Let's say you're a fresh, youngish, hot empty suit with a pretentious Harvard law degree and and sense of raging ambition that you dress up with urban cool with help from a self-important talk show diva from Memphis who funds women's prisons masquerading as girl's schools and a pompous British poofter who claims to be both conservative and Roman Catholic but is actually neither. Let's also say that you want the top job in the land (no--not the chairmanship of Google), and your sanctimonious piss-ant of a campaign manager has decided to create a cult of personality based on you being an avatar of "change and civility and bipartisanship" (although to be honest, if you are bipartisan, then Larry Flynt is a spirit warrior for Jesus...because, of course girl on girl photoshoost in Hustler is the way to eternal salvation). What do you do to get yourself over that goal line and insure that your so-far hidden narcissism and your creepy religious-culty philosophical movement gets to do the Dance of Joy from coast to coast and border to border?
You enlist a man who has served in the Senate for 45 years and has the facial complexion of someone who looks like they were bitten by a rottweiler (50 years of booze will do that to you). Oh, hi Senator Kennedy--you're looking quite well for a rotund, boozy, 76 year old, sir. Here's a highball.
It seems a wee bit odd that someone who has been packaged by his sanctimonious campaign manager (David Axelrod--a man with a soft spot for self-righteous politicians) and pantingly eager accomplices in the media as a "transformational candidate" would seek out the endorsement of a family that was one of the most naked political machines in 20th century America. I could have sworn that Hillary-haters in general (and certain British poofters specifically) were saying that the Clintons are a dynasty, and they must be kept from the White House. Can some of you then explain to me why you go to one dynasty to kill off another? Maybe I'm a bit stupid, but doesn't "bringing us together" politics mean that you don't employ the politics you say you are attempting to eliminate?
I love the fact that Frau Schlossberg said that the Senator from Illinois is a politician just like her father, because it says two things to me. First, it tells me that the Senator from Illinois will come within hours of getting this nation into a nuclear exchange with another country, since the Frau's pops did just that. Did I mention that had JFK's bumbling performance succeeded, then none of us we be here right now? Oops--I guess I forgot. The second thing is that she is see her father through the gauzy lens that Jackie Onassis created for him--in the cold light of hindsight, Jack Kennedy knew how to work glamour for the cameras, could deliver a decent speech, and that was pretty much it. He had no big legislative achievements he managed to get Congress to sign on to--those belonged to Lyndon. JFK may have started some of those things rolling, but what matters is who carried the ball into the end zone, and Kennedy was a corpse by the time of the Civil Rights Act of '64, the Great Society, and the moon landing. In today's Democratic Party, JFK would be to the right of Hillary Clinton. You know who that would make him? Joe Lieberman.....and unacceptable to what is supposedly the base of the party.
Again, though, maybe there is some logic behind the endorsement. The offspring of the true visionary in the Kennedy family (AKA Bobby's kids) did NOT endorse the magazine cover. Perhaps, just perhaps, Bobby Kennedy taught his kids a valuable lesson--words are beautiful, and they can in fact be inspiring, but at the end of the day, the question is "what did you do today?" and not "what did you say today?" The children of Jack have never been known as doers--then again, they were allowed to believe they were fabulous, and when you are fabulous, you never have to do things...you simply have to breathe and walk. Bobby's kids--doers. They understand that to change society, you lead by example. The Army has an expression: "Lead from the front". Jack and Jackie's spawn never have, and neither has the Senator from Illinois...it's the fab leading the fab. Ted, Caroline, and the legion of other Obama-ites don't really want government to work--they just want it to sound polite. A government that is polite and clecnched-teeth Episcopalian is a government that ultimately accomplishes nothing. To lead from the front, you have to be a leader of conviction who puts their money, their sweat, and their time where their mouth is. Barack Obama doesn't have that kind of spine.
Just a thought...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Bitch, What Is Your Problem?
Against my better judgement, I was reading the Daily Dish blog. I know I shouldn't have, because it was going to be nothing more than Dr. Sullivan shilling for the Senator from Illinois---how he is in fact Jesus Christ returned, how he will make it a nirvana for gays if he's elected, how Don't Ask Don't Tell will go down the tubes, and lest I forget, how much of an evil cooze Hillary Clinton is. I've been seeing this garbage come from his keyboard for months now, and after his non-stop Obama-gloating after the South Carolina primary, I finally just mentally vomited. I know I'm just a little nobody here, but I feel it is time to say:
Bitch, what is your problem?
If you have paid any attention to Andrew Sullivan over the last 6 months (and I am guessing few of you have), you will notice that his website has devolved into 3 areas--Area One...Obama is Jesus Christ and the world will instantly become better by making him President of the United States and that it would be a glorious symbol for the world; Area Two...Hillary Clinton is an evil old crone who would do or say anything to get elected and every nasty thing the Republicans have ever said about her is true, and here are some more nasty things about her; Area Three...Mike Huckabee and any other person who speaks publicly of faith is a danger to American democracy and they are no different than Islamists in Pakistan. I would ask Dr. Sullivan if I hit all those bases, but let's get real kids--he ain't gonna read this EVER.
Let's take a look at Area One...
If you read the hyperventalationary writing of the Daily Dish (it's in the links under Whores For Obama), the Senator from Illinois is the answer to all the nation's problems and he will be the messiah for gays and lesbians in this country. Hmm--sounds like favorite pretentious British pundit takes too strong a toke before he writes about the Senator (Sullivan is very pro drug legalization). What he writes is NOT reflective of the reality. First off, Sully-boy has never taken the Senator to task for the vagueness in his public speeches. I will admit it--the speeches flow beautifully. Whoever writes them is a true wordsmith, and the Senator gives perfect delivery. The problem is that when you read the speeches, you find out that the Senator has not said anything substantive. It's spun-sugar prose that will melt upon contact with the bucket of cold water called "Reality". Oddly, Dr. Sullivan never mentions that--he's too busy mentally whacking off over "hope" and "bringing us together". "Bringing us together" is not a legislative roadmap. "Bringing us together" doesn't head off the recession that may be approaching. "Bringing us together" doesn't take steps to rectify the trade imbalances we have with East Asian countries. "Bringing us together" doesn't help Hispanic families who are wondering if Grandma is going to be sent back to Honduras because she is an illegal alien.
