31 October 2009: Halloween, Part Two
I woke up this morning and, when I looked in the mirror, I saw my father staring back at me. First, it scared the living daylights out of me. And then it just made me sad.
30 October 2009: Halloween, Part One
Students at the University of Kansas frequently tell me that, on first meeting me, they find me intimidating and scary. And so, with Halloween coming up, I guess there is no need for me to look for Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, Michele Bachmann, Joe Lieberman, or Liz and Dick Cheney “two-for-the-price-of-one” face masks. I’ll just…
28 October 2009: Joe Lieberman, Pray For Us!
So who says Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has no loyalty when it comes to how he’ll vote on health care reform if it includes a public option? He’s loyal to all the insurance companies in Connecticut who have been contributing to his campaign funds for as long as…
27 October 2009: Levi Johnston Unzips For Christmas!
The Huffington Post reports that Levi Johnston, the 19-year-old stud muffin who fathered Sarah Palin’s illegitimate grandson, has been hitting the gym in Anchorage three hours a day, six nights a week. He’s getting ready for his huge unveiling in Playgirl magazine. The shoot is scheduled to take place in mid-November, so the pictures will…
26 October 2009: Speak English…Or Else!
Dallas police officers issued 38 citations in the past three years to drivers not only for traffic violations but also because they were “non-English speaking.” It isn’t clear from the news report exactly what these traffic violations were, and why knowledge of English might be important or even crucial. Perhaps the drivers could not decipher…
25 October 2009: Movies About Dead White Women
The Sunday New York Times lists recent bio-pics which have been made about Dead White Women, among them Julia Child, Edith Piaf, Amelia Earhart, Fanny Brawne, Coco Chanel, Virginia Woolf, Queen Victoria. On the planning stage are movies about Dusty Springfield and Janis Joplin. I could add a great many other worthy subjects to the…
Embracing or Erasing Race?
In the bad old days, where racism is concerned, even though they frequently wore white hoods to cover up their faces, we knew exactly who our enemies were. In public, they were unafraid to call us “Nigger” and all its equivalents–“Chink,” “Jap,” “Gook,” “Flip,” “Spic,” “Wop,” “Kike,” “Polack,” ad nauseam. Then came the Age of Political…
16 October 2009: The Kansas Hall of Shame
According to the morning paper, Kansas Republican State. Rep. Bill Otto ranted for nearly three minutes against President Obama at a recent legislative meeting, then later posted a YouTube video of himself singing an anti-Obama “Redneck Rap” while wearing a hat that said, “OPOSSUM, the other dark meat.” At the end of his song, Otto points to his hat and says again,…
14 October 2009: Snowe Job
After months of being wooed, Sen. Olympia Snowe was the only Republican lawmaker who voted in committee yesterday for a Democratic health care bill. But, quite disingenuously, she told the press that her vote yesterday was her vote yesterday, and that there is no guarantee this is how she will vote again when the bill finally comes up…
13 October 2009: Rewriting History in Laramie, Wyoming
Last night’s staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, an Epilogue in 150 theatres all over America and around the world (I attended the one presented by Kansas City Repertory Theatre) had several recurring themes. First, the citizens of Laramie want to put the murder of Mattthew Shepard behind them; many of them…