AddieStan

What to say? The Godfather of Soul has left the planet . He changed the music. He brought honesty to pop music. He gave raw sex a raw soundtrack. Alongside Little Richard, he set the stage for every glam-rock, disco dude and out-there R&B act that ever came into existence. From George Clinton to Freddy Mercury, all must bow before that caped force of nature.

Proof of what your blogstress has been saying: We white folks are still in denial about our racial prejudice. Offenders of whom to be most wary: white liberals. Why? If in denial about our possession of this most fundamental of American traits, we can do more damage than all the Klansmen in Georgia. From the recent CNN/Opinion Research poll: Almost half of black respondents -- 49 percent -- said racism is a "very serious" problem, while 18 percent of whites shared that view. Forty-eight percent of whites and 35 percent of blacks chose the description "somewhat serious." Asked if they know someone they consider racist, 43 percent of whites and 48 percent of blacks said yes. But just 13 percent of whites and 12 percent of blacks consider themselves racially biased.

From the fabulous Frankie G. (your blogstress's partner in musical crimes), a.k.a. Frank Gilligan of Beltway Sewer Productions, comes word of this educational item, just in time for your holiday -- oh, pardonez-moi, mes amis , your cybertrix unintentionally there made war on somebody's sacred day -- Christmas , Hanukkah , Eid , Alban Arthuan , Saturnalia , etc. -- giving: Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed By Katharine DeBrecht This full-color illustrated book is a fun way for parents to teach young children the valuable lessons of conservatism. Written in simple text, readers can follow along with Tommy and Lou as they open a lemonade stand to earn money for a swing set. But when liberals start demanding that Tommy and Lou pay half their money in taxes, take down their picture of Jesus, and serve broccoli with every glass of lemonade, the young brothers experience the downside to living in Liberaland. Reading Level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover, 54 pages. Full-color illustrat...

It came as no surprise to your blogstress when Mel Gibson , in the course of promoting his upcoming cinematic bloodfest, "Apocalypto," expressed sympathy for his fellow bigot, Michael Richards . What did surprise your cybertrix, however, was Gibson's demonstration of denial as to the nature of his own crime. One would have thought that some brilliant public-relations consultant would have drilled into the patron saint of the Catholic right the need to at least appear to take responsibility for whatever venom spews , via one's own brain, from one's own mouth. In an AP report , Gibson says he doesn't expect his celebrated rant to affect box office on the movie: The movie will stand on its own, regardless of any unfortunate experience I may have stumbled upon." Stumbled upon? As in, I was just weaving my inebriated self home when I stumbled upon a torrent of anti-Semitic taunts flowing out of my mouth at a Jewish police officer, upon whom I had also stu...

John Bolton , that most undiplomatic diplomat who has been serving as acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations since his recess appointment last year, stepped down today when it became apparent that there was no way in hell that he could win confirmation in the lame-duck Senate. Two men deserve special thanks for this outcome: Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), who lost his re-election bid, and Steve Clemons , author of The Washington Note . It was Clemons who brought turned the attention of denizens of the blogosphere to the perils of an Ambassador Bolton (who famously denied the exsistence of the United Nations)*, and who never dropped that ball. Chafee, whose committee vote made kept the Bolton nomination from reaching the Senate floor, deserves commendation for doing the right thing, even after his defeat by a Democrat. In fact, Chafee went so far to make that point that the outcome of the 2006 mid-term elections, as epitomized by his own loss, signaled the electorate's d...

While your blogstress has always had mixed feelings about the well-versed but not-always-stalwart Jane Harman (Calif.), who has served, lo, these last few years as the ranking Democratic member on the House intelligence committee, you cybertrix hardly knows what to make of the naming of Silvestre Reyes (TX) by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to lead the committee. The muckraking Laura Rozen , your Webwench's colleague on TAPPED (the Weblog of The American Prospect Online) details a meeting with Manuchar Ghorbanifar of Iran-Contra fame in which the new committee chairman joined the tainted Republican Curt Weldon (Penn.) for a discussion of God-knows-what. Pelosi's issue with Harman is reportedly that the Speaker's California colleague has not protested loudly enough against the Bush administration's assault on civil liberties. And your ecrivaine agrees, for the most part. On the other hand, Harman is smart and serious, and came across as impeccably credible in her outings...

It's as if the goddesses and their consorts were preventing your blogstress from issuing forth from the blogosphere, but all manner of confusion between the evil big-business domain-hocker Network Solutions, and another outfit which we'll call Hemp-Hed Hosting (not its real name) has led to your cybertrix's Weblog appearing only intermittently, between messages that declare the breakaway republic to be "under construction," or even better, to have an "expired" name. At Network Solutions, customer service comes in the form of condescending young men in an East Asian country whose "help" generally requires about four phone calls to achieve any result. Meanwhile, over at Hemp-Hed, very nice, very mellow American geeks chat you up, knowing exactly what the problem is, but forget to put in the order for the fix. So, it takes about four calls to achieve any result, but at least the calls tend to be amusing. Okay, well there's still the gig at ...

