I Write Letters
Dear Washington Post:
I don't give a flying fuck if Joe Biden uses Botox. And neither should you.
Seriously, aren't you the paper that brought down Nixon?
Jebus.
Get it together.
Love,
Liss
P.S. For future reference, I also don't care about his hair, and I couldn't give less of a shit about flag lapel pins.
Question of the Day
We've done this one before, although not for a long while, and it was fun the last two times around and there are always new faces to consider. Are there any celebrities whom you are often told you resemble?
I'm too fat, quite honestly, to be told I resemble any celebrities very often. But those who fancy British comedy often tell me I resemble Dawn French, who is living, sexy, voluptuous proof that big can be beautiful, and I consider the comparison blushingly flattering. (She's actually way prettier than I am.)
Dawn on the left; Liss on the right.
(That was an existing picture of me, by the way. It wasn't taken just to try to highlight the resemblance.)
Iain is a dead ringer for Louis CK, except that Iain still has a full head of curls.
Iain on the left; Louie on the right.
(As an aside, I had to argue endlessly with Iain to allow me to post that picture of him the first time 'round. He claims he looks "like a bucket of monkey-spunk." Wev. I love that picture.)
Daily Kitteh
Sisters: Sophs on the left; Tils on the right.
"So I guess you're here to stay, huh?"
Sigh of resignation: "Just scratch my head and make the pain go away."
Fin.
Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #96
Sure, this billboard is totally offensive to anyone with any sense of decency or decorum, but it's free speech!
I, Melissa "Lyn" McEwan, would like to note that self-censorship is not a restriction of (nor anathema to) free speech. As I've said before, I self-censor all the time, because I don't consider refusing to use language and images that perpetuates oppression to be the equivalent of enslaving myself to the language police (whoever they are); I just consider it doing the basic work required of someone who doesn't want to be a fucking asshole. If you can't make your point without gross racist caricatures, maybe you need to consider that your point isn't worth making.
(Thanks to Shaker Azak for the heads-up.)
[Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two, Ninety-Three, Ninety-Four, Ninety-Five.]
Dispatch from the Reality-Based Community
In July of this year, a grim threshold was passed: 100 female service members had died in Iraq. Sixty-one of those deaths were hostile; i.e. "occurring during combat or enemy attacks," despite the fact that women are still not officially allowed to serve in combat positions (and hence don't receive combat pay). It's one of the "women's issues" that doesn't get much attention, but for the thousands of women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the families of those women, it's no small thing—not just being officially prohibited from serving "on the front lines," but the reality that many of them already are serving "on the front lines" in two wars where the front lines can be wherever the next suicide bomber decides they'll be.
So this is pretty significant:
Mr. Obama would consider officially opening combat positions to women. Mr. McCain would not.It's not a promise to allow women to serve equally, but the recognition that women are already in serving in combat is a big step in the right direction.
"Women are already serving in combat [in Iraq and Afghanistan] and the current policy should be updated to reflect realities on the ground," said Wendy Morigi, Mr. Obama's national security spokeswoman. "Barack Obama would consult with military commanders to review the constraints that remain."
More of this, please.
Oh, and neither candidate supports reinstating the draft, but, in that eventuality, only one of them supports requiring women to sign up with the Selective Service, while the other one doesn't, probably because he thinks the womenfolk need to keep the hearth warm for the brave boys coming home or something equally retrofucktastic. If you guessed the anti-egalitarian asshat is John McCain, give yourself 1,000 points.
Quote of the Day
"If she wins, I'm done. I can't do that for four years. And by 'I'm done,' I mean I'm leaving Earth."—Tina Fey, on the prospect of playing Sarah Palin if the McCain-Palin ticket wins the election.
And if she's got $30 million laying around, that's now a real possibility.
Science: Still, Like, Totally Fun!
In which Elle goes shopping for some science-y stuff and finds that "boys and girls require different science kits."
It's a little-known fact that Marie Curie discovered the radium-isolation process in the bathtub.
