I haven’t written anything for a while. Mostly, I’ve been reading and waiting. I read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.I really should have picked it years ago. I love Austen, and Northanger Abbey is a biting satire of Gothic literature which is my academic specialty. Every time I read Austen, though, I close the book in despair, knowing I will never be able to do what she does. She is amazing.  She creates characters you care about, and she does it with this nearly inexplicable combination of subtlety and obviousness. Her genius is enough to make any other writer hopeless.

The Austen book’s pretty short, and I finished it over last weekend, then switched gears completely. I picked up James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia at the Writing Center book exchange. It’s historical fiction which is a favorite genre of mine, and it’s set in post-WW II Hollywood. It’s horribly violent and bleak and crass, though. Kind of like Trainspotting set 40 years earlier. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it was compelling.

Speaking of compelling discussions,  I watched Meghan McCain on Rachel Maddow last night. She seems like a lovely young lady who is smart enough to keep her mouth shut when she’s not educated on a subject. A rare and admirable quality in a Republican. Evidently, she’s writing for The Daily Beast now, and she’s gotten some rather nasty criticism from neocons who don’t like what she’s saying. She’s been condemning Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, so she obviously has good taste. Listening to her gives me hope that the next generation of Republicans will reject the politics of hate, paranoia and intolerance that has dominated their party in the last 15 years.

I’ve also recently discovered a new hero of sorts - a man named Frank Schaeffer.  He is the son of Francis Schaeffer, one of the architects of the Christian Right movement and one of the founders of Focus on the Family. But Frank’s faith led him down a very similar path to the one I’ve been following. He has now rejected most of the Republican platform. He writes for The Huffington Post, and is both pro-choice and pro-life. (No, they are not opposites!!! Yes, it is possible to be both!!!) I first heard him on NPR a few months ago, and I was really impressed and relieved to hear I am not alone. There are other liberal Christians out there who are finally feeling free to make themselves heard.

Speaking of faith and Christianity and all that, it’s Lent. Like an idiot, I gave up alcohol. I started regretting it less than 24 hours after Mardi Gras. Only 31 days left now. Argh.

And the days are interminably long now that stupid, stinking Daylight Savings Time is upon us again. This whole week has been awful, and DST is mostly to blame. It has my whole family’s sleep schedule off completely. It makes me anxious to see the sun still up at 8pm in MARCH! Heavens! By June 21st, the sun won’t go down until midnight. Do you know how hard it is to get kids to bed at a decent hour when it’s still light outside?!? I guess that doesn’t matter to the politicians and corporate bigwigs who pushed it through the State Legislature so they could get more golf time.

Speaking of kids, I’m worried about my son. He seems to be getting lost in the shuffle at school. He’s very bright, and he’s getting terrific grades. He never gets in trouble. But he complains about school all the time. He hates it. I don’t know what to do about it. My daughter loves school. I loved school. My husband, however, dropped out at age 16. Is it a boy thing? And if it is, what’s the problem? Are boys just bad at school? Or is school bad at boys? I have a feeling it might be the latter…

I’m also worried about my godmother. She’s in the hospital with an ulcerated foot, and she could lose it completely. She’s a morbidly obese diabetic who doesn’t take care of herself at all. I seem to see a lot of people lately who put themselves into painful, difficult situations because they consistently make terrible decisions. I try to be sympathetic, but I get so angry with them for being irresponsible and blind to the consequences of their own actions.

I am looking forward to our annual St. Pat’s party, though. It’s always great to see friends. I’ll be sober this year, so I can enjoy watching everyone else get un-sober!

And I’m looking forward to March Madness, even though my poor IU Hoosiers will not be playing in the post-season. I’ve still got my Butler Bulldogs! And I can always enjoy rooting against Duke and North Carolina. College basketball really is the best sport in the world.

So we’re waiting. Waiting for news about my son and my godmother. Waiting for St. Pat’s and the end of Lent. Waiting for the NCAA tourney to start. Waiting for summer and the end of Daylight Savings Time. I hate waiting when it’s stopping me from getting things done. If I had information, I could make plans. As it is, I feel like I’m in the waiting room of life’s doctor’s office. Very annoying.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been sick with a cold for about a week or because it’s been snowy and cold here in Indiana for ages. Or maybe I’ve just been cooped up inside for too long with nothing to do but work. Whatever the reason, a bunch of people are really getting on my nerves lately.

