UConn Women's Basketball Team Sets Record

Congratulations to the University of Conneticut's women's basketball team! For what, you might ask? Well, it's hard for the media to ignore a 89-game winning streak!

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, never at a loss for words, was close Tuesday night.

"It's pretty amazing. It really is," he said.

No exaggeration there.

His No. 1-ranked Huskies topped the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden's UCLA men's team from 1971-74, beating No. 22 Florida State 93-62. Playing with the relentlessness that has become its trademark - and would have made Wooden proud - UConn blew past the Seminoles as it has so many other teams in the last 2 1/2 years. [...]

It is one more chapter of history for UConn, and perhaps the grandest.

Asked what he would recall from the incredible run, Auriemma mentioned a pair of experienced stars on this team: ``I'll probably remember Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes. And how incredibly difficult it is to play that many games in a row and win 'em all.''

Connecticut long ago established itself as the marquee program in the women's game, the benchmark by which all others are measured. The Huskies already own seven national titles and four perfect seasons under Auriemma, and they've produced a galaxy of stars that includes Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Jennifer Rizzotti, Sue Bird and Tina Charles.

The streak, though, takes it to another level, certainly raising the profile of women's basketball and maybe all of women's athletics.

Two days after beating No. 11 Ohio State to tie UCLA, UConn toppled the mark in front of a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the XL Center that included Wooden's grandson, Greg, attending his first women's game.

"My grandfather would have been thrilled. He would have been absolutely thrilled to see his streak broken by a women's basketball team," the 47-year-old Wooden said.  "He thought, especially in the last 10 years, that the best basketball was played at the collegiate level - and it wasn't by the men."

John Wooden was 99 when he died on June 4. [...]

During his postgame news conference, Auriemma took a congratulatory phone call from President Barack Obama.

"Mr. President I really appreciate that. It's an incredible thing that these kids have done and we owe you a little bit of gratitude. That lesson you gave on the White House basketball court really paid off. I appreciate you doing that for them," Auriemma said. "We have not lost since you have been inaugurated and how 'bout we keep that streak going for a couple of more years, huh?"

This incredible team has now set the standard.

The excellence and confidence that defines great teams defines this one because Auriemma won't have it any other way. Perfection is expected, not simply a goal, and Auriemma goes to extraordinary lengths to get it.

He goads his players with criticisms of their games - sarcastic remarks that may strike outsiders as harsh but somehow trigger just the right response with gusto. He makes them play games of seven-on-five in practice. He rounds up bigger, stronger male students around campus to serve as practice players. He runs endless drills to hone skills the players thought they had mastered in junior high.

It hardly seems to matter who is on the floor because UConn players don't wear names on the back of their uniforms. The only one that counts is the one on the front.

When UConn - led by Taurasi - won 70 straight games from 2001-03, a record in the women's game, it seemed unfathomable that it would be toppled, like UCLA's 88. But what fans have learned over the years is that nothing this team does should be surprising.

Congratulations, and here's to 89 more!

Helen Mirren Stands Up for Women

Television Characters Women Want

My friend Jennifer Posner, appearing on Today, talks about what kind of female characters women want to watch.

Remember the Women this Labor Day

Happy Women's Equality Day

90 years, and counting!

Baldwin Boogies with Wonder Woman

Dispelling the myth that DC politicians are drab and boring, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Wonder Woman get down at Wisconsin's Capitol Pride rally over the weekend.

Christiane Amanpour a breath of fresh air

When ABC announced that Christiane Amanpour would take over the helm of “This Week” I thought “finally, an intelligent voice leading the debate on Sunday mornings.” The programs this weekend validated my opinion.

Instead of feeding the flames of religious bigotry regarding a proposed Islamic Center in New York City, Amanpour interviewed Daisy Khan and Joy Levitt (see below).

By contrast, David Gregory’s coverage of the issue featured interviews with Sen. Mitch McConnell, former Rep. Dick Armey, and the Republican candidate for NY governor former Rep. Rick Lazio. No wonder there is such hatred of Muslims with this kind of garbage being offered. Gregory should send Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) flowers for agreeing to appear on this train wreck.

