A Message from Harriet Christian

Murphy did you see my post #308 on the previous thread?

Amy Siskind isn’t my kind. She definitely wouldn’t like me because I screamed about caucus fraud in the bar the other night!

Amy Siskind sounds like the kind of woman you have to “act” a “certain way” around. You have to “act” like you’re perfect, instead of be yourself, which is what we’re all put on this planet to be. But maybe Amy has a really bad inferiority complex makes her extremely intolerant, or very controlling, or some such thing.

I say, pity the fool.

(((Harriet)))

You are THE Puma!!!

Standing by what is right, tell more about a person’s character, than standing by the money.

(((Murphy)))

We all learn together!

Murphy, for me one of the most powerful moments in that dream was seeing a real PUMA come through our crowd, but one that was so down & out on its luck, and taking shelter with us. Regardless of the labels – Democrat, Republican – people are the same “under their skin,” or PUMA Fur, as the case may be!!

People like Amy Siskind need to experience the ’seedy side ” of life for a decade or two, then maybe whe wouldn’t be so quick to divide the “haves’ and the “have-nots’. Of course, now, this kind of elitism is what the new administration is all about.

Murphy,
After all this time running the Blog – knowing our principles & beliefs as well as you do – in your opinion, what do you think are the top 4-5 principles women in the Republican Party might have in common w/us?

gypsy,
Sounds like a good site to recruit some new PUMA’s from, lol..

hillstheone 12.21.08 at 3:03 pm

There’s a poster called Jaded that fighting the fight!!

What?? Against Blue Collar Women?

WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bbl..

Dances, yes, I like the idea of a direct email, preferably not one that just anyone on the website might have access to. The person I think was responsible is on a thread right now–earlier discussing names individuals they want banned, with some advocating for banning anyone with an opinion they don’t like.

The Pumasphere does seem to be dividing….

Anyone who has her direct email, yes I would appreciate them forwarding a message. What email can I use?

Me again. This is on subject. I found this from way back, trying to remember the roots of PUMA. Does anyone know where these folks went? I know where Normita is, but that is about it:

Goalucard4Hill on 06.07.08 at 11:59 pm (http://blog.pumapac.org/2008/06/07/thank-you-hillary-clinton-well-take-it-from-here/)

Casper Cat – I posted on the HRC website that did make it and had the subject line to Gay Guy, Gay Gal, Northern Girl, Normita and a couple of others to come on over here to us – as we needed their inspiration – I knew that Evy has already visited this site and I know Lucy from Missouri will be coming over after she gets back from vacation – now that will wake everyone up here that has never seen her posts – tomorrow I will go after Lilabet, Tutite, David Power, Silentreader, Patrollie, SparkforHill, Yoga82, AbigirlTex, I am Destiny and Today – that will be a majority of those that really participated hard with the campaign.

Labels and more labels…

There are no “Blue Collar Women”, just like there are no upper crust women… There are only 2nd class citizen women… Women are always the least responded to politically and TNA thinking that they will get more done because they have money is flippen laughable…

We as women are in this together, money or not and if you start separating us into groups you ruin any power you might have had.

Amy Siskind is trying to run a man’s game on a women’s group… Amy needs to get a friggin clue. The boy’s won’t let you play just cause you act like them… they don’t care, we are still women and just a headache they try to pacify and ultimately ignore.

Nijma 12.21.08 at 3:11 pm

Dances, yes, I like the idea of a direct email, preferably not one that just anyone on the website might have access to. The person I think was responsible is on a thread right now–earlier discussing names individuals they want banned, with some advocating for banning anyone with an opinion they don’t like.
The Pumasphere does seem to be dividing….
Anyone who has her direct email, yes I would appreciate them forwarding a message. What email can I use?
——————-
jesus…
just compose the damned email already and forward to murphy@pumapac.org

Do we have a bus? What are we going to throw the New Agenda under?

