Profile of Obama speechwriter, “wundkerkind” Jon Favreau, at WhoRunsGov.com omits Favreau’s “groping Hillary” photo

Jon Favreau. Photo credit: Lois Raimondo/TWP via WhoRunsGov.com

While scanning the Washington Post just now, I stumbled on a link to the Post’s offshoot, WhoRunsGov.com, boasting that it “offers the best political profiles on the web.” As luck would have it,  I had unintentionally linked to Jon Favreau’s profile. Favreau as you know has been Obama’s speechwriter since the 08 campaign and the White House speechwriter since January 2009.

The flattering profile of Mr. Favreau begins:

Favreau might have one of the most difficult jobs in President Barack Obama’s office. The wunderkind is charged with writing speeches for a politician considered one of the best speakers of his generation.

I was not surprised, but nevertheless disappointed to discover the profile failed to mention one of the more scandalous episodes in Favreau’s brief career in DC that was covered exceptionally well in a post dated Dec. 5, 2008 at Top of the Ticket (LA Times) by Andrew Malcolm titled “Obama Speechwriter Photographed Groping Hillary Clinton Likeness.”

Favreau is on the left.

 

Malcolm writes:

It might have seemed funny during the party. But a photo has surfaced in recent hours of President-elect Barack Obama's newly-designated chief speechwriter, Jon Favreau, groping a cardboard cutout of the administration's newly-designated secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

That's Favreau on the left in the above photo (the fellow in the Obama staff T-shirt pouring beer in the pretend politician's mouth is unidentified). The photo was first published on the Washington Post's 44 blog.

The shot of the 27-year-old writer with his hand on the 60-year-old cardboard senator's breast reportedly appeared for about two hours on a Facebook page Thursday afternoon before disappearing, along with numerous other Favreau pictures, including one of him dancing with the cardboard female secretary-designate.

An Obama spokesman says Favreau has apologized to the former first lady, who gave Obama a run for his massive piles of money during the Democratic primaries. 

The transition official said Favreau has "reached out to Sen. Clinton to offer an apology," an unfortunate choice of words under the photographic circumstances, as the Swamp's Frank James points out in his item. 

Read more:

Sudanese Women Sentenced Forty Lashes for Wearing Trousers - Female Journalist Defies Court

We Americans need reminding from time to time that we are important role models to the rest of the world. Plus, we like to tell other nations how they should be governing themselves, especially on issues such as human rights.

As if we’re on top of our game in human rights.

Never mind Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, our dearth of women political leaders, the upsurge of sexism and misogyny during the 2008 presidential election... oh, that reminds me of President Obama’s head speech writer, Jon Favreau, otherwise known as Jon, the Groper. Nothing like a viral photo going global of tipsy Jon and his male friend sexually molesting a life-size cardboard cutout of our newly appointed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Hey, Jon, way to send a message to women in countries like Sudan where Islamic Sharia law is enforced. Never mind. In spite of the depraved mind of the guy who unbelievably continues to put words in President Obama’s mouth, brave women manage to stand up against the cruel oppression of their cultures wherever they happen to be.

Take Sudanese female journalist Lubna Hussein. The Huffington Post cites an AFP report that Hussein, who was arrested July 3 for wearing pants and is now standing trial, openly defied the court by wearing the very same outfit to trial that she was arrested for.

From the Huffington Post/Associated Press:

A Sudanese female journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public in violation of the country's strict Islamic laws told a packed Khartoum courtroom Wednesday she is resigning from a U.N. job that grants her immunity so she can challenge the law on women's public dress code.

Lubna Hussein was among 13 women arrested July 3 in a raid by members of the public order police force on a popular Khartoum cafe for wearing trousers, considered indecent by the strict interpretation of Islamic law adopted by Sudan's Islamic regime. All but three of the women were flogged at a police station two days later.

But Hussein and two other women decided they wanted to go to trial and Hussein invited human rights workers, western diplomats and fellow journalists to Wednesday's hearing.

Some of her women friends showed up in court Wednesday wearing trousers in a show of support.

