Category Archives: politics

by | May 28, 2009 · 10:33 am

you say po-tay-to, i say po-tah-to.

I love Wonkette so much, as has been proclaimed many times on this here blog. Today, they helped me out by teaching me how to pronounce “Sotomayor” (who is Barry’s SCOTUS pick, by the way, since we were lazy and never posted about that). And then they wrote a fabulous article attacking some National Review douche who thinks, “Hey, why should we both trying to pronounce that Latina’s name the right way?” I’m posting the whole Wonkette article, because why not:

The National Review The Corner blog’s Mark Krikorian hears how the people on teevee are pronouncing Sotomayor — “Zo-toe-my-OR” — and he goddamn does not care for that at all, so he goddamn will not pronounce it that way, goddamnit, fuck you all, learn to speak English.

“But there ought to be limits,” he writes.

It Sticks in My Craw [Mark Krikorian]

Most e-mailers were with me on the post on the pronunciation of Judge Sotomayor’s name (and a couple griped about the whole Latina/Latino thing — English dropped gender in nouns, what, 1,000 years ago?). But a couple said we should just pronounce it the way the bearer of the name prefers, including one who pronounces her name “freed” even though it’s spelled “fried,” like fried rice. (I think Cathy Seipp of blessed memory did the reverse — “sipe” instead of “seep.”) Deferring to people’s own pronunciation of their names should obviously be our first inclination, but there ought to be limits. Putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English (which is why the president stopped doing it after the first time at his press conference), unlike my correspondent’s simple preference for a monophthong over a diphthong, and insisting on an unnatural pronunciation is something we shouldn’t be giving in to.

You and your THONGS. Pronouncing a proper noun in its natural Spanish way “is something we shouldn’t be giving in to.” How is this “giving in to” anything? It’s just saying a fucking word correctly. WAH WAH WAH. How does one pronounce “Krikorian” anyway? KRICK-WHORE-EE-NAZI… KRICK-DICK…KRIK-SHIT-WHORE-DONG… oh it’s too hard and unnatural, WAH, WAH, look at us crying now like babies, WAH WAH WAH, oh someone console us, pwease, WAH.

Let’s just call them both Hamburger SUV and get on with it.

I bet Kirkorian pronouces the l’s in quesadilla, too.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 21, 2009 · 10:45 am

rapes persist in liberia, writes kristof.

Read this Kristof op-ed on mass rape in Liberia. Just…wow.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 19, 2009 · 12:15 pm

tuesday roundup of interesting nytimes articles.

Some days, the New York Times seems particularly stacked with good articles. It could just be that those are the days I actually focus and read the articles (rather than just skimming the headlines), but for whatever reason, today was a good day. In no particular order, and with quite a range of topics, enjoy:

  • I haven’t been watching American Idol much this season, but according to Stephen Holden, we’ve got an interesting finale on our hands: sweet — if slightly boring — Southern dude versus androgynous L.A. dude. I might actually have to tune in tonight. Holden convinced me that along with being something of a godsend for Idol’s ratings, the matchup will make for some very watchable teevee. Better than the forgettable Davids of last year.
  • Speaking of Davids, according to David Brooks and a study called “Which C.E.O. Characteristics and Abilities Matter?”, warm and fun and friendly people are less likely to be C.E.O.’s. Basically, “warm, flexible, team-oriented and empathetic people are less likely to thrive as C.E.O.’s. Organized, dogged, anal-retentive and slightly boring people are more likely to thrive.” Of course, those sets of qualities can’t be mutually exclusive, but the study makes a point. Boring people of the world: aim high. Fun ones: go into politics.
  • What do our college degrees and cell phones say about us? According to this John Tierney article, they can potentially say a lot — and most of us like to believe they say a lot, which is why we aim for Ivy Leagues and iPhones — but it only matters if other people are paying attention. In other words, “A Harvard diploma might get you a date or a job interview, but what you say during the date or the conversation will make the difference. An elegantly thin Skagen watch might send a signal to a stranger at a cocktail party or in an airport lounge, but even if it were noticed, anyone who talked to you for just a few minutes would get a much better gauge of your intelligence and personality.”
  • I found this reflective piece by Dana Jennings to be quite thought-provoking. In it, he recounts three major hospital visits in his lifetime: one at the age of 12, one at the age of 27, and one just last year, at the age of 51. All of the visits were relatively serious and had the potential to be life-threatening, but the way he reacted to the hospital stays predictably changed a lot over the years. As he puts it, “When I was young and ill, all I cared about was the result, about scalpels and scars. But in this waltz with prostate cancer, I’ve cared about the process, too. All along, I’ve wanted to know what this cancer could teach me, and I’d like to think I gripped it just as hard as it has gripped me.”