I have begun a bit of research re some of the items enumerated as goals for The New Agenda…had begun that after their inception. When I finish, I hope to be able to postulate that the New Agenda agenda far from being new is old and in fact out of sync with the current and future demographics of women in the country and that some of the goals they themselves have stated for themselves are, in fact, too narrow a take on the issues…of women

My initial reason for doing this was to ask The New Agenda to enlarge their goal section to fit current and future reality regarding women and the issues relevant for the next 40 years.
Now my reason is simply to reveal large holes re issues of women which for 30+ years have been missed or lost…but which are now fast becoming the issues of the preponderance of demographics…I speak if you do not know..of women 45 and 50 years and older…an issue which I know very much about over time from various work I have done.

goofsmom!

LOL!

Maybe I should email that to Amy.

“I gave a blowjob on a yacht last week, can I join?,” LOL, Kat!!!

Gypsy: You wouldn’t believe what happened, I went onto that site you posted & saw Jade’s posts. So I went ahead & registered and everything, than I posted a post in support of Jade.

I got a mssg said “You have not been registered long enough to post”!

Yee-Gads, gypsy!

BTW, do you post there yourself? I say, let’s all start registering on GOP sites like redstate this week & next Year, and start recruiting these poor beleaguered PUMA’s-in-disguise…

“Give me your Tired, Your Poor,” etc., etc.!!!

Sunshinelvr 12.21.08 at 2:57 pm

People like Amy Siskind need to experience the ’seedy side ” of life for a decade or two, then maybe whe wouldn’t be so quick to divide the “haves’ and the “have-nots’. Of course, now, this kind of elitism is what the new administration is all about.

————————————————
So do you think when all the lowly bots that got hoodwinked into give give to barrys claim to fame will be wild when they are shitcanned!??
Do you think the new elite team will want that :”army”, boots on the ground for THEIR protection?
Will the seedy poor of the AA population turn on THAT ONE??

TOPIC: Harriet sings it out back in May.

This is what I mean about being true to the person you are, she doesn’t put on any pretenses but it’s when we act from our own authenticity we are at our most powerful…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KACQuZVAE3s

(from downstairs)…
First of all, the vicadin took some of the edge off the pain, but it still hurts, LOL.
*******
Secondly, thanks for the link for the Robaxin, Brian…. since I will probably be going to see a dr tomorrow I’ll set it aside “just in case” I can’t get any help at the dr.
*****
Thirdly Hill’s dream… right on. You know, I don’t think that MLK would be in agreement with O’s method or idea. I honestly think MLK’s “I have a dream” was that of being a colorblind society. My “I have a dream” would be a “partyblind society”… I feel like Rodney King sometimes with “can’t we all.. can’t we all… just get along?” I know that when I was in the McCain blog MOST of us really didn’t care of you were repub, dem, or independent. Even though we knew we disagreed on some individual points, our basic goal was one and the same. That, I think, is where we need to be somehow. I know that there is NOBODY running for ANY office that I will agree 100% with. Also, we’re all individuals. Like I’ve said many times, there are gay repubs and gay dems; pro choice repubs and pro life dems… but we are all PEOPLE… and, for the most of part, we in puma are mainly women. There are some basic things that I would help we could all agree on. Like MLK I wish we could all look past the differences more and look at the things we have in common more. We really DO have more in common, whether AA or Caucasian; whether repub, dem, or independent; whether male or female; than we do differences…. and that is my strong belief and my hope for America. Maybe, in some small way, we could start that here in this group. I know there is some pretty strong feeling some members of this group have against repubs…. but let’s look at the bigger picture here, and see what we really do have in common; and try to set aside the hatred, and set aside the differences, and concentrate on what we all have in common and need…. and that is (IMHO) what MLK’s “I have a dream” was all about too…. are we ever going to get there?

here we go again…

“Also, we’re all individuals. Like I’ve said many times, there are gay repubs and gay dems; pro choice repubs and pro life dems…”

Difference: Registered Democrats havent supported nor enabled the party that is outspokenly anti gay/lesbian, anti-reproductive rights for women, religious right whack jobs.

Things to do… bbl

goofsmom,
Talk to you later, have a good time wherever you’re going. I need to leave soon, too.

“Swelling the ranks,” now there’s a thought I can really sharpen my claws on, lol…

Speaking of too refined. One of the criticisms of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg Kennedy is that she’s’s never travelled to Upstate NY.
Her PR question- answerers countered:
That’s not true. Ms KSK once mistakenly took the IRT express subway train and ended up at 166th Street!

