TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Random YouTubery: Tim Curry in The Worst Witch
[H/T to Shaker Chromosome Crawl, who sent it along with the note: "lol your 80's greenscreen."]
Pondering the absence of the Queen of Rancidity…
Crossposted from AngryBlackBitch.com.
A bitch has been working the front lines of this election battle in Missouri and this battleground shit is fierce! I keep telling myself that there will be time enough for sleep after November 4th.
Sigh.
Anyhoo, I couldn’t fall asleep last night and this bitch found my thoughts wandering to the current line-up of political pundits getting their talk on.
And it hit me that Ann Coulter has been missing in action.
Blink.
The last time a bitch saw the Queen of Rancidity on television she was vowing to vote for anyone but McCain.
Where for art thou Ann?
Don’t get me wrong…this Coulterless election season has been refreshing as a motherfucker. And its not as if others haven’t picked up the nastification slack in her absence.
I know that she’s still churning out outrageous shit somewhere, but a bitch hasn’t been assaulted by her presence on morning television for months. Mayhap the faithful aren’t buying her brand of chili the way they used to.
Pause…consider…continue.
Could it be that a new version of the Republican ‘fear the other and resist reality’ brand is being developed during this election cycle?
I was so sure Coulter would emerge when the Edwards sex scandal broke since she adores hating on all things Edwards…but, if she held a party a bitch sure as shit didn’t see anything about it.
‘Tis a mystery, for sure.
And a bitch wonders if the absence of Coulter, even as the presidential campaign dissolves into the kind of fear-based revival of the Red Scare that she’d usually be all over like a fly on shit, signals the emergence of a changing of the guard in the social conservative ig’nant rhetoric club.
Bitch may not be the new black…
…but mayhap Elizabeth Hasselbeck is the new Coulter.
First Lesson
A couple of weeks ago I said that talk-radio host Bob Grant set the standard for "too dumb to play dead in a cowboy movie." I stand corrected. He has been surpassed at warp speed by Sarah Palin.
How did she earn that honor? She told an interviewer on a conservative talk-radio show that being criticized by the media endangers her First Amendment rights.
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."I'll give you a moment to absorb that.
Okay, I'll type this slowly so even an elected official of one of our states can understand it: the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press. In other words, it makes sure that the mainstream media can do exactly what it is doing when it "attacks" her.
One heartbeat away, people.
Q&A
[Trigger warning.]
Question: What do Aaron P. Taylor and God have in common?
Answer: They both think naughty girls who have the audacity to flirt with boys deserve to be raped.
At least, that's what the good Christians of the Cedar Hill, Texas, Trinity Church's "Hell House: The Devil's Playground" would have mebelieve:
A girl makes friends with a guy on Facebook. They decide to go out on a date. When they meet, the guy brutally rapes her. A demon emerges from the shadows, sneering, and tells her she deserved it. It's her fault she was raped. She shouldn't have agreed to meet someone from one of those sinful online communities.Any Christians got a problem with these interpretations of scripture…? [At the link, Max shares the story of one group of local Christian teens who did and peacefully protested the Hell House. Right on.] I mean, I know that it's a "demon" telling the rape victim that she deserved it—but if there's no condemnation of the victim-blaming, isn't the takeaway message that bad girls get raped and then deservedly taunted by demons? If "God" doesn't endorse victim-blaming, then why isn't the scene a girl being told it's her fault she was raped, and then the blamer being smited?
Next up? A young girl is sexually assaulted by a family member and in despair commits suicide. She is promptly consigned to the fires of hell for an eternity of pain and suffering.
Welcome to Hell House - The Devil's Playground.
Wev. I can't spend any more time trying to parse this horseshit to make some kind of sense of it. It's like asking an actual piece of string to explain string theory and waiting for an answer.
Electorate
I was talking to a co-worker the other day about the upcoming election. We both lamented how we had problems with the prospective candidates. (My concerns are well-documented, should you be interested.) I didn't press her on her issues with McCain. I figure it's either the obvious stuff, or I really don't care. I'd have been more interested if she said she liked him, because that would have been something I was unable to comprehend, and I'm often intrigued by that which I don't understand.
But then we got to talking about Obama, and how she didn't trust him. A statement like that is hard to resist. "Oh?" I asked. "Why not?" She replied "He's too calm." Hmmm... I agreed, relating how I'd heard someone on NPR voice a concern similar, one that I've held as long as I've been aware of Obama. He is calm. He's almost passionless, at times. An even keel, for sure, and a brilliant counterpoint to McCain's zig zag clusterfuck of a campaign. I have felt, as did the bloke on NPR, that the accusation that Obama is "passionless" isn't too far off the mark. When has he ever stood up for anything that didn't seem politically expedient, when it wasn't the safe maneuver? Not that any of that matters, not that that is really relevant here. It was just a point I'd heard, agreed with, and communicated to my co-worker.
But apparently Mancow had got her thinking. (Yeah, I know, that should have brought the conversation to an end right there.) "He's too calm," she repeated. "Too calm?" I asked. "Yeah, almost like he's been trained."
Super. I have got to get to the bottom of this. And you know, I'm not one to bite my tongue. (Call me tactless, call me socially maladjusted, call me a crusader for truth. Whatever.) "Like he's a sleeper agent or something?"
"Yeah!"
That led to my final question before she left for lunch: "And what would be the point of a terrorist becoming president?"
"Because that's what they want."
Okay.
If you haven't already voted, please do so Tuesday.
Joe the Senator
So, longtime Shakers will know I've never been a huge fan of Joe the Biden, which is frankly quite the understatement, though I have come to understand him a little better, and I'm trying to take my evolving "good bits and bad bits don't cancel each other out, but coexist" approach with my feelings about Biden, too. VAWA good; offensive jokes bad. (Evidently this campaign has turned me into a Buddhist Frankenstein's Monster. Great.)
Anyway, one of the things by which I have actually been really tickled during this election, during my daily perusal of news photos, is seeing how much goddamned fun Barack Obama and Joe Biden seem to be having together. I was reminded of it by Lauredhel's Thursday Cheezburger, which used one of my favorite Obama-Biden shots from the campaign trail, where both of them are just totally cracking up while buying ice cream:
So, since lots of people have liked other recent photo essays, here's a collection of some of my favorite snaps of Obama and Biden on the campaign trail (with a couple of shots at the end of them having a laugh with another favorite Senator around these parts). Enjoy!
