The air has been thick with the rhetoric of calls to “Take our country back,” and for actions to rally “We the people, against the ruling class elites.” Sarah Palin has spoken about “The patriots who will restore America’s constitutionally based agenda.” Those who have dubbed themselves as “constitutional conservatives” are making a lot of noise, but I am not sure what they are saying. I doubt that their claims will get any clearer as the impending mid-term election ratchets discourse up another decibel. So I am thankful for the day trip that I took to Philadelphia at the very end of the summer. It has made me feel me grounded and connected to those people who have been so glibly invoked.
The reason for the trip was my son’s sixteenth birthday. He’s interested in history, and in that town, there’s plenty of it. The top spots of the “old city” were jammed with throngs of visitors. It was fascinating to see people connecting with the origins of their government. There was a kind of gee-whiz Capraesque awe about what it took to get this country off the ground.
The guided tours of Independence Hall and Carpenters’ Hall (the meeting place for the First Continental Congress) offered plenty of information on the Founding Fathers. Without a doubt, they were a contentious lot—each convinced that their point of view had the greatest validity. Alexander Hamilton led those emulating the British model and a strong central government. Thomas Jefferson supported the French prototype, with an emphasis on states’ rights.
Ironically, front and center in one of the exhibits was the James Madison quote of 1788 stating, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Somehow, I don’t think that will be on a Tea Party placards anytime soon.
A testimony to the American experiment in democracy took place on March 4th, 1797, when it was time to transfer executive power from George Washington to John Adams. Foreign dignitaries voyaged to Philadelphia to witness the event. Foreign dignitaries voyaged to Philadelphia to witness the event. Their primary objective was to see if the young nation could successfully change leaders without violence, or falling back to the “born to rule” system.
For me, the most moving exhibition was at the new Liberty Bell Center. The famous artifact has been rehoused, surrounded by information and learning panels that deal honestly with America’s growing pains. It is explained that in the 1800s, the Abolitionists gave what was then known as the State House bell the new appellation, The Liberty Bell. It was a name that stuck, and those fighting slavery promoted it as a symbol of the contradictions between the ideals and promises of the Revolution—and the reality of four millions slaves on American soil at the outset of the Civil War.
One hundred years after the Declaration of Independence, during the Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia on July 4, 1876, Susan B. Anthony endeavored to read the Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States at the proceedings. Forty-four years later, the suffragettes used the image of the Liberty Bell in their campaign for the right to vote.
During the month of September, I felt emotionally deflated with the ongoing news story about Terry Jones and his “International Burn a Koran Day.” In the past century, our country has been through low points before. The finger pointing at Japanese-Americans and their ensuing internment, the McCarthy Era, and the ugly epithets screamed at black children trying to attend schools are nadirs that come to mind. Pastor Jones can trace his misguided religious demagoguery straight back to Father Coughlin’s incendiary radio shows of the 1930s.
Yet, despite it all, the underpinnings of our country’s principals remain a beacon throughout the world. That’s why visitors from Nelson Mandela to the Dalai Lama have paid homage to the Liberty Bell and the values that it stands for.
When others invoke the name of the Founding Fathers to support their specific ideologies, I’ll choose to think of the Liberty Bell and its Biblical inscription (Leviticus 25:10):
“Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.”
Political Wire has two teases. The first highlights new poll results indicating that, “Sarah Palin is viewed unfavorably by 48% of Americans. She is viewed favorably by just 22% — including just 44% of Republicans, 21% of independents and 6% of Democrats.”
The second reports on new Pew information: “Fully 46% say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported government loans to banks during the financial crisis two years ago, while nearly as many (42%) say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate backed by Sarah Palin.” [bold not in original]
On top of that information, Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Linda McMahon are all struggling of late too. A poll out today from California says that the Palin support is more likely to hurt Whitman and Fiorina than help (Independents do not see Palin favorably). Those three candidates already are trying to fight the odds of self-funders (that they rarely get far). Nikki Haley just torpedoed herself by saying that she supports drug tests for all unemployment recipients (imagine losing your job because a plant shuts down – so you have to take a drug test to get benefits from a system you paid into and otherwise have no record?). And polls indicate that Christine O’Donnell is getting no traction while Sharon Angle is also having a rough time, although appears to have the most chance right now against a weak and targeted Harry Reid. And Democrat Diane Denish is picking up steam against Palin-backed Susanna Martinez in New Mexico. So far, Kelly Ayotte, whom Palin before her primary though in a state well-known for wanting to go its own way, really seems to be one of the few high profile, high level female candidates connected at all to Palin who is doing well.