I guess I’ll start with Congress because the majority of irritating folks work in there. First, the House Republicans. Seriously. Not one vote for the stimulus plan? One-third of them managed to vote for George Bush’s bank bailout back in October. So evidently, they can overlook party politics and their proven-not-to-work economic philosophies when a bill supports big business that has shot itself in the foot by being too greedy. When it’s a bill to help out average Americans who find themselves in dire straits because of big business, however, the G.O.P. suddenly comes together to make a moral stand against “socialism.”

Then there are the Republicans in the Senate who keep droning on and on about “tax cuts.” Yeah, because tax cuts have worked so well in the past. Moody’s, an independent and nonpartisan financial analysis company, recently released an eye-popping chart showing what government actions stimulate the economy and by how much. For every $1 the government spends on tax cuts, the economy produces about $1.16, depending on the type of tax cut. Permanent tax cuts actually result in a LOSS of about .36 on the dollar, again depending on the type of tax cut.  The most stimulating actions the government can take include food stamp increases ($1.73 for each dollar spent), infrastructure spending increases ($1.59 for each dollar) and state government aid ($1.36 for each dollar). So while hundred of thousands of Americans are losing their jobs and finding themselves perched on the brink of financial ruin, Senate Republicans are playing playground politics, refusing to play with the other kids unless they get their way even though their way is far more ineffective. Tax cuts won’t help my MANY friends who have lost their jobs and just trying to figure out how they’re going to keep their homes. Besides, the tax cuts the G.O.P. are advocating really don’t mean much to the big companies and m/b-illionaires they love so much. Those fat cats have herds of lawyers and accountants who shelter their money in investments or offshore accounts so they don’t have to pay taxes anyway. Argh.

Then there’s Dick Cheney who just needs to shut up and go away. On February 3rd, in an interview with Politico.com, he launched another terror campaign, frightening Americans with the threat of another major attack with “a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind”  (politico.com, 2/4/09). Chiding President Obama and the millions of Americans who voted for him, Cheney shook his finger at all of us for being “more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States.” Yeah, Dick, that’s what we’re worried about. Osama bin Laden’s Miranda rights. Look, dude, your party lost the election. What’s more, the major terrorist attack that occurred on September 11, 2001, occurred ON YOUR WATCH! And you had received intelligence that it might happen and ignored it. Need we remind you that, just a month before 9/11, during the President’s daily briefing from the C.I.A., you and George were told Bin Laden was “determined to strike” the United States. You did nothing with that information. Thanks for continuing to try to terrify us with vague warnings while simultaneously attempting to vindicate yourself for your own egregious failures. Now go back under your dark rock and leave us alone. We’ll do our best to protect the country, which is more than you ever did.

But my ire is not solely restricted to Republicans. Plenty of Democrats are doing stupid, annoying stuff too. Rod Blago-however-you-spell-the-rest-of-his-name is one of them, but I don’t want to give him any more attention because it feeds his egomania. I just wish he’d go away to wherever corrupt, pathologically self-centered politicians go after they’ve had their 15 minutes of infamy. Blah.

And what’s up with all these Obama nominees not paying their taxes?! Tom Daschle, Tim Geithner, Nancy Killefer, and Hilda Solis should be slapped. Honestly. How do they get away with not paying thousands and thousands of dollars in taxes for years? When I was 23, working for $7.50 an hour in the mall, the retail company I worked for went under and conveniently “forgot” to pay its employees payroll taxes. I ended up owing the I.R.S. about $2100. Within weeks, the I.R.S. was all over me to get that paid. Although it was an astronomical sum to me at the time, it was nothing compared to what these Democrats owed. Idiots. Obviously, Democrats are not as good at sheltering their income as the Republicans are.

Speaking of idiots and astronomical sums brings to Bernie Madoff who just needs to go to prison. How is it possible that he is still roaming his luxurious penthouse apartment in Manhattan while hundred, perhaps thousands, of his former clients have lost everything? Some of his elderly investors, some of them in their 90’s, are having to go back to work just to stay afloat. Others who were involved with Madoff took the quick route and committed suicide. Until his trial, Madoff needs to be sitting in jail, not a plush apartment. His assets should have been frozen immediately, not weeks later after he’d already mailed some of them off to friends and family. And when he’s convicted, the assets should be liquidated and disbursed to his victims based on their needs, not their investment.

Finally, there’s Etta James. Look, I’m no Beyonce fan either. And if I were a Republican whose song was being used by a newly elected Democratic president’s inauguration ball, I’d probably be annoyed too. But Etta needs to remember that people buy tickets to hear her singing, not her political rants and professional beefs. Shut up and sing, Ms. James.