OH and I do not feel that time or money was wasted on the documentary. Women need story tellers. We need complex characters, mythology, literature, film, history of better times or coping strategies, and a place to perform them. I believe that is something woman have been missing for a long time and it would be a powerful way to lead the next generations. Any individual effort may not accomplish the original purpose but it works in a direction of women telling their real stories publicly as a habit. I also think reforming old corporate media is a waste of time but developing new media is very possible.

Before everyone gets too upset, please remember there is always more to the story, more than one side to an argument, etc. According to the letter, Harriet did not actually hear Amy say those words. She said it was brought to her attention. Sounds like hearsay to me. The New Agenda has some great ideas and strategies. I think Pumas have more in common with TNA than not. I don’t think we should let hearsay splinter a strong group of aligned women with similar goals. That does not advance our cause. It only distracts us. It is important that we stay united. If Amy and Betty Jean have a disagreement, let’s leave that between them. TNA, Heidi Li and this site are my favorite blogs and I read them every morning and night before I read anything else. They are my favorite b/c their goals are my goals. Our ultimate goals are to get more women elected to office and to end misogyny. Maybe Amy and Betty Jean have different ideas re how to achieve these but I say the more ideas and the more strategies going on, the more likely we are to achieve the goals. If they personally cannot get along, that’s fine. People don’t always get along. It is what it is. That doesn’t mean groups cannot still work toward the same goals using different strategies. Please do not let their personal differences divide us. Puma bashing or TNA bashing will only move us further from achieving our goals. Please, women need to stay united. It really is our only hope.

@ #52 Dances.

Just in case it was missed:

“Geraldine Ferraro gave a thumbs down to Caroline Kennedy’s bid for the Senate”

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12202008/news/politics/caroline_slap_145098.htm?xid=rss-page

Harriet was the shining light to me on May 31, 2008, a day that I will never forget, the day the DNC abandoned the 18 million voices. Harriet defiantly told everyone how she felt, and who she was. The New Agenda is just new, nothing has really come out of them that I would support. They think they support women, but I quickly figured out that they support the special kind of women, who think they are feminists, but have never really confronted and dealt with truly ugly misogny (sp?).

MAMABROAD: First, please go to the link I posted at post53 above. After you do that, please note that a written email from Amy Suskind called Betty Jean Kling “Insane”…among other designations. Why? Looks like she did not like Betty Jean’s Comments re New Agenda’s actions re the cardboard wonder boy speech writer groper…JF.

I do not see on the New Agenda site anything listed on their goals section that is new. And I concluded that when I first read it. So what is new? Their approach? Is the email re Ms. Kling…a new approach?

If you do read the article link I posted, one of the founders clearly at that time cited little desire for connection with PumaPac…What has happened between the groups via various moves of Amy Suskind simply in my conclusion bodies that out..
Go with the flow or Go..should be their motto.
Nothing new here, MamaBroad..as old as any women’s or men’s group on lthe earth. You should post this on their site not here.

Mamabroad #56
Amy’s letter libeling (I will assume she also verbalized her attack) and slandering Betty Jean was not hearsay.
It was written, signed and emailed by amy.
Why is it that Puma is always advised to “rise above” in the name of unity, while the spokesperson for nothing new agenda gets the pass to continue her attacks?

I think my point was missed. I will be direct. We have forgotten our roots. I think it would be good for all of us to go back and read the thread. It is not a walk down memory lane. At my own peril: “Those of us who withdraw from the Democratic Party and become Independents are still Democrats in our hearts. We are all Democrats. This is our party. The leaders did us wrong. They did Hillary Clinton wrong. They did our country wrong. But it’s still our party.”

http://blog.pumapac.org/2008/06/07/thank-you-hillary-clinton-well-take-it-from-here/

I am still here prowling! Lurking in the shadows, doing the pums action alerts. Spending more time with my family and still as pissed now as I was in February. Love you all!

KarenWI:

You make sense. I know it’s always good to look at the individual, and every person who is registered as dem or repub varies as far as their strength of alliegiance to party platform.

In general though, which party seems to be more conservative? More conservative religious? Less for women’s reproductive rights/ choice? More for gay rights? More for the poor?

These are general ideas…there’s a thought that republicans are for big money–big business–big church. And the democrats are more for the folks.

