Everyone loves New York, or at least that’s what all the t-shirts proclaim. I hadn’t spent time there since the 1963 World’s Fair when my grandmother took my sister and me. I was six. On that visit we wandered around Fifth Avenue window shopping the luxurious diamonds and furs when not at the actual fair.
While the city is larger than life full of shiny perfect skyscrapers I am aware of the undercurrent of the dark side when I walk the streets this time around. I see the dual worlds living side by side: the affluent and the poor. That both sides co-exist in relative day by day peace is a miracle really. The glamour and the despair are odd bedfellows to behold. How can the haves be so content with their city when the evidence of the different reality of the have-nots is in their face at every turn? I wasn’t even in any of the “bad neighborhoods” but the inequity permeates all areas. The distress of our society is all around, a microcosm representing the whole of our country, if not the world. Witness New Orleans, the civil war in Iraq, and countless other examples.
The racial tension and economic barriers reveal the private little spheres each person holds around them like a protective coating but you know the coating is only an illusion, like a bubble on the verge of bursting at any moment. So living in your own made up reality while bumping up against the bubbles of the other individuals swarming all around you is perhaps the excitement and danger that draws people to New York, the ones who go there by choice that is.
The richer, more affluent don’t just surround themselves with their personal imaginary bubbles, they arm themselves in shiny ridiculously long stretch limos as they glide through the city streets. The better off you are, the thicker the wall of insulation needs to be to shut out those other realities. To reach your arm through the bubble and engage in the other realities crowding your bubble would be to wake from a dream of your own making. The stark realism would be shocking yet each individual houses an unconscious awareness already. A “we all know what’s going on here” kind of thing. To function each day and go forward with our lives we put on the blinders of tunnel vision and try not to turn our heads too often.
The shiny beautiful skyscrapers look awesome when you look up, but the accompanying stench of huge piles of bags of garbage sprawled around their bases like the exposed roots of an ancient oak tree show a truer complete picture. And the views, like the one from the 65th floor of the NBC Rainbow Room is spectacular. But a $20 martini is absurd no matter how wonderful the view.
So while Donald Trump’s New York looks fabulous and magical as portrayed on TV, it’s his own personal fantasy, a very darkly tinted pair of rose colored glasses indeed. I don’t hear of him visiting the aids clinics of his own neighborhoods, never mind South Africa, or donating half of his billions to aid humanity and bring the truly destitute up a notch. His bubble is not just limos and helicopters but the metallic looking towers he endeavors to build. I guess his chore of shutting out reality is a bit more strenuous than the rest of us.
Side Notes:
Young boy: “Mommy why can’t we ride in that spaceship?”
Mother: “It’s not a spaceship honey, it’s an airplane.”
Delta Gates, La Guardia Airport
While it is customary to stand at the curb with an arm raised to hail a cab, of the many people I saw doing this, I saw no cabs actually stop for any of them.
Rockefeller Center skating rink with the lights, flags and funny statue is magical late at night.
Up close, Times Square is pretty trashy.
If you have to have your period all over a public place, a noisy Turkish restaurant with bright red walls and seat coverings is the perfect place. Noisy because when you tell the waitress of your little accident, no one else hears, and red seats, well, for obvious reasons.
Okay, I just have to comment on the Grammy Awards. First of all U2 won in each of the five categories they were nominated including Album of the Year and they deserved each one. They are so far ahead of most of the artists nominated, some of whom should fall off the face of the earth like Kanye West. Anyone who announces that since this is his 2nd year at the awards so he’d better win deserves to go home empty handed and have his career decimated. Now maybe it’s just his bad Karma for appearing on Rolling Stone with a crown of thorns (very bad taste) but he won in strictly rap categories which reflects the fact that he has no crossover appeal. Humility is a virtue that all artists should at least aspire to. Kanye opened for U2 when I saw them in SLC in December and besides having a really annoying back up gal who was jumping around like she had ants in her pants, upstaging all others including Kanye, he managed to make a story about his sick grandma going to the hospital all about him. He whined about a girl asking for his autograph and was so offended that at this time of family crisis she could ask such a request. Well, true, someone who exploits such a situation has no class, a point he made by telling the story.