"This is not a case about me wearing pants," said Hussein, who works in the media department of the U.N. Mission in Sudan and contributes opinion pieces to a left-leaning Khartoum newspaper.

"This is a case about annulling the article that addresses women's dress code, under the title of indecent acts. This is my battle. This article is against the constitution and even against Islamic law itself," she said after the hearing.”

Did I mention earlier that Americans like to promote themselves as role models for the rest of the world? U.S. human rights activists would do well to look to Lubna Hussein and her supporters in Sudan for guidance. Our country's 51 percent female population must unite to make sure that never again will female candidates for the presidency or any other public office be treated with the blatant misogynist contempt experienced by Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in 2008.

America can do better.

Not Obama, not Bush, not Twitter - It’s the Women Shaking the Regime in Iran

The denigration of all women by the abuse of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary will continue to echo around the world in years to come, aided by the occasional reminder such as the photo that went viral in Dec. 2008 featuring a very drunk Jon Favreau groping a life-size cardboard cutout of the newly designated secretary of state.

As Obama’s head speechwriter, the youthful Favreau continues to serve as the voice of the leader of the free world; further evidence – in case you needed it - of our president’s lack of concern for the rights of women, gays, and other minorities besides his own when his election is not at stake.

For some odd reason, Favreau came to mind this morning as I read Anne Applebaum’s op-ed in the Washington Post titled “An Overlooked Force in Iran.” Maybe I was mentally comparing the image of Favreau sexually molesting our secretary of state with Applebaum’s description below of photographs of courageous Iranian women:

Women in sunglasses and headscarves, speaking through megaphones, brandishing cameras, carrying signs: When they first appeared, the photographs of the 2005 Tehran University women's rights protests were a powerful reminder of the true potential of Iranian women. The images were uplifting; they featured women of many ages; and they went on circulating long after the protests themselves died down. Now they have been replaced by a far more brutal and already infamous set of images: The photographs and video taken this past weekend of a young Iranian woman, allegedly shot by a government sniper, dying on the streets of Tehran.

I don't know whether the girl in the photographs is destined to become this revolution's symbolic martyr, as some are already predicting. I do know, however, that there is a connection between the violence in Iran over the past week and the women's rights movement that has slowly gained strength in Iran over the past several years.

Rubbing salt into the wounds of those of us still inwardly seething about the disgraceful treatment of Hillary Clinton in 2008 and the subsequent sexist attacks on Sara Palin, Appelbaum points out that our still Obama-jaded media can’t even be expected to accurately report the revolution in Iran:

In the United States, the most America-centric commentators have somberly attributed the strength of recent demonstrations to the election of Barack Obama. Others want to give credit to the democracy rhetoric of the Bush administration. Still others want to call this a "Twitter revolution" or a "Facebook revolution," as if zippy new technology alone had inspired the protests. But the truth is that the high turnout has been the result of many years of organizational work, carried out by small groups of civil rights activists and above all women's groups, working largely unnoticed and without much outside help.

Since 2006, the One Million Signatures Campaign has been circulating a petition, online and in print, that calls for an end to laws that discriminate against women and the enactment of laws that provide equal rights for women in marriage, equal rights to divorce, equal inheritance rights and equal testimony rights for men and women in court. Though based outside the country, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, founded by a pair of sisters, translates and publishes online fundamental human rights documents; it maintains an online database of the names of thousands of victims of the Islamic Republic as well. In the past decade, Iranian women have participated in student strikes as well as teachers' strikes, and in organizations of Bahai, Christian and other religious groups whose members are deemed "heretics" by the regime.

Applebaum reiterates:

Not Obama, not Bush and not Twitter, in other words, but years of work and effort lie behind the public display of defiance and, in particular, the number of women on the streets -- and their presence matters. Their presence could strike the deepest blow against the regime. For at the heart of the ideology of the Islamic Republic is its claim to divine inspiration: Its leadership is legitimate, as is its harsh repression of women, because God has decreed that it is so. The outright rejection of this creed by tens of thousands of women, not just over the past weekend but over the past decade, has to weaken the Islamic Republic's claim to invincibility, in Iran and across the Middle East. The regime's political elite knows this well: It is no accident that the two main challengers to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian presidential campaign promised to repeal some of the laws that discriminate against women, and it is no accident that the leading challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, used his wife, a political scientist and former university chancellor, in his campaign appearances and posters.

The Islamic Republic is not alone in its claim to divine inspiration. We recall that Dubya claimed guidance from above for eight years followed by Obama who has often been referred to as “the messiah.”

Appelbaum concludes:

The regime may succeed. Violence usually succeeds, at least in the short term, in intimidating people. In the long term, however, the links, structures, organizations and groups set up by Iranian women, not to mention the photographs of the past week, will continue to gnaw away at the Iranian regime's legitimacy -- and we should take note. I cannot count how many times I've been told in recent years that "women's issues" in the Islamic world are a secondary subject: Whether the discussion is of the Afghan constitution or the Saudi government, the standard line among most commentators has always been that other things -- stability, security, oil -- matter more. But regimes that repress the civil and human rights of half their population are inherently unstable. Sooner or later, there has to be a backlash. In Iran, we're watching one unfold.

Sad to say, here in America, our president has only recently told us that “women’s issues” and the rights of the LGBT community are secondary to all of the other important matters he has on his plate.

Come to think of it, the Obama regime has begun to appear a bit wobbly.

Barack Obama: What a Feminist Looks Like?!!

And to think I actually used to read Ms. Magazine. Heidi Li Feldman’s response to the cover of the Ms. inaugural issue says it all:

'“Honestly, I did a double-take. A triple-take. Because if a feminist looks like President-elect Obama then a feminist looks exactly like somebody who has done nothing, and I do mean nothing, to suggest that he will fight for increased social justice for women. This is the person who has retained Jon "The Groper" Favreau as his chief speechwriter; installed Tim "I'm not really for serious guarantees of Roe v. Wade" Kaine as the DNC Chair; appointed far fewer women to his cabinet or to cabinet-level positions than Bill Clinton did and barely the number that George W. Bush has (more on that here and here and best of all here). Between the choice of Rick "Women who exercise their right to abortion are like Nazis" Warren to give the invocation at the Inaugural Ceremony itself and total silence with regard to how the economic stimulus package he is proposing will aid those likely to be hit hardest - yes, women - I have to say that if President-Elect is Ms. Magazine's idea of what a feminist looks like, I would hate to see their vision of what an anti-feminist looks like.”'

Heidi goes on to discuss her latest project, the founding of 51 percent, a women’s organization that she says will not be sidetracked:

"While I will not be buying a subscription to Ms. Magazine, their solicitation reminded me that now more than ever, I want to stay the course with 51 Percent (even if it means, yes, seeking contributions from folks during these tough times - something I feel uncomfortable about - but eventually we will attract major benefactors and they, combined with the small dollar contributors will fuel the development of the Museum of Misogynistic Memorabilia and help us build up our speaker's bureau). I founded 51 Percent because I realized that most preexisting women's organizations got sidetracked somewhere along the way - sold out, bought off, distracted. I will not let that happen to 51 Percent. Unless we understand the basic injustice of a society where the majority remains vastly under-represented in public life (not just in politics but also in politics), we will get more magazine covers from purported feminist publications that applaud the feminism (!?!) of a incoming President who has ignored even this list of recommendations for moving justice for women to the fore of his administration.

"Meanwhile, if you want to learn more about 51 Percent go here. You can find a mailing address for donations to 51 Percent here.

"If you have $5.10 or $51.00 or any amount to donate, you can do so at the website or below. Moneys raised will be going to the development of the Museum of Misogynistic Memorabilia and announcing, via ads, the formation of 51 Percent and its Museum in select publications. Please note that donations directly to 51 Percent are tax-deductible to the extent permissible under law, and donations via Google are direct to 51 Percent."

Palin Condemns Racist Slurs About Obama; Obama Ignores Sexual Slurs Against Hillary Clinton

According to the AP’s William Yardley, Alaska is checking E-mailed slurs about President-elect Obama. Yardley reports:

“Alaska officials are investigating e-mail messages that included racist jokes about President-elect Barack Obama and were circulated on state government accounts by state employees.”

