Sarah Palin, The Life-iest Pro-Life Candidate Who Ever Scared The Crap Out Of Me
So by now you know John McCain picked some pretty lady from Alaska as his running mate. Crafty! But you have never heard of her before. No one really has.* Sure, she was profiled in Vogue a few months back, but you don't get Vogue for the articles, and the reason for that is that the Vogue profile totally missed one of the most interesting things about Sarah Palin, which is that she found out her fifth baby had Down syndrome through prenatal testing and she went ahead and had him anyway. Do you know how many people do that? Ten percent of people do that. Do you respect that ten percent? I do.** It obviously doesn't change my vote, but I respect it, in the same way I respect John McCain for gritting his teeth and not admitting to his homo Vietnamese captors that yes the war had been a stupid idea, a notion which surely, at some point during those food and light and medical treatment-deprived five and a half years in Hanoi, had to have crossed his mind.*** Abortion had to have crossed Sarah Palin's mind.
Now sure, Alaska is a small place, and it might be hard for an avowedly pro-life governor elected to office on the basis of a platform that can essentially be summarized as "I Am The Only Republican Who Is Not A Corrupt Hypocrite Of Mindbending Proportions" to slip into Planned Parenthood without someone hearing about it. But, you know, not so hard, I dunno. You find this shit out with the first sonogram, in the first trimester, and in the first trimester you can still induce a miscarriage with a few pills prescribable by pretty much any gynecologist. I mean, who knows, maybe in Alaska the gynecologists don't work like that. But ninety percent; that is a big majority to buck. And the ten percent who choose "life" in such a case contains many pro-choicers, people like Sarah Palin with husbands and families and secure jobs and decent schools who just think, in her words, "Well, why not us?" And, "I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"
It's an interesting line, that actually very much echoes some old John McCain's sentiments on abortion itself. In a perfect world, he and many "pro-lifers" have often argued, Roe V. Wade wouldn't be necessary. But America is very very far from perfect. The whole point of Obama's speech last night is that John McCain doesn't get that. Does Sarah Palin? Of any other former beauty queen and "hockey mom" born and raised in the country's whitest, least populous state whose idea of "culture" is Ivana Trump and whose foreign policy essentially amounts to "My ancestors didn't pay Russia $7.2 million not to drill oil in this state," I would say no fucking way. In fact, I would probably still say no fucking way, but here she is, she signed up for this, now we have ourselves a candidate who will have to go on TV and say, "Yes, I made a choice, and it is still a choice in this country, to give birth to a son who by definition will never be able to pull himself up by those bootstraps Barack Obama was talking about last night. And I recognize that that it is a deeply unpopular choice to make in this country, and that the very deep unpopularity of that choice in the face of all those poll numbers showing us that 59% of Americans believe life begins at conception, rather neatly encapsulates the gulf between the America that my party would like to pretend exists and the one that actually does."**** Well no, probably no one will make her say that, but they should try, because you get the distinct sense watching Ms. Palin, a self-professed feminist, that at 44 years old her views are still malleable, that her ideology is trumped by a momlike dedication to common sense, and that it may be common sense to oppose abortion when you're moving up the political ladder in a tiny state dominated by dudes who can barely get laid.
But this is national now. What worries me about Sarah Palin is that Sarah Palins of this country, the non-ideological non-dogmatic no-nonsense swing-voting suburban soccer mom demo — have up until now had every reason to vote for Barack Obama.
They still do, of course. The key now will be getting Palin to say so herself somehow.
