Hillary Meets With Kirsten Gillibrand

This was a few days ago, but I couldn't resist because it looks like Hillary is telling Kirsten which sexist senator ass*oles to avoid like the plague. That's a conversation more women should have. Okay, so David Paterson and Chuck Schumer were somewhere in the vicinity.

via Madam Secretary

Feminist Trailblazer Hillary Clinton Feminist Politics Gender News New York Sexism Kirsten Gillibrand Women's History

McCaskill: Wall Street Fat Cats Are Idiots (Video)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Plutocracy Politics Greed News Bail Out McCaskill

Pigs Fly: GOP Elects a Black Man

He's not Clarence Thomas, but close. Republicans elected Michael Steele to the position of chairman of the RNC. Wow. The GOP has a black leader. For a party that doesn't elect blacks, that's quite a feat.

There have been a total of 3 African-American Republicans in the House of Representatives and 1 in the Senate since 1929! And, yeah, they were all male.

Legum’s New Line has five facts about Michael Steele that qualify the guy for either the Jerry Springer show or the Supreme Court. Or both. Here are 3 of them:

1. Steele compared stem cell research to Nazi experiments during the Holocaust.

4. Steele was endorsed by Mike Tyson during his run for Senate. When Tyson, who used to be married to Steele’s half sister, pleaded no contest to assault in Montgomery County in 1998, Steele was on hand to support him.

5. Steele defended former Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s decision to hold a $100,000 fundraiser at a country club that did not allow non-white members, saying that the club’s membership’s policies were “not an issue” because “I don’t play golf.”

Politics Michael Steele RNC Black News

So Long Bush, Rush Limbaugh Is the New Face of the Republican Party

Here we have toxic Bush and toxic Limbaugh. By comparison, everyone else looks warm and lovely. I'm not sure what happened to all that post-partisan lovey-dovey stuff, but the Dems are attacking Rush like he's Bush and it feels like we're back in that two-year election campaign we thought would never end. Ah yes, politics in the U.S. , by any other name we'd call it doing the same stupid thing year after year after year after . . .

"Americans United for Change, a liberal group, will begin airing radio ads in three states Obama won -- Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada -- with a tough question aimed at the GOP senators there: Will you side with Obama or Rush Limbaugh?"

New ads target Republican senators on recovery bill

Politics Obama News Stimulus Ads

Dems to Get 60 Senate Seats?

Look what's going on while Republicans are having cocktails with Obama:

Republican Senator Judd Gregg is probably going to be getting more love today than anybody in Washington, as buzz builds about his possible selection as President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Commerce. Should Gregg accept the post, New Hampshire's Democratic Governor John Lynch will appoint his successor -- the 60th Senator Obama needs to stop filibusters (assuming Al Franken is sworn in).

Some promising signals are emanating from the Gregg camp. This week Gregg called President Obama a "tour de force" and he has said "I can't tell you anything...no comment," in response to media inquiries about his possible nomination, according to the New York Times.

Huffington Post: Judd Gregg: Commerce Secretary?
Politico: GOP's Gregg in mix for Commerce

Politics Obama Judd Gregg News Commerce Secretary New Hampshire Filibuster Proof Senate

Thank You Hillary, for the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Act (Video)

My thanks to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Act. And my thanks also go to New York State NOW for knowing what a feminist looks like and for giving credit to Hillary Rodham Clinton for her years of work for the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Act.

NOW-NYS wants you to send your thanks to Hillary:

Send your thanks to Hillary! Email info@nownys.org your comments and we will send them to Hillary.


This is What a Feminist Looks Like!

From Madam Secretary:

Hillary Clinton was one of the initial co-sponsors of the Senate legislation (later blocked by Republicans) that sought to change this decision and, in one of her few official acts before being confirmed as Secretary of State, signed on as an original co-sponsor again this year. She appeared with Lilly Ledbetter to rally for the legislation, spoke about the act on the floor of the Senate, and proclaimed its importance during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.


"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences."

