The media that morning described a Westchester home so bloody, that it was not possible to discern, who murdered who. Big mystery, right? Even if I hadn’t known Amy, I could have made a very educated guessed. Women account for 85% of the victims of intimate partner violence. Roughly 70-80% of intimate partner homicides who are murdered are killed by a boyfriend or husband (as opposed to 3% of men). In 70-80% of intimate partner homicides, there is a prior incident, and so it was hardly surprising when media stories circulating that afternoon revealed that police had been summoned to the Friedlander Home as far back as 2006!

Cookie cutter domestic violence. A murder which should have been viewed under the lens of a public health issue, because violence against women, so pervasive that it impacts 1 in 4 women, is hardly a private matter. But not for our media, which immediately launched a campaign of victim blame — Blaming Amy.

Starting the very first night, the media began its exploration of what Amy could have done to cause the gentle, unassuming, mellow Sam Friedlander to sedate his children, walk down to hall to the master bedroom and bludgeon Amy with a wooden instrument over her entire body with such force that an autopsy was needed to confirm her identity, walk back down the hall and shoot the children in their bedrooms, and then shoot himself.

The first perpetrator of victim blame was the local media, The Journal News (owned by Gannett). That first night, as the national and international news outlets were looking to local media for insights, here’s the top search engine result: “Cross-River murder-suicide described: friends suggest wife’s ‘belittling’ of husband played a role.”

For this thoroughly unprofessional piece of ‘journalism’, The Journal News interviewed two of Sam’s law school friends — and none of the victim’s friends — for a story line exploring why Amy was responsible for her own death. Feminist website Jezebel, which captured the contents of the article before it was pulled offline, described The Journal News piece as:

…an article that should go down in the annals of victim blaming.

Then, Mr. McDonald just stopped responding to complaints altogether.

By then, it was too late. The Journal News had given Sam’s two law school friends, David Pine and Michael Borg, a springboard and the two would go on to be quoted in The New York Times, The New York Post and The NY Daily News, the latter of which wisely amend its story to remove this line by Borg (emphasis added):

He said if Friedlander had only killed his wife “I would have baked him a cake with a file in it” but he could not imagine why his “gentle” law-school buddy killed the kids.

Borg’s atrocious quote would be memorialized on picket signs at a rally held by local domestic abuse shelters in White Plains, New York on Monday, October 24th: No ‘files’ in a cake for mass murderers; alongside: Stop Blaming Amy.

Public comments by Sam’s second friend, David Pine, are even more troubling given his circumstances. Pine said of Sam: “He was showing all the classic signs of being emotionally abused…” (The Journal News) and “…was exhibiting signs of being emotionally abused.” (The New York Post).

David Pine also bragged: “I knew that an incident would happen in that household.” (The New York Post) and observed of Sam: “He went into his own cocoon.” (The New York Times).

David Pine’s statements go from troubling to startling because of this: Mr. Pine is, of all things, a county prosecutor for the Passaic County Prosecutors Office — an office charged with holding offenders in domestic violence cases accountable for breaking the law! We will never know what could have happened if Sam’s so-called friends had sought mental health support for him instead of blaming Amy. New York does in fact have one of the most progressive court-order treatment laws in the country. (Please see The New Agenda’s online petition to NJ Governor Chris Christie and NJ Attorney General Paula Dow regarding David Pine’s media statements here.)

A full week would pass before the media would seek out the other side of the story and interview a friend of Amy Friedlander. A woman reporter, Tara Rosenblum of News12, interviewed me — and for the first time in the New York media market, a voice was given to the victim.

Around the time Tara aired our interview, when Pine and Borg were done sucking up all the oxygen in the media, the facts also started to come out. Sam bought the gun he used to kill the children and himself back in April. Sam bludgeoned Amy to death with a wooden rolling pin, which The Journal News noted was: “initially mistaken by police for a broken-off furniture leg because it was covered in blood.” Sam was prescribed anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication. And so on.

