I have a container of hot bourbon chicken in front of me and a lot of ideas for blog posts rolling around in my skull, but none of them feel like they’re worth a major post, so I’m just going to spit out a few quick hits in-between mouthfuls.
***
As a friend recently observed, amazing how Michael Jackson went from being “Wacko Jacko” and the butt of a million child molester jokes to a brilliant entertainer and a musical genius who was taken from us too soon. Few are daring to mention his confession on British TV he liked to share his bed with young boys or the time he dangled his kid over a hotel balcony, ’cause that makes whoever said such vile things the jerk.
Death doesn’t change who Michael Jackson was, good or bad, it just makes it socially unacceptable to say anything bad about him, no matter how true it be. I sometimes wonder if, after news got out that Hitler was dead, people were saying, “He was always such an enthusiastic speaker. And he loved his country so much!”
My two cents on Jackson: “Thriller” was undeniably a fantastic and iconic album, and Jackson was an electrifying stage presence. He was also weird in ways that made Howard Hughes look positively drab. But he was loved by people more important than his fans worldwide, and for them I am sorry for their loss.
And yet I still wish he’d waited a few days so we could properly pay tribute to Farrah, whose passing I find much more touching and profound.
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Speaking of the growing celebrity death toll: the media needs to find a better way to honor the late impressionist Fred Travalena by pointing out he was know for his impressions of celebrities such as Jack Nicholson. What comedian DOESN’T do Nicholson? He is to impressionists what “Smoke On The Water” is to garage bands.
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I really hope 2010 yields a solid crop of candidates for state office. It’s make me feel much better about voting the incumbents out.
Sorry, but as long as none of our lawmakers — ostensibly public servants who got into their gigs because they wanted to improve the lives of their fellow citizens — are still taking home twice as much money as I am, they can’t honestly claim they’ve cut the state budget as much as possible.
***
It looks like Al Franken has finally and officially won his Senate race in Minnesota.
What amuses me is not this ridiculously drawn-out process, but how Boston Globe readers are responding to it and the impact it’ll have on Congress, which will now have a filibuster-proof “super majority.” Funny how the Bush Administration can suspend the writ of habeus corpus and conduct warrantless wiretaps, but it’s the Obama Administration that is sending us hurtling toward fascism. When the Republicans ruled with unchallenged authority everything was great, but when it’s the Dems in charge, it’s unfair and unbalanced.
Again, the theory of “tragedy” vs. “no big deal” in action: when the GOP gets shafted, it’s a tragedy; when the Democrats get bullied about, it’s no big deal.
***
A friend who rarely posts political content on his Facebook page did so, and oh what a debate it sparked. It was about the “Don’t ask, don’t tell policy” and its impact on homosexual Americans who want to serve their country but are denied because of their sexual orientation.
One of the people involved in this debate obviously has never met an actual homosexual. Over the course of the debate, he posited that scientific research has yet to firmly confirm that homosexuality is a quirk of birth rather than a conscious choice. The scientists involved with these studies, I must assume, have also never met an actual homosexual.
I have, and I have yet to hear one of them say, “Yeah, I just woke up one day and decided I was sexually attracted to the same gender.”
On the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, it’s past time to dump it. As the gent who sparked this discussion said at its conclusion, if other civil servants charged with protecting our safety — police, firefighters, etc. — can work alongside gay and lesbian colleagues and maintain their professionalism, then the military should be able to do the same without any problems.
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I work in a pet friendly office, which is awesome. One of my co-workers has her uber-cute puppy with her today. It takes some effort on my part not to go over there and spend my day playing with it. I dread to think what work will be like when I once again become a dog owner. “Hello, Mike Bailey. Hold on a sec? WHO’S A GOOD BOY? WHO’S A GOOD BOY? YOU ARE! YES YOU ARE! Sorry. Can I help you?”
***
Yes, absolutely, elderly drivers should be re-tested. So should teenage drivers. And adult drivers. We should all be re-tested, because it seems like the vast majority of my fellow motorists have completely forgotten how to operate their cars like sane human beings.
It seems to be getting worse, too. Lately I’ve seen a disturbing number of cars blatantly run red lights…they’re typically in a queue of cars at a light when it turns yellow, and they’re well behind the stop line when the light turns red, but they apparently think that because they were on-deck to go, it’s okay to blast through the red light, even if cars that have a green light have started to move.
To hell with speed traps. What police need to do is sit at intersections and nail light-jumpers.
I would also like to humbly request of the staties posted at the Bourne barracks to send someone out to sit at the rotary when off-Cape-bound traffic starts to back up. Guaranteed, you will nail a dozen cars easily after the drivers decide that they’re too good to wait and go hauling at top speed down the breakdown lane.
***
Little in the world is more off-putting than having a cat that likes to watch you shower. By which I mean, a cat that jumps up onto the frame of the shower door and perches there and WATCHES you.
All righty, lunch is over. Time for coffee, then back to my real job.
Tags: 2010 election, gay rights
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
1. I have a homosexual aunt who was a Marine for 12 years (pre-policy). As far as I know no one ever had an issue with her sexuality impinging on her duty or their ability to work with her.
2. I agree that there are far more driving laws the cops could be setting traps for then speed. Laws that are far more likely to cause accidents when broken . But until they invent a ray gun to point at cars to prove they are breaking said laws, it’s unlikely to happen.
3. Try having a cat that not only sits on the frame of the tub while you are bathing, but DRINKS from it! Watching you shower will seem like nothing.
I wonder if a ballot initiative to cut the salaries of state reps and the governor by 50% could get any traction.
Not that the government would actually, ya know, do anything about it.