"We are not Guantanamo"

I've been busy watching my men's team getting their asses handed to them, my women's team making it to the National Championship game undefeated (We're #1!), and the team that took down my men's team being decimated. Though to be fair, that last one hasn't really concluded yet. Let's just say that it isn't looking good for Michigan. In the course of all that, though, is this incredible take down by Rachel Maddow from friday:

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This is righteous anger at its finest. Maddow manages to come off as both hopping mad and coolly analytical. Emotional, yet logical. And the points she makes are the points that should be drilled home in regard to national security and international policy for years to come. The Dick Cheneys of the world only make it harder for the United States to not only be the great nation we can be - one that actually abides by its own rule of law - but they also make it harder for us as a nation to protect our own citizens. They make it harder for us to truly make a difference in the world.

Which Rosie?

Interesting factoid. This Rosie:The Rosie used as a feminist icon? The Rosie that has been embraced as the Rosie of World War II America? Isn't the real Rosie. Oh, she's a riveter, and she can do it. But she "was conceived of in 1942 by an artist named J. Howard Miller. Miller was contracted by an advertising agency to create the image for Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company" and was meant for private use within Westinghouse factories. Says Jane McGrath from "Stuff You Missed In History Class", " What I read was that this Rosie, this polka dotted Rosie, could be used to discourage labor movements inside these Westinghouse factories." Which puts a different spin on Rosie the Riveter all together - at least this Rosie. So who was the well known Rosie? Well, Norman Rockwell's Rosie:

The one directly above was apparently immensely popular in the 1940s and only really fell out of favor due to the fact that it was copyrighted while the Westinghouse Rosie is not. I think she could probably take polka dot Rosie in a brawl if it came right down to it.

Combat Zones and Women

"Women are already serving in combat [in Iraq and Afghanistan] and the current policy should be updated to reflect realities on the ground."

-Wendy Morigi, Senator Obama's national security spokeswoman.

Obama is also for women registering for the draft, even though he (and McCain) do not agree with the draft being used to mandate military service. I'm for that; I have no problem with women registering for something men have to register for. And I'm all for women being acknowledged as being in combat zones and in danger and paid accordingly, both in respect and money.

I admit to liking the idea of women registering for the draft for a couple of reasons, and they are all based in my feminism. While I would rather work to eliminate the Selective Service system, I do believe that as long as caveats and special conditions are granted to women on the basis of gender, we will never truly gain equality - in society or in the hearts and minds of its people. Barring women from serving in the armed forces is partially rooted in gender roles; I can't even begin to count the number of times I have seen editorials and letters to the editor decrying some child's mother being sent off to a war zone, to be placed in danger, with nary a letter about the fathers of those very same children. Mothers are both ignored and deified in that way. I don't want husbands or fathers being sent off to die; but as long as they are, I think wives and mothers should also be allowed to serve without recrimination and without cries about the children. I do believe women who look to serve in the military should be subject to the same combat ready requirements as men; this shouldn't be gym class, where my running the mile in 13 minutes counted the same as a boy my same age running the mile in 11 minutes. In a war zone, the enemy isn't going to care that I should have a two minute buffer. At the same time, the belief that women are wholly incapable of reaching those heights has to be eliminated as well. Not every woman would be able to; I certainly couldn't. But not every man can perform at those levels either.

The military needs to be reformed in certain respects, and in one of those respects is not only changing its Old Boys' Club feel but also understanding the changing nature of troops and the changing role of women in society. Our job is no longer to be ready with the hot toddy and a Times Square kiss after the boys come home from war. We've moved beyond that, and women who excel in the armed forces should not only be acknowledged but allowed to openly excel in the first place.

Georgia vs Russia

If anyone else is like me and has absolutely no clue as to what's going down between Georgia and Russia (or who, also like me, had the knee-jerk reaction of thinking Georgia-next-to-Alabama had been attacked), the New York Times has a helpful article that partially explains reasons for the conflict and helps put the whole thing in a more historical context. I also found this blog, and more specifically these blog posts helpful while I mull over exactly what is happening there over yonder.