In Memoriam – Dr. Dorothy Height

We have lost a legendary figure in the civil rights movement with the passing of Dr. Dorothy Height. For more than six decades Dr. Height was at the center of the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Dr. Height, and to hear her speak.

Dorothy I. Height, 98, a founding matriarch of the American civil rights movement whose crusade for racial justice and gender equality spanned more than six decades, died early Tuesday morning of natural causes, a spokesperson for the National Council of Negro Women said.

Ms. Height was among the coalition of African American leaders who pushed civil rights to the center of the American political stage after World War II, and she was a key figure in the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations in the 1950s and 1960s. [...]

Ms. Height was president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years, relinquishing the title in 1997. The 4 million-member advocacy group consists of 34 national and 250 community-based organizations. It was founded in 1935 by educator Mary McLeod Bethune, who was one of Ms. Height's mentors.

As a civil rights activist, Ms. Height participated in protests in Harlem during the 1930s. In the 1940s, she lobbied first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of civil rights causes. And in the 1950s, she prodded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to move more aggressively on school desegregation issues. In 1994, Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

In a statement issued by the White House, President Obama called Height "the godmother of the Civil Rights Movement and a hero to so many Americans."

"Dr. Height devoted her life to those struggling for equality . . . witnessing every march and milestone along the way," Obama said. "And even in the final weeks of her life -- a time when anyone else would have enjoyed their well-earned rest -- Dr. Height continued her fight to make our nation a more open and inclusive place for people of every race, gender, background and faith."

In the turmoil of the civil rights struggles in the 1960s, Ms. Height helped orchestrate strategy with movement leaders including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, Whitney Young, James Farmer, Bayard Rustin and John Lewis, who later served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia.

Ms. Height was arguably the most influential woman at the top levels of civil rights leadership, but she never drew the major media attention that conferred celebrity and instant recognition on some of the other civil rights leaders of her time.

In August 1963, Ms. Height was on the platform with King when he delivered his "I have a dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. But she would say later that she was disappointed that no one advocating women's rights spoke that day at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Less than a month later, at King's request, she went to Birmingham, Ala., to minister to the families of four black girls who had died in a church bombing linked to the racial strife that had engulfed the city.

"At every major effort for social progressive change, Dorothy Height has been there," Lewis said in 1997 when Ms. Height announced her retirement as president of the National Council of Negro Women.

Dr. Height was a champion for women's rights before the second wave of the women's rights movement began in the U.S.

She was . . . energetic in her efforts to overcome gender bias, and much of that work predated the women's rights movement. When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, Ms. Height was among those invited to the White House to witness the ceremony. She returned to the White House in 1998 for a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of that legislation to hear Clinton urge passage of additional laws aimed at equalizing pay for men and women.

"Dorothy Height deserves credit for helping black women understand that you had to be feminist at the same time you were African . . . that you had to play more than one role in the empowerment of black people," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) once said.

Thank you Dr. Height for the inspirational leadership you provided us.

Eve Ensler: Embrace Your Inner Girl

Ugh ...

By now everyone must know the Dems lost the special election for Sen. Kennedy's seat. I think there is much merrit in what Peter Daou and Jeanne Cummings and Erika Lovely had to say.

Liberal Bloggers to Obama and Dems: We Told You So
Peter Daou.Political consultant, former adviser to Hillary Clinton
January 19, 2010 09:08 PM

Women ponder Mass. glass ceiling
By Jeanne Cummings & Erika Lovely | 1/19/10 8:35 PM EST

Or, maybe Jon Steward had it right the night before when he made these comments:

What color is your bra?

By the end of this week women, and some men, were posting just a color in their status update ... white, beige, black, blue ... none. What did it mean? It didn't take long to figure out it was the bra color of the woman posting.