-- Susan B. Anthony

TGW: Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Law Puts SCOTUS Good Old Boys on Notice

Feminist Trailblazer Hillary Clinton Feminist Politics Gender News Equal Pay Sexism Misogyny Women's History Barack Obama

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) Voted With the Republicans on the Stimulus Package

Is Bluedog just another name for Republican? Apparently so. My allegedly Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) voted against the stimulus package, along with all Republicans and ten other alleged Democrats.

Schools in this pathetically poverty-stricken state announced that they would be shutting down when they ran out of money to pay the utility bills - and that was before the economy crashed! The stimulus package could ship $76 million to Nashville schools alone.

Hello? Jim Cooper, the people in this state are losing their homes and losing their jobs. They need help. Tennessee needs the stimulus package. Maybe when you are unemployed, Jim Cooper (soon, I hope), you'll understand.

Send Bluedog Jim Cooper your heartfelt disgust here.

Dems who voted against:

Allen Boyd (D-FL-02)
Bobby Bright (D-AL-02)
Jim Cooper (D-TN-05)
Brad Ellsworth (D-IN-08)
Parker Griffith (D-AL-05)
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA-11)
Frank Kratovil (D-MD-01)
Walt Minnick (D-ID-01)
Colliin Peterson (D-MN-07)
Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
Gene Taylor (D-MS-04)

Special "F. You" Note: To Blue Dog Jim Cooper (D-TN-05)

Crooks and Liars: With Blue Dog Democrats like Jim Cooper, who needs Republicans: It didn't take Blue Dog Jim Cooper too long to betray President Obama. What, eight days or so. Barack Obama started using Cooper last February for health care during the primary and Mike Lux issued a huge warning.

Liberal economists argue for a bigger stimulus package!


Politics Tennessee Democrats Bluedog News

Blagojevich Kicked Out of Governor's Mansion - At Last!

Today, the Illinois State Senate convicted Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of abusing his power by a vote of 59 - 0. Not only did they vote to remove Blagojevich from the Governor's mansion, they voted to "permanently bar him from seeking public office in Illinois."

Oh well, maybe the fool can get a teevee show because his comparisons of himself to Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. are freaking hilarious.

Speaking of surreal, I hear MSNBC is hiring or looking to add a brand new prime time show. Maybe Blagojevich should audition for it.

"You haven't proved a crime, and you can't because it didn't happen," Blagojevich pleaded to state senators. "How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?"

But state senators were unswayed. One by one, before casting their votes, they expressed their contempt for Blagojevich with a litany of epithets, calling him "dishonest," "devious," "corrupt," and a "hypocrite."

Blagojevich Ends Boycott of Impeachment Trial
Illinois governor guilty of abuse
Illinois Senate Kicks Blagojevich Out of Office

Politics Illinois Governor News Impeach Blagojevich Chicago Burris

NBC Rejects Anti Choice Superbowl Ad Starring Obama (Video)

For once, I agree with NBC. This is a really outrageous ad. As always, the so-called pro life crowd forget a little concept known in the free world as choice.


Feminist Politics Gender News Pro Choice Abortion Reproductive Freedom Patriarchy

Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Law Puts SCOTUS Good Old Boys on Notice

President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Bill today - the law for which Lilly Ledbetter bravely fought. It should be obvious that this woman took a lot of crap from Goodyear Tire and from good old boys in Alabama and everywhere.

Kudos to Barack Obama for signing the bill. But any Democratic president would have done it, and the real work was done by Lilly Ledbetter and countless ordinary women like the ones in the video clip below, as well as then Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, etc.

The law effectively overturns the 2007 ruling by the right-wing good old boys on the United States Supreme Court. One would hope that the conservative High Court will soon experience a tsunami of laws undoing the damage they have done and informing the macho Court that they are out of touch with the women whose lives they have so often harmed.

It took Ledbetter almost 20 years to discover that she was paid less than the men. By that time, the good old boys at Goodyear were getting downright honest about their discrimination against women:

Toward the end of her career, for instance, the plant manager told Ledbetter that the “plant did not need women, that [women] didn’t help it, [and] caused problems.

The conservative men on the High Court, hellbent on protecting good old boys everywhere, said that women have to discover the discrimination and file a lawsuit within 180 days. Otherwise women must do what women usually do, live with the discrimination.

