It was interesting last night during the Golden Globes presentation of clips from Brokeback Mountain: scenes involving the two male leads involved them hitting each other or herding sheep or riding horses or solo shots; scenes involving the male leads’ interactions with the female characters involved weddings, kissing, hugging, etc.

« President Gore spoke today ». The President compared the wiretapping of Martin Luther King to the broad surveillance now imposed on Americans by the Boy Emperor:

‘Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: “Men feared witches and burnt women.”
‘The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk. ‘Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.
‘Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment’s notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously? ‘It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.
‘We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens’ right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive Branch and the [Emperor]‘s apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.
‘I endorse the words of Bob Barr, when he said, “The [Emperor] has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will.”’
—Raw Story

But don’t bet on it. The Golden Globes are on and Angelina Jolie is pregnant and they didn’t even tell Jennifer! Oh, snap!

Still, good on yer, President Gore. Good on yer!

Today: « Visit. Remember. Think. »

With the crush of having three graduate courses which have four months worth of work squeezed into just over a month, I don’t have much time for blogging. But this three-day weekend is helping me out.

Grad school is intense, with lots of tedious work and pretentious snarkery, but I still have straight As and we’re more than halfway done. These three classes are the nadir of the year, at least for me: research, science methods and teaching/learning. They have their engaging moments, but for the most part, they’re pretty dry and far removed from reality. But hey, you jump through the hoops, you get your job, you get on with life.

Speaking of reality and the three-day weekend, I see that « President Gore will speak on Martin Luther King Day », and he has some choice words for the Usurper:

‘In a major address slated for delivery Monday in Washington, the … President is expected to argue that the Bush administration has created a “Constitutional crisis” by acting without the authorization of the Congress and the courts to spy on Americans and otherwise abuse basic liberties. Aides who are familiar with the preparations for the address say that Gore will frame his remarks in Constitutional language. The Democrat who beat Bush by more than 500,000 votes in the 2000 presidential election has agreed to deliver his remarks in a symbolically powerful location: the historic Constitution Hall of the Daughters of the American Revolution. But this will not be the sort of cautious, bureacratic speech for which Gore was frequently criticized during his years in the Senate and the White House. Indeed, his aides and allies are framing it as a “call to arms” in defense of the Bill of Rights and the rule of law in a time of executive excess.
‘… Former U.S. Representative Bob Barr, the Georgia Republican who served as one of the most conservative members of the House, plans to introduce Gore. Barr, an outspoken critic of the abuses of civil liberties contained in the USA Patriot Act critic who has devoted his post-Congressional years to defending the Bill of Rights, refers to the [emperor]‘s secret authorization of domestic wiretapping as “an egregious violation of the electronic surveillance laws.” Count on Gore, who has pulled few punches in the speeches he has delivered in recent months, to be at least as caustic.’
—The Nation

Now when Bob Barr teams up with Al Gore, you know it’s getting weird and serious. While I applaud tomorrow’s effort, more people who are actually in power need to start growing a spine and chanting ‘Impeachment!’ as often as the mikes are on. Yes, I know Dracula is waiting in the number two spot, but if they actually bring impeachment charges, he’ll just have yet another heart attack and keel over. In the meantime, Denny Hastert can get indicted and we’ll make it a clean sweep of all the fascist bastards.

Bring it on.

We went to see Brokeback Mountain last weekend. It was … all the superlatives that have been said about it: beautiful, moving, heartbreaking, terrific performances, lived up to the hype, etc. etc. etc.

I was a trifle detached about it, however, I have to admit. See, I’m really sick of the American macho man who has to hide for 30 years because of who he really is thing (see Knotty Boy’s critique below).

Tired of living in a society where everyone watches this movie, says, ‘Isn’t that sad?’ and life just goes on.

Bored with ignorant ‘real cowboys’ being interviewed on CNN about this movie and snortin’ out, ‘Ain’t no sucha thang as a gay cowboy out here!’ when of course there are.

Nauseated that Matthew Shephard is still dead and James Dobson and Pope Been-a-Nazi XVI are still alive and exercising such poisonous control over millions of minds.

More than a little angry that Jack’s plan for himself and the love of his life to go off and live on a ranch together peacefully for 30 years is nigh-on impossible in a country that prides itself on freedom, liberty and equal justice for all.

Part of my detachment stems from growing up around the type of atmosphere portrayed in the movie. I know one real-life person in Oklahoma who right now has lived the same kind of lie for the last 30 years that Jack Twist lived in the story, longing for a man, stuck in a heterosexual relationship that was foisted on him by society in the 70s by people like his own siblings, who once famously admitted to wishing they had drowned him when he was a child because they suspected he was gay.

I guess, in other words, the movie hits me too close to home. I, thanks to the accident of being born in 1963 and not being 20 years old in 1963, was able to escape. So many have not and do not.

Awesome movie. Horrible reality.