Are Drone strikes a Gender issue?

     In a recent interview about me, Mike Obermuller was quoted as saying, “she’s very passionate about her own issues.”  If you are a woman competing in a Man’s World, then you already know the drill.  It’s exactly what men with a lot of privilege say when they want to discount or minimize the ideas presented by a woman.  They are suggesting that she’s too wrapped up in issues of diapers and baby bottles to deal with the tough choices.  It’s not about tough choices.  It’s about making good choices.  I’ve fired people myself.  It may be a result of poor performance or serious misconduct but more often it’s a result of bad recruiting, improper training, or general mismanagement.  If you are the boss you don’t have to accept responsibility for that.  That’s not tough choices.  That’s making bad choices.  If you are a really BIG boss you can drive your company into bankruptcy and go to Washington for more corporate welfare.  You don’t get fired. 

            I was raised as a man because there was no way to know that I was born with a female gender.  I struggled to act like a man and do what was expected of me.  One of the most difficult things about trying to emulate male behavior was acting tough when there was really nothing to be tough about.  I empathize with men.  It’s a very unrealistic expectation.

     I’m like most women.  In a relationship I love to be with a man who can take charge.  I love feeling protected and cared for.  Those are the kind of “her” issues Mike Obermuller is talking about.   Of course I can easily feel smothered by the lack of independence that seems to follow.

            Making tough decisions is an entirely different matter. Making tough choices is about knowing what the choices are.   It’s about properly weighing the consequences, risks, and benefits.  As Americans we are not getting that kind of analysis from our Government in Washington.  Assurance’s from John Kline that it’s for our own good are completely inadequate.  George Bush claimed we were invading Iraq to take out “Weapons of Mass Destruction” before the impending “apocalypse”.  This is the type of fear mongering constructed by the military industrial complex to maintain power and control. This is not about bad intelligence data.  This is out right deception of the American people.  This is about raising our battle cry “Remember the Alamo” in “Remember 911” to glorify our military solutions as an essential response to failed diplomacy. If we can’t respect our state department and protect our diplomats how can we possibly understand the failure of diplomacy?  How can we really believe they will protect us any differently?  They have already authorized drone strikes against American Citizens.

Mike Obermueller will say he opposes drone strikes.  It appeals to a popular opinion among voters right now.  What will he do when he gets to Washington and he has the same “facts” as John Kline.  Will he too tell us it’s for our own protection?

I believe that dropping bombs that kill innocent civilians, men, women and children is morally reprehensible.  Drone strikes need to stop  PERIOD  If I get to Washington and I discover facts that justify this type of immoral behavior than I will be certain the American people understand the nature of that justification.  I’m a woman now and I don’t have to act tough when there is nothing to be tough about.