Unsettled...

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

This has happened before…

…and it will happen again.

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

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

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

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

Well, that’s not exactly true.

I could have blogged last week.

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

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

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

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

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

But that doesn’t make it easy.

Pause.

Sip coffee.

Continue.

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

Hi y’all!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pause…consider…continue.

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

Blink.

Hold please…

I’m wrapping up an article so bitchitude is on hold until this evening!

Toodles til then…

A matter of degree?

I have to confess to taking a step away from the internets over the weekend. Once word came down that there was a shooting spree in Tulsa, Oklahoma…and information was released that all five victims are black…well, I found myself in need of a break.

Now…well, now I find myself pondering whether the difference between what happened in Tulsa over the weekend and the murder of Trayvon Martin isn’t just a matter of degree.

Catch thy knee – you know that I know that you know and I know that we don’t have a motive in the Tulsa shootings. We do have racist Facebook postings…but white people who post about [insert “N” word here] are exempt from racial profiling so we shall not draw any conclusions from that shit. 

Tis okay…the lack of motive actually factors into my pondering.

There is a noticeable difference between how new anchors deliver news on the Trayvon Martin murder and how they speak about the shootings in Tulsa.

A change in tone…from uncertainty to concern…from confusion to that comfortable mental space Americans have developed to store easily confirmed wrongs.

I can't help thinking that…can’t help pondering the quizzical…what if this is all just a matter of degree?

What if the Tulsa shooters had planned to use Oklahoma's Stand Your Ground law?

Think about it.

What if the Tulsa shooters had left their vehicle…followed their victims…called the police…incited a confrontation…and then shot them?

What if they then claimed they were afraid?

I’ve always known that racism is rooted in fear and insecurity.  Confident and secure people don’t feel the need to oppress others…they don’t fear competition…they don’t resort to violence.

So, what if the Tulsa shooters claim fear…if the one who lost his father at the hands of a black man lifts that up as an example of why he feared then killed…

…isn’t it just a matter of degree?

I find no comfort in this quizzical.

Because if the reason Tulsa is outraged while Sanford sleeps well at night resides within a matter of degree…if that’s true, then the racism has metastasized and we are farther from the cure than I thought.

Blink.

Consolidating behind Romney…

GOP primary voters in D.C., Maryland, and Wisconsin sent a message yesterday!

Yep, they are consolidating behind Romney…like a jar of bacon grease in a cold ass room.

Romney won all three contests, but that’s not the big news.

The big news…the huge news…the take-away that Team Romney wants to make sure you take away is that Romney finally managed to get über conservative voters to vote for him.

Gingrich and then Santorum had been scoring the super duper “Reagan was soft” John Burch society voters, but that all changed yesterday.

Mmmmhmmm, yesterday Romney broke through…this victory changes EVERYTHING…he’s the main man, now!

I must confess that I’m a wee bit disappointed in yesterday’s GOP primary voters.

Über conservatives had held out in all the previous primaries.

Pause...consider...continue.

They were like Christina Crawford sitting at the dinner table refusing to eat that raw steak night after night.

And Mitt is Mommie Dearest…always having to have his way and forcing his raw steak on the Christina Burchian voters.

But Christina held strong in the movie!  

Oh, Joan made her pay for it…but Christina wasn’t broken despite all that manipulative abuse.

Not so of über conservative GOP Primary voters based on yesterday’s results.

Either those voters lack the courage of their convictions…

…or Team Romney finally found someone to "motivate" them to take a healthy bite of cold raw steak.

Either way they aint got shit on Miss Christina Crawford.

Blink.

For Anna Brown, who died on the floor of a police cell…

Confession - I’ve been struggling with feelings of disgust, frustration, and rage.

I’m doing some inner work.

And no, this rage is not the same as my daily indulgence of anger.

For every public display of wretchedness…there is often an answering demonstration of decency.

Usually that helps me stay balanced.

Usually…

…but not lately.

Lately, I’ve been struggling against hate and losing the hell out of the battle.

Her name was Anna Brown.

The rage comes when I see a news update on the model from Texas who lost her eye and hand in a freak plane accident…and the news anchors offer up those soothing sounds and enthusiastic statements about her recovery…and when the rage eases it is replaced by hate.

Anna Brown was 29 years old.

