Boycott, Don't Boycott...Meh, Who Cares?

So now we're supposed to boycott the DNC over, I'm assuming DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I don't know if I'm just a bad gay or what, but I really can't get worked up over these issues. I'm much more interested in how this developing health care reform is going to affect small businesses, seeing as how I work for a small business and really don't feel like being out of a job.

Also, with the most likely necessary troop build up in Afghanistan, does this mean my brother-in-law is going to be dropped in the middle of a war? How about when my sister gets shipped out next year? Are they going to be given a clearer objective as to just what a "win" is so they'll at least know what they're working towards?

I understand that some people feel slapped in the face because their important right to get married or serve in the military had to take a back seat to keeping us from devolving into a third world country or attempting to get people some coverage in case they get sick and prefer not to die. I'm beginning to think the whole "I want to get married NOW!!" thing is more out of spite and bitterness than an actual desire to get married. If it is just about legal and financial matters, why not spend all this energy making sure civil unions have the exact same privileges as a marriage? To me, marriage is what the church performs. Who cares about that?

My issue with the marriage thing is just these people voting to take rights away from a minority group. Somehow, a lack of thinking caused by years of religious indoctrination makes it impossible for some...people...to separate the legal marriage license from the religious marriage ceremony. They wrongly think their church (in between taking their money and donating it to political causes they may or may not agree with) or pastor (when he's not out binge drinking or sexing up whores) will be forced to perform sodomite weddings. I'm like, fine, have your word.

Wait, what was I talking about...

Boycotting over something as trivial as the word marriage is a screaming example of cutting off your nose to spite your face. And nobody is going to pick you up at Micky's if you look like Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera.

Bill O'Reilly Is Crazier Than I Ever Imagined.

Since I refuse to allocate any more energy to this increasingly ridiculous health care debate and its rapid descension into fringe lunacy, I have more time to discover even more fantastical craziness.

It seems Bill O'Reilly is now accusing GE of being in cahoots with terrorists. I don't usually pay any attention to Bill, but this is ridiculous.

From the Huffington Post: O'Reilly said on Tuesday that his show's sources say there is a federal investigation into whether American companies supplied components being used in roadside bombs aimed at American soldiers. He said that radio frequency modules inside some bombs were part of a shipment made by a U.S. company to Corezing International, a Singapore company that does business with Iran.

O'Reilly said that his show "has been told but cannot confirm that the General Electric corporation is under suspicion in the case."

GE has said that they do not do business with Corezing Intl, and that they don't even produce those radio frequency modules. But as usual with the nuts on Fox, facts should NEVER get in the way of a good ratings boosting conspiracy theory. How that station is still considered a news outlet is beyond me.

Of course, the reason why he is smearing GE is because GE owns MSNBC. Since MSNBC is not a right wing puppet station and therefore the enemy, GE is guilty by association and must be destroyed. Let's see how much traction this gets.

On a side note, these people pushing this death squad rumor about health care reform are no better than telemarketers and schemers that prey upon seniors.

In The Current Political Atmosphere, THIS Was Considered Over The Line?

Washington Post journalists Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza are apologizing for an online video they put together for their "Mouthpiece Theater" series that was running on the Post's website. In it, they were having a theoretical discussion (while wearing smoking jackets! Alistair shout out!) about what kind of beer various politicians might drink. This is presumably in response to that ridiculously staged photo-op recently held at the White House.

In the clip, Milbank said that he couldn't say who President Obama might serve a drink called Mad Bitch Beer to, but his statement was immediately followed by a picture of Hillary Clinton.

After receiving a complaint and letter signed by 32 women from the group Women, Action and the Media, the Washington Post issued an apology and yanked the video from their site, and eventually decided to cancel "Mouthpiece Theater" altogether.

Is there more to this? In these times, that barely even registers as an insult. I'm sure even Hillary was like, "Really? Bitch? Is that all ya got?" I can only think that this must've been the final straw after a bunch of complaints or something because Mad Bitch Beer just really doesn't seem like enough to cause this kind of reaction. Juvenile? Most definitely. And why Mad Bitch? What is she mad about? I am putting too much thought into this...