In spite of the law's passage, Lilly Ledbetter will continue to live with the discrimination:

Goodyear will never have to pay me what it cheated me out of. I will never see a cent from my case. But with the passage and the president’s signature today, I have an even richer reward.

Like pretty well all laws passed on behalf of women's rights these days, this one merely recovers ground lost during the godforsaken conservative era we are at long last emerging from. It's great to recover lost ground, but we should not kid ourselves about the amount of work we must do in order to raise the deplorable status of women in this male dominated United States of America.



TGW: Lilly Ledbetter on Fair Pay and the Unfair Roberts Court (Video)
TGW: Equal Pay: Women Like Men, Only Cheaper (Video)
National Women's Law Center: The Fair Pay Campaign
LILLY M. LEDBETTER, PETITIONER v. THE GOOD-YEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, INC.

Feminist Politics Gender News Equal Pay Sexism Supreme Court Misogyny Patriarchy Goodyear Tire Alabama

Sexist Pig Dick Armey vs. Joan Walsh on Hardball (Video)

Former Republican House majority leader (!) Dick Armey has a wife? Only in a male supremacist culture. I'm still waiting for the discussion about this brute's qualifications for any job more prestigious than toilet cleaner.


Joan Walsh: No plans to marry Dick Armey
Self-Important Gasbag Alert
Rep. Dick Armey Is An Idiot
Armey scolded for 'sexist comments'
WHAT A GUY
memeorandum

After dismissively cackling every time Walsh spoke, Armey finally spat at her:

I’m so damn glad that you can never be my wife because I surely wouldn’t have to listen to that prattle from you every day.

--Dick Armey (R-TX)

Feminist Politics Gender News MSNBC Sexism Dick Armey Chris Matthews Misogyny Patriarchy

Iceland to Name First Lesbian Prime Minister

It's true. Iceland's next prime minister will be an openly gay woman! While here in the U.S., we hate both gays and women far too much to permit either of them to ascend to power in our straight male supremacist culture, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, a Social Democrat, will be the world's first openly gay and Iceland's first woman prime minister!

Just think, if Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir were in the United States, the cable news channels would point out that she's a bitch like Hillary and Sarah and Kirsten and Caroline and Tracy Flick, and some fine man would quickly be found to replace her.

The position is an interim one, but it's progress. And it's a somewhat familiar story -- conservatives wrecked the economy so badly that Iceland is ready for change!

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Iceland's next leader will be an openly gay former flight attendant who parlayed her experience as a union organizer into a decades-long political career. . .

Sigurdardottir is seen by many as a salve to the bubbling tensions in Iceland. Thousands have joined anti-government protests recently. Last week, police used tear gas for the first time in about 50 years to disperse crowds.

"She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland," said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, a fellow Alliance party member. The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly and organizations tackling domestic violence. . .

While a woman has served in the largely symbolic role of president, Sigurdardottir will be Iceland's first female prime minister.

Feminist Politics Gender News Gay Iceland Women's History Tracy Flick Feminist Trailblazer Misogyny Patriarchy

Obama Axes Birth Contol Funds to Please Republicans

Obama gave Republicans some love yesterday when he threw women under the bus by removing birth control funds from the stimulus bill.

What's a few more unwanted pregnancies and abortions compared to the joy of Republican approval? [Thank you, Matt Drudge!)

No doubt NARAL thinks this is the best darn thing that's happened since 'The Feminist's' inauguration.

Update: Obama Caves - Women’s Groups Shift Focus
Update #2: Et tu, Barack?
Update #3: Tenn. Blue Dog Democrats waver on stimulus package

Feminist Politics Gender News Contraception Reproductive Rights

Sarah Palin Starts SarahPAC

It looks like Sarah Palin is serious about 2012. She now has a Virginia based PAC -- SarahPAC -- and a full calendar.

Susan Davis at the Washington Wire reports:

Need another indication that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is eyeing a 2012 bid? Today she launched a new political action committee, SarahPAC, to dole out political donations to Republican candidates.

