Hosted by a pumpkin.
Open Thread
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
And don't forget to tip your bartender!
Quote of the Day
"Now that we're eighteen days out from the election, Mr. Severely Conservative wants you to think he was severely kidding about everything he's said over the last year. ...He's forgetting what his own positions are, and he's betting that you will too. I mean he's changing up so much—backtracking and sidestepping. We've gotta name this condition that he's going through. I think it's called Romnesia. ...Here's the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions."—President Barack Obama, campaigning today in Virginia.
The choice between going backward or moving forward has never been so clear.There was much, much laughter, cheering, and applause throughout.
But now that we're eighteen days out from the election, Mr. Severely Conservative wants you to think he was severely kidding about everything he's said over the last year. He told folks he was 'the ideal candidate' for the Tea Party; now suddenly he's saying, 'What, who, me?' He's forgetting what his own positions are, and he's betting that you will, too.
I mean, he's changing up so much—backtracking and sidestepping. We've gotta name this condition that he's going through. I think it's called Romnesia. That's what it's called. I think that's what he's going through.
Now, I'm not a medical doctor, but I do want to go over some of the symptoms with you, because I want to make sure nobody else catches it.
If you say you're for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you'd sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work—you might have Romnesia!
If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care—you might have a case of Romnesia!
If you say you'll protect a woman's right to choose, but you stand up at a primary debate and said that you'd be delighted to sign a law outlawing that right to choose in all cases—man, you've definitely got Romnesia!
Now, this extends to other issues. If you say earlier in the year I'm going to give a tax cut to the top 1%, and then in a debate you say, I don't know anything about giving tax cuts to rich folks—you need to get a thermometer, take your temperature, because you've probably got Romnesia!
If you say that you're a champion of the coal industry when while you were governor you stood in front of a coal plant and said, this plant will kill you—that's some Romnesia!
So, I think you're beginning to be able to identify these symptoms. And if you come down with a case of Romnesia, ha, and you can't seem to remember the policies that are still on your website, or the promises that you've made over the six years you've been running for president, here's the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions!!!
We can fix ya up! We've got a cure! We can make you well, Virginia! This is a curable disease!
Women, men, all of you. These are family issues. These are economic issues. I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as anybody's sons. I believe America does better, the economy grows more, we create more jobs when everybody participates, when everyone's getting a fair shot, everybody's getting a fair shake, everybody's playing by the same rules, everybody's doing their fair share. That's why I'm running for a second term for President of the United States. I need you to help me finish the job!
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by pink Post-Its.
Recommended Reading:
Aura: Lying Liars and the Communities Who Fight Back for their Right to Vote
David: Obama Gets a HAMP Question
Susana: Pentagon Dismisses Female Soldiers' Suit for Right to Occupy Combat Positions
andreana: This is (a cold) War. [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion and imagery of racism, misogyny, and violence.]
Katherine: Minnesota Says Free Online Education Is Illegal
wpeeps: Armed and… Ambivalent? [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion about guns, self-defense, and racism.]
Andy: Minnesota Vikings Punter Chris Kluwe to Debate Empty Chair on Marriage Equality
Spooky: Artist Traps Bolts of Electricity Inside Clear Acrylic Blocks to Create "Captured Lightnings"
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
The Parks and Rec Open Thread
Well, this was the week that Parks and Recreation finally won me over with the Ben and April in DC storyline. Yay! I still wish they were just back in Pawnee already, but the DC arc this week was great. Tom in digital exile! Loose-ly Grope! Leslie breaks the abstinence-only rules and OMG PINS HER OFFICIAL CENSURE TO HER BLAZER USING HER FLAG PIN! And other great stuff!
