There are No Words, but I'll Try

There are no words for this tragedy.  Savita Halappanavar was killed by the Irish government.  Her crime?  Being pregnant.
She was having a miscarriage, which in itself is tragic enough.  The fetus was dying--the doctors knew that.  But because Ireland is a Catholic church-ruled country (and no, do not take me to task for that--check it out yourself and then we will talk), the doctors would not perform an abortion.  Savita died THREE DAYS later.  She fucking DIED because the government of Ireland values the life of anything else over the life of a woman.
And sadly, this kind of thing happens over and over and over again, daily--in every country in the world (including the United States) that has laws that put women at risk.
We came...this...close to having a Theocracy-ruled country in this last election.  It shouldn't ever happen here, but it does.  Every time a state legislature has a majority of men in power, it can happen.  And it did--a LOT--in 2011.
We must always be vigilant.  We must use our voices and our money to elect people who will not kill women.  We must elect more and more and more people who believe women have a right to their own bodies.
We must not forget Savita Halappanavar.
You know what makes me sickest of all?  Until 1869, the "Holy" Roman Catholic Church did not have much of an opinion on abortion.  Popes and priests of the past were actually pretty happy their mistresses were able to have abortions, to save them explaining stuff to their parishioners.  Then, I guess God changed his mind, and ruled that women could no longer have control over their own bodies.
I think it's high time God changes her mind.  Actually, it's too late.  For so many women who died so unnecessarily.
Fuck you, Irish government.  How about seceding from the Catholic Church?
And, oh God, how many more?  

Shaking Things Out...Pay No Mind to That Pile of Cobwebs and Confetti

The election is over, and I've come to the conclusion that if I drink and stay up until 2 a.m., it's going to take more than one day to recover. 
I'm also on the wonder drug, which this time has just left me craving very greasy, bad-for-you food.  That's a step up from the last time I was on the drug, and embarrassed even myself with an uncontrollable emotional outburst.
So, as I shake out the confetti and the cobwebs, I want to share a couple of thoughts.  Not rabidly partisan, so they are safe to read. 

• You cannot throw money at an election and expect to win.  That cynical view of the American electorate was smacked down roundly this time.  You must run on ideas--real ideas--and the American electorate will weigh those ideas.  They deserve the chance to weigh those ideas, and if you didn't get that message in 2012, I feel very sorry for you.  Corporations are NOT people--they don't go down to the polling place and vote.  People do, and people were heard this time.  Now, let's get Congress to work on making sure people continue to make the decisions in elections in this country.  
• People voted!!!!  They braved long lines, intimidation, and they voted.  Even after the election was called for President Obama, people still stood in line and voted.  Because they were that passionate.  They felt a great need to vote.  
• Even better, the youth of this country are still feeling engaged in the political process.  They came back!  And voted!  That gives me so much hope for this country.  You see, I was about 4-8 years younger than those youth in the late 60's and early 70's who were so very cynical, who believed no good came of the "sham" of voting.  For years, I remained the odd-out Pollyanna, who believed you must vote, that you must make your voice heard in the ways the democratic process allowed.  I can't tell you how good I feel about the upward trend in voter participation.  I can't wait to see this chart updated for 2012.
• Women.  Women do NOT want to fight again and again for basic human rights. Period. And, 53% of the electorate are women, so you might just want to shut up about bodies who do not "belong" to you.

