NOW Responds to Laura Bush Radio Address (Hold your nose...)

"The U.S. and allies abroad would do well to follow the lead of feminist groups, echoed in this morning's statement by First Lady Laura Bush, and ensure that Afghan women's rights are restored in the post-Taliban era, " said National Organization for Women (NOW) President Kim Gandy. "In fact, thousands of cyber-activists have been bombarding the Administration with demands that women be included in rebuilding an Afghan democracy."

"World leaders must bring women to the table in reconstructing the Afghan government and must make women's rights a priority," Gandy said. "NOW's e-mail action alerts and online letters make it easy for activists to get this message to U.S. government leaders."

Last month NOW launched an internet and e-mail campaign urging U.S. lawmakers and government officials to insist that women's human and democratic rights be protected against the warlords vying for post-Taliban control of Afghanistan. The e-messages also demand that Afghan women leaders be sought out and included in reconstructing the country's government. By logging on to NOW's website, www.now.org, activists can send messages to President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Joseph Biden and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"Prior to the Taliban's 1996 takeover, Afghan women were scientists, professors, members of parliament and cabinet members and university professors. They led corporations, non-profit organizations and local communities," Gandy said. "Clearly, there are many Afghan women well-equipped to participate in leading Afghanistan back to full democracy. And in under sixty seconds, anyone can send a message to decision-makers demanding that these women leaders be at the table to help rebuild and lead their country."

"U.S. officials must listen to the diverse cross-section of cyber-activists from across the country and beyond," Gandy said. "What they're saying is that warlords cannot be allowed to divide the spoils and shatter this opportunity for an Afghan government that includes women as full and equal human beings. Women must be an equal partners in post-Taliban Afghanistan."

Last month NOW launched an internet and e-mail campaign urging U.S. lawmakers and government
officials to insist that women's human and democratic rights be protected against
the warlords vying for post-Taliban control of Afghanistan.

I'll give the NOW the benefit (for the moment ONLY).
I'm a news JUNKIE.
I never heard a WORD of this.
Yep, I did hear the JOANS-COME-LATELY by the names of Senator Feinstein and Boxer...
AFTER THE TALIBAN IMPLODED...talking about "women's rights" as the main reason to
fight in Afghanistan.

No matter the motivation, how narrow and ill-defined, I guess I have to welcome these folks
to the fight.

And remind them that DUBYA, as a single decision-maker, has LIBERATED MORE WOMEN,
in LESS TIME than the NOW could EVER dream of doing.
(Of course, he had the help of that NASTY, SADIST group called the UNITED STATES MILITARY
to accomplish this humanitarian task.)

welcome NOW and feminist lurkers....take note that I specified "humanitarian"....not "feminist" task.

Gandy is some trip all right. Clinton supported the Talibs and Gandy/Ireland and her clique supported clinton. Not a word about the women. When Clinton turned against the Talibs over some failed deal, a little bit of noise was made about the women (as we always do to bring pressure on foreign leaders who do not agree with whatever - The Human Rights schtick). Smeal and other democrat kneepad "feminists" then printed a couple of brochures and John Leno's wife was also assigned a (small)role, appearing on buddy Larry King with a bit of cloth supposed to be from a burqa and passing the basket (contributions please). Now of course they want a piece of the (rotten) pie. Gandy is interesting. She supports prostitution, partial-birth abortion, porn as educational kid material, runs a sadomasochistic lesbian program and (of late) organized support for Andrea Yates, the mommy who drowned her five kids. Gandy is a real attractive gal who wholly deserves to lead the NOW lesbos where they belong. Here's more, dated August 20, 2001:

DULLES NOW REMAINS DISSIDENT. Dulles NOW activists were disappointed when NOW Democrats assigned Kim Gandy to succeed Patricia Ireland as NOW president last July and maintained Karen Johnson in the national leadership. We had called for the resignation of these two vice-presidents in 1998 because of the reprehensible role they played in the Clinton impeachment saga and the disregard they displayed for the NOW's Statement of Purpose.

In addition, we remembered how Gandy collaborated in re-writing NOW's by-laws while vice-president, introducing despotic and antidemocratic electoral changes which benefited her professionally (therefore financially) and personally, including her latest promotion. In charge of membership, she has not hesitated to peddle grossly distorted information about membership size, revenues and programs, willfully misleading the public and NOW members, and continues to do so.

Responsible for local chapters, she has allowed her staff to conduct relentless in-house administrative harassment to suppress constitutional rights of political expression and other freedoms of speech additionally guaranteed by organizational rules. As a representative of a stated non-partisan group she has studiously remained silent and nearly invisible during major women-related national scandals affecting Democrats but has used the authority of her post to enthusiastically participate in cabals Democrats organized against Republicans.

We had hoped that the lessons of Ireland's destructive years in office would have been learned and that new and more honest leaders would have been allowed to emerge to restore the organization to its original mission. To that effect, we opted to remain out of the internal fray that preceded the succession in order to give those who control NOW the opportunity to do the right thing. We had also decided we would end our rebellion, should better heads prevail, so that the new leadership could prove itself fairly.

In view of the above, Dulles NOW activists thus concluded that they could not support the result of elections they know are a farce and an insult to the membership. In response, the Dulles NOW Executive Committee has unanimously voted to:

- remain the dissident branch of NOW

- maintain the 1998 call we made for the resignation of Gandy and Johnson

- call for the reinstatement of the 1987 by-laws to return to NOW members the democratic tools Gandy and her group shamelessly confiscated.

- call for new and free national NOW elections

source: www.dullesnow.org/dissidents.html

I am still doing research. The show will be on Dec 6th.

After women secured the right to vote, many former suffragists and their daughters became active in a variety of other reform initiatives, including advocacy of child-labor and child-abuse legislation, world peace, birth control, civil rights of minorities and women, conservation of natural resources, workplace safety, hour-and-wage legislation, fair labor standards, and consumer issues such as pure-food-and-drug legislation.

The papers of Belle Case La Follette, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, Sophonisba Breckinridge, Mary Church Terrell, and Margaret Sanger provide superb examples of women's twentieth-century reform impulse.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mcchtml/womhm.html

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