Newletter: September 28, 2005

Robert’s Court Will Show Women Who’s Boss

Let me resist the impulse to start lambasting the Senate Democrats for once again dividing and conquering themselves, starting with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid opposing and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, supporting John Roberts' confirmation as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Let me stay on the issue at hand: the specter of a Roberts court.

It will change the country in numerous and profound ways.

Read more at Women’s e-News...

Commander in Chief

A White House Project screening of the first episode of the new television series “Commander in Chief” left me and most of the audience alternately cheering and tearing. Genna Davis admirably plays the first woman vice-president who becomes president after the president dies (and after being counseled to resign since obviously a woman could not be taken seriously on national defense issues, would not be acceptable to Muslim heads of state, does not have sufficient power needs to do the job, etc.). It’s a premise whose time has come, and by the time the 2008 elections come along, perhaps its time will have gone and no one will think necessary for the first woman president to inherit the presidency rather than winning it fair and square at the ballot box.

Surrounded by history-Looking toward the future

I believe that every generation has to speak in its own language about the important issues of the day. So it is with the struggle for women to achieve an equal place at life’s table. We won reproductive rights from the top down with Roe. Now we are going to have to win them again, from the bottom up, vote by vote, state by state, and heart by heart, mind by mind.

Newsletter: Day 1 of Roberts Hearings November 12, 2006

Hearings Day 1:

Should Progressives Oppose John Roberts?

The argument goes something like this: things aren’t as bad as they could be, so don’t exert the energy to fight for what you believe. Anyway, if and when the Court does roll back, say, reproductive rights or religious freedoms, that will “only” have consequences where legislative bodies pass laws against them...there will be future, even worse, nominees to the Court; save your resources till things get worse. Read More

Roberts and Roe

Am I saying then that John Roberts supports or condones violence? Of course not. But I am saying that when he had a chance to weigh in and explicitly oppose the rising tide of violence that continued to escalate over the ensuing years, he did not. That is a serious question of character. Read More

On August 15th, I appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” to discuss NARAL’s decision to pull their ad on John Roberts and raised my own questions about the nominee.

Click here to watch the interview and read the transcript.
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What’s she doing now?

This is the question I most frequently hear since I left the presidency of Planned Parenthood Federation of America earlier this year. After a wonderful few months of travel and family fun (the summer of my content, I call it), I’m writing a new book, taking speaking engagements, and doing media commentary about my passions. It’s liberating to speak in my own voice, which might just be a tad edgy these days.