Let Us Sing Our National Anthem

When the South Carolina Republican presidential debate --broadcast on Fox of course -- begins with the singing of the national anthem, you know you are in for an entertaining evening.

Meanwhile, I must retort.

Ronald Reagan is dead. Anyone got any fresh ideas?

One minor suggestion, if you're going to have commercial breaks during a presidential debate, don't allow an ad from one of the candidates to run during the commercial break. Rudy Fucking Giuliani: I'm referencing you.

No wonder the Republican Party is having credibility issues.

John Kerry Endorses Obama

WaPo.

Kerry brushed aside concerns of Obama detractors who assert the Illinois senator lacks the experience to be president. And in an obvious jab at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), he declared: "Some have suggested in this campaign that Barack is guilty of raising 'false hopes.' ... My friends, the only charge that rings false is the one that tells you not to hope for a better tomorrow."

Although former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) served as Kerry's vice-presidential running mate in 2004, relations between the two men -- never particularly close -- have grown more distant in the intervening years.

Just one more reason why I find politics to be strange.

Best in (Political) Show

Craig Crawford of CQ Politics reminds me of Eugene Levy doing a character. I can't help but laugh.

Is it just me or is this shit funny? Oh, I forgot, you have to play them both at the same time while Craig and Eugene are speaking. Keep trying, you'll get it.

Hell-o-scan is a Tad Uppity, No?

This will be humorous to no one but the most die-hard blog nerds.

Problem: Server said 'A little obsessive, aren't we? You've already pinged about that post with that URL....'

I don't need that kind of attitude from software. Really. I wouldn't have resent the ping if it had actually arrived at the destination in a timely manner. And if Haloscan didn't have a long and storied history of comments disappearing into black holes. So there.

Yes, This Is Sickening, But...

...such is politics. It shouldn't be but it's the current reality and proves just how far we need to go to move beyond the repugnance in which we are engulfed. Or maybe this proves just how immature and unprepared the Obama team really is for leading a nation of men and women, of all races. Honestly, I'm shocked at the raw bullshit being spewed forth by Obama's National Co-Chairman Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Melissa has a great post up at Shakesville on this subject, and some of the comments reminded me so much of my reactions to things lately, I had to take a step back for a second, deep breathe, and then I wrote this comment:

Here's my opinion and feel free to disregard it; I'm sure I will, probably in the next 24 hours.

Don't be too hasty to make decisions based on one incident, and jump ship from one candidate to another.

I've been doing that for years, and this year is no exception. I started off a Kucinich supporter because I tend to vote my convictions (or support a candidate who shares the most of my convictions since I rarely get to vote for them--they tend to drop out before my primary) and I've already gone from Kucinich to Edwards to Obama, back to Edwards, and now I'm straddling the fence... finally.

Not only can this have the tendency to drive you insane, it becomes illogical given that more incidents are likely to happen between now and whenever this crap gets wrapped up.

Keep in mind the pace at which these folks are scrambling for votes, their lack of sleep, the media attention, their schedules, and the attacks coming from all directions on a constant basis.

Who among us hasn't snapped under such conditions and said something we regret saying? And yes, we usually apologize and move on. And yes, these candidates tend to avoid apologies in favor of twisting it in some way to indicate it was taken out of context, was misconstrued, or whatever. Because apologies make a candidate look weak and out of control I guess. Unpresidential.

Sure, it's all bullshit. And absolutely, we need to push them on it when they fuck up.

I still maintain that defending against misogyny is an integral component of comprehensive progressivism -- and he's not doing too well there at the moment, to put it mildly.
Melissa McEwan

Amen to that. I try to remind myself of what these people might be like in the calmer environment of actually running the country and pushing for legislation rather than what slips of the tongue might piss me off and make me want to bail. While Obama’s camp might be making Hillary look pretty damn good right now, just keep in mind which candidates are most likely to resist the heavily patriarchal corporate behemoths that control us.

While we may feel good about ourselves right now for supporting a candidate and ditching another because of a disagreeable verbal misstep, we should consider the long-term ramifications of our decisions and whether that, in the end, isn’t going to be a far greater disservice to our causes.