"You were texting at the time of the accident, correct?" "How dare you, sir. I was tweeting." "It's amazing what a few old guys can do with a little bit of charm and a lot of crabs." "I really wish you could click those." "And I am April Blart, mall cop." (OMG THAT MADE ME LAUGH FOREVERRRRR.) "What's bookmarks?" "God, Jerry! You don't deserve the internet!" "Marsha and Marshall Langman are the town's morality watchdogs. Marsha is motivated, calculating, and hyper-vigilant. And her husband Marshall is…vivacious." "It's not my favorite shirt…but it is my least favorite shirt." "Girl, you look like Annie Oakley and Pippi Longstocking had a baby and I LOVE IT!" "It made me happy I voted for you as my City Council Member." (Aaaaaaaand there's the requisite weekly ParksnRec blub.) "I'm gonna drink like a thousand Red Bulls, so I can draft a new bill to undo abstinence-only." "Let's go eat some batteries I MEAN HUMAN FOOD." This:
I loved all the sexually active old folks! Especially the sexually empowered old lady who sometimes has more than one partner at a time! You go, you feisty Hoosier broad!
Discuss.
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Best Days of Your Life. 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.
Daily Dose of Cute
Since October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, and I've been singing the praises of shelter and rescue dogs, I thought I'd better warn you about some of the things you might have to put up with if you adopt a dog.
Begging.
Nosiness.
Being crushed.
Whatever this is.
In all seriousness, every pet has idiosyncrasies, some of which may be challenging health or behavior issues, which aren't always easy to solve. They are imperfect, like their human guardians. The key is finding the perfect pet for you.
And if I have one piece of advice for anyone considering adoption, it's this: Bring home not just the animal that fits into your lifestyle, because there will many of those from which to choose, but the one you fall in love with.
Not the one you feel most sorry for, nor the one you feel like you should adopt, nor the one someone at the shelter or rescue might be kind of pushing on you a little. (Unless, of course, one of those is also the one you can't imagine living without.) Because when problems do arise (and they will), the thing that's going to get you through, provided it's a get-throughable situation (and not all are, and that's okay), is love.
My Point, Here It Is
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about bullies. I said: "It feels sometimes, a lot of the time, that, ideological details aside, the real divide in this country is between bullies and not-bullies. ...These lines are not strictly drawn along party lines, nor am I suggesting that every conservative is a bully and every progressive not a bully. These are broad strokes. But they are broad strokes that define two competing visions for what the nature of this country should be. And those visions are strongly correlated with conservatism and progressivism."
Last night, President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney delivered their best ZINGERS at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.
Now, in case you're not familiar with the Al Smith Dinner, it's "an annual white tie charity fundraiser for Catholic charities, held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on the third Thursday of October...in honor of former New York Governor Al Smith, the first Catholic presidential candidate." And since the 1960s, "it has been a stop for the two main presidential candidates during several U.S. election years."
You might remember it simply as the venue where George W. Bush once joked: "This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." Hardy-har.
Anyway. Back to the point about bullies and not-bullies.
Most of President Obama's jokes were poking fun himself: "As some of you may have noticed, I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well rested after the nice long nap I had in the first debate." Etc. These were his jokes about Romney:
1. I'm still making the most of my time in the city. Earlier today I went shopping at some stores in Midtown. I understand Governor Romney went shopping FOR some stores in Midtown.And here are Mitt Romney's jokes about President Obama:
2. After my foreign trip in 2008, I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas. And I have to say I'm impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem.
1. I was actually hoping the president would bring Joe Biden along this evening, because he'll laugh at anything.President Obama and Mitt Romney were each given an opportunity to have some shticky fun last night at what is, to describe it charitably, an anachronistic political tradition that obliges politicians to behave like Catskills comedians.
2. Of course this isn't a night for serious politics, and it was especially nice to see President Obama and Cardinal Dolan sharing the dais despite their differences. I'm sure the cardinal has no hard feelings, and we might get an indication of that during dinner to see if the president's wine turns into water.
3. As President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room with everyone in white tie and refinery, you have to wonder what he's thinking. So little time, so much to redistribute.
4. And don't be surprised if the president mentions this evening the monthly jobs report where there was a slight improvement in the numbers. He knows how to seize the moment, this president. And already has a compelling new campaign slogan, "You're better off now than you were four weeks ago."
