It’s Time for Some PUMA Action!

by LadyBoomerNYC and MadamaB

Well, folks, we are finally, as LadyBoomerNYC says, Ready to Rumble! And roar, the way only PUMAs can.

Yes, it’s the launch of…the New York Area PUMAs for Women’s Rights!

 

In 2008, protesters from all over the country made their voices heard in D.C.

The PUMA movement was born spontaneously in the zeitgeist around the May 31, 2008 DNC RBC meeting in Washington, DC. We mobilized to action during the shocking events leading up to and as a result of the Democratic Party’s betrayal of the fair reflection of the voters.

So, PUMAs . . . what are you doing now?

We New York Area PUMAs are still connected! We have formed an unaffiliated grassroots group, and created a new blog: NYPWR: New York Area PUMAs for Women’s Rights. Our mission is articulated by Hillary Rodham Clinton in her statement that “women’s rights are human rights.”

We will have meetings, events and actions of our own, and we will also link to other groups and actions to which we’ve given our PUMA Roars of Approval!

NYPWR’s leadership includes TPT/NY, LadyBoomerNYC, MadamaB and Sheri Tag.

If you’re in the NY Area, including any Eastern states, and want to join us, please visit NYPWR, say hi, subscribe to our blog, and sign up for our email list!

This Week’s Events

New York City

The Sky Below film screening presented by the Foreign Policy Association
Wed, April 8th, 5:30-8 pm, Scandinavia House, NYC

Click here for more info and tickets. Watch the amazing trailer!

Don’t miss this award-winning documentary film about the partition of the Indian subcontinent, with NY PUMA, Director Sarah Singh.

NYC & Nationwide

A New Way Forward, a coalition of progressive organizations, is planning protests all over the country, this Saturday, April 11, 2 pm EDT. Sign the pledge on their website and send a message to the President and Congress to break up the banks, fix them, and resell them to the private sector.

NYC protest is in Union Square. Find a protest in your city and sign up!

 And….let’s not forget the awful “conscience rule” that Bush saddled us with. There is a 30-day comment period that must be exhausted before Obama does whatever he’s going to do about it. Let’s make sure he hears OUR point of view, shall we? Click here to email the HHS. (Sponsored by the National Partnership for Women and Families).

Okay, PUMAs—it’s time to emerge from our chilly hibernation! Let’s go! We’re just getting warmed up!

P.S. Hooray for the Vermont State Legislature! Equal rights for all!

The Tale of The Widdershins: A Play in One Long, Strange Act.

Morning all! I opened The Widdershins with this play about our origins. If you missed it last night, here it is again. Enjoy – and please stop by The Widdershins today to see GaryChapelHill, LadyBoomerNYC, Mawm, SheriTags, and yours truly!

THE SCENE: A field of grass. A spotlight alights on center stage, where six people can be seen, standing and talking in an animated and friendly way.

The spotlight moves off the group and rests downstage right, where we see a podium. A woman and a man sit beside it; these are THE NARRATORS. The man is holding a large, old-fashioned book upon which can clearly be seen the title: The Tale of the Widdershins. THE NARRATORS look at each other, then the male NARRATOR nods and takes the book up to the podium. He turns on the reading light, clears his throat, and begins his tale.

MALE NARRATOR: Once upon a time, there was a group of people who loved American politics and followed it obsessively. Since they were mostly liberals, they allied themselves with the Democratic Party, calling themselves…(dramatic pause)…Democrats. These so-called Democrats gathered in a fantastical place called “The Internet,” which, although it could not be seen, nonetheless provided an indispensible forum for discussion (and well-honed snark) during the bleak years of President George W. Bush’s interminable Reign of Error.

(The Female NARRATOR gets up and joins her male counterpart at the podium. She reads the next paragraph of the story.)

FEMALE NARRATOR: The Democrats were united in their hatred of George Bush and their optimism for the next President, who would surely be a Democrat as well. As a member of their Party, he or she would also share and promote their values.

(The spotlight goes back to the field of grass, where individuals in the group begin to speak.)

DEMOCRAT #1: George Bush is the Worst President Ever. I cannot wait until 2008.

DEMOCRAT #2: Impeach Bush and Cheney! Nancy Pelosi for President!

DEMOCRAT #3: End the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan!

DEMOCRAT #4: Save Roe v. Wade!

