Welcome Musikfest

Another year has passed and it's time for Musikfest. The biggest and best event of the year here in the Lehigh Valley. I know you Allentowners think the Allentown Fair is the premier event but please - The Allentown Fair has it's charm but it is hardly the cultural event that is Musikfest. A redneck wonderland vs bringing the worlds music to Bethlehem. Musikfest may get a few stupid, sloppy drunks (how can they afford it) but I can almost imagine the meth dealers in the shadows behind the sheep cages. The Red Elvises vs rhubarb pie bake off, the demolition derby that occurs after a night at Musikfest is free and due to stupid people with out a designated driver, at the Allentown Fair you are charged admission to see car accidents.

I am coming off as a snob here but so be it. Only the truth is spoken here.

Some of the townies here in the Christmas City, the naysayers, complain about Musikfest and wish it would go away. To those sad sacks I say get over it, get a grip and get real. There are hundreds of towns and cities in this country that would kill to have something like this to attract thousands of people to it's central business district(s) every day for ten days. The economic benefits to this city from Musikfest are countless. People who come here for these ten days will come back in more quiet times to eat at our restaurants, shop at our stores and put quarters in our parking meters. Note the success of downtown Bethlehem vs the other downtown's in the area.

Speaking of which, I look forward every year to reading the letters to the editor in the Morning Call from people who received a parking ticket complaining about how rude the city was for giving them a ticket. Of course they are so self absorbed that it does not occur to them that had they not parked illegally they would not have received a ticket.

It will be interesting to see this year if both the Sands and Musikfest benefit from each other.

Welcome Musikfest I am glad your here and I am even gladder that I can come home from work, park my car in our off street parking, put on some shorts and sneakers and mosey the three blocks I have to walk to get to AmericaPlatz.

The Week Thus Far

What a day:

• Glenn Beck says Barack Obama is a racist and hates white people. Of course that means he hates his mother and grandparents and the majority of people who voted for him. I think calls for boycotts are overused and under successful but we should contact his advertisers and let them know we are less than pleased with their sponsorship of his FOX TV show.
• A crack pot congresswomen from NC says the Obama health care plan will encourage the government to kill seniors to cut costs
• Junky Radio Host dittos Glenn Beck
• GOP congress members still winking and nodding at Birthers even though they were forced to vote to admit POTUS is an American
• GOP scaring seniors: telling them that they will be asked how they want to die or just be put out to pasture with no health care coverage
• Pro Opposite Marriage State Senator resigns after boyfriend of 20 year old intern blackmails the Senator over the affair he had with his girlfriend. Perhaps the boy should find a new paramour.
• PA still no budget
• Palin now not the first choice by GOP voters in new poll - how fickle

My head hurts - be back later.

Reaction To Sotomayor Vote

I'm sure this post will come as no surprise to anyone.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination was forwarded today by the 12 votes provided by the Democrats and one Republican, Lindsey Graham. No other of the Republicans voted for her.

The white Republicans were to a man worried about whether she would let her race? ethnicity? gender? affect her votes on the high court. Do you think for a second that Jeff Sessions does not let his race and gender affect his vote? He always puts the interests of wealthy white men first.

Are these white upper middle class guys so self interested that they are willing to jeopardize the future of the Republican party? Apparently so. Non white people be damned, they will control this shrinking party they are members of until it can shrink no more. This group of Senators may be the impetus for a new real conservative party and this bunch may become the 21st century heirs to Millard Fillmore and his No Nothing Party of the mid 19th century.

Lindsey Graham made sense (he does sometimes) (more than many of his party) when he said elections have consequences and this nominee was qualified and deserved confirmation.

Did you know that since President Obama nominated Judge Sotomayor the Republican Senators have refused to allow any Obama nominee for other judgeship's, Justice department official or any federal prosecutor nominee be voted on. They are holding up the future of this country, they are withholding justice from this country, they are putting party before nation, they are putting campaign contributions before nation, they clearly care little about the sacredness of the oath they took before G-d and more importantly the people who elected them.

