A Nasty Woman's Writ

 

I haven't felt the need for this space in a long time, but I have a feeling it will become ever more important to me in the next four years. I am still sorting out the feelings of depression, disappointment, fear, and anger that are all jumbled together in my heart today. Below are my initial thoughts in the hours following the 2016 Presidential Election. I reserve the right to expand upon them later...or not. This is just how I cope with devastation: I write.

I cannot find any words to say to Donald Trump or his supporters that are anything more than the vitriolic, divisive verbal diarrhea that they've been spewing since the beginning of the campaign. So, to them, I say nothing for now. While that sort of behavior is, apparently, effective in winning elections now, that is not the kind of person I want to be or plan to become. I resolve for myself, to go high.

When George W. Bush was elected in 2004, I had just begun studying at Douglass College, an all women's college. I didn't fully understand the importance of a women's college at the time and, actually, I may only be understanding its importance right now. I had begun college assuming I'd become a communications/journalism major, but that year and that election changed my path. I studied political science instead, with a particular interest in political theory. 

After the 2004 election, as students and young Americans, we were so hurt and disheartened. We felt like our country was turning its back on us. We felt scared. (Sound about right?) But it inspired some of us to learn about the system we have, learn about our options, and become active and informed citizens. We elected Barack Obama. That former despair, eventually, brought about the most historic presidency in American history to this point.

Therefore, the silver lining I see in the aftermath of the 2016 election is that, with any luck, it will inspire another generation of people to educate themselves and become passionate about something other than themselves. Perhaps we became complacent during a time of relative stability, but that time is clearly over.

So, for those among us who agree that diplomacy, patience, and intelligence are still values we should hold dear and are still qualities we will require of our leaders, all I can say is: don't let this turn you around or change your minds. Do not become disillusioned. Mourn, but do not fall on your swords. Lead by example. Learn. Act. Vote (in every election, not just the big ones.) We are strong and resilient. We cannot let divisive and anti-intellectual policies prevail. There is more at stake than our little lives. There is an entire planet. Other people exist. There has never been a more important time during which to seek out our own empathetic sides. 

If you believe, as I do, that Americans ARE black, brown, white, men, women, non-binary, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, atheist, disabled, chronically ill, gay, straight, wealthy, poor, somewhere in the middle, or some other glorious denomination (and any combination thereof), then you CANNOT argue that Donald Trump is a patriot. He has been working to set us against ourselves and we cannot take the bait. In addition to lacking any actual plans for anything, this is why Donald Trump is particularly dangerous. He views our differences as hindrances when, really, they are advantages. It is our responsibility - as it always has been - to express our love for our country through our love of each other and ourselves actively, passionately, loudly, and relentlessly.

Lastly, this was a particularly hard defeat for women in this country. I can tell you that; I am one. The country has now shown the world that we will accept a racist, sexist (possibly-sex offending), narcissistic, unintelligent man as a leader just so long as...he's not a woman. I do not mean to be hyperbolic; I don't see any other way of interpreting this election. Mrs. Clinton's flaws simply to not equal Mr. Trump's in magnitude. Sexism in this country is a quiet killer (both literally and figuratively) about which we need to start talking. On both the right and the left, what people don't like about Hillary Clinton is that she played the boys' game and she played it well. Nothing she did has been deemed criminal and that has been shown to us over and over again over decades; that is what some of us call a fact. So, drop that bullshit right here and right now. She's fallible, just as we all are, but she doesn't quit. She's brilliant. She does her homework. She plays hardball. She knows the answers or seeks them out. She has the strength and the temperament.

But she wears funny pantsuits and has such a "harsh" voice.

I can tell you this: I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and that is something I will be able to say proudly for the rest of my life.

So, to my fellow American women, I beg you, do not lose hope and hold on tightly to your pussies. There is work to be done...hard work...women's work...and there is no one more qualified to do this work than we. (Feminists of all genders, I'm looking at you too!) We have come so far since Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and - my girl - Victoria Woodhull fought so hard so that we could vote today. Revolution does not happen over night. Be inspired by our progress while paving the next trail.

Yanno, I just figured one thing to say to Mr. Trump and his friends: thank you for creating a new generation of nasty women. We're here and we're about to get a hell of a lot nastier.

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For a wee bit of optimism:
More Americans Voted for Hillary Clinton Than Donald Trump

Please consider donating to any of the wonderful organization featured in this article:

A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support

No, Sarah Palin Really Isn't Hillary Clinton. Promise.

You probably know it better than me, but it really seems like your country is in trouble! Things were looking up with Obama and all, but the Republicans are up to their usual antics, or even worse. The actuaries put McCain at 30% chance of dying in his first term. Then it's president Palin!

The future is going to be very turbulent, partly because of the loss of wealth and influence that the US will experience, especially if the Republicans are elected again. It's quite sad to see what is happeneing, to the extent that I almost cancelled my trip to go somewhere like Japan or Australia! But I'm sure it will still be interesting to see what it is like in the US.

At least you can console yourself with this fact: No matter how bad it seems there, the things that are happening with my country's leadership is worse! At least there intelligent people almost have a chance to elect a reasonable government. Here, we are just resigned to the fact that it will be an idiot of epic proportions.

- Written by Warren / my friend in South Africa
in his recent email to me.


