Women’s History Month 2013: Ashley Judd

Today we honor and celebrate a powerful woman who embraces the term feminist and stands strong against double standards. Ashley Tyler Ciminella was born in California in 1968 to Naomi and Michael Ciminella. By the time she was in school, her parents had split and her mother took her and her half-sister Wynonna back to her home in Kentucky. The girls were raised with their mother’s birth name, Judd.

Ashley attended a number of schools, graduated, and went to the University of Kentucky. She studied French and women’s studies, including a semester abroad, while she began to develop an interest in acting. Rather than graduating with her class, she drove to L.A. and worked as a waitress while she looked for acting jobs. She found some television work (including a stint on Sisters opposite Swoosie Kurtz) and quickly picked up movie roles. She has worked steadily as an actor for two decades.

During that time, she developed a passion for activism and civil rights. She is an active member of the Board of YouthAIDS. In her travels for that organization she became increasingly aware of the global problems of poverty and has worked tirelessly to engage with organizations and leaders dedicated to broad political and social change. She has worked with Women for Women International and Equality Now and in 2011 joined the Leadership Council of the International Center for Research on Women.

Fully aware of how Hollywood treats older actresses, she also continued her formal education, receiving a a Master in Public Administration degree (MPA) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2010. As a well-known celebrity with strong opinions, Judd has frequently come under fire by the Right and the press. She takes what comes and fires back, brilliantly using any attacks as an opportunity to expose hypocrisy and patriarchy.

Judd has indicated some interest in running for the U.S. Senate; she would oppose Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R – KY) in the 2014 election if she runs. The Teahadists are so afraid of her strong, smart presence that they’ve already started the attacks. Karl Rove is running context-free quotes in ads that slam her as an “out-of-touch Hollywood elitist”–elitist theatre, white power and privileged, sounds like Rand Paul to me. Conservative e-rag Daily Caller ran an ugly piece attacking her for having nude scenes in some of her movies. (Strange that Scott Brown’s centerfold spread didn’t seem to matter to them…)

Judd takes it all in stride, simply repeating that she is a feminist and a progressive and that her values translate well to what the people of Kentucky need.  Given the hollow grandstanding exhibited by McConnell’s junior counterpart, Rand Paul, someone with real values and a dedication to justice would be a welcome addition. The idea of a Sen. Judd joining Sens. Gillibrand, Warren, and Baldwin is pretty exciting.

No matter what she chooses to do next, we can count on Ashley Judd to stand up for women and for the marginalized everywhere.

Last chance to elect Romney!

Sheryl Nuxoll, brewing some bitter tea!

Yep, you read that headline right. The most toxic elements of the teabag loon parade have finally admitted that they really (no, REALLY) don’t care  about democracy. They just really (no, REALLY) want their guy to win. So what if he’s a hypocritical, vacillating windbag with no morals or ideals of his own, at least he called himself a Republican and tried hard to hate gays, women, and brown people on a regular basis. A wearisome wave of wingnuts have hatched a plan to stop that nasty Kenyan Socialist President in his tracks…THE 12th AMENDMENT. Oy ist mir! I have such a headache!

The idea (if it can be given such a noble label) has been floating around for a few days, but it took a state senator from Idaho to really crystalize things. Starting with a tweet (140 characters may be all she knows), Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, pushed an article on how to keep Obama from getting a second term. It boils down to having at least 17 of the 24 states that gave Romney electoral votes refuse to participate in the electoral process. That would eliminate a 2/3 majority of the states and (according to Nuxoll) throw things to the Republican-controlled U.S. House.

One teensy little problem with this plan. It won’t work. The majority required only matters in the House itself, after the Electoral College meets. If electors don’t show up, their votes don’t count, and the President wins by a >ahem< wider margin — oops. Reading is a pesky business. The right wing really only likes selected parts of the Constitution (or the Bible, for that matter), so perhaps we can forgive Sen. Nuxoll for her somewhat — shall we say — overenthusiastic efforts.

