Elena Kagan & Senator Amy Klobuchar Talk About Women (Video)

At the ongoing senate confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan . . . In response to Senator Coburn's 20 minute rant about how "we" were all so much freer 30 years ago, Senator Amy Klobuchar brought up the subject of women's unequal representation 30 years ago and today. Senator Klobuchar and Elena Kagan proceeded to talk about women and school their captive audience on the recent history of and ongoing nature of women's inequality.


[Klobuchar corrected herself later: Senator Kassebaum was serving in the Senate in 1980.]

via Writes Like She Talks and firedoglake

Politics Feminist News Gender

Gloria Steinem on the Colbert Report: The End of Men (Video)

Gloria Steinem and Stephen Colbert discuss the end of men, as many know them, or when men do their fair share in the house they have longer marriages, better sex and happier lives.



Politics Feminist News Gender

A Drug to Stamp Out Lesbians and 'Low Maternal Interest'?

This is right out of the Handmaid's Tale. Dan Savage has the scary story:

Pediatric endocrinologist Maria New—of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida International University—isn't just trying to prevent lesbianism by treating pregnant women with an experimental hormone. She's also trying to prevent the births of girls who display an "abnormal" disinterest in babies, don't want to play with girls' toys or become mothers, and whose "career preferences" are deemed too "masculine."

Politics Feminist News Gender

Elizabeth Edwards on the 'Today' Show (Video)

And on a related note, John Edwards is reportedly bar-hopping and bragging about flirting with young women.

Politics Feminist News Gender

Supreme Humor: Laughs at the Elena Kagan Senate Hearings (Video)

via CNN and on a more serious note: Highlights from Day Two of Kagan Confirmation Hearings

Politics Feminist News Gender

Elena Kagan Senate Hearings: GOP Senators Pile On (Video)

Kagan may get confirmed, but Thurgood Marshall can forget it: It was, to say the least, a curious strategy to go after Marshall, the iconic civil rights lawyer who successfully argued Brown vs. Board of Education. Did Republicans think it would help their cause to criticize the first African American on the Supreme Court, a revered figure who has been celebrated with an airport, a postage stamp and a Broadway show? The guy is a saint -- literally. Marshall this spring was added to the Episcopal Church's list of "Holy Women and Holy Men," which the Episcopal Diocese of New York says "is akin to being granted sainthood." With Kagan's confirmation hearings expected to last most of the week, Republicans may still have time to make cases against Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Gandhi.

Politics Feminist News Gender

Paul Krugman: 'We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression'

Paul Krugman's depression warning:

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.

And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

[via firedoglake]

Politics News Obama

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Husband Dies

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said he was the only young man she ever dated "who cared that I had a brain." Justice Ginsburg was on the job on the last day of the High Court's current session. She was there announcing a decision from the bench even though her beloved husband Martin Ginsburg died just the day before:

Martin D. Ginsburg, 78, a Georgetown University tax law professor whose blind date more than a half-century ago with a quiet undergraduate named Ruth Bader blossomed into an enduring marriage, died June 27 of complications from metastatic cancer at his home in Washington. .

"As a general rule," Mr. Ginsburg told the New York Times in 1997, "my wife does not give me any advice about cooking, and I do not give her advice about the law. This seems to work quite well on both sides."

"I have been supportive of my wife since the beginning of time, and she has been supportive of me," Mr. Ginsburg told the Times in 1993. "It's not sacrifice; it's family."

Politics Feminist News Gender

Supreme Court Expands Gun Rights; Chicago Vows to Subvert the Ruling

"As a city we must continue to stand up .. and fight for a ban on assault weapons .. as well as a crackdown on gun shops. . We are a country of laws not a nation of guns," said Chicago's Mayor Daley in response to the Supreme Court's expansion of gun rights in McDonald vs. the City of Chicago. While the High Court did not specifically strike down the Chicago handgun ban, Mayor Daley said the ruling "will make the city's 28-year-old law 'unenforceable.'"

