The Republic of T.

It’s been quite a week. Between Rush Limbaugh’s penis and Barak Obama’s faith, I’m worn out. I guess that’s appropriate, since this week is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots which took place 37 years ago from in New York. Since then, to borrow from Lord Alfred Douglas and Pat Buchanan, the love that dare not speak its name has become the love that won’t shut up.

Poor Pat; pining away for the days when the cacophony of queer voices now heard in just about every medium were never heard above a whisper. If this week’s diaries, blog posts, and news are any indication he’s got another 30+ years to look forward to with the love that isn’t about to shut up. That is, unless we find ourselves with a lot less to talk (yell, scream, rant, holler, etc.) about by then. But that’s a bit far into the future. Let’s get back to this week.
(more…)

For anyone who noticed the lack of posts yesterday, between Rush Limbaugh’s penis and Barack Obama’s holy roll I found myself a bit worn out. That, combined with work and family, made me decide to take a day off from posting. It also gave me a day to take in the reaction to Obama across the blogosphere, and the reaction to the reaction across the blogosphere.

Having taken it all in, I’ve pretty much come to the same conclusion I did after YearlyKos. (Crossposted my Obama post to my DailyKos diary, and got further comments there.) For me it basically comes down to this being the apparent direction that the Democrats are going in, and it’s where lots of people want them to go. I don’t particularly like it, because it’s a road I don’t think I can go down with them, but — as I said before — I can’t fight everybody, let alone convince everybody. So, let the Dems do what they will. I’ll just do what I can.

Maybe I just get scared because I share the same (legitimate, I still think) concerns as others about the mingling of religion and public policy. Maybe I just get frustrated because I can see the destination, or at least I think I can, and I don’t understand why we’re taking the long way around to get there. There isn’t much more to say on the subject.

Well, maybe there is. In looking at all that was said in the aftermath of Obama’s speech, a few things occurred to me.

(more…)

This is a bit of interesting news. I have a movie coming out on DVD. No, it’s not one I starred in. Just one I wrote, produced and directed. Sort of. Late last year I started playing The Movies, a movie studio simulation game, and posted about a couple of movies I made in the game. I uploaded one of them to YouTube, and promptly forgot about it until this week.

I received an email from some people in Australia about some DVD they were putting together, and would I like to have my movie included. It took a minute (and reading it a couple of times) before I realized they were talking about the movie I uploaded to YouTube back in January.

(more…)

Methinks I hear the sound of the other shoe dropping. And, as I said before, I shouldnt’ be surprised. It’s been coming for a while, and there have been plenty of signs along the way. I shouldn’t be surprised to hear it coming from Barack Obama either, given the hints he’s dropped before.

And it makes sense that he should be the one to finally come out and clarify the Democrats’ priority constituency for the foreseeable future. Inadvertently, his recent speech also clarifies for the rest of us our new place in line: behind the evangelicals.

(more…)

I may have been a little quick on the draw regarding Rush Limbaugh yesterday. I asked why a guy like Rush, an unmarried and un-paired conservative guy, would need to take Viagra to a country that has a thriving sex-trade (and, yes, some very nice resorts, as one commenter pointed out; though I don’t think anything precluded Rush from enjoying both on his trip). It seems I may have been wrong on at least one of my wild speculations.

Apparently, Rush may not be single. And he may not have gone to the Dominican Republic alone. But that still doesn’t explain why an upstanding, unmarried conservative guy would need Viagra. And, as this bit from Roll Call today explains, that still leaves some unanswered questions about the Viagra and why it was needed on this particular trip to the Dominican Republic.

(more…)

I’ve been wanting to give this blog a look of it’s own for a while now, rather than just grabbing a new theme and popping in a new header. But my design skills weren’t (and still aren’t) up to the job. So, I reached out to someone who’s done designs for blogs like Pandagon , Bitch Ph.D., and Feministe. What you should be seeing in your browser (if you aren’t, try dumping your cache and/or reloading) is the happy result.

What can I say? I love it!  The colors, the Buddha…everything!

So, thanks to Lauren for hooking me up with a hot new style! Folks, Lauren’s got skills. And, needless to say, I highly recommend her if you want a new style for your online digs.

I know it was only yesterday that Rush Limbaugh was held for having Viagra without a prescription, while making his way through customs at Palm Beach airport. And I know that the last thing anybody wants to think about first thing in the morning is Rush Limbaugh with an erection. But, as Todd and Ian point out, Rush has been rather hard on medical marijuana users and people who bring drugs into this country. So I’m disinclined to avoid speculation where Rush in concerned.

Besides John points out over at Americablog, it feels like there’s something missing from the story. I’ve been waiting for someone to point it out; ask the obvious question. What was Rush doing in the Dominican Republic? Why was he returning from a country known for its thriving sex trade, with a bottle of Viagra that didn’t have his name on it?