Shameful.

Sister Sarah is Going Away....For now

Just watched Sister Sarah resign. My jaw was dropped through most if it. The parts where she listed her accomplishments was fine but the beginning and end were almost Agnewesque.

She is the one who exploited her children not the media. If the media had no access to them there would be no story. She put her Bristol on the Don't Have Sex Tour. She is the one who dragged baby daddy out of his garage to hit the campaign trail, she is the one who put her special needs baby before the cameras every day. Had she not done this her children would have been left alone. You did not see the Bush girls, Chelsea Clinton, Amy Carter in the media spot lite like you saw these children. Why? Because her very ambitious mother placed them there.

Blamed the media, blamed Washington, blamed the legal system, blamed the lower 48 states. Blamed them for what? The fact that she was not ready for prime time but she decided to put her family through it anyway. Everything that has happened to Ms. Palin can be laid at her and Todd's doorstep and only there.

Now that she has resigned I only hope the media will move on to someone more serious and thoughtful. Sarah I wish we hardly knew ye but sadly we know way to much.

The Post Cronkite Era

Since the death of Walter Cronkite there has been a lot of chatter about how the stature of the evening news has since diminished. True the evening news no longer has the status it once had because there are so many other sources for people to get their information about the world around them. Many of the same people believe the role of the anchorman (woman) has been diminished. Again, this is only partially true, people still turn into the networks for breaking stories and big events.

After 9/11 I turned to Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw to get me through the horrible days that followed. Polls and rating numbers showed that viewership of network news increased during that time. It has since fallen off somewhat but I suspect many people stuck around. I realize that I may be an oddity but I always think I may have missed something if I do not catch Brian Williams at 6:30, despite the fact that I listen NPR all day or at least every chance I get. I need Brian to give me a summary of the news of the day.

I also believe the role of the anchor is still extremely important, there may be more of them now but the three that matter are Brian, Charlie & Katie. They are the ones that are the sought after talk show guests, they are the ones who everyone wants to interview them, they are the ones whose names are always in bold print when there are stories about TV news in the print media, they are the ones that make the gossip columns. Think about the impact the interviews Katie & Charlie had with Sarah Palin had on the campaign. They were devastating and Palin never recovered. No one really remembers all her other interviews but her Katie Couric interview will be remembered forever.

Yes, there will never be anchor people with the stature of Walter, John or David again. Yes, we have more resources than ever for information and news gathering. But they all pale in the shadow of the historical prestige of CBS, NBS & ABC in that order. Many still wait to hear what the big three have to say before the believe it. I know I do.

The Week in Review

• It appears the media is ready to put the arrest of Prof. Gates on the back burner, hopefully people will not stop speaking about the effect race has on our country. All sides need to be heard, I only hope that the conversations we have does not devolve into bitterness and anger. Can we disagree with out being disagreeable?
• Not if you are in congress. The US Congress is at such a low point that a congressman is introducing a bill to require the President to apologize to Officer Crowley. The fact is congress cannot force the President to do much of anything and this bill will go nowhere. It will be interesting to see if it gets any co-sponsors.
• The health care debate is engulfed in special interest muck and mire. As with the race conversation all sides need to heard in this debate. The agents of non-change at this point are screaming louder and attempting to drown out the other side. POTUS has been criticized by the right for over exposure but with all the money the medical lobbies are throwing at this debate he needs to show his leadership. This nation cannot afford to miss this opportunity to bring real change. This debate began with Teddy Roosevelt was brought to the forefront by Harry Truman and no real serious change has happened. The right wants to know what the rush is? I don't think a conversation that has been almost 100 years in the making is rushing things.
• The negative right wing commentators are calling President Obama a failure at the 6 month period of his administration. "The economy has not rebounded", "Iraq is still unstable", "Afghanistan is not a democracy", "Where are the jobs" I could go on but you get my point. What is their hurry? Why are they rushing things? I kid. But it did not take GWB and the 6 years the GOP lead congress and the conservative courts six months to bring this country to it's knees, did it?
• Who knew that GWB was the thoughtful and rational one in his administration? Dick Cheney and the torture advocates at the justice department wanted to use the US Army to arrest people they suspected of being terrorists? Why not you ask? Read the constitution. The President is not allowed to use the US military for domestic law enforcement. In fact if the National Guard is called up by the President for domestic use they must lay down their arms. After Katrina it was left up to the Governor to call up the guard so they could be used as a police force. No President has called for such use since the civil war. Imagine the image of the US Army coming to a home and taking people away.
• At the beginning of the week there were news stories leaked by the Cheney forces that made Bush look like the weak member of the administration and Cheney the true leader. By the end of the week stories are coming out making Cheney look like Dr. Strangelove and Bush the sensible leader. I love when other families fight. Will we be chanting Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! by the end of the week while Liz Cheney hangs off the stripper pole in the middle of the stage.
• Birthers

