David G. Eigen, Ph.D. ™

Why do wives of powerful men stand by their men when they stray? This is a question raised by many after the debacles of NY Governor Elliot Spitzer, NJ Governor James McGreevy, President Bill Clinton, Senators, sports figures and others. All have wives that stood by them during their scandals. Most have since remained with their men. Why? The following is an outline of many possibilities. Any combination of these items could be at play with these wives. Here is the short list of possibilities:
1. Fear of loosing their lifestyle, they are bought and paid for, so to speak. Show me the money, honey. I think this is the primary reason. Political wife’s have often bought into the lifestyle and don’t want to loose it.
2. Deep abiding love and feelings of loyalty to their partners.
3. They hope their marriage will get better.
4. They fear being alone, or fear they cannot take care of themselves.
5. Commitment/Comfortable/habitual/enmeshed/connected/obligation – for better or worse.
6. They stay for the children/family unit.
7. They’re needed now; their position is elevated. They live with a person whose shadow is so large they felt insignificant. Now they are needed and important, so they feel elevated by their spouse’s problems.
8. They are simply afraid of change.
9. Leaving would be inconvenient/now would be bad timing.
10. Quilt is another often overlooked factor. These wives know they have not been the wives their husbands needed. Perhaps they withheld affection, or were too busy with their own separate lives. They may feel culpable in driving their husbands to find satisfaction elsewhere.

The U.S., if not the world, has been exposed to the video posted on the website YouTube in which six teenage girls lured a friend who had “dissed” them, called them names in a posting on the social website MySpace. This posting was coded “private,” so it was not viewable by the general public. When she arrived, they beat her into unconsciousness, slamming her head into a wall. Then, when she regained consciousness, she was further pummeled. At this point they started filming, or that is what as been released or remains. Two teen boys stood sentry duty outside to prevent interference and make sure nothing would interfere with the girl’s vengeance. When the premeditated hour-long torture/beating session was over, they kidnapped her and drove her to another location. Here is where they further threatened her with additional harm if she “talked.” Whether there was a further beating is unclear. She eventually made it to the emergency room of the local hospital and the police became involved.
The unbelievable horror of teenagers, some members of the local cheerleading squad from a conservative area acting in such a heinous way shocked and outraged all. But what was even more shocking was that they planned to video record it and post it on the Internet. This was not just blind teenage stupidity; it was sheer unadulterated arrogance that lacks any semblance of humanity.
Were they members of some violent street gang, or Nazi youth cult, or even some satanic cult? No they weren’t. So what creates and allows teenagers to think and act in such a barbaric fashion? The answer is simple, though uncomfortable-we do. Our society does, in fact it promotes it in the name of Free Speech and corporate greed, not to mention our own complacency. Also, we seem to have developed an appetite for the reprehensible. What am I referring to?
I am referring to a number of factors in our social thinking that allows and promotes this:
1.    Where God-given sexuality is taboo, for adults only and violence is considered acceptable. For your information, in Europe and most of the world the opposite is true.
2.    Where violent video games promote violence and destruction without consequence or human compassion and are completely common and acceptable. There is a lot of money made on these games as an added factor to keeping viewing them under “free speech” guidelines.
3.    Where violent ghetto music that aggrandizes violence, disrespect of women, and the killing of those who “dis” us, called gangsta rap was not banned for fear of being called racist. Also, there is a lot of money being made to this day, so it instead was promoted as cool, becoming role models for unguided youth.
4.    Parents who don’t parent. Job one is loving our kids; job two is creating and enforcing clear boundaries with consequences. More then likely these parents were not capable of either jobs, or did not work together to guide their children.
5.    Broken composite families where boundaries and parenting roles are blurred. While the parents work too many hours, or simply neglect the kids for whatever reason.

