AddieStan

Kill for Peace! First, the religious right appropriated the tactics of the labor movement to create a formidable electoral bloc. Now, reports Newsweek , a pro-war group called Protest Warriors plans to appropriate the tactics of the anti-globalizers in order to "countermessage" the lefties expected to pour onto the sidewalks of New York. Gotta give 'em points for creativity. However small their numbers, they're likely to get a lot of attention. Let's hope it's taken with the grain of salt the media would shake on something called, say, Hookers for Christ.

Break out the planks The Republican Platform Committee needs your help! Your blogstress just found this nifty form on the official Web site of the Republican National Convention whereby all Republicans are invited to submit their suggestions for the party platform Elephant for a day, anyone? Here's the list of issues on the pull-down menu: Crime Culture of Life Education Energy Faith-based initiatives Health care Homeland security Iraq/Afghanistan* Jobs Medicare Military Small business Social Security Taxes Tort reform Trade Transportation War on Terror** Other Your blogstress notes no option for gay-bashing, homo-hating or fixing that queer-coddling, marriage-threatening U.S. Constitution. So perhaps there's hope? Now, get in there, and stake your claim in the big-tent platform. Your Webwench predicts a rash of "Other" suggestions from AddieStan readers. Please don't disappoint her. *Your cybertrix...

An AddieStan exclusive: Read the transcript of New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's address to a gathering of gay Democrats during the Democratic National Convention--two weeks before his coming out speech.

Thank God for New Jersey - Take 2 In which your blogstress stands corrected In an earlier post, your humble cybertrix, who is about to prove just how humble she really is, made a mistaken assertion about from which show the following quote (which she, impressively, got right from memory) actually came. (If your blogstress was a media reporter, she'd risk being "iced" by network P.R. meanies for making such an error.) The show was " Meet the Press " (not the " Chris Matthews Show ", as reported), and the sage whose name she had forgotten was Jon Meacham of Newsweek , who said: I'm a Southerner and Southerners always say, 'When it comes to political corruption, thank God for New Jersey.' Regarding another assertion made in the same post, Frank Gilligan, your Webwench's partner in musical crimes, points us to the official site for the " Chris Matthews Show ", which he was apparently able to find just fine.

Memo to Senator Corzine: Don't do it! Washington is abuzz with word that New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, the most ethical, compassionate man to ever buy himself a Senate seat, is about to cash in his Senate chips to make a run for the governorship of the Garden State, once it's vacated, whether sooner or later, by the fabulously besmirched current occupant of Drumthwacket . Now, your blogstress understands the Senator's good, hero child intentions. He obviously hopes to save his state, the state he loves, from its hopelessly flawed character--a noble quest. But your cybertrix cries, "Stop the madness! Detatch with love!" It's not that your Webwench wouldn't like to see the taxpayers' money treated with more respect in her native land, nor would she mind seeing the joint run by someone she could respect, someone who understands the vast range of economic players in that tiny state, someone who's run a company that oversees resources equal ...

Queer, schmeer... Your blogstress thought she might avoid posting a new McGreevey item today, but she just couldn't stay away, especially when she heard Steve Inskeep announce this today on NPR's "Morning Edition": "New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's decision to resign after admitting to an affair with a man doesn't seem to have hurt his poll numbers. After his announcement, a poll found his approval rating at 45 percent--two points higher than before." And your cybertrix was just about to suggest that Steve and Renee give up on trying to continue Bob Edwards' absurd-items intro to the news. Maybe not yet. Thank God for New Jersey You have no idea how much it pains your Webwench to direct any reader to the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal , but John Fund does offer a probing look at, as Newsfeed slugged it, "Why New Jersey Is a Pit of Corrupution." (Because we like it that way, Mr. Fund!) On the "Ch...

Everbody to get from street! This just in from the Department of Homeland Security (c/o Frank Gilligan , your blogstress's comrade in vigilance and partner in musical crimes): WASHINGTON, D.C.--Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge confirmed today that Al Qaeda operatives have compromised the security of voting machines throughout the United States of America. The secretary warns of a massive domestic terror event that is imminent on November 2, 2004. According to credible and confirmed sources, a catastrophic attack can be triggered by selecting the names of candidates whose party affiliation is marked "D", or "Democratic". Security analysts believe that this is due to the limited knowledge of the English language of the terrorists, who have confused "Democratic" with "Democracy", an avowed target of global terrorist organizations. The secretary warns all Americans to only select "R" or "Republican" candidates to assur...