Hate because a woman in my home town was arrested for refusing to leave St. Mary’s hospital…and she died in a cell from the condition that hospital neglected to identify or refused to treat due to her being a poor black woman living in this rich white man’s world…and Good Morning America could give a shit about her…most people could give a shit about her…but I can’t stop mourning Anna Brown any more than I can stop the rage or the feelings of hate that replace it.

Anna Brown was a mother.

But it is a given that we all give a shit about Lauren Scruggs...and I want to be the type of person who does too…but instead I’m sitting here struggling not to hate her for being lovable, worthy or care and concern.

I’m struggling not to dismiss Lauren’s struggle just because the media celebrates her even as they ignore stories about women of color…stories about our struggle or our disappearance or our achievement…

Anna Brown died alone…writhing in agony…on the floor of a police cell.

…or our death by medical neglect in a Catholic hospital that then has the gall to hold up heath care disparities as a excuse for a patient’s death in police custody…a patient the hospital had arrested for seeking health care...and health care disparities Catholic hospitals gleefully seek to perpetuate through the relentless anti health care reform advocacy of the Bishops.

And until Anna Brown’s life has value…until Anna Brown’s death on the floor of a police cell gets the same coverage as the tragic maiming of an unknown model from Texas…

…until the murder of an unarmed black teen inspires the same media coverage as the murder of an unarmed white teen.

Until then, I’ll be doing a lot of inner work and struggling against hate.

Anna Brown was someone's everything.

Until justice.

Anna Brown is missed.

Until peace.

Anna Brown was.

Until.

We have video…finally...

Full disclosure – I’ve seen more than one broken nose incident in my lifetime. And I’ve seen more than one lacerated scalp too. I’m a hockey fan! That shit happens all the time to those who play the best sport on ice.

Police have released video of George Zimmerman in custody.

The video is not the best quality (not bad though - I've seen worse), but it does show a curiously blood-free face and back-of-the-head on Zimmerman.  Zimmerman’s clothing also does not appear to have blood on in.

Broken noses bleed like hell. Athletes have to plug them up to prevent the flow and get back in the game. And…well…the flow or gush of blood from a broken nose is key here.

Blood should be everywhere and certainly on the front of Zimmerman’s shirt.

If the police allowed him to change shirts…well, that opens up an entirely different can of improper collection of evidence.

If Zimmerman’s head was slammed to the ground several times one would think that it would be abraded…it doesn’t appear so on the tape.

But here’s my Zimmerman Walks Free quizzical of the day – where’s the medical report on Zimmerman’s broken nose? Having one's face slammed into the ground is known to cause concussions - he should've seen a doctor for sure if it was a violent enough assault to make him feel in imminent danger. Did the police cuff him and deny him access to standard medical care for the head trauma and a broken nose we see no sign of on the video? Where’s the towel used to stop the flow of blood from Zimmerman’s broken nose? 

In other words, where’s the evidence of the attack that I’ve been hearing so many fucking definitive statements about?

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

While I wait, I’ll reiterate my thoughts from yesterday – if there was a scuffle, then Trayvon Martin stood his ground. 

I'm more than a little disturbed by how eager some seem to define Trayvon Martin as a thug and thus deserved of being shot to death armed or not. The eagerness speaks to the disgusting view that an unarmed black teen is either a teen who just dropped off a weapon or a teen who is about to go get a weapon...just as Zimmerman felt that a black teen walking around was either in search of crime or returning from having committed a crime.

Ugh.

Anyhoo.

This case already begs the question - does Florida law protect a black teen when that teen tries to protect himself or is there a People of Color Exemption Clause in the fine print?

Now we can add - what, if any, guidelines have police been given to determine whether a murder meets the qualifications to be considered justified based on Stand Your Ground? 

***cue crickets***

A quick coffee break Stand Your Ground quizzical…

I’m working a deadline so this is going to be quick.

Regarding the curious leak of information to the press from “unnamed sources” that Trayvon Martin was suspended for having an empty pot baggie on his person - if everyone who smokes or has smoked pot…or who got in trouble at school for something related to pot…mmmhmm, if that population disappeared from the face of the Earth it would make those desolate scenes from Life After People look like a documentary.

And damn it if I didn’t just lose a bet that it would take more than a month for Zimmerman's minions to launch the But He Looked Like a Man & Acted Like A Thug defense.

Anyhoo…

I’m taking a break from the article I’m working on to explore a quizzical inspired by the latest excuses for killing a black teen coming out of Team Zimmerman.

