Happy Birthday to the League of Women Voters

If you're on Facebook, stop by and become a fan of the League of Women Voters. This fine organization will be 90 years old tomorrow. Let's remember that this is an organization with, well, balls. In 1976, 1980 and 1984, the nonpartisan organization sponsored the presidential debates. In 1988, the group's board voted to withdraw becase, they said, tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee were making too many demands of the debate format. From the press release of Oct. 3, 1988:

The League of Women Voters is withdrawing sponsorship of the presidential debates...because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public.

It is a shame LWV is no longer running the debates. But this statement—issued after it became known that the Bush and Dukakis camps were secretly negotiating their debates' terms—kicks ass. Via Feministe.