The U.S. via the Trump administration 2.o is finally setting boundaries and refusing to be a doormat and a bottomless ATM for the rest of the world and that’s got the domestic left activists calling Trump, Musk, and everybody working for and with them all sorts of nasty names and threatening cataclysmic destruction of all we hold dear. Well, all they hold dear. The rest of us, not so much.
In the world of self-help psychology there is a lot of talk about setting boundaries for yourself, not letting others walk all over you, drawing lines you will not cross nor allow others to cross. In other words, taking care of your own mental and emotional health before helping others. The whole “put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.” That idea is important because how can you help others when you’re falling apart yourself?
However, within that framework a lot of women (I don’t have data, just anecdotes, but some of them are mine) comment that when men vocalize their boundaries they’re described as “strong,” “self-assured,” and “confident,” whereas women are described as “bitchy,” “rude,” “arrogant,” etc. Setting boundaries is viewed as a good thing in men, but as an unwelcome action in women.
Women, if you’re honest with yourselves, should be very familiar with this song and dance of someone asking for massive favors, and upon getting turned down, turning on you with a viciousness that is shocking. You get blamed for failing them, there is no discussion of how they’ve been taking advantage of your good nature or your people-pleasing nature. You set a boundary for your own protection and your antagonist (whoever that might be, spouse, friend, sibling, parent) turns around and accuses you of ruing their life because you are not doing what they demand.
This is what we’re seeing right now in the Democratic reactions to the DOGE revelations. Massive corruption and incompetence at USAID (and elsewhere) revealed and the Democrats and their loyalists (who have known or at least strongly suspected the same) scream that Musk et al are unelected and thus have no business exposing the shady side of bureaucracies. If DOGE continues society will collapse! The world will be set on fire! Climate change will kill us all! The KKK (a Democratic Party founded organization, btw) and all the other racists and fascists, will rule the world! We’ll be doomed! DOOMED!
The American people, who overwhelmingly voted for Trump, and Trump, who is carrying out the promises he made on the campaign trail, have finally set boundaries. And our abusers are calling us racist fascists who hate everybody who doesn’t look like us, and we don’t understand the rest of the world and how can we allow all those poor federal workers to be fired, and what about the chhhillllldrennnn?! It’s all our fault they have to riot and destroy cities. We made them mad.
It’s eye-opening, funny, sad, and rather frightening all at the same time. I find the absolute panic of federal workers who – for some obscure reason figured it would never happen to them – rather funny. Welcome to the party, pal! Been there, done that! A lot of them are getting massive buyouts as well. Something the rest of us didn’t have the luxury of getting during our own lay-offs.
The other thing to take note of is the screaming from the politicians. Methinks y’all doth protest a wee bit too much. DOGE is the re-named United States Digital Service, an Obama-created department. So, Trump didn’t even create a new department. He simply renamed and redirected an existing department – as is his prerogative as head of the Executive branch under Article II of the US Constitution. But why are the politicians screaming so loudly and threatening such dire consequences for uncovering where the money goes? Why are they so against revealing what USAID spends money on? Maybe it’s because DOGE revealed the other day that only 10% of the USAID budget is used to actually help the people it claims to help. By the by, USAID stands for U.S. Agency for International Development. It’s original mission is democracy-building. But it’s strayed so far from that mission as to be unrecognizable. Why are we paying for a DEI musical in Ireland??? If you don’t believe me, go look it up and see all the other ridiculous items, which yes, are individually small, but which add up to hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. WTF is that all about???
These politicians and activists are also screaming that Musk and DOGE are unelected fascists combing through secret US information. Bear in mind that the bureaucracy, every single person working in it, is also unelected. And the Congress critters screaming the loudest are also the ones who have refused to do their Constitutional duties and exercise genuine oversight of those bureaucracies. Why is that? Why does almost every single Congressional rep leave office ten or more times wealthier than when they entered? How are they doing that when they’re Constitutionally restricted from having other sources of income while in office? Hmmmm?
Other screaming has resulted from the threats of massive tariffs on nation-states who fail to cooperate with the U.S. Chief among those, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and Canada. Starting with Colombia’s initial refusal to allow repatriation flights (filled with Colombian citizens who had illegally entered the United States) I saw frantic FB posts warning everybody to get ready for huge increases in the price of coffee. Colombia caved within hours. Same thing with Mexico, Panama, and Canada, albeit with slightly longer timeframes (although Panama caved and told China it was withdrawing from China’s Belt and Road project within hours of SecState Rubio’s visit). Boundaries were set.
The United States is finally setting boundaries to protect itself, and our opponents and enemies are calling us a bitch for doing so.
Anyone calling you a bitch for setting your own boundaries is not truly your friend.
Remember that as you go forth to finally grow into your full potential.
+1
I am enjoying their mindless hysteria SO MUCH.
Me too
The louder they screech, the more we know how dirty the are.
Totally agree with you 👍
Nice article in terms of explaining the lefts’ reaction.
However, men who set boundaries aren’t described as strong.
They are labeled as narcissists, selfish, or ironically– insecure. If they were secure, they’d let folks around them do whatever they want regardless of impact on the man.
Women aren’t described as bitchy for setting boundaries.
That word comes in when they’re behaving like a-holes, just like men are called bastards for behaving like a-holes. Which is why I like that gender neutral term.
Grayswindir – I beg to differ. Women who say stand their ground and say no to unreasonable requests are very often called bitches… by men AND women. A man who stands his ground, says no to unreasonable requests is viewed as strong. Women are viewed as bitches for doing the same thing.