Interview With Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney – Part II

You Said It, Sister!

The following is Part II of my email interview with the gracious, intelligent, fiery and fabulous feminist, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, after reading her book: “Rumours of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.”

MadamaB: Your writing shows a real talent for framing that is sadly lacking in too many Democratic policiticans’ lexicons. For example, you make a great point that strip-club visits are considered tax-deductible, but child-care expenses aren’t. Have you had any success with framing the comparison the way you do in the book?

CM: Every once in a while you have an ‘aha’ moment – when you see the absolute correctness of a particular position. How you frame an issue helps other people have that ‘aha’ moment. Sometimes you get there by giving your issue a face – I called my DNA bill after Debbie Smith, a woman whose rapist was identified because of a cold hit after her DNA kit was processed. The prosecutors were able to obtain a conviction because of the DNA contained in the rape kit. Debbie came to be the representative of hundreds of thousands of women whose rape kits were gathering dust on the shelf. Every one of those kits belongs to a woman who has a compelling story, and we couldn’t tell all of them. But we could tell Debbie’s, and we could talk about what happened to her, and how processing the DNA in her kit made all the difference. And it helped other members of Congress understand the importance of passing my bill because they understood what happened to Debbie.

MadamaB: Another great frame is your concept of a bipartisan “decency deficit” Could you explain what you mean by that?

CM: Many on the right talk about ‘family values’ which often translates to being anti-choice, anti-gay and, I would argue, anti-family. How can you be for family values if you do not support laws that protect work/life balance? The most important values in my view are what I would call human values: tolerance, compassion, generosity, honesty, humility. Or, to sum it up in one word: decency. Over the past seven years we’ve had an inordinate abuse of power, arrogance, disregard for the constitution – in short, a decency deficit. We need to restore the decency and provide basic needs for those who require it most. We’re the richest nation in the world, but we don’t have paid family leave or paid sick leave. We have no child care system. Health care is unaffordable for millions of American families. As a nation, we need to pay down the decency deficit and restore human values – and I believe women will have a lot to do with that.

MadamaB: In the book, you demonstrate how punitive the second-income tax is to working women. Is this a secondary result of conservative anti-government activism, or do you feel it was specifically intended to punish women?

CM: The marriage penalty is probably an unintended consequence of an effort to end a system that some people felt discriminated against single people. I was surprised to learn that it was adopted in 1969, just before the women’s rights movement gained momentum. There are scholars who are far more expert than I in this subject. I would recommend a wonderful book by Edward J. McCaffery, Taxing Women, who has explored this subject in great detail.

Interview With Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney – Part I

You Said It, Sister!

And speaking of “uneducated old women…” The following is Part I of my email interview with the gracious, intelligent, fiery and fabulous feminist, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, after reading her book: “Rumours of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.” Part II will be posted tomorrow.

MadamaB: Your path to politics was far from direct. Could you share some of that journey?

CM: When I was growing up, I never dreamed of going to Congress. The options for women were very limited. I thought I would be a teacher, librarian or a nurse. Politics wasn’t even a possibility. I can remember reading an interview in Life Magazine with Margaret Chase Smith, Senator from Maine, that illustrates the thinking of women in politics when I was growing up. The interviewer asked Senator Smith what she would do if she woke up in the White House one day. She answered: “I’d apologize to Bess Truman immediately and leave.” It just shows how self-effacing a female politician had to be in those days – the idea that she might want to run for higher office was just too threatening. If you asked Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi what they would do, they’d have a list. It just shows how far we’ve come but, as I show in my book, not enough.

When I left college, I came to New York and became a teacher, teaching English as a second language to immigrant women in upper Manhattan. Within a year after I started, my program lost its funding. I was nominated by my colleagues to lobby the legislature to get the funding restored. I was successful, and my success got me noticed by the Department of Education, which hired me as a lobbyist. I soon realized that you can accomplish a lot more good by working for the legislature, so I became a staffer, first for the New York State Assembly and later for the New York State Senate. While I accomplished a lot as a member of staff, it soon became clear to me that you really have power only when you actually have a seat at the table as the elected official. So I ran for the City Council in 1982.

MadamaB: You have been a Congresswoman in New York since 1992. What prompted you to write this book now?

CM: During the years of Bush I saw a rollback, a stalling of progress on women’s issues, and in many instances an effort to roll back gains we had achieved in the ‘70s. I wanted to bring attention to the problems we continue to face and the danger that we might lose some of the civil rights protections we had struggled so hard to achieve – and more than that, I wanted to get women involved, to give them ideas of how they can work for change in their own communities. I wanted the book to serve as a wake up call, to galvanize women and like-minded men to take action to address some of the problems I talk about in the book.