Whatever happened, here’s the bottom line: there is no excuse for violence against women. The media’s fruitless search to find cause belies a belief that “if” certain circumstances occur, “then” violence against women is okay. The media is wrong. Violence against women is never okay. We teach our children in nursery school to ‘use your words‘, and failing that, ‘walk away and find a grown-up.’ Advice that serves us well, still, as adults.

Until our media stops victim blaming women and girls who are murdered, raped or beaten up, we will never make progress inholding offenders accountable for their actions. In the end, here’s the simple truth: the victim is never to blame, but the perpetrator is always to blame. The only battles my friend Amy waged on this earth — despite being brilliant, beautiful, gentle, kind, generous and loyal to a fault — was with her weight and self-esteem. Our media’s attempt to Blame Amy is nothing short of shameful.

In September of 2009, Jump For the Cause (JFTC), a remarkable skydiving event took place, at Perris Valley, CA. Along with successively breaking the “all women” skydiving formation record with each event, JFTC has been the largest event in our sport for charitable fundraising. At final count JFTC has raised a total of approximately two million dollars City of Hope for breast cancer research and prevention.

This event was the brainchild of Malory Tarcher-Lewis (daughter of the late Shari Lewis) who partnered with Kate Cooper-Jensen and Tony Domenico. After five events together, the trio decided that the 2009 event would be the very last JFTC.

Almost a year earlier, in November of 2008, three “Type A” gals sat at a West Los Angeles restaurant discussing the upcoming JFTC: skydiver, Mary Tortomasi, Lucia Cottone a VP of development for a major cable channel and me (at this point, just another world record holding skydiver). I had been very impressed with the event in 2005, as it seemed to bring out the best in all the women who participated. It was skydiving with heart and purpose. A light went on and I looked at Lucia and said, “Somebody needs to do a documentary about JFTC.” Lucia looked right back at me and responded without missing a beat, “Why don’t you do it!”?……. The gauntlet had been thrown.

It had been a couple decades since film school but I had recently been drawn into a circle of musicians and filmmakers when I was visiting Hawaii. Shortly after that evening, I contacted my friend Zac Heileson, a highly regarded filmmaker in Honolulu. He agreed to work with me on the project.

By May of ’09 I was able to secure the rights to produce a documentary of the JFTC event from Mallory with the promise that 25% of profits would be donated to City of Hope. I knew about skydiving but I didn’t know much about breast cancer. My flight surgeon Dr. Randy Sherman, also a highly respected reconstructive surgeon, pointed us in the right direction. We were able to shoot in two breast cancer centers affiliated with Cedars Sinai hospital. Later we would also film several doctors and researchers at other locations including City of Hope. After a few of these interviews, I made the decision to focus on prevention. In the world of formation skydiving there is an oft repeated caution, “Don’t be a victim.” This phrase would form the undertone of theme for Pink Skies.

The 181 courageous women from 31 different countries who came together for JFTC were committed to the goals of setting a new world record, fundraising a million dollars for breast cancer research and to giving their “personal best.” There were several breast cancer survivors jumping on JFTC and I needed to find out who they were and what their story was.

The real standout was Ruth Green, a radiologist from London, who was diagnosed with breast cancer just after she had applied for JFTC in 2008. Getting through her treatment successfully and then qualifying for the team, was her goal. She invited us to come film her in London, meet her oncologist and follow her process. These segments became a very important part of bridging the skydiving world record and the disease for which we were all raising funds.

Directing the shoot of the JFTC event was one of the most challenging things that I’ve done as I was also one of the participants. Early morning arrivals to capture sunrises and arrivals, 100+ degree temperatures, multiple jumps and then staying on to cover the evening activities as well, made for long days. In the film we show five formation skydives and one solo dive – beautiful eye candy that helps to entertain and inspire. Having the aerial footage shot from seven of the world’s top aerial photographers was a filmmaker’s dream.

