Marching for Women’s Equality and Lives, Circa 1989

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

I’ve been busy over the last days talking to relatives and neighbors who have either lost a job or are not finding a job since graduating from college.  They seem to have a sense of inertia, without a clue as to what to do.

I give them a real pep talk, with practical suggestions. I lost a couple of  jobs due to recessions…back in 1975 and again in 1981.  I was willing to take pay cuts, start at the bottom, take courses, learn how to write several types of resumes, switch fields and move if I had to.  The people I have talked to don’t seem to have that sort of drive and I’m not sure why.  Things are worse now in term of a future which doesn’t bode well for a return to normalcy, of course, but I’m struck by the sense of disbelief that seems to be hampering these folks.  It’s crippling them and they aren’t prepared to look at themselves and be willing to alter their set-in-stone plans.

The same sort of paralysis seems to extend to women these days.  Sure, we’ve been sold out by the national organizations, but the misogyny and attack on women’s health seems to be quite acceptable these days.  I can’t quite understand this sort of thing, since I came up through the days when we were fighting for our rights.

I was rummaging through a drawer and found a button from 21 years ago nearly to the day.  It was a march on Washington, one of several I went to.  I remember riding on a bus put together by the local chapter of NOW.  Many women’s groups joined together. We were all fighting mad in 1989.

I’m still angry and now I’m also broken-hearted.  This button brings me back to a day when women were galvanized and had a voice.

I wonder if these days a march on Washington would be even able to be organized, if there would be any interest… and if it actually occurred, whether it would be ignored by the media.

Something is very wrong, very wrong indeed…

When we were marching...

My Apologies to Terry O’Neill, President of NOW, Who Actually Has Been Doing What She Said She Would Do

~~By  InsightAnalytical-GRL

In my previous post, Surprise, Surprise: Obama Advisor (Female) Thinks Sharia Law is “Misunderstood”, I made this caustic comment:

What’s up with this willingness by “liberal” women to sell out women?  We saw it with Ms. Magazine and all many female Democrats during the primaries.  Supposedly NOW chose a woman to head the organization who is ready for a fight, but I haven’t heard a peep out of her, have you?

I still feel the same way about Ms. Magazine and other so-called “progressive/liberal” women’s publications and Obama supporters who have managed to excuse the misogynistic vein which runs through the Obama crew.

However, I must update some of what’s going on with NOW and offer a bit of an apology to Terry O’Neill of NOW.  Today I saw in the a story in the Albuquerque Journal that piqued my interest in revisiting NOW.

This story was an AP piece, which means I can’t quote it nor link to it under penalty of legal action.

The gist of the story is that NOW’s new President , Terry O’Neill (elected in June 2009), has been working on trying to assess what health care “reform” will mean to women. (More on this further down)

But, the old story of creepy men has become a top concern due to the Roman Polanski arrest and David Letterman’s revelations about his dalliances with women employees.  O’Neill has been quick to respond to those who try to makes excuses for these louses. See below for links to O’Neill’s statements on both of these clods.

Amazingly the AP article reports that while O’Neill has recieved a surge of emails to NOW about the latest Letterman revelations, many of them criticize HER, calling her a “man-hater.”

Sigh.

O’Neill has been on Letterman’s case since June, when he spewed this, as described in the Atlantic:

Jun 12 2009, 9:50 am by Chris Good

NOW Condemns Letterman

After this week’s flap between Sarah Palin and David Letterman, which started when Letterman cracked a joke about Palin’s “slutty flight attendant look” and another about her daughter getting “knocked up” by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, the National Organization for Women has condemned Letterman’s jokes and is asking its supporters to write to CBS and voice criticism.

Letterman was added to NOW’s Media Hall of Shame after this incident (see page 5). (You might be interested to see the latest additions to the list…Glenn Beck is currently the most recent addition, but lo and behold, there’s a dig at the Huffington Post for their games with women’s chests right underneath…)

On the subject of these crappy “reform” plans, I heard a two-second blurb on the radio “news” a few weeks ago about the restoration of funding for “abstinence only” education, which has been called a complete failure.  The Senate Finance Committee actually restored funding to this crap at the behest of Sen. Orrin Hatch with the help of two Democrats, Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) joining with all the Republicans on the Committee. JERKS!!

Read more about it at NOW’s call to action so that this garbage will be out of the final bill when reaches the Senate floor: Abstinence-Only Education Shouldn’t Make the Cut and also check out the Center for Public Integrity on who’s behind Sen. Hatch’s move for restoration and the kinds of money wasted on the lie-laden program.