As far as the performances, a few were terrific, the touching duet of Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder, both class acts, Bruce Springsteen, U2 with Mary J. Blige, McCartney doing a roaring Helter Skelter; the background video of a roller coaster was a nice touch. However it’s unbelievable on an awards show which honors musical artists that so many lip synched. If you’re not good enough to do it for real, you have no business on the stage. However, I will give Madonna a little leeway on this count as she looked so damn good on stage and was at least doing the dance moves which almost justify it. Mariah Carey, who it’s nice to see has recovered from her meltdown a few years back, should’ve showed us that her Mimi deserves all the raves by actually singing live. Now the comic relief for the evening came with the Sly Stone tribute, seriously was that guy tripping or what? He missed most of his cues to sing, which apparently he can no longer do and then wandered off stage like a lost Alzheimer’s patient. Hilarious.
Green Day beating out Kanye was especially sweet. It does seem like the Grammy’s go crazy over some artists in fluke years and then you never hear from them again. In Kanye’s case we can only hope. At least we weren’t subjected to Ashlee Simpson.
Side note on the dresses. Teri Hatcher: fabulous, Queen Latifa should’ve left the leather at home and Sheryl Crow doesn’t know how to dress! (Remember that yellow thing with the cut out circle?) When you have no chest, no one wants to see your bony parts exposed. Reminds me of Deborah Messing, always showing what you don’t have is bad form. For God’s sake, get a new stylist, someone who’ll tell you the truth before you make an ass of yourself in front of millions! And another thing, most women shouldn’t go strapless, they either bulge out the top or sag below the breast line so they hang just above the navel, or they’re loose fitting so it looks like a boob could pop out at any moment. Plus that blunt, straight horizontal line is not flattering. Only if it’s a terrific dress that fits perfectly and you have a killer body should it be attempted. And prints, usually a good idea to avoid them (Joss Stone take note). Very few can pull off a print like Gwen Stefani’s elegant leopard look.
February is my 2nd favorite month, no not because that LOVEly holiday Valentines Day falls smack in the middle, but because the beginning of the end of winter is so evident. The days are longer, the sun feels warmer, and even if we get cold and snow, it soon melts from the sun's warmth. Yesterday was a typical beautiful February day which I took full advantage of with my second ski day of the season. While the first day last month was a little rough after a couple of years off skis, spending half my time on my ass like the old woman "I've fallen and I can't get up" yesterday was wonderful. The sun was shining, the new powder was in great shape, and I actually spent most of the time on my skis, not my ass. Swishing around down the hill is the activity that most reminds me of being a child, all play and no work, ride up the hill, slide down the hill, repeat until your legs are fatigued. Being a weekday at our little ski hill the lift tickets are cheap and the lift lines are non-existant. Now I'm anxious to go out again. It's such a feeling of accomplishment I can't pass it up at least once more this season. Plus it's such a great interruption from the work week indoors. Happy trails...oh, and Happy Valentines to all of you who, like me, alas do not have a valentine this year....
It's hard not to be discouraged with the new supreme court justice and the latest, yet oh so repetitive tone of Bush's State of My Monarchy speech. He's like the pied piper blowing away while half the country merrily follows him down that slippery slope of America becoming a police state where peaceful dissenters are silenced for speaking out. I do not comprehend what people see in him. First off, I want a president who's smarter than me, can speak the english language and most of all tells the truth. Why the masses believe in him to me appears as a "daddy, you'll take care of me, won't you?" attitude. Then they don't have to think about worldly things, like war vets coming home in a wooden box or maimed, not to mention the thousands in Iraqi casualties, or a disease stricken Africa plagued with treatable ailments, or a loophole in the McCain torture bill where the president exempts himself from the law. So they figure, hey, trust the guy to steer us right, and if we're lucky we won't be thrown in jail, like Cindy Sheehan, or spied on when we call overseas. Just because someone claims to be a churchgoing Christian or says he's really spying on Americans to keep us all safe from the Evil Terrorists doesn't mean it's true. Saying something over and over again with the regularity of a jackhammer may be a tried and true technique for wearing down the defenses of otherwise intelligent people, but who's really buying this shit?
