Right on about the "back of the race" pack! I once ran the Twin Cities Marathon (at a gloriously Clydesdale-esque pace of 4:58:04 or so) with Kaiser sideburns and a Hitler mousch my buddy and shaven my beard into during the previous night's drunken festivities.

Needless to say, I got more weird looks from runners/fans than the guy running just ahead of me in a Richard Simmons wig/outfit (...or wait, was that Richard himself?!? Nah, can't be!)

Or, perchance, why not just wear a bra and nothing else??

I'm not talking about businesswomen cavorting down the street in lacy solar Frederick's bras (somewhat similar to the plot of a classic Seinfeld episode), but rather sports bras. Many women wear only a sports bra when jogging in the summer, while listening to an MP3 player or radio on their armband.

Seems like this would be a perfect application for a solar bra! (Well, this and maybe a solar-powered Wonderbra that made you look a full cup size bigger whenever the Sun was out. =)

It damn near brought a tear to my eye to see Barack call these two neocon chicken-sh*ts out!

And what the hellare McCain & his campaign leaders thinking?!?!?! Allying and positioning himself with Dubya - one of the most unpopular Presidents in modern history - just months before the election ?!?!?

Don't get me wrong...as a Dem/lib I would absolutely love it if more and more Americans see McCain as simply the third coming of Bush. But as a political spectator, I simply have to wonder if Johnny really is going to actively go on board the sinking ship that is the current administration, simply to build his foreign policy platform...

because gays in CA couldn't wait 6 more months to get married?

Was four more years of an endless, bloody war (plus maybe a new, equally disastrous invasion of Iran under McCain) not worth 6 months? What, are you trying to tell me that not a single GLBT person out there has a friend or loved one in harm's way?

And you're keeping them in harm's way for years to come so you can get your pic in the newspaper smooching your loved one outside the Courthouse?

You're willing to sacrifice abortion rights, fuel and energy reform, and the environment at large because you couldn't wait 6 months to transform a civil union into a marriage...to someone you already probably co-habit with and, for all intensive purposes, are married to?

There may be no consequences from this for the happy 'Frisco couples - but for the 18 y.o. kid in Fallujah trying to survive each day, and for the scared girl going thru a back-alley abortion because Roe v. Wade got overturned by President McCain, there will be consequences from this indeed.

But no biggie, right?

***************

"Full equality"? Fine. But we're not talking about freeing slaves from forced labor in the sun here, people. We're not talking about women being allowed to vote and hold jobs.

We're not talking about openly gay individuals being discriminated against in workplaces, restaurants or anywhere else. We're not talking about protecting gay people from hate crimes.

We're not even talking about being able to provide health insurance for gay partners...that's what civil unions are about.

The horrible, ghastly inequality we are talking about is the ability for two (or more?) gay people to throw a fabulous wedding.

And that fabulous wedding just couldn't wait 6 fr#$kin' months. {I guess Autumn Weddings just are totally not in vogue right now! As if!}

Thanks a lot, folks. Maybe most of you (middle-class white gays) are Log Cabin Republicans anyway, so it's no skin off your back WHEN McCain wins the election on a surge of redneck homophobia.

Thanks a lot. Have fun at your reception.

I support the legalization of gay marriage.

But - simplistic dolt that I am - I ALSO believe in the notion of the greater good.

I would not tell a minority person to keep sitting at the back of the bus for 6 more months so we can win an election.

I would not tell a gay man or lesbian to accept being turned down for a job, housing, insurance etc. for a 6 more months so we can win an election.

But for a frickin' marriage license?? Is your self-serving need in this regard really so dire that you're willing to screw over the other 150 million or so left and left-leaning Americans to get it?

...but in context, it left me with an even greater appreciation for Peter Jackson's masterpiece trilogy adaptation of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".

The trilogy is a primer on how to do right by an epic tale.

The first Narnia movie was an example of a good-faith attempt striving - but failing - to live up to the book.

Now that the 2nd Movie looks/sounds like a cheap "Gladiator" rip-off, I feel even more sympathy for Lewis and his fans...

...assassinating Barack because there was no way he could stand to have a Negro boy as President.

This, as an Obama supporter, is one of my closely held fears. It would be the greatest American political tragedy since the assassination of Bobby Kennedy...and all it would take is one gun-toting, bigoted NRA redneck.