I know there is good and bad in each party.

I haven’t gotten too suckered by the “team” thing. Democrats Vs. Republicans is just a manufactured sport for politicians to play off of.

Sports teams need fans, right? Fans need rivalry. Rivalry is business. Votes are the name of the game.

Everyone …please go read the link I posted at post 53.
This was in August: At the onset, clearly from the article, The New Agenda, via at least this person quoted, had little or no inclination to affiliate with PUMAPAC or others among the JUst Say No Coalition…Clearly, as time went on and PUMAPAC was still here, I would suggest that somebody or bodies thought better of that first conclusion. And I would further posit that having realized this group ..PUmaPac, via its leader and a couple of others named , were not simply going to go along with all moves, were judged weight that needed to be jettisoned. Only we via our leader and others named jettisoned them first….Murphy…Sheri, Bj and Harriet, your moves were timely and appropriate. Thank you once again for your instincts and judgement!

ChristineRI 12.21.08 at 4:02 pm
How is this different from Amy Siskind’s view?
——————-
It’s different in that amy’s view seems to reject those who would otherwise support the nothing new agenda’s support of women; while my view seems to reject those who enabled and supported those who have not supported women’s rights.

I have seen these kind of moves made more than once in my work with all kinds of groups here. That is nothing new under the sun…but what is unusual and excellent is the timeliness and the reasons for which this PumaPac acted. I said then it was a “grace” and here again with Harriet’s note is another indication of the accuracy of the moves made by this Pac via leader and others named, now including Harriet.

kat, I do not agree with every single thing in the republican platform. I do not agree with everything repub politicans believe. I don’t think every dem voter agrees with everything in their “party” either. I vote for the person, not the party. I dislike the idea of voting for “party”… whether it be those in my area who ONLY vote dem because they are union and their union said to vote for it, or because they are repub and can’t see past their nose to decide for THEMSELF who to vote for. I don’t vote repub every time. I am not a “registered republican”. I never went in and said “I want to register as a republican”. I only called myself that because that was the way I voted the majority of the time… based on the candidate who was running. I guess in that way you’d say I’m more ‘independent’ than anything else. My point, though, is this…. if you don’t want to be labelled as being part and parcel of Obama and Pelosi, doesn’t that mean you don’t always agree with the dem leadership? As for platform, do you agree 100% with everything in the dem platform? Don’t you think the party “platforms” are more to try to get a certain group of people voting for them than anything else? For example, why is it that the dem party is the party of AA when it was the repubs whose president Lincoln freed them and who MLK was a member of? Why is the dems the party of women when it was the repubs who first got the vote for women? Again, it’s what the “platform” says- IMHO designed to garner votes from a certain group of people. The “platform” of either party isn’t alwasy what that party represented in the past, nor is it always the picture of what that party is generating NOW all the time… it’s just to get a group to vote for them. What is the ONE THING that is truly important? Is it the platform of a party? Is it the leaders of a party? No… it’s PEOPLE… people who don’t always vote just based on party, but on who they feel is best for AMERICA right then. When you allow repub in here, you are NOT allowing the “republican party” with it’s platform and leaders, in here… you are allowing PEOPLE in here… people just like you in so many ways. We need to look past “party lines” and see hearts and souls here…. I, for one, don’t look at any of you as dems, as much as individuals who I feel a kinship to because we (in many things) are after the same goals. I don’t have “repub” stamped on my forehead, on my hand, or in my heart… I have “human female” stamped there…. what do you have stamped on yours?

mamabroad #56 I agree with majority of your post.

and taggles #59 is right. Can you post something like that over there?

Personally, if this is some kind contest of classes: the parasol usin’ tea drinkers vs. radical soldiers…the choice is easy for me. I’d rather get dirty. Don’t you know the fighters on the battle field are always the real sheroes?

I’ll let them do their thing…fight for women as they see fit. It’s their thing. I think it’s a huge business blunder to disassociate from fighters with heart and passion, but I’m not running it, so let them see what works and doesn’t work.

But if you declare war, you are going to need an army. They will see.

Karen WI: how’d you get that copyright symbol?
Look for the “character map”. In Windows it’s under programs>accessories>system tools. If you use it often enough to want an icon, you can right click on it to get the option to export it to the desktop. Otherwise just click on the special character you want, copy and paste where you want it.

