I've Been Thinking of Running for Office

I’ve been thinking about running against Phil Gingrey. Ever since I found out he was running unopposed for the House seat in the eleventh district, I have been unable to think of anything else.

Unopposed. This guy, is running unopposed. The obscenity of that just astounds me. Phil Gingrey voted against requiring reports on U.S. secret prisons. He voted to suppress an inquiry on the Iraq war. He voted against investigating U.S. torture in Iraq and in the war on terror. He called the prison in Guantanamo a "model detention facility." Phil Gingrey accepted money from Jack Abramoff and says he has no plans to return them. He has called Tom DeLay a "great leader." That’s just what we know about him. God knows what else he’s done.

And they are going to allow him to run unopposed, like they are giving him a present of the 11th District, my district. I feel insulted.

Given the importance of the November elections, how can the Democratic Party allow any Republican anywhere to run unopposed?

I guess, the same democratic party that left Russ Feingold hanging out to dry last week in the Senate hearings on his resolution to censure Bush. What a bunch of weak sisters they can be.
Somebody ought to run against Gingrey if for no other reason, to make him stand up and defend his abysmal record and the record of the Bush/Cheney/Halliburton administration.
I would love to be the one to do it, but I can’t.

I can’t even write a few paragraphs without demonstrating why. First, in case you didn’t notice, I have opinions. In this culture the word "opinionated" is derogatory, especially when applied to women.

That’s the second reason why I can’t run. I’m a woman. And, this is a misogynistic culture. Just look how bent out of shape people are at the prospect that Hillary Clinton might run for president. The men, like Chris Matthews and Bill O’Reilly, can’t help holding their private parts every time they talk about it. And, there are a lot of women who hate women even more than men.

The third reason I can’t run for office is that I don’t believe in organized religion. I think a person’s character is demonstrated in the way he or she lives, not in where they are on a Sunday morning. For some reason, people seem to believe that going to church or using God’s name fourteen times in every political speech means you will behave like a Christian when every bit of empirical evidence indicates otherwise. Tom DeLay gave a speech in late March in which he implied that God, Jesus, the founding fathers and the bible were on his side. And we have seen how that turned out.

Fourth, I have had a life. I have not spent 55 years in a closet minding my manners and limiting my experience. I have traveled, experimented (and inhaled), explored and been married to several men. I don’t even think a man could get away with living a real life and running for public office and certainly not a woman. All these squeaky clean people that folks vote into office are only squeaky clean because they haven’t been caught yet. At least I’ve sewn my wild oats rather than storing them up so that they come spilling out once I get into office.
Fifth, I say what I think. You ask me what I think about something and I’ll tell you. I have been described as "suicidally honest," a real death knell for any politician in this day and time.

Sixth, I get mad. I am furious with the way the Bush/Cheney/Halliburton crowd has run this country into the ground in the past six years, the way they have lied and squandered our money, granted no-bid contracts to their buddies, among other things. I am outraged by their torture and wiretapping and I have nothing but contempt for people like Phil Gingrey who carry their water for them. It not be possible for me to stand around saying "my esteemed colleague Phil Gingrey" and the like. And, as you know, being "angry" is a seriously negative charge that has been leveled against Hillary Clinton already. If I were Hillary Clinton and some Republican accused me of being "angry" I would say "Hell yes, I’m angry. I’m livid." See what I mean?

Seventh, having lived in different parts of the world, I have respect for people outside this country. I don’t necessarily think that we have all the answers. There are other ways of organizing society and we should look at them.

For example, I do not think that the function of government is to be a management board for corporate interests, a mechanism for transferring public money to private use. I think government should work to maximize the opportunity, fulfillment, economic security and productivity of each and every person no matter how young or old, no matter what race, ethnic group, sexual orientation or social class. I do not believe that it is the function of government to help rich people get richer. I do not believe that government should use the tax money of the average Jo/e to subsidize corporate profits. I do not believe that making money is the end all and be all of life.

And that brings up the final reason why I can’t run for public office. I don’t have any money. The way we allow the private financing of campaigning for public office ensures that only the wealthy, representing the interests of the wealthy, need apply.

I hear people say that a candidate with money at least won’t be stealing it from the public, but everybody with sense knows better than that. People with money just want more money. And I have come to believe that people don’t go into government and then become corrupted. They are corrupt beforehand and they go into government because they know that’s where they will be in the position to maximize their take.

You might think that having no personal fortune would be a recommendation for public office. It would mean that you were not so concerned with material wealth that you spent your entire life accumulating it. It would also mean that you would have some affinity with the average person. But, in this country, money is the first qualification. People like Kathryn Harris can make it seem like they are doing something laudable by using their own personal fortune to buy themselves a public office they have already demonstrated themselves to be unworthy of.
But, I guess I’m just "reality based" another derogatory term when applied by the Bush/Cheney/Halliburton crowd.

So, I can’t run against Phil Gingrey even though it would give me great pleasure to beat the socks off him. It’s a shame though. I had even decided how I’d end every speech.

"I’m __________________. I can’t be bullied and I can’t be bought and I’m asking you for your vote."