Month: November 2003 (Page 2 of 7)

Fantastic article on BostonPhoenix.com: Embrace the wedge. Dan Kennedy makes the argument that the Democrats should heartily embrace gay marriage, and use it to paint the right as the intolerant reactionaries that they are. Stop being wishy-washy and take a stand. If Howard Dean truly believes that this is about equal treatment, he shouldn’t be trying to straddle the fence so hard he’ll get a hernia. Show how similar the arguments against gay marriage are to the arguments against interracial marriage. Grab the issue and throw it back in the Republicans’ faces.

Here’s the money quote from the piece:

“Why is it that conservatives are always able to pretend that they are more patriotic, more religious, more moral than liberals? Why do liberals let themselves be put on the defensive over and over again?”

I couldn’t agree more. Let’s see some backbone, people. Grab the high ground back from the reactionaries. Stop looking at the polls and stand up for something. Do it now.

Quote of the Day

“A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they’re not dead, really. They’re just backing away from life. Reach out! Take a chance! Get hurt, even. Play as well as you can. Go, team, go!”

-Maude (Ruth Gordon), “Harold and Maude”

A tale of two cities (many thanks to Arthur)

My mother, literary critic

“That’s just flat-out crap.”

-Barbara B. Blust, pronouncing sentence on the latest disturbing Anne Geddes book, “Pure.” The cover depicts a thin model type wearing a muslin sheath, with a baby tucked underneath the fabric against her stomach like a fetus.

Things I think about

How much money does Bill Gates carry in his wallet?

Michael Jackson, of course

We were talking about Michael Jackson at lunch today. Big shock, right? Even though I play the extreme cynic on TV, I’m still surprised when things like this come up and lots of people decide they know a) exactly what happened to someone they’ve never met and never will, and b) exactly what should be done to them.

I firmly believe that most of the world’s ills are caused by people who know just what’s best for everyone else. I believe that if people (*cough* MDT *cough*) would just stick to their knitting, the world would be an infinitely better place.

I know it’s fun to speculate about what happened, and energizing for some people to imagine the punishment they would dish out for offenses they “just know” MJ committed. Let’s face it, we love both crime and punishment in this country – millions of “Cops” viewers can’t be wrong.

But here’s a news flash: we don’t know what happened, and we probably never will. The most we can sincerely hope for is that both Michael Jackson and any children he may have harmed (*if* he did) will get the help they need.

I’m not defending Jackson – far from it. Any 45-year-old man who has sleepovers with prepubescent boys has some serious problems. But I think we should be less concerned with speculating about his bedroom activities and more concerned with why we care so much.

Elf

“I like to smile! It’s my favorite!”
-Buddy (Will Ferrell), “Elf”

You’ve got to hand it to Will Ferrell – he’s absolutely 100 percent dedicated to the joke. Whether he’s busting out of a flag-draped thong on Saturday Night Live, or chowing down on syrup-laced spaghetti while wearing yellow tights in “Elf,” he’ll do anything to sell the funny. And he does it with such a psychotic positivity, it’s endearing where most SNL stars-turned-movie-shills are grating.

Ferrell’s the reason that “Elf” pretty much succeeds. Zooey Deschanel, as Ferrell’s puppy-love interest, and Bob Newhart as his adoptive elf father, give fine supporting performances. Plus, there are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos by Amy Sedaris and Andy Richter. But Ferrell is this movie’s fuzzy, hug-crazy center, and without him, it would probably collapse under its own wobbly weight.

With him, the movie ends up being sweet and fun. (And any movie that has Ferrell’s adopted elf saying to a department store Santa, “You sit on a throne of lies!” has my vote.) It even had me, a notorious Christmas commercialization curmudgeon, singing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” at the end with the rest of the cast. And that’s saying something, believe me.

Recommended.

Gay conservative pundit Andrew Sullivan recently wrote about how he’s effectively left the Catholic Church, because he can’t stomach an organization so against his fundamental existence.

Now, the President he’s spent years defending has officially declared that Sully isn’t enough of a citizen to deserve the right to get married.

Gonna leave the Republican Party now, Sully? No, I didn’t think so.

Turn the lights on, and the roaches scatter

More Freeper punditry re: Massachusetts gay marriage decision… is this the country we want? Is this the country we have?

“89% of the American people are on our side. Gay rights has been acceptable to many until now, but it’s getting too close to their own back yard! NOW they’re starting to feel the horrors of demonic incrementalism. It’s comming for them, too. They know, deep in their subconscience minds, their sons are the next targets. The Lord works in strange ways sometimes.”

“Fags keep pushing their agenda through intimidation, specially of the left. I guess this is going to workout for the Republicans. The majority of our population are not fags, and are aware of fags great influence on the Democrats. Hence, it is a plus for us to have the fags keep pressing the left for in-your-face agenda.”

I think Freepers doth protest too much.

Typical rhetoric on FreeRepublic.com, where knickers are in a serious twist

“All those who are living in Mass. have to live in a gay hell forever. They’re not going to be pleased by what they’re about to witness. The demons will be urinating in the streets, and mothers will have to guard their children. It won’t happen within a week, but by next year it will be the sodomote pit of vileness. Things are about to change. The spirt of morality usually not found in Mass. will grow like never before. The Lord works in strange ways. He’s setting them up for their fall.”

I guess I should scrap my plans to urinate in the streets tomorrow. The Freepers will be watching.