Scandalous Women Radio: Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland

Scandalous Women is pleased to welcome author Lauren Willig this week to talk about the scandalous life of Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837). The only daughter of the infamous Josephine and step-daughter to Napoleon, Hortense was married off to his brother Louis and made Queen of Holland. But she was in love with another man, the Comte de Flahaut, rumored to be the illegitimate son of Talleyrand. During the Hundred Days, her support of her step-father meant that she was banished from France. She died at the age of 54 in 1837. She never lived to see her son Napoleon become the Emperor of the French as Napoleon III.

Please tune in to Scandalous Women, tomorrow, April 1 at a special time, 6:00 p.m.

A native of New York City, Lauren Willig has been writing romances ever since she got her hands on her first romance novel at the age of six. Three years later, she sent her first novel off to a publishing house—all three hundred hand-written pages. They sent it back. Undaunted, Lauren has continued to generate large piles of paper and walk in front of taxis while thinking about plot ideas.

After thirteen years at an all girls school (explains the romance novels, doesn’t it?), Lauren set off for Yale and co-education, where she read lots of Shakespeare, wrote sonnet sequences when she was supposed to be doing her science requirement, and lived in a Gothic fortress complete with leaded windows and gargoyles. After college, she decided she really hadn’t had enough school yet, and headed off to that crimson place in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a degree in English history. Like her modern heroine, she spent a year doing dissertation research in London, tramping back and forth between the British Library and the Public Records Office, reading lots of British chick lit, and eating far too many Sainsbury’s frozen dinners.

By a strange quirk of fate, Lauren signed her first book contract during her first month of law school. She finished writing "Pink Carnation" during her 1L year, scribbled "Black Tulip" her 2L year, and struggled through "Emerald Ring" as a weary and jaded 3L. After three years of taking useful and practical classes like “Law in Ancient Athens” and “The Globalization of the Modern Legal Consciousness”, Lauren received her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. For a year and a half, she practiced as a litigation associate at a large New York law firm. But having attained the lofty heights of second year associate, she decided that book deadlines and doc review didn't mix and departed the law for a new adventure in full time writerdom.

Current TV Fires Keith Olbermann

--- UPDATE: Keith says he's suing because everything is Al Gore's fault. ---

Keith is fired again! Apparently, this sexist man is the intolerably short-tempered egomaniac everyone says he is:

Current indicated that he had failed to honor the terms of his five-year, $50 million contract, giving the channel the right to terminate it...Mr. Olbermann will not be given an opportunity to sign off...It was the culmination, at least in part, of months of infighting between the famously temperamental Mr. Olbermann and his bosses at Current, including Mr. Hyatt, and David Bohrman, the channel’s president.

OPEN LETTER TO THE VIEWERS OF CURRENT:

Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.

David Dayen at firedoglake reminds us:

Olbermann now has the distinction of being fired from almost every major cable news channel on television – CNN, MSNBC and now Current. He never appeared on Fox News, but he did work for Fox Broadcasting, and was fired from there. As he would say on ESPN, you can’t stop him, you can’t even hope to contain him.

Related: TGW: Keith Olbermann, You are a Misogynist, Not a Progressive (Video)

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RIP Revered Feminist Author Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Rich, the great feminist icon and author has died. Author of 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence' and 'Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution,' her writing has been celebrated in virtually every women's studies course on the planet. She will be sorely missed:

Adrienne Rich, a poet of towering reputation and towering rage, whose work — distinguished by an unswerving progressive vision and a dazzling, empathic ferocity — brought the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse and kept it there for nearly a half-century, died on Tuesday at her home in Santa Cruz, Calif. She was 82.

Widely read, widely anthologized, widely interviewed and widely taught, Ms. Rich was for decades among the most influential writers of the feminist movement and one of the best-known American public intellectuals. She wrote two dozen volumes of poetry and more than a half-dozen of prose; the poetry alone has sold nearly 800,000 copies, according to W. W. Norton & Company, her publisher since the mid-1960s.

For Ms. Rich, the personal, the political and the poetical were indissolubly linked; her body of work can be read as a series of urgent dispatches from the front.