*****UPDATED AFTER VIEWING VIDEO CLIP*****
Okay, this is why I should've waited until viewing this clip before commenting. I watched THE CLIP on YouTube and I can't believe this is supposed to be controversial. It actually was funny and not only did Hillary get a beer assigned to her but there were also these:

Dennis Kucinich: Insanely Bad Elf
Henry Waxman: Grumpy Troll Lager
Sarah Palin: Arctic Devil
and my favorite, Robert Byrd: Old Peculiar (HAAAAA!!)

This really was a non-controversy.

Just A Thought...

So after the embarrassing Phelps/Bowman display of arrogant tantrum-throwing in Rome, Michael still came back to win and set a world record in the 100 fly in his old suit. So does this mean that maybe Michael came in second to Paul Biedermann in the 200 free because he wasn't in top condition and truly was beat? Or maybe he had gotten used to not having to push himself and went into a state of shock? I mean it was by a body length after all...

Welcome To 50 A.D.

I was trying to think of how to express my outrage at the episode of Wide Angle that I was just watching on PBS without going on some kind of rant against religion, but I couldn't find the right balance.

This stunning girl, Angelina Duah Fares, is just trying to live her life. She has dreamed of competing in the Miss Israel beauty pageant and has actually achieved this dream instead of just sitting back and wishing for it. But since she is part of a particularly oppressive religion, the fact that she has to appear on TV in a swimsuit is entirely unacceptable and an outrage. In the face of death threats and public criticism, Angelina stays strong and continues on.

Cue the insane relatives. Talk begins of a "family honor killing" which infuriates me and makes me wonder what century these people think we are living in. Hell, what MILLENNIUM we are living in!

It's honorable to be a MURDERER, but wearing a swimsuit? You hussy!!

So finally she withdraws from the pageant and has to sit before this ridiculous group of men saying how unacceptably she was behaving, belittling her achievements, and telling her that they are done with "this Angelina" and a bunch of other shit, but at this point I could barely keep up with the subtitles because I was fuming.

Even though I am not religious and don't believe religious texts are to be taken literally, I make it a point not to disparage anyone's religion by saying outright that it is a bunch of hooey or whatever. It is an important part of some people's lives and helpful to some people in some situations. But extremes like that and the stranglehold that some religions place on women's freedoms just...grrrrr...

The New Speedo LZR Hypocrisy Racer

Stunning Michael Phelps in Rome at the World Swimming Championships, Paul Biedermann of Germany beat Phelps by nearly a body length in the 200 meter freestyle. Biedermann acknowledged that his suit, the Arena X-Glide, gave him an advantage over swimmers wearing the less advanced Speedo LZR Racer, adding that he will be happy when these techno-suits are banned in 2010.

Here's the kicker, though. Michael says that he will be glad when the suits are banned also because it will be "fun next year when swimming is back to swimming." Then he proceeded to act absolutely peeved about coming in second (understandable). But...wasn't he just endorsing the advantage-giving LZR Racers in the Olympics? A suit that not all the swimmers were wearing or had access to? He seemed perfectly happy with a suit giving an advantage when it was his suit.

Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, then states that Michael may not swim in any events until FINA gets the new rules banning the suits implemented. He pretty much pitched a fit:

"Probably expect Michael not to swim until they are implemented. I'm done with this. It has to be implemented immediately. The sport is in shambles right now and they better do something or they're going to lose their guy who fills these seats."

"That would be my recommendation to him, to not swim internationally — he might swim locally. But who knows. The mess needs to be stopped right now. This can't go on any further."

UUUUUGGGGHHH!!!! That might be more convincing if his athlete hadn't just received a $1 million bonus for giving the LZR Racer more free publicity than they could ever have hoped for. And you can bet that if Michael Phelps wasn't under some kind of contractual obligation to Speedo he would be wearing one of those new suits and not complaining one bit.

Barack's Foot-In-Mouth Problem

Barack Obama saying that James Crowley acted stupidly during his encounter with and arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr seems like another example of him forgetting that his every comment is subject to national scrutiny and that he can't make the sort of off-hand, glib comments that might go over well in some circles but will fall flat (pardon my understatement) in others.

The Special Olympics comment is the first that I can recall. At first I didn't think of it as offensive, but finally had to concede that maybe it was a little. Then there was that whole RIDICULOUS flap with him and the California protesters where he made the comment that he didn't know what promise the protester was asking him to keep. That was nothing but a bunch of plumped-up-with-salt-water pitchfork-carrying-townspeople nonsense.