Daly vowed that the city would soon have a new gun ordinance in place. Too bad there won't be an ordinance requiring the pampered out-of-touch half of the SCOTUS club to reside in the city of Chicago where they could suffer the full benefit of gun 'rights.' But Mayor Daly is on the case. Increasingly, the only sane response to the Right-wing Supreme Court of the United States is to write a law subverting its out-of-touch rulings.

Justice Breyer’s dissent skewered the majority for its bad history, judicial arrogance and contempt for the political process. Rather than accept Heller’s novel theory of the Second Amendment, Justice Breyer reminded the majority that the opinion has been lambasted by scholars and judicial commentators from across the ideological spectrum.

Politics Feminist News Gender

Senate Judges Elena Kagan Today

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan faces the senate today. The senate confirmation hearings of, almost certainly, the 4th woman ever to sit on the the High Court are expected to last 3 or 4 days.

The 19 member Senate Judiciary Committee that will be judging Elena Kagan is comprised of 17 men and 2 women. Of course the senate is entirely white. A recent study finds that women and minority members face harsher questions than do white male nominees. Perhaps that wouldn't be the case if the questioners were not almost exclusively white men.

The New York Times urges Dems to try to "illuminate the authentic mind of Elena Kagan." Fat chance:

While conservatives paint Kagan as a doctrinaire leftist, reception to her nomination in liberal legal circles has been mixed. Some African-American organizations have been slow to endorse her. Civil libertarians are wary of her views on executive power, while church-state separation advocates and gay activists have expressed concerns that Kagan might view religiously motivated discrimination as immune from state regulation.

What’s far from clear is whether any Democratic senators will pick up on that skepticism or whether they’ll form a cocoon of sorts around the Democratic nominee. . .

Politics Feminist News Gender

Woman Bares Breasts to Get Some Peace & Quiet

This is the kind of woman they used to burn at the stake. A problem solver:

Marika De Florio is using her bare breasts to win a feud with her neighbours. The 56-year-old says she is sick and tired of her neighbours’ five-year-old grandson driving a loud all-terrain vehicle for hours on her quiet Seeley’s Bay street. She has found a solution.

De Florio has discovered that if she goes out topless, to the horror of the boy’s grandparents, they will take the child into the house. “It is maddening,” she said of the noise. “I’m going mental. I can’t breathe and I’m not moving, but I need some peace. I can’t believe I did this, but they pulled the kid inside and then called police because of their small-town mentality.”

De Florio said she will continue to go topless every time the child rides the ATV. She is not breaking the law, because in Canada women are allowed to be topless.

Politics Feminist News Gender

Almost All 1989 Exxon Valdez Cleanup Crew Dead (Video)

Politics BP News Oil Spill

Women Challenging Male Domination in 8 Governor's Mansions (Video)

Women are challenging male domination in the governor's mansions of 8 states. The states include California, New Mexico and Minnesota -- 3 so-called progressive states that have never had a woman as governor.

But the most exciting governor's race is in New Mexico, where a woman will definitely win because the race is between two women: Diane Denish (D) vs. Susana Martinez (R). This is only the 3rd time (!) in this cowboy country's miserable male-dominated history that the race has featured a woman vs. a woman:

There have only been two other gubernatorial races pitting women against each other: in Hawaii, Republican Linda Lingle beat Democrat Mazie Hirono in 2002, and in Nebraska, Republican Kay Orr beat Democrat Helen Boosalis in 1986. That is it, according to a chart from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University. .

There are currently six women governors: Hawaii's Lingle, Michigan Democrat Jennifer Granholm, Connecticut Republican Jodi Rell, Washington Democrat Christine Gregoire, North Carolina Democrat Beverly Perdue and Arizona Republican Jan Brewer. . . "This is clearly the road to the White House and we don't have a lot of women walking that path," Walsh said in an interview. But she added that there is potential for significant gains this year by women. That's because 23 of the 36 governor's races are open seats with no incumbent, making them easier to win.

Politics Feminist News Gender New Mexico

Secretary Hillary Clinton Delivers Remarks at LGBT Pride Month Event (Video)

"Human Rights are Gay Rights and Gay Rights are Human Rights."

