Pants on Fire

Yesterday the Malator, the Major and I were hanging out eating wings and watching TV. All was fun and games and omnomnomnom.com until the commerical breaks came on. We saw 2 John McCain ads -- something about being the original mavericks and another about energy policy. Almost every claim the ads made was a lie.

I'm not talking about misrepresentation of facts or presenting information selectively -- I'm talking about bald faced lying. Lies that even the main stream media has noticed and debunked. That's pretty gutsy and also insanely stupid and insulting to voters. But I guess McCain has to resort to lying -- it's the only way he can jibe being a "Maverick" with voting with Bush and the Republicnas 95% of the time.

Supernova Suicide

This Primary season has been particularly painful to watch. Partially because it’s been drawn out unnecessarily (like the results of Dancing with the Stars or Idol), but also because we’ve been witness to the implosion and self-immolation of one of the Democratic Party’s top luminaries.

Sen. Clinton never had my support in this Primary. As much as I might have respected her, I had deep concerns about her electability. She, unfortunately, is the most polarizing Democrat out there. Republicans may not be all that keen on Sen. McCain, but they will definitely go to the polls simply to vote against Sen. Clinton. Throw in her vote for the Iraq war, the Flag burning amendment and her tepid response to gay rights and she became a candidate that I didn’t want to support.

I’m not sure at what point in the campaign she went from being a serious candidate to a hollow parody of her former self, but I deeply regret and am very ashamed of her actions in this Primary. Politics can be a very dirty business when you’re in it to win it, but there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed. It’s been painful to watch a Democrat actively courting and being proud of getting the racist vote. It is even more painful to watch a Democrat say “I’ve still got a chance – if my opponent is assassinated.” But I think the worst thing in this whole situation is watching a very capable and respected woman destroy her credibility, reputation and future. Especially when it's clear -- and it has been clear for quite some time -- that the race is over.

This And That With AJ

Could you please not eat like a goblin? Roxy's been a happy girl lately. She's played a lot with her doggie friends, tried to bogart a puppy and got some nummy gravy on her food last night. Om, nom, nom, nom!

On being irrelevant: When I get old(er) and have completely lost any hip-ness or relevancy that I might have once possessed, I totally want to go on a racist tirade like Geraldine Ferraro. Besides, she looks like someone took a pure-bred Kimodo Dragon and tattooed eyebrows on it. Look at the good she does.

Voice-overs are cool: (This contains some NSFW language.)

Going To The Dreamtime

Can't we just fast-forward to Jan 21, 2009? Please?

I've been following the primaries/caucii with some interest, and I realized that I just need to stop. I can't do anything about it, and we've already had our primary here. (I didn't get to vote because I was trapped on the bus during an ice-storm until almost 9p.)

I'm so completely over watching the Democratic Party tearing itself apart. I've had Obama supporters tell me that they'd vote for McCain before they voted for Clinton and I've had Clinton supporers tell me the opposite. There's so much bad blood between the 2 groups, it seems like everyone's forgotten the goal of this whole deal is to get a Democrat elected to the White House.

It especially seems like the candidates themselves have forgotten this. Hillary's 3am phone call ads giving McCain ammunition to use against Obama -- if he were to win the nomination -- were rather dispicable. I think the both of them should rise above negative politics; they need to realize that tearing each other apart is only helping to demoralize and splinter the party while simultaneously providing the Republicans with everything they need to make sure McCain wins the General Election in November.

Like I said before, I'm done following this whole fiasco. Wake me up when we have a nominee, because I don't want to end up being so disgusted by both of them that I can't in good conscious vote for either of them.

Primary Blues

Super Tuesday, blah blah blah. Only a handful of states have primaried/caucused, but the field has been winnowed down to 2 candidates on each side. Granted, not everyone who was running was a viable candidate -- but I think every person in the country has the right to chose from all of the contestants. Instead most of us are left with:

McCain: This guy has changed so much from the "Independant" rogue that I liked in the 2000 election. I get the feeling that he's just saying anything and supporting anything to get the nomination.

