You Say You want a Revolution?

When we wake up tomorrow it will be November 8, 2015. The date means little to me. It is the day before my mom's birthday. Its a Sunday so I will want to catch John Oliver. And its the day the weather channel said I will finally have to shut my windows and begin my annual self-imposed (near) hibernation. Its really just another day in another week where I have little going on and little to do.

Tomorrow is, however, exactly one year before our next big election. I guess for those of us who are paying attention and passionate about our political landscape, the date will offer a marker by which we will measure our accomplishments. We have a year. For those of us who have been at this for a while, a year is not a lot of time. For those of us on the left, a year might as well be a decade for as much as we need to accomplish. But I can hardly tell that when I listen to some of my brothers and sisters in the party. I hear a lot about revolution these days. It might be written as an exciting time for future generations to learn about in history books. Or it might very well be another year where what could have been simply wasn't. Again.

With our gerrymandered maps and questionable annual election returns, it feels as if a revolution will be our only hope. Last week our national elections set us back even further because we on the left can hardly be bothered to go out every time. (I mean really). To be honest, its not evident that we all want a revolution. It appears that the radical among us are more interested in arguing the finer points of our objectives than actually doing anything that would be revolutionary.

The left loves to argue. Its one of the downsides of being the intellectuals. We have a lot of opinions and historical references and love to hear ourselves talk about them (I'm not pretending that no one is reading this and I am not one of those people). We do, however, create our very own obstacles when we do this; especially when the arguments we seek or create are within our own party.

Several months ago I wrote a piece condemning the Regressive Party for thinking women would flock to Fiorina (read here) because she was born with the same parts as we were. I was chastised by a woman who kicked me out of her feminist group for having been so closed-minded as to ignore transgendered people who were not born with the same parts. If her condemnation wasn't enough, she spent what must have taken a full hour to type me a book about how ashamed of myself I should have been. I wonder how much of that time she could have directed toward someone who wasn't already fighting for women's issues to make them aware of the movement and its necessity.

A couple of weeks ago I was, again, berated by people calling themselves feminists because I was excitedly promoting the then-unreleased movie, Suffragette. Within minutes I was determined to have not only been a detriment to the feminist movement, but also, a racist. I wrote a piece about it (read here) because it was beyond my comprehension how people could be so misguided and I received many replies about my own determined narrow-mindedness. The majority of my replies came from people who read my article down to the point where I talked about my having been called a racist and they stopped there to interject having never (quite obviously) made it to the end of the piece where I imagine most people capable of both reason and introspection would realize I am, in fact, a feminist and hardly racist. That piece had people who demand they are feminists coming at me for two days to argue with me. Again I wonder, how much of that time could have been focused on arguing with someone who needed to hear your argument?

I stopped arguing with RWNJs many months ago. They are exhausting and although they will probably be a lifelong curiosity of mine, I do realize they have no capacity for critical thinking so I will never have an opportunity to offer them revelation. My only mission now is to offer rationale to those who are capable of understanding it. I find that those conversations are growing harder and harder with many on the left now, too. Last month I was sent a private message from a young (very young) man who was inviting me to join his FB group where the actual objective was to talk shit about one of the two main candidates for the Democratic ticket next year. Initially I replied respectfully (believe it or not) and said that I had not yet determined which of the candidates I was going to vote for but that even when I do, I would not want to participate in destructive conversations about the one I had not chosen. He promptly told me that I was an idiot and that I obviously don't understand politics or how important this upcoming election is. [Sigh...] Of course, I then took it upon myself to educate him about the history of the Democratic party and our myriad failures and before I was done telling him what an arrogant little snot he was, he blocked me from FB. okay...

I have had to put messages up in my groups telling people that if they want to create dialogue only meant to disparage one of our candidates I would block them. People are not even thoughtful enough to realize that if the meme they are posting has attribution on it from a right-wing group, they are literally perpetuating the Regressive Party narrative. There is nothing more discouraging than looking at our uphill climb and realizing how many of our fellow Dems we are going to have to drag up that fucking hill to get to the top.

I am a Democrat. I will support the Democrat who ends up with the nomination. I will bust my ass for whomever gets the nod like I do every 4 years. If you cannot say the same, then you do not want a revolution. You are literally creating the exact path the sick hateful sonsofbitches on the right need to wiggle any one of their beyond-crazy (some I comfortably call evil) candidates into the White House. And do not be mistaken. This is not just a fight for the White House. 2016 is our chance to get back the Senate. If we can convince enough people that the left is the only alternative when they go into the voting booth next year, we actually can make a change. No change will be made, however, if we all spend our time fighting with ourselves and demanding that the rest of the left see every candidate and issue through an identical narrow prism. That is POISON. Period.

We will get a national down-ticket revolution next year if we join together and continue to remind those around us of the shit that is coming out of the right. Daily I have people tell me, "Oh they know. Americans know what is going on." No. They Don't. They don't want to know. They are ignoring what is going on because the in-fighting is exhausting to them so they choose not to listen. When we perpetuate the nastiness we are just as unbearable as the RWNJs. Pause with that for a minute, because I am right (from over here on the far-left). When we behave like radicals we will be ignored like radicals. If we can manage to rally like champions, that is what we will be. You decide. But fucking unfriend me or leave my page if you don't want to hear about what it takes to actually have a revolution because I can't imagine I will have anything else to say for the next 365 days.

It's called R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Follow their lead. K?

Kiss Kiss.
Mean Progressive

Well Done! Sister Suffragette

Today I posted a link to the trailer of the movie Suffragette in a 'feminist' group on Facebook. The group calls itself "This is What a Feminist Looks Like." I was immediately attacked by 4 people who told me that this was a terrible movie because it didn't depict the movement correctly for black women. I was removed from the group (apparently this is NOT what a feminist looks like) when I asked them to even tell me why they were all saying this and was shocked at the new language I was hearing about my supposed white privilege (from here in the trailer park) and that I was a believer in 'white feminism,' a term I didn't even realize existed.

Once I was blocked from the group, I used my other account to go in and see the discussion that followed. Apparently, one young 'feminist' who wanted to condemn me as a racist posted a picture of one of the hoodies I've designed for my shop. I guess reading its message and considering the context was too much to ask of someone who can't be bothered to have mature dialogue with a human being who respectfully asked for their side of the argument and received only trash talk in response.