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 12, 2009 · 12:15 pm

tyler frost gets suspended for dancing.

tylerfrostOf all the ridiculous things I’ve read today, this trumps them all.

Poor Tyler Frost.  All the senior in high school wanted to do was escort his lady love to her sinful, pagan public school prom and maybe move in sync to the musical stylings of Taylor Swift, and whatever Godless slow-jam-last-dance song those high school kids are listening to these days.  And his school suspended him.

That’s because Tyler’s school, Heritage Christian School in Ohio, forbids dancing, rock music, and fun.  IT’S JUST LIKE THE MOVIE FOOTLOOSE!  It doesn’t specifically say fun, but whatev.  Might as well.  But you know, there are other reasons as well.  Here is part of the statement from the school’s principal, Tim England:

In the Old Testament, Joseph was in a place of temptation and he fled. Unlike this situation, he didn’t put himself in that place. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” II Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee also youthful lusts but follow after righteousness faith charity and peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” When the school committee, many years before I became the principal, set up the policy regarding dancing, I am confident that they had the principle of fleeing lustful situations in mind. The question as I see it is, should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them? Isn’t it contrary to the example of Joseph and the verses that I stated?

I did some research and came across Friendlyatheist.com, which fights Bible fire with Bible fire.  Thanks for providing us with the verse, FriendlyAtheist!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (King James Version)

1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

All sassiness aside, I think there’s something deeper here.  Dance, whether Mr. England chooses to acknowledge it or not, is embedded in the history of humanity.  As cliche as it is, people use dance to express themselves.  People dance at weddings– Christian weddings– to celebrate and show joy.  Little children dance (read= jump up and down and wave their arms) when they’re happy, and they just don’t know why.  In fact, there’s a budding genre of dance called Liturgical dance.  It’s a prayer in the form of dance.  Some people find dance so beautiful and spiritual that they use it as a way to praise the Lord.

Taking away dance is denying an important act of humanity.  Not that I, nor anyone else, should speak for the big guy upstairs, but I don’t think punishing someone for being human is what was intended.

Tyler and his stepfather, Stephan Johnson, went on CBS’ “The Early Show” this morning.  Watch that.  He said he doesn’t regret going to the prom.  I sure hope not.  I hope that he is allowed to walk at his graduation this year.  And when he does, I hope he dances on stage.

And now, a song that I dedicate to dear Tyler. I hope you dance, dude.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | May 12, 2009 · 8:29 am

things i should have posted earlier.

Yeah yeah yeah.  I know.  I could have posted it this weekend (or yesterday), but nerd statistics show that nobody reads the blog on the weekend anyway, proving that you all use this while you are being paid by your unsuspecting employers. I love it!

SNL had a really good weekend.  Another JT/Andy Samberg song.  Oh girl, I love me some JT.   And Samberg.  RAWR.  If you like “Dick in a Box”, you’ll like this one too:

[clearspring_widget title=”SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE – Digital Short: Motherlover” wid=”4727a250e66f9723″ pid=”4a096ba17ff67505″ width=”384″ height=”283″ domain=”widgets.nbc.com”]

So that’s what your coworker is singing that you had no idea about.  A big SWTCTW you’re welcome!  What a beautiful ode to Mother’s Day.  Oddly enough though, I won’t be showing that to my mom.

That was funny, now let’s get political and funny.  In case you didn’t know, we have the greatest most bestest president in the entire world!  He is hilarious!  Here is his speech at the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner:

The best joke in here is a little inside, I know!  It’s the one he makes about John Boehner (pronounced like BAINER, not BONER) being a person of color.  John Boehner, the House Minority leader, has skin that particular shade of orange that only comes from fake tanning.  See?

He’s even oranger in person, if oranger is a word.

Wanda Sykes was also REALLY funny, but I can’t do all the work for you, so you need to look that up yourself.

I’m off to stalk the news and find funny stuff to post!  You know you love me.  XOXO, i forgot to blog this weekend girl.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | April 29, 2009 · 9:52 am

olympia snowe on arlen specter’s switch.

I’ll confess that I didn’t know a ton about Olympia Snowe (until Wikipedia helped me out), but I was really impressed by her NYT op-ed on the ol’ Specter Switcharoo. Here’s an excerpt:

I have said that, without question, we cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates.

In that same vein, I am reminded of a briefing by a prominent Republican pollster after the 2004 election. He was asked what voter groups Republicans might be able to win over. He responded: women in general, married women with children, Hispanics, the middle class in general, and independents.

How well have we done as a party with these groups? Unfortunately, the answer is obvious from the results of the last two elections. We should be reaching out to these segments of our population — not de facto ceding them to the opposing party.

