When, in the course of U. S. Presidential Elections, it becomes necessary for one portion of a political party to assume among the people of the nation a position different from that which they have previously occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of their Constitution entitle them, a decent respect for the opinions of fellow citizens requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

In agreement with generations who have gone before us, we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed at birth with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.

Today, March 8, is the 99th annual International Women's Day.  

International Women's Day has been observed since 1909, and was created amidst a global hotbed of activity by and for women. We celebrate by getting to know our first female Heads of State. This list is not exhaustive, and does not account for many female firsts that were appointed but never elected, and others may have been overlooked. Feel free to educate me in the comments, as that what this month-long celebration of women is all about!

Please don't forget to hit the rec button if you like this diary. Thanks.

Cross posted at MyDD

Okay, the political landscape has changed overnight, and I know there are a lot of hung over Obama supporters feel pretty disappointed this morning. My condolences, seriously. But perk up, because there has always been a plan that could get your candidate to the White House. They've been discussing it all over Morning Joe today already, and I think you'll see this idea put forward more and more.

Join me below the fold for a unified road to the White House.

This is the third diary in the Women's History Month Series. March is Women's History Month. March 8th is International Women's Day.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself in terms of cataloging the First Wave. The first two installments of this series discussed the Seneca Falls Convention, largely considered the birthplace of the First Wave of feminist action in the United States. With the 19th Amendment we jump ahead to the conclusion of the First Wave, and many significant events and people populate the time in between. We will come back to them.

But tomorrow, women in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont go to the polls, as they have since just 1920--just 88 years ago--and the story of how they got there is a harrowing tale of fighters like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, as well as a different kind of 50-state strategy, mass arrests, maggot infested force-feedings, rose wars, and so much more.

Join me below the fold for details along the road to Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, and every state in the Union!

Her story is not really true, so let's clear that up right away. This is a short creative nonfiction piece I wrote a few years back, and it's been pretty popular in my Women's History Month series. This is the second in a month long diary series to celebrate Women's History Month.

This story was published in issue # 18 of Teemings, the eZine of the Straight Dope community, of which I used to belong. I have polished it a bit before posting it here. It is meant to detail the buildup to the Seneca Falls Convention on Women's Rights in 1848, which I diaried about yesterday.

So prepare yourself. We are going to step back in time...

March is Women’s History month! For several years now during March I have e-mailed to friends and family a small collection of biographies of people and events important to the progress of women in American. This year I decided to polish some of them up, fill them out, and share them with my fellow Kossacks.

In my generation, we generally only learned about women such as Jane Addams, Betsy Ross, and Susan B. Anthony in elementary through secondary education.  It was in college, at the ripe old age of 22, that I even learned that Susan B. Anthony was provoked into working for Women's Right's and directed in that effort by her good friend, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who is the real mother of American Feminism in my opinion. Since then it has become an amateur passion of mine, and I love to tell the stories, hence this diary series. Today, join me below the fold for the details of the Seneca Falls Convention, the first Women’s Rights Convention held in the US, in 1848.

Update (for clarification): This will be a series, and I will post a few diaries a week. This diary and tomorrow's diary are designed to kick off this series. In the future, look for diaries titles that begin with WHM:

Today is Leap Day, February 29th, the last day of February. It is the last day of Black History Month and tomorrow Women’s History Month begins. We are on the cusp here as much as the electorate and campaigns, as we wait for that fateful Tuesday to come. On this improbable day I would like to discuss a little about a missed opportunity almost 150 years ago, and ask you to consider a leap of faith on Leap Day by suspending your disbelief and objectively considering a Unity Ticket 2008. Join me below the fold for more.

Full disclosure: I support Clinton, but intend to vote for Obama if he is the nominee. At this point I wish they would run together, I don't care in what configuration. I think it would stop the intra-party bickering and negative campaigning (on both sides), which I think is hurting the party, as well as address the unforeseen consequences of denying Michigan and Florida voters a say.

That said, I took a break from Dkos for a few days, and that has allowed me to retrain my eyes upon the prize: Winning in November. We're in a unique situation in that the Rep race is all but sewn up while ours is still wide open (whether you believe that or not, that is the media narrative). So, rather than tear down one good candidate because I support another good candidate, I'm going to start speaking about the only other viable candidate, the bad candidate, John McCain. This is especially important in light of the fact that some (a few) here are threatening to vote for him. Hopefully this info will also help others who know people who plan to vote for him if [insert Dem candidate here] is the nominee.

Times are tough, and they always have been financially difficult for me. I was a single mother for 13 years, and have never had the time or money to give to a political campaign. That changed today, and it feels great!

I think most of us can agree that we want to honor the truce called by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton yesterday. Problem is, a lot others don’t. Since that is the case, I think we are going to have to come up with strategies that help us to not take the bait when hate diaries are posted. I think if we let those people spew their venom, it will taint their candidate, as is already happening. So, how can we show support for our candidate, and not feed trolls?

You’ve seen them. There’s a glut of ‘em everyday, and they always report some nefarious coalition, plot, or diabolical strategy on the part Senator Clinton or her campaign. At first, it was hard to experience so much outrage, especially toward people who I was supposed to feel like I was on a team with. I knew the right wing machine had been cranking away on her since 1992, but I was unsure what effect that would have on the electorate as a whole. I’m surprised to see the only place it seems to be taking new hold is in the darker corners of the Netroots. What we’re seeing coming from the anti-Clinton brigades (as kos so accurately dubbed them) is a whole lot of Republican-engineered Clinton-taint.