Season 10, Episode Two November 3, 2024

On this episode, we’ll hear about women in politics, and I’ll have a chat with a former Oklahoma State Representative about government transparency and accountability.  Not the Headlines examines women's rights in Afghanistan.

Transcript

Hello!  Thank you for putting your ear to the Listening Tube!  I’m your host, Bob Woodley.  Yes, I am willing to debate Kamala Harris.  On this episode, we’ll hear about women in politics, and I’ll have a chat with a former Oklahoma State Representative about government transparency and accountability.  But first, (Not the Headlines!)

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wonder how the people of Afghanistan are doing?”  Not likely, I’m sure.  I hadn’t myself until I saw a story about the latest result of the catastrophic withdrawal during the early part of the Biden administration.  You might recall Kamala Harris taking credit for being the last person in the room with the president when the decision was made.  As it turns out, the men there seem to be doing alright.  The men do, after all, have complete control over the political, religious and social aspects of everyday life, and women have none since the United States bugged out.  It wasn’t enough that the Taliban already took away the right of women to work outside the home.  It wasn’t enough that the Taliban took away a woman’s right to an education.  It’s not enough that women have to hide their faces.  Now, Akhtar Makoii reports https://www.yahoo.com/news/taliban-bans-women-hearing-other-202114312.html that the latest restriction put on women in Afghanistan is certain to create a lot of talk...but not if you’re a woman in Afghanistan.  Women in Afghanistan are now prohibited from hearing the voices of other women.  Now, I could make a series of jokes about how this might effect the men of Afghanistan, and the side effects, if you will, some of which may cause death.  And I might.  But the real point here is that the government we allowed to regain control after a 20-year occupation has now taken away the right of women to speak to each other.  All conversations must be translated by a man.  
I love my wife’s voice.  Especially when there’s a little bit of a laugh in there.  Freakin’ adorable.  But if I had to stand at the fence and tell the lady next door that my wife has a bottle of wine they could drink together as long as they don’t talk to each other, and I had to listen to each of them whisper in my ear and then repeat what they said out loud, if I wasn’t already a capitalist, I’d become one.  I’m not sure the Taliban thought this one through.  They may have subjected the men of Afghanistan to the ultimate test of faith.  
It’s interesting to me how the edict is worded.  Women aren’t prohibited from talking to each other.  They are prohibited from hearing each other.  Women are also advised to not raise their voice enough to be heard outside the home, and to not pray too loudly, but this is special.  
I’m not sure how you prove somebody heard someone else unless they somehow acknowledge it, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.  The guy who’s in charge of Taliban morality says they’re gonna gradually phase in the edict.  In other words, women will be stoned to death for hearing another woman’s voice while they figure out where the actual parameters are and make it more widespread.  Enforcement will certainly be a challenge.  Unless a woman is singing out loud in an audience of other women.  If you’re a deaf woman, you have nothing to worry about.  Oh, but, wait...women aren’t allowed to sing.  If you think that’s crazy, here’s the kicker:  women aren’t allowed to speak to a male doctor.  So, they’re not allowed to hear another woman’s voice, and they’re not allowed to speak to a male doctor.  What a conundrum... can’t tell a man or a woman where it hurts.  Women have been committing suicide, and an order like this one is expected to make those numbers rise.  Women in Afghanistan feel abandoned by the rest of the world and the men who rule Afghanistan.  
I’m not suggesting we should still be occupying Afghanistan.  Afghanistan is perhaps the most screwed-up places in the world.  Russia fought a long war there long before America got there, and neither world power was able to tame the region.  The rest of the world has invested a lot of blood and treasure trying to bring order back to Kabul and the territory it represents.  That doesn’t mean the world has to accept the repression of women to such extremes as to prevent them from hearing each other’s voices.  It’s cruel and unusual.  It’s a human rights violation.  The way Taliban men treat women is an abomination and abusive.  A former civil servant in Kabul, quoted by the Telegraph, said,  “They left us to the Taliban, and whatever happens to us now is a result of Western government policies.”   
It’s true.  Not just because of the disasterous abandonment of Afghanistan during the early months of the Biden administration, but also because Afghanistan doesn’t have anything worth offering the rest of the world that would give legitimacy and purpose to a recognizable and responsible government.  
In a nutshell, Russia and the U.S. have both had enough of Afghanistan, and their women are the ultimate victims and targets of the most repressive authority in the world, and it’s inexcusable that the world has no desire to do anything about it, while it’s understandable why the world is tired of trying to bring order to the enigma that is Afghanistan.

Let’s Go Back


1924
One Hundred Years ago….back in he early 20th century.  Even before bell-bottoms and big band music.  Before Buddie Rich was the equivalent of Justine Bieber, and when Taylor Swift would have been no more than a top-notch saloon act, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected the first female governor in the United States.  Believe it or not, woman have always played a major role in American politics.  The way the United States is run has always been heavily influenced by women.  Part of the problem is that we only count the contributions of elected women, as if only elected women count.  Not only are women more than fifty percent of the electorate, women are more than fifty percent of everything.  Wait, no….that’s not true.  Women could be more than fifty percent of everything if they wanted to be.  Although there are some things women can’t be, like the quarterback of the 49ers, although if one could, that would probably be where it starts, plus there are some things women don’t want to be, like the starting quarterback of the 49ers!  On the other hand, there don’t seem to be enough men to fill the needs of the NFL quarterback corps, so why shouldn’t women be considered?  But I digress...The point is, women have been playing a role in American politics for a long time, but we’re led to believe that women are still somehow shunned because of their gender.  There may be some of that going on, but it’s going both ways.  For as many men there are who won’t vote for a woman, there’s a woman who won’t vote for a man.
This argument has now been going on for a hundred years.  Can we please get past the false accusations of racism and sexism?  The only thing that perpetuates these ideals is the insistence of bringing it up again and again.  A lot of prejudice and bigotry and racism would simply disappear if we simply stopped talking about it.  I’m not saying we should forget our history.  We know what we can’t repeat.  But a lot of today’s rhetoric is the same as yesterday’s.  And I’m afraid that a whole new generation of people is about to find out what happens when history repeats itself.
I wonder if it would be any different if women were in charge the whole time….


If you’re anything like me, you may have wondered, “What the hell is wrong with our government?”  
Well, I found a guy who has substantial insight on the subject.  His name is Charles Key, and he’s a long-time legislator from Oklahoma.  Being an elected official of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1986 to 1998 and again from 2006 to 2012, Charles has had a front-row seat to how state government works, and how it relates to federal governing.  He’s an advocate for government transparency and the Constitution.  Mr. Key spoke with me from his home in Oklahoma.

Interview 

You can find Charles Key’s books at Charles Key dot com.  Representative Key also led the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, and wrote a book about that, as well as his more recent work, Stolen Government.  
A hearty thank you to Charles Key for sharing his wisdom with us by spending some time in the Listening Tube!

The Listening Tube is written and produced by yours truly.  Copyright 2024.  Thank you for putting your ear to the Listening Tube!  Subscribe today, or text me from the home page if you’re listening on your phone!  I’m your host, Bob Woodley for thou ad infinitum.