Friday, October 03, 2008

Congratulations, Dr. Solon

I hope you and the crew had fun tonight. We at the Situation are all very proud of your accomplishment, and many of us hope to join your ranks very soon. Cheers! We look forward to celebrating with the entire clan come December.

A tribute:

Drop it Already

Andrew Sullivan is still calling for the McCain/Palin campaign to provide proof that Sarah Palin is Baby Trig's biological mother. I'm no fan of Palin, and I definitely recognize that she and McCain are big fat liars. And I think that a McCain/Palin administration would be disastrous for this country. And I hope and (almost) pray that voters recognize this. However, it is completely unacceptable for anyone to ask someone to prove his or her parentage of their children. Particularly when there is no solid evidence to suggest that she is not his mother--only speculation and judgment of her pre- and post-delivery activities.

That said, the fact that Palin exposed her teenage daughter to public scrutiny in a direct response to the Trig rumors is appalling. And it certainly provides further evidence that Sarah Palin is ambitious to a fault, and she will clearly do whatever she needs to do--whether that be outright lying or abusing her power or exploiting her children--to get ahead. Why is no one talking about this?

If the goal of questioning Palin's motherhood is to undermine her character, then there's really no need to go there. She offers plenty of alternative (and concrete) evidence that she has no ethics and no morals--and nothing that qualifies her for the job of Vice President of the United States.

Baby Bear

So much more humorous without the stink of self-delusion and failure lifting off of him like cartoon squiggles.

Did we know this about Barack Obama and Joe Biden?

C and I watched the VP debate very closely last night, and while I was mostly impressed by Joe Biden, his statement about gay marriage really bothered me. To be honest, I hadn't done much research on Obama and Biden's stand on this issue. I did a little research today, and here is what I've learned. Obaman and Biden support civil union, not gay marriage. He is against Proposition 8 in California, the proposed legislation that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. In an interview with the Chigao Tribune Obama said "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."

He did
vote against a Federal Marriage Amendment and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. And he has also said that he would support allowing individual state decide the issue. I have a serious, serious problem with that last statement, and here's allowing individual states to legislate issues like this hasn't worked well in the past. After all slavery was determined by individual states, and we all know how well that practice worked out for the U.S.

Finally, here is a clip of an interview Obama gave at the most Human Rights Campaign meeting.



I have to say this really, really bothers me.

Friday Musical and Cinematic Tribute

A Double Feature. Both of these Scenes from Prairie Home Companion are replete with those good vibes necessary to a good life.

Streep and Tomlin go right for the core in "My Minnesota Home"



Lindsay Lohan tore it up, too, with "Frankie and Johnny"

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Palin was her name-o

I encourage us all to play.

And by playing, at least there will be a way for someone to end the night with spin-free victory.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

"I'm Voting Republican Because"

This video has been floating around for months, but it seems to be picking up serious steam once again.

Board Members here, it would seem, have gotten so caught up in the minor aspects of Republicanism, we have forgotten the GOP's major accomplishments over the last 8 years, and the Profound aspect of their vision

(M, Harrogate is especially wagging a finger at you, here. You don't give Republicans nearly enough respect. [In what respect, Charley?])

Because remember. Not voting Republican this November, amounts to serious business.

The Opposite of a Salute

Via the AP. Wag of the Finger
Los Angeles police are looking for a man who beat up a 16-year-old girl at a McDonald's counter after she complained about him cutting in line.

Speaking of Dolls....

BBC America is doing a documentary on "Unliving Dolls" and the women who collect them. This may be an example of the creepy dolls to which Megs-gh refers.

Wednesday Musical Tribute: Wild Man's pick

Wild Man and I heard this song for the first time a few days ago while driving home from the park. Now, Wild Man is choosy about his music. He often says "Off radio, Mommy" if he hears a song he doesn't like, and he also says "More song, Mommy" if he hears one he likes. With this song, he said "Shake bootie, Mommy" as he proceeded to shake his own little bootie in his car seat.

