by Dr. Ellen Brandt
Forget the strident - and downright loony - "Republicans are dying off" propaganda. One of the GOP's major strengths right now is its older and wiser base within the "Gray Population," already more than 2 in 5 U.S. citizens - and almost certainly an absolute Majority of voters in the next 3 or 4 presidential cycles.
Here's the rule of thumb every intelligent GOP activist needs to remember: If the "Mainstream Media" - particularly on the Internet - are overwhelmingly biased towards the Other Party and its interests - which they are - they will try their best to bamboozle us and steer us wrong whenever they can.
And nowhere have the "MSM" camouflaged Reality quite so much recently as in their treatment of changing American Demographics and what they mean for our political life right here, right now.
The "MSM" has been talking up - incessantly - various constituencies which traditionally vote more for Democrats than for Republicans, while talking down constituencies which have traditionally voted GOP.
We'll talk about their highly inaccurate takes on so-called Minority voters in future stories. I use the qualifier "so-called," because every American is now a member of one or more Minorities. The sole Majority is women over men - and that, alas! is caused by women still outliving men by several years.
But the focus of this article is not on ethnicity, religion, or sex. It's on age, a factor which increasingly does divide American voters - with Republicans gaining the clear advantage.
The absolutely worst - and most calculated - distortion about Demographics the vaunted "MSM" have tried to bamboozle politicians and political activists and the general public with is exactly how America's age-based constituencies are evolving - and what that means for the U.S. electorate and its immediate priorities.
More than 2 in 5 American citizens - and about 1 in 2 American voters - are already age 50 or older.
If you didn't realize that, you're not alone. And your being kept in the dark about it has been entirely intentional.
We all saw the screeching headlines - still occurring - about the Millennial generation of very young Americans now "outnumbering" the generation largely made up of their own parents, the Baby Boomers.
That may be true - but it doesn't matter, especially politically.
First, a qualification of the "Millennials Reign" story from the Demographic profession. Demographers have been arguing amongst themselves about where the Millennial generation should begin and end.
Since their parents, the Boomers, are an 18-year generation - those born in 1946 through those born in 1964 - many demographers believe Millennials should also be classified as an 18-year generation, ending in the year of the Millennium, 2000.
So Millennials right now are aged 15-33, although some Demographers place both the top and the bottom a bit lower for some reason, classifying them as currently aged 12 or 13 to 30 or 31.
OK by me. And, as one can see, the youngest Millennials will not be able to vote in 2016, despite the fact that Nancy Pelosi, among other fanatics-for-their-Party, has proposed a new voting age of 15 or 16 - or possibly, age 3. (We understand Toddlers For Hillary is gearing up at preschools around the country.)
We also should stress - briefly, because we'll talk about it in later stories - that the very young have been very poor voters in America for many years. In the last election, only about 1 in 4 of them bothered going to the polls, as opposed to strong turnouts for voters over age 50.
But none of the foregoing is the major point - or the major Bamboozlement that the "Mainstream Media" has tried to pull off.
No, the main point is simply this: Baby Boomers are by no means all voters over 50. How could so many intelligent and aware politicians and political operatives and political commentators somehow failed to understand this for so long?
The Boomers, currently aged 51-69, are still a massively large generation. They are also the best-educated generation in U.S. history - before or since - and are still generally very healthy, physically and otherwise, with the possibility of a full one-third or more of their lives - i.e. 30 or 40 years - still ahead of them.
But there are many healthy, active, intelligent Americans older than Boomers - i.e. age 70 and above. In fact, this age cohort contains quite a number of government leaders - in all three branches - including the majority of the Supreme Court, several Cabinet members, and all sorts of Congressional bright lights. The 70-plus cohort, for example, includes Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and John Kerry, on the Democratic side, and John McCain, Ron Paul, and Mitch McConnell, on the GOP side.
