Augusta National Golf Club Admits First Ever Women Members

[obamanut2012]

Okay, one of them is Condi Rice, but FINALLY:


"The Augusta National Golf Club, renowned for its exclusivity and fervent adherence to a strict Dudes Only policy, has finally broken its nearly 80-year streak of not having any female members and admitted two women: former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina businesswoman Darla Moore. Great. Now the golf course is going to be littered with tampons.

Augusta has come under fire multiple times in its history, first for having a staff of entirely black caddies and a membership of entirely white men, then for not allowing black people to join (relax, people; they let a black guy in in 1990, which was, like, barely after the Civil War ended). In recent years, the Club's lack of female members drew scrutiny. In 2002, Martha Burk, then the chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, wrote a private letter to then-chairman Hootie Johnson, accusing him of sexism. In response, Burk says she was called a man-hater and a lesbian by defenders of Augusta.

And this year, the shitstorm began anew when IBM named a lady, Ginni Rometty, to be its CEO. IBM is a corporate sponsor of the Masters, which is played at Augusta, and in the past, the Club had granted membership to sponsor companies' CEOs. But, then again, those CEOs had penises. When pressed on the issue, Club chairman Billy Payne crossed his arms over his man-chest and said they weren't going to talk about letting ladies in; not no way, not no how."

<snip>

http://jezebel.com/5936228/augusta-national-golf-club-admits-first-ever-women-members

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Oh no! They opened one of the seven seals!

How is it that Rometty wasn't one of the women admitted?

Condi Rice was for name value, to be certain, but the barrier is down now. Over time more women will be accepted as members.

[obamanut2012]

2. I thought of Ann Romeney, too

Yes, as much as I loathe Condi Rice, this is a first step.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I was referencing Ginni Rometty of IBM

but Ann Romney wouldn't have surprised me as a political statement.

Darla Moore's apparently one of the successful woman who's a friend of TPTB according to this WSJ blogger:

Moore, age 58, is a longtime friend of Hootie Johnson, former chairman of Augusta. They both graduated from the University of South Carolina and worked together on a $300 million fundraising campaign for their alma mater in the late 1990s, according to Associated Press in 2002. While she would joke with Johnson about becoming the club’s first female member, even back then, she was “too much of a friend” to push the issue, Moore’s father told the AP. Friends told the AP Moore didn’t play much golf, though her husband — investor, Richard Rainwater — played every day.

But her acceptance of the offer might be a bit of a reversal:

When asked whether she would accept an invitation to join August about a decade ago, she told The Wall Street Journal, “I’m as progressive as they come. But some things ought not to be messed with.”

So her admittance makes sense. Condi's sounds like a straight up political move.

[obamanut2012]

4. Oh Gawd -- blush