| THESE REPORTERS CONTACTED SENATOR SWEETIE FOR HIS THOUGHTS. "HONESTLY, I THOUGHT MORE PEOPLE LOVED ME. YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? IT'S LIKE THIS IS ME DOING 'TRUE BLUE.' I NEED TO BREAK UP WITH SEAN PENN AND DO A 'SEX' BOOK AND MAYBE MAKE OUT IN A CHURCH FOR A VIDEO AND CRAWL AROUND ON THE FLOOR LAPPING MILK FROM A SAUCER. THAT'S WHAT CELEBRITIES DO, WE SHAKE THINGS UP," SAID BARAK. SO HE WASN'T WORRIED ABOUT THE POLLS? "LOOK, EVERYONE HAS SAID THIS IS THE DEMOCRATS YEAR. THEY HAVE SAID THAT THERE WAS NO WAY THE DEMOCRATS COULD LOSE THE WHITE HOUSE THIS YEAR. THEY HAVE SAID THAT ANY DEMOCRAT COULD WIN THE WHITE HOUSE THIS YEAR!" UH-HUH, BUT THEY SAID ALL THAT BEFORE BARACK WAS THE NOMINEE. Turning to the US race for president. Senator Hillary Clinton campaigned for Barack Obama, Democratic presidential nominee, in Ohio. It's among the many states Hillary won during the primaries. Translation, among the many big states Barack lost in the primaries. Toby Harnden (Telegraph of London) reports a large crowd turned out for Hillary in Akron and the ones he spoke with after have no plans to vote for Barack which would explain why Hardin observers that "the response to her remarks about him" Barack "was relatively muted." Many speak of hoping for a 2012 run by Hillary, Sandy Wierzbicki wishes Hillary had been picked at the v.p. nominee, and Paul Barry may speak for a number when he declares, "I'll probably stay at home. It's all a media love fest with Obama. It's like it's 'American Idol' to choose the president. I don't like all the mystical, transcendental stuff from him. Anyone can be in favour of change and brotherly love. Yes, he's inspirational. So why not give him his own show after Oprah? I'm into reality. I want to know the facts about what he'll get done. We need the meat and the potatoes, not just pie in the sky." Riverdaughter (The Confluence) writes for many who will not vote for Barack, "One of the things that sets PUMAs apart from other Democrats is our built-in BS detectors. The other thing is that we were supporters of Hillary Clinton because we saw her as the true Democrat in the race. We liked her stands on the issues, her ability to reach out to every voter and her grace under pressure. But the PUMA movement is not about Hillary. It is about us, the voters. The Obama campaign, the DNC and the media targetted *US*, Hillary's voters, for a peculiar brand of derision, disrespect and disenfranchisement this year." Meanwhile Peggy Simpson (WMC) reports, "The Sarah Surge is unmistakable. GOP presidential nominee John McCain's support rose markedly after he named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate--although after two solid weeks of Palin-all-the-time media attention, McCain still hasn't broken 50 percent. Republicans now are far more fervent backers of McCain, a candidate that the religious right and social conservatives opposed in past races and were lukewarm about in this one. Post-Palin, Republicans' strong backing of McCain nearly has doubled, from 39 percent in July to 71 percent in September, in a Newsweek poll." Dr. Violet Socks (Reclusive Leftist) has compiled a series of quotes by Palin on feminist issues. While Socks compiles what Palin has said, Joseph (Cannonfire) focuses on what was left out of an interview last week: " ABC News deliberately edited the interview with Governor Palin to make her appear bellicose and ignorant. You'll be shocked when you see what they left out. " Palin was a hit in Carson City, Nevada Saturday. Scott Conroy (CBS News) describes it as a "rally in front of a raucus crowd of several thousands" Lynn Sweet (Chicago Sun-Times) has posted the transcript which includes Palin noting one person attending, "I'm honored to hear that we have with us in our midst, so many of us who admire, Chuck Yeager, and I hear that he may be here. (Cheers, applause.) Now, he is a true American hero and maybe the first man to break the sound barrier. Hopefully he has a good idea maybe how that first woman can break the glass ceiling once and for all! (Cheers, applause.)" In this fractious atmosphere women and women's issues took a back seat to the Presidential campaigns. Feminists, acting through the Republican Women's Task Force (RWTF) of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), were part of the Ford campaign. The anti-feminists, acting through Phyllis Schlafly's STOP ERA, were Reagan supporters. These two groups fought over whether support for the Equal Rights Amendment should remain in the Republican Party Platform. It had been in the Platform from 1940 until 1964, when it disappeared without actually being removed. Even though all of the candidates for the 1964 Republican nomination (Goldwater, Rockefeller, Scranton, Smith) supported the ERA, a decision to write a very brief platform that year caused removal of many planks which had traditionally been in the Platform. In 1972, Republican feminists put it back in without opposition. Serious opposition to the ERA emerged the following year as the states debated whether or not to ratify the proposed Constitutional amendment. Both Ford and Reagan had supported the ERA when it was sent by Congress to the states on March 22, 1972. Between then and 1976, Ford strengthened his support. His wife, Betty, was an ERA champion. While Governor of California, Reagan had also supported the ERA. When he decided to run for the 1976 nomination he switched sides to court the large number of conservative women who did not like it. Sept 16
Photography exhibition and reception, 6:30PM
Living Under the Trees
Exhibition 9/1-10/1
Santa Paula Family Resource Center
940 E. Main Street, Santa Paula, CA
Sept 17
Book discussion, Illegal People, 2:30PM
Transborder Institute, University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA Sept 21
Presentation at REFORMA Conference, 10AM
National Association to Promote Library and Information Services
to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking,
El Paso, Texas Sept 22
Book presentation, Illegal People,12:30PM
Fall for the Book, Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts,
Photography exhibition, Johnson Center's Gallery 123, 9/21-26
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Sept 29
Book discussion, Illegal People, 6PM
World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., #200, San Francisco Sept 30
Book discussion, 7:30PM
Illegal People and The Accidental American, by Rinku Sen
Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St., San Francisco | 
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