This year, 2015, marked a significant Demographic turning point, as the first of the Gen-Xers, another well-educated and influential generation, started turning 50. And that generation is "front-loaded," meaning there are more Gen-Xers in its vanguard than bringing up the rear.
Counting all American citizens age 50 and older - Baby Boomers in our 50s and 60s; the many Americans aged 70 and older; and the beginning of the Gen-X generation turning 50 - about 43 percent of Americans - or more than 2 in 5 of us - are already members of the "Gray Population."
And that is going to accelerate, not decelerate, over the next decade or two, with Americans 50 and older reaching a possible high close to 50 percent of our citizenry - or 1 in every 2 of us - in another 10-12 years.
Ignore the "Grays" at Your Peril, Politicians!
In voting terms, this aging Demographic is going to be not only important, but, many of us believe, beyond a doubt the most important factor in deciding which Party wins the presidential race in 2016 - and 2020 - and 2024 - and maybe even 2028.
Because despite Congresswoman Pelosi's efforts, it is very unlikely that those under the age of 18 are going to get the vote any time soon.
And, if one leaves out Americans aged 0-17, about 50 percent of those eligible to vote right now, right here, in the upcoming 2016 election - and probably in the next 3 presidential contests after 2016 - will be members of the"Gray Population" aged 50 and older.
I am talking in absolute terms, remember, not in terms of "likely voters."
If you factor in the voting percentages of young voters versus voters over 50 - especially since those currently over 50 now include all Baby Boomers, an historically politically aware and politically active group - who goes to the polls and who does not in this election and the next several elections after this is going to skew in a fairly astounding fashion towards the "Gray Bloc" of voters.
So far, as we all know, voters over 50 have been favoring the GOP.
But keep in mind that our "Gray Population," as currently constituted - particularly we Boomers in our 50s and 60s - tends to be well-educated; opinionated; and in many cases, greatly disenchanted with the political status quo.
Above all, we are not content to be taken for granted.
Most of us understand, even if some politicians and media people do not - yet! - that it is we "Grays," not any other constituency the Bamboozlers are trying to thrust forward as swing votes, who will likely determine the outcome of both the primaries and the Big Race in 2016.
The GOP may have us right now. But the Party needs to hold on to us against what are certain to be strong attempts to herd us into the Other Party's fold.
We will talk much more about what key issues the "Gray Population" cares about - and how to adjust our Party's stances to deal with these issues - in future articles.
But before we do that, simply allow the overriding Demographic Reality to percolate throughout the GOP and become a front-burner focus for every one of us.
***** Over 2 in 5 American citizens are already age 50 and older.
***** About 1 in 2 American voters will be age 50 and older in 2016.
***** People age 50 and older tend to vote in high percentages.
***** People age 50 and older are intelligent. They are aware. And they are issues-oriented.
Start favoring and wooing your Gray Base, GOP! They're the Party's hidden ace in the hole. Don't forfeit a major asset based on misinformation or Media-fostered bias.
******************************************************
Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about
Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The Party of YES and the American Dream
by Dr. Ellen Brandt
Americans are all - every one of us - on the same "Dream Team." And we need to support every American Dreamer.
If we are to reestablish the GOP's historical stance as the Party of YES, we need to sweep away the various misconceptions about the American Dream that have arisen over the past few turbulent decades and to restate and reinstate the core principles that should unite us all.
We need to understand once more why this nation was founded and why it became a "Guiding Light" to other nations around the world. If we are no longer that "Guiding Light," we need to figure out what has recently gone wrong and how we can correct our missteps - even, perhaps, some misdeeds - and return to the inclusive and humane and moral path from which we have strayed.
Here, then, is my take on what the American Dream encompasses - and what it does not:
***** The American Dream Is Not the dream of a mythic realm where All the Streets Are Paved With Gold.
The American Dream Is the universal goal of freedom from hunger and plague and desperate want. It's the promise and the assurance that our Democratic system will serve as a shelter against the ravages of extreme poverty for any of our citizens - and for all of them.
