Why Obama Won’t Be Our Next “Greatest” American President
A few posts ago, I asked how you rate President Obama’s leadership on health care reform.
There were some intriguing responses. I said at the time that I agreed with Jeff Friedman, who replied via Facebook:
As seems to be the case with almost every issue he tackles, his heart is in the right place, but he doesn’t seem to have the stomach for a good, old fashioned street fight. And, unfortunately, until he quits trying to be Conciliator-in-Chief and starts to tackle the Republicans and the Blue Cross, I mean the Blue Dog, Democrats head on, most of his positive agenda for the country is going to fall by the wayside. If only he had the stubborn, confrontational approach for his good ideas that George W. Bush had for his horrible ones.
Still, I had the audacity to hope that Obama would gain strength in his role and become increasingly willing to put forth bold initiatives to solve problems such as the 40 million Americans lacking health insurance and many millions more teetering on the brink of losing it along with their jobs or being so underinsured they can’t afford primary or preventive care.
I take to heart the position of smart young author Courtney Martin (please read her Washington Post column about this topic here and vote for her to be their next new pundit) that Obama is exercising a significant kind of leadership when he says citizens must lead ourselves by participating in the process not just during elections, but every day.
Read MoreNo More Women’s Unhealthy Healthcare
I want to write an original post for the Women’s Day of Action on Health Care Reform, but I have to work on my book and get ready for tonight’s Body Politic program at The Tank (hope to see you there–doesn’t last night’s election news tell you we need to redouble our work? President Obama, are you paying attention? You need to get out there and make the change we said we needed, not allow yourself to get coopted by big insurance, big pharma, and big financial dudes–but that’s another post I want to write and don’t have time to do today).
Special thanks therefore to Lucinda Marshall over at Feminist Peace Network for allowing me to share this excellent post, to which I can only say “what she said.”
Health insurance provider Humana’s recent announcement of a 65% increase in their 3rd quarter earnings really got my attention because last week I participated in a health care reform rally at their corporate headquarters in Louisville, KY. After an outdoor gathering attended by 150 or so people, many of those gathered walked peacefully into the Humana building to stage a sit-in. One local newscaster breathlessly proclaimed that we had “stormed” the building, even though their own footage showed that clearly didn’t happen. They then gave a Humana spokesman a fair and balanced opportunity to tell viewers that Humana agreed with the protesters that there should be health care reform.
Oh really? Nothing says your definition of “reform” is slightly suspect like a 65% increase in profits while increasing premiums in double digit amounts and denying coverage for reasons that defy human understanding.
And that is truly the crux of it. Despite months of cynical political maneuvering in Washington, there really is nothing to debate about health care. Health care is not a commodity, it is a human right. What is being debated now is whether we will allow our health to continue to be commodified to satisfy corporate greed. And the answer to that absolutely must be NO.
Read MoreAt the UN, Criminalizing Rape as a Weapon
By Bia Assevero, a dual French-American citizen and a graduate of the American University of Paris with degrees in international politics and international communications.
A Women’s Media Center exclusive, reprinted here with permission of the WMC.
In the last week of October, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made headlines and sparked anger in travels to Israel and Pakistan. Her role some weeks earlier was less controversial yet critically important, as she led UN diplomats forward in an action that could ease the suffering of countless women and girls living in conflict zones around the world.
Last year, the United Nations classified the deliberate use of rape as a tactic of war and a major threat to international security. On September 30, 2009, the Security Council went one step further.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chaired the session as the Security Council unanimously adopted a U.S. sponsored resolution (S/Res/1888) that called for the appointment of a special envoy charged with coordinating the efforts to combat the use of rape as a weapon of war and assist governments in ending impunity for the perpetrators. Having met with women who survived rape and violence in her recent visit to the Congo, Clinton said in remarks to the council, “The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn’t just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group. It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings.”
Why Do I Consider Myself a Feminist?
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Thanks to my great friend and an activist who has always put her convictions into action, Rita Harkins Dickinson for this guest post. She wrote this moving personal essay after attending a WomenGirlsLadies inter-generational panel.
After attending the Feldt-Barbanell Women of the World Lecture at Arizona State University recently, I have questioned if I can honestly call myself a feminist. I always thought of myself as one, but do I deserve to wear the badge? The remarkable women on the panel had defining moments that justified them considering themselves feminists. I don’t have one “aha” moment. My sense of feminism is more organic.
My childhood was glorious. I am a Boomer, but June Cleaver was only a fantasy character on television. Conversely, I didn’t have militant women in my life either. Women surrounding me were strong, independent, and smart. Although our family is small, I had eight significant female relatives within reach: my mother, my grandmothers, my great-grandmother, my aunt, two great aunts and a great-great aunt.
Most of the significant influences in my childhood were subtle, yet extremely fond memories. I remember attending graduate classes with my mother, taking colored pencils and newsprint (we weren’t allowed to have coloring books – they would stifle creativity). We spent a great deal of time outdoors; we went to the beach, and we camped every summer. None of this is remarkable, except that my mother had survived polio when pregnant with my older brother, resulting in paralysis from the waist-down.
