Hey, Republicans! I Have A Suggestion For You!

Four years ago, when Bush "won" his second term, there was no fucking end of discussion, both from the so-called liberal media and from Democrats, themselves, (I'm looking at you Harry Dry Powder Reid) about how Democrats needed to "learn how to reach out to 'people of faith'", to "talk about their faith," to "mend fences with 'value voters'", blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

The Republicans just had an epic loss, following a campaign where their entire strategy seemed to be to reach out to the batshit insane fundies (I'm looking at you, Palin) and to insult the religious beliefs and geographical origins of as many people as possible (I'm looking at you, lady at the McCain rally who said, "He's, he's, he's an Arab," and I'm especially looking at you, Liddy Dole.) So I'm wondering when I'll start to hear pundits and Republicans, themselves, talking about their need to distance themselves from the snake handlers, the cretins who don't believe in science, the ignoramuses who don't even know that Africa is a continent.

I'm not holding my breath.


Picture found here.

Obama Or McCain?

Judgement, a major arcana card. This is an important election. This card, from the Robin Wood deck, shows a phoenix and depicts resurrection, a new beginning, something original and fresh coming out of the ashes of the old. It's often seen as a card that shows up when one has dealt with an old shame and is ready to move on. Sounds like America, on so many levels.

I think it's a good sign for Barack Obama (a Leo and, thus, a child of fire).

(Although there is a city in Arizona . . . .) Nah.

Stay In Line

Our Mothers went through a lot so that you could vote.



Don't get out of line. Get in line early and don't leave without voting.

Go Vote Tomorrow, Vote As If You Meant It

/hat tip: David Derbes in comments at Eschaton.

Obama's Coming

Hey Nonny Nonny!



Go take a bath. With friends. Wash off the last 8 years.

Because

On Calling Sarah Palin A Bitch

Pretty Much:

(Seven Posts in Seven Days - Day 1)

I am surprised that some of you are up in arms about my calling Sarah Palin a bitch, or John McCain an ass or even George Bush a jackass. I read your comments about how I should be more respectable and not call Sarah Palin a bitch. Some of you are actually praying for me because I called John McCain an ass. In particular I am struck by the comments that suggest the problem with our country is that we can’t have an intelligent conversation to solve our problems without resorting to name calling like when I called George Bush a jackass.

Well this old broad is hurt. Clearly I didn’t start this blog to call Sarah Palin a bitch…or John McCain an ass… or even George Bush a jackass. I am so sorry if I have offended any of you. What was I thinking when I called Sarah Palin a bitch?

New rules:

I will stop calling George Bush a jackass when he stops calling me a terrorist: Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.

I will stop calling John McCain an ass when he stops calling Barack Obama a socialist at every dog and pony show on the Straight Talk Express tour.

I will stop calling Sarah Palin a bitch when she stops calling Obama a terrorist sympathizer. And I will stop calling Sarah Palin a bitch when she stops calling the parts of the country where I don’t live more Pro-American than the part of the country where I do live. And I will definitely stop calling Sarah Palin a bitch when she stops acting like a bitch.

I’m old enough to remember the Republican party of Barry Goldwater - when the party stood for fiscal responsibility, small government and personal freedoms. I remember when I could talk with friends about politics and just agree to disagree. And then religious nut cases decided that if you didn’t agree with them you were immoral. So they went and elected George Bush President so he could take the Republican Party from being a party full of respectable people to a party filled with asses, jackasses and yes - bitches like Sarah Palin.

I am tired of Rush Limbaugh suggesting that feminism is a dirty word. How hard did he fight to gain the right to vote? Or own property in his own name? Or get equal pay for equal work?

And I am tired of Sean Hannity suggesting I am un-American because I don’t think that war is the answer to everything. How many bullets has he taken defending his country in battle?

And I am tired that Sarah Palin can decide what she wants to do with her body but other women can’t make that decision for themselves.

NEW, New Rules:

If you are not for me, you are against me. I’ll get over it. Now kindly return the favor.

Oh…and one last thing. Elisabeth Hasselbeck is still a moron. There is just no way around that, Folks.

