Talking About Sins of Omission to Redeem Them:
Comments From Esthers Everywhere Who Expect You and Have Faith in You to
Redeem Your NPR 2/18 Comments for a True and Gender Balanced Spring that Honors Purim, Passover and Easter and other Important Remembrances of Gender Balance As We Approach Earth Day -
Gender and Power: Intercultural Multifaith Perspective To Budson and her Sister Guests and Host of the 2/18 Broadcast

February into March into April, 2002 and Always

Victoria Budson
Director, Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard University
Board Member, Women Waging Peace
cc. NPR Host Neary
Program Producers, Management
Other Guests,
National Public Radio Talk of the Nation, 2/18/2002
World Political and Media Leaders
Women in Government and Gender Balance Forums via Email and
Internet Mailing Lists and Newsgroups
Ms. Budson's Invited Partners for Gender Balance
(i.e. Pippa Norris, Anne Greenberg, colleagues at Harvard and other institutions, including Steve Grossman, Michael Kimmel and others)
President Najma Heptulla, InterParliamentary Union Council
Secretary General Anders Johnsson, InterParliamentary Union
Prime Ministers Lionel Jospin and Dr. Sylvianne Agacinksi, Government of France
Sonia Gandhi at Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
Arun and Sunundra Gandhi
Prime Minister Tarya Halonen and Pentii Arajarvi, Government of Finland

Dear Ms Budson, (or, as we prefer to think of and urge you to
more accurately call and honor yourself and your mission),
Ms. Buddaughter, Inherently Capable of Budding-into-Full-Flower-for-
Daughters-and-Sons-as-Partners-in-Power-of Good:

RE: Do Much Better on NPR's Talk of the Nation in April -
Airing the Global Truth to the Nation on Balance of Gender and Power:
The US Has Fallen Grossly Far Behind and Must Quickly Catch Up
To Protect Its Own National Life and the Life of Any and Every Nation

We are writing because we were deeply dissatisfied and alarmed by your and all others remarks on NPR's 2/18/2001 broadcast on Talk of the Nation. (an audio record of the program in available on the NPR Talk of the Nations Website). We believe you can do far more and better on the topic. In fact, we know that you can do powerful good, and believe you are meant to do such good.

We are asking that you do much better, on the Air and public Website, beginning in April. However, we also feel that as a "negative example", an example of what women who care about empowering women (and men and children) best never do on the air, the 2/18 show was "valuable" - in that it clearly showed how women scholars, journalists and politicians themselves can be caught in isolationism, self-disempowerment, self-cooptation, and residual misogyny against their own gender, in their presentations to the public, and miss certain opportunities if they are not paying attention to their own knowledge and power for good.

To err is human, and we sincerely hope you can prophet from these remarks on your 2/18 embarrassment by not making such unnecessary mistakes in public again and instead taking every opportunity to set the record straight on women and the balance of the genders and power. Indeed, we hope you will see this letter as your opportunity to say everything you could and should have said, as often and on many radio programs as you can fit into every day. This letter is meant as urgent but quite friendly criticism, and as friends, we hope you will turn the damage done on 2/18/2002 as a motivation to come back to the airwaves quickly to your and all women's (and good men's) come-back advantage, in helping transform the now dangerously moribund US media and political environment toward full empowerment of women and all people as human beings. We have not singled you out - similar letters have been sent to thhe program host, producers, and participants.

Although we must confront glaring problems with the February broadcast, we intend the tone of this letter to be ultimately reinspirational, not critical. Because of the 2/18 date of the NPR broadcast, we are writing this with inspirational calendar dates of people of February leading to March in mind, to guide you in April and beyond:

Let us start with February's dates that surrounded your broadcast: February 14th (St. Valentine and his triumph of marriage over Roman misogyny, imperialism and militarism), February 15th (Susan B. Anthony's Birthday), February 12-22 (including 2/18/2002 observed as President's Day) in the US to remember your namesake Victoria Woodhull and her Black HerandHistory hero and chosen runningmate Frederick Douglass, as well as the likely remorse of not yet then able to be universal suffragists Lincoln and Washington and their closest women and men colleagues and family, were they on the radio at this moment, and especially (Feb. 27-8th), the culmination of February with the celebration (Purim) of the Biblical book of Esther.