I think Missoula is reconnecting to it's roots. Used to be the city's personality was that of the modern, liberal, hip city in Montana, a well deserved reputation, but now several businesses display large historic black and white photo's from early in the century. Maybe it's a way to impress the tourists with the Western History thing. Anyway, while stopping off for dinner at MacKenzie River Pizza we sit in a booth with a photo of the brick streeted downtown showing the cable cars. Funny the Wilma Theatre looks exaclty the same today as in the photo. So when we're getting set to leave I spy the photo over the next booth which is dated "1930's" with the caption "The Circus Comes to Town". As I look at the parade converging on Higgins Avenue, it occurs to me that it may not just be Missoula history I'm looking at, but my own family's history as well. My ex-husband Bob's grandmother actually came to Missoula with the circus and stayed behind when they loaded up and moved on to the next town. Very little is known about her except that she met her husband and had Jeanie, Bob's mom, in September 1939. So my children's great grandmother may actually be somewhere in the photo with the circus. While I had heard this family tale of great grandma's history and had no reason not to believe, somehow seeing the picture solidified it in my being, a Wow it's really True moment.
Dis me once, shame on you....dis me twice...well you don't get a 2nd chance. When I arrived Wednesday back at work, fresh from the freakish world of smalltownitis somewhere in Western Montana I receive an e-mail from a fellow I've been e-mailing. Gee I'm off work till saturday, if you're coming over my way let me know and we can get together. So okay, I'm game, I like the ride to Bozo and there are a few other things I can do, like check out Munich, still not playing here, and I had a day off coming so I e-mail back, I'll come over friday here's my # call me and we'll make plans. So, expecting that he wouldn't have e-mailed if in fact he wasn't interested in meeting up, I check my e-mail before leaving work at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, and still no word. Sooo, sure enough Friday at 11:00 a.m. I get the call, gee I wasn't near a computer, I was out doing "guy stuff" and I just got your e-mail. HOW LAME! If you weren't going to check your e-mail, why did you bother telling me you had free time off to get together? It's things like this that dampen my faith in civilized society. So we have a nice little chat after I state I have made other plans when I didn't hear back, and then agree that when he has time off from work later in the spring maybe we can work something out. NOT! After thinking about whether a person who doesn't even know you deserves another chance after blowing you off, the answer is a resounding NO. If someone doesn't even give you the consideration of actually checking their e-mail when you have a pending get together, what do you think their behavior will be later down the line? Not good I suspect. So back to square one.
In a word, Brokeback Mountain is heartbreaking. To find your true love and yet not be able to spend your life with them because of circumstances beyond your control is the ultimate sorrow. Jack and Ennis spend their lives therefore playing a role in life that is not suited to them instead of realizing their true nature. The film itself is beautifully shot and the liberal use of close-ups is very effective. Just the outdoor shots of the rugged mountains and sky are wondrous. Reminded me a lot of my first year in the west, the beautiful scenery, the wild animals, the cowboy bars – just like the movie version. I also fell in love in Wyoming and having that surrounding environment somehow magnified the experience. Both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal do terrific jobs. It’s certainly the most subdued, low key Heath we’ve seen and the most vivid portrayal of a character by Jake to date. The lingering feeling when it’s over though remains pain, the pain of separation, the pain of a society that won’t accept all of it’s citizens and the pain of the surrounding loved ones whose lives get caught up in the situation.
