The He-man Helping the Skeletor?

I know this is from last week's SNL, but it's fucking hilarious, so I thought I'd share. If you've heard Arianna Huffington before, you'll probably laugh. Compare the performance with an interview on November 17th with Bill Maher on the Rachael Maddow Show after the jump. It's spot on. Michaela Watkins--so far, so good. The rest of the show was beyond mediocre. Go ahead and delete it off the Tivo.



The real Arianna Huffinton:

Harvey Milk, Hope, and Thanksgiving

A while back KBO posted a trailer for the new Sean Penn movie "Milk," a biopic about San Francisco politician and activist Harvey Milk. Well, it's finally in theaters, and I'm reminding you to go and see it. Here's the trailer:




If all goes well, we'll be at the 8:30 or 9:45 show tonight at the Tivoli. I'll let you know what I thought of it in a few days.

If you want to get a grasp on the scope of the Harvey Milk tragedy, watch the NBC newscast from the night of the assassination. The most heartbreaking part is at 2:20 of the video when then president of the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco, Dianne Feinstein, makes the shocking announcement that Mayor George Mascone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been assassinated. The reaction of the reporters in the room speaks for itself.



On this Thanksgiving Day, I'm going to be thinking about Harvey Milk and people like him who refuse to be silenced by hatred and bigotry. He was assassinated 30 years ago, just before Thanksgiving on November 27th, 1978. Here is a man with courage. He was the country's first openly gay elected official. Here we are THIRTY YEARS LATER and we're still passing blatantly anti-gay and discriminatory legislation. Imagine what it was like back then? I mean, a man who assassinated two elected officials was let off with a voluntary manslaughter charge! Are you fucking serious? The Twinkie defense? More like the homophobia defense. It takes balls to lead a movement with such irrational and hateful opposition. And even though he knew people wanted him dead, he kept fighting. Here are his last words. He recorded them to be played in the event of his assassination.



Harvey Milk was a great man. He was a pioneer of a new civil rights movement. Though we have made great strides that Milk would be proud of, we still have a long and difficult journey ahead of us. It's time to stand up and fight. I hope this story inspires a new generation of LGBT leaders with the fearless determination that it's going to take to change this country.

I don't think I could say it any better than the man himself though:

"Somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio there is a young gay person who all the sudden realizes that he or she is gay; knows that if their parents find out they will be tossed out of the house, their classmates will taunt the child, and the Anita Bryant's and John Briggs' are doing their part on TV. And that child has several options: staying in the closet, and suicide. And then one day that child might open the paper that says "Homosexual elected in San Francisco" and there are two new options: the option is to go to California, or stay in San Antonio and fight. Two days after I was elected I got a phone call and the voice was quite young. It was from Altoona, Pennsylvania. And the person said "Thanks". And you've got to elect gay people, so that thousand upon thousands like that child know that there is hope for a better world; there is hope for a better tomorrow. Without hope, not only gays, but those who are blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us's: without hope the us's give up. I know that you can't live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you, and you have got to give them hope."

-Harvey Milk, 1978, shortly before his assassination.

Morning Peace of Mind: I Don't Know How You Did It...But I'm Glad You Did!

There are some rumors going around the Internets via the New York Post that Ann Coulter may have been effectively silenced for a while. Apparently, she broke her jaw. While I would never wish physical harm to anyone, if this is going to stop Coulter from spreading her hatred around, I'll chalk this one up to karma and say a little thank you prayer tomorrow. Not because she got hurt, but because people won't have to hear her voice for a few months. Think of collective sigh of relief on January 21st when the country is free from the voices of George W. Bush and Ann Coulter. The moment may be fleeting, but that doesn't make it any less wonderful. I guess dreams do come true for those who wait.


Hey, remember when Coulter reacted to war protests in Canada by saying they should be thankful we don't "roll over one night and crush them one night." Watch her squirm as she mistakenly claims that Canada sent troops to Vietnam. Awesome!

