Steve and Tbogg both point to a post by William A. Jacobson, a fucking Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, who...
*rubs eyes, sighs deeply*
Okay, seriously... if this kind of shit is going to go on for the next four years, I don't know how I'm going to take it without snapping and going on a five state killing spree.
So apparently, as Petulant pointed out, the NOOZ had to report on The Most Important Story of the Day: Obama and Biden sitting down for a couple of burgers. But that isn't the REALLY IMPORTANT PART of The Most Important Story of the Day, nononono. The BIG part of the story is that...
You're never gonna believe it...
I can hardly believe it myself...
Obama...
Get ready for it...
ORDERED DIJON MUSTARD ON HIS BURGER!
Haw haw haw! What a fucking pansy, amirite?
*bangs head against wall several times*
Seriously. Steve and Tbogg link to the original post, where the guy has no less than six fucking updates and four videos of "proof" about a dollop of goddamn mustard, along with:Obama ordered his burger with DIJON MUSTARD! Bet he had to seek John Kerry's counsel on that.
Christ, "John Kerry is an elitist" jokes? Did I stumble into the Wayback machine?
I mean... look, the guy made a fucking graphic:
And he's actually calling this "Dijongate." Dijongate! I'd say he's doing this tongue-in-cheek, but... come on, six updates? Obsessing about a "cover-up?"
Here, by the way, is the big "cover-up."NBC's regular news reported Obama's order as follows: ""I'm going to have a basic cheddar cheese burger, medium well, with mustard," Obama said. "Do you have spicy mustard? I'll take that."
Holy fuck, what a scandal! I don't know if there's an award out there for "Fucking Stupidest Blog Post on the Face of the Earth,*" but I think this would have to be in the top five.
Actually, the quote was "you got a spicy mustard or something like that, or a Dijon mustard, something like that" (at 0.55 of the unedited video below without Mitchell's talkover).
I give the fuck up.
*(Thanks, Tommy Franks.)
*Smacks Forehead*
No Shepherd's Pie for You!
So, yesterday, the British government published part of its "name-and-shame" list, on which is collected the names of the people who are barred from entering Britain as a result of their extremist views.
Several on the list were Americans linked by the Home Office to right-wing extremist groups that promote hatred against racial or religious groups, or against homosexuals.Also on the list: Our old friend Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps. Along with some other horrendo reprobates I won't even bother mentioning.
…The Americans on the list included a San Francisco-based radio talk-show host, Michael A. Weiner, known to radio audiences as Michael Savage, who was described by the Home Office as "seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence."
But Michael Savage nee Weiner is the only one threatening to sue the British Home Secretary, even though "Lawyers say it would be difficult for Mr Weiner to bring an action for defamation given that the list was issued with the authority of the British government."
He told his radio audience that he was intending to sue British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who he described as the "lunatic ... Home Secretary of England".What does it say that Michael Savage nee Weiner can't tell the difference between Britain (aka Great Britain, aka the United Kingdom) and England, merely one country within Britain? It says he's a fucking dumbass, that's what.
"To link me up with skinheads who are killing people in Russia, to put me in league with Hamas murderers who kill people on buses is defamation," he said. In an article posted on his website, he said he did not advocate violence but "traditional values".
He wrote: "What does that say about the government of England? It says more about them than it says about me."
[H/Ts to Shakers Siobhan and Lynsey.]
Arlen and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
NYT: With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?Yesterday afternoon:
Recent Democratic Convert Arlen Specter: I sure do. There's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.
Specter said he misspoke in a New York Times magazine interview and is supporting Democrats.Yesterday evening:
"In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates," he said. "I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I've made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke."
Asked who he's backing now in elections, Specter said, "I'm looking for more Democratic members. Nothing personal."
In a unanimous voice vote, the Senate approved a resolution that added Specter to the Democratic side of the dais on the five committees on which he serves, an expected move that gives Democrats larger margins on key panels such as Judiciary and Appropriations.Sometimes, Congress reminds me of the Student Council. In middle school. Except, more disorganized and with an inferior emotional maturity level.
But Democrats placed Specter in one of the two most junior slots on each of the five committees for the remainder of this Congress, which goes through December 2010. Democrats have suggested that they will consider revisiting Specter's seniority claim at the committee level only after the midterm elections next year.
…Without any assurance of seniority, Specter loses a major weapon in his campaign to win reelection in 2010: the ability to claim that his nearly 30 years of Senate service places him in key positions to benefit his constituents.
I certainly can't blame the Democrats. But, on the other hand, Specter will probably be petulant and might even end up a liability. If you're going to woo disaffected Republicans (or "Independents"), you've got to be ready to kiss ass like you've never kissed ass before. And if you don't want to kiss ass—and I understand why you wouldn't—then don't bother extending the invitation in the first place.
Because no one switches on principle anymore. Principle has left the building.
Happy Birthday, Spudsy!!!
(There was only one way last year's birthday image
could be improved upon, and Matilda was happy to oblige.)
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
You like to sit in the dark eating braunschweiger
while watching bad mooooooovieeeeees…
And OMG Shoez I do, too!
I loves ya, Spudz.
Required fun
Guest Post by Shaker Faith
When I was in high school, I was voted most likely to join the Peace Corps. My husband, a gay man, was voted Most Unique. Both were code for queer. Both of us throughout school, me in Los Angeles and he in New York were teased mercilessly for being different - for being queer.
Last night we watched this video and giggled and wistfully wished that we had something like this when we were tormented and outcast.
Whether you were or are that person or not, this is a fun, joyous, big queer fuck you! It is definitely NSFW unless you have headphones.
Enjoy!
Question of the Day
Earlier today, Deeks and I were talking about how much the film version of Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's sucks, with its lightened Golighty, yellowfaced Rooney, and Wherefore the Mo, as our aspiring writer/gigolo/narrator is replaced by (per Deeks) "not just a hetero, but a super-hetero, one that is so manly and hetero that women actually pay him to sleep with them, that's how hetero he is. He's hetero!" Add tacked-on cheesy romantic ending and voila!—total crap.
Today's QotD is: What film adaptation whose source material you enjoy do you consider to be utterly unwatchable?
(By source material, I'm excluding screenplays and previous motion picture iterations, so we're not talking remakes or TV shows made into movies, but a novel, novella, short story, graphic novel, comic book, poem, song, etc.)