"I am a feminist because I feel endangered, psychically and physically, by this society and because I believe that the women's movement is saying that we have come to an edge of history when men - insofar as they are embodiments of the patriarchal idea - have become dangerous to children and other living things, themselves included. "

-- Adrienne Rich

New York Times: Adrienne Rich, 1929-2012 - A Poet of Unswerving Vision at the Forefront of Feminism
The Guardian: Adrienne Rich obituary: Radical poet revered by feminists and literary critics alike
The Harvard Crimson: Feminist Poet Adrienne Rich ’51 Dies at 82
NPR: Adrienne Rich On The Powerful, Powerless Mother / Hear The 1989 Interview
LA Times: Poet Adrienne Rich, 82, has died

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Santorum Almost Says N* Word (Video)

March 27, 2012 in Janesville, Wisconsin:


Firedoglake has the context.

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Jeffrey Toobin at SCOTUS: 'Individual Mandate Is Doomed' (Video)

[I]t’s hard to imagine how things could be going much worse for the Obama Administration, but now they’re going to be dealing with the Medicaid portion, and they may decide to get rid of that as well,” Toobin concluded.

“The idea they [Supreme Court] are operating from precedent can’t pass the laugh test, especially after Bush v. Gore. The country is dividing along the same ideological and political lines this time, and so is the court.”

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Fascinating Women: Edith Minturn Stokes

The paintings of John Singer Sargent have gone in and out of fashion over the years. I, for one, am an unrepentant Sargentaholic! One of my favorite things to do is to go to the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit my two favorite paintings of his, Madame X, and this portrait of Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes, also known as Edith Minturn Stokes. What do I love about this painting? Where do I start! I love the vitality of the subject, she just glows with health and energy. And then the slight smile on her face.  She looks fresh and alive and most of all modern. Even her outfit reflects her independence, it's as if she's game for anything.  Love the hands on the hips!

Edie's brother Robert once described her as 'fierce.' As a toddler, one of the games that she liked to play was to try and escape the parasol her mother held over her on the beach, running shrieking to the waves. 30 years old when this portrait was painted, she'd already had a bit of notoriety when the sculptor Daniel Chester French sculpted her for Chicago's Columbian Exposition as the face of the Republic.

The portrait was a wedding present from a family friend, James Scrimser. The couple had been on an extended honeymoon in Paris when they decided to visit London to have the portrait done. It was 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. According to Jean Zimmerman's new mini-biography about Edith and her husband Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes entitled Love Fiercely, A Gilded Age Romance (Hougton Mifflin 2012), Edith initially wore a blue evening gown for her portrait. But after five weeks of sittings, Sargent wasn't satisfied with the painting so he scrapped it. It wasn't until Edith and her husband showed up at Sargent's studio in Chelsea in London after walking across the city that he knew how he wanted to paint her, in her every day clothes. When the painting was first exhibited, Edith's outfit caused comment. Her simple shirtwaist and skirt, mannish jacket and tie, plus the straw boater sitting on her hip reflected a more modern woman, one who rode a bicycle, possibly worked for a living as a teacher or a journalist.

One of the many things that I love about the painting is the fact that her husband stands behind her, almost as an afterthought (Sargent had initially thought of painting a Great Dane standing beside her). He stands with his arms folded, in the shadows. It's clear from the painting that Edith is the more extroverted partner in the marriage, and that her husband is quite happy and even a little amused to even be in the painting.  Perhaps he was just amazed that he'd finally gotten Edith to marry him!

