This grinch won't steal my Christmas

Tonight at supper I was perusing the news and I came across this link and the little bit of Christmas spirit I actually had evaporated. For those that don't want to subject themselves to the article, resident arch-conservative and gay-hater Bob Vander Plaats is at it again. He's calling on the remaining four Iowa Supreme Court justices that authored the state's 2009 unanimous ruling that allowed marriage equality in Iowa to resign at the Condition of the Judiciary speech. He says that they should do this because had they been on the ballot with their three former colleagues, they would have been booted from the bench. He then goes on to make a completely nonsensical metaphor comparing someone to teenagers fleeing a beer party but for the life of me, I can't figure out who he's talking about.

This made me equal parts sad and fiery angry. I am so tired of this guy spouting off. I am so tired of him thinking that he speaks for the majority of Iowans. Sure, he might have been speaking for a slim majority of voting Iowans in this election, but that's not the same as speaking for all Iowans. I am especially weary of his smug assurance that he's right, all the while continuing to preach hate, intolerance and prejudice. It makes me want to smack him every time I see him on the TV or in the paper.

As if this weren't bad enough, he speaks of the ills of gays and lesbians serving as foster parents and how those in the LGBT community can be teachers as long as they don't rub our face in it. Oh, and the repeal of DADT will "endanger the military." To add insult to injury, three incoming freshman legislators are drafting impeachment legislation against the remaining justices for...DOING THEIR JOB.

This is the problem with feeling passionate about an issue. Things like this REALLY wear you down. I would like to believe that, as they have been saying all year, it will get better, but with Repubs in charge of the Iowa House and in the governor's mansion, things have a much higher likelihood of getting worse before they get better. Right now, one man (Mike Gronstal) stands in the way of writing discrimination into Iowa's Constitution and you better believe the Republicans are after him.

But instead of feeling defeated, I'm going to turn that negative energy into something positive. Now more than ever we need people to speak up in favor of marriage equality. Being a silent supporter is not good enough right now, not when we're being drowned out by the opposition. I still can't do cold-calling, but I will continue to advocate for the rights of all LGBT Iowans and stand against the idiot prejudice and intolerance. These kind of setbacks are bound to happen. As a friend of mine says, the march forward on progressive causes are frequently two steps forward, one step back.

So my wish for Bob Vander Plaats this Christmas? Originally it was for him to shut the fuck up and go far far away. But now, I just want his heart to grow three sizes. I know that it probably won't happen, but Christmas is a time for miracles and if anything would count as a miracle, that would be it.

I'm also not going to let local politics ruin my Christmas because that would just be plain stupid. It looks like we might be snowed in tomorrow, but we have many festivities planned for the next few days. And next Friday, my little sister gets married AND all three Cullinan siblings will be in the same room - something that doesn't happen very often. I'm looking forward to it.

I may do a couple posts tomorrow if we're snowed in, but I have Heidi's presents to wrap so who knows. If not, Merry Christmas to everyone reading.

Is it over yet?

I think this has been the longest election season in history. Tomorrow is Election Day and I have had enough of this. I almost don't care that the Democrats are going to get crucified in the election tomorrow. I just want the whole bloody thing to be over with. That way, the ads (which I think have been particularly horrible this year) will finally be off the airwaves. Seriously, they have been the worst ever. You can see it even on the local level. One ad I heard on the radio today was talking about how a candidate for either the Iowa House or Senate was a wife beater and a deadbeat dad. Now, if this is truly the case, well, sure he probably shouldn't hold elected office, but how much of it is true and how much of it is typical election season hyperbole? You really can't believe ANYTHING you hear any longer.

I was talking with Matt last night who is a political junkie. We talked at length about what is probably one of the more heartbreaking races here in Iowa - the vote to retain three of Iowa's Supreme Court justices. As most everyone knows, in April of 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously struck down the state's marriage law defining marriage as between one man and one woman, making same-sex marriage legal in Iowa. This (predictably) got the social conservatives' undies in a bunch, particularly perennial also-ran Bob Vander Plaats. After losing the Republican gubernatorial primary to Terry Branstad, he made ousting the three Supreme Court justices who are up for retention this year his raison d'etre. Never mind this won't change the law. Never mind that no justice has been ousted in Iowa history. NOT ONE.