I guess that’s it for now. I could go on with usual suspects - Rush (”I hope Obama fails”) Limbaugh and Ann (voter fraud doesn’t apply to her) Coulter, but I feel a little better for having vented now. And this much negativity in one blog post is way too much already!

The McCain-Palin campaign has had many problems. They’re running against an extremely focused and effective Democratic candidate in a year when most voters despise the sitting Republican administration. They put up a completely inexperienced vice presidential candidate who’s in the middle of an ethics investigation in her home state and who can’t help putting her foot in her mouth every ten seconds. In the face of an economic meltdown, their presidential candidate behaved like a junior high drama queen looking for attention. The “Everyman,” Joe the Plumber, they hoisted around like a gift from God has turned out to be much less like John Q. Public and a lot more like one of those much-maligned Hollywood-celebrity types, complete with press agents and country music contracts.    With the election just over 24 hours away, the rats are deserting the sinking ship faster than you can say “Tina Fey’s a genius” (CNN, “Former Reagan adviser endorses Obama,” 10/31/08).

I voted a couple weeks ago, but there’s just one thing I hope other folks remember as they head to the polls on Tuesday: The Republicans don’t like you. At least, they don’t like you if you belong to any of the following categories.

If you are:

Barack Obama

Joe Biden

William Ayers

Rashid Khalidi

Nancy Pelosi

A resident of San Francisco (Republicans for Family Values, 10/22/08)

A Chicago politician (John McCain political ad, 10/6/08)

A resident of any big city (McCain and Palin, Interview with Brian Williams, 10/23/08)

A New Yorker (Rush Limbaugh, 10/2/08)

A resident of northern Virginia (Nancy Pfotenhauer, 10/17/08)

An East Coast “elitist” (McCain and Palin, Interview with Brian Williams, 10/23/08)

A “Georgetown cocktail party” person (McCain and Palin, Interview with Brian Williams, 10/23/08)

A member of the “Washington elite” (Palin’s RNC speech, 9/3/08)

An employee of any Big Oil company (Palin’s RNC speech, 9/3/08)

An Ivy League alumnus (Rudy Giuliani’s RNC speech, 9/3/08)

A community organizer (Palin’s RNC speech, 9/3/08)

A member of the “do-nothing Senate” (Palin’s RNC speech, 9/3/08)

A Hollywood celebrity (McCain political ad, 08/08) – particularly ironic in light of all the celebrities Republicans have put in office: Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fred Thompson, and Sonny Bono, to name a few.

A member of the media (Palin’s RNC speech, 9/3/08)

A Muslim (Meet the Press, 10/19/08)

Russian (Palin, Interview with Charles Gibson, 9/11/08)

Not a religious person (Rep. Robin Hayes, 10/25/08)

This is a short list of the people who have been on the receiving end of the McCain-Palin campaign’s most vicious attacks. Basically, the only people the Republican regime seems to like are Americans who live in small towns or rural areas, own guns, attend an evangelical Christian church regularly, do not have a college degree, and work at a blue-collar job.

So if that you do not fit that description, just remember: the Republicans do not like you. They do not respect your opinion. They do not think you are patriotic. They do not think you are a part of “real America” (Sarah Palin, 10/16/08). They do not deserve your vote.

My husband and I were in Tennessee last weekend to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We had a lovely time hiking in the national park, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the Southern hospitality. But every time we walked through a parking lot, I felt like a stranger in a strange land: every vehicle was adorned with McCain-Palin bumper stickers.

I wasn’t surprised by this; I’ve spent lots of time in the South. I used to live in Florida; my in-laws live in North Carolina, and we’ve gone on countless vacations south of the Mason-Dixon line. After a day or so, I even got used to all the Republican propaganda. Then, I saw one that made my jaw drop. I actually had to stop and stare for a few seconds.

The bumper sticker was pink lettering with a pink silhouette of the fairy Tinkerbell; the letters spelled out: Palin Girl.

I was so shocked, I forgot to take a picture. I’m still looking for a link to a site that sells them. As soon as I find it, I’ll post it, so if you think I’m pulling your leg (or you want to buy one, God forbid), you can check it out.

