Things We Saw Today: Sen. Tammy Duckworth Just Became the First Sitting Senator to Give Birth While in Office

Tammy Duckworth is an American badass. She was the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress in Illinois. She’s also the first disabled woman to be elected to Congress, having lost both of her legs in the Iraq War. She coined the term “Cadet Bone Spurs” in criticizing Trump’s “baiting Kim Jong Un into a war that could put 85,000 American troops, and millions of innocent civilians, in danger.” And now, she’s become the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office.

She announced her pregnancy back in January, with a reminder that working mothers are not a fringe group.

Today she gave birth to her second daughter, Maile Pearl, with a statement that read “Parenthood isn’t just a women’s issue, it’s an economic issue and one that affects all parents—men and women alike.”

There are plenty of trolls, of course, who still think that motherhood is incompatible with politics, or any other career for that matter. Those people don’t know Tammy Duckworth (or, I’m guessing, many women at all).

Congratulations, Senator Duckworth!

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written a fantastic essay on the NFL’s awful treatment of its cheerleaders, and how that connects to the backlash against players’ protests, all in the organization’s “plan to protect America from witches.” (via The Guardian)
• Do you like American Ninja Warrior, but wish it had more puppies? Here you go. (via USA)
• Rick & Morty is colliding with Dungeons & Dragons in comic book form this summer. (via SyFyWire)
• Taika Waititi is speaking out about the racism in his home country of New Zealand. He says it’s “racist as fuck.” (via NewsHub)
• A protester was arrested outside the courthouse where Bill Cosby appeared for trial today. The woman (who happens to have been a child actor on numerous episodes of The Cosby Show) was topless, with the names of Cosby’s accusers, as well as the words “women’s lives matter” painted on her body. As you can imagine, the pictures of her are powerful (though probably NSFW). (via Jezebel)

What did you all see out there today?

(image: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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