While it may look nice having a photograph of a black President of the United States on the cover of the international edition of Newsweek, in the end, foreign governments are not going to give a fat rat's ass what color the President's skin is. What they are going to care about is whether or not he or she can make the tough judgement calls and stick by those calls even when the polls say it's not a crowd-winner (say what you want about Bush, but you have to give him credit for sticking to the guts of his positions). That's what being a leader means, and the Senator has a track record of ducking issues because they are not crowd winners--just go look at his voting record in Illinois. The mantra was "Ooh...hot button--can't touch that." Maybe I am harsh and judgemental. Maybe my decade in uniform warped my perceptions, but when someone is wanting to be my leader, then that person damn well better have a gameplan before he or she sets one cleat on the playing field. The Senator went so far as to say recently that he was not a good manager.
Excuse me? You want me to hire you to the top management job in the country and you say to the press you are not a good manager? Who in the hell would hire someone for a position like the one in question after an admission like that? Again, Dr. Sullivan did not mention this. At times, I think his whoring for the Senator is some sort of strange mea culpa for having published "The Bell Curve" in The New Republic back in the 1990s when he was editor. This article stated that blacks were of an inferior intelligence level to whites based on genetics. The article generated a bit of negative feedback for the magazine (and may have been part of the reason why he left it in 1996....but I'm only guessing).
Sully and many of the other Upwardly Mobile Gay White Bloggers (yes, I am talking about you, Chris Crain--his link on the links list is selfrighteous.com) have used countless numbers of bytes of text to put out the message of just how great it will be for us gays when the Senator is elected. Did I miss something? Having a black president is not going to change cultural attitudes towards gays and lesbians in the United States. Just because the Senator says non-threatening things about us does not mean stigmas magically disappear (although a Los Angeles Times columnist did basically refer to him as The Magic Negro...maybe the Senator has some power I am not aware of, but since I am pretty observant, I would have seen it by now). Would a President Obama make state ballot initiatives against gay marriage go away? No--that is a state issue, and the states are going to vote they way they vote. He can put his foot down on monkeying with the federal constitution, but that's it. He can say that civil unions are great, but these days people like Sully are going to whine and say that's not good enough. In many respects, the same goes for Don't Ask Don't Tell. He may be able to ditch the executive order on it, but he can't do shit about the Uniform Code of Military Justice--and the UCMJ still says guy on guy anal sex is still a no-go. Only Congress can change that, and if you think guys like Heath Shuler from North Carolina (he's the freshman Democrat who represents the district my grandparents live in) are going to vote to say "yeah, you fags can serve openly", then you really don't understand the rednecks he represents. The Democrats won the House in 2006 with freshman Democrats from normally red districts, and in a lot of those places, it is still not cool to be gay (not all of America's fags live in DC, New York, and San Francisco, girls)--if you think they are going to shit on the voters who sent them by voting for this, then you are delusional, Sully.
And now, Area Two....
One of the more abhorrent things about the Daily Dish these days is the truly repellent manner in which Sully-boy refers to Hillary Clinton. After a decade in uniform, I can say that I have encountered a lot of female officers who behave in the same way that Hillary Clinton's public persona has been drawn over the last 20 years. That's why I can take or leave her--I can accept she may have a chip on her shoulder and that she feels she has something to prove. Bitchy girls don't bother me, but for some reason, they seem to bother Dr. Sullivan. He seems to take great delight in writing about her in the most juvenile manner. He gets verbal diarrhea going on and on about her alleged vices (and the Senator's divine virtues). I used to think that the New York Times' Dried-Up-Hag-In-Residence Maureen Dowd was the most gratuitously bitchy documenter of Hillary Clinton---turns out I was wrong. Andrew Sullivan has snatched the tiara and slapped it on his massive bald melon.
What gets me is the level of hatefulness he indulges in towards Mrs. Clinton. I could understand it if she had done something to him personally, but as far as I can tell, he has never met her. Those other two Irish pseudo-Catholic blowhards Dowd and Chris Matthews at least have met her, so they can base their venom on personal (I use that term loosely) experience. In Dr. Sullivan's case, he's talking shit about a woman it seems he's never met, yet feels fully justified in dragging through the mud. If anyone is going to question the personal ethics (and by extension, morals) of Hillary Clinton, then Andrew M. Sullivan is the very last person on earth to be doing it (google "Andrew Sullivan" and "bareback" and then get back to me if you think he has a leg to stand on). If you are going to trash someone else's house, then your house better have floors so spotless I can serve a wedding feast on them.
If you don't like the woman, then good for you. America is a place where a plethora of opinions are encouraged. Speaking one's mind is something to be both encouraged and celebrated. The only caveat on that is that if you are going to blow your intellectual wad, do it in a manner that makes you sound somewhat intelligent and doesn't scrape the bottom of the intellectual gutter. It is a sad day when Patrick J. Buchanan can provide a better intellectual argument against Hillary Clinton than Sully-boy can.
Finally, Area Three...
For a man who has professed to be a believing Roman Catholic (he is ethnic Irish, after all...even atheists in Ireland believe in God, at least socially), I have yet to understand the shrill hostility Sully-boy has toward people expressing spiritual faith in a higher power in public. Go and read the Daily Dish and see what he's said about Huckabee--he's said everything possible about him short of calling the man a "Jesus Freak". I try to square this with the online debate he had with noted atheist writer Sam Harris on the nature of religious faith, and something just doesn't compute.
