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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Today's Note From a Madman
April 24, 2008
Ignoring Women
QUESTION: How many Republican Senators does it take to screw up a good bill?
ANSWER: Just enough.
A vote for an equal-pay-or-else bill was opposed and blocked by enough Senate
Republicans that it couldn't get even to a vote to allow it to move on to
President Bush's desk, where it was headed for a veto.
Almost a year ago, since retired Lilly Ledbetter, the only female supervisor in
an Alabama tire plant, had her $3 million award for unequal pay reversed by the
most political, most worker-unfriendly Supreme Court in recent history. Her
claim was that she was being paid less than her male counterparts simply because
they were male.
The vote was 5-4, with the usual suspects voting the way the usual suspects
always do.
The problem which the Supreme Court had was that Ms. Ledbetter didn't file the
suit within 180-days of finding out about the pay disparity.
Although the lower courts had always used the 180-day rule as it applied to the
most recent paycheck (probably realizing that any woman who makes such waved
might have a problem keeping her job or gaining a new job), the (Un)Fabulous
Five on the Court decided that it applied to the first paycheck alone.
In other words, the statute of limitations applied and she was out of luck.
The Democrats in the senate jumped right into the fray with a bill to protect
women nationwide from similar non-action in the future. However the Republicans,
all but six of them, decided to side with the President and the sexists,
probably with a lot of prodding from the White House.
But there were other reasons that the GOP Upper House members decided to oppose
the bill:
"We understand people have to run for president. But to have the schedule of the
Senate completely revolve around the schedule of the Democratic presidential
candidates strikes me as particularly ridiculous."
-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (REPUBLICAN-KY)
Oh, I get it now... the timing was just wrong and you wanted to punish the two
still-campaigning Democratic candidates. That makes sense, in some bizzarro way.
Wasn't it the likes of the REPUBLICAN Senate leadership who called the whole
Senate into session to vote on a bill for one person (Terri Schiavo)? Wasn't it
President Bush who flew back from one of his many, many vacations to also sign
the Schiavo bill into law? (Remember, this is the same President Bush who
"buzzed" New Orleans after the worst natural disaster in our nation's history
after attending a birthday party for Senator John McCain while people were dying
in the Big [Un]Easy.)
Somehow women's rights for an equal shot just don't make the cut.
And if you were curious as to where John McCain stood on the issue, join the
club. He has yet to make a statement about the bill and the issue and didn't
even bother to chow up for such a historic measure. Surely if he supported this
very basic women's right, he would have been the great influence to push the
bill through. After all, he is the new GOP leader, isn't he?
And why wasn't he there anyway? Perhaps, like the economy, he knows little about
such issues. Or maybe he just doesn't want to make such a tough decision.
Maybe he played Hamlet in High school and has yet to feel comfortable making
decisions. ("To be, or not to be.)
And how does one know that blocking this bill was a bad idea? Even Senator Kay
Bailey Hutchinson (REPUBLICAN-TX) couldn't spin it against her Democratic foes:
"There's definitely something I could have voted for."
-Hutchinson
But it isn't something that enough GOP Senators could have voted for. And I hope
that our nation's women voters make them aware of their mistake.
-Noah Greenberg
In response to, "But why won't Rice meet with Hamas? One would think that the
lesson of not meeting with our enemies is one we would have learned by mow.
Hamas is the ruling party in Gaza. Mahmoud Abbas, the "other" Palestinian leader
is in a semi-exile in the West Bank and certainly holds no power over the small
strip of land (Gaza) which should be the focus of attention. Does Rice think
that by not meeting with Hamas that anything will be accomplished?" Robert
Scardapane writes:
I know I said this before but it's worth repeating. The problem with dismissing
Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations is that they are embedded in
their societies. They are both political parties; Hamas in the West Bank / Gaza
Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They also run much of the social infrastructure
such as hospitals.
Therefore, the people of these regions don't see them as purely "evil doers". I
make no excuses for them when they become violent; they can't have it both ways.
But, simply stamping them as terrorists is over simplistic and creates a
situation where progress is impossible. The United States should encourage them
to condemn violence as a means to an end but the US should not be phonies. The
US has committed acts of violence in the Middle East by invading Iraq for no
reason and the subsequent bloody occupation. The US has not set a good example
to say the least.
In response to "Jimmy Carter will always get the benefit of my doubt," Gayle
writes:
Me too.
And David McReynolds writes:
Thanks much for your comments on Jimmy Carter. Unlike Clinton, who has grown
rich but shrunk in stature, Carter has, like a good wine, improved with age. And
tell your friends that my hunch is a majority of your fellow Jews agree with you
on this, not with Rush Limbaugh.
Send your comments to: NationalView@aol.com
-Noah Greenberg