Just another day of the Missouri GOP acting a fool...

This is the last week of the 2012 Session of the Missouri Assembly.

Thanks the Goddess!

And it’s a damned shame to look upon a legislative session as something to endure…to see elected officials as the enemy set to do you harm…and to wait anxiously to see what insulting public display of hating the masses they’ll come up with next.

That brings me back to this being the final week of session, yesterday’s public display of lout-based boorish ig'nance, and the alarming fact that state legislators still have four days left to show their natural ass.

Shall we?

I’ve made no secret of my disgust over Speaker Tilley’s plan to honor Rush Limbaugh in the Hall of Famous Missourians at the Capitol.  Limbaugh represents everything wrong with Missouri…racism, sexism, the ability of rich people to circumnavigate the criminal justice system while poor people convicted of the same crime languish in jail, and a tendency for the money elite of the state to bedazzle poor residents into voting against their own best interest through a manipulation of so-called social value issues.  But the same things that make me know Limbaugh is unfit for any honor at the Capitol are the very things that make those who benefit from that bedazzling at the polls want to honor him.

And so they have…in a partisan “ceremony” saturated in wrongness, reeking of political pander, and closed to the public despite the fact that it took place in the middle of the damn day during the final week of session on the floor of the Missouri House of Representatives.

Limbaugh arrived with 40 state troopers (did my tax dollars pay for that?) and was smuggled into the Capitol where Republican lawmakers and their staff greeted him much like North Koreans used to greet Kim Jung Il…and then Limbaugh was honored at an invitation only ceremony on the House floor that was closed to the public.

Limbaugh accepted his honor by calling critics andDemocratic legislators deranged.

I can’t help but see yesterday’s theatre as metaphor for the 2012 Session.

It brought embarrassment and ridicule upon the Missouri Assembly, was done behind closed doors and the people were denied entrance…and the sole purpose appears to be kissing the ass of a rich white man who likes to spend his days insulting women, making racist jokes, bullying gays, calling for harsh legal repercussions for poor people convicted of drug crimes while feeling entitled to a pass his own damned self, and generally accomplishing nothing only to call it a day, grab a stogie, and kick back with the boys to make more racist jokes, laugh about how they bullied those gays (good times!), and then stroke their guns while muttering about how brown people are going to come flooding over the Missouri/Kansas border bent on steeling their liberty.

Blink.

Y’all ain’t slick, Newsweek…

Shall we?

You’d have to live under a rock to have missed last week’s news that President Obama has evolved to the enlightened level of personally supporting same-sex marriage. 

While I’ve been hoping his evolution would swiftly take him to the level above support that my people call policy (cue crickets), I’ve also been waiting to see which news outlet would violently shit the bed on this story.

The prize goes to Newsweek.

Let me be clear…Newsweek won gold for the cover alone.

Here’s the thing – Obama’s announcement of his personal evolution to support same-sex marriage does not make him gay…or even a solid supporter of LGBT equality…and it sure as shit doesn’t make him the first gay president.

Sorry, Newsweek…but that shit works my last nerve just like people calling Bill Clinton’s ass the first black president because of his alleged support of policies beneficial to black people.

Advocating for equality rights for a group does not make a person of that group.

If President Obama comes out in June then y’all can plaster the cover with rainbows all you want.

But…yeah, um…supporting same-sex marriage does not make a person gay.

I find the Newsweek cover particularly troubling given this culture’s tendency to label anyone saying anything positive toward LGBT people as LGBT so they can then turn around and bully that person for being LGBT.

Now will come the defense that Andrew Sullivan wrote the Newsweek article…so a gay man wrote the article…and blah, blah, followed by blah…and I don’t get a shit.

Toni Morrison called Clinton the first black president…and her black ass was wrong.

Pause…consider…continue.

Lawd help the first asshole that steps up with “gay is the new black”…

Blink.

On same-sex marriage and granting rights by popular opinion…

Shall we?

Yesterday President Obama became the first President of theUnited States to declare support for same-sex marriage.

This is a historic moment and should be acknowledged as such.

When Missouri passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man to one woman, I watched many a Missourian step forward and spout bullshit about how traditional marriage was being threatened by same-sex marriage and that marriage equality would destroy society and blah, blah, and blah.

