Larry Summers—A Bad Signal To Women

[ensho]

http://www.feministpeacenetwork.org/2008/11/07/larry-summers%E2%80%94a-bad-signal-to-women/


As a friend of mine bemoaned yesterday, oh why couldn’t the honeymoon have lasted longer? But with the likes of Larry Summers being considered for Secretary of the Treasury, it is quite clear that we need to move immediately towards creating a framework where respect for women’s lives is part of the “Change” that is coming to Washington. Summers, former President of Harvard University, was shown the door after opining that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. This was hardly Summers only outrageously arrogant white male spew, he is also famously known for suggesting that “under-polluted” developing countries in Africa need more toxic waste.

That Summers is even vaguely being considered for the top Treasury post indicates that the incoming Obama administration has a very status quo top down business first lack of understanding of the current financial disaster and that does not bode well for the likelihood of the necessary change that will be needed to heal the economic health of this nation. Change that will require understanding that the needs of those at the bottom, who all too often are women and children and people of color, must be met and that that cannot be done by pouring money into the exploitive infrastructure of Wall Street.

-snip-

Finally, in the last few days, efforts have begun to make lists of women who should be a part of the new administration. That it is necessary to make these lists is a testament to the fact that we’ve not come quite that far baby. But necessary it is and there are way too many very capable, qualified women to mention here, but when confronted by the misogyny of the notion that Larry Summers would be an appropriate choice for Secretary of the Treasury, it feels appropriate to offer the name of Naomi Klein, author of the Shock Doctrine who is one of the few people that seems to understand the dynamics of our economic crisis. While she is a Canadian citizen, there does not appear to be a Constitutional requirement that Cabinet members be U.S. citizens and she would be an excellent choice if the Obama administration is truly interested in transformational change.
-----------------------------


the fight for women's rights is not over.

[WCGreen]

1. I personally think Laura Tyson should be the new SOT...

She is bright, capable and very good at explaining stuff to dumb reporters...

[GarbagemanLB]

2. Considering the daunting challenge the next Secretary of Treasury faces, I want the BEST person

for the job, regardless of what they have said about other issues or off-handed/offensive comments they have made.


This issue is too important for things like that to get in the way.

[bread_and_roses]

8. "things like that?" Oh, those little things, like dumping toxic waste

on poor people to increase the bottom line of rapacious corporations? Little things like apparently having primate notions of female place? Are women not impacted by the actions at Treasury? Are the poor of the earth not impacted by the breaks "we" give to Corporate Profiteers?

"Little things"....right.

[ROh70]

12. Tell me how Summers' views about women's genetics will affect

his job as treasury secretary. If you can show me that those views will hamper his ability to do the job well, I will oppose Summers.

[bread_and_roses]

65. Right. And all policies exist in isolation....

...there is no inter-connectedness in this world. Do I need a sarcasm smiley?

[Book Lover]

69. If he does not give fair weighted consideration to something like micro-loans, which

are mostly offered to women, because of his stated positions on how poorly we do with numbers, would that suffice for you?

[GarbagemanLB]

21. Um...what do those views have to do with RESCUING THIS ECONOMY?

[bread_and_roses]

66. I'd say they are clues as to HOW he might think about "rescuing this

economy - and to who's benefit.

[Honeycombe8]

32. Did he give an opinion that dumping toxic waste on poor people is acceptable?

Do tell. I'd never heard that.

[bread_and_roses]

64. Try (paraphrase) "third-world countries are under-polluted" -

should be easy enough to find, it's all over the web.

[Lars39]

13. And it's too important to have a person in a position of trust when he has

proven that he holds such a large segment of the population in such low regard.

[seabeyond]

19. delete

[NewJeffCT]

3. This woman disagrees with them

Summers is not on my list for Treasury - not that President-Elect Obama is consulting me - but this article from HuffPo defends him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-sandberg/what-larry-summers-has-do_b_142126.html

[dkf]

4. This person thinks they know more about the crisis than Summers?

That kind of shoots down any credibility right there wouldn't you say?

I'd rather have Summers as Treasury Secretary than the author of this article even though this person asserts they understand our economic problems and Summers doesn't.

[ROh70]

10. Okay, she puts forth Naomi Klein as treasury secretary. The author has zero credibility.

[KittyWampus]

5. Opening Poster seems busy churning up dissatisfaction for Obama

at least this one isn't from Counterpunch.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7828976&mesg_id=7828976

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[City Lights]

24. I noticed that too. nt

[marimour]

6. where is there evidence that women aren't being considered for cabinet posts?

Larry Summers is an idiot but if he is best able to help us in this economic crisis then I'm ok with it. I'm too busy worrying about my job security and paying my bills to worry about what he thinks of me as a woman. If there is another well qualified person then fine pick them instead, but i'm not going to be the pc police and cast off everyone I have a problem with even though they might be the best for the job.

