147 Comments

Keep writing the truth as you know it. It is refreshing.

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I was correct on Medger Evers. Civil Rights activist murdered in 1963. You are thinking of James Meredith who was the first Black student at Ole Miss. It was late when you were typing so I will let that slide. 😉 Fun fact, James Meredith became a professor at UC in the late 80s.

My point remains that comparing the protesting of the selling of swim suits to the murder of a Civil Rights activist is not an appropriate analogy.

I do not see how opposing men with penises participating in women's sports is transphobic. It just keeps the sports fair to biological women. Also, not allowing sex change operations for children under 18 also seems logical while also not being transphobic. If you have to be 18 to smoke, vote, consent to sex, and older to drink, it seems that you should be that age to permanently remove your genitals.

For the record, I do not care one bit about the swimsuit at Target.

You heading to Little Miami this evening? If so, what time? It is a better venue and closer to my house than JJs.

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May 26, 2023·edited May 26, 2023

Mick Jagger and David Bowie courted the androgenous look on stage and look where it got them. They cashed in huge. A lot of women I knew went nuts for it. Totally turned them on. Men doing the combo-gender look in the rock world made lots of money and became sex symbols to straight folks. Gee, this was decades ago and no problem. Why now? Bowie used to do almost total drag, now that I think about it. Nobody got all upset about it. Androgeny was once cool.

Change is difficult for a lot of people. After Covid and the culture wars of "woke" versus MAGA, trans acceptance is traveling on a rocky, bombed-out road. What we're learning is how deep the conditioning is in many people to not accept trans. it's a learned dislike/ sometimes hate, fostered by both older generation conditioning and uptight religious institutions, especially Christianity. Southern Baptist-based Chrisitianity has married deeply with southern politicians, led by Marge Greene and DeSantis, and we are seeing a crazy backlash on many issues. I think it will burn out like Anita Bryant's anti-gay hate trip burned itself out. But not before more ugly stuff happens, unfortunately.

The good news is that a vast group of younger kids love their trans friends. Many young gals mimic drag fashion and looks, and love hanging with the queens. The Kardashians, world's biggest straight queens, went through the same phase. Despite the looney right wingers of the Repub party, life will march on and the younger generation will show the older generation how to be tolerant and accepting of trans folks, just like they did gay folks, because, as young folks, they just aren't that stuck in their ways.

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Target changed there strategy because they lost billions in just a few days! THAT’s the real reason they are downsizing the display. The Bud-light people didn’t like it so they stopped buying it, just like you suggested above. It’s just business. If widget A didn’t sell, they wouldn’t invest and attempt to resale Widget A.

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If Joe Burrow had spent the last 3 years throwing to the revolving door of wide receivers that Lamar Jackson was forced to wouldn’t be all in for his team either.

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Stick to sports: There's no excuse for intimidation but it's unwise to invite it. Perhaps putting this controversial display at the entrance of some of Target's bible belt stores was an error in marketing judgement. Now some on the left are attacking Target for "caving" to conservatives by removing some of the more controversial products. So much for Target's support all these years. Sounds to me like they're just trying to fix a marketing mistake.

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Doc, you’re not being fair to Lamar Jackson. Who knows, he may have made such a comment but you haven’t heard it. I’ve seen virtually every game in college or pro he’s played in and he always played his guts out.

He has always had more doubters than other Quarterbacks but he still wins at a 75% rate and has owned The Men except for a game or two. I am a fanboy by definition but he does deserve the cheap shots from anyone. Just sayin…

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Great tune, but I like Pete’s solo version even more https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J9-IyAqsn9k

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May 25, 2023·edited May 25, 2023

Having previously spent about three years in retail management, not that long ago with a company that also put out Pride Month/LGBTQ items for sale around this time of year, I feel I can weigh in somewhat on this topic ... it's simply the retailer pandering, in hopes of making a few extra bucks off the already tapped consumers. 95 percent of the items end up not purchased, and either marked down to 90 percent off before finally selling, or packed up and sent back off to the company distribution center, to then be sold by the company for pennies on the dollar to an discount outlet chain like Ollies, Homebuys, etc.

Retailers are just pandering now like they do at Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and every other holiday or special month we have in existence. They're even pandering regarding Memorial Day weekend. I went to Kroger this morning, and the floral department has red, white and blue floral arrangements for sale, while other retailers have gaudy plastic wreathes up for grabs, for those who want to decorate their beloved veterans' resting place. The retailer does not care whether or not you actually lost a loved one in battle -- they only care that you think they care, so you buy their merchandise regarding Memorial Day.

Much less to say, if a retailer thinks it can get an extra dime out of you, by selling items related to a special month, day, holiday, etc., they'll do it and not think twice. In Target's instance, it appears some of the Pride items were potentially questionable in nature when it came to kids, and folks got wind of it. Now, it doesn't excuse going in to a store and harassing employees who have NO SAY in the matter of what is displayed, or trashing the display, or any of the other asinine things folks have done (and recorded for social media), but on the flip side, maybe Target will choose merchandise in the future, for such a promotion, that might be a little less questionable or a little more tasteful.

