Where Were You?

"In the hallway at KPBS, talking to our editor Nicole Lozare." 

Twenty, 30, 40 years from now -- that's how I'll answer the question about how I heard yesterday's news about the California Supreme Court's decision in In Re Marriage Cases.  Alma, Trina and I had just finished an appearance on These Days with Tom Fudge at 10 a.m. I knew the decision from the court was due at 10:00, and turned on my Blackberry as soon as we left the studio to check the news.

As we were talking I looked down and saw the alert from the New York Times: The ban had been overturned.

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Just Because They Say It Doesn’t Make It So

Anyone who has had a family member in recovery will recognize this phrase, and as I watched the media's manipulation of last week's presidential primaries, I couldn't help but think it aptly applied in that case as well.

Have we become a nation of co-dependents who believe everything we hear without questioning the agenda or the pathological state of the pundit who's uttering it? It may be that we are so beat up by nearly eight years of completely unsubstantiated statements out of the White House,  "Mission Accomplished", WMD's, etc., that we are unable to decipher fact from fiction.

Ever since KPBS gave me the opportunity to become a Citizens Voices blogger, I've felt the responsibility to investigate the source of everything I read, or hear on TV, whether it's on John Stewart  or CNN or Fox. That often means researching the writer, and then the writer's affiliations, and finally, who's behind those affiliations. I can get lost in Googleland, just trying to track down the back-stories.

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Beyond Electability

"Bored Now."  That immortal quote from Willow Rosenberg pretty much completes my thoughts on the state of the race to be president. Voters from two more states voted on Tuesday to decide, or not decide, who might represent the Democratic Party in November.

If it were a fight about issues, I might be interested. If the two remaining candidates had competing visions for the future, the race might earn some attention. Rather, if anything, the primaries have become a battle of electability, and that doesn't serve the country well.

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Snobs-R-Us

Have you heard the story about the Prius-driving, latté-sipping Democrat?

It goes something like this: an elitist, upper-middle class, pseudo-intellectual snob goes into a group of his or her peers and begins spouting advice on how to fix their inbred, uninformed, and sad little lives. Not funny? No, it really isn't too funny. But for many non-Democrats (such as, Libertarians, Republicans, neo-cons, the apathetic masses, the creators of South Park, etc...) this is the vision of a liberal.

So, is there any truth to the stereotype? Does John Edwards' $400 haircut amidst New Orleans' ravaged Lower Ninth Ward signal what's wrong with liberalism? Or does the unseemly image of a bleeding heart Democrat preaching to the poor masses fog up the lens of perception?

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Defining Winning

As I write this I don't yet know who won the Democratic Party's primary in Pennsylvania.  Part of that is because the voting is still going on, part of that is because 'winning' seems to be very loosely defined, and part of it is because these primaries have dragged on too long.

Now that basic mathematics has ruled out conventional definitions of winning, winning is being redefined.  According to some, winning is no longer simply receiving the most votes cast.

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Loyalty

There are few modern political heroes, but one of mine has definitely been James Carville.

The “Ragin’ Cajun” is the star of the documentary “The War Room” and, although not quite single handedly, he still masterminded former President Bill Clinton’s first campaign for the position of “most powerful man in the world.”  If you haven’t checked out this movie, and don’t mind seeing a Democrat win the presidency, please check it out.

James Carville is whip smart, articulate, and tough as nails. Over the years he’s appeared as the lone liberal on countless Sunday morning political talk shows (not counting any station bias, for those believing in a liberal media) and he filleted right wing punditry better than a master sushi chef on display.

I have held Carville in such high regards for so many years that I even pleaded with him in a letter before the 2004 election to run for president. This is a man who is so cool he appeared in JFK Jr.’s politically inspired magazine, George, where I remember Carville saying if he were elected president, every Tuesday would be red-beans-and-rice day.

Although the menu pleased me, it wouldn’t have been the sole reason he would’ve received my vote. I even love that he married Republican consultant Mary Matalin because it just shows how secure he is in his beliefs.

Alas, after so many years on a pedestal, Mr. Carville has at last finally let me down.

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Blogku

Superdelegates
Michigan and Florida
Trouble in Denver

 
- Citizen Voices blogger Chris McConnell is a bookseller, freelance writer, former high school English teacher and odd jobber who lives in La Jolla.

A Cat Named (N-Word)

One of my earliest memories of my grandfather is of him chasing my cousins and me around the kitchen with his false teeth, making them chatter at us like a cartoon monster’s.

Pop, as we called him, was the undisputed head of our family. We never questioned that my lovely grandmother waited on him hand and foot… that’s just how it was back then. His priorities took precedent and we conformed to his. He was a jokester of utmost proportions. While we kids often found him hilarious, some of his “tricks” took on an edge of cruelty. But that too, was just how it was. Texas of the 1950’s was still a pretty raw place and you needed to be tough to get along. 

After Mac, my grandfather’s Chihuahua died, Pop started feeding stray cats, which then took up residence under the house. There was a constantly changing population that fought and bred and ate and slept and died there. 

Out of all those original cats, there was only one who was given “House and Lap” status. There was one big, black female who won my grandfather’s attention, so we kids let ourselves love her as well. Because she was Pop’s chosen favorite, we were pretty sure she would not be run off with a pellet gun or drowned in a flour sack, so we felt safe in letting her into our hearts.

This cat’s name was Nigger.     

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Personal-Responsibility, Redux

Last week, I wrote about Democrats championing accepting personal-responsibility.

Oddly enough, it was the same week Eliot Spitzer spoke publicly about “letting his family down” by getting caught/spending fundraising dollars inappropriately/breaking his moral code/embarrassing the Spitzer family name...the list goes on. 

The news also ran stories about Florida and Michigan’s Democratic leadership lobbying Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee to rerun the rules-be-damned primary elections and to legitimize voters’ dreams of picking an historic candidate.

There was one particularly interesting CNN Op-Ed piece about the topic written by Mr. Glenn Beck, the title of which, “Too bad, Michigan and Florida” dealt specifically with the importance of personal-responsibility.

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Extreme Democracy

Did you hear me on the "These Days" earlier this week, dear readers? I hope you did, as it was fun being on the show with Alma! We talked about what could be the end of the race for the main party seats, among other topics. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out.

But, let's face it, American politics is a bit tame, compared to other places.

The worst thing we have is controversy over using Obama's middle name. A little silly, really, when people can buy 'Obama Bin Laden' shirts on the internet already. Is this a sign of what is to come in the coming weeks? I sure hope not.

But, over in Russia, as they are also dealing with a presidential election, we have Vladimir Zhirinovsky! Ah, this candidate is quite interesting. Two weeks ago, he was in a debate with one of the party members. Thanks to a friend from Russia, I know what they are saying.

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