Iām mad as hell but mostly exhausted
I realize Bernie dropped out a few days ago. Iām still processing. I wasnāt originally a Bernie fan. I mean, he was fine, but Liz was my choice. She didnāt get enough support, so by default I had to go with Bernie. That stung. But I dealt. But now Bernieās out. And hereās what Iām faced with. Trump. Or Biden. And Iām pissed. And completely fucking exhausted.
Like many women, I actually grieved Elizabeth Warrenās 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 opponentās 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 wasnāt 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 letās be honest. Joeās been creepily handsy on women on camera and off for decades, so this isnāt hard to believe. But interestingly, this story got almost no play. Not even from #metoo movement thatās supposed to stand up for these women.
And then Bernie bowed out.
And weāre left with Trump the rapist, or Joe the rapist. And Iām exhausted. And Iām 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 heās ānot as bad as the other rapistā
Democrats have long touted the strategy of āBlue no matter whoā. 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 youāre right. And Iām 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 donāt 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, youāve neglected to mention the survivors of assault. And weāre told over and over to sit down. To be quiet. To not make a commotion for everyone else. Weāve done our part, youāve failed us by putting two rapists on the ballot. You donāt get to demand anything else from me.
