The Torch

 Every day they say they've got him,

but next day he's slipped their grasp.

And you wonder how it happened,

how on earth did he get past?

His hair is like the helmet

some super heroes wore,

and the words escaping from his lips

are thoughts ne'er thought before.

But each night they get together

in their dark and smoky rooms,

and as the night gives way to dawn,

once again they plot his doom.

First there were the Russians-

which somehow didn't pan out-

then they got a stripper

and claimed they'd caught the lout!

Then there was the Playmate-

and there also was a whore-

why, they heaped on so much scandal

that the public soon got bored.

Then they turned upon themselves,

so they'd be squeaky clean.

And even cleaned up Hollywood-

In a rare, accidental scene!

They waited for the Big Blue Wave,

the one which never came.

And then went after his wife and kid-

deeming them to be fair game.

Round and round in circles

the people all were lead.

And slowly, but very surely,

they grew sick of heart and head.

So, the moral of the story,

and this won't take long at all -

The more you try to topple him

the less likely he will fall.

Real Women Have Curves

I love these new mannequins. They look like real women. Not those scrawny alley-cat looking Goth models slinking down the runways at Milan or in Paris or New York. These mannequins look like real women; ones who hold real jobs, and have real kids like so many of us do. In an age where a woman is valued more for her looks than her brains, this is a very refreshing change.

As a boy growing up in the 1960’s and early ‘70’s, I was always confused at how women wished to be perceived. In the films and books of the times, women were housewives and mothers, nurses, waitresses etc. And the models were all waif-like and almost asexual; I never could get the “hots” for Twiggy.

As the women’s movement grew and changed their perceptions of themselves; in many cases freeing them from a life of few selections; something strange happened. For decades men had been accused of valuing women only for their sexuality, and men had to learn a hard lesson in how to treat women properly. Then came the confusing part; many women took Roe vs. Wade as being the apex of victory in the Feminist Movement. Indeed, it is a pet peeve of mine that women never did push further for the ERA after Roe was decided. Instead they took the sexual equality as being the victory itself, rather than merely a component of a larger goal. And until this very day, America remains one of the only industrialized nations on Earth without an Equal Pay Act for Women.

The war against women is full on in America today, with many of the leading culprits being women politicians who have been elected, in large part, by women. It will never cease to amaze me at how many women turned out the vote for Hillary Clinton as she traveled the world demanding Equal Rights for women, while remaining silent on the same issue at home. Condolezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, along with every woman congressperson and senator, all share the blame in this.

Excuse my rant; I am just happy to see that someone, somewhere, is taking a vital step towards having women view themselves through the lens of accomplishment rather than the size of their dress. 

The Lilly Ledbetter Act and The Wal-Mart Discrimination Case

When Doris Dukes sued Wal-Mart over unfair wages last year, and lost, something did not seem quite right with the Supreme Court's decision in the case. We all know, or should know, that American women do not have an Equal Rights Amendment. It was passed by Congress in 1973, but never ratified by the Senate. And it has largely been ignored ever since, even by women of both parties who were in a position to do something about it. I'm thinking about both Condi Rice and Hillary Clinton, who, during their respective terms as Secretary of State, travelled the world over talking about Human Rights in every country they visited. Women's Rights were also big on both of their foreign agendas. But never once have I ever heard an American woman, in a position of authority, tackle this seemingly simple issue; Equal pay for equal work.

To his credit, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act into law in January 2009. But, much to the discredit of all those involved in writing that law, they never addressed the employers right to enforce a policy which prohibits an employee from disclosing to another employee, how much they earn for the same job. When Lilly Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire and Rubber in 2007 this was the very issue at the heart of the matter. The Courts decision essentially told her that she and her fellow female employees had no right to compensation simply because they had learned too late about the discrimination, in other words, it was okay for Goodyear to have not made full disclosure to them about their terms of employment. That was a travesty of justice, as is the Wal-Mart case decision, in which the plaintiffs amounted to more than all of the female members of our Armed Forces, who do receive equal pay by law. Where is the consistency here?

I cannot help but wonder how the Court arrived at their logic in either case. In the Lilly Ledbetter decision it is akin to telling the victim of a crime that they have no civil recourse now, based on the fact that they didn't realize the unfairness with which they were treated at the time. It flies in the face of logic, especially at the present time, when compensation is being awarded to victims of the governments Eugenics Program, in which people were sterilized by court order. Those orders were both legally and morally wrong, and compensation, such as it is, is the correct remedy. What is the difference in the legal principle involved? I fail to see it.

These two episodes have now set the stage for corporations, such as Wal-Mart, to continue to dance about, and skirt the real problem, for years to come. In this election year, all women should be concerned about this inequity. Sadly, the majority seem to be unaware of the entire issue.