Politics

All about women and politics

Motherhood: the key to your career

May 17, 2010
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Motherhood: the key to your career

Okay, I definitely missed a memo. Apparently, motherhood is now an asset for working women. Who knew? I spent years in the office downplaying my life as a mother for fear I would be exiled to The Mommy Track, never to get a promotion again. Apparently I should have flaunted the fact I had children.  After all, critics are saying the problem with Elena Kagan, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, is that she is not a mother.   I wanted to write in depth on this topic today. However, I am a working mother and I was up all night with my sick 5 year old. My daughter and I finally fell asleep around  5:15 this morning but then my son woke me up at 8:15 so he could give me a kiss before he went to school. And now, I am too tired to write a coherent sentence. Want to hire me? So instead, I have complied some of the recent stories on Kagan and motherhood. What do you think? Oh, and if there is a mother out there who actually had eight hours of sleep, can you answer this question for me: If Kagan isn’t qualified to rule [...]

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Is Elena Kagan a Careerist?

May 13, 2010
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Is Elena Kagan a Careerist?

“She seems to be smart, impressive and honest — and in her willingness to suppress so much of her mind for the sake of her career, kind of disturbing.” So wrote New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks about President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Kagan is a tough nut for the media to crack. Three days after the President named her as his nominee, there is still no “wise latina” controversy to feed on. Yes her sexual orientation has been questioned and her appearance has been criticized, but that’s about as deep as it gets. And wise Americans know it’s also irrelevant. Neither the left nor the moderate right can confidently claim her as their own because Kagan has not left much of a paper trail in the course of her distinguished career. Aside from a memo about late term abortions – more strategic than opinionated, Kagan has managed a stellar, and mostly neutral career. And so, we criticize her for that. Critics are saying Kagan is a careerist. Careerists don’t make the best friends. They’ll blow off drinks for a deadline. They usually don’t make the best spouses or the best parents. But if they have savvy [...]

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Fear of Public Speaking

May 12, 2010
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Fear of Public Speaking

Public Speaking. Hate it! Even though I took Voice and Articulation, Debate, Oral Interpretation and Public Speaking 101 in college; even though I won, not one but, four awards in my Dale Carnegie class; even though I’ve presented at sales meetings and new business pitches and industry conferences; I still start to shake when I stand at a podium. It makes me crazy. And yet I continue to put myself in situations where speaking into a microphone is necessary. Last night I spoke before Town Meeting, a tough crowd made up of career, albeit local, politicians; bright young things who’ve recently moved into town; and our own special and crusty “Party of No” — the townies. I chair a committee which is sponsoring two pieces of legislation so it did make sense for me to explain the bills. But still, I could have avoided the public presentations. There are several well-spoken, well-respected men in town who, quite frankly, could have made the case better than me. And then there are several members of the boy’s club who have more political chips with the lovable Townies than I ever would. (You see I didn’t move here until I was two. I [...]

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Connie Saltonstall and the MDP’s Big But

May 11, 2010
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Connie Saltonstall and the MDP’s Big But

Yesterday  Connie Saltonstall announced she was withdrawing from the Democratic Primary for U.S. Representative in Michigan’s First Congressional District, and blamed  a lack of support from the state’s Democratic Party for her decision. She had been hoping to replace Rep. Bart Stupak, an Ignorant Male Legislator recipient. In a statement, Saltonstall said, “I am forced to do this because it has become apparent to my campaign that the leadership of the Michigan Democratic Party has preemptively anointed Gary McDowell as their Democratic candidate. … While I think Gary MacDowell is a very nice person, I cannot support his anti-choice politics, and I cannot support a party that endorses candidates who vote to restrict women’s legal rights and access to healthcare.” State Representative McDowell voted against an amendment that would allow late-term abortions if a physician determined the procedure was necessary to preserve the health of a woman. Some have even referred to McDowell as Bart Stupak’s hand-picked successor. After reading Saltonstall’s comments about the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP), I visited their website to get a better understanding of the group’s mission and values. What I discovered: the MDP has a big but problem. There is a document on the website [...]