The amendment passed in 2004.

50 percent of Missouri marriages still end in divorce.

The only thing that vote changed was the Missouri constitution.

North Carolina voters just used the ballot to bully same-sex couples wanting the right to marry and I can guarantee that not a damn thing is going to change regarding marriage in North Carolina except the law.

Sigh.

Anyhoo, President Obama got a lot right when he stated his belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry…

…but he got one big thing wrong.

This shit shouldn’t be left to the states…civil rights should not be decided by popular vote.

Interracial dating and marriage still isn’t popular. I recall an embarrassing public outcry in St. Louis when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch put an interracial couple on the cover of a magazine…and that was in 2009.

As for calls to move the Democratic National Convention from North Carolina because of their vote, I’ll leave that to party members and convention attendees to decide.

Just don’t come a’calling to St. Louis as an alternative because we were the runner up city. 

If marriage equality is the litmus test then Missouri fails that shit big time. LGBT Missourians can be fired for being out…same-sex marriage is illegal and banned…and state lawmakers want to make it illegal to discuss sexual orientation in schools.

Pause…consider…continue.

Missouri is, however, a shining example of what happens when granting or denying civil rights is left up to the states to decide.

Blink. 

On the 2011-2012 Blues…

For the uninitiated – I’m a hockey fan and adore my beloved St. Louis Blues! If you haven’t checked NHL hockey out…do it, damnit!

Confession – I haven’t blogged about the NHL Playoffs because I’m superstitious as hell and the Blues were winning without my mentioning them online so…well, shit – never fuck with a winning streak!

Now that we’ve got that out of the way…

What to say, what to say, WHAT TO SAY?

The St. Louis Blues’ fantastic run came to an end Sunday when they were swept by those damn Kings.

Yes, I’m bitter…but I think the series with the Kings was a good learning experience for the Note.  Nothing exposes what a team needs to work on line playing a team that relentlessly exploits all of your weaknesses.

Sob.

Anyhoo, the 2011-2012 season was still fantabulous.

The Blues stumbled out of the gate…couldn’t pull themselves together for the longest time…and then Coach Hitchcock came aboard and everything changed for the better.  I watched with pride as my team started playing hockey the right way and winning because of it.  They were a team to be feared and respected…and nothing made this fan more proud.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

I’d hoped our run would end with the Blues hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup…but that isn’t to be.

So, I’ll mourn the end of our season even as I enjoy the remaining post-season match-ups.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

Shit, now I’ve got to choose a team still in the hunt to cheer for.

Lawd…

***logs off the check out The Hockey News*** 

Um, why are those exotic animals being returned to that widow?

Okay, y’all…I’m back.

Thank you all for your advice and encouragement!

Now…shall we?

Y’all remember last year when a bunch of exotic animals were released in the middle of the night by their owner in Ohio? 

Mmhmm, there were 911 calls from folks saying “I think I just saw a lion and bear fighting on my deck!” or “There’s a panther swimming in my pool!”

Okay, those aren’t exact quotes…but close.

Anyhoo, the owner killed himself after releasing his animals. Tragically, police concerned about an outbreak of suburban lion attacks killed a lot of the animals.  Some of the animals consumed the other exotic animals and…well, let’s just say it was a clusterfuck of a situation that made national news.

The crazy freak-out-and-bring-the-dogs-inside situation itself was newsworthy.

But the event also brought attention to the lax regulations of exotic animal ownership in Ohio.  In the aftermath, politicians pontificated about passing new laws while animal welfare activists pointed out the need to end the exotic animal trade in America.

Fast-forward to today…and go ahead and bring your dogs inside if you live in Ohio.

The widow of the owner who killed himself after releasing all those lions and tigers and bears just won the right to get the surviving animals back.

Even though there are concerns about the fact that cages have not been fixed.

Even though there are concerns about the conditions the animals were being kept in prior to last years fiasco.

And the choir asked… “How can this be, Shark-Fu? That doesn’t make a lick of sense!”

And The Shark replied… “Anti-regulation freaks in government strike again, my friends!”

