Paging Winston Smith

The National Parks Service has ordered footage of gay groups gathering at national sites removed from videotapes shown at the Lincoln Memorial. In their place has been added footage of Promise Keepers and pro-Gulf War demonstrators. (Lots of funny/scary related detail in the linked story – crosses, creationism, etc.) Via Atrios.

We got the government we so richly deserved. Now it’s time to take it back.

Listening to…

“Cold Missouri Waters,” Richard Shindell, Cry Cry Cry

Aren’t you surprised I didn’t mention another Patty Griffin song? 🙂

Thanks again to David, King of the Mix CD. Long live the King!

Sister cities

Seriously fucking scary talk over at Dean Esmay. If anyone doubts how much the right is licking their chops over the possibility of making some towel-head countries into glass parking lots, all you need to do is read this thread. Utterly sickening.

I honestly think now that the sugar high of the Iraq invasion is fading, they’re jonesing for another fix. The problem with addicts is, they need more and more each time to maintain the high. We need a methadone clinic for xenophobic murderers.

Grrrrr.

It’s Monday, and I still haven’t seen “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” yet, unlike everyone else in the known universe who’s interested in these movies. Last night I came close, but the shows were already sold out by the time I got there.

At first I thought, hey, I can wait. What’s the big deal? But ever since Wednesday I’ve been chomping at the bit, and all the weblog reviews don’t help matters any.

For some perverse reason (yes, I’m sure the holidays are a major factor) all of my usual movie buddies are unavailable. Most of the time I don’t have a problem going alone to movies. But going alone to see LOTR:ROTK seems a little pathetic, even for me.

I told my good friend Lisa I would drive to Sheboygan Friday to see the movie with her. But can I wait that long without exploding? I really really want to see this movie.

Grrrr.

Quote of the day

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”

-H.L. Mencken (via Salon)

Tom Ridge wishes everyone Happy Holidays!

Just in time for the Christmas travel season, it’s Threat Level Orange! Al Qaeda is trying to use planes as weapons, but please don’t change your plans! We have everything under control! But you should still be pretty freaked out. We are. Seriously. I mean, we don’t know, you don’t know, it’s a fucked up situation. There’s nothing you can do! Merry Christmas!

UPDATE: And for the kids, it’s Threat Level Ernie! Have fun, kids!

UPDATE PART DEUX: More high-minded debate on the subject of terror warnings over at Dean Esmay. I’ve done all I can there.

Getting ideas

Some choice quotes from a New York Times story about how a majority of people in their latest poll would support a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage:

The most positive feelings toward gay people were registered among respondents under 30, and among those who knew gay people.

Everyone knows gay people.

“I still believe that marriage should be between a man and woman,” said 49-year-old Republican Theresa Eaton. “If I knew that we had a neighbor who was gay, I would not let my nieces and nephews go close by there. I don’t want to accept their lifestyle. It can be acquired and it is not right.”

Theresa: I’ll bet you already have a neighbor who is gay. Be afraid. Be very afraid. In fact, we have your address and we’re firing up the van as we speak. What – no kids of your own? You’re not in one of those non-procreative marriages, are you? If so, shame on you.

“I want my children to grow up and be normal people like me and my father and my grandfather was,” said Ziad Nimri, 41, a salesman and a Democrat who lives in Spokane, Wash. “I don’t want my children to start getting ideas. They see it’s out in the open and you see men kissing men on television these days.”

Ziad: Your children *are* getting ideas. Like that gay people *are* “normal.” Watch out for those idea things.

——————

What the hell is wrong with this country? Why have we not gotten the point, when every other industrialized country in the world is light-years ahead of us on this? Why is it still even an issue? Your theories are welcome. I honestly don’t understand it.

UPDATE: Criticism of the NYTimes sloppy, slanted reporting by En Banc. (via Atrios)

Spam, spam, spam, ham and spam

Last night I received a can of Spam as a gift. (I was going to post the story behind this, but it’s just too complicated for the payoff you’d get.) Which leads to a question – has anyone actually eaten this stuff? I never have, and I’m curious to hear other people’s experiences.

I went onto spam.com and there were some truly scary recipes there: Spam and Turkey Muffins, and Spam and Jam Layered Sandwich, to name two. I feel like I should eat this stuff just to say I’ve eaten it. But does anyone know how it can be prepared to make it palatable? I seem to remember people saying the texture was “spongy,” which doesn’t bode well at all.

Let’s just call it the Words Mean Things Spam Recipe Contest.

Thought experiment

Did Monica Lewinsky hand this country over to George W. Bush?

My answer is, sadly, yes.

Extravagance

I tend to buy as much stuff for myself at Christmastime as I do for other people. You know, you’re out at the stores, looking for gifts, and you think, hey, I’d really like that myself. Not in the spirit of the season, certainly, but it’s a trap I seem to fall into every year.

This year I took it to insane extremes. I bought a 34-inch Sony HDTV 16×9 TV. It’s not huge compared to my old TV, but because it has the wide aspect ratio, watching a widescreen movie on DVD is amazing. It’s a thing of beauty. I feel like I’m living in “the very near future.” It was expensive, but I’m paying it off over two years and I know I’ll have it for many years to come. So I’ve gotten over my anti-consumerist guilt – pretty much.

And as if I needed another reason never to move from my condo, now I have another one: the damn TV is so heavy, I doubt I’ll ever be able to get it out of here.

Anyone want to come over and watch “The Matrix” with me?