Join WWL cohosts Diane Gee and Michael Gottlieb tonight as we ponder this new administration’s seeming lockstep with the worst of Cheney’s policies:

Saber rattling Iran, as was done with Iraq, in blatantly lies to cover expansionism of our military footprint.

The intentional blocking of the Goldstone report, and capitulation to Israel’s imaginary yet permanent “security crisis.” (Yes, they claim this report would hurt Israel’s right to defend itself, WTF, over?)

The ever expanding war theater in Afghanistan, our new Vietnam.

We will also be discussing Cheney himself, as retired Generals start to openly criticize his Gitmo and Torture policies, and quietly are beginning to leak how unfeasible our strategy is in Afghanistan.

Cheney’s teflon coat is wearing more as the FBI has been ordered to release their interview with regards to the Plame case.

Our big question for the evening…. is ANYTHING changing at all, or has the Dark Lord’s influence started to crumble?

See you there! As always, respectful questions and commentary are welcomed.

Join Gottlieb and Diane tonight at 6pm EDT on Wild Wild Left Radio, via BlogtalkRadio, for an interesting hour of Political Reporting and Commentary.

WWL Radio: Free Speech in Practice.

The call in number is 646-929-1264

The live chat link will go live around 5:15.

CHAT LINK:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/F…

In 1977 I was 14. I was one year older than Roman Polanski’s victim. That summer, I had my first ever viewing of a man’s penis. He had a knife against my neck.

I broke a bottle and held it against his, and told him he would certainly kill me, but he had better be ready to bleed first.

I cannot tell you how much weight that incident put on my young, Catholic schoolgirl, innocent shoulders. I cannot tell you how long it took for the fear of “any man may be a predator” took to recede. I cannot tell you how my own reaction, being capable of committing the most grievous “sin” of murder, hurt my soul. Until then I had a hard time even coming up with anything to tell the priest during weekly confessions. I lived my life trying to avoid sin at any cost. There was no such thing as sex ed in Catholic School. All I knew is that we weren’t supposed to think about it, and that it was holy and for marriage.

I do know there was a code of silence, and a tremendous feeling of guilt. It instilled in me a feeling that men were natural beasts, and that perhaps I had done something wrong, daring to ride my horse to a park with my friend, then laying out in the sun in our bathing suits, drinking Pepsi, eating pretzels and Reeses Cups and playing backgammon. Mentally, emotionally, I was a child. I was no sexual being. It threw me off sex until I was 19, and in love for over a year and a half, long after I had lost my religion, I finally lost my virginity.

That was not the last time I was victimized either. Later a rapist broke into my house, but thats a story for another day.

I still carry scars, from attempted rapes and domestic violence. My fear factor can still be triggered to where I cringe and run, or stand and fight. I will never be able to have casual sex, I need an extreme trust and love level. Tell me there is no baggage.

Would I have created this street chick, badass, cursing persona had I not needed armor? Who would I have been had this not happened to me? Is that person still inside me somewhere?

The backlash to Polanski’s arrest says three things to me, things that my own life has proven:

There’s a woman who works up at the local Smoke Shop who just came in from Vegas. She likes to go shoot pool in tournaments there, and after buying a cheapy $150.00 roundtrip ticket ahead of time, and a cheap room, can usually clear $800.00 or so, and have some fun.

She looks like a middle aged cue ball herself, shiny, happy, roundish, totally nonthreatening. In fact, flying out of Detroit Metro, she had no problems whatsoever. Flying back from Las Vegas, she was detained, grilled, bullied and almost missed her flight. Her crime? She had a still factory sealed bottle of nail polish she had purchased at Krogers before leaving in her luggage. Not even in carry-on! It still had the Kroger price tag on it. They have no “Krogers” in Vegas. They have “Safeway.” Seriously, “We have never heard of Krogers ma’am, why were you trying to bring liquids onto the plane. Who are you, where do you live, who do you work for? Who do you REALLY work for?”

“Krogers is our grocery store, and I thought I might paint my nails on vacation. They didn’t care about this in Detroit!” “We have never heard of Krogers. Whats in the bottle, lady, really?”

We really accept as a society being brow beaten over Nail Polish?

It gets better. When she finally boarded the plane in Vegas, there were two, count them two, women on the plane knitting. With huge needles. Personally, I’d rather face down some “Candy Apple Red” nail polish than a 14 inch pointy steel thing. But liquids are taboo, baby, and knitting needles not. Which is more akin to the box cutters, anyway?

Then there is Van Jones. Ughhhhhhh

an evolutionary look at the questionable usefulness of deity

(crossposted from my blog, The Wild, Wild Left)

History is not proof positive of the Future.

Philosophers and thinkers often default to the models of the past, trying to counter that no society has had moral structure in the absence of deity, in fact, counter that all societies have had deities of sorts.

Religion is, in and of itself, an attempt by beings to explain the inexplicable. We no longer have to do rights and rituals to bring back the sun from the winter solstice, science has taught us that will happen in spite of our futile actions. We even know where the sun goes at night.

Crop failure or drought no longer are “assuaged” by beheadings on pyramids, altars of sacrificed sheep, nor throwing Joe in the volcano.

Evidently, religion itself has evolved to some extent in that way. So why, now the plateau? Why now, in some cases the regression? People to whom the God spake used to be institutionalized. Now they get a seat in Congress, if not the Presidency.

What fresh hell is this?  

The tea-baggers are coming to Brighton September 8th.  God save us all, I’m going.

Livingston County is about to be invaded by a national “tea party” group, funded by big-money corporate interests intent on attacking the programs of President Obama and Democratic leaders..

The so-called “Tea Party Express” will be at the Brighton Mill Pond Gazebo on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 3:30 p.m.

Please help us counter their negative, angry message by stopping by the Mill Pond area at 3 p.m. for our own rally in support of President Obama’s programs, especially health care. If you can’t be there right at 3 p.m., come as soon as you can.

Bring an American flag or wear an Obama pin or tee-shirt, if you have one–we still have a few available at the office. We will have some signs but more are always welcome.

We’re planning to be noisy, but rational, and not confrontational.

Please plan on joining us to show Livingston County that the real grass-roots support President Obama!

Sincerely,

Judy Daubenmier, chair

Livingston County Dems

P.S. Visit our blog, Living Blue, for all the latest political news and views.