How to Sex a Puma

Update: I've gotten a few emails indicating a belief that I wrote this post. I did not. It is a guest post by Tamerlane.


How to Sex a Puma

- by tamerlane

Certain animals, like bunny rabbits and baby chicks, are hard to sex. A big cat should be easy. And despite some recent claims, not all PUMAs are female.

P.U.M.A., in case you just returned from Mars, stands for "Party Unity My Ass." The acronym debuted on June 2, 2008, posted by a guy on a blog run by a woman, in response to DNC calls for unity following the travesty of the 5/31 RBC meeting. I saw the post and declared myself a PUMA that very day on my favorite blog. The name PUMA - and the concept - spread like wildfire across the blogosphere and the real world.

A culmination of a concerted half-year effort to rig the election, the RBC's trampling of democratic principles was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I'd already found an online community of fellow proto-pumas who refused to accept the:

*Rampant election fraud and tampering;

*DNC bias for Obama;

*MSM bias for Obama;

*Use of racism by Obama and his henchmen;

*Use of misogyny by Obama and his henchmen;

*Dangerous cult-like following for Obama;

*Intimidation tactics by Obama followers vs. opponents.


We had diverse backgrounds and political leanings, but our common opposition to the above united and defined us. And now we had a name - PUMA.

PUMA was born in the public domain - no one can claim ownership for it, or register it as a trademark. PUMA is not a party, not a PAC, certainly not just a blog. PUMA is a demographic, a way of thinking. Last year, there was a running debate as to whether PUMA was a short-term resistance to Obama, or the beginnings of long-term political movement. I believe it can and must be the latter. An enduring definition of a PUMA might be someone who:

- Holds generally moderate political views;

- Opposes the radicalization of the main political parties;

- Resists demagoguery, including sectarian appeals;

- Upholds free speech and the neutrality of the press;

- Supports fair and open elections.


Together, we ought to refine this definition, and start building the infrastructure of an enduring PUMA movement. 2010 is fast approaching and we desperately need an alternative to the revolution of the Democratic leftists and the coming GOP counter-revolution.

Sadly, key PUMA cadres have already cast (in their minds a least) the future form of PUMA. It is to be a radical feminist organization. Ironically, the very activists who once denied that PUMA was just a handful of bitter women are now intentionally limiting membership to bitter women. This metamorphosis started gradually after the election, but has picked up steam.

Darragh Murphy's PUMApac, which originally did some good work combating the charade of the Denver convention, has openly morphed into a battered women's support group. From a "[male chauvinist] Pig of the Week" award and a "woman-lynching" forum, to new-age mumbo-jumbo about the spirit of the tribe's matriarchs, Murphy's blog bears little resemblance today to its avowed goal of being "a voice for the 18 million Democrats who have been told our votes and our voices don't matter."

I'd joined PUMApac early on, believing its stated mission. A few months ago, after a running online debate with Murphy and her gang, during which I was variously:

*accused of perpetuating the oppressive patriarchy;

*told that lesbianism made my existence superfluous;

*advised I should be thankful I was allowed on a women's blog, but must be a respectful guest;

I quit.

Donna Darko recently upped the volume by ranting:

PUMA is about two things:
1) the stolen nomination which was more shocking than 2000 because Democrats stole from Democrats
2) historic misogyny also shocking because it came from Democrats and progressives

Race and racism never entered the picture.

PUMA is a battered women's support group. The DNc/RBC/Dean/Brazile/Pelosi/Reid were the rapists, Obama/his supporters/the MSM were the batterers. PUMAs/rape victims/battered women are not believed and are furthermore blamed for the abuse.

PUMA websites are meant to be safe spaces like POC blogs and feminist blogs where we can commiserate with one another and vent about the abusers.

PUMA is also a Democratic primary reform and feminist movement.

Donna, you lost me after "(1)". I am a PUMA. I am not a battered woman. I presume you are, and if you need to "commiserate" and "vent about the abusers", vent to your heart's content, but don't call that PUMA. The millions of adherents claimed by PUMA are not all battered women stuck in recursive victim-mode. PUMA is public domain. PUMA is all of us. PUMA is me.

I'll repeat now what I told Murphy's coven: You must choose. You can either be a battered women's support group, solipsistic and marginalized, or you can be a broad-based political organization participating in the reclamation of our political landscape. You cannot be both.

Your definition of a PUMA applies to but a tiny fraction of the true PUMAs, so stop calling yourselves that. You're giving the rest of us a bad name.

(c) 2009, by 'tamerlane', all rights reserved.