Both Edie and her husband Newton were contemporaries of Edith Wharton. In fact they could have stepped out of the pages of one of her novels. Theirs was a world filled with balls, mansions, summer 'cottages' and European vacatons. Both came from old money, at one time Newton's grandfather Anson owned most of the Murray Hill neighborhood in New York. The house he grew up in now houses the Morgan Library.  Edith's paternal grandfather built the world's fastest clipper ship. Her maternal ancestors were equally illustrious. Her Josephine Shaw Lowell was involved with the settlement movement in New York, and her uncle was Robert Gould Shaw who led the 54th Massachusetts regiment depicted in the film Glory. The couple, both born in 1867, grew up together on Staten Island where the Minturns and the Stokes had homes before the hoi polloi moved in and made it unfashionable. Edith's father Robert suffered a reversal of fortune briefly, but luckily for Edith she was spared Lily Bart's fate.  Although her debut was much simpler than the usual debutantes, in a few years, the Minturn fortunes had been restored.
Both Edith and Newton were 28 when they got married in 1895. After spending years abroad studying architecture in Paris, over New Years 1894/95, Newton finally turned his attention to his childhood friend. But he had no game! On a sleigh ride in the country, he tried to propose but Edith cut himn off at the pass. With his tail between his legs, Newton went back to Paris to lick his wounds. It was only when her sister sent him a letter hinting that he should try again, conveniently letting him know exactly where they were going to be, that Newton came back to the States.  On the way, he stopped off in London for a new wardrobe! At the Minturn summer home in Canada, he pressed his suit again and this time he was accepted. Still, he wasn't sure if the marriage was actually going to take place until he saw his bride walk down the aisle. Unusually for the time, the marriage took place 2 months after the engagement.  Clearly Newton wanted to get his bride down the aisle as soon as possible!

But once Edith made up her mind to marry him, she never looked back. The couple were both interested more in improving the lives of others than spending their time attending balls. Newton plied his trade as an architect (among his buildings are St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, and the University Settlement House), as well as attempting to create decent housing for the poor. However, he's most known for a 6 volume tome called the Iconography of Manhattan Island. Edith became involved with the New York Kindergarten Association, and also ran a sewing school for immigrant women. Unable to have children, the couple adopted a little girl from England. Oh, and did I mention that they bought a house in England and had it taken down and then shipped across the Atlantic?

Edith seems to have suffered from chronic hypertension which often left her an invalid which greatly curtailed her work. In her sixties, she suffered a series of strokes, which left her almost completely paralyzed. Her husband would spend hours reading to her from her favorite books, or playing her favorite music.  She finally passed away at the age of 70 in 1937.  Her husband lived on for another 7 years until he passed away in 1944.  Their ashes are buried together at St. Paul's Chapel. Interesting factoid, Edith's great niece was Edie Sedgwick, the 1960's and Warhol icon, who was named after her. Her other niece (daughter of her sister Gertrude who married Amos Pinchot) was Rosamond Pinchot Gaston.

Other painters such as Cecilia Beaux (see below) painted Edith but they are more conventional portraits.

 

and then there is this one painted by Fernand Paillet (owned by the New York Historical Society), painted in 1892 when Edith was 25.

While both are beautiful, I don't think they come close to the Sargent portrait.  That woman I'd like to get to know, to hang out with.  The woman in the other portraits is someone that you might see at a tea party and have a pleasant conversation with.  They don't have the vitality that Sargent's portrait does.

Sex Fiend Strauss-Kahn Busted for 'Aggravated Pimping'

For once the charge against serial rapist Dominique Strauss-Kahn is not rape or sexual assault:

Former International Monetary Fund chief Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged in France on Monday with "aggravated pimping" for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring, prosecutors said. . Strauss-Kahn was released under a 100,000-euro bail, according to prosecutors.

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And the Winner is......................

The winner of the March Madness Giveaway thanks to random.org is

WENDY

Wendy,  I will be sending you an email to get your address.  And I want to thank everyone for entering the giveway.  Please give coming back and reading the blog as I bring you more Scandalous Women over the next few months! And maybe a few more giveaways!



Women Tell Bill Maher to Apologize for the Misogyny

Women aren't yet walking out of Bill Maher's show, but two women respond to misogynist Bill Maher on the letter-to-the-editor page of the New York Times. It's no wonder Maher defended Limbaugh's misogyny, the lefty comic has never acknowledged his own deep misogyny:

Maher’s Attacks on Women:

Re “Please Stop Apologizing,” by Bill Maher (Op-Ed, March 22):

We’re both women who have worked in Democratic politics and the media for decades and find Bill Maher’s misogynist treatment of women candidates deeply disturbing. . . How can we expect women to run for office when they are essentially told to “lighten up about” and accept misogynist attacks? The Women’s Media Center has found that such attacks on women candidates have a measurable negative effect on how voters view them.

Our message to Mr. Maher and his ilk is: Please start apologizing.

'Bill Maher’s misogynist treatment of women is deeply disturbing.'