As conservative blog RedState.org notes, Palin has a busy calendar, including anticipated appearances at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting later this week, as well as a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference gathering in late February.

The governor has also reportedly tapped Washington, D.C., power broker Robert Barnett to help her ink a book deal amid rumors that she’s seeking as much as a staggering $11 million advance.

via Greta

Feminist Politics Gender News Sarah Palin

Jon Favreau's New Girlfriend: From Cardboard to Maxim Magazine

Apparently, famed cardboard groper and Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau has graduated from the cardboard. Now he has a girlfriend who poses in her underwear on the cover of Maxim magazine when she's not working as an assistant to a White House deputy chief of staff. Quite the cast of White House characters. I can hardly wait to see the made for teevee movie.

Gawker gushes:

Sorry, ladies: We're told Jon Favreau, Barack Obama's 27-year-old single speechwriter, now has a girlfriend. With ample clearance. . Favreau has a sweetheart on the inside. A tipster tells us he's seeing Ali Campoverdi, a White House aide who once appeared in her underwear in Maxim magazine.

We're told Campoverdi is an assistant to a White House deputy chief of staff. Previously, she was an intern on the presidential campaign. If you have any further information we'd love to hear from you. (If Campoverdi is going to be around for a while, we might just have to add her to our list of official White House hotties.)

Gawker: Ali Campoverdi: Obama Hottie, Feminist Paradox

Feminist Politics Gender Obama Speechwriter Sexist Jon Favreau Misogyny

Maureen Dowd's Latest Conspiracy Theory: The Clintons Did It!

Something is up with Maureen Dowd. She actually wrote something positive about someone. Granted she did it while thoroughly trashing Kirsten Gillibrand.

I guess Caroline Kennedy must be Maureen's friend.

Dowd once wrote that Al Gore was "so feminized" that he was "practically lactating." And, of course, Maureen dubbed Hillary as "the White Bitch." Kirsten Gillibrand is in excellent company.

And Maureen Dowd's Clinton Derangement Syndrome is working overtime at producing conspiracy theories: [pssst Maureen -- they call all ambitious women 'Tracy Flick' -- that means you too!!]

So now we have an N.R.A. handmaiden in Bobby Kennedy’s old seat? Kirsten Gillibrand, a k a Tracy Flick, accepting the honor with her Republican pal Al D’Amato beside her on stage? Gross.

Paterson could have acted a month ago, or even a week ago. . Then the Democrats would have had another Kennedy in the Senate representing New York — Bobby’s niece and a smart, policy-oriented, civic-minded woman to whom the president feels deeply indebted in an era when every state has its hand out.

Paterson’s five weeks of dithering let the jealous vindictiveness of the Clintons and friends — still fuming over Caroline’s endorsement of Obama and Teddy’s blocking Hillary from a leading health care role in the Senate — poison the air. With his usual sense of entitlement and aggrievement, Bill Clinton of Arkansas did not want Caroline Kennedy of New York to have the seat that Hillary Clinton of Illinois held.

The 42-year-old Gillibrand, who has been in the House for only two years, is known as opportunistic and sharp- elbowed. Tracy Flick is her nickname among colleagues in the New York delegation, many of whom were M.I.A. at her Albany announcement. Fellow Democrats were warning Harry Reid on Friday that he was going to have his hands full with the new senator because she’s “a pain.”

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin Kirsten Gillibrand New York Caroline Kennedy Tracy Flick Women's History

Herstory: Nellie Bly

On this day in 1890, newspaper reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Jane Cochrane) completed her Around the World in 72 Days journey and became an international celebrity. She was 25 years old.

In those days Harvard scholars were telling women that too much education atrophied the uterus which would lead to the extinction of the species!

Women like Nellie Bly never listened.

On January 25, 1890, the world waited for a young reporter named Nellie Bly to arrive back home. For 72 days, as she jumped cargo ships, trains, tugboats, and rickshaws, newspaper readers had been following her progress in one of the most highly publicized journeys of all time. Never before had anyone -- man or woman -- circled the globe with such speed, outdoing the "record" of eighty days set by Jules Verne's popular fictional character, the legendary Phileas T. Fogg. The journey would make her famous.