Sometimes, I wonder if it is just an anti-Protestant bias, since the primary victim of his "Christianist" shrieks are Evangelical Protestants (occasionally, he'll trash the Pope, but mostly it's Protestants), but then the shrillness of it just makes me gag (although I have a strong gag reflex, so it's not that hard to do). I'm not the best Catholic out there, but I don't become pants-crappingly hysterical when a public figure drops the G-word. So Huckabee talks about God--big deal. So Huckabee doesn't buy the evolution argument--big deal. So he believes their is a spiritual component to public life--big deal. It's nice to know he believes in something. Maybe it's just me, but I like the fact that a public figure would acknowledge a higher existence--even if it is a different perspective than my own. Live and let live.
Not Sully-boy, though. In one of his "Christianist" rants, he accused John McCain of being a stooge of theirs. John McCain is a lot of things--stubborn, testy, hardnosed, funny...but not a tool of Southern Baptists. He lacks the stomach for the Grade A horseshit they fling about the room. I used to be one, so I know what they can be like...and they are not McCain's sort of people.
Sorry for the Sullivan post so soon after the other one, but his Obama-gloating just torqued me off, and I had to vent. He once was an interesting writer--now, much like Margaret Cho, Ann Coulter, and Arianna Huffington, he just some tiresome old bore.
Just a thought or two......
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A Traitor Amongst Us
By all accounts, Bryan Singer is a gifted and insightful director.He's a product of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (transferring from the New York School of Visual Arts). He was the guiding force behind X-Men and X2, which he wrote and directed both pictures. Singer had stated in the past in various interviews that he had seen the characters in the films--with their inborn mutant abilities and the societal rejection of these individuals--as allegorical to the experiences of gay people and the societal stigma they face. Singer is Jewish and openly gay. He also directed one of the more iconic films of the late 20th century--The Usual Suspects (Kevin Spacey got himself his first Oscar for this one). He's also the executive producer of what is arguably one of the finest shows on broadcast television--House (with the brilliant Hugh Laurie in the title role), and the ABC sleaze-fest Dirty Sexy Money (I've seen a couple of the episodes--this show is just trash...although with today's climate, it should do well in the world of professional anorexic Paris Hilton wanting to do the dirty dirty with all of her fans and poor old crazy-as-a-rat-in-a-coffee-can Britney Spears and her camera-loving koo-cha-cha). This man is immensely smart, and immensely talented.
He's also unapologetically taking a big fat shit on gay men and women around the world...and probably getting a fat paycheck for doing it.
Why do I say this? Simple answer, children--Valkyrie. What the hell is Valkyrie, you ask? Well children, pour yourself a glass of iced tea (sweetened please--I'm from the South), have a seat in a nice comfy chair, and little Sordid Business will educate you on Bryan Singer, Tom Cruise, and the Church of Scientology. Just in case you are wondering, it's Mr. Singer I am jamming the knife into today (clarification is a beautiful thing, isn't it?).
Here's the brief rundown on this movie of the damned...everyone's favorite pint-sized litigious Scientologist is starring as German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in what history has recorded as the July 20 Plot. Cruise put out some drivel about how he was drawn to the role because von Stauffenburg was a hero who took a stand against tyranny, blah blah blah. If you have had a chance to read the new book out on Short Round, you'll find out that there is more to this story than it appears on the surface.
Why am I bringing up Morton's book on our little diva (and why and I relating all of this to Bryan the Traitor)? Well, Morton has a track record of being pretty on-target with the subjects of his books, and in this book, the author indicates that Valkyrie is happening because Cruise and the other shortie, David Miscavige (head of Scientology...I saw a photo of him--I was tempted to put a harness on him and dwarf toss him. Not very nice of me, but then, so what.), want an in into the German brain-dead persons market (let's face it, children--to buy into L. Ron Hubbard's bad acid trip of a philosophy, you must have either ceased all higher brain functions, or you have to be mentally disturbed in some manner). The feeling (based on how I read the book) in the Scientology bunker appears to be that if the leading light of Scientology (by some accounts, he's Number Two in the organization in everything but title) is shown depicting a man who is arguably a German hero, then it may permeate the German brain-dead persons market with "Hey, these Scientologists are pretty cool....let's contact them and sign away our lives".
Getting to Bryan the Traitor....what enrages me about his involvement with this film is the fact that a certain amount of the earnings from this film will (courtesy of Short Round) find its way into the coffers of the Church of Scientology. Why should that matter, you ask? Simple, children....the Church of Scientology founder (L. Ron Hubbard) made it CRYSTALLY clear during his lifetime (and in his Scientology utterances and writings that are still in use today--they are the scriptures for the brain-dead, after all) that people who were other than hetero should be removed from society (he didn't exactly elaborate beyond that, but you aren't stupid, children...you know how to read between lines). If Bryan the Traitor makes this film a hit, then that will mean millions of dollars will flow through Short Round's hot little hands and to an organization that hates people like me...and Bryan Singer...and every other "person of a same-sex nature". That money will go for the production of more literature extolling "the virtues of brain-deadism" (oops---I meant "Scientology"...I must have had a brain fart). He will be aiding our enemy in slandering us by being a financial accomplice. Now that I think about it, maybe Mr. Singer should join the Church of Scientology, since helping enrich this organization's coffers, and thereby enabling them to spread their message against us, sounds kinda brain-dead. Granted, the openly gay and Jewish things may be a problem, but that's life.
