Archive for September, 2006
Big news in Washington. Republican Congressman Mark Foley has resigned after evidence surfaced (courtesy: ABC News) of sexual advances he made in emails and IMs to teenage boys working as Congressional pages. Oh that sweet 16. What an age, huh.
Foley had previously dropped his 2004 senate bid after committing the felonious act of practicing homosexuality as a Republican (he was outed by two guys, Aravosis and Rogers, with an ongoing campaign to expose gay Republicans on the Hill). Fortunately for Foley, he represents Florida. A couple states over, they lynch you for that, under the "If The Noose Fits" law.
Remember when I said this was a nation of irony? And you said don’t bore us- get to the chorus? Well Foley fought ceaselessly for exploited children, even introducing the very bill that makes what he did with those kids illegal. No joke.
The House Leadership has known about this for months. Denny Hastert was "taking care of it." They are now claiming "Whaaa? Whoooo? Nooooo…" (and having trouble keeping their story gay… I mean straight). You don’t ignore this kind of conduct because it’s an election year, because everyone is tired of scandals, because you have a hot-headed base who will not be pleased. That’s cowardice you’re thinking of, not leadership. Leadership isn’t about damage and spin control, and classifying unflattering information, and calling critics unpatriotic, and saying a bad war is a good one.
This story is starting to pick up momentum, but as of yet, no sign of religious right-wingers fleeing the party in blessed droves.
September 30th, 2006
In a nation of irony and paradox, it is only fitting that the most ambitious, productive piece of carbon emission legislation ever passed will be signed into law by a Republican Governor. Muscles fully-flexed, buttocks clenched, Arnold echoed (in similar monotone) former VP Al Gore, declaring that "the global warming debate is over."
In a state where the political climate mirrors the meteorological one (from the cool blues of the Bay Area to the scorched red desert that is Southern California), Arnold has brought folks together and salvaged an otherwise laughable term. In a post where every sentence begins with an unnecessary clause, I will note that while Arnold doesn’t deserve all the credit, this bill is monumental enough that I’ll give it to him.
For all that is wrong with politics, and politicians, and government and whatever people like to complain about when the cable goes out, real decisions do get made (for better or worse. Like that hilarious comic strip of same name) It is incumbent on the people to create the kind of political atmosphere where things like this are allowed (and ideally required) to happen. The overwhelming majority of the time, increased community involvement and activism is a good thing. I have said enough. Now watch me drop this post like Friday O-Chem.
September 27th, 2006
I am a decent man, a humble man. A non-violent man. It takes a lot to anger me. A people must be massacred, a revolution squashed, a puppy raped. Or apparently, Congress must pass a bill. You did NOT just groan right there. Fine, I don’t care. I’m all warmed up and I’m not stopping.
On Wednesday, the House voted 228-196 to require voters to show photo ID at the polling booth when they cast their ballot. This adds an unnecessary challenge to those not well-versed in the redundancy of government beuracracy and is bound to disenfranchise many voters from poor and urban areas. I could go on at length about the 22% of young black males in Wisconsin with no photo ID, or the other stringent requirements of the bill and why they will be hard for many to meet, or why they are unnecessary, but I’m going to trust that you are able to make that leap so I can go on with my rant.
Proposed under the guise of preventing voter fraud and keeping illegal immigrants from participating in elections, this bill was passed strictly along party lines. As there is no companion proposition in the Senate (set to adjourn in October, anyway), many speculate that this is merely a message to the immigrant hating right-wing base, one of those wink and smile type deals. "We still love you, we haven’t forgotten you." Like Trent Lott telling some good ol’ boys what a darn shame it was that we didn’t elect that aww shucks confederate Strom Thurmond president.
I hope this is the case. Because it is despicable, but only despicably symbolic and not devestatingly impactful. However, I have my doubts. A judge in Georgia struck down a similar measure that made it through both bodies of the state’s legislature. Clone bills have recently passed and subsequently been ruled unconstitutional by judges in Missouri, Indiana and Ohio. To me this seems like a large, coordinated attack. A two-pronged plan of getting out the right vote (as with the swath of state marriage amendments helping voter turnout last election cycle) and eventually suppressing the second-class citizen vote with added identification requirements.
History 101, which I’m sure you know: after the Civil War, southern whites systematically denied blacks the right to vote through poll taxes, grandfather clauses and literacy tests, and it tooks us 100 years to stop these practices. Some forty years after the 24th Amendment and Voting Rights Act, I certainly shouldn’t have to worry about any more "denying or abridging" and I sure as hell don’t want to see Jim Crow anywhere but in a history book.
If you think I’m being alarmist please say so, this post is already too long or I would supply more information. Whatever qualms I have about left-wing extremists, I’d prooobably let them babysit my kids. But I have serious worries about a party that fires up its faithful with hateful rhetoric and 700 mile walls. Oh yeah, did I mention that? They’re going to spend billions of dollars to wall off a big chunk of Mexico. Tired of the mariachi music, I guess. Oh won’t you be my neighbor?
September 21st, 2006
Occasionally, once in a very long while, I will browse through a few random profiles on myspace. Myspace is a curious experiment; give folks a page to express who they are, and see what they do. Almost as often as I partake in such mindfartery, I feel uneasy thinking about the other activities I could be participating in, virtually all of them more likely to contribute to the betterment of myself and my fellow man.
So that leaves a scattering of moments in time where I come across some little bauble of myspace wonder and I think to myself: humanity can wait. I am amused by small things (as evidenced by the painful meanderings of this very post), so these may not strike the same note of joy in you as they did in me, but here they are:
Phyllis is 59, living in Napa County. Don’t let her age fool you, Phyllis is equipped with the most up-to-date pop culture vernacular (witness her sassy declaration that Trace Adkins is "so hot"). She has even taken a stab at creating her own trendy new phrase. She "cowlects" anything to do with cows. Thankfully, her page has been so overrun with typos and misspellings (the true sign of a natural born myspacer) it is actually conceivable this cur of a pun is a genuine mistake.
Browsing through the profiles of some of my fellow Bunker Hill students I found, "the only lzbn with food stamps in her money clip", a dignified lady from, "YOUR MOM, MASSACHUSETTS", and a woefully misinformed young lass who claimed she was "bringing sexy back". Judging by the girth of said lass, I can only surmise that sexy is hiding somewhere amidst the chins, stomachs, and flaps of her person. Dear Sexy, won’t you come out to play.
Disclaimer: I don’t hate any of these people. I write petty, self-indulgent blogs because I’m not sleepy and there is no way I’m going to be. And one girl wrote a letter to alcohol I thoroughly enjoyed. And I volunteer for deaf, retarded fat kids on weekends. And I only call them fat because they are too retarded to read this. Hey Gordon! Hey Sarah! Love you guys!
September 15th, 2006