He probably didn’t get much sleep the night before.
He had to be nervous…hell, he had to be scared.
But Jefferson Thomas went to school in 1957...and he kept on going, despite threats of violence and constant harassment.
I have long been in awe of the Little Rock Nine.My parents used them as an example of the price paid so I could get a decent education, so I was raised on the story of nine brave young people desegregating Little Rock Central High.Their story got me through many a challenging moment at school – when some student called me a racial slur or made fun of my kinky hair, I’d think of the Little Rock Nine and the constant harassment they faced.Not only did they pave the way in 1957, but their story offered inspiration and emotional fuel for those of us who faced racism at our desegregated schools years later.
The one thing I like about Tea Ravers is that they are regular people getting active in politics.
Catch the knee!
A bitch is all about people getting politically active.
I disagree with a lot of what our local Tea Ravers believe…and Lawd knows their party is all over the place on policy issues nationally. But I like the idea of voters taking an active role in the political process.
Having said that, being all over the place on policy issues leaves supporters of the Tea Party vulnerable to hustles. All a body has to do is say they are a Tea Party candidate…throw out some rhetoric while waving a Don’t Tread on Me flag…and they could become the patriot du jour overnight.
The Delaware GOP is backing Representative Mike Castle while the Tea Party is backing a certain Christine O'Donnell.
Things are getting nasty…particularly after the Tea Party Express took out GOP incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski in Alaska.
The GOP doesn’t want to see a repeat of that shit in Delaware, so they are going all out to destroy O’Donnell…and their technique is fascinating. Apparently the GOP is attacking O’Donnell for being…well, for being a regular citizen without political experience.
When comparing O’Donnell with Alaskan Tea Party Senate Candidate Joe Miller, a GOP member said…
"When you look at Joe Miller, he's an Ivy League graduate, a war hero and an attorney who is prominent in the community." … "We could go across the street from the apartment Christine O'Donnell rents and we probably couldn't find anyone who knows her."
Oh my!
I don’t know what I enjoy more – that the GOP is comforted by Joe Miller’s elite education or that they are freaking the fuck out because the Tea Party may get someone elected in Delaware who they have no control over.
Regardless, it looks like Delaware could drive a wedge between those who adore elephants and those who adore tea.
One party’s nightmare is another party’s platform.
My sister C-Money pointed out that the political ad season seems to start earlier each cycle. We watched a series of political ads this past weekend and…well, truth in advertising clearly does not apply to political ads.
Some group is running ads supporting Congressman Blunt ® against Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) in the Missouri Senate race. The ads feature a disgusted sounding voice proclaiming that 70% of Missouri voters rejected federal health care reform when it recently came up for a vote. Another Blunt supporting ad goes on and on about how health care reform has hurt small businesses and cost Missouri jobs.
But…but, but…um, hold on a hot minute!
70% of registered voters in Missouri did NOT show their happy asses up in August and reject federal health care reform.
That’s just not true.
70% of the voters who did show up…and around 20% of voters did…voted to diss the benefits of health care reform.
A bitch wonders if the group behind the ad is supporting Blunt based on flawed math…but odds are they fucked up that shit on purpose.
And in what way has federal health care reform already hurt small businesses and cost jobs…and I want specifics, because that shit just passed a few months ago and most of it hasn’t been implemented.
The ad makes it seem as if health care reform passed when President Obama took the oath of office.
Lawd.
Pause…consider…continue.
And how the hell do we reconcile the argument that Missourians rejected health care reform in August with the argument that health care reform has hurt Missourians?
If 70% of 20% voted to diss it in August, didn’t it get dissed?
***cue crickets***
Gawd, this shit makes my Afro hurt…and we’ve got weeks of this yet to come.
Wince.
***logs off praying for at least one demon sheep ad in Missouri to make this shit interesting***
He pointed to his campaign promise to bring Operation Iraqi Freedom to an end…and then he went into why we’ve still got 50,000 troops on the ground.