[Related: Science is Fun! and Science is Still Fun!]
Be Alert
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight has created a handy-dandy chart to keep track of the many changes in the McCain campaign strategy.
Duct tape and plastic tarps are optional.
Monday Blogaround
Sock it to me, Shakers!
Recommended Reading:
Josh: What They'll Say When They Lose
Kevin: No Excuses
Kyle: The Logical Next Step
Avedon: Truth Is Not Subjective
Digby: The Terror Party
Marti: The Irresistible Temptation: Exploiting Our Dead
Leave your links in comments...
Happy Blogiversary...
...to BFP, celebrating (belatedly) three years of "two blog shut downs, about two hundred 'fuck it I'm done' stomp offs, countless internet fights, a few lost friends, thousands of total fuck ups and three years of being a part of a glorious earth-shattering beautiful loving community."
FYI
Bush says he still has a lot to do. Brace yourselves, Shakers.
[For comparative purposes, or for those who have lived in tragic ignorance of the zomg hair metal awesomeness that is Europe, here is the original album cover.]
Lies and the Lying Liars
"Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."—Sarah Palin, on a Saturday conference call with reporters.
She repeated the same contention on the trail Saturday: When a reporter asked if she had abused her power in firing Walt Monegan, the state police chief who would not dismiss her ex-brother-in-law Mike Wooten from the force, she said the report showed she had done nothing wrong. "No, and if you read the read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member," Palin responded before boarding her campaign bus. "You got to read the report, sir."Um, actually, you "got to read the report," Governor. Because it actually found you "in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain."
Just another publication Palin doesn't read, I guess.
Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #94
This is really starting to get old:
The chairman of the Virginia Republican Party has compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden because of the Illinois senator's past association with Bill Ayers, who has confessed to domestic bombings as a member of the Vietnam War-era Weather Underground.The best part is McCain campaign spokesperson Gail Gitcho then trying to have it both ways as she attempts to condemn Frederick while reaffirming the Ayers line of attack: "While Barack Obama is associated with domestic terrorist William Ayers, the McCain campaign disagrees with the comparison that Jeff Frederick made." In other words, we like to imply that Obama is a terrorist-by-association, but we don't like anyone taking that to its logical conclusion, because that's ugly and makes us look bad.
According to a report in this week's Time magazine, the Virginia party chairman, Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William), told Virginia volunteers working for GOP nominee John McCain that Obama and bin Laden "both have friends that bombed the Pentagon."
"That is scary," Frederick said while providing talking points to GOP volunteers in western Prince William County as they prepared for a door-to-door canvass.
…"It is just the hard facts. It's terrible that it can be said, but it can," Frederick said. "It's shocking. Here is a guy who is one step away from the presidency, who is one step away from being commander in chief, who has a friend who bombed the Pentagon. It's just shocking to me." He added, "And there is no denying that Osama bin Laden had a role in bombing the Pentagon."
[Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two, Ninety-Three.]
Um, Pardon Me?
John "Respectful Campaign" McCain serves up a little "respect" for Barack Obama:
Republican John McCain vowed Sunday to "whip" Democratic rival Barack Obama's "you-know-what" when the two presidential candidates meet Wednesday in their final televised debate.I'm sure he did.
…McCain said he and running mate Sarah Palin would continue campaigning hard in the three weeks left before Election Day, in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. The two planned a joint appearance Monday in Virginia, a Republican stronghold turned battleground this time.
"We're going to spend a lot of time and after I whip his you-know-what in this debate, we're going to be going out 24/7," McCain said.
…Still, McCain promised to run a "respectful" campaign in the weeks to come.
Anybody else got a problem with threatening to "whip" the "you-know-what" of the first African-American presidential candidate in the nation's history? Sure, sure—he didn't mean it that way, but that's what owning the context is all about. Just like it doesn't mean quite the same thing when you want to punch Hillary Clinton in the mouth as when you want to punch Bill Clinton, and just like it doesn't mean quite the same thing when you compare Barack Obama to a monkey as when you compare George Bush to one, it doesn't mean the same thing when you threaten to "whip" a white opponent as when you threaten to "whip" a black opponent, at least when you're a white guy yourself.