Hatch the new Santorum

When Bush 41 nominated Sonya Sotomayor to a federal judgeship Senator Orin Hatch assisted with her confirmation through the Senate. When Bill Clinton nominated her for a promotion Senator Orin Hatch voted for her. Now all of the sudden he is opposing her nomination to the Supreme Court. This is the first time in his long career in the Senate that he is opposing a nominee for the Supreme Court.

I almost never agree with Sen. Hatch but I have always thought he was not a rabid partisan but someone very committed to his conservative views. He always seemed reasonable or at least spoke about things in a reasonable tone. He is the man credited for getting Ted Kennedy to clean up his life. So I am surprised by this turn of events.

He said in his statement that her philosophy trumps her stellar record. Does not one reflect the other? How can you separate the two? Another reason was that she was not the right Hispanic, he said he wished the President had nominated another Hispanic because he really wanted to vote for one. Huh? What did he mean by that? Does he mean there are the right kind of Hispanic people and there are wrong kind of Hispanic people? Are the right ones like Alberto Gonzalez? Are the right ones Mexican or Central Americans and the bad ones from Puerto Rico? Are the bad ones Wise Latinas and the good ones constitution violators of Mexican descent? I am so baffled by that statement how sputter every time I read it.

I once respected Orin Hatch but now I fear, he is no better than the likes of Rick Santorum.

Giving Birther to the New GOP

What does the GOP have to gain from their support of the Birthers? Liz Cheney, Sen. Selby, G. Gordon Liddy, the Junky Radio Host, Lou Dobbs (not a Repub.) and many more either espouse this stupid theory or give it a wink and a nod. Six members of the House have introduced legislation requiring all future presidential candidates to produce a legal birth certificate. They say it has nothing to do with the Birthers but it is important for the future. Please.

Do they really think that saying the world is flat is going to help them win elections? I am here to tell you that even if the President is not as popular next year the American voters will remember that these loons in control of the GOP believed this non issue or were cynical enough to play to it. I am convinced that this will give the average voter enough pause and force them to question the sanity and intelligence of the GOP and vote Democratic again.

If the President is at least as popular as he is now next November the Republicans are doomed for a generation. Part of Obama's mandate was change from this type of weird, scary, hatred of intelligence politics.

Why does the Republican party always try to appeal to the worst of us and not the best of us?

Of course, maybe if the chattering class would just ignore these crazy's the issue would go the way of Tri-lateral Commission trying to take over the government, oh wait that fear has been around since the 50's and supported by the Birthers.

Are we doomed?

Not Post Racial Yet

Since the election of the president, many commentators (mostly white) have been discussing a post racial America. Some claim that the fact we have elected a black man our president, racism no longer exists at a high level in this country and we are now a more color blind society. Bunk.

In a color blind society no one would even notice that the president was black. Find me one person in this country that does not recognize the president is black. The election of one man does not a color blind society make.

There would be no birther movement if Barack Obama was named Barry O'Malley or Barry Osterhaus. The birther movement has legs because the president had an African father and was born in the exotic place called Hawaii, as a child spent some time in Indonesia with his mother. John McCain was born in Panama but no one doubts his citizenship because his father was military and not a cultural anthropologist.

