Obama Should Put a Mom on the Court

Barack Obama should put another woman on the Supreme Court, and it ought to be a woman with kids, argues Peter Beinart in the Daily Beast. Scan the halls of power, and you'll discover surprisingly few moms. Only 6 of the last 16 female Cabinet members have had kids. We're providing plenty of role models for the 20% of women who don't want kids, but not many for the other 80%.

“As anyone who has ever watched their daughter eye a Barbie Doll can attest, role models matter,” Beinart argues. “The message you're sending young women is that they can achieve professionally, or they can have a family, but they can't do both.” Yeah, it's a shame we have to consider this for women and not for men, but there's no shortage of powerful dads. Every male justice has kids—heck, Antonin Scalia has nine. (More US Supreme Court stories.)