Post Prop. 8 protest reflection…

Earlier today a bitch joined 1,400 of my fellow activists in support of equality and in protest against passage of Prop. 8 in California.

It was cold as hell (shiver...wince...and shiver again) but people showed up and added their voices to the chorus calling for equality and social justice.

Fantabulous!

I was inspired to see so many young people and student activists in the crowd. These youth are fired up and ready to get active…and they give me hope for the future.

This bitch hopes that folks will stick with this and organize.

We stand on the side of justice, y’all.

And the one thing we did right was the day we started to fight.

Keep your eyes on the prize.

Hold on!

Let the defubarization begin!

A bitch is finally feeling recovered from the election rush! Missouri may still be up in the air…and Lawd knows we love to take our damn time with post-election counting sessions (wince)…but we’ve got to move on and get about the bitness of defubarization.

Pause…roll up sleeves…continue.

Shall we?

This bitch adores a good debrief. I’ve participated in many event-based things and even a successful happening has areas in need of improvement. So, I’m more than a little eager to dig under the scabs covering the wounds of soon-to-be previous administrations.

Why?

So we the people have a better understanding of just how fucked up shit was and can make the adjustments necessary to prevent that mess in the future.

Catch that knee before you hurt somebody!

No, we haven’t just spent two years doing that. Elections aren’t debriefs…they are festivals of spin where facts often get trampled.

And 'tis facts that shall set us free.

Let’s start with Missouri…’cause I live here, damnit.

Governor Matt Blunt was fucked up from the floor up on day one, but folks stopped talking about some of the specific fucktitude the second he declared his fiendish mission accomplished and took his own rancid ass off the statewide stage.

Yay.

He’s gonna get gone.

But as anxious as we all are to see the south side of a northbound Blunt, this bitch thinks we should look through the trash before it gets tossed out to make room for Governor-elect Nixon.

Governor Blunt’s administration is accused of improperly using campaign technology to communicate state business…of having no protocol for the handling of email communications…and of purging communications that may contain evidence of who the fuck knows what.

Lawsuits have been filed and investigations are on going.

On one hand a bitch would like to know why Blunt’s minions apparently got Nixonian…tricky Dick not Jeremiah…and indulged in a lot of delete, empty trash and then repeat.

I see that many flies and this bitch knows there’s a pile of bullshit somewhere.

But on the other hand, a bitch wants to understand the nature of Blunt-based fubar so I can make sure we clarify that shit for the new Governor.

The same shit applies to our federal government...and members of the outgoing crew who appear a wee bit anxious to get out the door.

Our long national nightmare may be coming to an end…

…but those who forget the shit that makes absolute fubar possible are doomed to repeat it.

This bitch and the 52nd City Kick Ass Awards...

A bitch has been nominated for a Kick Ass Award from those fantabulous folks at 52nd City!

Blink

Oh my!

***fluffs Afro***

The Fifth Annual edition of St. Louis Kick Ass Awards will be held on Thursday, November 13, with a live presentation at Joe's Café, Bill Christman's whimsical, one-of-a-kind, retro-futuristic (and booze-free) music venue in the heart of the Skinker-Debalivere neighborhood. The awards will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will run until approximately 9 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

The St. Louis edition of the Kick Ass Awards launched in the early winter of 2004, based on the popular Austin, TX, event begun earlier that year by writer/raconteur Spike Gillespie. Since then, nearly 70 St. Louis individuals, organizations and other entities have been honored by the publishers of 52nd City, who promote this annual event, dedicated to folks in the community who often don't get the praise they deserve… or, in other cases, folks that the publishers of 52nd City really, really dig. (For a full list of previous winners, you can check:www.kickassawards.blogspot.com.)

This bitch would like to thank the publishers of 52nd City for this...umm, kick ass honor (wink)!

Prop. 8 protest in St. Louis...

Join the Impact

Protest Prop 8 St. Louis city

On Saturday November 15 2008, across the United States cities will stand with California in a public protest regarding the recent outcome of Proposition 8.

At 12 Noon, the St. Louis community will gather at the Old Courthouse (Broadway and Market Streets) and speak out against Proposition 8 and the issues around equality and Civil Rights.

Website - http://ShowMeNoHate.blogspot.com

Join the cause, join the voice, and JOIN THE IMPACT!

A bitch hopes to see you Saturday...

Yes, they did…

A bitch is rested, y’all.

Shall we?

On Election Day millions shifted their rally cries from "Yes We Can!" to "Yes We Did!"…but not all of those folks were talking about President Elect Obama’s victory. Anti-equality activists had a series of victories over justice in California, Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. Like thousands of equality activists across the country, I am struggling to reconcile Obama’s historic victory with the denials of equality passed into law at the same damn time.

In California anti-equality extremists funded the push that resulted in passage of Proposition 8 that bans same-sex marriage.

62% of Floridians passed the so-called “Marriage Protection Amendment,” banning all recognition of and benefits for unmarried couples, both straight and gay.

Arizona went the route of Missouri in 2004, passing Proposition 102 with 56 percent of voter and amending their state constitution to recognize marriage as limited to unions of one man and one woman. Like Missouri, same-sex marriage was already illegal in Arizona and this move is strategic to block any action through the courts.

And Arkansas voters passed the “Unmarried Couple Adoption Ban,” that makes it illegal for any unmarried couple living together in the state to adopt children or serve as foster parents. 57% of voters passed that rancid piece of shit into law. State law and the state constitution already ban same-sex marriage.

When people ask me whether the election of this nation’s first president of color means America has instantly become a more just and equal society, those are the Election Day disasters that make a bitch look at them like they’ve lost their damned mind.

But we have just begun to fight.

An injustice to one remains an injustice to all.

There will be a nationwide protest against passage of Proposition 8 Saturday November 15…I’ll post details on the St. Louis protest as soon as I get them.

And, just for kicks, a bitch would like to point out that man on woman marriage is threatened by a lot of shit…families struggle because of lots of pressures…but same-sex marriage isn’t one of them.

Missouri banned same-sex marriage in 2004…

…and if we had a dollar for every failed man on woman union or divorce filed since that ban this nation would have our motherfucking surplus back.

Blink.

Friday!

The frenzy of the last couple of weeks has caught up to me and a bitch is sluggish as hell.

A good kind of sluggish but still the mental equivalent of walking through waist deep mud.

Thank Gawd today is Friday, y'all!

I'm taking the day off from bitchitude to rest my mind so toodles until tomorrow...

Decisions, decisions and more decisions…

All manner of political talking heads are getting their speculation on over who will be appointed to what and why in the new Obama Administration.

A bitch would like to explore the challenge of deciding shit through one key selection about to be made…the choosing of the First Dawg.

A bitch is always amazed by how many people select their canine companions based on looks. I know people who purchased designer dawgs because the breed was in fashion…or they liked how the dawg's coat matched their décor…or they just wanted something they could fit in their handbag.

But dawgs have personalities…just like people. And, just as we should not select a cabinet member simply because they have an impressive resume, we should not select a canine companion just because they are the breed of the moment or have been bio-engineered not to bark at the mail-person.

I’m serious!

What if the soon-to-be First Family wound up with a dawg that they selected because it didn’t shed only to find out that it had a history of doubting the metal abilities of women and may or may not have created an atmosphere of extreme tension during it’s tenure at a certain Ivy League university?

Blink.

They might not have to deal with the allergies inspired by pet dander, but just think about the other drama they'd get in exchange!

Sigh.

Anyhoo, a bitch recommends that everyone consider canine adoption carefully and weigh the realities of their lifestyle with the potential dawg's personality and temperament.

Start at local shelters…ask if fostering is available…and be prepared for pee in the residence since a bitch is certain the scent of Barney’s legacy will linger for years to come.

