Totally Random

It's that time of year again in WoW ... time to complete the Brewfest series of quests. While pondering the exact nature

Octoberfest

When I was in high school, I auditioned for the Ft. Worth Youth Orchestra. For some reason, the director got us a gig at Octoberfest, where drunken adults were going to weave around from booth to booth and start arguments on the merits of one beer over another. Yes, THAT Octoberfest.

So we went down to the Convention Center in downtown Ft. Worth and set up on our stage. The very first thing we played ... Pizzicato Polka. What is pizzicato, you might ask? Pizzicato is when stringed instruments pluck their strings instead of bow across them. It is very short, staccato, and not very loud.

So the drunks couldn't hear us very well AT ALL. That didn't stop them from shouting in inebriated exuberance, though. Yes, good times.

Assemblyman Mike Duvall on live mic talking about spanking, having sex with several lobbyists, and avoiding the media. Where exactly do fornicators fit in the whole family values scheme, again?

Oh yeah, it must be all of those gay marriages that make him fornicate and devalue his own marriage.

"If you think that it's somehow unhealthy [for your children to hear] the president say 'work hard and stay in school,' you're stupid."

Moment of clarity brought to you by John Harwood.

Little Red Cookbook at 5:16. Whole bit is worthwhile, tho.

The REAL reason Texas parents "object" to having their children listen to the President's speech?

I've been pondering the differences between myself and most of my family (who are Republicans). Heck, even some of my friends are Republicans. One of them faithfully sends me little nuggets on Republicanism all the time (no, I'm not talking about religious or apolitical spam—you know who you are, so please stop sending those).

For instance, I got this the other day:

(This was billed as a quote from Marcia Segelstein.)

I have long thought that one of the striking differences between liberals and conservatives is this: Liberals believe conservatives are evil, while conservatives believe liberals are wrong.  Stein recounts something his friend Marlene told him, which makes the point.  "[S]omeone I've known for 27 or 28 years actually said to me, 'Marlene, I know you've worked with the mentally ill, so I know you care about people. But how can you be a good person and a conservative?'"

A) Let me just say that I've thought that last part often (about being a good person and a conservative).

B) Um, have we all been asleep the past almost decade while the Bush Administration ran roughshod all over our civil liberties? I'm talking about when engaging in political dissent was the equivalent of being unpatriotic. I'm talking about when Fox News and all it's outlets basically said that disagreeing with the President during a time of war should be considered treason. Anyone? Do you recall that at ALL?

C) I don't know what to do about how I feel when it comes to politics.
It is so important to me, and I am such a compassionate person who pays attention to current events that I cannot understand when people are not outraged by:

• losing their civil liberties (Patriot Act and all its revisions)
• wire-tapping American citizens
• children not having health care
• women losing control over their own, private health decisions
• blatant racism, sexism, and homo-phobia

So yeah, I don't understand the appeal of conservatism.

I remember being cornered at work (two lay-offs ago) by a RABID religious right nut job. I blogged about it, so refer to this entry for specifics and actual quotes.

He saw some of my political wall hangings and asked if I would vote for Obama. I said I would. He said that he wouldn't because he didn't want his tax dollars going for abortions. ... Um .... yeah. He was banging on about how welfare queens with 15 kids should just learn to keep their legs shut. (Wow ... seems kind of hateful to me.) I tried very calmly reasoning with him, but it didn't work. There was no understanding there.

I expect that from religious nuts. I really do. It's hard to use logic when one is a zealot. What I have a difficult time with is people whom I love and adore not listening to logic. How can you be like that? I simply do not understand.

So ... for now, I guess I'll remain discombobulated. (Again, please stop sending chain email spam to me. I really hate it.)

zomg! This blog is Teh Awesome! I mean it! I am so sad that I didn't find it earlier! Margaret and Helen have some fabulousness going at their blog. Gawd, I want to hear more elderly folks talking like this (and stop sending me stupid chain emails)! It's so awesome, I can hardly get over it. Please stop by their blog and see what I mean.

Margaret and Helen

I have never been a fan of Glenn Beck ... mainly because  he's a hate-mongering, conspiracy-theorizing, wing nutter of Teh Far Rights.

Lately, advertisers have been calling Fox to have them pull their adds during the Glenn Beck show (right after he called President Obama a racist). I think if you advertise with the crazies ... and you don't want to be associated with THAT kind of crazy, it's clearly a quantifiable line. (Sure we'll go with Hannity, nutball that he is, but that Glenn Beck is to insane for our ad dollars.)

So ol' Glenn has been begging and pleading for people to watch his show, call their friends to watch, and tape it because it's too much CRAZY to absorb in an hour or so.

Now he's gone off the far-right deep end and he's frothing and slobbering and ranting in front of a chalk board that is conspiracy DELUXE! What a moe-ron!

Seriously ... it's time to put the chalk down, man. Just step away from the chalk ...

My favorite bit is when he's frothing on about the kinds of advisors who surround the President. Yet, I don't recall him being concerned at how close the House of Saud was to either Bush president ... (I guess it's ok because they are sort of capitalists and in the awl bidness and what not.)

Teh_crazy