"I'm not sure I'm going to state this exactly right, but I think there are some [Republicans] who believe they are actually protecting women, you know, and that it is better for women to be taken care of. I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think having a voice in how that is done is very important. And frankly, I don't understand—I mean, I'm obviously a card-carrying Democrat—but I can't understand why any woman would want to vote for Mitt Romney, except maybe Mrs. Romney."—Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in an interview with the Huffington Post, where it was noted after the above quote: "Albright then revised her pool of rationally thinking female Romney supporters to include his five daughters-in-law, an obvious but hardly generous expansion."
I'm totally with Albright. While I know intellectually that there are women who vote Republican and have their considered reasons for doing so, and while I wholly respect their right to independent choice, I will never understand nor share that urge.
For so many reasons.
Quote of the Day
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Celebrity Chefs You'd Most Like to Have Cook a Meal for You. Go!
Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.
Random Nerd Nostalgia: The Day Bill Told Off His Boss
[Description: Title is "The Day Bill Told Off His Boss." Image is a black and white photograph storyboard of two white men, one older and wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a white dress shirt, one younger and wearing a plaid shirt. Panel one: Older Glasses Man in front of a door points up with his index finger: "Get In Here Bill! I want to talk to you!" Panel 2-OGM sits behind a desk, shaking his index finger at Younger Plaid Dude: "You punched in seven minutes late, I'm docking you an hour's pay, and it had better not happen again... or else!" Panel 3- YPD leans over desk:"Oh yeah? I've got news for you, Mr. Bemis! I've got a new job offer with a real future--at twice the money!" Panel 4 OGM: "Ha! Anybody'd be crazy to pay YOU that much!" YPD (with smugly crossed arms):"That's what you think! I've been learning ELECTRONICS in my spare time at home from CIE... and now I can take my pick of good jobs!" Panel 5 OGM:"You gotta be kidding! YOU? In ELECTRONICS?" YPD:" Yes! Now I've got a CAREER! CIE made it easy, so good-by to you AND your crummy job!" At bottom, text: "ARE YOU working for peanuts in a dead-end job? Get smart. Send for two FREE books like Bill did!" There is ordering information and a coupon for Cleveland Electronics Institute.]
Don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure Mr. Bemis was in Nixon's cabinet.
Scanned from Vault of Evil, August 1973.
Your Modern Republican Base
[Content Note: Rape culture.]
Todd Akin is still talking:
Missouri Senate Candidate Todd Akin on Tuesday brushed off suggestions that remarks he made in August regarding "legitimate rape" would hurt his party come November.The terrible thing is that he's right. And that's partly because his comments were never correctly framed by the national media as representative of his party's platform, but it's mostly because the Republican base is gross. Not only do a large swath of them agree with Akin's comments, but they dig his refusal to leave the race after those comments were met with outrage.
"I don't believe that the comments I've made doom the entire Republican Party," Akin told Jamie Allman on 97.1 FM talk radio in St. Louis.
Akin also noted that the race in Missouri has changed and that, at least according to his view, his bid for the Senate now has more appeal from independent voters who look down upon establishment figures such as "party bosses."By which he means "independents" like Constitution Party voters and Dominionists for whom the Republican Party generally isn't conservative enough.
What a great party. What awesome voters.
Tweet of the Day
Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.
— Eric Cantor (@GOPLeader) September 3, 2012
Ummm... yeah. Not so much. See also: The History of Labor Day.
In The News
[Content note for homophobia.]
Paul Ryan tells lots of lies. He's like a lying robot sent from the future to destroy us all with his lies. Oddly, the lie that is getting the most press is the one about how long it took him to run a marathon.
Holy hell, Portland, what's going on up there? "Same-sex marriage's ties to socialism"? I thought Portland was cool. I feel like IFC lied to me.
Chuck Norris wants you to know that a vote for Obama is a vote for evil.
Bienestar, an organization serving Southern California's Latino LGBT, HIV-positive and at-risk communities, was evicted from its new Van Nuys offices two days after opening. The landlord told the organization they were "bringing disease" to the building.
Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon died.
Obviously: John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is urging Catholic parishioners to vote in favor of a constitutional amendment in Minnesota defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Roxy Music: the band that broke the sound barrier.
If you've been wondering what became of that Sean-Penn-as-Robert-Smith movie (I have) you can fret no more! You were fretting, right? This Must Be the Place hits theaters October 14th!
Conservatives are pissed that a character in the new animated film ParaNorman is gay.
Pulitzer time: This is the actual opening paragraph of a story on Yahoo News: "Nearly 20 percent of New Jersey's registered voters have at least one tattoo, a new poll conducted by Rutgers University ahead of the final season of MTV's Jersey Shore finds."
Clicking this link might make you sad.
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Favorite Film Franchises. Go!
Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.
Blog Note
Today is a holiday in the US, so posting will be very light. Happy Labor Day to those who celebrate it!
By way of update, I am feeling a bit better. Mainly, I'm able to stay awake for more than an hour at a time again. Huzzah!
Without going into a lot of detail, I'm still going through testing to get to the root of my health issue, and I need to see specialists, some of whom aren't available until October. So my schedule may be a little less consistent than usual for awhile, as I have to deal with medical stuff and/or feel like garbage.
Again, my apologies for being away, and also for being vague. Part of that is, as I said, I hate writing about this, for a lot of reasons, not least of which that it invites speculation that makes me super uncomfortable, but also because I really don't know what's going on myself.
The good news is that I am in the care of a doctor who, so far, has been listening to me and is genuinely concerned for/about me. He hasn't suggested once that the issue is deathfatz! because he listens to what's normal for me. It's made all of this a whole lot easier.
Also: Not that this isn't certainly evident to everyone who inhabits this space for more than five seconds, but the contributors and mods here are amazing. I am so, so, so fortunate, and immensely grateful, for their support and friendship.
Finally: Iain rules.
Open Thread
This week's open threads have been brought to you by sneezing animals.
In The News
[Content note for violence, sexual abuse, homophobia]
An earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck off the Philippines today and a tsunami warning has been issued for the region.
Last night was the grand finale of the RNC. Woof. I hear it went perfectly!
A federal court agreed with the Obama campaign today that Ohio's anti-voter law must be suspended.
A man armed with an AK-47 and an automatic handgun killed two people and himself in a New Jersey grocery store yesterday and still this country refuses to have a serious discussion about guns.
A bill banning "ex-gay" reparative therapy for minors has been approved by California lawmakers. It's now on its way to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.
Good lord: Benedict Groeschel, friar, television host, and director of the Office for Spiritual Development for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, had this to say about pedophile priests: "A lot of the cases, the youngster is the seducer."
Attention lingual nerds: Geoffrey Nunberg has written a scholarly study of "the A-word," saying its rise in culture impacted feminism, self-discovery movements and conceptions of social class. Order it here.
Speaking of assholes, this happened last night:
KILL THE "($;&(:#* LIBERAL HECKLERS!
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) August 31, 2012
Karl Rove joked about the murder of Missouri GOP Senate candidate and all-around douchebag Todd Akin. "We should sink Todd Akin. If he's found mysteriously murdered, don't look for my whereabouts!" Yikes!
Australian scientists have successfully implanted the world's first bionic eye.
Pastor John McTernan from Defend & Proclaim the Faith (never heard of it) is blaming Hurricane Isaac on New Orleans' annual gay pride festival. Obviously.
Do not watch this very disturbing commercial.
...Feel free to discuss this stuff while barbecuing tofu hotdogs this weekend. And if you go to the beach, don't forget to wear sunscreen.
