2020 Democratic Crystal Ball

Biden, Bernie, Warren, Buttegieg, Harris…

Let the winnowing begin!

Much is being made about former Vice President Joe Biden’s candidacy to be the Democratic nominee for President. Pundits point to polling showing him with narrowing leads over Senators Bernie Sanders (VT-I), and Elizabeth Warren (MA), respectively, all whom have double digit support, while South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and California Senator Kamala Harris are contending runners-up, in that order, with single-digit support among those polled.

However, since Biden announced his candidacy – he was the last Democratic candidate to announce, and did so on April 25, 2019 – detractors within and without the party have noted several weaknesses of his, including his historic ham-handed touchy-feely behavior with women, his shifting position on abortion vis-à-vis the Hyde Amendment – which forbids the use of Federal funds to pay for abortion, except in cases to save the life of the woman, or in pregnancy arising from rape, and/or incest – and perhaps most ignobly, his handling as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the matter concerning Anita Hill, who testified under oath that Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for Supreme Court Justice to replace the seat being vacated by the impending retirement of Thurgood Marshall, had sexually harassed her while her supervisor as Assistant Secretary of Education in the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, and then again as the Reagan-appointed Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he later fired her.

Critics have noted that other female witnesses, all interviewed by the FBI, were prepared to substantiate Hill’s testimony, but were not called because of a private compromise between Biden, as the Committee Chair, and Republicans, who feared their corroborating testimony would sink the 1991 George H.W. Bush nominee.

Additional criticism of Biden’s candidacy revolves around his ethnicity, and the increasing concerns that Anglo candidates – even in the Democratic party – historically have not had the best interests of racial/ethnic minority communities at heart.

Then, there’s the matter of his age – now 77 – which, if elected, would make him even older than the current White House occupant, who was aged 70 when elected. But, consider also that Bernie Sanders is one year older than Biden, and that the majority of POTUSes – 39 (86.66%) – have been aged 45 to 64, while 25 (55.55%) were aged 50 to 59.

Essentially, Biden, perhaps more so than any other Democratic candidate, represents

Right Wing Political Religious Zealots

If Right Wing Religious Zealots get total political control, we could have this here in Gilead… er, the good ‘ol USA!

Watch “The Handmaid’s Tale“ on Hulu!
https://www.hulu.com/the-handmaids-tale

Indonesian men caned for gay sex in Aceh

Two men have been caned 83 times each in the Indonesian province of Aceh after being caught having sex. The men stood on stage in white gowns praying while a team of hooded men lashed their backs with a cane. The pair, aged 20 and 23, were found in bed together by vigilantes who entered their private accommodation in March. They have not been identified. Gay sex is not illegal in most of Indonesia but it is in Aceh, the only province which exercises Islamic law. It is the first time gay men have been caned under Sharia law in the province. The punishment was delivered outside a mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39996224

Public caning, Dover, Delaware, 1910.

A respondent wrote: “Yeah! and we want to

Here’s Why People Should Be Like Dogs

My puppy loves me.

I love my puppy.

I don’t want to marry my puppy.

My puppy is spayed.

My puppy could probably care less about mating.

I feed my puppy quite well.

My puppy loves me.

My puppy walks alongside me off lead.

I don’t want to marry my puppy.

No one in Alabama has EVER been forced to marry anyone.

Anyone who says otherwise is

Is Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore Sexually Repressed?

“…it’s about sexual preference.”

In an interview  broadcast Thursday morning, February 12, 2015, with CNN’s “New Day” co-host Chris Cuomo, Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore FINALLY told the truth.

In his view, Marriage Equality under the law in Alabama is NOT the issue under discussion.

When pressed by host Cuomo, Moore said, “It’s about sexual preference overcoming an institution which has existed in our state, in our United States, for centuries, and I think it’s wrong.”

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Jester Roy Moore

Clearly, Chief Jester Moore doesn’t “prefer” those with Same Sex Attraction, and by his own confession, seeks to intrude upon their private lives. That is, he seeks to tell others what they should (or should not) do in their own privacy. Why he has such an excessive interest in them is indeed quizzical, if not outright disturbing.

There continues to be a disturbing dichotomy in Alabama law, which,

Sometimes, Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction: Florida Man Named “Phuc Kieu” Arrested, Charged With Sexual Assault

Screenshot, from http://mugshotsgainesville.com/mug-shot/phuc-x-kieu

Man named Phuc Kieu tries to ‘sexually assault, rob’ passerby

By Sophia Rosenbaum

November 24, 2014 | 2:30pm

What the Phuc.

A Florida man named Phuc Kieu tried to sexually assault and rob a man on Sunday, the Gainesville Sun reported.

Kieu — more formally Phuc X. Kieu — was watching gay porn on a portable DVD player in his car when a second man walked by after withdrawing $220 from an ATM, according to local authorities.

Kieu, a 58-year-old Orlando resident,

Why the LGBT community should support Shirey Ice Cream in Florence, Alabama

Edwin Markham, American poet

Outwitted

He drew a circle that shut me out–

Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in!

by Edwin Markham, April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940

That brief poem, or epigram, by Edwin Markham summarizes succinctly the idea upon which I will expound in this entry.

In the past several days, it came to light that a Shoals area Alabama entrepreneur, Garrett Shirey – who, with his brothers Reese & Austin, are founders and co-owners of Shirey Ice Cream in the northwest Alabama town of Florence, population 39,447 – had Tweeted at least two uncharacteristic and very unbecoming messages. The specific dates and times they were made, and the content can be seen in the screen shot images of the Tweets, both which appear later in this entry.

First, some background.

Be nice to me… or else!

It certainly seems that there’s no shortage of opinion on FaceBook.

Recently, I had seen this posted on a friend’s page, and remarked upon it. Whether or not Eminem said it, I am uncertain. However, the sentiment expressed was what caught my attention.

Since we’re now in