Her particular flavor of hate

I hate to write about politics here on the blog... Oh, who am I kidding?

Go here to watch a video which shows Michelle Bachmann being questioned by a young lady, the leader of her school's gay student alliance. When asked about what she would do to protect the LGBT community, Bachmann answers that as Americans, we all have the same rights (which was the first time I thought the top of my head was going to come off while watching this video, but something even better was coming down the pike). The young lady presses her and asks why gays and lesbians can't marry. Bachmann's cutesie answer? "They can, but they have to abide by the same laws as everyone else." Basically, she says that gays and lesbians can marry, but only members of the opposite sex. Oh, that Michelle Backmann! What a card.

One is forced to draw one of two conclusions from this: 1) Michelle Bachmann doesn't understand that the very law which restricts marriage to different sex couples is biased and tantamount to institutionalized discrimination. If that's true, then she's an idiot. 2) That she understands this but doesn't care, in which case she's a monster. I'm going with #2.

I can't wait to see the door of history slammed on her. I think that the early primaries are going to show -- despite the yahoos on the video who clap every time she says something small-minded -- that the Republicans aren't buying her particular flavor of hate. Maybe I should say I hope that'll be the case.

This, by the way, is not the video in question:

Stephen King on the Tea Party

“And remember, when these people talk to you about it, if you like your weekend, thank a union guy. If you like a 40-hour week, thank a union guy. If you like a day’s honest pay for a day’s honest work, thank a union guy!”

I've had a lot of reasons over the years to like Stephen King. Now I have a new reason to respect him.

Writing update: Nov 2 edition

I had a hard time concentrating on my writing this evening. Every five minutes I was checking the election results and diving deeper and deeper into a funk. So it impeded my writing a bit. But now the results are mostly in. One last kick in the stomach would be if Oregon handed the governorship over to a guy who's only qualifications seem to be he was once able to throw a ball through a hoop. I should stop this now.

Here are the numbers.

Words for the day: 1,066

Words for the month: 2,078

That first number resonates. 1066 was the year of the Norman invasion of England, and the battle of Hastings (which is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry). 2078, of course, is the year that the robot army will rise and finally crush its human oppressors. But the robots will vote a straight Democratic ticket, so that'll be okay.

Young and Uninsured

Hi, Internet,

Prepare to be depressed. Time magazine has done a series of videos called "Young and Uninsured". The one I am posting here features the cartoonist Julia Wertz. Ms Wertz is best known for her web strip and book, Fart Party. Ms Wertz also has lupus and is, as the title of the series implies, uninsured.

This feels like an amazing injustice to me.

I suppose I am putting this video here to highlight her plight and to hopefully direct people to her site and to buy her books and maybe help her out a little. She faces her disease, in the video, with great humor--and please don't think that her comic is only about her disease. She addresses her day-to-day life and she makes it all very funny. Her books are some of my favorite autobiographical comics. Seeing this makes me want to go and buy everything she's done even though we already own a lot of it. Anyway, I hope you watch the video and then check out her site and her store.

Banning update, now with audio

I have written several times about the banning of Steve Martin's play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile by the La Grande school district. This play is being directed by my friend, Kevin Cahill, who teaches English and French at the high school there.

I'm writing to let you know that Kevin appeared today on a call-in show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, Think Out Loud (that link takes you to an mp3 of the show), to speak about the troubles. You should all go and listen.

Also appearing on the program were two people who opposed the production, Mrs Melissa Jackman, the woman who initially complained about the play and eventually got it banned from the high school; and a pastor from a local church.

I originally thought about expressing the following views in the comments section of Kevin's blog, but decided against it. I didn't want anyone to misconstrue that my opinions were the same as Kevin's. I believe that Kevin has made his own views well enough known.

The individuals who spoke against the play, especially Mrs Jackman, seem, to me, almost completely divorced from reality. She spoke several times about how the play's content--content which includes people talking about sex and pretending to drink alcohol--meant that her daughter could not participate in the production. She goes on to say that her daughter can't take part because she has higher standards. That's telling. Not "different standards", but higher. Because anyone with standards that differ from hers must, by definition, have lower standards.

Later in her taped interview, Mrs Jackman asks rhetorically if the best thing to have children do is to talk on stage about sex because, she says, there are already seventeen pregnant teens at the high school. By all means, Mrs Jackman, let's not have your students talk about sex. I mean, whatever you're doing now is apparently working like gang-busters.

And finally, I wonder if Mrs Jackman knows who Steve Martin is. When asked for her reaction to Mr Martin's offer to help fund the play, she seems at a loss. She implies that Mr Martin is doing this to gain publicity for his play. Because I'm sure that Mr Martin has been looking at the weekly receipts for his play (a play first staged in 1993 and not in production at any major American theaters as far as I can find on google.com) and thinking that one thing he really needs to boost ticket sales is for some backward-thinking school district to ban his play so he can swoop in and save the day. You know, for publicity. It's almost laughable. Almost.

