News you can use for a Tues... day.

[pauraque_bk]

I am be-hatted by chresimos! Hurrah!

Also, the jury duty thing turned out okay. I don't have to go, and I got off with a stern lecture. You guys were right. :)

---

-This past Saturday was John Kerry's birthday. (In honor, malograntum posted a picture of young!Kerry shirtless and holding a puppy. The effect is sort of like johnxjohn filtered through baaaaabyanimals.)

But the reason I bring it up is that it kind of made me sad -- not for him, but for myself, as yet another reminder that my side lost. And I started thinking about the balance between holding onto anger and sadness, and moving forward... In a way, the Republican exhortation to "get over it already" is sound advice. It's good to keep on top of the fraud issues, but not because of what happened last month -- because of what will happen two, four, six years from now. Eh. There's a thin line between staying angry and wallowing.


-Speaking of anniversaries, this past Sunday marked one year since Saddam Hussein was captured.

Reuters: A year on, Iraq's rebels unfazed by Saddam capture

Daily Kos: What Should Anti-Iraq Debacle Dems/Progressives Do Now?
I thought this was interesting. Raises the question of whether it's more important for people against the war to also stand firm against the people who started it, or to look for the best solution within the current administration.


-On a totally different note...

PlanetOut: New Zealand OKs civil unions; gays rejoice

"[O]nce the bill was passed, two openly gay members of Parliament, Tim Barnett and Chris Carter, kissed while supporters lined up for hugs."


-This doesn't even border on political news, but da_governator gave his pals at worldaffairs Santa hats, and it made me laugh very hard. (But then, I still laugh every time I see joementum's name, so maybe I'm easy. Joe-mentum! Haha! Er, yes.)

Comments

[meridym.livejournal.com]

That photo was taken in Vietnam, possibly on Kerry's swift boat. I'm with you about attempting to move on and get over the anger...but I don't think I'm going to be moving on the way the Repubs would like me too. I'm plotting ways to get even. ; ) I'm still totally disgusted over what the Bush/Cheney-supported Swift Boat Liars did to Kerry, and actually, over the way the Republicans conducted their entire campaign.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Out of genuine curiosity, how would you say the Republicans expect/want you to move on?

[meridym.livejournal.com]

I think they'd love me to sink into apathy and shut up and just let them run (ruin?)the country.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Well, they probably would like that, but I think they'd like it better if disgruntled Democrats became radicalized & pushed the party leftwards - that would comfortably usher in Rudy Giuliani in 2008.

[meridym.livejournal.com]

I don't think St. Rudy's halo is quite as untarnished as it used to be with the Repubs in power after the Kerik gaffe.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

I assume you meant "isn't quite as untarnished." Well, we'll see, but three years is enough to forget this kind of embarrassment - it's not as if Rudy had employed the nanny himself...

Bet Ralph Reed will be running, too, and wouldn't it be fun if Ah-nold did? (If he swings the 38 states for an amendment, the man can move mountains...)

[sternel.livejournal.com]

::wanders in off her flist::

Are you in NY? Because Rudy was terribly unpopular here before 9-11, and as much as people admired his leadership during that time, his record previous to that date has not been forgotten.

And after Kerik's debacle (and god, what was Bush thinking? Anyone could have told him Kerik wouldn't stand up to confirmation hearings!) Rudy's not going to get away with anything in the New York press. There's nothing New York loves better than turning on its own...

[pauraque]

As a linguistic rather than a political point of interest, she didn't mean "isn't quite as untarnished", because she already said "I don't think". If she said both, it would make a double negative, which, in English, would mean the opposite of what she wants. :)

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Ooops. Read too fast. (We do have double negatives in French, you know.)

[pauraque]

Yep, I know. But some languages don't work that way, and I don't know how many you speak -- I thought you might have momentarily thought English was one. ^_^

[shezan.livejournal.com]

The Kerry pic is terminally cute, and I don't even like the guy! Awwww!

[pauraque]

Cute crosses party lines. ;)

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Absolutely!

[malograntum.livejournal.com]

"[O]nce the bill was passed, two openly gay members of Parliament, Tim Barnett and Chris Carter, kissed while supporters lined up for hugs."

Awwwwww, stop making me want to emigrate. :-P

[pauraque]

No. :P

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

Not that it has much to do with John Kerry, but worldaffair's drdean posted a rather, um, nice shirtless pic of the former governor.

With regards to politics, I've been seeing more yellow ribbons that say "Support the Troops - Bring them Home." I wish support and flags could cross party lines as much as cuteness does, but unfortunately there's still a lot of knee-jerk reaction of what's on someone's bumper. I'm sort of disgruntled that the Peterson trial gets as much if not more air time than Iraq.

(whew to the jury trial craziness!)

[malograntum.livejournal.com]

On my Volvo, I have a John Kerry bumper sticker and a yellow "Support Our Troops" magnet.

Had, that is. Someone stole the magnet the other day.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

Yeah, there's been a lot of yellow ribbon/flag stealing around here, too, which usually gets blamed on the anti-war crowd. My favorite bumper sticker combo had to be the "Dump Bush" sticker with the yellow ribbon magnet.

And icon love!

[malograntum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have a pretty good idea of what sort of Portland denizen stole mine. I seriously got into my car muttering, "Goddamn hippie liberal kids..." ;)

And thanks! It's by barrie3. Yours is pretty great too.

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Apparently the anti-civil unions protesters were actually weeping on the lawn. o_o

[pauraque]

Damn! Them kiwis are an emotional bunch. :P