Now Obama has let himself get dragged into the kind of "race" debate that anybody can tell he wants no part of. I am convinced that he knew that the reporter was going to ask that question about Gates and saved her for last so he could give his opinion on it without any follow-up questions, as I'm sure he thought his comments were innocent enough. And he did preface it with the admission that he didn't know all the facts.

But now we have Gates, with the (however mistakenly) implied support of the president, raising the roof about racial profiling and bolstering a certain misguided segment's belief that police are the enemy. The situation seemed to me like a case of personality conflict to the 1000th degree (quien es mas macho, as Judge Milian would say). I notice Gates has not been completely forthcoming about his own temper tantrum.

Crowley, as a trained officer, should have been able to diffuse the situation, even if Gates was being verbally out of control (and allegedly talking about Crowley's mother?). This doesn't mean that he should now be accused of being racist when his colleagues, black and white, who know him insist that he's not. And worse, all these people coming out with that tired victimized black male shit.

Had Obama stuck to the health care issue, maybe people would be talking about the all too real efforts by certain GOP members to undermine him and regain seats in the 2010 elections by stonewalling any efforts to reform health care. That kind of mercenary partisanship is what the media should be focused on.

The Birthers May Have To Come After Me...

First off, I didn't even know these "Barack Obama Not A Citizen" fools had actually developed a name for themselves. I thought birthers was a name for anti-abortionists or something. After the election, I had stopped following the conspiracy theories and naively thought such craziness like the whole birth certificate thing would go away.

I suppose the persistent delusions of Elvis sightings and UFO abductions should've taught me not to underestimate the power of humans to believe what they will believe despite it being crazy as hell.

I would post the wholly embarrassing display of G Gordon Liddy on Hardball, insisting that regardless of the fact that people say that he can't breathe underwater, he's not going to believe it because it hasn't been proven to him, but I would much rather post something where the "birther" at least has a convincing argument. And while I'm at it, let me just locate Atlantis and a couple of unicorns.

When I requested a copy of my birth certificate, I received a Certificate of Live Birth. Does this mean I'm not a U.S. citizen? I'm an illegal? Where was I actually born? Why didn't they send me an actual birth certificate? And if I actually was born in the United States, does that mean that a Certificate of Live Birth is just as valid as a birth certificate? So...what's the problem again?

They Are Just Not That Into You, Mon Frere...

This falls under the label of irrational ranting.

Once again, the Lakers are under-appreciating Lamar Odom. I don't know what this guy has to do to get respect from TPTB at the Lakers! Here they are, on the verge of sending Lamar and his Reese's Cups packing because they are all brimming with confidence with this new Artest aquistion. An Artest aquistion that reminds me of an episode of some show (The Big Valley?) where some folks had to take a ride in a wagon with bottles of nitroglycerine in the back (Little House on the Prairie?), taking extreme care not to jostle things lest they blow themselves to smithereens.

I don't know how much of this is Lamar stonewalling or the Lakers commiting their latest act of self destruction, but can we please just have Lamar back with the Lakers already? If he leaves, my last little thread of connection to my home team would be Luke Walton (although with Trevor gone, maybe he can see more playing time again). I might just as well start rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

O-K-C!!! WOOT WOOT!!

**Notice how I didn't somehow manage to turn this into a Kobe rant.**

Hang On To Your Collective Hats...

Obama tries to navigate the unwieldy mess that is healthcare reform around the seemingly unavoidable obstruction that is tax increases...

L.A. Daily News Death Watch, Part 2

I was more than surprised to see the following headline in the news section, not the lifestyle section, the news section right along side a story about the California budget farce:

PLOT IS GONE FROM PORN: Rise of Internet leads to "just a sex scene."

And the article got just as much type as the budget article!

It seems they imported an article by Matt Richtel in from the New York Times. While I thought the article was very interesting, I'm just like, has it come to this, Daily News? An article about the lack of plot in porn flicks in the hard news section? For real real? I could see this being tenuously connected to the business section, which as we know has been downsized to 2 pages at the end of the main section. Porn is big business in L.A. This kind of salacious reader grab, however, is disconcerting. I'm certainly not saying the article itself is salacious (it's not), but the placing seems weird. But I suppose when the chips are down...

