Thankfully Thursday

Lots of things cluttering my mind this morning. In no particular order:
What the hell is going on with Speaker Dennis Hastert? Did a cold front move through and the firey place froze over? He is in agreement, to the extent of a jointly issued statement, with Nancy Pelosi as far as the search of Rep. Jefferson's office. Are you kidding me? Overextension of executive power? Two of the three branches of government worked together to get the search warrant in place after Jefferson ignored subpeonas for 8 months - 8 months - and this is an overreaction?

But then the plot thickens. Turns out Hastert is being investigated in relation to the Abramoff lobbying scandal. Hastert has demanded ABC News retract their story of his investigation by the FBI, but ABC News is sticking to the story and citing high level Justice Department sources. Other Justice Department sources deny Hastert is a target of an investigation. So, we are left confused again from leakers blabbing stories to the news media.

No wonder, though, Hastert doesn't want to acknowledge the authority the FBI had to go into Jefferson's office.

On to another subject: Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) is having a difficult re-election campaign this time around. Lieberman is being challenged by Ned Lamont, a Greenwich cable executive. Lamont is aligned with NOW PAC, the political wing of the feminist organization. This challenge is based on the way organizations rate a politican's voting record. Apparently the 95% voting record of Lieberman isn'tgood enough for NOW PAC now that they have a contender. The nation's largest abortion rights organization, now called NARAL Pro-Choice America, has always supported Lieberman.

NOW once again underscores why the feminist movement has died a slow death in this country. Girls today are raised by women who identify as feminists. However girls today don't necessarily want the title for themselves. The term feminist has an ugly connotation and is often misunderstood. Even by feminists themselves as was recently shown by comments from Nora Ephron written in her article at Huffington Post.

The old line feminist movement has drifted off into oblivion because now it is all about abortion rights. No other issue seems to matter anymore. That's a shame, too. Ephron claims to be stunned to discover that Laura Bush has the highest approval rating among national figures in America. Ephron claims she never approved of Laura Bush but then she watched the Sunday morning show done by George Stephanopoulos with Laura Bush as a guest. Stephanopoulos asked if Mrs. Bush considered herself a feminist. She replied in the affirmative. This just blew old Nora away. Solidarity, sister.

Ephron figures since Laura is married to George Bush, a pro-lifer, then she must be one herself and therefore could not possibly be a feminist. So much for that liberal open mind thing, once again.

Laura Bush is considered by most to be pro-choice, just as her mother in law, Barbara Bush, is. No big secrets there. I would argue both are feminists. I though being a feminist was all about supporting women in choices made and in opportunities offered. I was raised the oldest of 3 daughters and my father and mother always drilled into our mush brains that there was a whole big world out there and we could each do anything we set our minds to. No such thing that a male was superior simply by the fact of his gender.

I came of age during the height of the feminist movement of the late 60's and early 70's. I had the subscription to Ms. Magazine and witnessed burnings of bras. Heady stuff for a teenage girl. I went to college and studied political science and history and English. I went to work and dealt with the idiot men and often idiot women, too. It's all a part of real life. Then I got married. I continued to work and put off having a child until I thought I was ready to handle such a drastic step. I loved working. I married a man who travels a lot for his work so we agreed when we began our family I would be a stay at home mom. Imagine my surprise when this decision brought snide remarks and condescention from working women. So much for liberl open minds.

I have always been a feminist. I have always been pro-choice. I have always been Republican.

Where are the "feminists" when we need them? Not just at election time but when just having principles matter. Why did the liberal sisters support sleazy Clinton who publicly claimed to support and promote women but privately had no respect for women at all, most of all his wife? Where were the liberal feminists concerning Afghan women and Iraqi women and Sudanese women and all the others needing a voice in the world? Liberal does not necessarily equate to feminist.

And where are the liberal feminists concerning bloggers? Even conservative bloggers? How about the treatment Michelle Malkin gets from liberals who don't agree with her point of view? Malkin is Phillipine/American, first generation, and quite accomplished. On a daily basis she is the receipient of truly vile e-mails containing racial slurs. Now she has been publicly ethnically slurred in the blog known as Wonkette who commented on Malkin's new internet video venture. The slur referred to Malkin in relationship to the ping-pong ball and Asian women. If you or the man in your life has been to Thailand, you know what I am talking about. Enough said.

Here's a feminist for you. Her name is Malalai Joya. She is a young Afghan lawmaker who called tribal leaders "criminals" and complained the warlords were among parliament members. Now this 28 year old woman is going to a different house each night to sleep. She commits to continue to speak out despite death threats and threats of rape as her punishment. She first spoke out in 2003 at the constitutional council. She says, "They know very well I will never be silent. I will never be afraid. We will all die someday."

"Service is the rent you pay for room on this planet." - Shirley Chisholm