Sarah Palin has been making the moves on feminism again, talking in mid-May to the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony List about an “emerging feminist coalition” of conservative women, women she calls “Mama Grizzlies,” telling the crowd that they were helping to return “the woman’s movement back to its original roots … You remind us of the earliest leaders of the woman’s rights movement: They were pro-life.” Harking back to (an imagined version of) first-wave feminism, Palin has been distorting second-wave ideology with a dastardly Opposite Day formulation in which those who support reproductive rights do not believe women capable of mothering and working simultaneously. (What happened to the old feminist bats forcing women to “have it all” against their will?)

“If it’s Sunday, it’s more men wearing dark suits.”

So far, none of the five major Sunday morning television news shows has embraced that as a promotional slogan. But women’s advocates — armed with new data showing that the shows are a bastion of male power — say it would be an apt description for the lot of them.

Even as women have vaulted to be House speaker and hold a host of other influential positions on Capitol Hill, female lawmakers continue to be under-represented as guests on the Sunday shows.

According to research by American University’s Women & Politics Institute, female lawmakers have composed 13.5 percent of the total Sunday show appearances by all representatives and senators this year.

POLITICAL CALL OF THE MONTH

With Democratic Nominee for Congress 1st CD

Krystal Ball

Wednesday, May 26 at 12:30pm

Last month was our first successful call-in meeting with Senator Mark Warner.  We plan to continue this series at least thru the summer.

To RSVP email Susan Platt at susansplatt@gmail.com .  Once you rsvp you will be sent your call-in information. We are limiting the number of callers so rsvp early to reserve your space. These calls are for current Farm Team members only.  To renew your membership -

How to Have a Rewarding Mother’s Day, by Katherine Rosman

The author of a poignant new memoir shares five ways to celebrate — and understand — your mom.

© Nina Subin

My mom advocated having sex with your husband 20 minutes before leaving for a party if he was in a bad mood. She gave the vast majority of her young Pilates students free lessons, telling them, “I like your energy.” She confided in strangers she met on eBay about her fears. She shopped for clothes by herself, never needing friends to tell her if she looked good in a new dress. She quietly mentored young women, helping them start careers, gain confidence and get college scholarships. I’ve only learned these things about my mom in the years since she died in 2005 at the age of 60.

I was 33 when Mom died. She and I were close and had been for a long time. I knew her very well in one way: as a mother. I knew what her values were (honesty, truth to self), what her priorities were (my sister and me) and what her expectations were (marriage before children, call your mother every day). But because she died before I became a mother myself, I hadn’t considered much about who she was outside of her defining role as mother. I felt an emptiness, and answered it by taking a year off from my job as a Wall Street Journal reporter to learn more about this woman, my mom.

As more people hear of what I did, they tell me they wish they could learn more about their own parents. I’m encouraging them to – in their own way – do just this. With Mother’s Day approaching, I am urging people to show their love and appreciation for their mom (whether she’s alive or not) by spending an hour or two trying to get to know her better.

Here’s five ways to do it:

• Request an hour of your mom’s time on Mother’s Day, on the phone or in person. Ask her who her favorite high school teacher was, and why. Ask her to tell you a story about her that you’ve never heard before.
• Pull an old photo album out and ask her to tell you the backstory to four photos from different pages.
• Ask your mom to name four favorite books, songs, magazines and movies.
• Take your mom’s phone book (a coup, if you have it) and call someone just to find out who they are and why they’re in her phone book. You don’t have to connect to a long-lost close friend to find out something amusing, if not meaningful. One woman I spoke to after picking her out of my mother’s phone book was a one-time Pilates student. “We didn’t get along,” she told me and it made me laugh, the thought of my little-but-bossy mom.
• Call someone who knew your mom in a way you really didn’t: as an employer or employee, a sportswoman, a card player, a knitter, a collector, a friend, a wife, a sister. Ask them how she was thought of by peers and contemporaries; why she was loved and not always loved by her friends. Ask how she gave charity.

It may end up being one of the best Mother Day presents you’ve ever received.

Editor’s Note: Katherine Rosman is a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal who writes about popular culture. Her work has also appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times and Elle magazine. Her new book is If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Reporter’s Notebook.

The Farm Team Invites You To Our
April 2010 Statewide Meeting
in Lynchburg, VA
April 16-17, 2010

View the flyer here.

Speaker Pelosi with her grandchildren on the House Floor

You strive for bipartisanship when you can. When you find your common ground, that’s great. If you don’t find your common ground, you have to stand your ground.” Speaker Pelosi turns 70 this week.

– House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Over the course of the last week caucuses have begun across Virginia’s 1^st to elect delegates to our nominating convention on May 8^th. So far we have had GREAT success locking up delegates committed to our campaign. Right and left we have been sweeping caucuses from Fredericksburg, to Stafford County to James City.

It was your commitment to our grassroots fundraising and field program that have allowed us the resources to out-organize our opponents. Currently we have 51 of the 101 delegates needed to lock up the nomination process; our opponent has 3.

It is the widely held belief nationally and throughout the district that our momentum cannot be stopped and it will only be a matter of days before we have secured the committed delegates to focus entirely on the general election.

Can you make another commitment of $10, $25, $50 or whatever you can afford to help ensure we move on to the General Election as swiftly as possible?

Again, thank you so much for your continued support, I am honored you are a part of the team.

Sincerely,

Krystal

P.S. OUR MOMENTUM CANNOT BE STOPPED. Please make a contribution today of $10, $25, $50 or whatever you can afford to launch us into the General Election. Anyone who makes a contribution of at least $10 today will be entered to win a seat at our JJ table tomorrow evening in Richmond; we would love to have you!

Strengthening Services for Those Who Serve

This is the public event page. If you are a CIAV member do not register on this page. Please refer to the registration link in the invitation email you received to be eligible for the member fee waiver. If you no longer have the invitation email, please contact Mary Moran.

We are pleased to announce the 3rd Annual Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Conference, Strengthening Services for Those Who Serve, May 11-14, 2010 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. This unique four day gathering will bring together CIAV organizations, federal agencies, community nonprofits, funders, subject matter experts, concerned citizens, and others to share information and build a strong nationwide network of care for our military, veterans, families and survivors. We aim to have full representation at the conference to provide the most up-to-date research, government and community partnerships, innovation, and best practices in non-profit, military, and veteran services.

Join us as we discuss strategic ways in which communities, non-profits, and government may work together to ensure that all military personnel, veterans, their families, and survivors receive the support they have earned serving in our armed forces.

Presentations, Workshops, and Poster Sessions: We are also inviting submissions of abstracts for oral presentations, poster sessions, and interactive workshops at the conference. For more information, see the call for abstracts and application form.

See the agenda for more information.

Krystal Ball for Congress

We encourage you to visit her website and volunteer for her campaign www.KrystalBallforcongress.com