SassyBlonde

I went and did my civic duty. Now go and do yours, if you're a Maryland Democrat.

The ONE Campaign is proud to announce that the EDUN designed ONE shirt will be available from Nordstrom starting on September 11. This shirt is made in Lesotho of 100% African cotton. Buying an EDUN ONEtee will help bring trade to an area with extremely high unemployment. Lesotho, classified as one of the poorest developing countries in the world, has an average per capita income of just $402.

EDUN ONEtees are available now at the ONEStore for $40. Go over, buy yours, help fight poverty and AIDs in Africa.

... to say that we love Barack Obama. Hooray! This is the best news I've had all day. Further reasons we love this man:

"It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war,"

...and...

(On Abe Lincoln)"The life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible," Obama said. "He tells us that there is power in words. He tells us that there is power in conviction. That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people. He tells us that there is power in hope."

Run, Barack, Run.

All righty. We loves us some Obama in this house, but are any of us here man enough to wear this tee-shirt? Hmmmm.

I don't know what I'm more sad about... simply the fact that Eastern Market burned or that I won't be able to get hot dogs at the meat market there, or the lovely shrimp at the seafood vendor. *pouts* All joking aside, though, it really sucks for those guys vending down there. Hope the city really does pitch in to help rebuild quickly. Check out the rebuilding blog.

Today's YouTube RoundUp is dedicated to that stinking gasbag Bill O'Reilly. There are not even words to describe what I think this man deserves in terms of a smack down, but to have it delivered by an 8-year old? Priceless.

(In fairness, this is an ad for the band the Bastard Fairies, whose work I'm basically indifferent about, but who hired a genius in the director of this ad.)

Back to the point: O'Reilly was not really ever on my radar until his interview with Terry Gross (Fresh Air) aired on NPR, in which he conclusively proved what a complete asshat he is. From there, it was all downhill. Some of the many reasons I hate Bill O'Reilly:

• O'Reilly v. Rivera (normally I'm not so fond of Geraldo, but here I was cheering)
• Dave Letterman and O'Reilly (nice one Dave)
• The Next O'Reilly (I'd be this one has a pretty good shot at becoming as much of an asshole as Bill)

Need a good laugh? Visit DCDMV. (Yeah, just so you know, this is a parody site. Lots of un-P.C. humor.)

No, it's not the real DC DMV, it's a hell of a lot funnier. Because the real DC DMV is no laughing matter: it's more of a total joke, really. Sad, so sad.

Did you know that Downtown Silver Spring is private property? Thanks to the Silver Spring Penguin, I'm now as outraged as the rest of the people participating in the Downtown Silver Spring Photography Walk. To summarize, basically the private company that leases the land for the DSS development banned photography, claiming that the area was "private property" per their $1 lease from the county. WTF? If it has a public road running through it, you'd think the answer would be a little more cut and dried, people. I realize that the county ceded Ellsworth Drive to Peterson in the lease, but it seems like a bit of a stretch to claim that an outdoor street paid for by $100 million county tax dollars is now private property. Especially when the county has been spending so much time debating the use of public space on Ellsworth Drive. For those of you who have missed the debate going on over Downtown Silver Spring's photography ban, check out these links:

• Photography Protest In Silver Spring Tomorrow (DCist)
• Survey Says "Smile!" (Penguin)
• Public Or Private Space? Line Blurs In Silver Spring(WaPo)
• Photographs Spur Debate On First Amendment (BaltSun)
• Photos On The 4th: Showdown In Silver Spring(WaPo)

UPDATE: 7/5/2007-- There was much debate in my mind as to whether I should post this entry last night, but I've decided I'm tired of not caring, and I'm tired of being quiet and polite to the people who keep people like George Bush in office by being racist and ignorant and bullying people into silence by calling them unpatriotic and unsupportive. Here's my two cents.

At the outset of this rant, I am going to refer you to the rules of engagement around here. This is my blog and I'll rant if I want to. It doesn't happen very often on this scale, so get over it. And don't forward me any more of this shit please.

