Model UN

Cat and Girl

Something you can hang on to and hit with a car antenna!

I thought I was the only one who noticed the line from the SNL skit in which men tried to talk about feminism. Joe Cannon:

“I always liked a woman with a big butt. You know, something you can hang on to and hit with a car antenna!”

Garrett Morris was a genius. He was outrageous and my all-time favorite SNL member. This is my all-time favorite line.

I make lists

I’m updating my resume and adding leftist activities from my old blog. It’s a scary, 1 1/2 page long, single spaced list of 2003-2005 leftist activism.

Bach: Air on the G string

La Boheme: Pavarotti, Freni

Monserrat Caballe sings the best Mimi.

People just don’t want you to be better than them

Sociology of gender PhD

1. UC – Berkeley
2. UC – Santa Barbara
3. UW – Madison
4. U Washington
5. UM – Ann Arbor
6. Stanford/USC
8. UM – College Park
9. IU – Bloomington
10. FSU/NYU/UCLA

Economic sociology PhD

1. UC – Berkeley
2. Stanford
3. Cornell/UW – Madison
5. Princeton
6. Harvard
7. Northwestern
8. Columbia
9. UCLA/UM – Ann Arbor

Sociology PhD

1. UW – Madison
2. UC – Berkeley
3. UM – Ann Arbor
4. U Chicago
5. UNC
6. Princeton/Stanford
8. Harvard/ULCA
10. U Penn

Northwestern
Jan 15 for Fall
transcript
2 recs
GRE

UIC
May 15 for Fall
Nov 1 for Spring
Mar 15 for Summer
$7156/year in-state
transcripts
3 recs
GRE

UC – Berkeley
Dec 15-Jan 10 for Fall
transcripts
3 recs
GRE

Women’s Conference Call

HLF wasn’t in on today’s conference call? What’s the world coming to? Hillary and her finance director held a rather exciting conference call today. They were overwhelmed by women’s support in the last 17 months. Three times more women voted in the Democratic primary than in 2004. This is a huge movement and I got the sense she’s thinking of 2012. She sounded somewhat weary but said Democrats have to win in November for the reasons of health care and choice. She was very concerned about the treatment of her supporters and was surprised at the sexist attitudes that surfaced. Once she settles her debt to vendors, she will be able to address the issue of sexism and misogyny. She said she had no trouble moving forward during the campaign backed by her women’s army and met the finest, bravest women in her life during this campaign. If you’re in DC or NY, she wants to thank you personally. You know who you are.

Singling out MSNBC/NBC

RedStar of H1K:

NYC Weboy has an excellent post up about MSNBC’s sexist, misogynistic coverage of the Democratic primary, thoughtfully linking it to their biased coverage of the Iraq war, and their overall low ratings among the cable news networks. A must read.

Update: Meanwhile, The NYT hops on the it’s-safe-to-talk-about-media-sexism-now-that-Clinton’s-out bandwagon with this piece. I’m just going through it now, but I was struck by this graph on the difference in positive media coverage of the 2 Democratic candidates from December 2007 – June 2008:

Never mind the attacks on Clinton, Obama’s coverage was positive during almost the entire period! Upwards of 80% at least last winter! How is this not biased?? Those are unbelievable stats.

post-primary thoughts

pocochina of H1K rants:

This post is about party accountability. It is not an endorsement for or against one candidate or another – I am the H1K resident undecided working through these issues.

Warning: this post rambles, and will probably be updated and revised. I’ve been writing it since very early last Wednesday morning, but it came out slowly, like cheap vodka that has started to freeze, and burns just as badly going down. I’m hoping to be up and writing again soon, though.

I’m of the generation who came of age in the 1990s, and I’ve always been interested in politics. It’s been interesting, particularly over the last few months, to untangle how those years shaped my views of politics and ethics. Those views on politics, that sense of ethics, has been violated to its very core, by those who I thought shared those views and ethics. I won’t deny that the disappointment is partially about Senator Clinton’s suspension, but the sense of betrayal goes far beyond that. Y’all know I’m usually pretty anal about my sourcing and backup links, even in comments. However, I’m making an exception and not using this post to link to people who I think have made reprehensible comments, both because I generally respect them and am trying to let the wounds of this season heal, and because I don’t want to drive up traffic to those mean-spirited posts.

