I haven't said much about the Presidential campaign. After my justification for voting for Hillary Clinton in the Arizona primary, I've still been paying attention to but haven't talked much about the race. I stand behind my vote and really am getting more than a little tired of the deification of Obama on the part of his supporters. I sincerely apologize if that's how I came off regarding Howard Dean four years ago. I understand how the Obama supporters feel about their candidate, he just doesn't inspire me in the same way he does them. I feel a little sorry for them when they ultimately realize he's only human and has human weaknesses.

But that's not what this post is about. In listening to some of the coverage of tonight's debate in Texas, I'm struck once again by the talking heads lauding the historic nature of this election because either a black man or a white woman stands is supposedly the first person of their respective race and gender to possibly become President of the United States.

This is of course an insulting and ignorant assessment absent any substantive historical context. Remember the hot water Joe Biden got in last year when he gave Obama those backhanded compliments about how "well-spoken" he is and that, according to Biden, was why he was "viable". And to think, that guy's campaign never caught fire.

But this post is about women who have been close to being President. There was of course Carol Moseley Braun in 2004. And Geraldine Ferraro was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President in 1984. And of course Pat Schroeder in the 1970's. There have been other women, of course, who have stood decent chances of becoming President (or at least a heartbeat away).

Hardly anybody mentions Edith Wilson, President Woodrow Wilson's second wife. When the President purportedly had a debilitating stroke during his second term, his wife is said to have essentially assumed the duties of the Presidency rather than allow her husband to leave or be removed from office. Ironically, the stroke struck about a year after President Wilson reluctantly changed his mind and decided to support the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. Of course, that amendment wasn't ratified until the year after his stroke.

So in future discussions about women and the presidency, let's also keep in mind that Edith Wilson had done the job almost a century before the media decided that Hillary Clinton is the first women eligible for the job.

Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, history, women's rights

Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in the lawsuit in which the US Supreme Court said sex discrimination is A-OK if Goodyear didn't get caught within 3 months of doing it:


Rep. George Miller of California has introduced the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to rectify this silly ruling.

Sen. Ted Kennedy is introducing a companion bill in the Senate.

Finally, People for the American Way has launched a website and a petition drive to help move this process along. Visit the website and sign the petition.

If you haven't already, you may want to read my opinion piece on this issue that was published in the Arizona Daily Star last month.

Labels: civil rights, pay equity, SCOTUS, sexism, social justice, women's rights

I wrote an opinion piece on pay equity that was published today in the Arizona Daily Star. Go read it.

Labels: civil rights, equality, journalism, minimum wage, social justice, women's rights

Because I know you're all just clamoring to know what's on my mind and leave your own comments...

• Everybody sing along..."When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, 'what should I be? Should I be pretty? Should I be smart? Here's what she said to me...'"


• I may have a slight Target problem, but I can quit any time I want. Really.


• For what it's worth 10 months before a single vote will be cast, I'm supporting black horse candidate and current New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for the Democratic nomination for President. His resume is more comprehensive and impressive than any of the other candidates - former member of Congress, former Secretary of Energy, former UN Ambassador and now Governor of a rapidly growing state in the mountain west. I got behind Howard Dean five years ago because of his experience and record as Governor of Vermont.
  
  Also, the last time a Democratic member of Congress won the Presidency, we were at the start of the Cold War and career options for women were limited to nurse, actress, teacher, model, ballet dancer and airline hostess(see item 1 above). Not a reason to vote for Richardson above the others in itself, but history can be instructive.


• I can definitely feel the difference when I go to yoga class versus when I don't. I went last night and this morning and I feel better than I have most of the rest of the week when I didn't get to go. So who's joining me tomorrow or next week?


• I'm still house hunting, and very little of what's on Craig's List or in the papers meets my needs. Who wants to go riding around town with me hunting For Rent signs?


• V-Day Tucson 2007 is next Friday and Saturday at the Fox Tucson Theatre. Publicity has been less than visible this year, so please consider purchasing tickets (available through the Fox's website or at various retailers around town). It's for a good cause and some really deserving people are being recognized for their work at intermission on the 16th.
  
  Please note, I no longer manage the V-Day Tucson website, so comments about the layout and/or outdated content can be directed to this year's organizer.


• I meant to post before Progressive Lobby Day at the Arizona legislature on Tuesday but didn't get around to it. I have to say I was pretty impressed, having participated in my share of lobby days back in Albany. Giving credit where it's due, AHRF did a hell of a job herding the progressive cats. We were also graced by the presence of a number of legislators from both parties, demonstrating that our common causes may not be as hopeless as we're sometimes led to believe. Thanks to those legislators who broke bread with us, and especially Senator Aboud for introducing our group, which filled the Senate gallery, from the floor.


• Are these not the cutest shoes ever? They're totally mine come next payday.


• My dear sister wins a prize for correctly guessing (or remembering!) who Ilene Graff is, without the assistance of IMDB. I don't know just what that prize is yet, but kudos to you, Deb!


• Speaking of both my musical sibling and fellow IC alums, don't forget to tune into "Grease: You're The One That I Want" tomorrow night (NBC, 7/6c) and vote for Kevin Greene to win the role of Danny in the latest Broadway revival. I'm going to tune in despite the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber is a guest judge.


• A childhood dream come true.