What’s going on and what does it mean? Read the rest of this post at Writes Like She Talks.
Aides to Sen. John McCain anonymously attacked Palin in several reports today, criticizing the Alaska governor for diverting from the McCain campaign’s message, suggesting Palin was unhappy with certain campaign aides and accusing her of thinking more about her political future than about the success of the McCain-Palin ticket.
In an interview with CNN today, one McCain adviser anonymously called Palin “a diva” and said “she is playing for her own future” political prospects.
“She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone,” the advisor told CNN. “She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: divas trust only unto themselves as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom.”
Sen. Ted Stevens was found guilty Monday on seven counts of concealing more than $250,000 in gifts from wealthy friends — becoming the fifth U.S. senator ever to be convicted of a crime.
The verdict comes about a week before Alaska’s voters will decide whether to re-elect the Republican senator to an eighth term and at a time when his party is fighting to stem its losses in a tough year.
How does this conviction affect the McCain/Palin campaign? Isn’t it a little odd that Sen. Stevens can still be elected to the Senate, but as a convicted felon, he can’t vote? Let me know what you think in comments.
A few days ago, I posted on my blog, New Wave Grrrl, about the gaps surrounding Sarah Palin’s purported policy priority of addressing the needs of children with disabilities. I questioned the McCain-Palin ticket’s ability to put our money where their mouths have been on the subject of more funding for people with special needs. On October 24th, Palin gave a speech in my home state of Pennsylvania, on just what she and John McCain planned to do in order to better serve children with disabilities.
Although Palin’s speech was heartfelt, and I believe she truly cares about disability issues as a parent and as an aunt of children with developmental disabilities, her speech and the so-called McCain-Palin plan for children with special needs (which comes less than two weeks shy of Election Day) still falls flat, and still lacks any real promise of change in the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.
One glaring reason for this is the complete lack of policies that support people with disabilities beyond childhood. People who live with physical, developmental, cognitive, and multiple disabilities need various levels of care and support services throughout their entire lifetimes, in order to achieve a better quality of life and live fully within their communities. This includes not just vocational services for people with disabilities who can and want to work, but actual Medicaid dollars to fund the programs that provide for independent living in the community and not in State institutions, regardless of the severity of one’s disability.
We are only days away from the most scary important presidential election of our lives. And, it’s getting more and more ugly with each passing day. So…For the sake of my sanity, and yours, let’s have a little chuckle.
Saturday Night Live Video – George Bush Endorses John McCain and Sarah Palin
Many people, like myself, feel that the way in which a society supports its most vulnerable or disenfranchised citizens is a critical indicator of how healthy that society is, and where it is headed in the future.
The issue of disability policy and the improvements that are necessary to elevate the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities in this country has rarely made it into the mainstream discourse during this election. Unfortunately, this is not surprising as individuals with disabilities are typically excluded from the larger social and political environments, both by actual physical barriers and by traditional social practices in our society which make them invisible.
I’m getting pretty sick of the “Joe the Plumber” stuff. Joe isn’t even a licensed plumber, and he blatantly lied to Barack Obama, with his question on the economy. Now, the McCain Campaign is using this in negative ads. I don’t see how having more people “claim” to be Joe the Plumber, over and over, is a smart campaign move? And, this ad is just ridiculous. Let me know what you think in comments.
So…What are they saying? Are they just like Joe the plumber, who makes over $250,000.00 a year? Do they know that guy isn’t a licensed plumber and doesn’t make even close to the income he claimed, and he never had any intention of buying a small business? Do they know, that under Barack Obama’s plan, Joe the plumber would have his taxes lowered? Do they realize, that unless they have incomes greater than $250,000.00, their taxes would be lower too?