I don't have a problem with the teabagger movement on the whole. The true movement leaders care about where this nation is heading and are genuine anti-tax and small government advocates. The movement has been around for years and embodied by the Libertarian party and Congressman Ron Paul. After the election of Barack Obama the movement grew many fold and got a racial edge. Look back at photos from the biggest marches in April and you will find hundreds of posters taking the low road with ethnic and racial slurs. Where were these new teabaggers when the Bush administration ran up a national debt larger than all the 43 Presidents before him?

Do I think we can become a post racial society? Yes. It is going to take a lot more intermarriage and it is going to take a few more generations. Have we gotten better? Maybe. I have had conversations with people in their early twenties. These kids were not as moved as I was by the election of an African American President, they didn't really get the sense of history at the same level I had. These kids also don't get the whole gays can't marry thing either.

So, yes there is hope for this society to become colorblind, I just don't think I will be alive to see it.

What happened this week the Dr. Henry Louis Gates should end any claims of a post racial society for quite some time.

Liz Cheney on the bus to crazy town

Dick Cheney's daughter is speaking out in support of the birthers. Is that what big daddy thinks? Will she speak out for the moon landing doubters? How about the world is flaters? Will the Holocaust deniers find a friend in Ms. Cheney? Will the next thing she debunk the existence of Santa Claus?

I would not mind if Ms. Cheney would slink back in to that dark and slimy hole where her father & mother reside.

I still support the First Amendment - even for crazy people.

Abe would be ashamed

There are still people out there who believe that POTUS is not native born and therefore not legally POTUS.

He has produced a copy of his birth certificate, he has produced a copy of the birth listing from the hospital in the local Honolulu newspaper.

The radio junky and now Lou Dobbs have joined the racist crazy bus on this issue. No one can tell me that if Barack Obama were white this question would be raised.

The Teabaggers have been taken over by the racists, the young GOP is headed by someone who has proclaimed her racism in print and the Senator's who sat in judgement of Judge Sotomayor proved their racism over and over again.

As they say and do all this, they still claim to be the party of Lincoln.

Does that mean the last leader of the Republican party to care about non-white people died 144 years ago.

A struggle for words

I know I should have written my thank you notes by now but I am struggling with the words. I am not known for word struggles, in fact most people find me never lacking in words. I am verbose. to say the least and I think I have a command of the language. I usually know just what to say. Yet somehow I cannot find the right words to put on paper to thank all the people who were so kind, so supportive and so wonderful during our time of sadness. Many continue still to express support and concern.

Someone different every day asks after my brother, says how much they loved meeting my parents, thought my nieces were just wonderful, think my sister and brother-in-law are terrific and everyone fell head over heals for Guy. So, thanking these kind and wonderful people should be easy, but the words are just not coming. Everyone has said how much they loved the service and few have asked me to lead theirs. I wonder if there is stimulus money for that type of start up business?

I sat down during my lunch today and wrote out about six cards. I threw them all out, wasting perfectly good personalized note cards. Part of it is that my handwriting is so bad that I struggled to read them and part if it was the words were not just good enough. Everyone knows how grateful the family is for their love, affection and support and how moved and overwhelmed we were by the turn out for the service. The people I should be thanking the most tell me not to worry about it, they understand.

But I don't know how else to thank them other than putting it in writing.

Now that I have written all of this I think the real stumbling block is my handwriting, it has only gotten worse since the Third grade. I don't want to spend all the time writing the cards out and then have no one be able to read them or worse yet have them come to me and ask me to translate, which means I would have to speak the words to each person one at a time. That, me thinks, would be too emotionally draining on a catastrophic scale.

So, I know it is tacky but I may just type them out and send each person a note they can at least read. By typing them it will be easier for me to be a better editor and not waste as many note cards.

Now I only have to obsess over the paper and letter head.

