Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species

Thanks to news accounts that emphasize personality over politics, the female members of Bush's inner circle work well as identity-politics puppets; a kind of PC protection device, they provide superficial cover while the Administration pursues policies that take a disproportionate toll on the lives of women and people of color. The Bushwomen do for Bush's image what "pro-life" language did for the Republican Party's rhetoric. ...

Who better to reassure an anxious nation than these women, whom most Americans know almost nothing about--thanks to the shallow coverage provided by a stereotype-sodden media?

- Laura Flanders

This hard hitting book was written by progressive radio host and journalist Laura Flanders (Air America, weekends, 7-10pm EST), and her listeners will recognize her telltale voice on each page. I quoted from her column on the subject; let's take a key quote from her chapter on Karen Hughes:

Her candidate rose to power not on the basis of his legislative record, ideas or integrity, but thanks to skillful message-control, which was her department. Ironically, as communication director, what Hughes did best was not communicate.

Voters in Texas were fed a fake Bush ("successful businessman"), and a disingenuous platform ("compassionate conservative"). The nation was then fed the same, with the addition, "successful Governor of Texas."

Flanders covers Condoleeza Rice, Karen Hughes, Ann Veneman, Elaine Chao, Christine Todd Whitman, Gale Norton Norton, and various others (including the first and second ladies, the latter with her lesbian friendly novel and all). There are a ton of anti-Bush books out there, but this is one of the better ones that focuses on "Bushwomen," but covers a lot of progressive ground ala Molly Ivins in the process.

Laura Flanders is a voice to reckon with. Here's some strong words from an anti-war speech made on 9/10/02:

But by day's end our a.w.o.l. President took center stage. He instructed us to pray.

A few days later, to pray became an order to shut up -- "You're either with us or you're with the terrorists," we were told, and finally, but very quickly, the order was for war.

After that, you don't need me to recount the media obedience stories. Suffice to say the most powerful journalists gulped down unchallenged, a whole new vocabulary - I called it a Warnacular. ...

As my dearly beloved friend June Jordan wrote last year: Some of Us Did Not Die ... Some of us are still here, and we have obligations not because we're vulnerable but because we're so darn strong. And we better get deadly serious about that strength, and our responsibilities and our choices. Right now. Whether we show up in the media or not.

Yes. As I said before, everything did not change. Voices like Flanders helps us remember the important principles that staid the same, how many try to violate them, while keeping us informed about the issues. No matter how much some want to tell us differently.