lolo's blog

Politics or Leadership?  That's what it boils down to, this race.  The race for the nomination and the one to come for the presidency.

I've lived my entire voting life with only the choice of politicians to vote for, because I didn't vote for Reagan.  I voted for the politician instead and while I would do it again today (given the same choice) I'm praying that I won't have to.

That is what the Democratic Party machine isn't fully grasping here.  For the first time since Robert Kennedy's campaign they have a candidate that leads and speaks to peoples' hearts and not a career politician that has accrued power and favours.  LBJ was a politician of the highest order and yes, he could work that machine like a mutha and signed off on some serious shit but you know, he also signed off on some serious shit.  Vietnam War, everyone.  I know he didn't get us into it but you know he kept our country in it, against our will and behind our backs.  That's politics, people.  I think he was a smart man that became an incredibly smart politician and we can only surmise what would have happened if he hadn't been the Vice President to a Leader.

I want some leadership.  The politics of the last twenty years has made so many of us a cynical and fearful bunch of voters who only care about keeping ours safe from the have nots and hating the haves, even if all they have is something different than us.  That's some kind of sad, right there.  We keep getting pitted against one another and another Republican is just going to be about more of the same.

The voters know it and the frustration has led to things like term limits because we know that the system needs to change.  The thing is, it's not going to change by changing the rules that politicians play by.  It changes by changing the politicians themselves. 

Hillary is an excellent politician and she deserves more than just credit for learning and playing the rules to her advantage.  She would make an excellent career politician if she were given the room and a chance to work at keeping the Republicans in check.  She's just not a leader, is all.

*I wandered across this today and think it's one of the most interesting things I've read on just how Obama's campaign has changed politics, forever really.  http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/2/14/182615/431#readmore  It's titled "Process vs Policy:  Organising"

The inevitable nomination of Senator Clinton seemed to take the tiniest stumble during the debate.  She showed herself to be a master of sidestepping but that shouldn't come as any surprise, she's had years and years to hone that skill.  Always give yourself the grey area to retreat to, CYA no matter what.  I am less than thrilled that she's been getting endorsements from her fellow legislators, the whole "experience" thing.  I'm sorry, if she's going to cite her years as First Lady as part of the deal then she should also take responsibility for her missteps too.

John and I disagree about my longing for Obama to get the nomination and I acknowledge that a large part of my wish is exactly the fact that he's not as steeped in business as usual.  I recognise that it's a scary proposition for him to learn on the job but that's what most everyone else does, isn't it?  The closest job there is governor of a state but other than that, it's about being smart enough to choose advisors who can front for you and grasping that at the end of the term it's going to be your name that gets written down in the books.  I think that Obama is more than smart enough to grasp that.  Plus, most importantly to me, he's not yet reeking of the backroom deal.

I'm so fucking weary of this administration and it's determinedly arrogant stance on all things Bushie.  I'm even willing to eagerly trade in for yet another political dynasty but oh my, how I wish for a true change in attitude.  We love to hark back to JFK in our political canon and you know, I wish there was a graceful way to make that correlation between Obama and Kennedy.  Without the being shot to death though, pleasepleaseplease.

I doubt it's going to happen though, because the Clinton juggernaut is in full force and Hillary has the added punch of Bill, a huge bonus.

I'm still going to dream though, cuz someone told us that it ain't over till it's over.

I'm all itchy and antsy and wanting to get started on finishing some projects.  I know, I do so very much hate the shape my house is in, structurally, but I love my home.  I've been stymied and have surrendered as far as making my kitchen the way I want but I can at least make it better.  This house is going to be a rental property once we hit the lottery and buy one that isn't a fucking moneypit but in the meantime ....

I've been stalled mid-project due to rain and am waiting till the skies clear and the air dries out, starting Monday, according to forecasts.  In the meantime I'm mooning over some design blogs for looking at the pretty and posting the links on Twitter.  I'm going to do it here too, just as a memory jog and to share with you kids. 
http://www.desiretoinspire.blogspot.com/
http://www.anothershadeofgrey.blogspot.com/
http://www.melissamossart.com/prints.htm
http://store.dvider.com/stickers.html
http://www.decorativefilm.com/index.html

Sigh.  Okay, I'm going to go and press the new curtains and bed goodies and mope at the weather now.

Oh well, I guess there was no real point to that whole entire post and so it's probably for the best that Vox ate the whole entire thing.  I hope it's full now.  Gah.

Way out in old San Fran, there is a Chinaman
Who's known for miles around;
Wonderful place he keeps, down where he eats and sleeps,
Way underneath the ground!
Each night the festive chinks come there to wink and blink,
And dream away the hours.
They sing this funny song while they are borne along
On beds of poppy flow'rs:

"Ching, Chong, Oh Mister Ching Chong,
You are the king of Chinatown.
Ching Chong, I love your sing-song,
When you have turned the lights all down;
Ching Chong, just let me swing long,
Through the realms of Drowsy Land;
Dreaming while stars are beaming,
Oh Mister Ching Chong, sing-song man."