They are now saying that Trayvon aggressed on Zimmerman and that was why he (Zimmerman) drew a gun and then the two fought so maybe Trayvon shot himself.

Pause…allow scent of bullshit to waft about and crowd of flies to gather…continue.

On one hand this new tale probably fits the evidence better than Zimmerman’s original story.

On the other hand…it kind of sounds like Trayvon Martin…wait for it…stood his ground.

Think about it.

A creepy and “suspicious” looking large white man was following him in a vehicle…the dude was driving slow and looked “up to no good”…he was taking on his phone but looking at Trayvon, so it looked like some weird ass shit was about to go on and (let’s toss in a quick racial profile, shall we?) and everyone knows that white men of a certain age are more likely to be serial killers…then the guy got out of the car and started stalking Trayvon on foot.

Did Trayvon stand his ground…defend himself against what had to look like a potential sexual assault or physical assault from a guy who looks white and thus more likely to indulge in that kind of shit against a black man in “that kind of neighborhood?”

Tis so confusing because right now Stand Your Ground is protecting George Zimmerman from arrest, but it looks like Trayvon Martin was the one who stood his ground.

Given the outcome, Trayvon was right to do so.

I hope he did…I hope that young man fought like hell to live.

But it is Zimmerman who is alive.

So, why doesn’t Stand Your Ground protect Trayvon Martin and demand the arrest of Zimmerman?

Because Stand Your Ground is a law that protects someone who KILLS someone else and then explains that murder to the police by claiming that they (the murderer) thought the other person (the murdered) was going to do them in first.

There is only one man left standing.

Only one murderer for this modern day lynch law to protect.

We’re left with a gaggle of serious faced journalists speaking in their concerned voice… all searching for a path that leads back to the safest space in America - where “blackness” is accepted by the masses as a threatening state of existence that naturally invites suspicion, physical and/or verbal aggression…and certainly invites the kind of obsessive scrutiny that logically ends in violence followed by claims of self defense.

Blink.

Pondering due process...

A quick bitchitude refresher – all comments are moderated. Taunting, mocking, baiting or other rude ass comment-based displays of no home training will likely not be seen by readers…because that shit distracts from the conversation and those type of comments get deleted by this bitch. Unless I see some lesson in posting them...but then, that's entirely up to me.

Got it?

Good!

Shall we?

A story on Politico has the following headline – Gov. Rick Scott: Give George Zimmerman ‘due process’

My response – I can’t.

If I wanted to be an overly specific ass about it, I’d ponder the fact that I’m not the state and thus do not hold the power of the law of the land so how can I be the one needing to “balance” that shit against the rights of the individual?

Fuck it.

I’m not a lawyer…and that’s the kind of specificity that works a nerve and gets us nowhere fast.

Having said that…I can’t give George Zimmerman “due process” because this case is FUBAR.

Zimmerman was never arrested…so all the evidence collection associated with arrest didn't happen. One may think that works against Zimmerman…but in reality the lack of [insert evidence here] allows him to allege all kinds of shit that the state of Florida will have no way of refuting.

And the police who arrived at the scene have a stake in taking Zimmerman’s side too, so their testimony isn’t good as gold either.

Zimmerman now has his minions and lawyer out and about saying exactly what needs to be said to lay the foundation for a Stand Your Ground Law defense in Florida.

His official black friend was on Good Morning America saying that he’s not sure Zimmerman even pulled the trigger.

And guess what – there is no evidence, no nifty police CSI stuff to prove otherwise…and check yourself if you think for one second that the body of the victim will explain all.

Shit.

I expect Stand Your Ground to do what the law was set up to do.

It has already accomplished so much.

The law enabled a man to shoot an unarmed teen and avoid arrest.

Because Zimmerman wasn’t arrested, much of the evidence needed to challenge his claim of self-defense probably was not collected.

The burden of proof is still on the state…so the lack of evidence is Florida’s problem.

Thus Stand Your Ground is a legislative dream, y’all!

Victims aren’t alive to offer alternative testimony, the police can’t arrest and thus can’t question or take pictures of the assailant, and then the accused can turn around and spin their testimony after the fact to fit the parameters of the law thus making prosecution hard as hell.

Some have said that the murder of Trayvon Martin may be our generation’s "Emmett Till moment".

But folks forget that Money, Mississippi gave the world a show trail before an all white jury acquitted two white men of killing young Till.

Stand Your Ground would have made that trial unnecessary and saved those bigots the time and energy it took to publicly thumb their noses at justice.