Immediately following your broadcast, more dates guide our attention as provided by the calendar in March. March has been called the month of the male God Mars, associated as god or (planet) of aggression for war but Mars is alternatively associated with stewardly seeding and farming instead, and March has also recently become Women's History Month, with women's and all our potential rich remembrance of numerous well known female leaders of peace, and such women sometimes said to be daughters of the Goddess or planet of Love (Venus), which runs the range from indulgence of vanity to inspiring loving service to and from others. This 2002 year, March saw the beginning of Passover, in which more and more Jewish men and women are remembering Miriam as well as Moses in inspiring the people to promise and liberation without celebrating the loss of any Pharoah, even in those days of condoned patriarchal revenge; and the last day of March was Easter, a holiday of recognizing, from an interfaith or archetypal perspective, that the good and simple man, or we should say, person can expect to ultimately triumph over and ultimately actually transform the narcissism of dominant Caesar, and archetypally, that the power of triumphant good was necessarily discovered and pronounced by a woman (Mary Magdalene). The early Christian communities (and perhaps even some early Jewish mystics) were gender balanced in leadership but with most women still uneducated then, the joint leadership was unable to sustain, and all religion devolved into the patriarchy of a patriarchal era for Jew and Gentile alike. Now in April, from a modern gender balance perspective, it is in bringing together in a non-patriarchal interfaith and archetypal fusion, the message of the women and men of February with the message of the women and men of March, in fusing the book of Esther with March's beginning of Passover and Easter, in April the 4th month of the year new Millennial Year 2 X 2 for two genders - that humanity fulfills its best promise for both male and female, in life, and new unity. It does so by seeking and gaining gender balance in democratic decision-making.

Therefore, for you and every woman and man alive today, the better understood lessons of February and March, with their inspiration dates of both ancient Middle Eastern and American history, can, and we believe, will, lead to an April and maturing spring which brings will give you a perfect opportunity to begin to discuss the great good news of gender balance, the harmonizing and real key to women, and men, in power to do good and well in balancing the subtle differences of their collective brain physiologies and hormones and the broad brush of their natural talents, and the triumphant living empowerment of secure and peaceful human decision-making and society in our nation and worldwide.

Before we proceed to our strong criticism of your 2/18 broadcast, we want to say we write this with a global intercultural, interfaith her-his-storical perspective that in good will, all men and all women of the world are potentially protective and loving in one way or another - of all people and the world. They would generally prefer to see their children's names in valentine-like hearts than as perpetual slaves or legionnaires on walls of memorium of a weary Rome-like Empire that must and can, in a new Millennium, transcend into something fully ethical and better, or (fall of its own weight anyway, giving way to terror and chaos as the ancient Rome once did.) We believe that Divine Spirit in balance wants people to use their intelligence to make and enjoy peace, not repetitively and "stuck-edly" make and fear terror and war as if such evils were beyond our ability to understand and transcend.

We believe all human beings, female and male, of every culture, are inextricable partners of a Unity of endowed and everywhere equal spirit. And they want to and are trying to bring forth powerful love, not just romantic or nationalistically patri-otic, but in an unavoidable new consciousness on a small planet at this time, of global brotherhood and sisterhood. We believe, (and we believe that you do too even though you failed to state your own belief on the air), that this shift occurs especially as they attain gender balanced good government and democracy for each nation for the whole world, as they see clearly their nations' role in bringing this gift about for all humanity, and speak clearly and forthrightly as such, as you did NOT do on 2/18/2002, but we invite you to try to again starting right now, in April.

We ask you to speak as a real leader, as your best Whole Self, and as a true present victorious Esther/Susan B./Victoria, or Mary, Fatima, Golda, or Benizar or Sonia, a Daughter whose victory is in loving and humanly empowering All Daughters and All Sons, too. Do so for your own American and every nation's people, and when you are on the air or world wide web and at all times, deliver the full, detailed loving truth that you know as both human and woman, instead of just isolationist omissions and corrupt-party-approved-insider-speak that misleads the public, and does not befit a universe-ity representative. All the women on the show could have spoken to their nation about the gender balance tide sweeping most of the world toward peace, and inviting the US to join them. You should have. too. Why didn't you? Were you asked to censor yourself, or did your self-limitation reflect a personal lack of self-esteem?

We strongly suggest and advise you to publicly insist with us, that NPR give you ample opportunity to let itself, other guests and you do better on this essential and global topic for a global (and currently war-involved and terror-ridden) nation. We offer a properly thoughtful format suggestions for such a program in an addendum attached to this letter, and if NPR is too weak to serve its nation, we will send the format to other national radios and media, and ask them to specifically reach out to the American people, who deserve to be told the truth about how far behind the rest of the Western and whole world their nation has fallen behind in women in power and gender balance in transformed government , even if their own "public" and male-dominated corporate media has been failing them.

