In a now-viral rant back in 2021, when J. D. Vance dissed on “childless cat ladies,” he basically was saying childless people shouldn’t run the country because they have no stake in the future.
This phrase has resurfaced in the 2024 campaign as a jibe against Kamala Harris and (other Democratic politicians), despite its factual inaccuracy; Harris has stepchildren, and even Pete Buttigieg and his male partner are parents (via adoption).
For an actual childless politician who shouldn’t be allowed to run the country, look to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (photo, left above), a lifelong bachelor who has the nimbleness of a cat when it comes to flipflopping on issues important to the country (see, e.g., my posts here and here).
So how does Graham feel about being a “childless cat lady”? As you’d expect, he defended his fellow Republican’s remark (see story here). At the end of the day, Graham isn’t all that complicated; his approach to everything boils down to: My tribe good, your tribe bad.
What Graham could have said, and should have said, but didn’t say, is the entire premise of Vance’s remark is wrong. So a Wall Street Journal editorial writer said it for him: “[B]earing children doesn’t define one’s character or degree of patriotism” (read her op-ed here).
Now let’s check out a real-life childless cat lady: the photo below. Way to go, babe! I’ll take you over a flipflopping politician any day!
