A (Too) Public Tragedy

Over the past week I've watched the scandal over New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer's hiring of an expensive call girl unfold over the media. Various network and cable news outlets have aired the two press conferences of Spitzer, dragging his wife Silda Wall Spitzer with him, first apologizing for his actions (which he did not detail, probably on his lawyer's advice), then announcing his resignation from the office he assumed in January 2007.

Then The New York Times revealed the name of the 22-year-old woman with whom Spitzer was involved -- Ashley Alexandra Dupré, an aspiring singer. Two days later, she was besieged with offers from Penthouse and Hustler magazines to pose nude.

Spitzer has been the butt (Definitely no pun intended) of jokes on the late night talk shows and will be parodied tonight on Saturday Night Live. The tabloid newspapers and television shows have referred to the outgoing governor as "The Love Gov" and detailed the lurid scandal incessantly.

What the media and "entertainers" seem to forget is that this is a tragedy, albeit a too public one. Because of Spitzer's actions, the crusading attorney general known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" for his pursuit of corporate corruption, his career is ruined, his marriage is in jeopardy, and his three teenage daughters are probably enduring embarrassment and ridicule in a period of their lives when they should be spared such things.

Yes, I realize the freedom of speech is guaranteed under our nation's First Amendment. I've heard the repeated adage "Sex sells." But I ask the media for restraint at this time. Granted, what Spitzer did was thoughtless and destructive to himself, his family, and New York state. However, the media should also consider his wife and daughters. They didn't ask for this. I'm sure Silda Wall Spitzer didn't ask to be trotted out to play the role of the loving and supporting wife and scrutinized by the media for "standing by her man." Although she and her daughters became (somewhat) public figures when Spitzer ran for public office, they didn't visit the "Emperor's Club V.I.P." They trusted a husband a father to do the right thing. They are innocent victims in all this.

Having said that, I will turn off the TV if I see any coverage, any jokes, any parodies involving the outgoing governor and his call girl, who, from what I've heard from news reports, is stressed out by the media wolf pack. Instead, I will pray that the Spitzer family (yes, even the governor) gets through this trying, hellish time. Peace.

Writing Diva

Oscar armchair quarterback

I don't think any of the Oscar observers have said it yet, so I will: Oscar skewed young this year. Forget about Oscars for older sentimental favorites like Ruby Dee and Hal Holbrook. (Needless to say, I was disappointed Ruby Dee didn't win.) The (reportedly) relentlessly violent "No Country for Old Men" took home the most Oscars. The song from "Once," "Falling Slowly," beat out the Disney juggernaut and the gospel-influenced "Raise Me Up" from "August Rush." (Nice touch from Jon Stewart offering the female co-writer of "Falling Slowly" to finish her acceptance speech!)

I thought that if Ruby Dee didn't win, Amy Ryan from "Gone, Baby, Gone" would take it. Tilda Swinton from "Michael Clayton" was a huge surprise. (Next time, Tilda, wear something other than a Glad garbage bag.)

Marion Cotillard from "La Vie en Rose" was a wonderful surprise. Too many Oscar observers thought Julie Christie would take it for "Away from Her." But from what I saw of Cotillard's performance as Edith Piaf, she earned it. And she was so refreshing in her acceptance speech.

I'm glad Daniel Day-Lewis won for "There Will Be Blood" and Javier Bardem (¡Qué caliente!) for his portrayal of one of the scariest movie villains in film history in "No Country."

Diablo Cody earned her Oscar for her crackling dialogue in "Juno." I'm not going to ding her for her leopard-print gown. She's glad to be accepted as she is.

Well, that's my take.

Writing Diva

Holding My Nose at the Polls

Four days ago I cast my vote in the presidential primary for Sen. Barack Obama. My trek to the polls was one of the few times when I didn’t have to hold my nose while casting a ballot.
I have voted in every presidential election, primary and general, since 1980. I believe in the adage, “If you don’t vote, don’t complain.” When I was an idealistic young college student, I thought then-President Jimmy Carter was doing a terrible job with the economy. So, I voted for Sen. Edward Kennedy in the Democratic primary, who lost to Carter. Then I made a big mistake. I switched to the Republican Party briefly so I could vote for U.S. Rep. John Anderson for president in the general election. (He later switched to being an independent. It took months for me to get off the Republican Party’s mailing list.) In the end, actor and former California Gov. Ronald Reagan won, launching eight years of neo-conservative policies.

