Women’s soccer and Hegseth’s renamings

Women’s soccer and Hegseth’s Re-namings 

Women’s soccer humiliated – again

Remember when the US women’s national soccer team lost 5-2 to a team of 15 year old boys? Well it happened again when the Swiss women’s team lost 7-1 to a boys team of 14 year olds and under. The Swiss women were using the match as a tune up to hosting this year’s UEFA’s Euro women’s tournament. When the US women they were rated the best in the world. Yet they lost their match to a group of boys barely reaching puberty. One of the women acknowledged the physical gap, saying that the boys were “bigger, stronger and faster.” Apparently, Swiss boys are also bigger, stronger and faster than adult Swiss women – and perhaps more talented too. If this isn’t evidence why boys should not be competing against girls (and men against women) in most sports I don’t know what is. Yet those on the left who throw female athletes under the bus in letting trans compete against them have obviously no regard for women (or girls). Notice to trans advocates: make women’s soccer teams quit playing boys’ clubs. But the Swiss think that it is helpful to continue to practice against the boys’ clubs. Their coaches say that using such matchups is a way to stress-test their team’s formations and endurance saying, “The training sessions are exhausting. But we all want to be in our best shape for this European Championship. That’s why I think it’s a good thing,” about the loss. One wonders why don’t they just get the boys’ club to identify as women and let them be the Swiss National women’s team. Wouldn’t they have a better chance at winning the championship?

NPR, that defender of women, interviewed a doctor Eric Vilain (what a last name) with the headline that “Arguments that trans athletes have an unfair advantage lack evidence to support.” I beg to differ, good doctor. I believe that 5-2 and 7-1 are considered as riots in soccer. Lack of evidence? Hardly.

Then there is the University of Pennsylvania, ironically President Trump’s alma mater – announcing that it is expunging Lia Thomas from its records. Penn is restoring the records that Thomas broke to their original holders and is sending personal apologies to any swimmers who lost to Thomas. Additionally, Penn will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs moving forward. Riley Gaines triumphs! You may recall that at the time Penn defended letting Thomas compete against the women and reveled in finally winning championships. I suggested that they simply replace all the women on the women’s teams with men. Penn’s president said “We acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules.” Really? You mean that a man who is 6’1” and weighs 160 pounds has an advantage over women swimmers? Who knew? Obviously, Penn valued winning championships more than they valued their women athletes.

The USNS Oscar V. Peterson

Pete Hegseth announced the renaming of the navy’s USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. Milk was the navy vet who was a gay rights activist and was the first openly gay person elected to public office in California. He was assassinated by a fellow San Francisco supervisor in 1978. Obama’s Navy secretary Ray Mabus named the boat after Milk in 2016. Hegseth announced that he was changing the name to the Oscar V. Peterson. At first I thought he was referring to the brilliant virtuoso Canadian jazz pianist but no this Oscar Peterson was a navy medal of honor recipient killed during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. (Historical note: The battle of the Coral Sea was the first naval battle where there was no exchange of shots between vessels. Rather it was fought by the planes from aircraft carriers. Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway both are must reads for those who love military history. BTW, my uncle-in-law served on a destroyer as a mechanic in the Pacific theatre. Can you imagine being below decks while a battle is raging over your heads?) But don’t you think that it would have been more appropriate to name a warship after Peterson than an oiler?

Hegseth said “We’re not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration.” Well then what about the re-renaming of the military bases previously named for confederate generals? Isn’t the restoring of Forts Bragg, A.P. Hill, Pickett, Polk, Hood, Rucker and Lee a political action on the part of the Trump administration? BTW, aside from Lee and possibly A.P. Hill I think most historians would consider Bragg, Pickett, Hood and Rucker to be at best mediocre generals. Why not Longstreet, Stuart, Cleburne or Jackson? I think that whoever did the naming had a sense of humor and was actually insulting the confederacy.

Lastly, today (July 3) is my 80^th birthday. Every day is a great day. I tell people truthfully that I cannot recall ever having a bad day. A challenging day, yes. But bad, no. I really enjoy being me and always have. Even though I do not believe in reincarnation (in the Sikhism sense), if it does exist, I want to come back as me.