(more…)

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the various ways in which the shift in the party has been telegraphed of late, in everything from Hillary’s test-runs to the right to Dean’s pandering to Pat Robertson. We saw a successful dry-run of the gameplan in Tim Kaine’s candidacy in Virginia. The Democrats are hoping to win votes in Bush country.

Kansas has been an iconic state for the Republican right, a symbol for issues such as teaching creationism in schools and fighting abortion rights. The modern Republican party, masterminded by political guru Karl Rove, has harnessed fury over such topics to allow the Republicans to dominate US politics since 2000. This was the topic of Thomas Frank’s hit book of the 2004 presidential election campaign entitled: What’s The Matter With Kansas? It used the state’s falling under the spell of conservative Republicanism to explain national American politics.

But in a swath of heartland states such as Kansas, Democrats are seeing the first signs of their party’s rebirth. Parkinson is not alone in switching sides. In Virginia, Jim Webb, a one-time Reagan official, is seeking to be a Democrat senator. In South Carolina, top Republican prosecutor Barney Giese has defected after a spat with conservatives. Back in Kansas another top Republican, Paul Morrison, also joined the Democrats and is challenging a Republican to be the state attorney-general.

Democrats are hoping that the Republican party of President George W Bush has passed its high-water mark. That, faced with disaster in Iraq, a host of domestic troubles and terrible opinion poll ratings, they can start to retake power in November. From there they can start to take aim at the White House itself. They hope the powerful conservative movement born in states such as Kansas will also die there.

Like I said above, it’s no surprise. But the most telling part of the article is how they plan to win over “heartland” voters.

(more…)

Jim was a frustrated by the conviction I stated in a previous post.

This stance just frustrates me. I would imagine a good reason for not going to church is that you’re a Buddhist, not because you want to nurture your grudge.

Well, I guess it is. Some people have “a charge to keep.” I have a grudge, but I think I’ve come by it honestly. I’ve written before about my issues with religion, but it wasn’t until recently that I was able to be honest with myself about how deep those issues run and how personal they are. It wasn’t until I was sitting in the middle of my father’s funeral that I even thought about the resolve I mentioned above.

It was there that I made the decision to absent myself from anybody’s church henceforth. I’ve even considered putting my own funerary wishes (no funeral/memorial in a church or other religiously dedicated building, no hymns, no biblical readings, no sermons, no mention of “god” or “christ,” etc.), much the same way my father did before he died. It was there that I think I touched a personal bedrock of sorts.

(more…)

I’m not sure what to make of this. What do Madonna, Ceilne Dione, Shirley MacLaine and I all have in common? According to this survey, we’re all connected enthusiasts.

(more…)

Much to do with the family today: swimming lessons, a trip to the library (near the new house) to get books for Parker, grocery shopping, and unpacking. So here’s the random 10 I didn’t do yesterday. If you want to join in on your own blog or in the comments:

1. Start your MP3 player.
2. Randomize the collection.
3. List the first 10.

Good thing I’ve got this meme, because my CDs aren’t unpacked yet. Here’s what I got.

1. Hare Krishna (Hail Krishna) [King Britt Remix] from the album “Verve Remixed” by Tony Scott
2. You’re Laughing At Me from the album “The Best Of The Song Books: The Ballads” by Ella Fitzgerald
3. Master and Servant – Black and Blue Mix from the album “X1 [Box] Disc 1″ by Depeche Mode
4. Cavalleria Rusticana from the album “Pieces In A Modern Style” by William Orbit
5. Sexy M.F. from the album “The Hits/The B-Sides (Disc 2)” by Prince
6. We’ll Be Together Again from the album “Lena Horne – An Evening With Lena Horne (Live)” by Lena Horne
7. Porcelain from the album “Play” by Moby
8. Jolene from the album “¿” by Dolly Parton
9. Best Of My Love from the album “Boogie Nights” by The Emotions
10. (I Don’t Stand A) Ghost Of A Chance from the album “The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959 (Disc 5)” by Billie Holiday

And yours?

Crossposted from my DailyKos diary.

It’s that time again. You’ll note from the title that I’ve taken a cue from commenters on last week’s diary rescue and have hereby dubbed it “Queerly Kos.” (And, no, that’s nothing to do with the various rumors on the internets.) The week started out in disturbing fashion for me, as I received an email from a friend on Monday informing me that his partner had passed suddenly passed away and giving me the dates for the funeral and internment. That was bad enough, but it got worse when he told me later that after finding out that his husband collapsed at work, he raced to the hospital only to be told upon arriving at the ER that they couldn’t give him any information because he was not “next of kin.”