Your blogstress is pleased to announce that the New York Observer has at long last acknowledged the existence of your cybertrix -- something she knew those smart fellas over there would have to do sooner or later. In this week's column , Ron Rosenbaum chronicles the fracas kicked up by your Webwench's manly colleague on TAPPED, Charles Pierce , in his critique of the Michael Richards meltdown, whereupon he said things that pissed off the ladies of that Weblog ( Garance Franke-Ruta and yours truly). Your écrivaine regrets that she does come off as a bit humorless in the whole thing, but that's a small price to pay for having one's name turn up on the peach sheet.

Your blogstress seems to have kicked up a bit of dust with her assertion, on TAPPED (the Weblog of The American Prospect Online ), that nearly all white Americans are racially prejudiced. (No, your cybertrix does not count herself out of this equation.) It all began with a post by the very funny but somewhat sexist Charlie Pierce , who, commenting on the racist meltdown of "Seinfeld" alumn Michael Richards , asserted that the Seinfeld show always spouted prejudices but went on to compare the spouting of prejudice by the misogynist (and often funny) late comic Sam Kinison as preferable to that of the Seinfeld types, who suffered from some form of "maidenly vapors," according to Pierce. Oy vey, to quote a favorite editor of your net-tête 's. This did not amuse Garance Francke-Ruta , one of your Webwench's rare female colleagues at TAPPED, who took Pierce to task for his celebration of the misogynist Kinison, as well as the crappy "vapors" comment...

Maretta J. Short (second from left), the newly elected president of NOW-NJ, is the first African-American to hold the post. She is pictured here at the organization’s March Women Making History event, together with NOW activists Terry Fasano to her left and, to her right, Susan Waldman (holding grandson Joshua), Shirley Henderson and Barbara Foley. photo courtesy NOW-NJ Your blogstress just couldn’t be more tickled to learn that Maretta J. Short , your Webwench’s college friend and nearly lifelong compatriot in la causa , has been elected president of New Jersey’s state-level National Organization for Women (NOW) , which in the most densely populated state in the nation really means something. And she’s the first African-American to hold the post. Maretta, who was nominated from the floor of NOW’s state convention, comes to the organization’s top statewide leadership post from her role as chapter president of the Women of Color & Allies, NOW-NJ’s Essex County chapter. She tell...

Your blogstress would like to make the following announcement: she has never been demeaned by the distribution of family planning to her or anybody else. In fact, if you are giving out free condoms, she will gratefully accept them, as they're getting a bit pricey these days. The impetus for your Webwench's declaration is found in the following lede paragraph from a Washington Post article by the most attractive Christopher Lee : The Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as "demeaning to women." It's one thing, in an anti-choice administration, to choose a deputy assistant secretary for population affairs who opposes legalized abortion -- pretty awful, but intellectually consistent. But unless you believe affairs of population to be most beneficial in an expansive state,...

Rep. John Murtha sure wasn't my pick for House Majority Leader, especially after Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the ridiculous assertion that she was going to run the squeakiest-clean operation ever. But, crap, ya gotta love Murtha for having brought the word "crap" to public political discourse with the force of something hitting the proverbial fan. In his interview last night with MSNBC's Chris Matthews , Murtha used the scatalogical term some nine times, according to Matthews's count, when explaining the context for his deployment of the word as a description of the ethics rule changes proposed by his champion, the House speaker. While Murtha's loss to Maryland's Steny Hoyer may have deprived your blogstress and her devotees the sort of fodder derived from a veritable font of excrement, the present outcome likely saved the Democrats a whole lotta agita .

Your blogstress received an alarming e-mail yesterday from her foxy friend, Glenn, informing her that a visit to the breakaway republic yielded only a message that AddieStan had expired! With the rise and fall of each breath conveyed by her bustier , your ecrivaine here asserts that she is indeed quite alive, merci beaucoup . It had to do with your Webwench's turncoat friends at Network Solutions, who were once the holders of virtually all the domain names on the Web, and now seem to serve simply as condescending keepers of a waning business -- who do little to protect their subscribers from identity theft, at that. Anyhoo, your cybertrix wil return later today to discuss the meaning of some of the post-election numbers now seeping out of the pollsters' haunts.

The screen crawl last night on CNN quoted the AP reporting that "nearly a third of white evangelical Christians " had voted Democratic in Tuesday's mid-term elections, a fact that had Howard Dean , chairman of the Democratic National Committee, crowing last night on "The Daily Show." Now, your blogstress thinks that's just great but, at the risk of letting the air out of some blue balloons, she takes this opportunity to remind her devotees that that's about the same percentage (68 percent) as voted Democratic in the 2002 mid-term election. According to the New York Times piece linked above, efforts by religious left activists did have some effect though, in the same article, James L. Guth, a professor of political science at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, says that, in the words of reporter Laurie Goodstein, "[t]he religious voters who did switch from Republican to Democrat just mirrored the American electorate as a whole."...