I am not an angry girl – but it seems like I’ve got everyone fooled…(Ani DiFranco)

I’m pissed at the classism of this campaign. It’s not even that the Democratic Party is taking the working class for granted any more – no, according to Donna Brazile, we don’t want the working class any more. Sending out Harry & Louise flyers, ignoring the rural poor, giving up on true universal health care. A party that turns its back on the sick and the poor is a party that does not deserve power. We’ve been saying that about Republicans for years. We have met that enemy, and it is now ourselves.

I’m pissed at the use and abuse of religion in this campaign. I care not at all as to what deity, if any, a politician prays. As a person with a Catholic background, of specific ethnicity, I am aware that I may respond to someone who speaks in my sub-cultural patterns and language – and yet, the only politician in my memory who has matched that experience was Mayor Giuliani, with whom I share little except a pronounced aversion to long-term monogamy. I hold the First Amendment dear, and believe there is no religious requirement for any role in public life. What I do find infuriating is religious exceptionalism. When within one month, the entire country knew about his religious conversion. And his pastor. And when he did and didn’t go to church. We were treated to photos of Obama standing in front of a cross of gold. His regard for his own faith is high. And yet, when looking for an excuse to lose the PA primary, he lumped in religion with deadly weapons, xenophobia, and bitterness – and these were all bad things, because they were things done by poor people. Respect for the freedom to worship (or not) is available only to those who support him.

No self-respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her sex.” (Susan B. Anthony)

I’m pissed at the blatant misogyny of coverage of the campaign. I’m pissed at people who should know better – who acknowledge other people’s sexism, who can cast an accusing finger at the entire horrible media, but can then turn around, utterly free of irony, and utter, “but he just inspires me,” or some other sufficiently vague, comforting reason to not check one’s own sexism. You know, it feels a bit ridiculous now, with my highly partisan perspective on the campaign, but I did a lot of soul searching to make sure that I wasn’t just voting based on whiteness or femaleness, and I did it relatively frequently – though less so as the campaign went on and only one candidate acted as if she actually wanted my votes. The bottom line was that I trusted her views on government (we have it, so let’s use it, and do so in a way that helps as many people as possible, and then next time let’s do better) more than his (hope!(TM) change!(C)); that her health care plan was better; that while his reproductive rights record was more than satisfactory, hers showed nuance and leadership. And those, in the bottom line, are the reasons I went for Senator Clinton. I am deeply fortunate to have access to the pro-Obama voices of POC who forced me to take that look into myself.

I’m pissed at what Senator Obama has done to my party. I’m pissed that DNC officials couldn’t even be bothered to publicly acknowledge sexism; I am even angrier that they chose to buy into it. Make no mistake, the DNC chose their candidate. They had no commitment to the process of the primary. They could have stormed every talking head show in the country talking up all the good things about this long and exciting primary. People are interested in politics. A record number of Democrats voted; far more than the Republicans – they were making money, they were raking in votes, they were building a new Democratic system. Instead, they chose to mourn and moan about how every minute that passes, McCain voters have another hate-gasm because That Bitch was Killing the Party and Why Won’t She Just Quit. To expect a woman who’s winning millions upon millions of votes to step aside so that Teh Menz can get to their serious business is blatantly sexist, and every time one of them got in front of a camera to moan WWTSBQ, they sanctioned it, and used it to their own advantage. When the life of one of our own was threatened three times in one week, the DNC said nothing. This is inexcusable.

I’m pissed at Barack Obama for his misogyny. I can understand – though I do not condone – why he did not apologize for his own fuckups on that score. But he had not one, not two, but three clear opportunities to distance himself from the hate speech of others, and he did not. He could have taken a moment – just a fraction of a breath – in his many condemnations of Rev. Wright – whom he could no more disown than the black community, until of course he did just that – to say “by the way, the personal attacks on my opponent are not worthy of my church, my party, or my country.” He did not. He could have said the same when distancing himself from Father Phlegler. He did not. He was careful to condemn so-called divisive rhetoric which did nothing but tell the truth about the drug war, allegedly un-American comments which would (and, of course, still will, for there is no escaping the Republican Attack Machine) make him look bad, and he could not be bothered to condemn hate speech against a colleague. He could have said the same when he issued his departure from his church and he did not.

