I have to admit, I'd pretty much written NOW off a long time ago as an DC-insider suck-up organization. And Kim Gandy's choice of Obama-worship over substantive advocacy for women last year would have been a turn-off in any case. But the recent election of new NOW president Terry O'Neill has allowed me, well, a bit of hope.

The election shaped up as a female-only replay of much of the divisions in the primaries (hot young things full of hope vs bitter elderly knitters), a point even Salon's Broadsheet noticed. O'Neill's opponent was Latifa Lyles, who had Gandy's endorsement and an Obama-like rhetorical style, which Salon's Berman, oddly, quotes as proof in support of Lyles' substance:

Shelly Mandell, pres. of the L.A. Now chapter, introduces Palin at a rally in SoCal:

In rarity for a Republican event, Mandell bragged about her efforts campaigning for the failed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and her support for Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1984.

"I know Sarah Palin cares about women's rights," Mandell said. "As vice president, she will fight for you. She cares about our children and she cares about women's lives."

Local news station has the rest.

The problem with health insurance

Representative John Conyers has a bill in the House of Representatives to expand the Medicare system to provide affordable, quality coverage for all Americans. H.R. 676 has 86 cosponsors in the House, and has already been endorsed by 30 state labor federations, 94 Central Labor Councils, and 348 union locals and other labor organizations in 48 states.