From reader Peterr:
I have a friend, now retired, who served as a pastor in the Castro in SF during the 70s, 80s and 90s. I happened to be visiting at his church on New Year’s Eve at the end of 1995.
The time came in the service for the announcements, and he mentioned all the usual things (so and so needs some volunteers for next week’s lunch at the Senior Center, etc.). Then he got choked up, and everyone wondered what was up.
“I was looking at the church’s book of ‘parochial records’ – all the baptisms, weddings, funerals, and such – and I realized that in 1995, we had no AIDS-related funerals. None. I can remember YEARS when there wasn’t a single DAY that I wasn’t conducting a funeral or scheduling a funeral, and in this past year, we have had none. Not one.
“It’s been a good year.”
The parish sat stunned, until one Old Queen stood up and started to applaud. Soon we were all standing, tears running down our faces.
It was a good year, indeed.
I cry again, when I think of Africa. Their year? Not so good. It’s not going to be good there any time soon, and we (as a nation) are not doing much to help speed things up.
But I have hope. You’ve got to have hope. More than that, you’ve got to spread it around.
Amen. And here is to more good years…for the whole of the world.
(And do yourself a favor, and click through every single link of David Ehrenstein’s in the comments of the last post. So much loss…and still, so much hope. It is the compassion and the hope that is the best of us.)
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Fitzy…
Wow. Thanks Christy.
And Fitz!
Why you gotta make me cry so early in the day?
Peterr — you are more than welcome. It was a beautiful post. And one that I needed this monring. I didn’t want it to get lost.
Peterr,
Thanks for being a beacon of hope….. and sharing a great moment…
I need it after reading the WSJ’s hatchet
job on our guy…
Bay State Librul
Congrats, Peterr, that was the most tear inducing comment of that whole wonderful thread.
Ronnie W, 1989. RIP. You will never be forgotten.
For Jim who left us too soon.
Christy, hon, I love you and I love the people associated with this site. You remind me that I’m not alone.
Terry in Maryland — right back at you, baby. :)
Thank you for this post.
D Day…end of facism finally…really
Oil at $72 per barrel
30 year mortgage rates at 6.7%
DOW down 94 points in today’s trading.
Fed threatening further rate increases.
Wall Street bathed in panic.
The president from hell busy bashing gays.
The picture is heartbreaking. Bush touts his AIDS initiative, yet is pandering to his base, the Christian right, by tying the funding to abstinence. So many dead, so many orphaned, so many sick and dying.
Africa is being decimated, yet they preach abstinence.
Truly dark days. I pray enlightenment returns.
Click this link, then scroll down to read my entry on Richard Rouilard on the 10th Anniversary of his death.
Give the President From Hell a big one finger salute for allowing the most ignorant and hateful among us to dictate government policy.
Yer a real winner Clusterfuck!
EPU’d:
I just got off the phone with Gordon Smith’s office is DC. I expressed my outrage that time was being spent on this issue with so many real issues that need to be dealt with. Then I asked how he was going to vote on it: the man answered “in favor.”
I said, “you’re kidding, right? He wouldn’t put his name on an amendment that will write discrimination into the Constitution.”
The man (who at least was willing to discuss the issue) answered ” Gordon doesn’t see it that way. He believes this is a state issue.”
I may have been rude at this point, cutting him off, saying “if you make it a federal amendment then the states have no choice in the matter. That is ridiculous reasoning.”
The man said: “well 17 states have written such laws and the courts have been overturning them.”
I said, “maybe they should write better laws that could withstand judicial scrutiny – the courts have to call out discrimination when they see it, that’s their role.”
I continued, “I’m hearing things that make me ill. How are two people who love each other and willing to commit their lives to each other
“ANTI-FAMILY? They are having no ill effects on my marriage. The rhetoric is hateful and shameful.”
The man responded: Gordon is not using that language even though I admit that language is coming from people in his party. He is for a civil union or something like that.”
I said: “well I’m not hearing Gordon’s message, if it’s different from Bush’s. And how will signing this document move forward the idea of civil unions? Why isn’t he stepping up to present something less divisive and push meaningful ideas forward instead of signing this discriminatory backwards-looking legislation? It is political pandering and taking away from the issues that are important like Res. 36.”
The man finally said: “I will pass on your thoughts to Sen. Smith.”
I thanked him, then moved on to ask about Res. 36, and he said “he Senator thinks 18 months is about the time it will take for the Iraqis to be able to provide their own security. We don’t support withdrawal unitl that time.”
