Bill O’Reilly and Alf

This is interesting.

Bill O’Reilly is ridiculous. But I may watch it because, you know, I like Alf. Maybe for spring sweeps, Bill can bring on Mr. Belvedere or that crazy (possibly illegal) immigrant Balki Bartokomous. I miss 80’s TV.

Opposing the Opposition of Hillary Clinton

Someone asked for a detailed exposition on why I support Hillary Clinton. Instead of going point by point on issues that I agree with her on (there are many), I will tell you why I do not oppose Hillary Clinton. You see, I also like Obama and Edwards and I think that they would do a fine job. So why did I choose Hillary over those two? For the very reasons that so many people dislike her.

Anti-Hillary Statement #1: The Clintons are divisive. Nothing rankles (and mobilizes) the conservatives more than invoking the Clinton name.

My response: A politically divided country. A partisan government. Contentious, mean-spirited politics. Is this something new? As I recall, the past two presidential elections have been incredibly close (2000 was stolen and 2004 was a lot closer than the media remembers). Hillary Clinton will not divide this country any more than Bush already has. No matter who runs on the Democratic side, the NRA and other conservative groups are going to try to swiftboat the candidate. Hillary just wears a bigger target because she is a bigger name.

#2: Hillary Clinton is unelectable.

In fact, she is very electable. When George W. Bush’s puppetmasters put statements like “Hillary is unelectable” in his mouth, it is because the Big Cats are worried and need to plant doubt so that the Dems will nominate a weaker candidate.

#3 The Clintons are immoral and corrupt.

“When Bill Clinton lied, no one died.”

#4 Bill Clinton is a sleazebag.

I believe that all politicians – Democrats or Republicans – should be granted privacy in sexual matters. The American public and media need to stop obsessing over sex scandals – gay sex, extramarital sex, intern sex, bathroom sex, even marital sex in sex clubs. You know what? For 15 minutes a day, our politicians should be able to do whatever they want and it is none of our business. If, who, when and how they have sex is up to them. I don’t even want to know and neither should you. It is personal, private, and completely separate. We need to stop conflating sexual behavior with moral character – and especially, political competence.

#5 A Woman should not be President of the United States.

I have asked myself if I would support a Republican woman who was running for President simply because she was a woman. I wondered if it would be better for my future children (especially my daughters) to be raised in a world where the United States of America has had a female President. Essentially, should I put my feminism above my politics? Would the more liberal thing be to vote for the conservative female? There was a time during the Elizabeth Dole-era that I strongly considered it. But if Condoleeza Rice has taught me anything, having a woman in power can be just as dangerous and ineffective as supporting the old, white male – particularly when she is being used as a pawn by the old, white male brigade. In the end, I would rather support a man who is a feminist than a woman who is ideologically reprehensible.

But yes, it means a lot to me for a woman to be President and that contributes to tipping in favor of Hillary.

#6 A woman can be President, just not Hillary.

This is basically another way of saying #5. The thing is that only a woman like Hillary could ever be President. People don’t like her because she is ambitious, strong, politically savvy, even calculating. Hillary is in a tough situation because she has to blend gender in just the right way. Some may argue that if I am going to vote for a woman, she better be a woman (feminine). They say that she is too hard, opinionated, masculine. But on the other side, if she wears pink, it is seen as a calculated ploy to soften her image. How dare she be feminine? She’s Hillary Clinton; it’s not genuine. Look, all politicians worry about image and appearance. For Hillary it is twice as hard because she is a woman and people are always more openly critical and judgmental of a woman’s appearance. Let’s ease up on her when it comes to clothing/hair/makeup because that forefronts the worst aspects of gender and ignores her many accomplishments as a woman.

A famous Hillary quote came in 1992 on Frontline when she said, “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.”

She got a lot of heat for the cookie quote (and later had to enter her cookie recipe against Barbara Bush to show that she actually could be First Lady material, after all). But this shows that Hillary has forged her own career and did not have interest in traditional gender roles. Twenty years ago, that was a threat. Is it still?

#7 She is a political opportunist. She and Bill have a politically convenient marriage.

Who knows what their marriage is really like? If it is partially a political partnership in which they advise each other and help campaign, so be it. A marriage where two people help each other achieve their goals and dreams out of respect for each other’s intelligence does not sound all that terrible to me.

As for being a political opportunist, I admit that I was a little skeptical when she first decided to run for Senate. It was clear that she had presidential ambitions and I hated how she was so coy and refused to answer questions directly about her intentions even as she was buying a house in New York.

