The Political Voices of Women

This is from a post by Lisa Witter for The Huffington Post…

I’ve got whiplash. That’s how quickly the national discussion of women’s leadership has changed from one of the merits of an accomplished senator turned potential first female president to the clothes of the potential first ladies.

Media coverage everywhere is “Michelle vs. Cindy.” Where do they buy their dresses? Do they make bacon for breakfast? And, of course, which one can we compare to Jackie O?

Is anyone else as appalled as I am at how quickly we have gone back to thinking of women in the oldest of stereotypes - as only wives and mothers?

I’m a wife. I’m a mother. I love my family. But I’m other things, too. We all know that the presidents’ wives play an important role in policy and diplomacy in one way or another.

READ FULL POST HERE

New Washington Post Poll on Racism and Ageism - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

A Washington Post/ABC News poll, shows that nearly half of all Americans believe race relations in this country is in bad shape. And, it seems that when asked, three in ten people acknowledged feelings of racial prejudice. I’m not shocked, but I am a little surprised by this, I really thought we (as a country) were getting past this. I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part.

Before I go on with my “non-expert” analyst of this poll. Let me make one thing perfectly clear…In general, I hold these polls in a very low regard. In fact, I would love to know if there has been a recent study on how often these polls are actually accurate. I imagine that number would be quite low. With that said, I think even more troubling than the three in ten number in this poll, is the fact that, these are people who were “willing” to admit their prejudice when asked. It has always seemed to me, that most prejudice people insist they are not prejudice. So that would mean, the only way to quantify this poll, would be to know what percentage of prejudice people, admit that they are prejudiced when asked.

Here is what other bloggers are saying…

From Faye at Anderson@Large…

Jackson says racial paranoia is real. It is fueled by politically correct racial interaction, residential segregation and segregated social networks. “We are not privy to what’s going on in other communities.” He added:

Barack Obama has to walk an interesting tightrope between the candidate who doesn’t want to talk about race and the candidate who’s going to get the country to talk about race. His candidacy demonstrates that schizophrenia – putting out fires on one end and lighting them on the other end.

That racial schizophrenia is reflected in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that found that nearly half of all white Americans say race relations are bad. Among African Americans, 60 percent say things are “not so good” or “poor.” Three in 10 of white and black Americans admit feelings of racial prejudice.

ABC News’ politically correct analysis of the polling data underscores Jackson’s point that there is “no way to structure our conversation about race.” The hoped-for dialogue about race has given way to an “index of racial sensitivity,” which effectively classifies voters based on whether they have any black friends.

Read more »

Scott McClellan on White House Propaganda — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

I often watched Scott McClellan when he was White House Press Secretary and wondered if he really believed the words he was speaking. Quite frankly, I wonder the same thing about all of Bush’s press secretaries. It always seemed to me that their job was to convince the press to report what the White House wanted them to, and not necessarily the truth.

The more we learn about how this administration used propaganda as a way to manipulate the press and the people, the more I believe that the White House Press Secretary is simply a cog in the wheel of a well orchestrated propaganda machine. Scott McClellan has now written a tell-all book on his experiences as press secretary, and seems to be confirming that propaganda trumped truth when it came to reporting to the press.

From Politico…

Among the most explosive revelations in the 341-page book, titled “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception” (Public Affairs, $27.95):

• McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.

• He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.

• He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.”

• The longtime Bush loyalist also suggests that two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to get their story straight about the CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them — and McClellan was continuing to defend them despite mounting evidence they had not given him all the facts.

• McClellan asserts that the aides — Karl Rove, the president’s senior adviser, and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff — “had at best misled” him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.

David Corn would like to know…Where’s the Apology?

Excuse me for getting a bit huffy. But when it counted there were a few of us in the media who were indeed arguing that the Bush White House was setting new records in presidential deception–especially when it came to Iraq. McClellan, though, was part of the White House’s defense team, pushing back against media coverage that questioned Bush’s rationale for the war and Bush’s serial abuse of facts. Apparently McClellan has seen the light. Well, where’s his plea for forgiveness? If he were truly contrite about his involvement in a deceptive, propaganda-wielding administration, McClellan could demonstrate his sincerity by pledging that all profits from his belated truth-telling will go to charities supporting the families of American soldiers killed or injured in Iraq. For history’s sake, it is good that McClellan is confirming what most Americans (according to polls) have long known: the Bush administration trampled the truth to win public backing for the Iraq war. But as an enabler (witting or not) of that process, McClellan owes the public more than a for-sale account.

Lynn Sweet would like to know…Why didn’t Scott McClellan quite if he thought he was selling Bush Iraq war propaganda?

