Like it or not Ladies, it is Time to Bite the Bullet and Step Up to Serve

OK American ladies; I think we need to finally begin to strategically look at what we can do as a group to save ourselves, our children, our men and our government. Before we get distracted by the shiny marbles and trinkets that are spinning around us constantly from Al Franken and John Conyers and Bill Clinton; to Blake Farenthold (and even though Roy Moore was kept from stampeding his way into congress on that poor horse “Sassy”).


We are already forgetting that harassment and borderline pedophilia has been around for centuries and certainly is not a new issue in Congress. Former Florida congressman Mark Foley and Former New York congressman Anthony Wiener, former Republican U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert and all of the ones we haven't heard about yet, who led to congress to pay out $17 million in settlements. While power does come with responsibility; integrity is far more important than either of them—and we as both a gender and a nation have fallen down on the job of requiring integrity from our leaders.


So ladies, no matter what political party you support, it is time to step up. Whatever your position is on abortion, homosexuality, polygamy, marijuana or the most recent budget and taxation policies (using the term loosely) any number of other potential issues we are beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed by in 2017; it is well past time for all of us to bite the bullet and come forward and serve.


If you are a woman between the age of 18 and 72; (especially one who does not have a history of sexual harassment; child abuse, on-line porn, sadomasochistic social clubs; and who might be capable of living up to any future oath of office you may be persuaded to take); then now is time to consider running for office. If you are willing to learn and develop expanded knowledge of how the United States Constitution, the laws of the state you are considering representing and the overall process of how such laws are created, enforced, changed and or eliminated, then you are who we need as a nation.


For the Generation Xers in the room, I understand that we are a bit stretched taking care of our loved ones and trying to function in a job at the same time or raising a family and trying not to lose our minds feeling no ability to affect any of the chaos around us. It is still time for us to bite the bullet and step up.


For the millennials who are both angry and apathetic while trying to figure out how to become anyone while in debt up to your eyeballs for a college degree you may not have even completed yet and who is working multiple projects and internships with the vain hope that you can find a job at all when you receive that degree; if you want any of these societal conditions to improve, then it is time for you to get into the game as well.


If you think it is an impossible arena to enter at this point; I suspect we will find that in the upcoming year, there will be many more congressmen and senators suddenly stepping down before they are tossed. Some will hold out and fight it and others will simply take their money and run to the private sector once they and/or their attorneys figure they are at too high a risk of being publicly ousted for sexual misconduct or other prior acts by multiple women or boys or both.


To prepare for the weaponry that will be flung your way ladies; first brace yourselves and expect that any ex-boyfriend, former spouse, jealous girlfriend, petty coworker or even family may make efforts to sabotage you.  Before you give in to that fear however, let’s assume that in the upcoming years, the breakups and dancing in a bar intoxicated on video (which many women may have out there somewhere) is not enough to make you inadequate representatives of your constituents (provided you are willing to first face those accusations and admit to past mistakes; and second to look your public in the eye and literally push back morally using John 8:7: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” 


To be fair I would encourage young men as well. If you have a moral compass and you have veered off occasionally but not to a degree of being legally dubious, you are what we need as s country. The reason I am specifically reaching out to women however is that in order to encourage our legislative, executive and judicial bodies of government to behave as they ethically should and uphold the values we claim to have, we need a more balanced demographic gender ratio. If we step up and work together to realign ourselves ethically and professionally to what we are hoping to be as a country, we can continue that progress along all demographic metrics; but not if we don’t take the first step and prepare to run for what is likely to be a very big pool of congressional slots (which are very likely to be of both parties in numerous states).


Don’t allow your priorities to be divided and conquered along multiple demographic lines. That is how we have been silenced and ignored and how potential movements in the past few years like Occupy Wall Street, where the protesters tried to address all grievances at once throughout the political spectrum and ultimately diffused their message.  In 2017, starting with Women's March 2017 and continuing into the movement of #MeToo  have helped women to begin to clarify the need to address egregious behavior that has been allowed to continue by too many of us for too long. If we American women can work together to stay focused and form a united front for just a bit longer we may be able to meet the challenges we should be expecting in the next few months. The bottom line still is the same however: This opportunity will not last long; so it really is time for all of us to bite the bullet and step up to serve our Nation—before it’s too late.


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