*Fox News has been calling her "Susan" Palan; and unless this is another one of their subliminal tricks — SUSAN; as in "B. Anthony," angry feminists! — that shows you exactly how known this lady is.** Do Linda Hirshman and Geraldine Ferraro and the PUMAs respect that ten percent? It will be interesting to find out. It may even restore "interesting" to this campaign.***It has been pointed out to me that this is unfair. Okay, okay, it is true that what the North Vietnamese basically wanted was for POWs to commit treason and sell out their fellow soldiers. The point, however, was that it if you know anything about what he went through it is inconceivable to think of John McCain, for all his gaffe-ing and flip-flopping and being a Republican and shit, as a guy who 1. is not a guy of unusual conviction and 2. has never been forced to confront the opposing view, or reconsider ideas and policies and principles he had theretofore blindly accepted. So he came away with the conviction that there was something ideologically superior about "Us", and the way we operate — fine, he lived it, ergo, he opposes torture now — but not without entertaining the possibility that maybe there wasn't, or that in any case maybe it wasn't worth trying to prove, because all humans are shitheads and life meaningless etc. I mean duh.**** Indeed, there are many many people, a silent plurality I would even venture, who believe abortion is technically a kind of murder, but that it should stay legal anyway. It is well within the rights of those people to respect and admire someone like Sarah Palin without expecting America to sign up for that, the same way you might respect and admire Michelle Obama's biceps without expecting America to show up at the gym at four in the morning, but more to the point, the VERY same way Michelle talks about how she was so struck by her future husband's decision to sign on to a life of public service when they had all those goddamned student loans. And yet Republicans always manage to make the Obamas sound snooty and contemptuous when they let it slip that, yes, they made some SACRIFICES to get here, as if public service is something to which it is just rational human nature to want to aspire, which is actually the precise OPPOSITE of what Republicans are supposed to believe, which is what makes everything about them so intellectually indefensible.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Awesome News of the Day
So this little piece buried in the depths of MTVs website really impressed me.
You could even say it gave me a little hope regarding the current state of on-line journalism.
...but you know, not that much hope.
So here I post it- in all its glory:
Courtesy of MTV.com http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1593086/20080819/deerhunter_1.jhtml
Deerhunter, The Death Of Journalism And Profuse Apologies, In Bigger Than The Sound
Frontman Bradford Cox reminds us to get both sides of the story.
By James Montgomery
Views
175
On The Record: Probably My First Mea Culpa
This week's column will probably be read by somewhere between 700 and 1,300 people, which is not particularly great. This is because it is mostly about Deerhunter and journalistic integrity, two things which — sadly — people don't seem to care about all that much these days.
And yet, despite all that, I don't have any hesitation writing it; sometimes things like "page views" and "unique visitors" aren't as important as being professional, responsible and fair (that sound you hear is the ad-sales folks sending 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through my chair). So, that's what I'm going to try to do right now.
See, Bradford Cox is pretty mad at me.
For those of you who don't know, he's the mastermind behind Deerhunter — a terrifyingly terrific and prolific band (last year alone they released an album, an EP and a single, all of which are great) — and Atlas Sound, his equally terrific and prolific solo project. I have an enormous amount of respect for him and his music (I named Deerhunter the "Band of the Year" in 2007), though that's not completely why I'm writing this column: I'm doing it because I think he has a right to be upset with me.
Here's why: Over the weekend, Cox, doing what he's done countless times before, gave away free music on his blog, this time in the form of a "Virtual 7-inch" that contained two Atlas songs. The only problem was that this time, when fans attempted to download the tunes, they somehow ended up also downloading the entire contents of Cox's MediaFire account (he had accidentally left it unlocked) — which included demos, song sketches, two fully completed albums and a whole bunch of photos of his friends and family.
Naturally, when that material began to make their way around file-sharing sites, Cox reacted much in the same way anyone would: He sort of lost it, posting (and then deleting) a series of messages on his blog that ran the gamut from denial to anger to bargaining and finally, at around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, acceptance. Basically, he rifled through the entire grieving process in a little more than 12 hours. Could he have taken a step back, perhaps counted to 100, or physically separated his fingers from the keyboard? Yes. Did he? No. And maybe neither would you or I, for that matter.
