If I Had A Magic Wand I'd Shove It Right Up Your Smug Ass

Yup, that's right, Clinton's picture is gone. I've had more than enough sarcastic, condescending, mocking people try to bring me down during the course of my life, I sure as hell do not need another. I did not accept it from Bush, Cheney and all their asshat crowd and I'm not about to break out the shit-eating spoon for any other person who would have me vote for them to lead my party and my country.

Luckily I will not have to struggle with whether or not to vote for you come November because despite whatever may or may not pop up from your followers in the blogosphere as far as the majority of voters are concerned, you committed political suicide today. I don't need a poll to tell me that. Maybe you should reconsider a career with the GOP, insulting voters and trying to humiliate them into following them is more their line.

Newflash for you Ms. Clinton: you don't know me and you sure as hell do not know what I have had to overcome in my life and I definitely did not have a magic wand either. I don't kid myself about anything being "easy" or "perfect" but there is a key difference between the two of us, in spite of my cynicism and in spite of the multitude of mocking assmonkeys like you I've had to step over on my way, I've never given up and I've never wasted my time whining about what could not be done but focused on what could. If that makes me a fool then I'm a fool but oddly enough it's worked quite well for me.

Go ahead and keep insulting us, smirk some more and make your cute little sarcastic sound bites and let us know how that works out for you. Maybe you can land a co-host spot with Bill O'Reilly.

White People Can't Hear?

I've previously expressed my own feelings of alienation from "my own kind" or anyway whatever that is based on how I look, my age, my gender, my income bracket, blah, blah, blah and last night only confirmed it. Rather todays reading through of the blogs has confirmed it.

Apparently just about every white blogger in the country only had their white-o-centric ears on when they listened to last nights debate. I had my Latino-mom-ears on and I heard Obama loud and clear and he spoke to me and to my children and to my sisters' children. He offered us all a seat at the table, not tablescraps. No, I am not a Latina, I just borrow the ears sometimes, same as I had my Black-mom-eyes on when I looked at Sen. Obama's little girls on the stage in Iowa surrounded by crowds of cheering white people. Both times I saw and heard the future and it was good.

I don't know how to explain this to you my white brethren and some will never get it and we'll just have to wait on them to die off but for those who would call themselves "progressive" let me explain something to you: there is a world of difference between "sympathy" and "empathy". I've never wasted much time feeling "sorry" for anyone, if you want to even begin to try and understand someone try on their shoes.

You Have Attained the Rank Of Harpy Slayer

Here is my deep, dark confession....my part-time addiction to creating alter egos on my favorite MMORPG where I currently exist as a black, half-elf Templar with a faithful pet duck. For those of you who believe only children and ultra-geeks engage in this sort of activity, my current main playing partner is a 50 something Italian engineer who plays from his office in Rome. Granted we may both be ultra-geeks but children we are definitely not.

The sad thing is that while busily slaying orcs, bugbears and harpies in our little fictional universe we actually manage to have more interesting conversations than I've been able to find for the most part in the blog world. Somehow I can't feature my game friend going on a rant about Bill Clinton's wagging a finger at someone idiotic enough to attend a rally just to heckle the speaker or engaging in the ultra-paranoid anti-Obama rants I've seen on some blogs of late.

Even stranger we differ on which US candidate we support but manage to discuss politics without raising insane arguments. Truth is if I were stupid enough to raise many of the arguments I've seen written on blogs and flogged to death in the media he would assume I'd lost my mind and he'd be correct.

At least two of my favorite bloggers, Mixter and Vigilante have expressed similar feelings of disenchantment with the current, I hesitate to call it "dialogue" but whatever it is. Hang in there both of you, please. Take a break if you must but don't throw in the towel because we've had decades of lunatics running this asylum and it's time saner voices took over.

I don't live in the blog world full time like some nor do I live in my fictional game world full time, most of my time is actually spent in the very ordinary real world and I prefer to keep it that way though both of the others are wonderful alternatives at times and I have no plans to quit any. The thing is that despite my ever present pessimism about the human race in general I've seen enough evidence of at least a sizeable minority of people capable of using logic and reason to make it worthwhile to keep trying.

The alternative would be to just give up and disappear into some fantasy universe full time and that I am not prepared to do.

