Whew

It's over. And I'm trying not to have too much schadenfreude about Romney backers threatening to move to Canada or Mexico, because that was the liberal reaction to Bush's 2004 re-election, too.

I'm thrilled about more than just the president: Voters in Maine and Maryland approved a measure to make same-sex marriage legal in those states, the first time the issue was at the ballot and not in the legislature. And voters in Minnesota voted down a proposed amendment to make gay marriage illegal. Well done, people of M-states.

Plus, Todd "Legitimate Rape Doens't Get You Pregnant" Akin and Richard "Rape Pregnancies Are A Gift From God!" Mourdock have not won re-election. Well done, every thinking human who realized what utter bullshit these two were spouting. 

 So yeah, I feel good. I feel that hate didn't carry the day like I was afraid it would. And I feel really happy I don't have to stockpile birth control between now and January. We may have a long way to go, but I'm proud of America right now.

Get Ready To Vote

I let early voting pass my by but I'll be out tomorrow morning to participate. And I'll keep this in mind, from The New Yorker's endorsement of Obama (all emphasis mine):

Romney, despite his pose of chiselled equanimity, has pledged to ravage the safety net, oppose progress on marriage equality, ignore all warnings of ecological disaster, dismantle health-care reform, and appoint right-wing judges to the courts. Four of the nine Supreme Court Justices are in their seventies; a Romney Administration may well have a chance to replace two of the more liberal incumbents...The rightward drift of a court led by Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito—a drift marked by appalling decisions like Citizens United—would only intensify during a Romney Presidency. The consolidation of a hard-right majority would be a mortal threat to the ability of women to make their own decisions about contraception and pregnancy, the ability of institutions to alleviate the baneful legacies of past oppression and present prejudice, and the ability of American democracy to insulate itself from the corrupt domination of unlimited, anonymous money. Romney has pronounced himself “severely conservative.” There is every reason to believe him.

And I'm also going to have this ready to read Tuesday if I need it.

Let's Just Get This Over With

I have election fatigue. Here's an infographic from Google that sums the last debate, I think:

Beyond the "horses and bayonets" moment, though, there's only so much "I'm the opposite of the other guy and I'm right!" you can hear.

So go vote--especially if you're a woman, because you haven't had that right for even a century and you gotta cling to the rights you have in this election. (I'm just sayin'.)


Also, this: 

"How much for your women? I want to buy your women!"

Last night's presidential debate was awfully shouty but made for some good (worrisome) entertainment, at least for this female voter. Let's start with one that blew up the internet: The "binders full of women" quote from Mitt, which was his response to a question asking what each candidate would do to help close the pay gap between women and men.

"And I said: ‘Well, gosh, can't we find some women that are also qualified?’ And so we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women's groups and said: ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women."

 (Emphasis mine throughout.) More context and quotes can be found right here, including the very next breath when he went on to say: 

I recognized that if you're going to have women in the workforce that sometimes you need to be more flexible.

What is with the "if," Mittens? Women are in the workforce. And they're in the workforce not as some sort of runner-up to being moms, or because they don't have someone supporting them, but because they are humans who need jobs to live, just like most other American humans regardless of genitalia. 

Dear god. This reaction gif of women in the audience (from yet another priceless moment, in which he said that two [heterosexual, naturally] parent families are the way to stop gun violence)  pretty much sums up my feelings:

 

PS, the title of the post is, of course, from here.

Fascinating!

I try not to come out of my bubble too much to pay attention to politics, but someone in my life watches things such as "The O'Reilly Factor," so I have to maintain balance in the Force by listening to "Democracy Now" on public radio. And that's where I heard about this:

A leaked video taken secretly at a Mitt Romney ($50,000 a plate) fundraiser is making the rounds, in which Mittens makes many fascinating statements, including,

"47 percent who are with him [Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax. "

and this one!

 My dad, as you probably, know was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico ... and, uh, had he been born of, uh, Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this.But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico.... I mean I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino.

You can watch the most-circulated clips, see the entire video, or read a transcript here at Mother Jones (who broke the original story).

You can hear Romney respond at a press conference  right here on CNN (second video): 

I was speaking off the cuff in response to a question and I'm sure I could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that and so I'm sure I'll point that out as time goes on.

Fascinating. I should come out of my bubble more often.

Pretty Much The Best Thing I've Read, Ever

Some backstory: Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo filmed a PSA for the group "Marylanders for Marriage Equality in 2011," supporting the gay marriage amendment on the ballot in Maryland. Then a member of Maryland's House of Delegates, Emmett C. Burns, Jr. (D-Baltimore), publicly demanded that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti "inhibit such expressions from your employee." Then a football player on another team, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, wrote a really great letter to Emmett C. Burns that contains this paragraph: 

I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. 

All of it is just so good, but the postscript at the end (you'll have to click through) kills it. Well done, football players, well done.

When A Problem Comes Along...

Oh, hooray for the internet. It's not letting the Mitt Romney dog incident (yes, that's a Wikipedia link) die and that makes me so happy. I read about Remember Seamus last month, and when my brother was out last week he saw a Dogs Against Romney sticker on a car with "I ride inside." And even the band Devo has released a single about the incident, with band member Jerry Casale saying,

"My God, the world is a scary place with seven billion people. What you want in a leader is a guy with some humanity at his core. I just don't feel that Mitt does."

The more attention the better, I say. I know people who will argue that it's just a dog and there are bigger human issues to focus on (hell, I know people who probably don't see a problem with it at all), but I think the whole incident shows cluelessness at best, and cruelty at worst, and I don't want either of those qualities in a leader.

