Hillary, Del, and Sailing Away

Hillary. Well, I have to admit it was a killer speech. One of her best and I'm confident now that she's going to do her best to support the party, and support Obama. No Way. No How. No McCain. Now, that's a line!

Now if only her supporters would get the message. After the speech, CNN showed one woman who just couldn't let go. Asked if she would vote for McCain, she said no. Never. But she just wouldn't vote at all. HELLO! That's a vote for McCain then! Please wake up and smell the coffee. And then she said that she was a life long democrat, always voted, but that Obama would have to sell her. Come on people, if you're a life long democrat, then you shouldn't need to be sold on Obama. Obama needs to be focusing on the independents and the moderate republicans who are ashamed of what has happened to our country. He shouldn't have to work to convince you that he's pro-choice, pro-universal health care, wants to get out of Iraq, wants to the get the economy working again for all Americans, not just the wealthy few. If those are things you believe in, and things he believes in, I'm confused as to why you just can't realize that he's the best candidate for the country.

But enough of that.

On sadder news, Del Martin passed away today. My thoughts and prayers go out to Phyllis, her wife. In one of the newspaper articles I read it said, "She is survived by her partner of 55 years and wife of 2 months, Phyllis Lyons." I read that sentence and almost cried. Thank God that she lived long enough to see her relationship recognized by her friends, her family, and the government. How sad that it was taken from her so soon.

Off to Seattle with Musuem Man tomorrow. We're meeting up with his family and sailing around the San Juan Islands. Hope to get lots of pictures.

Have a great Labor day everyone!

Manhunt x 2

So it's all over the gay-blogosphere about how the owner of Manhunt gave $2300 to the McCain campaign. Nary a word on any of MSM outlets, but who really wants to hear about McCain taking money from a gay man who has made MILLIONS off of gay sex. It's all don't ask, don't tell. And even when told, ignore it.

Now, I understand (but don't agree) with Log Cabin Republican types who are more focused on economic and national security issues over basic human rights for their own brothers and sisters (sorry, gotta keep the sarcasm down a bit). But I only buy that crap (damn, there I go again), if the Republican party actually stood for sound fiscal policies and non-interventionalist type foreign party. But they don't! When will these people wake up and small the overpowering stench of a colossal national debt combined with a rotting economy caused by years of cronyism, hand outs to wall street, and just plain incompetence? Or are we too busy focusing on the next war to fight.

Back to the Manhunt loser. Apparently he's more insulted that someone called him a "liberal Republican." It's not the republican part that he doesn't like, it's the "liberal" part. Ugh! How has the term liberal gotten such a bad reputation. I would think "conservative" would be worse. The Anonymous Liberal has a great quote on his blog: "The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment." I love that quote. And I think that really captures a lot of my perspective. I am passionate about certain things, but that doesn't mean that I won't be wrong at times (and frequently am), but it's the inability to change your mind, to acknowledge you are wrong, to cling to clearly incorrect statements or position when presented with facts and evidence that really just kills me. And why we need to show the current administration to the door. Asap!

So changing subjects, I'm on a bit of a manhunt myself this weekend. I finally got around to updating my profile on Match.com. Of course, as soon as I did that, I got really busy at work again. But I did manage to send an email to someone. Who has not responded. C'est la vie. However, I will say that my personal approach is that if someone winks at me and I don't think we are a good match I will ignore them. It's wink. They clicked a button. Big whoop. But if someone actually sent me an email that showed any type of thought or effort, I will reply to them. Even if it's to say that I don't think we are a good match. I think that's just a common courtesy thing and it takes all of 2 minutes to do. Anyhoo . . . .

So I got a couple of winks and an email from some guys. The winks, hmm, I wasn't sure about them. The pics were not that good. I suspected they were old. And there wasn't a lot in their profiles to help me figure out why they winked at me. The email was interesting. A fellow traveler who has been around the world. He's got potential I think. The plan for this weekend: Dinner with Wink#1 on Friday. Lunch with Wink#2 on Saturday. And then lunch with Email guy on Sunday. So three dates, in three days. Hmm, I've never thought of myself as a player. Oh, that's right. Because I'm not.

