Reasoned Audacity

It's time for the weekly Cotillion Ball, and this week I get to play hostess, together with some of my favorite bloggers, The Anchoress, Little Miss Attila (whose birthday fast approacheth), and Jody at
Steal the Bandwagon.

I'm of an age where my attempts to "get jiggy with it" unfailingly produce wails of: "Mom!! PLEASE stop!" But there was a day. Oh, yes. Back in the day, we didn't "jig" (whatever), we rocked.

Since I'm blogging this week from Live8 events, this Ball is dedicated to rocker girls -- who know how to pair their impeccable pearls, with the perfectly worn jean jacket.

Kicking off our dance is Jody, who has been so busy this week promoting other people. She has given us several great tributes to our women in the services. Start with Debutantes in Boots , but stick around for her profiles of Florida Cracker, a former Russian linguist, Mamamontezz, who shares my perspective on women in combat,and Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, former Air Force; current force of nature.

Next up, Emily Zanotti, An American Princess, gives us a provocative essay on liberty and the law, reminding us What You Stand to Lose with the adoption of a new commandment -- Thou shalt have no God before the government. Eventually substituting government for God is exposed:

They realise that these are false idols, and so worthy of the same fate as the Golden Calf, smashed to pieces and buried in the sands of time.

Then the Anchoress, giving us kid blogging at its most appealing. . . Buster, a future President of the United States . . .a really, really cute one. But still, somehow, slightly dangerous. Hmm. In a few years maybe we'll have to think about introducing Buster and the Dreamer. If, and it's a big if, I ever let her talk to boys outside the family.

Color My World
Then Denita, Who Tends the Fires, gives us Light Weight. I read it several times just entranced: it's a beautiful reflection on. . .light. How did she pull that off? I love this line: "You flee to the air-conditioned sanctity of your house, straighten your back, and expect to hear a THUD as the cumulative weight of Texas sunlight slides off your back."

Cassandra at Villainous Company gives us a great entry for July 4th week -- Democracy: The Glorious Dream. She takes on that unbelievable canard (I like her point about liberal condescension) about the inability of the Middle East to adopt democracy:

We hold these truths to be self-evident... What are those words worth, today? Not much, apparently. Do we still believe them? Are they still engraved on our hearts? Do we still believe that ALL men are created equal? I keep hearing that the Arabs are "not ready for democracy". I consider that an appallingly condescending statement.
I submit that in 1776, those words were not worth the parchment they
were scribbled on. Utter and absolute rubbish.

They did not become real until nine long years of bloody, miserable
warfare breathed life into them. They were purchased, truly, at the
cost of incalculable human suffering. . .But this experiment we call America truly did 'light a fire in the minds of men'. And that fire was seen from a great distance.

Then there's Mary Katharine Hamm of Townhall.com's Soapbox who shows us the wonderful possibilities of the blogosphere -- she came up with an idea for skewering Howard Dean, and then together with Trey Jackson and Frank J. of IMAO made it happen. Too, too fun!

Sissy Willis, of Sisu writes a beautiful tribute to our troops, and reminding us in "It is not the critic who counts" of Teddy Roosevelt's admonition that "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. . .":

Let those who have lost the most, know that we are there to help," writes our dear blogfriend Teresa of Technicalities -- the stalwart mom of a brave son who's at the front in Afghanistan helping spread freedom 'round the world.

And hey, while you're over there, take a look at what she's written about Live8 and BobGeldoff, too.

And here's a really tragic one: a woman shot her husband . . . and the Grand Jury is letting her go. From the details provided at Woman Will Not Be Indicted for Shooting Abuser, by Zendo Deb at TFS Magnum, seems like the right call. Deb says the DA who tried to prosecute the woman should be removed from office.

And all you Mothers-of-Daughters Unite!! (The activists I've been hanging out with this week are influencing me!) March on over to Right Wing Sparkle who writes the funny and poignant Love is a Battlefield. . .she wants to know "if anyone has suggestons on how to handle the worst [of adolescent girls] not requiring medication. . ." This is a question we all need answered. But not to worry, this is a story with a happy ending: Sparkle tells us what she's learned and gives us this great conclusion: "Love is a battelfield, but real love always wins the battle."

Kate, at Small Dead Animals, takes on an issue that makes me angrier than just about any other: a child molester who was arrested NINE times. Authorities think now that he molested something like 36,000 children. Kate calls the post Long Division -- go see why. This story is so chilling. Our public policies related to child molestation have got to change.

Then Fausta, at Bad Hair Blog gives us a post I found very helpful for obvious reasons: Live 8 and All that Feel Good Stuff. When I read this line, I knew Fausta was having an awfully Good Hair Day: Even back then I knew that every time someone said, "it's not about the money", it meant it really was about the money. Great quotes; Great links; Great commentary.

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With Gratitude
Then finally, we must conclude on a note of great sorrow, with a tributeto Sergeant First Class Mark Muralles, a serviceman who was killed in service to our country just this last week. His step-sister is a friend of Beth's at Yeah, Right, Whatever.