Random Musings

Okay, so y'all know I'm no fan of Mittsy Romney, right? i mean, his campaign, between the gaffes, the lies and the flip-flops, was a blogger heaven. I relished every single Why Mittsy? post, and every The Height Of GOP Stupidity entry, but now?

I'm moving on.

There are a lot of posts about what he said in his concession speech and what he didn't say and how he said it or didn't say it and what he meant. A lot of nit-picking about the how and why he lost.

But not from me.

I'm'a take a page from our newly elected President, and I'm'a move....

Forward.

Well, you knew it would happen. You knew Mama Grizzly Bore™ would snow-shoe over to F**ksNews on election night to stir up her own brand of crazy.

But what you may not have known is what she would look like.

Mall hair, frosted lip gloss.

I couldn’t tell if she was auditioning for the touring company of Broadway’s Xanadu, or starring in a new version of that Fox classic: Married With Homophobic and Unwed pregnant Children.

Or maybe she was channeling her inner meth head.

Either way, could you imagine that as Veep?

Dodged.A.Bullet.

Is it me, or does anyone else think Michael Feinstein, Liza Minnelli and Carol Channing all have the same voice. Think about it—Google them if you have no idea who I’m talking about, though you should slap yourself first.

I want to throw a dinner party and invite these there just to listen to them speak. And to make sure they aren’t the same person.

Lizaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I spent a good deal of time yesterday reveling in the election results, especially the LGBT friendly results all across this country. So, today, I’d like to point out the asshat who, well, got their asses handed to them by the voters:

Tea Party freshman Representative Allen West, who has claimed that there are 80 communists posing as Democrats in the US House, won't have to worry about that a minute longer.

He’s out.

Former Hawaii Governor, Linda Lingle, is also out.

Lingle once compared same-sex marriage to incest, and once, while governor, invited a group of LGBT Hawaiians into her office so she could veto a civil union bill right in front of them, lost her bid to the US Senate.

Snap.

You be the judge:

Carlos and I watched the movie 50/50 the other night, where the absolutely adorkable, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt  plays a young man with cancer. During the film, there was a reference to Terms of Endearment, and later I noticed how much Angelica Huston—who played the mother—looked like MacLaine.

I drove Carlos insane every time Huston appeared onscreen, by pausing the movie and shrieking, “Isn’t that Shirley MacLaine?”

More great news from Election Day:

Alan Grayson, one loudest, smartest, and most progressive members of the US House is back, baby, winning his race in Florida on Tuesday night over his Republican challenger Todd Long.

Grayson was first elected in 2008, but lost in the Tea Party wave of 2010 by 18 points. This time, however, he bested his opponent by 25 points—a 43 point swing—one of the biggest records in history.

Tweets of The Week:

I Didn't Say It ....

Tina Fey, on Representatives Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, and all those Republicans who have an opinion on rape:

“I wish we could have an honest and respectful dialogue about these complicated issues, but it seems like we can’t, right now. And if I have to listen to one more grey-faced man with a two dollar haircut explain to me what rape is, I'm gonna lose my mind. I watch these guys, and I'm like, 'What is happening? Am I a secretary on Mad Men?'"

No, you’re just watching the GOP back-step about fifty years into oblivion.

Jan Pauls, a Kansas state representative, and Democrat, on her rejection of the national party's endorsement of marriage equality:

"The Democratic national platforms have never been that important in local or state politics. We’re a little different here. I think most Kansans' concerns are not that the homosexuals want equal rights but superior rights. That’s what makes this issue so difficult."

Superior rights.

My desire to be treated like every other &%$#ing American is a superior right?

Wow. And from a Democrat, no less, although one from Kansas—which, sorry to say, people from Kansas—doesn’t say a lot.

It just proves that even in the DNC we have a few asshats on the loose.

Chris Christie, New Jersey governor, on President Obama and Hurricane Sandy:

"I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president. He has expedited the designation of New Jersey as a major disaster area. I was on the phone with FEMA at 2 a.m. this morning to answer the questions they needed answered to get that designation. The president has been outstanding in this. The folks at FEMA and his folks have been excellent. ...[T] he President has been all over this and he deserves great credit. [He] told me to call him if I needed anything and he absolutely means it, and it’s been very good working with the President and his administration.”

Nice to see that politics is not [really] at play here.

Nice to see Christie step up and applaud the president for his actions rather than try and take him down a peg.

But, I can’t help but shake the itch in my brain, that Christie is doing this so he can run for president in 2016.