When President Reagan ran for a second term in 1984, the best the Democratic Party could do was Carter’s former Vice President Walter Mondale. He wasn’t my first choice, but I didn’t want another four years of “Bonzo.” So, I voted for Mondale, holding my nose. Rats! A landslide and four more years of Reagan.

In 1988, I became an independent because I had become a newspaper reporter and didn't want to show any biases should anyone investigate my party affiliation. But Ivoted as a Democrat. I thought maybe there was light at the end of the presidential tunnel. George H.W. Bush was the Republican nominee that year. Whom did the Democrats come up with? A reserved, somewhat wonkish Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts. (I couldn’t vote in the Democratic presidential primary then because decline-to-state voters in California were not allowed to do so then.) Then his biggest claim to fame was his cousin Olympia Dukakis, who won the Academy Award for best supporting actress that year for the film “Moonstruck.” It didn’t help that an independent political action committee that backed Bush Sr. hurled Willie Horton into the voting public’s consciousness. Dukakis supported a prison furlough program in his state that resulted in the release of convicted murderer William Horton, who committed a rape and assault in Maryland after being freed. The ad the committee aired used a mug shot of Horton, who is African American. The Bush campaign did nothing to repudiate it. Voters overwhelmingly elected Bush Sr. over Dukakis.

In 1992, I thought Bush Sr. would easily get another four-year term until Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton came on the scene. He was one of the few candidates for whom I purposefully strode to my polling place and cast my vote just before I went to work. I didn’t have a lot of hope back then. (Clinton kept referring to his former hometown of Hope, Ark.) But I felt I had to try to get Bush Sr. out. I was overjoyed when Clinton, along with California’s first elected female senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, were swept into office.

I walked briskly to my polling place again in 1996 when President Clinton ran against Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas. I thought Dole was a dour conservative who threatened to push back much of the progress made during the Clinton presidency. Had I known that Dole actually has a self-deprecating sense of humor, I might have considered voting for him. (NOT!)

I thought in 2000 maybe the Democratic streak could continue with Clinton’s Vice President Al Gore. He, like Dukakis, seemed stiff and reserved, but I preferred him to the doofus running for president – George W. Bush. (The late Molly Ivins was right to refer to Bush-whacker as “Shrub.”) But having been fed up with Clinton’s peccadilloes (such as his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky while in office), voters came out against Gore. Actually, it was the Republican-packed U.S. Supreme Court that handed the presidency to Bush-whacker.

The former Texas governor who promoted himself as “a uniter, not a divider” was anything but. Backed by a Republican Congress, he pushed for an invasion of Iraq under the guise of the “war on terror” to get rid of dictator Saddam Hussein. From unwise tax cuts to his momentary freezing when he heard about the 9/11 attack of the United States to his neglect of the poor and middle class and people of color, Bush-whacker earned the dubious honor of a song by Green Day – “American Idiot.”

Desperate to get rid of the “Emperor with No Clothes,” I supported then Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina in the Democratic primary because I liked his stance on addressing poverty in this nation. (That year, I was allowed to vote on a Democratic presidential primary ballot for the first time.) Instead, the Democrats ended up with an earnest, yet rather ineffectual Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Again, I held my nose in November 2004 because I didn’t think I could bear another four years of Bush-whacker. This time, Bush-whacker won by about 3 million votes.

This year, the Democratic presidential nominee may be a woman, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, or an African American man, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. I voted for Obama because I want a president who is not as polarizing as Hillary (She has baggage from her husband Bill’s presidency.) and would be more able to bridge Democrats and Republicans. Whoever becomes the eventual nominee, I won’t have to hold my nose at the polls this November.

Writing Diva

If Roe Were Overturned – Then What?

Today is the 35th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to strike down Texas abortion laws, deeming abortion a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution.

To this day, those for and against abortion have been engaging in a war of words over this deeply divisive issue. NARAL Pro-Choice America states on its Internet site that “while it’s critical to promote policies that help prevent unintended pregnancies and make abortion less necessary, NARAL Pro-Choice America also fights to protect the right to safe, legal abortion.” The National Right-to-Life Committee, founded five months after Roe v. Wade, states on its Web site that its ultimate goal “is to restore legal protection to innocent human life” and that the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide “has resulted in nearly 50 million deaths.”

