Damn the Mississippi . . .

Damn the Mississippi . . . Damn the Levees . . . Damn the Rain

I am really so damn proud of her.  She wears the uniform of a soldier.  She has been to Iraq twice.  And the stripes on her arm are those of a Seargent.  But this will be night seven.  Night seven of knowing that she is walking the top of a levee, wearing night vision goggles and a life vest, looking for signs that the levee is not going to hold.  Night seven of worrying that the levee won't hold where she is walking.  Night seven of knowing she would have it no other way.

Night seven of missing her and knowing I can't live without her.  Night seven to wake in the dark startled that she isn't there.  And one less night until she is home again.

Heinz pulls Mayo Commercial over Men Kissing

Don't know if you've seen it or not, but Heinz had the cutest Deli Mayo commericial that only aired for a week in the UK.  The commercial showed a gentleman (a New York deli man) in a kitchen making sandwichs for the kids.  As they leave for school, another man enters the kitchen, grabs his lunch and makes to leave.  At which point, deli man asks, hey - you forgot something.  Second guy turns around and gives deli man a peck.  It was pulled because it apparently offended the sensibilities of some of the viewers. So what about the sensibilities of Heinz' gay consumers?  Didn't they think pulling the ad would offend us?  Don't they realize we have quite a large commercial presence and offending us could hurt their bottom line?  When will companies stop bowing to the pressures of a shrinking minority and just publish the ads they produce?

Gay Marriage is Good for America

I didn't expect to see this op-ed piece when I logged into the Wall Street Journal this morning.  But there it was.  An opinion in one of the most conservative papers in the U.S., for all the conservatives to read.  Wow - I'd love to see the reactions on main street this morning.

Anyway, Jonathan Rauch makes an excellent case for why gay marriage is good for America.  His words lead the reader to imagine life the way most gay people live it, without the hope for marriage.  A world where committment usually means 'until something better comes along' and where abandonement and lonliness abound.  Pieces like this move gay marriage closer to acceptance than the pictures that are shown on CNN or the Nightly News.  This kind of writing attempts to put the reader in the shoes of the lesbian who can't protect her partner's inheritance or the gay man who isn't allowed to make medical decisions for his partner of many years.

Keep up the good work, Jonathan.  With more editorials like this I may just see gay marriage accepted all across the country before I die!

I Kissed a Girl . . .

For those of you who use iTunes, check out the number one song.  It's by Katy Perry.  And get this - the name of the song is "I Kissed a Girl"!

Responses to the 2008 Flood from our Politicians

Keith Olbermann, on Countdown, focuses on the responses to the current flooding in the Midwest. See how Bush, McCain and Obama have responded to this current crisis.