I said, “they have had their elections, they have their own govt even if it is dysfunctional, and now they’re in a civil war – we have no business being there.”
He again offered to pass along my thoughts, and I thanked him. At least he was willing to engage.
Now, before I call my Rep, I have a question: is the House also debating this amendment or is it just the Senate? Thanks.
Okay, Kathy Griffin at the end of her interview just went off on the whole Ann Coulter interview on Today. Asked why she was wearing a cocktail dress at 7am, and if they think she just makes stuff up. Love it!
To absent friends.
In ‘81, I was back in my home town for the first time in years, teaching Endlish at the local university. Also back for the first time in years was the globe-trotting, former Peace Corps architect son of some dear (and sophisticated) friends of my parents. I had only heard of, not met, Richard before, since he was 10-12 years older than I. He was gay, had cancer and had come home to die.
When we finally met, we took to each other immediately. Though I was delirious in the early months of my first lesbian affair, whenever kind, fascinating Richard said he felt like it, I sped over to see him. I’ll never forget the steak dinner he fixed for me one bright spring day — the food wasn’t great because he was much too sick to be trying to cook, but that mattered not a whit. We enjoyed a twilight together that I treasure to this day.
Shortly after that, Richard crashed hard and died. Only days after THAT, it was June 25, 1981. Later, when news of this strange new gay cancer filtered into the Ozarks, my mom and I looked at each other and said, “You don’t suppose . . . ?”
Richard was the first friend I believe I lost to AIDS. My great hairdresser Ray was the first friend I KNOW I lost to AIDS. There would be several more over the years. Then gloriously-campy Robert was, I hope, the last friend I’ll lose to AIDS.
To absent beloved friends.
In the Dept of Craven Political Opportunism today:
E.J. Dionne writes an excellent column this morning:
And on the upcoming dynasty tax vote, Dionne adds:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01472.html
And a suggestion for Olbermann’s Worst Person in the World for the day — Ann Coulter, the medusa channeler attacking the Jersey Girls and Cindy Sheehan today on Today in order to hump her book. What a hump.
if only the poor fuckers were white!
Christy, thanks for this essay and the previous very moving post on gays.
I’ve been watching/reading about the “debate” about banning gay marriage in the Senate, but most of the coverage is about what the President said and why. The few Dems quoted make the obligatory point about how this is just politics, and not focusing on more important issues, but I’ve not seen much reporting of comments — are there any? — that simply say, the continuing attacks on and attempts to punish/discriminate against gays are profoundly immoral and should be condemned, period. Yes, they are stupid, self-defeating, factually wrong, logically stupid, incompatible with notions of constitutional fairness — and politically motivated. But more than anything, they are just plain immoral. There is no excuse — none — for any person who claims to be Christian, or any other religion, to support the efforts being made in the Senate today. And I just want some political leader to stand up and say that. Anyone.
mAnn Coulter on the Today show this morning.
What a shameless TURD!
Oscene that they would give her any airtime.
Prairie Sunshine, Eugene Robinson’s op-ed also takes it to the GOP today for their shameful pandering. I no longer link to any MSM though.
the new Pope weighs in just in time:
>>>>>>>>>
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican said on Tuesday that gay marriage, abortion, lesbians wanting to bear children and a host of other practices it sees as threats to the traditional family were signs of “the eclipse of God”.
A 60-page document, called “Family and Human Procreation,” was issued just days after U.S. President George W. Bush urged the Senate to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
The document strongly restated many of the Roman Catholic Church’s positions on sexuality, marriage and life but went further, saying the family today was more endangered than at any time before in history.
“The causes are diverse but the ‘eclipse’ of God, creator of man, is at the root of the profound current crisis concerning the truth about man, about human procreation and the family,” said the document, prepared by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family.
It said the family was under attack around the world, even in traditionally Christian cultures, by what it called “radical currents” proposing new family models.
It listed these threats as homosexual marriages, giving gay couples equal legal recognition as married heterosexuals, lesbians demanding the right to bear children through artificial insemination and gays who want to adopt children.
http://rawstory.com/showarticl…..hp?id=7677
Teaching EnGlish, I meant. Don’t type well through waterfalls.
What is the role of the courts if it is not to protect the rights of minorities from the tyranny of the majority? I can think of no better use for judicial power.
peace,
jim
Ann Coulter this morning looked like Alexis Arquette without her wig.
