KUDOS Fox News! (No sacarsm...seriously)

Check out this story!  It is wonderful that this couple was able to have their wedding in a place that is so important to them.  It is also wonderful that Fox News published such a nice piece on it and didn't inject their views. 

con·fused: Unable to think clearly; bewildered.

Tonight I find myself confused, yet again, while speaking to a conservative acquaintance of mine. She'd been on Fox News (ugh...) and saw a story about the Supreme Court debating gay marriage and what State level legalization meant for the Federal benefits married gay couples would be eligible for.   Her actual understanding of the article was less exact and she thought the Supreme Court was arguing to legalize gay marriage in all States regardless of the will of the citizens in that State but asking her to read more than the headline and first paragraph was just wasted air.  As we talked about the issue, she pointed out some very astute facts: 1) "80% of Americans believe gays are gross."  and 2) "God says gay marriage should be illegal."

Did I choose an easy target?  Yes, but hang in there.

1) "80% of Americans believe gays are gross."
Gallop polls are, arguably, one of the most trusted sources for polling public opinion and while they have never posted a poll, that I could find, that gathered data on how gross gays are, they do post poll data of how Americans feel about gay marriage.  Here's one now!  It even has a line graph for those of us that prefer to look at pictures and feel reading is a bit overrated.  The support of gay marriage has increased by 23% since 1996 and has taken the lead by a 3% margin as of the date on this poll.  So, unless it started at -3%, 80% seems a bit lacking in the logic department.  Furthermore, peas and mushrooms are gross.  Pretending to drink blood and eat flesh is gross.  Actually drinking blood and eating flesh is gross.  Finding the person that makes you happy and adds value to your life is freakin' awesome.

2) "God says gay marriage should be illegal."
This argument is irrelevant.  I'm not even going to get into a "he said/she said" argument on this hot mess.  It does not matter in any way, shape or form what any god said or didn't say on a the subject of American laws.  Here's a letter written by Thomas Jefferson that basically says, "Get your bible outta my politics".  The Baptist church was full of members of the same political affiliation as Jefferson and they all thought they were going to get a say in Jefferson's administration.  This letter and the First Amendment were cited by the Supreme Court when they released this statement:

"The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach."

                                                                              -Supreme Court, Everson v. Board of Education, 1947

So even if somebody thinks their god says gay marriage should be illegal, it doesn't matter one little bit.

I guess the point of my rant this lovely fall evening would be that regardless of your religion, philosophy or moral creed, the rights of people are not for you decide.  If you want freedom and the right to follow your own path then learn to recognize that same desire in others.  Fight the fight for everybody's rights instead of this belief that you can only have what you want if the freedoms of others are diminished.  Whether you believe that a god gave us the right to be free or that it is just part of being a individual, we must all recognize that the rights afforded to the those that are different from us do not lessen the rights we have come to expect.

Also, this the best gay rights argument I've seen in 10-words-or-less on a poster board in a long time:

Laugh or Cry? "Match.com" for your vote!

I love NPR.  I love the poor sound quality and the donation drives and everything else about it.  But why would they spread this around?  It is a link to a website that has you fill out a "Yes or No" questionnaire and then it tells you who to vote for.   I guess sometimes we are too busy to think for ourselves?

I did it though.  Apparently, all my Obamalove was for nothing because I'm a closet Green Party supporter.  I only matched 89% with Obama but 94% with Jill Stein.  As I type, I feel an identity crisis coming on....DAMN YOU NPR!!




Here's a picture of dog stuck in a hammock:

That makes me feel better because I'll never be as confused as he is.

Oh Ann....

Check out what little Miss Class had to say about Monday night's Presidential debates. 

From The Huffington Post:  Ann Coulter Calls Obama A 'Retard'

Thank you Ann.  You are a shining example of what is wrong with today's media.

hy·per·bo·le: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Tonight, I would like to rant about Ann Coulter.  My Ann Coulter history is actually quite sad.  The kind of sad you experience when you first learn that Santa Claus isn't real or the world isn't flat.  I have actually read several Ann Coulter books.  Not cover to cover but probably 30 chapters spread out over three of her books.  A friend of mine had a few of her earlier books laying about and I picked them up and thought, "Wow!  This woman is hilarious!  She's making the liberal argument through the use of extreme hyperbole".  When I found out she was serious, I actually cried a little.  This, of course, was before she was famous (or is "infamous" a more appropriate word?) and she had just a few cult followers.  Do you understand my Santa-Claus-sadness now?

Today, Ann Coulter has a large following of people that support statements like, "You will find liberals rooting for savages against civilization," and "Marriage is not civil right.  You're not black".  In the wise words of Sheldon Cooper, "What fresh hell?"

Please now imagine my glee when she posted this update to her blog.

First, my least important point: "Got Racism?"  The early 90's called and they want their dated reference back.  Who killed Alexander Hamilton?  Click here to find out!

Second, and on topic this time:  Coulter alleges that Chris Matthews, the liberal host of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, has declared the words "apartment" and "Chicago" as racist.  True to her asinine methods of making declarative statements and failing to cite them, she provides no link or even dates for when these statements were made.  But fear not!  I found the transcript of Hardball from August 30th 2012 where Chris Matthews is discussing the RNC with his guests.  The word "Chicago" is said three times during the entire transcript and here they are:

MATTHEWS: They [RNC Speakers] can keep saying Chicago, by the way. Have you
noticed? They keep saying Chicago. That sends that message, this guy [President Obama] is
helping the poor people in the bad neighborhoods, screwing us in the burbs.