NBC has just called the Virginia Senate race for Democrat-come-lately James Webb , meaning the Democrats will control the Senate -- just barely -- with 51 members. MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann suggested that a concession speech from Sen. Macacawitz (a.k.a., George Allen ) may happen as soon as tomorrow. Apparently, given bad odds of his prevailing in a recount, Macacawitz advisors are arguing against calling a recount.

...visit TAPPED , the Web log of The American Prospect Online, where your blogstress dwells in the company of a group of very smart -- and mostly deliciously young -- men.

In her first press conference since the Democrats won the majority in the House, presumed Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi smacked around Rep. John Conyers of Detroit, who has called for the impeachment of President Bush. Asked whether or not the Democrats would pursue impeachment, Pelosi said unequivocally, "Impeachment is off the table." Making a distinction between the Democrats at large and those who have called for impeachment, the prospective speaker suggested that "such actions" are the priorities of individuals, but "they are not our priorities." Your blogstress is not advocating the immediate convening of impeachment hearings, but to take impeachment -- of a president who never deserved it more -- off the table is to deny the American people the ultimate mechanism of presidential accountability. I mean, who knows what next this clown will pull? (It won't just be your finger.)

When asked why he supports democracy for Iraq, but not for the District of Columbia, the president said "this is the first I'm hearing of" a bill pending before the House that would give statehood to D.C. and another congressional seat to Utah.

Your blogstress could be mistaken, but she's quite sure that she just heard the leader of the free world say, in explaining some error he made in speech, "That's why I shouldn't do the punditry." A quote, no doubt, that devotees may find more accurately stated via a search in the Google.

Your blogstress here confesses that, given the 22 years that have passed since a woman last graced the presidential ticket of a major political party, she truly did not expect to live to see the day when a woman would become speaker of the House of Representatives. Reveling in the news of their landslide win of the House, Democrats are poised to elect Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to a post no Democrat has held for more than decade. But the Dems' newfound grrrl power doesn't end there; as reported in Women's e-News (WeN), four women are poised to lead committees, even the powerful House intelligence committee, on which California's Rep. Jane Harman currently serves as ranking member. The Web site does note, however, Harman's ascension to be in doubt because of "her reportedly sour relationship with Pelosi." Other likely female committee chairmen include Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), in line to lead the Rules Committee, Juanita Millender-McDonald (Calif.) ...

Projected so far: Casey (Penn.) Menendez (N.J.) Cardin (Md.) Whitehouse (R.I.) Not a Dem anymore, but something like one: Lieberman (Conn.) *Projections from MSNBC

It is with sigh of relief that your blogstress notes that one of her least favorite sons of Jersey has triumphed in the race for the Garden State's Senate seat. Yes, Bob Menendez , your Webwench's former congressman, has now won his place in that august body, despite his Hudson County roots and the whiff of corruption that the old money, in the form of scion Tom Kean, Jr. , kept fanning back on him. The source of your net-tête 's distaste for the Hudson County honcho stems not, however, from any accusation of corruption, but rather personal experience. Back in the 1980s, some very bad people known as the contras were being armed by the United States in order to make war upon the Marxist government of Nicaragua -- which, for better or worse, was probably the most socially progressive the Nicaraguans had ever known. The contras ' idea of making war on the Sandinistas, however was to actually rape and torture civilians, leading liberals such as yours truly to call for ...

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO It's really getting deep in Ol' Virginny, where Kay Steiger, your blogstress's colleague at TAPPED, the Web log of The American Prospect Online, was challenged when she tried to vote in the precinct in which she is registered. Check out Kay's story . The Associated Press is reporting that the FBI is investigating the intimidating calls, like the one mentioned here earlier that was made to a voter by someone purporting to be from the Virginia Election Commission, who promised the voter that he would be arrested if he showed up at his polling place. VideoTheVote.org is encouraging folks to record their experience at the polls, and then upload any video collected of anything shady. CLICK HERE to check out their mini-documentary. (It's just a few minutes long.)

Opponents of Democrats have apparently been trying to bully African-Americans into staying home today in the hope of reseating Senator Macacawitz (a.k.a., George Allen ). The campaign of Macacawitz's opponent, Jim Webb -- a mere sexist, but not a racist (hey, it's Virginia) -- has posted on its Web site a recording of a voice mail received by a black Virginia voter, promising him arrest if he showed at the polls: www.webbforsenate.com/media/phone_message.wav Its provenance, of course, remains uncertain.

Send your cybertrix your observations of races in your home state. She wants all the dirt, of course -- the lowdown on the Republican robo-calls, the Republican voter suppression, the bribes, the offers of food and happy-ending massages. Don't leave your écrivaine in the dark (unless you plan to join her there).

Those of you who actually get to pull the lever in a race that is not a foregone conclusion today should consider yourself blessed. Your blogstress, on the other hand, is trying to find the wherewithal -- which she no doubt will -- to do her civic duty and arrive at her polling place in order to vote for a mayor whose election is already assured, and a congressional representative who has no vote, at least not in Congress. Such is the state of things in Your Nation's Capital. For something more uplifing, listen (right now!) to your blogstress's friend and certified hottie, Hans Johnson , on The Young Turks radio show today, via Air America . And get out there and vote!

