fiction and musings from a gay black dude with delusions above his station
A month and a half ago, I wrote about the need to reform the filibuster so that the minority Republican caucus in the Senate would not use it as a bludgeon to stop any and all legislation it did not like. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decried the abuse of the filibuster during much of…
In the last election Blue Michigan voted to repeal the controversial law which allowed an unelected, state appointed despot, I mean manager, to take over cities and towns in financial trouble. No matter. The Republican controlled state legislature — the same one that gerrymandered the hell out of the congressional districts in that state —…
The Senate will soon discuss potential ways of modifying the filibuster so that, basically, the Republican minority will no longer be able to capriciously and maliciously block legislation and presidential appointments. As has been noted in many stories, the filibuster hath run amok. According to official Senate records, since 2007, when the Democrats took control…
{Editor’s note: This is the 100th post on the gar spot.} On April 29, the Los Angeles Times published an article which chronicles then-Governor Mitt Romney’s history with Massachusetts’ gay marriage law. It makes for very interesting reading. While campaigning for the governorship in 2002, he proclaimed he supported the rights of gay and lesbian citizens…
Dear Washington, Congratulations! After much civil, heart felt debate you have swiftly adopted marriage equality for your citizens. This is a wonderful moment, and you should be rightly proud. You have now joined an elite club, though we both know that history is on our side and this club’s exclusivity will not last. In time,…
“When they said Berkeley was ‘crunchy,’ I didn’t know they meant students’ rib cages.” – Stephen Colbert Gathered together to protest the injustices of the day, they linked arms and held firm. They linked arms as they crossed a bridge, knowing that police cars, batons, dogs, and fire hoses waited at the other end. They…
At a long forgotten antiwar demonstration around 20 odd years ago, I stood tense as the atmosphere grew dank from humidity and angst. We were gathered in front of the federal building on Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco. We wanted to take the steps, but a police line blocked it off. They were in…
“My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” – President Obama, April 2009 First we saw Wisconsin and the movement to save union rights for public service employees, a justified reaction to a gross conservative overreach. Citizens in Ohio followed soon after in reaction to a gross conservative overreach in that state…
Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks in the Congressional Record. Without objection, so ordered. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now I’ve come to the floor of this body not to dispute or politely disagree with a particular point that has come to my attention. I have come to scorn….
Graffiti I recently spied in the men’s room at one of my favorite brunch joints said it all. In gaudy yellow felt on the toilet seat sanitary cover dispenser was the phrase “TAX THE RICH,” in all caps and fat letters. Written right below it, in thin-lined blue ink were much smaller letters that read “And…