After months of sorting through 90 hours of tape and digital HD footage, we had a viewable project. We had several previews to test the film with different audiences, and they gave us great feedback. After countless hours of editing, it was finally time to submit to the film festivals and find distribution. Several months of submitting to various film festivals finally paid off and we were selected to screen at our first festival. Quite fittingly it was the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival. They invited us to open the festival, a great honor in the film festival world. We would finally screen Pink Skies on the big screen at the 200-seat Laemmle Theatre in the middle of Hollywood! In addition, it would be a gala benefit with a chic after party on the Sunset Strip – all to benefit the LA County chapter of Susan G Komen.

Finally, March 25th arrived. What an evening! Close to 200 people turned out. There was an actual pink carpet to walk on and photo-ops with our crew and participants. We had a number of filmmakers, distributors and broadcasters and at least a dozen of our skydive participants who flew in from as far as London and our crew also attended.

In addition to our premier in Los Angeles, as the opening night film, Pink Skies has gone on to win a Gold Medal for excellence at the prestigious Park City Film Music Festival and Best Documentary Film at the Vegas Cinefest in Las Vegas. We also recently screened at the EAA Airventure at Oshkosh, New York City International Film Festival, and the Kiev International Film Festival.

We will next screen at the Beverly Hills Film, TV & New Media Festival, on Wednesday, October 26th at 8:10pm at the Laemmle Music Hall 3, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills.

The best part about making this film isn’t winning awards; it has been the reaction of the people seeing it. Recently after a festival a woman come up to me and with tears in her eyes told me how important seeing this film had been for her. She said she had spent the whole night after watching it going over the film again in her mind and making lists of the changes she was going to make in her life. She thanked me profusely for making this film. I’ve had multiple inquiries from schools and state institutions to show the film. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Producer/Director

Documentary filmmaker Gulcin Gilbert

The next task was to examine the world of breast cancer. Initially, Gulcin expected just to document a survivor’s experience and deliver some of the horrendous statistics of this epidemic form of cancer. After interviewing over a dozen experts, she realized there were some uncomfortable truths that required exposure. Marrying the two aspects, breast cancer and skydiving, she has knitted a film that has spectacular visuals and exposes important new discoveries.

With a focus on Bosnia, Afghanistan, Colombia, and Liberia, the documentary shows remarkable women affecting serious change in their respective countries with regard to injustice and abuse towards female civilians. The five-part PBS series, narrated by Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Alfre Woodard, and Geena Davis, is a groundbreaking look at women bonding together to fight rape, broker peace, and forge new international laws governing conflict.

If you visit the Features section of the PBS site for “Women War & Peace,” you can see more trailers from each episode — which airs on five consecutive Tuesday evenings at 10pm EST: October 11, 18, and 25 and November 1 and 8, 2011.

Among the videos you can see is the particularly interesting “Why Should Men Care?” featuring Matt Damon:

* Bumped Up at 4 p.m. ET Saturday — The walk and rally are going on right now! Check the evening news and give us reports! *

UPDATE from the Villages blog 29 minutes ago: “SlutWalk NYC Preparing to Take Over Union Square“ (Go to Runnin’ Scared for more Voice news coverage.) Included is this great video:

Original post: Below the fold, I discuss the history of Saturday’s event and its controversial name, and include photos of Slutwalks in Canada and Brazil.

No matter who you are
No matter where you work
No matter how you identify
No matter how you flirt
No matter what you wear
No matter whom you choose to love
No matter what you said before:

NO ONE has the right to touch you without your consent.

SlutWalk NYC is part of a worldwide grassroots movement challenging rape culture, victim-blaming and slut-shaming, and working to end sexual and domestic violence.

COME JOIN US FOR SLUTWALK NYC ON OCTOBER 1, 2011! SEE YOU AT UNION SQUARE AT NOON FOR THE MARCH!

11:00 AM: SIGN MAKING AT UNION SQUARE
12:00 PM: MARCH STARTING AT UNION SQUARE
1:00 PM: PERFORMANCES AT UNION SQUARE
2:00 PM: RALLY AT UNION SQUARE!