Something I haven't written about here is that as a result of this controversy, the La Grande school district is going to evaluate and, more than likely, revise its guidelines for choosing the plays that are mounted at the high school. The subtext here is that they will regulate away the possibility that anything with any depth or complexity will ever be produced. I hope the kids interested in drama in La Grande will be happy with endless productions of Seussical the Musical and Little Women, because that's all they're going to get after this is all over.

Again, for a more eloquent review of this whole situation, I encourage you to visit Kevin's blog and read his excellent commentary.

Banning update (Steve Martin walks into a bar...)

I have written a few times about my friend, Kevin, and his problems staging a production of Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the high school in La Grande, Oregon, where he teaches. For my previous posts, you can go here, and here. But really, what you should do is visit Kevin's blog where he writes about the troubles with eloquence and a level head.

I'm writing about the play again because there's been, to me anyway, a very interesting development. One way or another, Steve Martin has become aware of the banning and he's weighed in. Mr Martin wrote a letter of support that was published in the La Grande newspaper. In addition to this, Mr Martin has offered to finance the play's production in it's off-campus site. This is a an amazing act of generosity, in my opinion, and my esteem for Mr Martin, which was already considerable, has gone up even more.

Since the playwright has weighed in with his support, the story has blown up. It has been mentioned on Entertainment Weekly Online, and the BBC.

If this kerfuffle had to happen at all, this seems like the best possible resolution.

Banning update

Earlier in the week, I posted about some trouble my friend, Kevin, was having staging Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the high school where he teaches. You can read that account by scrolling down, or by going here.

It was an eventful few days for Kevin and Co. They have a secured space, and an organization on campus, the Eastern Oregon University Democratic Party, will be funding the production. This is excellent news all around, and I want to congratulate Kevin. It's nice to see the good guys persevering.

Once again, I'd encourage you to go to Kevin's blog and check out his latest updates about the play.

Picasso and Einstein walk into a bar...

Last week, The Wife and I spent some time in her home town, La Grande, Oregon. It's a really beautiful place, one we've talked about moving to from time to time. In fact, it reminds me a lot of where I grew up, Meridian, Idaho. It's a farm community in a valley. It's somewhat isolated, and it's somewhat intolerant, unfortunately.

A friend of ours, Kevin Cahill has taught at La Grande High School for a number of years, and he also directs student productions there. This year he was attempting to stage Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile. I say attempting because a few weeks into rehearsal, a parent got hold of a copy of the play, a play that had been approved by the school's principal, I hasten to add, and she found it objectionable. Long story short, she got a lot of her like-minded fellow citizens to sign a petition and presented it to the school superintendent, who then ordered the play shut down. Kevin appealed this decision to the La Grande school board but lost that appeal. He and the students have since been offered a space at the local university to perform the play (though the university president did at first bow to pressure from conservative community members), but the fact that they have to go off-campus at all is astounding.

I attended the school board meeting where the matter was discussed and I was, frankly, taken aback by some of the comments I heard. Many community members admitted to not having read the play, but they felt they knew enough about based on what they'd heard about it. Kevin's argument that the play had been staged by other high schools, including West Linn HS which is also in Oregon, and that the play had won some of those high school drama competitions, was met with disdain. "This may be an award-winning play in other communities," one speaker said, "but things are different here in La Grande." They certainly are.

The story is being picked up by sources outside of La Grande, something I'm sure the school board hoped would never happen. The AP has run a story about the banning (and they supply papers nation-wide with their coverage). Here's the AP story which ran in my local paper, The Statesman Journal. and The National Coalition Against Censorship has commented on it on their blog.

Kevin has done a wonderful job of documenting what the experience and I'd encourage you to go to his blog and read it. Parts one, two, three, and four.

I wish Kevin the best in this and I can't express how sorry I am that it's come up at all, but I'm confident that the play will go on. And when It does, I'll be there opening night.

Politically-Incorrect Politics

From memory so, you know, it's not entirely accurate. The dramatis personae are The Wife (TW) and Me.

TW: Some people at work were talking about how cool it is that we finally have a president whose name ends in a vowel.

ME: ... I hadn't thought of that. (mentally runs through a list of all the presidents he can name.) That's true.

(PAUSE)

ME: I guess I always thought that the first person with a last name like that to be president would be Italian. You know, like Giuliani.

TW: Really? Why?

ME: Oh, you know, because....

TW: Because they're the whitest of the dark folk?

ME: Exactly!

My grasp of Scottish politics is not so fine...

Several of the blogs and twitter feeds I follow are from foreigners. You know, folks who don't reside in the US. And, for some reason, their comments on the state of American politics always seem to be better reasoned and more trenchant than anything I've read from the mainstream American media. Perhaps it's because they are not so invested in the process, or the fact that they don't have to buy into the myth of being an unbiased observer. Whatever it is, these folks always give me something to think about when they turn their eyes on American pols.