***** The American Dream Is Not your favored group of citizens - or mine or his or hers or theirs - gaining supremacy over all other groups of citizens.
The American Dream Is all groups and all constituencies - based on age or sex or ethnicity or religion or any other possible basis of division - finding collective ways to coexist happily, with respect and tolerance and kindness towards one another.
***** The American Dream Has Never Been garnering wealth or power or fame, so that you and yours can lord it over your fellow Americans.
The American Dream Is putting everybody's Meritocratic assets - their intelligence and talent and education and experience - to universal use, benefiting both you and yours and everybody else in the Nation.
***** The American Dream Is Not greedily amassing assets to provide for 20 generations of your blood descendants.
The American Dream Is striving for a productive and secure life for you and your immediate family, while working to extend the same opportunities and security for your fellow Americans, your de facto sisters and brothers and sons and daughters in our extended National family.
***** The American Dream Is Not hoarding media power, so that those who shout the loudest - or control the most outlets of propaganda - will be heard clearly and nearly incessantly, while the vast majority of American citizens become voiceless and, by extension, hopeless.
Open, free, and easy-access media, in all their permutations, Are a requisite of The American Dream, part and parcel of a government by and for the People.
***** The American Dream Does Not revolve around promoting your pet causes - whatever they are and however worthy you believe them to be - as the only ones that matter.
Concentrating on a narrow or too-partisan agenda tends to create rancor, while splintering the citizenry into groups working apart, instead of attempting to come together and reach consensus for the good of all, which Is the crux of The American Dream.
***** The American Dream Is Not looking at Life - or our Nation - as a game, computerized or otherwise, in which one "plays" to win the most points - or power - or dollars - one can, while everyone else is viewed as a competitor or an outright enemy, who needs to be vanquished, punished, and eventually obliterated.
America Is a venture - and an adventure - in which we are all on the same Dream Team. That which benefits Any of us should also benefit All of us. And the same rules which are allowed to apply to Any of us should likewise apply to All.
***** Similarly, The American Dream Is Not and Has Never Been a struggle for "survival of the fittest."
As Humans - and specifically, as Humans in America - we should strive to overcome the "law of the jungle" and our "animal nature." Democracy - and Democracies - evolved to minimize the civic ill-effects of Rule by an Elite, on the one hand, and Rule by an (anarchic) Crowd, on the other.
***** By extension, no one who believes in The American Dream, should strive to please and cajole and finagle their way into a powerful Elite, which we hope and pray will somehow "take care of us." The American Dream Is Not a dream of cringing servitude.
In contrast, The American Dream Is the dream of individualism and self-worth and self-reliance, which no powerful and pervasive Elite should ever be permitted to take away from you or me or any other American citizen.
***** Perhaps most important of all, The American Dream Forbids looking at any of one's fellow Americans as "The Other" - the strange, the unwanted, the discarded, the Them who are not Us.
We should be vigilant to stress that All Americans are US, as we are All U.S.
*****************************************************
Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about
Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd
And her Google+ profile:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/115282763756107439379/posts/p/pub
Link to the landing page for Bring Back the Meritocracy!, founder Ellen Brandt's project to help the estimated 400 million "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" in the United States and abroad:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114091094386273464410/114091094386273464410/about/p/pub
Americans are all - every one of us - on the same "Dream Team." And we need to support every American Dreamer.
If we are to reestablish the GOP's historical stance as the Party of YES, we need to sweep away the various misconceptions about the American Dream that have arisen over the past few turbulent decades and to restate and reinstate the core principles that should unite us all.
We need to understand once more why this nation was founded and why it became a "Guiding Light" to other nations around the world. If we are no longer that "Guiding Light," we need to figure out what has recently gone wrong and how we can correct our missteps - even, perhaps, some misdeeds - and return to the inclusive and humane and moral path from which we have strayed.