Joe, John & Meghan

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Madame Justice Wise Latina

Well that was enlightening. The thought provoking questions, the stirring debate, the high level of oratory, the truly passionate discussion of the issues and the and the the ..... I can't go on.

This past week's Sotomayor hearings were dreadful. Nothing new was learned and I believe some reputations were tarnished. Judge Sotomayor bested this petty and dreadful bunch of intellectual gnats (that's the Democrats) the Republicans were slaughtered by their own hubris, lack of understanding and dare I say racist and sexist attitude. All the Republicans asked the same 3 questions over and over and over again.

Yes you honky bastards she is a wise Latina and she is proud of it, as well she should be, so get over it, move on, have dinner at your house on C street, order up your favorite call boy, kiss your wife, kiss your husband, have a joke throw down with Sen. Franken, attend the opera, watch the new Harry Potter movie, read a book, do something, just let it go.

I wonder if anyone on their staffs had the guts to tell them that they made fools of themselves. I wonder if a staffer told Sen Sessions that by pointing out another judge who holds different views is also a Puerto Rican made him sound like "you all look alike so why don't you all vote alike"? I wonder if a staffer pointed out to Sen. Coburn that Ricky Ricardo was Cuban and not a Puerto Rican? (do you think he knows the difference?) I wonder if a staffer was able to tell any of these snarky, smirking, small minded chumps that using a fake Spanish accent was a not a good idea. Do you think a staffer said to Sen. Specter "No one really cares about cameras in the court, you have a tough re-election coming up and this is how you spend your 10 minutes?"

I think Sens. Graham, Sessions, Grassley and Hatch may have at least read the polls and read some commentary on the weeks events and softened. Today I think they realized the next time they meet Judge Sotomayor they will be required to address her as Madame Justice Sotomayor.

She proved this week that she is indeed a wise Latina, she made these great guardians of our republic look like they should have never risen above the town councils were they got their start. Because none of them are really ready for prime time even though there are in it and we are stuck paying their salaries.

Yes Senator I am holding my nose

The US Senate has had a reputation of being a civil debating society. A group of 100 men (some women) who viewed themselves as the elite of American politics. It is oft said that when a newly elected Senator arrives in the chamber he / she can't believe that he /she is there and after a few months he / she can't believe the other Senators are there with him / her. It does not take long for Senators to think that he / she is the most qualified person on the planet to lead this great nation of ours. Which is why so many run for President.

At one time it was also a very civil body. Members even in today's nasty political culture still call each other "my good friend from ...." In the not too distant past, even after a tough day of voting or debating Senators would return to the friendships they developed. An example of this is the extraordinary and deep friendship of Senator Hatch and Senator Kennedy.

Those days are fading and will be gone when the oldest members move on.

There was time when the Senate was full of statesmen & stateswomen. People who looked after the national interest, who took the long view and who saw the big picture. It was more genteel in it's debates than the House of Representatives.

It is no longer that way. Many members are petty, vicious, fear mongering, small minded nimrods who try to demean and debase those who oppose them. They practice the politics of personal destruction perfected by Newt. In fact many of the current bunch of Senators served in the house with Newtie.

I know that saying the worst of the worst are in the GOP will be predictable but I'm sorry they are.

Where are people like Margaret Chase Smith, Hubert Humphrey, Hugh Scott, Al Gore Sr, John Heinz, Everett Dirkson, Tom Eagleton & Barry Goldwater. All of these people were very partisan and very passionate about their views and positions but you did not see the venom and the hatred and rage you see today.

What happened to our politics? Why does this current generation of GOP leaders talk about following in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan yet really walk in the footsteps of Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy. It really was not all that long ago that even after a day of tough debate Tip O'Neil and Ronald Reagan would have drinks and dinner and leaders of both parties would meet in Dan Rostinkowski's (sp)office to play poker. Sadly I don't think we can ever go back. The Dem's have learned the lesson the hard way and are not much better.

Even the sex scandals were more genteel and polite. A secretary that could not type, a drunken swim with a stripper in the tidal basin, a call boy with loose lips (pun intended) or taking bribes from FBI agents dressed up like Arabs. Now, they are just so dirty and weird.

