The Way They Walk

For some people, politics is a game. Winning, spiking the ball and doing a victory dance on one's opponent is the goal. In my opinion, that is pathetic and the hallmark of arrested adolescence. This is behavior adults should strive to outgrow.

Political discourse has moved far to the right over the last thirty years. The Republican Party has become the province of anti-woman pluto-theocrats, but the Democratic Party has also shown its true misogynist colors since the beginning of the primary season. What are they? I suspect black and blue: an absolutely shocking array of intelligent followers of politics feel wedged into choosing one major party candidate or another.

Really? That reminds me of this.


See, the Beasties weren't actually expressing their desire for female company. They were looking for maid service with benefits. Once you see through that - which is Seeing Through Stuff 101 - you can see through the Republican nomination of an anti-choice, anti-green, pro-oil company woman, and the lackluster Democratic nomination of two pro-business centrists. No one there speaks for working people, for the poor, for women's rights to bodily integrity, to same-sex marriage, GLBTQ rights, for a Supreme Court that won't fuck us over for generations, for national security that doesn't trample everyone's rights to privacy, for those who always knew the war in Iraq was a fool's errand. So: if these things are important to you there's no reason to vote for those people, and if those people want your vote, they're going to have to change their positions.

It's not true that Roe v. Wade is a reason to vote for either candidate anymore. The religious right has chipped away and hollowed out the decision so that in several states an abortion is nearly unobtainable, and the right has recently taken bold steps to eliminate even simple access to birth control. This interference with and withholding of* basic health care is truly unacceptable in a modern industrialized nation, but even NARAL - that's the National Abortion Rights Action League, for those in the cheap seats - doesn't have much to say about it for reasons of political expediency.

Well, then. This is not a game. Women are going to die. I am not going to vote for a candidate who doesn't understand that, and believes that I have no place to go. I do - though that isn't quite precise enough: I'll be where I've been all along, watching politicians rush to court people who will never vote for them. Believe it or not, there are candidates for high office who are genuinely progressive. I may not win, but I don't expect to win. If, however, a politician needs me or he'll lose, perhaps we'll talk.

Dear Candidate: If you need my vote, you know where to find me.


Updated to include, you know, words. Shaaaaa! I was tired.