The strange reality of Hollywood

I was passing through the living room a bit ago and happened to see a scene from Grey's Anatomy where this gay character is describing his struggles to have a "normal" wedding since in his state gay marriage isn't recognized so his "ceremony" had to be at the county clerk's office or something. The guy was what every gay character always is...virtuous,lovable,selfless, victimized...in other words...perfect. I will not address the wisdom of gay marriage here. My point is simply this...Why is it that gay characters in Hollywood are so predictably perfect? Are there no mean-spirited, spiteful, hateful, obnoxiously annoying gay people in the world? Look, I know that Hollywood has an agenda to mainstream things that offend large segments of the American public...from adultery to drug use to Christianity..I get that and frankly it doesn't bother me. Thats what Hollywood does. I don't expect them to be big fans of middle America and thats OK..I still am greatly entertained by many of their products. But enough already!!! We get it!! Homosexuals are nice people! In most ways they are just like the rest of us!! We get it!!

Except....not really like the rest of us. Because the rest of us can be terribly petty and vindictive. The rest of our number include murderous thieves and manipulative jerks, two-timing back-stabbers and treasonous liars. But apparently the gay community has managed to slay all of the personal demons that plague the rest of us if Hollywood is to be believed.

If I were gay I think it would annoy the hell out of me that my characters were always so one-dimentional. In my opinion its a form of condescension. Of course, since I dont watch alot of TV I might not be aware of the many heinous gay characters that may exist out there. Maybe. Just like I'm sure there's a sympathetic Christian character out there who loves his family, serves his community, and is universally loved by everyone at the office.   Maybe.

Tucson

Its been 5 days since the horrible shootings in Arizona. I've spent the past few days wading through the fever swamps that are the forums at websites like National Review, Salon, Huffington Post and the Wall Street Journal. The vitriol and invective going back and forth between the left and the right has constituted perhaps the largest pile of skull-splitting nitwittery....uh..ever.

To be clear, I am no "moderate"...one of those insufferable snobs who always hover in the air over and above every big political issue of the day claiming neutrality, wringing their hands and saying idiotic things like.."oh..a pox on BOTH their houses!!" No, I am a man of the right and as such have been infuriated by pundits who have come out of the wood work blaming conservative voices for the slaughter in Tucson. I will not here dignify such crackpot psycho-analysis from the likes of Keith Olbermann and Paul Krugman with a defense. However, as maddening as the left can be at times like these, I have also seen an equally maddening argument that comes from my side of the political spectrum. It is this...any liberal political idea that is advanced in this country both grand ( health care) and humble (school lunch menu overhaul) is met by many on the right as the second coming of the Soviet Union!!

If Michelle Obama wants school kids to eat more veggies its because she secretly wants to grab the power to come into our homes and arrest us if we put a twinkee in juriors' lunch-box. If Democrats in Congress want to make it more difficult for crazy people to buy guns, its because they secretly are working on their REAL plan to confiscate every gun in America so that when they declare us a Communist nation we won't be armed!

I say..argue with them on the merits of their ideas...but start with the assumption of good will. You may say.."But Doug..the liberals are always lying about OUR motives!!"  To which I would say...so what! Its true. For years any conservative who wants lower taxes does so because he loves the rich and hates poor people. If we oppose affirmative action its clearly because we are knuckle-dragging racists. Well..its not true and not fair when they do it to us...but its just as not true and not fair when we do it to them. Are there some on the left who really WOULD like to declare us a Communist country?...maybe a few on the fringes. But there are some on the fringes on the right with some rather wacko world views as well.

There was a line in the Presidents' speech last night that brought a lump to my throat. He was talking about Christina Green, the 9 year old girl who was killed and he was listing her many accomplishments. Then he said.."I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it"  I was choked up because the President, MY President spoke the truth..beautifully and simply the truth. I didn't vote for him and would never vote for him..but I give him the benefit of the doubt because I believe that he wants the best for our country and in that moment I was proud of him. I don't want to live in a country where I'm not allowed to have a moment like that with a politician who I disagree with.

