Dancing with Myself

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.

My Political Fantasy

If I have to endure another month, never mind seven or eight months--I'll have to be committed.  These past seven years have been a nightmare.  The Republicans have plundered the national treasury.  We have wasted hundreds of billion dollars on an unnecessary colonial expedition so poorly conceived as to have given no thought to what happens after we win a brilliant military victory?  We tortured anyone who fell into our claws regardless of guilt or innocence.  On the home front, they eviscerated environmental protection laws and sold our resources.  They have turned the  Federal court system, including the Supreme Court  itself, into  a rubber stamp that is ready to totally capitulate all of our individual rights at the slightest whim of the government in the name of National Security.  That's a topic unto itself.  National Security. 

If John McCain were to be elected in November, I will probably become a serious alcoholic.  So much is at stake in this election.  Look how well we did in recruiting candidates.  The first woman and the first African-American, both of whom are incredibly smart and prepared to lead the country from this morass. 

Instead of having a serious discourse on the problems and challenges we face in this country, our two candidates fight with an intensity that frightens the huge number of Democrats in this country who would be happy with either of them as candidates and would be even more thrilled with both of them on the ticket in either order.  Fat chance that.  By now their two egos have grown to the size of a medium sized state.  Each of them wants desperately to be President, much more than they just want us to recover from the past seven years.  And that's a fucking shame.

So here's my fantasy:  For the next seven months, each of the candidate assumes they have the nomination locked, and now they must unify their two bases by courting the other candidate to be his or her Vice President.  S/he must tell the American people just how great his/her opponent is and how well served would be the United States and all of the world by having that person working next to you as your partner.  Yes We Can would mean more than just you.  There would be a natural winner in such a contest.  That would be US, the people of this country who are hungry to believe in the possibility of fixing as much of the mess as we can.

Winning back the country in November is much more important than either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama's need to be President.  If only they could see that and take personal responsibility for keeping the next seven months positive.  The two sides should spend their time confronting the twin evils of racism and misogyny instead of practicing them. 

It's be nice to end this present nightmare with a pleasant dream.

Question for Barack Obama

Today's San Francisco Chronicle has a story about Obama not wanting to have his picture taken with Gavin Newsom, the Mayor of San Francisco.  According to the story, Obama didn't want to get cozy with the Mayor because of Gavin's decision to allow same-sex couples to get married.  Talk about chicken-shit! 

You call that BOLD leadership, Mr. Obama?  Screw you.  Our mayor made a very brave decision and forged ahead because he believed that to continue to deny same-sex couples the right to solemnize their relationships was an egregious wrong. 

We need a president who is bold and has vision.  Obama is not that person. 

UPDATE:  Do read the article and stay long enough to read the Comments.  The Little Obamatards sure have learned to play dirty politics quickly enough.  They're going crazy over there sliming Gavin Newsom.  None of the little fuckers have bothered to explain Obama's take on it, they just know that anyone who doesn't suck up to Kumbaya are evil and must be destroyed.

Can't you just see Obama as President, learning on Day Two that just because Democrats have a majority in both houses of Congress, it doesn't mean that HE has a majority in either house.  Anyone remember Sam Nunn shooting Clinton in the foot as Commander in Chief even before he was sworn in?  And how about Hillary's healthcare plan?  Was is JUST Republicans who shot it down?  No-o-o.  They had plenty of Democratic support.  And Obama thinks he's smarter than Bill Clinton?  Oh please.

It's nice to see people excited about the presidential contest.  I started as undecided.  I even voted undecided, in that I voted for Edwards (absentee).  I've never been real fond of Clinton (either of them), and I didn't know much about Obama.  The more I watch this campaign, the more I prefer Clinton.

Obama Wins in South Carolina!

Whoo, Whoo! 

I was on the computer reading blogs while listening to MSNBC dissect the South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary.   While most would see it as an Obama victory, Tim Russert and others of his ilk are practically triumphant in their characterizing it as a Clinton loss.

I like Barack.  He's not my favorite, but he'll do.  Same goes for Hillary.  She'll do.  I'm a marginalized voter.  I have only one issue:  the Supreme Court.  Because of that, I have to vote for whomever the Democratic Party's nominee for President is.  I am willing to compromise all of my other issues to this one.  The Republicans all are idiots when it comes to the Supreme Court.  Dangerous idiots.

This will be the first time in all of my voting life when my vote in the California primary actually has a value.  In the past, by the time we got to choose, the race was over.  The time previous to this when it mattered was 1968 when Bobby Kennedy won the primary, only to lose it to an assassin.

I've already voted, by the way.  I'm just happy that it might mean something.  Go John Edwards.

UPDATE:

This morning on Meet the Press, Maureen Dowd referred to Sen. Obama's victory speech in South Carolina as being "angry in tone."  I just watched it.  Didn't sound angry to me.  Except maybe ...  hey, maybe it's just me, but  some of the anger tone of Obama's Big Speech is deliberate.  A prophet heralding a new age has to have a touch of anger at the old age.  Otherwise, why is there a need for a new age?  Oh, and Maureen Dowd is a bloviating idiot blinded by her hatred of the Clintons.  She farts constantly and believes that she's singing.