Round the World with Nellie Bly Games

Feminist Politics Gender News Nellie Bly Women's History

Saturday Night Gender Role Reversal (Video)

Feminist Politics Gender News

Is Kirsten Gillibrand Likable Enough? Inquiring Minds at Politico Want to Know

It seems like only yesterday that Kirsten Gillibrand was catapulted onto the national stage, and already Politico gossip-mongers Patrick O'Connor and Glenn Thrush want you to know that the woman is one ambitious bitch!

Never mind her positions and accomplishments, the men want you to know that she's not likable enough:

“Nobody really likes her,” sniped one New York City-area member, speaking on condition of anonymity.

O'Connor and Thrush gush:

Within the high school gossip circle that is New York’s congressional delegation, Kirsten Gillibrand’s nickname is “Tracy Flick” — a not-so-flattering reference to the over-eager, blonde, bubbly and viciously competitive Reese Witherspoon character from “Election.”

Gillibrand, the newly-appointed junior senator from New York, has never been shy about her political ambitions — or her willingness to vault over older, more experienced politicians.

Yeah, do tell us all about that "high school gossip circle," Patrick and Glenn. Inquiring minds at Politico want to know.

Let's see now, women who have been criticized and ridiculed for the exact same ambition that wins respect and admiration for men include my mother and her mother and the many foolish ambitious women who ran for president with no chance in hell of ever winning. Ambitious women throughout the ages who have been jeered and ridiculed for their dreams include Matilda Gage and Emma Goldman and Victoria Woodhull and Belva Lockwood and Susanna Salter and Mary Wollstonecraft and Alice Paul and my daughters and all the women we've never heard of because the ridicule and jeers and assorted beatings are just so damned effective at keeping us in our patriarchal place.

The internet is saturated with Tracy Flick videos and stories and photos that ridicule Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin for the gendered crime of ambition. The most famous and popular of them -- Hillary's Inner Tracy Flick -- was created by the proud He-men over at Slate.

Are Patrick and Glenn already hard at work on a Tracey Flick video that will capture the blonde Kirsten Gillibrand's pathological drive for power? Or are the sexist gossip-mongers content to merely put the word out? After all, they know full well that once they're done prattling, the gossip circle of Politico readers will go forth and saturate the internet with stories, videos and photos ridiculing Kirsten Gillibrand as an "over-eager, blonde, bubbly and viciously competitive" bitch.

Move over Hillary and Sarah.

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin Kirsten Gillibrand New York Caroline Kennedy Tracy Flick Women's History

An Obsessive Blog About All Things Hillary

Check out this cool blog:

Madam Secretary: "an obsessive blog about all things Hillary Clinton. From her policies to her pantsuits, Madam Secretary delivers up-to-the-minute news, analysis, and gossip about America’s (next) top diplomat."

Speaking of blogs, I'm looking for some new feminist ones. If you have a favorite you think I might like, please drop it in the comments. I'm especially interested in feminist blogs that pay attention to women in politics.

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Blogs

Gillibrand Evolves on Gay Marriage

The Empire State Pride Agenda reports that Blue Dog Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is rapidly evolving left -- to the point that she now supports gay marriage. Goddess knows it's hard to find any Dem who will confess to being pro gay marriage, let alone a Blue Dog Dem!

When it's actually politically expedient to support gay marriage, anywhere in this country, you know we are making progress toward that coming progressive era that I have been talking about for all these many years. Gillibrand still has some positions that would greatly please Bush, but:

Evidently Gillibrand is moving fast to push back against criticism from the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party that she is too conservative to hold Clinton's seat.

Bush is finally back in Texas. Criticism from the left is finally a force to reckon with. This is no time to stop the liberal criticism. I say turn up the volume.

And thanks to David Paterson for choosing a woman!

Empire State Pride Agenda Press Release
Gillibrand Inches Leftward, Now Supports Gay Marriage
Gillibrand: Shoring up the left? Gays, guns, abortion

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Paterson Senator New York Caroline Kennedy Equal Representation Barack Obama Women's History

Hillary, Sarah, Caroline . .