Quote of the Day
"To say that Obama is being predictable by considering women and men of color [for the Supreme Court] is bizarroworld nonsense that only people in the insular beltway bubble would blurt out as if it makes sense."—Digby, a must-read, as always.
More Homomentum!
The D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. D.C. Mayor Arian M. Fenty is expected to sign the measure.
(Home Rule makes this one a bit more complicated, but I am not well-versed enough in that seemingly arcane form of governance to really comment on it thoughtfully.)
That's progress you're tasting!
(H/T to Shaker JR_JR.)
How Odd!
Three uproariously "odd" stories from Reuters' "Oddly Enough" news service today (sandwiched, you'll notice, between wacky stories about Mel Brooks' "The Producers" and a Japanese pop star). Are you ready for the hilarity?
First up: "Saudi Arabia mulls marriage ban for girls under 18"
Saudi Arabia may ban marriage for girls below 18, a government minister said after a case of an eight-year old girl marrying a man more than 40 years her senior drew international criticism and embarrassed the kingdom.A patriarchial society reconsiders its repugnant tradition of forced marriage and child rape: How madcap!
"Among the options that are available and excluding the issue of puberty, is to ban marriage for (people) under 18," Justice Minister Mohammed al-Eissa told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
He was responding to a question about his ministry's plan to deal with the marriage of young girls.
"A girl below 18 is often not fit to take the family responsibility especially if she quickly gives birth (after marriage)," he said.
Second, in related news: "50-year-old divorces child bride?"
EDDAH (Reuters) – A 50-year old Saudi man has agreed to divorce his 9-year-old bride, media reported on Thursday, after the marriage drew international criticism.Eight-year-olds forced to marry men old enough to be their grandfathers: How wacky!
The decision, reported by newspapers Alwatan and Al-Riyadh, came after months of court hearings, criticism from the United Nations and an international media frenzy about Saudi Arabia's human rights practices.
The child's mother, who opposed the marriage which took place when the girl was 8 years old, took the case to court last year. The court in the small town of Onaiza upheld the marriage on condition that the husband did not consummate it until the girl reached puberty.
Finally, we have: "Saudi Arabia clamps down on unlicensed female gyms"
Unhappy at the growing number of unlicensed female gyms, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently closed two in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and one in the city of Dammam on the Gulf Arab coast for not having a license.Women and girls restricted to their homes, at risk to their health, by a government and society that systematically marginalizes them: How zany!
Female participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in the kingdom, with physical education banned from public girls' schools and clerics issuing religious prohibitions on female participation in sports.
While male gyms get licenses from a government sports body, female gyms have no official authority overseeing them.
"The idea of female fitness is non-existent within our government," said Fouziah Alouni, a prominent women's rights campaigner.
"Depriving women of this is yet another way of marginalizing them. Give us a justifiable reason or leave woman alone. This is unbearable."
"Football and basketball are sports that require a lot of movement and jumping," Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, member of the official Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, said in a religious opinion published in Okaz newspaper Thursday.
He said such excessive movement may harm girls who are still virgins, possibly causing them to lose their virginity.
What these stories have in common, of course, is that they aren't "odd" at all. (Unlike, say, the stories about "rare goats" and "naked T-shirts" that appear alongside them.) Outright oppression of women is the norm in Saudi Arabia, where, as a woman quoted later in the story notes, many men "don't like women to go out of their homes." As Melissa has pointed out countless times, relegating women's stories to the "odd news" bin simply because they're about women is a way of systematically marginalizing women's experiences. It's a vicious, self-justifying circle: Treating women's stories as trivial--a zany rape/murder, a wacky abuse case--only reinforces a society that treats women themselves as trivial. And on and on and on.
[H/T to Shaker OuyangDan. How Odd: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen.]
Talk About An Evolution
10 Genes, Furiously Evolving.
Just one second, New York Times—how do we know those genes aren't being furiously intelligently designed?! Typical liberal media.
Harrumph.
The Real Deal: Season Three
by Shaker Seraph, a shameless geek who's getting through the bad times in New York City by doing temp work, playing Dungeons & Dragons, watching lots of movies, and splitting rent with an amiable soon-to-be-ex.
[Part One; Part Two; Part Three, Part Four.]
Well, here we are, at the final installment. I'd like to thank everyone still reading these, for having the patience to follow me this far and trudge through those novella-length posts I've been putting out.
In this season, we finally get to really know the Fire Nation as a people. To Our Heroes' surprise (but hopefully not ours), they turn out to be just plain folks. Reasonably nice – even a few genuinely admirable qualities (while still patriarchal, the Fire Nation is by far the most sexually egalitarian of the surviving nations – perhaps most egalitarian, period. The Air Nomads seem to have had a kind of "separate but equal" thing going on). But every so often, we get a chilling reminder that these people, for reasons outside their control, remain the Gaang's enemies. Even so, their mission can no longer be to simply defeat the Fire Nation or liberate the lands they've captured – to truly return balance to the world, they need to save the Fire Nation, too.
The Awakening – Aang wakes up from the coma Azula blasted him into on a Fire Nation ship. Once the initial confusion is sorted out, Sokka explains that while their original plan – invade the Fire Nation with the Earth Kingdom's armies under cover of the coming eclipse – is no longer workable, they still intend to attack the Firelord directly with a smaller strikeforce.
Also in this episode, we're reminded that while Sokka had a chance to see his father last season, Katara did not. We're also reminded that she's just fourteen, and he's been gone since she was twelve, and she's had far too much to carry on her shoulders since then. It's not pretty watching her deal with her confused feelings about finally seeing her Dad again, but…once again, the kids might learn something real.
The Headband – Avatar does Footloose. For those of you too (gods help me, you're in your early twenties) young to remember this oft-imitated teen classic: a young hero enters a town where the forces of repression hold sway, bringing a taste of freedom in the form of music and (especially) dance. The original has Kevin Bacon and Sarah Jessica Parker when they were just young'uns, and a quality performance from John Lithgow as a surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic antagonist. This version has Aang accidentally infiltrating a Fire Nation school (the Gaang stole some clothes off a line so they could fit in, Aang happened to take a school uniform and got caught by the truant officer), and getting a firsthand look at the Fire Nation's cradle-to-grave propaganda program (the first question in history class is what year Firelord Sozin fought the "Air Nation's" (nonexistent) armies, and they have twelve-year-olds – twelve-year-olds! – making (admittedly quite good) pictures of the Firelord out of noodles).
