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Whose Rules?
As a woman in my 50s, I was seriously taken aback when I read this SLATE piece on Maureen Dowd's new book, "Are Men Necessary?".
Like the crude, sexist men she lampoons, Dowd is extremely fond of clever stereotyping. But this strategy is better-suited to satirizing a real person (say, President Bush) than it is to offering insights into the already cartoonish "war" between the sexes.
In Are Men Necessary?, she gravitates toward quotes like this: "Deep down all men want the same thing: a virgin in a gingham dress," or "if there's one thing men fear it's a woman who uses her critical faculties." To support these generalizations, Dowd relies on the faux journalism of women's magazines. She cobbles together anecdotal evidence from people she encounters. The formula is basically this: "Carrie, a 29-year-old publicist, says … " And from Carrie's experience she extrapolates to the universal. The problem with this approach is that one could go out and find a 29-year-old publicist who would say the opposite. It would be one thing if Dowd were writing pure, straightforward polemic, ranting against the people she feels the need to rant against. But Dowd is pretending to cover cultural trends with journalistic accuracy, and it is this pretense that gives her arguments a shoddy feel.
Too bad. But I HAD to check it out.
To be fair to Dowd, she goes on to explain in subsequent articles and interviews that she writes in complaint of younger generations of women who have seen the "overwhelm" of their mothers and aunts, (the kind of overwhelm that overtakes "Superwomen"), and they opt instead for a simpler model of existence in "post-feminist" America. Britney. Jessica. Brangelina. The idol worship of popular culture that does not respect YOUR ordinary life, making you feel desperate to "not to be voted off the island". In other words, more of the SOS feminists have been fighting over the last umpteen years.
I think the tempest about Maureen Dowd should really be a call to arms in the war between the sexes. But "Are Men Necessary?" isn't the war, its the skirmish. And a rather superficial skirmish. A Falklands War versus WW2.
The "war between the sexes" is really The War on Women. Because let's face it--WHOSE RULES of engagement do we live by?
The War on Women doesn't end with a column, a quip, a book or a literary review to be enjoyed while you lunch. It shouldn't be trivialized. On the contrary. The War on Women has gotten WORSE--it is a seeping, pervasive assault on the HUMAN RIGHTS of half the world's population. From the medicine cabinets in our bathrooms, to our workplaces, to our ob-gyn practitioners. From foreign policy to foreign aid.
Locally, the reality is that the impact of hard-won gains made by the Women's Movement in the last thirty five years have YET TO BE FELT by women who are NOT in positions of privilege, who are middle and working class. Who NEED to not only toast the bread, but make the money to pay for the gasoline to get to the store to buy the food, let alone buy a damned "gingham dress".
Already, for most American women--overachieving is not some psycho-somatic response to make up for some perceived inadequacy. It is a desperate will to survive and assure the survival of our children. You really don't care what a man thinks about whether or not you are a threat to his masculinity. You just want him to get out of the way so that you can get your stuff done and that maybe he might pitch in once in a while, (but you're not going to hold your breath).
We're still trying to make ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck, hoping our bosses don't fire us so that we CAN continue to make the mortgage or the rent, praying we have enough money to buy prescription drugs and/or AFFORD HEALTH CARE for us and the kids.
If we're working at Wal-Mart and trying to qualify for WIC or Food Stamps which the government cuts back to pay for tax cuts for the rich, it's even worse. It's not even a matter of being equal or "post-equal". It's about being vulnerable.
And certainly made even more vulnerable while some men think we need our husband's permission before we do something for our health, those same men who will sit on the Supreme Court and won't care what happens to us while deciding what HE and his buddies should do about OUR bodies. The same men in Congress who cut Head Start and early education programs because it's money being "poorly spent" while billions are ticked away like seconds on a clock for a war in Iraq. And more money pours into research and marketing for Viagra as a cure for certain lung ailments while the testing and marketing of a drug that will fight cervical cancer is halted.
In other words, the world we live in is bearing down hard on women. It's serious, large and pervasive. And eventually, if something is not done, those who have the luxury to banter about Maureen now will also be affected. The trivialization of women in our culture that Maureen abjures is simply the surface. The deeper, more destructive battles are being waged all the way into the corporate boardrooms, White House, Congress and the SCOTUS.