Were an observer from Mars to judge the man by his public statements in these moments of crisis, that Martian observer would be quite rational to conclude that his need to see Senator Clinton abused means more to him than his faith. I expect that from Republicans. I expected better from Democrats. I no longer can.

Deny us three times, Senator.

And that isn’t even touching the dirt of his shoulder, tea parties, likeable enough, periodically feeling down…you get the idea. Beyond even his upfront sexist statements, he has relied on the implacable and unjustified hatred of Senator Clinton and her charming husband, in both hard right and right leaning media outlets. When Drudge – transparently and baselessly – claimed that a Clinton staffer had spread an email photo of Senator Obama on a visit to sub-Saharan Africa – the Obama camp and its surrogates in the media on and offline jumped to repeat the rumor. Then he went on TV and magnanimously said he believed her, and then he went to Mississippi and lied, and said she’d done it. Everyone, after all, would believe it about that woman. That ruthless, ambitious, political woman.

I’m pissed at the netroots. For a brief, shining moment – like, 2 1/2 years or so – Left Blogistan was a place of high media skepticism, of proud partisanship, of committed progressivism. Now, anything goes, as long as it’s about That Bitch. HRC and her filthy husband are slobbering racists – everyone knows she sent out that photo, I saw it on Drudge – as long as we never have to question the source. And by the by, Atrios and LGM, your Solemn Pronouncements on race and ethnicity lose a lot of credibility when you snidely revel in the disenfranchisement of an island full of brown people, because they didn’t vote for your candidate.

I’m pissed at the next generation of political pundits. Whenever confronted with uncontrovertible evidence of sexism, they reacted uniformly – to grudgingly admit that sexism exists, and then jump to BUT ITS NOT THE ONLY REASON. People who follow politics to any extent are well aware that there are many factors in political decision making, and most of them are subconscious. There is no one and only reason, but if I had to pick the most influential one, it would damned well be sexism.

I’m pissed at feminists who decided their feminism didn’t extend to That Bitch. I want to be clear, I’m not talking about feminists who, in good faith, decided that they wanted to support Obama, Edwards, Dodd, or whoever else. I am the first to state openly that reasonable people could have come to different decisions on that. I’m talking about feminists who, usually incisive and merciless in their rejection of expected gender roles, uncritically accept the Nasty Harpy narrative about Senator Clinton. I expect feminists to be able to step back and say, “well, knowing what I know about how I, and everyone around me, and in particular the chattering heads paid to tell me what to think about this campaign, have been conditioned in my expectations of female behavior, I am going to be critical of how I process this election.” For a lot of feminists (Edwards and Obama supporters as much as Clinton supporters) that happened; for a lot of them, it didn’t. I saw one feminist blogger say of Clinton’s suspension speech only, “Best speech of her political career.” The best speech of a thirty five year career of one of the most brilliant women in modern public life just so happens to be her concession? We’d be unbelievably suspicious of such an assessment about any other woman’s career – but it was Hillary, so it’s okay. It’s nauseating from a babbling jowl show – it is heartbreaking from a feminist. And the wheel turns, and a woman’s career is at its apex when she submits to a man.

They have drawn race as black and white. This is patently ridiculous. I’m not linking to anyone who makes the claim that – essentially – white women are the only ones who liked HRC, we should just stop whining and suck it up, POC are thrilled about Obama and we are just entitled bitches. It is true that Black Americans overwhelmingly – though far from universally – preferred Obama. But this erases the huge numbers of brown women – Asian-American, Hispanic-American, in huge numbers, at least where the pollsters bothered – and men as well, who knew that they are not invisible to her. Those claims are out there, though. I’m thrilled for African-Americans who see themselves in Senator Obama. But I do not ever condone the erasure of anyone because they are inconvenient to a political agenda. I have been proud to call these women ally and sometimes, presumptively, friend. I’ve talked before about my frustration with this erasure, but with Clinton supporters – neither all white nor all male – so offended by this campaign they have decided the Democratic Party is no longer their home, the erasure has reached fever pitch. I do not begrudge Obama supporters their excitement. I do not understand the need to begrudge us our grief.