Of course, on Monday, when I wrote about the entire incident on MTV's Newsroom blog, I wasn't considering any of that. I basically recapped the entire event in a condescending tone, put words in Cox's mouth (the whole "Blames You" headline), and did not bother attempting to contact him for further comment or clarification. I was irresponsible and one-sided. In other words, I covered the whole thing the way your average blogger would.
That bums me out. Far be it from me to consider myself some paragon of journalistic integrity — I am, after all, the same guy who penned a passive-aggressive "open letter" to Diddy — but, for God's sake, I didn't even do my job correctly. This was amateur.
And yes, I could blame it all on the fact that I am only in the office one day a week (thanks to "FNMTV"), but the simple fact is that I took the lazy route. I just wrote in my "bloggy voice," filed the piece and moved on.
I hate everything about that last sentence. I can't stand the fact that I now write in two tones: "newsy" and "bloggy." I loathe the fact that I ignored the feeling in the pit of my stomach and filed the post anyway. And I'm sort of depressed that no one — not an editor, not a commenter — called me out on the shoddy work I did. Mostly because I think that confirms my fear that not enough people care about journalistic integrity anymore.
Because, really, why would we? What standards should bloggers be held to — after all, they make no claims about being actual journalists. And furthermore, does being a good journalist even matter anymore, or is being snarky more important than being responsible, correct and fair?
I mentioned a second ago that no one took me to task for the blog post, but that isn't exactly the case. Cox himself e-mailed me about it, and we had a fairly lengthy conversation. The general theme was that he was disappointed with the tone of the blog post. He said he reacted the way he did because someone on a message board had posted the leaked material under a pseudonym that made light of his deceased friend and bandmate Justin Bosworth, and he wished I would have attempted to contact him before filing the post.
I apologized and offered to do an interview with him so he could clear the air, but he declined. Ultimately, he accepted my apology, appreciated my sincerity and ended by saying that he was no longer upset, which sort of made me feel less guilty (but at the same time also made me want to crawl into a hole).
In some way, I'm sort of glad he didn't want to respond, because that would've given me the satisfaction of being able to make this thing right. That's never going to happen now, which is just another byproduct of me not doing my job and falling victim to the prevailing attitude of the times. It might seem goofy, but I'd like to promise to anyone who reads this — be it Bradford Cox or my college buddy Ernest Cox (no relation) — that I won't let it happen again.
Don't worry though. I'm sure next week I'll be back with more fifth-grade humor and thinly veiled, thoroughly unfounded attacks against your favorite band. I am a journalist, after all.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send 'em to me at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.
I say please click on the link above so this articles gets some hits-- prove to MTV that we're tired of reading the same snarky crap we could write ourselves!! This is about journalistic integrity america!!!
xoxo-sticky.
You could even say it gave me a little hope regarding the current state of on-line journalism.
...but you know, not that much hope.
So here I post it- in all its glory:
Courtesy of MTV.com http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1593086/20080819/deerhunter_1.jhtml
Deerhunter, The Death Of Journalism And Profuse Apologies, In Bigger Than The Sound
Frontman Bradford Cox reminds us to get both sides of the story.
By James Montgomery
Views
175
On The Record: Probably My First Mea Culpa
This week's column will probably be read by somewhere between 700 and 1,300 people, which is not particularly great. This is because it is mostly about Deerhunter and journalistic integrity, two things which — sadly — people don't seem to care about all that much these days.
And yet, despite all that, I don't have any hesitation writing it; sometimes things like "page views" and "unique visitors" aren't as important as being professional, responsible and fair (that sound you hear is the ad-sales folks sending 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through my chair). So, that's what I'm going to try to do right now.
See, Bradford Cox is pretty mad at me.
For those of you who don't know, he's the mastermind behind Deerhunter — a terrifyingly terrific and prolific band (last year alone they released an album, an EP and a single, all of which are great) — and Atlas Sound, his equally terrific and prolific solo project. I have an enormous amount of respect for him and his music (I named Deerhunter the "Band of the Year" in 2007), though that's not completely why I'm writing this column: I'm doing it because I think he has a right to be upset with me.