According to Wolf Blitzer , speaking today on his CNN program "Late Edition," the Rev. Ted Haggard , just fired as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church he founded in Colorado Springs, has declared himself "a liar and deceiver" who has "committed sexual immorality." Haggard's story has changed several times since self-described "escort" Mike Jones alleged a sex-for-money relationship with Haggard, a prominent anti-gay activist, and religious-right adviser to President George W. Bush . First he denied knowing Jones, then he said he got a massage from Jones and bought meth from him, but did not have sex with him. Today's less specific admissions would seem to indicate otherwise.

Watching Elizabeth Dole , once an admirable figure, slide ever deeper into the pit of prevarication in her role as chair of the Republican National Senatorial Campaign Committee, is deeply discomfiting. Today on "Meet the Press," Dole called the Democratic candidate from Tennessee, Harold Ford, Jr ., a supporter of gay marriage -- a charge that is (unfortunately) untrue. Then she called Ford's representation of himself as a moderate conservative -- which he clearly is -- "one of the greatest political frauds ever perpetrated." How sad to see a political pioneer -- once an inspirational figure to a generation of women -- behave with such despicable dishonesty. (Oh, yeah, and she also defended the racist " Harold, call me " ad run by Republican National Committee.)

A press release from our friends at Focus on the Family : Dr. James Dobson 'Heartsick' Over Haggard Allegations COLORADO SPRINGS, Nov. 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- Focus on the Family founder and Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., issued the following statement today after learning the Rev. Ted Haggard had acknowledged some "indiscretions" involving accusations made against him by a gay prostitute in Denver: "All of us at Focus on the Family are heartsick over the allegation, not yet confirmed, that Ted has had a private life with a homosexual for several years. We will await the outcome of this story, but the possibility that an illicit relationship has occurred is alarming to us and to millions of others. "Ted has been my close friend and colleague for many years. He has been used mightily to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Colorado Springs and around the world. He will continue to be my friend, even if the worst allegations prove accurate. Nevertheless, s...

Rev. Ted Haggard , the anti-gay, religious right leader who yesterday resigned the presidency of the National Association of Evangelicals under the cloud of allegations -- which blog afficionados read here first -- that he paid a male prostitute for sex, is about to learn who his friends are. So far, Dr. James Dobson , king of the Focus on the Family media empire, is standing by his man, according to the Rocky Mountain News : "Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday's election," especially the marriage amendment vote [a Colorado ballot initiative to be voted on this Tuesday], Dobson said in a release. With the marriage initiative at stake, it seems that Dobson was able to set aside his differences with Haggard with regard to global warming, which Haggard thinks evangelicals should battle. The Rev. Jerry Falwell , on the other hand, offers Haggard no solace, demeaning the t...

While media polls show Harold Ford, Jr. trailing Republican Bob Corker in a Tennessee Senate race gone truly ugly (thanks to a racist ad financed by the Republican National Committee), the folks at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee beg to differ: New polling data out this afternoon (Nov. 2) from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) shows Harold Ford Jr. leading Bob Corker by six points (46%-40%).  In addition, the survey shows that Corker’s support has dropped six points in just three days.  Hamilton Beattie & Staff conducted the survey among 600 likely voters statewide from October 31 to November 1. The margin of error was 4%.

Your blogstress would like to remind fellow citizens of the blogosphere that when she reports something she has read on another's blog, she credits that blog, expecting nothing less in return. (Can you smell the leather?)

Pity the beleaguered followers of the pooh-bahs of the religious right. No, your blogstress is not being snide or facetious; she truly does ask her reader to gently consider the fate of a people so betrayed by their leaders that they find themselves with no one to follow. As if the Mark Foley scandal was not enough, or the Ralph Reed scandal , or the involvement of Dr. James Dobson in the Ralph Reed scandal, or the revelation by former White House staffer David Kuo of the administration's contempt for religious right leaders (known as "nuts" around the West Wing), today brings word of accusations against the president of the National Association of Evangelicals that he is gay, pays for sex and sniffs meth. The accusations against Rev. Ted Haggard , pastor of the 14,000-member Life Ministries Church of Colorado Springs, aired last night, were made to a Denver television reporter by admitted "escort" Mike Jones , who claims Haggard as a "sexual business...

Sunday evening found your blogstress in the thrall of the amazing Anoushka Shankar , composer and sitar player extradordinaire -- and, yes, the daughter of Ravi Shankar . This weekend, the younger Shankar dazzled the audience, equal parts Indian and non-Indian, it seemed, at Washington, D.C.'s Lisner Audiorium. Anoushka Shankar has taken a daring walk out to the edge of classical Indian music, mixing her sitar and other traditional instruments with piano, electric bass and rock-n-roll-with-a-world-music-twist stack of drums. The results were mixed but always riveting, and those pieces that thrilled were positively transcendent. One particularly astounding piece featured tabla player Tanmoy Bose and Ravichandra Kulur , a virtuoso on the traditional wooden flute trading percussive vocalizations in a a call-and-response mode. Imagine Bobby McFerrin gone South Asian. It was breathtaking. Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the evening was the sight of this jewel of a young woma...