Are there complexities in this message that I cannot see?

The young ladies who didn't realize I had been blocked went on to educate me about all of the black people who had been left out of the movie. Of course, they were all Americans. I researched all of them before posting this and the people did not have anything to do with the suffrage movement across the pond. You see, as I was attempting to inform these young women before I was so graciously dismissed from the conversation, the movie is about the movement in London. The movement, itself, is what I wanted to celebrate and encourage us to show excitement about because OUR MOVEMENT is repeatedly accosted and given more negative connotations than positive in our society. Regardless of where the movie is located, if we dismiss the accomplishments of those who came before us because we don't like the manner in which they were achieved, we also have to dismiss the progress that they made. Frankly, I'd rather not.

The media and social media are the resources most used in order to get the messages out about anything in our national discourse. The media, itself, can hardly be expected to direct the narrative to the conscience of the country, they don't have a conscience themselves. And what does the left do when they are given an opportunity to celebrate or educate about some facet of its movement? Well, we take a shit on it. Every single time.

Its funny (in the way that its not remotely funny), but I actually researched the beginnings of a recent Battle Royale held between ourselves earlier this summer to see if my suspicions were accurate and that they were started by someone on the right. The attack was against the Black Widow character in the latest Avengers movie. The attack was specifically against the writer/director Joss Whedon by saying he hated women and the character wasn't quite feminist enough for them and she offered a negative stereotype against women. All of these people determined that he hated women. I literally shut down that conversation on Twitter by passing this meme around. I had it saved in my personal happy place file because I have been a huge fan of his since back in the Buffy days.

I was convinced that this entire controversy came out of some place on the right and I determined I would trace it. Wanna know where I traced the beginnings of this nonsensical frenzy to? A guy who lives in London and is an editor for Breitbart. Yep. He decided it was something radical feminists would jump all over and talk about without having actually seen the movie or having had a single idea what they were talking about. And, sadly, he was right. Nice work, ladies.

Because I had missed previous discussions surrounding the new movie, I researched our latest feminist attack on feminism (Goddamn ... any wonder why we can't get anything done in 100 years?). Apparently it all started when the female leads of the movie were all wearing this shirt for a photo shoot and people found it offensive. I will not research it, but I would not be surprised if someone else wants to, they will find that the right injected just one little well-placed nugget into the Twittersphere and allowed us to take it from there. Let me be quite clear: If we ask the RWNJs to direct our narrative, they will be happy to oblige. If we give them an opportunity to perpetuate divisions within our varied movements, they will gladly take it upon themselves to do that, too.

Please breathe here for a moment and then hear all of the things that no one could have said in 140 characters:

The movie is set in London. The quote on the t-shirts was from Emmaline Pankhurst, played by Meryl Streep in the movie. That quote was her response to how she felt at that time. This isn't about Americas history with slavery. By acknowledging that white women have been oppressed, no one is discounting the fact women of color have been, as well. And by celebrating the accomplishments of those women, we are not dismissing those who were not included in that struggle.

Having been enslaved means more than being black. That is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word, especially in America, and for good reason. But slavery did, like it or not, offer the same legal freedoms to all blacks as it did to all women. We were not allowed to vote or allowed to own property and we, too, were property. (I am only speaking in legalities, again, obviously the treatment of these human beings was quite different). We were not mentioned in the Constitution until we were given the vote (1920). Because we were not able to pass the rest of the Equal Rights Amendment, that is still the only right that women have, per the Constitution.

For various reasons, throughout the last century the ERA has had its ass kicked by feminists. There were always divisions among those who argued about which rights they wanted and how they wanted to have them enacted. Historically, we have fucked ourselves out of meeting our own goals. Fabulous, huh?

Maybe we could all unite, not fall for dog whistles and look for reasons to disagree with one another? Maybe when opportunities come up for us to celebrate womanhood and those who preceeded us in this fight we could do that instead of looking for reasons to dismiss their accomplishments?

God Damn. The right has it so easy, don't they? They can just all agree to rewrite history or ignore it altogether because they don't really have anything to be proud of. Instead of throwing that in their faces and cheering ourselves on to victory, we are demanding more of our history. Reflect quietly on that sentence, please. We cannot rewrite our history, either. But by denouncing it as if every element of it had to meet today's standards, we condemn ourselves to having had no accomplishments.

If this movement is to get anywhere, it really is time to be more thoughtful about where you project your angst. Pissing off and alienating those who are literally fighting along side you on our journey to move (or drag, if need be) Americans forward is only going to do two things: #1 Give the Regressive Party just the tools they need to ensure NOTHING is accomplished (and did you notice how many of them were anxious to jump into your fight and confuse the argument even further on social media?) #2 Scare more people from joining our movements in the first place.

I leave you with a quote from Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary by Anita Anand. This regarded Princess Sophia, of India, who battled prominently in the London movement and was celebrated, regardless of her skin color:

“The empire took everything from her father but she spent her life fighting for women’s rights in this country. She believed there was something stronger than racial hatred and it was the sisterhood.

Please, my feminist sisters, pause and reflect. We want to move forward WITH you, not IN SPITE of you.

My most sincere Love,
Mean Progressive

There Is A War On Women! And We Are Losing!

The right goes out of its way to make a mockery of the phrase 'War on Women.' They are desperate to spread the word that the real war is being waged by the left because by claiming there is a movement against us we are creating victims out of women, instead of heroes. In their conflated logic, either we can promote all women to equality or just celebrate those who have already made it there. This makes as much sense as the rest of their rhetoric so I will just leave it right there. In their desperate attempt to protect American women in this war, the Regressive Party is presently attempting to pass a law that is literally unconstitutional. Although the Supreme Court held in its Roe V Wade decision that abortions were legal and the states could not decide until the time that the fetus could be deemed 'viable,' it offered no specificity on the term. Six years later, in Colautti V Franklin the court told the states (and has not since changed its opinion):  

“[N]either the legislature nor the courts may proclaim one of the elements entering into the ascertainment of viability—be it weeks of gestation or fetal weight or any other single factor—as the determinant of when the State has a compelling interest in the life or health of the fetus.