But again, in the grand scheme, retailers aren't doing it because they support a cause, or because they feel for the consumer ... they're doing it to try to make money off of us. Don't like what they're selling? Don't buy it. Don't like that they're selling it? Don't shop there. That's called freedom ... I exercise it a lot when it comes to restaurants and bad sports franchises.

Another huge causation of such hubbubs as Bud Light and Target? Social media. Everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., for hours on end each day. And on each platform, all they see is both sides -- right and left -- going back and forth and back and forth over cultural issues, political issues, etc. So, folks end up thinking things like "I'm tired of this LGBTQ stuff being rammed down my throat" or "There's a whole country of MAGA fascists out there!" When, in reality, it's only prevalent on social media because those outlets are, unfortunately, the main avenues of how people get their news and information now (how sad is that), and because we've enabled those avenues to make beaucoup money off of video and page views, ad clicks, etc. We as a society, whether knowingly or unknowingly, feed into this vicious cycle, while the social media influencers, Tik Tok'ers, Twitter personalities, etc., only care about the money they're making off subscriptions, views and clicks we're giving them ... alas, just like the retailers I described above!

Meanwhile, if you turn off the news and stop being glued to social media (and believing everything you read on social media), and go out into the real world, you'll find that you won't see drag shows taking place daily at the public library for kids; you won't see Trump supporters running amok terrorizing liberals; you won't see a trans person at every street corner; and all of the other stuff we're bombarded with through social media channels. If anything, you'll see normal folks like yourselves just trying to get through this life as best as they can.

Long-winded, I know, but I hope it makes sense. We're all being played, in one way shape or form. The key is to recognize it, and alter the behavior. Then, maybe, some of this ridiculousness would cease.

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I believe Barry Larkin once stated how proud he was to play his whole career as a Red. He said he could have made more money somewhere else, but, when you figure in the cost of living in places like New York, Los Angeles, and towards the end, Washington D.C., he was making about the same money.

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Some of the items sold at Target were Satanic in nature. Satan loves trans people, stuff like that. Dig a bit deeper Doc. And like you said, vote with your wallet. Bud Light found out when they alienated their core customer base by trying to grow the brand.

In 2008 we were told gays deserved the same legal protections as straight when it comes to marriage and death. Reasonable people said OK, makes sense. Now we have an alphabet where anyone can find victimhood status and “identify” which helps when DEI enters the picture.

People push back. Not everyone agrees. Democracy, yeah?

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May 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

If only the people who got so worked up about a lousy beer or a middle class Wal-Mart marketing to a different demographic exhibited the same passion about the utter destruction of consumer protection laws, the carcinogens companies are putting in our food supply the unethical business practices of elder care, insurance companies overriding your doctor's advice, our crumbling infrastructure, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

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May 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

I agree on everything you wrote, even down to TT. She sure brought the energy, just not a fav of mine. I have a theory on the LGBTQ backlash. Consider that most people resist change. Then consider that conservatives resist more than average. Through most of human existence, change came at a snail's pace. Fast forward to the Industrial Revolution, when the rate of change started coming fast and furious. The world changed more in the 20th century than the thousands of years preceding it. Enter the Information Revolution, and now the rate of change is off the charts. Older people especially are overwhelmed. Then their world started shattering when gay people, previously relegated to the closet, actually had the audacity to want to be treated as human beings. How dare they! We'll show them! And so it goes, just like with Blacks and Native Americans. But LGBTQ is like the final frontier of hate. It never ends.

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Joe values winning and knows it takes a whole squad. What is both good and bad is that the Bengals now seem to be set up for success to the point that we expect every year to be right there at the end. Super Bowl or bust. While this is what we all want, it creates real pressure to actually win one-which is no small feet. I just want one so that I can finally get my 1st (and only) tattoo.

My 1st exposure to Tina was the 'What's Love?' video as a kid. She was sleek, stunning, and carried herself as a much younger woman. I lumped her in there with Culture Club and Madonna as an 80s pop star with no cue about her early career. She was amazing.

Not a huge fan of the LGTBQ+ exploitation that so many corporations roll out this time of year. I find it a bit cheap and pandering. Similar to the uproar over Native American mascots--it's an easy way to look 'caring' without really doing much. It's easy to slap a rainbow on stuff...but do your employees have good health care? Do they lose their job if they need to stay home with a sick kid? Are any of your clothes the product of Chinese slave labor? If Target considers things like this as well, then good on them. In terms of the backlash-it's all part of the reactionary persecution complex we've been seeing since a smart black man became president. Just because there are people not like you doesn't mean anyone's telling you what to do or how to live. I'm a white hetero suburban father and marginal Catholic and have never felt persecuted or under attack. Welcome to American plurality jerks-it's not going anywhere.

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May 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

The Who tune from Odds and Sods brings back fond memories. I think it is the best song of a highly underrated album. I think Tina did a lot of great songs in her solo career and I admire her as a strong woman who wouldn't let bad things keep her down.

When I clicked on your tune link, this Animals song was also listed. Monterey must have been an unbelievable festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6XVIpN1KjI

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May 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

Agree on sauerkraut, also agree on Pure and Easy!

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