By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
But then I remember the old saying, “Behind every great woman there’s a man. . . trying to force an ultrasound while cutting her pay.”
–Lizz Winstead, comedian and co-creator of The Daily Show
Here in the Pea Patch, most everything has come to a full halt. Below zero wind chill and temperatures in the single digits surely have a dampening effect on any but the most necessary activities. This is Missouri’s second pass at arctic temps this season. A third is due next week, and I worry about the locals. There’s usually just enough in the rural bare-bones budget to handle food and meds, but not extraordinary costs like doubled heating bills or — now that corporate America has discovered heady profits exporting fracked natural gas overseas — overpriced propane. Adding to the angst, this extreme weather doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to move along.
And that’s not all that’s not moving along. It seems to me that politically, we’ve come to rest — briefly, I trust — in a place I’m titling “rock and hard spot, part deux.” A lot has changed in our national consciousness these last months, but, all too typically, a clear way forward remains as calcified as long buried brontosaurus bones. Meanwhile, important movement toward civil liberties and social investments is falling back to another round of budget wars, an ambitious new infusion of Koch money and doubled-down Republican strategy.
Those of us that have been trying to change the conversation from same-old, same-old for over a decade have finally settled into a populist demographic, thanks to massive failure of the conservative party — for, lo, these many years — to serve any but the most elite on the social/financial spectrum. Still, the 20-odd percent of those still claiming loyalty to the GOP remain as tone deaf and resistant to the evidence around them as they were when they declared pre-election triumph in 2012.
After internalizing that resounding drubbing, the Republican party decided it needed a face lift. Taking several weeks to digest their shock that nobody wanted the Mittster as their president, the Pubs barely whimpered last year, around this time, when Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told them they must “stop being the stupid party.”
Mainstream leaders talked about widening the tent, making it a welcome place for immigrants and women, leaving “purity” behind in order to capture a larger share of votes to sweep them into the Oval Office. And while that sounded like reality finally dawning in the hallowed halls of the Grand Old Party, thus far, government-whacking Baggers have kept the upper hand, their mainly rural and mostly religious point of view leeching out to color the whole of the conservative movement, keeping them on point.
Here’s the good news, even if it doesn’t yet have legs. Even though the Talking Heads keep telling us how equally divided we are in this nation, well over 50 percent of the voting public heartily disapproves both Republican tactics and austerity measures, leaving the smoke and mirror machines to obscure the fact that the system itself is out of kilter, allowing the slimmest margin of political thought to hold the nation — and the world — in thrall.
Ultimately, they can’t win. The numbers — and time — work against them. Pubs haven’t won a popular vote in this nation in several elections, and their limited understanding of what it will take to recreate themselves finds them still focused on putting space between themselves and the black guy, even if it makes them abandon their own cause and look like boobs.
Today, for instance, the RNC came out against the NSA spying program — clearly all Obama’s doing — and called for amendment to the Patriot Act. “Wait, what?” you ask. “Are you kidding?” Au contraire. All those things the Pub brand has proven true of them in these last years — systemic class intolerance, religious and corporate favoritism, patriarchal and authoritarian militancy, a sprinkling of paranoid xenophobia — all that must be countered if they are to get out from under the elitist banner their own actions and allegiances have wrapped them in. And, except for puzzling reaction like this awkward NSA resolution, the party has been unable to figure out how to go against its own materialistic interests without hurting its profit margin.
They seem to catch occasional flashes of light from their mirrors, but they can’t quite nail down a more palatable self-image. Unwilling to tread on their actual Holy Grail — the Free Market — there is only one place where they can afford to swing a cat: culture issues. At their recent RNC winter meeting, Mike Huckabee (former Arkansas Governor, presidential candidate, Baptist minister and friend to FOX News) chided them to be careful of their purity tests if they want to win in 2016. He also attempted to redirect accusations of repressing women’s rights back on the Dems, telling his followers that, “Republicans don’t have a war on women. We’re having a war for women. To empower them to be something other than victims of their gender.”
