Tampa Bay Thinkers

On Veterans Day, an article from A Mighty Girl paid special tribute to Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Admiral Linda Fagan, the two highest serving women in the military until they were both fired from their historic commands by the Trump administration with no explanation or justification. Former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, a four-star admiral, 40-year veteran, and the first woman to lead a military branch, was fired by Trump on Inauguration Day as one of his first acts in office. In February, Pete Hegseth then fired Admiral Lisa Franchetti -- a four-star admiral and the first woman to lead the Navy. These abrupt firings represented just the beginning of Trump and Hegseth's sweeping military leadership purge -- condemned by one military expert as "squandering an enormous amount of talent" and treating decorated officers with shocking disregard after their lifelong commitment to serving the American people.

Admiral Linda Fagan was sworn in as the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard in 2022, becoming the first woman to lead the Coast Guard in its 234-year history. During her 40 years with the Coast Guard, prior to becoming commandant, she has served on all seven continents; spent 15 years as a Marine Inspector; commanded Sector New York, controlling all Coast Guard operations in the New York metropolitan area and Albany; and served as the Coast Guard's second-in-command as well as the commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area. After being fired by Trump on his first day in office, she was then abruptly evicted from her house at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling with just three hours of notice, although Coast Guard leaders had granted her 60 days to find new housing. According to Homeland Security officials, the unnecessarily swift and cruel eviction was because, as the base's acting commandant was told, "the president wants her out of quarters."

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy, spent roughly half of her 40-year long career at sea, rising to command the destroyer U.S.S. Ross, and later a destroyer squadron, two aircraft carrier strike groups, all naval forces in Korea and the U.S. Sixth Fleet. She became the 33rd chief of naval operations in 2023, making her the first woman to serve as a permanent member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The dismissal of these two pathbreaking leaders is particularly concerning as it leaves no women in four-star positions across the entire U.S. military - effectively erasing years of progress toward a more diverse leadership that reflects the nation it defends. For many servicewomen, these admirals represented not just exceptional leadership but proof that the highest echelons of military command were attainable regardless of gender.

Also fired without cause: National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Board Member Gwynne Wilcox and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows, as well as General Counsel Karla Gilbride, 90 percent of staff at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) which is tasked with enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.
https://nationalpartnership.org/20-ways-the-trump-administration-has-already-harmed-women-and-families/

Michelle Obama Speaks Out
Former first lady Michelle Obama said at a recent event that the US isn’t ready for a woman president, pointing to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful bid for the White House last year.

“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” Obama said in response to a question from actor Tracee Ellis Ross on whether there has been enough “room” created for a woman president.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/michelle-obama-says-country-not-195504208.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma
A Descenting Fact
More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, which gave Clinton a 2.1% margin.
Pew Research before 2024 election:
The Pew Research Center conducted a survey on views of how a female president would compare to a male president. The survey asked whether a woman president would be better, worse, or neither better nor worse than a man when it comes to several leadership traits. For each trait asked about, majorities say that a woman president would be neither better nor worse or that the president’s gender doesn’t matter.

For those who do see a gender difference, larger shares say a woman president would be better than say she would be worse than a man. Some 39% say a woman president would be better at working out compromises. A similar share (37%) say a woman would be better at maintaining a respectful tone in politics. About a third say a woman president would be better than a man at being honest and ethical (34%) and standing up for what she believes in, despite political pressure (32%). Some 27% say a woman would be better at working well under pressure.

Within each party, women are more likely than men to say that a woman president would be a lot or somewhat better than a man at each leadership trait. Among Republicans, differences between men’s and women’s views are especially large when it comes to working out compromises (22% vs. 39%) and working well under pressure (12% vs. 29%).