This picture of the two of them sharing a pretzel kills me:
And, as promised:
James Dobson Has Issues
Speaking of your gay blogaround...
Dr. James Dobson, the grand pooh bah of Focus on the Family, has issued a screed called Letter from 2012 in Obama's America in which, among other things, he envisions homosexuals having free rein in America.
Now in October of 2012, many of our freedoms have been taken away by a liberal Supreme Court and a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate, and hardly any brave citizen dares to resist the new government policies any more.Are you sensing a pattern here? Okay, how about an obsession? I mean, wow. Dr. Dobson is really and seriously hung up on gays and what he envisions they do to the point that he's way beyond what locking himself in the bathroom with a bottle of baby oil and a copy of the International Male catalogue could cure. And yet he has a media empire that stretches around the world, and Christianists hang on his every word.
[...]
The Boy Scouts no longer exist as an organization. They chose to disband rather than be forced to obey the Supreme Court decision that they would have to hire homosexual scoutmasters and allow them to sleep in tents with young boys.
[...]
Elementary schools now include compulsory training in varieties of gender identity in Grade 1, including the goodness of homosexuality as one possible personal choice.
[...]
There are no more Roman Catholic or evangelical Protestant adoption agencies in the United States. Following earlier rulings in New York and Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 ruled that these agencies had to agree to place children with homosexual couples or lose their licenses.
[...]
The Bible can no longer be freely preached over radio or television stations when the subject matter includes such 'offensive' doctrines as homosexual conduct or the claim that people will go to hell if they do not believe in Jesus Christ.
Trust me, I'd be a lot more worried if people like James Dobson were in charge than if the Supreme Court ruled that the LGBT community were, at long last, granted all the rights they are entitled to as citizens of the United States.
HT to David Waters.
Friday Blogaround
hey your gay blogaround
Recommended Reading:
BAC: Stop the War on Women Now!
Tanglethis: Focus Pocus
Daniel: More Fauxgressivism
Amanda: Why We Need Universal Health Care
Kevin: What Is Bob Kerry Smoking?
Andy: Wildlife Photography Awards Handed Out
Bookmark Alert: Jordan is compiling links to full texts of feminist works of fiction and nonfiction available on the Internet. Excellent resource.
Leave your links in comments...
From the Great Moments in Presidential Campaigning Files
This video was running pretty much on a loop on CNN and MSNBC last night, and I laughed every single time I saw it:
McCain: You know, we've learned more, we've learned more about Senator Obama's real goals for our country over the last two weeks than we learned over the last two years—and that's only because Joe the Plumber asked him the right question right here in Ohio! [cheers] That's when Senator Obama revealed he wants to, quote, [airquotes] spread the wealth around, [airquotes] spread your income around. Joe's with us today; Joe, where are ya? [looks around] Where is Joe? Is Joe here with us today? [looks around] Joe, I thought you were here today. [pause; audience murmurs] All right, well…you're all Joe the Plumbers! So all of ya stand up and say—[thumbs up]! I thank you.Ouch.
Cheese showed up at an event later in the day.
Shaker Gourmet: Samhain Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup
The recipe this week comes from the same book that the recipe last week came from!
If you'd like to participate in Shaker Gourmet, email me at: shakergourmet (at) gmail.comSamhain Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup
2 sweet potatoes (or yams), peeled or scrubbed, and diced
1 medium onion
1 -2 cloves garlic, Minced
2 Tbs butter or olive oil
4 - 6 cups vegetable stock or broth
1/3 cup canned or fresh cooked pumpkin
Freshly grated nutmeg and ginger, to taste
Salt to taste
1/2 cup light cream
Cook potatoes, onion, and garlic in the butter or oilve oil for several minutes until slightly golden. Add stock (or broth) to cover vegetables and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are soft, about 25 minutes.
Add pumpkin, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and puree this mixture in batches in a blender or food processor. Add in the cream and return mixture to the saucepan. Heath, thin with more stock/broth if necessary, to make a creamy soup. Serve in small hollowed-out pumpkins, with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.
Loose Cannon
In spite of the fact that a New York Times/CBS poll finds that Gov. Sarah Palin is a drag on the McCain candidacy (59% say she's not qualified for the job), Eugene Robinson notes that win or lose, we haven't seen the last of Sarah Palin.
The term loose cannon comes from the old days of naval warfare when the artillery got loose after firing on another ship, wreaking havoc on the deck of the ship that fired the shot, while the cannonball it fired usually fell harmlessly into the sea. As flashy and electrifying Sarah Palin may be on the stump, I predict that she will become more of a burden to the Republicans than she will to the Democrats. And she will give us in the blogosphere hours of endless fun and mockery.It's tempting to think of Palin as a kind of pop star, the latest flash in the pan who rockets to the top of the charts and then fades to obscurity -- Alec Baldwin referred to her as "Bible Spice" the other day. But that smug assessment ignores the evidence that she has the chops to be much more than a one-hit wonder.
Palin's introduction to the nation was disastrous, at least in terms of appealing to a constituency beyond the conservative wing of the Republican Party. It was obvious from the beginning that she wasn't remotely prepared for high national office. The red-meat Republican base was energized, but others saw McCain's decision to put her on the ticket as cynical and irresponsible.
Palin herself must have realized that her debut was premature. But as Vernon Jordan likes to say, "Opportunity is never convenient."
I should make clear that I believe Palin is wrong about basically everything, at least to the extent that we know what she really believes. The McCain campaign gave her a job to do -- slash, burn, fire up the base, accuse Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists," accuse Obama supporters of not living in "pro-America" parts of the country -- and she went out and did it. McCain's campaign rallies often have a sense of purpose and duty about them; Palin's have a sense of electricity.
[...]
That she wasn't ready to meet the national media became clear when she sat down with Katie Couric for those embarrassing sessions. But compare the bunny-in-the-headlights Sarah Palin of just a few weeks ago with the much more poised and confident Sarah Palin of today. Ignorance isn't the same thing as stupidity. When Palin talks about economic policy these days, her sentences don't meander into the Twilight Zone the way they once did. She has more to say about foreign policy besides the fact that Russia is just across the Bering Strait. She has learned much in a very short period.
