Jezebel: tom vilsack

Female Nominees Continue To Face Scrutiny Over Their Size, Weight

Megan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT

No sooner did Barack Obama nominate Dr. Regina Benjamin to be the next Surgeon General than people started talking about whether her weight should disqualify her from public office.

Francis Kissling in Salon, at least, writes with some sense about this bullshit.

The only problem seems to be that some people think the face is too fat.
From her photos, it appears that Dr. Benjamin will need a generous size 18 military uniform. The anti-fat brigade, who have argued about her BMI and whether or not the term obese applies, wonder if a country plagued by obesity should have an above average-weight woman speaking to public health.

For me the answer is a resounding yes. This country is full of above-average weight women and children struggling for dignity as well as to lose weight. Achieving either of these is not easy. (Never mind that none of these criticisms have mentioned any actual health concerns Benjamin might or might not have, instead presuming "obesity" as a catch-all for bad health.)

In fact, despite the fact that the entire "theory" undermining the BMI measurement system has been proven to be ineffective for any real determination of unhealthy weight and that it's been shown to be disproportionately ineffective for African-American women in particular, people have looked at Regina Benjamin, determined her to be bigger than some predetermined physical ideal, assumed that means she has a high BMI, assumed that BMI (despite its known biases) is some indicator of health and thus made the determination that, despite her vast qualifications, we shouldn't have anyone who doesn't embody some bullshit ideal of physical imperfection helming an department that deals with health issues.

If I hadn't already heard this about Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan — again today, even, about Sotomayor! — I guess I'd be a little less disinclined to immediately roll my eyes and think it sexist and sizeist. But not one of these assholes said a god damned thing when Obama nominated former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to head the Department of Agriculture, despite his oversight over: the food pyramid; agricultural subsidies that go heavily to grains and hardly at all to fruits and vegetables; the school lunch program, food stamps, WIC programs and the lists of foodstuffs that comprise what the poor are able to eat; and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Nobody piped up when he nominated non-skinny former Congressman Ray LaHood to head the Department of Transportation, who has since become the face of an agency that provides oversight over the roads that make sure most Americans need do little more than walk from their buildings to cars and back again. And goodness knows none of these concern-trolling assholes had a word to say when Larry Summers was appointed to lead the National Economic Council, whose remit includes agriculture, health care, Social Security and labor issues. Google any of their names and the acronym BMI and you're more likely to read about the airline than weight — and any of the stories about weight aren't about theirs.

Just so long as I'm clear on the double standard: if you're a (potentially) overweight man whose job involves issues related to weight, you get a pass. If you're a woman, people feel inclined to debate your bodytype ad infinitum, even if your job has nothing to do with health issues (like being a Supreme Court justice). Glass ceilings, indeed.

Is Regina Benjamin Too Fat To Be Surgeon General? [Salon]

Earlier: Obama's Surgeon General Pick Made Sacrifices to Treat Poor
Women Too Stupid To Stay Thin Are Not Smart Enough For Supreme Court
Why Sexist Larry Summers Shouldn't Get A Cabinet Slot

Obama — Not You — Is The Person Of The Year

Megan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST

In the midst of the hour, Time (unsurprisingly) announced that Barack Obama was its Person of the Year. Ana Marie Cox and I aren't mad, though, we swear!

MEGAN: Morning!

ANA MARIE: Hi! Pretend confrontational interview with Ax on Morning Joe (yes, i'm watching). Joe thinks he's the only person in the world who understands the depth of the Obama-Blago relationship

MEGAN: More confrontation than Frank Gaffney and Chris Matthews last night? Because that was sort of awesome.

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

ANA MARIE: Oh I missed that! And I said, "pretend confrontational." Pretend mostly because I don't think Axelrod DOES "confrontational." You can't confront the Stay-Puft marshmallow man

MEGAN: Joe understands a lot about the depth of relationship that can develop between two men, especially when one of them has feathered hair.

ANA MARIE: I'm sad that Blago broke when it did because I want an excuse to wear that hair and I think Halloween is the only appropriate time.

MEGAN: It's really not Christmas Mass hair, I agree.

ANA MARIE: It IS "mass hair," however. I'm looking over this Alec Baldwin piece, btw. Now, that's a blogger! Sarcasm, relentlessly personal, all that's missing is Caturday.

MEGAN: Oh, poor Alex! People are mean to him because he doesn't like Caroline Kennedy.

ANA MARIE: All the exclamation points!

MEGAN: Alex Baldwin speaks exclusively in exclamation points.

ANA MARIE: So I guess all it takes for a member of a political dynasty to become a senator is to simply imply interest. Or maybe that's the definition of dynasty! Hillary Clinton so pissed that one spouse in office doesn't equal dynasty. Though she has been classy about it. Just staying the fuck out of the way, I mean. OMG BARACK OBAMA PERSON OF THE YEAR KNOCK ME OVER WITH A FEATHER. I love that even Meredith Vieira couldn't restrain her lack of surprise on the Today show when Rick Stengel came on to announce.

MEGAN: Yeah, it's quite surprising.

ANA MARIE: POY may have jumped the shark with you and I winning a couple of years ago, but I think now they should retire it because, I mean seriously, they're just going to keep giving it to him.

MEGAN: I think they jumped the shark years ago when they stopped giving it to people.

ANA MARIE: And instead to abstract ideas?

