Nice Going, Fellas
Bad news, everybody — it looks like, apart from the midwestern breakthrough, gay marriage is staying behind the Chowdah Curtain. See, New York’s Senate just ‘sploded this afternoon.
In a dramatic late afternoon overthrow of the Senate leadership, Senate Republicans joined by two dissident Democrats took control of the upper chamber and installed Sen. Pedro Espada as president… Espada, D-Bronx, who returned to Albany in January after a hiatus, said he is a voice for reform Democrats and that more reformers will be joining his lead. He and Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens joined the 30 Senate Republicans to remove all leadership put into place at the start of year when Sen. Malcolm Smith became the majority leader.
Ah, “hiatus.” Turns out that the two turncoats are as crooked as the day is long. But whereas this might be a drawback in non-Illinois Democratic circles, this is a definite plus in the GOP of today. Sheesh.
Why is my state cursed with such douchebags?
This is an entirely symbolic issue that should be set aside while we get on with important stuff like health care. Like most Americans I would rather have some sense of security that we will not lose everything we have worked for when one of us needs nursing care than the right to be able to file a joint tax return. It’s seductive because everyone gets to be indignant and feel good about themselves. But beware of ending up like the right-to-lifers. They think they have god on their side too. Whether it’s just or not, or right or not, has nothing to do with what is going on: ie the Republicans have now co-opted this issue and are using us to further their ends.
Of course we all have our hearts in the right place but if we go about wearing them on our sleeves we will be shat on by professionals.
BTW/ Managed to get through checkpoints under cover of darkness and am now out of the South. We played yee-haw music very loudly and threw beer cans out the windows of the Prius so we wouldn’t look too elitist and it seemed to work. The OH was forbidden to call anyone ‘Darling’ in the Piggly-Wiggly. Which was tough but he managed. Should be home later today. Praise Jesus! Wait… What?
Oh noess!!!! I haz catched religion from a toilet seat in Georgia!!!11
@homo limeyensis: That’s why you need to carry toilet seat covers in your purse.
The road of progress is always paved with potholes that are filled with douchebags.
homo limeyensis: I do not doubt for a second the existence of other issues of equal, if not paramount, importance. Tenants rights, prison reform, and — oh, I don’t know — the damn budget. The list of the things Albany needs to fix is just about endless.
It’s just that some clown on the anti-marriage side chalked up yesterday’s events to the intervention of Baby Jeebus (per article in today’s Times Union that I have no time to link to right about now). How very reductionist of him.
If anybody needs cheering up and inspiration, you should see “Anvil: The Story of Anvil.”
It was the most heart-wrenching, inspirational movie I have seen, ever, I mean inspirational, hopeful, kind, real. Its a documentary about a Canadian heavy metal band that almost sorta got some where in the early 1980s, and has been plugging away ever since, and the leaders of the band are just the most sincere, optimistic, funny people, and you cheer for them so much, and feel so much pain for them too, as they continue to hope that as they celebrate their 50th birthdays, “this will be the year.”
It really was an amazing movie. Its not a cruelly-funny real-life version of Spinal Tap, though there are broad similarities. Its kind, it treats their quixotic dreams lovingly and respectfully. Its amazing.
@blogenfreude: Is there any state that isn’t cursed with douchebags?
@Prommie: But is the band any good? Because if they suck but are still personable guys, well, then – as Colbert would say ” the market has spoken”.
@Nabisco: I don’t know, they sound just like all the metal I have ever heard. Right at the beginning, a bunch of major heavy metal stars all payed homage, said they were an influence, that they helped create modern heavy metal.
@ManchuCandidate:
Ah, so.
Well, still, let’s slog along, just for the fun of it.
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