And she will learn more. I predict we'll have Sarah Palin to kick around for a long, long time.
Bonus Track: Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, one of John McCain's senior advisers, offered a "stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin's capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise."
(Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.)
Important Announcement
If I see McCain sarcastically using air quotes one more fucking time, I swear to Maude I will "blow" a "gasket."
Addendum: If I have to spend the next four years listening to him saying "my friends," I am 99.4% likely to gouge out my eardrums with a rusty spanner.
You're Missing the Point...Which Is That You're Not Supposed to Challenge Anything I Say, No Matter How Ludicrous!
This has already been all over the blogosphere, but just in case no one's seen it yet, or anyone needs to have another laugh at it, here's video of McCain spokesperson Michael Goldfarb engaging in wanton fuckneckery during an interview with CNN's Rick Sanchez yesterday. I really don't understand why the media doesn't require such a basic qualification of wild assertions like this all the time. It makes for great TV, apart from anything else—like truth and accuracy, those little things. (Transcript is below, and thanks to Shaker Juliemania for passing it along.)
UPDATE: I forgot to mention this Joe Klein piece, in which he points out rather amusingly that Khalidi "is (a) Palestinian and therefore (b) a semite." And it should also be noted that Khalidi is "an entirely respectable, highly respected scholar" whose views, as John Judis notes in the video at the link, are shared by many leftist Israelis.
Sanchez: I just need to parse this out as best I can from ya, Michael. The fact that John McCain's organization gave $448,000 to this group that was founded by Mr. Khalidi—is there no reason for some to be critical of that as well, just as some might be critical of Barack Obama for being at a meeting with some girl who read a poem, for example?
Goldfarb: Look, you're missing the point again, Rick. The point is that Barack Obama has a long track record of being around anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American rhetoric.
Sanchez: Can you name one other person besides Khalidi who he hangs around with who is anti-Semitic?
Goldfarb: Yeah, he pals around with, with William Ayers, who is [crosstalk] a domestic terrorist.
Sanchez: William Ayers is not— No, no, I— The question I asked you is: Can you name one other person that he hangs around with who's anti-Semitic, because that's what you said.
Goldfarb: Look, we all know that there are people who Barack Obama has been in hot water—
Sanchez: Michael, I asked you name one person. One!
Goldfarb: Rick—
Sanchez: You said he hangs around with people who are anti-Semitic! You—okay, we got Khalidi on the table; give me number two. Who's the other anti-Semitic person that he hangs around with that we, quote, all know about?
Goldfarb: Rick, we both know who number two is.
[long pause]
Sanchez: WHO?!
[long pause]
Sanchez: Would you tell us?
Goldfarb: No, Rick. I think we all know who we're talking about here.
Sanchez: Somebody who's anti-Semitic that he hangs around with?
Goldfarb: Absolutely.
Sanchez: Well, say it!
Goldfarb: I think we know who we're talking about, Rick.
Sanchez: All right. Again, you charged that Khalidi is anti-Semitic; he would say that his policies on Israel differ from those of Barack Obama and many other people, but, either way, I guess we'll have to leave it at that. Michael Goldfarb, thanks so much. We really do appreciate it; this is a good discussion. We really do appreciate your coming here to talk to us.
Goldfarb: Thank you, Rick.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker flynd: What one thing do you immediately add to your environment to make it 'yours'?
Like - As soon as I buy a car, I put the fuzzy dice on the rearview.My workspace is always immediately recognizable as Melissa McEwan's by the abundance of Post-It notes. Classic pale yellow. Covered in scribbles of various things about which I need to remind myself, phone numbers, email addresses, titles of books that sound good, names of songs I need to own, post ideas, phrases that lose all meaning 10 seconds after I've written them down—two days later: "What the fuck does 'spangle brain on the lovely cucumber spot' mean?!"
Or - When I get a new job, the first thing I put on my desk is the picture of my dad.
Or - The apartment wasn't home until I hung the Thomas Kincaid painting over my futon.
They are everywhere.
Oof
Fred Bramante, Member of McCain's New Hampshire Leadership Committee and 2008 Alternate RNC Delegate, Endorses Barack Obama for President: "His endorsement marks the first time nationally that a delegate or alternate delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention has publicly announced their decision to support Sen. Obama."
lol your party hates you
[H/T to Shaker MaryB.]
The World Watches With Bated Breath
The Economist, which today endorsed Barack Obama, has on its site a Global Electoral College Map, showing how the world would vote if it could.
Obama is currently crushing McCain 9,048 electoral votes to 324. The only indubitably red nation in the world is Iraq.
Not exactly a scientific model, but it's still pretty interesting. Explanation is here.
Yes We Can (Answer Letters)
[Please note new "Blub Alert" icon—and consider yourself duly warned.]
Shaker Constant Comment just sent me this story, which, had it happened to me when I was 7, would have been like my birthday, Halloween, and Christmas all rolled into one:
A little more than a month [ago], teacher Joyce Ben-KiKi had [7-year-old Aron Mondschein and his second-grade classmates] each send letters to a famous person as part of a language arts lesson. Ben-KiKi wrapped the exercise around well-known children's book character "Flat Stanley," so along with the letters, the children each tucked a Flat Stanley figure they had made into each envelope.Two other boys in the class also wrote letters to Obama, and they received replies shortly afterward.
"I told them not to expect a letter back," Ben-KiKi said. "I told them these people are very busy and most likely will not write back."
The list of recipients was impressive: Yankee third basemen Alex Rodriguez; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz; Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain. [Aron wrote his letter to Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.]
Obama was the only one to write back.
…Obama's three-page letter to Aron described Flat Stanley's visit with him and his staff in Washington, D.C. It chronicled their busy day together, which included coffee with constituents, a Senate committee meeting and a trip to the gym. It also had historical facts about the U.S. Capitol, details of Obama's job and a confession from Obama.
"Sometimes I get a little nervous before talking in front of a crowd, but Flat Stanley helped me practice the speech," Obama wrote. "He made me recite it in front of him and then even gave me some advice so the speech would go smoothly. Flat Stanley is really a great coach."
