Jun 25, 2019 | Bad Behavior, Politics, Republicans, Something. To. Say., Women |
Good Riddance to Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Hello Everybody.
I have something to say about Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Yes, go home to Arkansas because all you did was make the job of White House PressSecretary a mockery. Only three women have held that vaunted position, but you took it and destroyed it.
Oh, I know her beloved President Trump, was behind it because he hates the press. But she marched in lockstep with him. And who suffered the most? The American people she swore to serve.
She was supposed to give on a daily basis, pertinent and truthful information to the White House press corps so they could in turn, report the news to the public. But she just stopped talking to the press in any formal way and left that to the President. She used the White House driveway to dribble out a few answers to waiting reporters. And the worst? She lied.
Trump thinks she should run for governor of Arkansas. It is one of the poorest, hungriest and least educated states in the country. Sarah—got any good ideas on improving Arkansas? I didn’t think so. So long Sarah, Huckabee Sanders, and thanks for nothing.
Oct 19, 2012 | Journalism, Politics, Sexism, Women |
Should there be any doubt now that women can handle presidential debates, as well as men? That they can conduct a live television event that lasts for 90 minutes before an audience of 60 million viewers? That they can be smart, bold and professional in dealing with the men who would be president and vice president of this great nation?
No. There should be no doubt at all. CNN’s Candy Crowley and ABC’s Martha Raddatz have finally banished that old false notion that “men are better” to the R-I-P grave it deserves.
Of course, after former PBS anchor Jim Lehrer lost control of the first presidential debate in Denver, Raddatz and Crowleywere masterful in comparison. Lehrer, the journalist who was moderating his 12th presidential debate, at times threw up his hands in exasperation as President Obama–but mostly Governor Mitt Romney–ignored the guidelines on time limits for statements and rebuttals. The testy rivals literally wrested the debate away from Lehrer and he was pretty much reduced to the role of a potted plant.
Raddatz then moderated the vice presidential debate where she had been forewarned that Vice President Joe Biden might engage in some “funny stuff.” Biden found Paul Ryan funny and he found himself funny, but under the firm hand of Raddatz, both men did as they were directed. The vice presidential debate was not only enlightening but also enjoyable.
Poor Candy Crowley. She had to moderate the second debate in the town hall format, which became the most contentious presidential matchup in recent memory. There she was with a nervous audience of 80 undecided voters and two men who can’t stand each other. Obama and Romney could not be more different: in family history, socioeconomic upbringing, political ideology, social status, and of course, color. The only thing they have in common is Harvard Law School and nice families.
Obama blew the first debate by appearing disengaged and bored with the whole process. Romney, with an energetic and aggressive style won the debate “by a mile.”
The President was determined to change the public’s perception of him by changing his style, his answers, and his enthusiasm for the second debate. Romney was ready for the Obama makeover. Candy Crowley was ready for both of them.
I wouldn’t have traded places with her for anything. The candidates entered the arena; yes that’s what the debate floor became. The two men were already seething despite the plastered smiles and phony handshake.
This was supposed to be a debate dominated by questions from the undecided voters, but it quickly deteriorated into something that looked like a cockfight.
Throughout the debate Candy was juggling so many balls in the air: listening to the producer in her ear; calling on audience members; watching the time; asking follow up questions; paying attention to the candidates’ answers; deciding who had the next question or rebuttal.
She was doing all this with an up-close and too personal display of male bravado. I was waiting for one of the candidates to beat his chest or jump on the other’s back. It was that nasty.
Candy, with the utmost politeness, struggled to remain in control despite being insulted by Governor Romney. Did she retreat like a shy violet or burst into tears? Not her. She prevailed.
Candy raised two sons. I have to believe that she harkened back to those days when her boys misbehaved and she had to discipline them. Now before her eyes were the President of theUnited Statesand the former Governor of Massachusetts circling each other defiantly like naughty boys. She finally said, with all the power she could muster in her voice, “Mr. Romney, sit down.” And he did.
In 2016, the Commission on Presidential Debates should not hesitate to seek out women to be moderators. Candy Crowley and Martha Raddatz have proved that the best women can stand on equal footing with the best men. Thank you, ladies.
Mar 8, 2012 | Politics, Women |
Barefoot, pregnant and staying home. That’s where Republican men apparently want to see women of the 21st Century. They have begun their endgame by chipping away at women’s reproductive rights. Predominantly white male-dominated legislatures in 20 states have enacted onerous restrictions on women’s health, including Texas, which now forces women, who want an abortion, to submit to ultrasound probes of their vaginas. Cruel and unusual punishment for getting pregnant? I think so.
