Marco Rubio flops again - at a Catholic college he "uninspires"

Remember when Marco Rubio upstaged his own national televiion debut, by depending on a water bottle for support? He literally squelched his public persona at a rare moment when he could've looked presidential.  

Well, as Ronald Reagon would say, "There he goes again".

Senator Marco Rubio R-Fla on Feb 12, 2013

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., takes a sip in the middle of his GOP response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union address.

This time, Senator Rubio had the opportunity to raise his public persona by answering a rather plebian quesiton about who he'd most like to have a beer with?  Speaking at the Roman Catholic Saint Anselm College in Manchester NH, Rubio brought up the nice name of Malala Yousafzai, who is the Nobel Peace Prize winning underage Muslim who also happens to be a political socialist.  In other words, Senator Rubio has no idea who Malala really is, except she's a prominent woman leader in the news.  

Perhaps, Rubio thought Malala to be somewhat safe, but given he was speaking at a Roman Cahtolic College, perhaps he'd have been better equipped to respond with the name of Pope Francis.  

If Rubio was reaching for the name of a woman, how about Sister Simone Campbell, the foundress of "Nuns on the Bus" and other public policy initiatives?  

ALTERNET blogging site says, "What's next for Rubio? Does he want to share a ham sandwich with (Isreal's) Netanyahu?"

Clearly, Senator Marco Rubio needs a break-out "Kennedy-esque" moment. Nevertheless, other than the numerous plugs he makes for his book signing tour, the Florida senator has come up short everytime he's asked to do something - anything- inspiring.  

Rather than "inspire", Rubio looses the moment and, instead, he "un-inspires" by flubbing up.  

In fact, Rubio's "blinky bottle" television moment was inexcusable, because he should've been better rehearsed and, therefore, able to withstand the urge to hydrate for the few minutes he was speaking. His poor performance showed lack of preparedness. 

Likewise, Rubio's stupid response to the "who he'd have a beer with" shows how little the man knows about whatever he's talking about (except, of course, for his book).

Transcending the uninspired moments in Rubio's flat lining political gaffs, I wonder why the Senator didn't turn the question on the questioner, at Saint Anslems, by asking, "So, are you a CNBC staff person?" (referring to the journalists who received undue criticism in the GOP failed "debate").  It seems like plebian quesitons are part of what candidates have to deal with; therefore, they must learn to capture the moments with them.  

Honestly, I suspect President Kennedy would've seized the Saint Anselm's moment, while Rubio's response, clearly flopped.

Women Changing the Face of Islam

Raha Moharrak became the first Saudi woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Moharrak was the only woman in a four-person team called “Arabs with Altitude.” “I don’t care about being the first,” she told Al-Jazeera, “so long as it inspires someone else to be the second.”

Although  many voices of tolerance call for dialogue with the Muslim people and those who practice Islam, the fact is, the religion itself doesn't do much to support women.  But now,  the women of Islam are helping to support themselves.

Obviously, without women there would be zero Muslims, but women are not valued for their contributions to the culture. ( I write this from the point of view of having been in a dinner conversation several years ago, with a few Muslim paramedics, who candidly explained how they culturally experience sudden infant death syndrome among babies. A boy receives more aggressive life support than a girl.  This discourse is a tragically true story.)

Unfortunately, the face of Islam is usually male and stern.  This affect doesn't help to build tolerance when extremist terrorist networks within the Muslim culture are stereotyped as religious fanatics.  Clearly, 50 percent of the Muslim culture includes women, it seems like the world should see more of them from behind their burkas and hijab shrouds.  

Women can change the face of Islam. In so doing, they will improve tolerance for their culture and faith, transcending the stereotype extremist image.

Perhaps because of the international availability of cable news like CNN or social networking, a few Muslim women are cautiously attempting to be role models who will change the face of Islam. 

Some Muslim women like Malala Yousafzai, are trying to break out of the mold, as reported in Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/20/kick-ass-women-of-the-muslim-world_n_3624299.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Malala Yousafzai gave a stirring speech at the U.N. last Friday, her first major appearance since being shot in the head by the extremists in the Pakistani Taliban, in October, for her efforts to promote girls’ education in the country.

Yousafzai was celebrated July 12, her 16th birthday, which the U.N. proclaimed Malala Day. “By targeting Malala, extremists showed what they feared the most: a girl with a book, ” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a speech marking the event.

“They thought that bullets would silence us, but they failed,” said Yousafzai, wearing a shawl that once belonged to Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first female prime minister, who was assassinated in 2007. “There was a time when women’s activists asked men to stand up for women’s rights. This time we will do it for ourselves.”

Another woman Saudi is making her statement in film.  Haifaa al-Mansour faced some unusual obstacles while directing “Wadjda,” a coming-of-age story about a young girl who plots to own a bicycle despite a ban on women riding in public. The film is the first to be shot entirely on Saudi soil, and, due to restrictions on men and women working together, al-Mansour often had to direct the actors and crew remotely with a walkie-talkie. Despite these challenges, Saudi Arabia’s first female director has said her country is becoming “more tolerant and more accepting.” However, the film will be available in Saudi Arabia only on DVD or television, as public cinemas generally are banned.