Incindiary title, no? Those of you who know me know that I have a real mean streak concerning right-wing politics. I want to cram all the bullshit those guys spout back down their gaping maws and jump on their heads every time they start it up again. One very tangible encounter I have almost daily is those damned email forwards spouting super-"patriotic" navel gazing sewage into my inbox about "killing those terrorist bastards" and "supporting our men over there".*

AND. I. HAVE. HAD. IT.

Here, for your enjoyment, I would like to reply to a crappy, ignorant email forward that has been circulating since March 2003 and that I have received at least three times in the last year from different people who think this shit is funny. I'm just done, people.

I had a very similar experience to Aimee's over at greeblemonkey last night. I've gotten to the point that around July 4th, rather than being proud of our nation and unabashedly patriotic, I feel vaguely sick and don't want to look at the news. Something is wrong and has been wrong for a long time.

I used to be outraged. I was angry and outraged even when it wasn't "patriotic" to do so and we were encouraged to support our president. At this point I'm just tired. Exhausted. Too tired and sick to even make fun of a racist and ignorant email forward I've seen in my inbox more times than I can count sent to me by intelligent people who should know better.

I feel like the outrage I feel toward the Bush administration is pointless, because there are far too many people who would rather vote for a man whose morality they base on his church attendance and pro-life status rather than his commitment to honesty and the good and intelligent stewardship of the control of our nation. Generally I try to stay away from political rants on here, but here I'd like to pass on the statement from Keith Olbermann which so many people have been sending around, simply because it was so much a relief to hear someone articulate what's been running around in my head since 9/11. Enjoy. (Watch the video here)

Keith Olbermann:

I accuse you, Mr. Bush, of lying this country into war.

I accuse you of fabricating in the minds of your own people, a false implied link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

I accuse you of firing the generals who told you that the plans for Iraq were disastrously insufficient.

I accuse you of causing in Iraq the needless deaths of 3,586 of our brothers and sons, and sisters and daughters, and friends and neighbors.

I accuse you of subverting the Constitution, not in some misguided but sincerely-motivated struggle to combat terrorists, but to stifle dissent.

I accuse you of fomenting fear among your own people, of creating the very terror you claim to have fought.

I accuse you of exploiting that unreasoning fear, the natural fear of your own people who just want to live their lives in peace, as a political tool to slander your critics and libel your opponents.

I accuse you of handing part of this Republic over to a Vice President who is without conscience, and letting him run roughshod over it.

And I accuse you now, Mr. Bush, of giving, through that Vice President, carte blanche to Mr. Libby, to help defame Ambassador Joseph Wilson by any means necessary, to lie to Grand Juries and Special Counsel and before a court, in order to protect the mechanisms and particulars of that defamation, with your guarantee that Libby would never see prison, and, in so doing, as Ambassador Wilson himself phrased it here last night, of becoming an accessory to the obstruction of justice.

"I saw this item about Bono's Liberty Medal acceptance speech being censored to remove a line about torture and clicked over to the site to see for myself. The line, at least this morning, is in both the video and the transcript. But if you've got a few minutes, give the whole thing a listen/read. I can't remember the last time I heard inspiring, thoughtful, critical yet still celebratory words about America like this. It's amazing to think there are like 20 people running for president right now but I haven't heard any of them talking like this. (Well, maybe one.)"--Clicked

As Whoopi Goldberg so astutely pointed out in response to Hasselbeck's nonsense, unless girlfriend has been in a position where she's had to contemplate such a decision - because of poverty, because of social sanction, because of sexual assualt, because of lack of support, because of fear, because of any one of the innumerable, painful reasons that pushes women and girls to make such a terrible decision - she can just shut her mouth. It is the very, very rare woman who makes that decision lightly, and it is the very, very rare woman who leaves that decision lightly: most women go into it gripped with sadness, and come out of it the same way, save for whatever measure of relief has been afforded them for being able to escape circumstances that they feared would be far worse. Nobody wants to get an abortion, Hasselcrack. It's not a weekend in Vegas. Oh, hey, I think I'll go get an abortion this weekend - I could use a coupla days of rest, and I didn't want this baby anyway!