It's no secret around these parts that the Supreme Court decision that allowed all Iowans to enjoy the benefits of civil marriage and not just the ones that happen to be heterosexual made me very happy. So the fact that 37% of those polled favored ousting all three judges vs. 34% who favored retaining them made me a little sad. (10% favored retaining some and I have no idea what the remainder would do.) What this really is is a referendum on marriage equality - make no mistake about it. Put to a vote now, I have a feeling that a constitutional amendment would pass. It would be a squeaker, but I think we'd succeed in putting discrimination into the Iowa Constitution.

But it's not just the question of judicial retention that has me on pins and needles. House and Senate Democrats have been pretty successful at blocking a vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man-one woman. Republicans promised to make it a campaign issue and honestly, I haven't seen it much. Granted, my House district is heavily Democratic so we're likely to re-elect our current representative. Our Iowa Senate candidate is a bit more of a toss-up. If you were to go by yard signs, I'd say that he has a bit of a fight ahead of him. But that's the thing - polling numbers for races like that are virtually non-existent. So we won't really know until tomorrow night. The CW says that one of the chambers has the potential to flip to Republicans, and the other is safely Democratic (I forget which is which.) But even one chamber going Republican forces a vote in both chambers and I'd rather keep pushing that off. The longer we wait, the more likely an amendment vote is to fail.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a one issue voter. But this is a HUGE issue for us and one that we're heavily invested in personally. I take solace in knowing that I'm on the right side of history when it comes to this. But just because the rest of the country isn't ready for it doesn't mean that we should have to wait for them to catch up with us.

I've been saying over the last few months that Iowa is better than this. And we are! But tomorrow night I think I'll be watching election returns through my fingers as if it were a horror film. Wake me when it's over.

And just think, the 2012 presidential campaign will begin in earnest early in 2011. I can't wait.

The song goes on

One of my favorite songs of 2007 was Mary Chapin Carpenter's "On With The Song." It was the first song in the Best of 2007 year-end list and together with Debbie Harry's "Two Times Blue" was probably the co-song of the year for me that year. "On With The Song" is an example of something that rarely works - an angry political rant wrapped up in melody and lyrics. However, just because it rarely works doesn't mean that it hasn't been tried time and again, usually with embarrassing results. But as I said in 2007, leave it to Chapin to find just the right way to combine her anger at the Bush administration with her ace songwriting skills and a killer country-pop hook.

The song was written in response to the Dixie Chicks debacle in which Natalie Maines said at a London concert how they were "embarrassed that the President of the United States was from Texas." This seemingly off-hand statement infuriated many of their fans and country radio as a whole. I always applauded Maines' courage but was left scratching my head by it. Had she stroked out and momentarily forgotten who their main demographic was? The response was predictable. The Chicks were banned from country radio, their CDs piled up in parking lots and run over by payloaders in much the same way that disco records were burned at the end of the 70s. All this and the resulting fallout is documented in the highly recommended documentary Shut Up & Sing.

In "On With The Song" Chapin sings about all the people this song ISN'T for. It's not for people who blindly follow jingoistic bumper stickers telling you to "love it of leave it" and "you better love Jesus" and "get out of the way of the Red, White & Blue." It's not for the ones who gladly swallow everything their leader would have them know. It's not for the ones with their radio signals calling for bonfires and boycotts. In amongst all this, she manages to distill the frustration many of us felt during the Bush years, when it felt almost dangerous to espouse liberal ideas for fear of being called unpatriotic or a traitor to the country. It was a time when I watched with stunning disbelief as we went to war in two countries, cut taxes for the most wealthy of Americans and an American city was left to drown. Fortunately for us, this song was not just for the Dixie Chicks. It was for us as well - "this is for the ones who stand their ground when the lines in the sand get deeper/And the whole world seems to be upside down/And the shots being taken get cheaper."

I always wondered how this song would play in the post-Bush years. When Barack Obama was elected on a wave of progressive hope in 2008, I wasn't sure it would resonate like it did in 2007 when I first heard it. I felt that it might feel a little anachronistic and dated now that it seemed like we were heading into a time when it was no longer scary to be a liberal.

