I was going to do a blog post about the Ibsen-ization of Dr. Anthony Fauci,;how President Donald J. Trump has tried to turn him into Henrik Ibsen’s title character in “An Enemy of the People” for speaking truth to power,; how Trump, jealous that Fauci got to throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals home opener against the New York Yankees, just had to announce that he, too, would be throwing out the first pitch at the Yanks’ Aug. 14 game against the Boston Red Sox; how fans of teams and individuals who behave contrary to their beliefs are left in a quandary: Do you support your team, as you might your family, no matter what? Or do you stand on principle and part company?
I’ll always love the Yanks, but I cannot for the life of me understand how their former, legendary closer Mariano Rivera — a self-proclaimed Christian and proud Panamanian — can support Trump, whose actions are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus, particularly when it comes to Hispanic immigrants.
As I said, I was going to write about all this, and then Rep. Ted Yoho called colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “f***ing bitch “and the Repubs went after one of their own, Rep. Liz Cheney, for sticking up for Fauci, and I realized I had to write about that. I had to write about that because I know what it’s like to be a woman harassed in the workplace and even in my own neighborhood. What strikes me about harassment — and even assault — is that these bullying men are often careful not to defecate where they eat. They wouldn’t want to see their “womenfolk” disturbed by other men, because these women and their integrity reflect their own power. But it’s OK for them to go after other women. It’s like some ancient ritual in which the men go marauding in a neighboring village to refresh the gene pool. Really, is that where we are in the 21st century?
Apparently not, because AOC, as she is known, is adept at social media in a way that the no-neck neo-Neanderthals and titillated troglodytes are not. She is also adept at something else women have shown — perseverance. Writing in The New York Times, acerbic columnist Maureen Dowd observes:
“Showing her skill in a generational dimension foreign to Congress until now, A.O.C. posted a video of herself on Instagram Stories strutting to the rap tune ‘Boss Bitch’ by Doja Cat, her long hair whipping to the music, with the Capitol in the background. ‘I’m a bitch and a boss, Im’a shine like gloss.’ She captioned it: ‘Shine on, fight for others and let the haters stay mad.’’
“And that’s the way you make Paleolithic men understand that they are history.”
Indeed. Shine on, sisters, shine on.