MARCH ROUTE: UNION SQUARE TO BROADWAY, BROADWAY TO 8TH STREET, 8TH STREET TO TO 2ND AVENUE, 2ND AVENUE TO THIRD STREET, THIRD STREET TO LAFAYETTE AVENUE, LAFAYETTE AVENUE BACK TO UNION SQUARE

Come plan with us at our weekly, open organizing meetings on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. at 295 Lafayette Street on the fourth floor of the Puck Building.

Important Upcoming Events from SlutWalk NYC or Supported by SlutWalk NYC:

Cis-Privilege and Trans Allyship Workshop

BridesMarch from New York Latinas Against Domestic Violence

SlutWalk NYC Marshal Training

Contact: slutwalknyc@gmail.com

FROM NANCY SCHWARTZMAN, Founder of The Line Campaign:

Click the image for more photos from the very successful Slutwalk held April 3, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.

At The Line Campaign, we recognize that there have been many valid concerns and contentions over the name—primarily that it doesn’t speak to many women of color, or others who feel offended or aren’t in a position to parade under a “slut” banner.

“Slut Walk” as a name began as a challenge the notion that what might fall under a contemporary description of “sluttiness”—revealing clothing, flirting, drinking—does not equate consent, and never justifies rape.

Photos from Brazil's Slutwalks held in Sao Paolo and Brasilia, the nation's capital city. Click the image for more photos and news on Brazil's Slutwalks on June 11 and June 18, 2011.

SlutWalk was never meant to be divisive—but its controversial name was both a blessing and a curse, gaining media attention, but inciting a politically theatrical debate that veered the movement off course from a universal struggle against victim blaming and started dividing women along race lines.

SlutWalk is a grassroots movement, often spearheaded by young people organizing for the first time. Every movement has its growing pains, and we hope that SlutWalk can work through these contentions and mature into an inclusive and ground-breaking movement that inspires conversations and further organizing that lead to real change.

At The Line Campaign, we see the SlutWalk Movement as a tidal wave against rape culture and victim blaming, something that women of all backgrounds need one another’s support in resisting. Women have organized across the world, from Toronto to Buenos Aires to Mexico City, Kyrgyzstan, and Morocco under the universal agreement that we, as women, have had enough.

I hope that you will continue this movement by joining us to march from Union Square at 12 noon sharp; I will be speaking along with representatives from Radical Women, Red Umbrella, Girls for Gender Equity, Queers for Economic Justice, Domestic Workers United, STARR, Sex Worker Outreach Project, International Socialist Organization, and other independent activists.

In Solidarity,

Nancy Schwartzman

Another photo of the Slutwalk in Brazil this past June. Click the image to see more.

KABC’s Victory Sessions ~ Stephen Bannon, co-host Amy Siskind & guests talk about this week’s treatment of Sarah Palin in the blogosphere

Sarah Palin [as the Republican nominee] would be the GOP Establishment™ Unemployment Act

~ Amy Siskind

By Gary P. Jackson

Host Steve Bannon

This is a great two hours worth radio with hosts Stephen K Bannon and Amy Siskind. Guests include NY Times columnist Anand Giridharadas, Human Events editor Tony Lee, Real Clear Politics reporter Scott Conroy, Rob Port from Say Anything blog and Sonnie Johnson of Did She Say That.

What’s interesting is Siskind and Giridharadas are democrats, so we get to hear comments on Governor Palin’s speech in Iowa from that perspective. Hint: they were both blown away. Siskind gets it right on many levels. If Sarah Palin runs, she says, it will be the death knell of the Republican Establishment™. In fact, it will be the death knell of the entire Ruling Class, the Establishment™ in both parties.

Tony Lee talks about crony capitalism and how governmental corruption hurts the economy.

And this is just the first hour!

This is worth carving out a block of time to listen.

RuBegonia has the sessions broken down so you can listen to them in digestible bites.

Listen in here.

Both Greta and Tucker make good arguments. Tucker makes a good argument that had this story been about any other Democrat women it would have been national headlines. Greta makes a good argument that the editors note in the post came a little too late.

What Tucker doesn’t get is that while the story would have been national news had it been about Hillary Clinton, the story titles would have been something in the lines of “Tyson’s Repulsive Comments About Secretary Of State”, they wouldn’t put it up like the Daily Caller did with a title “Mike Tyson: Sarah Palin met ‘the wombshifter’.”