And in the end…once the case was over and double jeopardy was in effect…the two men who killed Emmett Till actually admitted that they murdered him.

Stand Your Ground discourages that kind of honesty because it prevents the trial in the first place.

I expect the Stand Your Ground to do what it was designed to do…enable vigilante violence, create a culture of fear among people most likely to be viewed as suspects, and absolve the system of responsibility when bullets start flying.

Like Jim Crow…on steroids.

And due process got laid off when that shit was signed into law.

Blink.

A rant...because I need one…

I just read this article from Loop 21 (great site, if you don’t already know that) and…well it makes me want to hurl my morning coffee.

Frank Taffe, a fellow neighborhood watchman in the Sanford, FL neighborhood where Trayvon Martin was murdered, has stepped up before many cameras to defend George Zimmerman and put forth the assumption that Zimmerman must have been provoked.

Translation – this neighborhood is fucked up and people of color need to avoid it the way we avoid sunset towns in Texas.

Taffe says that George is not racist.

He knows this because he is an older white male (duh).

And everyone knows that older white men know everything about everyone and everything and that they pronounced racism over back in the 1980s when Bernard Goetz shot those black men on a train.

Pause...try a sip of coffee...continue.

The Taffe quote that made me want to hurl…

"It’s really sad that he's already been convicted in the public media and has already been sentenced to the gas chamber,” Taffe said. “Let's let justice do its job."

Oh…my…Gawd.

No he didn’t?

It’s sad that Zimmerman is being tried in the media for shooting an unarmed teen…

…but it is acceptable that Zimmerman acted as judge, jury, and executioner when stalking Trayvon Martin?

Zimmerman has been sentenced to death?

Then he must rise again every fucking morning, because his ass is alive and walking free today…

…but Trayvon Martin, the teen Zimmerman executed for walking while black, is dead.

“Let’s let justice do its job.”

Oh...oh, merciful heaven.

If only George Zimmerman had let justice do its job, then Trayvon would have been questioned by the police and found to be carrying a beverage and some candy with plans to watch college basketball.

But that's not what happened.

George Zimmerman didn't let justice do its job.

George Zimmerman took justice into his own incompetent racial profiling hands and ended a life with one bullet.

That his defender from the neighborhood watch still can’t see the wrong in that just means this could all happen again.

A mid-week pondering of the MO GOP Caucus…

Let’s do this!

Yesterday, the state of Illinois held a primary and awarded a majority of GOP delegates to Mitt Romney.

My home state of Missouri has already had our Beauty Pageant primary.

It cost Missouri $7 million dollars and resolved nothing because the GOP somehow managed to green light a Primary and a Caucus with only the Caucus empowered to reward delegates.

These MO GOPers are fond of saying, “tax and spend Dems”…mayhap we should call them "fuck up and spend Republicans"?

Pause…mutter bitterly about how the same fools who cut programs serving the blind then gleefully spend $7 million dollars on a bullshit primary…continue.

It gets better.

Missouri is now in the midst of the second half of the GOP’s public display of disorganization – a caucus set up to accomplish what the $7 million dollar primary didn’t do…yep, you guessed it - award delegates.

After blowing $7 million on nothing, one would think that these fools would have their act together and put on the caucus of the century.

Think again.

Are you sitting down?

Good…because the Missouri GOP may never cease caucusing.

What?

Well, shit…tis true!

Some areas of the state caucused last weekend…but there was all kinds of drama, the police were called, and St. Charles county folk didn’t even get their work done.

For real.

Way.

St. Charles County didn’t finish and they have a ton of delegates to dish out.

St. Louis city will caucus this upcoming weekend and who the hell knows what will come of it.

Pause…consider…continue.

A fact - these fools couldn’t find their ass with both hands if they had a map.

A realization - now that the race for the GOP nomination has become something like an actual race, this public display of political chaos may actually matter in deciding the GOP nominee…oh, fuck it…who am I kidding?

A wish…if only a majority of Missouri voters were paying attention to this public display of chaos and then voted accordingly.

Blink. 

No justice and no peace…

Trayvon Martin was murdered last month…on February 26, 2012…shot dead by a stranger.

He committed no crime.

He was not armed.

Though some may claim there was a scuffle…the facts emerging now indicate that Trayvon’s murderer stalked him for a significant amount of time before approaching and then killing him.

Trayvon Martin was murdered.

His killer remains free.

And I’m not surprised.

