medium-large.com. Read it.
Now.
“Rubber duckie, you’re the one!”
It must be a long, uphill battle to be the self-appointed Public Advocate of the United States. Eugene DelGaudio claims he’s up to the job.
And now, here is his latest crusade — stop Bert and Ernie from getting married:
“The Homosexual Lobby is now pressuring Sesame Street — the long-time beloved children’s show — to portray Homosexual Muppet ‘marriage.’ That’s right, the Homosexual Lobby is demanding that Bert and Ernie get married. They want Bert and Ernie to set a pro-homosexual example in order to teach your children that homophobia is wrong and homosexuality is beautiful. They claim that if only Bert and Ernie were allowed to marry it would help put an end to bullying and end the suicides of LGBT youth.
“The reality is the Homosexual Lobby wants access to your children and they want them while they’re young.”
This is an old tired talking point of anti-gay wackaloons. No one is pressing Sesame Street to do any such thing. Rumors and jokes about them being gay have been passed around for years. The Henson production people have stated that Bert and Ernie are puppets, not people, and that their continuing purpose on Sesame Street is to show how people who are very different can still learn how to get along and like each other.
Besides, Bert locked down the question quite well. When asked if he and Ernie were “more than just friends”, Bert’s response was:
“Oh, you had to ask that question. No, no. In fact, sometimes we are not even friends; he can be a pain in the neck.”
Is blood *really* thicker than water?
The family is watching Sons of Anarchy tonight. One of the characters accused another of not taking care of his family:
“Is that the way you protect blood?”
That got me to thinking. Why does it make a difference whether my children (or other family members) share my DNA? What possible difference does it make whether my offspring and I have common genetic material? (As it turns out, none of the six of them do.)
Fixating on genes strikes me as a particularly primitive fascination. Spouses don’t share your genetic material (at least I hope they don’t). Doesn’t it make far more sense to most highly value those whom you love and love you back? Why wouldn’t one want to protect those with whom one has a close relationship, regardless of the genes involved?
And with the advent of same-sex marriage, the phrase “blood is thicker than water” makes even less sense.
(Warning: Wikipedia entries about movies and television shows are rife with spoilers. Enter at your own risk.)
“…and now for something completely diffeAAAACCCCCKKK!!!” “EXTERMINATE!! EXTERMINATE!!”
Seen on the back of a van:
If we can find K-9 decals, we'll add a couple of those.
Well, our van, actually.
Which tradition are we talking here?
There has been a fair amount of loose talk lately about “traditional marriage”.
I’m curious as to which “tradition” we’re talking about:
These are in addition to even earlier periods of history, where
- marriages were arranged by parents and had nothing at all to do with romantic love
- polygamous marriages were common
- Catholic priests married and committed adultery with implicit consent from their superiors
(Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror has quite a bit of interesting material on the subject.)
For those of you unaware of it, the direct cause for the enactment of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was the case of Baehr v. Miike. The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that refusal to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated the discrimination clauses of the Hawaii state constitution. In an effort to stop this supposed violation of “traditional” marriage, the Clinton administration promoted and signed DOMA.
That got me to thinking about “traditional” states’ rights. The Tea Party and other assorted wackaloons make a lot of noise about how the federal government is getting into the personal business of citizens; they also make a lot of noise about preserving DOMA (even though section 3 of DOMA has been found unconstitutional).
So I’m confused. How can you claim that
- states have the right to do as they wish; and
- DOMA is a good thing
(Thanks, Jocelyn, for the pic.)
“Ditch the bitch”
That’s the advice Pat Robertson gives the friend of a letter-writer:
So, if your spouse has Alzheimer’s, it’s okay with god (you know Pat’s got a personal relationship with the almighty, so it’s cool) to divorce your sick spouse and nail someone else.
Is that heavenly compassion, or just a guy anxious to get his rocks off?
Happy 65th, Freddie
Today would have been Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday. Spend a little time today looking for the positive, joyful messages Queen spread with their music.
Here’s one of my all-time favorite videos:
May you be at rest and in love, Freddie, wherever you are.
“I’m not smart enough to figure out what my boyfriend wants, so he has to beat me occasionally.”
“Math is hard!” intoned an old model of Talking Barbie. The first time I heard it, I was appalled. I was waiting for more such wise adages like “Boys are much smarter than I am!” and “You’re so strong!”, all delivered in that sparkling, lilting mezzo-soprano from that improbably wasp-waisted, big-titted plastic body.
This society is constantly reminding girls that they’re “not as smart” or “not as brave” or “not as clever” as boys. J.C. Penney’s is now making its contribution:
Color me not impressed.
It’s not all that large a step from this shirt to “I’m not clever enough to make important life decisions; my husband has to do to that for me”, or…
…to the statement contained in this blog’s title.
Out of this world
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an instant dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics seem so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck, drag him a quarter million miles out, and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch!’”
–Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut
(Thanks, Joe.)
The latest moral outrage, part 2
(see part 1 to find out what the hell kind of outrage I’m outraged about this time) 
The Marriage Vow then goes on to a 14-point pledge that The Family Leader is asking presidential candidates to sign.
~~~
The points!
- Personal fidelity to my spouse (That leaves serial adulterer Newt Gingrich out in the cold. And if everyone consents to an arrangement, who the hell’s business is it of anyone else??)
- Official fidelity to the U.S. Constitution, supporting the elevation of none but faithful constitutionalists as judges or justices. (Yeah, let’s get rid of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and any other form of socialized services. Be careful what you wish for, dimbulbs–you might get it.)