Amy Mondschein, who is Aron's mother, says she and her husband rarely talk politics at home, except to teach Aron "that everybody has a choice in the election, and we have to respect that. It's their right to like whichever candidate they do and that's the way it is in the United States. That's why we live here." He excitedly told her the other day: "Mommy, when I'm 18 I get to vote."
Given this post, you can imagine how I feel about that.
[As an aside, this should go without saying, and yet probably doesn't: I'm not presuming Obama actually took time himself to write the letters, although he probably did sign them. I'm crediting him with running a campaign in which stuff like this gets paid attention to. It's not always the case. Hillary Clinton also has a great reputation for details like these, as another example. I don't know and have never spoken to anyone involved in Obama's campaign, but I do know some people who work for Clinton, and I obviously know some people who worked for John Edwards, and there are serious efforts made within campaigns who prioritize responsiveness to respond to as many people as possible.]
Caption This Photo
Mac and Cheese
Joe Wurzelbacher, also known as 'Joe the Plumber', with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, waves during a McCain campaign stop in Sandusky, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Sunday School, Thursday Edition: Bible Stories With Deeky: Moses and the Golden Calf, Parts 1 & 2
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there once was a boy named Moses. He survived a very late-term (fourth trimester) abortion at the hands of a Muslim and enemy of freedom named The Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was a pro-abortion baby-hater and advocate of same-sex marriage. Needless to say, he had no business being around children, so Moses's caretaker (Grandma Moses) chucked him in the Nile. Because he loved the baby Jesus and prayed a bunch, Moses was not eaten by crocs, but instead rescued and made an honorary Egyptian.
That was all cool until God got a wild hair and decided to start giving a shit about the Israelites and commanded Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. The Egyptians didn't like this idea because they were lazy and didn't like to do anything themselves and had made all the Jews their slaves. "Sucks to be you," said Moses and told Yul Brenner they were gonna book. Yul was pissed and asked Allah to stop them, but Moses's God was bigger than Yul's God and He put the serious smackdown on the Egyptians.
God unleashed the Ten Plagues™ on Egypt which included: rivers of blood, raining frogs, prop comics, stubbed toes, and halitosis. God even killed all the Egyptian babies, just to show he wasn't fucking around. (As if raining frogs wasn't proof enough.) God's pro-life street cred was not tarnished by that last one. This was later made into a movie starring Hilary Swank.
So, Moses and the Israelites wandered the desert for forty years. There was no MapQuest back then. And even though God had no problem raining fire and locusts down on an entire country, He couldn't be bothered to give Moses a fucking compass.
While camped out near Mt. Sinai, God turned into a burning bush, and told Moses to come visit him up at his ski cabin in the hills. He had something for him. Moses put his son in charge while he was on vacation, which turned out to be just like that movie Risky Business, where all hell breaks loose while Dad is away.
Moses's son Aaron went around the village and demanded everyone give him their bling so he could melt it down into a statue of a calf. This was not socialism, by the way. The Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf, and when Moses got back, boy was he pissed! As it turns out, that was at the top of The List of Very Bad Things he had just been given by God. Moses then smashed the Golden Calf and killed everyone who had worshipped it. "Sucks to be you."
The moral of this story: Worshipping God = Good. Worshipping Idols = Bad. (Also, Don't fuck with God, he kills babies.)
Fast-forward 9,000 or so years.
Nouveau-Israelite, God Channel TV host and biblical scholar Cindy Jacobs attempted to prove you can serve God and Mammon. How? By worshipping a Golden Calf. Like Moses, God speaks directly to her, and He recently said "Nevermind all that shit I wrote in the Ten Commandments, get a bunch of people down to Wall Street, tout de suite. I need you to get your prayer on. And I hate gays."
The ever-obedient Jacobs put together the Day of Prayer for the World's Economies, which culminated with the laying of hands upon Wall Street's Golden Bull yesterday. (See image here.) God responded with a 2% increase on the Dow Jones.
Hallelujah.
Demockrasee
I just got back from voting. Yay, me.
The library that I went to obviously wasn't prepared for today. I wouldn't say there was chaos, but the line wound around the library in a really ridiculous fashion, and when you finally got to the room with the voting machines, everything was a mess. Still, I waited patiently (glad I brought a book) for two hours, and cast my vote.
Electronic voting machine.
Ugh.
The little paper printout on the side reassured me a little bit, but I just have too much mistrust for these things to feel completely relaxed. However, upon returning to my office, Melissa had sent me this link that made me feel better.Yesterday we posted a quick round-up of the various voter-suppression schemes being pushed by Republicans in swing states around the country. And after looking at the list, one thing quickly becomes clear: most of the efforts have failed.
It's a nice little list of various vote suppression schemes that aren't working, so if you need a little pick-me-up, check it out. This isn't to say, of course, that all of them are failing, so we must remain alert and ready to stop this whenever it happens. Examples:
Meanwhile, hilariously, Michelle Malkin (no link, you know where to find her if you must) is continuing to gripe about voter fraud, but her big issue is this evil, sinister, horrible, vote suppressing button available at The Gap:
This button, by the way, was designed by John Waters.
Sometimes life is beautiful.
Update: I just looked at some of the comments on Malkin's post about this button, and I started laughing so hard at this one that I had to step out of my office for a moment:Did anyone else notice that there is red on the top of the button and many stars as well? Perhaps i’m off on a limb, but is it possible they are sending subconscious communist propaganda?
I wish I could buy John Waters a drink, right now.
Here is a picture of two men who hate each other.
So the media keeps telling me. And I believe it—because they look like they will tear each other's throats out any moment now…!
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks with former president Bill Clinton at a rally at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
(More like: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former president Bill Clinton grin like they're hopped up on goofballs from a combination of exhaustion and ZOMG we might actually win this thing.)
Money Well Spent?
The Obama campaign reportedly paid around $3 million to air their 30-minute commercial last night. So how'd it work out?
The combined overall household rating for Senator Barack Obama’s Wednesday night infomercial, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 21.7.$3 million to reach more than 1 out of 5 households across the country sounds like a pretty good investment. (I'm kind of surprised it was that cheap—although politicians do get the bargain-basement ad rates.)