So Maureen, I don't think you or anyone believes this quibbling about "Are Men Necessary" is the be-all and end-all of arguments on the war of the sexes--but before any of you type one more word, listen to the sisters whose bodies, lives, and commitment to the cause came before you: Come to your senses.
Remember. It was our fighting over thirty years ago for equality that got a Maureen, not a Maurice Dowd considered for a position in the ivory tower of the New York Times. And that was supposed to only be the beginning. Perhaps we can get you and others like you to come to Mary, not Jesus, and begin to fight the good fight. The Real Fight. Because the cause is pretty damn serious, and we're going to need every voice we can get to fight it.
Now are you a part of the fight, or do YOU need to get out of the way?
Good piece!
I suggest "Nickle and Diming" (I think that's what it's called" - by Barbara Ehrenreich and in fact, any of her books, going back to "The Hearts of Men" and so on. She has written alot for Mother Jones & I think I've written everything she's ever read.
In this book though, she walks the walk and gets herself hired at places like Walmart, throughout the US.
I'm 53 years old and many many things have gone backward for women since I was young. Liberia now has a woman president and she used to waitress for a living - in the US! Germany has its first woman chancellor.
Israel, Pakistan, India, Britain, Philipines and many other countries have had female leaders.
When it's suggested a woman run for President or even Vice President in US, people start shouting that it's too radical and we aren't ready for it.
Never mind that fundamentalist Christianity has infiltrated our government and would see women barefoot and pregnant. I have even read of factions that don't think women should vote or hold public office. & some even more mainstream believe that single women should not teach children. Some of us call them the American Taleban.
Also prophetic - society is transformed into a theocracy and women are chattel.
Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (Canada)
For most of my life now, I can proudly say:
I am a feminist.
I am a liberal.
Posted by: musicone63 at November 23, 2005 06:12 AM
Thanks for bringing up that article.
I think many people have a lot to answer from regarding torture.
I'm seriously concerned that too many people think of torture and unusual disappearances of people as being the stuff of spy novels and thus the norm and acceptable.
For those who believe torture is the way to go, they do not realize how that leads to an uncivilized civilization. Barbaric and unjust!
Long Over Due Awakening
In New Orleans, we are having the "Courageous Conversations."
It is not just about women's rights or minority rights...the conversations are justly directed towards the rights of all.
At the Educational Subcommittee to the Planning Commission meeting held this past Saturday, the overwhelming themes were:
"All Means All..." speaking of any and every child's right to a good education.
"Courageous Conversations" finding real resolutions for the racial and socio-economic divisions that have for so long been present here in New Orleans and the South.
In other words, EQUALITY FOR ALL AMERICANS.
Would that not be ironic...
New Orleans sets the bar for the Nation in school reform and facility planning...and social reform concerning race, religion, and politics.
It IS happening...and it IS happening here.
All it took was a warning from the landlord...and a little righteous indignation from a few true patriots.
Vive la Revolution!
One more comment before I go to work - I heard Maureen Dowd interviewed (about that book) by Terri Gross of NPR. I've been thinking for a long time that they don't make feminists like they used to. Naomi Klein was one of the younger school and she has turned to antiglobalisation work. It would be so refreshing to have people like Germaine Greer again, Betty Friedan, even Camille Paglia. I can't even remember their names but my basement is full of the writings.
Maureen Dowd must escape from her intellectual ivory tower by looking at vapid magazines at the checkout. It's a balancing thing to do, but not to be confused with reality. On the other hand, there are alot of shallow role model out there!
Indy
Courageous Conversations - I love it!
Sparrow
First email of the morning (from person relocating from Florida to Canada because he thinks we're headed toward being a police state):
Holy shit! This is already happening..
Mr. Padilla's lawyers filed an appeal in the Supreme Court last month, asking a fundamental question: "Does the president have the power to seize American citizens in civilian settings on American soil and subject them to indefinite military detention without criminal charge or trial?"
--- Last night I read Newsweek cover t cover (on torture) and it was very very hard to get through it - not just graphic details (which were minimized) but the analysis, the McCain article, the whole thing. I just couldn't believe I was living in these times & reading this - in America. Very frightening.
Worst of all - boldface quote by Cheney shortly after 9/11 that now we would have to go to the dark side.
"WE HAVE TO WORK .. THE DARK SIDE, IF YOU WILL," said Vice President Cheney.
