Thursday Open Thread
Welcome to your Thursday open thread. Is it just me or does this week feel long? Now we’re all looking at Hurricane Earl and preparing to batten down the hatches. Stay safe Sussex!
Dahlia Lithwick at Slate did a profile of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She’s a real feminist trailblazer.
To which I would just add that Palin and the Mama Grizzlies also owe a debt of thanks directly to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who almost single-handedly convinced the courts and legislatures to do away with gender classifications in matters ranging from a woman’s right to be executor of her son’s estate (Reed v. Reed, 1970), to a female Air Force lieutenant’s right to secure housing allowances and medical benefits for her husband (Frontiero v. Richardson, 1973), and the right of Oklahoma’s “thirsty boys” (her words) to buy beer at the Honk n’ Holler at the same age as young women (Craig v. Boren, 1976).
It was in Craig v. Boren that Ginsburg secured the court’s agreement that—in her words—the “familiar stereotype: the active boy, aggressive and assertive; the passive girl, docile and submissive” was “not fit to be written into law.” The seed for Sarah Palin was sown. And whether Palin wants women to be allowed to buy beer at 18, or 21, or not at all, the fact that the legal system doesn’t care whether you’re a woman or a man anymore changed her life. You can draw a straight line between Ginsburg’s fight against these seemingly harmless gender classifications that were rooted in seemingly harmless gender stereotypes and the Mama Grizzlies who roam our political landscape today.
Those who like to believe they have picked themselves up by the bootstraps sometimes forget that they wouldn’t even have boots were it not for the women who came before. Listening to Palin, it’s almost impossible to believe that, as recently as 50 years ago, a woman at Harvard Law School could be asked by Dean Erwin Griswold to justify taking a spot that belonged to a man. In Ginsburg’s lifetime, a woman could be denied a clerkship with Felix Frankfurter just because she was a woman. Only a few decades ago, Ginsburg had to hide her second pregnancy for fear of losing tenure. I don’t have an easy answer to the question of whether real feminists are about prominent lipsticky displays of “girl-power,” but I do know that Ginsburg’s lifetime dedication to achieving quiet, dignified equality made such displays possible.
There’s lots of great stuff in the article. Go read the whole thing. We all owe people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg our thanks for paving the way for the rest of us.
The ADL doesn’t want any part of the anti-Islamic Center movement it helped to fuel. Gee, thanks guys.
The organization’s position served to empower conservatives, who used ADL’s statement for cover. The debate quickly snowballed, and next weekend, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, right-wing activists will host a protest to denounce the Park51 proposal. Organizers have invited Geert Wilders, a notorious Dutch racist/politician/activist, to participate in the event.
ADL Director Abe Foxman told Adam Serwer yesterday that he disapproves of the protest, denounced Wilders, and expressed concern about the state of the discourse.
“The debate surrounding the Ground Zero mosque has surfaced, first, a campaign which is in many places directed against building mosques, and it also has focused attention on the anti-Muslim bigotry that exists in this country. It’s not new. It has been there. Part of the landscape, unfortunately, of America is that we’re not immune to bigotry, to racism, to anti-Semitism. And part of what’s out there is a bigotry to immigrants. Jews experienced it, Irish experienced it. Part of our history is there was opposition to building Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues. Now there’s opposition to build mosques, and there is, in our landscape, bigotry.
“Some of it is beneath the surface, and some of it in moments of crisis explodes. That’s what we’re seeing now. There seems to be a legitimacy that it’s okay now to speak out and act out against Islam, and that’s why this rally, on this very tragic day for Americans, but most tragic for those who lost their families, to use it and abuse it as a platform for bigotry, is not only tragic, it’s un-American.”
You know what else is un-American? Blaming all the members of one religion for the actions of a few fanatics.
Tags: Open Thread
Oh my, Jan Brewer is a mess.
Here’s what happened after the AZ debate. Amazing!
Sad thing is, she’ll probably win!
Have you seen this? It’s seriously addicting. http://www.glennbeckwarned.us/
Fair criticism, or racist hate speech?
http://www.ky3.com/home/video/Billboard-buyer-shares-why-he-brought-Vote-Obama-sign-to-the-Ozarks-101850443.html
Rhetorical question. I know the answer.
Another rig explodes in the Gulf — this time it is a production rig for natural gas. Coast Guard is responding, apparently the workers went into the water — some injuries but people look OK according to reports right now….
Today’s Politico takes note of the Delaware Senate Race at:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41690.html
The city is talking about laying off employees right after Velda talks about keeping her consulting job. Doesn’t seem right.
The City badly needs to lay people off. The government is too big with ALOT of deadwood. Besides, if you read that carefully, you are looking at the usual sabre-rattling before negotiations with their unions.
Memeorandum has the WGMD story in their top line up today ~ http://www.memeorandum.com/
Delaware Liberal and Delaware Dialogue are both framed in the listing.
Abe Foxman is a tool. I have lost all respect for him and have canceled my ADL membership.
Because of this?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/09/adls_foxman_denounces_anti-mos.html
Flowers just posted this on his Facebook. Too funny. I have noticed Chip’s signs out one day, gone the next. Can Bonini and Velda really be that low! OOC!
“Another great week for our campaign! Our polls show a strong lead and supporters of both of my opponents have now resorted to stealing our signs! Seriously! 250 signs stolen this week alone! Imagine, if they steal signs what will they do with $3 billion of your money… Thank you for the great support and let’s show them on Sept. 14th how to win with class!”
Yeah I saw that update. I’d sure like to see that poll.
Agree with you UI. I think that poll would be very interesting. My guess for what it’s worth, Flowers up by 5 points. Article in today’s NJ didn’t help and will probably string the double dipping story along for another week. If Jones-Potter goes negative, she is done, and she handled the contract situation poorly. She might be able to recover and run for State Senate in a few years. Her decisions over the next few days will be critical for her career (i hope she doesn’t listen to Charles).
Any thoughts on Flowers vs. Bonini?
If you’d asked me 2 weeks ago, I would have thought Velda would roll all over Flowers. I think the news of her 2nd job and her rather poor handling of the controversy could give it to Chip. I guess I’d still have to say she’s a favorite. I just don’t know how many people will know about them or how many will really care.
Oh I’m sorry Flowers vs. Bonini. That’s a tough one to call. Bonini is a rather likeable guy but probably isn’t well known in most of the state. Bonini’s chances also lie with how divisive the Republican primaries prove to be. Bonini will have plenty of money to campaign with.
Flowers obviously has the best chance against Bonini, and I think he will win the primary.
The Dem should have a big built in advantage in a race like this. Who knows this year though? Dems haven’t generated much excitement.
OMG, that tape of Brewer is the bomb.
Agreed. Politics is about timing and Chip stayed in the hunt long enough for the payoff. Both have been direct mailing. Three from Pottter, five from Flowers, which seems about even. Debate debacle could also hurt her because she needed to debate him. Bad few weeks for her, and good for him. Most voters are probably on the fence though, so no need for either to go negative. Good race. Both have futures in the party if they don’t screw it up!
Wow, I think we had the first civil discussion about this race on this blog. I guess the staffers must be at the UD game. Lol.