A day later I read the story of Rob and Jay, a gay couple in Connecticut with 30 years together, and a civil union between them. Long story short, Rob has ALS and when he dies Jay will likely lose their home because they lack the federal marriage benefits — including Social Security and pension inheritance and low-to-no taxes on inherited estates that are considered taxable “gifts” between same-sex partners — that might allow a surviving heterosexual spouse to keep the home. Not what you would call “important shit.” Right? Happens every day, though.

And with that, let’s on to the diaries.

(more…)

We’ve all had moments we’d rather not have become public knowledge. We’ve all done things we’d rather our friends and family — let alone the whole world — never know about. And there was a time when — except, say, for celebrities like Britney Spears — most of us never had to worry about the humiliation of our worst moments or embarrassing acts publicized That was, of course, before the web. Maybe it was before the age of the video camera. No, maybe it was before the advent of audio recording. Wait. Make that before the dawn of human speech. Well, maybe even before that.

My point is that public exposure of our human foibles is nothing new, and certainly wasn’t created by the web, but this tale of a lost cellphone is just the latest in a series of stories that illustrate how the web, combined with the popularity of blogging, the ubiquitous nature of videophones, and sites like YouTube., have brought about a rebirth of the pillory or the public stockade.

(more…)

Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan’s decision to drop out of the Maryland governor’s race leaves gays in the state with no good choices to support among the remaining candidates. That’s right. I said "no good choices." Let me explain.

I wrote a while back about Democratic front runner Martin O’Malley’s inability to give a straight answer on whether he opposed a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. That effectively made Doug Duncan the only Democrat in the race who was on record as opposing the anti-gay amendment to Maryland’s constitution. The thing is, in a state like Maryland, going on record against an anti-gay marriage amendment (not for same-sex marriage, mind you) isn’t an exceptionally courageous move. That’s why Duncan’s dropping out leaves Maryland gays with no good choices on the ballot.

(more…)

If you thought the the story in the previous post was upsetting, even scary, in terms of how vulnerable same-sex couples are in absence of the rights and protections of marriage, this one won’t make you feel much better. I came across this via Bill, and I’d have to say the same thing he said about it.

Having to face something like this is one of my greatest fears. It’s a story that reminds me a lot of Laurel Hester.

(more…)

Imagine for a moment that you’re at work, sitting at your desk as usual or going about your daily tasks when you get a phone call. It’s the call that just about everyone dreads. On the other end is a frantic voice telling you that something awful has happened. Your spouse, husband or wife, suddenly collapsed on the job and is being rushed to the hospital, unconscious.

Naturally, you drop everything and race out of the office to get to your love one’s side. Maybe you make it in time to accompany him or her in the ambulance. Finally, you get to the hospital and follow the EMTs in to the ER as they push the gurney down the hall. Your spouse is rushed into an examination room and while you wait outside you try get some information about what’s happening.

Then it happens. A member of hospital staff tells you that because you’re not next of kin they can’t give you any information. Why? Because you’re not married.

Well, it happened to friends of ours.

(more…)

I’ve blogged before about the phenomenon of kids and online predators, and I’ve had mixed feelings on the subject. I have none, however, about news of a teenager and her mom suing MySpace.com for $30 million because the girl met a predator online who later sexually assaulted her.

A 14-year-old Travis County girl who said she was sexually assaulted by a Buda man she met on MySpace.com sued the popular social networking site Monday for $30 million, claiming that it fails to protect minors from adult sexual predators.

The lawsuit claims that the Web site does not require users to verify their age and calls the security measures aimed at preventing strangers from contacting users younger than 16 “utterly ineffective.”

“MySpace is more concerned about making money than protecting children online,” said Adam Loewy, who is representing the girl and her mother in the lawsuit against MySpace, parent company News Corp. and Pete Solis, the 19-year-old accused of sexually assaulting the girl.

…Solis contacted the girl through her MySpace Web site in April, telling her that he was a high school senior who played on the football team, according to the lawsuit.

In May, after a series of e-mails and phone calls, he picked her up at school, took her out to eat and to a movie, then drove her to an apartment complex parking lot in South Austin, where he sexually assaulted her, police said. He was arrested May 19.

(more…)

Apparently, while I was busy moving someone at the Washington Post Express was reading my blog. (Love the headline, BTW!)

We’re in. Except for a few minor items we’ll pick up from the old place this evening, we’re officially moved into the new house. All in all, it was a great move.

(more…)

As you read this, I’m probably at the new location, waiting for the movers, the telephone company, and the cable company to show up. That means’ not much posting today, if at all. I may have internet access when all is said and done today, even if it’s only dial-up. And then I’ll probably only get online once Parker has gone to bed and we’ve managed to get our own bedroom in reasonable order.

Of course, that also means that some major political story will break, and I’ll otherwise occupied (probably better off that way too).

But so that I don’t leave the blog without a new post for anyone who happens to stop by, here are the answers to the music meme post earlier this week.

(more…)