The fuckin Pope can keep the Catholic Church from performing gay marriages. Fine-
Now let him keep his fuckin nose out of american politics and legal issues in which he has less than zero credibility.
Try this Pope Benny- nothing harms the family and the institution of marriage as much as decrees made by the church that true holiness consists in NEVER marrying or giving birth to children.
Nothing hurts the institution of marriage as much as YOU and your supposedly celibate brothers and sisters who despise sex, marriage, and procreation in favor of religious politics.
Geesh,I think I’ve gone through a half a box of Kleenex this morning.But that’s a good thing.I think,lol.
A few months ago the kiddo and I were in the checkout line at the store.Behind us in line were two guys ranting on and on about”liberals being traitors”,”they need to be lined up and shot”etc.What triggered them appearently was a news story about war protesters.
I listened for awhile and finally couldn’t take it anymore.So I asked them”So,you’re saying then that you would want friends,neighbors,family members,people you know and care for,to be lined up and shot or hung from a tree?Dragged out of their homes in the night and exectuted?How is that American?I really want to understand,explain it to me”.
They couldn’t.It never even occured to them that they might actually KNOW a liberal,or many liberals.
One guy said”Well I don’t know any liberals”.I said,”It could be that maybe they never speak up around you out of fear of your reaction”.I also said they couldn’t say they didn’t know any liberals because there was one standing right in front of them,namely,me.
Suddenly there they were,in public with people all around them,having their beliefs challenged.I had braced myself for hostility,but instead was met with surprise,and curiosity.
My son,who is 12 was quiet through all this(no mean feat for this child,quiet is not his specialty)until we got to the car.
“Mom,it’s hard to stand up for what you believe in sometimes,isn’t it,weren’t you scared?”I replied that yes I was a little scared,and it is hard sometimes,but if you really believe in something,that makes it easier.It also gets easier every time you do it.
Imagine my surprise when his teacher called me a couple of weeks ago proud as punch of my son for stopping some older kids from picking on a handicapped child.Put himself right between the child in a wheelchair and two big 8th grade boys.
The teacher told me that he said”Mom says it’s hard to stand up when you’re scared,but it gets easier every time you do it.So today was my first time.And I’m not scared anymore.Lisa has feelings and those dumb boys needed a reminder”.
My point I guess,is that for way too long the right wingnuts have got away with dehumanizing their demon of the week.Be they gay,liberal,brown skinned,or whatever.Once you put a human face and life on that”demon”,it’s not so evil anymore.It may not always work,but sometimes it can.
angie — This can’t be coincidental. Well, I guess we should just assume that the Pope is a witting accomplice in efforts to sustain the immoral administration of Bush, his neocon supporters, the irreligious right and the Repubs who represent them in our Congress. How pathetic. How could any decent Christian — hello DAD! — retain any moral allegiance to their leaders, Catholic or Protestant, if they put out views like that? The world is going nuts.
AngryOldBroad — what a wonderful, compassionate son you’ve raised. Kudos to you. And thanks so much for sharing that. :)
Seems a perfect time to repost this from a friend, who recently sent it along with that photo of Ratzinger/Benedict descending the steps of St. Peter’s in full regalia and red Prada pumps . . .
“The man on the left in the attached picture, wearing a fabulous vintage chiffon-lined Dior gold lame gown over a silk Vera Wang empire waist tulle cocktail dress, accessorized with a 3-foot beaded peaked ‘House of Whoville’ hat, and the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in the Wizard of Oz, is worried that The Da Vinci Code might make the Roman Catholic Church look silly and ridiculous.”
Looks like the Fitz bashing is ramping up…WSJ, Clarice, and Levin all chime in…what a joke
Christy and all,
I’m. Simply. Overcome.
Thank you for the most beautiful, compassionate, angry, and powerful morning in a long time.
Peace, indeed.
AngryOldBroad — you are hereby rechristened:
Courageous Mom
. . . and you are henceforth allowed to use the following bumper sticker:
“My kid stood up to bullies, and damn, I’m proud.”
Here’s Alexis without his wig.
Ann Coulter TODAY link:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..html#a8602
Angry Old Broad…WOW! That one opened the tear ducts. Bravo to you and your son!!!
Off topic from Josh Marshall. You have to see this. A perfect example of what we are up against in the media. Reporters are being rewarded by the AP for shoddy work:
“”Remember last week we reported extensively on AP reporter John Solomon’s on Sen. Harry Reid. Well, apparently, that’s exactly the sort of excellence the editors at the AP are shooting for.
