Morning Widdershins: The Angry American Woman
Posted by: chatblu on: March 30, 2010
- In: Economy | Morning Widdershins | Obama | Open Thread | Politics | Propaganda | Women
- Comment!
She's Angry!
I spent the week-end at a cat show, and I’m not at all certain that I had a nice time. Oh, I enjoyed the cat show, per se, and that part went quite well. However, rarely have I spent a week-end with such an unhappy group of people.
The cat fancy – breeders, exhibitors and judges – are preponderantly female. The cat fancy also covers the gamut of politics, religion, regions, and national origin. The only tie that binds us is the love of cats. What also bound the exhibitors this week-end was anger.
I missed seeing many exhibitors who have become my friends over the years, as they have had to stop showing their cats. The entry fees themselves are the least of your worries. You also need to get to the show and find a place to stay. As The State-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named boasts an unemployment rate of 12.2%, grim fiscal reality has cut into many people’s show habits. A number of breeders have closed their catteries, neutered and spayed their cats, and placed them into pet homes. The maximum unemployment rate here is $256.00 per week, which in most instances won’t feed and shelter you, much less your cats.
At any rate, suffice to say that the mood was tense, and the anger palpable. These are middle-aged to “seniors”, and they have worked hard for most of their lives. They have not lived extravagantly, they paid their bills and their taxes, and tried to be good citizens. They now have a new reality – their investments are worth much less, the value of their homes has dropped in half, and they are losing their jobs. They must wait longer to collect Social Security, and they are probably not going to find much in the way of employment at their age. So who are they mad at? Why, the Democrats, of course.
The Democrats, you see, are spending us into oblivion. Why, our great-great-GREAT-grandchildren are going to have to pay off these bills. If you try to point out that the Republicans spent a ton of bucks on war, they snarl “That was to keep us safe”. Of course it was…
Sadly, these women parrot what they have heard from the Right. They want to cut entitlements, until you point out that this means Medicare and Social Security. They are afraid of the “death panels”, and I heard this over and over this week-end. I finally told them that I watched C-Span for hours upon end, listening to the Republicans offer amendment after amendment. Not one of those amendments was to repeal the “death panels”. Therefore, either they aren’t there or the Republicans want you to die, too. I honestly don’t believe that they heard a single word that I said.
If you look at the Tea Party videos, many of the faces in the crowd are women, and their faces are snarling in rage. I have seen this type of anger before in the sixties with both civil rights and anti-war demonstrations, but not since. It is palpable, and it is frightening. It is anger stoked by fear, which may just be anger at its most dangerous.
This is an open thread.
36 Responses to "Morning Widdershins: The Angry American Woman"
March 30, 2010 at 8:29 AM
Oh gosh — what a great subject. It is really doubtful that most people not into cat (or dog) breeding realize the work and money that goes into preserving breeding lines. THIS IS THE middle class and yes the middle class –women especially are pissed — big time.
These women are being fed a line of BS — along the lines — 0bowma is a socialist etc. It is as if the right wing has their mind control teams out. The indoctrination does seem to be surface — because often when one points out the holes in “blame the dems” — really should be blame ALL politicians for selling out to lobbyist and Wall Street crooks (like Goldman-sachs-sucks) etc etc — very often a light bulb will go off.
There is unfocused anger (rage almost) that is being targeted skillfully at the Dems — especially since all the politicians ignored the will of the people for single payer or universal health care. I doubt that the dems will ever see what they have done — basically the politicians don’t give a fig.
Hopefully at some point the 0bowman family handlers will remember history and how the middle class can only be squeezed and insulted by a outrageous consumption. The story of Agamemnon and Cassandra returning to his home after a long journey — and carpets were placed on the ground for him to walk on. The wife left behind had her revenge by focusing the anger of the population on the arrogant husband.
Vote all the bastards out!!!
March 30, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Sounds pretty scary, chat!
