Hey Democrats! Stop confusing enemies with friends (aka What Would Shirley Do?)

If you know me, you know that I come from a long line of old-fashioned Minnesota liberals who put the "farmer" and "laborer" in the name of our state's Democratic Party. My Grandma Rose revered FDR like a god. My own political shero, Shirley Chisholm, wasn't treated wonderfully by the party back in the day, but she remained convinced that reform from within was the only way to go. In her spirit (call it What Would Shirley Do?), I felt moved to respond to a new campaign of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Since all of my readers are well-informed, I don't need to tell you that the newly introduced bill HR 3 is a disaster for women's rights, essentially codifying the Hyde Amendment into federal law while gently peeling away what qualifies as "rape" for woman needing a funding exemption. You know: HR 3 is bad, bad, bad. So when you receive a message like this one from the DCCC, asking for you to sign a petition called "Rape is Rape: Denounce Republicans' Extremist Anti-Choice Legislation," you think it's something good to support. From the petition:

House Republicans are proposing to drastically narrow the definition of rape that qualifies for health care coverage. H.R. 3 would redefine rape in these cases to only include "forcible rape," a definition that rules out a woman being drugged, children who are victims of statutory rape, and many date rape scenarios.

No matter what Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans want to call it, rape is rape -- women should have the right to health care following a rape.

Fightin' words, you think! It's about time, especially since you haven't quite trusted the Democratic Party since the debacle of Stupak-Pitts. You're probably kinder to them than I am, as I don't trust them at all since that mess. For good reason, as it turns out. Several Democrats are co-sponsors of HR 3, including Minnesota's Collin Peterson. So why am I being asked to lash out at Republicans for this misogynist measure when there are DEMOCRATS sponsoring it? WHY?

I went to the DCCC's Facebook page to pose the question. Politely, I thought.

Collin Peterson, a Democrat, is a co-sponsor of this bill. Get his name off this bill and I will give my name to your petition. Otherwise you are hypocrites.

Hey, the truth hurts. As I watched the flurry of messages on the page, I saw my comment get a thumbs-up. Nice. Others ignored my question, so I tried to post it again. This time I was blocked. For telling the truth? Did they think the photo of blonde kindergartener on my Facebook profile meant I was a Mama Grizzly plant? Seconds later, my comment was gone.

A few days ago, I friend whom I cherish asked me to please, please tell her if I had any difficulties or problems with our relationship. She trusted me, she said, and I told her that I felt the same way. For any relationship (even one with a political party) to thrive, there needs to be respect and honesty on both sides.

So now What Would Shirley Do? It's hard to say, especially since she didn't have Twitter at her disposal. I'll mull it over while I retweet the hell out of @DCCC.....