Lafayette

Whoa. Axl Rose and the lead singer of Blind Melon, Shannon Hoon, are from the same town, Lafayette, Indiana, home of the Purdue Boilermakers. Thank you, wikipedia.

Lafayette, Louisiana, of course, is the hometown of local hero Marc M.

And the Marquis de Lafayette? There is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said.

Number 1 in the running for my child's name, should he or she ever come about? take a guess.

Arnold

Read the title and first two paragraphs of the letter that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote to supporters today.

Subject: California Is Running Out Of Time, Ask Your Legislators To Act Now

Dear Fellow Californian,

California is running out of time to find a real solution to close the state's budget deficit. In just a few days California will be forced to start issuing I.O.U's instead of tax refunds and payments to small businesses.

The time for action is now.

Bold emphasis his.

Now try to tell me that you didn't read it out loud in the exact same voice that you would use to say, "I'm a cop, you idiot!"

New Friends

If this NBA trade goes through (Mike Miller and Randy Foye for a bucket of chicken including Etan Thomas) I predict that Etan Thomas will start kicking it with Rep Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).

Just predicting.

The Great Marshall Sanford, Jr Watch.

All along I've thought that the Mark Sanford saga has been completely overblown, but Josh Marshall's post tonight finally gives some real credence to the fact that this may be a real story.

Sanford, who has been out of contact for days, is allegedly on the Appalachian Trail, although there have been reports that he made a cell phone call near Atlanta.

It is certainly plausible that someone, especially someone like Mark Sanford who is a bit of a maverick, would want to take 4-5 days in the woods after a long legislative season and a very public battle over stimulus funds. Plus it is very reasonable that Sanford may have wanted to begin his trek at the Georgia trailhead and move north for a few days. The trail, after all, stays a short drive from South Carolina for about a hundred miles.

If that were the case, the governor (especially a staunch and paranoid conservative like Sanford) would almost certainly want his whereabouts unknown in the vulnerable woods.

But it is also something that one more or less disqualifies themselves from during the time that they choose to be an elected leader. So in other words, it is really weird.

Or, as Dan Savage implies, maybe he's fuckin' a dude.

What Dodd's Decision Means, Part 2

Chris Dodd, with a strict emission standards and carbon tax proposal that won over the likes of Al Gore, had arguably the best energy plan out of the entire 2008 Democratic presidential field.

He was an early and forceful voice on FISA and has since discussed the idea of Bush administration torture trials. Plus he had the balls to endorse Ned Lamont over his long time colleague and King Rat Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in 2006.

Now Dodd stands up for marriage equality in the middle of a re-election race that the Republicans are salivating all over.

He deserves more love from the left. If you know someone in Connecticut, where Dodd’s polling has been dismal all year, I suggest you call them.

What Dodd's Decision Means, Part 1

Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-Conn.) decision to support full marriage equality means that embattled statewide politicians can finally run toward marriage equality rather than away from it.

With his op-ed in the Meriden (Conn.) Record-Journal, Dodd became the second U.S. Senator in recent weeks to change his mind on the issue, joining Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) who announced in May.

Nor should it be ignored that Rhode Island's former Republican-turned independent Sen. Lincoln Chafee also cast his vote for marriage equality with an op-ed in Bay Windows last week. Chafee was voted out of office in 2006--after a 16-point victory in his 2000 election--because Rhode Island voters couldn't stomach having anyone associated with the Republican Party representing them in Washington. Now Chafee is positioning himself for a gubernatorial run.

It starts with a few states; it moves across the nation.

Cry Me A River

I've cried (well, teared up) twice this week already. Granted I am in a mildly emotional state, but still I think it would take a stone to stand up to what I saw.

For starters, I watched the trailer for Precious on Tuesday. Holy fucking shit. I spent the first thirty seconds trying to find a reason to make fun of Tyler Perry's production credit, and the last thirty seconds trying to keep from falling apart entirely. I need to see that film, and I admit that I am a little bit afraid.

Then tonight I couldn't help but take a wee dip into the river of emotion while reading this blog post from The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan detailing the tweets and photos coming out of Iran right now. Just when you think it is powerful to see the throngs coming out for a transformational force like Barack Obama, something like this happens. To rally after an election is so much more difficult than to do it before.

Notes on karaoke

You gotta make love to the microphone. Treat it like a woman. Don't be afraid to caress it, and even kiss it every now and then. There is no such thing as a PDA taboo on the karaoke stage.

A true gentleman, by the way, dances with the mic.

Deep Thoughts

It would be funny if, on your karaoke slip, you said that your name was some singer or band that no one wants to hear during karaoke like Frank Sinatra or Metallica or Pink so that the DJ would say, "coming up next, Pink!"

Then the crowd would groan and when you sang something good, they might laugh at your misdirection. Either that or they will just think you are a tool. They wouldn't think that about me, though.

Laughing Dog Imp IPA

I've skimped, as usual on any beer news of late. Shame on me.

Still, wanted to make it known that I had a Laughing Dog Imperial IPA at the Parkway Wednesday night, and it was delicious. Didn't have that super boozy taste that usually ruins the imperials for me. Solidly hoppy, pretty smooth and a good aftertaste. What more could you want?

Plus, it is an Idaho brewery. Much respect for the underdogs.

In other, better news, I stopped by the beer supply store in Lakewood earlier that day, priced out some gear, and I can confidently say that I will be enjoying some fly ass homebrew IPAs by mid-August. Boo ya.

Estate Tax

Isn't it counter intuitive that the super rich families who stand to inherit vast sums of money would argue against the estate tax on the terms that it would hurt the economy when, if they are sitting on multi-millions, they clearly aren't investing enough in the economy about which they claim to care so much?

We won't get started on the ruthlessly gaudy estates and fancy foreign cars they own.

It is about greed, plain and simple, and it is a shame they have fooled some poor folk into thinking anything otherwise.

The fact that two of the prominent opponents, the Blethens and the Nordstroms, are locals is even more disturbing, if not surprising.

P.S. Anyone who calls it a death tax deserves a titty twister.

The A-Team Movie Is a Hoax

The rumored A-Team movie is a hoax. At least that is the power of positive thinking strategy that I am using to pray that it never happens.

More noise erupted about the movie today fueled by the rumor that Liam Neeson has signed on to play Hannibal, with Bradley Cooper giving questionable denials about his being cast as Face. Please make it stop.

The original A-Team of George Peppard, Mr. T, Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict was, to borrow a phrase from the great Benjamin Franklin, proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Creating a new cast of A-Team members will only make us sad. Remember when they brought in Frankie? Please, Hollywood, for the good of humanity, don't make us sad.

Although if some asshole team of brothers does have the hubris to taint one of the greatest casting groups of all time, and even (ugh) update the story, I hope he at least has the sense to agree with this dumbass who made a mock A-Team trailer and cast Terry Crews as B.A. Baracus.

Now for your viewing pleasure, the A-Team intro in German.

America's Wasteland

Gov. Sarah Palin made a speech this week condemning the Obama administration's spending habits, and is roundly rebuked as a hypocrite.

When will they learn? It's just not feasible to elect an Alaskan to national office. Take glory in Carlos Boozer and leave it at that.

McDermott Backs Duwamish

Tacoma, WA - Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) introduced a bill today that would give federal recognition to the Duwamish Tribe.

Props.

The federal recognition battle is a tricky one. Frequently opposed by Republicans and other negative-U.S.-history-deniers (which at this rate is beginning to include Barack Obama), adding federal recognition is an important step toward becoming an honest society, simply by living up to the words that we spoke when we swindled the original inhabitants out of their land.


Clearly, we made a deal with the Duwamish. Why don't we recognize it?

See McDermott's press release below.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced legislation today, H.R. 2678, calling for federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe. The bill’s introduction came on the same day the House voted to extend federal recognition to Virginia Tribes; in recognizing those efforts, Rep. McDermott noted in remarks on the House floor that there was more work to do:

“Despite the Treaty of Point Elliot the Duwamish signed in good faith with the United States in 1855, federal recognition has not been extended and this is wrong. Promises were made to the Duwamish, but not kept. And it is time to correct this injustice for the Duwamish, just as we are doing in Virginia.”

For a matter of hours at the end of the Clinton Administration the Duwamish Tribe seemed to have obtained federal recognition, but the status was reversed at the beginning of the Bush Administration. The legislation introduced by Rep. McDermott would decide the matter once and for all.

In the House today, Rep. McDermott said: “It is my hope that the new day dawning across America is bright enough to shine enough light for us to see and correct the injustices endured for too long by the first Americans.”

Tancredo and Friends

Olympia, WA - I really don't know how to react to this story, but still I feel the need to at least spread it.

Tom Tancredo, the former Republican congressman and presidential candidate from suburban Denver who garnered the support of as many as 1 in 50 Republicans two years ago, has been in the news a lot lately denouncing the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to SCOTUS for her inappropriate cultural background because, frankly, he is a leader of the xenophobic wing of the GOP.

Fast forward to today (or rewind to two years ago) where we learn that his former speech writer, Marcus Epstein, has just pleaded guilty to the crime of accosting a woman on the street, calling her "nigger" and karate chopping her in the head.

No, folks, this is not a Dave Chapelle sketch. This is real life.

And get this, Epstein is currently the executive director of Tancredo's political action committee, which is actually called Team America PAC. Worse yet, he will remain on the job until he, gulp, goes to law school in the fall.

It is just plain sad that anyone would commit such a shameful act on another human. But while Tancredo, who himself is a fringe political player at best, at least has the sense to avoid karate chopping people of color, we still should stop and think a moment about the associations of folks who are guilty of these kinds of crimes, especially as we mourn the terrorist attack on Dr. George Tiller, and use that judgment as we move forward in the political world.

P.S. Here is a story I wrote about Tommy T during the NH primary two years ago.

Also, my gaydar was going off BIG time that day. Just sayin'.