This is from an article at The Huffington Post…

McClellan draws a portrait of Bush as possessing “personal charm, wit and enormous political skill.” He said Bush’s record as Texas governor and “disarming personality” inspired him to follow him and that his administration early on possessed “seeds of greatness.”

But, McClellan said, Bush’s unwillingness to admit mistakes and belief in his own spin contributed to turning the president into “not quite the leader I once imagined him to be.” He faults Bush for a “lack of inquisitiveness” and “a degree of self-deception that may be psychologically necessary to justify the tactics needed to win the political game.”

Bush “convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment,” McClellan writes.

Ari Fleischer responded to the book today on MSNBC…

This is only the beginning of the story. Tomorrow Scott McClellan will be making the rounds on the morning shows and news programs. I am very interested in hearing these interviews with McClellan, and I will either follow up with more information on this post, or I may just do another post.

Breaking: John Edwards To Endorse Barack Obama

It is being reported that John Edwards will endorse Barack Obama later tonight.

Here is a guest post by Pamela Lyn from Pam’s Coffee Conversation.


By now you’ve probably heard about Mayhill Fowler’s post for The Huffington Post in which she references statements made by Senator Barack Obama during a recent fundraiser in San Francisco. Ms. Fowler quotes Senator Obama as saying:

“You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them,” Obama said. “And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Now I’m going to pretend that I know exactly what Senator Obama meant when he said, “And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” And I’m not going to pretend that there are not Pennsylvanians who are bitter, xenopobic and in some corners down-right racist.

But I am going to say that Senator Obama clearly misspoke when he painted rural Pennsylvania with such a broad brush. Does he really think that my rural neighbors “cling to guns or religion” …. “as a way to explain their frustrations.

Senator Obama the Pennsylvanians who cling to their guns did so in the good years and in the bad. The Pennsylvanians who cling to their faith also did so in the good years and the bad. And sadly, those pockets of Pennsylvania which the skin-heads and neo-Nazi’s call home were there in the good years as well.

Senator Obama you are correct in saying there the job market in Pennsylvania has drastically changed over the past 3 decadesu. Much of this economic decline can be traced back to the anti-union atmosphere fostered by the Reagan era. In fact, many western Pennsylvanians have vivid memories of the 1986 US Steel lock out of its employees. US Steel cited foreign competition and a lack of domestic orders as the reason. And yes, rural Pennsylvanians have been waiting a very long time for US trade policy to give American workers a fair shake.

Of course, the decline of the American steel industry is just one factor in Pennsylvania economic struggle. My rural neighbors could certainly name many others.

Pennsylvanians aren’t “bitter”, they’re mad as hell and not afraid to tell you that they’re mad as hell. But more than that Pennsylvanians are disgusted with Washington and politicians that promise much and deliver little.

And by the way, we Pennsylvanians who cling to our religion do so because we know that NO politician has all the answers.

Related post:

Pennsylvania: A Blue State With A Red Center

This is from a post Morra Aarons has done for The Huffington Post – Thanks for the link Morra.

Pass It On: 75% of Pro-Choice Voters Need To Know The Truth - John McCain Does Not Support A Woman’s Right To Choose.

Among McCain’s pro-choice women supporters, 50% don’t know his positions and an additional 25% assume his views are in line with their own! McCain has stated (it’s on his website) he thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned.**

McCain’s reputation on choice is a favorable grey area for him among women voters. In a post on BlogHer, Catherine Morgan asked: “Is John McCain a Pro-Choice Republican? Would you vote for him if he was? There seems to be a lot of confusion over whether or not John McCain is pro-choice or pro-life. Why is that”?

We need to work to end this confusion. If you are pro-choice it is your job to tell the truth about John McCain! McCain’s record is really, really anti-choice. Not only anti-choice, but anti-sex ed, anti-emergency contraception, and anti-women.

Catherine suggested we “put a call out to the other bloggers who read it, to post on their sites about ending this confusion”? So here’s a start. Help us end the confusion: Please click here to read the record and find a printable flyer to spread around.

READ FULL POST BY MORRA ON THE HUFFINGTON POST

You can also find Morra Aarons at BlogHer and Women and Work

Political Voices of over 375 Women Bloggers — by Catherine Morgan

When I first published this list back in October, we had links to 100 women blogging about politics. Today, the count is at 375, and still growing. Are you a woman blogging about politics? Are you on the list? If not, please leave me your link in comments, so I can add your blog. And, if you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women with a guest post, please join our community.

I hope you’ll take some time and check out the women on the list…and if you blog about politics, consider adding some of these women to your blogroll, or linking to them in a post.