Boy, was I wrong.

I heard this song while sitting in flood traffic here in Ames a couple weeks back. Listening to it, I was reminded that, if anything, this song is even more relevant now than it was when it was released. We're living in a time when FOX News and conservative ideology attempts to drive the national conversation away from real issues and toward inflammatory nontroversies. Birthers, death panels, Ground Zero mosques - make no mistake, all these things divert attention from the real issues. They are dressed up in sexy, scary language so as to dominate the news cycle for weeks. The mainstream media seems to have consumed the Kool-Aid as well. They would have you believe that Obama is a left-wing extremist. All you need do is ask people who really ARE on the left-wing fringe and they'll tell you he's nowhere near lefty enough. Even someone like me who identifies as liberal but not wildly so is at times infuriated with his willingness to compromise his principles. Even with a Democratic president, it's a scary time to be a liberal. Again.

As long as the Sarah Palins, Newt Gingrichs and the Tea Party have control of the airwaves, this song will never lose its relevance. Why is it not surprising to me that Carpenter would write an angry political song that transcends its own time period?

And even though it's still not easy being a liberal, I take comfort in the final lyrics of the song - they apply to so many situations in life.

This isn't for you and you know who you are
So just do what you want 'cuz I know that you can
But I gotta be true to myself and to you
So on with the song, I don't give a damn.

She's that good, folks.

Indoctrination FAIL

Heidi summed this up so well on her blog, I am cutting and pasting it right here because there are a lot of people that read me that may not read her blog

Anna saw the Obama address today: her class and several others went to the Media Center to watch. Her comments on it were that it made her late for lunch and so she only got to eat two things and was hungry all day. I asked her if she liked watching him talk, and she said, enthusiastically, yes! Then I asked her what he talked about. "I don't know," she said. "My back hurt from where I had to sit and I didn't pay attention."

So much for the indoctrination of the second graders. Or at least this one.

I caused a bit of a shitstorm on Facebook the other day when I posted a link from Politifact which examined Obama's school address and the furor that surrounded it. A person from my high school days chimed in declaring the awesomeness of FOX News which brought out MY liberal base. Everyone was pretty respectful for the most part, although I admit to gritting my teeth and having to work to be nice. But 44 comments later, I had to put an end to it because it was just people saying the same thing over and over again and honestly, I was tired of policing it. I had better things to do!

Seriously, of all the trumped up faux controversies...

P.S. For all wondering, the bat tested negative for rabies. Peace of mind is currently running at $40.30. Anna is relieved that shots are not in her future and frankly, so am I.

Not quite a thousand words

The picture speaks for itself.

This picture was taken at Heidi's dad's restaurant in Andrew, IA - we drove there and back today. Actually, we drove there and then swung back through Iowa City which is decidedly not on the way back but it had been so long since we'd been to Iowa City that we just thought what the hell? Plus driving I-80 is so much more pleasant than US 30 from Cedar Rapids to Ames. So we hung out at Coral Ridge Mall for a bit and hit Barnes & Noble while Anna played in the playlot and I wondered how many more years it'll be before she's not interested in that at all. I have been struggling a lot recently with her rapidly disappearing kid-ness. Oh, don't get me wrong, I know I have several years left before teenage rebellion and/or ennui sets in, but sometimes the notion that this is my only shot at this gets the better of me.

It was a good trip. I think we were all kind of secretly dreading it because the drive is so long, but it was really good to see her dad again who, because of the distance, we rarely see. I have such mixed feelings on small towns like Andrew. On the one hand, there is this connectedness in small towns that seems to be decidedly absent in larger towns and cities. On the other hand, I could never do a small town again because of the fact that in many of them, if you don't have a great-great-great-grandparent buried in the cemetery, you'll never be "one of them." I feel bad for small towns, because they are withering and blowing away in the wind. And it's only going to get worse.

Personally, I'm not sure I could live in a town smaller than Ames (~50,000 if you count the 25,000 students that attend Iowa State. Believe me, they count.) I don't mean to crap all over small towns. I grew up in a smallish town and had a good childhood, but I really want to give my daughter a wider world-view than what can be afforded in rural small towns these days. And my politics are not really in line with what, let's face it, is and is likely to remain a pretty conservative part of Iowa. Iowa may have gone blue this year, but don't kid yourself.