-- Hillary Rodham Clinton

Fun fact: Hillary Rodham Clinton was the first First Lady to march in a Pride Parade.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers opening remarks at an event celebrating LGBT Pride Month at the Department of State in Washington, DC June 22, 2010. Go to http://www.state.gov/video for more video and text transcript.

Politics Feminist News Gender Lesbian and Gay

Nikki Haley Wins Runoff & Will Almost Surely Be S.C.'s First Woman Governor

Nikki Haley won the South Carolina runoff last night. She beat her opponent, four term Congressman Rep. Barrett, by a landslide: 65 - 35 percent.

Don't miss the rare photo of the man, her husband, standing, with the children, behind the victorious woman.

Nikki Haley joins Sarah Palin in a remarkable make-over of the face of the Republican Party. Ms. Haley will almost certainly be the first woman to be elected as Governor of South Carolina. How fitting that she will replace the infamous Appalachian trail-hiker Governor Mark Sanford:

Nikki Haley won the Republican nomination for governor of South Carolina on Tuesday, a commanding victory that elevates her to become one of the leading faces of the national Republican Party. . . Last month, Ms. Haley took a dramatic leap in the polls after endorsements and campaign visits from Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, and Jenny Sanford, the popular former first lady. She had trailed far behind her three Republican rivals in fund-raising and visibility, but she was strongly embraced by Republican leaders in Washington and touted as one of the party's next leaders.

Politics Feminist News Gender

MA Gets Anti-Choice License Plates

The liberal state of Massassachusetts is not exactly serving as an inspiration for those of us stuck in the repressive red states. Massachusetts is the 20th state to offer anti choice plates. The "Choose Life" plate will help fund the already over-funded phony pregnancy crisis centers.

Only 4 states in this cowboy country offer pro choice plates. The 4 states that have pro choice plates are Virginia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Montana.

Politics Feminist News Gender

Male Domination Rules in U.S., And on Sunday Morning Political Shows Too

Is it still the 1950s? Women's political representation in this so-called democracy is even worse on television than in the halls of Congress. One hundred and forty-eight congressional lawmakers were interviewed on the Sunday morning shows this year, and 20 of them were women!

Oh, but women must be to blame for this, says the media. Probably it's Nancy Pelosi's fault. And anyway, didn't somebody already dub this the Year of the Woman?:

“There aren’t a lot of people calling us to do Sunday shows,” said a prominent female House member’s press secretary, who did not want to be identified. “They largely go back to the same people, week after week. They’ve done a poor job of tapping into prominent female leaders, and that’s not just a problem for women on the Hill; it’s a problem for Americans because they are rarely hearing the women’s perspective.”

From Jan. 1 to June 13, “Meet the Press” featured only three female members of Congress, compared with 28 male lawmakers. “Fox News Sunday” had only two female lawmakers but 28 male lawmakers. CBS’s “Face the Nation” hosted the highest number of female lawmakers — six, compared with 24 male lawmakers. CNN’s “State of the Union” was not far behind, with six women and 29 men. ABC’s “This Week” had three female members and 19 males.

Politics Feminist News Gender

High Drama: Runaway General McChrystal Trashes Obama and Biden and . . .

[Update: Rolling Stone decided not to wait until Friday: The Runaway General.] And we have high drama and scandal in politics as we know it. When a Runaway General trashes his Commander-in-Chief, or President Obama and his Administration, I think they call it insubordination. Bush would have fired the General's ass yesterday. The story everyone is already gasping in shock about will be in the forthcoming issue of Rolling Stone. In the meantime, it's already everywhere else:

The article claims McChrystal has seized control of the war "by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House." Asked by the Rolling Stone reporter about what he now feels of the war strategy advocated by Biden last fall – fewer troops, more drone attacks – McChrystal and his aides reportedly attempted to come up with a good one-liner to dismiss the question. "Are you asking about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal reportedly joked. "Who's that?"

Biden initially opposed McChrystal's proposal for additional forces last year. He favored a narrower focus on hunting terrorists. "Biden?" one aide was quoted as saying. "Did you say: Bite me?" Another aide reportedly called White House National Security Adviser Jim Jones, a retired four star general, a "clown" who was "stuck in 1985."

