Thursday, January 31, 2008

CINCY GAY SCENE: Follow-Up on Previous Blog

1) Serpent, per a good friend, "has always been for sale," at the $1m price mark. So, in effect, it's not officially for sale. My house, too, would be for sale if someone offered me five times the amount it was worth.

2) Rumors of a new gay club opening? I can't seem to track this rumor anywhere.

3) Oh, goodness, the owner of Below Zero actually read the blog and responded. I have still yet to go, so I am retracting original statements regarding the crowd or the bar -- apparently, I am not speaking as much into the darkness as I thought (the more than triple traffic I have enjoyed since I last blogged is an indicator, too) -- and I will, in fact, make it my goal to visit Below Zero before gay pride and give it a fairer review.

4) Also, kuddos to Joe Penno on becoming the new president of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center -- darling, if you read this, I'm hearing rave reviews about you from all over town. Very, very impressive. And this whole schtick of trying to rebuilding relationships with agencies -- BEAUTIFUL! I think a reinvigorated gay pride committee meeting (I've heard) should be indicative of people's desire to invest time and effort. Maybe I'll even stop on by one day, to pay my respects, of course.

(Side note --> Community Center's board also expanded quite a bit. Well done. It was getting monotonous with only four or five people on it. The entire crew, truly, was always dedicated, but, after a few years, fresh blood needs to be brought in. Yes, Ms. Chanak, I even consider you "fresh," though I feel that it'll be the first time in years anyone has. :-) Much love)

5) Looking for some gossip on OUTReels, btw. If you have any...

6) Golden Lions, also, is not shutting down "at least not in the next year," per the bar owner. Again, I think, it seems that, like the Serpent, it's probably always "for sale," but it's a wonderful little hub there in Clifton. Would be sad to lose it. Although, as I pointed out to Shante Marcelle the other night -- the building itself is falling apart. And that's why we love it, right?

ELECTION 2008: Stupid Republicans

First of all, so so so so happy that McCain -- once near-dead -- is appearing to be the front-runner for the GOP endorsement. Huckabee is terrifying, as he tends to be more conservative than Bush, though his "rough and tumble" style of politics is entertaining and GSD (gets shit done) ... what he gets done, though is bothersome. It reminds me of my own home state's governor, Gov. Sanford, who took two pigs under his arms into the statehouse to protest the pork barrelling of the SC budget. And Romney... well, we thought KERRY was a flip-flopper. Didn't Romney once support abortion and gay rights? Or was that just in Massachusetts? Funny that he will likely not get his own state but will, instead, win Utah soundly makes me laugh.

Secondly, Edwards is out. Thank god. He's pretty, though.

Third, Clinton will win in a landslide in (most of) the 20 states for Super Tuesday. I'm sorry folks, she's hugely far ahead in a lot of those states... 20 points plus in most. I don't care if Obama has a little of momentum after winning two -- yes, only two of six, primaries. Clinton has won four of six, and she still dominates the rest of the field.

Fourth, haven't I always said that a McCain-Giuliani ticket would be the Republican choice? Haven't I also said you can't beat it?

My official predictions for the 2008 election come down to:
Republican ticket: McCain-Giuliani
Democratic ticket: Clinton-????
(I'm trying to limit my choices down to the following for VP: Obama, Richardson, Vilsak, and Bayh... I'm actually leaning towards Richardson, but, the way the primaries are shaking up, I'm thinking Obama as VP is not entirely unbelievable)

Fifth, Bill Clinton had no chance of doing anything right in this election. Leave the man alone. He's trying to help.

FINALLY:

If only the Republicans would get their shit together on gay rights, they would take the vote right from underneath the Democrats. Not joking. And I base it off a quote by Chrissy Nakonski, a transsexual seeking the Republican nom to her state legislative district: "I've voted Republican all my life...Republicans swear by not raising taxes, and raising taxes would hurt families in poverty, like mine." The gay community spends money and, by and large, is becoming increasingly suburban and middle class. Ideologically, I think the gay community is far more Republican and the only reason it's not universally so is that they don't support us. If they just became a little more libertarian, the years and years of "assuming they're with us" the Dems have been playing would be over.