But from everything I have read, she has taken her job as Senator very seriously. It was not merely a stepping stone or something to add to her resume. Others praised her on how hard she worked, how she reached out to people who were not so nice during her husband’s presidency, and that she did her job well. Her job performance is another reason that I support her. She could have coasted on her popularity but instead she did the job and served her time, building the respect of her colleagues and constituents. I believe that she can do the same as U.S. President.

One final thing about the Clintons. People question their morality and in particular, Bill’s sexual behavior. But as I said before, sex should not be used to judge people. Instead, if you want to look at what type of people they are, I say look at how well Chelsea Clinton turned out. Supporters and detractors alike have unanimously praised their parenting and fierce protection of her privacy. Despite the madness surrounding them, she has turned out to be a poised and accomplished person. Do you really think that horrible miscreants would be able to produce a Chelsea Clinton? Maybe we should give as much credence to that as we do to other aspects of their personal lives.

Republican YouTube Debate

I watched the last hour of the Republican YouTube debate tonight. You all know that anything involving Anderson Cooper makes me happy and he did not disappoint.

I was most interested in checking out Ron Paul because as I have previously blogged, his supporters are all over the IU campus. Just yesterday, I saw Ron Paul 2008 scribbled on a bathroom stall. It seems as though he is the Dennis Kucinich of the Republican race –The Oddball. I think he is rather adorable looking, very baby-faced especially for being 72 years old. His myspace page is pretty great and I love that his wife is in the Number 1 friend spot. So far, the best I can tell of his political positions is that he is anti-taxation, anti-war and big on privacy.

Overall, I liked John McCain the best. He actually has always been my favorite Republican (for his apparent sense, not necessarily stance) and I was surprised that he fell off so drastically in the polls this year. In terms of personality and demeanor, he seems very confident, experienced, and has a good sense of humor. My only question is: What is with his face? It looks like the mid-portion of his face is paralyzed. Does he have some sort of medical issue? If not, it looks like someone went overboard on the botox.

Things that my bleeding liberal heart ache:

1. Romney taking back his pro-choice comment.

2. Romney sidestepping the waterboarding issue. McCain was dead on.

3. Bashing Hillary Clinton -randomly, unnecessarily, and incessantly. Sending Hillary to Mars? Lame joke. All I know is that whoever the Rep. nominee is, this is going to be one of the ugliest presidential campaigns ever.

4. The entire exchange about gays in the military. Republicans need to get over the homophobia ASAP. I find their treatment of homosexuals repulsive.

After this debate, I think Romney has taken over Giuliani’s spot as my most disliked Republican candidate.

I’m not sure if I should hope that my favorite Republican runs against Hillary or my least favorite. Ideally, I want to have the two best candidates running so that no matter who wins, it will be someone who I think is best for the country. On the other hand, I would like to have someone that I dislike because I know that I will strongly support Hillary (or the Dem) and it would be fun to watch her defeat the worst of the bunch.

Want a husband?

It was bound to happen. The online equivalent of The Bachelor is here…with prize money! I have never had the desire to try out for a reality show but an online dating contest worth $50,000 and wedded bliss is tempting me. Even better, one of the two husbands is gay. The other one is quirky cute but there is something very unromantic about having people vote you a wife online. I won’t be submitting a video, but I will check to see what happens.

In other fun online stuff, I elfed myself and Whiskers.
You have got to watch it. It is so hilarious!! I was laughing so hard- there were tears. This definitely put me in the holiday spirit!

The Times They Are A-Changing

Lots of interesting political news.
The first openly gay Republican has been elected in the deep South.

It will be interesting to see how Giuliani’s pro-choice stance and support of gay rights will play with the Republicans.  I know that Giuliani is much better on social issues than some of the other Republicans (he is, after all, a NYC Republican) but there is something about him that I just don’t like. Probably the way that he has milked 9/11 to his political advantage. Or the way that he told his wife that they were separating via a press conference.

Can you say awkward? Bush and Gore meet again.  I cried a little when Kerry lost, but I have never been so angry as I was during the stolen election debacle of 2000. I stayed up all night on Election Day and could not believe that it ultimately went to Bush. Truly, one of the the worst moments in democratic history.

Despite this, I love following presidential elections. Let the fun begin!

I want a pony!