Here’s the text of an internal email sent out to AP staff announcing the award Solomon got for the pieces in question …
‘Dear Staffers:
It was the most talked-about, blogged-about political story of the week _ twice.
First, John Solomon in Washington broke the news that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid had accepted free ringside seats to three pro boxing matches from the Nevada agency that was trying to influence his legislation to bring federal oversight to the sport.
Then Solomon followed up by describing how Reid returned home to Nevada and misstated the ethics rules in an effort to defend himself. Ultimately, the Senate leader reversed course, admitted he misstated the rules and promised never again to accept free tickets from special interests.
The exclusive resulted from several tips that came in after Solomon and Sharon Theimer wrote a series of stories about gifts lawmakers got from fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Before his report moved, Solomon had a one-hour interview with Reid in his Capitol office where Reid uttered his widely quoted declaration that, “I’m not Goodie Two-Shoes.”
AP secured the rights to HBO video footage showing Reid in his free ringside seats at one of the fights, and that footage became the centerpiece of an OVN package and also was used by the TV networks and in frame grabs in newspapers. Solomon also did an audio Q&A for radio and Web customers. The story and video won widespread play on the Web fronts and newspaper fronts, and stirred an enormous debate in the blogosphere, generating more than 10,000 postings and more than a dozen newspapers wrote editorials chastising Reid, including USA Today.
For his work giving AP ownership of this high-profile story, Solomon wins this week’s prize of $500.’
AP Director of Media Relations confirmed to TPMmuckraker’s Paul Kiel that the email “was sent to all AP staff as part of AP’s weekly recognition of staff reporters.”
Speaks for itself.”"
I recommend we all respond to the Pope’s message by taking a friend to see The Da Vinci Code. Again.
OT but this is a must read
http://www.usatoday.com/printe…..06.art.htm
I don’t agree with it’s premis, that Congress and the courts may be finally reaching the end of their patience with Bushco overreaching. However, it has a good analysis of how this power grab lines up with prior administrations (Nixon, Wilson, etc) and almost draws what I believe is the direct line from Nixon, to Iran Contra, to Buscho.
lotuslander @ 904– that description is priceless.
scarecrow @ 910– agreed. grrrrrrrrr.
Re: Annie
“All you need is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” (Mark Twain)
Thank you, anon, on the previous post for the linkage to the WSJ. We are not subscribers, and I wanted to read that article. It’s the old Kay Bailey Hutchinson thing about Fitzgerald going after “inconsequential” indictments rather than the Toensing law, which, I gather from you legal experts, you can drive a truck through.
Mark Twain had this advice for dear Annie:
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
God help us all.
What do we need? An HIV vaccine.
What do we get? A proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
What do we need? A Pope who understands people in their frailties.
What do we get? A former member of the Hitlerjugenden.
What do we need? A president capable of leading our nation to fulfill its promise.
What do we get? An Oedipally conflicted frat-boy who drags our nation’s reputation through the mud of torture, murder, lies and deception.
What do we need? A Congress willing to stand for its constitutionally-mandated prerogative to oversee the Executive.
What do we get? Denny Hastert (R-Ill), front man for Hot-tub Tom Delay, Tom Delay (R-Ill) himself, Bill Frist (Faith Healer, TN), Sam Brownback (R – Opus Dei) and all their cronies.
It’s enough to make me glad that there’s half-a-gallon of Ron Rico Anejo and a case of caffeine-free Coca Cola at home.
BC
The WSJ has a strident attack piece up on Fitz today.
I think Babs must be running scared right now.
I look forward to seeing Jane and Christy pick the piece apart line by line as it is absolutely riddled with falsehoods and deserving of complete and thorough analysis and repudiation.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/…..=110008476
Anybody who missed Rayne at 230 of last night’s Late Nite — especially Ghostman, if that includes you — for pete’s sakes get yer butt back there. AHORA, muchachos y muchachas!
Sorry – OT – but this was so delicious I had to post. From yesterday’s Froomkin, fantastic snark (I love the “fluffy appeasement” part):
The repugnant mAnn Coulter:
“These self-obsessed women seem genuinely unaware that 9-11 was an attack on our nation and acted like as if the terrorist attack only happened to them. They believe the entire country was required to marinate in their exquisite personal agony. Apparently, denouncing bush was part of the closure process…These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much.”
