Mary Beth Maxwell, Labor Secretary?

The Wall Street Journal reports on Obama's possible pick for Labor Secretary, Mary Beth Maxwell:

For the rainbow cabinet of the nation's first African American president, Mary Beth Maxwell is the perfect labor secretary you've probably never heard of: a gay woman, community organizer and labor leader with an adopted African American son. And this founding executive director of American Rights at Work is about to get the full-court press.

Maxwell already had the strong backing of former Rep. David Bonior, who despite repeated attempts to get his name removed from consideration continues to be on the short list of potential labor secretaries. Bonior, 63 years old, says it is time for his generation to turn over power to a new generation, and Maxwell, whose labor-backed organization pushes for expanded collective bargaining rights, is his pick.

As Marc Ambinder notes, "Maxwell, who'd be the first openly gay cabinet secretary, is being vetted for the job, along with Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas."

Read Maxwell's blog posts for HuffPost.

Comments

[jenny42]

I agree with you who say... so what?, but I too am glad.

I also wish for the day when all of us no longer have labels. Nevertheless.... here goes..

I am constantly amazed at those who are considered heterosexual and do not believe that people who are gay should be married and have the same equal rights as heteros.
Gay people can work and be placed in such positions, but on a personal level they still have sit out on the side lines and watch the heterosexual maintain the "sanctity" of marriage. ( I think the gay people should demand to see marriages that sanctimonious because I have not witnessed one especially when one out of two ends in divorce) I hope that all of this nonsense can be put away from us.

This is so totally unfair, and yet the heterosexuals who believes that the gays are qualified to hold such positions see absolutely nothing unfair about it or else they would work hard to change it. They quote their beliefs that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. What is that really about?

I am glad that this woman has been chosen. I wish so many people who are in the limelight would come out of the closet to show the world that we are all just regular people with siblings, cousins ,, distant relatives who are off or one sandwich short of a picnic.

[dm10003]

i love when people say they're pro-gay but anti gay-marriage. ok, i don't love it.

[Keith52]

Does she play basketball? Another post said all Obama pick's have this in common.. Hohoho

[minty68]

Yeah, I'd love to see Hillary play basketball :)

[PrairieDog]

I'm trying to come up with a reply that uses the term "floor burns" but everything comes out sounding bad.

[thefringecenter]

Just when I thought Obama was a closet republican warmonger fraud, he pulls a rabbit out of his hat. Let us hope that Mary Beth Maxwell lifts labor from its coffin before the lid is slmmed shut forever.

[Dennim]

Yes, Mary Beth Maxwell will be a great Labor Secretary! I have been worried about this Cabinet position for sometime. We need a strong, brilliant, Labor Secretary -- someone who can build constructive coalitions on behalf of American workers..

Please read about Ms. Maxwell at this site:

http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/mary-beth-maxwell.html

Like many others, I am not concerned with Ms. Maxwell's sexual orientation but, rather, her background on behalf of American families and women's issues, as well as her ability to work with employers to effect positive change for working Americans.

[Tom Joad]

Like the other posters here, I don't care that she is gay. I care that she is qualified for the job.

[dm10003]

the topic of this article is the gay issue. where the topic is unimportant is her day to day job.

[WaltD]

If she is the most qualified and most competent, then nominate her for Secretary of Labor. There would be no better choice.

[scottowego]

I think this is really wonderful! But, it does point out how neurotic or hipocritical this country is. Here we have (hopefully) an openly gay cabinet member in Washington while at the same time many states prohibit her from marrying or adopting. YIKES! Same thing with the US military. When are we going to get over someone being gay? We are qualified. We are good citizens and we pay taxes like everyone else. We deserve equal rights.

[helonias]

AS long as she isn't an adulterer

[thankulord13]

Well that will knock out probably half if not 3/4 of Obama's administration... oh wise one (sarcasm if you didn't catch it) let's just stick to if she is qualified will be good enough because after eight years of the most under-qualified I will settle for barely qualified!

[SurrealPumpkin]

Marriage is a precondition to adultery, so I guess the answer is no, she isn't.

[aliceinthewater]

I really don't care if she's gay, I just want her to be qualified.

However, it's still really cool that she's gay.....

[CologneCitizen]

The mayors of Berlin and Hamburg are openly gay, so is the leader of Germany's Free Democratic Party. You need to step up to modern civilized societies and not always talk about non-issues. The bloody corpses of killed Iraqis and troops are obscene, not a naked tit at the super bowl.

[chewie2008]

Wo du Recht hast,hast du Recht.

[theJuanStar]

I virtually give you a standing ovation! Well said.

[Woodmist]

Who cares is she's gay? Sheesh, I can't wait for the day when someone's sexual orientation is no longer part of the story line. Can she do the job is more important to me than who's in her bed. This has to stop being a qualifier as I see their lives no different from my own. If I worried about sex all the time like Repubs do, I'd be insane...after all if sex were a disqualifier there'd be plenty of Repub congresscritters and Senators out on their hind ends. She's a good choice for her knowledge and ability and that's what counts.

[Wilbur]

You nailed it, Woodmist!

However, I wonder which oh her attributes the GOP will find more disturbing....the fact that she is gay, or the fact that once she was a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER! Oh, Gawd help us (wink, wink)!!

Wilbur

[Charmed]

LOL, they'll probably be more upset about her being a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER......they are probably making plans to end all community organizations.

[tyrdofwaitin]

Go Obama!

[ruthinking]

She is just what Labor needs. Highly qualified and there is nothing in her background that disqualifies her. I hope she gets the job. We need her.

[supervoter]

Who cares if she's gay? Can she do the job?

[canucklivinginUSA]

Some of the gays cared, they feel left out right now. But I'm with you on this

[PghDemocrat]

Maxwell, Granholm or Sebelius...it's like Christmas has come early. I would be happy with any of these three talented individuals.

The little cons...
Without Sebelius in Kansas, the GOP will take back the position of gov fairly easy.
Granholm will be too focused on the auto industry and keeping Detroit alive which is good or bad depending on your perspective. She may bend a little too much to the will of the unions.
Maxwell doesn't have the executive experience the other two have.