Had to stop in to drop some new Nedra Pickler on you.
Here.
Read the last paragraph a few times and swirl it around in your brain. Mmm. Tastes like cultural collapse.
I've been on hiatus, obviously. I'll be back this summer, most likely.
CONTENT RULE: QUEER ISSUES
In case you missed the judge's decision re: a stay on gay marriages in San Francisco, check out
the AP wire.
See ya, kids!
CONTENT RULE: SCREW IT
If Ralph Nader wants to run for president, he can do it; anyone can, and that's one of the things I appreciate about republican democracy. But if he thinks he's going to get support from left-liberals like me who backed him in 2000, he's sorely fucking mistaken.
I respect Nader, and the real work he's done for this country. But every single time he does something like this, he sacrifices a little bit more of that respect - in 2000 he lost what he had been getting from many of my fellows, and now he's losing what he got from me. I hate being what is nowadays called a 'pragmatist', because the simple pragmatic truth is that it often doesn't work in battles of ideals. But right now I don't feel I have any choice. Four more years of George Bush is
UNACCEPTABLE. And, in all honesty, both Kerry and Edwards have made me far more appreciative of the Democratic Party than Al Gore did in 2000 - and everything that Gore's done since the election has made me even more so. There isn't a place for a Nader run in my heart. So let him run, don't worry about it, and know that he'll be lucky to pull in 0.001% of what he got last time. We're all fed up.
I gave a nonpolitical endorsement of comedian Mitch Fatel before, so there's precedent for a shameless plug for magician and illusionist
Mike Super, another great guy who came to put on a show for UNC-Asheville thanks to the International Students Association, Underdog Productions, and Student Activities. He's good, he's hilarious, and even touching. Plus, he's
gah-orgeous. Tomorrow night he'll be at UNC-Chapel Hill - if you're there, then go. He's an award-winning up-and-comer, and he's done plenty to earn it.
See ya, kids!
CONTENT RULE: BOTH
Guess what? North Carolina primaries have been delayed. Again. So here's something neat for us political junkies at least:
North Carolina Democratic presidential caucuses. Will they matter when it comes to choosing a candidate? Probably not. But neat stuff nevertheless; I happen to be a personal fan of the caucus system.
Senator Edwards wants
more debates to outline his differences with Senator Kerry. I have to say: the more debates, the better. I'm a Dean boy, but unlike a lot of my fellows online, I'm actually pretty thrilled with the two candidates we have in competition now. I had problems with Edwards from the get-go; he's proven me wrong. I always liked Kerry, and I still do. We are damn lucky this time around to have such astounding people on our side - it's only February, and both of them have
double-digit leads (in CNN-USA Today-Gallup) over the, uh, 'President'.
I am really hoping for a Kerry-Edwards ticket right now. I think the smart thing to do would be to try their damndest to bring Dean into the campaign, along with Clark and any number of current Democratic luminaries, to form a 'shadow cabinet' of nominees for department heads in 2004. This wasn't my idea, but it's worth stealing: if the U.S. gets to see a straight-up talent comparison between the chumps and corporate whores sitting in Bush's war room and the Democrats who could replace them - not to mention a Democratic party unified from right to left - we'd probably see an even bigger boost in popularity for our agenda.
Everyone's got the San Francisco angle covered to death, so I'll just point out one surprising aspect that many people have overlooked: I don't think anyone could have seen this sort of powerful, 1960s-style mayoral activism coming from the office of Gavin Newsom. Lest the country forget, he ran
to the center in the 2003 election, or at least its equivalent in San Francisco (the equivalent of the center - it
was a real election). In a nasty and unexpected free-for-all against left-wing standard bearers - Tom Ammiano, a popular city supervisor and one of Frisco's best-known gay politicians, and Matt Gonzalez, an equally popular Green who had previously endorsed Ammiano - Newsom presented himself as the safe and Clintonian candidate and garnered support from the white upper class. Here's an
absolutely great story from last October on the topic.
Anyway, after Newsom won, he got profiled in Newsweek's
Who's Next in 2004 issue - you know, the one with Jon Stewart on the cover - but even they didn't know the waves he'd make this year. Newsom is now a hero to the left across the nation, and deservedly so. Congrats, Mayor; U.S. queer boys have got major crushes on you now, even though we bisexuals know there are few people in America who are as hot as your wife.
See ya, kids!
UPDATE: Almost missed this good Kerry
story, which sums up a lot of what I admire about him. Some may think it's a political liability that he served in the Vietnam war and then became one of its most vocal veteran protestors; some may find it irrelevant or see it as pure opportunism. I don't. I am really skeptical of vague stuff like 'character' as a measure of a candidate, but it didn't take 'character' to do what he did. It takes character to say no to an unjust war without fighting it, and I give due credit to all those who did. To do what Kerry did, on the other hand, took pure fucking raw guts, guts that I don't have and probably never will. He voted for the Patriot Act and to authorize war in Iraq, and yet I still have faith in him to make up for his past actions and then some. Why? Because last time,
he did. So
read the article, and if you haven't had a chance yet, read Douglas Brinkley's
piece too.
