Bah Humbug

I seem to have nothing positive to blog about these days, so you're all treated to yet another rambling on race in America.

You've no doubt heard about Professor Gates being arrested in his own home. You've also no doubt heard that President Obama directly addressed this situation when asked about it and said the officers acted "stupidly" and now the GOP is all up in their panties. Is it just me, or has the right gone completely batshit? Newsflash: you lost. We endured you for 8 years. You want to talk about a possible illegitimate President? How about one who didn't even win the popular vote in 2000? Stop saying this President was born in Kenya, BECAUSE HE WASN'T.

But again, I digress. Back to Gatesgate.

First of all, the President can't have an opinion on how a situation was handled? Especially because this person is a friend of his? Do I need to remind all of you about the Terri Schiavo case as an example of President with an opinion? Oh, right. Terri Schiavo was white.

And, most importantly, did we forget that Professor Gates proved that he was in his own home, and that if he were being belligerent he was in perfect right to do so, and that is by no means any grounds for an arrest? We live in a country where Neonazis are rampant, and they do all their shit behind closed doors so that they are never arrested. Professor Gates could have been insulting everyone and their mother and he was in perfect right to do so in his own home. Can you imagine the implication of this? Let's say you had a rough day and you go home and blow off some steam and say something to the effect of "I'm going to kill all these bastards," knowing you don't mean it once you've calmed down. You wouldn't get arrested for that, and that's not even near what Professor Gates actually said, according to the arresting officer.

What other conclusion can one make other than the officer acted stupidly? Nothing, really.

I'm going to completely rip off MonkeyGirl's comment when she posted the original article:

For those of you who think POC play the 'race card' too often... fuck you.

Adventures in Name Changing: 6 Weeks Later

It has been six weeks since I started the name change process and I thought I'd give an update.

For the most part, I am done. Work, license, banks, credit cards, insurance are all done. If New York City Marriage Bureau actually displayed some efficiency I would also have sent in my passport application by now, but four weeks after I've mailed in the application, the fees, and the photocopy of my identification, I still have not yet received copies of my marriage certificate, leading me to worry that somewhere out there is my completed application with all of our identifying information on it just for somebody to pick up and steal.

Surprisingly enough, the easiest ones to change have been my credit cards. No copies of the marriage certificate needed, just a phone call and some verification of my identity.

Also, because I don't believe in sugarcoating, I should also let you all know definitively that changing your name affects your career negatively. In the last 6 weeks I can't tell you how many people thought I left my company because they all of a sudden could not find me in the corporate directory.

Let me repeat that. People thought I left my company because I chose to change my name.

I made the decision to change my name - I'm an adult and I made that choice for the good of my family. And I'm sure eventually I'll come around and like it, but honestly, I don't right now, and frankly I can't see a time in the near future when I will. Not using my maiden name is still extremely upsetting and at this point I feel nothing but regret.

I apologize if this seems so completely negative, but I feel that it's really important to talk about it all honestly, that even some of us who do end up changing our names do so not as willingly as some and at great cost to our lives. I think about that morning when I told Dude I would change my name and how happy he was, and how I thought it was all worth it just to see him so happy. And when I feel blue about my decision I think about that day, and I do think that it was worth it, if only for Dude's sake. But I wonder, really, if he would have been so happy had he known back then what this was all really costing me.

But, you know, it's only six weeks in. What's six weeks versus a lifetime right? Here's hoping.

Read This Article

Really. Read this and tell me that I'm overreacting when I get angry about racism and discrimination. Read it and tell me that there's no reason for people of color to hate their own skin.

I can't even imagine what I would have done had I been one of the Creative Steps staff members, or if I were a parent who was present at the time. Part of me would have wanted to run screaming immediately for a lawyer, capture the moment on video and post it on Youtube for everyone to see. But therein lies the double-edged sword of discrimination. Even if that pool did let those kids in, why would they want to use it now that they'd been made acutely aware that they weren't wanted there, that their color was somehow contagious?

I can't even express what I feel about this story anymore - appalled, shocked, saddened. I can complain and write and whine for the rest of my life and I still won't be able to adequately express the alienation that results from discrimination.

If I ever hear my children make excuses that "they're only HALF asian" I think I will kill myself.

That Irrelevant Bimbo

It pains me to no end that Sarah Palin is still in the media spotlight. I feel some compunction about writing this at all, because I'm just giving her attention which I don't believe she deserves. I had meant to write a post a few weeks ago when she forced David Letterman to apologize, but I held my tongue and now I can't anymore.

I would like to preface this whole rant by saying that if there is some sort of difficulty regarding her family then of course her resignation is the right call. I do not wish her or her family any harm, no matter what my rant below might imply.

I would also like to say that I do not want to get into politics. I realize that my opinions are mine and people have different opinions, and if you support Sarah Palin's politics then that is your right.

What I do want to talk about, and what I want to chastise Sarah Palin for, is for the example and precedent she sets for other women.

She is a quitter. That is it, plain and simple. I am deeply offended that she even uses the term "lame duck" in her speech. So, she is quitting because her heart simply wasn't in it and because of that, she would do a shitty job for the remainder of the term? She had too many distractions and couldn't tough it out? Lady, you were ELECTED TO PUBLIC OFFICE. You don't just up and quit because you don't want to do it anymore. You don't have the luxury of changing jobs, changing direction, mid-term, that is the price of being in the public eye. What rational human being would ever think about electing you to any future public office when you can leave when you feel like it? How much harder is it going to be for a woman to be elected to public office, or appointed to any leadership role?

I am filled with all sorts of vitriol over the implications of this. It's hard enough to be a successful woman in this world, but when a very public figure who projects the epitome of righteousness just ups and leaves for a "higher calling," it says to me that she (and women in the world by proxy) can't cut it. They can't handle the responsibilities and pressure. THANKS A FUCKING LOT.



There have been many conjectures about why Sarah Palin might have resigned, but the one that offends me most is that the media scrutiny was just too much for her and her family to handle. This point I would like to address, because I'd like to compare her to my lady Hillary Clinton.

Sarah Palin has been under intense media scrutiny since last August, and flaunted her family as examples of pro-life bizarro conservative family values. Hey, she knew she was having a baby with Downs Syndrome and didn't abort it!! And look, her teenage daughter and her lunatic (ex-)boyfriend were irresponsible about sex and got pregnant and they did not have an abortion! Praise Jeebus!

I'm sorry, but after parading your family around the public all last fall, they are FAIR. GAME. You wanted to give them privacy? You should have done that from the beginning. Frankly, the way she flaunted her family at the Republican National Convention was sickening and in poor taste.

Now, let's talk about Hillary shall we? Now THAT lady knows media scrutiny. Remember all the jokes poked about her appearance? All that hoopla about her suits and her haircuts? Remember the mess about health care? Remember how her husband got a blow job from an intern and was impeached for it? And remember all the jokes poked at poor Chelsea Clinton, whose only fault was that she was the unfortunate recipient of an ugly adolescence? And by the way, remember that Hillary has been enduring this since 1992?

So if the reason for Sarah Palin's resignation is media scrutiny, then all I have to say to her is SUCK IT.

Now I have been guilty of chastising beauty pageant contestants, but I can't fault them for being boneheads. Their lives revolve around being pretty and parading around swimsuits. But Sarah Palin is a public figure. She sponsors bills. She runs an entire state. She's contemplating another round for office in 2012. Does that not fucking scare you?


Dear Sarah Palin,

Stop setting our gender back. You are not helping matters.

Love,
Another One Bites the Dust