5. Your kind hospitality here tonight gives me a chance to convey my deep and long held respect for the Catholic church. I have special admiration for the Apostle St. Peter, to whom it is said, "Upon this rock, I will build my church." The story is all the more inspiring when you consider that he had so many skeptics and scoffers at the time who were heard to say, "If you've got a church, you didn't build that."
6. And by the way in -- in the spirit of Sesame Street, the president's remarks tonight are brought to you but the letter 'O' and the number $16 trillion.
7. Campaigns can be grueling, exhausting. President Obama and are each very lucky to have one person who is always in our corner, someone who we can lean on, and someone who is a comforting presence. Without whom, we wouldn't be able to go another day. I have my beautiful wife Ann, he has Bill Clinton.
8. Let's just say that some in the media have a certain way of -- of looking at things. When suddenly I -- I pulled ahead in some of the major polls, what was the headline? "Polls Show Obama Leading from Behind."
9. Of course the president has put his own stamp on relations with the church. There have been some awkward moments. Like when the president pulled Pope Benedict aside to share some advice on how to deal with his critics. He said, "Look Holy Father, whatever the problem is, just blame it on Pope John Paul II."
10. Of course the president has found a way to take the sting out of the Obamacare mandates for the church. From now on, they're going to be in Latin.
President Obama used the occasion to makes lots of jokes at his own expense.
Mitt Romney used the occasion to make lots of jokes at President Obama's expense, too.
At the end of each of their sets, each man offered the requisite niceties about how the other is really a decent fellow and a good family man blah blah yawn. President Obama offered his sincerely—or, at least, without any jokes.
Mitt Romney, like any competent bully, couldn't bear to offer a straightforward kindness.
Don't tell anyone I said so, but our 44th president has many gifts and a beautiful family that would make any man proud.HA HA don't tell anyone he said something NICE about the President.
Don't worry, Romney: Your reputation is safe. No one will ever mistake you for someone who knows how to be respectful or kind toward President Barack Obama.
Or anyone else.
[Thanks to Spudsy for giving me the heads-up about the Al Smith Dinner last night. H/T to Shaker jtadetroit in comments for the link to the Telegraph piece.]
Gregg for Governor
Speaking (obliquely) of Indiana politics, I feel I have been remiss in not sharing with you my fondness for the Democratic candidate for governor in my fine state who is losing by double digits to the singularly odious Mike Pence, who is such a garbage nightmare (example!) he may truly make me miss Mitch Daniels.
This is the man who will probably lose to him: John Gregg.
He says things like "soda shoppe" and his dog is named Mr. Klauss. This is his campaign logo:
John Gregg is personally pro-life, but doesn't believe he has the right to legislate that. He is sharing his ticket with a pro-choice woman, and has a women's issues section on his website where he vows to "oppose all efforts to defund Planned Parenthood," which is a major issue in Indiana. In the fair pay section, his website notes that women of color are disproportionately affected by unequal pay.
He also runs some pretty hilarious ads.
[Gregg stands holding an umbrella, with water obviously being poured on it] I'm John Gregg, the guy with two first names running for governor. This is our cheap special effects way of showing how Mike Pence wants to drain the Rainy Day Fund. Mike thinks we can just turn the money on and off like they do in Congress. But the state's already cut $600 million from our schools. Draining the Rainy Day Fund means even more cuts to education if the economy gets bad again. As a former university president, I think that's...a bad idea! [The camera pulls back to show two young men on a roof, spilling water on him from a hose.] Okay, boys, you can knock it off now!Mike Pence is probably going to win. But I support John Gregg.
If you'd like to make a donation to try to help defeat Mike Pence, you can donate to John Gregg here.
In The News
[Content note: War, homophobia, violence, misogyny]
News and Whatnot:
University of Arizona published a cartoon promoting homophobic violence. The artist, DC Parsons, later issued the standard non-apology. I issued the following statement: Eat shit, DC Parsons.
NASA's Curiosity rover found more shiny objects on Mars.
The CIA is urging the White House to approve a significant expansion of the agency's fleet of armed drones.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 3.2% of American adults self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
A judge in Northern Ireland has overturned a 1987 law prohibiting gay and unmarried couples from adopting.