Here's why: Over the weekend, Cox, doing what he's done countless times before, gave away free music on his blog, this time in the form of a "Virtual 7-inch" that contained two Atlas songs. The only problem was that this time, when fans attempted to download the tunes, they somehow ended up also downloading the entire contents of Cox's MediaFire account (he had accidentally left it unlocked) — which included demos, song sketches, two fully completed albums and a whole bunch of photos of his friends and family.
Naturally, when that material began to make their way around file-sharing sites, Cox reacted much in the same way anyone would: He sort of lost it, posting (and then deleting) a series of messages on his blog that ran the gamut from denial to anger to bargaining and finally, at around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, acceptance. Basically, he rifled through the entire grieving process in a little more than 12 hours. Could he have taken a step back, perhaps counted to 100, or physically separated his fingers from the keyboard? Yes. Did he? No. And maybe neither would you or I, for that matter.
Of course, on Monday, when I wrote about the entire incident on MTV's Newsroom blog, I wasn't considering any of that. I basically recapped the entire event in a condescending tone, put words in Cox's mouth (the whole "Blames You" headline), and did not bother attempting to contact him for further comment or clarification. I was irresponsible and one-sided. In other words, I covered the whole thing the way your average blogger would.
That bums me out. Far be it from me to consider myself some paragon of journalistic integrity — I am, after all, the same guy who penned a passive-aggressive "open letter" to Diddy — but, for God's sake, I didn't even do my job correctly. This was amateur.
And yes, I could blame it all on the fact that I am only in the office one day a week (thanks to "FNMTV"), but the simple fact is that I took the lazy route. I just wrote in my "bloggy voice," filed the piece and moved on.
I hate everything about that last sentence. I can't stand the fact that I now write in two tones: "newsy" and "bloggy." I loathe the fact that I ignored the feeling in the pit of my stomach and filed the post anyway. And I'm sort of depressed that no one — not an editor, not a commenter — called me out on the shoddy work I did. Mostly because I think that confirms my fear that not enough people care about journalistic integrity anymore.
Because, really, why would we? What standards should bloggers be held to — after all, they make no claims about being actual journalists. And furthermore, does being a good journalist even matter anymore, or is being snarky more important than being responsible, correct and fair?
I mentioned a second ago that no one took me to task for the blog post, but that isn't exactly the case. Cox himself e-mailed me about it, and we had a fairly lengthy conversation. The general theme was that he was disappointed with the tone of the blog post. He said he reacted the way he did because someone on a message board had posted the leaked material under a pseudonym that made light of his deceased friend and bandmate Justin Bosworth, and he wished I would have attempted to contact him before filing the post.
I apologized and offered to do an interview with him so he could clear the air, but he declined. Ultimately, he accepted my apology, appreciated my sincerity and ended by saying that he was no longer upset, which sort of made me feel less guilty (but at the same time also made me want to crawl into a hole).
In some way, I'm sort of glad he didn't want to respond, because that would've given me the satisfaction of being able to make this thing right. That's never going to happen now, which is just another byproduct of me not doing my job and falling victim to the prevailing attitude of the times. It might seem goofy, but I'd like to promise to anyone who reads this — be it Bradford Cox or my college buddy Ernest Cox (no relation) — that I won't let it happen again.
Don't worry though. I'm sure next week I'll be back with more fifth-grade humor and thinly veiled, thoroughly unfounded attacks against your favorite band. I am a journalist, after all.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send 'em to me at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.
I say please click on the link above so this articles gets some hits-- prove to MTV that we're tired of reading the same snarky crap we could write ourselves!! This is about journalistic integrity america!!!
xoxo-sticky.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
events
Pineapple Express: wait for it on video
The Umbrella Plays: AWESOME, I enjoyed it
12 Ophelias: if there is someone you really, really don't like- recommend this play to them..but don't blame me if they kick your ass.
