Curses, Foiled Again...

This is the text of a proposed amendment to the United
States Constitution that was approved by both Houses
of Congress:

    Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied
    or abridged by the United States or any State on
    account of sex...the Congress shall have the power
    to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions
    of this Article.

If you think you have heard about this amendment before,
you are right, it was first introduced in October of, ready
for this, 1921.  That's right folks, that's how long it has
been kicking around.  It was proposed after the 19th
amendment was ratified, that amendment gave women the
right to vote.  However, after giving women the vote, I guess
Congress didn't want them to get a swelled head.

It took fifty years, but on October 12, 1971 the Equal Rights
Amendment passed the U.S. House of Representatives and
on March 3, 1972, it passed the U.S. Senate and went to the
states for ratification.  It had one caveat, in the preamble to
the bill was the wording that the bill must be ratified by 38
of the states before March 22, 1979.  By 1977, the bill was
ratified by 35 states, the first of these was Hawaii, followed
by 34 other states, and that is where it encountered a problem.

The problem was named, Phyllis Schlafly.  In 1972, Ms. Schlafly
founded an organization called Stop ERA.  Her objections were
that the ERA would be bad for 'housewives' read 'stay-at-home'
moms, and women might be open to the selective service, and
it would threaten maternal custody of the children in the case of
a divorce.  Due to those, and other erroneous objections, five
states; Idaho, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Dakota revoked
their ratification prior to 1979.  Ms. Schlafly was out in front in
her objections, but she wasn't alone.  Behind her were:
      * The National Council of Catholic Women
      * The AFL-CIO
      * Religious conservatives concerned with abortion and gay
         marriage
      * Southern Whites
      * Mormons
      * Orthodox Jews
      *Roman Catholics

In 1978, Congress voted for, and President Jimmy Carter signed a
bill extending the ratification deadline to June 30, 1982.  Since then
there have been numerous attempts to extend or remove the dead-
line to no avail.

Equal rights for women was a plank in the Republican party platform
from 1940 until 1980.  The Democratic party, because of pressures
from the unions, didn't include equal rights for women in their party
platform until 1972 when Congress passed the ERA amendment.  In
1980 at the Republican party convention, the party platform was amended
to end support for the ERA.  This resulted in women's dissatisfaction
with the GOP and there was a movement to the Democrats that helped
elect Bill Clinton.    

A new movement to pass the ERA began again in the 1960's as a result
of Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique.  And it was driven by
problems with women's social and economic status and the lack of
government enforcement of the equal pay act.  In June of 1966, Ms.
Friedan and several female activist groups formed the National
Organization for Women, NOW, and begun demanding full equality.
The term 'feminist' took on a pejorative connotation, and despite being
introduced in Congress every year, the ERA failed to gain momentum.

In 2010, the Me-Too movement once again garnered interest in reviving
the ERA, and on March 8, 2011, the 100th anniversary of International
Women's Day, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D. Wisc), introduced legislation
to remove the deadline for ratification of the ERA.  It had 56 co-sponsors.
The resolution was referred to the Subcommittee of the Constitution in the
Justice Department.  The subcommittee failed to vote on it and it died in
committee when the Congressional session ended for the year.  In 2012
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D, Maryland), introduced a similar bill in the
Senate, it died in committee also.

In 2017 Nevada, despite the sunset clause in the Equal Rights bill, ratified
the amendment.  And in 2018 the Illinois state congress did the same.  At
this point, there are now 37 of the 38 states needed to make the Equal Rights
Amendment an article of the Constitution.  And on November 5, 2019, the
state of Virginia turned blue, with a majority of the congress and the governor
belonging to the Democratic Party.  For the first time in over 400 years, there
is a woman who is the Speaker of the House, and she is ready to preside over
the vote to ratify the ERA.

Last week, the third week in November 2019, the House Judiciary Committee
voted 21 to 11 in favor of a resolution eliminating the deadline for ratification
of the ERA.  This paves the way for Virginia to be the 38th state to ratify the
ERA - a full 96 years after it was first proposed.  Once there are 38 states who
ratified the amendment, the ratification is sent to the National Archives and
Records Administration where an archivist will certify that the amendment is
valid and has become part of the Constitution.

However Rep. Mike Johnson (R Iowa), has said he feels the proceedings are
invalid and the entire process must be restarted.  It is anticipated that the matter
will involve the Supreme Court and when that happens, both side have lawyers
waiting to file amicus briefs as soon as Virginia acts.  And if that does happen,
legal scholars say there is no reasonable chance that the ERA would be held to
have been validly adopted, since it expired 35 years ago.