When you're in Frisco Town don't fail to drop around
And see this Ching Chong man.
Wonderful things you'll learn down where the torches burn,
He'll show you all he can.
Then when the time is ripe he'll fill your little pipe
And then a light he'll bring.
Gently you'll float away far out on Slumber Bay,
And softly you will sing:

"Ching Chong, Oh Mister Ching Chong,
You are the king of Chinatown.
Ching Chong, I love your sing-song,
When you have turned the lights all down;
Ching Chong, just let me swing long,
Through the realms of Drowsy Land;
Dreaming while stars are beaming,
Oh Mister Ching Chong, sing-song man."

Why maybe perhaps some certain kinds of people who might just be the type to not usually complain cuz they didn't really suffer that much might just still think you're a complete and total cunthead for doing the chingchong.

Really, at the end of the day it's not like me or my kind are crying in our wheaties over some stupid shit like this.  I snort and roll my eyes and mutter, "great -- yet another asshat adding to the gene pool" and make sure that I avoid any contact or interaction with them.  I just add her to The List for my kids along with object lessons like Paris Hilton and other people who could benefit from a foot up the ass.

When I first heard ching chong I didn't understand that it was meant to hurt my feelings or be funny and it wasn't until the kid pulled his eyelids tight and shoved his front teeth out while chingchongchinging "chinese, japanese, how you seeeeees?" that I understood that he was trying to insult me and so I did what every kid should do in that situation.  I punched him in his freckled little button of nose and made it spurt bright red.  See?  We're all the same inside after all.  It was great, I will not lie, because not only did I make him cry like the little girl I was but all the kids then believed that I had mastered ancient chinese secret of karate fu socky.  Good times.

I watched that clip and well, it hit me most how there was a pretty black woman sitting next to her and chuckling along.  That made it alright, you know.  Rosie can't be a racist.  If she were a racist then she would be trying to speak ghetto and saying things about the hood and then sistah girl would have punched her in the nose.  That would have been great.  Well, no.  Not at all, since they're grownups and we're not supposed to do that anymore.  Act like we're on a playground, that is. 

My point is, what Rosie's most pissed about is that she was called a racist when she was just making a joke about how it must have played out on chinese television reporting a drunk celebrity.  She's not a racist and we ching chongs should just get a sense of humour and stop calling her a racist because that is the worst thing you can call a white person.  Which really, I take that as a sign of progress.  Used to be, the worst thing that you could call white people like Rosie was nigger lover.

Just trying to get up to speed with this whole holiday thing.  It always catches me off guard, go figure.  I like leaving it till later in the month but everyone else seems to get prepared earlier and earlier every year.

Today is green curry day here.  Mmmyum, it's been forever since I've had a good thai curry and since the only place around these parts that serves Thai actually uses peanut butter ... and left me with a nasty case of food poisoning, as if there's any other kind of food poisoning, I've had to resort to giving this a whirl on my own.

That's it, really.  Actually, there's tons and tons more but I'm too distracted and dizzy to form a coherent post. 

I just have to say this - I don't think its unintentional when the news runs a headline using the phrase "page probe" about the Foleyscapades.

I'm so bemused by this place that I can't quite express my wonder.

I bet they even wear their hair in buns with chopsticks.  I hate that, by the way and whenever I see a woman doing that I want to yank them out and then jab a fork in there instead because if you're going to wear eating implements in your hair then it should at least be a Tiffany fork or something a bit more culturally attuned.

And yeah, why am I not surprised that Susan Sarandon and Tara Reid have eaten there?

My kids get emails like this from their uncle all the time.  What's the fuss about?

So many, many things wrong with all of this.  The one that blows my mind the hardest though is the continued repitition of characterising the email in question as "innocuous" or "innocent" or at its worst "naughty".  Uhhhh, if a grownup; a 50 something year old to boot, were to write your teenaged sibling, child, family member and ask them to send a picture of themselves and ask what sort of birthday gift was hoped for ...  would you send them to play Michael's ranch?  WTF??  Sigh.

The other thing that keeps irking me is the continued conflating of homosexuality and kiddy diddling.  Commentors are saying things like "if we don't allow gay scoutleaders ....." and "well, he's gay but we didn't want to assume ...." and that drives me mad.  Foley's sexual orientation is that of a dirty old man.  Period. 

Furthermore, I'm not buying his mea culpa of "oh, I'm not a predator except when I'm drunk and oh, I've been drunk for years but that's because I got molested by clergy and now I'm ready to get help for my problem".

I don't want a witch hunt but I do want to know why the entire Board of Pages wasn't informed since apparently it was an open secret that Foley made a number of the pages uncomfortable.

And really, I'm disgusted that this wasn't brought out and dealt with long before this.  I mean, there are certainly more pressing issues before us than the fact that some old dude in power was looking for hot, young sex.

Andrew, oh Andrew Sullivan .... honey, you got some issues.

It boggles my mind that  Hastert, Fordham, Reynolds, et al  are offering the  explanation  of "well, we asked  him and he lied to us but what else were we supposed to believe?"  Um, you ask the person who is being accused of inappropiate behaviours if they're being inappropiate and their denial is all it takes to reassure you??  So you're not corrupt, just incredibly fucking stupid.

I love owning, I hate owning my own home.

After torrential rains and an apparently leaky foundation, guess which one I wish for?