I’ve never considered myself a liberal or conservative. Sure, I hold some conservative principles, like limited government and lower taxes. On social issues, perhaps for generational reasons, I lean liberal. I’ve always been pro-choice and pro-marriage equality – even before those were mainstream opinions in the Democratic Party.
Like many of those who feel caught in the middle, my views are more nuanced than red or blue.
I believe transgender rights are human rights. On the other hand, I do not support gender reassignment surgery for minors or laws that cut parents out of their child’s medical care.
I expect law and order on our streets. At the same time, I believe punishments must be viewed through the lens of reducing recidivism.
I believe in equality for all but am firmly against identitarianism. I do not support government actions or programs that give preference to people based on their skin tone or sexual orientation. Our nation has come too far in the last century to go back to a time when immutable characteristics dictated your success or failure.
In the hyper-left skew of Seattle’s Progressive echo chamber, I suppose you could say I’m center right. If you plucked me up and set me down somewhere in the Midwest or the South, I’d be left of center.
That doesn’t stop the city’s alt-Left from painting me as some sort of right-wing extremist. I’ve been called “Nazi Barbie,” “Seattle’s Ann Coulter,” and worse. Being misunderstood used to upset me, but I’d come to accept it as a symptom of our nation’s growing polarization.
Until this weekend.
On Friday, I received a phone call that made me realize we can no longer passively accept the war on reasonable people. We must push back.
First, some background.
Last month, I was asked to be the keynote speaker at an upcoming conference aimed at empowering women in the workplace. The 2023 Women’s Wellness Luncheon, put on by the Kent Chamber of Commerce, would feature voices from women in a variety of fields.
The event, I was told, would not be political. Instead, I was asked to deliver remarks on my decision to leave corporate media and venture out on my own. I also planned to offer advice on salary negotiations and managing workplace stress – two things I’d learned quite a bit about while working in television news.
Not only was the event a great chance to reach new listeners and help other women in business, but it would also be paid (paid keynotes are an important part of my income).
My speech was set for March 8. Emphasis on was.
On Friday, after a delightful day wedding dress shopping with family and friends, I received a phone call from the Kent Chamber of Commerce. I was told they wanted to discuss some “concerns about my ability to be the keynote."
Oh boy, here we go.
The Chamber told me it received complaints from several of its members who deemed me too controversial. Specifically, they took issue with three things (Brace yourself – I imagine this will piss you off as much as it did me).
1. My longtime friendship with radio host Dori Monson
2. My appearance on the Timcast podcast
3. A commentary criticizing sabbaticals awarded to BIPOC leaders
I tried to hold back laughter. This could not be a serious conversation.
The Chamber offered me a chance to explain my side of things.
My mood quickly went from amused to annoyed to outright angry.
What the hell was there to explain?
Was I really being asked, less than a month after his death, to justify my friendship with Dori in order to be accepted at an event meant to empower women? Dori did more to help advance my career than perhaps anyone. He gave me a platform and was there to offer encouragement and advice at every turn. Am I supposed to distance myself from him in death because a few nameless complainants found his political opinions problematic?
No way in hell.
And then there was my 2022 appearance on Timcast, a national podcast with millions of listeners.
The day I got the invite to appear on Timcast, hosted by Tim Pool, I literally danced in my kitchen. I was only six months into my own independent podcast and this was an enormous opportunity to grow my brand and my business. Do I agree with Tim Pool on everything? No. Must I absorb responsibility for everything he’s ever said by virtue of appearing on his show? Of course not.
Tim Pool offered me a tremendous platform when I needed it the most. One might even say that, in doing so, he helped empower me as a woman.
Distance myself from Tim Pool? Hell to the no.
Now to the third “complaint” – a commentary I did last year criticizing $60,000 sabbaticals awarded to BIPOC leaders, handed out by an organization that has received taxpayer funds.
My criticism of the awards focused on two things:
- Why are people getting paid vacations based on the color of their skin?
