Free Republic

Shhhh. No comments required. Just savor it. “Relationships get built in those more informal settings,” O’Neill told ABC News, “and the relationships have a huge impact on the influence an individual has. We know what happens when we segregated whether it by race or whether it by gender — you end up with 1st class citizens and you end up with 2nd class citizens.” O’Neill told ABC News’ Mike Callahan, “we need to see the White House leading the way for desegregating the work places all around the country and it is troubling.”… “It’s extremely important now especially for the...

Abortion rights activists are working to rebuild a coalition in Kansas following the death of one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers and the closure of his political action committee. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed May 31 at his church, and his family has since closed his Wichita clinic. ProKanDo, the political action committee he founded and funded, was closed in mid-June upon the request of the Tiller family, its former director, Julie Burkhart said. But even before his closure of ProKanDo, the political action committee had been struggling to find someone in Kansas willing to take...

Credit where credit’s due. --------------------------------------------------------- Comedians in search of a laugh should really know better than to snicker about men having sex with teenage girls (or young women) less than half their age. The sexualization of girls and women in the media is reaching new lows these days — it is exploitative and has a negative effect on how all women and girls are perceived and how they view themselves. Letterman also joked about what he called Palin’s “slutty flight attendant look” — yet another example of how the media love to focus on a woman politician’s appearance, especially as...

Letterman voted into NOW Hall of Shame: After two nights of "jokes" at the expense of Palin and her family, Letterman tried to explain himself and offer something of an apology. On his June 10 show, Letterman said he was referring to Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol -- not the 14-year-old daughter who actually accompanied Palin on her New York trip. Letterman said "I recognize that these are ugly" jokes. NOW agrees. Comedians in search of a laugh should really know better than to snicker about men having sex with teenage girls (or young women) less than half their age. The...

Who is worse? The father molesting the daughter, or the mother who knows and looks the other way? The man raping the girl in the alleyway, or the passive bystander who neither stops the attack nor calls the police? The mother beating her children, or the husband who goes to work and leaves the children with her? Who is worse? The abuser, the attacker is worse. But we are revulsed and disgusted by the people who aid and abet and ignore the perpetrators, and rightly so. Last week, ten women were the subject of a cyber-rape. That is, without their...

NOW Identifies Murder of Dr. George Tiller As Domestic Terrorism, Calls for Action from Justice Department and Homeland Security Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy June 1, 2009 Women across the country have lost a champion today. The cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller this morning in church is a stark reminder that women's bodies are still a battleground, and health care professionals are on the frontlines. This kind man and skilled doctor braved blockades, harassment, assault, and countless threats, including an attempted murder in 1993 when he was shot in both arms. He knew his life was in constant...

Don’t take a conservative’s word for it. No less a left-wing authority than Kim Gandy of NOW has let Sonia Sotomayor’s liberal cat out of the bag . . . Gandy today described PBO’s pick for the Supreme Court as “very progressive.” The NOW honcho was a guest on this evening’s Ed Show. She was preceded by senior PBO adviser Valerie Jarrett, who danced furiously away from the liberal label. But then came Gandy, who gave the game away. View video here.

Take a gander at the YouTube video embedded below, produced and posted online by Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog group. Or if you have more important things to do (and I don't blame you) than to watch this venom-spewing performance by a pompous parade of right-wing male commentators, let me describe it to you. A video cavalcade of pompous, annoying, thoroughly unattractive, low-brow guys poke fun at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent clarifications of her position on what she knew (about the Bush administration's use of torture) and when she knew it.

Paid Parental Leave Urge Senators to Support This First StepAsk your senators to support upcoming legislation to guarantee federal workers four weeks of paid parental leave for a new child, as a first step toward universal paid leave.Action Needed:Providing paid leave to parents is only fair to working families who need to both care for a new family member as well as maintain an income. Most industrialized nations have provided paid parental leave for decades.Paid parental leave for 2.7 million federal workers can be the model that we can work to achieve for the rest of the country. This important...

The statement on Buffalo Beheading by the National Organization of Women.

Yesterday we noted the horrible story of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan of Orchard Park, N.Y., who last week was beheaded and whose husband, Muzzammil, has been charged with her murder. We wondered what the National Organization for Women had to say about this, but couldn't find a word on NOW.org, the group's Web site. It turns out, however, that a different Web site, NOWNYS.org, on Monday posted a strong statement on the subject: NOW New York State is horrified that Erie County DA, Frank A. SeditaII , has referred to this ghastly crime as "the worst form of domestic violence possible."...

