Archive for the ‘culture’ Category

Did she support Kennedy and/or Clinton?

Posted: October 3, 2010 by datechguy in culture, politics
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Dianne Williamson makes some interesting points in this column that made my wife laugh out loud:

Despite his City Hall harem, the 17-year mayor keeps getting re-elected. Is he so popular that voters are willing to overlook the indiscretions?

Well considering Leominster has a thriving downtown, a surplus and is in financially solid shape while Fitchburg next door can’t afford to keep on its streetlights while taxes and fees rise I think that might be a clue.

I asked the wife if she would rather have had Dean J. Mazzarella as mayor for the last 20 years here, she didn’t bat an eyelash: “I’ll take the Leominster Lothario.”

Williamson’s case is a valid one but I tend to remember an awful lot of women in this state who were much more forgiving of a certain fellow in the White House a decade and a half ago and a certain senator who ruled Massachusetts for my entire life. As Stacy McCain reminds us:

the conservative who tries to turn the tables on that argument — demanding that liberals explain, for example, how Chris Dodd and Ted Kennedy could make “waitress sandwiches” and still retain the unstinting support of feminists — will again run head-on into the familiar reply: How dare you?

I don’t know Williamson’s opinion on Kennedy or Clinton but I’d be really interested to know. Exit question: How many people who are outraged in Massachusetts over the Mayor’s actions had opinions similar to Nina Burleigh concerning them Bill & Ted?

I’m sorry I have no patience for this

Posted: October 1, 2010 by datechguy in culture
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This post is not going to make me any friends. I wasn’t going to blog on this subject but I read the first paragraph of this nonsense and I’m not going to let it stand:

What made Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jump off of a bridge to his death?

With all due respect to his grieving family nothing made Tyler Clementi jump off a bridge but Tyler Clementi.

He was a talented young man going to a prestigious university in the greatest country in the world. Worldwide he was easily part of the 1% of winners in life’s lottery.

Yet with all his advantages when someone played a nasty prank on him he was so insecure that all despite he had going for him he decided to throw it away because he was embarrassed? Are you kidding me?

The world is a rough place and an unfair place. Tyler Clementi, wasn’t beaten like some who fall in the hands of the Taliban, He wasn’t starved like some children in Africa, he wasn’t a victim of the slave trade, subject to discrimination or stricken with an incurable disease. Like many young men his age he didn’t go to war and face the risks and horror of it and didn’t have to flee a country controlled by drug wars to come to America. He had no reason to fear for his life.

Yet one embarrassment was enough for him to throw it all away and you expect me to feel sorry for him and beat my breast? Give me a break!

It stinks that this man killed himself, he threw away a gift given to him by God. As the father of a young man in college the same age I can certainly relate to his parent’s pain but the idea that right now advocacy groups and pols are about to use a weak guy’s stupid decision to fund raise, appear holier than thou and advance their causes disgusts me.

They are using this man worse than the fools who filmed him did. Those people were college kids, what is the excuse of those advocacy groups full of adults?

It’s a tough thing to say but it is what it is. The person responsible for Tyler Clementi’s death is himself.

memorandum thread here.

Update: Cripes do Robert Stacy and I have the same brain or what?

A little Gattlin’ brothers

Posted: September 25, 2010 by datechguy in culture, special events, tea parties
Tags: , , , , , ,

My last video from Blogcon-9/12 is a little bit of a ditty from the Gattlin brothers:

Always good to close in song

Bristol Palin and Ward 2 in Fitchburg’s primary

Posted: September 21, 2010 by datechguy in culture, elections, media, oddities, politics
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I visited every ward in Fitchburg to check on the turnout on Election day

My voting place Ward 6

As always the ladies were delightful

Checking the names

In every ward except ward 1 the turnout was reported as light, below avg. There were plenty of signs for Scott Bove who was my first choice for Sheriff (lost 52-48 in the dem primary to Tom foley) and people stood at ward 1 for him, but most of the turnout looked like this:

I think the contested race on the republican ballot hurt Bove, oddly enough there was a libertarian primary ballot with absolutely NOBODY on it.

The Ballots

My last stop was Ward 2, I had actually planned on stopping there later with my camera but I had time to kill while waiting for my son to finish golf practice. The ladies there were pretty much democrats and we talked for a bit. I told them about the travels of my hat, they asked me what I thought would happen in the election. They were not fans of Martha Coakley, John Olver or Sarah Palin although I did defend Sarah and they seemed to moderate. One thing they were united about was her daughter Bristol.

I mentioned how people where going after Palin because of her daughter getting pregnant and mentioned how I saw high school students attacking her for it back in 2008. To a lady they defended Sarah at this point and VERY strongly.

The gist was that you raise your children the best you could and taught them the best you could but you can’t make them make the right decisions. They had only venom for people who hit her on that. Each of those ladies had children and knew that those kids didn’t always hold up the side.

The point being that a room that was maybe 30-70 against Palin in Mass was 100% defending her when you went after her kids. If Democrats have 24 months to get this through their head.

Update: As for myself, my first thought when I see a young girl like that is “Is this wife material for my sons?” Stacy is right, she is as he calls her fine but if my boys brought her home I’d hesitate. It would be a tough slog to be raising another man’s kid at this stage in life. One mistake, even a big one doesn’t disqualify a young lady, and I’d wager I’d like her if I met her, but I’d ask my boys to think hard and soberly if by some miracle they came home with her on their arm.

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