What’s more disgusting about this blatantly hopeless nonsense is what it says about the Republican mindset. Before the election we had Repbulican officials in Pennsylvania and Florida admitting that the only reason they were trying to stop “voter fraud” was to keep Democrats from voting and give Romney an edge. When that didn’t work (at all, given that both states went for Obama again), the whining babies of Lossville admit that they don’t care about the process, just the win. Who cares if the people voted for a President? We can use dirty tricks to steal the election! That mindset really says all we need to know.

Elections and Celebrations: Inclusion beats Division

The hug felt round the world.

I have to confess, I was more nervous yesterday evening than I realized. When the media began to call the election for President Obama, I felt so relieved. A message of hope still resonated enough to bring victory. The President coasted to a solid electoral victory and is winding up with a comfortable popular vote edge. Now he has a chance to build on the past four years, continuing to move us past the mess he inherited and pushing real reforms.

The message was broader that just the Presidency. Numerous votes last night sent the same message. Inclusion beats division.

Despite defending more than twice as many seats, the Democrats stand to gain strength in the Senate. Not just in numbers, but in quality, as people like Joe Lieberman were replaced by quality Senators like Chris Murphy. The 19 (maybe 20) women in the next Senate sets a record. One of those women, Tammy Baldwin, will be the first openly gay senator.

Gay rights also ruled the ballot box. For the first time ever states began to put inclusion on the books as Maryland and Maine comfortably passed marriage equality measures. Washington looks poised to do the same. Minnesota is on the brink of being the first state to shoot down a one-man-one-woman constitutional amendment. Despite the same tired old lies, inclusion beat division.

The pundits (especially on the right) will point to the margins of victory and say the President does not have a mandate. The electoral landscape disagrees. The cynical right lost and lost big. Tea party candidates cost the Republicans two Senate seats (Indiana and Missouri). Strong messages of inclusion allowed people-powered candidates like Elizabeth Warren to emerge victorious. Even though the Republicans held the House — and Michele (I spent 18 million dollars to barely win) Bachmann clung onto her seat by the tips of her claws — two of the nastiest members — Joe Walsh (IL) and Allen West (FL) — were defeated. The victors weren’t blue dogs or DINOs, either; they are strong Democrats who believe in the President and his message of hope and reform.

The demographics are also encouraging. As Democratic pundit Van Jones remarked, “the coalition held.” Younger voters, voters of color, women, and other minorities showed up in strength despite all the predictions and helped drive the results. Despite all the efforts on the right to make people vote against their own best interests, inclusion beat division.

Elections have consequences. The message of this election is clear. Bipartisanship does not mean giving in to the far right at every turn. Coalitions must be built and progress must come more quickly. The President’s policies were given a mandate. Congress needs to work with him to enact them and forge a stronger nation with greater opportunities for all.

Rape

The GOP Owns Your Vagina

Thank you to my friend JoAnna, a fierce advocate for oppressed voices, for inspiring me to write this article. Now that the Republican Platform includes Akin’s “Legitimate Rape” and the repeal of all rights gained by the LGBT community, Tom Smith (R), Senate Candidate from Pennsylvania, is just following his party’s platform when he adds his comments to the overwhelmingly misogynistic tea (Kool Aid). As reported in the Huffington Post, he believes:

Rape is like having a baby out of wedlock… although he condemns Akin’s comment, he agrees with Akin that abortion should be banned without any exceptions, including for rape and incest victims.

How is that disagreeing with Akin? He has been hanging around Romney and Ryan for too long.

I simply do not understand how any woman could vote Republican right now.  The party platform says specifically that they are going to try and overturn Roe v. Wade with their “personhood” amendment.  That “Rape is just like having a child out of wedlock,” “that women can’t get pregnant because of a ‘legitimate’ rape.”   How is this not a War on Women?