If you are not up to such as task, we invite you to offer public statement why you feel you are unable to so do, and answer whether there was a censorship/self-censorship process which impaired you and the other women on the 2/18 program from honest and forthright speech about gender in our nation and power in our world. American and global women, and men listening audiences expect leadership, not willing obedience to censorship or self-censorship from women at such a world renowned University as Harvard. So, we ask you to post our letter on the Harvard, WAPP, Women Waging Peace and NPR websites with your reply, and we will also send this letter, inviting your public reply, to forums and interested parties listed below.

This is NOT meant to single you out: similar personalized letters have been addressed to the other participants and parties responsible for the, and we are sorry to have to use this word, pathetic NPR TOTN 2/18/2002 program, which we will copy to you. None of them did any better than you on this inherently beneficial win/win victory topic for both genders in power together. Yet, you are all inherently great women human beings, capable of so much better. You deserve real honest confrontation/support from women and men of your organizations, your nation and world to bring your best forward. We have faith in you all and think you will find a way to do much better beginning in April on your websites AND on NPR, and ask you to schedule early and mid April presentations on the Talk of the Nation to America as it is, a Global Nation with a global responsibility and role on this issue. You are well placed to do good. We urge you to discover and rely upon your inherent, inspired and real spirit and power to just do it.

Let us detail our specific concerns in depth:

In the February of your broadcast, the world lived in unrest and terror, and the Middle East in dangerous and ongoing disarray. The very week in which you omitted the US-embarrassing facts about Women (and Men) in (Gender Balanced) Shared Power in France, Nordic Countries, most of Europe, South Africa, forthrightly seeking it in India, and so on, two little human baby buds, perhaps a little daughter and son, still in the wombs of two pregnant mothers, one Jewish and one Arab, were endangered by bullets as their relatives died on all sides there in a land billions call Holy. Since then, even more have died, and now their patriarchal shoot out at the OK coral even is centered at the stable where a rather famous born baby who sought to unite all people in love, was born. So, as we think of the new babe buds trying to be born in the Middle East so they can unite the people in love, isn't it time for women like you to be forthright enough when you are on the air to deliver them into a Middle East really assisted by a gender balanced US similar to the gender-balanced governments of Scandinavia, France and the whole world tide of gender partnership and peace, instead of residual patriarchy and peril?

Those little neonatal early buds of February, in fact, came to the attention of even the dominant-male-dominated and female-avoidant, -exploiting, -trivializing but very seeldom female -politically-empowering US media. Yet still, the self-limited world of academic, journalistic and official American political title watched "powerless" to help; as "powerless" as you unnecessarily made yourself when you omitted the most important truth and facts to and about your nation and your world about women in power, sharing power with men, in daily more nations, on NPR. So, of course, many more have died since you failed to talk about women and men in gender balanced power on 2/18.

What is this truth about worldwide gender balance; what are the facts? The truth is, the facts show clearly, that it is and ought even moreso be the Talk of every Nation how far the US, an important but also gender imbalanced player both at home and in its delegations to the Middle East and globally, has itself fallen grossly behind the world in gender representation in democracy. (From our interfaith perspective whether the comparatively misogynist and long recently increasingly misinformed US population talks about it enough yet, the US regression certainly has been noticed by the loving female face of God, as well as the male face of God that loves and respects women, God, the Universal Omnipresent who of course sees and listens to every broadcast and the words and thoughts of all people.)

The US lags as a gender cripple (a feeble 13% women among 87% men (overwhelmingly white) in Congress, Judiciary and Executive) and must quickly catch up to levels of commonly at least 30% and often about or at 50%-50% (France and the nations of Scandinavia) gender balanced. These levels are now the rule, rather than the exception in Western Europe, and several other major nations. The US must do this so it can non-hypocritically assist the gender backward fratricidal and terrorcidal Middle East, which continues to forget that the mystery of God is also Mother as much as Father and as loving and listening of Sister as Brother across any national boundaries in the world. The US's priority to catch up to the gender balance of many other nations is for the good of all nations, including the American nation itself, in a globally interconnected world which can survive long only by universal human principles, not exclusive and regional prejudices perpetuated by cynical management and damage control techniques. We have learned of your commendable efforts to wage peace, and we know you agree and have special expertise in this area, and yet you said not a specific word about it on NPR. Why did you so stifle yourself in a talk about women and power?