I've been watching the Olympics non-stop..its pretty ridiculous.
I can't believe all the racist statements Bob Kostas is making...I mean, dude...wtf?
The Umbrella Plays: AWESOME, I enjoyed it
12 Ophelias: if there is someone you really, really don't like- recommend this play to them..but don't blame me if they kick your ass.
I've been watching the Olympics non-stop..its pretty ridiculous.
I can't believe all the racist statements Bob Kostas is making...I mean, dude...wtf?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
awesome news of the day!!
this dude rocks:
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - A former part-time Pennsylvania police officer has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for pulling over a woman while he was off duty — just to give her his phone number. Steven Klinger, 32, was charged with official oppression, or acting outside his authority as an officer.
Police said he used red and blue lights mounted on the dashboard of his pickup truck to pull over a woman in Berwick in eastern Pennsylvania in April 2007. The woman became suspicious when he began asking her if she was married or had a boyfriend, police said.
Klinger was also sentenced Tuesday to three additional days in jail and fined $1,000 for driving drunk in July 2007. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of .40 percent, five times the legal driving limit.
Klinger last worked for the Dallas Police Department in northeastern Pennsylvania. He is currently unemployed.
He apologized for his actions, and told the judge he had checked into treatment for alcohol abuse.
___
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - A former part-time Pennsylvania police officer has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for pulling over a woman while he was off duty — just to give her his phone number. Steven Klinger, 32, was charged with official oppression, or acting outside his authority as an officer.
Police said he used red and blue lights mounted on the dashboard of his pickup truck to pull over a woman in Berwick in eastern Pennsylvania in April 2007. The woman became suspicious when he began asking her if she was married or had a boyfriend, police said.
Klinger was also sentenced Tuesday to three additional days in jail and fined $1,000 for driving drunk in July 2007. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of .40 percent, five times the legal driving limit.
Klinger last worked for the Dallas Police Department in northeastern Pennsylvania. He is currently unemployed.
He apologized for his actions, and told the judge he had checked into treatment for alcohol abuse.
___
Monday, August 11, 2008
why does my pandora radio want me to be sad?
I don't get it- despite telling them that I like
Spoon
OK GO
The Killers
Polyphonic Spree
and The Donnas...
...all my pandora radio wants to do is bum me out even further on this rainy sleepy monday.
Its not fair! Come on music genome project- how do Tom Waits and Radiohead sound like The Clash?
Do you not take into consideration the inherent "kill-yourself-now-y-ness" of these artists?
And please- don't play Neil Young and tell me it sounds like The Pogues.
You suck.
for your listening pleasure: http://www.pandora.com/
Spoon
OK GO
The Killers
Polyphonic Spree
and The Donnas...
...all my pandora radio wants to do is bum me out even further on this rainy sleepy monday.
Its not fair! Come on music genome project- how do Tom Waits and Radiohead sound like The Clash?
Do you not take into consideration the inherent "kill-yourself-now-y-ness" of these artists?
And please- don't play Neil Young and tell me it sounds like The Pogues.
You suck.
for your listening pleasure: http://www.pandora.com/
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
http://www.savemisterrogers.com
Found this on facebook- the website is: http://www.savemisterrogers.com
"In June 2008, Public Broadcasting Service announced that it intends to soon change the way Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the beloved children's television program, is distributed to member stations. PBS will cease transmitting the program as part of their daily syndicated lineup beginning in September. Instead, PBS will provide member stations with a single Neighborhood episode on weekends.
This unfortunate decision essentially silences the special nurturing voice of Mister Rogers in the daily lives of today's children.Local public television stations, who make the final decisions about which programs to offer and when to air them, can still opt to broadcast Mister Rogers' Neighborhood each weekday, but they are much less likely to do so without the program being included in PBS's syndicated feed.We're asking PBS to please reconsider their decision, and allow Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, with its timeless expressions of care for children, to remain a part of their syndicated Monday through Friday schedule.