If he was truly interested in bringing women into the conservative fold, he probably should have stopped right there, pretending to champion the females in the audience, but once you’re on a roll — well, you know. Mike, who is a darling of evangelicals, just couldn’t keep himself from adding a few words about Obamacare’s funding of contraceptives, words good Christian women everywhere would surely understand:
If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing them […] a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it. Let’s take that discussion all across America.
Oh my! What a terrible shock it is to find I have an Uncle Sugar who is taking care of me, encouraging me to do all kinds of things that might not be very nice by providing me with something that tempts my naughty parts to go all tingly and out of control! And imagine my surprise to find that Uncle Huck, who had no problem insisting on contraceptive coverage when he was Governor of Arkansas, only wants to help me by keeping temptation out of my oh-so-naive little hands (unless I get preggers, of course, and then I’m obviously just a slut.)
I suppose there are women out there who will buy that argument for a buck, but if they do they’ve missed the point that they’re still getting permission from someone — in this case, not just a male but a politician — to rethink the slim parameters of their Saint/Slut definition. They will be required to presume that they are unable to make those choices for themselves, and that in order to be considered a responsible human being, they will have to find and dutifully take their place in the hierarchy of conservative thought. Even worse, they will have to admit admiration for the genius that not only advised a nation of such insipid pap but stands behind it.
I suspect that many of those who worship in the sanctuary of the Fair and Balanced — or perhaps, whose menfolk do and let them in on the absolutes, after the fact — aren’t ready for any kind of self-awareness on this issue, and that’s pretty remarkable, really, when all around them the mirrors are flashing, decisions are going forward that point out their antiquated sociology and repressive theology. I do understand that they refuse to make the leap for fear of — you know — their immortal souls, bless their bony heads. The most important step in their enlightenment will not be reconsidering their position on sexuality, it’s letting go of fear in order to do so.
I saw a brief bit on cable news the other night, a woman who was heading up a pro-life protest. The look on her face, her demeanor, was similar to that of some “freshly medicated” addicts I know. She was certain, she said enthusiastically, that the nation had finally come to its tipping point on abortion. The polls showed, she asserted, that the majority of American’s were against taking the life of the unborn. She noted that the brain-dead, pregnant woman being kept alive by a Texas hospital that refused to terminate despite the family’s wishes was a clear sign that the fetus came first. The interviewer mentioned that there were some concerns about the health of the fetus, but the woman brushed past that, already celebrating a clear win seen only in her own mind. (Tests have since found the fetus no longer viable.)
And — although she may have convinced some who watched her — she’s dead wrong regarding Roe being tipped. The majority of Americans believe decisions about pregnancy and abortion are best left to each individual woman, her family and physician. Need a reminder? The Pubs’ 2012 attempt to capture authority on the issue of women’s reproductive health lost them the women’s vote by resounding numbers and brought more than a million new members to Emily’s List.
According to Huffy:
Forty-one years after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Roe vs. Wade, two-thirds of the American population believe that decisions on abortion should be made between a woman, her family and her doctor, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted last week.
But a majority of the country’s elected officials see things differently. Only 40 percent of Congress, one-third of all governors and a quarter of state legislatures support the legal right to have an abortion, according to a new report by NARAL Pro-Choice America. More than half of elected officials fully oppose legal abortion, a position held by only 14 percent of Americans, while a small fraction of lawmakers have a mixed voting record on the issue.
The American public has long been evenly split on abortion from an ideological perspective. The new poll finds that 48 percent think abortion should be generally or always legal, while 47 percent think it should be generally or always illegal. But even among those who think abortion should be generally illegal, more think it should be legal in some circumstances (33 percent) than think it should be banned entirely (14 percent).
And the new poll suggests that a strong majority of Americans think those exceptions should not be defined by politicians, but by women themselves. Sixty-four percent said “decisions about abortion should be made by a woman and her doctor,” while 24 percent said that “government has a right and obligation to pass restrictions on abortion.” Only 35 percent said they would be in favor of Congress passing new restrictions on abortion.