In other entirely non-surprising news, L.A. residents are NOT feeling having to pay for the Jackson memorial yesterday.

Well, That's Somewhat Diverting...

Sarah Palin has decided to resign as governor of Alaska.

While this was mostly yawn inducing, it was just out-of-left-field enough to cause my left eyebrow to raise. Apparently since she wasn't planning on running for reelection, she decided that she didn't want to sit in office as a lame duck governor or something. Her statement:

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose. It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success."

I don't know if it's my apathy towards her, or the fact that I've had way too much Pepsi but the utter vagueness of that statement is leaving me in a state of willful confusion, with no desire to figure out what she's talking about.

I'm just going to read the bold and italicized print between the lines and assume that she needs all her free time to prepare for her 2012 presidential run. I mean, learning basics, like having a coherent grasp on the issues and being able to give an interview that isn't sub-high school athlete, takes time.

I think she should reconsider this run. I mean, whoever the other candidates are on the GOP ticket that year, they are going to basically tear her to shreds. She should know from first hand experience that those Republicans are dirty and underhanded. A candidate with a bit more gravitas than her can come out of the primaries unscathed but I'm worried she might be totally unelectable afterwards. I am merely concerned about her political future.

Look, There's Saber Rattling And Then There's Just Plain "You Have Lost Your Damn Mind."

In Pyongyang, some 100,00 North Korean protesters gathered for an anti-U.S. rally, shouting "Let's crush them!" presumably emboldened by their leaders' vow to annihilate the U.S. if we try to enforce any sanctions or interfere with them militarily.

While North Korea definitely presents a huge challenge and, outside of restricting all but essential items from being transported there, what are you really going to do, I have to think somebody in charge is feeding their people some really strong Crazy-Ade. I literally laughed out loud when I read that "let's crush them" quote.

One thing, though, Joe Biden was right on the money with that whole 6 months thing! And that is exactly what's going on here. Crazy Ol' Kim Jong Il and his Napoleon complex flaring up again. The U.S. military may be spread out over half the Middle East, but they have no qualms about targeted bombing, okay? That doesn't take that much man power. And with Kimmie dropping the nuclear talk so casually, you can bet it wouldn't take much to get the American people behind the idea of a few carefully placed bombs if it will keep them from having their news about Jon & Kate interrupted.

Put you little sabers away before you hurt yourselves.

Was ACORN Somehow Involved In This?

The results in the Iranian presidential election show that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been reelected, which is causing widespread rioting and accusations of fraud. Ahmadinejad received 63% of the vote while opponent Hossein Mousavi received 34%.

Far be it from me to accuse anyone of blatant voter suppression or any underhanded machinations to get the outcome they wanted, but I just think it's a bit odd that a contest can go from hotly-contested to lopsided-win in one day. Nothing shady happening in Iran, no-siree bob...

I've listened to a few things Ahmadinejad has said and watched an interview with him on This Week a few weeks ago and I really don't think this guy gets it. He's not really looking out for the best interests of his country and people with his isolationist and, frankly, delusional views about Iran and its dealings with the rest of the world. There are people chomping at the bit to start bombing sites over there and if the choice is between either Iran getting close to being nuclear capable or bombing the hell out of them regardless of the collateral damage...well, nobody wants to see Iran with that kind of power in the hands of irrational religious extremists.

I can't even fault the Iranians for voting against their best interests because who even knows if this charade represents their real choice or not?

Insanely Irrational And Meaningless Rant...

Kobe Bryant's new aggression face is bugging me to no end. I swear he locates the cameras before every game and invents some new thing for them to put in slow-mo while cutting to commercial. The wagging finger nearly drove me to suggest amputation, however this aggression face thing is seriously making me want to throttle him with my bare hands. This would be a clear case of justifiable homicide.

If it wasn't for my desire to see Lamar Odom and Luke Walton win a ring, I would seriously risk Los Angeles pariahdom and possible stoning by rooting against the Lakers. The thought of Kobe going on a maniacal rampage after an ego-deflating loss is just too delicious.

Who am I kidding, there is no deflating that ego.