A good day overall except for the odd clickety-clack sound coming from the back tire area of the car. I was convinced for a while on the way home that the back tires were going to go flying off and we would go careening in the ditch. Fortunately, it did not happen, but I am getting that looked at as soon as possible.

Do you believe we can change the future?

...well as Madonna would say: Baby, we can do it, we can do it all right!

I'm sure it is no shock to anyone that I have cast my vote proudly for Barack Obama. I am hoping for an overwhelming victory tomorrow night, one that can be a true repudiation of the last 8 years and of McCain's truly deplorable campaign of fear, slime and lies. There was a time that I could have supported John McCain. In 2000, he was the obvious better choice. He was independent then, he had a soul. Now, he has proven himself willing to do anything ANYTHING to win the presidency. And that, I'm here to tell you, is one of the reasons to deny him the presidency.

In 2004, my Kerry vote was more of an anti-Bush vote. I was always Dean person even though many thought he would have been an even worse candidate than Kerry ended up being. I voted for Kerry because I believed that the country really couldn't take 4 more years of Bush. I sat and watched not only Bush's re-election but also my own state go red by the narrowest of margins. Looking back on this day in 2004, we were totally kidding ourselves hoping for a Kerry victory. But this is not 2004. And tomorrow night, barring anything unforseen or vote tampering or polls so out of whack with what people are actually doing, we will be seeing Obama's acceptance speech and McCain's concession speech.

Janeane Garofalo famously said "At this point, anyone who votes Republican has a major character flaw." I don't know that I'd go as far as to say that. I know some conservatives who really do make sense. However, those conservatives haven't been taken over by the far-right fringe of the party, the portion of the party referring to Obama as "the terrorists' candidate." However, I would strongly encourage anyone voting for McCain/Palin tomorrow to reconsider and think about the future of the country as a whole, rather than just your pocketbook or your sphere of control. I have been frequently criticized for having my little heart bleed all over the floor, but really, for all those supposed Christians that would say otherwise, we are our brother's keeper.

Do I think Obama will come in and magically sweep away the last 8 years and we will be in a nirvana? Heavens, no. And I think a lot of people on the left are going to be mighty disappointed when they find out that Obama is not going to be able to do all he has promised. But the thing to bear in mind will be, would we have fared any better under McCain? I think the answer to that question is likely not.

Who knows, in 4 years, I may regret my vote much like many regretted their vote for Bush. But I have to live in this moment and at this moment, it is time for a change.

So tomorrow, get out there and VOTE!!! And vote Obama/Biden!

Just in time for Halloween

I grabbed this from Boy Culture - it's too good not to share.

Another blog I read had this to say about McCain's photo above - "Did anyone else see John McCain turn into a zombie last night?" Classic. (Sorry! I can't remember where I read it!)

And let's hope the media does its job and investigates these Joe the Plumber reports bubbling to the surface. (yes, it's a Kos link. I know.) It might go the way of the whole "did Palin give birth to her youngest child?" thing, but this (unlike the other) is worth investigating.

Election metaphors

My friend Matt is doing a lot of political commentary these days on his blog. While I have a lot of thoughts on the upcoming election and the state of U.S. politics, writing at length about them is really not my style, so I'm going to let this graphic that I found on DailyKos (via Huffington Post) speak for itself.

Although comparing Biden to Amtrak may not be a compliment considering the experiences I (and others) have had.

Today is the long-delayed Pride parade in Des Moines today. Pictures later today, I'm sure.

(via)

Stop the Palinsanity!

I'm sorry, but I cannot fucking believe this:

When Gibson said if under the NATO treaty, the United States would have to go to war if Russia again invaded Georgia, Palin responded: "Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

"And we've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable," she told Gibson.

WHAT THE FUCK?

This person is NOT ready to be the vice-president if she thinks that war with Russia is feasible in any way or form. You do not pick fights with a nuclear power. Perhaps the neocons are so drunk on power that they think they can invade any country in the world. I cannot believe that she said that. What kind of message does that send to other countries? Even though she is not in political power, you can bet that leaders around the world are listening. Hopefully this gets legs and the media jumps all over it and this is the end of all this ridiculousness.

