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Sandra Fluke and Sen. Olympia Snowe at the Women's Campaign Fund Parties of Your Choice Gala.
As she wraps up her final year on Capitol Hill, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), to her credit, doesn't mind calling out her own party -- at least on contraception access.
Just a few years ago, Snowe recalled, she stood with President Barack Obama as he signed the Fair Pay Act named after Ledbetter. The political debate today "comes to contraceptive coverage," Snowe said.
"You know, it really is surprising, because I feel like it's a retro-debate that took place in the 1950s," Snowe said. "It's sort of back to the future, isn't it? And it is surprising in the 21st century we would be revisiting this issue. And Sandra Fluke should have been commended, not condemned, for her courage in expressing her own views and beliefs before members of Congress."
Snowe's right and it's a welcome sentiment. But I can't help but notice the Republican senator had a different concern last week.
Snowe complained bitterly to ABC last week that President Obama deserves a grade "close to failing" when it comes to cooperating with congressional Republicans, adding that the president stopped reaching out to her after she refused to cooperate with him on bipartisan proposals.
The two thoughts are not unrelated. Perhaps Obama has found it impossible to work with congressional Republicans because (a) they're more interested in restricting access to contraception than governing in the 21st century; and (b) even ostensible moderates like Snowe balked at working in good faith with the White House?
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Olympia Snowe is proof there are no "good" Republicans. She may talk the talk, but when it comes to voting, she stuck with her party regardless of any alleged "beliefs" on her part. When a "good German" stood aside and let the Nazi thugs kick someone on the street, they were as guilty as the thugs. The same is true of Snowe. "All it takes for evil to win is for good people to remain silent," and that is what she has done with every vote. If she wants to know why Obama doesn't call and what's wrong with her party, let her take a couple extra minutes tomorrow morning in the bathroom, and look in the damn mirror.
In the meantime, lady, if you do want to become a "good" Republican, do us a favor and drop dead. "The only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies."
I agreed until your last two sentences when you lost your credibility. As egregiously wrong to say as what Cal Thomas said. You need to withdraw those statements.
I'd have to agree with Judy. While I cannot understand and am dayum angry at the obfuscations, mendacity, distortions, contortions and outright obstinance of the GOP - I would not wish them "death"......Have we learned nothing but hatred and course language from the GOP?
I can't understand how The Tea Party got away with shanghiing the Republican Party. They have single-handedly destroyed it. They bullied their way in and took over. The Senior Republicans are just sitting back and watching their party diminish. Except for those like Snowe who are jumping ship. Why couldn't The Tea Party have started their own political party instead of pushing their way into the GOP.
The Tea Party IS the republican party's base, the one that Bush depended on his whole political life. The surveys that have been done show that the overlap between being TP and being republican is enormous. I doubt that there are too many republicans who don't sympathize with the TP to some extent, even if they are not members. The early bit about being independent was just talk, and it was obvious that it was just talk when you look at who was responsible for organizing and funding it.
I would argue that it is the other way around. The Republican party hijacked the Tea Party. Initially the Tea Party was solely focused on economic liberties. For a couple of days I thought we might actually get a dream party that was fiscally conservative and socially liberal (or at least socially laissez faire). However, it did not take long for the religious wingnuts to invade and bascially make the Tea Party a carbon copy of the southern wing of the Republican party.
Hang on, she's complaining that he stopped reaching out to her after she refused to cooperate with him? Isn't that pretty much what any rational adult would do ... stop trying to be "friendly" with someone who isn't "friendly" to you?
What freaking bizarro world do these GOPers come from? "He's such an a-hole!! I refused to cooperate, or try to see things his way, or try to meet him halfway, or work toward a solution to the problem ... and he stopped calling! What a jerk!"
Yeah, see you around Sunshine! Don't let the door hit you in the ass, loser.
With Republicans, the party of "personal responsibility," it's always, always the other guy's fault.
Sorry, people, if you don't recognize this complaint it's because you lived a very sheltered life in elementary school.
You hear the exact same complaint from bullies when one of their victims stops meekly obeying the bully's demands. "That's not how it's supposed to be! You're not playing by the rules!"
At one time, while I didn't always agree with Ms. Snowe, over the last few years I think we're on opposite sides of the spectrum. Ms. Snowe's unwillingness to reach out, not just to the opposite side of the aisle but her unwillingness to stand up to those within the GOP on major issues shows just the opposite of courage and leadership.
So Snowe gets credit for voting for the Lily Ledbetter Act and dissenting from the GOP crusade against contraceptives. In fact, the only four Republican votes for the Ledbetter Act came from the four GOP women -- Snowe, Collins, Hutchison and Murkowski. Maybe if they were all poor, they'd also dissent from the GOP war on the poor.
Snowe must have been asleep the last three years. Her complaints are not founded in fact and she is not the moderate she would like to think. She is a partisan to very end.
Yes, it is important to note that Snowes' Republican Party agenda has always suppressed her since of democracy.
Here is a note to her and all those Republican Gals out there who think the rest of us are so easily swayed by their "ideas" of what freedom means to women.
FREEDOM that WE believe is INCLUSIVE to ALL WOMEN even those who vote with the Republican Party without a "southern accent".
Believe it or not all you "gals" out there WE WOMEN who don't share in your sense of "womanly duty", are exceedingly capable of actually SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES and really don't need any help from "Ya'll", on anything.
Whether you decide to "stand by your man" is of course a matter of personal choice, however, the majority of women in this country would tell you that we actually know how to focus on more than one issue at a time.
If women on the right choose to follow in the footsteps of what their boyfriends, husbands, daddies and grand old daddies of the Party tell them to, good on Ya, sister, have at.
However, do not presume that the rest of us are willing to jump into your bed of self-imposed suppression and containment.
We love freedom enough to allow you to do that to yourselves; however, we refuse to allow you to throw us into your mandatory to bed of domination.
Women of the 21st Century know when OUR constitutional rights as AMERICAN CITIZENS are being attacked and violated; believe it or not, the length of YOUR skirt is NOT an influential factor in, MY FREEDOM.