But what if Roe were overturned? What if a woman’s right to an abortion returned to the jurisdiction of each state? According to Wikipedia, several states have passed laws to maintain the legality of abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, and Washington. Other states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, could ban abortions in their jurisdictions.

If, after Roe were overturned, a Constitutional amendment banning abortion were enacted by two-thirds of Congress and two-thirds of the states, I believe many pregnant women seeking abortions would merely go underground, especially if they were raped or face a risky delivery. I think these women would rather take their chances with the law than risk their lives giving birth or having a child of someone who violated them.

And what would be the next “logical” step after that? Banning intercourse outside marriage? Don’t get me wrong. First, I would not have an abortion if I were pregnant because I believe an unborn child is still a life. Second, I am waiting until marriage for sexual intimacy. But not everyone is on the same page on these issues.

So, for both sides, I propose the following:

First, to any person who is “pro-life,” step up to the plate. Tell an unmarried pregnant woman who is considering an abortion that you will adopt her child. You will pay the woman’s prenatal medical expenses through the birth. It shouldn’t matter the race, sex, or physical challenges. If you truly believe in the sanctity of life, offer to take care of that life. (Note: I have a friend who did “step up to the plate.” She adopted her unmarried cousin’s infant daughter when the young woman could not care for her child. My friend’s daughter will celebrate her 16th birthday this year. We may not agree on other political issues, but I give her credit for following her convictions.)

If you’re unable to adopt a child, then help the woman take care of the child by helping pay for child care, medical care, and early childhood education until the woman can do it herself or she marries. Enact needs-based tests, if you think it’s necessary. As for the father, strengthen laws to make him take responsibility financially. Fund community programs that encourage fathers to become more involved in the lives of their children. Stop cutting programs that help families headed by single mothers.

Second, to any person who is “pro-choice,” realize that the “fetus” that the woman may be aborting has a beating heart at 22 days. In my view, that fetus is a life. Abortion should be considered as a last resort, not a birth control option on par with birth control pills, condoms, intrauterine devices, and, best of all, abstinence. Stress other birth control options to young women (even as young as 9 years old) before they become sexually active. Stop cloaking the procedure in such terms as “reproductive health care.” An abortion is terminating a life, although it may not be viable outside the womb. A woman should consider her health and the fetus before taking this life-changing step. And if a woman who undergoes an abortion suffers from guilt or depression, encourage her to seek psychiatric help.

Finally, to both sides of the abortion debate: It’s time to get beyond the decades of rhetoric and work together for the sake of the woman and the unborn child. Peace.

Writing Diva

Faith and politics, like oil and water, don't mix

There is an often used saying that one never discusses religion and politics in mixed company. I don’t discuss my politics with my church friends, and I rarely discuss my faith in a political environment or with non-Christians, unless they ask me about my faith.


I was prompted to write this entry after receiving an e-mail from a fellow worshiper at my church. She wrote me and several others asking that we support former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president because he’s an evangelical Christian, a former pastor, and a conservative. Now, I like the e-mail’s author and her family. But I questioned her sending the e-mail and disagreed with her message. I thought it inappropriate.


As I said, I don’t discuss politics with my church friends. I became an independent (or, in California, “decline to state”) voter in 1988 once I became a journalist because I didn’t want to display bias in my reporting or my politics. However, my political leanings are liberal. I attend an evangelical church and have accepted Jesus Christ but do not consider myself “born again,” merely struggling with my Christian walk. I came to my present church from an Episcopal church (another topic for another time). But I am not, nor will I ever be, a Republican. Moreover, I rarely vote Republican. I disagree with many planks of the Republican platform and believe the party has much to do to reach out to African-Americans and the working poor.


If someone asks me whom I’m supporting in the presidential primary, I will reply, “Barack Obama.” I agree with his positions on global climate change, the economy, the war (fiasco) in Iraq, education, affordable housing, investment in nonprofit organizations. My faith and my politics are separate, as our country’s founders intended. I bristle at the thought of either my church, my union, or whatever organization to which I belong telling me how to vote.

Beginnings

Well, this is my first time composing a blog. My younger sister T2 started her own and urged me to start one. I've been writing for 42 years. But now this is a new venue for me.

Let's see how it goes.

Writing Diva