Am I Going To Make It Through The Next Two Weeks Here In Ohio? Thoughts and Confessions From A Swing State Voter

Cynthia Ruccia



We Ohioans are known as a very friendly, amicable, cordial bunch. When we move to other parts of the country, many decide to come back and say that the folks in _______ just weren't really all that friendly. My city, Columbus, the state capitol, has grown from a cow town to the biggest and most energized city in the state. Our metropolitan area has close to two million people, but we have retained that Ohio mien of niceness. We still smile at one another whether we know each other or not. We go around saying "hi, how're ya doing" to whoever we meet. We do it because we know that those are the kinds of niceties that make life more bearable and we do it because it's our tradition. And we do it just because.

Here in Ohio, we have awakened over the past 10 years or so to the fact that every four years we are going to be under the national microscope about who we are going to vote for. Why? Well, we are the quintessential swing state. Ohio became that way because we are completely divided as to our political loyalties. One election cycle we might vote all the bums out and put in the other party, or in another year the pendulum will swing back the other way. We have party loyalists and even party freaks on both sides of the aisle, but neither party gets a permanent toehold on power.

What If Things Had Been Different? Some Random Thoughts About Hillary Cinton

Cynthia Ruccia



My views on Hillary Clinton have exasperated many people, husband included. I am one of many who regret every single day that Hillary Clinton wasn't elected president in 2008. I often wonder how life would be different if history had taken a different turn and Hillary had won back then. And when I muse on the subject, people return to their exasperation and tell me to get over it in some form or another. Many of you have had the same experiences and I hope you will take a few minutes to comment below and share what's been happening to you in that regard.

You know, right from the start, the whole idea of "get over it" is crude, rude, and uncaring. The dirty secrets about sexism and how it thrives in the U.S. were exposed and many just don't want to hear about it. It sullies their image of who we are as Americans. But the "get over it" mantra really kicks in as ridiculous when people don't want to think about any other political views I might have and want me to just shut up. It can drive me crazy as well because I actually like a good back and forth with people who hold different views from myself. But I don't like having someone try to get my back up against the wall and corner me trying to make me assume a point of view I don't hold and then getting mad at me when I tell them where I'm really coming from. I find those conversations exhausting.

"Binder Derangement Syndrome" and Other Inanities

Cynthia Ruccia



Whew---the idiotic statements on women today are on overdrive!! Google "binders full of women" and you will get 462 million links. I am certain that that phrase would have yielded little to nothing several days ago. Why, I have had to search for awhile to find my graphic because I just kept getting one of those stupid 460 million links (ok---I am a graphic arts moron to be sure).

ALL of the talk without exception is about a sophomoric attempt to make Mitt Romney look stupid because he used the phrase "binders full of women" as he was explaining how he implemented a gender neutral cabinet when elected governor of Massachusetts. I wrote yesterday about how women are too busy being smirkily divided and feeling like disempowered victims to make use of a golden opportunity to make a huge difference. There is a great you tube video there with an explanation of what really happened. It must be an article that really resonates across the blogosphere because so far it is one of the most read pieces I have ever written. I really didn't think it was such a hot piece, but then, I feel I am repeating myself all of the time. Maybe some of the ideas here which many share are starting to break through even more.

I am so very disgusted about how women are so brainwashed by their political party that in order to remain part of the crowd they will sabotage any possible effort to help themselves. It's not news here at this blog that we women have not only lost our way, but that we are our own worst enemies. I keep having discussions with lots of men and some women about why we women can't get our act together and just use our superior numbers and just take charge. Why indeed!!

Women Are Missing A Golden Opportunity

Cynthia Ruccia

        

We are always taught that you need to grab opportunity when it knocks on your door because it may not come back another time. We women are missing or may have already missed a golden chance to really advance our agenda to achieve more power parity. And we have missed it because we have taken our eye off the ball.

