RedState is RINO

Nino put on the bedsheet today. Asshole.

Maybe you should try that first before lecturing the rest of your group, Ewick.

@Dodgerblue: Who knew voting was an “entitlement”?

W5 + H
Obama – socialist – DC – now – to destroy the cunt-ry – by any means necessary.

done.

If you are interested in being a part of this, send your resume to reporting@redstate.com. You’ll need to live in Washington. You’ll need to be self-directed. You’ll need to be pro-life.

I am typing as we speak.

Muslims are bitch slapping Hannity on air Police chiefs are bitch slapping Huckelberry Graham in televised hearings Ericson is grabbing “journalists” off street corners.

does it get better? I think not.

Erick doesn’t mention this — he might be too young — but the premise of (progressive) alt-weeklies, controversial in its day, was to fucking get your facts straight when you nail the bastards.

This was controversial because “advocacy journalism” undermined the then-unquestioned dictate that reporters not take sides. The counter-argument was that if you do take sides, your responsibility for accuracy was that much greater.

And that’s what we debated at the college rag at night, when we weren’t sneaking into the darkroom to get stoned.

@Mistress Cynica:
we are so fucked

@nojo:
I would say what is happening is Orwellian but Orwell would never believe it.

@nojo: When one side lies repeatedly, you should just print it.

Professor Plum with the candlestick in the conservatory.

I’m getting ads for “criminal records online”.

What have you people been doing?

TJ/ This morning, the body of a friend of mine was found in the Hudson. He was an ex-Mormon. He was gay.

He was terrorized by his family. His brother tried to beat him to death. He tried to be straight. He went on a mission. He left the cult in his early to mid 20s.

He was an artist. He was a teacher. He helped other ex-mos deal with coming out. I think the thing fathers say to their sons is that they would rather their son come home in a body bag than not complete a mission, and “I’d rather you die than be gay.”

I actually knew Kerry in real life. We spoke often and saw each other when we could. And even though he was in his early 50s, the pain was so deep and palpable that you could touch it through the phone.

He was empathetic. A sponge. He was dear. He encouraged my son and praised his sketches of drapery. He never cut me off or told me I talk too much.

He left a note.

I understand why he ended his life. He’s not to blame. I’m not angry with him.

I’m angry with an institution and with the people throughout his life who did not see him as he was: Amazing.

I believe that events such as birth or death are transitions. Individuals, and we, who are around them, must pass through them alone, each in our own way. For the individual, a nexus or gateway into or out of this existence is opened, and elemental life forces are shaken loose in the process. Others sharing the experience must undergo a different spiritual transformation; either to cling to our loved ones’ memory so much that we also “die” in this existence, or to climb through the pain of loss and return to the joy of life, having become deepened, enriched.

The departure of beloved friends has impacted my life, leaving gaps and holes that nothing can refill. Participating in Life After Death: Embracing the Queer Widow has given me an opportunity to create works that seek to interpret, resolve, and heal the grief of loss. I hold a mirror up to the society I live in, challenge you, the viewer, to look at yourself; and ask you to think, change, act, and improve. I want to draw you in, touch your spirit and stir your deepest emotions.

I’ve never felt such loss.

@JNOV: I’m sorry to hear that, hon. Please be sure to take good care of yourself while you grieve… I’ve never lost a friend in this way, so I can only imagine how difficult it must be.

@Tommmcatt Can’t Believe He Ate The Whole Thing: I’m just. I don’t know what I am. He’ll never feel pain again. I keep telling myself that.

@JNOV: so sad – you should forward a version of this to Dan Savage … he can put it in perspective, if that’s even possible.

@JNOV: I am so very sorry. What a tragic loss.

@blogenfreude: I totally understand why Kerry chose to end his life. He was one of my best friends. We were raised in cults. We were fed bullshit we tried to believe and we tried to conform until we realized it was killing us. His brother tried to kill him; my mother tried to kill me. And even though we left, the programming runs deep. We knew that we weren’t worthless, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t feel that way because of the tremendous abuse and hatred hurled at us from our communities and from the outside world during formative parts of our lives.