Ohio is working on bills…but for some reason lawmakers think the ban on exotic animal ownership should not apply to current owners.  Even if the proposed legislation becomes law it will not apply to folks…and we’re talking about a lot of folks…who happen to have a lion or bear about the house.

I don’t even want to think about what the law says about animals born to animals already being held in Ohio.  Lawd, a person could have thousands of animals roaming outside of Columbus and it would be freaking legal!

Pause…consider…continue.

This is Don’t Tread on Me gone wrong. 

Shit, I just spent a day lobbying a few Missouri legislators who would consider exotic animal regulation a mandate and oppose it even though it makes sense…cause “liberty ain’t easy” and “patriots gotta hold the line.”

Who wants to bet that the Tea Party solution to exotic animal drama is regular militia-based big game hunts in the burbs?

And don’t get smug just because you don’t live in Ohio…there aren’t any border fences between states and you can bet your ass the average pride of lions will just love getting their Heartland hunt on if another owner decides to liberate them from suburban bondage.

***clutches snack-sized sorta-beagles***

Blink.

Unsettled...

I stepped away from this blog last week because I found this space…a space I created…unsettling.

This has happened before…

…and it will happen again.

Knowing that it will happen again is what gave me pause and prompted my inner work.

A dear friend has often said that people of color need our own online spaces because wide-open dialogue too often becomes a Q&A session that makes a body feel like an exhibit on display.

I see the value in having safe online places for people of color to dialogue free of outside commentary…just as I see the value in open dialogue.

But I’ve got to tell ya…open dialogue is emotionally grueling and a little over a week ago it just became too much.

Well, that’s not exactly true.

I could have blogged last week.

But I honestly think I had crossed over from anger into rage, which isn’t what this blog is about.

So I stepped away and spent the week pondering whether my voice matters…whether this blog is worth it…and whether it is time to shut the school of bitchitude down and move on to whatever the future has lined up next.

Because this space...a space I created...had become unsettling.

I decided to keep blogging here and to give myself permission to step away when I feel the need.

I know that the unsettled feeling is part of the struggle.

But that doesn’t make it easy.

Pause.

Sip coffee.

Continue.

There is no way in HELL that dog loved being in a carrier on top of the family car!

Hi y’all!

I’m busy working on an article that is giving me fits, but I read this headline - Dog Seamus 'Loved' Trips Atop Family Car, Says Ann Romney – and I just had to respond.

The Romney camp has been deflecting attacks on how out-of-touch he is with the lives of regular hard working Americans. I’ve read about Mitt’s tax rate, his wife’s love of dressage (think rich people bullshit and add expensive as hell to it), and how he’s friends with folks who own professional sports teams.

Don’t get me wrong – I think it is important to question whether those who draft social policy have an intimate knowledge of how that policy impacts the lives of the 99%. Hell, if I had my way candidates would have to answer questions about whether they have ever had debt or had to float a bill to eat or feed a child.

I get how highlighting Mitt’s life of wealth, milk, and honey demonstrates why he’s going to have to study regular folk before he could even begin to consider how to represent our wishes in office…

…but it seems to me that the best example of how out-of-touch the Romney’s are is that they put their family dog on top of their car and took off for a road trip and Ann Romney thinks the dog LOVED that shit.

I feel the need to speak up for Seamus the dog here - there is no way in HELL that dog loved being in a carrier on top of the family car!

Shit, they have tons of children...why didn't they put the dawg on a lap or two in the backseat?

If Seamus were around to tell his side of the story he’d likely dispute the notion that he got the shits that day from eating turkey off the counter. 

Dawgs don't shit themselves out of joy...that poor dawg got the shits from sheer terror!

Heaven to hell and back again, this freakish attempt to spin putting a family pet on top of a car and freaking it out until the poor dear shat itself as giving the dawg the ride of his life has GOT to be the most solid evidence that Team Romney is bent and unfit to lead that I’ve heard yet!

Trust me, if the Romney’s think Seamus “loved” shitting himself in terror on top of the family car how the hell will they interpret our responses to policy?

Pause…consider…continue.

We’ll be shitting ourselves for years while Ann Romney giggles, flippantly waves at us from atop one of her horses, and then tells her dressage buddies how much we LOVE shitting ourselves!

Blink.