In common with Footloose, there's a female character in the school who takes an immediate interest in Our Hero – and also in common with Footloose, this character has a jealous, domineering boyfriend who takes an immediate dislike to Our Hero. Unfortunately, this episode doesn't deal with this part nearly as well as it does with the propaganda aspect – or indeed, as well as the original Footloose did. The Jealous Boyfriend becomes Aang's personal enemy, and we never really deal with the fact that the girl in question doesn't seem to want him for a boyfriend – he seems to have just unilaterally declared her "his girl." Here's hoping that the friendships she made during Aang's little rebellion give her a support system to shake him off.
Oh. One last thing: it's summer in the Fire Nation, so the clothes that Katara steals…we already knew she was a lovely young woman, but I suspect this is the first time in her entire life she's been sexy.
The Painted Lady – Remember what I said at the end of my review of Imprisoned back in S1? That it wouldn't be the last time Katara would get a "hero tries to help, makes the situation worse through sheer good intentions, has to get even more involved to set everything right" storyline? Here's another one, with a nice environmentalist message (ruin the environment and it will hurt you sooner or later) to go with it.
Sokka's Master – Sokka gets tired of being less-than-useful in a party of world-class benders, so he decides to go find a swordmaster and get some training. It works, too. Thing is, it turns out that the things the others suggested as his contribution, which sounded so weak when they said them – reading maps and making jokes – are actually pretty important. Neither Aang nor Katara can figure out where they are or where they're going without him (which seems rather contrived, I must say – Aang was a world traveler eighty-four years before Sokka was even born), and Katara's efforts to fill his role as Morale Officer fall flatter'n a flounder.
Nice bit of stereotype-breaking (completely in-line with his established character, no less) at the beginning. What does Katara suggest to get her brother out of his funk? Retail therapy. And it works, too.
The Beach – A lot of shows have an episode where the characters all go on some sort of retreat together where they get to know each other better (and, not coincidentally, we get to know them better as well). This is that episode. But this is Avatar, my friends – it's our villains that we get to know better.
To tell the truth, what we learn about them in the mass-therapy session around the fire is almost secondary (almost – Azula's belief that her own mother thought she was a monster – "She was right, of course, but it still hurt" – is rather significant. Wonder why she believes that? We certainly saw no sign of it in Zuko Alone. Wonder what kind of stories Daddy's been telling his little girl?). We learn some seriously interesting things just watching them go about their non-combat lives.
What do we learn? For all the "in love since they were little kids" backstory, Zuko and Mai don't really know how to be in a relationship. He's temperamental, she's unexpressive…it's not working well for awhile, but all it takes is one fight (during which Mai demonstrates that she will not take any crap from Zuko, prince and firebender though he may be) for them to get some communication going.
I must say, I rather like how this fight plays out. It doesn't follow the standard rom-com pattern where the guy (after utterly fucking up) goes to ever more heroic and undignified lengths to earn forgiveness for his Unpardonable Sin, until he finally hits the right combination of epic achievement and self-abasement for the woman to grant it (really, it's enough to give you the idea that she doesn't actually like him, but he somehow manages to "earn" her anyway – isn't there a word for that?).
Nor does it play out in the all-too-common way that kids are liable to face in their real-life relationships: Mai isn't the one obligated to make peace, she isn't broken-heartedly yearning to get back with her hot-tempered boyfriend, and he very explicitly has no right to touch her now that she's withdrawn permission. More importantly, the show portrays her as in the right in all of this – she's not some vindictive shrew who's "punishing" Zuko or playing some kind of game: she states very clearly that she's angry, and why.
For his part, Zuko doesn't "win her back" through some Grand Romantic Gesture. He gives an explanation for his behavior (though I don't think he ever actually says the words "I'm sorry"), and he starts acting like a human being again. At which point Mai forgives him – by getting up and going to him, which somehow strikes me as a thousand times better than if their reconciliation had been shown by her simply allowing him to stay when he sat down and put his arm around her one last time. She is not a passive partner here, neither servant nor served. They're equals who had a fight, and when the issue had been dealt with at to her satisfaction, she was just as eager as (but not more than) him to get back together.
Those two crazy kids just might be okay.
We also learn that Ty Lee is an attention hog who hasn't yet mastered the fine art of properly spacing out her social engagements – she ends up using chi-blocking to escape a horde of angry boytoys who are all demanding that she make up her damn mind – and she's still terrified of Azula. At one point, Azula says something cutting to her, and she immediately bursts into loud, dramatic tears. Not because she's actually that upset, but because she knows Azula wants her to be.
As for Azula herself, we learn that she isn't very well socialized. She brings the same approach to summertime fun – beach volleyball, partygoing and boys – that she uses for world domination: military precision, loud declarations and explosions. She really doesn't know any other way to behave. Granted, Ty Lee's approach – just smile and laugh at everything he says, even if it's not funny – isn't a great idea either, but there has to be a happy medium somewhere.
Unfortunately, there's one sour note in all of this. The kids are staying at a beach house that belongs to Li and Lo – Azula's chaperones-slash-trainers. Upon entering, they see a picture of two attractive young ladies in a cheesecake pose. When Ty Lee asks who they are, Li and Lo strike the same pose and respond that it's them. Zuko has to cover his mouth to keep from vomiting.
Dudes. Not cool. There was no reason to go there. The joke would have worked just fine if the kids had been all goggle-eyed and stunned that the octogenarians in front of them were young once. But no, you had to take it that extra "Old Ladies sure are ugly, hyuk hyuk!" step.
The Runaway – or, to give it my own alternate title, "Bechdel's Episode." Granted, the show passes the Bechdel Test regularly, but in this episode, the boys become secondary and it's all about Toph and Katara.
It doesn't start out all that promisingly, I'll grant you. I know it was inevitable, given that one of them controls water and the other earth, but the mud-wrestling is still pretty gratuitous. Considering the ages of the participants, it isn't even that great as fanservice.
Still, once we've gotten it out of the way, we get into the meat of the episode, which is a conflict between Katara's "Team Mom" persona and Toph, who's already run away from her actual mother, and isn't interested in taking on a new one, thankyouverymuch. This conflict is portrayed with an unusual degree of nuance: Katara isn't played as a joyless prig with a blind prejudice against all things fun (she's actually worried that the scams Toph is running in nearby towns will draw too much attention, and she's absolutely right), nor is Toph a thoughtless rebel who needs to learn to appreciate The Responsible One (Katara invades her privacy in ways that wouldn't be okay if Katara was her actual Mom).