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Naturally, promting a long response (with a few additions including the video):

(Written back to Warren)

...

Ugh...the election. Yeah. From my perspective, Obama is the best guy for the job. I've heard reports from European media outlets that say people in Europe think Obama would heal international relations. Is that the basic feeling there too? He wasn't my top pick, but - between Clinton and Obama - I voted Obama in the primary.

The fact that the polls have this election so close is disgusting. If McCain is elected, the entire world is going to laugh at us collectively (not that they haven't been the last eight years)...and then weep. I don't know what - if any - of the convention coverage you saw or read, but somehow the Republicans were trying to paint themselves as bringers of change. If their party was so great, why would people want change in the first place and WHY ON EARTH would we elect the same guys to bring about that change?

And Palin...oh, God. That is the most hypocritical and blatantly strategic move I've ever seen. They attack Obama's "inexperience" and then nominate someone with less experience than he for the second most important position in the country? With a presidential candidate in his 70's. Wonderful. She doesn't know anything about foreign policy. She did this interview and she was on the defensive the whole time while the interviewer really wasn't trying to fool her, I don't think. The interviewer (Charles Gibson) was calm and relaxed and was asking her honest questions about herself and her qualifications. She doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is!? I wouldn't expect any regular citizen to know what that is, but anyone looking to be president should. Period. If I know what it is, so should this woman. My mom doesn't, but she's not a student of politics; she's not running for anything. Granted, the Doctrine has had a few incarnations since its first inception during Bush Senior's presidency.



This isn't fucking rocket science. I learned it in American Defense Policy as a second year political science student and I probably should have learned it sooner, but it was only the second international relations course I took. Does she know what the NPT is? North Korea ring a bell?

Aside from that, I pray that the women in my country are smarter than McCain thinks they are. If they do even minimal research they will find that Palin is NOT a stand-in for Hillary Clinton. I didn't vote for Clinton mainly because I worried that she is already too immersed in the Washington status quo that she won't want to change a lot of it...she's in debt to a lot of it. I just think Washington as a whole is corrupt (with lobbying, partisan bickering, etc.) and needs someone new who ISN'T waste-deep in it to try to clean it up. Obama's in it, but not as deeply, I think...I hope. I think Clinton would be good at the job and better than McCain, certainly, but I wanted Obama if those were my choices. Regardless, Palin IS NOT Hillary Clinton and I really want to see Clinton out there telling her supporters how she and Palin are polar opposites. Have you heard of "PUMA?" They are former Hillary supporters who have vowed to vote McCain in Clinton's absence. I don't understand it at all, but she has a lot of supporters considering McCain and with this Palin nomination, they may win some over. Clinton really needs to get out there and tell people the truth about Palin, that this woman does not stand for woman's reproductive rights, for gender equality, for gay rights, not even for gun safety. As I think they said in SNL this week: she thinks global warming is God hugging a little too tight. Haha...so that's may be too much, but you get the point. And It's appalling. Everything about this woman angers and sickens me. And saddens me.

Lastly, all this shit about sexism coming out NOW, now that we know Palin's daughter is pregnant especially. It was - apparently - perfectly acceptable for people to be sexist against an evil liberal like Hillary Clinton, but not this little lady with her "American" values. They want to say Bristol's pregnancy is a family matter. What does it say about her parents' ability to control their children? She's 17 and unmarried. Abstinence education didn't work within her own family, but it's good enough for the country? They said it was Bristol's "decision" to have the baby. (A) She didn't have a choice because of her family's conservatism and the fact that the spotlight is squarely on her now. (B) Let's say, for argument's sake, the family did allow Bristol to choose...the very fact that women have that right - that Bristol / her family had the right - to choose would be taken away is Palin had her way.

They said it was Bristol's decision and that the media should stay out of it; it's a private decision. Yes, it IS a private decision. But Palin would allot the government the right to make that decision if she had her way: and the decision would be to keep the baby even in cases of rape and incest. Her family is taking advantage of a freedom this country has for the time being, a freedom that they would have taken away so that it is no longer a private decision, but a governmental one, if they have their way.

How can that sound like a good way to run a country? As far as economic and foreign policy, I can't even talk since she has little knowledge or experience with either. McCain's war view is to keep it going, but how are we going to win anyone over while we're bombing them? I often wonder how George Bush sleeps at night...especially after the recent anniversary of the terror attacks. Watching the memorial stuff and all the shows about the buildings' collapsing: the whole time Bush had a warning. Nothing was done preceding the attacks to warn or prepare citizens and little has been done in the aftermath to prevent it from happening again. We got caught with our pants down and then turned around and bombed a bunch of innocent people. Awesome. A+, America. Way to fucking go. That's how we win hearts and minds...by scaring them into loving us and killing the rest.

Nah...I'm not bitter at all.

Sorry for that long rant. You can't get me started on politics in an election year and expect me NOT to go off! I'm very interested in your take on everything and what you've heard or know about the election. What is the political situation where you are? Since it's an election year here, it's like all other news just stops.

...

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Lastly, and this is just for a quick LOL, Warren sent me this:


These are questions the US asks those applying for VISAs. He is in the process of planning of trip here in the winter. Number 3 is my favorite. Because, apparently, the terrorists who were smart enough to plan the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 are dumb enough to tell you that they are terrorists who want access to our country.