Sunday, November 08, 2009

We haven’t yet begun to fight…

Full disclosure – a bitch “reworked” President Obama’s Making history email…just a wee bit…

Shall we?

Y’all,

Over the weekend, at 11:15 p.m. Saturday night, the House of Representatives voted to fuck women when they passed a health insurance reform bill with an anti-choice amendment that includes a ban on private abortion coverage and would prohibit it in the public option. Despite countless attempts to lobby the House, enough members caved to anti-choice freaks ‘cause some Dems managed to convince themselves that passing a health care reform bill that leaves women flattened by a bus is a legislative victory.

Legislating away reproductive health care is not how we define a victory.

Fucking women over and then acting shocked when we tell their ass there’s gonna be a reckoning ain’t special…it ain’t new…and it ain’t slick.

But change is in the air.

Members didn't just witness a massive legislative fail -- they helped make it happen.

Each "yes" vote was a fubar stand, backed up by countless hours of bullshit and misinformation…temper tantrums dressed up as town halls and hundreds of thousands of calls made by a handful of people and paid phoners urging members to throw women under the bus through that anti-choice amendment from hell.

Women stood up. Women spoke up. And once again we were ignored.

This is not a time to celebrate but they can bet their ass we aren’t fixin’ to rest.

Those who voted for reform that will not include coverage for women’s reproductive health care deserve our wrath, and the next phase of this fight has already begun.

The final Senate bill hasn't even been released yet, but those who are organized against reproductive justice are already pressing hard to make sure real reform, reform that includes women’s health care needs and addresses our concerns, fails even worse than it did in the House.

So, my fellow reproductive justice activists, it is time for us to build a massive neighborhood-by-neighborhood operation to bring women’s voices to Congress.

It’s safe to say we’ve seen the result of our lack of representation this weekend.

The coming days will put our movement to the ultimate test.

Winning will require each of us to give everything we can…again...starting right now.

Please donate $5…or whatever you can afford…to a pro-choice organization so we can finish this fight.

Pick up the phone and call the White House, your Senator and then call your friends and family and tell them to get their happy asses on the phone to do the same – real reform includes women’s health care and victory is not achieved by throwing women under the bus!

The health care reform bill vote brought those in power closer to denying those in need the secure, affordable care that is our right. It was also a demonstration of how real progressive change is never made on the backs of the oppressed.

Even after last year's election, many politicians still think that the old formula of saying one thing to women’s faces then doing a different thing when it comes time to vote…after we work our asses off to get them elected so that they could TAKE A MOTHERFUCKING STAND when it counted…would be enough to keep everyone happy.

Now, they're about to learn a lesson…because women intend to make it crystal clear: the old rules have changed -- and we will not be ignored.

In the final phases of last year's election, President Obama often reminded folks, "Don't think for a minute that power concedes without a fight," and damn it all if that isn’t especially true today.

But that's okay -- we're not afraid of a fight. And we’re willing and able to prove, when all of us work together, we have what it takes to win a real victory that includes women’s health care.

Please lend your voice to pro-choice legislative action to win this fight and ensure that real health care reform…ya’know, the kind that includes reproductive health care for all Americans including women… reaches President Obama’s desk by the end of this year:

Let's remind these fools exactly who helped make history last year…

…and let us re-commit to sending pro-choice progressive candidates capable of demonstrating bitchitude when it counts to Congress in 2010.

That reads sooooo much better than the original, don’t you think?

Blink.

Y’all with me?

Let’s do this!

26 comments:

Lauren said...

Their phone mailboxes were full, but I sent angry e-mails to my senators. I plan to call tomorrow and give them a piece of my mind!

Jocelyn said...

I'm going to see if my feminist group on my college campus can do anything to help. How about a bake sale for Planned Parenthood, NARAL or an abortion fund? Young women's voices need to be heard, and unfortunately in our "democracy" it takes serious $$$ to be heard against a sea of screaming lobbyists.

Friðvin said...

Thank you so much for your anger on this. When I read about this in the paper, I just sighed. More typical bullshit. And now it goes back to the Senate for even MORE bullshit.

I will be angry. I am just too tired and fed up today.

Shark-Fu said...

Dear anonymous who tried to get ig'nant in the comments...people like you are the reason I moderate the comments and FYI people haven't used the word hoochie for years.

Toodles!

Anonymous said...

I am calling my representative first thing Monday morning.

Trudy

Ghouldilocks said...

I'm with you!

Shark-Fu said...

Okay, Anonymous person who tried to comment again.

Telling me I've been "conditioned" is a non-starter...particularly when your comment is the very definition of ditto-headed bullshit.

Get thee gone...

injaynesworld said...

Really a great post. Fired up my ass, you did!

EAMD said...

Fantastic.

We are supposed to be celebrating health care for all at the expense of health care for women? No, thanks.

Marie Simas said...

You know, not all people that are pro-life are assholes.

I used to be rabidly pro-choice, and then I learned about how the majority of abortions that are performed in India and China are for sexual selection-- basically, to terminate a female pregnancy.

It's so bad in some places that the male births exceed female births 2-1. And in India, those that cannot afford untrasounds hire special "midwives" that are trained to snap the neck of female infants. In China, amazingly, it was the Catholic Monks and Missionaries that tried to stop femal infanticide, which was estimated at about 38% of all female births.

I don't think abortion should necessarily be illegal, but now I am leaning a lot more pro-life and I am also against the death penalty. You either think that people are valuable, or you don't.

Abortion is basically a right to privacy, which I respect, believe me-- but I don't think that it's ever okay to terminate a pregnancy because of it's sex. So I guess I can't say I'm Pro-Choice, can I?

Anonymous said...

Best thing I've read about this matter yet!

