politics

The Beehive Design Collective is wrapping up its national tour! Initially an all-women collective, this Maine-based group (they work in a renovated grange house!) fuses grassroots political activism with some unbelievablly intricately-rendered and conceived graphic posters meant to inspire awareness and change regarding global politics and dynamics, especially in the Americas.

On today's installment of Democracy Now, you can catch Alice Walker reading her open letter to Barack Obama, originally published on The Root. Videocast and transcript after the jump.

As Jonanna and Ray have pointed out below, although it's effing incredible Obama's our new president, local elections across the country left a lot to be desired. One instance was Michele Bachmann, who just achieved a close victory over Democratic-endorsed, adorably-named Elwyn Tinklenberg in Minnesota’s Congressional election, and is the first official recipient of the Bitch blog’s Douchebag Decree, our new public service informing readers of douchebaggery near and far. Read on for this week's installment on Bachmann, proudly doing her part to set back feminism.

Something just occurred to me, on this, the holiest of political days. You know how Barack Obama bought, like, I dunno, a gazillion dollars worth of TV time to run his infomercial a few days before the election?

So by now we all know the basics about Sarah Palin, first-term governor of Alaska and John McCain's utterly transparent pick for running mate: She's a self-described "hockey mom," an avid proponent of drilling in Alaska and an equally avid opponent of abortion and gay-marriage rights. (She's also so unknown as a politician that Fox News has repeatedly been referring to her as "Susan" Palin—though admittedly, getting facts right has never been the forte of that particular outlet, has it?)

By Lisa Moricoli-Latham

If ever there were a film that ought to be required viewing for the readers of Bitch, it would be Lisa F. Jackson's The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, which premiered on HBO last night. And not for the bleeding-heart liberal reasons that instantly spring to mind.

Things that are pissing me off today: Lynndie England is blaming the media for printing the photos taken at Abu Ghraib of Iraqi prisoners being tortured. According to an AP piece, she acknowledges that after the photos of the atrocities were exposed, the Iraqi insurgency picked up. Here's her quote:

"Yeah, I took the photos but I didn't make it worldwide.

A few commenters have wondered in the past few weeks why there's been such a paltry amount of coverage of the primaries and their attendent issues on this site. I can't speak for my colleagues — as we always write, in tiny print, in the magazine's masthead, we have varying opinions and no monolithic position on most of the issues we cover — but I've become, as I'm sure many of you have, really exhuasted by the circularity of so much of the dialogue surrounding the question of who deserves the nomination more, Hillary or Barack.

Yeah. What she says. (H/t to the lovely and talented Deanna Zandt for alerting me to this post.)

The best take I've seen on the feminist infighting on whom to support in the primaries (via Feministe, whose Jill also has some great stuff to say). (And cheers to Alternet for for inaugurating a Reproductive Justice and Gender section, but shouldn't there be something else for feminist coverage? 'Cause, y'know, the last time I checked, gender issues encompassed a whole lot more than baby-makin' parts.)