calimary
calimary's JournalAgreed, but this issue is SO personal. To more than 50% of the planet if I'm not mistaken.
I'd rather it be other issues too because dammit, this was settled! We've already been through this! WHY are we having to defend it yet again?
But it's more than simply a wedge issue. To women everywhere, it's absolutely vital! It intrudes into only just THE most personal and private and intimate parts of the female human's body. What most of this legislation supports and demands is in many cases a LITERAL assault on one's physical person forcryingoutloud! For me, this is an absolute, flat-out non-negotiable. MY rights, MY right to have the last word on what happens to MY body, is an absolute. To some it's a side issue. To me, I'm afraid everything starts from that. It's the first level of "Sorting Hat" for me. If they're pro-choice, then we proceed. If they're anti-choice, they're automatically eliminated. Yes, unemployment and poverty are priorities. No debate there. Yes, eliminating war and changing course away from our long history of predatory international imperialism and aggression. Yes, if we're talking morals we damn well better walk the walk, and that means moral business practices domestically AND overseas. Major, high-priority issues all! No debate there, either. But for me, it all starts and ends with the candidate's stand on a woman's right to choose. If a woman is not master of her own body forcryingoutloud, how can she possibly be master of her future - for herself and her family if she has one?
At least in this climate, what's being talked about most is how outrageously disgraceful and offensive the republi-CON policy hard-on is, and how - IRRELEVANT how religious they are - we will NOT be dragged back to the 1950s, or as santorum recently mentioned, 1860. Or farther back than even that. They will NOT turn time back. That isn't possible, and not even an option. I am comforted to see what a huge backlash has been created - against the GOP and in support of the positions Democrats have taken on this issue. It's nice to know the whole country hasn't gone frickin pre-Cambrian on us. Just 30 - 40 %, it appears. The majority REMAINS on our side, though, and has been with us for a long time.
Hey, Gloria Allred came to my aid back in the late '70s when I was first on the air, and
was confronted by several different kinds of sexist and unprofessional treatment. Moral support, mainly. She was kind, sympathetic, listened with great objectivity, and very discreet. She recorded Public Affairs features for a series of drop-in messages we had on the air. So I'd see her every week, especially during a time that was proving rather uncomfortable for me for a few reasons. She took me to lunch, let me cry on her shoulder, talked to me, gave me advice, and shared her own experiences. She talked about how, in many stations where she contributed on-air or was invited in as a guest, ANY hallway she walked down, some female employees would pass her little notes about issues they were facing in the workplace. Never failed, she said. She took this seriously and decided to make it one of her pet causes. And she assured me she would keep my complaints confidential and would not pursue anything without my consent.
I chose not to pursue any action, with her or any other legal counsel. Especially since I was being threatened with blackballing if I sought any recourse. And I was 23 and pretty new and the only woman - hell, the only person left in the newsroom, and fearful for my job when there'd already been heads rolling down the hall. It was a really shaky time for me and I was intimidated and terrified. Women who were achieving any measure of success back then were just emerging from the widely-held prejudice that "she slept her way into it." We'd just cracked that door open! Male radio executives and programmers were just starting to get used to having the chick on the air, as a deejay - usually on the late night shift or the overnight. SELDOM during drive time. Up til then, it had never even occurred to their mindset that women could be hired for on-air work that was every bit as competent and ratings-worthy as any man they'd hire. The change only happened because the FCC, in effect, responded to the growing clout of the women's movement by stepping in during the mid '70s and telling them they had to. I was always the "newsgal" and the only air shifts that allow any news are usually morning or afternoon drive, so I was always on in a prominent position by default. But we were still the anomaly in every newsroom at that time (it was almost like we were the "family pet," every newsroom had its token woman) and we were all, to one extent or other, afraid to rock the boat and assert ourselves too much. Gloria Allred was there from the beginning, and if she gave me a lot of moral support, she gave dozens of us that kind of moral support. And she never ambulance-chased or called back several times trying to solicit my business. She honored my request not to push it.
And I will always GREATLY appreciate her. When she gets loud and annoying and pushy and noisy and camera-hoggy, I find myself saying - "YOU GO GIRLFRIEND!!!!" And I say a little thank-you. Again. Gloria Allred is okay by me!
That's a great indicator - from the "by thy friends art thou known..." file.
I always look at the people signing on. When the voter pamphlet comes, I look at the bottom of the pages where ballot propositions are argued - to see who's endorsing those arguments, who's putting his or her name on it, and what's their axe to grind. It's like the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films. Really sorts things out for me if I have any questions or confusion. Knowing someone like inhofe is supporting this makes me immediately suspicious. If he approves of this, there's got to be something wrong with it.
Too true. Makes me wonder what word choices romney would make.
He didn't like the choice of words? Well, willard, which words would YOU use, then? What would YOU call her, then, if we're all just arguing over word choices?
Almost forgot:
Keep the pressure UP!!!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002374653
How to fight back at the local radio, with insights from a former radio person. As one of those, myself, I can vouch for the good ideas in it. I have personally personally witnessed how effective these strategies can be.
Stunk up the joint too badly even for him, 'eh?
No, joe, they are not rudderless. The problem is the rudder they installed that's steered them to this point.
Fine. As long as my husband also submits to me. We both share that attitude.
It pisses me off that I can't even go to my own parish church anymore. I am made to feel like an outsider, like I don't belong anymore. Like they have no interest in hearing from someone like me anymore. I don't feel welcome, especially if I know the sermon is gonna be another one of those "let's read the bishop's letter again" affairs. While, at the same time, they have yet to address the pedophile priests issue at all.
These young people. Sometimes they just leave your jaw on the floor.
My moment came in the car while I was driving my then-ten-year-old son to an appointment. As usual during our various commutes, we'd talk about everything and all things. No subject was off-limits. We talked about all the taboos - sex, drugs, politics, religion. I found that when we talked politics, this feeling of seriousness would come over me and I'd feel as though I had to present several conflicting perspectives as honestly and as un-biased as I could, so that he'd be able to understand the different arguments pro and con and make informed judgments as far as he was able.
We were talking politics this time (while in heavy traffic on the Ventura Freeway, for whatever that's worth), a discussion that usually boiled down to the different viewpoints of liberals versus conservatives. Do you know what he said to me?
I'm paraphrasing here:
"So Mom, it sounds like the conservative side is kinda like the dad - that is strict and stern and punishing, and the liberal side is kinda like the mom - that's more loving and supporting and not punishing."
Ten years old and he got that, and I had never drawn that metaphor for him before - the paternalistic authoritarian versus the so-called "nanny state" effect. And we hadn't explored that whole conflicting governing philosophy together before. He put two and two together on his own and came up with that at the age of ten. I was so stunned I started to cry. I couldn't believe it! My son is astoundingly insightful. No wonder he writes the kinds of songs he does. (facebook.com/acidicband)
In the words of one dick cheney: "So?"
Don't care. The GREATER good comes from his being taken off the air. The whining he'll do trying to pass the blame around is irrelevant. And yes I realize he'll create a huge hole that some other rush-lite will be craving to fill. But it might also send them a message. Yeah, I realize also that the "send them a message!" blather is often just an empty statement - along the lines of all those voters who decide they simply MUST vote for a third-party candidate to "send them a message!" And they send a message alright, but not the one they thought they were sending, while effectively indulging in a political suicide pact that takes down or damages everything they've valued and fought for (example: nader).
