Let your light shine.

Since I haven't posted in a while (busy with work and stuff), I decided to devote some time this morning to finding something witless-worthy to comment on--it didn't take me long.

The American Family Association--always a goldmine of anti-semitism, racial hate, homophobia, and on, and on--has outdone itself this Christmas season. For the small donation of just $81.85 (including shipping), you too can express your Christianity with your very own burning cross!

Why? In their words: "to remind your friends, family, neighbors, and all who drive by your home, office, or church of the real meaning of Christmas."

Sometimes its just too easy...back to work.

Not to Bum Your O High

I think many of us are feeling genuine joy today with the knowledge that Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. Last night I heard young liberals yelling, "Obama!" in the streets. My Facebook friends are leaving status messages such as:
"Ian is basking in the glow of a successful election!"
"Lizzy is proud to be an American today."
"Caitlin is actually proud of her country."
"Michael has new faith in people, the spirit of our country, and the future."

And in the office someone was actually going around and hugging everyone.

This is all lovely. And maybe I'm being a party pooper. But we have to remember this is just the first step. I remember being overjoyed when Bill Clinton won in 1992. Within days he was criticized for his transition.

New York Times from December 1992:
At a news conference where he named two more members of his Cabinet, President-elect Bill Clinton lashed out at women's groups who had been complaining about the pace of appointing women, calling them "bean counters" who were more interested in quotas than competence.

And after his inauguration, Clinton's honeymoon was bitterly brief. I believe it was all of 36 hours before the press was hounding him.

Now Obama has not shown himself to be the spiteful, divisive figure with a closetful of secrets that Clinton was. But do not forget it is part of the human character to despise the people we once exalted. Unless of course they are killed off before the ruin their reputations, e.g., JFK and MLK. As Harvey Dent said, "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Yeah, I know that was in a movie about a superhero, but there is a point to that.

I guess what I wonder is that with such a groundswell of good feelings toward the Big O, the comedown may be quite sad. Maybe if we are aware of its possibility, it can me mitigated. Obama is only human. Let us all try not overload him with superhuman expectations.

Another Reminder...for today.

remember?

2004



same now? anyone listening?

Horrible

But for some reason, I love it! In some way, maybe there is hope for us after all.

A Gamechanging Word

What is it with this word "gamechanger"? Or is it "game-changer"? "Game changer"? WTF? The media is a gaggle of copycats. Or merely regurgitators. I’m guessing one of them once used this word, swiping to perhaps from the great lexiconic birthing chamber that is professional sports, or sme a politico's spin doctor, and then they all decided to use it, and it spread like a contagious disease, a pop culture meme that now seems ubiquitously used, like a long-lost cousin who suddenly appeared at Thanksgiving and everyone acts like he was the one who always brought the marshmallow-covered sweet potatoes.

The term is used to mean an incident that alters the direction in which things are currently moving. As in a game of, I don’t know, jai alai when, near the end of match, one of the winning players hurls the rubber ball and a giant lizard stands up from the bleachers and consumes the player in one gulp. Match direction altered. Game changed. So the term is used when events in the political arena suggest the possibility of things taking a new path, and it most often used, it seems, in the fact that the game was not changed. “This was not a game-changer.” “Not a game-changing speech.” “No game-changing today.” As in McCain's performance in all three of the Presidential debates as well as all the debates themselves.

What I find screwed up, at least in my own head, is that I can’t remember what term the media used before to mean the same thing. There must have been a term! Or did they just say, “Today’s debate altered nothing, Jim. Back to you in the studio”? I swear I don’t remember. The word itself, because of its ubiquity, has changed the game (does that make it an onomatapaiea??)(nah). Reporters use it as verbal shorthand to describe the importance of an event. More often than not, in a world of 24-hour media, a lot of what they report is not game-changing.

(It is, strangely enough, an interesting word to internalize personally, philosophically. You can wonder: Have you changed the game today?)

Prevaricating Truth Stretcher

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, of The Rachel Maddow Show, does a glorious smackdown job of Sarah Palin regarding the Troopergate scandal. Watch this (mind the de rigeur commercial). This is not subtle commentary at all, but Palin's trangressions are writ too large for subtlety.

The Joke Could Be On Us

One thing that worries me is the new sport of snarky Palin bashing. Mind you, I have no love lost for the governor and am not advocating not bashing her. But you have to be careful when you attack and belittle a opponent so much so that they become a cartoon, a caricature, a two-dimensional target. You will lose sight of the fact that this is a real person, and in Palin's case, a real person who has a genuine chance to be the Vice President of the United States, and, from there, just one failed defibulation from being the leader of the Free World. See, even I make fun. In fact, it it quite easy to make fun during the bizarre and almost-unreal turn of current events. Humor gives us comfort. Allows us to embrace something we are afraid of and bring it down to size, so that we feel in control. But we have to be vigilant. All those funny videos we send around, guffawing at her latest gaffe. Or the recent debate parties, where we have pizza and chortle at Palin's folksiness and question-evading. And to many of us it seems as if Biden won, handily, clearly. But Palin was not talking to us, not preaching to the unconvertible. She was preaching to a whole other audience, and winning them over with with "goshes" and "there ya go's." They think she won. And if they think she won, then she did. Make no mistake. Poke fun at her all you want. A lot of us made similar, put-down jokes about Dan Quayle and even with George W. Bush. They still got elected. Laugh all you want. But don't lose sight of your fear.

Embarassment

This clip should be put in a time capsule and saved for all time. Thanks to TPM for the compilation:

McCain's record of (not)supporting veterans

From VetVoice, a great summary of McCain's veteran/troop legislative record:

On Friday, September September 26, 2008, John McCain said the following:

"I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."

This statement--made near the end of Friday's debate--immediately infuriated veterans across America and overseas. In fact, Senator John McCain has a very clear, long, and illustrious history of not supporting troops and veterans one bit.

Check out the list and use it often.