In a talk to your globally involved nation about Women in Power, don't you feel you have any responsibility to tell your listening national audience that the US ranks a regressed (but leapfrog-able into full progress) 49th, in fair balance of gender in government? Doesn't your national audience deserve to hear of the practical will, major marches and sit-ins, manifestos, laws and models now implemented in most of Europe and countries in Asia, Africa and South America that have brought them 50-50 gender in government in many nations, 30-50% in others, and in all these many, greater gender balance in office than the US? All these nations, just by creating this trend, will bring the Middle East closer to peace, and better protect those little daughter and son buds. The US's failure to do so currently, in fact, endangers the Middle East, and its own people, keeping several nations regressed by power of bad example, and therefore, holds the whole world hostage to misogyny-fanatics. If you care about helping all people move from crisis to cooperation, shouldn't you make mention of the worldwide gender balance tide of peace power on a broadcast about gender and power?

Was it too much for you to even mention that in the then coming month, March-April 2002, France would hold a fully gender-balanced national parliament campaign and election, and had already gender-balanced all its municipal governments in 2001's March election? Shouldn't a woman scholar from Abigail Adam's Massachusetts remember that the French and American revolutions were and are again importantly linked, when talking to her nation? If you are a woman waging public policy and peace, shouldn't you have brought this to the advantage of both Abigail and John's descendants who love men and women today as equals, as they listened as your radio audience?

Women at a prestigious institution like Harvard must remember and act more like the risk-taking Esther (as you are broadcast less than a fortnight before her holiday), more like daring Susan B. Anthony (four days after her birthday) and more like the intrepid first woman Presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull, (whose name you share but forgot to mention at all on the President's Day broadcast) to tell truth and bring protection to the people; these women were known for daring to reveal the truth to bring about needed change that would eventually protect the people - not hiding truth and omitting truth as you did.

And so you must also ask yourself, what would Esther (or Susan or Victoria) have said if she were on the broadcast? In Esther's day, there were no universities that most women of the nation could attend and internet-link-hearken to hear a broadcast of a sister on a media like radio that can reach millions with the whole truth in an instant. Many women in Esther's nation were harem "girls", as, she was herself in a sense, and the absolute monarchs-for-life then could easily behead their wives, much as Henry VIII did. So, she had far less freedom to speak, even as a Queen, than you do as an American citizen in a globally telecommunicating world. Esther, were she alive today, would want you to exceed her, to remember her best by going forth fully in a way that she and women of her day could not even begin to dream. She would have wanted you to get the word out about women and men sharing 50-50 in many governments even as you spoke.

In the Bible, we are told that Persian King Ahaseurus (Xerxes) so loved his beautiful Hebrew wife Esther that he offered her 1/2 (50-50) of his KINGdom (of course, a KINGdom, that's pretty much the gendered way ALL lands were thought of then) and would grant her virtually any wish. Esther realized what she needed was a political and decision-making impact - not just a hoard of resort property and jewelry. But in her times, she knew that ongoing political power for the people, women as much as men, was too much to ask. The people, indeed, were largely illiterate and had no concept of democracy. Then.

But, billions of women and good men and many democratic governments have agreed, it is NOT too much to ask, and assume, NOW. It was not ancient Esther's generation, but our modern global many Esthers-as-women-partners-IN-government generation, that is the first, critical matter for life, and chorus of global Esthers, as well as men, seeking life-saving-Passover, life rebirthing Easter, and a woman-transformed Ramadan spirit, ready to empower each nation's women to accept the ancient offer 50-50 offer on an democratic and political level, with the help of good men in every nation - globally. Esther, who would have the hindsight of generations of genocides under patriarchy instead of partnership, is asking us to finally accept/insist on the 50-50 gender in government offer! And for good women and men, who lovingly respect both genders equally and as fathers and mothers of children, too. Even women in Esther's Middle East and the land that was Persia and others in Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East and Eurasia have dared to speak about their nations moving with proudly specifically mentioned other nations, toward the global gender 50-50 for human decision-making. Why didn't you, on February 18th? Do so now, in an April that fulfills the promise of February's Esther, March-April's Passover-Easter, and all the holidays of the Middle East and the world, now and always.

The Esther story, now told by Jewish, Islamic, Christian and B'Hai faiths and known archetypally to most cultures, reminds us of the duty of women to express feminine universal lovingkindness assertively and officially, especially on behalf of the endangered, disenfranchised and disempowered. It speaks of the willingness to speak out and be willing to risk the status quos, the "safe" perks of power and position, in the name of the protection of people made vulnerable by the mistakes of too many dominant-male rulers who ruled autocratically because they were unchecked by the balancing words of women and democracy-loving men as equals.