...when we the people make it happen.

A bitch is still struggling to put into words what I am feeling right now.

I must confess that I didn’t believe an Obama win was possible until they called it on the telly (Brother Rob Thurman was quick to call a bitch and remind me that he was right…and I’m thrilled enough to take that shit graciously).

I’m going to relish this indescribable feeling today…allow my soul to fill with the emotion of knowing that my Father, may he rest in peace, would be so thrilled that he lived to witness this…and let my sore as hell feet heal a bit (wince).

But tomorrow we begin.

President Elect Obama inherits a towering mass of drama and the daunting task of dealing with it.

And our work…the work of social justice…begins today.

Elections give us tools that we call politicians. It is our job to use the hell out of them…to hold them accountable and to work with them to bring about change.

So get your party on, y’all.

As soon as Missouri finishes the count (Lawd, have mercy…get it done, people!!) and bitch will dust my Afro off and get to it.

Because this moment…these twilightesque weeks between Election Day and inaugurations…is when major shit goes down.

We have not reached the mountaintop, however exciting this historic moment may be.

With many states passing inequality into law…with so many in economic peril…with our nation still at war…and with reproductive justice still under attack…we have a lot of work to do.

And you’d better believe this bitch is fired up and ready to go!

Change happens…

…when we the people make it happen.

Been walking the walk...

Literally.

Sorry for the delay, y'all!

This bitch has been getting my canvass on with a certain Michele and Alison from Planned Parenthood Affiliates in Missouri (see, I told you I'd give you a shout-out...wink)...and then I put in another round with my good friend Ryan who charmed me out of my exhausted funk.

A nod of the Afro to my fellow activists...you are amazing.

Anyhoo, Happy Election Day!

I hope everyone took the time to savor the beauty of the vote. Enjoy the moment and know that this right was won through the courage and actions of many who are no longer with us.

As I drove to meet my fellow canvassers this morning...and we're talking serious morning, people (wince)...I cruised by a polling place on Delmar and saw a line that led all the way down the sidewalk.

I can't remember the last time I saw a line at a polling place in the city.

Fantabulous!

A bitch is off for my final round.

Feet tired.

Soul inspired.

A bitch’s vote-based request…

This bitch got my absentee vote on last week!

I’m scheduled to work polls in the county on Election Day, so my city-based self needed to take care of my patriotic duty early!

Longtime readers know that I adore voting but I’d never voted absentee before. I was a wee bit worried that it wouldn’t be the same…that it would lack the emotional rush I get when I vote on Election Day. But as I filled out my ballot the rush was there…the thrill of finally being able to make my choices official and doing so in a crowd of fellow voters…it was fantabulous!

But many of y’all will head to the polls Tuesday November 4th and this bitch wants to make a simple request of you.

***steps up onto soapbox***

Ahem.

With all the frenzified anticipation surrounding the presidential race it is easy to forget that there is a lot of other shit…a lot of very important other shit…on the ballot.

State Senate races, State Rep. races...here in Missouri we have the Governor’s race and the A.G. race, proposals and initiatives...and so forth and so on.

Those of us who have worked our asses off on state campaigns need voters to complete the ballot!

Mmmhmmm, y’all need to commit to finishing it…flip it over and work your way down to the bottom (blink) …COMPLETE IT, DAMN IT!

Pause…collect self…continue.

In the words of the SOS Band…baby we can do it!

Take the time.

Do it right.

***steps down off of soapbox with that song stuck in my Afro***

Pondering the absence of the Queen of Rancidity…

A bitch has been working the front lines of this election battle in Missouri and this battleground shit is fierce! I keep telling myself that there will be time enough for sleep after November 4th.

Sigh.

Anyhoo, I couldn’t fall asleep last night and this bitch found my thoughts wandering to the current line-up of political pundits getting their talk on.

And it hit me that Ann Coulter has been missing in action.

Blink.

The last time a bitch saw the Queen of Rancidity on television she was vowing to vote for anyone but McCain.

Where for art thou Ann?

Don’t get me wrong…this Coulterless election season has been refreshing as a motherfucker. And its not as if others haven’t picked up the nastification slack in her absence.

I know that she’s still churning out outrageous shit somewhere, but a bitch hasn’t been assaulted by her presence on morning television for months. Mayhap the faithful aren’t buying her brand of chili the way they used to.

Pause…consider…continue.

Could it be that a new version of the Republican ‘fear the other and resist reality’ brand is being developed during this election cycle?

I was so sure Coulter would emerge when the Edwards sex scandal broke since she adores hating on all things Edwards…but, if she held a party a bitch sure as shit didn’t see anything about it.

‘Tis a mystery, for sure.

And a bitch wonders if the absence of Coulter, even as the presidential campaign dissolves into the kind of fear-based revival of the Red Scare that she’d usually be all over like a fly on shit, signals the emergence of a changing of the guard in the social conservative ig’nant rhetoric club.

Bitch may not be the new black…

…but mayhap Elizabeth Hasselbeck is the new Coulter.

Pondering the single party rule argument…

Shall we?

A bitch has noticed that a certain Senator McCain in making the argument that all hell will break lose if Democrats control Congress and the Executive Branch. He hopes to score votes by whipping up fear of single party rule.

Interesting decision…particularly when the most recent example of a majority gone wrong hails from the Republicans.

But we don’t vote for parties.

We vote for candidates.

‘Tis true that we often cast our vote for one candidate because we are against another candidate...but outside of each base people spread their vote around.

In every state of the union people are being overwhelmed with pitches from individuals who sorta agree with the policy positions of one party or another. Here in Missouri we’ve got candidates running statewide who never even mention their party affiliation. A bitch suspects that has something to do with the general state level disgust for all things republican and the fact that we no longer have the option of voting a straight ticket.

Political commercials follow a basic formula – I’m for this, that and the other but I get mavericky over that, this and this other shit so you can trust me even though you don’t trust the political party that shall not be mentioned.

Pause…consider…continue.

It appears to me that McCain’s tactic-esque strategy of getting the fear of handing Dems the keys to the store and the alarm code too vote is headed for a collision with the ballot. His hopes may reside in the fact that 'president' is still the first decision voters make…but he runs the risk of reminding undecided voters that some of their indecision results from the trauma leveled by the last party that held all the keys and raided the fuck out of the pantry.

Blink.

Update - Urgent! Missing Child - Julian King...

Update - It appears that a body found inside the missing SUV is Julian.

May he rest in peace...

The nephew of actress Jennifer Hudson (Julian King) is still missing after the weekend murder of Hudson’s mother and brother in Chicago.

Hudson and her family have offered a $100,000 reward.

Please click here and read the Amber Alert information about Julian King.

Julian is a black male, 7 years old, 4 feet 11 inches tall, 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a brown polo shirt with stripes and khaki pants.

If you see Julian or have any information about this case call 9-1-1 and advise that they have an Amber Alert for him.

Shame, shame and double shame…

A bitch went to Parkway schools.

As a matter of fact, I spent the bulk of my educational life in the Parkway system.

That was some 20 years ago (wince) and a bitch liked to hope that the bigot-based bullying that I endured during my time there had gone the way of the campus smoking lounge.

But news that five students have been suspended from Parkway West Middle School for hitting Jewish students as part of Hit a Jew Day…well, that just makes me sick.

Some students were hit on the back.

One student was slapped in the face.

Just sick!

Clearly this incident should be a wake up call to Parkway, but it really needs to be a wake up call to the community too.

I can’t imagine what I’d do if I got a call saying my child had hit or slapped another student as part of…ugh!

Shit.

This isn’t about tolerance.

This is about respect.

And if they’re going to haul students into an auditorium for sessions on diversity they need to make damn sure they haul their parents in for the same fucking sessions.

