Moron 'o the day
by digby
This is just inexcusable:
"I want to tread lightly here," Lauer said before launching into a question about why Barra got the CEO job, noting that she is extremely qualified.
"But some people are speculating that you also got this job because as a woman and as a mom because people within General Motors knew this company was in for a very tough time and as a woman and a mom you could present a softer image and softer face for this company as it goes through this horrible episode. Does it make sense or does it make you bristle?" he asked.
"Well it's absolutely not true," Barra responded. "I believe I was selected for this job based on my qualifications. We dealt with this issue — when the senior leadership of this company knew about this issue, we dealt with this issue."
Lauer then asked Barra about her children, noting that her kids have said they will hold her "accountable for one job and that is being a mom."
"Given the pressures of this job at General Motors, can you do both well?" he asked.
"You know, I think I can. I have a great team, we're on the right path," Barra replied. "I have a wonderful family, a supportive husband and I'm pretty proud of the way my kids are supporting me in this."
Lauer interviewed Ford CEO Alan Mulally in 2009, and did not ask him how his job running the company would impact his role as a father to his five children.
I doubt if he's ever asked a man that question. Neither has he ever asked them if they were chosen for their job purely as a PR gesture --- and then asked if the question made them "bristle."
I'd like to know who the people are who are saying that she was chosen for the job because she's a mother and will present a "softer image." Whoever they are, are even bigger morons than Lauer. Picking a woman obviously means their CEO will be subject to idiotic questioning about her personal life implying that she can't the the job done because she is so tuckered out from making peanut butter sandwiches and folding gym socks. As Lauer perfectly demonstrated, no one in their right mind would ever pick a woman as CEO for a company in trouble for PR purposes. The only good reason to do it would be because she's really good at the job.
Update: Oh bullshit.