Joanne Bamberger is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer, recovering attorney, and political & media analyst. Her work has appeared in many publications, including the Washington Post and Adoptive Families Magazine, as well as on Marketplace Radio and MSN and she has appeared on CNN, Fox News, BBC Radio, XM Radio POTUS '08, and others. Joanne blogs as PunditMom, and is a contributor to MOMocrats and a contributing editor at BlogHer. She is a contributor to the recently released book Kirtsy Takes a Bow: A Celebration of Women's Online Favorites. Her book on the increasing political involvement of mothers, tentatively titled Mothers of Intention, will be published by Bright Sky Press in Fall of 2010.

Blog Entries by Joanne Bamberger

Five Reasons Martha Stewart Can Take On Sarah Palin

Posted November 25, 2009 | 01:41 PM (EST)


My favorite recovering felon, Martha Stewart, was asked her thoughts on our most recent political pin-up girl, Sarah Palin. I wasn't surprised that Martha didn't pull any punches:

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Sarah Palin: Going Rogue to the White House Or Someplace Else?

33 Comments | Posted November 18, 2009 | 02:36 PM (EST)


Sarah Palin in 2012? Some are chuckling, but they might want to rethink their take on the first woman on a GOP presidential ticket.

Conservative pundit David Brooks laughed out loud at the suggestion, calling her a "joke". Others point to 2008 wannabes Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee as...

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Am I Angrier at Bart Stupak or Barack Obama?

135 Comments | Posted November 10, 2009 | 08:30 PM (EST)


For years, we've had our eye on the Supreme Court, wondering with each new judicial appointment how that person would add to the mix on the longevity of reproductive rights, including the right to an abortion. Who knew that some dude named Bart Stupak would be the one to...

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Just Being Alive Will Soon Be a Pre-Existing Condition

51 Comments | Posted September 16, 2009 | 03:05 PM (EST)


Domestic violence isn't a subject I talk about much, but it's something I feel very strongly about because I have a very personal connection to the topic.

I was a victim of domestic abuse.

Many, many years ago I was married for a very short time when I was...

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What's Wrong With This Country?

8 Comments | Posted September 5, 2009 | 10:48 AM (EST)


I had many honest discussions with PunditGirl during the 2008 Presidential election about why her dad and I are Democrats, why we believed that the Bush administration was bad for our country and why we wanted a Democrat in the White House.

But I also made sure that my then-eight-year-old...

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Where Is the Right Wing's Christian Forgiveness When It Comes to Ted Kennedy?

60 Comments | Posted September 1, 2009 | 11:52 AM (EST)


Apparently, many on the political right are without sin, because they wasted no time after Senator Ted Kennedy's death to start casting as many stones as possible.

Right wingers so often focus on religion or morals as the basis for their politics. That's part of what drives the anti-Roe...

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Dear Federal Marshals, Glenn Beck is Waiting for You

4 Comments | Posted August 12, 2009 | 02:58 PM (EST)


If someone even jokingly threatens harm to the President or Vice President, it's taken very seriously. It's a federal offense, after all.

So what if someone suggests, even jokingly, that they want to kill the person third in line to the Presidency? If we all reflect back to our high...

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Can Obama Advisor Valerie Jarrett Help Get Health Care Done?

1 Comments | Posted July 30, 2009 | 02:22 PM (EST)


valerie jarrett

Each year, as I prepare for the annual BlogHer conference and then reflect on how things went, I lament that media and politicos alike tend to shy away from women bloggers.

But this year,...

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Jenny Sanford -- The Political Spouse Role Model for My Daughter

69 Comments | Posted June 29, 2009 | 05:39 PM (EST)


Personally, I couldn't care less about the personal "antics" of so many politicians these days. It's not really important to my life how people like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford characterizes "adventure travel."

What does bother me a lot, though, is the money shot we...

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Sonia Sotomayor and Elle Woods Have a Lot in Common

12 Comments | Posted May 27, 2009 | 03:45 PM (EST)


"Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see."

That's what Supreme Court nominee and federal court judge Sonia Sotomayor has said in the past about how individual experience comes into play when deciding cases and looking at the law.

Many conservatives are afraid of that approach...

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Michelle Obama's Story is Mine. And Yours.

Posted April 8, 2009 | 02:20 PM (EST)


As many news reports have pointed out, the world is going gaga for Michelle Obama and this time it's about more than her J. Crew cardigans. Girls are listening with rapt attention to her working-class story that reporters are calling "extraordinary."

While it's great that people are paying...

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Media Coverage of Adoption -- It's Not Just About Madonna

Posted April 3, 2009 | 03:28 PM (EST)



I really try to save my blogging for more political things, but sometimes I have to speak up when the media get out of control...

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Five Imagined Confessions of Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Posted April 2, 2009 | 03:22 PM (EST)


You're not going to find me talking about uber-conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck much at my blog, PunditMom. We don't exactly see eye-to-eye on anything in the political realm!

But I thought it was interesting that high profile mom Hasselbeck announced recently on The View that she has taken advantage...

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Dear AIG, I've Solved Your Bonus Problem!

Posted March 16, 2009 | 02:28 PM (EST)


I don't practice law anymore, but after having contract law in my head for over 15 years, there are still a few tidbits bouncing around in there. Maybe I'd be better off if that wasn't the case, because then this whole crapola story about AIG not being able to get...

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John McCain and the Tale of the Earmarks

Posted March 11, 2009 | 02:11 PM (EST)


No, not earwigs. Or ear worms.

Earmarks.

Senator John McCain is really rattling the cage this week about "earmarks" -- those special requests in the federal budget that allow lawmakers to get a few hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars here or there for pet projects...

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There's More to Influence on Twitter Than Being Famous

Posted February 28, 2009 | 11:54 AM (EST)


Who are the ten most influential people on Twitter -- the social media/micro-blogging service -- in Washington, D.C.? Top ten lists are always fun, but they're not always accurate.

D.C.'s wonky newspaper Politico announced its list of top ten "twitterers" (I'd suggest the term "tweeters") and I'm afraid I...

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Suleman Octuplets Are a Good Reason to Look at Fertility Regulation

Posted February 18, 2009 | 03:49 PM (EST)


I am weary of the Nadya Suleman coverage. The tiny octuplets. 14 kids altogether. Unemployed mom. Not to mention that whole sort of looking like Angelina Jolie thing.

But one aspect of this baby circus is worth talking about -- the fertility industry. Yes --...

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Goodyear, You Can Spare $360K for Lilly Ledbetter?

Posted February 8, 2009 | 09:16 PM (EST)


As so many women have been basking in the glow of the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the news reports reminded us that even though Lilly has become a standard bearer for the fight for fair pay for women, Lilly herself will never see a nickel of...

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Was Caroline Kennedy Ever the Real Candidate?

Posted January 29, 2009 | 11:22 AM (EST)


So the very high profile bid for the spot of junior U.S. Senator from New York for Caroline Kennedy is over, and it did not end in a pretty way. She announced last week she was withdrawing her name for "personal reasons" after the rumors started swirling that she...

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What's the Difference Between Tim Geithner, Kimba Wood and Zoe Baird?

Posted January 14, 2009 | 01:53 PM (EST)


I know that asking you to access the brain cells that remember who Kimba Wood And Zoe Baird are might be a bit of a challenge. Their names haven't really been in the news for about 15 years. And, heck, sometimes I can't even find the brain cells...

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