Fuck it, spring for a semester.

Damn it.

Sigh.

My thoughts are with the students subjected to this mess and their families.

Debunked!

This bitch woke up at the crack of dawn...wince...and caught the news item about the woman in Pittsburgh who claimed that she, a campaign worker for McCain, had been mugged at knife point and assaulted by the carving of a “B” into her cheek because her alleged assailant (a black man, natch) was offended by the McCain sticker on her car.

Blink.

I’ve been getting my campaign on all day and missed the news…so I just checked in on this story and discovered that the woman has now admitted to making the story up.

Blink once again.

This bitch was skeptical from jump.

Didn’t the backward “B” give anyone pause?

Mercy.

But a bitch wishes the woman speedy recovery from all that ails her…

…and I hope this isn’t a sign of the drama to come as the campaign enters its final stage.

On the road...

A bitch is traveling today!

Toodles 'till tonight.

p.s. Happy Birthday...a wee bit late...to Jeff!

But isn’t this really about fairly distributing the burden?

A bitch watched my beloved Blues come up short against those Red Wings last night.

Sob.

We’ve got to do something about that first period…big time!

And inviting a certain Gov. Palin to get her campaign on at Friday’s game…well, that’s just not right. Shit, this hockey mom (sorta-beagles count, right?) hasn’t done a damn thing to deserve having that woman on our home ice! The only positive is that she’s likely to drop another couple grand at Saks while she’s here...you know, to stimulate the local economy one luxury item at a time.

Blink.

Anyhoo, Missouri is in play and both presidential candidates are trying to show the Show-Me state why we should vote for them.

A certain Senator McCain has decided to do that with an "I am Joe the Plumber" ad that is so obviously ripped off from those "I am a P.C." ads that this bitch thinks someone should sue.

And doesn't that make McCain-Palin the political version of Windows Vista?

Mercy.

Well, a bitch isn’t Joe the Plumber.

But I am a Missourian…who would like to speak directly to my fellow Missourians about this shit.

Ahem.

Are you Joe the Plumber?

Or are you a worker…who has seen your wages flat line while prices go up?

Has your life thrived under the Bush tax cuts…are you swimming in prosperity…do you feel that those tax cuts have created jobs, stimulated the economy, solidified our status as an economic player, lowered costs and encouraged investment in Missouri?

Or are you struggling…making far less than $250,000 and surrounded by others in that same boat?

Well, its time for some Show-Me logic!

Don’t fall for this tired as shit.

This ain’t Czarist Russia, we aren’t serfs (thank Gawd for comment-based editors!..wink) and…despite what Gov. Palin thinks…the wealthy don’t rule by the will of Gawd.

This is Missouri, where we the people haven’t seen anything trickle down but stagnation and want.

McCain and his ads aren’t warning you about the dangers of spreading the wealth, people.

They’re desperately fighting against the possibility of having to fairly distribute the burden…

Ummm, that’s not what they meant by President of the Senate…

Lawd, have mercy!

A bitch thinks that Governor Palin may have joined McCain’s ticket…by accident.

Palin appears to have a rather expanded, completely inaccurate and...well, unconstitutional definition of the duties of the Vice President of the United States of America.

And a bitch can only speculate that Palin is either winging it and got it wrong (someone needs to show her how to Google that shit, for the love of basic civics!)…or she’s eager to take on a job that does not exist for damn good reasons (can you imagine Cheney running the Senate?)…or she plans to launch a campaign to amend the Constitution to expand the powers of the Vice President.

But hey, at least she's dressing for success.

Blink.

The 8 Against 8...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

On a hockey note - Go Blues!

C-Money and this bitch caught the Blues hockey game on the telly Saturday night.

Blink.

What?

They were playing those Chicago Blackhawks at home...that’s a rivalry deserved of respect and live television viewage!

Anyhoo, the Blackhawks scored first…and by the third period a bitch was fretting that I’d have to endure some serious trash talk from Chicago fans.

But then it happened…the Blues made a third period comeback to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Gasp.

And after a scoreless overtime we went into that shoot-out-to-decide-it-all business that is beyond bad for a bitch’s blood pressure.

Mercy!

Thank Gawd the fantabulous T.J. Oshie (the fresh faced rookie down from North Dakota that C-Money just adores and wants to feed soul food to) took that moment to score his first NHL goal and win the game!

Blues…4

Hawks…3

Dawg biscuits for sorta-beagles and Sweetie the three legged chow…3

Vodka crans…don’t even ask.

Shit, if we weren’t in an economic depression the Bitch Squad would buy season tickets.

Change happens…

A bitch is a huge fan of inner work…and Lawd knows that Diane Fedele of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, needs to get about the bitness of looking inward fast as a motherfucker.

Fedele is responsible for sending this to her fellow members with a caption that read "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on? Food stamps, what else!".
And for issuing subsequent denials that the image is in any way based on racial stereotypes.

Blink.

At first this bitch wondered why people who clearly were getting their Birth of a Nation on are now trying to pitch some lame ass bullshit about not seeing the image as racist.

But then it dawned on me that Fedele and her family may actually believe that an Obama presidency will usher in just such a food stamp…and a cabinet of black folk who will dine on watermelon that they’ll surely wash down with grape Kool-Aid while dancing a jig in the Oval Office.

Lawd, give me strength.

Anyhoo, a certain Ron from Montana (my favorite conservative email-based debate foe for over three years) sent a link to an article about this food stamp mess stating that he’d already decided to vote for Obama but that this racist mess made him leave the Republican party altogether.

I’ve been arguing with the man for years…years, I tell you! But it took Diane Fedele’s public display of bigotry and news of those robo-calls from hell and a series of scary angry mob-based Palin rallies to make Ron from Montana go Independent.

Pause…consider…continue.

Fuck it.

Works for me!

Change happens when it is meant to happen...

Pondering special needs…

Happy Friday, chil’ren!

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

The fact that the Palin family has a child with special needs (her son has Down syndrome) has sorta-sparked a national discussion on the needs of children with special needs.

Longtime readers know that my older brother is autistic…’cause, Gawd willing, special needs children grow up to be adults with special needs…and I’ve written about the ups and downs of co-guardianship and dealing with the system.

Supporters of Gov. Palin like to use her choice to knowingly have a child with Down syndrome as some sort of example of how it can be done. I’m the youngest in my family and I’ve never known a day without autism…the Palin family is just getting started, trust a bitch.

Special needs are needs, for the love of all that is logical. My brother is 38 years old and my parents struggled to pay for private school, therapy, special camps and treatments followed by assessments followed by treatments followed by meds that weren't covered by insurance and so forth and so on. Now that he is grown he is vulnerable to funding cuts that have taken away dental coverage and supported employment programs.

The fat was trimmed long ago...but The Man hasn't put the scalpel down.

The lifetime costs of caring for a person with autism are estimated to be around $5 million dollars and only some of that shit is covered.

When a family has a loved one with special needs everything changes. Personal time…vacations…daily rituals...everything changes and a lot of shit is taken off the table. I recently wrote about the lack of funding and support for programs that benefit people with special needs at RHRealityCheck because we need more than rhetoric…we need leadership, programs and the motherfucking funding to put them to work.

There are some great programs out there…at the state level and at the federal level…that would really help out, but too many have been underfunded or eliminated. Families need respite, financial assistance for therapy and special education…we need government to value our families too.

And now, with the economic crisis sure to impact what the next President will be able to do, we need our needs to be a priority...on the must-do list and off the cut first list.

Senator Obama has a plan...it ain't perfect, but it is a plan that we the people can work to make happen.

Senator McCain?

***cue crickets***

Mayhap a bitch should get Joe the Plumber to ask where the fuck it is?

Blink.

Pondering plumbing…

First, thank you all for the encouragement and advice commented to yesterday’s post!