There is no plausible scenario under which Republicans can grow into a majority while shrinking our ideological confines and continuing to retract into a regional party. Ideological purity is not the ticket back to the promised land of governing majorities — indeed, it was when we began to emphasize social issues to the detriment of some of our basic tenets as a party that we encountered an electoral backlash.

It is for this reason that we should heed the words of President Ronald Reagan, who urged, “We should emphasize the things that unite us and make these the only ‘litmus test’ of what constitutes a Republican: our belief in restraining government spending, pro-growth policies, tax reduction, sound national defense, and maximum individual liberty.” He continued, “As to the other issues that draw on the deep springs of morality and emotion, let us decide that we can disagree among ourselves as Republicans and tolerate the disagreement.”

Food for thought, for sure.

UPDATE: Also, I have a friend from Maine whom I love. She is cool too, just like Olympia Snowe.

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: From the mouth of the Maine friend: “Once, for Halloween, I was Nancy Kerrigan. I wore this thick black wig and all the adults called me Olympia Snowe. I am still embarrassed by it!”

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | April 28, 2009 · 5:32 pm

specter sees the light, joins dems.

arlenspectorRepublican Senator Arlen Specter, a well-known moderate, has announced he is joining the Democratic party and he will run as a Democrat in 2010.  This is not a huge surprise.  He has consistently voted with the Democrats since Obama has been elected.  Apparently though, our Veep, Mr. Biden is the one that convinced him.  Way to go, Joe!

Obviously as a Democrat, I am happy that we have one more crucial vote in the Senate.  (Now if they would just get that pesky Minnesota seat settled and swear in Al Franken…)  But let’s look at the larger picture here.

I always like to give credit where credit is due.  I am, after all, a first born child and I LOVE to be recognized when I’m right or when do a good job.  (Do you think they’ll give me gold star stickers for a job well done in the real world?)  The Republican party, over the past ten years, has done a fantastic job at messaging.  Ex- It didn’t matter that he wasn’t smart, America just needed a president you can sit down and have a beer with.  This, of course, turned out to be an EPIC FAIL.  But the American people bought it in 2000 and 2004.  Here’s another good one:  All Democrats are socialists who want to take away your guns and hard earned money, abort your babies and let the terrorists win while turning the US of A into a godless nation.  A slight exaggeration, but I can only hope that you get my point.

But while the GOP was painting moderate Democrats and the actual socialists with the same brush, they neglected the fact that their own party has its moderates.  And maybe, just maybe, the party’s message was excluding them.

It’s weird, but I think Meghan McCain is the most logical spokesperson the GOP has right now.  Naturally, I will disagree with her on some points, but at least she’s says things that make sense.  And if they are looking for the youth vote, I’m pretty sure MM will have a better chance at reaching out to young people then Rush Limbaugh.  Or that wretched Ann Coulter.  Ugh.

I don’t really feel like analyzing how the GOP can fix its problems when I think there are bigger problems to solve… like the economy.  I’ll let you know when I figure that one out.  In the mean time, my trust is in B.

But welcome to the real party, Sen. Specter.  Time to get down to business.  There’s work to be done.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | April 9, 2009 · 2:30 pm

nom’s anti gay marriage ad…terrifying.

There’s a new anti-gay marriage ad out there, and it is terrifying.

I’m not scared of the storm.  I’m scared of NOM.  I’m scared of their bad actors (and they are actors.  See their audition reels here.  Thanks, QT!).  I’m scared of their bad writing (ex- “There’s a storm gathering. The clouds are dark, and the wind is strong. And I am afraid.”  You are afraid of weddings?  Seriously?).  But most of all, I’m scared of their message of hate and discrimination.

You know what I think of when I think of NOM?

A lot less scary than  some crap a dark storm and a bunch of lies (click that link and read what HRC says.), don’t you think?

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | March 30, 2009 · 9:01 pm

cigarette tax = healthier kids. any questions?

To all of those whining about the 62 cent raise on the cigarette tax and a whopping 40 cents for the cigar tax, which becomes effective on Wednesday, I have three words for you:  Get over it.

Why so harsh?  Because the money generated from the tax increase will go towards expanding children’s health care, known as the SCHIP bill and signed into law by President Obama in February.  Instead of just seven million uninsured children receiving health care from the government, SCHIP has now been expanded to cover 11 million children.

But, naturally, some people are pissed.  By some people I mean the tobacco companies who don’t give a you-know-what about you or your health and some really addicted smokers.

This gem of a quote came from NPR:

Customer Pat Collier of Zephyrhills, Fla., calls it a punitive tax aimed at smokers. “This is really just like the tea tax in the Revolution.”

Well…no.  Because when our early American heroes, the colonists, were taxed, the money went back to the evil King George.  This time around, Pat, the money will be used to help children.  CHILDREN.  POOR AND INNOCENT CHILDREN.  Think about it.  Good.  Now let’s move on.