Here, then, is my take on what the American Dream encompasses - and what it does not:
***** The American Dream Is Not the dream of a mythic realm where All the Streets Are Paved With Gold.
The American Dream Is the universal goal of freedom from hunger and plague and desperate want. It's the promise and the assurance that our Democratic system will serve as a shelter against the ravages of extreme poverty for any of our citizens - and for all of them.
***** The American Dream Is Not your favored group of citizens - or mine or his or hers or theirs - gaining supremacy over all other groups of citizens.
The American Dream Is all groups and all constituencies - based on age or sex or ethnicity or religion or any other possible basis of division - finding collective ways to coexist happily, with respect and tolerance and kindness towards one another.
***** The American Dream Has Never Been garnering wealth or power or fame, so that you and yours can lord it over your fellow Americans.
The American Dream Is putting everybody's Meritocratic assets - their intelligence and talent and education and experience - to universal use, benefiting both you and yours and everybody else in the Nation.
***** The American Dream Is Not greedily amassing assets to provide for 20 generations of your blood descendants.
The American Dream Is striving for a productive and secure life for you and your immediate family, while working to extend the same opportunities and security for your fellow Americans, your de facto sisters and brothers and sons and daughters in our extended National family.
***** The American Dream Is Not hoarding media power, so that those who shout the loudest - or control the most outlets of propaganda - will be heard clearly and nearly incessantly, while the vast majority of American citizens become voiceless and, by extension, hopeless.
Open, free, and easy-access media, in all their permutations, Are a requisite of The American Dream, part and parcel of a government by and for the People.
***** The American Dream Does Not revolve around promoting your pet causes - whatever they are and however worthy you believe them to be - as the only ones that matter.
Concentrating on a narrow or too-partisan agenda tends to create rancor, while splintering the citizenry into groups working apart, instead of attempting to come together and reach consensus for the good of all, which Is the crux of The American Dream.
***** The American Dream Is Not looking at Life - or our Nation - as a game, computerized or otherwise, in which one "plays" to win the most points - or power - or dollars - one can, while everyone else is viewed as a competitor or an outright enemy, who needs to be vanquished, punished, and eventually obliterated.
America Is a venture - and an adventure - in which we are all on the same Dream Team. That which benefits Any of us should also benefit All of us. And the same rules which are allowed to apply to Any of us should likewise apply to All.
***** Similarly, The American Dream Is Not and Has Never Been a struggle for "survival of the fittest."
As Humans - and specifically, as Humans in America - we should strive to overcome the "law of the jungle" and our "animal nature." Democracy - and Democracies - evolved to minimize the civic ill-effects of Rule by an Elite, on the one hand, and Rule by an (anarchic) Crowd, on the other.
***** By extension, no one who believes in The American Dream, should strive to please and cajole and finagle their way into a powerful Elite, which we hope and pray will somehow "take care of us." The American Dream Is Not a dream of cringing servitude.
In contrast, The American Dream Is the dream of individualism and self-worth and self-reliance, which no powerful and pervasive Elite should ever be permitted to take away from you or me or any other American citizen.
***** Perhaps most important of all, The American Dream Forbids looking at any of one's fellow Americans as "The Other" - the strange, the unwanted, the discarded, the Them who are not Us.
We should be vigilant to stress that All Americans are US, as we are All U.S.
*****************************************************
Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about
Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd
And her Google+ profile:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/115282763756107439379/posts/p/pub
Link to the landing page for Bring Back the Meritocracy!, founder Ellen Brandt's project to help the estimated 400 million "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" in the United States and abroad:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114091094386273464410/114091094386273464410/about/p/pub
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The Playbook For GOP Activists: Turn Every NO Into a YES
by Dr. Ellen Brandt
As our previous story on the Great Bimbo Controversy demonstrates (Proud to Be an American Bimbo), you can turn nearly any negative attack, especially an outrageous one, into a positive boost for the individual who's being attacked, if you treat it with humor and wit.