Jury Duty

I got a summons for jury duty today. Although I would like to say that a thrill went up my leg at the prospect of getting a chance to do my civic duty, I must admit that the first thing I thought was..."How in God's name will I be able to sit in a jury box for eight hours ?" I mean nobody,including Chris Matthews loves his country more than I do so there will be no whining about deferments from THIS guy. I'm pumped about the chance to serve and do my bit to bring about justice and all... its just the sitting thing.

I've seen all the jury movies. They all sit there ramrod straight staring intently at the prosecutor as he makes the case that the defendant,with premeditated malice in his heart did indeed brutally slay the saintly grandmother of five while she was taking her oatmeal cookies out of the oven. Then without any discernible movement or change of expression they watch eagerly as the defence attorney calmly explains that his client couldn't possible have done the foul deed since at the time of death he was serving the homeless at the local soup kitchen with his Sunday School class of tenth grade boys.

No...my spirit is willing but my body is weak. Ever since I can remember I haven't been able to sit comfortably in one place for more than fifteen minutes or so without an overwhelming urge to stand up.It was always worst at school. My teachers ultimately made bargains with me that as long as some part of my body was attached to some part of the desk..etc..Church is always a challenge...movies require an aisle seat...long plane rides require medication

So I'm a bit worried about this jury gig although I probably shouldn't be too concerned. As soon as they find out that I own a business,have been happily married to a woman for twenty seven years,don't think that anyone should be able to vote without passing a current events quiz, love everything that Fyodor Dostoevsky ever wrote and that I do in fact teach a Sunday School class at a Baptist church...I don't stand a chance.

Dear Big Ten

Dear Big Ten,
 Just a note to thank you guys for always being so dependably pathetic in bowl games against our guys. In a world where so few things can be counted on, we really appreciate you guys always being there for us.  The performance of Michigan State was particularly helpful for illustrating just how over matched you guys are this time of year...what with the 49-7 score and the 400 total yards advantage for Alabama..that was a nice touch!  Oh ..and the way Michigan got man-handled by Miss. State..what was it..55-14??..CLASSIC.

Penn State put up a little better fight but it was epic the way they totally folded in the fourth quarter.  Sure, Northwestern and Wisconsin lost too..but those games were competitive down to the wire.  Against us, we can always count on a complete ass-whipping.  So once again...THANKS for contributing to the legend that is the total dominance of Southern football.

Sincerely,

The SEC
              
                

In the Beginning . . .

After much badgering from my family and with crucial technological help from them I am launching this Blog.  It is my intention to record my observations about life as they come to me and as I am  inspired to write. The subjects will cover a broad range of topics from minor daily frustrations to the more profound issues of government..politics and religion. I claim no special wisdom or educational credentials.  I am simply a college educated business owner with a wife, kids and a mortgage who happens to have a large library. With all that reading comes the conceit that I might be smarter than the average bear and maybe the world could benefit from my insights. However, having just written that sentence it occurs to me just how vain it sounds so ...I take it back. The world will do perfectly fine without my brilliance.   I feel it only fair to declare my biases at the beginning of this adventure.  I am 52..an unapologetic baseball fan..suspicious of anything ""big" such as BIG business..BIG government..BIG deals...all are inherently dangerous...a lover of family and being a father..passionate about dogs especially golden retrievers like Molly.  I also love music that is well written and well performed as it is one of the few things that has the power to bring me to tears.  My personal tastes range from classical through earlier country through the blues and rock and roll and then abruptly end at disco and rap.  Its as if music died with the Beatles..although Ben Folds is clever and there are random contemporary artists that I enjoy.  I also much prefer the company of younger people to older ones.  On subjects political I lean Libertarian..on matters religious I am Christian.  So that about covers the biases.  Keep these in mind as you read the many opinionated rants to come.