Indeed, the two actually switch places in the third act, when Toph (having been told, by Sokka, how much Katara's personality was shaped by having to hold their family together after their mother's death) is about to give up the scams, but Katara (having overheard the same conversation and wanting to prove herself capable of fun) proposes one last scam. Of course, it doesn't end well.
Which brings us to my favorite scene in this episode, a crowning moment of awesome and Katara's greatest moment of gross-out humor all in one. Our Heroines have been locked in a wooden cage, where neither of them have access to bendables…until Katara starts running in place so she can sweat out her own water. Her armpits alone give her all the arsenal she needs.
The Puppetmaster – The characters – and we – are reminded that not everyone from a "good" nation is a good person; that Hama isn't trustworthy just because she's (technically) on their side; and that she isn't your friend just because she's Water Tribe. All things we've seen before. The difference here is the way they delve into the idea that…let's call them "enhanced restraint techniques"…can turn an honorable warrior who just wanted to defend her home into a terrorist.
Too bad they just had to wrap it up in all that "witch" imagery.
Interesting side-note: it appears that the Southern Water Tribe did have woman warriors back when they had waterbenders.
Nightmares and Daydreams – Remember back in the very first installment of this series, I mentioned that the women of this show were as sexual as kids' TV would allow them to be? Well, up until this point, that's mostly meant kissing.
In this episode, Zuko is visiting Mai at her family's house in the capital city. Her parents are still in Omashu, and Zuko sends the servants to fetch Mai a fruit tart. They move around the room a bit, but spend a lot of time cuddling on the couch…then it's the next day, they're still on the couch, Zuko's hair is mussed but his clothes are the same, and Mai is pouring some tea.
Make of it what you will. Me? It's summer, they've been together a few months now, they're sixteen…I say the kids are up to some shenanigans.
Day of Black Sun – The day of the invasion comes, and it does not go well. Remember how Azula and her cohorts infiltrated the Earth Kingdom while wearing Kyoshi uniforms? Well, the Earth King, having been kept stupid by his primary adviser his whole life, didn't see any problem with telling three strangers (supposedly loyal but low-ranking subjects) his generals' top-secret invasion plans. The invasion is a catastrophic defeat that ends in capture for almost the entire force, and it's entirely to Azula's credit (although, admittedly, she needs the assistance of two Dai Li to hold off Aang, Sokka and Toph until she gets her firebending back). We also get to see some non-Azula female Fire Nation soldiers, both grunts and officers (not that that's unusual – in fact, in pretty much every episode this season where we see Fire Nation military or police, assume that there's a significant minority of women among them).
But that's not the high point of these two episodes. That comes in the second episode, in the bunker where Firelord Ozai is waiting out the eclipse. I wasn't going to spoil this scene, but what the hell. It's not like it gets any less awesome on repeated viewing (this and all other excerpts from Avatarspirit.net):Fire Lord Ozai: Why are you here?
Everything an abusive parent deserves to hear; everything an abused child needs to say. And like many abusers, when Ozai is faced with the possibility that his victim might escape, he turns murderous. Unfortunately for him, the lightning-redirecting technique that Zuko learned from Iroh (remember that?) allows Zuko to turn his preferred weapon back on him and escape to join the Gaang.
Zuko: I'm here to tell the truth.
Fire Lord Ozai: Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse. This should be interesting. (Ozai waves his hand and his guards leave through doors on both sides of the chamber.)
Zuko: First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me.
Fire Lord Ozai: Why would she lie to me about that?
Zuko: Because the Avatar is not dead. He survived.
Fire Lord Ozai: (alarmed) What?!
Zuko: In fact, he probably is leading this invasion. He could be on us right now.
Fire Lord Ozai: (stands up and points, furious) Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you.
Zuko: That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore.
Fire Lord Ozai: (seething with rage) You will obey me or this defiant breath will be your last! (Ozai begins to walk towards Zuko, until Zuko unsheathes his broadswords and brandishes them at him.)
Zuko: Think again! I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen. (cut to a close up of Ozai as he sits back down) For so long, all I wanted was you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that I wanted but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. (points a sword at Ozai) My father, who challenged me; a 13-year-old boy to an Agni Kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?
Fire Lord Ozai: It was to teach you respect.
Zuko: It was cruel! And it was wrong.
Fire Lord Ozai: Then you have learned nothing.
Zuko: No, I've learnt everything! And I had to learn it on my own.
Just might learn something real.
Boiling Rock – With Zuko's help, Sokka breaks into the Fire Nation's greatest prison – the titular Boiling Rock, which is situated in the middle of a boiling volcanic lake – to rescue Hakoda.
While there, they find Suki, and Sokka picks the exact wrong time to be funny:(Cut to Suki lying on her bed. The door to her cell opens, illuminating her face as her eyes looks to the door.)
You probably recognize the parallel to a similar scam that Suki pulled on Sokka back in Season 2's The Serpent's Pass, but it's played very, very differently here. In TSP, the humor was in Sokka's reactions: it was funny to see him collared by this girl who had him figured out too perfectly, just when he thought the Gaang's own scam had succeeded, and the tension was released when she pulled him in for a kiss.
Suki: (sits up and camera zooms out to show Sokka, disguised as a prison guard, standing in front of her) What is it? (sits up straight on her bed, looking at him) Did I do something wrong
Sokka: (crosses his arms) You mean you don't recognize me?
Suki: You people all look the same to me. (looks to the side)
Sokka: (cut back to Sokka who looks on smugly) Oh. Then maybe you'll recognize this.
(He purses his lips and attempts smooching sounds. Suki grabs his chin. Cut to a side view of what's happening as Suki pushes him to the door. Cut to Sokka's back slamming the door as the helmet falls off his head . He looks surprised at the sudden violence. Cut to Suki remaining in her stance as a look of relief washes over her face.)
In this version, the humor is in Sokka's joke backfiring on him and getting him knocked on his ass. Suki's reactions are not played for laughs. The creators are well aware that, when a man with every ability to escape and backup from powerful friends is grabbed and kissed by a woman he likes (albeit one who has successfully disguised herself), the threat is over. When a lone woman with no means of escape is approached by a man she doesn't know, an attempt to kiss her only escalates the threat.
Once they have that settled, Suki joins in planning the jailbreak. In fact, she salvages it at one point, when things go wrong – "Hey guys! I think your girlfriend is handling it" – and Sokka couldn't be more proud. He's not only made the connection between "girl" and "warrior", it now seems natural to him. Indeed, it's what he admires and loves in her the most (for the record, so does Hakoda: "That's some girl." "Tell me about it.").