Humor works better in some situations than others, of course. And effective satire is not always possible.
But in our concerted effort to turn the national perception of the GOP from the "Party of NO" back to the "Party of YES," humor needs to become a more frequent part of our political repertoire, as do other kinds of positive rhetoric.
Here, a brief primer on what we need to do to combat the "MSM" (Mainstream Media) and its bias towards the Other Party:
***** Treat other Republicans - ALL other Republicans - with kindness, humanity, decency, and respect.
GOP adherents tend to be moral and ethical people, believers in the Golden Rule of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Why, then, can't we always remember that this also applies to political discussion and debate?
By all means, pronounce your opinions and points of view in a memorable and forceful manner. But don't do it at the expense of your GOP brethren and sistren. They are presumably working for the betterment, not only of the Party itself, but for the good of the country and the world-at-large.
***** Focus on issues, not personalities.
If you positively hate what Candidate X, Activist Y, or Internet Poster Z (Yes, he is annoying) advocates, aim your critique at the concept or its content, not at the person expounding it.
If your analysis shows your Opponent's tax plan is skewed to favor Vegans or Las Vegans or possibly Vulcans, give us the facts and state why you dislike the plan. But don't attack the plan's creator as a Food Fetishist, Casino Groupie, or the Reincarnation of Mr. Spock.
***** To be seen as inclusive, BE inclusive.
"Political correctness" is a concept that should never have gained favor. Let's assign it to the scrapheap of political discourse.
A Party which courts the favor of only a narrow swath of the electorate will receive the votes of only that narrow swath of the electorate. "Orthodoxy" is a word that should be associated with religious doctrine, not with political life. And "litmus tests" belong in chemistry labs.
Traditionally, the GOP, not the Other Party, has been the historical province of the accepting Big Tent, which welcomes a base of voters as expansive and diverse as America itself.
Let's bring back that Big Tent, right here, right now.
***** No matter the issue or viewpoint, stress its positive aspects, not its negative ones.
Acting like Pollyanna or promising the proverbial chicken, lobster, or tofu in every pot may not be a tactic most Republicans care to embrace. But coming across like Ebenezer Scrooge on a bad hair day with his bunions acting up isn't the best strategy, either.
If you are proposing some new policy or plan that will hurt a significant group of American voters, you can't just say, "This is a hard choice we have to make - tough noogies - take it or leave it." (OK, then, Fella, we'll leave it.)
You need to embrace not only the parameters of the plan you are proposing, but also to embrace figuratively, as fellow Americans and fellow humans, those who will be affected by your plan.
What are the potential positives for them? What can you suggest or propose, so that they will gain in some ways, even if they lose in others?
Not only is emphasizing the positive good practice from a political viewpoint, it's also important for your general reputation as a candidate or activist or someone who seeks to influence the political dialogue.
If your "goals" consist of tearing down to tear down, slashing and burning to slash and burn, harming others because you like to harm them . . . Well, you might want to find another pursuit besides politics - and maybe a good psychologist.
***** Use positive headlines in your print and Internet presentations.
Some on the political stage seem to think only the nastiest and snarkiest content will be picked up by the Mainstream Media and make it into their sound bite machine.
But even if some irresponsible media outlets and reporters do glom onto curse words, gibes, and malicious criticism . . . . Well, let's be better than they are. Let's try to attract them responsibly with positive content and positive headlines, which stress substantive ideas and viewpoints.
That doesn't mean our content or our headlines can't be catchy, however. As we noted above, utilize humor and wit whenever you can. And feel free to use buzzwords which tend to capture audience interest.
"Billingsley Tackles Our Borders" will probably draw more readers than "Billingsley Presents Immigration Plan."
And "Jones Will Create 15 Million Jobs for Americans Over 50" would be picked up by most sites in and out of the "MSM" - without a single nasty word or gibe at a rival candidate.
