I had a long day at work and when 5 o’clock hit I was eager to get out of the office. Things are busy for our family during the summer months. Dawson begs for long days at the beach and Owen just loves riding in the stroller on long walks. I’m just happy to spend time with my boys as they are growing so fast.
Dawson had T-ball right at 5 p.m. and thankfully my parents picked up the boys from daycare and I met them on the field for the game. Dawson had one fabulous hit at bat. He also played first base and caught a ball that was thrown to him. He was super excited.
After the game I took the boys to a concert at a local park. Tom Pease was playing at the band shell and what looked like hundreds of kids were eager to sing and dance to their favorite folk tunes. Tom is a wonderful entertainer. He sings, he has actions for his dances, he makes the most outrageous noises, and he can make up lyrics for a song in minutes. (And here’s a secret: he’s been performing since I was in elementary school. I still remember a concert he gave at Roosevelt School when I was in 3rd grade. You do the math!)
Owen was mesmerized by the music. The last Tom Pease concert we went to when he was just a few weeks old. This time he was able to dance, and it was so cute. I hope you enjoy the video.
Because I’m sick of all the Tiger Woods hoopla (I mean, really! Who cares? It’s getting old!), let’s talk about something else. Like President Barack Obama and this Nobel Peace Prize debacle.
He received the award why? I still do not understand it. Meanwhile, he’s sending more troops overseas, a move he criticized former president George W. Bush for doing.
30,000 U.S. troops are being deployed to Afghanistan and our president is accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. Oh, the irony. I laugh at thee.
I can still remember all the anti-war rhetoric he spewed, and now suddenly he’s defending this war. Is it because he’s in the hot seat? Because he’s trying to play left and right field? Mr. President, I hope you have two well fitting gloves.
I do not support war unless it is absolutely necessary. My brother spent many long months in Kuwait two years ago and I humbly support our troops 100%. I understand that our troops are working to help the Afghan people and to bring order their country. However, I’m thinking you have to eat a lot of crow right now. You are “obligated to protect and defend the United States” and yet you attacked your predecessor for doing the same damn thing?
When I was just a little girl, no older than nine or ten years old, my mom and I watched a television special about Helter Skelter and the Charles Manson story. My mother graduated high school in 1969, and just before her first semester of college, the news stories about the tragic murders of actress Sharon Tate and her three house guests dominated the airwaves and newspapers.
My mother and grandmother were devastated over the loss of such a talented actress, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time of her death. They also felt sad for Tate’s husband, director Roman Polanski, and the grief he felt over losing his wife. My family is of Polish heritage and back in the late 60s, there was a kinship felt for “one of our own.”
Several years later, in 1977, Polanski was convicted of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” and subsequently fled the United States prior to his sentencing. He has said in interviews that he was afraid the judge would give him a harsh sentence.
Polanski raped a 13-year-old girl. Thirteen. He was 44 years old at the time. Forty-four.
Polanski plead guilty to the lesser charge of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” but didn’t stick around to serve his time. He spent 42 days incarcerated while undergoing a psych evaluation, but he never paid for his crime. He fled to France immediately after his release. His victim did receive a settlement from Polanski, and has since stated she has forgiven him for his crime and just wants to move on.
I understand this woman just wants to be left alone, but if Polanski is let off the hook for raping a young girl, what does that say about our American justice system? That sexual assault is okay, as long as you’re famous and can buy your way out of it? That all you need to do to get away with rape is to flee the country in which you committed the crime?
Polanski himself said he didn’t think anyone was truly hurt. He doesn’t believe he raped this young girl. His victim was drugged and pumped with alcohol. He forced himself on her multiple times, despite her pleas to stop. She said no. Last time I checked, NO means NO.
Polanski has been living life as a free man for the last 32 years. He has continued to make films, despite having an arrest warrant out for him since 1978. He’s taken every action imaginable to avoid extradition, by choosing not to travel to countries that may arrest and extradite him. In so many ways, he “got away with it.”