Do the neocons just want endless war? Because let me tell you, a war with Russia would be over in about an hour.

Where is Susan Powter when you really need her?

Just a Backwoods Barbie

I honestly can't believe that the McCain campaign has not decided to use Dolly's "Backwoods Barbie" for Sarah Palin. But that would, of course, require Dolly to OK the use of her song (or would it?) and I think there is a greater chance of pigs flying out of my butt than that happening. Dolly is very evasive about her political affiliation, claiming that she's not political but "very patriotic." However, I don't think she is fooling anyone and I would daresay that her politics land left of center. She still has my favorite response to the "do you support same sex marriage" question:

And when asked whether she supports same-sex marriage, she jokingly responded, "Hell yes. You people should have to suffer just like the rest of us!"

I'm sure that would not be Palin's response.

I have tried to be quiet on the blog about political things as 1) it usually gets me into trouble and 2) I feel like half the time I go off half-cocked and don't make sense, which leads to #1. But anyone who thinks that Palin is qualified to be the dog catcher, let alone the vice-president of the United States is, as Celine Dion would say, seriously misled. She would be, with not one iota of foreign policy experience (except for the fact that Alaska is close to Russia) second in line for the presidency - the president if something happened to McCain. Hmmm...for whatever reason, that does not make me feel any better about how she might handle the Georgia/Russia crisis. Talk about on the job training.

Ultimately, the choice of Palin speaks very poorly about McCain's judgment, which I think helps the Democrats immensely. But I've seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory before (see 2000 and 2004) so I will not believe it till I see it. If we vote them into office, we will get exactly what we deserve.

I just hope we're smarter than I think we might be. I thought we were smart in 2004, and we weren't. Let's hope we learned from that experience.

And because I can't end on such a sour note, here's my favorite shot of Dolly from the Backwoods Barbie tour book. I would seriously die if I were walking through the woods and saw Dolly Parton FISHING in that outfit.

(click to make bigger - totally worth it.)

MadgeCain

This is one of the funniest things I think I have ever seen!



I think my favorite part is the piano breakdown starting at about 0:38. That had me laughing hysterically.

And me being me, I was reminded of the sheer brilliance of the "Vogue" video, especially in comparison to what she's calling videos now.

(thanks to Matt for this one!)

Losing my religion

So I'm visiting my folks today on my day off and I've been spending some time surfing the various news sites. CNN, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Drudge Report. I've been to all of them, catching up on the latest stuff. I've read a lot of commentary and watched some video. I've also seen some very depressing headlines.

I don't write about politics much. Once upon a time, I might have, but nowadays, I'd honestly rather write about pop culture and things that I'm doing with Anna and Heidi. Heck, I'd rather write about religion rather than politics. The reason for the lack of political talk on my blog is because I guess the world really doesn't need me spouting off unintelligently about the way of the world. But mostly, it's because I have really lost my faith.

Once upon a time, I really believed that politicians could change the direction of the country. I remember 1992 and Bill Clinton's victory over Bush I. It was the first election that I was old enough to vote in, and I watched every move of both the candidates, getting caught up personally in the outcome of every debate and watched the polls like a hawk. And when Clinton was victorious, I was so glad! Granted, a portion of that joy was because I didn't have to see Marlin Fitzwater on TV anymore with his glasses sitting on his face crooked. But it seemed like a new day in America. Finally, things were going to go right.

And for the most part, they did. I don't know that the world will ever know if Clinton's policies guided the great economic times of the 90s or if he just had the great fortune to preside over that which was already underway. Either way, they were good times. Yes, the Clintons attracted scandal like flies to honey, but overall, I was very happy with his performance as president.

For the 21st Century, under the regime of Bush II, I have watched as my belief that a single person can change the way the world is run fade. Well, at least in a positive way. In 2003-2004, Heidi and I threw ourselves into the Dean campaign like we have never been involved in politics prior because we believed that he said what needed to be said and was not afraid of the truth like so many other politicians were. In the run-up to the Iowa caucus, Dean was ahead and it seemed like he might actually pull off a real win in the caucus, which could theoretically propel him to the nomination. Instead, Democrats went with a safe choice and nominated Kerry. I didn't really like Kerry, but a purple turd running against GWB would have gotten my vote.

