Remember my last post?

I just listened to Hillary Clinton's speech at the convention, and I'm left with my original feeling that I wished she and Obama hadn't run in the same year. She did a great job, and she took the time to mention that among the equal rights for which she fought were gay rights. Despite my support for Obama, that's more than Barack has done. She also asked her supporters the thousand-dollar question: Were they in this fight only for her, or for that which she stands?

Go Hillary.

Remember my rule?

The one about me saying whatever the hell I feel like on my own blog? I'm about to invoke it now and complain about those Hillary Clinton supporters who are either voting McCain or staying home on Election Day. If you are one of those, I strongly suggest you stop reading now, because you really won't like what I'm about to say. If you insist on reading further, you are not allowed to get angry with me for reading what I urged you not to read.

(Keep in mind that in this post I'm referring only to those Clinton supporters who call themselves or who could be called PUMAs, which is idiot for "Party Unity My Ass." If you're a Clinton supporter who's not a fool, then you're probably planning to vote for Obama and you're safe to read this post.)

I've spent a good deal of time over the last few months debating PUMAs in online forums, and I am convinced that their objections to Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee are either dumb or disingenuous.

The Dumb

1. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. (Only when you count the votes in a very selective way. In any case, the Democratic primary is decided on delegates, not popular vote. )
2. Those caucus states shouldn't matter...they're not democratic! (Maybe not, but them's the rules to which all contenders - including Senator Clinton - agreed at the outset.)
3. There was sexism in the race, and that's not fair. (Yeah, and Obama had to deal with racism. Life's tough that way. Deal with it.)

The Disingenuous

1. Hillary won the states Democrats need to win, like Ohio and Florida. (She did...against another Democrat. There is zero evidence that she would have done so against a Republican.)
2. Experience is what matters most. (If that's so, why didn't the PUMAs back McCain from the start?)
3. Obama couldn't close the deal. (I don't even know what that means, but I know it was lifted verbatim from Mark Penn, one of Hillary Clinton's spin doctors.)

It's sad that we won't have a female president in January, yes, but exciting that we might have one who's African-American, but of course the PUMAs can't see that. They're so blinded by rage, bitterness and resentment that they've almost completely lost their grip on reality. They've even begun to tell themselves that John McCain, whose voting record on abortion earned a big zero from NARAL, is some kind of moderate and isn't interested in overturning Roe vs. Wade. That's what we're dealing with here. They've even started to resent Hillary Clinton herself for endorsing Obama and asking them to follow her lead, which proves that their support was never about Hillary Clinton's agenda, policy positions, or qualifications. The PUMAs wanted their way, and now that it's clear they won't get it, they're going to throw the biggest, brattiest tantrum the Democratic Party has ever seen. They're going to do their level best to live up to the stereotype of women as irrational, emotion-ruled weepers who should never have been entrusted with the vote. And here I thought that electing a woman to the Oval Office was about breaking down stereotypes, not justifying them.

In the end, Americans may cast their votes as they wish, and if PUMAs want to waste theirs on some kind of imaginary revenge fantasy...well, no one can stop them. However, when President McCain signs the next abortion restriction or nominates another Scalia or Thomas to SCOTUS, I don't want to hear women's rights PUMAs shriek, because they'll have helped make it happen.

Going too far

All right, I admit I was floored to learn that someone actually got arrested for not returning overdue library books. However, I was even more astonished to hear this little gem from the defendant:

Dalibor paid her $170 fine and was released.

Still, she isn’t planning on returning the books.“I still have the books and I don’t plan to return them because they’re paid for now,” Dalibor said.

Umm...the good people at the Grafton Library have already demonstrated that they're willing to go more than the extra mile to recover the fines they're owed. Does this woman think they'll do less to recover their missing books?

And she votes. Or so I fear.

New favorite lyric:

"We all play the game and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at Solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
Who call and say, 'Come dance with me'
And murmur vague obscenities
Ugly girls like me
At seventeen"

Artist: Janis Ian (Janis Ian)
Song: At Seventeen
Album: Between the Lines

The house is now sufficiently warmed

Thanks for all who attended, brought/cooked food, gave gifts...it was greatly appreciated. Get ready to come over again because the Halloween bash will be there as well, and by then we should have some painting done and maybe the deck cleaned. Oh, the Halloween bash will be October 25, which is the Saturday before the 31st. I considered holding the party on the day itself, but I wasn't sure how easy people would find it to dash home from work, get into costume, and still have the will to party. Start thinking about your costume!

Courtesy of Babyraven, my Manga self graces this post. Or curses it. Whatever you like. My head is not quite that large in real life, though. Well, I mean it's larger than than the actual image size, but not as large as it is relative to the manga-body.

I have Netflixed the first disc of the Bionic Woman redux, although I've only watched one episode. I'll post about that later when I can offer a more informed opinion.

Fall League '08 approacheth, and I have been asked to join not one but two core teams. (As opposed to simply putting my name in for the draft.) This makes me feel all warm inside while leaving intact my crusty exterior. Like a s'more.

Did you ever have one of those moments...

...where you ask yourself, "What in hell could have brought me to this moment in life?" I'm about to have one of those moments in about forty-five minutes, and it's going to be a doozy. You know, I used to think that bombing on stage would be the most embarrassing thing that could happen to me, but, well...sometimes when you think you've seen to the bottom of the Well of Possible Humiliation, it's useful to be reminded that said well may possibly have no bottom. I'm not going to go into details because 1) I don't want certain persons recognizing themselves here; and 2) I certainly don't want the Internet maintaining a record. I suppose objection #2 is specious as there will be photographic evidence of this moment, but I'd like to control the damage as much as I can. Good thing I don't have much of a reputation to ruin. Ye gods.

Speaking of being on stage, I am working on rescheduling my June show for sometime in mid-to-late September. More details as they solidify.

New favorite lyric:

"He's got his arms around every man's dream
Crumbs in his beard from the seafood special
Oh, can't you see my world is falling apart
Baby, please, leave the biker, leave the biker, break his heart"

Artist: Fountains of Wayne (Chris Collingwood/Adam Schlesinger)
Song: Leave the Biker
Album: Fountains of Wayne