MOMocrats™

Sarah Palin's Alaska: TLC Hands Her One Big Giant Political Ad

MOMocrats welcomes guest poster Yvonne Condes. Cross-posted from her personal site, Yvonne in LA.

I can’t believe that Discovery Communications is actually going to air “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” on TLC Sunday, Nov. 14. But more striking is how the Democrats haven’t made a bigger deal out of it.

The show, which is supposed to be a travelogue of Alaska, appears to be one giant political ad that will show the former vice-presidential candidate ice climbing and facing a bear. The title of one of the show’s videos on TLC.com is “Rock climber or rock star.” Some of the quotes from the TLC preview video include “Family comes first. It’s just gotta be that way” and “I’d rather be out here bein’ free.” If these aren’t future political slogans, I don’t know what is.

Palin claims she’s not running for president, but she quit her job as governor before her term was up. She campaigned for several right-wing and tea-party candidates during the midterm elections and some of them were elected.

The Democrats should be flaming mad that Palin has a show that presents an idealized view of her looking tough and commanding on a popular cable channel. When I saw a clip of the show at the Discovery upfronts in April I was reminded of a lesson from one of my journalism classes. The lesson was about what how images impact people’s opinion.

An example was a mostly negative 60 Minutes episode about Ronald Reagan back in 1984. Even though the show was critical of Reagan his approval ratings went up. It is thought that was because many of the images shown in the piece had Reagan standing in front of an American flag or looking commanding. That piece aired once, maybe twice, for about 5 minutes. Imagine what Sarah Palin’s Alaska will do for her opinion polls after the 8 week, hour-long show airs documenting her running around on great American adventures?

In addition to my concern about what this will do to her possible presidential run, to quote my kids “it’s not fair.” What if Palin does run for president in 2012? Will Discovery give her opponent an 8 week show? What if it’s Hillary Clinton? I suspect that the Republican Party would set up boycotts, burn televisions, and call for the resignations of all Discovery executives if Hillary Clinton got a show that pictured her hunting black bear in New York State.

It seems to me, that the only fair thing would be a promise of equal time to whomever her future opponent may be – even Barack Obama. Or maybe drop the show altogether and find another Alaska native to profile. How about Jewel? Or anyone who hasn’t recently run for vice president of the United States!

Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of the show sans Sarah Palin and I love Alaska. I spent one of the best summers of my life in Denali National Park. To see Palin try to climb a section of Denali, the highest peak in North America made me a little inspired to go back to Alaska. But as for the show itself glorifying Sarah Palin, it made me physically ill.

Yvonne Condes is YvonneinLA, a former journalist and current freelance blogger. She also blogs at www.yvonnesgfgoodies.com and http://yvonneinla.blogspot.com/.

GO WATCH THIS TONIGHT -- 9500 Liberty: A Documentary on Immigration Reform, on MTV Networks Tonight

TONIGHT 9500 LIBERTY premieres on MTV Networks
Join filmmakers Eric Byler and Annabel Park for webcast Q&A

[Reprint of press kit materials describing the films.]

SB 1070, the racial profiling law in Arizona, has been tried once before, and it failed.

Please tune in tonight for the world television premiere of the film, "9500 Liberty" at 8 PM Eastern time, and 8 PM Pacific time on MTV 2, MTV U, and MTV Tr3s (with Spanish subtitles).

"9500 Liberty" provides a blueprint for how ordinary citizens can join together across party lines to oppose extremism. We hope our film will incite civility and make room for progress, not just the immigration issue, but on issues involving the responsible practice of democracy.

WORLD TELEVISION PREMIERE
Sunday Sept. 26th
8 PM ET, 8 PM PT on
MTV 2, MTV U, & MTV Tr3s (with Spanish subtitles)

Go Watch It: Gulf Oil Spill on National Geographic

Tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT, 9 p.m. CT, the National Geographic Channel will air a documentary special on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, featuring exclusive video of the disaster and interviews with rescuers who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the explosion that caused the spill, and helped save the remaining crew.

