Wednesday, April 30, 2008

This month's winner...

of the Madeleine-Albright's-Special-Place-In-Hell-For-Self-Loathing-Misogynist-Women Award is...

Kellyanne Conway.

First, our gal Kellyanne goes for the "back of the bus" metaphor, and fails miserably. Yet more recently, Kellyanne goes for the "Hillary as the chief white woman in this country" commentary. 


In both cases in seems like she is either...

(1) campaigning for Obama ("if you don't want him to win, you must be a racist"),

or

(2) assuming Clinton is the presumptive nominee and is trying to get anti-racist voters to choose McCain ("because Hillary is such a racist").


(1) means Kellyanne is *really* bad at her "job." (2) means the conservatives behind/above Kellyanne are desperately clueless (and racist), and Kellyanne is still really bad at her job.


Is it just me, or do you feel kind of bad for Kellyanne? It's like she's playing Jan Brady to Ann Coulter's Marcia Marcia Marcia.

For those of you already committed to going to hell, enjoy some commentary on Ann Coulter by Kathy Griffin:





Monday, April 28, 2008

I believe a woman can work hard and succeed...


Sing it, Melissa!




WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW
Melissa Etheridge

I believe if I look hard enough
I will see
That there can be enough
I believe I can think clear enough
To conceive
A place where there's enough

If not now, when
If not today then
What about tomorrow
What happens tomorrow

I believe a woman can work hard and succeed
And we could be content
To believe that she could be in charge
Of the free
And be the president


If not now, when
If not today then
What happens tomorrow
What happens tomorrow
If you become the change
You want to see you change
What happens tomorrow
What happens tomorrow

I believe that we are waking up from the spell
That those that profit from the fear
Cast so well
And good people of the earth now can tell
There is no us and them

If not now, when
If not today then
What happens tomorrow
What happens tomorrow

All is love
All is choice
Everyone and every voice
All of life that you see
All are possibilities
As above so below
To wed the sense into the soul
This is truth I believe
I believe I believe

Truth is of the people
By the people 
For the people



White House Herstory


If you don't get at least a little misty eyed, then you're just dead on the inside:




'Nuff Said


Senator Obama doesn't want to debate anymore. Wah! What's he so afraid of? Is he suddenly feeling inadequate?



You go.




Friday, April 25, 2008

Okay, I'm stumped here..


Now I'm all about the importance of context. Years ago someone in the entertainment world uncovered a scandal concerning movie reviews. Part of the problem was that the quotes plastered on movie posters, ads, and trailers were attributed to people who didn't exist or who weren't entertainment journalists. The other part of the problem was that many of the reviews were factually accurate but taken out of context. 

For example, a hypothetical response to a film like Showgirls could have been


"This is the farthest thing from one of the year's best films!"

or

"The day that this film is worthy of an Oscar nod is the day monkeys fly out of my butt."


BUT the published reviews end up being


Showgirls:

"...one of the year's best films!"

"...worthy of an Oscar nod..."



Reverend Jeremiah Wright thinks that his words have been twisted. Could someone please tell me how to "untwist" the following:

"Hillary was not a Black boy raised in a single parent home... Hillary ain't never been called a nigger..."?


What is the missing context of statements like that, that couldn't be grounded in divisiveness and misogyny?

What's the missing context that warrants this tidbit be part of a larger sermon?


Seriously. These are NOT rhetorical questions. I am actively seeking answers to these questions.

The agenda here is not to deny racism, of course. In fact, it is to further address the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.

And to be fair, I think it is a safe assumption that Hillary Clinton has in fact never been called a nigger. 

However, I don't think we can assume that no one has referred to Barack Obama as a bitch, a cunt, a whore, or a cocksucker.

Make of that what you will.



starring Barack Obama as Hardy Jenns


WARNING: This post is overflowing with popular culture references. Proceed with caution. And hey, let's be careful out there.


The title does in fact date me. As a child of the 70s and someone who was raised in part on the popular culture of the 80s, I find myself going to these references to help make sense of the frustration, rage, and overall disturbance I've been feeling in the force concerning the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama.

The thing is, for some reason(s) I've missed joining "the movement." It may have been because his campaign (I'm not going to give just him all the credit for what has happened) tried to package his campaign as a movement. If you think that it is, you may as well save your time and click somewhere else.

Don't get me wrong. I too was mesmerized by that convention speech in 2004. In fact, at 5:13pm on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2004, as a way to grieve over the election results I opened up Word on my Mac and made three campaign buttons (seriously, I have the file creation date to prove it): 


My, how things have changed. Plus, I tend to be wrong about these predictions (in my world, the Junior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania would be Chuck Pennacchio and not that tool of an anti-choice "Democrat" Bob Casey).

But there's some thing(s) about Candidate Obama that just rubs me the wrong way. And I've been trying for months to figure out what exactly that is. When you spend too much time perusing the blogs (or even starting your own) you (1) end up finding comfort in realizing that there are people out there who share your views and your frustrations, (2) realize that the ongoing misogyny in general (and for a particular presidential candidate) is more obscene that you could imagine, and (3) it often makes life in the real (non-blog) world more challenging--i.e. you find yourself feeling even more bat-shit crazy than usual, especially when you witness more folks still in "the movement" than you should rationally expect. 