"Our combat mission is ending," he said, "but our commitment to Iraq's future is not."
President Obama spoke of our troops' service and specifically mentioned the need to repair our economy so that returning troops can get jobs.
He served up some kind words to President Bush…which triggered an automatic knee jerk from the freakishly tan and florid about the neck area House Minority Leader John Boehner, who fussed about Obama’s failure to praise Bush for the success of the troop surge.
President Obama spoke about the need for Iraqis to take the lead militarily and politically ‘cause America is gonna turn the page.
Pause…sip coffee…continue.
Now here’s the thing…the more than slightly disturbing but real as hell thing that keeps dancing a tap dance in my mind.
President Bush defined why we went to war in Iraq…to proactively prevent Iraq’s use of weapons of mass destruction against America.
There were supposed to be weapons of mass destruction stored at multiple locations in Iraq.
America went to war.
There were no weapons of mass destruction.
And now some people are trying to score political points over whether the troop surge (damn near a decade into this shit) worked and who gets credit…
…while other people, including the President, want to turn the page and move forward without a proper examination of the who, what, when and why behind this war.
Well, I call bullshit on both.
When you take a shit in the middle of the room and then smear that shit all over the floor and walls, you don’t get to take credit for putting together a kick ass clean up plan.
And we shouldn’t turn the page on a damn thing until we’ve read, understand and learn from what is written on that motherfucking page…cause this is the mind of major combat mission we should never indulge in again and history is littered with the stories of nations that failed to learn a damn thing from the fubar they created.
Confession – I’ve been more than a wee bit lax in my coverage of Presidential speechification this year. I’ve watched them…a bitch is a firm believer in getting my news from the source…but I’ve neglected my post speech recaps.
Fuck it – my ass has been busy as hell!
Anyhoo, I shall endeavor to resist lazitude going forward.
Where was I?
Oh yes...preparitude!
Longtime readers know that this bitch likes to watch political speeches and debates in style. Translation – there ain’t no way in hell I can get through a political speech or debate without some good food and vodka.
Shark-fu’s preparitude list of needed things for watching President Obama’s address to the nation…
Yummification…
A bitch is gonna grab some soul food on the way home – something smothered, something mac & cheesy and, if the gods are generous, a slice of buttermilk pie!
The drink…
Vodka followed by cran followed by ice
Ice water…’cause it’s a school night and a bitch will need to hydrate (wink)
The channel selection…
My beloved TiVo will be taping the coverage on PBS and odds are I’ll bop around between the networks just to see who is spinning what where and why.
Pause…consider…continue.
Depending on how this speech goes a bitch will cleanse my mental palate by watching Network, Thirteen Days or Apocalypse Now.
Long time readers know that this bitch is a mentor. My mentor relationship began prior to my blogging – I was matched with a fantabulous 11-year-old girl with a whole lot of drama and unlimited potential. Over the years I’ve shared a lot about my mentor experience…a bunch of ups and a lot of downs.
I’ve also withheld a lot of stuff to protect my mentee’s privacy.
Over a year ago I stepped back from having an active role in my mentee’s life.
I did so with context – I let her know that I could not continue to support her as she made decisions that put her life at risk nor did I think my active support was helpful.
That step back was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
I’ve worried…but I truly felt that distance was the right thing.
And all the while I’ve continued to believe that my mentee was capable of pulling through and landing on her feet.
Last week, as I recovered from my volunteer work in Alaska and tried to come to terms with a painful political loss, I received the following text.
“Hey Pam this is [my mentee’s name]. I’m graduating 2day & starting college. Thanx 4 everything that u have done 4 me! I could not have done it without your help!”
A picture of her in her cap & gown holding her high school diploma followed.
I’m rarely at a loss for words, but…whew.
Yeah.
Wow.
Being a mentor was not about me…I get a lot out of it, but it’s really about my mentee.