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I am doing fine. Thanks for asking. I mean it

It may be that this whole election is really about the fact that the economy tanked a few weeks before election day and that nothing else matters. But I'd like to think that this election has shown that you can no longer win by calling other Americans names, impugning their patriotism, lying about (Goddess guard us) their religion, or digging up the odd weird relative or former vague association. If true, that would be a really good thing, IMHO.

Update: Peter Beinart has some interesting thoughts on this topic.

You Go Vote Or I Will Turn You Into A Newt

Boulder, Colorado.
Shit. Who took my box of kleenex?

Sexism

As NTodd points out in comments to one of my posts from yesterday, I overgeneralized. The Hillary Hatred didn't really extend to every white, male, 30-something blogger. Guilty, as charged.

There was, however, when you look back at it, a few months out, an absolutely AMAZING amount of hatred -- all out of proportion to reality -- directed towards "that woman" (and anyone foolish enough to speak up and support her or even suggest that perhaps the sexism was not too becoming for supposed liberals) and regular and v shrill demands, starting quite early, that she STEP DOWN RIGHT NOW in favor of the "more deserving" man. You couldn't go 15 minutes on some blogs without hearing that, by insisting that everyone get to vote in a primary and that every state mattered, Hillary Clinton was "destroying" not only Obama's only chance to beat McCain, but also the entire future of the Democratic Party. And all "for her own ego."

I said at the time, and I believe today, that any guy who'd done exactly what Hillary did would be celebrated for "having heart," being "a real fighter," having "what it took" to "stay in it to the end," for "never giving up, even in the final quarter," for "staying focused through the ninth inning, " [insert your sports metaphor here]. He'd also be the VP nominee for the Democratic Party. Cf., e.g., John Edwards.

Now, with 20/20 hindsight, it's pretty clear that, by forcing Obama to develop a ground game in all 50 states, by creating a situation where voters were seeing Obama ads months and months before McCain (who was doing his victory lap around the other Republican primary candidates and ignoring many states since they "no longer mattered,") Clinton did not only Obama, but also the entire party a favor. When you look at it, you can see it as a logical outcome of Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy. If Democrats show up in every state, spend money in every state, contest every state, not only can they win states that they never dreamed before that they could win, they can exhaust the Republicans by making them spend money, time, and energy defending what should have been "safe" states, even if, in the end, those states stay red.

So was there a lot of sexism behind the out-of-proportion hatred? Yes. Yes, there was. There certainly was. And many of the proponents believe to this day that they, of course, aren't sexist, at all. Some of their best friends are women and they would, of course, support the "right woman" -- if she ever came along. And paid her dues. And was "more qualified" than the man.

It's odd how many unintended good things often result from doing the right thing. Hillary Clinton was right to fight the primary out to the very end, even if it made that "more deserving" man fight harder for his job than he "should" have had to if only she'd been "gracious" and given up, as girls are taught to do. It was the right thing for her, for her supporters, for women, for Democrats. And it was the right thing for Obama.

Since the primaries ended, Hillary's also done the right thing. She gave a gracious and inspiring concession speech. She's supported Obama in state after state and and she's raising money for other Dems. And I've yet to hear nearly as much, "Gee, thanks, Hillary," as I heard "That Eviiiilllll Woman." But I have a long memory.

Jobs, Baby, Jobs

Her voice is almost gone. She's exhausted. And she's boosting the guy who beat her. Her fifty-state fight is what boosted him over the edge, making him run ads months ago in states he never dreamed that he'd win, months before McCain even thought of those states. And she, and her supporters, got raked over the fucking coals on every thirty-something male's liberal blog in left blogistan.

You guys SO owe us. I have a long memory.

I am just saying.

Nov. 4, 2008. Don't Fuck This Up, America. Really. I Mean It.

Sometimes

Sometimes things don’t go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.
Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.

~ Sheenagh Pugh


Picture found here.

This Is Going To Turn Into A Landslide

GoBama

Go Thou And Do Likewise

V creative friend K waited half an hour today to absentee vote in NoVa.

