Need some words of hope, wisdom, etc., please...

[bliss_eternal]

What will we do if Alito gets the seat? Some already seem resigned to the idea that he will...

I am heartbroken for all the strides women have made over the years to see them destroyed by this admin and their extreme right supporters. :cry: It just doesn't make sense, any of it--that this admin,is hell bent on regression vs. progress.

What will we do, ladies? Please someone offer me some words of wisdom, hope, etc.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[cally]

1. I don't know

I'm scared and angry. I'm still holding out hope since the hearings are delayed. If the Repubs continue there fall, then maybe they won't want to side with the * on anything and many from blue states will side with Dems. I hope.

[bliss_eternal]

4. So do I, cally--

hope, I mean. Thank you for your reply.

I've read on these boards that usually the nominee once seated, rarely meets the expectations of the president that nominated them. That gave me a little hope--but not much. This guy sounds like he would do exactly what they expect (want) him to, and worse.

But I won't give up hope regardless...

[lukasahero]

2. We will continue to fight

It's the dance we do - two steps forward, one step back. It's difficult to overcome over 2000 years of oppression but we will not give up the fight.

We will never go back.

Strong women like you and I and the rest of this group will stand up to those who want to send us back and we will say no, loud and clear.

We owe it to those who fought so hard before us and we owe it to our daughters (and our sons).

We will not go back to our chains.

Now get your back up and stand up to these oppressors!

Join NOW, join NARAL. Support their efforts with your dollars and your voice.

We may not win this battle, but our daughters cannot afford to lose this war.

We are women and we understand endurance.

Now is not the time to tire.

(Did that help? No? Maybe this will. :hug:)

[bliss_eternal]

5. Luka--

yes, you helped--thank you! :hug:

I'm a naral member, a planned parenthood supporter, I will also join NOW.

[ismnotwasm]

3. We are not going back

We are not going back. WE ARE NOT GOING BACK. If we have to fight the whole damn thing over again, we are not going back. I owe those who have gone before me, and those who stand beside me.

The women who start sentences "I'm not a feminist, but" without the slightest inkling of what feminists over the centuries-- not matter what they were called-- have done, have sacrificed for things as different to becoming CEO's to wearing bikini's on the beach--Those are the women who are in for a very rude awakening if SCOTUS starts passing misogynist laws.

The right to choose goes way beyond abortion. It includes the right to choose jobs or spouses. Where we can go and what we can do. How we educate ourselves. Women rights still are about equal pay for equal work. It's still about maternity leave, and affordable daycare. It's still about not having to accept unwanted sexual advances. It's still a feminist dream that every woman can walk to her car on a dark morning on her way to work, without the fear of rape in the back of her mind.
The right to choose is our rallying cry. In the minds of the public it's inevitably tied with the right to choose abortion. They have forgotten all the other choices that are at stake. Maybe we need to start reminding them.

In the darkest days, I'm not giving up, I'm not going back. I have 3 daughters. They have basic human rights-- being to make medical decisions over their own bodies, with competent and unbiased medical advice. They have a right to become educated in any field they choose. They have right to be physically strong and work in "non-traditional" women's jobs They have a right to vote and become lawmakers--if they choose
Women in this country fought and fight for our rights, and now many of us are in other countries, some of them third world, trying to help women there. We may end up in what amounts to a two front war. The condition of women in these oppressive countries are a natural outcome of the repression of women's basic rights. Cause and effect.
These are frightening times. Depressing times.
But I'm not going back.
Not much comfort I know, but I know there are thousands and thousands like me and you. Not all of us speak up. Some of us live in fear. We need to find each other and lend strength to one another like never before. It's going to be a time for action and organization. A time for protest. We need our empathetic and sympathetic men to join us. I'm not going back. I refuse.

[bliss_eternal]

6. ismnotwasm--

Thank you for your courageous words of faith and hope. It means a lot.

You brought up so many important points. Points I've tried to make to women the last five years--that it isn't just about choice. The same way that affirmative action wasn't just about those seen as minorities in this country getting into college. Affirmative action was also about and for women--women on the right side of the aisle choose not to see that, or feel they don't need it because of their money and priviledge (if their husbands, or they are wealthy). The middle class women just don't get it.

