Each week we post a run-down of the best of our reader comments with the hopes of highlighting some of your most valuable insights and encouraging more people to join the fray. Let us know what you think—in the comments!
CraigieBob: I would take issue with little of what you've said here except the "late-breaking." More than a decade ago I was asked to serve as a judge for the interview and talent portions of a Junior Miss-type pageant in a fairly conservative, Republican-dominated, rural county in central Pennsylvania (an area most obviously a part of that proverbial "Alabama" alleged to lie between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).
Because the stated objective of the pageant was to select the most outstanding young woman in her age group, six finalists from area high schools were asked whom they considered to be the most outstanding woman living at the time. One answered that she considered her mother to fill the bill; two others responded that the most outstanding woman alive at the time was Julia Roberts (They were possibly conflating Ms. Roberts' off-screen persona with the title character from "Erin Brokovitch," whom she had portrayed not many months previous); and three—fully one-half of the six finalists—answered that they believed the most outstanding woman alive in the year 2000 was, in fact, Hillary Clinton.
So, the extent to which Mrs. Clinton has been and continues to be revered—dare we say adored?—by a generation of women voters who have now been eligible to cast ballots in at least two (and as many as three) of the most recent Presidential elections can hardly be overstated.
In response to Amy Schiller’s “Hillary Boys: The New Obama Girl?” [1]April 13, 2012
granadahotel: I agree that there should be an entity that represents the interests of caregivers and pushes for fair pay, but I have to wonder if unions are the best way to do this. Would a cooperative model of business not be potentially better? A worker-owned cooperative would minimize the need for profits, which allows for lower rates for receivers of caregiver services and better wages for the caregivers. In this model there is no business entity that needs to be negotiated with on behalf of workers. No need for a union. A worker-owned cooperative of caregivers would also not require much in the way of overhead, and therefore it should be fairly easy to establish this sort of business. Perhaps there could be a national level of organization that sets minimal standards and a code of ethics, but that doesn't have to be a union. Imagine multiple local cooperatives that get to set their own rates and operate their own businesses according to the communities' needs, but organized on a larger scale by a national non-profit entity that simply sets standards to assure quality of care.
In response to Laura Flanders’ “Can ‘Caring Across Generations’ Change the World?” [2]April 11, 2012
co-op tracy: I am a worker-owner of a home care cooperative. We run a successful business but it is still a struggle with the low reimbursement rates we receive. The whole system is broken and we need to seriously take a look at it and try to fix it because the problem is going to only get worse as more and more baby boomers enter the long term care system. The nation needs to value the work that direct care workers do and come together and make it a profession that pays family sustaining wages so workers can stay and not have to find a different job to make a living. The cooperative model works and more workers should look into how to make it happen. It is very empowering to the workers.
In response to Laura Flanders’ “Can ‘Caring Across Generations’ Change the World?” [2]April 11, 2012
CourtneyH: I'm a huge baseball fan and I think the history of African-Americans in the sport is really fascinating. One thing that should be taken into account is that baseball scholarships for college are very few and far between—it's simply not a revenue sport like basketball and football so there's less money to go around. This can negatively affect African-Americans who are often the first in their families to go to college or are more likely to have grown up poor (I'm not saying all African-Americans are poor, I'm saying that certain barriers to educational and income equality have had long lasting effects). Also, there are still long-held institutional prejudices and forms of discrimination that are still evident today even if they aren't overt. And of course, baseball is not marketed to young kids like football and basketball have been for the last 20-30 years. I think better marketing and more attainability could really help get more African-Americans in the game and could possibly help deter the negative prejudices many people still have. I know there have been some recent efforts such as R.B.I (reviving baseball in inner cities) and the charities of some teams to try to bring resources to play baseball to under-served communities but clearly more needs to be done to make the sport more inclusive.
In response to Dave Zirin’s “25 Years Since Al Campanis Shocked Baseball: What’s Changed and What Hasn’t.” [3] April 16, 2012
ccaffrey: I don't think anyone studying ALEC thinks this is an end instead of a beginning, but it's ok to celebrate little victories along the way. I don't know that public pressure has ever before resulted in even this many corporations severing ties with ALEC or impacting them enough to dismantle a task force. So I say, "Hurray for our side!" and let's keep building the momentum and shining the spotlight on them. It's an election year so it's time to connect state legislators to ALEC and put pressure on them as well. This is what democracy looks like!
In response to John Nichols’ “ALEC Disbands Task Force Responsible for Voter ID, ‘Stand Your Ground” Laws.” [4]April 17, 2012
dcadonau: I have been aware of ALEC for the last couple of years and, when I brought the subject up, people would just stare at me as if I were nuts. It's nice to know I may be a sane nut.
I realize ALEC is not out of business, just backing away from the present contentious subjects of voter IDs and gun laws. However, as sort of a Step One, it is great that awareness of its activities is growing by leaps and bounds. There are so many people out there who have yet to become sane nuts just like me.
Step Two, I think: find out which state legislators have been involved with ALEC by introducing and supporting the bills it has written. Once we know, we'll have a clearer picture of who must be voted out of office.
Step Three: vote them out!
In response to John Nichols’ “ALEC Disbands Task Force Responsible for Voter ID, ‘Stand Your Ground” Laws.” [4]April 17, 2012
CJC: This is an excellent illustration of the class-ideology at work in phrases like "stay-at-home-mothers" and around domestic work in general. Those who do it for a living are often reviled as a "mostly illegal" underclass "taking jobs from Americans." Those who do it because they are single mothers are "welfare queens" who need "to get a real job." But the "housewives" of the elite class are somehow sacred embodiments of "motherhood." The whole discussion is racist, sexist, and against the poor and working class. Coming from the right, what a big surprise.
In response to Katha Pollitt’s “Ann Romney, Working Woman?” [5] April 18, 2012