For Some Of Us Character Matters

Several people commented on the previous post that much as they would hate to do it they would vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election if she wins the nomination. I have to agree with them, they are right...we can't afford a McCain presidency so I know that I would have to find a way to make myself do it but on a really personal level this would be one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do.

I have the same problem with Clinton as I had with Edwards: she voted to kill my children in George's war.

At first I was willing to cut her some slack on the issue, I had to put myself in her shoes and really look at how I might have looked at it if I had been in her position. Now assuming I was ever gullible enough to believe Iraq presented a clear and present danger to the US or even assuming I could at least be willing to entertain the thought that I might be mistaken, the consequences of being wrong on that would not be something I'd be willing to live with. The possibility of putting thousands of lives at risk by making a wrong decision or, unthinkable as it would be for me, to score a political jab at Herr Bush would make it at least understandable why some may have voted to give him the green light on the invasion. Faced with even a slight possibility of this scenario I can understand why some would have erred on the side of what they may have seen as caution.

The problem is that since then it came to light that Sen. Clinton never even read the intelligence reports.

Still wearing Clinton's shoes there is no possible explanation for that other than it was never about erring on the side of caution or fear of risking more innocent lives. It was about political expediency and keeping the vote amongst what was at that time perceived as the "center". There is just no other way to spin it and believe me I've turned this one inside out and looked at it from every conceivable angle and there is simply no way that if ones' concern truly was the safety and security of the American people that anyone would have simply voted without taking advantage of all available information and intelligence. There is just no way I would have done that and hopefully neither would any of the readers here.

I know that's "old" news and supposedly the American voter has a 15 minute attention span. Maybe that's true but not always and not all of us. I don't care what pop psychology says about forgiveness, some things are not forgiveable and more importantly speak to the true character and motivations of a person. There is no way anyone can spin this for me, it is impossible to make a decision affecting the lives of millions without even looking at all the information then try to convince me it was because you believed it was to protect those very people.

I'm a woman and I am a mother and I know better.

So how am I going to make myself vote for Clinton if it comes to that? Only one way I can, McCain has made it clear he will not even attempt to put an end to this. As long as ending our occupation of Iraq remains popular with the general public, Clinton likely will. Don't bank on that though, John Q. Public can change with the wind and we'll have elected a leader who likes to run the way the wind is blowing. If it comes down to it I'll have to settle for that on the chance that I might help save someone else's child or husband or spouse so on that note I'll give her my vote then whatever happens, happens.

Unfortunately it would be just one more time I had no real voice in this country, me and a few million other people for that reason and a dozen others. Yes, that's just one of them, I could write a 2000 page book on some of the other reasons but most people still would not get it and I'm pretty much tired of trying to reason with people that just want to turn this into a high school football team rivalry.

This is about real lives and real people and I have to try and choose the candidate I believe most takes that seriously. At the most basic level it's all about trust and given a choice I always opt for the people who have not betrayed my trust. Sadly I'm usually left with a choice between two people who've betrayed that trust and trying to decide which will continue to do so less than the other.

So you were wondering why so few people vote?

Yes I Am In A Really Bad Mood

I don't even know where to start to explain where I'm at with this mess we're in. First off there really hasn't been much to say about the latest primaries and caucuses because, doh, like it or not the outcomes have been for the most part quite well known to everyone not living in Oz beforehand.

That kind of led me to my second conclusion which was that sometimes it's better to just shut the fuck up than engage in the sort of shrieking, shrilling, and whining I've been seeing on at least half the blogs (and I'm being generous here) and most definitely in many of the comments including here on my own at times.

Oooooh the media is mean to me and hates women/black people/brown people/liberals/conservatives/really cute puppies. Yeah well, the media doesn't love or hate anyone, they love ratings and as long as there are assmonkeys willing to park in front of the tube and listen to idiotic dribble and wage wars over trivia they'll keep right on keeping on. Ok, I'll admit I do love to watch Pat Buchanan but that is only because I enjoy the way the veins pop out of the side of his head and he starts to turn purple, it relaxes me.