I can’t even describe to you how hollow it is to not be able to achieve surprise.

I live with the constant fear that this type of shit will happen to my cousins, friends, or my 42 year old brother who often looks like he’s up to something or on something because he’s autistic.

No, I’m not surprised.

I am outraged.

Outraged that the killer may find shelter behind Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

I’m outraged…that the police failed to follow proper procedure.

…that a murderer walks free.

…that the Martin family had this beautiful young man taken from them.

I’m outraged for Trayvon Martin.

Because Trayvon Martin was…unarmed.

Trayvon Martin was…walking home.

Trayvon Martin was…stalked.

Trayvon Martin was…hunted.

Trayvon Martin was…atttacked.

Trayvon Martin was…shot.

Trayvon Martin was…murdered.

Trayvon Martin was…17.

The living are left to demand the arrest of his killer...justice stands naked before the world, every flaw on public display...and another mother clings to memories of a child gone to God.

No justice and no peace.

The Jesus Had a Pet Dinosaur and Obama Bailed Out Unicorn Farms Project…

Happy Friday, y’all!

Shall we?

Like many, I’ve struggled to keep my spirits up when there have been waves upon waves upon waves of oppressive attacks from those bent on keeping their boots on our necks and their laws in our lady bits.

The ongoing fight over birth control has been particularly draining.  I think that’s because I know this battle has been fought and won…but here we are again, defending access to something that the majority of people use and that has been accepted as health care for decades.

I’ve got to be honest – hearing Americans say that birth control isn’t health care makes me fear for the intellectual capacity of the masses almost as much as hearing Americans claim that Jesus had a pet dinosaur.

Sigh.

I woke up this morning pondering this shit…only to arrive at the conclusion that these battles are so draining because it takes a lot of energy to process illogical shit when you start out assuming there’s some logic behind it.

Think about it – how often have you heard some conservative statement and tried to figure out how the asshole saying it even got there only to find your Afro hurting by the time you come to the conclusion that he or she must have pulled that bizarreness out of their ass?

Mmmmhmmm…exactly!

Well, I’m over it.

I mean it.

The next time one of these wacky fools tells me that birth control isn’t health care…or that emergency contraception is the same as the abortion pill…that environmental activism is anti-American…that they’ve found the cure for Autism…corporations are people…or that they oppose measures to protect LGBT students from bullying out of love…

Cough.

I’m going to respond with something they’ll understand…

“Yep, just like Jesus had a pet dinosaur and Obama sent billions of your money to bailout those silly unicorn farms!”

…and then smile hard while showing a lot of teeth.

Wow, I feel fantabulous just writing it.

I’ll keep y’all posted.

Toodles!

Chickens…

Let’s jump right on in!

A certain Rick Santorum scored wins in both the Alabama and Mississippi primaries yesterday. 

Newt Gingrich came in 2^nd in both of those primaries.

And Mitt Romney won the primaries in Hawaii and American Samoa.

In other words, this shit is far from over.

Santorum’s wins send a clear message that evangelicals are not lovin on Mitt Romney. 

But Gingrich’s strong 2^nd place showing also sends a message – evangelicals want to date other people some more before they commit to Santorum.

Santorum knows this…that’s why he and his minions are demanding Gingrich step aside.

Gingrich knows this too…that’s why he and his minions are telling Santorum’s people to shove it and desperately trying to raise some money to keep going.

Although Mitt lost the gritmus test, his campaign can take comfort in the fact that he kind of nullified those delegate losses with those wins in Hawaii and American Samoa.

As a matter of fact the delegate math still favors Romney.

Pause…sip coffee and ponder…continue.

I wonder if this delegate math problem is another reason why Santorum is against college education.

What?

Seriously, not only does college encourage young people to think for themselves and question shit (gasp)…it also continues teaching them that math is real thing when right now Santorum needs likely GOP primary voters to believe that math is a tool that the liberal elite uses to get their snob on.

Anyhoo, even primary voters in Mississippi and Alabama conceded that Mitt Romney is the more electable candidate in a general election.  They just want him to be more conservative and that means that Mitt Romney has to start saying some outrageous shit that will make him look more attractive to those wretched social conservatives.

This’ll be a delicate balancing act and…well, Mitt isn’t known for his smooth talking.

Here’s a fresh sample of Mitt trying to turn those voters on.

“Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that.”

And I just saw his primary ad here in Missouri where he’s attacking Santorum for his Senate votes in favor of funding of Planned Parenthood.

