Way back in the beginning days of this nation, women were not allowed to own property, nor were they allowed to vote. Women were basically considered, as were African-Americans, to be chattel, possessions. 
Gradually … and I do mean gradually, ever so s-l-o-w-l-y … women gained a few human rights, such as the right to own property (1848-1895) and the right to vote (1920 – 19th Amendment). It would be 1963 before it was decided that women should receive equal pay for performing the same job duties as men.
Women’s rights has been every bit as much a struggle as were civil rights for African-Americans, albeit not as violent. By the end of the 20th century, most would tell you that women were now fully equal in the eyes of the law to men, that the barriers for women’s equality had been removed. Remember back in the 1970s, the advertisements for Virginia Slims cigarettes, whose slogan was “You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!”? 
But in this, the year 2018, I would argue that we’ve still got a long way to go. Two issues prove my point.
The first, is whether a woman has sovereign rights over her own body, and anyone but a fool knows the answer to that is that ‘no’. There is a push today, mainly by the Republican Party on behalf of the evangelical Christians, to deny women access to both birth control and abortion. Strange, don’t you think, that there is no hue and cry about men obtaining drugs such as Viagra, but women and birth control is a different matter.
In 1973, the issue of abortion was settled by the Supreme Court in the case of Roe v Wade, and it was ruled that a woman has the right to seek an abortion if she so chooses. But the ruling has been the subject of much criticism by Christian churches, and in 2016, when Donald Trump was campaigning for the office of president, he appealed to the evangelicals by promising to appoint judges who would overturn Roe v Wade.
Furthermore, access to birth control has been challenged and although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that employer-sponsored health insurance must provide coverage for birth control, again the Christian groups stepped in and the courts have ruled against women’s rights. Newly-minted Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is partly to thank for that one.
There is much, much more I could say about these assaults on women’s rights, but I want to move on to my second point, which is the one prevalent in today’s news, and that is the right of women to be respected, to be taken seriously, to not be turned into a sex object and the brunt of male perversity.
The subject, of course, is Dr. Christine Blasely, the woman who came forth to tell of the time, some 30+ years ago, that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a party. I won’t re-hash the details, for you’ve heard various versions likely hundreds of times in the past week unless you’ve been in a coma. But my point is the abysmal treatment Dr. Blasely has been afforded ever since she came forward. She has been called a ‘liar’, it has been suggested that she made up the story at the behest of the Democratic party, and she has received death threats.
Donald Trump and the members of our not-so-illustrious congress have cast aspersion on this woman and attempted every trick in the book to browbeat and bully her. And in so doing, they have set women’s equality back decades. Rather than jump to claim she is lying, why didn’t those in charge of the confirmation hearings order an investigation to bring the event into the open, to put to rest any doubts? Why? Because they know. Somewhere deep down, they know that she is not lying. They know that their esteemed Brett Kavanaugh is guilty as charged. They know that this will likely, if taken seriously, be the nail in the coffin of Kavanaugh’s confirmation. And they know the price they will pay from the ‘man’ in the Oval Office if they fail to complete their mission of confirming Kavanaugh quickly before the democrats find their voice in November.
- Senator Scott Newman: “Even if true, teenagers! Frankly, I don’t believe her.”
- Kavanaugh spokesperson/activist Josh Marshall says it’s not clear that the incident was attempted rape as opposed to just “rough horseplay”.
Remember in 2016 when the Access Hollywood tape came out with Donald Trump making disparaging remarks about his treatment of women? His defenders, despite evidence that he was indeed guilty of multiple cases of sexual abuse, brushed it off as only “locker room talk”.
Tell me, folks … if the tables were turned … if a female nominee were accused by a man of having groped him, attempted to disrobe him, and clapped her hand over his mouth in order to keep him from calling for help, would the senators be so glib? I think not. I think they would pretend to be horrified and decide early on that she was not qualified to sit on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. But, the ‘good ol’ boys’ network is alive and well, and instead of horror, there is a wink-wink, a knowing smile, and ultimately a confirmation of a man with too little integrity.