Politics Obama News

Obama Labor Chief Hilda Solis: Undocumented Workers Have a Right to Fair Wages (Video)

There are at least two liberals in the Obama Administration, and they are both women. Of course conservatives are enraged by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis' remarks, apparently they prefer slavery to fair wages.


Politics Feminist News Gender

Rape-aXe: Woman Invents Condom With Razor-like Teeth to Fight Rape

This little penis-punishing gem is exactly what's needed, especially in places like the rape capital of the world. South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers invented the condom with jagged teeth-like hooks:

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said. Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

"It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. "If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure." Ehlers said she sold her house and car to launch the project, and she planned to distribute 30,000 free devices under supervision during the World Cup period.

“Yes, my device may be a medieval, but it’s for a medieval deed that has been around for decades,” she said. “I believe something’s got to be done … and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman.”

Politics Feminist News Gender

Quinn: White House Wants Hillary and Biden to Switch Jobs

The Obama Administration is talking about a little get-out-the-vote trick for 2012 whereby Joe Biden and Hillary Rodham Clinton switch jobs after the midterms. That's according to the Washington Post's Sally Quinn.

Sally Quinn is not revealing her sources, but one of them is plain old common sense. The White House would love it if the most popular politician in the country would campaign for Obama. In her latest column, Quinn argues that it should happen.

Politics Feminist News Gender

BP CEO Tony Hayward's Yacht: Photo of the Day

There's Tony Hayward’s yacht, on the left, sailing in the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race on Saturday.

At least one Republican suggests that Tony should be cleaning up the oil spill with his yacht. Not to pile on, but Rahm Emanuel observes that the BP CEO got his life back!

Just days ago, BP said we wouldn't be seeing Tony's face anymore (we didn't want to see his yacht either), but now a spokeswoman for BP says: "Tony will remain in full control until we have stopped the leak.”

Politics Oil Spill News BP

Arizona Gov Jan Brewer Stunned to Hear Hillary Clinton say Feds will Sue

"Obama Admin has decided to sue AZ and we had to learn about it through Ecuadorean TV. Outrageous!" So tweeted accidental Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, after Sec. of State Hillary's Clinton admitted that the US DOJ has decided to sue Arizona over SB 1070.

"This is no way to treat the people of Arizona," Brewer said.

Justice Dept. Will Fight Arizona on Immigration: The Obama administration has decided to file a lawsuit to strike down a new Arizona law aimed at deporting illegal immigrants, thrusting itself into the fierce national debate over how the United States should enforce immigration policies.

Politics Feminist News Gender

BP CEO Tony Hayward Stonewalls at Congressional Hearing (Video)

Politics Oil Spill News BP

BP CEO Tony Hayward Re-Recites Ad Copy In Congressional Hearings (VIDEO)

In robot style, BP CEO Tony Hayward recites to Congress the very same lines we saw broadcast in the infamous BP commercial. Hayward has found his talent - memorization:

Politics BP Oil Spill News

Obama Meets With Progressive Pundits

Coincidentally, Obama met with progressive pundits right after said progressive pundits lambasted President Obama for flawed leadership on the BP oil spill crisis:

President Obama met for lunch on Thursday with a group of predominantly progressive columnists to discuss a range of topics, chief among them the oil spill in the Gulf. Attendees included Gail Collins of the New York Times, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and Gerald Seib, the Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, all of whom were spotted leaving the West Wing at roughly 1:45 p.m.

The lunch lasted more than an hour, said a White House spokesman. But no further details were offered. For full disclosure, Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington was invited to attend but could not make it due to a scheduling conflict. These types of meetings happen irregularly at the White House, though it has been some time since the president sat down for a discussion with progressive pundits.

Politics Liberal News BP Oil Spill

Keith Olbermann Checks Out of Daily Kos - Due to Liberal Criticism

Who knew Keith Olbermann was so sensitive? 1) Keith Olbermann criticizes Obama. 2) The troops at Orange Satan criticize Keith. 3) Keith is outta there!

