Healthcare for nobody!

Yeah, so next time you hear someone say they don't vote because the parties are both the same, and they're all corrupt? Or, OR! Someone opines that yeah, the American healthcare system sucks, but, you know, it's better than those pinko commie Canadians and Europeans with their government funded healthcare?

You, um...might want to share this little factoid with them that McCain? Wants to tax our healthcare benefits. You know, the benefits that already cost you an arm and a leg? Yeah, those.

Putting on the rosier glasses

So in counterpoint to my freakout in my previous post, I'm going to now give you some reasons to be optimistic. About the election, about the world, about people in general.

First, here's an op-ed putting the election in perspective. It addresses all our freaking out topics: "Palin's pushed Obama's coverage off the page!", "OMG they're big fat liars and blaming Obama for it!", "Why is Obama just sitting there and taking it?", "It's the Swiftboat Veterans all over again!", "HE'S DOWN IN THE POLLS OMG WE'RE GOING TO LOSE!". It's a good op-ed, and it's a quick read. You should read it.

And you know how I keep saying there's a lot that can happen between now and election day? Guess what you guys...there's A LOT that can happen between now and election day. Like, say, a scandal involving employees of big oil bribing Administration officials with sex and money in exchange for favors. Oh, this ought to be juicy. Now, I hear you saying, "But  , this is just the latest of the seventy gajillion scandals and crimes of this Administration, how will this catch everyone's attention when nothing else seems to?" Well, did I mention the sex? We might as well be dangling string in front of kittens. This country loves a good sex scandal. And it's two months before a major election. And both the GOP candidates are so immersed in the oil lobby that they're bathing in it. And also SEX, you guys. Should be good times.

Next is an analysis of a poll that shows that people's views of having religion injected into politics is shifting. The fundies are still as crazy and militant as ever, but everyone else is backing away from the pit of crazy. (Actually, judging from the numbers, they're running away as fast as they can.) So Palin, for all that she fires up the base, is very likely to scare the shit out of the rest of voters.  See for yourself.

And speaking of religion, for all that the right-wing Christian crazies seem to suck up all the oxygen in the room, there are actually lots and lots of really amazing and inspirational progressive Christian leaders and followers out there. Even if you're not a Christian, or particularly religious, you can find lots to be inspired by at the new progressive Christian blog community run by Christian Century. It's being headed by Gordon Atkinson, aka Real Live Preacher, one of my heroes and a huge, huge spiritual inspiration to me. They're worth your time.

In environmental news, there's a new site that can help you track your carbon footprint by helping you determine the footprint of the goods and services you purchase. It's still in the development stage, but could be a very helpful tool as we navigate our way toward living a more progressive life. Check it out.

Continuing in a scientific vein, if you haven't been following the Large Hadron Collider (and okay, maybe I'm the only one who's excited by the prospect of slamming protons into each other at incomprehensible rates of speed to simulate the Big Bang), you may not know that it was tested for the first time yesterday. And, AND! Despite worries by some (probably home-schooled religious freaks who wouldn't know science from a hole in the universe...hahahahaha, a little geek humor there) that the the LHC would create a black hole that would swallow the earth and kill us all...we're all still here! But lest you be concerned that that was only beginner's luck and that we might be sucked into the event horizon at any moment, there's a website just for you called hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheearthyet.com, which has up-to-date information on the status of our existence. So, you know...Has The Large Hadron Collider Destroyed The Earth Yet?

Freaking out

Is anyone else freaking out at how close this thing is, and how quickly the Republicans have taken the ball and run in the other direction?? I am seriously, seriously freaking out at how quickly the Obama campaign has lost control of the media narrative. This was my number one concern with Obama's candidacy, that he'd never faced the right wing smear machine in a full-on election. Even wresting against Clinton -- his most formidable opponent to that point -- is NOTHING compared to the GOP propaganda operation.

I'm tryng to temper my anxiety with the knowledge that races always tighten at this point, that the week and a half immediately following the conventions are always completely skewed, that it'll be a week or two before the polls will be an accurate snapshot, that the Palin candidacy is only two weeks old and there're plenty of skeletons ready to come tumbling out, that once the immediate frenzy dies down it'll still be scary and washed-out McCain vs. energetic and inspiring Obama...

...BUT.