Still, you've got to be amazed at his telekinetic-like ability to get that ball in the hoop. **conspiracy theory alert**

Dick Cheney Throws Ultra Extremist NeoCons A Knuckleball

First we have Dick Cheney not condemning gay marriage, and now we have him verifying the fact that there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11?

Everybody better head for the hills because apparently that Invasion of the Body Snatchers stuff is real!

This is truly mind wobbling. Is he off his meds? Is he on meds?

Not surprisingly, I'm pretty sure I heard Elisabeth Hasselbeck voicing this same marriage opinion on The View this morning. Never let it be said that she doesn't stay on top of her talking points. Perhaps now these politicians that are all "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but I fully support civil unions" **cough Barack cough** can drop that ridiculous politicking and state their true feeling, which is that they don't give a damn if the gays want to get married or not but their stating that out loud may not fly in Alabama.

As for the 9/11 thing, well, that was kind of common knowledge I suppose, but having him say it out loud really lays down the shut up on the Bill Kristols of the world. (I still love my Billy, though) I'm sure this statement went over real well in the VA hospitals. You know, I'm getting angry sitting here thinking about this now. If either my sister or bro-in-law get sent to Iraq, I'm gonna be mighty damn pissed.

Clip is of Dick Cheney voicing his support/indifference on gay marriage.

You Have Now Entered The Bizarro World...

The sports world was, I imagine, rocked this weekend by two unthinkable events.

Rafael Nadal's early elimination from the French Open!! This is the King of Clay, Mr French Open we're talking about here. The final set came down to a tie break, where Robin Soderling won 5 back-to-back points against Rafa before eventually going on to win the match. WHAT?! The announcers were totally in a state of shock. Soderling showed great sportsmanship by leaving the court before Rafa and allowing the crowd to give Rafa a champion's appreciation roar.

In the NBA, Cleveland was eliminated from the playoffs by Orlando, which may have actually caused a ripple in the time-space continuum and sent the whole of humanity hurtling into an alternative reality. This has exposed my Lakers duality, where I'm now upset that Kobe's ego won't get squashed by a marauding LeBron but I'm overjoyed that the Lakers will (presumably) have an easier path to the title.

And not an "upset" but still upsetting, Danica Patrick was being interviewed after her 5th place finish in her IndyRace this weekend and as the they were wrapping it up, the interviewer (who was also a woman) says something like not only is she a great driver, but she bakes too. I thought we had transported back to the 50's. I was insulted for Danica.

Dudes...This Is Not A John Ford Production And You Are Not John Wayne.

First we have Michael Steele on Meet The Press last week talking about how the opposition party is about to rise up and take on the president. They will not back down! They don't want to go after "lesser" targets like Nancy Pelosi or Barney Frank, they will go after the president directly!

Now we have rumblings of ultra conservatives gearing up for a battle over the Supreme Court nominee with the slogan "lock and load!"

Nevermind that the nominee hasn't even been named yet. They are ready for a fight!!

And there is the problem with the GOP, highlighted by those two events. It seems their current strategy is not to do what's best for their constituents by working to get their ideals and whatever on the table, they just want to be obstructionists. This falls right in line with their apparent party belief that even if it means the country must fail, they want revenge for suddenly having their huevos snatched off.

Vigilante Anti-Hero/Attempted Murderer-Of-The-Week

Spotted on Huffington Post: Times, they're tough all over. In Beijing, Chen Fuchao, broke and in debt up to his ears, decided to end it all by throwing himself over the Haizhu bridge. A bridge which is only 26 feet by the way. Wouldn't this just lead to more debt from monumental hospital bills? But anyways...

As with most jumpers, he didn't really have the courage of his conviction. The police had the area cordoned off for five hours, of course causing major traffic drama. Having had enough of this nonsense, 66-year-old Lai Jiansheng decided to take matters into his own hands. Somehow he broke through the cordoned off area and made his way to the ledge where Chen was sitting.

Lai greets Chen with a handshake and then pushes him over the bridge!!! !!!!!!

Luckily for Chen, the police had one of those inflatable pads set up.

A couple of interesting tidbits: "Photos in the Beijing Morning Post showed Lai, shoeless and in a T-shirt, saluting after Chen fell." Saluting? Why saluting? Bon voyage, bitch! Secondly, it seems our dear Lai has been on medication for an undiclosed "mental illness" for some time, and was on his way to the hospital to get more pills.

