fighting the wrong war.

I stole this from AndrewSullivan.com -- a man who once claimed to be conservative, but I'm not seeing it anymore. He stole this from the Boston Globe:

QUOTE FOR THE DAY: "We have now had one year of legal same-sex marriage in our state. Despite predictions, we have not witnessed any threat to so-called 'traditional marriage.' There has not been an attack on family, and almost all would admit that very little has changed. In fact, however, something has changed. Many of our citizens have experienced the joy of marriage for the first time where the laws of our state have said, 'You are equal.' We have seen that joy in our son. To take that away would be an injustice. It would be devastating for our family and the real values we believe family should represent.
After seven years in a committed relationship, our son and his partner exchanged vows in front of 125 friends and family members. It brought home the reality that marriage is about two people who love each other and who desire to commit to a life together. We now realize how far our entire family has come in 12 years. Those hopes and dreams we had for our son prior to June 1993 have, in fact, now been realized. What more could we have wished for than to have our son find happiness and share his life with someone he loves?" - the parents of a gay son.

My solution to the whole "sanctity" issue of marriage is a simple one, really. It goes like this:

All right, right-wingers, you want to protect the institution of marriage as sacrosanct? Fine. You want to keep government out of marriage, as you so often say? Ditto. Then let's start be repealing any and all tax breaks enjoyed by married couples.

Seriously.

Put your money where your mouths are -- and those mouths are typically wide open, bleating the Karl Rove talking points into any microphone nearby -- forsake your cushy tax breaks that single folks like me have never experience. Hey, after all, you have two incomes (usually) upon which to rely. I have one income. I make my rent payments, my car payments, my insurance payments, my TAXES, hell, I even pay for your kids to go to public schools (which I do, gladly). And you don't hear me crying for my tax break. I'm only happy to pay my fair share.

Since you believe marriage is simply a relationship between you, your opposite sex spouse and God, then go all the way with it and demand from your boy Dubya that he revoke ALL tax incentives for marriage.

Hmmm?

Not going to do that? Of course not.

Then shut the fuck up about gay couples getting married.

this notion that they are somehow soiling this sanctimonious event is pure horse shit. Marriage exists in two realms. For some, it truly is a sacrament and I respect that. For others, they choose to go the secular route and get married by a justice of the peace. Is their marriage any less special? Nope. Not in the eyes of God or the government.

Face it, Christian Coalitioners, you just don't like gays. You want to shun them from society. For years you blathered on about their deviant lifestyles and how they were not like "normal" people. You'd point at drag queens and San Francisco gay pride parades as proof positive.

Then we saw the cultural shift. Society finally began to realize that gays are really like you and me. Why? Because they ARE you and me. They just want to lead a normal life and not have to closet what they feel. And who the fuck are you to tell them otherwise?

Live and let live.

Mind your fucking business.

While you're busy fighting a battle with gays in America, your sons and daughters are getting killed in Iraq and Afghanistan over a lie; a bright and shining lie. Yet gay marriage was high on the list in the last election.

You were had.

You fought the wrong war and re-elected a right wing puppet.

And now the fruits of your labor are coming to bear.

Congratulations.

liberal celebs and the blog.

I may have to retire this page. Arianna Huffington's done-gone and put up a blog full of other blogs and stuff. I have only given it a cursory read, but so far it's all good.

I know there was a prevailing belief -- and not an unwarranted one, at that -- that The Huffington Post (as it's titled) would just be a steady stream of Dubya-hating celebs teeing off on the Liberator in Chief. Sure, perhaps that's the not-so-subtle subtext. But to be fair, them liberal bloggers are speaking to the issues du j'our (as wells as yester j'our):

* John Bolton
* Gay Marriage
* Hunter S. Thompson (The S stands for suicide-committing fuckwit, IMHO)

And so on.

It's an easy punchline, really, when celebs stand up to speak. I know the line. I've said the line. But let's be fair. It's not as though they are leading the liberal charge. Yes, Warren Beatty and Larry David have a lot more money than the DailyKos, but that doesn't mean they're on the island by themselves.

It wasn't so long ago that liberals laughed at the idea of a conservative grassroots movement. Well, that movement took root like a nasty weed that turned many a state red in the past three elections. Thanks to Terry McAuliffe for choosing to smooch Michael Moore's ass instead of building a network in the South, Midwest and Plains states, the liberal voice was drowned out by talk radio and a certain "fair and balanced" news channel.

I'm not saying the Huffington Post is going to be a leader in progressive thought. Hardly, in my view. But hopefully it'll start undoing the damage of a complacent Democratic party for the 20 years who were afraid to challenge those who call liberals 'evil'.

It's time to undo the fear of the conservative movement. To tell the truth about:

* "Activist" judges
* "Liberal media elite"
* the Christian right and its president on a leash

If the HuffingtonPost avoids the cheap shots that derailed John Kerry's bid for the presidency, perhaps it'll at least equal the volume of conservative rhetoric. But true liberal leadership is going to have to come from somebody higher up the food chain. Let's hope Howard Dean doesn't let the tail wag the dog.