In the spring and summer of 1986 random parts of my face started growing for no apparent reason. I would be at home, on the subway, or off working somewhere around DC.
First it was a swollen eyebrow. Then that would go away and a day or two later, my cheek would grow so that I couldn’t see well out of one eye.
Mostly it was my lips, though. They would grow, sometimes individually, sometimes together. I looked like a duck.
Did I mention I was also getting married in September? That September? And while John and I had a fairly small and simple wedding, I was unenthusiastic about going to the altar looking like a daisy. Especially this one.
Of course, John’s lips would have been normal.
Mine? Not so much.
But work was so completely crazy that I ignored it. I was a lobbyist/flunky at the time, and was spending long days up on Capitol Hill working on the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (And it was the perfect assignment for me; I did my own taxes – on the U.S. Government 1040-EZ form. Tax Returns for Poor Dummies.) I was in over my head, didn’t have a clue what was going on, what was important, or which way was up. I was a wee bit stressed.
Plus that summer we decided to buy our first house just so we could send my stress level through the roof of my brand new adorable little house.
But back to my problem. My ever changing facial features.
People were looking at me strangely which I understood – I often and suddenly looked really odd. But even stranger, they stopped talking whenever I would approach. These were people I’d worked with for more than six years. Something weird was going on.
And I found out what that was early one morning as I stood talking in the front lobby to my boss, also (irritatingly) named John. He was giving me instructions on that day’s most important issues, when to pay especially close attention, when to call him immediately with an update.
At the beginning of the chat, my face was normal. But as we talked, my lips spontaneously grew larger and larger. More duck-like.
“Elyse,” my boss said, “what’s happening to your lips?”
“They’re growing. Spontaneously. I don’t know why. But you’ve seen me with a swollen face off and on for the last couple of months. Haven’t you noticed? And it keep on happening. Luckily, John has promised to marry me even if I look like Daisy Duck when I arrive at the church.”
The look of relief on his face was instantaneous – he joked with me about the fat lips, about stress, about what I might be allergic to. He’s a really nice guy, and he cared about me. But it wasn’t until much later when I realized just why he had looked so relieved.
He thought I was being abused by my husband-to-be. And he, a very powerful Washington DC lawyer, who knew/knows everybody in town, had no idea what to do. He didn’t ask me if anybody was hurting me. He didn’t threaten to report John, or try to find out discretely whether folks in John’s office thought John might be abusive. No, my boss talked to other folks who also cared about me and who also didn’t know what to do to save me from what, had it been true, would have been a huge mistake.
(In fairness, they didn’t know my John at all – it wasn’t a very social office.)
And once I made the connection, I remembered feeling similarly helpless once. I thought about a secretary named Kelly who had worked with us briefly a few years earlier. She and I had become a bit friendly, even though we worked on different floors and in totally different departments. We both loved to play softball. One day I saw Kelly with an enormous black eye.
“I was playing softball with my husband’s team,” she said, shaking her head. “I should have caught the damn ball.”
“I once caught one with my left thigh,” I responded to her, truthfully, but naively. “You could see the stitch marks on the bruise.”
The next day she was gone. Obviously to everyone else her husband had been beating her, and she got help and got away.
The image of her face has haunted me. What would I have done – would I have been able/willing to help her? Would I have ever figured out what was happening to her?
My story ended well. I hadn’t had time to eat properly and subsisted pretty much on a diet of Milky Ways for two months. Woman cannot live on Milky Ways alone. Maybe ducks can. I stopped eating chocolate and looked OK at my wedding. Or at least, I didn’t look like a duck.
I don’t know how Kelly’s story ended. I never will.
* * *
Yesterday, the GOP in the U.S. House of Representatives allowed the Violence Against Women Act, which had been law since 1994, to expire. And they let it happen because it would have expanded coverage of the law to more women including immigrants and Native Americans.
Perhaps you don’t know what the Violence Against Women law does.