I wonder if what we’re seeing is the fall of another civilization. Rome burned. So did a few others before it. Maybe now is our time. This massive shift to the Right certainly feels like the end of the world.
March 30, 2010 at 9:19 AM
Well, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about empires, it’s that they do fall. Ours has become extremely decadent and rotted from within. Perhaps it is our time…but maybe we are too big to fail, as the saying goes.
Jeff Roby, of the Full Court Press, thinks there will be a liberal third-party challenger to Obama in 2012. I wonder if that’s true, and if so, how will he/she avoid being crushed between the Chicago Machine on the Dem side, and the Rightwing Scream Machine on the Repub side? Plus, there’s the Tea Party, whatever the hell it’s mutated into now. I’m quite sure we will see someone like Ron Paul emerge as their candidate. But the Tea Party has big Repub money behind it, so they’ll probably be able to compete.
As the Chinese curse goes, “May you live in interesting times.”
March 30, 2010 at 9:35 AM
@2: You bet it takes time, work, and money to keep healthy breeding lines intact. These are women who haven’t asked a lot out of life, and who worked pretty hard for what they have – or actually, what they had. It was an interesting week-end, if a bit unnerving. If this anger is any further channelled, it will become a huge problem.
March 30, 2010 at 10:12 AM
By the way, chat, you mentioned fear as a powerful force that motivates anger. In the wake of the recent Moscow Subway bombings, we Noo Yawkahz are getting pushed to feel terra terra terra! once again.
The Moscow subway bombings put New Yorkers on edge – and prompted a surge in security.
By the time most people awoke to news of yesterday’s twin terror blasts that killed dozens, the NYPD had flooded city subways with extra cops.
Officers with bomb-sniffing dogs swept train cars, and cops set up tables near turnstiles to do random bag checks.
Armed national guardsmen in military fatigues patrolled Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station and other transit hubs.
For commuters, it was a frightening déjà vu.
“I am scared, of course,” said Theartis Yarborough, 46, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, as he rode the A train from 42nd St.
“You don’t know who is the next bomber,” he said.
Attacks on subways in London and Madrid have prompted similar scares in New York.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said the show of force was simply a precaution.
The way this story is being reported, it’s as if no one has noticed that terrorism hasn’t stopped since we invaded Iraq. The corporate media is STILL pushing the idea that Bush made us safer, even though many reports have been issued that show that terrorism has increased exponentially since March 2003. Duh, if you’re a New Yorker, you know that another attack could happen any time. You just deal with it.
Meanwhile this morning on NBC, Matt Lauer was doing his job to push more rightwing narratives. Obama was going to be the guest on the Today show, and Lauer was going to ask him “How can this health care bill be good for America if not one Republican voted for it?”
I swear to Goddess, I feel like Bush never left the White House.
March 30, 2010 at 10:14 AM
I think the danger is that the Left doesn’t take this anger seriously. The “Tea Party” (or as MB says, whatever it’s mutated into) – and the anger it represents – is dismissed and laughed at by the Left. They just think there’s a bunch of crazy old uneducated white women having tea and throwing darts at a poster of Obama. So they don’t actually deal with any problem or threat they represent. Which means it will get worse one way or another
March 30, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Ahhh, the cops in the subways. Great. At the station where I exit, because of the number of people who try to leave through a single turnstile, someone inevitably opens the emergency exit so it doesn’t take 10 mins to clear get outside. Yesterday a cop stood by this emergency door and wouldn’t let anyone exit through it. So there we were, all 150 or so of us, filing through a single turnstile. Thanks NYPD! That cop really did his job and kept us all safe…yesterday. He wasn’t there today.
March 30, 2010 at 10:39 AM
I reckon that he did such a bang-up job yesterday that all of your worries are over.
March 30, 2010 at 10:53 AM
@7 – I agree. The regressive blogosphere is in full-on denial mode about populist anger, for the most part. They fail to see how any of what’s happening could be blamed on the Greatest President Evah! They natter on about filibusters and Republican obstructionism. The general population doesn’t care about that sh*t, especially since Obama himself doesn’t even support that narrative (why would he? he’s there to PROP UP the Republicans, not destroy them!).
