Essential Estrogen

Last night I attended the Republican Party of Iowa's Rising Star event.  On a scale of one to four stars (like a hotel), I would give the event one star.

 

The Sherman Hoyt Place is a spectacular place to hold an event.  The elegance of the theater and the beautiful art through out the building are second to none.  As we entered the event we went to the will-call table.  We met the first of many "red shirts".  The people working on the event all wore red shirts that had monograms with the event logo.  The "red shirt" suggested we stop by the bar.

 

The bar.  A folding table with young ladies handing out bottles of beer, water, soda and glasses of wine.  The surprising thing about the bar, you had to pay dearly for everything.  A bottle of water and a small soda each cost $2, beer and wine were $3 - $4.  No free water.  I thought it odd that we would have to pay for water and sodas but the best was yet to come. 

 

We entered into the rooms displaying the art and joined the others milling about.  There were no tables set up with finger foods, hot foods, cold foods, nothing but a small bowl of chex mix.  I do not recall if napkins were available.

 

As you meandered through the building you would come to "stations" that had one of the rising stars standing next to a bowl of chex mix and a large plastic standing sign with the representative's name on it.   

 

We did make it to all of the stations and did see all of the rising stars.  Some were upstairs and some were downstairs.  I could not detect if there were any method to the way they positioned the stars. 

 

Continuing our tour of the stars,  we found the entrance to the theater.  A couple of red shirts were standing guard.  They told to go upstairs to the balcony.  Did we look that out of place that we weren't welcome on the floor?  Perhaps we were supposed to have a special sign or password.  As we made it to the balcony and saw how many seats were available at the lower level, we went back down and found an entrance that was not being guarded by red shirts!  We made it in!!!

 

Whew, that was a lot of excitement for a little while.  We mingled with friends and finally sat down.  Soon after the voice came over the sound system telling us to please find our seats.  Then, believe it or not, we were told to Twitter the event!  I couldn't resist.  I pulled my blackberry out and I twittered.  Right there in public, in front or behind everyone!  How exciting!  We were again told to take our seats and to twitter.

 

The music began blaring in the room and lights were flashing all different colors.  It just didn't seem to fit the elegance of the room.  The show began and I was disappointed almost immediately.  I might as well have been at Terrible's Casino with a crowd watching a football game.  Then I began to think.  Scary, I realize, the new chair, Matt Strawn, is one of the owners of the Barnstormers football team.  Now, it all makes sense.  He wants to turn our event into one of his events that he has with rowdy football fans sitting around drinking beer! He succeeded. 

 

I enjoyed listening to the main speaker of the evening.  Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the Chair of the Republican Governor's Association thanks to Governor Sanford. 

 

This small town Mississippi native had a charm unlike the politicians we usually hear.  He was soft spoken and charming.  It was my first time to hear the Governor deliver a speech and I do hope it is not the last.  Amazingly, he used no notes.

 

I heard some groans, albeit quite ones, around as people reacted to his unity message.  It was a message for Republicans to unite and to stop letting things divide us.  Ya know, those things like pro-life and pro-choice candidates.  Ya know, I do believe the Governor might have something there. 

 

The Rising Stars of the event were not up on the stage.  I suspect it was a cloudy night and it was just difficult to see the stars.  We were treated to videos of the stars.  The only video that I liked was Star Renee Schulte.  The rest did not seem as professional.  Why videos?  Strawn did not want the people to ramble on, like politicians do.   I paid good money to listen to these people!  

 

This part of the event was lame.  Very lame.  No wonder they had to have loud music and lights.  They had to distract us from how very pathetic this event was.

 

If Matt Strawn wants to turn the Republican Party of Iowa into a bunch of beer drinking young professionals he can have at it.  It is a very fortunate thing that we Republican voters do not need the Republican Party of Iowa to do a damn thing.  We are quite capable of deciding which of our candidates we want to elect.  We are quite capable of realizing our Representatives are working hard and most of them would like to be re-elected. 

