Eve Ensler

*Drill, Drill, Drill*

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for polar bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build a community, help empower women, and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates, the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution, and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. And as she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have the right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not. She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next President of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state, and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S, but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth, or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue for diplomacy in the world, or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining, and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning, or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare, or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society, or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism, and aggression.

If the polar bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected, then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill, Drill, Drill!" I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity, or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?

Eve Ensler

September 5, 2008

Comments

[Phil]

Many people, as we well know, speak out of their asses. Eve Ensler, on the other hand, speaks out of her vagina. When it comes to empowering women or giving young girls options, Sarah Palin is a much better role model than most women in the spotlight, including Ms.. Ensler. It never ceases to amaze me how people like her can care so passionately about polar bears or other creatures or causes and yet seemingly not care for the lives of defenseless human babies who are aborted every year, the overwhelming majority NOT conceived via rape or incest. I believe the figure in have heard is about 40 million abortions in the past 25 years or so. The hypocrisy is astounding -- I guess fetuses and infants in the womb don't qualify for Ms. Ensler as an "endangered species".

As for Ms. Palin, a self-made woman who possesses strong family core values and the pioneer spirit which made this country great, she must be discredited and ridiculed, because God forbid, a God fearing woman from humble circumstances who puts family first and her constituents ahead of special interests must not be allowed to succeed. After all, she isn't Ivy League educated, she's a hockey mom for gosh sakes, she not vegan, and she's silly enough to send her son off to fight for this country, helping protect the right of free speech for pompous windbags, elitists and two-faced feminists (who can't celebrate the accomplishments and potential success of a woman politician, unless she's "our kind" of woman) to regurgitate their bile and vindictiveness. Sarah Palin has more integrity in her little finger than Nancy Pelosi has in her entire phony body, and is a breath of fresh air in the sordid, corrupt arena of American politics which for too long has benefitted special interests as opposed to the people.

And aside to to Ms. Ensler: So you have never even seen or touched a polar bear. Well, should you ever be in close enough proximity to touch one, it would probably rip your face off with one swipe of it claws and then devour you. As Shakespeare put it, "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished"! Should you ever find yourself in that position, however, you better hope that Sarah Palin is close by with her rifle to save your faux feminist ass.

Phil

[RELAX, FREAK]

Thanks, Phil. And as per usual, you people on the right always manage to reveal your level headed intelligence and non-violent tendencies.
God help you and God help a country who would be at the mercy of having an incompetent inexperienced gun toting fanatical beauty queen one heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the world.

[your mom]

yeah phil...and try to learn how to spell someday.....you're an ass.

[ming ming]

Yeah, don't legalize abortions. But then don't you be mad when you get robbed and shot by that unaborted baby that grows up living a life where his parents can't find jobs to put food on the table, let alone health insurance, and his parents split up because they fought over money all the time and got kicked out of their foreclosed home, and the kid has no hope of ever getting ahead because there's is no way in hell he can afford an education, so out of despair he turns to drink and drugs to ease the pain and stress, but then gets addicted, and out of his desperation to survive, the kid shoots your ass with a gun he was able to get a legal license for, then he ends up in jail costing taxpayers even more money that they don't have either, but at least he'll be fed bread and water with a roof over his head reading his Bible. And if you're not six feet under, you'll be forced to file for bankruptcy just like the rest of the US because you won't be able to afford health care either, unless of course you manage to remain insured, then hopefully you won't get stuck with an incompetent doctor who accidently removes your kidney instead of the bullet from your thick skull unless the underpaid sleep deprived nurse injects your IV with the wrong medication first which is actually on purpose because he's an angry gay man who remembered your name from your insightful comment on this blog.
Yay, Sarah Palin!

[Non Com]

I'm calling Bellevue because you are all NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[John Andrew]

Hmm. Hatred is change? It is the same. Over half of Americans don't believe i n a never proven hypothesis of evolution which I doubt you could even explain. I'd love to see you debate any creationist - "scientific" folks who embrace evolution always lose.
Just like the man-made global warming folks have NOTHING to prove their case. Weather cycles are larger than man, but of course since you are man-centered, you reject God. What fools!

I am disappointed in Sarah Palin. She did not follow the lead of the left in trying to get stores to pull "Unfit for Command" a factual expose of John Kerry (what a fraud). "Heather has Two Mommies" is hardly appropriate for the Kindergarten Kroud. She simply asked a policy question.

