Feminist Eve Ensler urges women to vote against Sarah Palin

Feminist-activist Eve Ensler wants women across the country to vote against a woman. A woman named Sarah Palin, who's running for vice president on John McCain's Republican ticket. Men can join in too. On the Huffington Post, the acclaimed author of "The Vagina Monologues" blogs:

“I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans.

It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack.

It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction.

It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing.

It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression."

And she’s a bit frightened of what will happen if John McCain and Sarah Palin are elected. And not just in this country.

“I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world.”

Eve Ensler is an award-winning playwright and outspoken activist for international women's rights organizations. She created V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women, and performances of her plays help fund safe houses, education and community leadership to aid women in countries around the world.

Do you agree with her about Sarah Palin?

Photo: Brooke Shields, left, Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda at the kickoff  "V to the Tenth" in New York on Feb. 14.
WireImage

Comments

[tomk]

Eve Ensler is correct about Sarah Palin, who is the love doll of the industrial-military complex which is currently waging the fight of its life to keep control of the U.S. government, and of the religious right which wants to retake control of women's bodies by outlawing abortion, gay marriage, and sex education.

[HumanRights101]

Women Want Safety, but Many Reject Biden's Rad Fem Pandering

Senator Joe Biden proudly proclaims that he was beaten with impunity by his sister as a youth. This is the same sister that raised his two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident.

Biden has often claimed that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career. Yet he fails to recognize the role women play as perpetrators of violence against men and children. Hundreds of studies show that women commit acts of domestic violence as often as, or more often than men. Many studies show that lesbian women physically attack their intimate partners at least as often as heterosexual men. It's also a well established fact that a child is more likely to be killed by the mother than by the father, a neighbor, an acquaintance, a stranger or a sex offender.

As a result of Biden's Violence against Women Act, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that innocent men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.

Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said "the facts have become irrelevant... restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states "allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage". According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out "like candy" and "in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had."

State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they're unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it isn’t popular, but because it is clearly unconstitutional.

There is a rapidly growing activist community dedicated to addressing this issue. One of the focal points of this community is the Glenn Sacks blog, www.glennsacks.com .

Supporting Documentation

Here are some of the facts regarding Biden's abuse at the hand of his sister. During senate hearings held on December 11, 1990, Biden testified to the abuse.

Senate Hearing Transcript:

http://thenononsenseman.com/Media/BidenViolenceSenateHearing_1990.pdf

This recent CDC study indicates that women between the ages of 18 and 28 initiate reciprocal violence against their intimate partners about as often as men. It also indicates that women initiate non-reciprocal violence against their intimate partners more than twice as often as men.

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a

[HumanRights101]

NJ DV Law Overturned Amid Epidemic of False Allegations
New Jersey's domestic violence statute has recently been found unconstitutional. The New Jersey Attorney General is taking this case to the state's Supreme Court.

The New Jersey Law Journal reports that Judge Richard Russell of Ocean City made the following remarks on tape during a judicial training session regarding the issuance of restraining orders.

source: http://www.fathersandhusbands.org/NJ_Rights_1.pdf

“If I had one message to give you today, it is that your job is not to weigh the parties’ rights as you might be inclined to do as having been private practitioners. Your job is not to become concerned about all the constitutional rights of the man that you’re violating as you grant a restraining order. Throw him out on the street, give him the clothes on his back and tell him, ‘See ya’ around.’ “

A new municipal judge attending the training session stated “The statute says we should apply just cause in issuing the order.” “You seem to be saying to grant every order.” Russell quickly replied, “Yeah, that’s what I seem to be saying.”

The article is full of comments from Russell and his colleagues that are equally inflammatory.

Perhaps you think Russell should have been disbarred for instructing judges to ignore the constitution. In doing so, he violated his greatest responsibility as a judge in the most blatant way possible. Perhaps you think he should have gone to prison.

Russell now serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court's State Domestic Violence Working Group, the Executive Committee of the State Bar's Family Law Section, and the New Jersey Supreme Court's Family Practice Committee. He currently is the chair of the court's Child Support Subcommittee.

Given a recent ruling declaring New Jersey’s domestic violence statute unconstitutional and given the imminent Supreme Court challenge, the truth regarding the real practices that are being used to separate men from their children and their homes must be heard.

[KellyCarter]

Rock on Eve! McCain/Palin are absolutely dangerous, scary, terrifying, etc, etc. They just cannot win-no way. any woman that votes for McCain/Palin is
a self hating woman indeed.

[KittyLitter]

So she's a feminist and all about women in control UNLESS the woman doesn't share her same views. Interesting.

[Virginia Harris]

Senator Clinton and Governor Pailin are proof that women can and do diverge on imprtant issues.

