So Anyways

WTF?

I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that I thought was pretty funny:

Pretty much says it all, don't you think?

Mean Dean

I apologize again (I know that's about all I've done lately) for not blogging much. I've had a hard time readjusting to life in the fast lane after our vacation, and blogging is the first thing to go out the window when I get overwhelmed. I think I'm starting to return to some kind of normalcy, though. Now if I can just squeeze out some blog entries, maybe I can get back into the groove...

I've been kind of fascinated in the past few days to hear all of the controversy that Howard Dean has stirred up with his "off-the-cuff" comments about Republicans. Anyone who would be surprised that Dean would let loose with some jaw-droppers obviously didn't pay much attention to the last presidential campaign.

Maybe he's not setting the right tone for the party, but I have to say, I'm kind of happy to see someone stirring things up a bit and being aggressive for a change. Sure, he may have offended some people, but it's hard to argue that he was wrong when he said, "they (Republicans) are not very friendly to different kinds of people, they are a pretty monolithic party ... it's pretty much a white, Christian party."

Ken Mehlman, the Republican party chairman, replied that plenty of people who attended his Bar Mitzvah would be surprised that he heads a Christian party. OK, fine. Perhaps Dean should've said that it's "pretty much a white, Judeo-Christian party" instead of limiting it to just the Christians. But the point is the same. The Republican party is the party of conservative intolerance. It's definitely not friendly to different kinds of people outside of whatever it is they have defined as that very narrow slice of "normal" America.

Not so surprisingly, our ever-so lovable VP, Dick Cheney, joined the whine-fest over Dean's comments: "I've never been able to understand his appeal. Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does. He's never won anything, as best I can tell."

OK, Dick. But, I don't think there are a whole lotta folks out there who really love you either, at least not in the Blue states. You're constantly firing up your "base" with ridiculous rhetoric and criticism of Democrats. Maybe, just maybe, Dean's comments can have the same effect on the Democratic base.

I don't particularly like the fact that either constituency needs that kind of name calling and rhetoric to get fired up, but if that's what it takes to wake the sleeping giant Democratic base, then I say go for it.

I was Deep Throat

I don't know who this "W. Mark Felt" guy thinks he is, claiming to have been Deep Throat of Watergate fame. I was Deep Throat, damnit. Or at least I always thought it would be cool to be that guy.

I may have only been 9 years old at the time that Deep and Bob Woodward were having their clandestine meetings and exchanging information about the Nixon administration and the Watergate cover up. But, I knew more than probably most 9 year olds about the whole ordeal. I probably could have at least carried on an intelligent conversation about the scandal.

I was actually kind of sad yesterday when I heard that the Deep Throat mystery had finally been solved. Kind of like when the Red Sox won the World Series - it's the end of a long era. The fun was in speculating when the era would end and the mystery would be revealed. Actually knowing the answer now seems so anticlimactic.

Now I guess I'll have to turn my attention to who actually killed Vince Foster.

Rockin' With Madeleine

The big moment finally arrived Friday night - the Madeleine Albright book signing that I've been stressing about for a couple of weeks. I live to meet larger than life political figures like her, but I always dread it too since I can never think of a thing to say that doesn't seem trivial. My fascination with celebrity and history always seems to win out, though, as it did this time.

While I didn't impress anyone with a witty and intelligent comment to Ms. Albright, I think I at least managed to avoid the embarrassing drool and tongue-tiedness that I experienced when I met Hillary Clinton. I think I said a total of eight words to her: "Hi!; Yes, that would be fine; Thank you!". But, i did so with grace and charm! I'm making progress.

As usual, Ed managed to actually say something of interest. I'm not sure exactly what it was he said (something to do with how refreshing it is to hear public figures speaking with reason and sanity), but he did elicit some positive response from Madeleine. I need to learn from him, I guess.

I was impressed that I actually managed to hold it together as much as I did, really. As we were sitting there waiting for her to appear, I was flipping through her book and looking at the pictures - pictures of her with Slobodan Milosovic, Crown Prince Bandar, the Clintons, the Pope. Just the reminder I needed that I should feel overwhelmed.

It was definitely a thrill to see her, though. When she first arrived at the store and was waiting in the wings to come out, we caught a glimpse of her. Seeing her for the first time, then hearing her speak for the first time a bit later, were cool moments. I was a bit worried when she first walked out on the stage because the collar on her jacket was turned up awkwardly. Kind of made me worry that she might be a little off. That was quickly put to rest, though, as soon as she started speaking.

She started telling of kicking off her first book tour last year (promoting the hard-cover copy of her book) at a publisher's convention when she followed the author of "Time to Pee!," a children's potty-training guide. She said that she was a little concerned about the implications of a former Secretary of State's memoirs following a potty-training guide. I can't say that I blame her.

