WHY DO REPUBLICANS AND OTHER RIGHT WING FANATICS HATE, FEAR AND OPPRESS WOMEN?

Growing up in New York City we were taught about "upstate" as though it were a foreign country. And in many ways it was-- at least foreign from the cultural and ethnic diversity of the City. And nowhere "upstate" was more foreign than the North Country. The state as a whole is 62% white. The North Country is 93% white. New York as a whole has 12.5% of its population living in rural areas. The North Country: 65.3%. Median income statewide is $43,393. For the North Country: $35,434. In 2004 51% in CD-23, the North Country congressional district, voted for Bush. In the state as a whole Bush barely eked out 40% of the vote.

Last week you probably read how Bush's catastrophic policies in the Middle East-- and his foreign policy in general-- have already lost the Republicans the "security moms." According to The Washington Post "Married women with children, the 'security moms' whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews. This critical group of swing voters-- who are an especially significant factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts on which control of Congress will hinge-- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001..."

Security moms, like soccer moms, and like the vast "single women" bloc, all first and foremost... women, a huge demographic that has tended to turn towards progressives anyway. Patriarchal, authoritarian societies, like one envisioned by the powerful primitivist segments of the ruling Republican coalition, have not been friendly places for women-- no more so than are the fundamentalist Islamic societies we are taught to revile.

Watertown, New York, the heart of the North Country, is not a fundamentalist Islamic society. But you might be confused into thinking it was if you listen to Timothy LaBouf, a member of the City Council and mullah of an Ismalo-fascist mosque pastor of a Baptist church there. The deranged pastor fired 81 year old Sunday School teacher Mary Lambert, a member of the church for 54 years and a Sunday School teacher for nearly that many.

"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission" reads the bizarre letter Ms Lambert got from the church. "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became sinner."

LaBouf, a raging right wing Republican imbecile who has caused many problems within the church and the community, has been pastor for 2 years. When DWT contacted the longtime congressman rubber stamp Republican John McHugh, his D.C. congressional office refused to comment. His Democratic opponent, Dr. Bob Johnson had nothing to say about employment practices within the church but campaign manager Jesse Bocinski mused aloud that "the situation does make one wonder if Reverend LaBouf is the appropriate person to be making important decisions in his capacity as city council member. It's a shame you couldn't get Congressman McHugh to respond but you can look at his one defining moment as a congressman. It was a couple of years ago on the Armed Services Committee when he championed the position that women should be locked out of 'traditionally masculine' military roles."

Whether you're a woman or just a man who respects and appreciates women, this would be a good time to decide if you're standing with crazy patriarchal primitives like LaBouf and McHugh or for contemporary thinkers and equal right advocates like North Country residents Viggo Mortsensen and Dr. Bob Johnson. Dr Johnson' Act Blue Page is open for business-- the business of making America a safer and better place for all Americans.