I've read a few people complaining about the expenditure—in almost every case the rhetorical is about how many hungry children that could feed. Well, $3 million could indeed feed lots of hungry children, but a McCain administration would undoubtedly, like the Bush administration, create millions more hungry bellies, under the age of 18 or not, across the nation. So, in the long view, the investment makes sense, if it helps Obama beat McCain—and if Obama's going to pursue policies that reverse that trend (which is probably the one thing I feel most comfortable trusting he'll do).
None of that changes my belief that presidential campaigns should be 90 days with a maximum expenditure of like 30 bucks. (Okay, maybe a little more than that.) But within the current state of campaign law and practice, it was justifiable. Reasonable within an unreasonable paradigm. And, by the way, perhaps the greatest incentive for the GOP to start seriously advocating campaign reform, now that there's a Dem on the scene who's gaming the system more successfully than they are. Oh, the irony.
What do you think?
Action Item
Shaker LizardOC emailed me that there was a DOS attack on the No on 8 website, which is the main informational and fundraising portal for the No on 8 campaign.
I'm getting to the No on 8 website just fine now, but it's a good reminder about the reality that activism isn't free. It costs money to maintain a website—never mind the costs of the extremely important campaign it's supporting to protect marriage equality in California.
So, if you can, go to No on 8 or Equality California's No on 8 donation page and make a donation.
Teaspoons ahoy!
UPDATE: Also give some love to Vote No on Prop 102 in Arizona, Vote No on Act 1 in Arkansas, and Vote No on Amendment 2 in Florida! (Thanks, Shaker LibraryPrincess!)
Spying and Terrorism are Hilarious
John McCain is a huge jackass. I know that's like the hugest "duh" of all time at this point, but I'm running out of ways to convey my well-earned contempt for him.
For those who can't hear the audio at the link, here's a transcript of the relevant bit:
Reporter: Senator McCain's day began with a round of interviews on some of Miami's popular Spanish-language radio stations. One of the hosts, Enrique Santos, told McCain he was planning to cast his ballot the next day and remained undecided.Of course it was. Because spying on American citizens and terrorism are fucking hilarious. Just like bombing Iran, murdering Jon Stewart, calling Hillary Clinton a bitch, domestic violence, and rape are fucking hilarious.
McCain: We have surveillance cameras, and we'll know how you vote, okay? [laughter] So, you, uh, I would suggest, if you vote the wrong way, you hire someone to start your car tomorrow morning. [laughter]
Reporter: That was a joke.
Quite an awesome sense of humor that guy's got.
[H/T to Shaker Denise in comments.]
Daily Kitteh
Shaker Darla's friend Elaine rescued a mother and her kittens recently and is committed to finding all five kittens good homes. She's already paid for the first round of shots, and is desperate to find adoptive parents for these little dolls, so if you're interested, and are near (or can get to) the Madison, NC area, email me and I'll put you in contact with Elaine. (UPDATE: Elaine also adds she'd be willing to drive 3 hours one way to meet someone with a kitten.)
Hi there! We were born under a bush next to Elaine's front door. My mom is scared of humans, so she picked out a really nice bush for us to hide under. When the humans in the house found us, they got very nervous and were afraid we might be eaten by a nasty opossum. So they saved us and put us in a warm bed on the porch.
Now the humans feed us from a bottle three times a day to give my mom a break. And she does the rest. My mom is starting to trust the humans more, because she realizes they are here to help us grow strong and healthy. She sits close to the humans now, and watches over us as they try to feed all 5 of us with just two bottles. It can get a little messy sometimes.
Like all kids, though, kittens grow up fast and our mom can't take care of us forever. We need to find humans who love fluffy, adorable kittens and will raise them as their own. We promise to use the litter box, leave your Christmas ornaments on the tree, and purr in your ear every night. Will you help us? Unlike our mom, we are not afraid of humans. We love to cuddle. We will love you.
If you can take one of us home, email Liss.
Quote of the Day
He said, "I’m tired of these judges who want to follow what the Founding Fathers said and the Constitution. I want judges who have a heart, have an empathy for the teenage mom, the minority, the gay, the disabled. We want them to show empathy. We want them to show compassion." - Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) on Barack Obama's judicial appointment philosophy.
In the first place, I can't find any record of Barack Obama saying any such thing.
And second, it's not "the gay," Senator. It's "teh gay." If you're going to bash us, at least get it right.
Dora the Voter
North Charleston Woman Uses Last Moments In Life to Vote:
Very little was missing in Dora Fitzgerald's 93 years of life, she had a marriage of 65 years and family that spreads generations, but politics was never a passion until the final year of her life.Mrs. Fitzgerald was born before American women had the right to vote. That women born pre-suffrage and children of slaves are voting in this election, it really underlines how immediate that history still actually is, and why this election has been fucking awesome for so many people.
"She was very moved for Barack Obama's passion for fixing things, and his articulate way of delivering his message and she just decided she was going to vote for him," said her daughter, M. Fitzgerald. …"She said I don't know if I'm going to live that long, but I plan on sticking around to vote for him."
Fearful that November was too long to wait, her daughter sent for an absentee ballot. It arrived last week.
"She made her mark, and we put it in the envelope, my brother and I walked to the mailbox, it was 11 o'clock Wednesday morning and I said 'Mom it's in the mail, you've done your thing, Barack's going to win,' and she kind of smiled and it was kind of a deep sigh, a sigh of relief, and in less than an hour later, she died," said M. Fitzgerald.
…Mrs. Fitzgerald was born in 1915 and according to her family, she voted in 19 presidential elections.
[H/T to Shaker CJ_in_VA.]
Dire
McCain loses Thatcher voter (!) Anne Applebaum, prompts George Will to go off on him, and can't even secure the endorsement of Francis Fukuyama; says Emptywheel: "That's right, the guy who literally wrote The End of History has figured out that Barack Obama is history in the making." Zoinks.
Though I'm not sure anything makes McCain look more destined to lose than his own campaign preemptively scapegoating their veep nominee for a loss that has yet to happen.
