Blogging Vacation

Well kids, I find that I'm ready to take a little time away from the blog. To be honest, I'm just feeling no motivation to either post or read -- the weather is turning warm and sunny (finally) here in the Northwest, and I have a book chapter and a journal article to finish writing, and an invited lecture to prepare and deliver before we leave for Mexico (praise Jesus) on June 7th - not to mention extra miles running in the sunshine and working in the garden, and the fact that I feel confident Hillary Clinton will actually go away sometime very soon and I can stop bitching about her nonsense. Take care and I suspect I'll be back after June 14th. In the meantime, here are a few favorite photos from my collection...adios!






And, lastly, this is why I support Barack Obama - you cannot deny the man can campaign, that he knows his stuff (foreign policy and all), and that he is hardly afraid to take on John McCain EFFECTIVELY and will WIN in November! Here's Obama's rebuttal of the almost unbelievable remarks made on foreign soil by "President" Bush yesterday, which were supported by his "mini me" flip-flopping candidate, John McCain...

Why Seattleites Suck!

While I LOVE Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, one MAJOR problem I've had is the way people treat one another out here - it's VERY different from the Northeast (or most of the rest of the world for that matter) where I grew up, and it's one thing I'll be happy to leave behind when I move back there this August to start my assistant professorship -- people here can be passive aggressive and downright rude! My friend Vicky is throwing me a celebratory dinner this weekend (for my graduation and new job), and invited some friends - one of whom just sent me the following e-mail:

"I was going to come to Vicky’s on Saturday evening for your dinner, but then I got an opportunity to go to the Storm game. It’s opening night, and you know, well shucks-I really want to go. So sorry to miss what promises to be a great time. I wish you well and hope that our paths cross again sometime."

So, she accepted the invitation, but is now blowing off the host and me to go to a basketball game! People out here do this kind of shit far too often - make plans and then back out of them because something they think is "better" comes along. I find it exceptionally rude. Of course, I also find it rude that we've had people to our home multiple times who have never, ever reciprocated in any way - not even an invitation to go out to dinner (I understand if you don't like to cook or don't have the space, etc) or grab a drink. So, rude Seattleites, kiss my (amazing) ass - the people in Buffalo are warm, inviting and sociable - all things many of you are NOT!

Note to Hillary Clinton: YOU LOST - GO AWAY!

I could not agree with John Aravosis (the founder of Americablog) more - GO AWAY HILLARY! Her victory speech tonight (and, come on, West Virginia is about as conservative as it gets, folks) was just D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N-A-L! She reminded me of Bush trying to convince the nation that he had a mandate to govern when he "won" back in 2000 and 2004 (when, in fact, he lost - not only because the Supreme Court got involved and handed him the election, but because he lost the popular vote by a nice margin - and what did we end up with? A President with about the lowest approval ratings in history and a crazy war). Ugh!

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Go away you horrible human being
by John Aravosis (DC) · 5/13/2008 09:25:00 PM ET · Americablog

IT'S NOT CLOSE. YOU FREAKING LOST THE NOMINATION, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Good God. What is wrong with her? The Clintons and their campaign staff don't give a damn that they are now hurting our electoral chances in the fall against McCain and against the Republicans in Congress. Their campaign isn't happening in some vacuum, and they know it. Our candidates can't fundraise because of her. Obama can't focus on McCain because of her. Obama is wasting money on HER, rather than spending it on McCain, because of her. EMILY's List, and AFSCME, and the American Federation of Teachers and others are wasting their members' money on her now-failed race - money that they could be spending, should be spending, on other real races, races that haven't already lost. She can't win, the math says she lost the nomination, but she doesn't give a damn. She's going to stay in the race like some spoiled hateful egotistical brat.

Why is the media even covering her? The only stories that should be written about Hillary Clinton is how much damage she's causing our party. How she's hurting fundraising at the DNC - they even admitted it, they're not raising the money they need to fight John McCain because of this woman. Why don't you write some stories about how she is hurting our candidates who can't fundraise because of her? How she has forced EMILY's List and AFSCME and the AFT to waste their money because of her. How she has caused a civil war in the Netroots. Five months ago we all felt that we had 3 great candidates. Now, far too many of us loathe Hillary Clinton, and she has done her racist best to ensure that her supporters can't stand Barack Obama either.

The Clintons don't give a damn about our party. Their party, their church, is themselves. To hell with everyone else. I actually liked Hillary up until a few months ago. Other bloggers used to tell me that Joe and I were too nice to Hillary. People just assumed that we were endorsing her. Now I actually loathe her. She makes me yell at the TV like she's George Bush, and no one other than George Bush makes me yell at the TV - until now. I actually can't stand her or her husband any more. I defended her. I defended her husband. And now I'm actually wondering if the Republicans weren't right about them. That's how bad she has damaged her reputation. People who actually liked you, who actually helped you, who actually defended you, LOATHE you now. Call me a Clinton-hater all you like, but people like me were the ones who had your back. And we never will again.