Clinton: Sweet. Jesus. No. I'm so completely over partisian politics. W has been one of the most divisive figures in modern U.S. politics. Hillary is at least as divisive as W. I also don't trust her, and she also says whatever she thinks will get her elected.

Romney: Ugh. He flips, he flops and he was a total train wreck as the Governor of Mass. But what makes him total slime was the story about his family vacation. Dude put the family dog on the hood of the station wagon in a crate and drove to their destination. Apparently, it was real funny that the dog got so scared it lost control of its bowels. I can't help but wonder, which Americans are going to be treated like his family dog.

Obama: He's young, relatively untried. People like to call him "Osama." I'm not sure he's got policies developed. But of all of them, he's the only one that actually gives me hope that things might just get better.

Because you know for sure with the rest of them it's going to be more of the same -- and we definately don't need anymore of that.

Media Mayhem

I came across the following headline via the Elevision this morning:

Bush to be first president in nearly a decade to visit Palestine

The headline struck me as ridiculous and misleading for many reasons.

1) Being the first to do something implies significance. You know, because no one's ever done it before. But someone already did -- a decade ago.

2) Use of the word decade: It means exactly 10 years. It doesn't mean less than 10 years or nearly ten years.

3) If we consider the 'decade' to mean1998 - 2008, then Bush has been President of the USA for 8 of those 10 years. If you consider it's really 'nearly a decade' -- call it 8.5 - 9 years, then what we're really talking about is the fact that this is the first time since Bush has been in office that he's visited Palestine.

The last President to do it before Bush, was Clinton -- his predecessor. But the headline reads as if it's been ages and ages since an American President has been to Palestine, and Bush is doing something fantastic and should be lauded for his efforts. The only problem Bush has had 7 years prior to this one to do something about Palestine. He shouldn't be lauded for doing something he should have done ages ago. It's like praising your kid for finally cleaning his room after already asking him 7 times.

While it is regrettable that Bush has waited so long to visit Palestine, my real problem lays with the media's presentation of this. It's the spin to make it look like he's doing something, he's being the Decider. A more accurate headline would be Bush makes first visit to Palestine.

[I did a lot of research online to find the source of this story and it appears to be from the AP . I saw the headline on the televisions in the elevator at work via Captivate. There's been some minor differences across headlines, but they more or less say the same thing.]

Farewell, Oh Ye Political Giant

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Did You Hear The One About ...?

Really now. Come on. Are you for real?

There's some crazy Republican Congress Critter complaining about the new work schedule to begin with the 110th Congress. Something about how the Democrats are anti-family because of it.

You see, he's all bent out of shape because he'll now have to work -- wait for it -- a FIVE day work week! Just like everyone else in America. The previous schedule was apparently from mid-afternoon on Tuesday to late Thursday. By my count that's 2.5 days ... if they actually showed up to vote and do their jobs and stuff.

Sorry dude, but if you don't like the job, it's time to quit. And if you won't quit, your electorate will make sure you don't have a job.

(I'm too lazy today to round up the link ... but I'm sure a quick googling will yield the source.)

I Double-Dog Dare You

Ammendment 1 passed in VA. This is really the same thing as "I'm going to double-dog dare/tell you that those gays can't get married." Apparently, the existing law in VA banning same sex marriage wasn't enough. Apparently, the voters and lawmakers of the Commonwealth really wanted to be sure that 'those gays' can't get married. Nevermind that Ammendment 1 is a poorly written piece of law that is going to have some very interesting consequences -- and by interesting I mean negative.

I truly wonder what the logic was behind this. What motivated people to vote for the Ammendment even though it was completely unnecessary? Unless you wanted to say "not only can gays not get married, we're also not going to let them have civil unions or any other form of legal contract that recongizes that 2 gay partners are anything but legal strangers." News flash, just because gay marriage in all of its forms has been "outlawed" in Virginia, doesn't mean that those pesky gays aren't going to be meeting, falling in love, committing to spend their lives with each other and having lots of hot steamy buttsex. Gays and lesbians aren't suddenly going to stop existing; they're not going to go *poof* and evaporate in a cloud of fabulous pink smoke.