Basically the media would have condemned the story in the headlines to make it clear that Tyson’s comments were disgusting. Something the Daily Caller didn’t do.

While we want the media to report the news, who, when, where, what and why, sometimes it’s appropriate to add the condemnation in the title or actual article. News organizations should be smart enough to distinguish when it is appropriate to add some opinion into a story and when not. If you cant make that distinction then you shouldn’t be in the news business

As for his argument that Greta interviewed Tyson in April, that’s the stupidest argument I’ve ever seen. Greta didn’t interview him after he made those comments or after any controversy, she interviewed him about life after jail. It was more of a profile interview. You can bet that had Greta interviewed Tyson after making those comments she would have gone after him pretty hard.

In any event, here is the video:

Here is the Daily Caller post that ignited the debate

Greta took Carlson to task in a string of posts here, here, here, and here

[In case you are unable to view the original video here, go to Sheya's Web page where you can view the video.]

It is unfortunately rare that the media feature Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speeches in her leadership role as the United States’ chief representative and negotiator with nations worldwide. However, her speech given on September 16th in San Francisco at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Women and the Economy Summit, has received deserved attention, critical because its message is the importance of women in the world economy. Among the media assessments:

– “The secretary of State says allowing women to participate in the world’s marketplace can help save the economy.” – The Daily Beast

– “[T]he Secretary made the evidence-based case for the inclusion of women as a vital source of economic growth. She articulated important steps in a path toward the Participation Age — where every individual has the opportunity to be a contributing and valued member of the global marketplace — including strategies to remove barriers that have prevented women from being full participants in the economy and unlock their potential as drivers of economic growth.” – Huffington Post

For perspective on this important speech, I recommend the State Department’s “Background Briefing on Women in the Global Economy.” The following is Briefing One:

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Just to walk you briefly through the structure of this speech, the Secretary sets the promise of strengthening women’s roles in the global economy in the context of the challenge that we all face all around the world at this moment in how to grow our economies and how to ensure prosperity for all nations and all people. And she makes the point that we cannot do this unless we unlock a vital, undertapped resource, which is women, and that with economic models straining in every corner of the world, none of us can afford to perpetuate the barriers that are facing women in the workplace.

She also makes the point that at the beginning of the 21st century, we are entering what she calls the participation age where every individual regardless of gender or other characteristics is poised to be a contributing and valued member of the global marketplace. But in order for that to happen, we have to remove the structural and social impediments stacking the deck against them, and particularly against women. We don’t have a person to waste, and we certainly don’t have a gender to waste. So with that in mind, she is calling on the nations of the APEC region, as she has called on nations across the planet, whether in Africa or in Latin America or in other places – and briefer number two will speak to this in a minute – she’s calling on the nations of the APEC region to act together to remove roadblocks that sideline millions of women, and she’s also making this point with regard to the United States.

Specifically, she cites a statistic here that by the year 2020, we could see a 14 percent rise in per capita income in several APEC economies if we can unlock these economies to women, specifically in China, Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Korea. And here’s another important statistic that speaks to the fact that women are also stronger savers than men, which is an important element for economic growth. For every one percentage point increase in the share of household income generated by women, overall savings increased by roughly 15 base points.

So we’ve got to liberate the economic potential of women, we’ve got to elevate the economic – and in doing so, we will elevate the economic performance of communities, of nations, of the APEC region, and of the world.

Specifically, she cites the commitments the nations have made under this APEC declaration that we have to commit to giving women access to more capital so that women entrepreneurs can turn their ideas into small- and medium-sized enterprises as a source of growth. We have to examine and reform legal and regulatory systems so women can avail themselves of the full range of financial services, and we have to make essential reforms so women don’t have to choose between having families and working fully in the economy. And we have to improve women’s access to markets. And finally, we have to support the rise of women leaders in public and private sector jobs because – for all of the reasons that you know. So this is going to require legal change, it’s going to require political will, it’s going to require cultural and behavioral changes.