NO PHYSICAL OR MENTAL TORTURE, NOR ANY OTHER FORM OF COERCION MAY BE INFLICTED ON PRISONERS OF WAR.
Article 17 of the Geneva Convention, 1949
Al Quaeda and Taliban individuals under the control of the Department of Defense are not entitled to prisoner-of-war status for purposes of the Geneva Convention of 1949.
Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary,
Jan. 19, 2002
CNN QuickVote
Do you believe President Bush talked about bombing the HQ of Arabic-language TV network al-Jazeera?
Yes 70% 61516 votes
No 30% 26718 votes
Total: 88234 votes
... and in related news...
Washington, November 23: The White House has dismissed as "outlandish" a report that President George W Bush had wanted to bomb the Arab television news network al-Jazeera.
The Daily Mirror tabloid published what it called a "top secret" government memo, which said British Prime Minister Tony Blair had talked Bush out of launching a military strike on the station.
"We are not going to dignify something so outlandish and inconceivable with a response," White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said of the British report on Tuesday.
White House communications director Nicolle Wallace had earlier called the report "fanciful". "We're not going to talk about private discussions that take place between the President and other leaders," Wallace said on MSNBC television.
Totally OT, but get a start on your Thanksgiving weekend early with this little read...It'll make you thankful for your family...
Scenes From A Bush Thanksgiving
Dubya pouts, Cheney scowls, no one brings pie -- and why is Rove looking at Barb that way?
Ah yes, it is that time again. The smell of roasting turkey and cigar smoke and Polo cologne, perfume like florid gasoline. Copious forced laughter that sounds like geese mating in a broom closet. It is Thanksgiving dinner at the Bush White House, where the guests mingle as though their genitals were being squeezed by manic elves, as if they were all coated in vanilla pudding being licked off by Pat Robertson. Which, truth be told, some of them seem to enjoy. A lot.
They await the appearance of the bird in the cozy, heavily paneled White House drawing room with the grand chandelier sparkling there since the Truman administration, the rest of the space engorged with stuffy furniture Laura chose herself and which she thinks is manly and presidential but which actually looks like it was bought at a Jersey consignment store run by Ethan Allen's stoned brother.
Barbara rules. Owns the house, despite how she hasn't lived here in over 13 years. Laura can only look at her in numb awe, her own stiff skirt pleats appearing humble and small in comparison to Barb's massive teal dress ensemble, so epic and balloon-like it would seem to envelope all it comes near, like a giant ocean algae bloom, a massive amoeba, a cloud of righteous know-it-allness that makes easy mockery of Laura's little beige blouse of meek sexless humility. Barb is a force of nature, commanding the staff and chatting up the various heads of state and smiling at everyone with that glassy omnivorous stare. They all hate her.
Read the rest at
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/
It's worth it.
DiAnne:
Fifty. Liberal. Female. and fabulous. It's a cool club.
Cheney to Headline DeLay Fundraiser...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/brf_delay_cheney
If that ain't perfect, I don't know what is. Hopefully, DeLay will return the favor when Cheney is indicted...
DiAnne:
It's interesting how many large countries with a predominately Muslim cultural make-up have had women heads-of state: Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia. Strange that in the larger society the whole sex thing in those countries is so odd, at least to an American like me, and to my mind very disfunction. In that respect I think the US and EU a much healthier environment for normal, human interaction between women and men and I hope that continues to imporve. By the way, I don't buy the premise about men or women being unecessary, and most guys I know prefer women with smarts and character, and most women I know prefer men with smarts and character. I better stop while I'm behind!
Chuck in Doha
DiAnne- from the last thread. Yes, there is a George Wallace Jr, and he looks remarkably like his dad. He's evidently a Republican because John McCain wouldn't be down in Alabama supporting him if he weren't. He's running for Governor of Alabama in next years election.
I don't know what his politics are, and don't really care. I wouldn't run for any political office (or go out in public) if that were my name. I think he needs to spend his life building Habitat homes to make up for his dad's deeds.
Even if George Sr. hadn't committed all those despicable political acts that he did, the fact that he used his cancer ridden wife to regain power in Alabama was just unbelievable cruelty.
Of course he paid for it later in life, but nothing can erase his early years in politics.
And John McCain is trying to help resurrect the family name.