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NY Times' Rosenthal: The Tennessee Monkey Bill

Still laughing at us, after all these years:

The Tennessee Monkey Bill

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Wisconsin Bill Claims Single Moms Cause Child Abuse by Not Being Married

More hatred and bigotry directed at single moms (but not single dads, cause they are such heroes, don't you know?) by old white GOP men. I swear, despising single moms must be a requirement for getting into the Republican Party. The good news is that the bigoted yahoo sponsor of this bill -- Republican Senator Glenn Grothman -- is up for recall:

In Wisconsin, a state senator has introduced a bill aimed at penalizing single mothers by calling their unmarried status a contributing factor in child abuse and neglect...

Saying that people "make fun of old-fashioned families," Grothman -- who has never been married and has no children -- criticized social workers for not agreeing that children should only be raised by two married biological parents, and told a state Senate committee that he hopes the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention board, of which he's a member, could "publicize something that's politically incorrect but has to be said in our society."

Bigoted Wisconsin Senate bill 507

PETITION: Senator Douchebag: STOP THE HATE AGAINST SINGLE MOTHERS

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Skittles - The Last Victorian Courtesan

Recently a friend and I were talking about Jesse James and his affair with the stripper Skittles.  The lovely and talented Hope Tarr thought we were talking about another Skittles, Catherine Walters, the last Victorian courtesan. I had totally forgotten about Skittles, probably because she was less flamboyant than some of the other Victorian courtesans. Skittles wasn't necessarily interested in being famous, unlike Cora Pearl, who seemed to court notoriety.

Imagine if there were trading cards for courtesans! I imagine that the one for Skittles would look this.

Name: CatherineWalters

Nickname: Skittles or Skitsie to her intimates.

Born: June 13, 1839 in Liverpool at No. 1 Henderson Street, in a drab and dirty street near the docks.

Died: 1920

Parents: Edward Walters, a custom employee, and Mary Ann Fowler

Siblings: 3^rd of 5 children. 

Religion: Baptized a Catholic

Appearance: Small and slender, with grey-blue eyes and chestnut hair. 
She dressed inexpensively at first but with great taste, wearing clothing that was modest and subdued. Her riding habit was cut to so perfectly to the contours of her body that there was speculation that she wore nothing underneath it. If Cora Pearl were Versace and Vivienne Westwood, than Catherine would be more Chanel and Givenchy.

Traits: Exceptional beauty, practical nature, and riding skills, acquired while working in a livery stable. She was also effervescent, outspoken, direct and bawdy. Her naturalness was one of her chief attributes as a courtesan, she remained affectionate and sympathetic. “She had the most capacious heart I know and must be the only whore in history to retain her heart intact,” wrote journalist Henry Labouchere.  Never once did she seek to revenge herself on her lovers after the affair was over. There would be no autobiography detailing her lovers such as the ones penned by Cora Pearl or Harriette Wilson.

One of her most unusual traits was her ability to bind her lovers to her not only for the night or a for a few months but for life. One of her biographers, Henry Blyth, wrote that she possessed the quality of being loved. She also never attempted to bankrupt her lovers as did Cora Pearl and some of the other grandes horizontales of the 19^th century.

Occupation: Courtesan

Lovers:  Marquess of Hartington, Prince of Wales, Achille Fould, Lord Fitzwilliams, Wilfred Scawen-Blunt, Aubrey DeVere Beauclerk

Background: Not much is known about Catherine’s early life in Liverpool, what her childhood might have been, where or how long she might have been educated. Her father was heavy drinker, so whatever money he made probably was spent on drink. One of her lovers, Wilfred Scawen-Blunt wrote in his diaries that Catherine’s mother died when she was four and that she had been sent to a convent school from which she had run away. Nor where she first learned to ride, one of the great passions of her life. One story is that she worked for a time as a bare-back rider in a traveling circus. Perhaps she saw one as a child and fell in love with the horses and wanted to ride. The most credible story is that she had access to the local stables and that she taught herself to ride by helping out in the stables and by exercising the horses.

