Morning Widdershins: WHERE DID ALL THE FLOWERS GO?

Was it ever a “movement” or simply a “state of mind”? I was there from the outset when dismay followed disgust on May 31, 2008 when the party called for “unity” going forward and some of us just said “no deal”. The sentiment was in the outcome of a long primary when a more qualified candidate was passed over in place of one who lacked the credentials. Our primary objective was the double dealing exhibited by the Democratic leadership in their haste to proclaim Obama the winner, along with an adoring press who trumpeted his skills against a blank slate. But that is neither here nor there. The election is over, a thing of the past, and the resolution was to hold the DNC wholly responsible for backing what was perceived as the chosen candidate whose experience was slim and who had been led to the altar without proper vetting. Thus PUMA was born.

It was never intended to be anything more than a platform for change going forward, where all votes counted and the caucus system held up for future perusal. That, at least from my perspective, is what being a PUMA intended.
But somewhere along the line the basis for “holding their feet to the fire” somehow took a Right turn. GOP talking points, and those spouting them, began to emerge into the dialogue as “truth telling” propaganda.

Candidates who did not honor feminists viewpoints were being touted and held out for consideration. Some PUMA blogs began to allow links to Right Wing sites into daily discussions as proof of their own opinion while others insisted that all female candidates had to be supported regardless of where they stood on human rights or feminist issues. Women were being urged to support, or found themselves castigated if they expressed concern over this form of blindly supporting other women and summarily labeled as anti feminists, or suffering from some derangement disorder should they find themselves veering from the overall objective. Simply challenging that theory left one open to ridicule and made to feel unwelcome by refusing to embrace this theory. Other sites became a daily opportunity to bash all men as rapists and defilers while calling for castration as a solution to feminists woes.

After awhile it became an exercise in futility to remain among those voices who chose gender and gender bashing as a means to communicate among what were once likeminded blogs that had begun to lose sight of the original intent. To find oneself in the company of those leaning toward the GOP as the answer, and Sarah Palin is a member of that fraternity like it or not, became unsettling. There is nothing that the GOP offers, other than as the party who defended 8 years of George Bush and sought to impeach Bill Clinton for a minor moral lapse, is not where I was heading when I signed onto the PUMA brand.

I can separate Obama supporters from the Obots. The Obots to me were those idiots who flew into a room declaring all PUMAs as racists and bigots, referred to us as bitter knitters and worse, and were no more interested in a debate or dialogue then some PUMA sites are now enjoying. Obama supporters were those who seriously felt he would make a difference and were enveloped with the “feel good” message the press ignited by comparing him to every former icon, including Ghandi. He was no more deserving of those accolades then as he does now. He has backed off from most of the promises he made during the election and so far has done little to quell my doubts regarding his capabilities as a leader. But aside from the miserable ” Obots” who refuse to take issue with any one of those broken promises, I do not hold any grudge against Obama supporters who truly felt the opposite to my position. After 8 years of the worst administration known to our history who could deny the disenchantment of where our nation had been led?

But I am unable to understand this enthusiasm for the Right when they are the ones directly responsible for the situations we suffer today. Promoting the likes of Beck, Hannity, Malkin, Coulter, O’Reilly, Palin, and Bachmann is so contrary to someone who still believes in the principles of the Democratic Party, even though I am at odds of where it has led us so far, is beyond my capabilities. Death panels, defense of torture, homophobia, racism, lies, defending those who collaborated in the demise of the nation over the past 8 years, is proof enough that this is not what PUMA had originally sought to achieve. To turn to those same people as a source of guidance or comfort is astonishing.

Have we all but forgotten these horrendous years of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld that we would now be ready to enfold those who made it happen as reason enough to join in the litany of praise? As bad as the Dems are, and there are some who are pretty egregious, to look to the Right for answers or nurture is disturbing in and of itself.

I can criticize Obama without looking to the GOP to assuage my doubts. I can hold the Democratic leadership responsible for some of the ills facing this nation without having to offer credit to the Right. I can alter my “state of mind” by declaring that I am a “Democrat in exile” without casting my hopes toward a party made up of bigots and fundies who want to separate me from the few rights I have left to exercise.  I can do this without remorse for my decision to remain unlabeled and independent of thought.   I do not have to consider myself a PUMA in order to exercise that right to exult or despair.

I do not need a label to identify who I am.

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