Finally, and this may be totally off-subject or not (blame it on the drugs).  People want--they crave--peace.  In times of peace, so much more gets accomplished than in times of war.  War may stimulate an economy, but the price to people, to this planet, is just too great.  I do believe people would rather use their words to solve conflict, and use the money not spent on bombs and guns to educate, to feed, to clothe, to shelter, and to provide health care.  Everyone wins when money is spent that way.  Everyone. 
Throw the ideals of peace out, and you will win every time. 
But don't just take my word for it:

• Nothing is more precious than peace. Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind. -- Daisaku Ikeda  
• I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  
• This is the irrational truth of political discourse. Public violations are far more acceptable than private ones. The political life is a willing sacrifice of its stated ideals, dignity and integrity, which it nevertheless continues to talk about. --Albert Einstein  
• I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

THE Top Reason I Won't Vote for Mitt Romney

I will not vote for Mitt Romney.
I will be voting for Barack Obama.
I am an eternal optimist, which is what kept me sane during the George W. Bush years.  I just couldn't see what one man could do in just 8 short years.  Now that I am older and wiser, I KNOW what a man can do in just 8 short years.  Our country is still at a tipping point, inches away from a cliff that, if we go over, we may never survive.  I do not believe I am being alarmist; I look at the make-up of the Supreme Court, and know that Roe v Wade is a wisp of a woman away from being overturned.  I know what follows that would be epic in the lives of American women, for they would no longer have a say about their own bodies.  Think of that.  Half of America would not have a freedom of choice that is freely given to the other half.  The planetary and economic implications are staggering as well; larger families, more strain on already over-burdened systems.
And then....and then....the far right would look for its next target....oh, silly me--I'm sure they already have their next target all picked out.  The poor.  The gays.  The immigrants.
But I digress.

I have hope.  I know Barack Obama will continue to be a good president.  I believe that Congress will realize it's more important to work with the president--they know he has noting to lose in his fight for all Americans.  I believe, in the next four years with Barack Obama as our president, our future will continue to brighten--more jobs, increased prosperity, a surge in renewable energy.  We will tweak the Affordable Care Act to make it a very good healthcare plan; so good that worker in this country will not have to even think about the "luxury" of good health.  
I believe.  I believe Barack Obama will continue to work for equality for all in this country.  I believe we will see Marriage Equality, and a DREAM Act passed.
I know.  I just know Barack Obama will be good for this country.  Four years ago, the night he was elected, he said this:
"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."
He has kept promises.  Not all of them, but he's not perfect.  I believe he will continue to work...hard...every day...for this country.  


In closing, I would like to thank you for reading this far, slogging through all my rants and words and emotions.
When I turned 50, I got a tattoo--3 words I feel are the keys to life (don't worry, "Love" was already on my shoulder):
LIVE
LAUGH
VOTE

Please.  Go vote tomorrow.  If you disagree with everything I've said over the past couple of months, it's going to make you feel better.  If you agree with me, it's going to make me feel better.
I do believe voting is one of our sacred duties as citizens of a country.
I do agree with Louis L'Amour:
"To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain."
I make this pledge to you right now--the next time you complain to me about the government, I'm going to ask you if you bothered to vote.  
If you say no, I promise you--I will turn and walk away.  

Top Ten Reasons I Won't Vote for Mitt Romney: # 2

Reason # 2 why I won't vote for Mitt Romney?
This one is going to take some explaining. 
Let's take a look at the family of Mitt Romney.  He has one brother and two sisters, but he's younger than his brother by 6 years, and his sisters are 9 and 12 years older.  As a youngest kid, I can tell you that with each year between you and your next older sibling, the harder it is to relate to, or understand them.  For all intents and purposes, Mitt's sisters were nearly adults by the time he was ever aware of their existence.
Mitt Romney's mother ran for the US Senate in 1970, and 23-year-old Mitt helped with the campaign.  She was considered a moderate, and believed in allowing women to control their own reproductive health.  She was also in favor of equal pay for equal work.  Those who have followed Mitt Romney's career believe his mother influenced him in these areas for some time, but when he began his bid for the 2012 presidential election, he seemed to have forgotten that he ever held the same beliefs his mother did.   
Mitt Romney is married, and he and Anne have 5 sons.  No daughters.  
Mitt Romney is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He's a Mormon.  The church is presided over by a President and two counselors.  These three are men.  Next in the hierarchy is the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  These 12 are all men.  Directly below this group is the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy.  All 70 of these leaders are...you guessed it...male.  
Women are not allowed to hold a leadership position in the Mormon Church.  Of the top 85 leaders in the Mormon Church, a whopping 0 are women. 

