Look Who’s Testifying

Posted: March 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic Policy, Women's Rights | Tags: , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

Basically this is "who" is testifying.

The armageddon on women’s civil rights never stops. How else to prevent the middle and working class from coming together and demanding people be put before profit than to keep conflating corporations and fetuses with the lives of living, breathing human beings. From RH Reality Check’s Martha Kempner:

A fetus is scheduled to testify in front of the Ohio legislature. I kid you not. Though I suppose I should rephrase that to say that an “unborn human individual” is scheduled to testify as that is the term that the bill, originally introduced by Representative Lynn Wachtman, prefers.  The legislation, nicknamed the “Heartbeat Bill,” is being piloted in Ohio by a group called Faith 2 Action and seeks to make illegal all abortions that take place after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.  It defines “unborn human individual” as “an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.”  And one of these organisms is apparently going to address the Ohio House of Representatives.

How exactly its handlers are going to arrange this is not quite clear, though it appears that a woman who is nine weeks pregnant is going to have an ultrasound on the spot. ( It seems worth noting that at nine weeks fetuses tend to be too small to be detected by the classic over-the-belly ultrasounds of TV and movies, so in order for the audience to see this “witness,” it will be necessary to use an intra-vaginal probe.) It seems obvious to me that the witness, described by Faith 2 Action as “the youngest witness to ever come before the House Health Committee,” will not actually be speaking. While the pregnant woman may have something to say, my guess is that the bill’s supporters are hoping that a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Of course, it gets worse… Stupakistan is the nightmare that never ends after all:

Clearly, the promoters of this bill hope that the vaguely human images on the screen will convince lawmakers that this organism in its earliest stages of development is, in fact, a person.  Faith 2 Action makes this clear in its new music video supporting the bill.  Set to the tune of “99 Red Balloons,” the video intersperses in-utero images of fetuses with those of adorable dancing babies and includes lyrics such as “some time ago, we don’t know why, a court ruled to make babies cry.  Now we can stop their decree and protect children like me.”   It continues:  “when they hear our hearts they’ll care, send a message someone’s in there.”

Here’s the youtube:

It’s like the activism gene went awry in a segment of the population, and they seriously think this is the biggest issue going on today. Genocide? Nope. Unemployment? Nope. Lack of healthcare? Nope. Maternal health? Nope. Education of Girls? Nope. Anything that actually affects the living? A big fat nuh uh. Anything that would actually result in less pregnancies to begin with? Negative (rather Speaker Boehner wants to win the war against this…) But, the life of the unborn… my goodness yes, let’s protect the right of more unborn “people” to become miserable un-people like the rest of us.

Care2.com has more here.

Saturday Sequel: Solidarity from across These United States

Posted: February 26, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: morning reads | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Aaron Foster, Reclaimed License Plate Map. Click to view at uncommongoods.com

Good morning, news junkies!

Last Saturday, I rounded up some headlines state-by-state, in solidarity. Well, it’s time to supersize: This Saturday is set for a 50-State Solidarity March. MoveOn.org has organized gatherings, dubbed “Rally to Save the American Dream,” in front of every statehouse and in every major city, at noon local time today, to stand in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin.

I don’t know about you, but a 50-state solidarity has my attention in a way that Dr. Dean’s 50-state strategy–to court “socially conservative economic moderates”–never did.

I’m not the biggest fan of MoveOn, given their timidity in the age of Obama, but if today’s rallies are the start of a concerted effort by everyone involved to–as Krugman and Wells put it at the start of the year–“delink their political fate from Obama,” then more power to ’em.

Okay, so let me get started with my offerings to go with your morning brew.

New Deal 2.0’s Lynn Parramore put out a great read this week about Coolidge, Reagan, and Governor Walker, in response to the revisionist anti-union propaganda being promulgated by Amity Shlaes and other rightwing hacks.

