Archive for the ‘Common-Place Book’ Category
It Is Hatred
Several years ago, I was asked to do the funeral of a gay man who had been beaten to death in a hate crime. At that time, I had never thought deeply about the danger many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people face in this culture. That week as I worked on the service, I […]
Conservative Government = Bad Government
If government is necessary, bad government, at least for conservatives, is inevitable, and conservatives have been exceptionally good at showing just how bad it can be. Hence the truth revealed by the Bush years: Bad government — indeed, bloated, inefficient, corrupt, and unfair government — is the only kind of conservative government there is. Conservatives […]
Presidential Crap
Fascinating. (From Wayne Madsen Report.) July 4, 2006 — Even Bush's crap is classified top secret. According to our Austrian sources, Austrian newspapers are currently abuzz with special security details of George W. Bush's recent trip to Vienna. Although the heavy-handed Gestapo-like security measures meted out to Viennese home owners, business proprietors, and pedestrians by […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Curious Stuff
Last Stand
Two harrowing snippets from Seymour Hersch's "Last Stand: The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy" (New Yorker, 10 July 2006): A retired four-star general, who ran a major command, said, “The [military-planning] system [that's looking for excuses to bomb Iran] is starting to sense the end of the road, and they don’t want to […]
Terrorists' Aides
Every time a Republican attacks our freedoms a terrorist gets his wings. [RJ Eskow, "A Warning For America – When Republicans Hurt Our Freedoms, The Terrorists Win", The Huffington Post, 1 July 2006.]
Oppenness + Tolerance = Creativity
People who want to take a swing at San Francisco [using it as a right-wing code phrase for "gay"] should think twice. Yes, the Irish coffee at Fisherman's Wharf is overpriced, and the bus tour of Haight-Ashbury is disappointing (where are the hippies?), but the Bay Area is the cradle of the computer and software […]
Heterosexuality in the Free Market
I'm reminded of a 1961 British film called Victim. Or rather I'm reminded of a line Pauline Kael wrote when she reviewed it. The film was about a married barrister (Dirk Bogarde) who is blackmailed because he had a homosexual affair. It was an early step in popular culture's being sympathetic to gay people, though […]
The Un-Threat
AMERICA HAS much more to fear than gay marriage. So it was disappointing to hear President Bush's radio address on Saturday, and his speech yesterday, in which he defends marriage, scolds activist judges, and supports the Marriage Protection Amendment, which would change the Constitution by only allowing one man and one woman to wed. "Government, […]
Attn: Gay Flag-Burners
Other Republican operatives say the strategy [of re-introducing hot topics like "gay marriage" and "flag burning"] is a waste of time when most Republican voters are angry or divided over the Iraq war, high gas prices and immigration. "Those are the issues that are dominating people’s dinnertable talk," said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole’s […]
The English-Minus Plan
Sometimes it's like shooting fish in a barrel; do comedians need writers when we've got the Bush administration? From a Reuters story:* He [Attorney General Gonzales] said Bush has instead [of making English the "official" language of America] long supported a concept called "English-Plus," believing that it was good to be proficient in more than […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Laughing Matters
The Road Map to Totalitarianism
Remarks excerpted from the Bob Herbert column, "Fear and Power": In the dark days of the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt counseled Americans to avoid fear. George W. Bush is his polar opposite. The public's fear is this president's most potent political asset. Perhaps his only asset. Mr. Bush wants ordinary Americans to remain in a perpetual […]
Trolling for Phone Sex?
…last Thursday the country experienced an uncomfortable moment when the President of the United States reassured us that the government['s collecting phone records] was not "trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." Apparently W's speech writing staff doesn't know that trolling is slang for an older gay man cruising for anonymous sex […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Laughing Matters
It Takes Balls to Navigate
I'm reading a somewhat odd book at the moment: A People's History of Science.* As you might surmise, the book has an attitude and a rather overt agenda but, aside from occasional philosophical inconsistencies on the part of the author, it's more interesting than annoying so far. At any rate, the author was talking about […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Today's Huey Long
Many years ago the Nobel Prize winning novelist Sinclair Lewis warned us that when fascism came to America it would not arrive wearing a swaztika and marching a goose-step in jack boots. It would arrive looking like a good ole boy, speaking with a twang and smiling a friendly down home smile. He meant Huey […]
Feingold on Honesty
"They're not very good at running the country," [Russ Feingold] said of the GOP, "but they're brilliant at intimidating Democrats." As for his fellow Democratic contenders for the 2008 nomination, he suggested that many of them are still dominated by fear of a Rovian attack on their patriotism or national security credentials. Feingold argued that […]
Gore on Equality
Former Vice-President Al Gore was the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Campaign's Gala event on 25 March 2006 (apprarently in Los Angeles, CA). IN Los Angeles magazine excerpted parts of his speech, of which these are only a few paragraphs. As I was on the way here, I reflected on why is there so […]
The Expectation of Disbelief
Egalia, writing at Tennessee Guerilla Women ("Duke Rape Scandal: Disbelieving Women"), offers "snippets" from a piece by Jesse Jackson about the Duke Rape Scandal ("Duke: Horror and Truth"). The Jackson piece is good, but here I'd rather emphasize Egalia's potently distilled introduction: Jesse Jackson weighs in with a calm and rational voice on race, sex, […]
Sex, Sensibility, & Science
This is cool. Most everyone knows that I'm a scientist of some sort — at least I am when I can hold down a paying job. Also, most everyone knows that I'm secretly a pornographer, although it's hardly a big secret given the link to Jay Neal's website that you can see at the top […]
Murderers or Not?
Avedon Carol: …I keep waiting for someone to lay it on the line: The anti-choice people have to dissemble about their real goals[*], and down-play the fact that the logical conclusion of a "principled" position for someone who believes abortion really is murder is to treat women who have abortions as murderers. [italics in original] […]
A Democratic Motto
A little while back, Shakespeare's Sister asked for some suggestions for what amounted to a campaign motto for the Democrats. Without further comment, I simply wanted to note that I was very fond of Litbrit's exceedingly clever suggestion: Blowjobs are better than no jobs.