From this point on, Suki is an official member of the Gaang. Unfortunately, she has no personal story arc to complete, nor does she have a unique role to fill. She's not even a Batman-esque idea person like Sokka – she's simply the group's other badass normal. That said, she's very, very good at it.
It is also in this episode that Mai and Zuko's love story reaches what I consider to be its pinnacle, and Azula's luck begins to run out. At one point during the proceedings, Zuko is recognized and captured. To make a bad situation even worse, the warden of the Boiling Rock is Mai's uncle, and he's none too pleased with the boy who broke his niece's heart, so he calls her in to give her first shot before Zuko is sent to the Firelord.
Zuko is able to escape in the general chaos of the jailbreak (not without some regret), and – along with the other rescuers and rescuees – flees in one of the gondolas over the lake. Azula and Ty Lee pursue, but then jump to the other gondola when the prison guards start to cut the cable.
At which point Mai intervenes and takes out several dozen guards, including firebenders, in order to give them a chance to escape.
The result is this scene:Azula: I never expected this from you. (Cut to a side view of Mai. Cut to Ty Lee who is clasping her hands, staring at Mai and back at Azula with a frightened look. Cut back to Azula.) The thing I don't understand is why. (lifts her head up) Why would you do it You know the consequences. (Azula lowers her head down and glares at Mai. Cut back to a side view of the scene. Cut back to Mai.)
Classic evil overlord mistake. They always assume that the power of fear to control is absolute, and they always end up pushing too far, demanding that one thing that their follower will overcome their fear to refuse. Remember, kids: Machiavelli said it was better to be feared than loved (if you couldn't be both), but it's important to avoid being hated.
Mai: I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated. (cut back to Azula) I love Zuko more than I fear you. (Azula's face scrunches up in fury.)
Azula: No, you miscalculated! You should have feared me more!
(Cut to Azula she gets into a firebending stance. Cut to Mai who brings up her stiletto. Her weapon glints under the sunlight. Cut back to Azula who begins to strike but Ty Lee comes into screen, jabbing her back with a series of punches. Cut to Mai who looks stunned. Cut to Azula who gasps and falls to the ground to reveal Ty Lee who looks on. Ty Lee runs to Mai.)
Ty Lee: Come on, let's get out of here! (She tries to drag Mai away but guards surround them.)
Azula: (glares at them furiously) You're both fools.
(Boots come into screen as the guards help her up. Cut back to Mai and Ty Lee who are captured by the guards.)
Guard: What shall we do with them, princess?
Azula: Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again. And let them rot.
As for Mai, she's rescued the handsome prince from certain death and been cast into durance vile for it, but you know how that story ends. Don't you worry about her.
The Southern Raiders – The culmination of Katara's personal story arc. From the very first episode, one of the defining facts of Katara's life has been the death of her mother: it piled responsibility and grief on the giggling, snowball-throwing little girl we meet in this episode; it turned her into the protective, surrogate-motherly figure we know; and it made the war – and her rage – against the Fire Nation personal.
Now, with a member of the Fire Nation royal family in the party, she can track down the one who did it. And she's not the helpless little girl she was anymore…
On a lighter note, this is the second episode where they show (without even bothering to sneak it in this time) teenage sexuality at its awkward, embarrassing, silly, affectionate, honest, healthy best. Zuko goes to Sokka's tent to ask him some questions and (after passing a noticeably nervous Suki on the way), finds Sokka in his underclothes with a rose in his teeth. After (just after) Zuko leaves, Sokka starts calling out the tent door for Suki…and the next time we see him, he's fiddling with a necklace made of flowers.
Yep. The boy got lei'd.
Sozin's Comet Part 2: The Old Masters – Awww, maaaannn…
As much as I love this episode – and I really, really do, it's one of my favorites – it really lays bare some of the series' biggest screw-ups from a feminist perspective.
Aang spends most of this episode quite literally talking to himself. That is, he contacts the spirits of past Avatars (his own past lives) to try and learn how he can defeat Ozai without having to kill him. As he does so, we're reminded that there are two patterns to the Avatar's cycle of reincarnation: 1) the Avatar is born in a different Nation each time, in the sequence Air-Water-Earth-Fire; and 2) the Avatar is born the opposite sex from the last lifetime each time…except that pattern was broken so that both Aang and Roku could be male.
Could the creators just not picture Aang's Merlin without a long white beard? I wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly it, because none of the other Avatars – i.e. the ones who aren't Aang's spirit-mentor – manifest as any older than solidly mature adults (though exactly how old that might be for the ridiculously long-lived Kyoshi is questionable), while Roku is your standard Old Master. Not that this lets them off the hook at all. By all rights, Aang's spirit-mentor should have been a regal, mature woman of the Fire Nation.
The other problem is much simpler. We finally meet the Grandmasters of the Order of the White Lotus…and they're all old men. The fact that they're all characters we met over the course of the series only makes it worse (much as we love them all…well, most), in the sense that it reminds us that all of their teachers have been old men (except for Hama, and that turned out real well). Since no less than three of them are Fire Nation, there's no excuse: at least one woman should be there, doing the Jackie Robinson thing, opening the door for Our Heroines fifty years down the line and pissing off Pakku in the process.
And no, the presence of Ms. Black Leather the Bounty Hunter doesn't make up for it.
Also, there's an interesting detail in the scene where they're all sitting around eating breakfast with Iroh. I'm not sure what to make of it. Suki and Katara are sitting with their knees under them (kneeling and sitting back on their feet, really), while all of the males are sitting…I hate to say "Indian-style", but I'm sure you'll all know what I mean, and maybe someone can give me a better name for it. Anyway – my best guess? It's about keeping their legs together. On the other hand, Toph is sitting like the boys. Would that be because she's too young to worry about "modesty" traditions for older girls (seems unlikely – during the beach party in the last episode, we could see that she was at least starting to develop a little), or is it because she's defied enough social conventions already that she's damn well not going to sit in a less-comfortable position so the boys don't have to think about her ladybits?
