Who I am…
I am a lawyer, former mother of teenagers, and a quixotic seeker after and champion of factual truth.
I make the best damn brownies you have ever had that are not regulated by the federal government.
I love movies, Broadway, and intelligent conversation.
I think in song lyrics and movie and television quotes.
I believe in the use of proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar even in text messages. I am willing to debate the use of the Oxford comma, if you know what the Oxford comma is. It also makes me very happy if people use the subjunctive mood when appropriate.
I have been told I intimidate people. I am really just a fluffy-centered teddy bear. Really.
- It's all my fault. No, really. The views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone and in no way whatsoever represent the views of anyone else, including any past, present, or future employer.
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Words to live by ….
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.
“Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.” Mary Harris (“Mother Jones”).
“Don’t boo. Vote.” Barack Obama.
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Reinhold Niebuhr.
“No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.” Sir Terry Pratchett.
“Damning facts are still facts.” Steven C. Holtzman.
“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re tested, they’re not values — they’re hobbies.” Jon Stewart.
“Darkness never sustains, even though it sometimes seems it will.” Doctor Who.
“Writing is a form of mischief.” Stephen Sondheim.
“An idea is not responsible for the people who believe it.” Don Marquis.
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.” Joseph Campbell.
“Truth is our strongest ally, our biggest weapon, and our best defense.” Me.
“Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” Stephen Colbert.
“The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.” Jonathan Larson.
“We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;
Cannot be killed or swept aside.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda.“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Emma Goldman.
“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett.
“I believe that the God who made (among other things) light, and space, and number, and time, and the spiral curve of Fibonacci numbers, must be acknowledged to understand more than I do about why there’s pain in the world.” Teresa Neilsen Hayden.
“No, it’s not fair. You’re in the wrong universe for fair.” John Scalzi.
“Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor.” Lawrence O’Donnell
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.” Molly Ivins.
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Category Archives: Politics
Absence makes the heart grow fonder… and the ballot is just as important
Just in case you can’t make it to the polls — or, in many states, don’t want to actually go to the polls — on November 7th, absentee ballots and early voting are just the ticket. Some states allow any … Continue reading
This morning, in several different places, I have been faced with people who have scorned the grief I and others have felt over yesterday’s Military Commissions vote. America has never lived up to “ideals,” they say — usually followed a … Continue reading
No retreat, baby…
I post other people’s words, sometimes, but I don’t post song lyrics. Today, though, these words resonate with me: Well, we bursted out of classHad to get away from those foolsWe learned more from a 3-minute record, babyThan we ever … Continue reading
Have you registered?
I think this fall’s election is going to be crucial to the future of our Republic. I think we’re in a constitutional crisis, and I think we need to take action. And the first, most important action is to vote, … Continue reading
Truth to power: Keith Olbermann answers Donald Rumsfeld
On his show of August 30, 2006, Olbermann said: The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack. Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet. Mr. Rumsfeld’s … Continue reading
We write letters….
Dear Sirs, Peter Ligeti (Letters, August 21) says: “I wonder how federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor and all members of the ACLU will feel when the next major terrorist act hits the United States. Judge Taylor obviously has not learned … Continue reading
Torture: once more with feeling.
In the comments to my post “Obscenity,” Anonymous asks Are you REALLY REALLY saying that you would not torture One person to SAVE the innocent lives of many THOUSAND others. We will never hide behind our children but we really … Continue reading
Obscenity.
There is profanity. You hear profanity a lot these days. My kids hear it in the streets and on the school buses. You see it on the Internet a lot. Comedy Central has quite a few shows which feature profanity … Continue reading
A letter to Barbara Boxer.
Dear Senator Boxer: When you campaigned for Senator Joe Leiberman during the Connecticut primary, I was appalled. Here was a man who had been a firm supporter of the war even after it became clear that the war was a … Continue reading
Leiberman concedes in Connecticut
Thus continues the long, long slog to regain the soul of the Democratic Party. Damn, this feels good. One thing has confused me about all this — over the years when the left has bitched and moaned about the influence … Continue reading
Time out from our current discussion on art — Terry Karney has written perhaps not a manifesto but a mission statement on being a liberal. Go Terry!
Out here with the yellow lines and the dead armadillos.
The fabulous Jim Hightower once said “There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos.” Certainly, in regards to the abortion debate, it seems that the two sides face each other across barricades, lobbing grenades … Continue reading
A letter to the Mercury News
Dear Sirs: In his letter of Sunday, February, 19, 2006, Scott Abramson upbraids the media for showing the latest round of photos from Abu Ghurayb, claiming that they will likely inflame more hatred towards American troops. Whose sensibilities is … Continue reading
Purple is such a lovely color.
In my wedding post, I spoke about my family’s politics. That was way too flip of me — I used a shorthand which obscured a range of opinions about many things. (I also forgot and left out my younger brother, … Continue reading
Seen any hatters, lately?
Today was Lewis Carroll’s birthday. Very prescient man, Carrol: `I don’t know what you mean by “glory”,’ Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don’t — till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for … Continue reading
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