Naomi Klein: Pick of Summers and Geithner, "A Profound Disappointment"

This is no secret to KBO, but I have a bit of an intellectual crush on Naomi Klein. I love everything she writes. Seriously. There were times reading The Shock Doctrine when I got so worked up, my hands started to shake. I found myself screaming obscenities at the bathroom walls and ripping pages as I furiously underlined the shit that blew my mind. MK-Ultra? What? Fuck no! I finally had to take a break from the book for my family's sake.


Anyway, Klein was on Democracy Now! yesterday talking to Amy Goodman. If I got to choose any two political minds to have dinner with, it would Amy Goodman and Naomi Klein. Hands down, two
of the smartest progressive voices in politics today. Klein does not like Larry Summers or Timothy Geithner...but mainly Summers. People forget that Clinton drank the free market/deregulation kool aid all through the 90s. Klein wants me to remind you that free market ideology has been guiding the economic policy of this country for well over 25 years. Yes, that's THROUGH the WJ Clinton administration. Like global warming to Republicans, this is a dirty and inconvenient truth a Democrat can never admit. Klein contends that right now, we are paying for "the intellectual dishonesty of the progressive liberals during the Bush years." Part of the reason these appointments have been widely seen as acceptable is that we "have not been honest about the legacy of the Clinton years."

Ouch. Nothing like Democracy Now! to kick you in the nuts with a little perspective. (If you ever want a sobering and honest take on any item in the news, go straight to DN!, but please, mentally prepare yourself). Klein goes on to conclude that Summers (former Treasury Secretary under Clinton) is not only a follower, but "a propagator of the very ideology that Obama ran his campaign against...He's been preaching the doctrine...he's a dyed-in-the-wool privatizer, free trader. And he along with Tim Geithner, his deputy, play[ed] key roles during the economic crises." This gives me heartburn.

It's important to understand that, in the past, when someone on the left like Obama had a "centrist economic policy," it meant that they accepted Milton Friedman's economic philosophy as "simple economics." You've probably had friends with an MBA chastise you about not understanding these simple principles. They can't comprehend anything outside of the free market realm. It's insanely frustrating. Ever since Friedman got hold of the Chicago School of economics and the hijacked the entire of the field of economics, we've been on a crash course towards this very moment. Well, the shit finally hit the fan. It turns out they were all wrong. When Alan Greenspan, the perennial god of the market admits that he had a "flaw in his ideology," you know it's over. The system collapsed and so should the theory.

This is why there is no need to panic. First, Barack Obama is our president now. He is in charge, and I don't see him just going along with an idea without getting several dissenting opinions. He is not an ideologue. He has repeatedly insisted that he wants the best solutions, no matter where they come from. One of the many reasons I voted for Obama was his his ability to view a problem in a comprehensive and reasonable way. I trust that he can analyze this crisis, sift through the many alternatives, and choose the plan that makes the most sense for the country. We can't ask for much more.

Second, in September, EVERYTHING changed. All assumptions now have to be reexamined. As DN's second guest Robert Kuttner reminds us, it is not politically viable to follow any of the ideas of Milton Friedman or the 90s version of Larry Summer. Obama ran his campaign on the promise of deregulation. If he wants any shot at being reelected, he'll follow through.

In the end, Obama chose to go with people who know and understand the steps that got us into this mess. Yes, they know and understand what got us into this mess because they helped create it, but you're not going to find a whole lot of qualified candidates out there who can claim otherwise. What matters most right now is that we have faith in the leadership skills and intellect of our newly elected government. It's never wrong to dissent, but in that dissension (especially if you voted for Obama), we have to avoid being bogged down by pessimism.
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Keith Olbermann does a great job summarizing the Shock Doctrine theory as proposed by Naomi Klein. In the interview that follows, Klein gives several specific examples when this strategy has been used by free marketeers to plunder cities and countries. Watch it for your own good!

Morning Peace of Mind: Chinese Democracy? Not in My China!