I keep hoping it won't get worse but things like this never gets better. Why should the Senate be any less coarse than the culture at large. So hold your nose.

Say a prayer for Judge Sotomayer

I was going to write about why we need to support our small cities and their downtown's and I will do that next (or soon).

While surfing this morning I began watching the coverage of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. I truly love this stuff. I am a politics / history / news junky.

I turned it off after only the second opening statement. The first was by the committee chairman Partrick Leahy. He is a blow hard and a grand stander with the best of the them but I agree with him so it was just a little less painful than putting my hand on hot burner.

Then came Sen. Jeff Sessions of the great state of Alabama. He has a long history of racist comments and using that bias against the citizens of his great state when he was AG. His racist background kept him off the Appeals Court when he was nominated some years ago. He was rejected by the Senate. Of course, his racist background and actions were not so bad as to keep the voters of the great state of Alabama from electing him to the Senate. When he began his opening statement full of not very clever swipes and sneering sanctimonious double speak, I could not take it. Running rusty hot pokers through my ears began to seem like a pleasure.

Judge Sotmayor must sit there and listen to these whores drone on and on in 10 minute clips. She cannot respond, she is allowed to only sit there with a smile on her face while a pack of unctuous, pampered, out-of-touch frauds sit in judgement of her and try to tell her how to vote on the court.

I fear if I listened to Arlen Specter I would have grabbed a bottle of Jack, put a bandanna on my head, worn a pair of camouflage pants, ripped off my shirt, walked calmly to the church tower of Central Moravian Church and preformed an AK47 throw down so huge that even Bobby Flay would would not want to compete against it.

I am now watching Rachel Ray talk about a eating disorder that people obsess with eating too healthy.

May G-D bless this great republic and save it from the United States Congress, specifically the Senate this week.

National Embarassment

There are many national embarrassments.

• The fish gutter from Alaska
• Mommy & Daddy will pay for my sin from Nevada
• I have to leave my South Carolina home and high office to chase his true heart

They are bad enough but the worst are legislatures. Local, state or national. Take your pick, they are all dysfunctional and can not be depended on to accomplish anything. Which is the worst of the worst.

Congress -

House Democrats are busy bitching about the CIA not always telling them the truth- Most Americans do not care about the CIA and the truth. Most Americans care about health care, taxes, jobs, safe streets, garbage pick up, clean water and the CIA doing it's job by finding the bad guys and taking them out. Most Americans do not want to know the truth about the CIA activities.

House Republicans only care about saying NO to what ever POTUS has to offer. They care about what the extreme right wing radio and the Fox nut jobs tell them to care about. They care about calling the President a failure after 145 days yet they never once called W a failure even when they knew he was.

Senate Democrats only care about.......Who Knows? I think it's reelection and appearing on Meet the Press and setting themselves up for really good book deals, most will be too old for 2016

Senate Republicans only care about......Who Knows? I think they care about reelection and appearances on Meet the Press and setting themselves up for 2012.

Then there are the state legislatures.

California is out of business, they are handing out IOUs to vendors and will soon not pay state workers.

PA is once again is doing the budget dance and failing everyone they represent

New York, the worst of the worst, has been in the grips of a power struggle that was so important the people's business did not matter.

Each party is only playing to it's base.

The Democrat's only talk about making the wealthy pay more taxes and impose higher taxes on corporations. News Flash: The very wealthy do pay a lot of taxes but their accountants get them out of what the law calls on them to pay. And, this may be the biggest shock of all. CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY TAXES! They pass the cost on to the customers. So, raising taxes on them will only be paid by me. Then the Democrats say let's let smokers pay more taxes at the same time they are pushing the nanny state to discourage the people from smoking.

The Republican's want a flat tax or to lower the rates for the wealthy. This will raise the taxes on me and lower the taxes on Warren Buffet and even he thinks he should pay more and his secretary should pay less. And, of course they believe in the sanctity of all marriages but their own. They want to deny the people a health care system as good as what they have. They write automatic pay raises into law for themselves at a time when many of us are getting our salaries cut or are not getting a raise anytime soon.