Your blogstress wishes you and your family a blessed Samhain -- known in these parts as Halloween -- whether you celebrate in the old way (dancing around a fire) or the new way (dressing up as a cartoon character, begging for sweets). Either way, these are our days of the dead, our welcome to winter, our moment to disappear into the form of a different being. It's also the eve of All Saint's Day, a co-option by the Roman Catholic Church of this ancient pagan festival, wherein we celebrate the pure ones who have gone on to the next world. The following day, All Souls Day, we try to pray any loved ones stuck in Purgatory out of that firey netherword. And so it mote be...

Today's New York Times offers a superb editorial on the efforts of the president and others in his party to exploit, for the purpose of rallying the party's base, the New Jersey court decision on civil unions for gay people: If the last month has taught us anything about the Republican Party, it is that homophobia is campaign strategy, not conviction. Congressmen who trust their careers to gay staffers vote for laws to enshrine second-class citizenship for gays in the Constitution. Gay appointees and their partners are treated as married people at official ceremonies and social gatherings. Then whenever an election rolls around, the whole team pretends it’s on a mission to save America from gay marriage. Add to this the revelations in David Kuo 's book, Tempting Faith , of the demeaning way in which White House types were said to refer to the religious right, and the moral bankruptcy of the whole G.O.P. enterprise appears in full. Your blogstress takes this occasion to sa...

Today your blogstress is very, very proud to be a native of the great State of New Jersey, given yesterday's decision by the state Supreme Court that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the full rights and benefits of marriage. And despite the right-wing rending of garments, the decision appears to square with the sentiment of the New Jersey electorate, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll, as reported by The Record of Hackensack. By more than 2-to-1, New Jersey voters favor conferring all marriage rights to same-sex couples through civil unions, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll in June, a full 66 percent to 29 percent. Legalizing marriage is touchier: 49 percent support it, 44 percent oppose. Some are disappointed that the court stopped short of calling for the same marriage license granted hetero couples to be conferred on same-sex betrothals, but your cybertrix is quite content with this ruling, in the hope that the court will next halt the granting of marriage licen...

In response to your blogstress's exposé , at The American Prospect Online , of the cleverly named group, Feminists for Life, she received this thoughtful missive from an artist: I hear your points but I also can't help but hear a differing point. I heard a lady ask a question, "Why am I not fit to live?" She was asking the question because, as a child conceived as the result of a rape, she had a question which is not so easy to answer. The pro and anti forces couch the issue of abortion in terms far too conveniently simplistic. --Joseph David Marshall True enough that, in the sound-bite age, all arguments get reduced to their essences. However, with regard to the woman conceived through a rape, your pro-choice cyberscribe is not saying that the woman is not fit to live; rather, I'm saying that her mother's choice to carry to term the embryo yielded by the rape should remain the pregnant woman's choice. The framing of the issue as whether or not the wo...

Tonight, World Series fans, you will get to view the latest in the paid political advertising entertainment served up for the mid-term election stem-cell wars of the Cardinals' home state. Watching, on YouTube, a fuzzy preview of the ad -- which was apparently thrown together in response to Michael J. Fox 's latest star turn as an advocate for stem-cell research -- your blogstress felt the hand of Mother Church orchestrating this video confab of right-wing Roman Catholic sort-of celebrities. Now, your Webwench is not saying that she knows for a fact that Big Ma is behind this whole thing; that grail continues to elude her. However, her ears pricked up at the mention of the name of Patricia Heaton , whose face graces the misleading Feminists for Life ad that has run on various political Web sites -- including that of The American Prospect Online , for which your cybertrix writes -- off and on for the last month. As your écrivaine reported for The Prospect 's site la...

Check out your blogstress's riff on the anti-reproductive rights group, Feminists for Life, today at The American Prospect Online . There you will learn of the group's deceptive ad campaign, aimed at young women, and its relationship to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Were any further evidence needed of the spiritual bankruptcy of 21-century America, one might look to the Mark Foley scandal, where the vicissitudes of secular politics -- a realm in which the Roman Catholic Church wields no small measure of power -- have rubbed up against the sanctimony of the church in a most unbecoming way, reviving a scandal of its own that church fathers likely thought they had put to bed with a flood of money paid out to the victims of sexually predatory priests. Mr. Foley, you'll recall, sought to, at best, explain his sexual harassment of young men (or, at worst, to excuse it) by revealing, through his attorney, that in his teen years Foley himself had been molested by a Catholic priest. This week, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune tracked down a priest who admitted to having a sexual relationship with the young Foley who was, at the time, an altar boy. The church has yet to comment. Most telling in the the Herald-Tribune 's interview with Foley's f...