You know all this. Clearly, astrological readers are going to be painfully aware of the dynamics with which our secular nation has been pummeled by Christian orthodoxy. But I think it’s important to clarify the dichotomy of religious/secular thought that still creeps into both our conversation and our consciousness. We are not a Christian nation and — tricky little step here — we are not NOT a Christian nation. We are not either/or, we are both/and, and to suppose ourselves defined so narrowly, one way or another, does not dignify our expanding humanity.
We are a big diverse multicultural nation that encompasses many religions and belief systems, including numerous different interpretations of Christian thought, and NONE of these should contribute to any political agenda. It is tragic that we’ve given away the clearly drawn barriers that for so long kept the callow and cynical from hijacking religious fundamentalism for the perpetuation of an elitist corporate agenda. That should, by now, be so obvious as to insult each and every thoughtful citizen of this nation.
In response to the Huckabee commentary, a female RNC member from West Virginia responded, with typical lack of nuance, that, “We don’t need to move away from our core values. We need to more clearly communicate those values.” No, it’s not her party values that need to be clarified, we’ve already seen them in action. They’re a muddied amalgam of religious taboos, financial loopholes and fear for the future. And held hostage to big money driving the political equation, the Dems aren’t much better at this point.
It’s time for some democratic values, human values that support and treasure our differences as well as our similarities. Religion should NEVER have been part of our political conversation. Asking any potential candidates about their religious belief should only be a point of interest in assessing their style and manner. The Constitution of the United States is the document they will be required to swear fealty to, and the Bill of Rights their list of commandments. These are the higher aspirations of the United States of America. We are badly in need of a renewal of separation of church and state, if we are to survive the critical ethical challenges of our day.
There is no other reason but religious to deny contraception insurance. There is no valid rationale to keep a decomposing woman ‘alive’ as incubator to a first-trimester fetus. I think it’s clear that the coming Aquarian signature of this new Era will help illuminate and then codify a new way forward on this kind of murky cultural discussion, but it is in our best interests to engage that conversation right now.
We will not find an effective way into the 21st century until women everywhere understand that they need defend their sexual choices to no one, nor is their worth defined by them. That’s the bare minimum required before we can even begin a discussion about an Equal Rights Amendment that would create women as legal equals to the men of the planet, and that can be dismissed no longer.
We’ve come a long way, baby, but we’re not there yet. It’s ridiculous to still be fighting such a battle for modernity in this nation. How can we stake a claim for the dignity of humanity and end to tribalism when we can’t even come to mutual respect among the sexes? As we start a new era, such an obsolete concept as gender superiority has had its day and the frightened old
men on this planet better just step back. Huckabee can go pound salt, but you and I, we’ve only just begun.
UPDATE: A Texas judge has ordered our brain-dead sister to be removed from artificial life support.
“It’s time for some democratic values, human values that support and treasure our differences as well as our similarities.”
On that note, I wanted to share something I just thought of (with some help from Mysti) this weekend.
Mysti I were talking on the phone yesterday and something she said gave me an “ah-HA!” moment. I was telling her how I have lived here for 16 years and have only ONE friend I can call friend; someone I can confide in. I said every time I try to make friends the people are either dismissive, cliquish, or fucking weird. I said even the local UU church was friendly on the surface at first but the second and third times they were just not very open and friendly. I tried three times (like the Jewish people say; try 3 times and then walk away) but they were just not very friendly even though I am a very friendly person and initiate conversations.
Mysti said that a friend of hers said people are acting so weird because they are all communicating with fear in their minds; fear of losing their jobs, fear of losing their homes, fear of losing their savings or retirement or college funds or even fear of being homeless or losing their health (paraphrasing her remarks).
That thought gave me a vision of fearful people being reactionary; the polarization of our nation into pockets of disagreeing people, and the old wagon trains circling the wagons when any threat surfaced. Ah-HA!
People are not letting new people into their friendship circles because they have been so inculcated with fear that they are “circling the wagons” in a defensive mode and won’t allow newcomers in. They are also speaking from that fear; hence their sounding so weird to me. The fear so engulfs so many of them that they don’t even remember how to converse in the usual, social-grease-using ways (polite niceties, with manners, friendliness, openness to new ideas and people, common courtesy, etc.).