My bible, Wikipedia, says that it provide programs and services, including:
- Community violence prevention programs
- Protections for female victims who are evicted from their homes because of events related to domestic violence or stalking
- Funding for female victim assistance services, like rape crisis centers and hotlines
- Programs to meet the needs of immigrant women and women of different races or ethnicities
- Programs and services for female victims with disabilities
- Legal aid for female survivors of violence
But what it really does is help abused women. To let them know that they can get help. That they are not alone. And it can also give their families, friends and co-workers vital, life saving information about how to help. How to act. What to do besides wonder amongst everyone else but the person most impacted. Literally.
Now tell me, what’s not to like about this law? It gives vital assistance to vulnerable women – those who most need it. A place to go where they can take their kids, get help.
It gives folks who don’t know what to do or what to say a clue as to how to help women in need.
Where they don’t have to give up that last little bit of their heart.
I have stated this more often than I can stand, but the men in the GOP are not on the side of women, or on the side of men who respect women.
GET THEM OUT OF OUR LIVES
Then, Damn them to Hell where they belong
***
What you and I can do:
Contact your representatives in Congress and demand they pass the Violence Against Women Act as it stands today with expanded services: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Other sources:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/vawa_factsheet.pdf
http://denisedv.org/what-is-the-violence-against-women-act-and-why-is-congress-playing-politics/
FiftyFourandAHalf 
This is absolutely EXCELLENT. I was interested in your tell from the beginning. Funny, that big city lawyer not knowing what to do. Me neither, to be honest.
God almighty, how did a law slip like that? How did it happen? And why do they have an expiry date? I had no idea. I thought in law they use precedents of 1870 and the like. I had NO idea laws expire.
This Janis song is AWESOME. I’ve never watched her in action, only heard her. Man, she was the voice of Woman.
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I think it is hard for anyone to really know what to do when faced with somebody being abused. And that’s why I wrote it from that vantage — one of the things this law did was let the potential helpers know how to help.
Many US laws are set up to expire — and for some that’s a good thing. For others, not so much. And this law is an example of one that should not have had an expiration date. When Diane Feinstein introduced the gun control bill yesterday, one of the things mentioned that is that it will NOT have an expiration date.
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I’m disconnected from US politics over on this side of the Atlantic, mostly by choice – the arrogance, the ignorance, the disconcern for others of some of our elected officials makes my blood boil. That said, thank you for spotlighting this issue. I so hope yours and similar voices compel our government to curb the arguments and get back to helping where it’s most needed and with the women whose voices otherwise aren’t being heard.
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It was a welcome sabbatical for me while I was over there, too, Courtney. Until the Supreme Court decided the 2000 election that is.
Anyway, hopefully sense will prevail and soon. I have so many letters to write … my Congressman hangs on every single word, I’m quite sure. Positive.
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I don’t get it. Even if I allow my mind to flood with cynicism, I still don’t get it. Half the voters are women. The most cold-hearted and immoral politician should be able to remember that.
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You would think they would, wouldn’t you? But many of them didn’t in the 2012 election. Their argument is that the did come up with a bill, but the President threatened to veto it. The House bill would not have included illegal immigrants (it’s ok to beat Consuella but not Candy?), Native Americans and gays. The House was unwilling to compromise. Hence the bill died with the 2012th congress.
I guess you just have to figure out who deserves to beaten when enacting legislation.
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I don’t have a congressman or congresswoman for that matter, but I am alarmed by the GOP letting vital legislation like this expire. What do we have to do to get these dunderheads to wise up?
BTW, I used to have a friend who was being abused. I knew about it, we talked about it often. I counselled she leave the situation often, but not in a overbearing way – I didn’t want to push her away from one of her supporters. Finally, she had enough & called me in the middle of the night one night & I went to her rescue. I helped her get set up in a place of her own & held her hand every step of the way. A few weeks later she went back to her husband & I never heard from her again. I lost a good friend by supporting her in any & every way I could.
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I agree about the expiring legislation. But I don’t think we get the idiots to wise up. We have to get rid of them and put in thoughtful people who understand that part of governing is working together.