Smokers, you know the deal.  The cancer sticks are bad for you, your lungs turn black and all that jazz.  Maybe you are too addicted to quit, but for Pete’s sake (and Pete, by the way, is a 4-year-old with no health insurance and a life threatening illness), don’t let your addiction get in the way of helping a kid out.  You chose to smoke, these kids did not choose to be uninsured.

It is a sad fact of life that prices go up all the time.  The price of milk, the price of a pack of gum, even the price of the wonderful treasures at the 99 cent store.  At least this time, when you pay those extra pennies, you’re doing something good.

SPL31030_003

More inspiration for you to quit smoking...

Or maybe, just maybe, this might encourage you to quit smoking, which, you know, would be AWFUL.  (But, of course, you quitting has nothing to do with why the tobacco companies are so upset.)  So Joe the Smoker and others quit.   Over time, the number of smoking-related illnesses and deaths decrease, which also decreases the amount of state and federal dollars used to care for these people when they are in the hospital.  The taxpayer wins!  Oh, and if you quit, you run less of a risk of gum disease (eww) and you won’t get that hideous smoker’s mouth with all the lines and wrinkles.

Here’s another scenario to convince you that this might just be a good thing:  Raising the tax on cigarettes will give health insurance to 10 million children.  Having insurance will enhance their quality of life.  Healthy kids go to school. (And like School House Rock tells us, “knowledge is power!”)  Healthy kids grow up to be healthy adults.  Healthy adults work.  The American workforce is the engine of our economy. Voila!  The economy thrives!

…And I’d like to thank the Nobel committee for awarding me this most prestigious award in Economics… just kidding because really, it’s not that big of a stretch.

I’m so fortunate that my parents never had to choose between taking me to the doctor or feeding me.  But there are so many children that are not as lucky as I was/am and until we have universal health care, we need to take care of the ones that need our help the most–  the very old and the very young.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | March 24, 2009 · 12:31 pm

joe the plumber says he’s “horny”.

As much as I hate to contribute to it by writing about it, I’m always interested when Joe the Plumber manages to extend his 15 minutes of fame– even if only for a millisecond.  How on earth does he do it?!  Well this new JTP blip on the media screen is fairly hilarious.  Thank you WashPo’s The Sleuth for the important news!  Joe recently spoke at the Media Research Center’s “DisHonors Awards”.  I know you’re DYING to know what that is; it sounds gripping!  Apparently all the people who hate democracy get in one room to slam the liberal media.  Doesn’t that sound fun?  Umm…boooooooring.  So good old Joe the Plumber/Journalist gets up there to accept some bogus award about really sticking it to the socialists.  Naturally, the neocons are clapping for this pure paradigm.  He eloquently expresses his humble appreciation:

“God, all this love and everything in the room – I’m horny,” declared Joe, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.

And cue the chirping crickets.  Rawr?

When you get that special feeling, Joe, you should just go on home, slip into something more comfortable (but really, is there anything more comfortable than the JTP flannel shirt?  I don’t think so!), light some cheap smelling candles, pour yourself a fine glass of boxed wine and run a nice bubbly wubbly bubble bath for yourself.  But for the love of all things holy and sacred, DO NOT tell your sexually oppressed conservative friends how you feel!

I was going to go off on a HUGE multiple-paragraph tangent about the so-called liberal media but I’m going to keep this as short as possible…aka one paragraph.  Guess what, folks?  The liberal media smear is spin concocted to protect the Bush Administration and its followers from the press.  By turning the American people against the press, the news stories– which contained the truth — were seen as biased and became irrelevant.  But reporting on the horrors of war and unveiling the lies of the government is not liberal bias, it’s the job of the press.  Take Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann out of the equation now, please, because they have equal and opposite forces named O’Reilly and Hannity.  We’re talking about the journalists whose names you do not know.  There is an unspoken vow among journalists to bring the truth to the people– a sort of Hippocratic Oath, if you will.  Challenging and questioning a president, Congress, the government, or taking on the rest of the media?  That is their function in society.  If the media were so liberal, we would have had a Democratic president years ago.  Trust me.  I’m appalled that the liberal media excuse and tactic is still being used and people are still buying it.  (McCain lost.  Sarah Palin sucked.  Get over it.  It was their fault.)  Now that Obama is president, the press will do its job to report everything that goes on.  In fact, Obama seems to be losing the media fight when it comes to selling his economic plan, is he not?  Not so liberal afterall…And I’m spent!

Now back to the important stuff.  A most appropriate music video in honor of JTP:

And one last uber-serious thought:  Has Akon ever sang about something other than sexytime?

[Posted by Kathleen]

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