If a bitch is interested, there is an interesting design created by a contributor to Queers Against Obama that a bitch might like. It is a picture of Pelosi framed by a coat hanger.

Thanks for writing this post.

EM

OuyangDan said...

Full Disclosure: Stupak's ignorant ass is my Congressman. I wrote him this past week, and will continue to do so. I can't imagine the good it will do...but I will.

Shark-Fu. You made me cry. I am so angry and feel so betrayed over this, that this post made me cry because...I have to try. I have to hope that we can still do something right. That the Native Women from Stupak's own district, the ones who still depend on IHS (the ones who joke that you can't get sick after July b/c the money's all gone) for health care and who just got fucked over again, might actually one day be able to afford health care that doesn't limit their choices.

Thank you.

Shark-Fu said...

Portuguese cunt...
Actually, you sound like a lot of pro-choice activists I know.

It sounds like you've taken some heat on that, but you won't get it from me...this isn't about you and it isn't about me.

It's about this bill with this amendment that is unacceptable...that's what this post is about.

When I want to call someone an asshole I call them an asshole...I'm not know for being subtle or leaving shit up to interpretation.

Thanks for your thoughts...

Marie Simas said...

Well thanks for not being mean to me.

Ive struggled with this, believe me. And I consider myself a Liberal. I think that contraception is a feminist issue. But I think abortion and infanticide is something else entirely.

I'm not an activist. But I feel that, as women, we have to do something about abortion-- especially in regards to sexual selection. There are places in this world where females are being ERASED... and I blame us-- the women. We are incomprehensibly powerful as the creators of life--each one of us carries a goddess within her. But we give that power away, every single day. The worst of this is when we agree, as women, that our daughters are worthless compared to our sons.

What could be more monstrous? What could be more damaging to our sex? I am tortured by this issue. And I hate what Conservatives have done--- instead of pouring money into programs that would encourage women to take their pregnancies to term, they poured Billions into Worthless abstenence-only education. The truth is, conservatives don't want to stop abortion. If they did, they would do more to help blacks and Hispanics, who are the ones who seek out abortions in disparate numbers.

In the

Unknown said...

not to mention excluding not just SRS,but anything SRS related, which means to some doctors or insurance companies, most care for trans people at all

Anonymous said...

I am with you.

I fired off a note, probably to the choir, to Lynn Woolsey, my rep.

Asap, when I can, I am donating to a pro-choice org.

I am also linking to this, my third link in a row about this Stupak guy's damnedamendment.

I am 52 yrs old and feel like the wheel must be invented again.

I am not much of an activist, but this whole this has got my dander up...big time.

Shark-Fu said...

Portuguese cunt...
As a feminist I must correct you - everything is a feminist issue.

If you would like to discuss what feminists are doing to address the issue of sexual selection contact me via email and I can connect you to groups that would welcome your support. angry black bitch at yahoo dot com.

And I caution you not to assume how others will respond.

I'm an Anthropologist by training, so I'll add another caution - there are places in the world where the devaluing of women is manifested through sexual selection. In order to have any impact on that we can not barge in...like we have in the past...and insult the hell out of people. Culture doesn't respond to that shit and it is culture that we are talking about.

So, if you want to make a difference...and it sounds like you really do...leave the blame women at the door and enter the struggle with respect for those you seek to empower.

I've seen lives changed for the better, but blaming the victim didn't have anything to do with it.

Shark-Fu said...

normal/trouble...sounds like you are more than an activist that you even know.

All - thank you for giving a damn...thank you for standing up and speaking truth to power...and thank you to being the reproductive choice movement!

Unknown said...

Hey, just so you know, the link you provided to the PP action page is personalized to you (or someone) and gives their name. I don't know how much you care about anonymity but if you do...

Anonymous said...

I've been so angry about this I haven't been able to think straight for the past 24 hours. I just sent the note off to the President and I live in Washington state so pretty much all my Representatives are reasonable people but I still email them frequently to let them know I am watching what they are doing!
I honestly think beyond emailing and calling Congress protests and marches need to take place-enough is enough. We're not all trying to have abortions for birth control purposes! Birth control and abortion shouldn't have to be bartered away to pass health reform. If you don't want to have an abortion or use birth control don't do it, if you don't want to be married to another man or woman and you are a man or a woman then don't do it. It's mindblowing in 2009 this still occurs.
I'm tired of religion and old white men (and a few women) pushing their load of bullcrap off on the rest of us.
Basically we have to hound the White House, Congress and the media so we get what should be a basic human right to quality health care which includes caring our own bodies and not other people.

Redneck Liberal said...

You gotta leave the ignorant-ass comments up so we can pick on them!

You know the problem boils down to the same thing on every issue: if it don't affect you personally, you don't care. That goes for electeds as much as anyone. Not sure how we go about changing anything on that basis.

AOB said...

I don't think that anyone who is pro choice wakes up in the morning thinking that his would be a good day for an abortion.

That being said, perhaps if the right wing fundy wackos would get off this abstinence only BS then things would be a lot different. Anyone notice that the out of wedlock birth rate is HIGHER in the bible belt?

Keep up the bitchitude! I am right there with you.

Shark-Fu said...

Thanks Vito!

pilar608 said...

De-lurking to say that I just fired off the PP email. I sent a very angry one to my Representative, who voted for the Stupak mess. Composing emails to my Senators. One of them is a fine specimen of the worthless, mealy-mouthed, Blue Dog type. Ugh.

Ryan Brunner said...

Done! PP Indiana must be starting to wonder why they don't have their own bitch to stir up donations.

Shark-Fu said...

Thank you, Brother Ryan!

And thank you everyone for taking action...let's keep the pressure on this, people!

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