Photo via @NikkiMcR/Twitter
October 15, 2021, 11:34 am
Tucker Carlson and other right-wing mouthpieces have somehow managed to find a way to blame U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg taking time off to spend with his newly adopted child for a global supply chain crisis which actual experts have widely blamed on the pandemic. The Department of Transportation’s role in unloading shipping vessels on the coasts is relatively minor compared to the scope of the problem, which has been creeping up on us since long before there was even a Mayor Pete.
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The supply chain crisis has been building for years, not because of the pandemic but because of policies designed to minimize costs and maximize profits but leave very little wiggle room for pressure points. The massive pressure put on the system by the pandemic now threatens to break that system, and none of this could have been stopped by one man skipping his paternity leave. And yet, we have Tucker managing to be homophobic and transphobic as well as full of it.
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Tucker Carlson mocks Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave: “Paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed, no word on how that went.” pic.twitter.com/zFnp6uSser
— nikki mccann screamÃrez
(@NikkiMcR) October 15, 2021
“Pete Buttigieg has been on leave from his job since August after adopting a child,” says Carlson. “Paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed, no word on how that went.”
Not only was that a completely unnecessary jab about breastfeeding, clearly a homophobic statement because Buttigieg and his husband are gay men and so they must think they’re women, or something, but it doesn’t bode well for Carlson’s own children. Child development experts resoundingly agree that the first several weeks of life are an extremely important bonding period between parents and children and that kids are likely to have a better outcome in life if they bond closely with at least one parent during that time.
Regardless, conservatives everywhere are now attacking the very idea of paternity leave as though fathers don’t matter or shouldn’t want to bond with their children. Not only that, without paternity leave, gay men who adopt either have to sacrifice income or, potentially, their chance for that early bonding and their child’s well-being. It remains unclear why conservatives, who will lie and cause mass harm for the sake of “unborn children,” seem to hate kids as soon as they’re born.
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At the same time, Buttigieg has not been entirely absent from his work in spite of technically being on leave. He took the time two days ago to explain to CNN that his work could have helped to alleviate aspects of the crisis, but Republicans are predictably stonewalling the very infrastructure bill that could get it done.
“We are relying on supply chains that were built generations ago,” he told Brianna Keilar. “It’s one of the reasons why this entire year we have been talking about and working on infrastructure and are eager to see Congress to act to get this infrastructure deal through.”
The Biden administration is working on ways to alleviate pressure on the supply chain, with or without Buttigieg, including a “90-day sprint” plan to allow the biggest ports to operate 24/7. Meanwhile, people should still take time to be with their kids, according to actual good parents, including people who have worked at Fox News, which offers its employees paternity leave.
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*First Published: October 15, 2021, 11:34 am
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