People want jobs, not excuses. People are starving and have nowhere to live because of the financial meltdown that is still going on, and actually getting worse. Passing health Whatever at this point in time was a ridiculous, stupid thing to do – unless, of course, they were going to do a Medicare expansion and improvement, which would have created jobs.
Just because the spoiled, elitist, Libertarian pus-brains that pass for pundits in this country don’t get populist anger, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. They’ll be insulting and dismissing the phenomenon right up until their careers and homes lie in smoking ruins.
March 30, 2010 at 11:26 AM
I just got an e-mail with an appeal for more money from Connie Saltanstall.
March 30, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Did anyone get the e-mail from No Limits about the health care bill? Here is a list of the highlights, according to them: (Please excuse my lack of formatting. I really need to figure that out.)
—————–
“This long-needed bill is not perfect, but it will bar predatory insurance practices and expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured.
90 Days After Enactment
Immediate access to high-risk pools, which must be set up for people who have no insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
6 Months After Enactment
Adults cannot be dropped from their insurance when they get sick, and there will no longer be a lifetime cap on coverage.
Health plans are prohibited from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.*
Young people can remain on their parents’ insurance policy until their 26th birthday.
Preventive services such as cervical and breast cancer screenings will be covered under all new private plans – with NO co-payments and NO deductible.
Small businesses that offer coverage will be eligible for tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums, making employee coverage more affordable.
We begin to close the gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plan known as the “Doughnut hole” by providing a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries.
*While some insurance companies argue with this provision, the administration is planning to clarify with regulations.
By 2014
Individuals unsatisfied with their current plan or uncovered can buy into their state’s exchange programs. Subsidies for low-income individuals and families will make health insurance more affordable, and the expansion of community centers (increased funding is authorized beginning this year) will offer quality, affordable health care for millions more.
We continue to object to discriminatory treatment for women’s health. While the obnoxious “Stupak Amendment” was defeated, the bill raises new barriers for full reproductive health care. But this bill means better health care and security for millions of Americans – and that’s good news.”
—————
Is this true about cervical and breast cancer screenings? I thought that the women’s healthcare had been left out. Obviously No Limits is cherry-picking. They say the bill will bar “predatory” insurance practices but fail to mention that there are no cost-controls.
March 30, 2010 at 12:02 PM
They fail to mention that there is a mandate to purchase an unregulated product.
March 30, 2010 at 12:19 PM
@12 – Jules, I got it too. Cherry-picking is a kind word for it!
Here’s what they don’t tell you: Wimminz’ wellness exams are no longer covered. You can go in for a separate Cervical Cancer screening or Mammogram…however, your yearly checkup (pap smear, etc.) is NOT covered AFAIK. This would have been remedied by Barbara Mikulski’s amendment had it passed.
March 30, 2010 at 12:35 PM
Here is more about Mikulski’s Amendment. It passed the Senate originally, but was considered “a path to abortion” by the fundiegelical freaks, and IIRC, it was not included in the final bill.
March 30, 2010 at 1:01 PM
@ 13: Chatblu, well said.
@14-15: Madamab, thank you. I am sick to death of partial information, slanted information, and outright lying that are coming from both sides.
March 30, 2010 at 2:47 PM
Mad-you all have a big problem with Chechen rebels in NYC? I thought that’s who they decided was responsible for the Moscow attacks?
I know, I know…anything to keep the public in “terrorist” mode. 
March 30, 2010 at 2:56 PM
I guess you all heard the shocker of the day…
Completely surprised me….NOT
March 30, 2010 at 3:23 PM
I didn’t realize he was still in the closet. I think he shares it with Cooper Anderson and Charlie Crist.
March 30, 2010 at 3:34 PM
I thought everyone knew Ricky Martin was gay?! He’s been out for like 20 years now! 