Anne E. Kornblut asks: Does a Glass Ceiling Persist in Politics? And then answers the question:

Like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin before her, Kennedy illustrated what some say is an enduring double standard in the handling of ambitious female office-seekers. Even as more women step forward as contenders for premier political jobs, observers say, few seem able to get there.

In less than two months, Kennedy, 51, was transformed from a beloved, if elusive, national icon into a laughingstock in the New York media, mocked for her verbal tics and criticized for her spotty voting record. After she withdrew from consideration, speculation floated that she had done so to avoid discussion of an illegal nanny and back taxes, charges that people close to Kennedy disputed. . .

[D]uring Kennedy's candidacy, three other Senate vacancies were filled with far less drama by little-known men. Michael Bennet (D), a 44-year-old schools superintendent from Denver who had never held elected office, was sworn in yesterday to take the Colorado seat vacated by Ken Salazar (D), who became interior secretary. In Delaware, Vice President Biden was replaced by his own chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, widely seen as a placeholder so that Biden's son can run for the seat in 2010, after he returns from Iraq.

And in Illinois, Roland W. Burris (D) ultimately gained the seat vacated by Obama, despite being picked by a governor charged with corruption and the open opposition of both the Democratic majority and the incoming president.

"There's something different about when women run," said Bob Shrum, a Democratic consultant and a close ally of Kennedy. . . . [Dee Dee] Myers said that "questions about her résumé absolutely have to do with her gender."

"I don't see it as thin, I see it as unconventional," Myers said of Kennedy's résumé, which includes work as an author and schools fundraiser. "I don't see why running a hedge fund is better preparation for doing the people's business than writing books or working in the school system and raising a family."

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Caroline Kennedy Misogyny Women's History

Paterson to Choose Bluedog Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand for Hillary's Seat

Unless he's faking people out, and he might do that, Governor Paterson is reportedly set to announce that Hillary Clinton's senate seat will go to Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, who is said to be something of "a Democratic hero for capturing a Republican-majority district in 2006."

Gillibrand is also a Bluedog Democrat, not exactly what I was hoping for. While Caroline Kennedy was a liberal dream, even to the remarkable point of being 'out' about her pro gay marriage views, Gillibrand is more like a Republican dream. She is against gay marriage. She voted against the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And she voted against giving same-sex partners of both "citizens and permanent residents the same immigration benefits of married couples." The NRA loves her. Etcetera.

The irony is that Paterson may be swinging from the nation's most prominent Democratic family to one with strong Republican ties. Gillibrand has described her own voting record as "one of the most conservative in the state."

I'm glad he chose a woman, but he should have chosen Carolyn Maloney or Caroline Kennedy. With Gillibrand, there will definitely be a Democratic primary, and the Dems will have to fight like hell to hold onto Gillibrand's congressional seat.

Update: Rep. McCarthy is upset about the pro semiautomatic position of Paterson's pick. Says she will boycott Paterson's presser - and will challenge Gillibrand in the 2010 primary.

DAVE PICKS GILLIBRAND AS LIBERAL DEMS HOWL
With Kennedy Out, N.R.A. Becomes Issue
Is Gillibrand Too Republican to Replace Clinton?

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Paterson Senator New York Caroline Kennedy Equal Representation Barack Obama Women's History

Hillary Arrives At The State Department (Video)

Update & bump -- Liberation: Glinda Arrives at State -- One thing seems clear regarding Condoleezza Rice’s stewardship of the State Department: she did not command the admiration of many of those who worked with her. The reaction of State Department employees as Hillary Clinton arrived this morning apparently bears comparison to the liberation of Paris at the end of World War II. . I asked her: if Hillary was Glinda, the Good Witch of the South from the Wizard of Oz, did that make Condoleezza Rice the Wicked Witch of the West? “You’re on to it,” she said. Another person pointed out to me that after Rice’s arrival in 2005 the tone of official State Department publications changed; they began to praise and glorify Rice. “No prior secretary,” said the twenty-year veteran, “did anything like this.”

Check out the welcome Hillary got when she showed up for her new job -- watch it!!