Another Action Alert includes a broader discussion of  the “reform” plans and their impact on women: Bad Health Care Bill Penalizes Women: More Amendments Limiting Reproductive Health Care and Excessive Premium Rates for Older Women .

NOW is also supporting a single-payer system.

After the debacle of the 2009 Democratic primaries and NOW’s support of Obama, it’s good to see that Terry O’Neill seems to be more on target with a message that really is pro-women. This older “war horse” is doing exactly what she said she would do.

Of course, you may not see or hear much of her unless you look at the paper for a story buried under a piece about bears favoring minivans when they go out steal food at the national parks (yes, on page D4 of the Albuquerque Journal).

And for sure, you won’t see Terry O’Neill on TEE VEE very often, either.  After all, she’s OLD and her chest probably not up to snuff…

***

O’Neill Statements:

The Latest Letterman Controversy Raises Workplace Issues for Women (October 6, 2009)

NOW President Terry O’Neill Calls Polanski Furor “Dangerous Talk” That Could Set Back Women’s Rights/”Celebrity Culture Gone Haywire” Blurs Case, O’Neill Says (October 2, 2009)

The Past Week: May 10-16, 2009 (The Smugness of Obama; Soros and Chinese Cars in the U.S.?; Cinie Sums It Up re: Bush/Obama; Gibson, the World’s Largest Dog, Recovers from Leg Amputation; Harold Pinter Adaptation of “The Handmaid’s Tale”

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

Chicago Correspondent Leslie saw this on the cover of the local “free” newspaper and thought The One looked awfully smug. She captions: “I guess I really pulled one over on them.” Grail Guardian added this comment: “Hmmmm. Is there anyone left that I haven’t thrown under the bus yet?”

***

The recent news that GM will be selling cars made in China here in the U.S. by 2011 came just before the news later in the week about the dealer closings.  But there’s an interesting twist to the story, as reported by China-Motors.Ru:

Chinese Cars – Soros help to Chery take USA market

Miliarder Georges Soros considers{examines} injection of hundreds millions dollars in Chinese Chery to throw out on the market of the USA cheap Chinese cars.

“Chery” – a copy of the South-Korean Spark sold in the USA in partnership with GM. GM has begun litigation against Chery Automobile Co. Having accused Chery in a piracy of the car, created Daewoo, and Chery should change the name of the car for the USA.

MORE

Can’t vouch for the accuracy of the story, but these days nothing would suprise me…

***

My favorite post of the week comes from Cinie’s World.  It’s titled It’s The Medical Records, Stupid. The section which grabbed me because it summarizes EXACTLY how I feel:

I have always been struck by the cozy, lovey-dovey relationship Georgie’s Ba’ Bruh has always seemed to have with “Obamacans.”  When I first heard of Republicans for Obama, I was like, “what’s up with that, huh?”  Why would a group of Republicans get together in 2006 to encourage the “most liberal Senator in the history of…liberals and Senators” to run for President after the guy had only been voting against their interests on a national basis for a couple years or so?  Sure, coulda been just another Axelrove AstroTurfing campaign, but, if it was, why weren’t real Republicans yelling their heads off about it?   Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney are not exactly shy about slamming one of their own for being too buddy-buddy with the other side.  Why did all the black Republicans endorse this “most liberal Senator, blah, blah, blah, either explicitly, or tacitly?  Why did so many registered Republicans switch party affiliation to vote for a community organizer, (a phrase they utter with all the dripping sarcasm, venom and contempt a mother uses to describe her law school-grad son, the “rap singer”’s career choice) in the primaries and caucuses, then neglect to switch back, swelling the ranks of Independents while depleting their former party’s numbers so significantly it’s now a shell of itself?  In fact, didn’t the guy Al Franken called a “big, fat, idiot,” encourage that?  Operation Chaos, anyone?  Why didn’t the sleazy Obama ploy plea for Republicans to become Democrats for a Day cause the “liberal media” and the “progressive blogospherians” who supported him with a blind fury to turn their backs on, and wash their hands of, him?  How come the Barackamedian’s biggest laugh on his Rock Star Tour campaign trail come from his oft-related response of “Thank you, why are we whispering?” to Republicans’ hushed confessions of “I voted for you”?

I think this says it all, Cinie!