Switching gears, the 2nd feature I viewed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is very entertaining. I’ll see pretty much anything with Robert Downey Jr. and teaming him up with Val Kilmer is a real winner. The snappy dialogue between the two of them and Downey’s commentary are smart and funny. Good writing overcomes almost any obstacle in a movie. Downey as a small time hood turned actor in need of private eye training for a part and Kilmer as the gay PI join forces and end up solving an intertwining set of murders in the vein of the old fashioned spy novel. A must see for any Downey/Kilmer fans.
I can't believe I actually got the visitor counter to work. I guess I'll find out just how anonymous I really am. I started scrolling through the next blog and it's amazing how many folks post all the time. Of course at least half are not in English, but it's interesting to see the different styles. Next I'll have to figure out how to really customize my template, there are a lot of duplicates out there.
On a somewhat related note, I've been trying intermittently for weeks to get the macros to work on Word 2003. They wouldn't work after creating and closing out of Word. So after doing some microsoft patches that related to virus scan (thought that was the problem) talking to India (HP) and Microsoft - no help - I scanned the user discussions and found out that it's actually Acrobat 7 that screws things up. So after uninstalling it, as I don't really use it, miraculously the macros now stick. I'm sure this is a well known problem the folks at Microsoft are fully aware of. It would've been nice to talk to a tech weeks ago to supply me with this simple answer. It is nice now however to have it figured out.
Well off to Bozo tomorrow to see films not available here in town. Reviews to follow.....
Bummer! Rafael Nadal is out of the Australian Open, kind of glad I didn’t buy those tickets when I thought seriously about it. Maybe next year. Agassi is out too. A rematch of those two would be priceless, but may never be realized. Have decided the way to go is LAX to Honolulu, stay a couple days in HI each way. Still a long, long plane ride from HI to Sydney or Melbourne, but certainly more doable. Figure I’ve always wanted to go both places, so could kill 2 birds with one stone and not be up 38,000 feet for 18 straight hours. Either that or just 6.5 hours Boston to Paris, and still make the requisite stop off to see family coming and going. Nothing solid yet, but it will be. Actually just a few clicks and a few bucks away, quite a few bucks really, but why the hell not. If not now, when?? Still young and willing and ready for an adventure. Of course there’s always Wimbledon for my birthday. Actually the possibilities are endless if I use my imagination.
Alito will be confirmed to the Supreme Court. I'm just hoping once he's actually sitting on the court he'll value the judicial more instead of supporting ways to subvert it's power. I think the constitution is magical and becomes a more sacred document once they know they're the gatekeepers of the document. Maybe the executive branch will appear too big for it's britches once he's looking down from the bench. I hope so.
Well another Christmas has come and gone, and truly one of the strangest as it was only Max and me. But I did cook a fabulous meal of baked ham, scalloped potatos, brussel sprouts and box bread, along with the pecan pie. Strung some blue lights and a few bulbs on my big 50 year old Christmas cactus, which while not yet blooming is covered with baby buds. Having 2/3 of the kids away is a little depressing, I doubt we'll spend another Christmas with the four of us again, unless Sadie moves back to the states, which I really doubt. But maybe LA next holiday, I can't wait to make a little trip down there to sunny CA. Felt a little couch potato fever coming on today so took a long run, haven't done that for about a year I think. Just 5.5 miles, but still a good work out. The weather was really perfect, about 42 degrees and partly sunny. Better start to focus on more activity to get fit and stave off old age. It's worth a try anyway! Rented the Bob Dylan film: No Direction Home and it was almost a history lesson of the turmoil of the '60's, the old footage of all of them, babies really, was amazing. Joan Baez's voice is like no other. And Bob was so uneven. Sometimes he was on key and very compelling, pure genius and sometimes you wonder how he could even call himself a singer. He was a poet really, the singing seemed more of a necessity to give the poems a forum. He deserved all the accolades though. The comment by one person who said you think Like a Rolling Stone is long now, the original had about fifty verses. I'll bet that was something to behold. The other movie I rented was one I'd heard about too, Rosanna Arquette's Searching for Debra Winger. It's basically a documentary inverviewing a lot of the great actresses of our time on how they manage family, fame and relationships and still keep their sanity. Very candid views, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well it's on to 2006 next week. Not sure what the new year will bring but I'm sure it will be a political maelstrom. Keep hearing the "I" word, impeachment, which gives me hope that the American public is really smarter than they vote. This spying on citizens issue will take hold and become a huge shit storm for George Bush. Finally the democrats have some sure fire ammunition, I hope they use it wisely. I know this, a lot will be happening this year on the political front, more good than bad if we're lucky.
