I received this in an email this morning, from a friend of mine. I had been really trying to avoid the thought of having to deal with voting, partly because I had thought I wouldn't still be here, by now. I was relieved that I would not have to go thru choosing a lesser of two evils, once again, but this has changed my mind.

Regardless of how disillusioned I am with our government, along with alot of people, I've come to realise how very much our country affects people all over the world. It's almost tragic. The animosity of some people towards America is deep and at times, frightening. The worst part is, alot of people equate the general public with what our government does.

Because of all of this, I've come to realise how important it is that I use my voice to do what I can, regardless of the fact that I'm not going to be here much longer. We are allies with Australia and alot of what we do (too much, perhaps) bears a strong effect on their lives. I don't want to be ashamed of that fact, so I'm going to do my little part in trying to make sure that the home I leave behind doesn't inadvertently help to destroy the new home I'm building.

All of us need to vote, regardless of our own personal reasons. Just because of the fact that we have the power to change what is wrong and strengthen what is right. We've not always had that power, now let's use it!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I had to check the validity of the story out, and it’s true. Here’s the link.



womenshistory.about.com/od/suf...tal.htm



Nonetheless, should the story have been untrue or exaggerated, our right to vote is no less important.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE


This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-
grandmothers, as they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920 that women
were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they
were jailed nonetheless for picketting the White
House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by
the end of the night, they were barely alive.
Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's
blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women
wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell
bars above her head and left her hanging for the
night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled
Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head
against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her
cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and
suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits
describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating,
choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking
the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov.
15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan
Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach
a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House
for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an
open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was
infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice
Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her
to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and
poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was
tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled
out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this
year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties?
We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter?
It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening
of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a
graphic depiction of the battle these women waged
so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth
and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the
reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my
passion. But the actual act of voting had become
less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting
often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied
women's history, saw the HBO movie, too.
When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she
looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,'
she said. 'What would those women think of the
way I use--or don't use--my right to vote? All of
us take it for granted now, not just younger women,
but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right
to vote, she said, had become valuable to her
'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish
all history, social studies and government teachers
would include the movie in their curriculum I want
it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else
women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of
socializing,but we are not voting in the numbers that
we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in
order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies
try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul
insane so that she could be permanently institutional-
ized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse.
Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave.
That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women
is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the
women you know.

We need to get out and vote and use this right that
was fought so hard for by these very courageous
women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or
independent party - Remember to vote.