In the event that PBS stands by their decision, we are urging all PBS member stations to do what it takes to ensure that the lives of children in their neighborhoods can still be enriched each weekday by the gentle, authentic, life-shaping messages of Mister Rogers."
Be neighborly and make sure the kids get to see good ole fred- won't you? -=sticky
"In June 2008, Public Broadcasting Service announced that it intends to soon change the way Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the beloved children's television program, is distributed to member stations. PBS will cease transmitting the program as part of their daily syndicated lineup beginning in September. Instead, PBS will provide member stations with a single Neighborhood episode on weekends.
This unfortunate decision essentially silences the special nurturing voice of Mister Rogers in the daily lives of today's children.Local public television stations, who make the final decisions about which programs to offer and when to air them, can still opt to broadcast Mister Rogers' Neighborhood each weekday, but they are much less likely to do so without the program being included in PBS's syndicated feed.We're asking PBS to please reconsider their decision, and allow Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, with its timeless expressions of care for children, to remain a part of their syndicated Monday through Friday schedule.
In the event that PBS stands by their decision, we are urging all PBS member stations to do what it takes to ensure that the lives of children in their neighborhoods can still be enriched each weekday by the gentle, authentic, life-shaping messages of Mister Rogers."
Be neighborly and make sure the kids get to see good ole fred- won't you? -=sticky
sorries
damn so its been about two and half weeks since I've posted on here...I'm sure you thought I abandoned you my pretties! But don't fret- I'm back; just took a little respite to adjust to my new job and enjoy the summer. So far life is going well. I'm going full throttle into the whole getting into graduate school thing so expect some really stressed out entries in the future. But that's not why I'm writing today. Today I want to tell you about movies that I have just seen, that everyone else has already seen...that I thought were awesome...that have already been critically acclaimed. So, essentially I'm re-hashing other people's thoughts and opinion on other people's creativity.
Never said I wasn't a hack.
But anyway-
The Deer Hunter: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077416/ [come for the wedding, stay for the gaming]
I finally got around to seeing this and all I can say is, its more than just a movie about gruesome battles and russian roulette....it highlights various character's mental breaking points and flirts with the fine line between sanity and madness. I also felt a distinct fear reaction before the Vietnam business even started- as someone born in 1982, the lives the female characters live in this film are so foreign to me that I can't imagine how scared they must have been facing the possibility of choosing the wrong husband, or having him die or expose your child's true paternity. The lack of stability that these female characters unwillingly are forced into seems scarier to me than Walken's character's career and a Russian roulette professional- simply because he has a choice. He could walk away. These women could not.
In short- fabulous, but creepy on many, many levels.
The Dark Knight: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ [Dude- where's my pencil?]
The first Batman movie to not have "Batman" in the title, this is batman done right. The batman I grew up with. I LOVE!
and for further creepy clown research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy
Why so serious??
...happy August :)
xoxo-=sticky
Never said I wasn't a hack.
But anyway-
The Deer Hunter: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077416/ [come for the wedding, stay for the gaming]
I finally got around to seeing this and all I can say is, its more than just a movie about gruesome battles and russian roulette....it highlights various character's mental breaking points and flirts with the fine line between sanity and madness. I also felt a distinct fear reaction before the Vietnam business even started- as someone born in 1982, the lives the female characters live in this film are so foreign to me that I can't imagine how scared they must have been facing the possibility of choosing the wrong husband, or having him die or expose your child's true paternity. The lack of stability that these female characters unwillingly are forced into seems scarier to me than Walken's character's career and a Russian roulette professional- simply because he has a choice. He could walk away. These women could not.
In short- fabulous, but creepy on many, many levels.
The Dark Knight: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ [Dude- where's my pencil?]
The first Batman movie to not have "Batman" in the title, this is batman done right. The batman I grew up with. I LOVE!
and for further creepy clown research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy
Why so serious??
...happy August :)
xoxo-=sticky
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