The story of 2005 might be summed up as "Bush's Problems with Women." Call it the "return of the oppressed," maybe, but I just see it as a lot of overdue truth-telling, and facade-crumbling.
Nothing beyond entertaining coincidence intended here, but just how I've seen and enjoyed it since around mid-year. Others who wish may explore further or write deeper pieces, if this sparks a thought or three...
For those who remember, I have Dion's "Abraham, Martin, and John" warming up on the mental jukebox. (And yes, it always makes me verklempt.) And no, I won't put the parody lyrics here that I thought of originally, but it was an amusing possibility.
I never thought I would appreciate women in politics as much as I have this year. Gentlemen, we have been nearly rescued from the Kerry-Rove-Diebold debacle of 2004 by the actions -- and mis-actions -- of a stalwart band of females, some of them without any such redemptive intent.
Bush's bad luck with females may turn into our great fortune.
(just the briefest of outlines follows -- I believe you all know the year's details quite well)
One thread in common is the "shooting themselves in the foot" phenomenon, commenced with the Schiavo debacle.
The image of the President being told to fly to Washington in the night to sign DeLay's crackpot attempt at rescuing a dead woman divided him from most of his economic pragmatist ("Greed is Good!") Republican supporters. A big "Ewwwww-wwwwww!" from them, and kind of a sliding away from him on the team bench. A blatant revelation to many that he is not the powerful man calling the shots anymore, if ever.
The outing of Valerie lost him the crucial backing of the intel community. The one that has kept America's Imperial venture mostly on track, and which most probably propelled his father into power, and kept him there. I mean, if there's anyone in power you don't want to piss off, it's them, with 50 undetectable ways to bring you down. Wonder what Papa thought of all this self-destructive vindictiveness, aimed at his major constitutency?
Cindy. Need I say more? I thought not.
Katrina. As if inspired by the blinding human integrity of the above-mentioned Force of Nature camped at Crawford, Nature herself had to speak to us. (Almost as if magnetically drawn toward Cindy?) Nature intervened to reveal most of what was still hidden about incompetence, corruption, cronyism, racism, and the general kleptocratic bent of today's Republicans. Nature played the child in the "President's New Clothes" story we all heard this year. Plus probably swayed a few Southern states for the next election, too...
Harriet. More shooting themselves in the foot. Favoring the corporate cronies over the religious looney base. Bad move. Dad could have warned you on that one.
Jean Schmidt. She would have been the postscript to my "Abraham, Martin and John" song parody, but she blew over pretty quickly. I do think her defaming of Murtha really was the last nail needed in the Iraq War's coffin, however. He is now THE voice positioned to pull the plug on it, if the Prez won't. So Jean gets honorable mention here, for her accomplishments in one single, glorious minute!
What should be instructive -- and humbling -- here, is that only one of these vital ladies, vital to freeing us from Bush's Potemkin "mandate" of 2004, was an intentional force for the Good. That, of course, was Cindy Sheehan.
The lesson I will not expound upon here is that we need to rely on emulating her and creating more visible figures like her in the courageous line of Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony, Dorothy Day, Rosa Parks, and Julia Butterfly Hill. People who are willing to accept a role in history, should it call to them. She has shown us that 100% integrity is possible.
Although it is usually true that "thieves fall out," we cannot rely for long upon Republicans -- and Mother Nature -- serving us up such big fat rescues as they have lately.
Yes, this bunch in power now is corrupt, stupid, and incompetent, and hopefully easy to dislodge.
But Imperial politicians usually have much more going for them -- upstairs in brainpower, and behind the scene, in political alliances.
With a few more tweaks of the intellectual dial -- someone whose dial goes all the way up to "11", perhaps? ;) -- Bush's successors can hand us a really, really BAD Emperor who will be nearly impossible to remove without a lot of us mild, peaceful people throwing ourselves upon the pyre of rebellion...