Valerie Jarrett reaches out to (a few) BlogHers
Valerie Jarrett, a White House senior adviser, wanted to “reach out to bloggers” during the BlogHer conference in Chicago in July. So she met with 17 of them.
She held a private meeting with an exclusive group of bloggers at a conference with about 1,500 attendees. Why not the whole group? It’s not as if she didn’t have large groups on her schedule.
She was the keynote speaker at the National Association of Black Journalists convention, which had about 2,000 attendees in August. She even brought along two other Obama administration officials.
She was also the keynote speaker at the Netroots Nation Convention, where she took questions from some of the 2,000 attendees.
Why the exclusion at BlogHer? Is it because BlogHer isn’t supposed to be political? (Even though founder Lisa Stone asked Jarrett, “What should we do?” in terms of advocacy.) Or does the administration not take BlogHer attendees seriously? Or something else?
Posted by Becky @
6:00 am |
What can heal the U.S. health-care system?
I really don’t know. But David Goldhill has some smart things to say in “How American Health Care Killed My Father” in the September 2009 issue of The Atlantic.
Posted by Becky @
6:00 am |
Michelle Obama speaks in whose voice?
Michelle Obama spoke at the Corporate Voices for Working Families annual meeting Thursday at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. CVWF also released its report, Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers, which claims to show “that flexibility for lower wage hourly and nonexempt workers is being used effectively in a variety of business settings.”
Obama “praised the organization for its research,” though it’s unclear if she read any of the research or looked beyond a press release. If she had, she would have found layers upon layers of conflict of interest and even direct opposition to her husband’s policies.
Companies participating in the CVWF study were Bright Horizons, Marriott, PNC, Procter & Gamble and another company that remained anonymous. Bright Horizons and Marriott sit on the CVWF board of trustees. They and PNC are corporate partners, and Marriott is also a funding partner with CVWF.
Obama also said that “some 22 million working women don’t have one paid sick day.”
Many of the CVWF members would keep it that way through lobbying efforts on their behalf by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with which they are affiliated through local chambers. The Chamber opposes any efforts to expand Family and Medical Leave Act leave or mandate paid sick leave. It opposed a bill that would give employees seven paid sick days a year. It opposed SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) and the Employee Free Choice Act.
Posted by Becky @
6:25 pm |
Employers cut 651,000 jobs in February, but wait! Look over there! It’s Brad Pitt with Nancy Pelosi!
Headline: “Capitol Hill goes gaga over Brad Pitt.” Read the breathless AP copy and you might think the press went a little gaga too. I mean, dig the photos. One mug shot isn’t enough. Here’s an entire montage, showing Pitt looking left, then looking right, then raising his eyebrows … you know, in case you want to rip it out of the pages of Tiger Beat and tape it to your bedroom wall.
What was Pitt doing in Washington, D.C., other than getting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to congratulate him publicly for being in Washington, D.C.?
Pelosi mentioned Pitt’s work in New Orleans and how he “serves as a model for the rest of the country.” Model … how? What exactly has he done? What does he plan to do? How does it all work? What does this have to do with what’s happening in Washington, D.C., today?
Pelosi didn’t explain any of those things. Neither did anyone else.
In addition to some air time with Pelosi, Pitt met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and he had a “secret” meeting with President Barack Obama.
I don’t know what’s going on, but I just can’t shake the picture of Elvis in the White House with Tricky Dick.
Posted by Becky @
2:15 pm |
Oprah: I KNEW it!
OK. She wasn’t technically on Obama’s short list, but she apparently was on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s short list. And that’s the next best thing to being there.
Taking his defense to the airwaves rather than his impeachment trial, Gov. Rod Blagojevich lashed out at his accusers Monday and revealed he had considered naming Oprah Winfrey to the Senate.
Posted by Becky @
11:27 am |
Tastes like chicken
The latest blizzard/snow/ice/wind stuff buried the heavy-duty vinyl-coated galvanized-steel tie-out cable. You know … the one the dog likes to chew.
It also embiggened the snow drift that covered the snow fort.
Which gave the dog access to the clothesline — an itty-bitty version of the doggie tie-out cable.
I still get this “you talkin’ to me?” look.
Yeah. We took down the clothesline.
P.S. Hey, Mr. President. Look at this adorable puppy-dog. Aww, isn’t she cute? Hypoallergenic? Why, butofcourse! Can she fit into life at the White House with the First Family? Why, Yes, She Can-ine! Call me. I know you still have that Blackberry. Call me!
Posted by Becky @
5:51 pm |
It’s like hurricane season, only colder
Much colder.
We’re at the beginning of the second (or is it the third?) blizzard of the season. I’d post a picture, but, well … got a printer? Got paper in the printer? Pull out a piece of that paper and hold it in front of your face. That’s what it looks like out there right now.
The kids spent two hours at school this morning before it got canceled. Then I got stuck at the end of the driveway on my way to pick them up.
Whee.
Don’t worry. I’m not wishing us back to hurricanes. I’ll never forget having two babies in bouncy seats. Under the kitchen table. In the dark. For at least three storms that took out a couple of trees.
Guess we’re just wacky weather magnets no matter where we live.
We will be layering in the coming week. You know it will be cold when they actually use the word “bitter” in the forecast. That’s just a nice way to not use lots and lots of cuss words. And the folks up here are nothing if not nice.
I better hurry up and call President-elect Barack Obama’s Blackberry (while he still has it) and see if he can add “making winter more pleasant” to his agenda.
Posted by Becky @
5:12 pm |
Why do I sense Oprah is on Obama’s short list?
Because — as Eric Deggans reported — Sanjay Gupta is apparently being considered for Surgeon General. You know. Of the United States.
And Leon Panetta? Really?
Posted by Becky @
9:24 pm |
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Does twice make a trend?
Gov. Bill Richardson withdraws from commerce secretary nomination … blah, blah, blah … pay-to-play.
Posted by Becky @
4:44 pm |
Gandy, Smeal: Maloney should replace Clinton
The National Organization for Women sent a press release today, announcing that the NOW Political Action Committee and the Feminist Majority PAC endorsed Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in the Senate if Clinton’s nomination for U.S. Secretary of State goes through.
The press release quoted Kim Gandy, NOW president, and Eleanor Smeal, Feminist Majority president.
Hmm. I wonder why they didn’t announce it on Comedy Central.
Posted by Becky @
6:45 pm |