Didn’t we take care of all this in the 1960’s and ‘70’s? The birth control pill—approved for use in 1960—gave a woman, for the first time ever, the ability to control when she wanted to have a baby. It brought about major social change.
In the 1970’s, didn’t the Women’s Liberation Movement protest in streets across the nation calling for equal rights and reproductive freedom? In 1973, didn’t the Supreme Court rule in Roe v. Wade, that a woman’s right to privacy make the near nationwide ban on abortions unconstitutional? Didn’t Anita Hill put a human face on the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, which led to new laws protecting women from being called “sluts” or “prostitutes?”
“It’s déjà vu all over again.” Yogi Berra’s famous line comes to mind as I watch this absurd drama, over a woman’s right to control her body, unfold on the national stage. Are the Republicans crazy? Do they believe they can win a presidential election by alienating the majority of voters inAmerica? That’s right. Women go to the polls in larger numbers than men. And they vote differently, too. A study byGallupshowed that 41 percent of voting age women say they are Democrats while only 32 percent of men say they are.
President Obama can thank women voters for his 2008 victory. While 49 percent of men cast ballots for him, 56 percent of women voted for Obama.
I can imagine the President and his staff chortling in the Oval Office about the Republicans’ stumbling efforts to wage a “war on women.” They are already working on a strategy for the fall campaign targeting women. As the President said in his first press conference of the year, “The Democrats have a better story to tell.”
You can bet that women will remember Rush Limbaugh’s hateful radio speak about Sandra Fluke, and the tepid responses from the Republican candidates. Mitt Romney brushed off Rush’s remarks as “inappropriate” instead of denouncing them in the strongest language, such as “gross and unacceptable.”
Women aren’t going to forget the Senators who voted in favor of the Blunt amendment, which would allow employers to opt out of providing certain health care benefits for their employees if they have religious objections. Viagra, yes. Contraceptives, no.
The amendment failed, but barely, 51 to 48, pretty much along party lines. The only Republican voting against it was Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, who a short time later announced her decision not to seek reelection. She couldn’t stand it anymore.
The Republican Party and its puppet master Rush Limbaugh have picked the wrong fight.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Dec 30, 2011 | Being Black |
Add mine to the plethora of Top Ten lists that inundate us at every year’s end. Mine is different. It looks at men and women of African-descent, who unwittingly gave the image of black people a boost or a bust.
Topping my winners and losers is the inimitable, would-be President of the United States HERMAN CAIN. I knew he wasn’t about anything for my people because he was running as a Tea Party Republican. My God. The sex allegations, his annoying “9-9-9” mantra, his international insult to the nation he called, “Uz-beki-beki-stan-stan,” his song of praise to pizza, his brain freeze on Libya, and ending his farewell to the campaign with a quote from the “Pokémon” movie. All of these gaffes had me laughing in stitches until I realized that what America was seeing was a black buffoon. Thank you, Mr. Cain for nothing and I hope Gloria “whupped yo’ ass.”
Leave it to women to give us pride. The Nobel Peace Prize was conferred on two Liberians: ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, the first woman elected head of state of any country on the African continent; and LEYMAH GBOWEE, a peace activist credited with helping to end the civil war in Liberia and for promoting women’s rights. After spending a good deal of time in Africa, I always felt the women in African countries would be their salvation.
Still on a good note, what about J.R. MARTINEZ winning ABC’s popular “Dancing With the Stars?” I was so proud that the Iraqi war veteran beat out all the contestants, despite having suffered burns over 40 percent of his body, including his badly scarred face, which some could find disturbing. What Martinez had going for him were dancing ability, a warm personality and a desire to win, no matter what. An exploding IED didn’t stop him nor could Ricki Lake.
Far be it from me to deny a black man a show on a cable news channel but the REV. AL SHARPTON? He has been hosting his “POLITICSNATION” on MSNBC for several months, but face it: if he were a white man, a white woman, a black woman or some other black man, he would be fired. Television host he is not. The Rev. Al struggles with the teleprompter, stumbles on his words and he doesn’t talk to the audience but barks at it like an agitated beagle. One night Sharpton showed some documents with black marker covering up large portions of the text. He said the papers had been “didacted,” not redacted. Again and again he used variations of “didaction.” Sorry to say, he’s an embarrassment. Surely, there’s someone else.
