Disrespect over governing..

Once again, Senate Republicans have blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act..evidently this makes the third time. Why can't these idiots understand that women deserve to be paid the same as a man for doing the same work? Oh, they'd have a hissy fit if it happened to any of them. But women aren't apparently worth the same in the workplace. Or any other place it seems.

It's sad that we need a law enacted to protect us from business owners who can't seem to do right by us. Equal pay should be a given. I remember when I was in high school and my mother was dealing with this crap. She did everything a male supervisor did and got half as much in her paycheck as the guy did. The company's attitude was that men were the breadwinners and women worked to bring in fun money to the family. Fun money..can you imagine that? My mother, at that time, was still married to my father and we needed both paychecks to make it each month. This inequality continued after they were divorced and she was a single mother. Women were second class citizens then, and if the Republicans have their way, we will be again.

Women work hard. We work hard at our respective jobs (many times minimum wage jobs) and then we have to come home and work hard there as well, taking care of our families. We put up with sexual harassment and if we speak up, we're denigrated even further. After all, it's just a compliment, right? We're too emotional, right? Wrong. We also want affordable health insurance for ourselves and our families. The Republicans have voted over fifty times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. What's wrong with them??? Why do they not want us to have health insurance that actually covers what we need it for? What are they afraid of?

Which brings up reproductive rights..you remember those..we dealt with this a long time ago. Abortion and birth control are legal. But you'd think the Republicans were absent that day because they are still sticking their noses in our constitutionally protected business. Leave us alone. Mind your own business. No one is going to tell me what I can do with my body..not now..not ever. And guess what..I don't know any women out there who feel any different about this than I do. Except those empty headed idiots on FOX. Where on earth did they find these women? They're beyond clueless and only serve to further on the ridiculous Republican male obsession with our vaginas. 

Michael Hayden, former Director of the NSA, thinks that Senator Dianne Feinstein is too emotional when talking about the report on torture. I love it when men go there. She put him in his place..fussy baby that he is. Emotional? Just listen to my husband talk about torture. Emotional doesn't even begin to describe how he feels about it. He's a disabled Vietnam Veteran. He wants the entire Bush Administration put in prison for, well, everything. It doesn't matter if it's torture or the financial crisis, he wants all of them in jail. Here's the thing about torture. It's illegal. Any service member who was given the order to torture has the responsibility to refuse that order. To participate in such atrocities is a war crime in his belief. He goes completely ballistic (emotional) when he hears Cheney or Rummy defend what they did. And for President Bush to say now that he's concerned about the soldiers that served is too appalling for words. He should have thought about that before instituting stop-loss. He can save his concern for someone who buys into his crap, because no one is listening anymore.

I would like to see all of them lose in the next election because that's what they deserve. We have to get our country back on track. We need lawmakers who understand the constitution and have a genuine desire to make life better for the American people. We need Congress to behave like adults and remember why they were elected. We need compassion and respect that clearly doesn't exist now. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist in the Republican Party or their Tea Party subset. When conservatism devolves into the radical destruction of our country, we cannot afford to have them in government any longer.

Besides..the sisterhood is weary of it all. So, either learn to play nice or go away. Or we'll make your lives a living hell..you know, by voting.

But Now is the Time We Need a Mom-in-Chief the Most..

Michelle Cottle wrote an article in Politico in which she said that Michelle Obama is a feminist's nightmare or something to that effect. Apparently, she expects more of our First Lady than being Mom-in-Chief. As if that's not enough. After all, she's Harvard-educated. She should be championing feminist issues.

She is.

Feminism is one of the most over-defined words that only puts pressure on women to be "something else". Who they are doesn't matter as long as they live up to some bizarre expectation or standard. And how is that different from living in a patriarchal society, where men decide everything for us? Why would we put that same pressure on other women? 

We need a Mom-in-Chief. We need a First Lady who showers everyone with hugs and positive energy. Our children are being murdered at schools, malls, neighborhoods, and homes. We need a Mom-in-Chief to hold us and cry with us. We know she understands our sorrow and grief. We feel her love and devotion as we stand here, in shock over the vitriolic discussion about gun control. How could this even be an issue? Of course we need gun control. But mostly, we just need to remember our purpose here. Because you see, it really is about the children. We give birth to them and then create a life that sustains them. But as we all see, that doesn't always happen. 

Dreamers need a Mom-in-Chief. She knows that family is everything and its preservation key to our survival. She understands the value of education and that it elevates our society. She, along with our Second Lady, supports veterans and their families, speaking out on the issues they face on a daily basis. She and students planted a garden at the White House, using it as a teachable moment. Can you imagine if everyone had even a small garden? What a wonderful skill to teach your children. But instead of everyone seeing value in the garden, the more small-minded of us saw this as a means of socialist control of people. Yes, they went there. And oh my goodness, the uproar over her focus on exercise was deafening. And yet, I walk eight miles a day. 

Michelle Obama understands that family is a microcosm of the rest of society. Elevate the family with such things as education, equal pay, marriage equality and we elevate society as a whole. This isn't a socialist concept. This the human condition. It's not an attack on our freedom. It's a suggestion for another, more healthy way to live. It's about balance...something that's lacking in this country.

I really take issue with women who try to define feminism for other women. Women make choices and should be supported, not derided, for those choices. I am a college graduate, but I chose to stay home with my boys for the first seven years. After that, I had various jobs, but none in my field. For that, I would have had to attend graduate school and that wasn't an option then. Instead, I focused on raising my children. Does that make me less of a feminist than someone who has a high-powered job somewhere? I don't think so. I made my choices. Isn't that partly what feminism is about? Not letting others define those choices for us? Why then would other women judge us so harshly for those choices? I'll leave that to Ms. Cottle to figure that one out.

I've owned two businesses, one a martial arts studio and the other an independent motorcycle shop. I faced misogyny in both. As a black belt, I was far more skilled than my students, but oftentimes it seemed as if my male students only respected me when they couldn't remember something. Then, I was important. Otherwise, not so much. They couldn't understand that their behavior affected their advancement and I had a vote in that. 

In the motorcycle shop, it was just us. No employees. So I had to learn all about Harleys in an instant. I became well-versed in how they worked, and what parts went on them. I estimated accident jobs, and put together bids for engine and performance work. Much to the chagrin of many of my male customers, I also did their fuel injection tuning. Yes, I made their bikes haul ass. Their conflict over it was hilarious. So I understand the whole guy thing. I owned two businesses that catered to the male ego..well the dojo was there to combat it, but still, that's what I dealt with.

The point of this is that it's not easy to be a woman in today's world. We make up the majority of the minimum wage workers in this country. And now we have to revisit reproductive rights issues that should have been put to rest long ago. The war on women is bad enough with women piling on as well.

So thank you to our wonderful First Lady for being there for us..setting that standard..showing everyone compassion and love. Ms. Cottle would do well to observe and then emulate.