Valkyrie is slated for release 03 October 2008. No self-respecting "person of a same-sex nature" (nor any straights who have friends they value who happen to be in that group) should see this film. It turn out to be an excellent film...but that doesn't excuse the fact that money from this film (in some fashion) will be employed against us--all brought to you by an openly gay director who seems to have far more talent than he does self-respect.
He's also unapologetically taking a big fat shit on gay men and women around the world...and probably getting a fat paycheck for doing it.
Why do I say this? Simple answer, children--Valkyrie. What the hell is Valkyrie, you ask? Well children, pour yourself a glass of iced tea (sweetened please--I'm from the South), have a seat in a nice comfy chair, and little Sordid Business will educate you on Bryan Singer, Tom Cruise, and the Church of Scientology. Just in case you are wondering, it's Mr. Singer I am jamming the knife into today (clarification is a beautiful thing, isn't it?).
Here's the brief rundown on this movie of the damned...everyone's favorite pint-sized litigious Scientologist is starring as German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in what history has recorded as the July 20 Plot. Cruise put out some drivel about how he was drawn to the role because von Stauffenburg was a hero who took a stand against tyranny, blah blah blah. If you have had a chance to read the new book out on Short Round, you'll find out that there is more to this story than it appears on the surface.
Why am I bringing up Morton's book on our little diva (and why and I relating all of this to Bryan the Traitor)? Well, Morton has a track record of being pretty on-target with the subjects of his books, and in this book, the author indicates that Valkyrie is happening because Cruise and the other shortie, David Miscavige (head of Scientology...I saw a photo of him--I was tempted to put a harness on him and dwarf toss him. Not very nice of me, but then, so what.), want an in into the German brain-dead persons market (let's face it, children--to buy into L. Ron Hubbard's bad acid trip of a philosophy, you must have either ceased all higher brain functions, or you have to be mentally disturbed in some manner). The feeling (based on how I read the book) in the Scientology bunker appears to be that if the leading light of Scientology (by some accounts, he's Number Two in the organization in everything but title) is shown depicting a man who is arguably a German hero, then it may permeate the German brain-dead persons market with "Hey, these Scientologists are pretty cool....let's contact them and sign away our lives".
Getting to Bryan the Traitor....what enrages me about his involvement with this film is the fact that a certain amount of the earnings from this film will (courtesy of Short Round) find its way into the coffers of the Church of Scientology. Why should that matter, you ask? Simple, children....the Church of Scientology founder (L. Ron Hubbard) made it CRYSTALLY clear during his lifetime (and in his Scientology utterances and writings that are still in use today--they are the scriptures for the brain-dead, after all) that people who were other than hetero should be removed from society (he didn't exactly elaborate beyond that, but you aren't stupid, children...you know how to read between lines). If Bryan the Traitor makes this film a hit, then that will mean millions of dollars will flow through Short Round's hot little hands and to an organization that hates people like me...and Bryan Singer...and every other "person of a same-sex nature". That money will go for the production of more literature extolling "the virtues of brain-deadism" (oops---I meant "Scientology"...I must have had a brain fart). He will be aiding our enemy in slandering us by being a financial accomplice. Now that I think about it, maybe Mr. Singer should join the Church of Scientology, since helping enrich this organization's coffers, and thereby enabling them to spread their message against us, sounds kinda brain-dead. Granted, the openly gay and Jewish things may be a problem, but that's life.
Valkyrie is slated for release 03 October 2008. No self-respecting "person of a same-sex nature" (nor any straights who have friends they value who happen to be in that group) should see this film. It turn out to be an excellent film...but that doesn't excuse the fact that money from this film (in some fashion) will be employed against us--all brought to you by an openly gay director who seems to have far more talent than he does self-respect.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Bland Ambition
In terms of accomplishments, no one can really find fault with Senator Carter of Illinois. He did two years at Occidental College in metro Los Angeles. He transferred to Columbia University and earned a bachelor's degree in political science with a concentration in international relations. He went on to a job with the Business International Corporation, which provided strategic analysis for American companies seeking to operate overseas (it's now a part of the Economist Intelligence Unit). He went to Harvard Law School, and became the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review (a first in the publication's then 104 year history). He left Harvard with a juris doctorae magna cum laude (a law degree with honors for those who can't read Latin).
He is also as nakedly ambitious and cold-blooded as the depictions of the junior senator from New York.
I did some reading over the past couple of days on Senator Carter's voting records, and something popped out right away. It seems he is what the Army would refer to as a "ticket-puncher". A "ticket-puncher" (in military terms) is a person who does a job simply to have it documented in his or her records for when promotion time comes. The selection board would see that so-and-so did this assignment and that assignment and the conventional wisdom is that the boards look favorably on that. If you go and review his voting records from the Illinois state senate, and you read what those who knew him there say of him, a somewhat alarming picture develops....he's Bill Clinton minus the sex (don't tell Dr. Sullivan I said that--it would break his pretentious little Limey heart).
With 130 votes of "Present" on bills in the state senate, it would seem that Senator Carter has a great deal of trouble with publicly announcing his conviction on a matter. If he had perhaps 15 or less, then I can understand that. As far as I can see, that doesn't really count as straddling---but 130 (sometimes, he was the only member in the chamber voting that way)? He voted "Present" on issues that had wide bipartisan support numbers. He voted "Present" on political hot-button issues---hmmm...possibly some Cover Your Ass to protect future political viability perhaps? I swear I can smell that fragrance in the air.
Oh, I know I shouldn't say that---that's a cynical thought and he's JESUS. I can't for a MOMENT impugn his motives or question his thoughts. I'll be condemned to Hell for that....or Dr. Sullivan could make some calls and have the Upwardly Mobile Gay Male Mafia do me in (seems quite a few of them have declared themselves bitches for the candidate...maybe they'll kill me as they dance to a remix of Britney).