It's one thing to be 'against' abortion (which is fine, but isn't everybody 'against' abortion in the sense that we all wish that it didn't have to happen? Nobody is FOR abortion; they're for the right of women to access it if they need it); it's quite another to suggest that women who get abortions are vapid, self-absorbed twits.

--Rachel Brownell @ Strollerderby

So I have to update y'all-- one of the things I'm doing today is going over to Sloans and Kenyon in Bethesda (where I scored that rockin' flute earlier this year) to check out the auction of Barbara Bullock's stuff. Remember her?

Throughout the hour of unabashed confessional testimony from Bullock yesterday afternoon, some jurors and spectators in U.S. District Court stared in amazement at her account of thoughtless spending sprees -- and laughed out loud at her candor.

"Miss Bullock, would it be fair to say you like to shop?" Assistant U.S. Attorney James Cooper asked.

"No, that's not fair," Bullock said. "I love to shop."

(WaPo)

Karida over at Neighborhood Fiber Company posted a heads-up about HGTV's Change the World: Start at Home contest where HGTV is going to make over the winning neighborhood, selected from sites across the country, and DC's Anacostia is on the list!! You can vote once a day until December 21st, so go over and vote for change!!!! We now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast...

I love this. We so need some cameras on my street. I wish those things worked for stop signs-- I saw a lady and her dog almost get plowed over by a cop who ran the four-way in our intersection yesterday. *hrmph*

See, there's a reason I don't usually blog about politics: someone always gets there first and says exactly what I'm thinking, and usually better than I can.

Exhibit A. (This blog is generally NSFW)

Exhibit B.

Exhibit C.

The Vagina Monologues's Eve Ensler on Sarah Palin at HuffPo.

Hilarious. Love it.



And furthermore, Paris Hilton for President?

Thanks to my fabulous brother in law for this one, which is *totally not YouTube, but meh, close enough.

I've already made my decision for November, but of the things I've been most frustrated about during this election cycle is the sheer time burden of having to sift through sound bytes, spin and lies to ferret out where the presidential candidates actually stand on all of the issues.

Fortunately, OFRecord.com has created a handy table comparing the positions of the candidates head to head, complete with facts and figures on proposed tax burdens, position statements, and proposed policies and programs.

Best of all, it's compiled by Bespoke Information from CITED SOURCES. No or little spin, pure information.

Go. Read. Then VOTE.

Site heads-up and cartoon courtesy of Hugh MacLeod at GapingVoid.

LiveSnarking the debate on Twitter in fifteen. Tune in-- it's gonna be good.

I know I've been overly political here lately for my norm, but it's getting to be too much for me here in the nation's capital and I can't not make a shout-out when I see something that makes me smile as much as this does:

Sarah Palin et al like to call us "Joe Six-Pack," and they think we like it too. They think it sounds folksy and homey and cute.

Sure. It's a folksy, homey, cute way to euphemistically call us something very close to trashy, ignorant hillbillies. We're just not supposed to be smart enough to realize it.
...
So, Governor Palin et al, let me tell you who the Joe Six-Pack that you think you're talking to really is.

Joe is the guy I worked with who served in Vietnam, worked construction, had four kids, thought Portland micro-brews were for hippies and weirdos -- and told me one day about having to change churches, because "our pastor spends all his time talking about how bad the gays are, and I go to church for God, and I really don't think God cares who you sleep with or who you marry." Oh, and he went back to school at 45 to get a degree in architecture, so I guess he won't be Joe Six-Pack soon. His income will put him into that Better Class of People y'all think you're part of.

Joe is a writer or an actor or an artist who waits tables, pumps gas, shelves books, does landscaping, delivers pizza, scrubs toilets, and otherwise works his or her ass off all day or night to pay the mortgage so they can continue to write or act or make art.