It almost bores me to write this piece because I have been railing about these ideas for such a long time. When I got started caring about the advancement of women in the late 60's and early 70's, we women were pretty clear about what we wanted and we were more united in advancing that agenda. We wanted freedom to be all we could be, we wanted to shatter all of the existing glass ceilings that we confronted wherever we turned, and we wanted to take our own destinies into our own hands. It was understood that we women would support one another in our quest to be CEO's, Supreme Court justices, to take our place at the power tables everywhere, and to be President of the United States.

But it turned out that the devil was in the details. As we started to gain what we desired, we experienced a huge split in the battle over abortion. Our potential for power was severely weakened as that great struggle played itself out and shattered our unity of purpose. We made gains at work and in school. Laws were amended and new laws were passed to clear the way for more equality and opportunity. We began to live the lives our mothers only dreamed of.

Along the way, we thought we were making gains that we weren't actually making. The entire women's agenda began to be exploited by both political parties. Much lip service was paid to keeping women in the fold depending on the parties' positions on abortion. We women stopped asking for anything else. What a mistake we made!!!!

Don't Forget---Lots of Women are Running for Office Too

Cynthia Ruccia



Like everyone else, my attention has been sucked up by the presidential race, particularly since I'm an Ohioan. I couldn't ignore that race even if I tried. Everywhere I go the conversation isn't about who to vote for and why. It is about how sick we all are of being inundated by the constant barrage of TV ads, emails, direct mail pieces, radio ads, robocalls, etc. In fact a funny piece was written this week about the lengths the presidential campaigns will go to get our precious Ohio votes. Ohio is a swing state for a reason------we are made up of all different types and we have a relatively even number of everything.  As a result, we take pride in finding common topics to talk about such as the ever changing and unpredictable weather, the OSU Buckeye football team, the Columbus Crew soccer team, and (most years---unfortunately not so much this year due to labor/management problems locking out at least the beginning of the season) our Columbus Blue Jacket hockey team. Well, add to that conversation the ubiquity of the ads. Besides the presidential race, we are also slammed with ads for our U.S. Senate race between old boy wonder Sherrod Brown against new boy wonder Josh Mandel. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!!!

Woman Running As Head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Cynthia Ruccia



Meet Sabah al-Sakkari, the bold woman who is running to replace Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi as head of the Muslim Brotherhood Party. She's a mother with 4 children and a veterinary professor husband, and a pharmacy degree, and she sounds like a formidable candidate. Read about her here and here, and if that doesn't satisfy your curiosity or answer your questions, just google "Egyptian woman runs to head Muslim Brotherhood" and you will find just under 4 million links that should surely reveal all of the info you are looking for.

In the midst of a heavy news day yesterday where every story was about the presidential debate here in the U.S., I heard this blip on NPR about what is happening over in Egypt, and I about fell out of my seat (but I was driving and had my seat belt on, thankfully). I couldn't believe my ears. A woman----in Egypt's current climate-----one who says she will definitely run for Egypt's presidency????? How could that be?

Julianne Moore, Emmy Awards, Game Change Disgrace

Cynthia Ruccia



I have been hesitating writing about this topic because I know I will look like a bigger whiner than usual. I also really admire the talents of Julianne Moore greatly. I love the normally great shows on HBO. And lastly, I am not making my objections to what happened because I am a partisan hack.

HOWEVER, I just want to give voice to a particular point of view that found the entire subject of the book Game Change, the HBO movie Game Change, the 4 Emmys it won, and the unfortunate remarks made by Julianne Moore highly sexist and frankly, disgraceful. 

Some partisans have actually taken on the whole subject very well, talking about how classless the acceptance speech was, how ridiculous both the book and the movie were, based on lies, cardboard cutout versions of Sarah Palin, how the whole thing was a partisan hatchet job from beginning to end. They also discussed how the Hollywood establishment was just patting themselves on their sophomoric backs on how clever they were turning the perceived threat of Sarah Palin into someone ridiculous, and I can agree with their criticisms.