This is actually a comment on MediaGirl's post That Was Then. It's all in the Past but it's too long to leave in comments.

I am thoroughly sick of the Democratic Party. They're zombies. They have no sense of urgency, no fight, no fire, no sense of timing or outrage and no idea of how to work a strategy. The only position they've taken in five years is to grab their ankles.

Why are those idiots saying they probably won't filibuster the most extreme reactionary nominated since Robert Bork? Why didn't they come out swinging after Al Gore's speech today? Why aren't they spitting nails that the man who stole two presidential elections is now ignoring FISA and spying on American citizens?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. They did stand by and let those elections be stolen. You'd think all that legal training could have come up with something after the GAO report came out that showed 2004 was fixed. Or after reporter after reporter proved that Gore won in 2000. But no.

You'd think they'd object to pResident Bush claiming to be a "war president" when only Congress can declare war, and they've done no such thing. They did give Bush power to act if Saddam didn't cooperate with the UN inspectors - but he did. Bush sent troops into Iraq anyway, knowing they had no WMD's. Bush lied to congress in the process, which is a crime. Still no outrage.

Using the mythical "war on terror"- for which the administration has done nothing to prepare except to fill vital positions with cronies and fools- as cover, the administration locked up a US citizen for over 3 years without due process. They imprisoned people who had nothing to do with the war, subjecting them to beatings, torture, and death. These acts, including the torture and rape of children, are so heinous that they defy the American psyche. Our frozen populace immobile with fear and denial, hypnotized by a well-trained, well-tamed media chanting today's Republican talking points as if they were scripture, or even fact, begs for news of one lost girl to drown out the loss of 100,000 people who never hurt an American who wasn't trying to kill them. And in our frosty sleep we lost our right to privacy, to the security of our homes, of our phones, of our own bodies. We are not free, anymore.

And yet the party asks for my money and my vote. They will not act to save the lives of my sisters who will die from unwanted or dangerous pregnancies; of STD's that might have been prevented; of AIDS spread through ignorance and deceit. They'll save a fetus and leave the born to starve. Our young and our old, our sick and our poor are being strangled with debt and red tape. They stood silent as we stood aghast at the death of New Orleans from incompetent, uncaring neglect.

They expect us to vote for candidates that see women as less than human? Who would make me the property of the state? So that courts and Congress and the men in my life determine the use of my womb?

I can't pretend to know the reason - are they making too much money to demand change? Are they afraid of getting a real job? Are they lazy, or blind, or in on the game? Whatever the reason, I'm done.

I say this one last time -

Lose Roe v. Wade and the Women in this country will BURY the Democratic Party.

Not a threat, but a promise we intend to keep. They have until January 24th to decide if I remain a Democrat or not. If they don't filibuster the vote on Sam Alito's nomination, I go to the Green Party and I take as many of my sisters as I can with me.

We've begged. We've threatened. Now, it's time to walk.

Hey, Ladies, here's a chance to reach a new audience. I"m participating in a blog carnival called God or Not - it's atheists vs. the theists on a given topic of interest to both. The next one is monday, and the topic is MIRACLES.

I know this is short notice, but if you have anything to say about Miracles, from ANY religious or non-religious position, write it up and send the permalink with your name and the blog name to submit@godornot with GOD OR NOT in the subject line (nothing else.)

My post is already up at The Goddess if you want to read it to get an idea.

Right now, I'm the only non-Christian on the religious side. We'd love to get some diversity in there-- Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, anyone. All view points are welcome. There aren't many women participating on either side, so I hope some of you decide to chime in!

I'll be cross-posting this, so spread the word if you want!

(This is a REPRINT from 2004)

Have you ever been to an abortion clinic? Not the kind frequented by wealthy women with insurance - I mean the kind where poor women beg for an appointment and don't dare miss it. The kind where you wait in line some Saturday morning, and hopefully get in before the Christian fanatics show up to harass, intimidate or murder you. The kind where they do the procedure with only a local anesthetic.

Think about that one for a minute: only a local anesthetic. You see, poor women don't get the "luxury" of general anesthesia. The dignity and comfort- not to mention humanity- of sleep cost extra. A Poor woman has to stay awake. She feels the cold of the famous (or should I say infamous) stirrups in a room full of doctors and technicians. She endures seven needles plunged into her cervix. Men don't even have a body that comes close to causing that kind of pain. Some men will pierce their penis or scrotum for social or decorative reasons. True, you can't see the cervix, but as the owner of one, I can tell you, it's not a place you ever want to feel a needle. Men cannot begin to perceive what it's like, which is one of the main reasons they shouldn't be allowed to make decisions about abortion. To quote Rachel on FRIENDS : "No uterus, no opinion." Once the shots have been administered, and the "numbing" begins hard metal is used to pry open the cervix to allow access to the uterus. Penetration of the cervix is not equivalent to anal penetration, so don't dare make that comparison. Again, this is pain only women ever get to know. And I put quotation marks around "numbing" because it's not as if the woman doesn't feel all of this. She does. She feels the center of her being being spread wide and she feels the scraping of her uterus. The scraping of her uterus. Or the "vacuuming". Either way, it's not a way a human should be awake for on a Saturday morning.

