Who Spiked The Tea?–Changing The Conversation Brew Starting Now

I didn’t sleep well last night, had a nightmare that there was a belated celebration of Halloween where everyone looked like they were about to go for tea with Alice.  Who the hell invited those folks to the political party? Oh wait, …seriously, after staying up way too late last night, I showed some extra self love and stayed in bed late this morning and huddled under the covers with my safety blankie before staggering out to face the carnage.

In the early morning quiet, a few thoughts occurred:

The one issue that has  gotten very little traction this election cycle is the ongoing fundamental issue of vote integrity.  Are our votes being counted accurately is a question because not much of jack has been done to truly address the problem despite it being proven time and time again that electronic voting machines can be easily tampered with.  Then there are the usual issues of voter intimidation and suppression (see this about the issue in Wisconsin where Russ Feingold lost to a guy who believes global warming was caused by sunspots).

We also need to have a fundamental conversation about such things as the relevance of the Electoral College, the ridiculously long and expensive length of our campaign seasons (and by expensive I mean both cost and time), the Supreme Court’s decree that buying elections is the American way, and the huge damage done by a media  that remains primarily a bunch of white, male talking heads with a desperate need to see  themselves in the political mirror.  Until those questions are addressed, the primary question is going to be do you take one lump of sugar or two and would you like a spot of milk in your tea.

So starting right now, first things first, let’s do a bit of de-toxing and check out feminist-friendly/informed election wrap-up coverage (I’ll be adding to this list later, this is just a quick beginning list of links)–we need to listen to/read these voices and spread the word with our ‘progressive’ friends–the conversation game changer starts now:

• RH Reality Check Live Chat Replay
• The Political Voices of Women
• Elections Put First Women of Color in Governor Posts
• Despite Everything, U.S. Still Mostly Rejects Unqualified Candidates
• Elections: Echidne’s Assessment
• America Is So Post-Racial, We Don’t Even Need Black People in Our Senate
• Dems Take a Pounding in the Mid-Terms: Progressives Not Bold Enough, Says Caucus Leader
• Election night 2010: bloodbath or business as usual?
• Democracy Now
• That Election Thing
• The Day After Wrap-Up And Resources for Bloggers
• John Boehner & Compromise Go Together Like Bologna & Peanut Butter
• The Morning After The Elections
• Rebecca Traister on what the election means for women
• The F Word:  Lessons from Elizabeth Warren
• Women and the Political Landscape:  Unraveling Perplexing Issues

Seen a piece that should be added to this list?  Add it in the comments.  What should be abundantly clear from this far from complete list is that there is no shortage of informed feminist progressives and we need to be listening to what they say.

Addenda:  I just caught up with last night’s live coverage on Comedy Central where the only female voice heard on The Daily Show was a woman asking if she looked hot.  Stephen Colbert however rocked not just because of his awesome Hawaii Five 0 opening but this segment with The Nation’s Katrina Vanden  Heuvel who rocked it severely: