The Wicked Ol'Witch is Dead... er ... out of office!

Sarah Palin has resigned as governor of Alaska. Absolutely no one one knows why, though the assumption is so that she pursue her national political interests in 2012. I am going to make a guess: shit is about to hit the fan for Ms. Palin for reasons as-yet-disclosed. Why do I say that?

Because, if you want to be President, you don't jump out of your post three quarters of the way through to seek the Presidency until long after you've declared. That's bad PR and makes you look like a flake. Truly. Something is simmering that has not hit the national media yet -- another scandal? another child pregnant? a paramour? perhaps more corruptions charges? -- and we're just going to sit back and watch it go insane in Alaska.

But the DNC said it best:

"Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

"Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today."

Seriously, Alaska, you've got to do better on the national stage. If this is the best you have to offer, I think we're all vastly disappointed.

Regardless, good-bye, Sarah Palin.

And here's her press conference -- weird:

On the flip side, do you think this will be enough to remind queers why we elected Obama and not McCain Palin?

There seems to be some great commentary going on about this out there. From Nate Silver:

Palin is the most Bushlike of all the Republicans who have emerged as contenders for the national ticket: the smirkiness, the smugness, the regional accent (although Palin's, I assume, is not feigned), the malapropisms, the contempt for media (both the people who cover it and their mediums), the express deference to religious faith, the occasionally undeniably likable moments of joviality and regular guy/gal-ness, the tendency toward self-dealing, the bulldog/barracuda mentality, the comfort in one's own skin (Palin was crippled when she lost hers late in the campaign), the (apparent) preference for isolation in [Wasilla, Crawford], and last but not least, the no-holds-barred, no-apologies conservatism.

And sure, some of this is complicated by the fact that Palin is a woman, and a very attractive woman. Would Palin be resented to the same degree by (some) liberals if she looked like Susan Boyle? Well ... maybe not. But would she have been picked for the national ticket? Well ... maybe not. But this has less to do with Palin herself and more to do with the manner in which she was elevated to the national stage. Liberals believe very deeply in the idea that life ought to be meritocratic. Palin didn't seem to have earned it, especially in comparison to John McCain and Barack Obama and even Joe Biden who had such compelling life stories. To a lot of people (not exclusively liberals; Kay Bailey Hutchison's contempt for Palin was obvious), it felt like another case of the pretty girl getting the promotion. If Palin wins the nomination on her own in 2012, this case will fade, and in turn so should some of the resentment.

And don't forget to check out the bit on Hot Air, entitled "Palin isn't a serious candidate for President."

El Papa, "Condoms not good for AIDS."

I mean, he's not completely unreasonable, he's saying that abstinence is better and condoms promote sex. That's true, right? In much the same way eyeglasses promote poor eyesight.

From IndyStar.com:

In his four years as pope, Benedict had never directly addressed condom use, although his position is not new. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, often said that sexual abstinence - not condoms - was the best way to prevent the spread of the disease.

Benedict also said the Roman Catholic Church was at the forefront of the battle against AIDS.

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane heading to Yaounde. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

The pope said a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease, as he answered questions submitted in advance by reporters traveling on the plane. His response was presumably also prepared in advance.

FOXNews is quick to bring up the issue that most sources are emphasizing the "no on condoms approach." Because, you know, FOXNews is the moral paragon of the country.

Meanwhile, people continue to have sex and people continue to get AIDS. You know, because years of abstinence-abstinence-abstinence worked for this country and everyone else...

...after all, just look at the Palin's.

Look: let's be honest. Abstinence is the best way to protect yourself from getting STD's and against unwanted pregnancies. It's the truth. No one is denying that. But the problem is not whether or not we go out and teach abstinence, it's whether or not we add the rejoinder "but if you choose to have sex, you should use..."

It's called comprehensive sex education, not "happy-fun-fuck-orgy-time" sex education. Responsible, complete, intelligent.

Oy! Republican Shenanigans!

First off, we have Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) who is threatening to resign from the Senate if the Republican Party doesn't lay off and stop asking him to not run in 2010. The situation in Kentucky is turning into one of the juiciest things heating up, no? Well, that and the whole Minnesota Senator thing which, at this point, I think we're all just over.

From the Courier-Journal (out of Louisville):

Already in conflict with his party’s leaders, Sen. Jim Bunning has reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation.

The Kentucky Republican suggested that possible scenario at a campaign fundraiser for him on Capitol Hill earlier this week, according to three sources who asked not to be identified because of the politically sensitive nature of Bunning’s remarks.

The implication, they said, was that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement — a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

“I would get the last laugh. Don’t forget Kentucky has a Democrat governor,” one of the sources quoted Bunning as saying.

“The only logical extension of that comment is, ‘(Make me mad) … enough and I’ll resign, and then you’ve got 60 Democrats,’ ” said another source who was present at the event.

This is funny because I was just reading about the 17th Amendment in re Roland Burris and was amused by the whole process of gubernatorial appointments to the US Senate for open seats. Anyways, Bunning is insane, but brilliant... which makes him dangerous.

For the moment, he's the Republican Blagojevich.

Yea, and, apparently, Sarah Palin remains at the head of the Republican Party Presidential wanna-be's for 2012. Palin has 29% support, with Huckabee just 3 points behind, and Romney 5 points behind MH. I just have this to say about polling this far out: even a year and a half out, we were all pretty sure Hillary Clinton was going to be the Democratic nominee, and Giuliani the Republican, right? Right. Worthless, but it tells us about the usefulness of polls at this point.

And I really should watch Jindal's speech, shouldn't I? The exorcist either was brilliant or a waste of everyone's time.

Which is not that dissimilar to most people's feelings on Sarah Palin.

Funny -- I think this is the first time I've ever written about Bobby Jindal. Weird. (Thanks to Electoral-Vote.com for the updates.)

Anti-Gay in 2010

Thanks to Change.org (not related to Obama :-)), we have five potential people running for Senate who are markedly anti-gay. What's fun is that one of Ohio's own gets listed... groan. Jeez.

Check out the list for their whole descriptions:

• Roy Blunt (US House, R-MO) -- Received a 0% rating from the HRC, and said that Obama's openness to LGBT person's are "wrong." Looking to step up from the House.
  
• Marco Rubio (State House Speaker, R-FL) -- Supported, oh goodness, Mike Huckabee for President. If that wasn't enough, he's a close fan and ally of anti-gay Jeb Bush.
• Sarah Palin (Governor, R-AK) -- Not officially announced yet, but be sure it's coming. We all know and love her, right? After all, she has many gay friends, but doesn't support their equal rights. Woot for Alaska.
• Rob Portman (fmr Cabinet, fmr House, R-OH) -- Apparently, QueerCincinnati.com is becoming the clearinghouse for why Portman is wrong for Ohio. I'm always a little giddy when I get nods from other blogs :-).
• Jerry Moran (House, R-KS) -- Another 0% from the HRC, and, of course, supporting a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. Jeez, really Kansas? You can do better. Kansas City is so cool though!!!!

Change.org has an excellent listing of links and issues about each of these fabulous contenders for the Senate. All I can say is that anti-gay is unAmerican. 

We're real Americans, too, Miss Palin.

I hate you, Sarah Palin...

...you illiterate, misguided, uniformed buffoon. 

Yea, SarahPAC has begun.

In her favor, there are absolutely not unattractive pictures of her on teh interweb except for that one. And that's not that bad.

Oh, and is that the absolute best name you could come up with? SarahPAC? Seriously?

GENERAL STUFF: Sarah Palin FAIL

From dear friend SJ...

ELECTION 2008: ENDORSEMENT: From Equality Cincinnati

Equality Cincinnati has released its endorsements a few days ago (thanks to Rainbow Cincinnati).

President/Vice President - Barack Obama/Joe Biden
U.S. Representative, 3rd District of Ohio - Jane Mitakides
U.S. Representative, 2nd District of Ohio - Victoria Wulsin
Ohio State Representative, 28th District - Connie Pillich
Ohio State Representative, 31st District - Denise Driehaus
Ohio State Representative, 33rd District - Tyrone Yates
Hamilton County Commissioner - Todd Portune & Chris Dole
Ohio Supreme Court - Peter Sikora
Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas - Jody Luebbers & Norma J.H. Davis

Interesting, neither the Bill Seitz/Dan McCarthy nor the Chabot Driehaus race is on there. Strange. 

I wish I could, you know, confirm the information with their website... but it hasn't been updated since 2007.

Such is the state of GLBT Politics in Cincinnati..

PS And despite the woman empowing article Campbell Brown wrote on CNN.com about embracing your inner diva to Sarah Palin, don't let her recent desire to be a diva -- which I fully support -- distract you from the fact that she's still a rancid bitch.

PPS Make sure you follow the latest early voting statistics. My interest and curiosity, of course, will be the 33% of votes already cast in places like Georgia and Florida...

ELECTION 2008: Sarah Palin's Shopping Video RELEASED!

Thanks to 3BlueDudes for this released video of Sarah Palin's $150,000 shopping trip for hair and makeup and clothes.



Note: this is not the first time we've used Evita to look at this race. What is it about power and music?

BLOGGING & ELECTION 2008: McPalin Haiku

From one of my favorite new tweeters... haikutwaiku...

Do you want McCain
To choose a Supreme Court judge
Like he chose Palin?

To all my readers, I have to apologize about the over-coverage of the election. It's October. Election less than two weeks away. You'll get over it.

Some things upcoming:
-Cody is posting a video in the next few days!!!
-Driehaus debate and post-event at Sully's tomorrow!
-Cincy Bloggers election night meet-up! (Location TBD)
-Cincy Tweeters Happy Hour!

There's also a lot more LGBT movies that I've been watching and waiting to review. Those sort of things just take time to write and school is a lot of work. Also got two or three Rainbow Cincinnati posts coming. So... yea. I promise, soon, I'll be talking about other things than just the election.

ELECTION 2008: Nailing Palin, redux

Appeasing the masses and the 70% of my traffic that comes from searching for the porn movie "nailing palin," I thought it might be nice to do a follow up to this post about the upcoming Hustler flick...

Twolesbosgoinatit (NSFW) have screen shots of the script (and the link to the script ... it's written by Roger Krypton)

And here's my favorite page ever...

And my second favorite page, featuring Todd Palin:

A) I'm shocked that there's a script. Porn movies have scripts???

B) Don't worry, there are some excellent monologues and soliloquy's in the movie... just to show off the actress's extensive.. ahem.. talents.

LOL. I love this election season.

That's QueerCincinnati.com -- filled with klassiness.

ELECTION 2008: Things have gotten ugly...

Do they think this will help?

Thanks to Pam's House Blend...

ELECTION 2008: In which I wish Hillary was the candidate...

Just so she could very pointedly say: Well, Governor Palin, what would you define as an impeachable offense?

Good-bye, Caribou Barbie. Good-bye.

ELECTION 2008: Nailing Palin

Hustler has confirmed that they will be putting out a little movie called "Nailin' Paylin" [sic] before the election, with the role of "Paylin" played by Lisa Anne (pictured below).

From the TMZ.com article:

The faux Sarah is Lisa Ann, who "will be nailing the Russians who come knocking on her back-door." In another scene -- a flashback -- "young Paylin's creationist college professor will explain a 'big bang' theory even she can't deny!"

There's also a threeway with Hillary and Condoleezza look-alikes.

Wow. Just Wow. I'm buying that video.

ELECTION 2008: In which I break my boycott on Sarah Palin

This is how I view Sarah Palin. But the fur of her coat is made of the furs of the wolves she shot dead from the sky. "Take that Darwin and natural selection. I am man, I take you out from the sky! God didn't give me talons -- he gave me guns (and a helicopter)!!!! Try to top me on the food scale!!!"

I feel like I must say it: Muhaha.

Two things:

1) Is it so much to ask that we expect more out of our Republican candidates than just, "They can communicate in English."

2) We elected a president for 8 years based on his folksiness. See where that got us.

So there.

ELECTION 2008:VP Debate

I will say this about the VP debate: it certainly wasn't as exciting as thought it was going to be. I was disappointed a little that Sarah Palin was so well spoken (is it bad that the gauge we now use for candidates is, "they were so articulate" as opposed to "they sure knew their stuff"), and I was disappointed Joe Biden was so reigned in.

