I’m mad as hell but mostly exhausted
I realize Bernie dropped out a few days ago. I’m still processing. I wasn’t originally a Bernie fan. I mean, he was fine, but Liz was my choice. She didn’t get enough support, so by default I had to go with Bernie. That stung. But I dealt. But now Bernie’s out. And here’s what I’m faced with. Trump. Or Biden. And I’m pissed. And completely fucking exhausted.
Like many women, I actually grieved Elizabeth Warren’s end. When Hillary lost, we were told our country was ready for a woman in the Oval Office...just not this woman. Ok. Despite her imminent qualifications, her opponent’s utter lack of qualifications, and the fact that her opponent had multiple criminal implications, we swallowed that. With Liz, we had a candidate who was seasoned, qualified, and had well thought out plans. She still got no support. So it wasn’t not this woman, it was not ANY woman.
For reference, according to Wikipedia, 75 countries have had female heads of state since 1918. That includes countries as diverse as United Kingdom, Mongolia, Pakistan, and the Central African Republic. The fact that US women were to be denied a seat at the most important table again...yes. That deserves a beat.
It then came down to Bernie and Biden. While neither were my first choice, a curious thing happened. The Coronavirus swooped in and shut the country down, threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands, and the livelihoods of millions more. Bernie, as an active senator, worked on stimulus bills, single handedly insuring unemployment protection for gig workers. Biden? Silently carried on.
Except for that thing.
A former staffer accused Biden of rape. And let’s be honest. Joe’s been creepily handsy on women on camera and off for decades, so this isn’t hard to believe. But interestingly, this story got almost no play. Not even from #metoo movement that’s supposed to stand up for these women.
And then Bernie bowed out.
And we’re left with Trump the rapist, or Joe the rapist. And I’m exhausted. And I’m angry.
The party that is supposed to stand for women has in the course of just over a month:
- Told women they will not lead the country, no matter who they are
- Demanded that those same women vote for a rapist because he’s “not as bad as the other rapist”
Democrats have long touted the strategy of “Blue no matter who”. And then you brought me this guy. You tell me that I need to think of people of color, of wome, of Muslims, of RBG, of the courts!
And you’re right. And I’m going to tell you why NONE of that matters,
You see I, like millions of people like me, are rape survivors. When I see Biden I don’t see better than Trump. I see another rapist that you allowed to sit in that place of power. When you tell me to think of all of those people when I vote, you’ve neglected to mention the survivors of assault. And we’re told over and over to sit down. To be quiet. To not make a commotion for everyone else. We’ve done our part, you’ve failed us by putting two rapists on the ballot. You don’t get to demand anything else from me.