For Catherine, riding was her entry into a better world than the one she came from. While other courtesans traded on their beauty, Catherine could outride and outhunt most men. Catherine appears not to have had the Victorian female aversion to sex, which boded well for her future profession. She was selective, choosing her lovers more because she enjoyed their company than for what they could do for her. She became the mistress of George, Lord Fitzwilliam at the age of 16. He set her up in London, when the relationship ended, he made her a generous settlement of £ 300 a year and a lump sum payment of £ 2,000. By this time she was known as ‘Skittles’ probably a reference to the fact that when she was young she worked setting up skittles in a local bowling alley, the Black Jack Tavern near the docks.

At the age of 19, she became the mistress of Spencer Compton Cavendish, Lord Hartington nicknamed ‘Harty-Tarty.’ He was the eldest son of one of the premiere Dukes in the kingdom, the 7^th Duke of Devonshire. A shy and immature young man of 26 when they met, he was to become a major figure in Liberal politics and was considered by many as Gladstone‘s natural successor. By 1859, when she was 20, she was installed in a lovely little house in Mayfair, horses with a life settlement of an annual sum of £ 500 which the family continued to pay even after Hartington‘s death in 1908. Her relationship with Hartington lasted about four years and seems to have been greatly affectionate on both sides. The greatest passion that she and Hartington shared, and the only one they were able to indulge in publicly together, was hunting. While her lover occupied himself with his duties in Parliament, Catherine had lessons with a governess.

Catherine is also said to have worked as one of the celebrated ‘horse-breakers’ who paraded in Hyde Park from the hours of 5 to 7, where she first attracted widespread attention. In 1861, the future poet laureate Alfred Austin wrote a poem entitled ‘The Season’ which mentioned Skittles by name. When the painting "The Shrew Tamed," by Edwin Landseer was exhibited in 1861, it was assumed that she was the model for the womanin the painting, although it was also claimed that it was a woman named Annie Gilbert. Skittles had arrived!

Her horsemanship, for which she was passionately admired for, meant that she found acceptance on the hunting field that she was denied in other social situations. Stories about her daring abound, both on and off the field. She once cleared the 18 foot water fence at the National Hunt Steeplechase, on a bet, after three other riders tried and failed. She won £ 100 for her efforts. While the men on the hunting field were accepting of her, their wives were another story. When she rode with the Quorn, the wife of the Master of the Quorn who was the Earl of Stamford, took exception to Catherine’s presence. This despite the fact that the Countess had been a gamekeeper’s daughter and possibly a circus performer. Catherine left with good grace, but she is supposed to have remarked, ‘Why does Lady Stamford give herself such airs? She’s not the Queen of our profession, I am.”

After her relationship with Hartington ended, Catherine decided to move to Paris during the 2^nd Empire of Napoleon III for a fresh start. Here she established herself as one of that select band of grandes cocottes. In Paris, rivals such as Cora Pearl, dyed their hair yellow or pink, entertained their paramours whilst lying in solid onyx bath tubs with taps of gold, and considered nakedness shameful only if one was not covered in diamonds. Catherine preferred to dress like a lady, she had a naturalness that must have seemed like a breath of fresh air in the hothouse atmosphere of Paris. “There was something special, very select and reminiscent of London and Hyde Park,” Zed wrote, When she appeared in the avenue de l’Imperatrice, driving herself with two beautiful sparkling pure-blooded horses, followed by two grooms on horseback in splendid and elegant uniform….every head turned, and all eyes were on her.”

One of her many admirers was the young diplomat and poet Wilfred Scawen Blunt (1840-1922) who was 23 when they met. Blunt fell deeply in love with her to the point of obsession. He was not her only lover which sent him into paroxysms of jealousy. The affair ended in a public scandal when the Ambassador to Paris, Lord Crowley discovered that while Blunt had been wooing his daughter Feodore to the point of being considered her ‘unofficial‘ fiancé, he’d been off sleeping with Skittles. Despite the family’s expectations, Blunt couldn’t bring himself to propose. Blunt was dismissed from his position at the embassy. After their relationship ended, Blunt never loved another woman the way that he loved Skittles. She was the inspiration for his narrative poem ‘Esther.’ When he married, he determined to marry for money, capturing the heart of Lady Anne King-Noel, the daughter of Ada, Countess of Lovelace and the granddaughter of Lord Byron. After several years, Blunt and Skittles resumed their friendship, corresponding until her death.