All I can figure out is that McCain is schizoid.
Otherwise, there's no excuse for his actions.
By the way, I don't buy the premise about men or women being unecessary, and most guys I know prefer women with smarts and character, and most women I know prefer men with smarts and character. I better stop while I'm behind!
Chuck in Doha
I don't buy it either, Chuck. I think smart and courageous men and women with character and integrity RULE.
Its because of us that we keep the rock turned over to put sunlight on those squirly worms in the Whote House, DoD and elsewhere--and that's for ALL the causes that are right right now.
You aren't behind. You're keeping up with the rhythm.
Huh?
O'Reilly Says US Should Develop Timetable to Leave Iraq:
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001526357
It's true, it's all about keepin' the rhythm...
The Beat Goes On
by Sonny & Cher
The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
Charleston was once the rage, uh huh
History has turned the page, uh huh
The mini skirts the current thing, uh huh
Teenybopper is our newborn king, uh huh
The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
The grocery store's the super mart, uh huh
Little girls still break their hearts, uh huh
And men still keep on marching off to war
Electrically they keep a baseball score
The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce
Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss
The cars keep going faster all the time
Bums still cry "hey buddy, have you got a dime"
The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
Linda:
Boy. George Wallace. Hadn't thought about that name for a long time. I remember a comedy song when I was a kid:
"You may not know it but that mans a spy,
"He's an undercover agent for the FBI
"Tore a Wallace sticker off the bumper of a car and voted for George McGovern."
Your post got me to thinking. Oddly enough, it seems like the early Wallace was something of a liberal, I guess sort of in the LBJ mode. The NAACP endorsed him for Governor in 1958, and the KKK endorsed his opponent, who went on to win. After that, the "evil twin" Wallace appeared, basically, it seems, as shear opportunism rather than a matter of belief. Then, in the twilight of his years, he had a change of faith and renounced the views of his middle years. Anyway, I seem to recall him being a bit complicated. I got my refresher from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace
I don't remember all of that too well but I remember the "evil" Wallance and then remember being surprised by the old and repentant Wallace. Until I read that Wikipedia article, I can't say as I recall thinking that he was, prior to 1958, rather liberal. I was also surprised to learn that his 1968 running mate for President was Curt LeMay. I'm no fan of McCain in general, although I do respect the fight he is putting up to try and end torture in our name, so that doesn't speak very well of George Wallace Jr. to me, although I would not go so far as to hold the sins of the father against the son. I wonder what George Junoir's politics are? Yikes -- not another George Junior!
Chuck in Doha
OK - Today's 5 minutes a day is still writing Cheney's next big vocabulary lines. Mine is still the only one there, and, frankly, it's not that good!
I know we have cleverness that knows no bounds here. So Google Thesaurus, type in one of those words from the main page Cheney quotes, and get to work folks!
I need some company!
Chuck in Doha for Linda:
Actually, looks like George (Wallace) Junior is a little hard to figure too:
Compare this one:
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/11/mccain_and_geor.html
and this one:
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?site_area=1&aid=109
And note he got some NAACP award or other in there to boot.
Racism, sexism, fear of "them," coexisting inside human hearts with the better angels of our nature....
Chuck in Doha
Chuck in Doha for Carol:
I tried and tried but I just can't do a parody of Cheney. Rumsfeld, maybe, although he's been under wraps so long I forget his manorisms. Even Bush. Rice. I've though about it, and maybe it's just that I can't see any humor or playfulness or empathy or any real genuine human emotion in that man's character at all. I only get a sense of ambition and bitterness from the man. I just can't get into character for that one.
Chuck in Doha
Carol:
I am trying to use the word pusillaneous in a sentence. It seems like a word Cheney would use. Its very hard for me, too.
Chuck- thanks for the links. It sounds like George Jr talks out of both sides of his mouth like George Sr. did.
George Sr. actually had the support of a good many African American voters up in Alabama.
I just realized how that sounds, but P'cola is sitting right down under Alabama, so that's how we put it- "up in Alabama." :-)
Senior was a con man extraordinare- I never believed he wasn't a racist, even after he started pretending that he wasn't. And he was a huge embarrassment to my part of the country, which P.O'ed me even when I was just a kid.
Such an ignorant sounding redneck.
We've got a lot of 'em down here.
