Today, the first day of the 116th Congress, is noteworthy not just because Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have taken back control of the House, where they’re already talking about things like addressing climate change, protecting those with preexisting conditions, and rebuilding the working class, but because a record number of Representatives in this year’s class are women. As Nancy Pelosi, our new Speaker of the House, noted earlier today, it’s been 100 years since women won the right to vote in America, but we’ve finally gotten to the point where over 100 women are serving in the House. Yes, as of today, there are 102 female U.S. House members, which is 15 more than at any other point since the founding of our nation. And a whopping 34.3% of these women are serving in the House for their first time. [In the Senate, there are now 25 women, which is also a record.]
And it’s not just that a record number of women have been elected… A lot of them also made history when they won their respective races. As CNBC reported, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Abby Finkenauer became the youngest women ever to serve in Congress. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar became the first Muslim-American women ever elected. Ayanna Pressley will be the first Black woman to represent Massachusetts. Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia will be the first Latinas to represent Texas. And Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland are the first Indigenous women ever elected to Congress.”
And, I think it’s worth noting, we have the Democratic Party to thank for every one of these historic firsts… Just check this out.
Total women in the U.S. House:
1989:
16 Democrats
13 Republicans2019:
89 Democrats
13 Republicans— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 3, 2019
That’s right. Wile Republicans are still sending the same number of women to the House that they did back in 1989, Democrats this year elected 89 women to serve as Representatives, including those women pictured at the top of this post; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Deb Haaland, Veronica Escobar, and Sharice Davids. While Republicans, it would seem, have a difficult time pulling the lever for women, perhaps believing that men are better suited to leadership, Democrats apparently have very little hesitation. And it’s not just that Democrats sent a record number of women Congress… They also sent women of color, and non-Christian women. [Democrats today were sworn in not just on the Christian Bible, but on the Muslim Quran, the Buddhist Sutra, and the Hindu Vera.]
And, no, I don’t think it was a coincidence that, last night, Tucker Carlson, on his Fox News show, was talking about how, when women are more successful than men, it leads to “more drug and alcohol abuse, higher incarceration rates, fewer families formed for the next generation.” There is a huge change taking place, folks, and you can be sure that it’s scaring the Republicans shitless. They know that their time is up. They know that that they pushed things too far, and there’s going to be a price to pay. They know that, even with their lying, fear mongering, voter suppression, gerrymandering, numerous propaganda channels, corporate cash, and blatant appeals to racism, they just can’t make it work any longer. They know that they’re fast coming to a point where they won’t be able to cobble together a winning coalition of corporatists, evangelicals and terrified racists, and that this post-#MeToo wave of female Representatives is just the first sign. Unfortunately, though, it’s not in their nature to just give up. And that’s why we need to keep sending Democrats, like the women we’re talking about right now, to Congress. Only when Congress truly reflects the people of American will the people of America have the leadership they deserve.
25 Comments
And the House is actually doing the work of the American people.
“Under new Democratic control, the House passed a plan to reopen the government. But the shutdown isn’t over. The Senate may not even vote on it.” -NYT
Get your facts straight. Us real American patriots DO support female candidates when they present themselves, and when there aren’t qualified male alternatives. Just look at the heroic and principled Susan Collins.
Meanwhile, in the conservative universe, they were up in arms yesterday over footage of a young Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez having the audacity to dance as a student at Boston University.
https://twitter.com/KaivanShroff/status/1080937623533834240
It does seem that dancing is related to looking good, feeling good and thinking right!
Hey, republicans don’t discriminate based on sex, only on whether you’re willing to sell out the very future of humanity to the oligarchs and biblical prophecy death cults.
I might add some dance moves to my work outs.
Impeach the mother fucker!
https://twitter.com/LevineJonathan/status/1081037086621339648
I adore that video of AOC dancing. It makes me incredibly happy.
My mom (formerly) GOP worked for decades to get better representation of women in Congress. She gave up after HRC’s loss and then it happened. Tipping points often feel like the end to those deep in any struggle. I don’t expect this to be the end. There will be resistance and maybe some steps backwards, but I expect fair representation across many demographics will soon become the norm. And it will be all good and will cost us nothing as a nation, like so many social justice objectives that have been realized historically.
You give the Democratic Party too much credit. How many of these new women were recruited and supported by the party? AOC and Ayanna Pressley, for example, both primaried highly senior white men who were backed by the Party. AOC did not take any Party money (I don’t know about Pressley) at all, which is handy, because when you take money from the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) you are then required to spend four hours of every working day calling donors for money once you get elected. So she will have 4 hours a day free to, you know, actually do the job we pay her to do.
Does anyone believe that women will vote for what is best for all persons, that is both sexes, or is it assumed that identity politics require that you can only vote in accordance with the group you identify with? Can an individual make an intellectual choice separate from the group society or culture places them in?
In the past, when there were only white men in elected office, did they not have a dichotomy of viewpoints? Some were for big government while others wanted less. Some wanted more guns, others advocated for more butter, etc. When did thinking for oneself go out of favor?
OK, EOS, let’s say you’re right, and there just aren’t very many qualified women running as Republicans. Why do you think that is?
EOS– The idea of equal representation is a fairly basic one and the reason for the founding of our country. If white men represented all interests well there would be no identity politics. And yes, that’s just one factor in most people’s decision-making process. (duh) Given that you are largely a single issue voter, I don’t think you have a hook to hang your hat on in the argument of making balanced voting choices beyond ideology. If the GOP weren’t idiots they’d start figuring out how to attract POC , LGBTQ people, people with diabilities and women rather than repelling them– as a political strategy if nothing else.
