I SAID ON FRIDAY HOW CURIOUS it was that the fate of the protesters in Iran is so strangely entwined with the sleep schedule of the geeks maintaining the servers at twitter and YouTube.
THAT THE PROTESTORS’ STRUGGLE IS VISIBLE, on a granular, person by person level, gives them optimism, and it gives us a new window upon a remote land and culture.
WHAT WE SEE: similarity.
YOUNG PEOPLE, CLOSER TO US in wardrobe, vision, and optimism, than we might have thought. And though great divides may yet separate us, the protestors are similar in at least one way: they all use the internet. And not in the insidious, demonizing way we were warned of, to recruit terrorists and plan attacks on civilians. But in the most geekish way: to subvert authority with an idea.
Damn, I love John Hodgman. For that piece, for his speech at the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner, for his impeccable comic timing–oh, what? You missed his speech at the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner? Please stop now and watch:
The victim: An early-morning patron at a French Quarter bar known for welcoming drag queens and their paramours.
The perpetrator: Walter Black, 41, of Belle Chasse, who had already racked up convictions for robbery and extorting some $10,000 from a priest he was having sex with and blackmailing in 2001.
Yeah, I know a lot of people are frustrated with the HRC–in fact many of my friends think the organization does nothing at all. People are also annoyed with Obama and his seeming lack of interest in pushing the gay agenda. (Did we ever decide what that is, BTW?) But as someone painfully familiar with lobbying, advocacy, and legislative process, I can say with certainty: things on Capitol Hill move slower than you think. MUCH SLOWER. Even resolutions commending blind, destitute war widows have to float through three committees and a couple of tablings before they finally come up for a vote–and even then, they may not pass by acclamation.
Full disclosure: I’m a patient person–possibly too patient–so I don’t really mind waiting for change. Also, as a white guy of a certain age and socio-economic status, I’m in a somewhat fortunate position, and I don’t need things to alter radically by tomorrow. In other words: although Obama and the HRC seem to move slowly, I’m built to handle it. Your results may vary.
More full disclosure: I’m completely appreciative of the noisy folks who are pushing and shoving for change. If there weren’t aggressive people on the front lines, that would leave ME at the front line, and then we’d never get anywhere. However, certain people at the vanguard should consider swigging a spoonful of reality: for the past 28 years–since GRID, and subsequently AIDS began the long, deadly trek across America in 1981–the LGBT community’s political progress has come in fits and starts. Today, it feels as if we’ve finally re-gained the momentum we lost way back then. I’m all for capitalizing on that and bringing everyone up to speed, but I’m not about to shoot the folks driving the bus.**
* I’m not a major HRC contributor by any stretch, and I don’t attend their annual fundraisers–which are too expensive by my estimation and too full of people who give me indigestion. But I do give, and I give regularly, and I’m happy to do it.
** Despite the bus reference, that was not meant to be an allusion to Speed.
An e-mail featuring a picture of two cartoon eyeballs set against a black background and meant to depict President Obama landed a Republican Tennessee state Senate aide in hot water, but not on the unemployment line.
Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide to Republican state Sen. Diane Black, was reprimanded — but not fired — for sending the image, which featured a succession of presidents in dignified and stately positions until the final picture of Obama.
Goforth, who is white, was issued a verbal and written rebuke for sending the e-mail from a statehouse account on May 28. Goforth called it a “bad decision” and said she sent it to the “wrong list of people,” The Tennessean reported.
Democratic legislators have called for Goforth’s resignation, but Black defended her decision not to fire her, telling the newspaper that Goforth has always been a friend to “people with black skin.”
“This was an inappropriate e-mail,” Black told the network. “I regret that this happened in my office.”
A shot by one of the photographers I follow on Flickr. He goes by the name Tamishir, and he’s based in Iran. I don’t know anything about the photo, but I though it was apt that he posted it today.
sturtle [dot] com 