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If Democratic politicians don't understand the use of rhetoric - including the kind their opponents use against them - they are not very skilled politicians. Understanding rhetoric and using it to your advantage is an extremely basic part of the job.

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The reason it's important to fight back hard on these distortions as they appear is that you don't want to end up in a world where you've lost control of basic definitions. As a Democrat, you don't want "liberty" to mean the freedom to carry a gun everywhere. Definitions are the ballgame.

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Actually the end goal is to redefine feminism as sex-based rights, whatever the fuck those are. Feminism is equal rights. Feminism is autonomy over your own body - like what trans people are asking for. The goal of propaganda is to suck all the meaning out of politically motivating concepts.

Similar to how most anti-trans arguments have a larger agenda of enforcing gender roles for everyone.

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How Washington state’s sports ballot measure will impact all girls

That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying the argument about trans kids playing on girls teams is a stalking horse for a larger attempt to undermine all girls sports leagues: 19thnews.org/2026/07/wash...

19thnews.org

A ballot initiative to bar transgender girls from girls’ teams would require all girls to ‘verify’ their identity.

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The Lis Smith aspect kinda gives the game away because she is so clearly working to bend the Democratic party towards the interests of billionaires rather than for good results for the party.

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But the GOP crafts its propaganda this way for a reason. Could we please not fall for it over and over and over?

Does this not make sense to people? Personally, it's hard for me NOT to see GOP anti-trans arguments as bad faith attempts to destroy the Democratic Party from within, given that the Putin/Christian right alliance managed to do this in the UK. (Another thing U.S. trans people see better!)

It's like the women listening to Platner's non-denials about his dating past and going, hmm, bet there's fire under this here smoke. The theoretical benefit from attracting more men does not overcome the INCREDIBLE FUCKING DAMAGE from having a rapist on the ballot.

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Trans people have the strong moral argument that they should not be harmed to benefit the rest of us. But beyond that, they can also see what's coming down the pike for all of women's sports, because they are paying closer attention to the issue.

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The problem is that the GOP position is not real. There is no harm to girls from letting a handful of trans kids play soccer or whatever. The HUGE harm is going to be the destruction of girls sports from making them "verify" that they are girls to play. Similar to the shenanigans in the WNBA.

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This seems more similar to the argument over Platner. Does it matter that some women think he's sketchy if he can draw working class white men to the party? And YEAH, it turns out it freaking DOES matter, because he's actually a rapist and putting him on the ballot would be poison.

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Like, I think the argument tends to be do we just harm this small group in a tiny way - just for now - but for everyone's benefit, including the small group! And... that's not what's happening. The Democratic party is damaging its appeal to major parts of its own base.

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It's just that some people don't seem to understand this yet?

I tend to see the Talarico/trans rights issue more in terms of long term damage to the party. As I say, anti-trans legislation is *already* targeting ALL of girls sports, and it would be super freaking dumb for the Democratic party to come out against girls sports, no?

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Sunflowers in my neighborhood:

Sunflowers by a pale blue and purple house.

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I cannot emphasize enough how the attack on trans rights is the thin end of the wedge on the rollback of all rights.

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Lis Smith is the equivalent to Keir Starmer's aide, Morgan McSweeney. The one who put him square in the middle of the Epstein saga.

Personnel is policy and when you hire people who do not give a damn about the rights of women, it shows, and it only will help the party crumble down the line - viz., the Labour Party.

Apologists for Cuomo need to be drummed out of the party. Do Dems stand for women's rights or not? Trans rights are the Same Fight

The thing is, Lis Smith is a veteran of smearing women who call out sexual assault. She once called Christine Blasey Ford "looney tunes":

In their private conversations, some advisers were even harsher about the accusers and others than they were publicly. At one point, Smith shared a tweet reporting that Charlotte Bennett, who accused the governor of harassment, had retained the former lawyer for Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her.

“Christine Blasey Ford was looney tunes and the height of me too overreach so this checks out,” Smith said

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She did such a wonderful job for McMorrow, as well.

Nick Barlow @nickbwalking.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Reposted by annec

BREAKING: The minds of the British right wing as they try to process this.

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Talarico is being advised by Lis Smith. The lady who tried to mount a defense for Andrew Cuomo.

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Had a good laugh on waking up. But my god is his brain leaking out his ears.

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