No Crumbs From Your Table, but wonderful show - although I think they’ve all aged on this tour and looked a little tired. Like seeing an old friend you haven’t seen in awhile, but when you meet up it’s like you just spoke to them yesterday. Bono doing Pavarotti’s piece was amazing, he’s taken it to a whole new level with that one. Bullet the Blue Sky, Edge showing off his guitar solo licks, very sweet. Even though I’ve known for months the gist of what they’d been playing each night, it still pleasantly surprised me. I will Follow, One, Mysterious Ways, Until the End of the World, Pride - made me think that guitar line is Edge’s signature. I’ve seen them do these tunes several times and they still bring tears to my eyes. Love and Peace with Bono and Larry on drum in front of me was exhilarating. Still Haven’t Found, With or Without You, started out with City of Shining Lights, I love that tune “oh you look so beautiful tonight!” They used the rolling lights less but to great effect, the flags of the world with Africa and the Edge really belting it out, Vertigo, Elevation, Beautiful Day.
Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own, Bono took off his shades to sing his Dad’s song. The show has evolved more than I would’ve guessed judging from scanning their web page. I was amazed at how clear and strong Bono’s voice has remained after nine months on the road. He’s made the comment that when his Dad died he left his voice to Bono – It’s visible. They’re such a perfectly melded machine, a well balanced unit, very stable and that’s why they’ve lasted. Larry really is the hunk of the four of them, back behind them all pounding out the perfect beats, Bono mentioned he’s the flirt of the band prompting a shy smile from Larry. Bono had the Santa girl and another girl up with him on the stage. While not exactly copping a feel, pretty close….it seemed the touch of a stranger was a healing touch to ease the pain of life. You know Bono has seen pain and suffering in his travels that most of us will never experience.
The logistics of getting to the show were amazingly easy, plane is one hour, airport five miles, downtown bus to Delta Center four short stops and free to boot. Downtown is nicer that I would’ve thought, a double decker walking mall not unlike Helena, but much bigger. Surveying the crowd downtown it was as if no U2 show was about to happen, not a very hip looking group, but the crowd inside the arena was totally enthused and by the time U2 hit the stage, the place was packed.
No one doing things alone here though, I was noticeably the only person walking around on my own. Makes me wonder how many lonely folks stay at home for lack of a buddy to go out with. Probably more than a few. I’m glad I just dove in and decided to come by myself. I would’ve hated to miss this show. It’s sometimes hard to be the most enthused one about stuff, movies, Pearl Jam, etc. – the most excited one in the room, so sometimes it’s just more fitting to do these things alone. It would’ve been great if Wed could’ve come, I know she would’ve appreciated it as much as I did, but it was not meant to be. Lunch ran long and missed the boat on The Family Stone so went to see Harry Potter. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Plot was easy to follow – effects were creatively different – all magic wands and dragons, believable. To be swallowed by a maze, we’ve all had nightmares like that one. The next one should be a real kicker after the kids have all completed puberty. Herminie in love with Harry, and the red head in love with Herminie. So like real life.