[ROh70]

7. If Summers is the best for the job, he should be considered.

Would I want Summers in charge of the EEOC? Hell, no. But, we're in crisis time, it's no time to let political correctness get in the way of saving this nation from the brink of economic disaster.

That said, I'm not convinced that Summers is the best guy for the job. I want to know more about the other guy in the running. I heard that he warned about the crisis in 2005. Sounds good to me.

[MadBadger]

9. EPIC HORSESHIT

[ismnotwasm]

11. He is problematic in a number of areas

I'd be very surprised--and disappointed, if he landed the post.

[ROh70]

14. Tell me, what is it about Summers' approach to the fiscal crisis do you oppose?

[Imperialism Inc.]

29. His being a champion of the deregulation that got us in to this mess

should fully disqualify him all by itself. When you add in his controversial nature and reported leadership style (unwilling to listen to dissenting views) he should not be the one getting the job. I for one will be very disappointed if he gets the nod.

I recommend anyone who shares that view to join this facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31642894097 and sign the petition.

Note that this is NOT piling on Obama or turning against him or convening a circular firing squad. This is simply doing what Obama asked us to do. To keep him honest and press for what we want.

Obama victory speech : "This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you."

[ensho]

31. thank you

nt

[ROh70]

38. Nothing you said says Summers is disqualified from the position.

You're just setting up an ideological litmus test, a liberal version of McCarthyism.

[Imperialism Inc.]

40. Pardon me?

You say supporting and pushing bad policies is not a mark against someone and I'm the ideologue????? If past policy position are not a valid way to judge whether someone is a good choice then what the heck is????

[ROh70]

46. Capacity to change and evolve.

Summers' views have evolved since his time with the Clinton administration. People's views can change, you know. Not everyone is a rigid ideologue.

[Imperialism Inc.]

39. A direct link to the OpenLeft petition.

We of course do not know if Summers is being considered as the top choice. Maybe Obama is already thinking along these lines. However, we owe it to Obama to let him know what we think and not be lap dogs or be cowed by those who expect obedience. If he picks Summers I personally have no intentions of turning against him. I'll accept it but I will be disappointed. I personally support Sheila Bair ,or someone like her, for the post (http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=sheila_bair_for_treasury_secretary) and have written Obama to that effect.


http://action.openleft.com/page/petition/treasury

We Need Real Change: Ask Obama's Transition Team to Appoint a Treasury Secretary That Did Not Have a Hand in Deregulating Wall Street

When you sign this petition, your comments will go to John Podesta and Michael Strautmanis of the Obama transition team.

Right now, the rumors are that Larry Summers is one of the leading nominees to become the Treasury Secretary for the Obama administration. During normal times, the Treasury Secretary is an enormously important position, responsible for representing the position of an administration on both the global and domestic economy and making key policy decisions. At this particular moment, the Treasury Secretary is even more significant, responsible for a $700 billion bailout fund and for restoring balance to the American economy during turbulent times.

President-election Obama spoke eloquently and often about the perils of deregulation and trade agreements that do not include worker and environmental protection. These were in fact key distinguishing points between Senator Obama and Senator McCain, and with the financial crisis in mid-September, perhaps quite significant in the election as well. Obama has spoken clearly and effectively on these points, that it is critical that the next Treasury Secretary not continue the legacy of both the Clinton and Bush administration, a legacy of deregulation of financial markets and corporate trade agreements. The deregulation of our financial institutions has led to the current crisis, and threatens the stabiity of the global economy.

We are asking that Obama match his words with personnel decisions. In 1999, Summers was a proponent within the Clinton administration of the Gramm bill to deregulate the banking industry, and as such, bears responsibility for the current environment. It is not enough to fix the policy apparatus behind the crisis. President-elect Obama must not reward those who got the entire thesis about what makes the economy work wrong. There were advocates in 1999 who foresaw the crisis these policy choices would enable, both Senators like Byron Dorgan and advocacy groups.

[RepublicanElephant]

45. bingo!!!

this is NOT change we need.

[Imperialism Inc.]

55. I'm glad there are at least some who understand.

I spent the last few months writing detail responses for friends who forwarded me right wing chain mails full of falsehoods. One of the things I brought up over and over was Phil Gramm's role in deregulating and how McCain was showing poor judgment by having him as an adviser. And now I'm expected to just fall in line with a possible choice for Treasury of someone who though Gramm had it right? Hell no.

[Genevieve]

15. Proficiency and competence ahead of ideology.

This is why Barack Obama is going to be a great president.

