Horror and disappointment

Attorney General Eric Holder announced recently that the Obama Administration is retaining the policy of rendition, which basically means torture.

I am horrified.

I cannot imagine what Obama is thinking.

Here's Obama some months ago, responding to Dick Cheney's assertion that torture is necessary to "keep America safe." I can't imagine what intelligence he's received that would change his mind.

We were all so looking forward to a government that had a conscience. What the hell happened?
he was accused by the right wing of being an "appeaser" during the election. And I think he is. Not in a Chamberlain-Nazi Germany kind of way, which is what the right wing was accusing him of, but more like a kid in high school who really really wants to be liked by everyone.

This isn't really much of a well thought out entry, but when I read about it I had to record my disappointment somewhere.

C'mon, man, you know better than this.

Leave him alone [Warning: contains sexual vulgarity]

Many people are demanding that Mayor Sam Adams step down because he lied about a relationship he had with an 18 year old legislative aide a couple years back. I wish I wish I wish everyone, especially the news, would just shut up and let him do his job.

Of course he lied about it; he's gay, he's a politician and it's sex.

How did this question even come up? How is it in any way relevant to the administration of the city? When did Portland suddenly become full of holier-than-thou prudes? His detractors have said it's not about the sex, it's about his lying. Really? Because no one has ever lied about sex before. And certainly no politician has ever lied to get into office. This situation is so unusual.

Seriously, here's a question for anyone who thinks the Mayor should step down:

What would you do if your mother asked you: Do you like a finger up your ass when you fuck?

Do you think, just maybe, you might lie about that? I mean, what business of it is hers? What if she asked you that at a press conference?

Feel free to leave your answer to that question in comments. I'll be happy to let your local paper know so they can update your mother.

Weather update update

The Chicken Index measurement tool (the "Chickometer") has collapsed under the weight of the off-the-scale readings. Until the thaw, any further updates are cancelled.

Here's something weird about Portland: there have been several press conferences downtown, discussing how people should be dealing with the weather. Our city has had a pretty good response, opening emergency shelters and adapting the public transportation.

But the press conferences have all been held by the mayor-elect.

Nothing against Sam Adams, but where the hell is Tom Potter? Seriously, the guy's been MIA since the election results were announced.

Lamest. Duck. Ever.

Christmas should be fun this year

Artwork by David Behrens

My cousin posted the following status update on Facebook the day after the election:

"[My cousin] is sad for the founding fathers of the United States. A Major travesty has been committed and the ideals of this nation will be but a memory. DAMN YOU DEMOCRATS"

Can someone perhaps enlighten me on what ideals, exactly, will be "but" memories? Something like this?

No free man shall be arrested, or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor shall we go against him or send against him, unless by legal judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land

What's that? Oh, that's out already?

Oh.

The real "game changer"

YAY - Our first African American president.
eta and also? Kinda hawt.
BOO - California enshrines discrimination.
YAY - Liddy Dole out on her ass.
BOO - Kay Hagan still a religious discriminator.
YAY - Virgina went Blue.
eta: YAY - Merkley in for Oregon.

But seriously, the biggest game changer of the night? I put the winter bedclothes on the bed.

No, really. It's got:

a featherbed; then
an electric matress pad; followed by
a flannel fitted sheet; and then
a flannel top sheet; and also
cotton blanket number one; right after that
down comforter number one; in addition to
cotton blanket number two; not to mention
down comforter number two; and finally
a cotton bedspread.

Seriously, it's like six feet tall.

This is really how every democratic politician should react

to all the gibberish questions they're asked in interviews.



I mean, really. Sometimes all you can do is ask "Are you serious?"

Sarah Palin is a dick and John McCain is Henry Kane

Although I haven't met her personally, I am convinced, based on her sneering stump speeches to the already brainwashed, that Sarah Palin is a mean, vindictive, small-minded person who doesn't deserve to be parodied by someone as smart and as talented as Tina Fey.

I don't know if she believes all the bullshit she says. She obviously knows how to play to the bigots in the crowd, by memorizing and regurgitating the soundbytes crafted for her by her most cynical speechwriters.

But she's not smart enough, I think, not to believe at least some of it, which means she must have a cognitive dissonance so profound it's as if her skull has an extra bone straight down the middle of it, separating her reality from real reality.

This is not a man who sees America as you and I see America. We see America as a force for good in this world. We see America as a force for exceptionalism . . . Our opponents see America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who would bomb their own country.

Palling around with terrorists?




America as a force for good?




Sarah Palin is a dick and John McCain is a stereotype. His habit of using "my friend" seems like he's trying to imbue every phrase with a menacing tone, but it just makes him sound like a poorly-acted bad guy in a crappy movie.

JOHN MCCAIN, I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND

So shut the fuck up, asshole.

"Also" is Sarah Palin's "Such As"

Chuck Norris turned into Ned Flanders also a while ago, and also Sarah Palin is now Maude. Such as. Giggity.

ETA: I think Sarah Palin's answer about her achilles heel was demonstrating that her real achilles heel is cogent thought.

This is not a love-in

So Ben Stein is all the rage in the blog-o-sphere lately, thanks to his ridculous and insulting crapumentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Yeah, they're not kidding - I trust the reviewers who have seen the movie and can attest that there was no real intelligence in this movie that was sewn together with stolen material, doctored interviews and flat out lies.