Abortions after 20 weeks make up 1% of those performed annually. They are done out of necessity, not on a whim. Women have these procedures because they have been determined necessary by the doctor and the patient after having discussed health concerns. Many birth defects cannot even be detected until 20 weeks with an ultrasound. And most insurance companies will not even pay for ultrasounds until 20 weeks so the line is drawn right there, isn't it? What if you can't have a doctors appointment until the very day of your 20 weeks? What if you cannot get in until the following week? What if the doctor tells you on the day of your 20th week that your child has a birth defect and you have to decide immediately? Do you have time to go home and discuss options with your family? Will the doctor perform the surgery that very day? The obvious answer is: NO. Of course, no intelligent person is having this discussion and only irrational people are screaming about nonsense meant to distract anyone from having  meaningful reflection on the human beings (those which are already actually alive) who are left in these situations and what we would be allowing them to go through if this bullshit passes Congress.

These are the women who have 20+ week abortions

All rational discussions can only begin right here: Abortions are a legal medical procedure. Once you begin in the correct frame of mind, a thoughtful human being has a lot of questions to ask themselves and, more importantly, their society:

Why is it that in America we have had legal and safe abortions for over 40 years and have had to fight so hard to maintain that right? Why are our 'representatives' allowed to create laws to limit and restrict our rights? Why are they allowed to go on a witch hunt and determine Planned Parenthood is the purveyor of all evil in the country and attack them so blatantly? None of the funding for abortions is paid for by federal funds. That reminder comes up every time that we have the Planned Parenthood argument. Although it is an important aside to this specific argument, it also begs the question: Why? It is a legal right. Why are they allowed to deny funding of a legally legitimate health care procedure?

Why are states allowed to pass laws to create a waiting period? and consent? and limit where a procedure can be performed? and dictate the policies of the hospitals/clinics performing the surgeries? and force women to listen to an ultrasound or read specific literature? 

The answers are simple. And tragic. 

Roe V Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973. The objective of the anti-choice activists and politicians has been very singular ever since: Have it overturned. They take every opportunity they can find to challenge any aspect of the ruling they think there is a precedent for (or they can have a state create for them) and their steadfast objective has been successful. The Supreme Court has repeatedly allowed the cases to come before it and each time they have the verbiage and the meanings behind those rulings have made the statues more hazy. The Regressives, if nothing else, are masters of word play and repeatedly concoct ways to dismantle the ruling one piece at a time.

In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled on Planned Parenthood of SE Pennsylvania V Casey, where three centrist judges (Kennedy, O'Connor and Souter) wrote a joint opinion which remind us of something that will be true for as long as radicals try to limit women's rights:

"The Constitution serves human values and while the effect of reliance on Roe cannot be exactly measured, neither can the certain costs of overruling Roe for people who have ordered their thinking and living around that case be dismissed.

Although reflection of the opinion quote above can give us all pause and remind us of the truths about objectives, ultimately the Supreme Court decision in Casey created so many holes in the language of Roe V Wade that the entire 23 years since have offered voice to every radical who wanted to find a way to let semantics dictate our rights.

Those presently running for President are falling all over themselves trying to prove that they are the most ardent supporter of the anti-choice movement. This hearing on Congress, no doubt, is a great opportunity for three of them in the Senate to take the spotlight off of Trump for a minute. And the governors can use this time to boast about their own records.

Jeb Bush was able pass a law in Florida where women seeking abortions needed to get consent. Described here, he even went out of his way to stop abortions by women who had been raped (yes, she needed consent from her rapist):

"... involving a 22-year-old rape victim who was both pregnant and developmentally disabled, Bush asked a court to appoint a guardian to represent the woman's fetus. The woman had been raped while living in state-supervised facilities, but did not have the mental capacity to identify her attacker.

And for a child whose parental consent would come from the State ... In 2005, Bush fought to prevent a pregnant 13-year-old girl, who was a ward of the state, from having an abortion. He was overruled by a judge, and CNN later reported that Bush's "abortion activism shocked some state officials who believed he was reaching beyond the powers of his office." 

Jeb Bush, I feel it is important to point out, is a perfect example of why this rhetoric around abortion rights is, indeed, a part of a War on Women. In 1995 he wrote, Profiles in Character, a book meant to explain that society's ills are due to our neglecting our own responsibilities by giving them to the government (its quite contrived but this begins their discussion about why we should have small government so the rich can pay fewer taxes - the latter part, of course, is always omitted from the argument). Society was failing because of the number of unwed pregnancies and the offense here was, quite clearly, society's tolerance of female promiscuity. There is a place for women and in his dark world, it is clear that he thinks its his job to get us back there:

"One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there is no longer a stigma attached to this behavior, no reason to feel shame. Many of these young women and young men look around and see their friends engaged in the same irresponsible conduct. Their parents and neighbors have become ineffective at attaching some sense of ridicule to this behavior. There was a time when neighbors and communities would frown on out of wedlock births and when public condemnation was enough of a stimulus for one to be careful.

Yep. This prefaced his signing a law requiring women to put an ad in the local newspaper listing all of the men she had slept with before being allowed to put her child up for adoption. The notice had to contain a physical description, including, but not limited to age, race, hair and eye color, and approximate height and weight of the mother and of any person the mother reasonably believes may be the father; the child's date of birth; and any date and city, including county and state in which the city is located, in which the conception may have occurred. This had to run every week for a month. No War on Women here. Not from a man who wants to deny funding for your abortions and embarrass you out of even having an adoption. Nothing here but good old fashioned care for unborn 'children.'

In last weeks debate Chris Christie beamed over his own record of having defunded Planned Parenthood and voting against it each of the 8 years since. Glorious! Although this account is actually misleading (I know, you are shocked), it is telling of his role in the War on Women. He eliminated $7.5 million for women's health care funding, none of which went to abortions. 

I live in Ohio. 74% of Ohioans are opposed to shutting down Planned Parenthood. That won't stop our governor and current Presidential candidate, John Kasich, from sticking anti-choice legislation in bills that have nothing to do with health care so no one notices. He has already cut half of the states clinics. This fall he is expected to sign a new bill which will ban women from choosing to terminate because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down's Syndrome. PAUSE. This bill is actually trying to tell women what their reasoning can be for an abortion. If that is not offensive enough for you, consider what precedent that sets. Remember, that is what all of the states have been trying all along: set a precedent to take to the Supreme Court.

