VOTE!

I missed last week's "Walking Dead" recap due to Sandy and while I thought this week's episode was exceptionally exciting, emotional and powerful, I'm skipping the recap to talk about something near and dear to my heart. Something with which I know most of you already agree, but it's my last chance to rant about it, so I'm going to.

Tomorrow is the Presidential Election in the U.S. Personally, I don't understand how any LGBT person; any woman; any elderly person; any disabled person or otherwise disenfranchised person would vote for 'Rmoney.' He doesn't care about you. He claims he's going to create 12 million new jobs? Out of thin air? Maybe he intends to reinstate the WPA (something I think would actually be good for the country and our decaying infrastructure), but he has yet to show anyone how he plans to do that. He claims he's going to reduce taxes for the middle class, but his infamous "47%" video proves otherwise. He claims he wants to move the country forward, but his stand on social issues would actually move the country back by 50 years or more. His religious views certainly inform his views on government and anyone who allows religion into the governance of a decidedly secular country simply cannot govern fairly.

If you are a U.S. reader of this blog, I know you already feel the same as I do about Mitt Romney and his decidedly anti-LGBT; anti-women; anti-progressive stances. The man can simply NOT be allowed to run this country. It would be devastating to everything we have fought for in the last 30 years or more. He wants to overturn Roe V. Wade. He wants to abolish Planned Parenthood. He wants to redefine 'rape.' He wants to reinstate DADT; enforce DOMA and abolish ENDA. Basically, he wants to force his personal religious beliefs on the entire country. 'Disgusting' doesn't even cover it. And let's not even go into his flip-flopping and lies.

President Obama, on the other hand, has delivered on more campaign promises than any other President  in recent memory. He repealed DADT; ended the war in Iraq; authorized the mission to get Bin Laden; saved the auto industry; started the end of the recession and publicly endorsed Marriage Equality. How much more do you want in four years? Let's give him four more and see what happens.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, here. I know that 99.9% of you agree with everything I'm saying. But none of that matters if you don't vote. Vote. Because our lives depend on it. Vote. Because you know what's right. Vote. Because a country under the leadership of a millionaire who believes God lives on a planet called Kolob, is a country governed by a very dangerous lunatic. Let's keep loonies out of politics, shall we?

More, anon.
Prospero

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Vote! Our Lives Depend On It!

These Are Your Choices

As September of 2012 draws to a close and Shocktober looms, this will probably be my last political rant until until November. And while I realize that the vast majority of my readers are either gay or gay-friendly, I know of at least one formerly Democratic lady friend who is planning on voting for Mittens, even though his views on women are 60 years behind the times and his stance on LGBT rights is downright Draconian. MML has been fooled by the Teapartiers and the Obama haters into believing that our current President has failed and is somehow convinced that a return to the same elitist policies of the Bush administration will somehow save the country. I call 'Bullsh*t' on that nonsense.

Given the disastrous mess Obama inherited from his "Good Ole Boy" predecessor, he's kept more campaign promises (Healthcare Reform, saving the US Auto Industry and the end of DADT, among them) than anyone since Clinton. And if the Republican-held Congress hadn't fought him on just about every other reform he wanted, I probably wouldn't be ranting right now. 

So here's the thing: Do you want a progressive; forward-thinking; inclusive and compassionate man running the country and solving even more of our problems, or would you prefer someone whose dubious religious convictions lead him to hate women and gay people, even though he has no problem lying to satisfy whoever happens to be interviewing him at the time? Do you want to move forward or backward? Do you want to promote the subjugation of women and sexual minorities, or do you want equal rights for everyone? Are you an a-hole or a decent human being? Do you really think that 8 years' worth of crap can be cleaned up in 4 years? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, I really feel sorry for you. You might as well go give Ann Coulter a BJ.

If I can't convince you, maybe these folks can:

Vote, folks! Vote as if our lives depend on it, because they do. Stop the right-wing, misogynistic homophobic tea-baggers from turning the greatest democracy in history into a theocratic oligarchy. I have honestly never been more passionate about a Presidential election in my life. And it's because I truly fear that a Romney administration would be the most detrimental administration in U.S. history.

Okay - Deep breath. Another rant over (for now). Back to my usual nonsense, soon. I have another themed dinner party tomorrow ("Cooking with Alcohol" - I'm making Beer-Battered Asparagus with a horseradish remoulade and Sauteed Spinach with onions, bacon and white wine). I'll be reporting on the rest of the meal once my friends and I have eaten it.

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article Equality / Food / LGBT Rights / Marriage Equality / Nonsense / Obama / Politics / Ramblings / Romney / Vote with the title Vote. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2012/09/vote-our-lives-depend-on-it.html. Thanks!

D'oh!

D'oh!

40-odd days away from the Presidential election and I can't help but feel more hopeful than ever that the Romney/Ryan ticket is sinking faster than the Titanic. 

I'm pretty certain that the majority of my U.S. readers are liberal Democrats who agree that a Republican in the White House will only lead to more poverty, more repression of human rights and more corporate power. It is clear that Mitt Romney doesn't care about the working poor, the elderly, the ill or the LGBT community. Romney only cares about what's good for himself and the 1%. You all know that I'm an avowed Secular Humanist, but I know that nothing Romney stands for is in line with what the Bible says Christ stood for. The message of the New Testament is one of love, compassion and charity. I have no idea what the Book of Mormon says, other than what I've learned from the creators of "South Park" and The Book of Mormon, though it sounds just as insane as Scientology does to anyone with half a brain. Still, if it follows the supposed teachings of Jesus, Romney should throw himself out of the temple; denounce his wealth and set about doing good for his fellow men. I honestly don't see that happening, do you?

I wonder what the average guy thinks? Maybe the ultimate 'average guy,' Homer Simpson can shed some light on the problem.

Honestly, I'd try to kill myself if Flanders was seated next to me on the production line, too.

Uncle P lives in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where the State Supreme Court has just sent the new Voter ID law back to lower courts, deeming it unworthy of their consideration but still likely Unconstitutional. PA does issue free Non-Driver IDs via the Commonwealth's DMV. Of course, one has to be mobile enough to get to a DMV photo center in order to obtain such an ID. This limits those who are handicapped; elderly and/or without adequate transportation from obtaining such an ID. The idea behind these IDs is to limit voter fraud. The reality is that the law limits those unable to obtain such an ID (no matter what the reason) from voting at all. This Repugnican backed law is meant solely to prevent voters who would normally vote for Obama, from doing so. Who is committing Voter Fraud, now? Comedienne Sarah Silverman probably expresses this idea best in the the NSFW video below:

Here's the thing: VOTE! Vote to save our freedom. Vote to save our economy. Vote to keep religion out of politics. Vote to ensure that every American has the same set of rights. Vote for what you know is right. Vote as if your lives depended on it. Because they do. 

If you're still not sure who to vote for, read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or George Orwell's 1984 or any other treatise on the tenets of basic human rights. Hell, read the Constitution. It's all right there. 

Do you want the country to be ruled by man who believes God lives on the planet Kolob, or a man who believes every citizen has the right to liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of his or her race, religion, sex or orientation? 

And just to touch on Marriage Equality one more time, I came upon a quote about "Two Spirit" people and I'd like to share it with you.

"Christian leaders stand on our soil and claim: 'gay marriage' has never occurred here. Over 130 tribes in every region of North America performed millions of same-sex marriages for hundreds of years. Their statements are both hateful and ignorant. Your 'homosexual' was our 'Two Spirit' people... and we considered them sacred." 

I don't have a name to attach to that quote, but I know from my personal research in my own spiritual quest that this is true. In fact, the word 'homosexual' didn't even exist until the mid-19th Century. 

And don't even get me started on the teacher who insisted that the 'homo' in 'homosexual' was rooted in the Latin for 'man,' rather than the Latin for 'same.' If she were alive today, I'd smack her silly.

Rant over, for now. You know I'll be talking about this subject again before November. I hope you'll bear with me through the idiocy of our electoral system.

More, anon.

Prospero

You have read this article America / Civil Rights; Equality / Freedom / Heroes / LGBT Rights / Marriage Equality / Native Americans / NSFW / Obama / Politics / Ramblings / Vote with the title Vote. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2012/09/d.html. Thanks!

Name the Budgie

The picture above is very similar to my newest house guest. My mother was so upset by what happened to my poor finches, that she insisted on getting me a new bird as an early birthday present. "One you can teach to talk and sit on your shoulder and have fun with."

"Okay, Mom. Whatever you say."

"And it has to be a male. Only the males talk" (which I have since learned is not true; males are simply better talkers).

So, off we go to buy me a new bird. The first place was the least expensive, but the birds there were too young to tell their sexes (males. like the one above, have a bright blue stripe across the top of their beaks). At the next store, the birds were more expensive, but the only males they had were rather unattractive green and yellow mottled things. I guess that makes me a speciest. Onto the the third and final place. Here (a chain pet-store, albeit one with a good reputation) they are the most expensive, but they have a beautiful blue and white male. Perfect. As the clerk is catching the budgie (with a rather clever folding net), I go and get all the items needed to retrofit the newly cleaned and repaired cage so it is appropriate for its new occupant: bedding, food, grit, grit cup, wooden perch and assorted toys (I had to talk my mother out of buying the embarrassingly tacky parakeet Ferris wheel - I couldn't find an image of it to share with you, but trust me, it was awful).

So, my question to you is: What should I name my new pet? This is the second time I'm asking you all for your opinions. Not something I do lightly or often. I have some ideas, but the websites all say to keep it simple, so the bird can learn its name. I'm inclined to go Shakespearean (big surprise there, eh?) but am open to any number of creative and appropriate names.

Please leave your suggestion in the comments section (and not on Facebook, FB friends). As with my tattoo request, I can't promise I will go with anything you might suggest. But I will take all serious suggestions seriously.

More very anon.

Prospero

You have read this article Birds / Pets / Vote with the title Vote. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2009/07/name-budgie.html. Thanks!