(I'm A Card-Carrying) Bleeding Heart Liberal
Fri Jan 06, 2006 at 09:14:59 AM PDT
Recently picked up the latest
CD from Christine Lavin, a funny folksingin' and folkwritin' lady from NYC.
On this album she does a song called "I'm A Card-Carrying) Bleeding Heart Liberal". Turns out it was written by the Songwriter's Hall of Fame member Ervin (It Was A Very Good Year) Drake, who lets you download it here for the grand price of free.
Kinda in the mode of Oliver Willis's Brand Democrat, but in lyric with music form.
Anyway, my 3 year old (the one who's obsessed with the Presidents of the US, including George "DoubleYuck" Bush) is learning to spell "LIBERAL" thanks to the lyrics in extended...
What Bush Quote Will Be Remembered? w/Poll Updated
Sat Nov 05, 2005 at 03:57:51 AM PDT
We have a 3 year old obsessed with the Presidents (blame Disney World).
Anyway, after he memorized their names and order, we told him that Harry Truman said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
So of course, he wanted to know what the other presidents said.
Bush and My Daughter's (6th Grade) Graduation
Tue Jun 21, 2005 at 04:01:04 AM PDT
Yeah, they have 6th grade graduation these days.
When they announced on the lousy feedback-y sound system that they were giving out "Presidential" awards based on academic achievement and being in the final year at the school she must have missed it.
Anyway, she gets her letter from Bush, and onstage sees that's it's 'signed' by Shrub himself, says in a way that you can clearly lip read "I don't want this!" while shaking her head no.
I don't know which made me more proud, getting her award, or her reaction to the signature.
Stem Cell: Story of 3 Embryos
Fri May 27, 2005 at 08:59:58 AM PDT
Great Op-ed in the
LA Times today.
Of course, I'm biased, the embryo that made it turned into my niece!
Just about nine years ago, I nervously picked up the phone and called a fertility clinic in Boston to see if my husband and I had made embryos. We had! After trying -- and failing -- to have a baby any other way, we were on our way to making one via IVF, in vitro fertilization. After weeks of shots that slowed down and then jump-started my ovaries, I had produced a slew of eggs that were extracted while I was under general anesthesia. These were introduced in a petri dish to my husband's sperm.
Fertilization took place. I was the proud mother of six embryos. We headed from Maine to Boston, where three embryos were transferred into my uterus.
I remember a doctor asking us about the other three embryos, which didn't appear robust enough to freeze for future attempts at IVF. We had a choice: discard them or donate them to scientific research.
Extended entry for more....
Democratic Superiority, by the Numbers
Sun Apr 03, 2005 at 04:37:22 AM PDT
Who you gonna believe, me or those cold, hard lying facts?
Michael Kinsley today:
It was the TV talker Chris Matthews, I believe, who first labeled Democrats and Republicans the "Mommy Party" and the "Daddy Party." Archaic as these stereotypes may be, they do capture general attitudes about the two parties. But we live in the age of the one-parent family, and it is Mom more often than Dad who must play both roles.
It has not escaped notice that the Daddy Party has been fiscally misbehaving. But it hasn't really sunk in how completely Republicans have abandoned allegedly Republican values -- if in fact they ever really had such values.
Our text today is the statistical tables of the 2005 Economic Report of the President. I did this exercise a while back with the 2004 tables and couldn't quite believe the results. But the 2005 data confirm it: The party with the best record of serving Republican economic values is the Democrats. It isn't even close.
More after the break...
What Terri Missed
Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 07:34:32 AM PDT
I was struck by the dates on the Tony Auth cartoon today:
I knew it had been 15 years since Terri Schiavo had been able to experience life as most of us would define it, so I thought to look back at what was happening then to try to see how much things have changed since then...
February 25, 1990
Terri Schiavo suffers cardiac arrest, apparently caused by a potassium imbalance and leading to brain damage due to lack of oxygen.
Click extended entry to read what was going on back then...
Swift Boat Attackers Lose Their Cover?
Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 03:38:03 AM PDT
A little noticed story this week:
From the Columbia Journalism Review:
In April, 1995, a special council meeting of the borough of Parkesburg, Pa., was called to address the infighting and name-calling that routinely disrupted regular sessions. Things got out of hand so quickly that the meeting was adjourned after three minutes.
Then, Councilman William T. Glenn Sr. cornered a reporter for the West Chester Daily Local News and gave him an earful. Council President James Norton and Mayor Alan M. Wolfe were "queers," "liars," "criminals," "draft dodgers" and "child molesters," Glenn told reporter Tom Kennedy.
The next day, Kennedy's story about the meeting was published under a headline reading "Slurs, insults drag town into controversy."
The mayor and councilman later sued Glenn and the Daily Local News for defamation. In 2000, a jury found that Glenn had defamed Norton and Wolfe, and ordered him to pay them each $17,500 in damages. The jury declined to hold the newspaper liable, after being advised by the trial judge of the doctrine of "neutral reporting privilege.
More after the jump...
Watch the Bush Base Get "Left Behind"
Fri Nov 05, 2004 at 02:27:10 AM PDT
We've all read the stories.
The reason Bush 'won' was the values he shares with a certain segment of our population.
As w, stated Thursday, "The people made it clear what they wanted."
The key issues for this segment were gay marriage and abortion.
Bush came out and said he's looking to privatize Social Security, limit lawsuits, rewrite the tax codes, and tinker with education some more.
When this happens, his base should be outraged. He occasionally talked about Social Security, tort reform, and tax cuts, but the biggest issues cited by his voters were the social issues.
A stink should be raised if he ignores those issues.
Those of you who live in the red states should write letters to the editor and spread the message: He's ignoring his base.
More in the extended...
Hold Andrew Card And Rudy Giuliani To Their Math
Wed Nov 03, 2004 at 07:32:04 AM PDT
They both said it's mathematically impossible for Kerry to win.
But Mr. Card disputed that assertion and he said Ohio's top election official, Kenneth Blackwell, told him that the president's vote margin was a "statistically insurmountable lead, even after provisional ballots are considered."
Then let them count all the provisional ballots, don't fight em. If it's mathematically impossible for Kerry to make up the difference, then by all means we should count the votes.
Remind everyone this President and Repub Congress approved the provisional votes.
When they talk about the disruption this delayed result would have, point out THEIR GUY IS ALREADY IN OFFICE-what exactly is the disruption?
Wash Post Ohio Breakdown
Wed Nov 03, 2004 at 03:54:18 AM PDT
How are we behind in Ohio?
Washington Post Article
In some key states, the gender gap closed almost entirely. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, a majority of men voted for Kerry, reversing the 2000 exit poll result. Bush also lost ground among men in Florida but still held the lead. In all three states, Kerry led among women.
How could Kerry lead among men and women in Ohio and be behind? Is there a large transgender vote in Ohio we're not hearing about?
