Torturing Democracy

I have no doubt that when historians weigh in on the last eight years they will cast it as one of the darkest periods in our nation's history. What we do know about the Bush administration is troubling enough, but what we don't know is the stuff of nightmares.

Beyond the obvious need to change our domestic policy agenda and repair our tattered reputation in the world, an Obama presidency and a Democratic Congress are necessary if we want to expose and dismantle the "dark side" of the Bush/Cheney years. Some Democrats say we have to turn the page and not look back, but that's bullshit. These punks hijacked our country, ripped up the Constitution, and did unspeakable things in our name. We need a full-on exorcism of the last eight years. We need a full accounting of their crimes. We need to bring it all to the light of day. And they need to serve time.

I urge you to watch Torturing Democracy when it plays on your local PBS station. If it has already played or if your PBS station is refusing to run it (some are), you can watch the whole documentary here.

Who Does She Think She Is?

I'm usually unmoved by movie trailers, but this past Saturday I saw one that really piqued my attention. The trailer was for a new documentary called Who Does She Think She Is? that brings us into the lives of five women as they struggle with the inherent conflicts of trying to be a successful artist and mother.



I have been interested in this subject ever since the the panel I moderated at 3rd Ward back in March. For that panel I presented a ton of statistics about the dramatic drop off of female representation in the art world post grad school.

What happens to these artists in the years after they leave school? Do they get rejected by a male dominated art world or do they gradually get pulled in new directions by the demands of family?

These questions are very important to me and many of my friends as we find ourselves on the precipice of this reality. I'm very interested to see what this film has to say on the matter.