Sozin's Comet Part 3 – In this episode, we're reminded that – for all her power, all her skill, all her precision, all her viciousness and hunger for power – Azula is still just a 14-year-old girl who's all alone in the world. After Mai and Ty Lee finally reached their breaking point and turned against her, she had exactly one person left in the world that she loved and trusted (as much as she can love or trust anyone). Then that person demonstrated what he thought of her by making her Firelord (which she's surprised about – he's young and in perfectly good health, after all – but not "this-has-never-been-done-before" amazed)– a good thing in and of itself, except that he goes on to declare himself king of the world, which makes her new title entirely hollow and pointless (it doesn't help that said hollow and pointless position involves sitting at home and doing nothing, instead of being out in the action where she's always thrived – The Yellow Wallpaper, anyone?).
In other words, she's spent her whole life being the perfect daughter to her father, and it suddenly becomes clear that she's nothing but a tool to him. In a frenzy of paranoia, she banishes everyone but the actual officials required to crown her, and she's left conjuring up hallucinations of her mother just to hear someone say "I love you". Of all the characters you never thought you'd feel sorry for, Azula has to top the list, but they pull it off. She breaks your heart.
It's later on in this episode where Azula has her final showdown with her brother: an Agni Kai for the Fire Nation throne.
Now, there was a discussion in the comments for my very first post in this series that revealed this fight to be a touch controversial, but I believe it worked out exactly as it had to for no less than five reasons:
1) Politically, an official Agni Kai legitimizes Zuko's claim on the Fire Nation throne in a way that Plan A – invade the coronation with the help of an enemy national and kill the chosen Firelord-appointee in front of the Fire Sages themselves (i.e. "A brother killing a sister to grab power") – simply wouldn't have. He was willing to go with Plan A if he had no other options, but this saves a lot of trouble further down the line.
2) Zuko may have broken free of the abusive father who was the ultimate author of all his problems, but he still has some family issues to settle. Azula has been his nemesis throughout the series – throughout his entire life, really – and both he and the plot need some resolution for that. And while he's the one who ends up in a smoking heap on the ground, he still beats her: not only was she clearly on the ropes before she cheated, but by any imaginable rules of dueling, that cheating (attacking his second just to throw him off-balance) is so egregious as to count as forfeiture. She threw away the duel and the Firelordship because she just couldn't imagine losing to dear old Zuko.
3) Like Zuko, Katara absolutely had to fight Azula. For one thing, it would have been terribly anticlimactic if she ended the series and her personal war without a final showdown against a worthy opponent. For another, it was necessary thematically. Aang and Ozai might be flesh and blood, but they're still so far above anybody else in the history of this planet – in terms of both personal power and importance – that they're effectively gods fighting for the fate of the world. They fight a solitary, titan's battle, but that battle is also reflected among mortals. Ozai has a female champion in the field, so she must be met and overcome by Aang's.
4) Katara is the character who had the best chance of defeating Azula in a non-lethal manner. Even if you leave aside the fact that this is a kids' show and Azula is still a 14-year-old girl, it probably wouldn't be the best thing for Zuko's mental health to take part in killing his sister.
5) None of these resolutions (except maybe #4, and even that's iffy with Zuko throwing comet-enhanced fire around) could be achieved in anything but fair, one-on-one fights. The two of them could have defeated Azula handily if they'd ganged up, but it wouldn't have sat well with the people of the Fire Nation (especially if they'd done so after she issued her challenge), it wouldn't have proven anything for Zuko, and it would have undermined Katara's "champion" status. The best way to arrange those one-on-one fights is to have Azula do exactly what she did. Zuko accepting her challenge was in no way a sign of disrespect to Katara: a political savant he is not, but he had to be aware of point 1. What's more, he saw enough weakness that he believed he had a chance to defeat Azula without endangering anyone else – hard to pass up for a martyr like him, but also a sign that he didn't choose to go it alone lightly. If Azula had still been at her peak, he would have called upon Katara's help. At that point, winning was more important than politics or ego.
For her part, Katara had always been there as his second, so she backed his play until Azula gave up on dueling and started in on the random, berserk destruction. That's when the can of whoopass came out.
Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang – The finale. The Gaang win their assorted battles – no, I won't go into more detail – and then we're on to our happy ending. There's a lot of good stuff here: Suki resumes command of the Kyoshi warriors (whom Ty Lee has joined) rather than, say, returning to the South Pole with Sokka (for his part, he's glad to see her back in uniform – quite a change). Mai (released from prison now that Ozai and Azula are no longer running the show) lets Zuko know that she still quite likes him, but he'll end up on the wrong end of a knife if she ever gets a stinking "Dear Jane" letter from him again.
All very good stuff. Getting paired off isn't the automatic happy ending for everyone, and even those who get it as part of the package retain their power and autonomy. But.
I like the fact that Aang and Katara get together. I really do. Makes me mist up a little, to tell the truth. They even handled it right, letting her make the first move since she'd expressed confusion and reluctance in earlier episodes. They stick the landing just fine; problem is that the routine wasn't very good. They clearly took it for granted that the kids would end up together, and forgot to include…y'know…a love story. Oh sure, we saw Aang yearning for Katara all the time, but Katara's relationship with him was mostly the same combination of sisterly/motherly/friendly that she showed everyone else, with only a few hints that she might be interested in him romantically. The fact that they handled the two secondary love stories so well – showing Mai and Zuko growing together and overcoming the personal problems that created a barrier to their relationship, or Sokka and Suki (whose problems were mostly external) enjoying each other's company and doing fun (or dangerous) things together – just makes the perfunctory nature of Kataang look even worse.
Still, I'll forgive a lot for a good ending, and this is definitely that.
Thanks for following me this far, y'all. I'll be around.
RIP Dom DeLuise
Comic actor Dom DeLuise has died at age 75.
The Brooklyn-born DeLuise, 75, starred in such comedy classics as "The Cannonball Run" and "Blazing Saddles."Dom DeLuise was in so many screwball comedies that I saw a million times as a kid: The Muppet Movie, Smoky and the Bandit Ride Again, The Cannonball Run (and its sequel), Haunted Honeymoon, Spaceballs, Going Bananas… He also provided the voices for twp of my childhood favorite animated movies: Jeremy in The Secret of NIMH and Tiger in An American Tail. I was a little bit too old for All Dogs Go to Heaven, but some of my younger cousins loved that movie, and I remember he did the voice of the awesomely-named Itchy Itchiford for that one, too (which he reprised for the TV series). Every time I saw him once I reached adulthood, he made me feel really happily nostalgic, which I hope and imagine he would have considered a compliment.
"Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around," actor Burt Reynolds said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. "I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much."
Reynolds starred with DeLuise in several movies, most notably as fake ambulance drivers in "The Cannonball Run," an early 1980s cult comedy classic.