It's unknown who started this "campaign" but the end result was that for at least a day, people on Facebook were talking about breast cancer.

The world awoke Friday to discover that Davi’s bra is black. Janet’s is blue with bows. Kim’s is pink. And Susan’s is a “decadent beige.”

The colors were, at first at least, somewhat mystifyingly posted on thousands upon thousands of Facebook pages as their status updates, without any context. Just colors. “White .. for today anyway!” wrote Kerri.

By midday, the color craze had gone viral on the Internet and around the globe, as had the word that the colors were really bra colors. Almost immediately, cyber-arguments erupted about what it all meant. The blogosphere went wild. Was so openly and willingly posting something as intimate as one’s bra color an attempt to raise breast cancer awareness? Or was it all just another Facebook ‘send your friend a snowball’ or ‘take your celebrity boyfriend quiz’ silly game? A meme?

Whatever it is, its impact was immediate and dramatic: As bra colors went flying around the net, something strange happened at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. After two years of intensive efforts to boost its profile through social networking, hiring two full-time people to do solely that, within two hours Friday morning, their fan base on Facebook exploded from 135 to 700.

But it can't stop there. We must commit everyday to doing all we can to stop breast cancer, and all the other forms of cancer that have killed so many people we love.

The first thing you can do is take preventative measures. Have that mammogram, lower the fat content in your diet, stop smoking. Don't do it as a New Years Resolution that will be broken almost as quickly as it took to utter the words. Make a commitment.

Urge friends and family to do the same.

I'm sure there's more we can do ... post your ideas below.

Must Reads on Health Care Non-Reform

Am I Angrier at Bart Stupak or Barack Obama
from PunditMom


Obama Refuses to Stand Up for Women
from Shakesville


NOW's Terry O'Neill: "Hillary Clinton Would Have Fought for Our Rights"
from Tennessee Gureilla Women

A Woman's Nation

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

Takes a long time to load, but is worth a listen.

Memorial Day Means Indy 500 Racing

When you grow up in Indiana there are two things that are a must to like -- basketball and the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The fanfare and traditions surrounding the start of the race are fun to watch. And for the past 30-plus years it's also been fun to watch women enter what for decades was an all-male sport.

Janet Guthrie was the first woman to break the glass ceiling in Indy-car racing. Vastly underfunded compared to the men, she held her own for three seasons, with her best Indianapolis 500 finish being 9th place in 1978. Guthrie raced from 1977 to 1979.

Desire Wilson passed Indianapolis 500 driver’s test on May 11, 1982, but failed to qualify for the race.

Lyn St. James raced at Indy from 1992 to 1997, and again in 2000. Her best start was from the 6th position in 1994. And her best finish was 11th, in 1992.

Sarah Fisher was the next woman to qualify for Indy, and is a fan favorite today. Fisher raced in 2000 to 2004, and from 2007 to today. Like other women before her, Sarah has not had the same access to money so needed to be a real competitor at the Indy 500. Race cars and teams cost millions of dollars, and women have traditionally had a hard time getting sponsorship.

And in fairness to these pioneers, Indy hasn't been all that kind to women who wanted to race. Janet Guthrie faced outright hostility from male drivers. And even the Hulman family didn't seem to know what to do with the "lady" driver.

And then along came Danica Patrick.

Indy car racing was in a bit of a decline, and Danica is hot. Not only is she a great driver, but she possess the sex appeal that was sure to bring the fans -- read men -- back to the track.

Indy knew it, and so did Danica.

I must confess to mixed feelings about it all. Danica Patrick is a competitor, and the only way for her to have a chance at Indy was to have a sponsor with deep pockets. Advertisers could see right away that Danica would attract attention, so the courtship was on.

The big question to ask is would the sponsors stuck around had she not been such a good racer? But she is, having won an Indy-car race last year. Not the Indianapolis 500, but a competition in Japan.

Danica has milked her appeal for all it's worth -- often striking a pose that seems more fitting for Playboy than for a race car driver.