She spent a lot of time talking about a whole range of subjects, from how she and Condoleeza Rice were close friends for years before she ever became involved in public service to her reactions to current events in Korea, Iraq, Kosovo, the Middle East, and, of course, the Vatican.

She obviously didn't have a lot of praise for the current administration, but she encouraged the partisan crowd to not be too partisan in opposition. One of her funniest lines had to do with the famous "roadmap to peace" for the Middle East. As she said, the roadmap hasn't done much good for the last few years as no one bothered to take it out of the glove compartment.

Sometimes, you can just tell when you hear someone speak that they are brilliant. I definitely felt that way listening to her, and I was happy to see that she was not only brilliant, but also human - with a sense of humor and everything.

Is it Just Me?

Is it just me, or does this sound like the dumbest idea ever?

Apparently, Arizona isn't already wild-west enough. We've got the rattlesnakes and cowboys and even honest-to-goodness Indians Native Americans, but now we're gonna have shoot outs in our saloons.

For the folks trying to sell tourist tickets down at Old Tucson or in Tombstone, that might be a good thing, but for the majority of Arizonans, I just can't see that there's a big market for Saturday night shoot outs.

I still can't figure out why concealed weapons are allowed anywhere. I mean, if you're going to tote a big ol' honkin' gun around with you, shouldn't you have to let people know you have it? Wouldn't you want people to know that you could kill them if they piss you off? I don't see why keeping the gun hidden is important.

And, why is it so important to have guns (hidden or not) at a bar? So you can protect yourself from the other drunken idiot who has a gun? Because we all know that people tend to do dumbass things when they get drunk. And, if they're gonna do dumbass things, we might as well make sure they've got deadly weapons available.

Apparently, according to the gun enthusiasts, the reason carrying guns into bars is important is because criminals are already taking guns into bars and law-abiding citizens need to be able to protect themselves. Pretty solid reasoning there. Taking that a step further, perhaps we should start allowing concealed weapons on airplanes. After all, if the terrorists can do it, we need to be able to protect ourselves.

As Charlton Heston says "out of my cold dead hands..." I'm thinking there'll be plenty of those for us to peel guns out of soon...

3-Week Report Card

It's been so long since I wrote a political post, I decided it's time to re-enter the fray. I still can't believe W. got re-elected, and I've been stewing in self pity ever since. My wounds being sufficiently healed, I feel a need to vent a little.

It's been three weeks since the inauguration (only 205 weeks to go!), and it seems like a good time to issue a report card. I'll do my best to grade fairly despite the fact that I'm a yellow-bellied bleeding heart gay peace-loving liberal who's all for the destruction of the institution of marriage and a complete breakdown in the traditional values that made this country great (tongue planted firmly in cheek):

Foreign Affairs - Iraq: "B"
I have to give him credit. The big vote came off pretty well (or at least it seems to be perceived as having gone swimmingly), although the insurgency seems to be as strong as ever and it's no more clear today than it was months ago how we are ever going to extricate ourselves from the mess we're in there. But all the pictures of purple-fingered Iraqi's have to add up to at least a short-term political win for the President.

Foreign Affairs - General:  "C"
All the talk in the State of the Union speech about restoring freedom and liberty to the oppressed around the world sounded good to a few people, I'm sure. But it was so completely unrealistic and far-reaching that it could be viewed as laughable or even dangerous.

If he puts his money where his mouth is and leads a global effort to liberate the truly oppressed people and victims of genocide in Central Africa, the world will be a better place and I'll be the first to give him an "A." If, instead, he continues to alienate even our closest allies, we're in a heap of trouble and he'll fail miserably.

In an effort to be fair, I'll give him a "C" for now and wait to see which way the wind will blow.

Foreign Affairs - Axis of Evil: "F"
I'm sorry, but I can't give the guy a passing grade for dealing with the scariest threat the world faces - a nuclear-armed Iran and North Korea - when the Iranians are sabre rattling and the North Koreans are all but launching missiles. I don't care how "charming" Condi has been in her debut tour of Europe. All the tough talk about these two countries, without a unified global voice backing it up, makes for a very dangerous situation. I hope Condi and Karl and Rummy are all as smart as their supporters claim they are. Otherwise, God help us all as this nuclear threat continues to develop.

Economics: "F"
Current budget deficit: $427 billion
2005 estimated deficit in proposed budget: $390 billion
Additional cost of Iraq war not included in budget: $80 billion
10-year cost of Medicare reform passed last year: $720 billion
Transition costs for Social Security reform: $2 trillion +

As someone on the news said last night, and Democrats harped on in the election, massive tax cuts at a time of war with record budget deficits and expensive new social programs like the Medicare prescription plan add up to fiscal insanity.