A woman climbing Mt. Everest is always an interesting story, but when she's also a Saudi, her accomplishment indicates social change towards women is indeed on the horizon.  In May, 27-year-old graphic designer Raha Moharrak became the first Saudi woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Moharrak was the only woman in a four-person team that called themselves “Arabs with Altitude.” “I don’t care about being the first,” she told Al-Jazeera, “so long as it inspires someone else to be the second.”

As the face of Islam women are revealed, controversy ensues. A 21-year-old Syrian woman caused a minor sensation in November when she posted a picture of herself on Facebook without the veil she wore most of her life. Looking right into the camera, Dana Bakdounis holds her passport with a note saying, “I’m with the uprising of women in the Arab world because for 20 years, I wasn’t allowed to feel the wind in my hair and (on) my body.” The post was briefly removed after Bakdounis received a flood of comments and threats, though Facebook later apologized and said this was an error. Twitter users created the hashtag #windtoDana in support.

These and other heroic women stories, some published and probably many more occurring "under the veil" are eventually finding their way into talk shows, social media and word of mouth communications.   Collectively, women will rise and shed the burkas of oppression and change the face of Islam for the better.

It's hard to understand how fifty percent of any group can remain oppressed for as long as Islam women have been wrapped in inequality.  Nevertheless, there's no time like the present to change this social gender stigma.  The Muslim culture, where extremists and fanatics hide, cannot thrive unless the negative stereotypes are improved.  Islam women seem to be awakening to this challenge. In so doing, there is hope for tolerance both within their own culture and certainly to the skeptical universe outside the veil.

Malala Yousafzai is Only 14 Years Old - She's Now an Icon for Women of the World

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/world/asia/teen-school-activist-malala-yousafzai-survives-hit-by-pakistani-taliban.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121010

There's absolutely no explanation for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, 14, a Muslim girl, who was on her way to school.  Yet, she was the target of evil Taliban terrorists in Pakistan. 

Gunmen singled Malala out for execution, while she rode a school bus. Although she was known for being outspoken about Taliban tyranny against women, she never did anything to harm anyone.

Now, Malala and her family are tragically awaiting the status of her (hopeful) recovery. As a result of the meaningless assassination attempt, Malala is now an international icon for women's rights. She's much larger than a young girl trying to educate herself and inspire other Muslim girls to do likewise. Indeed, it's possible the 14 year old Malala, a Pakistani girl, may even make a difference for millions of women in the world who strive to improve themselves against tyranny. Maybe.

 By surviving (please God), Malala may do more to help Muslim women than the charismatic female leader Benazir Bhutto was unable to accomplish in her lifetime. Bhutto was assassinated in a bombing on 27 December 2007, during a campaign event while running for the office of Pakistani Prime Minister.  Interesting, Bhutto was the daughter of a politically successful Pakastini family who, was educated and previously had held elected positions in the government, before she was forced to live in exile.  She was well aware of her risk of assassination in 2007, while campaigning in Pakistan.  Her violent death was mourned, but the incident did not change anything for women in Pakistan. In fact, the government seems to have become more repressive toward women.

By shooting Malala while she was on her way to school, the Taliban have demonstrated their intolerance of women to the entire world. Her shooting forced Pakistani government officials to respond by offering support to her family while avenging the murderous attempt.

Other Muslim girls are inspired to take up Malala's cause for education. http://tribune.com.pk/story/450867/towering-teenager-civil-society-students-rally-behind-malala-her-mission/

It baffles me to no end how conservative movements throughout the world target women for discrimination.  An analogy is, of course, the American conservative movement's "war on women" when they collectively intend to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, including access to reproductive health care.  Right wing extremists who want to deny women the right to access reproductive health care are repressive.  Bombing abortion clinics is no different than attacking a school bus carrying girls to school.

Even more baffling is how some American women join political movements that support policies outside our best health and educational interests.  In other words, I don't get how women can vote for men who speak ignorantly, like Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri, about rape. Akin weirdly distinguished this violent act against women as somehow having a special attribute, called  "forcible rape", when women's bodies magically protect against pregnancy. Some Missouri women have forgiven Akin. Perhaps Akin can be forgiven, but not enough to vote for him.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/republican-some-girls-rape-easy-lawmaker-offends-paul-forcible-rape-ryan-spokesman-says/

We are praying for Malala's complete recovery, as she holds on to life after the removal of a Taliban bullet lodged in her neck. Undoubtedly, her recovery will take many months of rehabilitation to determine the extent of her injuries. Nonetheless, with every breath Malala takes, she continues to inspire women throughout the world, who instinctively know they might be a moment away from becoming a victim of violence, just because of their sex.

When we pray for Malala's recovery, we're also praying for the elimination of discrimination of women throughout the world, regardless of their socio-economic background or political affiliation.