PortlyDyke correctly pointed out that this wasn't just a misstep but a calculated "strategy trying to spin the tear-factor." And that makes it far more disgusting, and unfortunately for Obama, far more memorable. Had it come directly from Obama himself rather than the surrogate Jesse Jackson Jr., then the Obama campaign might well be cooked as of today, as far as truly progressive men and women are concerned. Obama needs to address this disgustingly adolescent manipulation. Soon. The clock is ticking.

Social Networking is Weird

On January 1, 2008 I started a Facebook page, primarily because Pam Spaulding had been promoting hers at Pam's House Blend and I was curious to check it out.

After creating an account and filling out the profile info and then seeing my first page I really wondered what the big deal was. It seemed overly simplistic and rather boring. Pam accepted my friend request and then I was able to view her page. That was my wow moment. This really appeals to my inner geek in a major way.

Oddly enough, not long after I created a page, I had a friend request which I accepted. I didn't recognize the name, but since so many people I know via blogging use screen names, I didn't think much of it. I visited this person's page and had no idea who it was. I finally removed this person as a friend when I started getting accepted invitations from other bloggers and friends I actually know. And it was pretty obvious after checking out that guy's page that he was simply amassing a collection of friends he found attractive based on a thumbnail photo. Creepy! Can we have a few non-sexual conversations before you pin me up on your bedroom wall?

One exciting aspect of this is finding new widgets to put on my page. I don't think I've viewed one friend's page in which I didn't fine some new add-on that I loved!

Now the weird part. Someone just invited me to be their friend. The beauty of Facebook is that you can view their page before you accept, and Facebook tells you how many friends you have in common. In this case, it was zero. I'm just going to leave that one. Obviously I have no problems with gay guys, but if I don't know you, and virtually all your friends are gay guys, some of whom are posing in their profile pic either shirtless or naked, then I'm going to make the rational assumption that I'm not being invited to be your friend because of the size of my record collection, my political views, or because you read my blog.

When I created my page, I had no idea what I planned to do with it aside from just figure out what it's all about. And if it hadn't been of any interest to me at all, I would have just deleted the account. Now that I have it, I like it, and I can see the value in being able to keep up with friends, and it's entertaining. But I really don't think I want to fill it up with "friends" I don't even know. Some people do, I suppose. I'm sure it has something to do with a few of the LGBT groups I added, but if I was going to send an invite to someone I didn't know, I think I'd at least include a comment with the reason, such as shared musical interest, or whatever. And no, a shared attraction to men --exclusively-- doesn't cut it for my Facebook site.

It should be pretty obvious from my page that I'm not on there to swap porn, talk about my sexual habits or my fantasies. Hell, I can do that on my blog! But seriously, therein lies the problem with Facebook: people can't actually see your page until they're you're friend, nor would you want them to because there's often personal information on the page you really wouldn't want to share with a total stranger. So it's a bit of a catch-22 situation.

I'm just curious to know if other people reading my blog have a Facebook page and if you get many requests from people you don't know, and what your philosophy is regarding this phenomenon.

And by the way, if you do have a Facebook page, and I know you from this blog, I'd be happy to be your friend. Just send me an invite!

A Most Interesting Political Season

Congratulations to Hillary! And not because she is my preferred candidate, or because she beat Obama and Edwards, but because she simply kicked some ass after a grueling week.

Aside from the usual dirty tricks which always seem to emerge during a campaign and tarnish the image of whomever I have chosen as my favorite candidate, I must say I am fascinated by the events as they unfold. And I was riveted during the coverage of primary results in New Hampshire last night.

I amused myself by watching the wives of the various candidates as they gave their speeches. And the contrast between the Republicans and Democrats' wives says a lot.

Ann Romney looked miserable, as if she couldn't wait for Mitt to shut the hell up so they could get off-camera.

Janet Huckabee seemed far more involved and engaged in Mike's speech.

