My
wife was all “yippee” and “yahoo” about it as I read aloud sections of a NY Times story to her from this
morning’s paper.
by Charlie Leck
by Charlie Leck
This blog is
about a story in this morning’s New York Times. If you go to this link, you’ll notice
that the story is headed by a photograph showing the women of the House of
Representatives, of the convening 113th Congress, gathered on the
steps at the Capital. They set a record – these women –and I expect it is only
the beginning – only the beginning.
You’ll notice
something unusual in the photograph right away. There is color – bright and
glorious color – in the picture. The steps are not covered with dark blue or
black, pin-striped suits showing a bit of white shirt with a dark tie. Not at
all! Here you’ll see bright blues, reds, some orange and pink, and splashes of
green.
“Hooray,” my
wife shouted, and she looked rather Tigeresque
as she pumped a fist into the air. We had donated sizably to Congressional
races this year and I think she was feeling that it had been worth it.
The NY Times calls it the “rise of the
female legislator – 20 in the Senate and 81 in the House.”
As I looked at
the photograph, I was reminded of a scene from a play we had seen this past
autumn at the Guthrie Theater – Appomattox by Christopher Hampton. Frederick
Douglas had just departed the White House after a visit with President Lincoln,
during which they talked about the coming freedom of the American slaves. Mary
Todd Lincoln joins the President as he waves his goodbyes to Mr. Douglas. The
President turns to his wife and tells her of Douglas’ amazing request that the
vote also be secured for the free slaves. That, Lincoln told his wife, will be
a while coming.
“And for the
women,” Mary inquires of her husband, “when will the vote be coming to women?”
The President
merely looks at her as if it is only a bit of humor on her part; he shakes his
head and smiles.
And now, here is
my wife pumping a fist up into the empty space about her and shouting in joy
when I read her the ridiculous quote
from Claire McCaskill, the U.S. Senator from Missouri, who spoke about the
progress women were making in the Senate…
“I don’t think
we should be satisfied until we have the same number of women in the Senate
that represent the percentage of the population that are women, so we still
have a long way to go!”
My wife took her
coffee cup from her lips and shouted, “Yes!”
Ashley Parker
writes in her Times article about one
of the women of House who “wandered the aisles with her daughter on her hip.”
Remarkable!
“The times, Mrs.
Lincoln are really a-changin’ – and with remarkable speed; and I think we are
all the better for it. Mention it to the President if you see him, will you?”
As an aside, I shall mention that one of the
United States Senators from Minnesota is Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was
reelected by a staggering landslide this past November. In addition, Betty
McCollum represents Minnesota’s 4th congressional district, which
includes St. Paul and the area east to Minnesota’s border with Wisconsin
(including the city of Stillwater).
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