After the fall of the 2^nd Empire, Skittles returned to London, where she divided her time between hunting and entertaining at her Sunday afternoon tea parties, which were attended solely by men including the future Prime Minister William Gladstone. She also had a brief affair, with Bertie, the Prince of Wales. After their liaison ended, the Prince also paid her an allowance, and whenever she was ill, he sent his own doctor to attend her. Once when he thought she was dying, he sent his private secretary to collect and destroy over 300 hundred letters that he had sent her.

In 1872, Skittles moved to 15 South Street, Park Lane, which was to be her residence for the rest of her life. At a certain point in the 1880’s, she took up with Alexander Horatio Baillie. Although she called herself Mrs. Baillie for a time, they were probably never married. Her final love affair was with Gerald de Saumarez, who she had first met when he was a schoolboy of 16 and she was 40. When she died at the age of 81, she left her estate to him. In her later years, she became something of a recluse. Crippled by arthritis in her later years, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage on August 5, 1920. She’s buried in the Franciscan monastery in Sussex. Her estate was worth £2764 19s. 6d at her death.

Sources:

Henry Blyth: Skittles: the last Victorian courtesan, Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1970

Katie Hickman: Courtesans, Harper Collins, 2003

Cyril Pearl: The girl with the Swansdown Seat, Frederick Muller Ltd. London, 1955

Secret Service Makes Way for Ducklings (Video)

Watch Rachel Maddow tell the story better.

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Trayvon Martin's Parents to Meet With Justice Dept. Before Sanford Rally

The petition calling for the arrest of Trayvon Martin's murderer has amassed more than one million signatures. Sign it here. Amazingly, the shooter has still not been arrested:

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a black teen fatally shot by a neighborhood watch captain will meet with U.S. Justice Department officials hours before a rally expected to draw thousands of protesters.

Million Hoodie March in NY Photos

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John Edwards Named in Prostitution Sting

This should surprise no one:

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) allegedly paid to have sex with a call girl working for a high-end Manhattan prostitution ring, according to a report from DNAinfo.

The alleged encounter took place while Edwards was raising money in New York for his failed presidential bid in 2007, and was arranged by a campaign aide...Edwards, who was Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) vice presidential running mate on the 2004 Democratic ticket, is the first name to leak from the alleged madam’s “black book.”

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Tennessee Passes Anti-Evolution Bill. In Other Words, GOP Is In Charge.

Once again, Tennessee is in the national laughingstock news. Pity the children:

The Senate voted 24-8 for HB368, which sponsor Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, says will provide guidelines for teachers answering students’ questions about evolution, global warming and other scientific subjects. Critics call it a “monkey bill” that promotes creationism in classrooms.

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Wife-Beating Tennessee Lawmaker Should Resign, Obviously (Video)

Rep. David Hawk (R) plans to continue his job as lawmaker, here in Nashville, when he isn't busy breaking the law or beating his wife. Hawk was arrested for domestic violence Sunday, and his wife has the bruises to prove it.


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Tennessee Abortion Bill Would Make Doctors' Names Public & 'Out' Women Who Have Abortions

And the GOP War on Women never quits. What a freaking tyrannical state government Tennessee GOP lawmakers are striving for! If this nightmare bill (House Bill 3808) becomes law, some of the armed and dangerous gun nuts in this state, or in any other state, may well decide to kill some abortion doctors. The despicable lawmaker - Matthew Hill -responsible for this bill also hopes to publish enough information about Tennessee women who have abortions to make the identities of some women known:

Doctors who perform abortions in Tennessee could see their names listed online, and women who undergo the procedures could be unintentionally identified under a bill pending in the state legislature.

The Life Defense Act contains two parts. The first would require doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital near where they perform abortions, while the second would require the Department of Health to release more information on abortions, including the name of the doctor who performed the procedure and demographics about the women who receive them...

The bill would require the publication of data — including the age, race, education and number of children — of women who receive abortions. The Department of Health reports such information, but it aggregates the data by region, making it impossible for others to figure out who underwent an abortion procedure...the bill .. requires the Department of Health to release patient data broken down by county. Critics say that could reveal the identities of some women who receive abortions, particularly in small, rural communities.

