Summary
House Speaker Mike Johnson erupted after failing to block a bipartisan proxy voting bill allowing parental leave for lawmakers.
Despite once voting by proxy himself, Johnson called it “unconstitutional,” revealing GOP resistance to family-friendly policies.
Critics say this aligns with Trump-era efforts to push women out of public life, consistent with Project 2025’s goal of restoring “traditional families.”
Johnson’s move, including canceling House activity, exposed the contradiction in the GOP’s “pro-family” stance and highlighted deeper hostility to workplace flexibility and women’s equality.
Not to diminish your point, but back then they still had (often walkable) “third places.” That included social clubs – think the freemasons, shriners, the “water buffalo lodge” from the Flintstones (since that what Millennials and younger are most likely to be familiar with), etc. They also knew their neighbors a lot better than we typically do today: most houses had substantial front porches generating ad-hoc conversions with people walking by, they more frequently had block parties, etc.
TL;DR: they got a lot of their entertainment though actual in-person human interaction.