Coming Out Of My Bubble To Point Out This Contrast

I find it unbelievable that the same country that gives us people who can figure out how to land a robot on Mars also gives us people--people in power--who fail to grasp the very nature of biology. 

No, Rep. W. Todd Akin,  it is actually NOT true that women who are victims of "legitimate" rape can avoid pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Wasn't true in the 1200s, isn't true now. While we're talking science, I bet I can clear some things up about evolution for you, too. 

Todd Akin is on the House Committee for Science, Space, and Technology. Can we replace him with Bobak, please? 

The 20th Century Has Been Good To Me

I can vote, I can work full-time, and I didn't have four kids by the time I was 25. The Writer's Almaac tells me that today is the birthday of Margaret Sanger, in 1879, who is responsible for that third one. Emphases are mine in the quote below:

Margaret Sanger was born into a working-class Irish family. Her mother died when she was 50, after 18 pregnancies. Margaret went to New York City, became a nurse, got married, and gave birth to three kids. As a nurse, she worked in the maternity ward on the Lower East Side, and many of her patients were poor, some of them living on the streets. They seemed old to her by the time they were 35, and many of them ended up in the hospital from self-induced abortions, which often killed them. Margaret nursed one mother back to health after she gave herself an abortion, and heard the woman beg the doctor for some protection against another pregnancy; the doctor told the woman to make her husband sleep outside. That woman died six months later, after a botched abortion, and Margaret Sanger gave up nursing, convinced that she needed to work for a more systematic change.

We can all be glad Margaret did work for change, went to prison in 1916 for opening a birth-control clinic, and in 1921 started what would become Planned Parenthood. Thank you, Margaret.

It Writes Itself, Folks!

So I changed my Tribune subscription to Sundays only, but for the last three weeks it's been delivered every day, and today there was this gem: Let's Tax Caffeine, Legislator Argues

[Rep. Craig] Frank, R-American Fork, has asked lawmakers over the next year to study the potential for taxing caffeine, a response to proposals this session to hike the tax on cigarettes - all of which failed

[...]Frank said he has seen research that caffeine can cause spontaneous abortion, psychological abnormalities and other disorders.

"We're going after people who have problems with addiction for a revenue stream, only caffeine would be one that is more broad-based," said Frank, who calls himself a "social caffeine drinker."

That Diet Coke can KILL, people! Also, global warming is fake.

I Think We All Feel This Way:

And I loved this shot--"Good bye! Good luck! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!"

Photos from the NY Times. You can read the complete Inaugural Address on their site, too.

UPDATE: Just saw this headline--Obama Orders Halt To Prosecutions At Guantanamo. He's not wasting any time!

Just 24 Hours More

Boing Boing pointed me towards the online portion of the Harper's Index for this month--it's all about Bush. And while I appreciate that he didn't bring about a Dr. Strangelove-like "nucular" winter--which I fully expected when the war(s) started--these just reminded me alll over again how really and truly bad the last eight years have been:

• Days since the federal government first placed the nation under an "elevated terror alert" that the level has been relaxed: 0
• Percentage of the amendments in the Bill of Rights that are violated by the USA PATRIOT Act, according to the ACLU: 50
• Minimum number of Bush appointees who have regulated industries they used to represent as lobbyists: 98
• Portion of Baghdad residents in 2007 who had a family member or friend wounded or killed since 2003: 3/4
• Percentage of U.S. veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have filed for disability with the VA: 35
• Chance that an Iraq war veteran who has served two or more tours now has post-traumatic stress disorder: 1 in 4
• Minimum number of detainees who were tortured to death in U.S. custody: 8
• Percentage of EPA scientists who say they have experienced political interference with their work since 2002: 60
• Minimum amount that religious groups received in congressional earmarks from 2003 to 2006: $209,000,000
• Amount such groups received during the previous fourteen years: $107,000,000
• Rank of Bush among U.S. presidents with the highest disapproval rating: 1
• Average percentage of Americans who approved of the job Bush was doing during his second term: 37
• Percentage of Russians today who approve of the direction their country took under Stalin: 37

There's more online, if you want to get worked up even more. But guess what? Tomorrow will have happy news!

Why Must You Be Like This, Chris Buttars?

From yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune:

The West Jordan Republican is sponsoring a resolution encouraging retailers to embrace Christmas in their promotions rather than the generic "holidays."

"It would encourage the use of 'Merry Christmas,' " Buttars said of the non-binding statement that is still being drafted. "I'm sick of the Christmas wars--we're a Christian nation and ought to use the word."

I know this is rhetorical at this point, but is anyone else concerned that a member of the state legislature seems so blissfully unaware of the First Amendment? We're a Christian nation? No we're not, jackass: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

And here's another point: He's encouraging retailers to use "Christmas" in their promotions, as if a "Christmas Sale" is more righteous than a "Holiday Sale," but if he's that devout, shouldn't he be objecting to using the Birth of Our Lord to sell crass material items?

Why do you waste our time like this, Buttars? Why?!

Utah Politics: We're Actually Quite Sophisticated. Really.

Newly-elected Utah House speaker Dave Clark made this mystifying analogy in yesterday's paper. About the need for ethics reform, he said:

"It was like we had a car in the barn that had been sitting there for 10 years. We fired it up and ran it around the track and parts of it weren't working as well as we thought. Until we took it for a test drive, we didn't know, so it caught us off guard, but that's why we're proposing that we put these items up for discussion."

Wow, I just can't wait until January!