***** Embrace the vibrant tumult of ideas and opinions.
While avoiding negativity, we should also stress that it's the give-and-take of politics from which all true change emerges.
We need to return to a political atmosphere of forceful discussion and debate, which is exciting, vibrant, and intellectually challenging, without crossing the line into rancor, pettiness, or incivility.
Every good discussion or debate - no matter the issue or policy at hand - has at its core the realization - the anticipation - that there lurks somewhere a viable solution to the issue or problem, a way to reach a satisfactory conclusion and consensus via compromise, bridge-building, and old-fashioned political "horse-trading."
And every active participant in a discussion or debate must be willing to work towards that conclusion and that satisfying consensus.
Anyone not willing to do so is simply not behaving as a politician should, but is rather exhibiting the behavior of an autocrat and a dictator. That is not only non-political behavior. It is anti-political behavior.
***** "Gamification" has no place in politics. And "Winner-Take-All" generally means "Everybody Loses."
Quite a few Americans - in fact, probably the majority of us - have now become thoroughly disillusioned and disgusted with the incessant application of "Game Theory" - and its accompanying algorithms and artificial intelligence - to pretty much every aspect of modern life, from stock markets to marketing to banking to media.
But the main place we'd like to get rid of it once and for all is in our politics. "Winning through intimidation" is not attractive to most of us anymore. Nor is emotional manipulation or outright bullying in any way, shape, or form.
And since "hard-sell" propaganda virtually never works, when you're trying to sell products or services to our generally skeptical and intelligent American population, why should you think it works any better, when what you are selling is a political plan or position?
Moreover, in this age of "SEO" (search engine optimization) and other artificial tools from the world of marketing, most frequent Internet users, at least, understand that information on "What's Trending" or "What's Liked" or "What's Hot" can be largely manipulated and wildly inaccurate.
Even worse, at a time when most respected academic researchers believe more than 2 in 3 "participants" on the Internet today are Script Bots, not human beings - and when humongous 10-million-plus Botnets can be purchased quite easily by the highest bidders and instructed to do their bidding - many of us have great difficulty accepting any focus group or poll or discussion thread which is primarily Internet-based.
Sooner or later, you may say, the cheaters and liars and gamers of the system will be found out and ousted from the political arena.
Maybe. Or maybe not.
But it is high time for all honest and respectable politicians, political activists, and political commentators to start taking a strong stand against the "Gamification" of American political life.
Let's bite the bullet and do it right now, before it becomes too late to do it.
*****************************************************
Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about
Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd
And her Google+ profile:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/115282763756107439379/posts/p/pub
Link to the landing page for Bring Back the Meritocracy!, founder Ellen Brandt's project to help the estimated 400 million "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" in the United States and abroad:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114091094386273464410/114091094386273464410/about/p/pub
Monday, August 10, 2015
Proud to Be an American "Bimbo"
by Dr. Ellen Brandt
Like most American women, I'd never realized the term "Bimbo" had somehow morphed into an Honorific.
Clearly, though, the term must now be a noble and flattering one. And we all thank Candidate/Etymologist Donald Trump for letting us know we're behind the times on our language's evolution.
Because if Fox News anchor and debate moderator Megyn Kelly is the epitome of a "Bimbo," the title is one to which all American women should aspire:
*** Kelly comes from a modest background - her Dad, who died young, was a college teacher, her Mom, a homemaker - but she has risen to the very top of her profession as a journalist.
"Bimbo," therefore, must describe a self-made woman, without the prop of inherited wealth and its trappings. Surely, that is an admirable thing to be.
*** Megyn Kelly graduated from an excellent university - Syracuse - and America's oldest independent law school, Albany Law.
So "Bimbo" must apply to educated women - or perhaps especially to well-educated women lawyers.
*** After practicing law for a number of years and writing for prestigious journals, Kelly was recruited as a legal analyst by an ABC affiliate television station, covering, among other topics, the U.S. Supreme Court - also her initial specialty at Fox.