Anti-abortion group Live Action created a fraudulent website purporting to offer late-term abortion services for "VIP women," in order to collect confidential medical information.
NBC has cancelled struggling sitcom Animal Practice. I almost feel sorry for Justin Kirk. Almost.
A Pew Hispanic Center poll finds that a majority of Latinos now favor marriage equality, 52 to 32 percent.
Here is some footage of Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future. Neat!
Another Republican Genius on Abortion
[Content Note: Reproductive rights; hostility to people with uteri.]
Because I live in the Chicago suburbs, I get all the Chicago stations, which means I get the Chicago news, which means that I know way more about political races in northern Illinois than I do about those in Indiana. Like, for instance, the Congressional race between Republican Rep. Joe Walsh and Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth, who, as you may recall, is an Iraq veteran who lost her legs in service and is generally awesome (despite being more conservative than I am, like most Democrats).
ANYWAY.
Last night, the two candidates met for a sort of mini-debate, for a half-hour on local public television WTTW's Chicago Tonight, and one of the issues about which they were asked was abortion. That's when things got Akinish.
Care of WGN:
The two candidates also clashed on abortion rights.Whoooooooooooooops that is not correct. At all.
Walsh said he was against abortion "without exception," including rape, incest and in cases in which the life or health of the mother was in jeopardy.
Asked by reporters after the debate if he was saying that it's never medically necessary to conduct an abortion to save the life of a mother, Walsh responded, "Absolutely."
"With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance," he said. "...There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing."
You know, it was always ethically repugnant to have a bunch of privileged men deciding what women and other people with uteri have the right to do with our bodies, but the more these Republican dipshits espouse their medical theories about how female et al reproduction works and reveal they have no fucking idea what they are talking about, the more evident it becomes that it is irresponsible and unjust and straight-up incompetent governance to allow them to hold decision-making positions in the area of reproductive health.
Even if it were not ethically repugnant to disallow people with uteri to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, the people currently tasked with the job are comprehensively unqualified to do it.
Truly, only the most selfish, self-centered, careless, reflexively conservative shitbirds who lazily allow their cherry-picked religious beliefs to substitute for critical thought and trust any monster with an R behind his name to champion their "moral values" would not be alarmed by this catastrophic failure to demonstrate possession and comprehension of basic fucking facts. Not only do these dregs at the bottom of the voting barrel entrust men to make decisions for women, they don't even care if those men have any discernible knowledge of the subject, because knowledge isn't important when you're legislatin' for Jesus.
Good grief.
Why Is Shakesville Purple Today?
[Content Note: Homophobia; bullying; self-harm.]
Today is Spirit Day, an observance owed to Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, who in 2010 called for a day raising awareness about LGBTQI teens who are bullied and marking the remembrance of those who have ended their lives as a result.
There's more about Spirit Day here.
We will "wear" purple for the rest of the day. We will remain committed to championing LGBTQI equality, and challenging straight privilege, always.
Question of the Day
What was the last movie you saw in the theater?
I think the last movie I saw in the theater might have been The Dark Knight Rises, when GoldFishy and The Captain visited.
Discussion Thread: Pet Questions
So, not infrequently, people seek pet-related advice via email, or in comments of a Daily Dose of Cute, or in an Open Thread, soliciting input on a behavior issue, seeking info about where to adopt, looking for mobile groomers, asking for recommendations about indestructible dog toys or affordable cat towers, wondering how much it costs to own a greyhound, etc.
Pet ownership elicits some of the same weird, judgy shit that parenting does, in that if you confess to not knowing innately How to Do It, there are plenty of people willing to shame you for being a failure as a guardian. Which ultimately just discourages people from asking how to do things better when they don't know.
So! Here is a thread for pet guardians and/or potential adopters to ask questions, solicit advice, make confessions, seek help, whatever you need without judgment. Please make clear if you are/are not seeking input, and please refrain from offering advice in reply unless explicitly requested.
Have at it!
