"We've come a long way baby." This was a slogan used by a cigarette company to sell cigarettes to women. I do agree with this sentiment. I think things have changed for the better for women in my lifetime. Sometimes, though, something comes along to remind how far we still need to go.
The latest travesty is a review in Newsweek for the new documentary on Roman Polanski's legal troubles. He was pled guilty of unlawful intercourse with a minor (a 13-year-old girl, he was 44 years old at the time). He fled the country before sentencing, and has been a fugitive ever since 1978. You can read about Polanski and his legal issues here.
More after the jump...after a word by our sponsors...
I got polled! This is actually the first time ever that I've been polled. The poll was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation so it's probably a CNN poll, but could be associated with the Clinton campaign. There were some pretty loaded questions in the poll.
I guess that I am one of those "elitist snob" voters who is bitter about the direction of our country. I am one of those dead ender 81% who believes that the country is on the wrong track.
I'm sure everyone has seen by now Eliot Spitzer's press conference when he first acknowledged his involvement in a prostitution ring, with his wife by his side. In an all-too-familiar ritual humiliation, a politician caught in a sex scandal stands before the cameras with his shell-shocked wife by his side. In what I consider a refreshing change, an AP story today actually asked women what they think. So, I'm asking you - what do you think?
This is another one of those diaries with anecdotal data, but it is very exciting!
I just got off of the phone with my technician who worked as a poll judge at a precinct in Delaware, in the Wilmington suburbs. Here's what she reports:
Turn out is extremely high, more than she has ever seen (she has done this for many elections). She's never seen this much passion. The Obama voters were out in full force.
There were normal voting problems, mostly related to poll workers not understanding the rules or voters who thought they were registered to a party (mostly related to people who registered through the DMV).
It seems like on a regular basis, articles are written about how feminists don't care about women in other countries. I remember when we went to war with Afghanistan, it was the first time many people had heard about the treatment of women under the Taliban regime. Feminists had been talking about this for years, yet we were accused of not caring because we didn't think going to war with them was really helping them.
Katha Pollitt at The Nation has written an open letter to the media from American feminists. I believe that it is passing through the blogosphere (no link) for signatures. You can sign by sending and email to kpollitt at thenation dot com. I got this link from Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon. I would also like to say thank you Katha! She speaks for me. Text of the letter is below.
The indispensible Charlie Savage has another blockbuster article out about the Bush administration. This article lays out the new Bush administration plan to have Pentagon political appointees "coordinate" (quotation marks in original article!) the promotions of JAG officers. I assume I don't need to make many comments about what a disaster that could be. Can you imagine Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz determining which military lawyers should be promoted? #shudder#
Do we need a "Godwin's Law" for invocations of 9/11? Read what Alabama football coach Nick Saban said after his team lost to Louisiana-Monroe:
"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event," Saban said during the opening remarks of his weekly news conference. "It may be 9-11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event."
I am a football fan. I grew up in a football family. My dad was an assistant coach with the high school football team and I attended more scrimmages and football games than I can count. This is one reason why I'm so appalled at reading this article (h/t Linda Hirshman at TPMCafe):
My in-laws were visiting our new home last week, and we decided to take a trip to Washington, D.C. to see the Smithsonian. One of the museums we visited was the Museum of Natural History. In an otherwise very well done museum, we came across this display in the section called "Ice Age."
I'm sure many of you have already read about the "controversy" surrounding the publication of a piece in the New Republic by a soldier serving in Iraq. If you haven't here are some recaps, from dday, digby and firedoglake. The short story is that "Scott Thomas," actually Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, wrote about misconduct and bad behavior by himself and others in his unit. The RW bloggers went crazy, accusing TNR of making things up, and in their typical fashion "proving" that Scott Thomas was a fake. Scott Thomas turned out to be real, which led to the normal character assassination from the RW.
I don't write many diaries because there are so many talented people who write them here. I'm sorry for the brevity of this one, but I saw this powerful video via Juan Cole and I thought this needed a wider audience. This video should be watched by every person in America. It documents the lies of the Bush administration leading us into war. I was riveted.
Update: At the suggestion of Cedwyn, here is the YouTube link. Go there and comment and rate up the video!
It may be a good time to review the scientific method. Science is going to be a big player in our future, but I think it is often misunderstood. Our media and our politicians, especially, are often confused.
I think one of the biggest criticism of scientists is that we're slow and that we're conservative. I think this is a valid criticism, but it originates in how science is done. By the time something becomes a scientific consensus it has been tested many times. It is not fast!
I didn't know I would be writing a diary in defense of Hillary, but I get the feeling that this may become more common since the wingers get really crazy about her. Hate-mongering radio host Glenn Beck, along with supposedly mature conservative Kathleen Parker are now pushing smears of Hillary based on her voice. And I'm not just talking about the "fake Southern accent non-scandal scandal" either. They're trying to make her into a nagging woman.
The recent blog wars concerning religion have reminded me of a recent post by Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis. The post entitled Conservative Correctness. This post was about how conservatives have been using the charges of religious bigotry to bash political opposition.
In honor of President's Day, our wingnuts have gotten a little extra wingnuttier.
First, Bush's gave a President's Day speech honoring George Washington. In addition to Bush's other superpowers, such as looking deep into other leaders' eyes, he can also speak for George Washington. This is what he had to say regarding the Iraq War:
As we work to advance the cause of freedom around the world, we remember that the father of our country believed that the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone.
He once wrote, "My best wishes are irresistibly excited whensoever in any country I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom."
I learned something this week - apparently marriage has special germ-repellant properties. I'm referring to the recent "controversy" from some conservative christian activists about the new cervical cancer vaccine. These activists are opposed to the idea of vaccinating 12-year-old girls against HPV, the virus that causes (most cases) cervical cancer. These activist are concerned that vaccinating girls will encourage pre-marital sex.
Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.
The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country.
This could explain the actions of raiding Iran's Iraqi embassy. I hope this rumor isn't true, but I don't have any faith in Bush or his team's sanity or good sense. I guess I see this as the one thing that should derail the 100 hours agenda - fast-track emergency impeachment.