That clinches it! A "Bimbo" is not only generally well-educated, she also should have a sophisticated field of specialization, which allows her to explain complicated subjects to a wide general audience.
If that's the case, we should urge our friends, sisters, daughters and other young women to embrace the new "Bimbo" ethic.
*** And speaking of children, Megyn Kelly has three, the youngest a 2-year-old. During a brief maternity leave in 2013, when many non-"Bimbos" might be coddling themselves and their bodies, Kelly spent her time rigorously preparing for a new role at Fox, as sole host of a prime time news show, the Kelly File, which quickly became one of the network's most popular offerings.
Yes, we all get it now, Etymologist Trump!
"Bimbos" are hard-working, high-achieving, intellectually-accomplished American women, whose lives are examples to all around them.
Thanks so much for clearing it up for us.
By this new definition, the ranks of Republican women - and Democratic women - and Independent women - are utterly crowded with "Bimbos" of all ages, from all backgrounds, with all sorts of interests, and in all kinds of jobs.
All I can say is, "American Bimbos Forever!"
*****************************************************
Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about
Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd
And her Google+ profile:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/115282763756107439379/posts/p/pub
Link to the landing page for Bring Back the Meritocracy!, founder Ellen Brandt's project to help the estimated 400 million "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" in the United States and abroad:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114091094386273464410/114091094386273464410/about/p/pub
Like most American women, I'd never realized the term "Bimbo" had somehow morphed into an Honorific.
Clearly, though, the term must now be a noble and flattering one. And we all thank Candidate/Etymologist Donald Trump for letting us know we're behind the times on our language's evolution.
Because if Fox News anchor and debate moderator Megyn Kelly is the epitome of a "Bimbo," the title is one to which all American women should aspire:
*** Kelly comes from a modest background - her Dad, who died young, was a college teacher, her Mom, a homemaker - but she has risen to the very top of her profession as a journalist.
"Bimbo," therefore, must describe a self-made woman, without the prop of inherited wealth and its trappings. Surely, that is an admirable thing to be.
*** Megyn Kelly graduated from an excellent university - Syracuse - and America's oldest independent law school, Albany Law.
So "Bimbo" must apply to educated women - or perhaps especially to well-educated women lawyers.
*** After practicing law for a number of years and writing for prestigious journals, Kelly was recruited as a legal analyst by an ABC affiliate television station, covering, among other topics, the U.S. Supreme Court - also her initial specialty at Fox.
That clinches it! A "Bimbo" is not only generally well-educated, she also should have a sophisticated field of specialization, which allows her to explain complicated subjects to a wide general audience.
If that's the case, we should urge our friends, sisters, daughters and other young women to embrace the new "Bimbo" ethic.
*** And speaking of children, Megyn Kelly has three, the youngest a 2-year-old. During a brief maternity leave in 2013, when many non-"Bimbos" might be coddling themselves and their bodies, Kelly spent her time rigorously preparing for a new role at Fox, as sole host of a prime time news show, the Kelly File, which quickly became one of the network's most popular offerings.
Yes, we all get it now, Etymologist Trump!
"Bimbos" are hard-working, high-achieving, intellectually-accomplished American women, whose lives are examples to all around them.
Thanks so much for clearing it up for us.
By this new definition, the ranks of Republican women - and Democratic women - and Independent women - are utterly crowded with "Bimbos" of all ages, from all backgrounds, with all sorts of interests, and in all kinds of jobs.
All I can say is, "American Bimbos Forever!"
*****************************************************
Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about
Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd
And her Google+ profile:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/115282763756107439379/posts/p/pub
Link to the landing page for Bring Back the Meritocracy!, founder Ellen Brandt's project to help the estimated 400 million "Highly-Educated But Under-Employed" in the United States and abroad:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114091094386273464410/114091094386273464410/about/p/pub
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