My family tree is populated with strong-willed women. My great-grandmother served as a deputy marshal in Oregon. My grandmother rolled into Arkansas by covered wagon. My mother ran a newspaper in Irving. So you’ll forgive me if I can’t help but wonder why on earth any women are supporting Republicans right now.

I get it, there’s the “trans thing.” You don’t want your daughter competing against males. But congratulations, at the rate things are going, the Republicans will make sure your daughter never has to compete at all—because women’s sports will simply cease to exist.

Look at the military. The first thing they did was fire all the women in positions of power. Why? It wasn’t their service record, that’s for sure. Nope—just the audacity of being female.

I’m old enough to remember when women were treated as second-class citizens like it was the natural order of things. Early in my marriage, I was sent overseas, leaving my wife to buy a car. Out of all the dealerships, only one would even speak to her without a man at her side. Negotiate? Don’t be ridiculous—she was a woman. When I came home, we paid cash for her truck, and over the next few years we bought several more from that same dealership. But here’s the kicker: even after paying cash, we couldn’t get the truck in her name. And Republican women are fighting to bring back those “good” times? Oh, sure—call them MAGA Republicans if you like. But looking at Congress today, can you honestly tell the difference between MAGA and “normal” Republicans?

Now let’s talk about voting. The Republican driven SAVE Act is the first step in removing your vote. As a man, I flash my driver’s license and I’m done. As a woman, you’re supposed to cough up your marriage license, your birth certificate, and your driver’s license just to vote. If you don’t see that as the first step in completely erasing your vote, I’ve got a covered wagon to sell you.

And abortion? In Texas, once you become a “human incubator,” you’ve lost every last right. Forget about leaving the state, forget about divorce, and even if the pregnancy will kill you, good luck finding a doctor willing to risk lawsuits. It doesn’t matter how you ended up pregnant—you’re reduced to property. Worse, thanks to the way these zealots wrote the laws, even a miscarriage can get you slapped with a murder charge. And I’m old enough to remember the girls who died with coat hangers because safe abortions weren’t an option. Guess what? They’re dragging us right back there.

Meanwhile, men skate by untouched. DNA proves fatherhood beyond a doubt, but there’s still no law forcing men to pay support. Two pregnancies with two different women? Nothing. Suggest sterilization and suddenly it’s all “personal freedom.” Make no mistake: the laws are designed for one thing—punishing women.

If you’re a woman, Republicans want to strip you of everything except the obligation of raising a family. Voting, your own bank account, loans, property ownership, even education—those are “men’s things.” Women? Back to the kitchen and the nursery. And still, Republican women line up, practically sprinting, to hand over their rights with a smile. Honestly, it boggles the mind.

I’ve worked with many cultures in my career, and it’s always amazed me how often men sabotaged their own societies just to keep women “in their place.” Exceptional people come in both sexes—that’s been proven again and again. But insecure men would rather throw away half their talent pool than admit women might outshine them.

The Democratic party is far from perfect, but at least they recognize that women are more than baby-making machines. They actually want you to keep your right to vote.

So here’s the choice: stay with Republicans and become literal chattel—or vote with Democrats and crush the MAGA movement before it crushes you. Doesn’t sound like a tough decision to me. Unless, of course, you really enjoy being barefoot, pregnant, and voiceless.

---

And of course, today’s song from Songer… Shadows of Power

© 2025, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.