Bella

I was at a luncheon on Sunday that was rather political in nature and I made a remark about one of the current commissioners being "like Bella Abzug, just lobotomized". One unnamed member of the table asked who she was, and I realizedI was dating myself again. (But not by that much.)

When I was just a little tyke on my grandma's lap, I used to watch The Walter Chronkite Show (it was all she would allow). Through that, I became familiar with a fiesty, Jewish lady named Bella in New York. Bella had a great slogan during her campaign: "Yeah, a woman's place in the the house....The House of Representatives!" (maddening applause)
Easily elected, she became the immediate thorn--NO I mean hatpin--in the side of Nixon. Her flamboyant hats could not ever come close to her radical thoughts on how the country was being so poorly run. Nixon tried to indimidate her, but that was Oh-So-Wrong, because she acted as if she was an unleashed jackel and went for the very, open neck.

What few will remember now was of a wonderful example of a strong woman climbing up on a soap box and saying: "Woman are equal. Gays are equal. And, Mr. President, STOP THE WAR!"

If we only had a Bella Abzug today......