I think that non-feminist Obama supporters, and particularly male non-feminist Obama supporters, have this idea that we are just irrationally angry, our feelings are hurt and we should get over it or we’re just silly, don’t we know how bad McCain is, maybe they’ll just tell us one more time. The choice not to support Obama is a long-run rational choice. Right now, there is a party that hates women all the time, and a party that used to humor us, but hates us when it is convenient. It is our job to never, ever let it be convenient again, or there will be no one in government advocating for our rights.

We are not your sweeties, who just need candy and flowers to come around.

We are not your bitches, that is not a leash in your hand. Our bodily integrity is not a choke chain you may use to threaten us. If you think it is, you are no better than the Republicans. And yes, the “But! But! But!” Roe stick is just that – a threat. Politically involved women know exactly where we stand on Roe, and we know the Democrats haven’t been all that bothered to even look like they’re trying to protect it, these last seven years. We know what an anti-choice Supreme Court looks like, because we read Gonzales v. Carhart and our hearts broke in fear for ourselves and our sisters and nieces and daughters.

When you tell us that we’d better get in line and vote for Obama, OR ELSE ROE, you are holding our own bodies hostage against us, as if they were yours to take. You are actively, proudly, literally threatening us with our lives. Is that the change we should believe in?

I’ve left versions of the following comment on a couple of journals/blogs over the last couple of days:

What hurts the most is that I really thought I might have a chance to vote for someone in whom I really believed, and now no matter what I do I will be compromising more than ever. There is no choice that does not reward hatred of myself and those that I love. A write-in for Clinton or McKinney will be held against Clinton; a vote for McCain sanctions the Republican war machine, and a vote for Obama sanctions the (new ?) Democratic misogyny machine.

I was thinking of myself, and my own disappointment, and while I still think that’s legitimate, I am willing to say that I missed the broader context. The party’s eagerness to push her out, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY (particularly in the case of Representative Cohen) was in reaction to this very feeling. They have come to rely on women not expecting any better. They have grown dependent on the Bush Administration’s vile abuse of women, so that their burden of accountability to us is lighter. They were terrified of rank-and-file Dems realizing that there is better out there. And there is, and she still lost, and with her she brought down the pretenses of the party. The bullying we’re all getting now is an unapologetic part of that – baby, you need me, nobody else will love you.

If he really is such a unifier, surely we don’t need to be threatened. Surely he will come through, with his famous ability to reach out, and let us know that it’s our party too. Surely it will happen. At least, I hope – though I confess I am not holding my breath.

++In the last week or so, I have read posts by the incomparable pixxelpuss, Kate, Liss, Violet Socks, RQ, Anglachel, Pizza D, and I am sure others. While they have prompted me to clarify my thinking, these (to the very best of my knowledge) are my thoughts, coalesced over the last couple of days.

We make the Telegraph

an English-speaking Indian newspaper:

I began visiting pro-Hillary websites to get some sense of what her base felt about the contest and Hillary’s likely defeat. Surfing through Donna Darko and Tennessee Guerilla Women and Hillary’s Voice among many other sites, the reasons behind Hillary’s persistence slowly became clearer to me.

On Hillary’s Voice, a supporter called Violet Socks had written a post headed, “Why I will not vote for Obama even if he’s the nominee — and why you shouldn’t either”. The burden of the post was that Hillary’s candidacy had been swamped by relentless misogyny both in the mainstream media and amongst political bloggers, that Obama’s campaign had done nothing to control this torrent of anti-woman hatred, that Obama himself had been subtly complicit in this prejudice and that voting for Obama would amount to rewarding misogyny, something no self-respecting feminist could do. Similarly, at Tennessee Guerilla Women, a poster wrote: “She represents us. She is opening doors for us. In the short span of her historic presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken a lifetime of venomous misogyny and she has taken it for all of us. If she has not reawakened the long dormant feminist movement, no one can. If she wins, we win. If she loses, we lose.”

Donna Darko, an Asian American feminist [EDIT: I am no longer an Asian American feminist but a feminist] and blogger and an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton argues that relatively low percentages of Clinton voters are willing to commit themselves to voting for Obama in the presidential election (larger percentages of Obama voters profess a willingness to vote for Clinton in the event of her becoming the Democratic nominee) not because of race or class, but because they resent the misogyny of the campaign. Darko concedes that race and class are factors in the Democratic race, but argues that they are less salient than gender if the Democratic establishment is interested in understanding Obama’s failure to make headway with women, specially white women. [EDIT: I said it was class and gender not race. Read carefully, dude.]