OK, so we a seeing a much bigger picture here. Of course the kids should be punished, in adult court in my opinion. So what does all this have to do with the Lord of the Flies, the novel by William Golding? Unfortunately, becoming all too common are school shootings, kids killing kids. These stories are emblazoned all over the media. Nobody has missed this, have they? In his book Mr. Golding has written about the underlying barbarism within humans that is shaped, guided, and kept at bay by a “civilized” society. Civilization is a social agreement. In his novel he shows a group of shipwrecked teenagers whose social agreement breaks down and reverts to barbarism, replete with violence and murderous lifestyle.
His point is well made, and our school shooters and this article’s main characters, the teenage “video” stars/criminals are illustrative of his premise. Case and point.
All I can say is I am deeply saddened that we are losing our humanity, because we don’t think civilization is worth keeping and moving into barbarism. Throwing the baby out with the bath water. And we stand there as if we are helpless in the face of it all. If you think you are helpless, you are, but only because you think it. Wake up to your power, society as a whole and our children are endangered by our inertia. Demand an end to this bastardization of our basic constitutional tenants. Just as it isn’t free speech to yell “fire” in a crowded theatre, it isn’t free speech, but anarchy to allow what is being past off as a liberal interpretation of “free” or artistic expression. Reasonable is the key to free speech, and yes, we will have to have arbiters that not everyone will agree with, or I guarantee a deepen decline in barbarism. Just look around you for evidence.

This statement has never been so well demonstrated as by the former governor of New York, Elliot Spitzer. His inner unsatisfied urges that he was unable to fulfill were resisted. Everything we resist within ourselves is always and automatically put in our inner dumping grounds, called the shadow, a.k.a: the dark side. The fact of human nature is the longer something is resisted the more twisted it becomes. It then requires even more of our energy to resist, which twists it even more. There is not option for this. It is the way it is. We can and do try to distract from these inner resisted urges with an abundance of addictions, and we can also project it out onto others. We project it by finding the same issue in others that we don’t like about ourselves, and then we go after these others with a vengeance.
This is what Governor Spitzer did, especially as Attorney General and his wife helped pick out the “hit-list.” Since she rejected these behaviors as aberrant in others, he certainly could not share with her what he felt or needed that she might deem aberrant either, so that added more fuel to his inner fire, the shadow’s fire.
Eventually, it was only a matter of time, his inner needs now twisted and grown into an out-of-control monster won out. This monster demanded expression and express it he did, at a great cost to himself, his family, and the State of New York. He did give us all some juicy gossip to talk about though you must admit.
All this could have been prevented with an open dialog, but in today’s climate, with men judged as wrong, especially their sexuality, it is difficult. What if you have an image to maintain, say like being a Governor, you’ve run under the platform, “I am Mr. Clean personified and will clean-up the bad elements.” “Bad” being defined to include sexual desires. Ah, but you have those nasty desires. What are you to do? You are simply up the creek, it ran dry, it’s dark out, and you’re lost. Now, comes in Elliot Spitzer to play the part. He’s perfect isn’t he? He resisted and it persisted.
So why do men seem to be so focused on sex, yet have trouble with closeness? As I wrote in my book, Men-The Gods of Love:
“Men are allowed two emotions that aren’t considered wrong. The first is anger – no surprise here. The second is sex. Yes, sex, which for a man is a surrogate or substitute emotion.
Sex, the surrogate emotion replaces a whole array of things like intimacy, communication, sensitivity, need for touch, approval, and love, which men are not allowed to need. In fact, needing anything other than sex, power, and money, or what it can buy, is usually at least suspect and ridiculed, if not prohibited. Men are chastised for showing any signs of sensitivity or feelings. They are told these human needs cause harm and pain or show weakness and inferiority. This is to be avoided at all cost! Of course, women want a more sensitive guy they will tell you and then go for the “bad boy.” Figure that out!
These types of limiting beliefs have been taught to men by the patriarchal belief system, which has possessed the consciousness of society for a very long time. This is why sex is so important to men; it is ALL of men’s needs rolled into one, or at least so they believe. Is there any wonder why men will lie or pay money to get sex? To men, it is their lifeblood and the only source men are allowed! Women are allowed feelings and can seek their lifeblood from many sources.” That is why sex is less important to them. They are able to get their emotional needs fulfill in many different and more direct fashions.
Our parochial religious beliefs are fully in alignment with this destructive patriarchal thinking. The scandals with priest and sex are example of “what you resist-persists.
Another element in the Spitzer tragedy is his arrogance, which is the disregard of others, an inherent superiority. When you are arrogantly superior you can easily slip into believing you act with impunity, especially when you have power. Add that to years of unfulfilled resisted desires bursting the lid of the pressure cooker and like magic, you have an instant mess.
It is sad to see what has been created for all and I hope that a healing of the damage can occur. I also hope that people will wake-up and begin more honest dialogs with each other. Creating a secret self is only needed when you feel you won’t be accepted. You must communicate honestly and if your spouse doesn’t approve of who and what you are, seek couples counseling and if that doesn’t work, get a new partner who likes you for you. No man or woman should ever pretend to be something other then who they truly are.