Black Like Me

Sweet J has become incredibly interested in the Lion Cub's (aka Kid B's) daily care. She's present--and helping--for every diaper change, bath, etc. She picks out the cub's clothes every day and helps to burp her. Last night she spent about ten minutes "burping" me. Solon and I have decided to bite the bullet and buy J her first baby doll.

So I'm online today looking at dolls at Toys 'R Us, trying to find a doll that doesn't petrify me. (Ever really thought about how scary dolls can be? Half of them look like prom queens or drag queens--fun, but not a good doll for feeding and diaper chages--and the other half are way too realistic, in a vaguely menacing sort of way.) I see a link for the You and Me African-American My First Doll and click to take a look. There's a separate link for the Caucasian version, but I'm thinking that a doll of a different race would be especially nice for J, particularly since the next G-H sibling will be adopted and there's a strong likelihood that he won't look like her.

Here's the thing that interests me: the You and Me African-American doll is about as black as I am... and I'm of light-ish to medium complexion, even in the middle of summer. I know there are some darker skinned dolls out there, but even they peak at cafe au lait. I'm really concerned about the message this sends to children of color who can't find a doll that looks like them. But I'm equally concerned about my blond and blue daughter, J. I hate that we live in a culture that idolizes her version of beauty at the expense of others. (The cub, for example, is shaping up to be a brown and brown, like her mama.) And I hate that this starts so young.

I'm in no way surprised at this finding, in general. Even a Pollyanna like me* is hip to the frequent shittiness of our culture. But take a look at the You and Me Doll. Even a cynic will find this one shocking.

* Shout out to Harrogate, who loves Pollyanna as much as I do.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Late Tuesday Night Musical Tribute

Such a soft touch. How distilled.



Phone's off the hook
No one knows where we are
It's a
long time since I
Drank champagne
The ocean is blue
As blue as your
eyes
I'm gonna take it with me
When I go

The Sarah Palin Chronicles: Idiocracy, Part Eternity

From the interview that keeps on giving, Sarah Palin with Katie Couric.

First, Couric asks Palin what newspaper she reads and Palin says, "all of them." When Couric follows up and asks, no really, I mean, "But what ones specifically? I’m curious," Palin responds with, "all of them." Here is the transcript:
COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.
Alaska is a Microcosm of American, except with more small towns, less big towns, and no elites to tell us what to do. You can see the video here.

Second, Palin and the Courts. At some point in the most mind-numbing interview ever, Couric asked Palin about the Supreme Court. Palin discussed Roe v. Wade, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. When asked to discuss another significant case, and any case would have done, Palin did nothing. And I mean silence, not even a verbal gaffe. According to Politico,
The Palin aide, after first noting how "infuriating" it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions.

After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases.

There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

Third, Grandpa Simpson to the rescue. When McCain bailed on Letterman, it seems that he did so in order to save Palin. Here McCain appears, out of nowhere, to sit down with Couric and Palin. Notice that Palin and Couric are in the same clothes as they were during the first interview, which means, sorry Dave, McCain needed to rush off and save the world, I mean, Palin needed to be saved.



This video is quite awkward, like the parent accompanying a child to an interview and answering all of the questions instead of the child. The best, really worst, part of the video is when Palin discussed how she refused to answer a voter's question, replying instead that she and McCain were going to do what they were going to do.

And one last point. If you watched the SNL clip with Tina Fey acting as Palin you should know that the answers Fey delivered acting as Palin were actual answers Palin gave to Katie Couric. All we have is a "copy of a copy of a copy."



If you need me, I'm going to Diz Knee Land.



The VP Debate is Thursday. I will be in Texas watching it. The expectations are so low for Sarah Palin that if she answers one question correctly she will win the debate. This may actually be bad for Joe Biden.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Monday Musical Tribute

Sean Lennon's 2006 Album Friendly Fire, Harrogate has only been listening to at least once a week for the last two years running. That's all. Other than that he's pretty uncommitted about the quality of the songs.

Here's one to accompany that afternoon cup of coffee.