Read MoreCourageous Leadership Transition at the Women’s Media Center
As a board member of the Women’s Media Center, I’m delighted to share this announcement of a very positive passing of the torch, or more properly increasing the number of torches lighting the way to making women visible and powerful in the media: a tribute to the founding president Carol Jenkins and a warm welcome to incoming president Jehmu Greene. Here’s the press release that just went out.
Read MoreIt is with great pleasure that we announce to you that Progressive Women’s Voices alum Jehmu Greene has been selected as the next president of The Women’s Media Center. She brings great expertise in feminist/progressive organizing and media — and she is, we believe, the perfect woman for the organization’s next stages of development. We are sharing this announcement with you before our public announcement tomorrow because we value your support of the WMC. Thank you.
What is Feminism?
Check out my interview with Ted Simons, host of KAET-TV Horizon news show. We covered a wide range of questions on this topic. I’d love to know how you’d answer them. I posted this on Heartfeldt because we inevitably talked politics quite a bit.
Read MoreWomen Weigh in on Barack Obama’s Nobel Win
Guest post by regular contributor Lee Reid Taylor.
Barack Obama and the world woke up Friday morning to the unexpected news that the president had received the Nobel Peace Prize. Women’s responses to the announcement ran the gamut: from accolades, to shock and even disbelief. Some question whether the award is premature, while others believe it is a call for Obama to act on his political oratory of peace.
Obama is the third sitting president, following Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to receive the honor. The first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize was a woman, Bertha von Suttner, in 1901. Female recipients of the Peace Prize include: Jane Addams, Ayn San Suu Kii, Betty Williams, and Wangari Maathai (just to name a few). Of the ninety-six Nobel Peace Prizes awarded, only nineteen were given to women. The fact that Obama is now a recipient leads some to ask, “Why him, and why now?”
Women have different interpretations of why this award was given and what impact it will have on the president’s policies.
Read MoreObama’s Nobel: Premature Adulation
As thrilled as I am that the world has such a positive view of Obama, for him to be given the Nobel Peace Prize at this stage of this presidency is premature adulation.
I was at my computer frantically trying to finish a book chapter in the wee hours this morning when I noticed a tweet saying Obama had won the Nobel. I thought it was one of those Twitter rumors that spread like wildfire, but it piqued my interest enough that I clicked BBC, CNN, and AP until I was convinced this was no hoax.
My first reaction was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that winning this global prize so soon on his presidency would be a political loss at home. It’s not going to help him pass health care, and there’s going to be a lot of skepticism—not just from the right–about whether he’s earned such an honor yet. Because he hasn’t, really.
And I hope there is never a hint that any kind of campaign was waged for him to receive the prize, for that would devastate his standing and sully the honor.
No matter about any of that, I still see a hugely important message to America in this award. It starts with “Thank you.” The same “breathing out” moment many of us had when Obama won the election reverberated around the globe, and it was as much about what a bad leader George Bush was on the world stage as how good Obama might be. So the promise of Obama is almost as important as the performance.
Read MoreDaylight Lessons from Letterman’s Late Night Escapades
Guest post By Ellen Bravo, originally published as a Women’s Media Center exclusive.
The author, an expert on the prevention of sexual harassment and other issues of women in the workforce, suggests that human resources professionals and corporate executives take the occasion of David Letterman’s revelations to revisit their companies’ policies with the understanding that “sexual favoritism is sexual harassment.” I’m posting her commentary here because I think it is one of the best and most realistic about 21st century sexual mores for the workplace that I’ve read on the Letterman affair(s). Your thoughts? Read on…
I don’t know David Letterman or any of the staffers he had sex with.
I believe fidelity is the business of only one person, the philanderer’s partner.
Extortionists aren’t whistle-blowers—they’re criminals, and should be put away.
But whenever I hear the justification, “I didn’t violate company policy and no one complained,” my hackles jump up.
Let’s talk about why it’s bad business for the boss to sleep with subordinates.
Read MoreHappy With Your Bikini Wax?
Today this commentary was posted here on Truthout.
Last week there was a huge discussion about women and happiness that I thought missed the mark in two ways. First it misinterpred the data in so as to reinforce the preferred myth that equality makes women unhappy, and second it assumes happiness is about seeking it for it own sake. So here’s my take on the matter. What makes you happy? Inquiring minds (mine at least) want to know.
Please tell me below or/and on Truthout.
When my son David was a gangly 14-year-old with a class assignment to research his ancestral roots, we drove 360 flat miles from Odessa, Texas, to Dallas to visit my grandmother. After she’d hugged and pinched us to determine if we’d been eating properly, David pulled out his scribbled questions. “Bubba,” he asked, “What did you do for fun when you were a teenager?”
“Fun?” She looked perplexed.
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