I'm slowly being convinced that Sen. Obama will make a good candidate.  I mean no disrespect to Sen. Obama with this analogized question, but "what does the dog do when he catches the car it's been chasing?"  Seems to me that we need something more than just the dog pissing on the wheel.  I'm just saying, that's all.

Best Reason Yet to Vote for Hillary Clinton

If Hillary gets elected President of the United States, there will be a mass, simultaneous explosion of the heads of Andrew Sullivan, Maureen Dowd, Chris Matthews, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O'Reilly, unless they explode when she gets the nomination itself.  I seriously thought Chris Matthews might be close to having a stroke Tuesday night, but it was just a conniption fit.  Same goes for Dowd and Sullivan.  Most ridiculous thing Sullivan has said to date: 

I've tried to be gracious when appropriate. I have aired defenses of them. But I have to say this email has brought me up short in ways others have not. It isn't so much the content of my criticisms but the tone. I will probably fail to get the better of my emotions when it comes to the good Senator and ex-president. I'm a human being writing in real time with no filters. That's blogging. But, while not stinting on legitimate criticism, I'm going to try a little harder to be a little more temperate.  [Emphasis mine.]

Anyone want to add some additional names to this Rogues Gallery of Clinton haters?

So Many Good Choices

I'm glad Hillary won in New Hampshire, just as I was glad she lost in Iowa.  I just watched Obama's speech in New Hampshire.  I really like listening to that man preach.  The following song came to mind.  This is for you, Barack.

I'm not Hillary Clinton's biggest fan.  In fact, she is my fourth favorite of the candidates still in the race.  However, if she's the nominee of the Democratic Party, I will be her most enthusiastic supporter.  She's a good and honorable woman.  I do not understand the hostility many people have towards her.  I say to them, tell me why you like the person you're voting for.  I'm not interested in how much you hate the person you're voting against.  I would challenge you to honestly examine why you have such a visceral reaction to Hillary Clinton, who is, as I said already, a good and honorable woman.

Meanwhile, I'm hot for Barack.  Yes we can, Barack, yes we can.

 

Just What Did She Do, Anyway?

Karen Hughes, a long-time friend of G.W., one of the original Mayberry Machiavellians, is resigning at the end of the year.  For the past couple of years, she's taken a salary of over $100,000 while pretending to actually do something besides blowing hot air up Bush's ass.  I think her job was to go around telling Muslim countries that the U.S. is really a bunch of good guys, and that we only want to be friends.  And they paid her money for that?  I have a question:  what did she use as a measure of success?  Can she point to any accomplishments?  Did our image improve anywhere?  Oh yeah, assuming she had something to do with Laura Bush's recent tour of Middle Eastern countries, she got Mrs. Bush into a burqa.  Way to go Karen.

That's Laura, second from the front.  She's holding Condi's hand.  Oh, and that's Karen right behind Mrs. Bush.  I didn't recognize her at first.

Josh Marshall and crew over at TPM have put together a short clip on YouTube.  I had to share it.

Quote of the Day

From the mouths of idiots.

“This country’s in a rut — a rut that leads to endless war in Iraq, that leads to inevitable war with Iran.

The American people, and not just the Democrats, want to get our country out of this rut. The great majority of them want this election to take us to a new place, not just led by someone smarter along the same rut.

I promise to take us to that new place  Senator Clinton is smart. She’s hard-working. She’s serious. But every vote she has cast, every word she has spoken says “yes” to the status quo. She voted to approve the war with Iraq. She just voted with the hawks to target Iran. She always seem to choose the safe vote that leaves this country in the same rut, the rut of fearful politics and endless war.

I promise change. I promise a new approach. I promise deliverance from the rut of endless war in Iraq, inevitable war in Iran.

So there you have it. It’s for you, my fellow Democrats to decide. If you think Bush would have succeeded with his policies if they were better executed, then go with Senator Clinton. If you think the Bush policies were wrong, dead wrong, I’m with you.”

Chris Matthews, Monday night on Hard Ball

Pete Stark Aplogizes

Too bad.  I think he was spot on.  Boener is a disgusting piece of shit.  Oh, does anyone know how Pelosi voted?  She's so gung ho for supporting Bush and the Republican agenda, she probably voted to censure Pete.  I do not believe Congressman Stark needed to apologize.  Perhaps the Republicans in Congress remember this little bit of "humor" from the Draft Dodger in Chief.

Wanker of the Day

Andrew Sullivan is a pathetic piece of crap.  Today he tells us about how he was all for Bill Clinton before he was against him.  I don't remember that part of Sullivan.  I only remember 16 years of nastiness and bullshit coming from him about the Clintons.  His lying crap helped give us George Bush, twice.  Now he attacks Hillary at every opportunity, and it's okay with him if he has to make something up.

I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton, but Sullivan's inability to rationally deal with the Clintons is pathetic as it is sad.  Go get fucked without a condom, Sully.  You're into that shit, aren't you?  Go take some more steroids, perhaps it'll even things out in your paranoid little brain.  Oh, and Sully, Hillary's twice the woman you'll ever be, and more man than you'll ever have.