Human Interest

Workout
President Barack Obama is opening the door to the possibility of a resumption of White House tours, if it can be worked out. Obama says in an interview broadcast with ABC News Wednesday that the decision to cancel the tours in the wake of budget cuts was made by the Secret Service, citing the need to furlough some employees. Revealing he's trying to ease the no-tour policy, Obama says he's talked to the Secret Service about restoring some visits. (NYT, 3/13/2013)

Told ya!

(And note again how things are never Obama's fault.)


Sharp Objects
The head of the Transportation Security Administration plans to testify to Congress on Thursday, defending his decision to allow small knives on airplanes, amid worries that the move will endanger the public. (WSJ, 3/12/2013)

The agency that refuses to profile potential terrorists (hint: young single males from Middle Eastern countries who profess jihad) now gives the OK to knives. Which begs the question: who are the people that have been clamoring to bring knives on planes?


Symptoms
One fact, stunning to White House officials, is the degree to which many Republicans remain unaware of the substance of the administration’s offers on entitlement reform. This is symptomatic of a messaging failure on the part of the White House but also of the poisonous environment in which both sides live. (Ruth Marcus, Washington Post, 3/12/2013)

Count us among the unaware. Obama has offered entitlement reforms? Maybe they do have a messaging problem. Perhaps Obama should hold more press conferences.


Interpretation
But Ms. Sandberg (Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg) interprets the facts she describes in a different way. Though she presents her ideas as new, she thinks of herself as a feminist, and like all feminists, she blames "society" for sending "cultural messages" loaded with "gender stereotypes" that discourage women from becoming leaders in their fields. (WSJ, 3/12/2013)

In the past thirty years, RedStateVT has worked for several women (one of whom was the company CEO). We have had doctors, lawyers, and accountants who were women. But apparently women still can't catch a break in a male chauvinist world, or so says a female COO. Maybe Sandberg is joking...