Can you see where I am going with this?  Mitt Romney has spent his entire life surrounded by, and influenced almost exclusively by, men.  His career?  Male-dominated.  His church holds women in an inferior position.  His immediate family is almost exclusively male--he has never once had to worry about an adolescent daughter and all the "stuff" that goes with that--sex education, menstruation, making good choices with your body, worry that maybe the birth control didn't work and what if she's pregnant?  None of that.  He never dealt with broken hearts, stupid sex on the first date with a loser, worry that his daughter might be sexually assaulted or be a victim of domestic violence.  Never had that.  Never had to listen about his daughter's first job, the jerks that gave her a bad time, or why she's not speaking up in class or appearing to be smarter than the boys in her class anymore. 
He's never had to think like a woman.  I would daresay it's not a stretch to say he's never been forced to look at things from the perspective of a woman.
Mitt Romney does not understand women, nor does he have to.  They could, for all intents and purposes, not even exist.  
And that's dangerous.  
Because those he is beholden to, those who drafted the GOP Platform, those who are running on the GOP ticket this year--they don't particularly care about women either.  

You can live in the land of denial, but I believe I am speaking the truth. 

I cannot, I will not, vote for someone who does not believe women and men are equal.  Who's not quite sure that women, as well as men, can have complete control over their own bodies.  Those beliefs are so very basic to me, that they are like the line in the sand.  I will NOT negotiate.  My grandmothers, my mother, my aunts, my foremothers--all fought too long and hard for basic human rights for women for me to be mamby-pamby about these things.

I will be voting against Mitt Romney on Tuesday.  I will be voting for all those women in my life, and all those women I don't know.  I encourage you to do the same.  
Because it's the very, very least we can do for those who hold up half the sky. 

Top Ten Reasons I Won't Vote for Mitt Romney: # 3

Reason # 3 why I won't vote for Mitt Romney?
This reason is simple, because of two numbers. 
99 (as in 99%)
and 
47 (as in 47%)
I am a proud member of the other 99%--I do not, never have, never will, belong to the 1%--the wealthiest people on the planet.  I take money very seriously because I have to.  Without it, I could not afford a place to live, food to eat, clothing to wear, or the life-saving drugs I need.  Plus a little left over for beer and books and travel and women's basketball.  I'm sure the 1% take money seriously (as seriously as any other game they play), but I doubt they have ever had to really consider the basic need for money.  
I am also a proud member of the 47% Club.  Surely we all remember Mitt Romney's famous secret...oops...not so secret speech to his donors back in May.    
I'm one of these people:

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49, 48—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

I'm one of the 47% who will vote in this election for Barack Obama, no matter what.  I looked at the Clown Car of candidates the GOP had to offer, and said, "No thanks."  In Mitt Romney's book, I must therefore feel I am entitled.  That's where he's so very, very wrong.  For it's the 1% who feel they are entitled--entitled to carry on, with no sense of responsibility or care for other people on this planet.  They will rape the environment, de-unionize their workforce, try to privatize education to produce worker bees, not independent thinkers, and to top it all off, if anyone of the 99% asks to be able to earn enough to pay for housing, health care, food, THEY are the ones who are not taking personal responsibilty.

When I go into the local community center on Tuesday, I will take great satisfaction in voting for Barack Obama.  I will take equal glee in voting against Mitt Romney.  For it's the only way I can communicate my disdain for the 1%er who wants to be leader of my country.  

I can still vote, and vote I will.