No, I haven't seen the movie, but I don't need to eat toxic fish heads breaded in asbestos shavings and smothered in kim chi and failure to know I don't want to eat it. Besides, that's not really my point here.

I saw this the other day at pharyngula and one quote nearly put me in conniptions. It was at least a week ago and I'm still roiling with anger when I think about it. Follow the link and you'll see a video wherein Mr. Stein is talking to some televangelist about how families were ripped apart by the Nazis in concentration camps, and the parents are gassed and the children fed barbituates. He then blathers a bit about how God makes people peaceful and caring and that, in his opinion, science leads to killing people.

Nevermind the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and Martin Luther; it's science that's to blame for all the killing!

He's either serious here-- and therefore crazy fucking stupid-- or he's opportunistic and disingenuous. Honestly, I think it's a little of column stupid and a little of column equivocator. And I think he doesn't really understand what he said. So, should he Google himself one day and somehow find this place, I have some questions I'd like to ask:

So, caught any smallpox recently?

How do your bosses at Bausch and Lomb feel about your thoughts on scientists? Are they mad that you're finally on to their evil plan to take control and kill all humans one red eye at a time?

How's that cell phone working out for you? Did you grow it yourself?

I totally know what you mean when you say science leads to murder. Remember when that one scientist commanded that that other scientist slit his kid's throat for no good reason? And he was this close to actually doing it before the first scientist went "j/k!"?

Oh wait, that was Abraham.

And then there was that other scientist who told those guys to kill the eldest kid of every person in the HR department?

Oh wait, that was god. The one who supposedly leads you to "a very glorious place" through compassion and empathy. Right. I see what you mean.

Honestly, Ben Stein is a toad. But that's just my opinion.

Toad.

ETA: I take that back-- it's mean to toads. How about cretin? Douchebag? Asshole? I'm taking suggestions...

Shut the fuck up, Barack was right

Or, why it isn't "elitist" to think that “It’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

The "Rural constituents who won't vote for Obama" syndrome

Step one: Republican government outsources their jobs and sends their kids to war, leaving them fearful, economically disadvantaged and impotent.

Two: Frustrated with their country but committed to their patriotism, they seek solace in guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment. This does nothing to improve their situation, nor does it help them fight the system for better job security, better pay and better foreign policy.

Three: The government sees this behavior and realizes that their fucked-up behavior has inadvertently bolstered their ranks. And back to step one.

This just changed my vote for Hillary from a maybe to an absolutely

“The frat boys at MSNBC portrayed Clinton as a castrating scold, with Tucker Carlson commenting, “Every time I hear Hillary Clinton speak, I involuntarily cross my legs,” and Chris Matthews calling her male endorsers “castratos in the eunuch chorus.” Matthews also dubbed Clinton “the grieving widow of absurdity,” saying, of her presidential candidacy and senatorial seat, “She didn’t win there on her merit. She won because everybody felt, ‘My God, this woman stood up under humiliation.’ ” While that may be partly true—Hillary’s approval ratings soared in the wake of l’affaire Lewinsky—Matthews’s take reduced her universally recognized political successes to rewards for public sympathy, as though Clinton’s intelligence and long record of public service count for nothing. Would a male candidate be viewed so reductively?" - Amanda Fortini, The Feminist Reawakening, New York Magazine

So, I have been noncommittal when people ask me who I'm voting for in the distant future of the Oregon Primaries, mostly because I think by the time I vote the nominee will have been decided. And, quite frankly, I'd be happy with either Obama or Clinton. But something my mother said when she was up here last month has been stuck in the back of my mind (and I'm paraphrasing here): that Obama will win because sexism runs deeper than racism.

And I think I agree, especially now that I've read this article in New York Magazine that lays out everything so clearly. I mean, while acknowledging that being anything other than a rich, white male will put a candidate at a disadvantage, I think that there are definite stereotypes that a woman has to face that a man does not, and these stereotypes are much harder to overcome.

For example, according to Wikipedia, two of the most common stereotypes of blacks is that they are "Unintelligent/Ignorant/Stupid" and "poor". I don't see Barack Obama having any trouble convincing most people that he is none of these things. Stupidity and net worth are tangible things; there are academic tests and salary amounts that quantify intelligence and wealth.

But one of the biggest problems for Hillary is the perception that she's a shrill, ball-busting harpy. How do you fight that, exactly? One person's speaking your mind is another fucktard's shrill. Ball busting is just another word for doing something better than a man. Can anyone who calls Hillary a harpy actually define that word accurately?

Or are they really calling her a "a foul malign creature in Greek mythology that is part woman and part bird"?

It just makes me so angry. Very angry indeed. And so that is why I will be voting for Hillary. I don't care if her victory is mathmatically unlikely. I don't care if my reasoning here is based on emotion (there's plenty of logical reasons to vote for her: She's on the armed services committee, she knows how to work the system. She's fucking SMART!). I don't care if my decision is based largely on the fact that my vote in the primaries will most likely make no fucking difference whatsoever.

I am voting for Hillary because she can still find it in herself to be professional and clever and relatively normal, even though she has to put up with all this shit every day from Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews and every fucking neo-con and libertard in the world. That she is still running proves to me that she can handle the presidency.

And I'm not saying that Obama can't, or that he hasn't been through shit too. I'm just saying that I rarely get to do something that puts my girly money where my feminist mouth is, and if I get to make history while doing that, then yay for me.