KO's final Orange Satan post, presumably:

Check, Please: I was checking in tonight to see what was new, came across a diary trashing first me and my colleague Rachel, and scrolled through it shaking my head, sadly,

Politics MSNBC News Thin Skin

Lunatic Joe Barton (R) Apologizes to BP CEO for $20 Billion 'Shakedown'

Deranged Quote of the Day

“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown — in this case a $20 billion shakedown. . I apologize . . . ”

-- Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)

The people who should be "ashamed" are the people of Texas who sent this lunatic to Washington. Rep. Joe Barton's bizarre comment (the lunatic apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward!) caused an uproar, even among Republicans. Republican leader John Boehner distanced himself from the twisted remark, apparently disagreeing with the proposition that the welfare of the dangerous multinational BP corporation is more important than the welfare of Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, or the entire Gulf region of the USA, not to mention earth.

Update: GOPers Call for Barton's head -- call for Barton to resign as the ranking Republican on the committee after hearing Barton call the $20 billion cleanup fund a White House “shakedown.”

Politics BP News Gulf of Oil

Jon Stewart On Obama's Miserable Executive Power Record

via Glenn Greenwald

Politics Liberal News

Rachel Maddow: Obama Oil Spill Plan: Wing It and A Prayer (Video)

“I still don’t know who’s in charge,” Billy Nungesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish, said at the Senate hearing on Thursday, seven weeks after the Deepwater Horizon rig sank. “Is it BP? Is it the Coast Guard?” -- Efforts to Repel Oil Spill Are Described as Chaotic

Update: Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Howard Fineman didn't like it either. Mother Jones didn't like it.

Politics Gulf of Oil News BP Oval Office Speech Leadership

Seattle Cop Assaults Girl for Jaywalking (Video)

After pulling her aside for the crime of jaywalking, a Seattle cop punches a 17 year-old girl in the face. For the crime of jaywalking? Really?


Politics Washington News Gender

TN Dem: “You have to lift their skirts to find out if they are women.”

Quote of the Day

"You have to lift their skirts to find out if they are women. You sure can't find out by how they vote."

-- Rep. Janis Baird Sontany, (D-Nashville)

State Rep. Janis Sontany was referring to the sad fact that Republican women vote just like Republican men -- even on matters relegated to women's traditional sphere, like pre-K classes:

Sontany said in an interview that the remark came during a discussion of state-funded pre-kindergarten classes, which some Republicans have criticized. Sontany said she noted that Sumner County has the only county school system in the state with no pre-K classes. School systems must opt into the program to receive state funding. Sumner County is represented by Rep. Debra Maggart, R-Hendersonville, in the House and Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, in the Senate.

"It was not a well-thought out remark," said Sontany. "I did not mean to offend and, if I have offended, I am sorry." Sontany said she and Maggart "have worked well together" on various legislative endeavors and the remark "was inappropriate on my part" and "I really shouldn't have made it."

Republicans never seem to suffer from outrage fatigue, so naturally the Tennessee GOP is somewhat outraged, while conservative bloggers are seriously outraged:

Michele Malkin: TN Dem attacks female Republicans: "When liberals can’t handle GOP women, they infantilize, sexualize, demonize, and dehumanize them."

RedState: "Democrats hate women. . . Sexism exists, and the worst attacks on women come from other women - the misogynists that parade around under the veil of “feminism.”

Politics Feminist News Gender

Creepy Congressman Etheridge Attacks Student on Street (Video)

This is one creepy Congressman from North Carolina: Rep. Bob Etheridge (D). If the paranoid Congressman is beserk on a public sidewalk, one can only imagine how he behaves in private. Surely Rahm Emanuel put this weirdo on the ballot? Somewhere someone is casting for another Nightmare on Elm Street, and paranoid Rep. Bob Etheridge should get the job. And I don't care if the student was hired by the right-wing Big Gov site to ambush Democrats. Etheridge is a jerk who needs to be kept far away from kids and everyone else on the planet.