 

I just can't wait to see what Matt Strawn does next.  Maybe, he'll bring cheerleaders next time!  I'd like to see the Dallas Cowboy girls myself.  

 

Governor Barbour said that the public is a lot smarter than politicians give them credit for.  So true, we are also a hell of a lot smarter than RPI thinks we are.

 

Just a quick note to let readers know two things:

1) The final few days of the Politics 101 survey are quickly approaching. If you want to help shape possible non-partisan forums on political issues, don't forget to stop by our site and take the survey link at the top of the right sidebar.

2) I will be out of pocket for a few days as the kids and I attempt an actual vacation. (Which means that Renee is running the EE show solo!)

Take care & I'll see you on the flip side.

The information in this press release from the Iowa Democratic Party is simply disgusting:

Democrats decry hat speech at Republican gathering, demand to know why Republican hopefuls did not speak out

Rants, Northey, Behn and others attend event where Dems compared to the Nazi Party

Des Moines -- Do Republican Gubernatorial hopefuls think Democrats are like the Nazis? The Boone News Republican reported that last Monday Ed Failor, of Iowans for Tax Relief, likened efforts by Democrats to save our economy to the rise of the Nazi Party. Many Republican candidates for Governor attended the event.

Ridiculously, Mr. Failor claims that he was not comparing Democrats to Nazis, but any fair person can see otherwise:

'Failor, while making sure to clarify that he was not referring to the democrats as Nazis, did draw the comparison between the two. He said that the Nazi party, which started as just another political party in Germany, began their massive rise to power by taking control of private business and means of production - which is exactly what Failor said the Democrats are attempting to do.' - Boone News Republican 6/18/09

"Those thoughts are hateful -- to veterans of the Second World War who fought on D-Day, to people of the Jewish faith, and in fact to any decent person," said Michael Kiernan, Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party. "I am asking the newest candidate for Governor, Chris Rants, and all the prospective Republican candidates two questions: First, do you agree with Ed Failor's hateful words? And second, if not, why didn't you speak up?"

In addition to Kiernan's questions, I have one of my own: Exactly what does this type of speech do to help disaster areas recover, unemployed Iowans find jobs, or cash-strapped dairy and pork producers continue their businesses?

The three Republican officials named in the press release are:

• Chris Rants -- a current member of the Iowa House and gubernatorial candidate
• Bill Northey -- current Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
• Jerry Behn -- current member of the Iowa Senate and possible gubernatorial candidate

And, finally, here's a link to the news report by Chris Poltratz.

U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Des Moines) has introduced the Women Veterans Access to Care Act, a bill that directs the secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve health care for female veterans.

Boswell highlighted the bill and the need for improvements in his latest newsletter to constituents:

"In his Memorial Day address, President Barack Obama reminded Americans to pause amidst their barbecues and pool parties to reflect on the patriotism and courage of our nation's defenders. These brave individuals have served their country by fighting for our security and liberty. All year, it is important to consider what we can do to better serve them once they return home.

"That is why I introduced the Women Veterans Access to Care Act, a bill that directs the secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve health care for female veterans. Women represent 8 percent of the veteran population, and they are the fastest-growing group within it. As the demographics of the military continue to change, women are enrolling in VA health care in unprecedented numbers. To date, 43.4 percent of eligible female veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have turned to the VA for health care, and almost 85 percent of these women have visited the VA more than once for outpatient treatment. By 2020, 15 percent of veterans using the VA for health care will be women.

"This means that veterans' health care, which is now primarily tailored to men, needs to undergo significant changes soon. Female veterans are more likely to have lower incomes, and more female veterans than male veterans suffer from poor health. Women are also less likely to have private insurance. The fragmentation of women's care and a lack of access to all spectrums of women's health services, from reproductive care to primary care, make female veterans an underserved population. Right now, the selfless commitment of female veterans to their nation is not nearly matched by their government's commitment to them.