***

Here’s a story about Gibson, the world’s largest dog, who stands about 7 ft. tall on his hind legs. This wonderful Great Dane was diagnosed with  cancer in one of his front legs and to save his life, the leg was amputated.  But, he’s going back to his work as a therapy dog as soon as he recovers. Let’s send all  our best thoughts to Gibson for a speedy and COMPLETE recovery! (Yes, that’s Oprah he’s greeting…)

Visit Gibson’s website at http://gibsondog.com/index.php.

Gibson

***

Finally, I happened to find the 1990 Harold Pinter adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” last night on Indieplex, which starred Robert Duvall and a young Natasha Richardson in a role that was much different from “The Parent Trap” made about 8 years later and was aired earlier this week.  The combination of seeing the late actress who died so tragically only a couple of months ago, along with the horror of this story, was too much for me and I had to change the channel after a short time.  The “guide” called the film “sci-fi.”  Frankly, with the misogynist in chief in the White House playing fast and loose with women’s issues, and a general feeling that we’re in the “colonies”–well, it didn’t seem very “sci-fi” to me…

***

THE PAST WEEK

Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (May 16, 2009) Cactus in Bloom! Gorgeous!

“The Bailout” by Cartoonists

In Search of the American Personality: Warnings from the Nuremberg Trial Rohrschach Inkblot Tests

The Past Week May 3-9, 2009 (Chicago Suits Pressure Wells Fargo; Push for a Single-Payer Advocate at Baucus Table; David Cameron Interview Re: British Politics One Year Away from Election)

While Obama Blows Off Women’s Freedom as He Celebrates His First 100 Days, the Saudis He Bows to Clamp Down on Women Even More (UPDATE 1X – Souter Leaving Supreme Court)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

What, with Sharia Law creeping into our Treasury Department, Pakistani women trying to fend off the encroaching Taliban, etc. etc., it’s so good to hear that The One is so clear on the status of women when it comes to  freedom.  Go on over to Not Your Sweetie’s great post for some choice comments about  Obama’s little lecture about morality and ethics ad how the Freedom of Choice Act isn’t a big priority for the Ego-in- Chief:

Freedom of Choice Act – not a priority, and not “freedom” either

While women here in the U.S. bask in our knowledge The One thinks our reproductive decisions should be run past “our clergy”,  let’s see how that works in places like Saudi Arabia.

Here’s the latest indignity to consider:

Saudis clamp down on women’s gyms

(SNIP_

Women’s gyms have become popular in the ultra-conservative Muslim country where the sexes are heavily segregated.

But only clubs linked to medical groups can get licenses and others will be closed, the Arab News newspaper said.

Saudi women were reported to have launched an online campaign in protest called Let Her Get Fat.

Government departments are not allowed to issue licenses for commercial gyms and sports clubs for women, unlike facilities for men, the newspaper reported.

No more hiding gyms behind the doors of beauty salons…

Amazingly, some very courageous woman fighting back:

A group of women launched an internet campaign in protest against the move, saying facilities linked to medical clinics were too expensive, and their health would suffer as a result of the closures.

Woman are so precious in Saudi Arabia that they really MUST go to gyms linked to medical clinics.  The reasoning behind this must be surveillance, right?

As the article concludes:

Women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving, must wear a head-to-toe cloak when out in public and must obtain permission from a male relative to work, travel, study or marry.

And the Guardian reports that the clergy, of course, consider gyms for women “shameless.”

As a trade-off there’s been talk of letting women vote, but with the half-brother of King Abdullah looking strong as a possible successor, this sop doesn’t offer much solace.  After all, Prince Nayef, who acts as interior minister, said “the kingdom had no need of either women MPs or elections” just last month.

So now, many Saudi women won’t be able to the gym.

Meanwhile, the “President” who bows to the Saudi leader tells us that FOCA isn’t a priority.

I would like to use a string of profanity at this point, but it’s not good for my blood pressure.

By the way, thank goodness I can still go to the gym and work off the stresses of putting up with the insufferable Obama crowd…

UPDATE

With the news that David Souter is retiring from the Supeme Court, do you trust an Obama appointment?? This is the guy who wanted to vote to confirm John Roberts, but didn’t because of political expediency…

Obama could halt a lot of this “interpretation of the Constitution” stuff by pushing for FOCA and getting the court out of the “privacy” issue…but he continues to dance around. His “one hand giveth and the other taketh away” approach to women seems to leave women on the short end as we’re used for bargaining chips.  Well, he’s a misogynist, so why is that surprising?