MadamaB: The candidacy of Senator Hillary Clinton seems to have brought out an awareness that misogyny is far from dead in our society. Yet the press, and many national figures, refuse to admit it exists at all. Is that what inspired the title of your book?

CM: Conventional wisdom about how far women have come far exceeds how far we actually have come. 2008 will go down in history as the year we finally came face to face with the level of misogyny that still persists in American society. While it was awe-inspiring to see Hillary Clinton as a major party candidate, the number of attacks on her for being a woman was simply astonishing. It came from every direction – from the hecklers at rallies who held up signs saying “Iron My Shirt” to the netroots who created a website “Make Me A Sandwich” to the politicians who compared her to the villain in the movie Fatal Attraction and vilified her for not giving up her run for the White House. Most of all, it came from the media who treated us to a nightly attack: Her supporters were called castratos in the eunich chorus; one commentator said she was scary, castrating and that he involuntarily crossed his legs when she came into the room; another said that when she spoke, men heard “Take out the garbage.” If that’s what they thought about someone as accomplished, intelligent and gracious as Hillary Clinton, what must they be thinking of us?

When I started writing the book, some people said that Hillary’s ability to run as a serious candidate would make the book seem out of touch with reality. How could I say that our progress was exaggerated when one woman was Speaker of the House and another could be the Democratic Presidential nominee? Well, not every woman is a Nancy Pelosi or a Hillary Clinton, and most women I meet are struggling because of laws that do not support work/life balance, because they do not have health care, because they’re not paid the same as their male colleagues; or because they’ve spent a lifetime with a wage gap and now have to live in old age on social security and pensions that perpetuate that gap. I wrote the book for all those struggling women – and hopefully to inspire the next Hillary Clinton to throw her hat into the ring and join me in trying to change all that.

PUMA and/or Clinton voter resistance in the polls, plus Hillary on CBS -update NBC, MSNBC & CNN

We’re not just a “shrieking band of paranoid holdouts,” or “50 people.”  We’re 42% of Clinton voters.  28% of us will vote McCain and the remainders like myself, won’t know until Election Day.  Yet we are definite in our Nobama/PUMA stance and that’s what drives the MSM bezerk.  This means a big difference especially in the big three swing states, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.  If you have 42% of Democrats not vote for the Democrat in those states, the other party wins.  IT’S THE MAP, not the math.

What’s even more startling to them is this: more than 1/2 of us felt zero impact regarding the VP choices on either side.  Meh, Biden, Palin.  Still doesn’t change the fact the DNC stole votes to push Obama across the Primary finish line.  Who”l push him across the November 4th finish line?  Not the Mountain states. 

Poll: Obama struggling to win over Clinton voters

By ALAN FRAM and TREVOR TOMPSON, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama’s support from backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton is stuck smack where it was in June, a poll showed Tuesday, a stunning lack of progress that is weakening him with members of the Democratic Party in the close presidential race.

An Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll shows that among adults who backed his rival during their bitter primary campaign, 58 percent now support Obama. That is the same percentage who said so in June, when Clinton ended her bid and urged her backers to line up behind the Democratic senator from Illinois.

..

Clinton backers’ reluctance to support Obama helps explain why he is having a tougher time solidifying partisan supporters than McCain. Overall, 74 percent of Democrats say they will vote for Obama, compared to 87 percent of Republicans behind the Arizona senator. About nine in 10 Clinton supporters are Democrats.

The problem that supporters of Clinton, the New York senator, have with Obama seems to flow from their measure of him as a candidate, not from issues. From establishing a timeline for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to abortion to canceling tax cuts on the rich, their views of the importance of issues are virtually identical to Democrats in general.

Yet they find Obama less likable, honest, experienced and inspiring than Democrats overall do, and have a better view of McCain. And while majorities of Clinton supporters say Obama shares their values and understands ordinary Americans, they’re less likely to say so than Democrats overall.

Wow – you mean we don’t like him because of his inexperience?  And despite we share values, we still won’t vote for him?  Maybe it had to do with all that election fraud stuff.  And the article doesn’t call us bitter racists?  Ya don’t say!  

Well my fellow PUMA/Clinton Democrats, here’s another reason why we’re willing to sit this election out.  THIS is leadership in action, instead of hiding out somewhere in Tampa to study for a debate.  Ya think Obama is in “Uh Uh” rehab?

