Day: October 21, 2011

I’m Not American

~ Clarissa ~ 61 Comments

Which is why I:

Don’t believe that every life choice is equally valid and, therefore, feel no compunction for criticizing those life choices that I find to be stupid or ridiculous.

Don’t believe that counting everything (calories, sex partners, vitamins and minerals) improves the quality of one’s life.

Feel vicarious shame whenever I see anybody unfurl a national flag, sing an anthem, or recite the Pledge of Allegiance to any country. When people place their hands on their hearts while participating in these activities, I get more embarrassed than if they engaged in group sex right in front of me.

Don’t think that alcoholism is a disease.

Don’t think that weight and income are dirty topics that need to be covered with embarrassed silence.

Believe that unless you have a body like Beyonce’s, jeans invariably make you look horrible.

Believe that cereal is not food. Unless you want to feed it to some birds that you really hate.

Love arguing about politics or religion with people I just met.

Don’t think that being on 3 prescription medications by the age of 40 is normal.

Don’t consider “Are you OK?” an appropriate response when I see a colleague crying in the bathroom.

Don’t consider that pretending not to notice anything is an appropriate response when I see a stranger crying in the bathroom.

Don’t see the “paper or plastic” issue as a field of an important ideological battle.

Don’t consider American football and baseball to be sports.

Feel very embarrassed when people begin to argue seriously that cheer-leading is a sport.

Believe that being supportive as a friend doesn’t mean repeating mechanically, “Good for you! I know you can do it! Everything will be fine!” but, rather, letting my friends know what I really think about their situation.

Believe that it’s better to ask for a loan from a relative or a friend than from a bank.

Hate Hollywood movies.

Consider people who use the gym to be eccentric.

Consider people who drive to the gym to be very eccentric.

Eat hamburgers and pizza with a knife and a fork.

Get cranky if I have to spend an entire day without eating any fresh fruit or vegetables.

Believe that beverages served at Starbucks don’t deserved to be called “coffee.”

Don’t understand the point of going to coffee-shops that don’t have an outside terrace.

Don’t eat while walking, running, or standing.

Feel scared when I hear the word “deep-fried.”

Am terrified by the words “networking,” “support groups,” “grief counselling,” “life coach,” and “brainstorming.”

Realized that I needed to add a tag to this post to explain its intentions.

Love

~ Clarissa ~ 13 Comments

Have you ever loved somebody so much that you’d look at them and feel like your heart is going to stop because of sheer joy?

Have you ever looked at somebody at wondered how it is even possible for such an amazing creature to exist in the world?

Have you ever loved somebody so much that just being around them made you want to be the best person you can possibly be?

Have you ever loved somebody so much that you wanted to abandon your middle-aged gravitas and forget your total lack of artistic skills and start dancing and singing in the middle of the street?

There is nothing better than love, people.

The Hypocrisy of Herman Cain

~ Clarissa ~ 42 Comments

According to Cain, abortion should be illegal. Unless the decision to abort is one that needs to be made by his grandchildren. In that case, it’s up to them to decide:

“I believe that life begins at conception and abortion, under no circumstances,” Cain told Morgan.  Pressed on if he would apply this same directive to his grandchildren, Cain candidly responded.

“It comes down to, it’s not the government’s role or anybody’s role to make that decision. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you’re not talking about that number. What I’m saying is it ultimately gets down to a choice that the family or that mother has to make. Not me as president, not some politician, not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide. I shouldn’t have to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive issue.”

I’m glad to see that he switches to such a firmly pro-choice stance the moment his grand-kids are mentioned. As we always say in  progressive circles, one can only remain anti-abortion until one has had a daughter. After that, love of one’s children usually defeats anti-abortion bigotry. At least, for most people it does.

Bankers Eager to Donate to Obama’s Campaign

~ Clarissa ~ 11 Comments

Washington Post reports:

Despite frosty relations with the titans of Wall Street, President Obama has still managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate, according to new fundraising data. . . As a result, Obama has brought in more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and other financial service companies than all of the GOP candidates combined, according to a Washington Post analysis of contribution data. . .

Obama has raised a total of $15.6 million from employees in the industry, according to the Post analysis. Nearly $12 million of that went to the DNC, the analysis shows.

Romney has raised less than half that much from the industry, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry brought in about $2 million. No other Republican candidate has raised more than $402,000 from the finance sector, which also includes insurance and real estate interests.

The ultra-conservative Washington Post uses this information to paint Obama as pro-banks and pro-financial sector in order to make him less attractive to progressive voters. Of course, people who follow politics at least minimally will find this information to be very belated. We all remember how Obama appointed Summers and Geithner, of all people, to key positions two seconds after he was elected. This gave us all the information we could have possibly needed about the new President’s position on the economy. Today, we are reaping the results of those appointments.

In my opinion, the huge support that the financial sector offers Obama today has to do with Wall Street’s realization that Obama is the only candidate who might, if given enough reason to, listen to the #Occupy protesters and start bringing back some of the regulation measures on the financial industry that are the only way of saving us all from complete and utter economic collapse.

At this point, Obama is not listening to his erstwhile progressive supporters. However, he might. Especially, if the protests intensify as the election draws closer. This is why Wall Street is trying to buy him off as fast as possible. Overall, I’d say this is very good news because it demonstrates that the bankers are finally taking the #Occupy protesters seriously. President Obama will be well served to do the same.