The article continues:

“Bill McAllister, a spokesman for Gov. Sarah Palin, said Thursday that none of the 10 employees worked in the governor’s office and that to his knowledge no one in the office had received any of the messages, which, he said, Ms. Palin condemns.

‘“They violate state policy — at least that’s the prima facie view of things,’ Mr. McAllister said in a telephone interview. ‘They’re not state business, and obviously they are offensive, and clearly she doesn’t support that. And she does not support racism, and she does not support attacks on the president-elect.’”

Compare the condemnation of the above racist activity by Gov. Palin to the complete lack of response from President-elect Obama to the photo of Jon Favreau widely circulated on the Internet showing Obama’s chief speechwriter and his buddy sexually molesting a cardboard cutout of the newly named secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Also, please take into consideration that Obama has justified inviting a homophobic evangelical Christian pastor to give the invocation at his inauguration by urging us to learn to disagree with one another without being disagreeable.

In ObamaLand, racism is apparently the only form of bigotry considered morally wrong; women, gays, and other minority groups don’t merit equal protection from abusive treatment.

Washington Post’s Saslow Trivializes Obscene, Sexist Treatment of Hillary Clinton

One of the reasons I left the Democratic Party last summer was the culture of misogyny that revealed itself in the unholy alliance of the party’s leaders and the media during a primary that culminated in a convention rigged to anoint Barack Obama as nominee for the presidency.

Even Howard Dean has since acknowledged the abusive treatment endured by first Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary and later Sarah Palin in the general election.

And yet – and yet – just this morning I turn to the Washington Post and read Eli Saslow’s saccharine paean to Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau who recently exposed his own depravity and that of his buddies in a photo first published on Facebook. The photo shows Favreau groping the cardboard former first lady’s breast while a buddy pours beer down her throat.

Here’s how Saslow cleverly dismisses the young Favreau’s behavior:

‘“Now, he {Favreau} has transformed into what one friend called a ‘Washington political force’ -- a minor celebrity with a down payment on a Dupont Circle condo, whose silly Facebook photos with a Hillary Rodham Clinton cutout created what passes for controversy in Obama's so far drama-free transition.”’

Saslow’s noxious attempt to brush Favreau’s misconduct aside doesn’t change the seriousness of the issue that continues to hang over the 2008 presidential election. Civilized, informed Americans are well aware that our nation sets the example on human rights for the rest of the world.

When America’s rampant misogyny, illustrated by a photo of punk Favreau’s disrespectful treatment of our newly named secretary of state, is rocketed around the worldwide Web, we are effectively condoning the abusive treatment of women in other cultures exemplified recently by a news report featuring a 13-year-old Somali girl. The child was brutally raped by three men on her way to visit her grandmother. She turned to the authorities for help and was instead charged with adultery and publicly stoned to death.

The good news regarding Saslow’s typically fawning coverage of anything related to the Obama team is that a good many readers took the time to protest. Below is nikital’s comment that has already been recommended by 10 readers:

nikita1 wrote:
“What the reporter described as an awkward pose was actually Favreau acting out events that often precipitate date rape. His hands is groping her breast. Another is around her neck. And the other man in the photo is pouring beer down her throat. Readers should substitute U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's face with one of their daughter, wife, sister, or mother. The Washington Post has done a great disservice to its readers by assisting in the effort to rehabilitate the image of a person who is not fit to serve in the White House.
12/18/2008 8:53:52 AM
Recommended (10)”

Another Washington Post reader, jandrejacques, also has no patience for Favreau’s obscene behavior and again several readers approve the comment:

“Favreau should be fired for that photo. It gives substance to a belief to anybody who has been watching that the Obamas are elitists and see several minority groups as inferior, and it will be a worm in the Obama structure that will consume it. More importantly, it gives any foreign entity that SoS-elect Clinton must deal with, reason to wonder if the Obama regime are truly respectful and supportive of Clinton. He has to be fired. Of course, 'zipperhead' Obama hasn't got a clue.
12/18/2008 8:33:24 AM
Recommended (10)”