He was like, "You want to see crazy? I got yo crazy!"

New Catchphrase To Beat To Death...

Now that "Support The Troops" has been worn out like a $20 hooker, it seems the new phrase being used to try to control the masses is "Keep America Safe." Apparently some people see this Guantanamo/detainees-in-America thing as a politically advantageous argument. If these people can somehow convince the public that they have to be afraid...be very afraid...of this administration, perhaps they can regain some lost footing.

Once again, fear mongering is being used as a political tool. And it wouldn't necessarily bother me so much if the people doing the fear mongering were as genuinely concerned as they would have us believe. No, it's blatant political posturing and transparently mercenary power grabbing. I suppose that sentence was overwrought enough.

I haven't really come down with an opinion on the issue of transferring detainees/POWs to U.S. prisons, but it seems to me that it's kind of like buying a great ring at the pawn shop and putting it in a Tiffany's box. It seems like you've made a great effort, so you get a lot of praise, when actually, you haven't really done that much. They're still in prison. Probably where the majority of them belong.

On the plus side, this gives the military personnel, who have had the hugely thankless job of watching these nutcases, the chance to go on to less soul-sapping assignments.

What A Diva!: Cleats Edition

As an honor for winning the Super Bowl this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers were invited to the White House to meet the president. I'm sure this story would've just been a blip in the news if it wasn't for some serious MCarey-ish behavior.

Defensive linebacker James Harrison has decided that he will not be attending because he feels the Steelers are so special that it's a slap in the face to have them there just because they won the Super Bowl. Here's his quote:

"This is how I feel -- if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, he would've invited Arizona if they had won."

Oh, I cracked UP!! I haven't seen such a flagrant display of diva-tude in some time. Of course he would've invited Arizona if they had won, that's the tradition, right? But moreover, that is an oddly hostile statement that makes me think our Defensive Player of the Year might be taking his title a little too seriously *snerk*. I watched THE CLIP to see if maybe I was missing some inflection that couldn't be picked up from just reading the quote, but nay...there was not.

This has got to be my favorite story of the day. Totally gave me the chuckles.

**Stares Ahead Blankly In Disbelief**

Recently Barack Obama and Joe Biden stopped in at a place called Ray's Hell (refraining from self-deprecating joke placement) to have a burger during a swing through Virginia.

I'll put aside for now my dislike of awkward, unnecessary photo ops. Also what has to be a security breach of some kind with the Prez and Vice Prez sitting around in what, even at best, would be dodgily secured perimeters. There is a bigger story here. The story being called attention to by America's Own Paragon of Masculinity, Sean Hannity. The President...ordered...dijon mustard on his burger!!!! ***GASP!!!***

So, I haven't quite decided if Sean was trying to say it was unmanly or un-American to eat spicy mustard. Certainly, it can't be un-American, as spicy mustard is very popular in the states. So it must be the unmanly thing. Are straight guys restricted to only using certain kinds of condiments now? And please, PLEASE tell me Sean didn't mockingly tell Barack to enjoy his fancy burger. Fancy? I will go out on a limb here and "accuse" Sean Hannity of having spicy mustard in his fridge. Let's hope he recognizes his foolishness every time he uses it.

I don't know, I think I'm sensing a bit of quiet weeping underneath his mocking persona. Like the class clown trying desperately to regain the momentarily distracted class' attention by resorting to progressively pathetic stunts until he, himself, becomes the object of ridicule. Give it time, Sean!! We all know the Democratic Party is just as loopy and self destructive as the Republican Party.

L.A. Daily News Death Watch...

Monday's newspaper combined the current news, business, and lifestyle/comics parts of the paper into one section leaving the Sports and the Classifieds as the only separate sections.

The L.A. Daily News continues it's efforts to lose enough weight to be booked for a Milan runway show.

Disbelief Coupled With Exasperation Mixed With Indifference...

I know Inside Edition has a tendency to overstate things for scintillation purposes, but did I really really just hear them say some people are wanting this Miss California persona, Carrie Prejean, to run for office? REALLY?! I know the ultra right wing is swimming without a life jacket right now but come on.