Here she is on CBS:

Today Show:

And on Morning Joe on MSNBC.  Yes, Joe, we want Aretha too.

H/T BostonBoomer for CNN clip, I can’t upload unless it’s Youtube, but here it is.  

Can we have Hillary back????

Saturday: Women Swiftboating Sarah

Ok, that was funny.  But some of the commentary about Sarah that goes on in workplaces and supermarkets and on TV isn’t funny anymore.

Remember what the meme was back when Hillary was running?  “I don’t have anything against a woman running for president.  Just not *this* woman.”  And now I’m hearing the same thing said about Sarah.  “I don’t have anything against a woman for VP.  But why does she have to be someone like Sarah?”

She’s too:

• pretty
• religious
• Hockey Mommy
• fertile
• executive, she needs to be a senator
• provincial, she needs to see the world
• confused about the Bush Doctrine (like, who isn’t?)
• anti-abortion

Look, she’s running for Vice President.  She’s done more on her job than Barack Obama.  But she’s not dumb enough to think she could run for president after only 142 days of experience.

So, according to that list above, what kind of woman would qualify for President or VP?  She’d have to be:

• not too pretty
• not overtly religious
• not a suburban SUV mom
• not too fertile
• a senator
• well travelled
• confused about nothing
• pro-choice

She’d have to be someone like…

Nahhh, any woman but her.

Dr. Violet Socks has more on the swiftboating of Sarah by her own gender and why it’s got to stop in When Misogyny Masquerades as Feminism.  In fact, I recommend the Reclusive Leftist for your morning reading list. Let Violet raise your consciousness.

Wake up, Ladies, the media and the guys are siccing you on the women who could actually give you the power you crave.  Stop falling for it.

Friday Activism: Will Shame Do What Party Affiliation Won’t?

Do Not Let Him Take Our Freedom Away!

Having garnered only pro forma support from some of her Senate colleagues (with the notable exception of her frequent partner, Senator Patty Murray) in her efforts to prevent George W. Bush’s HHS from denying millions of women access to birth control, Hillary Clinton joins with the president of Planned Parenthood and takes her case to the media:

The definition of abortion in the proposed rule is left open to interpretation. An earlier draft included a medically inaccurate definition that included commonly prescribed forms of contraception like birth control pills, IUD’s and emergency contraception. That language has been removed, but because the current version includes no definition at all, individual health care providers could decide on their own that birth control is the same as abortion.

The rule would also allow providers to refuse to participate in unspecified “other medical procedures” that contradict their religious beliefs or moral convictions. This, too, could be interpreted as a free pass to deny access to contraception.

Many circumstances unrelated to reproductive health could also fall under the umbrella of “other medical procedures.” Could physicians object to helping patients whose sexual orientation they find objectionable? Could a receptionist refuse to book an appointment for an H.I.V. test? What about an emergency room doctor who wishes to deny emergency contraception to a rape victim? Or a pharmacist who prefers not to refill a birth control prescription?

The Bush administration argues that the rule is designed to protect a provider’s conscience. But where are the protections for patients?

The 30-day comment period on the proposed rule runs until Sept. 25. Everyone who believes that women should have full access to medical care should make their voices heard. Basic, quality care for millions of women is at stake. (emphasis added)

Folks, this is the real deal. This is how the Republicans plan to make abortion illegal – not by overturning Roe v. Wade, but by chip-chip-chipping away at the words and the framing that contains the debate over reproductive freedom for women. I say, they can only do this if we let them. We made the mistake long ago of allowing the most extreme, restrictive factions of the anti-abortion population to entitle themselves “pro-life.” As Hillary implies, is it really pro-life to deny important medical information to women who need it? What about the life of the mother?

Scratching Post Wednesday: What kind of PUMA, and/or Clinton Democrat are you?

Wake me up when it's 11/5/2008

Sheezus H.Cripes, do I need a drink!

My dearest Conflucians!  I must apologize for being MIA lately.   Real life job-opportunity is taking a bit readjusting with PUMA cub versus blog life. I’ve missed you all and hope to get back on track with my favorite corner in the blogosphere. So where did I leave off…oh yeah! McCain/Palin is kicking The Precious’ behind (like we didn’t see that coming.)