Workplace bullies, we all know them, but what are they. First let’s look at what bullying is. It is identified by repeated verbal abuse, aggressive behavior, work interference/sabotage, humiliation, or intimidation. These are all violations of another’s boundaries and are a common occurrence. Sources say that sixty percent of bullies are male and forty percent are females. Not surprising, nor is the fact that female bullies prefer to bully other women three to one. Men are equal opportunity abusers. Bullies were not taught to respect another’s boundaries, and may not have been taught, through example, to even be aware of other’s boundaries. Allowing this to continue is a form of enabling.
Boundary issues can develop in childhood like this:

1. The baby cries out because it wants something, its success teaches it a control mechanism.
2. Progressing, the parents say no to the child; the child escalates the cries to the level of tantrum; if the parents give-in that is a green-light to violate their boundaries.
3. Aging further, whining replaces the crying, reminding the parents of the more severe control mechanism/boundary violation–the tantrum.
4. Then with age comes the grown child’s mindset, e.g.: “Give me your possessions or body, or I shall take it. The bullied replies, “But it is not yours and you have not earned it.” To this the bully responds, “So what, I want it and that is enough!”

A diligent parent establishes clear boundaries to establish balance and respect, while not stifling the growth of their child.
OK, so we can see how many bullies are created. They are not taught to honor others and they don’t reap any consequences for their boundary violations.
Bullies are narcissistic calculating thinkers who lack qualities like empathy, compassion, or intimacy. Bullying is a learned and enabled behavior.
Watching others bully creates bullies, for example bullying: family members, peers, coaches, teachers, or bosses. “They do it with impunity, why can’t I?” This is easy to see. There is another more blatant bully that we don’t even recognize and it actually, creates, stimulates, enables and encourages bullying.

Bullying workplaces, corporate bullying is what I am speaking of. They bully each other, purchase politicians, and without question bully their employees. Not long ago our corporate environments were considered bastions of safety, teamwork, and a sort of family that was concerned about its team members and would take care of them through retirement. Now, pension funds are something to be legally stolen by raiders and execs, older higher salaried workers are replaced with younger lower paid ones. The corporate family is dead; it is every man and woman for themselves. In the past, an employee with numerous job changes was looked at as unreliable, now it is the norm. Why? Because there is no longer such a thing as allegiance to a company and the companies know why, their own disloyalty to their workers. And of course, “outsourcing” overseas because foreign workers are paid less shows how clearly allegiance to anything but the god of the almighty dollar–is dead. There are corporations that operate under the banner of bullying as the model to achieve goals. Short-term only, which is all corporation have become focused on. Long-term goals recognize the damaging effects of short term bullying. Our executives pre-plan their escapes with “golden parachutes,” while shareholders and employees are left facing golden showers.
Politics is no different. We see our political parties defame each other like never before, to the detriment of all. The last thirty years is the period of the ego, the “Its all about me,” generation. A chapter in my book, Men-The Gods of Love that delves into this dynamic is entitled, The King of Gluttony. Need I say more?
In conclusion, if we focus on the individual, we will never solve the problem in the group dynamic. Me, Me, Me is the battle cry of self-destruction, the death of the family, and civilization. Every one of us must become aware of this and effect change within our organizations and ourselves. . Bullying is win-lose, zero-sum thinking. It’s called zero-sum because that is the result for all when it is balanced out.

The Soldiers Speak is part of a brochure for the worthy organization Forgotten Soldiers Outreach, Inc. that sends gift packages of necessities and letters to U.S. soldier worldwide. Here is a quote from one of their recipients after receiving a package.

“I don’t know what to say. I am almost speechless. You almost got a tear out of my eye, but I sucked it back in. I can’t let my men see that. What would my men think?”

