Goodnight, Sweet Prince - An Ode to Batting Left and Throwing Right

I will be selfish for one paragraph and whine about how the way-too-early death of Doghouse Riley has ruined my reading life.  The only writer who comes close to him is Charlie Pierce, mostly because Pierce is not afraid to lob insults.  Doghouse was (and always will be), my blogging Pole Star.  His is the example I try to attain.  I want my writing to "sound" like his.  I want to be right about everything the way he was.  I want to understand everything about the writing he leaves behind for us, because he nailed the blogging form down.  Whether he had only a quick quip or a rambling, autobiographical revelation, he knew how to write so people would stop clicking.

Doghouse's great talent was in knowing what was so wrong about the right-wing and everything they say and do in the first place.  Whenever Tom Friedman or David Brooks opened their mouths, their euphemisms and half-truths always sounded good, even if in the end I could just feel that their conclusions were dead wrong.  But Doghouse always knew how to cut right through their bullshit.  He knew what they were omitting, wrongly assuming, outright lying about, or reversing their opinions on without admitting they were wrong before.

And he had the moral courage to be pissed at these motherfuckers.  When bullshit (also known as Iraq War Commentary) was broadcasted on international television and got thousands killed, it was Doghouse who held up their hands and said "Can't you motherfuckers see all the motherfucking blood all over these hands??!?!?!?!?"  When the Emperor paraded down the street buck naked, it was Doghouse who howled with laughter at the Emperor's arrogance.  And his subjects' cowardice.

Because Doghouse knew, and pointed out constantly, that these motherfuckers couldn't get anywhere near legislation, or even a podium, without the willing acquiescence of not just right-wingers everywhere, but everyone unwilling or unable to see through the bullshit.  Sure, harping on racist politicians is fun. But someone needs to point out when that racism is by popular demand.  Ripping a new one on a leader helping the rich get richer is easy.  Attacking, brutally, our own smug assumptions of how our good livings indicate that we are better people is thankless.  In right-wing land, even the poor believe in tax cuts for the wealthy because the wealthy have repeatedly told the poor that's the only way they'll get any job. And the poor have been unwilling to even try to contest it, mostly because it melds so well with their fear that somewhere, somehow, a black guy is living off of them.   Someone needs to fucking tell the Emperor's subjects to laugh at the naked guy in the middle of the street.  Because the Emperor only gets away with this bullshit because his subjects let him.

I'm going to blog more often.  You can read or not.

giddiness

christ that guy looks and acts like a president from the very first night. i love the reference to MLK's last speech- "I promise you, we as a people will get there". it's a new bright fucking day in fucking america. and there was even oprah.
oh to watch all those blue states pop up- hahahahahahaha! oh, sweet sweet payback. oh, to know that fox noise is in pain, bitter pain. i hope kristol is curled up in his closet in the fetal position, sobbing.
and it's not just obama. it's the house, it's the senate, it's a governor's mansion. it's lizzy dole going home to north carolina. it's joe lieberman wondering what the fuck he's gonna do now. it's the sad reality that the only demographic the republican party can reliably get is white, christian, straight males and male-servers. it's pro-choice victory. it's medical marijuana. it's dying as you choose, not some retarded bastard's decision who can't tell the difference between someone dying in agony and someone otherwise healthy in a wheelchair.
yes, there are some dark spots. we don't know if the senate will add a professional comedian to the amateurs already there, and norm coleman will have to stay the fuck home. i'm pretty sure prop 8 will succeed. i expected this shit from goddamned alabama- not california. but you know what- long term, i'm encouraged on gay marriage. we've gone from 1968, when gays risked death, even in liberal cities, by coming out, to 2008, when almost a majority wants full equality in marriage rights. we'll get there. obama promised.