We remembered the people we were becoming before we were molded into people we didn’t want to be. We tried to live as if all the shit that happened between the people we were becoming naturally, the shit that was imposed on us, didn’t exist and we could go back and be who we were growing to be and finish that arc. That’s impossible, and we knew it.

We tried to take all that crap in the middle and put that in some sort of perspective, but that’s impossible because some things will never make sense, and it’s crazy making to try to find some meaning in it all when there’s no meaning to be found.

Kerry was agnostic. Maybe he died thinking he’d find something better. And I’ll tell you what, despite being an atheist, I sure as shit hope he found something better because what he had here was crap and if anyone deserved something better, it was Kerry.

They got into our heads, and no matter how we tried to shake them out or tried to distract ourselves, the old shit still haunted us.

Someone called me to tell me he had died. I said, “He committed suicide, didn’t he?” She didn’t know. This isn’t going to make much sense, but I’d rather he decided how he was going to die than to hear that he’d been killed.

In his mind, he was finished here. In my mind, I’ll never see him again.

Remember when you rallied around me when I was suicidal? Thank you for that kindness. Steve thanks you, too.

I don’t know Kerry perfectly. I called his phone and his voice is still on the greeting. I’m glad his partner left it on.

@Mistress Cynica: Yes. Thank you.

@JNOV:
Sorry to hear about this. It’s terrible. My condolences.

@ManchuCandidate: Thank you. I don’t know how to handle grief.

@JNOV: Collectively, I hope. My best friend took a very public way out nealr twenty years ago, and I still have dream chats with him.

@JNOV:
Time doesn’t heal wounds, but makes them hurt a lot less.

About the only advice I can give is not let the grief overwhelm you (easier said than done.)

@flypaper: I woke up talking to Kerry. It was strange. Yes, we’re grieving for him on an exmormon board. We’re calling each other and sharing stories.

@ManchuCandidate: Yes.

He’s not Kerry right now. He’s the John Doe who was found in the water and now has a name. I hate that.

@JNOV:
I’m sorry for the pain you and Kerry went through. You didn’t deserve to be made exiles in your own minds.

@Jesuswalksinidaho: I haven’t heard it put better. Thank you.

@JNOV:
one of my favorite cousins married Morman and converted. much to the chagrin of my favorite aunt. eventually they had kids. one of them started acting like a teenager. horrors. my aunt tells me that one morning a van and two guys just showed up about 6am and dragged him out of bed and took him to a “camp” for about six months. when he came back he was a different person. my aunt says she will never forgive them for doing this to him so I dont see shy I should. fuck him and his looney morman wife. mormanisn is a creepy cult. fuck them. and the cover wagons they rode in on.

added
my aunt is very worried that Josh could do something like your friend did.

@CaptHowdy:
btw I only recently learned this:

Kolob as the inspiration for Kobol in Battlestar Galactica
Some of the elements of the two Battlestar Galactica science-fiction television shows seem to be derived from the Mormon beliefs of its creator and chief producer, Glen A. Larson. In both the original series from 1978, and the 2003 new series, the planet Kobol is the ancient and distant mother world of the entire human race and the planet where life began, and the “Lords of Kobol” are sacred figures to the human race. They are treated as elders or patriarchs in the old series, and versions of the Twelve Olympians in the new series. According to Jana Riess, author of What Would Buffy Do?,[52] “Kobol” is an anagram of “Kolob”, only one of many plot points Larson has borrowed from Mormonism.[53]

there is a mormon hym about Kolob If You Could Hie To Kolob

@CaptHowdy:
Yup. The entire original BSG series was a combination of Exodus and the Mormon Trek to a small distant planet named Utah.

@ManchuCandidate:
its good to be a cylon

And what is the standing order, for humans, from your Imperious Leader? – Extermination

@ManchuCandidate: @CaptHowdy: And then there’s Watchtower as a shoutout to Jehovah’s Witnesses. That Ron’s a sly dog.

ADD: I don’t know that Ron’s ever discussed the original’s Mormon roots, but making the reboot all about mythology was a nice twist.

@JNOV: Oh honey, I am so sorry about your friend’s death. I’m catching up on the past 48-96 hours of Stinque-eness. He sounds like such an awesome guy.