[seabeyond]

22. delete

[ROh70]

28. Are you equating Summers to a KKK member?

[Genevieve]

33. Not I! Ask the poster above! (Seabeyond).

[seabeyond]

34. delete. will respond with fresh post

[Honeycombe8]

37. Please give a link to his statement that he hates women. I haven't seen that.

Just trying to separate emotion from fact.

I know about the speech incident. It was horrid. But I know only about that one statement. Are there others that indicate a pattern, or that indicate hatred?

(note: I am a woman...a feminist, in fact)

[ROh70]

41. Oh, yeah?

So, Robert Byrd should have been excommunicated from the democratic party decades ago, right? He was a former KKK member.

And let's not stop there. Others who need to be excommunicated:

1. Barney Frank - had a relationship with an underage Congressional page.
2. Barack Obama - called reporter "sweetie," and was widely condemned by Geraldine Ferraro for being sexist. And racist.
3. Hillary Clinton - widely condemned for engaging in race-baiting tactics during the primaries.
4. Bill Clinton - see above.
5. Joe Biden - called Obama "articulate and clean," a backhanded racist compliment.

I'm sure there are many others of Larry Summers' ilk that needs to be thrown out of the democratic party.

[seabeyond]

43. i went off the op post and thought it was another man.... i went into google

and read up on summers and exactly what he said.

my apologies.

my mistake

as far as the issues with him and women, i dont think it qualifies as anti woman from what i read.

deleted the posts that were offended.

[ROh70]

48. Kudos for acknowledging your mistake.

[seabeyond]

51. thank you. i dont have a tough time with that

but i do have an issue with the hate premeating thru out u.s. against women. so i stand strong on it. but i dont like to lie to myself about it either (hence going after this man as anti female with what i read). it is a huge issue today in our culture. and being fed to our youth.

[Honeycombe8]

35. Making one discriminatory statement is not equal to being a member of the KKK.

Come on...you know that.

It is more equal to, say, Obama making one discriminatory statement about whites. Do you not make him President, even when he's the most knowledgeable about other things, because of his possible views in that one area? (If one statement can be representative of one's entire views...and it sometimes can be.)

[always_saturday]

30. It's "ideological" to expect cabinet members who haven't made sexist statements about women?

Who knew?

[ROh70]

44. I assume you're rooting for Norm Colemen to defeat Al "Playboy" Franken?

[seabeyond]

47. i have heard offensive enough comments from franken about women that yes....

it makes me not want him to win, .... the primaries anyway.

would make it hard for me to vote for him, though coleman is at least as bad i am sure. but i did not want him to win primaries.

[ROh70]

52. But, you see my point. It's hard to categorially rule out someone

for a position just because of admitted flaws or mistakes in the past. Franken's not the ideal candidate for many, but, I sure would rather have him over Coleman. And, Franken the senator will behave differently than Franken the political satirist.

I just don't like condemning people forever for things that they have done in the past. That's what republicans stand for - and that's why they are for things like the death penalty; three strikes and your out laws; etc.

[seabeyond]

53. the point being.... in a cabinet position there are alternatives. IF the man was anti female,

there are others to put in the position. IF franken being considered for a cabinet position i would NOT want him.

we didnt have a choice in the election. it was one or the other. both choices bad.

[ROh70]

54. I disagree. With the cabinet position, it's about geting someone best equipped to do the job.

especially in such a crisis situation. If I'm convinced Summers is the best person to get us out of this mess, something which I'm not convinced he is, he should get the job, as long as he is able to assure the Senate and American people that he has learned from his prior mistakes.

[seabeyond]

57. again i say.... you are not a female living in this shit. the bullshit of male superiority

or denigrating female is not on your scale of offense. of course it means little to you.

i on the other hand, being old and having run businesses myself, have learned NO ONE is "the only one". this man or anyone else is not the BEST for any position. there is plenty to chose from and being a sexist should automatically kick him out of the running along with being a racist or homophobic or anything else. or it makes our party nothing but hypocrites.

now we are discussing issue as a whole, not this situation specifically.

[ROh70]

60. To clarify - i wouldn't be for summers if he tried to defend his remarks

and otherwise show that he hasn't changed. That would say a lot about his judgment to me. Don't need people who won't admit or acknowledge past mistakes. We've had 8 years of that and I'm sick of it.

My only point is that I wouldn't categorically exclude someone from a position because of prior sexist or other problematic statements, positions, or actions.

[seabeyond]

62. i will agree with you. when you mentioned byrd.....

my thought was it matters, he made statements how wrong he and that was. that goes a long way to healing a bigotry and hate, instead of feeding it. is almost as good hearing someone "own" it as a mistake as it is just not being it.

i dont have an issue with a person that can say hate is worng, i have learned.

i agree.

for me, that makes a loud statement.