That’s a sad story about your friend. It happens way too often — and I don’t know why. You would think that people would embrace being set free but instead they often go back. There is a whole mentality about many people who are abused — that they’ve done something to deserve it. Abuse of all kinds will not stop by laws that help some folks get out of abusive situations. But we still need to help those people who can be helped and let others see that there is hope. That may be the best we can do.
So sorry about your friend, though Benze. But you did do all you could from the sound of it. And you can’t live someone else’s life for them.
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Getting a U.S. political education 🙂 As well as observing the obvious unity with everyone agreeing on stopping violence against women. Thanks, Elyse, I think I will have to come back and read this again 🙂 And again. Hugs.
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Violence against women is something which is beyond my understanding. Perhaps I was raised with old-fashioned values of respect at a time when it was a man’s duty to ‘care’ for the women in his life. I know we’ve moved on, but come to think of it, I find violence of any sort abhorrent. When will our species evolve beyond it. Power to all those who are fighting to end violence against women all over the world….in all it’s forms.
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Well said, GOF.
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Hi,
Great picture you found of Donald and Daisy, perfect for your story.
Sounds like the powers that be are taking women back to the bad old days when nobody cared and there was no help at all. What on earth is wrong with these politicians these days, it really does make you want to scream from the roof tops.
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That’s all we’ll be able to do if we don’t work together, Mags! Oy vey.
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Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™ and commented:
Powerful article on the House of DoucheBags and their refusal to pass/extend The Violence Against Women Act because as it was written, it would have included Native American women and Lesbian women and immigrant women. The House Of DoucheBaga want to protect some women, but not ALL women.
It’s time to abolish the House Of Douches.
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Well, I appreciate the re-blog, Jueseppi, but I don’t agree.
Not at all.
The House of Representatives is a noble institution. It’s just the folks who are on the GOP side — actually just the Tea-baggers that are causing all the problems.
And really, I think education is the ticket. We need to make people understand why paying attention to who we elect is vital. Civics is the key.
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Oh thats OK Ms. Elyse, you don’t have to agree. 😉
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You mean we could compromise?
What a shocking idea!
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No compromise, just disagree. Thats our American right. We can disagree but not kill one another….we are humans with differing views, but we inhabit the same space. 😉 Enjoy your weekend.
Namaste
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And you!
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The sheer level of mysogyny lately scares the crap out of me.
And in the end, it’s people like you who help shine a light and hopefully shame these bastards into doing what’s right.
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Yes, Guap. I have a huge following with the GOP. HUGE. 😉
Have a good weekend.
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Oh, you poor baby with the swelling! I’m so glad you recovered by your wedding. And why does it always have to be something like chocolate – why not cod liver oil?
I believe the House and the Senate each passed their own measures against domestic violence, and the president threatened to veto the House version. So, since President Obama would not sign the Violence Against Women Act as presented to him, it’s HIS fault. HE must be a monster who doesn’t want to save women, right?
No thinking person is in favor of violence against women. Nobody. Can’t we accept that different people have different ideas of the best way to accomplish these important protections?
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Peg, you and I will never agree on politics. You are a Republican and I am a Democrat.
I have spent 30 years working with and studying the U.S. government. The Congress, the Executive Branch. I am well acquainted with the bizarre rules that govern Congress, and how things are really done.
I’m not always right, either. But in this case – my opinion that the 112th Congress is anti-women, I very much am right.
The 112th Congress was filled with Tea Party members who did their best to scare every ounce of reasonableness out of the more reasonable GOP members. Primary challenges for those who didn’t absolutely to the line, regardless of what line that was and how it might impact the country.
This is the House that voted to default on our nation’s bills. Now, when I charge too much, I am still required to pay, and my husband grumbles and writes out the check. That is not how this congress acted.
They voted repeatedly against what polls repeatedly showed that the voters wanted. And they paid at the polls in November. Even though the GOP received significantly fewer votes, gerrymandering kept them in office. The Democrats should have lost the Senate by virtue of the number of seats they had to defend, but the GOP ran anti-women candidates, and the Democrats retained control.