In a rhetorically brilliant inversion of the Obama-Clinton race, Violet Socks asks us to consider a scenario where Clinton is ahead in the delegate count, but only marginally, and nearly every blogger and editorialist and television anchor is being snide about Obama’s campaign to become the Democratic nominee. Where journalists make fun of a black man’s hair, his dress sense, and, worst of all, his dumb refusal to give up his seat to the white woman candidate in the interest of ‘party unity’. A Democratic party that rewarded such behaviour wouldn’t be entitled to the support of self-respecting African Americans come the presidential elections, so why should the party imagine that it can permit brazen misogyny and expect women to forgive and forget in November?

A more substantial criticism of Obama made by pro-Hillary commentators is that he seems too willing to give ground on core Democratic issues like abortion and universal healthcare. While Obama’s voting record is liberal, economists like Paul Krugman have pointed out that on healthcare he is some degrees to the right of Hillary and seems eager, too eager, to give the benefit of the doubt to health insurance companies. Also, while Obama is pro-choice in the matter of abortion, he has publicly acknowledged that the other side has reasonable arguments to make.

Now, whatever the rights and wrongs of Obama’s position, for many women like Violet Socks, this is rather like Hillary, a white woman, going “… out of her way to say how much she admires and respects those Republicans who don’t think African-Americans should have the right to vote.” This might seem over the top as an analogy, but in the charged world of American politics, Roe vs Wade is a holy war, and no Democratic feminist wants any concessions made on their behalf by a candidate with no first-hand experience of owning a womb.

Finally, a strong undercurrent in the comments sections of these websites suggests that Obama is seen not necessarily as a black man, but as a young male usurper, who doesn’t want to wait his turn, and who, in his ambition and his male sense of entitlement, has elbowed out a woman who had paid her dues.

Am I the wiser for trawling these sites? Yes, I am.

That’s what she said?

We’re banned because we’re right. About everything:

There is a reason why PUMA is going viral.

There is a reason why Latinos are threatening to defect to McCain.

There is a reason why Fundraisers are vowing to starve the DNC beast.

It’s called betrayal.

One of the things that got me suspended from DailyKos is that I wrote a diary about how the Obama supporters were behaving like a bunch of jihadis. Maybe that diary had some traction or the behavior is more noticeable now but I’ve heard and read others refer to them in that way as well. The attitude is you will submit or will be crushed. No dissent is tolerated. There is only one candidate and Obama is his name.

It was as if Dean, Axelrod, et al had a meeting and concluded, “Well, it worked so well for the Republicans, let’s see if it works on the Democrats!” The results have been predictable. The party is roughly split in half with the slightly larger half going to the losing candidate.

No dissent is tolerated. This parallels and is concurrent with postcolonial/third wave feminism.

Another manifesto

from Violet Socks.

Archimedes’ Lever

I am thrilled that so many women are drawing their line in the sand. I’m thrilled by the growing PUMA movement (Party Unity My Ass). I’m thrilled that for the first time since the 1970s, women as a group are demanding that a national political party treat us with respect — or else. And they — we — are dead serious. We’re too old to be tricked or browbeaten or guilted. We’ve been riding the Democratic donkey faithfully for 35 years, and damn if that ass didn’t turn around and fuck us.

No more.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. My own prognostication is that the existing feminist movement and this new wave will remain largely separate, at least for awhile, and very possibly even oppose each other. That’s because modern feminism is dominated by a) young Third Wavers who support Obama anyway, and b) “establishment” feminists who are too plugged in to the money circuit to fight City Hall. This new wave is different: a big grassroots uprising of women of all ages whose latent feminism has been awakened by this election. This group is big and messy and fairly diverse in its political orientation (from leftists like me to near-Republicans), much the way the Second Wave was in the 1970s. But these women are united in their anger and their exasperation and their determination that now is the time to draw the line. No more.

I’m looking forward to it. But that’s another post.