Sergeant Mathew Newman, Iraq

Exactly Sergeant, what would they think? You can’t read this and not feel it in the depths of your soul. We all know the saying “big boys don’t cry,” and soldiers, well, it’s simply unspeakable. But what would they think? What would happen if they did?
Perhaps, that it was OK to cry, or simply to express their feelings about the horrors of war, their fears, their confusion, and why were they really in harms way and not with their families? Soldiers are supposed to be “Terminators,” without feeling and immediately obey orders, like any good machine. I wish someone would tell my computer that.
The Sergeant’s words express the patriarchal role model as demonstrated in real life. A soldier in the middle of a fire-fight is not going to say, “Stop the shooting, ‘time-out,’ I need to go and have a good cry,” but this is exactly what is feared. But what would happen if feelings were not seen as the inner enemy? What could happen is that when the soldiers returned to base, they could discuss with each other what they felt. Instead of a debriefing of “just the facts,” there could and should be a debriefing about feelings. It might go like this: “I shot this insurgent/enemy, he was wearing a bomb, and/or was shooting at us. I saw his life spill out from him. He couldn’t have been more then maybe thirteen. I know I did the right thing and I kept my fellow soldiers and myself out of harms way, but I feel sad that I had to take his life. He was too young to understand what he was doing. He was just some poor kid that was brainwashed by some extremist Mullah. He was just a boy. At the same time I think I am wrong for feeling this way, after all, I did the right thing.”
His fellow soldiers could support him by understanding and empathizing how he felt conflicted by the horrors of war. More importantly, his feeling would have been witnessed, validated. Validated doesn’t mean his feelings are right and his actions wrong, it means both are valid. This is important in the resolution of conflict. He has a right to feel and also the right to make rational choices that may conflict with one another. The issue arises when one of these is made wrong. All humans must learn to balance all aspects of themselves, not by denying any aspect, but through conscious choice.
How would this help? The soldier and his fellow squad members would release and leave behind the charges from their grief and fear, by expressing them, instead of carrying them around inside in an ever darkening holding cell (the shadow side). Then, the charge they carry would be released, freeing the soldiers to make clearer choices and find resolution more easily.
All repressed emotions require constant energy to maintain in our inner prisons. These darkening energies twist human beings on the inside, limiting their abilities to make decisions, to intuit, sense conditions, and to just plain be a fully functional human being and soldiers. The lessening of vitality and sanity is always the result of repression.
Worse still, if the soldiers survive to return home, they are thrown back into society with their pressure cookers of horrors, pain, and fears, all being repressed. Obviously, this can have disastrous consequences. But for those that appear to be handling it, it can affect them and their families, communities and country for the rest of their lives. Look at the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferers from Vietnam that surfaced years later, and that is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Most I believe suffer in silence, often drunken silence.
In conclusion, it is my heartfelt belief that our soldiers MUST express their feelings, and yes, even be allowed to cry if they choose to. Permission for this be given and supported wholeheartedly by all.

Thank you Sergeant and all soldiers for you courage in defending our country.

This has become to me a much asked question. What should I get him or her. Most people are looking for a pat answer, like tickets to the ballet, or a hockey game. And the common gift theme is dinner and…

Well, I have a different take on it. I don’t recommend any specific gift for anyone, instead I teach that you already know the answer, and it is within. Here is where the problem occurs, by within I don’t mean what you want.

For example: a women buys a fantastic designer tie that is pink paisley. She then gives it to her lover and he response with a dull thanks that lacks conviction. What an ungrateful brute, right? Wrong! You forgot to see the person and the gift (tie) together within you, when picking it out. It turns out that he doesn’t like pink, or paisley and never wears ties, but you like all these things and want him to change AND LIKE IT!

Sorry, but self-focusing, while buying a gift for another won’t work. If you had looked within, felt the one you are buying the gift for and the gift together, then you can pair up gift and receiver easily.

The downside is that the hidden agendas you may be maintaining will have to be ignored, or discarded as they should be.

The process I described is actual – intimacy. It require one to step out of the box, of self, and look at the needs and wants of another.

If you are still stuck, then find out where they like to shop or what they like to do and get a gift card, but that is impersonal.

Good luck and Happy Valentines Day

We have all watched our two main political parties jockey for position, while looking for every opportunity to belittle the other. OK, that’s the way things are done in politics. This is the “competitive model,” isn’t it? Where’s the problem?

Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary gives the following definition for TREASON: the betrayal of a trust; also TREACHERY: a violation of allegiance or of faith and confidence, further PERFIDY: the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal.

Often, this betrayal goes without notice. How is this possible? We’ve become numb to it. It is something within ourselves we are blind to. Often, it is disguised as competition, “business as usual,” or “that’s the way thing are done,” which makes it seem normal. These are rationalizations, cloud-like formations, political smoke ‘n’ mirrors.