Voting to fund reproductive health care really shouldn't be baggage...but for those attempting to seduce the GOP base it is. And that "baggage" wouldn’t be burdensome if that base wasn’t conditioned to expect regular feedings of attacks on women’s reproductive rights in exchange for their vote.

Going after Planned Parenthood may help Romney wrap up the GOP nomination…and that’s still a solid “may”.

But in the general election…where the electorate includes the 98 percent of women who have used birth control in their lifetime and also includes the 1 in 5 women who has chosen Planned Parenthood as a health care provider at least once in her lifetime…well, those comments will be hard to spin as moderate or mainstream or (wait for it) presidential.

All of this has me thinking about chickens and how they come home to roost.

Blink. 

And now they’re arguing about grits…

Merciful heaven.

Shall we?

Good Morning America just ran a quick segment covering today’s primaries in the south…and it was amusing as hell!

The reporter was making the point that the GOP candidates are…well, getting gritty.

First there was video of Romney at a campaign stop indulging in one of his bizarre list-offs of shit he likes that he hopes voters in the crowd will like so they’ll vote for him.

So awkward.

Anyhoo, there’s Romney saying he’s learning to say y’all…. "hi, y’all!”…and he likes grits… “cheesy grits and biscuits, y’all!”

Wince.

I can’t decide if these incidents are signs that Romney is so starched that this is what he acts like when they try to loosen him up…or that his staff despises him and has already reached the “fine, motherfucker…go ‘head and do what you’re going to do…ass.” stage of the campaign.

Newt has also been using grits to appeal to southern voters.

“I figure if you don't understand grits there's a pretty high likelihood that you don't understand the rest of the south.”

My grit-based analysis - This was a daring move since Gingrich is from Georgia and you know and I know that you know that I know that Georgia does grits one way and [insert southern state here] does them a different way.

This grit litmus test…a gritmus test?..is just another example of Newt’s reckless campaign style. He could have just let Mitt verbally out himself as completely clueless about all things southern…but no, Newt had to be all pompous about it. 

He’s lucky that no one in the herd of reporters forced to follow him really thinks he has a chance in hell, or he’d be facing a tons of questions about how he likes his grits and whether he thinks cheesy is wrong or adding sugar is disgusting (gasp).

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

I have no idea what the results will be today and I’m willing to bet they won’t force anyone still in this race to limp to the sidelines (that’d be too much like right).

But I do know that this has been a kick ass moment in history - 2012 is now the year grits became a serious conservative campaign issue in America.

Blink.

Pondering those social issues in Game Change…

Gawd, I loathe the Monday after daylight savings time spring forwardness.

Wince.

Shall we?

Last night I watched Game Change and…okay, Julianne Moore does an amazing Palin and it was beyond interesting to speculate about how much of the dish was real versus amplified for public consumption…but, well…I couldn’t stop thinking about the role social issues played in the film.

I’m not going to toss out a spoiler alert because we all survived this shit in 2008.

Game Change was about the behind the scenes lead up to Palin’s selection as the GOP’s candidate for VP next to McCain…and about how the campaign was more interested in shaking shit up than finding a fully vetting person qualified to be a heart beat away from the presidency.

I watched and squirmed at scenes depicting a campaign staffer watching YouTube clips of women…cause they decided finding a woman would help McCain reestablish his maverick brand.

And then they chose Palin…rushed the vetting process…and blah, blah, blah, followed by more shit we already know.

The thing that seemed revealing in the film was that several women were passed over because they were pro-choice but Palin got the nod because she was ardently opposed to unrestricted access to reproductive health care.

The director showed this in two distinctive scenes – one where the campaign staffer was eliminating prospects because they were pro-choice and another where Palin answers questions about where she stands on key issues in contrast McCain.

As the film goes forward the residue to those two scenes remains…through Palin’s initial success in accepting the nomination to her media fuck ups and finally to her determination that she could build a powerful brand off of the folksy script her handlers gave her as a lifeline when it became apparent that multiple crash courses in all the shit she didn’t know (and we’re talking a lot of shit) were overwhelming her.

Yep, those two scenes lingered…and I found it odd that the director chose to separate Palin’s views on social issues like abortion from her complete lack of understanding over what the Fed does or why Bush took the nation to war with Afghanistan.