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[If this is feminism, I'm out]

Man, you raging ladies who call yourselves feminists sure do scare easily. I can't count how many times I have heard you say that Sarah Palin "scares" you if she is elected into office. Why the hysteria? It is so crystal clear that while you call yourselves feminists, what you really are is a liberal rights group, and an abortion on demand rights group; hell, feminism has nothing to do with being a woman for you. You don't even have the courtesy or decency to congratulate another woman on being on a national ticket because you don't agree with her position.

wa wa wa...there's a real clear line between being a bunch of whining little girls and being a group of ladies who have the grace to applaud a woman's rise to power whether her beliefs mesh perfectly with yours or not. I'm not saying you have to vote for her, but the cutting remarks about her are played out and, frankly, aren't helping your cause.

As for your other FEAR that SP is going to take control over your body and not allow you to get your precious abortions on demand; get real...why don't you take control over your own body before you get pregnant by using birth control. And I know, I know, you guys just love to bring up the fact that in cases of incest or rape a woman should not have to be burdened with carrying an unwanted baby. Here's a thought: instead of forcing a double whammy on an incest or rape victim by suggesting they kill their baby, why not start a dialogue about punishing the damned offender...the man who caused the pregnancy! It kills me that you ladies cannot see that by killing your babies, you are just allowing men to abdicate responsibity and put all the emotional and physical burden on you. And you think you are so enlightened. Instead of murder of any type, whether it be abortion or war, women should be focusing on the source of the problem, not rationalizing an immoral solution.

Come on ladies, give credit where credit is due and stop bashing one of your own. Remember, a house divided against itself cannot stand, and you all are falling right into the catty, backstabbing woman stereotype. Try being rational about Sarah Palin rather than relying on your emotions; that would be a real good start in solidarity for the women's movement.

[Jim C]

It just goes to show that the heart of the feminist movement really does not primarily care about the advancement of women in society but fights for a much more deeply seeded agenda. Namely, for everything that enables one tol feel as though they can live in prosperity appart from the presence and condonance of God.

[michelle]

No to Sarah Palin.

Barack Obama for President.

[tomk]

Memo To "If this is feminism, I'm out":

Call us when you come back to reality*. Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

*Sarah Palin's opposition to abortion EVEN IN CASES OR RAPE OR INCEST prove she is no friend to women, who she feels apparently are merely breeding sows for rapists.

[Michael Patton]

So feminists, who have in the past cried out for women in a top position in our government have decided that since a woman who is not a feminist like them, should not count? Sorry, if the feminist word is for all women, why is Gov Palin excluded?

It is my opinion that she scares the feminists, because she does not toe the feminist party line, and has her own opinion, and is a strong woman capable of leading without first checking with her sisters.

[litmaven18]

People who characterize women against Palin as anti-feminist are, simply, wrong. All women should be for Palin? All African Americans should be for Obama? All white men should be for... oops...too many choices there, so perhaps we have to look beyond race and gender to actual qualifications.

And it's on the lack of presidential qualifications that I object to Palin.

I don't care so much if she's beauty queen, religious far right (well, that one does bother me), hockey mom with a smattering of local and state political experience.

If she were that AND had some understanding of the world of presidential politics and international relations, that stuff wouldn't matter so much.

The scary thing is that she could end up as president with only her experience of being a beauty queen, religious far-right, hockey mom with a smattering of local and state little local and state experience.

"But," counter her supporters, "Obama also lacks experience, so how can you support his candidacy?" It's because, unlike Palin, what Obama lacks in direct experience he makes up with deep knowledge of the game and how to play it. He knows how presidential politics works. He's got direct connections to people whose experience he understands and which is able to utilize. He knows how to listen and he knows how to learn. In this sense, McCain, who also has presidential experience either, brings similar skills to the race. There's a lot about both presidential candidates I don't like, but I think both Obama and McCain have the skills to function in the office of the presidency.

The comparison then comes to the VPs: In the event either VP candidate had to take over, Joe Biden would bring a similar list of qualifications as Obama and McCain.

But Palin just hasn't got the goods. Maybe someday she'll be ready, in which case, that's when she should run. Right now she's just not there. America cannot afford to give any candidate the kind of on-the-job training Palin would need to bridge this gap. Unlike Obama, McCain, and Biden, she's just not ready to play in the tall grass with the big dogs.

So, while those who accuse anit-Palinites like me of being anti-feminists, I'll just say, Sarah, you hunter, you go girl. You proved it's not only guys who can handle a rifle, and living in rural southern Virginia I know just how stereotyped men's views are on that subject.

It's just too bad moose-shooting isn't a qualifaction to be president.

[Just me]

I do not like Palin because she is a Bullying Republican!! Not because of her gender. So she can shoot a gun big friggin deal! So she can kill animals, so she can act like a man and she does. If she did not have kids I would have thought her to be transgender. As long as she is republican she is not my cup of tea!!
McCain is a womanizing old good old boy. He is just using her as eye candy. I guess that is how you republican gals climb the ladder. HA HA HA

[Rosy]

My neice sent me an article that Eve Ensler wrote about Sarah Palin...let me tell you its about the worst dribble I have ever read. But that's what so great about this great country is we have choices and opinions..still and let's keep it that way.