I Can Haz Blog Post?

Via Salon, an interesting take on the bizarre lolcat phenomenon.

Choice cut:

What makes lolcats different from the cat porn of the past -- the motivational posters of the '70s and '80s featuring furry kittens hanging from tree limbs, covered in toilet paper or in some other kind of adorable predicament -- is that lolcats aren't trying to be cute. In the cat-based imagery of ages past, cats retain their iconic traits: curiosity, skittishness, the tendency to curl up in a ball and just lie there. Even the YouTube cats of today perform characteristically catlike actions, repeatedly flushing toilets, dragging their paws along piano keys or getting flung off the ends of treadmills.

Lolcats are different in that the characters they portray -- and yes, they are portraying characters -- don't represent cats at all. They're a completely different kind of beast, mischievous (if incompetent) rascals, scheming for cheeseburgers and stopping at nothing to get them.

Take the lolcat that started it all, created by a Hawaiian blogger named Eric Nakagawa, who posted it in January 2007. The image features a cat with a crazed look of pure animal hunger, its eyes maniacal with desire, asking, "I can has cheezburger?" Underneath is the comment: "The Internet's piece de resistance, the website's raison d'etre."

This ur-lolcat created such a sensation that Nakagawa turned it into a blog, spawning not only the eponymous Web site but also a whole mythology. The cheezburger has become the Philosopher's Stone of the lolcats mythos -- the most prized, cherished and elusive object in their universe.

Girls Will Be Boys And Boys Will Be Girls

In this thoughtful, even-handed essay, The Atlantic's Hanna Rosin leads us through the heart-wrenching mine field of gender dysphoria in kids. 

In my few months of meeting transgender children, I talked to parents from many different backgrounds, who had made very different decisions about how to handle their children. Many accepted the “new normalcy” line, and some did not. But they all had one thing in common: in such a loaded situation, with their children’s future at stake, doubt about their choices did not serve them well. In Brandon’s case, for example, doubt would force Tina to consider that if she began letting him dress as a girl, she would be defying the conventions of her small town, and the majority of psychiatric experts, who advise strongly against the practice. It would force her to consider that she would have to begin making serious medical decisions for Brandon in only a couple of years, and that even with the blockers, he would face a lifetime of hormone injections and possibly major surgery. At the conference, Tina struggled with these doubts. But her new friends had already moved past them.

“Yeah, it is fixable,” piped up another mom, who’d been on the 20/20 special. “We call it the disorder we cured with a skirt.”

Schadenfreude X

Okay, just for old times' sake, one last post on the friction between McCranky and Bible Spice:

And this from Washington Monthly:

'WASILLA HILLBILLIES LOOTING NEIMAN MARCUS'.... There's plenty of time for the Republican recriminations to get completely out of hand, but in the meantime, would you believe McCain campaign aides are still fighting over Sarah Palin's wardrobe?

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family -- clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards.

The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Also yesterday, Steve Schmidt refused to say that adding Palin to the ticket was a good idea, and someone dished to Newsweek that McCain "rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign."

The point here isn't whether the Palin family behaved like "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus"; the point is that these reports suggest Palin will get the blame for much of what went wrong.

It started with McCain aides calling her a "diva," and progressed to at least one aide calling her a "whack job." Now she's a "Wasilla hillbilly"?

McCain's team couldn't destroy Obama, but they can certainly ruin Palin's future.

And with that, I bid adieu.

The Terrible Aftermath Of Obama's Victory

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Beam Me Down

The goofiest moment of the election yesterday:

California Non Grata

As gleeful as I was last night, I'm pissed and irritated today. I failed to manage my expectations and assumed we'd see a rout. Instead I awake today to find out that Alaskan senator Ted Stevens will likely hang onto his seat, the Smith-Merkley race is too close to call, Franken will probably lose in Minnesota, and worse, much worse, disgustingly worse, California has voted Yes on Prop 8. 

California. 

Let that sink in.

A state which has for years symbolized progressive ideas, a state which has offered port in the storm for us freaks who couldn't bear life in the sad hamlets of the midwest, south and plains states, a state which is home to San Francisco and Los Angeles, voted to deny a portion of the populace the right to marry the loves of their lives. They voted to create a second class of citizens. 

This is sickening to me. 

I'm angry at myself for inflated expectations. I'm angry at the corrupt crazies of the LDS church who butted their Salt Lake-encrusted noses into their neighboring state's business. But mostly I'm angry at California for acceding to such a petty and vindictive proposition. 

Shame on you. (And say goodbye to my tourist dollars.)

New York Celebrates

East Village:



St. Marks & Ave. A, NYC:

h/t: Daily Dish

Bizarro World

This morning Bush follows McCain's lead. Defying generations' worth of expectations, graciousness appears to be breaking out among Republicans. Welcome to the Obama era.

The Long, Strange Trip

A look back in six minutes:

Our Stories Are Singular…

But our destiny is shared.

President Obama

Just let it roll off the tongue.

Woo Hoo!

Never has a song been so perfect for a moment:



h/t: Daily Dish

We Fucking Did It!

Wow. I'm sitting here in my freshly-empty living room processing the night. I'm dying to go to news sites and other blogs to catch their coverage, but feel the need to post unadulterated, unfiltered. thoughts first.