You fucking SCUM!
Who gets Bumiller’s knee pads?
damn you Ehrenstein – can not believe the feelings loosed by your simple images and eloquent words – thought all of this had been reconciled and neatly put away a long time ago
as a SF based flight attendant, can you all imagine the posse of Fairy Godfathers (their words) I travelled and grew up with ?!?!
being treated to Caballe singing Tosca at La Scala on your shared birthday and exactly a year later crawling in to a hospital bed at SF General, wearing his mother’s White Shoulders so the ravaged young man now suffering blindness and dementia can go in peace – hopefully not knowing his mother’s church kept her from her baby’s deathbed ?
there’s your “eclipse of God” Benedict – immoral bastards
oh wow, cbl. that was powerful. ;(
sacre escargot! from TPM Muckraker:
(stifling a chortle)
bridgehorne (somebody’s prolly said this already as I hunt & peck), WSJ’s editorials are FREE — just what they’re worth. They charge only for news stories.
First election of a congressperson in this election season will happen here today. In twelve hours or so we will see which party gains a seat. If it’s the goopers- the refrain will be that the threat of losing the house is overblown. If it’s the dems- all hell will break lose. Stay tuned. The district has a 15% gooper registration advantage.
BobbyG@June 6th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Being Ann Coulter is probably punishment enough for all her sins. No one around her except when they want something, no genuine friends, enough self-hatred to poison an entire continent. I hope she’s always asleep at 3:00 a.m., when the demons of self-doubt are so famously awake. Much as I despise her, I wouldn’t wish that torture on anyone.
Speaking of Ann Coulter….this month’s Vanity Fair has a hilarious interview. A small part, excerpted in the NY Daily News:
Sampling the tackle?? I’ve got to remember that one.
The WSJ editorial attacking Fitzgerald is now up on Raw Story also. I know we shouldn’t suggest topics for Christy and Jane to cover–that’s their decision–but I would sure like your analysis somewhere down the line. Was having trouble typing “analysis”–must be due to what’s going on in the Senate.
Who gets Bumiller’s knee pads?
Oh man, so many competitors. Hard to say.
mAnn Coulter is Fred Phelps in drag.
Fitzy will either defend himself (or not) by issuing indictments to top administration officials. I think his response should be “want more”?
rwcole –
“Want more?” is the perfect response.
Coulter the Molter
cbl at 9:26. Knocked me out of my chair. Bless you.
Just lodged my protest vote against DiFinc. in the CA primary, an otherwise uninspiring primary ballot. Interesting Alameda County tidbit: the Diebold voting machines that were used in the past few election cycles are gone, replaced by a paper ballot marked by hand. Now that’s progress.
Angry Old Broad,
You and mom would get along just fine. I know you’re proud of your child. Well, let me tell you – he’s proud of you.
Christy,
Just lovely.
Been playing Delbert McClinton of late. This song makes me stop and listen every time. We all have our shortcomings, we’re all in it together, we need to be able to count on each other.
Sending Me Angels
I walked down to the river
Stood on the shore
Seems like the devil’s always
Tryin’ to get in my door
Just when I thought
I couldn’t take it anymore
Here he came again, my friend
He keeps sending me angels
From up on high
He keeps sending me angels
To teach me to fly
He keeps sending me angels
Sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels
Just like you
As I stand on this mountain
Face to the wind
Amazed by the number of times
I have sinned
The countless enemies
That should’ve been friends
Oh here he comes again, my friend
*He keeps sending me angels
Here they come a flyin’
He keeps sending me angels
To keep me from cryin’
(He keeps) Sending me angels
Sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels
Just like you
Some say that it’s comin’
Say it’s already here
But love is among us
Through the joy and the fear
When I look in your eyes
Everything is so clear
My friend, here it comes again
He keeps sending me angels
From up on high
He keeps sending me angels
To teach me to fly
He keeps sending me angels
Sweet and true
(He keeps) Sending me angels
Just like you
David E -
“Who gets Bumiller’s knee pads?”
the list is long and undistinguished
Angry Old Broad – you had me at
Mom,it’s hard to stand up for what you believe in sometimes,isn’t it,weren’t you scared?
rwcole- actually prayed last night and first thing this morning for both Francine and Marcy
Ann Coulter
actually caught some of that this am – and my only thought was if Farrakhan had said any of that shit on camera, they’d have let actual klansmen in to the studio to lynch his ass live
(btw, I’m gonna win the Coulter nickname contest – bet on it !)
