The circular firing squad is at it again

Part of me is thinking, holy wah, we really are carrying this whole everyone's a victim and we must listen to every woman and totally, totally validate whatever it is they're feeling thing much, much too far. Another part is going, oh, crap, there's a typo in that meme and do I have the ambition to try to redo it with a similar sentiment? (I think we all know the answer to that one.)

In any case, why, dear god, why when various supposed allies of the left like Trevor Noah -- who does a real good job of trashing Cheetolini on a regular basis -- talk about Biden and his penchant for invading personal space do they only focus on the women? There are a gazillion photos out there of Biden being an equal opportunity inside one's comfort zone offender. Let's face it -- Al Franken doesn't look real thrilled about Biden whispering sweet nothings in his ear. I know a lot of guys who would also feel totally creeped out or repulsed by someone being as much of a hugger/shoulder-patter/top of head kisser as some women say they were when Biden got touchy-feely with them. Why is the invasion of personal space only an issue for women? Isn't this an issue for all of us? Do dudes really want other dudes slithering up and giving them uninvited or oddly personal hugs?

In any case, it is definitely time for fellow liberals to stop piling on Biden as if he'd committed some truly heinous crime. Yes, he's been overly familiar with a gazillion people over the years, but so what? He hasn't been grabbing at boobs or playing grab ass; he's doing what even the women who say they felt uncomfortable classified as "nonsexual" and "not assault." They just didn't like having their space invaded. I know the feeling, but I also think it's really weird that no one bothered telling Uncle Joe they felt a bit creeped out at the time he did the stuff instead of many years later. What's the point other than to torpedo his possible plan to run for President? I mean, you don't punish a puppy for pissing on a rug a year after the event so what's Biden supposed to learn now? Were they hoping he'd get so distracted thinking back over the thousands of friendly hugs he's given and wondering which ones fall into the creepy category that he'd forget about presidential fantasies? Biden has a long and definitely mixed political history that combined with his age (ancient) makes him remarkably easy to derail as a candidate. Why bother to make him feel bad about the fact he's an unabashed extrovert who genuinely likes people?

I'm starting to think maybe it's time for us all to start emulating some other cultures that put a real premium on respecting personal space. Let's take a long hard look at Finland. Finns are known for their reticence, for their reluctance to become overly familiar too quickly. It's ingrained in the culture. The S.O. and I have been watching Finnish television programs and one thing we noticed is the way Finns build distance into even their work relationships. (Or maybe especially their work relations.) At the office when they ask about other colleagues it's never "Where's John" or "Where's Maria?" It's "Where's Nurmi?" "Where's Peltola?" It's surnames only. Built-in formality.