<^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> ........Catt's Claws # 132 ... November 3, 1996......... ........ A Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber......... <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> Newspaper and TV columnists are predicting (betting on) a record LOW turnout at the voting booths - big money people trying to talk y'all into staying home so the Reps can steal another election - at least the Congress. Remember, 54 million women and decent men failed to go to the voting booths in 1994 and left the 27% of our population who are racist/sexist bigots to choose. Our reward for our laziness was the Gingrich-Dole-Thurmond-Helms- Armey-Kasich Congress. Don't let them talk you out of it this time. Every hate-filled bigot will be out there voting. They know how important this election is for their twisted goals. Don't let them talk you out of your freedom. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . An anonymous hate group of the lowest order placed a great big expensive ad in the _U.S. A. Today_ newspaper on Halloween. Since they spent so much money, why not call their 800 number (be nice!) and thank them for listing some of the reasons decent folk should vote for Bill Clinton - of course they hoped the listing would bring out the slimes- who-live-under-garbage-pits and swell the ranks of their putrid-maggot-filled- minds who regurgitate-rotten-radical-reactionary-Republican-ritualistic-ravings. ====== Beginning of the hate advertisement ====== "Americans For Truth Against Homosexuality." "In 1992, the Homosexual Lobby gave Bill Clinton $3.5 million (according to the Advocate and the Washington Post). Here's what they got for their money: "The first President to appoint 100 open homosexuals to senior administrative positions. "The first President to officially congratulate a homosexual teachers group. "The first President to push for allowing open homosexuals in the military. "The first President to create the position of White House liaison to homosexuals with salary paid by the American taxpayer. "The first President to endorse major gay rights legislation. "The first President to mandate controversial AIDS awareness training sessions for government workers. "The first President to appoint an open lesbian as a federal judge. "The first President to give asylum to immigrants claiming persecution due to their homosexuality. "The first President to appoint a Surgeon General who implied homosexual sex is healthy. "The first President to be interviewed by a homosexual magazine. "The first President to celebrate "Gay Pride" using federal agencies. "The first President to use the Bully Pulpit to denounce citizen's efforts opposing "gay rights" laws. "The first President to grant federal security clearances to open homosexuals. "Bill Clinton's pro-homosexual position has not been an issue in this election because the American people haven't been told all the facts. The media - and even Bob Dole's campaign staff - are strangely silent on an issue with such social and economic implications for our culture. Americans for Truth About Homosexuality is changing that by speaking the truth in the public square. We are a new organization launched by a former reporter for The Washington Times and publisher of the Lambda Report on Homosexuality, a critical monitor on "gay" activism. We believe, like most Americans, that homosexuality is WRONG and should NOT be encouraged... by governments, schools, or popular culture... or by the President of the United States. "You can help spread the truth across America! Call 800-774-7989 today! "Americans for Truth is dedicated to exposing and countering the powerful homosexual movement in America. But newspaper space is expensive. Please help us place ads like this in other newspapers by making your most generous donation. Call today for a free copy of this ad to run in your local paper. You will receive our special report, "President Clinton's Pro-Homosexual Record," and a free copy of the Lambda Report with any gift of $10 or more.** "** Donations are not tax deductible. Please remit checks to Americans for Truth. Send all correspondence to: Americans for Truth, PO Box 45252, Washington, DC 20026-5252. (703) 491-7975." ======= End of Advertisement ======= Catt's Claws certainly hopes that the IRS takes a goooooood look at these horrible people and their financing methods. It certainly isn't an accident that these hate-filled bigots took the ad out just before the election - just like what Ralph Reed, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and all the trashminds who hide behind religion did this weekend. Ralph Reed is boasting that the Christian Coalition distributed 45 million "nonpartisan voter guides" in 125,000 churches this morning in hopes of electing congressional people who will reverse Roe v Wade and a woman's right to own her own body. The voter guides so distort positions as to be downright inflammatory. For example they substituted the word "firearms" as in deer rifles for "assault weapons" when publishing the answers of Democrats. (Ever wonder what kind of a woman would marry someone like Ralph Reed? And have sex with him? Several times because he claims to be the father of his wife's several children. Shudder.) Reed-Robertson-Falwell and their Republican flunkies are beginning to take off their masks (hoods) and openly calling for a church-dictated U.S. government. They are spending millions of tax free, allegedly for RELIGIOUS PURPOSES dollars for illegal politicking such the voter's guides, newspaper ads, etc. Isn't it strange that the Christian Coalition which has only 100,000 more on its mailing list (as registered with the U.S. Post Office) than NOW can get so much publicity from the boyz in the media while feminist issues can't get five minutes of national coverage ... except to tell you over and over and over again that there's no difference between the candidates. Bullcrap in spades. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . And you weren't going to vote Tuesday? Read on... Who said, "Many are the sins that shall be committed in my name..." . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . President Clinton made a flying trip to New Orleans Saturday night in hopes of helping Mary Landrieu in her battle for the Louisiana U.S. Senate seat against one of the most vicious, nasty, hateful pieces of sludge that ever rolled down the Mississippi, one Woody Jenkins. BARF! Woody is on the reactionary side of Jessie Helms and to the right of California's own version of the brainless tin man, Dornan. Good thing Woody's zipper works to the right or he'd die of uremic poisoning. Ms. Mary Landrieu is the daughter of one of the finest mayors New Orleans ever had (which is saying something for a city that loves corruption). Hey, I can say these things as having lived in NOLA while Moon Landrieu was mayor. I voted for him. How was Mary raised? Her mother Verna - a real sweetheart, albeit a bit naive as only a New Orleans uptown matron can be - was the diocese "Mother of the Year" in 1979. And then when the race looked pretty good for our Mary, the religious bigots stepped in. This week has been a living horror for anyone in New Orleans who believes in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and is a Christian. The Christian Coalition voter guide handed out this morning completely distorted Mary Landrieu's position by calling her a baby killer. She is a pro- choice Democrat who is against late-term abortion - and a Roman Catholic. These latest lies came before the shock waves of what happened last Wednesday had died away: In a blatant step across the line separating church and state, retired Archbishop of New Orleans, the gay-baiting and woman-hating Philip Hannan declared last Wednesday that it is "a sin" for any Catholic to vote for either Mary Landrieu or Bill Clinton because of their abortion views. Mindful of its tax-exempt status, the Roman Catholic church leadership in New Orleans rushed to disavow Philip Hannan's pronouncement so fast the candles in the St. Louis Cathedral almost got blown out. (Bear with me here, kiddies. Archbishop Hannan was the head of the NEW ORLEANS diocese. His cathedral, St. Louis Cathedral, was/is in the heart of the French Quarter. Let me assure you that EVERYTHING that you have EVER read or heard regarding the French Quarter or the Big Easy city of N'lean is true. Twenty times over doesn't begin to describe it properly. (I've seen all sorts of nudity and sex on the streets, entertainment acts in night clubs with live chickens getting their heads bit off, voodoo ceremonies in the church yards on All Saints Day ... What a fascinating city! I walked past St. Louis Cathedral twice a day for years and years and years going from my apartment to my store as well as a "few" thousand times while I was a'partying. Sometimes I'd stop in at the cathedral to listen when the organist was practicing. I do know the place. So, with what goes on around NOLA and Jackson Square in his front door where does this guy Hannan get off preaching morality?) It appears that a lot of people in South Louisiana (which is the catholic area of the state) are very, very unhappy about the church going over the line into politics. They think the church ought to stay in the confessional booth and stay out of the voting booth. Hopefully, the interference of an old man (Hannan) and a power-hungry young man (Ralph Reed) will backfire. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . We've been told that That GREAT organization, The People for the American Way has set up a web site: http:// www.pfaw.org and are presenting a state-by-state rundowns on the Christian Coalition voter-guide distortions. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . This is a sexist question. How many of you guys use toilet paper EVERY time you use the toilet? How many of you women use toilet paper EVERY time you use the toilet? The answer is obvious if you know the plumbing of the two sexes (and that little "tap" for the "dribble" drop). So it is pretty certain that the recent order in the Detroit public schools to require students to PUBLICLY ASK for toilet paper in the class room is primarily harmful to girls. Pupils who request permission to use the bathroom are now required to ask for toilet paper from their teachers - and required to return it with a reasonable amount of the roll left. (For this teachers go to college???) School officials - who like all the male brass have a woman flunky doing their talking and taking the heat - say that there have been several incidents of rolls of toilet paper being flushed into the toilets to stop them up. From experience (hey, I didn't I say I lived in the French Quarter where EVERYTHING is talked about openly) this stopping up of toilets occurs primarily in the men's stalls. Don't ask me why. How the hell should I know? Times change we know, and maybe the girls are doing it now too, but can you imagine the embarrassment to a young girl who has to stand up before her male school mates and ask for toilet paper and then have it measured to see how much she used when she comes back to class? The boys can just go in and out, struttn' we're sure. Tell you one thing, not in the lifetime of any of MY daughters ... . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . According to the Centers for Disease Control AIDS report, birth control pills are still illegal in Japan because it "could encourage promiscuity" in women. Abortion remains Japan's preferred method of birth control - and the lucrative business that sees Japanese doctors charging $1,500 and up for abortions might have something to do with it. Women have very little power to say no and pregnancy out of "wedlock" is still a huge disgrace for the woman - with the guys struttn', we're sure. Ah, Butterfly! . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Why is it ok for a man to visit a prostitute and pay money and sinful for a woman to do the prostituting and collect the money? . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Cate Johnson wrote a fine article to the Beijing95 list and hopefully she will not object if we quote part of her summation on a vital issue - voting for women in this election. CJ wrote, "We need to continually ask ourselves the reasons that we seek to elect women, integrate them into civil society, and address a wide scope of democracy and governance issues. "Convincing data addressing this issue in the United States (from the late 1980s) demonstrates that when women hold about one-third of the seats in State Assemblies, more forward-looking policies result. In her book "How Women Legislate" (New York, Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-19-508507-8), Sue Thomas reviews legislative records in 12 States (AZ, CA, GA, IL, IA, MS, NE, NC, PA, SD, VT, WA) and notes the following: "1. WOMEN ADDRESS DIFFERENT ISSUES THEN MEN - Women legislators more often worked with health and welfare, and with education issues. They had a higher passage rate of bills dealing with women, children, and families, both through legislature and by the governor's signature than their male counterparts (27.1% vs 11.1% through legislature; 25.6% vs. 8.0% by governor's signature; p=.05). Conversely, men introduced an average of 42% more bills on business than did women. Thomas notes: "`It would be a mistake to interpret these findings as meaning that women only cared about bills dealing with women, and children and the family. Women and men were both interested in and introduced legislation on the full range of issues before legislatures. [Yet] women did give more time, energy, and effort to bills dealing with women's, and children's and family issues. This is reflected in the kinds of committees on which they sat, the chair positions they held, the types of accomplishments about which they displayed pride, as well as the bills they pursued. Men...expressed more pride in accomplishments related to business, were more often on business-related committees, more often held chair positions on such committees, and introduced more bills dealing with business issues than did women. The areas of expertise of women and men were not polarized, but they were distinctive.' (p. 75) "2. OVERCOMING ADVERSITY - Thomas reports that women have faced daunting obstacles in legislatures. These include their small numbers, newcomer status, relative disadvantage compared with men in terms of collective legislative experience, discriminatory attitudes, and institutional obstacles to change. Thomas writes: `Women's distinctive contribution has focused on policy, not procedure. They have broadened existing legislative agendas by increasing the attention given to issues of women, and children and families. The realm of the private sphere has become ever more central to the realm of the public one. In addition, issues long hidden from public view, such as sexual harassment and medical research dealing with problems unique to women, have become legitimate public policy issues. To be sure, women legislators could not have achieved these changes, no matter how much they were desired, without supportive environments in the forms of societal acceptance of their presence in legislatures and psychological and numerical support from female colleagues. They have made the most of what was available to them.' (p. 105) "3. ULTIMATE IMPACT - Thomas reports that women have not yet reached a level of impact equal to that of men--few women have achieved significant leadership positions, and rarely were female representatives visibly in the lead of an issue. Noting that powerful leaders were closely involved in fiscal management, she observes that female legislators seldom were spokespersons for issues of taxes, budgets, or commerce. "Yet perhaps women's impact on legislation can best be summarized by a female state representative from Massachusetts: "`You bet we're unique. We bring to this legislature many issues that would not even be considered by the male reps. Gender-neutral insurance. Healthy Start for Kids, changes in the code on domestic violence. I could go on...but let's face it--without the women...and the Caucus these issues would be non-issues. Today these things are law.' (quoted on p. 141)." . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Remember the summer when Clinton's ratings were down to 20% approval, when Bill (who?) Bradley and Dick Gephart were openly talking about challenging the incumbent? When the Democrats in Congress were treating Clinton as if he was already out of office???? From June 11, 1995 Catt's Claws: "Saw a poll ...that showed Dole would beat Clinton if the election were held today. Which means, to me, that Clinton will win in November 1996 ... remember, Clinton hasn't been campaigning and the media never mentions his name when they can spread Dole or Gingrich's name around and - most importantly - the way the Reps are going, Clinton's reelection campaign will make Truman's look like a waltz in the park. What ammunition !" Catt's Claws 12-12-1995: "Everyone knows Dole is an automatic loser next November unless Clinton self-destructs." And we recapitulated on 08-25-96: "...The end run of President Bill Clinton ... has left the Republicans spouting and huffing and puffing and us "Bill Watchers" laughing our silly little heads off like we did after every Arkansas legislative session when the naysayers newspapers said Clinton didn't know what he was doing. Remember last summer when I said to watch? Yeah, us "Bill Watchers" knew something was coming. How many times have I written that one needs to study Bill Clinton the governor as the blueprint for Bill Clinton the President? How many times has the national press and those inside the Washington Beltway ignored how he governed in Arkansas and have instead tried to (judge) him as a common politician of the Reagan-Bush-Nixon ilk? And remember last year when I said "you ain't seen nothing yet" when everyone seemed to count him out as a loser? I was almost alone in stating that Bill Clinton would be handily reelected as president - because, kiddies, I'm a Bill Watcher. I've seen it too often. I don't know HOW he does it, but he does it. And I'll bet that at 4 am or 6 am on November 5th, Bill Clinton will be still campaigning as hard as he can, to shake one more hand - to ask for one more vote. And this is exactly what WE should be doing, we who believe in human dignity, in human rights, in civil rights, in women's rights, in a child's rights to have enough to eat, warm clothing, and a safe place to sleep. Campaign to get out the vote until the polls close Tuesday evening. And then burn a candle to GAWD that it was enough to mandate the discrediting of bigotry and hatred in our nation. Ladies and gentlemen, please vote. Please get friends to vote. Make this the election that women throw their voting spears at the feet of the bigoted patriarchy and say, "EQUALITY OR ELSE!" Let us be spearchuckers for the rights of all our daughters and granddaughters ... . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . We are sticking our necks out and printing a news feed story because it contains the one damning line "(this) report of the analysis was given to the Judiciary Committee (headed by the Republicans) on Wednesday and not made public." The report confirms that Craig Livinstone acted alone; the White House staff and HRC are innocent: "NEW YORK (Nov 2, 1996 11:42 p.m. EST) -- A fingerprint analysis of FBI personnel files improperly obtained by the White House turned up no evidence the files were touched by Hillary Rodham Clinton or top presidential aides, The New York Times reported Sunday. "The Senate Judiciary Committee asked for the analysis last month after Republicans on the panel accused the White House of compiling the files for use as an enemies list. "An analysis confirmed the files had been handled by Craig Livingstone, the former White House personnel security chief. "Those whose fingerprints were compared with those on the documents included the first lady, former chief of staff Thomas McClarty III, current chief of staff Leon Panetta and aides George Stephanopolous and Harold Ickes. No top aides' fingerprints were found." . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . One in eight women in our country will develop breast cancer during her lifetime, compared to one in 20 a generation ago. And 46,000 American women will die of breast cancer this year. Time for your monthly breast exam - remember, the breast you examine is the one you want to keep. ....................... * ........................ Women's rights are young and tender and we must protect them from the plagues of holy hypocrisy and newts. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>> Send your ideas, comments, and news to istuber@cswnet.com for inclusion in the Catt's Claws feminist newsletter which will be emailed up to three times a week. This is NOT an interactive discussion net but an exchange of information. Catt's Claws is NOT sponsored by any organization. We are accepting *limited* donations (only what can be spared) to help offset the online costs of posting Catt's Claws. Copyright 1996, Irene Stuber. PO Box 6185, Hot Springs, AR 71902.<<<< To receive Catt's Claws by email, write and in the body of the note We thank Jennifer Gagliardi for handling the madding subscription list through her listserv. And THANK YOU for the wonderful, touching birthday greetings. Makes me almost glad to be a crone ...