Especially when you're a white guy who, for example, has hosted a 2005 fundraiser for then-Alabama Lt. Governor GOP primary candidate George Wallace, Jr., a four-time speaker for the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC)—a group which Wallace calls "good, patriotic people" and was created from the mailing list of the old white supremacist White Citizens Councils, has been noted as becoming increasingly "radical and racist" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which classifies the CCC as a hate group, opposes interracial marriage, hate crime legislation, massive immigration of non-European and non-Western peoples, and "Afrocentric" curricula in schools, and says of itself:
We believe that the United States derives from and is an integral part of European civilization and the European people and that the American people and government should remain European in their composition and character. We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.Those are the kind of friends John McCain has. (At least by the definition of "friends" his campaign uses.) I believe they're colloquially called racists.
(Which, btw, makes all of the McCain campaign's caterwauling about Rep. John Lewis comparing him to Daddy George Wallace all the more hilarious. And Obama's apologia all the more unnecessary.)
If John McCain didn't know what he was saying, or doesn't understand in retrospect why it was wildly inappropriate, then he's too fucking stupid to be president.
In addition to all the other reasons.
Remembering Edward Catton
A moment of personal privilege as I remember a friend.
Many years ago I began spending my summers in northern Michigan near the little town of Northport. Over the years I was vaguely aware of the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Interlochen Arts Academy music and arts boarding school and summer camp. As I grew older, I began to listen to WIAA, Interlochen Public Radio, a service of ICA. One of the most memorable voices of the radio station was that of Edward Catton, who was not only their announcer and host for many programs, but their program director as well. In 1978, when I got a job at a radio station in nearby Frankfort, I finally got to meet Ed, and we became friends. I left the radio station in 1979 for a teaching job and grad school, so it wasn't until 1990, when I moved to Petoskey, Michigan, that I reconnected with Interlochen and Ed. Although I lived over 80 miles away, the station had a repeater in nearby East Jordan so I could hear the station and all its music, news, stories, readings, and everything else that brought a touch of culture and beauty to an already-beautiful (if not wintery) part of the world. Quite often WIAA was the only station I listened to in the car, the house, and in my office, and when "Music By Request" started on Saturday mornings, hosted by Ed, I was there with something, usually a bit off-beat, like a piece by Leonard Bernstein or Jerome Moross.
For the five years that I lived in Petoskey I volunteered for the station's biannual fund-raisers, answering phones and taking pledges. And under Ed's guidance, the fund-raisers were fun. As opposed to the beg-a-thons and guilt-trips you get on most public stations, WIAA had contests, challenges, musical games, all with Ed's deep voice-of-God baritone on the air or in the background as he kept track of the money coming in. He would "vultch" over us as we answered the phone; Ed invented the word "vultch" as the verb form of "vulture," as in hang over us like a hungry buzzard, and then, after consulting the "Sacred Scrolls," he would report sonorously, "We have met the challenge. Onward." I think that WIAA had the distinction of actually increasing their listenership during their fund-raisers.
In 1995 I moved to Albuquerque, and in 1997 Ed retired from Interlochen so he could spend his time with his partner Nancy and they could do more traveling, especially to his beloved England and Scotland where he would explore the hills and climb the moors. And it was there in York on October 13, 2004, that Ed died suddenly of a heart attack. He was in a place he loved doing what he loved.
I did not hear about Ed's death until nearly a year later when a friend from Michigan mentioned it in passing. I never got the chance -- until now -- to pay tribute to a friend and fellow lover of theatre -- he participated in many local productions in Traverse City and Benzonia and was a regular attender at the Stratford Festival in Ontario -- and a man of great humor, humility, and deep love of all things beautiful.