Think of the bills that were their priorities. A majority of them were anti-women. Anti-abortion (which is a debatable concept but even when the life of the mother is at stake? Even in case of rape? Really? What planet are we on?) Anti-contraception. Anti-violence against women.
You are right. The Senate passed one bill; the House another. Obama (with Joe Biden, the muscle behind the original legislation firmly behind him) pledged to veto it.
That is the game. That is how it is done. The next thing is that the two sides, Democrats and Republicans, work together towards a compromise.
And that is where today’s GOP fails every single time. They won’t do it. Because they don’t know how to do it, or are unwilling to do it. And that is a major part of their job as Congressmen/women.
So yes, I believe they are anti-women. I believe moreover that they are Anti-American. They can drape themselves in the flag all they want, but being FOR America does not mean saying “fuck you” to half the population. It does not meant letting a huge portion of the Northeast – including the financial capital of the world fester from an enormous hurricane.
The list of insults from the 112th Congress goes on and on.
I don’t have a problem with Republicans who believe in cutting spending, paying bills, and compromising. I just don’t see any of them in today’s GOP. And the country is poorer for it.
One of my heros is Bob Dole. I watched him for years as Senate Finance Committee Chairman, and later as Senate Majority and Minority leader. He is a good man. A hero. He knows how to make a deal, to befriend the other side. He knows how to compromise. Mitch McConnell? The guy who pledged on Inauguration day 2009 that he wanted to make Obama a 1 term president and that, when it looked likely Obama would win a second term promised to obstruct just as much during the Second Obama Administration? Nope. I don’t think he does well in the sandbox.
As a married woman, Peg, you know that each side has to give a little. I just don’t see the GOP, so firmly clenched in the bear trap that is the Tea Party, doing that.
And so we need to clean house. Find the modern day versions of Bob Dole, and Robert Stafford and John Chaffee – heroes of mine who were leaders of the environmental movement – REPUBLICANS. They were good men, wise men. They are responsible for effective Clean Air Legislation, Clean WAter Legislation, Hazardous Waste Legislation and the Superfund which helped clean up after generations of toxic dumping. They were wonderful. They are my heros. Because they were EFFECTIVE men. They cared more for the country than for their party. They cared for their country, PERIOD. The current crop? Don’t make me laugh.
Today we have folks like Michelle Bachmann and Joe Walsh.
I don’t think we are doomed. But we do have to restore the two party system to where it works together. We do have to let people know that “compromise” is not a dirty word. We do have to work together to help all people in the country.
I probably should have made this into a post. (But then you might not have read it). Peg? Peg?
If you are on the side of America, Peg, then we are on the same side. The rest is just semantics.
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Thank you. I’ve spent years as a volunteer and employee for agencies that serve victims of violence against women. I do the easy stuff—raise funds, write grants. I am continually in awe of the advocates who do the hard stuff. And let me tell you, that hard work is terribly needed. Truly shameful that funding is always in jeopardy!
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Well done you, Bella. That is hard heart-wrenching work. I just can’t believe they let the bill expire. Are they going to next try to pass laws to actively harm half the species?
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You poor dear! That swelling stuff is for the birds. I started breaking out in huge water blister hives when I was in my mid-30’s. They would be completely random and hidious and here one moment, gone the next. It’s really so great that people who cared about you were worried. I’m so glad you got through the wedding without the damn swelling.
Violence against women is no joke. I am a registered Republican and ashamed to even admit it anymore. This is not the party I signed up for. I can’t vote for a Repbublican president. I can’t support their policies. And as a woman, I need to change my registration to “Independent” this coming year.
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If the party was made up of the people I watched 25 years ago, then I’d probably be a Republican. Not today. Not, no way. Not no how!
Thanks for your sympathy on the swelling. It was kind of funny — especially since I didn’t look like a duck on my wedding day!
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What year is this? Unbelievable.
Maybe they had some attachment to the bill that made it doubly hard for the GOP to swallow, like a provision against beating kittens and puppies. I’m sure they think we need more of that kind of thing in their vision of America, too…
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I think it is about 1283 AD, based on how these folks act. Before the printing press. Before enlightenment. Before everything.