Crazy Bitch
The crazy bitch is stalking me again after a couple of weeks off. Sent an e-mail to work wanting legislative updates, well the legislature was last year bitch, and no one calls me Mrs. Guess it’s time for another restraining order. Must be something about the holidays that makes me foremost in her mind. I know her obsession, she wants to be me, which is the scariest part. To envy is to resent, to be jealous of is to want to destroy. Unfortunately we’re somehow connected, through all of this, I had a dream of her the other night, I was ready to start thumping on her when I woke up. Just in the past two days have been thinking how peaceful and perfect my life is, well except for the no sex part, and that without the bitch, life is indeed good. Of course then today, the e-mail arrived.
The Personals
So, on the sex subject, actually e-messaged two handsome fellows from the personals today. One with beautiful blue eyes, well actually they both have beautiful blue eyes. First one e-mailed and actually knows how to communicate, wrote a nice discourse on himself, with more than a wondering surprise that I hadn’t had a serious relationship since my divorce in 1987. Well I corrected and said in fact I’d been involved for several years after arriving in Helena so I didn’t seem like a complete freak, but after my lengthy e-mail back, he may think the same anyway. He’s a cautious conservative, I’m a cautious, okay, freakishly reclusive, liberal. He may actually be someone that I could have some good discussions with. At least his profile said 30 to 50, he’s 39, so he’s not a total conservative mind. So, long story longer, I doubt we’ll meet, but it was a relief to actually communicate to someone about my thoughts of where I am in my life. Which, by the way, isn’t bad at all, except for the no sex part. Been thinking about how many times I’ve actually been in love, and I guess I’d have to say four, two of whom I never even slept with, but wanted to very badly. Hell, it’s one of the major reasons I left my last job. The pain of being around someone who gives you a physical rush each time you see him, and you see him a lot, is exhausting not to mention VERY frustrating. Which proves my theory about love, everyone is in love with the person on their right. Everyone loves, everyone is loved, just never to the reciprocal person.
The Year in Review
So what else, oh yes, of course, U2. It’s less than a month away, and as much as I’d love to be going with some hot, sexy guy, I’m sure if Wed goes I’ll have a much more relaxed fun time. Better get plans firmed up this weekend though and get the reservations made. It’s the last hurrah for this year, but makes me want to do a repeat year for 2006. The live music I saw and heard this year was more than in the last five years combined, hell the last ten. Not that there weren’t a few great ones, Pearl Jam, row 16 in May 2003 for one. It’s Evolution Baby! But seeing Bob Weir sing Dear Prudence, Sugar Magnolia, Playing in the Band and Allmans doing Mountain Jam, Dreams and Jessica were awesome. Dave Matthews singing Time of the Season, and of course the pure joy of Modest Mouse. Tori Amos at Benaroya, U2 at Seattle Center, what a weekend that was. Like touching the face of God. Eddie doing a feverish Lukin, Glorified G, and two tear-jerking Better Man's, well it doesn’t get much better than that. And sharing the music with two out of three of my own made it especially enjoyable. So what a year, traveling on the little four day weekends worked out very well. And hanging out in Raleigh with Neal, Chen and neighbor Tom on the deck was certainly a high point. But a ten day trip to France or Australia would still be amazing. We’ll see what kind of plans I can put together in the coming months. At least a trip to LA is in order for sure. And who knows, maybe I’ll get a traveling buddy out of the personals yet. Stranger things have happened, just not to me in a long time, so it’s about fucking time.
The Best Movie This Year
Walk the Line is so far the best movie I’ve seen this year, and the year’s almost over. I had already decided I was going to love it, and the emotions rose to the surface right from the opening credits. Though not a hard core Johnny Cash fan, he’s been in my consciousness since I was a kid when the whole family used to gather to watch his TV show and my mom, who was a hard core fan, used to play his famous Folsom Prison album. And Johnny Cash kept resurfacing. My co-worker asking me if I had some kind of Johnny Cash thing going on because I liked to dress all in black, which I took as a total compliment, Bono’s duet with Johnny; Johnny’s failing health in the news and the death of he and June so close together, a fitting ending to a true love story. And the film is a love story, but not just the love of June and John, but the love clearly evident in the making of the film, a tribute to the monumental man that was Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. The heart and soul exposed by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in their performances hit raw emotional chords that resonated throughout the film. The singing made me wonder why I hadn’t heard either of them sing previously. Both Mr. Phoenix and Ms. Witherspoon have had successful fruitful careers, this however is the high point so far for each. I see little gold statues on their mantles.
