Variety did multiple covers last week, profiling various celebrities and their charitable or advocacy work. Miley Cyrus was actually profiled for her work with her LGBTQ homeless youth foundation, although most of that interview was a word salad. Scarlett Johansson was profiled too, for her advocacy work with Planned Parenthood. PP has several high-profile celebrity women working as the “faces” of reproductive rights, and I think that’s a smart move. It’s easy for a bunch of old douchebags to scream about abortion, it’s quite another thing when you have women like Elizabeth Banks, America Ferrera, Julianne Moore and ScarJo coming out and saying “no, Planned Parenthood is absolutely necessary to the reproductive health of our country.” Anyway, here are some quotes from ScarJo:
On the continued attacks on Planned Parenthood: “It’s pretty terrifying. Somehow, a woman’s right to choose has become a subject that’s on the Republican platform. I don’t really know what it has to do with politics at all. It seems to be a deeply personal issue.”
She’s used Planned Parenthood for regular checkups: “I used them to screen me for STDs or take care of my reproductive health, as did all my girlfriends. When I was asked to represent their initiative, it was a no-brainer.”
She supports Hillary Clinton: “Hillary is the right candidate for right now. I think she’s got a lot of integrity. She’s got a lot of stamina. She’s a very clever politician, and that’s actually important to me. Maybe it’s because I have a daughter now.”
What Donald Trump might do to Planned Parenthood: “Yes, of course [I’m worried]. The funding for Planned Parenthood has been threatened so many times and very aggressively pretty recently. It’s a very real issue that we’re facing. I have a lot of friends that are fiscally conservative. When weighing who to vote for, you really have to think about the whole spectrum — not just your idea of the American economy, but also climate change and issues like a woman’s right to choose.
How she rates the Obama presidency: “I think he’s had a really successful two terms. He inherited such a complicated and messy presidency. There was so much to resolve and so much to clean up. The way our government functions is very archaic. I think he struggled against the checks and balances of a system that is outdated in a lot of ways. I’ll probably get crucified for saying that, but it’s true. And it seems like oftentimes what the people want is not really represented by what the majority of the Senate wants.
I get the feeling that Scarlett is a bit like me in that Obama was and is her guy and she’s just okay with Hillary Clinton. Like, I’m happy to vote for HRC. I’m looking forward to casting a vote for the historic first woman president. But Obama was my guy. I was super-excited to vote for him both times. As for what she says about Planned Parenthood… yes, everything she says. I also worry that our system of checks and balances is archaic too.
Photos courtesy of Warwick Saint/Variety.
Abortion has been legal in my country since the 50s. This year we got a conservative government and with the rising right wing voices in the whole of Europe, calls for restrict the abortion law have become much louder. People were protesting in front of a hospital that does abortions. It was all over the news because that never happened before. It is very scary what seems to be happenning.
That’s very interesting. Where are you from?
I believe it is the result of the religion coming back into power after the fall of the USSR and politicians starting to use it for their own purposes, just like in the US.
It is the same thing in Russia but there it took form of anti-gay sentiments.
In USSR all politicians were atheists. Now suddenly all the same people are devout Christians.
The Church got all its property back – the prime real estate and lands. It became very powerful.
I love her as an actress and I agree with all of her political views. I also find it terrifying thinking about what Trump might mean for women’s reproductive rights in the USA (IF he wins, which I hope he won’t!)
Yes Scarlett Johansson is a great legal mind and knows more than the founding fathers….
Just another spoiled overpaid dumb bimbo….
TROLL!! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!!!!!1 *faints*
I guess there are two trolls in the dungeon. I agree with Jessica.
I’m no troll and I”m sure as heck not a Trump supporter, but I do think ScarJo plays herself to be much more informed and intellectual than she actually is. The only reason anybody’s paying attention is because she is pro-Hillary, which I am too, but I still think ScarJo needs to stop trying to be somebody she is not or take a political science class and some history classes and maybe then, I’ll respect her thoughts on the matter.
BTW – “archaic” is not the appropriate term. Is it time for change? Yes, but our government is not archaic by any means.
Who cares if she’s not a great legal mind? If anything, celebs endorsing important causes helps engage the disenfranchised youth.
I don’t think she’s some great intellectual, but I agree with everything she says here.
“founding fathers” in 2016? nobody needs your opinion.
I too can’t understand how abortion is still in question in the USA. I am from a culturally Muslim country and abortion is legal since the 60’s. How could you deny the right of a woman who have been raped to abort a rape or incest child ? In Muslim countries having a baby before mariage is the ultimate sin. And the child grows up to be mocked and humiliated (for something he is victim of). So being able to go to the hospital as a couple and aborting is very important it saves the life of 3 people. So yeah… PP shouldn’t be questioned at all. Especially in the USA.
Oh, honey. The governing system isn’t archaic. The voters are. The checks and balances are their for a reason–If we elected a bunch of salivating, Bible thumping dingbats into office, we would appreciate that reason. And, let’s face it, Obama’s first two years were his least effective…that was when he could have rammed a lot of things through. I assume she didn’t grow up in one of those pockets full of people living their lives exactly how their pastor tells them to do, but that doesn’t mean America isn’t full of them. They can’t think for themelves worth a damn, but they can vote however the person who thinks for them tells them to.
It’s not just an Arkansas thing, either I lived right outside of Washigton DC and I lived in one.
The US electoral college is archaic. The 2-party system (which are 2 sides of the same coin) is archaic. The media is not exactly independent which in turn stifles open dialog.
The voters are the same everywhere – human.
What else? Voting on a work day . Having different voter registrations rules, different rules for remote voting, different preliminary voting set up for each state for federal level voting. Federal voting should be the same across all the states.