Kasich obviously doesn't care about representing 74% of his constituents. This is pervasive with candidates on the right. Even though only the radicals on the right support anti-choice legislation, the candidates will continue to fight. If it is something their electorate does not support then why do they overwhelmingly vote against women's issues? 

BECAUSE THERE IS A FUCKING WAR ON WOMEN. God. Damn. 

Don't allow people to confuse the discussion by throwing a word like 'feminazi' in a sentence or pretending to give a shit about 'life.' We live in a society where the women's movement hasn't moved much at all. We live in a society that accepts condemnation for those who fight for our rights. We live in a society that tells itself the rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment aren't necessarily attributable to women. Does that sound like bullshit? Is this Mean Progressive being dramatic?Then why have we still not passed the Equal Rights Amendment in nearly 100 years?

Every opportunity that we have had to make a stand and ignored it while hoping others will step up and do their part brought us to this moment. And do not be mistaken, THIS MOMENT is crucial. The House has managed to get enough votes to defund Planned Parenthood. This is a lot more than their usual antics. It is an imperative that this be stopped. Please go to this site and fill in the blanks. It takes only a moment.

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Go to this site and sign up. I get emails whenever anything big is going on and that is how I know to inform you all. If you ever miss one of my posts (why would anyone ever do that? wink) you will still be able to get information on what is going on.

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Please donate to them if you can. They have been fighting too hard for too long just for the fucking right to care for our nation's women. They deserve all of the support they can get. 

Donate Here

There are a number of things we can all do to protect this sacred women's health institution which take no time at all. They are outlined here. The most important, however, is to make more women (and men) aware of the movement and the truths behind the stories the media has managed to either mangle or ignore altogether. We Are Losing This War. And that is unacceptable. 

Finally, make it your mission to find 5 (or more) women and make sure they understand how important this is. Make them understand this is not just another rhetorical gesture. Their rights are seriously on the line. And, if you can keep their attention long enough, explain to them the rights they think they have that they really don't. We have to begin moving this conversation along. I can bitch about it to you all every day, but you already know. Ranting isn't going to be enough. We need to make all women as angry as we are. Let's go!


Did you make it all the way to the bottom? I love you :)

Kiss Kiss.
Mean Progressive

Glad You Asked

Today Trump held another rally where he offered the audience no information but continued to promise that he is going to fix everything wrong with our country. One of the audience members asked a question of Trump and told him that the CNN debates were a disgrace because no questions were asked about the veterans health care. He asked if the reason the question wasn't asked was because CNN (which he decided stood for Clinton News Network) didn't like veterans. Of course, I have no knowledge of why one question was given and another wasn't, but I know that the Regressive Party never wants to have an honest discussion about that lest their own voting records be mentioned.

I would respectfully ask the gentlemen at the Trump rally the question I always ask myself:

Why do veterans need charities?

The fact that this even needs to be addressed is disgusting to me. Honestly. The first thing that I always think when I see an ad to raise money for disabled veterans is, "Why is this a charity?" Like of all of the things that our country's taxes are responsible for, taking tremendous care of those who protect and fight for us should be at the top. There should be no need for people to raise funds for the men and women that we have sent off to fight and come home injured or harmed in any way. It makes me cry when I see the commercials of families who are readjusting to a life around their loved one who is altered for life. We did that. We Americans did that. We elected people who elected to go to war and elected not to fund the care of those men and women when they got home.

People join the military for many reasons. They want structure, education, or maybe an opportunity to defend the country. It doesn't matter why they do it. The fact is they sign up. They meet with a recruiter and sign documents to devote their lives, for the next several years or for its remainder, to protecting my country. I love her. I want her protected. I wish they were protecting her from here. And from ally countries. And from ships off of the coasts of countries we want to keep an eye on. I wish that was all that our military was needed for. Sadly, we have been in perpetual war for many years. And protecting my country is a scary undertaking. Signing up today means you have a good chance of going to war. It means you are going to see action. If you want to get an education after having served, you sign up knowing you may not come back. Or, if you do, you may have a serious injury, physical or otherwise. That is such a profound commitment and it is unacceptable that we can allow their care to not be an imperative upon their return.

That is where my country fails. We fail because we elect 'representatives' who are always very anxious to go to war. Any war, it seems. But every time they are offered an opportunity to take care of our military men and women when they get home, they reject it. How is it acceptable to come up with billions of dollars to pay for contracts to build an arsenal many times larger than any other country, but it is not a priority to come up with the monies needed to heal our soldiers once they get home?  It is beyond my comprehension. But people don't pay attention to the way they are voting when they get to DC.

The right is still stuck on telling their constituents that they are the ones who care about the military and our vets. And people continue to couple the party and the military in their minds. There is a big difference between supporting the military (which on the right means passing every bill to initiate war or fund endeavors to strengthen our arsenal) and caring for those in the military. Honestly, I am stunned that the Regressives would have a single voter since they determined the Iran deal was unacceptable before they even read it. They can only hear drumbeats. They only want war. That means lives. That means men and women are being sent to war. It is not just a declaration. It is a huge commitment. Of human beings. And, I dare say, after nearly 15 constant years in battle, they are probably pretty much spent by now. And the followers on the right are rallying behind that idea. Why? Why do you want to go to war again? How could anyone not want to first try diplomacy when the alternative means that Americans will certainly die? But these same 'representatives' have continually voted against Veterans bills every time they come up. It is patriotic to support our troops. It is not patriotic to support those in Congress who would really just like to be in a constant state of war. A differentiation seems to be lost in there somewhere.

Click Here For More Information

The idea of millions of homeless in America is bad enough, but to understand that many are veterans and it kind of makes it harder to accept. They fought for this country and were then offered such care upon return that they ended up on the streets. Maybe they came home with PTSD. Maybe they ended up with a drinking problem. Maybe they ended up with anger issues and they got kicked out of their house. These were all opportunities to care for our veterans that our VA missed. I, personally, have a sick conspiracy theory that those on the right are deliberately allowing the VA to go to shit so it can be privatized and more millionaires can become billionaires. But I am also aware that some of my conspiracies are a little looney and I can't always determine which are which. Anyway ...

Some of these vets have been chronically homeless and living with mental illness or addictions since Vietnam. Take a quiet moment with that.