When you were a tender and callow fellow Now we remember why we used to like--no, love--John Kerry. This weekend, while your blogstress was applying a fabulous faux finish to her living room walls, she was treated, via "Road to the White House" on C-SPAN radio*, to an airing of the " Dick Cavett Show " from June of 1971, on which the young Kerry of Vietnam Veterans Against the War faced off with Nixon water-carrier John O'Neill, author of the recently released book, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry (Regnery). As O'Neill, fresh from a meeting with Nixon aides , sputtered, attacked and attempted to villify his opponent, Kerry cooly recited clauses from the Geneva Conventions ("You've heard of them?" he asked O'Neill), explaining that the "free-fire zones" designated by the U.S. brass were in direct contradiction to the conventions. He also courageously admitted taking part, at the behest o...

Pimping under the dome Washington has been abuzz for weeks about the firing from Rep. Mike DeWine's (R-OH) office of one Jessica Cutler, a hottie who says she took cash for sex from politicos with whom she was set up on "dates" by members of the congressman's staff. In D.C., the focus remains n the girl, while the men who pimped and schtupped her apparently still have their jobs. Check out Jeralyn Merritt's smart item on this on TalkLeft .

A hero for our times? For those among your blogstress's peeps eager to lionize McGreevey, check out Wonkette's take . It's remarkably sober and should give one pause. This Washington Blade piece features a concise chunk of the backstory, proving they're not about to jump whole-hog on the McGreevey bandwagon. For a not-so-sober but hilarious take, check out Tom Burka's Opinions You Should Have .

Convention recap Did the governor tip his hand? McGreevey at the Stonewall Democrats luncheon At the time, it struck your blogstress as the tiniest bit odd, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey being the only "straight" speaker among a good half-dozen on the menu at the luncheon sponsored by the Stonewall Democrats in Boston on the last day of the Democratic National Convention. (Remarks transcribed below this post.) However, your cyberscribe's home state being among the latest to pass domestic partnership legislation, and the queer community being so legendarily moneyed and fabulous, she saw the thing as generic opportunism from a well-known opportunist, overlooking what she now sees as either a slip or a wink to the assembled crowd from the chief executive of the Garden State. "My friends, we are engaged in a great debate within our nation," said the governor. "What we are looking for is workplace protection, equal rights and equal opportunities....

Remarks of N.J. Gov. James McGreevey Before the Stonewall Democrats July 29 - Boston, Mass. BARNEY FRANK: Let me begin with our first speaker, who represents a part of my past, but it's the least interesting part of my past, so don't get too excited. ..But he is a man who has distinguished himself by his advocacy of fairness on our behalf. And he is one of the statewide-elected officials in this country who has done more than almost any other to get across the point that we are entitled, as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, to be treated fairly and equally. So I am very proud to present to you the governor of the state of my birth, Governor Jim McGreevey of New Jersey. GOV. JAMES McGREEVEY: To the infamous [unintelligible] leader, Congressman Barney Frank, born in the sacred soil of New Jersey, let me say, on behalf of a grateful nation, thanks to the congressman for his leadership, his courage and his strength on all issues of civil liberties in the...

F'n A! Governor McGreevey Comes Out; Steps Down Holy Cannoli, Batman! Your blogstress could barely believe her ears, listening to the governor of her home state come out, at the age of 46, on national television ( video here ). No, James McGreevey is not the first politician to admit to being gay when the wolf was at the door (with some sort of seedy evidence, no doubt, of a same-sex tryst). But it's a first for Jersey, where your cybertix knows from personal experience that ethnic queers generally marry members of the opposite sex in order to stay members in good standing of the quaint, foul-mouthed, family-centric, corrupt, congested, multi-cultural culture that has spawned such fantastic figures as Queen Latifah, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan, to name a few. Now, your blogstress never was a big fan of McGreevey's, though she did appreciate his support for Jersey's domestic parnership bill. You see, she spent much of her adult life in the county of her...

