Professional behavior – am I expecting too much from our leaders?

08. October 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: In the News, Random Stuff · Tags: ,

There is a video making the rounds on the interwebs showing Nancy Pelosi standing with Harry Reid. People are laughing/analyzing her body language with regard to what he is saying. I watched the video, and I think people may be missing the point. In the video, Reid puts his arm around her as he is making his point, and she is obviously NOT OK with that contact and discretely moves away from him. Reid, on the other hand has the body language of the good husband, standing with his quiet wife at his side, making an announcement to the kids.

Wasn’t Bush’s shoulder massage to Angela Merkel enough of a gaff for male politicians to remind themselves to keep their hands off of the women they work with (at the very least, in a public setting)!!! You can see by Merkel and Pelosi’s reactions that it is awkward situation for a professional woman to be in because they obviously don’t want these men touching them but telling them to keep their f$*#ing hands to themselves is kind of strong reaction (and possibly a bit over the top during a press conference, though it would undoubtedly grab headlines).

I have worked with many, many men (sometimes for long hours in close quarters), and the men I work with don’t put their hands on my body when we are working with the exception of a hand shake when we meet (there was an exception of a creepy old professor who is a slime bag and was confronted for his grabby, grabby hands). Is that too much to expect? Am I missing something? I worked with my good friend Brian for a couple of years. We worked together daily, traveled around the country together, and became friends, but when we were working, we were working! I can’t imagine him putting his arm around me during a meeting as he makes a point about a decision we made. Why doesn’t anyone in the media think it’s strange when male politicians are overly familiar with their female counterparts??

I have to give Michelle Obama some props for ardently sticking out her hand to Sillvio Berlusconi rather than letting him kiss her! I guess she could have guessed that unwanted contact was coming and headed it off. It is the times that socially awkward men catch you off guard in front of an audience that are harder to deal with.

I am no fan of Palin, but..

07. July 2009 · 3 comments · Categories: Random Stuff · Tags:

I can’t stand most of the wild speculation about her decision to quit. There is no news on this topic, but none the less, it is dominating most of the news papers.

It may have been a really poorly presented decision (her press conference and her ‘justifications’ were a bit odd and disjointed), but there are more important things to focus on. It doesn’t matter why this woman did what she did, she is leaving the state in good hands (possibly better hands?). She seems to be happily killing some animals now, so let her be. I don’t like the woman’s politics (to say the least), but she obviously needs some time away from the insanity of US politics and the 24 hours news cycle. She’ll have to deal with the consequences of those actions if she stays in politics.