But the best of all was the introduction Elizabeth Edwards gave to the crowd. She oozed pride and energy and clearly seems to believe in their cause. I would sincerely love to have such a first lady.

Praying Like a Sissy

I guess tornadoes in January could cause that.

Al Ost said he "prayed like a sissy" as he fled to the basement of his house in Boone County, Ill.

How exactly does a "sissy" pray?

After living to tell about it, maybe he was so happy he was dancing like a nun.

Obama/Edwards '08?

I keep fantasizing about my dream ticket. txrad predicted last year we would have a Clinton/Edwards ticket and I would certainly have gone for that. But a Edwards/Clinton ticket would be far more palatable.

Now that we in entering a right-wing freak-out mode over the possibility of a Osama bin Laden Saddam Hussein Barack Obama nomination, complete with email smears circulating and other negative tactics being put into play, I'm having second third fourth thoughts.

My brother forwarded me an email he received. It's one of those nasty chain e-mails intended to inject fear and prejudice, and basically smear the shit of out the most-feared candidate. And you guessed it, it's directed squarely at that half-white guy from Illinois.

OBAMA'S BACKGROUND CHECK !!!!!!
If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to
all your contacts...this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us
here in our own United States...better heed this and pray about it and
share it.

If I were the praying type, I'd pray for these stupid assholes to seek mental health counseling, which is a far nicer thing to say than what I first typed and then deleted because it would be cruel to inflict my gut-desires on their inbred offspring. It's a damn good thing they have the Muslim issue to rail against, otherwise they'd have to resort to just plain old racism. And that's soooo ... 2007.

Who is Barack Obama?
Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu , Hawaii , to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel , Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHIEST from Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia.? When Obama was! 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school."

Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta

Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy..

The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own!!!!

Please forward to everyone you know. Would you want this man leading our country?...... NOT ME!!!

Yes, please forward to everyone you know. Because we need to know who the stupid pricks are. Personally, this is all it would take to strike a name from my list of "friends."

I was going to highlight all the keywords in red, but since the author of this asshattery put those in CAPS, it saves me some time.

These nutbags are obsessed with Obama's middle name being Hussein, and they use it as often as possible in their warped craving to cast Obama as a {ahem} dark demon. Christ, I wish the Republican nominee's middle name would be Hinckley. Because it's the same issue: irfuckingrelevant.

It's gotten to the point where I almost prefer a nominee on the Democratic side who is going to cause the biggest meltdown of the lunatic fringe whackjobs who circulate this bullshit. Perhaps they would suffer mental breakdowns rendering them incapable of thinking (they seem to have surpassed that level already), speaking or writing. That would also be a much-needed positive change for the country.

Young Voters and their Perception of Change

Hillary Clinton may be shocked that she's having such a struggle which is largely due to heavy participation by young people who see Obama as the true agent of change. It really isn't so surprising. As we get older I believe we tend to forget what it's like to view the world through the eyes and mind of a 20-year-old college student who might be voting in their first presidential election.

When Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, today's 20-year-olds were 5 years old. By the time his term ended, they were 13. So from their perspective, a Clinton administration is their earliest recollection. And now as adults, Hillary Clinton is perhaps just a relic from that past. And this could be complicated further by Bill's high-profile involvement in Hillary's campaign.

As for the rest of us who are more accustomed to the years whizzing past, we can scarcely believe it's been 15 years since Bill Clinton was elected. At least that's the case with me. And I believe this impacts Hillary more so than John Edwards due to her higher profile during the coming-of-age years of today's first-time young voter.

In Iowa, young voters came out in strength, as did their elders. Fifty-seven percent of voters ages 17 to 24 said Mr. Obama was their first choice, compared with 14 percent for John Edwards and 10 percent for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

[...]

No candidate is more aware of the tonic appeal of the youth vote, and more intent on capturing its power than Mr. Obama is. His campaign has the trappings of a youth crusade, an impression he emphasizes by having aides place young people behind him on stage.

