Free Pussy Riot

August 20, 2012


I spent this past weekend close to home because I was on night night call all weekend. I reorganized all my paperwork, files and bills. I cooked beans and macaroni. ( Yes, macaroni, not pasta.) Then I spent the rest of the day reading. My new book, "Gone Girl" and the New York Times. I love the newspapers. There is nothing like the feel of newsprint. I still receive the New Haven Register even though it is getting flimsier by the week. I can't imagine reading the news on line but I know it will eventually come to pass.

Anyway, I have been reading about the three young women in Moscow who call themselves Pussy Riot. What a great name! They have recently been sentenced to two years in prison for an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral. The group is mainly political. They have never released a song or album. Sentiment is that they received a harsh sentence for exercising freedom of speech.

I am not into politics in any way, shape or form. ( One of my many faults. I never talked about anything important. Or so I was told.) I am neither a Democrat or a Republican. But I do believe in the right to free speech. I think women have the right to have an abortion. Homosexuals should be able to marry (why should they miss out on both the joy and misery of legalizing their unions?) The NRA scares me as do most right wing Republicans. But we live in a country where both very liberal and very conservative citizens have the same rights. And for that I am very grateful. Whenever I return from a trip overseas, no matter how much I have enjoyed the country, I am always happy to hear, "Welcome to JFK!" Josh, I know you are saying or at least thinking something very cynical. You too, Eric!

So, in a rare political moment for me, I want to say, Free Pussy Riot! And I wish I had thought of that name first.