Shlaes’ narrative is a hoot. According to this rightwing propaganda, Coolidge put himself on the national map by crushing unions and firing striking police officers in Massachusetts, which turned him into a hero and real man of the people. Soon enough Coolidge becomes Harding’s VP (Shlaes says that like it’s a good thing!) and then president himself. Union membership went down, and so did joblessness… apparently the birds started singing, the sun was shining…as Parramore quips, the way Shlaes tells it, it was “Morning in America” again. Thus, the code words “Boston Police” cemented the American principle that union causes do not trump others.

Are these people insane?

The money quote from Parramore’s response to Shlaes:

Coolidge got to the White House for crushing unions, where he slept ten hours a day and hopped on and off a mechanical horse in his underpants and a cowboy hat.

Here’s what America got: the Great Depression.

Between Shlaes and Glenn Beckistan, I wonder how much more warped the conservative reading of history is going to get. I’m sure it can *get* much worse, since there is no depth they won’t sink to (for the latest proof on that, see the Nebraska bill that would effectively legalize murder of abortion providers).

Still, it’s hard to imagine *how* their reading can get much worse. Harding and Coolidge were horrible presidents, remembered for corruption and corporate cronyism. The Harding and Coolidge “prosperity” of the roaring twenties existed side-by-side with quiet desperation, evidenced by the growing phenomenon of Hoovervilles. Is this really the history the right wanted to remind us of while we watch the current-day battle over unions play out? If the Republican overreach to annihilate public worker unions is astonishing, the conservative attempts to brand this move as Coolidgesque are utterly inexplicable.

(Then again, we live in an era where creative class progressives–the operative word there being creative–think Obama, an ostensibly Democratic president, being Reagan’s true heir is something to brag about. I’m reminded here too of the Heritage Foundation’s newfound interest in heeding the admonitions of FDR. We live in topsy-turvy times. But, more on that later.)

Parramore goes on to say:

Intuiting correctly that the public may not be on their side in this battle, conservatives have relentlessly pushed the deceptive idea that public employees enjoy higher salaries and better benefits than their private-sector counterparts. But this has been widely debunked. Careful research has shown that when you adjust for skill levels, public sector workers are not overpaid relative to private sector pay scales.

It’s the age old scapegoat story of the Little Guy falling for the lie that everything is the fault of the even Littler Guy, while the Too Big to Fails laugh all the way to the bank.

More from Parramore:

Governor Walker says he’s fighting for ordinary Americans. So why does he want to require unions to re-certify every year, but we don’t hear a peep about corporations being required to renew their charters every year? Why does he want to control the salaries of public employees, but doesn’t have any interest in controlling the salaries of grossly overcompensated corporate CEOs? Why does he call for sacrifices from hard-working people who have been screwed by the economy through no fault of their own, and none from the financiers who caused the crisis?

Maybe it’s because he has quite a bit in common with Coolidge and Reagan after all. In Reagan’s case, as in Coolidge’s, union-busting led to some of the biggest peacetime income re-distributions in modern history. Democracy got weaker, oligopolies got stronger, the rich got richer, and the rest of us got left behind.

I was born a couple months after Reagan took office, so all I’ve ever seen is “democracy getting weaker, oligopolies growing stronger, the rich getting richer, and the rest of us getting left behind.”

Except, of course, for that dreadful “pause” called the “Clinton nineties.” I so much prefer Obama’s rewinding back to Reagan over that icky pausing thing. Thanks for that, creative clueless class!

But, I digress. Parramore concludes:

The real lesson from Coolidge and Reagan is this: If Governor Walker and his Republican friends are allowed to crush the public unions, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

My takeaway from all of this is if Republicans want to follow in the footsteps of Coolidge and the Democrats want to follow in the footsteps of Reagan, perhaps we should all just call our efforts to secure all these human ‘luxuries’ we’ve been fighting for (i.e. jobs, food, shelter, education, healthcare, collective bargaining, etc.) a real nice try, declare it’s time for an “orderly transition,” and get in line at our local soup kitchens. Why prolong the inevitable. We need to do this as orderly as possible so we can ensure maximum “stability” for the too-big-to-fails!

