So the president apologized over his joke with Special Olympics as the butt. Okay, yawn. Any politician who has made an idiotic statement like that has apologized. Now he’s gonna do time with Special Olympics. Swell. The kids are retarded. They won’t notice they’re being used for a photo op, right? Isn’t that the funny part?

The problem isn’t so much that he said it, it’s that he said it and didn’t have a clue that it was offensive. I thought he was the genius president.

It’s appearing more and more like he’s not.

I don’t know if he came up with the joke on his own, or it was his crack writing team. Either way, he should have known better. For a guy who is supposed to be so real and understanding of marginalized groups, he’s a REAL DUMBASS.
Reporter Mark Schnyder of KMOV in St. Louis says he really underestimated the anger. Add this guy to the clue train. Would you have expected the anger had it been President GW Bush? Of course you would have. Somehow Barack Obama is held to a different standard, and his insensitivity is supposed to be okay.

I underestimated the anger. Every athlete and parent I talked to about President Obama’s comment on Leno Thursday night said it was outrageous and they’re not sure they’ll be able to forgive him.

To paraphrase some of the comments: Words hurt and while everyone makes mistakes, the President should do a better job of thinking before he speaks. While no one thought the comments were premeditated, it doesn’t matter.

A woman who’s in the Missouri Special Olympics Hall of Fame said the President’s comments “put me down” and made her feel like he doesn’t care about Special Olympians.

Note to joke writers:

The only group you can now make fun of without getting into trouble: crazy folks. People with mental illness.

Next time, try something like

“My bowling score was so bad, you’d think I was a schizo.”

:::applause:::

“I accidentally dropped my chewed food back onto my plate during a state dinner. I had to tell the British Prime Minister, hey, forgive me, I’m a mental patient. We drool!”

::::applause:::::

“My wife took a shopping trip and came home with a limo full of new shoes. What is she? Bipolar in the manic phase? Somebody get her some lithium!”

:::applause:::

“The White House is so big, my daughters get lost all the time. You’d think they’d had electroshock therapy and had their brains fried to extra crispy!”

:::applause:::

So there you go, just choose persons with mental illness next time, and nobody will notice.

Hope this helped, Mr. President.

Wow. That’s got to be one of the most beautiful “obits” ever.

I kept starting (and tossing) posts about Ron Silver’s death, because I thought he was fantastic…and brave. Ann says it so perfectly. I love the line “intellectual trapped in an actor’s body.”

Love her or hate her (and I adore her even when I think she’s way off the mark), this woman has a way with words that matters.

Wow, I LOVE THIS GUY! This year’s Idol is just packed with talent, but this guy….geesh. He’s just got it all - unbelievable voice, drama, looks, etc. I hope they have a Queen week. So many try to sing Freddie songs, so few succeed.

I’ll actually download this one on ITunes. I hope he’ll do a super heavy metal album and blow NIN and everyone else out of the water. Move over Queen. A new boy is in town!

I criticized Meghan McCain the other day because in her critique of Ann Coulter, she ragged on Ann’s voice. It disappointed me that Meghan would go for the cheap shot.

Now it seems, the cheap shots are being fired back, but with bigger ammo. Catcalls about her weight, her eyebrows (c’mon…have a little class people, it’s not like she has a unibrow), and so on.

This further disappoints me and reminds me of my ultimate code: people suck, animals don’t. Makes me want to go live with the wolves.

Seriously, though, she got a lot worse than she gave, and all because she criticized Ann Coulter and called for moderation in the Republican party. I can understand where she’s coming from, because I felt the same way about my own (former) party, the Democrats. I feel like it all went to hell when Al Gore became a sore loser and most Dems turned into conspiracy nuts.

There was absolutely no tolerance for any deviation from the party line. I’d always been pro gun, but all of a sudden it was as if I’d turned baby killer. I eventually told the party to fuck off (with a letter to Dick Durbin, and the snapping shut of my wallet). Okay, I didn’t say the F word, but I sure wanted to. Ruck ru, Turban Durbin and every other lying, fatcat, dirty, cheating politician in my home state. The last honest pol from Illinois was Paul Simon, and when he retired (because gee….it got TOO DIRTY for him and he was tired of the bullshit) so did anything decent in Illinois state government.

But I’ve gone off the trail…

There is so much internal fighting going on in the Republican party. I’m not a Republican, so I’ll let them hash it out. I *wish* they’d go more moderate, as Meghan has called for, but that’s up to them. I wish the Dems would go more moderate, too, but that’s not going to happen for awhile. This pendulum swings back and forth all the time; you just have to ride with it and make the best decisions you can at election time, and, IMO, do what you can to make the world a better place.

I feel some empathy for Meghan. I like her a lot; I felt like her mother got a really raw deal (as did dad, whom the press loved until The Lord and Savior came along). I just hate to see all the nastiness, but I guess it’s part of the process of reshaping the Republican party.