I really appreciate y’all…BIG TIME!

Shall we?

Last night Joe the Plumber got his fifteen minutes and then some during the last (thank Gawd!!) presidential debate before the election. Joe the Plumber…who may also be a Joe six-pack…was the dude who challenged Obama during a campaign event on his tax proposal saying that he’s about to buy a bitness making some $250,000 and feels Obama’s plan will tax him more.

Obama answered Joe the Plumber then…and again last night. McCain basically dedicated his debate appearance to the man.

Shit, Joe the Plumber was spoken to some 24 times during the debate between the two candidates!

Blink.

Must be nice.

Well, I’m Shark-Fu the AngryBlackBitch and I’d like to point something out to Joe the Plumber.

Cough.

Joe?

Hi!

Congrats on the new bitness.

A bitch is one of the masses that would be a potential customer for you if you were a Missouri-based plumber. We have bathrooms and sinks and toilets and such…and when shit breaks we usually turn to a plumber. But the economic crisis may impact that…and have the Family Bitch turning to Lowes and a self-help book first.

Shudder.

Not that you seem to give a damn about the rest of us working people who would LOVE to be able to afford a plumber much less buy a plumbing bitness in the middle of a fucking recession.

Shit.

Fuck it.

A bitch suspects that plumbing, like beer, is recession proof.

Pause...consider...continue.

Yeah, because this bitch would rather suffer through another debate than the horrors of do-it-yourself plumbing...

Untitled...

Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts?

A bitch is longing to feel Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb right now.

Ugh.

I’ve tried to put it to the back of my mind and I’ve tried to write about something else but I keep ending up unable to do anything but keep it real.

Longtime readers know that this bitch does a lot of volunteer work with young women.

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is that I can’t fix every wrong and I can’t live any life but my own.

Sigh.

A fifteen year old woman I know is pregnant.

She’s not the first young woman I’ve volunteered with to deal with an unplanned pregnancy.

But I am feeling a sense of failure…and I know that this isn’t about me and that my personalizing it doesn’t accomplish shit.

There is no pain, you are receding.

Yet the feeling that I should have done more…taken more time…built up more trust…been there more…that feeling has settled over me and taken root.

A distant ships smoke on the horizon.

And I can’t help feeling angry that she doesn’t have choices…her mother is anti-choice and this young woman is now a mother-to-be whether she wants to be or not.

You are only coming through in waves.

I can’t help but fret over her future, because I know that the same people who do not support reproductive choice will not support her in the life she will have to build absent choice.

Your lips move but I cant hear what you’re saying.

…and that she will have to balance school, work, working the system and parenting in a society that views that struggle as the wages of sin.

When I was a child I had a fever.

The reality is harsh...this economy will not smile upon poor teen mothers...and this young woman will not enjoy a Palin-esque outcome.

My hands felt just like two balloons.

And I wish.

Damn it.

I wish I could have done more.

Now I got that feeling once again.
I can't explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.

The lack of options and the daunting challenge that is before her are running in a loop through my mind.

I have become comfortably numb.

Numb?

And then that numbness is gone...not numb, not blind to reality...not ignorant of the role money and education and resources will play...not able to ignore the poverty she already lives in that thrives as a result of our apathy and cruel disregard.

Poverty...the only war America doesn't want to fight.

And oh, the burden of an enlightened mind.

Ok.
Just a little pinprick. [ping]
Therell be no more --aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.

Shit.

This isn’t about me but the tragedy is that this isn’t even about her.

Can you stand up?
I do believe its working. good.
That'll keep you going for the show.
Come on its time to go.

No, this won’t be about her until she gives birth.

Then it will be all about her.

She who is seen as unfit to make decisions because she is fifteen will be charged with making all the decisions in nine short months.

There is no pain, you are receding.

And I wish I could be comfortably numb.

A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what you're saying.

Pause...gather self...continue.

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.

Time to listen while everyone else talks...to comfort and assist when asked to.

I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.

We...must not become comfortably numb.

Hold please…

A bitch is mid-juggle and there are too many damn balls in the air!

Sigh.

Bitchitude shall return tomorrow…

By request - scratching my angry black scalp...

The fantabulous Liss of Shakesville fame sent this bitch an article by Patricia J. Williams titled The Politics of Michelle Obama’s Hair. The piece is an exploration of Michelle Obama’s presence…her personality, appearance and oh yes, her hair. Williams clearly is inspired by the complete Michelle Obama package, but there’s something about the way she explores the hair thang that gave me pause.

Shall we?

Full disclosure – a bitch rocks a natural Afro and has for several years.

Cough.

I was raised to believe that wearing natural hairstyles (meaning not straightening my hair) wasn’t the route to regular employment, acceptance or happiness. More importantly, I was taught that black women were charged with the task of putting others at ease through both our appearance and our temperament…and that was the clear route to regular employment, acceptance and happiness. So when I chopped off my chemically straightened hair and began to grow my Afro I was honestly concerned that it would have negative ramifications. Williams describes it as “political hair” but she seems to be searching for empowerment within an acceptably black definition by contrasting the appeal of Michelle Obama to the way Cynthia McKinney was treated by Capitol security allegedly because she began to wear a natural.

The thing is that has more to do with the very society Williams acknowledges is neither post-racial nor post-feminist.

When Williams tells of how sad she felt when wearing a Condi Rice Halloween mask versus how up beat she felt when wearing a Michelle Obama mask…well, she lost me.

If I’ve learned anything it is that true empowerment comes from being comfortable and loving the hell out of your own ass.

The thing that I like about Michelle Obama is that she exudes that empowerment. She’s cool with herself – no mask required (wink).

But Ms. McKinney is also cool with her self…and just because some members of the Capitol police aren’t cool with that shit doesn’t mean she is any less empowering as a result. Let’s be clear…members of the press politicized the role of her hair – her hair was just being hair.

Sigh.

Is Michelle Obama fantabulous?

Yes!

Would I feel fantabulous rocking her look…her ways…her life?

No.

***logs off to fluff Afro then read Ain’t I a Woman one more time***

By request – politics is local…

A certain Anonymous asked what this bitch’s thoughts are on the race to replace Gov. Blunt (bless his rancid heart) here in Missouri.

You asked for it!

Rep. Kenny Hulshof is the Republican candidate…though you’d be hard pressed to find any reference to the political party that shall not be named for fear of negative vote-based repercussions in his television commercials. The Hulshof campaign is a great example of the way Republicans are running in Missouri this year. His ads and literature have his name, his policy positions and so forth…but he and his fellow GOPers are running fast as a motherfucker away from all things Republican, Bushed or Blunted.

The thing is Hulshof has a record and it stinks the stank of a social conservative in moderate clothing. His votes against reproductive justice alone make him an unacceptable candidate…and no clever advertising tag line is going to hide that shit.

On the other side we have Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Sigh.

Nixon may not be the darling of the progressive set…but.

Yeah…but.

Missouri continues to writhe under the relentless abuse of Republican control and I, for one, shudder at the thought of four more years of anti-knowledge, anti-family, anti-women and anti-common sense government.

Sigh again.

We each have to make our own choice, Anonymous…do your research and make sure you are voting from a place of knowledge and not spin.

Negativitude...

Mercy, the presidential campaign has gone negative…big time!

Despite the excitement of the press, the current mud slinging is only the beginning of the flood we’re about to see.

Over the weekend the polls shifted and a bitch’s home state of Missouri went from leaning Republican to being a Big Ass Battleground state.

Missourians were already knee deep in the slug fest to replace Governor Blunt…which includes dueling television ads that are made up of 60 seconds of “HE LIES, HE LIES, HE LIES…(insert opponent’s name) is the very definition of BULLSHIT!!”