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Breaking: Connie Saltonstall Out

May 10, 2010
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Breaking: Connie Saltonstall Out

Connie Saltonstall, the would be successor to Rep. Bart Stupak, has withdrawn from the Democratic Primary for U.S. Representative in Michigan’s First Congressional District citing lack of support from the state’s Democratic Party. We will write more on this tomorrow. For now, here is the press release. “I regretfully announce that I am withdrawing from the Democratic primary for U.S. Representative in Michigan’s First Congressional District. I am forced to do this because it has become apparent to my campaign that the leadership of the Michigan Democratic Party has preemptively anointed Gary McDowell as their Democratic candidate. They are replacing Bart Stupak with another Upper Peninsula, Anti-Choice, Anti- Women’s healthcare rights candidate.  From past experience I realize that with the Michigan Democratic Party actively opposing me, I will not be able to raise the money necessary to conduct a winning campaign. I am not the only candidate that has been the target of this kind of manipulation. I hope that in the future the Party will reject this interference and insist on an open primary allowing voters to choose the candidate who represents their values. I challenged Bart Stupak because he was threatening to take down the healthcare bill. His amendment [...]

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Who is Elena Kagan?

May 10, 2010
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Who is Elena Kagan?

Elena Kagan is the current Solicitor General. President Obama is expected to announce this morning that she is his pick to replace Justice John Paul Stevens who is retiring from the Supreme Court. Here’s what we know about Elena Kagan: -          As Solicitor General she conducts all litigation on behalf of the United States in the Supreme Court -          She has never served as a judge -          She was the first woman Dean of Harvard Law School -          While at Harvard Law she banned military recruiters from campus because of the discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy -          Also at Harvard Law, she hired 32 tenured and tenure-track hires, but only one was a minority and only seven were women; four out of every five hires were white men -          She worked in the Clinton administration as a domestic policy aide -          She clerked  for  Justice Thurgood Marshall -          She has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton, a master’s degree from Oxford and a law degree from Harvard -          She is 50 years old and would be the youngest member of the Supreme Court. No doubt the media will have much more to say about her in the next few weeks [...]

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What I Want for Mother’s Day

May 7, 2010
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What I Want for Mother’s Day

In case anyone is wondering, here’s what I would like for Mother’s Day: - A pair of Christian Louboutin Simple 85 Pumps in Magenta - A pitchfork for my garden - Equal pay for women - Paid sick time for working mothers and fathers - Better maternity leave policies - Choice - Quality maternal care. I don’t ask for much. Happy Mother’s Day.

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April 20 is Equal Pay Day

April 14, 2010
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Bart Stupak and Carrie Bradshaw

April 9, 2010
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Bart Stupak and Carrie Bradshaw

   It’s good news Friday. First, one of our top picks for IgnorantMale Legislator, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), is not seeking reelection. And the trailer for “Sex and the City 2″ is available. Check it out here and enjoy the weekend.

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WWND?

April 8, 2010
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WWND?

Ladies, I need advice. Here’s the dilemma. What would you do if you wanted to affect positive change but you knew the change would not be well received if it was presented by a woman to an entrenched ole’ boys network? My head is telling me to get a man to make my case publicly and to stay behind the scenes for the sake of my cause.  After all, isn’t the cause more important than being right? But I don’t think it’s that simple. By remaining behind the scenes, do I risk winning the battle and losing the war? My heart is telling me to own the process and the “boys” will have to just deal with it. If I take this course of action, my proposal might fail, but at least a woman will have stepped forward and spoken up for what she believes. And frankly, I think we need to see a lot more of that going on. But then again, if I do speak out and lose the battle, does the establishment get to use me as yet another proof point for why women don’t belong in the game? When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was [...]

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