I don't know...maybe they all need a wake up call and this horrible thing happening is what they need to do so. I don't know. But maybe when some of them need some things in this world that they can't access, maybe they will miss what may be taken away.

I'm with you in that I refuse to go back...

[spooky3]

13. I totally agree!

[Maat]

7. We're not going back!

I will fight to preserve reproductive rights until my last breath; I have to - for our daughters!

[femrap]

8. NOW is one kick ass organization....so please join.

Women are NOT going back. PERIOD. Most men are on our side as well...it's those damn Christian Fascists...they are the ones that are making our lives miserable. We need to face these folks straight on!!!! Show the world that they are hypocrites.....and just like the Taliban!!!

Be uppity....speak up....humiliate and ridicule those that try to deny you justice and fairness...We will be just fine! OK?

[bliss_eternal]

14. Thanks, femrap!

Made out a money order for NARAL today--will write a check out to NOW this week!

I appreciate your kind words, support and advice. :yourock:

Sorry I am so late responding to this!

[BlueIris]

9. All that has already been posted and--for the official record:

I don't think he's going to get confirmed. May sound like wishful thinking, but--I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. As distasteful as this sounds, you might want to try to stomach GD/GDP for a while. There are some there making sense. Please remember that almost all of what you see in MSM now, even from once reputable "journalists" is bought and paid for by Bush propagandists in one way or another. Their "have no fear, Alito WILL be confirmed" chant is no more certain than the Miers nomination was.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. I tentatively agree with you

The fact that he violated his sworn agreement not to sit on cases involving Vanguard (in which he had a financial interest) not once but twice is a very, very serious breach of ethical protocol.

It's not getting a whole lot of airplay right now, but when his time comes, I hope the MSM gets on this big-time. It's a really, really, really bad thing.

Background (for those who missed it): when he was being confirmed in 1990 for the Federal bench, he signed an agreement stating that he would recuse himself from any matters involving Vanguard, which held (I believe) two of his accounts, amounting to almost half-a-million bucks.

Several years later, he sat on two cases involving Vanguard. Found in their favor once, and (I think) against them once. The former was later reversed, by the way, a significant part of the story.

When this was made public last week, Alito's statement said something to the effect that "after a certain amount of time," he no longer believed he was bound by that agreement - even though Vanguard still had his money.

Now, I wonder how that reasoning would fly if, say, I told my husband that I figured enough time had passed since we exchanged our marriage vows, so I figured I was free to start dating again.

Or if someone paying a car loan tells the loan holder, "You know what? I've paid enough on this loan, so I'm not gonna pay any more, and you can't do anything about it."

He's smarmy, and I hope the Democrats and - in the wake of the downward slide of Fuckface - Republicans pull together on this one and send him back.

[ismnotwasm]

11. Call me naive

But I was actually suprised about some of the shady stuff in his background. I knew about his ridiculous comments, and his horrible record, but I thought he would at least be an HONEST right wingnut.( I know, I know-- stupid) I thought they wouldn't dare put up someone with shit like that in his/her background.
Why? Why do I do that to myself? Over and over again, this stupid administration has shown it has no regard for any law, any principle but what profits it. So I'm tentatively hopeful as well.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

12. You're not naive

This stuff has to be researched and brought forth by professionals. You have no way of knowing much about nominees.

But, what "shady stuff"? I don't know about that.

[bliss_eternal]

15. Thanks, BlueIris--

I appreciate your hopeful attitude and comforting words!
Always good to see you-- :hi:

Hoping all is well in your corner of the world!

[Sparkly]

16. It's a looooong, biiiiiig step back

and it's going to take another looooong biiiiig two steps forward.

This is a backlash against feminism, along with many other socially progressive movements, that's been forming for over 30 years. I remember reading about rightwingers like Henry Hyde and Jerry Falwell and Phyliss Schlafly way back in the early days of Ms. Magazine, when I was 16...

It's the constituency we need to change, and have the power to change. Alito is the culmination of a battle that's been going on for decades.

Some say the pendulum just swings; I say, women and minorities have pushed it to swing, and we need to push again. This is a huge step backward, but they will not win. In the end, women will NOT go back.