Last May the First Lady launched a Mayors Challenge to 300 mayors across the country. They were told to have homes for the 50,000 homeless veterans in America by the end of 2015.  Last year Salt Lake City and Phoenix had found homes for every one of their homeless veterans. In January, New Orleans moved the last known homeless veteran into housing. I got chills typing that. It can be done. The fact that so many of these vets have been chronically homeless and dealing with mental illnesses and addictions since Vietnam is beyond tragic.

The VA is finally starting to do something about  the homelessness of so many veterans. They are beginning in the 25 cities with the largest populations of homeless veterans. Last year from March to August, they had already found housing for 10,000 veterans. The beauty of this program is that it doesn't just offer them a bed. They are given guidance and resources to help them acclimate back into society. That is such a profound transition. You cant just say "here's a bed - get a job." Whatever the issue was that made them homeless needs to be addressed, too. And they are doing that. If you know of someone who might be helped by this initiative, the information can be found here.

The right have all kinds of ideas of what it means to be a Liberal. I couldn't give a shit what they think about me. Whatever they want to think is fine. I don't need my liberalism defined by anyone else. The thing that I am nailed with every day, though, is this bullshit that I think soldiers are baby killers. You don't get to speak for me motherfucker. I am a Liberal. The beauty of being over here on the left is that I get to think for myself. I don't have to be force fed my talking points and become confused over their contradictions. Some people who are extreme on the left say shit about soldiers. I have no use for them and tell them that whenever I am given the opportunity. I love soldiers and veterans. I documented my sincere respect for soldiers in this blog post and don't think I need to defend myself beyond that. And fuck anyone who thinks they get to define my loyalties to them.

I am a little disgusted with myself because I am making a partisan issue about something that should, inherently, be universal. I apologize. I want everyone to be pissed off and contact their elected official, whatever their party affiliation, and demand their support every time you see that the Wounded Warrior Project support a bill. Blow up their phones or fax lines. Send emails. Pester them on Twitter or on their Facebook page to make the rest of their constituents aware. Whatever. Make sure that everyone knows that they are being given an opportunity to care for our veterans and make sure when they vote everyone knows how they voted. You can go here to see who voted for and against. If they were forced to be accountable by all of us they could not sneak around and do this shit.

I have only heard good things about the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America). But there are many other great groups out there working for the care of our veterans. Until we can find a way to compel Congress to give a shit and act accordingly, please go here to donate something in the name of a soldier you know or love (or one you don't even know).

Kisses All Around ...

The Mean Progressive

Look At This Face! Carly Fiorina! Look at the TRUTH!

Oh Carly! You train wreck!

This is the new commercial.

LOL. Nevermind the fact that she took Trump down a notch in it. That is great. Whatever. Let us look at the words in her message. Shall we?

Apparently she believes that the Regressives are the party of Women's Suffrage. Huh! Well I think we need to revisit history. Not history from long ago where they try to take credit for Lincoln having been a Republican 150 years ago before the parties switched. Let us go back to this June. K?

THIS LINK will take you to the glories of the woman who they wanted to project to the entire party in June. Carly Fiorina spoke there, too. She didn't condemn Schlafly when she took the stage.

She did, however, say that the policies on the left are bad for women. She thinks the right needs to reclaim the word feminism because it is really about a woman who chooses her own life. She said that Democrats create victims out of women by discussing pay equity and suggests the issue is not discrimination but the pay structures are based on seniority. Spend a quiet moment with that.

Fiorina tells us that todays feminists condemn women who want to stay home with their children. She is still using the same talking points Phyllis Schlafly used in the 70s and 80s to scare people away from the movement. She says the word 'feminism' needs to be taken back because it has become a left-leaning ideology which pits women against men and is used as a political weapon to win elections.

America's women are not remotely interested in having our movement hijacked by anyone who literally prides themself on having defeated the Equal Rights Amendment. And we certainly don't need to waste time considering a woman for President who believes that the present feminist movement is based on victimization and denounces its many supporters. We don't need anyone to run for President who believes it is their job to redefine feminism to meet their narrow ideals and dismiss the many accomplishments of those who came before us. And we will never need someone who took the stage at the same event as Phyllis Schlafly and didn't take the opportunity to condemn her disgusting remarks about the need for inequality between the genders and the submissive roles women should be playing in society.

No thanks, Carly. We like our feminism with empowerment and progress not ridicule and condemnations.

A Contrast of Colors

When President Obama arrived in Oklahoma last night, this was his view from the caravan on his ride to the hotel:

I am 42 years old and I still have no answer for the people who always ask me, "Why do you let these things upset you?" I don't know. I don't understand, even, the people who said that they expected something like that would happen. I am naive and I would just assume stay that way, I suppose. But that means I will always end up being surprised by the failings of humanity and I will always, then, end up being upset by them.

I always figured the majesty of the sight of a black President would be lost on my daughter. Although she understood it to the level that I could relay it, she also gave a me a curious glare on election night 2008 while I snotty face cried in my living room. That confirmed the profound gift of the moment was not as relevant for her. I saw that as a triumph because our country really was moving forward. I had no way of knowing, however, that the hate I thought was fading was only dormant. And I had no way of knowing that it would take our long awaited progress to bring that ugliness back to fashion.

To be sure, my President is an unbelievably patient and honorable man. He has had to deal with this shit for as long as he has been in politics and probably much longer than that.  I am sure that he was warned before they got off of the plane that a white trash parade was waiting to welcome him to town. I realize that he can take it. I realize that he can go home the next night to the White House where he happens to live and, if only in the back of his mind, send a silent, "And fuck you, too," to the people who hate him for the color of his skin instead of admiring the grace with which he leads.  

The pictures are startling to me. Take a moment to look closely at them. Look beyond the flags. Look beyond the backward people posing as human beings who wave flags to insult their President. Look at the smallest faces. They're closest to the fences put up to protect him. Look at those babies who are growing up in the South with brown skin who are getting as close as they can to see their President. They should not be expected to have his grace or understanding. They should not have to differentiate their pride from the contempt of those around them. 

We simply must force this down. We, all of us, must take every opportunity we have to shame those who mean to carry narrow, mindless hate into our futures. We know them. We live near them. We work with them. We have them in our families. Every American who abides these behaviors allows them moments of acceptance. The little white faces in the crowd with the parents teaching them hate are going to grow up having never had an opportunity to rejoice at having seen their President drive through their town. They will grow up with a memory of going to disrespect the leader of their nation because he was black. 