Now, in alphabetical order - links to 375 women blogging about politics…

Read more »

This is a post by Sue at Nailing Jello To The Wall — Writer’s Strike At The Daily Kos

It is so tiring and stressful to read the Hillary Clinton-bashing that has been allowed to go on at so many if the big “progressive” liberal blogs, such as americablog, Huffington Post, and Daily Kos. I read the quotes taken out of context, the facts misrepresented, and rumors posted as fact, and I am torn between just clicking away and standing up for her. The problem is, if I post a comment that defends Hillary Clinton on any of those sites, I am assured of hateful, often disgusting replies. Sometimes directed at Clinton, sometimes at me. So I’ve pretty much just given up on those sites.

And that’s why I was so pleased to read this post from Alegre, a regular writer at Daily Kos.

I’ve been posting at DailyKos for nearly 4 years now and started writing diaries in support of Hillary Clinton back in June of last year. Over the past few months I’ve noticed that things have become progressively more abusive toward my candidate and her supporters.

I’ve put up with the abuse and anger because I’ve always believed in what our on-line community has tried to accomplish in this world. No more. DailyKos is not the site it once was thanks to the abusive nature of certain members of our community.

I’ve decided to go on “strike” and will refrain from posting here as long as the administrators allow the more disruptive members of our community to trash Hillary Clinton and distort her record without any fear of consequence or retribution. I will not be posting at DailyKos effective immediately. I will not help drive up traffic or page-hits as long as my candidate – a good and fine DEMOCRAT - is attacked in such a horrid and sexist manner not only by other diarists, but by several of those posting to the front page.

I have been checking in on those sites every once in a while, just to see what people are saying. But I have to say I agree with Alegre: I don’t want to have any part in driving up their traffic or giving them an audience.So, in addition to her writer’s strike, let’s have a reader’s strike, as well!

ALSO SEE:

Taylor Marsh Blog

and

Tennessee Guerilla Women

Clinton & Obama: Unite Democrats, Insist All Votes Be Counted — Posted by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

I know I am in the minority when I say this…But, I do not think that under any circumstances, either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, should concede the Democratic nomination. At least not until every state has held it’s primary. This election is just much too important for that. Sadly, most would prefer Hillary Clinton bow out gracefully if she doesn’t have a landslide victory on Tuesday.

From The New York Times…

Top supporters of Senator Barack Obama, joined by at least one prominent Democrat yet to endorse a candidate, put pressure on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday to bow out of the presidential race unless she scores clear victories in the crucial big-state primary contests on Tuesday.

From Erin Kotecki Vest at The Huffington Post and BlogHer…

Dear Senator Clinton, Please Step Down

Like I said, “I don’t agree.” This isn’t just any election, this is an historic election. One where Democrats will be nominating either the first woman or the first African American to be our next president. And I think it is only fair that all Democrats (except of course Florida*), have an opportunity to vote in this primary.

If the candidates (and the DNC) truly care about uniting the party, then they should agree that regardless of the outcome, Clinton and Obama will run as a team. And then, from this moment, and until every state has had an opportunity to vote, Hillary and Barack should campaign on the issues only, and drop all the rhetoric and mudslinging.

I know this is a radical idea, and one that will probably not be adopted. However, by uniting the candidates, the party becomes united. And by allowing every state to hold a primary that “counts”, the DNC will continue to unite the voters in preparation for the general election. Let’s face it…How well has this primary system (of deciding the nominee before all states have had a chance to vote), served us in the past? Not so well.

It seems clear that voters want all votes to be counted, so why not just do it? I think it’s about time to recognize that the old system is not working. And the primaries are going to be held in every state either way, so why not let them all count?

Guess what? It’s not to late to do right by the American people.

Well, that’s what I think. What do you think?

*By the way…Governor Charlie Crist has announced that he would support another Primary in Florida.

This is from a post by Ariana Huffington at The Huffington Post

Has there ever been a more repugnant example of political pandering than John McCain’s decision to vote against a bill banning waterboarding, putting hoods on prisoners, forcing them to perform sex acts, subjecting them to mock executions, or depriving them of food, water, and medical treatment?

That’s right, John McCain, the former POW who has long been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s disturbing embrace of extreme interrogation techniques.

But that was before his desperate attempt to win over the lunatic fringe that is running the Grand Old Party.

Earlier this week, I showed how outdated the image of McCain as an independent-thinking maverick had become — and called on the media and independent voters to snap out of their 2000 reverie and see the 2008 McCain for what he has turned into: a Rove-embracing Bush clone, willing to jettison his principles in his hunger for the presidency.

Read full McCain post here