In spite of AIDS, hunger and malnutrition, wars and other murders, natural and man made disasters, and diseases of many kinds, the earth has still managed to quadruple its population and continues to become even more overpopulated. AIDS and other diseases that result in shortened life spans are a sad and painful social concern.
What really sucks is that Catholicism, in particular, and other religions including all the rightwing fundy Falwell, Robertson styled blowhard Christian faiths preach to their followers that they should make more babies.
And that they should not use birth control – not even condoms. The world’s poor overpopulate the earth, in part, because the church tells them to do it, and also because the church won’t tell them not to do it. The church is irresponsible in what could be an important social function – to naturally reduce the population without suffering and death.
I guess the church likes death, suffering, starvation, disease and using the world’s young people as cannon fodder as much as they like using up the earth’s resources as fast as possible.
Great comment post excerpt over at Salon.com on mAnn Coulter:
“…It’s fascinating, isn’t it; if you blacked out the picture and disguised the voice you might almost think you were listening to the Colbert Report.
Angry Old Broad – you were the tipping point for my tears. Somehow, I had managed to swallow past the lump in my throat and blink back the tears as I read all these moving and heartfelt and achingly sad posts, but yours just did me in. Proud of you and proud of your son, and will remember your words forever.
Apparently, the defense to being accused of being discriminatory is to claim that it isn’t so much that they are AGAINST gays, it’s just that they are FOR traditional marriage and families. If that’s the corner they want to paint themselves into, I say we let them get nice and cozy there – because SAYING you are for families is just words for which they have NO actions to support.
If the Dems want to debate this amendment, I think they should stand up and talk about all the legislation and fiscal policies enacted by the GOP Congress and signed into law by the GOP president that undermine families, that make it harder for families to succeed.
The inmates are truly running the asylum.
RWCole at 62
The column is a piece of crap. There’s nothing to defend from.
It drills down to an eye glazing level of detail for non-plamaholics who won’t make it past the second graph.
Real plmaologists will see at once that almost everything in it is false, virtually made up out of whole clothe.
Unlike a good lie which has a disturbing kernel of truth, this article doesn’t even do a competent job of setting up the strawmen before knocking them down.
The average, non-plamaholic reader is going to pass it by w/o reading it all the way through.
HOWEVER, someone merely turning the page WILL at least glance at the sketch. The sketch tells the opposite story from the article.
It shows the kindly eye and keen gaze of an honest man. I don’t think the article will fool anybody and the picture is worth a thousand words.
The WSJ editorial is just a crock. “The prosecutor comes close here to suggesting that senior government officials have no right to fight back against critics who make false allegations” ??
No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t come close to any such thing.
WSJ is just pissed Scoots is on trial for lying rather than treason. Because lying is sometimes OK. Like, when you’re a Republican.
Plano tex 67 -
Tim Flannery observes, in his frightening book “The Weather Makers,” that, by ~2050, we will have a world population of roughly 9 billion, and will be consuming 2x the planet’s daily carrying capacity should we not make serious adjustments.
Untenable. Particularly factoring in the liy effects of undiminished global warming (which, of course, eminent scientist mAnn Coulter dismisses as liberal bullshit).
E. J. Dionne Jr.
WaPo,Tuesday, June 6, 2006; Page A15
“This month’s offensive by President Bush and his allies in Congress against gay marriage and flag burning proves one thing: The Republican Party thinks its base of social conservatives is a nest of dummies who have no memories and respond like bulls whenever red flags are waved in their faces.
The people who should be angry this week are not liberals or gays or lesbians, but the president’s most loyal supporters…”
_____
Yep.
eminent scientist mAnn Coulter
good one. btw, is she still working on that flying monkey project?
off topic, sorry
I need help with these claims
http://www.opinionjournal.com/…..=110008476
so how does the journal have the nerve to claim wilson made a false alegation that bush lied?
and are they right or wrong that the prosecutor is using their text in contradiction to what that text means?
Angelides or Westly?
I have no idea which lesser of November evils is the lesser of June evils.
Help please!
hombre w. is on the teevee talking immigration in NM– is it me, or is his fake texas accent getting thicker and more ridiculous?
btw– “we are a land of immigrants”.
obsessed: Angelides, unenthusiastically
lhp 9:45: Completely agree — and it’s just a shame that drawing wasn’t available on Mother’s Day. But maybe Fitz’s mom’s birthday will be coming around soon, and he can give it to her then. But he wouldn’t, would he? One of his siblings will, though.
