Friday, October 26, 2012

The Misogynists

I'm a woman living in 2012 America and I cannot believe what this presidential campaign has wrought. Men are standing up with straight faces pronouncing that rape is open to interpretation, that women possess the ability to "shut down" fertilization, and it's God's intention that rape victims be impregnated. How did these guys pass Biology 101, graduate high school, and why are they legitimate voices in the Republican party? Why are they not being laughed out of the building, indeed, run out of town on a rail? Team Red has surrendered to the extremist right wing; the religious fanatics, the Tea Party and a host of other desperate characters who want to eviscerate women's rights. The Taliban apparently has its share of fans in Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock and the GOP ticket, Romney-Ryan. And that's just to name a few.

It's beyond me how women can support this unholy alliance, a turn-back-the-clock madness which has taken hold of politicians and voters with a vengeance. I respect those who are pro-life, but are reasonable enough to recognize that exceptions exist for cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother. For the life of me, I can't fathom those who seek to overturn Roe V. Wade and return to the ugly, deadly era of back alley abortions. Easy for "severely conservative" men to take such a position, but Republican women? How can  mothers advocate a society in which their daughters face the grim, devastating outcomes of unwanted pregnancies without access to safe, legal abortions? These same people think abstinence is the answer to teenage sex, that it's not essential that their children be armed with contraception. They believe equal pay for both genders doing the same job is debatable. And most telling of all, they abandon the precious babies they claim to care so much about the minute those infants enter the world; kids who'll need Head Start, food stamps and affordable health care to stay alive. Make no mistake, this is an all-out war on women.

Sisters, we need to rise up. We need to be doing everything in our power to see that Obama is reelected: phone banking, canvassing, getting out the vote. There are a plethora of reasons why Mitt Romney is not a viable choice for the White House. Leaving aside all the issues he's vacillated on, his archaic stance on women's rights should strike fear and terror into the heart of any female. Yesterday I watched footage of the President casting his early vote in Chicago. He was greeted by roughly a dozen volunteers, all but two of which were women. Everyone with a half a brain knows that both candidates are targeting suburban mothers and "waitress moms." In this critical election we have the chance to be the "deciders." The Supreme Court hangs in the balance. Our futures and our daughters futures are at stake. 

          

    

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Addendum

I posted the previous entry, "Romney's Female Problem," without mentioning the glaring facts of his anti-women policies on reproductive health. I assume my readers are well aware that Mitt flipped his abortion position and would now, supposedly, deign to allow it for the life of the mother, rape and incest. He's been all over the map on this point, like so many others. Women can't trust Romney for a host of reasons, not least of which he wants the government to control women's bodies.

Romney's Female Problem

Mitt Romney's now-infamous remark in Tuesday's debate on seeking "qualified women" for his administration as Governor of Massachusetts, yielding "binders full of women," should come as no surprise. He's a man so far removed from the real world that his personal sphere apparently didn't include women he deemed worthy of top jobs. He had to go out of his way to ask women's groups to elucidate where he might find topnotch female applicants for his camp. It's as if he were talking about some strange new species with which he had no acquaintance. It was a revelatory moment, illuminating just how alien a concept it was to him that such creatures were in abundant supply. He's stuck in the Fifties and early Sixties: Ward Cleaver meets Don Draper.

A vote for Romney is a giant step backward into that unenlightened era, when the best barometer of a woman's worth was how tasty her meatloaf was. His wife Ann only adds to the perception that her husband is out of touch with an entire gender, as she speaks on the stump about how great it is that women are talking about the economy. As if this was a new development. Women have long been the economic backbone of their own households, for starters. They've long been the overseers of finances, the most likely member of a family to keep and balance a checkbook, institute and follow a budget, and apportion the family income. Needless to say, women apply these same skills in the workplace.

The overriding impression I got from watching Mitt spar with Obama was how rude, uncooperative and selfish he was. He came across as spoiled and bullying, trying to run the whole show, attempting unsuccessfully to bulldoze Candy Crowley like he did Jim Lehrer. At one particularly revolting moment, he told the president to desist and wait his turn, like a schoolmarm correcting an errant child. I suppose he thinks he can treat other world leaders with the same dismissive, condescending attitude he exudes. It demonstrates another myth the GOP is trying to sell, that with a Republican at the helm and more money for the Defense Department, the rest of the planet will quake in the face of American might. Their candidate has zero foreign policy experience, a deficit that will no doubt be brought into sharp focus next week, when the last of the three debates covers that ground. Mitt is unaccustomed to being challenged, having to adapt and put the greater good ahead of his personal agenda. He's a CEO chauvinist who hogs the ball. That's not what the American people need in a president.      

   

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Joltin' Joe

Like legions of other Obama supporters, I watched last week's debate in a state of disbelief and major disappointment. I phoned my oldest son after the show was over and said, "Obama tanked." A former debater himself, Devin wasn't sure the president's performance had been that dismal. The way high school debating goes, you're scored on points and your arguments have to jibe with reality. Romney did a great job of reinventing himself as a moderate who isn't really out to slash Medicare, eliminate Planned Parenthood and let the middle class bear the burden of higher taxes. But we all know that dude doesn't square with the candidate who's been campaigning as a "severe conservative." And speaking of burdens, tonight the task of damage control and rebounding falls to Vice President Joe Biden.

A fighting Irishman, seasoned senator and loquacious pol, Biden has the edge on up and coming Paul Ryan, by virtue of his considerable experience. But if Ryan is as much of a workout nut as he's reputed to be, I've got a feeling he won't pull his punches. He's younger and therefore more ambitious, anxious to keep the GOP ticket's momentum going. Joe, on the other hand, has to undo the disrepair Obama's lackadaisical showing  dealt the Democrats. The two men come to the table with established weaknesses, the somewhat gaffe-prone Biden versus the I-don't-have time-to-explain-the-math budget fixer Ryan. If people really believe Sarah Palin won the veep debate four years ago, then the Kentucky Derby, as the pundits have dubbed it, is Biden's chance to shine. Palin didn't win the '08 round, she simply avoided falling on her face. Now it's time for Joltin' Joe to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park.

It's time to hit the Republicans with the 47% remarks, Bain Capital's questionable business tactics and Romney's unwillingness to release his tax returns. It's time to point out the flip-flopper and empty suit isn't fit to be president. Time to highlight the GOP's war on women, their free pass for Wall Street, their indifference to the plight of the poor. Joe has the bonafides to sock it to them and I hope he comes out swinging.