And my mother and a lot of other women never forgave him for the way he used poor Lurleen. Speaking of men who use women. Come to think if it, maybe George Corley Wallace really is on topic after all.
Caught this today at Huffpo and researched.
This is totally reprehensible--Prussian Blue, the little twin teen idols who spread hate messages through pop culture.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=3
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201699.html
(Click on the link for another fabulous picture of JS. She reminds me of Frau Blucher from "Young Frankenstein" - the one whose name made horses scream)
Freshman Republican Weathers Backlash
Schmidt Says She Meant No Insult to Murtha
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 23, 2005; Page A03
Rep. Jean Schmidt flung the word "coward" at a decorated war veteran from Pennsylvania last week, but the Ohio Republican's comments landed with a splat in her own Cincinnati district, where some supporters are backing away as she scrambles to explain what she meant.
Judging by her words yesterday -- the first after avoiding the public for three days -- Schmidt doesn't understand what the fuss is about, and sees herself more as victim than villain. "I am amazed at what a national story this has become," she said in a statement. "I have been attacked very personally, continuously since Friday evening."
"There's no way that I remotely tried to impugn his character," Rep. Jean Schmidt said of her remarks on the House floor directed to Rep. John P. Murtha during debate on Iraq war policy.
Many people are unsympathetic. NBC's "Saturday Night Live" lampooned her, the Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial page -- which endorsed her congressional bid -- said she was "way out of line," and the friend she claimed to be quoting on the House floor last week declared yesterday that he had said no such thing.
Schmidt, Congress's newest member, vaulted from obscurity with inflammatory comments during a House debate over whether to promptly withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, as has been proposed by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). Murtha is a 31-year House veteran and longtime military hawk who fought in Vietnam and Korea as a Marine.
Schmidt said in her brief speech: "A few minutes ago, I received a call from Colonel Danny Bubp. He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, Marines never do."
The chamber exploded in boos and catcalls from Democrats, and within minutes Schmidt had withdrawn her words and sent a note of apology to Murtha. But waters were still roiling when she went home Saturday to start a two-week congressional recess.
Schmidt stayed largely out of sight until yesterday, when she issued her statement and spoke with reporters. "There's no way that I remotely tried to impugn his character," she said in a telephone interview. She said she was simply trying to register her strong belief that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq until their mission is completed.
Noting that criticism has poured in via phone calls, e-mails and TV reports, she said in her statement: "I am quite willing to suffer those attacks if in the end that policy I so strongly oppose is exposed as unsound. First and foremost, I support the troops. They dodge bullets and bombs while I duck only hateful words."
Bubp, a GOP state legislator and Marine Corps Reserve officer, had campaigned for Schmidt. He put out his own statement yesterday: "The comments and concerns I shared with Congresswoman Schmidt were never meant as a personal reference to Mr. Murtha. . . . We never discussed anyone by name and there was no intent to ever disparage the congressman or his distinguished record of service for our nation." Bubp, through a spokeswoman, declined an interview request.
Schmidt recalls their Friday phone conversation somewhat differently. "I wrote down what he was saying," she said in the interview. "He did ask me to send a message to Congress, and he also said send a message to 'that congressman.' He did not know that congressman's name, but I did. Neither one of us knew he was a Marine."
Schmidt said she had not noticed the numerous references to Murtha's military background in the newspaper, radio and TV accounts of his troop-withdrawal proposal, made Thursday. "They keep us pretty busy," she said.
Paul Hackett, a veteran of the Iraq war who lost the August special election to Schmidt, said her comments on the House floor "were at best irresponsible and at worst grossly unpatriotic." Hackett, who has sharply criticized President Bush's Iraq war policy, is running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, but some Democrats are trying to talk him into a rematch against Schmidt.
Opponents had dubbed her "Mean Jean" for the sharp tongue she wielded in the August campaign to replace Rob Portman (R), the new U.S. trade representative. Bubp campaigned for her in his Marine dress uniform, rebuking Hackett for criticizing "their commander in chief."
Yesterday, Schmidt said she hoped the hubbub will have faded by the time Congress reconvenes next month. Asked if she would change anything if she could do it over again, she replied: "I wouldn't have used Congressman Murtha's name."
On topic..
War is mens fault. It always has been.
Mankind has gone mad, and women will not be the ones to stop it unless we are willing to declare war on men.
