.
Could Matt Gaetz possibly become Attorney General of the United States?
No. Women must not let him.
“Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of their country – and themselves.”
Matt Gaetz, whose reputation is polluted by multiple allegations of sexually harassing women, must not be Attorney General of the United States. Women can stop him. If you do not see a way that works for you on this list, please create and take an action of your own.
[In addition, you can sign a petition from the group Civic Shout: here.]
Each woman in our country has the rights afforded to her under the United State Constitution. With those rights comes power, and we must think about how to use that power now to keep ourselves safe from Matt Gaetz. In addition we have the power of our souls as human beings. That power we have as human beings includes rights granted to us under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some women are lucky and successful enough to have the power of an elected office. “Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of their country.”
What can grassroots, American women do to make sure Matt Gaetz does not harm them or women?
What can women who have cases that the Attorney General of the United States is working on do?
What can female government employees do to make sure Matt Gaetz does not intimidate, prey on, oggle, or harm them?
What can female elected officials do to make sure Matt Gaetz does not intimidate, humiliate, prey on, oggle, or harm them?
What can foreign officials (male and female) do to make sure Matt Gaetz does not intimidate, humiliate, prey on, oggle, or harm their female diplomats (or American women, if they choose to help and support us)?
What can Human Rights and Civil Rights organizations do to make sure that Gaetz does not become the Attorney General of the United States?
What can women’s organizations can do?
Any of the strategies we come up with could probably be applied in some way to the President-Elect. Though, since TPE was (unfortunately) elected, there would be some dispute about whether it was fair in a democracy to take such pointed measures.
Matt Gaetz is possibly going to be placed in a post. No one would ever, ever, have elected Matt Gaetz to the post of Attorney General (I pray, and I do believe), with the history he has and considering the open investigations he had as of last week.
My potential strategies list below is a very wide-ranging brainstorm. It is very personal, heartfelt, and timely. I offer it as a desperate attempt to give myself and other women strategies to stay safe. Though, I guess the way to invoke the most power and the most utilization of women’s previous organizing would be this:
Any women’s organization, please, right now, consider action alerts, lawsuits within the United States, and lawsuits to the United Nations and other international political bodies, to prevent Gaetz from either becoming US Attorney General or from being allowed to be forcibly in a woman’s personal space after he may become US Attorney General.
Women elected officials – women Governors, women who are state District Attorneys, women in Congress, etc. – please think of how to use your powers, your office, your processes, or your bully pulpit to save women from the scourge of a possible Gaetz stint at Attorney General of the United States.
So many women are stunned, depressed, and vulnerable by the loss of Roe v Wade and the re-election of the President Elect. We need any leaders and any women who still have their gusto to rise to this occasion.
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Brainstorms which focus on grassroots, female, United States citizens, with notes for other women of power…
My first thoughts are the thought that worried my consciousness and drove me out of my warm bed this morning to type this up: Any woman who must physically be in the presence of the possibly, future Attorney general, any woman who has to be in the presence of a man who anyone can see has exploited young women and treated women as objects, should:
–Frown in his presence.
Make sure that you do not do anything near a “smile” in his presence, because it may allow him to suggest that you wanted a sexual relationship. When a woman must approach a sexually exploitive man, (who has been noted as such in investigations, in public, and has even been noted as such in the testimony of more than one other woman) they should be sure to make a frown to let their displeasure be known. This is true especially if you have to be in a photograph with the possibly future Attorney General Matt Gaetz. So, women public officials and foreign dignitaries should take special note.
–Next level: When you must be in the presence of this male sexual harasser, you could wear a veil. The veil will hide your positive emotions, which might become a sign of sexual availability or vulnerability to him. In addition, you will be alerting other woman that danger is near. And, you will be making a public, political statement that the man does not deserve to be in his position.
Note: Reading my paragraph above it just dawned on me: Men are always telling women to smile. And, a smile is often interpreted by male sexual harassers and abusers as “consent”. This scenario is something I wish to explore as a sociological phenomenon.