And apparently they've been comparing her to Sarah Palin. Well, if you mean an aggressively simplistic beauty pageant blank slate that they can mold into whatever they want, then yes, I suppose she is like Sarah Palin.

Is anybody but the media even talking about this lady? I had to Google "Miss California" just to find out what her name was.

This is another case where well intentioned people jumped the gun demanding an apology. Her statement wasn't particularly egregious. Now it seems, much like Palin, she's playing into the hands of starkly extremist individuals who are exploiting her blind opportunism to push their own agendas.

I seriously doubt this lady is anti-gay, but by allowing herself to become the spokesperson for the virulently anti-gay crowd, she's revealing herself to be anti-common sense.

Okay, back to ignoring this until 2012 when she and Palin are running mates for the newly formed Ameri-Jesus party.

One Step Closer To Pure Insanity...

Sean Hannity had Charles Grodin on his show and in a moment of mind-bogglingly false machismo, agreed to be waterboarded by Grodin for charity to benefit "the troops' families."

**SIGH**

How do you even comment on something like that?

First, some people have so perverted the phrase "Support the Troops" that I can not stand when people use the term troops any longer.

Second, Hannity, a person who will never have to worry about being tortured, is willing to show his support for the torture that our military men and women could realistically be faced with by making a show of undergoing a sanitized and strictly monitored version of this torture, thereby proving that it's no big deal. And to add additional sting to the slap in the face, he'll crow that he's doing it for "the troops!" by collecting money for this farce and giving it to military families.

At this point, is it still even necessary to point out that some people have lost their damn minds?

How Free Association Thinking Gets You From Ron Paul To Hitler...

Filed under: Wow, Thomas Sowell Really Can't Stand Barack Obama!

I have actually begun to enjoy Thomas and his doomsday, what-if scenarios. Today's column featured Thomas complaining about this murky Vigilant Eagle program that the Dept. of Homeland Security was toying with. This program was initially started under the Bush Administration in order to keep an eye on disgruntled supporters of ex-Republican/newly Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul who were supposedly vulnerable to recruitment by violent militia groups that would use any tactics to enforce state's sovereignty. Ron Paul had a lot of veterans as his supporters, so the thinking was that the militias would especially like to get their hands on these guys due to their weapons and combat training.

This program gained new life when people in the FBI and DOD became concerned about right-wing extremists groups trying to recruit veterans for membership in hate groups due to Obama's election after noticing an increase in threatening communications and weapons procurement among those groups.

With the whole of the conservative establishment trying to portray Obama as an enemy of the military, it's not surprising these groups might have an attentive ear, but I have a greater respect for military folks and refuse to believe they are that naive.

So our dear Thomas hitches this Vigilant Eagle program to the Obama Adminstration and then as he is want to do, goes off on a seemingly unrelated track and brings up some vague comment Obama made during the campaign about establishing a federal police force. I listened several times to the context of the speech where he mentions a "civilian national security force" (@ apx 16:45), and to me it seems he's talking about civilians serving in the Peace Corps and Americorps and the like and saying that those programs are just as important to national security (in a different way of course) and need to be expanded and funded as well.

Of course if you want that to be sinister, a word which Thomas used twice in his column, I'm sure you can read that into it also.

Thomas then goes on to posit that such a police force would be used as Obama's personal STORMTROOPERS to go on witchhunts after those who disagree with Obama because what other reason is there for such a force to exist? It's always about the Obama=Nazi thing with Thomas.

Which leads us back to his around-the-way point, that veterans and any person leaning to the right should be worried about being investigated and demonized by the sinister Obama Adminstration. Desperate paranoia/fear mongering is not a cute look but, much like Crocs, it is inexplicably in fashion.

Sometimes I just imagine Thomas sitting at his computer, munching on some 'shrooms and just seeing where his magic carpet ride will take him.

Oh, crap, right-wingers!!! It's TOO LATE!!!

Ughhh, Give Me A Friggin' Break.

April 15th, traditionally the last day to file your taxes on time, is being used around the country as a day of protest in what are being called Tax Day Tea Parties. These are to protest what people see as their tax dollars being used to fund a pork-barrel-spending and unnecessarily bloated stimulus package.

Um, where were they during the previous few years of out of control spending? A period in which they weren't receiving any tax relief, so even more of their tax dollars were going to this out of control spending?

