Great timing Megan. I just today decided to "get to know the White House staff", (even though I'm not American) and have made tentative searches on them all. Lots to read. Any chance of more write ups about the other women on the staff? That would be awesome.
Jarrett sounds amazing, but it was incredibly frustrating to read about how much typical white dude bullshit she faced within Obama's campaign. At least to me, the reasons Plouffe, Axelrod, and Emmanuel dislike her sound flimsy, even ridiculous, and more like sexist backlash than legitimate complaints. It's getting harder and harder to think of the Democrats as the better ones, or even as the lesser of two evils.
@somedisaster: I'm disappointed to hear there was some seeming sexist BS from Emmanuel. We were all touting him as so hawt earlier this year, and a real hard hitter as CoS.
@somedisaster: I definitely agree that those dudes came across as dicks. But I can also see being annoyed at the presence of a free agent who is accountable only to the top. Imagine if it were an article about a Bush staffer who goes wherever and does whatever to keep Bush in touch with the Texan mentality, I'd be ralphing and calling it a constitutional crisis.
@J.D.Regent: Oh, I can definitely hear your criticism. I just don't think that's the criticism that Plouffe and Emmanuel and Axelrod were making- especially when it comes to stuff like Emmanuel being peeved over something that seems ridiculously unimportant in the grand scheme of things, or Axelrod excluding her from his "hard core politics" meetings. Those seem more like sexist slights than legit criticisms of her lack of accountability. It might just be that I'm super sensitive about this kind of stuff, because it happens so fucking much.
Another thing to consider is that I think her unique position to remind Obama and his staff of the effect of public policy on women, POC, etc. supercedes any concern about her accountability. I have a hard time getting up in arms about her reporting only to Obama when she seems to be doing so much unequivocal good and making POC staffers feel so much more comfortable, because I think that's such an important function of any supposedly progressive presidency.
"Without Jarrett, these officials said they believed, their opinions and the often-legitimate concerns voiced by black leaders like Sharpton would have been thoroughly disregarded by the white-dominated senior staff. "There's a cultural nuance that they just didn't get,"
Things always seem to go back to the same, to the fact that there's a majority of people who simply can't conceive not only that there are paradigms and points of view other than their own (the standard), but that there are whole segments of the population who might feel uncomfortable with notions they deem harmless, uncomfort usually dismissed as "over-sensitivity". Nuances, indeed, that so many people can't or don't want to see.
I assume that said nuances play a big role in the feathers ruffled by Jarrett.
I'm waiting for someone, anyone, to loudly and forcefully tell these jerks that the business world as they knew it is over! No more overinflated salaries, expense accounts and stock options. No more making 300 times, or whatever that horrifying statistic is, as much as the lowliest of their workers. These people came of age with the Gordon Gekko "Wall Street" theory that "Greed is good" and I'm sorry, but look where it has gotten us. Pull your proverbial head out of your ass and get back to doing what America used to be known for, innovation and good solid business practices. Not accounting tricks that are so convoluted that most accountants don't understand them.
Enough! We have had enough!
This is an equal opportunity rant directed at the big three automakers, the banking industry, the mortgage industry, Wall Street and anyone else that is doing a damn piss poor job and screwing with our economy.
@CraftyBroad: Oh, and that also applies to the movie industry which keeps insisting on releasing films that are boring, awful or remakes of old TV shows. Is it too much to ask if we can get a film that is entertaining and fresh? Hmm?
@CraftyBroad: And sadly the theaters don't import enough of the more efficient, modern and innovative films from Japan. Maybe we need to trust bust Hollywood.
How about Rick Wagoner take a hit to his $9 million salary? The CEO of Toyota makes under $1 million. Hmmmm.......US Automakers FAIL.
(Disclaimer - and this is from a born and bred Michigan girl whose income until just recently was dependent on the sale of domestic vehicles. These assholes make me enraged!)
@Patsy_Stone: I have not heard one ceo say anything about their salaries. This really pisses me off too. If they really cared about the company they would either not take a salary or greatly reduce it.
@redvwbug: I've worked inside those glimmering towers on the Detroit River and I can assure you, everything there is bass-ackwards. It's like bizarro world where reason and intellect are replaced with ego and golf clubs. And while I understand the far reaching impact of not bailing these idiots out, if they don't have any accountability (or better yet, a nagging babysitter) we will be throwing money down the toilet.
@Patsy_Stone: Don't get me fucking started on the fucked-up logic of CEOs, no matter how large they think they are. When the company I worked for kept expenses tight, it was great; the second we're bought by some company with Segways, well, then we need to fly out to play softball or to give us a bonus that we really didn't earn.
The automakers cried in their single malt scotches in their limos on the way to the airports to take their private jets back to their luxurious mansions.
07/23/09
THIS is what a pitbull in lipstick looks like.
love,
Attila
07/23/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
Another thing to consider is that I think her unique position to remind Obama and his staff of the effect of public policy on women, POC, etc. supercedes any concern about her accountability. I have a hard time getting up in arms about her reporting only to Obama when she seems to be doing so much unequivocal good and making POC staffers feel so much more comfortable, because I think that's such an important function of any supposedly progressive presidency.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
Things always seem to go back to the same, to the fact that there's a majority of people who simply can't conceive not only that there are paradigms and points of view other than their own (the standard), but that there are whole segments of the population who might feel uncomfortable with notions they deem harmless, uncomfort usually dismissed as "over-sensitivity". Nuances, indeed, that so many people can't or don't want to see.
I assume that said nuances play a big role in the feathers ruffled by Jarrett.
07/22/09
07/22/09
11/21/08
11/21/08
Enough! We have had enough!
This is an equal opportunity rant directed at the big three automakers, the banking industry, the mortgage industry, Wall Street and anyone else that is doing a damn piss poor job and screwing with our economy.
11/21/08
11/21/08
11/20/08
11/20/08
(Disclaimer - and this is from a born and bred Michigan girl whose income until just recently was dependent on the sale of domestic vehicles. These assholes make me enraged!)
11/20/08
11/20/08
11/21/08
Awes.
11/20/08
11/20/08
11/20/08
Best.
11/20/08
Well ok, I just wanted an excuse to post that pic.
11/20/08
11/21/08