Good luck to them.

My FAVORITE show and the last five minutes was cut off on the DVR. Grrrr. Thank goodness their website has full episodes, and even broken into sections. So I could quickly get to the end and see who was eliminated.

Shannel.

I think BeBe is going to win, now, because the judges see something in her I really don’t. Oh she’s great and all, but NINA FLOWERS! Wowza. She *should* win, but I think there’s too much BeBe love going on.

Screw all the other talent shows. I want more of this one. Best ever. Nina should wear the metallic dress below, with some big glittery mohawky metallic hair. OMG, that would just be drop dead.

Okay, I’m hotlinking (shame!) because I’m in a hurry as usual. Was gone all day and now I’m tired. Sooon, this madness will be over and I can resume a quieter life.

There’s something fabulous about this. It’s not like I have anywhere to wear it (who would??), but it’s kind of medieval and gorgeoussssss. I need the designers to make some frau frau gardening outfits with spectacular hats that I can wear when working in the garden.

This one is kind of a Bjork-inspired thing, I do believe. But WHAT’S UP WITH THOSE WAX LIPS? The rest of the models are wearing those lips. Is this an Octopus Mom thing??? Give the models a Wal Mart bag filled with 8 little babies and there you go.

Here’s where the fashion trend started, with Jimmy Kimmel: (dude, who knew he was so funny???? I have to watch this show)

Here’s what I like best about this woman: she’s like me, in that she’s a lifelong Democrat, yet she refuses to accept everything the party orders and thinks for herself. It certainly feels as if you don’t follow the party line absolutely, then you’re a traitor and a whore (so tired, but people love that word). And there’s no doubt that she’s pissed people off. Some of the writings have been especially unkind, all because she dared speak out and say she didn’t agree 100 percent with party line.

Full article here, but a few choice clips taken out of context: (goodie for Salon for continuing to have the stones to even publish her heresy!)

Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama’s first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. (Michelle, please use those fabulous toned arms to butt some heads!)

First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery.

President Obama — in whom I still have great hope and confidence — has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency. But I continue to believe in citizen presidents, who must learn by doing, even in a perilous age of terrorism. Though every novice administration makes blunders and bloopers, its modus operandi should not be a conspiratorial reflex cynicism.

Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.

Right now, the White House is starting to look like Raphael’s scathing portrait of a pampered, passive Pope Leo X and his materialistic cardinals — one of the first examples of an artist sending a secret, sardonic message to posterity. Do those shifty, beady-eyed guys needing a shave remind you of anyone? Yes, it’s bare-knuckles Chicago pugilism, transplanted to Washington.

Even though I didn’t believe in my heart it would happen, I still held out hope that Obama would rise above his Chicago political roots and be better.

He’s looking like a scared buffoon at times, but a buffoon who still has his hands in the coffers back in Illinois.

I happen to like Meghan McCain. I enjoyed her blog from the campaign trail, and I continue to read it.

This disappoints me, though:

(On Ann Coulter)

Everything about her is extreme: her voice, her interview tactics, and especially the public statements she makes about liberals. Maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck.

I’ll agree that her views on some things are extreme. So what. Practically everyone has extreme views when you disagree with them. I don’t know anything about her interview tactics, because I’ve never seen Ann interview anyone. So I’m not sure what she means. The statements about liberals? Okay, I squirm on some of the things she says. I do. She doesn’t sugar coat anything, and doesn’t try to be PC. I like that, even when I disagree (and I do) with some of her views.

She’s no different from liberal commentators, except that she’s a helluva lot funnier with her bite. Al Franken is funny too, or was. Now he just seems angry, but hopefully he’ll recover from that one day and be funny again.

He’s said some things that have made me squirm, too. Things against gays (just using terms like faggots in a derogatory way), his hardon for Bill O’ Reilly….although O’ Reilly fed him by responding and trying to defend himself.

The greatest thing about Ann Coulter is that I don’t think she’s gives a f**k what anyone thinks.

But whatever…the thing that really disappoints me is Meghan going after Coulter’s voice. I just thought Meghan McCain had more class than that.

What’s next, criticizing Coulter for wearing a miniskirt? OH MY GOD!

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this guy! (Adam from Idol) I might actually BUY real music, as long as he didn’t do a shiteous CD. If it’s tunes from Rent or Les Mis, I’ll pass. But have this guy make some Whitesnakish, Metallica-licious type stuff, and I’m there.

I don’t understand why one of my two favorite writers can’t stand him. That would be Dave White, who writes THE snarkiest, most wonderful stuff. More than the actual American Idol (and I do love singing and dancing competitions with happy endings), I look(ed) forward to White’s write-ups of the show on Advocate.com. Now The Advocate has promoted him and no more Idol. He’s writing a very VERY condensed version on Out.com. Out, please give Dave White more inches! (Okay, flashback to my newspaper days and I confess I miss screaming that at reporters….I need ten inches! What can I say, I’m 12.)