I've made it pretty clear that I am not voting for Clinton, no secret there. If you are or aren't and wish to make an argument for or against that's fine but make it at least semi-rational. I do not give a damn about her ankles or her pantsuit. Above all please refrain from demanding I feel oppressed because I happen to possess a vagina. I've never been oppressed in my life for longer than 5 minutes because I've never tolerated it and this is still America, so far anyway. Every other man in the country is not a foaming-at-the-mouth misogynist, quite a lot of them are clueless. Give them a clue and save the baseball bats for the truly deserving. When you do actually run across a true misogynist I'd suggest breaking his kneecaps but it would be a good idea to learn to recognize the difference.

I've also made it clear that I did and will again, vote for Obama. Again, if you wish to make a point for or against that's also fine but keep it sane. I do not care whether or not he did or did not use drugs/attend a Muslim kindergarten/is or is not "Black enough". As for the heavy doses of sarcasm I've read regarding the man's powerful oratorical skill and overwhelming charisma...bitch please....those have come in handy in winning over some of those 2,999,999 other people I have to share the country with and I'll be the first to admit that but has little to nothing to do with my reasons for supporting him. Remember you're talking to someone who favored Bill Richardson, charisma is not a deal maker or breaker for me. I tend to look at stupid ass trivia like THEIR FUCKING VOTING RECORDS.

Do not even try the "Clinton has more experience" argument with me. Sen. Clinton never held public office until the year 2000 so where this "35 years of experience" tag line is coming from is beyond me. If sleeping with or being married to someone confers some sort of educational and experiential bonus then I'm a fucking diesel engine technician and a jet pilot. If "experience" is truly your criteria then just vote for John McCain and bugger off.

Speaking of voting records, outside of Joe Lieberman I cannot think of a single dem who has voted more in lockstep with the GOP than John Edwards so why on earth half the "progressive" universe seems to believe he is their saviour is beyond me. From nuclear waste to Iraq to the current majorly fucked up bankruptcy laws Sen. Edwards has a long and established history of caving to GOP pressure. Granted, he does a fine mea culpa after the fact but how many times do you want a mea culpa after the fact??? He may have the best of intentions, not going to try and second guess the mans motives but he's pretty much proven he does not have the best judgement in the world, at least not for a self-professed "progressive". I'd not even mention him here except that many of his followers seem to remain in denial that he is out of the race.

Finally there are the ultra snarky, I'm-too-cool-and-embittered-to-get involved people. Everyone is bad, all the choices suck, nothing will change no matter what we do, yada, yada, yada. Fine, to borrow a phrase from the Galloping Beaver, sit on the fucking corner and wish for ponies. Make sure to save a seat next to you for the Perpetual Victim crowd m'kay?

Things I Know That Are Not Worth Wasting My Time Arguing About

1. This election is not "all about Obama". He's tapped into something that was already waiting to happen. Right person, right place, right time. Sometimes shit happens that way.
2. He could lose/Clinton could win, all things are still possible.
3. An Obama loss would set off an even larger tidal wave than the one currently in motion, some things I just know in my bones. My bones have never lied to me.
4. I would not want to be on the wrong end of that wave.
5. There is a certain historical inevitability to whatever course it is we are currently on, this too I know in my bones. What I do not know is how it will play out and how many heads will roll in the process but there is no realistic way to deny that there is a process in motion. Unless you are wishing for a pony.
6. It is entirely possible that Pat Buchanan's head will explode by the time this is all settled, whichever way it settles. I can only see this as a good thing.
7. Last but not least I am struggling to make sense of the fact that I belong to a party that believes I am so utterly retarded that they must appoint a 21 year old Alvin the Chipmunk look-alike to vote for me. I am too old to need a nanny and after this election I may decide I'm too old to be bothered with this party any more. Jury is still out on that one. If you are Republican don't get all excited, I still would eat nails before voting for a single one of your regressive, retarded, assmonkeys. It simply means that I may no longer register as a Democrat or give another penny to the DNC. Individual candidates may still apply.

Now that I've pissed off everyone and their mother too, have a nice day. Vote for whoever you want to vote for but at least make a choice and stand for something. Try to do it like grown ups. If we want leaders that don't behave like assclowns we need to stop behaving like assclowns.

I've Moved to Canada, For Today Anyway

Today's post is being guest hosted at Buckdog along with another fine Super Tuesday post from Pissed on Politics. All 3 of ya'll that enjoy my rambling & ranting head over there and the rest of you head there anyway and check out Buckdog for a dose of north of the border politics.