-Next level: Wear a symbolic, showy, (and possibly functional) chastity built on the outside of your garments. This would be the ultimate, kind warning to your fellow women, and the ultimate political statement to the world.
You are brave. You could do this.
–Genuine Protection if Gaetz is appointed: For your genuine protection, you should consider wearing a chastity belt, for real, under your garments if you must be in his presence. (Of coures, this would be done in a way to assert your own control of your body, where you have the key, or a person you trust has the key.) This action would be especially useful if you had to meet with Gaetz privately for any reason, or even if you had to meet with him in a room with only men. (Imagine how a woman public official or woman dignitary will feel if they have to meet with only the President Elect and Gaetz for US business or a briefing?)
A note: Weird things have happened in New York politics over the last decade. Included in these strange happenings was that the NY political establishment had to consider the possibility of women interacting with Eliot Spitzer, and then Andrew Cuomo, as leaders who had bad histories of dealing with women and sexuality. Somehow, the powers-that-be in New York took care of those situations on behalf of women.
The brainstorm continues: Possibilities for women with special situations related to the US Attorney General’s Office:
Women who have cases that the Attorney General of the United States is working on:
First: In the presence of the possible, future Attorney General, please keep yourself safe first. Do not meet with Gaetz alone under any circumstance. If you must meet with Gaetz, be sure that you have a family member with you who could serve as a witness and bodyguard.
You could make sure to frown, so that Gaetz does not think you are consenting to unwanted attention.
You could consider wearing a veil, so that he knows that you are not personally available to him in a friendly way.
You could consider wearing a chastity belt if you must meet with Gaetz personally. (If he is appointed, he will also be involved in the choosing and screening of other personnel. So, consider that any of the men serving in the Office of the Attorney General could also be sexual harassing peers of Gaetz.)
Please consider the following actions with consultation of your lawyers and with consideration for how you value your case vs. making a statement:
You could make requests to judges or the DOJ that you do not have to be in the presences of the Attorney General.
If you have a case involving anything of a sexual nature, you could possibly ask that the Attorney General be recused from overseeing the case. Maybe even that the DOJ he would run be recused. Perhaps you could request that an outside prosecutor be utilized in some way to avoid a conflict of interest (and a conflict of values).
Female government employees:
In addition to all ideas related to frown, veils, and chastity belts, you could also:
Consider a union action to make sure that female employees of the DOJ who must deal with Gaetz are protected. Make sure that no woman is asked to meet alone with Gaetz.
Consider asking your fellow employees to join you in a strike, should Gaetz be officially nominated and/or placed before the Senate.
Make sure that if any uncomfortable event happens between yourself and Gaetz, that you immediately report it to the proper channels and/or courts.
Possibly make a request that asks that — due to your gender and/or any past trauma you may have — that you create some kind of “order of protection” or “stay away” order related to Gaetz.
Female elected officials:
Imagine what an impact it could have, if you – with your bully pulpit — did any of the actions related to frown, veils, and chastity belts towards Gaetz.
(And, really, perhaps you should also do those actions towards the man who was caught on tape saying of beautiful women that men – who are stars like him — can “Grab them by the pussy”. Perhaps you should actually wear an actual chastity belt if you meet with him. Of course, keep the key in your own control.)
Please consider if you can create forms, processes, or actions for women in your state who wish to deal with the DOJ or file papers with the DOJ to have protections from Gaetz.
Please consider filing an action in the United States against the DOJ and the President Elect and the Senate if a known, sexual harasser is put in charge of the DOJ.
Please consider if you can or should file actions as a state against the United States in an international court of law.
Foreign officials (male and female):
-To protect the women who work for you, Dear Foreign Official:
Ultimately, do not allow the women who work for you to meet privately with Gaetz, but please do so in a way that does not inhibit the sucees of your female employees.
Consider writing a letter to the President Elect and/or the US DOJ requesting that they do not install an US Attorney General who might put the female employees of your country in danger.
Please consider encouraging or allowing your female employees to file cases to international bodies related to the injustice of forcing them to work with a sexual harasser.