Within your PUMA or unPUMA-yet-Clinton-Democrat-ness, there is something that’s brewing in our great nation.  People ain’t buying the hope & change schtick.  So far, I’m still PUMA and proud and voting my conscience on top of the ticket, but not for Obama.  And so far, I’m supporting down-ticket Dems in my state since I live in Florida.  Your case in your state may be different, but living in a red state like I do, we need all the down-ticket Dems we can get!  Now if that Democrat trampled on Democracy for political expediency, my vote will never go to them (like Wexler down in Ft. Lauderdale area).  What you do with your vote is your own damn business.  You do what you gotta do to get Democracy back to the Democratic Party in your neck of the woods. 

I’m still a progressive liberal, and as we’ve discovered this primary season, “progressive liberal” is not mutually exclusive to being a “Democrat.”  I want universal healthcare, green energy & jobs, equal rights for ALL people, comprehensive and humane immigration reform, full protection of women’s reproductive rights, diplomatic and effective foreign policy, etc., i.e. What Hillary Said.  Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans (or any third party alternative) has addressed the issues as Hillary did, and for that, I’m willing to wait.  But it seems like we’re waiting in vain for that moment when the DNC will acknowledge that Hillary was the most progressive and most electable of all the candidates they threw on us.  God knows the majority didn’t vote of any of those guys.   I don’t wanna wait in vain if the DNC doesn’t back Hillary come November 5th, 2008.  But for some reason, I still feel that the DNC will rally around the Democrat that won the popular vote if Obama loses big (as we already know he will) this November 4th. 

In order to have a more tolerable next 4 years, we have to support down-ticket Dems for that to happen, since the Chicago based DNC won’t help them (IMHO of course).   How do you feel about that?  let me know in the comments section. 

Speaking of waiting, Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain” pops in my mind.  Rico has spiced Jamaican Rum cocktails ready to go and Flo’s in gear like Bruce Lee for Gollums evoking harmful words just in case.   This is also an open thread for those who want to fill us in on the latest on the blogosphere.   Special shout out to our Texan Conflucian dealing with Hurrican Ike.  Carol & Regency, are you ok?

¡Que viva los PUMA!

The “Oh, Shit!” Moment

Oh, Shit!

As a woman, I have been told various things by various factions in the feminist movement. One claims that gender is a social construction. This faction, in my opinion, falls into the category of denying reality. In fiercely and falsely asserting that women and men are the same, we open ourselves up to what I call the “Oh, Shit!” moment.

The “Oh, Shit!” moment is that pause before a woman realizes she is outnumbered by men who can do her physical or professional harm, and that there’s no way to fight them on equal ground. It’s that feeling when the cortisol rushes to your brain, your heart takes an express train to the bottom of your stomach, and the “fight or flight” instinct takes over. And what can you do at that point? You must flee, or be overwhelmed. And you understand that the myth of female/male equality has been nothing but a well-intentioned lie.

Let me share my own “Oh, Shit!” moment with you. When I was 17, I worked at Wendy’s in the summer to make some extra money. I had done the same the year before, and had enjoyed it. A lot of kids my age were working with me, and I like the service aspect of the work. (One woman told me, when I took her order at the drive-thru window, that mine was the first friendly voice she had heard all day.) However, this year, things were different.

This year, Wendy’s had decided to participate in an “Inside Out” program. This meant that convicts who were eligible for working outside the prison were invited to work at Wendy’s, to make their transition back to civilian life a little easier. It might have been a good idea for them, but for me, it was a nightmare.

A letter from Lynette

I am reprinting a letter from Dr. Lynette Long that was sent to me today. Although I agree with many of the points Lynette makes, I am not as willing to go as far as she has with an endorsement. Everyone is encouraged to take as much time as they like in choosing whether to vote or not this year. This is Dr. Long’s POV and I find her thoughts on gender equity point on. My own daughter, who scores in the top 2% nationally in math has been forced to repeat a year of pre-algebra in spite of good grades. Many of her male classmates with her scores are taking a math class that will put her two years behind them next year. There was no arguing with the teacher. Brook just didn’t register on her radar and after March, she stopped calling on Brook in class. Brook is 12. Fortunately, she was admitted to Stanford University’s EPGY program based on the strength of her standardized test scores. She doesn’t have to fall behind but it is a sad situation that forces her to teach herself, via distance learning, with virtually no encouragement from her teachers or peer group. Already, it is expected that she will have to work much harder to get half as far. Discrimination starts young.