Another hilarious phone conversation with my mother today. I am really looking forward to going home and seeing my kooky family again. My mom has decided to try a new approach to Christmas this year. In her words, “I’m not, like, going totally green this year, but I have some boxes and so I thought about maybe going sort of green.” Her earth-saving idea is to reuse gift boxes from last year, wrap them with wrapping paper so that they look decorated but we can’t actually rip it off, and then reuse those wrapped boxes for the next 2-3 years. As eco-friendly as it sounds, I have got to say that this may be the final nail in the Christmas morning coffin. We have been picking out our gifts for years, so there are no surprises. In recent years, we have often opened and used our gifts prior to Christmas day and then rewrapped them on Christmas Eve. But now, we aren’t even going to go through the motions. We’ll wake up and see piles of wrapped Christmas presents under the tree, but now we just – POP! – take off the box lids to see the unsurprising present. No more bleary eyed ripping of paper, no more piles of wrapping paper for the cats to bat around, no more destroying the earth with 2 garbage bags filled with paper and boxes. Where is the Christmas magic?

With the children. My mom told me that my adorable little 3 year old cousin wants a pony. Not a real one, though. Nope, she wants a fake one that just looks incredibly real. Back when I was a kid, in the late 80’s, I liked ponies, too.

This is what I got:

I don’t remember the cost of My Little Pony but I can’t imagine it was more than 10 or 15 dollars.

This is what my cousin will be getting:

It is a Fur-Real Friend and it feels like a real horse, makes sounds like a real horse, and even “eats” a carrot. Kind of like that baby doll that I wanted in elementary school that you could feed baby food and it would poop. This horse doesn’t even poop, though.

But guess how much this constipated, fake fur creature costs?

$250

You could almost buy a real pony for that much money. Ok, not really, but damn, that is expensive. That is twice the cost of the Barbie Dream House that I wanted when I was a kid and did not get. The fact that I still remember and am still bitter over that Dream House shut-out means that I think that the parents should buy this outrageously priced fake animal. The kids are only young once and it means a lot to make their dreams come true. Because in two short decades, the kids will be grown and you all will be sitting around opening recycled wrapping paper boxes filled with socks.

I need a break from this break.

 I have gotten quite a bit accomplished over the break in terms of school work. Not nearly enough to put me in a good position to end the semester stress-free but definitely a start. I am really dreading going back to classes next week because I feel that the time would be better spent writing. At the same time, I am over this break. I am beginning to lull myself into an article-induced coma. I’m losing my edge and my ability to think clearly. I need some interaction to break up the solitary confinement spent writing/reading/working time. Maybe just a burger with friends and then back to work.

It doesn’t help that my apartment complex is eerie with so many people gone and the cold weather. In the summer, it was great that there weren’t many people around. Now, it feels off. As I was walking between buildings yesterday, I realized that the apartment complex is basically the Brady Bunch meets the projects.  That’s retro depressing.

I have not spent every waking minute working, however. Instead, I have broken up my day by (1) running  (2) watching TV  (3) cleaning.

Running has been very good because I made a mix of some new songs  that I love – namely, Fergie’s “Clumsy,” Maroon 5’s ” Wake Up Call,” “Music is my Hot, Hot Sex” and Molly Jenson’s “Thinking of You.”

I have rediscovered TV as a pastime. I thought that I had given up on it forever because I rarely watched it last year. I was very close to canceling cable entirely. So glad I didn’t. I really like How I Met Your Mother and October Road. In fact, today, I took an extended break to catch up on the first season of October Road. It is such a sweet show, very character driven. My new TV crush is the character Physical Phil who is a shut in (maybe I just like him because I can relate so well!). I am living vicariously through his romance with the pizza delivery girl  (the character has no name besides Pizza Girl). I’m thinking that maybe that is my problem with dating – I should actually be with a guy who is an eccentric recluse with a heart of gold. If only they weren’t so hard to meet…

Speaking of TV, I ordered one of my Christmas presents today from Amazon:  My So-Called Life.  What a great show! I’m so glad they finally put it on DVD.

Finally, I love having a clean house. I just hate to clean. But I have been cat-sitting for Kristin and her apartment is pretty much spotless. Like, I would lick her sink – that is how clean it is. It makes me feel bad about my apartment. So I mopped my floor and scrubbed my sink three (3!) times and it still isn’t as sparkly as Kristin’s house. Her house is like a commercial. I half expect a bald, muscular man to pop around the corner or something. At least her cat is crazier than mine. I feel like such a bitter housewife:  “Her house may be cleaner than mine, but just look at her kid!”