Here's some classic Dom on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson (no transcript necessary—it's all in the action):
[H/T to Shaker Seraph in comments.]
Save Samantha Orobator
[Trigger warning.]
Elle, who hat tips the Field Negro, just sent me this really upsetting article about Samantha Orobator, a British woman who is facing possible execution by firing squad in Laos, where she has been charged with being drug trafficking after being arrested in August of last year.
Orobator's family and friends say she has no history of using or trafficking or being in any way involved with drugs—and since arriving at the prison where she is being held, Orobator has become pregnant. Anna Morris, of the London-based human rights group Reprieve, who are advocating on Orobator's behalf, says: "She became pregnant in prison. We are concerned that it may not have been consensual and we are concerned that someone who finds herself in prison at 20 is subject to exploitation." Honestly, my stomach just churns at the thought of what Orobator has been through.
At this point, Laos is saying they probably won't execute Orobator because she is pregnant, but she hasn't even been tried yet. She doesn't have a local attorney, and Morris is "the first British lawyer who has asked for access to her." Her trial has been scheduled for next week.
Despite all that, this story has received almost no attention whatsoever in the US media; USA Today, which is possibly the only US news org besides CNN and HuffPo who's addressed it at all, merely linked to the Telegraph's coverage.
Since when does a Western woman with no history of drug involvement who has nonetheless been arrested and detained as an alleged drug mule, was quite likely raped and forcibly impregnated while being held, and faces a kangaroo court trial not warrant news coverage? I dare anyone to tell me it has nothing to do with the fact that Samantha Orobator is black.
The best thing we can do is make it known that we're paying attention to what happens to her. The more international pressure, the better chance she has of getting a fair trial. I think there are a couple ways we can go about this. First and foremost, if you've got a blog, blog this story. If you don't (or even if you do), Digg and Reddit and StumbleUpon this post, or send the URL to this post or the CNN story or whatever to other news organizations and ask them to cover it.
Normally, this is where I would provide contact information for the Lao Embassy in Washington and the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but, given the legal culture in Laos, I'm not sure if directly urging a fair trial wouldn't actually hurt Orobator's case more than help. If anyone who's more familiar with Lao culture has thoughts on that, please let me know in comments.
In the meantime, just get the word out however you can. Indirect pressure via international attention is definitely a good idea.
Great Books by Smart People
Before I jump into this post, I just want to state plainly that I don't get anything in return from recommending these books. (Well, not directly—although if everyone read these books and paid attention to what they had to say, there's no doubt I'd benefit, as would we all, lol.) Similarly, I don't get anything in return for recommending purchase from Women & Children First. It's just a feminist bookstore in Chicago that I really like and want to support.
I'll also apologize, to you and to the authors, for being a truly abysmal book reviewer—it's definitely not one of my talents. So, I'm not really going to do any kind of traditional reviewing; I'm just going to tell you why I liked them and think they're important.
The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti
Most of you probably already know Jessica as the founder and editor of Feministing, and/or as the author of Full Frontal Feminism and He's a Stud, She's a Slut…and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know, both of which could be described as feminist primers. The Purity Myth, then, takes readers to the next level, leading them on an in-depth exploration of a single subject. Through religion, porn, public shaming, defining masculinity in contradistinction to the feminine, readers are led through all the different narrative threads that come together to weave the Purity Myth.
It's not exhaustive—the book limits its journey to America's "moral panic" (love that description) about young women's sexuality, and how it manifests primarily in mainstream American culture. Which is not to suggest it doesn't have wider application (because it does), but only to note that if you're looking for a comprehensive global book on how virginity is enforced, this isn't it. This is principally about deconstructing the very specific mainstream American Purity Myth—and sharing prescriptive ideas for undermining it.
The Purity Myth is a great book to give to anyone coming to (or in need of) feminism (including young men), and it's an enjoyable read even for battle-scarred feminists, for the sheer pleasure of seeing all the threads of the Purity Myth unraveled in one long go. Buy it here.
Lessons from the Fat-O-Sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby
I haven't actually read this one yet because someone hasn't sent me a copy! But I'm going to go ahead and recommend it nonetheless because: A. Hello, it's Kate and Marianne; B. I read the book proposal so I know how awesome it's going to be; C. The book comes out TODAY, bitchez! and D. I'll let Marianne explain:One of the most frequent questions I’ve heard lately is, "Isn't this just giving up?"
And so a handbook will be useful for those just starting on that journey. Buy it here.
And, you know? Sure, it's giving up. It's giving up on the idea that I have to conform to an impossible standard to have worth. It's giving up the damaging (to both physical and mental health) practice of dieting. It's giving up the rage that gets turned inward when yet another diet doesn't work.
Those are all things I can give up with absolute relief.
It's taking on a lot of new things, too. Like the endless task of resisting cultural messages about the worth of women's bodies. Like the responsibility of listening to your body and relearning its language when it comes to food and health and everything else, too. Like the strength to do things that you have been putting off (a la the Fantasy of Being Thin) and actually embrace living instead of postponing it.
It's not the world's easiest trade off. Body acceptance, no matter what size you are, is a contrary goal. Advertising and women's magazines and popular culture is constantly telling all of us that we aren't good enough, that if we try this one more product, we'll finally reach acceptability. Body acceptance is hard work.
The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right by David Neiwert
If you're not already reading Dave at his home blog Orcinus, or at Crooks & Liars, where he serves as Managing Editor, all I can say is: You're missing some good shit. He's the foremost expert on eliminationist rhetoric, whose ten-part series (start here) on eliminationism is one of the best examples of all that is good about the blogosphere.
In The Eliminationists, Dave takes head-on the "transmitters" of rightwing eliminationist rhetoric, who serve as conduits for bringing fringe ideas into the mainstream and details how they speak to and connect two audiences:The first (and by far the largest) is made up of the many millions or ordinary mainstream conservatives who tune in and log on to the Right's army of media talking-heads and movement leaders. The second includes their xenophobic counterparts on the far Right, where the memes come from in the first place. For the latter, these transmissions signal that their formerly unacceptable beliefs are gaining mainstream acceptance; they hear these transmissions as an invitation for them to move into the mainstream without having to change their views. The former hears them as an invitation to think more like the latter without shame.
This is how we end up with "real Americans" driving around with a "liberal hunting permit" (that misspells "rallies") on their bumpers:
—and it's defended as a joke, and anyone who doesn't find it hee-liarious is just a humorless hysteric. If you've ever asked yourself how the hell we got to that point, The Eliminationists answers that question exactly. Buy it here.