LA Times: Tennessee abortion bill would require publishing names of doctors
Jezebel: Law That Gives Away Identities of Women Having Abortions Couldn’t Possibly Backfire
Think Progress: Tennessee Bill May Expose Identities Of Women Seeking Abortions
Firedoglake: Proposed Tennessee Law Would ID Abortion Providers, Give Patient Information
Alan Colmes: Tennessee Bill Would Identify Doctors Who Perform Abortions And Could Identify Women Who Have Them

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Sign the Petition: 'Prosecute the killer of our son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin' (Video)

This is such a heart-breaking and outrageous story. Florida now has the reptile-brain honor of being the Vigilante Capital of the Nation.

Sign the petition.

One of his teachers called him "extremely creative" and said that he majored in cheerfulness. But the high school junior's dreams are no more. Martin, 17, is dead. -- The Trayvon Martin Tragedy


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Scott Brown: Rick Santorum's Protection Plan (Video)

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GOP Race May Be Decided by A Floor Fight

And the prospect of a GOP floor fight is positively delightful. C'mon Santorum:

CHICAGO — For the first time in a generation, Republicans are preparing for the possibility that their presidential nomination could be decided at their national convention rather than on the campaign trail, a prospect that would upend one of the rituals of modern politics...

In that case, the nomination would be decided by the more than 2,200 delegates — from obscure local officials and activists to national figures — who will attend the party’s convention in Tampa, Fla., in late August.

They would embark on an unscripted, contentious and televised drama that has not played out in 36 years, a period in which both major party conventions have become slickly produced and highly choreographed pep rallies kicking off the general election campaign.

Polling shows Romney, Santorum poised to split upcoming contests

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Tennessee Lawmakers Want to Slaughter Horses: Action Needed!

If Tennessee lawmakers have their way, the state will become the only state in the U.S., to be in the horse meat business. Please contact the meat-hungry fools and tell them Tennessee is better than that:

Legislation is pending in Tennessee to allow horse slaughter plants to operate within the state—and to deny regular citizens their right to challenge such facilities in court! Unless citizens object now, horse slaughter plants may soon be a reality.

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Feminist Quote of the Day

“People say there are not enough qualified women [to run for office], that’s one of the biggest bullshit things I’ve ever heard.”

—Madeleine Albright
Women in the World Summit: Most Memorable Quotes

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GOP War On Women (Video)

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Maureen Dowd: Women Need President Hillary In 2016

Maureen has come a long way since 2008:

"Women have watched a chilling cascade of efforts in Congress and a succession of states to turn women into chattel, to shame them about sex and curb their reproductive rights. They’ve seen the craven response of G.O.P. candidates after Limbaugh branded a law student wanting insurance coverage for birth control pills, commonplace for almost five decades, as a “prostitute” and “slut.” ...

“Women who assumed that electing Obama would lift all minority boats are beginning to think: Maybe he’s not enough. If the desire of these conservative male leaders to yoke women is this close to the surface, if they are perversely driven to debase women even though it could lead to their own political demise, then women may require more than Obama. If women are so vulnerable, they may need one of their own.”

And:

'Game Change' authors: Hillary Clinton in '16: “Game Change” co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann both predicted Wednesday that there was a high probability that Hillary Clinton would run for president in 2016.

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Wannabe Taliban Dictator Romney: 'We're Gonna Get Rid of Planned Parenthood'

Most Republicans want to stop public funds from going to Planned Parenthood. Not Mitt Romney. Romney plans to shut down or "get rid of" the private organization.


"Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that." -- Mitt Romney

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140 Companies Drop Rush Limbaugh

Think Progress has a list of the sane companies:

ThinkProgress has obtained an internal memo from Premiere Radio Networks listing 96 national companies that have “specifically asked” their advertisments not be played during the Rush Limbaugh Show. Premiere is the distributor of Limbaugh’s program. The advertisers have also requested to be excluded from other right-wing hosts including Michael Savage, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. According to the memo, the listed companies’ advertisements should be excluded from these programs because they have been “deemed to be offensive.” ...

Previously, ThinkProgress has reported that 50 companies requested their advertising be pulled from the Rush Limbaugh show following his sexist attacks on Sandra Fluke. The publication of the memo adds an additional 91 companies to the list of companies that have dropped Limbaugh.

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