Women, with estrogen and a more empathically wired, hemispherically less compartmentalized brains than most men, are more prone to insightfully nurture, to plan for the social and environmental long term, to take the side of everyone at once, and resolve conflict better, than even good men alone who, to their credit can indeed remember a lot of facts and figures, and can energize hierarchy and chain of organization for quick implementation better. But without the decision-making involvement of enough women at parity and respected and beloved, men can be mislead by dominator-male networks of aggressive and hierarchical power, as well as their own tempers and testosterone urges, to act hierarchically yet care-less-ly, destructively, self-destructively, to heed the left (numbers) brain but ignore the right (pattern-recognition, intuitive) brain, and unleash the disasters that grow out of imbalance. Men and women have differing talents in power. They do most good - and least harm - when they make decisions together. Their symmetry in number is meant to bring forth the meshing of this both physiological and mental complementarity of nature in important decisions. Without enough presence of either gender in relation, over time, death results, from either aggressive destruction and/or atomistic decay.

Today, especially because of rapid progress in many and major nations outside of the US something really new, true worldwide gender and thus, human relational balance, is beginning to emerge rapidly in scores of nations. Major nations, like Sweden, France, Finland, Norway, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, the Phillipines, India and many others. This is the rising tide of loving equality that lifts all Esthers and women by any other name, like Victoria, in shared win-win victory *with* men by every name.

An Earth of successful Esthers, alongside enlightened men leaders be they Jesus or Lars or Lionels and Nelsons and Mahatmas who call for and bring forth gender parity in democratic and humble government, is in perpetual E(a)ster - the triumph and salvation of love, balance, longevity and peace over the cycles of hate, imbalance, oppression and war. Esther was indeed a living savior, the embodiment of salvation on earth, when she helped her government steer clear of a genocide scenario. Women and men making decisions together is the governmental salvation of the human community. Whatever your faith tradition, it is a spiritual victory for the Victorias waging peace to be Victorius over war, not over men, but WITH men and mutually present to aid men, of every culture, religion, or nation. Doesn't the spirit-seeking soul of Victoria Woodhull ask you to say you want and expect to see victoria buddaughters and victor budsons budding together in a new Garden of Eden? This is the fitting 2002 Spring for a planet where the dream of paradisal peace and longevity is the inbuilt dream of every child of every land.

There will be far fewer sins of aggression and domination to atone and cleanse for on Ramadan or Yom Kippur both, far fewer Confessions of power-hunger and hate, and far more hallelujahs of joy and compassion, when the world is governmentally gender balanced. So as the global gender balance trend continues and is assisted by broadcasts better than that of 2/18, peace could break out all over, even in the also ultimately quite radio-reachable, peace-able Middle East. Especially, if you can empower the trend when you are on the radio and speaking to your nation and world! Your precious moments on the air (and website), whatever the risk, offer growth to help archetypal Esthers make good on the archetypal male leader's offer/and need for balance himself, so she - they - can protect not just one generation, and one people, but that people, and every people, in every generation. Now, isn't that outcome one that would please every culture's religious and/or righteous person, all around the world, worth saying a few more specific words about when you are a guest at NPR? Many now say such truth; we simply invite you to join the chorus of Esthers (and Mary's and women of all backgrounds), entitling themselves to governmental equality, often with the assistance of great good men in their and many nations.

Esther was, for a moment, able just to save one generation of her people by speaking up to one good man-king; but her protection was not enough, and lasted only for a brief moment. But that is because she and her counterparts had no microphone to instantly reach millions about the essential role of a critical mass for life of women in national and international decision-making. Her people, and people of every nation from time to time, remained endangered again and again because in undemocratic patriarchy, fratricide and scapegoating becomes the way of the world.

And women and children remained seen as just the disempowered codependent victims, with few seeing clearly that what they were victims of was tolerated gender imbalance in rule that by its imbalance nature could never be full democracy, never good and representative self-rule. Today, because of terror, and nuclear and biological weapons, patriarchy and its weapon-offsprings fratricide and genocide, without benefit of gender balance in decision-making, threatens everyone everywhere. By speaking up fully about gender and power as a global phenomenon, you can prevent disaster from accelerating, or escalating in any hot spot right now. If you are the head of a Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard, isn't that worth your (and any woman's, like Ms. Neary and her guests) hour on the air on Women in Power?

Here's the central point we wish to make to you: In a global gender balance consciousness it becomes clear that the gender-balancing-saving of one people must and will simultaneously become the saving of other peoples and all people. Talk of the Nation inherently is Talk About a Nation that lives within a context of other nations. In a tense interconnected global context, each one people becomes every people, each one nation becomes every nation.