All of the babies in the pictures below deserve to grow up innocently believing, like I did as a child, that the office of the President commands respect. They deserve to believe that the racism which allowed for slavery and Jim Crow is an ugly truth worth remembering so as to never revisit those horrors. But these babies will grow up in the same place we did if we do not force ourselves and our country to be accountable for the least among us. They will not move forward without us. They may never move forward at all. But they cannot be afforded opportunites to condemn the rest of us to find a way to excuse their voices any longer. All of those babies deserve better. And, frankly, so does my President!

Yes, Virginia, There Is A War On Women

Please take a moment to watch the above. It is only one minute long. It is true. It is a fact. I wrote about this a couple of months ago and was shocked by how many people (many women) wanted to argue with me about their belief that it was a lie.

This is why the laws we have aren't enough. Again, it is just one minute. And it is SO Important.

Okay. So we are now all starting from the same place. I admit that I am a Mean Progressive, but I am lovely to all people with open minds and I sincerely hope that this message gets out to all women, regardless of party affiliation. It is time for us to put an end to this ridiculous patriarchy we have been dealing with since we got here. 

Last weekend, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a Regressive group, held a conference in Washington DC and, curiously, the only thing you can find about it in the news is a "reported" bomb threat. You know, because the Christians in this fine nation of ours are under constant threat by all who mean to persecute them. I promise the threat was one they created themselves so they could have a means of documenting their persecution just two days after they tried to tell America that a massacre in an historical southern black church was because of their faith.

All of the Regressive hopefuls for the presidency were there and pandered to their base. The jaw-dropping revelation was that one of their noted speakers was Phyllis Schlafly. She is like 90 something. Not kidding. Apparently it has not yet occurred to those in the GOP that when your esteemed speaker on women's issues has to be helped on the stage and needs to use a walker to get to the podium, it may be time to consider condemnations about your attempts to take women back to the 50's. Not only is she the physical embodiment of that truth, as she dons a dress which was certainly fashionable then, but she narrates it quite gloriously, too.

Schlafly literally opened her speech by bragging that the very room they were standing in was the one she was in when they were able to bury the ERA in 1982. When I watched it I caught myself before I let "Bitch!" come out as I recognized she is elderly. But then I realized she is also a bitch. And I let it go! She went on to tout the glories of conservatism and the needs to maintain their views. She sincerely believes that it is a bad idea for women to make as much money as men because they will find themselves unable to land a man as their egos will be bruised. The entire purpose of being a woman, according to Schlafly, is to be a wife and a mother. She publicly denounces income equality often. She even said, "The best way to improve economic prospects for women is to improve job prospects for the men in their lives, even if that means increasing the so-called pay gap." And do not misunderstand me, she said this last year.

(Here is a link if you want to see her speech, she comes on at 1:08:00. The entire thing is 4 hours)

It is telling that this was the conservative leader who was invited to speak last weekend. This was the voice the Regressive Party wanted to offer to the women of their party. These were the reminders the leaders of their party believed they needed to hear. In 2015.

At this convention all of the Regressive wannabes took the stage, one after another, demanding the right for women to control their own bodies be taken away. We were reminded of proud cuts to Planned Parenthood, successful attempts to shut down various abortion clinics, passing partial birth abortion bans, etc. And the crowd cheered for them all. This was the message they wanted to hear. In 2015.

Of course this is a group who apparently only have two things on their agenda: #1 Demand our nation allow absolutely anyone to build an arsenal without a 3 day cooling off period. #2 Demand a woman have very little opportunity to choose what to do with her own body but if she can find her way to the resources needed, she needs a 3 day cooling off period.

How has it been nearly 100 years and the ERA has been unable to be ratified in 2/3 of these United States? I don't know? We are mothers. Maybe it is in our nature to worry about taking care of everyone else's needs and that has allowed the movement to go unheard. But, as mothers, it is time to recognize what society we are building for our daughters. It is not selfish to demand equality for ourselves. And it certainly isn't selfish to fight for the generations of women who will follow us. We are sharing this country and not sharing the same rights to it. And that's bullshit.

Presently the Regressive Party War on Women is moving along quite well. Of course, they have Mike Huckabee trying to explain that it is a War for Women. But, Mike, you see, a war for women doesn't assume that we don't have the capacity for reasoned judgment to determine what we can do with our own bodies or families. A war for women doesn't tell my employer that they are entitled to religious objections to my family planning choices. A war for women does not allow for funds directed to DNA testing of rape kits to be misappropriated and ensure the rapists freedom while endangering more women and perpetuating my fear. A war for women doesn't give us statistical proof of our earning a fraction of what men earn and tell us we are overreacting to demand better. And a war for women certainly doesn't champion the work of the woman who battled tirelessly to kill the Equal Rights Amendment.

So, Thanks Mike, but we will take it from here. We will carry the mantle you have managed to drop, kick and set ablaze. It is our work. It is our responsibility to inform all women that they are not remotely entitled to the freedoms they think they are. And it is important to do that while pointing out the myriad rights which are presently being taken away.

Let us not wait for the 100th anniversary of the first attempt to raise our voices.

These are my ideas to start:

You can start by going here to sign a new change.org petition.

You can go to the ERA website to find answers to whatever questions you have running through your head.

You can go here to find your Senator and here to find your Congressperson  and send them an email or a fax NOW. Save their phone number in your phone. Set your phone to remind you to call them during their office hours and DO IT. The reason the right has such an amazing field game is they have organized their crazies to do this daily. And that is why their base is so strong.

Make a list of 5 (or more) women you know who will be pissed to realize that the ERA has never passed. And insist they do the same.

Domestic Violence Rates Have Gone Up. But Who Gives A Shit?

I will admit, I know nothing about boxing. I don't know the names when the big fights are coming up and I don't know their life stories. Honestly, if the Buckeyes aren't playing on Saturday, I could give a shit about sports. So after the big fight last month I read that the guy who won the fight, Floyd Mayweather, had been arrested or cited 7 times for domestic violence. I sat silent when I read that and went numb.

Eventually my eyes wandered back to the computer to read the rest of the story. My mind was racing. I hoped the article answered my biggest question, "How does someone commit 7 offenses and not have been sentenced to a lifetime in jail?" Of course, there is no answer. This is not shocking. This is our society. We have plenty of excuses for domestic violence. We have plenty of opportunities to dismiss allegations and blame the victim. Maybe she was asking for it? Why didn't she leave if he was so mean? She is lying so she can go after him for his money.