"The Women Veterans Access to Care Act directs the secretary of Veterans Affairs to emphasize four essential aspects of care for female veterans: physical health, mental health, improved tele-health services and the hiring of health professionals who are specialists in women's health issues. It also directs the VA to conduct a study on health care for women veterans to identify the main causes of stress, determine the most effective method to reduce such stress, and evaluate the various private and public health care systems through which women veterans receive care. Finally, it would direct the secretary to report back to Congress one year after the date of enactment on the status of implementation of the bill and findings of the study.

"If passed, the Women Veterans Access to Care Act will help ensure all our nation's heroes receive the quality health care they deserve."

The bill is currently before the House Veterans' Affairs committee. It has seven co-sponsors -- including Iowa delegation members Bruce Braley, Tom Latham and Dave Loebsack. In fact, the only member of the Iowa delegation that has not signed on as a sponsor is U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican who represents the 5th District.

Let me just say this: I'm a feminist today not because of my mother, but because of my father.

Although I'd need to check my birth certificate to be sure of their exact ages, I know my mother was in her mid-40s and my father was in his mid-50s when I was born, the final baby to a very large family. I also know that my father, who was planning retirement, wanted more than anything for me to be a boy. Without the pressures of work, I think he believed that he would have opportunities to teach a young son things that he didn't have time for with the older siblings.

Well, leave it to me to arrive with a vagina and mess up his retirement plans! To my father's credit, however, he never once let the fact that I was female prevent him from teaching me things. We went fishing more times that I care to remember. I learned how to sharpen lawn mower blades, and helped change the oil on the car. By the time I was three, I knew how to tie bacon on a string and catch crawdads in the creek down the road.

It is difficult to fully describe my relationship with my father, a man who held only a sixth grade education. I know it wasn't typical father-daughter interactions, especially not given society's viewpoint at the time. As I found out years later, he took a lot of bunk for the independent and self-confident way he raised me. Family, mostly uncles of my father's generation, was convinced that no man would ever want such a head-strong, independent woman who had been taught "men's work" instead of "woman's work."

Since Dad never explained to me why my upbringing was so much different than that of my sisters, I'm left to speculate. I think, in the beginning, he was just stubbornly not going to allow Mother Nature to screw with his plans -- to give his final child all the things he couldn't give to the older children. As time passed, however, it became less about him and more about me.

People have asked me why I was so concerned about Kyle Payne, an self-proclaimed male feminist and Iowa blogger who sexually exploited a young woman in his care. I expended energy to reveal what Payne did because I've had opportunity to learn from a man who rarely spoke about hot-button women's issues, but lived his entire life believing that women could do and should do anything they wanted. I wanted to expose someone who liked to preach my father's words while refusing to live up to their high standards.

What I learned from my father, and what good men bring to the feminist movement, is an undeniable piece of their soul. They freely give of themselves, because they are strong enough to not feel threatened by lifting another person up to his/her highest potential.

While women have come a long way, just as other civil rights movements have come a long way, we need to realize that there will always be loud scratching from men and women who are afraid. We need to look past the noise to those self-assured individuals like my father who understanding that providing a clear path to another person doesn't require blocking your own.
  

Our Bodies Ourselves, a nonprofit, public interest women's health education, advocacy, and consulting organization that began in 1970, has released a position paper in connection with its endorsement of a single-payer health care plan.

Single-payer health care plans offer the best chance to reduce payment incentives that lead to overuse and misuse of drugs and medical procedures, which translates into an enormous problem for women of all ages. With resources better allocated and women's needs more effectively addressed, a single-payer plan would improve women's health more than any other system under consideration.

In addition (and as highlighted on the organization's blog), Judy Norsigian, OBOS executive director, and Jennifer Potter, MD, director of the Women's Health Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and director of women's health at Fenway Health, co-authored an op-ed in today's Boston Globe that summarizes some of the key arguments and outlines what women stand to gain.

"The only national plan for health care reform that explicitly includes women's reproductive health services, including abortion, is one sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat," they wrote. "Other sponsors of single-payer plans are also amenable to including women's reproductive health services."

Lee is expected to re-introduce H.R. 3000, the United States Universal Health Service Act, this legislative session.