Hillary Clinton on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

– by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at )

Hillary Clinton was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. I didn’t actually see it, but I did see several reports of it on the cable news channels. The media was very thorough and quick to compare Clinton’s mock bowling with Ellen, to Obama’s gutter ball of last week. [Personally, up until that moment I had been undecided, but after seeing the riveting side by side bowling comparison, I’m now totally committed to one candidate.]

Anyway, one station was even observant enough to report on the differences between Barack’s “Ellen Show” strategy and Hillary’s…It seems Hillary didn’t do a jig with Ellen, but Barack did. So thanks to Hillary’s appearance on Ellen yesterday, the evening news programs had a lot of great election news to cover. The level of journalistic integrity on this important election coverage was nonexistent. I even continued to see the same coverage several times today, so I could only assume nothing politically relevant happened during Hillary’s appearance on Ellen. However, it wouldn’t actually be safe to assume that.

To my surprise I happened upon this blog post from Shakesville: Hillary and Ellen…

Hillary Clinton was a guest on Ellen yesterday, and, although I haven’t generally been in the habit of posting talk show appearances of the various candidates, I watch all of them (even John McCain—grumble), and I thought this one was worth posting because the two Dem candidates’ positions on gay rights have been the subject of much debate around here recently, and Hillary spoke to Ellen about gay rights and told a very personal story about people who influenced her support of equality and fairness (love that framing!). She also spoke about an objective that I thought would be of interest to a lot of Shakers: Making breast cancer curable in the next decade.

Hillary said what? She wants to make breast cancer curable? That seems like a pretty big deal, but all I had heard was that she couldn’t hit more than one plastic pin down with a plastic ball.

So, let me just get this straight. When given the choice between stupid, pseudo-bowling clips, and actual relevant election news, major networks chose to cover bowling clips. Something just seems wrong about that? Has journalistic integrity been replaced with journalistic stupidity?

O.K. – I’ll calm down now. Anyway, this is supposed to be my health and wellness post. So let me get past my rant, and address the importance of what Hillary announced during her appearance on the Ellen Show.

Press Release…

Hillary Clinton appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today and announced her plan to find a cure for breast cancer within our lifetime. Hillary’s plan would provide $300 million a year in increased funding for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

In addition to funding research for new treatments, these investments will also go to investigate the cause of breast cancer, including the role that environmental pollutants may have, as well as, potential genetic and hereditary links. The plan would also improve access to screenings and treatment by making mammograms more affordable and providing funding for treatment for low-income women. Under Hillary’s American Health Choices Plan, all women will have affordable, quality health insurance regardless of employment, marital status, or pre-existing conditions so they get the care and treatment they need.

Here are some clips from Hillary’s appearance on Ellen…








Fom Taylor Marsh…

Set a big goal of finding a cure in our lifetime. Studies show that most young women don’t believe it will be possible to find a cure in their lifetime. Hillary wants to shatter that myth. With the significant investments she is planning to make in research, we should be able to make much more dramatic progress in identifying the causes, developing and identifying the most effective treatments, and ultimately, finding a cure. By setting a big goal, Hillary will provide national leadership on breast cancer, help leverage additional action across the country, and make clear that fighting this disease will be a top priority when she is President.

From Jewess…

This is clearly a last-ditch effort to court the women’s vote, but it’s also a worthy initiative — a taste of what having a woman in the oval office might mean for women — and one especially relevant to Jewish women, who have a much higher incidence of the breast cancer gene than the general population, as Town Crier points out.

From Tennessee Guerilla Women…

Hillary announced her plan to defend gay rights as president and eliminate inequalities for same sex couples in federal law! Hillary spoke at length about her desire to be The President who at long last makes equality for gays the law of the land.

So, did you see Hillary on Ellen? What do you think about her initiative to cure breast cancer in our lifetime?

Is anyone else sick of the media ignoring important issues, so they can report on fluff? There seems to be less and less difference between network news programs and entertainment shows.

UPDATE: Elizabeth Edwards was on Good Morning American today. She talked about her belief that Hillary Clinton’s healthcare plan would be best for America…

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan – also at The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog