Dancing with Myself

Asshole of the Day, Week & Month

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.  First, the qualifying quote:

“Reasonable people have had enough and are refusing to allow radical extremists to redefine marriage and family into oblivion,” he said. “So-called ‘same-sex marriage’ is a ridiculous and oxymoronic notion that has been forced into popular lexicon by homosexual activists who want to dress up and play house.” [Emphasis added.] - Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at the Concerned Women for America

We just want to "dress up and play house"?  What a fucking idiot, and an offensive one at that.  And why do Concerned Women for America have a male spokesperson?  Mr. Barber suffering from a little gender confusion?

This coming Summer and Fall is going to see a battle royal waged for the heart and soul of both California and the United States.  The shame of it all is that we have to spend millions defeating their amendment without really winning anything for ourselves.  Maybe we can convince Schwartzenegger to consider the vote to be a referendum.  If we defeat the amendment, he signs the same-sex marriage bill into law.

Happy Cinqo de Mayo

Isn't it nice that America gives each of its ethnic groups their very own drinking holiday?  For Mexican-Americans, it's cinqo de Mayo, the day that the French Army of Emperor Maximilian was defeated by the forces of General Ignacio Zaragoza. In Mexico, it's a minor national holiday. In America, it's an opportunity to drink a lot of tequila. In fact, I think the holiday as it's celebrated in the U.S. is the result of a marketing campaign by Cuervo tequila.

Having said that, of course I'm celebrating.  But then, of course, I pretty much celebrate all holidays, minor and major, of all cultural groups in the U.S.  That's the plus size of being multi-cultural.  Mardi gras, St. Patrick's Day, Columbus Day, Canada Day, July 4th, Texas Independence Day, Crawfish Festival, Rice Festival, Cotton Festival, Save the Salamander Festival.  You probably have one or two of your own.

On Saturday I attended a party in Concord given by a same-sex couple whom I did not know, Tim and Mark.  I was joined in this celebration by at least 100 others equally intent on celebrating this important holiday.  There was a tequila slide carved out of a slab of ice.  The annointee sits at the bottom of the slide which has about a 45 degree angle, while someone pours a shot of tequila into the top of the crevice and by the time it gets to the annointee it's cold.  Of course, I tried it.  I actually tried it four or five times just to make sure I got it.  Boy, did I get it.  The tequila being poured was the top shelf variety, and it sure was good.  There was a huge amount of food, all with a Mexican theme, but not all good.  Enough of it was good, but the chocolate cookies made with jalapenos were a bit much.

Today a bunch of my twisted friends are taking over my neighborhood bar for a Mexican-themed party.  I'm taking pictures at that one.  I do not have words to adequately describe this bunch of desperadoes, but let me say this, they are all desperate and they are all characters.

On an unrelated subject, I have a stalker.  Aren't I special?  He's a tired old guy who hates me passionately.  I'm not sure why he hates me, but he sure does.  He has a blog that is devoted to besmirching my character.  I have been called every name in the book.  Bless his heart.  It must be a terrible thing to be consumed by hate.  Like the old poem goes, he is to be more pitied than censured.  I have no intention of linking to his site.  It's easy enough to find it, just google my name.  Be sure to say hi for me.

Knowing that someone is stalking you, going through your garbage, reading each word you write, hoping for a crumb with which to smear you, causes one to go more slowly and be more cautious.  As a result of my stalker, I haven't posted much lately.  I thought I'd give him more time to go back and read every post I've ever made.  He looks for contradictions of which there are many.  He is titillated by anything Gay, and you know with me, there's plenty of that, too.  He has widely distributed pictures of me wearing a dress thinking that somehow that diminishes me.  Sad, huh?  It's also funny, because I think it's a fabulous picture of me.  I look good!  When he first started attacking me, I was going to put a bayou curse on him, but I realized someone had already beat me to it.  My stalker is old, fat, ugly, bald, impotent, has diabetes and a bad heart.  What was there left for me add?  This, and only this:  I WILL DANCE ON YOUR GRAVE, MOTHERFUCKER.  And that goes for the cow you run with, too, you know, the one that smells like an ashtray.

Now then, where was I?  Oh yeah, having fun with friends.  Happy cinqo de Mayo, or as we say here in California, happy 4th of May, too!

National Day of Silence

Thanks to Joe.My.God. for the link.

Politics versus popular culture

I watched American Idol last night rather than listen to the blather of idiots talking about the Democratic Primary Election in Pennsylvania.  It was a lot more fun.  Go David Cook!

This is the first season of American Idol that I have ever watched.  I just never got around to it before.  Before this past year, I didn't watch television more than a couple of hours a week.  Then my roommate had my television connected to his Dish-thingey.  Now I get three or four hundred channels in high definition.  Lucky me.  Whereas I used to read about a dozen books a month, now I struggle to read two or three.  I don't just casually watch AI, I watch it with half a dozen dedicated Idol enthusists.  We have a pool of sorts with a nice chuck of change to the person who successfully predicts the season's winner.  The rules of the pool requried our picks be made when the the top dozen contestants were chosen.  There are six contestants left on American Idol:  Syesha Mercado, Carly Smithson, Brooke White, Jason Castro, David Archuletta, and David Cook.  My money is on David Cook.  I've also made money on side bets over who gets eliminated each week. 

Bye bye, Brooke.  She stumbled over the lyrics, and if my memory serves me correctly, this is the second time she's done that.  The first time it was less obvious, but the one last night was bad.  I'm not a fan of hers.  She's pretty and has loads of talent, but is totally lacking in charisma.  She has appeared to be on the edge of tears since her opening audition.  Tonight when she's sent home, I expect gushers.  Somebody wake me up when she's left the stage.

I'm also ready for Jason Castro to go away.  He annoys me much the same way Tiny Tim annoyed me back in the 70s.  Anybody remember him?  Think tip toe through the tulips.  Maybe it was his rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow while accompanying himself on the ukele.  To be fair, Jason can sing better than that, but he is about as vapid as I've ever seen on national television.  His is so vapid that he gives stoner's everywhere a bad image.  He had never heard of Andrew Lloyd Webber before American Idol.  By his own admission, he has never seen a staged musical.  I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say he's probably never seen nor heard an opera.  Mitigating in his favor have been his incredible blue eyes.  They're startling.  Simon (yes, that one) said a few weeks ago that if AI were on radio rather than television, Castro would never have made it as far.  I think he's going to be around for a few more weeks because he has connected to a fan base.  I have no idea who those people are, and I wish they'd stop it so we can be rid of this annoying creature.

In my cynicism, I suspect the producers of American Idol of manipulating the results somehow in order to achieve a pre-ordained outcome.  Was it coincidental that half a dozen of the final contestants are rock singers?  Right now I suspect them of working overtime to keep one or two of the women around to the final showdown between Archuletta and Cook. 

David Archuletta is a very sweet and tender White, Mormon Michael Jackson.  He's been trained and groomed by his stage father since he was in diapers.  He comes across as an innocent.  Maybe he is.  He has a promising voice, but I don't feel any emotional connection to his singing.  All of his songs have sort of a sameness to them.  He is, however, technically proficient and incredibly cute.  I suspect he's a ringer, though.  He won Star Search a few years ago, so he didn't exactly wake up one day and say, maybe I'll do American Idol.  He's got a huge following among pubescent girls.  They recognize one of their own.

My favorite is David Cook.  He has an interesting voice, and most importantly, he sells his song.  I actually went on iTunes and bought his recording of Billie Jean, a song made famous by Michael Jackson back in the 80s.  David did a version of the song arranged by Chris Connell.  He got a bit of bad buzz on the Internet because credit was not given to Connell for the arrangement and it appeared that the judges thought is was David's own.  David also has a charismatic stage presence.  Whether he wins American Idol or not, we're going to have plenty of opportunities to enjoy his music.  He's here to stay.

So there's my take on American Idol.  On the other side of the television dial we had the same inane crap being spewed by the many commentators of news as entertainment.  Last night's buzz word was "close the sale."  Obama just can't "close the sale."  That phrase was used on all networks about once every two or three minutes, all night long.  They were still braying it this morning as well.

These commentators are more like town gossips than anything else.  That they influence the outcome in any way whatsoever speaks to the tragedy of our system of politics.  Gossips have the ability to influence people's perceptions.  The pundit-gossips have determined for us that Hillary's a bitch, Obama's an unpatriotic, secret Muslim who can't "close the sale," and that John McCain is an "independent maverick" that relates to Joe Six-Pack because despite the fact that he's married into incredible wealth and has never had a job off the public payroll, he is not "elitist" like the Democrats.  This same group of gossips determined that Dubya was a regular guy, unlike that blowhard Gore and that Frenchified Kerry.  And people keep eating it up, election cycle after election cycle. 

Fuck this shit.  I'm going back to American Idol. 

Passover for the Fun of it

From a friend.

Try JibJab Sendables!

Shag Semeach Pesach!

I haven't had much to say lately, blogging wise.  Oh, I'm just opinionated as I ever was, maybe more so in some areas, less so in others.

There are greater currents flowing through our lives other than my simple drama.  First, peace be unto you, all of you.  Shag semeach pesach.  Happy Passover.  Even to the ones I don't like a lot.  Passover begins Saturday night.  As a Christian, a Jewish Christian, a Protestant Jewish Christian, an Episcopal Protestant Jewish Christian, as a Pentecostal Protestant Episcopal Jewish Christian, as a Buddhist Pentecostal Protestant Episcopal Jewish Christian, as  ZEN Buddhist, Pentecostal Protestant Episcopal Jewish Christian -- (by now I think I've covered my paths to enlightenment) -- I wish each of you Pesach shalom!  Jewish or not, we have all been slaves in Egypt.

May there be peace in Israel.  May there be peace in Iraq.  May there be peace in this country, our home.  May there be peace between thee and me.  May we all celebrate peace Next Year in Jerusalem! as well.  Amen.

Jay Leno: I'm Not an Asshole, I Just Play One on TV

Jay Leno has apologized for his crude attempt at humor employing homophobia and bigotry.  On March 19, Leno attempted to get Ryan Philippe, who portrayed one of the first openly Gay characters on daytime TV, to Gay it up for the camera.  "Say that camera was your gay lover," Leno said to Phillippe. "Give that camera your gayest look. Say that camera is Billy Bob who's just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming."   To his credit, Philippe declined the invitation. 

Leno, who considers himself above accusations of homophobia and racism because he has one Gay friend and one Black friend, was offended at the suggestion that he was homophobic.  It took a website devoted to his enlightenment that caused him to reconsider.

Pictured above is Armistead Maupin giving Leno his Gayest look.  And just below is one from me.  Leno has apologized for being crass and offensive.  Okay, I made that up.  What he said was "In talking about Ryan's first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong. I certainly didn't mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize."  No, Jay, it didn't come out wrong.  It just wasn't funny. 

Bill Clinton and Teh Gays

I don't care much for Bill Clinton.  Without asking my opinion on the subject, he announced to the world as a guest on MTV that he saw no reason to ban Gays from the military and that he was going to change things when he became President.  First of all, there's always been homosexuals in the military.  I speak from personal experience.  He fixed things, alright.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell became the military's latest club to beat Gays and Lesbians with in the armed services.  After DADT, the homophobes in the military went after Gays and Lesbians.  Not once did Bill Clinton speak up and provide leadership on the subject.  He can sit on his fat ass now and say he was protecting us all the fuck he wants to.  He abandoned us rather than risk any political capital on standing up for what is right. 

Now, between DADT and DOMA, there was a little March on Washington in the Spring of '93.  Anyone remember?  Remember how Bill and Hillary electrified the crowd with the promise of equal rights for everyone, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered included?  No?  Oh yeah, that's right.  Neither of them bothered to show up, send a message, phone, nothing.  In fact, they left town.  Thanks folks.

This photo is one of my favorite's from the March.

I've been a little friendlier towards Hillary this past year than I have towards Barack.  That is changing.  Each time Bill Clinton brags about how much he's done for "teh Gays," he loses more and more Gay and Lesbian support for Hillary.  He fucked us over and no amount of rationalizing is going to change how I feel about it.  Watch here how he tells us how much he did for us:

First, he misrepresents what DOMA does. He says it leaves marriage to the States. No, Bill, it doesn't. It prohibits the federal government from recognizing any same-sex marriage regardless of where it is performed. Canada, Massachussetts, Europe. Doesn't matter. Then watch Bill tell us that Gays and Lesbian couples will suffer disproportionately if states were forced to "sanctify" (whatever the fuck that means) marriages made in Masschussetts.

In my own personal history with protest, there has always been someone who argues that if we just make nice we'll get what we want eventually.  You Black people shouldn't make Whites nervous by demanding equal opportunities.  You anti-war people should ask people nicely to stop the war in Iraq, Vietnam, Israel, _____________(fill in the blank).  You Gay people should just be nice and beg for crumbs from mankind's table.  Afterall, we just stopped killing people like you a generation or two ago.  (What?  Oh, you're still killing us in some places.  Well I sure hope you don't start killing us here in the good ol' US of A.  Matthew Shepherd?  What about him?  That's surely an aberation.  How many did you say?)