The only defense I've heard so far in support of the Ammendment is "It's in the Bible that homosexuality is a sin." Well, to be patently glib about that argument, killing people is a sin -- yet we let murderers on death row get married (provided that someone is willing to marry an inmate on death row.) Politicians get married all the time, and I can't think of a group of people that commit more sin than these people. So sinning doesn't appear to preclude one from getting married, unless, of course, you're sinning the gay way.

That last point might have seemed a bit trite, irrelevant and mocking. I suppose it was meant to be, but it was leading to this: About 50 years ago, a married couple from Tennessee moved to Virginia, and were thrown in jail -- because they were an interracial couple, and that was most definately not cool in the great state of Virginia. Bigots far and wide didn't think these 2 should be married, and unless I'm seriously mistaken people were talking about "preserving the sanctity of marriage." And some of the seriously deluded out there were quoting scripture about how this was bad. Eventually, the Supreme Court stepped in and in Loving vs. Virginia declared that Virginia's law against interracial marriage was unconstitutional.

My point being, the Bible and religion in general have been used for centuries to marginalize people and justify the prevailing social trends of the era. We've seen it used to say that Blacks deserve to be slaves, and that women are the lesser sex -- both statements that no modern Christian would ever support. I say it's high time that people start using the Bible and religion to support one another, love one another, and respect one another. In other words, Christians would do well to stop acting like Christians and start acting like Christ.

Democracy in Action

I'm a frequent reader of The Huffingpost, and I'm a little dismayed at the number of headlines on there today that have to deal with voter fraud, intimidation, and malfuctioning machines. You would think that elections would be untouchable -- they are, after all, the cornerstone of our democracy. You vote and that vote counts for something. At least in theory that's how it's supposed to work.

Reading all the headlines about 'robo-calls' made to voters to discourage them from voting, makes me ill. Reading all the headlines about malfunctioning machines makes me depressed. There was even an article about someone getting throttled by a poll worker. A POLL WORKER, people!

What have we come to that the majority of us read these headlines and there's no sense of outrage? Why isn't everyone out in the streets protesting about machines that mess-up frequently and are easily hackable? Why aren't people rioting because these machines don't leave a paper trail and the election can so easily be stolen? And why aren't people demanding that we use paper ballots until we get this technology right? Come on! Paper ballots show the lowest margin of error. It's really hard to mess up checking a box.

And lest you think to yourself, "but AJ, the huffpo is a liberal news blog." Yes, that is true. However, they have a good number of articles detailing both sides of the fence. Go check it out for some scaring reading.

Le Vote, C'est Chic

After a minor misadventure this morning, I made it to my assigned polling place. I was in and out in just under 10 minutes. I did have one of the machines that cut the end of Jim Webb's name off on the summary screen. It threw me for a loop initially -- even though I knew that this could be a problem in VA. A quick check of my sample ballot put my mind at ease, and I punched the "submit ballot" button.

Also, my polling place doesn't have touch-screen e-machines, but rather these machines use a scroll dial. It took some getting used to, which is a very bad thing. I'm pretty adaptable and tech savvy, and if these things threw me for a small loop, I can only imagine how the older folks are going to fare with them.

Get out and vote if you haven't already!

Sign Gnapping

I posted earlier about how Webb signs were spontaneously transmogrifing themselves into Allen signs in my neighborhood.

It turns out this is not an isolated event. I was reading some of the posts over at the huffingtonpost, and someone had note that the Webb signs were disappearing in their neck of the woods as well. I'll see if I can't round that up and link to it -- maybe I'll search for a news story.

I, for one, am looking forward to November 8. Then all the slime and meanness will disappear from the TV and airwaves for about 2 more years. Which is good, because I've had about all I can take this year.