On the Campaignvertisement
I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's Comment is free America about Obama's broadcast last night:
[R]ealizing that millions upon millions of people, more than I ever would have imagined at the outset of this thing (and how pleased to have been wrong I am) across the nation were concurrently noting his presidentialicious deportment, I considered how genuinely amazing it is that in less than a week, America could have its first-ever African-American president-elect. The enormity of it enveloped me as I watched – and letting myself be overcome with (dare I say it?) hope, felt thrilling and scary and silly and profound at the same time, and most of all reckless.Read the whole thing.
As I am a progressive, a feminist, and typically a Democratic voter who voted for Bill Clinton just because I hoped to have Al Gore as my president someday (sob), one could say I've become rather adept at managing my political expectations – a self-defence mechanism exacerbated by the grim steeliness required to manage the despondence induced by eight interminably long years of wretched Bushery. The resulting abnegation of unfettered hopefulness has meant that it's really only been in the past couple of weeks I've allowed myself to contemplate the increasingly likely possibility of a President Obama.
Now that the rigid containment of my expectations, in preparation for and fear of yet another Republican administration, starts to slack with the encouragement of enticing polls and the promising echoes of what sounds suspiciously like a death rattle emanating from the McCain campaign's general direction, there emerges a glimmer of Hope.
Are You Experienced?
The latest McCain ad asks,
Would you get on a plane with a pilot who has never flown? Would you trust your child with someone who has never cared for children? Would you go under with a surgeon who has never operated?The job of President of the United States is unique. So by their logic, the only person qualified to be elected president is a former president.
By the way, given John McCain's history of crashing jets, using the pilot analogy is probably not a good idea.
HT to TPM...and Jimi Hendrix.
(Cross-posted.)
David Tennant leaving Doctor Who
Sad news for some Doctor Who fans:
Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year.There's a video interview at the link. The person who get tapped to be the next Doctor will have some big shoes to fill.
He made the announcement after winning the outstanding drama performance prize at the National Television Awards.
"When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won't be with me," he said.
[...]
Tennant will appear in a Christmas special, titled The Next Doctor, before filming four more specials in January.
"They'll be the four last stories that I do," he said.
Hmm
and made a huge mess on the office floor?
Hmm?
Might you know anything about this, Livsy?
You can run, but you can't hide, Sophs.
Seriously.
Don't think I don't see you, Tilsy.
This is a three-puss job if ever I saw one.
Another Reason to Vote for Obama
Well, now I know where a lot of people are going to be spending eternity: in Pitchfork City. According to Janet Porter, you cannot be a Christian and vote for Barack Obama, and if you do, you're going to Hell.
To all those who name the name of Christ who plan to willfully disobey Him by voting for Obama, take warning. Not only is our nation in grave danger, according to the Word of God, so are you.Actually, I guess for those of us who don't call ourselves Christian -- at least on her terms -- we don't have anything to worry about; it's only the Christians like her that have to plan on sweatin' to the oldies with Old Scratch if they vote for Mr. Obama. And it looks like it lets the Jews and the Muslims and the Hindus and everybody else who doesn't meet her rather un-Christian standards (what was that bit about "judge not lest ye be judged"?) off the hook, too. Hey, free pass, everybody!
[...]
To those who call themselves by the name of Christ who ignore what God says about life and marriage, who and are clinging to a fantasy of economic gain, think again.
Obama will use your tax dollars to kill innocent children, and then he'll take your paycheck and use it to "spread the wealth around."
[...]
Be forewarned: If you willfully disobey God on life and marriage because of race or false hope for the economy, you will usher in the kind of change that brought the Soviet Union to collapse.
[...]
If the word of God matters more to you than your perception of personal gain, Joel 2:12 issues a call to repentance I pray you will heed:"Now, therefore," says the LORD, 'Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning'" (Joel 2:12).Then obey Him in the voting booth and out of it. If not, do us all a favor and quit calling yourself a Christian.
I wonder; when God calls Ms. Porter, what name shows up on the Caller ID?
HT to Pam.
(Cross-posted.)
Caption This Photo
Obama reveals the secret move he will to use to best opponent
Johnny McCain in the final moments of the fight: The Crane.
Daily Kitteh
The Laddercat Chronicles: In which Sophie shows off how she loves to climb, run up and down, and occasionally just hang out on the rungs of the dining room chairs.
Quotes of the Day
"Equality, which is the primary value of the left, is a European value, not an American value."—Revolting fuckneck and rightwing radio megadouche Dennis Prager.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [humans] are created equal."—Dirty European leftist scumbags John Adams, Samuel Adams, Josiah Bartlett, Carter Braxton, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Samuel Chase, Abraham Clark, George Clymer, William Ellery, William Floyd, Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge Gerry, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, John Hancock, Benjamin Harrison, John Hart, Joseph Hewes, Thomas Heyward, Jr., William Hooper, Stephen Hopkins, Francis Hopkinson, Samuel Huntington, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lewis, Philip Livingston, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Thomas McKean, Arthur Middleton, Lewis Morris, Robert Morris, John Morton, Thomas Nelson, Jr., William Paca, Robert Treat Paine, John Penn, George Read, Caesar Rodney, George Ross, Benjamin Rush, Edward Rutledge, Roger Sherman, James Smith, Richard Stockton, Thomas Stone, George Taylor, Matthew Thornton, George Walton, William Whipple, William Williams, James Wilson, John Witherspoon, Oliver Wolcott, and George Wythe.
Write to Marry Day: I Want All These Things for Him
My best friend is a gay man.
When I was 15, there only needed to be one other person in a high school of 3,000 who carried a copy of Camus' The Stranger under his arm and knew down to his bones what I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar really means to make the world perfect, and I found him, or he found me, and so it was.
Two peas in a pod, attached at the hip, like-minded misfits in mail-order t-shirts and Doc Martens, whose collective nirvana was making light-headed pilgrimages to Wax Trax records to browse their dusty bins for long-awaited releases or rare bootlegs, shuffling among the other angsty shoegazers there for the same purpose. We dyed our hair and graffitied our leather jackets with images of the deities—The Smiths, The Cure, Siouxsie. Our tribe. We staked out our place among them and locked arms.
The world, or rather finding our places in it, has gotten a lot more complicated since then, but navigating it together makes it infinitely easier, because he is the kind of friend that everyone should be fortunate enough to have. He has seen me at my absolute worst—embarrassing, shameful stuff; he has known me to be stubborn, hurtful, uncompromising, inconsiderate, irrational. He has known me to lie. Some of it was directed at him. Some of it caused huge fights. And he has, graciously, forgiven me every time, because he made our friendship worth earning his forgiveness.