Sorry to get so sardonic on a solidarity Saturday, but this is what we’re up against. We’re only to listen to FDR when it’s to crush unions, and both wings (D and R) of our Corporate party are chasing the corporate welfare ghosts of Coolidge and Reagan. It’s a good thing the Oscars are tomorrow, because bread and circuses is all we have left.

Anyhow, be sure to read the rest of Parramore’s piece when you get a chance. It’s a meaty and satisfying read.

There’s more, so go get your morning cuppa refilled, and then click to continue.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s Something Happening Here… There… Everywhere

Posted: February 21, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: just because | 90 Comments

One World, One Pain

Hello news junkies, so how’s your Presidents Day going? This post basically picks up where BB’s morning reads left off. Minkoff Minx also has a live blog on the protests going. I don’t know about you, but the world is spinning so fast right now, it’s hard to keep up, and I need all the help I can get. I’ve been perusing reads from around the blogosphere to fill in the gaps on what I missed last week and what’s been cooking this morning. I thought I’d share a bit of what I found (see below the youtube of Buffalo Springfield), in case it might save anyone else trying to catch up a little legwork. 

Something Happening Everywhere: Midday Monday reads

Libya Live Updates (The Guardian), 5:12 pm, Evening summary:

  • Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, “may have gone to Venezuela”, British foreign secretary William Hague has said (see 4.43pm).
  • Two Libyan fighter jets and two civilian helicopters have landed in Malta (see 4.41pm).
  • There are reports of gunfire in Tripoli and of the navy bombing parts of the capital (see 5.07pm).
  • The Bahrain grand prix has been cancelled because of anti-government protests there (see 4.42pm).
  • Five people are dead after riots in Morocco (See 4.20pm).

In Women’s rights news:

US protests:

Something Happening Here: Sky Dancing catchup

  • Quixote summed up the essence of the current fight over unions really well in a comment she left on my Saturday morning post: “You don’t have to be pro-labor to support unions. Anyone who cares about the right to assemble should be defending people’s rights!This isn’t about busting unions. It’s about busting basic rights.”
  • If you didn’t catch Bostonboomer‘s read the other night about the “national security” secret of Dennis Montgomery and the eEtreppid software fiasco, be sure to check it out. It’s a horribly depressing state of affairs, but the way BB covered it, at least you’ll laugh while crying.

Something Happening There: Stuff from other blogs

  • Taylor Marsh has this interesting read up right now: American Oligarchy, in which she asks, “Reagan and Clinton both bit the tax hike bullet, but will Obama?” My wild guess on that is No.
  • Over at The Widdershins (via chatblu’s Saturday morning post), Cream City came up with a great little quip: “Walker to Wisconsin: Let them eat cheese.” Cream City also shared some helpful WI media links in the comments at TW: wisopinion.com (aggregates left/right blogs, editorials, etc), wispolitics.com (news), jsonline.com (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, conservative), madison.com (combined Madison papers, you can guess the political leaning of those) Pat Johnson wrote a very beautiful post this morning at TW as well, about the woman in that Great Depression photo. You know the one. Oh, and yesterday chatblu put up a wonderful thread ahead of Presidents Day and got a great chat and youtube exchange of movies going — Lazy Sunday: Political Pictures.
  • Peter Daou: Witnessing history ... “Every age has its historic events and moments, but it’s hard to deny that we’re living through an epic time in history. Here are just a handful of the things we’ve seen in the past few years: The amputation of Manhattan’s skyline… One of the most destructive tsunamis ever recorded (Indian Ocean)… One of the deadliest earthquakes ever recorded (Haiti), One of the worst environmental disasters ever (Gulf spill)… The emergence – and denial – of the biggest threat to human life (climate change)… The most successful U.S. presidential campaign ever by a woman… The election of the first U.S. black president… And now, the 2011 Middle East and North Africa uprisings…”
  • Last but not least. Provocative read from the Black Agenda Report/Bruce A Dixon: The New Black Politics: All We Want Is A Black Royal Family, Not Jobs, Peace, or Justice. Snippet: “When black Americans used to identify with the world’s oppressed and down-trodden, they were at least identifying with people like themselves. Now we are more likely to see ourselves in Michelle Obama, who takes six or eight vacations a year in some of the world’s most expensive resorts, than in a poor greiving Palestinian or Congolese mother.”