Let me close with what Mike Huckabee just said on MSNBC:
"The happiest person in America tonight is John McCain."

The Big 10!

Well, today is my 10th anniversary with my partner - woo hoo! We met on-line, talked for weeks on the phone and by e-mail, and then finally met for our first date at B & O Espresso (a Seattle institution), and two years later we moved in together and 8 years after that here we are...celebrating a decade together! We've had an amazing ten years - seen some trying times, but mostly GREAT times - traveled a lot, ate and drank, spent a lot of time with family and friends, supported one another in all possible ways - and I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything in the world! We went to our favorite pizza joint, Via Tribunali, for dinner, and we leave for Mexico in 3 weeks (we rented a 5 bedroom villa near the ocean and are taking 8 friends for 5 days of C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N-S; margaritas, time in the sun, and authentic mexican food - our villa comes with a personal chef, a houseman and a housekeeper - in addition to the pool and hot tub), and is within walking distance of the Zona Romantica and gay beach in beautiful Puerto Vallerta. Vamanos!

SNL Tackles Hillary Clinton...

...and it's pretty damn funny (though I doubt she's laughing at this one):

One Hunky Democrat!

This is one hunky Democratic candidate from Nebraska! He's got a great platform, a handsome face and a soothing, convincing voice, not to mention that cowboy style. Dang! I'm not even from Nebraska and I'm ready to send him a check and vote for him...you go, Scott Kleeb! Having lived in Texas for quite a while, my partner has quite a few Stetsons - I think I'll have to have him get one out of the box this weekend! *WINK*

HILLARY CLINTON: VOTE WHITE!

Hillary and Bill should be ashamed of themselves, and this should be UNACCEPTABLE to the Democratic Party!

VOTE WHITE! - by John Aravosis (DC) · 5/08/2008 05:25:00 PM ET · Americablog

Mike Barnicle in the Huffington Post:

Now, faced with a mathematical mountain climb that even Stephen Hawking could not ascend, the Clintons -- and it is indeed both of them -- are just about to paste a bumper sticker on the rear of the collapsing vehicle that carries her campaign. It reads: VOTE WHITE.

From Jack and Jill Politics, a leading blog on African-American issues:

Apparently not satisfied with her plummeting approval ratings among black voters, Hillary Clinton decided to remind us again that our votes don't actually count:

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

Hard-working Americans = white Americans. Right. The rest of us sit on our porches eating watermelon and plucking banjos....

This kind of comment is less a description than an agitator, it's meant to give white voters the impression that they would be "disenfranchised" by an Obama win. It's a not so subtle effort to evoke racial resentment over Obama's success....

Clinton is deliberately hurting his chances... by saying, essentially, "Obama doesn't care about white people."

That's what the "elitist" charge has always been about, appealing to the sentiment that "this black guy thinks he's better than you." It will be the same against the Republicans. The difference is that they now have Democrat saying the same things to further legitimize this line of "argument"....

Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour: Dates Announced!

I am so EXCITED! Now, I just have to decide WHERE to go to get a taste!

Show Date - City - Venue

23-Aug Cardiff Millenium Stadium
26-Aug Nice Stade Charles Ehrmann
28-Aug Berlin Olympic Stadium
02-Sep Amsterdam Arena
04-Sep Dusseldorf LTU Arena
06-Sep Rome Olympic Stadium
09-Sep Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena
11-Sep London Wembley Stadium Mon.
20-Sep Paris Stade de France
03-Oct E. Rutherford Izod Arena
06-Oct New York City Madison Square Garden
07-Oct New York City Madison Square Garden
15-Oct Boston TD BankNorth Garden
18-Oct Toronto Air Canada Centre
22-Oct Montreal Bell Centre
26-Oct Chicago United Center
30-Oct Vancouver BC Place Stadium
01-Nov Oakland Oracle Arena
04-Nov San Diego Petco Park
06-Nov Los Angeles Dodger Stadium
08-Nov Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
11-Nov Denver Pepsi Center
16-Nov Houston Minute Maid Park
19-Nov Philadelphia Wachovia Center
22-Nov Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall
24-Nov Atlanta Philips Arena
6-Nov Miami Dolphin Stadium

MADONNA'S YUMMY "STICKY & SWEET" TOUR ITINERARY UNWRAPPED FOR FANS FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME "HARD CANDY" CD DEBUTS AT NUMBER 1 AROUND THE WORLD IN 27 COUNTRIES THUS FAR INCLUDING US, UK, FRANCE, GERMANY, JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA

LOS ANGELES May 8, 2008 Madonna, the world's tastiest sweetheart, has announced more non-stop treats for her legions of legendary and devoted fans. Following the latest news that "HARD CANDY" has debuted at Number 1 around the globe, it has been confirmed that Madonna's "STICKY & SWEET TOUR" will begin (hip) hopping around the world on August 23rd in Cardiff, Wales with stops in major European markets through September including London (11-September) and Paris (20-September).