Only good men can stop it.
If they do not step up and stop it, then war is always an option and we know where you sleep.
Not on topic but WAYYYYY Fascinating..
"One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.
The September 21, 2001, briefing was prepared at the request of the president, who was eager in the days following the terrorist attacks to learn all that he could about any possible connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1122nj1.htm
Big fat bloody hmmmmm
Fe:
That is a really depressing article. Also, on Cheney, his complete lack of irony makes it hard to get traction. He has sarcasm, but no sense of irony as far as I can tell. And absolutely no sense that human nature can be noble. Remember, as a COngressman he said, basically, Mandela could should rot in prison because he was a communist dupe that hated America, or something like that.
Well, got to turn in here -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL! (It's almost Thursday here in Doha)
Chuck in Doha
PS: I know! It's that Cheney's got no Elvis in him! At last! We may have discovered the REAL Anti-Elvis. Michael J. Fox turned out to be a false anti-Elvis and a pretty decent guy to boot. It was Cheney all along! Unmask the Anti-Elvis, ye soldiers of light!
This Country gets caught up in the perception and cannot bring itself to face reality.
If you wish to sell millions of books, get a catchy title, fill it with passages that create passionate responses from pro and con aspects of your audience, and print it. It is describing a perception of life that exists because people accept that is the way it will be.
Our heroes in life are people that decided they will no longer accept the perception; Rosa Parks, Malcom X, JFK, FDR, MLK, Winston Churchill, etc.
The reality is you and i struggle to create a life in this world. Good, Bad or Ugly, the struggle is the substance.
Controlling the perception of the struggle is what this White House has done brilliantly, but is now coming back to haunt them. No one can control perception longer than it takes people to prove them wrong. Then they appear to be a horses backside.
Writing a Book that depicts the struggle of life as a struggle between men and women is a false premise. If i hurt a Woman, i hurt her sons and daughters, her cousins, her uncles and aunts and decendants. If i hurt another Man i do the same, one is no greater nor less than the other.
The struggle is between people that create life, art, health, passion, humanity, compassion, education, science, the wonders that give us joy, And those that wish to control those same forces of Nature.
When we stop allowing perception to rule our lives, we stand up and simply refuse to take it any more. Sometimes it is as simple as refusing to give your seat on a bus,or as difficult as giving a speech knowing you will be assasinated.
Failing to change perception is why the Democratic party cannot find its foundation. We have been waiting for a generation, its time for someone to stand up and speak the truth.
"I just found him to be a knowledgeable, normal person," said Cynthia Lovell, a nurse and registered Republican who says she now regrets voting for President Bush in last year's election. "He kept us focused. He wanted us all to have our own say."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/23/kerry.juryduty.ap/index.html
No one can control perception longer than it takes people to prove them wrong.
Posted by: Toolmaker at November 23, 2005 02:07 PM
Amen.
Christy:
I beg to differ. Women are in this war thing just as much as men. Look at that Helen of Troy by way of a parable. Look at that woman in Congress that beat Hackett. Think of Dick Cheney's wife. Margaret Thatcher. And on the other hand, I think guys do a lot of crazy things just because they think it impresses girls, and lots of women encourage that. My grandma said no girl would go out walking with a boy back in 1917 if they didn't want to go off and fight in WWI. That was back in rural Virginia. I can't see how very much has changed. Different words, same song. It's just human nature -- part womens' nature and part mens' nature = human nature.
Chuck in Doha, and now I really have to turn in. Happy Thanksgiving again!
Whose Rules indeed...but also as applied to when it's patriotic to protest and when it's not. Apparently, it's not ok to protest (i.e., camp out/park in public ditches outside the toy ranch) in Crawford, TX now.
Pro-peace activists -- including Daniel Ellsberg (yes, THE Daniel Ellsberg) -- were arrested today in Crawford.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5440145
The difference between men and women is really quite simple.
All social issues are WOMENS issues. Men percieve a society as needing to be controlled BY MEN.
It is not something that is learned it is instinctive. If they 'control' it then they can 'protect' it.
It really is an issue of power.
And I for one think it is a damn tragedy that men do not turn over as much social power to women as possible. WE can manage our own bodies and lives and worth.
If men did that, the most beautiful and benevolent societies on earth would be born and mankind himself would evolve into something kinder, and more gentle.