Even going after the lesbian fantisy crowd. So what do you think of Danica Patrick's path to stardom?


------------

And I can't post something about the 2009 Indianapolis 500 without mentioning my admiration for Alex Lloyd. Lloyd is driving a pink race car, with word "her" in large letters. Now THAT's a guy secure in his masculinity!

A comment next to Lloyd's photo on the official Indy 500 web site says: "Pink is the new black! Get use to it, all you macho Pink-o-phobes, PINK, PINK, is here to stay!!"

What Pink Lloyd DOESN'T know at the moment is that his wife, who is expecting a baby (due today) is having contractions. She told an ABC sports reporter the team has decided not to let him know until after the race is over.

Best wishes for a healthy baby ... and a good race!

How Concerned Are You?

A recent Gallup Poll indicates that more people call themselves "pro-life" than "pro-choice." Should abortion rights activists be concerned?

A Gallup Poll released Friday found that 51 percent of Americans now call themselves pro-life rather than pro-choice on the issue of abortion, the first time a majority gave that answer in the 15 years that Gallup has asked the question.

The findings, obtained in an annual survey on values and beliefs conducted May 7-10, marked a significant shift from a year ago. A year ago, 50 percent said they were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life _ in the new poll, 42 percent said they were pro-choice.

The new survey showed that Americans remained deeply divided on the legality of abortion _ with 23 percent saying it should be illegal in all circumstances, 22 percent saying it should be legal under any circumstances, and 53 percent saying it should be legal only under certain circumstances.

The findings echoed a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center, which reported a sharp decline since last August in those saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases _ from 54 percent to 46 percent.

Taken together, the two polls have elated anti-abortion activists, who had been stung by the November election results that placed President Barack Obama and other abortion-rights supporters in power in Washington.

Do we really want to return to a time when abortion was illegal? Do we want women dying from botched back-alley abortions? We know that women facing and unplanned, unwanted pregnancy will seek an abortion.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards questioned the terminology in the Gallup questions, and had this to say:

"The terms pro-choice and pro-life no longer define the parameters of the debate, witnessed by the fact that in the Gallup Poll, a majority of people say they are both pro-life and that abortion should be legal," Richards said.

She added that most Americans share Obama's stated goal of reducing the number of unintended pregnancies.

Planned Parenthood also noted that another recent national survey, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp., poll in April, reported 49 percent of respondents identifying as pro-choice and 45 percent as pro-life.

And what does this say about the women's movement?

In the new poll, men identify as pro-life, 54 percent to 39 percent, while women also tilt pro-life 49 percent to 44 percent. A year ago, Gallup found more women calling themselves pro-choice than pro-life, by 50 percent to 43 percent, while men were more closely divided: 49 percent pro-choice, 46 percent pro-life.

Are we doing enough to educate young women about what it was like BEFORE Roe v. Wade?

You will find the polling data here. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Lingerie Football League ... good grief

The popularity of the WNBA tells us two things: 1) Women want to play team sports ... and are good at it! And, 2) Fans will pay to watch women playing team sports. WNBA players have become role models for little girls who want to be athletes. So the question I have is how does the LFL fit in?

The quick answer is, it doesn't!


What message is this sending to young women and girls?

During a report on the NBC station in DC tonight, one of the players said she didn't have a problem with the uniform. In her words, it's no different than beach volleyball or track and field. And she's right!

Men who play volleyball aren't asked to expose most of their bodies, and the shorts worn my male track and field athletes cover more than do the uniforms worn by women. So again, what message is this sending?

Is it too much to ask that women be judged on they ability to play the sport, and not on how they look in their underwear? What do you think?

Supreme Decision

My first day on the job at NOW, in 1990, we left the office that morning for a "Stop Souter" rally across from the Capitol. David Souter was an unknown, and women's groups didn't trust the first President Bush to do the right thing. How fortunate for us that we were so wrong.