HEILEMANN: There`s a lot of black people in Chicago.

Need some context?  They are talking about the RNC speeches.  They do not declare the word "Chicago" as racist.  Careful Ann, if you use your horde of flying monkeys as fact checkers you are bound to have errors.  The only mention of Chris Matthews ever saying the word "apartments" is racist is in Coulter's blog post and where others have copied it to their blogs.  Note:  If you can find the Chris Matthews+apartments+racist comment, I'll happily amend this post.

Sadly, we must now, in the spirit of fairness, talk about Chris Matthews saying, "They [RNC Speakers] keep saying Chicago".  Don't make me do this Chris, I love you and your crazy liberal rants but I also love when people use 100% of the truth.  The ONLY mention of Chicago during any of the speeches was by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.  Here's the transcript.  Please note my use of caps-lock on the word "only".  That was it.  Only that one mention.  I reviewed all the speeches from every RNC speaker with the help of ctrl+f.  I'm declaring the one mention based on speeches only and with the assumption that the presenters were doing their jobs and presenting vs. speech-ing.

Is this a petty thing to latch onto?  I don't think so.  This is but one example of Ann Coulter's abuse of facts and truth.  Al Franken devoted an entire chapter to her in "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them".   With her books, appearances and blogs she makes unfounded declarative statements that lead people astray.  Coulter's followers base their vote on what she and her fellow political commentators say and probably never bother to locate the truth.  That is detrimental to our government and our election process and I, at least, find it very insulting.

em·pa·thy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Immigration is a hot topic these days.  Just a cursory glance at any major news source provides a gripping national and political saga of drama, death, irony, and more absurdity than a Sarah Palin reality TV show.  But what about the people themselves?  

In the "drama" story, a woman was shackled while she gave birth.  I once had to try and figure out how to pee with handcuffs on and that a miserable experience that is in no way comparable to what this woman went through.  This human/person/woman was SHACKLED while she gave birth.  Did they think she was going to make a run for it?  Go hide in a Walmart (the most depressing symbol of America) and have her kid?  We did this.  Learned hate and evil and intolerance made somebody think it was acceptable to do this to another human being. 

So today, let's step back and think about the group of people that we call "illegal immigrants".   Most of us come from the loins of somebody that wasn't invited into this country and we seem to forget that.  Jose Antonio Vargas is an undocumented immigrant that was brought to the US when he was 12.  At 16, he found out that his green card was a forgery.  Today, he is a successful journalist and posted this piece on the use of the phrase "illegal immigrant".  

As an out and proud undocumented immigrant, Vargas' knowledge of the subject is first hand.  I can only speculate, but I imagine his life didn't become easier once he "outed" himself in 2011 and knowing the caliber of people in this "Melting Pot", I'd bet he received threats and hate mail.  After all he's been through and accomplished in his life, I'd say Vargas' is more than qualified to have his opinion heard and his arguments taken seriously. Really all he's saying is that we should use words that mean what we want to say rather than using words for dramatic effect.  

Vargas' wrote his column to everybody.  Simple language and well constructed arguments kept bringing me back to one question: Why have I never realized this before?  For all the coverage on debates and policies regarding "illegal immigrants", very few us take into consideration that we are talking about humans.  People.  Our neighbors.  They have committed no criminal offense by entering the US.  They don't come in and still our jobs and soak up our welfare and bleed our country dry.  Some run from evil political regimes and others come to be closer to family.  

So, why do we call them "illegal"?  Undocumented immigrants have committed civil offenses.  Ever said a curse word at work?  That might be a civil offense by a breach of contract with your employer.  Parking tickets?  Civil offenses.   So calm down and use your words.  There's no reason to dehumanize an entire group of people based on their undocumented status and use words to describe them that we normally reserve for criminals.

Also, Jose Antonio Vargas is from the Philippians.  If that sentence just blew your mind, click here.     

i·ro·ny: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Government and politics are very different concepts but typically used to indicate the same thing.  Like most Americans, I believe that shady politics and politicians that never learned to play nice are the major issues getting in the way of a well-functioning government.  Unlike most Americans, I also believe that democracy would work better if we were able to un-elect people when they proved to be fishy and/or childish. 

By the same rambling train of thought, journalists aren't helping matters.  By publishing articles through news sources with mottos like "Fair and Balanced", the large majority of the population that misunderstands irony might be lead to believe that was an honest assessment of the stories published.  Obviously, humor via absurdity is the intent in this story about President Obama's comment, "I can't change Washington unless I change voters". 

The Fox News "journalist" goes so far as to mock Obama for the comment and suggest that it is his errors that lead to the dysfunctional government that has been operating during his Admiration.  That dysfunction is the product of squabbling and elementary on the part of both parties.  The President's job description does not include the role of parent or school principal.  If there are problems in our communities, we should be taking action and not sitting around complaining until some new bill is introduced 3 years later. 

Take responsibility for your life!  Government is not there to live your life but to support the life you want for yourself, family and community.

HILARY AND JULIAN 2016!!