• Speaking of movies I intend to see when they come out...


• And finally, since I'm on the topic of movies, the SHORTBUS DVD comes out on March 13.

Update, 4:42 PM: I meant to mention this when I wrote the original post, but Leonard Clark, the Iraq War veteran who tried to mount a primary challenge to Jim Pederson for the Senate nomination last year, is working on filing a petition to recall Senator Double-Talk himself. Cliff Schecter's original post mentions that there's no legal mechanism for recalling an elected federal official. Based on a cursory glance at state laws, this does not appear to be true, as Arizona law does apparently provide for the recall of any elected official: see these three statutes (that last one in particular specifies that members of Congress are included among those who may be recalled). If I read the law correctly, Clark would need to get signatures from a number of registered Arizona voters equal to 25% of the number of total votes cast in last year's Senate election for all candidates for the recall to make the ballot at the next statewide consolidated election. The recall would be an almost vertical uphill battle, but it sure could put a dent in the ole Double-Talk Express.

Labels: alumni, AZ Legislature, Bill Richardson, gift giving, Ithaca College, moving, musicals, personal, Pres-08, Progressive Lobby Day, self-care, social justice, Target, V-Day, women's rights, yoga

I didn't realize yesterday was blog for choice day, but apparently that's what it was. Who knew? Clearly not me.

Anyway, in addition to my post below, here's a great piece by Matt Stoller at MyDD:

As part of blog for choice day, we're supposed to talk about why we're pro-choice. For me, choice is non-negotiable, and though I don't like some of the single issue groups that work in this issue area, it's a core Democratic and progressive value that we must protect at all costs. The right to an abortion is about the right for women to control their own lives, and I won't accept any arguments that suggest that women shouldn't have the right to make very personal decisions or should have to make them in some sort of legal jeopardy. That's just immoral. I'm all for legislation reducing the number of abortions through legal assistance, economic help, and sex education, though I would point out that these tend to decrease all social ills and so I would support them for other reasons as well. But anything that makes the state sanction abortion as anything but an intensely private choice by women (and men to a lesser extent) in a vulnerable and difficult position in their lives is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I don't think I could have said it better myself.

And just to bring the level of the room down a bit, let me just say that pro-choice men are sexy.

Labels: choice, human rights, reproductive freedom, social justice, women's rights

Today marks the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that affirmed the basic human right of reproductive freedom in the United States. That's 34 years of fewer health consequences, happier families and women having control over their own bodies. Reason indeed for celebration.

Today also marks the sixth anniversary of the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, which bans international reproductive health providers from receiving U.S. dollars if they even so much as think about abortion. How many lives have been lost because of this archaic and draconian Reagan-era rule? Too many to count.

I strongly recommend you read MissLaura's post on DailyKos about today's anniversary. It's long and full of linky goodness.

I'm too young to remember a time pre-Roe, but I know as well as anyone who does remember those times that we're only a slippery slope away from having that most essential of human rights - the right to choose when and how often to procreate - torn from our society.

I should note that neither of Tucson's dailies ran any stories today about the Roe anniversary (or the gag rule anniversary, for that matter). You can write letters to the Star and the Citizen and remind them why the right to reproductive freedom is an essential part of our democracy. Here are some excellent talking points to help you get started.

Labels: choice, human rights, reproductive freedom, Roe, women's rights

From Dr. King's remarks in acceptance of the first annual Margaret Sanger Award in April 1966:

In our struggle for equality we were confronted with the reality that many millions of people were essentially ignorant of our conditions or refused to face unpleasant truths. The hard-core bigot was merely one of our adversaries. The millions who were blind to our plight had to be compelled to face the social evil their indifference permitted to flourish.

After centuries of relative silence and enforced acceptance, we adapted a technique of exposing the problem by direct and dramatic methods. We had confidence that when we awakened the nation to the immorality and evil of inequality, there would be an upsurge of conscience followed by remedial action.

We knew that there were solutions and that the majority of the nation were ready for them. Yet we also knew that the existence of solutions would not automatically operate to alter conditions. We had to organize, not only arguments, but people in the millions for action. Finally we had to be prepared to accept all the consequences involved in dramatizing our grievances in the unique style we had devised.

There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger's early efforts. She, like we, saw the horrifying conditions of ghetto life. Like we, she knew that all of society is poisoned by cancerous slums. Like we, she was a direct actionist — a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions. At the turn of the century she went into the slums and set up a birth control clinic, and for this deed she went to jail because she was violating an unjust law. Yet the years have justified her actions. She launched a movement which is obeying a higher law to preserve human life under humane conditions. Margaret Sanger had to commit what was then called a crime in order to enrich humanity, and today we honor her courage and vision; for without them there would have been no beginning. Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her. Negroes have no mere academic nor ordinary interest in family planning. They have a special and urgent concern.

This is a meaningful week for both the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Rights Movement. Today would have been Dr. King's 78th birthday had his life not been cut short by a sniper's bullet in 1968. A week from today, January 22, marks the 34th anniversary of the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision by the US Supreme Court.

Social justice movements have a tendency to put the blinders on and only see our own issues or fight for our own causes. We can all learn from Dr. King's legacy of reaching across boundaries to our natural allies.

United, we all win.

Labels: civil rights, movement-building, social justice, women's rights