Book Nerds (+ Cat Ladies) For Kamala Harris and Tim Walz

A United States vice-presidential nominee publicly attacking women who don’t have children and dragging cats into it sounds like it could only be an Onion headline but, alas, ever since Republicans have feared losing power, they’ve leaned so far into cruelty, weirdness, word salads, white nationalism, and attacking marginalized communities that this really happened. In a 2021 interview, JD Vance said Democrats were being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” The video made the rounds again when he became the Republican vice-presidential nominee. He then defended his comments by saying Democrats have become “anti-family and anti-children” while continuing to not actually help families and children: JD Vance Says the Solution to the Childcare Crisis Is to Have Grandparents Do It for Free.

The responses were quick (Are Childless Males Hurting America?; On Cat Ladies, Mama Bears and ‘Momala’), and hilarious. And because there is no bottom, it was only the beginning: “JD Vance attacks childless teachers in newly resurfaced remarks.” I personally feel anyone who is more comfortable attacking women’s choices than ordering donuts should absolutely not be in a government position that is designed to work for all. So make sure you’re registered to vote (“Check your voter registration status here. You need to do this sooner, rather than later. Once you have verified your registration status, take a screenshot and save it to your phone. No registered voters can be removed from rolls 90 or fewer days from the election. Use this screenshot if you are challenged at the polls.”), have a plan to vote, and wherever/however you can, volunteer.