The Difference Between a Campaign and a Movement

I love Gloria Steinem.

She spoke at the Barrymore Theater yesterday. It was wonderful, after all the electioneering our little swing state has been inundated with, to hear someone speaking from a movement perspective. Here's an excerpt:

This is not going to end with this election... We are going to get rid of the Electoral College, state by state, the way Colorado is doing it so finally we have one person, one vote. ... We're going to take the media back. We're going to use the people's media, the internet and anything else that we've got. But we're also going to go [to mainstream media outlets] in delegations every, every week and say, "You're doing wrong. We're taking your advertisers away. This is what we want you to do. This is a list of story ideas that are positive." We're going to get the FCC regulations back. And finally, finally, we're going to get our country -- you know, it really isn't back. Let's face it. It hasn't been that long since only property-owning white guys could vote, alright? It took a hundred years to get women of all races and men of color to be counted as citizens and human beings. If it took a hundred years to get an identity, and we're now seeking equality, we can understand that we're probably thirty years into another hundred years.

Just a few moments from a truly inspiring speech.

In other news, you might have read that a new report, done by Johns Hopkins University medical and social scientists and based on a survey of 1,000 Iraqi households located across the country, found that as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians may have died due to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation. However, many descriptions of the study (like this one) don't include the finding that "most of the dead were women and children killed in military activity, particularly air strikes" (emphasis added).

Another reason why war is a women's issue...

And, of course, it's particularly important to get active this week:

• Vote Tuesday November 2nd! See how to register to vote in Wisconsin (which you can do at the polls, the day of the election) here.
  
• Organize and rally (if needed) to demand every vote be counted, on Wednesday November 3rd! More info here and here.
  
• Bush or Kerry: Bring the Troops Home Now! rally Saturday November 6th, starting at 1 pm, UW Library Mall.

As we've said at many a meeting, Madison Women for Peace is in it for the long haul.