How was your Saturday?

Mine was productive:

Yes readers, I was in that crowd of 12,000 on a very hot (95 degrees!) California day, marching to protest the passing of Prop 8. It was amazing, actually. The crowd was very diverse, people brought their children, the speeches were moving and the whole mood of the day was just...really good. I was proud to have been there, heatstroke and all.

Sadly, the march was slightly overshadowed by our yearly natural disaster, otherwise known as fire season:

Can you believe it? I could smell the fires in my home with the windows and doors shut. A friend of mine, who lives in Culver City, had ash raining down on him as he ran errands Sunday morning. Los Angeles has been a wild place to live lately.

I know I owe you all some freak stories; I've been very political (and lazy) lately. They're coming; sadly, I've still got plenty left. Till then, enjoy Wanda Sykes pontificating on gay marriage:

March image courtesy of Gay Socialites.
Fire image by Getty Images.

UPDATE: Hey, Catholics? Coming from someone who was raised Catholic, feel free to join the 21st century. You will not burst into flames, I swear to god!

Here's hoping that change really has come to America.

Click for a larger view.

A have a bit of a post-election hangover today. I'm thrilled, but I can't talk about it any more, so this will be a short post.

It wasn't a complete victory last night; Proposition 8 was passed. There are plenty of bigots in my so-called liberal state. Proposition 4 was defeated, which is no small victory for women's rights. Also, in an underreported development, record numbers of women will be serving in the next Congress. We're moving in the right direction slowly, but we are moving!
UPDATE: SOB.
ANOTHER UPDATE: (again, click for larger view)

Hat tip: Slate.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: the future of America:

Election Day

Artist: Gil Elvgren
Title: "It's Up To You" (1958)
Hat tip: Vintage Ads

SoCal turns out to vote.
UPDATE: What if it's a tie? This is fascinating. I've learned so much about my government and its processes this year, I feel like I'm a better American as a result, no matter what happens.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Single women are this election's holy grail.

I fully support the Bill of Rights, which allows douchebags like this to say whatever stupid thing comes to mind.

Apparently, equality is a European value, and Americans who believe our country should have equality too have been misled.


How could people cheer after hearing that? My favorite comment in the thread that followed the video came from ralph the wonder llama, who asked, "I’d like to know what made right-wingers think that all they have to do is say something to make it true?"

So would I, ralph. I'm sure Prager puts the word "equality" in quotes, like McCain does with "women's health."

Speaking of which:

I am so using the term "dick fingers" from now on!

Hat tip: Shakesville.

Alpha Dog of the day

Hat tip: Feministe.

Listen to Opie!

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Wowza

Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Check out Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants at The New York Times Online. Damn.

Twenty days

I really can't overstate how important it is for people to vote this year. Nobody can afford to sit on the sidelines. There's a really interesting post up at Pandagon about a couple of the propositions on the California ballot this year. I've always enjoyed living in mostly liberal states (New York, Massachusetts, and now California), but you just can't take it for granted that your civil rights are solid, ever. If either of these propositions are passed, they won't affect me personally, but they make me sick, because I actually give a shit about equality and bodily autonomy. You can't take one group's rights away and expect your own to be protected.

Sarah Palin blues

Thanks to my godmother for sending me this hilarious video:


I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Palin, except for the fact that she dug her own hole (and allowed the Good Old Boys to throw her into it).

Hat tip to Jezebel for the MSNBC video.

Greatest. Skit. Ever.

Gosh darnit!

Lordy lord. Dear readers, I don't know if you watched the debate tonight, but Palin's whole folksy, I'm-not-answering-any-of-the-questions-you-give-me-but-I'll-wink-at-the-camera approach made Yours Truly grind her teeth. When she had the audacity to speak about herself as a champion of women's rights, I wanted to reach through my computer screen and throttle her.

As I'm sure you've all noticed, I'm no Palin fan. But somebody in the valley is. Who are the freaky people who would actually view a Palin porno? There's no end to people's weird kinks...always something new to amaze and disgust.

By the way, Sarah? WRONG.

By the way, it's pronounced "NOO-clee-urr," not "NOO-kew-lurr."

I weep for womanity

JESUS CHRIST ON A CRACKER.

Watch CBS Videos Online
Hat tip: Shakesville.

Criticizing a female candidate based on her experience and beliefs is NOT sexist, folks.

I don't want to be played by the girl-strings anymore. Shaking our heads and wringing our hands in sympathy with Sarah Palin is a disservice to every woman who has ever been unfairly dismissed based on her gender, because this is an utterly fair dismissal, based on an utter lack of ability and readiness. It's a disservice to minority populations of every stripe whose place in the political spectrum has been unfairly spotlighted as mere tokenism; it is a disservice to women throughout this country who have gone from watching a woman who -- love her or hate her -- was able to show us what female leadership could look like to squirming in front of their televisions as they watch the woman sent to replace her struggle to string a complete sentence together.

Read the rest here.

If we don't laugh, we'll cry, right?

"Vote for the guy with one house...he's afraid of losing it."

Wanda and Dave in '08!

ALSO WATCH:
Letterman PUMMELING McCain.

Yeah, more politics

But it's a fantastic Monday morning read. My favorite part:

GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

Hat tip: Feministe.

You know what the difference is between George W. Bush and Sarah Palin? LIPSTICK.

The state of our union

I'm just feeling cynical and fatigued today.

Suicide Attempts for Vets Jump 500% in Five Years, and Government Ignores It.

U.S. Military Is Keeping Secrets About Female Soldiers' 'Suicides'

"They keep telling the lies so that eventually people will forget the truth, forget that we're still fighting two wars. We haven't won anything, not peace, not resolution, not honor."

"It's like a bad Disney movie...I really need to know if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago." Matt Damon on Sarah Palin:


I'm with you, Matt. I'm sick of the spin, spin, spin. At least Chris Matthews finally took the Refugs to task for their bullshit:


I want America back.

W stands for wanker!

Bush threatens to veto equal pay for women.

If you don't know what the Paycheck Fairness Act is, check it out here. This is what Bush wants to do away with.

Well, at least I never voted for that asshole.

Hat tip: Shakespeare's Sister.