And if we can get this done, not only will we grow all of our economies, there will also be a ripple effect that kicks in when women have greater access to jobs and the economic laws of their countries – greater political stability, fewer military conflicts, more food, more educational opportunities for children, financial stability for more families in the world, yielding exponential dividends across the spectrum of human activity. So in pursuing this promise of what the Secretary calls the participation age, we have to remember that harnessing the potential of women is about harnessing the full potential of all of our economies.

And with that, let me turn it over to the real expert on these issues, State Department Senior Official Number Two. …

[Emphases Hannah.]

Continue to read the “Background Briefing on Women in the Global Economy.”

I love the ending of Hillary’s speech:

I cannot wait to see where we go from here, and I assure you that the United States Government and its people will be there with and for you, every step of the way.

Hillary, I can’t wait to see where YOU go from here, and how YOU will continue to fulfill YOUR critically important role in this nation. Don’t make us wait too long, Hillary. I’ve got our eyes on you! And so do thousands of my Facebook “friends”!

The above is one of several images in the information section of Merck's Web site for its product Gardasil. Click the image to browse the site, or enter this URL: gardasil.com.

But the waging war in the GOP is not the only battle being fought over Gardasil. The media blitz which ensued after the GOP debate has opened the door for dialogue on school yards and social media amongst parents wrestling with what is best for their own daughter.

Many of my friends and colleagues are still struggling with the decision on whether to vaccinate their daughters. The reasons vary, but the primary are risks, necessity and advice. Since Gardasil was recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006, we still do not know if there are long-term effects. As recently as 2009 (2 years after Perry’s executive order), Gardasil was linked to a nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

One friend wrote: Gardisil has too many open questions for me… and cervical cancer, while very very terrible, is rare. Others feel that their daughters are not sexually active as young teens, so there is no need to expose them to possible side effects. And finally, and perhaps most alarmingly, is the conflicting professional advice being given to parents. One mother wrote: My ob-gyn told me NOT to vaccinate –, but I wonder if that is the best advice. Her pediatrician was on the fence.

As we as parents wrestle with our demons, it’s clear one person who did not: Rick Perry.

Under the Public Information Act, POLITICO requested and received 700 pages of email correspondence which reveal that Perry was mostly absent from discussions on the vaccination and its consequences.

Here’s what we also know: The Center for Disease Control approved the Gardasil vaccine in June 2006. In October 2006, Perry’s Chief of Staff met with the governor’s budget director and three members of his office for an HPV vaccine briefing. On that same day, Merck’s PAC donated $5, 000 to Perry. In February 2007, Perry was the first governor to sign an executive order mandating Gardasil.

An image of Mike Toomey from the Houston Chronicle's blog on the Perry presidential candidacy. The post is titled "Maybe Rick Perry can’t be bought for $5,000, but Merck gave much more." Mike Toomey is Rick Perry's former chief of staff and is now a major lobbyist for Merck. Click the above image to read the Houston Chronicle's report.

But that’s not all.

At the time of Perry’s executive order, the governor had other ties to Merck as the drug company doubled its lobbying budget in Texas. One of the drug company’s three lobbyists in Texas was Mike Toomey, Perry’s former chief of staff. Further, Merck funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group whose state director was Rep. Dianne White Delisi, the mother-in-law of Perry’s chief of staff at the time the executive order was signed.

In case you still have lingering questions about just how disinterested Rick Perry is in the welfare of young girls, you have to watch this: a recent interview of Perry by a local station on why Texas has the 3rd highest rate of teenage pregnancies. His non-command of facts and inability to answer the most basic of questions on the welfare of young girls in his state is both startling and appalling (skip to 1:30)

As an important side note, it is the women of the GOP — columnist Michelle Malkin, Rep Michele Bachmann and Gov. Sarah Palin, all of whom are mothers — who have spoken out about Perry and Gardasil. Their frame of reference as conservatives may be different than those of progressives, but interestingly here, we find common ground: the welfare of our daughters.

