WE WON!

Events in life seem to continually put us in a position of being winners or losers. But each of us must define for ourselves what is meant by winning and losing and not be led astray by how the media may define it.

We subscribe to the conviction of Grantland Rice: “It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.”

Some may think the winners are the ones who voted for and supported the media’s choice. But those of us who have stood fast against the onslaught of misogyny, hate and derision know that we are the winners.

We won because we believe deeply in gender equality. We won because we censored the Democratic Party for cooking the books in their Primary for the sole purpose of defeating a woman and maintaining the status quo of good ol’ boy politics.

We won because no matter how much it hurt and no matter how cruelly we were taunted and blasphemed by friend and foe alike, we stood firm because all the evidence showed that the best candidate for the job of president was a woman.

We won because we never wavered in our passion despite the piles of crap and garbage thrown at us. We watched former ally after former ally turn away from us as their courage and conviction evaporated in the storm of blog and media hype.

INVICTUS
by William Ernest Henley; 1849-1903

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.


Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.


It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

IT'S NOT THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE TO MAKE

Once again the media is telling us that they have chosen our next president and vice president. Already happened, it says. “You partisan yahoos don’t even need to vote. It’s not the People’s choice. It’s ours.

“You nincompoops have such short memories but try and think back to 2000 and 2004. We chose the candidate then too. How’d that work out for you? We do it softly, we do it with lies and threats, we do it rough and for your amusement we do it with misogyny.”

Remember all the flutter about the cost of John Edward’s haircut? It was only because it could be used to derogate women – the media loved calling him “The Breck Girl. But nothing was ever said about the thousand$ spent on his suits, ties, and shirts or how they looked on him.

Hillary’s clothing, body and hair was constantly commented on, usually in a derogatory fashion. If it wasn’t the tut-tuts about cleavage it was the nasty bits about her pantsuits and the male’s reason for why she wore them instead of a dress they could look up under. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/13/8917?page=1

Joe Biden is seldom even noticed; even when he makes a gaffe that would sink any other Party’s candidate like stone. Some mention has been made of his facial makeovers and hair plugs in the more gossipy blogs/columns. Even his monumental gaffes are not criticized – the media only hear the ones allegedly made by Governor Palin or Senator McCain.

Same with Obama’s clothing – for men it’s just suits and ties. Of course the perfect one must and does dress with perfection. So who mentions his $1,500 suits and makes nasty comments about him spending all that money? And even suggest what he may be hiding with custom made suits.

And woe on anyone who mentions the clever way he is fooling you with the slight whitening of his hair at the temples. Gives him an older, experienced look to those who have not seen the changes gradually made with a little white powder. [Oops, this may land me in gitmo.]

Sarah Palin’s new wardrobe has been fueling the hate engines for days now. Led, of course, by a media that spends most of its time looking for something to crap on her with, but little is made of the $520 Ferragamo shoes worn by McCain, although the talk-show host like to blather on about them.

To many women obey the cultural edict to lighten up when constantly faced with the barrage of hateful misogyny and sexism that was and still is aimed at Senator Clinton and their own gender.

Many more even join in now as the hate-crime-inducing drivel is spewed out against Governor Palin. The idea that SNL and The Daily Show can make such hideous fun of womankind is worse than deplorable. It is criminal and it incites violence and disrespect for all women. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081026_Palin_deserves_our_respect.html

Women have just got to wake up to the fact that sexism and misogyny is no more humorous or acceptable or harmless than making fun of lynching, nappy-headed-hos or Uncle Toms.

“Just slit her throat, lock her in a car boot, and drive the car into river in West Virginia.
“Ain’t gonna let no whore screw with the man
“And a Drive-By Won’t Be Out of the Question. What goes around, comes around. The stupid fucking bitch !!
“Talk About WHITE TRASH that bitch better keep looking over her shoulder.”
This is just a few examples of what Obama supporters said about Hillary Clinton.

"[W]hatever else the current generation of feminists - and particularly the Third Wave feminists - have accomplished, the battle to diminish the cultural acceptability of sexism and misogyny is being lost. Lighten up is not a successful strategy. Lighten up is no strategy at all. . . We must commit ourselves to an innovative and energetic campaign to change our culture. The way things look now, we're not just losing a battle about sexism in this election - we're losing the whole damn war."
-- Ciccina, The Lurking Canary

PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING

Cries of “not true” reverberate across the country aimed at each campaign by the other. The media either promulgates or joins in the cry of liar. Disturbing, yes but fairly normal for election politics.

But this year there is a big difference. Why? It’s not just the nasty blogger boyz or the continuous rehash by the cable and broadcast and radio talk. Those were in place in ’04.

So what variable is different? Gender. Two women have been front and center this election year and since our society finds nothing wrong with denigrating women sexually, misogyny is having a wild and unbridled roughshod ride.

Another but lesser factor is age. True, there have been senior candidates in the past but that was before the media had such a stranglehold on the information pipeline.

But one has only to hear the anger in Letterman’s voice condemning McCain for canceling an appearance on his show to fathom the depths of the power media has assumed. We the people have allowed the media to grow into a hydra-headed bully.

Also age is still somewhat revered as evidenced by Joe Biden’s harsh criticism of a BO ad for which he was soundly lambasted by the media and the BO campaign acting in tandem. Is Joe on the way out?

But there are no holes or indecency barred when it comes to bashing women. Where a male candidate having an affair [John Edwards] is giggled over but unreported by media, a female candidate, whether guilty or not is presumed to be promiscuous. Evidence is unnecessary.

Still, what makes this year stand out for misogyny is not the expected male, high school locker room, toilet words and sexual innuendos. It is the viciousness and intensity of feminist/women’s hatred of the female candidates.

Is this the “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” affect played large? Are these women jealous because another woman, not them, would have won a Primary [save for intervention and rule breaking by the DNC]?

Or angry because another woman, not them, would be chose to run for the office of Vice President? OMG! And these women are smart and intelligent too!

The real horror of all of this for the many women, that once supported Democrats for what they perceived was their devotion toward women’s civil and reproductive rights, is to see it is Democrats that are front and center with the cruelest and falseness of the onslaught toward women.

It was Democratic Party leadership that stole votes from the woman candidate and gave them to the man; that defied Convention Rules and cooked the books against the most qualified candidate.

But many did not go along with that treachery. Thanks be to the great band of sisters and brothers: a huge community of women and men, both young and old, who are blogging for principal instead of being out to slit their sister's throat; for believing that Democracy is for every gender.

We will never give up and never give in.