To be fair, it's hard to care about what some snobby, condescending, egomaniacal politician said to a room full of privilege in some shhhhhwanky mansion in San Fran, when you can't pay your rent, you're trying to find the nearest county that actually provides abortions, or you're trying to decide between paying a utility bill and an overpriced medication that will literally keep you alive.

So, in my attempts to wrap my head around trying to figure out this politician who came ostensibly out of nowhere, and who is now closer to the White House than I am currently comfortable, the best I can come up with is this: 

I've seen this guy before.

He's not the bully per se. He's the guy that the bullies look up to, need, and/or have a secret crush on. He's the guy who has the bullies wrapped around his finger; he's behind the bullying but you'll never find his fingerprints anywhere on/near the victim(s).

He's the new guy at school--the one who shows up in the middle of the year and becomes the talk of the town in part because everyone wants to know what his story is, but no one really knows--there's just lots of fantastic rumors.

Barack Obama isn't really a complicated man. He's just a composite of the charismatic yet despicable and flawed characters to grace the screens of not-too-recent TV and movies. He is...


5% Mr. Horton
Diff'rent Strokes 
(yes, the bicycle shop pedophile guy)
[I'm NOT saying Senator Obama is a pedophile. I AM saying he is a charismatic predator and exploiter of the young, naïve, and easily swayed.]
  
+
  
5% Hilary Faye
Saved
[Over-exaggerated emphasis on, and self-serving abuse of, religion.]
  
+
  
10% Heather Chandler
Heathers
[Insecure bitch who thrives on being the center of attention AND head of the clique.]
 
+
  
10% Regina George
Mean Girls
[Narcissistic and shallow Queen Bee who derives pleasure from hurting others; would do anything to keep her throne and allegedly high-status position.]
 
+
 
10% Rip 
[Deceptively charismatic slimeball who would exploit defenseless and/or addictive personalities, even if it kills them--figuratively or literally.]
 
+
 
20% Chas Osbourne
Back to School
[Self-absorbed, entitled, and overly cocky leader-of-the-pack who, when it comes down to the wire, would rather claim to be seriously injured than actually compete on his own alleged talent.]
 
+
 
40% Hardy Jenns
Some Kind of Wonderful
[Basically just a dick. He's lived his life blind to his own male and class privilege. He obsessively devises an elaborate plan to further exploit, embarrass, and destroy a woman he used to care about. He's high and mighty until the regular folk band together and call him out on his shit, after which he becomes a scared child who hides behind the proverbial "my mom and dad will be home soon."]
 

What an ending... not just one slap, but TWO!
 
 

And this isn't about Obama's supporters per se. In fact, I don't think that his supporters are delusional. I think that they either see themselves in the character he is playing, or they see that which they aspire to, or they simply think he's a cool trend (e.g. Guitar Hero, Troll dolls, or parachute pants), or they rationalize that supporting and voting for him will appease their white liberal guilt ["See! I'm not racist (anymore), because I'm voting for change!"]

It's just that they think 

he's Daniel "Daniel-San" Larusso, 

and I think 

he's Johnny "sweep the leg" Lawrence.


Johnny is not used to losing and has always had easy access to resources and status. He is the product of a patriarchal, militarized (literally AND figuratively) training, and about to lose the big match, he suffers a lapse in judgement (with pressure from above) and executes an unethical move that is sure to result in a win. Daniel survives the deadly assault, wins the match, and in the end Johnny grabs the trophy so HE can present it to Daniel: "You're alright, Larusso -- great match!"



Dare we dream for such an ending?



Tuesday, April 22, 2008

12:58pm on Tuesday, April 22, 2008


Doing my part to capture history with my cell phone...


Reverse alphabetical order?
(...and the last shall be first...)



This one's for you, Alice Paul.




Sunday, April 20, 2008

My friend Hillary came to see me on Sunday night


It was raining, and getting chilly out, and there was a long line. And I would do it again ANY DAY just to see her and hear her in person.

After she was introduced, they took away the podium. She spoke without any written notes. She fired up the crowd. She laid out specific campaign issues. She kicked ass.


pretty good quality for a cell phone picture


Friday, April 18, 2008

I must have missed the memo


Silly me. I didn't realize that progressive folk have to choose between an accomplished politician, feminist, human rights activist...

...and a infantile, self-absorbed, entitled, passive-aggressive, condescending tool*.




As a former two-term President of my 8th grade class**, I can attest that there wasn't this much crap going on at that level. Our teacher would have opened an industrial sized can of whoop ass if we even hinted at pulling that kind of tactic. But then again, most 8th graders have bigger balls, and fewer hang-ups, than this guy.



* His apparent "prank" is too juvenile even to stereotype it as frat boy humor. Shout out to progressive, enlightened, profeminist fraternity brothers everywhere.