He has also seen me at my best, which, in the weird way of the criminally shy, is sometimes even harder for me to fully share than my worst. But he knows my heart truly, in the way few people do.
I have seen him at his worst and his best, too.
Our intertwined lives have left me with indelible memories of all the things we've done as a duo—writing an underground paper together, writing a shitty screenplay together, making silly movies together, living together, working together, vacationing together, attending innumerable concerts together, celebrating our 9-days-apart birthdays, seeing thousands of films, getting drunk, doing drugs, hanging out, wasting time, spending nights talking 'til dawn, laughing until we are gasping for air and swearing we shall never recover.
And then there's the stuff that happened to us individually, for which the other stood by, cheering for triumphs and helping pick up the pieces after disasters. The 18 years, more than half our lives, we've spent as confidants, conspirators, and comrades have, after all, spanned the years during which we stumbled along the uneven path toward adulthood—and it's a path along which he came out, I was raped, and both of us fell in and out of love, sometimes in spectacularly heartbreaking fashion.
I was married and divorced young. He was my best man at my wedding, and the only person in whom I could totally confide when my marriage really began to fail, making him the best man at my divorce, too. I swore off marriage—but when I met and fell in love with a Scotsman, and our being together depended on getting that piece of paper, my best friend was there to go out with us for burgers after our 10-minute ceremony at the courthouse.
Someday, I would like to be his Matron of Honor.
Or his Best Woman. Whatever he wants to call me.
I want to help plan his bachelor party; I want to organize a shower; I want to help plan the most beautiful, elaborate, over-the-top wedding extravaganza or the trip to the courthouse or whatever he wants in between. I want to see him stand beside a man that he loves, as I've been able to do, and have their relationship legally recognized. I want to see him kiss the groom, lingeringly and lovingly. I want to give a toast at the reception where I announce that I can already feel his gay marriage undermining the sanctity of mine, and watch him laugh while he snuggles in against his new husband's shoulder.
I want all these things for him. And there's no reason, not a one, why he shouldn't have them. Which is why I'm going to keep on working my one little teaspoon to do whatever I can to make sure he does.
I wasn't sure how I was going to end this piece, but my dear best friend—who doesn't even know that I'm writing it, and who recently ended a long-term relationship—just now, as I wrote, serendipitously sent me the following e-card:
"Just a reminder..... ;-)" he added, and signed it "Chewbacca."
I'm working on it, doll.
[Originally published in June as part of the ACLU Symposium on LGBT rights. Click on the picture at the top of the post, or here, for the complete collection of Write to Marry Day posts.]
Palin's Selective Terrorism Definition
I've got a new piece at The Guardian's Comment is free America about Sarah Palin's refusal to identify abortion clinic bombers as terrorists.
[Palin] effectively redefined "terrorist" as "Bill Ayers", and then asserted to judge whether anyone else is a terrorist exclusively by how closely they hew to what defines Ayers as a terrorist. Thus, only if one campaigns to destroy public buildings and innocent Americans (we'll come back to that one) are they in the same "category of Bill Ayers". That's a wonderfully convenient way of defining terrorism for Palin, who wants desperately to smear her opponent as a terrorist sympathiser – not so great a method for the rest of us, who don't have any investment in defining terrorists singularly by their resemblance to Ayers.Read the whole thing. (There's video and a transcript of the interview here, if you missed it.)
Second, she makes a careful note about the destruction of "innocent Americans" – a caveat that seems drawn specifically to provide an exception for people ("real Americans", perhaps) who blow up buildings full of not-so-innocent Americans.
Like, say, women getting abortions.
In Which I Give Yet Another Glimpse Into How Well and Truly Fucked I'm Going to be if Obama Doesn't Win on Tuesday
Earlier today, I said in comments:
[Obama's candidacy] has been, for me, a continuing lesson on what are and what are not mutually exclusive concepts. Being unthrilled about certain policy positions and tactics, sometimes unthrilled even to the point of feeling like we're taking a step backwards, and regarding his candidacy as yet a step forward in other ways, aren't mutually exclusive.That's not a "lesser of two evils" argument; it's not a comment about compromise, or balance, or taking what we can get, either. It's about coexistence and complexity, and opening myself up to both in a way I haven't before—in no small part because I've never had the need nor the chance, offered as I've been prior to this election only straight, white, wealthy men who were symbols of nothing but social stagnation at the upper levels of our government.
Reconciling that with my tendency to view candidates as either singularly Progressive or Not Progressive has been an important learning experience for me.
For a long time, I wasn't quite sure how to work out what to make of this opportunity given to me, to see forward and backward and running in place so vividly all in the same candidate. (I certainly would have had the same problem if Clinton had ended up our nominee.) But moving into a space where I can simultaneously feel desperately excited about the forward, while feeling the usual disappointment and occasional fury about the same old and back, has been good. And liberating.
It feels like the first time you really understand how to keep loving someone even after you've seen their flaws.
It's almost like I'm a real grown-up or something.
Anyway, this is all a roundabout way of saying that Kevin's got an interesting and thought-provoking short video documentary over at his place about redefining black masculinity, made by filmmaker Byron Hurt, that you should check out (and I second Kev's caveats in his intro). Some of the ideas presented therein are closely associated with that learning experience I described above…
Fuck Electronic Voting
Check, double check, triple-check your ballots. Fill out a paper one if you can. Make sure you're counted.
Democrats, if you lose this one, you only have yourselves to blame.
(Edit: By "Democrats," I mean our representatives, not Democrat voters.)
(Energy dome tip to tristero.)
You Can Vote However You Like
Shaker Sam just left a link to this stupendous (and beautifully germane) video of the Ron Clark Academy presidential debate in the comments of my earlier post, There's Something You Need to Understand About Me.
I could just sit here and watch that all day.
(If someone can find a transcript of the lyrics, please drop a link in comments.)
Wednesday Blogaround
What's the frequency, Shakers?