PSA

Reminder to everyone out there:

Get out and vote tomorrow! I'd prefer if you voted for the Democratic candidate(s), because the current batch of Republicans have made a real dog's dinner of the place. I'm not sure that the Dems can do a better job, but at this point, it'd be really hard to do worse.

At any rate, go out and vote! Show your pride and patriotism! Be an American!

It's a great day to be gay

I think CNN.com was taken over by the gays today. I first saw the article about Dougie Howser being a big old 'mo. (note if you're gay and going to come out, that was the right way to do it.)

Then I saw the article about Haggard. Not Haggar the Horrible, or Haggar the Witch from Voltron, rahter the Minister of the Church that ate Colorado. The Haggard that apparently ordered up some hot and steamy gay sex with a side of crystal meth from a gay prostitute.

He first only copped to the meth accusations (most likely because that was the hard evidence), and said that he only got a massage from the gay hooker. Today, however he says that he has a sexual problem. Poor guy is probably going to be shipped off to some "cure-the-gays" camp. Regardless of his faith, or what his parishoners and higher-ups believe, what this man really needs is some good old fashioned compassion. What he needs is someone to understand that by supressing his sexuality, he's caused him, his family, and countless others a lot of pain. He needs kindness, support, and understanding. What he doesn't need is someone telling him that he's going to hell, or trying to cure him; this guy spent the last 30 years of his life supressing his urges, and look where it got him.

If you're gay or have gay urges and you feel like the solution is to suppress that, that's fine. AS LONG AS YOU'RE SINGLE. Don't go out an marry a member of the opposite sex, have kids, and build a life with that person to prove that you're straight. I don't care if you lie to yourself -- the only person you're harming is yourself. But once you drag innocent people in that have no clue, then I'm going to have to take issue with that.

Gettin' Slimy

I was driving to my local slevenry this evening when I noticed something very very odd. For the past 2 to 3 weeks, the signage for the upcoming election was split pretty evenly between Allen and Webb. You could tell that the Allen folks had come late to the party, because all his signs were placed directly in front of the Webb signs and also at the end of every island and median.

I may be drawing a connection that isn't there, but it seems that the newest poll results that have Webb ahead by 4 points drove the local Allen fans over the edge. Regardless, I can report that almost all of the Webb signs have been removed, and in their place are shiny new Allen signs. The few Webb signs that remain are kind of mangled, as if someone tried to pull them out and couldn't quite get them out of the ground.

Lest the naysayers say that I'm imagining this all, there are now a grand total of 4 Webb signs. I never bothered to count them all before this evening, but I know for a fact there were more than 4, as the ratio was more or less even before this evening. Also, the majority of the signs for Moran (D-House of Reps) have remained in their original locations. That's not surprising as a) no one really knows who he is and b) to the best of my knowledge his seat isn't really in jeopardy.

It just doesn't get much sleazier than this.

It Came from Planet Claire

Up is down, and the sky is green.

It's a known fact that politicians lie, but this is Ridiculous. Come on! "Stay the Course" has become a catch phrase. It was used in opposition to the Democrats who never once said "cut and run."

W must be living in some Orwellian fantasy land if he thinks we don't remember him saying "stay the course" before.

Not Gonna Make Nice

So. Very. Pissed.

Conservatives, consider this a kick upside your collective heads. It's time to wake up and realize that the Republican Party as you know it has morphed into the biggest lying bunch of corrupt scoundrels that has ever graced this once-great nation. I'm not saying it's wrong to be a conservative, nor am I mocking your political views. I am saying your Party in its current incarnation needs to go. Your leaders are rallying the wagons behind Mark Foley and trotting out all sorts of excuses for his behavior. In the face of evidence that many of the Republican Top Brass knew about Foley's behavior at least 10 months prior to the story coming out, they're playing a nice little game of cover our collective asses, deny everything, blame everyone else and my personal favorites -- blame Clinton and the Democrats knew about this before we did and leaked it to the press for poltical advantage.

