Gina rightly guessed in the roundtable tonight (see the gina & krista round-robin tomorrow morning) that the hoped for topic tonight (by me) would probably be Governor Sarah Palin and special-needs. The speech by Palin that was highlighted in today's snapshot also included a section on special needs. And the plan was to offer that section and to jump on an angle Jim asked (three or four weeks ago) be held for Third (and has still not resulted in a feature for Third). But an idiot wrote a post online insisting Sarah Palin was really against the disabled and special-needs community. I find that so offensive and think someone really has to be the lowest of the low to even suggest something like that.
The man's a liar and we'll note this comment posted in response (no link to that man's trash) to his nonsense:
I am certain that Senator Obama will do as much for all Americans with developmental disabilities as he has for those in the state of Illinois. Illinois was ranked 47th when he came into the Illinois legislature and now we are ranked 50th. . . but I am sure you already knew that as you have "worked with and for parents of children and adults with disabilities at the local, state, national and international level for 35 years." As an Illinois parent of a child with developmental disabilities, I can tell you first hand Senator Obama and our overwhelmingly Democratic state government have done nothing for our children. I also find it interesting that you regard Senator Obama as such as champion of disability issues, but a review of "The One's" convention speech transcript reveals that he forgot to mention autism. On the other hand, both Senator McCain and Governor Palin both made commitments to the weakest and most vulnerable among us.
It's really amazing that some man (not the person posting the comment quoted above) thinks he can look at the parent of a special-needs child and call him or her a liar based on nothing (based on lies). It really goes to how sick our national conversation has gotten. I don't give a damn about tone and I'm not interested in policing the internet (or advocating for anyone else to). But special-needs children is an issue I've volunteered on and donated to for decades and maybe I'm just taking this topic too personally?
That could be it. But I think when someone wants to make judgments about someone's parenting, they damn well better know something. And when they want to accuse a parent of a special-needs child of not giving a damn about children with special-needs, they better have something a little stronger than a 'hunch.'
But that's how the left's run all year long -- fact free and filled with lies. You had non-Democrat Barbara Ehrenreich attempting to clear the Democratic Party primary of Hillary with a slanderous piece of filth that didn't even pass the comprehension test. Equally true, the religion that so alarmed Socialist Barbie in Hillary was also practiced by Dream Crush Barack.
Once again, we're seeing how disgusting so many on the left are. The same way they ripped Hillary apart with lies, they now go after Sarah Palin.
I'm not voting for Sarah Palin. Yet for some strange reason, I have no desire to rip her apart with lies. In 2008, that qualifies as a 'bad' leftie.
Because women joined in on the attacks on Hillary -- little no names like the Elivra look-alike failed actress who believes one bad but successful play makes her a playwright -- it allowed society at large to really attack women with the deep thread of misogny that apparently is always below the surface.
So it does matter when Robin Morgan thinks she can lie about Sarah Palin. There was no reason for Robin to write that ridiculous column (and there was no reason for Women's Media Center to publish it). But Robin's desire to stone Palin and to do so with lies created the climate for others to 'let loose.' Robin is too damn smart not to grasp that there is a direct line between her column and those shirts with the c-word and cries of "stone her old-style!"
It does matter when Gloria Steinem dismisses a question (a valid one) about how it's not feminism to insist Palin should be home with her children by stating she hasn't heard anyone say that. I'm sorry Gloria hadn't heard that but it was all over the internet and if Women's Media Center wants to be a net presence (it's not a print publication) and they want people to take their "Sexism Sells But We're Not Buying It" campaign, they better start self-checking and they better start monitoring and calling out. Otherwise, Women's Medica Center is ENDORSING sexism.
They also better grasp that the speech Palin gave this week was an important speech and one that needs highlighting and discussion. Not hisses, not coughing up fur balls, a serious discussion.
And a serious discussion needs to take place about how certain women have intentionally failed others. WMC provides a link (actually an address, the woman in charge of their blog doesn't know how to do links) to Cynthia McKinney's NPR interview (covered in Wednesday's snapshot) and that's going to cut if for 'coverage' of Cynthia's campaign.
2008 has shown (and continues to show) just how deeply sexism remains in the US. Feminists in the United States have more than enough to focus on. But that would require getting off their knees (or backs) and standing up -- there's been no indication that our 'leadership' can do anything of the sort.
When feminists stood up for Hillary back in January, it was important for them to be destroyed. They had to be victimized with lies and smears because otherwise people might listen to them. So it's especially appalling to see Robin Morgan and others who were the targets of lies turn around and utilize lies to take Palin out.
It's especially disgusting to watch women like Robin do the men's work for them -- get into a catfight to take out a woman.
It's disgusting and it's not feminism.
Governor Sarah Palin identifies as a feminist and has long before this year. It's a real shame that feminists couldn't take the road that we're all supposed to take: I'm not tearing her apart.
Deciding not to join in on "Bash the Bitch" didn't require that you vote for her. It did require that you saw how ugly it got with the attacks on Hillary and you weren't about to let it happen to another woman running for high office. It did require that you grasped the message attacks on Palin sent to young girls. It did require that you had enough self-respect to tell various Democratic males (in 'power') -- egging you on to prostitute your talents by attacking Palin -- to go f**k themselves.
In the real world, Jill Zuckman's "Sarah Palin talks about wardrobe flap, double standard for women and special education" (Chicago Tribune) explains:
Less than two weeks before Election Day, she will deliver her first major policy speech Friday, calling for full funding of special education, a subject that has suddenly become extremely personal. And that's not just because of the arrival of Trig, her 6-month-old son with Down syndrome. It's because families with children who have disabilities have been flocking to her campaign stops, looking to Palin and her family for inspiration.Palin on Thursday granted one of her first newspaper interviews since becoming McCain's vice presidential nominee. She was joined by her husband, Todd, who cradled Trig, noticeably plumper since he was first introduced to the world two months ago.
Palin called the disabilities issues "a joyful challenge." Todd Palin showed off photos of people with Down syndrome who have come to campaign events, and the candidate said one advocacy group sent her a bumper sticker that said "My kid has more chromosomes than your kid."
"These children are not a problem, they are a priority," Palin said."We're on this journey with other families," she said. "We'll learn a lot from those other families, as they can count on us in the White House doing all that we can for them also. It's going to be a nice team effort here."
Sarah, Cynthia, Rosa and Hillary. In one way or another, all four have been repeatedly betrayed this year. (Rosa Clemente is Cynthia's running mate.) It's not about disagreeing with them or even about 'tone' -- it's about grasping when they are being attacked and having the feminist perspective that you're not going to join in, that you're either going to stand up for them the way you'd want to be stood up for or you're going to shut your damn mouth because, although cowardly, you're not a hypocrite. Sadly, those two options were too much for most 'leaders' in the feminist movement in 2008 and the movement's suffered greatly as a result.
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4185. Tonight? 4186. Just Foreign Policy lists 1,273,378 as the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war . . . same number they listed last week and the Thursday before and, yes, the Thursday before that. They've got a candidate to install and Iraq Can Wait! Obviously.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
the ballet