President Obama announced this afternoon that Justice David H. Souter, the Republican-appointed New England jurist who has become a reliable member of the liberal bloc on the Supreme Court, is retiring and said he will nominate a replacement "who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded."

Justice Souter has proven to be one of the more liberal members of the Court, and his departure probably won't mean much of a change IF President Obama nominates another liberal to take his place.

What Obama COULD do, however, is nominate a woman. We need another woman on the Court, and a few names have already surfaced.

The vacancy gives Obama his first chance to begin reshaping the court but would not likely change the dynamic on a bench that is split fairly evenly between the liberal and conservative blocs, with moderate conservative Justice Anthony M. Kennedy often holding the pivotal role.

Although Obama's choice would probably be far different from the 69-year-old intellectual bachelor from New Hampshire, the replacement will almost surely have a similar ideological outlook. Most court observers also believe Obama would be likely to choose a woman as his first appointment, since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the lone female among the nine justices.

Most often mentioned as possibilities are two appeals judges, Sonia Sotomayor of New York and Diane P. Wood of Chicago, along with Obama's new solicitor general, Elena Kagan. Vice President Biden has been charged with drawing up a list of possible nominees, according to the source close to the court.

Replacement Speculation Begins

Those often mentioned as possibilities are, in no particular order:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor (born 1954), U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Sotomayor was nominated to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in a deal with New York senators in 1991 and elevated to the appeals court in 1998 by President Bill Clinton. She could become the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court. Conservatives have raised questions about her role in upholding a decision by the city of New Haven, Conn., to throw out a firefighter promotions test because no African Americans qualified. The case is now before the Supreme Court.

Judge Diane Wood (born 1950), U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Wood worked at the antitrust division of the Justice Department during the Clinton administration, and she was nominated to the appeals court by Clinton in 1995. She knows Obama from her days as a professor at the University of Chicago law school, where he also taught. Wood, who will turn 60 next year, is the oldest of the candidates frequently mentioned for the court, where the trend has been toward younger justices who would serve for years in the lifetime appointment.

Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw (born 1954), U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Wardlaw worked for the Clinton Justice Department transition team and was nominated by Clinton as a federal judge in 1995, then elevated to the appeals court in 1998. She is a liberal judge on the nation's most liberal appeals court, and she also had a role in a case now before the Supreme Court. She wrote the appeals court decision that said Arizona school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old middle school student who was strip-searched in an unsuccessful effort to find drugs.

Solicitor General Elena Kagan (born 1960). Kagan was confirmed by the Senate to her new job in March on a 61-31 vote and has yet to argue a case at the court. Her confirmation process was more difficult than some had predicted, as Republican senators accused her of avoiding their questions. In the background was the thought that Kagan might be Obama's first nominee to the court. She is the former dean of the Harvard Law School, worked in the Clinton administration and worked with Obama, although not closely, at the University of Chicago.

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears (born 1955). Sears was appointed by then-governor Zell Miller in 1992 and later became the first woman elected in a contested statewide race there. In 2005, she became chief justice, and in the process, became the first African-American woman in the nation to head a state supreme court. Although her current term runs until the end of 2010, Sears has announced she will step down from the job at the end of June.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (born 1959). Granholm (D) has encountered political trouble in her state because of the collapsing economy but was seen as a rising Democratic star. Born in Canada, Granholm is a Harvard Law graduate who served as attorney general before winning election as governor in 2002. She frequently campaigned with Obama during the presidential campaign.

And the list goes on.

Lindsay Lohan: You Go Grrl

It's got to be exhausting being Lindsay Lohan, but she seems to be keeping her sense of humor about it all. Dorothy Snarker writes:

They say looking good is the best revenge. I'd like to amend that to say being hilarious while looking good is the best revenge. Newly single and re-redheaded Lindsay Lohan made light of her recent split from celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson with a parody eHarmony commercial for funnyordie.com.

Instead of hiding from the rumors or slinking away brokenhearted, La Lohan is using laughter as her breakup medicine. And after watching her fake eHarmony video, I would say this course of treatment is just what the doctor ordered.

