Stalker Vance and the Real Meaning of “Childless Cat Ladies”

When people show you who they are, believe them

This is not “The Right Stuff,” this is the right wing (Source: Trump-Vance campaign)

Politics is about power, and power has a political dimension. Power manifests not just on a grand scale but also on a very personal scale. Not all power is ugly and coercive, but some of it is.

JD Vance showed the world an audacious and childish display of manspreading power last week in Wisconsin. Another display of Vance’s power politics surfaced in an interview of his mansplaining of women. Women understand JD Vance and what he’s trying to accomplish. Men who don’t have their heads buried in the sand also get it.

What Vance Did and Said

Last week at a small airport in Wisconsin, JD Vance and a gaggle of hangers-on affected their best swagger and crossed over to where the press was gathered near Vice President Harris’s plane, Air Force 2. After getting some of the reporters’ attention, Vance announced with a practiced smirk that he was inspecting his “future plane.” There were no signs of amusement coming from the press corps, though that probably wasn’t what Vance was going for. He was manspreading.

Separated by several years but very much related to Vance’s tarmac swagger is the now viral video of Vance deriding many American women as “childless cat ladies.” When Vance made those comments, he was speaking to a sycophantic talking head on a right-wing show. He was clearly intending his comments to be heard by a particular audience, and he said the out loud part out loud. He was mansplaining.

What Vance Meant

At that Wisconsin airport, Vance was clearly jealous that Harris was getting all the attention from the press. He was probably also jealous that Harris had a bigger plane. Some men are insecure about the size of their equipment, you know.

But however easy it is easy to mock Weird JD, the meaning of his action that day is serious. He saw a women with power receiving attention, so he inserted himself into her space to disempower her. He felt the need to get people to pay attention to him rather than to a woman. His comment about her plane — the vice presidential plane — being his “future plane” was no insinuation. He was out front in…