The fact that many Hollywood actors and actresses, journalists and artists are defending Polanski, and asking for his release sickens me. It makes me want to vomit.
Whoopi Goldberg saying “it wasn’t really rape-rape” is infuriating. Rape is rape, Whoopi. If this were any other Joe Schmo, and not a famous director, you would be screaming from the rooftops that the offender be locked away in jail.
Debra Messing saying that Polanski served his time is outrageous. If this was a case against Mel Gibson and his drunken rants and insults to Judaism, you would be outraged. I’m certain some anti-Catholic rhetoric would be thrown in to the mix as well.
And this bullshit that Polanski has lived a difficult life and suffered through the Holocaust makes me angry. Yes, it’s awful that his mother died at Auschwitz. Yes, it’s horrible that his wife and unborn child were murdered. I understand the grief and the trauma he has suffered, but this does not make it acceptable to rape a 13-year-old girl. It does not make it okay to flee the country to avoid jail time.
Should we let every rapist who suffered the loss of a parent or the murder of a family member go free? Of course not. Doing so undermines the rights of the victims to receive justice.
Roman Polanski, you deserve to serve your time. You committed a crime and should be punished for it. Thank you, Switzerland for doing the right thing and arresting Polanski. May justice be served.
I have been trying, for weeks, to get out my thoughts on the Obama Healthcare Bill. I’ve rewritten my post several times. I never found the “right” words.
But OHMommy? OH how wonderful and right and true her post is. And the best part is she declares herself not a Republican or Democrat, not a conservative or liberal, but a concerned American. Just as I am concerned with the fate of this country, and it’s health care debacles, we need all Americans to be just as concerned.
In my own post, which I may or may not publish (still think it’s missing something) I wrote a sentence in which I say:
When thinking about all the people I’ve met and spoken with about why they voted for Obama, so many have said that they want better health care options, they want all people to be insured and to receive health care coverage.
My question is, do they want better health care coverage and access and choices? Or do they just want the government to foot the bill? Because really? Government footing the bill equals taxpayers footing the bill which then means the middle class is strapped with the bill. Don’t tell me that’s not true. You know it’s true. Are the rich really going to pay for the rest of America to have health coverage? We can’t ask the poor, or those who cannot afford coverage to pay for it, now can we?
And then another thought comes to mind. How many people will take advantage of this “free” government funded taxpayer funded health care package, causing more finacial strife in this already shitty economy? All for cheap, low-quality health care coverage? Seriously?
Why do some Americans believe they can have health care coverage and not have to pay for it? Remember, someone else is paying for it, and it sure ain’t Barack Obama or Congress or any other politician. It’s my dime, and your dime (if you pay taxes), that pays for this health care bill. And I’m sorry, but I’m not going to pay for shitty coverage. WHY? Because, I do that already.
This country needs to do something about health care, but socialized medicine is NOT the answer. There needs to be structure and competition and these multi-billion dollar insurance companies need regulation so that all Americans can be covered and eligible. They are making money hand over fist, and still people who need health care are not being covered for various “reasons” that I swear these insurance companies make up as they go along.
I’m so frustrated about the direction this country seems to be going in. This is the land of the free, yes, but that doesn’t mean we get whatever we want for free.
Whatever happened to working hard and paying our own way? My parents didn’t raise me to take advantage of the system. I’m not talking about those Americans who truly need those benefits and programs. I’m talking about those who abuse the system. (I know several. They openly admit to not working so they can reap the benefits of Medicaid and food stamps and low-income housing and only work for cash to avoid paying taxes. One of these people even gets a tax return, and she doesn’t pay taxes. How is that possible?)
Speaking of “the land of the free,” perhaps we should we change our motto to “the land of the government ruled?”
I agree with OHMommy when she says, “Hey, President Obama. I want the same health care plan that you and Congress are getting.”
Dana began her Mom career in 2004 with the birth of her first son, Dawson, aka The Doodlebug, and little brother, Owen, was born in 2009. She spends her days putting out fires, climbing mountains and chasing monsters. More About Dana.
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