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a rousing welcome this morning when she arrived at Foggy Bottom for the first time, as cheering foreign service and civil service employees packed every inch of the C Street lobby, including the balcony overlooking the flags of foreign nations.

Hat tip to Jeralyn.

LA Times: A celebrity welcome for Hillary Clinton at State Department
firedoglake: And your little dog too . .
Think Progress: State Department staffers compare Rice to Wicked Witch of the West / The Caucus: Secretary of State Clinton Arrives at Foggy Bottom - Mrs. Clinton was greeted by a crowd of more than a thousand State Department employees, cheering and whooping like a campaign gathering.

Feminist Politics Hillary Clinton Gender Barack Obama Feminist Trailblazer News Secretary of State Condi Rice Women's History

Caroline Kennedy Ends Quest for Hillary's Senate Seat

After a night of conflicting reports, it has finally been confirmed that Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her name from consideration for the senate seat of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was not my first choice, but I think she got a raw deal. But then, I think politics in the U.S. is more suitable for thugs than the kind of people I'd like to see in office.

Caroline Kennedy undoubtedly expected the media to treat her bid for office with the same courtesy and respect they accorded to Barack Obama's presidential bid. Caroline got all kinds of respect when she campaigned for Obama, but when she campaigned for herself, well, then she was treated like Hillary. And isn't Hillary so much more likable now that she's working for Obama? [snark]

MSNBC, every woman's favorite network, has the story, along with an unflattering photo of Caroline - just in case we failed to fathom the Misogyny Network's preference:

"I informed Governor Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate," she said in a one-sentence statement released after midnight.

Paterson says he will announce his decision on Hillary's replacement by Saturday.

Feminist Politics Gender News Hillary Clinton Paterson Senator New York Caroline Kennedy Equal Representation Barack Obama Women's History

Hillary Sworn in as Secretary of State

Pictured here, Hillary Rodham Clinton is being sworn in as the 67th U.S. Secretary of State by Judge Kathleen Oberly.

Yes, that's Bill by her side!

The Senate approved Hillary's nomination with a vote of 94-2.

Hillary Clinton was sworn in as “former President Clinton and her Senate staff looked on.” Her ”childhood friend and D.C. appeals court Associate Judge Kathleen Oberly swore her in on a Bible belonging to the former first lady’s late father, in a ceremony in her Senate office.”

Hillary Clinton Gender Barack Obama Feminist Trailblazer Politics News Secretary of State Women's History

Jon Stewart's Heresy: Obama Sounds Like Bush (Video)

Jon Stewart reviews Obama's inaugural speech and concludes that the cowboy days are with us still. Obama sounds like a cowboy? Obama sounds like Bush? When challenged by the Obama faithful, Stewart laments that he doesn't enjoy criticizing the Democrat either, but what is he supposed to do? Sigh. I know the feeling. Depending on your point of view, this Daily Show clip is hilarious, or deeply depressing.

"When Obama says this stuff, I don't think he means it. And that gives me hope."

Changefest 09

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Politics News Barack Obama Inauguration Bush Cowboy Rhetoric Inaugural Speech Daily Show

The Purple Tunnel of Doom & Other Obama Inauguration Nightmares (Video)

And I thought the problem with the Obama Inauguration Show was that it reeked of pretensions to monarchy, complete with seemingly millions of fawning and worshipful subjects, all encouraged by the fawning media (which brought us 5 unbearable nights and days of Inauguration Show coverage because for 5 nights and days there was no other news!). But as it turned out, there was much more wrong than that. But you sure didn't hear about the plight of lowly ticket holders on the cable news channels, cause the 'journalists' all had front row seats to The Show and the 'journalists' were busily fawning over the Royal First Family and reporting on the Very Important Business of Princess Diana's Michelle Obama's dress. Gawd. Where are the grown-ups?

The Purple Tunnel of Doom

Of the many reports surfacing of would-be inaugural spectators denied entrance to the National Mall, this one definitely takes the cake: A nightmarish scene inside what is being called the Purple Tunnel of Doom.

