A fly in Obama's ointment?

Obama will be president in January. At the same time, a number of congressmen's terms will 'roll over' and the Democrats will be in the majority. Whatever's going to happen this Christmas season is going to happen. So why is Nancy Pelosi already making her own bold statements about things she intends to do by January? Why risk getting your proposals stalled in a Congress that hasn't yet turned to your side, when a little patience will give you all you could wish for?

As a woman who graduated from a quite liberal college and saw my share of the current feminist movement as a silent observer on the inside, I conjecture this reasoning: she wants the credit.

Here is the irony of modern feminism. Obama's greatest challenge, more so than dealing with the economy, foreign leaders who wish to test him, and the disastrous results of his own plans, may simply be dealing with Nancy Pelosi. One of the greatest burdens to the Liberals may just be a monster (I am not referring to Pelosi directly as the monster - you'll understand in a moment) created by themselves.

Now, there are some on the hard-conservative right who believe that women should not run for office (or pastor a church, or become a manager in the workplace). I love these people dearly, but I do disagree with them. Biblical submission of women very clearly works within the household, as a matter of God-ordained organization. Even the most conservative Americans agree with me that man and woman are, though not the same, certainly equal in gumption, intellect, and ability to be capable in their work. However, I go a step further, and note that women in Ancient Israel, even wives, did own their own property, manage their own merchant businesses, judge court cases, and even build cities and bridges which they named after themselves, all within the framework of a proper Biblical society. (In other words, this happened before It All Went Bad.)

The majority of conservative women, far from believing like the Muslims that every woman submits to every man, realizes that we are to submit with grace and love to our husbands and work on equal footing with any other, as Executive Officer of their families. I conduct business with male attorneys, salesmen, and customer service representatives, and I drive a hard bargain, all within the calm knowledge that I am exactly where God intends me to be.

Have you ever wondered why liberal female politicians seem scarier than conservative female politicians? The root of the answer is simple: while conservative female politicians are comfortable in their roles as feminine community leaders, liberal females are still fighting that traditional submission role that still echoes in our Biblically-derived society. In short, liberal feminists are more than just non-submissive. After all, conservative women are not submissive to men who are not in God-ordained positions of leadership over them. No, liberal feminists are anti-submissive.

A liberal feminist wants more than to just avoid being submissive to her husband, if she happens to be married. No, she has to continually prove to herself and everyone else that she is submissive to NO MAN, in no circumstance. Once Woman grabs for power and prestige, she becomes a rather frightening creature, insecure in her femininity, willing to go further and fight fiercer than most male politicians, who tend to be quite secure in their own authority.

Remember the Democratic primary? What kept it so interesting? Long after the other runners-up had graciously stepped back to make way for this "new rising star", Hillary continued to fight tooth and nail. As long as she saw a chance at winning, the slightest chance of breaking even with Obama, she tore him to shreds with such efficiency that the Republican party spent most of their time merely repeating attacks she had already launched.

Now the question is this: will Nancy Pelosi put aside her own desire for power and her strong inclination to show that she submits to No Man in order to put Obama's plan, in Obama's wording, into law, and allow him the credit he will seek? Or are we going to see a power play based on little more than feminist self-righteousness? Or is he going to be the one to give way in the face of her sheer determination? I'll be watching in the next months.