- Vigorous opposition to any redefinition of the Institution of Marriage – faithful monogamy between one man and one woman – through statutory-, bureaucratic-, or court-imposed recognition of intimate unions which are bigamous, polygamous, polyandrous, same-sex, etc. (Which Institution, bunky? 20th century? 16th century arranged marriage? 5th century BCE Sparta? Please note how the idea of same-sex marriage has been lumped in with forms of marriage no one is asking for? Switch-and-bait, baby, switch-and-bait.)
- Earnest, bona fide legal advocacy for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) at the federal and state levels. (Wait. You just said you wanted strict constitutionalists on the bench, right? Section 3 of DOMA has been declared unconstitutional. You can’t have it both ways.)
- Steadfast embrace of a federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman in all of the United States. (Whoa! The Constitution calls for due process in all legal matters. Excluding gays denies them the right to marriage without invoking due process. Again, you can’t have it both ways, dumbass.)
- Commitment to downsizing government and the enormous burden upon American families of the US’s $14.3 trillion public debt, its $77 trillion in unfunded liabilities, its $1.5 trillion federal deficit, and its $3.5 trillion federal budget. (Not sure what any of that has to do with marriage, but how about the marriage of major corporations to those juicy, hot tax loopholes which allow major corporation to not only pay NO taxes, but to actually get a tax credit with the federal government? Hmmm?)
Note that many of these points are footnoted (oh, how scholarly!) with citations that supposedly support the points brought up. However, take a look at some of the sources cited–the Bible, the Institute for American Values (cited several times), the Heritage Foundation, and the dissenting opinion of a U.S. Supreme Court justice. This rogue’s gallery offers fine examples of what happens when you begin with your conclusion and manufacture “facts” to fit that conclusion.
Bob Vander Plaats, the "genius" behind The Marriage Vow. Bad combover, dude.
By the way, The Family Leader is now backing off the call for banning all pornography, as described here:
Humane protection of women and the innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy — our next generation of American children — from human trafficking, sexual slavery, seduction into promiscuity, and all forms of pornography and prostitution, infanticide, abortion and other types of coercion or stolen innocence. (emphasis mine)
Also, please note the anti-choice screed here. Women are not supposed to coerced into doing things they don’t want to do, but they are to be denied the (constitutional) right to rid themselves of a pregnancy they don’t want?
It looks to me like this document considers women to be children (“stolen innocence”?) who don’t know what they want or need, and depend upon big, strong men to tell them what to do.
Boy, are they confused.
~~~
My favorite part
Just above the portion of the Vow that politicos are supposed to sign is the escape clause:
Each signatory signs only in his or her individual capacity as an American citizen and current or potential leader; affiliations herein are for identification purposes only and do not necessarily imply formal embrace of this vow or the sentiments herein by any institution or organization.
Escape clause! “Did I sign that??! I didn’t mean to sign that! My political party doesn’t necessary endorse all of these points! I’m not sure I endorse all of these points! In fact I’m pretty sure I hear my mother calling me, so I have to go now!” You can already hear the scuttling sound of rats abandoning this ship when it sinks.
Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann, in pitiful attempts to suck up to these right-wing morons, have both signed The Marriage Vow. Well, at least we will know who the real wackadoodles are.
~~~
What a moral shambles. Confused and contradictory, this document is a straw house constructed from religious dogma, with patriarchal bullshit and predetermined conclusions filling in the holes and unsteadily trying to hold the entire thing together.
If anyone would like to state their opinions (firmly but nicely, please), contact the fundie wackaloons themselves.
Bob Vander Plaats
c/o The FAMiLY LEADER
1100 N. Hickory Blvd., Suite 107, Pleasant Hill, IA 50327
TheFamilyLeader.com · 877-866-4372
Fare thee well, Atlantis
By a stroke of luck this morning, I got to watch the launch of the last American manned mission into space for what may well be many years.
The NASA Shuttle Atlantis. Isn't she beautiful?
I quietly cried as I watched the liftoff for mission STS-135; I was saying goodbye to an old friend whom I will never see again.
I remember John Glenn’s first flight, and the heroics of the crew of Apollo 13, and the despair in the deaths of Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee, and Edward White of Apollo 1, and my heart stopping when Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans to set foot upon another world. Our manned space program is one of the crown jewels of the accomplishments of the human race.
I’m a little scared that I won’t live long enough for us to take the next few, halting steps toward our last frontier.
UPDATE: Finally found a decent video of the launch:
Cue the best Father’s Day story this year
Jim Brozina is a children’s librarian. He started reading to his daughter Alice Ozma every night when she was in the fourth grade. He promised he’d read to her every night for 100 nights, because she enjoyed it and he liked the way it helped them bond and enjoy each other. When the 100 nights ended, they kept up the ritual.
The streak ended last fall after 3,218 readings, when Ozma started college at Rutgers.
Neither wanted to end the nightly ritual, and when it did end the last thing he read to her was The Wizard of Oz–the first thing he’d read to her 9 years back.
Cue up the tears.
Ozma has written a book about the experience; it’s called The Reading Promise.
Teary eyes time
“If only I had the courage to stand up for him…”
“If only I could tell him there is no need to hide…”
“If only I could let them that their love for each other is beautiful, too…”
“If only I could show her how much she means to me…”
“If only the world could see what I see…”
Goddamned right.