Saturday Reads: State-by-State, in Solidarity

Posted: February 19, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: morning reads | 45 Comments

Aaron Foster, Reclaimed License Plate Map. Click to view at uncommongoods.com

Good morning, news junkies! This will just be a quick rundown of a few domestic headlines I’m following. There’s a lot of other news breaking inside and outside of the US these days. So as always, please use the comments to share whatever stories you’re tracking this Saturday.

TEXAS: I miss Ann Richards and Molly Ivins every day of politics, and every day I wake up to the ongoing nightmare of Rick Perry. But, the way our state demographics are trending, I can’t help but dream of a day when I can say I live in a blue state. Or, at least a really, really purple one! Here’s the big bold headline that the Houston Chronicle led with in its print edition yesterday:

5,946,800*

*Population of the 10-county Houston metropolitan area, according to the new census figures

The byline that ran underneath (and the title of the article as it appears online): “Trends show state increasingly urban and Latino.”

The Chronicle reports that, “Texas’ largest cities grew larger and more diverse, as did many suburban counties, part of what Rice University sociologist Stephen Klineberg calls ‘this accelerating demographic revolution.’“ According to Steve Murdock–another sociologist from Rice, as well as a former director of the Census Bureau–“the idea of predominantly white suburbs” no longer holds true.

Do you hear that noise? It sounds like Glenn Beckistan weeping in its sleep.

WISCONSIN: This is the state where I was born, with a deep progressive tradition that I’ve always felt personally drawn toward — a tradition that is now rising up to challenge the social darwinism of the tea party. Here are the two reads I recommend on the developments out of WI:

This next one is a headline out of Eau Claire, WI, attached to an AP report…

  • Leader-Telegram: “Jesse Jackson, Feingold rally protesters in Madison” Apparently the protesters broke into chants of “Feingold for Governor.” Oh how I love the sound of that.
  • Amanda Terkel has more on Feingold’s efforts over at Huffpo. From the link: “‘I just feel enormous pride in the people of Wisconsin who are coming together — whether union or anti-union — for the rights of workers,’ Feingold said in an interview with The Huffington Post. ‘This state is one of the originators of many of the workers’ rights and protections on child labor, unemployment compensation, and almost all kinds of workers’ rights. The fact that our governor is trying to destroy those rights is something worth fighting against. And I, of course, as a citizen of Wisconsin, somebody who knows the state very well, was proud to just show up and keep my support.’ While President Obama has criticized Walker’s proposal, which would strip away the collective bargaining rights of public employees, he has yet to make an appearance. Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, the state’s one remaining Democratic U.S. senator, has put out a short statement on the protests but has not taken a visible role. […] Feingold said he believed any politician who purports to be pro-labor should be out in Madison. ‘I can’t imagine somebody who has supported labor and has the support of working people in the state wouldn’t want to at least appear at some point,’ said Feingold. ‘It’s a very meaningful and very difficult effort against one of the most mean-spirited things I’ve seen in a long time. I know people are busy, but to me it was gratifying to see everyone working this hard against something that’s really terribly wrong. It’s very inspiring.'”

Wisconsin’s progressives aren’t your johnny-come-lately career progressives like Arianna or Kos either. Wisconsin’s progressives are the real deal, with a history that goes way back.