And so the best mechanism to protect any people is to describe, detail, disseminate and promote the WORLDWIDE trend as WORLDWIDE, and describe how your nation can take its place in it by cooperating with and learning from others. Especially, do not omit telling your and every nation, especially a powerful nation like the US, that gender balance is now officially spreading rapidly from Scandinavia, France, northern Europe and emerging very strongly in most of Europe and in the Phillipines, India, Indonesia, and China to all of Asia, Africa, South America - most approaching rates of 30% or more of both genders in government, and currently much faster then the developmentally delayed and retrograde US with its paltry 13%. (And sadly, if the talk of the political women your show on 2/18 is an indicator, even that tokenized 13% is beginning to dangerously eunuchize and masculinize itself, rather then represent and articulate the true talents and modes of expression of women.)

Men are as intelligent as women, but in ways and styles of leadership different than women, which, it is now time to face, have never been sufficient for bringing society into fulfillment of whole potential, or making lasting or stable peace. Taken as a group. 87% of the US officialdom is male and thus not graced by enough presence in decision making of women's more balanced hemispheric brain structure, estrogen and nurturing social intelligence and wisdom, How could such a gender-skewed officialdom as the US be any help in the long too patriarchal and conflict ridden Middle East? Won't a gender balanced world community that includes a quickly gender balanced United States bring forth more protective and saving empathy among all the children of the Middle East - Jewish, Christian, Islamic, B'Hai and their extended families in all nations?

Golda Meir came from a US State Wisconsin where many people from nations now high in gender balance (Scandinavia) originated from. Thus, her state had a composition and history of empowering women, perhaps a little similar to also heavily Scandinavian Minnesota, where Susan B. Anthony's birthday was officially celebrated as it should have been in Massuchusetts, throughout the US and certainly on your broadcast the Monday afterwards. So, in the name of Golda Meir who did not yet have a gender-balancing Scandinavia, France, much of Europe, South Africa, soon India and world to address in the efforts protect her children and all the children of the Middle East, remember that you do. And so, in the name of Susan B. Anthony and the women of the world named Esther, or Mary, or Fatima, or Golda or Sonia or WOMAN by any other name, we call upon you to do better than you did on that broadcast. But, especially in the name of a modern yes-able Esther as we move from the February of your broadcast to the promise of this Spring, make meaningful a Passover that will hopefully see war and terror of March Passover with the blessings of the knowledge of worldwide gender balance, into an April of the Promised Land of Peace for both tiny Israel, and all the related tribal natives of the Middle East, as well as the post 9-11 US. Then you can make a living truth of an Easter that simultaneously lets disaster Pass-over all the children of every nation, and resurrects the loving protection of Esthers and their loving Brothers and Good Samaritans of early Judaism and Christianity, in the hearts of people everywhere. And this time, it is these worldwide who are already in such strength of chorus, that they will transform the Ceasars -- and their wives, rather than be hurt by them. Shouldn't you, in your position of public air wave and website activity in the US, talk to the American and every nation about that?

Now, we want you to know why we are focusing so much on the globally archetypal Esther as we write this to you: Ms. Buddaughter. we have learned that you served in experience with a former head the Democratic National Committee and Executive Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steve Grossman, and we assume you both have a deep and abiding interest in real peace with love for the men, women and children of the Middle East. Of course, this should ultimately help protect tiny Israel and the precious remnant of the Jewish people as well as all its neighboring peoples and nations, who are after all, descendants of the same extended family in which its ancient women had so little chance (certainly no access to nationwide radio in their day!) to join with each other to protect their children against the pressure of pure patriarchy. But these women, women like you, do have that chance and responsibility NOW, in sync with a literate world encouraging the genders as equally important in decisions everywhere. As the blood-covered men of the Middle Eastconflict literally take cover in and/or guard the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem, and threaten the beauty of all Jerusalem, it is time for all women who remember Esther and Ahaseurus, and Mary and the House of David that she was descended from, and remember all children born of all the women of Abraham, to stand up with the women and men of all the world to give birth to governments of gender balance, not of male-dominant Ceasars, but of men and women of all nations, in the name of peace, in the year 2 of a new Millennium of 2 genders.

Perhaps nowhere in the world is the sharing of the power of love of both genders in balance democratically more urgently important than in all the fratricidally threatening nations of the Middle East ... but if this is to happen, the change must likely first and best come to the Roman Equivalents, the US-England - that have perhaps again deluded themselves into thinking that their own mostly male governments can "manage" the MidEast, for oil and energy needs, real, or with alternatives like wind and sun more and more available and affordable, perhaps an approach more conventional than real. But none of that is the central issue.