Too Fat for SCOTUS
Paul Campos has a great piece on the fat hatred, prejudice, and ignorance permeating discussions of whom Obama should nominate to replace the retiring Justice David Souter:
Within hours after the news broke that Souter was resigning, concerns arose that [former Harvard Law School dean and current Solicitor General Elena Kagan] and [federal appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor] might be too fat to replace him. A commentator on the site DemConWatch.com noted that of the three most-mentioned candidates "the oldest (federal judge Diane Wood) is the only one who looks healthy," while Kagan and Sotomayor "are quite overweight. That's a risk factor that they may not last too long on the court because of their health."Hey—you got your racism in my sexist fat-hating!
At The Washington Monthly, a commentator claimed to have employed a more scientifically rigorous method: "To all the short-sighted libs who are clamoring for the youngest-possible nominee... Right idea, wrong methodology. You want someone who will serve the longest, i.e. with the greatest remaining life expectancy—and that involves more than simple age. I tried assessing their respective health prospects, and ruled out all who even border on overweight. Best choice: Kim McLane Wardlaw, whose ectomorphitude reflects her publicly known aerobic-exercise habits."
(Wardlaw's "ectomorphitude" also gets rave reviews at legal gossip site Underneath Their Robes, which describes her as "Heather Locklear in a black robe. This blond Hispanic hottie boasts a fantastic smile and an incredible body, showcased quite nicely by her elegant ensembles.")
Meanwhile, a letter writer at Salon comments on Sotomayor's candidacy, "How do you say 55, overweight, and diabetic in Spanish?" (Sotomayor was diagnosed with Type I diabetes—which doesn't correlate with higher weight—when she was a child).
I'll just encourage you to go read the whole thing, in which Campos brilliantly teases out the relationship between sexism and fat hatred.
It puts me in mind of another Campos piece, a book review, actually, from two years ago, which ends with the following:
[You know] that particularly clueless right-wing acquaintance of yours? The one who believes that anybody in America can become rich, because he thinks about poverty in a completely unscientific, anecdotal way, which allows him to treat the exceptional case as typical? The one who can't seem to understand the simplest structural arguments about the nature of social inequality?Heh.
The next time you see some fat people and get disgusted by their failure to "take care of themselves," think about your clueless friend.
[H/T to Shaker MRBill30560 in comments.]
Totally Not Sexist
I watch a lot of Cubs games. That means I've seen lots of people sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley during the seventh inning stretch. Most of them are celebrities, some minor and local, some genuine stars. Off the top of my head, I saw Bonnie Hunt, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Mike Ditka, Tony Romo, and Bill Murray last season. There are way more men than women.
Some are better than others. Some are really, really good, and some really, really suck—but that's part of the fun of it. You laugh when you're surprised by someone being really good, and you laugh when you're surprised by someone being really bad.
Unless it's a woman being really bad.
Then, there will be eight gazillion stories about how you "screeched" your way through and sounded like "a cat in a blender" and may "cause ears to bleed." And naturally you will be compared to Roseanne Barr, who famously sung the National Anthem badly, because no one else, and certainly no man, has sung either song badly in the intervening nineteen years.
But it has nothing to do with sexism.
Nope. It's just coincidence that another bad female performance would be invoked as a comparison, even though, say, Jeff Gordon's 2005 performance would be a more appropriate comparison, given that it's the same song in the same location and, ya know, recent. (Of course, invoking that comparison would underline how not bad Richards' performance actually was in the pantheon of bad performances. Gordon didn't even get the name of the ballpark right.)
And it's just coincidence that the words used to describe Richards' performance tend to be used almost exclusively to describe bad female performances—screeching, shrieking, caterwauling, causes ears to bleed, sounds like a dying cat.
And it's just coincidence that many of the stories contained caveats that at least Richards looked "hot" in the baseball jersey and the cameramen fought over who would get to stand in the booth with her.
And it's just coincidence that everywhere this video is posted, the comments (and frequently the commentary itself) are rife with misogynist slurs about what a dumb bitch Richards is. She's also a moronic slut, a stupid whore, a no-talent cunt… You get the idea.
Now, Richards is being asked to justify why she was there singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" when she can't sing, even though being a good singer has never been a prerequisite for being invited (nor a guarantee you'll sing it well, isn't that right, Eddie Vedder?). Richards explains:
The E! reality star knows she cannot carry a tune, but… Richards was in the Windy City for a fundraiser for the Kidney Cancer Association (her mom died of the disease about a year ago). While she was there, Richards asked Cubs management if the group could set up an informational booth at Wrigley Field during Friday's game.It sure the fuck is.
"In return, they said, 'Will you sing'?" Richards explains to me. "So I said yes, because it's for a good cause and we want to raise awareness about kidney cancer."
Unfortunately, the cancer message got lost along the way, because as soon as video of Richards' performance hit the Internet, the trashing began.
"I'm clearly not a singer," she says. "I wasn't doing it to show off my pipes. Thank God I wasn't singing the national anthem. But I thought it would be fun...I had no idea the backlash I would get."
As for her critics, Richards said they need not worry about her ever singing in public again.
"It took everything in me to get up there and do that," says Richards. "My dad and my sister kept saying, 'Just remember you're doing this for Mom,' so that's how I got through it. It's just unfortunate that doing something good was turned into such a negative."
But that's the price of entry for doing anything while being a Breasted One. To succeed you've got to be twice as good, and to fail, you need only be half as bad.
Feel the Homomentum!
CNN has a new poll out that indicates a strong generational shift in support of gay marriage. The younger you are, the more likely you are to support equality. Kids these days!
Fifty-four percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday say that marriages between gay or lesbian couples should not be recognized as valid, with 44 percent suggests they should be considered legal.58%. Nearly two-thirds. And that number will surely grow. Note this quote: "People who say they have a gay friend or relative support same-sex marriage. Most of those who say they don't know anyone who is gay oppose gay marriage." As more and more people come out, as it grows more and more safe to do, support will continue to shift in favor of gay marriage.
Among those 18 to 34 years old, 58 percent said same-sex marriages should be legal. That number drops to 42 percent among respondents 35 to 49 years old, and to 41 percent for those 50 to 64 years of age. The poll indicates that only 24 percent of Americans 65 and older support recognizing same-sex marriages as valid.
That's progress, dodos, and you can't stop it!
