Thursday's Most Active Threads

Yesterday's most active thread was one that I discussed in yesterday's blog post about predictions for the election winner. I'll skip that one today and start with a thread titled, "Michael Moore expects large female turnout on Abortion" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Frankly, this is the sort of thread that I hate and I should have deleted it as soon as it was created. Just about everything is wrong with the thread. As most probably know, Michael Moore is a filmmaker who has produced such movies as "Roger & Me", "Bowling for Columbine", and "Fahrenheit 9/11". Moore is also a political activist with left-wing populist views. He tends to be pretty perceptive. At a time when Washington pundits were literally laughing at the idea that former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump might win the presidential election, Moore predicted — accurately as it turns out — that Trump would win. Apparently Moore has said something about female turnout in the election due to the abortion issue. The original poster did not link to any such statement and I haven't bothered to Google it and, as such, I have no idea what Moore said. Nor do any of the participants in the thread as far as I can tell. The original poster takes issue with Moore's expectation, asking where these women were in 2022. Before I read a single response in this thread, I already had a second reason for not liking it. The original poster's memory of 2022 is faulty. While it is true, as the original poster notes, that Republicans gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, it was was by a small margin. Predictions had been for a "red wave" that was supposed to nearly wipe out the Democrats. The red wave never materialized. The Democratic loss can be attributed to New York State Democrats completely mishandling their redistricting process and basically handing several seats to Republicans. Where the women were in 2022, the original poster should know, was at the polls and voting for Democrats. Moreover, since then a number of special elections, ballot initiatives, and referendums have shown that the abortion issue has been a potent motivator of women. Again, without seeing Moore's actual statement, I would be more likely to criticize him for stating the obvious rather than for being wrong. There are a small number of MAGA women on DCUM who rush to threads like this to proclaim that they are not single issue voters and, to the extent that abortion is a priority at all to them, it is a very low one. But other women are just as strident to say that abortion rights, which realistically are inseparable from women's healthcare generally, are their prime motivator. The thread then turned into a debate about abortion which is the third reason that I hate this thread. DCUM has had innumerable abortion debates. There is nothing left to be said. If posters want to repeat the same arguments from countess previous threads, I have no issue with it but I would rather not have to read such posts for the millionth time. I seriously doubt that a single abortion rights proponent will change their mind because an anonymous MAGA called them a "baby killer" or claimed that Democrats support abortion after birth. I suppose that there is some hope that an abortion opponent might be persuaded when informed that abortion bans create health dangers for women that have nothing to do with abortion. Perhaps that is enough to justify this thread, but I am doubtful.

Yesterday's next most active thread was posted in the "Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)" forum and was titled, "Navy Elementary - Principal Resignation". Until just now when I decided to finally research it, the only things I knew about Navy Elementary School, which is part of Fairfax County Public Schools system and serves the Chantilly, Virginia area, is that the parents constantly fight with each other on DCUM and that they have repeated problems with school principals. Threads about Navy tend to run forever until I finally reach my limit of tolerance and lock them. Some time ago, a principal that some posters liked quite a lot and others disliked almost as much — a dispute that was debated vociferously and at great length — was removed after a drunk driving incident. The replacement principal was received in a similar manner and most of his tenure was marked by endless arguments about him on DCUM. He has now been removed as well. That was the event that provoked this thread. From what I can tell, Navy is among the higher performing FCPS elementary schools. It has an Advanced Academic Programs center in which high-achieving students are enrolled. But even the general education students appear to be high-performing. As such, the school attracts families who are seeking an academically superb school and who have little patience for a revolving door on the principal's office. This thread is divided between posters who are glad to see the most recent principal leave and who voice high expectations for his replacement and posters who are very anxious that they may be moving from the frying pan to the fire. As the second group of posters point out, this is a terrible time of the year in which to search for a new principal. They will likely end up with an interim principal of unknown quality. The first group appears to believe that if they yell loud enough, they will get what they want. Conversely, some posters believe that the school's parents present one of the most significant hurdles to attracting a talented principal because nobody in their right mind would want to deal with that group. Countering this are posters who accuse the parents' critics of having anti-school agendas and inaccurately describing the school community. According to these posters, a cuddlier, more supportive group of parents cannot be found anywhere in the region. Okay, I am exaggerating, but not that much. For all the positives about this school, there are vocal parents who have serious complaints about it and who don't hesitate to air those complaints on DCUM. Other posters are, frankly, sick and tired of hearing from them. There are also apparent divisions between the AAP families and the general education families. The result is a series of claims and counter-claims with nobody agreeing on much. In the aftermath of the departure of the most recent principal, the school's Parent Teacher Organization arranged a townhall meeting with a FCPS administrator. That meeting was the subject of considerable discusion and, of course, criticism in this thread. I've heard through the grapevine that there were repeated pleas at the meeting for parents to stop posting on DCUM. Based on the traffic in this thread, those requests are being honored more in their breach than their observance.