On the rag As promised, more from the president's appearance before the Unity conference of journalists of color. (Astute readers may recall that your blogstress noted this one in her initial report on the president's remarks , but it's so good that it bears repeating. And your cybertrix promises to pull out a fresh one later in the day.) "Look," said Mr. Bush to the journalists assembled before him, "you can't read a newspaper if you can't read." Which would appear to explain why our president does't read newpapers ... NOTE: Scroll to almost the end of Brit Hume's exclusive Fox News interview with the president, linked above, for his answer to Hume's question, "How do you get your news?"

Bush on tribal sovereignty: This just in from Indian Country For the Native perspective on Bush's fumble on tribal sovereignty (reported by AddieStan on Friday ), go to Indianz.com . There you'll also find links to video clips of the Bush appearance before Unity, as well as to the whole banana. Many thanks to our dear friend, Marlon Fixico, for steering your blogstress to this informative site.

Brilliant person Your blogstress begs the reader's forgiveness for having fallen down on the job of deconstructing the president's remarks to the Unity conference , a gathering of journalists of color, last Friday in Washington, D.C. The reactions of the audience of journalists to both President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry the day before have become a matter of some controversy, seeing as Kerry received more than polite applause, while the president received some unstifled titters. So, a debate rages on Romenesko , the site by which journos live and die. Because a rigorous desconstruction of the Bush remarks now appears to require the effort of a doctoral dissertation, your blogstress will simply highlight one quote each day, until all the good ones are exhausted. So here's the Bush Unity quote for August 10th: "You look at my administration, it's diverse...When I see Condi [Rice], I think 'brilliant person.'...

One thing perfectly clear Now, listen up, because (hopefully) I'm only going to say this once. And, in homage to our bescandaled 37th president, whose resignation was recalled in a previous post , your blogstress will borrow Nixonian syntax in order to make a rare lapse into the first person: Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I am not a terrorist. Why, you may ask, would your cybertrix feel the need to make such a statement? You see, dear reader, a blogstress will do many a shameful thing in order to support her writing habit, and yours, alas, worked at the World Bank for a year, beginning in 1998--not long after her return from Peshawar, Pakistan. Talk these days in D.C. is all about how the F.B.I. intends to comb through the employment and contracting records of the World Bank, and cull those that jibe with "suspicious travel," according to Pierre Thomas of ABC NEWS. And having traveled to Pakistan's border with Afghanistan just months ...

The politics of terror Slowly making its rounds through the tunnels of the internet is this amazing story of how the Bush administration burnt computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, the undercover al Qaeda source for its latest production, the August surprise. You'll recall that The New Repubic had predicted that the Bushies would capture an "important" al Qaeda figure and trot him out in a July surprise during the Democratic National Convention. And so reports of the capture of a high-value person of interest, one Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, appeared as predicted, just before Kerry's speech. Not content with its less than bouncy bounce out of its apparent coup , the administration announced, in the personage of First Toady Tom Ridge, an impending major al Qaeda attack, based on the computer records of Khan, another captured high-value person of interest, whose July arrest may have led to the apprehending of Ghailani. Ridge's announcement, in which...

More beatin' 'round the... Your blogstress asks your forbearance in keeping her promise to deconstruct the whole of President Bush's remarks last week to the Unity Convention, a gathering of journalists of color at which the president dumped a motherlode of material for late-night comedians and mean-spirited cybertrices. There's just so much that your humble écrivaine finds herself a tad overwhelmed. And then there's that little problem of earning a living that keeps getting in the way. Unfortunately, a suitable patron has yet to be found for the bohemian, blog-centric lifestyle to which your gateau-de-cup aspires.

Those good ole boys were drinkin' Whiskey and rye... Thirty years after Richard Milhous Nixon resigned the presidency, your blogstress found herself moved to a profound and wistful melancholy when the deep, manly tones of the Nixonian swan song came wafting through her radio last night as she rolled paint onto her living room walls. It was a sound that transported her swiftly back to the day and place when she learned of the deal--the way the scent of a bar of Palmolive soap brings her back to her grandmother's pink-and-black tiled bathroom. As the voice of the Great Disgraced began his farewell address, your Webwench could feel under her nails the yarn of the cherry-red wall-to-wall carpet of the family living room in Clark, New Jersey, where she sat on the floor in front of a dated, tube-set high-fi, breathless and bewildered at this latest turn of the national screw. Dressed for a date, her long hair, ends curled on hot rollers, artfully splayed across her shoulders, ...