Me to me – I have never understood the allegation that Joe Wilson lied and that there really is evidence Iraq was seeking yellowcake.
Condi herself has said those 16 words were wrong. Colin Powell has said the 16 words were wrong. Hasn’t GWB himself admitted those 16 words should not have been in the SOTU??
Lotuslander – Fitz’s mom (and dad) are deceased.
Damn.
Lobstergirl -
That crap is right down there with “WMD were in fact in Iraq, we just haven’t found them yet.”
Angelides it is then … going once … twice …
OT — Dow down another 63, sub 11,000 now.
I am surprised that so many are going off on Pope Benedict XVI. He is truly one of the great minds of the sixteenth century.
I actually kind of wish President Bush would wear red Prada slippers.
living well is the best revenge
a transplanted Californian now living in Greater Tuna, TX. – “Ho-mo-sexuals!, Ho-Mo-Sexuals!, right here in Hutto !” I am heartened by the increasing numbers of openly Gay & Lesbian families living in our community, but also strengthened by their ‘courage’ to do so – to think that simply taking the family out to dinner is a political act
obsessed- wait! write in Fitz instead! oh, that won’t work. never mind.
me to me @ 77
They are wrong. He is not using ANY newspaper article for the truth of itself. That would be excluded as hearsay. Under the Federal Rules of Evidence there is an exception to the hearsay rule. It can be offered, not to prove the truth of what it says, but merely to prove that it was said.
In this case to prove that Scooter had the topic on his mind and therefore is lying when he says he forgot.
Fitz is NOT trying to prove, and Walton has said he will not allow testimony about, whether Wilson or the WHW were right about the 16 words.
This is why i really am not agitatd baout this article at all, it lacks even the barest whiff of truth. it does not even rise to the level of truthiness (I love that word, Stephen baby, you rock).
it is just wholesale fantasy writing.
At 81,
Fitz’s mom died while he was in HS. His dad died, IIRC, in 1996.
slippers? Jonah Goldberg wears red Prada diapers.
maybe 1997.
I am surprised that so many are going off on Pope Benedict XVI. He is truly one of the great minds of the sixteenth century.
Also known as Pope Torquemeda I of the twenty-first century.
I actually kind of wish President Bush would wear red Prada slippers.
Don’t you think they would clash with his hot pink bike riding socks?
Christy,
I’m sorry we keep dragging this thread away from your topic.
I think it may be because it is almost too painful to stay with.
At least that’s true for me. There are just some things that are too sad for me to think about for more than a minute, big honking coward that I am.
Embarrassed not to have remembered that. I’m sure I’ve read it. Thanks, lhp.
I realize this comes with a boulder of salt, but Raw Story has a gigantic headline up right now that says, simply:
FBI RELEASES 112 PAGES OF CHENEY
FILE TO RAW STORY: DEVELOPING…
I have no idea what it means but I wanted to give people a heads up.
I’ve never known anyone who died of AIDS, but this is a sad commentary too. When I was I college in the early sixties in Indiana, I knew two girls who had been in reformatory just because they were lesbians. Shows you how stupid the government can be, however, putting lesbians in reformatories for girls.
bridgehorne 10:19: not perzackly dying and going to heaven, but surely some compensation. ;-}
OMG – I made italics!
especially if they wore those cute uniforms…
what lhp said at 97. sorry for parachuting the OT stuff into a pensive, reflective, momentarily still pond.
also from Raw Story -
this one’s for you Mui -
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0606.html
At http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..22238.html
Sam Seder is “Blogging the Anti-Gay Amendment … from the Closet.”
Per punaise 53
The rethugs eat the finest food (French) in the finest restaurants and smoke the best Cuban cigars (banned for the underclasses). They know how to live well. They are Bon Vivants. They pretend to be bible thumping rednecks in order to impress and fool the imbeciles who are their voting public.
Mocking the French people and the country of France and supporting the Cuban embargo is part of their schtick. Republicans like Delay are the best hypocrites money can buy.
OT to Christy – hope Amandaville isn’t close to you!
5 Shot, 3 Fatally, in W.Va. Home
http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin…..ref=slogin
Dixie Chicks on Fresh Air — 2nd half hour.
BobbyG @ 9:22 am (#50) – Seeing that Ann Coulter quote reminds me of that great Londo Mollari line from Babylon 5:
“Arrogance and stupidity in one package. How efficient of you.”