This “divide and conquer” scheme worked; make everyone so polarized, fearful, and afraid to trust anyone not in their “in group” that they refuse to make connections anymore, to entertain “difference” anymore, to even consider treating people they don’t know with openness and common courtesy. What better way to control a mass of people than to make them operate in every sphere out of fear, fear so deep they DON’T EVEN KNOW THEY ARE DOING THAT. Only people with love, with trust, with openness in their hearts will see it and see how fucking weird it really IS. Religions use fear to control people. Religions in politics are on steroids.
That is the best explanation I can find and I have a feeling it is right.
Also: “We are badly in need of a renewal of separation of church and state, if we are to survive the critical ethical challenges of our day.”
O just recently read a study that showed the less religious a nation is, the lower their violence rates. This means as secular/atheism/agnosticism grows in this country, perhaps the grip religion has on us will lessen and violence will go down.
Also, another article stated that atheists and secular folks have missed the boat when it comes to carving freedom for all of us. Too many of the secular people are so busy removing ten commandments from public buildings when they should have been focusing their energies on mounting a huge voting drive to get more secular judges, elected officials and so on. Instead, we have a religious minority making the rules for a less religions majority. Not good at all.
Jude, your writing is pure genius! I found an ascension type blog where the author brilliantly lays out why the distortion in the ‘blueprint’ makes it impossible for males and females to perceive or communicate as divine equals and it keeps us separated energetically. Supposedly, a lot of people are here to heal the grid, and I fully believe it is true. Energetic Synthesis dot com. Go to the Resources tab and shifting timelines. It’s all very interesting. “What they are saying is that is now what must be regridded into the blueprint and onto the template of the planetary surface, (as they explained it) is the VESICA PISCES bi-polar geometry which has been used by the alien races to close looping energy systems on the planet.” The Vesica Pisces is a geometric shape that was part of the Ark of the Covenant.
You’ve got a very clear picture of your priorities, Salamander, and a sure sense of Self, but there are many of our sisters out there that have had their definitions handed to them and don’t realize the straightjacket they’re in. I’m glad your footing is sure; but my message this week is aimed at those who aren’t so sure, and those of us who can help others to stand up to repression wherever it’s found.
As well, my article was not meant for those who do not see their situation as repressive, having found some kind of virtue in it. I shop in Amish country once or twice a month, they have the best choice of bulk items around here as well as a full compliment of supplements and spices I can’t find locally. The little store I travel to — advertised as a Dutch Market — has electricity and other amenities, so they may be Mennonite rather than Amish but their dress is the same, as is their demeanor.
There’s a lovely old woman … in her 70’s I’d suspect … that bags groceries like a stevedore, grabbing up 50# sacks of potatoes like they were nothing, and I always wonder just how that works: she does that all day long, then goes home and does all the woman stuff and then has to make sure she has a clean, pressed dress, apron, bonnet for the next day and is still, essentially, subservient to the Head of Household, whomever that is. Boggles my mind, but I absolutely DO believe in choices, as long as they’re informed. That’s my mission.
Even now — in more contemporary society — with so many women the breadwinners, the competitors, the success stories, we carry too much “traditional wisdom” festering in collective mind about who and what women are (which means we also retain impressions about what we suppose they are NOT) as separate from men; hence, separate from the “natural order” of the warrior. It is ever and always the superior warrior vs. the inferior nurturer. It’s our lack of “nuance,” once again, that keeps us from exploring and celebrating the strength of nurture or discovering the madness and cruelty of warring.
Surprisingly (for those who disapprove the messenger) Bill Maher nailed it on Friday night in his New Rule:
Democrats have to start being the party that redefines toughness into restraint.
Watch the bit here, there’s a laugh or two along with a big dose of reality. It’s an effective take-down of the uber-masculine stereotype that, for instance, took us into Iraq, a nation that never attacked us, screaming, “Why do you hate us for our freedom?” That entire affair was, to my mind, a deplorable cartoon of sub-human endeavor for which we continue to pay a price. Once that particular delusion (aggression as virtue) is put to bed, the human family may be able to dig itself out the hole in which it finds itself.