- At least one of the beneficiaries led an organization that seemed to serve a completely made-up purpose. The organization claimed its goal was to “dream into what queer ancestral futurism and other alternatives to modernity could look like through mentorship in place-based skills with awareness of post-industrial/globalized/ecocidal contexts.”
If criticizing that ridiculousness is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
As I pushed back at the Chamber’s assertation that some of my past associations or positions could be problematic to those in attendance, they offered a few scenarios that could arise at the event.
They questioned what I might say if asked whether black or transgender women have a harder time in the workplace (insinuating that I would say "no"). First, I can’t imagine opining on whether black or transgender women have a harder time in the workplace since I’m not black or transgender. I do not, however, accept the societal solution that we must treat people differently based on identity. For example, Karine Jean-Pierre is one of the most incapable press secretaries of all time but was lauded for her history-making role as the first black and gay woman to hold the job. Vice President Kamala Harris, as Joe Biden stated publicly, was chosen in part because of the combination of her gender and skin color.
If thinking that’s dumb is controversial, then so be it.
Another concern they offered was not only completely contrived, but entirely baseless.
I was told there was worry that I might say I want Donald Trump to be president.
Of course, anyone who has listened to my show knows I do not care for the former president. Second, so what if I did? Would that truly make me unqualified to give a speech to women about the workplace? Is it an event for all women, or just liberal women? More than 74,000,000 Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2020 – many of them women – and I imagine a few of them will be at that luncheon. Are they not welcome? Are they not deserving of empowerment? Do the organizers plan to check ballots at the door? I thought the event wasn’t political?
After a few minutes, I abruptly wished the event organizer well in finding another keynote and ended the call.
To be clear, the Kent Chamber of Commerce did not cancel my keynote. I canceled my own keynote. In truth, the second Dori Monson’s name was uttered, I knew it was not the kind of event deserving of my time or talent.
But to say I wasn’t offended or upset would be a lie.
Are my views truly so extreme that I must be made to account for them? Are they truly that far outside the mainstream?
The answer is no. And I refuse to let anyone pretend that they are.
Would the organizers have questioned the views of, say, someone who supported police defunding? Police abolition is certainly further outside the mainstream than any position I hold.
I’m reminded of the time I made a list of the 10 Most Influential Thinkers in Seattle back in 2021. At first, I was flattered, until I compared the writeup they did on me to what they wrote about another person on the list: police abolitionist Nikkita Oliver.
The Seattle Met wrote of Oliver:
Really, nothing critical about someone who pushed the city council (with some success) to defund our police department and supported the occupied protest zone known as CHOP? Let's see what they had to say about me:
Bootlicker. Good lord.
As for my connection to Dori Monson, I can think of far more problematic connections that the Left seems to accept without pause.
This past week, Shasti Conrad was elected chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. Not one word about her support of former Seattle City Attorney candidate Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, who called police “serial killers,” said she had a "rabid hatred" of officers, celebrated arson at the youth jail, and said she was "100,000,000,000%" in support of rioters who vandalized businesses. Conrad called her a “visionary” and publicly rebuked two former Democratic governors for endorsing Thomas-Kennedy’s Republican opponent.
Now, THAT is extreme. But rather than being deemed too controversial, Conrad is given the keys to the state’s largest political party.
In 27 stellar years on the air, Dori had one questionable Tweet (which I publicly disagreed with him on). He was no further to the Right than most Seattle politicians are to the Left. Why aren’t they deemed too controversial to associate with?
In short, it's because reasonable people have ceded the conversation. Who is extreme and who isn't is determined by the extremes and too many are scared to challenge the narrative.
The Kent Chamber of Commerce shouldn't have brought these so-called "concerns" to my attention. They should have told complainers that they could choose to skip the speech. Instead, they alienated a vehemently pro-business voice in favor of pleasing weak-minded whiners.
I am sure the 2023 Women’s Wellness Luncheon will be enlightening and empowering – so long as the women in attendance are willing to fall in line with the prevailing worldview.
As for me, I found more than enough empowerment in rejecting the invitation.