One of his more interesting "Present" episodes was a bill before the Illinois state senate that would authorize the courts to try as adults 15 years olds charged with committing crimes involving a firearm or near school grounds (i.e. Drug Pushers).The stylish empty suit from Hyde Park voted "Present" because he said it would do nothing to end juvenile crime. The "huh?" portion of this comes in because while statistically the majority of these youth offenders were black, the majority of their victims were also black. By voting "Aye" on the bill, Senator Carter would have done something to help aid the black community in Illinois make their communities safer. He didn't want to touch the issue, even though it had massive bipartisan support. It was too hot, and it would seem he had bigger fish worth frying.......
[Cue the official sounding music, because the president of the Illinois state senate just walked onstage]
It appears our empty suit did not like being in the state senate very much--he tried to get out of it and get to Congress in 2000 (that flopped). At that point, Plan B kicked in....and there was no time to waste--this suit had places to go, stands to not take and men's lifestyle magazine covers for which to pose languidly.
Getting back to our guest on stage, Senator Carter had found his mark, and determined it was time to schmooze. One day, the empty suit flounced its way into the state senate president's office and said to the prez that he had a lot of power, and that the prez had the power to make a United States senator. The prez played coy, and then the empty suit suggested itself as that senator. The empty suit knew the senate president was wired into the Cook County-Chicago Democratic political machine, and that machine could get the suit into a lot of store windows. Children, our suit was on its way.
The empty suit got all of its state tickets punched--it made it to Washington {Yay!). It got itself a chairmanship on a subcommittee under the Foreign Affairs committee (Yay!). It didn't matter that the subcommittee never had a hearing for the first year the suit was there. No meetings meant no tough votes and no hot-button issues (Yay!). Well done, suit....you rock in your suaveness. The empty suit had a new big fish to fry--it wanted to go to the other end of the street (Yay!).
The night of the Iowa caucus, I was watching the Charlie Rose Show, and one of Charlie's guests was a man named Shelby Steele--a research fellow at the Hoover Institute, and like Senator Carter, the son of a black father white mother. He said to Charlie that black male candidates can only appeal to white voters as long as they do not make the voters uncomfortable. The minute a white voter squirms, it's pretty much over--the spell is broken. Evidently, uncomfortable is bad, because that means voters were actually listening to and thinking about what a candidate says. It seems the empty knows this...and will bend over backwards to avoid that fate.
Just a thought...
He is also as nakedly ambitious and cold-blooded as the depictions of the junior senator from New York.
I did some reading over the past couple of days on Senator Carter's voting records, and something popped out right away. It seems he is what the Army would refer to as a "ticket-puncher". A "ticket-puncher" (in military terms) is a person who does a job simply to have it documented in his or her records for when promotion time comes. The selection board would see that so-and-so did this assignment and that assignment and the conventional wisdom is that the boards look favorably on that. If you go and review his voting records from the Illinois state senate, and you read what those who knew him there say of him, a somewhat alarming picture develops....he's Bill Clinton minus the sex (don't tell Dr. Sullivan I said that--it would break his pretentious little Limey heart).
With 130 votes of "Present" on bills in the state senate, it would seem that Senator Carter has a great deal of trouble with publicly announcing his conviction on a matter. If he had perhaps 15 or less, then I can understand that. As far as I can see, that doesn't really count as straddling---but 130 (sometimes, he was the only member in the chamber voting that way)? He voted "Present" on issues that had wide bipartisan support numbers. He voted "Present" on political hot-button issues---hmmm...possibly some Cover Your Ass to protect future political viability perhaps? I swear I can smell that fragrance in the air.
Oh, I know I shouldn't say that---that's a cynical thought and he's JESUS. I can't for a MOMENT impugn his motives or question his thoughts. I'll be condemned to Hell for that....or Dr. Sullivan could make some calls and have the Upwardly Mobile Gay Male Mafia do me in (seems quite a few of them have declared themselves bitches for the candidate...maybe they'll kill me as they dance to a remix of Britney).
One of his more interesting "Present" episodes was a bill before the Illinois state senate that would authorize the courts to try as adults 15 years olds charged with committing crimes involving a firearm or near school grounds (i.e. Drug Pushers).The stylish empty suit from Hyde Park voted "Present" because he said it would do nothing to end juvenile crime. The "huh?" portion of this comes in because while statistically the majority of these youth offenders were black, the majority of their victims were also black. By voting "Aye" on the bill, Senator Carter would have done something to help aid the black community in Illinois make their communities safer. He didn't want to touch the issue, even though it had massive bipartisan support. It was too hot, and it would seem he had bigger fish worth frying.......
[Cue the official sounding music, because the president of the Illinois state senate just walked onstage]
It appears our empty suit did not like being in the state senate very much--he tried to get out of it and get to Congress in 2000 (that flopped). At that point, Plan B kicked in....and there was no time to waste--this suit had places to go, stands to not take and men's lifestyle magazine covers for which to pose languidly.
Getting back to our guest on stage, Senator Carter had found his mark, and determined it was time to schmooze. One day, the empty suit flounced its way into the state senate president's office and said to the prez that he had a lot of power, and that the prez had the power to make a United States senator. The prez played coy, and then the empty suit suggested itself as that senator. The empty suit knew the senate president was wired into the Cook County-Chicago Democratic political machine, and that machine could get the suit into a lot of store windows. Children, our suit was on its way.
The empty suit got all of its state tickets punched--it made it to Washington {Yay!). It got itself a chairmanship on a subcommittee under the Foreign Affairs committee (Yay!). It didn't matter that the subcommittee never had a hearing for the first year the suit was there. No meetings meant no tough votes and no hot-button issues (Yay!). Well done, suit....you rock in your suaveness. The empty suit had a new big fish to fry--it wanted to go to the other end of the street (Yay!).
