Losing My Perspicacity, February 24, 2026

Good morning and Happy Tuesday to everyone except Donald Trump, Kash Patel, and the US Men’s hockey team.

Has any US team ever squandered so much goodwill so quickly? Less than 24 hours after winning the first men’s hockey gold medal in 46 years (the women win all the time), the US Men’s hockey team, which already featured not one but two Tkachuk brothers, managed to alienate 50 percent of the population and their allies. Let’s hope none of the youth hockey players were watching.

Not only did Team USA invite Kash Patel, who is supposed to be investigating the Epstein files, into the locker room to celebrate, but they hopped on the phone with Donald Trump to share a good laugh about the womenfolk.

Did Trump call the women after their amazing OT win over Canada? He did not. And he only mentioned the women’s team in his “We’re gonna have to invite the girls, too, because of politics! What a drag!” snide remark. Worse, all the men in that room, including Jack and Quinn Hughes, whose mother was a great player in her own right and who won a gold medal as coach with the women’s team just days before, laughed along.

I, personally, was thrilled to hear that the US Women’s team declined Trump’s invitation to the State of the Union, because fuck him and all these misogynist assholes. I hope they go celebrate with the Canadian Prime Minister. I hope they invite Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and E. Jean Carroll.

Some of you know that I wrote an entire book about misogyny in sports, and, despite the state of the world, I had hoped that following the explosion of women’s sports, thanks to the WNBA, Unrivaled, the NWSL, and the PWHL, things had begun to change. But it’s clear that’s not the case. Women are always the punchline, and we can never count on men to defend us when we’re not in the room. Even the ones who know exactly how hard we’ve worked. Even the ones we’re related to.

I used to get so much grief for pointing out how rampant sexism was in sports, and I’m sure plenty of people are still rolling their eyes and thinking “Oh, here she goes again.” But this stuff matters. There is a direct line, though not all can see it, from this kind of “Har Har, girls are the worst!” to misogyny in the workplace, violence against women, and the lack of equality for women and girls around the world.

In addition to my book, I’ve written extensively about how sports gives men permission to ignore sexual assault and domestic abuse. And while we all know that Donald Trump is a raging misogynist who only values women for their looks, seeing an adjudicated abuser of women make jokes at the expense of highly accomplished, incredibly talented, hugely successful women was more than my little lady brain could take. Because it’s not “harmless” or “locker room talk” or “boys being boys.” It’s relegating women to second-class citizens who are always lesser than the men around them.

This is a common theme among men on the right (and, sadly, a good portion of men on the left). Not taking women seriously leads to not believing women, which is how we end up with men like Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and Bill Cosby preying on them. And why it takes dozens of women coming forward before men decide to believe them. Women began coming forward about Epstein in 1996. We are just now learning the full extent of his crimes. Ask yourself why.

How many rich, powerful, and successful men were implicated in the Epstein files? Off the top of my head — The President of the United States, a former Prince of England, the sitting Secretary of Commerce, at least one former head of state, several billionaires, and the richest man in the world.

Let’s take a look at how these incredibly powerful men feel about women, shall we?

And let’s check in on the richest man in the world, who himself has been accused of sexually harassing multiple women, and whose AI platform is hellbent on sexualizing women and girls.

What the hell does that even mean? The men are planning to farm us out as handmaids for breeding? Are they planning on taking away something else besides our bodily autonomy? I’m afraid to learn the answer.

Meanwhile, some of the richest and most influential men in the world are starting to make noises about repealing the 19th Amendment, which gave (white) women the right to vote in 1920. Black women and other women of color didn’t get the right to vote, in practice, until the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1965. Let’s take, for example, billionaire and Republican megadonor Peter Thiels’ take on women’s suffrage:

Oh, I see. We can trace the start of America's downfall to women gaining the right to vote. Groovy. Fast forward to 2026, and enter the SAVE Act, which seeks to disenfranchise millions of married and trans women in the upcoming election. And that’s before we get to women of color, whom the GOP is always trying to keep from voting.

Need more? The DOJ has been systemically scrubbing allegations that Trump sexually assaulted a girl in her young teens from the Epstein files.

Women are exhausted by trying to convince men that we are human beings worthy of equal treatment and opportunities. We know there are many places where we are not welcome. I’ve been in many of those rooms, and it’s one hell of a lonely place. We desperately need men to stand up for our humanity when we are not present. And that includes the US Men’s hockey team, and, as should go without saying, the President of the United States.

God, I’m tired.

By the way, if you want to let USA Hockey know how you feel about the behavior of the US Men, you can reach them here: u[email protected]

I got my shingles vaccine yesterday, so I have one arm that is basically dead. With that in mind, I’m just going to drop a few stories below that you can click through to read, and I’ll be back to normal for Wednesday’s newsletter. (And you should still get your shingles vaccine if you’re 50 or over!)

Here we go.

DHS officials lied to Congress

As suspected, DHS is training ICE and CBP agents to ignore the Constitution.

One of the few times I’ll quote WaPo:

Everyone hates Elon

Hahaha:

Smell ya later, Peter Attia

YES! Victory is ours!

The High Note

Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.

Yes, the women are angry.

Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

Follow Julie on Bluesky and Instagram so she can get another book contract.