But understand, please, that Dr. Blasely is not the first, nor will she be the last woman to be treated in such a manner. Women throughout the ages have been disbelieved or expected to accept sexual abuse as their due. Sure, we’ve “come a long way, baby”, but make no mistake … women do not have equal rights in 21st century America, and I despair that we ever will.
** Here are links to two excellent timelines of the history of women’s rights, in case you’re interested:
Trump’s ethics were considered to be even lower than Richard I-am-not-a-crook Nixon!!! Nixon, who was charged with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress as a result of his involvement in the Watergate scandal, is the only U.S. president to resign from office, which he did in 1974, before his near-certain impeachment.
Looking at the remains of a yacht that had washed up against the back of a brick home, Trump asked the homeowner … “Is this your boat?” The man shook his head and said “No”. Trump turned with a grin and replied, “At least you got a nice boat out of the deal.”
Was there a more inappropriate remark he could have made? Other presidents have treated natural disaster tours as dignified, solemn affairs. After all, people have lost homes, possessions, cars, family pets, and in some cases even the lives of loved ones. They need both practical help and compassion, understanding. With Trump, they get off-key attempts at humour, and as the New York Times states it, “pep-rally enthusiasm”. Frankly, had I been that homeowner I would have spit in his face. What an embarrassment he is to us all, only some 36% of the nation cannot see it. Perhaps if he mocked their own misfortune they would begin to understand.
Okay, folks … that’s all I’ve got … well, actually I’ve got lots more, but that’s likely enough to start your day off on the wrong foot, so I’ll leave off here. Have a great day, my friends … try to step away from the train wreck for a bit and go outside, enjoy nature, remind yourself that ‘this too shall pass’. I think that’s my new motto.
I don’t find it particularly funny, but neither do I find it worthy of top billing in an email.
Need I say more? Hopefully this perfidy will only serve to increase Kim’s lead.
As children, we learn by doing. When we place our hand on the open flame of a gas burner, as I did at about age 4, we learn that it is hot, it hurts, and it gets us yelled at, so we don’t do it again. Well, most of us don’t. As adults, we have developed the ability to learn by not only our own past experiences, but also those of others, and at least in theory, we can use our ability to reason to determine likely outcomes for our actions. So, when I read that cigarette smoking is responsible for certain diseases, then I can make the decision to not smoke, right? Okay, bad example, for I am a 3-pack-a-day smoker, but you get the point. We don’t need to drive our car over a cliff to know that it is not a good idea.
In 2009, American tire makers persuaded the Obama administration to impose tariffs on Chinese tires, and imports of tires from China fell sharply. But Chinese companies did not stop making tires in response to the tariffs — they simply moved production to other places, including to the United States.
Did you know that General Motors sells more cars in China than in the U.S.? What do you suppose happens when China imposes tariffs on U.S. autos? Or when the Chinese government calls for a boycott on U.S. goods? As an authoritarian government, they do not operate under the same constraints as the U.S.
“How do you bring ethnic diversity? I mean they had to paint, what I guess they thought was some sort of African pattern on the side of Nia’s engine? How do you bring ethnic diversity to a show that literally has no ethnicities because they’re trains? They don’t even have skin pigmentation. Was there some concern that the show had racist undertones?”
When Trump demanded that military families no longer be allowed to accompany service members deployed to South Korea, Mattis refused, saying it could be seen by North Korea as a precursor to war. Mattis and Trump have also been at odds over NATO and Trump’s unwise decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal. Possibly one of the biggest issues Trump has with Mattis is that despite Trump’s numerous requests that Mattis appear on Fox and Friends in order to praise Trump’s agenda, Mattis has declined to do so.
Why should we care? First, because the truth is that James Mattis is, in reality, often the only ‘adult in the room’. The fate of Mattis is important because he is widely viewed — by foreign allies and adversaries but also by the traditional national security establishment in the United States — as the cabinet official standing between a mercurial president and global tumult. Mattis is highly popular with the men and women of the American military. Most of the rest of his fans are people that Trump does not care about: Democrats, establishment Republicans and American allies. It is for this reason that Mattis’ job is safe until after November 6th, for even Trump realizes that it is not likely to be a popular move.