I’m serious, the republican candidate for Governor has a cartoon bull in his ad…for real...and it gets branded at the end (wince).

But now they’ve layered on presidential ads because Obama and McCain are dead even here. In St. Louis McCain is running ads questioning Obama’s readiness, character and honesty. Obama is running ads about healthcare and the economy...lots and lots of ads...tons of ads...an ad for every voter, for the love of media exposure.

Since St. Louis is in the midst of some serious economic drama…and the real battle for Missouri is really in the suburban counties of St. Louis and Kansas City, where people are being forced to redefine the American Dream due to Fubar Economics…this bitch is tempted to question the tactic (or is it the strategy?) of not talking about the issues but my ass honestly hopes that flawed shit continues.

Either way, The Great Media Battle for Missouri is making it damn near impossible to watch television without the aggressive use of TiVo (bless you, oh fantastical invention of the century)!

Buckle up, chil'ren...and put on a helmet too!

Blink.

Toodles ‘til after the debate…

Say it ain’t so, Joe…

Joe McCain, Senator John McCain’s brother, apparently thinks Northern Virginia is “communist country”.

Mmmhmmm, Joe McCain sorta-joked that Arlington and Alexandria are hot beds of communist activity…lousy with communists…the home base of a bunch of Raymond Shaws (who are the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human beings I've ever known in my life).

Blink.

The McCain camp is getting their McCarthyism on with the good folks of Northern Virginia?

Daaaaamn.

So, is this a tactic or the entire strategy?

By request – No you’re never gonna get it, never ever gonna get it…

A certain Anonymous left a comment on my V.P debate post that asked for this bitch’s thoughts on the issue of some white voters who are not going to vote for Senator Obama because he’s black.

Blink.

Shall we?

A bitch isn’t one to bet, but my ass is pretty damn sure that Senator Obama is aware that there are some white voters who traditionally vote for democrats who will not be voting for him because he is black.

As a matter of fact, a bitch has noticed that the people who seem most surprised by a lack of support sourced deeply in racial bias are white people who thought America had progressed a hell of a lot further than we actually have.

The success of the Obama campaign has surprised me but it has not convinced me that Americans are beyond making decisions based on race, class and gender or that some among us are prepared to cast votes that go against their personal best interest simply because the logic resistant infection of bigotry courses through their veins.

Sad?

Yes.

Surprising?

Not one bit.

The thing to do is to keep it real, Anonymous.

Be authentic and a wee bit audacious (wink) and continue to explain why you are voting for the people you are voting for. You may not change minds but, then again, you may.

Just remember that you can only live your life...

...and others will have to live theirs, ig'nant though they may be.

Pondering the vice presidential debate…

Last night Senator Biden and Governor Palin participated in the sole vice presidential debate of the 2008 election in my home city of St. Louis Missouri. I watched most of the 90-minute debate and the post debate analysis and…well, it made my Afro hurt.

Hell, my Afro still hurts.

Let’s rewind a bit to examine the pre-debate attempt by conservative bloggers to cast doubt on the integrity of moderator Gwen Ifill. Ifill is writing a book about American politics in the “age of Obama” and she has been upfront and open about that. But conservative bloggers decided to question her impartiality because the book deals with Obama’s political career among other politicians of color.

I see that unfounded questioning as a continuation of the grand insult dealt black women by political analysts throughout this election. Time after time, pundits have voiced their assumption that black women will vote for Senator Obama simply because he is black. They have perpetuated the myth that all black people value racial pride over political legitimacy, that we are easily dazzled by the success of other black people and that we will fail to weigh the issues and policy positions of a black candidate simply because we want to see a black man elected president. Thus, they dismiss the fact that black voters were pro-Clinton even after Obama entered the race, that many black voters questioned and analyzed Obama’s campaign just as they did the campaigns of the other candidates and that Senator Obama has had to earn the black vote just like President Clinton did in the 1990s.

So it came as no surprise that Ifill’s journalistic integrity would be questioned in the same way the integrity of black voters has been from the primaries on. But it was and is a sad commentary on how the bigoted assumptions of some define the political temperament of black America.

With that drama weighing on my mind, I sat down and watched the vice presidential debate. I can only speak for myself, but the pain in my Afro grew as I witnessed Gov. Palin deliver a performance drenched in folksy phrases and overly simplified pseudo-patriotic statements designed to seduce white voters in Middle America. I hoped that she would hold her own because I know that many will judge all women in politics based on Palin's ability to perform under pressure. I also hoped that she would prove herself worthy of the office she seeks and that she would then be judged on the policy positions presented rather than on the fall-out of another intellectual meltdown on national television.

What I saw instead was 90 minutes of those folksified “you betchas” layered on top of gross generalizations of what middle class America desires from their government. As the candidates gave their closing statements I couldn’t help but wonder what the analysis would be. Suffice it to say, it turned out to be one of the best examples of privilege that I have ever witnessed.

Headlines on news sites announce that Palin has gotten back on track and that she defied expectations. Conservative analysts applauded her for being herself and speaking like and to average Americans.

And I’m left trying to imagine the response if Gwen Ifill had moderated the debate using the same folksy phrases Gov. Palin tossed out like Mardi Gras beads during a parade.

I can just imagine the response if Senator Obama dodged questions with a wink followed by something along the lines of “You betcha, hockey moms and Joe six-pack want affordable healthcare and fiscal responsibility too!”

I'd put money I don't have down that the response wouldn’t be praise.

And I’m damned certain Ifill or Obama wouldn’t wake up this morning and read that they held their own and got the job done after tossing out that much verbal bullshit the night before.

But obviously Gov. Palin is being measured by a very generous stick.

I’ll betcha Gwen Ifill won’t uncover that kind of privilege in her book.

Mmmmhmm, you’re darn tootin’ she won't!

Lawd, give me strength...

Debate Preparitude…

A bitch had a fantabulous time last night at the Missouri History Museum and thanks to everyone who turned out!

Shall we?

This bitch has been watching to desperate attempt to stir up pre-debate drama over Gwen Ifill’s book on up and coming young black politicians and…well, I call bullshit.

Gwen Ifill’s reputation is beyond solid and she has been very upfront about the content of the book.

Shit.

If anything, the GOP should be thrilled that Ms. Ifill is moderating instead of some anchor desperate for ratings who is really seeking a gotcha moment that’ll land her ass on You Tube and their candidate in a approval ratings death spiral.

Blink.

On another note entirely, a bitch sends healing wishes to Ms. Ifill…rumor has it she hurt her foot earlier in the week.

Wince.

Onward to debate preparedness!

ABB’s List of Vice Presidential Debate Required Things…
Munchables
I’m thinking a plate of smothered yumminess from Sweetie Pie’s is called for. Mmmhmm, with some mashed taters and mac & cheese and corn bread too!

Pause…drool…continue.

Beverages
Vodka followed by grape cran with lots of ice
Water…’cause tonight is a school night, chil’ren!
Ginger Ale…because odds are Gov. Palin is going to say something that’s sure to made a bitch’s stomach churn.

Technical Support
A freshly charged TiVo remote control
Well rested television set with satellite
Miss Sister Girl MacBook
And a notebook for note taking…

Dessert (to be consumed during post debate spin watching)
A bitch has settled on banana splits with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Yum.

Let the bullshit begin!

Busier and busier…

Lawd, have mercy, y’all!

This bitch is busier than busy so please forgive me my lack of posting. I’ve been preparing for my participation in the A Girl like Me: A Conversation About Race, Beauty and Self-Image event at the Missouri History Museum tonight!

Things kick off at 6pm and don’t forget to bring some dinner-based yumminess with you.

Anyhoo, the much anticipated Vice Presidential Debate is taking place here in St. Louis and this bitch needs to get my pre-debate preparedness on.