But I remember 2004. I remember 2000. I remember -- VIVIDLY -- how it all went down in those last two months. I remember watching the debates with Kerry and Bush, and how incredibly awful Bush did, and when he didn't actually start eating his own shit or bite the head off live chickens, the media declared it a victory for him. The cynical panders, the transparent reliance on hate and fear, the outright lies, the ridiculous pearl clutching and salt smelling.

And I'm getting terrible, terrible bouts of deja vu, you guys.

I mean, it's early. There's a lot that's going to happen in the next two months, and all that stuff I said above about polls and skeletons and stuff is all still true. So I'm not depressed and I haven't given up. Indeed, far from it -- I'm pissed off and willing to do anything necessary to win.

But it's close. It's goddamn close. After 8 years of the worst administration since fucking Caligula, there's a very real possibility that we may lose this election. And part of the reason it's close is because our side never fucking learns.

ETA: And the media even knows it's being played, but still doesn't do anything to stop it.

Pining for a bygone era that never existed

I remember when we watched Jesus Camp and we were all a little bewildered about the obsession with abortion. I remember in the discussion that followed we all talked about that and someone asked me why abortion was singled out so much. Like, why abortion and not, say gay marriage? (I mean, obviously they're obsessed with gay marriage, too, but the way in which they tie everything to abortion is baffling and just plain weird.)

Well, I remember struggling to put into words what my thoughts are about why it's abortion that the fundies are so obsessed with. I couldn't really articulate my half-formed ideas on how it all fit together. But in a post on Pandagon a few days ago, Amanda Marcotte manages to pull it into one cohesive argument that finally coalesced my own thoughts on it for me, and gave me that "eureka!" moment that I've been struggling to get to for so long now.

I think she absolutely hits it on the head that abortion is really a gateway to a deeper, much larger issue for the people who are obsessed with trying to return to that mythical America that only exists in their fevered imaginations and Leave It To Beaver reruns. It's not so much abortion per se (although there's plenty in that issue alone for them to hang their hats on), but an entire feminist bingo extravaganza that has very little to do with saving every last blastocyst and everything to do with returning women to their rightful place. As she puts it so well:

But for the small cadre of hardcore anti-feminists, you have to understand that they’re deeply invested in a fantasy and in the fantasy that they can vote that fantasy into existence. That fantasy is, as cliched as it is to say, a fantasy version of the 1950s, where women knew their place and everyone was happy all the time.

...

And dismantling reproductive rights is the key to this fantasy. Topple that, topple feminism. There’s a weird logic to it---women generally maintain careers because they can limit their fertility and aren’t always taking time off to manage a brood of 5-10 kids. Once the cost of day care outstrips any salary you can command, you have to quit your job. PTAs and church bake sales depend on housewives to exist. Feminists were right to think that the right to contraception and abortion are fundamental to women’s liberation, and anti-choicers agree, so they want to take that away.

There's a whole lot more to her argument so I hope you'll take the time to read it, because I think she's hit on a very valuable insight.

Two things

1. Republican Convention:  I tried, guys. I really did. I tried tuning in, but my brain started bleeding within minutes. Seriously, there may have been a virtual lobotomy involved. THEY'RE ALL FUCKING WHITE. AND WEARING SUITS. It's just a sea of puffy, pasty faces and suits and OMG I FUCKING HATE THESE PEOPLE AND THAT'S NOT GOOD AND I HAVE TO TURN OFF THE TV BEFORE I GET ALL HULK SMASH AND HAVE TO SPEND MY EVENING PICKING SHARDS OF ELECTRONICS OUT OF THE CARPET. (Although thank the ever lovin' almighty for The Daily Show and Colbert Report, for serious.)
2. While the majority of the country is doubting McCain's sanity over the Sarah Palin pick -- and is that a gift that keeps on giving or what??? -- there's a sizable contingent of the Republican base that's loving her. LOVING HER TO A TERRIFYING DEGREE. Wanna know how much? They're praying for McCain's death immediately after taking office. I shit you not.

We HAVE to win this election. Otherwise, it's going to get even worse, and even I don't have the imagination for contemplating how that's even possible.

women: like people, only not

The very real fact is that we stand on the cusp of a devastating loss of the rights of half of our population. I'm not just talking about abortion or reproductive freedom -- although those are both fundamental aspects of our freedom -- but our very right to exist as equal human beings in this country is under attack. It's actually been under attack for decades (in truth, that attack never ceased), but with the rise of Christian fundamentalism and the open flaunting of their misogynistic collective id, they are turning up the heat on the frog in hot water that is women's rights in this country.

I've got a few more links to add in that vein, that I hope you'll also read.