I really hate thesse guys.
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What isn’t there to like about the law? Nothing. The GOP stands in the way of anything worthwhile, of anything that would make the lives of the disenfranchised better. I thought that after the 2012 election, I’d be able to moderate my opinions about the Republicans. It’s not even remotely possible. They are a plague. A scourge. Useless to the point of being dangerous.
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Somehow I overlooked your comment, SDS. So sorry.
The GOP needs to be handled like one of those incredibly obnoxious relatives at a Holiday dinner. Managed.
Until we throw them out and find a new crop. I really think that the two party system is awesome — and it has usually worked. WE need to get back to where it does.
And I honestly think we can.
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Yes, I saw that little brilliant move by the GOP. Please explain how anyone considers it a legitmate party?
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Only they consider themselves legitimate. The rest of us see them as absolute bastards.
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I would call many of them Neanderthals, but that would be kind.
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Way too kind, Frank. By a long shot.
(I had planned to stay away from politics for a while, but shit happens. Like this.)
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A fitting end to the 112th Congress.
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Them being jerks or my writing about it? 🙂
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Compassion is officially dead, at least in Washington. It’s deplorable.
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We really have to get these Teabaggers out of Washington and send them back into the mud where they belong.
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I’m still trying to grasp your calm demeanor while your lips started to swell during a conversation….amazing!
This latest act of ignorance has not gotten the attention it deserves and I’m glad you are bringing it to light. There is so much attention drawn to falling off the Fiscal Cliff, no one notices that we’ve already fallen off of the Humanity Cliff!
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I generally didn’t know it was happening, but I’m great under pressure. I once got my period on stage during a solo while wearing white tights. After than, I don’t worry too much!
But Tops, your statement is perfect — we have indeed fallen off the Humanity Cliff!
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Part of me is sweating at the thought of that, while the other part is laughing out loud.
Oh, I’ve already begun a draft about the humanity cliff.
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I can’t wait! And my life as an actress was quite colorful and remarkably short lived. Can’t figure out why.
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Excellent post!! A much needed message well said. Good choice of music also. I’ll be back. Thank you.
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Thanks, Lady. And thanks too for the reblog.
I love Janis Joplin — she sings to my soul!
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Pingback: Reblogged: For Cryin’ Out Loud! | FiftyFourandAHalf « Ladywithatruck's Blog
Those people – the Republicans – stand for everything I consider to be unwholesome. They are no longer a party but a crypto-fascist clique. They taint things I care about – freedom, Christianity, democracy. They uphold major forces which I detest – statism, capitalism. This is one of those times I wish I were an American so that I could fight them on their own ground.
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A crypto-fascist clique — what a perfect description. But it is harder to fight than it seems. And people don’t listen — until it is too late. I volunteer in political campaigns but voters don’t get that they need to think about the values of the folks for whom they are pulling the lever — and they don’t. Then the things that are important to them get axed and they complain. It makes me crazy. I wonder if we can have one government for them and one for thoughtful folks who realize that elections have consequences.
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I think we need our own ‘Tahrir Square’ here in the western ‘democracies’. Our systems have been kidding us for too long that they are ‘democratic’ – in fact they serve the professional politicians and the corporations. All they care about is that we should give away our political autonomy once every four years (our ONLY participation in this ‘democracy’) and keep buying their ‘neat’ stuff. If going to the polls every four years actually changed anything it would be made illegal.
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I’m not ready to give up on our system — even though a huge number of the players, umm, suck. It can be fixed. But the thing is that voters have to pay attention. They have to care. Otherwise, to quote Dr. Seuss, “nothing’s gonna get better it’s not.”
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“I’m not ready to give up on our system — even though a huge number of the players, umm, suck. It can be fixed.” – For your sake I sincerely hope so. I hate to think of somewhere as great, diverse, and culturally rich as America continuing in the same downward spiral.
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Milky Ways? Have you eaten one since?