Joe spends 8 hours a day on an assembly line with a wrench, turning bolts and hoping you don't send his job to a child in China. On Thursday nights he bowls with a bunch of construction workers and he does share a pitcher of beer with them. Budweiser, even. Then he goes home, puts on his ABBA records, and dances with his partner -- Andrew.
...
Joe Six-Pack isn't who you think he/she is. You don't have a fucking clue about Joe Six-Pack.

I wish I were only talking to one camp. But I'm talking to my own, too. We "liberal elitists." Because we say the same kind of things when talking about "the average American." We assume we know them, and they are the same people Palin knows.
...
Joe Six-Pack.

You are JSP. I am JSP. I grew up white and middle class. I have that endangered mortgage. I worry about putting food on the table. Hell, I'm an artist and a writer, I'm not even as high up as blue collar...I can barely find a good shirt to wear. And I'm bisexual, polyamorous, and pagan. And by the way, I know Cindy Soccer Mom. She's a full time nurse, "single" mother, drives a minivan, takes her kids to soccer and dance classes -- and goes home at night to strap on a leather harness and roger her girlfriend silly.

I am Joe Six-Pack. I am not who they think that they are talking to. Are you?

-- from Copperwise on LJ

There's gonna be some hot LiveSnark action at Chez Sassy tonight-- check out my Twitter feed, and The Muse's and some others will be joining in. Bring it!

All righty peeps. It's time for one last LiveSnark before we warm up those fingers for the voting booth-- Chez Sassy will be rockin' it at 9pm over on Twitter. For more fun, follow The Muse, watch the Current feed, and follow along on the CSPAN Debate Hub (complete with interactive timeline!) And as always, download the rules from DebateDrink before we start, and follow @DebateDrink on Twitter for drinking cues.



Oh, and as always, there will be a food theme if you're one of the lucky participants here in our living room: The Homemade Ice Cream Sundaes of Sweet Victory. Flavor candidates: Cheesecake, Sour Cream Strawberry, Fresh Mint Chocolate, Guinness Chocolate, and Lavender Honey. Moderator: Apple Bread Pudding. Awesome.

Boy, was it good tonight-- The Muse, Annelisa, DanP and his girl and D were all here for some hot LiveSnark action tonight, and the quips were flying fast and furious. I got a few good ones in, and check it out-- I even got one on screen during the debate on Current:



I can't begin to say how happy that made me, especially as I made it on right as Obama made an explanation of his view on Roe v. Wade and abortion, which made me fall in love with him all over again. (I have a post on that forthcoming, gird your loins.)

All in all it was a great time, and the ice cream was a big hit:



The cheesecake with blueberry sauce was the big hit of the night, and we even eventually remembered to dig out the waffle cone bowls that I bought. Tasty, tasty.

I'd like to take a minute here to outline why I'm voting for Barack Obama tomorrow, not because I think I can necessarily change and hearts and minds at this late hour, but because win or lose, I want to remember the eve of this election and why I'm casting my lot the way I am. (And also keeping in mind that I'm following Aimee's format for Mrs. Flinger's challenge.)