And knowing her…knowing what she has overcome and worked through and the thousands of challenges she has met…knowing my mentee makes that text one of the most inspiring and empowering messages I have ever received.
Great things don’t always happen when we volunteer…and it ain’t always easy or pretty or a living Hallmark card.
But amazing things can and do happen when we get involved in the lives of others…when we take the time to listen or give advice…to care or fuss or care and fuss.
Amazing things happen every single day…and, if we’re lucky, we see them for what they are.
Thank you to all ya’ll who have offered encouragement, advice and support over the years.
This one goes out to my mentee, who graduated from high school and starts college this week.
Long time readers know the saga of my mentor-mentee relationship…and I promise to post more about it this weekend.
Pride doesn’t even begin to sum up what I feel…go on, sister girl!
Pause.
Step up on my thinker box.
Begin.
I do not “own” the Civil Rights Movement.
Ownership is too basic a term.
I own my car…I live the movement.
Everything I am…everything I will be and can be…was fought for and earned through the blood, sweat and tears of regular folks who set aside fear and kept their eyes on the prize.
And when I say everything I mean everything…that’s not debatable – some shit is just fact.
The Civil Rights Movement is my inheritance and I defend and perserve it through action and activism, along with words.
When simple minded attention seeking fools attempt to turn American history into a third rate theatrical spectacle, my response is to demonstrate through the example of my life what the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement is.
Tomorrow…August 28th…47 years after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke his dream into history…I will volunteer with homeless vets at another local shelter.
Tomorrow…remembering how thousands gathered 47 years ago to promote peace, equality and empowerment…I will honor the movement by doing anti-poverty work, by taking books to a domestic violence shelter, by signing up for a Habitat for Humanity build, by dropping off clothing to a shelter...by calling up my Aunts and Uncle and telling them THANK YOU for their struggle, courage and strength.
I do not have to reclaim what is mine…every second of every minute of every day I live a life made possible by the social activism of those who came before me.
Tomorrow isn’t about a reclamation…it’s a realization that anti-poverty work, reproductive justice work, anti-war activism and pro-labor work is not and should not be relegated to a few pages in a history book until poverty, restrictions on reproductive health care, war and injustice toward workers are history.
Tomorrow is about consciously remembering sacrifice and rededicating myself to the movement…
…and may those who try to distract from that or redefine that be damned.
I, who inherited this legacy, shall not be moved.
Breathe in…and then release.
Step down…
…and get about the business of social justice work.
I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to post in the past few days – I’ve been pounding the pavement and some sorta-pavement in Anchorage Alaska while volunteering on the No on 2 campaign. No on 2 was the campaign against Ballot Measure 2, which was a parental notification measure – it requires notification of parents in order for teens under the age of 18 to access abortion services.
Campaigns against parental notification laws are challenging everywhere. Most parents pause at the thought of their teen having an abortion without them being notified. The reality is that most teens communicate with their parents.
This isn’t about most teens any more than this is about parental rights…the opposition may have pitched it that way, but that don't make it true.
Ballot measure 2 was about passing yet another unnecessary abortion restriction that will do nothing to lower the number of unplanned pregnancies, at risk teens be damned.
And well, shit…damn it all to Juneau and back if Alaska didn’t vote that piece of shit ballot measure through yesterday.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!
Pause…collect thyself…continue.
It’s hard as hell to lose.
But it’s devastating to think of the Alaskan teens that will face the ramifications of this electoral fail.
I often say that the masses get the government and the laws they work for and vote for…
…but our youth get the government and laws that those 18 and older deliver to them.
Trust that the teens of Alaska don’t deserve ballot measure 2.
Sigh.
I'm exhausted.
This bitch is going to go look at a glacier and then fly my ass on home…
I'm way more interested in experiencing a happening than documenting it.
But I whipped out the iPhone while canvassing and took some shots of the fantabulous mountian-based views.
Mountain Fantabulousness
The mountains are in the distance...