Top Ten Reasons I Won't Vote for Mitt Romney: # 4

Reason # 4 why I won't vote for Mitt Romney?
Because I love my planet, and think everyone on it deserves to be able to breathe, live on uncontaminated soil, and have safe water to drink.  I want my children's children's children to be able to see amazing sunrises, beautiful fall colors, swim in sparkling clean water, and climb tall mountains.  I want them to hold insects in their hands and marvel at the way a flower blooms.  
I want all of us to use less--energy and resources.  I want to see if the wind and the sun can help provide energy for our planet, and I want to stop going to war over oil.  
I want all of this, and I want a thoughtful discussion amongst all peoples of the plant.  ALL people--not just the ones in power, and not just the ones who think they own the land.  
Back in 2008, there was talk about drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.  People, who were concerned about nature, and preserving some areas of our nation as unspoiled as possible were fighting against drilling there.  Then the Republican Convention started, and I heard the 3 most chilling words I believe I have ever heard:  "Drill, baby, drill!"  Chanted over and over by delegates, these words seemed to whip the crowd into a frenzy, and made for a raucous welcome for one Sarah Palin.  

Here's what she said that night: 
"Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines...build more new-clear[sic] plants...create jobs with clean coal...and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources."  She took direct aim at Obama's environmental stance with the quote, "What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?""

I was chilled to the core by those words, accompanied by the renewed refrain, "Drill, baby, drill."  I could not believe the ignorance and total lack of regard for our planet that Sarah Palin showed through her words, and I could not believe how the others in the room jumped in, lock-step, behind her.  

Thank the heavens she and John McCain were not elected.  Truly--thank the heavens.

Barack Obama was elected, and as part of his stimulus, money was invested in wind and solar power.  Locally, we've seen an explosion in the number of wind farms; they are quite a startling, majestic sight, within 4 miles of city limits, and in city limits as well.  

I look at them, and have hope for the future of our planet.  

Then I started to hear GOP members of Congress, complaining about regulation and red tape when it came to the environment.  The "Representative" from my district made it his personal mission to stop government interference in the production of incandescent light bulbs.  Really.  

Then the BP Oil Spill happened, and I hoped it would be a wake-up call to all of us; a reminder that we cannot drill to the bottom of the ocean without a foolproof way to safely do it.  BP, and all other oil companies DO NOT have such a plan.  Did not need one, did not see a need for one.  Words cannot convey the scope of the damage to the planet, and yet, and yet...the oil companies want to do it again.  There's money to be made, putting holes into the ocean floor--into the earth that does not belong to them, into the earth they cannot heal if something were to go wrong. 

I really hoped we had learned, and that the chilling cries of "Drill, baby, drill." would never escape the lips of any other fool.  

Turns out not all of us have learned lessons from the BP Oil Spill.  It's easy to forget about all that oil, all that destruction, when you're counting your money, taking over companies, gutting them, and planning to run again for president.  It's easy to forget about the environment--the environment your grandchildren will inherit--when you're sucking up to the far right of the GOP, kissing asses and taking pledges of support.  

And it's easy, ever so easy, to smirk into the camera at the GOP convention, during your acceptance speech, and utter these words, 

"President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. MY promise...is to help you and your family."

I was as dumbfounded, as chilled as the night I heard, "Drill, baby, drill."  

Could Mitt Romney really be that blase about the environment, care that little for our planet?  Yes, he could.  

Here's Mitt Romney's energy plan:

In part, it reads,

"Romney’s plan would make states the custodian of energy production on federal lands within their borders and allow them to implement their own federally-approved leasing practices. Such a move would effectively shift responsibility for permitting, leasing and environmental regulation from the Department of the Interior to states, with the hope of speeding energy development by cutting red tape."

In other words, "Fuck you all.  I'm going to help a very few people make a whole lot of money.  When they're done, we will have no mountain ranges to look at, no safe shoreline, no breathable air.  But they'll have more money.  God bless America!"

Absolutely amazing.  

And then came Sandy.  

I'm not voting for Mitt Romney.  I care.  Do you?