THE MADISON BRIEF

EDITORIAL BY JEANNIE CONNER

Dear Girls Everywhere,

We want to apologize to you for Donald Trump’s recent  name calling and his repeated comments that objectify women.   We are extending our apology because we suspect that an apology won’t be coming from Mr. Trump.

For the record, calling someone fat, ugly, Miss Piggy or judging a woman’s appearance with a numerical value is a sign of cowardice, not leadership.  We would not tolerate this behavior from our grade school sons,  let alone tolerate it from the potential leader of the free world.

You see, no one has the right to bully you. Sexist bullies lash out because of their own self doubt and insecurity. They put you down, so they can lift their egos up.

As mothers, daughters, aunts and sisters, we know about the shaming. The self-criticism. The haunting images of female perfection in social media, television, film and print — the questioning about whether we will ever measure up, or be good enough.

So here’s the truth:  on the day you arrived on this earth, you were a bundle of wonder and joy, surrounded by boundless hope and potential, free of shame. There you were, with your scrunchy face, pot belly, bald head — and you were BEAUTIFUL!

We know you can’t remember that day, but WE do. WE know the promise of your birth, the power of your potential. Don’t ever let someone tell you that you’re not good enough, that you aren’t pretty enough or smart enough.  Your value is not dependent on the opinion of others, it is dependent on your absolute, unshakeable awareness that you are worthy.

Demand respect.  You deserve it.  That beauty that you exuded on that first day of life is still within you.  We promise.

With love, admiration and acceptance,

Women Everywhere

Hail to the Fact Checkers!

In an election where style has often outweighed substance, last night, debate watchers were on the hunt for the facts.  And Clinton seems to have capitalized.

Halfway through the debate, Clinton gave a shout out to go to her website where fact checkers were busy providing real-time fact checking.  Just look at the Google ranking maps below.  Prior to the debate, Trump received the most amount of searches.  Then look at the map during the debate:  Clinton’s site received more hits than Trump in all 50 states!

Madison Brief

by Jeannie Conner

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything …”  A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1859

After watching both conventions from start to finish, there could be no starker contrast between the looking glass through which the Republicans and Democrats see the landscape of America.  Hope vs Fear.  Light vs. Dark. “We are stronger together” vs. “I alone can fix it” Continue reading…