Recommended Reading:
Renee: JC Penny's Doesn't Do "Black Hair"
bfp: random moment of irritation #2
The Rotund: A Lovesong to My Stretch Marks
Phil: Stupid Human Tricks
Craig: My Home Among the Hills
Digby: Charles Meets Barack (For anyone who didn't see it after Shaker Cay's rec, in comments.)
And Redstar is back!
Leave your links in comments...
Beyond Marginalized
On Monday, I wrote about a fuckneck in West Hollywood who hung an effigy of Sarah Palin from a noose outside his home as a Halloween decoration and defended it as art.
Yesterday, the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, via spokesperson Steve Whitmore, said that the effigy "doesn't rise to the level of hate crime," because it was part of a Halloween display—and also:
Whitmore said that potential hate crimes are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If the same display had been made of a Barack Obama-like doll, for example, authorities would have to evaluate it independently, Whitmore said.Pack up your teaspoons, feminists! Turns out the institutionalized misogyny we've been busily combating is imaginary! What a relief.
"That adds a whole other social, historical hate aspect to the display, and that is embedded in the consciousness of the country," he said.
Well, he's right about one thing, anyway—the "social, historical hate" toward women quite evidently isn't "embedded in the consciousness the country." Increasingly, I'm beginning to wonder if misogyny and the national consciousness have even been properly introduced yet.
There's Something You Need to Understand About Me
I have a hard-on for democracy.
Voting is about the closest thing there is to a sacrament in my secular little world; I don't have any holiday rituals, but I do have an Election Day ritual. Even though the vote I cast in the primary earlier this year was the first time my vote (mine) ever had the potential to matter—because I've always voted in a formerly red or decidedly blue state—I have always been excited to vote. I take the right and the responsibility seriously; I learn about the political and cultural issues in every campaign down to the infinitesimal details, and I consider just what I'm voting for as well as what I'm voting against, e.g. the tactics by which any candidate came to be in her or his position.
I've told the story before of my dad's (half-joking) concern for my social future when I was 17 and focusing my energies on knowing the politics of Tennessee Senators, just mentioned yesterday my firm childhood belief that memorizing the list of American presidents was a great patriotic act, and, in answer to last night's QotD about earliest memories of presidential politics, I'd say when my mom explained the concept of democracy to me in basic outlines after I saw a Schoolhouse Rock about the American Revolution; I can still remember feeling total and complete awe that one day I'd get to help elect the president.
I come from a family of teachers and cops and mail carriers and government bureaucrats and social workers and political strategists and soldiers and war protestors and poets and journalists. We are Democrats and we are Republicans and we are Independents, leaning either right or left; we are Americans and ex-pats and immigrants; we are religious and atheist; and we are all engaged with our government, even those of us whose paychecks aren't signed by Uncle Sam.
I despair at the existence of citizens who don't care, who are derelict in their duty of paying attention and holding their government accountable and being informed enough to make wise decisions. I despair at the state of our media, that requires plowing through ten tons of shit to get good information. I despair at our two-party system, and both the Democrats' and the Republicans' intractable determination to thwart a more vibrant democracy to retain their stranglehold on the government.
And because I despair at these things, I feel joy when I see people who are engaged despite them. I admire people who try to make a difference in this world, who understand intimately that the personal is political and that politics are—and should be—personal to us all. I love seeing people who are enthusiastic about and inspired by a candidate, people who are fired up, and I love getting fired up about a candidate myself, even though I know there's no such thing as a perfect candidate, and I will always be disappointed to one extent or another.
Democracy at its best is, after all, unlimited optimism shot through with a cold streak of cynicism. Deliver your candidates to their offices on your shoulders, to the sound of hopeful cheers, then hold their feet to the goddamned fire with the ruthlessness of someone whose very life depends on competent and compassionate governance.
Because it quite possibly does.
That is the way I have always practiced democracy. That is the way I will always practice democracy.
Celebratory. Cynical.
When I am critical of a candidate, it does not mean I regard that candidate as wholly without merit. When I am complimentary of a candidate, it does not mean I regard that candidate as wholly without flaws.
And when I post stories about people like Amanda Jones … or when I post images of girls who are engaged in the political process, especially in a year when we have seen such a shocking abundance of discouraging reasons for girls and women to disengage from politics … or when I recommend a beautiful post about what this election means to one little boy … or when I post a collection of images from a rally that is truly the best of what democracy has to offer, that includes an amazing image like this:
…it doesn't have anything at all to do with one specific candidate, except insomuch as that candidate provides the opportunity for the stories or the pictures. It is about Amanda Jones. It is about the children in those pictures. It is about celebrating our democracy, for which I have a huge old hard-on and always, always will. It's about my excitement to find other people who are engaged, and to whom politics is personal, and meaningful, and occasionally awe-inspiring, too.
Because democracy is also at its best when practiced by a passionate electorate who doesn't underestimate the right and the responsibility they hold—and evidence of like minds thrills me, way more than any candidate ever has.
This is something you need to know about me, so I thought I'd tell you plainly.
Carry on.
Wish List
Pat Buchanan is out with his predictions of what will happen in the first 100 days of the Obama administration:
* Two or three more liberal activists of the Ruth Bader Ginsberg-John Paul Stevens stripe will be named to the Supreme Court. U.S. district and appellate courts will be stacked with "progressives."Works for me.
* Special protections for homosexuals will be written into all civil rights laws, and gays and lesbians in the military will be invited to come out of the closet. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be dead.
* The homosexual marriages that state judges have forced California, Massachusetts and Connecticut to recognize, an Obama Congress or Obama court will require all 50 states to recognize.
* A "Freedom of Choice Act" nullifying all state restrictions on abortions will be enacted. America will become the most pro-abortion nation on earth.
* Universal health insurance will be enacted, covering legal and illegal immigrants, providing another powerful magnet for the world to come to America, if necessary by breaching her borders.
(Cross-posted.)
Meanwhile, on the Campaign Trail with Obama…
Since I evidently can't post anything but pictures today, below are some snaps from a rally at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, yesterday, which Shaker Nik E Poo mentioned in comments: "Speaking of blub—did anyone else feel tears jerking at the pics of the rally in PA yesterday? The idea of thousands of people showing up in the rain and cold—and for Obama to go on like its perfectly natural…"
That last picture...I don't know that I've ever seen a photo from a modern American presidential campaign quite like it.
