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Sebelius Should Apologize for Her Son's Board Game |
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Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas' Democratic governor, is often mentioned as a rising star in the party - and even a potential running mate for Barack Obama. As Jake has pointed out, a number of prominent Democrats in red and purple states look to Obama and his coattails as the future of the party. Obama, for his part, should also look to them as an important base of support: a way to boost his potential as a map-changer, and a core building block of a new Democratic Party with new leaders, new territory, and new strategies.
I also find the idea of a female running mate for Obama appealing. Maybe that sounds paternalistic - and more importantly, maybe it would seem that way to female voters. No one wants a consolation prize. But maybe it wouldn't be that way - maybe it would just be a recognition that there are a number of strong female leaders in the Democratic Party, including ones who weren't married to former presidents.
The problem now, though, is that in my eyes Sebelius has some explaining to do. Ezra Klein, in his upsetting but important editorial on our culture's treatment of prison rape, brings to light a disturbing fact about Sebelius:
'From the studio that brought you 'Brokeback Mountain,' " intones the preview for the light comedy "Let's Go To Prison," "comes a penetrating look at the American penal system." In case that was too subtle for you, the DVD box features a dropped bar of soap, just waiting for some poor inmate to bend over to pick it up — and suffer a hilarious sexual assault in the process.
Or maybe you're not feeling up for a movie. It's more of a board-game afternoon. How about picking up "Don't Drop the Soap," a board game created by the son of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. The game "is simply intended for entertainment," said Nicole Corcoran, the governor's spokeswoman. What, after all, could be more entertaining then trying to "avoid being cornered by the Aryans in the shower room" (one of the goals of the game, according to its promotional material)?
That truly sucks. Like Ezra, I reject the idea that this is entertaining - or representative of progressive values. Even from a strategy standpoint, I don't want bullshit like this coming up during the general if Obama did pick Sebelius as his vice-president. She should apologize, and the game should be recalled.
Fair is fair. In December I said that it was fair for us to attack Huckabee based on the incident of his son torturing and killing a dog. So it would be fair for the other side - or our side - to go after Sebelius on this one. Granted, there's a difference in intensity between sadism and gross insensitivity, but the latter is a serious problem in my eyes too. I take issues related to our criminal justice system especially seriously.
Again, I don't think this is fatal for her. If nothing else, most Americans don't care. They would rather hear about who politicians choose to sleep with than talk about the brutality that occurs behind bars. But she should be held accountable.
In other VP-related matters, Bowers has a few thoughts. Of his picks, I favor Schweitzer and Sherrod Brown.
Hard to blame her solely on this one. I wonder how old the son is. If he is like 15 or so then I see nothing wrong with this (on her end) as I did things at that age without thought that I'm sure would reflect poorly on my parents. Then again, I never created a prison board game in which one of the goals is to avoid being raped. Certainly embarrassing and a speed bump in her career but nothing more in my opinion.
I'm not sure if I'm the only person who feels this way but why are we expecting our candidates to be super human? I mean look at the new governor of New York, is it really necessary for him to disclose all of this personal information to the public for fear of being attacked with it later? How bout this, why don't we stick to the issues, for once! And if we expect to have candidates and politicians who have never made a mistake how do expect them to learn anything and really what kind of experience can someone whose never miss-stepped have?
You are quite right to point out that this kind of "gross insensitivity" is a problem, but sometimes something like this has to bring it to everyone's attention so that we can no longer ignore it, and start working on it.
You both make good points. I'm not trying to push for super-human status, and it's possible I've gone too far in my criticisms. Still, what I want is an apology. In a country whose prison system is so screwed up, the least we can do - and the least we can ask of our leaders - is to talk about the problem seriously and respectfully.
She gave a terrible SOTU response, both substantively and in her delivery. I know she's done a lot of good, but I don't want to see her as VP.
This is completely ridiculous. You have no context in this post. Do you know her son John? He is an incredible artist who graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and is an amazing entrepreneur. The game is witty and clever in regards to our society and one (you) should look to our society not John or his incredible mother Kathleen to criticizes. In the end he is a baller and you are not. Johns artistic genius has no correlation to his mothers political views so you should back the fuck off!!!!
This is a non issue.
I dunno, I don't think that would really be a big issue/distraction at all. Rather I think the number of voters that she could bring in and appeal to, far, far out number those that would be the type to be turned off by something like that.
Plus, I also think the Obama team is savy enough, as they've shown through the distractions of these primaries, that they could spin it to their benefit in a large way. It would be a chance for Sebelius to be presented in a sympathetic light as a perhaps dissapointed, though still ever loving mother.
It could also, and I know this is a bit of a stretch, open up a conversation for much needed prison reform.
Kathleen Sebelius, is by far the best choice for Vice President. Everyone want's to talk about the "dream"(i might call it a nightmare) ticket of Obama/Clinton;
Kathleen Sebelius is everything Hillary is with none of the negatives, but the added bonus of executive, actuall governing experience.
In the grand scheme of things, I think you're right. I guess this issue just hit me personally in a strange way. If Obama picks Sebelius, and it seems there's a decent chance he will, he won't lose my vote. But it will sadden me somewhat. For the very first time, I think I would understand why some people feel that liberals are elites who laugh at the common folk. As you can read in Randy's comment above, apparently her son is a "baller" and I am not, so I must fuck off. And prison reform is a long way away. So the thought of a vice president's child laughing while men, some of them innocent, are raped in our country's prisons upsets me. But who am I to protest?
Plus I think Brian Schweitzer is a better choice.
Kudos to you for youe far reaching insight to Kathleen Sebelius' governing experience as compared to the psuedo experience of governing that H
illary Clinton makes reference to. In my mind her only governing experience is in her relatiionship with Bill and she had a markedly gross failure in that arena. I hope Gov. Sebelius is the VP nominee.
I only know Schweitzer from an appearance on The Colbert Report so I can't speak for his policies, but he seems like a decent enough guy. Perhaps a bit too new into politics to be VP with Obama's supposed 'experience' issues, but I think he will be on the scene for quite some time. Maybe a run in '16 even.
I would take Randy's post with more than a few grains of salt. I mean "baller"? Really?
I do however think it is a far stretch to put this on K.Sebelius. Besides as far as I can tell this is the only thing to be used against her, and as a whole I think that is a plus. She is a squeeky clean(excluding this), very popular Democrat in a redder than red Kansas. She alone could put the entire "heartland" in play for the Dems. But why do I really like her? From her wiki-
"She was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1986. In 1994 she left the House to run for state insurance commissioner and stunned political forecasters by winning %u2014 the first time a Democrat had won in more than 100 years. She is credited with bringing the agency out from under the influence of the insurance industry. She refused to take campaign contributions from insurers and blocked the proposed merger of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, the state's largest health insurer, with an Indiana-based company. The decision by Sebelius marked the first time the corporation had been rebuffed in its acquisition attempts."