Wake up! Wrong is wrong is wrong. The victims here are a) the pages b) the American people. Consider this: If a teacher were to have done what Mark Foley did, they would have been fired immediately, and full investigation would have been launched. Any school officials that were even implicated in having prior knowledge and not acting upon it would be out on their ears. These are children we're talking about people! And anyone that knew about this and sat on it deserves to be immediately removed from office. Period.

But the Republicans -- who control the House, the Senate, the Executive and the Judiciary -- have promised an investigation. Call me cynical, but I don't see anyone getting in any trouble at all over this. Remember when Bill Clinton got a blow job from another consenting adult? Remember all the investigations? Remember all the time and money spent on that? Where's your outrage over an illegal and non-consentual act? Where's your outrage over people trying to cover this up? If consentual sex (albeit gross and skeezy) between adults is immoral, then Foley's acts are certainly past immoral. You can't have it both ways.

This liberal is done. D-O-N-E. done with this load. And this liberal wants all you conservatives out there to stop making excuses for these scumbags. See past whatever smoke screen comes out in the latest talking point. I'm not asking you to become liberals -- I'm asking you to hold your party responsible, and guide them back to what your party should be instead of what it's become.

Spinning the UnSpinnable

I want to say I'm totally shocked and appalled by the whole Foley affair. And to some extent, that's true. I'm not shocked that Foley was on the Child Safety commission and helped sponsor that law to protect children from pedophiles. (That seems to be kind of par for the course for our politicians. You can pretty much bet that if they're on a committee to be doing X, Y, or Z that they will be caught commiting a crime that involves X, Y, or Z.)

When I first read about this on Friday (thanks, huffingtonpost!), I thought to myself "wow, another sleazy Republican has been caught up in scandal." With each passing day, the Foley thing just gets odder and odder. The inital story I read only said that he was IM'ing/e-mailing underage pages with sexually explicit content. Later, it came out that he was trolling for some young boy loving.

Yesterday, I found out that Hastert and other leaders had known about this for 10 months, yet nothing was done about it -- other than telling Foley to break all contacts with the page. The president of the alumni pages said that when he was a page 5 (FIVE!?!??!) years ago, all the Republican pages were warned about Foley. Obviously, someone knew about Foley, yet no one did anything to actually stop him. (Head on over to abc.com for a really comprehesive set of articles on the Foley thing.)

Now, today we learn he was having cybersex with a page during a vote. Boehner is blaming Hastert. The President says something lame about how this is just "disgusting." Where is the outrage? Where is the condemnation? Why are people like Rush Limbaugh saying the Democrats "leaked" this story close to the election for political advantage, but praise FOX News for sitting on the story for a year and refusing to air it? Why hasn't every bloody politician, pundit, and anyone else involved in this sorry mess officially condemned Foley in the strongest language possible and promised full, thorough and swift investigation? Come on people, quit trying to spin this to save face -- no one loves a pedophile, the damage is done. If you want to gain points with the Americans, condemn this man for the criminal that he is!

But, of course that's not going to happen. Because Hastert is involved and doesn't want to lose his job. Boehner too. Falwell et. al won't speak up on this because it'll make the Republicans look bad. They're all too worried about losing the election. Congratulations guys ... instead of having it be just Foley -- you've managed to drag yourselves down too.

Do You Smell That?

It must be election season.

I just read this and I'm alternatingly baffled and pissed off.

Greatest Threat? I don't think so. With all the other problems facing our country, that she would even make this claim is just sheer political pandering: Gotta keep the right-wing religio-nut jobs in a constant state of fear or we're gonna lose this election.

My apologies to my readers of Faith, but it's crap like this that makes me feel totally justified in thinking that Religion is a very bad thing. Or perhaps I should clarify and say the manipulation of people's religious beliefs is a very bad thing. Of course, this wouldn't be an issue if religion didn't exist.