Besides the cries of those of us that continue to poke this dead/dying concept with a pointy stick, ridding ourselves of this old paradigm definition of ‘manliness’ (which reinforces the necessity to keep women barefoot and pregnant) needs REAL change, i.e., a change of cultural understanding (aka enlightenment or evolution or A’HA!)
I’ve cited religion as core to this problem because I truly believe, as does Neale Donald Walsch, that we find our essential stumbling block to evolution in our largely-outgrown self-conception; that’s where we both misunderstand and limit our own power, believing that anything other than what we currently embrace is either fantasy or blasphemy.
Here’s what Walsch says about our social pathology.
The work of the Conversations with God Foundation is to change the cultural story of humanity. Our story of Separation is no longer working. It never worked, but at no previous time have the ravages of its effects been more keenly or ubiquitously felt.
The problem starts with humanity’s theology. The challenge is that, with rare exception, our spiritual view says that we are “over here” and God is “over there.” This is what I call a Separation Theology.
This wouldn’t be so bad if this were as far as it went. But the problem with a Separation Theology is that it produces a Separation Cosmology. That is, a way of looking at all of life that says that everything is separate from everything else. And a Separation Cosmology produces a Separation Psychology. That is, a psychological viewpoint that says that I am over here and you are over there.
A Separation Psychology, in turn, produces a Separation Sociology. That is, a way of socializing with each other that encourages the entire human society to act as separate entities serving their own separate interests. And a Separation Sociology produces a Separation Pathology. That is, pathological behaviors of self-destruction, engaged in individually and collectively and producing indifference, suffering, conflict, violence, and death by our own hands—as evidenced on our planet throughout human history, and in horrifically magnified form today everywhere.
Open this link to read the entirety of Walsch’s invitation to discussion, if you wish. I believe this gets to the core of the problem. Even those of us who eschew all notions of religion are still caught in the net of religious conditioning that continues to impact our culture and government. It’s a really important conversation.
Thank you, Len. I can always depend on you for gracious comments. And I doubt you would be surprised to learn that we no longer teach much history (what we do is heavily edited) and very little civics, these days, to skip out on. I suspect our inability to even RECOGNIZE our lack of civic education was planned by those who find our ignorance useful now. But that’s another post — and THEN some!
I love the concept of Huck having exceeded his expiration date, Patty. And ain’t that the truth, to all but the mind-crimed and those desperate to keep control!
As for Duck Dynasty, I am a watcher, have been for a couple of seasons. I was resistant to the show way-back-when until I had the realization that my distaste came from that part of my psyche I refer to as “The Berkeley Snob.” (There’s that separation issue again, voiced by the ego and reinforced by tribal bullshit — each of us has our own version, mine is a real snot!)
The Robertson’s could easily be my (better educated) neighbors, trust me. They have their own charm, I admit to finding them funny in lots of ways and I not only recognize my own human condition but find similarities to family members in all of them. I would also — gently — suggest that MANY of us would find our father-figures, unto oh-so-many generations, in the working prototype of Phil Robertson.
I think it’s also best to realize that this is a “reality” show, loosely scripted and largely played for laughs. I have a hard time dealing with the hunting mentality, but the rest of it is just rednecks, messing around. The kind of stuff I see around me all the time, here in the Patch.
I originally watched to keep TBS (see above) in check, but I “came around” on DD when I recognized, having watched a handful of shows, that these people LOVE each other and that is the larger energy that has shot them up into popularity. (I could say the same about Honey Boo-Boo, but I just can’t bare to watch — and I think most people watch so they can make fun of the family. There’s a big difference between ‘laughing with’ and ‘laughing at.’ Still … that energy of affection and good humor makes all the difference.)
Thank you, GaryB, and — oh my — how I’d love to be sitting under a palm, soaking in the sun! Just the word-picture blesses, especially with more arctic air due. Hanks’ projection that 20% of us are baddies may be high — I hope so. I think about 5% are truly bad guys, while the rest are just copy-cats, looking for the easiest way to a buck. They probably haven’t ever counted the cost … and, frankly, those are the ones we (I) keep attempting to awaken!
OMG, DivaCarla — that was a FABULOUS little CLIP! And while I expect the wee one has puh-lenty of chutzpah behind that little pointy finger of hers, whoever her Mum is echoes loudly in WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF! Thanks for the smile. I’m passing it around.
You’ve reminded me, be, of the functions of the big outer planets, in order: Saturn to solidify, Uranus to shatter, Pluto to transform and Neptune to dissolve. A coming Neptune trine to Jupiter might be just the thing to help ease us out of our old paradigm religious absolutes, especially with Pope Frank bringing back the populist point of view to those who refuse to give up the dogma. There is always reason to hope — and you, be, always find it for us! Bless you real good!
Somehow this wee woman makes me feel better about Huckabee and his ilk.
I smile, take hope, and steal her script! (only 47 seconds)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=498872826892018&set=vb.296253153820654&type=2&theater
Judith you are a treasure!
I saw Tom Hanks in a clip from 35th anniversary show on Sunday Morning CBS he said that 80% of us were honest good people and 20% were crooks and liars. Truly time for majority rule! Sending warmth from SoCal beaches. Grab a burrito and tune into the PGA golf tourney from La Jolla to warm those bones and lift those spirits. Palm trees can do that you know!
I ‘liked’ a few republican FB pages this week so I could see what they are saying. I’ve decided it is their own sexuality that they most fear, otherwise, what is the point? Huck must be afraid of arousal. It hasn’t been that long since women were burned for causing arousal in men. If they really want to limit abortions, why take away birth control? It’s like Duck Dynasty. I’ve watched 3 or 4 episodes now, and really, the old guy is the least likable of all of them, but the family interaction is interesting to watch. They are just like every other family I know with their loves, resentments and jealousies. Our children take what they like from us and try to limit in their own lives what they didn’t like so much. The dinosaurs always seem to die, but DD showed us how easy it is to breathe new life into them. I think Huck has passed the sell-by date, and he’s come out on the wrong side of several issues, as far as the libertarian wing goes.
Actually, we DO need a reminder Jude and thank you for stepping up to the plate. Honestly, I believe that reported remarks such as Huckabee’s are the last wails of a dying (metaphorically and even physically) breed, so prevalent in the years up to and including the 40’s and 50’s. Women heard this line of thought through family members, neighbors and church but not so much in the newspapers reporting on politics. At least I don’t think so. Women’s reproductive issues were still pretty taboo small talk back then, but the 60’s changed all that. Newspapers didn’t report on such topics because politicians didn’t have to resort to such topics to win votes. Politicians and newspapers (are there any left?), well let’s call it “the media”, have dropped any pretense of a standard of values just as society has morphed from a pretty clear standard of social respectability to one that questions everything.
Jupiter doesn’t just represent expanding society or government, it also represents church. This country’s natal Jupiter (Sibly chart) has been opposed by trans. Pluto all through 2010 and 2011 and then squared by Uranus in 2012 and early 2013, and finally trined by Neptune in 2013, which will continue on and off through next January. The outer planets are having their way with us, much as Mother Nature is these days. Tossing, turning, challenging; getting us clear on what’s really important and of most value.
Values. You said it so well in the paragraphs re: the woman who was heading up a pro-life protest and the RNC woman responding to Huckabee’s remark. If they weren’t already part of the Republican Party, citizens who think like these women, who rigidly hold on to the brontosaurus bones of past mores, find safety in numbers and gravitate to the RNC.
We know that Venus is the symbol for values, and we know that right now Venus is retrograde in Capricorn the rigid sign of rules. Not too many of us realize that the U.S. Sibly Venus (values) forms a quintile aspect (72 degrees) to the U.S. Sibly Chiron (wounds), and that presently transiting Eris (discord) is only one degree past her long, long conjunction to the U.S. Chiron. Quintiles are related to the use of the will and have a deep occult significance. Energies (represented by planets) in quintile aspects can transcend physical limitations through will power. Especially spiritual will power. It is this country’s destiny to overcome many of the wounds that societies in the past have inflicted on races, female gender, sexual preference and religious groups. It is the U.S. that will bury these old bones, once and for all, and pave the way for other nations so oppressed to follow our lead.