I don't know if you heard, but with the release of the not-so-anticipated 14 year project Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses is officially a cooperating faction in the American conspiracy to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn." While I can certainly understand the paranoia coming out of China's state run newspaper after eight years of George W. Bush, I'm not sure if W is the type to conspire with the likes of Slash and Axl.


Chinese Foreign Minister spokesman Qin Gang took the attacks on GNR to a personal level by contending, "As far as I know, many people don't like this kind of music. It's too noisy and clamorous."

The album has been banned in China.

No word yet on whether Axl Rose plans to travel to China to throw a flying forearm at Mr. Gang for his comments.

Watch more Megavideo videos on AOL Video

Guns N' Roses riot at Riverport Amphitheater in St. Louis. Sorry about the quality of video. You can see Axl burst out of the crowd and run around like a mad man at :30. Then, the fire hoses come out. It's worth a look.

Big Props to Mayor Francis Slay

Editor's Note: I've got a much longer, angrier post brewing in response to the passage of Prop 8. Stay tuned.

Yeah, I know. Missouri went to Old Man McCain. This is depressing for two reasons: 1. Missouri is no longer the ultimate bellwether state, and 2. Missouri went red, again, for the third election in a row. Shoot me. Thank god Obama won. Vancouver was seriously close to gaining a couple new citizens.

No need to get down though. St. Louis City went overwhelmingly blue (as expected), and we have a mayor who strongly supports the LGBT community in St. Louis and around the country. He's all about gay marriage, and that takes courage in these dark times.

KBO and I decided to support our brothers and sisters in Cali, Arkansas, and Arizona last Saturday at a Prop 8 protest at the Old Courthouse Downtown. While the results of these unconstitutional votes made me furious and depressed, I felt much better after walking up on the 1,400 St. Louisans who joined Mayor Slay, St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, State Senator Joan Bray, Angry Black Bitch, and many other great speakers to speak out against state-sponsored discrimination.

It was unbearably cold outside, and the traffic made it hard to hear at times, but it was well worth it. The passionate intensity of the speakers reverberated throughout the crowd. Eyes filled with tears, signs and flags were held high, people booed and cheered and laughed, loved ones held each other tight, and people came together. Listening to the stories of normal LGBT people and the families they love really helps to put the issue into perspective. We're talking about law-abiding, tax-paying, real-life citizens who want nothing more than the simple rights afforded to their neighbors. Marriage, adoption, family health benefits--these are not ridiculous expectations. This is a civil rights movement. And we will not rest until all people are granted them.

So, I commend Mayor Slay along with every politician across the country who has the balls to stand up for what is right and just.

Enjoy the pictures. My camera died halfway through the rally, so these are mostly of the first half hour.

Morning Peace of Mind: Pink Sari Gang

Driving down 270 today, I caught the tail end of a story on NPR that grabbed my attention. An impassioned female voice came over the speakers. Her words were translated from into English:

"A man will never have enough guts to raise a hand against me. I would just slap him back into place. If a woman really wants to, she can put a man in his place."

Whoa. I like her style. Instead of working this morning, I looked up the story on NPR.org and listened to the entire thing (don't worry, it's only seven minutes long).

I found out that the defiant words are those of vigilante bad ass and leader of India's gulabi (pink) gang, Sampat Pal Devi. As you can tell by the above quote, these ladies do not fuck around. Armed with pink Sarees, pink sticks, and a wealth of self-confidence, Sampat and her gang make it their business to bring the corrupt men of a very patriarchal society crying to their knees--literally. They're pissed about the conditions for women in their communities, and heads are going to roll because of it.

They serve the often oppressed women of India by, among other things, moderating land and business negotiations, shaming dirty politicians and corrupt officials by assaulting them with their pink cricket bats, speaking out against and even stopping arranged teenage marriages, and forcing police officers to follow up on crimes against women. Most have little to no education, but don't underestimate them--they're smart and fearless. And they roll deep. In one demonstration against a corrupt police outfit known to take bribes, several hundred members of the Pink Sari Gang surrounded the police station and beat and tied up the officers as they came out. Hell. Yes.