But this is a unique moment. I think there's a momentum building here, which our side should exploit like gangbusters. First dr. laura. Then glenn beck. Now "jabber the hutt"? AT THE SAME TIME as the bad guys also lose andrew breitbart, the scheming susan g. komen partisans got their heads handed to them, the darrell issa "where are the women" hearing turned into a big red swollen oozing pustule, and bob mcdonnell had to capitulate on virginia's state-mandated vaginal probe bill (with the term "vaginal probe" now surgically attached to his name and reputation for as long as he'll draw breath - you think that won't wind up in the first paragraph of his obit whenever that eventually is written?). This is NOT a good season for the knuckle-draggers, and the more we can pile on, the more it'll hurt. And the farther back they'll fall, and the more ground they'll lose. This is an avalanche the likes of which we may not see again for a generation, and we can and should take full advantage of it. One doesn't often get a chance to push the pendulum back toward the truly "right" (as in CORRECT) direction: OURS.
On edit - sorry. I forgot to add THIS, my favorite link of the week:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002374653
How to fight back at the local radio level. WORTH IT!!!!
"Humorous." HAH. We're liable to laugh your toxic, traitorous ass straight off the air, honey.
The last laugh will NOT be yours.
NOT ENOUGH. You think a few half-hearted paragraphs will make it all go away, 'eh?
We're just getting warmed up, honey. You have NO idea what you've stirred up and stepped in. HUMOROUS????? WTF???? What the hell kind of joke book are you using? Ilse Koch's???????
Dear God, I got so indignant that I forgot the main reason I'm posting anything at all today! It's the thread I found, from DUer Fumesucker, relaying some of the best and most bad-ass concrete, practical, and EASILY-doable ideas and suggestions I've ever seen in a single post. From the viewpoint of a former radio insider.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002374653
And as a former radio insider myself, I can attest personally that this stuff is SPOT-ON, and it WORKS.
Obviously something already is working here, judging from this OP, though. The target is now softening nicely. He has now given evidence that he's become vulnerable. Perhaps even the chickenshit ProFlowers had a hand in it - they did say in some of their responses reported here and elsewhere that they intended to have a face-to-face with him about this. Maybe it's already happened. OR, his secretary or his online calendar has signaled that such a meeting has already been scheduled for such-and-such an hour on Monday after he's received a few key phone calls, maybe? Perhaps from his agent(s), a close friend or two, maybe his latest wife (hearing it from her girlfriends through their clenched teeth). It sounds, looks, and smells, as though he's started to feel the heat. He knows he's stirred up something bad - potentially VERY bad.
And something else just occurred to me. SO much heat has been generated by this mess, and so head-spinningly quickly, that other somebodies are telling him he better make nice: other republi-CONS. I'd bet on it! You have scolding editorials popping up online. I just saw one, from here, from the Washington Post, rather milquetoast but still of a critical nature. They've got people on staff who are paid to watch trends and take note of the mood of the people. Who are also the electorate this year. Things are trending WAY away from them, especially among the female demographics. We've all heard testimony, and read it here and elsewhere, about even staunch female knuckle-draggers being totally outraged by this. This issue cuts across every demo and age and political stripe, everywhere, and even across genders. My brilliant-and-broadminded husband is as revolted by this as I am.
You can be certain that flush has gotten more than a few phone calls, tons of emails and texts, and maybe even a visit or two, from people on his side telling him he's gone too far and he better say something that's not another insult. This is not what they need and he's just enflamed the worst parts of it in this election year, especially against an increasingly popular, sympathetic, and also brilliant-and-broadminded incumbent. This is just exactly not what they need. It's threatening their support among their own women. Even if the current Mrs. limbaugh is in lockstep with her husband on this, you better believe she has girlfriends who are fuming! And you better believe they're lettin' her know.
Heck, considering how marriages and human nature are, it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't having a big fight about this today. OR - maybe - um - last night? He's fat and unhealthy and under more than the usual stress, she's getting an earful from everybody at the club or the yoga class or the nail palace. And what if she's listening to them? What if she realizes this is too much for her to find acceptable, herself? Or what if she's always kinda felt that way but isn't a militant and didn't care all that much because they married for other reasons? The list of shitstorm-in-all-its-various-forms is utterly endless!
"I don't care what they say about me, just spell my name correctly." We've all heard that infamous ol' cliche about "no such thing as bad publicity." In this case, it seems, just any ol' kind of publicity isn't ALWAYS good.
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