The last safe space

It seems that everybody is looking for a safe space these days. College students want a place   "where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day." (Thanks to Dr. Brewster M. Higley of Smith County Kansas for his inspirational poem, "My Western Home" that led to that great American song, "Home on the Range.") But college students aren't the only ones seeking protection from the real world. Many non-students are also dissatisfied with the new direction the USA is taking under our new President, and they want the entire country to be declared one big safe space. Many would like that space to be one where an undergraduate degree would be free for all, a nation without borders, guaranteed minimum incomes, low or no-cost healthcare and ample legalized marijuana to smooth out all of society's rough edges.

I hasten to add that not all young people think this way, but there are a fair number of them suiting up for protest marches against the Trump Administration and all conservative Republicans who, for them, are the enemy. What is ironic with all of this is that the 'no-Trumpers' and the more militant single-issue groups are bent on turning our country's safe streets into unsafe zones for regular Americans! They are intent on expressing their anger by converting all our public squares, airports and stadiums into impassable human minefields, complete with 'Thunderpower Megaphones' that can put out as many as 122 decibels (for those of you unfamiliar with noise measurements, a thunderclap is 120 db and a jet takeoff is rated at 133 db). 

So much for the peace and quiet of America's streets. Nearly every conceivable anti-Trump special interest group or subgroup is actively fund-raising, courting wealthy donors and recruiting new advocates for their cause. And there are plenty of willing foot-soldiers for them to choose from. They come from the ranks of the youthful unemployed, sixties counter-culture types, Hollywood celebrities, academics, women's organizations, and disgruntled Democrats. The pool is about 65 million people (the number that voted for Hillary Clinton in the General Election). All are busy honing their skills on smaller demonstrations and are undoubtedly reading Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" as well as watching old film footage of Abbie Hoffman, Bill Ayers, Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, to name just a few. 

By my reckoning, there is only one safe public space left where most of us can spend a few minutes alone in relative solitude...the toilet, but that, too, has been under attack by the Left. It was on the Obama Administration's hit list. The Administration felt that the 0.3% of Americans that self-identified as transgender people (source: Williams Institute, April 2011) were being discriminated against and needed protection. So, states were told that they had to accommodate people who were 'in transition' from one gender to the other. They were required to provide third toilets for them or allow people who 'felt' like the opposite sex to use the toilets of their chosen gender. The punishment for not complying was loss of Federal funds (13 states filed suit against the Administration which has held up the transformation).

We should all have empathy with individuals going through such a traumatic transformative process. It can't be easy, but when the number of affected people is 0.3% of the entire population, it hardly seems defensible to spend billions on re-purposing America's restrooms to accommodate them, not to mention upsetting the other 99.7% that frequent them. What I am about to say now should not be taken as being insensitive to their plight...but this last final refuge from the cacophony of daily life should not be on our "To Do" list when we have so many other pressing problems confronting us. Considering the new age of protesting that we are entering, it might, however, be a target for those of us feeling oppressed by eight long years of an Obama overreach and by the growing protests of no-Trumpers.

We, the silent majority, need to make our voices heard. That's why I suggest that on August 4th of this year (the baptism date of John Harington, the inventor of Britain's first flush toilet in 1596) that a "Million Man Toilet March" be held.

On that day, precisely at noon, men from all over the country would spontaneously self-identify as women for one hour and demand access to women's lavatories from sea to shining sea. Goodness knows the women's Johns (Jills?) will be crowded for an hour, but isn't it a small price to pay for freedom from bathroom tyranny? Remember to put the seat down, fellows.

Stephan Helgesen is a retired U.S. diplomat, now author and political strategist. He has written over 600 articles and six books on politics, economics and social trends. He can be reached at stephan@stephanhelgesen.com