-To help, support, and show allegiance to women in the United States, if you wish to do so:
You could frown any time your are in the presence of the possible, future, US Attorney General Gaetz. By frowning, you could broadcast your discontent with his character to all around you. And, you will be sure to have a frown in any media photos.
If you, Dear Foreign Official, are a woman you could: wear a veil around Gaetz and/or wear a real and or symbolic, outer-wear chastity belt around Gaetz.
Consider if there is a way for you to file any lawsuits on behalf of American women with, for instance, the UN.
What can women’s organizations and/or Human Rights and Civil Rights organizations do?
Create political theater in the form of rallies outside government offices which include the symbols of: frown, veils, and chastity belts.
Create national movements where women are asked to frown, draw frowns on their face, wear veils, and/or wear real or symbolic, outer-wear chastity belts.
Think of ways to file lawsuits against the Orange President Elect and the DOJ for putting women in danger.
Think of ways to file international lawsuits against The United States, the Orange President Elect, the DOJ, etc. for putting women in harms way by allowing a sexual harasser to possibly fill the role of Attorney General of the United States.
Study and research alternate public education, advocacy, activism, and lawsuits at the appropriate times: 1. As Gaetz has been selected 2. If and when Gaetz is formally nominated 3. If and when the Senate were to approve Gaetz 4. If and when Gaetz were to take office 5. If and when you were forced to deal with him to do your work in conjunction with the DOJ.
The Orange President Elect has won election. And, he wins a lot. Now is the time for the whole country and the whole world to limit the damage he might do in the role of President with the support of a Supreme Court majority he has installed.
Now is the time for all the men who say that they care about and protect women to reflect on what can happen when a sexual harasser becomes a law enforcement official.
More importantly, now is the time for women to draw a line in the sand. We were not able to do it during the election for a vareity of reasons. Though, putting aside our recent election loss, putting aside the harm the Orange President Elect might do, Gaetz could truly, directly hurt yourself and your daughters. Women must not allow this to happen. Women must stand strong and fight this new, dramatic, and horrible outrage.
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This piece was written as a brainstorm by poet, nonviolent change practitioner, community activist, political activist, and former third party candidate, Kimberly Wilder.
Ms. Wilder was part of the community effort that won a battle with the Orange President Elect. You will find a webpage Ms. Wilder created that helped stop him from building a for-profit catering hall on public land at Jones Beach. https://ourjonesbeach.wordpress.com/
This piece has been written in hurried earnest on the morning of November 17, 2024. Please note that corrections and additions may be forthcoming. Please feel free to post or forward your own additions and suggestions. Also, note that this piece is not intended as legal advice. Please reflect on these possibilities and take action as you can.
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End note: As I type this piece, I realize that, once again, the Orange President Elect has done his circus magic…he has upset me to my core, created a new battleground, distracted me from fighting him, and taken my time and resources from fighting the other important issues, including my own need to reinstate Roe v Wade. It is difficult to fight this horrible human being who tosses out poisonous red herrings, red herrings which distract people, but which he knows might ultimately produce seeds and flower, because he has created such chaos and an alternate, horrible universe. I can only ask that for women’s groups, women activists, and women leaders, as you take time to fight the Gaetz nomination, please pull that time from your leisure activities or low level projects. You must not allow the extra monkey wrench/poisonous red herring thrown out by the Orange President Elect to take time out from battling the Orange President Elect.
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Some background on Matt Gaetz, in case you do not know the facts and allegations:
What would happen to you if you applied for a job with this history behind you?:
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, courts, Election 2024, grassroots democracy, international politics, kimberly wilder, News, nonviolence, president, progressive politics, public health, rants, Roe v Wade, safety, social & economic justice, US Politics, Women's Issues Tagged: | actions against Matt Gaetz, Congressman Gaetz, Congressman Matt Gaetz, employee sexual harassment, How to stop Matt Gaetz, How to stop the Matt Gaetz nomination, Mathew Gaetz, Matt Gaetz, Matthew Gaetz, Matthew L. Gaetz, sexual harassment, Who supports Matt Gaetz?, Women's reaction to Matt Gaet
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