Blink.

Oh, c’mon…the pre-debate frenzy of speculation is usually better than the actual debate! I just adore watching political commentators freak the fuck out over ever shifting poll numbers and which wanna-be Veep is more likely to fuck up. And with Gov. Palin’s recent verbal malfunctions feeding the fire, this bitch anticipates some serious pre-debate bullshit to go down today through tomorrow.

The best part of having a high profile debate hosted in my home town is knowing that all the media folks a bitch watches on a regular basis are in town.

Pause…ponder whether the fantabulous Gwen Ifill would join a bitch for soul food yumminess and political speculation at Sweetie Pie’s…continue.

Anyhoo…this shit calls for some serious preparedness.

I’m thinking smothered soul-food yumminess, vodka followed by cran and a well rested TiVo…

Fubar Economics continueth…

Well, it looks like the bail out has failed…fizzled…gone up in smoke and been dissed and dismissed.

And the market is taking a dive, y’all!

Wince.

Happy fucking Monday.

So, now what?

Oh, that’s right…the blame game!

Lawd, have mercy.

Bail-out agreements have tons of parents…

…but Absolute Fubar is an orphan.

We better stop, hey, what's that sound…

A bitch is beyond sorry that my sick ass hasn’t been posting much this week! I don’t get truly ill very often but when I do it usually is a full blown festival of Ebola. But I’m feeling much better now thanks to the fantabulous horehound flavored old fashioned hard candies Brother Rob Thurman gave me to shut my loud as hell cough up. They really work and aren’t as nastified as cough drops…plus a bitch just adores the word horehound.

Anyhoo…shall we?

If someone had sent this bitch a prediction detailing the events of the past month I would have told them they had lost the damn mind, but truth truly is stranger than fiction and the world is rapidly going to shit.

Yesterday Congress went from rejecting Paulson’s bailout plan to agreeing on principles detailed in a revised plan…to being summoned to a ‘let’s wrap this shit up with a photo op’ meeting with Bush and his minions only to have insurgent House Republicans toss out their own sorta-plan mid wrap-up meeting…shudder…which resulted in a lot of shouting, a bunch of post-meeting spin sessions and absolutely no fucking plan to address the nation’s economic clusterfuck.

From what a bitch has been able to gather up, the House insurgents want Wall Street to pay for their own bail out...

…and a bitch can only wonder who the fuck doesn’t.

Hell, this bitch is still waiting for Iraq’s oil revenue stimulus refund check to show the fuck up.

Blink.

It’s safe to say that everyone would like Wall Street to handle their bitness their own damn self…the question is whether that’s a realistic possibility.

***cue crickets***

Right.

When I heard about this revolt this hard working American immediately had some questions.

Can we have some fucking details please?

For example, who among the Wall Street herd has agreed…and by “agreed” a bitch means signed the fuck up and given access to their money filled coffers…to pay for the private bail out?

How much power, if any, does Congress have to force Wall Street to pay for the bailout of all these fucked up from the floor up institutions?

When would the first checks show up…how would the frequency of payments be decided…would Wall Street pay in advance and Congress withdraw the money or would Wall Street control the bailout…would Congress draft the plan and use Wall Street’s money or would Wall Street take this shit completely over?

Oh, and if the reason for demanding that Wall Street fix this shit is that Wall Street created this shit…and this bitch loves how that conveniently ignores the role deregulation played in this drama…then isn’t that also a reason to not put the nation’s economic future in Wall Street’s hands?

Everybody look what's going down.

A Girl like Me: A Conversation About Race, Beauty and Self-Image

Join this bitch for some film viewage followed by some keepin' it real discussions!

When?

Wednesday October 1, 2008 at 6 p.m.

Where?

Missouri History Museum in Forest Park in the AT&T Foundation Multipurpose Room

How much money are you talking, ABB?

It’s free, damnit!

Join us for a candid discussion about popular images, race and beauty. The program begins with a short documentary, A Girl like Me (7:08), created by high schooler Kiri Davis through the Reel Works Teen Filmmaking program.

Davis re-conducts the “doll test” used in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case and sheds new light on how society affects black children today.

Discussion facilitators include Nicci Roach, assistant director for Webster University–Old Post Office Campus, and this bitch (wink)!

Brown bag dinners are welcome and light refreshments will also be available.

I hope to see y’all there!

A bitch is a best of!

A bitch’s blog was selected by the editors of the Riverfront Times as a Best Blog in The Lou for 2008.

Blink.

Fantabulous!

***fluffs Afro and checks lipstick (perfection, thy name is MAC Film Noir in Satin)***

And congratulations to my fellow blogger and friend Steve of Urban Review STL for being selected by the readers of the RFT as the Best Blog in St. Louis – you earned the hell out of that one, m’dear!

Congrats!

Fubar Economics…

Cough.

A bitch’s Ebola-esque cough lingereth.

Ugh.

But I do feel better.

Anyhoo, I’ve been watching the media frenzy over The Big Bailout and my ass has been getting more and more disgusted with just about everyone. As I watched the news break…hard as a motherfucker…that the FBI is now investigating the very bitnesses that we the people are being asked to bail out it hit me…

Scooter B. (President Bush for the uninitiated) has achieved Absolute Fubar.

The dude has fucked up on all levels - education, international diplomacy, the war, natural disaster preparedness, the environment, social security reform, immigration reform, HIV/AIDS relief-leadership-prevention-funding-education, healthcare reform.

Hell, he hasn’t even managed to reduce the number of divorces between sanctified man on woman married people.

Now the economy has been turned into a rancid piece of shit that Scooter B.’s minions are trying to wrap up and re-gift as The Great Corporate Felon Bailout of 2008.

And we've still got months of this shit followed by years of clean-up to do.

Mmmhmmm - absolute fucking fubar.

If you don’t think they can fuck anything else up between now and the blessed end of our great national nightmare in January, you just sit a spell and these motherfuckers will prove you wrong.

Pause...consider...continue.

As a matter of fact this bitch is pretty sure that there's a minion working himself into a fit right now trying to prove that the economic crisis is the result of that Big Bang test creating a black hole in the middle of earth that sucked up our money so that he can then justify an invasion of Switzerland and we can take the fight to where the black hole creating enemies of capitalism live and not wait for them to try and test that theory on American soil.

Blink.

Is it just me…

…or is there something hauntingly familiar about the swiftness with which Scooter B. and his minions are trying to cram through the Great Reorganization of All Things Fubar and Money Related emergency legislation?

Blink.

I’m just saying…this kind of 'oh shit, the markets are falling!' massive 24/7 freak-out festival followed by a series of 'hurry, hurry c’mon hurry!!' record breaking (so you know no one really read the shit) expensive as hell proposal creating law writing events…cough…feels a lot like the quick fix head fake war authorization drama that continues to be the fuck up that just keeps on fucking.

Blink once again.

A bitch suggests a multi-hour session of quiet reading time…stat!

Mercy…

A bitch has been sick for days!

Wince…sneeze…hack, cough, hack.

Ugh.

This is my first cold-based Ebola incident since being diagnosed with high blood pressure and let me tell you – the BP safe cold meds are not the same. I was so hoping for that blissful release resulting from consuming 2 tablespoons of foul tasting nighttime liquid…but the good shit is the same shit that I’m not supposed to take now that my pressure is high!

So this bitch ended up taking some blood pressure approved cold meds that made my cough go away and reduced my fever and so forth...but they skipped right over the bliss-based nighttime liquid med sleep.

Shit.

Being sick and responsible is the very definition of not fun.

Anyhoo, I sound worse but feel much better.

Thanks for the well wishes!

Illish…

Some sort of cough-based Ebola like thing has jumped up and taken over my lungs.

Blink.

A bitch is ill.

Sob!

