Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old Swedish activist, has gotten a lot of press for berating the U.N. about climate change.  "How dare you?" snarled young Greta, disdain etched into soft, childlike features as cameras snapped for photographers delighted to catch another tantrum mid-glare.

Teenagerish scolds abound these days; not all are teenagers.  Greta's snarl is all too familiar to most any parent of most any 16-year-old girl, but then so is that of 29-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Outer Space).  Some of us stay in that period of development longer than others, and some, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-The Ghetto), never escape it.

Something about the political Left seems to nurture this kind of young-at-mind female.  Or maybe it just comes more easily to girls, since they're not ordinarily as likely to get punched out when using that tone with men.  In other homes than the one Greta comes from, however, it may elicit a spanking.

Since that kind of sneering dominates most of the noise out of the Left, we might benefit from a return to the John Wayne method of settling disputes: the donnybrook.  Leftists already engage in physical attacks on those they don't like, but they're afraid to do it without masks – their parents might recognize them on the tube and throw them out of the basement.

There's also the unpleasant complication that comes from people knowing you're a cheap-shot punk bully.  When they recognize your face, your life gets bumpier as others become less friendly, avoiding you more and accommodating you less, knowing what an unpleasant person you really are.

Also, John Wayne liked to fight with fists, not with bats and clubs like today's Left.  But then, the Duke was manly.  He boldly said to your face what he had to say, in real life as well as the movies.  He didn't sneak up behind you and hit you on the head or throw things at you from a distance or yell from the safety of a crowd.  You and him.  No bats, no masks, no anonymous skulking around and striking from ambush, a gang against one or two.

Greta may never realize that she would get more out of life in the adventurous-fun spirit of John Wayne than the angry-ranting spirit of the Left displayed to date.  It says something unflattering about you when those espousing your own views are known to be thugs, cowards, and bullies.  You really are, after all, known by the company you keep.

Image: Anders Hellberg via Wikimedia Commons.