Thanks Nimja… I never knew that! ©

“Those of us who withdraw from the Democratic Party and become Independents…” That was our very first action. In my opinion that is still the first action…switch to a freaking third party. Second action…vote third party in every election, local or national. The rules are set in stone…only a Democratic and Republican will ever get in the presidential debates…until the third party percentages increase. If the first action…switching from the Democratic or Republican party…was never taken all the actions thereafter are futile…in my humble opinion…which is often not interpreted as humble.

#78 Karen
Heck, you’re long-winded. But you’re an excellent person and I like your PUMA attitude. We can always count on you, so who cares if you’re a Repub or not or maybe! I’m a moderate and I don’t agree with half the world, but I pick my battles and my comrades. You’re great, imo.

#87 NOP
Yeah, I realized that as soon as I hit the button! Sorry. I was just wondering out loud because I remember someone said TNA asked Murphy to post over there and she was happy and then NOT and so on…
Murphy, Just wondering!

I don’t think I understand how women working for money and power and using the “blue collar” groups and fringe groups to do the dirty is helpful to any woman.

Isn’t that sort of what we are fighting against right now. The power will remain in few hands. The hands that have the money.

I have followed the development of TNA with interest but must say I am not surprised at what’s being reported here by Harriet C. I am taking a wait/see attitude but this kind of thing does NOT bode well for them. Thank you, Harriet and PUMAPac, for having the clarity and guts to let the world see the inner machinations of what held so much promise but is now revealing its true colors.

86gaygirl: One of the reasons Ralph Nader has continued to run is precisely to enable other parties to remain on State ballots without every year of election having to go through the same tedious and time consuming requirements of petitions to put names on the ballot.

I am a lifelong Jeffersonian Democrat and my party has been usurped. I will continue identification with that kind of qualification.

If Ojingo is successful in implementing the myriad bills he wishes to have implemented, there will no longer be an issue of thrid party or any other party. The 2007 Federal Voting Act has so diluted the standards for voter registration and registered voter voting that anyone and their dog will be able to vote. Right now, this party is in the hands of a horrific bunch and the issue of a Third Party has no timeliness at …this time…The issue is the containment against the destruction of this democratic republic.

&hearts:;

Hmmmm…

92taggles: Well said… that scenario you citesounds like the Donna Brazile philosophy to me…

our own DancesWith Pumas has made it easy for us. she has listed everything is here:

http://pumapac.org/geek.html

“she has listed everything is” ..hmm.. she has listed everything! no ‘is” needed.

it’s in the “action resources” listed on the left side of this blog under pages. just follow links to the ’smileys”

Hiya, Kat! How ya doing, Babe?

I’m sure glad our Founder isn’t a quitter. As a matter of fact, ours sets quite an example. It must be hard for her to just sit back and let everyone express their different opinions. But PUMA is alive and vital and TNA is dying on the vine.

Sheesh!!! So much SNOW!!! My back is gonna be KILLING me tonight. But it made alot of people happy. I just worry about these old people here. Two days ago, I was walking out the side door ( I live in a secure building so when someone comes they need me to go open the door for them), grumbling and moaning, and bitching cuz they woke me from a nice nap~~~~and when I looked out the door there was an old woman laying in the snow. She had been struggling with her car door lock, with an arm load of groceries when she went down. So, of course, I ran to help her up and hold her arm as she hobbled across the parking lot to her building.

So, when I was out doing sidewalks and cars I was wondering…..
Do you think it was just a coincidence? Or is there a God who truly works in mysterious ways?
I remember going to a church once. they wanted me to be an elder. Until they found out about me. Then they told me I wouldn’t be allowed in their church if I came as a woman.
I responded: That’s ok, wrong building. My God loves everybody. And thank God Jesus isn’t a Christian.
There are just so many people, hurting. Old, lame, sick, LONELY, ANGRY….. How did He do it?
Last night I was watching the History Channel and they were talking about “After the Da Vinci code”. I was so amazed, listening about ‘Gospels’ that were omitted, intentionally, from the ‘Bible’.
Like the Gospels of Phillip and Thomas. And, most significantly, the Gospel according to Mary. Apparently, until around 25 AD , the Gnostics worshipped Mary and women were generally revered and treated with respect. But after 25 AD, there was a concerted effort by the ‘Patriarchy of the Church’ to change all that by omitting those Gospels and especially the one concerning Mary. This seems to corelate with other things I’ve read, like in a book called, “The Lost Books of the Bible.”
I wont argue whether there is or is not a God. But I DO know, for certain, there are angels amongst us. And most times we don’t even know who they are. And, I tell people, that’s what I want to be when I grow up.
Anyway, whether you believe or not, if you are down, lonely, hurting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trvtMSoW7dM