I will be very interested to see if New Hampshire experiences a much higher turnout among the 18-24 crowd. And most importantly, if this carries through to the November general election. Because without a high turnout there, we may not experience all this change after all. Based on recent presidential elections, the 18-24 vote hasn't really been motivated in November. Howard Dean showed promise in 2004 with energizing this group. Unfortunately we never got to see what would have happened in the general election with Dean as the nominee.

Perhaps this year, with a Democratic nominee who represents real change, the 18-24 voters will turn out -- in droves.

We Love To Argue

I brought up my Rick Flair noises tonight after I did a tequila shot. txrad went into an educational exercise about how wrestlers would tape razor blades to themselves so they could inflict a wound and draw blood, making it appear as if their opponent had wounded them and thus insuring drama in the match.

I said that was deceitful. I cited my own preferences for blood-drawing such as Iggy Pop cutting himself with razor blades while on stage.

txrad said there's no difference. It's all entertainment.

I said there's a world of difference. One is deceitful and one is flagrantly self-mutilation.

Apples and oranges.

txrad still disagrees.

So, you decide.

I'm only putting this post up because I'm having major issues with Firefox to be addressed later. (See comments in my post 48 Hours several posts below.)

I really wanted to post about McCain.

Hillary's Teary Moment

I was wondering how these politicians have the stamina to campaign as hard as they did in Iowa, and awaiting results from the caucuses had to be exhausting in and of itself, and yet they plowed on to New Hampshire immediately with barely 4 days in which to cram in more campaigning.

There has been much in the press lately about the strain, and how it frequently results in slips of the tongue or worse: tears.

God forbid any politician show emotion or stress because that can be a death knell for anyone seeking the White House. Our leaders must be masculine at all times and show consistent manly strength.

So with that in mind, the faux pas is probably more subject to ridicule if the candidate happens to be a woman.

In perhaps her most public display of emotion in the presidential campaign, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s eyes welled with tears, and her voice cracked dramatically, as she talked about holding up under the rigors of the race and her belief that she is the best candidate for the Democratic nomination.
If it was not an Ed Muskie moment – Mrs. Clinton did not cry (or look like she was crying) – she was certainly on the verge of it after a woman asked her, at a roundtable discussion at a coffee shop here, how she managed to get out of bed and solider on each day.

We'll see if the media latch on to this and spin it wildly out of control. Without a doubt, the 12%-14% polled who said they would never vote for a woman in a presidential race will seize this as rationale for why Hillary Clinton is unfit for the stress and responsibilities of the job. In fact, it proves she's human, which has also been questioned by some.

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

The Terminator: Why do you cry?
John Connor: You mean people?
The Terminator: Yes.
John Connor: I don't know. We just cry. You know, when it hurts.
The Terminator: Pain causes it?
John Connor: No, it's when there's nothing wrong with you, but you cry anyway. You get it?
The Terminator: No.

I do have to give Hillary credit for having the best quote I read in today's paper:

Mrs. Clinton ribbed Mr. Bush for saying he had looked into the soul of President Vladimir V. Putin. “I could have told him Putin was a K.G.B. agent,” she said. “He has no soul.”

Fucking brilliant!


Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

Tip of the Day

Don't choose ringtones from any of your favorite songs if creditors are calling your mobile phone.

Take the Fun Out of Driving

One of the things I enjoy about driving is the fact that I'm driving. I'm not sure why but there's just something inherently satisfying about the experience. Much of it has to do with the make and model I selected. After all, their entire marketing campaign emphasizes the pleasure of driving it in a simple four word slogan.

It wouldn't matter a whole lot if I was driving something less fun. I enjoyed driving my 1964 MGB and my beat-up Toyota Corolla for which I paid about $550 back in the 80s.

But leave it to General Motors to come up with an idea to toss all my pleasure aside. If this comes to fruition, and I could see benefits of it in certain areas, the joy of motoring will be equal to driving those amusement park cars that were guided by a track. It was fun to steer them but there was no point.

Within a decade, General Motors thinks it will have the ultimate solution to the growing problem of distracted drivers: a car that can do the driving itself.

