Bee Opinionated: Trump indicted + Trans joy in visibility + McClintock’s shameful dodge
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It’s Robin Epley here again with The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board — I hope your candy hangover today is gentle and that your grass stains are easily washed!
Personally, I don’t need any Easter baskets this year, as I’ve already gotten the greatest gift possible: Seeing Trump indicted on 34 felony counts.
“Former President Donald Trump worked hard for this moment, and no one should be surprised that he was reportedly ‘relatively excited’ en route to his Tuesday arraignment in Manhattan, where he raised a fist to the crowd,” wrote the Bee’s Editorial Board last week, after Trump was arraigned last week in a Manhattan courtroom.
“Though Trump was cruelly deprived of the perp walk he had spoken of so hopefully, and was denied, too, the handcuffs that would have goosed his fundraising, his presidential campaign was at least cashing in on the indictment by hawking tee-shirts adorned with a fake mugshot of him.”
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said Trump falsified records “to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election” and “hide damaging information from the voting public.” Specifically, Trump and his team made it look as though he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services, when he was actually reimbursing him for money spent to keep porn actress Stormy Daniels from revealing an affair. He’s also accused of paying to keep quiet another woman from talking about their sexual relationship.
“Whatever the outcome of this case, neither politics nor power and privilege should ever have kept Trump or anybody else from being subject to the law,” wrote the board.
‘Double-Edged Sword’ of Visibility
“Severiano Christian knew they were non-binary at the age of 18. At 22, they became the California Senate’s LGBTQ Caucus consultant. And now, at just 27, Christian is the Legislative Director for California State Senator Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco. It’s a high-profile and powerful position … where Christian deals with issues such as the medical treatment of incarcerated LGBTQ+ people and intersex health care.”
For March 31’s Transgender Day of Visibility, I wrote about a young nonbinary person working in the state capitol helping to shape the nation’s leading LGBTQ+ policies.
People who identify as non-binary are those who did not identify with the traditional gender binary — “male” or “female.” This community uses many different terms to describe themselves, with “non-binary” being one of the most common. Other terms include genderqueer, agender, bigender and genderfluid, among others.
“Everybody has their own experience with gender, whether they think about it or not,” Christian said. “Just because somebody’s experience may be different than yours doesn’t make them any less than. It doesn’t mean that they have an agenda.”
Transgender Day of Visibility was an opportunity to celebrate a community that has faced far too much opposition. But, to Christian, the “double-edged sword of visibility” can also result in “danger.” The cost of visibility can be fatal.
According to the National Library of Medicine, studies show that 82% of transgender individuals have considered suicide, while 40% of transgender adults and 50% of transgender youth have actually attempted suicide.
“I don’t think anyone is going to go out of their way (to be transgender) as a political statement to endanger themselves,” Christian said. “People are just trying to live happily.”
McClintock’s Report Card
“The Modesto Bee harbored some hope that the Republican congressman from Elk Grove would discuss with the Editorial Board what he’s been up to in the 100 days since he began representing two thirds of Stanislaus County, including most of Modesto and Turlock. One might think a longtime politician with newly acquired territory — the new heart of his constituency — would be eager to make a good impression, to communicate with his people, to be accountable.
But (Tom) McClintock couldn’t be bothered to respond.”
When redistricting last year created a new (and red) Fifth Congressional District stretching from El Dorado County down to Fresno County, wrote the Modesto Bee Editorial Board, McClintock must have known he’d barely need to lift a finger campaigning in such right-leaning country.
And yet, he can’t be bothered to answer questions from the largest media outlet in his own district. McClintock refused to meet with The Modesto Bee Editorial Board to answer questions such as where he stands on issues around former President Trump, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, COVID and stimulus relief packages.
McClintock shows up only when there’s a friendly audience, such as the event on April 21 at the Republican Party of Stanislaus County’s Lincoln Day Dinner, where he’s scheduled to speak.
“The congressman has no problem answering questions of Newsmax and Fox News, and he is a darling of Breitbart and Forbes. Conservative British and Australian news outlets love him, too. It’s easy to stay in one’s comfort zone, pretending to be accountable when surrounded by like-minded people.”
“Bowing to applause takes no courage,” wrote the editorial board.
Opinion of the Week
“We already have a delusional, conspiracy-driven 2024 candidate, and he just got indicted in Manhattan.” — Jack Ohman, on Robert F. Kennedy’s announcement that he’s running for president in 2024, despite his relentless destruction of the once-golden family name.
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Hoppy Easter,
Robin
