Tuesday, August 6, 2024
This week, Sheikh Hasina, the autocratic prime minister of Bangladesh, resigned and left the country secretly after weeks of violent protests in the streets, primarily led by students. In Mexico this year, a Jewish woman was resoundingly elected as president of a country steeped in machismo. Pakistan, India, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, parts of Scandinavia and also Eastern Europe, have had women leaders. In the Caribbean, Dominica and Barbados have elected women prime ministers who have equaled, or surpassed their male predecessors in policies and governance! What a ting.
The reason I mentioned Sheik Hasina is because she had been prime minister of a Moslem country for over 20 years, which in itself was an anomaly, in my opinion. In general, though, except for Margaret Thatcher and Indira Ghandi, both of whom changed their countries drastically, women have been as even-keeled as their male counterparts in governing their respective countries.
Hillary Clinton had a very good chance of being the first woman president of the United States, but failed because of overconfidence and misogyny, in my opinion. She also let the demagogue Trump define her, and overpower her during the debates, stalking her on stage and with little protest or objections from her.
He should try that with Kamala, if he ever summons up the courage to debate her. She’s no Hillary: different breed, different generation, and I believe she would wipe the floor up with his racist a*s! Trump will call her a liberal; she will call him an authoritarian. He will say she’s soft on crime; she will remind him that he’s a convicted criminal. He will complain about migrants coming in, about immigration; she will remind him that he married 2 immigrants! He will talk about defunding the police; she will tell him that his followers kill police, as on January 6, 2021! Whatever this desperate man comes up with, she will lob back at him with this skill that only black women possess, that you can’t win an argument with them.
I think that it is a wonderful thing that Ms. Harris is the Democratic nominee and candidate for president! I think that she is representative of a country that is transitioning, not only in representation, but also in deciding whether it should remain a democracy or an autocracy! This is not just my opinion, but the reality we are currently facing, and the Republican candidate makes it more obvious every day, that he doesn’t believe in elections or majority rule!
We know that the billionaires are doing their best to shape this election to their advantage, which is good for them, not for the average person. Like Obama, who led a grassroots movement and campaign and defeated an honorable man, John McCain, and a businessman, Mitt Romney, Kamala will hopefully become the 3rd black president of these United States, Bill Clinton being the first, and also the most effective, so far!
We are readying, I was going to say preparing, but readying is more appropriate, for the racist, misogynistic, xenophobic war that will be raging these next 3 months. It will be ugly and divisive and exciting and defining! In the end, I believe that women will prevail! Their time is now, and they will not be living in the “shallows and miseries,” to quote the bard. They will help make 2024 the year of the woman!
Glen