When the procedure is done, the woman walks(!) into a room full of reclining chairs or chaise lounge type chairs with a bunch of other women. Some are crying. Some are sleeping or unconscious. Some are cramping and throwing up- or rather, heaving, because they haven't eaten. When she's feeling stronger, she might have a little orange juice or peanut butter and crackers. After a couple of hours, they send her home. Goddess help her if she hasn't got someone to care for her, or especially if she has children or others that she must care for. Even worse, if she lives alone and begins to hemorrhage in her sleep. You can't call 911 if you can't afford a phone.

The cruelest thing the anti-choice movement does is to call abortion the "easy way out". There is nothing easy about this process. Aside from the actual physical pain, we need to tell young women about all of the effects of pregnancy. Once a woman has been pregnant, even for only a few weeks, her body may never be the same. The same hormonal changes that cause depression, nausea, weight gain, etc. are active at the earliest stages, and sudden termination of a pregnancy can cause severe postpartum depression and/or psychosis. This is a life altering event. Some women never recover completely, physically or psychologically. Thankfully, the social stigma is gradually going away, but we have a long way to go before this process is guilt-free.

I wish for a world in which every child born is wanted. Bringing a child into an impoverished, abusive or loveless environment is unnecessary if we will all be conscious of our choices. Accidents do happen, though, under the best of circumstances. When they do, or when a woman is raped, or when the birth control just doesn't work, we can't point to a social system that provides all of the support needed for the mother or the child. We don't have an adequate safety net for families who can't afford another mouth to feed; another mind to educate; insurance, health care or childcare. Unwanted children are a burden on society. They are abused, abandoned, and mistreated in every way possible. In an ideal world, pregnancy would be a gift and we'd have adequate support available for those willing to raise the next generation, but it isn't and we don't. Until we do, I don't want women to die from illegal, back alley abortions; I don't want women to bleed to death from trying to do it alone or with another unqualified person. I don't want poor women enslaved by a power structure in which we have no say.

The idea that a bunch of rich old white men have any right to tell young women of any color what they can and cannot do with their bodies makes me ill. I am a sentient being. I am not chattle, I am not a slave, and I have the rights to my own body. It's my right to have sex or not; it's my right to host a fetus or not; it's my right to have all of the information I need to make my own choices. So abortion should be legal, and free. And for Goddess' sake, give the girl a general anesthesia. It's the only humane thing to do.

SO the fight in the Lefty Blogosphere rages on. I only find out about it when MG or Echidne, or Shakespeare's Sister write about it because I'll be damned if I'll give Kos a link, let alone go to his little corner of the 'net. I've had all the Republican-lite I can stand for one lifetime.

Democrats always had one thing going for them. It was the party that spoke truth to power. It was the party that said you have to let everyone drink from the same water fountain. It's the party that said girl's soccer is important, too. It's the party that stopped Richard Nixon, and ended the Viet Nam war. We used to have stones. John Kerry lost in 2004 because the machines were fixed, but the race might not have been so close if he hadn't been so proud of not using the "L" word about Bush. He thought that made him honorable - the rest of the country thought it made him a wuss. The country was right.

If somebody lies to your face, and you don't call him a liar, you are a coward. It doesn't matter if you're on the side of the angels - you are a coward and your cause will fail, and deservedly so.

Think about it - why do we love Howard Dean so much? Paul Hackett? Wes Clark? Because every one of them says what he thinks and stands by it. To quote Paul Hackett about calling Bush a ChickenHawk - "I said it, I meant it, I stand by it and I'll say it again - he's a chickenhawk." That, my children, is how you talk to an American. This culture loves Rambo, and Arnold, and Steven Segal and a list of other badasses and the reason is - if you lie to their face, they'll call you a liar. If you punch them, they'll kick your ass. The don't back down, they don't mince words and they do what's right even if it's not popular.

Uncertainty scares people. If you prance around while the other guy is drawing lines, well, the other guy may be an idiot and a fascist but he knows where he stands.

Voting Rights are moral. Protecting young women's lives is moral. Standing up for what's right even if it is not popular is moral. Equal protection and marriage rights for Gays are moral issues. Our morality - a kind, caring, compassionate morality that is consistent with every great philosopher/"savior" in history.

Now we may disagree on the fine points, but we ARE on the side of the angels. We've read the Constitution and understood it. We embrace diversity, we march for civil rights, and we have room for Atheists and Pagans and Christians and Muslims and everybody else who is doing their best to get by and get along. We embrace science because WE Love TRUTH.

We're acting as if the party of greed, graft and a vengeful "God" has something we need to emulate or imitate. Bullshit. We need to stand up, stamp it out, get behind the poor and the sick and the elderly and every neglected minority and good people everywhere because the majority of people fall in to one or more of those categories.

I'm from the Women's Studies set, a war-hating hippy and an LGBT and I've got news for the boys - I AM the Democratic Party - or I should be. If they keep kissing elephant ass, I'll soon be Green, which is the wave of the future anyway if the Dems don't find their spines.

