Thread by @davidfrum

I posted the below last night in an emotional mood. It was answered by many generous comments in remembrance of my lost Miranda, and I thank every commenter. Of course there were also some other comments. A thread about those....

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1850359082001281254

I'll quote one of those "others," but it stands for many: "You’re voting for the abortion of your grandchild? How exciting!"

That phrase "your grandchild" came up again and again - as if my daughter's child, had she lived to have one, would belong to *me* more than to her.

My original post didn't reference abortion at all. I was not particularly thinking about abortion when I cast my vote as my daughter would have wished. I was thinking rather of the grim and resentful drive to police and control women that seems to animate Trump/Vance.

When I scroll through the "other" comments, I am struck by the assumption that the country is crowded with women who want to kill children - and therefore men must save those children by policing their mothers.

With my own three children ... by the time I noticed they were sneezing, their mother had already wiped their noses. If I thought about them every hour, she thought about them every minute. And so it is with almost every mother.

What arrogance to imagine that you, as a male voter, care more for a woman's pregnancy and child than she does. It would rip the breath from your body to feel as she does.

But unfortunately the mood that inspires the urge to control is not only arrogance. It is also anger.

Many men feel ill-used by the women in their lives. Those feelings may even be partly justified in particular cases. Women are people too, crammed like men with human faults.

But when such merely personal resentments flow into politics - you know, it's visible, right?

You think you are talking about the children my daughter will now never have. But the whole world can see that you are talking about your ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, estranged daughter, or resented mother. It's not a good look. It's not a good way to live.

When voters like me say, "I'm voting for my daughter's freedom," we're not thinking of abortion rights, exactly.

We are thinking of the lust to control that we see burning in the eyes of some men. We are voting to protect our daughters and granddaughters from THAT.