DEMOCRAT #5: Save the environment!

DEMOCRAT #6: Save the economy! No more trickle-down economics!

ALL DEMOCRATS IN UNISON: Republicans suck! Gooooooo, team!

(The spotlight swings back to the podium, where the NARRATORS are now looking at each other with knowing smiles on their faces.)

FEMALE NARRATOR: It seemed nothing could go wrong for the Democrats. They all cared about the same issues, and there was no way they could lose in 2008. Yes, the future was rosy…until something very strange happened. A new figure appeared on the scene – a man some called, “The One,” but others called by his name: Barack Obama. And the Democrats had their first encounter with: Disloyalty.

Launch of The Widdershins!

GaryChapelHill, Lady Boomer NYC, MadamaB, Mawm, and Sheri Tag invite you to their new blog: The Widdershins.

Widdershins means to take a course opposite that of the sun, going counterclockwise, left hand-wise, or to circle an object, by always keeping it on the left.

We are a mostly left-leaning community that was founded by bloggers who were orphaned by the hostile takeover of the Democratic Party in 2008 under the mantra of “Hope” and “Change” by decidedly non-liberal forces. These autocrats were aided by one of the most disciplined propaganda machines that this country has ever seen. They infiltrated the party, the mainstream media, and the so called “progressive blogosphere” that many of us had wrongly assumed to be just that, progressive.

Read more About us here.

The bloggers at The Widdershins would like to invite you to join us in an ongoing conversation about politics, economics, culture, art, or any other thing that might pop into your head. We don’t have any rules about being a member of this community other than showing respect and civility to those that you meet here. If you are reading this, we hope that you will take a moment to see what we’re all about, and maybe throw in your two cents as well.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Join Us Tonight at 8 pm on No We Won’t…

hosted by the Stupendous Sheri Tags, the Absolutely Fabulous AngieNC, and yours truly, Marvelous MadamaB!

I have to tell you a secret. Something special is going to happen tonight right after the show, and if you don’t listen, you will miss it! So be there, or be, like, totally uncool!

Click the picture to listen.

No We Won't!

Whither Iraq?

Over Here, Barack

In a post entitled “But Hillary Voted for the Warrrrrrrrr!“, I detailed the absurdity of the default Obot position that Barack Obama was somehow “superior” to Hillary Clinton regarding Iraq, simply because he had given a speech in 2002 stating that he was against the invasion.

Did any of the Obots even know Hillary Clinton’s plan to end the war in Iraq? Or did her scary ladyparts get in the way?

Here is the portion, found at the above link, that makes me especially sad today.

SUMMARY OF HILLARY CLINTON’S PLAN TO END THE IRAQ WAR

(Source: Hillary for President website)

If President Bush does not end the war, when Hillary Clinton is President, she will. Her three-step plan would bring our troops home, work to bring stability to the region, and replace military force with a new diplomatic initiative to engage countries around the world in securing Iraq’s future. Hillary has been fighting every day in the Senate to force the President to change course. And today she described how she would bring the war to an end.

Starting Phased Redeployment within Hillary’s First Days in Office: The most important part of Hillary’s plan is the first: to end our military engagement in Iraq’s civil war and immediately start bringing our troops home.

As President, one of Hillary’s first official actions would be to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff, her Secretary of Defense, and her National Security Council.

She would direct them to draw up a clear, viable plan to bring our troops home starting with the first 60 days of her Administration.

She would also direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to prepare a comprehensive plan to provide the highest quality health care and benefits to every service member — including every member of the National Guard and Reserves — and their families.

Well, Obots, it’s been more than 60 days since Obama was inaugurated. What’s he doing about Iraq? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Is the issue which provided the official excuse to excoriate Hillary Clinton on a daily basis no longer important to you?

The Obamas Meet the Queen: A Play in One Embarrassing Act.

Not Again!

Note: Thanks to commenter jules, for the inspiration for this play!

THE SCENE: Buckingham Palace. HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH and her consort, PRINCE PHILIP, are lying in bed in their elaborate, gilded suite. It’s been a long day – they’ve just spent it with America’s First Couple, BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA. They are both exhausted, but not ready to go to sleep just yet. They are wearing monogrammed, silk pajamas with royal crests on them. Reading glasses and old-fashioned nightcaps adorn their royal heads. HMQE is reading The Guardian, while PP is reading OK!.)

