Thursday's Most Active Threads

The first thread that I will discuss today was actually the third most active yesterday since the first two were threads that I've already discussed. The thread that I will start with was titled, "DH says his success is my success" and posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum. The original poster says that she and her husband met in grad school and when they got married they both had demanding careers. However, the original poster later "mommy tracked", eventually becoming a stay-at-home-mom. Meanwhile her husband has been very successful in his career, earning a very high salary that has allowed the family to have a very wealthy lifestyle. However, when the original poster recently had a college reunion, she decided to skip it, partially because she is embarrassed that she no longer works. Her husband says that she has the right to be proud because his success is her success. The original poster is not sure how to think about that and asks if others view the success of their children and spouse as their success. Many posters agree that the original poster's spouse's success is her success because she supported his career and contributed to an overall successful life. Others don't really comment on whether his success is her success, but argue that the original poster has a life that is considerably better than most people's and has a spouse who recognizes her contributions. That is enough in which to take pride and she should simply be happy about it. Similarly, some posters think the original poster is being ridiculous and does not appreciate all that she has. A small number of posters contend that, like the original poster, they would be embarrassed to attend their college reunions because they don't see marrying a rich husband as being an achievement. Many posters argue variations of the idea that there is no perfect life. Instead, everything involves trade-offs. Had the original poster not made sacrifies in her own career, her husband likely would not have achieved the same level of success that he has or something else in their lives would have suffered. These posters suggest that the original poster just needs to accept the trade-offs for what they were. In some ways this thread may reflect changing ideas of feminism. In the 1960s, the expression, "Behind every great man is a great woman" was adopted by the feminist movement as a way to recognize the contributions of often ignored women who frequently enabled the success of their husbands. But these days, many woman don't want to be recognized for standing behind a man, but rather want to be up front or, at least, on equal footing. Also at issue is what is meant by "success". While many can agree that the original poster may not have succeeded professionally, she has contributed to a successful family life. Many see that as "success".

Yesterday's next most active thread was posted in the "DC Public and Public Charter Schools" forum and titled, "Brent rebuild details to know before you accept that lottery spot". Brent Elementary School is a District of Columbia Public Schools elementary school located on Capitol Hill. It is a fairly popular DCPS school, but it's building is in extremely poor condition and desperately in need of modernization. To that end, modernization is scheduled for the 25-26 and 26-27 school years. This will require relocating students for those two school years. Just before Spring Break this year, DCPS announced that during the renovation, students would be bussed to the Meyer School in Columbia Heights. This is estimated to be an approximately 1 hour bus ride. The original poster of this thread started the thread to alert anyone who is considering including Brent as a lottery choice in the DCPS school lottery to reconsider in light of this fact. Many posters are upset and frustrated by this proposed relocation, arguing that the distance is too far and will be a hardship on young children and prevent adults from stopping by to volunteer or participate in events. However, there is no agreement on what might be a better alternative to Meyer. Some posters fear that a dispute over the swing space might cause the renovation to be delayed or even put off indefinitely. Some posters fear that using Meyer as the swing space will cause families to leave Brent or avoid it in the first place, hurting the school community. Many see this as a conflict between the long term good and the short term pain. Several posters are willing to accept short term pain, but not as much as selecting Meyer would require. This thread suffers from something that occurs in lots of DCPS threads which is posters who would raise complete hell if their own schools were disrupted being irritated that parents at another school are being demanding. Such posters question why the bus ride is a problem and suggest that the parents are acting entitled. One thing that I've argued over the years but which I think many fail to realize is that given the school choice that exists in DC, objections to a school situation don't have to be rationale or even make sense. People have options and will choose from those options if they are unhappy with what is being offered to them. Posters can argue until they are blue in the face that Brent families should take Meyer and like it, but if Brent families refuse, there is nothing anyone will be able to do about it. As such, there is value in trying to work through differences and trying to find a mutually-agreeable solution.

Next was a thread titled, "How much will Biden lose by?" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. The original poster estimates that former President and current cult leader Donald Trump will win the electoral college by 283-255. I was almost going to simply ignore this thread and go on to the next one, which frankly is not much better, because it really doesn't seem worth my time to discuss. There is virtually nothing in this thread that has not been said in many previous threads. It's probably even the same posters repeating the same things. The bottom line regarding the upcoming election is that national polls show a tight race between Trump and President Joe Biden. But, swing state polls consistently favor Trump. Beyond that, Biden seems to be encountering one, often self-inflicted, wound after another. His handling of the Gaza war has alienated a great many voters who otherwise could have been expected to support him. The protests arising on college campuses are further increasing such divisions. Right-wingers are gloating about liberals fighting among themselves on campuses. On top of that Biden has just signed a bill that, among other things, will ban TikTok. The youth are not going to save Biden and it is increasingly difficult to understand how he can pull this election off. On the other hand, Trump faces increasing legal problems. But, it appears that he may successfully wiggle out of most of them and, to the extent he is unable to do that, his supporters don't care. Trump has successfully convinced his cult followers that he is a combination of Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela. If Trump goes to jail, his polling will probably improve. At the same time, a lot can happen between now and November. Seven months ago, nobody would have predicted that Biden would be routinely referred to as "Genocide Joe". But, time is running out for Biden and, if anything, things are only getting worse. The Democrats' strategy has for sometime relied on winning voters who have previously been moderate Republicans, expecting a dislike of Trump and support for abortion rights to drive them into the Democrats' hands. Several recent elections have suggested that this is a well-founded idea. But the division over Gaza and the increasing anger of young voters is putting this strategy at risk. A failure to address the concerns of the youth will only further push them away from Biden while efforts to appease them will anger the moderates Biden is counting on. This is a classic wedge situation and one which Biden shows no sign of being able to address adequately.

The final thread that I will discuss today was, like the previous thread, posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Why is Biden not addressing Israel or the university protests?", the original poster says that Biden should be updating the American public on this issue. This thread was started by the author of the first thread that I discussed today, marking one of the few times (maybe only the second) that a poster has managed to have two threads discussed in one of these blog posts on the same day. Most of those responding correctly recognize the predicament that I described above that Biden faces. Opposing the students will only worsen his support among young voters. Supporting the students will hurt him with moderates. One thing intersting about this thread is the attitudes displayed by many of the posters. There is a clear age division demonstrated, with posters who appear to be older opposing the students and describing them disdainfully, describing them as "toddlers" and calling them naive. However, there is reason to believe that these students are quite intelligent. After all, they are attending very selective universities that mostly only admit high-achieving students. Moreover, past experience with college protests suggests that the students are generally proven to have been correct, despite whatever opposition they faced at the time. There is every reason to believe that in 20 years, today's protesters will be viewed as having been on the right side of the issue. There is another dynamic that is worth considering. Israel and its supporters have long had a very strong influence on colleges and tried to influence debate involving Israel on campuses. Bari Weiss, a self-described free speech champion, got her start in college attacking Arab and Muslim professors. Indeed, it is the same Columbia University that is at the center of today's protests that Weiss attended when she attacked professors who criticized Israel as "racists" and tried to get them fired. The list of college professors who have been punished due to criticism of Israel is long. But today, Israel's supporters are living their worst nightmare. Colleges across the US are erupting in protest as students react to the ongoing destruction of Gaza, which has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and is putting millions at risk of starvation. Hence the all out attempts to squash the demonstrations. Allying themselves in this effort are Republican politicians, several of whom have already called for deploying the National Guard. Biden has put himself squarely in the middle of this situation. What is he going to say that can help either his own political interests or the country?