“If we can stop sexual harassment in the workplace...women will only have to deal with harassment all the time at every other place they go.”
—-Jimmy Kimmel
I am not sure which is more disgraceful...the number of politicians who have inappropriately touched people or a political atmosphere where the major goal is to highlight every misstep an opponent ever took in his/her life. If the latter doesn’t stop, our political system and our country itself will fall to the wayside. It is time that our politicians do the job that they were elected to do, and we judge and vote for them because of their ability to deliver on their promises.
We have to remember that what is considered wildly inappropriate now was accepted as mild flirting years ago. When Joe Biden massaged a woman’s shoulders or kissed her hair he thought he was being “cute” and would have been horrified to think he was sexually harassing her. That doesn’t excuse it, but it also doesn’t foreshadow how he would handle the presidency.
George H. W. Bush was certainly inappropriate when he grabbed the buttocks of several young women. His “joke” claiming that "David Cop-a-feel" was his favorite magician was just plain...gross, but it didn’t define his presidency. He made these crude gestures in front of his wife while he sat in a wheel chair. I doubt that he expected his position would help him gain sexual benefits. Nope...just being your stereo-typical “dirty old man.”
Bill Clinton had many accomplishments during his years in office. He gave us the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. His administration showed the lowest unemployment in thirty years and provided 22 million new jobs. He had the lowest crime rate in 26 years and provided 100,000 more police to our streets. Welfare reform legislation helped us attain the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years. I could go on, but none of that would change the fact that he was wildly inappropriate with women, just like his escapades with Ms. Lewinsky doesn’t change the way he performed his presidential duties.
In fact, it would be difficult to find more than a handful of Presidents who didn’t act inappropriately towards women before, during and after their respective terms, and that is sad, frightening and downright disgusting...but had little to do with their effectiveness in office. The difference today lies in a less than professional media and a World Wide Web with little self control. We know everything a candidate did (and a great deal that someone thought said candidate might possibly have done ) before he or she even formally announces his/her candidacy. It takes the focus away from his/her platform and into a personal arena that is way less relevant to the good of our country.
I am sickened by the sexual antics of men in power. I am equally sickened by a media that somehow lost its purpose and aims to titillate rather than educate. There are still some top journalists out there, and I will continue to hunt them out, but sadly they are quite literally a dying breed. Unfortunately, many of our politicians will continue to disappoint us with their moral choices, and many of our journalist will continue to focus on "who" not "what" these people have done. If you can’t get past these “me too” moments that cloud the issues than there is probably only one way to go. Vote for a woman in the 2020 election.
Speaking of a woman who will definitely get your attention, and your heart, Jodi Picoult is an author who makes me laugh and cry simultaneously. Her novel, A Spark of Light, is one in a long list of Picoult novels that will make you a super fan of this amazing author.
As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
—-Jimmy Kimmel
I am not sure which is more disgraceful...the number of politicians who have inappropriately touched people or a political atmosphere where the major goal is to highlight every misstep an opponent ever took in his/her life. If the latter doesn’t stop, our political system and our country itself will fall to the wayside. It is time that our politicians do the job that they were elected to do, and we judge and vote for them because of their ability to deliver on their promises.
We have to remember that what is considered wildly inappropriate now was accepted as mild flirting years ago. When Joe Biden massaged a woman’s shoulders or kissed her hair he thought he was being “cute” and would have been horrified to think he was sexually harassing her. That doesn’t excuse it, but it also doesn’t foreshadow how he would handle the presidency.
George H. W. Bush was certainly inappropriate when he grabbed the buttocks of several young women. His “joke” claiming that "David Cop-a-feel" was his favorite magician was just plain...gross, but it didn’t define his presidency. He made these crude gestures in front of his wife while he sat in a wheel chair. I doubt that he expected his position would help him gain sexual benefits. Nope...just being your stereo-typical “dirty old man.”
Bill Clinton had many accomplishments during his years in office. He gave us the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. His administration showed the lowest unemployment in thirty years and provided 22 million new jobs. He had the lowest crime rate in 26 years and provided 100,000 more police to our streets. Welfare reform legislation helped us attain the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years. I could go on, but none of that would change the fact that he was wildly inappropriate with women, just like his escapades with Ms. Lewinsky doesn’t change the way he performed his presidential duties.
In fact, it would be difficult to find more than a handful of Presidents who didn’t act inappropriately towards women before, during and after their respective terms, and that is sad, frightening and downright disgusting...but had little to do with their effectiveness in office. The difference today lies in a less than professional media and a World Wide Web with little self control. We know everything a candidate did (and a great deal that someone thought said candidate might possibly have done ) before he or she even formally announces his/her candidacy. It takes the focus away from his/her platform and into a personal arena that is way less relevant to the good of our country.
I am sickened by the sexual antics of men in power. I am equally sickened by a media that somehow lost its purpose and aims to titillate rather than educate. There are still some top journalists out there, and I will continue to hunt them out, but sadly they are quite literally a dying breed. Unfortunately, many of our politicians will continue to disappoint us with their moral choices, and many of our journalist will continue to focus on "who" not "what" these people have done. If you can’t get past these “me too” moments that cloud the issues than there is probably only one way to go. Vote for a woman in the 2020 election.
Speaking of a woman who will definitely get your attention, and your heart, Jodi Picoult is an author who makes me laugh and cry simultaneously. Her novel, A Spark of Light, is one in a long list of Picoult novels that will make you a super fan of this amazing author.
As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
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