In solidarity with them, I’m turning to one of my all time favorite quotes about politics and policy:

“In legislation no bread is often better than half a loaf.”

“Half a loaf, as a rule, dulls the appetite and destroys the keenness of interest in attaining the full loaf. A halfway measure never fairly tests the principle and may utterly discredit it. It is certain to weaken, disappoint, and dissipate public interest. Concession and compromise are almost always necessary in legislation, but they call for the most thorough and complete mastery of the principles involved, in order to fix the limit beyond which not one hair’s breadth can be yielded.” –-the late Robert M. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator

You guys from Wisconsin fighting the good fight–don’t yield one hair’s breadth beyond that limit. Ordinary Americans are behind you every step of the way. Your fight is our fight.

From Wisconsin to Texas, and from Texas to Wisconsin…

OHIO: And, from Wisconsin to Ohio. Is the Speaker crying yet?

I’ll let the headlines do the talking…

WASHINGTON, DC: As usual, our DC gang is up to shenanigans… a possible government shutdown, more of the K-Street/C-Street armageddon on women’s civil rights as a means to avoid doing anything substantive for ordinary people struggling in this economy, but at least activists in the area are pushing back and showing up at Boehner’s doorstep….

  • From Thursday in DC, via Wapo DC Wire: “DC Vote activists protest outside Boehner’s house…Members of the group DC Vote have gone to the Ohio Republican’s office before to complain about GOP bills. But with the House now considering a spending bill that would cut roughly $80 million in federal payments to the District and prohibit the city from using its own money for abortions or needle-exchange programs, the activist group decided to raise the stakes. ‘Speaker Boehner is coming to our home telling us how to spend our money,’ said DC Vote head Ilir Zherka. ‘We decided to come to his house to tell him to leave D.C. alone.'”
  • From Friday, via Raw Story: “House votes to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood… Authored by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), the amendment would eliminate all $327 million in funding for Title X, a family planning program that began 40 years ago under President Richard Nixon. And while Planned Parenthood receives millions of dollars from the program, Title X funds cannot be used for abortion services. Instead, the money is to be used for noncontroversial family planning services such as contraceptives, reproductive health counseling and cancer screenings, mostly for low-income families. Pence said he supports the use of Title X funds for those purposes, but insisted the government must not fund any organization that provides or promotes abortions. The Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to approve the controversial measure.“

The Onion News Network had a report earlier this month that was downright prescient — “Congress Forgets How to Pass a Law” (youtube to the right):

FLORIDA: Of course, there’s that deeply flawed Romney-Obama Care that “Democrats” did manage to pass and that wingnuts want to see undone by hook or crook for all the wrong reasons. We live in perplexing times to say the least. A quick link on the HCR lawsuit front…

POTUS: Commenter paperdoll left a pithy observation about Obama at my blog the other week that I wanted to share with you as well, and this seems like as good a place as any to highlight it:

Obama is currently hell bent to prove his truly heartless GOP creds to the upper crust so they will install him in 2012. But that’s the one thing he doesn’t have to put on an act about….his heartlessness . …no ” um” ..” er” …” well let me be perfectly clear” …groping for buzz words there…just sub zero temps

Whether you think Obama is heartless or not, Obama has never had trouble telling any of us that his political heart belongs to the zombie daddy of the GOP, Ronald Reagan.

Glen Ford at the Black Agenda Report had this to say on Wednesday: “Obamaland: Where Right meets Center-Right […] From community block grants to Section 8 housing vouchers to child care to Pell Grants to home heating oil for the poor, Obama has preemptively savaged all that decent people hold dear in the social safety net, and is in enthusiastic, principled agreement with the Republicans that the big cuts are still to come, in Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Obama has arrived in his element, and he has nothing to be ashamed about. Way back on the campaign trail, he told everyone willing to listen how much he admired President Reagan. So, why be surprised when you get a Reagan-type budget? No, the shame is not Obama’s. The people who should be scandalized by the president’s budget are the enablers on the Left who abrogated their political responsibility to the people – and to Truth – by inventing an Obama that did not exist, back in 2007 and 2008.”

