Latest news with #CharlotteClymer
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We Asked An Expert Why Soldiers Were Marching So Badly In Trump's Military Parade, And Her Reasoning Makes Sense
This weekend, there was a military parade in DC to mark Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the US Army — and definitely, totally not for President Donald Trump's birthday. If you've seen any clips going viral from the event, you've likely noticed that many soldiers were marching out of sync with one another, or generally appeared to have pretty low energy, certainly not what one imagines when they conjure the image of a strongman military parade. It led to some speculating that the marching (or lack thereof) may have been a form of political protest. So, I spoke to Charlotte Clymer, an activist and DC-based writer, who covered the topic in her Substack "Charlotte's Web Thoughts." She served in the US Army from 2005–2012, including three years in the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). Of her time in the Old Guard, she said, "I probably did hundreds of parades and various ceremonies, to say nothing of all the funerals that we carried out in Arlington National Cemetery. Beyond the actual missions, we were doing training all the time. We're talking 1000s of hours of drilling, marching, and various preparations for those ceremonies." Charlotte, like some of the other veterans I spoke to, said that she initially hadn't planned to watch the parade. However, after being sent clips while she was at a No Kings protest, she was "surprised" and "beyond shocked" when she watched the whole thing. She said, "That is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. The glaring nature of the poor quality of the marching really kind of shook me. And I know that might sound strange for people to hear, because for most folks, it's just a military parade. It's not that big a deal." Related: "Let Them Eat Teslas": People At The "No Kings" Protests This Weekend Brought Signs That Were So Clever I'm Still Laughing About Them "But you have to understand, even beyond the whole honor aspect of this and discipline, fidelity to the mission, there's also just the consequences of not performing to standard in a military operation, even if it is just a parade," she continued. "Part of what makes soldiers meet a high standard of excellence is knowing there will be consequences if we don't. And in a parade of that public significance on national television, with the whole country watching, every soldier marching in that parade would normally understand that if they fail to meet at least a basic standard, they're going to face consequences for it." Charlotte doesn't buy that some of the soldiers simply were from units that weren't used to marching. "Every soldier learns how to march during basic training, and it's not hard. It's remarkably easy," she continued, noting that the soldiers will have had a dress rehearsal a few days prior. Related: Well, Well, Well, For The Second Time In 2 Weeks, People Are Letting JD Vance Know EXACTLY How They Feel About Him In Public As for why we saw what we saw, she said, "I don't think this was a protest against Trump, or anything adjacent to anti-fascism or concern with how the government is operating. I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think this is just because they were treated very poorly and they didn't care. I think the soldiers who were misstepping during the parade — there were a lot of them — were just tired, annoyed, probably to some extent angry, and they just did not give enough of a shit to march to a high standard of excellence." Part of the annoyance, Charlotte thinks, may have stemmed from many of the Army members likely having to travel from out of town, staying in not-great lodgings, waking up early, and then spending hours waiting for their turn to march — "their comfort and dignity really were an afterthought." However, she also thinks it may have been because the parade itself was "completely unnecessary." "Everyone is aware that this parade was done in service of Donald Trump — even the soldiers who likely voted for him know it was done in service to his ego. And I don't know about you, but I would never want to participate in the parade so that a lone individual could feel good about themselves," she explained. "Of course, we want to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army. But everyone is aware that that's simply a proxy for Trump celebrating himself. He wanted to recreate what he saw in North Korea, in France, in these other countries, these massive, flashy military parades that really would center him. He wanted a tyrant celebration. Everyone was aware of that, and I think their unhappiness showed through pretty clearly." Charlotte compared the parade with the inaugural parade, where "you'll almost never see a soldier out of step." Calling this event "deeply embarrassing," she said, "There are unfriendly nations probably watching this and wondering, does this military really support its commander-in-chief?" Speaking to how the parade might reflect on potential military use in city protests, Charlotte said, "The whole point of having our military is to protect the Constitution and the people the Constitution is meant to serve. If we don't have a military that is nonpartisan, that serves lawful orders of the President by the direction of the Constitution, we're in big trouble. At the moment, it's pretty clear that there has been some degree of dissension and unhappiness in the ranks, whether or not that has to do with politics or the way the troops are being treated. This is a complex conversation, but it is clear that there is a deep unhappiness in the military at the moment." Charlotte later emailed us to add, "It was like watching a professional baseball game and the players drop easy, routine pop flies numerous times. It was that level of surreal embarrassment." You can read more about the parade here. Also in In the News: "Honestly Speechless At How Evil This Is": 26 Brutal, Brutal, Brutal Political Tweets Of The Week Also in In the News: This Dem Lawmaker Is Going Viral For His Extremely Shady Question To Secretary Kristi Noem Also in In the News: This Conservative Said He Wears A Fake ICE Uniform For A Really, Really, Really Gross Reason
