But it’s time to get past your disgust with pretty
much everyone involved in politicking, from presidential candidates down to
city councilors. Forget how much money the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson have
poured into PACs and alleged “social welfare organizations” helmed by Karl
Rove; or—if you lean the other way—the millions that George Soros and Ariana
Huffington have donated to Democrats. Put aside the fact that your local and state office candidates are being funded by people who’ve never set foot in
your fair community, but have a vested interest in fielding candidates who think
their way get into your political offices. Draw a breath and disremember that once they’re
in office all they seem to think about is the next election.
Leave all that crap aside and think about what a
wonderful thing it is to vote. The Founding Fathers laid the framework for a
government of the people, by the people and for the people. Their “people”, of
course, were adult white males; but the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to
the Constitution rectified that. We are privileged
to elect our governments—it’s a principle that tens of millions of people view
with longing because they know it only in theory.
And this brings me to my point for the day: my
fellow women—my sistahs: we have not had the right to vote for even 100 years.
Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers first went to the polls in the
presidential election of 1920. To get that vote, generations of women agitated,
educated, annoyed and became thorns in the sides of every civic, religious,
political and business organization in the country. They suffered ridicule,
legal prosecution, imprisonment, financial hardships and ostracism from
family and community. In a very real sense, they went into harm’s way so that
we can mark the ballot with our choices for those who will act as our leaders.
(Yes, fine—generations of men before them struggled
for the vote, before democratic republics became the norm. You want to feel
good about that?—post to your own blog. I’m talking the ladies, here.)
We owe it to the
suffragists who won that vote at hard cost to themselves to exercise that
right.
And consider the sistahs:
This election year has any number of themes that are
categorized as “women’s issues”. In my opinion, this is a misnomer. The right
to access to affordable healthcare (for all aspects of health), the right to make
decisions about whom you’ll associate with in what relationships (First
Amendment, anyone?), the right to be protected from physical harm in the home
as well as on the streets, the right to a sound education that leads to
economic opportunities so that your children don’t grow up in poverty—these aren’t
“women’s issues”. They’re “human issues”. They affect us all.
But they’ve slapped the women label on them, so I
say, sistahs: bring it on. Bring on those votes. Offer to drive someone to the
polls who might not otherwise be able to get there. Urge your friends to vote.
High-five anyone you see wearing one of those “I voted” stickers. Strut your
vote. You talk the talk when you bitch about political leaders; now’s the time
to walk the walk by voting.
This is only the 24th presidential
election we’ve been able to participate in—so vote for your man. One day your
man may be a woman. But don’t stop there—vote for your Senator, your
Representative, your Governor, your state reps, your initiatives and your referenda. What the
hell—do not stop voting until you’ve run out of ballot. (If you need guidance
on issues, consult your local chapter of the League
of Women Voters. These broads know their onions and they give you the
straight scoop. They are not the
Junior League.)
My sistahs—I’m as cynical as they come about
politicians. But your vote matters.
Think about this, my sistahs:
And bring it.
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