• We've been saying it for years: the anti-choice crowd isn't just anti-abortion, it's anti-contraception.
• And anti-woman, really.
• Everything you need to know to be a classy woman, as defined by a privileged white misogynist with entitlement issues.

The "Pro-Life" Movement -- now with more oppression for that fresh authoritarian smell!

FUCK.

I am sitting here so angry that I'm shaking and crying. Literally crying.

HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion

"Pro-Life" Pharmacies

John McCain Thinks Rape Jokes Are Funny

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 51 [note: the carnival itself -- a kind of marathon of blogging on a single topic by like-minded, participating blogs -- is actually a must-read, and very pro-feminism, pro-choice, pro-everything good; it's the topics themselves that are headdesk-y]


And since now seems as good a time as any, some links I've been saving up for a huge post on feminism that I'm now too fucking furious to write:

• Rape just ain't what it used to be
• The Number is Eight
• "Nice Guys
• A Master Class in Sexual Entitlement (aka Anti-Feminist Bingo!)
• Anti-Feminist Bingo: The Sequel!
• Anti=Feminist Bingo! Card 3
• ETA: More on purity balls, which are exactly as heinous as they sound
  

Because I possess a vagina, a uterus, and breasts, I am expected to provide physical proof of a man's prowess and virility by bearing his children. I am not allowed to enjoy my body nor the act of sex. I am not allowed to engage in any sexual activity that is not expressly for the purpose of reproduction or for the enjoyment of a man. My virginity belongs to my father, until it is passed over to my husband. My job is to satiate any sexual hunger a man may express, whether I derive any pleasure from it or not, whether I want to or not, whether I feel like it or not. There is no such thing as rape, only unwillingness to cooperate. I am expected to bend over on command to service men and to do nothing but pump out baby after baby until my body no longer functions and I either drop dead from exhaustion or childbearing. There is no circumstance under which a termination of a pregnancy is permitted and if my life is threatened, I can be expected to be treated like any brood-mare. I am not allowed to work any job other than raising children, pleasuring my husband, and running a household efficiently and perfectly while always looking like a supermodel and with nary a cross or angry word. My only fulfillment as a woman is as a wife and mother. It's my duty to do anything and everything a man wants me to do, answer meekly only in the affirmative, never complain, always smile, never think for myself, never have dreams or hopes, always subvert my will for that of men and those of my children, teach my sons that it is their God-given right to treat their mother and their sisters, their wives and their daughters, and all other women, as their own personal slave, teach my daughters that their entire future will consist of nothing but pleasuring men in whatever way they demand and to do so without question.

This is my future.

NO.

If you do not want this future for yourself, your children, the women in your life, or anyone else, it's time to do something. Speak up. Protest. Donate to Planned Parenthood. Donate to Equality Now. Volunteer to escort patients at a clinic that provides abortions. Write Congress. Have that conversation with your neighbor. Call your coworker out on that sexist joke. Expect more. Teach your children. Be proud.

Refuse to allow this. Don't stay quiet. Stand up. Fight.

I am easily amused

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Go forth and send this to everyone on your email list. Especially the Republicans.

History in the making

Mark this day in history:

Today, the Democratic Party selected the country's first African-American Presidential Nominee. Five months from tomorrow, Barack Obama will be the first black President in American history.

Remember what you were doing today. You'll want to tell your children and grandchildren where you were on this momentous day.

Every woman is a serial killer, every man commits genocide

We haven't talked a whole lot about reproductive rights and women's health as a political football, but I think we can all agree that it is a foundational issue of a progressive life, of allowing the freedom for women of every age, background, and social strata to determine their own reproductive destiny without restraint. I'm not just talking about abortion here, or the pill, but complete and total sexual autonomy, including the right to have a sexual life that is free from repression.

This topic has been on my mind a lot of late and yes, we'll be discussing both sexual education and abortion in a couple of back-to-back Second Saturdays in the near future (haven't decided when yet). But in the meantime, I may be spamming the community with links that are related to start fleshing out the field of debate and explore what it truly means to be a feminist*.

So, read about the latest brainstorm by the so-called "right-to-life" movement (don't buy into that framing...they should be called anti-choice and/or anti-woman) that pretty much outright confirms that their movement has nothing whatsoever to do with saving the widdle helpless babies and everything to do with controlling women's sexuality.

*Also, because this is as good a place as any to post it, the all-time internets-winning rantalicious manifesto on what it means to be a feminist.