It was just a debate, nothing special.

It was a mild Biden win. Palin came off as interesting and engaging, though I think she will regret having said (essentially), "I'm going to answer the questions I want to answer, rather than the questions you nasty, darky, biased moderator asks me."

OK, maybe that was a little bit of hyperbole, but you get the impression. Besides, with the week long smear campaign against the superb moderator, Ms. Ifill, that the McCain campaign put out, I think we deserve to rag on Palin a little bit. The whole week, the McCain camp essentially was basically admitting that Palin may not be ready. And that's disappointing. But Palin did do fairly well, all things considered.

Jerekeys gave us a live twitter feed on his blog, and I have to give him some of the very very humourous commentary that he had as it went along:

-Sarah Palin wins the best hair part of the debate!
-And YOU said you didn’t know what a vice president does. #
-“there’s not a whole lot I’ve promised” or said in a press conference.

And thanks be to Pam's House Blend for eviscerating both camps about there lack of support for gay marriage. I genuinely believe Joe Biden would not fight it if it came... and he may come out after he's elected as pro-marriage. But Pam also gives us this excellent quote where Biden tore apart the whole "maverick" thing:

Biden: Can I respond to that? Look, let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. And again I love him, he's been a maverick on some issues but he's been no maverick on things that a matter people's lives. He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget which put us half a trillion in debt this year and over three trillion in debt since he got there. He has not been a maverick in providing healthcare for people. He voted against including another 3.6 million children in coverage of an existing health care plan in the United States Senate. He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college, he's not been a maverick on the war, not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things people really talk about around the kitchen table. Can we get mom's MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester. We can't make it. How will we heat the house this winter? He even voted against what they call LIHEAP, for assistance for people with oil prices going through the roof in the winter. So a maverick he is not, on the important critical issues that affect people at the kitchen table.

Overall, I think it comes down to: it's nice to finally hear that Palin can finally put a full thought together. But, ultimately, Biden won. And I'm not alone on this one.

This will have little affect, I think, on the election and the headlines of the weekend and the analysis will focus on two things: look, Sarah can speak English clearly! And, Biden really does know his stuff! Oh, and the whole thing that's coming out about the instapolls giving Biden the heads up by nearly a 2:1 margin, especially among independents. That's definitely definitely a great bit that will come out for the Dems this evening.

PS On how they "looked" -- and I was listening to NPR, not watching TV, I wanted to listen and not see for most of it -- does anyone else think Biden is extraordinarily attractive? Oh my god I think I have a crush on Joe!!!!

And Palin looks more like a mom than a VP? She's 25 pounds away from wearing mom jeans...

Also: Check out the pre-debate evaluation over at Juliet and Juliette. I think Palin was chosen for what was between her legs, not for what is between her ears.

HIV/AIDS: Bush to poz-ers -- GET OUT

Apparently Mr. Bushie has no intention of complying to the lift of HIV+ immgrants. From Andrew Sullivan (and thanks to Trevor Hoppe for giving me the heads up -- PS, congrats on your increasing traffic, TH!!!):

The Bush administration has not yet lifted the regulation barring people with HIV from entering the United States, despite the law lifting the ban overwhelmingly passed by the Congress and signed by president Bush last July. Yesterday, they simply reiterated their previous plans to "streamline" the process, which, in fact, does nothing but make it more bureaucratically cumbersome for temporary visitors with HIV to enter the country as tourists or for conferences. They have done nothing to end the ban as the law clearly asked for.

As it currently stands, I will still be required to leave the US for good next March. And many more are in much worse straits. They say they will change the regs. And that it takes time. My guess is that it will take until after the election. But does anyone believe a Palin administration would make life any easier for people with HIV? For people with HIV, the Palin nomination should be terrifying.

AHEM... take that as a temporary lift to the boycott on talking about what's her name.

QC.com reported on the lifting of the HIV-travel ban -- or I thought I did (which actually sparked an interesting debate between me and Benjamin Nicholas found here but on a completely different subject, ultimately). I'm supportive of eliminating the ban and think that this is just another smoke-screen to the homophobia and xenophobia/racism of the Bush administration.

BLOGGING: CALLING A BLOGGER BOYCOTT!!!!

From today on, I am calling a blogger boycott against one person: Sarah "Pray the Gay Out" Palin. Why? Because of this...



Remember it? Remember when McCain criticizes Obama for being nothing more than a celebrity? Right. And Sarah Palin is, now, what?

A Republican celebrity.

I am officially boycotting any mention of her from here on out. I will not mention Sarah Palin after today. I will not mention anything about her, about the absurdities and stupidities of the Palin life.

You hear that Sarah: I am done with you.

You will no longer get free press from me because of how stupid you are and how desperate picking you proves that McCain is. I am done with your lies, and I am done with the egregious lying the Republican party is putting out in support of you. I am done with everything you are, the anti-gay stance you have politically (even if you support them "personally"), done with the fact that in your two years as governor you only did two things about HIV/AIDS in your whole state (and both were just declarations), done with the fact that you have no experience and are ladened with more scandal than the rest of the world combined.

I am done with your "executive experience." You have none, and you are nothing.

Did you hear that, Sarah?

You are nothing and the equivalent of bubble gum on the foot of the American political system.

This is my final post on you. I encourage others to join me -- I encourage others to write one last post on why they are done -- and I call this a Blogger Boycott.

Remember, if you just stop talking about her, she goes away.

ELECTION 2008: Tina Fey as Palin

I wondered when this would happen :-). That was quick. Thank you, Tina Fey.



I think it's brilliant that major news places are now covering SNL mockery.

This is dead on. Bless you, Tina Fey.

And don't forget about the VPILF thing. :-)

Oh and this is sheer brilliance... in honor of Sarah Palin's rather creative names for her children -- Willow, Piper, Trac, Trig, and Bristol -- there is the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator. My name would be "Stinger Assassin Palin" if I were birthed out of Sarah Palin's vag. (Thanks Clark Street Blog !!!!)

ELECTION 2008: Who the f*** is this woman???

Let's run down the scandals that have already broken about Miss Palin and, thus, the things they are going to have to deal with from Day One once they hit the campaign trail:

• 17-year-old daughter is pregnant -- and why has no one used the term "shotgun wedding" yet
• May have gotten a state trooper fired for personal reasons -- amongst other people (same link)
• May not have won all the beauty contest awards she said she did
• She flip-flopped on the Bridge to Nowhere
• She's been a supportive member of the Alaskan Independence Party
• It appears that she is outshining the actual nominee

Oh, and, she apparently was only picked as a last ditch effort on the part of McCain... from the NYT article...

Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates...

“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”

Oh, Sarah. You poor, bat-shit crazy bitch. I am thoroughly convinced Palin was picked only to keep McCain's name in the news and not leave him as an "also ran."

And this can't be a good sign for the McCain-Palin ticket.

CINCY GAY SCENE: Outreels and a new gay blogger???

I've been on a "quiet blogging" mood these days. Between the move, the fireworks party, the Goober, school starting, work, and my new place not having internet... you might say I've been a little busy :-). I promise I'm not gone, just a little quiet. And I'm trying desperately not to post every little absurd thing the McCain-Palin ticket is saying at the RNC (did anyone else watch the absurdity that was Mitt Romney's speech???!!!!).

BTW---> I'm gonna give Palin some props. That was a good speech, but I think it was more impressive that Barack said "family's off the table."

Oh, and the "Why I don't support the Streetcar" series is not dead. I just haven't had the time to write.

Via their Myspace page...

OutReels returns!!!!

OutReels is Cincinnati GLBT Film Festival. It has introduced me to movies like Veiled and Meth, and I was disappointed not to see it on the list of things to do this past year for Pride. I'm really happy to see it coming back. However, it will not be part of the Pride celebration but will be hosted in March of 2009. Per the website, you can get involved by meeting at the Community Center @ 12pm on the 13th of Sept (that's a Saturday). I think you should all check it out.

Also...

A quick email came over to me via my Myspace... apparently there may be a new "raunchy" gay blogger picking up in the city :-). . . per the email, it will be "about day to day life as an 'easy' kid in cincinnati."

Very exciting. Will keep you updated.

Anyone heard anything more about the Cincy Gay Life website??? No? No?