Quote of the Week
“Most people find their other half. I just have to wake up and accept, already, that maybe there is no other half for me.”
-Robert Barone (Brad Garrett), “Everybody Loves Raymond”
Archived entries for
Just that chance
Say what you want about Keith Olbermann. But he says things no one else is willing to say.
That’s sad. But thank goodness we have Keith Olbermann.
Common sense on Prop. 8
In all the brouhaha over the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which enshrines discrimination in the state’s Constitution by denying gay people the ability to marry, it’s easy to forget that the liberal hero Barack Obama has been able to quietly assert that he’s against gay marriage because of his Christian faith.
Hmmm. As the Church Lady would say, “conveeeeenient.” And ironic to boot.
But the fact remains that even liberal stalwarts can’t seem to find the words to defend something that for their “base” seems so easy to defend. So I’m going to repeat something I wrote for Hillary Clinton in 2003, when she was having some problems explaining exactly why she didn’t support gay people getting married. If anything it’s more relevant today, now that Californians haven’t let the futures of thousands of happily-married gay people stop them from voting discrimination into their state’s founding document.
Why can’t Democratic politicians just say:
I think what’s important here is to understand the difference between civil and religious marriage. Religious marriage is a sacrament, and I don’t believe the government has any business telling any religion who they can and cannot marry. If the government ever made any kind of move to force any church to marry anyone they did not want to, I would be on the front lines protesting that.
But civil marriage is not a sacrament. It is simply a legal contract that’s enforced by the state that confers rights on the citizens who enter into that contract. I believe Americans are a fundamentally fair people. And this is about fairness – allowing people who want to enter into committed relationships, relationships that strengthen the society, to get the rights conferred by civil marriage.
There’s a lot of talk about civil unions these days – trying to create a system alongside civil marriage that would involve the same rights. But why create a new system, a new bureaucracy, to try to simulate something already in place? Is that fair? I don’t think it is. “Separate but equal” didn’t work in the civil rights era, and it doesn’t work here. I know there are a lot of Americans who are uncomfortable with homosexuality. But that unease shouldn’t be enough reason to deny basic rights to citizens of the United States of America.
See? That wasn’t so hard.
Warm and fuzzy
Last night, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had two of my favorite people on as guests: Paul Rudd and Rachel Maddow, respectively. When I see either of them, I just smile, and I’m filled with warm and fuzzy feelings. I want them to move in with me and be my friends.
Oh, and we have a new President. That’s cool, too. 
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
Looking for something to distract you in these last 48 hours before the election? I would recommend DVDs of “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist,” an animated series from the late 90s with a fantastically dry, droll sense of humor. Tons of comics appear as the patients, including Joy Behar, Stephen Wright, Ray Romano and Dave Atell. It’s an antidote to the hyper, non-sequitur, pop-culture-saturated animation of things like “Family Guy” and “South Park.” I’ve watched the first season, and I feel better already.