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Tags: Bible, Biblical law, bigamy, incest, gay marriage, homosexuality, sacrifice, Solomon, Lot Jepthah

Hug o’ War

At the risk of being way too adorable, I’ve decided to go ahead and post this Shel Silverstein poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends

I will not play at tug o’war.
I’d rather play at hug o’war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins

I think I got it in my head after reading Maryscott O’Connor’s essay Wherein I Respond to the Response to the Post Article, and I was balking at the notion that, if one is afforded the opportunity to speak to and be heard by a larger audience, one is somehow obligated to speak and behave within certain acceptable parameters. Well, a big part of the reason many of us speak out, is because we do not approve of the way the media-political “game” is played. It’s not making things better for ordinary people. It’s not making people better able to connect with and learn about each other.

In short, powers that be, your game and its rules suck. I do not choose to spend my time and energy in a vain attempt to becoming a better player of that bullshit game. If I do find space in my life for involvement in the political process, my energies will be directed toward changing the game and how it’s played.

And I think another thing that brought this poem to mind was the discussion of different approaches to linking. With mutual linking, everyone wins. Even from a purely pragmatic standpoint, it’s good for all of us.

Breaking News: Nobody in Iraq Cares …

(Thanks so much for the invitation. It’s an interesting concept, and if it becomes a home, rather than just a link-back for dKos mojo, it could really be GREAT!) And now, on with the show …

An Inconvenient Truth wins the Oscar

W00t! An Inconvenient Truth wins the Oscar for best documentary.

Sunday, Gore used the Oscar win not to further his political career but to boost his campaign to find solutions for global warming and other environmental problems.

“My fellow Americans,” Gore said to laughter from the crowd. “People all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue, it’s a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started with the possible will to act. That’s a renewable resource. Let’s renew it.”
…
“It is the overriding world challenge of our time,” Gore said. “I really hope the decision by the academy to honor the work by director Davis Guggenheim and these producers will convince people who did not go see it before to see the movie and learn about the climate crisis and become a part of the solution.”

You can see the video of his acceptance speech at Crooks and Liars, as well as Melissa Etheridge’s performance of “I Need to Wake Up”, which won the Oscar for Best Song.

That statue is going to look great in the Oval Office…

Cat herding

Booman posts “What are we trying to do?”

As I see it, Daily Kos and Jerome Armstrong have not articulated a goal that has any synergy with my goals. We still have a huge amount of common interests. But I am primarily interested in shifting the debate to the left, while they seem to be interested in boxing in the netroots into traditionally acceptable parameters of debate.

“What kind of alliance are we?”

Last night after work, I approved a comment by liberalamerican. It contained some things I wanted to address–at very least, the question I used as a title to this post. And then I couldn’t find the comment to respond to it. One of the many reasons this can be a slow process. Turns out it was a response to “About“, and I hadn’t actually written anything in that section yet. The default WordPress blurb is the only thing there.

So, here I sit, determined to actually write something in complete sentences about the raison d’etre of this blog. I’ve closed the door to the study so that I can try to tune out whatever pointless fight the kids might be getting into. I’ve shut one of the dogs in here with me so that I don’t have to worry about her getting into the trash while I’m working. And I’m trying to tune out whatever power tool the neighbor is using right outside my window. White noise, Renee. Just let it by meaningless “white noise”. So, these are a few of the challenges in trying to move forward with a project like this when blogging is not your day job. Below the jump, I’ll try to address some of liberalamerican’s points and questions the best I can.

Just keep digging, James. Thanks.

Wow. Hillary Clinton and James Carville are truly out of touch…

The Chickens Come Home to Roost for Hillary (and James Carville)

Who is James Carville damaging most with his blundering fundraising pitch – his candidate, his party, or his network? His line – “Hillary won’t back down, and we’ve got her back” – is the perfect holographic image of everything that is wrong with her candidacy. It wraps self-centeredness, poor judgment, and political tone-deafness into nine compact words.

It’s Louis XIV politics – “le parti, c’est moi” – combined with Marie Antoinette selfishness. And it’s certainly helpful to be reminded that Hillary’s the type of politician who “won’t back down” when they make a bad decision. Just what we need: Another politician who’s too stubborn to admit they were wrong. As if eight years of the last one wasn’t enough.

Well done, James. Now go home.

And what on earth makes James Carville think that even Hillary supporters want to look at his mug on an ad. That man is so full of himself, it’s almost amusing.

I recommend reading the rest of the commentary by R.J. Eskow, here.

Hillary, Skeletor…you are so going to get your asses handed to you.

P.S. Molly sent us.

Breaking: Nation distracted by something shiny

…causing it to ignore grievous injustice in proposed budget. Hat tip to Brian at Plunderbund for pointing out Matt Taibbi’s Alternet piece, Maybe We Deserve to Be Ripped Off by Bush’s Billionaires.

While America obsessed about Brittany’s shaved head, Bush offered a budget that offers $32.7 billion in tax cuts to the Wal-Mart family alone, while cutting $28 billion from Medicaid.

Read the rest here. Yeah, I know this isn’t nearly as fascinating as the latest from Britney Spears, but it kinda matters, ya know?

Maybe if we found a way to tie Britney into the story. Or “Brangelina”.

P.S. Contributors, please. 

Okay, I’m officially “not amused”

After checking out this video (opens in Real Player) that floridagal pointed out, I’m not in a “popcorn” mood any more. She writes

Please watch the C-Span video from 2005 where the head of the 527, David Jones is talking about taking out Howard Dean. He kept saying their goal was to take Dean out.
…
Jones appears at 2:57 minutes in and again at 3:20. It is truly alarming.

If you can’t view the video, check out How Beltway Democrats Sank Howard Dean, which includes much of the same information.

Click here for the “Contact Us” page on Barack Obama’s web site, if you’d like to politely point out to Senator Obama that hiring someone like Robert Gibbs, who worked as a spokesperson for a 527 organization whose sole purpose was “taking out” Howard Dean from the flies in the face of his claims that he wants to “change the tone” in politics.

Update: More on this group in madfloridian’s journal at Democratic Underground and this article at Center for Public Integrity: Political Mugging in America Anatomy of an “independent” smear campaign.

Why I’m glad I haven’t picked a candidate yet

Via skippy, I found this piece at Time Magazine’s blog Swampland…

But yesterday’s praise (some of it in comments here) for the Obama campaign’s rapid response is souring as word spreads around the net that the architect of that rapid response, Robert Gibbs, comes with some baggage. He was the spokesman for “Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values,” the group behind an anti-Dean ad you might remember:

Click for more. Oh. That ad. Yes, as someone who first became involved in politics because of the Dean campaign, I certainly remember the way the other Democrats ganged up on him. That ad was the sort of thing we expected from the Karl Rove–not from fellow Democrats.

I’d probably be really unhappy about this if I was really excited about Obama as a candidate. I don’t dislike him the way I dislike Hillary, but I’m not exactly sold on him either.

Maybe I’ll just make some popcorn, kick back, and watch with detached amusement while all of the candidates who are not Al Gore tear each other to pieces.

And root beer. Think I’ll go get me a root beer too.