I've always been fascinated by the history of vaudeville. One of the most colourful stories of that era (my favourite, growing up) was made into a film called "Gypsy," based on the meomoirs of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee. Her sister, June Havoc (a/k/a "Baby June") was portrayed in the film as a child star who, wanting to escape showbiz and her ambitious mother, ran away and got married at 13. Today she passed away at 97. R.I.P., Baby June! [more...]
It's hard to tell what's factual in this great American story, but I read this online: "Arthur Laurents loosely based his marvelous libretto on the recollections of famed burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Her sister June Havoc (the real 'Baby/Dainty June') has never been too happy with the results, which were clearly slanted to make Gypsy look good. However, both daughters concurred that their mother Rose was a monstrous bitch who always put her show biz dreams ahead of everything else, including the well-being of her children. The girls toured in vaudeville for years. Eventually, June left the act against her mother's wishes to marry one of the boys. The unstoppable Rose kept Louise touring - and they did end up in burlesque when vaudeville died out. With her 'intellectual' strip act, Louise renamed herself 'Gypsy Rose Lee' and became the toast of Minsky's. After June's marriage failed, her mother and sister refused her any assistance. June Havoc survived the 1930s as a marathon dancer, then emerged as a successful stage and screen actress."
I don't normally blog on politics and try very hard to keep an unbiased view of what's going on in our nation's capitol. But being a writer on American culture, I can't ignore what happened in Washington, D.C. last night with the passage of the most widespread intrusion into the lives of its citizens - the so-called health "reform" bill. It's a sad day for America. We are officially no longer a democracy and Socialism is now the new way. Last night we lost our freedom in America.
Born in America under a beautifully designed Constitution which has kept me free all of my life, I feel very sad today for my beloved country. I never thought I'd live to see this government turn Socialist. I can only pray now that there is a repeal and we are able to take back our freedom in the very near future.
The egomaniac, power-hungry people in Congress have trampled on our Constitution in an unprecedented way to show us that they know what's best for us. And they did it in the most corrupt manner. They lied to the American people and used mob tactics, shady deals and anything but transparency to get what they wanted - POWER. And we will suffer for it in ways that can only be imagined now. Tragically, future generations will pay the price because we no longer own our nation since it's been sold to the highest bidder last night so that the government can watch our every move. They didn't stop to consider even for a moment the will of the people. They forgot that they work for US!
Especially after 9/11, I, for one, have learned not to take my freedom for granted - witnessing the treatment of women in particular in other countries has been eye-opening and a real education for me about world history. In America, we're not sheep - we are a strong nation and with the freedoms the Constitution had guaranteed us, have been able to accomplish things in our lives that are not possible in other countries. For Speaker Pelosi to utter the words, "No longer will women be a pre-existing condition" is tragic at best. None of these people can even come close to imagining what the people of America will go through because of their irresponsible decisions since they are conveniently exempt from this destructive legislation.
Socialism, Communism and dictatorships are dangerous and only weaken a nation and its people. At this time, we can only pray that there is still hope - for a good, common sense repeal of this very dangerous, unconstitutional bill that is sure to destroy our status as a world leader, an innovator, and the strongest nation on the planet.