I wish I had a recording of his voice saying, one last time, "this is W-I-A-A, Interlochen." But the closest I can come is a piece of music from Interlochen with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and the rest of the musicians from the camp playing the Interlochen Theme by Howard Hanson. For many years Ed hosted the broadcast of the summer concerts, and in my memories I can hear him announcing the final concert of the summer from the outdoor theatre among the cedars and the evergreens of the northwoods.
Rest in peace, friend.
(Cross-posted.)
Sunday Book Club
"The backlash against women is real. This is the book we need to help us understand it, to struggle through the battle fatigue, and to keep going."—Womanist and award-winning author Alice Walker, on Susan Faludi's 1991 book Backlash, a landmark book in the feminist critique of "conventional wisdom," media memes, and pop science about women, and the subject of today's Sunday Book Club.
One of the most important contributions Backlash made to the conversation is attacking head-on the simultaneous myths that women have achieved equality and that equality is making women miserable, found at the root of so many narratives regarding women and employment, parenting, and marriage, used to discredit feminism by suggesting its goals leave women unfilfilled. Faludi's premise is that those narratives are bunk, for the simple reason that women have not achieved equality, and demonstrates as much by asking some very basic questions like: "If women have achieved equality, why do they still make less than men? Why are women disproportionately poor? Why are women 52% of our population, but only 16% of our Congress?"
This is week one of our discussion of Backlash.
Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #93
In the below CBS video taken at a Palin rally this morning in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, you can see a man in the audience holding a stuffed monkey with an Obama bumpersticker wrapped around its forehead: "After Palin finished her remarks this morning, the man holding the stuffed monkey seemed to notice that a video camera was pointed at him, at which point he removed the Obama sticker from the doll's head and crumpling it up in his hand. He then handed the doll to a young boy who was watching the rally from his father's shoulders. The boy's parents later told CBS News that they weren't acquainted with the man who gave their son the stuffed monkey."
Watch CBS Videos Online
Truly, deeply creepy. He's so proud of his "hilarious" racism until he realizes he's being filmed, then he tries to erase it by giving his toy to a little boy he doesn't even know, all with this unsettling grin on his face. Gross. And the thing is, you know this guy, even after his evident embarrassment at being busted holding that thing and his skeevy attempt to pretend it never happened, would insist from here to eternity that he "didn't know" it was racist.
Meanwhile, today the WaPo's running a page one story titled: "Issue of Race Creeps Into Campaign." Yeah, that's not actually news (see parts 1-92), but thanks for catching up.
And, once again, I love how pointing out that people are being racist is treated as the equivalent to people actually being racist:
Yesterday, civil rights leader John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, became the latest advocate to excite the racial debate, condemning Sen. John McCain for "sowing the seeds of hatred and division" and accusing the Republican nominee of potentially inciting violence.Only in the "both sides are just as bad" world of "objective" journalism is ginning up outrage by perpetrating the lie that Obama is a Muslim terrorist sympathizer just as bad as publicly and unapologetically objecting to that tactic.
[Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two.]
The American President
I think this clip has been run before, but Shaker Bruce said, "I was thinking that considering the crap that has happened on the campaign this week re: Ayers and all that, that maybe you’d want to switch it up just a little, and post the climactic speech from “The American President”, instead. It seems pretty appropriate."
I can't argue with that, so...
Transcript below the fold...
For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character, and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character. For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago. America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free". I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she's to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore. Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob. She has done nothing but put herself through school, represent the interests of public school teachers, and lobby for the safety of our natural resources. You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.
[pauses]
I've loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer, and I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my job I forgot to do my job. Well, that ends right now. Tomorrow morning, the White House is sending a bill to Congress for its consideration. It's White House Resolution 455, an energy bill requiring a 20 percent reduction of the emission of fossil fuels over the next ten years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of global warming. The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today, it no longer exists. I'm throwing it out. I'm throwing it out writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security, and I will go door to door if I have to, but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right, and I'm gonna get the guns. We've got serious problems, and we need serious people, and if you want to talk about character, Bob, you'd better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I am the President.