Women Candidates in 2008 Downticket Races

pocochina:

Win or lose the White House, downticket races are important, exciting, and promising for progressives and Democrats.+ Because misogyny is more a part of the political landscape than even we pessimists thought, we’ll be doing our level best to do a sexism watch for these candidates. There are links to all of their websites – if you’re a constituent or neighbor of any of these jurisdictions, show some love! Please correct in comments if you know of any other elections we should be watching. Races to watch – only one contest (NC Senate seat) is between two women; only one race (AL Senate seat) involves a woman of color.

House (Only Democratic women in contested races)

Linda Stender – NJ 7th

Debbie Halvorson – IL 11th

Kay Barnes – MO 6th

Suzanne Kosmas – FL 24th

Christine Jennings – FL 15th

Darcy Burner – WA 8th

Gabrielle Giffords* – (AZ 8th)

Senate Races involving Women

The Senate, where Democrats already hold a majority, is promising this fall. All six seats which will be open are currently held by Republicans. The DSCC only has to defend 12 seats, while the RSCC has to defend 17.

Maine: Rep. Tom Allen (D) v. Sen. Susan Collins (R)*

NH: Sen. John Sununu (R)* v. Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D)

NC: Elizabeth Dole (R)* v Kay Hagen (D)

AL: Jeff Sessions (R)* v. Vivian Davis Figures (D) (State Sen. Davis Figures appears to be the only Democratic WOC running this year outside of non-contested House races).

LA: Mary Landrieu (D)* v John Kennedy (R) Perhaps our favorite NO expert can weigh in on the dynamics of this race?

challenger unclear – RI, MA

Gubernatorial Races:

IN: Mitch Daniels (R)* v Jill Long Thompson (D)

VT: Gaye Symington (D) v Jim Douglas (R)*

WA: Christine Gregoire (D)* v Dino Rossi (R)

+Just so y’all know, I waded through the Democratic Party website, the DNC website, the DCCC, and the DSCC. So if I sound like a pod-person, that’s why.

CNN on sexism and women candidates

Just Say No Deal an umbrella organization of over 80 grassroots PUMA organizations

Wow.

Fox on PUMA

The Horizontal World:

Having witnessed Obama, the MSM and the so-called “progressive” bloggers engage in their free-for-all of sexist, misogynist and degrading treatment of Hillary Clinton, no wonder Hillary’s supporters are inured to the fear-baiting taunts that we must vote for Obama, lest we want Republican Supreme Court judges. If the Obama campaign’s performance toward Hillary and her female supporters is any indication of what they think of women, many of us will do anything to keep him out of the White House.

Wednesday Night at the Movies

I want to go to Berkeley for my PhD. They’re number one in the sociology of gender.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s Wednesday Night at the Movies at Lance Mannion’s. They will discuss The Graduate. You don’t have to watch the movies to join the discussion!

I’m no longer an Asian American feminist because there’s no VISIBLE movement to speak of. There’s tons of amazing work on the ground such as work by the women in Asian American Women by Lora Jo Foo and NAPAWF. I mean a visible movement like mainstream feminism. Bai Ling makes Asian women look bad. A visible movement of strong Asian women would counteract that image. I changed my About page back to the original:

This is a reality-based blog.

I write about politics, gender, race and class. In that order.

Whooee!

And postcolonial/third wave feminism is postcolonial/third wave feminism. That’s the feminism that made excuses for and condoned misogyny in the primary.

I’m not a part of that.

Watch Hillary Speak Live

Dear Friend,

I have been honored and privileged to work with so many dedicated people on Hillary’s historic campaign. Your enthusiastic commitment to her campaign through the primaries has been inspirational.

As you know, Hillary will be holding an event tomorrow in Washington D.C. to thank all of her supporters, to express her support for Senator Obama, and to talk about the issues that have been at the core of her public service, the issues she will continue fighting for.

Hillary wanted to make sure her online supporters were a part of this special event, just as you have been a part of her campaign from the very beginning. So, we will be streaming it live over the website at HillaryClinton.com.

We invite you to visit our website tomorrow, Saturday June 7, at 12 p.m. EDT to watch Hillary speak live.

Thank you for everything you have done for our campaign.

Sincerely,

Maggie Williams

Clinton and Obama re: women and children of color

There’s a misconception that Hillary Clinton would not do anything for black women and children and that Barack Obama would do more (including what helps black men and families):

it is quite possible to be appalled at teh misogyny within teh media and CERTAIN obama supporters and not love or believe HRC would do anything for you.