I literally ache when I see stories about abusers being offered opportunities to enter society without having been sentenced or even referred for intensive therapy. The fact is, no one gives a shit. And we proved it by celebrating a huge sporting event and excitedly waiting to see a man, who should be removed from our society for his violence, display profound violence. And we paid him $180 million to do it.

I was in an abusive relationship 23 years ago. He was a monster. When I finally got away from him I didn't date again for 17 years because I couldn't figure out what signs I had missed and didn't want to make the same mistakes again.

I don't like to ever think of myself as a victim because I have always been very independent and outspoken. I have always taken care of myself and have sincerely, and quite naively, never feared any person or situation. Because he was actually crazy, however, I didn't defend myself. I was pregnant when the abuse started and my desire to never make things worse, coupled with the understanding that his rage had no limits, was the only reason that I never tried to fight back. I doubt anyone who knew me just a few years earlier in high school would have imagined me ending up where I had. But there I was.

He was an absolute puzzle to me. I like to really try to understand people. I am very good at it. There was no understanding him, though. Nothing needed to set him off. He would switch from happy(ish) to violent with no warning. He controlled every aspect of my life. I wasn't allowed to answer the phone or the door. I was not allowed to have company. I was not allowed to go anywhere without him. He would not let me be alone in my home. If I went to the bathroom, he came with me. If I took a bath, he would sit on the toilet the entire time. My family and I became all but estranged. I now understand that all of these are common tactics for abusers. At the time, however, it was beyond my comprehension that a person could behave the way he did.

He liked to taunt me when he was going to hurt me. Sometimes he wouldn't end up hurting me because, I guess, the threat was enough fun for him. Asshole. He often used objects to hit me in the head. He said it didn't leave a mark. I'm sure it did, but my hair covered it. Dickhead. He dragged me through the apartment by my ponytail at 8 months pregnant. He chased me with a hammer. And the night before I had my daughter he actually broke her crib throwing me into it and then pummeled me so many times that my entire left side was bruised when I went to have her the next morning. Motherfucker.

The worst was a couple of weeks later, however. I was not listening to him. I was exhausted and wanted to take a nap. But I wasn't allowed to take a nap in the bedroom because he couldn't see me. I took the baby and went to bed anyway. He kept peeking around the door and making creepy voices to wake me up. I got pissed and told him to leave me alone. He tore into the room and jumped on top of me on the bed. The baby was sleeping in the crease of my armpit and he was on my belly. He put his hands around my throat and choked me. I could tell by his eyes that he wasn't going to stop. I kept trying to get him off of me but couldn't. I was thinking that there was no way I could leave my child alone in this world with him. I was desperate to get away. I needed to get him off of me. I noticed that the white ceiling beyond his head above me was turning blue. I knew that was it.

I woke up. Obviously. But I had no reason to believe that I would. With help, we were able to get away from him that next week. I found a police officer and asked him to take me back to my house and remove my boyfriend because he was abusive. He asked me whether or not my boyfriend lived there. I said that he did but assured him that only my name was on the lease. He asked me if he had lived there longer than 2 weeks. I said that he had and could not believe the direction it seemed this conversation was going. He then asked me if he had ever received a piece of mail at the apartment. I told him that he had. The officer finally told me that my apartment was his legal home and I did not have the right to remove him and make him homeless. He could only take him if he was arresting him. He asked if I had proof of the abuse. He noted that I was neither bruised nor bloody and then asked me if I had any witnesses. I looked at my witness, my 3 week old daughter, and thought, "This has to be a joke."

No joke. He followed me to my apartment and offered me an escort. He said I had 5 minutes to collect all of our things so that we could move out of my home. No shit! This was the law in 1992. And it was 4 days before Christmas. The officer told me that we could go to a homeless shelter if I wanted to and that I could press charges against my abuser in the morning. But, he assured me, without any evidence or witnesses he would not be charged. So, with that encouragement, I left the state.

Last year when the video of Ray Rice knocking his fiancée out was released, someone posted it on Facebook. A friend of mine commented that we had no idea what the woman had done to instigate the situation and suggested we wait until the whole story came out. I knew that people thought that way, but I was offended that someone I had called a friend would say something like that. It was like she betrayed all women. She betrayed me. I was pissed. I was sorry that typing in all caps was the best that I could do because I desperately wanted to get in her face and scream.

There are certainly women who are vicious. I accept that some women will lie for attention or to get back at a man. They exist. They are awful, spiteful people. But to go into any conversation about a woman being abused assuming that they may not have been? Or to look for an excuse and make her the instigator and, in turn, justify abuse? That is not only cruel, but its dangerous. You cannot hold every woman accountable for things that other women have done. You cannot ever allow yourself to believe there is causation beyond the abusers own violent intentions.

It is incredibly difficult for a woman to even come forward. There is often a lot of fear, shame, dependency and loneliness in the back of their minds that they have to come to terms with before they can even think about seeking help. No facet of society (and especially any member of the female half of it) can initially question the validity of an abuse declaration. The first instinct and action must be for their protection. The alternative is unthinkable.

I don't have a passive bone in my body. I am tough. I am smart. I am resourceful. I am strong. I am brave. I am responsible. I am independent. And I was abused.

It can happen to anyone. And it does. I am quick to point that out to people when they look for reasons to disbelieve a woman's accusations of abuse. No one knows what is going on in another persons home. My abuser was, quite literally, a sociopath. He could convince anyone that he was a good guy. It was fascinating to watch. The converse, however, was a nightmare to experience.

I have always had 5% of my check go to a domestic violence shelter called Choices. When I was leaving my abuser, the police didn't even tell me there was a shelter like that. They existed. It was a thing back then. I was told I could go to a homeless shelter. A place that really knew how to care for a woman in that situation would've been something I would have felt comfortable considering had it been explained to me. I was afraid and confused. I chose to leave my home and my belongings and leave the state. That was 1992. What is it like in 2015, I wonder? Are women treated more respectfully and given the support and options they need to move on in their lives?

Apparently, no.

[Recently] in one 24-hour period there were 18 calls per hour for help involving domestic violence in Missouri, reports the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)" but that 47% of requests for shelter went unmet.