The night of the Iowa caucus, I was watching the Charlie Rose Show, and one of Charlie's guests was a man named Shelby Steele--a research fellow at the Hoover Institute, and like Senator Carter, the son of a black father white mother. He said to Charlie that black male candidates can only appeal to white voters as long as they do not make the voters uncomfortable. The minute a white voter squirms, it's pretty much over--the spell is broken. Evidently, uncomfortable is bad, because that means voters were actually listening to and thinking about what a candidate says. It seems the empty knows this...and will bend over backwards to avoid that fate.
Just a thought...
Admin Note
This thing is a work in progress, so it may take me a little time to find the groove. It seems rough now, but I'm still putting this together...and no blog is perfect fresh out of the starting gate. I'm debating photos in the future, since I see it as only fair to show you who I'm knifing--I admit I'm a knifer, but I see it this way--if I am knifing you, then you did or said something worth jamming a shiv into you.
Stay Tuned......
Stay Tuned......
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Unbearable Malice Of Sullivan
Andrew Michael Sullivan of South Godstone, Surrey, England is an extraordinarily well educated and accomplished man. He has a bachelor’s degree in modern history from Magdalen College, Oxford. He has a master’s in public administration and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University. He was elected president of the Oxford Union (the premier debating society in global higher education). At the age of 33, he was tapped by The New Republic to be its editor-in-chief, and served in that role for roughly 5 years. He’s a published author with four books touching on various aspects of public policy thought under his belt.
He’s also one of the most mean-spirited bloggers on the Internet (and that’s saying a lot with Michelle Malkin out there….who looks more and more like an angry Filipino hooker each time she goes on Fox News…she’s the same chick who said it was great that Japanese-Americans were interned in camps in the American Southwest during World War II).
For those of you not familiar with him, Dr. Sullivan is the driving force behind a website called “The Daily Dish”, which is now part of The Atlantic magazine’s website (where he is also credited as a Senior Editor). Since joining The Atlantic, Dr. Sullivan has made it his mission to be as shrill as human possible about quite a few targets...in particular anyone remotely affiliated with Bill or Hillary Clinton, and any person of faith in the United States…but he does it in that delightfully stuffy and oh-so-self-important British way (quite the pity he doesn’t have the delivery of John Cleese—at least then, his self-righteous appearances would be entertaining).
Dr. Sullivan states (and the broad-spectrum press aids him in the delusion) that he is a conservative. The interesting part is that outside of fiscal policy, he has very little in common with conservatism as it is known in the United States. In fact, Dr. Sullivan actually goes out of his way to start fights with other writers in what is supposed to be the world of conservative thought. His most recent book was called “The Conservative Soul—How We Lost It And How To Get It Back”. I bought the book, and I did make an honest effort to read it….but children, let me tell you something—after the first chapter, I had to put that piece of crap down. It was one of the most boring books I had ever picked up (I should have taken it back to Barnes & Noble and demanded my money back for buying such an expensive drink coaster).
Dr. Sullivan was talking about how American conservatism was diseased and needed to be fixed. The punchline of the joke is that the idea he was talking about hasn’t existed here. I’m still trying to figure out just who that book was aimed it, since it wasn’t any conservative I know. Just so we are clear, I do NOT claim either conservative or liberal as my ideological home. My ideological home is Big-Mouthism….that is the ideology of saying whatever f’ing thing pops into your head. Makes life unpredictable since I never know what will come out of my mouth, but at least it’s never boring.
Over the past couple of years, Dr. Sullivan has made it his personal mission to be viciously insulting to Hillary Clinton. I’m still trying to grasp why he spews so much venom at her, since I don’t think he has ever actually met her face to face (or at least he has never disclosed meeting her). The nasty, mean-spirited, ad hominem attacks he throws at her on a daily basis would make more sense to me if he has met her and found her away-from-the-cameras-personality unpleasant. Since no evidence of a meeting exists, the wellspring of his venom is a mystery (then again, who knows why bitchy queens do what they do—they can take a dislike to someone for simply wearing the wrong pants). For all of his education, Dr. Sullivan forgot there is a difference between attacking a person’s ideas and attacking the person. Dr. Sullivan is far happier to attack Hillary Clinton the person and pretty much leave her policy proposals on the table.
Dovetailing quite nicely with his seemingly personal hatred of Mrs. Clinton these days is his supine behavior regarding Senator Carter of Illinois (see Break A Deal, Face The Wheel). For as slavish as Dr. Sullivan is in his writings about the Gentle-Empty-Suit from Illinois, one would think someone was getting blown. It seems Dr. Sullivan likes his politics vague, fluffy and LSD-like, and his politicians convictionless and disinterested in saying either “Aye” or “No” on an issue. He seems to prefer they vote “Present” on way too many issues….or he likes them to talk “uplift” and vote hard-left.
The second big thing with Dr. Sullivan is how he prattles on about being a Roman Catholic…yet he freaks out with public expressions of faith in this country and also makes regular attacks on the Catholic Church itself. Dr. Sullivan said once on the Charlie Rose Show that he’d become radicalized. One has to wonder if that has spread to the spiritual realm, since he doesn’t like people discussing God unless it’s him. Any public figure who mentions religion he terms a “Christianist”—he went so far as to paint John McCain (of all people) with that brush. Maybe it’s because I’m from the South, or maybe it’s because I had a grandfather who was a minister, but I don’t get bent out of shape when someone talks about Jesus…then again, I’m just a poor white fag and not an upwardly mobile white fag, so I don’t see Jesus Christ as a threat to be subdued. JC has come through for me during some tough times, so maybe I’m biased.
Another thing about Dr. Sullivan’s religious perspective—would a sincere person of faith be as personally hateful as he is to some people? If no one has ever done anything to you personally, do you deserve the right to cast that stone? The way he seems to reconcile personal faith and public nastiness makes him almost sound like a Southern Baptist—I know, because I used to be one…before I became a Catholic.
