Miers, IWF, and Puppetry

"This was not a home run," said Jennifer Braceras, a visiting fellow at the conservative Independent Women's Forum, speaking about the Miers nomination. "This is a foul ball."

"On Tuesday, the IWF sponsored a discussion on "What Women Want, the other Supreme Court Issues," and neither Braceras nor the four other women on the panel, including well-known conservatives Victoria Toensing and Barbara Comstock, raised their hands when I asked who was speaking out publicly for Miers."

(from the suntimes)

When you can't get the Independent Women's Forum behind a Bush appointee -- you've got problems.

Really, I just wanted to post about how much I loathe the IWF. They were formed during the Clarence Thomas nominations in order to create some pseudo-feminist "support" for the candidate. Board members include senior officials in the Bush administration and his nominees are vetted on "women's issues" by IWF before facing nomination hearings. (WaPo)

If you can't get the wags who were created to back horrific judicial nominees to stand behind you. . . there's something wrong. Or right. . . the conundrum of conservative opposition continues to confuse.

What I resent most about the IWF is the way that this think tank of powerful and elite conservative men and women are often cited as the "opposing" view to any pro-gender equity group. Unlike NOW or the Feminist Majority, they do not represent a large membership. Instead they are a select and small group of a few hundred pundits. Not an organization, not even a think tank, but a loose assortment of wags that are allowed to "speak" for the "other feminists" (ie those who don't belive in pay inequity, who think that boys get the societal short-straw, and are conspiciously mum on abortion.) The media's continued utilization of IWF creates the appearance of an opposition whose puppet strings are clearly held not by the smiling stiff-haired spokespeople (yeah I'm talking about you Hoff Sommers!), but by the larger and more influential right-wing policy institutions. So nice that they went out and created a ladies auxillary.