** That doesn't mean I repeated 8th grade. We had an election every quarter or trimester or every report card period. 



Sunday, April 13, 2008

the fucker did it again

On CNN's Compassion Forum, Barack Obama got a question about whether "pro-choice and pro-life" (a fucking false binary if there ever was one) could ever reach a common ground.

Once again he whipped out his "those of us who are pro-choice don't talk about" what a tough moral decision this is.

Yeah, thanks to the Senator for enlightening us and sharing his "discovery" that this pro-choice crowd is just a bunch of clueless ignorant cannibals.

This must be a talking point that his campaign has tested... to seduce anti-choicers.





It's not about the bitterness, dumbass



Kudos to the caller on CSPAN


Friday, April 11, 2008

What. A. Fucking. Douchebag.


It's just like UppityWoman recently pointed out, Barack Obama has been excelling at alienating more and more people with his choice words o' wisdom. It seems like he has been speaking extemporaneously more and more lately--and clearly, it's not working out for him. He should go back to copying off of his neighbor.

Now he's stepped in it once again and it doesn't smell pretty. Let's break it down:


Obama notes anti-abortion supporters

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Barack Obama said anti-abortion Democrats are backing him because they feel he respects their opinion on the issue despite disagreement on it.

Sounds like someone's pandering [yet again] to me.

From Wikipedia: "In politics, pandering is to portray one's views to fit in line with a certain crowd of voters the candidate is attempting to impress, when often, these are not the candidate's true beliefs. A candidate may engage in pandering out of desperation if s/he is already losing a race, or if polls taken prior to an election show others as being in the lead."

I think that speaks for itself. But wait, there's more. Also from Wikipedia:

"Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. Pimps are known under the law as procurers. Examples of procuring include:

  • bringing a prostitute into a country for the purpose of soliciting sex
  • operating a prostitution business,
  • transporting a prostitute to the location of their arrangement, etc."

I'll leave it to you to finish the metaphor in terms of who's likely to get fucked here.



The Democratic presidential candidate favors abortion rights, but he noted his support from former Rep. Tim Roemer of Indiana and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania who are anti-abortion.

Senator Obama has a growing habit of using the but-I-can't-be-a-bigot--because-I-have-Black-friends argument to remind us (maybe he's trying to reassure himself more than anyone) of all the support he has from "so many diverse people." So because he's got Bob Casey on board, then he therefore is the obvious pick for anti-choice democrats (oxymoron, anyone?)? 

He's still trying to pull the wool over queer eyes with his homo-pandering: he just gave The Advocate a reach-around, so now he's the anointed LGBTQ candidate? If he thinks I'm naive enough to be mesmerized by that rainbow logo [tell me that no one would have a problem if he had a special logo for his white voters. or his black voters. Yeah, that's what I thought.] then he must take me for some superficial nelly who would say something catty... like 

But girlfriend, I'd much rather pose for a picture with Gavin Newstrom over Bob Casey any day; sure, everyone is beautiful but good hair and two eyebrows are just so fierce! [add a finger snap for emphasis]

Puhleeeze.

He's only a few weeks away from becoming the epitome of the spoiled, insolent, egomaniacal politician who gives himself a woody by blatantly disregarding the views of others.

But I digress.


"It may be that those who have opposed abortion get a sense that I'm listening to them and respect their position even though where we finally come down may be different," he told reporters at a news conference.

This rises from pandering to a poor attempt at a Jedi mind trick. First he sets up this artificial line and creates this category of "those who have opposed abortion." Hmmm, let's go out on a limb and call these folks, oh, i don't know, anti-abortion


"The mistake that pro-choice forces have sometimes made in the past, and this is a generalization so it has not always been the case, has been to not acknowledge the wrenching moral issues involved in it," he said.

I suppose we should give him credit for admitting that he's generalizing, this time. He doesn't always seem willing to admit that, though. But, NOT ONLY is he generalizing, but he also has the audacity (go fucking figure) to simultaneously speak for women AND silence them. See, ladies? Sometimes you just don't get it. Maybe it's when you're periodically feeling down you may not realize what's involved in all of this.

How's the view from up there, on your moral high ground, douchebag?

How many more warnings of Barack Obama trying to name women's feelings and experiences for them is it going to take? I really wish this were a rhetorical question. Seriously, folks, how many more times of him keeping women in their proper place before NARAL or Planned Parenthood calls him out on his shit? Enough is enough already. Cue Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.


"Most Americans recognize that what we want to do is avoid, or help people avoid, having to make this difficult choice. That nobody is pro-abortion, abortion is never a good thing."

Wait a minute, I think he just tried to pull a fast one on us. First he humbly said that he has enormous appeal to those who are anti-abortion. Then he says that nobody is pro-abortion. He magically has just pulled out of his ass that, therefore, everyone is for Obama.

That, dear friends, is the ultimate in douchebaggery. 


He's got the pro-choicers in a codependent, cycle-of-abuse relationship 

(he didn't really mean it... it'll never happen again... he still loves us... promise!) 

WHILE 

having an affair with anti-choicers. 

Plus, the anti-choicers do feel dirty and guilty about it but they just can't help it cuz he's so charming, especially when he rubs up against them.


And, for the second time in one weekend, all I have left to say is: