Oh, it's ON. Everyone knows pajamas improve blogging.
Nothing pleases me more than Palin scuttling back to Alaska with her tail between her legs. Nothing, that is, but the ridiculous things she's been saying ever since she and McCain lost the election. First, we heard her decry her own aides who ratted her out for not knowing Africa was a continent and because she forced them to put her $150,000 wardrobe on their personal credit cards by saying, "That's cruel. It's mean-spirited. It's immature. It's unprofessional, and those guys are jerks if they came away with it, taking things out of context, and then tried to spread something on national news. It's not fair and not right." Ho-ho! I'll SHOW ya mean-spirited and immature!
Dang, I wish I could find the source, but sometime after the election, I read/heard that Palin figures she'll be around in politics for good now (which I find completely ridiculous because she's a complete joke) and that the next time around, she wants to be involved in a cleaner campaign. Uh.... WHHHHHAAAAAT? Ms. Obama-fraternizes-with-known-terrorists wants to be "involved" in a cleaner campaign? She friggin' CREATED the dirty campaign! Even NOW she's still ratting around, bringing up the Ayers thing:
Well, I still am concerned about that association with Bill Ayers. And if anybody still wants to talk about it, I will, because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol. That's an association that still bothers me.
But, for serious, I'm really ready for Palin to disappear into relative obscurity. And I have to wonder why Ayers hasn't filed a defamation of character suit against her. I mean, seriously, if you ask me, she's an unrepentant domestic terrorist.
I'm Special K, and I wrote this message in my jammies.
Boo ya! Rock it, North Carolina! I love this map - it's so much less isolating than it's been the last, long, 8 years. I got my eye on you, Missouri! And, you can suck my balls, hate states!
In silly news, what seems to be all over the news is what kind of dog the Obamas should get for their kids. Now I can barely wait to find out if they adopt a rescue or not. I'm quite anti-breed dog, if you didn't know. One time my boss asked me, Wouldn't we completely lose breeds of dogs if people stopped breeding? I guess they would, I thought. But, I don't care.
All week I've been trying to recapture that Ol' Wednesday Feelin'. The black-spot on the election for me is that Prop 8 passed in California. Supposedly the Mormon Church was a major financial backer of lobbying for that amendment. I'm also anti-political churches, although I think it's nearly impossible for most churches to remain neutral. Anywho, churches that preach politics really shouldlose their tax-exempt status.
When I'm not occupying myself with this very important information, I've been reading Postcards From Yo Momma - maybe my mom will leave a comment that I can send in. (It might have something to do with balls...)
Oh, what a night! I am just so happy right now. What a win! Could you believe the crowds in Grant Park? I wasn't down there (Hello, Agoraphobia) but it was like I could feel their energy way up here on the north side of town.
Yo! Where my Indiana peeps at? I am so proud of you! Doesn't it feel good to be blue? Last night as I watched more and more of the map get painted blue, I let wash away some of the animosity and resentment I've held toward my fellow americans for the past 8 years. After such a landslide win I believe this country really does want peace and change and is as hopeful as I am that Obama is the person to help us get there. Also something that really moved me was watching so many African Americans talk about how meaningful it is to see this happen, and what a difference it will make in their lives and their children's lives.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Eek - I really oughta finish up my packing right now, but I can't resist one more blog post before I hit the road (or the skies, rather)!
Secondly, can't wait for the election to be over (with Obama as winner, naturally!) Couldn't bare to watch the complete debate Wed. night but certainly did get my feathers ruffled by McCain and his statement about "women's 'health'." I've written about the so-called partial-birth abortion before - it's a rare proceedure, usually performed on wanted pregnancies because the fetus has abnormalities incompatible with life, is already dead or dying, or because the pregnancy is threatening the life of the woman. It's disgusting that McCain belittles this. Nobody wants a partial-birth abortion, but to deny a woman access to one is extremely dangerous and beyond heartless.
And, on that note, I've got a plane to catch! Arrividerchi, tutti!
I'm trying to watch the debates, but Palin is killing me with her folksy, bullshitty garbage. Oh god, now she's talking about drilling in Alaska...
I have a theory that one of the worst downfalls of this country is that Americans are under the mistaken impression that they are rich. To me, it's completely illogical to vote for McCain (or Bush, the last few times), for like, a hundred reasons (She just called him Senator O'Biden!), not least of which is taxes. I mean, the only people who are going to be taxed more by Obama will make over $250,000 a year. If you're making that much, god love ya, I think you can spare a little. For the rest of us schmucks who aren't pulling that much down, we're going to see some bigger breaks. Meanwhile, McCain gives the biggest breaks to the highest earners.