Ratification of the Equal Rights  Amendment would have disastrous consequences
for the pro-life cause. It might invalidate the state laws which have placed onerous
obstacles in the way of women seeking a legal abortion.  Conservatives feel this is
why the Democrats are pushing ahead with ratification before Roe v Wade can be
re-adjudicated before the Supreme Court.

Let me say something to all the Republicans who feel they are saving me from the
disastrous consequences of the ERA; do not bother, I don't need you to tell me I am
your equal, in fact I already know I am your superior.

I'm just sayin'.      

When the Cat's Away...

While most of the world and some people in the United
States, are engrossed in the impeachment hearings, the
administration of Donald J. Trump has been busy slipping
a few things by, hoping no one will notice.

Number one is Trump's demand for a five-fold increase
in South Korea's payments for the U. S.  military presence
in their country, along with the rumor that Trump is
considering withdrawing thousands of troops from South
Korea.  This is causing turmoil between South Korea and
Japan and their intelligence sharing pact, which is due to
expire at the beginning of next year.  And that is drawing
North Korea and China closer together.

And number two is Secretary Mike Pompeo's announcement
that the United States will no longer consider the Israeli
settlements in occupied territories as being illegal.  That has
been the policy of the United States for years and was
reaffirmed by President Reagan.

The United Nations Security Council has decried the Trump
administration for the move, and has said it's position on
settlements is unchanged, they are a violation of international
law.  It has called the settlement activity "a flagrant violation
under international law, and it will undermine the prospect
of establishing a Palestinian state".

The British ambassador to the U. N. declared that Britain's
position remains unchanged, she said the Trump administration's
move "presents an obstacle to peace in the region and threatens
the two-state solution". Even Russia has called on Israel to end
settlement activity stating "the new United States position will
exasperate the already tense situation".  And the European
Union has also called on Israel to end all settlement activity.

So what has made the Trump administration such an outlier
in the rest of the world?  What has caused the Trump
administration to move the United States embassy from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that now has the embassy
under high alert and it is issuing advisories to U.S. citizens
in or traveling to Jerusalem or the West Bank or Gaza to
be vigilant and to increase security awareness?  Let me
speculate, Donald Trump will do anything to secure his
reelection in 2020.

Trump's greatest voting block is the Protestant Fundamentalist
Movement, and they have had a Pro-Israeli American policy
since 1948.  Their influence is apparent in Trump's choice of
judicial nominees, his attempts to eviscerate the ACA, which
they feel is the devil's work, his attempted banning of Muslims,
and his building the Mexican wall, but the greatest of these is
his undying support of Israel.  Why is it so important to these
fundamentalists?  For that we have to look at their belief in
the literal translation of the bible.

The fundamentalists believe Jesus will come back after the
Great Tribulation, when the true believers will rise up from
the dead and, with the righteous on earth, will be lifted into
heaven, in other words, those who are believers when this
occurs will never die.  This know as the Rapture.  But prior
to that will be the Great Tribulation when there will be great
suffering and death.  The fundamentalists also believe the
bible when it says that Jesus will return when 2/3 of the Jews
in Israel will be dead and 84 months have passed.  Thus, Jesus
will transfer the Great Tribulation onto the Jews instead of
the Christians.  So America must support Israel until after the
Rapture, so the Great Tribulation will transfer to the Jews.

The unofficial doctrine says, Kings X warns against evangelism
of Israel so god may preserve them for the sake of the destruction
of modern Israel in the Great Tribulation.  Thus, ensuring that
Christians alone will get out of this life alive.  Though no
evangelical leader will state this as truth, it is widely believed.

Support of Israel is dependent on these four things:
     *  Israel must be defended at all costs by America
     *  If Israel is militarily removed from history prior to
         the Rapture, then Christian's imminent escape from
         death would have to be abandoned
     *  That would cause the Rapture to be indefinitely
         delayed
     *  Fundamentalists believe in the doctrine of an
         imminent Rapture

Trump's support of Israel is proof that the Rapture is coming
in this lifetime.  God is working through Donald Trump, and
even though he is flawed, they believe he is the one who will
precipitate the 'second coming'.  So they will support him
without question as their pastors have dictated from the pulpit.

This kind of belief is hard to dislodge, as it defies reason, but
then most articles of faith do.  So what is the answer?  Those
of us of another persuasion must work to counter their votes
with votes of our own.  There is a good possibility that Trump
will be impeached and just as good a possibility that the
Senate will not convict him.  When this happens, it will be
further proof to the fundamentalists that he is god's chosen
one.  As dangerous as this is to our country, it will be
disastrous to the countries in the Middle East.  The riots
in Lebanon and Iran have already destabilized the area,
and Trump's interference will only make matters worse.

I'm just sayin'.