...and they are absolutely beautiful.
Proof of Bear Murder on display at shoppe & very likely to piss off Bear relatives!
Anchorage is cool...and it's way more diverse than I thought it would be (hooray!).
I'm sort of getting used to all the stuffed bear standing about, but I have to question whether it is wise to leave proof of having killed bear about when that bear's relatives are likely to see it and get pissed.
My ass is in beautiful Anchorage Alaska to volunteer with the Alaskans Against Government Mandates No on 2 Campaign.
Ballot Measure 2 is an intrusive new government mandate that puts bureaucrats and the courts right in the middle of Alaska's families. It would establish a parental notification law…and when the government attempts to mandate parental communication teens are put at risk.
Alaskans will head to the polls Tuesday August 24 to vote and we sincerely hope they vote NO on 2!
I know a little something about parental notification laws…we’ve got ‘em in the Midwest.
I volunteer at several shelters for teen mothers in St. Louis city and one of the first things I noticed was that some of the residents have fantabulous relationships with their parents and some have not so fantabulous relationships with their parents.
For a bunch of my students at the shelters, they were get kicked out of their homes even as they face an unwanted pregnancy they did not have the legal right to make reproductive health care choices about.
We don’t need government planting itself in the middle of our family business.
A bitch is not a football fan...which is why I had to edit this post to correct the spelling of Favre's fucking name (thanks to Rileysdtr...mercy!).
For me, pre-season football is just a signal that the hockey season is just around the corner (thank the gods!).
I usually skip football-based news, but Brett Favre’s yearly return to the sport is far too amusing to ignore. It reminds me of Jimmy Connors not retiring from professional tennis back in the day…the man kept making it to the quarterfinals and, when some reporter asked him when he planned to hang up his racket, he pointed that shit out and said something along the lines of “when these bloody kids start to beat me.”
Anyhoo, NFL quarterback Brett Favre retired and then came back…more than once, if memory serves.
So, there’s “finished”...
...and then there’s Favre.
If Brett Favre says he’s done playing football…but then his happy ass shows up at training camp, suits up and play…well, then Brett Favre isn’t done playing professional football.
Pause…sip coffee…continue.
And if the United States says the last combat troops are leaving Iraq…but 50,000 troops remain and shit is still blowing up and stability still a goal rather than a reality…well, then the United States is still hip deep in Iraq and out of range to kick a field goal.
A call to recall thousands upon thousands of eggs…don’t eat them, for the love of all that will tear your innards up and keep you chained to the toilet for weeks!
Longtime readers know that this bitch adores cheesy eggs.
They are a sometimes food, so I can’t enjoy them daily…but there’s nothing like a plate full of cheesy eggs on a Saturday morning!
A bitch sincerely hopes that this city’s daily newspaper managed to put Back to School on the front page of the print edition…cause they sure as shit don’t have it up on the website at 5am in the morning…
…and that would have been a good time to highlight that shit, instead of the news that Kings of Leon is planning a concert to make-up for the one they walked out on due to the infamous pigeon shit incident.
Cough.
Anyhoo, today is the first day of the school year for St. Louis city schools…and we’ve got a major problem when it comes to getting students to plant their happy asses in the classroom during the first weeks of school.
So, remind your friends and family…and be extra careful driving to work this morning as youngsters will be at bus stops or walking to bus stops.
There’s been an outbreak of people making absolute statements about black people. You name it and there’s some asshole making a statement about how all black people do it or believe it or want it or say it.
I’ve often wondered if these believers in a black monolith think black folk get a complimentary weekly newsletter telling us how to be black when we sign up for our Race Card.
Shit.
Dear people who make absolute statements about black people,
Some of us don’t go to church…some of us do.
Some of us can’t dance…some of us think we can dance…and some of us can dance.
Black comes in every gender…and when you talk about how black people feel about same-sex marriage you should know that some black people are also lgbt people.