Politico ran this silly headline on Friday night: “Obama’s Wisconsin remarks ease labor’s doubts.” But, remember, Obama hasn’t shown in Madison, and Feingold says anyone who is a friend of working people should be there. I’d further that and say anyone who is a friend of working people would already be there in spirit, if not in the flesh. Whether Obama has truly “eased” labor’s doubts or not, whether he drags his heels on over to Madison eventually or not, those kinds of questions have all become increasingly moot. Obama continues to prove himself a laissez-faire leader that may or may not “show up” at the 11th hour, depending on whether his permanent campaign permits his doing so. He’ll never be at the frontlines fighting with or for us — on any issue. He’s not a champion of the middle or working class. Whether it’s in the Mideast or the American Midwest, the wheels of authentic hope and change are moving in spite of Obama, not because of him.

Obama is not the “liberal” version of Reagan. He is the version of Reagan that could only exist once the left in this country was rendered (selectively) mute. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the showdown happening in Wisconsin is paving the way for the American left to regain its voice and political relevance.

Sept. 2010: Hillary at the UN attending the "Every Woman, Every Child" event.

This Saturday in Women’s and Children’s Health headlines

Propaganda alert! This is what page four of Friday’s main section in the Houston Chronicle looked like:

Is it just me or does the above read something like, ‘It doesn’t take a village or a nanny state, it only takes mommy, who should stay at home and breastfeed her babies. In her free time, mommy should also shop for items to beautify her house at Macy’s with the allowance her honey gives her or with her Monopoly money, since she can’t work unless she wants her kids to end up sick in the hospital.’ (That’s dripping with sarcasm, btw. For the snark-impaired.)

I really felt like I was trapped in the 1950s or something reading that page. It all seems to go against the concept of “Every Woman, Every Child.”

In Beijing, 1995, a wise woman spoke these words:

What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well. That is why every woman, every man, every child, every family, and every nation on this planet does have a stake in the discussion that takes place here.

This Day in Women’s History (February 19th)

In 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminist Mystique. Two good reads:

Bollywood flick I’m watching tonight: No One Killed Jessica (trailer to the left), based on the murder of Jessica Lall. The movie’s two big stars are two fabulous women–Rani Mukerji, as reporter, and Vidya Balan in the role of Jessica’s sister. I’ll leave you with a review of the movie on Counterpunch from Charles R. Larson: “Bollywood Noir?”

THE END!

What’s going on where you are and what’s on your blogging list today?

[originally posted at Let Them Listen; crossposted at Taylor Marsh and Liberal Rapture]

Saturday: Permission to Narrate

Posted: February 12, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: morning reads | Tags: , , , , | 26 Comments

Click image to go to Al Jazeera Live Blog on Egypt

Photo: via the NYT Lens. Egyptian antigovernment protesters celebrated under fireworks at Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Marco Longari/AFP/Getty)

Good morning all!

It’s the morning after Egypt took its first step toward self-governance, and I can’t stop thinking “power to the people!”

[See Al Jazeera Feb 12 Egypt Live Blog for the latest]

Just wow! Whatever happens in the long and challenging road ahead, the Arab youth and the rest of the Egyptian protesters have changed the narrative forever. Gone with Mubarak is the mythology that Arab peoples don’t want democracy and have to have it imposed on them, as if they were somehow intrinsically “different” from Lady Liberty’s tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Over the course of the past 18 days, the whole world saw what Egyptians wanted (freedom, dignity) and what the West wanted (first “stability,” then “orderly transition” to Suleiman-the-torturer).

Check out the headline on this new interactive map from the BBC: “Egypt: The camp that toppled a president.” (While you’re at it, check out the map, because it will answer the question that inquiring minds have been wondering, about just how did the protesters answer nature’s call!)