Don't Look NOW Man allegedly beheads wife. Feminists shrug. By JAMES TARANTO Last week the National Organization for Women issued a press release on an important topic: The recent arrest of R&B star Chris Brown, who reportedly assaulted and threatened singer Rihanna, preventing her participation in the Grammys, has brought the ever-present issue of violence against women into the public spotlight once again. "Everyone is talking about this case because it involves two popular recording artists, but the sad reality is that domestic violence and dating violence happen every day, even among young teens, and the impact is both far-reaching...

NOW Cheers Repeal of Global Gag Rule As First Step toward Worldwide Reproductive Justice January 23, 2009 "President Obama took the side of justice today," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "For eight years the Global Gag Rule has forced international family planning organizations to make an impossible choice between providing comprehensive reproductive health care, and receiving funds that enable them to help women in need. Women around the world have died as a result of this heartless policy." President Ronald Reagan first instituted the rule, officially known as the Mexico City Policy, in 1984. The policy requires that non-governmental organizations...

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- What's made up of five women, four African-Americans, three Latinos, two Republicans and two Asians, including a Nobel Prize winner? The answer: President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet. Obama is taking the big-tent approach to governing and wanted a Cabinet that stretches the tent wide. "I think people will feel that we followed through on our commitment to make sure that this is not only an administration that is diverse ethnically, but it's also diverse politically and it's diverse in terms of people's life experience," Obama said December 16. It might be diverse, but not everyone is happy....

The National Organization for Women (NOW) Political Action Committee and the Feminist Majority Political Action Committee Thursday announced their endorsement of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D - Manhattan) for appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D). "Senator Hillary Clinton leaves big shoes to fill, and Carolyn Maloney has what it takes. She knows how to tackle big issues and is willing to take on entrenched interests," said Kim Gandy, president of NOW. "She is a tireless advocate for her constituents, and one of the most effective legislators in the House." "I have worked with many...

Clarke D. Forsythe AUL Senior Counsel Introduction The political claim—that women were or will be prosecuted or jailed under abortion laws—has been made so frequently by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and NOW over the past 40 years that it has become an urban legend. It shows the astonishing power of contemporary media to make a complete falsehood into a truism. For 30 years, abortion advocates have claimed—without any evidence and contrary to the well-documented practice of ALL 50 states—that women were jailed before Roe and would be jailed if Roe falls (or if state abortion prohibitions are reinstated). This claim rests...

The National Organization for Women -- citing Obama's commitment to reproductive justice, pay equity, ending violence against women (Hi, Biden), and keeping marauding crackpots off the Supreme Court -- has endorsed the Obama-Biden ticket, and yes, this is actually news. NOW has not endorsed a presidential candidate in the general election since 1984, and no, that had nothing to do with Geraldine Ferraro. According to NOW president Kim Gandy -- who talked to Broadsheet late Tuesday about the group's decision -- NOW endorsed Walter Mondale in the primary, back "when he was still fighting it out with Gary Hart and...

Clearly worried about the impact Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has had on the presidential race, the Obama campaign stepped up its efforts to court women this week, recruiting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to join Sen. Joe Biden for a taped webcast answering questions from women, announcing a list of high profile women who are endorsing Sen. Barack Obama and releasing a tough anti-McCain ad targeting women. On Monday, as part of his "Women's Week of Action," Obama held a conference call with female supporters to outline the issues he will bring to the forefront in the weeks ahead, such as...

The National Organization for Women (NOW) said Tuesday it had been pushed by the Republicans pick of Sarah Palin as vice presidential nominee to back Democrat Barack Obama for the White House. "NOW is going to be endorsing the Obama-Biden ticket," NOW head Kim Gandy told National Public Radio (NPR), referring to Obama and his running mate Joseph Biden. The 500,000-strong women's movement, which "very, very rarely endorses in a general election", broke with its tradition of neutrality after "the addition of Sarah Palin gave us a new sense of urgency," said Gandy. "She is being portrayed as a supporter...

Governor Sarah Palin has grown up in a world full of open doors. She was born on February 11, 1964. By the time she entered middle school, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 had been passed which prohibited discrimination against women in educational activities (including athletics) receiving federal funds. By the time she entered high school, the Supreme Court had decided Roe v. Wade. By the time she graduated from college, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited employment discrimination based on sex and the Equal Pay Act which prohibited women from being paid...