HMQE (acerbically, putting down the newspaper): Any good pictures of Britney today, darling?

PP (absorbed): Hmmmmm?

(PP looks over at his wife, reads her mood, and puts down the magazine.)

PP (sympathetically): What is it, darling? Are you still upset about today?

HMQE (bursting out with repressed frustration): Of course I am! I don’t understand how you can just sit there and read that wretched rag, while I’m lying here in a tizzy!

PP: Now, darling, try to remain calm.

HMQE: CALM? (getting out of bed and crossing to her dressing table) CALM? You want me to be CALM? I’m utterly prostrate, Philip, I really am.

(collapses into the chair in front of her dressing table, head in hands)

PP: I’m so sorry, darling. (gets out of bed, crosses to the chair and puts his hands comfortingly on her shoulders) They really are dreadful, aren’t they? I suppose those etiquette lessons were a waste of everyone’s time.

HMQE (despairingly): Oh, Philip, when will the Americans elect a President who has manners and class? We had to deal with that idiotic, brain-damaged Bush for eight years – a man who actually thought it was appropriate to WINK at me. I’m surprised he didn’t ask me to pull his finger!

PP (comfortingly): Well, at least HE’s out of the picture, thank goodness.

HMQE: But now – now they’ve elected Barack Obama. And let me tell you, Philip, I am NOT amused. How DARE he send back that bust of Winston? Winston was a wonderful man and a great ally of Americans in World War II. Does he have no sense of history?

PP: Appalling, darling.

It’s That Time Again…

Join me and my fellow Viewians Regency, AngieNC and State of Disbelief for another funny, feminist hour and a half in:

The View…from Under the Bus!

Click here at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time to listen.

Be there or be bored!

Join Me On The Radio Tonight!

No We Won't!

Click here at 8 pm EST to listen!

My co-host will be the fabulous and fierce AngieNC – and perhaps Sheri Tag will call in too! StateofDisbelief, tinfoil hat firmly affixed to her head, will be doing her usual stellar job as producer.

Won’t you join us? We have so much to talk about!

Welcome Everyone!

Welcome!

Thank you all so much for stopping by and leaving your comments – it really means the world to me!

I’ve added an explanation of my comment policy on the sidebar. I’m sorry I have to do it, but things tended to get very stinky in here before I moderated everyone by default.

And since you’re all here: I’m joining the fabulous Sheri Tags tonight at 8 pm on No We Won’t PUMA Radio, so won’t you take a listen? Angie NC may join us as well!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/no-we-wont

My Dirty Little Secret…and Yes, I’ve Left The Confluence

How Barack Obama Makes Me Feel

I am an Obot!!!!1111!!!

Okay, not really. My real secret is:

Barack Obama bores me.

Do I still think he’s a misogynist, homophobic authoritarian who will go down in history as being as bad as, or worse than, Bush? Absolutely. He doesn’t have the temperament, the will or the strength to be President. He was never ready to answer that red phone at 3 am. He had a $150 million inauguration when he knew the economy was going down the toilet. He keeps the White House at 78 degrees when people are living in tent cities. He doesn’t have the experience to deal with political opposition, even pointlessly throwing birth control funding under the bus in order to get an obviously impossible 80 votes for his stimulus package in the Senate. He goes after private citizens with his bully pulpit, trying to stifle their free speech.

As we see with the continuing fiasco over the people he tries to appoint to his Cabinet and staff having to resign because of financial scandals, he doesn’t know how to hire people. He’s left Tim Geithner essentially on his own at Treasury, although the economy is the paramount issue right now. Heck, he even HIRED  Tim Geithner despite his tax cheating history.

As for his foreign policy, our only bright light is Hillary Clinton. But she must be pounding her head against the wall regarding his idiotic idea to reach out to the “moderate Taliban.” Moderate Taliban? That’s the biggest oxymoron since “jumbo shrimp.” Earth to Obama: Extremists aren’t moderate. That’s what makes them extremists.

In short, Obama is staying the course; becoming yet ANOTHER national embarrassment. This is a man who in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, spends more time traveling, partying, vacationing and making speeches (and pissing off important allies like Great Britain), than actually making decisions and governing. He could have been a fine Vice President, but he is an unmitigated disaster as President.  

But we knew that, didn’t we?