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- G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
WARRIOR WOMEN
| When it comes
to courage, women
never take second place. We tend to forget this because we seldom see them
feted by governmental officials looking for political advantage. Badges
and citations aren't usually bestowed by officialdom for their kind of
day-in-day-out valor.
Mildred Wirt Benson aka Carolyn Keene wrote 23 Nancy Drew books that sold upwards of 200 million printed in 17 languages. They inspired generations of young women to believe they too could be spunky, independent and resourceful. Benson was paid only $125.00/book and never received any royalties. At the age of 97, Benson was still working at The Blade newspaper when she became ill. She died on the 28th of May, an influence on generations of young women who would never know her, but would cast off their cultural conditioning and define themselves. One of the more polite terms for SNITCH is WHISTLE BLOWER. However even when the polite term is used, it still carries the onus and high risk certainly to any woman that puts the good of her country above her own. FBI Special Agent, Coleen Rowley in Minneapolis blew the whistle on FBI leaders who refused to take her pre-9/11 information regarding terrorists seriously. A team player all of her career, Rowley was convinced of the seriousness of the situation so she sent a copy of her report to a Congressional Committee as well as the FBI chief. Her action prevented the Bushies from getting away with lying about all the information they received prior to 9/11. Following her example, others found the courage to come forward also. Outwardly, the FBI officials praised her but an undercurrent of disapproval and anger was there. The internal consensus was that she would eventually be harmed by her actions when no longer in the public spotlight. The revenge of the Justice department would be nothing so obvious as termination, but anyone who has ever been in such a position knows the variety of ways pressure may be applied to make a woman's position untenable or life unbearable. The mad scramble is on in Washington, DC to avoid blame for ignoring all of the warnings that culminated in the terrorist attack of 9/11. The Bushies will circle their political wagons to escape explaining why Dubya cannot be ultimately held responsible for not understanding his daily briefings. Rowley's memo and all the fallout from it really socked it to them. They were hurting so badly that the Bushies put Dubya in front of the cameras with a much hullabalooed announcement proclaiming a radical change in the government. They did this on the same day as her testimony to the Senate Judicial Committee. They were desperate to get the front-page news away from Rowley's revelations of their inadequacies. It worked. Few people outside of Burlington, Vermont knew Virginia Winn. "Ginny" was an activist that never quit. She founded the Emergency Food Shelf and helped begin the Battered Women's Shelter. Ginny was always available to work on homeless issues and ramrodded efforts to train women who wished to learn construction trades. She was always there to protect and defend the poor and the hungry. On May 15 while shopping at a local supermarket, Ginny noticed an altercation between the store's security guard and a mother with two children. The woman was trying to roll her cart of groceries out of the door without paying. Ginny told the security guard that she would pay for the woman's groceries but he refused to let her and called the police. The mother and children left without the cart and, although the cart and groceries never left the store, Ginny was arrested and cited for the theft of $391.83 worth of groceries. The guard declared she "was agitated." A short while later as Ginny was resting on a bench outside of the store, she collapsed from a heart attack and died later at a local hospital. She was 56.
We can all take comfort in the efficient way D. O. Justice has increased homeland security. It has set the tone to save us from being terrorized by women trying to help other women, just as it protected us from the sight of an aberrant nipple. Welcome to Ashkroft's Amerika. 2002-023
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The
Bushies have been working frantically to avoid blame and close the barn
door after the terrorist attack of 9/11. They ignored all the warnings
that it was about to occur. To make people forget that they continue to
keep the country on yellow alert. They have admonished apartment managers
and other businesses to increase security since it is possible that terrorist
attacks can occur anywhere.