It's starting to look as if it will be a L-A-N-D-S-L-I-D-E.

Go vote.

Not Fit For Office

Mavericks In Washington And On Wall Street Got Us Into This Mess

Fundies, They're LAUGHING At You!

You can't trust anything about this bitch. She's a complete and total phony.

You'd think Americans would get sick and tired of being played for fucking fools.


Fundies, I'm lookin' at ya.



Hat tip to Firedoglake, with thanks to montag.

Things That Give Me Hope

There's an old Joan Baez song that begs:

Bring me a rose in the wintertime, when it's hard to find,
bring me a rose in the wintertime, I've got
roses on my mind.
A rose is sweet, most anytime and, yet,
bring me a rose in the wintertime and how easy we forget.

Bring me a smile when I'm far from home, when it's hard to find,
bring me a smile when I'm far from home, I've got
smiling on my mind.
A smile is sweet, most anytime and, yet,
bring me a smile when I'm far from home and how easy we forget.

Bring me some peace when there's talk of war, when it's hard to find,
bring me some peace when there's talk of war, I've got
peace on my mind.
Oh, peace is sweet, most anytime and yet,
bring me some peace when there's talk of war and how easy we forget.


Today was a terrible day to be following the news. Our economy doing the one thing we all knew it would do, but hoped that it wouldn't, after decades of deregulation and greed. The McCain campaign going completely negative on Obama in the hopes that what worked for Bush and Rove will work again. The environment in a tailspin and every fifty-year-old I know walking around with the dazed look of one who really groks that she will NEVER be able to retire.

And so, here's a rose for you in the wintertime, a short list of things that give me hope:

Dinner w a dear old friend whose pursuit of her own v, v, v advanced degree a continent away from where she lived convinced me that I could, too, go to evening law school. We drank and ate and traded gossip and talked politics and discussed our children and grandchildren and just being at a table next to her gave me strength and made me feel better. May you have friends like her.

Freeway Blogger doing what only he does and what all of us ought to do.

Barefoot College.

Nudibranches. Honest; this site keeps me going when everything else seems grim. How can you possibly have incorporated on the same planet as a nudibranch and give in to despair?

Obama is 12 points ahead in Virginia. Hello, Sarah, did you enjoy your little rally in Falls Church the other week? Bring it, bitch.

And, of course, Jeff Skilling is still in jail.

Photo found here.

Hail Powers Of The East, Hail Athena, Hail Columbia

Isaac Bonewits, yes, THAT Isaac Bonewits, runs a great group called Spells for Democracy.

Here's one of his latest posts:

We're coming down to the end of the campaigns and the actual voting.
Here's what we need to be doing in the next few weeks to assure a fair
and honest election. Pick one and get to work!

Do the mundane stuff: Make sure you and your friends and neighbors are
registered to vote and have not been accidentally-on-purpose purged
from the voting rolls (see previous blog post). Volunteer to work at
the polls. If you have a legal background, volunteer with the ACLU and
other groups keeping an eye on the process.

Do the magical stuff:


Continue with protection spells on the candidates.

Continue with revelation spells on the candidates and the White House,
so that everyone's true intentions are made public.

Find your local polling place(s) and do protection and honesty spells
on the buildings.

Do binding spells on election officials to force them to keep their
oaths of office.

Do binding spells on the warmongers in the White House and the
Pentagon to prevent any last minute "surprises" that would "justify"
postponing or canceling the elections.


Remember, if the spell you want to do would be ethical if done
physically, then it's ethical to do it magically.

There was some sick fundie troll over at Eschatontoday wondering if any "lie-berals" ever prayed for their country. And I thought: more than you know, Motherfucker, more than you know. I've been doing magic w/ women to save this country for a number of years.

I'm especially liking the idea of protection spells on my local polling place. Bet I can walk deosil around that building as many times as I want w/o anyone seeing anything except an old woman out for a nice bit of exercise in the Autumn air.

Heh.

Jack 'O Lanterns

Inspiration for the OBAMA pumpkins found here.