Confirmed today by Guy Oseary, Madonna's manager and Arthur Fogel, Live Nation's CEO Global Touring and Chairman Global Music, who is producing the tour, "STICKY & SWEET" will play arenas and stadiums throughout Europe and North America including a number of cities where Madonna has not performed in the past fifteen years. "STICKY & SWEET" will be directed by Madonna's long time creative collaborator Jamie King. The musical director will be Kevin Antunes. The complete tour itinerary is listed below with additional cities and dates to be announced. For complete tour and ticket information, fans can visit: www.livenation.com and www.madonna.com.

"HARD CANDY," Madonna's 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records debuted at number one in 27 countries around the world thus far, including the USA, JAPAN, FRANCE, UK, GERMANY, CANADA, ITALY, AUSTRALIA, THE NETHERLANDS, SOUTH AFRICA, SWEDEN, DENMARK, IRELAND, FINLAND, AUSTRIA, CHILE, SPAIN, MEXICO, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, SLOVENIA, PORTUGAL, BELGIUM, BRAZIL, SWITZERLAND, ISRAEL and U.A.E. The album has received Four Stars in Rolling Stone, Blender and People Magazine with The NY Daily News hailing "HARD CANDY" as Madonna's greatest album ever. Madonna's current smash single "4 Minutes" was co-written and co-produced by Madonna, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. "HARD CANDY" is the Number One most downloaded digital album in the U.S. and many other countries. Madonna's previous studio album "CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR" sold over 8.5 million copies

A multi-Grammy award winner and recent inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Madonna has long been known for groundbreaking multi-dimensional tours that consist of visual and audio extravaganzas with non-stop singing and breathtaking dancing. Madonna's last outing, 2006's acclaimed Confessions Tour played in 25 countries including Russia, reached a collective audience of over 1.3 million fans, and was the highest grossing concert tour of all time by a female artist.

BARACK OBAMA: Do NOT Pay Off Hillary's Debt!

I gave to OBAMA, NOT to Hillary. Let her write another $25,000,000 book! Oh, and Hillary's race baiting, AGAIN! Meanwhile, yet ANOTHER member of the Republican Party can't keep his dick in his pants, and Cindy McCain (uber-rich because of her family) won't "ever" release her tax returns (funny, didn't they "make" Teresa Heinz release hers - Cindy, face it, your "I'm not the candidate" rationale is weak - you COULD BE First Lady - God forbid). Ain't politics a hoot and a half?

Oh, and then there's this little blurb about Hillary which I found fun:

"Hillary has displayed great tenacity and is impressive in her commitment to her campaign. But these characteristics are not inherently valuable. We have an example of this residing in the White House."

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Small Democratic donors shouldn't pay off the debt of the multi-millionaires

Joe Sudbay (DC) · 5/08/2008 08:23:00 AM ET · Americablog

Josh Marshall offers his opinion, with which I (and Contextual Musings) strongly agree:

Helping to retire an opponent's campaign is not unprecedented and can sometimes be justified in the interests of party unity. (Remember, this isn't just money in the abstract. A lot of it is payment to people who provided services or goods of various sorts to the campaign and need to be paid or paid back.) But using more than $10 million raised in large part by small individual donations to pay back the Clintons who appear to be worth many tens of millions of dollars simply seems wrong.

This isn't meant to sound ungracious. I don't begrudge the Clintons their very substantial wealth. And even for really, really rich people, $11 million isn't nothing. But that is simply too much money raised from small givers to give to people who loaned it with full knowledge of the odds and have more than enough money to really know what to do with.

Frankly, I'm surprised that it's even being suggested. It would be a mistake for the Clintons to ask (and just because people are chattering about it -- don't assume they have or will), a mistake for Obama to offer and one that would risk a severe backlash. That's not what people gave their money for.

Yep. This debt discussion needs to be shut down. The Clintons decided to use a lot of their own money to keep this campaign going. Not only would it be very hard to convince Democratic donors to give money to pay them -- and Mark Penn, it's just wrong. Let Terry McAuliffe worry about the Clinton's debt. They're all multi-millionaires. It's hard to feel sorry for them.