Same-sex marriage is not nearly as important to me as the offense of excluding me from it is.  Marriage is not a "sanctified" institution.  Sorry, Bill Clinton.  Sanctified?  Oh fucking please.  Procreation?  As if Elizabeth Dole ever intended to let that ugly frog husband impregnate her.  Lifetime commitment?  Tell that to Britney Spears' 90-minute lifetime in Vegas a few years ago.  A couple of over-aged, over weight Lesbians wanting to give their children a bit of dignity by being "married" does not threaten a single heterosexual couple anywhere in the world. 

Sanctified.  Jeez.  Here we are in the year 2008 and our progressive leaders use fundamental Christian terms to describe issues.   LIke I said, this is not my big issue.  The bigotry that forbids same-sex marriage is what annoys me.  I've never once tried to get married so my access to it has never been blocked.  I "lack standing" as they say in the courts.  I don't expect Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to somehow make it legal for same-sex couples.  I'll take my chances with the evolution of opinion on the subject.  I do expect whomever the President is, that person will do everything possible to be sex neutral as it administers programs designed to strengthen families.  Getting rid of the Defense of Marriage Act would be a reasonable way to start.  Forget about Texas recognizing same-sex couples from Massachussetts.  How about the Federal government recognizing and protecting the sovereignty of the people of Masssachusetts? 

I'm ranting, aren't I?  I'm also late for work.  I may continue this thought later.  Bye bye.

I don't know, you tell me.

Same Sex Marriage Has Its Day at the California Supreme Court

I was walking in front of the building which houses the California Supreme Court on Tuesday when one of my staff attorneys asked me about the Gay marriage hearing.  It's NOT a hearing about Gay marriage, I answered.  It's about same-sex marriage.  No one cares whether the participants are Gay or straight.  The issue is about an individual's freedom to marry a person of his or her own choosing, something I believe is a fundamental human right.

Here are some of the more memorable lines from the morning's arguments.

"Same-sex couples have come here today to praise marriage, not to bury it. ... (They) yearn for the privacy and respect that only marriage can bring them." -- Attorney Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing 15 same-sex couples

"The state law defines marriage by whom it excludes." -- Chief Justice Ronald George

"Is it for this court to decide or is it for the people of California to decide?" -- Justice Carol Corrigan

"Why is this the moment of truth as opposed to 10 years from now?" -- Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar

"We submit that when the state is acting so aggressively to protect the rights of domestic partners and families, it's not irrational to maintain the definition of marriage that has stood the test of time." -- Deputy Attorney General Christopher Krueger, defending the state's marriage law

"Are you saying that separate is equal here?" -- Justice Carlos Moreno, questioning Krueger

"Words matter. Names matter." -- San Francisco Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, arguing for theimportance of defining a same-sex relationship as marriage

I thought there was some great lawyering taking place that morning, at least on the side arguing for same-sex marriage.  The first attorney up was Therese Stewart.  I noticed her at the hearing before the Court of Appeal panel.  She was smart and articulate.  I liked her then, and I liked her even more Tuesday morning.

New (to me) was Shannon Minter.  I thought he was spot on in his arguments and his answers to the Court.  He was also cute as a button.  When I went to Google to find out more about him, boy, was I in for a surprise. First, he's from East Texas, same as moi. Secondly, he graduated from Cornell Law School. Thirdly, he used to be a she. Shannon is a female-to-male transsexual, who underwent sexual reassignment surgery following law school. That is apropos of nothing, but I mention it out of pride of my community. There was recently a big brouhaha in the Gay and Lesbian community about whether or not transsexuals should be included in antidiscrimination laws being proposed. Many Gays and Lesbians, led by Massachussetts Congressman, Barney Frank, feel a great amount of discomfort with transsexuals and were all too happy to jettison them from the proposed bill. I had a strong negative reaction to that argument and to those in our community who were making it.

Here's a link to the blog, Legal Pad where the several lawyers arguing before the court are scored.  Gloria Alred's partner, Michael Maroko, received the highest score.  Scoring worst was the representative of the Attorney General, Michael Kreuger, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere doing anything else other than what he was doing.

Here's the bottom line:  we're winning.  This case is immaterial to that fact.  There has been a sea change in the attitude towards Gays and Lesbians and their rights to have their families recognized.  The bigots and their coharts are losing.