There are black people in other countries…and black people speak lots of languages.
We did not elect Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson as our official spokesperson. But some black people dig their shit…some of us don’t.
Some black people play hockey…some of us are HUGE hockey fans (go Blues!!).
Some black people use hash tags while getting their tweet on…lots of black people could give a shit about hash tags on Twitter.
Some black people find the name of my blog offensive...some don't.
I’m particularly disturbed because the killer in question is believed to have targeted black people specifically.
Jesus!
20 people stabbed…5 people dead…and the morning news shows tucked this story between the weather and an update on the latest antibiotic resistant superbug.
Lawd, have mercy.
I first heard about this a few days ago…and then news broke that a suspect is under arrest…but this is the kind of shit a bitch would like to know about as soon as possible.
I know all about Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.
I know how much Michelle Obama’s vacation cost.
Hell, I could pick out the JetBlue flight attendant’s face from a line-up if I had to!
But some dude has been roaming the Midwest…a region where I fucking live…stabbing black men and I just now got a look at the composite sketch and they’ve already arrested his ass!
Maybe there’s some investigative reason for the lack of details…I seriously hope so…but damn it all, is it too much to ask for the press to fuss about the lack of details being release so a bitch could know that there’s a series of murders believed to be racially motivated where very few details are being released?
20 people stabbed.
5 people dead.
And on a much lighter note, we’re live from the Plaza with a segment on how to shop for back to school on a budget!
I truly enjoy it when my hometown daily publishes a look back at a day in St. Louis history. It’s amazing to read about long ago happenings in places I drive by or visit everyday. So, I eagerly dove into the article looking back at the city’s “nativist” riots in 1854.
Nativism ain’t new. I’ve always found it interesting…a group of immigrants move into a territory, plant roots and live there for a spell and then freak out when a new group of immigrants moves in and tries to establish roots. The use of the term “nativist” is also interesting, given that a lot of Missourians seem to forget that there were people living here before people “discovered” here.
Even though we have a strong immigrant history, St. Louis has a history of reacting violently to the introduction of new populations. One of the worst race riots in America history took place here in 1917…with over 100 people murdered and wide spread destruction of property…when white workers felt threatened by cheaper black laborers who migrated North to flee Southern oppression. But, although many remember the 1917 riot, few recall the riots of 1854 that were kicked off by the arrival of Irish immigrants to the city.
The 1854 riots are particularly interesting because they center on the vote. One political candidate courted Irish immigrants while “nativists” were courted by another…a call for “nativists” to monitor polls to protect against illegal voting triggered all manner of violence and ultimately led to the riots.
Fastforward to the present and not a damn thing has changed.
Missouri has a standing date with legislative attempts to impose voter id requirements…and now we’ve got this shameful mess about amending the Constitution to deny citizenship rights to babies born on American soil. All of this is about politics…fear of the other and fear of losing the power that comes with being the majority. The voter id shit is a continuation of this state’s never-ending fear of black liberal voters…the citizenship drama centers around the fear of Hispanic babies growing up to become Hispanic voters.
And the language is often the same too…pundits spoke of Irish immigrants “dropping babies” and then they moved on to speak of black people “dropping babies”, so it’s not surprise that they are now pontificating about Hispanics “dropping babies”.
This has all happened before and it will unfortunately happen again.
But a look back shows us that the root of the problem isn’t documentation…that’s just the hook.
The root of the problem is fear of losing the power that comes from being established and knowing that some other group is moving in and may shake shit up.
Pause…consider…continue.
I suspect that in the subconscious of those “natives” from 1854 was a remembrance of what they did when they were the new kids on the block.
I can’t help but wonder if that fear and the violence it inspired had something to do with how they manifested their destiny and how they imagined the new other would plant their roots…like they did, on the neck of the people who were already here when settlers “discovered” Missouri.
A certain Valerie from the great state of Montana sent this bitch an email asking for my thoughts on the flight attendant take this job and by the way fuck you JetBlue incident.