We all know that Kerry did not beat Bush, even though he should have. The politics of fear were used so effectively in that campaign, as was voter fraud in Ohio if you go for those sorts of things. Anyway, I came out of election night disillusioned and depressed. Four more years of Bush, the worst president ever? I didn't know if I could take it.

So here we are nearly 4 years later and for the Democrats, this is a no brainer. They should be able to win this one with their hands tied behind their backs. But never underestimate the ability of the Democratic party to mess up a sure thing. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are locked in a bitter fight for the nomination, more interested in attacking each other than John McCain. The worst attacks have come out of the Clinton camp, with Obama attempting as best as possible to run a civilized, on the level campaign. But when mud keeps getting thrown at you, you eventually have to respond in kind. This kind of fighting amongst the Democrats does nothing but make the possibility of a President John McCain all the more likely.

Currently, Obama is ahead in pledged delegates, but Clinton keeps on playing the politics of uncertainty, saying things like "pledged delegates can change their minds." At this point, there is no way that she can win the nomination without cheating or subverting the will of the voters. Yet, I see headlines like "Clinton Pulls Ahead of Obama Among Democrats" and I just shake my head. Who cares about that at this point? There's no way for her to pull ahead of Obama in delegate count. What she should do now is realize the inevitable and pull out.

But she won't. Her ego won't let her. She will risk Democrats losing the White House for the sake of personal pride and ego. That, in my opinion, is completely reprehensible. And it has been the final straw in my already tenuous belief that the politicians can change the world.

As Fox Mulder would say, I want to believe. I desperately want to believe, but I just can't anymore. When the Democrats can't stop fighting amongst themselves and see that the real enemy is the Republican Party and years of endless war and gifts to corporate interests, I lose my ability to think that anyone can make a difference. Mostly, this election cycle has just depressed me and even though Obama is inspiring and would be my choice for President, I wonder if, once he got into office, he would just get sucked up by Washington politics.

So who knows? I sure as hell don't.

That's me in the corner.

Write-in candidate

This morning, Heidi asked me the following question. "If you were voting in a primary or caucus today, for whom would you vote?" While I think that any Democrat will be an improvement over the current President (well, a purple turd would be an improvement over him) and certainly a better choice than any of the Republican candidates, I'm just not sure.

I admire Hillary Clinton's tenacity and her ability to weather the 15 years of Republican attacks. I think she has some good ideas, but I also think she has behaved deplorably on the campaign trail in several instances. And as for Barack Obama, he seems to be long on ideas and short on details and plus, I just think that especially if he goes up against McCain, the Republicans are going to play the "experience" card big and bad, which is perhaps his biggest weakness. Overall, I am more inspired by Obama than I am Clinton (who seems more and more to be the maintainer of the status quo), but still, I just am not sure. My allegiances switch with the day. I worry that they will continue to fight until the day of the convention, which will be bad for the party and extremely bad for the nominee.

Don't get me wrong, on Election Day, whichever of these candidates that (eventually) gets the nomination will get my vote. I just wish they'd team up. Together, they would be unstoppable.

However, when we were talking about it, I was watching an interview with Cher on YouTube (she's been making the rounds in the last few days) and I was saying to Heidi, "You know, I'm not really a one-issue voter, but really, Cher -- I mean, CLINTON has a more clearly articulated stance on LGBT issues than Obama."

But honestly, Cher has a better track record on LGBT issues than either of them, so, based on that:

CHER IN '08! (ok, not really, but you know what I mean.)

Honestly though, the fact that McCain does not believe we need to amend the Constitution of the United States to suit the whims of religious radicals makes him just a little bit more palatable to me. Although judging from some of the stuff on the net, I'm not even sure that McCain knows what he thinks!

What about the Gentlemen?

Heidi forwarded this to me, and it is just perfect. It's the GOP presidential contenders if they were Buffy villains. Too classic.