Politics North Carolina News Weird News

BP Blocks Media Access (Video)

Right after BP swore it wasn't true, the corporation was once again caught lying, or blocking media coverage of the worst oil spill in all of history.


Politics Oil Spill News BP

If Women are Scientists, Who Will Be Wives and Mothers?

Lots of people have weighed in on conservative John Tierney's recent article on the inate inferiority of women in science and math, how novel to hear the views of scientists who are women.

Maggie Koerth-Baker provides that at Boing Boing: Yet, he clearly has ignored the fact that this phenomenon is unique to the United States. Indeed, in countries with more gender equal cultural norms, the divide disappears. In Iceland, girls out perform boys in math and science. Japanese girls out perform American boys. Maybe in his next column Tierney will argue some type of evolutionary difference between the boys and girls in these other countries and American boys and girls. Personally, I would find it much more interesting if he would start posting recipes for pies we could make with all the cherries he's picking. . .

We can spend our time discussing SAT scores, but I worry that we are missing the most important thing that keeps women out of science—the cultural attitudes that teach women that if they choose a demanding career, they aren't fulfilling their duties as wife and mother.

Politics Feminist News Gender

"Saint Sarah" - On the Cover of Newsweek

Sarah Palin is on the cover of Newsweek, or I should say, Saint Sarah, with a halo:

What Palin’s Appeal to Conservative Christian Women Says about Feminism and the Future of the Religious Right, by Lisa Miller:

“Palin has been antagonizing women on the left of late by describing herself as a ‘feminist,’ a word she uses to mean the righteous, mama-bear anger that wells up when one of her children is attacked in the press or her values brought into question. But while leftist critics continue to shred Palin as a cynical, shallow, ill-informed opportunist, … Palin is now playing to her strengths. Even if she never again seeks elected office, her pro-woman rallying cry, articulated in the evangelical vernacular, together with the potent pro-life example of her own family, puts Palin in a position to reshape and reinvigorate the religious right, one of the most powerful forces in American politics. The Christian right is now poised to become a women's movement -- and Sarah Palin its earthy Jerry Falwell.”

Politics Feminist News Gender

Tina Brown: Primary Victories By GOP Women 'A Blow to Feminism' (Video)

Politics Feminist News Gender

Hope Quote of the Day

"I had a lot of hope for Obama, but it's not panning out."

--Artist Shepard Fairey,

Creator of the famous Obama "Hope" Poster

Politics Obama News Hope 2008

Carly Fiorina Caught On Open Mic Dissing Barbara Boxer, Meg Whitman & Hannity Too (Video)

While waiting to be interviewed by Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV, GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina was caught by an open mic dissing the judgement of Meg Whitman, the hair of Senator Barbara Boxer, and she wasn't too kind to Sean Hannity either. This is not a great way to begin a senatorial campaign.


"It's really surprising that on the first day of the general [election], Meg Whitman is going on Sean Hannity," she said. "I think it's bizarre…I think it's a very bad choice actually. You know how he is."

"God, what is that hair?" a laughing Fiorina said, while quoting a friend who had recently seen Boxer on television. "So yesterday."

Politics California News Gender

Liberal Discontent

Quote of the Day

"Progressives have grown ever more dissatisfied, and for good reason. Our hopes or illusions were shattered: escalation in Afghanistan, retreat on Guantanamo, no movement on worker rights or comprehensive immigration reform, dithering on 'don't ask, don't tell,' reverses on choice, delay on climate change and new energy."

-- Robert Borosage,

organizer of America’s Future Now Conference

Borosage spoke of his dissatisfaction with the Obama Administration at the progressive America’s Future Now Conference.

Politics Progressive Conference News Obama

Rolling Stone: The Spill, The Scandal and the President

The inside story of how Obama failed to crack down on the corruption of the Bush years – and let the world's most dangerous oil company get away with murder -- read it at Rolling Stone.

