I followed a link from the Wapo article about the Shrubya's obsession with the Oval Office rug (posted by Will Pitt here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=596782&mesg_id=596782 )
Unsurprisingly, I found another example of the idiocy of the "first couple" in a story about celebrating International Women's Day and Women's History month.
Note to Shrub, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY IS MARCH 8th, not today (March 7th). Some people might say that I am getting worked up over nothing since clearly it may just be a case of lack of availability of schedule time on the 8th, but I think this is just another example of not giving a crap because:
-dollars to doughnuts the speech was delivered and he thinks today is actually the day
-another money bet on the fact he doesn't know (or his speech writer) what the day commemorates (triangle shirtwaist factory) since the speech did not even bother to mention the reason the day (tomorrow) is historic
-I bet there are plenty of holidays that he has insisted be celebrated on the actual day
Here's a couple of gems from the WH press release found at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060307.html"In the last four years, we have also seen women make great strides in Afghanistan and Iraq -- countries where just a few years ago women were denied basic rights and were brutalized by tyrants."
Oooh, is that why we have instigated civil war in the process of installing a theophallocracy there?
"We refuse to accept the status quo in the United States of America, particularly when we find women repressed."
Note to self, according to pRes restriction of right to privacy does not equal repression. Ooooookay....
"It breaks our hearts, our collective hearts, to realize many young girls are sold into sex slavery and we will use our prestige to stop that evil process. (Applause.)"
Prestige?? Prestige?? WTF? What prestige?
"We will continue working to fight the transmission of HIV/AIDS. America is proud to lead the world in the struggle to defeat this pandemic. We understand that by defeating the pandemic of HIV/AIDS we will help children and women who have been disproportionately affected by this horrible pandemic."
Huh? Aren't we not giving out condoms? Aren't condoms used properly one of the most effective ways to cut down on the transmission of AIDS? Guess he forgot to add the "religiously acceptible methods" disclaimer in there.
And finally, though I generally loath taking quotations completely out of context, this one made me spew soda through my nose:
"And the United States welcomes the arrival of women into these oppressive societies."
I guess he really does want to initiate a Handmaid's Tale system here.
/RANT
P.S. For anyone interested in International Women's Day, the following is a decent primer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day