Win, Lose, and Draw

Checking email today and I thought I would hit my favorite blogs and the news to make sure we haven't gone to war in Iran while I'm gone.

1. Win: VA is turning blue again. It looks like the dems picked up enough seats to recapture the state senate. I'm not sure if the guy who ended up running in Prince William country (instead of SuperLawyer) won, but they did pick up some seats in the house.
2. Draw: ENDA passed in the House of Representatives. Don't get me wrong. It's historic and amazing, but even if it does pass the Senate, W has announced he plans to veto it. Yep, he's going to bring out that big bad veto pen specifically reserved for things like stem cell research, health care for poor kids, and employment protection for gays and lesbians. That's government for the people and by the people in action. Not.
3. Lose: Apparently the Archibishop of Nigera is rejecting the Council of Nicea? That's like the foundation of not only the Anglican church, but modern Christianity writ large. So are they going to stop saying the Nicene Creed in Nigerian Anglican churches now. Or will they continue to cherry pick the parts of the Bible, and history for that matter, that supports their power thirsty ambitions and hate? I'm guessing it's going to be the power thirsty ambitions and hate mode as usual.

A real post about my vacation soon. Needed to get that last one off my chest. ;-)

For The Bible Tells Me So

I went to go see this tonight. I'm so glad I did. It was touching and moving and just amazing. And I actually learned some things also. One of the major players in the film is Bishop Robinson and I thought back to the summer of 2004, the summer his election to the Diocese of New Hampshire had to be consented to by the Episcopal Church's General Convention. Dad and I were on a Backroads trip in Denmark and after a long bike ride, we would relax in the room watching a bit of the tube. And usually watching BBC. Being British, the General Convention was getting lots of coverage. And I remember my father using such hurtful ugly language and me getting mad. Wanting to tell him that I was just like that person he was denigrating and denouncing. But I didn't. I told him that I had friends that were gay and that I didn't appreciate his language. That he made himself sound stupid and hateful when he used such language. That he knew better and then I walked out of the room lest I say anything else. I wasn't ready to be that honest with him.

Honesty. Integrity. These words were used a lot in the movie and oddly enough I thought about the latest right wing republican gay sex scandal. But to be honest, it's not really a gay sex scandal. This sad man has wrapped himself up in a series of lies, built his life around them, believed in his own ability to separate himself from the reality that includes his same sex attraction. It doesn't mean he's gay. Like Mr. Wide Stance, I don't think he's gay. In this context, I will say that being gay is a lifestyle. Being gay is being open and honest with yourself, living with integrity. But he can't say that. And because he can't rip apart the foundations of the lies that he's based his life on, he can't be open, or honest, or live with any type of personal integrity. Instead, he has to have furtive and all to often illegal or dangerous sex to deal with his same sex attraction. It really is sad.

And I can see how it can happen. I really do feel sad for the man.

Game of Life in Bikini Bottom SpongeBob SquarePants Edition

So I did a quick search and destroy mission to Toys-R-Us today to find gifts for my niece and nephew. Uncle Trey can't show up empty handed. My job is to spoil them rotten.

But as I quickly strolled the aisles of Toys-R-Us, I firmly said no to any more Legos. I'm tired of putting those things together. Yes I'm 40, but some of those kits are insane and my nephew loses patience at piece 148 of a 200 piece Lego. So Uncle Trey has to finish them.

So I continued searching till I got the board game area and I say YES!!!! A new board game or two would be perfect. Especially because if I have to play one more game of Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders there won't be enough wine in France for Uncle Trey. Anyways, I picked up these new editions of games, the SpongeBob edition of "Life" and the Spiderman edition of "Sorry." Of course my sister, such the kill joy, told me they already have Sorry. So I'll have to return that once I get back from Europe. They will have to make do with the little stuff ponies, two DVDs, and the board game that I got them. ;-)

Oh, and to carry on a recent theme, do you realize the Paris Hilton did more time in jail than Scooter Libby? Let's see, she was arrested for for driving with a suspended license. And he was arrested for lying to a grand jury about outing a CIA agent who's husband exposed the lies and mis-information about the reasons why we went to war in Iraq. Yep, apparently Justice is blind. And she's crying right now.