[always_saturday]

56. Nice try at deflection, but it doesn't work.

There are plenty of other choices besides Summers. AFAIC, Franken is the ONLY one running against Coleman. Coleman's abysmal women's/civil rights record that actually impacts women's lives far outweighs any sexist comedy act.

[ROh70]

58. that's a cop out. You'll vote for Franken because you have no choice.

Of course you have a choice! You can say that you'd rather vote for a conservative who isn't sexist over a liberal who is.

[undeterred]

16. Janet Napolitano is considered a likely candidate for Atty Gen

:shrug: She is currently governor of Arizona.

[THUNDER HANDS]

18. competence above all else

if he is the most qualified and competent, he should get the position, regardless of his views on anything else outside of finance.

[GarbagemanLB]

23. bingo.

[Imperialism Inc.]

42. And do his past policy positions show him to be the best qualified

and competent? I think not. Working with Phil Gramm to create Enron loopholes and unregulated CDOs shows he has major blind spots.

[Genevieve]

20. EXCUSE me but what the fuck is your prob? Why do you keep startin these negative threads all over DU

Maybe you would have been happier if we lost,
'cause that's what all
your stupid posts sound like.

[SunsetDreams]

36. I've noticed that too, it's really evident.

[MadBadger]

50. Sometimes a primary warrior never lets it go

[Genevieve]

59. bingo. nt

[IndianaGreen]

25. And we know how Clinton was bogged down by the search for a "perfect" cabinet

which is now seen as having been a bad start to the Clinton Administration.

Let Obama pick the best person for the job.

Personally, I am quite annoyed at those groups that are demanding equal treatment and representation for themselves while at the same time supporting the bigoted Prop 8. If they expect the support of the LGBT community on their issues, they better support us in our rightful desire to enjoy the same rights and privileges of citizenship that hetero Americans enjoy.

[seabeyond]

26. obama married to the woman that he is, i am not convinced by your post their is a problem

deleted other posts. i googled the guy and read up on his comments.

[always_saturday]

27. He's THAT guy?

I remember that. I also read the HuffPost defense, which is quite hard to reconcile with his denigrating comments about women that got all the publicity. But IMO, those comments have disqualified him, just as they would had he made them about any other group.

[Brooklyns_Finest]

49. The Cabinet

If you guys think that Obama's cabinet is going to consist of only minority/special interest group that democratic party caters to, you are sadly mistaken. Obama strikes me as the type of guy who WANTS to win, and win at all cost. Not in a deceptive or malicious way, but in a methodical and deliberate way. I am totally confident that he will pick the best people for his cabinet irrespective of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or unfortunate peripheral comments that they might have made in the past.

[malik flavors]

61. If Summers Can Get Us Out Of This Mess And Help Obama Succeed...

I'm not too concerned with a statement he made 10 years ago.

Have him apologize, and let's move on.

Everybody says stupid shit, let's just get Obama the best cabinet possible.

Though, i'm not completely convinced he's the best option, but that has nothing to do with any of his past statements.

[Ellen Forradalom]

68. ...then fuck the bitches.

They come last as always.

There's more than one person in this country who can get us out of an economic mess. Does it have to be a man who committed educational malpractice by dissing half the student body of the most prestigious university in America?

[malik flavors]

71. Fuck the bitches are your words, not mine.

I think we should get the BEST person, not just someone that can do the job.

If Summers is the best, then he should get the job.

Seantor Byrd is an ex-Klan member, but you know what? He's changed his life and endorsed Obama this year. I'm not going to hold grudges against people forever, for somethnig they did years ago.

Time to move on, and do what's best for the country and the Obama administration.

[NorthernSpy]

72. I don't like Summers as a person, but we need this administration to be a meritocracy...

If Summers is the best candidate for the Treasury, then Summers should get the job. If Summers is not the best candidate, then he shouldn't get the job.


The fact that Summers has spouted off in ways that annoy me is not all that relevant. Too much is at stake for the country as a whole.

[gravity]

63. Let's solve the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression first

Right now, we have bigger problems to worry about, then we can issue ideological purity test

[NorthernSpy]

73. Amen!

It's up to us now.

[Ellen Forradalom]

67. The fight for women's rights has just gotten a whole lot worse

It couldn't be clearer. The cracked glass ceiling just got replaced with a shiny new improved model designed to last a long time.

Time to turn our attention to the left-behinds of this campaign: gays and women.

[Jennicut]

70. Huh? As a woman I don't feel that way at all. Just because Hillary was not the nominee?

Gay rights got a beating and that made me unhappy. However, Biden wrote the VAWA and is our VP now. Obama and Biden both talked about equal pay throughout the campaign. One does not need to be a woman or gay to increase the rights of either. I also don't think Summers will be picked if his comments are a problem, Obama wants a good transition.