If you put Clinton and Obama’s Wikipedia timelines side by side, this is what Clinton and Obama have done for ALL women and children (including what helps black men and families). Clinton has 83 accomplishments, Obama 18. NAFTA and welfare reform were her HUSBAND’s policies and 84 out of 85 of their Iraq votes are identical. It’s better to ask what Clinton HAS ALREADY DONE for women and children of color and what Obama HAS NOT DONE. Especially since 10 of of his 18 items are limited to Illinois. Obama represents symbolic change and Clinton substantive change:

What Clinton has done for ALL women and children

Affected by the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., became supporter of the anti-war presidential nomination campaign of McCarthy.

Organized a 2 day student strike and worked with Wellesley’s black students for moderate changes, like recruiting more black students and faculty

Attended the ‘68 Republican National Convention, left the Party for good upon the negative treatment Nixons’s campaign waged against Rockefeller; detested the ‘veiled’ racist messages at the Convention.

Advocate for children and families

Worked at the Yale Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development

Worked as a research assistant on seminal work, ‘Beyond the Best Interests of the Child.’

Took on cases of child abuse at Yale-New Haven Hospital

Volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free advice for the poor

Represented foster children and parents in family court

Worked on some of the earliest studies creating legal standards for identifying and protecting abused children

Summer of 1970, was awarded a grant to work at Marian Wright Edelman’s Washington Research Project, assigned to Senator Walter Mondale’s Subcommittee on Migratory Labor. Researched migrant workers’ problems in housing, sanitation, health and education

Interned on child custody cases at an Oakland California law firm

Began a year of post-graduate study on children and medicine at Yale Child Study Center

Her first scholarly article, ‘Children Under the Law’, was published in the Harvard Educational Review. Article became frequently cited in the field

Served as staff attorney for newly founded Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge, Mass.

Consultant to the Carnegie Council on Children

Served as one of only two women lawyers on the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of President Nixon during the Watergate scandal

Ran a legal aid Clinic for the poor and handled cases of foster care and child abuse

Worked pro bono in child advocacy

Published scholarly article, ‘Children’s Policies: Abandonment and Neglect’

Co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a state-level alliance with the Children’s Defense Fund

Published a scholarly article – ‘Children’s Rights: A Legal Perspective’

Appointed to the chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee by Clinton

Lead a task force to improve education in Arkansas through higher standards for schools

Served on the board for the Children’s Television Workshop

Chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee. Sought to bring about reform in the state’s court-sanctioned public education system

Named Arkansas Woman of the Year in ‘83

Fought a prolonged successful battle against the Arkansas Education Association to put mandatory teacher testing, and state standards for curriculum and classroom size

Introduced Arkansas’ Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth in 1985

Served on the national board for the Children’s Defense Fund

Served on the corporate board of directors of Wal-Mart (client of Rose Law). Was the first female member on the Board.

Successful in impelling the Wal-Mart chain to adopt additional environmentally-friendly practices

Unsuccessful in her bid to have more women added to Wal-Mart’s company’s management division

Served on the national board for the Child Care Action Campaign

Chaired the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, to address gender bias in the law profession, which helped adopt measures to combat the discrimination

Served on the board of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, helping them to expand and improve their services

Was the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree, and have her own professional career

Was the first First Lady to take an office in the West Wing

Was appointed to be the Chairwoman of the Task Force on National Health Care Reform by President Clinton

The Health Care Plan she chaired was a comprehensive proposal that would require employers to provide health coverage to their employees through individual HMO’s. It was not well-received by opponents

The Health Care Plan was abandoned when it didn’t receive enough support in either the Senate or the House although both floors were controlled by the Democrats

Received the Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center, for her vast contributions in so many fields, especially honoring her work for women and children

Gave a speech before the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

She passionately argued against practices which abused women around the world, and in China itself, declaring “that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights.”

Published a weekly syndicated newspaper column, ‘Talking It Over’, from 1995 to 2000. It focused on her experiences and those of women, children and families she’s encountered during her travels around the world.

Spoke out against the poor treatment of Afghani women by the Islamist fundamentalist Taliban

Helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative sponsored by the U.S. to promote the participation of women in political processes of other countries

Book released, ‘It Takes a Village: and Other Lessons Children Teach Us.’ This was on the NY Times best seller.