Writing on ForeignPolicy.com, Marc Lynch has the sad tale:

I went to the show with a few friends who received excellent Purple tickets as a reward for untold hours volunteering as foreign policy advisers for the Obama campaign. We got down to the security checkpoint for the Purple section bright and early (I left home at 4 AM), and were guided into a long tunnel which had been closed to traffic.

We waited in line for nearly four hours, in a claustrophobic tunnel with no porta-potties, no food or drink, and not a single official or volunteer in sight. Finally, we got within sight of the Purple Gate -- only to find that it had been closed. Thousands of people in front of us hadn't gotten in (not that anyone bothered to tell the people languishing in the tunnel that the gate had been closed, mind you). Thousands of purple ticket holders were behind us. It's remarkable that there wasn't a riot. I rode the metro home with a lot of people who had been turned away, including an elderly African-American woman muttering over and over to herself that it had been one of the worst experiences of her life.

Facebook: Survivors of the Purple Tunnel of Doom


firedoglake: Worst. Inauguration. Ever.

HeraldNet: Purple tickets no help in getting into inauguration - After waiting for up to eight hours packed together outside in below freezing temperatures, thousands of ticketholders were turned away from the inauguration Tuesday. via

The Plank: Purple People Pissed

TalkLeft: Tunnels of Gloom

Purple, Silver, Blue Ticket Holders Turned Away

Politics News Barack Obama Inauguration Disaster Purple Tunnel Of Doom

What The Crowd Sang to Bush at the Inauguration (Video)

The Hill reports: The crowd packed on the west side of the Capitol grounds serenaded President Bush in mocking fashion when he took to the inaugural stage alongside Vice President Dick Cheney.

Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, goodbye . . .


Politics News Barack Obama Bush 1-20-09 Miserable Failure Worst President Ever

President Obama Moving into the White House (Video)

Moving into White House: Bushes Greet Obamas

Washington Monthly: ‘WE ARE READY TO LEAD ONCE MORE’.... The full transcript of President Barack Obama's inaugural address is below.

Politics News Barack Obama Bush 1-20-09 Miserable Failure Laura Bush Michelle Obama

Bye Bye Bush: Protesters Throw Shoes at White House

Another way to say goodbye and good riddance to George W. Bush. Maybe we should throw shoes at my little long-awaited party celebrating the end of the worst president ever. Bush's time is officially up at 12 noon tomorrow - 1.20.09. I hope everyone is drinking champagne and throwing shoes!

About 500 people marched to the White House and threw about 40 pairs of shoes at the gate while tourists looked on and took photos. Supporters said they were acting in solidarity with Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December.

US activists vent their rage as Bush exits
Protesters Throw Shoes At Inflatable Bush

Bush 1-20-09 Party Worst President Politics Miserable Failure Dubya News

HBO Censors Gay Bishop; Blames Obama Team

An appearance by gay Bishop Gene Robinson at Barack Obama's inauguration was supposed to make people feel better about the upcoming high-profile appearance of notorious homophobe (and extreme misogynist) Rick Warren.

Except that Rick Warren's invocation will be televised while Gene Robinson's was blacked out. And that decision was reportedly made by the Obama Team -- at least that's what HBO is claiming.

Oh, and check out the photo of the big crowd of 2 homophobes who showed up to protest Gene Robinson's prayer.

Susie Madrak writes:

Although President-elect Obama did include gays in his mention of the various groups who supported him, HBO not only blacked out Bishop Gene Robinson's invocation at today's inauguration concert, they didn't introduce the Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus when they performed, nor did they identify them onscreen. I wonder who was behind that.

Pam Spaulding has lots more.

As noted above, Rick Warren is also an extreme misogynist, but the leaders of women's organizations like NOW and Ms. magazine are not into causing a scene. That's why you seldom see them raising hell and high water on the cable news networks. Little things like preaching misogyny from the pulpit and being endorsed by the Democratic President-elect are apparently just not that big a deal!

Gene Robinson Homophobia Gay Obama Inaugeration Rick Warren Prop 8 Lesbian Gay Marriage Feminist Politics Gender News Misogyny Women's History Patriarchy