April 2008

March is Women’s History Month and we celebrate the many women who bought us into the 21st Century and helped to advance and protect our rights.  Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, is the eighth most powerful of the 100 Senators, and Barbara Boxer ranks 26th, while Mary Bono-Mack ranked 309 out of the 435 House members.
What is happening with the Presidential race? I don’t want to give you all the statistics of the wins and losses; suffice it to say that I don’t know what is going to happen and I don’t believe anyone else does?  Florida and Michigan to vote again?  Sad to say, I have come to peace with the fact that this country is not ready for a woman President. I have also realized that this country is ready for a Black man to be President. I am delighted to say that I am smiling.

What frightens me is John McCain. He’s a very dangerous man and I say this because of how he has voted for women’s rights in the past. He voted anti-choice 125 out of 130 times in his congressional career. He has consistently voted to restrict access to abortion care, and also voted against measures to prevent unintended pregnancies. He voted for the global gag rule and co-sponsored the Federal Abortion Ban. He also voted in favor of anti-choice Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas. We should be weary, and wary, of someone who wants to change the Constitution and replace it with the Bible.

During Women’s History Month, PSNOW celebrates the winners of our Salm Educational Awards. Each winner is given an award of $1,500 to further her education.

I find it very rewarding that we can help young women who want to attend college. I want to thank the Salm Committee and chair Lori Adler for the long hours and tough decisions in choosing the top two students.

We celebrate these winners and those who have broken down barriers for women, such as: Jacqueline Cochran, who was the founder and director of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots during World War II and the first woman to break the sound barrier; Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori, the first American woman to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences, and whose research significantly advanced the treatment of diabetes; Olympic Gold Medalist Gertrude Ederle who became the first woman to swim the English Channel; Marian Anderson, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, who opened doors in music as the first African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera; Juliette Gordon Low who encouraged community service and the physical, mental, and spiritual development of America’s young women as founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.

As we work to advance freedom and peace and fight the war on terror, American women in uniform are serving at posts at home and across the world, taking great risks as they make our nation more secure. We women of the 21st Century have a legacy of courage and determination left to us by these pioneers.  We Can Do It!

Our next meeting for PSNOW is on Thursday, March 20th, 6 PM at the Pride Center, 611 South Palm Canyon-Sun Center.

PO Box 1219-ps 92263, Palm Springs, CA 92263  Phone:(760) 333-8304  Email: mail@psnow.org