[Vision2020] Fwd: A short history lesson on the privilege of voting..

[Donovan Arnold]

Mr. Trail,

you write, " not forget about the importance of the privilege of voting"

Voting is not a privilege. It is a right. It is written in our constitution. 
Bush thinks it is a privilege in Florida, but it is in fact a right.

Driving is a privilege. Ice Cream on Sunday is a privilege. Voting is a 
right of every citizen in the United States, and should be the right of 
every non-felon in every nation.

Take Care,

Donovan J Arnold


>From: Tom Trail <ttrail at moscow.com>
>To: vision2020 at whale2.fsr.net
>Subject: [Vision2020] Fwd: A short history lesson on the privilege of 
>voting..
>Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 15:44:46 -0700
>
>>Visionaries:   This reflection on the history that we should remember and
>
>not forget about the importance of the privilege of voting.  Only about 20% 
>of Idaho's
>voters turned out for the primary this spring, and Ada County the turnout
>was about 16%.  The price paid by many for the privilege that in this case-
>women could vote--needs to be remembered.
>
>Tom Trail
>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>A short history lesson on the privilege of voting ...
>>>
>>>The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night,
>>>they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and with
>>>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 November 15, 1917 (a mere 87
>>>years ago), 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 will run the movie periodically before releasing it on video and
>>>DVD.
>>>
>>>I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would
>>>include the movie in their curriculum. 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 institutionalized. 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 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.
>
>
>       Courtesy of my cousin, Mary.
>
>
>--
>Dr. Tom Trail
>International Trails
>1375 Mt. View Rd.
>Moscow, Id. 83843
>Tel:  (208) 882-6077
>Fax:  (208) 882-0896
>e mail ttrail at moscow.com
>_____________________________________________________
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
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>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

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