And his healthcare plan! Don't get me started on his health care "plan"! Listen, I've been in the very, very unlucky position of not having employer-sponsored health care, and I've tried to buy private coverage for myself. First of all, if you've so much as been to the doctor in the last year for a hangnail, forget about it - you won't get approved for coverage. Secondly, a "$5000 rebate", to use a colloquial term, ain't shit. I got a quote, 5 years ago, mind you, for health coverage at $2000 a MONTH. Seriously. His plan's a total joke. It'll make an already horrendous system a thousand times worse.
Anyway, I don't think I can take this much longer, but I do think Biden (O'Biden! ha!) is killing. He's a bright guy (and clean and articulate), he's compassionate, and he doesn't appear to have learned how to pronounce the word "nuclear" properly within the last 24 hours.
Apparently "top Republicans" are shitting their pants as the Vice-Pres debate nears, and some are loosing that ol' honeymoon feeling as Palin continues to blunder, oh, just about every time she opens her mouth. I read one rather hilarious quote by a conservative columnist that read, "It was fun while it lasted."
There are many, many, many things to laugh about (not least that Planned Parenthood has recently raised over three-quarters of a million dollars by encouraging people to donate money in Palin's name in an email campaign), but one of my favorites continues to be her famous line about her proximity to Russia equaling foreign policy experience. I suppose if that were true, every citizen of northern Wisconsin, or, say, San Diego would have at least as much foreign policy experience as Palin, who just got her first passport last year. Of course, this might all be essentially meaningless to a large majority of Americans, who voted for Bush not once (oh, no!) but twice. Bush, of course, made his first overseas trip only after making office, and, as everyone knows, he's just done a hell of a job managing foreign policy.
But one thing that does not amuse me about the whole Palin debacle is how often I hear people say, "Now, the feminists are going to get mad at me for this..." or "Now, I'm a feminist, but she's an idiot..." As if all feminists (or women in general) are required to support each member of our sex, regardless of how idiotic she may be. Discussing Palin's inexperience (or, ridiculing it, as the case may be) doesn't mark you as a woman-hater, any more than my saying that President Bush has been the worst president this country has ever known makes this feminist a man-hater. In the end, she is a person, just like any other, who happens to be ridiculously under-qualified for a position for which she is applying. It's unfortunate, that, as a woman, she is not and would not be a champion for women's rights (I encourage you to read that as human rights), but will continue to erode them just like the Republican party has done for the past 8 years.
Could barely control my boiling rage as I watched Sarah Palin yesterday evening. I suppose what I found most infuriating, aside from the outright lies, the claims that we're "near victory" in the war, and her trotting out every member of her family after tsk-tsking everyone to stay out of their biznatch, is that the Republican's don't really have a plan for anything. They're all, boo-hoo, we're so beleaguered, everyone's against us, democrats are going to raise taxes, they're going to make you ride your bike to work, wah! It's like their whole platform is complaining and insulting the Dems. I don't think she said one actionable thing. Oh, sure, maybe that we should love special needs children a little more. You know, I'm pretty familiar with the lives of special needs persons, and it would have been interesting, for example, to hear one goddamn real plan to improve their lives.
Well, the whole thing makes me insanely crazy, mainly because I have absolutely no faith in humanity. I mean, McCain and Palin could easily win this thing. I don't want to believe it, but people out there, they really intend to vote for them.
Had a lovely Labor Day weekend that ended today with an outdoor bbq - a group of friends and my trusty old blow-up pool (which people innocently believed we had put up just for the kids. Ha! Ha! No, it is mine.) One home project that I thought would take 15 minutes took well over two days (installing a new door lock and handle? Jay-sus!) And, aside from that I spent a lot of time feeling grouchy about McCain's VP choice.
I just KNEW that sonuvabitch was going to pick a woman for his VP, but I never dreamed they'd find somebody that's practically (to paraphrase a certain husband) Dick Cheney in lady's clothing. Because the republican party is so anti-woman, I feel that the choice of Palin is little more than pandering. But it's just a joke that any Clinton supporter would say, "Oh, a woman? I guess I'll vote for her then." As if one person's the same as another.
It was with something like the joy I felt on learning that Cheney had a gay daughter that Palin's 17 (or is it 16?) year old daughter is pregnant - because as Chris Rock says, "Whoever you hate will end up in your family" and I love watching them squirm when they have to justify their Politics of Hate (as I like to call it) vis-a-vis the old flesh and blood. Doesn't look good for the party of "family values" when their own go and have premarital sex, or - worse yet - same sex sex. Oh, if only she'd had good sex-ed in school instead of abstinence ed and creationism... Imagine the family dinners! "So... about that legislation you passed that screwed me over big time..." There's an interesting article about the hypocrisy of the Republicans over on Feministing - check it out for yourself, but it essentially says that they're conveniently exempt from the very invasive rules that they wish to set for the rest of us.
