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;)
Dear Mitt, please, not a repeat of the 1950s
Posted on October 27, 2012
Hey! Little Girl
Comb your hair, fix your makeup
Soon he will open the door
Don’t think because there’s a ring on your finger
You needn’t try anymore
For wives should always be lovers too
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you
I’m warning you…
Burt Bacharach & Hal David, recorded by Jack Jones 1964
When I see Mitt Romney , his hair slicked like Robert Young’s in Father Knows Best, I’m reminded of the late 1950s. It’s an era for which Republicans seem to feel nostalgia. A family with a father who goes off to work every morning, a wife who greets him in the evening wearing high heels and makeup. And who has dinner waiting. Back then our society had order—or appeared to.
Back then most white people were still unaware of African Americans organizing for equal opportunities and the right to vote. Men were unaware that women were searching for opportunities to use their gifts for the benefit of society. Straights were unaware that gays and lesbians were running our banks, teaching in our schools, playing on our professional sports teams.
During the fifties my mother had the skills to run a corporation. Her job title was secretary, though she did the hiring, firing, and book-keeping for a chain of three drugstores. Once, when she complained that her workload was too big, her boss handed her a ten-dollar bill and said, “Here, go buy a hat.” Eventually he hired a book-keeper, a man of course, who made twice her salary.
With women on TV either for decorative purposes or as the recipients of men’s scornful humor, we girls had only the role model of teacher, nurse, social worker. I settled for teacher but soon discovered I didn’t really like kids—at least not thirty at a time. So I wasn’t disappointed when school district policy dictated that I quit my teaching job when I was four months pregnant. Women, you see, couldn’t reveal in any way that we were sexual beings.
Of course girls couldn’t either. While “boys will be boys” permitted all sorts of male behavior, girls had to pretend that our hormones were dormant. A few were called loose; occasionally one disappeared for a semester. Among girls the word “contraception” was seldom spoken above a whisper, if at all. In 1965 the Supreme Court ruled a Connecticut law banning contraception unconstitutional. Not until 1972 did the court rule that unmarried couples have the right to possess contraception.
Unless a second income was necessary for survival, husbands went out into the world and carried the burdens of government, church, and community. Women had little say over our lives; men made important decisions.
Now the Romney-Ryan ticket, along with other Republican men, would have us return to the 1950s. Before he changed his stance in the foreign-policy debate, Romney cited Russia as our biggest geopolitical threat. It was. During the fifties. Republicans want to return to the order—or at least the illusion of it—they remember: African-Americans in their place, women and their sexuality under the close supervision of men; gays and lesbians back in the closet.
But you can’t stuff toothpaste back in the tube. Today cultures live side by side and demand equal rights and prosperity in our country. Young people are growing up in settings that bring together races, ethnic groups, male and female, gay and straight. I admit I’m not comfortable with all the changes in my lifetime.
But who in their right minds would want our society to return to the way it really was in the fifties?
http://nancypoling.com/2012/10/27/dear-mitt-please-not-a-repeat-of-the-1950s/
Latest Activity: Oct 27, 2012 at 5:28 PM
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Regardless - the Des Moines (Iowa) Register has just endorsed Romney (the first Republican since 1972), and Mr. Obama's nation-wide overall approval rating has plummeted seven points IN FOUR DAYS. The momentum obviously is with Romney-Ryan, and Dem support is fragmenting day- by-day. The Benghazi fiasco is also taking things from bad to worse.
Obama-Biden are on the run; the media will not save them.
P.S. Go Dawgs!
I will address one point of the above blog.
Homosexuality
I wish they would go back into the closet as that is where thy belong.
It is not natural.
It is not God's will.
It needs to be kept out of sight and never mentioned.
@sebekm- The Miami Herald, The New York Times and General Colin Powell endorsed Obama over the weekend....so, your point...The polls have improved in areas for both...Your point...The POTUS is winning in early polls and bus loads of voters are showing up...The biggest mistake the right made was trying to suppress the vote it empowered minority's to come out and vote...You know how that works..You tried your best to boot out the city council and the Mayor in Hinesville...My point exactly.
@Funk we can have several debates after you watch these videos...I don't want to start a video war with you..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqHER...
My point on the Des Moines Register is:
*Iowa is a bellwether state - one of the first that Presidential candidates seek to woo.
*The Des Moines Register is the "most influential" newspaper in Iowa - one whose endorsement is sought by the candidates.
*The DMR is historically very LIBERAL - they have not endorsed a Republican since 1972.
*In 2008, they strongly endorsed OBAMA. Now they call Romney the "stronger candidate" who could "forge compromise" to pull America's economy "out of the doldrums."
*In the political world, the endorsement of the DMR is a big deal.
An endorsement by the newspapers you cite and Colin Powell are no surprise. It would have been "news" if they had gone the other way. When the DMR endorses a Repubican, it is "newsworthy" and is a further indication of the fragmentation of Obama's support.
As for my "trying my best to boot out the city council and the mayor in Hinesville," I'm not sure that posting anything here (which was the extent of my "attempts") could be considered "trying my best." The mayoral election was closer than it would have been - it was his own fault. When the vast majority of the city council runs unoppposed, there's not much you can do - other than speak out against corruption, nepotism, racism (yes, it works both ways), and incompetence.
I agree with your on all Points..In this race all endorsements are key. Mitts new endorsement is a good one but it the POTUS as received twice as many this weekend. As far as the City its not enough to vote out the Council or Mayor...There are a lot of problems internal with the Executive Staff..
"There are a lot of problems internal with the Executive Staff.."
Small town politics is always a fertile breeding ground for "problems." No checks and balances like in the big cities (but a lot of good they do there - they just find a way around them). What you have to beware of in small towns especially is jobs being "handed down" or surreptitiously given to friends, family members, cronies, "political allies," etc. Throw in a little (or a lot) of racism, and you get one hell of a mess.
We're probably no worse off around here than in most places. Check out what happened in Bell County, CA. We haven't gotten there - YET - but the Carolyn Brown case showed us we are not immune to gross malfeasance in local public office.
There's a lot of frustration - which is vented here - but not a whole lot that can be done other than to vote for candidates who are not connected to the "ins" when they DO run. We've missed several opportunities in the past 20 years around here.
After all is said and done, I'd rather have an UN-connected newbie who doesn't have a whole lot of experience but who is honest, than a clever, well-connected schmoozer who will continue the old ways and carry on the local "tradition."
"There are a lot of problems internal with the Excutive Staff.."
Therin lies the problem...................the bureaucrats.
Our local government has a firmly entrenched bunch of them in all of the offices in the courthouse as well as the city hall.
I've watched this evolve ever since the late forties.
I'm sure that this community is not the only place where this problem exists.
I imagine most places are just like us.
I've never lived anywhere else although I've seen about half of this great country.
I've lived here and I've been well acquainted with the "goings on" for over seventy years.
Our elected officials are not the driving force behind our out of control tax and spend local government.
I'm glad I'm as old as I am.
The liberals and the tolerant of everything bleeding hearts have just about sucked all of the marrow from the bone.
If Obama is re-elected I fear that he will drive right on forward and take us over the cliff.
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