Gay Pride, Once Again, A Backward Stride

I’m not that much of a prude, the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago actually looks kind of fun.  But if their mission is to get people (not already open or tolerant of gays) to be more tolerant, they are missing their mark.  In fact, it probably moves the Gay Civil Rights movement back long before the days of the “Twinkie defense.”

The actual name of the Gay Pride Parade has been re-branded to the “Annual Pride Parade”.  As if they wanted to hide the fact that there could be a few gays showing up to and walking in the parade.  It is the 42^nd Annual Parade of its type in Chicago, which also makes no sense to me because if they re-branded it a few years ago, the numbers should start over, right?

The photo I took of the television summarizes everything that pops up in both the minds of gays and heterosexuals.  Especially, the minds of the heterosexuals they are aiming to gain support from.  I was a child of the 70’s and a teenager of the 80’s.  I have gay and lesbian friends and relatives.  I am aware of the issues and I am fully supportive of all of the rights this group deserves and their struggle to gain those rights.  But if their mission of selling their bill of rights to populations that don’t understand or are just ignorant of the issues, the guy dancing around in tights and a tutu, isn’t going to carry that message. 

During the parade, Terry Hemmert of WXRT, 93.1fm, stated that “we are all one people”.  And she is partly right, but gays won’t be able to feel that oneness until they stop having guys in tights and black tutus doing their PR work for them. (I say "partly" right because I believe that the gay population is much more diverse than the public and gay community gives themselves credit for.  It would be nice if we as humans could be one people, so that is why I partly agree with her) We all become one by being able to integrate our society.  By being able to fit in with what is morally appropriate in public to both children and adults.  The activities that carry on in that parade are strictly for adults.  It goes beyond acceptance and having an opened mind.  And again, it looks like a great time.  Everyone there should be able to express themselves and the exaggerations of their culture as long as it doesn’t cross legal limits.  Let me be clear, it isn’t for children. 

I grew up in a time where gays had to hide who they were.  My neighbors, both in their mid 70’s at the time, were lesbians who fell in love long before I ever moved into their neighborhood.  And although they didn’t have certain rights that I wish they could have had, they did have the luxury of being able to be accepted by all of the other neighbors by being morally appropriate.  Yes, they could have thrown their own pride parade and danced around the yard in leather bikinis, oiling themselves up and waving rainbow flags around, but those of us who didn’t understand, would have shunned them.  They represent the millions of gays and lesbians who don’t participate in these types of events because they know it only hurts their struggle to be free. 

I’ve had this discussion before.  And my gay and lesbian friends (usually the much younger ones, not committed in a relationship) often say that it’s about expression.  The exaggerations of gay and lesbian culture are pushed beyond the limit for the purpose of feeling free.  And my ongoing statement is that is all fun and good, and you have the right to do it.  But if in 100 years, gays are still in the same place with much of the same population that mistreats them today, they might need to look at these types of events and the unrealistic image it portrays. 

Bill Maher: A.K.A.: Richie the Rich

The only reason I ever tune in to watch “Real Time with Bill Maher” (or any other crappy liberal program) is so that I can be ready for the ridiculousness that my liberal peers will come up with or try to find a curve ball to throw at my conservative friends.  I watch it as objectively as I do any right slanted/conservative slanted program, but much more often than not, I am witness to shallow liberal tactics (i.e. name calling, leaving out facts, changing facts to get a better applause from a misinformed audiences) and thinking that goes no deeper than the baby pool of politics. 

Once in a blue moon, shows like this will give me some ammunition.  I actually pride myself in being a conservative who can throw it back at my republican friends.  Every once in a while I will actually find a nugget that can give me the edge in making a point they haven’t thought of.  Again, these nuggets are few.  Liberal philosophy is so erratic, that I rarely have a nugget to challenge anyone with.  Last week’s episode of Bill Maher left me just as unarmed as most weeks.  But the nuggets of hypocrisy were ample. 

It amazes me how talk show hosts and newscasters like to refer to “rich people” and “the media” in general, as if they aren’t talking about themselves.  It would be like me writing a blog on “those crazy humans” and how they have such a silly compulsion for sleeping, eating and breathing just to get through the day. 

Bill Maher repeatedly took the recent Tim Pawlenty budget plan out of context and kept referring to the "huge tax breaks for rich people.”  Maher tends to go on and on with his conspiratorial connection between the republicans and so called “rich people.”   What Maher and his team of intern researchers bothered to look up, or even mention, is that the tax breaks that Pawlenty has proposed aren’t set up to benefit the rich, they are proposed to benefit everyone. 

Pawlenty proposes drops in just about every type of tax you can think of, including those pesky people making under $100,000 a year.   Yes, Bill, (as if he is reading this) even the poor people fall into that range. 

But if you can’t tell already, what really steams my bean is the continued references by Maher about “Rich People”.  Comment after comment about the rotten rich people was followed by the zombie-like thunderous applause of his audience.   Maher has learned quite well that you can always add to the uproar by accenting your sarcasm with a well placed “F” or “C” bomb.  

As I watched, I wondered.  A simple question, an obvious question.  Doesn’t Bill Maher know he is rich?  I guess when you make that much money, buy all that cool stuff and hang out with all those other rich people it is easy to forget you are rich too.  I guess it wouldn’t be as funny of a show if he realized who he really was.  Instead, he has plenty of fictitious material to use for his overly enthusiastic audience.    

Sarah Palin Email Debacle Is Now A "Fecal Matter"

[From French Press Reporter, B.M. Merde] As it turns out Sarah Palin's 25,000 emails have all been meticulously perused with a fine tooth comb only to turn up... nothing.  The results aren't "sitting well" with many Palin opposers according to Hugh Jass, Op-Ed writer for the Washington Post.  He went on to remark: "We had an assload of information and we've turned up nothing but a few lines about a tanning bed, it's a 'real boot in the goose', so to speak." 

But the sifting isn't over for both The New York Times and Washington Post who have been given exclusive access to Palin's private restroom at her residence in Wasilla, Alaska.  Even more shocking, through a court order, both have been given full access to Palin's actual private toilet and any accompanying public sewage.  Information being "leaked" about the investigation speculates that both teams of reporters plan on checking every "nut and kernel" they come across. 

New York Times Executive Editor, Carl Hott commented "We really can't wait to get our hands dirty and get down to the nitty gritty on this matter."  He further stated, "Palin lacks transparency, and we plan to get to the bottom of this if we have to rub our faces in it." 

This investigation is part of an ongoing "movement" among Democratic Party supporters who have been rumbling about Palin being repeatedly "plunged" from accountability by Republican Party supporters.

More on this, and "the end" to the story once everyone has has a chance to "digest" these recent developments...