Good job on the finale of The L Word, though. I totally agree….

Now here’s where it gets weird. I have two columns that I look forward to more than anything. Dave’s column on Idol, and Ann Coulter’s weekly column. I’m not sure Ann would appreciate being written about in the same post with Advocate and Out, but what the heck. Actually, I think she’d enjoy the irony. She HAS a sense of humor, one of the best actually. Too bad people are so narrow-minded they can’t give her a chance.

And that brings me to Dave White. If he saw his name mentioned with Ann Coulter, he’d probably not see the funny in that, and kill himself.

Can’t we all get along?

Now I never got to express my great devastation that Ongina was kicked off Ru Paul’s Drag Race. ONGINA! I loved her, especially that sassy little hat. I want one. I totally agree with Dave’s assessment of Logo Channel….it’s screwed up. I have a difficult time even recording every week’s show, and I LOVE THIS SHOW.

Anyway, I think I want Shannel to win. They’re all great (GREAT!), but I really am in love with Shannel.

I’d really like to see the tour show, but 1. I’m averse to crowds and 2. they would once again mistake me for a tranny and I’d get my feelings hurt.

A great night would be an evening show of Ann Coulter, followed by Ru Paul’s drag queens.

And then I wonder why everyone hates me. I play both sides. (not in THAT way….I almost let that go just to start MORE rumors about me, but I like the one about me being a member of the Gambino clan better…I want that one to continue and a new rumor would detract. I get a tingle up my leg when people tell lies about me, because it proves they’re friggin stupid.)

p.s. I also really adore Charles Krauthammer, among others. And he’s a psychiatrist.

So, the final rundown:

Liberals would hate me because I’m pro gun, pro death penalty, not crazy about Obama (he’s from my state y’all, he wasn’t so good and I can actually remember HOW he got elected…not pretty) and so on.

My colleagues would have very harsh words because I greatly admire a :::horrors::: psychiatrist. Actually a few of them. Me.Bad.

Conservatives are a little more open minded (I NEVER thought I’d say that…damn), even though they would disagree with a lot of my views, such as abortion, gay rights, stem cells and some social liberalism. But oddly, they’ve been the most tolerant of me. No one has ever called me a baby killer. How odd is that? The world is mixed up.

This just about made me cry.

I’m planning a hiking trip to the homeland, which is the Shawnee Forest of (extreme) Southern Illinois. I’m trying to get an idea of when my precious dogwoods will be in bloom, because honestly, there is nothing as beautiful as the forest when the dogwoods (and redbuds a couple of weeks before that) are in bloom.

Out, you dastardly fungus! Stay away from my dogwoods, damn you! Seriously, this was like reading my best friend from grade school had died. I’m hurt.

When I lived in the forest (more precisely, on the edge…the forest began in my backyard and I could hike forever), one week a year was OVER THE MOON GLORY for me. That’s when the dogwoods bloomed. I had them in my front and back yards and everywhere around me. It was like a fairy land. That one week a year was pure nirvana, and I clipped branches and filled my home with them.

Anyway, every spring I say I’m going to get there for the dogwoods and I don’t. This year I must. They’ve been calling me since I moved. Yes, I’ve seen the beautiful blooming cherry trees in Washington, DC a zillion times. Dude, those are NOTHING compared to the dogwoods. I swear.

If nothing else, I’m going home and driving down to see my blooms. And if there’s time, I MUST hike a mile trail that scares everyone and go into the swamps. I miss those swamps, too.

Little Black Slough and Heron Pond. You drive into nowhere land, stop at this old gas station for a Nehi (yes!), talk with the old timers sitting on the porch, and every time they warn me, “Don’t go in there by yourself. People never come outta there. It’s full of rattlers.”

Um, okay. I’ve never seen a rattlesnake the many times I’ve hiked it. I’ve dragged so many people back there with me, and nobody gets it but me. It’s just special. These are the northernmost cypress (endangered - don’t use cypress mulch, please!) in the country. There are some floaty bridges out into the swamps and last time I was there, some of those floaty bridges didn’t even have railings. That’s creepy but fun.

I’m sure if you fell in, a swamp monster would swallow you up and you truly would disappear. The swamp water is all mucky and full of green icky stuff, and I like to find long sticks and poke in there, to see if a monster grabs it.

The cypress knees stick out of the swamps, and it’s just like something out of a movie….it never fails to take away my breath. That’s how beautiful it is.

And it’s kind of dark in there, because the canopy is so thick. If this were Florida, you’d be eaten by a gator for sure, but no gators in Illinois. Just rattlers, and I’ve never seen one there. Supposedly people really have gone in there and never come back, but I think that’s just lore.

I’m breathless just thinking about going.