One of them could have been RUSS MITCHELL or T.J. HOLMES. CBS lost the multi-talented Mitchell, who for years anchored the “Early Show” news, the Weekend editions of that show and the Evening News. He apparently didn’t figure into plans for revamped CBS news programming, so he left to become anchor of a local station in Cleveland. T.J. left CNN certainly disgusted by his twin woes…being stuck on weekends and the never-ending wait to be given a promotion by CNN. Now he is off to BET where he is slated to play a major role in bringing serious news to the Black Entertainment network. Here’s wishing them both success. I expect they will continue to bring distinction to the television news industry.
The much-ballyhooed OPRAH WINFREY Network (OWN) seems to be headed for a bust. The Queen of Daytime TV, who was just about Queen of America, started her network a year ago, this coming January 1st. It was a tough year. Everything Oprah touches does not turn to gold. Her loyal fans did not tune in. Ratings were so low that Discovery Communications invested a quarter of a billion dollars into the fledgling network. Winfrey acknowledged that, “mistakes were made.” She’s optimistic about 2012 when she plans to produce and broadcast programs, which take her “on the road.” But OWN left a chink in Oprah’s formidable armor.
Emerson College in Boston, where I teach journalism, made history by naming its first black president, DR. LEE PELTON. The Board of Trustees appointed the Harvard-educated former president of Portland, Oregon’s Willamette University, to perhaps settle some scores. Before he arrived there had been two years of campus turmoil over the paucity of faculty members of color and the threat of lawsuits by two black professors who were denied tenure. Pelton started the job last July and is beginning to win over those who had doubts about the scholarship of black faculty and students.
Last, but not least, PRESIDENT OBAMA. It’s been a year of pounding from the right, recalcitrance by the Republican-dominated House, grindingly slow economic recovery, and prospects of a tough re-election campaign. But he has managed to keep a “cool hand.” He killed Osama bin Laden and several other Al Qaeda leaders. He brought our troops home from Iraq. The Republicans blinked and passed his bill continuing middle class tax breaks and extended unemployment benefits. So, he didn’t accomplish all he promised but admit it: he’s done a helluva lot under the circumstances. Thank you, Mr. President for giving not just black Americans, but all Americans a much-needed boost.
Have a healthy and Happy New Year.
Jun 22, 2011 | Politics, Republicans, Women |
So, we have two women in the Republican Party who have designs on the highest office in the land. I must admit I favored Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election. I have been waiting for the day a woman would become President of the United States. But could I vote for a Michelle Bachmann or a Sarah Palin? Duh. No.
Are these the most qualified women the Republicans can put forward? I don’t think even the Party believes that. There are some women and then there are some other women. Where are the other women? You know, the smart ones?
Bachmann and Palin seem to have good credentials when you read their bios. Both held elective office. They broke barriers for women. They are wives and mothers. They had careers before entering politics.
And for those that care, they are physically attractive and telegenic, so important in today’s TV-dominated political campaigns.
But then Michelle and Sarah speak. Out of the mouths of these “babes” come some of the most uninformed statements and backward political policy positions you hear from the radical right wing.
They are “card-carrying” members of the Tea Party Movement. Tea Partiers were protesting on the Capitol steps and spat on Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and shouted “nigger” again and again at civil rights icon, Georgia Rep. John Lewis. I did not hear Bachmann or Palin denounce the vile behavior.
I am really talking about their comments that are just laughable. Could Michelle Bachmann be this dumb?
Bachmann: “The Founding Fathers worked tirelessly until slavery was no more.” She is wrong and nearly 150 years off for when slavery really ended in the U.S.
Bachmann: Speaking in New Hampshire, the first primary state. “You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord.” No, Michelle, that would be Massachusetts.
Bachmann: Told Minnesotans she wanted them “armed and dangerous” to fight an energy tax, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
She doesn’t know U.S. history and doesn’t believe scientific evidence and she thinks she can be President?
Sarah Palin has so many crazy quotations it was difficult to pick a few.
Palin: Talking about Paul Revere after taking a tour of his home. “He, who, warned, uh, the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells…” Blah, blah. What is going on in her head? (I won’t answer that.)
Palin: At a motorcyle rally in Washington, DC, while riding a Harley. “I love the smell of emissions.”
Palin: About NATO bombing in Libya. “Do we use war? Do we use squirmish? What is it?” That statement should make many people squirm.
While both Representative Bachmann and former Governor Palin are wildly popular with some Americans, I don’t get it. They are embarrassing to the nation and especially to women.
I wish they’d quietly leave the political stage before doing damage to women who are really qualified to be President of the United States.
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