When I am asked to speak, the number one thing that is repeated over and over is the disbelief that women are not in the US Constitution. I talk to unions, women's professional groups and students; most have no idea; even most recently at the National Conference for Federally Employed Women. Do you wonder how can that be? And then, just two nights ago, while looking for material, I found this on the Library of Congress website;
Paul was an ingenious strategist and inspiring leader who gave a public face to the NWP. After 1920 she turned her efforts to the Equal Rights Amendment, which she first proposed at a NWP convention in 1923. She lived to see the ERA passed by Congress in 1972.
So somewhere between the Iron Jawed Angels misportrayal and this listing on the Library of Congress website, we are told "mission accomplished.
John McCain has a very skewed point of view on women - his wife is so wealthy, she won't let him see her tax return and loans John her private jet. Let us not wonder why John McCain has no idea the work-burden of the single mother, the young woman who was denied birth control and now finds herself pregnant or the senior woman who is thrown into poverty after a lifetime of hard work as there is no cost of living increase in her fixed income but prices are not fixed. I am not suggesting we have compassion for John's inability to get it - I am saying bluntly he has no idea what is going on for most Americans and therefore will never be a servant-leader. He can only be king. (a very bad king)
Here's the good news. We need good news. We deserve good news. The 2008 National Democrat Party Platform includes the ERA & CEDAW. Rejoice and know that it is because a small handful of women who know the US has not endorsed CEDAW and has not included women in the Constitution. They wrote emails and letters, made phone calls and are relentless. If you are one of them - then we bless you, we thank you, we love you.
We are committed to ensuring full equality for women: We reaffirm our support for the Equal Rights Amendment, recommit to enforcing Title IX, and will urge passage of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. We will pursue a unified foreign and domestic policy that promotes civil rights and human rights, for women and minorities, at home and abroad. (see page 46)
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