Culture Wars make a comeback
>>> i may at some point be moved to explain biology to my colleagues.
>> that was nancy pelosi speaking about the house hearing on contraception where only men were allowed to testify. her colleagues are just as mystified by the first all male panel joining me now is senator barbara boxer . thank you for joining us. there seems to be an atmosphere on the hill where people are talking past each other and there's male female divide, tell me if i'm wrong about that.
>> yes, you are wrong about that. it's a republican/democratic divide. some of the big supporters are a host of colleagues standing by our side. it's a matter of ideology, it's shockingly surprising to me that in this year, they would be so open about their views toward women being respected and being able to choose their own health care options. it's a reminder from 1992 when the people looked at the clarence thomas hearing and they saw an all male committee here in the senate, we had the year of the woman. and i've been predicting for months now, even before this, that 2012 will be the year of the woman. and that picture is going to become an iconic photo, my grandson, i said to him who is 16, what is wrong with this, they are talking about women 's health care , what is wrong with this? and he said they are all dudes, grandma a. that is from a 16-year-old. it brings it home.
>> i was at the hearing and i cover covered covered the thomas hearings and it was a earth shaterring moment, it was the year of the woman. and i remember that joe biden was on the panel and the late ted kennedy . you had a lot of people that were trapped in the way of thinking. and it was really an extraordinary moment watching that going on.
>> it was. it was. and there's anita hill being asked personal questions and not one woman on the panel. and then, darrol issa has a chance to have a panel that reflects difference views, it could be male/female and he chooses to have all men all with the same opinion. and it just shows you where the republicans are coming from now. as i have often said, this is not the republican of my grand pa's party. i remember my dad just being so in love with eisenhower. he voted for ike, he said oh, no, i'm voting for ike and i'm a democrat. where are the mainstream republicans? there's just a handful left frankly.
>> some are suggesting that it's a strategic move , particularly on santorum's part, talking about the social issues to fire up the republican base. is this good politics?
>> let me just say this, i am a democrat and i know what fires up our base, clearly, one of them is equality for everyone. and if their's is turning on women 's voters, if there's a short-term -- turning on women , i'm sorry. if there's a short-term advantage in that, i would question, i'll give it to them, once they get to the general election , that is so extreme. andrea, the fight for eequality, we know how long it's taken, we look at the civil rights movement and the women 's movement, it's painful, it's tough. but who would believe that in had this year, birth control would be back on the agenda? you know, it's -- it defys common sense, i think it's an area where we can come together. it's a win/win, when we plan our -- so many women use birth control for medical reasons and one of the women that wanted to testify was a woman that had a friend that had a cyst that was growing because she could not afford the birth control pills that were going to shrink the tum or. so i do not know that they are going to get an advantage to it. i would not want to hurt half of the population to get an advantage if i were them.
