Now 42, the mother of three said discovered a lump in December 2007 while doing a self-examination, and has since undergone seven major surgeries. She kept the illness private while campaigning for reelection and stumping nationwide for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, then Barack Obama. She didn't want the illness to "define" her, [Rep. Debbie] Wasserman Schultz said. Most of her staff didn't know about her condition, according to a spokesman.
-- "a petite dynamo of blond curls" shows her courage
I have seen this progressive voice fighting the good fight with passion and humor on places like C-SPAN and MSNBC. Since I can download such things now, a link to YouTube might be in order here. See also here on "US Redeployment Out of Iraq." Rep. Wasserman Schultz has shown that her private life affects her political decisions before, noting choices involving her own father showed the horrible nature of the federal government interfering in the Terri Schiavo matter.
Her voice for breast cancer education is utter personal, as recent news has shown. Such an issue goes beyond politics, but it has a special force of feeling when it comes from someone who I respect overall, someone who is out there daily passionately promoting issues -- even when it is a losing battle at the moment -- for the good of the nation. As with the choice of Christiana Applegate, someone I grew up watching, to take a pre-emptive decision to have surgery to avoid breast cancer, these hit home when people you care about (even in this small way) has to go through them. They are a representative of so many more.
[Update: Applegate discussed the matter on Dave last night.]
All the best and keep on fighting! We need you!
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* Over here, the story linked is criticized for focusing on women crying and such. I don't think this is fair. It was a very human story, one that emphasized that her crying at the event ("by a sisterhood of other breast cancer survivors") is atypical for someone who didn't want her illness to "define" her (so says the caption to the picture). Likewise, it does not take to the "ninth" paragraph for us to learn:
Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a rising star in her party, was there to announce legislation for a national campaign to educate the public, particularly young women and their doctors, about the need for a much earlier approach to breast cancer detection. The accepted standard of mammograms at age 40, advocacy groups say, creates a false sense of security for younger women. Other cancer survivors, some in their 30s, came to the Hill to ring the alarm, to applaud Wasserman Schultz for going public and to cry with her.
And, after hooking us in with a great human interest story, the article surely does tell us about the legislation, again, several paragraphs of information. If this is the "most insipid" story out there today, the media is much better than I thought.