The War on Women - Keep Walkin' Boots

These boots are made for walkin', and that's just what they'll do.

One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.

~ Nancy Sinatra's 1966 #1 Hit

OMG - look at those mini-skirts! Even in 1966 women didn't have to hide much on TV.

And yet, in Michigan in 2012, two female congresswomen were silenced for saying the word "vagina" in a debate about . . . wait for it . . . an abortion bill!

From The Detroit Free Press  

State Reps. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield, and Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, were told today that they wouldn’t be recognized to publicly speak on any matters before the House because of comments they made Wednesday during an emotional debate on a bill that puts new restrictions on abortion providers.
Brown, who voted against the legislation, told supporters of the bill, “I’m flattered you’re all so concerned about my vagina. But no means no.”
And Byrum was gaveled out of order after she protested when she wasn’t allowed to speak on her amendment to the bill that would have required proof of a medical emergency or that a man’s life was in danger before a doctor could perform a vasectomy.

This week Rush Limbaugh said a group of nuns had "Gone Feminazi." Yes . . . Nuns. Wow - yeah, the Nuns are just on a rampage these days. And he thinks the Vatican is right to "tamp it down." Wow - I thought that American Nuns were able to vote or campaign for anyone they chose since they are citizens too.

RUSH: “By contrast, CBS played up the supporters of a group of left-leaning Catholic nuns during four on-air segments between May 30 and June 1, 2012. Correspondent Wyatt Andrews hyped how ‘hundreds of Catholics have rallied behind the sisters,’ and that ‘protests in support of the nuns have been held in almost 50 cities.’” Have you heard about any of this? One paragraph Snerdley said he saw on the 164 rallies across the country. The nun story. Do you know what the nun story is? Yep. Yeah, but what are the nuns doing? Do you know what the nuns are doing? The nuns have gone feminazi on everybody. This small group of nuns in the Catholic Church is going feminist, and the Vatican is obviously — well, a figure of speech, slapping them down. And the Vatican is trying to tamp it down and say, “No, no, no, that doesn’t happen. There’s no such thing as a feminist nun.”

And on Fox News, anchor Gretchen Carlson finally showed the right spirit and walked out as her doofus male cohosts were dissing women. She was so fed up she walked off the set. From Think Progress

Thursday morning, Steve Doocy interviewed members of the U.S. Navy Band about the band’s recent inclusion of women. Reacting to the segment, Brian Kilmeade remarked, “Women are everywhere. We’re letting them play golf and tennis now. It’s out of control.” Visibly upset, Gretchen Carlson, the only female host, walked off of the set. “You read the headlines. Since men are so great. Take them [women] away,” she said. Kilmeade responded, “All right. Finally.” Then, as she walked further off of the set, Kilmeade jeered, “Leaving an all male crew” and added “she needed a shower.” Watch it:

If I were her, I would have kept on walkin' and demanded more respect. But look where you are, honey - FOX! Keep walkin' boots . . . yeah!

War Against Women or War Between Women?

NBC News quotes Ann Romney saying she received a birthday present from an unlikely source.

"It was my early birthday present for someone to be critical of me as a mother, and that was really a defining moment, and I loved it," Mrs. Romney said.

What gift did she receive that was so warmly welcome? Well, last week a so-called Democratic "strategist" named Hilary Rosen blurted out her view of the Republican candidate's wife:

 "She's never actually worked a day in her life," snarled Rosen.

Oy vey. She displays as much "strategy" as RNC chairman Reince Priebus did when he compared the War on Woman to a War on Caterpillars. They deserve each other, I swear! As a stay-at-home mother for 26 years myself, I've had women say or imply the same snarky thing to me, so immediately I felt sorry for Ann Romney. My first thought was - omg, don't be stupid enough to attack a Mom of Five boys who also has health problems. And especially don't attack the spouse of a Republican candidate if you expect people to leave Michele Obama alone until November!

Many people dislike Rosen anyway because of her work as a corporate shill as CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Remember the now-defunct downloading website, Napster? This is the woman who filed all the copyright lawsuits against them to run out of business and helped get some really dangerous grandmothers into trouble. In 2003, Hilary sailed out of the RIAA with a cool 2.8 million salary, proving that a one-percenter like Rosen attacking a one-percenter mom like Romney is a case of Pot-Meet-Kettle.

Obama's team distanced themselves as  a mini-war erupted on Twitter. Obama's Senior Advisor, David Axelrod, tweeted that Rosen's remarks were "inappropriate and offensive," while Michele Obama tweeted that "Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected."

Rosen has been apologizing everywhere, of course, but it's too little too late. We can only hope that she stays as quiet as possible between now and November. Does that sound uncharitable towards a fellow-woman? (And is that an oxymoron?) Well, all I can say is that it's really disheartening that when we had the Republicans on the ropes over their offensive views (Rush and Rick) and actions (red state legislatures) concerning women, someone who calls herself a Democrat goes rogue and attacks another woman for her family values.

There's no doubt that Ann Romney has had plenty of help in raising her children, but so do lots of other women - even Rosen, I bet, because she could also afford maids, nannies, babysitters, whatever. That is not the issue. The issue is that every woman has a choice with what to do with her life, and we should support those choices. I wish Ann Romney would detach herself from the Republicans and stand up for women more, but that's NOT going to happen. Meanwhile her life as a mother has nothing to do with politics.

No one should call Rosen a "strategist" anymore - hear that, CNN? Maybe she and Reince Priebus should go research caterpillars on some far distant island together.

Caterpillars for Change

Now we know there's a full moon. Today, the leader of the Republican National Convention, Reince Priebus, set off a landmine of snark under his own chair by saying:

“If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we’d have problems with caterpillars. It's a fiction."

Okey-Dokey Artichokey.
Of course, the Internets Went All Snarky.
Rachel Maddow had this picture up on her show tonight. I think it's just beautiful! Thank you, Reince Priebus, for giving women a new reason to vote for President Obama, and a new symbol of rebirth for the Democratic Party.