1. He's Smart And He's Not Afraid To Show It.
   I love a smart man. And I love a smart man even more when he's not afraid to be smart, talk smart, and use his brain. (Say what you want about the way he carries or conducts himself, but I'll take an "elitist" former President of the Harvard Law Review any day of the week. You don't get that by being a war hero or by lining somebody's pocket-- you EARN IT.) He knows how to speak intelligently, he can carry on a debate with aplomb and thoughtful honesty and he isn't afraid to put out facts and figures on the line, no scripts or prompts.The reason this matters to me is because this man is going to be the one who helps design the plan for our future. He'll also be the one negotiates on our behalf with foreign leaders-- converses with them, spends time with them, takes them on in the vernacular fray. I want someone who can argue effectively and intelligently on our behalf without seeming like a moron or a belligerent blowhard. Tim Ferriss had it right on the money when he said "how you say something IS what you say." I want someone who is smart enough to make his case eloquently in the trenches. Moreover, I want someone who thinks through his plans to the logical outcomes a year, five years, ten years down the road, extending to even after his presidency ends, and Obama has done that in spades and laid it out time and again (see his response to McCain's healthcare plan from the last debate.)
2. He May Not BE Like Me, But He Doesn't Lie About It.
   I'm a raving fan of the Joe The Plumber video for a lot of reasons, but one of my favorites is the couple of times that Obama refers to himself as a rich guy. He's not pretending to be like the rest of us, and he's not lying about where he actually stands either. More to the point, he may be wealthy, but he doesn't flaunt it, and in the process he seems to be looking out for those of us who aren't in policy. And his wife shops at J. Crew. I know it's shallow, but seriously, it matters to me.
3. It's The Economy, Stupid. (RIP Mr. Russert, and Godspeed.)
   His tax plan makes sense almost any way I've tried to look at it. That is all.
4. The War.
   He opposes the war and had the balls to do it from the beginning, when everyone was too afraid of seeming unpatriotic to do the same. Everyone is tired of this war. Even my mother, who is staunchly in the McCain camp, admitted to me today that she's going to be glad if Obama wins because she's tired of this war and she wants it over. It's time to admit that it was a mistake and move on, with all due respect to the troops who have worked hard to make it happen. I don't want any more of their parents to have to support an idiotic policy because they need to justify why their children died for it, and it's time for us to stop putting those soldiers in harm's way for the same reason. Obama opposed the war before he was a U.S. Senator, when he didn't even have a vote yet (thanks to Aimee for the quote): "I know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors... I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars."
5. Health...care?
   Obama's health care reform plan makes sense, and it's workable. It won't eventually cause the unsupported collapse of the American healthcare system. And it will actually give an affordable alternative to people who need one, and will do it much MUCH more quickly than McCain's would and in a much more sustainable way.
6. He Respects My Rights And Responsibilities As A Woman.
   There are not many things that get me fired up like this one does. Yes, I like him be cause he's pro-choice, but that's not the only facet of this issue that wins him my vote: he supports comprehensive sex education and healthcare reform making contraceptive coverage more widely available. See, this comes back to him being smart: he understands that if people are properly educated and supplied, there wouldn't need to be as many unplanned pregnancies in the first place. Moreover, he gets that that is the kid of decision that should be made in private in consultation with your partner, your doctor and your chosen deity, and he has the guts to say exactly that succinctly and in a straightforward manner, for which I give him extreme respect.
7. Civil Rights. For Everyone. EVERYONE.
   While he makes a distinction between a religiously sanctioned marriage and gay civil marriage, he supports the rights of EVERYONE to have a legally sanctioned partnership with equal rights across the board, including adoption and the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Everyone should have the right to be with the one they love, raise a family, and have all the rights and priveleges of a committed relationship, whether it's Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve or Alice and Ellen. Just ask this lovely pair. (Congratulations Frank!!!!!!!!!!)
8. Experience: He Has The Kind That Matters.
   Having lived in D.C. as long as I already have, I can pretty much tell you that if you have to choose between an idealist and a career man in politics, the idealist should always be your first choice. I don't believe that having worked in Washington or in any specific executive position necessarily makes you a better presidential candidate. What I DO believe matters is how you've spent your time, patience and intelligent work before you get to that point. Did you spend it on the ground, working to make things better for the everyday man on the street? The AIDs victim? The disenfranchised? The environment? Good. Did you spend it in Washington "opposing" the bigwigs while eating lunch with them? Not so good.
9. The Death Factor
   I'm not going to lie, I think no matter who gets elected I think we have a damn good chance of something happening to one of them while in office, and it scares the hell out of me and I think someone should be saying this rationally. If McCain kicks it, we get the crazy lady. If something (oh deities and saints and fates and The Spaghetti Monster may it not be so) happens to Obama, we get Biden. Vanilla, but all right and a damn sight better backup plan. I know this is not necessarily position based, but the presidency is a hard job and I'm tired of being scared of what would happen if the CIC makes an exit (oh my GOD, only a couple more months of Cheney fear. Oy.)
10. Green In All The Right Ways.
    $150 billion for alternative fuels, lower LCFS carbon standards, a good thinking position on nuclear power, and a smart opinion on the gas tax (I love a man who can admit his mistakes and learn from them.) I want a planet to live on when I'm 80. That's the long and short of it.
11. Shame, Or Rather The Lack Thereof.
    Lastly and most importantly in some ways, I want a man I can be proud of to be president. The last two presidents have found ways upon ways to make me want to die of shame for being an American with that guys as my leader, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm tired of going out of this country and having to apologize to people I meet for the way we relate to the rest of the world. I'm tired of watching out leader give speeches and being angry because he sounds like an ignorant, flippant moron when I know he's actually pretty intelligent in there somewhere. I'm tired of leaders who make unilateral decisions that take international moral authority and clout away from our foreign policy. And I'm tired of being depressed when I watch the political news, which is all we get around here pretty much.
    