She also manages to efficiently pack two rhetorical fallacies [one, ad hominem, committed several times] and one bit of psychobabble into one paragraph. Not her greatest work in that regard, but a worthy effort for most mortals.
Cujo, bag the second sentence and that’s the Chimpians in a nutshell.
Will they serve biftek freedom fries?
Cujo -
Great quote.
I DETEST that bitch. I’m gonna flame NBC for wasting airtime on her. She’s simply Michael Savage with balls.
and as Amy Goodman reminds us -
funny how they kept the use of ’sorties’
Christy & our other Mountaineers, check out
Abramoff and Capito: A Missed Opportunity at
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com
BobbyG @ 10:36 am (#113) – She’s [Ann Coulter’s] simply Michael Savage with balls.
Is that her talk radio tag line?
Ok, la piece de resistance, from TPM:
just a coinky-dink, I’m sure, but the “Lay” part of his name is awfully close to laid, (silent “d”) the French word for “ugly”.
lotuslander @ 10:32 am (#111) – It’s a line that occurs to me quite often these days when I watch the news on TV.
Completely and totally off topic, but my sceratary just came in and reminded me.
I am going to a lunch for Helen Thomas tomorrow. Because of the logistics of the lunch, which are not ideal, I suspect it may be a relatively small group and that I will bear some responsibility for holding up my end of hte conversation.
The problem: I am such a star struck fan of hers, that I cannot think of a single decent talking point or question. I am like a deer in the headlights here.
Anybody got a pithy or thought provking idea or two of what I could say/ask her?
OT RE: The WSJ editorial.
Tiresome. Talking points that I’m particularly tired of:
1. Iraq was trying to get yellowcake.
There is NO credible evidece to support this claim. The documentation that this claim is based on is universally acknowledged to be forged.
2. Well, the Brits THOUGHT Iraq was trying to get yellowcake.
Maybe, but their intelligence was based on those forged documents, and our intelligence agencies were more than a little suspicious of what the Brits “knew”. It’s disingenous (at best) to withhold that information when saying, “The British government has learned…” If I hear the British government say that they’ve learned that Bush is a staunch supporter of gay marriage, it’s a bit deceptive for me to say, “The British governement has learned that Bush is a stauch supporter of gay marriage,” since I’m aware of substantial amounts of information suggesting that Bush is not, in fact, a gay marriage supporter.
3. Joe Wilson has been discredited.
Really? When did that happen? Which specific statements have been refuted? And since we’re talking about credibility, please tell me: In your conservative opinion, do you think Wilson’s credibility is better or worse than that of a man who is facing a five-count indictment for lying through his teeth to both the FBI and federal prosecutors?
Helen Thomas=Queen of the White House Press Corps and Stephen Colbert co conspirator at the gridiron dinner
lhp, right off the top of m’head, I‘d love to know all about how she and Colbert cooked up that video, wouldn’t you?
looseheadprop @ 10:47 am (#121) – “Is President Bush as obtuse in person as he is on TV?”
Ask Helen Thomas if she reads any blogs.
Ask her if the press corps has ever at any point in our history been lamer than it is today – her excepted, of course.
Great, lobstergirl!
(lobstergirl: Bof ‘em!)
this excerpt via raw story from her new book may help, lhp. I found this tiny excerpt fascinating:
>>>>>>>>
The Bush-2 spokesmen were predictable and Orwellian. They lived in fear that there would be a news leak, which made Bush apoplectic, not the first president with such a reaction. Fleischer and McClellan marched in lockstep in the most secretive administration in modern history.
But even Fleischer realized he had overstepped his bounds when he told reporters that some in the White House were noting their comments and they should “watch what they say.”
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0601.html
new thread……
looseheadprop, just a suggestion,
how about what she see’s in reguards to the dying off of MSM And if there would be any one thing that she could recommend to her fellow journalists so they could regain an ounce of credibility?
lhp,
Does the WH press corps have a future? What is the point when so much of it is nonquestion followed by nonanswer? Helen Thomas is something of an anachronism still asking real questions but the institution itself is increasingly irrelevant.
harry @8:38 – ok, I’ll bite. Two posts saying today is D Day, end of fascism…really.
Why?
lhp – be sure to post back what Helen has to say.
lhp – ask her if she had a walk-on part in Airplane! We saw it recently on da TB and I could have sworn she, much younger, cameo’d.