All these things together make it difficult to vote and restrict the influence of an ordinary person in politics.
We had a joke in the USSR – “if you haven’t seen any boots other than the Soviet made ones, then the Soviet made ones would seem great” ( the USSR consumer good were of atrocious quality, everything of value went towards military investments and research).
I feel like American view of their political system is a bit like that. If people never experienced anything else then the US system is just fine.
The system of checks and balances where legislature and the executive branches are separated is a great achievement. But it is not enough just by itself and it is still susceptible to corruption.
Yes, without checks and balances dictatorship is right around the corner. Case in point: Erdogan and Putin who are both eroding the system in their respective countries to create a dictatorship.
Actually, Turkey did (does) have checks and balances.
It was untill very recently a modern constitutional democracy.
That did not stop Erdogan, he just does not obey the law nad has judges that disagree with him fired (or worse).
All the checks and balances in the world cannot stop a dictator, all it stops is progress
As a non-American the thing I find most disturbing about your political system is the lobbying culture and the total lack of regulation of campaign donations. It seems very corrupt to me.
System is fine but the money in the system is not. Does she think the Executive should have more power? Hope not. Instead we need a functioning Congress that puts people over party.
We should have more parties, not 2 parties which are 2 sides of the same coin and are entrenched in their positions to the point where compromised is not possible.
When there are more parties, no party has an absolute majority so they are forced to seek alliances and learn to compromise. The effects of refusing or not needing to compromise are far reaching and affect the society on every level.
Electoral college needs to go. All American citizens should have equal influence in politics.
Electoral college was set up to protect the country from the ‘tyranny of the majority’ a.k.a. mob rule. It ain’t perfect either. But, referenda don’t work out well either, the latest 2 examples being Brexit and Colombia.
“Electoral college was set up to protect the country from the ‘tyranny of the majority’ a.k.a. mob rule.”
I am aware of the reasons and I believe they are wrong and against the principles of democracy. Electoral college can be used as a way to manipulate the election process and the will of the people, it also makes peoples votes unequal in power.
She sounds really thoughtful here. One of her best interviews in a while.
Not sure how or why Scarjo thinks our system of checks and balances is considered archaic. It’s what actually prevents authoritarian rule. That was the purpose set by the founding fathers and it’s worked albeit not without each branch trying violate it . When some don’t like it it’s because they think they are right and want their way but hit a roadblock with checks & balances. That’s the whole point, it balances power in government & prevents the abuse of it by any one branch. Thank God. I guess Scarjo never studied history.
And PP is political because it made itself so. It lobbies, pushes for agendas and asks and receives money from congress (i.e. tax payers) which makes any agenda they have & push for political. You would think PP is the only health clinic for women in the country but it isn’t. The other ones just function as what the are, health clinics and stay out of politics.
I like your post. Very thoughtful. I like your comments on PP. I couldn’t have articulated it correctly… And you stuck to facts.
What do we replace our supposedly archaic system with then? A monarchy, a dictatorship, an oligarchy(yea, I know, I know)?
I agree, its unfortunate that woman’s healthcare has become politicized. It makes no sense. A woman’s reproductive options are naturally a part of her basic human right to complete healthcare, right? Why in the world is it treated as a separate concern from healthcare overall? Who in the world has problems with accessible healthcare for its people? In fairness though, only one political party and it’s supporters has continued to make woman’s healthcare, and it’s funding, a political issue. It’s about maintaining power over women by restricting access, and PP has ALWAYS threatened that control. A healthy and educated citizenry can be difficult to control.
“only one political party and it’s supporters has continued to make woman’s healthcare, and it’s funding, a political issue”
I see it as a religious issue. The religion in the US is too powerful and has undue influence on the matters of state.
Have you noticed that Turmp who is the first Rep candidate in a long while not to be the choice of evangelicals (putting aside for a moment all the other issues with him) , and he doesn’t have abortion restrictions front and center of his campaign, unlike most of Rep candidates before him.
I think that sometimes the issue with something like Planned Parenthood is that there are taxpayers that genuinely do not believe that some of the things they are using tax money for is okay. For example, Catholics who don’t believe in using OCP’s. They don’t want to be complicit in some of the things that go on in these clinics.
Same with taxpayers that take issue with their tax money being used to blow other people up. I don’t know what the solution is but I understand what they are saying. And then yes, the parties use it for political gain… Because that’s what they do with every other issue.
@thinkingabout it
“That’s the whole point, it balances power in government & prevents the abuse of it by any one branch. Thank God. I guess Scarjo never studied history.”
Exactly. But she’s a phony try hard, so it’s to be expected from the Sodastream queen.
Planned Parenthood IS the only health clinic system that provides reproductive and other care ( not necessarily related to abortion or even birth control) for hundreds of thousands of women (and even some men, esp STD testing) for free or at low cost. A Congressional Office of Budget Management study looking into possible benefits of eliminating Planned Parenthood funding noted that up to 650,000 women would be without reproductive health care if the clinics were closed.
If you were thinking of that list (some 13 k+ clinics) released by the GOP that would supposedly replace Planned Parenthood for care, here’s a detail they left out: most of the clinics listed don’t have a certified OB-GYN on staff!
Oh, and Planned Parenthood is the ONLY low-income “safety net” family planning provider in 103 counties.
I think that what Scarjo is saying is that there are elements of our modern constitutional state that feel archaic. I think she is saying our government has been trodden down and manipulated by redistricting, lobbyists, corporate money, and misinformation. But I cannot fathom that she would say that checks and balances are to blame for taking our issues back to the dark ages. It is the people who we elect to Congress that are doing that, and without checks and balances, we would become an authoritarian state. I don’t think anyone wants that, not to mention that system is extremely unconstitutional.