Friday, October 27, 2006

Performancing Test

Wolcott on Corker:

Bob Corker is gay. He may not know it yet, he may never know it, he may go to his sarcophagus wrapped in denial, but his fascination with Ford's prowess and good looks gives him away, as does his political affiliation. All Republican political figures are gay, especially the men. When President Bush insists on kissing one bald head after another, the psychosexual symbolism speaks for itself. He's planting his lips on big uncircumcised Kojak peckers. When Rush Limbaugh packs his Viagra and jets off on a tropical jaunt with the guys, it's assumed there are saucy wenches awaiting him under the sultry palms, but I wonder--I wonder if it's cabana boys making the hammock sway under the moonlight. Republican women--those masochistic saints--are more like Joan Allen playing Pat Nixon under layers of frosting, their rigid smiles forged by years of living a lie with a man infatuated with other men and too timid to take out a subscription to Details magazine, lest he be exposed. The closet in which he dwells doubles as a panic room with a convenient minibar, so that if he ever stumbles or strays, he can blame it on the creme de menthe, not the burning yearning of his heart. Perhaps Corker has a special thing for black men, and can't get enough of that smooth and creamy Blair Underwood. There's no shame in that. Many a significant look has been exchanged in the locker room at half-time.

The only shame is that Harold Ford can't run for office without his Republican opponent, Karl Rove, and Ken Mehlman leching on him and taking turns at the keyhole. The South has made such progress, yet in affairs of the groin, it still has so far to go.








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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Marching orders

More love to spread, baby.

Two weeks to go, no time to slack off.

Apparently they are firing back and breaking links. This is gonna get really ugly, really quickly.

Sweet.

Goo Gull Balm, version 2.0

via thesill@dKos
So we need to counter their counter-g.b.

Senate

Connecticut: Ned Lamont
Maryland: Ben Cardin
Michigan: Debbie Stabenow
Missouri: Claire McCaskill
Montana: Jon Tester
New Jersey: Bob Menendez
Tennessee: Harold Ford
Virginia: James Webb

Democrat Held Seats

(CO-03): John Salazar
(GA-03): Jim Marshall
(GA-12): John Barrow
(IA-03): Leonard Boswell
(IL-08): Melissa Bean
(IL-17): Phil Hare
(IN-07): Julia Carson
(NC-13): Brad Miller
(PA-12): John Murtha
(WV-01): Alan Mollohan

Republican Held Seats

(AZ-08): Gabrielle Giffords
(CT-04): Diane Farrell
(CT-05): Chris Murphy
(CO-07): Ed Perlmutter
(IA-01): Bruce Braley
(IL-06): Tammy Duckworth
(IN-02): Joe Donnelly
(IN-08): Brad Ellsworth
(IN-09): Baron Hill
(FL-13): Christine Jennings
(FL-16): Tim Mahoney
(FL-22): Ron Klein
(KY-03): John Yarmuth
(NC-01): Heath Shuler
(MN-06): Patty Wetterling
(NM-01): Patricia Madrid
(NY-20): Kirsten Gillibrand
(NY-24): Michael Arcuri
(NY-26): Jack Davis
(OH-15): Mary Jo Kilroy
(OH-18): Zack Space
(PA-06): Lois Murphy
(PA-08): Patrick Murphy
(PA-07): Joe Sestak
(PA-10): Chris Carney
(VA-02): Phil Kellam
(WI-08): Steve Kagen

"Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war"

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Things to know about some GOP types

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

You can find the source code at the MyDD link below. Spread the love, baby.

Big h/t to Chris Bowers, via Kos and MyDD

And a special thanks to Lord Google for making this possible.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

A Rude Test

The Rude One has a great post up on how to properly frame the Iraq occupation debate.

A Quick and Easy Test to Determine Where You Stand on the Iraq War:
Let's say we line up, oh, hell, a couple hundred thousand American soldiers, fine men and women in combat uniform, officers, non-coms, grunts, and we put them on TV. Then George W. Bush walks in with a loaded glock. Now let's say that the President puts the gun to the temple of the first soldier and says, "If I shoot this Army private dead, there's a chance America will be victorious and democracy will bring peace to Iraq. Do you want me to do it?" There's no guarantees, though - just the chance. What would you say?

For the sake of argument here, let's say that you answer, "Yes, it's worth a soldier for the chance for peace in Iraq." So George W. Bush shoots the soldier in the temple and turns to his advisors, who check reports and, no, still no peace.

*snip*

How many soldiers would you let George W. Bush shoot dead? One? 3000? More? How many would you let him injure? 10? 20,000? More?

If you think the test is biased, unfair, and overly emotional, then you haven't been paying attention. For, really, and come on, is the current U.S. policy in Iraq any more wishful than a lottery of death and mutilation.

Feel free to play with friends. For big fun, substitute Iraqis and multiply by a couple hundred.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Thoughts on a show

Cross-posted at The Babbling Academy (Lazarus Edition)

Evening, all.

Thought I'd give a couple of concert reviews this week. The Dresden Dolls played the Crystal Ballroom last night, and The Decemberists will be playing the same venue tomorrow evening. I guess I'll leave the set list on the front page, and my thoughts on the show "below the fold."

So...

Tunes:

Sing (video), The Dresden Dolls
Backstabber (Live), The Dresden Dolls
The Perfect Fit, The Dresden Dolls
Truce, The Dreden Dolls
Just People And Leaves, The Red Paintings
Walls, The Red Paintings

Enjoy!

(Let's make believe that blogger is cool enough for me to do this in post/extended post format)

------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dresden Dolls.
I got there at about 9:00. There were two opening acts. The Red Paintings played as a two piece combo. Apparently they've had a whole slew of problems this tour. Last night, one of their vehicles crapped out. Several of the band members did not make it to the show, so the violinist and the guitarist/singer performed together. It was great. They were very friendly, and the crowd really got into it. Ono, if you're out there, they're from your continent, so when they get back there, check 'em out.

Jason Webley followed The Red Paintings. Really high energy, got everybody on their feet pretty quick. Which is weird, 'cuz it's just him and his accordion. Think Tom Waits meets Jimmy Durante (credit to my friend Bean for that observation), with a dash of Weird Al. I absolutely loved it. Fairly short set, though. I think he did four songs, plus a guest appearance with The Dresden Dolls later on.

And then the Dolls went on.

Amanda was losing her voice, but it didn't sound bad. The scratchy voice thing really goes well with music that's as emotional as the Dresden Dolls. And damn, did they put emotion into that show. The entire set was great. Webley came out about halfway through and did an abbreviated cover of "Living On A Prayer", with Amanda playing drums and Brian on guitar. They also covered "Mad World" (Tears For Fears), with the singer/guitarist from The Red Paintings doing lead vocals and playing guitar.

Amanda said that they were going to do "The Jeep Song", but, because her voice was going out, she couldn't hit the high notes in the verses. So, The Brigade selected several members of the audience to come up and provide backing vocals. Sounded decent, all of the folks that got on stage knew the song.

"Half-Jack", "Sing", and "Girl Anachronism" were also fantastic, but I enjoyed "Backstabber" the most, I think.

I can't do them justice here, but The Brigade are a great addition to live shows. Much kudos to them

So, yeah. Overall, probably an 8 or 9 out of 10 as far as indoor concerts go (for me, at least). The venue is great. The whole floor is set on springs, the ballroom atmosphere is perfect for the Dolls, and the people were having a good time.

So, that's all I got.

Many blessings!

p.s.

Enjoy the unofficial video for "Backstabber"!



Sunday, October 08, 2006

From the General

I don't really have much in the way of commentary to add to this, but I'd just like to say how much it pisses me off to see these assholes trying to prevent high school kids from promoting tolerance. I don't get why, in an age of school shootings and apathetic teens, anyone would try to silence voices preaching peace and understanding.

Anyway, the General's satire is better for this sort of thing than my poorly written irritation, so...


A threat greater than the homosexuals

Dr. Benjamin A. Soria

Superintendent, Yakima County School District

Dear Dr. Soria,

I know you're going to catch a lot of heat for canceling A. C. Davis High's production of The Laramie Project.
Godless promoters of tolerance will certainly point out that there is nothing in the script that anyone would find offensive, but that is a lie. The play is a brutal indictment of one of our most effective tools for enforcing cultural conformity--the use of violence against those who would corrupt our culture by acting on their in-born attraction to those of their own gender. The Laramie Project demeans our long tradition of encouraging homophobia. It flings mud upon the Jackboots of Righteousness we've shined so lovingly for generations. What could be more offensive than that?

Link to full post

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Harry Nilsson sings Coconut