As what may well be the worst environmental disaster in North American history continues to take shape, putting miles upon miles of ocean habitat and coastline ecosystems at grave ecological risk, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that the explosion itself also took the lives of 11 oil rig workers and put over 100 more workers, as well as their rescuers, in mortal danger.

Who Doesn't Want More Healthy Moms and Babies?

In light of our abysmal maternal health statistics -- we're 39th in the world, behind Canada, tiny Malta, Croatia, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates -- the U.S. needs to make every effort to promote and improve maternal health. Knowing that 1.5 trillion text messages were sent in the U.S. in 2008, several groups have teamed up to create text4baby, a mobile messaging service to promote the health of pregnant women, new moms, and their babies.

Yesterday I attended a briefing sponsored by Women’s Policy, Inc., the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, the Office on Women’s Health, and the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies (HMHB) Coalition to promote this terrific new initiative.

Text4baby is a free service that provides thrice-weekly messages to pregnant women and new moms during the first year of their child’s life. The messages focus on health and safety – everything from where to find tobacco cessation services, to appointment reminders, to breastfeeding education, WIC eligibility, safe sleeping, and child care.

Among HMHB's many partners is the Department of Defense Military Health System (yahoo for not overlooking our military families!) and MTV, which is featuring the service on 16 and Pregnant. 

MTV Shows

If you want to sign up (FREE!) just text “BABY” to 511411 (“BEBE” for Spanish).

Go Watch This: "Last Friday Night My Father Asked Me to Kill Him"

I lost my grandmother on Tuesday. On the way out of one meeting and already thinking ahead to the next, my cell phone rang. It was my aunt, calling from the grandmother's house to tell me she had died.

She'd just turned 83 earlier this month. Besides a little hypertension (controlled via medication), she had no serious health conditions. We're still waiting for final word on what happened -- it appears to be a stroke or heart attack -- but her death was sudden and unexpected.

Last evening I took to the sofa, exhausted from a long day of work and feeling I need a mulligan on 2010 (besides my grandmother, there have been other serious family illnesses, epic snow and cold, and frantic work schedules). I flipped channels rather aimlessly and eventually settled on MSNBC, where I could half-listen to the news.

And half-listen I did, until Keith Olbermann read his special comment and blew me away.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This Isn't About Ads Any More (Video Responses to Focus on the Family's CBS Super Bowl Ad)

As with many things that irritate, Focus on the Family's "pro-life" ad has gotten under the skin of a lot of people--people who prefer their sports politics-free, people who are pro-choice, and people who like their gay selves, siblings, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and parents just fine the way they are.

Can't go without mentioning the Planned Parenthood ad:

There's the spicier Raging Grannies ad (women after our own hearts who TOTALLY GET IT):

And now there's an ad making fun of the Focus on the Family's particular brand of right-wing Christian homophobia:

While these are all alternately touching, hilarious, and snarky, it's not about the ads any more. It's about a right-wing religious organization that's funded to the tune of $112,000,000 and chronically UNDERFUNDED pro-choice organizations. That's why MOMocrats launched this Tailgate for Choice campaign.

If we say we support choice and enjoy reproductive rights, then let's walk the walk with even a small donation to the organizations that protect those rights for us and provide needed services to women.

Cynematic needs more hours in the day. Period. She also ignores her personal blog, P i l l o w b o o k.

MOMocrats' Super Bowl Tailgate for Choice: You're Invited!

The MOMocrats are throwing a “Tailgate for Choice,” and we're inviting 
men and women who support reproductive rights to shout it
 with your dollars on Super Bowl Sunday!

If you’re attending or hosting a Superbowl party when the Focus on the 
Family tv ad comes on, use it to prompt you to donate at least $5 online to your 
favorite pro-choice organization. (See the list and take the pledge after the jump.)

