Okay. Today was quite a day for S and I. First of all, S had to work early at the bookstore (ah, Black Friday), so at 5 in the morning, the alarm went off, and I was awake and my stomach hurt and being the dram queen that I am, I thought I was going to die. I didn't.
Then, I went to lunch with my friend A, who works at a bookstore as well, so we gossiped about that, and talked about politics (we hadn't seen each other since oh, forever) since we hadn't rehashed the election yet.
Then, after A left, C came over, which totally sucked for both of them, since they both wanted to see each other. Like two ships passing in the night. Anyway, for some reason, C and S and I started to talk about politics, and S said, "What would happen if Condi ran against Hillary?" And I said, "What if Barack was VP for Hill, and Colin was VP for Condi?"
Oh horror of horrors. Sam said he would equally vote for both teams. But I could never vote for Condi. I would vote for Hillary, under some duress, and unhappily, and I would vote for Barack (even though he has no experience), and I would even, god help me, vote for Colin, if I absolutely had no other choice.
Don't get me wrong, it would be amazing to have two women running for pres. and one of them a black woman. What a coup! What an amazing thing that would be. But I really have problems with Condi (and Colin, for many of the same reasons). She's done an amazing thing, no doubt about it. A black, woman, Secretary of State! It's unbelievable. It's an accomplishment, no doubt about it.
Here's the problem: how did she get there? How did she become Sec. of State? By being a yes-woman. Man, all she did was cover for Bush's ass. He's a liar, and she's aided him in lying. She avoided testifying before the 9/11 Commission for as long as she could. And probably never would have if she could have avoided it. Alas, the publicity was too bad. She's no less guilty than any of the members of that administration for what's happening right now in Iraq, too, and it's sad. She's let herself be used by the administration: "LOOK! We're progressive and good. It's a BLACK WOMAN!" And I hate it. She's a qualified, fantastic woman who deserves to be where she is. But not by fucking kissing Bush-ass.
Lately, there have been some unflattering, RACIST portrayals of her in political cartoons, and I admit, they were bad. They were unfortunate, and not funny. But. But. In my head, the way I see Condi is in an office, taking dictation from Bush, saying, "Yes massa, yes massa." Oh god, I'm going to hell. I hated typing that. But I really feel like she's done a diservice to herself, and to her community by bellying up to the very people who are tearing down the things that can help her community. And spare me the bullshit about "her community"; if we can rejoice about how a black woman can get to the position of Sec. of State, we can call Condi a member of the very community she is (in this scenario) respresenting.
I don't know. I'm very conflicted. A huge part of me, the feminist part, is so happy that we have women bashing through these glass ceilings. But oh, the pain of watching a woman have to play this role.
(And as for Colin, I feel sad that his reputation and legacy are besmirched by an administration that used the general good feeling toward him to set out their misleading bullshit justification for war, and then hung him out to dry when it was discovered that it was all a lie.)
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