Politics Obama News Gulf of Oil

Jews for Helen Thomas (Video)

Voices of sanity in a world gone mad:


Politics News Human Rights

ACLU Chief 'Disgusted' With Obama

More news from the progressive conference, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero says he is "disgusted" with Obama. Yeah, somebody tell the man to get in line:

"I am utterly disgusted [because Obama] is a president who breaks promises. . . Frankly, I think we have been too polite. . . It’s 18 months and, if not now, when? ... Guantanamo is still not closed. Military commissions are still a mess. The administration still uses state secrets to shield themselves from litigation. There's no prosecution for criminal acts of the Bush administration. Surveillance powers put in place under the Patriot Act have been renewed. If there has been change in the civil liberties context, I frankly don't see it."

Politics Progressive Conference News Liberal Revolt

Pelosi Gets Heckled by Liberals at Liberal Conference (Video)

Liberals heckled, waved banners, and shouted in protest throughout Nancy Pelosi's speech at the ongoing progressive America’s Future Now Conference. Pelosi asked for it by announcing that "Change is Here!" Gawd. The two liberal groups speaking truth to clueless power were Code Pink and ADAPT. I wish I could have been there and joined in the heckling because when Pelosi (and Obama) are finally made uncomfortable by liberals, then we will begin to see a progressive movement. Read the details about the dueling protests at firedoglake.


Just three minutes into her speech -- right after she gave the triumphant news that "Change is here!" -- two men stood up and spread out a large pink banner in front of the podium demanding "Stop Funding Israel Terror."

At that moment, a wheelchair-bound woman named Carrie James began to scream from her table about 30 feet away: "I am not going to a nursing home!" At that cue, about 15 people in the crowd -- who, like James, wore orange T-shirts demanding "Community Choice Act Now" -- unfurled bedsheet banners and struck up a chant: "Our homes, not nursing homes!"

Politics Liberal News Progressive Conference

A Rising Tide of Women Win Super Tuesday Primaries (Video)

That would be a rising tide of GOP women. . It was a big night for women, mainly GOP women, but maybe the Democratic Party will soon wake up to the dire need to recruit more women. It's true that the Democratic Party has always done better than the GOP Party when it comes to running women candidates, but that's because the GOP wasn't interested in running women. Times have changed. And the Dems better step it up if they don't want to be left in the embarrassed dust.

Thank you, Hillary and Sarah.

Women who won: Nikki Haley, the South Carolina lawmaker, who won by a landslide and just barely missed avoiding a runoff for the Republican governor's nomination. Arkansas conservative Democrat Blanche Lincoln, who defied the odds and the anti incumbent rage in order to squeak in a win. Sharron Angle, Nevada's ultra conservative "tea party" candidate, who will challenge Harry Reid in November. And for the very first time, the GOP has put women at the top of the California ticket. Meg Whitman, the billionaire former eBay chief executive, won the primary for California governor (64-27 -- a landslide!). And former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina (another landslide: 55-23-18) will challenge Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer for the senate seat in November. Update: Libby Mitchell won the Democratic nomination for the governor's race in Maine! (Thanks Zee!)


Politics Super Tuesday News Gender

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina Win in California

Women won the big GOP primaries in California. Carly Fiorina will face Barbara Boxer this fall in the U.S. Senate race. Meg Whitman will challenge Democratic candidate Jerry Brown in the Governor of California contest.

It does seem like more women are running. I'd much rather they were on the Democratic ticket, but I'm happy that more women are running. Male domination gets old, to say the least. Thanks Hillary and Sarah for leading the way.

Politics Feminist News Gender

Hope Is Not Enough

David Dayen reports from the progressive America's Future Now! conference where attendees have concluded that hope is not enough. The focus of the liberal conference is on the future of progressive movement:

David Dayen at firedoglake: Surly is about the best word to describe this conference in Washington after the first day. . Progressives – and at this conference, you can even include the institutional groups in that – are just unhappy. . . Attendees expressed that they can no longer – if they ever could have – expect this Administration to do the right thing, and that they must be pushed aggressively from the outside. . I don’t know where all this anger is going to go, but it’s nice to know it exists. If it didn’t, I’d think something was wrong.

[via Big Tent Dem]

Politics Liberal News

Colbert Beats Up on BP, Funny! (Video)

Politics Gulf of Mexico News BP