After great hearing, does Yates run for office?

Posted on: May 9, 2017 at 19:17:35 CT

There aren’t a lot of women in power, especially in Washington, and especially not right now. So, when an intelligent, straightforward, strong woman is spotted out in the wild ― i.e., before a nearly all-male Senate subcommittee ― it’s a moment to behold.

On Monday, Sally Yates was that woman and it was her moment. The former acting attorney general was unflappable while speaking for more than three hours before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism about Russian interference in the election.

She spoke simply, without any of the ingratiating smiles or laughs that women sometimes put on when faced with that many hostile male faces.

Her testimony provided much-needed nourishment for those of us starved for the sight of powerful women on the public stage and thrilled to see one facing down the kind of arrogant mansplainers that are part of our everyday lives.

“Sally Yates handles condescending men so well you’d almost think she’d been doing it her whole life,” author Liane Maeby tweeted, echoing the feelings of a whole lot of women (and men) heartened to see a poised professional woman stand up to so many powerful men.