A case in point: Charles Stross, an immensely talented SF writer who lives in Scotland, has written up a quick wish list of things he'd like to see President-elect Obama tackle in the first days of his administration. These are all, perhaps understandably given the fact that Mr Stross lives outside our borders, foreign policy matters and, I should stress, I don't agree with all the suggestions, but we could certainly do worse than follow some of his suggestions.

(For political wonks, I'd recommend reading the last few entries in Mr Stross's diary as they are all concerned with various aspects of the campaign that just passed.)

I swear that soon my fascination with politics will pass and I'll be back to posting about Oscar's latest milestones and how little writing I'm getting done.

Please go about your business, citizen.

And again I am struck with love for the Republic

It's November 4. After nearly two years of campaigning, it's almost done. All over but the shouting, as they used to say. Here's a poem from the indispensable Jame Kenyon to mark the day. This comes from the poem, "American Triptych", which can be found in the book Collected Poems:

3 Potluck at the Wilmot Flat Baptist Church

We drive to the Flat on a clear November night. Stars and planets appear in the eastern sky, not yet in the west.

Voices rise from the social hall downstairs, the clink of silverware and plates, the smell of coffee.

As we walk into the room faces turn to us, friendly and curious. We are seated at the speakers' table, next to the town historian, a retired schoolteacher who is lively and precise.

The table is decorated with red, white, and blue streamers, and framed Time and Newsweek covers of the president, just elected. Someone has tied peanuts to small branches with red, white, and blue yarn, and set the branches upright in lumps of clay at the center of each table.

After the meal everyone clears food from the tables, and tables from the hall. Then we go to the sanctuary, where my husband reads poems from the pulpit.

One woman looks out the window continually. I notice the altar cloth, tasseled and embroidered in gold thread: Til I Come. There is applause after each poem.

On the way home we pass the white clapboard faces of the library and town hall, luminous in the moonlight, and I remember the first time I ever voted--in a township hall in Michigan.

That same wonderful smell of coffee was in the air, and I found myself among people trying to live ordered lives.... And again I am struck with love for the Republic.

You can say that again...

Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, this little video might prove instructive. How many new ideas were presented in the debates? Not many, apparently. Via one of my new on-line obsessions, 236.com, I give you Synchronized Presidential Debating:

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

More auction items

I belong to a group called "Comics Industry for Obama." I think the name says it all. And if you are not of the voting-for-Obama persuasion, then I hope we can still be friends. If you share my preference for president, then I would like to direct your attention to an auction that the group is holding as a fund-raiser, all proceeds going directly to the Obama campaign. Among the items up for auction, which include pieces of original art by such comics greats as Mike Mignola, is a set of books signed by yours truly. Please check it out.

And a reminder that I still have a set of books up for auction by Girl-wonder.org. You should take a look at that auction as well.

Get Your War On

David Rees created a bit of a stir a few years ago when he created his comic, Get Your War On, which features corporate clip art and sardonic wit used to deadly effect in its parsing of political language--specifically that of the Bush administration in the run-up to the second Gulf War. The strip features corporate drones using highly eloquent, deeply profane language to get across the absurdities of the double-speak employed by Bush and his cronies.

Now these strips are given new life on the 23/6 web site. Some evil genius has created animations of the comics. These, like their stationary counterparts, are funny, angry, and profane, and, best yet, they're commenting on the current election. Please only go and watch them if foul language and complete irreverence toward our government aren't offensive to you.

Seriously.

Oh, thank God

Space alien endorses Obama.

Let's you and her fight

I was talking about this earlier in the evening with my friend Stuart. It still feels like a thought-in-progress. He asked me who I would be voting for in the Oregon primary, Clinton or Obama. I answered, honestly, that I don't know. But I did bring up something that's perplexing me.

There seems to be a lot of anti-Clinton feeling out there right now and I'm not sure where it comes from, though I have my suspicions. Up until, what, a year-and-a-half ago, the name Clinton was a byword for "better times." Now liberals who support Obama can't heap enough scorn on both Hilary and Bill Clinton -- and his presidency. I admit that there are some unsavory elements to their relationship (as if that's any business of ours) and to their rather naked ambition for power (as if anyone in politics at that level is free from that taint).

I wonder if this invective is simply part of the American political system. It's not enough that the candidate you like well, but their opponent must be destroyed. I have a feeling that if Clinton had remained in the background (where I'm pretty sure she could have acted as king-maker during the convention) she'd still be admired, but because she is in the race, those who like her opponent have to vilify her. I'm sure she was expecting this behavior from Republicans, but I wondered if she expected it from her own party?

And I will admit that I am no wonk, not by any stretch of the imagination. And as I've already said, I haven't decided on who I will support in the primary (if my support even means anything by the time our primary comes around). I just felt the need to comment on the situation and to try and figure out its cause.

I swear I won't do things like this very often.