Obama Owes His Voters

December 24, 2012 by Leave a comment

After his 2008 win, he talked a lot about bipartisanship. This time he’s determined to squeeze it out of Republicans. He believes he owes that to the people who voted for him.

That’s not exactly President Obama speaking. This characterization of the president’s feelings comes from “staffers and friends” as their comments are written up in the Politico/Random House e-book End of the Line and as that e-book is described by co-author Glenn Thrush.

Obama’s first term makes me reluctant to get my hopes up, but the words in Thrush’s article are pretty sweet. Let’s hope the President’s true sentiments have survived the many layers those words were filtered through. Let’s hope that this time, Obama will stand up for progressive values.

Filed under Obama, Politics

Limbaugh’s “Classy” Comment Explained

December 23, 2012 by 1 Comment

A spokesperson for Rush Limbaugh claims that his recent comments about the National Rifle Association have been taken out of context. Though Limbaugh did call the lobbying organization “classy” after its CEO Wayne LaPierre held a news conference suggesting an armed guard at every school, he did not mean what the lamestream media want us to think he meant. The anonymous spokesperson points out that Limbaugh also called the NRA’s desire for an armed guard in every restaurant “mealy” and their call for one in every car “motory.”

Rush Limbaugh as drawn by Rex Lameray in July ...

Rush Limbaugh as drawn by Rex Lameray in July 2004. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Filed under Politics Tagged with , ,

Saturday Night Zodiac Cat – Capricorn

December 22, 2012 by Leave a comment

Buzzfeed has the full repertoire of Zodiac cats.

December 22 – January 19: Capricorn Cats are incredibly ambitious, and they’re always determinedly pursuing projects to improve themselves. If you are a Capricorn Cat, you are probably even more of a control freak than regular cats, which is saying something.

Libra Cat

Filed under Quickies Tagged with , , , ,

Quote of the Day: Atrios on the Consequences of Violence

December 18, 2012 by Leave a comment

I do wish more people who manage to fully comprehend the broad trauma a mass shooting can have on our country would consider the consequences of a decade of war.

- Atrios, “War” (December 18, 2012)

Filed under Politics, Quickies, Quote of the Day Tagged with

Monday Night Christmas Song – Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Mariah Carey, “All I Want For Xmas Is You”

December 17, 2012 by Leave a comment

It’s the kids’ chorus that makes this one extra fun.

Filed under Music, Music Videos, Quickies, Videos Tagged with , , , ,

Quote of the Day: Jay Ackroyd on the NRA

December 15, 2012 by Leave a comment

JAY ACKROYD: Just a reminder. The NRA is an industry lobby for the gun industry. The industry that makes consumer products largely designed to kill people. Not deer. Not rabbits.

- Jay Ackroyd, “Broken” (December 15, 2012)

SEE ALSO
Quote of the Day: Howard Stern on Responding to the Aurora Horror
Sunday Night Video – The Melissa Harris-Perry Show Addresses Gun Rights

Filed under Politics Tagged with , ,

Thursday Night Video – Teaching Dogs to Drive

December 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

I heard this mentioned on the Stern show but forgot about it until my friend S. emailed a link. I love how casual the dogs seem as they go about their driving. Of course, you’re going to have to teach a cat to drive before I’m really impressed.

Filed under Quickies, Videos Tagged with ,

Wednesday Night Music – Bettye LaVette, “Let Me Down Easy”

December 12, 2012 by 2 Comments

Went to a new hair stylist recently and was impressed by his taste. He recommended a 1930s comedy duo I’d never heard of, a treatise on dirty jokes that had also escaped my attention, a small bookstore on Post Street in San Francisco — and the music playing in his salon was Bettye LaVette. Here she is singing “Let Me Down Easy.”

Filed under Music, Music Videos, Quickies, Videos Tagged with ,

Tuesday Night Video – World’s Fastest Juggling Pianist

December 11, 2012 by Leave a comment

World’s fastest juggling pianist? Or world’s only juggling pianist?

Filed under Quickies, Videos Tagged with ,

60 Second Movie Review: Skyfall (2012)

December 11, 2012 by 1 Comment

It’s been a couple weeks since I skipped out on life on a Monday afternoon and went to watch Skyfall at 11:40 am with a half dozen other people in the theater and a tub of popcorn all for myself.

Other than the buttery goodness, what I remember most of the latest James Bond film is how aware it was of itself as a James Bond film. That’s somewhat true of all Bond films. Sean Connery may have kept a straight face while calling Honor Blackman “Pussy Galore” in 1964′s Goldfinger, but the film was definitely winking at the audience.

Honor Blackman and Sean Connery in Goldfinger

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Filed under Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies Tagged with , ,

Monday Night Photo – Dan Savage and Terry Miller Marry in Washington State

December 10, 2012 by Leave a comment

I’m a big-time Dan Savage fan. He has his critics on the left, but he’s so often been out there on the forefront of gay rights and sex positivity. I also remember how, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts, Savage’s print column in the local alternative weekly was the only aggressive voice I knew speaking regularly on behalf of minority voices in the sex community. Now that we’re both older, I treasure the diversity and thoughtfulness of his podcast. And now that Washington State finally legalized same sex marriage, Dan and his already-husband-in-Canada Terry Miller got themselves wed in Washington!

From Terry’s Instagram page…

Vows. With @dansavage #MEdayWA

Filed under Celebrity, Podcasts, Quickies, Savage Love Tagged with , , , , ,

Conservatives Betray Selfish Rationale

December 10, 2012 by 7 Comments

Mitt Romney and other conservatives have suggested that Obama was reelected because his voters wanted stuff. Policies like immigration reform, gay marriage, and above all health care reform were seen as give-aways for which voters grabbed. The idea has been rightly ridiculed, but I haven’t seen anyone comment about how it reflects on conservatives’ voting choices.

* I was born a U.S. citizen, and I support the rights of immigrants.

* I’m heterosexual, and I support the right of same-sex couples to marry.

* I have employer-supplied health care, and I support extending health care to all.

* I’m white, and I support affirmative action.

* I’m male, and I support equal rights and equal pay for women, as well as access to contraception.

* I earn more than the minimum wage, and I support making sure minimum wage workers can afford a decent standard of living.

* I have no reason to think I will be targeted for torture, and I oppose torture and I want those who authorized it under the last administration to be held accountable.

* The worst effects of global warning will occur after I’m gone, and I support doing far more than we’re doing to combat the warming (or, more accurately, to avoid making it worse).

None of these statements makes me unusual in any way.

Where do conservative politicians and pundits get the idea that people vote out of self-interest, rather than in the interests of their country? The only reason that I can think of for such an assumption is that that is how they make their own choices.

Filed under Mitt Romney, Politics, Pundits

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