With all this economic news in only the third week of the new term, it's scary to think what the state of our economy will be four years from now.

Domestic Policies: "C"
This grade will surely drop as Bush makes new court appointments and continues to support things like gay marriage ban amendments, but I'm trying to be fair. So far, the campaign for Social Security reform is all we have to judge him on (this term), and that doesn't bode well for the prospects of a higher grade. Trying to sell Social Security reform using the same "the sky is falling" scare tactics that got us into a war we can't get out of pretty much shows that nothing much has really changed.

Overall Grade: D
There ya go. Pretty good when you think about it. A "D" from a yellow-bellied bleeding heart gay peace-loving liberal who's all for the destruction of the institution of marriage and a complete breakdown in the traditional values that made this country great.

Boots and Balls

I have an unhealthy love of anything presidential. Presidential inaugurations rank right up near the top of my list of cool things that I would love to see some day (a state funeral would be even cooler). But, even though I'm interested in this one and have already left instructions with Ed to set the TiVo so that I can see today's festivities after I get home from work, I'm certainly not feeling the level of excitement I would've had we been watching the Bushies pack up and move back to the ranch.

Regardless of who it is that's taking the oath of office, the event itself is fascinating and I can't ever help but feel a bit of pride that the government really does go on and power changes hands (at least sometimes) smoothly and orderly. Overly simplistic and romantic view, I know, but it does inspire me and remind me that we don't live in such a bad place after all.

It's also always interesting to view the inauguration and project my thoughts forward 40 or 50 years trying to imagine how this man will be remembered in the future. Will he be remembered as a great leader? A crook? An incompetent boob?

I admit I have no idea how W will be remembered that far down the road, but at the moment, I can't imagine it will be terribly favorably. The man is a risk taker and I think that will be his legacy. It's too early to know if those risks are going to pay off or if they're going to cause even greater problems in the future (I have theories about that!). He's either going to be remembered as one of the greatest or as one of the worst. I don't think there will be a lot of middle ground about his legacy.

All the hoopla surrounding the inauguration, though, (hoopla = dumb parties costing millions of dollars where the president and first lady show up for one quick dance before dashing off to the next one) is annoying as hell. While the actual inauguration ceremony fascinates me, the balls and parties just bug the hell out of me. W has such a natural swagger, I just can't even think about watching him tonight as he goes from party to party and basks in his own glory. And, I really don't care what kind of dress Laura is wearing. I especially don't care what party girls Jenna and Barbara do, and I certainly don't want to see Papa and Mama Bush gloating in their sons' glory. But, I have a feeling I'll get to see all that and more over the next 24 hours.

There's Hope

After a way-too-short weekend that I spent sitting in front of my computer trying to catch up on work stuff, I started the new week with a pretty poor attitude. Waking up on Monday morning and trying to get motivated to face a new week while feeling like last week never actually ended is a sure way to put me in a bad mood.

But then I had a realization that seemed to work wonders for my disposition. It was as if the clouds parted, the birds started chirping, and there was still a reason to hope.

The realization that had such an effect?  We're guaranteed to have a new president in 4 years and 3 days!

Not that I'm still carrying a grudge from November 2 or anything.

We're Next

Arizona is very likely among the next wave of states that will join with all of the others passing constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. The state legislature began its 2005 session yesterday with an even more conservative bunch than before, and several of the conservative leaders have stated publically that one of their major goals this session is to put a gay marriage ban amendment in front of the voters.

Our governor even challenged them to schedule the vote for 2005 instead of waiting until 2006.

Why, I'm not exactly sure. She may not be a Friend of Dorothy, but she's always at least seemed to be friendly to gay causes. She's stated several times in no uncertain terms that she doesn't support the proposed amendment. By pushing for the vote to be held in 2005, I have to wonder if she's only playing politics (as her critics accuse, saying she's trying to keep conservative voters from flocking to the polls in 2006 when she's up for re-election), or if she thinks that somehow the measure is likely to fail anyway and this will get it out of the way sooner instead of later.

I hope her motivation is the latter, but even if it is, I'm not sure it's the right call. Arizona sometimes comes across to the rest of the country as less conservative than it really is, but when it comes right down to these kinds of issues, there is no doubt that Arizona is as conservative as any Bible-belt state. With a Mormon church on practically every block, anyone who thinks a gay marriage ban won't pass in this state is delusional.

Now that the amendment is nearly a foregone conclusion, I'm trying to decide what I can do to help turn the tide the other way. I'm afraid not much.