Meanwhile those jackholes are busy canceling their convention so they're not caught with their pants down eating cake while another Katrina whips through the south. Ha! We'll see.
As you know, I was hoping Clinton would win the nomination, but, obviously, like her, I now throw my (considerable) support behind Obama. I never had anything against him, in fact I think he's pretty amazing, I just hoped that Clinton would win. I was depressed for a few days that we won't see a woman president just yet, and how misogynist the media coverage and reaction to HC was throughout her campaign. Also, after eight grueling years with the Bush administration, I was looking forward to some Clinton antics in the White House once more (Bill, all is forgiven!) I think we all missed out on something pretty amazing - I mean, Bill Clinton as the First Laddy would have been a treat.
I am excited, however, by the promise that Michelle Obama will be the most kick ass First Lady this country has ever seen (Suck it, Dolly Madison!) Don't you think so?
Ha! Ha! I just saw this article that reads McCain Believes Iraq War can be Won by 2013! Hilarious! This is coming from McCain - Mr. "I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for a hundred years or a thousand years or 10,000 years." Oh yeah? Well, I believe it can be won by the year 2015, why not vote for me as your next Republican president? Huh?
Saw this great, easy crrrraft on Martha that just about anyone could make: a shopping bag from an old tshirt (everyone's got at least one of those!) A bag for every bag! That's my motto. I'm going to make one of these and see if I can jimmy it into an ICoE bag.
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
The recent brouhaha over Hillary Clinton's "tears" after her touchingly (and ever so slightly) emotional response to a question ("How do you do it?") has got me rethinking about who I support for president...
I think she sounds sincere and honest, and that little speech, which has caused an commotion in the press (I think the Daily Show covered it well) has even Feminists poking fingers at each other. Maureen Dowd's bizarre-o op-ed about Clinton's "crying" reeks with the discomfort of someone who can't stomach a powerful woman (odd, coming from a pretty powerful woman herself) with *gasp* feelings. It seems obvious to me, but people seem to forget that most people, even this guy, are at times "emotional". I just happened to catch a rerun of Sex and The City yesterday where Charlotte complains that one time she cried on the job and no one ever let her forget it. After being insulted, Samantha makes a bee-line for privacy before allowing herself to shed a tear. When men cry, Jesus Christ, isn't it touching? but when women cry, watch out! she's an unstable woman, likely to bleed all over the Oval Office.
The whole thing makes me nuts, particularly how she's referred to over and over again as "Hillary". God help me if I don't do it myself sometimes, it's so ingrained in our mentality. Does the media ever mention Barack and John? No, it's Obama, Edwards, and "Hillary" - it's a classic method of marginalizing women, and it's not acceptable. And, yes, yes, I know that even her campaign refers to "Hillary for President" but does that give the media free reign to refer to her by her first name while everyone is given the courtesy of their last name?
Gloria Steinem's NYT article was a tough pill to swallow, but mostly because what she wrote rings pretty true, whether we want to believe it or not. Steinem writes:
Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.
I hate to say I've (until recently) been one of those women Steinem's worried about, who "hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system" because I've so far been throwing my (considerable - ha!) influence and support to Obama. Like many others, I thought that Clinton's ok, but not exactly the person I want as president. Why? I thought, maybe she's too shrewd or political, plays the game too much. But which man in the running isn't doing that right now? (Well, ok, Kusinich...)
Feministing has been making frequent posts all day in a "24 Hour Hillary Sexism Watch" that really make you wonder what century we're living in. Amidst all these ridiculous reactions to Clinton, from what she's wearing to getting a little misty-eyed when talking about how invested she is in changing this country for the better made me think, to quote an early feminist, Ain't I a woman?
Funny that the right wing media turns me into a Clinton supporter, but that's exactly what's happened. That's my SISTER they're talking about, and each jab that has to do with her gender makes me feel like myself and women everywhere don't stand a chance until we confront the caste system, like Steinem says, and support Clinton not just because she's a great candidate but also because she's a woman. I may not share every single one of her political decisions, but I want to see a woman president. And instead of waiting around for the perfect woman, why shouldn't I stand behind this one, who's brilliant, a Democrat, a Feminist, has a ridiculous amount of experience and is just maybe the perfect person to be our first female president?
I found this old cross-stitch I started literally over 10 years ago. It was just about done except for the phrase, which was "When the Lord closes a door, he always opens a window." (To which M said, "Why doesn't he just leave the door open?!") It's a sentiment that doesn't really do anything for me, but this this one does: I'm rather pleased with the way it came out. Can't wait to stitch some more. (I really like these.) I'm pretty inspired to make most if not all of my Christmas presents this year, so I've got a lot of crrrrrafting to do.
