19th Amendment | The Direction of Intention

The Epicenter of Dumb [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on May 3, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“The message here, girls, is clear: yes, if you marry the son of a billionaire, you too can have the life of a medieval peasant!” ~ Van Badham, The Guardian

If you wonder how far down the rabbit hole* we’ve gone, you need look no further than “MAGA Republicans marking Women’s History Month by pushing a bill that could block millions of women from voting just for changing their last name after marriage.” It’s called the SAVE ACT. Restricting a woman’s right to vote was a top priority of the Republicans and the new administration.

Here’s all you need to know: “In every presidential election since 1996, a majority of women have preferred the Democratic candidate.”

So, welcome to the Womanosphere. Branding servitude, scrubbing the 19th Amendment. Moving women back into pre-Civil War times. Apparently greatness necessitates a glossy paint job covering over women’s suffrage.

I suppose I can understand why white guys with big tires on their Silverados voted for this dangerous nonsense. I will never understand why women, people of color, veterans…or anyone with a half a brain, a sliver of heart, or a remnant of moral compass thought this Project 2025 march-to-authoritarianism was legitimate or remotely a good idea. The elimination of Constitutional and Civil rights, the gleeful resurrection of segregation, a broad brush white-washing of our history. The devaluation of women.

I’m dumbfounded. I’m staring at the very epicenter of dumb. It is brutal. It is dark. It is ugly.

I’m going to go make Kerri a sandwich.

*“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is often interpreted as a symbolic journey of growing up and facing the uncertainties of life, particularly during adolescence. (AI Overview). In other words, MAGA world refuses to grow up and face the uncertainties of life – like free and fair elections. It’s apparently easier to rig the elections, throw up obstacles to voters, than it is to come to the table with honesty, with ideas to legislate that serve the greater community. They are swirling in perpetual adolescence; stunted growth. The Womanosphere (insert eye-roll) is just the latest jaw-dropping example.

read Kerri’s blogpost about the WOMANOSPHERE

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Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: 19th Amendment, artistry, civil rights, constitutional rights, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dumbfounded, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, SAVE act, smack-dab, story, studio melange, suffrage, the melange, voter rights, womanosphere, Women's Rights | 4 Comments »

Look In [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on March 22, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you can see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.” ~Kurt Vonnegut

Yesterday I applied for a job that is all about narratives told from the edges of society. I’m not sure why it surprised me to find such a cool-to-me job; our community seems addicted to shattering so there are plenty of small edges to be found. Small edges are fallacious and serve a myriad of false centers. Our survival will depend upon whether or not we can awaken from the shatter-narrative and make the decision to direct our broken focus toward a common center. No small feat.

It is the role of the shaman, the explorer, the artist, the researcher to stand on the edge and report back to the community what is seen and unseen. The voice from the edge is rarely welcome since the report is capable of popping delusions or pulling the sheep’s clothing from the wolf. Page one of the autocrats’ handbook instructs the elimination of artists and educators. Making an enemy of the eyes-that-see, demonizing educators and thinkers – the people who recognize pattern and metaphor. The game of Us-and-Them necessitates silencing the voices capable of calling out the wolf. Autocrats require blind sheep that follow without question.

Some famous edge sitters: Galileo. Cesar Chavez. Rosa Parks. Nelson Mandela. Susan B. Anthony. Albert Einstein. Frederick Douglass, a former slave and leader of the abolitionist movement, wrote extensively about what we call Critical Race Theory; it was clear in his view from the edge. It’s not a new theory. It’s an old pattern with a new name. I think he might denounce his Republican party affiliation were he alive today; they would certainly silence his voice. He would be fired were he a professor in Florida today. As would Martin Luther King, another famous voice from the edge.

Voices of reason are often voices from the edges. Voices of the future are always voices from the edges. Galileo was silenced for suggesting that the earth circled the sun and not the other way around. Over time, the voices from the edge, when authentic, always make the center better, the community stronger. Susan B. Anthony spent her life on the edge, lobbying the center, to secure for women the right to vote.

Progress. Growth. They are rarely inspired from the tight grip at the center. Silence the edges and the community atrophies. Stop the movement and the body dies. That page was left out of the autocrats’ handbook for obvious reasons.

read Kerri’s blogpost about EDGES