My rough timeline/liveblogging from yesterday:

The brutal police murder of corruption whistleblower Khaled Said was the turning point. Tunisia’s overthrow of Ben Ali was the awakening. Millions of people took to the streets and risked their lives. Thousands were wounded or “disappeared.” 300 are dead. Wael Ghonim’s interview after his release gave the protesters new life and the strength to carry on in the face of all the people who second-guessed them. The way I see it, though, the real “catalysts” were those 30 years of a regime that not only oppressed its people but served other countries’ interests, in the name of “stability” and stuffing their own pockets, while neglecting the needs of Egyptians.

I’ve had a helluva time trying to narrow down some Saturday reads to share with you, let alone getting myself away from the Al Jazeera live feed long enough to write this post. I’ve settled on a few favorites.

First, the Egyptian woman who has been holding down the fort in the Western media almost single-handedly–yes, that would be Mona Eltahawy–yesterday on the Brian Lehrer Show, reacting live to the news that Mubarak had resigned:

“I want to be realistic as well as kind of really love this moment. This is just a first step. We’ve said all along we want the regime to go. This is not about Mubarak. This is about getting rid of a regime that has suffocated the life of Egypt for the past sixty years. Egyptians deserve so much better. This is a wonderful moment in our life. And, it’s not going to stop. Everybody I know in Egypt is saying ‘We did it, but we’re not going to stop.’ And, I have total faith in them. I love Egypt, and I love being Egyptian today.” –Mona Eltahawy, breaking down emotionally, after weeks of nonstop tireless work pushing the Western media to look beyond its narratives on the Arab world.

Mona’s reaction reminded me of what MLK once said: “This is where we are. Where do we go from here?”

Dr. King’s next words: “First, we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amidst a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic sense of values.”

On Tuesday, I posted about Women’s Voices on Egypt, as inspired by Mona Eltahawy’s twitter query for analysis on Egypt from women’s voices instead of all the balding old men on tv. One of the writings I linked to was an excellent, must-read piece by Azza Karam — “The dignity of Egyptian youth.” In light of Friday’s historic developments, I’d like to revisit a couple passages from Karam’s essay:

The youth bulge in the Arab world (where nearly 60 percent of the population is under thirty years of age) has produced a dividend of human dignity across the region and way beyond. Regardless of what actually transpires, priceless milestones of social awareness, political savvy, cultural pride, and creativity have arisen. A deep yoke of humiliation—from a fear born of oppression and injustice, from a silence created by decades of clinking chains and printed lies, and from the combined pains of hunger, sexual frustration, and the stigma of poverty—has been thrown off. […] What are the specific demands of the youth? Not only the President, but the entire regime “has to go.” […] Their want, their demand, is not just a matter of a verb or a matter of course; it is the act of making this demand in and of itself that is critical.

And:

Every moment lost in removing the strongest symbol of oppression is causing not only loss of life, not only mounting internal dissent, confusion, and violence, but, critically, every moment Mubarak remains in power is an opportunity for those calling on God to dominate the emerging scene. There is already a culture of appealing to God (and those who speak in his name) when there is a sense of helplessness. The Egyptian youth who have been fashioning—with their lives—a new discourse of change over the last eight days, without resorting to Islamist discourse of any kind, but with dignity, with passion, with love for their country and their heritage, must not be let down now. If they are, we will have to accept responsibility for allowing the forces of Islamism to step in as the people’s liberator.