@17 – Yes, apparently we are all going to be invaded by Chechen rebels shortly. Putin is fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here!
Actually, we are more likely to drown in all the d*mn rain than to be attacked by anyone from Mother Russia, I think.
March 30, 2010 at 3:34 PM
DYB-neither did I. It must have been a secret just to himself. Although, when I was reading about it (somewhere) he does have 2 kids, he had with a surrogate mother.
March 30, 2010 at 3:41 PM
Putin is fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here!
Well bless his heart!
I did hear you all were getting hammered with the rain.
March 30, 2010 at 4:02 PM
By 2014
Individuals unsatisfied with their current plan or uncovered can buy into their state’s exchange programs.
Just reading this. I wonder how in the hell that’s going to work (state exchanges)in “red states” that hate this plan and don’t want to see it implemented?
Somehow I don’t see those states doing very much, if anything, with the exchanges.
March 30, 2010 at 4:44 PM
@27 – There’s a reason that these things don’t happen till 2014…it’s because they won’t happen.
March 30, 2010 at 5:13 PM
@30 – There’s also another reason…due to the pay-go legislation in the House, every bill must pay for itself within ten years. The exchanges originally were to be funded via taxes, which in the original House bill were to be immediately levied on those making $250,000/year or more. Even with that influx of cash, it would have taken at least four years of income to pay for 6 years of the exchanges.
I have no idea how the exchanges would be paid for now. It’s probably completely different.
March 30, 2010 at 5:36 PM
there is no constitutional force behind pay-go if congress chooses to ignore it they are free to do so….
March 30, 2010 at 5:53 PM
I keep responding but no one in the email room is listening or are they just mainlining KoolAid? here is my response to all the DCCC and Democratic poop in the email box…
Not one penny OF MY MONEY not one hour OF MY VOLENTEER TIME and not one vote ON MY BALLOT until the democratic party stops acting like Republlicans and passing republican legislation!
why do you hat women so much? It is proofed in the fact that you have enshrined the Hyde Amendment in law and Stupak thru executive order….this Bill should be called “The Mandatory Insurance Corporation Obscene Profits Act”!
You Gals & Guys suck!
March 30, 2010 at 6:35 PM
This was over at Susie Madrak’s site and I almost fell out of the chair!
March 30, 2010 at 7:14 PM
Fuzzybeargville said = “The Mandatory Insurance Corporation Obscene Profits Act”
What would happen if Everyone purchased STOCK in these insurance companies — and go to stock holders meetings?
Stockholders vote.
March 30, 2010 at 11:37 PM
Hey all – will YOU take the Tea Party Pledge?
http://bluelyon.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/the-tea-party-pledge/
Comments are closed.
L 2012 – Support Your Local Lefties!
Top Stories – Google News
- Clinton blasts China, Russia over Syria - CBS News February 25, 2012
- Iran has expanded sensitive nuclear work: UN agency - Reuters February 25, 2012
- For Romney, a Message Lost in the Empty Seats - New York Times February 25, 2012
Recent Comments
 | madamab on New Year’s Eve Widdershi… |
 | Eddie on New Year’s Eve Widdershi… |
 | HT on New Year’s Eve Widdershi… |
| madamab on New Year’s Eve Widdershi… |
| madamab on Happy New Year – We… |
March 30, 2010 at 7:59 AM
During the weekend I watched on The News – from two different countries! – segments about hunger in the US. One was about the painfully high number of kids, that don’t get enough to eat on a daily basis. The other concentrated on NYC, with a baffling 1200 soupkitchens!
This is the website of New York City Coalition Against Hunger http://www.nyccah.org/ Depressing statistics.
Yet the first lady takes her kids on an afternoon trip to Brooklyn – for pizza! Only a week after she took them to a Broadway Show. – The cost of those trips?
Somehow the Obama couple both come off as ignorant of the problems and struggles of the “commoners” and sort of … above the rest of us. Entitled. Or …?