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Transgender activist claims 'science is on our side' while pushing Democrats to fight back on the issue
A transgender rights activist is urging the Democratic Party to continue the fight over trans issues, claiming "science" supports their side. "It's very easy to fight back on trans issues," activist Charlotte Clymer said on Saturday during MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show." "The science is on our side," Clymer added. "Every credible medical organization has come out and endorsed gender-affirming care and said that the trans military ban is ridiculous and unnecessary… But the more we don't fight back, the more Republicans are going to engage in bad faith and run up a score on Democrats." Top Us Hospital Hit With Scathing Ad Campaign Over 'Extreme Woke' Agenda: 'Politics Over Patients' Recent studies, however, point to troubling statistics for those who have undergone a sex change operation. A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found the rates of depression, anxiety, substance-use disorders and tendency to suicide were "significantly higher" among those who had a sex change surgery, assessed two years later. According to the study, men who had sex-change surgery had depression rates of 25% as opposed to males who did not have surgery (11.5%), and anxiety rates among that group were 12.8% compared to 2.6%. Women who had sex change surgery had depression rates of 22.9% compared to 14.6% in the non-surgical group. Read On The Fox News App Clymer is an Army veteran and a former press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, whose Substack, "Charlotte's Web Thoughts," covers "Politics, religion, culture, and humor from a Christian trans woman." The transgender activist is concerned that more Democrats are not being more outspoken on the issue. Voters Widely Oppose Taxpayer-funded Gender Surgeries, Revealing Democrat Party's Vulnerability: Poll "I'm not seeing a lot of fight from Democratic leadership in Congress, and that is a huge mistake," Clymer said. "The problem with this thinking is that we have an open goal. No one's defending it. Why wouldn't Republicans keep kicking at that goal?" The contrast, the activist added, is with Republicans, who have made the issue a defining part of their platform. "Only one party is really talking about trans issues. It's the Republican Party," Clymer said. "They've made trans issues one of their central topics in campaigning and the national discourse." Fang, who interviewed Clymer, said Republicans "fearmonger" on the issue. "They love to fearmonger. That's their currency," Phang said. "It galvanizes people to vote based on fear, not on facts. I always like to say, don't vote on feelings, vote on facts." Clymer said if Democrats don't get better with their messaging, it could cost them. "The more the Democrats ignore this, the more it's going to come back to haunt us in future elections," Clymer article source: Transgender activist claims 'science is on our side' while pushing Democrats to fight back on the issue
Fox News
15-04-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Transgender activist claims 'science is on our side' while pushing Democrats to fight back on the issue
A transgender rights activist is urging the Democratic Party to continue the fight over trans issues, claiming "science" supports their side. "It's very easy to fight back on trans issues," activist Charlotte Clymer said on Saturday during MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show." "The science is on our side," Clymer added. "Every credible medical organization has come out and endorsed gender-affirming care and said that the trans military ban is ridiculous and unnecessary… But the more we don't fight back, the more Republicans are going to engage in bad faith and run up a score on Democrats." Recent studies, however, point to troubling statistics for those who have undergone a sex change operation. A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found the rates of depression, anxiety, substance-use disorders and tendency to suicide were "significantly higher" among those who had a sex change surgery, assessed two years later. According to the study, men who had sex-change surgery had depression rates of 25% as opposed to males who did not have surgery (11.5%), and anxiety rates among that group were 12.8% compared to 2.6%. Women who had sex change surgery had depression rates of 22.9% compared to 14.6% in the non-surgical group. Clymer is an Army veteran and a former press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, whose Substack, "Charlotte's Web Thoughts," covers "Politics, religion, culture, and humor from a Christian trans woman." The transgender activist is concerned that more Democrats are not being more outspoken on the issue. "I'm not seeing a lot of fight from Democratic leadership in Congress, and that is a huge mistake," Clymer said. "The problem with this thinking is that we have an open goal. No one's defending it. Why wouldn't Republicans keep kicking at that goal?" The contrast, the activist added, is with Republicans, who have made the issue a defining part of their platform. "Only one party is really talking about trans issues. It's the Republican Party," Clymer said. "They've made trans issues one of their central topics in campaigning and the national discourse." Fang, who interviewed Clymer, said Republicans "fearmonger" on the issue. "They love to fearmonger. That's their currency," Phang said. "It galvanizes people to vote based on fear, not on facts. I always like to say, don't vote on feelings, vote on facts." Clymer said if Democrats don't get better with their messaging, it could cost them. "The more the Democrats ignore this, the more it's going to come back to haunt us in future elections," Clymer said.