Just a few thoughts, children....
He’s also one of the most mean-spirited bloggers on the Internet (and that’s saying a lot with Michelle Malkin out there….who looks more and more like an angry Filipino hooker each time she goes on Fox News…she’s the same chick who said it was great that Japanese-Americans were interned in camps in the American Southwest during World War II).
For those of you not familiar with him, Dr. Sullivan is the driving force behind a website called “The Daily Dish”, which is now part of The Atlantic magazine’s website (where he is also credited as a Senior Editor). Since joining The Atlantic, Dr. Sullivan has made it his mission to be as shrill as human possible about quite a few targets...in particular anyone remotely affiliated with Bill or Hillary Clinton, and any person of faith in the United States…but he does it in that delightfully stuffy and oh-so-self-important British way (quite the pity he doesn’t have the delivery of John Cleese—at least then, his self-righteous appearances would be entertaining).
Dr. Sullivan states (and the broad-spectrum press aids him in the delusion) that he is a conservative. The interesting part is that outside of fiscal policy, he has very little in common with conservatism as it is known in the United States. In fact, Dr. Sullivan actually goes out of his way to start fights with other writers in what is supposed to be the world of conservative thought. His most recent book was called “The Conservative Soul—How We Lost It And How To Get It Back”. I bought the book, and I did make an honest effort to read it….but children, let me tell you something—after the first chapter, I had to put that piece of crap down. It was one of the most boring books I had ever picked up (I should have taken it back to Barnes & Noble and demanded my money back for buying such an expensive drink coaster).
Dr. Sullivan was talking about how American conservatism was diseased and needed to be fixed. The punchline of the joke is that the idea he was talking about hasn’t existed here. I’m still trying to figure out just who that book was aimed it, since it wasn’t any conservative I know. Just so we are clear, I do NOT claim either conservative or liberal as my ideological home. My ideological home is Big-Mouthism….that is the ideology of saying whatever f’ing thing pops into your head. Makes life unpredictable since I never know what will come out of my mouth, but at least it’s never boring.
Over the past couple of years, Dr. Sullivan has made it his personal mission to be viciously insulting to Hillary Clinton. I’m still trying to grasp why he spews so much venom at her, since I don’t think he has ever actually met her face to face (or at least he has never disclosed meeting her). The nasty, mean-spirited, ad hominem attacks he throws at her on a daily basis would make more sense to me if he has met her and found her away-from-the-cameras-personality unpleasant. Since no evidence of a meeting exists, the wellspring of his venom is a mystery (then again, who knows why bitchy queens do what they do—they can take a dislike to someone for simply wearing the wrong pants). For all of his education, Dr. Sullivan forgot there is a difference between attacking a person’s ideas and attacking the person. Dr. Sullivan is far happier to attack Hillary Clinton the person and pretty much leave her policy proposals on the table.
Dovetailing quite nicely with his seemingly personal hatred of Mrs. Clinton these days is his supine behavior regarding Senator Carter of Illinois (see Break A Deal, Face The Wheel). For as slavish as Dr. Sullivan is in his writings about the Gentle-Empty-Suit from Illinois, one would think someone was getting blown. It seems Dr. Sullivan likes his politics vague, fluffy and LSD-like, and his politicians convictionless and disinterested in saying either “Aye” or “No” on an issue. He seems to prefer they vote “Present” on way too many issues….or he likes them to talk “uplift” and vote hard-left.
The second big thing with Dr. Sullivan is how he prattles on about being a Roman Catholic…yet he freaks out with public expressions of faith in this country and also makes regular attacks on the Catholic Church itself. Dr. Sullivan said once on the Charlie Rose Show that he’d become radicalized. One has to wonder if that has spread to the spiritual realm, since he doesn’t like people discussing God unless it’s him. Any public figure who mentions religion he terms a “Christianist”—he went so far as to paint John McCain (of all people) with that brush. Maybe it’s because I’m from the South, or maybe it’s because I had a grandfather who was a minister, but I don’t get bent out of shape when someone talks about Jesus…then again, I’m just a poor white fag and not an upwardly mobile white fag, so I don’t see Jesus Christ as a threat to be subdued. JC has come through for me during some tough times, so maybe I’m biased.
Another thing about Dr. Sullivan’s religious perspective—would a sincere person of faith be as personally hateful as he is to some people? If no one has ever done anything to you personally, do you deserve the right to cast that stone? The way he seems to reconcile personal faith and public nastiness makes him almost sound like a Southern Baptist—I know, because I used to be one…before I became a Catholic.
Just a few thoughts, children....
Break A Deal, Face The Wheel
Oprah Winfrey is a brilliant businesswoman. In a 21 year long career in the national spotlight, she has amassed a net worth in the neighborhood of 2 BILLION dollars. To make that much money in what is relatively a short amount of time is an impressive feat.
That said, one has to wonder how a woman who is so intelligent about what her core audience and American in general wants can be so STUPID when it comes to the subject of Barack H. Obama (to be known henceforth as "Senator Carter from Illinois").
When Oprah burst on the scene in 1986, she managed to tap into an audience that did not feel served by programming at that time--namely middle-class working women and middle-class stay at home mothers. These women tuned into that program and BAM--they found a voice on television they could identify with on some issues--trying to balance work and family life; how to handle sexist attitudes in the workplace; how to organize a life so that you had some breathing room. Women had found a role model.
As the years went by, this covenant Oprah had with her audience endured. They were with her through the yo-yo diets. They were with her when she bankrolled movies that no one wanted to see. They even signed up to the book club and made a lot of writers pretty wealthy. In the process, the lady from Chicago began accumulating money...a LOT of money.
