Because we have to start somewhere!

To help the newly-homeless find places to live? For job retraining? To soup kitchens? For child care programs while parents hunt for jobs to replace the ones they lost? To schools that can't afford new books? For programs to help the elderly who lost the investments they planned to live on the rest of their lives? Or, perhaps, to domestic violence and sexual assault shelters that are seeing their numbers increase because of the economic stife facing folks?

Or...will it go to museums and art organizations? Because....well...people at that income level (where people can just give away three-quarters of a million dollars) tend to be involved in those kinds of organizations and fund-raisers because they're the groups who run the social events around which people at this strata tend to socialize.

We'll never know, of course. But I hope when Mr. DeSantis gets over his anger, he will consider making substantial contributions not to groups that can wait until better economic times to fundraise, but to those who need the money now more than ever.

And with no fanfare. No adulation for his generosity. No plaque on the wall thanking him for the donation. (Or, if any such plaque were to be created, I would hope he'd be forthright enough to insist that it say "Thanks to the taxpayers of the United States for their generous donation....")

"Many of us, myself included, believe that change is created through strategic communication, alliance-building, and a million little grass-roots movements all over the country that fight for justice and may or may not call themselves feminist..."

This just goes to show you that a whole lot of people never understood what the feminist movement was all about, what we did, and who was involved. We didn't burn our bras, never hated men (many of whom were as equally involved in the movement as the women), didn't appear on the national news doing outrageous things and, in the cases of the people I worked with, balanced our work on achieving women's rights at all levels with our jobs, going to school and raising our families.

Our "strategic communication" happened via the U. S. mail system and telephones because we didn't have access to instant internet communication and cell phones. It was a heck of a lot harder and time-consuming to write those individual letters to legislators than to send off an e-mail. But our communication was just as "strategic" and, most importantly, very personal!

We called "alliance building" coalition building which involved bringing together a variety of individuals and groups with a variety of viewpoints to plan and to act for a common purpose. They were women's groups, human rights organizations, unions, students, retirees, good government groups, churches, and those newly-formed that focused on feminist issues.

And where did we come from? From a "million little grassroots movements" including those working on voter education, children's issues, domestic violence and sexual assault, civil rights, worker justice, health care, etc., etc., etc. We did it via mass mailings (involving, oftentimes, running a mimeograph machine, collating, folding, hand-addressing and stuffing envelopes, licking stamps, sorting them into zip codes, and delivering boxes full to the post office late at night). We wrote and sent out newsletters, organized forums, spoke at schools and churches and civic gatherings, debated the opposition, and also organized lobby events, marches, and all of those million little grassroots activities which moved forward the laws that today's women who are declaring the feminist movement dead have been lucky enough to enjoy and to utilize.

If you are our daughters and you dismiss our efforts, shame on you! If you are our sons and denigrate our work, double shame on you! If you are our daughters and sons who understand and carry on the banner, please know that we're proud of you because you "get it" and appreciate all the sacrifices, insults, assaults, indignities and the hard work we did on your behalf!

Cousin Rush flies the whole family to his house for Thanksgiving, and puts them up in a plush resort with the room key doubling as a charge card? Not only is he flaunting his wealth, but he's using it to buy the family's love.

The man sings rowdy christmas carols? That's more than being loud - like the rest of the family - or even obnoxious. It's crude and disgusting.

He puts on March of the Penguins for the children to watch? Maybe it's to get them out of the way so Rush can be the center of attention instead of the cute little ones.

And then he forces Ann Coulter upon the family! Frankly, that would be my last visit to Uncle Rush's place---plush resort, charge-card-keys and special treats for the kiddies notwithstanding.