Jesus Did Not Say: "Shut Your Pie Hole"
(Update by Liza Sabater, Publisher : Hello Salon Readers! Feminist bloggers are not taking the attacks against Amanda, Melissa and other feminist bloggers lightly. We are working now harder than ever to create a Feminist Bloggers PAC.)
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I have sat with this for days now, trying to bring to fruition in language the tremendous anger, sadness, and yes—fear—that flooded me last week as I watched Amanda and Melissa become the targets of Christofascists' attacks. (For tremendous work on the topic, please see Liza's posts, including a full roundup of links to the feminist blogosphere's reaction.) I choose my words carefully, and when the urge comes upon me to let loose a string of expletives—necessary language for me sometimes, the ur language that boils forth from an angry soul—I try to tamp it down. I want to be heard.
One thing I do know. Jesus did not say: "Shut Your Pie Hole."
But Paul did: In I Corinthians<.i>, 14:34-35, he writes, Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.
Women, you see, are to be seen and not heard. But it was Paul who said that, Paul who took on the mantle of interpreting he who had already spoken. Paul put words in the mouth of the dead and called it church law.
"But," you say, "Look around. There are plenty of women out there speaking, writing, making noise. They are not told to shut up."
Oh, but my friends, they are. Last week, the John Edwards for President campaign was asked to fire two of its voices because those voices--with their consistent calls for women's equality; their sometimes sarcastic, angry venting against the injustices perpetuated against women using language that offended because it was considered profane; with their ceaseless calls for gender equality that sometimes, in rage, they thought might only happen when women were freed of the shackles of religions that keep them perpetually pregnant and slaves to their own reproductive systems--those voices, the Edwards campaign was told, were offensive.
Leading that charge was William Donohue, President of the Catholic League, who had no problem telling women to shut the fuck up. He has claimed a membership of 350,000, and using the hammer he thought such membership entitled him to swing, he went after the uppity women. And it's not just Amanda and Melissa. It's Rosie. And Joy. And Barbara. And Mara. And Brenda.
The
DONOHUE: Well, (INAUDIBLE) in 2004 worked for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. I found about her background and they had to silence her. Then they got Brenda Bartel Peterson (ph) to quit or be fired because of her background. What I‘m saying is this, these people are somewhat clueless. They are somewhat naive. They need to find out who is working for them. (quotations from the transcript are sic.) (By the way, the "Inaudible" from the transcript is not inaudible at all. You can watch the video below the fold. I heard the name the first time Donohue said it. It's The entire video interview between Tucker and Bill is deeply disturbing. Why? Well, read through the transcript and see if there are men mentioned who need to be silenced. Silenced. Don't you love that word? What does it bring to mind? Muzzles? Ball gags? Women should be seen and not heard; isn't this one of the principal messages of conservative Catholicism, fundamentalist Protestantism, fundamentalist Islam, fundamentalist Judaism? Shouldn't we all just shut the fuck up? But Donohue messed with the wrong people. As soon as word got out that Amanda and Melissa had been attacked, the forces of the feminist blogosphere flexed its muscle and pushed back. And, as it turns out, we have at least two million voices—and growing—with which to counter the forces of misogyny. My guess is, as this campaign season moves forward and the blogosphere plays a significant role in analyzing, persuading, cajoling, advocating, and venting—serving as a conduit between voters and the candidates who seek to represent them—we will see more of the Bill Donohue-type attacks on the left. What people write on their blogs will be read, archived, brought out at opportune moments to try to embarrass or, as Donohue hoped, silence us. But you know what? Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all. I speak only for myself, but I speak as a member of a network that I watched counter the ravings of a lunatic (and his nodding, guffawing puppet, Tucker). But as an individual I say this. I will not be silent. I will not be cowed. I am not a member of the Christian Church, and whatever woman-hating Paul said does not apply to me. It does not apply to the feminist blogosphere. We will not be moved. We will not be silent.
You know, you‘ve got to vet these people. You need to have a gate keeper. Apparently they don‘t have one.
CARLSON: I have the feeling they‘re going to have one from now on.
DONOHUE: I hope the Republicans and the Democrats are all watching this carefully, because there‘s a lot of Bill Donohues out there which are watching this.
MARA VANDERSLICE. And you should definitely look up her story.)
Just fucking deal with it.
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Who was really behind this mess?
I have a gut sense that this entire bloggers mess was a well coordinated secret attack by Hillary Clinton's campaign. I mean do you really those right wing gadflys took the time to read all of Amanda and Melissa's old blog posts? More likely they were put onto the existence of those posts by those who actively want Edwards portrayed as way too liberal for the mainstream. By portraying Edwards as having hired two far left wing radical anti-catholic feminists, it put Edwards in a no-win situation. Either he proves he's a centerist by firing them and showing that he values the religious activists more, or he keeps them on and proves he's more sympathetic to far left wing radical anti-catholics.
Edwards is a slick salesman. He tried to have it both ways. He fired them. Then he re-hired them. But all that did was make him look indecisive, or worse wanting to pander to both sides. Wanting to be friends with both the liberal blogging community and the religious activists.
This is exactly what Edwards' opponents wanted to have happen. Which is why I think those old blog entries were leaked, and probably by Hillary's campaign. Team Hillary could easily have thought that Edwards was getting a free ride, playing like a liberal to liberals, a moderate to moderates .etc Able to be all things to all people. By bringing his liberal blogger network supporters face to face with his religious moderate to conservative supporters, it forces him to define himself more than he wants to at this time. Firing them and rehiring them was a way of dodging the issue at this time. Giving each side a little. But the net effect is Edwards looking less like a uniter, and more like a typical politician playing the political sales game.
Which is exactly how Team Hillary wants him to come across. In politics, you either play the game or you get played. Edwards got played and played well in this case. He better learn from it.
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re: shut your pie hole
amen sister a fucking men. Speaking as a man this limp dick donahue needs a beat down. Speaking as a sensitive loving man he needs a fricking beat down. I just dont recall a bll gag on dear old mother mary's face last Christmas, not even in 'Frisco. But no the self appointed rep of the largest land owner in the world with the worst human rights record (how many cultures slaughtered/ converted? Hmmm popey pope?) says he s got th goods on us...oooh fuck you buddy..