I just saw on Buzzflash, an advertisement for the I Hate Republicans Reader: Why the GOP is totally wrong about everything. That gave me a laugh. One reviewer wrote: "Few have the time or constitution to be able to remember the details of every horror story about how the Republican Party has repeatedly attempted to hijack the American dream for its own selfish reasons."
I certainly remember the first horror story that made me realize what the republicans are all about. I was just out of law school in the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan was President. I and most of my peers had a terrible time getting jobs. There were thousands of layoffs as there are now and jobs were about as scarce as they are now. The matter was worse for the new graduates as, in those days, corporations and firms were still seeking experienced workers. Now, they seem to be happy with new graduates with no experience because they can pay them nothing, but back then, you had to have 5-10 years experience to get a job, particularly a law job.
One afternoon, I was home watching the noon news. Ronald Reagan was walking from Airforce One and reporters were shouting questions. One question came from a woman reporter. She asked the President about the layoffs and lack of jobs. Reagan's answer: "Well, you ladies are taking the jobs from the men that need them." He had a big smile on his face as he said this and afterward, he walked away.
There I was, a recent college grad, unable to get a job, living in my parents home, a woman needing a job to feed, house and cloth herself. My President just told me that I was unworthy of a job and if I managed to get a job it would be wrong because I would be taking the job away from a man who needed it. What was I supposed to do? Kill myself? Live with my parents forever? Of course, I know Reagan would have told me to get married, have babies and stay home. Isn't that what the Taliban say to Afghan women trying to put food in their and their children's mouths? No wonder Reagan supported and armed Osama Bin Laden. They think alike.
I certainly remember the first horror story that made me realize what the republicans are all about. I was just out of law school in the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan was President. I and most of my peers had a terrible time getting jobs. There were thousands of layoffs as there are now and jobs were about as scarce as they are now. The matter was worse for the new graduates as, in those days, corporations and firms were still seeking experienced workers. Now, they seem to be happy with new graduates with no experience because they can pay them nothing, but back then, you had to have 5-10 years experience to get a job, particularly a law job.
One afternoon, I was home watching the noon news. Ronald Reagan was walking from Airforce One and reporters were shouting questions. One question came from a woman reporter. She asked the President about the layoffs and lack of jobs. Reagan's answer: "Well, you ladies are taking the jobs from the men that need them." He had a big smile on his face as he said this and afterward, he walked away.
There I was, a recent college grad, unable to get a job, living in my parents home, a woman needing a job to feed, house and cloth herself. My President just told me that I was unworthy of a job and if I managed to get a job it would be wrong because I would be taking the job away from a man who needed it. What was I supposed to do? Kill myself? Live with my parents forever? Of course, I know Reagan would have told me to get married, have babies and stay home. Isn't that what the Taliban say to Afghan women trying to put food in their and their children's mouths? No wonder Reagan supported and armed Osama Bin Laden. They think alike.
posted by Ellen Beth at
1/06/2004 02:21:00 PM
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