What do you think of all the “Joe the Plumber” hoopla? Are you sick of it? Let me know in comments.
“The Time Warner Summit: Politics 2008,” held at the Time Warner headquarters in New York City and co-sponsored with CNN, was a corporate branded event with big name heavy-hitters taking on questions about media, news, and the election. After attending both days of the conference, it reinforced my belief that digital media was the future for pushing out women’s stories, concerns, and dialogues.
There were many prominent women featured. Campbell Brown, CNN Anchor, moderated the opening keynote roundtable comprised of four men. Candy Crowley, senior political correspondent at CNN, spoke during the Media Power vs. Political Power session. One of the most dynamic speakers over the two days was Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN. Her persona and delivery style popped during the discussion with colleagues that included Wolf Blitzer and Fareed Zakaria and former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke.
Whether you consider women and minorities successfully enmeshed in the total media picture
or their specificity overlooked, depends upon your point of view. But the conference was a definitive contrast to presentation I recently attended at St. John’s University, which totally focused on the intersectionality of race and gender with the election story. There, a majority of the speakers were law professors presenting academic work.
The Time Warner symposium included one panel entitled Women and the 2008 Election: Playing Politics with Gender–Media, Candidates and the Majority Vote. Led by Lisa Witter, Fenton Communications COO and co-founder of SheSource — a “brain trust” of female experts — six women explored women as swing voters and the cultural phenomenon of Sarah Palin’s candidacy. In reference to Michelle Obama, they also discussed whether you could be an outspoken black woman without being described as “angry” by media pundits.
As Witter pointed out while speaking to a full room of women — “Wish there were more you!” she joked to the sprinkling of men — 59 percent of primary voters were women. At the end of the discussion, Carol Jenkins, Women’s Media Center president, posed questions going forward for the media. She called for continued examination of “who is calling the shots, who is making the decisions, and who is missing from the picture.”
With the understanding that women do not getting their narratives adequately told — if told at all — the need for a fresh playing field is palpable. In the new media, women have an opportunity to create their own communities and their own brands. Whether on the left or right of the political spectrum, a mommy blogger or a political blogger, women are flooding the Internet. This was borne out by a BlogHer/Compass Partners survey found 36.2 million women were actively participating in blogs. Of women online, 53 percent were reading blogs, 37 percent were posting comments, and 28 percent were writing or updating blogs.
Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is “in charge of the United States Senate“:
Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”
PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.
Take a look at a clip from another typically vapid and disastrous Sarah Palin television interview and see what it looks like when the reporter is actually uninterested in clarifications or follow ups. I guess that’s what Palin has moved on to these days. Local affiliate interviews with reporters who won’t ask anything hard.
But that doesn’t actually mean Palin gives correct answers. Oh, no! Far from it! All it means is that the reporter asking the questions doesn’t give any indication of being aware that the answers are incorrect.
If women are going to be taken seriously they need to be held to the same standards as men. A man who said something so incredibly ignorant would be pilloried.
This latest gaffe, actually implying that the vice president has legislative authority, makes what she said with Couric seem harmless. This woman has no business being anywhere near the White House. John McCain’s judgment is a joke. Making America pay for it through a possible Palin presidency is dangerous.
And, adding insult to injury…
Guess how much the RNC is shelling out during this economic crisis for Sara Palin’s wardrobe???
What do you think? Should Sarah Palin understand what the “actual” job of the vice president is? Or, do we just expect that if McCain is elected, Sarah Palin can do what ever she wants to do?
Personally, I don’t think she is stupid (at least on this issue). I think, if elected, she plans on ignoring the constitution every bit as much as the Bush administration did. Let me know what you think in comments.
Answering the question, Where are all the women political bloggers? Well, if you are here, you have found them. We are dedicated to giving women bloggers a voice, starting with our list of over 500 women political bloggers. And now, in addition to guest bloggers, and our growing community, we will also feature regular contributing editors.