More pertinently, can women in the wealthy US and England really assist the materially poorer women of the Middle East to be empowered enough to protect their budding children if the women of America and England lag so far behind the Nordic Countries, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, now France, and so many other countries in gender balance? It is our opinion that your ability to speak openly to the tide of worldwide gender balance is the best way to really protect all the budding children, the girl and boy babes, as well as all mother, fathers and their related extended family in the Middle East. We are not suggesting that gender balance requires any nation to immediately turn its swords into plowshares - certainly not yet. Only that they hearken to and receive the peace-promising mechanisms of gender balance worldwide, that, on 2/18/2002 you omitted to tell your nation about, but will and must join a chorus in talking about in April, talking clearly to the Americans on the air and on the website, with the whole world listening. Then, we believe, peace will arise naturally and lastingly. It will take care of itself. War, Iniquity and Terror will simply fade away. This happens when the genders work together in partnership, instead of domination and submission.

To be victorious for each and every endangered people, we hope a Victoria Buddaughter would better inform her sisters and brothers, especially a brother like Mr. Grossman and make sure he, and his wives and daughters if he has any, as well as sons, are in good knowledge of and contact with the gender balancing men and women of other nations, like Lionel Jospin, and Swedish, Danish and other Nordic men like Anders Johnsson of the InterParliamentary Union, who love and remember Raoul Wallenberg and other people savers of that region who did not rely primarily upon weapons to lead, model and mobilize the greatest strength - preventive, saving, moral and loving strength.

As with Bud'son' who can spiritually rename herself a balancing Buddaughter for all sons and daughters, the double meaning of Grossman's patriarchal last name is of interest. 'Gross' can mean dramatically inappropriate, but translated from its German root, it can alternatively mean Great. 'Man' can mean someone merely of the male gender physically, or it can be an abbreviation of the generic and great-hearted human, that spiritually transcends nationality and gender, saves and empowers men and women as mutuals and political equals in number in government, and thereby protects and remembers children, girls as well as boys, too. Today, Raoul Wallenberg's home, Sweden, is one of the most gender balanced nations, and like Wallenberg is a source of peace, salvation and manly as well as deeply human heroism without needing to exert violence. Perhaps many in the French gender balance movement are children of those saved by quick thinkers of the French Underground, resisters to imbalance and patriarchal tyranny. The Danes too, with a strong history of people saving, have a cultural friendliness to gender balance, a have much greater relational balance in office than the US.

Perhaps with your assistance to your partner Mr. Grossman, and other men at Harvard and other universities like Kimmel's Cornell, to meet the men of gender balance of other nations as well as the women, the world can value learn to every life in the Middle East as Wallenberg and other righteous people valued every life. And perhaps, with your help, such descendants of Wallenbergs French underground saviors and survivors will be the gender-balance models for the world, their guiding light adopted by everyone. And these heroes can be recognized as such during their lifetimes, and not in peril themselves by governments that had not heard or thought of gender balance, such as those of the last bloody century. May we all be budding beyond that.

Pippa Norris, also a woman scholar at Harvard University, recently focused on England, and its self-proclaimed achievement of a standard of 18% as a minimal standard for women in it's government. But is 18%; thus 82% male governance, a number worthy of the study of women scholar's at Harvard University, and a standard for American's or women and men worldwide to think of as a balance of life for global men and women? We believe 18%, while higher than the US' momentary stagnation, it is far too low to qualify as gender fairness or balance.

Interestingly, England's level of gender balance is very similar to Pakistan's proposed 17% standard for women, which is itself only half of the that proposed by men and women of India championed by world citizen Sonia Gandhi, at 33%, similar to that already achieved in much of mainland Europe. Thus, it would seem that Pakistan and its former imperial landlord, England, have initially more in common than sons and daughters of Jinna would have liked to have admitted - an initially lower welcome of political respect for women than does Mahatma (and Sonia) Gandhi's India (initially seeking 33% minimum for either gender) and mainland Europe (already achieving 33-50% in many nations). Yet, it is our belief that as the world itself moves to acknowledge the peaceful and productive possibilities of 50-50, more national governments will move further in that direction, especially the governments like that of the US, and percentages in England and Pakistan will rise happily and easily along with the others.

We and others have proposed a minimum of at least 36% of each gender is the lowest globally acceptable minimum for real government, and sustainable human life for both genders, with a maximum and ultimate goal of 50-50 for optimal quality of life. The numerological symbol for basic life of one person, is 18, perhaps because a person of this age, male or female, has matured enough to reliably sustain his or her life as an individual. But today we know that individualism is not itself sufficient to sustain and cohese interdependent and living society. What then, is the minimum gender balance in decision-making to sustain the decisions and life of a family or society across the broad brush of generations?