Speaking of "crafting", there was a cool post on How about Orange last week that caused an onslaught of comments. She was writing about how she doesn't like the word "craft" because it often calls up an image of lame, ruffled and be-hearted do-dads that say things like, well, "When the Lord closes a door..." I have the same problem with the word, but I'm trying to reclaim it. I think the semantic issue comes from a history of belittling the work of women, as if the beautiful and/or useful things handmade by women are merely things to occupy our febrile minds. There are some great women crafters out there right now reclaiming the word and remaking it to suit their own views (politics, the environment, feminism...) Check out this post on Radical Cross Stitch about the long history of the connection between activism and crafting.
The Daily Show actually sent one of their correspondents (Rob Riggle) to Iraq! Riggle is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, and served in Liberia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Last night he did an awesome bit taking off from douchebag Indiana congressman Mike Pence (R) who said Iraq is "like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime." So Hoosier soldiers were on the Daily Show in abundance, explaining just how like a normal outdoor market in Indiana Iraq is NOT. And, there was a quick clip of Indiana icon, Bobby Night (threatening one of his players, natch). Ah, Bobby, you know we love ya! Check out the Daily Show this week! Here's the clip if you missed it:
Ha! As if to prove my point from yesterday, John McCain went on the Daily Show, and in response to Stewart's direct questions about how the administration accusing any questioning of the president as not supporting the troops, he went ahead pulled the "we must support the troops" angle. Outrageous! (Also he oddly channelled Rumsfeld with the "Is Iraq safe? No. Is the war almost over? No. Am I a douche bag? Yes.") Flip-flopper McCain came off like a massive blow hard, and I'm relieved his numbers are dropping, he doesn't seem to have a chance of making it to the final two. (Hey, you can make a difference by calling 1-800-idol-Obama). All McCain did was show that he's got no ideas, and even admitted that the so-called surge might not work but was at least "a" strategy.
I am, of course, incensed over last week's Supreme Court decision to uphold the federal abortion ban. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the dissenters, wrote, "The Court's opinion tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. For the first time since Roe, the Court blesses a prohibition with no exception protecting a woman's health. ... and the Court's defense of it [the ban] cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this Court -- and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women's lives. A decision of the character the Court makes today should not have staying power."
If you don't understand what a so-called "partial-birth abortion" (the medical term is dilation and extraction) is, educate yourself. It's a rare type of abortion (less than 1% of all abortions), usually performed on wanted pregnancies because the fetus has abnormalities incompatible with life, is already dead or dying, or because the pregnancy is threatening the life of the woman. Thanks to the Supreme Court's ruling, the difficult decision that should be made only between the woman and her doctor is no longer even an option.
If you're as upset about this issue as I am, urge your members of Congress to support the Freedom of Choice Act, "To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government with a woman's right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes." And if you're anti-choice, frankly, your opinion is not welcome here. You've got no right to impose yourself on a personal, private decision - no more than these jackasses
(architects of the federal abortion ban)
or these jackasses
(the 5 wealthy men who made a medical decision for 150 million women)
I remember as a kid being taught that in the Soviet Union they didn't have freedom of speech, and scientists and scholars might be killed or threatened for speaking the truth. And it was instilled in me how lucky we are to live in the US where we can criticize the government all we want and face neither harm nor imprisonment (although several of my friends spent a night in jail for doing just that.) Then it was a bit confusing, because, rather suddenly, it seemed like Russians were the pals of the US, and all was forgotten.
I only mention that because I love irony and there's nothing more ironic than living in a police state in America, is there? Not only does it appear that they're still killing outspoken journalists in Moscow, but the Bush Administration is hot on the heels of scientists and activists in the US. From the "inappropriate" firings of 8 US Attorneys from our hack of an Attorney General's office to these ridiculous memos telling biologists not to mention GLOBAL WARMING at a conference entitled "Gee, Why Are All The Polar Bears Dying?" it's not difficult to find daily examples of just how our civil liberties are at risk every day. (Read copies of the memos - click on FWS Polar Bear 1 and 2).
Sign up for the mailing list of the National Resources Defense Council - to receive updates and petitions and to stay abreast of the laws that effect our environment. And, of course, you'll want to sign up for True Majority as well if you haven't already.
A Discovery of Witches
-
I got a new job with a much longer commute, so naturally the first thing I
did was get an Audible account. First I listed to *Olive Again*, by
Elizabeth S...
5 years ago
Indeed
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." —Margaret Mead