In that moment, I realized why this woman has “energized” the Republican base (John McCain, Fox News, 10/19/08). Finally, I saw why the thousands of conservatives who have despised Hillary Clinton for 18 years have embraced this woman. Sarah Palin is a woman, but she is a woman who is so completely non-threatening, conservatives can embrace her without surrendering their belief in the intrinsic superiority of men. She is a woman who knows her place in national politics– a pretty face (Rich Lowry, National Review, 10/3/08) who stands quietly (Nicole Wallace, MSNBC, 9/4/08) behind her male candidate. More beauty queen than politician, more cheerleader than world leader.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being a girl myself. I just don’t think it’s the main thing you should advertise about your political candidate. And I’ve got nothing against Tinkerbell. I worked for the Disney Company for 10 years; Tink’s all over the walls of my 3-year-old daughter’s bedroom.  But this bumper sticker was not celebrating the family’s latest vacation to Disney World. It was supposed to be a political statement. Tinkerbell for VP? Little girls who love pink for the GOP? OMG.

As for beauty queens and cheerleaders, I love ‘em. I was a homecoming princess myself. My roommate in my freshman year of college was the senior prom queen at our high school. My sister and best friend were both cheerleaders. I’ve got no problem with them either. But this is not a race for homecoming queen or captain of the cheerleading squad or even vice president of a high school graduating class. Pink fairy bumper stickers strike me as highly inappropriate.

Poor Hillary. No wonder the GOP hates her.

Okay, so I tried to go to a movie today with my mom and sister. We don’t get to spend a lot of time together because we’re all very busy, but Mom had called us last week to see if we could all do this. We found that, remarkably, Sunday afternoon would work for all of us. Since I don’t get out much without the kids, I was really excited. And we were going to see Momma Mia, which I’ve wanted to see for weeks. Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth on the same screen - yummy.

So we got to the theater, got our tickets and popcorn, went in and sat down. Sat through all the previews. Movie starts, and there are my two guys, looking quite fabulous.

Five minutes into the movie - three rather large and very loud women waddle in and proceed to look around for seats. They didn’t want to go up the stairs because it was too dark and too far. (I know this because they were having a protracted conversation about it right in front of me.) After a minute, they decided they’d better just sit in the front so Mary could see. Mary sat at one end, and another one sat at the other end of the row. The third woman did not sit down. She continued to stand in front of me, asking if Mary had her popcorn while Mary asked where her Coke was. Their conversation was not whispered. It was not even spoken quietly. They were trying to make themselves heard over the first song which, by now, had started. Not only could I not hear, I still couldn’t see because the third woman was still standing in the middle of the row between her two friends who were about 8 seats apart and still talking loudly to each other. My mom and 3 or 4 other people around us and demurely “shh’ed” them, but to no avail.
After 3 or 4 minutes of this nonsense, having missed the entire exposition of the plot, I leaned forward and asked one of them if they could please be quiet. She turned around and fairly shouted in my ear, “Why don’t you just learn to be more patient!”  So I got up and went to look for a manager. Evidently, while I was gone, my mother asked if the other woman could at least sit down, and all hell broke loose.  The woman who had told me to be “patient” told my mom to get out of her space. (No, the woman was not a teenager. More like 60.)

Meanwhile, I could not find a manager. I was irritated that these rude old women were making me miss my movie, and I didn’t really want to miss more of it. So I headed back toward the theater. As I was walking down the hall, the woman who had been standing passed me and hissed, “I’m getting a manager too!” I just shook my head and went back in. My mom and sister saw me coming and got up. They had decided they’d had enough, and these women were showing no signs of settling down. “Let’s just go and come back later,” my mom said as we walked back out. “We won’t be able to enjoy it with them sitting in front of us.”

Back in the lobby, I saw the manager talking to the woman who’d passed me in the hall. My mom and I joined in the conversation as my mortified sister took to the sidewalk to text her best friend. These women were “handicapped,” and the “concession stand line was really long.” My mother pointed out that when she and her disabled friends went to movies, they always tried to be early because it took them a while to get settled too. I couldn’t help mentioning that if they were running late and the line was so long, maybe they could’ve skipped the popcorn or come back for it later.

Long story short - the poor manager just wanted us all to go away. She refunded my mom’s money and gave us all free passes to come back. My mom, sister and I went to lunch and then went shopping. We’re planning to try to see Momma Mia again on Wednesday evening.

I don’t usually speak up like that, but their lack of consideration for the other 30-40 people in the theater was outrageous. Being disabled doesn’t mean you have the right to be rude. I have several disabled friends who would never be so horribly inconsiderate.
Now I remember why I usually just wait for the DVD.