Without further interruption, a letter from Lynette:

The X Factor

by Lynette Long

Gloria Steinem, in her recent editorial in the Los Angeles Times, came out strongly against Governor Palin claiming the only thing women have in common with Palin is an X chromosome. I respectfully disagree. Governor Palin knows what it is like to be a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister – things the two men on the Democratic ticket can never fully understand. She knows what it is like to grow up invisible in an incredibly sexist society, to be stared at, groped, and sexually harassed. She knows what it is like to be smaller in stature than men and physically vulnerable. She knows what it’s like to worry that you are pregnant when you don’t want to be or that you are not pregnant when you want to be. Sarah Palin knows what it is to experience the joys and sorrows of motherhood, to nurse a baby while holding down a job, to leave for work in the morning with a toddler tugging at your pant leg, or to have your children calling you at work to diffuse squabbles or ask for help with homework. She knows that once you get to work you have to speak twice as loud and twice as often to be heard and work twice a hard to go half as far. She knows what it is to be a member of the second sex.

Gender is the most fundamental human characteristic. The first comment made when a child is born is either, “It’s a girl” or “It’s a boy.” From that second on, boys and girls live in parallel universes in the same culture. From the nursery room to the board room, boys and girls are given different messages about their respective roles in the world. At the hospital they are given different types of names and wrapped in different color blankets. Once home, baby girls and boys wear fundamentally different clothes and play with different toys. This differentiation extends through school where girls are given less attention, picked less frequently to answer questions and placed less often in advanced science and math classes. Once in the workforce, women are steered into lower-paying careers, paid less for the same work, and forced to juggle the responsibilities of work and home. You can’t learn what it is to be a woman, unless you are one. You can’t have a government essentially devoid of women that knows what’s best for women. You can’t legislate for women, without women.

After the last Democratic Primary was over and it was clear Senator Clinton was not going to get the Democratic nomination, myself, and a small group of Clinton supporters met with Senator McCain and Carly Fiorina. I personally explained to Senator McCain that women comprise well over half of the population, yet are underrepresented in every branch of government. I asked him loudly and clearly to choose a woman for the VP slot and to increase the number of women in the cabinet and on the Supreme Court. Senator McCain listened respectfully to my request. Representatives of The New Agenda also met with Carly Fiorina and as well as representatives from the Obama campaign to
make similar requests.

After the Democratic Primary, I was also in contact with a member of Obama’s Finance Committee. He left several messages on my office phone, “urging” me to support Senator Obama. We had numerous contentious conversations and I finally told him I would be happy to vote for Senator Obama and rally other Hillary supporters to vote for Senator Obama but in return I wanted Obama to pledge gender parity in the cabinet. I foolishly thought equal representation in government was a reasonable request. “What if there aren’t qualified women you still expect us to appoint half women to the cabinet?” he replied. I was confused. “There are 300 million people in this country; you’re telling me you can’t find ten qualified women?” His responded, “You can’t have that.” We had no further conversations. There was nothing more to say.

Weeks later I approached a training session for DNC canvassers at a park in my neighborhood. Eager to practice their new skills, they all ran up to me, “Do you support Senator Obama? Do you want to donate money to the DNC?” After explaining that I was a Hillary supporter, I again made my request. I will support Senator Obama if he will pick a woman as his running mate and promise gender parity in the cabinet. The men in the group openly laughed at me and found my request ridiculous. I looked at the horrified faces of the newly minted female canvassers. “They’re laughing at you too,” I muttered.

Not one to give up, I contacted a daughter of a friend of mine who is a policy advisor for Obama. She assured me Obama was a good guy, so I posed my request to her. She generously responded, “I’ll ask him.” When I did not hear back from her in a few days, I shot her another email. She told me how disappointed she was in me for making such a stupid request. Obama was on the “right” side of the issues. Why did it matter whether men or women legislated those issues? I guess the answer from Obama was No. What saddened me was her mother was one of this nation’s greatest champions of title nine, educational equity and gender parity. Her mother and I counted the number of pictures of boys and girls in text books, male and female cartoon characters, and documented the underrepresentation of girls in math classes in our nation’s schools. Yes, policy is important but who decides and delivers that policy is even more important. As Marshall McLuhan profoundly noted, “The medium is the message.” Children incorporate many of their perceptions about gender by five years old. Little girls won’t understand if Sarah Palin is pro-life or pro-choice, believes in gun control or is a member of the NRA, but they will know the Vice-President of the United States of America is a girl and that alone will alter their perceptions of themselves.