Next was a thread titled, "Women - Why or when did everyone stop using tampons?" and posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. The original poster says that she was with a group of women in their late 30s to mid 40s and none of them had tampons. Instead, they all had maxi pads. That leads to the question in her title about when everyone stopped using tampons. I should mention that I had a request to move this thread to the health forum. However, I've learned in the past that some posters stridently object to classifying topics such as this as "health" issues. Rather than risk derogatory accusations deriving from my gender, I'm simply going to leave well enough alone. I can't say that this was the most interesting thread that I've ever read. It mostly consists of some posters saying that you would have to take their tampons from their cold, dead hands and other posters saying that cold, dead hands are the only kind with which they could ever be forced to touch a tampon. While there are a few fans of pads, the DCUM local favorite has always been the cup. Even I know that because there have been some classic DCUM threads on the topic. Support for the cup is so overwhelming that much of the thread turns into a discussion about that solution. Some posters have tried it and failed. Others are strongly opposed to it and have a number of objections to its use, particularly concerning how it is emptied. One poster concedes that the cup may be more environmentally responsible, but then accuses those who use the cup of driving huge SUVs. This was the first time that I've heard of a connection between menstrual products and automobiles. I suspect that tampon users ride motorcycles. But, as with most things involving women, I'm probably wrong. Many posters are just curious about the cup and have questions about day to day use. As a result, the thread was a bit of a questions and answers session regarding the cup. Another popular solution is an IUD, specifically the Mirena. This, of course, is primarily meant for birth control but has the added benefit of preventing periods. As a result, several posters brag about not having needed a tampon, a cup, or a pad for a decade or more. This thread demonstrates a few different things. One, many of our users have a sense of humor even when discussing sensitive topics. Two, some of our users don't have a sense of humor regardless of the topic, and three, online conversations such as this can probably only take place in an anonymous environment such as DCUM. One poster complains that women are not knowledgeable enough about their own bodies. At least threads like this can do a little to help spread information.

The final thread that I will discuss today was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Democrats: Harris is going to win. Act like it!", the original poster writes a rousing call to action for Democrats that she says is inspired by political consultant Stuart Stevens. The main point of her post is that Democrats should leave their perennial pessimism behind and believe in their upcoming victory. This is more than just a hope, but something supported by the facts. The work has been done to enable a victory by Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. If Democrats accept victory as their destiny, act with confidence, and don't falter, victory will be theirs. I generally agree with this post and I wish the tone it reflects would be more common on DCUM. Instead, the forum is full of MAGAs who have the confidence, beliefs, and attitude that the original poster promotes, but their faith is in a victory by former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump. Alongside them are a bunch of pessimistic Democrats who will never be happy unless their predictions of Democratic failure come true. What the original poster is advocating is essentially the power of positive thinking. She alludes to sports and visualization is a common technique used to mentally prepare athletes. If you envision yourself doing something, you can often do it. I don't think there is anything magical about positive thinking, but thinking positively can be considerably more motivating than the alternative. What is more likely to convince someone to come out and vote? Telling them that "We are going to win and you can be a part of this historic event" or "we are going to lose and be stuck with Trump forever"? Obviously, there is value in being truthful. There is no use in lying about a victory that is impossible. But, this is not that situation. By any objective account, Harris either has a slight lead or is tied. Even in the worse scenarios in which she trails, it is within the polls' margins of error. Right now the election can go either way. Therefore, factually, the Democrats can win and even the worst polls show that as a possibility. In better cases, it is almost a sure thing. There is no reasonable scenario in which defeat is preordained, so there is no reason for any Democrat to act like it is. Instead, do as the original poster advises and believe that not only can Harris and Walz win, but that they will win. I have believed that Harris could win from even before she became a candidate. I still believe that today (though I am very concerned about Michigan which I hope I am wrong about). The naysayers out there are drags on the rest of us. Not to go all Ted Lasso on everyone, but BELIEVE.