The Past Week: April 5-April 11, 2009 (“President Panytwaist”; A Split Among Progressives over War Spending Plan?; Smear Campaign in Britain; “Sageism”)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

Well, with Obama back in Washington, I know we can all sleep better, right???

Here’s another British writer (a society writer?) who is glad to be rid of him… courtesy Kenosha Marge:

Is it Just Me?

Gerald Warner

Barack Obama: President Pantywaist – new surrender monkey on the block

Posted By: Gerald Warner at Apr 10, 2009 at 10:20:05

President Barack Obama has recently completed the most successful foreign policy tour since Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. You name it, he blew it. What was his big deal economic programme that he was determined to drive through the G20 summit? Another massive stimulus package, globally funded and co-ordinated. Did he achieve it? Not so as you’d notice.

MORE

Priceless!

Also from Kenosha Marge, this little tidbit on Obama’s war spending bill:

Woolsey splits with Obama on war bill

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is the first — but likely not the last — liberal Dem to blast the Obama administration’s $83.4 billion war spending plan.

MORE

Gee, between Evan Bayh and the “practical Democrats” and Arlen Spector throwing a wrench in the card-check bill, it seems that the “Good Ship Lollipop” is taking a teeny tiny bit of water.

Meanwhile, across the pond, it looks like some of Obama’s best techniques are being copied…from the BBC:

No 10 ‘smear’ messages published

E-mails discussing smearing top Tories that led to the resignation of a senior Number 10 official have been published.

Damian McBride, the PM’s ex-political press officer, quit after the messages were picked up by a Westminster blog.

In them, Mr McBride made obscene and unfounded claims about the personal lives of party leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne.

The Conservatives urged Gordon Brown to explain how the allegations came to be sent from an official e-mail account.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: “This is an exceptionally serious matter and he needs to explain immediately what happened.”

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Also in the British news…women newsreaders are getting fed up with sexism in the broadcast industry.  Selina Scott, who’s now 57, won a lawsuit, it seems.  I remember when Scott was the “flavor of the month” but apparently no more:

You won’t see women going grey in front of the cameras

Female broadcasters speak out against sexism and ageism in industry

By Emily Dugan

For female broadcasters, it is a truth universally, and unhappily, acknowledged: after the first wrinkles and grey hairs they can start counting down their days before the camera.

For male colleagues, the story is different. Grey hair and craggy skin are marks of distinction, and careers can continue to flourish.

Yesterday, concern over the disparity flared up, with a series of high-profile women speaking out against “sageism” – what they see as a toxic combination of sexism and ageism – by which competent and popular female broadcasters are shunted into the sidelines

The former Five news presenter Selina Scott said that, despite nearly 35 years of anti sex-discrimination legislation, ageism remains rife in television. Last December, 57-year-old Ms Scott won a landmark out-of-court settlement and an apology in an age-discrimination suit against the TV channel after it reneged on a deal for her to cover for Natasha Kaplinsky during maternity leave.

“Companies want to employ only young people, so ageism has gone underground,” Ms Scott said. “It has become institutionalised and it is pervasive. Like mercury, you can see its insidious manifestation everywhere, but try getting a grip and it slips away… A senior producer told me it was comparable to McCarthyism in Hollywood in the early Fifties – a witch-hunt in which anyone accused of communist sympathies had their careers destroyed.”

MORE

Ms. Scott has a lot more to say, but who’s really listening these days?  I was just thinking today about how in my life I’ve seen a huge explosion of  progress on women’s issues only to be followed by a great deal of slippage.  It’s so disappointing!

THE PAST WEEK

Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (April 11, 2009) Carnage in the Garden; Blossoms; Harvesting Water; Empty Clouds; Spoiled Squirrels

Here It Comes…the (Not so New) NEW Republican Wedge Issue!!!!!

Take a Ramble…

The Scanner-Politics 4/8/2009 (Double Talk; Overstaying a Welcome; Moyers Talks to William K. Black, the 1980’s Regulator Who Cracked Down on Banks–He Levels Accusations of Law-Breaking Against Obama & Company

While Obama is Overseas, Congress Sets Us Up to Go Broke…Where We Stand Now

The Past Week: March 29-April 4, 2009 (Hugo Chavez Takes Over Food Producers, Sounds Off on the G-20; A Government Bailout Special; “The Reluctant Ones”