Essential Estrogen

Reba McEntire, Is There Life Out There:

It's been too long since we've put together a Sunday post -- the caucuses and personal health issues have taken their toll. Now that things are quieting down, you can look forward to this being a weekly feature again.

There's been a few new links added to the blogroll. In the Iowa area we've added Being Green in Iowa, authored by Richard Johnson, and Brown Iowa, authored by my friend and Iowa Independent co-worker Dana Boone and others. In the national list, we've added Women and Work, authored by Morra Aarons-Mele (a woman many will recognize from BlogHer or TechPresident) and Hold Fast, authored by Matt Browner Hamlin, who was previously lead blogger for the Chris Dodd campaign. The new blog is a private venture by Matt and we wish him great success.

If you'd like to be a part of our blogroll -- and we're especially interested in highlighting women and minority bloggers in Iowa -- don't hesitate to drop us a line.

M.R. Field at Around Des Moines has a post that let me know my frustration in attempting to cover the state legislature from afar is not unusual. Matter-of-fact, M.R. discusses her own frustration in getting to the conversations and issues surrounding items which don't necessarily make the front page, but will significantly affect residents -- and she's *in* Des Moines.

The best advice and training I ever received came by way of one of the state lawmakers who agreed to sit down with me for an hour-long training session in using the state website. There is a wealth of information available there, but it is difficult to find if you aren't sure what you need to click or add/delete to the URL in order to find it. Also, as M.R. suggests, because there are so few public discussions at the state level -- as in public hearings with testimony -- reporting is often reduced to giving the talking points of the various parties and/or lobbyists. (Head's Up: Look for lots of stories coming out of this session that have been hand-spun by the various lobbyists.)

Both Century of the Common Iowan and Cyclone Conservatives -- blogs that typically share very different political views -- highlighted a bill currently in the state house that calls for a $10 license fee on Iowa bicycles. Yup, a bicycle tax. Bet you're thinking this is the brain-child of one of the most liberal of Democrats. Nope. The bill is being pushed by Sen. John Putney, a Republican who is not seeking re-election. (Which is probably a very good thing.)

Although I completely agree with both bloggers that this a horrible idea, I do take exception to commentary offered by Cyclone Conservatives:

...Seriously, you might be laughing at this bill but this is exactly the kind of legislation that Democrats would seize upon in order to pay for their budgetary woes and general fiscal irresponsibility...

According to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, the state's savings accounts are full at $592 million. That's growth of more than $400 million in the past four years. The state is in very good financial shape; however, the looming national recession brought about by the uncontrolled spending and blank checks issued by Republicans should give the residents of our state house pause.

In addition to following what's going on in the Iowa Legislature, I also enjoy grabbing bits and pieces of what's going on in neighboring states. One of the blogs that I adore in this quest for information is Freshmeat, authored by Missouri Sen. Jolie Justus. She's been a part of the Essential Estrogen blogroll for quite awhile now, but I still need to send her mega-kudos for her insights. Thank you!

Although the praises of Bob Herbert's column have already been sung by nearly every feminist in the blogosphere, let me also add my applause to the mix.

We’ve become so used to the disrespectful, degrading, contemptuous and even violent treatment of women that we hardly notice it. Staggering amounts of violence are unleashed against women and girls every day. Fashionable ads in mainstream publications play off of that violence, exploiting themes of death and dismemberment, female submissiveness and child pornography.

If we’ve opened the door to the issue of sexism in the presidential campaign, then let’s have at it. It’s a big and important issue that deserves much more than lip service.

I'm extremely curious to find out how the candidates are handling their "Women for..." groups in Nevada and South Carolina. Those were big roll-outs in Iowa and New Hampshire, but I haven't heard much about them in the other two early states.

NPR released news from the Alan Guttmacher Institute that the total number of abortions, the percentage of women having abortions and the percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion are all down. The study also reported a rise in the use of RU486.

The news is timely because this Tuesday is the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. It is also timely because the study shows that if women are given opportunity, they will take responsibility for their own reproductive health -- something both abortion and anti-choice activists can celebrate.

If you haven't had your breakfast yet, or if -- God forbid -- you are eating it right now, you'll probably want to skip this tidbit. Hat tip for the Thompson quote, by the way, goes to Claire at Demo Memo.

While on the campaign trail, Fred Thompson was asked to name his favorite possession. He answered, "Trophy wife."

Also on the Republican side of the presidential race, Mike Huckabee was asked by beliefnet: "Is it your goal to bring the Constitution into strict conformity with the Bible? Some people would consider that a kind of dangerous undertaking, particularly given the variety of biblical interpretations."

Huckabee responded: "Well, I don’t think that’s a radical view to say we’re going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal. Again, once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again. I think the radical position is to make a change in what’s been historic."

On one hand you have the brazen view of women as property and on the other a mutual adult relationship is equated with child molestation or bestiality. Although I used to be a card-carrying member of the Republican Party, I still have a very difficult time understanding why women remain a part of it today.