I HATE the American influence on the rest of the world and am ashamed that Black Friday, that ode to crass consumerism, has been exported. And it does strike me as absurd since you don't have Thanksgiving. Which is, BTW, the BEST holiday one could ask for - no obligation to go to church, tons of food, family and friends - you should have imported Thanksgiving rather than Black Friday.

A lot of Americans, in the Red States especially, are not WOKE and deeply suspicious of it, which is one of the reasons we have Trump. And now the Intellectual Dark Web has sprung up, so a lot of liberals are pushing back on WOKE too. I think it's a load of nonsense, but I'm too old for Post-Modernism and Queer Theory.

Regarding women leaders, what people outside the US don't understand is that there is a very deep strain of sexism here, aided and abetted by both parties, but traditionally the domain of the Republicans. Which is why it's so ironic that it's the Democrats who are on track to erase women first.

A lot of people have company-subsidized health insurance in the US, but, in my own experience, even then you're paying through the teeth and usually have to pay a deductible before it kicks in. So, unless we bought a platinum plan through our company, and are therefore spending $$$ a month up front, we don't tend to go to the doctor on a whim, at least not anymore. And then an enormous amount of Americans are uninsured or under-insured, so don't go to the doctor unless it's an emergency, which is why they sometimes have to use the emergency room as primary care.

We have a craptastic healthcare system. And we are lied to about the effectiveness of "socialized" medicine in Europe. Why? Again, look at the lobbyists buying our politicians.

And again, Trump, even though he's a New York liberal masquerading as a conservative, was a reaction to WOKE. The Democrats have abandoned the working class in favor of WOKE so Trump and the GOP saw the opportunity and took it.

Most Democratic women are just too busy to do more than glance at the issues - they trust the party to have their back - so the Equality Act, if it's talked about at all, is couched in terms of LGBT rights, and Harris, Warren, H. Clinton, Feinstein, Pelosi, are all enthusiastically for it - so, being good little lifelong liberals, Democratic women assume it's good public policy.

I think if the Equality Act passes, it's going to still take a few years for a backlash, and again, it's going to have to be a very prominent and untouchable woman - like one of these young hip hop stars, or some very popular LGBT-ish male celebrity, speaking out, that will then give cover for young people to speak out, which will eventually cause a course correction.

But this is the US: if the Equality Act (or the Republican's Fairness For All ACT)is made into law, it's going to take a huge amount of money and effort to reverse it.

Which is why Americans need to speak out now.