I can relate to the ‘not knowing what to do’ part of your story. I worked with a woman who I think was abused. I suppose I could have asked directly, but I made several not so subtle hints that she could let me know if she needed help. She never did. She left the job, and I never knew what happened. I still think about her, and about what I could have done differently.
Not long ago, I was at the doctor’s office with my mom. It was at the hospital, in a rather large clinic, and the seating was limited. I was sitting next to a womb, and she was rather timid, and struggled to meet my eyes when I said hi. She was quiet for a bit, then, suddenly she started talking to me, asking me about my mom, and, the whole time, she looked at me with such a look, as if she were willing me to understand something. The nurse came out, called mom and I, and as I was standing up, the woman grabbed my hand and squeezed tight. “She’s a lucky lady, your mom”, the woman said. It wasn’t until the appointment was over, and we were walking back to the waiting room, that I began to wonder… I have no idea if she was simply an intense woman, or, if she was trying to confide something to me. She wasn’t in the waiting room when we left, and, of course, at a hospital, no one is going to tell me who that woman was, or where she went. I still feel haunted about the whole thing….
And, don’t get me started about VAWA. This story has been going on since well before the election, and the legislation is still dead. It enrages me. I get that there are some concerns with the addition to the law of Native American women, and about tribal law, but, they’re not enough that the bill can’t pass. It’s Republican arrogance, and, I cannot understand what would make women support such a horrid party. In the gay community, jokes get made, when someone acts too straight, that they’re in danger of having their gay card revoked. I sort of feel that any woman who votes for a congressperson who won’t vote for VAWA is in danger of having her Woman Card revoked.
I’m sorry… I’m ranting. I can’t help it. It’s frustrating to watch this story, and feel so helpless. And, it’s not like it hasn’t passed before. This story really needs to be a much bigger news story.
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Thanks for the thoughtful comment John. (And yes, I do have an occasional Milky Way — yum).
Part of the crime of not reauthorizing this law is that it helped both the abused and the folks who didn’t know what to do to help. For most of time abuse has been something we hoped we weren’t seeing. But we were, and then they passed a law where women had an out. AND THEN THEY LET IT EXPIRE.
Assholes. Assholes. Assholes.
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Taken their eye off the ball, and with the fiscal situation being so dire, unemployment and poverty lead to increases in domestic stress and violence. Great time to let good legislation lapse! Often wonder how some of these people get voted in when they seemingly have no concept of what the job entails and who they are actually there to serve…(It is the same in other democracies I have lived in).
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It would be interesting, Edge, to examine the differences between the way things are going here and in places you’ve lived — but the idea that it is the same doesn’t give me any comfort. Of course, I am not abused so I can continue my safe existence. Grrrr.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, and welcome.
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That is absolutely terrible news, Elyse. Abused women seriously do not get the amount of help they desperately need. What the hell is wrong with this world???
I’m too mad now to laugh at the funny parts. But they were funny =P
Btw, you’re still in D.C. right? I just visited there right before Christmas! My first time 🙂
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It is terrible, Janice. What’s wrong with the world is that it has been taken over by a bunch of right wing fanatics. Scary.
And yes, I’m still in DC. I wish I’d known you were coming!
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I completely forgot that you were there! Wouldn’t it have been wild if we had met up? Then I wouldn’t need that photo of you! =P
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Elyse, I just tweeted, Facebooked and reblogged. Tweeted to our Canadian news, Ellen Show and Pink. Maybe some star power can help this train wreck get back on the rails… I dunno… Screaming as loud as I can, soulsister, didn’t meant to upset you for the whole day but damn you write well and I hope your voice helps with this. I am in Canada and would have died for certain without the support of the women’s services for the past two years. I was suicidal. They were all I had. They are still pretty much all I really have. I can’t stand the idea of another woman being as alone and isolated from everything as I was, especially with little kiddies under her wing, (I didn’t have kiddies) but Lord it was so hard even without them to break away, break free… find me, still working on it. And though I am Canadian I am as furious as you are. It could happen anywhere. So disgusting, disheartening and demeaning to all who have nothing and no one else to turn to in those situations. What will it take, more deaths and child abuse/death again to get help in place again… Gawd. I have to shutup, I’m starting to tremble from the damn PTSD already… Much love to you, I will keep hollering and keep sharing as LOUD as I can xo
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Thanks, Janice. There are many women who, like you found help when they most desperately needed it. I don’t know what the full ramifications of the expiration of this bill will be, or how soon they will be felt.
