Women’s Equality Day

Vintage ERA YES button

Congress hasn't done much for women in the past 45 years.

Today is Women’s Equality Day.

In 1971 the 66th Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day at the behest of social activist and women's rights icon Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY).

Sadly we'll endure the inept 114th Congress, paralyzed by small-minded ideologues, until January 3, 2017. It is my fervent hope the political pendulum in Congress will swing back toward people-centric equality issues.

Sadly the flurry of #WomensEqualityDay tweets on my Twitter timeline was exceeded by #NationalDogDay. I've a soft spot for dogs, but I love women. And I'm passionate about equal rights for all.

The #WomensEqualityDay tweets reminded of the ERA YES button I got just a few years into my political awakening in the late 1970s. The protracted struggle of Equal Rights Amendment has shaped my political world-view.

Progress is rarely revolutionary and rarely sudden. Progress is almost always a long and determined slog.