But perhaps the best one is in the comments (where several try their hand at the Democratic candidates):

Hillary Clinton => Buffy Summers
Her choice of gentleman companions leaves something to be desired. Struggles with her demons. Portrayed by a not terribly likeable actress. But you know that when the chips are down she will kick serious ass.

Caucus insanity (not so much)

About 4 years ago, I wrote this post about the 2004 Iowa Caucuses and our experience there as Dean supporters. It was, in effect, what made us leave Washington and move to Ames. It was not the only reason, but it was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm happy to say that our experience caucusing this time around was nowhere near as stressful and was actually a bit of fun.

With the caucuses a thing of the past and the results on every news channel known to man, we all know that Barack Obama won. He was the clear favorite at our caucus site, with fully half the room supporting him. 228 people showed up to our caucus site - we had 10 delegates to divvy up. Obama got 5, Edwards (who Heidi and I were both unswayably supporting) got 3, and Richardson got 2. To my great shock and surprise, the Hillary group was not viable (i.e. did not reach the 15% of caucus goers in the room) so they had to realign with other campaigns. I felt bad for her in a lot of ways, mostly because the Clinton precinct captain is a neighbor of ours who has had her Hillary sign up for a damn long time and was obviously very passionate about it. I think ANY of the Democrats will make a good president, and I was nearly swayed to Obama by an article in The Atlantic that I read a month ago. It was that article alone that made him my strong second choice. But ultimately, it was Edwards, who was my second choice after Dean in 2004 that got my caucus vote this time around.

It's kind of fun - because it's cool to see democracy in action, no matter how antiquated and creaky the caucus version of democracy is. It was fun this year because I was just a body to be counted, and not someone who had to work the floor and try to get people to come stand up for our candidate. I am not cut out for that kind of life.

After all is said and done, any Democratic candidate is better than ANY of the Republican candidates. Huckabee will lead the Republican party to an electoral disaster. Although there is a lot of time between now and Election Day. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that anything can happen.

A predictable rant

For those of you reading from outside the confines of Iowa, be happy that you are not living here right now.

The phone has rung 5 times in the last hour (probably would have been more if I hadn't spent a half an hour on the phone with my brother) and EVERY SINGLE TIME it has been a political call. It has either been a political survey or an automated call from Hilary or Obama or whoever. It is damn annoying. It is still at least two months till the caucuses and it cannot possibly come soon enough. Perhaps this time around, it's the lack of a clear personal favorite like there was the last time, but this presidential election (which hasn't even really started yet) is really getting old.

So I've decided to whip out Heart's Dreamboat Annie tonight. And what that has to do with the above, I couldn't tell you. I do know that there's a new live version of Dreamboat Annie out today, and I went to iTunes and listened to the samples and really, all it did was make me want to listen to the original. So I saved my $9.99 and listened to the classic.

I bought Dreamboat Annie when I was in late high school, when really, all I knew of Heart was their late 80s arena rock band incarnation. I had no idea they did the kind of music that is contained on Dreamboat Annie! While it is rockin' stuff, it is so different in style and tone than the albums they put out from about 1985 on. Consequently, it did not impress me all that much and I put it away, nearly selling it on several different occasions (the horror!)

I finally appreciated Dreamboat Annie for the classic that it is in the mid-90s when I had a huge Heart renaissance thanks to The Road Home. On a record that contains such recognizable songs as "Magic Man," "Crazy On You, " and the title track, I think my favorite track is still "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song." It has such a strong melody and the chorus is simply aces, referring especially to the "sometimes I'm not so strong/but even now I could be wrong" part. I love the nuances of Ann's voice - she is truly a great rock singer. (watch it here - it won't let me embed.)

I may or may not pick up the new live album. But mostly, it has reminded me of a classic album that I don't frequently think about.

Waxing political

Heidi already blogged this, but seeings as we don't have *all* the same readers, I thought I would as well. First of all, watch this:



Then, follow this link and send a message to your Senator and tell them that it is imperative that they pass the federal hate crimes bill. Even though our idiotic illustrious President has threatened to veto it, those of us in the reality-based community need to demonstrate that hate of any type will simply not be tolerated.

Then do yourself a favor and go buy the version of "All Through The Night" used in the ad here.