Avoid Bullies; Speak Out about Them

Avoid Bullies; Speak Out about Them

Bullies are everywhere, so it seems. Even in American political life. Being a bully, someone who verbally, if not physically, assaults a weaker person for no good reason, should exclude someone from public life. People who vote for bullies are likely to be bullies themselves. Bullying is one of the banes of human existence. Bullies should be cancelled.

Let me offer two examples you may not be aware of. You should be aware of them if you are an American and especially (in one case) a Texan. These are very public examples that can be seen on Youtube.

Years ago, in the 1990s, entrepreneur Donald Trump wanted to build a parking garage for his new casino in Atlantic City, NJ. But he needed a house that stood in the way. It was owned by resident Vera Coking and she refused to sell it. So Trump went to the city council and to court get use eminent domain to take it from her (with some remuneration). Her refusal to sell was not about money; it was about her love for her humble home.

Also years ago, around the same time, Rick Perry, then lieutenant governor of Texas, later governor of Texas, was pulled over on a Texas highway by a young, female highway patrol officer—for speeding. Perry asked her if she knew who he was and told her to allow them (him and his driver) to be on their way. He seemed to want to intimidate her into not giving them a ticket. She did let them go with a warning.

In case you doubt either of these case studies in bullying, go to these Youtube videos:

”Rick Perry gets pulled over and bullies female cop” and “Trumped: The Donald, the Widow and Eminent Domain.”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of New York has been accosted and verbally abused by several colleagues including, witnesses say, representative Ted Yoho. (Yoho disputes the claim, but a reporter for The Hill claims to have witnessed it.)

Bullies have no place in American public life and those who vote for them are indirectly participating in their bullying.

No, don’t tell me that the Atlantic City widow or the female cop or AOC deserve to be bullied or that AOC is a bully herself. She speaks her mind freely and forcefully, but to the best of my knowledge she has never confronted a person and called them an obscene name or word either publicly or privately. And the difference of power and size between her and Yoho makes it quite difficult to consider her the bully in that exchange on the capitol steps.

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