If you've never heard of Susannah McCorkle , then David Hajdu's masterful review , in The New Republic , of a new McCorkle biography by Linda Dahl , might not sing to you. But then again, it just might: I pictured McCorkle aging into a figure like Blossom Dearie, an odd bird revered after a long career as an endangered species. Indeed, you might just love it for the sentences. Alas, McCorkle was not to see old age, having thrown herself out of the window of her 16th-floor Manhattan apartment several years ago, after she lost her regular singing gig at the Algonquin. McCorkle was a singer who worked with jazz musicians, but you wouldn't exactly call her a jazz singer. And she wasn't exactly a typical caberet singer, either, possessed, as she occasionally was, with the bombast born of a rock 'n' roll past. But, wow, could she put over a song, as she teased her own emotional color out of every note she chose to sing -- sometimes a little flat. I saw her perform...

Yesterday Sen. Max Baucus , ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, issued a minority report on the use of right-wing, tax-exempt non-profit organizations to provide, in an apparently illegal fashion, services in exchange for donations -- a practice forbidden to exempt organizations by the tax code. Most delicious, aside from the report's exquisite timing, is the exploration of an axis of evil composed of Grover Norquist , Ralph Reed and Jack Abramoff . For background on this all-but-forgotten facet of the Abramoff scandal -- the one that shows the religious right and so-called secular, economic conservatives in cahoots with a sent-by-Central-Casting villain -- refer back to your blogstress's March post on the whole, ungodly mess. More of your Webwench's wisdom on this seedy affair (not that she would have any expertise in seedy affairs) may be found at TAPPED , the blog of The American Prospect Online.

This just in to your blogstress from a colleague in the blogosphere, heretofore unknown to your Webwench: Bush says U.S. Won't Attack North Korea That is the headline of an AP article that hit the wire just over an hour ago. It is currently the top headline on many news sites. Anyone who listened to the press conference, however, knows that the headline is misleading. From the AP article itself: Bush said the United States remains committed to diplomacy but also "reserves all options to defend our friends in the region." Reserving all options does not sound like he has ruled out the possibility of a military response. What Bush actually said was that the U.S. "has no intention of attacking" North Korea. Where have we heard that phrase before? In 2002 Bush repeatedly claimed that he had "no intention of attacking Iraq." CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE POST

North Korea has declared its conduct of a test of a nuclear weapon, and geologists report seismic activity in the region that suggests Pyongyang is telling the truth. President Bush has called the test "a provocative act," which indeed it is -- leaving one to shudder at the thought of what response may be provoked. Let us not forget who we've got at the United Nations, representing U.S. interests. Yes, it's still John Bolton, the man who has expressed his contempt for that very institution. Pray that the gods of multilateralism hold out against the titans of go-it-aloneism. Your blogstress takes some comfort in the notion that the opportunities for Bush-friendly contractors seem somewhat minimal in an occupied North Korea.

From Reuters: Marijuana may stave off Alzheimer's WASHINGTON, (Reuters) -- Good news for aging hippies: Smoking pot may stave off Alzheimer's disease. New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of the disease by preserving levels of an important neurotransmitter that allows the brain to function. Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana's active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs. If I could only remember where I left the bong...

President George W. Bush with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Rose Garden at the White House, Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, following their meeting in the Oval Office. White House photo by Eric Draper. This comment by our commander-in-chief caught your blogstress's delicate ear earlier this week, but being an easily distracted, prone-to-the-vapors sort of gal, your blogstress must concede that la tête de t'écrivaine was set spinning by the scandal, murder and mayhem that has besieged our benighted nation over the course of the last few days. What momentarily drew your Webwench's attention to the mystical realm of foreign policy was the president's description of Kazakhstan as "a free country." This he said with the dictator of that oil-rich Central Asian nation by his side -- Nursultan Nazarbayev, the dictator who has ruled the Kazakh people with an iron fist since before the republic gained independence in the disintegration of the Soviet Union....

Unlike many of her colleagues in the blogosphere, your blogstress does not find herself in a position to judge whether or not former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who has checked himself into a subtance-abuse rehabilitation facility , is actually an alcoholic. To make that determination, your cybertrix would have to take the former congressman's inventory , a practice strongly discouraged by the cult of powerlessness through which your Webwench became sober. Yes, one imagines rehab to be a good place to hide from scandal, and it would be a pity if that were the raison seulement for which the teen-eyeing politician sought entry. However, either way, the 12 steps he is likely to learn in that facility, if taken to heart, could help with the management of that behavior, as well.

Normally a rather docile creature, content to drift from lingerie emporium to chocolatier , your blogstress today, alas, finds herself in a position that requires the unsheathing of her mighty sword of rhetorical wit. This crusade arises from a very poorly executed attack on your Webwench by one of the resident liberal wags of Fox News Channel, who has accused your cybertrix of writing things she never wrote -- a trick more typically used by right-wing commentators. Herewith, your écrivaine 's rebuttal: With (the Christian) God on her side, who needs facts? I don't find it particularly surprising that a Fox News commentator would resort to a factually challenged and misleading retort to an essay on Pope Benedict XVI 's recent geopolitical mischief in the Islamic world. I did, however, find it a bit alarming to see that modus operandi employed at The American Prospect Online , by Kirsten A. Powers . In her commentary, Who Should Apologize? (which includes an ostensibl...