I would also beg the question as to how could any self respecting LGBTQ person vote Republican when it is now part of their platform and Romney signed a pledge to:

• Support and send to the states a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman,
• Defend DOMA in court,
• Appoint judges and an attorney general who will respect the original meaning of the Constitution,
• Appoint a presidential commission to investigate harassment of traditional marriage supporters,
• Support legislation that would return to the people of D.C. their right to vote for marriage.
• Repeal all rights gained by the LGBTQ community.

Don’t fear, homos! My friend Jodi Sisson just notified me that Todd (I can’t even spell biology )Akin has hope for you: breast milk cures homosexuality! There’s some science for you.

They may call this the Republican Party, but let’s face it, this is a Fascist Party serving up some noxious tea. Their leadership is the greatest supporting argument for birth control I can think of.

My suggestion for all of these white purportedly heterosexual men wanting full control of every vagina in the land–get castrated!

Death Knell For the Republican Party

That tea bag sure doesn’t cover much…

As the GOP Convention grows ever nearer and the Republican Platform is now in place, I have to reflect and mourn for what was the Republican Party. While I actually probably identify as a socialist, I am, nevertheless, forlorn at the demise of what was the Republican Party, or more specifically in despair at what has replaced the GOP. For those paying attention and not watching Fox (Faux) News, it is painfully clear that ignorant white “christian” racist, homophobic, women hating heterosexuals known as the Tea Party have taken the GOP hostage and have bullied their way into controlling a discourse that affects an entire nation.

I simply cannot understand how any Gay, Black, Latino, Poor, Woman and the myriad other marginalized people would vote for the lying bigots that are Romney and Ryan.  For those who discarded Michele Bachmann, I have to ask, “have you not noticed that she and Ryan are basically twins?”  They have identical voting records: both consistently vote against women, against the LGBT community, against the middle class, and both are millionaires.

Unfortunately, I had to listen to the lying bigot Romeny address an uber conservative population in Ohio and his exact words were: “It is time to get a Republican back in the White House.”  Ick, Ick, Ick!  This is not the sentiment of what is best for Americans, but rather Romney has demonstrated complete partisanship as well as his own pathological narcissism as his driving force.

How embarrassing is it that we have a political party that stands on the principles of hate?  What message does this send to the rest of the world?  Do Romney, Ryan et al have any idea of what the word Fascism means?  Two white (allegedly heterosexual) men making decisions about women’s health and agreeing with Todd (Mr. Misogyny) Akins as well as saying they want to repeal all civil rights gained by the LGBT community, while protecting the 5% of the wealthiest Americans.  Someone please jump in here and help me understand why anyone would vote for these people?  Never mind the loss of the party of Lincoln; this is not the party of Gerald Ford, of Eisenhower, and it most certainly is not even the party of their much heralded Ronald Reagan.  This political party is the party of white right wing religious extremists.  I only hope America is paying attention and not buying into the insurmountable lies from these rancid tea bags.

Praises for George Herbert Walker Bush?

No wonder Republicans don’t believe in evolution…

Never did I think I would actually sing the praises of George Bush Sr.! Alas this praise is testament to how horrific Paul Ryan is as V.P. candidate.  Not since 1900 have we seen such a conservative (fascist) put up as a candidate for vice president by a major party. Even Ronald Reagan (whose name the Republicans love to invoke but whose policies would fail the Tea test) appointed a smart man, George Bush Sr., who served as a reasonable balance to his experience.  Romney has not only been drinking the tea, but seems now to be brewing his own special blend of tea called, Crazy, hypocritical, bigoted, misogynistic, racist, homophobic special blend.