Pause…sip coffee…continue.
Here you go!
As a self identified angry black bitch, I often have folks reach out to me with requests or demands that I cease being angry because the world needs more civil discourse. While I appreciate their position…bitchitude does not apply to every situation…I must respectfully decline.
Sometimes we need to discuss shit…we need to sit down and get our debate on or we need to chat about this or that.
And sometimes we need to keep it real.
This bitch believes that some people actually diminish the integrity of their argument by being too damn calm about shit…passion and anger are normal.
Calmly debating whether The Man should have his boot on your neck is not normal.
Anyhoo, some folks may think the JetBlue flight attendant who lost his chili and went off after a passenger broke the rules and grabbed her bag before the pilot said that shit was cool, and the bag then hit the flight attendant which allegedly triggered the losing of his chili and subsequent going off followed by quitting followed by nabbing of beer followed by exiting via emergency slide…
Mercy.
Some people may think that the flight attendant was angry.
But that shit was rage.
Understandable rage – a bitch recently flew on a flight where I witnessed a dedicated asshole across the aisle have to be asked four times to turn off his motherfucking iPad, put his tray up and raise his seat back upright…and that shit wasted time and made this bitch wonder if the passenger was going to be a serious security risk. I'm pretty sure the flight attendant was beyond pissed at that asshole.
But rage comes from not properly venting anger…it is anger built up that explodes in such a way that is not constructive and damn near dangerous.
I don’t even care if that shit is for real…it cracked my ass up and didn’t involve the police!
Anyhoo, I sincerely hope the take away from the JetBlue incident is that a body never knows another person’s life or how close they are to the edge.
Confession - for all the attention being lavished on the flight attendant, this bitch is far more interested in the woman with the bag who triggered the shit in the first place. Someone needs to score an interview with her ass…stat.
As for the rest of us, odds are our sympathy for the flight attendant will last until our next flight…when some of us will resist turning off our smart phones, not return our seats to their upright position and try to remove our bags from the overhead compartment prior to pilot approval.
A bitch is thanking the gods that I caught the news last night, ‘cause as a result I went to bed knowing that the future of the Obama Presidency rests in the results of the Senate race in the Colorado Democratic Primary.
Blink.
I’m just playing!
Sort of.
Wink.
The herd of political talking heads recently shifted to follow the Colorado Primary because that was the race with the best chance for drama – President Clinton backed the challenger while President Obama backed the incumbent Bennet and both Presidents actively campaigned for their pick.
After months of covering Tea Party rallies and analyzing Sarah Palin’s 2010 political bracket for signs of either brilliance or extreme ig’nance, a bitch understands why the political press would latch onto Colorado’s Great 2010 Primary-based Presidential Show Down like it was a gift from the gods.
I have this mental image of a gaggle of reporters hunched over their iPads last night, desperately clicking to check the returns with hopes that President Obama’s candidate Senator Bennet would get the boot and thus allow them to craft a Fall of the President angle-based story…
…and I can easily imagine their disappointment in having to write about Bennet’s Primary victory instead.
And bless Ms. McMahon for her one woman infusion of economic stimulus funds…by all that is holy, she may end up spending enough of her personal fortune to save a daily newspaper or two!
Lawd, have mercy.
Anyhoo…
With Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial proxy primary (this one has Sarah Palin’s Karen Handel versus the GOP establishment’s Nathan Deal) so close that a recount is likely, this bitch is looking at that Southern battle to see if the tea has been watered down or if Mama Grizzly Handel can muscle out a squeaker.
Pause…consider…continue.
Confession – a bitch is holding out hope thatthe Demon Sheep make a surprise Connecticut appearance by November.
This bitch wasn’t able to post yesterday due to technical difficulties (translation – AT&T found it technically difficult to deliver my high speed internet service until I reached out and touched someone in customer service)…but that problem was easily cured by a healthy dose of bitchitude.
