Forgiveness does not come easily to the Maidens of Mendacity. Columnist Katha Pollitt recently combed through the laundry list of long-remembered slights. Once Obama informed his daughters he wasn't going to buy them a "girly-dog" - yikes! There was the Barbara Walters interview when Barack had the audacity to interrupt Michelle. And here's the crusher: "No one has forgotten that Barack called a reporter 'sweetie' months ago," Pollitt wailed.
Yes, they were delighted when Hillary ("Research shows the presence of women raises the standards of ethical behavior") was selected as Secretary of State. But when news got out that only one-quarter of Obama's cabinet picks were female (including the eminently qualified Hilda Solis at Labor), the fems lapsed into a purple-faced funk.
Amy Siskind, founder of the New Agenda was disconsolate, admitting, "We had high hopes for president-elect Obama going into this, and it's been very discouraging." And NOW president Kim Gandy put on her best pouty-face: "we still are such a small minority in the top boardrooms of the country starting with the Cabinet."
But the pain of so few female cabinet members was mollified by the hope of establishing a Cabinet-level advisor on women's issues, maybe even a presidential commission.
But when word leaked out that Obama's Council on Women and Girls had no full-time staff, the girls pulled out the long knives. Calling the group a Clinton-era "retread," Martha Burk charged, "I think it falls fall short of what's needed." (Burk, you recall, was the woman who cried wolf because the Augusta National Golf Club did not admit females.)
And what will be the number one priority of the fledgling Council? According to California First Lady Maria Shriver, the group needs to launch a major inquiry into the stresses facing American women.
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