Is it a coincidence he has picked Ryan from Wisconsin — the state that gave us Joe McCarthy and Scott Walker?  Michele Bachmann’s evil twin, Paul Ryan( I Hate Old People) makes Satan look like Mother Teresa.  He pushes his “Austerity Measures” such as cutting Medicare while applying for government monies. According to International Business Times, Ryan has asked for:

• $400,000 for a water treatment plant
• $300,000 for a technical college where General Motors workers (based in a Janesville factory) could be retrained
• $735,000 to improve Janesville’s bus system
• $3.3 million for highway projects throughout Wisconsin
• $1.2 million in government grants toward construction of the Janesville Innovation Center, which was reportedly intended to provide entrepreneurs with commercial space to launch their projects. The funding was made available through the Economic Development Administration, one of President Obama’s major stimulus programs.
• Janesville was picked as one of the locations for new factories specializing in the production of medical tracers, or a radioactive isotope used to treat melanoma. The federal government offered $25 million matching grants to companies that could devise a way to produce the product domestically; two of those four plants will be in Wisconsin’s Rock County.

Mr. Ryan, where do you think the money you are asking for comes from? It comes from taxes–taxes that are not being paid by the 1%.  Ryan’s philosophy is so typical: “I have mine and I don’t care if you ever get yours.”

It is reasonable that since Romney refuses to be pinned down to any position, we look to his new running mate for clarity. That view is nothing short of apocalyptic. It’s quite telling that John McCain has just called Romney’s pick “bold.” We all know how well McCain’s bold choice went four years ago. It seems there’s something broken in the GOP VP Vetting machine. Just look at the string of choices.

• Dan Quayle — who could neither spell nor tie his own shoelaces
• Jack Kemp — not unreasonable on his own, perhaps, but a horrible fit with Presidential candidate Bob Dole
• Darth Cheney — who picked himself as the Shrub’s deputy in command
• Sarah Palin — whose contributions to late night comedy do not counterbalance the damage she did to the national discourse

And now, Paul Ryan, love child of Margaret Thatcher and Ayn Rand emerges. It seems a horrible miscalculation by Romney, who needed to win the center rather than secure the base. Let’s hope that as America comes to know this horrific pair better the best choice for America’s future becomes abundantly clear. (SPOILER ALERT: It’s not Romney / Ryan…)

Birth Certificates and Tax Returns…

Starring Mitt Romney as the Mad Hatter.

I am rather bemused at the Mitt (I’m a liar, Romney) and his attack on Democrats asking for an explanation of his tax returns.  The hypocrisy is palpable.  There are still Tea Baggers that are wanting a full investigation of President Obama’s birth certificate.

The whole birth certificate debacle, rooted in racism, is such a horrible mar on our country’s history and leaves me embarrassed for those bigoted Tea Baggers that started this bitter brew of tea.  Romney, who seems to currently be playing The Mad Hatter hosting the Tea Party, is hiding his tax returns and thus creating quite the mystery as to the reason for refusing disclosure and transparency, leaving Americans to wonder why.

Could it be that Americans will discover even more incriminating information about Romney’s Bain Capital? Might we discover that Romney has made significant donations to overturn Roe v. Wade?  Might it be something as nefarious as we will learn that Romney donated millions of dollars to Prop Hate  in California, thus discriminating against the LGBTQ community?

Ultimately, I’m exceedingly sad that many Americans are not able to see through the very shallow, vapid, and narcissistic Romney, who has made it clear he wants to be President just to satisfy his enormous ego and is willing to whore himself out at all cost to reach his goal–not the qualities of a world leader.  Unlike President Obama who has already established himself as a world leader who leads with integrity and a sense of compassion for the marginalized and underserved. President Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality demonstrates the strength of his character and his dedication to civil rights! The Romneybot’s shallow pandering, on the other hand, should leave voters wondering when they’ll wind up being the next thing strapped to the top of his car…

Bigot of the Week Award: July 6, Rep. Joe Walsh

Bigot of the Week

Today a familiar face returns to bigotopia. Regular TSM readers may remember Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) who sat out a chance to work with the President on jobs for Americans and played the racist elected-while-black card when criticizing the President. This week he sank to a new low in his bid for re-election.

