DO I REALLY HAVE TO EXPLAIN?

©Davis Jaye 2016

          Gotta few busy days coming up, so this will be the last post for a week or so probably.  We'll see.  Plus I need a little break.  Just felt the need to air out a few thoughts, before.  

I'll start with the most recent:

Killer Mike. Actually he was just quoting/paraphrasing social activist Jane Elliot.  So, I have a couple of thoughts about this.  First, he should have just steered clear of the quote.  I know Killer Mike is an avid Bernie Sanders fan, and surely he could have brought to light any other reason that he's supporting the senator.  Second, Jane Elliot was having a conversation with one other person; Killer Mike.  She didn't include this in a speech.  For the record since it is out there now; I find the entire statement kind of offensive, regardless of who says it.  I have never in my 48 years heard someone clarify, to any extent, in any shape or form; that having a penis/testicles doesn't qualify you to be president. You have to have good policies. 

     I do not know Jane Elliot personally, so I will not venture into what was going through her head or what was the point of clarifying that.  Only, wouldn't it have gotten the same point across just to say that no matter the gender, a candidate must have policies that are reflective of social justice? 

     Then we have, Susan Sarandon and her claim to not vote with her vagina, as reason to not be voting for Hillary.  She also used that phrase in 2013 when she vocalized her support for Bill de Blasio over Christine Quinn for Mayor of New York.  Again, I don't know Susan Sarandon personally, and can't fathom the reason for this clarification/justification.  Interestingly enough Bill de Blasio has endorsed Hillary Clinton.  Bet nobody has accused ol' Bill of voting with his penis.   Must be at least a few other reasons.  There definitely is for me and thus, WHY I'M WRITING ABOUT THIS YET AGAIN.  I don't recall Killer Mike clarifying that he wasn't voting for Bernie because they, I assume, possess the same genitalia.  Should we call him up and see?

     Now for the statements that got some Sanders' supporters worked up.

     Secretary Madeleine Albright's claim of there being a special place in Hell for women who don't help women- didn't go over well as it had in other circumstances.  I can easily understand why; as has Secretary Albright, as she explained in the New York Times, just a fews days after.  When I first heard report of it, it certainly wasn't the first time I'd heard the phrase.  I believe it's in some book of quotes I have around here somewhere.  I remember Taylor Swift invoking the phrase as reported in this  New York Magazine article from 2013: "A Brief History of Taylor Swift's 'Special Place in Hell for Women'".   The quote, credited to Secretary Albright, was so well received, when she included it in a reunion speech at Wellesley College in 2004;, they put in on a tshirt, and it is still their most popular tshirt for sale. 

Now, finally about Gloria Steinem.   I saw the interview of Ms. Steinem on Bill Maher.   

Just in case you didn't and would like to watch here it is.  

If you don't want to watch the whole 10 minutes I suggest the first 5; will cover the subject of what all the fuss was about.

     Now once you see it, it's up for interpretation.  Seems to me Bill was challenging her to come up with a reason for his "They really don't like Hillary though. What do you think that's all about?"  

The first time I saw it, I flipped Bill off upon hearing that statement.  Thought he was being a prat.  Interesting that the one thing that was taken away, was a statement from the 81 year old feminist activist, that was nothing more than a best guess, to Mr. Maher's inquisition.  

      Still, the epitome of a classy dame, Ms. Steinem offered an apology/explanation just a couple of days later on Facebook: 

"In a case of talk-show Interruptus, I misspoke on the Bill Maher show recently, and apologize for what's been misinterpreted as implying young women aren't serious in their politics.  What I had just said on same show was the opposite: young women are active, mad as hell about what's happening to them, graduating in debt, but averaging a million dollars less over their lifetimes to pay it back.  Whether they gravitate to Bernie or Hillary, young women are activist and feminist in greater numbers than ever before."

     I have yet to read an apology or an explanation to women from Susan Sarandon.  That's fine. 

     Regardless, make no mistake that Ms. Steinem has done more for the rights of women than most will ever comprehend. 

      In an interview by Marianne Schnall, Ms. Steinem discussed what gives her hope; "It's consciousness.  It's incredible.  I'm quite stunned by it.  The consciousness is incredibly high because of Black Lives Matter and the cops and anger about election financing and global warming--and none of these problems can be solved without the female half of the population, and obviously seeing it that way creates new solutions. "  If you click on Ms. Schnall's name above, you can read the entire interview.  This is just one of the things that struck me.

     You know, women aren't perfect.  We never claimed to be. But we do make up half the population in most places, and thus also account for half of history, much that has never been reported or been put down on the written page.  
    
      I don't believe in hell.  I do believe in the power of all people working together to bring about on Earth as it is in Heaven.  As far as I'm concerned you can vote with whatever body part you like.  It's a free country.  I just don't want to be in the voting booth after you if you vote with any part other than your conscience. 

Have a good February.