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GRITtv: Feminism, the Super Bowl and the Media
CBS has changed its longstanding policy of not allowing issue ads during the Super Bowl to accept an anti-choice advertisement from Focus on the Family, and women's groups are furious at the double standard: CBS still rejected an ad from a gay dating service. Jehmu Greene and the Women's Media Center are calling for CBS to pull the ad, and other groups have joined the protest. Meanwhile, Nona Willis Aronowitz has a new book, Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism, which aims to find out what kind of feminism women around the country support, and Shelby Knox came from a southern conservative background to become an activist for sex education. We ask them what feminism means now and whether we should be focused on women in the media or other issues.
Email this pageGRITtv: Hope: After a Year, What Does It Mean?
Hope. It was the word for the Obama campaign, epitomized by the famous Shepard Fairey poster, with eyes uplifted, bright primary colors declaring that Americans believed in something good again. Last year on election day, we discussed the election and the future of America; hoping for an Obama victory and with it some restoration of the things we'd lost under Bush. This year, we look back with some of our guests from that day on what they said then and what they think now. Chris Hayes of The Nation remembers the feeling of social solidarity from the Obama campaign, hundreds of thousands of people coming together to work for a common cause, while Danny Schechter of MediaChannel and NewsDissector points out that Obama had plenty of support from Wall St. as well as Main St. Air America's Ron Reagan wonders why Maine managed to expand its rights to medical marijuana while closing off rights to same-sex couples, and Esther Armah of WBAI notes that Obama's election maintains its symbolic importance, even if dealing with the reality is somewhat more complicated.
GRITtv: One Year Later, Still Politics as Usual?
Election 2009 was a mixed bag for all sides. But what did these results have to do with Obama? Our panel agrees on one thing: Democrats neglected the base that Obama worked so hard to build up. Jehmu Greene of the Women's Media Center notes that Democrats reverted back to the old way of doing things, and Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake points out that the candidate who supported the public option, Bill Owens in NY-23, won, while Creigh Deeds in Virginia, who said he might opt the state out if he was governor, lost. Mark Green of Air America, who once ran against Michael Bloomberg, noted that despite the massive outlay of cash, Bloomberg ran a tight race and could've been defeated if the Democrats put more effort into supporting his opponent. Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation notes that the youth vote was critical in 2008, and warns Democrats of what they risk losing if they ignore the young voters now.
GRITtv: Nov. 4, 2009: One Year Later
In a special one-hour show, we convene two panels of GRITtv regular guests to talk about these questions, the election results, and what progressives need to do better going forward into 2010. Joining us are Katrina vanden Heuvel and Chris Hayes of The Nation, Jehmu Greene of the Women's Media Center and formerly of Rock the Vote, James Rucker of Color Of Change, Danny Schechter of News Dissector, Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake, Ron Reagan and Mark Green of Air America, and Esther Armah of WBAI.