murphy 12.21.08 at 4:48 pm How dare anyone!!!

#45 Seattlegirl We are better off not speaking with one voice. There needs to be a sugar coated voice (Amy’s New Agenda) and a radical voice PUMA) for women. These are inevitable growing pains of a new woman’s movement as I see it.
YES. “Register”–the appropriateness of the language to the audience–can be very important when trying to convince someone. I love the profanity here and the particular kind of humor that goes with it (although I hate it on the Obot sites) but if I used it at work I would never be taken seriously. My mother would freak at this site, but she would welcome anyone who talked in educated tones about the right to birth control (but not abortion). You need something different to reach different people.

The most important thing about the Pumas is activism–they are doing something. Not all of us can be that without risk.

If New Aganda wants to work within the new administration why not. They certainly need some better voices THERE. At the same time there is a limit to what they can accomplish from within and they need someone on the outside pushing to keep them honest–Puma pressure can supply a good excuse for doing the right thing.

There may also be certain issues that have to be approached from the point of view of white/blue/pink collars. In the sixties before all our manufacturing went to China, there were specific blue collar issues that only those women could identify like the weight lifting restrictions and night shift restrictions that kept women from shift differential pay. There may also things specific to professional fields like law, business, that need to be addressed differently. Minority and immigrant women may have still other issues.

As for me, I have worked probably every kind of job there is and appearances don’t bother me. I can live with not swearing, wearing a white dress, and even sitting on the floor drinking tea and eating mystery meat with bedouins if it furthers my goals. If NA wants to drink tea and wear pearls, I say they should go ahead and knock their socks off.

113gaygal: Well then ..there you are!!! I think my mama added the butt part…she was very earthy! Hope you understand in my post to you that I do not disagree with your concept of third party but I am now clearly extremely concerned about what we will have left after Ojingo as the very nature of this country! LOL

gay gal..and watch out for the Astorbutts…!!

HP #99 — oh my gawd! I never thought of that — perfect.

#97

NOP: “If Ojingo is successful in implementing the myriad bills he wishes to have implemented, there will no longer be an issue of thrid party or any other party”. I believe this was one of the motives to for all the third party candidates to come together this election cycle to create a platform of common goals. It is an interesting read and seemed quite preemptive.

On the other topic: Coming from the poor white trash that I do, my mother could relate to “Astorbutt”. As my sister pretends her roots to be otherwise, at times, my mom puts her back in her place by calling her “Pissellen”. I think it is on the same vein.

I believe that forcing pregnancy and childbirth on women in this day and age of safe, pain-free abortion and birth control is barbaric and caveman. Allowing the state to further and explicitly restrict women’s agency is like yearning for the good old days of small pox and polio. It makes no rational sense to me.

I believe that this is TRUE, not simply a matter of opinion.

—————————————-
Wow Murph I say that ALL the time! Bravo great leader!

we often talk about a new third party — I think your dream is evidence that we are in FACT making a new party right here — organically, fitfully, and from the ground up.

+ + + + + + + + +

Thank you for the above Christmas Present. Hooray.

Go Puma Go

KarenW: Could be!

I do not believe that women need to be united in our tactics to gain equality and representation in government. We only need to be united in our most basic goals. New Agenda at least is looking toward 52% of government being made up of women because we are 52% of the population. This represents a significant improvement over NOW who had some weird goal of far, far out in the future getting to 30% women in government.

Women should not allow any political party to count on our votes. Both parties should worry endlessly about whether they will get the womens support. That is how you use your power. We probably can’t form a new political party but we can form and interest group big enough that our demands must be considered. That should be easier than making the religious right or the Black caucus or Hispanic caucus a group to be reckoned with for the simple reason that women are the majority in the population and we vote in higher percentages than men. Both political parties need to court us and be endlessly afraid of who we might endorse.

gaygal: Sounds like it, gay gal.