Walsh’s opponent for IL-8 is Tammy Duckworth. A Black Hawk helicopter pilot, she was one of the first women to fly combat missions in Iraq until November 12th, 2004 when her helicopter was hit by an RPG. She lost both legs and part of the use of her right arm in the explosion, and was awarded the Purple Heart for her combat injuries. Duckworth ran for Congress in 2006 and narrowly lost. Since then she has served as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and as Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Walsh, whose career consists of venture capitalism and lobbying for school voucher schemes, has no record of public or military service until the Tea Party swept him into office in 2010 (after three failed election attempts). He has mounted an attack on Duckworth because she has the audacity to mention that she served her country and was injured.

Now I’m running against a woman who, my God, that’s all she talks about. Our true heroes, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about. That’s why we’re so indebted and in awe of what they’ve done.

Bizarrely, Walsh was comparing Duckworth to the supposedly reticent John McCain, who has mentioned his military service and injuries just as prominently in every campaign he has ever run. This is nearly identical to the sadly successful campaign run against Sen. Max Cleland, a disabled U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, by Saxby Chambliss, who sat out the war on deferments. Clearly, these Republicans believe serving your country only counts if you preach the Republican gospel.

As a delightful side note, musician Joe Walsh (Eagles, James Gang, etc.) has endorsed Duckworth, disgusted by his namesake’s behavior.

The Puppet Master Behind the Susan G.Komen Foundation

I love a Tea Party but hate women and gays!

Corrupt Komen Caves, Kind of!  Yes, yesterday the Susan G. Komen Foundation offered a less than milquetoast apology for their bad behavior.  The apology came not because it was the right thing to do, or because of some great care and compassion for women of color, women without means, and all women who suffer from the intersections of oppression, rather the apology came because of political pressure.  I don’t want to dismiss the power of this pressure, but I would like us to examine closely the Power behind the Komen Foundation, for I personally would like to see this organization crash and burn and be replaced with a more inclusive organization that truly reaches out to all women to help prevent breast cancer.

Just to be clear, the Komen Foundation is still refusing to commit to future grants to Planned Parenthood.  So who has the power and what does this power look like at the Komen Foundation? Sadly, Komen’s Senior VP is  Karen Handel.  You may remember Handel.  She ran for Governor of Georgia two years ago and was endorsed by the Tea Party, including Sarah Palin.  Yes, our Handel is exceedingly anti-woman and is a homophobic bigot, as witnessed by her own words!

I will conclude by saying that if you truly believe in women’s rights and you believe women should have access to health care regardless of color or access to resources and if you really believe in social justice, you will boycott the Susan G. Komen Foundation and put your money into Planned Parenthood.

I need to say a special thanks to my friend Jay and to the Voice of the Trailer (VOT) for helping me with this article and allowing me to express my rage in a socially productive way.

Poor Rand Paul: He Found Out He is not Above the Law

I am Above the Law!

When will Americans learns that elected Tea Party officials are allowed to be governed by a completely different set of rules than us everyday Americans?  I want to know what kind of Tea the Party is brewing and who is drinking it.  All Rand Paul had to do was get through security at the Airport in Nashville.

Apparently a millimeter wave scanner detected an “anomaly” in the area of his knee, according to Senator Paul, and TSA agents then said he’d have to undergo a full-body pat-down. Paul said he wouldn’t submit to such a search and offered to show agents his knee, instead. They said that wouldn’t suffice. There are rules in place (however excessive we might find them) to protect all passengers, even senators. as aTSA representative observed:

Passengers who refuse to complete the screening process cannot be granted access to the secure area in order to ensure the safety of others traveling.

But of course Sen. Paul feels there are separate but equal rules that his position entitles him to apply.  Yes, Plessy V. Ferguson is alive and well.  How sad that our poor old, sad old, dear old Rand was treated like any average American at the airport.  I’m sure his unpleasant and bitter brew of tea at the airport will only give him the stamina he needs to go forward and strip away the 14th amendment to block folk from voting. After that, Rand can finally conquer and put a stop to the unstoppable Gay Agenda.  Then he can get on to the business he was headed to Washington for when he ran afoul of the TSA, stopping women and ensuring they can’t be trusted with choices around their own bodies.  He is kind of like a Papa Stalin.