Yearly Archives: 2009

Black History Month (satire)

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Edge of the American West referred me to  postbourgie’s satirical series for Black History Month, “Know Your History.”

Here is the entry for the sole female in the group, Whoopi Goldberg:

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“Born Caryn Elaine Johnson in 1955, Whoopi Goldberg rose to fame in the acting world, becoming the second black woman to win an Academy Award for her role in the 1975 blaxploitation film, Blackface Jones and the Temple of Jive. After beating pinkytoe cancer in 1963, Goldberg established Brows(e) for a Cure, an organization that encourages people to donate their eyebrows to make wigs for others battling the disease. She continues to donate to this day.”

Any women’s historians out there want to join me in coming up with similar entries for WHM? Historiann, are you game?  Or has this been done already and I missed it?

Just because you quote Abigail Adams doesn’t make you a feminist

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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!

My hopes have already been dashed. . .

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In my last post, I expressed my hopes for the new president when it came to reproductive rights.  After being encouraged by the executive order lifting the Global Gag rule, I am crushed by the latest news from  Reproductive Health Reality Check that President Obama has caved into conservative pressure to eliminate funding for the Medicaid Family Planning State Option from the economic stimulus bill.  This means that women in the U.S. who are unemployed, underemployed, living in poverty, will not be able to get affordable birth control.

To express your concerns about this issue,  call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 and use these talking points from PPFA.

P.S.  Christina Page’s blog entry on this issue further demonstrates why Chris Matthews is an idiot, like we needed reminding. . .

Belated Blog for Choice Post

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bfcday2009

Yesterday was Blog for Choice day, in honor of the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  Here’s my belated answer.  The question was, What is your top pro-choice hope for President Obama and/or the new Congress?:

Well, this is probably too much — but how about getting someone who is pro-choice to head HHS?  Seriously, I don’t have much faith that Tom Daschle will be much of an improvement over his predecessor.  I’m even more disappointed about the new chair of the DNC.  Also, how about picking someone for Attorney General who has come out firmly in favor of reproductive rights?  There was much talk during the campaign that President Obama would save Roe — but these choices for key posts are not encouraging.

The Prayer you didn’t get to hear

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A few posts ago, I was excited about Bishop Gene Robinson’s invitation to give the opening prayer at the inaugural concert on Sunday.  Because I don’t have HBO, or any Time Warner channels, I wasn’t able to see it live.  It turns out that no one was able to, even those on the Mall.  HBO chose to censor it, and those there in person were not able to hear it because the speakers were turned off.

Fortunately, because HBO didn’t broadcast it, they can’t pull it from YouTube like they have other videos taken by spectators.  Enjoy!

You can read the full text at Pam’s House Blend.

This prayer makes me proud to be an Episcopalian.  To hear Bishop Robinson’s reaction to this censorship, go to NPR’s Talk of the Nation.

Gov. Rell: What part of Permanent Don’t you understand?

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Like many areas of the country, the Nutmeg state has a huge budget deficit and must make drastic cuts.  According to the Hartford Courant, one of the items on the governor’s “hit list” is the state’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.   This agency, and other  state commissions around the country, were modeled after President Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women, founded in 1961 to address the enormous gender inequality in the United States at this time  (remember, this was the Mad Men era, when women were supposed to be either in the kitchen or the secretarial pool, not the board room).  Although the President’s Commission disbanded in 1963 after issuing a report on the problems facing American women, many states created Permanent Commissions to continue the important work started under Kennedy.  Various letters and  editorials in the Courant have made strong arguments in favor of keeping this agency alive.  I just want to remind our dunder-head of a Governor what the word “permanent” means.  According to the OED:

a. Continuing or designed to continue or last indefinitely without change; abiding, enduring, lasting; persistent. Opposed to temporary.

Any questions?

Ms-sing the Point

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Feminist Law Professors has posted a link to a CNN story regarding criticsm of the Ms. Magazine cover depicting President-elect Obama as feminist superhero.  In addition to missing the point of the protests, Naomi Wolff seems to be implying that critics are fronts for right wing organizations.  Guess there’s no room in Ms. Wolff’s tent for legitimate critique and debate. . .

A Step in the Right Direction

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Feminist Law Professors reports that President-elect Obama has invited the Right Reverend Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay person to be ordained a bishop in the Episcopal Church, to deliver the invocation at the inauguration’s opening ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, January 18th.   While this does not make up for chosing Rev. Warren, it does show that the President Elect is listening to the GLBT community.  The location at the Lincoln Memorial is also quite fitting, I think.

Unfortunately,  HBO has exclusive rights to the opening ceremony and we have extra cheap, bare bones cable.  So, looks like I’ll be catching this on the internets. . .