It's a cute little dog though

An e-mail I sent to Target today...

When shopping online, it is a great idea to let us check to see whether the item is in stock in our local store. Of course, if you're going to offer that service, could you at least make it ACCURATE? Yesterday, I rushed to Target on my lunch to purchase the Canon PowerShot 7.1MP digital camera - A560 (ASIN: B000NK3NBA DPCI: 056-10-0016) because the site told me it was available at my store in Voorhees, NJ.

Not only was it not there, a store associate who tried to help me ended up asking ANOTHER store associate. That second associate, standing three feet away from me exclaimed loudly and rudely, "That's discontinued! We don't have it no more. We don't even have the display no more."

Not good: A bad online experience which led to a bad in-store experience. Even worse: I bought the item later yesterday. At Wal-Mart.

I'm sure they won't give a shit. But it makes me feel better to express my frustration.

Are Republicans EVER held accountable for ANYTHING anymore?

The scumbag Senator Larry Craig is being slapped with a "letter of admonition" from the Senate Ethics Committee. In case you were living under a rock last year, Craig is the Senator who tried to get a blow job from an undercover cop in a restroom at a Minneapolois airport. (Although all gay men don't engage in it, we all know the steps involved in getting laid in a public restroom. The arresting officer indicated that Craig took pretty much all the steps.)

You'll remember that the 62-year-old married Senator--who adamantly denies he's gay--ppleaded guilty and then tried to reverse the plea when the world found out what he'd done. At that point, he said he'd resign...but a few days later he said he changed his mind.

The Committee also criticized him for using more than $200,000 in campaign funds to pay the legal fees he incurred from getting caught trying to get his dick sucked. They gave him a little slap for attempting to get "special and favorable treatment" by flashing his Senate business card at the officer who turned down his advances.

Like so many Republicans, this lying scumbag should have been forcibly removed from office long ago. Instead, he got a letter. And he had the nerve to respond to it by saying "While I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the conclusions reached by the Senate Ethics Committee, from the outset I have encouraged the Committee to act in a timely fashion and they have done so. I will continue to serve the people of Idaho."

I would like to say I can't imagine why the Committee would stop short of full adjudication hearings but I think the answer is fairly obvious. I guess if Craig's gonna be taking things in the "backdoor," it may as well be politics. It's a shame the rest of us end up getting fucked in the process.

Barack Obama Can't Win in November

I love almost everything Joe Wilson wrote in his piece entitled "Battle Tested" for the Baltimore Sun. (Some of you hopefully remember Joe as the husband of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.)

It is completely nutso to me that any Democrat in his/her right mind doesn't realize Barack Obama is not only not qualified to lead the country, but not even qualified to put up a good fight in the general election. He's completely unproven. Except where it's been proven he can't stand up to Republicans. (When McCain accused Obama of being "disingenuous," Obama replied, "The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you." Dude, that sorta pussy talk is not going to win debates. And it certainly doesn't demonstrate the brass balls required to be President of the United States of America.)

Let's be crystal clear about on thing: You can forget about what the polls say. They will all change if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee because the GOP smear machine will immediately begin cranking at full speed. They will tear him to shreds. If Obama is the nominee, I would think there's about a 30% chance he'll win the general election. (Not a math wiz? That's a 70% chance of basically a third term for George Bush's disasterous, illegal dictatorship.)

Here's the Huffington Post excerpt of Joe's excellent article.

John Kerry: The return of fuzzy math

I just watched Wolf Blitzer interview Senator John Kerry and I'm thisclose to slapping Kerry with the dreaded "flip-flopper" label. Indeed, I am now embarrassed that I put so much time and effort (not to mention cash) behind his failed 2004 run for President.

For whatever reason (and I've never for a second believed it was anything more than politics-as-usual), Kerry came crawling out of the woodwork a few weeks ago to endorse Senator Barack Obama (vs. Senator Hillary Clinton, of course). A somewhat prickly issue is that Kerry's constituents (the people of Massachusetts) delivered Clinton a decided victory on primary day.

Kerry is a "super-delegate." As such, he can vote for whomever he wants when the convention meets in August. (The convention is where Democrats finally choose their nominee.) It is widely anticipated, however, that delegates will fulfill the wishes of their respective states. When Blitzer asked Kerry how he would respond to his constituents concerns about him voting for the wrong person, Kerry said he believes all the super-delegates should give their vote to whichever candidate is leading at the time of the convention. He then went on mention several different ways one could be in the lead: Popular vote, number of states won, and delegate count.

Of course, what Kerry was doing there was giving himself as many ways as possible to vote for Obama. It won't matter who wins the bigger share of popular votes, more primaries, and/or more delegates. As long as Obama wins at least one of those categories, Kerry can vote for him and say it wasn't a flip-flop. The return of fuzzy math!

When Blitzer asked what happens if Obama wins tonight's primaries (which is expected) but Clinton wins big in Texas and Hawaii (which will pass the momentum right back to Hillary), Kerry said we'll just have to see what happens. A non-committal answer at best.

Then Blitzer had the nerve to ask why we shouldn't all just wait to see what happens in the Pennsylvania primary (April 22). Kerry simply said he hopes he doesn't have to. Then he implored people to vote for Obama.

Like I said, it's politics-as-usual. And it's gross. But you may ask, What about any of it makes Kerry a flip-flopper? Well, I'll tell you: If back in 2004, he had been in the same boat Clinton's in right now, you can bet your economic stimulus check he'd have been singing quite a different tune about how super-delegates should cast those votes.

Pathetic and embarrassing.

Carlos Quintana

I have to apologize to Carlos Quintana. I don't enjoy making anyone feel uncomfortable. And although Carlos himself may not be uncomfortable about what I'm about to say, his friends might give him quite the ribbing for it.

You see, the thing is I don't think it's possible for anyone to be hotter than Carlos Quintana. I mean, everything about the man is gorgeous. His body: Perfect. His eyes: Perfect. His lips: Beyond perfect. Even his eyebrows are perfect. (Though it's fairly obvious he gets some help with that--and I say more power to him!)

I was at my parents' house today and they were watching boxing. The main event was between this Carlos Quintana person and some dude named Williams. Williams is, like, a head-and-a-half taller than Quintana (or as I now call him, "Carrrrrlos"). Williams also has ridiculously long arms. And Williams is happy. All smiles. Always smiling. Smiley McSmilerson. That is, until Carlos came out and just starting wailing this shit out of him.

Williams's record is now 33-1 and I have no qualms about admitting I sat through all twelve rounds to see Carlos take the dude's title. When he did it, Carlos's wife and young son entered the ring to help celebrate and the boy was so proud, he was crying. Carlos was so happy to be able to do this for his son, he was crying too.

Although Carlos had just achieved an enormous professional goal, in that instant as he lifted his boy and gave him a hug, they were living the moment together...for each other...as if no one else was in the place. And suddenly, there were tears in my eyes.

I don't know whether I made a decision or had a revelation or simply jumped to a conclusion at that moment but I no longer believe Carlos would care that gay guys think he's not. He might even appreciate it. Because Carlos is real man. A secure man who, despite being pummeled about the head for a living, knows what's important in life--and knows that gay men are not a threat.

And so my apology to Carlos isn't because I thought my admiration would embarrass him. It's for not giving him enough credit in the first place.