Just stop playing politics and do what you know is right. There is no acceptable alternative. Not for a Progressive.

What have the Democrats done for us lately? Not a damned thing. Just as when the women who would not compromise their demand for sufferage had to strike out on their own and stand in solidarity, so must we now.

They may or may not be able to win an election with us - I don't believe they can as long as the machines are fixed - but we know with absolute certainty that they cannot win without us.

I'm tired of being taken for granted. The Women bloggers need to get together now and stand in solidarity against the rampant sexism in our own party. How can we expect the Republicans to change when we tolerate hate from our brothers on the Left?

The big boys need to learn that they dismiss our rights at their peril. They have no power without us, so since they aren't willing to give us what we want anyway, I say abandon them and strike out on our own. It has worked before, and it will work again, just as soon as they realize 53% of the votes they've been relying on are walking out the door.

There can be no compromise on Choice - my uterus is not a bargaining chip, and I am not chattel. We're equal or we're not. We aren't, so we need to split off on our own.

Cross-post from The-Goddess:

" I want to stand for the rights of all people, not just women, but certainly I believe in rights for women everywhere. "

I bumped this up from comments, not to pick on anyone, but because as a feminist, I hear this line from Progressive men all the time. I understand that you want rights to apply to everyone - so do I. What men don't seem to get is that the state of women is the state of the species.

Women are 53% of the population. The primary care of children falls almost universally on the Mother. Most of the people who live in poverty are women, and therefore so do their children. 80% of the people hurt in a war are women and their children. This is not an exaggeration, not an accident and it is not inconsequential. Women do not start wars.

We don't represent a majority vote in the decision-making body of any major power on the planet. We have least access to power, and control least of the money, in spite of doing most of the grueling, repetitive and filthy work in the world for little or no pay. If there's shit or vomit to be cleaned, food to be raised or prepared, a child, an invalid or an elder to be cared for, 99% of the time, it is a woman that does it.

This image we have of Big Daddy going to work and bring home the bacon is bullshit in most of the world. Men in Africa lose weight when the crops need tending because they won't prepare food for themselves while the women are tending the fields 16 hours a day. That rice you had with your Chinese take-out was almost certainly farmed by a woman's hand, and she was probably paid little or nothing for doing it. Your clothes were likely sewn in a sweatshop where women are forced to have abortion, work as prostitutes, sew as slaves and their "masters" receive awards from the likes of Tom Delay. Go to a bar, or a gathering place in any town or village, and you will find men socializing while the women are at work.

The CAFTA Fifteen:

These are the turncoat Democrats that sold out the American Worker. Let them hear it, y'all.

Melissa Bean (IL) http://www.house.gov/bean/issue_subscribe.htm Enter ZIP - 60173-4836
Jim Cooper (TN) http://cooper.house.gov/email.htm - ZIP - 37203
Henry Cuellar -- (TX) henry.cuellar@mail.house.gov (Tell him to talk to Rep. Nydia Velazquez who voted no)
Norm Dicks (WA) http://www.house.gov/dicks/contact.html - enter ZIP 98402-3234
Ruben Hinojosa (TX) http://hinojosa.house.gov/ - enter ZIP 78539-9232 (Mention Nydia Velazquez who voted no)
William Jefferson (LA) http://www.house.gov/jefferson/ - enter ZIP 70053-5850
Jim Matheson (UT) http://www.house.gov/matheson/contact.html - enter ZIP 84115 (-3277)
Gregory Meeks (NY) congmeeks@mail.house.gov
Dennis Moore (KS) http://moore.house.gov/ enter ZIP 66044-2823

Today's action is not about politics.

Check on your neighbors. Make sure they have what they need to cope with the heat.

 In 1995, the people who died in Chicago were the ones that didn’t have anyone to check in on them. Community is a person’s best chance of survival in a heat wave or almost any other emergency. If you don’t know your neighbors, now is the time to get to know them, especially if they are elderly, sick or have small kids.

Water means everything – clean water to drink, or taking a bath or shower in cool water, or a spray bottle of water or wet washcloth used in front of a fan can keep people  from having heat exhaustion or stroke.

Pentagon Blocks Release of Abu Ghraib Images: Here's Why:

"'The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters after Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We're talking about rape and murder -- and some very serious charges.""

"the Pentagon had refused to cooperate with a federal judge's order to release dozens of unseen photographs and videos from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by Saturday."

Let's see now, what's that word for when a government puts itself above the law? Oh, Yeah - FASCISM.

And what's that phrase for when you do things in violation of a Prisoner's rights under the Geneva Conventions? Oh, yeah - WAR CRIME.

Waxman: 11 Security Breaches in Plame Case

Go to that link, and choose the "email this article" option. Send it to some of the emails on the list I gave you, preferrably one at each paper or network. You might want to add a note that you hope they won't let the Republican talking points about this not being a crime or Valerie Plame not being under cover go unchallenged.

It would be great if those of you who do choose to do the actions would leave a note in the comments. Peace!