Who knew that, in the land of liberals, there lives a pundit with designs on becoming the Ann Coulter of the left. At least that's how it seems. At The American Prospect Online , one Kirsten Powers uses your blogstress's essay on the pope's dastardly comments about Islam to falsely accuse , by implication, your Webwench of justifiying the violence conducted against women and Christians by Islamists and their leaders. But at no point does Powers thoughtfully address the central premise of your the point made by your cybertrix: that the pope's remarks were irresponsible, and designed to provoke the response they got.

Among the many unsettling things your blogstress heard tonight from disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was a call for the imposition of a literacy test for parole from prison. From the podium of tonight's gala at the Family Research Council Action PAC Washington Briefing , Newt also seemed to call for Congress to shut down the 9th Circuit federal court. (That would be that troublesome group of federal judges located in San Francisco.) More tomorrow. Bon soir, mes amis.

What won't your blogstress do for her devotees? Today, for instance, she has been at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, feeling the hate pouring off the rostrum of the Family Research Council Action PAC " Washington Briefing " gathering for "values voters." (Don't all voters have values? Otherwise, what would be the point in voting?) While there was so much more hate to report on than your cybertrix has energy for at this late hour (imagine Ann Coulter, L. Brent Bozell and Gary Bauer speaking from the same podium on a single day), it was Bauer who took the cake in the category of hard-core demonizers of his opponents. Most interesting was Bauer's swipe at Senator John McCain (R-Az.) for his refusal to accept the White House version of a bill that would have created unconstitutional tribunals for so-called "enemy combatants" that also would have permitted some forms of the "inhumane and degrading treatment" forbidden by Article Three of the...

In the U.S., the top stories today focus on who's dissing us now at the big rectangle on the East River (a.k.a., the U.N.). In Germany, the top story also focuses on the U.S., but there the big news is the disclosure of the identities of three CIA contractors who abducted an apparently innocent man, Khaled el-Masri , from where he was staying in Macedonia, then beat him and shipped him to Afghanistan, where he languished in a secret prison for five months. Because el-Masri is a German citizen, pressure is mounting on the German government to issue arrest warrants for the three, who, according to a European broadcaster, live in North Carolina. Spanish authorities are under similar pressure because the flight manned by the three originated on the Spanish island of Mallorca. According to Deutsche Welle : [M]any journalists wonder why it is taking prosecutors [so long] to find out more about el-Masri's case. In an article on Thursday, the Süddeutsche Zeitung wondered why German...

Did you think your blogstress had abandoned you, mes amis ? Tsk, tsk; you should know by now that at times the work of a blogstress will demand her removal from the world -- yes, even her own blog in the virtual world we call cyberspace -- in order to prepare herself spiritually and sartorially for all that lies ahead. And so it has been that your Webwench has been hunkered down in the Oppo Factory, mitts deep in a box of bon-bons , nose buried in theology and history texts -- and fall fashion magazines. The impetus for the history cramming was provided by those unfortunate comments about Islam uttered by the Holy Father from a podium in Germany. As for the fashion mags, well, your cybertrix hears that the pontiff does love Prada -- yes, the same Prada reportedly worn by the devil, whose identity, revealed this week by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez , is shared by a man named George W. Bush . In case you missed it, Latin America's socialist standard-bearer took some time out...

My last memory of former Texas Governor Ann Richards , who died yesterday , was of her needling fellow Democrats -- who wanted to avoid talking about gay rights and appear unified at the 2004 party fundraiser at which she payed host: “We are so unified,” said emcee Ann Richards, the former Texas governor, “that before their wives got wind of it, Joe Lieberman and Al Sharpton were on their way to San Francisco for a marriage license.” True to form, Richards, all wise cracks and cotton-candy hair, once again proved herself to be a character who, had she not existed, would have to be invented by a playwright with a queer eye... That quote is from your blogstress's coverage of that event for the Washington Blade . For more of your Webwench's musings on the the late doyenne of Texas politics, go to TAPPED , the blog of The American Prospect Online .

NBC News In response to your blogstress's musings on the great Clash of Civilizations published at The American Prospect Online on the 5th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, the mail is rolling in. From the land of Tom DeLay (she notes with some irony), your cybertrix received this well-reasoned missive from a reader less cynical than she: Dear Ms. Stan: [Your blogstress loves it when they call her "Ms."] I read your article at The American Prospect Online with interest, however, I do feel that we need to combat what I see as a fundamental misperception which is common in America and is actively promoted by the President and his minions. In your fourth paragraph, your friend states “They hate our way of life…” In the next paragraph you partially agree with her conclusion. That is where I would disagree. If you want to know why we were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, I think it would be wise to ask the people doing the attacking; after all, who knows their reasons better t...

So the president once again used the tragedy of the September 11th terrorist attacks to justify every lie he's told to the American people, every transgression of the U.S. Constitution his administration has executed and unleashing of unspeakable violence on a nation of Arabs who had nobly endured the tyranny of the despot who ruled them, and the cruelty of policies intended to starve the despot out of office. Non, mes amis , your blogstress is not surprised by what she heard tonight from the Oval Office, but she finds herself nonetheless enraged. Vying for most audacious line in his speech is the president's quoting of Osama bin Laden 's description of al Qaeda's offense against the West as "World War III." Mr. Bush failed to mention the use more recent use of that description by one Newt Gingrich , the disgraced former Speaker of the House. Also in competition, however, is the president's appropriation of Gingrich's " clash of civilizations ...