The fact is that you repeat your mantras but don't think. Try having a VIGINA DIALOGUE. Have you EVER spoken to a woman who bore a child after rape? You might be shocked that they don't all agree with you. And you might not know that rapes seldom end up in pregnancy - the grace of God perhaps? The vast majority of abortions are by selfish women who don't respect their own bodies, and engage in shameful lust. Abortion is the sin they use to cover their sexual sin.

[From A Christian]

I asked your mom, and she said she wishes she had considered abortion.

And wasn't she also a hockey mom? That qualifies her to run for office too!

You probably still believe the world is flat too.

Please continue posting your rage all over the internet. You are inspiring millions of others to vote against McCain/Palin.

Thank you. And God help you.

[ming ming]

This election is not about whose religion is "right," or about which sex deserves to be in the White House, and it also should not solely be about the issue of women's reproductive rights. This election is about choosing the best, most qualified candidate to serve as our President in the world's most powerful position. We are to elect the candidate best able to lead and inspire, who can bring Americans together to move our nation towards healing our dire economic situation, repair damaged international relations in this nuclear age through diplomacy, put polices into motion to rid our dependency on oil and develop alternative energy resources to help preserve our planet, and invest in our future with world-class affordable education for our children, universal health care, and true national security. Without these things, we will not live in a country where it will even be possible to raise a baby, wanted or unwanted.

[susan]

The purpose of a government is not uphold or dictate morals, contrary to what many believe. It's job is to provide for - roads, education, etc. - and protect - laws, codes, etc. - it's citizens.

Everyone who has ever attended school beyond the 8th grade should know the very basic principle that poverty breeds a lack of education which breeds crime, or lack of education breeds poverty which breeds crime. It's not rocket science. It's pretty easy to understand.

That being said - what are we to gain as a society if we need to raise taxes in order to provide for young mothers and their babies that they cannot take care of on their own? We gain nothing - we lose money (higher taxes) and so do the young mothers (missing out on school and therefore good jobs and so the cycle of poverty continues). From a governmental point of view - to keep taxes low and protect its citizens from crime and poverty - keeping abortion legal is the only logical choice.

You are 100% entitled to not believe in abortion. My advice to you, then, would be: Don't have one. Talk to your kids. Make sure you do all that is in your power to prevent the need for such a decision.

However, there are many people who don't share your philosophy and who may be in greater need. Sure, random rapes do rarely produce pregnancies. But we can't forget about the young women who are being consistently raped by their fathers or uncles or brothers, etc. Should they be forced to carry their babies to term - their babies that are their brother/son? It happens - a lot - and don't think it doesn't. Laws have been provided to protect these girls and to allow them services with notifying their parents because many times their abusers will try to kill them when they discover they are carrying their child.

If you don't believe it's right - then don't do it. But don't take the decision away from those who may need it. And don't be so arrogant to think that none of these situations will ever effect your life.

[susan]

D'oh - the above should read:

"Laws have been provided to protect these girls and to allow them services *WITHOUT* (not "with") notifying their parents because many times their abusers will try to kill them when they discover they are carrying their child."

[susan]

Oh - and I'm sorry for the third comment but, for the person who questioned Evolution: YES, it has been proven. Maybe you should read more often.

One classic example is Darwin's Finches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Finch#Real-time_evolution

Other species currently being studied as they evolve into other distinct groups, are a class of electric fish: http://www.livescience.com/animals/060602_electric_fish.html

So, yes. Evolution is REAL. That's not to say there is no God (he/she/it could use Evolution as their means of creation, right? Ever see/read "Inherit the Wind"? (http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/inheritwind/)

[Angie]

Does it strike any of you as strange that the majority of the hateful words written in response to Ms. Ensler's blog are from men? How is it that they came to know what it would be like to have to make the decision about having an abortion? Oh wait, THEY CAN'T, THEY NEVER WILL HAVE TO. Forgive me, I am an intelligent, free thinking female that hopes she never has to make that choice. I am absolutely thankful that as of right now I still have the right to make that choice. Just because I am pro-choice does in no way, shape or form make me PRO-ABORTION. The women that have had to make that decision have to live with that CHOICE for the rest of their life. I have friends that have been in that predicament and it was not at all an easy decision.

Sarah Palin scares me in a way that no woman has ever done. The thought that she could literally be a heartbeat away from the highest office in the world is unthinkable. What ever led McCain to choose her as his running mate has me dumbfounded. That was an atrocious decision and if the American public does not wake up and vote for Obama, we will have 4 years of McCain-Palin and that doesn't even take into account the countless years we will be trying to fix the things that they continued to screw up. Don't we have enough problems to fix now, after the past 8 years? I really don't care that she is a woman, I care that she is so amazingly under-qualified to even think about being second in command for the most powerful country in the world.