That way, right-wing 
religious fundamentalists interested in making their narrow values everyone 
else’s values will instead have spent $2.5 million on A GIANT PRO-CHOICE AD.

Even if you’re not at a Super Bowl party—or even if the ad gets pulled—on Sunday, February 7, 2010, make a donation to keep choice safe and 
accessible for women. 'Cuz uteruses aren't political footballs.

Where are all the Republican Women?

Personally I avoid Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh like the plague. If I’m in the mood for hypocrisies, conspiracy theories and hate rhetoric I can usually find a good Hollywood blockbuster that will not only deliver but be much more entertaining and much easier on the blood pressure. So when I heard about both hosts referring to United States Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La) as a prostitute, as much as my blood pressure did rise, it wasn’t exactly a huge surprise. Being respectful and showing regard to common decency have never been strong suits for either man.

What gets me is the reaction from Republican women. I know you’re probably asking yourself, what reaction? Which is my point. There hasn’t been one. Not a thing. Conservative women, specifically Republican Women who actually serve in Congress have nothing to say about blatant sexism against one of the few female colleagues they have? How about Sarah Palin? She has been at the losing end of some of the worst sexists treatment from media in recent history, yet she has nothing to say about calling a Senator a Prostitute?

The reason Senator Landrieu is being called such offensive names is because she offered to vote in favor of moving ahead with health care debate on the Senate floor, (she did not promise to vote for the bill itself, just the vote to move it along) in return for $300 million in federal aid. Federal Aid for Louisiana. Is there really one person in this country who doesn’t think Louisiana needs federal aid more than we need to put off the debate on health care? I wonder how all the people in New Orleans who are still trying to rebuild, who are still without a home, who are still looking for help after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina feel about comparing Senator Landrieau's deal with a whore? I’m guessing not good.

I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, after all it was last month that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was told she needed to be “put in her place” by the National Republican Congressional Committee. The Huffington Post tried in vain to contact fifteen female lawmakers (fourteen from the House or Representatives) as well as two Republican women's issues groups to get their response to the very sexists statement made about Speaker Pelosi. Not one was willing to provide a statement.

Yes, there were many Democratic women who refused to stand up for Sarah Palin during the media frenzy that occurred during the 2008 Presidential election and the year since because of her politics. But there were many who did. There were many women who put politics aside and made sure their voices were heard when sexism came into play.

But where are female voices from the right? Is sexism not an issue for all of us? Doesn’t Senator Landrieu deserve the respect and defense of her fellow female lawmakers regardless of what side of the aisle they’re on?

Don’t all women?

This is a cross-post from the WomenCount blog. 

Meghan Harvey is the New Media Producer for WomenCount and can also be found blogging at Meg's Idle Chatter.

Go Watch It: Rachel Maddow Takes on Americans for Prosperity

In August, I wrote about how astroturfing groups funded by big business and staffed by GOP political operatives and corporate lobbyists — like the Koch Industries-funded group Americans for Prosperity — are influencing the national debate on health care by helping to organize and promote Tea Party gatherings and town hall protests at the local level.

Last night on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow took on Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips in a scathingly direct interview. If you're concerned about the involvement of corporate lobbyists in the health care debate, don't miss this interview! Watch parts one and two below (part two is after the jump).

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Go Watch It: Rep. Anthony Weiner on Government-Run Health Care

New York Congressman Anthony Weiner gave Republicans in the House the chance to put their votes where their mouths are on government-run health insurance plans Thursday by introducing an amendment to eliminate our best-known government-run health care program, Medicare, and inviting them to vote yes.

"I double dare you. Vote yes on it," he said. "And then go home and explain to your constituents how you're so philosophically opposed to publicly-funded health care that you voted to eliminate Medicare on its 44th anniversary."



Unsurprisingly, the House Republicans did not take Representative Weiner up on his challenge. The amendment to repeal Medicare did not pass.