Something has to be done. Voting out all the incumbents may not solve the problem, things are not better in term limited states then they are in the rest of the states.

Do we need a third party? It has not helped in Britain, they are really no different than Labor or the Conservatives.

I am at a loss. So I suppose I will stick with the Dem's but I am not really proud of many of them lately. I do still support our President.

An Update

Going to work is still kind of emotionally draining. There are still so many people who have not had a chance to express his or her sympathy about Mike. I am grateful that so many people loved Mike and I am willing to discuss things with them. I suspect in the long run it is helping with my grieving process but it is very draining.

To a person everyone has told me how lucky Mike was to be part of my family. Everyone loved my parents. They thought Sister and husband were just great. Loved the nieces and think Guy walks on water. But the parents made the biggest impression.

Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate everyone's kind words and expressions of concern about my brother and the loss of Mike. I have become the vessel for the grief, shock and loss everyone is feeling about Mike.

I can think of no better role for me.

Sometimes I think I am talking about it too much and it is getting in the way of my work ethic. But really, I am comforted by the attention. It can be exhausting but, I would be resentful if it did not occur. I suppose my emotions are still raw.

Took brother out to dinner, it was time well spent.

I promise more of the usual discussion of politics but I need to get through this, though I will never get over it,

A look back 2

1. So she is going to quit to prove she is a fighter and not quitter. She has failed to keep her agreement with the voters who elected her. I loved her trying to insult Andrea Mitchell for not listening. She was listening Sarah, you were not making sense.
2. I favor the sanctity of marriage and yet I leave the country to have sex and find my hearts true love with someone who is not my wife. But, I am trying to fall back in love with my wife. And, he did not support Clinton's argument against the word is. Sandfordism at it's best.
3. I fuck a staff member's wife who is also a staffer and I hire their 19 year old son as a policy advisor and then when I tire of fucking the staff member's wife who is also a staffer I fire the 19 year old son. Watching this scumbag welcome Sen. Franken today was charming.
4. Barack Obama is the reason Sanford cheated on his wife. The affair started while Bush was POTUS. Is the Oxycontin talking again?
5. Newt very quiet lately, something must be up. Does his third wife know?
6. What happened to Sen. Wide Stance? Successful consulting I suspect.
7. Is Sen. Vitters still wearing a diaper? It makes sitting through long and boring hearings easier.
8. What are you today Arlen?
9. MJ given rest. Perhaps other things will be discussed
10. It appears there is a division within the Mullahs. This could take awhile
11. Huckabee, Romney, Brownback, Pawlenty are left. Who is the next to implode. I am hoping one will be caught in a gay gang bang filmed by Chi Chi.

Wow the fog of grief clouded a lot.

Presidential interview re-cap

From one of my must read blogs www.towleroad.com
Hat tip to Queers United: In a 45-minute interview with reporters from the Roman Catholic media that happened before the holiday weekend, President Obama summed up his views on gay rights and his faith:
"For the gay and lesbian community in this country, I think it's clear that they feel victimized in fairly powerful ways and they're often hurt by not just certain teachings of the Catholic Church, but the Christian faith generally. And as a Christian, I'm constantly wrestling with my faith and my solicitude and regard and concern for gays and lesbians."
The "God & Country" blogger for U.S. News & World Report says:
"Religious folks, cultural conservatives included, will appreciate that Obama takes his faith seriously enough that he's struggling with how to reconcile it with his commitment to gays and lesbians. Social liberals and the LGBT community will appreciate that he's unequivocal about that commitment."

- I do hope and pray that my President will do what he knows is right and just.

I want to get married

OK - this is not a manifesto but a rant and a plea for justice that I fear may not come for at least another generation.

Last Saturday by brother's partner of many years died suddenly, my brother found him collapsed on the floor and called 911. My brother said everyone was very kind and polite but they treated it like a crime scene. He was not allowed to go to the hospital but instead was taken to the police station to wait things out. Once no foul play was discovered he was free to go. By this point Mike had died alone at the hospital.