Toodles until I feel human again…

You wanted to tussle…

Okay, this one’s for the assholes who e-mail this bitch because they honestly think I’ve been waiting for 35 damn years for their dumb ass to instruct me on reproductive justice and the souls of black folk.

Lawd, have mercy.

A bitch has a cough and cramps (TMI? Well, too damn bad!!) and y’all picked the wrong day to hit send.

Pause…enjoy soothing honey-lemon cough drop (yum!)…continue.

While the GOP, with the help of minions like you, was busy funding man-on-woman marriage marketing initiatives that fail to preserve man-on-woman marriages, attacking a woman’s right to get a prescription filled/make a decision/choose a damn thing, removing science and facts from our public schools and textbooks, denying the existence of global warming, blocking research into alternative fuel sources, freaking out about what people do in our bedrooms, alienating the rest of the world, destroying the economy, securing tax cuts for rich people, slashing funding for social programs that benefit seniors/the disabled/the poor/the hungry/the mentally ill and making war not peace…

Cough.

…yeah, while all y’all were busy doing that shit the economy has tanked, the environment is telling us to go fuck ourselves, one in four teen girls has an sti, HIV/AIDS numbers are increasing, our roads and bridges are fucked, we’ve alienated the world, our youth can no longer compete academically and the nation is now in dire need of those social programs that are no longer funded worth a shit.

Y'all have a record, assholes!

We're all suffering for it.

And if that's y'all putting country first I'd hate to see what your maverick asses do to those coming in second...

Music and Meaning…

A bitch woke up with this song playing in my head…

Every morning
Every evening
Ain't we got fun?
Not much money
Oh but honey
Ain't We Got Fun?
The rent's unpaid dear
We have'nt a bus
But smiles were made dear
For people like us!

In the winter
In the summer
Don't we have fun?
Times are bum and getting bummer
Still we have fun!
There's nothing surer
The rich get rich and the poor get children

Blink.

In the meantime
In between time
Ain't we got fun?!?

Wince.

…and John McCain reading from the Herbert Hoover Happy Days Are Here Again ‘Cause I Said So, Damnit Playbook of Absolute Delusional Bullshit (National Despair and Guaranteed Suffering Edition Volume II) while appearing live on two morning chat shows at the same time.

Sigh.

***logs off whilst humming It's The Hard-Knock Life***

Belatedly remembering…

Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the 16th Street Baptist Church that took the lives of four young women.

This attack has always touched me emotionally because I first heard about it when I was around the same age as the young women who were murdered. Spike Lee’s documentary Four Little Girls provides an amazing portrait of the young women who lost their lives that day, the movement as it was when the attack happened and the impact of that bombing on America.

Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins were murdered on September 15, 1963 when a bomb went off at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama...

...just 45 years ago.

The cost of distraction…

This bitch is disgusted by the number of Missouri children who are at risk because they have no healthcare coverage...and my ass is only more disgusted that talking heads prefer to debate lipstick and pig.

Shit.

Longtime readers know that a bitch has no love for outgoing Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. The freakish experiment in nepotistic drama that was Blunt’s rise to power has taken a serious toll on my home state….and left this bitch wishing Daddy Blunt had found some D.C. based pencil pushing position to install his fucked up from the floor up son in to.

But Missouri can’t blame the entire 44% rise in the number of uninsured Missouri children on Gov. Blunt’s gleeful slashing of Medicaid funding.

He’s a fuck up, for sure…but some of this is due to the fact that Missouri is hemorrhaging jobs and unemployment is soaring and parents without private healthcare through their employers can’t insure their children.

Unemployment in Missouri is at a 16 year high…the national economic crisis is hitting home here and people looking for income must weigh the need for healthcare against the need for shelter and food.

Missouri is writhing under the impact of complete GOP control of our state on top of the GOP’s federal failure to manage the economy.

And trust that Senator McCain offers nothing but more cuts and a Hoover-esque hands off approach to the economy that will have the same nightmarish results.

Shit rolls downhill, picks up speed and usually crashes down on the masses locally. Someone somewhere may want to start asking those specifics avoiding maverick broncos why they are allergic to funding domestic policies and why they speak of reform yet support a political posture that will continue to send what little money we have elsewhere and why their values fail to value hard working American families.

That’s where we are at, y’all…Missouri sure as shit ain’t alone in this…and a new outfit of bedazzled maverick-based bullshit spin followed by a full makeover at the MAC counter won’t make this pig pretty…

CHICAGO 10…

Last night this bitch and Brother Rob Thurman took in a bit of film.

Specifically, we took advantage of the Community Cinema series at the Missouri History Museum. They have partnered with KETC/Channel 9 to provide advance screenings of ITVS (Independent Television Service) documentaries followed by a panel discussion of each film by local authorities on the subject.

Fantabulous!

We saw CHICAGO 10 by Brett Morgan, which follows the conspiracy trial that followed the violence of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Some the clips were completely new to me…and a bitch has seen many a documentary about that event. And the use of animation was interesting and creative.

But the real hook of any film that tackles the 1968 DNC and the violence surrounding it is the human drama and bone jarring assault on our basic freedoms. With CHICAGO 10 I found myself becoming very emotional as I watched unarmed people being beaten and gassed in the streets of Chicago. The sounds and the visual chaos were almost overwhelming, but are too important a reminder of what can happen to be ignored.

CHICAGO 10 by Brett Morgan will air nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 9pm.

Check it out…

...shall not perish from the earth.

It was November of 1863 when Lincoln stood before the field where thousands of souls lay buried and delivered his address to those gathered there in remembrance.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

I have been taught that his words quieted those opposed to the Civil War and somehow soothed the ravaged hearts of those who counted the cost too great and the goal unattainable.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But today, on this day of national remembrance, Lincoln’s great address holds different meaning…not a justification for death and sacrifice, but a declaration of purpose that is beyond conflict and war.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground.

So that those who seek to remember can do so with context.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

So that no one can corrupt that tragedy and the thousands who died as a result of it with politics, fame or glamour.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

Despite the praise lavished upon Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, one can not hear it or read it and avoid that call to purpose…the lack of arrogance…the humble exploration of sacrifice too great for mere words to define and loss too raw for comfort to penetrate.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

And isn’t that the great and worthy task before us now? Aren’t we now called upon to act and do and move forward toward something…some thing, Lord have mercy…a new era built not through conflict but in the aftermath when the guns fall silent, the dead are buried and the living are left to make sense of it all.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion...

Life - and the fearless living of it to the fullest.

...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...

Liberty - and the brave defense of it from all enemies, foreign or domestic.

...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom...

And the pursuit of happiness.

Of joy.

Of the blessing that is peace.

And that government of the people, by the people, for the people,

shall

not

perish

from

the

earth.

By request, my thoughts thus far…

A certain Maria in Toronto (much love to my Canadian readers!!) wrote to ask this bitch for my thoughts on the 2008 election coverage/happenings thus far.

Girl, you asked for it (wink).

Shall we?

I don’t know about y’all, but this bitch has had enough political bullshit tossed my way in the last few months to keep me shoveling for a lifetime.

I’m tired of listening to people debate elections and candidates as if this shit were fantasy football.

And I’m tired of discussions about the bedazzling factor of this chess move versus the fantastical cleverness of some other move designed to turn on the press yet full to bursting with nothingness.

So, I’d say my emotional state is damn near Howard Beale-ish.

I live in a city where white flight has left deep trenches that allow too many people to navigate their way through life without ever seeing what the fuck is going on around them. Just by selecting a certain route to work people can go about their business and never see the city…never see what needs to be done and who needs to be given a voice.

Then, come an election, they get some direct mail pieces talking about all manner of progress that hasn’t really happened and threats that don’t really exist and they take their blissfully uninformed ass to the polls and vote for four more years of the same miserable waste of time, space and money.