Throughout the film we’re taken on an almost painful ride through all the shit Sarah Palin doesn’t understand, hasn’t thought through fully, gets frustrated when thinking deeply about, or just shuts down completely when forced to contemplate…

…yet her absolute “unapologetic” opposition to the full spectrum of reproductive health care including abortion is set aside as something she’s “got”.

Right.

Making a movie that indicts McCain’s campaign for not knowing how FUBAR Palin was on [insert anything here] while giving them a pass for giving her a pass despite how wrong she was on reproductive choice is the political movie making equivalent of choosing a VP nominee by reviewing YouTube videos of high profile conservative women talking politics.

Watching a movie that depicts just how casually campaigns treat reproductive choice...how blatant they are about the use of choice as a voter mobilization tool...well, I found it all as disturbing as Sarah Palin's alleged obsession with her poll numbers in Wasilla or her choice of hockey jerseys as lounge wear.

Blink.

For the women I didn’t meet along the way…

Today we celebrate International Women’s Day.

I’ve got to confess that I went to bed last night so disgusted with all things that I wasn’t planning to write a post this morning.

But I woke up feeling good…and that got me thinking about the medical journey I took to get to feeling good…which made me wonder about some of the women I met along the way…and then I couldn’t stop thinking about the women I didn’t meet.

I spent over a decade under treatment for endometriosis and uterine fibroids…over ten years battling pain, exhaustion, anemia, and health insurance companies.

And I’m among the lucky few.

In 2001, I was able to opt for surgery to remove tumors because I was confident in my ability to maintain long-term treatment due to insurance coverage…even though four separate health insurance companies suffered from the same confusion over why a woman would ever want to treat endometriosis or fibroids for reasons other than fertility.

But I’m lucky to be able to bitch about that.

I met a lot of women in waiting rooms…women like me who wanted options beyond when to schedule their hysterectomy and other women who wanted to get pregnant despite the odds.

We were the lucky one’s…wrestling with doctors, insurance companies, pharmacies, and friends or family members oozing well meaning poorly timed advice.

When I had a hysterectomy a little over a year ago I had it on my terms, having run my course of treatment to that end. I had surgery after consulting with my doctor and (prepare to be shocked, y’all) without a single legislator in the room.

And I woke up today feeling good and knowing how damn lucky I am to feel this way.

This International Women’s Day I’m thinking about the women I didn’t meet in those many waiting rooms or at the pharmacy…women who didn’t have choices or treatment options because we’re still debating whether birth control is the tool of the devil when we should be celebrating increased access without co-pays and then pushing to expand access even more.

I’m lucky.

I know I am and I know that there isn’t a damn thing right about that.

Because there are empty seats in too many waiting rooms.

Feeling good shouldn’t be about luck.

Because there are women trying to work through the pain.

Being healthy isn’t a privilege.

Because birth control is health care.

And this struggle continues for the women I didn’t meet along the way.

Happy International Women’s Day.

And the beat goes on…

Confession – I watched my Blues beat the Blackhawks last night…instead of watching the Super Tuesday primary returns.

What?

Hockey vs. Super Tuesday primary returns is no contest, y’all.

Anyhoo, shall we?

I was able to stay on top of yesterday's not so super Super Tuesday results through the magic of Twitter.

Here’s what we’ve got…

Mitt Romney – Ohio*, Alaska, Idaho, Vermont, Virginia, and Massachusetts

Rick Santorum – North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Newt Gingrich – Georgia

* I’m hearing a lot of conflicting information about Ohio, ongoing frenzified counting, and a possible automatic recount.

The take away for Romney…

Romney is in the delegate lead.

He'll probably be the nominee.

But this shit is heading south to states where Romney isn’t likely to get any love from the GOP.

The take away for Santorum…

Romney didn’t close the deal.

And this shit is heading south to states where Santorum may be able to steal away enough delegates to hold Romney's nomination of and set up a convention fight.

The take away for Gingrich…

There’s no place like home...and Santorum would like him to unpack and stay there.

The take away for the masses…

The GOP is having an identity crisis…big time. 

Romney may be winning the delegate math…

…but he’s running for the nomination of a party that thinks math is a tool of the devil.

Blink.

***logs off to give offering to the gods of blog content in gratitude***

Limbaugh, the bust, and how this honor informs pending anti-birth control legislation in Missouri…

Let’s jump right on in, y’all!

Yesterday the fantabulous Sean Nicholson of Progress Missouri broke the story that leaders in the Missouri House were set to honor Rush Limbaugh by adding him via an expensive bust to the Hall of Famous Missourians.