Linda Lingle, former Hawaii governor and current GOP Senate candidate, on marriage equality in a debate last week with Democrat opponent Mazie Keiko Hirono:

"Well this is a question that I have spent an awful lot of time on as governor. And I know people have very strong feelings on both sides. It's something that I've wrestled with, President Obama has wrestled with it. I would certainly support putting this constitutional amendment on the ballot. Personally, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I also think the people of Hawaii should be able to make that decision."

Yes, Obama has wrestled with it, but he’s stopped wrestling and come down on the side of equality. Too bad Lingle is so desperate to stay in political office, with all those benefits and healthcare just waiting, to actually take a stand.

Mazie Keiko Hirono, in response:

"We all remember when as governor she vetoed the civil unions bill and in doing so, before she vetoed it, she invited members of the LGBT leadership to join her. And they thought that she was going to sign that bill into law. And instead, right in front of them, the very group that had worked so hard to pass this legislation, she vetoed that bill. I thought that was extremely insensitive and disrespectful of their position."

Suh-nap.

Say goodnight Lingle, because The Gays have a long memory and don’t often forget those wingnuts like you who’ve treated us so shabbily.

Martin O’Malley, governor of Maryland, on his state’s marriage equality fight:

“We’re now about $400,000 away from having on hand what we need to have, so this last push is critically important. We continue to raise dollars, and the interest in this question continues — more and more people are becoming interested in this, so I appreciate your coverage on it. And hopefully with your coverage of what you’re doing and what the campaign we’ll be able to get the word out and rally people to this cause.”

And if the cause is simple equality, something we all say we deserve, then Marylanders should vote accordingly on Tuesday.

I Didn't Say It.....

Sarah Palin, on daughter Bristol's about-face-engagement to baby daddy Levi:
"Bristol at 19 is now a young adult. We obviously want what's best for our children. Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice in our daily lives."
Which is Palin-speak for, "There isn't a chance in hell that I'm gonna let this happen."
See, while Bristol may believe in REdemption, Mama Bore thrives solely on REvenge.
Levi should sleep with one eye open.

Stuart V. Goldberg, who met with Lindsay Lohan before declining to become her lawyer, says of Lohan:
"My impression of Lindsay is that she's a fragile lost child – a sleeping beauty with her head in the sand. I found her not fully forewarned of the consequence of her actions. I'm concerned that she's not disciplined or tethered enough to the reality of adult consequences. She doesn't seem to have the awareness of what's going to befall her. My real worry for her is not just the jail time, but my fear is that she's overly susceptible to a probation system that's set up for her to fail."
The probation system hasn't been set up for Lohan to fail, her family and friends and her own exaggerated sense of self-worth have already done that.

Village People, on the YMCA changing their name to "The Y":
"We are deeply dismayed by today's announcement from the YMCA that they feel a name change and a rebranding are in order after 166 years. Some things remain iconic and while we admire the organization for the work they do, we still can't help but wonder Y."
It's fun to stay at the Y-aye-aye-aye......It's fun to stay the the Y-aye-aye-aye.....
It just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Tori Spelling, on her children, marriage equality, and her big gay friends:
"I’m all for same-sex marriage -- obviously. I often refer to myself as a gay man and all my friends are gay and I would like nothing more than for them to be able to be married. I think the good news is that things are changing, generationally. My kids will grow up in a house knowing that it’s perfectly normal for two men to be in love, it’s perfectly normal for two women to be in love. They might even think it odd when they grow up for a man and woman to be in love and that’s how it’s changing. My kids will grow up knowing it’s all about love. It doesn’t matter who you’re with and everyone should have that experience. Being able to be in love and to commit to each other if they want to. I feel like that is changing."
For a nutjob, she does seem to be raising her children to know that love comes in all combinations.

Hawaiian Asshat Governor Linda Lingle, on same-sex marriage being akin to first cousins marrying and incest [and for the record, Linda, in Hawaii, first cousins can marry]:
"For those people who want to makes this into a civil rights issue, and of course those in favor of the bill, they see it as a civil rights issue. And I understand them drawing that conclusion. But people on the other side would point out, well, we don’t allow other people to marry even — it’s not a civil right for them. First cousins couldn’t marry, or a brother and a sister and that sort of thing. So there are restrictions, not to put it in the exact same category. But the bottom line is, it really can’t be a civil right if we are restricting it in other cases, and it’s been found to be legal in those other cases, that the restrictions."
Seriously, when will they tire of the homosexuality = bestiality = incest line?
It's never been proven true, and it never will be proven true.
It's the Right-Wing-Religious-Zealot-Republican-Wingnut-Asshat-Fear-Mongering ritual, as usual.