At first I thought that these tea parties were a great way for people to get out and protest and express their concern until it turned into another opportunity for the suddenly less empowered ultraconservatives to make a power grab. The waaay over the top icing on the cake came at the Texas rally where the audience started chanting for Texas to secede. Their governor, Rick Perry, when asked about it did not rule that out as an option!!!

***eyes roll right out head and into corner***

Whenever I hear people complaining that they don't want their tax dollars paying for such and such, I'm always wondering if they have any clue what they are currently and have previously gone to pay for? And do they think the USA gets its revenue from the tooth fairy? **shooing away vision of China in a tu-tu**

I feel for the people who may think that they are justified in this display, even though by now they should be receiving more in their paychecks due to the recent tax cut. They are being emotionally manipulated by people who don't have their best interests at heart and just want to regain influence by any means necessary, even if that means Tree Of Knowledge-level conniving.

Since I Haven't Been Worked Up About Anything Lately...

...I'll have to settle for a "Yes-Childish-But-Appropriate-When-Dealing-With-The-Likes-Of-You" comment in order to shake the cobwebs off this blog.

It's been reported that authorities in Turkey arrested a man who claimed to be plotting to kill Barack Obama during his visit there. Turkish police took the man into custody two days before Obama arrived so he was never in any immediate danger.

So I can only wonder if Rush Limbaugh has any comments from the peanut eating gallery? Disappointed, is he?

Portia De Rossi's PSA

Spotted on Huffington Post...

Prop 8 Confusion

The California Supreme Court signaled last Thursday that it may be leaning towards upholding Prop 8, which took away the rights of gays and lesbians to marry in California, but that it would still recognize the 18,000 existing same-sex marriages that occurred before the ban was approved by voters.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. If the existing marriages are seen as valid and legal, how can you then tell another couple that they can't have that exact same valid and legal marriage? I seriously can't process this as it is so illogical that it exceeds human brain limitations.

And is this a kind of dubious victory for both sides?

People who voted for the ban did not succeed in keeping marriage between a man and a woman because there are valid same-sex marriages, but they did succeed in pushing their religion into our state constitution. Can they really claim a victory?

People who voted against the ban did not succeed in maintaining equal rights for all citizens, but with the current same-sex marriages being recognized, how can any future voters say that gay marriage will ruin the institution of marriage when inevitably marriage doesn't instantly become obsolete? Or whatever they think will happen to marriage, I never fully understood that.

On a side note, once again I heard these two arguments against overturning Prop 8: The will of the voters should be upheld and that two men or two women can't procreate with each other and marriage is supposed to be for procreation. Well, if the "will of the people" had anything to do with it, schools would still be segregated, water fountains separate, and that nice interracial couple down the block would be thrown in jail. As to the procreation thing, now barren women can't get married? Or guys who have had a vasectomy? Get real.

Just say it's against your religion and get it over with.

Blatant Hypocrisy On My Part, But What The Hay...

Some bitter and angry...let's just call them "non-progressives" have taken to calling Barack Obama The Precedent as opposed to the president. I suppose they feel that he was elected merely because he was black and that serving in the state senate and US Senate and running an issues based campaign that people connected with meant nothing. Any ol' schlump would do as long as he was black. Because before he came along, everybody was just clamoring for a black president, right?

Previously on The View, Sherri Shepherd, well known for her biting and insightful commentary, mentioned that she saw The Obama Effect during the Oscars this year because of, among other things, the fact that 2 black actresses were nominated. So these ladies' performances weren't worthy of being nominated on their own merits, but in the spirit of Obama they were thrown a bone? Dang, Sherri.

I don't know which is more insulting!

Now, this post flies right in the face of my last post mentioning the new faces of color representing the GOP, but the Republican party is a whole different entity and is just calculating enough to try to score votes that way. Not taking anything away from Steele and Jindal who I'm sure are very capable and 10 times more intelligent than me. So long as Jindal stays away from those incompentent handlers. "More folksy! Put a hay straw in his mouth!"

Is Bobby Jindal An Android?

Bobby Jindal sounds like a muppet televangelist. This is the best they could find for their response? Also, it is a little strange that the GOP has suddenly found all these people of color to trot out as their representatives. Are screeching blonde harpies suddenly out of fashion?