Now, my brother because he was not a legal spouse had to wait 3 days to for some family member to come forward to claim the body. Mike was estranged from his family and really there was only an aunt and step father left, neither of which he had a real relationship with. We were Mike's family, my brother is the one who had claim to the body, but we had to wait.

Now, friends have tried to reassure me that this 3 day wait for next of kin would also happen to a straight unmarried couple. That may be true but for one difference. They would be unmarried and living together by choice my brother is not allowed to marry. We had to wait for some obscure relative to surface and then worry that she would claim the body and Mike would be lost to us forever. She did come forward at that last minute and gave us some grief but in the end my brother was allowed to follow Mike's wishes and we had a lovely memorial service.

I have been with Guy for over 25 years. We have been embraced by both our families (mine was easier than his but they came around). We have never strayed. I have joyfully put up with snoring, weight gain and the need to collect everything. Guy has put up with career highs and lows, horrible sleeping habits, bouts of depression, a mid life discovery that ADD is real and some odd OCD habits.

Yet, we are not in the eyes of the law a legal couple. Our relationship has no value under the laws of this state and this nation. Marriages, like all those family value types who cheat on their wives, have value. Their sham marriages count. Guy & I do not count. If I were to die tomorrow after more than 25 years Guy would not be able to claim custody of my still neurotic corpse. He would have to hope that my family would not come in and take me from him. He would have no say what so ever. A will would help but that could involve legal action.

At one point I thought marriage did not matter, but it clearly does. I thought OK call it civil unions, but that is not working out so well in NJ (UPS does not want to grant benefit rights). I want to get married! Not because I give a rat's ass if some church or state leader approves. I want to get married because I want the same rights as Elizabeth Taylor (8 times), Newt (3 times), junky radio host (4 times), the diaper wearing Senator Vitters, the soul mate searching Gov. Sanders, the staffing screwing Sen. Ensign and the cigar chomping Pres. Clinton.

I want Jefferson's words to be true, even if he really did not mean them. Oh please, you will never find a bigger fan of Jefferson than me, but the man owned and screwed slaves until the day he died.

I will hold all my elected officials accountable until I have full rights under the Constitution. This will be One America some day and I am now fully engaged in the fight. And, I am tired of this long engagement I want Guy to make a respectable man of me and finally marry me. The sin part of "living in sin" may be fun but I want full citizenship rights just like my sister has.

Not equal

I have been tweeting like a crazy person because I am still processing my manifesto and still grieving.

Did Jefferson really believe "All men are created equal"? Because it really did not pan out that way did it? At least, not in this country.

We have talked a good game for the last 233 years but the laws of this great Commonwealth and nation do not treat me as an equal.

Memorial Re-cap

I promise post about my One America effort later. I am not willing to sit by and let Jefferson's words not include me. By the way One America has nothing to do with that fraud John Edwards

Today was about resting.

The memorial service brought some closure and the turn out was almost over whelming. We almost ran out of seats.

I am sorry that I was unable to speak to everyone but you all must know how much your attendance meant to all of us.

Thank you to Ashton Funeral Home for going above and beyond what they had to do. They were able to bring Mike's ashes to the service and Mr. Ashton was a great assistance even though he did not have to be there, having him there was comforting.

My dad yesterday said he was very proud of his children......

Too tired for words

What is going on with Sarah Palin?

Letting go

All the planning and prep is done. Mike should be at rest shortly and tomorrow we will be celebrating his life. I am leading the service for the family. Spent a lot of time writing. It will never be good enough. I have my brother's permission to discuss. More to come.

Date & Time

Remember Mike @
Friday, July 2, 20009
First UCC
27 N 3rd st
Easton, PA 18042

Update

Friday, July 3, 2009 @ 11:00 AM will be the celebration of all things Mike. I just don't feel like writing here at this moment. I am the leader for the service so I am writing that.

We have so much to discuss