Joan Rivers, Tweeting about Lindsay Lohan:
"Lindsay Lohan is so dumb. Her idea of being sworn in is cursing at the judge.....I was just reading about the new Lindsay Lohan diet, which is all liquid. 80 proof.....Lindsay Lohan had 'F-ck you' painted on her nails. What people don't know is that the judge had 'Eat me you party skank,' painted on hers."
You're killing me over here, Joanie!

Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore, stars of The Kid's Are All Right--a film about two lesbians, their children, and the, um, sperm donor--on gay marriage:
Mark Ruffalo: "My son, we live down the street from a gay couple and they have a boy. And my son has played with them for many years, and goes to their house for lunch, and hangs out. And not once has he ever come and said, 'Papa, why does he have two papas?' Because his house is no different than mine, and it's only conditioning that would make him aware of that. In the human heart we want to see more of what's common in each other than really what's uncommon."
Julianne Moore: "If you haven't ever met a gay person, or known a gay family...if you've never known anything that's different from you, you might think well, hmm... But the more you learn and the closer it is to you, I think the more rapidly your ideas change."
Common sense. Simple common sense.
Refreshing, isn't it?

Ozzy Osbourne, on Lady GaGa:
"I'm not sure about her music, but I like her vibe. Shes a bit fucking crazy?"
Ozzy says GaGa is crazy?
Pot.
Kettle.
Osbourne.

Linda Lingle Is An Asshat

After weeks of lobbying and political maneuvering, sign waving, flag waving, letters and emails, Hawaii governor, Linda Lingle, vetoed a measure that would have given same-sex and unwed heterosexual couples the same protections under the law as married couples.

Linda Lingle:
"After months of listening to Hawaii's citizens express to me in writing and in person their deeply held beliefs and heartfelt reasons for supporting or opposing the civil-unions bill, I have made the decision to veto the bill. I have been open and consistent to my opposition to same-gender marriage and find that the bill is essentially marriage by another name. My personal opinion is not the basis for my decision ... Neither is my veto based on my religious beliefs ... I am vetoing this bill because I have become convinced that this issue is of such of societal importance that it deserves to be decided by all the people in Hawaii."

Yes, Linda, let's have the majority vote on the rights of the minority. But let's also ask them, if marriage is so sacred, to vote to outlaw divorce.

Of course, Lingle, having been married, and divorced, twice, might not like that idea. I always love the irony of those anti-marriage equality people who trod out the sanctity of marriage bullshit, when they have a couple of marriages under their own belts. I say we work to enact legislation telling the heteros that they are no longer allowed to divorce.

It really will be until death do they part.

A Tale Of Two Politicians

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle hasn't made up her mind on civil unions but described the bill passed by the state Legislature as the equivalent of same-sex marriage. Which, oddly enough, is the exact same language used by religious wingnuts, er, conservatives who oppose civil unions, and identical in tone to a resolution approved by state Republicans who want her to veto the bill.

"It does appear to me on reading it, that it really is same-sex marriage, but by a different name," Lingle told reporters during a break at the state GOP convention. "But I want to wait and hear people out."

She has said she would consider some form of domestic partnership legislation, i.e. not-really-marriage-and-not-a-civil-union, but she has opposed marriage equality. In fact, she is quite clear that her idea of domestic partners is vastly different from the civil unions described in the bill.

The bill would give same-sex and heterosexual couples who enter into civil unions the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as in marriage under state law, though, of course, their unions would not be recognized under federal law.

Hawaii can be paradise.
If you're heterosexual.


And yet, over in Portugal, their conservative--you read that right--president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, announced that he will ratify a law to allow marriage equality in the heavily Catholic country, making Portugal the sixth in Europe to let same-sex couples wed.

However, he said he was doing so only because the majority liberal lawmakers would overturn his decision, and that he would rather focus on Portugal's economic crisis that has increased unemployment and deepened poverty.

"Given that fact, I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions between the Portuguese and divert the attention of politicians away from the grave problems affecting us," Cavaco Silva said.

Maybe he doesn't want marriage equality, but President Cavaco Silva does seem to understand that, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter much.

Too bad his message doesn't translate to America.