Dia de la Turkey

I am looking forward to a peaceful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. I am staying in Bloomington because the break is not long enough to warrant the travel time that it would take to get back home. While I welcome the opportunity to concentrate on my work, I am sad that I won’t be able to spend the holiday with my family. Despite being on my own for it, I will still celebrate and give thanks. I bought a cute, little rotisserie chicken that looks like a mini-turkey, a potato, some green beans+mushroom soup for green bean casserole, and a single slice of pecan pie. When I took my Thanksgiving fixins up to the check out line at the grocery store, I felt a little self-conscious. I smiled at everyone. I smiled even when no one was looking. A really big smile as if to say, “Don’t judge me. Don’t pity me. I’m having a Thanksgiving for One and I’m ok with it.”

And I am definitely OK with it. It’s just not the same unless you can be home with your family for a holiday, so the next best thing is to just have a little party for yourself, phone home, and count the days until Christmas when we can do it right.

To be honest, this might actually be a good year to miss. It seems that my beloved mother decided to schedule her hysterectomy the day before Thanksgiving. She is planning to roll out of her hospital bed at 9am tomorrow and have Thanksgiving dinner on the table for a dozen people by noon. I’m not sure if that is dedication or insanity.

She made it through the surgery swimmingly, much to my relief. She called me a few hours post-op to say, “I’m alive. Stop worrying that you’ll be the next Kanye West.”

She knows me too well. This is a terrible news cycle for mothers to get elective surgery. What was she thinking?

oh, well. Happy Thanksgiving!

No Rose For You

Alright, so this break is actually shaping up to me just blogging everything that crosses my mind but who cares…work shall officially commence tomorrow.

I just watched The Bachelor wrap up show. I haven’t watched that program this season or for years, actually, but I think it is a pretty fun show and much better than some of those other dating reality shows that go out of their way to try to humiliate the contestants.

Apparently, what happened this season is that the Bachelor did not choose either girl…and they took it hard. Really hard.

It was painful to watch. He bought the ring, flew out the girl’s dad, and then backed out at the last minute because he realized that he did not actually love her. She loved him and still does not understand why he wouldn’t go through with it.

I am so glad that this situation actually got played out on TV. It is a very real and terrible situation that many people go through. There are just no answers. Everything can seem right, you can have high regard for the person and realize that they are very worthwhile but you can’t force the feelings. You can’t love somebody based on rational consideration or convenience.

The thing that bothers me most about Mr. Bachelor was the way that in one breath, he was saying that it would be worse if he had pretended to be in love with her and that she deserved to have someone who was certain that he loved her, but then followed those valid points by typical guy confusing-speak like “You are great. You are perfect” or “I just want to hold you” or “I’ll miss you more than you’ll ever know.” NO, YOU DO NOT GET TO SAY THOSE THINGS. Stop the bullshit. Be honest and clear cut with the rejection. Don’t say the nice things because they breed hope. The difference between the Rejector and the Rejected is that the Rejected is emotionally invested and hears the nice things which makes them think that there is something there and maybe someday, everything could be there. The Rejector knows that everything will never be there so they choose nothing but feel bad for being the jerk and try to compensate by comforting or lessening the blow by pointing out the some things that had potential (but just weren’t enough). The worst thing to say is, “You are so wonderful. You deserve someone who appreciates that and can love you.” The unspoken reply always is, “If I am so wonderful, why don’t you appreciate it? Especially when I love you.”

Terrible, terrible. The rejected bachelorette seemed so pathetic. She couldn’t understand. She wanted to take him back. She wasn’t hearing that he didn’t love her. He’s not a jerk for not loving her but he is a jerk for “confusing” her with the niceties. The golden rule of rejecting someone is that there is no nice way to do it and the kindest thing to do is to make it easy for them to get over you. So keep it simple, direct, honest and don’t say how great and love-worthy they are. Because that actually makes it feel harsher. There’s no way of coming out as the good guy or gal especially if you led them on before you made up your mind.

Boy, oh boy, I do get caught up in TV when I watch it. No more. I’m putting down the remote and picking up the books. I am just not cut out for these dramatic rose ceremonies.

The Munchkins

It’s about time the Wizard of Oz munchkins got some good press.

Now that they are on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, maybe we can all move past the fact rumor that a munchkin committed suicide while cameras were rolling.

Hard to believe that they are all approaching 90 years old now. They look pretty good! The Munchkinland scene was my favorite. I particularly wanted to be the people who slept in a nest.