When the people voters elected don’t understand the issues they’re voting on, that’s a very bad sign.
In this instance, it disturbs me even more because she’s part of the freshman class for this session of Arkansas’ Legislature. (Don’t even get me started on her awful grasp of grammar, sentence structure and odd capitalization.)
I’m not in her district, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she ran for office pretty much on the platform of being a conservative Christian woman who hates Barack Obama. (Hmmm … add gun-totin’ and she’s Leslie Rutledge!)
This is bad not only for the state and political discourse in general, but for women specifically.
Madeleine Albright: Smart, strong, stylish, and able to laugh at herself. We should all aspire to that.
Gilmore Girls image from Crushable.
We want to be seen as intelligent and strong, but when we have people who don’t understand that capital gains (not Capitol Gaines) are a good thing for those getting them and that it’s the taxes on capital gains, not the capital gains themselves, under discussion (especially from a businesswoman), it reflects badly on other women.
When women run for office on a platform mostly of being women, that sends a message that there’s no other reason but that to elect them. (And, by the way, what the hell is with the GOP obsession with looks?)
When legitimate criticism of their political stances are made, complaining that any criticism (backed with facts or not) is because of gender (sometimes, but not always, looping partisanship in) makes the rest of us look weak.
Sure, keep fighting it, because it’s so clearly within a state attorney general’s power to repeal a federal law.
Screenshot from Talk Business & Politics.
And when anyone (regardless of gender) runs for a state office on the platform of “fixing” the federal government, that should tell you to run the other way because that person apparently has no idea what the duties of that state office are. State legislators and constitutional officers have no power or vote in D.C., and overheated rhetoric helps nothing (well, except give comedians more material).
Aung San Suu Kyi is a prime example of what women are capable of.
Image from Wikimedia commons.
There have been numerous wise and wonderful female leaders of all political persuasions, and the fact that they were women or from a specific party was not the primary reason they ran for office, nor should it be. The job is to serve your constituents, plain and simple, within the bounds of the job, and regardless of their political leanings.
I’m all for more women in office. Let’s just make sure that they’re actually the best people for the job.
Serenity is a fuzzy belly 