Motley Moose – Archive

Wonkette, I have a sort of love-hate relationship with. Part of that love, was perhaps due to Ana Marie Cox as Editor. I will not deny part of that love was due to the fact that she is a stone cold fox, bright as hell, and the tone she brought to the site was doppel-sessy.

But, since Cox left to pursue other things, the site has continued in the tradition that she set for them.

Recently though, there has been an undercurrent not just of discomfort, but just sheer nastiness that isn’t just Interwebs snark, but just plain mean-spiritedness.

I point to a recent bit on Meghan McCain, as a bellwether for sites to miss larger points in a rush to mock folks as a matter of course.  

One of my fellow union members wrote this piece on an anniversary that has been somewhat overshadowed.

Jim Robinson isn’t what you’d call the brightest bulb in the box. In addition to his tacit support of the Wing Nut Brigade’s most virulent and least intellectual elements–including the pleasant gentleman who shot a guard at the Holocaust Museum and his support of the Truthers and Tea Party nonsense–he’s decided now that more direct action is necessary.  

Montazeri issues a fatwa.

Things in Iran have gotten interesting.  With Montazeri making such a bold statement, and Rafsanjani scheduled to make his first public statement in weeks, it is a new stage in the Iran situation.

The NYT is running a similar story from their Asia desk.

News outlets have died down with their coverage, with news trickling down to bare commentary, but like the revolution that catapulted the current Ayatollahs into power, this struggle for power within Iran is taking time. Especially given that the protesters aren’t calling for a change in the system, but demanding it live up to the ideals that it’s declared.

To catch folks up The Green Brief is dang handy.  

Top Ten Reasons to Make Gay Marriage Illegal

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Massachusetts is finally challenging DoMA

It’s interesting, in the full Chinese curse sense, that so many Republicans have turned from conservation and environmental protection. Especially, when you see one of my State Senators, Sylvia Allan, in full wing nut mode.

I especially like the 6000 years that the Earth’s been here. Which is perhaps where we have some of the divide.  

Candye Kane I’ve plugged before. She is one heck of a performer. Porn star, punk rocker, alt-country/Jazz/Blues chanteuse, and now cancer survivor.

Her career is getting back on track, and she’s been in the studio working furiously, but in the midst of all the hubbabalaloo with Iran, North Korea, Somali pirates, and health care, I thought it might nice to highlight something maybe a little quieter.  Though, perhaps in the light of the recent events in Iran, matters of the spirit are maybe not out of order.

I’m not posting her picture. I’ve seen her image and the footage of her death enough already to have it cemented in my head, and I suspect that many of you have already as well. If you haven’t, and still want to chase it down, I trust that folks are skillful enough, and that search engines will guide you.

I choose a different graphic. It isn’t out of respect for delicate sympathies, it isn’t out of denigration for her sacrifice. It is chosen because there are a multitude of images that can be taken and used as symbol for this moment. I choose to commemorate this moment with its potential blossom, and its hope.  

There has been some lively debate about this young woman. The crass way that CNN has robbed her death of dignity, even validity with their coverage and the ambiguity that they have hidden behind without their official stamp of “if it ain’t been seen by a journalism grad and vetted by an editor, it ain’t happened” is one arena for argument.

There is likewise a question of her being a hero to a revolution that has yet to be named, or even truly declared. There is not much question of the tragedy of her death, the reason for it, and certainly the drive to turn this young woman into a something far greater than the tragedy of a young woman cut down.  

I will preface this with the fact that I have rarely been a fan of Jeffrey Rosen’s work, and cackle with no small amount of glee at the news from Wonkette…

Lisa Pond died alone. She collapsed on a cruise ship, and her partner and three kids who followed the ambulance weren’t allowed to see her.  And while there are some who argue that it wasn’t homophobia that kept this family apart in extremis, it can certainly be argued that a lack of compassion and a lack of empathy did…

Full credit for the article above to Joan Gerry of Lambda Legal.

Thanks to TheAdvocate for the picture