Next up, as quoted by Dan Sisken of Mideast Brief, via his post at Mondoweiss — Arabs seize the ‘permission to narrate’:

Facts do not at all speak for themselves, but require a socially acceptable narrative to absorb, sustain, and circulate them. . . . as Hayden White has noted in a seminal article, “narrative in general, from the folk tale to the novel, from annals to the fully realized ‘history,’ has to do with the topics of law, legality, legitimacy, or, more generally, authority.”
– Edward Said, Permission to Narrate (1984)

Sisken writes:

Just as the Egyptian revolution has liberated the Egyptian people from the grasp of a US-backed authoritarian leader and seems likely to wrench Egypt out of its nearly total reliance on US support and largesse, the Egyptian people–as covered by AlJazeera–may be bringing about a new international media order. […] So, as we watch the unfolding drama of Egyptians reclaiming their voice and destiny, we watch and are enlightened by young and extremely well-informed Arab, and in many cases Egyptian, reporters and analysts. There is no western filter of former government officials, DC think tankers, former military officers, and other US policy wonks. No, what we are now witnessing is Arabs and Egyptians, not only making their own history, but having the international stature and reach to narrate it as well.

If you didn’t click on the link, you are missing the excellent and completely spot-on side-by-side comparison that Sisken put up of the Egypt coverage from Al Jazeera and the garbage rotating on Fox News.

The screengrabs that Sisken drew on were, by the way, from Salon’s reporting at the end of January that “Al Jazeera’s Egypt coverage embarrasses U.S. cable news channels.”

I could not bear to flip to Fox News for most of the day as hour after hour of celebration continued in the streets of Egypt, but the one and only time I did take a peek, it lasted a painful two seconds–the newsdesk gal was talking about illegal immigration. I thought that spoke volumes.

As you likely have already heard by now, and as the Guardian poetically notes here, February 11th was the day “Ayatollah Khomeini took power in Iran, his Islamic revolution cementing the downfall of the Shah, who had fled into exile – to Egypt.” And, now 32 years later on that same day, Hosni Mubarak has become the former president of Egypt. Another milestone you probably came across in the coverage of Egypt yesterday– exactly 21 years ago from yesterday, Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island after 27 years of political imprisonment. But, the Guardian also points out that, “On the same date in 1975 Margaret Thatcher succeeded Edward Heath as Conservative party leader. And continuing the theme of divisive female politicians – for Sarah Palin the date has an entirely different significance: it’s her birthday.”

Now, I don’t know what it all means that Palin and Thatcher are tied to February 11th as well (not that it means anything at all), but I’m going to switch gears for the rest of this post. Incidentally enough, earlier in the week the theme I had been thinking of centering my roundup on was “America’s Adaleens.” I don’t know how many of you watch HBO’s Big Love, but the character Adaleen Grant–played by the wonderful Mary Kay Place–is a strong-willed woman, all moxie, yet brainwashed and sells out the sisterhood. Sound familiar? I’ve been seeing her face all week watching the assault on American women continue to unfold–an assault which is unsurprising to me, as I’ve been waving that guttmacher pdf of mini-stupaks erupting across the country in every post I can for the past six months.

But, getting back to Adaleen and women selling out other women. We’ve got quite a few grizzlies in a skirt helping the bastards in Congress avoid doing anything on the economy by declaring armageddon on women’s civil rights. (If you missed Dakinikat’s righteous rant on the war on our rights, please go read it: “They think they own our bodies.”)

Speaking of which, did you happen to catch this piece of tripe from the warped mind of Phyllis Schlafly this week? Is it supposed to be a birthday present to Sarah Palin or something? Whatever it is, it’s a mess. Everything I have to say, I already said on the anniversary of Roe. That’s not feminism Schlafly is criticizing. It’s a figment of her imagination–a convenient strawman to prop up a house of canards. Feminism isn’t about hating housewives. It’s about creating the sociopolitical and economic opportunities such that a woman’s sphere can be *wherever* she makes good. It’s the Schlafly nuts who are hellbent on ostracizing and marginalizing any woman who won’t tow their traditionalist line. They want to assume power by undoing all the work of our foremothers who fought for our rights. And, they want ‘permission to narrate’ on feminism that they have not earned.

So, what do you want to say this Saturday morning? And, what’s on your reading list? Do your thing in the comments and have a great weekend.

[originally posted at Let Them Listen; crossposted at Taylor Marsh and Liberal Rapture]

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →