She·PAC Calls on Bill Burton and the Obama Super PAC to Denounce Misogynist Bill Maher
MEDIA ADVISORY
March 7, 2012
As recently as March 1st Bill Burton, cofounder of Priorities USA Action SuperPAC, was promoting the views of a donor who referred to women in violent, hateful and derogatory ways. Today, we call on Mr. Burton to follow President Obama’s lead and reject this language and messenger. Please see full text of the letter below.
Dear Mr. Burton:
Having watched President Obama’s press conference yesterday afternoon we find ourselves in agreement with him regarding the inflammatory issues that have arisen in the media. We are sure we can all agree we have arrived at what the President might call a “teachable moment”.
We were pleased to see Rush Limbaugh apologize for his incredibly unkind and insensitive remarks towards women during his recent radio broadcast. These types of remarks towards women have no place in public discourse – they are wrong, and offensive.
It was an important gesture that President Obama approved the time in his schedule to place a call to the woman to whom the offensive remarks were directed. As parents of daughters ourselves, we were proud when we heard him say he took a personal stand on this issue with the hopes of always allowing his daughters the ability to have their own beliefs in the future. President Obama said, “One of the things I want them to do as they get older is to engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on.”
President Obama has categorically condemned this sort of language against any woman. We are calling on you today to put the President’s words to action by condemning the equally egregious and despicable behavior of HBO talk show host Bill Maher. Mr. Maher has a history of attacking women and recently attacked a host of women including a specifically violent attack at one woman who regularly, as the President says, “engages in the issues she cares about” and is a mother of three daughters and grandmother.
Mr. Maher, who disagrees with Sarah Palin’s politics, has called her a litany of adjectives inappropriate to repeat in any setting and are of the most derogatory of terms reserved for only violent verbal hate crimes against women. We understand that he has donated $1 million dollars of his personal money paid to him through various businesses that thrive on the ratings of his hate speech to your Priorities USA Action to aid in your efforts to re-elect President Obama.
President Obama eloquently stated today in his press conference that, “all decent folks can agree that the remarks that were made don’t have any place in the public discourse.”
We are certain you agree with him, as do we that these types of remarks have no place in our society and the people that unapologetically make them must not be allowed to purchase a seat at the table of public discourse. Therefore, we are calling on Priorities USA Action and you to live up to the standard set by President Obama and take Mr. Maher’s million dollars and pay it forward.
Prove to American’s that your group is run by “decent folks” that President Obama speaks of. Donate this money to a charity of your choosing that focuses on supporting abused women and children.
We look forward to your action and joining with the President in ending hate speech against women.
Respectfully,
Teri Christoph, Co-Chair of ShePAC
Suzanne Haik Terrell, Co-Chair of ShePAC
Tim Crawford, Treasurer of ShePAC
LOL! love they are using Obama’s words against him. Do you think they will donate Maher’s money and “pay it forward”?