We believe that is the number of each gender thinking not just of itself, but thinking of both itself and its counterpart in nature - thus 2 X 18, or 36. In a sense, 36% minimum for each gender is the flexible complementarity/ symmetry of yin-yang variation around 50-50 for every important activity, with each half realizing fully that it carries within it, shares and safeguards the welfare, of the other half of the inextricable whole. And, interestingly, 36 is the product of the date of your broadcast on 2/18/2002, a year with 2 2s, as if to remind you to multiply that 18 by 2 for your magic minimal number for either gender. (Pippa Norris and England must come to realize that 18 as a standard would mean a shortened life for one only gender - making the decision unilaterally - an individualist, non-relation illusion of life that would mean eventual death for both human genders; 18% as a standard is too low for human beings - it would result in a planet alive with insects and bacteria as survivors of a human race too non-relational to sustaining itself). As the date of 4/2x2/2002 approaches for Earth Day, even the numbers of the date speak to a date of necessary understanding that human gender balance in decision-making of human governments must reflect the 2x2 of nature.

So. it would seem that the numbers of the date of your first moribund broadcast themselves, 2 x 18, are telling you that only with a second, better and pro-gender balanced broadcast in which you, other women and some male gender balance guests or callers are scheduled, mention and detail such a 36% minimum for both genders in government, the concept of balance and the tide toward it in so many nations now, can you really inform Americans about gender and balanced power for life, as talk of the nation, that will help you, like Esther save not just her nations, but all nations.

Ms. Budding-into-Full-Flower-for-daughter-and-son-both, we are your friends, not antagonists, You, and the other men and women there have an extremely important position and potentially beneficial destiny at Harvard, for public vision, influence and accountability. We simply insist that you fulfill on its promise, not waste it out of anachronistic, isolationist, or ivory tower self-perpetuating isolationist complacency or fear.

Finally, in the name of Esther (and equally forgotten Susan and Victoria on our once elected President's Day broadcast), do you think it was necessary to yourself back and so censor the truth about the glaring delay, thus far, of women to share national power in the US compared to so many other nations which have progressed far further than the US. Was it necessary to utterly hide the facts of the current regression? Do you really think it was only European and global women that noticed that the vast majority of US women's, - and men's - votes were disqualified in the last election by their own gender-imbalanced Congress, against modern concepts of one person one vote human rights? This was "achieved" by the always controversial provision (Electoral College) of a white-male only made Constitution that, by force against women, was never ratified by even one woman.

The Electoral College therefore, it might easily be argued by a forthright woman scholar, should not have been applied to any American who was prevented from ratifying it in 1789, by categorical exclusion by force (ie women, blacks and white men who are not property owners, people whose representatives were never elected and therefore never convened to pass judgement on controversial sections that fly in the face of modern human rights such as those defined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (As a cinematic propertyless heroic farm boy Wesley informs the Princess Bride who never said "I Do" in marriage to the exploitive Prince - "If YOU Didn't say it, YOU Didn't Do It." Well, yes perhaps, many with burden of titles would be afraid to say that on the radio. But, in any case, since the rest of the recently disenfranchised public knows it, you might have given a little hint that you whisper about this a little at Harvard in gatherings where women, men and people of all color discuss power.)

In any case, we hope you will give thought to our thoughts and concerns. We have sent an accompanying email with suggested format for radio programs in April, including internet-available resources for reference and preparation for a more truthful and informative broadcast. We have also sent copies of our letters to the other participants and host.

In closing, remember that the recent filmography of Mahatma Gandhi, who stood side by side women as full partners in truth force, and spoke repeatedly of them as men's political equals, partners and often indispensable betters in many important ways said: "The story the world had been a struggle between the love of power and the power of love". Only women who bring forth each other and their brothers in the mode of gender balance, especially on public radio, television, or website broadcast, can fulfill on the promise of the world's greatest souls, for their own and every nation. Anne Frank was born on a May 12, the date that will be Mother's Day in 2002. In her honor, in her whole family's honor, and in honor of all the budding sons and daughters of every nations, let us all stop all our sins of omission. Let us, we men and women everywhere join in full partnership to fulfill her understanding that despite all the terrible mistakes of the past years of patriarchy, the mistakes are ending now and error is behind us. Let us say openly that, as human beings, we can recognize as real government only those which are at least 36% gender balanced,and urge every nation to promptly adopt the model of gender partnership in government. For then, we will discover, that as Anne said, all the people, men and women are basically very very good, and their Earth and all the people on it deserve long and happy life.

Sincerely,

Talkers and Listeners
of The Nation(s)

cc. Liberal B'Hai, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish and Interfaith Organizations
Many women's and pro-women men's discussion forums and
many national culture newsgroups on the Internet
Women in Government and Good Government Programs and Organizations
in the US and Worldwide

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