A large oak tree splintered as he went by, and fell on him.  It shattered his spine and made him a paraplegic.  His own website<\/a> tells the story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he lay in a hospital bed, throttled with incomprehensible pain, doctors worked to piece his vertebrae back together. They inserted two steel rods near his spine, which will remain there for the rest of his life. During his harrowing recovery process, Governor Abbott was reminded of lessons he\u2019d learned all his life, especially the lesson of perseverance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last politician in a wheel chair with Presidential aspirations was Franklin Roosevelt. It is said that being paralyzed (Roosevelt as an adult from polio) taught him to be more sensitive, more compassionate, and more aware of disabilities and the unanticipated differences that change lives. Abbott may have learned perseverance from his tragic injury. But, at least on one issue, Abbott is demonstrating his complete lack of compassion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Issue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The science of gender has made enormous strides in the past decades. Science now knows that \u201cgender\u201d, male or female, is more than just genitalia and X\/Y chromosomes. Gender is determined by the brain as well as the body, and we now recognize the reality of someone with the body of one gender, may have the brain of the other. Even more, that difficult realization comes early in life, often in childhood, and is a significant cause of childhood depression and even suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experts, the doctors, biologists and psychologists; all recognize this is a valid medical and psychological condition.  But it goes against the \u201cgrain\u201d of traditional American (and particularly) fundamentalist Christian views.  As one of my acquaintances wrote on a Facebook post, \u201cMarty Dahlman, it\u2019s not my biological (view), it\u2019s God\u2019s!<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents struggle to help their child who realize they are transgendered.  For those who recognize it early, support for the child can help them avoid the depression and self-destructive behavior that can come from societal condemnation.  And for those who are firmly transgendered, adolescence is a tortuous time.  It\u2019s when the body defines itself, regardless of the brain.  A transgendered boy is betrayed by his own anatomy, developing into a female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal medical practice prevents surgical interventions until adulthood.  But those children can be given drugs that block one side of sexual development, and encourage the other.  It can allow a \u201cboy\u201d to live as a boy, and a \u201cgirl\u201d to live as a girl, regardless of their birth gender.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bully Pulpit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But Greg Abbott is trying to put an end to that in Texas. And he\u2019s found a \u201cbully pulpit\u201d attacking trans kids. He wants to declare the practice of prescribing those medications as \u201cchild abuse\u201d, and require designated reporters, those who by law are required to report to law enforcement possible child abuse, to \u201cout\u201d those children who might be receiving those drugs. Parents and doctors could end up fined or in jail.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbott says he is doing this to \u201cprotect\u201d youth.   There are approximately 2.5 million 12 to 18 year-olds in Texas (Kidscount<\/a>).  In the United States, approximately 0.7% identify as transgender (Williams<\/a>).  So out of the millions of teenagers in Texas, maybe 17,500 identify as transgendered.  Most are not treated by puberty-blocking drugs, which means that Governor Abbott is making headlines as the expense of less than a thousand children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbott, like DeSantis, has been an advocate of \u201cpersonal FREEDOM\u201d (blue face again).  And both Abbott and DeSantis have gone out of their way to demand that individual parents determine what their children learn in school (and what is banned).  They wouldn\u2019t want them to be \u201cuncomfortable\u201d by the realities of American History.  But when it comes to determining the right medical course to protect transgendered kids \u2013 Abbott KNOWS that the STATE OF TEXAS is better prepared to tell them what medical treatment they should have. \u201cFREEDOM\u201d (blue face), except when it might not win Presidential primary votes for the Governor.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He’s playing politics by bullying the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IF The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is one of the Republicans who would, \u201cRun for President: IF\u2026\u201d. IF Donald Trump decides not to run in 2024. Abbott has to be prepared, to, like his rival in Florida, Ron DeSantis, step into the \u201cbreach\u201d should Trump decide to opt out. Stepping into that breach means … Continue reading “For the Votes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFor the Votes : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For the Votes : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IF The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is one of the Republicans who would, \u201cRun for President: IF\u2026\u201d. IF Donald Trump decides not to run in 2024. Abbott has to be prepared, to, like his rival in Florida, Ron DeSantis, step into the \u201cbreach\u201d should Trump decide to opt out. Stepping into that breach means … Continue reading "For the Votes"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-24T01:35:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-27T13:45:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"For the Votes\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-24T01:35:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-27T13:45:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1059,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/\",\"name\":\"For the Votes : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-24T01:35:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-27T13:45:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/23\\\/for-the-votes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For the Votes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For the Votes : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For the Votes : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"IF The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is one of the Republicans who would, \u201cRun for President: IF\u2026\u201d. IF Donald Trump decides not to run in 2024. Abbott has to be prepared, to, like his rival in Florida, Ron DeSantis, step into the \u201cbreach\u201d should Trump decide to opt out. Stepping into that breach means … Continue reading \"For the Votes\"","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2022-02-24T01:35:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-27T13:45:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"For the Votes","datePublished":"2022-02-24T01:35:10+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-27T13:45:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/"},"wordCount":1059,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/","name":"For the Votes : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-24T01:35:10+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-27T13:45:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/23\/for-the-votes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For the Votes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5368"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5376,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368\/revisions\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}