And my city suffers for that.

Well, I see the same damn thing going on with this election from the bottom of the ballot on up.

I’ve got to be honest…I don’t give a flying shit if Gov. Palin's middle name is AgentforChangeMaverickChangeAgent or if she discovered the cure for the common cold.

News flash - Palin isn’t running for president.

Neither is Joey B., for that matter.

So, unless someone wants to get into an awkward as hell life insurance-esque discussion of why the fuck y’all are really debating her qualifications…

***cue crickets***

…yeah, uh huh...then move the hell on.

The economy is fucked…very fucked…not fixable any time soon and requiring a lot of serious attention…fubar!

Our children are being sorta-educated by a system that is guaranteed to look good on paper and leave them unprepared to compete in a global marketplace.

Immigration reform is still unaddressed and, just like healthcare reform, that shit ain’t gonna get any easier the longer we let it sit.

We are at war without a definition of success or completion…we’ve got a reduction of violence out of a troop surge but no measurable political reconciliation…and the rest of the world is moving into military and political postures that look a lot like the lead up to WWI.

People in my hood are starting to discuss winter fuel prices like Soviets used to lament the price of bread.

The roads are fucked up…our ability to handle natural disasters is so up in the air that news anchors visibly sigh with relief when a flood doesn’t result in a massive loss of life.

The air is polluted…rent is too high and foreclosure too real…the water tastes funny…our food is suspect…and we’re on the way to another holiday season full of “oh shit, don’t let Tommy chew on that!!” recalls from hell.

All of that shit and so much more remain pilled high and stinking with a vengeance.

That’s what happens when we the people discuss whether a candidate would be nice to grab a beer with instead of the issues and the policies being proposed to address those issues.

What we are dealing with right now is the outcome of two back-to-back elections built on the wrong foundation and a media supported policy of ignore and redirect.

And we all suffer for that shit.

Lawd, have mercy.

So when I read reports that people are responding to this insulting as hell intellectually lazy off topic when we can least afford to be off topic pseudo-coverage, I can only conclude that my fellow Americans have either learned to enjoy and eagerly anticipate pain, misery and want.

Or mayhap people have lost their motherfucking minds.

Or could be that there are a lot of us out there about to give voice to our inner Howard Beale...

A political poll pondering…

Happy Monday, y’all!

Shall we?

This bitch has never been asked to take a political poll. I only know two people who have. So, I am always amazed when polls of likely voters come out.

Are these polls really of likely voters or just likely voters who pick up the phone and answer questions?

Hmmm.

Its not as if they release the wording of the questions with the poll numbers on the telly…or even explain what the margin of error means when they release that shit…and they certainly do not explain the math behind that shit or how many folks made up the sample size or how diverse the geography or how they account for dips in that geographic diversity to make sure that all the respondents aren’t from the county or city or rural areas.

Blink.

Politics remains local and this Voter Education teacher knows that what motivates one voter doesn’t mean shit to another…that where a voter lives influences how they vote…that the demands of a voter’s life influence how likely their ass is to vote…and that most motherfuckers make up their damned minds on who they will vote for in November in October.

Late October.

Pretty much the weekend before the election.

Sigh.

A bitch doesn’t think that the late deciding of voters is a bad thing. As a political junkie my ass knows that all manner of shit comes out in the final weeks of an election. Plus, waiting and pondering means that folks are thinking…and that’s a good thing.

I just hope that they are thinking about their lives and what this election will mean to them…

…and not waiting for a poll of likely voters to tell them where to find the rest of the +/- 3% herd.

Pondering skip-based fearless happy…

A bitch woke up this morning feeling all kinds of down.

I’m a wee bit under the weather...all kinds of stress-based drama are going on…and my ass is nervous as hell over just about everything.

Shit.

Anyhoo, I was driving to work…the radio was on and September came over Miss SisterGirl Cabrio’s speakers.

And there I was, sitting at a red light and absently watching a crew of grade school chil’ren skip their way up the sidewalk towards school and it struck me that their kind of happy shouldn’t be fleeting.

Skip-based fearless happy…that emotion that hovers between concern and absolute joy…shouldn’t be a privilege.

Do you feel me?

I’m talking about the hope that today is going to be a good day…that they’ll serve pizza and grape soda pop for lunch (wink)…optimism, damn it.

Yeah, that.

The light switched.

The song faded away with horns blasting.

And this bitch was grateful for the random way my mind reminds me of certain shit.

No matter how much The Man tries to distract and redirect, politics and elections are about our quality of life and the lives of those we care for live.

That is so easy to forget amidst the glitz and declarations…the spin and promises.

Mmmhmmm, and this bitch’ll take skip-based fearless happy over the politics of fear any day…

...with pizza and grape soda for lunch for all!

The third rail…

A bitch is feeling under the everything today.

Sigh.

But I do have some thoughts on the emerging debate inspired by the announcement that Gov. Palin's daughter is pregnant.

This bitch...with a wee bit of reluctance...agrees that a candidate’s family is off limits.

Blink.

What?

Well, shit…a bitch is used to rock ‘em sock ‘em city politics where everything and the temperament of a candidate’s dawg is on the table, everyone knows that shit and folks usually survive in the end.

Oh, catch thy knee and please continue reading.

Mercy.

Of course I object to totally unrelated personal shit that wasn’t introduced by the candidate being tossed out as if it has anything to do with what that person has accomplished, could accomplish or wants to accomplish while in office.

And of course this bitch isn’t going to tear into a young woman who isn’t running for damn thing just because her mother is.

However…and you knew that was coming…the frenzified back-and-forth over the impact of this story did make this bitch do some inner work.

And I realized that I wanted to touch that third rail so bad it fucking hurt.

I did!

Fuck it…a bitch is honest.

The thing is, I wanted to go there because “they” have been going there without a fucking qualm for years…because Gov. Palin is advocating a sex education policy that fails to educate youth about sex…because the young women I have partnered with at local shelters will face motherhood in large part without the support of their family, their community, their government and too damn many of them found out how to prevent pregnancy when they got pregnant.

Yeah, I wanted to go there so bad I could fucking taste it.

Sigh.

But I woke up this morning knowing that the way to combat someone forcing their narrow and flawed values on society is not to do as they do and that they path to funding and support for comprehensive sex education does not run through Bristol Palin’s bitness.

Danger.

No trespassing.

Third rail.

I get it.

But we who support a return to comprehensive sex education and funding for comprehensive sex education in our nation’s classrooms…we who live in communities where sti rates are through the roof and young people risk more than the relentless glare of the national media’s spotlight when they are sexually active…we who believe that knowledge is power need to stand up and declare that shit.

There ain’t no third rail on the reproductive justice tracks…

And away we go...!

Umm.

Okay, so a bitch logged on today to check out the rumor that Gov. Palin’s youngest child was actually her daughter’s child and…well, ummm...cough,

It seems that the rumor is not true…sorta-not true…no, no its not true...okay, the 17 year old daughter is pregnant.

As much as I’d like to take this moment to address the urgent need for comprehensive sex education in all schools…access to birth control and family planning for all people…and sti testing for the masses…I’m going to save that for later (wink).

Senator McCain’s camp has confirmed this story and they say that McCain was aware of the Palin daughter’s pregnancy prior to selecting Gov. Palin.

Daughter Palin plans to take her pregnancy to term…keep the baby…and, of course, man on woman under Gawd marry the baby’s father.

Meanwhile, GOP was set to get their convention on today and a Tennessee Williams play broke out up in the nominee’s campaign!

All this on the heels of Hurricane Gustav, no less…

…and this bitch is wondering when the rain shower of frogs within the GOP convention hall is scheduled to begin.

Blink.