I have given my loyalty to the Democratic Party for decades. My party, which is comprised primary of women, has not put a woman on a presidential ticket for 24 years. My party refused to nominate my candidate, Hillary Clinton, for president or vice president, even though she received more votes than any other candidate in history. My party stood silently by as Hillary Clinton was eviscerated by the mainstream media. My party was mute while MSM repeatedly called Clinton a bitch and symbolically called me and every other woman in this country a bitch. My party was disturbingly silent when the MSM commented on Hillary’s body or the shrillness of her voice, reminding me and every other woman the fundamental disrespect we endure on a daily basis. My party’s candidate was mute when Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger openly mocked Senator Clinton from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ. My party’s candidate was silent when the rapper Ludicrous released a new song calling Hillary a bitch. My party and it’s candidate gave their tacit approval for the attacks on Senator Hillary Clinton and consequently women in general.

I have a choice. I can vote for my party and it’s candidates which have demonstrated a blatant disrespect for women and a fundamental lack of integrity or I can vote for the Republican ticket which has heard our concerns and put a woman on the ticket but with whom I fundamentally don’t agree on most issues. If Democratic women wait for the perfect woman to come along, we will never elect a woman. We have to seize opportunity where it presents itself. Besides, the Democratic Party is no longer my home. I have no home, but this election I will make my bed somewhere else.

I respect Gloria Steinem’s right to support the presidential ticket of her choice but she is openly trying to derail Sarah Palin’s historic candidacy. As Madeleine Albright said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” I will vote for McCain-Palin. I urge other women to do the same. I might not personally agree with Palin on every issue and I promise to the first person knocking on her door, if Roe v. Wade, or any other legislation that goes against the rights of women is threatened. But in Governor Palin I find a woman of integrity, who not only talks the talk but walks the walk. I can work with that. I will work with that. When I walk down the street, I don’t have democrat printed on my forehead, but my gender is obvious to everyone and impacts every interaction in my life. Since my country is far from gender neutral, right now for me gender trumps everything else. I urge other women to join me in this fight for equality. Sometimes opportunities occur where you least expect them.

Lynette Long
http://www.lynettelong.com
drlynettelong@aol.com

Scratching Post Happy Hour Friday – The DNC can’t say we didn’t warn them

It’s an after work Friday Happy Hour at the Scratching Post!  2 for 1 specials on well drinks and a FREE Long Island Iced Teas for everyone in honor of Universal PUMA High Priestess Supreme, Ms. Harriet Christian, a true Working Class Hero.  If you can, please buy a Pink PUMA for Hillary so she doesn’t have to be clean up janitor lady for the Obama Campaign mess here, and can concentrate her time in helping Down Tickets Democrats and fulfill her honorable role s a Senator of NY.

Harriet appeared on Neil Cavuto’s show from the Republican National Convention.  O-bot troll prophylactic: some of us PUMAs aren’t following the Republican ticket as Harriet has freely chosen to do, but because the 2008 DNC decided to commit voter fraud and ruthless sexist propaganda to oust the popular vote winner, this is what happens:

Remember Harriet, lifelong Democrat and diner waitress who campaigned tirelessly for Hillary Clinton?  here’s a reminder:

As a proud feminist Latina with Afro-Carribean roots, I do not feel that what Harriet Christan said was in any way r*cist.  She told the truth as she lived it and saw it in person at the RBC meeting.  Our Infantry Co-Commanders and PUMAmobile Denver trekkers GaryChapelHill and Mawm also witnessed the hijack and voter fraud on May 31st 2008.  Our PUMA Delegates witnessed firsthand reports from the “Hotel Roll Call vote” from the 2008 DNC and how 18 million votes were thrown under the proverbial Obama bus.  No more.

So Harriet, even though I probably won’t vote for either of the major parties this November, I salute you today for being that Working Class Hero, like John Lennon sang of in this song.  Raise those killer Long Islands for Harriet and to all those Working Class Heros that aren’t down with their vote being thrown in the trash for the sake of “party unity.”

¡Que viva los PUMAs! (Long Live PUMAs!)

The DNC’s never seen a bad guy/gal like this…well, except in 1972 and 1980

Conflucian commenter “NH” said the following which resonates with my PUMA consciousness:

NH, on September 4th, 2008 at 9:27 am Said:

I hope they blame us. That will give us power. With that power we can clean up the Dem party.

You said it, NH!  Then instantly, I thought of legendary movie anti-hero Tony Montana in Scarface who in this scene, defines this point even further (language NSFW):

Please oh PLEASE blame us for Obama’s catastrophic loss in November.  Get one of those “styrofoam Greek columns” and take a swing at Hillary Clinton supporters who are not falling line with the DNC, simply because we will not support a candidate who engaged in voter fraud and sexism to grab his candidacy.