But the fact that these holier than thou assholes have so little decency makes me want to scream. But I started screaming when I saw what they had done, Janice. It’s not your fault!
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I know. If I’ve learned nothing these past few years, I’ve learned IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT. Just wanted to help in any way I can to add to the voices, stop the deliberate train wreck of other lives if at all possible. You go, girl! Much love xo
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You too!
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🙂
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Reblogged this on aurora morealist and commented:
Again, you will read WHY I just HAD TO share… sadly
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Thanks, Janice. I’ll answer your longer comment down below!
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🙂
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You are a champion for the whole species, Elyse. Not just the women. But if I was a woman I’d be proud to call you sister. What am I talking about—a brother can have a sister! x
Love your work.
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Thanks, Ben. What a nice thing to say.
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They should all be made to walk a mile in a woman’s skirt, and then decide on their stinking laws.
Personally elephantiasis vs. no chocolate? I’ll take elephantiasis any day, every day. But only good chocolate though. I’m not sure Milky Ways qualify.
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Yes, they should experience all the things they ignore about the lives of real people, men and women. They don’t. They are ignorant assholes. Every last one of them needs to be voted out of office and sent to the caves from which they emerged.
And I can eat chocolate. I just have to temper it with other stuff. I simply didn’t have time to grab anything else while I was at hearings and standing in line and fighting to get papers, talk to folks who knew what was going on. You snooze you loose. So I ate Milky Ways.
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I loved your story, but giving up chocolate? I am going to write a personal one on this, it will not of course be pretty. I wrote one before but didn’t put near the personal in it, didn’t write near my personal story.
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Thanks, Val. I only gave up chocolate for a couple of years. I learned that in non-toxic amounts my lips stay remarkably un-duck-like!
I’m looking forward to reading your story.
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Hey, these are the same troglodytes who refused to vote on aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. No bill needed to be written, they already had it; no debate was needed, the bill was finalised; nobody was filibustering, it was ready to go for the vote. Nope, they just didn’t wanna. ‘Cause they’re acting like a bunch of spoiled four-year-olds!
No, sorry, strike that. I’d rather have four-year-olds in Congress than these GOP morons.
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Right on, John.
Assholes. The Lot of them. And I hope they need help one day and find the tables turned.
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Well said, John. I think my 6 year old daughter could do better.
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Darla, of course your daughter would do better. She has a heart and a soul and you!
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This is one of those things where I shake my head and say, “Can this really be happening?” Hard to wrap my head around. Thanks for bringing attention to it.
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It actually makes me want to hit them. And I am really not a violent person. But I want to bitch slap them all repeatedly.
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My mother is a state representative, and I know she often shares your sentiment when trying to deal with some of the bullheadedness of her colleagues.
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That’s probably why it is so hard to keep the good reps, because they get frustrated and leave.
Good for your mother. Good for thoughtful legislators.
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Really, Elyse…haven’t we all just had about as much as we can stand of ignorance and stupidity…on so many fronts…on so many backs?
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Yeah. We have. But folks really don’t understand that it is a GOP-party wide problem. They need to be routed so that the normal folks — real republicans of the type who used to work to solve problems — can come back and help us solve problems.
The two party system isn’t bad. Until it is taken over by totally insane fucking people, that is.
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Oh, and love the new picture!
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I’m a wee bit older than you. When enough was enough…the Vietnam war…we all took to the streets. I just can’t believe we’ve come this far…only to throw it all away…because that is exactly what we are doing.
Thank you always for speaking out. Your comments, and several others, level out (more or less) the opinion field…the field on which so many of us play on…..Thank you.
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