A couple of thoughts . . .

Here’s an addendum to my post from last week. Ann Friedman wrote an interesting piece for Alternet about the gender gap among progressive editorial staffs. It’s pretty clear looking at the statistics that a large chunk of the population is absent from the editorial process. Of the 11 publications, only In These Times (to which I’m very partial) comes close to any sembelance of gender equality, and some of the most mainstream publications, namely Harper’s and the Nation, remain horribly male-dominated. I’m sure that if Friedman had looked at white vs. non-white staffers, she would have found similarly startling statistics.

Now I’m not normally that interested in the court system, but there’s a really intriguing story brewing in Mississippi. According to the Times, the federal government will try the first ever lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act of blacks disenfranchising whites. Ike Brown, the Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee in Noxubee County, is accused of “paying and organizing notaries, some of whom illegally marked absentee ballots or influenced how the ballots were voted; of publishing a list of voters, all white, accompanied by a warning that they would be challenged at the polls; of importing black voters into the county; and of altering racial percentages in districts by manipulating the registration rolls.”

Because it’s Mississippi, otherwise known as the black disenfranchisement capital of the Jim Crow South (and the lynch capital as well), this has to be a volatile issue in the region. It’s slightly puzzling why a black politican would work so hard to ensure the success of “black candidates” given the population demographics of the county. But I come from Chicago and I know the lengths machine politicans will go to get their way. It’s certainly a story worth following.

And finnally, Colbert getting some from Jane Fonda and Gloria Stienam. Good times.

-Adam Doster