G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, plans to unveil a prototype of a self-driving Chevrolet Tahoe sport-utility vehicle developed with the help of Carnegie Mellon University on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show. The vehicle, nicknamed “Boss,” is capable of handling itself in a controlled setting like the parking lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center where G.M. is showing it off this week, but not on a regular street with obstacles like pedestrians.

The automaker expects driverless vehicle technology to be ready for testing by 2015 and in vehicles that it sells by 2018, a G.M. spokesman, Scott Fosgard, said on Sunday.

[...]

G.M. hopes that the prospect of a driverless car will make the company, which has struggled to shed its image as a lumbering industrial-age behemoth, appear more cutting-edge.

Emphasis on the word appear. Using a Tahoe to demonstrate this probably blows away the notion of "cutting-edge" right there. This is one major reason why GM is having problems.

The Orgasmatron was a cutting-edge idea but that doesn't mean I want to use it in lieu of actual sex.

Mobile Phone Victory!

After struggling with software downloads for the past 3 days and various complications, I have finally installed the software which not only allows me to upload photos from the mobile phone to the PC (and vice-versa) but also allows me to edit clips of songs from my library to create my own ring tones. Nice.

Now I can show off the photos I took at work a couple of months back when they were hosting the Gibson guitar auction which includes these over-sized sculptures (many signed by celebs or musicians). The snakeskin one was signed by Steve Earle if I recall.

I was rather partial to the Janis one.

Here were some of the real guitars being auctioned off.

Looney Tunes

The Republican dabate. Anybody watching?

Who thought Fred Thompson was the salvation for the Republican Party?

Jesus H. Christ. What a buffoon.

I LOVED the Kum-Ba-Ya love fest at the end with the Democratic candidates joining together on the stage for a chit-chat with the Republicans. That was worth the wait.

Reality television!

And while we're busy readying the set for the Democrats, who knew that facebook would be so pivotal in this campaign?

Why did the Republicans get all the easy questions and the Democrats are getting the hypothetical apocalyptical questions?

We are going to be on the receiving end of a nuclear attack. What would YOU do?

Do what the Republicans suggested: Build more nuclear power plants.

ABC needs to get out of the debate business. As do most corporate media entities.

I don't care what falls out of your ass, I'm gonna eat it.

We need to get serious with this shit.

What a long strange trip it's been.

48 Hours

Nothing sucks the life out of a blog like a blog host being consumed with computer issues and other technological glitches for two full days. And it ain't over yet.

Internet Explorer needs to be added to my shit list, or maybe I should do myself a favor and just say Microsoft -- that would take care of many other problems all rolled into one.

Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn't be happier with a Mac.

Hmmm, that would make a nice Question of the Day, would it not?

Cruising the Saturday Blogateria

Jon Swift explains who really won the Iowa caucuses.

ZenComix of the Aristocrats was among the fortunate ones who actually participated in the caucuses.

Burning Prairie finally got the new blog launched. Hey, did anyone catch how many times the term prairie fire was used during the Iowa caucuses? I heard it twice. Once for each blog I suppose.

Obama, from the perspective of a Field Negro.

Kathy over at Liberty Street flicks a few race cards, and suggests that Jonah Goldberg is fearing a black riot if Obama doesn't win.

Chet Scoville "unfortunately" thinks Glenn Greenwald is exactly right.

I could think of a worse scenario that might cause riots in which blacks and whites are united. But nah, it would never happen in the great UNITED States of America.

Meanwhile, Creature has some smart advice for Hillary -- if she's listening, and she should be.

As for me, I'm just hoping for a healthy but short Democratic primary season in which we get a lot of dirty laundry aired out, and get united behind one candidate as we head into November. That, and all the candidates living to tell about it.

Friday Pussy Blog: The Envy Edition

This is my sweet Jezebel, who has been deceased a few years (3 or 4). (artwork courtesy of Rebecca.)

Tell me Tart hasn't adopted a Jezebelian feline:

I think Tart has taken the Friday pussy blog and dragged it to a whole new level: A Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday pussy blog.

And that is fine with me.

And I'm not even going to touch the big pink titty action.

Cha Cha Cha Change.... Changes