I have gained a wonderful education from this election. I have changed my mind on many ideas and also formed opinions on others. I now see the political scene in a more corruption way. I now like the view of George Washington in his farewell address on the dangers of Political Parties. I see the dangers he mentions facing us all too strongly.

I now see the parties as all too self serving. the politicians as totally self interested. Everyone is ripping off the money at the federal level. There is simply way too much money floating around Washington DC.

It might be nice to experiment with NO POLITICAL PARTIES but all candidates and elected officials are independent. All are dedicated to voting their ethics and working as hard as possible for the betterment of our country.

My view is that the entire US political scene is one of Pay to Play. Our elected officials are elitists and out of touch with the common person. The country is filling up with little family dynasties. We are missing the leadership of those with the most talent who have worked hard and proven they are good people.

It may be impossible to control the corruption and therefore the size of the government must be minimal. How did this country ever exist as a beginning country with only a few people running the show. Now we have almost the entire population working for the government.

The larger the goverment the more money running through Washington the more corruption we will always have. Therefore we must minimize the government.

I ask the question. Has any President ever left office with a smaller government then the size when he took office?

Also the gov has taken powers that were not given to them by the Constitution. This should stop. I have the greatest fear of the Democratic adminstration now wants a Continental Congress which will have the power to rewrite the constitution WITHOUT being ratified by the states. This is too big a risk. Obama wants to destroy the Constitution. Remember the purpose of the Constitution is to LIMIT the Government against the people. If we allow a continental congress this country will come to an end for sure. The power of the ruling class will become absolute. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Thank you for forwarding the message. People don’t have to be with me, but I need to know who’s against me.

I concur with Nijma and Seattlegirl… “We are better off not speaking with one voice. There needs to be a sugar coated voice (Amy’s New Agenda) and a radical voice PUMA) for women. These are inevitable growing pains of a new woman’s movement as I see it.”

I am sorry for the infighting and back channel break ups, but that is not how The New Agenda conducts its business in public, and the women who go there know nothing of this back and forth behind the scenes, so you all might think twice before gleefully bashing women who go there as “faux” feminists. Riverdaughter, over at the Confluence, has shown some incredibly poor judgment in allowing attacks and in censoring and banning. I chose not to go there, but in no way would condemn the regulars there.

And mamabroad, I was glad to see you post #56. Ditto, gay girl #66….thanks for the reminder.

You should definitely keep posting here!

PLease keep in mind there are some guys like me who are PUMA and consider myself a feminist. Maybe because I’m gay or maybe because I saw my mom and sisters eaten alive by the horible Catholic Church doctrine as they were ordered to obey the father. My father, an abusive, alcoholic who the church ordered my mother to live with and tolerate. When my sister’s turn at marriage came and she told me about the counseling sessions before her marriage that involved obedience to the male, that was enough for her and me. We finally left the church. I fault most misogyny to the church. Not just the Catholics, but most denominations. As I watch the Kennedy’s, Chris Mathews and media and politicos talk about the Pope as if he is God’s personal penpal and they dictate how a woman can live her life or condemn homosexuality. Unlike Obama, I choose to move in the other direction. I don’t care to join with the Evangelicals to have a dialogue, I’ve heard their side and know they don’t care about mine. Its time to claim our country from these religious zealots. They can practice their religion but keep it away from my government.

All I can say is this agenda is not new. The behavior does not fit the Mission statement which claims to speak for millions of women who can not speak for themselves. That is false and hurts us more than helps us.
Please keep in mind this rift started because they TNA chose to do a 180 on Jon Favreau. First they spoke for us when they called for his job then the next day did a 180 and turned into enablers which is how women end up abused – then when we spoke up for ourselves they manhandled us rather then listen to us.

Read the mission stement and know this was and continues to be mishandled and now in spite refuses to cover the pre meditated attempted murder of one of their own members daughters over the dispute. How does that square with you? New Agenda- I’ll say – the only thing new is that it is worsr than the old- it does not even pretend to be for the everyday woman.

BettyJean Kling
Free-Us-Now.com