"Aren't all secretaries of state girls?"

[rvablue]

This week I interviewed former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ahead of the release of her new book "Read My Pins."

I laughed when she talked about her 7-year-old granddaughter who can't understand why it's such a big deal that grandma was one of the highest ranking members of the Clinton administration. "Aren't all secretaries of state girls?" the child asked.

Secretary Albright is famous for her pin collection - brooches that sent messages to an Iraqi dictator, a Russian foreign minister, and the grieving, war-torn citizens of Bosnia.

She wore a bee to meet Yasser Arafat, and later got a butterfly from him as a gift.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/25/couricandco/entry5340543.shtml

((Don't kill me for posting the Couric/CBS link given some things they've chosen to do over the past week. Couldn't resist the quote from the kid -- too cute! -- and just shows how times really are changing -- a whole generation that thinks women in high positions of power are no big thing.))

Some more cool anecdotes about Albright's pins here:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/10/05/091005ta_talk_collins

[Wilms]

1. Speaking of CBS, here's a message Albright sent to Iraqi children.

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.

--60 Minutes (5/12/96)

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1084

[derby378]

2. She's probably kicking herself over that statement now

Sacrificing innocent human lives just to make a political point is never acceptable.

[Democracyinkind]

5. Whenever speaking of these war criminals it is good to link to that statement.

She did wonders in the Balkans too. I remember working at the airport with jugoslavian refugees, she was very popular.
but I know it's taboo. Thanks for your post.

[Whisp]

7. she can kiss my sweaty ass crack

I will always despise her for that.

[EndersDame]

8. didnt she say something that it was just collateral damage

either way FUCK her

[CBGLuthier]

10. what a grade a bastard she is

No wonder she went so far in american politics. May she rot in hell.

[lukasahero]

3. I was wondering

Are we sure she meant she thought it commonplace for a woman to hold a position of power or did the word "secretary" create a different meaning in the child's mind?

Just wondering...

[rvablue]

4. Given her age, I think it's the more optomistic context.

The little girl has only seen women in that role.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. Since Albright all the Secretary of States have been women except for one.

Which was Colin Powell during the first half of GW's presidency.

It's a beautiful thing to realize how we've changed the way our young women and girls view the world. We still have a long way to go, but it's things such as this which give us the strength to keep up the fight.

[BOG PERSON]

9. Yes

Now that our women actively participate in oppressing people in other countries it's okay to call them bitches

Albright is a supreme bitch, and I'm being very charitable when I say that

[EndersDame]

11. I am a woman and I think she is a cold hearted bitch

How could she say that killing half a million innocent children was worth it

[FLAprogressive]

14. because she had a D next to her name and that's good enough for some.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. I think perhaps some are looking at this from a different angle

I seriously doubt you'll find anyone here who would defend Condoleezza Rice for instance. Yet the fact that she was a female in a position of power can have an effect how young girls view, and pursue their potential futures.

[BOG PERSON]

18. You want young girls to seek power for power's sake

regardless of how that power is used?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

20. Are you really this obtuse?

I refuse to believe you are. This has to be an act on your part.

[BOG PERSON]

22. You're divorcing power from the use of that power

and somehow I'm the one who's being obtuse. Okay, whatever.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. No, I am not. You're simply either missing or ignoring the point of my words.

Your attempting apply a critique of the performance these women did in their positions to my statements. Which is irrelevant to my statement on how that they held these positions at all is an encouragement to other young women and girls to pursue positions of power in our country.

[BOG PERSON]

25. In other words, it encourages young girls to seek power for power's sake

and this is a positive thing. Gotcha.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. I'm curious as to how you come to that conclusion?

There's no comparison between assuming a goal is out of your reach due to your gender, race or sexuality, and seeking power for the sake of power only.

[BOG PERSON]

28. Now who's being obtuse? n/t

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. Explain, please.

You've yet to actually address my point.

[BOG PERSON]

30. No, thanks, this is a waste of time

You don't have a point to address, besides, just a lot of obfuscation

You don't realize it but you're *this close* to holding up Lyndie England as a positive female role model (now there was a powerful woman!)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

34. You came *this close* to actually addressing my point

Then blindly ran away from it at the end.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. I didn't say anything about these specific women personally.

That doesn't have anything to do with what I was talking about. I can make a similar argument about MANY of the previous male Secretary of States. However, that wasn't the point of my post, was it?

[BOG PERSON]

15. Nobody hesitates to call male Secretaries of State monsters, motherfuckers, etc.

But many are still uncomfortable with calling an evil female a bitch. All I'm saying is, they shouldn't be.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. What does that have to do with the point I was making?

I'm seriously confused as to why you made that specific reply to my post.

[rvablue]

31. -1! n/t

[Matariki]

12. Did the kid take for granted 'women in high positions' or did the word 'secretary' throw her?

hope it was the former.

[BOG PERSON]

19. I hope it was the latter

LOL

[Matariki]

24. ?

reading your other posts upthread, I think you might have some issues with women.

[BOG PERSON]

27. No, not me

People who think females are not capable of evil, like the person upthread who assumes Albright is kicking herself for the statement she made about the value of Iraqi children's lives (when nobody ever wonders about, say, Henry Kissinger's heavy conscience) — they're the ones with issues, not me.

[Matariki]

35. Why would you hope that the granddaughter was thinking 'Secretary' == women

and not that she took for granted a woman could have a highly placed position? That's how you responded to my post, and I find it a response that must either be a misunderstanding, or hostile to women. Looking at your other posts, I suspect it's the latter.

[omega minimo]

32. I hope so too.

As for your other repsondent, there seem to be no redeeming qualities there.

[starroute]

21. When we see a female Secretary of Defense or of the Treasury ...

... I'll be convinced things have really, really changed.

Right now, we've got a kind of gender divide, where women can get to the very top in diplomacy or law -- perhaps because those are considered as being human relations-type areas -- but men still dominate finance and the military.

Come to think of it, we also have a racial divide along exactly the same lines.

So some things have changed a lot -- others not at all.

[omega minimo]

33. Sure, That's why Thomas Jefferson wore the Big White Wig.