Funny thing happened to the old girl on the way to the bank. The more money she earned, the less she was a working woman trying to juggle life and the more she was "black". When Oprah had less money, she spoke in universal themes that most women could grasp. Once she crossed the portal into media elite--BAM--Oprah decided she was "black" and decided she wanted to view life through that prism. At this point, we bring Senator Carter from Illinois onstage (cue "Jesus Christ Superstar" on the audio system).
For someone who was normally so savvy about people, it was disheartening to see this woman captivated by a "Slick Rick" routine. To see a man who is long on looks (no one fills a stylishly tailored empty suit like him), long on savoir faire (cover of a man's lifestyle mag in a languid pose--BRILLIANT idea), long on charisma (charms the press into not digging up his voting records where the word "Present" keeps popping up where "Aye" or "No" should be, and says he wants bipartisanhip while voting with the most hard-core partisans in the Democratic caucus in the Senate--the man wouldn't know a principled stand if it bit him on the ass), but WOEFULLY short on ideas he wants to say aloud ("we have a policy white paper on that subject on our website) play the old girl like a Stradivarius. He talked about public service and community uplift--all those empty phrases that rich guilty white folks sing when they feel guilty about being rich guilty white folks). What does Oprah do? She doesn't help the poor women of color down the street--she helps the poor women of color on a different continent and does do-squat diddly for the poor on the south side of Chicago--"screw Cook County. I'm off to Western Cape". I guess she only wants to uplift those she doesn't have to drive past in her limousine.
Senator Carter from Illinois is a character many working women are familiar with--he's the slick young hotshot who has never had it professionally tough (his Democratic primary opponents bombed out in the 2004 primary, and he drew the best of all general election cards in having professional psychotic Alan Keyes as his Republican challenger) who sails into the office, schmoozes the boss, and takes the job these women have worked in some cases years to earn. When this man planted his oh-so-stylish ass on her couch, Oprah lifted her leg and took a leak on her core audience--in other words, it was a case of "He's fabulous. I'm black. Piss off, girls".
Do you children know what happened next? Well, after our girl's Iowa speech in favor of Senator Carter's acid trip masquerading as a political campaign, the nasty-grams came skipping into Oprah Bunker. Funny how she hasn't been out front in shilling for him since then. I wonder why. Hmm....maybe it was because a lot of these women who have stood by our girl for the past two decades dropped her a note to the effect of "Bitch--we are the ones who made you. We suggest you remember that as you fly around in your Gulfstream".
Just a thought.....
That said, one has to wonder how a woman who is so intelligent about what her core audience and American in general wants can be so STUPID when it comes to the subject of Barack H. Obama (to be known henceforth as "Senator Carter from Illinois").
When Oprah burst on the scene in 1986, she managed to tap into an audience that did not feel served by programming at that time--namely middle-class working women and middle-class stay at home mothers. These women tuned into that program and BAM--they found a voice on television they could identify with on some issues--trying to balance work and family life; how to handle sexist attitudes in the workplace; how to organize a life so that you had some breathing room. Women had found a role model.
As the years went by, this covenant Oprah had with her audience endured. They were with her through the yo-yo diets. They were with her when she bankrolled movies that no one wanted to see. They even signed up to the book club and made a lot of writers pretty wealthy. In the process, the lady from Chicago began accumulating money...a LOT of money.
Funny thing happened to the old girl on the way to the bank. The more money she earned, the less she was a working woman trying to juggle life and the more she was "black". When Oprah had less money, she spoke in universal themes that most women could grasp. Once she crossed the portal into media elite--BAM--Oprah decided she was "black" and decided she wanted to view life through that prism. At this point, we bring Senator Carter from Illinois onstage (cue "Jesus Christ Superstar" on the audio system).
For someone who was normally so savvy about people, it was disheartening to see this woman captivated by a "Slick Rick" routine. To see a man who is long on looks (no one fills a stylishly tailored empty suit like him), long on savoir faire (cover of a man's lifestyle mag in a languid pose--BRILLIANT idea), long on charisma (charms the press into not digging up his voting records where the word "Present" keeps popping up where "Aye" or "No" should be, and says he wants bipartisanhip while voting with the most hard-core partisans in the Democratic caucus in the Senate--the man wouldn't know a principled stand if it bit him on the ass), but WOEFULLY short on ideas he wants to say aloud ("we have a policy white paper on that subject on our website) play the old girl like a Stradivarius. He talked about public service and community uplift--all those empty phrases that rich guilty white folks sing when they feel guilty about being rich guilty white folks). What does Oprah do? She doesn't help the poor women of color down the street--she helps the poor women of color on a different continent and does do-squat diddly for the poor on the south side of Chicago--"screw Cook County. I'm off to Western Cape". I guess she only wants to uplift those she doesn't have to drive past in her limousine.
Senator Carter from Illinois is a character many working women are familiar with--he's the slick young hotshot who has never had it professionally tough (his Democratic primary opponents bombed out in the 2004 primary, and he drew the best of all general election cards in having professional psychotic Alan Keyes as his Republican challenger) who sails into the office, schmoozes the boss, and takes the job these women have worked in some cases years to earn. When this man planted his oh-so-stylish ass on her couch, Oprah lifted her leg and took a leak on her core audience--in other words, it was a case of "He's fabulous. I'm black. Piss off, girls".
Do you children know what happened next? Well, after our girl's Iowa speech in favor of Senator Carter's acid trip masquerading as a political campaign, the nasty-grams came skipping into Oprah Bunker. Funny how she hasn't been out front in shilling for him since then. I wonder why. Hmm....maybe it was because a lot of these women who have stood by our girl for the past two decades dropped her a note to the effect of "Bitch--we are the ones who made you. We suggest you remember that as you fly around in your Gulfstream".
Just a thought.....
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