Give us the earth and we will make it a garden heavy with life.
Paradise.
It is what women do. Beauty is an instinct. So is mercy.
That is exactly what it will take to give women real power.
It will take mercy. So far... this world does not offer any comfort at all.
Helen of Troy did not launch those ships.
She was an excuse to a strategic end that was highly desired anyway.
I am not saying women can not be mean, or even murderous.
But both of those things go against the natural instincts of women.
Men were made to fight. To ensure the survival of the race. They will kill the village to save a village.
I have never studied one female leader at war who sent troops into a fight she did not already feel threatened in. I have never heard of any woman commander order the systematic rape of an entire nation of other women.
Could these happen..? Sure. But it is by mens rules these things happen.. Not by women.
You say boys want to impress girls. I believe the women who tortured at say Abu Graib did it to please a man.
Torture. Sexual sadisim. Kicking someone until they die from it. These are not things I suspect many women, if any, sit around and dream up as a solution.
Most of what ills this entire race is the left over remants of animalistic behavior that is indulged and even encouraged in a world controlled by men.
The sins that destroy us, war, theft, rape, slavery...In all of it, me, my daughters, my mother.. we are nothing more than collateral damage.
Even as you claim to fight for your women and children, most of the casualties of war is women and children.
At some point this is something MEN will have to correct within themselves. It is not something woman can stop.
I love men. All men. But if we continue down the paths you lay for us, yall will simply kill or poison us all.
As a follow-on to my posting about Crawford, here's an article from last month's Vanity Fair about what some Crawford citizens feel about their neighbor...both pro & con... The pros are scary & the cons are funny.
http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/051024roco01
High Noon in Crawford
President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch was intended as a perfect backdrop for his cowboy image. But a grieving mother, a deadly hurricane, and disenchanted neighbors have brought a dose of reality to his doorstep
BOSTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry’s public profile and prosecutorial past didn’t spare him from performing that most mundane of civic responsibilities - jury duty.
Kerry was not only chosen this week to sit on a jury in Suffolk Superior Court, but also was elected foreman.
The case involved two men who sued the city for injuries suffered in a 2000 car accident involving a school principal. The Kerry-led jury rejected their claim Tuesday, and his fellow jurors said the state’s junior senator was a natural leader.
“I just found him to be a knowledgeable, normal person,” said Cynthia Lovell, a nurse and registered Republican who says she now regrets voting for President Bush in last year’s election. “He kept us focused. He wanted us all to have our own say.”
The former Democratic presidential candidate reported for duty Monday and none of the lawyers in the case objected to putting him on the jury.
“I was a little surprised,” Kerry said of being selected for jury duty.
“I enjoyed it,” he said. “It was very, very interesting and very instructive.”
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KERRY_JURY_DUTY?SITE=FLDAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
The arrests in Crawford have started
12 of them.
Maureen Dowd is being interviewed by Charlie Rose on tonight's show (on PBS) about her book Are Men Necessary?... according to the email I got about what's going to air tonight. She's one of two people being interviewed, so I don't know if she will be on during the first or second half of the hour-long show. Check your local listings for time, etc.
UK Press Gagged by Attorney General over Reported Bush Plan to Bomb News Outlet
Larisa Alexandrovna
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The Mirror, a UK publication which reported Tuesday on an alleged US plan to bomb an Arab TV station seen as anti-US, has been gagged from reporting any further on the memo and its contents by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, Raw Story has learned.
The publication reported on the contents of a five page memo, stamped Top Secret, alleging that President Bush had threatened to undertake military action against al-Jazeera, a TV station located in the country of Qatar. While al-Jazeera is seen by some in the Bush administration to be largely anti-West, Qatar is an American ally.
According to sources familiar with the case, it was the recent attack on Fallujah that had Bush concerned about what al-Jazeera might report.
continues
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/UK_Press_Gagged_by_Attorney_General_1123.html
Two GREAT political cartoons at the Atlanta Journal Constitution...
http://tinyurl.com/8mxat
http://tinyurl.com/bahvw
(this one should be submitted to Karen's contest!)
That is exactly what it will take to give women real power.
It will take mercy. So far... this world does not offer any comfort at all.
Posted by: Christy at November 23, 2005 02:28 PM
Christy:
From your mouth to God's ear. Couldn't have said it better myself.