Shall we?
Last week a bitch participated in a panel on autism and blogging at the BlogHer convention in New York. Many thanks to Squid of Squidaliciousfor inviting this bitch!
I truly enjoyed the panel and the questions from the audience. One question in particular really touched me – a woman who identified as a mother of a young person with autism asked me whether having a brother with autism influenced my decision whether or not to have children. At the time I answered as best I could…but I’m rarely asked that question and can’t remember ever being asked it by a parent.
I could tell that the mother was feeling somewhat guilty that her son was saying he didn’t want to have a child…and I wish I had thought to tell her that I have friends who said the same shit because they have a sibling who was a pain in the ass to parent for reasons unrelated to autism or any other ism other than normal bad ass child-based contrary behavior. I also know folks who are eager as hell to become parents who grew up with a sibling with autism…I’ve found that thoughts on parenting vary person to person and there are no absolutes, just as there is no guarantee that a sibling of someone with autism is going to have a kid with autism or that a person with no family history won’t have a kid with autism.
Pause…sip water…continue.
As a sister of an adult with autism I’ve certainly asked myself whether I could do what my parents did back I the day. Things were a lot different in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s…autism was practically unknown to most folks and programs were basically non-existent in our community. I grew up watching my mother advocate for funding, services, respite care and programs…I also watched her juggle complex therapies year after year. Because of the work of parent’s and advocates like my mother, finding resources and educational opportunities for folks with autism isn’t as hard as it used to be…we’ve got a long way to go, but we have come a long way already. I’ll admit that my image of parenting a child with autism is greatly influenced by the challenges that I witnessed growing up. That image is changing now that I’ve met parents like those who attended the panel and learned that parenting experiences and options are as diverse as the lives of people with autism.
Having said that, life is nothing if it isn’t complex. Ultimately my decision to not have children has everything to do with me, myself and I and little or nothing to do with growing up with an autistic brother.
However, growing up with an autistic sibling did make me confront the reality that there are no guarantees when it comes to babies…and it helped me realize that’s okay. I’ve always thought that one of the most amazing parts of being a parent…whether a body adopts or gives birth or fosters…is discovering who a child is and watching that individual’s ways, wants and needs revealed over time.
And I suspect that fantabulous sense of discovery doesn’t discriminate.
Anyhoo, many thanks to Ms. Squid and my fellow panelists...I had a blast!
Last night this bitch did something I rarely do…I watched commercials.
What?
Since my beloved TiVo entered my life I haven’t had to sit through a series of commercials in prime time for years. But last night I watched Shark Week programming live and thus caught a series of ads about Mormons.
Pause…sip coffee…continue.
Yes, Mormons.
The first ad featured a 30 something woman who looked as nice as nice can be and who chatted about her volunteer work in…I think it was Central America…and about how helping others humbled her chil’ren and that she’s a mom and a Mormon.
The second ad featured a 30 something man who also looked as nice as nice can be and who chatted about his love of surfing and his belief that people are cool or something like that and then he said he was a husband and a Mormon.
Blink.
Now you’re wondering what the fuck this is all about.
I have no idea.
Let’s speculate, shall we?
Maybe Mormons are feeling misunderstood. When I think back to the 2008 election season I recall some anti-Mormon rhetoric being tossed around.
But the timing is off.
Why now?
And these ads aren’t just tardy on the response to a 2008 hate-fest tip…they come across as a re-positioning of all things Mormon.
Mmmmhmm, this bitch thinks these ads are the Mormon version of those BP we’re in it for the long haul and we care so fuck you for not noticing ads that are polluting the television.
This bitch has the same reaction to these ads as I do to the BP we’re in it for the long haul and we care so don’t call us soulless environment destroying beasts cause that hurts and is bad for bitness and you’re lucky we didn’t just let you rot ads.
Smells like bullshit to me.
But I’m willing to bet they’re a HUGE hit in the House of Romney!