I'm seriously overcome with emotion and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm writing this through tears. We did it, people! We did it. We helped elect the 44th president of the United States of America. And not just any president, but a a smart president, a president with a unique blend of brains, heart, and gut to lead this country through one of its darkest hours. 

Oh, yes we can. Fuck, yeah, we can. We just did!

First impressions of the candidates:

John McCain was as gracious in defeat as I'd hoped he'd be on the trail. I'm pretty sure he showed his true colors tonight, not only conceding, but doing so with grace and asking his supporters to do the same. I teared up watching his speech, not only because I can imagine how difficult it must have been for him and his supporters, but also because we live in a country where such a thing is possible. 

Really. There are still many places in the world where such a thing could never happen. I'm proud and I'm grateful.

So thank you Senator McCain for a beautiful, gracious, honorable concession speech. 

As for President-Elect Obama, his speech was gorgeous as well. Perfect for the moment. As eloquent and magnanimous as we've come to expect. I admit I can't remember much of it since the moment of its delivery was so beautifully surreal, but I can recall the way that his words resonated through the spirits of those of us here tonight. 

Thank you, sir, for taking a chance on this country. For recognizing that the moment was ripe. For striking while the iron was hot. For putting yourself and your family through the ringer to help move this country forward. 

I'm so fucking proud and so fucking happy for myself, my friends, and my country right now, I can hardly speak. 

It's a new day, America. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Audacity Of Hope

It's funny, I can remember sitting in my tiny, second-floor office at the BRI in late 2003 reading about this guy in Illinois, this hyper-eloquent state senator—a black man living in Chicago—who was winning over largely-white crowds in rural southern Illinois during his race for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat. I remember thinking this is a guy to keep an eye on. Not long after that, in the fall of 2004, someone in the Democratic party had the good sense to give him the keynote speech slot, and Barack Obama was introduced to a national audience.

I think it's worth reviewing the video of that speech today:

It's remarkable how thematically consistent he has been throughout his career. (That bit about about there being no red and blue America—starting around 13:30 or so—gets me every fucking time.)

Y'All Fired Up?

The story behind Obama's famous call and response chant:

h/t John Javna

Dwellers On The Threshold

A strange calm hangs over most regions of the political blogosphere today. I'm feeling it myself. I'd expected to feel excited on this election eve—anxious, nervous—something. Instead, I just feel…something between numbness and calm. 

We are on a precipice of history—the threshold of a new and potentially uplifting era. Tomorrow will be one of the more important dates in American electoral history, probably the most important one of our lives. We, as a country, stand on the edge of a cliff—in less than 24 hours we'll know whether we've decided to plunge further into darkness or take flight into the bright light of a new world. 

Sleep well, my friends. Carry hope into your dreams. Can we move another step closer to fulfilling the promise of our collective birthright? 

Yes. We. Can. 

*****

P.S. Yeah, the prose is a little purple, but, hey, how often does a moment like this one come along in a man's life? 

What Hil Fans Couldn't See

And McCain apparently never got either:

Obama Has What It Takes (and It's Not What You Think It Is)

To me at least, Barack Obama doesn’t do that convincing an impression of Major General Siad Barre the scientific socialist, or any other kind of socialist—or, as Obama’s enjoying saying lately, a Communist who shared his toys in kindergarten. He’s much more convincing as Machiavelli.

Which, if you’re a Democrat, you like about him. You like that he’s ruthless and cunning. You like that he can answer the rhetorical question floated by Richard Ben Cramer’s campaign classic, What It Takes: It takes amorality. If you’re an Obama supporter, you’ve been saying to yourself, “It’s about time we had a Democrat who can beat the Republicans at their own game. Who’ll grin like Reagan while brawling like Nixon.” Niccolo Machiavelli—he was all about the happy warrior, and that’s Obama, and that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

Anyone who really paid attention to the guy knew that he could play a cutthroat game with the best of them. It's a big part of my early support. Heart in the right place and willing to pull out the sword to defend it. 

Another Day, Another Obamacon Endorsement

Paleocon Daniel Larison ponders the Obamacon phenomenon:

Everyone who is voting Obama to punish the GOP thinks that there is some small chance that the GOP might change its ways. The diversity of views among Obamacons reflects how many different future directions are expected, guaranteeing that many will be disappointed, but it also reflects how badly the GOP has failed on multiple fronts that it is simultaneously losing so many prominent and obscure Catholic pro-lifers, libertarians, foreign policy realists, moderates and small-government conservatives, among others, to a Democratic nominee who genuinely is the most liberal of any they have had since 1972.  

Under normal circumstances, a vote for Obama ought to be unthinkable for almost all of the people on the right who have endorsed him, but the GOP has failed so badly that it has made the unthinkable mundane and ordinary. It’s reaching a point where the report of another Obamacon endorsement is no more remarkable than when the leaves start falling in autumn. Far more important in the aftermath than coming up with new and amusing ways to mock the Obama endorsers is an effort to understand and remedy the profound failures that made this phenomenon possible before a major realignment does occur.

I feel for him, I really do.

How Do You Know She's A Witch?

This video has a hint.

Happy Belated Halloween

A little late, perhaps, but how could I not share the creepiest. ad. ever.?