Cute, self-deprecating and — best of all — funny, her mock personal ad is a refreshing reminder that there's still a talented person behind all those screaming headlines. Lindsay pokes fun at her hard-partying past, brushes with the law, supposed money problems and recent breakup woes.

I thought the paparazzi treatment Brittney Spears endured was pretty disgusting. Let's hope an "out for blood" media doesn't get the best of Lindsay. You go grrl!

Obama's Faith Based Office an Insult to Women

I agree with my good friend Martha Burk:

President Obama attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast yesterday and used the opportunity to tout the reconstitution and expansion of George W. Bush's Office on Faith Based Initiatives. In his remarks the president said he didn't want to favor one religion over another, or "even religious groups over secular groups." But in fact, that's just what he's doing.

National women's organizations have been lobbying Obama, who has said he is a feminist, to reopen the White House Office on Women's Issues. So far the answer is a big fat no - women's concerns will be under the already swamped Office of Public Liaison. That's a tiny shop that's chronically understaffed and overstretched. Even with the best intentions, there's almost no chance they can interface with women's advocates in a meaningful way, much less shape policy to overcome the many setbacks we inherited from the Bush years.

In a direct insult to women, George W. Bush closed the Clinton-era White House Office on Women's Issues in his first week, then ensconced the first-ever church/state liaison office in the same space. For our new president to "keep the faith" with religious groups while short-shrifting women is equally insulting. There is no doubt that women are responsible for his election. Females went for Obama by 56 percent to McCain's 43 percent, while men split their votes about evenly. The Jesus crowd, on the other hand, voted 60% against the president.

The newly constituted "office for faith-based programs and community partnerships" will be headed by Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal preacher and Obama confidant, who will preside over a task force of 25 or so religious and community leaders. This group will give DuBois advice, which will presumably be passed on to the president.

To accord this advisory panel so much power, while relegating women to the margins, speaks volumes. Religious groups gained a lot from the Bush years - access to the White House, and millions of dollars in federal money, some of which was used to proselytize. And don't forget, almost all faiths consider women second class citizens; many actively campaign against affirmative action, the Women's Equality Amendment, the international human rights treaty for women known as CEDAW, and civil rights for gays and lesbians. Keeping this act going - even if it is broadened to include "community members" - is not the change women voted for.

Martha sums it up best when she says:

Women's groups are elated that the Texans are finally out of the White House. But if the new president wants their continuing loyalty, he ought to follow some good ol' Texas advice: Dance with the one that brung ya.

Unanimous Supreme Court Decision Protects Employees

Yes, you read the headline correctly. Could this be a payback from Chief Justice John Roberts for flubbing the presidential oath? If it is, great!

The Supreme Court today unanimously held that federal anti-discrimination laws protect employees from retaliation when they cooperate with internal investigations of alleged harassment.

The court sided with Vicky S. Crawford, who said she was fired from her longtime job in charge of payroll for the Nashville school system after she answered questions about what the court termed the "louche goings-on" involving her boss.

The supervisor, Metro School District employees relations director Gene Hughes, was not disciplined for the alleged actions, but Crawford and two others who testified against him were later fired for unrelated charges.

Lower courts said Crawford was not protected under the federal anti-retaliation law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, because she had not "instigated or initiated" the complaint, but merely answered questions in a case already underway.

The Supreme Court said the district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit misread the law.

"Nothing in the statute requires a freakish rule protecting an employee who reports discrimination on her own initiative but not one who reports the same discrimination in the same words when her boss asks a question," Justice David H. Souter wrote.

The case is Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

What also must be noted is the gender difference in reporting this decision. CBS Network news airs before NBC in the DC area, so if I'm home I try to catch both. CBS anchor Katie Couric reported the story. Guess who didn't? That's right the male anchor Brian Williams on NBC.

The minute I read the report of this in the Washington Post I knew it would probably have greater impact, and meaning, for women. Looks like Couric agrees.