A survey of domestic violence programs in North Dakota found that 375 victims were served in one day last year, with 32 requests for help going unfulfilled because of funding and staff shortages.

In just one 24-hour period, local domestic violence programs across the country provided help and safety to 67,646 adults and children who were victims of domestic violence. Yet on the very same day, there were 10,871 requests that could not be met due to lack of funding.

How many times have you read or heard a headline "The recent [fill in the blank with irrelevant name] murder has reminded us of domestic violence issues." I always ask myself, "Who the fuck has forgotten?" Its society. Society manages to forget. Its the society that tells itself that it is not misogynistic. Its the society that tells itself that 'feminism' is a bad word. Its the society that tells itself that women already have equality and just need to move on. As long as society manages to exist with occasional reminders that women and children are living in terror in states which annually take funding from programs to help them, we have all forgotten. Collectively, as a society, we perpetuate these tragedies by inviting those to legislate who have absolutely no care for any lives that can't ensure their next reelection.

How do we stop this? How do we get enough Americans to pay attention and give a shit about who they are voting for? I have no idea. If I knew I would not be writing and bitching about those 'representatives' every day. But as long as they keep their positions, these numbers will continue to get worse every year. And apparently, in our society, that's just fine.

 

Close Your Eyes. Keep Them Closed.

Here is a brand new trick for your mind and your eyes:

This test is even crazier than the one with the dress. You have to follow the rules though. Whenever you are instructed to close your eyes and keep them closed you have to do it. Okay?

The idea of this color test is to see if you can see things differently when you close your eyes and then reopen them.



There has been a lot of outrage in America for the past several years about the deaths of unarmed people of color. Many have been angry that nothing is being done about it. Many others have been outraged that people are upset in the first place. Those defending the killers insist that each of those who were killed deserved it for one reason or another and find ways to excuse each event as it comes up.

I think that the problem in America, however, lies with the people in the middle. Those who have no opinion either way are the ones who perpetuate the problem. When you see these stories on the news and think "Gosh. That's awful," and don't give it another thought until you go to work and hear someone say that Tamir Rice shouldn't have been allowed to be in the park with a toy gun from a person who will rationalize that if his mother hadn't let him go to the park he would still be alive today, you are the problem. If in this moment you do not demand a coherent thought out of the person defending a killer, you allow them to believe that their hate is justified, or at least tolerated.

Unfortunately, we are always going to have racists. We will always have bigots. And homophobes. And assholes. And cranks. They will always exist and we will always have to deal with them. They can, however, go with the rest of us into an evolved society where their hatred is diminished. My answer (which is very naive, I know. I am adorable and I can't help it), is for all Americans who have heard the news about these killings and then gone on in their day having never given them another thought to spend just 5 minutes taking this test.

Jordan Davis

Imagine your white little brother standing in front of that flag instead of Jordan Davis. Now imagine he is 17 years old and in a car at a gas station with his friends back in the day while listening to Metallica too loudly. They were being rowdy like 17 year old boys are supposed to be. Now imagine some black guy pulled up and told his girlfriend in the seat next to him that he hated that awful shit white music and yelled at the kids. The boys yelled back at him. So that black man shot at your little brother. 10 times. He's dead now.           

                                  Close your eyes.  Keep them closed. Can you see that?

Walter Scott

Imagine your white uncle standing in front of that flag instead of Walter Scott. Now imagine he gets pulled over for a broken tail light the day before Easter. He is the one in the family who has a good heart but seems to screw up a lot. The whole family is coming in tomorrow and he knows he has a warrant against him because he is behind on his child support. He decides to take off and make a run for it so he doesn't spend Easter in jail. That would certainly ruin Grandma's day, wouldn't it? The black police officer takes off after him and shoots him in the back. Repeatedly. Until he is dead. And then tries to create a scenario where it was your uncles fault.

                                  Close your eyes. Keep them closed.  Can you see that?

Eric Garner

Imagine your white father holding and feeding your baby in this picture instead of Eric Garner. Now imagine that he is standing on the side of a building and police officers ask him if he is selling cigarettes. They ask your dad this every time he is standing outside. He is getting really sick of it. Your dad asks the police why they don't just leave him alone. One officer, completely unprovoked, put your father in a choke hold and took him down while he was literally begging for his life. As he is beginning to struggle he tells the officer that he can't breathe. The officer does not refrain. Your father is choked to death. On camera. Surrounded by many police officers. Who said he was trying to sell a cigarette. The black police officer who murdered your father gives a gleeful wave to the camera while his body is being taken away. Handcuffed.

                                           Close your eyes. Keep them closed.  Can you see that?

Tamir Rice

Imagine your white son with that unbearably sweet face in this picture instead of Tamir Rice. Now imagine that he is in the park playing with a toy gun. His gun, like most made today, looks real. He is doing what children do with toy guns, pretending to shoot it. A gentleman who is not quite sure about the situation calls the police and tells them it looks like he may be a child and he is unsure if the gun is even real. The police show up and in less than 2 seconds, the officer in the passenger seat gets out of the car and shoots your son. On this day after shooting your son, he also tackles and detains your daughter when she runs to see what has happened to her little brother. He is doing this while he is neglecting to give aid to your son who is still alive. Your son dies the next day. This black police officer, you will later learn, had been released from his previous law enforcement position because he was deemed too emotional and immature regarding his use of weapons. That information doesn't really help you now, though. Does it? Your son is dead.

                                  Close your eyes. Keep them closed.  Can you see that?

It is a lot easier to live in a happy world when you allow for easy answers from the people who would really rather not allow changes in our society. I realize that. It is easier to just say that Jordan Davis should not have talked back to his elder or Walter Scott should not have run or Eric Garner should not have tried to sell cigarettes or Tamir Rice should not have been playing with a toy gun. But society will stay right here as long as you allow that to happen. From now on, every time you hear another story of an innocent unarmed person of color being murdered (and tragically, you will because we aren't demanding better of ourselves), take a quiet moment, close your eyes and imagine that the innocent unarmed person who this story about is white. And someone you love. And their killer is black. Then ask yourself why you have to rewrite the scenario for yourself. When you realize that you do not have a rational answer for that question, you will start to be a part of the solution.


Open your eyes, America. They've been closed long enough.