Astrologer Lynn Hayes makes an interesting observation regarding the (approximate) 40 days and 40 nights when Venus is retrograde, comparing these retrogrades to the biblical periods when Jesus was in the wilderness, Noah’s 40 days and nights of rain and Moses’ 40 days and nights. . .
“Perhaps these 40 day periods of retrograde Venus can be seen in modern times as a period in which we are tested in our relationships and our values – to see if we have been able to successfully balance the warrior archetype with the goddess of love in a way that helps our relationships to be more effective while empowering us as individuals.”
http://astrodynamics.net/blog/venus-retrograde-significance-40-days-40-nights/
I suspect Mother Nature is working in cahoots with Venus in Capricorn; testing our mettle on many fronts, getting us ready for the next round of physical and psychic adjustments on the path to enlightenment and evolution. Thank you Jude for not letting us wander too far off that path.
be
Jude: Thank you for your perfectly-titled piece. How can anybody with knowledge of history miss the prime directive of truly representative government – the imperative of separating the institutions of church and state? We can only conclude that vast numbers of Americans skipped history class a few days too many. And now the problem has been compounded by the large number of religious institutions which have evidently taken money as their one true god.Thank you for showing how the United States can and must return to integrity.
I admit I was pretty shocked by the backwardness of some Republican politicians (like Mike Huckabee and Steve Pearce) and celebrities (like Phil Robertson).
But despite the ugly beliefs of those people, my reality is that I have my place in the world.
In my workplaces and my hobbies, men and women are not judged by their gender, simply by their character and ability. Yes, it takes time, effort and multiple approaches for me to grasp a concept or a technique (Saturn in Sagittarius, and progressed Mercury Rx) and to channel my strength (Mars in Aries Rx), but at least as I work on those challenges, no one is touching my gender.
So I will defend my place in the world and keep on climbing with integrity. I am a woman who wants to thrive in the professional world as a scientist, a traveler, an adventurer, a public servant…
I am a woman who wants to be a great martial artist too.
I will not let myself get upset over those loser politicians and celebrities who have a limited view of women.
I have to admit that people like Mike Huckabee, Phil Robertson ( http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/12/30/phil_robertson_on_marriage_duck_dynasty_star_advised_men_to_find_15_year.html ), and Steve Pearce (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/01/22/gop-congressmans-book-the-wife-is-to-voluntarily-submit-to-her-husband/) have some pretty twisted beliefs. They are no different from the Islamic religious fundamentalists who want submissive women confined in their homes and at the mercy of abusive husbands.
I’m a Tunisian-American, and I grew up in a household where I was taught to believe that I could be anything I wanted to be as a woman.
I am doing what I can to feel comfortable in my skin in the face of this garbage. I tell myself that people judge me on my ability and character alone in the workplace and in my hobbies.
It”s wrong for Republicans to believe that women are only in the home, to procreate and to raise kids.
I personally know from experience that raising kids is something I’m not good at (I would feel drained every time I had to take care of my nephew and nieces). So conservatives should stop projecting what they think “a woman” should be.
The women who buy into Republicanism are the ones who can put up with the Republican ideal of what a woman is. But women who do not fit that mold oppose it.
Fine, there are women who want to get married and have kids, there are women who want to have both a family life and a work life, and in the case of women such as myself, there are women who want to work outside the house.
I mean, I have the Moon, Saturn, Uranus in Sagittarius in the 10th house as well as Neptune in Capricorn in the 10th house, Black Moon Lilith in Virgo in the 7th house, and Chiron in Cancer in the 4th house. Work is very important to me (yes I care a lot about the type of work I do, the quality of the service I provide, and the workplace culture, but the fact of the matter is that I care about the work I do), and I just want my home to be a place to rest.