Well, after 3 quick months, the kids are heading back to Sweden tomorrow. Saying good-bye is always hard, especially when you don't know when you'll get to see family members again. Not sure I'll make it to Europe next summer, although it would be nice. And after turkey day, more leaving Montana behind, but Hollywood isn't so far away, a quick plane ride. So maybe time to start thinking about leaving Montana myself. But now that winter is here, time to hunker down and tough it out, planning the next big trip would help aleviate the winter blues, but I guess planning on skiing several times this winter would also be an option!
Within Days the Swedes will be here and we'll head to Missoula to See PJ and then off to Seattle with the whole crew to see PJ and the Seattle friends. Will be a whirlwind month, and so looking forward to it. Bob Dylan was a shadow of his former self, but still entertaining. A very strange little character. Not really looking forward to the Bozeman kids moving east, especially when I recently looked for real estate in case I thought I might head east too, WRONG!! My house in western Mass would be worth probably $175,000, more than double market price here! Have to say a note on the Show RockStar INXS, it is by far the best reality TV ever produced. It's exciting to see the contestants doing great old classics as well as INXS tunes, and this ain't no Kelly Clarkson/Bo Bice gig. These folks can really rock, and I'm willing to bet at least 4 will go on to great things. And no that doesn't include stints on KillReality like poor, bitchy, pathetic Omarosa Blah Blah Blah.
Ours is a time of rapid advance in science and hopefully also an ever advancing and aware human race. The time has come for a peace treaty to be forged between abortion foes and supporters. The pro-choice and pro-life factions seem to be as far apart as they can conceivably be, in fact the national prominence of this issue has polarized our country. There must be a common middle ground.
If the ACLU and the NRA can join forces to fight USA Patriot Act restrictions on our civil rights, then I’m guessing a reasonable compromise both sides can live with is possible. Let’s face it, the extremes on both sides are radical and such positions are typically tied more heavily to emotional attachment to one’s own view point than to logic.
The radical pro-lifers want complete societal control of a woman’s sexuality which means: no sex until marriage, no birth control and correspondingly no abortion under any condition. Sounds like the suppression of women’s rights so prevalent in the middle east. In addition, this is not a reasonable expectation given humanity’s tendency to procreate. After all, you and I would not be here if our parents didn’t “do it.” (Born-Again virgins are a prime example of a departure from reality, but that’s another story.) The radical pro-choicers want on-demand abortion asserting that an embryo is nothing but a blob of tissue; a simple procedure and away it goes. However, given nine months without interference and the reasonable good health of the woman and a newborn appears.
Preventing the necessity of making a tough choice is the best “choice” for all concerned. Certainly the fringe extremes will probably never agree, but I contend there is a great silent majority who would agree a woman’s control over her ability and willingness to conceive or not conceive through readily available birth control, and the proper education to use it, could eliminate most unwanted pregnancies and correspondingly the need for abortion or the burden of an unwanted child.
If eliminating the need for most abortions due to a shift to preventing unwanted pregnancies became the shared goal for both sides, could they lay down their arms and declare peace? How could you keep up the fight? Is the well being of women really the nobel cause? Or is the fight itself the goal? Nations across the globe wage war generation after generation, unable to break destructive patterns engrained in their beings. Are the abortion warriors victims of a similar affliction?
The need for all abortions can never be completely eliminated, but a substantial reduction is possible if the coalitions of opposing views band together for the public good. Certainly modern science has made great strides over the last 20 years inviting a fresh look at the options. The logical answer is to give women the tools to control their own destiny and they will prevent the crisis situation of unwanted pregnancy and live happier lives.