MEGAN: Exactly. Since when is an abstract idea a person?

ANA MARIE: Speaking of which I was hoping that they'd give it to "collateralized debt obligations"! That would be sexy hot.

MEGAN: Those have done more to American than Barack Obama. He's just the first African-American to be elected President. Collateralized debt obligations caused a recession, a housing crisis and, potentially, the bankruptcy of the American automakers.

ANA MARIE: And, you know, helped get Barack Obama elected!

MEGAN: Anyway, speaking of Barack, what do you think about Ken Salazar going to Interior or Tom Vilsack headed to Ag?

ANA MARIE: I think Vilsack is happy to get a ticket out of Iowa. Salazar we heart because he once called James Dobson the anti-Christ but he's not super, like, enviro-guy.

MEGAN: Well, it is Interior. He's gotta be better than anyone up in there right now.

ANA MARIE: He doesn't, like, throw Big Mac wrappers out of his SUV while driving over endangered owls for fun or anything. I don't think.

MEGAN: Side note: I irrationally hate anyone who litters. It drives me apeshit.

ANA MARIE: As we know, in any case, the current Interior Department has/had a much more interesting idea of "fun!"

MEGAN: Well, drug use and boning for the employees, shooting and snowmobiling for the peons!

ANA MARIE: Snow-MACHINING. Though, seriously, I'm glad I did not have to rape the English language by having to use that term like we'd have to if Sarah Palin was in the White House.

MEGAN: By the way, as this is possibly the most important inaugural news, last call during the inauguration will be 4 am, but restaurants can serve all night.

ANA MARIE: THEY ROLLED IT BACK FROM FIVE????? On MS just now? The newsreader teased, "AND Person of the Year... it's no big shocker, but we'll show it to ya." And yes, I'm excited about the late night binge drinking. Though I think I'm just going to barricade myself in the house for the week.

MEGAN: I am incredibly tempted to barricade myself, although I'm thankful it's only 3 days instead of 4 or 5.

ANA MARIE: Small favors. It's going to be insane. I signed up for "alerts" on the change.gov website yesterday and it took like 15 minutes for the page to load. And I think a 15-to-1 increase in wait time seems about right for basically every activity that happens during those days.

MEGAN: I think insane is going to be an understatement. Cell phones aren't going to work, people are going to be packed into the Mall like sardines, and no one's going to be able to see anything. Plus it's going to be fucking cold.

ANA MARIE: And I am really worried about the Porta Potty situation.

MEGAN: Bring your own bucket, people!

ANA MARIE: On visitors' behalf. Like I said, I'll be locked inside. With a flush toilet.

MEGAN: You know they aren't getting cleaned out on Monday because it's a holiday, so it'll be a whole weekend's worth of tourist shit. It's not going to be pleasant.

ANA MARIE: Okay, we need a unicorn chaser.

MEGAN: How about more Charlie Rangel shadiness?

ANA MARIE: That's just a sleazy fat man chaser. Might as well just contemplate Blago's brush.

MEGAN: See, that's interesting, because given the feathering, I would have guessed horse hair for his brush.

ANA MARIE: It's not the tools, it's the carpenter. And on that note....

MEGAN: I mean, how long do you think he spends doing his hair? Longer than me, certainly. I assume longer than you even.

ANA MARIE: Have you seen my hair? Yeah, he takes longer.

MEGAN: Your hair is cute, though. So, I think we can agree that Blago overthinks his hair.

ANA MARIE: Oh, and here's the right note end on. Now THAT is a unicorn chaser.

More Transitions: Everyone From Obama To Alan Colmes To Citibank Is Changing

Megan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:30:00 EST

Barack Obama made it official with Tim Geithner today, announcing that he will nominate Geither to the Treasury Department. Former Treasury Secretary Larry "Math Is Hard For Girls" Summers is headed to the top of the White House Economic Council and Berkeley economics professor Christina Romer will head the Council of Economic Advisers. Betcha she does math pretty well. [NY Times]
Former Joe Biden aide Ted Kaufman has been appointed to fill Biden's Senate seat for two years, at which point everyone in the state assumes he'll quietly step down and let the currently-deployed Beau Biden run for it. [Associated Press]
Susan Rice, who most people thought was about to get dicked over when it leaked that Jim Jones will head the National Security Council, is actually in the running to be our Ambassador to the U.N. [Washington Independent]
Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack swears he's not in the running to be Secretary of Agriculture. [Washington Post]

Obama aide and transition co-chair Valerie Jarrett has her first graduation speech almost totally written, but it still makes her sound kind of like a cool woman to know. [NY Times]
Speaking of cool women, Moe Tkacik fucking breaks down the financial and auto industry crises, and you'll be smarter for reading it. [New York Magazine]
And now that she might not be running against one of them anymore, Republicans all just love Hillary Clinton. [The Daily Beast]
Alan Colmes is leaving Hannity and Colmes but not Fox News. Yeah, Hannity's feet really do smell that bad, but he's got a contract through 2012 so somebody is buying stock in Odor Eaters. [USA Today, Politico]
In the mean time, we're rescuing Citibank, and the Dow is going up but it's all only temporary because it's not the end of the financial fall-out anymore than today is the end of Alan Colmes. However, if you're a Citibank stockholder, it is the end of your dividends for three years. [NY Times, NY Times]