Bret: Yes, and yes.
Gail: However, when it comes to physical abuse, a woman should be immediately contacted, partly out of concern about her safety. And because we’re trying to turn around a long human history in which violence against a sexual partner wasn’t seen as serious as violence against anybody else.
Bret: Agree again, but while Heard has accused Depp of being violent, she also said on the stand that “It’s always been my own testimony that I hit Johnny.” I think the case serves as a reminder that the current politicized vision of relationships — in which men always hold all the power, including physical power; women are generally presumed to be the victimized party, as well as the honest one; and romantic relationships are supposed to abide by the dictates of a legal brief, not the alchemy of desire — just doesn’t conform to the way most people experience life.
Gail: If our readers want to mull this matter further, I really recommend our colleague Michelle Goldberg’s Heard-Depp column from last week.
Bret: Michelle expresses my opposite view with eloquence.
Gail: The primaries that took place in Pennsylvania this week were eloquent. The big Pennsylvania primary for the Republican Senate nomination is still open. It featured Dr. Oz versus Business Guy. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the nomination, must be pleased with this. Do you have any thoughts about that race?
Bret: I think Fetterman will have a difficult time winning in November. He’s on the leftward side of a Democratic Party that is struggling to overcome the perception that it leaned too far left in Biden’s first year. His closest rival, David McCormick and Oz could still tear apart the Pennsylvania G.O.P. to pieces fighting for the 1,000 or so votes that separated them in last week’s primary. As I age, I realize that winning in politics is largely about being slightly more stupid than your opponent.
Gail: It is embarrassing to look around the country and see the previously rational Republicans who feel the need to deny that Biden won the election.
Bret: Those Republicans aren’t sane, but I take your point.
Gail:Fetterman is too colorful to my liking. He wears shorts to public events and boasts about his tattoos. His policies are reasonable and I believe he has a chance.
Source: NY Times