When we “squash” the competition they are lessened. In the case of the American representative government model, those that get squashed are the people of the U.S. This can be likened to the right-hand shooting the left foot to spite the left side. The whole is injured, its life force flows out, yet the right side remains blind to its role, in fact, will blame the left side for the situation.

An example of this is the debacle with former U.S. President Clinton and his receiving of oral sex from his intern. I am not going to discuss the correctness of what he did. And interestingly, everyone ignores what she did (sending her stained dress to mother with instructions not to have it cleaned). What occurred is simply not anyone else business, accept his wife’s.

Unfortunately, his response lacked integrity and courage. He lied about what happened, instead of telling the special prosecutor to stay out of his personal affairs. He later claimed that what occurred was “not sex,” a disastrous claim as it has influenced young women, who are told its not really sex.

The attempt to impeach him was solely because he lied. His sexual needs have nothing to do with running the country and were not within the special prosecutor’s powers.

However, the Republican party and its prosecutor Ken Star, thought nothing of defacing and defaming the Presidency of the United States and lowering the standings of the U.S. in the eyes of the world, in order to “get a leg-up” on the Democrats. The world saw it as an airing of personal laundry; a subject more befitting the tabloids. The president’s sexuality is definitely not a congressional concern. How it was used and blown out of proportions was the scandalous part and it brought shame to the nation. But winning is all that matters, isn’t it, even if we all lose?

What possible beneficial outcome could this have for the Republicans? Did it influence the next elections that swung to the Republicans? Yes, but at what cost? The price tag was the shaming of this country, shooting the opposite foot – of the same whole. Just ask anyone not in the U.S. To them we looked like incompetent fools, we lost respect.

This is high treason, the betrayal of the U.S. in order to aggrandize the Republicans Party. They prostituted their morality, receiving the coinage of power as barter. Interesting as morality was, but no longer is, a believable platform of this party.

The democrats are getting even now with Republicans, again at the expense of the country by cutting funding to the bungled Iraq fiasco. This harms our soldiers, whose funding is being strangled as they risk their lives, and the U.S. as a whole. However, the democrats are delivering comeuppance to the Republicans, that’s business as usual. Revenge is sweet, or so they say, but again, who pays for it?

Recently, the National Democratic Party punished the Florida Democratic Party, which went along with Florida Republicans by moving up the date of Florida’s Democratic Primary. The NDP’s response was to disown its offspring, the Florida DP and its delegates from the National Convention. This denies all of Florida’s Democrats’ participation in the presidential nominating process. In order to hold power, they will shoot themselves in the foot. Brilliant!

This is the heartless patriarchal paradigm, the model that has infected most of this world for millennia. Narcissistic arrogance is the cause of our blindness to the damage we causes to others. This is the worship of vainglorious gluttony disguised as “business as usual.”

Perhaps it is time to recognize the course this narcissism, these self-consuming actions, really are taking us – mutually assured destruction. We can learn if we choose from a world history of this, Rome and countless others provide a clear warning. But then why should we be any different. Besides we’re busy, back to business as usual. This is the battle cry of inertia, the opposing force.

If a man went into the wilderness, miles from civilization and any woman, and he spoke, would he still be wrong? Is this a cute joke, or just another reflection of how women make men wrong? Women are usually not as directly violent as men in their attacks. So men get the bad rep. But are women innocent? No, they just attack in more “socially acceptable” ways. Their weapons of choice: undermining, sabotaging, resisting, withholding, etc., are not seen as damaging. What people don’t realize is that “sticks and stones (male) can break you bones, but words (female) [may] destroy you.” A whole gamut of psychological issues arises out of the words of parents to their children. Then, the offending parent cries out in disbelief, “How could my child act that way.” They refuse to own the consequence of their actions.

Women berate men by calling them: clueless, stupid, animals, or Neanderthals (cavemen). Instead of supporting men’s growth, they actually block it. Making a child wrong lessens a child, we all know this, the same holds true with any human. Men also berate women to keep them controlled (usually to stave off the possibility of abandonment). Either way, lessening others always comes back to haunt us. For women, they see angry, resentful, uncaring men who are afraid of commitment, and only want to use them for sex. Could this be a trust issue? If so what causes it? This not to say men are innocent victims, they are not, but an eye for and eye thinking, leaves the whole world blind.

The recently popular sport of male bashing will only come back to haunt us all. It would be better to encourage men to express their feelings, rather then pushing them deeper into a locked-down protection mode don’t you think?

