In her budget address, Governor Jodi Rell used the following quote from Abigail Adams’ letter to her son John Quincy Adams, written on January 13, 1780:
“It is not in the still calm of life … that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised … then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.”
Apparently, the Governor forgot about another famous quote from Abigail Adams — i.e. “remember the ladies.” One of the proposed cuts will be to the state’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. She also proposed deep cuts in the state’s safety net that serve women, children, veterans, disabled persons, the elderly — in short everyone but the rich Republicans will pay for the current state budget crisis.
Susan Campbell has an excellent critique of the Governor’s proposal. Nope, Rell don’t got game, that’s for sure.
I propose that the Democrats find a real feminist to run against Governor Rell in 2010.
P.S. Uh, oh, looks like Big Sister Governor Rell will be watching me and other state employees. Guess I won’t be blogging from the office anymore!
Knitting Clio 
Why not you for Governor, KC?
I once had a job interview with a History department, in which a male colonial historian patronizingly lectured me on my grasp of colonial women’s history because I clearly wasn’t taking into account Abigal Adams and her love for her husband. Seriously.
No thanks! As to the male historian — yes, it’s amazing how some men think they know more than we do!