The Pink Sari Gang is a great example of the power of organization. Women in India, though they've made many strides socially and politically, are often exploited and seldom empowered. Instead of accepting the horrible conditions in the overcrowded towns and cities around India, Sampat Pal Devi and her peeps decided to do something about it.

The Pink Sari Gang should serve as a positive lesson for young girls all around the world. It's a lesson I hope to teach my yet-to-be-born daughter(s) one day:

You deserve respect, happiness, and the right to make your own choices; and if some old dude ever tries to tell you anything different, beat the shit out of him with a pink stick!

Photos courtesy of BBC News and World Prout Assembly.

New Republicans...Get to Work!

Lee Stranahan over at HuffPo has an interesting pitch for the Republican party and the disciples of Ron Paul, and it got me thinking.

While I don't believe in many of Mr. Paul's ideas, his brand is much better for the nation as a whole than the seething madness we witnessed at the Republican National Convention this year. I'm tired of debating with crazies. You can't get anywhere in a conversation with these guys. A person consumed by an ideology can never step back and look at a decision objectively. It's never about what's best for the country or the world, because they believe that no matter how crazy something seems at the moment, the future will all work out because their God/Limbaugh/Friedman said it would.

As long as we have religious nuts like Palin, neocons like Bush, and war hawks like Rudy controlling half of our political discourse, this country is going to teeter on the brink of disaster. GET THEM OUT. Let's have a opposition party based on what's best for the COUNTRY AND THE WORLD, rather than what best fits a set of ideological principles. While I'll probably never vote for a Paul-like candidate, at least I could have a conversation with my Republican friends that was rooted in reason.

Okay, Paul wants to dissolve the federal government as we know it, he worships the small government gods, he doesn't really have much of an environmental plan, and on and on. Yes, I know these things.

So, maybe we should take this idea a step further. I propose a brand new, post-Rovian Republican party. Take those Ron Paul folks and give them a new type of candidate--one in Paul's mold, but a little less radical.

Ron Paul started with the idea that we need to end the War in Iraq, now. His appeal was rooted in a very liberal idea: peace. This new Republican candidate needs to seize on this and realize what Ron Paul did--the United States is a center-LEFT country.

I've been contending for years that a Republican with a true environmental policy would be embraced by many on the right. Social Justice doesn't necessarily have to be reserved for bleeding-heart liberals, either. Why can't a Republican believe in small government and care about poverty and equality? Why can't a Republican embrace family values and the constitutional truth that ALL people have the right to marry and pursue happiness, regardless of sexual orientation? Can't we lower taxes and promote ethical treatment of workers at the same time? Don't you think it's smarter to promote peace and hope, rather than bombs and fear? Maybe this new wave of Ron Paul Republicans would respond to a positive and honest campaign. You never know. This is a new age. Let's think outside of the box people. What do you have to lose?

The greatest lesson we can take from Ron Paul and Barack Obama is that there is a new nation of young voters out there craving a more responsible type of politics. While I would love to watch a slow, pathetic, bloody, and complete collapse of the Republican party, I fear that when the dust settles, we might be dealing with the 21st century version of Insoc. So let's get creative people.

I'm not a Republican, but I would like to see some major changes in our political system. This takes more than simply electing the right guy at the right time. The pendulum will inevitably swing back to the other side. It always does. I would just like that other side to be less crazy. That's all.

Meet the New White House Press Secretary

It's official. Robert Gibbs is his name, and I like him! Watch him take Sean Hannity to school.


Hey crazies at Fox News, be very afraid. This guy does not fuck around.

This Woman is Crazy.

Seriously. Insane. She has absolutely ZERO respect for animals and thinks nothing of it. The cameraman asked her if she wanted a turkey getting its head ripped off as the background, and she replied, "No worries."

Just imagine for a second if McCain won. How would you be feeling about the future of this country right now?