As I write, President George W. Bush is addressing America on the subject of the attacks of September 11, 2001. He defined the enemy that committed those attacks as one that "hates freedom, rejects tolerance and despises all dissent." The same could be said of his own administration, no?

On this somber anniversary, your blogstress contemplates the ballyhooed clash of civilizations between the West and the Islamic world -- and concludes that the clash is real. Read it here , at The American Prospect Online .

The folks at Media Matters for America have apparently prevailed in their challenge to ABC's entertainment division for its politicization of the upcoming anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, prompting ABC to re-edit its docudrama, "The Path to 9/11," which depicts Clinton administration officials as dismissive of the threat posed by al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden . Media Matters also won the day with Scholastic Inc. , which produced and distributed accompanying classroom materials that were misleading and contained factual errors. Great work, folks! Now, can anybody explain why the reputation of 9-11 commissioner Tom Kean , who served as a consultant to the project, isn't marred by this? Obviously, coming so close to the November mid-term elections, the presentation would likely have, whether or not by design, the effect of shoring up the Republicans' fear-mongering message. Kean's son, Tom, Jr. , is challenging Democrat Robert Menendez for the U.S...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Even as the indefatiguable Brian Ross of ABC News broke a blockbuster story revealing the Bush administration's flexible standards for evil-doers in its so-called "War on Terror," the ABC entertainment division appears poised to enter the political fray on the side of the Bushies -- and against former President Bill Clinton and the Democrats -- in its dramatized depiction of the events that led up to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That the docudrama, "The Path to 9/11," will air nationally less than two months before mid-term congressional elections in which national security issues will take center stage, shows the willingness of ABC honchos (note: ABC is owned by Disney) to throw in with the Republicans in a most blatant way. If you have any doubt, mes amis , consider the fact that while Bill Clinton was denied a review copy of the mini-series, Rush Limbaugh and a handful of other right-wing commentators were visited by ...

St. Jude as he stands in the New Orleans Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe near Congo Square On Rampart Street, just west of New Orleans's historic and sacred Congo Square , sits a sweet little Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe , the image of the Blessed Mother Mary said to have appeared to a Mexican Indian on Tepeyac hill, just northwest of what is now Mexico City, in 1531. She is often referred to as the patroness of the Americas. When Africans were brought as slaves to Louisiana in the early 1700s, they found it necessary to syncretize their native faith traditions with those of their European captors; it was the only way to keep their own traditions alive. This gumbo of West African and Roman Catholic practices gave birth to voudoun -- what we now call voodoo -- as well as the Brazilian tradition of candomblé , and the Latin American Santeria rituals. As an icon, Our Lady of Guadalupe has a distinctly Mexican Indian appearance, right down to the anatomi...

NEW ORLEANS, LA. -- On the line at McDonald's on Canal Street (it can't all be gumbo and jambalaya, y'all), your blogstress, wearing press tags, was approached by a woman in her 30s or 40s, who offered a piece of paper bearing the following message: What is Esther's Haven House? Esther's Haven House is a non-profit organization that provides emergency safe accomodations for battered women and children. These women are housed free of charge and given the tools to restore their lives. Temporary refuge, job placement assistance, security, access to healthcare, childcare assistance and referral to educational resources for children are all provided. Our ultimate goal is resettlement of the family in a new, safe environment. ALL FREE OF CHARGE. We help as many women as our resources allow. If you want to help us help these families, please make a donation today! Esther's Haven House • 1900 St. Claude Avenue For More Information Contact: Kiesha Keller 504-872-946...

NEW ORLEANS, LA. -- New Orleans legend Dr. John has a message for your blogstress's devotees, and for all Washington liberals. Check it out on TAPPED, the Weblog of The American Prospect Online .

NEW ORLEANS, LA. -- In the coming days, your blogstress will be posting audio she gathered in New Orleans. In the meantime, your Webwench's devotees can satisfy their aural needs with the debut segement of Radio Free AddieStan. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO RADIO FREE ADDIESTAN

NEW ORLEANS, LA. -- Reginald Halsey is a nice-looking, compact man of some 50 years, perhaps -- dark-skinned with greying hair, his two front teeth rimmed in gold. His bus driver's uniform is pressed just so. Your blogstress met Mr. Halsey on Monday, when he helmed the motor coach that followed a group of Democratic congressmen and congresswomen as they toured sites that offered clues to the state of things in the New Orleans area in the year that has passed since Hurricane Katrina had her way with the city. After we traveled through the Ninth Ward -- the site of the worst flooding during Katrina -- and St. Bernard Parish, we found ourselves stopped at a light on the London Avenue Canal. "This here canal," he said quietly, to no one in particular, "is the one that took my house." As we continued through his neighborhood in line with the bus full of congresspeople, Mr. Halsey became a tour guide of his own journey. We passed a number of boarded-up commercial ...