Also received a Grammy Award for the book’s audio recording.

Along with Senator Ted Kennedy, was the major force behind the State Children’s Health Insurance Program – a federal effort that would provide state support for children whose parents were unable to provide them health coverage

Promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses

Encouraged older women to seek mammograms to detect breast cancer, with coverage provided by Medicare

Helped to create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice, along with Attorney General Janet Reno

Initiated the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which she regarded as her greatest accomplishment as First Lady

Hosted conferences on Child Care, Early Childhood Development and Learning, and Children and Adolescents (2000), and the first-ever White House Conference on Teenagers (2000), and Philanthropy (1999)

Received the United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize for her work in health and social welfare, especially as it relates to women, children, and families (May)

Serving on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (since 2001)

Called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how hidden sex scenes showed up in the video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’

Introduced legislation, along with Senators Lieberman and Bayh, the Family Entertainment Protection Act, intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games.

Honored with the American Medical Women’s Association’s President’s Vision & Voice Award, for being an advocate for women’s health and related issues (February 2005)

Received an honorary doctorate from Agnes Scott College for being a ‘Defender of Human Rights’, and a resolute defender of the rights of women and girls. (May 2005)

Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (October 2005)

Voted against confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the U.S.

Voted against the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court

Voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment that would prohibit same sex marriage (2004 and again in 2006)

Opposed the Iraq War troop surge of 2007

Supported a Feb. 2007 non-binding Senate resolution against the Iraq War troop surge, which failed to gain cloture (a motion aimed at bringing a debate to a quick end)

Voted in favor of a war spending bill in March which required President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within a certain deadline. The bill passed nearly completely between the party lines, but was vetoed by Bush.

No woman has ever been nominated by a major party for President of the United States.

Supported a variety of middle-class tax cuts, including the marriage penalty relief, property tax relief, and reduction in the Alternative Minimum Tax

Helped pass legislation which encouraged investment to create jobs in struggling communities though the Renewal Communities program.

Continues to work toward expanding quality affordable health care to more Americans

Worked to strengthen the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which increased coverage for children in low income and working families

Leading the fight for expanded use of Information Technology in the health care system to decrease administrative costs, lower premiums, and reduce medical errors

Strong advocate for children continues in the Senate.

Worked to ensure the safety of prescription drugs for children with legislation now included in the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act

Legislation to help schools address environmental hazards

Proposed expanding access to child care.

Passed legislation that will bring more qualified teachers into classrooms.

Powerful advocate for women

Her commitment to supporting the rights guaranteed in Roe vs. Wade, and to reducing the number of abortions by reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies was hailed by the New York Times as ‘frank talk’ and a ‘promising path.’

Original co-sponsor of the Prevention First Act to increase access to family planning.

Her advocacy and fight with the Bush Administration ensured that Plan B, an emergency contraceptive, will be available to millions of American women

What Obama has done for ALL women and children:

Worked as a Community organizer

Was Director of the Developing Communities Project

Worked with low-income residents seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment

Represented community organizers

Memoirs published, ‘Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race & Inheritance”

Worked with both Democrats & Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families over a 3 year period

Pushed for an expansion of early childhood education after some inmates on death row had been found innocent

Negotiated welfare reform

Promoted increased subsidies for childcare

Became Chairman of the Health & Human Services Committee in Illinois Senate

Serving on Committee for Health, Education, labor & Pensions

Member of the Congressional Black Caucus

Spoke before the national Press Club, defending the ‘New Deal’ social welfare policies of F.D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security with Social Darwinism (April)

Spoke out against the government indifference to growing economic class divisions, following Hurrican Katrina

Warned Palestinian students at a meeting, that the U.S. will never recognize the winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel. (January)

Shortly before announcing his Presidential campaign, told the health care advocacy group Families USA, “I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next President, we should have Universal Health Care in this country.”

Introduced the ‘Iraq War De-Escalation Act’ to cap troop levels in Iraq, begin phased redeployment, and remove all combat brigades from Iraq before April 2008.

Sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, to provide one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries. The bill passed by houses but was vetoed by President Bush in October 2007.

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by Brook of the Confluence.

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