While conservatives and progressives will clearly disagree on the government’s role in mandating vaccines, here’s what we can agree on: Rick Perry did not have the best interest of our daughter’s in mind at the time of his executive order.

And perhaps a solution we can agree on was one implemented by Palin who was governor of Alaska at the time Perry was signing his executive order. As an op-ed last Friday in The New York Times noted: Some of Sarah Palin’s Ideas Cross the Political Divide. At that time, Palin did not mandate the vaccine, but did make it available to girls ages 9-18 at no cost. While the medical profession sorts out the benefits and risks of Gardasil, this solution at the very least has the best interest of our daughters in mind.

Vogue interviewed Christine Lagarde, the recently appointed managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Although the profile centered on her “oatmeal-hued suit,” “bandbox-neat” appearance, and overall “elegance,” it also discussed her “classically liberal” leanings towards Adam Smith’s economic thought, meaning her preferences for “free trade and minimal government intervention, positions usually associated with conservatism.” Further, it quoted her saying, “Joseph Stiglitz endorsed me. [Paul] Krugman did not.” Smith, Stiglitz, and Krugman – names that I never thought I’d see in Vogue.

Glamour went to Africa to interview Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was talking up her entrepreneur program for women, which helps “small-business owners take their brands international.” While still focusing on her “wheat-blond hair” and “kitten heels,” the profile hones in on Clinton’s life-long dedication to promoting the advancement of women and girls. It mentions her 1995 “game-changing speech” in Beijing, her “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” presidential campaign, and the professional risks she hopes young women will take as they put together their careers (“Try it! Put your foot in the pond and see if you want to swim.”).

Women's Right (ELLE): (From left) Firearms advocate and hunter Regis Giles; conservative commentator S.E. Cupp; pollster Kellyanne Conway poses for the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s 2009 calendar, “Pretty in Mink”; attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference pick up Sarah Palin posters; presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann and South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem address the CPAC crowd.

Perhaps, soon Bazaar will catch on to this trend and decide that having Lady Gaga interview Debbie Harry about being blond is not cutting-edge journalism – talking to a woman who helps manage the world’s economy, a woman who raises the issue of “gendercide” in China and rape in Africa, and a woman who says that she wants to “see more headlines stating ‘Girl kills attacker with gun’ than ‘Girl found dead after being raped and choked to death” are all much more “edgy.”

Although none of these fashion profiles challenge the women they interview, they do highlight varied points of view and show women in positions of power, making a difference in politics. Hopefully, they will also encourage more women to take note of both female political leaders and politics more generally. Just last week, Lagarde offered her economic prescriptions for a global recovery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Clinton dressed down Syria; and the young conservative women profiled by Elle became incensed that the magazine referred to them as “Baby Palins.”

It’s a brave new world, and women are changing it.

"Bachmann and Perry Talk Jobs" (credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) - Click image to view WCCO article.

TNA’s Amy Siskind speaks out on The John Williams show, CBS Minnesota, as to why the latest Newsweek cover photo and the weekly magazine’s verbiage on the GOP candidacy of Michele Bachmann are sexist.

Listen here to the full radio interview.

Siskind is also quoted in an article, “Newsweek cover photo of Bachmann stirs controversy,” at the Web site for KHPO, a Phoenix, Arizona TV affiliate of CBS:

The magazine calls her “The Queen of Rage” and used what can be described as a harsh picture of the 6th district congresswoman.

The full title on the cover is: ‘”The Queen of Rage” Michele Bachmann on God, the Tea Party and The Evils of Government.’

Humphrey School of Public Affairs political scientist Larry Jacobs says Bachmann a candidate to reckon with, because she has done well in the polls, she is popular in Iowa and her fundraising is strong. [...]

WCCO hasn’t heard of any reaction so far from Bachmann’s campaign.

Amy Siskind from The New Agenda said the media covers women differently than men and ‘Newsweek’ purposefully used a bad photo. … Read all of the KPHO article.

FYI: The John Williams show is heard weekdays from 9:00 to noon on WCCO Radio, in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.