It's only when you have a critical mass of women in politics that you get women's issues attacked.

I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.

This is a new beginning, a great beginning for women in Afghanistan, a time of hope,

In a society where the rights and potential of women are constrained, no man can be truly free. He may have power, but he will not have freedom.

I walked up to Griz and poked him in the chest. "Let me make this perfectly clear to you. Though some might seek to make it appear otherwise, I am not a bride to be bartered away to another kingdom, not a prize of war, not a mouthpiece for your Komizar. I am not a chip in a card game to be mindlessly tossed into the center of the pot, nor one to be kept in the tight fist of a greedy opponent. I am a player seated at the table alongside everyone else, and from this day forward, I will play my own hand as I see fit. Do you understand me? Because the consequences could be ugly if someone thought otherwise.

I guess you'd call me an independent, since I've never identified myself with one party or another in politics. I always decide my vote by taking as careful a look as I can at the actual candidates and issues themselves, no matter what the party label.