As the story sped across the internets I had several reactions.

Shark-Fu’s 1^st reaction to Limbaugh getting a bust-based honor…

Isn’t there some process this kind of think should go through?  Oh, don’t get me wrong – I’m not naïve enough to think that the current majority in the Missouri House wouldn’t vote Rush Ruler of the Known Universe if given the opportunity. 

I’m just uncomfortable with this kind of honoring being a power held by one man - Speaker Tilley's, to be specific...who has defended his decision to honor Rush but who also has recently demonstrated that he has a higher tolerance and empathy for bigot-based behavior than most folk (remember his call to flood Cairo?).

Now I know that you know that I know that Speaker Tilley has claimed that he decided to honor Rush months ago…

…just like I know that you know that I know that Limbaugh has been launching racist and/or anti-woman attacks for years, so he wasn’t any more worthy a few months ago than he is today.

Cough.

Shark-Fu’s 2^nd reaction to Limbaugh getting a bust-based honor…

I call bullshit on all the posturing, whining, and keening the GOP is participating in under the dome regarding moral objections to health care and religious-based blah, blah, blah.

These oh so religious and moral conservatives are planning to honor a man who gleefully, loudly, and clearly demanded sex tapes from a woman in exchange for access to birth control.

Mayhap these representatives should exchange their concern over women having access to contraception for some disgust over the ease of Limbaugh’s attempt at coercion.

***shudders***

Shark-Fu’s reaction when pondering this Limbaugh bust mess this morning…

I’m disgusted.

I can’t believe my hard earned tax dollars are about to be spent honoring a man who makes Magic Negro jokes, enjoys taunting women, and who uses his radio show to solicit sex tapes in exchange for access to birth control.

I can’t believe that the current Speaker of the Missouri House doesn’t understand why honoring Limbaugh brings dishonor upon every other person honored in the Hall and to our state.

And I really can’t believe we’re still fighting to defeat birth control refusal legislation here in Missouri...legislation that Limbaugh's rants demonstrate is less about "religious liberty" than about appeasing those who see women discussing birth control as sluts, women demanding access to birth control as prostitutes, and women who seek to do so before Congress as fair game for the solicitation of sex tapes.

Good Gawd, I can just see the Missouri tourism billboard now…

Visit Missouri, y'all – Where Sexist, Egotistical, Lying Hypocritical Bigots Are Honored and Birth Control is Slut Candy!

Blink.

Swift recaps of Santorum’s anti-education “back down” and Limbaugh’s post advertiser bail out “apology”…

Shall we?

I woke this morning to news that a certain Rick Santorum is backing down from condemning President Obama for his administration’s support of programs to increase access to and enrollment in advanced education.

To best understand shit like this I like to think of politics as ice skating and pandering as a skill like jumping or spinning.

Santorum is participating in a classic political skating skill – a perfectly executed triple toe jump nod to the conservative religious home-school crowd followed by an awkward transition into a slow lackluster “oh, shit…that public pander appears to have turned off too many conservatives…allow me to explain that I misunderstood Obama and was responding to something else!” spin.

Mayhap Scott Hamilton could start calling politics in the morning?

Blink.

Santorum’s clarification-based correction would be far more believable if he hadn’t doubled down on his belief that college is the devil’s playground during a recent appearance on Glenn Beck...just sayin’.

Moving on…

Rush Limbaugh grabbed headlines last week for his relentless multi-day tirade against Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, where he called her a slut and then made a detailed demand that she make then sex tapes online in exchange for health insurance coverage without co-pay of birth control…

…and then activists targeted advertisers on his show and those advertisers came to the conclusion that although advertising to an audience that makes the John Birch society look soft appeals to them having Limbaugh draw attention to the fact that they advertise to an audience that makes the John Birch society look soft does not appeal, thus they pulled their ads…and, when the money was pulled, Limbaugh apologized.

I, for one, was thrilled to see the voice of the conservative movement indulge in a public display of how they really feel followed by what they actually oppose.

And I'm more than a little pissed at not getting to see the herd of presidential wanna-bes attempt to pivot from Limbaugh's demand for sex tapes back to rants about religious objections.

Pause…consider…continue.

Now that they've backed off and/or apologized and the political pundit class appears satisfied (rolls eyes), I'm left to hope that Scott Hamilton will join some network's best political team on air.

What?

As if you aren't hoping the same damn thing...wink.