Whether my representative is male or female, black or white, I still expect them to represent my issues. The GOP attracts POC, women, and persons with disabilities. Allan Keyes, Elizabeth Dole, and John McCain immediately come to mind. And let’s not forget Kanye. But the difference is those persons don’t vote in accordance with identity politics. Keyes was pro-life and against affirmative action, Dole was pro-life, and McCain didn’t focus on disability issues. They each considered each issue and voted according to their conscious.
Women have played a key role in the Republican Party since its establishment in 1854.
http://www.nfrw.org/women This site lists 6 Senators, 25 Representatives and 6 Governor/Lt. Governor who are Republican women.
Why do you think that Democrats focus so much more on identity and enforcing collectivist agendas. For example, why couldn’t a woman Democrat vote pro-life or a Black Democrat vote against affirmative action. If that happened, many would explode in anger.
My question is why does it seem that Democrats cannot tolerate diversity of opinions? The Republicans seem to be more tolerant. I don’t vote pro-abortion, but there are Republicans who do.
“My question is why does it seem that Democrats cannot tolerate diversity of opinions? The Republicans seem to be more tolerant. I don’t vote pro-abortion, but there are Republicans who do.”
lol. close the comments section for god’s sake. people are actually getting dumber by talking to each other.
“OMG, these people are like so stupid.”–kjc
What do you think FF? Are Democrats more conformist and Republicans more intellectual?
I do not think gender is as important as a representative’s policy positions–they are after all defining and shaping the country through their work. Congress has not changed much in regard to ideology.
1989
400 Neoliberal
20 Conservative
10 Progressive
5 miscellaneous (Independent, Green (?), Natural Law, Libertarian
2019
400 Neoliberal
30 Conservative
5 progressive
And then there is this…..
New post on Caitlin Johnstone
Equality Triumphs! Women Now Lead World In Clubbing Baby Seals
by Caitlin Johnstone
Today’s Caitlin Johnstone article has been replaced with a breaking news story by the National News Conglomerate. NNC: Obey.
Move over, fellas! The seal fur industry has a new set of industrious cutting-edge leaders, and baby, they wear heels to the office.
In what is being hailed as yet another major advancement for gender equality following women’s recent rise to the top of both the military-industrial complex and the CIA, new data indicates that for the first time in history women comprise the majority of seal fur employees paid to bash baby seals in the head with clubs to sell their hides, and four out of the top five CEOs in the industry are female.
“We’re not riding in the passenger seat anymore, sisters!” exclaimed Adrianna VanHoven at a recent conference where she was named Chief Executive Officer of leading seal fur exporter KlitchCo Furs, adding, “I am thrilled to be part of an exciting movement towards true gender equality where anyone, whether they identify as male, female or non-binary, can pick up a club and bash an infant seal right in the fucking face for money.”
“Yaaaaass queen!” tweeted Senator Elizabeth Warren in response to VanHoven’s speech, with a picture of herself holding an unopened bottle of beer to her lips.
All three CIA directorates will now be headed by women https://t.co/hKzlQaVpOu
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) January 5, 2019
The military-industrial complex is now run by women. https://t.co/Ppa32f9hUO
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 3, 2019
“We’re seeing an environment where women are able to rise to the top in any field, so long as they’re just as willing to export weapons, stage coups, and club as many baby seals in the head as their male counterparts,” said Karen Plum, professor of gender studies at UC Berkeley. “As the public becomes comfortable with the fact that women are just as capable of ending life for profit as men are, we’re seeing a corresponding rapid emergence of a new paradigm in which gender inequality is becoming a thing of the past.
EOS,
In my opinion, the average Democrat, at this point in time, has a soul that is so possessed by ideology that they need a kind of exorcism, or some other drastic and desperate measure, because thinking through anything is not possible for them now….
FF you’re really that disturbed that the Democrats have elected so many women?
Is electing women conformity and electing men a vote for intellectualism?
Where did you get that idea, Sad?
I vote without regard for a candidates race or gender.
FF, such as? Re-education camps?
Anyone who takes the bible literally should be declared insane and stripped of voting rights. Using a fantasy story as the foundation of modern governance is the greatest threat humanity has yet faced.
Hillary is the one who said it’s time to have camp for adults. People like you who try to instigate a race war should simply be ignored. No need for “camp.” If you actually cause violence then they should throw the book at you. No need I think because people who think like you will simply fade in the light.
JB I was using hyperbole in the hope that provoking shame would serve as motivation. (It might be a misguided tactic I know.)
Insofar as we are critical thinkers we all enter into a process of self-imposed de-programming on a daily and moment to moment basis. It sounds like you have stumbled onto a program that you like a lot. I guess I would be inclined to advise you to proceed with more caution :)
Anyway, you seem to have very strong views regarding the rights of people who believe in what you seem to think are religious fantasies. Does your being in favor of stripping of rights apply to just our religious christian citizens who tend to be Republicans? Or, for example, in your view, does a country lose its legitimacy when it is based on theocratic principles? What in your opinion do you think we, as a more secular country, should do with those less secular middle-eastern theocracies? More bombing? Why or Why not?
Bummer, I circled back here tonight because I was really looking forward to hearing more about John Brown’s Utopia. No luck though. Buying ammo and sedition are time consuming activities, I suppose.
Oh, this sister is doing it for herself alright.
From Daily Mail:
Ilhan Omar under investigation for using $6,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including payments to her divorce attorney and for travel to Boston and Estonia
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6875429/Ilhan-Omar-investigation-using-6-000-campaign-funds-personal-use.html