I am horrified and deeply saddened by the death of this great and courageous woman, Benazir Bhutto, which clearly demonstrates the extremist patriarchal mindset. Clearly, the “fundamentalist” insanity that grips the Muslim world by the throat, the Al-Qaida/Taliban extremists, are the wolves at the door and may be directly responsible for the loss this world has suffered. The question is of course, who let the wolves in? That is to say, who did as little as could be not only to prevent this. Who denied her repeated request from better security that she would hire? Who denied her this access?

The answer is the dictator Musharaf, who is struggling to maintain his dictatorial power base that he calls a “presidency.” Musharaf saw Bhutto correctly as a formidable adversary. One down, one to go for Musharaf, there is another candidate who is not dead – yet. The “other” major opposition party leader Nawaz Sharif is still alive. Will he be next, will Bhutto’s family? Unfortunately, the dictator will stop at nothing, including canceling elections and replacing the Pakistani Supreme Court with his minions. And he has nuclear weapons. When will the world community wake-up and take action. This will only get uglier.

Not only was Bhutto an “opposition candidate,” and a proponent of democracy, unpopular with the dictatorial regimes vying for power, she was a woman. The Muslims culture demonstrates the patriarchal way and naturally the extremists do so to the extreme. In the Muslim belief system the feminine is seen as needing to be protected, not to be trusted, and no wiser than a child. Women are considered to be chattel, property. The value of the feminine and recognition of its wisdom is an idea that is violently rejected. Even in the “western” world the importance of the feminine is not fully acknowledged. Bhutto could not be tolerated by these gluttons, greedy for power and control. All the “players” conspired to keep her wisdom, her feminine sense of balance and fairness out of their area. “Women are not welcome” is the banner they flaunt. This is because the arrogant patriarchal thinking, which is disconnected from feelings, sees these elements as dangerous. Of course, dangerous only to their extreme beliefs that only allow for obedience to strict mental dictates. They call these religious laws, which they cowardly hide behind as they brutally enforce their dictatorial ideals. They use FEAR to whip their people into submission, caring not for the damage it does to their people. Blind, heartless arrogance and blind hatred are their main driving force. Have we not seen this throughout history, even in “our” history? For a thousand years, our religious systems burned-at-the-stake, those who would not capitulate. We must stop those who would continue to do so, but not by being judgmental. Force will be need, as will understanding and guidance.

Bhutto has sought to balance all parties, bring them together, and attempt a workable solution through reason and compromise. Her intend was to cause a shift away from a fundamentalism that allows no other possible way, to a more blended way of thinking that allows differing points of view. This is, I believe, critical for the survival of humanity. A poly-psycho-theistic way of operating based on many view points. The melding of dichotomy, a blending of differing view, not into a homogenous one, but a multi-faceted whole comprised of difference. Here, the round and square holes will expand in awareness to accommodate square and round pegs, without loosing there own identities. I believe this is the true desire of the Divine.

Will her death be in vane, another martyr, another light in the darkness extinguished? I hold not. But my “holding,” my belief in the greater good and evolution of the human spirit will be wasted without the shift in consciousness needed to bring about this new paradigm, or group behavior model. Who needs to shift, I do, you do, our representatives in government do, our greedy short sighted businesses do, the super-wealthy that exert incredible multinational influence do, our religious leaders do, and finally our world leaders. It all starts with the person in the mirror. I have written this piece and will continue to work for expanded awareness and balance. What you choose to do is up to you, but do your best, taking action in some form you must if we are to survive.

My deepest heartfelt sympathy goes out to the people of Pakistan for their loss. The world has lost a magnificent and brave woman. Let us no forget her sacrifice for she knew she risked her life returning to her Pakistan; and even more so by running for the office she was ousted from years back by the predecessors of the fundamentalist monsters.

I am horrified and deeply saddened by this demonstration of the extremist patriarchal thinking. Not only was she an “opposition candidate,” she was a woman. Muslims demonstrate the patriarchy in the extreme. The feminine is seen as third class. She could not be tolerated by these greedy gluttons for power and control. Whether it was Musharaf, or another extremist faction, they are all without heart. Their arrogance is only dwarfed by their limited thinking and their blind hatred.

My deepest heartfelt sympathy goes out to the people of Pakistan for their loss. The world has lost a magnificent and brave woman.