    Barack Obama gives me hope that we can be better than we have been, and that the government CAN be made to be accountable and take care of us the way it should if we all wake up and start paying attention and working toward that goal. Not only does he preach a message of hope, but he makes me believe it by backing it up. That's the long and short of it: he gives me HOPE. And I'll cast my ballot for that any day.

I am sitting in my chair in my living room, watching CNN and weeping with joy and relief.

There comes a time when it just makes sense to move on, no holds barred, and this is one of those times.

ZeFrank has posted a challenge that I think all of us blue dots should take: From 52 to 48 With Love. (sports racers' responses here.)

No matter how much we'd like to show them the raspberry, no matter how excluded and downtrodden and misrepresented and marginalized we may have felt by them in the last eight years, and no matter how badly we'd like to throw it back in their faces, we can be better than that. That's all I'm going to say, and my personal schadenfreude ends here:

People, I am tired. Sick and tired.

Even after the joy of the election results, there have been a few things that have been bothering me greatly about this election cycle. The most important, and the reason for this post, has been peoples' lack of ability to discuss the issues that we all grapple with intelligently, calmly, without histrionics or name-calling, and our apparent inability to even try to understand or at least respect peoples' right to their own opinion. And frankly, I'm done with being sick and tired.

I never intended this as a political blog as such, but very shortly it's going to become a lot more so. In the coming days and weeks I'll be posting a more in-depth analysis of my opinions on some issues that I'm sick and tired of everyone not being able to discuss like adults, with open comment sections for that discussion. Moreover, this blog also will become a much more public forum for me rather than simply a private journal, so expect some tweaks and changes to that effect. (Nothing major to report yet, but I'm still working on it.)

I will welcome your reasoned dissent, your arguments, and your personal analysis and experience. What I will not welcome is name calling, ultimatum dropping, hysterical guilt trips and personal attacks. Those things have no place in the larger discussion about these issues, as they do absolutely no good in solving the problems that we all face, they only spawn more problems.

I'll sign off today with a challenge to you all:

• Research the following issues and come up with reasoned and researched argument for why you are for or against them. Most of them require more than a one-sentence epithet to explain intelligently.
• Once you have researched an issue, write a post about why you feel the way you do, and include your supporting data. These rules apply: the supporting evidence must be scientific, analytical, or first-person anecdotal in nature. You must cite your sources and provide links where applicable. Hearsay and religious dogma do not apply, with the exclusion of statements of personal belief. (e.g. "I believe God says" not "God says." Not everyone reading here necessarily believes in the same God as you.) Please provide scripture references to define those beliefs-- that counts as evidence if it backs up your personal stance.
• If you can do so, suggest how we might move toward solving this problem in a legal and civil way.
• You can do this for more than one issue if you feel strongly about them.
• Include the graphic to the right (right click and save) to show you're in.
• Link back here and post a head-up in the comments so I know you've done so.

• Taxes
• Abortion
• Same-Sex Marriage
• Education
• The Wars (both Iraq and Afghanistan)
• Healthcare
• Poverty And Welfare Reform